Tuesday, August 30

awrtivnd hghlahu asgdklhgqwoqwoie

yup, that about explains my emotion right now. i just got done watching one of andy's most painfully bad matches ever (andy roddick). this was his first round match at the US Open against muller. sadfhj jwuup. yup, i am still really upset. he lost in three sets... three tie breakers. i was begging the tv to show me andy getting pumped up and turning the match around... seriously, i was begging on my knees in front of the tv. it's a good thing nobody was home, cause they would have been freaked out by the wreck i was becoming. i was jumping around on the couch, talking gibberish, on my knees two feet from the tv... yup, a complete wreck. when it was the third set tie breaker, i didnt know what was going on... this was andy roddick, and this was the first round... what is this?

then i started laughing really hard when the tie breaker was in favor of muller 5-1... i made an excuse for this terrible match that i saw on the tv screen: it was a fake tape that was fabricated to show andy losing terribly. i knew that at any point, a big "Haha, gotcha!" would flash up on the screen and reveal the true score in favor of andy. then i noticed i was insane.

as soon as andy lost, i think i screamed, but i am not sure. if i did, i am surprised that the cops didn't show up saying he got a few calls from concerned (and annoyed) neighbors. then i started to cry. yup, i cried. then i did somersaults... i don't know why, but i am guessing it was a form of calming down and releasing some stress... and some temporary insanity.

now, i sit here, semi-calm, writing this true account. yes, all of this did occur, and it is all in respons to andy's loss. andy truly did lose his mojo. stupid mojo.

must go.

bye

Sunday, August 28

more?

last night was spent in a korean/japanese resturaunt... you know, one of those places where there's a grill in the middle of your table and you put your meat and what-not on there and cook it yourself. so let me just explain a little bit of how much food there was.

to start off, let me say this: i have never seen so much food on one table at one meal at one time... ever. first we started with a salad (a huge and yummy one). then same soup, followed by the little dishes... there were tons of little dishes with awesome korean food. i would say about 20-25 of those little dishes alone. then, with the dishes came the rice. of course, i start eating the rice with all the little stuff, and then comes meat. the meat was incredible... i just loved it. i was near my limit with how much i could eat... i was getting really full. but wait, what's that? another serving of beef? ok, maybe a little more. another serving? ok, we'll see if i can eat a little more. just as i finish eating a little more beef, the waitress comes with a huge plateful of a different kind of meat to cook. i was SO full, but the food kept coming. after we cooked two or three servings of the new meat, out came the chicken. in the picture below, you can see one of the first servings of meat of the night on he grill... this is early on, not even halfway through. you can also see how incredibly full i am by the look on my face. i was struggling to find ways to make more room for food. by the time the chicken came out, i had already unbottoned my pants AND unzipped... if i went any further, i wouldn't be wearing pants anymore. so i figured this: "okay, the chicken is the last thing, i can take a few bites, right?" i did, but then, i discovered something new... and i should have know... there were still noodles to come... more food! now, before we went any furhter, i made sure there was no more food coming. after finding out it was finished, i slouched low in the booth and just sat there with my hands on my tummy... it was over. the food was awesome, don't get me wrong, but i just ate so much of it. i think the next time i go there, i will have to fast for a few days ahead of time. i know my brother would love this place, so when he comes back from japan, i am taking him there. there is so much food, and the amazing thing is that this is a normal meal in the korean culture. man, they know how to eat!

Saturday, August 27

initiation

there's nothing like waking up at 6 in the morning to go play tennis... no, seriously, there's nothing like it. i just love waking up early and starting the day off with tennis. after 3 sets of doubles and good tennis, i know my day will go well :)

it was a lot of fun, and i would like to add that the colors of the day were green and yellow.... the two colors i wore and no one else did. yes, i got hit... multiple times. once nearly in the face (but my wrist luckily blocked it), another in the leg, and the last right above my stomach. they called it initiation... i called it torture... haha, just kidding, it wasn't torture. it was actually quite hilarious. i had a lot of fun with it. i definately have improved a lot since the last time i played with this group (very close to a year ago). i'd like to say i held my own and did okay :)

well, i am off to go see the brand new REI in huntington beach... it just opened yesterday. it's supposed toi be just as big as the mannhattan beach one... we'll see.

