up then down

day started well (and early). we played in chapel today, and the songs came together great. plus, i had something to look forward to today.
my uncle is producing and acting in this short film, and he gets to be present when the editing is going on. the guy they are using for the editing has all this awesome equipment, top of the line. i was drooling while my uncle was telling me about it, and i asked if it would be possible for me to sit-in on one of the editing sessions, and he worked it out so i could!
so i was going to leave school during lunch so that i could beat the traffic (because this place was kinda far), so i would only have to have a morning of school. plus, i could pick up some lunch on the way, so i didn't need to pack my lunch this morning. all day, i just thought... after 4th period, you're gone!
so after lunch (i stuck around for bible study) i went to my car, showed the security guard my pass and cheerfully told her "have a nice day!" i got to my car and went to throw my backpack in the back of the car and saw that my phone was ringing. so i answered it and it was my pop.
he was calling to tell me that they had to cancel because my uncle had gotten a call-back from an audition he had earlier in the day, and they were postponing till tomorrow.
my mood went from up to down faster than, well, i can't think of anything clever to put here, so just really fast.
first, i was upset because i was sitting in the school parking lot, thinking i was free, yet i had to go back in. two, i couldn't go tomorrow because i have a wedding rehearsal to go to, and three... well, that's just a mean thing to do to my head. those kind of mood swings are terrible.
so after hanging up i sat in the back of my car and threw myself a two minute pitty party before going back in to school. the security looked at me kind of funny as i walked back in to school (obviously in a worse mood than i was before) and i just pretended i had never even walked out and said "have a nice day" again. i get to class and of course everyone is asking me, why are you still here? ugh, it stunk.
on top of that, i totally wasn't prepared for my last three classes because i wasn't supposed to be there!
okay, vent is over... i'm better now.

have a nice day

yay for la zoo!!

i know exactly where to begin with this day.
okay, so the three environmental science classes got to go to the LA zoo today for a field trip, and we were excited because not only were we going to the zoo, but we didn't have to do anything while we were there. we got to just go off on our own and wander the zoo.
you know how i have been having a hard time holding on to things lately? i just keep losing things, and i don't know why. anyway, my mum made me a lunch this morning, and i threw it in a plastic bag and went to school (i packed a lunch to save money... you know amusment parks and their overpriced food). anywho, we got to the zoo, and when we entered, i realized i din't want to hold on to my lunch the whole time, so i tied it to my purse. we stopped to take a picture of something and then moved on. i looked down 2 seconds later, and my lunch was gone!!!! can you believe it? 5 minutes in to the trip, and i lost my lunch. we quickly back tracked because we didn't go far, but it was gone! it was a good lunch too.
another weird thing... i think there should be an age requirement for the zoo, because there were like three different animals that were in their mating season. gross.
there was this really weird and dainty looking animal, almost like a really skinny deer with a super long and skinny neck. we sat and watched this thing chew on some grass that it tore up, swallow it (you could see the lump of grass go down, that's how long and skinny the neck was), stop for 10 seconds, and then see that same lump go up the throat and it would start chewing again... it did this like 5 times, and we were so grossed out we had to leave.
anyway, now for the pics... which are extra special because i forgot (i know, another thing i forgot) my memory card for the camera, so i only had the internal memory which could hold 18 pics... no more... enjoy!

sorry to say, the la zoo hasn't been making much money, so they had to get rid of all the real animals and place big animal cut-outs in their place!

davinci had his drawing all wrong... it's supposed to look more like this:

look at the roo!!!

i am in awe at how perfect and clean their stripes are... it's like God sat and hand painted each one.

the giraffe was making mean faces at me!!

now that is what i call a bear nap!

hippos... need i say more?

really want to insult someone? call them a rhino butt.

this is the golden aura monkey... it always has a natural glow around it.... yup yup

i can see clearly now (but not because the rain is gone)

