This is how it works: You're young until you're not.

I feel like the majority of my blog posts should be titled "I am such a slacker." And yet most, if not all, never fail to mention what a slacker I am. There are two ways to fix this situation: I could blog more frequently, or I could just learn to forgive myself more easily. Neither of which you should count on. Sorry.

I've been wanting to blog for some time now, but with the adjusting into the new apartment, the new classes, the blah-blah-blah, I just haven't found the motivation to take twenty minutes out of my day and write. But right now, I'm setting aside my excuses for twenty minutes and writing, gosh dang it!

Let's start with the end of TADW. Man, that seems like ages ago. The last day, Munch N Crunch, as expected, was freaking emotional beyond my wildest dreams. I expected to witness much bawling and grief, but what I didn't expect was to find myself sobbing on someone's shoulder. What a turn of events. In a way, I feel like I didn't utilize my summer to reconnect with old friends as well as I could have. I thought that was the whole point of getting that job in the first place. But when the final day came and I looked at my friend Sarah Martellaro, who I've missed immeasurably during the previous years away, I realized I hadn't talked to her or spent time with her nearly as much as I had wanted to. And Haylee-Rae, and Jenny, and all those people I didn't even see. All of this welled up inside me after the Munch N Crunch musical review, and I found myself chasing after Haylee-Rae and Sarah and begged the day for a little more time, then... I was basically bawling on one of their shoulders. What a dramatic way to end the most adventurous summer of my life, eh? Yeah.

The next day, I was supposed to meet Joe and his friends up for dinner, but the plans were so uncertain and my mom, brother, and I had decided to start the drive back to Texas that evening. When Joe texted me and said that they wanted to go to dinner at 8 p.m., that pretty much sealed the deal. It was too late, and we wanted to be well on the road by that time. It was pretty sad, but life goes on. What can I have done?

For our final L.A. meal, we got together with my mom's relatives in Arcadia and they took us to this famous xiao long bao restaurant. Oh my gosh, those soupy dumplings were heaven! We ate and ate, and ordered more for the road and ate some more! Since then, my mom and I have been searching for xiao long bao in Houston that are as yummy as those, but to no avail. Mmmm so freaking good...

The drive home took us exactly 24 hours, which surprises me because at first the GPS predicted 28 hours. Hah, we showed them! I'm not exactly sure who "them" is in this situation, so just play along. K thanks. The scenery was awesome at first, a true sight to behold, and then we started to realize that we were looking at the same vast stretch of beautiful desert for 15 hours. Yeah, it got pretty repetitive. So after the first hour of oohs and ahhs, we were like "That's it? 20 hours of desert??" I mean, yeah it was beautiful, but nothing's so beautiful that I want to stare at it for that long. You know?

Fast forward.

We got home Tuesday night. Many happy feelings. Yay yay yay. My cats were all as cute as ever, and I gushed over them for much too long. On Thursday night, Ryan had a get-together at his man cave. Hillary, Tim, and Tim's girlfriend Melissa were all very happy to see us and we played lots of games and had the best time ever. I move into my new apartment and get ready for school.

Stop the fast forward! This deserves some detail.

So this year, I'm living in a 1-bedroom apartment in Huntsville. The move was pretty back-breaking, but I can't talk, seeing as how my dad and brother did all the work. But now, I LOVE my new apartment so much! I love coming home to it. Teehee. I want to move one of my kitties up with me, but I think they'd miss my dad too much. I'm in a pickle here. I took Indy up for a day, and he seemed fine but when my dad took him home, he was so relieved to see our house again. Ugh way to make me feel bad!

About school. Yay junior year of college!!! I'm taking 18 hours this semester, which sounds bad, but is really pretty chill. Side note: Parking on campus this year is HORRIBLE!! Where did all the freakin' people come from??? Anyway, glad I got that off my chest. I love my Spanish class. My professor is so nice and awesome. I hate my Information Analysis and History of Texas and the Southwest classes. So boring, I can't stand it! My News Reporting and Writing for Public Relations classes are above average in enjoyment, but I could live without them. My philosophy class is pretty fun because my professor is a hoot, and Ivan (DJ Frogger!) is in there with me. Speaking of DJ's and the like, I'm pretty sure the radio is going down this semester. Mrs. Cooper quit, and LeeAn is on the fence. We're going into the third week of school and we have yet to have a management meeting of any kind, and I don't think we even have a Program Director. If it sounds bad, that's because it is. VERY bad.

I have one more point to hit, then we'll call it a night. My family is OFFICIALLY moving out of our house and into a rental house in Houston. I think we're moving next weekend, but we'll definitely be out of here in the next 2 weeks. The house we're renting is really nice, and I actually really like it. I'm pretty excited to move because I just want to put this foreclosure mess behind us, but I'm so super worried about my cats. This is the house they've known forever, and I'm afraid they'll try to escape that house and come back to this one. Oh... being worried is such a horrible feeling!! I hope everything turns out okay.

I've also had a sudden desire to visit Costa Rica. I hope I get to go this summer. Now that my Spanish professor isn't a complete jerk, my love for the language has been revived. 

