to infinity and beyond

now that this week is coming to an end and I need a time buster... I've decided to blog. just haven't decided what about, yet. I'll start with Thanksgiving and then see where I go from there.

so, for Thanksgiving I went to my aunt Joyce's house. truly is a yearly tradition. Anthony (cousin's oldest son. he's 18 now) skipped out on me AGAIN, leaving me with "the little ones". the little ones are Erick (13), Sydney (8... even though she looks older than Erick) and Rowan (3). when we got to my aunt's house I watched Syd play some computer games. then... then what? I don't remember. oh yeah. went downstairs to see what Erick was up to. we ended up playing Mario Kart. I truly suck. as I told them, I'm the losingest loser. wow... it was pitiful. I guess it being my first time playing could be a good excuse. haha anyhow, after a while of me losing like crazy we decided to stop the racing and went to the Bo-bomb game cuz I told Erick I'm really good at throwing stuff. he didn't believe me... yeah, I kicked butt at Bo-bomb. haha so then he started chosing levels I wasn't good at so that he would win. :-P I had fun. even when I was losing at the racing, it was still fun. hahaha I think I like the goofy, simplicity of it all. :-D

after Rowan woke up from his nap we had lunch. I haven't seen Rowan in FOREVER (before he could talk) so I think he was a bit shy around me. I was at the kiddie table and he just would not eat. Sydney (they're bro & sis. Stacey's kids. Erick is Jason's kid) said it wasn't normal and kept trying to get him to eat. finally he started eating pretzels and stuff. after a while I told him if he kept eating the pretzels and didn't eat his turkey and potatoes that I'd tickle him. up until this point he hadn't said a word to anyone. after that... we couldn't shut him up! lol anyhow, the turkey was really yummy! and somehow little Erick ate more food than I did! haha I only had one plate full.

we decided to go for a hike after lunch. it was just me, Erick, Syd and Row at first. Stacey was gonna go with his wife to her bro's house or something like that. she ended up making him stay with us. so off we went up the hill, into the brush. after a litle one Bear (one of the dogs) came running after us so Stacey had to return him and make sure Rusty (another dog) didn't get lost. apparently Rusty gets lost easily? then we ran into Jason & Dawn who said they saw mountain lion footprints and to be careful. they took Row with them cuz he didn't want to walk through the bushes. while me, Erick and Syd were walking they saw a "huge footprint". they were wondering if i was a mountain lion's prints. at that very moment Stacey jumped through the trees going "RAWRRRR!!!!!!!!!!" oh my gosh, it was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing. all of us (including Jason, Dawn and Row) proceeded up the hill. took a nice long walk and finally got back to the house. it was a nice, relaxing walk and the first time we all hung out like that in a long time.

back at the house I did some logic puzzles while uncle Dick kept harassing me. haha he kept tickling my knee. wowzers! haha then we reminisced back to when I was little and he used to pay me to give him massages. yeah... he paid me $1 an hour! shoot... don't y'all wish I still did that?! hahaha

when Erick and Syd were done looking for frogs, we went downstairs to play more Mario Kart. we stuck to the Bo-Bomb game. woohoo! finally we played Super Smash Bros Melee (which is my yearly tradition with Anthony). I have too much fun with that game... seriously, way too much fun. it's ridiculous. I don't even know why I chose to be Jigglypuff in the first place... insanity.

after dessert and coffee it was finally time to go home. after a loooooooong car trip back to church, where my car was parked, I ran into a few people that were waiting for Paul so that they could go to see Australia with everyone. I was somehow convinced to join this escapade even though I didn't really want to go. the movie was loooooooong and slow paced. I think they could've cut out a lot of filler and made it more interesting and a but shorter. and the acting wasn't up to par. bah!

so, that was my Thanksgiving day. well, before all that I was at church doing my normal Thanksgiving day thing. wish I could've hung out with everyone after church... I LOVE playing soccer. oh well. maybe we'll play some time son... I hope... maybe... perhaps....

sorry for the lack of blogs...

sorry for the lack of blogs... haha I act like I have a million people reading my blog or something. ;) I'm more sorry that I haven't been writing cuz I love writing more than I'm sorry that I haven't been providing reading material for you. but how DOES it make you feel when I don't blog? I promise, it's nothing personal!



let's see... what IS up with me? not much. been a lot of the same ol, same ol. I mean, other than my trip to Santa Barbara this past weekend. did I blog about substituting the other week? hold on... I'm gonna check. ok, I didn't. so that's what I'm blogging about today. :-D

the other week I got called in to substitute. happened to be at the same time as all those crazy fires. I facebooked Rey and told him he better not be dying from smoke inhalation cuz he'd hate to miss out on seeing me at school the next day. he said he probably wouldn't be there cuz they were gonna be evacuated. the fire was just a few blocks from their house. I told him I'd pray for him and the family (he's got 3 kids... the youngest only a few months old) & guess what! he was at school the next day. :-D

knowing the school as well as I did, I went in being told I'd be subbing for 1st grade but knew that I'd be changed to either 4th or 7th (if Rey wasn't there). so I'm in the class getting them started for the day. my little Vero was cracking me up, along with all the others. I missed them so much. then Lily (the t.a./p.e. coach) comes in totally lost cuz there was no lesson plan. she runs around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to figure out what's going on. then Rosa comes in and asks me why she's being sent to teach 1st grade if I'm already in there and she had already started in 4th. I looked at her and laughed and asked her to remember where she was at. some time during all that, Rey popped his head in to say hi (he was late to school as it was... so I don't even know how he managed that).

eventually I ended up in 4th grade (surprise surprise?). a parent had been trying to teach the class when I got there. her control would have been all over if I didn't settle the kids down as I walked in... cuz they were ready to mob me. I told them to sit down til the parent was done with what she was teaching. then she finished and they mobbed me. seriously, I feel like a celebrity when I go there. :-D I miss those kids so much.

well, because of all the smoke from the fires... there was no "recess" time to go outside... which means I got "stuck" with the kids all day. they did amazingly well for being stuck inside all day. I give them props for that. they all worked hard (they're trying to convince me to come back... they don't like their new computer teacher.) and were generally very obedient. they even enjoyed doing some of the work I gave them and didn't complain when I did things different than their regular teacher (which they would normally do). haha randomly throughout the day kids would just come up to me and hug me and tell me they miss me. it was really precious.

during the "recess" times and after school the jr. high kids kept coming to see me. when I taught there I spent the most time with them because I also assisted in jr. high math. so they got to see me every day, not just once a week in computers class, so they miss me more than the others.

after school I went to Rey's class to say "hey". ended up helping him think up a punishment for a student that had been making fun of another student. it was kinda funny. I walk in and he says "Miss Nardi, come help me make up a punishment..." and then the girls explained what had been going on. I think I came up with a great punishment that was fit for the crime. :-) anyhow, after the girls left, Rey asked me to give him a math lesson. the math teacher that I assisted last year has moved away so he has to teach math for 7th and 8th. so I tutored him real quick. it was funny cuz he knows it, he just doesn't know how to explain it. once I explained it to him he was like "ohhhhhhhhh". haha

after that I went down to see Rosa. we were standing inside the front door talking when I heard the secretary telling someone to call the police and she closed the door... some h.s. girls from the school across the way were fighting in front of the school. mind you, it IS in East L.A., so it could have been a very bad situation. anyhow, that was my day back with my kids.

I had so much fun being with everyone. I do miss my kids and my friends a lot. I promised them all that even if I'm not substituting that I'll come to visit more often. they didn't see me for all of Sept. and Oct. I think they were going through withdrawals. hahaha :-D

it's nice to feel like a celebrity every once in a while. and to also know that you're making a difference in those people's lives. I've seen my kids go through so much and they'd tell me so much (as did the teachers). I've been so blessed to be a part of their lives.

well... I'm done now... 10 min's left to my lunch break... nothing to do... it's raining outside and my body aches.... bah. but I'll survive. I guess this is all I'm gonna right for now.

holiday

so, I finally got a "holiday" of sorts... took off with a few friends to Santa Barbara and Solvang. I had a wonderful time! only thing is.... I wish it was for more than an over night trip. not even like 2 days. it was literally over night and stay most of one day. bah! oh well, definitely worth it.

I'll tell you all I did, exactly like I told Stuart when he asked me "so, what'd you do on your trip?" haha

get stuck in traffic, check into the hotel, eat yummy food at The Habit, go back to the hotel and turn on the tv then decide to go to the jacuzzi but not get in. but then I put my legs in most of the way. ha after warming up in the jacuzzi we went to exercise for too long while watching tv. after that we went back to the room and acted silly before going to sleep, at which point I slept on the floor. woke up in the morning. Jeewon had several breakfasts because we paid for the hotel room and deserved it. haha then we drove out to Solvang and walked around and went to a million bakeries. then we drove back to Santa Barbara and walked around on the wharf for a while and then got cupcakes. then we drove back to Pasadena and ate dinner at Saladang.

yup, that's the long story short. :-D normally I like writing in story form... but I just don't feel like writing that much right now. besides, it'd end up being novel length. I'd add in all the unimportant details, including what was playing or not playing on the radio and what we were saying. haha

yeah, I'm so greatful that I finally got a holiday. I need to do it more often. especially since I didn't get my yearly trip to China this year. hopefully in spring next year...

so now I'm back and feel recharged. hahaha but I still want to go on another vacation. :-P

right now I'm just looking forward to the near future. I don't know what's going to happen... but I'm excited. it's a new season! :-D

my daydream

people always ask me what I want to do... half the time, I don't even know what people mean by that question. but there's one thing I've wanted to do for a long while but haven't had the opportunity. what I want to do is go on a looooooong vacation (well, yeah, we ALL want to do that) but for it to be a working vacation. what do I mean by that? well, I want to make a book of photos. my theme, you ask? (gee... you ask a lot of questions! haha) the broad theme would be wherever the location of the shoot is. I really enjoy taking photos in China. you can find a few of my photos of China on facebook. here, just to save you time I'll give you the links of my albums there.


