Life in the Acacia Trees

Finals Week!

2009-03-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

stress.
yikes!
newly discovered cures for finals related stress: mcdonalds iced vanilla coffee, aromatherapy lotion, peanut butter cap'n crunch cereal, dark chocolate, fuzzy blankets, mint tea with honey, mtv's true life, and snuggly pandas/koalas.

Above: a practice piece of graphic design I did on the new CS4. What do you think? I'm going to try and learn the program using lynda.com or the like.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Quiet Evening

2009-02-24T22:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in FOREVER (sorry about that) but I recently came across something so entertaining that I just had to share it.

Most Shocking

Watch this TV show- it's so ridiculous and hilarious!

fun

2008-12-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

my face in anime!

Late-night College Dinner!

2008-12-01T23:01:00.000-08:00

In the tradition of my awesome aunt, I wanted to post a recipe I just created for myself:
Not fancy, but super yummy, and smells great!
This is what i did:
For a total prep time of about 20 minutes, I started boiling some water in a saucepan on the stove, and then added about 2 cups of dry pasta. I used penne because that's what i had on hand, but next time i would consider using a different kind. In any case, a good sized box of pasta can be found for less than a dollar. I put the lid on the pasta to cook, and meanwhile, took out 4 pieces of TJ's wheat bread from the freezer (lasts longer that way for just one person) and lightly defrosted it in the toaster. Next, I whipped up some garlic spread, using about 1/2 stick of butter, 1 tsp of minced garlic, and 2 tbsp. of parmesan cheese. i first melted the butter for a few seconds in the mocrowave, to make it easier to spread, and then added the other ingredients and mixed them together in a small bowl. When the pasta was cooked (al dente) , I strained it, and added 1 cup of canned pasta sauce (heated) and some cheese to taste. Then I spread the garlic mixture on the toast and cooked them in the toaster oven at 350 for about 4 minutes.
It made the whole apartment smell wonderful, and everyone had to come down to see what was cooking. I saved about half of it for leftovers. Super easy meal in less than 20 minutes! : )

Muir Talent Show

2008-11-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night was fun-filled, thanks to the awesome performances at my friend Linda's theater troupe talent show. Here were some of the highlights:

A singer named Jewel who performed and played guitar to a sweet country melody she wrote herself

Linda (in the orange) dancing with others to the Time Warp, part of the Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Muir Juggling Club, who were also accompanied by a stand-up bass player and a gutiarist who improvised to the juggling acts. highly entertaining!

A group of three girls who sang and played "Let it Be" by the Beatles.

A amplified ukelele performance of "As my guitar gently weeps"

eww

2008-10-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

Note to self:
NEVER put off laundry for this long again!!

5 loads = (.75 + .50) x 5 = $6.25

YUCK

Acacia Trees do not grow Walnuts

2008-10-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently. this is what I found out last night, after an acute allergic reaction to nuts that landed me in the hospital. fun times! I'm on antihistamines for 5 days to quell the reactions. I almost couldn't breathe!

But on the bright side, I got this fabbolous jeweled peacock bag today from Anthropologie at the La Jolla mall. I met up with my roommates there today after a Rotaract (my community service club on campus) international "potlunch" for which I made a super yummy romaine salad with candied pecans, toasted almonds, rasberries, and rasberry dressing. Everyone brought super delicious food, the menu was:
Drinks- vanilla soy milk or horchata or sparkling blood orange juice
Appetizers- foccacia with marinar sauce, rolled fried eggs, greek stuffed grape leaves, rasberry nut salad, mozzarella basil tomatoes
Main dishes- tuna pasta salad, chicken wings, soy sauce eggs, teriyaki pasta, beef potato stew
And for dessert we went to Forbidden Yogurt at Governor and Genessee.
Awesome event!

Treats

2008-10-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

Food made in my new apartment!
Yummy treats for me and my neighbors : )
Top, a berry chocolate fruit salad, bottom, fresh hot cinnamon rolls

I'm Back!

2008-10-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus of blogging, due to the natural course of life, I have returned to my space in the blogosphere. Lots of fun and exciting college escapades will hopefully be noted, and I would like to start with some pictures:

cutest people on earth in the new kitchen
awww... kiss sandwich on the new couch
late-night yoga in the new apartment

went to the movies today...

2008-07-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Saw Wall-E and it was really good! such a cute movie!!

Happy almost Fourth of July!

First Day off!

2008-06-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today is my first day off of work and school in two weeks! whew.. I slept 13 hours last night trying to recover! I just started my statistics class on Monday, and I like it, but the time frame (monday-thursday 6-9) is a little draining. I also started work on Saturday, and it's been going really well. I thought I wouldn't remember how to do anything at Peet's, but it all cam back to me really quickly.
In a few minutes I'm going to Target to get myself a hand vacuum- very exciting! I'm in the process of trying to move all my stuff back in to my room, which is challenging because not only is it dusty because it hasn't been cleaned in almost a year, but I still have clothes and books and furniture from my entire childhood in Morgan Hill, which would be fine, except that I have acquired an entire room's worth of stuff to live with in San Diego. And it doesn't help that its about 10o degrees today here! hot hot hot! my poor kitty is just sprawled out on the tile floor, panting, trying to keep cool with all her thick long black fur! I convinced my mom that we could afford to turn the AC on for today- its just way too hot. I miss San Diego weather!

Churro's favorite position

New Haircut, Padres Game, FInals, Moving OUT!

2008-06-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

I only have one more night in my college bed!
as well as, massive amounts of dirty laundry to do, two finals to take, and all my stuff to pack.
in like a day. Ahhhhhh!!! and yet, I'm awake at five in the morning not doing any of the above.

Anyway, yesterday was really fun. I took my daddy to a San Diego Padres game for Father's Day. We had seats in the right infield, which were pretty good- except that was Dodger territory! haha... it was fun though.

I will be in Morgan Hill Saturday. Woohoo! I'm a second year already : )

Oh And... I got my hairs cut again:

So I've always wondered..

2008-06-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Why being blonde is so seemingly desirable- I totally love it but I've always known that the hair color comes with a certain set of stereotypes.
One of my class reading discusses some of this phenomenon- "Madonna's mega-success is tied to her representation as a blond.... within white supremacist culture, a female must be whie to occupy the space of sacred femininity, and she must also be blond." -bell hooks
Here are some interesting articles about being blond:
Link that maybe cavemen preferred blondes

Link between male IQ and seeing a blond woman

Common myths debunked

Read this!!!

2008-06-07T21:52:00.001-07:00

Article about global/water shortages:

Yale 360

Last Day of School

2008-06-07T16:05:00.001-07:00

Oh and...

2008-06-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

some of the lovely lovely flyering!!

