Beginnings of a Friendship

It was Friday night and all of my plans fell through. I had nothing to do. I began to make my way to my favorite coffee shop to hang out until my best friend got off work. I was there earlier studying after school and my favorite barista was there. Since I now have his number, I sent him a text to see if he had already closed before I drove all the way across town. He replied and told me he closed and I told him the reason for me asking. So he decided to hang out with me after we finished. We ended up going to another coffee shop (of course) and hanging out. He gave me a case of CDs he wanted me to check out and went through his ipod telling me what I needed to buy. We also talked about God and life. It was a lot of fun. I'm really glad I finally met someone I have a lot in common with and can talk about my faith and God with without feeling awkward and shy. I really hope to continue to get to know him throughout the summer and, hopefully, a friendship will result.

Blind Dates= Bad Idea

I was minding my own business a couple of days ago when a friend texts me and informs me that one of her friends is very interested in me. I was slightly confused because, as far as I knew, I had never met this guy in my life. Despite my hesitance, a allowed myself to be persuaded to go on a blind date, but before going on the date, I wanted to meet him to make sure I wasn't getting myself into a mess. So my friend decided to bring him into the coffee shop where I always study to meet me.

As I am studying for an Advanced Chemistry test, in walks in two un-groomed hick guys looking like they just walked out of Arkansas and into a coffee shop in Colorado, and behind them is my friend. One of the hick guys with chew in their pockets was the guy I was supposed to meet. I don't like to judge on appearances, so I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt and at least let him talk to me.

He starts to walk towards me and gives me a hug. Strike one. I hate hugs and since when is it ever appropriate to hug someone in substitute for a hand shake? So he sits down at the table and comments on how he hates coffee shops. Strike two. To which I replied "Hold up. If you hate coffee shops this isn't gonna work out between us because this is my second home." He laughed and looked at the barista (he happens to be my favorite. Not only did he give me a free drink and a CD that day, but I respect him a heck of a lot.) and made a comment about him being gay. Strike three (this guy sucked at first impressions). I defensively shot back "He is not gay! I really like him and I resent you calling him that.". The hick glanced at me confused and continued to criticize everyone else in the room. At this point I was ready for him to leave. There was no way I was going to go through with a date. My mind starting to race to think of excuses to get out of it. It was at that moment that I decided he was the last person I would ever go on a date with. He turned to his friend and looked at the barista jokingly saying "How do you say 'virgin' in German?". Strike four. I had to suppress my anger and take a deep breath so I didn't explode. The barista was one of the nicest guys I had ever met and in no way deserved to be criticized by this loser. So apologized and gracefully told the hicks I had a lot of studying to do and I needed to get back to it.

After they left I walked to the counter and the barista commented "Looks like everyone found your secret hiding place." I laughed "Yeah, remind me to never ever agree to a bind date again." We had a good laugh about the situation as I told him all of the details. It was a slow night at the coffee shop so we talked for quite sometime before he had to get back to work. Before I went back to studying he gave me a high five and asked if I would like to hang out sometime, which I said yes to of course, and asked me to put my number in his phone. So even though the blind date didn't work out, a new friend came out of it.

It All Started With Loving Emos.....

I met the weirdest person I have ever come across on Monday. I was having coffee with my two favorite people and they were joking around about me being emo (which I don't understand because I listen to metal, not emo music, and I'm probably the happiest person on the face of the planet.) so as I joke i grabbed on of my friend's arm and wrote "I heart emos" in pen. Then this random lady walks up and commented on our activities saying "Aw, are you guys writing on each other? How cute!" to which I laughed uncomfortably and replied "Yeah.". Then she informed me that if I wanted to continue to draw on people she would let me draw on her. Okay, I really had no idea how to respond to this. So I, of course, continued to smile and laugh uncomfortably. She continued to figure out what she wanted me to write on her and decided to go with "I am a dangerous woman." and changed it to "I am a mom, beware." (I feel sorry for her children) and with a sudden change in interest asked us if we were college students. One of my friends, Tyler, is so he informed her that he was but Christina and I were High School Seniors. She then asked what he was majoring in and he replied health and exercise sciences. I guess this really excited her because she went on a five minute rant about how are bodies are like "machines" and we need to "fuel, exercise, oil, and lubricate" them. After her rant, she came to the other side of the table to ask me what I was going to major in. She leaned down and came uncomfortably close to my face and exclaimed "Hello, big eyes! Where did you get those!". I don't know how these situations find me but I had no earthly idea how to respond. I thought it was obvious where a person got their eyes. My first idea was to say "Wall Mart, actually." but all I wanted was for her to leave me alone and let me get back to my coffee and that would be rude and I figured she would talk to me more if I said that. "Uhhhhhhhh.... I don't know....." was my response. She shot me an unsatisfied look "You just don't know where you are in life! I'll tell you. You're in Durango, Colorado in the United States. If I knew the geographical points I would tell you." I looked at Christina. What did she want from me?! Changing the subject again she asked me what my intended major is I told her I want to be a doctor so I was going into pre-med with a major in biology. "Oh, you're a healer!" turning to Christina and asked the same question "Mechanical Engineering." she replied with a polite smile. I forgot what she said to Christina after. I was just so glad the attention was taken off of myself so I could regain my composure I didn't pay attention to her response. Turning the attention back to me, she exclaimed:

"Oh! I know what I want you to draw on me! The peace sign!"

