I ♥ grey days

It wouldn't be home without the grey days of June. With a cup of coffee, the TODAY show and a antsy puppy that sits longing for that rainy morning walk, I am so happy to be home for the summer. Next week I start work, so this week is full of doctors apts and other odds and ends to get done before my schedule gets crazier. LIZZIE IS HERE! Finally. And I get her all summer! Which is fantastic. I'm already itching to get out to good ol' Vashon :)

Monday night some high school friends and I met up at the Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor. We were definitely the youngest people at the bar but it was really fun. Pitchers of beer and hilarious conversation... I think I'm adjusting to this whole 21 thing very nicely.

On the calendar:

Putt-putt date, doctor apt, coffee with Megan!, planning a trip to Forks, WA. Hello, Twilight. Engine-house karaoke, banana scrabble, baking with sissy, much needed hair apt., and the scrapbooking begins!

ps: If anyone is looking for a good book, I'm reading True Colors by Kristin Hannah right now and it is fantastic! I would also recommend Eat, Pray, Love (the movie is coming out soon!) and The Girls from Ames by Jeffery Zaslow (non-fiction, wonderful... mom: read!)

Summer's here... well almost

Well, Friday had to come. After an amazing few days, Jordan left yesterday (and I already miss him!) We went to Pike's Place, took Hank for walks, booze cruised on our boat, hot tubed (and jumped in the still freezing cold lake...) watched movies and just spent time together. I was so nice having him here and being able to show him around home, good ol' Lakewood, even if the weather didn't really pull through for us. But it was sunny on Tuesday and that's the day we picked to wander Pike's Place and boat so it worked :) It was perfect. It has been one day and I miss him.

But even with Jordan gone, it's still a madhouse over here. Megan had Baccalaureate last night which mom and dad went to and they had a great time. Austin still had a final this morning so Hank and I stayed in and I quizzed him on vocab. And tomorrow is the Big Day... my little sister is finally graduating high school. Wow. I thought she was going to be a freshman forever but surprise surprise! She is in fact growing up and headed off to New York in August. I am so excited for her to start this new chapter. If she even has close to the college experience I have been lucky to have she is going to love college and the friends she makes there just as much as everything she is leaving behind.

♥

I'm back!

To say I owed a post would be an understatement. Since my last update, I have moved out of my apartment and said goodbye to Junior year, loaded my car and made the 19hr trek back home, spent a week in Maui, and helped celebrate my little sisters near graduation with a wonderful open house! Woooh!

And now I am sitting here, coffee in hand, home for the WHOLE summer, getting ready to tackle the obscene amount of luggage and clothing waiting for me in the laundry room. I am forcing myself to make today a productive one because tonight JORDAN IS VISITING!!! :) He is taking the train from Portland and getting in a little after 8pm and staying until Friday. I am so excited to see him and show him around my neck of the woods. And the sun is supposed to make an appearance tomorrow so I'm thinking that might be the perfect day to explore Pike's Place. :) yay

My friend Bret came over last night after Megan's open house and it was very nice to see him. We sat out on the dock and drank beer and talked. My first official night of summer, and however yucky it was outside, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way :)

My mom took this picture of the trees across our lake and it was too pretty not to post. I missed this incredible sunset when I was in Hawaii, but I guess I can't complain ;)

1 week?!

Well, I just woke up and realized a week from today Hilary and I will be partaking on epic car ride #4. I can't believe we've made the journey three other times. It feels like just yesterday we were driving down for the beginning of sophomore year. Wow. And just one last week of junior year remains. Hmmm, where has the time gone?

This weekend we have our annual Delta Lingerie Party (don't worry, its more like cute short lacy dresses than parading around in bras and underwear...) AND Lucky Lager (a beer scavenger hunt with the soccer team) and then one more week of classes and we're DONE.

My class has been such a positive experience for me. I look forward to every day of class and want to soak up everything our teacher, Fran, has to say. My journal that I have been keeping, I feel like in ways has temporarily replaced my blog. Since we are supposed to write in it everyday, I find myself spilling my daily feelings on the the pages instead of my usual routine of writing here. Don't worry, the class only has one more week and then I'll be back to writing about my PMS or exciting highlights, haa.

We have already made a dent in packing/the storage unit/all the above. I have nightmares about how stressful it has been in years past so getting a head start has made a world of difference. That's all for now. Its been in the 80's all this week, I was at the pool yesterday and burned my back :( BUT I can't complain in the slightest...

A week from tomorrow I will be back in lovely WASHINGTON, (only for one night) and then off to HAWAII for a week with Hilary, Jackie, and her parents. Woooohooooooo. No complaints :)

Animal Planet

It's 11pm on a Saturday and I'm in for the night. Weird, huh? First Saturday in a while and it feels SO nice! The girls and I went to Mexican and then saw Robin Hood (which I would recommend to anyone! Russell Crowe, mmmmmm) and now bed sounds pretty nice.

Today was a pool day. It was 85 out and the perfect "nothing" day to spend sunning. I woke up pretty late from a very late night last night. Jordan and I went to go see Ben Folds in Anaheim at the House of Blues. It was a blast. Ben is a pianist who also sings and is overall just awesome. We listened to a lot of his stuff when we were abroad so it was really neat that we could see him together. Regina Specktor opened for him, she is this really cute Australian girl and this guy on a guitar and they were absolutely hilarious. She sang a song about getting a Facebook friend request from a man who had done her wrong, you may have had to be there, but she was great. The concert went until midnight, and Anaheim is a little over an hour away, so taking into account the In-N-Out drive thru detour, we were in bed laaaaate.

BUT I seemed to have a semi-productive day. Did some reading for class. Journaled. Tanned. Showered. Packed a few more things up so we can make our first trip to the storage unit tomorrow (grudgingly taking Mom's advice and spacing out the enormous task of packing and spreading it out over a couple weeks...) I hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did. FRIENDS and it's goodnight for me :)

OH WELL I feel I should amend that statement by saying I'm going to attempt to fall asleep. The apartment above ours (4 cross country girls) NEVER have people over, we really never even hear them. Yes, we know we are lucky with how many guys basketball and football apartments there are here. But of course, the one night I choose to stay in, they choose to throw the bash of the year! I think it's themed "Mix'n'match" ? Because every once in a while someone stumbles down the stairs in boxers, some God-awful hat, a t-shirt, and a tie. So, music blaring, little screeching cross-country girls, and stomping feet... it's really like Animal Planet invaded 224.

The animals and I are going to try and get some rest. Sleep tight.

Vegas, take 2. KZZ Formal

the girls...

the boys...

May

Since my last update, the long days of May have been filling in the gaps. For may term, I am taking a class called Wholeness and Healing. I was originally in Experiencing Music, but it ended up not being at all what I thought it was so after hearing about Abbie's class, I decided to try it.

It has been one of the best decisions I have made regarding classes I have taken in my 3 years here at school. I don't exactly know how to describe it. It is a religion class, so we are learning about a variety of different religions. Just yesterday I was apart of a group presentation that researched Taoism. Taoism is belief system that is based around nature and the universe as a whole. It is so interesting to look at these different belief systems that I have never been exposed to and learning about how they interweave in life. We meditate, do yoga, draw mandalas, and keep a running journal of our experiences and feelings through these 4 weeks. This is an exciting class for me because I really have done nothing like it. Our grade is solely based on growth evident in our journal and class participation. The class is very diverse and it is interesting for me hear what people, who are so opposite from me, open up and give their perspectives on things so foreign to me.

This is Week 2 of May Term, and I know very well to expect time to fly. I ♥ Mayy