Reflections

2008-06-06T10:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's not exactly what I wanted to write, but I had to stick to the prompt- and written while super sleep-deprived:

Writing Exercise #5
Upon being asked to complete this reflective writing assignment about DOC 3, I couldn’t help but immediately think of how far I have come this year- geographically as well as personally. I would like to start with a brief description of my life before moving to UCSD, to help illustrate the shift one year later.
Morgan Hill, California- Famous for its fragrant mushroom farms, this small bedroom community of the high-tech industries of nearby Silicon Valley maintains a population that is 72.4% white, with a median family income of $90,134, and also happens to be my hometown; it’s where I spent the first18 years of my life.
All throughout my childhood years, I was very active and involved with the community and the schools- my parents were both tenured teachers in the district, and as is usually the case in small towns, everyone knew everyone else’s business. Every time I got into trouble or was tardy to class, my parents knew about it before the day was through. As a result, I was encouraged to succeed and to behave well, and consequently found myself more and more intertwined with the people and way of life that was Morgan Hill. My town was very conservative, very suburban, and scandal happened behind the closed doors of perfectly manicured homes. In my high school, there was not very much diversity, and the only way I ever got to interact with students of other races was through my Rotary involvement and my participation in badminton. It wasn’t that I inherently discriminated against those different from me, it was just that I was ignorant of most other cultures and ways of life.
However, everything started to change once I came to college. I’m not sure what the criteria were that determined I would end up in Marshall College, but it turned out to be very appropriate for me. As soon as I arrived here, I was immersed in a sea of fresh new faces, of ambitious young adults who were all here to learn and study, but who all came from different backgrounds. This may sound a little ridiculous, but I was so surprised that all these people of different races and religions could actually be cool, intelligent people. DOC 1 helped with that- I learned how to look beyond a person’s outer appearance or behavior and that in order to gain a proper understanding of the world, I needed to broaden my perspectives and be open to new ideas and experiences. I was immediately making new friends and socializing (even dating) with people that I would previously never have thought to talk to. In a way, this made me angry at my upbringing, and when I went home for winter break, I was appalled at the intolerance of my community. Meanwhile, back at UCSD, I was learning how to live with nine other girls in a tiny dorm with variable plumbing and questionable cuisine, and exploring the rest of the campus and what it has to offer. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to have two consecutive healthy days this year, but despite the hospital visits and vomit-filled trash bags, I was the happiest I have ever been every day I spent here in La Jolla. I have made lasting friendships, had unforgettable experiences, and learned so much about the world already, and this is just my first year.
In my opinion, the DOC program has helped me immensely as far as shaping my perspectives about the world and developing my own ideologies. By far, I think that DOC 1 has been the most beneficial course of the three-quarter series. DOC 2 provided me with a lot of information, but was the least enjoyable. As for DOC 3, I really enjoyed the reading material, and happily read all the assigned texts before they were due. However, as of now, I’m not exactly sure what we were supposed to come away with at the end of the quarter. There was a lot of good material, but I don’t think the course objectives were very clear. That being said, I truly enjoyed the reader and two novels, and would definitely recommend Marshall College as well as DOC to any incoming freshman.

Thanks family for the conference call last night! It was really fun! : )
Can't wait to see you all!

Nearing Finals Week...

2008-06-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Libra

A fantastic New Moon in your ninth house of the higher mind makes it the right time to enroll in a certification program, university or adult education class. Your mind is thirsty and it's time to drink.

Thanks to the SJ Mercury, I now am justified in my thinking it was a good idea to enroll in a summer class. I hopefully will be taking Statistics, monday tuesday wednesday thursday nights from 6-9pm. wow! sounds like a lot of class

I'm just in the library right now- 6th floor looking out over ucsd and the 5. Finding it so hard to concentrate, but knowing that I have to get things done now or i might as well sacrifice sleeping for the next week. I have a lot to do, and a lot of things to do, especially considering the fact that I'm moving out and moving on in 11 days. I'm counting! Change can be kind of scary, but exhilarating at the same time I guess. I'm not really sure if I am going home, or if I'm leaving home.. I kind of feel like a transient. On the bright side, I now have roommates- whom I don't know yet, but who will probably be normal cool people. I hope!

Back to studying- 11 days until I am back in NorCal : )

UC Workers Protest

2008-06-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

I will be participating in this- just wanted to raise awareness!

The Internet

2008-05-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this by saying... I'm not a stalker.. but i do like to explore the Internet!
I found my picture on a random person's blog today. At least he gave photo credits.

Lurk

I think it's sometimes easy to forget that anything we put online can and will be seen and used by other people.

Lots of Info

2008-05-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Matt Costa at UCSD Sun God Festival '08

I'm sure everyone would like to know what has been going on in my life- especially since I haven't been blogging in a while- so I wanted to get it all out there:

I have been really sick again this quarter, unfortunately, and went to the emergency room twice, and was hospitalized once for four days. I couldn't stop throwing up, and no matter what I tried it didn't seem to help. The doctors thought they saw an intussuseption in my intestine with the CAT scan, but apparently that was intermittent, so that wasn't the cause. They ended up just medicating me and sending me home, so the problem still really isn't solved; the symptoms have just been treated. I had a neurology appointment last week, and the doctor said that it just might be a chronic sort of condition that is realated to my low blood pressure and migraines. It just really drags down my everyday life, because I have to always be monitoring my specific food intake and my multiple medicines, which tend to make me drowsy in addition. It has also been really hard with school work, but I have tried to salvage my courses as much as possible.

I guess that I can say that there are two positive things that have come of this whole experience: For one, I am better acquainted with the way things work in hospitals and am more comfortable with medical procedures. Also, because of my health conditions, I will probably never get high blood pressure in my later years!

One interesting thing that happened during my illness was a very memorable doctor's appointment at my primary care office at UCSD. I went in to complain about my condition and the emesis and dehydration, so my doctor/NP lined me up with a bag of fluids (code for a liter of IV solution) so that I could get hydrated again. My friend and roommate Linda had been shopping at CVS next door, so I called her to come in to the doctor's office and wait while I had the IV put in, just for moral support. But... I wasn't aware that she was squeamish around needles, and when the nurse stuck it in my hand, Linda turned green and passed out, hitting her head on a magazine rack on the way down! She had to be taken off by ambulance, and I couldn;t do anything because I was sitting there with the IV attached to me. What a day!! We laughed about it later, but it was kind of scary at the time : )

Tonight I just got out of my last Rotaract meeting of the year, with a certificate, yay! I have been active in the club this quarter as well, and have made closer friendships with the people involved. It has been a really good year, and I have enjoyed every minute of being in Rotaract. Hopefully, next year we will be just as good, if not better- I would like to be more active next year if that's possible.

Speaking of next year, my freshman year of college is almost up! It does not seem like it has been nearly 12 months since I graduated from high school. It might be cliche, but it seems like it was just yesterday. Maybe the years do fly by faster as you get older....

I will be moving out in less than three weeks, Friday the 13th of June, and will be back in Morgan Hill until the end of September 08. I am very sad about having to leave all the memories, fun times, and crazy moments and crazy people of the dorms. I had such an incredible time this year, and it will be a little tearful leaving behind all of this. It was really nice to have 9 other girls always around to talk to and hang out with, and knowing that if you had an emotional crisis at 4 am, that there would be friends you could commiserate with and share ice cream and pizza with. We have seen each other grow and change as people, and go through one obstacle after another, from massive exams to intoxicated mistakes to ever-present boy problems. I will really miss it!