"Ummm... okay. But I'm not the best artist..."

"Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not a good artist! Art is subjective! Do you need something to go by? I have a piece sign sticker in my pocket."

She whipped out the sticker and handed it to me and I continued to draw a piece sign on the back of her hand. She thanked me and asked if I wanted to keep the sticker as payment (apparently she thinks I'm a professional tattoo artist) and I told her to keep it for someone else. She began walk out of the door right before she traveled through she turned back to us and said something like "Be blessed, be conquerers, and change the world." then finally walked through the door.

Prom, Collapsing Roads, and the Police

As I stared in the mirror at my reflection, I tried to imagine what colors and shades I should use to do my perfect prom makeup, like an artist would stare at a blank canvas. Being the indecisive person I am, I called my mom, who was out of town with my dad, to ask her opinion. She then, gave me the bad news. Apparently one of her friends drove past the entrance to our neighborhood and discovered the road was blocked off and there were emergency vehicles and police cars everywhere. They weren't letting anyone out. After many confusing phone calls and stories about a bridge collapse and road flooding, my Dad called dispatch (my dad is a Cop) and established that an irrigation ditch flooded and the water was corroding the dirt underneath the asphalt, thus, making it a hazard for cars to drive over in fear the road would collapse under the cars weight. They were, however, letting people walk across. Essentially, it was not impossible for me to make it to prom. I just needed a car to pick me up on the other side and drive me to town. The only problem was that I live 30 minutes from town so none of my friends could drive all that way to pick me up. My Dad, in the end, called in a favor to one of his friends from the Sheriff's Department. I was the only person i know to get a police escorting to prom.

So I grabbed my 4-wheeler, loaded my prom dress and shoes on the back and drove the mile down to the front of my neighborhood, where the Officer was waiting for me. I decided to leave the 4-wheeler there so I could drive it back upon my return from prom. Climbing into the front seat, I thanked the officer many times and he began to drive and turned on some music. I immediately recognized the song as Bad Company by Five Finger Death Punch (one of my favorite bands) and exclaimed "I love this song!". He smiled and turned it up. I was not expecting this mustached, middle aged Police Officer to listen to Metal.

He brought me to the High School where my friends were waiting to bring me to dinner. I thanked him again and he told me to call him after prom ended for him to escort me home.

I enjoyed myself at prom. When it ended I called my new Cop friend. He, unfortunately was unable to take me home, so another officer was my escort. He was very nice and I enjoyed talking to him during our 30 min car ride. He asked me if I knew where any of the parties were going to be to which I replied "I'm not cool enough to be invited to any of the parties." and apologized for my lack of coolness. He laughed and informed me that it was a good thing.

We arrived to the entrance to my neighborhood. By that time, there was a large crater where the road once was. Fortunately there were boards placed across for people to cross. The officer walked me across to where my 4-wheeler was waiting for me. I donned my leather jacket, which was in my bag, and removed the keys from my pocket. Just to my surprise, the 4-wheeler didn't start. "This would happen to me." I thought. After a couple minutes of toying with the silly machine, we got it started. I thanked the new acquaintance, hiked up the skirt of my dress and took off down the road. The air was cool, my hair was flying, and I drove as fast as I could for a midnight joy ride on a 4-wheeler in my prom gown.

Glee

I was watching the popular tv show, Glee (don't judge me), today. One of the lead roles, Rachel, meets a young man in a music store while looking for sheet music for her next performance (she was in a theater group in school, about to head to regionals). His introduction is what intrigued me. Instead of walking up and saying a simple "hello" or casually commenting on the sheet music she was browsing he just kind of popped out of nowhere, grabbed the sheet music, told her he watched one of her performances, commented on her talent, whisked her away to the piano to sing a romantic duet with him, asked her out on a date, all while she falls in love. As I watched all of this happen I questioned whether or not, if placed in her shoes, I would freak out a little. I mean seriously? I might have been a little suspicious to say the least. Especially since she knew he was on a competing drama team and he could simply be playing her to win regionals. If some random dude popped out of nowhere and tried to start conversation while he's uncomfortably close to my face I might panic a little. On top of that, if grabbed my sheet music and went to the piano and asked to sing a duet to a very romantic song, I would probably tell him to go away and leave me alone. That's a little creepy. I'm sorry. I don't think that's a proper way to introduce yourself to someone. I definitely fall head over heels with him either. I would be like "uh, could I have my sheet music back?". He was also incredibly narcissistic and self important, which for me is a turn off. He could have at least asked to see the sheet music instead of ripping it out of her hands. And he could have gently and politely invited her to join him on the piano. Then maybe I would consider going on a date with him. So overall, he needed to be polite and respectful. That's all I have to say.

