the apartment life.

[So this evening I was reading my friend Megan's blog and was compelled to attend to the poor unused and neglected blog of my one. Alas, here I am back at it again. Hopefully I can find the drive and motivation to keep it current and write a post or two each week.]

These vernal months have been characterized by perfect Santa Barbaran temperatures, various adventures with friends, repeated and habitual grilling of the frozen chicken breasts in the freezer, countless trips to the gas station to spend my entire month's earnings, and of course, those long days at the beach that enivitably result in exhaustion and some form of sunburn. All and all, it has been a pretty good summer thus far.

Living in my own apartment has proved to have its pros and cons, as does every living situation I suppose. The joys and excitment of cooking homemade and fresh meals lasted about a week and the strange desire for the easy and ready-made meals of the D.C. at Westmont manifested itself. I thought that day would never come. Now I just cook the same thing over and over again. Grilled marinated chicken breast, attoped with grilled pinapple. Rice pilaf. And a Geek salad. Maybe some biscuits if I am feeling adventurous. This only changes if there is an invite to dinner from a friend or if I venture to the store and scower the aisles and score on some item that is on sale. The sale items are the only items that can even be considered to be purchased. But, occasionally I splurge and buy an avocado or some yummy new salad dressing. The dishes always need to be done. The bathroom always in need of a cleaning. And the fridge always need of refilling. I get excited when spinach or yogurt is on sale or when slow-churned ice cream is two for $5 (usually when Allyson Arendsee is around. Our tradition is to eat slow churned straight out of the tub. Page-style). The trip to the store usually involves at least one phone call to my mom to see if "this much is too much to pay for this many of that." I am learning though. Grandma is always giving me grilling tips and teaching me the ins and outs of buying and seasoning meat.

summer spontaneity.

i was feeling spontaneous. which never really happens for me. i like to plan. i am a "j" after all. but this time i put my j tendencies aside, called up some friends and we headed down to malibu for the day. what a blast. larissa, jordan, debby and i piled in the jetta and headed south to meet up with shannon and spend the day beachin' it up malibu style that that we did. i was a hoot. shan and rissa are bffs now and it it hilarious. i love it when my friends from home and my friends from westmont like each other. i must make friends with cool people or somethin'. hehe. :) here a some fun pics from the trip. check it!

my one week summer vacation.

so my summer has been a bit awkward. i have been doing that summa skweel thang. it has been rough. mayterm ended and then a week later summer school at city college started. lame. meanwhile i was working every day. knarly. so in that week of summer, i took off a week from work and headed home to the sierras for some crowley fun. as my crew from crowley knows, there is nothing like summa time in crowley. skating ojah. playing on the lake. hiking. bbqs. quading. fishing. ah, so much fun. so i had to sneak home for my fix of crowley air and my family and buds. ah it was great. here are a few shots from that weekend.

the end and the beginning.

summa time. well, much to my dismay the vernal months are coming to an end. what happened to them? work is about to go into overdrive and is what some may say, "off the hook" or as a surfer might say "it is goin' off, bra". yup, that is the nature of Westmont Orientation. but i knew that when i accepted the job as Orientation Assisstant. its been good. challenging, education. and fun. i love my boss, michele, and the office i get to work in, the Campus Life Office. it is a hoot.

the apartment life has come to a abrupt and sad end and i am currently hunkered in a make-shift room in Deborah Clark Halls, D102. (i lived in this dorm freshman year and all the rooms are the same...which leads to bizzare dejavu experiences). i get to move into my permanant residence on thursday. van kampen k1. woot. i am excited.

I have had such a wonderful summer. and have cherished the moments i have gotten to spend with my buds down in santa barbara. larissa. janelle. dannah. nick. jordan. debby. michelle. brett. josh. katie. katy. peter. kimmy. and meg. thanks ya'll for such a FUN and exciting summer. love you all.

so here it comes...my senior year at westmont. whoa! i will have to talk about that on another post. too much to process there.

today. march 21.

today's thoughts and musings: hovering around an overwhelming sense of joy for and love of life. i have been so blessed this year and i am increasingly becoming more in awe of how God has me in his hands each and every moment. of course this state has made me rather emotional...and i find myself tearing at such things as a group photo of the hike took with my guys, or the thought of not living in 3A next year, or the morning dew on a flower petal, or a Norah Jones song. i am so tender and loving right now. yup, girls...you should totally capitalize on this state of mine and milk it for all that it is worth. seriously. haha.

today's songs: "100 Years" - Five for Fighting & "Always Faithful" - Tyrone Wells

today's prayer: that the Lord would be more real and more present to you today than he has ever been and that you would walk in the promise that his mercies are new and beautiful each and every morning.

today's plan: to notice and capture a glimpse of beauty and a moment of life with my camera...

today's photos: