Dawg

Ok, thought that was hilarious. Xzibit “lolcats” are my new favorite thing ever.

1:15 AM: I just got back from four hours of sledding outside and I wish it didn’t end! We lost four good men tonight… four good intertubes. They popped under pressure, but their sacrifice was not in vain; each provided many belly laughs for Anson, neighbors, and I. For all who have not tried night sledding, I HIGHLY recommend it! It’s like night skiing or boarding but in the convenience of your own neighborhood.

My challenge to everyone: Let out your inner child! Just do it. If you have no one to do it with, let me know. We will play.

For all of you who doubt climate change, take a look outside. There is about a foot at my house and I think the old record was five inches. The climate has changed. Now it would be wonderful to rejoin civilization and do some Christmas shopping!

Bleh!

Neighbors from my house

The local news has a Steve-Pool-weather boner right now thanks to this snowstorm and the impending windstorm. Everyone is up in arms! I never thought I’d say this, but I’m sick of the snow. I want to be out past 5:00 without worrying about my life sliding into a ditch. Yet it is so beautiful...

I managed to get out today and bought a book (One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – thanks Jake!) to read by the fire but just realized the fire is located next to my brother and his hooligan Nintendo friends. Oh well, can’t wait to read it not by the fire.

Apparently the floor in my Seattle room was destroyed because a sprinkler froze and exploded on the top floor (the “penthouses”) so is causing water damage. Of course my room and Jen’s bathroom was in its path of destruction. Kipp and some construction guys evacuated my room and they ripped out all of my drenched carpet. I hope there was nothing embarrassing lying around. Actually, there was dirty clothes because I didn’t have time to do some laundry – oops! Had I known my room would soon be a flood victim and that there would be strangers and friends in my room, I would have cleaned out my room much better… Put that in your back pockets, folks. Would you want some strangers seeing that? Touching that?

The Fall sounds beyond amazing. I’m craving an epic :)

Sunny

Kira and Grandma! I love this photo. Pure joy.

First snow.

O hai. IT IS CURRENTLY DUMPING SNOW AT MY HOUSE! I can hear it as I type in the dark in my room. Earlier today I watched most of the snow melt as it snowed… weird, yes. My front yard / cul-de-sac almost instantaneously got covered in a thin layer when I watched the snow fall for a few minutes a little while ago upstairs. It would be fun to play in tomorrow, so I hope it sticks. Hopefully the roads won’t be too treacherous.

Anywhoot, today was refreshing. Today I did things for me; a nice change of pace from the non-stop quarter. Some Christmas decorations went up as I was dressed in my new snow gear. It was grand.

A good chunk of the day was spent dancing to M.I.A. and watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I probably shouldn’t have watched it with my mom and Thomas but oh my god it was so funny and they thought so, too!

Dennis: Why would you do this to us, Dad?
Danny DeVito: Because you are crackheads, children.

The tagline on IMDB describes the show as “Seinfeld on crack.” It couldn’t be more accurate.

I need ideas of what to get my older brother for his graduation present for graduating the Fire Academy. Is my surprise visit good enough? Nah, I will think of something. My hair guy told me to get him a bunch of candles. Ha! Go, bro. Mark’s dream has finally been fulfilled! Now he gets to be a hero for a living!

Flurries

It’s snowing right now! There’s at least an inch in my yard already. Beau and I just went outside and ran around in it. I just had a real moment of zen – I was spinning around, arms outstretched, staring into space – when I got the butterflies from realizing that order has been restored. It is officially Christmas break and I feel so at peace with the world. Hoorah snow!

My professor passed me after the most intimidating meeting and hour of my life yesterday. After talking and basically taking an oral final II, he decided I was close enough grade-wise and competent enough to pass. Lesson learned: sleep before a huge final. I just hope others can prove that they deserve to pass, too. Thank you for the support!!! The weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I was being dramatic and told my Mom that I lost everything on Thursday. I’m happy that it wasn’t true. Perhaps the era isn’t over, afterall. It will never be over.

Choosing a place for the elephant: ribs, shoulder blade, foot, ass, thunder-thigh. I can’t commit. Hmm…

Kira and Jessica are here. God, Kira is a doll!

I swear this is on an unrelated note, it’s effing hilarious:

Purgatory

I have never worked for something so hard in my entire life.

As the title suggests, I find myself in purgatory. I can’t believe it; this could be the end of an era. I keep mentioning how great my friends are. They are my family… the best thing I have… the best things I had. They always will be, but now everything is different. Who knows what the final judgment will be? Time will tell. All I know is that I can’t get my hopes up. I’ve heard that so many times in the last few months, but this time is the one time I wish I could hope. This should’ve been something I had a greater power over.

This quarter has been one challenge after another. I feel like I’ve been tested to my limit. For what? For me to prove myself again and again, to only fail in the end. I’m going to fucking explode. Just let me - What is this life? Get me out. Merry effing Christmas. Can I ask for prayers for me and Laura? For all of us who worked so hard? Who did our absolute best?