On the other hand, the future and what it holds in store for this sumer and next year looks very promising, and I'm trying to keep a positive outlook about moving out soon. I have my apartment all set up for next fall, as you could tell from my previous posts (SO exciting!) and I will be living with 3 other girls in an apartment with a kitchen, private bathroom, and my own 10' by 12' room adjacent to the living and dining rooms. I know that one of my upstairs roommates will be Linda, but the other two we don't know of yet. I'm pretty optimistic, and hoping that the girls will be cool people. I also have picked my classes for the fall, and have a really good schedule- no Tuesday Thursday classes again. : )

Another thing that I have been enjoying is my campus church group. I started going the Unitarian Universalist youth group here on campus, and I really like it. It is an amazing place to come to every week, and I can really express myself there.

One epic even that took place this quarter was the Sun God Festival, UCSD's formerly famous all-day outdoor music festival. It was not all that I had expected, mostly just a lot of drunken people and a lot of police. I enjoyed it though. The headliners were Coheed and Cambria and Sean Kingston, with Matt Costa and Say Anything. I have lots and lots of pictures on my Flickr page if you would like to check it out.

I also had a visit from Sai; he drove down to SoCal and was able to visit for a day. We got to hang out and watch a movie, and went to dinner at Olive Garden, which I had been bugging to go to for ages. It was fun, but it will be a lot nicer to be able to spend more time together this summer! We've almost hit the 9 month anniversary of our first date (not that a dating anniversary is that important, but it has to count for something!)

Weekend visit May 17th, 08

As for now.. I really need to stop writing this and go to work on my DOC studies. I am sitting at the coffee shop on campus and am going to head over to the library to get some work done. Possible updates soon!

God is In

2008-05-28T02:35:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting video that we talked about in my church group last night. It may give you something to thing about this week! : )

Don't pay attention to the video; just listen to the lyrics!

tunes

2008-05-23T01:44:00.000-07:00

I totally am in love with my new headphones. The brand is SkullCandy, and i got them from the bookstore for less than 20 bucks. I think my apple headphones got stolen or something, i'm not sure. It gave me an opportunity to shop around, though, and I'm really satisfied with these. The great thing is, they're really noise-cancelling, but it means i can't hear people if they try to talk to me. great for tuning out though! : )

2008-05-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

http://marshall.ucsd.edu/current/reslife/tour/tour_lower.php

Residence for Fall 08-Spring 09

2008-05-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is where I will be living next year:
Apartment C-7
My room is room #1, on the bottom floor next to the kitchen.
Come visit all!!

Finals are almost through!

2008-03-20T14:30:00.001-07:00

Pictures from inside the new ultra-modern Virgin America planes

Okay, so two down, one to go- and then I'll be on a plane headed for the lovely northern California!

I'm really excited to see all the family; wow, I can't believe it's been three months already! This is the longest time I have gone without seeing any family or my parents. It will be nice, I get to see my parents for two days out of the week I will be home as they are going to their Colorado home to work and hang out.

I decided not to go with them, given the arduous process of elevation and climate adjustment that always takes at least half of your vacation. Instead, I booked myself a plane ticket on the new Virgin America Airline and will be in Morgan Hill from Saturday afternoon/morning until the following Monday afternoon.

I would love to see as many people as possible and just enjoy the time that I have off from studying and classes. I'm looking forward to taking lots of pictures, reading some books for fun, and hanging out with my grandparents.

On a different (sort of) note, I recently changed my appearance... But no pictures- you all will just have to see me in person and be surprised! : )

i love the colbert report...

2008-03-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

favorite show. too bad i can never seem to catch it on the right day- but old news is okay because it's still funny!
As you can see, the TB test I got today is actually invisible! I think that's means i'm negative. : )
Unfortunately, I also managed to pick up a wicked sunburn from walking around campus for only ten minutes. it was 78 today, pretty nice weather, but I was totally unprepared for the ultraviolet rays!
11 days til i'm comin home..!

Imagination

2008-03-10T01:53:00.001-07:00

I just read the comment from my last post, about "Imagination," the title of my Marshall College writing class for next quarter. I pulled the definition from the course catalog:

Dimensions of Culture: Imagination (6) Using the arts, this course examines the evolution of pluralistic culture to the modern period. There is a special emphasis on the interdisciplinary study of twentieth-century American culture, including music, literature, art, film, and photography. The course offers intensive instruction in writing university-level expository prose. Three hours of lecture, two hours of discussion and writing instruction. Open to Marshall College students only.

We will be reading materials from a course reader, just like the other two quarters of this program- you have to buy it from an independent company, and its basically just a compilation of articles and excerpts. We'll also be reading the novels Vine of Desire and Fire Next Time, which I just ordered used on Amazon; i think I got them for about 2 bucks each.

Working on Another Paper

2008-03-10T01:37:00.001-07:00

Tonight, I am writing a paper for my country music class. I'm writing about Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, and how they were influential, as female country music artists, during the time of the civil rights and women's liberation movements.
Today was so weird because of the time change! I'm pretty sure it threw a lot of other people off as well.. I wish that there would be something like a whole day of rest after the time change every spring! It's so hard on our bodies and brains..

Yesterday I went to an informational session for the Marshall College tutoring program that I would like to start doing. It's interesting how the program works: if you're volunteering, you have to fill out an application and take a TB test, pick which school you want to help out at (a charter middle school, a private 6-12 UCSD school, or a lower-end high school, and catch the free hourly shuttle from campus) I'm pretty excited, it should give me a feel for the San Diego area and give me some more experience working with students from all backgrounds, and also maybe use my Spanish skills. Let's just hope I pass the TB test! : )

Here are some pictures from a concert I went to last weekend at my college. The groups were Young Love and The Federation:

(the Blogger server isn't working, but the pictures are the first ones on my FLickr site)
sorry!

School

2008-03-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

I just got my Biology book for next quarter : )
Doesn't it look all spiffy and educational?? I'm really excited. Reading it is almost more interesting than TV... haha. Thanks Mom and Dad for the textbook money- I really appreciate it!

I'm just putting off doing my case summaries for my DOC class right now.. but I just had some good news to share- I signed up for my classes for next quarter already. I will be taking Chemistry, Biology, Imagination, and Ethnic Studies. I'm pretty psyched for this dern winter quarter to be over already and to just take my finals already so I can go home and see my loved ones! Winter in San Diego is very mild, but clouds all the time leave me wishing for some of the spicier weather of NorCal. I can't wait to come home and see everyone! yay Spring Break!

For my Awesome Aunt and Uncle!!

2008-02-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

I have definitely been slacking on the blogging- sorry! I have been running around with my head cut off going from midterm to midterm, paper to summary, meetings and.. etc! I pledge to start blogging more often from now on.

I was so happy today- I got a giant box of California Navel Oranges in the post- a Valentine's present care package from my Aunt and Uncle. I never expected for my package to be the one in the pretty fruit box!
(When you get a package, it is delivered to the Residential Life Office, where they send you an email telling you to come get it, and then you have to show ID to pick it up, but you also get to look at all the other packages that have been delivered and try to guess which one is yours before you get it!)
The oranges are so yummy, and I just lovee that beautiful citrus spray that bursts out when you first peel the orange!

Thank you SO much Aunt Kelly and Uncle Reza! I really appreaciate it!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Back at School!

2008-01-11T10:18:00.001-08:00

My new Tv setup- with my newest bear, TMX cookie monster. Surrounding him are Moo Cow, Sockie, and Psyduck. My DVD player has most recently shown Notes on a Scandal and Hot Fuzz. Netflix is ridiculously slow, but if i post it in the morning, it takes only 3 days.