Coffee Shop Guy

A couple of days ago I introduced myself to a young man who works at a coffee shop I visit regularly. We have had previous conversations while I ordered coffee a few times. He usually called me "buddy" or "dude" so I decided to introduce myself so he wouldn't have to use buddy anymore. He's a really super nice guy. Our first discussion was about China, as we had both traveled there on missions trips. The second was about music. We have the same taste in music which is awesome. We both like metal which is unusual for a girl so he was surprised when I told him what I listened to. He proceeded to exclaim "Well if only you were a drummer we could jam sometime!!" (apparently he's a bass player) to which I replied "I am a drummer." which he didn't believe. So hopefully sometime in the future we will be able to have a jam session together. Well this is all I have for now. I haven't met anyone new besides him. I am terribly sorry for my boring life.

Nothingness

I have had a bit of a crazy week with all of my makeup work and my parent't leaving for a trip to California, which leaves me the responsibility of taking care of my little brother, the house, and all of our animals. Thus, I haven't had time for anything social which means I didn't meet anyone new which results in nothing to write about. The only remotely exciting thing that has happened to me this past week was buying a dress for my Senior Prom. I am terribly sorry about my boring life. Hopefully next week will be more exciting.

Boys Are Lame

So I ran into the rudest boys ever today. This story really isn't relevant to why this blog was made, but I'm extremely disgruntled about this and feel like telling the internet about it.

Today after church I went to lunch with a friend and as we were walking out a group of boys passed us and said "'Sup hoes?" and other offending things. I just came from church so I obviously tried to dress as classy as Durango would allow. I wore jeans with a black tee and some pearls my Dad gave me for Christmas. Of course, I didn't know the boys were talking to us at first because we weren't dressed trashy in the least so it took me a few seconds and asking my friend to figure out they were talking to us. After I figured it out I turned around and began to chase them down to chew them out and punch them in the face for being jerks. But my friend convinced me not to. I wished she hadn't though. I really wanted to give them a piece of my mind. Ain't nobody call me a hoe and get away with it. Stupid boys...

Final Philippines Blog

Okay, this is the last blog about the Philippines trip.

I loved having the opportunity to get to know so many amazing people. They really made a huge difference in my life. I wish we all could have stayed a lot longer so I could get the chance to talk to each person individually to get to know them better, but that's the bummer about short term missions trips. At least I have Facebook to keep in touch with all of them.

White Lady On the Inside

This is another post about my experiences in the Philippines with the amazing people I met on the breathtakingly gorgeous islands. One of our guides was named Vladamir and he was pretty much the coolest guy ever. He would always joking with us on the long boat rides from island to island. He even gave some of us nick names which were, of course, hilarious. The nick name given to me was "white lady on the inside." and I will explain this all in the next paragraph.

Vlad, as he told us to call him, was taking a group picture for us. One thing I hate about group pictures is everyone hands the picture taker their cameras so that there are at least ten photos we have to pose for. So to make things entertaining I like to make a silly face on the last one. Usually nobody notices until later when the person goes through their pictures, but this was not the case with Vlad. He finally snapped the last picture "1...2...3". On three I struck a silly pose. Right after he snap the picture he exclaimed "Oh no! Do again." and pointing at me said "White lady on the inside." Thus I have a new nick name. I'm not sure what it means but it makes me laugh.

St, Paddy's Day

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to travel half way across the world to the Philippines for a missions trip. It was definitely the best thing that has happened to me this year. I had the pleasure of meeting any people who I will most likely never forget. This blog, however, is going to be about one in particular who has made a great impact on my life.

You would think, after my last statement, the person whom I am referring is a Filipino orphan or widow living in the slums with no hope in the world. Their lives utterly terrible and no way to ever overcome their poverty and misfortune. But this is not the person whom this blog will be about, even though, those people's grief will never escape my mind. Peter, is a nutty Irishman who has a passion for loving and caring for those people. At the tender age of 24 he has visited 41 different countries, most of which were on missions trips, and spent a great deal of time trying to change poverty stricken family's lives. Being raised by a medical missionary in the Congo, his father would let Peter assist him with gruesome surgeries, most of which consisted of amputating cancers from varies parts of sick bodies. Currently, Peter, is working for International Care Ministries in the Philippines organizing missions groups to come in a build houses, assist in the medical and dental clinics, and play with children.

Now that I have given some background on Peter, I will explain how I met him and how he changed my life. It was my fourth day being in the Philippines, which also happened to be St. Patrick's Day. Our group was grabbing some breakfast before heading to the building site to floor some buildings, when I noticed a man wearing a bright green shirt with "Ireland" written across the chest. "That is so awesome. I have to meet this guy." i thought to myself. After breakfast we were walking to the building site when I noticed the Ireland guy in front of me, so I jogged to catch up to him and said in a friendly voice "Hey, I'm Elisabeth. I don't think I've met you yet." he turned to look and laughed "Funny how you don't meet someone 'til the fourth day of a trip like this. I'm Peter." He spoke with an Irish accent, which was awesome. When I learned he was from Ireland, I informed him I am half Irish and he became very excited. We talked the rest of the way to the building site and he told me a little about himself. I decided he was definitely the most interesting person I had ever had the pleasure to talk with.

