Grace Like Rain

Take a Bit of Time and Half Off

2010-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am almost ashamed to write, on account of it being so long since I have written. However I think that it would be nice to keep some sort of discipline in my life, and let those whom I love know a bit about whats going on with me these days. So I am going to try and do a six month recap of my life, ya right we shall see how that goes.

Job: When I cam home last June, I hit the pavement looking for a job. As Kiki and I were sitting in Panera job searching and writing our resumes, she found an ad for Peets Coffee and Tea, and it was in Happy Valley! It was the next day so I thought, shoot why not? I went, and a week later I had a job. I am still employed at Peets and Love It! First off I get free coffee and tea, (my sisters are much enjoying the perks of that.) and I get to know so many people and serve them. I love my customers, they have become my friends! (their dogs too :))

School: I started at Clackamas Community College in September. The first term was a struggle to say the least. It was a bit of an ajustment coming from dorm life to a commuter school. I didn't meet anyone from my classes, and I was exhausted by working full time and 16 credits. However God has really provided for me this term. I started Anatomy and Physiology, which is...challenging...to say the least. About a week before the class started I found out my friend Elliot was also in it, and in my lab! Such an incredible blessing. We have become each others study buddies, and I have seen improvements in my grades (probably because I get so competitive, but passively of course!) I am also taking a theater class, which has been so much fun! I have met lots of awesome people in that class as well. So I am generally really enjoying school right now, which is huge for me, and very encouraging!

Church: When I got home from school in June, I soon got a job where I had to work every Sunday morning. This became my favorie excuse not to go to church. Over the last six months I became very lazy with my faith. I was not in His word, I was not praying. I was very spiritually dry and was waiting on Him to entice me. I wanted the, desire, to come back to him. But after talking to some people whom I trust, and in all their wisdom, they guided me back to the word. I have a new desire to serve and to read, to be prayerful and head His wisdom. I am currently attending Solid Rock church. I have signed up to be a greater, serve coffee or do whatever is needed. I am excited to get into a Home Group during the week and really get connected to this church and pour my heart into it!

Family: I have loved being back in Portland for the fact that I get to be with my family. (some members a little more than I would like :), just kidding mom and dad I love you!) I am pretty busy with work and school, but I love being with them whenever I can. The only thing that is missing is my dear Lolo. I love to skype and catch up on her life whenever I can. I am also currently planning trip to visit her in June after school gets out. Do a little sight seeing as well!

Friends: It has been a huge ajustment, coming from SPU, where I was surrounded by people all the time, to living with my parents,driving a half hour to school, and eating alone. But God has provieded some truely great people in my life. He has reintroduced me to old friends and made the relationships that I have here in Portland even stronger. I still stay in touch with friends from Seattle and much as can be, which is hard given all of our crazy schedules. But I am feeling blessed more and more each day.

ME: Hmm not alot. Im a brunette, it was a sort of impulsive "I dont have any money, what the hell, lets buy a box of hair dye." Oh and I also have bangs, which was also a bit impulsive and rash, but Kiki is now in Hair school so I am excited for all the new rash and impulsive hairdo's to come!

It's Almost Over

2009-06-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have been at SPU a year and it has flown! Now I find myself studying frantically and packing all my belongings into UHAUL boxes. The feeling is a bit indescribable. I am so excited to be moving home, but it is so hard leaving Seattle. I have loved this year so much, and the people that I have met AH, amazing! I have been so blessed up here. My floor had a bonfire the other night to celebrate, then the night continued with a little mermaiding (skinny dipping.) That was a story in itself let me tell you. So I was set on not going. I was sure it was going to be freezing, and I did not want to swim in salt water, very uncomfortable. However once the girls told me we were going to a fresh water lake and it was going to be warm I really had no more excuses, "well alright lets go skinny dipping." I was one of the drivers so on the way there we blasted a little Lady Gaga, some Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida. When we got there, there was about twenty or so of us, we all jumped out and headed to the water. I was walking next to my friends Heather, Shelly and Chelsea, all of us nervous and kiddy. Once we got to the water we all sort of stood there not know what to do, then our PA started declothing so that was that, we all started taking off our articles of clothing. Once we walked into the water up to our stomachs we all held hands and sumerged ourselves. However when I took hands with the girls on either side of me I realized that these werent my friends, I wasnt really even sure who they were, but one thing I did know, we were naked, holding hands in a lake...awesome. When we started to get out I put on my pants, the only problem was, they werent my pants. As I analyzed them I heard a small chirp from Vanessa as she covered herself "where are my pants?" Woops, here you go! Once I got MY clothes on I joking said "Lets go girls and skipped away, well obviously I did not see the curb and biffed it hard onto my face. Literally laying completely horizontal on the ground. Awesome I hear a chorus of half clothed girls laughing behind me, the only thing drowning them out was the sound of my own laughter. Needless to say it was a blast of a night. I am going to miss this place so so much!

