I Guess I Have Some Explaining to Do...

Hi guys,

It's been a while, not just writing on this blog, but in person. I guess I have to offer some sort of explanation as to why I haven't shown my face around fellowship lately.

I was talking to my friend the other day about how he quit one of his bands. As a musician, there's nothing off-handed about quitting a band. Anyway, when I asked him why he quit, he said that he stopped enjoying what they were doing. I asked when he realized that he wasn't into it anymore and he said,

"The other day, I knew I had practice. And I said to myself, 'Man, I have practice..." That's when I knew that I wasn't into it anymore."

Every Friday, around 5 or 6, I say to myself, "Aw man, I have fellowship tonight..." Why I feel this way is still a mystery to me. All I know is that I get stressed out just thinking about going. I think part of it is that I'm just so exhausted these days that I'm IN BED by 11. We're lucky if lesson ends by then. I would rather not go and be irate and annoyed.

If that makes me a bad person, I guess I'm ok with that for now. I wish there was a way that I could hang out with you guys but not stay out so late. I'm sure this will pass sooner or later so don't freak out. I just need a little break.

What a day

Ok, so I usually don't have very eventful days at school, but yesterday was quite a different story so I thought I'd share with you guys or uh, or at least let it out to nobody in particular.. haha.

So 1) My alarm clock (old cell phone) died without telling me in advance and did not go off at all. I was going to wake up early to review a little bit for my quiz in class but I ended up waking up 15 min before class.
2) I attempted to at least make breakfast so I could have some brain power during class and for my quiz but I left my waffle in the kitchen :'(
3) My light switch is stuck and not working the day before so I needed to return it to Target for a refund but they would only allow me to exchange it for something in the home department but the same light costs $15 MORE than in SF and I was not about to pay that money for possibly another bad light so I bought bedsheets instead.
4) Then Cassie wanted to go to a Chinese supermarket which we found.. but on the way back to school, we got lost for a long 20 minutes. Somehow the street we were on, changes names at a certain point and yea.. we were completely lost..! We called so many people before a friend of ours picked up and yahoo mapped it for us and I got back just 10 minutes before we had to get to the lecture that we purposely stayed late on a Friday for
5) The lecture went totally overtime
6) I had a 5 minute dinner last night before driving and I was hungry

Yea. Not fun. And btw, I had a dream that Amanda has a white kitty instead of Cow. It was quite strange hehe :D

First blog of the school year :)

Hey guys!! I am typing the first blog of the school year in class.. muahahaha. No, actually, I'm sitting in orientation right now trying out my new laptop :D Yayyy. It's been a couple of long days here at school but I'll be coming back to the city soon. Hope I'll be seein you both at the bonfire tonight :) I'll update on the new school year later.

UPDATE on your new school year!!! (Except Kathy - UPDATE about your summer session... :))

Long week, Short Post

Amanda

Finals are coming up really soon and there are so many deadlines it's nuts. I had a really long week this week. I went to all my normal classes this week but I had an added stress. I performed a solo last night at school in Knuth. The accompaniment was really weird but I pulled of a pretty good performance. I had my piano teacher accompany me and she was awesome.

After last night's program was over, I had a lot of my peers come up to me and compliment me. I guess it made me feel like I actually belonged there and that I'm not fooling myself. Anyway, I guess I just feel a little bit validated.

I don't have any pictures this time but I'll try and post again this coming week. By the way, I have another blog. If you ever get bored and want to see if I've posted there, here it is:

http://amandapoon.wordpress.com/

Fun stuff after a rough week

Daja

Why school was so awful last week:
Last week was definitely one of the craziest weeks this semester. Usually it's a tough week when I have 2 science midterms (or exams, whatever you want to call it) in consecutive days. Last week, however, not only did I have an anatomy exam Thursday and O-chem exam Friday, I had my 10-15 pg paper due Tuesday. And did I mention I haven't written an English paper since last year? Yea. Awful. Actually, I think things turned out better than I anticipated. Not great, but not tragic either. Well, maybe I shouldn't say anything because I haven't gotten anything back yet, but uhh... I'll update on that later.