Later that night at dinner, I decided to sit next to him to hear more about his intriguing life. I told him of my desire to be a medical missionary and his face lit up as he informed me his father is a medical missionary in the Congo. For the rest of the week I asked him so many questions and would listen as he told me disgusting stories of surgeries and encouraged me in my walk with God and following my dreams. He even offered for me to travel to the Congo and work with his dad. What an amazing opportunity!

Meeting Peter really encouraged me in my life to follow my dreams and passions with all of my heart and never give up. It also made my goals seem much more real and attainable. I could write pages on my conversations with Peter and the impact he had on my life, but it's very personal and I would feel awkward sharing it over the internet.

Adventures in Moab, Utah

This past weekend was spent camping and jeeping in the great Moab, Utah with a handful of my college age friends. Unfortunately, I do not own a Jeep so I rode in my friend, Tyler's, and the boy I met two Fridays ago, Mike. I made a few new acquaintances, but it's very hard to get to know people very well when you're riding in separate Jeeps all day. But I did get the chance, however, to get to know Mike better because, of course, we were in the same Jeep. Though, I am going to take this opportunity to diverge from the purpose of this blog and tell you the story of an experience I had with Mike instead of talking about my thoughts and feelings about getting to know him. This is because the story is awesome and the later is boring and I'm not particularly in the mood for writing about boring stuff.

Most of what we were doing all day Saturday was called rock crawling. This consists of driving Jeeps up ridiculously large rocks and hoping you don't roll while doing so. If you have a Jeep, however, that is made for rock crawling, like Tyler's, you don't do as much worrying as you do climbing. It had been a long day of crawling and we were heading back to our campsite before our daylight died. I was sleepy and a little chilled because Tyler had taken the front doors off of his Jeep and the warmth of the day had vanished, causing cold air to fill Vanessa (Vanessa is what I named his Jeep). I was seated in the back so at least doors were protecting me from the frigid air, unlike Mike and Tyler in front, but I was still cold and tired. Anyway, coldness really doesn't have anything to do with my story... So we're coming up to this rock about to start climbing and, overcome with tiredness I opened my mouth to let out a big yawn. Mike glances back at me and exclaims,
"Did you seriously just yawn?"
"Yeah. I'm really tired." I say with a smile.
"Do you not see what's in front of us?!" He was obviously very concerned about this.
"Yeah, I'm just not that worried about it. Seriously, what's the worst that could happen?" Sometimes I'm a little too laid back.
"Uh, we die?"
"Psh, then I die." I spoke a little too soon...
We were climbing and all of a sudden Vanessa starts to slide down the rock and before we knew it, she rolled completely over and back on her side. We were about to go over again and off a steep decline but last minute she slammed back down on her passenger side. I began to look around to make sure Mike and Tyler were okay. Tyler glanced back at me to do the same. Everyone was fine. Our friends outside were in a panic and leaped out of their Jeeps to come help us. Mike, being a firefighter yelled to our friends on the outside "Is it stable?! Is it Stable?!" I start to unbuckle to begin to climb out when I smelled smoke and I heard a voice exclaim "It's on fire! Get the @#%! out of the Jeep!" All in a panic Mike unbuckles his seat belt and notices that Tyler's is stuck. He begins to help him but Tyler yelled "Get Elisabeth!" because he's sweet and was worried about me and obviously didn't think I would be able to get out by myself. Mike flew out over Tyler to get to me. By that time I already unbuckled my seat belt and opened the door over my head. As I'm climbing out I see Mike standing below with his arms held out yelling "Elisabeth, jump!". Yeah, there was no way I was going to leap into his arms, so I flung myself out of the Jeep and ate it when I landed. Mike did get the chance, however, to help me up. Tyler had already managed to undo his seatbelt and was searching for a fire extinguisher.One of our friends ran up to put out the flame, but his fire extinguisher had expired and didn't work. By that time, Tyler found another one and extinguished the flame.

We were all okay and no one got seriously injured except for poor Vanessa. She was seriously the coolest Jeep ever. The next five or six hours were spent in the dark putting Vanessa back on her tires and getting her back to town so she could be fixed. The whole trail was on sandstone, so it was very difficult to find the trail in the dark, so the passengers guided the Jeeps on foot by flashlight. It was midnight by the time we got back into town. We were all exhausted and famished, so instead of heading back to the campsite and attempt to make food for ourselves, we went to Denny's and kicked back with some burgers.

The trip was unbelievably awesome. I wouldn't give it up for the world. One always grows so much closer to the people they're with when they go through something traumatic or stressful. Life is indeed an adventure.

