But there are things that continue to make me smile. Like...

Finding tide pools near Travis' home where you can explore for hours and see sea urchins, sea anemone, giant sea slugs, baby octopus, pacific lobster, nudibranch, hermit crabs, snails, and many more fun things to poke and take pictures of.

or receiving pictures in the mail of my new baby niece who I'll get to meet next week.

or finding a place where people are making a noticeable and positive impact on the youth and community even when others might regard such actions as, "noble, but not worth the effort".

or receiving a phone call in the middle of a work day from a loving boyfriend who is concerned about my netbook being a piece of work and just checking to see if I'm okay.

or listening to a band like Bluskreen.

or connecting with a 12 year old student who withdraws himself from most authority figures.

or teaching physical education to first graders.

or being reminded of the relationship we've been continually offered by the One who we all hurt the most.

These things make me smile.   

A mental battle rages as I struggle with the talk I hear in my physical education class. Talk of budget cuts and how it affects equipment spending. Why do citizens of this country spend needlessly? Why do they wonder where all the money went? What happened to creativity and making use of what is available?

Today I made a calculation. I only have 4.2% left of my undergraduate career! I am excited. Although, this number does not recognize the fact that I'll still be in school after graduation. In fact, I start even earlier than the undergrads do next year. We acquired kittens this weekend. Pictures to come. Looking forward to seeing various people over the holidays (thanksgiving in Mad City?) Okay. Now I will stop the procrastination.

A response to the request.

School has become secondary as a priority once again. I'm not entirely sure what to, but at least it will be over soon.

Travis and I are getting cats next weekend. Sarah and my brother-in-law are getting a daughter in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to hold all.

Middle school girls are brutal. Makes me grateful for those strange years at ICS.

Searching for a way to get back to Yanji. Will take suggestions.

UCLA v. Cal = death by sun.

Randomly bloody foot. I'll go tend to that now.

(congrats dhany on making a week :)

 
^^now traversing through my system :)

one more night in london and then i'm back to the states. I have many many stories to share, but those will have to wait.

and of course.. someone who came with the entire trip :)

July 3, 2008 (pm-am)

Let's put on some sluttier songs – 8:39

Let's get out taboo! –8:55 (after 1 shot)

You did not put that in your mouth –  9:18

Why? – 9:18

Have you had any rum? –  10:20

No, why? Is your rum decreasing faster than you expected? – 10:20

Yeah.. I think so.. – 10:20

Mmm this is kind of stripping music – 10:21

Tell _____ I have my arms wrapped around you – 10:46

(playing taboo) something stuck his thumb into a thing and pulled out a.. –11:12

a dyke? – 11:13

oh my –11:13

It's 1:15am and I've had too much rum – 11:15 (everything is in california time)

What happens when you mix sugar and alchohol? – 11:21

When a guy.. no.. when your house is flammable and made of trees it is made of.. – 11:50

Wood? Snicker snicker – 11:50

Now this is underwear, but skanky – 12:11

Still.. it was not worth falling asleep on somebody's leg for – 12:24

It was not red nor orange.. it was asian coloured – 12:28

Working on a research paper.. I made an outline of sorts and wrote possible questions to tackle on the side. These were:

1) What is "evil"?
2) Did God create it?
3) If not, how does he coexist with it?
4) Do we have free will?

...I think these questions are a bit too hefty to tackle in just a ten page paper..


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I seem to "de-stress" by cooking. This can be a problem when I'm at home alone.