Gorgeous Day with Family

2009-05-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Oh there is nothing quite like the beautiful outdoors of Oregon. I decided that early on Friday morning I would get up at 5:30 and drive down to Portland to hike Multnomah Falls with my family. So I met Tiff and Tony and the boys at about 9, and we drove to the falls, me sitting, no squeezing in between the two boys' carseats. When we got there it was beautiful outside, the perfect day. At first Curtis proceeded on foot, but after realizing that the kid doesn't get out of the house a whole lot and the overwhelming outdoors was giving him severe ADD we put him in the backpack. Tony took Curt, Tiff took Henry and I took the backpack, and we set out. Oh man as Tony was pushing ahead, Tiffany and I were panting in the rear, holy crap that is an incline, I am so freakin out of shape. But when we did get to the top, it was beautiful. I feel so blessed to be an Oregonian, and apart of God's creation. What a master artist!

So I switched it against better advice

2009-05-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

I decided that I am extremely impatient (in some things) and probably completely naive and stubborn. I have really wanted to switch my nose piercing to a small hoop. I was going to get it done initially but I chickened out and have been regreting it ever since. So I resolved to do it myself. I went into a shop in University Avenue at UW to buy the smallest hoop they had. The guy asked how long I had it, I thought for a moment as I reached my finger up to touch the diamond stud, "Uh about 6 days?" As I said that he gave me a disgusted look and handed me a sanitizing wipe, "stop touching that and here, clean your hands." Awesome, he then advised me to wait at least 6 weeks at the very minimum. Yah ok I said, yah right I was thinking. For the next couple weeks I tried repeatedly to try and remove the stud, impossible, it was still sensitive and the stupid thing wouldnt come out. Everytime I tried all my friends would leave the room, "you idiot," they would say, they were right. Until one day i was determined. I went and got my friend Brie, she has her's pierced and knows a lot about them. She stuck with me and manuvered the ring out, it only took about 15 minutes to get it out, no big deal. then I had to get my hoop in, well the good news is that after about 10 minutes I got it in, the bad news was that I couldn't get my ball in the hole so I had to go back to the piercing place and have them put it in for me. The guy was furious and showed no mercy on my nose, which I guess I deserved. However now the moral of the story is, well there really isnt a moral, but I have a hoop and I love it, and its swollen and red, but I love it!

My New Addition

2009-04-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

So I have been wanting a tatoo for a long time but of course the parental units are not totally keen on the whole ink for life idea. So I settled on a new piercing...my nose! I really wanted to get a hoop, I thought it was super cute and trendy, a bit edgy. I told my sisters and it turned out that Lo wanted to get hers done too. So for both of our birthdays Nicole and Tiffany bought our piercings for us. We got to go together all four of us, Lo and I held hands while we were getting it done. When I tried on the ring though I sort of got freaked out, it was so big and new, but now I am totally regretting it. So I might soon upgrade to a nose hoop.It was so fun! So now three of us have matching hair dos and three of us nose rings. I just love my sisters so much and miss when we cant all be together!

My New Hobby

2009-03-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

So this last Christmas break I discovered making headbands, it started with me making them for friends Christmas presents, and when I wore one into the store and someone asked me where I got it, I said that I made it, she was like o wow you should totally sell them. HMM I thought, thats not a bad idea. I looked all around my house for old scraps of cloth, ribbon and buttons. Then I ventured down to the good old dollar store and cleaned them out of tacky kids headbands. I ripped away all the jewels and sparkles and started to create. I have continued to create here at school, I have multiple offers on them, and some that requested special ones. I am thinking that I will try and sell them to raise money to go to Africa next summer. Not sure where to sell them or in what capacity. If you know of anyone with little shops or bizarres please let me know! Thanks. Oh and please make any comments or suggestions, I love new ideas!!