Side note: The "True Blood" season finale is this Sunday! I can't wait!! Eric better survive! Oh! And the "Glee" season premier is a little over 2 weeks away! I can't wait to have our "Glee" parties back! <3

There's nothing that I wouldn't... or I couldn't... and I haven't gone through.

Wow, where has this summer gone? Only two and a half weeks left until I pack my bags and hit the road with my brother and mom to go back to Texas. This summer has been the epitome of adventure, the ultimate learning experience. I must say, though, after 8 weeks of being in California without my parents, I really miss them. It's such a relief that my cousin Lynn lives here, and that Ryan is here for the summer as well, otherwise I'd be so lonely! You know who else I miss? My fatty cats. I miss them so much. :(

So, since my last blog post, which wasn't very informative, just angry... I've been living it up in the city of angels! Ryan and I have been in the live studio audience for The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson not once, but twice! The first time, the guest was Angela Kinsey (from The Office) and the second time with was Ellen Page (from Juno!). Ahh it's soo fun. And on August 2nd, we're going to be in the audience for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno! I'm sooo excited!! I've just recently been to Disneyland with Ryan and Sarah Doretti (Joe's friend from Oklahoma). That was amazing. We rode all the rides we wanted to, and even saw the new World of Color water show, which blew my mind!! I also bought a pretty Disney hoodie, which I'm in love with. :D

Work has been pretty cool. Seussical is coming along great, and I just attended the Alice in Wonderland invitational last night and it was pretty trippy, but it was actually very enjoyable. Very lively and entertaining, for sure. Afterwards, everyone went to Sizzler, which was a good time. Jon Levinson came as well, and it was nice catching up with him. In other work news, I've started directing my 10-minute play for the 10-minute play festival, and I'm loving it! My play is written by Joey Veliz, and he's such a talented writer. The cast consists of Joey, Amanda Voyce, and Josh Knoller. I love the play, it's so funny and I feel like I can do a lot with it. I can't wait to see it all come together.

I think I've done most of what I've wanted to do in L.A., or at least I'm going to before I leave. The food here is so awesome, it's probably my favorite part of being here. One of my favorite past times is finding new places to eat. There's this sushi place I'm dying to try, but I'll wait until my brother gets here so I can try it with him. It's called Sushi Central, and it was the sushi challenge on Throwdown with Bobbly Flay. Haha I'm so susceptible to media bait. Sad but true.

Before I go, one more thing. Ryan and I saw the new Christopher Nolan movie "Inception". I think it was better than "The Prestige". Mr. Nolan has done it again, dangggg.

I can't believe what you said to me...

^ Lyrics from "Speechless", probably my favorite Lady Gaga song. As usual, my title has something to do with my post, so I'll just cut to the chase.

In short, I'm furious.

I cannot believe how narrow-minded some people are, recognizing only the things that happen to them and not realizing that the world around them is suffering as well. They think that everyone who isn't suffering is a spoiled little shit, and everyone who IS suffering isn't suffering enough. It kills me to say that one of my own family members is the inspiration for this topic, but it's true. Someone I actually looked up to as a little girl and had the utmost respect for. Now I just feel like I've been lied to my whole life, and that I'm opening my eyes for the first time. Young children are so easily won over, they'll believe anything. I'm so glad that I'm older now and understand these things a little better, so that I can close my ears to the lies that I once embraced wholeheartedly. How can you say that you care but let your actions contradict any notion that you care for anyone but yourself? How can you shun your father for years, cursing him behind his back, then the minute you need his money treat him as though you've always loved him? It's nothing but stone cold deceit. Downright selfishness.

How can you tell me to open my eyes to the pain and poverty in the world and that I have no right to feel any pity for myself because of what you're going through? How about you open your eyes and look at my life for the past 3 years! How can you say I've had nothing to overcome? How can you tell me that I don't know what it means to suffer? Everyone has trials, everyone gets tested, not just you. Believe it or not, the gods are not out to get you, everyone goes through something whether it's problems with their family, finances, health, etc. I'm so lucky to have the friends that I have, the opportunities that I have, and the family that I have, but my health will never be completely up to par and I'll never be able to do some things that most people do without thinking about. You're struggling to finish college and you piss and moan about having to care for your sick mother, which in itself is pretty sick. Oh, and in your desperate attempt to finish college, you leave your mother and younger brother to fend for themselves? What a freaking saint. Now do you know where all my respect for you went? Why is finding a man more important to you than keeping your family together? Why do you blame them for the fact that no man has ever wanted you for so long? That's really the stupidest thing I've ever heard. No man wanted you because no man wanted you, it's as simple as that.

Of course, knowing you, here's what I know you're going to do. If you read this--which you probably won't because you're too busy making everyone feel guilty about your pathetic life--you're not even going to consider anything I've said. You're going to write me a long, painful letter asking me if I ever hear anything you say. That your life is shit and it's all your brother's fault, all your mom's fault, all my fault. You'll blame everyone but yourself. Then you'll lecture me about how great my life is compared to yours and that I will never have any comprehension of the hardships you're going through. How am I doing so far? You're going to list all of the things you've ever done for your mother and brother--all of which I think are expected of a caretaker, which you are according to the government--and you'll make yourself sound like the saint I used to think you were but that I now know you are not.

