Anyone missing a cow?

Because we found one on the highway!

It was too funny. Since Sunday services were canceled here in L.A., a couple of us decided to venture up to Tehachapi to join them for theirs. A couple meant two cars: Jack's and mine. On the way back, we had just gotten on the highway when lo and behold: tail lights! Up ahead, we could see two highway patrol cars at the front line, doing their thing where they block/slow down traffic. Finally, they got on the side (one to the left, one to the right) to let the traffic go. They had their lights on and pointed to our right side. I look to see what the lights are pointed at, and there's this COW on the side of the road! Hilarious!

Going to Tehachapi is always fun. On the way from the Stallers to the church, I was following Jack and he took the "scenic" route to the church. And then on the way home, Nina spotted a Starbucks in Palmdale. We got off, got our drinks, and I got on the only freeway onramp I could find. Unfortunately, it was headed in the wrong direction. However, we did manage to get home only ten minutes after Jack and company did. So, not bad for timing.

This is way you don't drive around L.A. with your windows down

Tnoight, around nine, I left my house to go pick up my brother in Glendale. As I was going up Colorado, I drove past the Galleria and saw some police activity going on. There were three/four guys sitting on a sidewalk, with a couple cops with them. After I picked up my brother, we went back down Colorado to get back to the freeway. The same guys were still there. The second intersection after that, we were stopped at a red light. Normal stuff right? Well, to my right, this white SUV pulled up next to us and the driver got out. First thing that came to my mind is... "is he going to say something to the guy in front of him? I hope he doesn't have a gun." Don't worry folks, he didn't have a gun. However....

He started to pummel the driver of the black SUV. My windows were rolled up and my music down low. But I could hear the thud of each punch. He just kept hitting him through the window, which was rolled down. I was telling my brother "oh my goodness, what do we do?" The car in front of us pulled into the left turn lane to put some space in between them. The light was still red. More guys started to show up. From my viewpoint, it looked like the attacker might've had something in his hand. As the light changed, one guy shoved the attacker away from the car. This happened just as I was making my way around them. A few inches and he would've been pushed into my car.

I told my brother afterwards that this was something you only thought you'd see on TV. Not happening right in front of you.

You'll never guess....

Who I saw today and how much I spent....

today, after I finished my LONG shift at work... I picked up Nina so she could come with me to the Galleria so I could pick up my things at my store. This week is a 50% off promotion for all associates. So, I had some things on hold at my store that I wanted to buy. Instead of parking near my store, I parked near the food court. Nina and I were walking when she saw someone waving at us. I was oblivious (just like I was oblivious to how close that guy was standing behind me at the Dodger game) to this person. Nina saw who it was, recognized him, and turned me towards the person. It was Gabriel!

Mind you, I haven't seen Gabriel since his last day. He was on his dinner break. SIGH. That's all I've got to say about him. On the plus side, Juan/Johonny/John/whatever-his-name-is was still at Gloria Jean's when we walked by.

So, does anyone care to speculate how much I spent at Talbots today?

The Other Store

That's where I'm working this week! They're short on staff this week and my manager asked me if I wouldn't mind working there. It would be a nice (very nice) change of pace, so I said I would. The reason they're short on staff:

1) The store manager is helping with the opening of another store somewhere else
2) They have one associate who only works on weekends (we have one of those too)
3) Another associate is on vacation in Brazil for this week

So, if you have six or seven employees, and half of them are gone... who do you have running your store? The one associate I met today only works two days this week. I see their shipper/receiver more than anyone else. It's a small store, so we only have two/three people in the store at one time. Yet, there's three entrances: the main one, one in the middle, and one in the back. The one in the middle and in the back are connected to the store next door, the Kids store.

It has been quite an experience. The women there like to shop and they don't mind much that they're paying full-price for their items. And they don't mind buying more than one item either. Back at my store, ladies are always looking for a sale and don't like buying too much. Our store is busier, but PW (Pasadena Woman's) sells. It's also a much smaller store. I can stand in the middle of the store and still pretty much see the entire store. Whereas, in my store, I can't do that. If I stand in the middle, my manager will yell at me and tell me to get back up front. I'm usually in Missy because that's where the coverage needs to be. The manager hangs in the "cashwrap" so they can ring while they're "watching" petites.

