Forest Falls & my (almost!) birrtthhddaayy :)

Where can you find snow at the end of April? Well, Forest Falls of course. Holly, Abbie, and I went up there (about a half hour outside of Redlands) yesterday to do some exploring. We were dressed warmly but not warmly enough. It was 30 degrees and snowing. Holly had shoes where you could see her toes and Abbie was wearing sweat pants that forgot to cover her ankles. Long story short, our vision of actually walking around the falls were lost due to weather, BUT we did have fun taking pictures and wandering down the a stream not far from my parked car.

It was a nice escape from the bubble or school and studying and all three of us happily embraced it.

The official countdown is winding down... 4 days until the infamous 2-1. Im getting quite excited. I have yet to decide the order of the events... if I want to go out the night before and cheers at midnight? Well, that a given, my friends would kill me if I decided to be lame on my birthday. But with a 5 hour car ride on the actual day, + me being notorious for getting carsick... I don't want to screw myself over and turn my happy-amazing-celebratory-big day into a nauseous experience... SO we'll see. I'm already turning into my parents... all I want to drink is wine. When does one officially get the title wino? I'm on my way... ;)

XXOO

love, the almost birthday girl

I can see the light!

Well it is finals week... now doesn't that sound like fun? Actually, I have the worst of it behind me and I can finally breathe a little easier. I turned in two portfolios on Monday... oh my, the feeling that came with printing 40+ pages felt sooo good. I have a take-home final in my Child Development class due today at noon that I finished last night. And lastly, my Environmental Chem final is Saturday at 9am. Yeah, that sounds like the worst thing ever I know, haha, but that means Saturday by 11am I will be free :)

Today and tomorrow I don't really have much to do. I'm saving the majority of my chem studying for Friday since it's basically like one huge review. Holly, Abbie, and I are going exploring in Forest Falls this afternoon. It is less than a half hour away and as of late, I have be into getting outside and making use of all the sun we get down here.

Sunday (the birthdayyy) we are leaving for our 5hr drive to Laughlin, NV for 2 nights. On tuesday we will leave Laughlin early and drive to Newport. We are staying in Newport through Friday and coming back Friday early evening.

I have quite the May break ahead of me and I couldn't be more excited. Liz is going to try and come down for a night while we are in Newport and I am so excited to just relax and enjoy a much deserved time-out.

I hope April in Washington isn't too rainy...

♥

You are too blessed to be stressed

This is something my Education teacher read aloud in class today and it made me feel so good. I hope it can add something to your day too! :)

You Are Too Blessed To Be Stressed

Remember, you are too blessed to be stressed!

Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.

Pass all your tests.

Problems are simply a part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

Don't compare yourself with others; you have no idea what their journey is all about.

Make peace with your past so it won't mess up your present.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

Do the right thing. Even if it kills you!

Call your family often.

Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.

Take a 30-minute walk every day and smile while your walking.

Life isn't fair, but it is still good.

You don't have to win every argument, agree to disagreements.

Live the Three E's: Energy, Empathy, and Enthusiasm.

And the Three F's: Faith, Family, and Friends.

Spend more time with people over the age of seventy and under the age of six.

Dream more while you are awake.

Try to make at least three people smile each day.

Burn the candles, use the nice sheets- don't save them for a special occasion.

Today is special.

Life is too short to hate anyone. Forgive everyone everything.

Time heals almost everything; give time, time.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up!

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

...the best is yet to come!!

♥

A day outside the Redlands bubble

Yesterday, Abbie and I joined Hilary and her parents and went hiking in Joshua Tree. We did a 6.2 miles loop which took us about 3 hours, and it was so much fun! The only set back was that we forgot to put sunscreen on our shoulders and backs (only our faces) so I just made a 911 run to Vons to get some aloe lotion. I look like a tomato.

It was so peaceful and nice out on the trail. It was a perfect day for hiking, we got a little breeze every once in while, and I took some pictures. Sometimes what the doctor orders is a little time away, and it was great. We even got to see this gold mine that they built years ago. Nothing like a hike to clear your head before this upcoming week of finals.

Laughter, the best medicine

My other title for this post was: An ode to my girls, but lovely blogger.com thought it was a little too long. So...

Laughter, the best medicine/An ode to my girls

So I have been thinking about it a lot lately and I have come to the conclusion that I really wonder if people laugh as much as my friends and I do. I starting thinking about this only because I spent the majority of the weekend (like most weekends) with the same crew of girls, give or take a few, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and a) we really never get sick of each other and b) we are probably, definitely, yes, laughing 90% of the time. And I'm serious. Is this normal? Hilary and I worked on Enviro Chem homework in the library today from 2-4:45pm and we had an absolute blast. Granted, the homework might have taken us an hour less if the study session wasn't also social hour BUT nonetheless, my homework is done, and we have about 50 more inside jokes to add to our inappropriately long list of hilarious moments. The commons for dinner, a hoot. Otherwise boring and sweaty community service Relay4Life, so entertaining. Laying by the pool, well all I have to say is Jackie can killllll a bee. See?? Inside joke #87589.

I am still under the weather, finals are looming, it is exactly 2 WEEKS until MY 21st.... and I maybe should be stressing about finals and tests and portfolios but instead, I am going to bed sniffly&happy. I have the best friends in the entire world and isn't that what it's all about anyway??