what a day...
first day back after thanksgiving break. you know, the teachers start out nice, but then it's back to routine. it went kind of like this: "hey, how was your break, how was your thanksgi... SMACK! homework! test! report! presentation! take that!" okay, maybe not that bad, but seeing how my day started, it was pretty much how i felt.
in the middle of the night last night, i woke up and heard a faint pitter patter of rain on the roof... could it be? rain? nah, i'm dreaming. when i woke up (unnecessarily early i might add) i looked outside and sure enough, it was drizzling. maybe things'll be ok after all :)
well, i jumped back in bed to see if i could catch a few more zz's, but i found that catching z's was harder than catching a leprachaun riding away on a unicorn. so, i sucked it up... i closed my eyes, took note of the warmth and comfort i had laying there in bed, and thought to myself, "remember this feeling, because this will be a long day and you need somehthing to look forward to."
speaking of something to look forward to, i was excited to go jump in a nice hot shower since it was nice and chilly outside. little did i know that both of my parents had just taken their showers, and after jumping in, i had a nice cold shower to wake me... please note that there is sarcasm in that last phrase... it was not nice at all.
i put it behind me and just remembered that it was raining. however, that lasted about as long as the hot water in my house did. after 2nd period, "here comes the sun." i guess that's california.
school went on, and eventually after about a gazillion hours of waiting ever so patiently, the school day ended. i had an errand to run.
i lost my reading glasses a while back during that packing process when our house was under construction. so i quickly ran home to pick up my prescription from my mom and then run off to the mall and get another pair of glasses. don't ask me how, but somehow, between me leaving the front door after i got my prescription and me parking in the parking lot at the mall, i lost my prescription. i searched my car inside and out. i couldn't believe it... am i really that bad at keeping track of things? it wasn't even in my pockets... i tried to forget about it, and went out for a bit. i couldn't help but feel annoyed at the day, but things started to change. after leaving my friend's house, i notcied on my way to my car that the sun had started to set behind this massive cloud... it looked amazing!! (the pic doesn't do justice...but you get the idea) i couldn't help but smile and think, okay, today wasn't so bad... how could a bad day look so beautiful right now?
after i eventually got home, i searched high and low only to find nothing. but, after a call to the lens place, it turns out that they keep my prescription on file and don't need to have one with me!
so i drive to the mall (for the 2nd time) and grab the frames that most resemble my last ones and they tell me that they will be ready to pick up in a little less than an hour! more good news!
i did go home because i wasn't going to stay and risk my life in the chirstmas-time shopping maul, i mean, shopping mall.
so after returning to the mall a third time, i picked up my reading glasses and now i sit here in front of the computer screen reading nice and clear without any tired eyes!
one thing i forgot to mention. in the midst of all my running around, i never changed my clothes, so i sit here also wearing my uniform, which is no where near cozy attire.
plus, i just heard news that the rain might pick up again...
i guess this day was okay after all :)

i've gotta say, blogger makes me :)

so, recently, i have discovered some friends that have a blog, and it's been fun to read their blogs. i have also recently brought a friend of mine into the blogging family. not only is blogging fun (and addicting), but it is so much fun now that i have multiple friends that have blogs because i love reading and commenting. it's just fun :) thought i would mention that.

now for the actual blog part:
this is an exerpt from a book i am currently reading called Mind Games. as soon as i read this, i felt this HUGE relief that i wasn't the only one... i related to this instantly (except for the singing parts in the beginning, cause i don't know how to sing). so i feel the need to share this... it's about distraction, and you can pretty much change the scenario to whatever you'd like, but the point is still made. you could change "worship" to "prayer" or to "listening" or whatever you want.
this takes place during the worship service at a church, and this is the thought process of the gal, rachel... keep in mind, all of this is while she's worshiping. it's long, but i think it's worth it. (after all, i did sit here and type it all out... no cut and paste here)

I wonder if I should be singing in my chest voice or my head voice. Ooh, i can catch this harmony! I wonder if that's distracting to the person next to me.
Oops, he sang the wrong lyrics. He does that a lot. I wonder if he's self-conscious about that.
Is she really worshipping, or does she do that because it looks good? I'll bet she's not thinking that. I should pay attention. Focus, rachel, focus!
I love music. I love singing. Worst of all, i love performing.
Why worst of all? Because my head will just not shut up when i am trying to participate in worship of a musical nature. There's so much going on--the music, the video or lyrics up on the screen, the worship band ripping into the traditional worship songs. plus, i'm concerned with how i sound, and i challenge myself to try harmonies and sing out.
What drives me crazy is that, in the middle of all this distraction and vanity, a little voice always says, "Focus, rachel! Worship!" My heart digs into the worship experience for all of ten seconds before there's a new disruption to take my train of thought off the tracks.
I've prayed about this (probably not enough). I've gone to retreats that have renewed my spirit and seemingly "fixed" my group worship issues, only to lose focus a few weeks later and end up frustrated and angry with myself for letting superficial things get between me and God.
I'd like to blame this on my short attention span... concentrating on worship may just be too much to ask.
The falut could lie in the excitement of worship. How can i be expected to focus when worship has become a light show, a multimedia experience, and a concert all in one? Surely this is not my fault!
However, i have to say that years of focusing on myself--how i sound, how i look, my perception of others, me, me, me--is a part of my former life that i have yet to give over to God. It's difficult to admit, but it's true.
Of all the elements of Christianity that define the lifestyle, worship is the one thing that cannot be about me. Elements like my sin and my lifestyle changes and my attitude are about me. Worship is about God--just God. It's just about who God is. He's wonderful, glorious, powerful, sovereign. He's all of those things completely seperate from me. If i didn't exhist, he'd still be all of those things. And knowing that makes my distractions, my selfishness, and my excuses pretty lame.
The solution? If singing distracts me, I can't sing--i just focus on the words and say them to God in my heart. If the light show distracts me, I can't look--i'll just close my eyes and pretend it's just me and God in an empty room.
And if none of that works, i'll just be grateful that i can praise and worship God in what i do all hours of the day, not just the twenty minutes i spend in worship at church, Mercifully, two of His best qualities are patience and forgiveness.

some people just rock

okay, so i was in the parking lot today after lunch, and i saw this lady walking, and all i could do was smile. she was wearing normal jeans, a light-purple t-shirt, you know, normal. except, upon the top of her head rested a bright red wide brimmed hat! how awesome. didn't match her outfit at all, but she wore that thing with confidence. ya, she was a little bit older, and i just couldn't help but smile when i saw her and her hat.
thanks lady with the red hat for making my day!

yay for being different!

i had a tennis tournament today... now, i haven't been finding the best tournaments lately... a total of four people signed up in my age bracket. i figured they would just cancel our bracket, but they decided to have us play anyway. you could look at our draw in one of two ways: 1) it was a full draw starting with the round of 32, and we all had bye's through to the semifinals or 2) we started with the semifinals and only had two rounds (which was how it really was, but i prefer to think of option 1 :)
so i had my first match, and while warming up, i was like, wow, this feels weird, how come this feels weird? then i realized it had been an entire week since i had played! while warming up my serve, i didn't get a single one in... all i could think was, ok, this is trouble. i served first and in the first service game, some funny stuff happened. on the third point, i served and the girl stuck her racket to block it back and snap! her string broke. that felt good. and as if there wasn't enough string breakage going on, two points later, i think at deuce or something, i broke my string on my serve.
here's a funny side story. i have been hoping for my strings to break in the middle of a match. when my new racket came, it came in a plastic bag that the pros always have when they have multiple rackets in their bag because they're sponsored and have rackets at their disposal. so i kept it in the bag so i could pull it out in a match and look all pro. so when my string broke, i trotted to my bag and pulled out my new racket with plastic on it, grinning. however, silly me forgot to take the plastic wrap that was on the grip before i got to the match... so i spent an extra minute trying to get it off, turning my pro moment into a humbling and embarassing moment :)
anyway, i ended up losing my serve and all i could think was, man, this is going to be ugly.
however, after changing sides and my racket, something must have kicked in, because i won 12 games in a row after that (two sets). so i advanced to the finals later that day.
in between matches, my dad and i went to grab lunch and went back to the courts. i saw a row of minivans parked all next to eachother, about 7 of them. they all had their trunks opened up and people were sitting in them, watching the matches (the courts are right next to the parking). i was parked beside one of the last ones, and i laughed at how everybody matched. so i, wanting to be different, opened up the back of my car (which opens sideways, not up) and sat for a minute or two, chuckling at what the sight might look like... opened up, opened up, opened up, opened to the side :)
i quickly closed the door and left though because since mine opened out and to the side, i had a greater chance of a car driving by and hitting it.
i played the final match at 1pm, and it went well. i ended up winning, so i got a neat trophy. it was kind of funny that the tournament was only two rounds, but it was good to be playing again.

well, that's all for now... i am off!

thanksgiving in pictures

food! so much good food! (how come 'good' doesn't rhyme with 'food'? english is weird).
thanksgiving dinner was delicious... i ate mucho mashed potatoes and ham... mucho!!! i gained back everything i lost from the 10k :) okay, it's just a pillow, but that's pretty much what i felt like.
oh, and pumpkin pie... mmmm mmmm, gotta love that pumpkin pie! that crazy look on my face is why my parents don't let me use knifes that big anymore :)
i got to hang with my little cousins last night too. they're just a load of fun (as you can see)

hope you guys had a great thanksgiving.

i sure hope none of you are going out on this black friday... seriously, people are crazy on this day, tackling eachother, trampling over eachother, fighting over meaningless objects like an overpriced vessel for a wallet and lipstick...

they're crazy i tell you!

celebrate it ebay way... national sleep-in day!

hot to (turkey) trot

it's nice to know that i can still run... not necessarily fast, but i can keep going, and that was my goal. i only stopped and walked at the two water stations (because after running through the first stop and leaving the stop drenched, i realized that i don't know how to run and drink at the same time) and then again at a water fountain. but otherwise, i was going at a decent pace... i just wanted to run a lot, lets just say that :) my time ended up being 1 hour 7 minutes, which i think is close to what i got last year at the same race.
i got to the place at 7:15 this morning because i still had to pick up my packet. the race didn't start until 8:30, so after i got my packet (which didn't take as long as i thought it would) i went back to my car and went to sleep in the back :)
i woke up about 10 minutes before the race started and ran quickly to the bathrooms so i wouldn't have to make any pitstops during the race. it seemed that everybody else had the same idea. the line for the women's bathroom was out the building! it was crazy. so when we finally got in to the bathroom, we saw that the line was actually winding in the bathroom... you know, like when you stand in line for a ride at disneyland or something... except this "ride" didn't have a fast-pass. i finally got to go right at 8:30, so i ran from the bathroom straight through the starting line without stoppping :) i was still a bit sore from my beach run on sunday, but i quickly loosened up (only to tighten way up right after the race and barely be able to get out of my car and into the house where i quickly jumped in a hot shower and then slathered on some icy hot afterwards)
anywho
while running the race, there was this gal who was running in front of me for about a quarter mile... she had littl pig-tails and a fanny pack on, and all were bouncing merrilly to the beat of her stride. i was kind of getting annoyed by all the bouncing going on in front of me, so i eventually passed her up. after i passed her up, i was running next to a guy who had his car keys and loose change in his pockets, so i could her the jingle every time he took a stride. that has got to be my biggest pet-peeve of running. people, please empty your pockets before you go for a run. i mean, i was wearing my ipod and i could still hear it!
anyway, the run was fun, and they were even passing out pies after the race!
so, 10k down, tinsel triathlon to go!!!