Guilin, China Beijing, China Yantai, China Xi'an, China Chengdu, China more Yantai random art



ok, I know those pictures aren't amazing. in fact, those are only from 2007 and most of my really good pictures are from before that. anyhow, on top of the theme of the location of the shoot... I would add a theme. perhaps people, or clouds, or colour, or food. I think it really depends on the place. each city I've gone to I've had a different feel. different focus in mind.

anyhow, in the past, all I've had to work with is a point and shoot. just your typical camera with a zoom and options to change lighting to certain settings. I must admit, I got some really good pictures from a point and shoot... but I've now got an SLR and I'm ready to go on to bigger things! haha I only have 2 different lenses (looking at more... and filters, too) and haven't had my camera basically since I bought it (a friend borrowed it) so I haven't become very acquainted with it yet. but once I do, I'm gonna be itching to go out and take lots and lots of pix.

really, I wish someone would just fund me for a season. pay for my whole trip and any stuff I'd need to be paying back in the states during that time... and also pay for someone to accompany me. I don't know... maybe it's just a dream that I'll have to make come true myself instead of hoping someone else will pay for it. but right now I can't make it happen so it'll continue to be a "dream" for the time being...

FINALLY!

finished all my finals for this semester... now on to all the other stuff I've neglected in pursuit of studying for these finals...

maybe I shouldn't have named her Princess

my cat honestly believes she IS a Princess. well, she also thinks she's a dog and a rabbit... maybe she has identity issues? haha with the cool weather comes her becoming more clingy. this week, especially so... and honestly, it hasn't been that cold. Mon. morning she decided to me up at 5:30am. not really sure why. I think she was thirsty. normally she waits to bug me when I'm awake... not this time. nope nope. she MEOOOWWWWWWWWWWWED repeatedly. finally I told her to come to me. when she did I laid her down and told her to be quiet and I'd give her water when I got up. for some reason that worked. she got up, sulked for a second or two and then lay down on me and fell right to sleep... must admit, I was a bit jealous... shortly after that, someone else in the house woke up and was either on the phone or had someone over. in any case, she was talking VERY LOUDLY and laughing hysterically. shortly after she finally left, someone was at a door repeatedly banging on it for at least 1/2 hr. I didn't get much sleep... but Princess did! this morning I was determined to sleep in. I successfully did... but Princess thinks I'm her personal living pillow or something. or maybe she somehow stalked me to church on Sun. and heard me telling the story about the time she made my legs fall asleep and thought it was funny and wanted to do it again. whatever it was, she slept on me the whole stinkin' night... and when I woke up she refused to leave me alone. I tease her when she does that too much... it's fun. haha

anyhow... let me see... I haven't been blogging much lately. please forgive me. busy-ness has been upon me. I just can't wait til next weekend. it's gonna be my first vacation in forever. keeping it a secret for now... but I most likely will be posting pix. taking off for a day with a couple of girl friends. we all need a holiday and even though we're all kinda tight on cash, we're taking off. treating ourselves. YAY for us! :-D we're gonna have fun AND eat yummy food! WOOHOO!!!! that makes it a perfect vacation! haha

I don't know what else to write about... I'm sure I have plenty to say. I always do... but there's stuff i don't want to say in the blog and I've also been really focused on lots of stuff lately so my brain is kinda fried. I had a Chinese final yesterday. I think it went well. for some reason I have an awful looming feeling that I didn't actually finish it. :-/ sure hope I did! it was a lot easier than I expected, considering I never received the textbook. haha I have my 2nd Chinese final tomorrow... same situation. I'm not really dreading it or anything. I just wish I actually received my books so that I could IMPROVE my Chinese instead of pull upon Chinese I already know. oh well.

*yawn* I guess I don't have much to say after all... lame. and I love writing, too. what a pity. perhaps it's best that I stop. my wrist is starting to hurt and when it hurt last week it HURT. took me about 24 hrs before I could pop it back into place. it was not only uncomfortable and annoying, but it was painful. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. when I'd move it a certain way, it felt like I was being stabbed up my arm all the way to my elbow. bah..

celebrity status?

I visited my old job the other day. it was pretty spiffy. got to see all my former co-workers. hung out FOREVER talking. thought I'd only hang out for a few min's but ended up spending nearly my whole early afternoon there. I loved catching up with them and hearing how they're doing, etc, etc, etc. I'm gonna go visit them more often. for reals. haha

I also got to see all the kids. I was mobbed with hugs and "Miss Nardi, I miss you!!!!!!!"'s. gee, how can you not love that?! even from the little trouble makers... hahaha some of them even teared up at seeing I was there. awwww. <3 I've been forced to promise I'll visit more often. (yeah... they didn't really have to twist my arm. I willingly agreed to) I'm also on their call list for subbing on Mon's. woohoo.

nothing else to say now. just wanted to make sure I remember that. good times.

Sarah's Law (no, not MY law) - Proposition 4

I was going to write about this last night but decided to wait til today to see the results. I was hoping that we'd get a "yes" in and I wouldn't need to vent about it... but I guess I do. before you read the rest of my blog for today, I would appreciate you reading about Proposition 4 (Sarah's Law) while reading it, remember that you are just reading an informational guide for voting and that it is not written by supporters for Prop 4. it's not a yes or no for whether abortion should be illegal. it's just saying that parents should be notified within 48 hrs before the procedure will be completed except in the case of an emergency procedure (the mother's life is at stake) or parents have a history have emotional/physical abuse and there is reason to fear it, in which case another adult relative would be notified.

so here's my spiel. hopefully I'll stay on thought track so that I don't lose everyone. I can't believe Prop 4 wasn't passed! what does this say about our nation? it shows that nobody wants to take responsibility for children under 18 being sexually active. how can parents vote no for this law?! that's shirking their responsibility! they're saying "sure, I know my kids are sexually active... but as long as I don't see evidence of pregnancy, that's perfectly fine with me." WHAT?! would they be saying that if there were complications from the procedure and their daughter died a few days later? I doubt it. why do you think the Proposition came about in the first place? exactly a situation like that.

here's what a "no" to this says to me.... it says that children are allowed to have sex. this means that there will be no consequences for choices these children have made. that means that they'll grow up thinking that they can hide their mistakes and not have any adverse affects. it also means that parents can't be there for their children emotionally when these poor girls are going through bouts of depression. they hardly understand teenagers in the first place. random depression could mean anything, but if they knew what had happened they'd be able to help them through it and get them counseling, etc. so parents are allowing children to shirk their responsibilities by shirking their own responsibilities as a parent to be responsible for their children. I don't get it... if a child isn't attending school regularly, the parent is held responsible. but if a child gets pregnant, nobody is held responsible? and then... how does that coincide with statutory rape? so... a child can get pregnant and have an abortion without the parent knowing and successfully hides a sexual relationship with someone else protecting them as well from paying consequences for their choices. gee... this just doesn't sound logical to me. how can we bring up children like this?! they're taught to not take responsibility for anything. it's ridiculous!

I don't think it's just the fault of the parents. I think we, as a society, have promoted sexual promiscuity. think about it... look at what you see on tv & at the movies. even PG-13 stuff is a bit risque. and music?! helloooooo! has anyone listened to it lately? yes, I enjoy music as much as the next person.... but children should not be exposed to some songs. I've worked at an elementary/jr. high and have definitely heard kids that are too young to really be thinking about anything sexual singing songs that have blatant sexual connotations. yes, we can lay the blame on parents for not monitoring what their kids are doing. but at the same time, we are we putting it in their face and making it hard for them to avoid. there's got to be some kind of healthy balance. heck, kids can't even go around town without seeing signs up with half naked women (and even men). what are parents supposed to do, put blinders on them?! it's just not logical.

I feel that with this proposition there could be modifications. I'm glad that they do take into account that parents can be abusive and that they should not be notified in that case. but at the same time, I think that the kids & parents should be given options for counseling whether or not they have decided to go through with the abortion. it really is a life altering situation. parents need to know how to deal with a child that has had an abortion. children need to know how to deal with the emotions/feelings that they experience. if they decide to go through with the pregnancy and give it up for adoption, they need to have counseling available to them for that as well. and if they decide to keep the baby, they'll need training. nobody ever said taking responsibility for your actions was easy... but as long as you have support it'll be easier than it could have been.