Today, my first store manager came in to shop. She was the store manager when I started working there. Now she's the general store manager in Century City. She's a tall lady, so she shops at the Pasadena store. It was so much fun working for her. Whenever something she liked arrived in our store, she would do an item conversion to see if the store in Pasadena or South Coast plaza received it or not. She came in today to do a bit of shopping. Also, today, I have another embarrassing story to share about the workplace.

I was wearing new shoes I bought at Ross yesterday because my sandals were getting worn out and dirty. Since today was my short shift, I decided to try them out. Turns out, they have no grip on them, and it's easy to slip on hardwood floors. Now, if you've never been to our stores, there is carpeting, but it's surrounded by hardwood floors. Well, I was taking a shirt down to fold when I turned around and my right ankle turned a little bit. It was enough to plop me down on my bottom. Thankfully I didn't fall forward and hit the display table in front of me. Again, thankfully there was no one in the store besides Abby, the other associate. She was by the cashwrap, so she didn't see me go down. She just heard me land and say "ow!" At first she thought I dropped something. I imagine it looked something like, one second I'm standing and the next I wasn't there anymore. My shoe came off and scattered a couple inches. Other than being a little embarrassed (hey, I laughed it off), nothing much was hurt. At least I didn't land on anything sharp (matt!)

The ship has sailed

At least, that's what Kelly said to me this morning. They only administer the test once, and if you miss it, then "the ship has sailed, at least for this job position."

AAAAARRRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!!

I just got home from work around 3:30 and I checked the new and old messages on the house answering machine. The fourth old message was from Kelly, from Human Resources at Burbank Unified School District. She called to tell me the appointment for my test for the job was at 1:30 on Wednesday, September 6th. AARGH! I didn't get the message till Wednesday, September 6th at 3:30, two hours after I was supposed to take the test! I checked the caller ID on the phone, and the message was left on Friday, September 1st, at 4:44 PM. Why didn't I checked the old messages sooner? Now the other question is... who checked the messages in the first place and didn't TELL me I had a message?

Busted

My camera's busted. I'm not sure how, but it's stuck. When I turned it on today to take a picture and I tried to zoom, it wouldn't zoom. Instead, it beeped and shut off. But now it's stuck. It'll only turn on for the play back and that's it. I don't know what to do! If it doesn't get fixed, I'll be cameraless because I don't know where my 35 mm is. On top of that, my battery charger is missing. Waaah!


So, today, the high school department went to see a Dodger game. Don't yell at me... but I've lived in the shadow of Dodger Stadium all my life and I've never been to a Dodger game. Until tonight. Great game. Garciaparra, Loney, and Drew hit homeruns.

At last!!!!!!!!!!

For the last couple of days, I have been struggling to get on here! I don't know why, but every time I tried to log in, I ended up on my gmail account instead of my blog. Weird, huh? Finally I got in today and changed my password, so hopefully that helps.

Argh. For days I've been looking for my nail clippers, and I've given up on finding them. Now tonight, I'm looking for the battery charger for my camera. Guess what I found? My nail clippers. Don't you love when that happens?

To continue on from my April post, to anyone who wants to know, I am not interesting in anyone. I was just asked the other week, and the answer is no. I give up. The bus isn't coming and the bus isn't stopping for me.

Let's see... our new pastor and his family arrived on Saturday. After the ladies' bible study, I took Nina home. On the way to her house, we went to Starbucks. Afterwards, we were going to drive by the parsonage to see if the Parkers had arrived yet. Well, there's a stop sign right before their block. The car in front of us stopped there, and we stopped behind it. Nina recognized the car as the Parkers! Sarah saw us and waved back. LOL we didn't mean to drive up just as they did. We just got caught.

This week I talked to two people I really didn't expect to talk to. Now I just need to hear from one more person to make it complete.