Drugs and Alcohol in Result in Jail Time

Another typical Monday, sitting at my favorite coffee shop, Joe's, finishing a paper for class. I was sipping on my skinny vanilla latte when a girl, about 19 years old, walks up to me and asks to use my computer to activate her phone. I was really confused about the situation, but I agreed to let her use my computer anyway. She thanked me extensively and offered me money, but I refused to take any type of payment. I just wanted to be a nice person because it makes me feel really awesome. We got to talking a little bit and asked me what I was doing at Joe's. I explained I go to do my homework after class everyday. To be polite I returned the question. "I just got out of jail a few hours ago and I'm here for an AA meeting." I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that because I'd never asked someone that question and gotten that response. So my reply was "Oh cool." We talked for a little longer when all of a sudden she asked if I did drugs. I was also caught off guard by this question. I told her I didn't and she got really excited and asked if we could hang out sometime. Again, confused as to what was going on I replied "Yeah! Totally.Sounds awesome." Apparently, she's quite the trouble maker and needs to hang out with people who will be a good influence on her and, since I look like such a good kid, she wanted to hang out with me. So she got my number and said she would text me sometime.

I'm really quite astounded with the situations I get myself into. The most random stuff happens to me. She hasn't text me yet, but I hope she does and I'll be able to get to know her better. She looks like she really needs help. I like helping people a lot. I'll be praying for her. Maybe I can be a good influence on her and get her back on track with life. Life is so interesting.

Chivalry is Not Dead

So this is a continuation of my Friday night, but it's a completely different story, so I thought I would make it a separate post.
We were getting a group together to hang out Friday night and one of my friends asked if he could bring one if his friends that he met last semester while he was training in the Fire Academy. I didn't think much about it so I agreed. I had no idea he would be one of the most interesting guys I'd ever met.
He gave of a wonderful first impression if I do say so myself. He was very polite and chivalrous. All night he would make sure i didn't slip as we walked across ice, open doors for me, gave up his chair for me if I was not sitting, and made sure I was always comfortable. I have to admit, I am not used to being treated in such a way and it was embarrassing to get so much attention, but I still appreciated his chivalry very much. There was even a time where I slipped on the ice and he managed to catch me. I was very impressed.
Not only was he one of the sweetest guys I had the pleasure to meet, but he was very interesting as he had a great many quirks. He had a sweet tattoo, played guitar, listened to awesome music, and had a good sense of humor. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to meet him. Hooray for nice guys!

The Buss Boy Returns

So a while ago I posted something about a cute bus boy at a restaurant who I gave my number to who ended up being not a very great guy for me. Well I had almost completely forgotten about that incident, until Friday night.
I was hanging out with a friend when he ran into one of his friends from work. He introduced her to me and after shaking my hand she exclaimed "Oh my gosh, you're the girl from the Mahogany Grill!" I was slightly confused at first and I'm sure I gave her a blank look because she said "You and Gavin had that thing going...." and did a gesture with her hands. "Oh, yes. That was me." I said as I laughed in disbelief. "I get myself into the most interesting situations....." I thought to myself. She went on as she explained what happened back in the kitchen that night. Apparently this boy had been trying to come up with different ways to ask for my number. The staff was even making bets as to whether or not he would get my number. Even our waiter that night was in on this. I guess he told the buss boy that he would buy him a round of drinks if he actually got it. She precided to tell me that the only reason why he didn't call is because I said something about being a high school student. Our conversation ended by her saying "But it was better that he didn't call you. He's not really a great guy and you don't wanna get yourself mixed up with him." and then leaving me to bask in my awkwardness. Things always come back to haunt me.

The Death of My Brain

Today is the day that my brain officially died. Either that or took a vacation with out me. It's probably sitting on a beach somewhere drinking pina coladas. I really don't have anything to write about so before I write anything that doesn't make any sense, I'm gonna go. Bye!

Georgian Cyclist

So I haven't written in a while because I totally forgot about the blog. I'm sorry about this. This last weekend my friend introduced me to this really awesome guy. He attends the local college and is originally from Georgia. We met at dinner and watched my friend's hockey game together after. I found out he lived in Germany for a little bit when he was young and is really into cycling. He was also incredibly funny so I enjoyed talking to him very much. I love talking to funny people. This guy was almost as crazy as I am. that's all I have to say. Until next time...

Nazi Zombies

My luck has changed. Last night I finished my homework at my favorite coffee shop and had absolutely nothing to do apart from going home, which I didn't want to do because going home would mean complete and utter boredom. So I decided to stay and talk to the barista at the coffee shop. One of my friends ended up coming into the coffee shop and we decided to go to her friend's house to hang with him and his friend. It ended up being a lot of fun. I played Nazi Zombies on X Box with his friend for the majority of the time, which is so much fun. I can see why boys are obsessed it. The guy that was playing x box with was really awesome. He just moved here from California at the beginning of the school year and is planning on going to Mines for college this fall. He was also a really good partner on Nazi Zombies. I'm glad I finally made a new acquaintance.

The Most Boring Post Ever.