There is no place like HOME

2009-03-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

I realize it has been quite a while since I have updated. Well I guess I should get right to the point. I will be moving home this coming fall. I have decided that in the interest of saving money, it would be wise for me to finish my prerequisites at a community college before transferring into a nursing school. This decision is one that is daunting, scary, exciting, welcoming and saddening. I have had an amazing journey up here in Seattle. I love the mission of this school, how everyone is so people and service minded. I have met so many amazing friends that I am disheartened to leave here. I am excited to know though that the majority of these people live in and around Portland, and that Seattle is only three hours away. I will miss being around Seattle, this city is big and exciting and there is something to be said about being independent in a big city, but I guess I'm just hopping from one big city to the next. I am excited for a new adventure, living on my own (hopefully), and meeting new friends. Oh and being close to my family. I have always thought of myself as such an independent spirit and while I think that this is still in part true, I really like my family, there pretty cool. I love getting to spend time with them and loving on them. As far as cities go I have loved Seattle, but I love Portland so much more! My friend Chelsea from California was just commenting the other day, "It's so weird to hear people talk about Oregon that are from Oregon, they really love their state, they're so passionate about it, sort of in a weird obsessive way, I wish I was that excited about my state." Its so true I love Oregon!

So now I find myself waiting in anticipation for this new chapter, I just have to remember that this chapter is not yet over, and I am excited for that! I am excited to continue exploring and putting my heart into Seattle.

MOM, WE LOVE IT!

2009-01-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

So for Christmas my mom got me and my roomate an interactive Cranium Calendar. On every page there is something to do, whether its charades, or pictionary, unscrambling or guessing the facts. We love it. We do one everyday. The best is when we forget and then we get to do a couple all at once. Its a ton of fun together and we find ourselves acting stupid and laughing really hard. The other day I had to act out a trapeze artist, and it was comical, heather had to do a vantriliquist (spelling?) I kept saying puppet, I just couldnt think of the word. Yesterday we had What cities do Super Heros protect, we said New York for Spiderman, Gotham for Batman, but we couldnt figure out Superman...do you know? NO Cheating!! Today we had the challenging of typing our names on a keyboard only using our noses and we couldnt peek, Heather was very unsuccessful with the E's she got HEATH345, a new sign on name possibly? I have to say I nailed my name, and I know what you may think...its only a.n.n.a but I did my last name too, and I did heather, what can I say I have all the skills that make up a....really...amazing...yah I got nothing, its really just a random not important skill, but it was fun! Thanks mom!!

OH CRAP!

2009-01-17T20:59:00.001-08:00

So I have recently gotten a part time job as a nanny. The family and I interviewed right before break, and I accepted the job during break, and started this last week. The family is adorable, they live right by UW, in a beautiful suburban home, seriously pottery barn written all over it. The kids are adorable, they have a four year old Gavin, and two year old, Mason. They also have a new one on the way maybe sometime this week.

As some of you may know, I didn't get to bring my car up to school with me so I rely on buses and trains to get from A to B. Which actually is great (so far.) Being from the country, I have always wanted to be a city girl, thats where my heart is. So riding public transportation, walking downtown, sitting at the bus stops reading my book, or waiting for my transfer is very thrilling. I feel so street savy finding the numbers and streets in a city that is very unfamiliar to me.

So this week is my first week on the job, I want to make sure that I dont arrive late so I plan to arrive about 25 minutes early, just in case something happens. I have to make a transfer downtown, so while I wait I call up my mom, Im gushing about how exciting the city is to me and how good it feels and my first day. I get on my new bus (an express) whilst still talking. About ten minutes later my mom says "make sure you dont miss your stop" And I assure her that I know where to get off, as I say it we pull away from the stop I was supposed to be getting off at...awesome. No worries I think, I'll just get off at the next stop and walk. A minute goes by, then we cross a bridge, the bridge alone is 2 miles alone, ok no problem I will just get on a returning bus. Another Five minutes go by...Oh crap, I start to get worried, it has to stop soon, nother ten minutes go by. I panic, I start looking around the bus and there are a couple things I notice 1. The seats are comfortable, much more comfortable than a normal buss 2. There are personal lights above every seat, like you see on trains or planes and 3. The front of the bus reads Express...Oh CRAP! Im going to CANADA. I call Heather and tell her, She offers to come get me, I dont even know where I am, Heather isnt great at directions she'll be the first to tell you, and the bus hasnt even stopped yet. About another 5 minutes and the bus pulls off much to my surprise and relief. I hop off and call my sister to vent, as im running over the freeway to get onto the on ramp and the next bus. I call Heather to cancel and call my employer to tell her what a doof I am. I wait for the next express, which luckily came in the next 5 minutes, if I hadnt been there then, if would have come an hour later. I get on and travel the 15 miles back, in traffic I might add. I get there at 1:45, forty minutes later than I was schedule to be there. What an awesome first day! Can't wait for Thursday! TO BE CONTINUED...

