urgent roommate meeting.

Regarding my last post:

Two nights ago, I had my friend (who's a Turkish model and professional soccer player with a killer accent), Ceyhun (pronounced Jay-hoon), over for a college party. We went to Brittany's place and played things like Twister and Twilight Trivia (The teams were those who knew and loved Twilight and those who didn't know and hated it. I was on the latter team. Guess which one won? We did!). After a few hours of talking, playing games, and eating cake, Derek, Erica, Ceyhun and I decided to go back to mine and Erica's apartment and watch a movie all by ourselves.

Within the first ten minutes into the movie, Ceyhun and I were holding hands. Later, he put his arm around me. After the movie, we all sat and talked for a little while. When my roommate came out and asked us to be quiet (it was like, 2a.m.) we decided that the guys should probably go. I walked with Ceyhun to the door and said goodbye, and you could tell he wanted to kiss me.
The day after that, I felt bold (like I almost always do) and texted him the question, "Did you want to do more than just hold my hand last night?" He admitted that he wanted to kiss me, and I was kind of shocked, even though I could see it coming. Right then, I called for an urgent roommate meeting, explained to Erica, Kassidy and Tristyn what was going on, and asked them for advice on what to do, and, after seeing pictures of him, they said, "Are you kidding me? He's hot. How can you NOT say yes?!"

I kept telling them that I didn't really know him, and bringing up really good points as to why I shouldn't, but they had some pretty good points of their own. Later, in the bathroom, Erica and I were talking about it alone, and she said, "...I mean, you wouldn't want to be slutty, but, it's Ceyhun..." It made me laugh so hard.

After much thought, I think I've made my decision. I'll let ya know how it goes!

(Me and Ceyhun, 8/8/10)

quote of the night.

"...I mean, you wouldn't want to be slutty, but it's Ceyhun..." -Erica

[story later] :)

memories: crazy roommate.

It was a day like any other, one fine Spring afternoon while living with my roommates last semester. The apartment was quiet as usual, and a few of us were already home from school. Just then, Celeste swung open the door like she usually did, scaring the bejeebers out of us for the millionth time, and stomped to her room. A few minutes later, she came out into the kitchen, and started to unload the dishwasher. Like no normal tempered person, she banged pots, pans, dishes and cupboards really loud, apparently letting us know that she was angry about something.
Lindsay and I were in the kitchen also. Eventually, after wondering if our dishes and cupboards were going to live to see another day, Lindsay asked ever so sweetly, "Celeste, are you okay?" With that, Celeste completely blew up. She started yelling (I thought her talking was loud, but her yelling... yikes) about how our apartment was such a mess, and how she was the only one who ever cleaned up (even though I'm almost positive that I had cleaned the apartment single-handedly several times), and how she just "didn't understand" what was so hard about cleaning up.
I wanted to laugh, and get my camera so I could record this horrible rampage. But regrettably, I didn't. After about 3 or 4 minutes, I got tired of listening to her crazy yelling, and I thought about going into my room, but then I remembered poor little Lindsay being targeted by Celeste, even though Lindsay wasn't the whole problem, so I stayed by her side, embarrassed for Celeste. After about 5 or 6 minutes of the intense screaming (I really wish I had recorded it. It was like nothing I have ever experienced), Celeste finally stopped, and Lindsay said, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I've gotta go to work, though," and walked out the door. I wanted to laugh uncontrollably, but I didn't.
After that, Celeste went into her room and cried for about twenty minutes while talking to her mom on the phone, probably telling her what awful roommates she had. I was still in shock, thinking, "Did that really just happen? Is Celeste really crying to her mom? How old is she?"
It was probably one of the funniest days of that school year. Every time I think about it, I just have to laugh.
Did I mention Celeste is majoring in Communications? I guess she still needs some work in that area.

the latest.

Well, I arrived back from California two days ago, and it was fantastic. We drove there, with six people smooshed into our Toyota Highlander. The car rides were my least favorite part. We got to San Fran and hung out with my brother, Matt, his wife, Stephanie and their almost-one-year-old son, Aiden. We rode the trolley to Chinatown (my favorite part), toured the Winchester Mystery Mansion, and drove down the Golden Gate bridge.

After a few days in San Fran, we drove down to Cambria, which is a little town right on the beach, about three hours south on San Fran. We took Highway 101, which is the road that goes along the beach. The views were AMAZING! I kept wanting to pull over ever 2 minutes so I could take pictures. Instead, we only pulled over about three times. I got some really great shots.

Our hotel was right on the beach, and that's where I spent a lot of my time--taking pictures! We didn't do much in Cambria. We pretty much just relaxed the whole time, which was nice.

On the way back, the highway that led us home was closed due to a chemical spill, so we had to drive two hours out of our way to go around it. Awesome. Especially when your two little sisters are going nuts.

It was a pretty fun trip. I took over a thousand pictures, but I've yet to get all of them edited. So, in the meantime, enjoy these two pictures that I edited a couple of days ago.

In other news, I moved out yesterday with my friend, Erica. So far, it's great here! I love it. Our roommates are awesome; we just talked and talked last night. Their names are Annie, Amanda, Tristan and Cassidy.

While Erica and I were unpacking all of our stuff yesterday, we managed to play two pranks, which we think are hilarious.