oh, and check out the new purchase... i've been saving up :) by the way, the purchase is the camera. came straight from europe...bought it off of some friends that were just there. sweet, eh?

well, i am off... preparing for an exciting day... a brand new rei and a dividend to use!

hooroo

Friday, August 26

semi-sedated

i had an appointment today to see how soon i needed my wisdom teeth pulled. i also got to learn how the whole procedure goes, what complications can arise, and, oh ya, the best and most important part: my options i have for being pain free during the procedure. yup, that's right... i have a choice of how i want to go through the operation. here are the options:

1. i can be absolutely aware and awake, yet not feel any pain (after 8 injections that will numb me) through the procedure. yet of course, i will still here the cutting, pulling, breaking, and metal tools while feeling the pressure (not pain) against me mouth and the pulling sensation. although no pain is felt, a lot of anxiety can occur.

2. i can be absolutely out, unconscious, and unaware of anything. the only thing i will be doing is breathing and pumping my heart... everything else stops. yup. i would be in a deep sleep, the doctor's pull the teeth and so on, and then i wake up about an hour later feeling like i never went to sleep. this is the most common choice and least stressful.

3. or i can do what is called "twilight" sedation (i think i may go through this one). this is, in a way, considered to be semi-sedation. now, this actually seems kind of humorous, and you will see why i would want to film my procedure under this choice of pain-freeness. in "twilight" i will not be completely out and sleeping away... i will still be able to react to a stimulant like someone telling me to do something. i will not feel any pain except for when i am first injected with numbing stuff which, according to what my doc says, i will forget was ever done 5 seconds later. i will be awake and semi-aware, but will not remember a single thing after it all wears off. i would kind of be like 10-sec-tom where i forget what is happening every 10 secs. people tend to get a little loopy under this option, but that is what makes it appealing.

so, those are my options. my personal opinion is option 3. what do all you have to say?

by the way, one of the possible (but of course, "not likely") complications is that they bruise a nerve in my lower jaw and my chin and lower lip goes numb for anywhere from a week to a few months. fun... numb jaw. haha

anywho, that is my story for the day.

hooroo and ta ta

Thursday, August 25

i am officially "in"

well, i am now a part of the verizon "in" network. yup, i got a cell phone today. Mr. Fedex delivered it today after i got back from tennis. fun stuff... mmhmm.

tennis is going great... but then again, how could it not? it's tennis, and tennis is always great :)

not much to write to night. i didn't do too much today. i did buy two cds today though (itunes). i got phil joel's first album "watching over you" (he is the bassist for newsboys) and i also got matthew west's first album "happy". they are both great cds. my music collection is expanding, but newsboys is still my top pick :)

well, enjoy the rest of the summer

Tuesday, August 23

tenez!

thats' the word that "tennis" came from... anyway, thats what i have been doing a lot of. tryouts are twice a day, and today, i took a lesson in between the two sessions... actually, i have a lot of time before my next session this afternoon. no, i am not sick of all this tennis, i am enjoying it thoroughly. :)

change subject: one of my favorite things to do is look at the peculiar postings on msn news. there is some funny stuff there... for instance: a nun is reprimanded for wild dancing with a missionary, teacher is fired for forcing his students to eat with their hands, soccer team loses 1 to 50 because goalie goes to concert, and other stuff like that. however, i come across some cool stuff by clicking around. most of you may know that i love the commercial with the guy putting picture frames over his head and taking them off (the song "picture book" is in the background). it's the hp commercial. anyway, i came across a cool article about the commercial today. here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8564390/

at the very end, it says that the commercial is "tivo proof." i can support that and say that it definately is tivo proof. i stop everytime i see that commercial is on and watch it, at least twice.

anyway, i am gonna go relax now... wanna be fresh for tennis :)

hooroo

Monday, August 22

back to bellflower... again

well, i've been back home for a little under 24 hours. we got back yesterday afternoon from mammoth after eating a humungous (i can't spell that word... and i already know somebody *points to beth* will make fun of me for it) breakfast. it was soooo good. yup, it deserved three extra o's in the "so". anyway, i was very sad to leave. i always am when it comes to leaving beautiful mountains, skies, and weather to come back to smoggy LA where the skies can hardly be called blue and the "mountains" are never seen. i know it sounds like i don't like living here, but don't get me wrong, it's all good... but the mountains are better.

