Wish List

Warning: This post is materialistic in nature.

Having been a poor college student for the last 4 years, and now a graduate with no paycheck in sight, I find myself saying, too often, "Someday..." This is usually in reference to things I would like to buy. To give you an idea of how distant "someday" actually is, my current dream and ambition is to just have the ability to save money, to set aside a little each month and watch the amount grow in the hopes of one day having enough to buy something. Here is a list of what I dream of saving for:

1. A bike
2. Some kind of hybrid car, though I would be happy with basically any kind of car
3. An iMac
4. Good kitchenware, specifically a few good knives and saucepans
5. A newer and nicer camera
6. An account with Charles Schwab


That is basically it. Not too long, right? And not very unreasonable.



But as long as I am being worldly, I am going to throw a backpacking trip across Europe on my wish list.

Summer Vacation

Here are some Highlights from my trips to Provo and Seattle.

• Being in the bookstore with John and Dakin on Tuesday at 11 am (while it was technically closed) and not feeling guilty about missing devotional
  
• Seven Peaks with Dan and John and their families
• Seeing Donna and Mark's house in Bothel for the first time
• Canoeing with Donna, Mark, Mia, and Sam, which included several misadventures with canoe steering, inhaling second-hand weed, and Sam standing up and peeing out of the canoe
• Trying to keep myself from laughing at Sam, or at least hiding the fact that I was laughing, to keep him from yelling at me. And despite that...
• Making both Mia and Sam scream most of the way home from church because I was laughing, which screaming made Donna and I both laugh to the point of tears
• Donna converting me to coupon-ing ($40-some value of groceries, $8 paid- that was the clincher), and introducing me to Seriously, So Blessed
• Literally eating my weight in pie and root beer
• Watching illegal fireworks from the driveway- there were so many that it was hard to decide which ones to watch
  
• Taking a ferry to Kingston, watching Sam do his excited-dance while he waited for the boat, and eating delicious crepes

• Nate being super cute: dancing, taking little steps, singing and gabbing, pointing at where he wanted to be taken...such an adorable kid
• Hearing Sam ask Donna, "When is that girl (aka me) going to leave?" and then his refusal to be near me while he was eating for the next two days. But we were buds when he wasn't eating.
• Turning around about 5 times in our efforts to go on a hike
• Eating at Small Fryes, where Nate peed on Donna and Sam and I ran around looking for a potty, as the porta-potty was not up to his standards
• An afternoon in Seattle and nearly missing my flight (it actually wasn't that close, but Donna and I were panicked for a few minutes while we waited in traffic to get onto the freeway)
• Finishing 3 books (In Defense of Food, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Their Eyes Were Watching God) by the time my plane landed in California
  

All in all, the trip was really fun! I had a great time visiting Donna and her family. Mia, Sam, and Nate were very entertaining, even when that fact ticked them off.

Rewind Two Weeks

During the last two weeks I decided to take a break from my fairly boring summer to have all kinds of fun (no offense to the people in Fremont, but you all have jobs and responsibilities, and not enough time to entertain me).

Starting off, two of my sisters drove down from Washington with most of their kids to, as Kristy put it, "kick butt and take names." Basically, they spent 4 days in hyper-speed packing up boxes, replacing light fixtures, organizing some areas, moving furniture around as well as out of the house, painting, and generally making the house look presentable to potential buyers. After packing up some boxes on the first day, my job primarily became a child-herder, since I didn't have the vision, the skills or the efficiency that Kristy and Donna possess. But I did my best and keeping the kids out of their way, along with our sister Suzy, who has three kids of her own. This included driving the kids to Suzy's house (not enough room in one mini-van, see), a trip to the movie theater, lunch at in'n'out, an afternoon at a "water park", bowling, a picnic in Sunol, "swimming" in the backyard, walks, feedings, etc. Here are a few pictures so you can imagine how much fun we were having.





Emily, having her version of fun, on Club Penguin, or something.

Really, can kids be cuter than this?

