Vote!

Even though I know most of the people who read this blog already know this, but go and vote for Obadiah Parker so the can play at the Austin City Limits Festival! It's a great opportunity for them. If you haven't heard their music, then check out their Myspace or their songs on Itunes...they're pretty awesome!

Here's a note from Mat (the lead singer)..."We're trying to win a spot to play at the Austin City Limits Festival in September and we need your help! The contest is based on four rounds of voting by fans and judges. We have from now until August 20th to get as many votes as we can from our fans to make it to the second round. You can vote every day for each email address that you have access to. This would be a really great opportunity for us to play at ACL so we appreciate your guys' support!" CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR THEM.

Why I love to read...

" [ A friend of mine once] asked me if I thought people would even be reading novels in 2006, with so many other entertainment options available. I had to laugh, because novels are still the best entertainment option. Even a hardcover is cheaper than two tickets to the local multiplex, especially once you throw in gas, parking, and babysitting. Also, a book lasts longer and there are no ads. Need more? No tiresome ratings system to keep you out if you're under 17, the special effects are always primo (because you make 'em up yourself), and although I read nearly 80 books this year, I never ran across the Olsen twins a single time."- Stephen King

On a slightly different note, I am STILL unpacking from the recent move. I finally got shelves and a closet organizer so hopefully I will be done by the end of this week. I would post picture of the disaster that is my room....but I have no idea where my camera is! When I find it I will take some pics of my room and the new house (for those of you who haven't already seen it!)

My sister has started her own company called 'ParTEAs by Hope'. It is a company that provides all the accessories to host the perfect teas party! It is perfect for many occasions, including birthdays, bridal/baby showers, or just a get-together with friends! Please check out her website and spread the word.

I need to think of an excuse to hold a tea party....maybe a small housewarming party? We shall see...

FYI...

This is what I want for Christmas....or any occasion someone feels like spending $300 on me for :) It may end up being a present to myself at the end of the summer for surviving my job.

and this is where I get my inspiration and is the reason I need the aforementioned gift.

For Amy...

Monkey....

Awww....cousins....


And one of my sister just for good measure...

GASP!!!

My new car!

I got a new car today! It's a 2008 Ford Escape XLT...I love it! I'm going to miss my good ol' truck though...it was a perfect first car. But- this one has satellite radio, a sunroof, 6-disc CD changer, MP3 input, direction and temperature gauges, and is BRAND SPANKIN NEW!!! Plus, it gets much much better gas mileage and the insurance will go way down! SO excited to drive it around! :) (It's a pearly-white color if you can't tell from the pics)

Home again...

Just got home today from the best vacation EVER with my best friend Danielle. We have known eachother for about 13 years and this is the first vacation we have ever taken just us. We drove to San Diego on Monday and spent time on the beach and at Sea World. Basically, we just relaxed and destressed and scoped out all the good lookin guys. I'm too tired to actually write about it, but here are a few pics from the past few days.

'Do' it

The new hair-do. Short. Cute. LOVE it.



And a few pics from my friends wedding last weekend (Heather and Brant). The ceremony was at Community Church of Joy and the reception was at the Sheraton Crescent. It was beautiful. It's weird that one of my friends is married(or two actually because I'm friends with the bride and the groom). I'm getting old. Pretty soon everyone will be married and popping out babies. Cept me. :) Well...not soon at least.

Tonight was our last night working out with Todd...it's sad. Hopefully I can reach my goals without him.

We got home tonight and went into the garage and found that our hot water heater was leaking majorly...there is water from the back of the garage where our the water heater is all the way to the front garage door and about four feet wide. Not good.

On a better note, I went to Josh and Jacob's preschool graduation today! The pic below is of the graduates with their big sis Kassidy.

This is Josh receiving his "diploma" (and a special necklace from his teachers). Too bad his eyes are closed... Jacob is in the middle of this pic...his class had little caps and gowns!! It was so adorable!

Basically I can't believe how old they are...they will be FIVE tomorrow! They each have such great individual personalities that come out more and more everyday. I can't wait to see them grow up, but I still cherish every moment I have with them now that they're young and they still hug and kiss me without being forced! I love my nephews and neice more than anything! They bring a smile to my face no matter what else is going on in my life. They'e amazing!

A few books on my summer reading list (in no particular order):

• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (a true story about a boy in Africa forced be a soldier...much like the movie Blood Diamond)
• Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson (chic-lit)
• The Virgin Suicides by Jeffret Eugenides (never seen the movie...thought the book looked interesting)
• Saving the World by Julia Alvarez (LOVE her...I've read two other books by her- How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Yo!)
• The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Read Ethan Frome by Wharton and it's one of my favorite books)
• The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence that Points Toward God by Lee Strobel (Interesting... I also want to read the Bible because I never have, but more because I think it's an important historical piece and referred to very often in different contexts...not so much because of religion. )
• Something Borrowed by Emily Griffith (more chic-lit)
• The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver (started it awhile ago, but never finished it. It's very very long and hard to follow, but for some reason I have to finish every book I start no matter how boring it is)

These will probably last me through about the end of June, depending on how often I get to read at my job. I love bookstores. I think it'd be so much fun to work in a small bookstore where you can sit around and read all the time. I don't get to read books I actually want to read during school, so I have to catch up over the summer. Although my pile is not nearly as large as Amy's !!!

