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!

:)

something beautiful

two things of note for tonight.
one: i just got the new Newsboys cd called GO. i have been so excited for it, especially since it doesn't come out until tomorrow. i figured i would check iTunes since it is already tomorrow on the east coast. turns out, it was on itunes, so i purchased it and am listening to it right now... awesome cd :)
two: i just found out my draw for league finals on wednesday/thursday. now, for me, there is only one person that i would really not wanna play. if my life were some predictable tv show, of course i would be playing that one girl. but praise God that my life is not a predictable script! i am playing the gal that was undefeated until she came against me the second time around. you'd think i would be a little upset about the draw, but to be frank, i'm not. i am actually feeling pretty good... wait, i just started thinking. okay, maybe a little nervous. but that's okay. the next part of my draw, unfortunately, is a team mate of mine. so when (not "if" because i am building confidence here) we win our first round matches, we play eachother. then the winner of that goes on to the finals/makes it to CIF. we'll see how it goes.
that's all folks.

"i wanna run with fire, it's my hearts desire" -newsboys

well, i just wrote out a long blog saying all that happened this weekend with wilderness challenge and what-not when POOF... it all disappeared to the place of no return. i'm not too frustrated about it, but yall should be, because now you guys don't get to hear the fun stories since i refuse to rewrite them all... it's not that fun the second time around.
soory
instead, i am going to let yall in on a little bit of my mind today.
as i walked around today running errands, or while i was cleaning my room, doing homework, changing my clocks and watch, my mind started to go off on random tangents, acting like a little child and asking that little question that'll peck at your mind... "WHY?" for example, the time change. i asked myself, why do we do this. that one was simple, because it allows for the calendar to work or something to that effect. then i wondered, why have a calendar? well, it's our form of organizing time. why organize time? without organizing, things would be chaotic. why would it be chaotic, would it really be chaotic, or would we adapt? (starting to get annoyed yet? i sure was). getting in a debate with time is not a battle you want to take on.
so ya, my mind all day has been going around and around asking "why" and "how come?" it went from concepts like time and ritual to actions and life, and it got to the point of overload where you think so much that you're not thinking at all... ever have that? it's kind of crazy... today it came when i was standing in the salad aisle trying to find which bag to grab. i realized that i was standing in the aisle, looking at the salad, with this spaced look and mouth wide open (kind of like that pic in the post from friday). that's mental overload :)
wow, that's too much... i hope i didn't confuse you guys too much, or cause you to think that my attire should include a white jacket with lots of straps and shiny buckles. i will end now.

*challenge for the day... ask "why" to at least the third level of something and see what it does to you :)

so much time, so little to do... wait, strike that, reverse it.

what a day!

what a week!
we had our final league match today at home... now, i don't mean to get all gushy and stuff, but i have to say a few things about my first "last time" as a senior moment. introductions... man, it was tough. when i stepped out when my name was called and then ran down the line for high-5s, i couldn't help but wonder if it would be the last time (cif wasn't a for-sure). i'll get to the sets in a sec, but for now, a jump forward. i played my last set on the far left court today. i hadn't played a set for a match on that court ever before in all my three years of playing, and i got to finish there... it was kind of neat :) so ya, it was a bit emotional and all, but i didn't really tap into those emotions... i figure to save them for the last last set or match :)
so, now about the actual tennis stuff. i won my first set, but after playing my second set, it felt like i had played my first set yesterday. here's why...
i was down in the set 4-5 and she was serving 40-15 when she had 2 set points. now, my first thought was, i've never come back from set point down... i know, i know, those are bad negative thoughts, but i quickly changed them and decided to fight back (with encouragement and little thing called golden spoon dangling in front of my nose :) long story made a little shorter, after many many deuces and other faced set points, i finally got through the game, but lost my next service game, going down 5-6. again, i faced more set points, and i was wondering what i was still doing on the court. i made my way to a tie-breaker, which again, i faced more set points. i finally got a set point, but missed the opportunity. on my second set point, i finally converted and won the set (the tie breaker was 10-8). honestly, the amount of set points this gal had had to have gone well in to the double digits. i was so stinkin tired after that set, and i know i'll be feeling it in the morning.
i was reminded today of the awesomeness of icy hot. it works well, and smells good :) just thought i would add that in
well, it's late, and i have still got more to do, so i will end with a funny picture from today. it's not an action shot or anything, but my dad took this, and although it's embarassing, i couldn't pass up the chance to make someone laugh... so here ya go!
i don't really remember what i was doing, but i think it is likely that a yawn was involved.