Musical Performances

So, last weekend was the Harvest Crusade in Anaheim. Shelley and I went on Saturday night. What could've been a 45 minute drive took practically two hours. Lovely southern california traffic. We missed the worship service with the Harvest Crusade band. We heard most of it while we were making our way to the Stadium and trying to find seats. We were on the bottom part of the third level to the left of the stadium (if you're facing the stadium). We got there just in time for Joy Williams' performance. She sang "Stay," "We," "Hide," and "By Surprise." Towards the end of her performance, I saw someone moving around on the second stage. They had two stages, kinda in an L shape. The other guy wasn't wearing any shoes, so I was like, "hey, that's Todd Agnew!" He came on and sang "In the Middle of Me," "Let Everything that Has Breath Praise the Lord," and "Grace Like Rain." Crystal Lewis came on and sang "People Get Ready," "Lord, I Believe in You," and "Just Sing." She also sang "Come, Just As You Are" at the end of each night.






On Sunday, we got there earlier but we ended way up in the third section. We were like probably fifteen or so rows from the top. But we were in front of the stage this time. MercyMe came on first and sang "So Long Self," "In the Blink of an Eye," "Bring the Rain," "I Can Only Imagine," and "Word of God Speak." Then came the NEWSBOYS!!!! They sang "Blessed Be Your Name," "He Reigns," "Shine," "I Am Free," and "It Is You."

THEN on Wednesday, I went to the Grove to see Mat Kearney perform. He sang "Undeniable," "Crashing Down," a new song he wrote in Chicago on Valentine's day (On the Road), then he went over to the keyboard and sang "In the Middle," "All I Need" (which he wrote in New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina. He snuck into a high school gymnasium and wrote it). After that, he went back to his guitar and sang "Nothing Left to Lose." Too bad Paul Colman already has the "One Man, One Guitar" slogan because that's what Mat is. One Man, One Guitar/Keyboard. I've seen him twice, and so far he hasn't performed with backup. Well, at Six Flags, Pete and Jeff came out to play with him. Afterwards, he was at Barnes and Noble for an autograph signing. I got my "Nothing Left to Lose" CD thingy signed and a picture taken with him!

Job opportunity

Hey, I need ya'll to pray for me about a new job opportunity. Yesterday, I was checking my e-mail during my day off. There was an email from a librarian at PCC (the college I go to), and she sends out job announcements to all the library students at PCC. Normally I don't pay too much attention to these, since usually I'm underqualified. The last one I considered was at Franklin High, which was close by. But the hours and pay wasn't what I was looking for. Then yesterday's email didn't catch my eye either... until I looked at the bottom of the email and saw who the email was coming from. It was the SAME librarian I worked for when I was in high school! I called her up, and she didn't recognize me at first. But when she finally did... she got really excited! And I got really excited! I didn't think I had a chance getting this job, and I still don't. But I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try.

So, what is the job? I went online today and got the application and the job descrition. The title is library coordinater, and the qualifications is just a high school graduate and two years experience. Now, guess what the pay is? Right now, I'm working 12-22 hours a week, getting paid 10/hour. The monthly salary is 2358-3015 /month (Range 39 - whatever that means). That's more than double what I make now when I was working full-time! And this is a FULL-TIME position.

So, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for me and if this is the Lord's will it will work out. And if it isn't the Lord's will, that's all right with me.

You know you're tired when...

... you only have one freeway to take to work, and you end up on the wrong one!

Yup, that happened to me this morning. To go to work, I usually take just the 5 freeway. Well, the onramp is right before the 2 Freeway, and if you don't change lanes, guess which freeway you end up on. I was in such a fog on my way to work, that I didn't realize I was on the 2 Freeway until I was halfway to the first exit. By then, I realized I was no longer on the 5 freeway and I had to take the 134 Freeway to get to work. Now that's sad. Instead of taking one freeway to work, I had to take two.

On the bright side... I went to get my mocha at Gloria Jean's and Johonny/Juan/whatever-his-name-is mentioned that he hadn't seen me in awhile. HE NOTICES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sigh.

Why was I tired this morning? Well, we did have youth camp last week. Saturday was my recharge day and what did I end up doing? Getting up before nine to take my cousins to a "Rock the Bells" event in San Bernandino, came back, went with Sherisse to get a pedicure, then came home and spent the day doing laundry and working on the slideshow for Brother Darry and Sister Berda's going-away Potluck. On my way to San Bernandino, a car picked up a rock or huge piece of concrete and chucked it at my car. It missed my windshield just by inches! A few inches to the right and it wouldn've hit the windshield right in front of me! Then I left around 11:30 to pick up more coffee, went to Diane's house for an hour and half to pick up pictures, then I went BACK to San Bernandino to pick up said cousins.