Now, for the benefit of those who have seen our home in the past, and especially for Dan and John, here are some pictures of the vast amount of work Kristy and Donna did. Please excuse some untidiness, I haven't done any cleaning since I got back.




































































This is what was moved out of the house.



A big thanks to Kristy and Donna for all that they did. The house really looks great!


The same morning that Kristy and Donna left (Monday the 29th), my mom and I got up very early and drove to Utah, so that she could have the big green van to bring back all kids of goodies from Grandma and Grandpa's house to put into our newly cleared-out house. Two days later, I was off to Seattle, but more on those adventures later.

I Got That Boom Boom Pow

The Black-Eyed Peas have thrown me into a musical identity crisis. You see, I don't like techno music, and I usually don't like hip-hop music. But I like the Black-Eyed Peas new song, "Boom Boom Pow." It is full of synthetic vocals and engineered sounds, and is a kind of electro-hip-hop song. You would think I'd hate it. But I don't. I even dance and sing along to it in my car.

Now I get kind of restless when I listen to the radio or flip through my cd's. I am constantly changing radio stations while I am in the car (which drives my mother crazy), and I often don't even let a song finish before I am looking for a new song. I skip through song's on my cd's very quickly, and usually give up and flip through the radio stations again.

Maybe I have ADD. But I prefer to blame the Black-Eyed Peas.

Where Have I Been?

How did I miss the little bit of news that Lindsey Lohan is gay, or bi, or whichever she is?

I don't follow tabloids or star magazines, but I occasionally read the covers when I wait in line at the grocery store. Through this method, I knew when Britney shaved her head, Paris went to jail, Lindsay Lohan went to rehab, Brangelina hooked up, and most recently that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson might be dating.

And yet somehow I missed the piece of news that Lindsey Lohan was dating a woman.

Quick Update

Not too much to say, because my life is pretty uneventful. Still not job...but my sister employs me a few times a week to watch the kids. My parents have given me a few projects around the house.

During the weekday evenings I keep myself busy with shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Wipeout.

Like I said, uneventful.

I completed my orientation for my internship a little over a week ago. It was wholly intimidating on the first day, being introduced to the many assignments I must complete during my rotations. I gained confidence as the week went on, but I find that confidence is waning as I sit at home with no job and little responsibility.

I have been keeping busy with church stuff. I have two callings: Sunday School teacher and Activities Committee co-chair.

I spent the afternoon in San Francisco yesterday pulling weeds for a YSA service activity. It was an absolutely gorgeous day: clear skies, nice breeze...a day you don't often see in San Francisco. We were pulling an invasive species of grass out of a hillside on Inspiration Point in the Golden Gate National Park. Unfortunately the area had a bit of Poison Oak growing in it. And I got into a groove and stopped paying attention to anything but the grass I was pulling. At one point Shelly, the park employee, told me to watch out because there was poison oak near me. I looked around and realized there was poison oak all around me...and I had been working in that area for nearly 15 minutes. We were provided with poison oak wash after we were done, but I'm pretty sure a lovely rash will be appearing in the next few days. In fact I already have a red spot on my cheek that is about the size of a nickel. Fantastic. I don't think I have ever had poison oak, but I am hoping the experience will be worth the rash I am about to get.

New Blog Name

You may have noticed I changed the name of my blog. I had originally named it after a song from the soundtrack for Pride and Prejudice. I was never totally satisfied it, but I never came up with anything that I thought was worthwhile enough to change it.

Not that I think I have chosen a stellar title. I have mentioned in a past blog that I am painfully indecisive, so of course even though I have made my decision, I can't be completely confident in it. This title comes from Virginia Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own." I initially created this blog as a creative outlet, my own corner in the expanse of cyberspacefor me to express my opinions, explore ideas, excerpt some of my thoughts, examine the happenings in my life or in the world... a room of my own if you will.

Too bad I have only been slightly more dedicated to writing in this blog as I am to my personaly journal. Nonetheless, I feel that the title "A Room of My Own" adequately defines how I view this little blog.