what a week (so far)

this week has been filled to the brim with stuff to do... and i am no where near getting it all done! eek!
it's not really school stuff... just, well, tennis stuff, video stuff, chore stuff, favor stuff... and, like the beat, the list goes on!
we've had two tennis matches in a row with one to come... all of them are extremely important and extremely exhausting. it was my first time waking up sore from tennis in a long while this morning. yesterday went well... the team lost, but it was super close, and it was a super tough team (however, i did end one girl's undefeated streak). today, was crazy... almost like a twilight zone version of tennis... in more ways than one. today held my first time asking for a line judge... and i vowed that i would never do that ever since someone did that to me last season... however, i did... as did two other of our doubles teams back to back after my set. and, since our tennis courts don't have any lights like the ones that the football field have and recently replaced/upgraded, our last 3 or 4 sets had to be cut off due to the incapability to see the ball. my set was one of them, and yes, it was difficult to see the ball... i got hit by a serve, in fact. but don't get worried or anything, the serve wasn't fast or painful at all... that should tell you how dark it was. and, to top it off... when we agreed to stop the set, we had a disagreement in the score. i'm not going to get into it, so i will leave it at that: a stinky disagreement.
well, our final league match (and my final league match as a high schooler... sad :( is tomorrow. it is a very big match tomorrow, so i better get to sleep... i have been so excited to sleep ever since i woke up this morning.
tis all for now!

Hooroo

(by the way, i have been asked a few times recently what "hooroo" means, and i did define it maybe a year ago in the blog, but i will redefine it now... it is Aussie talk for "bye"...so, on that note..."

Hooroo, again :)

here are a few pics from my latest photo project

today i turned in my first photo project for photography, and here are a few of the ones i took (we had to take a total of 24 pics split up between 3 objects). fun stuff :) this last one is my favorite... i think i want to put it on my wall.

i forgot to write about our tennis match yesterday... well, we did very well and won. i personally had a rather good day too... coach put out the offer of buying golden spoon for anyone who got three bagels (6-0 s) because we were planning on going to golden spoon after practice today. lets just say that the golden spoon offer was too good to pass up, so i got my three bagels. and an even bigger personal achievment: no double faults in my last two sets. before, i was having trouble getting through a single game wihtout a double fault :) lets hope i can keep the momentum (sp?) rolling through tomorrow's match and my league matches to come.
so yes, we went to golden spoon today, and i have to say, i think it tastes better when you have to work for it :)

HOOROO

a good match and two bad endings

today, tuesday... long day of school, good tennis match, we won 17-1.
i watched two movies tonight, and both were kind of weird. well the first one was weird because it was in a different language. besides that, it was interesting, however it had a terrible terrible ending. then i watched "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind." if you really want to stretch your brain and don't mind getting a little frustrated while watching a movie because it is just so weird, go for it... also had a bad ending.
my day, in contrast to the movies, will have a good ending.
you know why?
cause i am going to sleep, something i have been looking forward to all day :)
tomorrow i am taking a test by the army to see what my career is going to be (or in their case, should be). then we have a tennis match
my mind is all over the place thanks to that movie
im tired

good night

:)

a blast from the past for frankenstien!

i will explain further... first frankenstien, then the blast.

i had a tennis lesson today in manhattan beach (where the weather was BEAUTIFUL) and it went very well. the fox trot has officially become a part of my game, and i'm not even going to say how, because it'll ruin how funny that sentence sounds and seems. anyway, i was working on playing out the point with me serving. however, it was quite hilarious to see the coach that gave me the monster serve i have (pun totally intended, you'll see why) struggle to return it. i was laughing because all i could think of was frankenstien whenever i aced him... steve (my coach) had created a serving monster (see the pun now?) that was alive and taking over :) i don't know if that makes any sense to you guys, but it does to me... and it makes me laugh.

