Shiny new quarter

well, i haven't written in a long long time. mainly because i forgot that i had a blog. haha. life can get crazy. not just crazy....but overwhelming. This past year has been a flurry of unexpected events that i really wouldn't have even considered believing if you had told me about them a year ago.

From my grandpa passing, to attending Cal Poly, to being in a FABULOUS relationship with my BEST friend, to having money smuggled from my family (yeah...not the best)so much has happened.

Last quarter i didn't do so well grade wise, but luckily we get another quarter, and i have high hopes to get get my grades up.

A hobby I've taken up since i moved to San Luis Obispo is line dancing which is extremely fun. I frequent "The Graduate" ( a restaurant/night club in SLO) on Thursdays for a long night of country music and dancing. Eric used to drag me there the first quarter (i did NOT want to go with him...because i did NOT want to like him, but that's another story that won't be shared on this blog) and then eventually friends were made there and it became something that i actually enjoyed.

And you might think that since i live on the coast i am at the beach every single day, always playing in the sand and waves...but on the contrary i ONLY make it there once a week...which isn't that much at all! (i kid of course...about it being not that much...i really do go there that often).

This next quarter I'm extremely excited for though...my classes are more oriented towards my major:

English 145 (argumentative writing)
English 290 (Into to Linguistics)
History 207 (Freedom and Equality in U.S. History)
Statistics 130 (Intro to Statistical reasoning)

i'm sooooo excited!

i think that's it for now. I hope you all are well.

onward and upward.

i got a job :)
it's on campus nad seems pretty easy, but long hours.
okay...not LONG hours...but for the work i'll be doing it will seem like forever i'm guessing.
You may be wondering what the job is. It's a phone-a-thon. No, i won't be ANSWERING calls, i'll be MAKING calls. Making calls, and asking people for money.
So yes, i'm a telemarketer. I've never known a telemarketer before. I'm guessing thats because no one would really like to admit they're a telemarketer. I guess in a sense i'm not ACTUALLY a telemarketer because it's not jus RANDOM calling to whoever. We call the alumni and parents of students (which i think is kind of ridiculous since parents are already paying for their child's education to Cal Poly) and ask them first for $1000 (!) and then if (when) they say no we ask them if they would like to donate a gift anywhere over $5.
So anyway, i don't start that job til next quarter because of my chedule this quarter, but i'm guaranteed a job there, which is nice and allows me to relax a little bit.

thats whats up in Slo. im missing home. but not too much. a healthy amount i think :)

dream no mo'

i haven't dreamt in awhile.

or...i haven't remembered dreaming in a while.

It makes me sad. That used to be the reason i would sleep.

Living the dream...

So i made it through my first week of college.

So many weird things of happened.
I realized I can be anyone i want to be. One time, i met this girl in the lunch line and i told her mine name was heidi...just because i could. i haven't seen her since.
Okay, maybe that's not the best thin to do...i guess that's abusing this new found "power". Or something. i don't know.

I love cal poly so far though...I've made some great friends, enjoyed seeing old ones, and am looking forward to living with 150+ new people this year in the liberal arts dorm.

Last Sunday my girl friends and i took swing dancing lessons. I now want to be a professional swing dancer, just in case you were wondering. It was so much fun. Then this Thursday we're going line dancing at the grad. caaaan't wait! so many new things to try!

Amongst the new things...there are still the old familiar things, such as homework. Yay. I'm only taking 12 units (I know, i know...) but it is a lot of work! Spanish is probably the most work, since i can make speeches up off the top of my head in my public speaking class (yeah...that's right) and my at class, well...its art.
It's a whole new way of studying though, let me tell you! I don't think i ever studied this hard for a quiz ONCE in high school. If i had studied this hard i would have for SURE been a valedictorian.

whatever. I'm glad i didn't stress out in HS. I just got to save it for college. :)

I'm not going to lie...on the first day of class i had my first "Oh Crap" moment. and it wasn't a good one.
I get to my Spanish class and we start going over the material and i can't understand anything the teacher is saying. not ONE thing. I guess i didn't think i was as rusty as i actually was. To make a long story durable though...i didn't think i would be able to switch to a lower level, but there was ONE class available with this really great professor. So God has it under control. Of course. Probably if i hadn't freaked out and trusted Him in the first place i wouldn't have felt as homesick and down and freaked out as i did.

hmmm...lets see, what else have i done since i've been here?
here's a little picture timeline of my time here so far...

Kayaking!


At farmers market with WOW group...we were "Wacky MC's"



We bought some fish (then they died)



we had a bonfire on the beach


Climbed to the top of Bishop's Peak that overlooked all of San Luis Obispo



went to thrift shop PROM! woot!

slow dancing in a burning room

My room mates keep talking. i should sleep. but i can't. what a good day.

went to yosemite again today. My girls and i went LAST weekend. rode bikes and such. Then today we took the boys. yessss...the boys. different kind of fun.

We were all set on hiking glacier point (8 miles) until we actually got into yosemite. Then we decided we didn't want to hike 8 miles. :)
So we then decided to hike 6 miles up to nevada falls.

soooo pretty. words can't describe. today was amazing. aaaaaamazing. *sigh*
i don't even know what to type tonight. I guess i just wanted to say how amazing this day was. And just the wonderfulness of the nature and God's beauty. I ouldn't go 2 minutes without thinking about how special God created everything around me. Even the fatty squirrels that ate though michelle's backpack and her whole lettuce wrap she had.

i'm going to miss everyone up here at Camp. i'll miss having to wake up in the early morning. i'll miss having to stay in the dish room late at night washing gun off plates kids had stuck on them. I'll miss my crazy team. my diverse team. The team that has techno music to bond us together. Our glue. Our dancing.
i'll miss the maintenance team. There. I said it. With their strut as they come over the hill down to dinner. Just...epic.
I'll miss Mike.
I'll miss Jill.
I'll miss Matt.
I'll miss Paige.
i'llmiss Michelle.
I'll miss Buck.
and Robin.
and Warren.
and Peter.