We just had a fish funeral. Liz's beta, Howard, just passed away last night. Here he is in his smelly plastic container of doom, dead. R.I.P. Howard- you were a good fish... for your short 4 days of life with us.

I went to the Student Health Center yesterday morning for a doctor's appointment... and...I got a clean bill of health! No more mono! : ) I also had some blood tests done and had to get my flu shot (yuck!) so all in all i was there for about two hours (losing one of my debit cards in the process! ugh) but I'm very happy that I'm well again. I still don't have 100% energy, but it will come back soon I hope.

This quarter, I am taking Music 15 (Country music) 3 hours on Monday nights, DOC 2 (Dimensions of Culture: Justice) Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Chemistry 6A Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the mornings (i must wake up by 6:30) but it's not that bad.
I'm off to DOC section- I ended up with the same TA from last quarter. We're discussing the Federalist Papers today

Tapioca Express

2007-12-24T12:48:00.000-08:00

We had a Tapioca Express adventure the other day. Sai is now an expert at "driving like a little old lady" as you can see from the pictures.... I had a snow bubble drink with big pearls that was flavored with almond. It was super yummy. We also had lunch at Aqui's Mexican grill, where we shared grilled chicken fajitas and a cobbler with cranberry-apple salsa for dessert.
Later in the day, my sister came to stay for the holidays from Sacramento. She arrived in her shiny new prius. As a family, we all went to see National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. I really liked it, but that's probably only because it features Nicolas Cage- one of my favorite actors.
We also had dinner at China Palace, a restaurant owned by the family of one of my friends from high school. It was a really good night, and it was great to be back with all the family.

Finicky cats, quilts

2007-12-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

So I'm finishing this post- I had originally tried to post from my iPhone, but it was too tricky and so i just gave up, but not before accidentally making a irremediable post. Now I'm fixing it.
What I had wanted to write about was the quilt I am working on , which is almost done, and that I am very proud of. I have been working on this sucker for two weeks - and am ready to be done with it! It is a sort of colonial color scheme- navy blue with cream and slight patterns, bordered and backed with navy blue as well. It should be nice, and I hope someone will put it to good use! It's the "mono" quilt : )
As for finicky cats, I definitely have one! (or does she have me? not sure..)
She complains a lot lately, especially about her food and water! She really likes her kibbles, and we know if she doesn't like the particular type of wet food that has been set out for her if she gives it one sniff and then walks away. Churro drinks a full bowl of water a day, and she is pretty finicky about that as well. She won't drink out of patterned dish, as she thinks there might be something floating around- and makes sure to let me know right away! If she doesn't like the water, she sticks her paw in it and flicks it up on my leg. Then runs over to the sink and cries until she is given "better" water.
That's finicky for you!

Here is the outside of our house at night, with LED lights and star

A Busy Monday!

2007-12-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was quite a big day. First of all, my daddy came home with a lovely present for me- a shiny new toy more commonly known as the iPhone. I set it all up, with my iphoto pictures, music, and calendar stuff, and then took it with me when Churro had to go to the vet.

She was, of course, hesitant to get in the car to go get her shots, but i wrapped her in a towel and carried her. While we were waiting for my dad to get in the car, i cught her being naughty and scratching on the chair!

After we got to the vet, Churro was really scared. All she wanted to do was hide and pretend like people couldn't see her. When I laid her on the table she wriggled under the towel and hid.

Later in the night, my mom rented two movies from Safeway, and I got to watch them in my room. She got Waitress and The Namesake, both of which I really liked, but made me cry as well! Waitress is really cute, and all the pies in the movie made my mouth water. However, the story line is pretty tragic- except for the surprise ending! : ) I definitely recommend this movie. I really enjoyed The Namesake as well. It's a deep movie, very well constructed, but again, quite moving.
We had dinner at Fresh Choice and my mom was playing with the iPhone:

So I had this 2 1/2 hour date limit....

2007-12-17T00:19:00.000-08:00

I was working on my Christmas gift today, for those who are interested... I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. In other news, my dad got our Christmas tree today and it made the car smell very piney. We spent some time at Peet's tonight, my dad with his new camera and me with my "chemistry for dummies" book. Last night, I got to go to the Cheesecake Factory with Sai, which was definitely fun. Our food was super yummy, although it was very busy in the restaurant. As I start getting better, more dates will be possible. yay!

We also spent some time in the bookstore before eating since we had to wait a while. We were examining the test book section and found the book on the police officer exam- hence the above pictures. Another interesting test is the firefighter one- it looks quite intriguing

A Late Night Movie

2007-12-14T02:01:00.000-08:00

So my mom got this DVD from the machine in Safeway ronight, because she got a free rental when the machine broke down. Anyway, the movie is called Noel, and I'm watching it toniht becasue I drank some diet pepsi max too late at night. (which by the way, is the greatest drink EVER.) It's perfect for studying nights at college... and for anytime too.
So this movie is reallly interesting, with so many emotional plot twists, and the characters stories all intertwine in the end. Plus, it all evolves on Christmas Eve. It features Susan Sarandon, Robin WIlliams, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin, and Penelope Cruz. It's worth watching, although it is a tearjerker.. however some parts are definitely comical/ironic.

Getting into the Christmas spirit?

2007-12-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

Well... I'm home and all done with my first quarter of college! I finished up the classes that I could, and I feel pretty confident with my performance. As for now, I'm trying to get my act together with the whole Christmas situation, and am going shopping today for the materials for my gift. We're also going to put up Nanny's Christmas tree- it's a tradition! I wonder if all the ornaments will be put up this year- I can't wait until everyone is together again, it will be so nice to see the family... especially after I've been basically in quarantine : (
Good news- the mono is subsiding, I don't have any symptoms anymore, just being really tired all the time.
I hope everyone is having a good week- not that much longer before vacation!

The Events of the week so far!

2007-12-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Mono- it's brutal!!! Mom is staying down here with me, she had to miss her flight to take care of old sicky me. she's such a good mom! Santa needs to know that she deserves a really big stocking this year!
I'm about to head off to my next class- I will be excited to see everyone- I'm flying home Tuesday afternoon. : )

More Mono

2007-11-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in bed right now, with my mommy sleeping on the floor. She has flown down to take care of me and i really appreciate it! We went to the doctor's today to go over my lab results and talk about a plan of action. She told me that I need to drink more water and that I also have some hepatitis. Basically- all my organs are swollen! kind of scary.... Right now I just feel really tired and yucky. Hopefully this won't last forever!
I am going to go see a counselor tomorrow to see about my classes, so wish me luck- my perfect schedule will probably have to get changed around, and i'm also not supposed to take more than 12 or 14 units. hmm.... just when you think you have everything figured out, life throws you for a loop!
I hope everyone is having a good week- TGIF!

Hi Family!

2007-11-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

I regret the fact that I have not posted in the past week or more- here goes my excuse: I have mono!
I however have put up all the pictures from Thanskgiving as well as the week I got to enjoy with my family, so please check out my Flickr website. I'm currently just staying in bed, sleeping a lot, and getting up to go to class and then coming back and napping. I have a really good doctor here at the Student Health Center, and she is really concerned and caring. I had a throat culture yesterday, which confirmed the results , and then this morning I went in for a blood test and that other one that I won't mention on the Internet! : )
Good news- my doctor said that I was the happiest patient with mono that she had ever seen.. hopefully that means I will get over this soon! Now it makes sense why I have been ill for so long, though.
I hope everyone has a good week- if anyone gets bored, give me a call- I'll be snuggling in bed : )

PS- I never realized how bad daytime TV is! lol

Song stuck in my head!