So this is the tattoo I'm going to get....

The only problem is that I don't know anyone who can read Japanese. I found it on Google, and according to the site it means "Inner peace, Inner strength" but I want to know 100% for sure before I go putting something permanent on my body. For all I know it says something really obscene.

Hey Kev- do you have any linguist friends who know Japanese???

you know what the best feeling in the world is?

when the guy you loved and trusted and depended on for 4 years calls you up out of nowhere and accuses you of cheating on him because some random s**thead told him that I was. And this guy chooses to believe said s**thead said over you.

yup-it's amazing.

The End

So for many people that read this, what I'm about to say will come as a complete and utter surprise....if you don't want to know than don't read on.

Davis and I are no longer together.

We have been having problems for months now and trying to make it work. I realized after thinking about it for many, many sleepless nights that the only way to make it better would be to end it. So I did.

I just want both of us to be truly, utterly happy and I realized that wouldn't happen while we were together. In the four years we were together we became different people, and the people we are now aren't right for eachother.

I never thought it would happen, but it has. I am ok. He will be. I hope that one day we can be friends again because that is what I will most about him. I will never stop caring about him.

So for the family members who read this...feel free to pass along this news. I don't really have the desire to talk about it, so I figure this will get around by word of mouth eventually.

Once again...Grey's Anatomy as it applies to real life...

"Some people believe that without history, our lives amount to nothing. At somepoint we all have to choose: do we fall back on what we know, or do we stepforward to something new? It's hard not to be haunted by our past. Our history is what shapes us... what guides us. Our history resurfaces time after time after time. So we have to remember sometimes the most important history is the history we're making today." -Meredith on Grey's Anatomy

I'm stressed, I'm stressed, I'm very very stressed. (Sing to the tune of "I'm late, I'm late, I'm very very late" from Alice in Wonderland.)

At least the due dates for one of my papers got pushed back! yay!

Finally!!!

It may seem odd, but the tragedy that happened yesterday at Virginia Tech is taking a profound toll on me and the way I view the supposed sanctuary I am in everyday at school.

School is supposed to be a safe place, a place we go to to get away from our other problems, to absorb knowledge and learn about problems that are happening around the world. But when those problems come home, we don't know how to react.

The mass murder at Virginia Tech is situation where everyone says "that will never happen at my school". But why could it happen there and not right here at ASU West? There are disgruntled people everywhere, people who don't know how to handle their rage any way other than violently.

I was listening to NPR on the way to school yesterday (as I usually do), but yesterday was different. They had the President of Arizona PIRG, which is a student organization at ASU. He was saying that one of the problems at Virginia Tech was that the students were not notified immediately after the first shooting happened. (Who knows how many students may have stayed in their dorm if they had known there was a shooter on campus?) There is no system in place at ASU, other then email, to notify students if there is a problem on campus. And what about commuter students like me? How would they get the word out if something happened on campus to students who don't watch the news?

I was walking up to campus yesterday after hearing the news all day and listening to information that was coming in, and all I could think of was what if that happened today, at ASU West? There is no way of knowing. There was alot of talk about the 1966 UT Austin shooting, which before yesterday was the deadliest campus shooting in history. In that case, a man was on top of a building and shot down at students walking to class. I walked up to campus yesterday and on one of the buildings was a person standing on a high balcony looking down at students. This was not someone suspicious, it was just a girl probably waiting for her next class to start. But it made, well, freak out a little bit. And right now I am in the library. I keep thinking "what if someone comes in and starts shooting" like the kids at Columbine did? What would I do?

I guess the point of this is to vent my fears and to realize that I can't live my life in fear. I didn't know the kids who died yesterday at Virginia Tech, but my heart goes out to them and their families. They are kids like me, just students wanting to make some difference in the world by getting a higher education. It has made me realize the importance of just...living. Living day to day and living like you have 100 years still on Earth, even if you may die tomorrow.

Unfortunatley, a tragedy like this also has political implications. Already there is talk of gun control issues, and campus security problems across the country. Why did it take President Bush a week to go to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina where hundreds were killed, but he is already in Virginia the day after the shooting? Honestly, who cares? It sickens me that after 32 young, intelligent people were murdered the media and politicians have to turn this into a political issue? Yes-gun control and security are important issues, I am not saying they aren't. But can't we, as a country, unite under this tragedy and mourn for the studrents who died? Is that really so hard? Apparently it is, and that makes me so sad.

My prayers go out to everyone affected by the Virginia Tech shootings, and I pray to God that even after this our schools can become sanctuaries yet again.

I just met author Tania Katan. She is by far the coolest person/author I have ever met. I got my picture taken with her and a book signed...I will post pictures later, but right now I am in my Social Statistics class and I should probably pay attention.

Today is a good day.

omigosh

I just babysat for the President of Capital Groups investment firm in his $6.8 million mansion that he bought from Dan Majerle.

It was amazing.

And to top it off his kids are the sweetest little boys and he and his wife are both very, very nice people.

And I get to sit for them again in 2 weeks.

I had a great night...

Happy Easter tomorrow everyone (all two of you who read this...)