I don't understand how we could vote no on this... it's sad to see that our state has come to this. I hope and pray that somehow this gets overturned. for the children's sake. they need their parents (especially in hard times)... but most of them would never actually admit it. and the only reason many have abortions without telling their parents is out of fear how their parents will react. I admit that some parents might go overboard and cause problems, but with this law those situations can be avoided.

anyhow, I didn't say all I wanted to and not nearly in the manner I had planned last night... but my lunch is calling my name and I want to eat it. haha :) feel free to share your thoughts on this subject. if you hold a different view point, please share... I want to try to understand your thoughts on it. perhaps there's something I'm missing here. but after reading the proposition, I firmly believe that it should have resulted in a yes. perhaps people only knew the general idea that a vote yes would mean parents would be notified but not about the ways to protect a child if her parents could be expected to abuse her. if I didn't know that and I had grown up in an abusive home, I'm sure I would have voted no as well. maybe the general public wasn't aware of all the details. I hope...

profound

earlier this morning I had a feeling I had something profound to share on here... but when I explored that feeling, I realized I couldn't think straight. yup, I'm in "finals" mode as well as fighting a cold (thanks, Andrew! >_<) and getting ready to head down to the Call (watch it on iworshiphere.com ) tonight. I can't really think straight. meh, maybe next week

birthday bash

thanks to all of you that made my birthday party amazing (especially to Mary for planning it and Hailey for the cake)! I was so exhausted from a week of studying for finals and work and stuff... but it was great!

dinner was yummy. I'm glad we had dinner there and that so many people made it out. Chinese food with friends equals FUN. :-D I was really blessed by so many people making it out. especially since it was so late on a Sat. night due to my work schedule. I still think it's funny that they brought out the cake to prepare for me at the adjacent table. don't be frustrated with them, Hailey. it just made the experience all that much better. what a random/funny memory.

karaoke was great. I think I've created a few new karaoke addicts. bwahaha so many first timers! we're so going again some time soon. especially because a few people that really wanted to make it out couldn't make it. sorry, Melissa and Andrew!

well, I want to write more but I should be studying and I have a headache and I'm sleepy... so I'm going to study a few min's before getting back to work. *yawn*

professional in office e-mail writer?

I think I should hire myself out for writing in office e-mails... a friend of mine showed me an e-mail that was sent to the staff in her office and not only was it grammatically incorrect but it was BORING! I told her so as I was slightly shocked and laughing at the absurdity of it all. so then she asked me how I would write the same message to send to the staff. after a moment of contemplation, while dealing with a schizophrenic photocopy machine, this was the result:

"Attention all staff members. Please be on the look out for a rampant tape dispenser napper that has managed to get away with all three (3?!) of the tape dispensers in the mail room. It is believed that the tape dispenser napper deposited them at a location somewhere on the premesis. The tape dispensers get easily frightened when they are lonely and also have a tendency to want to tape things (including people!) when they have not been used often enough. It's to benefit everyone's personal safety that they are returned to the mail room as soon as possible. Remember, without them we can not function and without us things are in danger of randomly being taped. They NEED to be returned to us before anything goes wrong! But use caution when approaching them as we don't know how frightened they are at the time being. Thanks for all your help!"

I also realized that I had way too much fun writing that message. so, if you're ever in dire need of a "fun" in office e-mail, please feel free to contact me. I love when I get to send e-mails to the office staff here as I get people giggling throughout the day. a little bit of sunshine in the office is always fun.

there is one other way you can earn the love (and corresponding hatred) of your office workers. get a song stuck in their head. at the top of my list of songs to get stuck in there head are Jesus is a Friend of Mine and this song about fast food. they're at the top of the list because they're songs I can't get out of my head once I've listened to them. I've discovered that the only way to get the songs OUT of your head is to get it IN other people's heads. I attempted that in the office the other day with Jesus is a Friend of Mine. it was quite a success. it made me giggle.

well, it's actually my lunch break (and has been for 15 min's.) and I'm debating whether I'm going to leave the office or not... so I'm going to head out. just remember to hire me when you're in need of a fun in office e-mail message. all I need are the details of the info needing to be sent out and I can make it quite fun. to see the results of an e-mail I actually did send out to my office, look through my old blog posts to find the one about the white mail bins. I got more responses to that e-mail than I ever do to the typical in office e-mail. :-D

missing monsoon season

I've completely missed monsoon season in China this year... this year can't come to an end without me experiencing a monsoon... I miss it. :-/ this is the last month of monsoon in China and I'm still here in America. what the heck...

I might have more pix of China monsoon season here (which would be first hand accounts rather than me searching for pix on google... althought I DO remember when that thing happened with the plane. the Yantai airport was flooded. and I know that part of town in the pic that is showing rain... and the lightning, well that's normal monsoon lightning in Yantai that I MISS LIKE CRAZY) http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=10553482&albumId=2282542

Picture Game

Just go to google images and type in the words and see what pictures pop up! But be careful, some can be a little racy!

First Name: Sarah

Middle Name: Elisabeth

Last Name: Nardi

Age: 29

Place I'd like to visit someday: Italy

Favorite Vacation Spot: Yantai

Past Celebrity Crush: Jeremy Miller

College Major: Language Learning in a Multicultural Society

Place I grew up: Hacienda Heights, CA

First Job: Rowland Bowl

Favorite Dessert: strawberries with whipped cream

Favorite Food: FOOOOOOOOOOOD

Favorite Color: orange

Somewhere you've been today: Ambassador Auditorium

remembering

I can't believe I'm turning 30 in less than a month... it doesn't seem real. somehow I feel like the 4 yrs in China were the years I grew personally/spiritually the most yet I didn't grow physically (well, other than gaining weight... but you would too during the winters I lived there! good food and freezing cold weather leads to weight gain). now it's been 4 yrs since I've been back from China. seriously, 4 years?! the first year felt that long... yet the following 3 seem to have flown by... including the fall from 7 ft resulting in 2 spinal compression fractures, the car accident with 2 big rigs... and what else? I don't remember... I've managed to not injure myself seriously since the car accident. that's pretty amazing! haha sorry, I'm just writing in flow of thought. I haven't felt motivated to write a blog in a while and now I want to write a blog but can't seem to think up a theme. so you get my thoughts. :-D lucky you! :-P

lately I've been nearly as busy as I was before when I was teaching and working at church and had no car... but I'm having so much FUN being busy! I have time to hang out with everyone and also study and do my work and whatever else. I just wish my weekends were more free... maybe one day they will be. anyhow, having a car and only one job has opened up so much time. although, I still need a new car. Speed Racer is becoming a grumpy car. he makes funny noises and has a bad case of the shakes. I think he's just old. haha why am I talking like he's a human being or something? I'm so goofy some times.

so, last week someone tortured me with a youtube video... torture as in I was laughing hysterically but then regretted it cuz I couldn't get the song out of my head. I've decided the only way to help me get over this problem is by getting the song stuck in as many other people's heads as possible. please humor me and watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8 somehow I keep finding myself wanting to listen to it... and watching the people singing backup... wow, hysterical! and the guitarist and bassist are totally rocking out. what were they thinking?! oh yeah... notice the 70's style clothes? yeah... this was recorded mid 80's. sad.

for about a week I had absolutely nothing to do in the office. it was so frustrating! I hate sitting around with nothing to do, ESPECIALLY at work. I'd try to make up stuff to do and end up frustrated because there seriously was nothing to do. last Thurs. I spent nearly the whole day on facebook leaving comments for people, etc. I had fun doing that, yet felt useless. yesterday I was ECSTATIC to have work to do. not only just "some work" to do but enough to keep me busy the whole day and not actually have to force myself to leave work to do today... but enough so that I actually HAD to leave stuff for me to do today cuz I didn't have time to do it yesterday. lovely! I like having maybe 3 days of busy-ness like that and one catch up day. or even a catch up half a day. at least in China when I'd get bored after teaching classes and having my lesson plans ready, I could walk around the field or sneak up to the roof to play my tennis game. OH MY GOSH! I almost forgot about that game! I have it here. :-D I want to play but need to find a place to play... and a person to play with. it's an amazing game. basically, you have a racquetball attached to a huge rubber band that you clip to something weighted. you hit the ball and it comes back. you can play by yourself or with another person. it's great exercise! when I had the chance, me and Mrs. Chu used to sneak up to the roof and play. we had so much fun, even though we sucked at it... and the kids in the school next door could totally see us playing. HAHAHA I'd put a picture of the game... except I don't know what exactly it's called and I'm having focus issues so I'm not doing too well on finding a pic of it on google.

I'm suddenly exhausted. strange... perhaps it's due to the coffee I just had? but that doesn't make sense. I've only had one latte from Starbucks in over two weeks! I'm feeling so accomplished. hahaha I stopped for two reasons. one, I'm fasting from it... cuz it's the hardest thing for me to fast right now. hahaha I think I'm semi-addicted to the pumpkin spice latte. also, I gain a freakin lot of weight from any drinks that contain milk. seriously. I thought I was losing my mind or something... last week someone explained to me that that probably means I'm lactose intolerant. HELLO?!?! I've got nearly 30 years of my life and didn't figure that one out?! *sigh* I guess it means I only gain weight from it... how sucky! haha good thing I'm not a big milk drinker. I'm just gonna have to start ordering soy milk at the 'bucks from now on. I hope that helps! ok, back to my point.... I think I had one? anyhow. I'm really tired and not sure why. I think my body is just telling me it's time to sleep. wow. way too simple and obvious, yet completely true. I'm glad I'm gonna just study and sleep tonight. I need a slow night. I've been non-stop all week. but it was fun. massage & dinner on Monday with Melissa. racquetball on Tues. with Danielle. Wed. was cell group. last night after prayer meeting we played pool. I definitely need a break.

lately my cat has been more than ever clingy. she'll sit on my lap as soon as I get home and she'll sleep right next to me, even on hot nights. that's really abnormal for her. Jeewon suggested that might mean an earthquake is coming soon cuz her cats are acting psycho too. I'm hoping not. but it's a possibility. I wasn't around my cat the last time (her only time) we had an earthquake. my parents were cat sitting. maybe I should ask them how she was acting before the quake. I know how she was acting afterwards cuz I checked up on her. poor thing probably thought the world was coming to an end. HAHAHA but it probably wasn't as scary as Chinese firecrackers are to her. those things spook her to no end. I mean, when they're many and at the same time.... like on Chinese New Year. I don't blame her, though. it gets freakin' loud. I wonder if I suffered hearing loss from it. teeheehee I just remembered that 2 years in a row by 2 different people that we accidently sent a firecracker straight through the school apartment sign. hahahahaha I almost forgot about that! wow....

this week was my cousin's son's birthday. he turned 18. I feel so old.... I remember the day he was born. he was 3 months premature. lots of health problems. wow... I can't believe 18 years have passed. I remember me and my brother spoiling the snot out of him. hahahaha he was/is our surrogate little bro.

welpers, I ran out of stuff to say for now... well, not really. but as I said earlier, I'm having focus problems. and also I'm exhausted. and I don't want to keep rambling. :-D

missing white mail bins

not quite sure why, but I was in an uber goofy mood today despite being all ache-y and feeling a bit BLECH. I started the day off by sending an e-mail to the staff trying to locate missing white mail bins. you would think that I could keep that simple enough... ok, maybe you wouldn't think that. especially after reading my novel length blog posts. haha anyhow, I made it into a search for missing wild animals... or something like that. see:

"Hello all.
The white mail bins have not been successfully making their way back to the office and we are now down to only one. If you happen to run into one of these bins, please capture and tame it and bring it back to its home here in the office so that we can take good care of it.
Thanks!"

