thursday was the big day

yes, i am now up at westmont, as of thursday. below are a few shots of my and allison's dorm room...it's awesome (i have the top bunk by the way).

everyone is really nice and my suit mates seem awesome. their names are leah, kathryn, danica and shea. and my whole building is really nice too. i also have been able to meet some great girls in grace's dorm. on friday night, me, grace and her roommate, kelly, lofted my bed and reorganized our room. it was actually a lot of fun.

other things have been happening too. like there was line dancing in the gym on friday night, which was fun and on thursday night (the first night we were here) the fire alarm went off in clark at 1am. everyone had to run outside in their pjs and wait on the lawn until the fire department came and shut it off. it was the loudest, most obnoxious noise i think i have ever heard. funny story though.
as fun as it is, i'm not having the time of my life yet. i understand that it will take time to really feel right and to really get to know people. it's just a lot at once and it's kind of hard. note: almost all the things on the walls belong to me haha...i made it homey :)

closet...the right side is mine

view from when you first walk in the door

well, i did have video of the room too, but it's having uploading issues...i'll have to ask grace about that (she is my go-to-girl for all my technological needs haha)

hope this update is finding you well :)

eye to eye and laugh or cry?

trees. how can trees be described? by there appearance? sure. they are tall, beautiful, colorful. or, should they be described by their purpose? a tree can provide shelter and food for living things, can support the ecosystem, can be crafted into wood. how about if we describe them by their character? steadfast, sturdy, reliable. by their stereotype? by their position? by their type?
i could continue, but i think you may understand my point (or perhaps not). my point is there are many ways of describing and characterizing things. which one is the right way? is there a right way? or does is simply depend on what aspect one is trying to describe? is there a wrong way? a right way? an only way?
if i want to describe a tree by its character or appearance, but all others wish to do is look at what it contributes and why it is there, is either opinion correct or incorrect? ultimately, it is one's choice how one would like to view something. no one else can tell another they are wrong in what they are observing, if they have in fact taken the time to observe. simply because i want to say a tree is unique and beautiful, doesn't make it false, but, another may still wish to say the tree can be made into wood and that is all it's good for. just as i wouldn't be wrong, neither is the other observation. even if i know that is not all a tree is good for, even if i tell them that trees are steadfast and beautiful, that doesn't mean they have to accept that fact. i could even bring them into the middle of a forest to show them the grandest of trees and they still might not change their view. like it or not, everyone has a position of their own.
i guess that is the beauty and regret of variety.

cheese, peas and chocolate pudding...

am i the only one who had that book (perhaps it was simply a short story) when i was little? it was about a little boy who would only eat cheese, peas and chocolate pudding, until one day when his sister put some hamburger into his mouth and he discovered he actually liked something other than the three things he was only willing to try. it was supposed to be metaphorical, but anyways...i only bring this up because that is what i feel like i have been eating for the last four days. except the cheese and the peas part. so really that story didn't go with this post at all...or perhaps it does and i just haven't gotten there yet...we shall see.

why have i been only eating chocolate pudding, you ask? well, i haven't. i've been consuming mass amounts of mashed potatoes, ice cream, jello...all because of two words: wisdom teeth. last friday marks the first time i have ever had surgery, no matter how common that surgery is, i still have now had surgery. and even thought it is a common one, i was not feeling too great about walking into that office friday morning. i still was not feeling good when i sat down in the chair and while i was hooked up to the heart rate thingy. the nurse tried to make me more comfortable and started up a conversation with "are you a runner?" "well, i do run for exercise, but i wouldn't count myself as a runner." i replied. "oh" he said "because you have pretty low heart rate". what a wonderful thing to say before i go under anesthesia. now i'm freaking out that my heart is going to go to slow and then proceed to cardiac arrest with the drugs working through my system. finally the doctor arrived and goes "are you nervous?" as he is putting the IV in my arm. i gave a nervous laugh and a yes and the last thing i can remember was my breathing getting really slow and someone saying "imagine you are back on a beach in mexico" (another thing the nurse had learned about me while we waited for the doctor). the next thing i know someone is telling me "good job. you're all done" and somehow with the nurse's help i must have walked from the OR to the recovery room. i have no recollection of the event whatsoever. i just sat in the chair and waited for my mom to come back. while i was sitting there, i'm not sure if 1 min passed or 10. all i know is that the mom of the girl next to me got up and put a blanket on me and i looked at her, trying to remember how to respond. or at least that's what i think i was doing. perhaps i was just processing what she was doing. weird thing anesthesia is. my mom showed up and i remember the nurse telling her to keep me awake. my mom kept talking to me although i have no memory of what she said. i do know that she told me to put the ice pack on one side of my face and not on my chin, which is where i had been holding it. to be honest, i didn't even know i was holding anything until she pointed this out. later she also told me that i kept looking out of one eye and squinting telling her that there was two of her. i also vaguely recall another girl being sat down in the chair next to me with the nurse helping her and then the girl started crying. i think i was too out of it to even express any emotion. i just wanted to go back to sleep...typical. haha.
it was quite the experience. my mouth is feeling better now...just still waiting to get back on solid foods. oh, how i long for them. :)

in other happenings, i restarted for classes today and am taking New Testament, Fitness for Life, English, Communications and Drawing. should be exciting. this gives me 17 units total, which i realize is a lot for my first semester, but i talked to an academic advisor about adding the drawing class and he said to go ahead and do it. later, if i don't feel like i can handle all of them i can just drop one. but, if i do get all these classes and the times i signed up for, i will have one class on fridays and be done after 10:20. crazy good! other good news is that i found out my housing info and it looks like allison and i will be living in Clark K. perfect!
it's insane that this is all happening so fast, but exciting at the same time. it's just a mixture of emotions right now. fear, excitement, anxiety...but, you won't know if you like something if you never try it. just like the little boy from the story i mentioned previously. (see i told you i'd work it in somehow :) i might be feeling a little apprehensive about college life right now, but if i never dive in and try it, i won't know how amazingly great it is (or so everyone tells me).