Now I need sleep.

DP

Who says staying in on a Friday night is bad?! Tonight I studied drugs over wine and an awesome spontaenous dance party break. The dancing actually helped get the blood flowing so I don’t regret it.

I solemnly swear to not have any fun (excluding White Elephants and impending DP’s) from this point forth until Thursday after the pharm final… ha. Four tests in one week… the thought of not being with the Autoclaves next quarter makes me cry on the inside. That will be my motivation! Looking forward to the post-finals bar crawl and F.U.F.!

Hmm… there’s a fight going on outside my apartment right now. What’s new? I don’t care – the apartment is now clean and my bed has never felt better. The smell of fresh laundry is so wonderful.

Christmas decorations will be up on Sunday when my mom comes to help me out! It’s starting to get balls cold, finally. It is definitely finally feeling like a winter. (Knock on wood about the lack of rain!)

Tribute

I know it’s only been one day since posting about Thanksgiving, but can I express my thanks for friends again - more directly?

I don’t know what I did to deserve such amazing and good-looking company; I’ve never in my 21 years of life had friends like you. Tonight I again realized how blessed I am. This is love. This is joy in its absolute purest form. I can’t wipe this grin off my face when I think about it! I am so thankful for you, my friends, defenders of the silver lining. Just thought I’d jot this down for myself to look back and smile on. I also think it’s important that you know. kthxbai!

Thanksgiving

Dear Loyal Reader / Prudence :) ,

I started a post a couple of weeks ago about the Opus Prize but it’s not ready yet. I don’t know how to accurately convey the inspiration I felt those two days…

The next 2 weeks will be spent studying and probably getting a C in return. Great feeling. Story of the whole Fall Quarter, unfortunately!

(worthwhile studying before Fall Ball)

Thanksgiving “break” was such a tease, but I am thankful for it anyway. Jake stayed with me which was really fun. We had a huge music exchange – always a win in my book! He got to see my family at its finest, grandparents included. We made the biggest Thanksgiving feast in my family’s history (which says a lot) and enjoyed the results while watching Kung Fu Panda for the second time. What more can you ask for? We decided we wanted to hit up some Black Friday deals, but failed to get up by 4:30 AM because we stayed up late chatting. We ended up making it to two sales at 8 AM!

This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for my friends, defenders of the silver lining. For family, no matter how dysfunctional. For hearts on fire, in action. For music. For memories. For opportunity. For health. For laughter. For trust. For goodness. For hope (Obama). For impending snowfall. For this winter’s nice weather! For bad (sexyback) dancing! For the internet! For DVDs! Specifically: their stories, their messages, their humor, their feeding of my soul. Honorable mention: The Fall, Closer, Flight of the Conchords, Kung Fu Panda, Love Actually.

Now, ON TO CHRISTMAS!
Adios, funds.

…but first comes finals. WHY???

R-R-R-Random

I’ll be naming my baby “Iron Man, Jr.” (Elise – genius!) considering who the father is. I woke up with really bad nausea this morning, I have lower back pains, and I eat everything in sight. Ha! Perfect :p

Sometimes my urge to get that tattoo is so strong… like right now. That little elephant could be coming soon if I get the guts. My patient today had a tattoo on her upper leg. Maybe that would be a better spot than my foot? It was a weird spot, but it worked. It’s more intimate and easy to hide. Hmm…

Flight of the Conchords is one of the only thing keeping my spirits up right now. Why did it take me so long to see the light? I have deeper thoughts to share, but not now. Raaaandom.

Cravings

I thought I’d share something off of a blog I just read that I absolutely loved:

I trust in the ever-changing climate of the heart. I think it is necessary to have many experiences for the sake of feeling something; for the sake of being challenged, and for the sake of being expressive, to offer something to someone else, to learn what we are capable of. -Jason Mraz

I’m craving experiences! This prison cell a.k.a. reading room of the library is one lame excuse for an experience.

He’s playing a special acoustic set tomorrow night at the Paramount. Where will I be? I will be with 10 expecting couples learning how to give birth…

Back to craving the slopes… I mean… studying.
This craving must be satiated soon ;)

PROGRESS

PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA – wow.

It is amazing that we have lived to see the first black president of the USA. The fact that our country was able to see his skin color and beyond that to his character, and then go as far as to elect him as the world’s most powerful man shows that even though we have a long way to go before overcoming racism, our country has made significant progress in the last 40 years. Progress! Now we have so much to look forward to and great things to work towards. Like he said, change may not happen in one year or even one term, but we are moving towards it.

I like the quote on my Obama shirt:

“This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.”

We saw: 
A war going in the wrong direction
A crashing economy
The negative identity we have in the world
The possibility of Roe v Wade being overturned 
The threat of the global warming and dwindling resources
The problems with health care
…and so many other things

Then came the guy who understood us.