ANYWAY, enough about school because that's over and done with! Just one more set of exams in a couple weeks and then FINALS! So after all that, I was ready to jump into a new episode of LOST and relax my mind when I found out.. there hasn't been a new episode of LOST since I last watched it online 2 weeks ago. WHAT..! So to indulge in LOST without actually watching it, televisionwithoutpity is the way to go. Yes Amanda, you should check it out. The snarkiness on the LOST episode recaps almost matches up with yours ;) I love.

And some funny links to check out when you are bored, curious, or just simply in the mood to procrastinate: What Asian People Like vs. What White People Like . Some of the stuff on there are either pretty interesting or just hilarious hahah.

Tell me what you think of those sites :D Or tell of some interesting sites you guys visit so I can turn to them when I need a study break.

And in response to the previous post - we should most definitely go (even though it would've been even cooler to see you 2 set up a booth yourselves :P but I know, I know). Especially since it seems I won't be leaving the country after all, so I will be PRETTY free this summer with not much to do... hm. Any ideas for me guys?

WE ALL MUST GO TO THIS!

Amanda

This July. Us three. Let's go.

http://www.renegadecraft.com/sanfran/index.html

My week so far...

Amanda

WUNDERBAR!

I had a pretty good day today but I'll start from the beginning of the week.

Sunday
Sunrise service went pretty well but I was really beat afterward. I went home and crashed. When I woke up, my mom showed me the variety of lovely Easter candies I could help myself to, including some "Lamb of God" peach flavored gummies. Odd texture, those sheep... Anyway, my mom's longtime friend gave Becky and I some chocolate... bunnies? Nope.


And they call us adults! Not to Auntie Ellen I guess...

Monday


That's the view of Sutro Tower from Safeway's rooftop parking. Michael and I went to get a snack in the afternoon. More importantly, I got some COFFEE! Monday's weather was beautiful, even in the Sunset district and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tuesday
The daytime was pretty uneventful. I finished a novel, did some knitting, and ran some errands. After my mom got off of work, we headed downtown to meet my dad for some dinner and some shopping. The more I shop, the more convinced I become that I'm no marathon shopper. After dinner, I was SO sleepy. Here's some random Westfield love.


Wednesday
I awoke early this morning because I planned to drive my dad to work - the beemer needed some shop work. My dad decided to tell me at 7:30am that he DIDN'T need me to drive. Then why did I wake up so early?! Anyway, I was excited because I had a date at 12. Not with a boy. With a spinning wheel. And it was AWESOME. I got the hang of it pretty quickly and my teacher was really patient. She even let me stay past the hour to finish what I was doing. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of what I spun but I ran into this character on my way back to my car.

I thought it was pretty awesome. Anyway, that's how my week's been going so far. Are you guys finding cool things in your everyday routine?

I'm almost there!

Amanda

So, it's Thursday afternoon and I'm posting cause I'm pretty excited about spring break next week. I can't wait until I can actually sleep in. I've decided that I'll only allow myself to sleep in til 10. Any later than that and I won't be able to get out of bed the next week.

As for your question, Holly, I don't give all my projects Spanish names but I do name them. The reason for this is that most of the patterns that I knit are named by their designers. I named the cardigan that because the original pattern is called "Mr. Greenjeans" after the yarn the designer used. My yarn's colorway was verdeazul. Ta-da!

The weather this week was so deceiving. It would look partly sunny and then become completely overcast and freezing. Today is actually the most sunny it's been all week. Since spring is upon us, I'm hoping for warmer weather, even if it means that the warm air will bring fog in. It is San Francisco, after all.

Anyway, next week will be good. I'm planning on taking a spinning class on Wednesday and the rest of the week will be spend mostly out of the house doing stuff, I hope. I'll take lots of pictures and post some.

