homeoming 2009!

this year i planned evening, so it was fun to see it all play out nicely.
this was by far the most fun dance thus far in my 5-dance repertoire.

the people, the food, the pictures (taken by shannon!), the dance itself...it was such a blast.

notice the corsage he made for me,
and the boutonniere i made for him with a picture of myself circa 1997 and part of my dress as the border.

my dress itself was a steal- it was a floor-length dress from target, but my mother, seamstress extraordinaire, cut and re-sewed it for me. what a gem.

there more pictures to come, believe me.

after pictures we went to my house and ate dinner catered from rubio's, then played catch phrase and watched my third grade end of the year video which featured 4 of us. we laughed at how weird we all were--

melissa with her orphan haircut,
danya with her britney spears shirt,
joanna with her big forehead,
and me with my overalls and bandanna.

then we all headed to the dance, and i had the privilege of riding in a VW bus to trabuco. so cool.
and then, at the dance, i discovered these little red velvet cake cubes and ate about 11. they were so good.
aaand then i danced my little heart out and got more exercise than i have in the past 6 months. which is pathetic. i'll put up more pictures soon!

remember that one time i blogged?

yeah, me neither.
i guess after three years i am a little tired
but, i have decided to make a considerable effort to keep this little blog going.
so, let's begin with my favorite music video i have made thus far.
party in the usa.
it took eight hours.
well, not really, because we took a few breaks to eat and plan homecoming (which is next week!)
but nonetheless, it was a big production. complete with editing till 1 AM.
and we are all very proud.
random people have been coming up to me and saying, "your video? THE BEST THING EVER."

so, enjoy! and sorry i left you waiting for so long. i am speaking to the three people that have been bugging me to blog (mother, grandmother, and megan.) so here you go!
(i recommend clicking on the video and watching it on youtube, so that the edge isn't cut off. or just make it big-screen by clicking the little box thing at the bottom.)

you know you are in california when...

it's october 1st, and it's blazing hot.
when shorts and a t-shirt are absolutely necessary, and wearing jeans makes you suffer from heat stroke.
when you can't get enough water because the air is so dry.
when it turns 70 degrees for 2 days and the population celebrates, busting out pants and sweatshirts.
when every human on facebook posts statuses on how it rained for three minutes.

it's times like these i am jealous of utah-ians.

if school was a facebook status, i would click "like."

so here's the breakdown-

school is nice. i enjoyed my first day.
it went like this-

melissa and her mother picked me up in the morning.
pictures were taken by our moms. as always.

i think this one could be called,
"the most unflattering angle ever."

when i got my schedule at school, i saw that they did not add in my independent study yearbook class like i asked them to at registration. meaning, i did not have a first period. cool. so i went to guidance and asked them if they could fix it, and they just sassed me and told me to find something to do until second period. because they were too busy to change it. um....
whatever. i sat in the back of drama 1 while sautner talked.
soo after that i went on with my classes,

first chemistry honors with gaines.
that was fun i guess, i like her.

then english honors with stewart,
that was quite enjoyable, she is really nice and it's a good class.

and then snack.
and then history!! oh history. my love.
i went from crazy intense AP euro, where the first day was like doing notes and the homework was memorizing 70 artists and paintings,

to regular US history, where mrs. thompson does hilarious stand up comedy the whole class and we had share time and said our name and an interesting fact about ourselves.

our homework is to decorate the front of our "learning log" with pictures or things we like.
praise,
the,
Lord.
the class is a joke. a reeeeally good joke.


next! math analysis. with suarez. the best math teacher, ever. except that was the period i was supposed to have independent study yearbook (which is basically i sleep and do homework and do senior ads), so i will have to switch out. but i am loving it while it lasts.

oh and in that class this girl comes and kneels by my desk randomly, and says "hi, i don't know anyone in this class." hahahh it was very bold of her! we talked for the remaining 30 minutes of class. taylor. very nice girl. i like her.

so after going off campus! for lunch, i went back to film, so lovely, i'm excited for it. it will be where a lot of my stress will come from but it will be great nonetheless.

so there you have it! junior year looks promising. for now.

AND, my good day became WONDERFUL when i got home and saw a package on the stairs for me. it was from little otsu. it was my planner. my glorious planner. i almost died from happiness when i opened it. i am so excited to go write things in it.

so, life is good. no, life is great.
optimism at its finest.

gosh I love this song.

Tear down the walls see the world
Is there something we have missed
Turn from ourselves
Look beyond
There is so much more than this

And I don’t need to see it to believe it
I don’t need to see it to believe it
Cause I can’t shake this
Fire deep inside my heart

Look to the skies hope arise
See His majesty revealed
More than this life there is love
There is hope and this is real

Cause I don’t need to see it to believe it
I don’t need to see it to believe it
Cause I can’t shake this fire burning
Deep inside my heart

This life is Yours and hope is rising
As Your glory floods our hearts
Let love tear down these walls
That all creation would
Come back to You
It’s all for You

Your Name is glorious
Glorious
Your love is changing us
Calling us
To worship in spirit and in truth
As all creation returns to You

Oh for all the sons and daughters
Who are walking in the darkness
You are calling us to lead them back to You
We will see Your spirit rising
As the lost come out of hiding
Every heart will see this hope we have in You

Cause I don’t need to see it to believe it
I don’t need to see it to believe it
Cause I can’t shake this fire burning
Deep inside my heart

This life is Yours and hope is rising
As Your glory floods our hearts
Let love tear down these walls
That all creation would
Come back to You
It’s all for You

Your Name is glorious
Glorious
Your love is changing us
Calling us
To worship in spirit and in truth
As all creation returns to You.


thanks Hillsong.

there's a first time for everything.

last night my sister and i ordered bathing suits online from J.Crew!
this is something very new for us.
we both needed new bathing suits, and decided to wait until summer was over to get some...?

first we went to the mall to go to macy's swim store...but we drove all the way there to find that it closed down.
whatever, we just went to BJ's and enjoyed ourselves.
but then shan suggested that we get some from J.Crew online. it was so fun!
this is what i got-

so exciting!
online shopping, i like you.

thoughts.

this is so true.
we [i] get so caught up in our own friend groups,
and forget that there are people all around us,
at school, church, work, etc,
that have absolutely no one to talk to.
this has been on my mind a lot recently as the new school year starts up.
i don't want to have the same year as last year,
where i stayed comfortable all year in my own friend circle
and didn't really reach out to people who don't have friends
or don't know Christ.
God calls us to tell others about Him,
to have deeper conversations,
to love those who no one else will.
this year, i want to be someone who is friendly, kind, inviting, non-judgmental.
i want to be someone who is bold, who takes risks for God.
someone who decides to love those who i hoped God wouldn't ask me to reach out to.
someone who doesn't just exist, keeping my faith inside.
i want to make a difference.
i want to accept whatever God challenges me with to the best of my human ability,
and just truly live life how He tells me to, in all aspects.
i want to pour out God's love, because He loved me first.
i want to live my life as a sacrifice, a giant "thank you" to God for loving me so much.
it's this part of going back to school that i'm excited for.
i refuse to live the same comfortable school life that i lived last year.
it's just been on my mind lately.