I got quite a few giggles out of people regarding that e-mail. I was proud of myself. but I was even more proud of myself when I got an e-mail from David, in facilities, that included a picture taken from the security camera.

note the white bins on the right side by the stairs. they were successfully located! WOOHOO! there was an e-mail follow up on that picture that said:

"If you could please wrangle & tame them and then place them in the camera room, that would be perfect. Someone will pick them up on Sunday and transport them to the safe haven in the office. I hope they don’t cause you too many problems. They are apparently very defiant and don’t like to return home every once in a while.
Thanks."

yup, I was goofy today. :)

can't sleep

why is it that driving back from the wedding I could be so thoroughly exhausted... then somehow manage to sit around looking at stuff on the internet for a good 2 hrs and then not be able to sleep. something's seriously wrong with this picture...

I think the bouquet toss at the wedding could be put under the category of "lamest bouquet toss". Jenay threw it and it landed short of us by a few feet... and everyone literally just stood there and stared at it. I finally pushed Becky towards it and she got it. I don't know what it was that possessed all of us to just stand and look at it... and it wasn't just us silly people from HRC. the other single ladies we didn't know did the exact same thing. haha poor bouquet just laid there on the floor looking pitiful and we didn't even care.

ok, writers block... need sleep... gonna take another go at it. hope I actually fall asleep this time. I'm so tired!

nearly a week!

it's been nearly a week of no new blog posts! I'm actually quite shocked. several times throughout the week I was thinking of blogging. to be honest, I was too tired to blog. every time I pondered the idea of blogging... I'd have brain block and couldn't come up with anything to write. it was pitiful. driving to work in the morning I'd struggle to keep my eyes open. driving home after whatever event I had that night, I'd struggle to keep my eyes open. it was just one of those weeks. not enough sleep and too much to do. actually, it all started last Wed. and today was the first day I had time to sleep in. it would have felt amazing if I didn't randomly wake up at 7am (after getting to sleep at about 2am) and then not be able to fall asleep til nearly 10. it was kinda depressing. :-/

I'm so glad that I'm not sore and in pain today! well, I mean, other than from hitting my knee on the open door on the computer at church... OWWWW!!! that really hurt like crazy. I thought I was gonna cry. haha anyhow, yeah, last night we played indoor soccer. it was AMAZING! I love the rush of it. doesn't hurt any that I absolutely love and adore soccer. haha somehow my team was the only one that didn't have people that really know how to play soccer, other than myself. I still had fun though. I played defense. trust me, on a team of people that don't really know how to play soccer... defense is a VERY important position. besides, when everyone else on the team just runs around to wherever they want to, offense position is mass mayhem. not something I enjoy. I am so greatful to God that He gave me the strength to make it through the evening of playing even though my knee has been acting up. I did wear a knee brace, but it wasn't a heavy duty one or anything. apparently good enough, though. and I must admit that about 6 yrs ago I wouldn't have been able to make it through the first game, let alone a total of 4 games (they were only 10 min. games but are intense. like soccer on crack!), without having an asthma attack. I thank God that He provided the Chinese medicine for me to take that has nearly completely cured me of asthma. I still have an attack every once in a while. usually during a bad allergy attack or going from cold air to stuffy hot air. but I've gotten so much better. it's exhilirating.

I'm now wanting to find a place to play racquet ball. I used to play it a lot. it's a great work out and intense. and the best part is that you don't HAVE to play with someone. I mean, it might look weird for a person to be running around in an enclosed room with a racquet chasing after a little blue rubber ball... but really, it's fun!! :-D

ok, off to bed now. I've been complaining about not getting enough sleep and here I am staying up late to blog when I have to be at church early to set up everything. fortunately I already made the powerpoint! but I wanna show up early so I can listen to Kenny sing. I don't think I'll ever stop loving his voice. I mean, well, once he starts losing it... then I will. hahahaha anyhow, g'night.

sleep deprivation

I'm so tired! can I have a day off to sleep? haha even when I DO have a day off to sleep, I don't sleep. I end up doing a million other things. I feel like I haven't stopped since... I dunno, a long time ago. haha

just a short "what I did this weekend" blog. I don't normally write these, so it's kinda fun for me. haha on Friday night I went to the LA County Fair. somehow, during the fair, I almost forgot I'm not Chinese. I'm pretty sure that happened around the time I got tricked into getting a massage because I asked the shopkeeper, in Chinese, how much it cost and they all proceeded to insist that I'm Chinese from northern China. yup... even Chinese people in America just don't get it when it comes to me speaking Chinese. haha then later on we saw the Chinese acrobatics without even knowing they were there. it was funny cuz I kept telling them what was going to happen next... yeah, I guess I saw the show a few times too many while traveling in China. I think I even recognized a few of them. absolutely insane!

Saturday I worked for the Orchestras of Pasadena. John Williams was conducting! he's an amazingly brilliant man! I can't believe I got paid to sit and listen/watch him conduct. perhaps the best part was when the rope snapped for the screen while Andrew was lowering it at the end of the show. I kinda like the story that we came up with that involved John Williams and almost all the main characters of the movies he's orchestrated music for. that was quite enjoyable. if only reality were as fun as our imaginations. I was stuck working at the event til about 12:30am cuz of clean up. IF someone had listened to me when I told them the way things were supposed to be done, we would have been able to leave a lot earlier. but alas, guys do not know how to admit that maybe it's possible that the person who has worked events like this 20+ times and always strikes stage (and when she isn't physically able to, is asked to oversee all that goes on and assign jobs to all volunteers) might know something more than himself who has only assisted in 1 stage strike. I was a bit upset...

Sunday was church. normal busy church day stuff. nothing special. I mean, other than computers being insane and not letting me do stuff that pastor David specifically asked me to do before going home... yeah, that wasn't fun. but instead of sitting around for any longer getting frustrated at stupid programs, I went home and fell asleep. absolutely an amazing feeling to be able to sleep. lol

woke up early this morning to go to the chiropractor. then I slowly made my way to La Verne to pick up Danielle. we headed back to Pasadena to go to Melissa's house. Danielle, Shawna and I all got our hair cut by Melissa. YAY! Shawna and I also got our hair dyed. it's so funny, we used the same colour but the results came out completely different for us... and it's not like our original hair colour was that much different. I'm happy with my colour. I know it's going to get lighter and it has a nice reddish copper tint to it. spiffyness! after all that fun, Danielle and I went to find Dots Bakery. oh my goodness! the person working there asked me if I grew up in La Habra. I said yes, only cuz it's near to where I did grow up and most people don't know where Hacienda Heights is. then she asked me what school I went to. I said I went to school in Hacienda Heights. she said she did too and she went to Wilson. I asked her what year. yup... we graduated in the same year! crazy, no?! I wonder why she remembers me... I wasn't popular or in any of the "cool" or "big" groups. maybe she went to the Christian club? that's all I can assume as I know she wasn't in any of my classes. she told me her name and I do recognize her name (she was one of the "smart" kids) but I know she wasn't in any of my classes. crazy. maybe I was more popular than I thought? hahaha anyhow, after Dots we went to get a massage. it felt really nice. I also got "ear candles" done. I'd never done it before. when the first ear was done it tickled like crazy. the other ear was fine, though. THEN we went to go eat dinner. YUMMMM!!!!! and after that we walked around and bought stuff from vending machines. LOL

ok, I'm going to sleep now. I'm so tired. I don't even know why I'm still awake. haha :-D

unpredictable

working in the HRC church offices leads to an entirely undpredictable day. not really in work load, per se. mostly I can foresee what I'll need to do for work and sometimes even become bored because I've run out of stuff to do. but we all unique characters that somehow encourage uniqueness in each other. as I mentioned (or meant to, if I didn't) in some blog in recent days, the joy level in the office has risen since I've started working here full time. I think my uniqueness draws out the uniqueness in others. LOL

conversations in the office are always abundant on full of laughs. I usually am the one that has the snappy come backs to whatever people have just said. in cases when the person seems to be having a rough day, it's especially helpful to have the goofy come back to bring them back to reality. then we start talking about random nonsense and laughing. pastor David is the theological one that loves discussing things about the Bible. we just spent a good 1/2 hr discussing how in the Bible half brothers/sisters married each other and that Abimelech took Sarai as his wife when she was 90... ah yes, and "did Adam & Eve have a belly button?" albeit, our conversations are not always that goofy. Gwen is a mix between pastor David and me. get the 3 of us talking and we can go on forever. feeding off of each other. discussing deep things about the Bible and then suddenly contemplating the most random things. I enjoy it. Doug is Doug. he has such a unique since of humor that if you don't know him you'd think he's a grumpy old man. boy, does he make me laugh! lol when Derek comes in we never know what to expect. sometimes he's in serious mode and then other times he's goofy. Rica is lots of fun and likes to make people laugh. Mary is focused but sometimes forgetful... and she's also one that likes to laugh. Shirley comes up for her daily dose of me. hahaha just kidding! she comes up to do stuff and then we end up joking around and laughing about the most random things. those are the people I see mainly every day. Gabe comes in about once or twice a week. Shirley and I make those "pick on pastor Gabe days". they're quite enjoyable. lol

not only do we talk about random things, but we do the most random things. at this very moment Gwen, Rica and myself are armed with marshmalllow shooters. yes, they shoot marshmallows. Gwen is to use hers on Doug, Rica is to use hers on Derek and I am to use mine on pastor David. we might mix it up every once in a while, but that's generally how it'll go. haha and it's not uncommon for random pieces of office desk supplies to be flying through the air... typically AT someone. (disclaimer: the office supplies are typically pieces of paper, paper clips or rubber bands... or random wrapped candies that are in the candy dish on my desk) there was also that one time that pastor David had a djembe in the office and he was singing and dancing for our entertainment. we laughed pretty hard! if you've either heard him try to sing or seen him try to dance, you'd know why we were laughing so hard. quite enjoyable.