anywho, i had tennis tryouts this morning. all is going well. we've got some good new girls coming out, so it's exciting. i've got another session this afternoon... looking forward to it... yup yup, i am.

well, i gotta go... actually i don't, but oh well. i have nothing else to write.

hooroo

Saturday, August 20

my illegal act for the week

well, i am sitting in the car right now near someone's house who has an unsecured wireless network... in english terms, i am getting wireless internet for free.

well, can't talk long. today, we just went shopping on main street and then went and drove up past the mammoth lodge to go to this one place where you can see a great view of the minarets. i can't believe we are leaving tomorrow. i am really gonna miss this place. i just love mammoth. i would love to come spend a summer up here, get a part time job, and become a local. wouldn't that be great?

yup yup, well, that's all for now. i've been playing and watching LOTS of tennis. roddick vs hewitt... go roddick! thats tonight. well, tata, see you all (beth) when i get back... my family teases me about my lack of audience... so spread the word, please. the only people that check this are either here on the trip, or are named beth.

anyway, buh bye

Friday, August 19

wow, its already friday

lets see... i will begin with what went on yesterday, then i will get to today. i will keep it short though and just mainly put pictures up. just a few stories first, though.

so yesterday was a lot of fun. the day was spent at gull lake. this lake is probably my favorite lake to go to. its close by, not too big, and, best of all, they always have a kayak to rent. so jenny and i rented a kayak for a few hours and had a ton of fun just kayaking around. let me tell you, we are becoming pros at kayaking. however, we tried something new a few times yesterday. this kayak also has pedals that you can use and a rudder to steer with if you want to. so jenny, sitting in the back, put the rudder down in the water and we pedaled a bit while she steered. pedaling a kayak is a great workout. my legs and bottom were burning with such a workout. jenny made fun of me cause i was going crazy. anyway, so we decided to go back to paddling. i was paddling on my own a bit, but i found that i was working extra hard to go straight. after about 5-10 minutes of paddling on my own, i hear jenny say from behind... "oh, i forgot to put the rudder up." it was hilarious.. the rudder was turned to make us go right. i couldn't stop laughing... it was great.

all this time, my family was in a little motorboat fishing. my mum caught her first fish. she was very happy. however, they had the boat till 7 pm. we were out of the kayak at 3:20. we had no money, no keys to get in the car to get money... no food, nothing. so we waited almost 2 hours doing nothing till they realized we were stranded. so they came back and gave us money to get food. we walked into town, then came back and decided to rent something new...

a canoe! we were on the canoe for an hour... that was fun... a lot different than kayaking. so we got off the canoe at around 6. another hour with nothing to do. so we were going to ask the guy if we could rent the kayak for a half hour. now, earlier in the day, we had kinda made friends with this guy. so he told us, go ahead and just take it out... no charge". we were so stoked... so stoked, that when we got on the kayak, we went crazy and pedalled and nearly tipped the kayak. funny stuff. so we were pooped by the end of the day.

today we went to bishop. we went bowling for a bit and didnt do much more. so today was relaxing... plus i got to drive back to mammoth... i love that drive, and i love cruise control.

well, thats bout it, so i will post pics... ta ta

yay for kayaking! Posted by Picasa

pretty Posted by Picasa

my frizzy hair + open window = this Posted by Picasa

don't rock the boat... Posted by Picasa

can you canoe? Posted by Picasa

havin a little fun on the water Posted by Picasa

jenny taking a break... :) Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 17


yay for weird camera poses Posted by Picasa

water fall.. i love water falls... i hiked down a little bit so i could get this pic Posted by Picasa

a leaf with twin lakes in the background Posted by Picasa

jenny and me playing the balance game Posted by Picasa

tennis courts Posted by Picasa

hanging out... in a tree... perfectly normal. Posted by Picasa

bumpy roads with a slight panic

today was the day we decided to rent bikes and go biking ('we' meaning jenny and me). so, we rented mountain bikes (no, not full suspension, part suspension.) so we took off and had a little trouble finding the trails (which are all paved) and went off-road for a while. we finally found the paved trail and went on it for a little bit. however, we quickly bored of pavement and decided to off road to another path. well, about 20 minutes later, we weren't sure about where we were going. we were going downhill and found ourselves in a valley surrounded by mountains.