He empowers, he wants change, he inspires, he is truly global, he just gets it.

Did you hear about the world’s reaction? I’ve heard people were in tears in Spain and Denmark. Kenya is declaring today a public holiday.

Did you hear about Seattle’s reaction?!

I was in Federal Way because I took my mom home from the airport when this broke out. When I saw it on the news, I knew there was NO way I could miss something this huge happening a couple blocks from where I live! 5,000 people! The energy seemed as electric on Broadway and Pike as the DNC, maybe even more. The booze probably helped.

This has been such an incredible journey. I was finally swayed to Obama after the primaries and was surprised to see myself sucked into the election. Then I got the amazing opportunity to see him accept his nomination in Denver at the DNC. I finally got to do some volunteering but unfortunately it was late in the game on election day. Emily and I were at the MoveOn office making phone calls to voters when the news came out! The response was just incredible everywhere. People were honking horns, running through streets screaming, blowing off fireworks, having huge election watch parties… We did it. I am so proud of our country and to be an American.

Yes we can. Yes we did. Yes we will!

Gravity

Rant time. Ready? Go.

There’s been a lot of weight on my shoulders lately – at times feeling unbearable. If America is smart they can help me a little! I don’t know what I’ll do with myself once the election is over. This election is one of the things I’m most passionate about. Today is a day I’ve been hoping for for a long time… I’ll have nothing left to hope for! (Besides the future…) You should see me now. I’m decked out in Obama gear and will hopefully get a chance to use myself as a human billboard soon when I walk down to the MoveOn office to phonebank with Emily!

Come on, nation.

I’m confident but also a little worried. I’ve never wanted something so much! Well, for politics.

I care more about the election than I do about school. At this point, I’m just worried about getting through this quarter! I was having (and maybe still am having?) a mid-college crisis because I just haven’t been feeling fulfilled. The program is unbelievably competitive. The professors expect so much out of us which is great but sometimes I don’t now if the pressure is worth it! The program is… the people are… the pressure… all of it…… just nuts. It sucks to never feel caught up and work so hard for a mediocre grade. Hey, all you need is C’s! But when you tell people you’re happy with a B and they look at you like you’re crazy? What the eff… Clinicals make it worth it. It’s so amazing seeing new babies. I’ve worked too hard and come too far to give up now.

I apologize for going livejournal and bitching about life! I shouldn’t be bitching about nursing so much because the weight is coming from other areas. Personal stuff, family worries, living on your own… It adds up!

Let it snow – I want to escape to the mountains and ride away my troubles… for $60. Shit!

My mom is in New York having the time of her life. I’m so happy for her! I pick her up from the airport at midnight tonight.

I need to go find healthier, more productive distractions.
Ohhhhh, gravity wants to bring me down.

Vote

...for this man. I just felt like putting one of my DNC photos up. (PS - that's Obama, I realize this is probably too small to tell.)
Inspired yet?
Ready for change?!

GO VOTE and have a happy Halloween!

Hungry

Learn the truth about college by clicking that little guy to the left!!! Guaranteed laughs.

My Tuesday and Wednesday off were a fail in the productive category. What's new? For crying out loud, I forgot I had a class with a septic robot baby today!

It's okay, today was still good. I finally got to play Little Big Planet on PS3 which was a lot of fun! I need to steal my N64 from home. My brother would kill me even though he owns basically every game console there is. I also saw a lot of friends today for a change!

I did accomplish one thing. I bought ingredients to my Halloween costume! Is it racist for me to dress up like white trash? I don't mean to offend, I just think it's funny. Then again that's probably what people think that end up being offensive. If anyone asks, I can just be trailer trash -- is that racist too? I've found that my white friends don't seem to care but the asian ones are iffy. I need a bigger sample size... Another thing to add to my race study. There's a subject my interests lie in!

My soul is hungry and nursing classes aren't what it craves; I know I'm not the only one (Rachel!!!). I really don't think school is what I need right now but I need to keep up so I can stay with my nursing friends! They are the only reason I can make it through so I can be a nurse (at least I know I want to do that). It'd be so great to read a worthwhile book, learn a language, take an art class, help the vulnerable, explore different faiths, learn about cultures beyond what I know, etc.... not in these next couple of years! Nope, it'll be memorizing books about science and learn "how to critically think" or "how to communicate." F-U-N. How I could go on.... until next time!

One

Hi, friends -- I guess an intro is in order!

The name of this blog is based off of a John Mayer song that has always meant a lot to me, 3x5. Give it a listen -- there's a cheesy youtube version here that sounds great. Ignore watching the actual video, just listen!

Hearing this song always sparks inspiration, hope, some healthy nostalgia, and a sense of moving forward in me for some reason. Hopefully I'll be writing more about that later.

I don't have class Tuesdays meaning I can hopefully venture out of my lonely little apartment today and go see the world that is Broadway. Everyday Music, here I come! I hope...

Peace
Love