This past week and a half I haven't met anyone new at all. I need to get back on my game! Sorry for not posting anything of any interest lately. It's only half way through this week so hopefully I'll meet someone entertaining and blog about it soon.

Florida

I am having a spectacular time in Florida. My dear Shamrock looks wonderful and was very excited to see me. He's so adorable it makes me smile. My brother, Nick, is showing him this weekend so I get to watch and help groom. Though, Shamrock doesn't like Nick riding him, they make a better pair than I expected, which is wonderful. It's so nice to be back in the "horse world". I have missed it very much indeed. I have had the opportunity to see some of my coaches and friends from last year, but have not had the opportunity to meet anyone whom I wasn't already aquainted with. So farwell for now. Until we meet again...

Old Ladies and Business Men

At the moment I am sitting in the Pheonix airport. Again, I don't have anything to write about, but I'm bored so I thought I would make a new blog post. The only dissapointing thing about flying during the week is that there are no cute boys to keep me entertained. Sitting all around me are old women and business men. Not very much fun to stare at in any way. Well I'm getting ready to board my flight. Until next time.

Excitement

Tomorrow I am leaving for Florida! I am so very excited! I don't have anything to write about. But I thought I would announce my excitement on my blog. I hope everyone has a wonderful night.

Elastoplast

It's the start of another splendid week. At the moment I'm at my second home, drinking a cup of impeccable coffee, while trying to knock out some homework. I don't have anything too terribly important to write about. The rest of my weekend was spent sleeping and studying for an advanced chemistry exam. Starting Wednesday, I have an exciting week planned as I am going to Florida to visit my eldest brother and my stupendous horse, Shamrock. I'm very excited to see to see my gorgeous steed again and make sure he is getting proper care and attention. If not I shall be very cross with my brother, who is caring for him. I'm hoping it will be a wonderful, refreshing vacation from snow and school. Thus, starting Wednesday, I should have plenty to write about. I'm feeling very British right now, so this paragraph is too be read in a British accent. This might be a sign I have had far too much coffee. Farewell for now. We shall meet again.

Grapes, Togas, and Gladiator Wars

Last night proved not to be as much fun as I thought it would be. I did, however, learn a very important lesson: never go to a party without a male escort or things get very interesting. At one point of the party I decided to sit in in the corner of the room to avoid the crazed boys. While I was content in my own thoughts, some random guy decided to sit on me. One of his friends hurried over, pulled his friend off, and apologized for his behavior. Then we got to talking a little. It turns out he attended to the same school I attend when he was in 7th grade. He was awesome. Funny and vivacious and polite, he definitely made the party a more enjoyable experience for me. We had a lot to talk about before I finally decided to leave and go home.

Overall, the party was fun but since I didn't know that many people it made it slightly awkward. I did, however, dominate the gladiator pit. I remained undefeated the entire night, all while wearing heals. A true feat. In fact, the boys were so impressed with my kick butt skills, I was asked to be the bouncer for the party. I didn't accept their invitation. I didn't think I would be taken seriously.

Toga

Today I don't have anything relevant to meeting people to write about, but I am in the mood to write so I decided to create a new post. This morning I decided to sleep in because I'm not feeling great, but I don't have classes so the day allows it. I woke up, checked my emails, finished the last of my college stuff, and made a toga. This may sound rather random, but there is a purpose for the toga as I am attending a toga party tomorrow night. Togas are pretty awesome so I'm excited about it. That's all I have to write about. I apologize again for the boring post. Hopefully, the toga party will be all sorts of fun and I'll have something to write about Saturday morning.

The Depressing Post

I returned from my Denver adventure and am now back in Durango doing my usual on a Wednesday afternoon. Which is sitting at my favorite coffee shop and getting some homework knocked out. Today hasn't been particularly enjoyable. You know those days when everything just doesn't go well? This has been one of those days. Nothing really terrible has happened, but nothing great either. I woke up with a headache and a cough, got to school late because I needed to get gas, forgot my homework for all of my classes at home, returned late from lunch and got in trouble, and it's snowing. I don't hate snow, but we already have at least 4 feet and it's one of those damp, wet, dreary snows that soaks into your bones like.... well, I couldn't think of a good simile to put there. But you get the picture. It's cold. I don't have anything to write about but I felt like writing so I decided to whine and post it on the internet. I apologize for this depressing post. But I'm drinking coffee so my life is getting a bit better. I love coffee.

Denver

The past couple of days I've been in Denver for a rather unpleasant reason. I had to take an 8 hour test in a psychiatric office to diagnose my dyslexia. Though it wasn't as terrible as it sounds, they had me play with blocks and picture puzzles for some of it, but 8 hours of any kind of test is troublesome. I was able to talk it up with a variety of people even though most of my time was taken up being psychologically analyzed.
Since I spent two days with my tester, I got to know her a little. She would talk to me about music and interests and things like that when we were not in testing. I found out she used to dance in high school, which is awesome because i have a lot of dancing experience also. She is a Radiohead fanatic, as am I, so that's another thing we have in common. I really enjoyed our brief talks in between tests, she even gave me stickers when we were finished. She was awesome.
I also had a few random strangers come up and talk to me. There was this lady in the psychiatric office who came to sit next to me and talk while I was on break. Apparently her 11 year old daughter is dyslexic as well and having a hard time is school. So i gave her a few pointers as to what helped me when I was her age in school. And a clerk in the mall while I was trying on sun glasses started a conversation with me about colleges. She was a little too in-your-face for my liking, but overall very nice.
So the past three days have been very productive for me as far as meeting people. And they were all girls! This proved my theory wrong. But my theory is still valid in most cases.