Queen Anne/Peets/Studying

2009-01-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

So we (Heather, Shelly, Chelsea and I) took a trip up to Queen Anne today to get some studying done. Queen Anne is super cute and trendy. Its at the top of the hill where our school is and its one of the nicest places to live in Seattle (LO I know I took you up here but it was really dark, it's basically a 23rd.) Nothing better than sitting in a coffee shops with friends and talking and laughing, as you can imagine we are getting a lot done, lol. This last term had its own challenges. But one of the biggest that stood out to me was missing home. Missing familiarity, family and friends. However this new term has been so encouraging to me. I am starting to feel at home here. I am getting to know the city, the little towns on the outskirts, and the buses (which will be a whole other blog.) I am truly appreciating being here though, the people and the city, the overall experience and what an experience it was and will be. I feel very blessed to be here, I think we all do. Since we are at a coffee shop the only fitting cliche sign off would be...CHEERS!

New Year, New Classes, New Hair, New Outlooks

2009-01-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well I did it I cut my hair off! And thus begins another term at SPU. Being home at break was great. I spent a lot of really good time with my family given the crazy snow conditions, which by the way made world news. My roomate went to Europe for her christmas vacation and she saw the storm on BBC over there. (sidenote, for those of you that know Heather and I, I will try and talk about whats going on in the both of our lives as much as possible, because we all know Heather doesn't blog.) Which by the way, exciting news Heather and I got nominated for the Homecoming Ballot and Heather made top three!!! She might be crowned Freshman princess and if she wins she gets to donate money to her favorite charity. I am really proud of her. School is going pretty good for the both of us. Its had its own set of complications. Ever since Heather got home she has had some funky jet lag and has a wierd sleep pattern, but she is starting to figure it out. Last term I went to bed later than Heather, every single night. She was sort of a new mommy sleeper, however just yesterday she turned and looked at me and said "Ann were not in bed and its 11:30, we're real college kids" my thoughts are, no! I dont want to be a college kid, i have vowed to myself to try and be in bed by 10 or eleven everynight (except for nights I have meetings, or movies, or clubs, or homework...ya right) We are still trying to figure it all out. Well I should probably get off this now since I have Chem Lab in an hour and have to write my pre-lab, I would just like to pass along my favorite quote of the week thanks to Shane..."Buzz your girlfriend...WOOF!"

At least It's Not Drugs

2008-12-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

Heather and I feel well prepared for the coming Finals. We both have wrestled with the unhealthyness of our decision but when it comes down to being awake till 3 in the morning (as we were last night) doing homework or finishing online tests, it doesn't become a matter of being unhealthy, it's merely a survival tactic. Oh and mom don't worry it could be worse, it could be drugs.

Finally A Peace

2008-11-26T01:01:00.000-08:00

For many years my passions have been spit between doing something that I love and pursuing something that I think I will love. I have performed since I was a tot and theater has always been apart of me, I am a bit theatrical in everyday speech. However I have known that I have always wanted to get into the medical field as well. This has been a huge struggle for me in the last three years especially. Not knowing which to pursue. I have always thought that if I went into acting I would be a struggling waitress and never get that big break, and reality thats probably really very true. However I have also thought that if I go into the health field I could be giving up on something really good, something that I love, a dream of mine. I don't like to quit and either way felt like quiting to me. I have wrestled and prayed and have never really felt a peace one way or another, untill now. In the last week I have had such an amazing overwhelming feeling of relief and peace about pursuing one dream, and that is nursing. I am ok with not being on stage or being in shows. I don't doubt that it will be hard to sit in my seat and not wish that it was me on stage, but I am ok with that thought right now, something that I have never felt before. I am not going to say that I will never come back to acting or theater, however I am putting it on hold for now, and to be perfectly h0nest it would be ok if I didn't come back to it. I know I never thought I would be saying this, and that excites me because I know that it is God that is giving me this peace about the whole decision. I have also been thinking about all kinds of nursing, I have always liked the idea of working in the ER but I have been thinking a lot about being a Flight Nurse, or a Neonatal Nursing, and Labor and Delivery Nursing, I think all of those would be amazing. As I look at my career path I am getting really excited. I am volunteering at a World Aids dinner and Luncheon, I just applied to volunteer for monthly blood drives, I am applying to volunteer at Children's Hospital here in Seattle, and I am also in the process of becoming a nanny for a family over by UW. They have a 4, and 2 and a new born as of January, so I know that if it works out it will be a challenge, but I love working with kids, and I loved my summer job working as a nanny for wonderful children of almost the same age and I feel well prepared and up for the challenge. I am getting excited about the future and to see what else God has in store for me. For now I will just trust that He knows what He is doing and will enjoy everystep, no matter how steep.

