HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY SOPHIE!!!

Thats right. Little Soph-a-dillie turned one on October 18th. We had her party at my family's house the day before- half way between her dad's parents and her own family's house. Our fam is a fam of intense amounts of food and as always this party had food. We had a good time together and Soph did great. She got lots of gifts, and had her own cake, just like her big brother Josh. Sophie was really sweet and even put up with wearing her Korean outfit (I'm not even gonna try and spell honbak in case im embarass myself) and playing the game where she chooses from among a bunch of items in front of her. In whatever order she picked them it meant she would have those qualities or talents- like she picked a spatula meaning she will be a good cook.

Soph LOVES watermelon. It is her favorite food apparently.

Haha she looks a little skeptical.

The girl sure likes to eat.

Before

After

She was whooped by the end of the party.

The Mountains and The Ocean

My parents and Javi came down on my Dad's birthday on the 4th. He got slightly shafted since everything closes in BV and Lexington on Sundays. There wasn't much going on in the towns-- at all. I took the fam up to see the view from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Dad enjoyed it- Javi and I did not take too much interest in driving up and down curvy roads but it was for Dad. After going into Lexington, walking up and down endless blocks of closed shops we went back to Macadoos- right where we had first parked the car. There wasn't much action that day but it was nice to spend time with the family. My parents own some property in Marina Del Ray, California. Over my Fall break I flew out to meet up with my dad to help fix up the place a bit. He left early Friday morning. I had classes, drove home from school, and then my mom took me to the airport. It was my first time flying alone so my mom and siblings were kinda freaking out for me. Honestly it was not a big deal at all. Note to self- do not pack two bags full of books, shoes, and other heavy things and not expect to be a sore, sweaty, mess when you get to the airplane. Ya- I decided not to check a bag. It complicates things and frankly I did not want to pay the stupid $20 fee for it so I crammed everything into my backpack (every book I own) and a duffel. It was nice to be able to spend time with my dad but he did put me to work too. I sanded the whole garage door and window sill and painted both as well as painted the gate to the fence. This may not seem like a lot but believe me, it is. As I was sanding the garage door the neighbor freaked out and made my dad go buy me a mask- thats right I preformed my duties looking like Darth Vader. We had a good bit of Chipotle and other Mexican food from like- Tito's tacos and stuff. I got to go to J. Paul Getty's house and museum. There was a whole bunch of old art work and statues. My dad had gone there when he was a kid so it was neat for him. It was a beautiful place. I also got to see UCLA- I used to want to go there so bad. It was like my dream school. The campus is HUGE and really nice. My dad also took me into Beverly Hills and Hollywood where I felt like a darn fool walking around in my every-day clothes. My dad took a bunch of extra time getting me close enough to the HOLLYWOOD sign to get a picture before we went to his Uncle's house. We hung out with my dad's aunt and cousin before heading home. Saturday, after doing some work and hanging out with more family, we went to the Santa Monica Peir and walked around the streets. The musicians were my favorite part. There was a violinist named Josh V... something and he was seriously awesome. Least favorite part- all the homeless people. It made me slightly uneasy but it was good I had my dad there. I am glad my dad had me go along. It was a short trip but it was cool to see the house, my family, and some sights. THANKS DAD!!

Holy Cow I'm Slacking!!

Wow wow wow!! I did not realize how much time had passed since I updated this darn thing. So much has been going on. I will try and give a synopsis of my life the past month: I got a job working for the YMCA as an after-school counselor. I end up working just about 15 hours a week but with the driving and the hard work it seems like more. I really enjoy it and for the most part the kids are pretty good... some days :P I have one day left in my training for Project Horizon. It is a domestic abuse shelter down here by school that requires a 32 hour training course to become a volunteer. I have been learning a lot of saddening things and after tomorrow I will be qualified to answer the 24 hour abuse hotline-- well how prepared can you honestly get to do that? It will be a good experience for me and to volunteer for a place like that is great. I can't stop the horrific things that happen in the world but by doing this I hope to alleviate some of the pain for the innocent survivors. Since the last post I have been home twice. Abby came with me the first weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday. The entire family came over on Saturday, dad and I had picked out a lot, and I mean A LOT of food to have, and we had a good time. There were even enough left-overs to bring back to school and feed me for a week!! Sunday we went into DC and saw some sights before we headed back to SVU. The next weekend was Josh's 3rd birthday. Lindsay was brave enough to invite 12 of Josh's friends to a party at McDonald's. He was a really sweet boy that day and seemed to have a great time. Afterword we had a family party back at the Spivey's. Josh got so many presents that he was gifted out! We had a really good time there and again there was great food. That weekend I got my flu shot and also had to get TB tested for work. It was really inconvient to do and I had Javi came along. I told him it was in case my arm hurt so bad afterword that I needed him to drive home-- it was really just because I was tired of bring alone. I had just spent 3 hours in a car driving to No Va alone!! A long time ago- well, a couple weeks ago- my family came down for the day and to watch a football game and visit. It was so much fun!!- We went to a nearby petting zoo that was totally legit! We rode an elephant, pet llamas, fed giraffes and so much more. It was probably one of the greatest experiencesof my life. Javi was so freaked but me and mom really had a good time. We swung into this thing called Foam Henge afterwork. It is a foam replica of Stone Henge- no joke. Some guy sure had a lot of time on his hands. Since the last post I have had 4 exams- Abnormal Psycholocy (didn't do too hot on that one- shhh don't tell my mom), Early Childhood Education, Spanish, America and the Enlightenent (Of which I got 95, 91, and 99%!!), and Family Process (Which I have not gotten back yet). My friend Cari tore her ACL, meniscus and a couple other things in her knee playing volleyball. She decided not to stay to finish out the semester since it was just a wek or two in and went home so her family could be there for her after surgery. We miss her but before she left we had a really fun night. We went out for ice cream and ended up at a concert on campus- we even got a picture with the band!! They were surprisingly good- the name is Shapiro... and some random girl jumped in our picture. ug. I had a surprise party at my house for my friend Kylie. Ya- I planned it in 1 day!!- talk about stressful. I'd say about 25 people or so hid and jumped out at her. It was very sneaky how we did it. The people who got her over to my house were so worried since she decided to shower about 20 minutes before she was supposed to arrive. I baked all day- honestly for hours- and cleaned too. It was so much fun. We cranked the music and mostly enjoyed hanging out. Today I got a package from my dad :) I know... I know... it's sad- he didn't send cupcakes. It was cookies. Also, my mom's co-worker Laura sent me a completely surprising box of bubble gum and a card. It was really nice and totally unexpected of her. (HEY LAURA!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!) I went to a "date auction" and purpously didn't bring any money. Guys had been nominated and were auctioned off starting at 10 bucks to girls who they would take on a school provided date. Some girls paid up to 70 bucks on these guys. I say if you have to pay for them- pffft not worth it. ... I also got a hair cut recently and the girl thinned out about a third of my hair. NO JOKE! It is much better. I was skeptical at the beginning but whew- it feels so light now. As you can see I am staying very busy- and you don't even know the half of it. I have RA responsibilities, to work out, to eat, to do homework- which is neverending, sleep, shower..... things that take up every moment of every day. Above are a few from the of copious amount of pictures I have taken this past month. See if you can figure out what activity each are from. Thanks for hanging in there and reading all about my life <3