happy turkey day!!!
enjoy your meals!

you'd never thunk it

okay you guys, a lot of stuff went down the last few days, so here i go!
it's been fun telling more people that i got my acceptance letter... i'm still grinning. haha, at house church on sunday, people wore calvin shirts to celebrate :) so that's been fun.
i went to ikea yesterday with some amigas. our primary focus of the trip was eating swedish meatballs at the cafe, but we ended up finding some really cool stuff that you'll hear about in a sec. i was so exhausted after we got back... shopping at ikea is tiring!
no news on the job hunt yet, but i am expecting to hear some news after thanksgiving.
today was fun. i worked on a video project today for some friends who are going to indonesia for missions work. i love doing those kind of videos, you know, the kind with a purpose. and, speaking of videos, i am proud to announce the beginning of Red Button! what's Red Button you say? well, why don't you head over to http://redbuttonfilms.blogspot.com to find out!!! yay :)

so, we discovered we had a ping pong table today. funny thing is that we've had it for as long as i've been alive, we just never knew it. it took a $7 set from ikea to figure it out. confused? i would be too. so i bought this thing at ikea that comes with two ping pong paddles, three ping pong balls, and one net that is adjustable and attaches to any table!!! this thing is awesome... you can play ping pong anywhere!!! we set up on our dining room table and played. it was so much fun! it's just like playing real ping pong (except the net is like 8 inches high... but that's just good practice :) jenny and i got really into it, and we were having so much fun that we got a little loony.... lets just say i ended up singing christmas carols in a mobster voice and was calling jenny "tony." i won't explain.

i ate supper with the woo family tonight... delicious.

now it's time for the surprise. i was watching our vacation video from when we went to the grand tetons as a family in a motor home (yes, we drove from ca to wyoming) in 2001. okay, so this video was over 15 minutes long, and i was in it multiple times. when i was watching it, i was expecting to see me ham it up in front of the video camera and say some things that would embarass me in the future. however, you'd be shocked to know that every time the camera was pointed at me, i stopped what i was doing, smiled, and ran off/looked away... not a single word... not a single word came out of my mouth in the entire video!!! not a single goofy act in the entire video!! i, cristina stavro, was camera shy!!! i was shocked. all i did was smile and hide. what a strange little child.

you'd never thunk it :)

it's nice to be applauded

so when i was in manhattan beach on sunday, i decided that i wanted to go for a run down at the beach. but before doing so, i had to find a parking spot. preferring a spot closer to the beach, i drove all the way down, and after not finding a spot, i turned to go back up the steep hill... right before doing so, i saw a car leave (that was parked on the steep hill). i quickly jumped on it and put my blinker on (even though there was no one else around to compete for the spot). i also noticed that the car leaving was behind a car and in front of a car... that's just a complicated way of saying that i would need to parallel park.
i'm not going to down play my skill at all... i'm a good parallel parker. i usually can get in within 1 or 2 gear changes. so i wasn't scared at all of trying this difficult task of parallel parking on steep hill (if you've been to manhattan beach, you would know what i am talking about).
so i pull up right next to the front car and go into reverse, but i turn in too sharply and hit the curb. okay, everybody has to fail at least once, so i'll try again. i feel a jolt, whoops, curb again. pull out, try again... curb. whole time i am trying to keep from rolling back because of the hill. try, curb, try, curb, try.... after about 8 minutes, i almost gave up, but i was not about to be defeated by the curb or all the other aspects of parallel parking that i was having trouble with. i finally made it in.... 8 MINUTES!!! here's the worst part. i got out of my car, and just as i do so, i hear a small chorus of clapping coming from the sidewalk about 20 feet away. there was a group of guys watching me the whole time and decided to applaud my completing the task. i took a quick bow and ran off sore from the fall i had taked from my high parallel-parking horse.

well i am off!

later gator

since i'm done applying to colleges...

well, i have been doing another kind of applying lately.
since i have some time now, i've decided to start looking for a part-time job! i can work a few days a week, so it would be kinda cool. so far, the places i have looked at/applied at are Trader Joes, Borders, Coffee Bean, It's a Grind, BedBath&Beyond, Sportmart. Unfortunately, at TraderJ's you have to be 18 to work the register, but you can be a "utility" worker. however, in order to do so, you need to fill out an in-store application on Tues Wed or Thurs between the hours of 10 am and 3pm (in other words during school). at about this time, yall would say, "well you don't have school this week, go this week." however, he said that they are too busy this week and told me to come the following week. how convenient.
most of the other places have online applications (which are extremely long) and i have filled em out.
so now i sit back, and wait for a call.

oh joy, another waiting game :)

for every season turn, turn, turn

like the new look? you know how every once in a while you are supposed to turn your mattress? well, i think the same rule should loosely apply for websites, so i "turned" my site today :) Plus, it kind of has a thanksgiving feel to it...
gobble gobble!