2007-11-19T22:16:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow afternoon I leave for home!
I'm flying out of San Diego International Airport and flying into SFO.

I just got through watching a movie called Fire, by Indian director Deepa Mehta- we had to watch one of her other movies, Earth, for my literature class, so I wanted to watch more. It was a really good movie, but really intense.
A guy from across the hall came over with a stack of CDs for me to burn on my computer, including the Across the Universe soundtrack, which I've been listening to nonstop. Maybe putting the lyrics down will help me get it out of my head:

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva

Saturday Evening

2007-11-17T22:42:00.001-08:00

This morning, I took a rec class on floral design. I got to bring the products home, and these are the creations I made:

It was really fun.
Other than that, I've been trying to sleep off my infection, with no luck! I went to bed yesterday at 4 pm and slept until 9 am this morning. However, I still have persistent acute all-over body aches that feel like bone pain, a slight fever that makes me hot all the time, and severe congestion. I just want to get better!!!!! : (
Hopefully a trip home will be just the cure.... It will be strange to be back in Morgan Hill again. It will be great to see the family- and I can't wait to hang out with the Peet's crew again!

Some real food will be nice too! ; )

Study Study Study

2007-11-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting at Oceanview Terrace, using their wi-fi, and eating some popcorn shrimp. I've definitely learned the improtance of multi-tasking from college. Especially this week- I had three midterms and a ten-page paper due today. I have also learned how to get by on little sleep and lots of studying! : ) I had a calculus midterm this morning at 8, and then I spent the last half hour in my TA's office hours, discussing racial triangulation, liberal individualism, structural inequality, and the possessive investment in whiteness. whew- now, another lecture and then a chem midterm. Wish me luck!! on the quarter system here, midterms begin in the third week and continue through the week before finals. No wonder this school has a reputation for being socially dead- I can see now why, because everyone(including me) is so driven to study, all the time. As it looks now, I need to spend all Thanksgiving break reading and studying, in order to get a grasp on the material.
This is all partly because of the week that we missed out on of school, because of the fires.
I know, I seem like I'm complaining, but i think i'm just getting adjusted to the academic rigor. The thing is, I am really enjoying being in this environment, and I love learning. I started planning out my classes for next quarter:
I need to take BILD 1, the first course of biology
Chem 6B, second qurter chemistry
DOC 2, DImensions of Culture in Justice
and MUS 15, country music

Here is a quick snapshot of my tentative schedule:

care package yum~

2007-11-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

I received a care package in the mail today from my awesome aunt Kelly! Enough popcorn to last me for awhile- or at least to live on when I run out of meal points! : )
Here are some pictures of the bounty:
(One package was pillaged by a hungry roomate, but there were originally 12 boxes)
Care packages are so cool! I feel so loved : )

Thanks so much Aunt Kelly!!!!

Pictures from Saturday

2007-11-12T18:34:00.001-08:00

These pictures are from a Rotary club event on Saturday. We drove about an hour and a half into the mountains, to the area where the San Diego wildfires devastated the land. We mostly made sandbags or cleaned up debris. The area where we were working used to be a giant lake, but completely evaporated.

It's a Monday, but it feels like a Sunday

2007-11-12T18:23:00.001-08:00

This past week, I have been pretty busy. After last weekend's exhausting but fun work in Tijuana, I had a full week of classes, and one midterm. I went to several Rotaract meetings this week, and was appointed Professional Development Director for the club. This entails coordinating a mentor program with the local Del Mar and La Jolla Rotary Clubs, and setting up guest speakers for our meetings. It should be fun, and hopefully a lot of networking will develop. I relapsed into my respiratory infection this week as well (for those of who weren't aware, I was sick for about three weeks with a respiratory and sinus infection that i went to the clinic and got anitbiotics for), because as soon as i finished the previous round of medication, i felt myself becoming sick again. This time it was worse, however, and had spread to my ears as well. I went to the student clinic again, and the NP put me on a different, stronger antibiotic, as well as a psuedophedrine combo pill that is supposed to knock the mucus out of me! (too much info, i know!)
I am slowly beginning to feel better, so hopefully I don't relapse again when I finish these mediciations.
Today, I have been planning my classes for next quarter, and doing some Third World studies reading and analyzing; i have a midterm tomorrow morning at 8. I have been thinking about becoming a third world studies minor, but i'm not completely sure yet.
I also finally reclaimed my TV (that my sister so generously let me borrow) from the common room, and bought myself a DVD player at Wal-mart yesterday. One of my friends from chemistry drove me and a group of friends to wal-mart, so i stocked up on the essentials like two cases of bottled water, instant oatmeal, and boxes of cereal. The DVD player is really cool, and now i can watch my Netflix movies and type essays at the same time. : )
By the way, does anyone know a way that you can somehow watch Netflix movies on a Mac? the website just tells me that my system is not compatible. Thanks!
I hope everyone had a good Veteran's Day holiday

My day in Tijuana

2007-11-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went with some members of the UCSD Rotaract Club to work on building a house in Tijuana, Mexico. It was hard work, but rewarding, and very eye-opening. I won't write more about it here, because I have all the pictures and details on my Flickr website, please visit:

Acacia's Tijuana pictures

Friday night

2007-11-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I need to blog more.. you need more updates!
I just got home from my chemistry class, i decided to go to the 6 pm lecture instead of my usual 3pm one. I've been learning much more about the way my brain works, and subsequently the best times of night and day to study or have class. I went to my academic advisor earlier this week, and she helped me come up with a four year plan for UCSD. I'm really excited now about the classes i get to take. This coming quarter, i need to take a fine arts course, and there are so many to choose from- it's so awesome going to a huge university!
Here are some recent pictures, from halloween, as well as with my new camera that i absolutely love. It's a Canon Powershot SD1000.

FIRES

2007-10-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

For all those who have been watching the news, you have heard about the "Firestorm" in Southern California. The air is really smoky and ashy down here in San Diego, and the climate is very dry. I took a shower 15 minutes ago, and my hair is already dry! School has been canceled for the entire week here at UCSD, and actually in the whole of San Diego County. The fires are pretty close to the campus in the surrounding towns, but there is no immediate danger of harm to any of us here. Actually, there are only 5 of us left out of our floor of 20, because everyone panicked and paid ridiculous amounts to run home, even though they would be perfectly safe here. The campus is shut down, but the food dining commons are still open as well as the health center and the psychological and counseling centers. It is in a "state of emergency"
For more information about the campus, visit Tritonlink
For now, everything is fine, and my roomates and I are enjoying ourselves, having time to relax and hang out, as well as catch up on studying before midterms next week. We have our shows that we watch on TV, and watching my Netflix movies.
Don't worry, I'm okay! : )

The only bad thing is... since we are missing a week of school, we will most likely have school extended into winter break, to make up for lost time.

it's another tuesday!