A New Day

2008-11-17T00:46:00.000-08:00

So this weekend has had its ups and downs. With the opening of the show things have been rocky and it just seems that satan has been attacking this show. We have had so many things happen, first one of the girls broke her leg, so we had to re-cast. Then our whole light system failed three days before opening, then on opening night the sound system went out completely, and we had to do the whole show without sound. Then the following night, the girl that replaced the girl that broke her ankle tripped on a stair and slightly sprained her ankle...awesome! There has also been some personally challenging things that have been thrown my way this weekend. However my family came up which was wonderful. I got to see my parents and Lo and Kiki. Today we walked around Greenlake, it was beautiful and I felt so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving and supportive family. Also tonight was also Worship night, it was amazing. Singing is definately my form of worship and it was two hours of singing and praying...I loved it. It was charismatic and free. It reminded me that God is in control and this is still his Kingdom, not the worlds or mans. Tomorrow is a new day and I am looking forward to catching up with my creator!

And the Curtain Goes Up

2008-11-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

So about a month and a half ago I auditioned to be in the play here at Seattle Pacific. It was called the Alto Part, I had never heard of it and was a little anxious to tryout. I was so comfortable in high school auditioning, I actaully looked forward to the audition process. But this was different, I didnt know anyone and no one knew me and worst of all...I had to sing. Let me give you a recap, back my freshmen year I was in the Barlow choir. I got a solo in the first concert of the year, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." I was so excited, so it came time for my part and I emerged out of the choir and walked up to the mike, the words just flowed from my mouth (of course it was magical) until I realized that I was singing the verse that the girl was singing right before me. I stopped singing and started humming, I looked at my director for help, nothing. So I hummed and smiled. Later sohphmore I was in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" when it came to the night for my solo, I faked sickness so I didnt have to sing (this is a bit of a confession, because up until now I think everyone thought I really was sick...well now you know!) All this to say, I dont like to sing in public anymore. So I find out that this play is not a musical, but that there is singing. So I have to prepare a 1 minute monologue and a song of my choice, of course I chose a classic, "Amazing Grace." I also decided to write my own monologue. I guess it was alright because I got the part. And after rehearsal and rehearsal of messing up the song, I have finally learned my part correctly and am not completely hopeless (don't get excited, it's not a solo.) The play is set in 1956, Texas. I play Ethyl Roberts a 57 year old who is very...friendly but sort of naive rash and socially ignorant. I love it though. She is a blast to play. I have also never had to wear a wig or old lady makeup before and its fun, sort of a hassle but I love it. And the girls in my cast are amazing! Love them. Anyway if you still want to come it runs November 20-22. Come come!

MakeUp Master Don Yanik

Getting Ready

We have to do this to our hair everynight so we can put our wigs over...Thank you Chelsea!

Before...

After...

MMmmm yes

Our Wonderful Stage Managers, Ali and Elizabeth

The Whole Cast

Oh OlaBelle

We give it two thumbs up!

Lets Catch Up

2008-11-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

I have been here for about seven weeks and there has been so much going on in my life. However when sitting down with my roomate Heather to think about all the big things that have happened so far we were at a loss for words. It seems that its all the small things that have made up our experience in college so far. I have compiled a list of the little things that I have loved in college, things that have scared me and things I fear and look forward too. Lets Catch Up:

1. Raids: We have this thing called raids when a girl floor will raid her brother floor. Which is when at ten minutes before curfew we run up to the guys floor and run up and down the halls banging on all the doors screaming and yelling RAID! then the boys come down and we take them somewhere, usually for an activity or game. We did one a couple weeks ago and we took the boys to the center of campus and told them that we were going to be playing capture the flag. But when we yelled go we pelted them with water balloons...and then we played, unfortunately they killed. Being tired and lazy I mostly sat in the jail with the boys and conversed about life. Afterwards we gave them pop and cookies, it was a blast. We are waiting for them to raid us back, however we have a huge girl floor. We have around 5o girls on my floor, our brother floor has 17...awesome.

2. Roomies: All of the girl floors do a traditional roomies, which is when your roomate finds a secret date for you, and you for her. Then you meet the night of the date and go do something fun. We decided to go to a haunted house ( I say we as in my floor, because you know I would not be Choosing to go to a haunted house...hell no!) but since I didnt want to be lame I went along with it. So my dates name was Shane, super cool guy, he accidently slash I sort of already sqeezed it out of Heather (she's not a very good liar, and I'm a poopy roomate) that he was my date. We immediately got along really great. One night we both couldn't sleep so we ended up staying up till 5:30 in the morning together, just talking about life. Come the night of the haunted house I was a little anxious. I dont do well with scary things, Im sort of an anxious person around that sort of stuff, so I told him that and being a perfect gentlman he offered to stay out with me, but I didnt want to be lame. So for the first 10 seconds I was holding the back of his jacket waiting for my death, by the end of the maze I found myself completely wrapped around him with my face burried in the back of his jacket. After those first 10 seconds I never opened my eyes once the rest of the haunted house...awesome. I must have been a super fun date. After that though we ended up going to Dicks! Love It! and Shane and I have become super good friends!