being surrounded by mountains is an awesome feeling... it's amazing, the enormity of the mountains just make you feel so small. it's an incredible feeling to see the scenary in every direction and not hear cars or see highways. it's almost overwhelming, but at the same time calming. i just love being in the mountains and away from all the concrete.

speaking of being away from concrete, we had begun to doubt our location and decided we should turn around. we didn't get lost, but there were a few doubts. the way back was all uphill, so we did get a workout. we finally reached home and then came to eat lunch at the tea shop.

so, i will post the pics... well, see ya'll later
i am sitting in the comfort of the condo right now, eating a handful of wheat thins. no, we do not get internet here, but I decided to write the entry ahead of time on word and then cut and paste it in so that it would be way quicker.

we drove around all the lakes today.. lake mary, twin lakes, lake george… you know, all those ones. on the first stop, twin lakes, jenny and i decided to have a balance fight… you know where you try to make the other one fall off by making contact with each other’s hands (on a log by the way). i think I have a pic that I can post.

anyway, to continue with the story, we arrived at another lake… lake mammie… and as we were leaving, an old couple came up to jenny and me and asked, “you are the ones that were balancing!” I racked my brain to think, balancing? and, who are these people that watched us balance, and where? quickly, it clicked… the log fight. “yes, yes, that’s us! the balancers!” it was great.

so we arrive at the next lake, lake george, and the appear again! the man said, “hey, there they are again!” we chuckled, and as soon as we walked past them, I declared that if we saw them again, I was going to take a picture with them.

well, we went to lake mary, and they didn’t show up. I was a little disappointed.. I was looking forward to the picture. so we were pulling out, and sure enough, they were pulling in. we just missed them… or they just missed us… either way, no picture. maybe we will encounter again… and the picture will happen.

we are gonna bbq tonight at the condo. and that is pretty much it.

oh ya, and the letter of scarlet hue has finally been finished… it was painful, but I conquered it!

see ya!

Tuesday, August 16

day two and a half

well, yesterday was a kick-backer. we relaxed most of the day and hung out at the old mammoth village. it was raining most of the day, and it rained pretty hard too. however, fun was found.

jenny and i went to the arcade after we both went to giovanni's and had this great meatball sub (giovanni's is a resturaunt, not some creepy guy's house, for those of you who couldn't tell). anyway, at the arcade we won some fun stuff that provided hours of entertainment. we each got a tiny nerf gun that shot a foam thing about 8 feet (if you were lucky). the thing is about 6 inches long, so its small. however, we were very amused. then, we got a foam frisbee thing at a tshirt shop. we were joking around and threw it... surprisingly, this thing flies really well, better than ANY frisbee i have ever thrown. and the best part... it's foam so it is ideal for indoor use. we had a great deal of fun with that. we would throw it at eachother as hard as we could, and it wouldn't hurt at all. great stuff.

jenny is grammar checking me right now... so excuse my poor grammar, because i refuse to take her grammar advice.

anyway, we are going to twin lakes today, so it should be fun. its a beautiful day and perfect weather. a storm is on its way though... i can smell it.

hopefully better stories will come along soon... in the mean time, i posted pics below... enjoy!!!

hooroo

this is from yesterday when the clouds were low. Posted by Picasa

and here it is... my favorite and best lightning picture i took the first night... i love lightning!! Posted by Picasa

this is when it was flashing behing the tree for a cool effect. Posted by Picasa

here's one of my first lightning captures.. Posted by Picasa

this is a picture i took on the first night while it was storming... i took it right after the lightening flash. Posted by Picasa

between the legs!! haha Posted by Picasa

jenny and i played a little indoor frisbee...this thing is the most AWESOME thing in the world.. i think this thing will be my souvenir for most of you! Posted by Picasa

somebody is taking a nap, and i had a little fun Posted by Picasa

thats me driving from bishop to mammoth Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 15

don't you just love these coffee shops???