Well, got there around two, took a wrong turn and ended up in a LONG line of cars trying to get out. Found said cousins, took the wrong way out of San Bernandino, found the freeway, and got home around 3:30. But was I smart enough to go to bed? Obviously not, because I spent the next four hours working on the same slideshow. By 7:30, I finished what I could, gave up, slept for an hour and half, got up, went to Sunday School, got yelled at for being late by a few minutes. It only took me three minutes to get to church that morning. I kept checking for cops, going 50-60 MPH in a 35 zone. Shh, don't tell anyone.

Sunday was just like the rest of the week. After I took attendance, I went back home to pick up the Slideshow/Picture CD, went back to church. Got there in time to give my Starbucks order to Sherisse, and even in time for the choir quickie. It only took me like ten/fifteen minutes to go back and forth. After church, as we were getting ready for the potluck, we found out I didn't communicate well enough. We had no laptop for the slideshow. So what did we do? Got in the car, I went back to my house, grabbed my computer (minus the monitor and printer) and brought THAT back to church.

We had the potluck, and I didn't leave till like four or so. Went home, dropped off computer, showered, and headed to Nina's where we were having a get together. When I got home, I crawled into bed (which was half covered with stuff. But hey, I fell asleep in the same pile earlier). Got lots of sleep, got up, and went to work. Had a good day at work. Within my first hour, I had a $910 sale! And that was just from ONE person. After work, I came back home to get my phone charger, went to Sherisse to pick up my phone (she accidentally put it in her bag), then left to babysit for Terri (who by the way lives like 35-45 minutes away). When I was done there, I came back, picked up my mom, took her somewhere, and I got home at nine.

Now, I will say good night so I can get some sleep! Hopefully tomorrow I won't get on the wrong freeway to go to work.

Tiresome Trouble

Back in May, I suffered a blown tire due to stupid driving on another person's part, add to that a spike in the side of the road. Due to my financial status at that time, I only had enough cash on hand to replace that one tire. Jack wanted me to replace my tires while I was in Portland. Again, due to my financial status, I couldn't afford it. Too bad I did't. Because guess, what? I NEED NEW TIRES.

How did I discover this? Tonight, while taking Nina back home, the front right tire popped! My guess, they're old, and my car had more weight on it than usual. Nina was in hte front seat, in the back seat I had three of my cousins, and my brother (17, 14, 14, 13 are their ages), PLUS my mom bought like packs of water (3) and gaterade from Smart and Final today (it's like Coscto for those who don't know what a Smart and Final is).

So, I'm guessing with all that additional weight, the front tire couldn't handle it anymore. I was making the second to last turn at the bottom of the hill to Nina's when I noticed that something sounded and felt funny about the car. I pulled over, and discovered the tire was flat! Forty minutes later, spare tire on, we were on our way. Why did it take so long? Well, remember, we were parked at the bottom of a hill. On the first try, the car started to roll back, so I moved it further down the hill. On the second try, we had gotten the flat tire off the car. He tried the jack the car up higher, and the car just rolled off! Finally on the third try, we got the tire on and we were in business.

Get this... this all happened right at MIDNIGHT! So, here we in, at midnight, trying to change a tire. We were right underneath the 2 Freeway, too.

Now all I've got to do is find some money to get new tires!

Raccoon!

So, last night, while I was trying to sleep, I heard some rustling in my neighbors banana plants. If you don't know what those look like, I'll upload some pictures later. It being late and dark, I used my lamp to see what it was. A pair of eyes looked back at me in the dark. It was a raccon1 Guess the subject gave that away, huh? But can you guess what the raccoon was doing? It ran back and forth along my neighbors house. It took me a sec to realize what it was doing. It was when I saw something the size of a kiwi fruit scuttering back and forth. The raccoon was chasing a mouse. The chase didn't last long. A short scuffle in the banana plant, a few squeeks later, the raccoon scooted along, its prey dangling out of its mouth.