Unlikeableness

As I was going over the details of last night I noticed something in common with all of my new acquaintances. All of them have been guys. Now I started to muse about this and I have developed a theory as to why this is. And my theory is that girls are mean. As simple as that. If you are female and introduce yourself to another female it's generally an awkward and unpleasant experience. Here's a basic senario; I walk up to a girl and introduce myself, she does the up-and-down judgement stare to size me up. If she decides I am not a huge threat, she will initiate a conversation with a reserved judgmental tone choosing her words carefully as to determine whether she likes me or not. Once I prove myself as a nice person, she might decide to be nice back. Though it's not likely. Girls generally don't like to reach outside of their own group to make new friends. They would rather stick with the comfort of surrounding themselves with familiar people. Mind you, this is only my theory. I don't mean to stereotype all females because there are always exceptions. Only most females are like this. Thus, meeting females is not a happy experience and i would rather not deal with the awkwardness and meet boys. That's all I have to say on the matter.

Nintendo 64

Snowdown was more fun than I expected. I watched the parade with some of my friends. After the parade we hung out in my friend's dorm room at the college and played old school Nintendo 64. I rocked Super Smash Bros and dominated the boys. The years of playing with my older brother and his friends payed off. But reminiscing about old memories of playing Nintendo was not the only opportunity that arose. I also was able to make a few more acquaintances.
I had never actually met my friends roommate before last night. He's very interesting to say the least. We walked into the dorm while he was jamming on his electric guitar, and I have to say, his playing was quite impressive. We began to discuss music and we actually have a lot in common as far as taste in music. I hardly ever come across someone with similar music taste I don't listen to that main stream stuff so he definitely earned likability points. But other than his taste in music and epic guitar skills, he was hard to be too terribly fond of him. He had strong opinions about everything and there was something a little off about him, though I couldn't figure out what it was. Overall though, he was pretty chill.
I also met another guy who showed up in the dorm. I'm not entirely sure who he was, but he was slightly creepy. He had a tendency to lurk in the back of the room and he smelled bad. I wasn't very fond of him.
Another point during the night, we ventured out of the room and chilled on the couches in the lobby. Another group of guys were out there and we got to talking a bit. One of the guys was from Louisville, Kentucky which is where my dad is grew up. It's so awesome when you find something in common like that with a complete stranger. I enjoyed talking with him very much because he was funny and i enjoy conversations that make me laugh.
My night was extremely enjoyable! Hooray for amazing nights where I make new friends!

Party!

I still haven't met a single unfamiliar person this week! I won't get down on myself though because tomorrow is Snow Down! Snow Down is a big celebration in my town. I think we celebrate snow but I'm not really sure the purpose for it other than an excuse to have a party. But who doesn't like to party? Plenty of opportunities will present themselves to me tomorrow.

untitled

This week I have had the opportunity to meet a few people I was not well acquainted with. Though, I hate to admit, I didn't really get to know them. In my small town, what we hope will be a major movement for the youth of Durango has just begun. There's not much for teenagers to do, aside from smoking pot or, if your me, hanging out in coffee shops. And the lack of something to do is hopefully coming to an end.
The director of Camp Kivu, formerly known as Kanakuk Colorado, moved to Durnago from Branson. He noticed the need for change and decided to do something about it. So he started a youth meeting for Christian kids and is hoping to turn it into something big. But for now it's just a handful of Christian kids meeting Monday nights to worship, pray, and discuss matters of faith and other matters in the world. It's building a great community.
Anyway, back to my point, which is that since i go to a small school I don't know many kids from my town. So Monday night I made a few more acquaintances. Though, I am disappointed that I didn't take advantage of the opportunity to try to get to know them better. But there is no need to be down on myself because there is always next week.

Condement Forts and Hypervenalation (pt ll)

I forgot to incorporate the moral of my story in the ending. The moral is if you are a pleasant and open in appearance, it should not prove terribly difficult to meet other human beings because they will generally initiate the conversation first. Or if you're just awesome as i am, random persons will be drawn to you.