i sit here at this cool little coffee shop/cafe with my friend jenny, sipping some green tea (she sips a "tiger woods", aka, arnold palmer) and enjoying the fact that i can update my blog. now, this place is cool. first, you order your drink/snack, and then you go sit down and they'll bring it you. you can also order lunch if you want. i am starting to love little coffee shops. they are just so great! well, i will get started.

we arrived in mammoth yesterday around 4 pm and got settled in. it wsa a 5 hour journey...it included the playing with cheerios for a while, you know, throwing them, sticking them to our face, making funny faces with them. yes, we are 16 years old and there is nothing wrong with that. oh, and guess what... i got to drive from bishop to mammoth!!! the home stretch... it's a beautiful drive, and it was my first time i drove in mamoth.

anyway, me and jenny are in a loft at our condo... it's quite fun. there are two twins and a futon up there... haha, futon. later, we went out to dinner at a hawaiian themed resturant... it was pretty cool. as we ate, a storm was brewing. now understand this... thunderstorms were predicted for almost this whole week. there was lightening all over the place. let me tell you... i am highly fascinated and oober entertained by lightening. i love it! so, this obsession came over me where i just had to catch some of these bolts on film... and so, i began clicking away. when we got back to the condo, i stood out on the balcony and tried to capture some of the wild lightening... well, i did it!!! it is one of the most awesome pictures i have ever taken. i caught some other good ones, but there was one really good one. i will post a few pictures tomorrow after i upload them to my compy.

so after all of that excitement, me and jenny kicked back in the loft and watched "man on fire"... jenny is requesting a nickname/alias... leave your suggestions in the comments please :) anyway, so we watched a movie and then stayed up late... fun stuff.

so today, jenny and i went to the mammoth shopping center and walked around for a while. we ate lunch at a lil italian place and had a meatball sub...mmmm. after, we were off to an arcade and played some games... ha, we won some fun prizes.

so now we sit here, debating wether i have jenny's permission to put a picture of her up or not... i think i do. pictures will definately be posted soon. sorry if this post kind of just rambled on, but i am sure the stories will start once we start going on a few trips. well, i am off! i will post tomorrow, or the next day.

hooroo

Saturday, August 13

the wrath of an old man

remembert the old man that i hit square in the chest with one of my hardest overheads ever a couple of weeks ago?

he's back... and golly, he doesn't like me one bit. i was rallying with this guy and the old man showed up with a younger friend of his. they got set up to play doubles with us. we went around and introduced ourselves, and when i shook the old man's hand and said hello with a polite smile, he gave me a weird look and said, "oh yes, we've met before..." i began to get a bit nervous. i felt terrible for what i did, but hey, its tennis, and it happens. so we began our set, and everytimes i was at the net, i feared he would go after me... so i was cautious. however, he didn't do anything and it was 4 all. so i decided he was over it.

i was wrong.

next thing i knew, every chance he got, he hit it right at me... no mercy. even when we were both at the net, he would aim for me. man, this guy can hold a grudge. i found out later that when the guy that runs the tennis place told him he would be playing with me, he refused... he said, "i don't want to play her... i am not gonna play her." his friend finally convinced him. the old guy probably thought i was some punk teenager looking to smash a ball at every senior citizen i could. we all know that that is exactly what i am... a punk, teenage senior-smasher.

anyway, that was the last set of the night... the other sets were good, one singles, and one doubles before. those guys were nice.

---

so, we are leaving for mammoth tomorrow morning. hopefully there will be internet acess so i can update my site with pictures and stories.

this is the first year where none of my brothers are coming on the vacation with us. however, my grampa and my friend jenny are coming, so it'll be fun. lots of hiking, biking, kayaking... much fun. however, there is a lot of rain expected, so that'll add to it all. did i mention tennis? yes, lots of tennis :) i will be reading a bunch too because of summer homework. i won't have much time when i get back... tennis tryouts are the day after i get back from mammoth (yay! tennis season is here! :) my goal is to finish everything by the 29th... the day the US open tennis tourney begins!!! i can't wait.

well, i better get going! hope all your summers are going great, even though they are coming to an end. i have got friends starting college really soon, so there summers are also cut short (i'll miss you guys... beth, devin daniel... but we will still hang out... except for new mexico haha, at least until you get back.)

hooroo (that's how you say good bye in 'Stralian)

