"I was struck by lightning, walking down the street" (not really...it's just a song title that applied

So, the other night, Santa Barbara was in the middle of one of the most amazing thunder storms that I can remember to hit California in a long time. Amy and I were so excited about it, that on our way back from dinner in the D.C. we decided to play and run around in the rain, getting soaking wet, with thunder rumbling and lightning flashing overhead. We were in the parking lot outside of Armington (my dorm) building "D" when a simultaneous bolt of lightning and crash of deafening thunder cracked right over head. We screamed and grabbed each other and the next thing we knew the fire alarm in the building next to us began going off. Apperantly the lightning had struck the building (so the rumors said) and they evacuated everyone to the "C" lounge, which was packed with dripping wet bodies. It took the fire department about an hour to come up and shut it off, so Amy and I escaped back to our building (A). Amidst power outages, we stopped by the second floor and Brent made us some delicious hot chocolate, while Dean ran in and out, shouting about how glad he was that he had just charged his AM radio...hilarious.
Pretty eventful Monday night if you ask me :)

Home Again, Home Again...

Last weekend was our "Fall Break", where we get a four day weekend. I arrived home Friday night after a rather stressful travel experience. I was supposed to get on the 4:30 train, but when it pulled into the station, an announcer came on over the loud speaker and said that the train had been overbooked, therefore, they were not letting anyone board and we would have to wait for the 6:17 train. People were so upset (including me), but there was nothing to do. Luckily Barrett was with me, so it wasn't too bad. We ended up just walking up State St. and getting some Indian food for dinner. We were able to get on the 6:17 train, which Grace was also riding, and my mom picked me up at Union Station around 9:00. We got home around 10:00, I kicked Justin out of my room (actually he went willingly; he even cleaned up and changed the sheets for me) and then my mom, Justin and I decided to go to a movie. We went and saw Social Network, which is the one about how facebook got started. I thought it was really interesting to see how a college student simply had an idea and created this way of communication that is now such a big part of our social world. Anyway, after the move got out (around 1:30) Justin goes "Oh, my gosh! I forgot dinner! I'm so hungry!!!". So, we all made a late night Denny's run, returning home around 3am. Exhausted.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty relaxed days. I babysat Katie Saturday evening, which was fun. Monday, my mom, Katie and I went downtown to city hall and met Gary for lunch along with his secretary, Anne; one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet. Monday night, Justin and I saw another movie (The Town), which was fun and then turned in early cause he had work in the morning.

Tuesday my mom and I got to hang out for a while and we were then supposed to meet Justin in LA after he got off work and before I went to the train station. However, we were stuck in traffic and then Justin calls me, saying "I just got two free tickets from my old soccer coach for the Jack Johnson concert tonight! Want to go?" Um, yeah I wanted to go. I turned to my mom and ask her what she thought, since I was supposed to be going back to school. She just goes "You know, I don't really want to sit through all this traffic, so if you aren't missing anything important tomorrow, just go." So, we headed back to Long Beach, picked up some delicious Thai food and then Justin, my mom and I ate it in our formal dining room, which was kind of fun since we never eat in there. Justin and I then ran out the door to go to the concert, which was in Irvine and was supposed to start about the time we left. But, we figured it was just the first band playing for the first hour, so we wouldn't miss much.

We arrived at the Verizon amphitheatre around 8:00 and were forced to park in the middle of nowhere. We accidentally went down this deserted path through the bushes and ended up near a high chain-link fence, where people were heading into the amphitheatre on the other side. The security guard told us that we would have to go all the way around, which was like a mile. We walked a little ways down and Justin goes "Man, I wish we would just jump the fence."
"Why can't we?" I replied
"Because you don't ask girls to jump barbed wire fences, Danielle."
I glared at him, told him to hold my stuff, found a place where the gates met, hoisted myself up and through the top gap of the gate on the fence, jumping down and landing on the other side and turned around and smiled at him, quite satisfied. I told him that was the last time he should tell me I couldn't do something "because I was a girl". He just laughed and threw my purse and the blanket over to me.
Finding seating was terrible! But eventually we found a space on the lawn and enjoyed the music and some good conversation. We left early to beat the rush, which was a good idea. Really fun night though. Jack Johnson is awesome and a great performer. Also, it was really nice to hang out with Jus for a while. I'm really glad he moved out here.
When we arrived home, it was about 10:30, so we had some soup and my mom, Justin and I hung out in my room, staying up talking until 1:30. It was awesome; I love conversations with them. Overall it was a good weekend.
I ended up oversleeping and missing my 9:00 train (dumb LA traffic). Justin did try his best to make up for the lost time, but it just wasn't happening. We arrived at the station five mins too late, but I just got on the next one, which was fine.
That was the first time I'd been home all year and it felt really nice. The rest of the semester I will be going home a bit more often. For two random weekends and then for Thanksgiving.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Over and out.