2007-10-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Life here in UCSD is, as always, very studious, but a blast. I just got home from my literature class, did some dishes (I think the maintenance lady was getting sick of seeing my neon IKEA dishes everywhere!) and did some light housekeeping. I used to think I was a messy person, but then I moved here. I'm actually cleaner than some of my roomates! Our suite tends to look like an explosion sometimes... but it's so much fun, and I've learned that girls can definitely be messier than guys! I'm still figuring out my camera, but above are some pictures from the suite.

Mmmm... studying!

2007-10-02T22:54:00.001-07:00

So, tonight has been my night to do lots and lots of homework. I had Third World Studies again today- Literature of the Indian Subcontinent- both the lecture and the discussion. The discussion was taught by an ACTUALLY good TA- it's her 7th year of teaching, and she specializes in Latin American Studies, and she seems to have the gift of teaching. Should be a good situation. After class, which ended at about 1 pm, I walked down the giant hill to Black's Beach. It was such a beautiful warm day today, with all sun and no clouds. I saw lots of people surfing, but for the most part I had my section of the beach to myself (and the curious little seagulls). The ocean was so georgeous! I was able to catch up on my literature readings as well as finish the homework for next week --- all on the beach!! Gosh... I feel so lucky to be living and going to school in this environment. UCSD is pretty awesome. After getting back from the beach, I napped and then tackled the Calculus homework as well as chemistry, where we are practicing conversions of units and kinetic and potential energies. I should probably get back to studying, but more news will come later for the flamily~!

TM-P-502

2007-10-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Good evening all! It is officially my first crummy night in the dorms. Everything since has been absolutely amazing, but for some reason I seem to have caught a bug. : ( Ah well.... today was the first Monday of real classes. I had Calculus in the morning, then an English lecture, a chemistry lecture, and a chemistry discussion. It was a pretty big day! I have to leave my "house" at 7:15 just to make it to class in order to get a seat for the morning lectures. People are very competitive, and a small percentage always are there 45-1 hour ahead of time! This college experience is awesome, though. My suitemates are really great girls and something is always going on! We have sampled the various dining halls since the time that I've been here, and some of the food is quite tasty, but overall... well, it's cafeteria food! ; ) I have fallen in love with this coffee shop that has a few locations on campus, Fairbanks Coffee company. They have the BEST mochas! ( sorry Peet's!) but really, these mochas are made with Ghiradelli chocolate and whipped cream and are just sooo yummy. here are some pictures from the suite life of Building P, room 502:

My 18th birthday celebration!The living room all decorated

Chello. Please come in?My lovely room!
And the requisite mini-fridge, with red microwave on top!

okay, guys, I'm finally back!!

2007-09-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

WoW! I'm finally back into the blogging world! If y'all wondered why I haven't made any spectacular posts lately, it's because I have been without computer!! Yes, that's right.. the hard drive on my trusty Powerbook exploded a few weeks ago.
: (
However..... after much deliberation and bugging on my part, I have been blessed with a new Mac-- the very sleek and sexy MacBook, black! It's very awesome! Thus, my blogging.
Here are some updates on life:
The people that I work with and some of the customers at Peet's had a going away party for me yesterday.. complete with a ginormous bunch of flowers and rainbow cupcakes! Even some Gray's Anatomy and college survival book from the regular customers, the guys that hang out there every night!! Everyone was SO sweet- I'm really going to miss that place.
Tonight, I just got home from a surprise party!! SO.. the scoop on this: Apparently, my coworkers d been planning this for two weeks, unbeknown to me of course. So this evening, my dad asks me to go get him some soda from the garage- it seemed a little fishy to me but i went along with it! and out front pulls up Sai, coming to pick me up! My dad told me to just leave (unusual, I know!), so i get in the car, and then subject to being blindfolded. Sai drives me to Gilroy, when we get to Sarah's house, and there are people and streamers and cake and all! It was very surprising... and awesome! Sai's friend Will had rigged up this complex kareoke system involving two laptops and a bunch of cords, so we sang kareoke all night! not very well, mind you, but it was still super fun, and a great time. The Peet's crew has been so much fun to work with, and a blast to hang out with over the summer. Here are some pics from a recent outing with the Peetnik gang:

From top to bottom, these are: Sarah's nee-nee (the new word for kitties) Tally with one of Churro's pineapples, Sai in front of a building in downtown Gilroy, and Sarah and I in front of her house before we went to Johnny Carino's in Gilroy for dinner.

Tomorrow is drive to San Diego day! I've been packing like crazy- and the red microwave is already in the van, Aunt Kelly!! It's ready for some dorm popcorn.
Yee-haw! my next post will be from my new room at UCSD!

Birthday Party Photo Story

2007-08-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Mimi's Café
Dublin, CA

Home Life, Safeway, Shopping, and The Cat

2007-08-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

Back with the rents and Churro, life is pretty good. Today I got new tires put on the Volvo- it rides pretty smoothly now! I also got tips money today, so I went to Old Navy and got some new clothes. I then went to try on shoes at the outlets... but everyone knows how yucky the outlets are- so no shoes for me! My dad and I had lunch at El Amigo, and it was super good.

Today was my mom's first day of school, tomorrow morning MHUSD goes back to school, and tomorrow morning I get to sign up for classes... for next month!

Tonight we went on a trip to Safeway, to return the DVD of Dreamgirls that I watched, but unfortunately the movie was late, because the Safeway DVD machine now requires the movie back by 7 pm!!! unheard of.

Here are some pics, my mom making me try on a kid's penguin backpack and a lunchpail, and Churro kitty hanging out with us:

Late Nights, Early Mornings...

2007-08-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

It is far too late right now for me to be blogging. However- A full night of barista work does not get by without some caffeine. Unfortunately, this causes problems falling asleep, especially when I have to be at work by 4:30 tomorrow morning!

I really need to cut back on the caffeine, it's giving me supreme headaches on my days off! I sometimes think it's all part of the Peet's master corporate plan for employees: Free drinks and coffee and tea all the time you're working, but then on days off, it costs you! It's some kind of profit/ sacrifice equation. I might figure it out someday, if the mass brainwashing doesn't get to me first! haha... but I really do love Peet's though. It's an awesome job, an awesome company to work for, and the perks are pretty good as well.
I'm just listening to Fort Minor right now, trying to mellow out as much as possible. The parents are back, and it's been interesting getting back into the swing of all living together.

1 month, 4 days until Move-In San Diego!!!

I'm currently in the process of registering for classes for fall quarter. The classes that I need to take:
DOC 1: a writing course centered around diversity and cultures
Math 10C or 20C: the last math quarter of my life! one course is for engineering majors, one for all other people, i haven;t decided which one to take yet
Chem 6A: the intro to Chemistry
TWS 26: Third World Studies Indian Literature class
and a still unkown Freshman Seminar class, a 1 unit class for fun... I'm thinking about this one called Math in the Movies, or possible Love and Sex in the Middle Ages, or maybe Darwinian Evolution

Fun Times

2007-08-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Churro kitty in a rare still photo

What an amazing past few days! After almost passing out of Wii exhaustion, getting a sore wrist from gallon after gallon of milk, and having a night out with some friends, things are getting relatively back to normal.

This afternoon, at 4:20 pm, to be exact, I'm going to be picking up my parents at the airport. Hopefully, they won't be too worn out- from the looks of it, they were working the entire time. "Vacation?" yeah, right... but it will be nice to see them again, anyways. I'm finishing up some laundry at the moment, moving myself back into my house, and starting to read "How to Be Cool," by Johanna Edwards, one of the books loaned from my awesome Aunt Kelly.