I kinda miss Jonder working in here. it gets quiet. but then again, I still have fun with the people that are around. although, they'd probably never do stuff that him and I did. like block pastor David into his own office by putting a huge desk in front of his door. or spend 30 min's under his desk trying to put a keyboard drawer in. I can't think of any more examples right now, but I'm pretty sure he's the one that started the throwing of office desk supplies at people. too bad we weren't armed with our marshmallow shooters back then! we would've taken him down! haha

ok, I'm going to return to working now. I still have a few hrs left... I wonder if I actually have anything I need to do? I'm tired of working on the playlists for iworshiphere because the RayV broadcaster has so many stupid problems that its giving me a headache. if it were possible to strangle a piece of software, I totally would! I spent a good hour today accidently discovering problems with the broadcaster and making screen captures so that I had proof of these problems. I didn't want everyone to think I was losing my mind and making up problems because I couldn't figure out how to do something. lol alrighty then, off I go. :-D

humour

we all know I have a good sense of humor.. so when I accidently found this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo), I couldn't stop laughing. actually, I still have the song stuck in my head... is that bad? LOL *singing* Ken Leeeeee tulibu dibu douchoo! Ken Leeeeee

I won't even start putting on the other videos I find funny. basically, they're ridiculously cheesy or goofy and I just can't help but laugh. but obviously I enjoy laughing, so it's all good. :-D

have you ever started laughing at a really bad time but you couldn't help it cuz something just happened that reminded you of another situation that was hysterical? yeah... I do that all the time. and most of the time, when I try to explain WHY I'm laughing, people just look at me like I'm the boogie man or something. so I've stopped trying to explain and instead just say "sorry... you wouldn't get it." and try to stop laughing. haha

ok, I don't think I ever told my funny stories from China (JUST from last summer... otherwise I'd be here all day) that I referenced a week or so ago in my blog, so I will do that now. I have time to kill. I'll try to go in order during the trip, but I don't know if I'll remember everything.

1) "bu yao dance". in Chinese "bu yao" means "I don't want it." well, if you've ever been to China you know that in touristy areas the vendors are relentless. they'll hunt you down and keep trying to sell you knock off purses, watches, luggage, etc, etc, etc. so Jenn and I decided we were gonna make up a bu yao dance (basically it's the cabbage patch) and do it the next time a vendor approached us. we were just tired of them. so yeah, a vendor came up to us and we did the bu yao dance... and totally confused the snot out of them.

2) Shanghai rain. so, we were at the Bund and had just left Daniel. we were going to do something really quick and then head back to the hostel. well, didn't quite work out that way. it started pouring rain while we were doing that one thing (whatever it was). we tried to catch a taxi back and because it was raining so hard they were all taken. seriously, our umbrellas weren't even helping us out AT ALL. we eventually took them down because we were already soaked despite using them. and it was too windy to try to keep hold of them. so yeah, we were walking all over the city hoping that in one of the random back alleys we'd find a free taxi. I believe we walked for about 2 hrs. before giving up. we stopped at a Coffee Bean and got a HOT drink to warm us up. we waiting until well after it stopped raining before we went to look for a taxi.

3) late for the train, Shanghai edition. we were just late for it. I don't remember why. I think we had forgotten what time our train was leaving. anyhow, we had the taxi driver driving like crazy. we got to the train station and took off running with ALL our crap. seriously, we had just bought a whole bunch of stuff in Shanghai. it was a bunch of stuff. we ran for the security entry and rushed to the front of the line, showed them our tickets and ran in. we ran through the whole building to get to the gate for our train and showed them our tickets again... and then ran some more. we finally made it to our train car and jumped onto the train. almost as soon as we sat down at our beds the train started moving. I actually think that was our best experience at a train station! haha

4) "oh crap!" "what?" "it's gonna rain..." so Jenn and I had been at UBC cafe in Guilin for breakfast and had just walked out when I said "oh crap!" and Jenn questioned why I was saying that. I explained that "it's gonna rain..." she said something to the effect of "yeah, and?" and I said "no. big! and now! we gotta hurry!" almost instantaneously it started POURING rain. I mean, a ridiculously heavy down pour. Jenn was shocked. I wasn't. neither were all the street vendors... nor did it seem anyone else. quite a few people had umbrellas. anyhow, we sloshed our way back to the hostel slipping & sliding the whole way.... we were wearing flip flops & the whole way back was tiled. blech. anyhow, we made it back and then it stopped raining as quickly as it started. it was really funny! Jenn totally didn't believe me when I said it was gonna rain as we were walking in to UBC for breakfast. I guess living in China for 4 yrs has made me very sensitive to the rainy weather. I always know when it's coming. :-D

5) taxi ride in Chengdu. I think that was THE ONLY time I've ever prayed for safety in a taxi ride. seriously! and taxi rides in China are generally scary, so that must say something about that specific ride. Jenn was sitting in the back seat squeaking every time we got close to almost dying. I was sitting in the front seat absolutely quiet cuz I was praying and hoping that if I pretended I was pushing on the break that he would press the break. yeah, that didn't work. haha this guy was insane. he was weaving in and out of nearly stopped traffic going into on coming traffic. and then suddenly he'd be up on the shoulder going full speed heading for a STOPPED bus with no apparent way back into traffic and then somehow manage to weave back into traffic at the last second.

6) Kartoffelkarte. bus trip (as I call them, the buses are "sleeper deckers". bunk bedish style beds throughout the bus) from Xi'an to Yantai. so Jenn and I are on this awful bus trip from Xi'an to Yantai. my brain has chosen to forget most of the details of that trip. I don't remember how long it was nor most of what happened on the bus. I think I chose to read (I couldn't sleep cuz the bed was too small and my legs would start cramping) and listen to music the whole time. anyhow, at one point it stopped for a break. we got off the bus and were walking around trying to make ourselves feel better. I went to look at a map so I could see if I could figure out where we were and how much longer we had. mind you, we're both brain dead from being on this bus for too many hours. Jenn comes over to me and says that I'm looking at a Kartoffelkarte. I look at her and start laughing. I asked if I was looking at a potato card. she kept insisting that Kartoffelkarte meant map in German. after a while she finally gave in and admitted that it couldn't since Kartoffel does mean potato. but for some reason, neither of us could remember how to say map in German. so random.

7) "hell, man! you almost cut off my arm!" one day after Jenn & I were done teaching at the English summer school the school bus driver was driving us back to our place along with an Australian man and a guy from Cameroon. they're both really funny guys and we had met them once before. anyhow, this time just as the guy from Cameroon got in the van the driver slammed the door next to him. the guy screamed "hell, man! you almost cut of my arm!" and we all bust up laughing. I believe it was during this trip that they both showed off their "Japanese" skills. as I remember, they said something to the affect of "bastardica bombardica americana". we couldn't stop laughing. they were nuts. we enjoyed it. haha

8) bus trip from Yantai to Beijing. I wish I had never let those guys know I speak/understand Chinese. all I wanted to do for the whole trip was sleep... but they wanted to talk with me the whole time. relentlessly asking questions and what not. I eventually put on my head phones thinking that they'd leave me alone. nope, they just kept talking to me like I didn't have them on. I felt bad for Jenn cuz she was totally left out of the conversation, even though they kept talking to her like she understood and she got this blank look on her face. lol I was also jealous, cuz she had an excuse to not talk back. hahaha anyhow, some time in the middle of the bus trip the driver takes out a bottle of "water" and offers me some. I sniff it (cuz they, being the 2 drivers, made me) and almost passed out. ok, I exaggerate. but yeah, they were drinking baijiu. a really strong Chinese alcohol. fortunately they weren't chugging it or anything. but knowing that was going on kept Jenn & I quite alert to the driving for the rest of the trip. lol

(I already mentioned our Great Wall experience in a previous post, so I won't include that here)

9) late for the train, Beijing edition. this time it was a combination of things that made us late. one, being that we were waiting for a taxi for a good 1/2 hr. but we weren't late enough to have to run through the building. well, maybe we were but we decided not to. we just barely made it on the train again. :-D

10) "noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jenn & I had just walked out of relaxing at KFC when a vendor came up to Jenn, who was a few feet in front of me, and asked "lady, where you from?" Jenn got this crazed look on her face and turned to him and yelled "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I nearly doubled over in laughter. and the vendor and the girl with him got this confused/frightened look on their face and he said "no......?" oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard I thought I wouldn't be able to stop.

soooo...

you know, I haven't done this in a long while... but most of this morning I stayed at home and cleaned while I had a movie playing on my comp in the background... and just got stuff done! my cat cuddled with me when I'd take a break... and after getting some cleaning done, I took a shower and rested. it felt great! the past year (since I moved in here) I've just been too busy to really care about cleaning that much. but the other day I decided I need to go through all my stuff and throw out what I don't need. OBVIOUSLY not a day job. I've got boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff to go through. but hey, at least I've started. maybe if I get a few hrs in a week then by the end of the month I won't feel so cluttered. and who knows, maybe I'll actually start feeling at home here... yeah, doubt it. I don't even have an overhead light or internet or a tv or anything. but at least I won't feel overwhelmed with all my junk. haha I wonder how much I'll actually get rid of...?

