washington's birthday

Yesterday was a really feel good day.  And it wasn't just me.  Kelcy felt it.  Olivia felt it.  Paige...not so much because of this horribly rude guy in her class that she always has to partner with.  But anyways...the following events were AMAZING to me.  Hopefully you can all understand, and if not, I hope you had a feel good day too :)

1) So all of Kelcy and my classes are in the business building.  There is a parking structure right across a tiny street that is covered.  It is ALWAYS full.  Last year was no problem because of the times of our classes.  This year? It's been full every day we've tried to go since the semester started.  So we end up having to leave for school an hour early just to get a spot at the outdoor lot wayyy down the street.  But yesterday...we pulled into the structure with no problems at all!

2) After my hectic and amazing weekend, I had no time to do my readings for the week on Monday like I normally do.  There's always a quiz at the end of my Legal and Ethical Studies class, but I assumed that we'd go over the material in class like we always do.  Turns out, we didn't this time.  We just talked about the Martha Stewart case.  Quizzes were passed out, and I was getting pretty nervous.  People started to look confused, and it turns out the TAs passed out last weeks quiz!  So we were instructed to simply fill in our names and ID numbers on the scantron to get full credit!

3) We NEVER get out of Real Estate class early.  And it just so happened that I still had articles to read before my International Business class right after.  But, because it was Kelcy and my lucky day, we got out 15 minutes early.  It was incredible.

Hopefully this whole pattern of lucky helped out on this International Business test...but I guess we won't know until the grades come.  I'm crossing my fingers <3

the valley

So my weekend in California was so ridiculously amazing!!  I'm so glad I went.  There was seriously something to do every hour, and because of that...I've been catching up on my sleep the last couple of nights. 

 Some of the fun things we did : 

Aroma Cafe with Livs, Loren, and Randi

Manicure with Livs (and the lady remembered from summer and asked where Kelcy was!)

Brent's with Livs and her Daddio

My first sake bomb for Jin's 21st

Dance party at Philip's

Relaxing movie day to recoup

Calabasas with Livs, Loren, and their Momma

Nap time hahah

Party at Philip's for the birthdayS

Family gathering at Olivia's cousin's house

Via's house for a kick it

3 hours of sleep...

and a very early flight home

And now for some pictures thanks to Deborah's amazing camera <3

had to get our bathroom pic hah

got to see my friend elliott!

classic dance line up

spontaneity

One of the things I love most is spontaneity.  Sometimes it's hard to actually go with it because of work, school, and other responsibilities...but when it works out?  You just have to do it.  

Olivia has been planning on going back home to California this weekend for one of her friend's weddings.  Then, we all got an invite to a triple birthday bash at her friend's house in California the same weekend!  I looked in my planner and saw that my only responsibility this weekend was an on call shift at work.  So, naturally I was thinking to myself, I have to go.  I texted Kelcy to see if she would try and get her shifts covered, but being the responsible girl that she is, decided that she has too much going on this weekend (work, interview, internship) even though she really wanted to go.  She assured me that she'd be fine if I went without her since "it was in the cards" for me...so I bought a plane ticket.  

I'm so excited!  It'll be another adventure with Livs, and Kelcy will be free from me and my annoyances for a few days.  Too bad it's going to be 55 degrees and raining, but luckily Kel was sweet enough to offer some of her cute winter clothes she got for Minnesota to me :)

[   And speaking of adventures with Livs...it ALWAYS reminds me of the time we were walking from tailgating to the Mike Posner/Far East Movement concert and really had to go to the bathroom.  So we stopped outside these luxurious condominiums, buzzed a random tenant, told them our names and asked if we could please go to the bathroom.  So a nice kid let us in, and that picture was taken in the lobby restroom haha.  ]

lock and key

I love reading the stories on Le Love.  Of course there are those stories that are a little much and you just wish you could knock some sense into these girls.  But then there are ones like today, that make you tear up and truly believe that love exists:

I've always hated Valentine's Day. It seems senseless to me to have a day devoted to making singles feel lonely, and couples feel obligated to buy each other chocolates and say I love you. I figured this Valentine's Day would be the same. A skype date from Connecticut to Virginia over bad internet connections. He surprised me though. He changed my conception of Valentine's Day, and love, and grand gestures. The kind that I was positive only really existed in cheesy chick flicks. You see, the only thing I ever really fell in love with before him was the city of Paris. Without speaking a word of French, he posted to Craigslist a call to the romantics of Paris. He enlisted two French women to place locks on Pont des Arts, the bridge of love locks, where I had put a lock with my friends a year ago. These women had no idea who he was, but they believe in the power of love, and a good love story. Each one went and bought a lock, wrote our initials in a heart, and threw the key into the Seine, documenting it with pictures. All they asked for in return was to be invited to our wedding, one day in the future. Apparently true, crazy, I would do anything to see you smile kind of love really does exist. Happy Valentine's Day.

some stories

As much as we can plan and hope for what is to come in the future,

anything can happen...anytime. 