On Saturday night, my sister cam down and picked me up, and we drove to Aunt Kelly and Uncle Reza's house for a super Wii party. My uncle has this fantastic projection system with a screen the size of the room ( no lie!) and so we thought the Wii would be perfect there. And it was!!! We played Wii sports (tennis, golf, bowling, baseball, and boxing) and WiiPLay ( neon air hockey, wild cow racing, mii finding, catch the bubbles, fishing, billiards, ping-pong) and Happy Feet the game. It kept us busy all night, and into the morning!! We were some pretty hard-core Wii Players!
After the all-night game fest, my sister and I were treated to iHOP by our lovely aunt and uncle, where we had the delicious breakfast fare (at 1 in the afternoon : )

Last night, to add to the weekend's fun, I went out with two of my good friends from high school, Mike and Ricky. They had never been to Peet's, so of course we had to stop there first- and we had some yummy drinks to start the evening off. Afterwards, we stopped at Nordstrom park, and ran around on the playground for some old-fashioned fun- I hope we didn't scare all the little kids away! : ) Then we went to In-n-Out for dinner, which is always good, and where no matter what, you see people you know. It's really inevitable in such a small town! Then we got tickets and saw the Bourne Ultimatum. It was a very exciting movie, and i'm really glad i got the chance to see it with my friends.

So for now, I'm just getting ready to retrieve my parents- that's all for now!

Looking up

2007-08-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Time for blogging! It's one of those incredibly relaxing Saturday mornings (okay, totally lying, it's 2 pm) with no responsibilities on the agenda. Nice. I got to start the day with some of my grandma's blueberry heart-shaped waffles, and i made a full 8-cup French press for myself of my personal favorite dark roast reserve coffee, whiskey strength! Sitting here in the dimly lit computer room, it's just a lovely day. I've been thoroughly enjoying this quality time with my grandparents, because it's not often i get so lucky to stay with them!
Last night, i had the wonderful experience of going to a colleague's birthday party/dinner in downtown San Jose at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I got her a cute "clubbing" purse and some of her favorite gum, for her milestone birthday! It was really a fun dinner, with most of our core Peet's family in attendance. I had the mizithra cheese, which always is excellent, with the creamy pesto salad to start. yum.... And our waiter even brought us out a dish of the contraband croutons!!!
The most interesting thing about the dinner was the fact that there were about 50 cops swarming around the restaurant all night! It turns out that the San Jose Police were fundraising for the Special Olympics, and the officers were serving our drinks for tip money for the Special Olympic team. There were even some Olympic athletes carefully serving drinks. Overall, the OSF dinner was awesome- and a really great time spent with the Morgan Hillbilly Peetnik family.
After dinner, we walked a little bit around downtown. The nightlife scene was "poppin," in the words of one of my fellow baristas, and it was very crowded on the streets. A short distance from the restaurant was one of the venues for the San Jose Jazz Festival, so we all got some wristbands and watched one of the bands for a while. They were this foreign band, maybe from Canada or Europe, who had about six violins and really rocked out! It was ridiculously fun- and fascinating to be at the center of so much activity!
Well, that's all for now- more coming soon : D

2007-08-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

i know, i know, I haven't "blogged" in a while, but well really that's just because not much happened. I've just been working and such, as well as trying to catch up on laundry. It got to the point where I actually lost clothes in the laundry pile, and then upon washing up, I found them again! I forgot about some of the things that I own! Unfortunately, six loads of laundry is a very time-consuming task... so while waiting on the slooowww dryer (blechhh!!), i caught up on some movie watching:
Neverwas
The Astronaut Farmer
Catch and Release
Music and Lyrics
Ghost Rider
and last night,
No Reservations

All good movies!
Anyways, this morning we all got up at 4 to get ready for the airport... always a harrowing trip in airprt traffic and security and whatnot. They are on the plane to Colorado, for two weeks, as I write this! As for now, it's just me and the cat- who dearly misses her old folks as well
More later as the story develops.... as well as a blog about traffic/driving coming soon

New Library opening

2007-07-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

Well, our little town has a great big new library now!!

They had a grand opening on July 21st, the day that Harry Potter came out, so of course it was even more exciting! They had free cookies, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and taiko drumming, to say the least.

The doors opened at 12:30, and everyone was pushing and shoving to get in! It looks very impressive, all shiny and new. It seems to be from the same designer that did our other new town buildings, the Centennial Recreation Center, the Aquatic Center, and the Community and Cultural Center. Lots of movement and progress has been going on in the past few years in Morgan Hill. Anyways, here are some pictures form this grand opening:

For the full set of pictures, and much more, view my Flickr pictures here:

10 years... the wait is over!

2007-07-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

I finished reading Harry Potter today! All 759 pages of it.... well worth the wait. The last book was all i expected, but much more- all kinds of surprises at the end! I recommend it to everyone. It has been very interesting to see the storyline develop over the past 10 years. Here are some pictures from the release party at midnight at Wal-mart, where we waited in line, a line that stretched past the garden center! The wristband you got determined the order in which you could purchase your copy, that went Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, then Slytherin.

There's my dad and I reading in the Mcdonald's at Walmart. It was a long night!

The following morning, my mom and I attended the release party at our local bookstore, Booksmart, where i had pre-ordered the book two months ago. This way, we ended up with two copies, one for my dad and one for me, but I just couldn't wait until they opened at 8 am on the day of, when I could get it at midnight the night before somewhere else!! The bookstore had all kinds of activities and drawings, and i even won a Harry Potter button for answering a trivia question about the Tri-Wizard Tournament. They had a mock Forbidden Forest, and a bar serving "butterbeer" (which was very delicious, by the way, and non-alcholic) and even characters dressed up. Here are some pictures:

Happy Wizarding!!

Harry Potter... tomorrow night!!!!!

2007-07-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited- the last of the series will finally be coming out tomorrow night! However, this excitement also comes with a tiny sense of dread on my part, because after this last, final book there will be no more Harry Potter goodness to brighten the world! There will be no more new books to read, and no more new chapters in the life of the " Boy Who Lived."
I remember, back when the first book hit stores, how people whispered and talked about it. It was hyped up by editors to be one of the best new children's book series at the time. I think that I was in third grade, or somewhere around there, when I read the first book by J.K. Rowling. Well, let me say this- I was hooked! Those editors were definitely right, but they were missing one thing- it turned out to be the best new series for ALL ages- even my parents have read about Potter and his adventures. It made me a little sad when I found out that Hogwart's wasn't real!- and I'm sure plenty of others felt the same way, judging by the way the whole nation holds its breath in expectation of each new novel.

Here are some Potter sites for news, spoilers, and etc.:

Muggle Net

The Leaky Cauldron

Veritaserum

HPANA

The author, J.K. Rowling's official site

Some fun with the cat!

2007-07-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of my baby kitty Churro!!

And my cat and I with some of my new bedding from IKEA.

Technology- meh!!

2007-07-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

I bought one of the above prints for my new room! It's the one on the right, and it was only $4, marked down from $79!