I just realized I forgot something at the house (I'm actually not there right now, I'm at church... cuz that's where I have internet) but I don't feel like going back for it. oh well. not important. I think I'll survive. I woke up this morning feeling like totally yucky... but after going to the chiropractor and then getting stuff done, I kinda feel energized. but honestly, I don't feel like doing anything right now. once I get to the house I'm house sitting... I'll probably turn on my music (yeah, they have tv... but once I turn it on, there may be no end to the insanity. I've been deprived for a good, long while. haha) and pray/read my Bible... and then get back online...

oh yeah! I got some pretty good feed back from my Chinese assignment. well, the one that was me reading a chapter out loud. I honestly didn't even read over the chapter before recording it. it was due asap and I didn't have time to worry about how perfect my pronunciation was, etc, etc, etc. I just wanted to get it done so that I can take the final exam. anyhowwwwwww...... yeah, I didn't read over it and I took the busy man's way out and read it in pinyin (romanized pronunciation) rather than the characters because I wasn't even sure if I knew all the vocabulary. normally my pronunciation of pinyin isn't as good as characters because I spend most of the time trying to figure out what I'm reading (at least with characters the meaning is in the character. pinyin is just a bunch of letters and tones put together). so I wasn't expecting any rave reports on my assignment. just that it was received and I'm admitted to the final. wellll... my professor wrote back to me and was saying that I had only mis-pronounced 2 words (and actually, one I can blame on where I lived in China and their pronunciation...) and actually was complimenting me on my pronunciation and specifically of certain sounds that are very difficult for foreigners to pronounce. I really feel kinda special. hahah well, I honestly already knew that my pronunciation is pretty.. ummm... fluent? like, if I talk with a Chinese person on the phone they assume I'm Chinese and I've even had people ask me, while speaking to me face to face, if I'm Chinese. but I haven't practiced my Chinese much in many, many months so it's really nice to hear that from her.

my brother called me the other day. he wants me to go visit him for Christmas. little did he know, I was already planning on coming to visit him some time before the end of the year. I'm really excited. I haven't seen him in nearly 2 yrs and his wife and my beautiful nieces in over a year. so that'll be a treat for me.

not much else going on. just chillin'. life is good. I can't believe it's already September! I went to Starbucks yesterday and they're already serving Pumpkin Spice Latte's! YAY!!!!!!!!! I need to remember to limit myself to a few a week. those things are so addicting! but maybe I shouldn't limit myself... cuz normally if I'm having more than one Starbucks a week (Sun. morning while getting ready for church... haha) that means that I've walked there during my lunch break to read my Bible & listen to my ipod instead of going out to lunch some where. so I guess it's a good thing when I'm having too much Starbucks. hmmm... sounds like good reasoning to me! :-D

I don't know what else to say.... I feel like... I dunno... I just feel good. life is good. God is good! hmm... I'm thinking that my extra time with Jesus the past few days has really helped a lot. what do you think? I still want/need a holiday... but I'm feeling good. I'm expecting something great and exciting to happen soon. normally when I feel like something good is gonna happen I start telling myself to stop expecting stuff cuz I don't want to get disappointed *again*. but this time, I'm just really excited. like there's nothing that can stop whatever's going to happen. I kinda wish I knew what's going to happen yet at the same time, I really don't care. I feel content right now.

I'm hungry right now. I just realized that all I've eaten in the past 2 days is a few bites of a Subway sandwich (literally like 2 or 3 bites) and some avocado fries from Connal's (not fries made from avocados. they're Connal's AMAZING fries with some avocado sauce (it's not guacamole, it's a runny sauce) on top. yummmm! wow... is that really all I've had?! dang... I had a cup of tea today, 2 caffeinated drinks yesterday and a root beer yesterday... and, of course, water water water.

YAY! Kenny singing came up on my iTunes while on random! that just makes me incredibly happy! only thing that can make me happier is for it to be followed by "A Little Longer" (by Jenn Johnson), then a Third Day song, then a Daughtry song... and then another Kenny song! and then and then and then! yeah, ok, basically anything I can sing along with and be happy will do. haha

not much else to say at this point. I think I'm going to surf the net for a while before heading out of here. I kinda am excited that I'll have a whole apartment to myself tonight. I just hope I can find parking. it's in K-Town a few blocks from Pinkberry. street parking is difficult to find. I think I've written enough for you to read about for a while. feel free to say hi or something. :-D

bring it!

bring what? I'm not quite sure... I just feel ready for something new and big to happen. I wish I knew what it was. haha I'm actually quite excited about it. I'm also quite excited about the imaginary holiday I'm going on. lol looks like I won't have time for one til mid-Nov. at the earliest. heck, I even have a final the day before my birthday and 2 weeks after. and The Call California is ON my birthday. maybe that's Lou's present to me? I'll have to text Christy & Jesse and tell them to thank him for me... LOL anyhow, whatever big is about to happen, I'm totally ready for it. obviously I can't be completely ready for it as I don't even know what it is... but I'm ready for something big and exciting to happen.

I'm using that flexible keyboard again. it's hard to get used to typing on this thing but I think I've gotten better. I'm not pressing backspace nearly as much as before. that's how I rate my level of improvement. lol

ok, so I totally blanked on anything else I wanted to blog about. oh well. I guess I'll stop writing then. haha :-D

seasons

with the change in physical season, I feel it's time for a change in my season... I just don't know what the season looks like. I feel I'm at the right place yet expecting change. I wonder how this is gonna play out! haha

I know I'm at the right place in regards to work, despite missing teaching like nobody's business. I've honestly seen the joy level in this place rise. one person said to me "I have so much joy these days and I don't know why. I'm joking around with people and having fun. I like it!" basically, I add a goofy yet hard working factor to the working environment. and now that Rica's working across the way we can get them from both sides. and since I've got the other person having so much joy now, the joy has spread to downstairs. WOOHOO! now I just need to find a way to get it to go all the way to the auditorium. slowly but surely, slowly but surely.

well, this is probably one of my shortest blogs ever. I'm actually at work but have long run out of things to do.... but I *gasp* don't feel like writing. my neck is hurting like crazy. I think I'm gonna go make myself some tea. I've only had 2 cups today. BOO!

(don't anyone ever buy the Nelson's NKJV Study Bible... only cuz I'm shocked and surprised that they don't have Sarai/Sarah in the subject index, but DO have it in the concordance, despite almost every other "big" Bible name being there)

I just don't get it

how did this manage to happen TWICE for the same two classes?! so, last semester I registered for 2 Chinese classes (well, 3, but I only had this problem with 2 of them) and I never received the study materials. I had worked it out with the professor that I could still take the final exam even though I didn't know what the heck I was being tested on. I went to take the tests and they said I could take it! I insisted that the school let me take the classes again, on their dime, since they are the ones that couldn't figure out how to mail the materials to the right place and then wouldn't let me take the final even though I was willing to with NO studying done. so they enroled me for the course again and I've been checking the web-site constantly for any updates on when my books were mailed to me or anything. NADA. I e-mailed the school a few days ago asking what I should do and never heard from them. so I e-mailed the professor yesterday to see if she could help me out. she e-mails me today giving me the first assignment for both classes (which are also key to admission to the final exams)... and they're due TOMORROW! WHAT?!

blathering blatherskite

did i spell that right? oh well... doesn't really matter if I did. ;-D so, I was just trying to think of ice breaker games we could do for our first cell group meeting back after a month break... and i nearly had myself laughing so hard I fell off my seat. you know how for ice breakers people normally ask stuff like "what's your favorite dessert?" or "who's your hero?" or something similar... they MIGHT even ask "what's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you?". well, we all know I'm not normal so I was trying to think of something else to ask that wouldn't result in short answers and would help actually break the ice (so, people feel comfortable) and would be interesting.... soooo... I came up with "what's the funniest thing you've done?" omg, I can't even decide which thing I've done is the funniest. I'm just a big dork. sometimes I do it on purpose, sometimes completely on accident and sometimes i even get embarrassed. anyhow, lots of things have been running through my head since I came up with that question... maybe I should make it a top 3... cuz i'm having difficulties choosing even just that!

I've been thinking about so many things that I can't stop giggling. I've decided that my dreams are a whole 'nother level and shouldn't be included in this category of funny things... mainly cuz my dreams are typically very odd. although, waking up from a dream laughing is pretty good. hahahaha

well, I think I'm going to go now. I'm using a bendable keyboard and I'm still not used to it so I keep pressing keys too softly so I have to go back to add letters in. it's quite annoying! haha

this, that and the other

not much to say right now. I'm just trying to get back in the groove of writing and using a blog is so convenient when I'm actually sitting at a computer already. haha :) you probably already noticed how much I love writing, though. is it possible to be addicted to writing? that and singing... I love singing. sucks that I have no radio/CD player other than my computer and a full 4GB ipod that I haven't even got all my music on... seriously, it's full and I want to cry cuz I have new music I want to put on it.