I'll miss front porch sitting. Those times when i'd come down tomy cabin after a hard days work and find 6-7 people sitting, talking, laughing, playing games on my porch. it felt like how life was supposed to be. When i would walk up to my porch they would all welcome me and ask how my day went. i would always give an honest answer...and most of the time they cared. Which was nice. It's hard to find genuine people.

i'll miss the stars.
Nuff said.

i'll be home in a week though. A week. 7 days. i want to cry. Not tears of sadness though. Tears of Joy. joy because this summer is exactly what i needed. exactly where i was supposed to be. i was meant to be here. i expanded my ideas. i've learned from my mistakes, i took risks i shouldn't have taken, and i've realized that i need to remember there will always be consequences for things I do. And i'm responsible.

oh man. morning shift next week. yay for waking up at 5!

i miss you and love you.

i love calvin Crest.
this summer has flown by soooo fast. it's ridiculous. I only have 3 weeks, possibly only 2 weeks left up here, and it feels like i just started working.

It's pretty hard work too. Not hard work like my friends on the Maintenance team...which includes mowing lawns, fixing handrails, and digging trenches. Or hard work like Accommodations including scrubbing toilets, washing soiled sheets, and changing trash bags along with maintaining overflow. But hard mentally stressful work. Rushing around work. Deadline work.

Deadlines seem to be following me.
It's always "pay by this date" or sign up "before this date" or "the pizzas need to be ready by 5:15 sharp". They're everywhere.

Sunday nights are fun. my 5 friends Michelle, jill, Buck, Matt, and mike and I all play scrabble on sunday nights ("Scrabble Sunday Sundown"). I got 3 place tonight...not bad. I've been getting better actually. I usually don't do too well!

This week i have the PM shift...meaning i start at 1pm every day and get off around 9. It's nice because then i get to sleep in. Even if it does mean missing breakfast. The only breakfast i dont want to miss is friday's breakfast in Sherwood, the elementary school camp. Thursday for them in Breakfast burritos...which i must say are to DIE for. Oh man. my stomach is growling just thinking about them. Friday will be a good day. I'll visit with my friend counseling down there, eat a burrito, hang out, then go to work.

that's the only thing i don't like about being up here and my schedule. I always do the same thing.

Routine.

Maybe tomorrow i'll do something different. I'll sleep in...then what? maybe read. no...i do that EVERY DAY.

make a bracelet? sure. send letters i've been meaning to mail for the past month? good idea.

I've learned a lot about myself this summer. Who i am. who i want to be. who i DON'T EVER want to be. thats a big one. but it was necessary. and good.

Yesterday (saturday) i went to yosemite with 3 of my girl friends up here. We rented bikes (they had 4 left...perfect!) and rode around the valley. We stopped when we wanted to stop, We took pictures, we climbed rocks, we laughed, we swam, we got hit on, we ate, and we loved. It was a good day. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a rose colored smoke started to pour into the valley, giving everything a Sepia tone. There was a Fire near Mariposa causing the smoke to overflow into everything. So it was perfect timing that we were leaving. Plus it made everything appear as if we were staring through rose colored glasses. We then went to Forks for dinner at Bass Lake, where we sat and ate dinner in pure bliss. We were all just so happy with our day and how perfect it had been. Straight from a storybook. There just happened to be 4 bikes left, we just happened to leave at the right time. There just happened to be four bar seats the Forks Restaurant. It was perfect.

I wish everyone could have a day like that every now and then. I know a lot of people don't get to. People deserve a day like that though. So if you need one...take one.

I miss and love you all. I'll be home before you know it.

Porch sitting

I have a new appreciation for porch sitting. it's so relaxing. just talking with people, playing games...visiting with people, friends, that pass by. It's relaxing.


this is week 4 that i have been up here at alvin Crest Conferences and working in the kitchen. Just over a month to be specific. The summer has FLOWN by...it's already half over. it feels like I just got here. time flies when you'e having fun...i guess.

I've been having problems though. About a week ago i woke up with my glands swollen behin my ears. they've been swollen ever since. So 2 days ago i went and saw the nurse. She said that i should be fine and to just drink water...so i did.
After i saw the nurse, i was walking and talking (not a good idea) and i fell into manhole. one leg in, one leg out kinda. it was WEIIIIRD. Fortunately there were people around to help me.

Unfortunately there were people around. It was REALLY embarrassing.

So anyway...the next morning, i woke up and my hands and feet were swollen. i don't know why. but they were. So it's been really hard to walk and do stuff with my hands. I ended up going into fresno yesterday (which, by the way, I imagine hell to feel like) for a doctor's appt. they drew blood, i got results today and everything's normal.

Weird. So i don't know what i'm going to do. my feet don't fit into any of my closed toed shoes besides my crocs so that's kind of depressing.

Sunday was my grandpa's birthday. I miss him. It was a month on the 3rd of july since he passed. Time flies.

If you think of it...pray for endurance for my kitchen team. We're under a lot of pressure right now and are all really stressed, leading to short tempers. And we don't want to take our emotions out on the food!


I hope all is well with the outside world...if you ever want topop into the calvin Crest bubble, feel free!