The Good and the...Not So Good

Every Thursday any student that wants to, has the opportunity to go down to the local park and bring a meal to the homeless and sit and talk with them. This semester I have been going pretty consistently, which has been amazing. I attended a few times last year, but that really isn't the same experience. It has been such a blessing getting to know some of the people and beginning forming relationships with them.
I make a point to talk to one guy, Seann, at least for a few minutes each week. He always greets me with a huge smile and a hug and then begins telling me about and showing me all the photographs he took during the week. He has a passion for photography as well as singing and the Lord. He always ends up teaching me some type of lesson, intentional or not. This Thursday's lesson included knowing how to take a compliment when it is given to you. In his words, "It is great to be humble and all that, but people really just need to learn to say 'Thank you and you also'. This week he also asked me two questions I am still pondering: "What is your greatest fear?" and "What is your vision for how the world will be in 2012?". Gotta think about those ones for a while.
In addition to talking to Seann, I also have had the privilege of getting to know a guy named Taylor, who is 21 (the youngest homeless person I have ever met) and trying to make it on the radio. He is currently working an internship at a radio station and loves it. He is such an inspiration to show what following your dreams means, despite financial or family situations. He has this incredible drive that you can just see from the minute you begin talking with him.
Two other people I have been blessed to get to know are Cynthia and Don. Don is probably in his 50's and Cynthia is his mother. Every week Cynthia sits in a chair as people gather around her to hear all the great stories she has to tell about her life. Don has this amazing capacity for kindness and love and truly has an interest in wanting to know you if he is speaking to you. He asked me about my hobbies, my background and what my plans are for my future with such a genuine spirit; you don't' find that everyday.
Anyway, these are just some of the new friends I have made through the start of this year, but it truly has been an eye opening experience. I hate to sound cliche, but really I am just blown away by how much I have learned from these people and also how much I am learning about who I want to become and what it means to live my life the way I want to. It's hard to explain, but I definitely know that changes are in progress in my life...good changes.
Along with these great feeling I get from going to this every week, it has made me really dislike other parts of me. Many times I feel like a total hypocrite for being so on board to show love to these people that may live a little on the outskirts of society, yet some people on my campus I am not willing to do the same for. Why is it that I can so easily desire to care for outcasts from society, but outcasts from the social circle of college, I so willing want to shake off because it presents too much stress or it isn't genuine from my end? I've still got some figuring of things out to do. But, that is what life is about: learning. It isn't always easy, but it has to be done, and usually it pays off in the long run. I just hope that I do the right thing.

Life is Good

School is even busier than last year! Yesterday I had two tests and then today, a paper due. The rest of my week should be good, though this weekend didn't involve much rest. However, through all the studying, it did involve my friend Shanan's birthday. His roommate, Jordan, threw him a BBQ at Jordan's grandparents house, since it is Montecito. So, all of us found rides over there and got to gather with music, ping pong, great food and great people. It was so much fun to just get off campus for a while and be in a house. And Jordan's family was so nice to have all of us over and cook a full on meal for 20 people. We spent the evening simply hanging out and playing volleyball/soccer with a giant bouncy ball (so great!) and celebrating Shanan's birthday. Also, Brad brought his blow dart gun, which he let all that wanted to, try. On my second try I actually manged to hit the can we used as a target! It was exciting.

Other fun happenings this year have included going to the farmers market, dinner, making dinner a couple of time with Brent. We are getting pretty good at stealing food from the DC to add to our creations.

Rooming has been going good as well. A couple weeks ago the three of us stayed up till like 3 talking. I began mocking Barrett, because every night she says that she is just going to sleep on the futon because she doesn't want to climb up into her bed. I climbed on her bed and said I was just going to sleep there. Her response was to go and lay on Amy's bed and then Amy climbed up onto mine. We turned out the light and ended up talking for another while and then eventually all just fell asleep. Waking up was so confusing. Oh, the randomness of college.

