Catching Up Is Hard to Do

Note: This is post two of two for today. Haven't read my first post? Scroll down a bit and read that one first :)



Even though I haven't written in a while, I'm able to remember most of what I've done. This is because I've started keeping track of my days again. I used to do this during my year off: whenever I remember to, I update a .txt file with a list of what I've done every day. It might seem mundane, but it's the easiest way for me to remember what's occured over a long period of time. (I have a notoriously bad memory. Being able to remember events/things is something I really value).

Hmm. Looking through the .txt right now, I'm realizing that I should update more often, just so I can better record what's been going on. I already have a list of what's happening, I don't need another one. It'd be better if I used this space to elaborate on some of the more interesting things :) Because it's been so long, however, today I'll just do some highlights.

These past two weeks have been a lot of fun - relaxing, yet surprisingly busy. Nate drove down last week, and I introduced him to some of my favorite places in Orange County. I went to Los Angeles twice: once to just hang out and pick up a few things I forgot, and the other time for my best friend's 22nd birthday. My 6 month anniversary was a wonderful night complete with Vietnamese food, a bit of Sweet Dreams®, and a late morning out (filled with tasty corned beef hash and coffee). My Memorial Day was a good one, consisting of a spectacular view, a BBQ, and a fun/refreshing swim.

Some mellow activities I've been partaking in include reading (I've since finished "This Is Cuba" and am now working my way through the enthralling non-fiction bestseller "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson), a bit of TV (namely parts of the Band of Brothers marathon), joy riding, and playing Bang, Fluxx, Mille Bornes, Zombies and Scrabble.

Food highlights include both going out and eating in. Off the top of my head, I remember some of the most memorable being: ordering in Thai food, Del Taco, the usual Fish and Chips place in Dana Point (although I got clam chowder the last time I went), Lollicup by the Arbor lake, coffee with friends, and trying out new restaurants with family. One of my favorite dinners (besides my anniversary dinner) was making a delicious Tomato Basil Pizza and Peach Salad in Irvine :)

Movie highlights include Tropic Thunder (which I didn't like), The Notebook (which I still love), and Anastasia (which I was able to watch on my NEW lappy toppy)!

And... the last important thing I did in the past two weeks was serve Jury Duty at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. Although I guess I didn't really "serve" - I just sat in a room for 8 hours waiting for my name to be called. When it wasn't, I had completed my "service" and was free to go for a year. It was both a relief and a disappointment - a relief because I didn't have to be bound to a trial with an unknown end date, and a disappointment because actually serving on a jury would have been interesting. Oh well, next time :)

Today I've been uploading pictures to Facebook and catching up with messages and e-mails. Choosing what picture to put at the top of this post was a challenge, since I had so many to sort through. I went with two: a simple view from the top of a hill in Irvine, and the pine tree in front of my house. I'm still trying to absorb all that is home. The other pictures I will put up in time :)

Technological Advances

So I know I haven't updated for a while... but I have a good excuse! My 5 year old laptop finally went out on me, and I didn't have access to a computer for a while.

Why am I suddenly updating? Because TWO days ago, I received my BRAND NEW LAPPY TOPPY in the mail! I'm pretty damn excited. Nobody else (except for you, my love) is, though, because the things I'm excited about aren't anything special. They're things like, a webcam, for instance. I never had one, so I think mine is pretty damn cool. I'm also enthralled by my wireless LASER mouse, which is more convenient than I thought it would be. The fact that I have enough RAM to watch movies and YouTube videos (in High Def/Res to boot!) is amazing... and being able to do multiple things at the same time (like download files, have a gazillion tabs open in Chrome, listen to music, upload pictures, talk on Skype, etc) is unreal.

Yeah... my old laptop was pretty shitty.

In case you were wondering, I ended up getting an HP dv4t in Moonlight White. It's sleek, quiet (my old one sounded like a small, broken vaccum cleaner), and LIGHT. (It's just over 5 lbs. Compare that to my old one which was almost 9 lbs. Yay technology!)

I'm pretty happy :) Anyway, that's my excuse as to why I've been M.I.A. for a while. And... I think I'll actually split this update into two posts (so I don't have an essay long "hey I'm back!" entry). So this is my post as to why I haven't updated recently... and my next post will be what I've been doing lately :)

Finally!

I'm homeeeeeeeeee! Home home home! In Irvine! Finally! :D I've only been here for a day, but it's been everything I was hoping for, so far. Which isn't TOO surprising, since I wasn't hoping for much. I was just hoping for home :)

I really needed to leave LA. For one, I was basically out of cash. I didn't have much on me to begin with (I hate carrying around cash in LA, mostly because homeless people like to come up to you and ask for money. All. The time). Anyway, I didn't have much on me to begin with, and when I didn't have a credit card for a few months (my card number was jacked and, even though my bank sent me a new one, I couldn't activate it until I called from my home phone in Irvine...), I seriously depleted my LA cash reserve.

