So to Update... part 2.

Concert Choir Concert

so concert choir had our first concert outside of convocation this past saturday! and it went really well. it was at Bethel Towers for their 40th anniversary. bethel towers is a retirement home awned and run by the AG. so it was really cool to go sing for all of the oldsters, and then afterwards we got to eat with them. the food was... food... but i was not hungry anyways. i really enjoyed it, it was weird, because for the first time i am really enjoying choir. probably because i am an officer. or maybe china changed me. i dont know...

ok on to number two. 

yogurtland. 

i had been inside yogurtland a few weeks ago with Jayna and Jared, and i knew even then that i would like it. i did not get anything then though, as i was not hungry. i just went for the company. but a couple nights ago, after watching a movie with some friends i went again. ok so i knew it would be good, but it is REALLY good. this time i went with Brooke and Jayna and Jared and Tyler. (this always hanging out with freshmen has just inspired another blog in my mind. soon i promise) it was really good. i have already found my favorite flavors. plain tart, and peach tart. tarro is not that bad, but definitely not something i would get often. its only 30c an ounce, and you can get as much toppings as you like. im a fan of the frozen raspberries. delicious. 

(footnote, since my first visit i went again yesterday with Brandalynn, Brooke, Mia, Josh, and Aaron. they are a riot. ha. wow, i sound like im from the 70's or something... yeesh)

and we are moving right along. 

The Fall

ok so the movie that i watched before yogurtland. and actually the night before that too, is called The Fall. its directed by tarsem, and it is beautiful. extremely trippy, but still beautiful. childish, lovely, filled with harsh themes of fear, suicide, and love, it is just beautiful . i have no way to really describe it. if you like the type of movie with extreme imagery and symbolism everywhere, than this movie is for you. 

My Car and the long journey home.

so, we all know my car is not in the best condition. not bad at all, just not 100% anyways, i had major work done on it last month, and then the day after i got it back, the check engine light came on. boo. and then last week i got side swiped. which sucked. so i took my car home to get it serviced on sunday night. and i coerced jared to follow me to riverside (his first visit) and brave the ghetto to pick me up and bring me back to the Vanguard. ha that was fun. because when i got home i realised i had forgotten to bring the estimate from the insurance company on the accident damage. boo. and because my cat is dying. sadly. mourn him. his name be rever. and i have had him since i was 4... its his time though... so... yah. ok... anyways,

whilst at home i realized, shockingly, that because i had procrastinated, i had forgotten that i had jury duty... and that further, i did not know when it was, and even further that i did not know where the summons was. so my mom made jared promise to keep bugging me about it until i figured it out and got my duty postponed, baring that i was not arrested for contempt first. 

and yah, i checked, and im fine. lol. i got my jury date, which was monday october sixth, postponed till december 15th. woot.

now all i really need to take care of is getting my phone rebate worked out.. and i think thats it...

Sean's Birthday

is tomorrow. october 1st. im really excited. Sean is my best friend. and my brother. i love im so much and im really excited for him. he has classes all day, so im going to try to make it a good day for him. you should too. and yah. ill blog about this on thursday. mhmm. oh, but yah. mhmm

one last thing

im going to leave you with one of the funniest lines i have ever heard.

"did you know that you burn sixty seven calories per minute while kissing? anyone wanna go work out?" haha. and i credit that one to jared.

So to catch up...

i would like to first off apologize to you, my faithful reader, for my lack in blogging this past week. it has been a hectic (but good) couple of days. so now i will attempt to catch you up on all of the exciting things that happened this week. although i have not as of yet decided upon the manner of said blog post, whether it will all be lumped into one massive blog, or whether i will break it up into smaller blogs for each separate event of note. 

but to begin here are a few things of the past few days which i will soon be sharing with you in detail.