3. Dicks: Dicks is our local hangout if you will. Its over on Queen Anne, which I live on. Its got super cheep, decent food. Hamburgers and fries and milkshakes, only the classics, and it's open till 2 in the morning, there have definately been some late night food runs..Love It!!

4. Laziness: So it is really easy to be super lazy in college, you live in your school. So showering has definately not been a priority. Sleep definately wins. So Heather is constantly waking me up in the morning to help me shower, or else I just keep sleeping. Dont worry I do shower I never go more than a day without, I have friends that go about four, Im telling you college, makes you lazy! Hats definately come in handy!

5. LOST: So at college you find yourself with sometimes a lot of free time. I I found a TV show that I could watch online, all four seasons for free. My friend Bethany and Hannah love it and talk about it all the time so I thought I would try it out, I ended up watching the complete first season in less than a week. Thats 18 hours in six days. I have just recently finished the second season which took me a bit longer, but I am proud to say that I am onto the third season now...K what the crap Michael!! And what the crap is going on!?

6. Music Video: So smart me I found a casting call for a music video on craiglist, I know I know it already sounds sketch. So I started emailing this guy, he is local, he is a composer but he wants to start getting into directing. We eventually met for coffee and had an interview and he told me that I had the job. Dont worry I didnt go alone, please I maybe a suburban girl but I have my street sense. I brought my guy friend Omid, he goes to UW. There were multiple days that we shot scenes and stills and Omid actually ended up being in it too. Its not finished being edited yet but I will keep you posted! (Don't get too excited I this was his first directing gig and I was sort of the guinea pig.)

7. The Alto Part: I got into the play here at Seattle Pacific. Its called the Alto Part, its set in Texas in 1956. Its an all girl cast of 6 people. I play Ethyl Roberts, she is 57 or so years old and is a bit social...not there. She is pretty goofy but I love it, she is a blast to play. I get to wear a wig! Its a super short bob and its grey and I get to wear old lady makeup. The cast of girls I work with are amazing! I love them dearly and I have enjoyed getting to know each and everyone of them! (pics to come)

8. Chemistry: Ugh school. My work load hasnt been too challenging here ao far, but chemistry is getting there. I doubt myself sometimes when it comes to school and when I get intimidated by other smart people. Oh I especially love when you walk out of a test and your like "wow wasnt that test..." and they yell "Easy!" and your like "...yah...uh easy...right" ....jerk But its getting there. I hope to be at a A or high B. I guess its just one step at a time though.

9.Pikes: We finally got to go to Pikes. I had been there before but I hadnt been since we moved here, neither had heather. So we had a day off and we went. It was so much fun, we went with our friends Chelsea and Mary. Mary is hilarious she loves to buy local, she is all about that, so she probably bought produce from 3 or 4 different vendors, and she was quizing all of them about where they buy their produce and if its organic enough. We love her! Such a fun time, then we went to this really pretty mall in the middle of seattle. Fun Day!

10. The Little Things.: So it has been so much fun having Heather for my roomate we are both really chill and go with the flow, so there hasnt been any conflict and just losts of goofy sometimes awkward and fun moments. Like for Halloween, while everyone was out at partys or in Seattle or going to the dance, we went for a jog, then came back and watched some greys anatomy, and gossip girl. (even though we both recognize the show to be no good, its so hard to say no...crap) Then we played a little scrabble and called it a night. We find that we are amazingly dull and we love it! We can find entertainment in the little things. The other day we got an actaul cable cord from the store and now we have cable!! We were stoked. so to celebrate we watched Center Stage...the sequel! We felt like tinyboppers. But it was so fun. Durign the commercial breaks we sprinted to the university store to get popcorn only to find that it was closed so we sprinted back, heaven forbid we should miss any of this extroadinary movie. There are also multiple times where Heath and I have been super hungry at like 10 at night, so we make up some mac and cheese in a pan (with water because we cant afford milk) (oh and we cant afford bowls either, or spoons for that matter) so we eat it right out of the pan (dad you would be so proud!) and we eat it with spoons that we stole from the cafeteria (dont worry dad we will return them, a couple of them really were by accident) One night we got a little crazy, sometimes homework will do that to you. So we climbed over the register counter and stole this monkey dog thing. We took it back to our room and dressed it up and then took picutres with it. We called her Dory...the Dorilla. So that is a lot of what happens on a day to day scene. I know we're pretty bomb!