Oh, and while I'm at it, if you're so broke that you're "homeless" until the Fall, how did you get the money to go to L.A. last month to see your new boyfriend? So you're dirt broke? The designer clothes you were wearing in your pictures seem to suggest otherwise.

Thirty years old and you have so much growing up to do. Figure it out and stop blaming everyone else.

Oh, why'd you have to be so cute?

Okay so since I'm such a horrible blog neglecter, this post is going to be extremely long. What's new? So! Since I've been in L.A., I've had so many adventures!!

My cousin, Trang, was with me for the first week, and we basically hung out with Lynn a lot and went sight-seeing and stuff. We also went to Universal Studios with my twin, Ryan, who's interning here for the summer!! I'm so glad he is, because without him here, I'd be so alone. :( Anyhow, Universal was so amazing!! I was proud of myself, on my feet for 7 hours and I didn't start complaining about being tired until hour 6. The lines and crowds were minimal, and we went on every ride and pretty much saw every show! We even went on the Jurassic Park and The Mummy rides twice, because they were our favorite!! The studio backlot tour was unbelievable. It was amazing to see all the sets of tons of movies I've seen right there in front of my eyes, and how it's a SET, not a real city or whatever! And we drove down Wisteria Lane, where Desperate Housewives is filmed, which is pretty cool. After that, we walked up and down Hollywood Blvd until I was just utterly exhausted (in my defense, everyone else was tired too!), then we went home.

After Trang left, Ryan and I went to see Imogen Heap in concert and let me tell you, she is INCREDIBLE live!! Plus, she's such a delightful little British woman. Such a character. In fact, I'm listening to her album while I'm writing this, hence the title of this post. "Oh, why'd you have to be cute? It's impossible to ignore you...." Great stuff. The next day, I went over to Ryan's neck of the woods and we went and saw Toy Story 3 in Huntington Beach (it was the second time for me to see it, the first time I went with Trang). Man, that movie is the best. I'm amazed at Pixar's ability to churn out one masterpiece after another. The supply of great ideas seems limitless coming from them! I'd be up for seeing it a third time actually.

So, Lynn was gone for a week, but she came back on Wednesday and I've been hanging out with her. We're going to see Eclipse together (hehehe don't judge), and also, on Thursday Ryan and I are going to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson!!! The guest that night is Angela Kinsey from The Office!!! I'm so excited!! I ordered Jimmy Kimmel tickets for us as well, but I have yet to receive an e-mail confirmation, so that's still kinda up in the air.

Work so far is pretty fun. I'm starting to feel more at home here. I hate that I'm shy by nature, and that I've had to work very hard to overcome it. But whenever I'm thrust into new situations, I'm always horribly shy and awkward and quiet for the first few days, then I open up all of a sudden (not slowly) and suddenly I'm a wired chatterbox and nobody knows what the hell happened. I hate it!! It makes me look like a crazy person!!

I also hate that I'm such a blogging slacker, because once I get around to blogging, I have so much to squeeze into one post that I end up having to summarize everything to avoid writing a novel. Bah.

I've been having a lot of thoughts lately. Just thoughts about a lot of stuff. I can't stop thinking about the person I am, and the person I want to be. It's like I'm always on this never ending road of self-molding. But that's what life is, I know. It's just weird that I really like the person that I am, but I have this gnawing in the back of my mind that tells me I'm not the kind of person I want to be. Does that make sense? No? Okay. I wish I was the kind of person who knew what they wanted and went for it without hesitation. I guess I'm 60% there, more or less. I do go for what I want, but I do tend to hesitate a lot. And I wish I wasn't so shy and self-conscious. Being self-conscious is the most irritating feeling in the world. Ugh!! I wish I could just go up to people and tell them they were beautiful, or go up to assholes and tell them they were assholes. Or have a conversation with someone I don't entirely know. A real conversation. I wish I connected with people more easily. I wish, I wish, I wish. Alright, I'm off to do something about that.

Also, I'm obsessed with frozen yogurt. I don't know what came over me.

What happens in Vegas, ends up on my blog!

Ahhhh so me and Trang went to Las Vegas about two weekends ago, May 27-May 30 to be exact, and it was sooo fun!!! I'm glad we get along and get to go on trips together like this, because they're unbeatable. We mainly went for the UFC Fan Expo, which my cousin was DYING to go to, because Anderson Silva was going to be there. Her idol. Yep, pretty much. Well, the drive there (9 hours) was pretty long because I guess we didn't really know what to expect. We snacked on beef jerky, pretzels, chestnuts, the works, and almost... ALMOST ran out of gas because there wasn't a gas station to be found for fifty miles. That was scary. But man, when we reached the lights of Las Vegas, it was all worth it!!!! 

Until.... we saw our hotel. The infamous Gold Spike!!! It was only $45.99 per night, but boy did we get EXACTLY what we paid for! And not a penny more! The walls were super thin, there was no Wi-Fi, we were awoken each morning by either a) housekeeping rattling their buckets outside the door, b) the super loud army of Vietnamese people next door who don't know the meaning of an "inside voice", or c) what sounded like river dancing on our ceiling! Pretty awesome, right? It was all part of the experience though, I harbor no bitterness. It was actually pretty funny how miserable we were. Also, let's not forget how the plumbing went haywire on the second day and every time we flushed the toilet, it would re-emerge in our bathtub! So, I had to wash my hair in the sink that night... It was pretty hilarious. You kinda had to be there. Haha. 