That's why it's important to learn to adapt to ambiguity,

and we make it delicious by being excited and intrigued by it.

heavy competition

Today I went to my advising appointment to get all of my paperwork settled for my study abroad program application.  Here's how the conversation went down with the international coordinator:

her:  You do know this is a highly competitive program, right?
me:  Yes...
her:  For example, we already have ten applications (the application's due in 5 days),       and we only have two spots to fill.
me:  Oh wow...
her:  I see you haven't selected a second choice, would you like to do that now?
me:  No, thank you.
her:  I think you're making a mistake.  You're missing out on a great opportunity to study abroad.
me:  I understand that.  But I've travelled a lot in my life, and this is the program I've been looking forward to since I was in high school.  I see no point in spending the money to study abroad if I'm not crazy about the location or school.
her:  Okay.....you're choice.

To put it simply, I left the study abroad office feeling pretty bummed.  But after wrapping my head around the stiff competition and talking to Kelcy about it, I feel like whatever happens will happen for a reason.  If I get into the program, I have to go.  I was chosen to be only one of two students.  But it I don't get into the program, well then something good will come of that too.

If I do get in, I'll be able to:

Check out the Duomo.

Go on espresso dates.

Wait for the metro on my way to and from class.

Be one of those little figures walking around.

And visit all of these places on the weekends <3

But, then again, if the odds don't work in my favor...I'll be able to spend my entire Senior year with my best friends and family before starting a career and my "real" life.  If I don't get into the program I've been looking forward to since high school, I'll be here for Paige and Olivia's 21st birthdays, my Dad's birthday, all of the Fall holidays, and everything inbetween.  There are pros and cons to both sides, and now my fate is in the hands of the study abroad office.

Now I wait.

it conspires

Or at least I hope so.  Right now I'm focusing all of my energy on being in LA this summer.  And then being in Milan this fall.  

So Universe....listen up.  "I will have an internship in LA this summer.  And I will get into the Milan study abroad exchange program even though the deadline got pushed forward so it's due 15 days before I thought. "

hellllo iPhone

Yayyy!!  So yesterday was the "estimated delivery date" for our Verizon iPhones!  I put in a request at pre-shift at work to get cut first because I wanted to set up my phone and play with it.  You would think that my coworkers and manager would have thought that wasn't a valid reason, but everyone seemed very excited for me.

So I got cut at like 12:30 and then Kel and I made our way to Phoenix to Mom and Dad's house.  It took wayyy longer than expected to get all the basics set up, but we finally did.  Now I've seriously been on my phone 24/7.  In fact I've been on it so much today that since the time I woke up at 8:40 til now 7:02...I only have 16% battery left.  That's how much I've been playing with it.

The apps I have so far are Words with Friends, Facebook (obvi), Retro Camera, Chipotle ordering, Shazam, and this addicting "Are you a moron?" game.  What apps do you suggest?!  Now for some silly pictures I took with my Retro Camera app.

blurry me :)

The pictures above my headboard.

The front of my laptop 

to kelcy

This post is dedicated to my best friend, who just so happens to be my twin, Kelcy.

Not only is Kelcy beautiful, smart, hilarious, and fun to be around, but somehow she gets everything she goes for.  Oh, and she laughs at all of my stupid jokes and dance moves.  She's probably my favorite person EVER, and she will be sooo successful one day.

Most recently, she got an internship at a PR firm in LA this summer that she really wanted. It's the first one she tried for, the first one she interviewed for, and she got it.  Now our dreams of going to LA this summer are a reality, thanks to Kel's amazingness.  I just have to catch up now so I'm not the slacker sister without a summer internship in LA.

If anyone has any ideas or companies they know of that would benefit from an intern like me, definitely let me know!! <3

know and then knew

"It's sad when people you know become people you knew.

When you can walk right past someone like they were never a big part of your life.

How you used to be able to talk for hours and how now,

You can barely even look at them."

I think we all picture one, two, three, maybe four or more people that this applies to just in the time it takes to read the words.  I realized how many people in my life this applies to the other day when I was looking through all of my old facebook pictures [which I like to do when I'm bored...even though there are like a thousand of them].

But at the same time, even though it's sad, imagine where you would be if they were still a big part of your life.  Would you be the same person you are today? Would you be better? Worse? Would you have met the people that make you happiest in the present?  Change is good.  But there are those people who slip away and you wonder what your life would be like if they hadn't.