I have a quote that hangs on my wall near my door and I look at it every time I leave my room:

"True friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

Good thing I'm not a senior (yet) and don't have to begin the 24/7 separation anxiety period anytime soon. If I didn't have another year here I would be spiraling into a depression starting.. now. Isn't it crazy how much peoples happiness relies on other people? In a nutshell, that's why I value relationships so much. Without them I wouldn't be in intoxicatingly bubbly, happy, sarcastic, smiley person I am. Oh what a world.

♥

Rollercoaster

Some days I feel on and some days I feel off. Yesterday I woke up, tried to lift my head off my pillow, and realized it had grown the the size of a watermelon overnight. You know you're sick when it a gorgeous 85 degree day outside and the thought of being in the sun almost makes you queasy.

My major has been discouraging these days, too. There are a lot of students in my classes who live and breathe their work, are constantly reading and writing and editing and editing and editing. Granted, they do not have a social life and spend the weekends holed up in the library (my best guess) but it doesn't take away from the feeling that sometimes I'm not doing all that I should be in my writing classes.

I'm bad at being sick. I'm needy, whiny, want someone to tell me when to take DayQuil next, need someone to bring me food, blah. I was in bed for the good portion of the day yesterday and slept for more than I thought humanly possible. But today is slightly better. I was actually function-able. And got some reading done for class. And emerged from my cave (aka my apartment/room) and walked to the commons. Jordan is coming over to make dinner with me, and I see an early night in my future. I have not seen the Blind Side yet... I know, I know, and it is newly on ON-Demand! So kettle corn and a movie sound deliciously perfect. A side of Ny-Quil and I'll be sleeping like a baby :)

VEGAS.

Of course the first time I go to VEGAS would be 3 weeks before my 21st. Regardless, it was a blast! Our whole sorority made the 5hr trek out there for formal last weekend and it was nothing but funnnn:) Well minus some technical difficulties on Friday night...haa.

We camped Friday at a camp site in Lake Mead (1/2hr from the strip) and then Saturday stayed at CEASAR'S PALACE. Friday was a little bumpy... we got a little lost trying to find the entrance to the camp site. We couldn't use Navi (my usual life saver) because we didn't have an exact address for the site SOOO we ended up driving in circles and all became so punchy it was kind of ridiculous... Jordan and I carpooled with Jackie and Bret (and left Redlands a little later than planned...boys + McDonalds = time crunch) so we ended up not getting there until 845pm. Sunset was a 7pm. And it was windy. So, needless to say, we set up the tent in very dark and windy conditions, with cell phone lights and a headlamp to help us to see what we were doing/where we were. After we set up Jackie and Bret's tent, aka 40min later... we were not in great spirits to repeat the maddening process. So instead, Jordan and I opted to sleep in my car. I never knew you could push back the seats and lay horizontally in my trunk (learn something new every day...) And we were all so starving at this point, if we made the boys wait any longer to go and get food I think they would have just walked back to Redlands from Nevada. Actually I'm pretty sure of it... OH and all the food I brought for dinner could not be cooked because since we got there so late, the fire was about to die and there was no more charcoal for the BBQ's. Mom and I bought yummy mexican at Trader Joe's for dinner so I was annoyed it wasn't going to get eaten.

SO we all piled back in the car in search of fast food. Jackie and I decided upon Jack in the Box... low point for sureee. And the boys wanted to go to the grocery store since they already had McDonalds earlier. So while the boys ran into the store to get food Jackie and I ate our healthy Jack in the Box in the parking lot, food has never tasted so good.

The boys show up 15+ minutes later with two plastic bags; two boxes of cereal and one gallon of milk. I think you can guess what happened. The meal quickly turned into "THE CEREAL BOX CHALLENGE" and both completely finished a box of cereal each.... eating out of red cups.

Jackie and I were equally horrified. Bret was close to spewing LIFE all over the interior of my car. That will be the last CBC (Cereal Box Challenge) I will be holding in my car.

SO Friday night marked the first night I've ever slept in my car. We made it cozy with beach towels, a sleeping bag, sweatshirts, and one pillow (the one I brought...) But against all odds it was pretty cozy if I do say so myself...

Saturday morning we woke up to what I thought was yet another earth quake... but no, it was only Bret shaking the car, letting us know he was awake. It was 7:35am. Thanks, Bret.

After everything was packed up, we hit the Southwest Diner for some breaky. Hilary came to din with us as well. We were all needing some sunshine, the pool, a real bed, and drinks quickly. But the little diner was cute and a nice place to stop.

After some much needed nourishment, we were off to the strip! Ceaser's Palace was incredible, it looked just like the movies!! We couldn't check into our room until later so we took advantage of the pool and laid out, got some yummy drinks, and soaked up the sun. Afterwards, we checked in and started getting ready for the night. We realized around 3pm that we hadn't eaten since 830am so the boys decided we should make use of the carne asada we didn't use last night... I said we don't have any means of cooking it.... They started looking around the room... I said whatever you're thinking, NO.... They grabbed the cooler and the iron (the iron you use to iron clothes...) and they were in the bathroom before I could say more. Once the room started smelling of delicious Mexican food I had to bring my camera in to do some investigating. This is what I found...

So Friday's Dinner turned into Saturday's late-lunch. They did get a few laughs out of us girls and the pictures are pretty priceless...

Saturday night was dinner, drinking, & dancing in the suite Delta rented out for the night... the view was incredible, the music was good, and the atmosphere was perfect. Afterwards we walked the strip... so cool!! :)

oohhhh vegassss...

it's really hard to take a serious picture with him because all he does is make me laugh...

That's my Vegas saga... it was one for the books!