The fan expo was pretty fun. Trang knew the lines would get really crazy, so we rented a wheelchair for me partly because I can't stand for too long and partly hoping to gain sympathy from the fighters and guarantee us all the autographs we wanted! It was kinda worth it, in the end. Junior Dos Santos and Anderson Silva both showed me lots of sympathy, and even stroked my head like I was a precious crippled child! We almost missed Anderson though, and my cousin would've been PISSED if that happened. But we just happened to be standing in the right place at the right time, because when he entered, he walked RIGHT in front of us! My cousin's jaw practically hit the floor and we promptly left the line we were standing in to follow Anderson Silva's entourage. We apparently got in the "fast pass" line (what was this, Disneyland??) and we were in the front, but they said only people with a "fast pass" could meet Anderson. And in order to obtain one of these passes, you had to pay $25 for a 6-pack of this nasty acai berry juice that we threw away afterward anyway. This juice was so gross. It looked like chocolate milk and tasted like super ripe berries. Blegh. Anyway, so we went up to meet Anderson, wheelchair and all, and he started to walk through the crowd toward us. He may as well have been Moses because that crowd parted like the Red Sea. He stroked my head and knelt down for a picture with me! Look!

The fan expo was from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the first day (Friday) and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, so afterward, we would go eat dinner at some exotic place that I would pick, and go hit the strip! The Las Vegas strip was amazing, and kinda bizarre, but what else would you come to Vegas to experience?? It was so fun!! The drive back was a breeze, and I'm so so glad we went! 

But, note to self, NEVER stay at a place called the Gold Spike ever again!

Watch our montage! It's basically our Vegas trip in a nutshell!

Now that you're gone, l can roll on to something good.

I'm not going to explain the title. Some people understand it, and if you don't, I'm not in the mood to be bitter. I'm in the mood to be HAPPY!! Because so many good things are happening right now, and all the bad things are in the past. Done for. See ya. Thanks for coming.

The biggest news is that one of my bestest best friends, Joe Petty, is engaged!!!! He's found his one, and I couldn't be more happy for Joe and his Savannah. Ryan told me he was going to propose, but when Joe texted me the simple yet profound words, "She said yes! I'm engaged!", I was at Chili's with friends and I mentally checked out of the table conversation. I felt like a blubbering sap and I just wanted to run onto the highway and start dancing. Good for him. I always knew Joe would get married before any of us, but I can't believe that it's actually happening!! We're getting to that age, the marriage age, then the having-a-family age, and then who knows what. Things are so utterly different since freshman year of high school, when none of us knew at all where our lives were headed. And look at us now. In college, Joe getting engaged, Ryan and I going to live on our own for the summer, Tim....being Tim, and Hillary interning with an editor!! Geez Louise. And despite all the changes, our friendship and bond has, if anything, grown stronger. I love them all so much!!

So... now that I've gone and said all that, it's time to move on to the next topic. And that is Las Vegas. In 10 days. Time is passing by soooo slowly, though, because I'm so freaking excited!! Seriously, yesterday alone felt like four whole days. I can't take the waiting anymore!! But I must. So, to pass the time, I've started to make lists. List upon list. I know what you're thinking, "Oh no, Stephanie and her lists". And you're probably right. I've made three lists so far: Places to Eat, Things to Do, and Snacks to Pack. And they're all fairly lengthy. I've got the portable DVD player and my handy dandy GPS, and we're pretty much all set. Wait, I have yet to print out tickets to the fan expo we're going to, but I've got plenty of time to kill, so I'll do it tomorrow. Haha I don't want to do everything in one day and have absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the week. That would be slow, painful torture. Not that it isn't already torture. Ughhh the waiting... just kill me. But not really. Then I wouldn't be able to go to Vegas! Hehehe.

Moving right along, I have more good news!! I'm learning how to cook! Hey, better late than never, and I've come to realize that cooking is something I really enjoy, regardless of the fact that I kinda suck at it. But I'll get better! Practice makes perfect, right? I'm adding to my mental recipe book day by day, and so far, this is what I can make off the top of my head: Omelettes, poached eggs, french toast, meatloaf, green bean casserole, creamy rice casserole, cornflake chicken, chicken salad, mushroom canapes, cucumber sandwiches, chocolate banana pie, queso, scrambled eggs, baked salmon with lemon butter, and... I think that's it. But that's pretty good for a newbie, if I do say so myself. 

So far, my Summer 2010 picture project, where I take at least one picture every day for this summer and posting it on Facebook (man that album is going to be FULL by the end of this summer), is going well. Of course, it's only been four days since my summer officially started, but still! I'm having fun with it. A lot of the pictures are of Indie, my big fatty cat, sleeping in various places around the house. I didn't notice the pattern until someone commented on it, but pretty much every day I have a picture of Indie sleeping on something new! First, it was the kitchen table, then it was a chair in my dad's room, and on a couch, and now he's sleeping in my laptop case! I cannot wait to take that kitty to Huntsville with me.