A long time ago, a raccoon was in our backyard. My mom put a bag of moldy hot dog buns in our backyard. Late at night, again, I heard a noise. I peer out my window, and lo and behold, it was a raccoon. It got into the bag of moldy hot dog buns and had a late night snack. The evidence of this was left all over the driveway. There was bread crumbs everywhere and the bag had a hole in it.

Key Ring Collection - stateside and international

After chatting with my cousin, I realized I needed to update my Key Ring Collection. It's on my Bebo profile, but it wouldn't let me update it. So I decided to put it in my blog entry. My cousin and I both collect state things. I buy shot glasses for her whenever I go to somewhere (which is very limited) and she buys me key rings. Juan and Shelley have also contributed to my collection. Now that Nina and Karla are going to Midwest Camp, I wonder if I could hit up Nina to get me one!

Here are the state keychains I have so far:
New York, Maryland (Washington DC), North Carolina, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon

State Keychains with My Name:
Nevada (Las Vegas), North Carolina, California, Oregon (? have to check)

International:
China, Iceland, Taiwan

I’ve gone wireless!!!

At last! After seeing two other couples in the church go wireless, I’ve finally joined the club. The club being those who have wireless keyboards and mice. I loved using a wireless keyboard and mouse while I was over at Dan and Terri’s, as well as Juan and Shelley’s. It makes it so much easier because I tend to take the keyboard off the desk (because it’s too high for me) and place it on my lap. Which of course, limits me to how far I can take the keyboard. Too bad it wasn’t an ergonomic keyboard. That would’ve been sweet!

Anyway… today Gabriel told me that he was gonna miss me. I’m gonna miss him a lot. He’s the only guy I’ve ever known to make me feel…. Special. It drives me nuts how I feel when I’m with him, but that’s all coming to an end very soon.

Gabriel's leaving me

Gabriel quit his job this week. His last day will be next week. Of course, I knew this day was coming. I just didn’t know how soon it would come. He kept telling me that he was planning on leaving this summer. Guess that day came sooner than either of us knew. His job at Coach promoted him.

Other Half

So… I “dumped” Heidi as my other half. Why? Because I don’t feel like I truly have another half. There isn’t a single soul on this earth that I feel is my “other half.” It stinks also to think of it as that way. Why can’t we be a whole person without needing someone else to be our other half?

There’s always this perception that a person (particularly a girl) can’t be a whole person unless there’s someone else to complete her. Let’s see… I think the person who said it best was Charisma Carpenter in that movie she made that also starred Holly Marie Combs. What was it called again? It had something about someone dating? Anyway, I liked her speech at her cousin’s (?) bridal shower about why did she need a man to make her complete? She was successful and happy. She didn’t need a guy to make her feel like a whole person.

BTW I just remembered the name of the movie. See Jane Date.

Once again… why do I feel like I need someone else to make me feel whole? And why am I up at two in the morning writing about this?

KBF

“You and me… we don’t really do so well when we’re apart.”

Miles Wilson, page 124.

Okay, so I’m back to reading those “Love Stories” that I read in high school and middle school. I read one yesterday (my favorite one) and I just read “A Kiss Between Friends,” which is interesting because they don’t kiss till the end of the book. My conclusion at the end of the book? Love doesn’t happen that way.

Why am I all bent out of shape over this issue lately? Is it because I think Linus likes someone? I’ve liked Linus for so long (well, on and off). The truth is… maybe I was never actually interested in the real "Linus.” I think that’s always been the case. The interest is not actually in the real guy, the real person with the flesh and bones and blood running through his veins. There never was a real interest. The guy never existed. Only in my imagination. The person I was interested in wasn’t the one I saw from time to time… but the person who I imagined him to be. I do this all the time. I pick a guy who I think would be a great boyfriend and imagine what kind of guy he is what kind of boyfriend he is. But that’s not who HE really is. Face it. The reality is Linus would never be interested in me.

When I get this worked up, you know I can’t sleep. And lately I don’t feel like “writing” but typing sounds good to me. I like the sound of keys clacking late at night. Maybe that’s why there’s a writer deep inside of me, waiting to break out.

