Overdue

It's been two weeks since I last posted a blog. I'm sorry it took so long, but I've been frightfully busy (and still am), but I believed that you (whoever reads this-- Family and friends) should have an update as to what is going on in my life.

I will start with this weekend, as it is the most fresh memory. On Friday, I went up to Kat's house with Kat and Marianna (they are friends from my hallway, both are extremely nice) in the high desert. Kat's town is pretty much in the middle of nowhere-- they don't have a post office... there is one main road that connects the towns, and then all of the houses are built along dirt roads. Instead of the scenery being dotted with cows, everything is covered in joshua trees. Her house is super awesome. It reminded me of Dave and Lacey's house a bit, but with no cows.

On Friday night, there was a Halloween party with Kat's friends; everyone was very nice and almost everyone dressed up. When it got dark, we played Kick the Can, which is like a variation of hide-and-seek. There was a big campfire by the can so that people who had been caught could keep warm while they waited for their can-kicking saviors to come to the rescue. After that, we all went inside and played Rock Band until midnight, which was designated quiet time as dictated by Kat's mom, who had to get up early the next morning.

Saturday, we headed up the mountain to Wrightwood, where Kat's friends live, and went trick-or-treating. The common theme among us, I discovered, was that we were all wearing red, black, and white, unintentionally of course. The town is very small, but not as small as where Kat lives, but the main road consists of about two blocks of independently owned shops. Kat's friends Joe piled all 8 of us into his truck (however illegally) and drove us around to residential neighborhoods. It was pretty cool. Went back to Joe's house and watched part of Saw 1 (which was not scary at all-- I laughed at the Jigsaw puppet the first time I saw it on the screen), but were unable to finish it because we had to get going back to Kat's to feed the horses. Got back around 10:45 and went to sleep around 12. I had LOST dreams, which was pretty cool, probably spurred by Ben and Miles' appearances in Saw (Charlie wasn't dead!!). Stayed at Kat's until about 3:00 doing homework and laundry before we came back to Riverside.

I still have to finish a page long essay and about three pages of my Islam essay and then my homework will be done for tonight and tomorrow.

I got my first Anthropology essay back... Dr. Harvey graded it himself and gave me an A+!!!! I have not been more excited in my life. I'm thinking about going to the gym tonight in a little while, when this blog is done, and coming back to write my essay when I return.

I have been going to the gym almost everyday, although I haven't gone running in a week, which is what I will do tonight, when I go. I just decided I would go when I deleted the IF from that sentence and turned it into a WHEN. Good job, me!! On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to this fitness class with Kat and Marianna called AB ATTACK. The instructor looks like Cruella d'Evil, but she's nice and she's in intensely good shape. She's in better shape than any other elderly woman I have ever seen. On Wednesday last week I went to Cardio Kickboxing, which I think I will start doing on a Wednesdaily basis (Monday is the other day, but I have class when it happens, so I won't be able to go). Kat and I tried our hand at tennis last week after Ab Attack... it was an epic fail, but it was still fun. I've found that exercise, though it takes up time that I could be devoting to homework (but I won't if I chose not to go to the gym) helps me in keeping my headstraight and gives me a time to listen to music without it distracting from my studies. Plus, gym membership is included in tuition and there's no way to cancel it and get a refund, so I might as well go if I'm paying for it, you know? :)

Last weekend, I went to Disneyland with Courney Holtzclaw and Ava. They picked me up on Sunday morning and we went all day-- it was totally awesome! I went on Thunder Mountain Rail for the first time, which I think might be one of my favourite rides so far. It was pretty funny... Ava was JUST tall enough to go on most of the "big kid" rides... so we took her on it. She was scared at first, started crying and saying she wanted to get off, so Courtney told Ava that she could hide her head in her shirt and hold onto the handlebar in front. Ava did this as we were going up the hill to one of the drops, but also had her hands in the air, ready for the drop. It was so funny! By the end of the ride, she was having fun, and we were all really proud of her bravery. Soarin' Over California at California Adventure was wicked cool. I saw Lake Tahoe and San Francisco... but the whole time I was looking for the valley and it wasn't there! It's not like it's one of the agricultural centers of California or anything, you know? I was slightly disappointed with their disclusion of my Home, but it's okay. Fantasmic was way cooler than I remember it being... they have an animatronic dragon now, the one that Malificent turns into, that breathes fire... IT'S SO COOL!!!! Pirates of the Caribbean is still as good as ever, although they did change it to conform to the movies a little bit, which sort of makes it more commercial (the same with Small World-- they inserted little Disney princesses all over the ride). It was really great seeing a familiar face after a month, AND going to Disneyland with them! Thank you so much, Courtney and Ava!!!!

I'm eating meat again!! After a month and a half of not eating meat, I decided that I would just go for it and eat some meat. I'm not eating meat everyday, but I'm not actively avoiding it anymore. I'd forgotten how good it was! YES ON PROP MEAT!!!

I'm starting to pick out my classes for next quarter, although my registration isn't until November 23rd. I have to take my next Islam sequence class (Politics with Professor Reza Aslan, if any of you have heard of his books "no god but God" and "How to Win a Cosmic War", or seen him on the news or on The Daily Show)!! Professor Aslan is also an assistant professor in the Creative Writing department, where he teaches Fiction classes, so hopefully I will be having him again the future. I am planning on taking English 1C, as I have placed out of the two English classes prior to it, so hopefully the class isn't full. I NEED to get into Creative Writing 56, as it is a prerequisite for all of my lower-div classes, but it's open to all majors in all colleges, and I don't have priority enrollment. I'm going to waitlist, if I can't get in, and hopefully go speak with the professor and see if there's any way that I can get added without having a waitlist. They should make it so that Creative Writing students get first dibs on Creative Writing classes, but that's not the way it works. I am deliberating with my last class... I need 4 quarters of a foreign language, so I think I may take Spanish this coming quarter and leave sciences for summer school at MJC. We'll see what happens, and I'll figure everything out so that I can register AS SOON AS my enrollment period opens.

Besides that, I've just been doing lots of work in my classes-- making new friends, keeping in touch with old ones. Aaron is supposed to be in L.A. next weekend, so I might get to get out of here three weekends in a row, which would be awesome!! David Depeche is supposed to come visit the following weekend; I need to get ahold of him tonight and see if the plan is still in action. The weekend after that is Thanksgiving at Joel and Kelly's, and then only two more weeks at Riverside and then I can come Home!!!! I can't wait to see everyone and take a break from this hectic life. It's not a New life, it's just a contiuation and a change from the old one.

I love everyone! Sorry if took so long; I'll definitely try to update more so that all of the excitement and anticipation isn't contained. <3 <3