That's all for today. This is the first time I've posted two entries in two consecutive days... I MUST be bored.

Smile!

All shall know the wonder of purple summer...

Wow I have a lot of catching up to do. When did I become such a blogging slacker? Well, no more of that! I have a lot to tell you! And when I say a lot, I mean it's overwhelming me just thinking of how I can blog about all this without writing a novel!! I'll just take it one step at a time. Here we go.

I think the first major thing that happened since the last time I updated was my cruise to Cozumel!! I went with my mom, and man, getting away was so awesome. Just heavenly. And this time, we learned from our mistakes from our last cruise and actually went and participated in the onboard activities, as opposed to staying in our cabin all the time like we did on our last cruise. We went to many of the Las Vegas-style shows, ate tons and tons, and participated in some of the shopping talks that they had. Plus, at these shopping talks, they gave out vouchers for free stuff in Cozumel! I was simply ecstatic when we finally got to Cozumel. We were in a time crunch because our first excursion started at 11, and we didn't get on the island until 9:30, but we managed to get all of our shopping done just in time for the glass-bottom boat/snorkeling tour. My favorite store was Del Sol, a store in which all of the merchandise changed color in the sun! The shirt and hairclip I got from there are among my favorite things to wear!! The snorkeling excursion was a blast. We went to 3 barrier reefs in a glass-bottom boat, and then we geared up and went snorkeling! The tour guide was super nice and helpful, and I even saw a barracuda! That was pretty scary, not gonna lie, but it was the experience of a lifetime and something I never before thought I could've done. That's one thing crossed off my bucket list. After that, we had lunch at a cute outdoor Mexican restaurant and experienced some authentic fajitas. Twas glorious. Energized, we plunged onto my next excursion: The manatee encounter!! That was super, super fun and I even got my own manatee to feed and play with! His name was Angel and he was bigger than me and kept grabbing onto me in an attempt to take the lettuce from my hands! I loved it so much. It was definitely a day I will never, ever forget.

The next major thing was my surprise 19th birthday party that my incredible roommates, Ryan and Melissa, coordinated and planned behind my back! It was on Friday, May 7th (Dead Day) and me and Ryan had gone to see Experimental Theater together. Then, when we got back to the apartment, pretty much every person at SHSU that was important to me was there and I was so freaking shocked! EVERYTHING was Hello Kitty, and it took me a full 3 seconds to realize that the surprise was for me. There was all this food, and this gorgeous pink cake, and a ginormous Hello Kitty balloon that I will pin to my wall once it's deflated. I got tons of gifts, all Hello Kitty, and I loved them ALL. After the initial shock wore off, we played Apples to Apples and The Game of Things, and Jen spent the night. It was my best birthday party ever, and again, something I will never, never forget as long as I live!! The next morning, all of us roommates decided to clean out the fridge, and we found some nasty things. Ryan donned his bandana over his face to protect himself from the rancid smell and, equipped with his trusty Febreze, tackled the mess! What a hero!

The next week was finals, and my grades were okay this semester. An "A" in Spanish II (which was a shocker, let me tell ya), and a "B" in everything else. I'm so glad it's summer.

Yesterday, I went back up to Huntsville to pick up some stuff I left behind, and to celebrate Raven's 20th birthday. After seeing her show, "Crimes of the Heart", at Old Town Theater, we (me, Raven, Ryan, Michael Madro, Kyle, and Ashley) all went to dinner at Chili's and then went back to our apartment for ice cream and games. It was so much fun!!! I'm so glad I came back to Huntsville for it. Everyone left at around 2 a.m., and then Trang texted me to Skype. So I Skyped with her, which was also tons of fun, until around 4:30 a.m. That's unlike me, I know. But then I fell into bed, exhausted, and woke up at 10:30 ish and went back to Tomball where I belong.

I would fill you in on the exciting details about my upcoming summer, but that would be another novel. So I'll make it quick. In short, me and Trang are going to Las Vegas in a week and a half, then I'm spending two weeks in Northern California visiting family, THEN me and Trang are going to L.A. together to hang out with Lynn..... and last but not least, I'll be working at TADW, in L.A., all summer, living on my own! OH! And Ryan Anderson will be an hour away from me all summer working on his internship in Orange County! So we'll definitely be seeing a lot of each other this summer. I can think of three words that will describe my next three months, and those words are: BEST. SUMMER. EVER.

^..^

Scene 24, Take 11.

The three words "That's a wrap" marked the end of four incredible days and my first experience working on the set of a legitimate film production. Not that all of my posts' titles need explanation, but the reason this entry is titled what it is... I'll tell you. Scene 24, which was supposed to be done in ten minutes, but because the director jinxed us all by voicing that aloud, took 11 takes and almost two hours to film. And it was an outdoor scene that depended on the sun for illumination and the longer it took, the more daylight we burned. Anyway, I'm telling this way out of order.