1. first actual concert with Concert Choir

2. my first yogurtland taste

3. The Fall

4. going home to drop off my car

5. realizing that i forgot i had jury duty

6. sean's birthday is coming up

7. Jared's Quips

8. random thoughts and discoveries

9. the office premier

10. theres more... i know there is. ill leave you with this for now.

beach trips, coffee dates, work, office, brawl.

so. i meet you again. 

the other night tina, jared, jayna and me all went to the beach, and it was amazing. we actually kept jared out till like one am. ha. it was amazing. 

then on wednesday night, kevin, jared, tina and i went to coffee at gypsy den. it was freaking amazing. we all shared our testimonies, and just talked about life. it was so beautiful. and i have rarely ever felt so close to anyone as to those three. ah. it was good. and i love them. alot. 

anyways, i had to work today... for the first time since sunday... shocking i know, but the schedule has been weird the past couple of weeks. whatever. lol. so i got off at eight, fiddled around in my room, then me jared and tina went and got some snacks, because... tonight was office season five premier!!! hooray! it was amazing. so freakin funny. and jim proposed to pam! ah!

then it was over. so aaron jared and i played brawl in my room. which was also fun. i have not played that game in a while. 

oh also i got my china book today in the mail!!! sweetness. im excited to share it. ok. well im going to bed. i have some books to read, and i have not been able to read in such a long time..

Movie of the Month (1st Edition)

So this is my First Movie of the Month Review. and the movie I am Reviewing is, 

Donnie Darko.

I only saw this movie three weeks ago. up until then I had always heard that it was really good, or that it was really bad. there really is no middle ground on this movie. 

to sum it up in my own words, 

it is a movie about a teenager name donnie (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who has issues. mostly depression and or split personality disorder. his family is of an average sort, his sister, (played by his real life sister Maggie Gyllenhaal) treats him like an older sister would, his parents are loving but sort of aloof, and his younger sister is sort of innocent. He goes to a very strict school with some crazy professors and one cool one (played by Drew Barrymore)

.  the plot starts really when weird crap starts happening to him, what with his psycho bunny friend frank, and the fact that he realizes that he is a super hero destined to save the world using time travel. now his adventure takes him on some pretty insane trips, and yah. the movie is funny, serious, sad, and beautiful. there is so much imagery involved in this movie!

and the themes in it truly reflect the world around us. it is hard to explain the beauty that this movie holds. if you have not seen it, see it. and if you hated this movie, stop reading my blog. ha. just kidding. but seriously, stop. 

I Love Beach Trips.

I Love the Beach. especially at night. and tonight was a good night for the beach, not too cold, not too windy, and three of my closest friends were there. and its the first time i have been able to hang out and or see them in about five days. which is really sad. but whatever. thats because JAred and Tina were at vanguards practice and busy before that last week, and jayna was with her friends all weekend. but it was cool. we all hung out in my quad and did homework, I helped jayna with Government and Tina read for one of her many psych classes. jared just fiddled around online. lol. and he read his bible. and said funny things like. "jesus was like seriously awesome." haha so random.. so then we got some snacks at the gas station. then we went to the beach and kept jared up late. we had some really good talks. and guys, i really look up to this kid. to quote tina, "he has a good head on him" he truly does. hes going places. look for him among the stars, lol. a bit cheesy eh? and jayna is just crazy cool. but what do you expect from a musical theater kid? even if she has weird views on modesty. lol jk. so yah, im excited for this year, for my new friendships, and for life.

God Loves you and so do I. night

ps. i forgot to do laundry so im doing that now. wow time...

Ok So...

um. yah. i bought a 1gb card for my phone. hooray. lol. that means i can put music on it. woot.

thats not wat my blog is about though. that would be a lame blog. so yah..

im just spouting out random thoughts. 

sean bought fabric softener a month ago, and i just figured it out... i have not needed to do laundry until tonight, so yah... sucks for sean though. ha. 

um tonight at work i saw a book that made me laugh, and laugh, and laugh. its in the fiction section and it is called "the Arsonists Guide to  Authors houses in England. " ha. thats so funny. 

what else to report?