At First Sight

“I needed to be part of a story I know would end happily.” Allie Parker, pg. 83

“Ask me Craig! Ask me if I’m doing anything New Year’s Eve! I know it’s stupid and old-fashioned, but I’m one of those girls who like to be asked out by a guy.” Julia Parker, pg 184

So, I just finished reading “At First Sight” for the umpteenth time. Last time I think I threw it against the wall. Don’t get me wrong. I love the story. I love Allie and Ben and Tim and Julia and Craig. I hate to be all “woe is me” in this entry… but man … that book sure brought on an onslaught of feelings. Mostly the kind where I feel hopeless. Of course I have been feeling hopeless for awhile now. It’s something that keeps coming back. It hasn’t gone away and I don’t know if it ever will. See… times like these I need another Parker figure in my life. That’s all I really need… really. Just an assurance that one day I will find that special someone someday.

Partly, I can agree/relate with Allie. Maybe that’s why I read romance novels all the time. I don’t have any romance in my life, nor do I have any hope of having any in my life. Perhaps that’s why I start writing these stories but never finished them. I dream of romance, but never expect it to happen in my life. The stories get started, but they don’t get finished because my own romance has yet to start, let alone finish. I need these stories because they have happy endings. The lead characters may get turned around and separated, but in the end I know they live happily ever after. They have a happy ending. Will I get a happy ending? Maybe. But what if it’s not the kind of ending I want?

Once again… I have to remember all the good reasons why I should remain single. Reese. I want my book back. (The book being "If Singleness is a Gift, What's the Return Policy?")

First Flat Tire!!!

Here are some pictures of my first flat tire! What happened you may ask? Well... I was going from the Lighthouse (Glendale) to Nina's (Eaglerock) and decided to take the street. Instead of going up Verdugo, I went up the street that's behind Target. There's a tight corner which is also kinda blind spot. This car comes around that corner quickly, and my reaction was to turn the wheel so we wouldn't hit. Instead, I hit the curb! Well, as we were going down the street I felt that my car was driving weird. I picked up the boys (Kevin and Harold) at Kevin's house (which used to be Nina's) and went to Nina's to get the present. Nina's neighbor was outside and told us our tire was flat. We tried to change it, but called J.R. to come help. He put on the spare tire, we went down to some other place and bought a tire. So now the spare is back in the trunk and I'm $65 poorer that I was before. Oh well. At least we made it to Tyler's birthday party.

I GIVE UP!!!!

Following Melina's post...

I give up. I'm never gonna get to go out on a date. I'm never getting married. I just give up. Apparently the date on the return policy expired, because it's never gonna happen. (Referring to the book, "If Singleness is a Gift, What's the Return Policy?"

Why the sudden rant? After reading Melina's blog (and Matt's comment about the length of his singleness) brought on the despair about my own singleness (which I try not to think about EVER) plus the suspicion that the most recent Linus may indeed have found someone else.

So what's the plan then? First of all, I want my book back so I can read it again and remind myself why I should be satisfied with my singleness. Second, I'm gonna read my other book again (Sassy, Single, Satisfied). Third, I will find more books to read!

Fourth, I will remind myself: I can be happy being single!

Why?

1) Don't have to share a bed with anyone
(Many problems there: snoring, blanket hogging, taking up all the space... and I'm not talking about the other half!)
{though it would be nice to have someone to cuddle with}

2) Don't have to share bank accounts and worry about spending
(hello! shopaholic here. I'm reminded of this all the time with my customers. I had one lady who told me she hides her bills from her husband. Of course, this most recent time, she forgot to pay her bill and received a call reminding her of her 1200 balance. Then there's those customers who come in, buy something, come back and return because their husbands either a. didn't like what they bought or b. thought they spent too much money)
{Then again... there are the kind and thoughtful husbands who come to our stores and spends lots of money on their wives for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day, Easter, etc., etc., etc.}

3) Don't have to worry about my imperfections
(Lord knows, I have many. Perhaps that's why I haven't found anyone. Lord knows, I'll need someone who can deal with me because I can't certainly deal with me, how do I expect someone else to?)
{Though I'm sure he won't be perfect either. So we'll just have to be content with each others imperfections and realize that we ourselves are not perfect and therefore cannot expect the other half to be perfect}

4) My time is my time.
(I can do whatever I want without worrying about another person's schedule. I can hang out with my friends, go out, etc., etc.,)
{though it would be nice to have someone else to spend time with, go out with, hold hands... etc., etc., etc.}

Overall... I'm just discouraged because of the lack of anything so far. {On the bright side, I have Gabriel to make me feel better... but it's still frustrating anyway!}

Work Update

So here's an update on this week. I finally picked out my prize! We had a contest in our store and I won (much to the disappoint of the lead associate). So I got a free outfit for under $100. The skirt actually is 68 and the top was 28... do the math there. This week was blah. I had a 1060 sale on Tuesday and that's about it. Things with the new manager seems pretty cool, but I do miss the managers I started with (Tracy and Patricia). Oh well. That's the way it is with life... people walk into your life... and just as quickly they walk out...