I was the Slater for an independent short film that was then called "Delinquent Duty" but has since been renamed "Chasing Cane". It was directed by Roy Ford, a SHSU alum, and it was sooo fun and an incredible learning experience. Before this, I never would've thought that 12 minutes of film could take 4 whole days to shoot!! We filmed at six different locations: The Woodlands Chamber of Commerce, Coffee Expressions, Lake Conroe, a really nice house in The Woodlands, and some warehouse in Conroe. It was nice to watch all the action from behind the scenes and to learn how everything was done and put together. And it was really nice to be super busy on the weekends!! I met some awesome people and learned some really valuable stuff.

To see still shots of "Chasing Cane" and to learn more about the cast, click here.

Watch the trailer of the first episode of the mini series, Chasing Cane! (We filmed the first two episodes so far).

I just wanna be okay, be okay, be okay.

I think it's appropriate to head this post with some Ingrid Michaelson lyrics, because she's all I've been listening to for the past week and a half. I just love her! Heather bought me her CD and I can't get enough. We have a lot of ground to cover in this post, so let's get to it.

Shall we?

The first Saturday of Spring Break, which was March 12, I woke up early so I could shower and pack and get gas before embarking on the 2 1/2 hour drive to Waco. What's in Waco? Tim and Ryan are in Waco! I made sure to burn plenty of CD's for the road and while my tank was filling up, I bought two big bags of Doritos for Tim and Ryan. The drive wasn't bad actually. I thought it would be long and grueling and boring, but time flies when you're jamming out. When I was leaving Huntsville, my GPS predicted that I would arrive in Waco at 11:52, but I arrived at 11:15. How's that for defeating the system?

We all met at Ryan's apartment, which was conveniently located right off the highway. No corkscrewing through little avenues and getting lost. What a relief! Tim met us there about half an hour later and we had lunch at Five Guys, which was delicious, then... since Ryan is a certified Baylor tour guide, I was treated to a state-of-the-art tour of Baylor University.

Fun fact: Baylor University is home to two live bears! I literally thought Tim was joking when he told me... then I was face-to-face with the bear enclosure. Lovely!

They showed me a ton of cool stuff, like the library that people apparently get married in, a huge concert hall with a huge organ, a time capsule that was buried in 1945 and will be uncovered in 2045, and this bench circle where everything echoes like crazy. Baylor is actually really beautiful. I thought SHSU was an exceptionally scenic campus, but Baylor is just as pretty if not more so.

After sneaking around the music building, the art building, and the ENORMOUS science building -- it was more like a 5-star hotel, if you ask me -- they took me to an amazing snow cone hut called Mr. Snow. At first, I was a little skeptical. I mean, a snow cone is a snow cone. Right? Wrong. This snow cone was the mother of all snow cones. It eats other snow cones for breakfast. Get the picture?

I sat there dumbfounded for a good five minutes, staring at the gigantic list of flavors, and couldn't decide, so Ryan took the initiative and ordered for me. So, I ended up with a polar ice/electric lemonade flavored snow cone nestled on top of homemade vanilla ice cream. What is also known as a "love nest". It was amazing. The next time I'm in Waco, I might just drive straight to Mr. Snow and forget to visit Tim and Ryan.

Kidding!

Anyway, check this baby out.

Doesn't that look delicious? I know!!

After that excursion, we retired to Tim's apartment and played a few quick games of Bananagrams, then Ryan had to leave. Sadness ensues. Tim and I played Super Smash Bros on my Wii for about an hour, and he made me a ham and egg sandwich. I learned something new from this sandwich, and that is the way college boys cook eggs. We were standing in Tim's kitchen and I was watching him whip the egg in a mug, mixing in salt and pepper and the usual. Then, he pops open the microwave and puts the mug in the microwave. I've never, in my life, seen someone cook eggs in the microwave. Isn't that such a "boy" thing to do?

Anyway, that ham-and-microwaved-egg sandwich was my dinner, and as Tim's friends started to trickle in for a fun little get-together, I sadly had to go if I wanted to be home by midnight. The drive back was definitely more exhausting than the drive there. I was super tired by the time I got home, but I'm really glad I went. Really glad.

Childhood calls.

I came home this weekend to re-pot my sunflower saplings, and now the weekend is gone. It's gone by so fast, probably because it was amazing, and amazing weekends are always far too short.

On Friday, I went around looking at apartments for the Fall, and I think I've settled on one. It's called Woodcreek Apartments, and when I toured it, I fell in love with its quaint charm and roomy apartments. The concept of having a place to myself in just a few months is unbelievably thrilling. The only thing I'm worried about is taking Peach there. I don't know how she'll handle the move, but I'm sure everything will work itself out.

Saturday morning, my dad and I had a HUGE brunch at The Egg & I, one of my favourite restaurants in the Tomball area. I just love em. After that, we went to Wal-mart to purchase ingredients for a new dish I wanted to make: Creamy Rice Casserole. I saw it on the Food Network show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", and the recipe sounded simple enough. With ingredients in hand, we went next door to Dollar Tree to find a watering can to properly water my sunflower, but we couldn't find one so we settled on a spray bottle. While I was there, I bought a new pot for my sunflower. Why not?... It was only a dollar. And since I was at a dollar store, or any store for that matter, anyone who knows me knows that I bought several unnecessary items. I bought a bubble set and a huge bottle of Arizona sweet tea. Hey, that's not so bad. I could've done worse, don't you think?