from ear to ear

so, i was flying home after school with one thing on my mind... get to that mailbox!!!
even though i caught green lights all the way home (a grand total of two), i was thinking to myself, man, it takes forever to get home. as i pulled into a residential area, i got stuck behind this huge stinkin garbage truck which was making frequent stops and going very slow. he must have looked in his mirrors and seen me bouncing in my seat because he stuck his arm out and waved me to go ahead. so i got home, ran in to grab the key and ran back out to the mailbox.
when i opened our oh so wonderful mailbox, there it was... not coupons, not ads, not insurance documents... A BIG WHITE ENVELOPE! it was addressed to me and from calvin (again, the college, not hobbes friend). i ran in and ripped that envelope open (very carefully) and pulled out a maroon folder which i opened and then began reading something to the tune of "admissions has approved your acceptance to Calvin!" i actually scanned the letter for all to see :) you might need to click on it if you want to read it.
golly it feels good to be accepted :)


YAY!!!!

we had our tennis banquet tonight! it was a lot of fun, and filled with delicious desserts (we each brought some kind of homemade dessert, and they were all yummy). i made my inside-out smores again, and i have to say that this batch came out a little better than the last :) the party was at one of the player's house, and it was just amazing (both the house and the party :)anyway, it was a lot of fun hearing some of the stories from this season... there are a lot of them and they are just hilarious. it's crazy how fast this season went, it seems like some of the stories were from last week or something, not the end of summer or a month ago.

anyway, one of the most funny parts was the coach's gift part... and i haven't been able to write about this on my site for the past few days since it was a surprise, so i finally get to say something and get the story out!
anyway, when i went to target a few nights ago (you can't wear red to target), i was supposed to be going there to buy a basket to put all our little gifts in and what not. anyway, i started walking up and down the aisles looking for a basket, and then something colorful caught my eye... the piñata section. my thoughts immediately turned to: ok, how cool, and stinkin hilarious, would it be if we put all the little gifts (which consitsted of non-breakable things) inside the piñata and made her hit her gifts out of the piñata! so first i called jenny, "jenny, am i crazy?" she responded with a no. then i called my co-captain sam, "sam, am i crazy?" another no... that's two. i finally called my home, "family, am i crazy?" a little hesitation there, but eventually a no. that's three, and it was final.
what i wanted to write in the target post is how everybody was staring at me while i was walking through target with a colorful piñata donkey under my arm, you know, wearing that bright red sweatshirt and all... i was a colorful walking target for people to stare at... it was quite funny :)

anyway, the piñata was a hit (pun most certainly intended) and it was a blast to watch coach swing away at the piñata. unfortunatly for the piñata, after a few whacks, it came to its end after a lethal hit that seperated the body, leaving the head hanging there... oh the fun of piñatas!

here's our friend the burro after we replaced it's head to the body :)
isn't he cute?

someone please tell me...

how long does it take for a piece of paper enclosed in an envelope to travel from a post office in michigan to a post office in bellflower where that paper in the envelope will be sorted into a bag that will be loaded on to a truck that will be driven by a mail person who will drive that truck up to my street where they will take out their bag where the paper in the envelope is sitting so that they can walk down the street up to my mailbox where they will reach their hand into their bag to pull out that letter enclosed in an envelope which will be quickly put into my mailbox, which is where i will rush to as soon as school is out.... someone tell me, how long does that take? because each day i think that this process has happened and rush to the mailbox. but you know what, i haven't found that letter yet. all i have found are a bunch of ads and coupons... and you know what???? COUPONS WON'T GET ME IN TO COLLEGE!!!!
okay, maybe i am a bit edgy right now, but who wouldn't be. i wasn't going to start this not-fun waiting game until next week, but i just had to get that call from the admissions office saying that the letter had already been mailed out and that it should come sometime this week. today was the highest percentage day to recieve... the amount of travel time for the letter would be just right... but no. it is not here.

i shake my fist at you, Postal Service!!!!
i am better off using the Pony Express!!!!

i rushed home, opened the mail box... and there it sat, a big white envelope... 'could it be?' i thought. i almost squealed in excitment. i reached for it and was about to rip it open when...
insurance documents enclosed? what? no, it's supposed to be acceptance letter enclosed!
unfortunately, my letter didn't come today, so after day 2, the wait continues.
join me tomorrow for: "day 3: the wait (most likely) continues again."

ciao

you can't wear red to target

after coming home from manhattan beach (and after an unfortunate loss for our girls volleyball team in the cif semis) i headed for target...
as i walked up to the sliding doors, something totally started to bug me. i didn't figure it out at first, but as i reached for one of those hand baskets, i realized it--i, in my bright red custom-ironed jacket, matched the basket... in fact, i matched the rest of the store as well. for some reason, it just threw me off. i felt so akward. i was sure that if i were to stand in front of one of their sale signs or lay down on that big red stripe on the floor, i would disappear. it was jsut too weird for me...
so i have made a mental note: don't wear red to target.

the end

and so it begins!

after an interesting phone call from calvin (the college, not the friend of hobbes), i was eventually told that my letter, the letter, was in the mail and should arrive any day now. so, today was my first day that i rushed home, ran to the mailbox, and feverishly shuffled through the mail hoping to see a big envelope from calvin with my name on it. after day 1, the wait is still on. i will spend my next 24 hours impatiently willing the time to go faster... stinking sun, why are you so big, causing our days to be so long... (ok, that was a little nerdy).
anywho, something else did get delivered to me today... Sergio II. actually, i haven't really named it yet, but whatever it is, "the second" will be attached. in case you haven't figured it out yet, my replacement racket is what came (the make of my rackets is called "Surge", hence the "sergrio"). quick delivery, eh? i will be holding a memorial post for my other racket later on for my cracked racket.
in other tennis news, my husband andy was up a set against mr. federer and went to a tie-breaker in the second, which he lost, just like he lost the third set, so andy almost won, but didn't.