Also, It has been so hot lately that Barrett and I decided to sleep outside the other night. It was really nice down on the lawn, under the stars. We woke up around 4 and headed back inside though because we didn't want people to start waking up, walking around and wonder why two people were just sleeping on the grass. So, when we went back to our room, I decided that it was too hot to sleep on my top bunk and so i slept on the futon. At 9:00 my wake up call came in the form of a heavy object coming in contact with my jaw. It was Barrett's phone that fell from her bed (she also has a top bunk) coming in contact with my face. As she searched her bed for it, I whimpered and held it up to her. We started laughing, but my jaw is still a bit bruised.

Oh, and I almost forgot. There was a karaoke night a couple weeks ago, which was really fun. Amy, Shea, John (new RD of my old dorm) and I sang "Ice Ice Baby"...pretty hilarious and so fun.

Well, as you can see, college life has been great. I'm really excited to go home for our four day break next weekend though. It will be nice to get away for a few days, have some time with my family and hopefully just relax.

Oh, speaking of family, my mom, Katie and my grandma came up to visit me last week. It was really great; we went to the zoo, had lunch and dinner and just drove around Santa Barbara. It was really fun to see them, although I was sick, so that was kind of a bummer.

Anyway, I'll update soon about some deeper stuff going on in my life.

Over and out. :)

Wacky Adventures at Westmont

Being back at school has been busier than I had ever imagined. I can't believe I've only been here two weeks; it feels like two months. My classes all require an insane amount of reading this semester, but I think I'm really going to like most of them. I'm taking Principles of Art, History of Western Art (which is SO interesting, but also SO much information to take in), Major American Writers (I'm really enjoying that, since I feel like I don't really have a good basis of American Literature), Christian Doctrine and Outdoor Education (we get to hike, boulder/rock climb and kayak for that class!!! how sweet is that?!?!). Despite the work load, classes are going well so far.
In addition to classes, it's been great being back and seeing everyone again. Already this year we have had quite a few memorable experiences; late night walks in the moonlight, a night hike in order to show Shanan this awesome tree house we found, cooking dinner in the common kitchen, Barrett going on a rampage, throwing things around the room and a section beach day. Barrett's rampage was initiated one night when she said she "...simply wanted people to let her annoy them, but they [were] ignoring [her] efforts." She sat down in the middle of our floor, doing Indian calls and throwing objects at the ceiling. Amy and I tried to sedate her by the method of smothering her with a blanket. It failed and Barrett then grabbed a jacket and threw it in the air, hitting a string we have going across our room with pictures hanging on it and causing all the pictures to fly every which way. Hysterical.
Another evening, Shanan made us all laugh so hard we cried. I don't even know exactly what he said...something about a cookie, but in one of the weirdest voices I've ever heard. As soon as the tears of laughter began coming to our eyes, he jumps up from the table, screaming "I made Barrett cry!" and then does a victory lap around the building, which only made the three of us laugh harder.
But, I think so far the most embarrassing moment of the year goes to me (surprise, surprise). One afternoon I decided it was necessary to build a contraption that would allow the hot water pot and i'ts heating base to stick to the desk for easier access. I was quite proud of my invention, despite my roommates unsupportive comments. Later that evening a wire rack that was holding pictures falls off the wall and crashes down. As I was trying to stand on my desk, putting the thing back on the wall, Amy and Barrett start making fun of me, sarcastically saying how great my handy work is. I retort "Well, my hot water heater contraption has stayed so far and it's been all afternoon...and it will be there forever." Just then, I stepped to the left onto the edge of my desk, hitting the hot water pot, causing it to fall and spill all over Barrett and the futon that was underneath it. Luckily it wasn't hot, but it was full and she was completely soaked. We all couldn't breath for the next ten minutes because we were laughing so hard. Then Barrett thought it would be good punishment to tackle me, but she forgot to move her bowl of coffee ice cream, which my face went into. She saw that it was already ruined and proceeded to smash my face into it even more. Our suite mates actually came over to see if we were okay because they didn't know if we were all laughing or crying. They probably think we are insane...not too far off either.
It's been different being back with college students all the time, but I'm loving the randomness that college life brings. It was so much easier to adjust this year, coming back to something that is familiar. Living in Armington with Amy and Barrett has also been great thus far. We have been having a lot of fun and not getting much studying done...kidding, of course we are getting our school work done.
Anyway, I'll tell more about being back at Westmont soon.
Ciao!