I MISS CHINA!!!

and IRELAND!!!

also im extremely grateful to brandalynn. she is very helpful. and a good comforter. i would have had a much harder weekend without her words of encouragement. 

um. wow i cannot believe how scattered my thoughts are right now 

ok so along with my monthly reports on random crap, i have decided to randomly when im bored do a "one year ago today blog." so one year ago today...

for me, not much was new. the hardest period of my life was starting to unfold. but besides that not much. 

worldwide: not much. lol

ok so that was a bust....

oohh!! so there was this car that i want to show you. i saw it in the parking lot on 17th street and orange. 

um. also i saw this picture on the internet earlier. and it made me say wow. i cant tell if it is real or photoshopped, but it is still a very powerful image. 

and yah. mobil run with jared tonight. coffee with tina. gonna be a good night. :)

So to Update...

My Computer is totally fixed!!! yay! after three hours in the mac store, they fixed it. it was just my hard drive deleted the osx... which is problematic, but somehow saved my info? im not sure, as that confused me, but whatever. its all good now. 

um. lets see, what else? oh, erinn and shannon and david (sean's siblings) are down for the weekend, so it has been fun hanging out with them. today sean had to work, so we hung out without him... but we went to visit him, then we went to lunch at the Omelet parlor, then we went to little del mar, then we went to dinner at harbor house. fun times. 

also im excited because today all my vanguards friends came back from retreat! yay!! so i got to hang out with brooke and aaron and brandi for a bit, we watched the office. it was fun. then i went down to paige's quad and played a little mafia, but that got old fast as i was the third person killed. i was the sheriff and i knew katie was mafia, but whatever, it was boring, they had the ratio screwed up, and really dumb rules. so i left. lol

ooooh!!! i forgot to mention that i got side swiped by some retard 17 year old last night!!! ugh. right in front of jack in the box! boo to bad drivers. oh well it was not bad, and it was completely his fault. ugh. ok. well yah. that is all to report right now...

um... yah... so here are some pictures from the day. 

Some Flowers at omelet parlor

Me at Little Del Mar

So I Got off work at Eight...

and Godspell started at 8...  boo... i wanted to go. 

my computer is dead. although to revise my last blog, im pretty sure that i backed up my photos... cannot be sure though...

i really really want to go the beach, but jared and jayna are at godspell.. and i have no one else to go with. anyone on here wanna go with me? i miss the ocean. it has been too long.. lol

work was ok tonight...

also i was almost eaten alive by a spider the size of a small rat. seriously. ask yuo tao or winting su about it... i have a picture... but my computer is dead...

um what else to talk about? ooh. shannon and erinn and david are coming down tomorrow to hang with me and sean for the weekend! and that means we get to go to mel and jeff's. fun stuff. 

so vanguards leave tomorrow for their retreat. and, you know? im ok. :) seriously. i love everyone on vanguards, and i am completely happy in life right now. its odd, i really should not be, but hey, thats God for you. :)

mourn my loss

so my computer just randomly died. the hardrive i mean.... im not sure why. but it sucks. im currently on sean's computer. im sad and angry. very very angry... but mostly sad. so if you see me around and im in a horrible mood. please understand why...

alot of my pictures were on my computer, alot that i did not have time to back up... including china...

ok. deep breath...

I just talked to Dovel, and we are working on another China Trip with Pivot Pointe... please be in prayer. I know I have been. I am indescribably excited. seriously a Godsend. 

Future Posts

so i have decided to do annual posts... not sure all what that will entail, but whatever..

here are my thoughts,

1. book of the month. where i introduce and review my favorite books. once a month, 

2. song/ band of the month. where i talk about a band of song that i really like. snippets of lyrics maybe?

3. place of the month. where i highlight random places in the world, the beautiful, the weird, the noteworthy. places i have been, want to go, and want to avoid. 

4. movie of the month? self explainable..

5. word of the week or something like that?

more things? im not sure.. definitely something with photography

your thoughts?