Sorry - I lied about posting over break :P

Yea, I had planned to post during my spring break, thinking I'd have all the time in the world (I didn't). It ended up being so busy, I didn't get to relax as much as I had hoped to. I ate out a lot to hang out with people I haven't had time to in awhile.. lunch, dinner, coffee run :P... and then I also caught up on LOST (!!), got my haircut, got sick at toward the end of break, went to Kaiser twice, and pretty much just slept a lot during the last few days of break. I only got a paragraph done for my 10-15 page paper that I had MEANT to do over break. Chyikes. And that is why I haven't posted. But I felt like I could use a break right now :P

Haha, I had meant to ask - Amanda, do you name all of your projects? Does my scarf get a fancy spanish name too? Tell me how it's going with you learning the different instruments. I have some basic flute music if you want more practice haha.

Oh yea! Exciting stuff. I got my housing all set up this week! It was crazy, but it was an amazing thing because all odds were against us. People starting lining up for housing sign-ups at noon on Monday when sign-ups begin TUESDAY at 9am. I had hoped to get an empty suite so me, my roommate, and 2 other friends could share it together, but it's harder because empty suites are limited. And since I'm still sorta sick and neither of us wanted to stick it out overnight in line, 1 of us went at 6am Tuesday instead and hoped for the best. Basically, everything ended working out JUST right and we got the last empty suite on the 3rd floor (which we wanted). I think there was just 1 more in the 2nd floor. There was more to the story (including me leaving class and running across campus) but it would take too long so maybe I'll tell you guys in person :) But it was definitely amazing and you can either call it a series of very fortunate coincidences or God working through all the details. I would say God was definitely good to us.

Ok, end of break and time to study like mad for o-chem! ...agh! See you Friday? I don't know when we're ever going to see Faja - she's not coming back until Sunday night :( Maybe the weekend after?

Just a note..

mmm you guys, don't click the link on the comment in the previous entry.. it gave me a pop-up. Better yet, i think we should delete it, but I think you're the only one who can Amanda because it's on your post.

Haha, I know this shouldn't be considered a real entry.. erm, I'll write one over break for you guys. One more thing, Amanda don't forget to find music so we can make beautiful music together on Sunday during rehearsal downtime!! :P

It's been a long time.

Amanda

So, I've been holding out on posting for a while because I wanted to have something impressive to show for all the time that has lapsed. I proudly present two finished objects (called FOs in the knitting world) from March '08.

I give you Pantalones Verdeazules!




And Foliage the Third!



I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with these. The sweater especially. I had my eye on the pattern for some time and I started it in January. The hat was made using the leftover yarn from the sweater. I got to wear the cardigan to school and everyone thought it was cute and were like "You made that?"

In other news, school is becoming a huge drag. I can't wait for spring break. I think I'm going to learn how to spin yarn over the break from a studio in SF. Sigh. Only two more weeks after this one is over. I hope your weeks are going well. I won't be at fellowship this Friday because I got invited to a reachout in Chinatown.

See you Sunday!

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe

Hehe, so I REALLY liked this, so I wanted to show you guys :)

Look and read the first picture, but don't peek to the second picture until you're done looking at this first one!

Cute, but random right?
Ok, and now for the next picture..
Hehe, get it? Get it? :D I LOVE it! It was a birthday card I bought for my friend last week hahah. So imagine me browsing through the card section, picking up this card, looking at the cover, and thinking, "This bookstore has really random cards! They must have replaced some of the "random" cards into the "birthday" section.. geez!" And then, I open the card to see the second picture and *ding*.. the lightbulb goes off and I'm chuckling to myself because I was so moded. Haha, but seriously, besides this card, all the other cards were really lame, so I wasn't just being mean and cynical initially :)

And while we're on the subject on animals.. take a look at these:

Heads of a giraffe and a moose, right? (Ok, with a little imagination!)

Actually.... they are bones that make up part of your vertebrae (spinal column)! Oooo, I squeezed in a quick anatomy lesson for you guys! Didn't know you had that on your back did you?? :)

I'm only sick in the head. Literally.

Amanda

Luckily, I only have a (head?) cold. The first few days I had so much pressure in my sinuses it was ridiculous. I'm feeling a lot better now, still a little stuffed up but I can deal with that.

So school is really crazy and I'm glad that I couldn't officially register for that textiles class. I would be so overwhelmed right now if I had another class. I have to simultaneously learn the piano, clarinet, saxophone, viola, and a touch of cello and violin. Honestly, I never thought I'd have to do all that.