:)
ok, i better

Tuesday, August 9

courtesy of daniel urdahl

yesterday, i spent 15 hours at disneylad... from 9 till closing. i have to say that is a new record for me. it was a lot of fun... i will admit that it was more fun than i thought it would be at 11:30 at night in line for a second helping of space mountain (which rocks, by the way, for more than one reason). yes, my feet had nearly fallen off by the end of the day and i was ready to sleep, but it was fun.

i went in a group with 7 other people, one of them being the disney employee, daniel, who got us in with a discount. our tickets said "courtesy of daniel urdahl" on the back of them... it was quite funny.

anyway, the lines weren't bad, and the rides were great. i really enjoy disneyland rides... especially ones like thunder mountain, space mountain, splash mountain... i guess the mountain rides. we got soaked on splash mountain, i had never gotten that wet before on that ride. too bad we couldn't see our pic though... there was a young couple in the back of our log (only 4 of us rode, so they took the last two spots) and i didnt know until the end of the ride that they were VERY anoyed with me and lindsay's fun on the ride. so they decided to do some sort of bad gesture to that camera, and when somebody does that, the picture gets deleted (or "washed away") so no one can see it. i felt bad about being annoying, but they said some things that made me glad i annoyed them. i also felt better that i wasn't the only one.

we also had a chat with mary poppins and that chimney (sp?) sweeper guy friend of hers. they were quite funny with their fake accents and "witty" sense of humor.

anyway, the whole day was a lot of fun. this is the second time in a little over a month that i have gone to disneyland. i rarely go this often.. actually, i never go this often.

well, i am off!

Sunday, August 7

cap'n crunch in my hair

yesterday, i went to the Ventura County Fair with my parents and my friend jenny. now, many of you may be wondering, "why in the world would you go all the way out to ventura... about an hour and a half away?" i will tell you why: one of my favortie bands, the newsboys, was going to have a concert there.

the concert didn't start until 7:30 pm, so we got there in the late afternoon so we could look around a bit. we arrived at around 5:15, and i was amazed at business and size of this fair. i will admit that there was a moment of panic... when we drove up, the sign said there was entertainment tonight by the "newboys"... it was lacking the 's' in the middle (newSboys). but all turned out well. :) i had never been to a county fair before, so i thought this was awesome. we decided to make our way to the grandstand because the seating was first-come, first-served. we arrived at a short line at 5:30 and decided to switch off holding a spot in line till they opened it at 6:00 so we could sit down. me and jenny took the first shift till 6 so my parents could sit down inside.

jenny and i then walked around and checked out the fair grounds. i ended up getting a newsboys t-shirt, then jenny got some glazed almonds (which i had a few of). we made our way back to the seats and my parents went off... they didn't stay for the concert.

the concert was awesome from the beginning. they played all my favorite songs and were great performers. the lead singer spoke for about fifteen minutes in the middle... the message was great!

then, towards the end of the concert, they walked off the stage like they were finished without performing one of their most popular songs "breakfast". the audience beckoned them back on stage and they came back to perform "breakfast." now, i don't know if any of you are familiar with this song, but during the chorus, they make a refrence to cap'n crunch cereal. earlier, while in line, i saw people with boxes of cap'n crunch in their hands... i was wondering what for. well, i found out as soon as the song started. everybody opened their boxes of cereal and started throwing it on stage by the handfuls. i thought it was great. the lady behind me, however, had terrible throwing skills and pelted me in the back of the head about 5 times... really hard. it kind of hurt, but it was funny. jenny and i ate a few pieces that we caught.

after the concert, we went to look at the animals with my parents. i saw the BIGGEST pig i have ever seen... over 5 feet long. she had 12 piglets that she was nursing. then we saw a bunch of rabbits that were really cute (my bunny Oreo is still the best!). jenny and i both bought some roasted corn on the cob.... that stuff is sooo good, i love it. i think i will put a pic of it up :)

then we were on our way home. while in the car, i was going to put my hair down so i could sleep, and i found a surprise. there was a piece of capn crunch in my ponytail/bun. it was hilarious... and kinda gross :)

well, thats my story of the fun at the ventura county fair and my first concert (besides the n sync ones i went to when i was little :)

hope your summers are well!

corn... yum... Posted by Picasa