recently...

I meant to have a brief hiatus after I graduated; I had no idea it would turn into a 6 Month disappearing act. For those who check up on this, I apologize for abandoning you for so long! I will try to be better :)

(I also had no idea so many people still read this! oops!)

This is what happened after graduation:

I went to Orlando

-i may have forgotten to take more photos-

I went to Portland

I went camping in Santa Barbara

-and started an amazing book!-

Ava Jean was born

I had an awesome Family Staycation

-included wine tasting, a cruise around Newport Harbor, and a day in Catalina. :) -

My Family threw me a Surprise Birthday Party

- and, i was ACTUALLY surprised-

My dear friend got married
-yes, i stole this from Facebook-

I got a job!!

-among other things, i hang out with stuff like this-

So, this is me saying, I'm Back. And hopefully I will won't "forget" about my blog any time soon. Tune in for: "Flies, Lizards, and Mice: the Joys of Working on a Former Marine Base," "Why You Shouldn't Take Biola Boys for Granted," and "Meeting the Greats. Great Books, that is."

things I learned this weekend

This has been my last weekend as an Undergrad student. So Strange. And even though it is Sunday morning, my weekend is basically over because I will spend all day today studying and writing papers. So these are the little things I've learned this weekend:

• Korean Markets have some really random, cheap vodka. And I may or may not have had a part of buying some. And I may or may not have consumed some.
• Sometimes, "almost strangers" make the perfect dates to banquets.
• "DTF" has more than one meaning. I have been using it to refer to Down Town Fullerton, and last night was the last time I will call it that. I was texting a friend of mine, mentioned that I was in DTF...he thought I meant the other meaning....yeah....
• The older I get, the more interesting my parents are. Wow, never thought that would happen.
• I HATE ANTS!!! Ok, I've always known that I hate ants, but this weekend, the ants have decided to take their revenge. They are attacking my bed (I just washed my sheets!), my books (seriously, what the heck would they find in books??), clean clothes hanging in the closet....They Are Everywhere!! I got so frustrated this weekend I seriously started packing stuff up to move. I'm ready to get out of this ant-infested home.
• One can find some really interesting people at the Long Beach Airport. Also, I freaking love that Airport.
  
• Sometimes, it really pays to be a girl. And to go out on the town with Amy Robertson.
• I may have actually learned stuff through my major! Lately, my roommates have been coming to me for cultural advice...and I knew the answers!
  
• Traci's birthday parties are always legit :)
• LOST is crazy now. Seriously...wow...I have no idea what's going on. I feel like I need to watch all the past seasons this summer just to maybe make sense of it.
  

Ok, that's about it. Time to stop procrastinating and start this Last Week at BIOLA, ever.

A Good Thing Happened

In a world where it seems all people are talking about is bad things happening (Swine Flu! The Recession! FML! [I admit, I do enjoy reading posts on FML and FailBlog]), I find I rarely hear about good things happening. Until yesterday. Then I stumbled upon a breath of fresh air.

So here is my Good Thing that happened to me recently.


I got to celebrate my beautiful sister's birthday on a boat in the Newport Harbor with good friends, good wine, and a beautiful sunset.

Happy Friday, everyone! And the fact that it's Friday is also a very good thing :)

Things I'm Looking Forward to after GRADUATION

• Being with friends I have had to ignore these last two years (i.e. Randy, Margaret, Michelle, etc.)
  
• Reading books that have been on my shelves forever, but I haven't been able to get to them because of school.
• Not having to stay up all night working on papers.
• Not having to complete pointless busywork for professors who think we only have their class.
• Not working all day on Sundays to get work done. Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest, right?
• Being able to start learning what I want to learn: languages, reading the classics, etc.
• Having time to write.
• Being able to rest.
• Watching movies!
  

my new hero

This man is my new hero. Yes, this man right here. Barry Farber. And now I will briefly explain why I think so highly of this fellow.

While I was on Spring Break in Palm Desert (another story), I went one evening to a local Barnes and Noble. While my friend was in line to pay for her purchases, a book on a table caught my eye: "How to Learn Any Language." As I have been wanting to learn multiple languages for some time, I was intrigued. I picked it up, read the back, looked at the price ($6? That's it??), and I bought it. I brought it back to the hotel and started reading, then I finished it the next day while laying out by the pool.

After reading his book, I really do know now how to learn any language, and I'm so stoked! I even have a plan. This summer I will start with French and German. I already know some German, but I don't know a lot of vocabulary, which some may say is important. I will tackle these two languages for a year and a half. Then starting January 1, 2011, I move on to Russian. 2012: Arabic. Then I will probably spend a couple of years just working on all 4. As time moves on, I will probably learn Spanish, Albanian, Italian (it's so close to Spanish, why not?), and maybe some random language.

Please do yourself a favor and learn foreign languages. Let's change the stupid (and true) American stereotype.