And Just Like that Summer is Over...

Man, am I slacking on the updates or what. I am back at school now, but before I get into that, I'll briefly say a few things about the last weeks of my summer.

-I was able to high jump once this summer! It felt so good to be back out there and reminisce about my track experience. It was also a lot of fun to see Coach Jim and to be able to take a few jumps that kind of just clicked in a way.

-I was able to spend some time with some people that are important to me before the summer ended. Amy, August, Grace and I got to have a last hang out and we tie-dyed, which was quite the experience. We also made smores, which was even more of an experience as you can see... haha . August pulled it out of the broiler and flames were everywhere...it was great.

-I went on a series of adventures with Amy (from college Amy) and Shanan throughout southern California. It included getting lost many times, an awful cop giving me a parking ticket, but also many laughs.

-I was able to go to the beach one night with Amy (from home). We had lots of fun taking pictures and having some good conversations.-August and I painted another picture. It included things from our lives that we like and yes, there is a cemetery because we like them :). August also taught me how to make yogurt, which turned out delicious!

-My parents went out of town as well, so I got to hang with Katie for a couple days. We had fun and even went to the candy store and to see Despicable Me, which is an awesome movie if you were thinking about seeing it.

Well, that was a quick overview of the highlights from the last few weeks of my summer. Oh, and did I mention that Justin got an internship in LA, so he is now back, living with my family. They gave him my room too. :( haha, i'm kidding...it's not a big deal. He keeps joking he is going to paint it dark red, which i said would be cool, and add shag carpet. haha

Hopetown Lighthouse!

Okay, last post about the Bahamas; sorry I've been so behind. The last couple days of our trip were excellent. We spent one of the days going out on a boat to Hopetown, which you can only get to by boat. Cool, right? Anyway, there is this really great (supposedly famous) lighthouse there that looks like a candy cane. But, before I get to that, I must share the story of the golf cart that must be remembered (like we could ever forget it ha). So, we were leaving the house to go into town, where we were going to catch the boat (the resort only allowed golf carts to be driven inside, so cars had to be left at the front). One cart was leaving to go up, while the other was going to be along in another half hour. So, it was Gary driving, with my mom and Katie in the front, Betsy and Jamie in the middle and I was in the back, with the backwards-facing seat. Gary being the crazy driver he is, goes off tearing down the driveway at top speed. Just then another golf cart, also going full speed, turns around the blind corner at the driveway entrance, which was not wide enough for two carts. We all braced ourselves for impact, as we crashed almost head on. Exciting, no? The poor guy in the other cart (who was part of maintenance at the resort) felt so bad and kept apologizing. No one was severely hurt, which was the important thing, so we all tried to tell him that it was okay. It was as much Gary's fault as it was his. Katie did bump her lip, Gary banged his arm, Jamie her knee and I, both a leg and an arm. It was a good thing I had been looking forward an braced myself, or I would have been out of the cart. So great, having to go back inside and tell the rest of our family we had, had a golf cart accident. Maybe someday we will actually manage to no damage any property of these vacation places...probably not. haha
Anyway, here are some pics of our trip to Hopetown, which was really neat, since it is basically a little town built on the water. on the boat...yeah i make weird faces Katie and my Aunt Julie...such a cute picturethe lighthouse! isn't it awesome!?family picture, trying to get the lighthouse in the background.going on up......and looking downBets, Jus and I at the top. After, the boat took us out to this great snorkeling spot, where you could dive and swim through the breaks in the reef. Emphasis on the word "could"; I'm not sure we were supposed to. Our little heads in the distance. We saw an awesome lobster! It was purpleAfter snorkeling, the Jib Room was recommended for dinner, so we all had just brought a change of clothes with us and used some random public showers at the boat docks and went. The dinner was great and it was right in the harbor. Jamie and I at dinner.
After dinner the Jib Room was having Limbo and Dance competitions. My mom and Gary took Katie back with their car and the rest of us stayed. Limboing was so fun! I haven't done that in forever. The guy that was running it was amazing as well. He set the bar at about 3.5 ft off the ground and then looked at my Aunt, gesturing for her to come over to where he was. She immediately grabs my arm and pushes me towards him. He then picked me up and limbo-ed under the bar... haha crazy. Justin and Jenna ended up tying for the winning spot. After, the Cha cha slide came on and somehow I got tricked into leading it for the entire restaurant. During the next song, which was the eclectic slide, everyone left the dance floor except Jamie, Betsy and I, which was really embarrassing, but totally fun. It was a pretty awesome last night in the Bahamas.
When we returned to the house, Jamie, Betsy, Justin and I sat up in the observation room (it had glass walls) talking for a bit. Lots of good conversations in that room. Another night Justin, Betsy and I stayed up until 3am just talking about everything from school to relationship advice and crushes...pretty different topics haha. Anyway, Justin and I had heard about this thing on youtube where a guy was making a movie from all these different people's lives on the date of July 24th. So, on that day, people were just supposed to film whatever it was they were doing and then upload it to youtube, answering the questions "What do you love? What do you fear? What's in your pockets? What makes you laugh?". It was a bummer we hadn't heard about it earlier, but we decided it would be cool to make a video telling what we had done, even if it was just for us. We talked a bit about our day and then decided to go down to the beach, since we had wanted to go every night that week. Jamie and Betsy weren't interested and stayed behind. It was a full moon when we walked down there, so everything was so bright. After we captured that on film, I walked down to the water and stood there in the water, moonlight and soft warm breeze, wishing I could simply capture that moment and how extremely peaceful, yet empowered I felt. It was totally one of those moments that leaves a lasting impact simply because of the amazing picture that is painted around you. Eventually we started our walk back up to the house, making it into a dance rather by turning some music on from Justin's computer. Have I mentioned how much I love the randomness of my family? It works so well for us all haha. Here's getting ready to leave...can't wait to see them again! Skiing this winter probably