For two, I just couldn't relax up there anymore. It was associated with so much stress, I needed to get out just so I could breathe. And sleep. Yikes. Thankfully, I'm now breathing and sleeping just fine :)

My last few days in LA were fun, though. Highlights include lunch at La Barca, and heading out to the Library Bar. And my one full day here has been pretty fantastic, too. I had an important, heartening conversation in the Lollicup parking lot, read more of This Is Cuba, and continued organizing pictures to print and send to my Grandma. I reunited with Mr. Snow, and enjoyed some home cooked fried rice. I had a delicious family dinner (a rare treat for me, what with how my own family is) in Mission Viejo, and killed my fair share of zombies. And I smiled :)

I'm looking forward to more nubbing. Six Flags. Santa Barbara. Korean BBQ and Karaoke. Westwood. Making a list of 100 things I want to do this summer... and then crossing everything off of that list.

Home home home. It's good to be home :)

Counting Down the Days

The above picture is of a postcard I received recently from Taiwan (through Postcrossing). When I first saw it, I guessed that it was of a shopping area in Taipei. I messaged the sender to make sure, and it turns out I was right! Gosh, I miss Taiwan food a LOT. It's SO tasty, especially during the summer...

But it's OK. There are a lot of other tasty (and less tasty) things in Southern California that make me happy. Here are a few:

Making breakfast for two
Guava juice
Catching up on Dorm Life
Being (almost) done with this semester
Deciding when I will make a White Russian Tiramisu
Looking through old pictures of good times
Watching Mean Girls instead of studying for finals

I won't really have the opportunity to travel/go very far this summer, but I have a hunch it will be a good (and much needed) break anyway.



In other news, I miss Mr. Snow :/

Catching Up

These past (almost) two weeks have been crazy. Highlights include:

Mixed and Matched
Porcelain @ The Key Club
Vimbayi's Recital
USC Madrigal Singers Concert
Trojan Consort Concert
Voice Recital
Versailles/X-Men Origins: Wolverine @ Citywalk
Formal Dinner at Maggiano's @ The Grove
HAPArty with UCI's Mixed Student Organization
Birthday!
Disneyland
Flowers, flowers, flowers, and more flowers :)

...Plus dinners, papers, presentations, meetings, rehearsals, and other miscellaneous activities.

It was a lot of work, and a lot of singing for me, but I had fun. I always enjoy singing, and it's fun to dress up for end of the semester events. I also had a surprisingly amazing birthday, thanks to the thoughtfulness of my friends. Although I think Disneyland takes the cake for being the best part of my birthday weekend :)

I have one week of finals, and then I get to go home and celebrate my birthday with my family, and my Irvine friends. I'm excited. I have been looking forward to this summer for almost a year now, and it's finally here. Almost. Hopefully I can focus long enough to get through my finals...

Something I'm really looking forward to doing this summer is swimming laps. I miss being refreshed by uncrowded pool water, and I'm looking forward to getting back into tip top shape. I'm also looking forward to reading. I'm working my way through This Is Cuba, still, but it's been difficult because I've been so busy. It's hard to find time to just SIT. Something I find myself longing to do, often. Being able to sit and not think about all the things you have to do means that you have the luxury to do seemingly useless (but extremely pleasing) things. I can't wait for that. Can. Not. Wait.

I'm also really looking forward to taking spontaneous trips. People have been throwing around ideas, but who knows how many will actually come to fruitition. Off the top of my head, there are two that I'd really like to do: Tucson and Oberlin. Tucson, so I can visit Emilie (whom I miss DEARLY because I haven't seen her in five something months), and Oberlin so I can visit Chris and watch the second run of his new opera, "The Mermaid." I'm considering visiting my Grandma in Longview as well. That's a bit more complicated though.

Less complicated is camping. That will definitely happen :)

Tomorrow I have to seriously start studying. Academically I've been lacking this semester (which sucks, but I'm not going to stress about it if I can help it). I need to finish two papers (one being a term paper, one being a short paper) by Thursday, and I need to study like crazy for my PSYC final, also on Thursday. On the plus side, academically speaking, I found out that I received D-Clearance for my Wheel Throwing class, so I'm pretty happy about that. Even though I prefer hand building to wheel throwing, I will still be working with clay (my favorite stress relieving activity), and it only takes up two units (versus four for Advanced Ceramics). Now if only I can get into the Orchestration class I need...