Right now, I'm sitting at my daddy's giant computer desk in his classroom at school. He has this enormous 30 or 40nch monitor. It's... fun. So today, i had the task of setting up his new wireless mini keyboard and gyration mouse. Grrrr- It took me about two hours to set up the darn things, and in the end, the solution to the frustration was simply just to get new batteries! It always seems to be that way with those tricky newfangled devices! Anyways, the new setup is working just fine, and the Air mouse is really sweet.

Shopping day...

2007-07-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

So today was a pretty busy day! My mom and I went shopping for my new dorm all evening! First I drove down to help out my dad with his Summer Institute, where he's teaching digital media classes during the summer, and then drove my mom up to the EPA, the location of the notorious IKEA superstore. wow- it always amazes me how massive that store is! We got most of the important stuff that I will need in a few months, including a new comforter and cover, pillows, a rug, cups, lamps, and pictures and mirrors for the walls. We had lunch which was chicken& some other stuff. delicious. Then, we loaded up the back of the station wagon with my new goodies and stopped at Costco and Target on the way home, to get bath towels, socks, and a flannel sheet set( the X-long twin size is kind of hard to find!). So all in all, a good day! Now i'm just watching The Notebook- I've heard lots about it!

3 more days til BOOK 7!!!!!

Short movie reviews

2007-07-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

just got home from work, a long closing shift (my favorites!) and I'm enjoying a Reese's Big Cup with Nuts. They are so gooodd... especially with this Safeway soy milk. Delicious. Not an advertisement-don't worry! : )
I watched Fever Pitch last night, and the Queen the night before. Both were good movies, very different though. Fever Pitch is with Drew barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, about the Red Sox, and it's a really sweet romantic comedy. It was pretty good to watch. The other movie, The Queen, I got from the movie machine at Safeway, the one that shoots the DVDs out at you, and it's only $1 for 24 hours. It was a really intense movie; the kind that you might fall asleep watching if you didn't pay attention. I really enjoy British movies and film, though, so I found it enthralling. Rent both of these, if you haven't seen them yet!

Sunday, my day off

2007-07-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

I slept in today. It was a yummy sleep, but i woke up at around 3 and discovered i was still on the couch. i think this caused me to have a dream about working at Starbucks. not sure why, but it was an interesting dream nevertheless. I imagined that my dad and i were out traveling one day, and went into a Starbucks to get some hot chocolate, or whatever other drinks they sell. haha.. and then when i walked in. they asked me if i could just start working, to cover a shift, because someone had forgotten to show up for their scheduled shift. So, i just went behind the counter and started serving drinks!
I had another dream too, where my mother came over to me and started giving me a haircut, at home. I seemed to be okay with it at the time. it all seemed quite normal in the dream, but who knows.
Interesting.... not sure what it quite means, but i'll look it up in my dream interpretation guide:

Loss of hair: fear of loss of one's virility
Traveling in a car with another person: thoughts about marriage
Occupations: All occupations are lumped together as an entity in dreams. One may stand for another, and all represent man in his official capacity.
The house: the mother's womb
Time of day: Afternoon: adulthood

These definitions or references are taken from the packet "How to Interpret your Dreams," by Tom Chetwynd, something i read last year in school, but still have because it is very fascinating.
I went in to Peet's today and got my free tea for the week, which was Masala Chai, tea bags. this over the loose leaf tea just for convenience, and to try it out. I brewed it today, and it wasI chose excellent! Two tea bags in a mug of boling water, with half an inch of vanilla soy milk added afterwards. yummmmm!

And, for other news, my cat took over my laundry basket today. She outgrew the old one, so now she is upgraded.. but i still need a laundry basket!

Thundering thursdays

2007-07-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

well! no more headache today!!! woo-pah!

I worked this morning early, so to start the day off, I ended up stuck in traffic on the 87. That was not so fun, but luckily i had left a lot earlier, because i was expecting that crazy traffic! yuck. there is nothing like solid brake lights to start off a lovely day. haha... well, it wasn't so bad, anyways. I had an awesome lunch sandwich- turkey, avocado, and bacon club sandwich from the bakery across the street, and sparkling apple juice to drink. It was awesome!!

I also bought three quarts of transmission fluid today, for my ridiculous but lovely Volvo 850. It's a brick, a tank, whatever, but it's fun. It might have a leak : (

So... this will be the sixth quart this month! uh oh
I also gave in to retail therapy and bought some new work clothes today. I got two pairs of pants and a sweater. So now, I'm just sitting outside watching my kitten
chew on grass and play in it like she's a real panther or jungle cat! It's purely adorable.

Loud Noises!

2007-07-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

wednesday- an okay day.
major headache though!!! And all my senses are heightened, so the littlest noise is like it is right next to my ear. Caffeine and tylenol have still not helped yet, so i hope this goes away soon!
I worked in San jose today.. afterwards, I stopped in at the Morgan Hill store to do some paperwork, and the health inspector was there! Scary.
He even looked like Larry the Cable Guy!

Me, working.

2007-07-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

+ (91), originally uploaded by _campbell.

Working hard or hardly working?

The past few days and events

2007-07-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, well it's been a couple (or more) days since I've written about my super way exciting life. Hahah... well, anyways, It has been an interesting week. I've worked every day, six days last week, because there have been some staffing changes and what not at work (Peet's Coffee and Tea, for those of you who don't know) , so it has been pretty busy.
Sunday was spent at the Kaiser hospital in San Francisco, with my grandpa and grandma and mom. We spent all day visiting with him, spending time together and talking and playing Jumbles, and then he sent us off at around 8 so that he could get his shower in preparation for the following day's surgery.
We went to Chinese at a little restaurant on Broadway, which was very tasty. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel Myako in Japantown for rest. We needed to wake up before 5!, so we accomplished that, but to the tune of no less than 5 alarms! : D
We headed to the hospital, and made it in time to see Papa in his room, sitting there and getting ready for "the slab" as he called it. The nurses came and took him for surgery prep, while we were escorted from one waiting room to another. We got to see him just before he went in, which was a little scary and very emotional. It was about a 4-5 hour surgery, so we waited in the hospital cafeteria for a few hours.
We had Egg muffins for breakfast, and i proceeded to sleep on the dining table for two hours!! And spill hot chocolate, of course! : ) After that, we went back up to the cardiovascular procedure waiting room to hear news from the physicians.
Unfortunately, i had to catch the caltrain back to San jose before i could hear the news, but i found out later on that everything went just fine.
This morning, i awoke with a crazy headache, the kind that feels like a migraine but doesn't hurt, the kind where I can hear loud rushing sounds around my head, but no pain just yet. Yuck! well... a little caffeine and some food helps, but as of now it's still going on, so I guess i just have to wait it out!
I also need to get some sleep, because tonight, I am going with my dad at midnight to the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, movie 5 of the series. I'm really excited!!!!

Follow this link for some interesting fan news and facts about Harry Potter

Independence Day

2007-07-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Good Evening!
Happy fourth of July all, I hope you're having a terrific one!
This is my first blog post, and i created it because it seemed like a good idea. OH- and... my superb aunt has one, so that makes it way cool. : )
Work was good today- since it was a holiday i got paid overtime!
My aunt and uncle came to visit, and had some drinks and purchased some excellent teas from the tea rack. It was awesome to see both of them.
It is SUPER hot right now.

As you can see!

Well, i'm off to more exciting adventures.
TTFN