tata
i off to manhattan beach for top-secret reasons, and for some unwinding.

just thought i'd let yall know.
this day has been so stinking long.
too long
and it's not even over yet..
it's only 7th period

trying to think

besides the obvious (and small amount) of homework that i get everyday, i am trying to think things that i can do now that i no longer have practice after school... well, of course i will still go and play at el dorado after school, but that's only an hour... there is more that can be done.
i've toyed around with the idea of getting a part-time job, but haven't really figured out where i would want to work. plus, my available hours are kind of specific, so the more i think of it, the worse the idea seems.
oh, i found out that i can get a library card to the cerritos library since i got to school in cerritos. so i might do that sometime this week.
what else... see, this is hard for me. i get free time, and i don't know what to do with it. i do know that i do not want to spend the rest of the day at home, because that gets old fast... not to mention the fact that i am just so lazy when i am at home.
anyway, i am open to suggestions, anything!
haha,
well, i gotta get going...
(did i mention i am in school right now? don't worry, i'm not doing something i shouldn't be)

ciao

i smell like icyhot :)

what a day... what a big day filled with firsts, lasts, laughing, crying, and a whole lotta tennis (again, praise God that "a whole lotta driving" isn't on the list :). so our match was agaisnt st. bonaventure (no idea how to spell that) and they are the number one seed in our division, so coming in to this match, we had absolutley nothing to lose. the other team, or more so the coach, figured that those two things equaled them having nothing to worry about anything with this match and were already planning ahead for the next match and warming up the car to get going... now i don't want to go any further having you guys think that we won the match and taught them a lesson about counting the chicks before they hatch, because we didn't win. it was closer (and longer) than they wanted, so that was good. but at the end of the day, we really didn't lose either... kind if like something i learned in cross country "the team who is having the most fun wins." and i can tell you, that we had a lot of fun today.
okay, story time! gather round to hear the firsts, lasts, laughing and crying. i won't go in that order though because it flows better in a different order.
LAUGHING: okay, this one doesn't really have any specific stories, but laughing was a result of some of the stories to come. also, this match was really relaxed match, and everybody was haveing a good time. some of the laughing was at how crazy some of the things the other team/coach did or say, but those aren't stories that i'll touch.
FIRSTS: when i asked my final opponent "m or w" when we spun for serve, she said "w" and i spun the racket, let it fall, and saw it was "m", picked it up, and i said "it's m, so, uh, i'll recieve, what side do you want?" she looked at me and said, "uh, could you spin again?" i looked at her, and like a confused little puppy i tilted my head to the side and was like "what?" all i could think was, is she really asking to spin again because she lost the spin? but then she said, "i didn't see what it landed on, so could we spin again?" i didn't want to make abig deal out of it, so i spun again and whaddya know, "w". and of course, she says "um, i'll recieve." the nerve!!! so, first time i have ever been asked to spin again.
LASTS: okay, this one is obvious at first, but i'll get to that in a sec. i have something that actually belongs in the "firsts" category as well, but you'll see why i put it in the lasts category. there is no pride in this at all, in fact i more ashamed than anything, but today was the first time (and LAST TIME) that i hace broken a racket out of frustration. i am apologizing to everyone! never again... definitly a last time. i also apologized to my racket, because it's been so good to me, so to make up to it, i am putting in on my wall.
other lasts... today was our last tennis match, my last time playing a high school tennis match, last time saying the line up, last time playing with this team, last time playing on my high school courts (competitively), last time getting coach's advice on change overs, last time my parents will probably watch me play (since i'll be in michigan)... you know, all that sappy stuff... i 'm getting choked up just typing it... and that brings me to:
CRYING: of course that would happen... just look at the day (and the team we played). i have to admit that i also cried when i broke my racket... i swore to myself i would never ever ever do that, yet i sat there with a cracked frame. people were probably like "well if you're so sad, you shouldn't have hit your racket on the ground in the first place" haha, but ugh, ya, that stunk. my eyes started to sting after winning my final set (which was one of my most relaxed, strategized, just playing through my heart matches that i've played... i wouldn't imagine ending any other way!!!).. so ya, after my final set, it was kind of like, so, that's it for now, and the water works almost came, but i had more reasons to smile than i did to cry :) :) :)

sorry for the long and sappy post, but yall had it coming... there is no way i would leave this day out of my blog.

did i mention we all went to golden spoon afterwards? well, we did :)

good night! :)

music code jackpot!

i finally found the best site ever for music codes!!! i always have a hard time finding songs from the bands that i like to put on my website because they aren't very well known, but i finally found a site!!! finally i can start putting music on again, and i can change the songs fairly often if i want to. plus, if you guys don't want to hear the music, you can press stop (however, i don't recommend it :)
there aren't any songs from the new newsboys cd yet, so i will have to wait for that, but otherwise there are a ton of songs!
enjoy!