The first one happened when Brent and Jared (friends from last year) were over, and Brent fell asleep on Erica's bed. Erica decided, "Well, if he's gonna fall asleep on my bed, he's gonna have to pay the consequences." So Erica put eye shadow and blush on one half of Brent's face while I took pictures. We didn't tell him about it until a few minutes later, even when he talked to our roommates and their mom.

The second one happened at night. Basically, this is how it went down: Erica and I were on our porch carrying in boxes, and I saw that our across-the-way neighbors had a welcome mat, and we didn't. So I whispered, "Erica, should we steal that?" and she said, "Uh-huh." It now sits in front of our front door. It's a lovely addition.

That's all for now. I will share more funny stories as soon as they happen!

goin' to san fran.

I will be in San Francisco all week until next Sunday, the 22nd. So to make up for my lack of posting in advance, here are some really cute pictures of me and some of my foster kids. (I know that has nothing to do with going to San Fran.) I'm going to miss them!

PS: I'm bringing my camera, all of my memory cards, and all four of my lenses. You can count on some pretty cool pictures when I get back.

nate.

I work at a foster care place. At work, I hang out with foster kids. I've been working there for over 2 years, and I've worked with ol' Nate ever since I began, except for the 8 months I was living down at school last year.
Nate and I are buds. Since I've been working with him for nearly 2 years, we've become brother and sister practically. He even knows my family, and calls my parents "mom" and "dad." Since Nate and I are brother-and-sister close, we (get this) act like a brother and sister would. We laugh and sing at the top of our lungs, and even dance together in public places, but we also argue and get mad at each other. Sometimes he gets mad at me when I won't take him to the Nickelcade everyday, and I try to explain to him that we don't have money to do anything. We go off at it for a while, but it usually ends with me ignoring him because he won't listen to me. We always seem to brush it off in the end, though.
I've also just recently noticed that I am probably a bad influence for him. I noticed it two days ago, when he was telling me that he might have school today, and if he did, he wouldn't be able to go to the water park with the rest of the group. I was really looking forward to going to the water park, and so I said, "Nate, when you have a choice between going to school and going to a water park, you ALWAYS choose the water park."
Later that day, I was eating cantaloupe, and he asked for a piece. I gave him one, but it fell on the floor. I said, "Eat it anyway!" He did.
Today, while at the store, he was buying his lunch, and I let him get whatever he wanted, which was Lunchables and Corn Nuts. Awesome, and healthy!
It's okay though. Because today was my last day of work, and right before he shut the car door when I dropped him off, I asked him who his favorite staff was, and he said, "You."
I've trained him well.

(Me and Nate, 8/9/10)

trials and forgiveness.

This video makes all the hard parts of my life seem so small. I am so blessed! Just thought I'd share it.

the canyon.

A week ago, I got to drive up the canyon behind my house. On my drive up, it was sprinkling a little, and I had my window down so I could smell the pretty, wet trees that lined both sides of the road. Bon Iver, a folk band I recently discovered, was playing in the CD player, and I was loving life. I brought my camera so I could get some cool shots. I found the perfect place on a cliff overlooking both the tree covered canyon and the valley in which I live. It started to rain a little harder, but I didn't mind. I got out my camera, put the hood up on my black jacket, and walked over to the cliff and started shooting. I didn't get a lot of photos, because a few minutes later, it started pouring rain, and I didn't want my camera to get drenched. I got back into my car, and enjoyed the ride down, even though my window was up this time. I was wet, and the heater was blasting warm air on me. It was lovely. The sights were amazing, and I couldn't remember the last time I saw such gorgeous scenery. I plan to go back up before (and most definitely after) I move down to school.

stormy weather.

Today, it was sunny. Then rainy. Then haily. Then rainy. Then sunny. Then rainy. Then sunny. Then rainy.

I loved it.

Most people don't know that I absolutely love the rain. I guess I just never bring it up. But it's my favorite kind of weather, hands down. Not cold rain, but warm rain, in the summer. I love really dark rain clouds, and I love getting soaked in the pouring rain, and still being able to be warm, because it's summer.

Along with rain storms, I also ADORE thunder/lightning storms. When I was little, I'd sit on my front porch and watch the rain drizzle from the roof, look at the bright lightning and listen to the booming thunder, and smell the amazing smell of wet trees, wet asphalt, and wet dirt. Up here in the mountains, the smell is ten times more incredible. Especially because we have Juniper trees here. They smell wonderful!

Today at work, I was driving Nicole home, and Sophie was with us too, because after my shift with Nicole, I was scheduled to work with Sophie. On the way home, we were listening to Regina Spektor. (I'm currently going through a phase where all I really want to listen to is her and Ingrid Michaelson.) It was raining, and the dark clouds were the perfect background for the whiter-than-white lightning that was striking almost to the ground. The windows were down, and every time the three of us would see a lightning bolt, we'd say, "Ohhhh! Did you see that one?!" It was quite a lovely drive.

Earlier today, while Nicole and I were hanging out at the park with other staff and kids, it started to hail. Big ones. So big, in fact, that I was legitimately worried about my car being dented. The brave kids went out and ran through it while the rest of us stayed safe under the pavilion.

After months of hot, sunny weather, I am so thrilled to finally see some storms. Love 'em.

The parking lot was covered in hail!

Look at the size of that hail!