These are a few of my favorite things...

One of my favorite things about the weekend is that I actually have time in the morning to sit down and enjoy my cup of coffee (with vanilla creamer of course). Instead of having to use my travel mug (which is pretty cute), I get to use one of my amazing coffee mugs! All of them have been given to me by someone else and they are all different. I never want to have a set of matching coffee mugs. That takes the fun out of life. It may sound weird, but I get really excited about choosing which one I'm going to use in the morning.

Getting Organized

I am going to attempt making some meals ahead of time and freezing them. Call me a mom, but it will make my life a lot easier. Since I know absolutely nothing about how to freeze foods, this website helped a lot: http://busycooks.about.com/library/lessons/blfreezer.htm
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Oh the places you'll go...

To add to a previous post...
You know you're a college student when you choose places to eat based on what coupons you have. For example, you really want ice cream. So your roommates decide to make a night out of it and take advantage of buy one get one free scoops on Mill Ave. But when you're almost there, you realize no one remembered to actually bring the coupon, so instead of wasting gas to go back to the apartment to get it, you just go to the source (ASU) to get another coupon book. Easy right? After fifteen minutes of driving Jen's car through Forest Mall, dodging bicyclists, students, and campus security, we finally had another coupon book. And ice cream never tasted better :)

You know you're a college student when...

...you're too cheap to get a haircut and end up doing it yourself.

Thank goodness I was paying attention to my hairdresser back in the day.

Victimized

Well, it was probably going to happen sooner or later. Thousands of bikes get stolen near ASU and last, someone finally took my cute little blue Denali road bike. It should have been my first clue when someone stole the seat late last semester to bring it inside, especially when I don't use it every day anymore.
But I love how even in the most frustrating of situations, God gives you something to laugh about. While making my report to the police officer over the phone, I was caught off guard when he asked me to describe my physical appearance. Of course the first question he asks is the most difficult--"What is your ethnicity?" I'm pretty sure I have no idea how to answer that. Before bubbling in answers in any kind of poll or survey about my ethnicity, I always just choose whatever will benefit me most. So for the longest time, I would put "Asian" thinking I would get better scholarships. Only recently have I made the switch to putting "White" just because. The funny thing is that I could really pass as both and neither. So as I'm contemplating my answer, I get suspicious looks from my roommates who are wondering what question could be so difficult to answer. By the time he asks for my height and weight, they've started to giggle which--in my nervous awkwardness--causes me to start laughing hysterically. No kidding, full on laughing my butt off so much that when he asks for my hair and eye color I can't even say my response. Somehow I manage to say "brown" and he goes, "For both?" ..."pshh yahaha!" "Ok, I'll take that as a yes..." The conversation painfully goes on as my roommates and I are now in full blown hysterics and I can barely get out the rest of my answers. He's probably thinking I deserved to have my bike stolen.

What I've learned in college

4 years and $32,000 later, I've been reflecting on what I've actually learned while being in college. I've learned how to prove that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle on the surface of a sphere can add up to 270. I've learned how to create a code that returns odd integers in java. I've learned a lot of things, but there is only a handful of things that I have learned over the last four years that I consider to be absolutely invaluable. Most importantly, I will actually remember these lessons years after I've left ASU. To the people who've taught me...

How to play the guitar-Steve Cornelison, Brandon Riemersma, Ju McElroy (yay freshman year and hassy camping trip! So glad you gave me a great start)
How to skate better-Ju (and how to not feel stupid when I fall)
How to bake real food-Lindsay Peterson (and how not to cook...aka don't put a lid on boiling oil!)
How to share Jesus with strangers-Kyle Johnson, Ryan Ellis (I was so nervous that day at Rocky Point, but it was so awesome to watch your examples!)
How to drive a stick shift-Aaron Eckersley (I was so mad that time when you made me drive on the freeway, and when I was the one who got pulled over while driving your car, but it was worth it)
How to save tons of money, get things for free, have fun, but most importantly be a better woman-Sarah Short (you are the most influential person in my life and I am so grateful for the time you've spent with me)
How to whistle so loud it makes my brothers scream-Jen Clauss, Rebekah McGourty (ok so really it was Youtube, but we learned together and your encouragement made all the difference!)
How to bake the BEST cookies in the world-Chris Embrey (made my day when I actually got the real recipe for your killer chocolate chip cookies)

Funny thing is that I didn't pay a cent to any of you for teaching me what I consider to be the most valuable lifetime skills (and yes, whistling is valuable!), while I probably won't remember a thing from my classes at ASU in 2 years. But then again, it was through coming to ASU that God led me to you guys. You have all truly impacted my life and I'm forever grateful!

Witness of the Best Playoff Game in NFL History!

Back from our weekend road trip to Phoenix for the Cardinals-Packers playoff game. We were all a little nervous since our last visit consisted of us crying on the way home after getting a beat down by the Packers. Fortunately, the Cards showed up and won in overtime 51-45, making the game the highest combined score ever in an NFL playoff game. Warner threw more touchdown passes than incomplete passes. The coolest part was listening to some of the players' interviews after the game. Some, like Michael Adams and Kurt Warner gave praise to God for their abilities and for what happened on the field. A cool thing that Kurt affirms is that God is still looking out for him even if his team has a bad game. I just hope it's in God's will for them to beat the Saints this weekend :)
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On the way home, Dad got pulled over for speeding...although all of us were pretty sure he wasn't. We thought it was going to put a damper on our fun, but thankfully he got a warning! The cop even offered to let Nathan see his car, then to make matters even more hilarious, Mom got out and took a picture of him with our new friend. If I were this cop, I'd be either really relieved that something interesting just happened, or really weirded out! I would put the picture up, but my mom promised the cop that it wouldn't end up on Facebook...so I'm guessing he doesn't want it to show up in anyone's blog either.
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Also went bowling with the Chadwicks before we left for Vegas. I forgot how much I stink at bowling. Only scored a 57 on the first game. Fortunately I got a few pointers from Angie and got a 123 on the next game!
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Go on three

A debate that my family still holds almost nightly, but brings us to laughter each time is do you go on three or after three? Think about it. You've been in this situation before. You're playing rock, paper, scissors and as your throwing out scissors, your opponent is still in a fist, apparently following the "rock, paper, scissors, shoot" protocol. Or you're about to sing Happy Birthday "on three" and some people start when you would be saying three while others wait for the second afterwards to begin. It probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but in case anyone would like to know, my family did come to a conclusion. If you're saying something outloud, you should wait until after three. If you're doing something, say dueling and need to draw a weapon on three, you go literally on three.
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Spent about an hour and a half uploading pictures to snapfish just in time for the 50 prints for 50 cents sale! I'm on a good start to putting my scrapbook together.

Project Life

Began an exciting, yet intimidating process of documenting each week of 2010. Why take on the task this year over any other?

Last year at ASU.

Anticipating a lot of great travelling stories: Hawaii, Europe, Dominican Republic.

Because Mom bought me a really cool scrapbook to do it.

Check it out here. My mom bought 4 of them. Her goal is to take a picture every day. I'll be lucky if I get one a week, but I'll give it a try.

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On another note, my dad and I have been tirelessly planning our 18 day trip though Europe. I can't believe that 6 months from now, I'll be backpacking through 5 countries with my daddy. So awesome. We've been using the Rick Steves' guide books, which help alot, but sometimes can be overwhelming. As long as I don't have to sleep anywhere with bed bugs I'll be happy!