A Surprise Package from Dad

The only mail I've been getting recently are packages with textbooks I've ordered. Today there was a knock at the door followed by my housemate telling me I had a package. I sauntered to the door positive that it would be the last book I've been waiting for. Much to my surprise it was from my dad. He sent some cookies and cupcakes!! Sadly when they got here the cupcakes were a little... well... messy. After scraping the icing from the lid and putting it back on the top of the mini cupcake they tasted great! It was a nice pick-me-up to our lazy, nothing to do but homework, Saturday. THANKS DAD!!! PS- I just bought a new camera. Too bad I got it on Overstock.com and then found it at Wal-mart in a different color for $15 bucks cheaper. Its ok though- I like it a lot and it has a lot of settings. This is the first picture I've taken with it.

Bad News

Well sports fans- Everybody who knows me is very aware how much I enjoy sports. I started volleyball in 6th grade because the constant pounding on my knees from running in soccer caused a painful knee condition called Osgood Schlatters and I had to switch activities. I've been playing ever since then for my high school and on neighborhood teams. A massive draw to SVU last year was the fact that I would be able to play volleyball. Unfortunately I have been removed from the team. Apparently the coaches did not see me improving and I have poor hand eye coordination compared to the new freshmen who have "potential". Funny, last year the coaches told me I had great potential but since they never offered me pointers or critique during the season I did not improve as much as they hoped and here I am on the outside looking in. The surprising fact that coaches can be so heartless and cut a loyal returner makes me almost glad to not have to play in that enviornment. Regardless, I am very upset about it but I WILL get over it and I WILL be good at something else.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggidy Jig- to BEEVEE!

So here I am again back in good 'ole Buena Vista. I've gotten all set up in my house and so far am liking it pretty well. I stay fairly busy with RA training and working out so I'm ready (well fairly ready) for when volleyball practice starts on Monday and the rest of my girls show up in the next week or so. Today I spent all day in CPR, First Aid, and communication training. If you ever pass out, sever a limb, stop breathing, choke, suffer a stroke, seize, fall over.... or a series of other random things I know how to help!! So- it is nice to be back again. Yeah I miss home a bit but it almost feels like I never left this place. The people and things are all the same like time stood still here while I went home. Volleyball season has me a little worried and classes do slightly too but before I know it Christmas will be here again. Try not to miss me :)

the best days of the summer!

I spent my last week before heading back to school with Josh and Sophie- I have done it the past two summers and love it. Sunday evening through Thursday morning I stayed at the Spivey's house then Thursday through Saturday Josh and Soph came home with me. I had so much fun watching them and miss them SO MUCH already. I took over 400 pictures of those kids in case you have any doubt how cute I think they are. It was tough but I selected a few of the cutest pictures to share. If I could I would put up all 400+ pictures but I will save you and I the drudgery of that. The kds and I had a good time baking, going to the park, playing in the pool, going to Chuch E Cheese, reading, and just playing. Josh is so smart. We had some really cute conversations. We talked about Jesus, why some animals can see in the dark, and an infinite amount of other things. He really never stops talking. My favorite was when he looked up at me one night while we were watching Brother Bear and he had his head on my lap and said out of the blue "I really love you." Sophie had seperation issues when she came over to my house. For 3 days she wouldn't go to anybody other than me without screaming like mad and I could rarely put her down without somesort of theatrics. When I held her though she was great. We played and she even would laugh and smile at other people- until they tried to take her away. It was an awesome week. Josh and Sophie were great!