religious howdy!

well, i finished reading "A Pagan's Nightmare" last night... i think i read about 200 pages yesterday. i sat down to read at 4pm, and i didn't stop till i finished, and that was at 8:30pm... which was also the time i went to sleep since my eyes would no longer stay in focus or stay open :)
anywho. the book was great, and it was hilarious. it's a very different plotline from the Flabbergasted series, but his humorous writing style is just as comical as ever. the book is majorly satirical, and the author wrote this book to show what christianity is not. i highly recommend the book, and although this book was great, i have to say it doesn't compare to the flabbergasted series, which is still my all time favorite :)
(by the way, "religious howdy" is something from the book, so if you want that to make sense to you, read the book :)

how's that for a brief book review, eh?

tony the spider is still here... quick story about that:
we read that this type of spider stays on his web at night, and then during the day it goes and hides above the web while waiting for it's prey, and then comes back at night/sundown. so when i get home during the day, i know not to look for tony, but it was kind of funny when last night at sundown tony wasn't back in his web yet. everybody kind of seemed sad... it was like 7pm and it wasn't back yet. so i kind of figured he was gone. well, when i was almost done reading my book, i glanced over at the window to see tony back in it's usual spot! yall would be surprised to know that a little grin came across my face... i know, i hate spiders, but this one has bothered any of us yet. so, i've allowed this one to be a spider that i can like, but all other spiders will still recieve my fear and extreme dislike.
so this morning, when i came down very early, tony was there. so i was eating breakfast while watching spongebob, and i would glance over every few minutes because i wanted to see tony leave. it's funny though, cause none of us have actually seen it crawling from above or to his spot... he's just there one moment, gone a next, and then back again. so i looked one minute, and then after eating breakfast i looked again to see that he was gone.
yup yup

hmmm, lets see... what else...
oh yes... CIF TODAY!!! and get this..... it's HOME! if we would have had to go to the other team's place, we would have to be driving out to ventura... how's that for an away match? praise God that it is home though!

well i am off to go do stuff...

hooroo

hanging in there!

we had our first round match in team CIF today and we won 10-8! it was a close match, but we pulled through and hung in there, which is great for some, but not so great for others (i am most definitely part of the "some" group).
also hanging in there is our good friend tony the spider (named by me :) i'll probably feed him again tomorrow morning if i can swat a good fly.
by the way, i finally got my hand on a copy of "A Pagan's Nightmare" yesterday, and have been reading it ever since! it is hilarious... a satire of christianity (written by a christian author) that shows what christianity is not (or not supposed to be) and it is just an awesome book. i will say a few things that may hint to what this book holds in store... reverse rapture (a few left behind), McScriptures, a volleyball game witht team Dunkers VS team Sprinklers (try to figure that one out... it's funny) and gas that costs $6.66 for non believers.
read it... i dare you!

toodles

AAAAHHH!!!!

WARNING: MASSIVE spider content... don't look unless you think you can handle it!


as i was reading on the sofa last night, i peered over my book to see the most MASSIVE spider i have ever seen in my life... not sure if it was on the inside or outside of the window, i quickly got up to find out... as soon as i realized that it was on the out side, i screamed. i quickly called jenny over to see the most MASSIVE spider ever, and then quickly grabbed my camera to document the massive, i mean MASSIVE size so that yall could see it. it spun a web covering almost the entire window! my pics didn't come out too great, but this morning the spider was still there (despite the nightmare i had showing it was gone) so my dad took a few pics from the inside and outside. frustrated with the fact that every picture looked the same, i wanted more action. so what did i do? i found a dead swatted fly that we had swatted earlier and we fed the spider. the moment the fly hit the web, the spider darted straight toward the fly and immediately started wrapping it. i have never seen a spider move so fast. it was gross, yet interesting. i will let the pics tell the rest of the story. it's pretty crazy because you can see the web coming out of the spiders but when he is wrapping the fly... which was actually pretty big. i am convinced that this is the type of spider that would run towards you if you attempted to kill it, not away like all those other spiders. oh, and we did find out that this is a barn spider

I had a story to tell, but i forgot it.
bummer.
i'm still trying to think of it, cause i know it was a good one.
so we've got cif coming up on thursday... pretty exciting... yup yup.
still thinking... right now, it's kind of like having one of those awkward pauses when you can't think of something to say to someone, except i am having that with my computer screen... so, what to type?
honestly, the story was really cool, and it is totally worth the time i am wasting just sitting here trying to think of it.
i give up...
sorry for a waste of 30 seconds...
maybe you can learn from my forgetful experience:
Think it is something that you will forget? On your hand is the place to write it!

mmhmm :)

one of my life dreams has been fulflilled!

i forgot to mention something awesome that happened last night...
i was on my way home from golden spoon after jenny and i played volleyball last night, it was about 9:45, and i was waiting to pull out on to south, when all of a sudden, i saw what i have alwats wanted to see...
a tow truck, towing a tow truck! ever since i was little, i thought it would be a rather funny sight to see, and to be honest, it really was! just thought i would share that.
and, by the way, some exciting news...
i just found out that i have a cousin on the way! technically speaking, this'll be my first cousin! how exciting, eh?
and another thing... i am officially addicted to iron-on transfers! i created my own customized jacket today, and it was fun... i am really excited to where it to school tomorrow... so fun!