Its been awhile

2008-11-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

My life has been crazy busy. I live in Seattle now!! and I love it. I think even though I have grown up in the suburbs I am a true city girl at heart. It has been really nice being so close to the city. The first week of school I wanted to go for a walk and it was beautiful outside. So where my school is is right by the water, or the canal, and there is a awesome path right along the water. So I started off, the leaves were beautiful and there were tons of runners and bikers it was beautiful and about a mile down the path I turn a corner and there it was "the emerald city!" It was massive and all spreadout in front of me, gorgeous! I didnt want to stop so I kept on going. Pretty soon I noticed that it was getting dark and I still needed to head back to campus. So I started jogging back. It had been awhile since the sun had set now and slowy all the runners and bikers started to dissapear, I got a little nervous, so I turned down my Ipod and started looking over my shoulder. I had to go back through this little alley along the path that was super sketch so (because I have been trained so well by my mother) I picked up a huge rock and started running with it. If anyone was going to attack me at least I would give him a good knock. All to say that maybe I should check what time it is before I start going on 4 mile pleasure walks at night.

Mom and Me Day

2008-08-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

So even though I live with my parents still, the quality time that we get to spend together is usually cut short by, well, life. So my mom and I decided that on Monday we would spend the day together just the two of us. We didn't know what we were going to do, we just knew it was together. So our day started by waking up at 5 in the morning to go to a workout class at 5:45. Then we came home and showered. She took a nap while I worked on my student loans and then we were off again. We started driving up to the mountain. We stopped at a camping site and parked in a lot and walked by a river, it was so peaceful and serene, we probably could have stayed there all day. The landscape on the way up is absolutely incredible, she kept pointing to the trees telling me to watch and I kept pointing to the road telling her to watch. As we drove up we started to pass Alpine slides, we both sort of looked at each other and said why not? So we bought two rides on the slides. We were both a little nervous, not having been on the slides for quite some time so we resorted to the slow lane. After that though we were geared up for the fast lane. The second time down we both got super fast sleds (its all about the sleds, if you get an old one your pretty much screwed.) So on our way down we started a 5 man pile up behind a sweet little blond girl that was inching along. When we got to the bottom of the hill, mom was very upset. She was so disappointed "Ah that little girl! I had such a good sled, I just wanted to really ride that thing! Man!" But to the fault of the line worker we were able to go up one more time. This time we waited for all the kids to go past us. I went in front of mom this time too. Man I flew! I get to the bottom and look back, no mom, i get out and start dragging my sled to the end, no mom, I continue to wait there until finally she starts scooting into the finish. What can I say, its a skill to fly, a skill that not all of us have.

The rest of the ride up the mountain she talked about how fast I went and how she just couldn't get it going, very frustrated. Our next stop was up at Timberline. We got out and there were hoards of snowboarders just finishing their runs. My mom turned and said "Probably not the place that you want your mom with you." I leaned in and grabbed her arm and said with a smile, "I dont mind." We had lunch up at the lodge. It was beautiful, our soup tasted like crap, that was not beautiful but the scenery was. We were going to ride the lift to the top but it stopped running at 1:30, so we couldn't go up. After walking around for a bit we decided to go downtown and go shopping, something we hadn't done since probably Christmas. I slept the whole way down, 5:45 workout classes can do that to ya. Shopping was awesome. My mom is the most gracious shopper. She gets so happy when she shops with any of us girls. I am very blessed to have a mom that gets delighted when I am happy. At the end of our shopping we got a bite at Chipotle...Amazing! What a fun day, I love spending time with my mom, I am a very blessed young woman to have such an amazing mother and friend, I am going to miss her very much next year!

Im going to say its been over seven years

2008-07-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

In my guestimations I would have to say that it has been seven years since I have been to the Oregon Zoo. (I gather this guess from the last time that I remember the zoo, I must have been about ten or eleven and I was holding my adorable cousin Shane, we were walking past the monkey exibit when I think he caught a bit of jungle fever and decided to take a bite out of me. He bit through my sweatshirt and actually broke skin. Oh sweet memories, only at the zoo!) Lets just say I have totally been missing out on what this place has to offer! It was fantastic! I went with my older sister Tiffany and my nephew Curtis. While Curtis was busy checking out all the girl zoo workers, I was watching the tigers, bears and zebras. It was amazing, I felt like a child again, with wonder and glee in my eyes. These creatures are amazing! I could have just sat and contemplated what God was thinking with each individual stripe of the zebras' hairs. I am so thankful for a wonderful older sister that includes me in such festivities.Tiffany having to force Curt to watch the penguins, he was more interested in the fine lookin ladies It was a bit past Curts nap and he was starting to get a little cranky