Concert of Hope was Bombdiggity

So on saturday night, as Segerstrom Hall there was a benefit concert for the village of Hope. it was sweet. Jared, other jared, amy, and I all went. we ate at pat and oscars first.. and of course we dressed up. it was a ritzy event with all of the high class of orange county being there. 

so the concert was at Segerstrom hall, which is flippin amazing. the concert was performed by the Pacific Symphony and Chorale and was performed in two parts. the first part was a lot of really boring music from billy the kid. seriously lame stuff.  then Jubilant Sykes sang some spirituals which were amazing. intermission was cool i guess, as intermissions go..

so this is the Ceiling in the main entrance to Segerstrom Hall. amazing. it changes color and has lights spiraling down three floors. soo cool

intermission ended, and then they performed an amazing piece that they had written, a choral piece focused in Job. it was amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. yep. ok. thats all really.

oh also can we talk about how Fantasia this year is in this concert hall!!!! so crazy. im really excited. 

ok so when we left, we discovered that all of the walk ways were lined with apples...  why? no clue. but it was cool. we took some...

The Beauty of a Dark and Tempestuous Sea

so last week, on a monday I believe, Jared and I were in the practice rooms, him practicing piano, and me chilling, offering help whenever I could; it was not often i must admit. Anyways, Jayna came and joined us, and about an hour later we left. It was around six o'clock and the storm clouds were moving in. I stated, "ah look at the clouds, the ocean must be beautiful right now." Jayna got this crazy look in her eyes, and said, "lets go! lets go right now!" so we did. they had neither of them ever been to Little Del Mar, which is one of my favorite beaches, so I took them to that one. 

(in case you do not know, Little Del Mar is a beautiful beach with tide pools, impressive rock structures, cliffs, and kelp beds right off of newport coast. it sits right next to Corona Del Mar on pacific blvd.)

we got to the street above where the trail leads down to the beach, and Jared being awesome, drifted around the curve right there. it was cool. but it scared both Jayna and the Woman on the sidewalk who thought she was going to die. we parked, and walked down the trail, talking about the amazing houses, the beautiful scenery, and just taking pictures of everything really. we got there right as the sun was going down, but due to the storm rolling in, it was more like twilight.

we got down to the beach itself, ditched our shoes under a bush, and jumped the creek. we walked for a while, just taking in the wonder of the stormy dark sea water, then finally ended at a rocky outcropping where we sat for an hour just talking about life. it was beautiful.

and it got me thinking about oh so many things. how beautiful my friends were. each of them so completely different, yet all with the same hearts. how insignificant we are in the realm of things, but what a huge change we can each and every one of us make if we truly work at our dreams and passions. how beautiful, powerful the ocean is, and how it always makes me sad. I am not sure why that is though..

as we sat there, in the dwindling light on the shores of the pacific, we just talked about life. and what it meant to us. where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do. and as we three sat there, we planned, not all out loud, but plans were being formulated for sure. and they are good these plans, including the unspoken ones, as the spoken ones were good too. some of our plans include; a trip to yosemite, to the redwoods, to bodie, to san diego, to san francisco, just traveling in general. to have worship on the beach, to hang out more.

 yep. this was a good beach trip.

So im in US Government

and i hate it... the teacher is a professor from BIOLA and he is teaching here for free... why i ask? but i do not know the answer to that...

anyways, im one of the few people not a freshman, and i already know all of the stuff we are talking about.... boo. ha. but whatever. its three units for free i guess...

wanna know what im most upset about right now? the fact that i have to work at five, and i do not get off until midnight... boo. that means i will get very little homework done, will not be able to hang out with anyone at all really, and yah, its sorta sucky... im ok though. i dont work tomorrow...

I Would Like to Introduce You to

Jared Slyter.

now who is he you might ask? well i will tell you.