well, that is all i have to say for now...i'm going to watch some House.
live well, my friends and enjoy all the luxuries of solid foods and think of me.

na na na na na...bananana na na na na!

last post about Puerto Valllarta, i promise. on friday night, we enjoyed a nice dinner out and got some pretty hilarious pictures out of the night. before dinner though, gary, justin, aunt julie and i got to do one of the most amazing things ever (according to me at least)! we all know how much i love tennis and that i love the rain as well. well, i got to play tennis in a full out thunder storm! seriously. rain pouring, lightning flashing, thunder pounding. honestly, it was so much nicer than the other times we played there, since the rain kept you cool. me and justin vs. aunt julie and gary. justin and i dominated every time :) by the end of the set, the clay of the court wouldn't soak up any more water and the court was like one big puddle. playing began to get ridiculous because you would serve the ball and it would just die. it was so much fun though! we were soaked!

we took a nice family picture and then me, jenna, betsy, jamie and justin planned to ask to take another one so we could add our own twist :)so, after the above picture was taken, betsy goes "oh, i think i blinked, so can we take another one?" and we got this...
...the most amazing family photo ever! somehow justin missed the memo and simply smiled. what a loser :)

as betsy and justin look as if they are going to kill each other, i look confused haha

all the cousins . again, justin somehow missed the memo of whether the picture was crazy or normal.

we all tried to get the brothers to take a nice photo together. jenna and i were trying to put their arms around one another.

aww...how sweet
after dinner that night, we all were a little crazy and were looking for a game to play. justin, jamie, aunt julie and i were sitting at the counter talking, when jamie goes "this would be a great house to play hide and seek in". then i suggest we play sardines. if you don't know what sardines is or have never played it, you are missing out. it's like hide and seek, but reversed. one person hides and then everyone else goes looking for them. then if you find the person hiding, you must hide with them. people just start disappearing and the last person to find everyone is it. we got everyone to play except katie (she was asleep...it was really late) uncle jeff and gary (well, gary did try one round). but, it is hilarious! you end up having six people stuffed in a closet somewhere or under a table, hence the name sardines. one round jamie hid up on a shelf behind a giant jar. i walked into the room and could hear people, so i go for the closet. then i look up above me and i see six shapes (did i mention we weren't allowed to turn on lights in the rooms we went into? made it more fun) all around the shelves above me. another round, we all ended up hiding and not even realizing it. when someone asked who was left looking, we all realized that we were all in the cupboard together. but, like with any game in my family, rules must be established. for example, no changing clothes during a round. my aunt julie hid outside behind the car and betsy and justin were the two left looking. we see a light go on in justin's room above and jamie and i creep out to see who was searching in justin's room. well, we found out who was in justin's room alright. justin had decided to change his shorts and all i can say is thank goodness he had his backside turned towards the window and all i had to see was his butt. needless to say, jamie and i were not pleased haha come on who changes during a game and in front of an open window? funny though. never gonna let him live that down.

the next day, we went jet skiing, which was fun. jenna and betsy were on one and justin and i were on the other. no one else wanted to go. we also all got to try banana boating. if you have never been banana boating, this is another thing you must try. it's an inflatable boat, shaped like a banana that you sit on in a line while a speed boat tows you. it was hysterical! when we first started, the order we were sitting was uncle jeff, me, justin, betsy, gary and then jenna in the back. justin and i decided it wasn't high adventure enough for us because we weren't hitting any wake. we decicded to try it hands free and let go of the handles. just then we hit a bump, i fly back onto justin, who flies back onto betsy, who smacks gary, causing him to fall off and then a few hundred feet later all us three topple off, leaving only uncle jeff and jenna still on the boat and everyone in the middle missing. after that, it turned into a battle of who could throw the most people off. at least when justin went for me, i took him off with me every time :)

good times on the banana boat

after jet skiing and banana boating, we played some volleyball on the beach against another house in the resort. it was a group of ladies vacationing. they were hilarious! the second game, we gave them betsy and justin (our two best players, because they had never played volleyball). one of the ladies went to serve the ball and justin was at net across from me. he's mouthing to me "you're going down" and "i'm gonna hit it right at your face", when the serve comes and slams him in the back of the head. so great! i ran over and high fived the lady, who felt so bad. it was so funny though! poor justy. well, thats what he gets :)

katie had some good times in the pool

and trying on my shades

that evening (our last night there), while everyone was packing, sleeping or watching House, justin and i were sitting on the couch, contemplating what to do.

family photo time! :)

lunch on our way to the airport. jamie and aunt julie caught an earlier flight, so they were already gone.

the trip was a blast! i loved hanging out with the whole family. never a dull moment. that should be our motto or something. :)