On the car ride home however Curtis started to crash, which was bad news. By the time we got home his cat nap in the car turned out to be the only nap he wanted to take, so instead of his regular three hour nap, he decided that wide awake and cranky was the way to go. So Kiki and I watched Curt while Tiffany got to catch up on a little shut eye for herself. By watching Curtis I mean that Kiki and I were laying on the ground doing crunches watching "You are what you eat" on BBC while Curtis was smearing goldfish into the carpet. After Tiffs nap the two of us and Curt decided to head over to the Nike Factory Store and hit up some deals. These are some pics of Curtis totally approving of Dad's new job, (My brother in law Tony now works for Nike, a sweet job that he loves! The family does too, as long as the discounts keep rolling in...kidding, but no seriously.) Today was full and wonderful. I love the bonding time I get with my family and finally growing up and getting to that age where I can finally "hang" with my sisters and be there friend and not just the little sister! Some of my friends have been asking where have I been, what have I been doing and I get to say that I have been hangingout with my best friends, my sisters. I love spending time with them and getting to know them better as family but as people as well. I am very blessed.

Stuck at home with Kleenex up my nose

2008-07-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

So thursday night I started to feel like I was coming down with something. I had a runny nose and a scratchy throat. At 2am I woke not being able to swallow and in pain when trying to breathe. I walked upstairs to take some airborne, knowing however that it is a preventitive not a fixer. To my surprise though I was able to breathe smoother. I went back to bed and continued to wake up every hour on the hour. At 7 in the morning though it was time to get up and embrace the day. I was set to babysit the Clauds at 8:30 and did not want to be late. During the morning I was probably the most lackadaisical sitter. We threw around the ball with the dogs for a bit in the back. Then after picking rasberries for about 15 minutes we encountered a cute little black and orange snake. Me being totally brave and secure decided it was time for us to hustle out of the garden and sit in front of the television. The remainder of the morning would usually be spent with me planning some dancing lessons or games of tag and run, however on this particular morning I was very creative and decided that multiple episodes of Spongebob was just the trick. After arriving home I decided it would be best if I didn't sleep because I knew I would be up all night. So I decided that I would indulge in about 12 episodes of the O.C., the high class, totally educational show of drama and scandal in the lives of the rich and beautiful. After getting a headache that seemed to travel outside of my body with a pulsing between my eyes I took some musinex and tylenol. Then I sat down with my father and together we watched Rendition, rating it at an ok, but not a must see. This morning I find that the throat feels a ton better and breathing has become bearable again. I guess a perk to this situation though is that I woke up this morning with that ever sexy Peobe from Friends sick voice. Side note: it is Kiki's Birthday today, Happy 24th! I love her and could not be happier that she is at home with her family again. It is also almost Tony's Birthday, Happy 29th, so we are celebrating his as well, I love you and what an amazing addition to our family you have been.So I look forward to celebrating this day with them, with kleenex up my nose.

Life Happens... anxiously

2008-07-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

I am anxious about life. So many big decisions are being made and I am afraid to make the wrong one. I know at a certain point you just need to close your eyes and take the leap and trust that God has whats best in mind. I was really anxious about what school to go to and what city...or lack there of, to live in. I have decided that I will be attending Seattle Pacific University in the fall (go falcons!) and I am extremely excited. At the same time though I face huge financial barriers. I wonder if I am making a risky decision when I should make the smart decision and go to a community college, save the money and transfer my junior year. I have decided I am a risk taker and I would love to experience the whole dorm freshmen year life style. I will be rooming with one of my best friends Heather Canby, she is a rock and super supportive of me. I feel like I have been waiting so long to grow up and be on my own, completely independent, except for finances...cars...insurance, well somewhat independent. At least living out of my parents house. I am excited to see what the city of Seattle has in store for me and equally excited as to what I can give to it. I am going into pre-nursing and will be focussing most of my time and efforts into that field, however I will also be apart of the SPU theater program. My passion is theater and acting and I would love to pursue something, however I know how hard it is to make it in that field, which is why I am going into nursing. I am anxious to see how my 18 credits of pre-nursing classes collide with my everyday theater class from 3-5, plus the two plays that I have to try out for during the school year. So here it goes...not knowing whats to come I am ready to take that leap and head anxiously into the unknown.