Jared Slyter is a new freshman here at vanguard university. He is a worship and the arts major, and he hails from the scenic state of Idaho. i first met him at music camp because he is in choir with me, and he is a tenor so we sit next to each other in rehearsals. not only is he one of the most talented musicians i have met in a while, but he is also a man after God's own heart, and one of my close friends. anyways, thats not why im blogging about him. im talking about jared because i really like his music, and want to expose you the reader to his art. so here it is, 

Jared Slyter

Now his music, while still rough, has extreme potential, and it is music that makes you feel something, that was written with emotion and passion. music worth listening to. with influences like Copeland, Lights, Imogen Heap, and Death Cab, his music is indie, mellow, and beautiful. the instrumentals are great, vocals are good, just the recording is a little rough, and some of the structure needs work. but over all, amazing. i am definitely a fan. 

this kid is such an amazing guy. please get to know him. ha. well, thats all for now. more blogs to come i promise.

To answer Sarah's Questions

so how are classes?

Well Sarah, to answer your first and most simple question, they are good. i am very busy with choir, work, yearbook, and regular classes, but i still like them. my favorite class besides choir this year is Middle East Politics. its such a sweet class. also i have US Foreign Policy, 20th Century Europe, and US Government... so choir tour is in New York this Year!!! im so excited!!\

hows vu?

VU is good. a lot of changes have been made. the caf is one of the most evident changes, as the food quality has for the most part gone up, while the selection has lowered drastically. the cove has been almost completely remodeled, with the deck being replaced for a brick patio which is nice, and java city replaced with out-takes, a gas station look alike. the School itself is reforming, with a recent change in the Natural sciences, Social sciences, and Communication and the Arts. what is different you might ask? well all three of those separate schools are now one school. the college of the sciences and the arts. and we have one dean now. an english professor. named de'roulet. as you can tell im thrilled. 

the spirit of Vanguard is still here though. we have a ton of new amazing freshmen, and yah. i love it. it would only be better were you here.

how are all my friends?

All of our friends are doing well! they are all so busy, and we do not get to see each other much, but still, they are doing well. paige is in the upcoming show of pride and prejudice!! kelly and christian and perfect as ever. if both a little crazy. brittany keeler is psychotic but i love her. um... who else to talk about? oh. bethany hardly ever talks to any of us. she seems to think we are all invisible or something... rachel is funny as usual. she and ashley and kelly are planning a lot of parties soon. you should come down for that.  sean is freaking busy!!! i have not really hung out with him in a very long time. i miss him. he has too much homework. but yah... thats the fast report...

what have you all been doing?

this question will take way to many blogs to write, and i cannot speak for everyone as i have not talked to everyone about

their lives alot, but as for me, i am doing well.

adventures?

not really, unless you count homework....

disneyland?

i have been once since school started. sadly few people have a pass... :(

new girls ? 

nope. and to be honest im ok with that. lol.

So i Auditioned.

and did not make it... 

to explain, i auditioned for Vanguard Singers and Band. i did this for many reasons, although i must admit that i was not planning on auditioning. it was Aaron Letinsky and Brooke Rankin who convinced me to just try out. and im glad i did. i sang the worship song "Hungry; Falling on my Knees" Doc talked about how i was related to Rochelle Bazan. yada yada. lol. i told Jared he should try out. and he did. im glad he did. because he made it!! sadly though, i did not even make call backs. which really hurt. i was excited to be with all of my china friends, because we all thought we were shoe ins. apparently i am not. ha. it still hurts sometimes. but its ok God has other plans. 

but here is to those whom did make it for the first time this year!

You go Jared Slyter!

you go Brandalynn Becker!

you go Tina Antunez!

you Go Sarai Artzer!

you go Kristen Meadors!

You go Josh Avne!

im glad for all those who made it! its going to be a good year, and while it hurts a little, the joy i see in my friends heart is good. and i love them all. grats!

I am now a Barnes and Noble Bookseller!

yep. thats my story. i now work at Barnes and noble metro pointe. in both the book floor and the Cafe, you should come visit me. my duties include stocking the shelves, helping customers locate books, processing orders, and ringing customers up at the registers. in the cafe i am a barrista. yep. my job is cool, and the people i work with are cool too. please come visit me and get a barnes and noble membership! ok thats all. 