I actually like the wind instruments. It took me a while to get a sound out of the clarinet because I hadn't soaked the reed enough and I was given a thicker reed, which is harder to play on.

In other news, here's the cardigan I've been working on for a few weeks now.




I've actually got a lot more of the cabled ribbing done but I haven't taken an updated photo. To be continued.

Anyway, I can't wait to give you my personal commentary this Friday. Who knew my snarkiness would be missed?

How come everyone's sick? :(

Amanda, are you okay? Missed you last night at fellowship. I hope you're not too seriously sick. Heheh, we started a new series of lessons... this time, it's on church history. Didn't see that one coming. I really tried to listen initially, but I must say the 30 min video wasn't the most entertaining. It's not even laughable like the previous ones. People started spacing out like 5 minutes in. Please come back soon; I miss your side commentaries haha.

And are you really learning to play the alto sax or was I misinformed? Please give me a brief lesson after you get down the basics! I really just want someone to tell me if I'm blowing it right and if the sounds coming out are normal-sounding or not. And perhaps a simple fingering sheet.

Yay, I have more pictures to show later. Hehee, hopefully you guys will like them :D

New Photos and Agreements

Amanda

I agree with you - I'll do my part and post more often. Perhaps Kathy has been having so much fun at school that she's forgotten us! Anyway, I thought I'd show you a little bit of book love.

First, the school books.



Can you believe that this stack is NOT the whole story? I bravely carried my Tonal Harmony textbook to school today. It is now tucked away in my locker. Those two history books are for one class. I have to carry the thicker one to school every Tuesday and Thursday. Awful.

Now, some knitting books. You might see something familiar.



It's so easy to read about and research something you love. Don't get me wrong, I love music but right now it's more school than passion right now.

Next time: a little more Music and a whole lot of SF Giants/Baseball.

A New Year's Resolution?

I'm determined to keep this alive, so I hereby make it a resolution to post AT LEAST once a month (uh, unless something serious happens to me). Please don't leave me alone on this resolution? lol. I do like what you did to the layout Amanda.. but I can't believe you risked your life for that picture. I guess there's a high value for that picture because of that haha. Nice job.

Your previous post sounds like the start of a busy semester.. 17 units sound like a lot already. Speaking of piano lessons, think you know of anyone possibly willing to give me alto sax lessons for cheap maybe over the summer? Like maybe $10-15/hr or is that too cheap? :D I'm also hoping to go on a missions trip this summer, preferably to China for a month or so and ideally with a medical side to it, but it may be tricky enough already just finding one. Maybe you guys can pray for me and keep your ears open? I'm also trying to see if I can get connected with something through UOP's Christian Fellowship group. Hopefully something comes up for me.

By the way, all I did at the meeting was eat for $5. All I got out of it was a cheap meal; can somebody please tell me why we're on the roll sheet for those meetings?

Sooooo.. I finally got around to this - a picture of part of my dorm room. I couldn't take a good picture of the whole side of my room showing much details, so here's the part of my side that I spend almost ALL of my time when I'm not in class, out, or sleeping: my desk area.



Special note to Amanda: see a familiar fuzzy, princessy, white, star-shaped decorative item in my picture? :) Yea, it's been up in my room all this time like I promised! I'll update on my semester thus far hopefully soon.

Dude, we suck at this.

Amanda

I wish we could actually keep this up. Unfortunately, check the title. I mostly wanted to post so that I'd be able to say I did. Ja ja ja ja! School was bearable this week, mostly because I only had to go in Thursday and Friday. I'm actually only taking on 17 units this semester because the textiles class I wanted to take was at a really inconvenient time and I couldn't get into a music class that was the alternative.

After checking in with all my teachers this week, I'm glad I took it down 3 units. There's no way I would have had enough time to do well in all these classes. My English class will prove to be especially challenging. I have an essay due Monday. ALREADY! Anyway, I'm still going to be swamped because I need to bring my theory grade up (I got a B- in the fall) and I should really be practicing more. Also, I'm going to try and take private piano lessons so I can pass out of it at school.

Well, that's all for now. I'll add some pictures in a bit.