I really loved hiking yesterday. I want to go more often. my hips are sore, but that's probably from all the squatting I was doing (I squat for convenience sake. it's easier to stand up from the squatting position... but not nearly as comfortable as sitting. well, usually. there are times...) while we were leaf racing and changing the course of streams. I've been out of China for a while so I'm out of squatting practice. I'm sure my muscles forgot what it was like. haha anyone want to go hiking with me? just gimme a ring and I'm there... you know, unless I have to work or something. :-/

I totally forgot to write something in my blog yesterday. really, it was pretty funny too. I was at the gas station filling up my tank when 4 motorcycle cops stopped at the red light on the corner. it was early in the morning so there was no traffic and I could hear everything clearly. besides, it's on a road that doesn't get much traffic. haha anyhowwwwwwww, I hear one cop say into his radio "Hey! We were just kidding about that air support thing!" I did a double take when I heard that. it caught me way off guard. all the cops were laughing and then took off when the light turned green. I wonder what they were requesting air support for... haha

being that I spent large amounts of time with Jenn yesterday, we also did some reminiscing about China. I can't believe we still laugh like idiots when we think about the "bu yao dance" and "NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" and the Aussie's at the hostel and and and... one day I'll write about all the events. some are admittedly funnier than others and some are "you had to be there" experiences. but whatever. I enjoy them, so you have to too! ;-)

I guess I better get back to working now. man, and I had a bunch more to blab about. oh well. perhaps tomorrow I'll have more time to type. I don't have to work in the morning. :-D

leaf racing as the newest fad

hahaha so, I went hiking today with Jenn & Nick. we had a "lovely" iHOP breakfast (can anyone explain WHY a meal with something else, say French Toast, that includes 2 eggs, 2 bacon/sausage & hash browns actually costs LESS than the 2 eggs, 2 bacon/sausage & hash browns?!?!). somehow they didn't have anything that we wanted to order. it was pitiful, but whatever. we survived. I got a year "Adventurer Pass" for 1/2 the regular price. I'm feeling special. haha so now I don't have to worry about buying those stupid day passes next time I decided to go hiking. anyhowwwwwwwwwwww we got up the hill & there was no parking. so basically we had to hike to get to the hike. lame! but whatever, no big deal. so we start our descent and people walking up are saying "I'm never doing this again!" and I'm laughing at them cuz it's obviously their first time taking the trail... we get to the first nice stop in the trail and we totally take a detour and just start chilling. sitting on big rocks acting like we're in the middle of the mountains or something. haha really, we were in no rush and we knew there were tons of people at the waterall (considering all the cars) so we just took our time. eventually we left that lovely spot and headed for another... at the second stop we accidently started racing leaves. yes, it was seriously accidental. and then we got WAY too into it and started building a course because the natural stream course wasn't efficient enough. the leaves kept getting stuck so it was dumb. haha we spent at least a good 20 min's racing leaves. yes, leaves. it was amazing! finally we made it down to the waterfall and there were just too many people there. we didn't really stick around at all... we just started heading back. on the way back, my comment to Jenn as we were starting the trail was proven. "I ALWAYS see someone from church when I'm on this trail." yeah, we saw Coco. it was kinda way random but at the same time I expect to see someone there that I know. that's just the way my life is. hahahaha so we're walking back and decide to take yet another break. somehow this one ends up being considerably longer and we were diverting tributaries and creating pools of water, etc, etc, etc. needless to say, it was amazing. haha we did pretty well getting back to the car considering the steep uphill slope (on asphalt) and the heat and my knee being mean to me. we only stopped twice. once at the start of the incline and once when we were nearly to the top but we were all dying of sweat and for some reason my left calf was killing me but my right one was perfectly fine. yeah, go fig. we eventually got back to the car and headed off for Chinese food. it took us the whole trip out of the hill, plus some, to decide which Chinese place to eat at. then we ordered too much food. now my tummy hurts, but it was yummy. I came back to church to check the internet and to pick up some stuff. I'm going home soon (after I finish up some random work that I was e-mailed about today and is apparently needed tonight. BLECH!) and probably gonna watch Goonies or something equally random. after I clean up, though. I wore my Crocs (yeah, which ones... I know. I have plenty of them. NOT the flip flops. the cute ones.) and so I decided I didn't need to bother avoiding water. that was nice while hiking but now my feet have a nasty layer of dirt. YUCK! oh well. it won't take long to clean up and then get all nice and cozy and have a night in and go to sleep early. man, that sounds amazing! I should do that more often. haha

potty emergency

earlier today I had a thought and then immediately thought "I should write about THAT on my blog!".... but alas, I have totally forgotten what I was going to write about. hahaha I slept in this morning. it felt really good, but at the same time I don't like sleeping in too late cuz then I feel like I've wasted my day. I went to Target and did some shopping and bought a Starbucks. maybe I shouldn't have bought Starbucks... I have a headache now. well, whatever. no biggeee... worship team is here already (wow... they got here at 3:30!). pastor Che hasn't sent me his outline yet. I guess that means either he has no outline or.... it means that I'm gonna have to get in early tomorrow to do it. eh, I always get in early. I'm the one that shows up earlier than everyone else to make sure that there's nothing that is screwed up. although, Andrew's a bit like me and does the same so recently I've been less proactive about checking stuff. that's good cuz I'm learning to "chill" and not take responsibility for everything. hopefully that means that when I disappear for a vacation that I won't have to be attached to my cell phone before, during and after services to make sure that everything goes smoothly. that'll be a first! haha

Monday is Labor Day. looks like I'm going hiking with Jenn . YAY! I haven't been hiking in a long time. we're probably gonna take a long trail. I'm really excited. I just need to remember to not play it cool & forget to bring my knee brace... or "forget" to wear it when I'm obviously hurting. haha I would do that. anyhow, we're probably gonna go somewhere new. http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/EastFork_4472.asp normally I go to Sturtevant Falls. anyhow, yeah... we're probably gonna do that, plus iHop for breakfast and a massage in the evening. YESSS!!! sounds like a perfect day. I'm excited! and I think I'm gonna help her study Chinese tomorrow. and on Tues. we're gonna go to Rebecca's with Daisy and have Mr. Pizza. The potato gold pizza is YUMMYLICIOUS! yes, I made up a new word because that is how good it is!

so, today I uploaded a ton more pix to my myspace. they're all "artsy" pics. well, not really artsy... but scenery pix I've taken all over the place. I like them. haha I told Jenn to check out my pix today and she was shocked to see the video that we created at the Great Wall. haha but she liked it, so it's all good. then she asked me about the one pic at Magic Mountain and asked me what tv show that shot was from... here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv1WfG3bFO0 seriously, I've been to Magic Mountain about a million times in my life and watching those credits make me laugh every time because that show was supposed to take place somewhere back east but that's definitely Magic Mountain out here in California and the "ocean" is obviously digitally enhanced to cover up the parking lot.

I really have to go pee right now but I don't feel like getting up. how lame is that?! haha but I guess I should go cuz I have a dessert I want to heat up in the microwave and eat before people start showing up here and try to eat it for me. :-D

oh my gosh! I think I just remembered what I wanted to write a blog about! www.kazoos.com! seriously, check it out! I'd write more about it right now (I have plenty of thoughts about it)... but... I think I've got a potty emergency right now! hahaha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_rLSZQOOG0

alrighty then... not much else to say for now, but I may write another blog later if I get bored. we'll see. I will be at a computer all night, so it is possible. =0)

thoughts

so, today wasn't too bad. I'm still needing a holiday and my knee was twitching the whole day. I was mostly busy, too. but I was still thinking a lot... today we had our going away lunch for Minoska. gonna miss having her in the office! so then I started thinking about my teaching job... I miss it. I really do. they still have me as a teacher on their web-page http://stalphonsusschool.org/teachers_lounge/index.htm . so I texted Mrs. Alvarez while I was working and asked if she missed me yet. haha

last night I discovered why my car was riding funny... yeah, a lug nut is missing and another one was so loose that it was almost off. I tightened all of them and went on my merry way. I really do need to get a replacement for the missing one. I'll either do that after I'm done with the net or I'll do it in the morning. most likely in the morning. I'm enjoying my laptop with music way too much right now. if you ever had the illusion that I'm "normal", please don't hesitate to listen to my music on random... I'm sure that will cure you from the illusion.

my wrists are sore. I did way too much data entry these past 2 days. I really do hate it... but I prefer it over having nothing to do. blech.

so, a friend of mine that I've known since 2nd grade (ha! beat that, Gabe! I've only known you since I was in jr. high. :-P ) reminded me that I used to complain about my knee in high school. then I remembered... I HAD injured it before my car accident! the car accident was more of a re-injury than it was an initial injury. in high school one time I went horse back riding for a friend's b-day and the trail was too small... (yeah, lame inner city trails) so when we came to the point we had to turn around there wasn't much room. one horse turned around and started passing me. as it did my knee got stuck behind it and the horse kept going. there was nothing I could do about it. anyhow, I remember the awful pain as well as the swelling and weakness. I guess after a while either it diminished some or I just got used to it. anyhow, yeah... so I don't know if that means that my knee must be really bad right now or what. if anyone happens to have a do-it-yourself MRI kit, please let me know and I'll be right over. I really do need to find out what's wrong with it.

ok, I totally got distracted with other stuff and forgot that I was writing a blog... wow... well, if you're bored and want to see a bunch of pix of me, please go to my myspace page. www.myspace.com/sarahlee7 I just added a bunch of pictures. not so sure why I added them to myspace and not facebook when I definitely use facebook more, but whatever...

I'm thinking I should go now. I have nothing else to say and I keep getting distracted by the smallest things. so yeah... maybe I'll blog again tomorrow. I hope so. I'm kind of on a blogging streak and I'm enjoying it. :-D

back in business!