Condement Forts and Hypervenalation

It's the end of the week and i was finally able to over come the overabundance of snow and make my way to church! I was indeed overjoyed to leave the confines of my room to do something fun. After church Claire and I went to one of our favorite restaurants in town, The Diamond Belle. I would say it's my favorite because they serve delightful salads, which are hard to find, and mouthwatering fries. Not to mention our friend, Colt works there so we receive excellent service.
(Here's a rabbit trail for you, though I promise I will eventually make it back to the story.) I've begun to notice friendly people will randomly walk up and start conversations with another person if the person looks good natured and open to a little chit chat. Which, in my case, happens a lot. I never knew why, but in my opinion the reason is that I'm generally a happy, easy going person most of the time. A typical human being enjoys being around other human beings, and it's quite entertaining to verbalize with unfamiliar persons.
Anyway...(back to my story)As Claire and I were nibbling on the sustenance before us and snickering uncontrollably at each other's ludicrous behavior, Colt would visit us at random. Every so often, the cook would join Colt on these brief visitations. Obviously, the cook was drawn to our awesomeness. (I was building forts out of condiment containers on the table) Who could blame him for desiring to associate with us?
At one moment during our meal I caused Claire to laugh so arduously she began to hyperventilate (indeed. I am that amusing) and had to run to the restroom, leaving me alone at the booth with my condiment fort. In the duration of her absence, the cook sat himself down across the table for me and began to converse. Thus, I deemed the appropriate action would be to introduce myself. And i did just that. We spoke for a small period of time before Claire returned capable of taking a full breath. Thus is my epic story of meeting my human being for the week.
Just as a side note: Claire and I don't get kicked out of the restaurant because we're regulars and we're awesome.

too much snow!

I have indeed felt much better lately, but due to the snow I have not been able to meet anyone because I'm not able to get out of my driveway.

Unhealthfulness

This week I have not had the opportunity to meet any new people because sickness overtook my feeble body. So the past few days have been spent in slumberland and when conscious, swigging tea, gormandizing soup, and hearkening the sweet sound of Vampire Weekend's new CD, Contra. No social life for me. This is indeed very grave. However, this morning I am feeling much better and may even be able to venture out of my house to recrudescent to school tomorrow. Not that I'm looking forward to relinquishing the amenities of my house to face the vexations of high school, but it would be nice not to fall behind in my academics. I must bid you all farewell for now. I will count the seconds until we meet again...

fail

This past week and a half since i started trying to reach out of my comfort zone and meet new people i feel has been a mostly positive experience. I certainly have been more confident and comfortable in public and i have so enjoyed my conversations with people I am not well acquainted with. Though, I think everything you do should be done in moderation. Too much of anything can be have a negative effect, even if it's a positive thing.
This past weekend my friend Claire's parents went out of town. We decided to have an epic Elisabeth and Claire weekend so I spent the weekend at her house. Both being single,decided to "hit the town" Saturday night. So we donned our cutest dresses, dug out some heals, and treated ourselves to a fancy dinner. While at dinner, we took notice of the super attractive bus boy who apparently had taken notice of us too, walking past our table five times a minute openly staring in our direction. He started to take our dinner plates away saying something along the lines of "I'll put these in in boxes for you ladies and do i know you?" and pointed at me. I was so caught off guard that he was actually talking to me my response was "me?" and pointed to myself. "I don't think so" The most adorable smile spread across his face "Because you look really familiar." he said. And thus, we started a conversation trying to figure out whether we had met before. We decided that we hadn't, though it gave him an opportunity to talk to me and flirt a little. The fact that he was showing interest in me mixed with my newfound confidence, clouded up my reasoning and I decided to leave my number for him. Life lesson # 1,295: never leave your number for random cute strangers. EVER.
Fortunately for me, I have friends who work at the same restaurant. So, being the stalker that I am, I asked them if the knew him. It turns out that they did know him, and he has a reputation of sleeping around a lot and goes both ways. Gross. Now, I have gay uncles and friends so I'm not judging this guy, but i wouldn't want to go on a date with someone who likes both girls and boys. It's not really my thing.
The moral of my embarrassing story is that confidence, though it's a good thing, should be used in moderation. And I would like to add to never leave you're number for random guys also. Learn from my mistake.

O, The Wonders of the Internet

Every Monday afternoon I sit at my favorite coffee shop ever, Durango Joe's, and work on homework before i go to my hockey practice. Occasionally i will take breaks from the stresses of homework and log on to my favorite internet site, which happens to be facebook.
Yesterday afternoon I finished most of my homework and decided to check my facebook and discovered that i had a new friend request from a friend of a friend. I had never actually met him in my life, but decided to accept because I knew of him and he sounded cool. Since i had nothing better to do, I started chatting with and discovered that he was a super interesting person. He's originally from Spain and also lived in Honduras for a year. We hit it off right away because of my love of traveling and talked about how America compares to other countries in the world. He ended up calling me later that night (fun fact:I'm deathly afraid of talking on the phone but for some odd reason decided to answer anyway) to get to know me better and we decided to get dinner together before i had to go to hockey practice. Our mutual friend ended up joining us which was awesome because it got rid of the awkwardness of eating dinner with a complete stranger. Though, I have to say, it was terribly fun to talk and be real with someone I didn't know. We didn't talk about much, just our interests and hobbies and such, but it was very interesting to see the world through someone else perspective. That's really all i have to say for now.