The bubbles and sweet tea weren't a complete waste. I spent the afternoon in the backyard blowing bubbles and watching Snapu chase after them. It was a gorgeous sunny day, just breezy enough to keep my bubbles afloat until they burst mid-air. My dad filled two glasses with ice and we downed the sweet tea in no time. After my bubble supply was exhausted, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon. Time to prepare the casserole. My dad did most of the work, but I got to dice the poblano peppers and mix the cream sauce. The casserole was delicious. That recipe gets my stamp of approval, for sure. My mom brought home rotisserie chicken, and it was a complete meal with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

This morning, I woke up early -- "early" meaning 9:40 a.m. -- and woke my dad up so that we could make breakfast. I recently learned how to poach eggs through a Youtube tutorial... dorky, right? But I wanted to try it, so my dad and I poached eggs for the very first time. It was rather successful, and pretty much tasted awesome. My dad made his famous french toast, and I poached three eggs: one for me, one for my dad, and one for my mom. It was a fun breakfast, and one that I was pretty proud of. Probably because I helped, which is a big deal, because I am a goner when it comes to anything culinary. That's a fact.

I just came back from seeing "Alice in Wonderland" with my dad, and I really liked it. It was pretty graphic at times, which seemed out-of-place in what I thought was going to be a children's movie but turned out to be anything but. The acting was tremendous, Helena Bonham Carter was completely adorable and Johnny Depp was so loveable and complex.

Anyway, I had a great weekend and spent oodles of quality time with my dad, which is always a good thing. I'm now headed downstairs for my dinner, then am heading back to Huntsville where I belong. Ooh by the way, the Waco trip is on again, and I hope it stays that way this time. However, a lot can change between now and this coming weekend. Fingers crossed.

Love ya.

Sunshine

It's a perfectly beautiful sunny day to end the snow blizzard that befell Huntsville just two days ago. Not that the snow wasn't beautiful and fun, but the overall mood was just dreary and wet. I feel like this sudden sunburst reflects my life right now, as corny and dramatic as that sounds. Last week was horrible, and this week was just the lift I needed to make up for it. This week was amazing, to say the least. Nothing extraordinary or life-altering transpired, but there was just a lot of joy and friendship to be experienced. Contentment is the greatest wealth.

You're probably super bored of hearing about my scleroderma, and I do not blame you, but I'll say it anyway. Another change I've experienced in myself partly by reading old blog entries is that I haven't had a poutful, whiney day in conjunction with being sick in a long time. And usually those come every couple of weeks or so. But nope! Who's a happy panda? Me.

I feel like so much growth has taken place in me over the past two years, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The empathy and perspective that has come out of this is priceless, and continues to better my life each and every day.

God works in mysterious ways. He really, really does.

86,400 seconds

It's amazing to go back and read the first posts in this blog, and see how much my priorities have changed since then. My outlook on life is dramatically, ridiculously changed. If you went back in time and told the person that I was back then that in a year, I'd see scleroderma as the biggest blessing, I'd laugh at you. Well, maybe not laugh. I might've hit you.

I can't believe it's taken me until age 18 to realize how important it is to live like I'm dying. It's ironic that I actually had to reach the point of near death to finally wake up and start living. In high school, I was so insecure and so easily wavered by the opinions of others. Now, although I'm still conscious of other's opinions of me, I'm proud of the person I am and it's very hard to shake that now that I know who I am. Finally. It's no longer important to me to be the trendiest person, or the most popular, or the smartest. I'm a good person, and that's the most important thing I think you can be.

This week has been such a rocky, emotional rollercoaster, but the cool thing about my newfound self-assurance is that I know what the right thing to do is and if I stick with that, it always ends well. I've been really stressed out these past few days, and my mom keeps telling me to stop caring about these things that bother me, that they'll worsen my condition. She's right; my illness was stress-induced in the first place. But to not care? That is so much easier said than done for me. Sensitivity is my main attribute, and sometimes it works against me, but I'd rather live a short life having cared than live a long, unfulfilled life in which I didn't. I'm so sensitive that it made me sick, but look where being sick has gotten me. I'm the happiest I've ever been, and I've never been so sure of who I am and what I need to do than I am right now.

Tomorrow, Brooke and I are hopefully taking a road trip to Baylor, but Tim's partied out and is sick now so he might not feel up to it. I really hope we get to go. I miss Tim and Ryan like no one's business. And I really need this getaway. Like, really.

Fearless

It's fun to do things, just do things without thinking them over very much. Not knowing how consequential they'll be down the road, and frankly, not caring so much. It's fun to live life without a backwards glance, eyes fixed straight ahead, not on the goal, but on the landmarks of the journey.

It's fun.

Two words that describe my life perfectly right now. I feel more alive now than I ever did before. I feel fearless, and I'm making a point to tackle every opportunity that comes my way. I can't believe how much I held back before I realized how precious life is. There used to be a distinct separation between the person I was and the person I wanted to be. That wall is quickly being torn down, and with every brick that comes loose, I feel better and better. Why was I letting that separation happen before? Why was I holding so much back? Most importantly, why was I so afraid to just live instead of think all the time? Man, I hesitated so much. I missed out on even more because of it. I'm doing things now and planning things now that I never dreamed would be in store for me. It's such an amazing feeling, the best high ever.