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm busy in the office once again. :-D now I just need to remember to control my workaholic tendencies and not work straight through lunch, like I almost did just now. at least I remembered to eat this time! and I'm not working at the moment... (doesn't mean I'm not thinking about work, though!)

I know it's a bit odd to be so excited about being busy in the office... but being bored has nearly been the death of me. at least while I was in China I could walk around the campus when I was bored or needed a break. here I've got to be available to answer phones. blech!

so, just a quickie thought before I disappear. if any of you are looking for the PERFECT, most memorable way to quit your job (and you don't care what your employer says about you after you leave)... PLEASE ask me for ideas. even if it's just to entertain yourself. I came up with the perfect way for a friend to quit at her current job, even though she's not gonna do it... :-P anyhow, I was impressed & amused by my ideas. so yeah, if you need a good chuckle and want to imagine the best way to quit your job, you really need to ask me. I have a great imagination. hahaha

about my great imagination... I had THE WEIRDEST dream (ok, I say that about almost every weird dream I have... but this one was pretty odd) the other night. long story short. I was pregnant but still a virgin and was showing as if I were several months along (I could feel the baby kicking, etc, etc) but was telling everyone I was only a few weeks along (and I'm sure that's what I believed). so yeah, nobody believed I was a virgin and the person helping me out (not naming any names!) was being accussed of sleeping with me... so we had to sneak around to get me to have a doctors appointment, because apparently we knew everyone in all the hospitals...?! HUH?!?! yeah... way weird...

ok, since I fulfilled my writing quota for today (I really do love writing... just time prohibits me some), I'm going to play a cheesy game online for a few min's (if I don't get distracted by looking up cervical spondylolysis, that's what my bro has, or PCL injuries, which is what's wrong with my knee) before I get back to all my work. until next time..... =0)

injuries suck (especially when they're my brother's!)

yeah, I'd be one to know how badly injuries suck... and yes, I'm notorious for NOT taking care of my injuries. in fact, just today I tweaked my knee a little and it's now bugging the snot out of me. it was already giving me a hard time and then I had to go and tweak it. eh, I'm mostly used to it. I've gotten better about taking care of myself but am still careless.

well, the other day I found out my bro had a stress fracture in his neck. knowing him it probably hurt like crazy before he even considered going to the doctor about it. turns out he also has degenerative disk something or other (yeah, I'm deep... I don't even know what the technical term is for what's wrong with my knee!). so I was talking with my sis-in-law's mom about it. turns out the Army hospital doesn't want to do anything for him. they only discovered the problem because he had an x-ray for the fracture. now they aren't taking any course of action. I'm ready to put up my fists and FIGHT for him. they didn't give him any details about what's wrong or offer any form of relief or anything. I'm just glad he's not on the field right now, cuz he's as stubborn as me and would continue working as hard as possible until his body falls apart before his eyes. haha I may have exaggerated a teeny tiny bit, but yeah... we're like that.

maybe I'll just have to go up to see him and his family instead of doing other travels for a vacation. I DO want to see them! I miss them all! but at the same time, I need a real holiday... we'll see what happens. I'm gonna talk with my chiropractor and see what he has to say. and I know his wife and his mother-in-law aren't gonna let him sit around and get trampled all over. I just wanna make sure he's gonna be ok. he's had back pain since jr. high and has never gotten it taken care of. I'm just surprised that the Army is being so stupid.

so, thinking about my bro's injury made me start thinking about mine. nothing deep about them. I mean, there's not much I can say about them that hasn't already been said. I've been going to the chiropractor for a month now & he says that my neck is improving faster than they expected. they already took my update x-ray this week because of how fast it's improving. (*whispering* don't tell him that I haven't been doing 3 of the 4 exercises he gave me!!!!) it's totally God's grace that I've been improving so quickly. I just wish there was something he could do for my knee and my fractures. but alas, those are unfixable injuries. well, the knee can be fixed with surgery. I'm thinking I just may do that one day. especially for once I have kids. I can't kneel or crawl on the floor or anything witout it really bothering me let alone run around and play soccer (haha yeah, soccer! soccer's the best!). my leg even gets tired swimming and I wear a knee brace when I know I'm going to be doing an unusually large amount of walking. it's just inconvenient. so, the other day Doug was making fun of when my back got fractured. I always tell everyone I fell from 7 ft. I'm not exactly sure how high I was when I fell... but Doug always tells people that I fell from 15 ft. I find it pretty funny. I doubt I was actually that high, but I know I was at least 7 ft high.

not much else to say about injuries. my elbow seems to be getting a bit better. but then again, I haven't been playing any sports with it lately or doing too much heavy lifting. concert season is starting up again so we'll see how it goes when we strike & reset stage in a few weeks. my poor, poor fractured/broken finger is now fine. I'm just glad that, for once, my instincts set in and I immediately realized "I shouldn't be moving this finger at all". it took a few weeks to heal and was quite frustrating at times (especially when trying to work) but am glad I was persistent in taking care of it.

alrighty then, enough about injuries... I'm off to find out all I can about stress fractures and degenerative disk whatever it's called so that I have ammunition to fire at the Army doc's if I have to go out there and yell at them in person.

sleep/rest vs. holiday

ok, I need a holiday. that's the conclusion I came to yesterday. I've finally caught up on all my lack of sleep from the past year or so (at least I THINK I have)... but I'm just worn out. I don't feel like doing anything of worth when I have time off. what I really want to do is get far, far away from here with a friend or two. get into nature and just relax. go hiking, sit and chill and take in the fresh air, go for long walks, etc, etc, etc. I haven't been to China yet this year and that's usually my holiday for the year. even though China is a largely populated country and I don't like big cities all that much... I always find a chance to steal away with me, my music and a long walk. at the Great Wall I take it nice and easy and enjoy the nature around me and worship/pray while thinking about the land around me and China, etc, etc, etc. and I think friends have noticed that when we go to famous places in China I suddenly become really quiet. I just start walking slowly and am very observant... and also trying to pretend that the large crowds of people don't exist. they always get in my way. :-P hahaha at least when I'm in Yantai (my "hometown") I can go almost anywhere and disappear into my world of walking and music. I lived there long enough that most people are used to me by now. although, I'm not liking the recent influx in drunken foreigners there. it disturbs me. I'm glad they don't live in the part of town I did, at least. keep my part of town clean from their junk.

anyhowwwwwwwww........ as I was saying, I need a holiday. I'm hoping to make it out to China some time before the end of the year. but who knows, maybe I won't make it out. that makes me incredibly sad but I'll survive. maybe I need an actual "back to nature" holiday this year. perhaps I should go to South Africa and go to Kruger national park. wow, that was a way random thought. I haven't thought about that place in years. I wonder what it's like. or maybe I should go back to Cairns and spend a week snorkeling there... I really did enjoy the time I spent there snorkeling and kayaking but it just wasn't long enough. or maybe I should go to Inner Mongolia! I've seen so many gorgeous pictures of the land there... I did love going to Sanya, though. I've been told it's like Hawaii, minus the crowds of people and the high prices. I would also love to go to Italy or Germany or basically anywhere in Europe and just have the time to walk around and observe local culture. then again, I'd love to do that in Africa, too. and South America... hahaha I think I just love different cultures and nature and music. all those together make me incredibly happy and relaxed. when I have all of those things at my fingertips, I could be waking up at 5:00am and going to bed at 11:00pm and still not be tired. life is so peaceful when I don't have to worry about what's happening next or how I'm going to keep myself busy or all the stuff I've put off cuz I just don't feel like taking care of it.

you know what's funny.... I've done so much travel abroad (mainly in China, but I've also been in Australia and Korea) yet I've hardly done any travel in the states. I've never been to Yellowstone. never been to the Grand Canyon, though when I was younger my grandma lived in Arizona and we went to visit her at least 2 times a year. I went to the Redwoods up in northern CA once when I was REALLLLYYYY little. yeah, all I remember about it was a huge tree with a street through it. of course I've been up to Mammoth and such in the area... but not in many years and only for day trips. and I've been throughout the San Gabriel mountains/foothills quite a bit. I've also been to Vegas. hahaha oh yeah! I've been to Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico! that was pretty cool. maybe I should stick to traveling in the states for now? but where would I want to go? Colorado? I've always wanted to go there... gorgeous mountains, fresh air, lots of forest and lakes. sounds wonderful. maybe Amish country... just cuz. or should I do the typical touristy stuff I already listed that I haven't done yet? I really don't know... I just need a holiday and out of here.

well, in a few months is my big 3-0. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, yet at the same time I'd be gloriously happy if somehow I received a present of travel for me and a friend or two. what's funny is I love traveling with people yet at the same time I want my own time alone. so I'll travel with them and have a great time and then all the sudden I just stop talking. they don't usually mind, so it's all good. but I like having the options there of being able to talk with someone or not talk with someone at any given moment. haha :-D anyhow, if you happen to know someone that loves me and has large amounts of money that they could donate to the "send Sarah on holiday" fund, make sure they know my b-day is coming up (Nov. 1) and that THAT is what I really want for my b-day. yeah, I know I may say I want a new ipod, a new computer, an orange Corvette or a new place to live (all true), but honestly what I want and need is a holiday. far, far away from here. please send me away. 2 weeks minimum! haha

I promise that when I go away on holiday that I WILL be permanently attached to my cell phone (mostly because I don't wear watches due to being allergic to most metals so that's how I tell time). although, if I'm out of country I can't guarantee I will be responding all that much. then I'd only text if it has to do with work problems/questions.

*sigh* now I'm dwelling on this non-existent holiday that I'm going on. someone please send me away from here!