wow, two posts in one day... can you tell i don't have much to do.

what were we thinking?

last night, at a little past 8 PM, jenny and i decided to go play volleyball at liberty park. but first, jenny mentioned that her volleyball was a little flat and that we needed to pump it up. so she came over and we pumped it up.
when we got to the park where they had the sand courts, we realized that it was freezing cold, and then we realized that the sand was probably going to be really cold too (we always play barefoot). the moment we stepped in to the sand we nearly started screaming. it was so cold that it hurt... you would of thought that we were playing in the snow. it took about 15 minutes for out feet to numb up, so after that we were okay. however, there was pain being felt other places to... when we started to finally play volleyball, jenny tossed the ball to me and i went to bump it and OWWWW.... the ball was so stinking hard!it hurt so bad, and on top of that the ball didn't go anywhere. jenny just laughed and then i tossed it to her so she could see how bad it hurt and then she screamed. it must have been a humorous sight to see two girls hitting a volley ball back and forth, each of them screaming in pain each time they hit the ball... and then the moment our rally was dead, we would scream and run around because our feet were painfully cold and practically numb. you would have thought we were being tortured!
why did we end up staying and playing for an entire hour, numbing our feet and using a killer volleyball to tenderize our forearms? well, it was fun in the end, and the fun eventually surpassed the pain. plus all we could do was laugh at eachother the whole time.
ahh, the joys of late night volleyball.
oh ya, and the night before (friday night), i played some late night tennis. it was pretty trippy when the fog rolled in... it was so crazy because the fog came out of no where, an it was literally on the court. it was pretty thick, and the cool part was when the ball was hit, it actually pierced the fog and you could see a little hole for like two seconds. another part that was cool was when ever i said the score, i could see my breath float off in front of me and join the fog... i have to say that in a way there was a very poetic atmosphere, haha :)

hooroo
:)

Spaghetti and Meatball Extravaganza!

We had an awesome tennis team party last night here at my house... how can a party go wrong when a tennis team gets together, plays twister, eats a ton of spaghetti and meatballs, and just hangs out? it was so much fun... here are a few pics!

this is gonna be fun... and long... but fun, and good

ok, this post is going to be interesting... i am really excited about writing this, and it may be a little less than interesting for some, but that's ok.
so today was league finals (individual matches, not as a team) at the home depot center, and although a got a bit of a bummer draw, i was a little nervous but ready to play (maybe a little too ready? it's confusing). anyway, i lost. i lost 1-8 in fact (8-game pro set), and yes i was very very upset about it, and yes it was obvious that i was upset about it. i had an off set and was all over the place in the mental aspect of the game... well, and the physical part of the game too :) now that may surprise you... no, not the the fact that my game was all over the place... the fact that i just put a smiley face there... especially there. this is what i am excited about.
ok, so after the match, i wasn't only upset about the whole losing thing, but i knew that this set was going to be hanging over my head for a long time (kind of like it did with my first time playing tiana) and i hated that feeling... you know, where just a slight reminder or thought of the match makes you wanna cry. i knew it was going to last for days. and for the rest of the time at the home depot center and on the bus ride home, i was right.
however, when we got back, instead of just holding that match in and going home (there's a story about that coming up), i talked it out. in the process of doing so, i got some frustration out. yet, it soon shifted to lessons that needed to be learned and reminders of the more important things.
so here's the good part. i will let you in on what i learned and remembered tonight and what has caused me to make a little change on how i am looking back on today's match. i'm not going to get really specific, but here goes it.
haha, now that i am finally to the good part, i am having a hard time puting it to words :)
first... humility--need i say much more? :) next... i realized that now that the individual aspect of this season is over, i can lose all the pressure i have been placing on myself, causing me to be excited for our team cif match where i can just play relaxed. also... God is good. this was a huge reminder. with so much going on lately, i hadn't really been paying attention to how God has been so good. i am blessed to be saying that life is good.
so, first the lessons learned and the getting excited about team cif helped me to get over today's match and put it behind me. then remembering God put me in a good mood... took away the bummed-outness i was in. realizing that made me even happier because it showed me how God helps with the little things (like losing a match) we dont tend to take to Him. remember: nothing is too big for God, and in the same way, nothing is too little :)
now to put an end to this long post, i will conclude :)
i got over this match a whole lot faster than i thought i would (praise God) and i have officially left it all on the court... actually, most of it... i am going to take what i learned and remembered today with me, but i will leave the rest of it behind.

oh, quickly, the story about coming home.
when i come home after losing a rough match, my parents (and pretty much anyone i come in contact with) have learned that i tend to come home in a bad mood and don't like to talk... i just eat, shower and sleep. so when i walked in the front door, it was quiet and my parents said a quick "hello" and then let me be. but it was funny to see their face (even thought they may not even know they made one) when i said a chippery "hello" back and was smiling, even talking. they were probably wondering if i really had lost and were likely really confused :)

okay, so that is the end.
i have homework to do... more than i planned... gotta go!

:)