Anyway, I'm typing this in the radio office. Did I mention I was on management for the radio station this semester? It keeps me busy, which is also new to me... being busy. But I enjoy being busy, which I never thought could happen but it has. I have office hours every day, but there's not a lot of work to do right now. Oh yeah, and I got a fourth roommate. Her name's Melissa and she's pretty cool. She has this ADORABLE tiny little dog named Duke, and he's just precious.

Upcoming events: My dad and I are trying out this Turkish restaurant this weekend that I really wanted to go to. Me and Brooke are road-tripping to Baylor next weekend to see Ryan and Tim!!!! Omg so excited! And I got the job at TADW!!!!!!!!!! So I'll be working there this summer and staying with Lynn, and we're going to try to get tickets to the Ellen show with Trang, and when Trang comes to visit, we're also most likely taking her to Disneyland. Best summer ever? I think so.

The best two months ever.

I'm sorry I keep neglecting my poor blog! I'm just all over the place, and while there's a tiny bit of unwanted stress in my life right now, I feel like the luckiest person ever!

Let's see... the story last left off about a month before I went to Disney World. Disney World was unbelievable! The 15-hour drive really wasn't that bad! Of course, I just sat in the back and slept, but I heard no complaints from the front seat either. And believe me, if it was a bad drive, I would've heard plenty. But anyway, here are the parks in the order we visited them.

Disney's Hollywood Studios:
This was probably my least favorite park, but I did enjoy it a lot. It was rather small, but there was the Pixar Studios and The Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster! I loved the last two, they were my favorite! I took tons of pictures from every park too, but I'll post some later, maybe in another post. Actually, no promises on that. I keep forgetting about my blog and when I finally remember to write, it's like months after the event actually happened and I feel dumb.

Animal Kingdom:
My favorite park!!!! It rained on us, which kinda sucked, but it was still a great experience! My favorite things here were... oh wow there were quite a few favorites. And by the way, there were like NO LINES at any of the parks!! Thirty minute wait, tops! Most of the waits were only ten minutes!! Anyway, my favorites were Expedition Everest, a roller coaster where you go forwards, then backwards. We went on that twice :). Kilimanjaro Safaris, which was a ride in an open-sided safari vehicle into the wildlife reserve. Rhinos and gazelles and cheetahs walked like RIGHT NEXT to me!! No cages or fences!! I also loved the Circle of Life festival of the Lion King, and the bird show... I forgot what it was called, but it was fun!

Epcot:
This was a neat-o park. I loved all the countries. My favorite country was probably Japan, because they had a wicked gift shop haha. And there was this awesome show in China with these Chinese acrobatic children. They were just so cute and so talented. I also loved the ride Mission: Space. The simulated g-forces on that ride amaze me. Technology these days... And there was this ride called Test Track, apparently the fastest Disney attraction of all time. Haha you're basically in a car going through all the tests that real cars go through before they sell them. And at the end, you race around this sideways track at like 70 mph. It was cool.

Magic Kingdom:
Okay this is basically just like Disneyland, but some things are different. Like Space Mountain is pretty darn different. I actually think I like the Space Mountain in Disneyland better. My favorite thing here was the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. It's like a digital puppetry show where the monsters tell jokes and they actually talk to you and interact with the audience. It was really cool and really hilarious. We didn't stay at Magic Kingdom long because we'd basically seen everything there, so we left early and hit the road to go home.

Awesome trip. I'm so glad I got to go.

And recently I just got back from California, where I spent my Christmas break. This was seriously the best Christmas of my life. I mainly stayed with Trang and I went to my aunt Co Ut's house like ever day, which is odd because I never really talked to that side of my family until now. But I got to know them, especially my big cousin Lynn, and I feel like I missed out on a lot growing up. They're the coolest family ever. Better late than never. And I went to Winson's formal dinner, which was a 13-course meal that Winson cooked and presented. It was so fancy. I'm hoping he does a dinner like that for my college graduation. Shoot, I'm willing to pay him. And I got to know many of my baby cousins and bond with them. It was just such a rewarding trip. Also, for Christmas I got: a new digital camera (dad), three purses (trang, lien yee, muoi yee), four pairs of shoes (lynn, lien yee), two dresses & two pairs of tights (lynn), money (muoi yee, grandma, trang), two jackets (co ut), a necklace (lynn), and a really nice blouse (lynn). And with all my Christmas money, I came home and bought a Nintendo Wii. Again, best Christmas ever.

And while I was there, my mom bought two turtles from a Chinese super market and me and trang got to release them back into the wild. That was a rewarding experience. Another Christmas gift.

Anyway, I'm about to start my second week of this new semester. My classes are alright, even though I couldn't go to them last Thursday and Friday because my fingers got slammed in a car door. Yeah, I cried for a long ass time about that one. My finger still hurts a little, but I'm recovering pretty fast. I also just got put in the management team for my radio station. I'm Traffic Director, and I still don't really know what I'm doing. I have yet to be trained, but we're having a meeting tomorrow.

I need to get my eyebrows waxed...