now for the blast. after my lesson, i went to downtown manhattan beach and walked around a bit, checking out some of the new stores and what-not. i went into this store called papyrus and got in line to buy a card. i looked up and saw the cashier lady, immediately recognizing her. i wasn't sure if she'd recognize me (again, you'll see why) and when i walked up to the cashier, she immediately said, "you look familiar..." knowing exactly who she was, i quickly told her where from... she was one of the counselors at camp mattel (a summer day camp that i went to from age 6-12). I hadn't seen her in over 6 years (she didn't work there my last two years). it was crazy, and she totally remembered me. we talked for a little bit, and she asked me where i was planning to go to college cause she knew i was a senior now. this is where it gets crazy... i told her i'd be going to college out in michigan, and then she said that she was going to be moving to michigan soon. curious, i asked what part of michigan... she tells me, "grand rapids!" (that's where calvin is for any of you who don't know). isn't that crazy!?!?! so we talked a bit more, and got to the topic of my old best friend jason that i knew from camp mattel. now, we were best friends for the longest time, maybe about 7 years and he's a grade above me. i haven't seen or talked to him since 6th grade cause he doesn't live around here. after leaving papyrus and getting into my car, i realized that i still had his phone number memorized. i decided to try giving him a call even though i wasn't sure he'd be home because he's in college now. i called and it turns out, he is still living at home while going to a local college... he remembered me instantly and we talked for about ten minutes. we've definitely taken diferent routes in life, but it was so crazy and awesome to be talking to him again! we decided that we would meet up sometime in the next few weeks while i am in manhattan beach so we could catch up from the past 5 years! crazy! total blast from the past!

well, that's it for the day... i need to go work on my photography project now!

HOOROO :)

(look below for a continuation of this post and some pics that just might make you laugh)

okay, all this talk about my memories as a little kid prompted me to go look at some old pics to see if i could find any of me and jason... i ended up finding some funny stuff and because it is so funny, i decided to get the scanner going so i could put some of them up on the site... it is kind of embarassing stuff, but i have to spread the laughter...

here's a pic of me and jason... i have no idea where this is at or why there is a weather map. at mattel, we were in the first generation of campers and were always the oldest (i don't know how that worked out). anyway, we were the cool kids. all the little kids (or shall i say little-er kids since we were little too) would do anything we said... kind of scary now that i think about it. anyway, we were top dogs, so that's a pic of us :)
next is a pic of me and my middle bro aldo at my birthday party i had when i was in kindergarden. i LOVED peter pan (that's who i am supposed to be dressed as). look at my hair... and those bangs?
here's the fun part... tennis. no, i haven't been playing tennis all my life, but i did take lessons for a year when i was young. anywho, here are pics of me and tennis... really really embarassing.

all i have to say about the last one is what in the world were my parents thinking in letting me wear those clothes? today, i'd rather wear what i was wearing in the second picture than that funky ensemble anyday.

i am going to stop now... but that's a little peek into my past :)

popular with the younger ones

so, did anyone enjoy the rain as much as i did? and the lightning? these are things i love, but only when they don't come between me and tennis... that's when i start to have issues with rain.
anywho
it said on the news that this weekend is supposed to be an early blast of winter... kind of exciting. ya.
today was harvest festival... i ate some awesome cookies, and even played some tennis with woo... and about ten other passer-bys. ya, people kept on walking by and asking to hit a few shots. i thought it was kind of funny that people wanted to randomly hit, so either jenny or i would give them our racket and the other one of us would hit with the person for a few shots... we literally had a line going. then there was the one group of boys, probably middle school. i played a little game with them (jenny's idea): who can return cristina's serve? my self esteem was boosted quite a bit after that game :)
jenny and i were just laughing hystarically at all these people coming to play. i even gave a few of them tips, and they could actually hit the ball after i told them how to hold the racket. it was just random...really random... and hilarious :)
plus, i forgot how famous i was with the young ones, middle school and lower. i had girls that i taught in 2nd grade for GEMS (which i did two years ago) coming up to me and saying, "do you remember me? you're my Gems teacher!" i remembered them alright, and it was fun to see them cause they are in 4th grade now, and they've grown taller since i last saw them. and the middle schoolers... i am quite popular with them because of dunamis... you know, my status as "camera lady" and "ping pong lady" still stands outside of camp. i had multiple middle schoolers running up to me to talk to me and to affirm that i was indeed the camera lady from dunamis. one of my best opponents in ping pong from camp actually saw me playing tennis and said i was betraying him and ping pong. quite funny.

well, off to my warm bed and sweet dreams!
have a fantabulous winter-ish weekend!

:)