Ni Hao China, Zai Jian China

So the China Trip was amazing. i cannot even describe the feelings i have when i look at the pictures or remember the things that happened. what i can say with pure and unrestrained truth, China impacted my heart in such a way that i am not who i was five months ago, and for once, i am ok with the change. 

I was privileged to be able to join the Vanguard Singers and Band for their China trip this past summer. while there we had many concerts planned for various churches, schools, universities, and even for various government officials. most of our plans were rocked though, as on may 12th, a giant earthquake shattered the province of sichuan, one of the main areas in our tour. it even affected concerts in beijing, though not for structural or safety issues; the government issued a memoratorium which lasted three days in which public entertainment, including singing, was prohibited in reverence to those lost or killed in the quake. most of our government concerts were cancelled, and we had alot more free time than usual. 

our first night in Chengdu, the Capital of the Sichuan Province, a few of us were wandering around the city to pray and get a feeling for the culture and people here, as it is vastly different from the beaurocratic feel of beijing. what we found on the streets that night was probably one of the most impactful events to ever chance upon me in my life thus far. we entered into the main square of Chengdu, Tian'Fu square, and stumbled upon one of the largest candlelight vigils ever in the world. in this less than one mile square area of the city, there were over 160,000 Chinese citizens gathered to revere the lost. we were the only foreigners there, and we stood out. but not in a bad way. many people expressed their gratitude, shock, and awe that we were there at all. they all wanted to know our thoughts on the earthquake, and wanted to thank us for showing our support. we were each given a candle to light, then hold for thre minutes, then blow out. after blowing them out we turned them into a gathering depot where they were then distributed to those living in the quake zone without any electricity. we were in that square for a good three hours just absorbing the emotions of the place. to hear and see so many chinese people lamenting their losses, and standing strong with one another. it was just amazing. i cannot even describe it. 

anyways, china was amazing for other reasons. i got to go to the great wall, and toboggan off of it! i got to tour the forbidden city, the temple of heaven, visiting Panda's in Chengdu. and lots of stuff like that.

another of the stories that have stuck with me is one of our concerts in sichuan. we were singing for the survivors at the beichuan school, and there was one girl who was sitting on the front row. Rusty and Jayanne were singing the prayer, and she was sobbing. which is crazy, as most chinese people do not wear their emotions on their sleeves. after the song ended, we sang another song, (peace like a river) and we each got to pick a student to come up and do the hand motions with us. so i chose her. and she smiled. then after words she hugged me. and jayanne, who was standing next to us. we tried to explain to her that Jesus loved her, and when she finally understood our broken chinese, she started sobbing again, but this time it was through a smile. it was beautiful. 

most of the rest of it is a blur, but those two memories will always be with me. that and the constant rumblings of earthquakes. and the Spirit of God moving in such a beautiful country. 

once again i start speaking. (or typing)

Oh so many things have occured to me. to many to relate in full, but in full i will try. lets recap shall we? my last post was i think talking about how i was excited to be going to china. well i went to China in may. it is now september. boy did i lose grasp on time eh? ok well anyways, heres a rough outline of my life since last post.

MAY

13th-left for China.

14th- get to Beijing. hear in full the horrors of the Sichuan Earthquake

14th-21st- concerts in beijing

21st-29th- Chengdu! capital of Sichuan Province. participated in a candlelight vigil in Tian'fu Square during memoratorium. >>>>

29th-1st- Guanzhou- concerts and cheap pearls!

2cnd-Hongkong!

3rd-home!!

when i got back i moved into campus housing with sean..

worked at hollister until middle of june

JUNE

got a job at barnes and noble!!

hung out with sean and family

JULY

Working alot

bought Ticket to Northern Ireland for New Years!!

AUGUST

Music Camp starts!

so many awesome freshmen this year. made yet another best friend. well no, more of a brother. his name be jared, and he do be of the grand state of Idaho. 

Classes start. im at 15 units this semester with choir, vocal lessons, yearbook, middle east politics, us foreign policy, 20th century europe, and us Government. 

fun stuff. ok im caught up now. i will be diving deeper into most of the topics i talked about in this post. so keep reading my friends!