Hooray for one room airports! :)

So blessed to have been able to travel so much this summer!

hurricane watch? i wish

again, the beach was spectacular!

justin and betsy buried me and made me a mermaid... :)

the house was very open and spacious and, like last year, we had a play some rounds of sardines. we got everyone to play this time and managed to sustain only minor injuries. we played in the pitch dark, which made things super hard and super scary. justin kept following me around, saying my name in what was one of the creepiest voices i've ever witnessed, hence naming it his "creepy munchkin voice". seriously, it is terrifying he can even make this voice. anyway, it wasn't me that got injured this time. betsy, jamie, justin and i had gone in my aunt and uncle's room to search and justin thought it would be hilarious to get in the closet and jump out at us as we walked out. he jumped out and betsy, who was in front, grabbed the door as a reaction and tried to slam it closed, hitting justin's head...pretty great backfire. jamie and i just screamed, laughed and then ran into my aunt, coming to see what had happened. i told her that justin had come out of the closet. her response was "Oh finally." haha poor justy...not like he doesn't deserve it.

at another point in the game, we were all smashed under the couch cushions in the couch and were there for about a good minute and a half before we realized we were all there and no one was left looking. another round jamie was hiding in the service closet, which was in the main room. just as i was opening the door to look, justin comes out of nowhere and shoves me in, causing me to fall into jenna, who fell into a bucket and then as he is scrambling to close the door quickly, he falls on top of both of us.

through this game we also discovered that eight fully grown adults can fit into a single shower stall...the resort should put that on their brochures. kidding.

i love my family!

jamer and i

we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke one afternoon. the man in front started dancing with me...he was the sweaty-est person i've ever seen. i was cringing as he grabbed my arm, while jamie cheered and laughed. hahafamily picture...i think i had just played tennis. the bay with the trampoline and sail boat! dinner on the ocean was amazing, although while we were there, we were watching on the tv a tropical storm warning for tropical storm bonnie. we all started discussing what would happen if it became hurricane status and hit Abaco. we let our imaginations run a little wild, saying it could be made into a movie: a family on vacation, a storm hits and leaves one alive. somehow i was the one who would live because the title "the last little blond girl" was such a terrific title according to aunt julie. then we began talking about who would survive in a horror film.

bonnie did hit, but it was just with lots of lightning, thunder and rain...nothing too major. fun though