Nostalgic

I've been getting a major dose of nostalgia lately... mainly of my high school days in band. Guess you can take the girl out of band but not the band out of the girl. Lately I've been listening to recordings of my high school field shows, watching the videos, and listening to Blast and any DCI recordings I have. Too bad I forgot that Blast was gonna be in my area in March! Oh well. i'll keep an eye out for them next time they come around. in the mean time... I'm planning to go to a DCI show in June. if anyone is interested, let me know! It's June 24th at 5 PM

http://www.blasttheshow.com/
http://www.dci.org/

If you don't know who to check out, try these groups:
BLUE DEVILS
IMPULSE
Dreams
Esperanza
Madison County Scouts

Announcing the retirement of...

Canon Powershot A310
December 2005 - May 2, 2006


Don't worry... stepping up to the plate will be the Canon Powershot SD550!

Camera-shyers beware! Here's comes the paparazzi

I have created another coworker

Sherisse and I are now coworkers. She applied about two weeks ago, got interviewed, and started working last Saturday. Now we have another AFer working in a retail store in Los Angeles. Actually, I think we have three now. Sherisse and I actually don't work together much. Not yet, anyway. So far she just works Thursday and Saturday nights. I just work Monday through Friday, from nine to five-thirty. I only saw her for about half an hour on Thursday, that was all.

As of last Monday, we started a contest in our store. So far I'm in the lead. It's a little tough because I have a lot of hours. But this week has been a good week. So it was a little easier. Hopefully I win! If I do, I'll let ya'll know what I won. And if I don't, I'll tell you what I didn't.

This is gonna be quite a long blog. I've been working a lot. Currently we're down an associate manager and a store manager. All we've got is an assistant manager (who takes a week to do what the store manager does) and a lead associate. And I'm the only associate who can open during the weekdays. We have one who only work on weekends and three who close. One of the three can open, but usually it's me. So I'm up at nine every day from Monday to Friday, working eight hours a day. Then on Saturday I get up before ten to take my mom downtown, and then there's Sunday (no explanation needed there, right?)

It's getting late and I'll check in another week or two.

Nothing Left to Lose

Don't worry! The title of the blog actually is the title of Mat's new CD!!!!!! I was so excited!!!! It finally arrived on Monday!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I already uploaded the songs onto my IPOD. I should probably put the CD in my car so I can actually listen to it. Ever since I got my IPOD, I don't listen to my radio much anymore. Or my CDs. Guess that's what happens when you get an IPOD.

Anyway, I saw the cutest thing on Thursday. I picked up my mom in Chinatown and then took her to the market so she could buy fish. While I was waiting for her, I saw these kittens (a gray one and a black one) in the parking lot next door. They were playing with these Duracell batteries someone had thrown away. It was so cute. One would pounce on it, then other would pounce on the kitten and get the battery. They'd pounce on each other to get the battery. It was the cutest thing.

Then this morning on my way out, there was a kitty digging in the dirt in front of someone's house. Maybe it found a gopher (or whatever those things are called in our neighborhood). It paused when I drove by. It was so cute.

Drive Thrus

So, two of the last three times I've gone to a Drive Thru starbucks defeated the purpose of a Drive-Thru starbucks. I walked in, bought what I wanted, and walked out. Funny cuz I keep saying how I'd like a Drive-Thru Starbucks here in L.A. Yet, there's this one by this place I take my mom every week. and the last two times I went there, I walked through, not drove through. Makes any sense? And the one time I did go throug hte drive-thru and ordered something, we didn't even have to pay! The guy just said he'd give it to us.

Johari

http://kevan.org/johari?name=FallingLEAVes02

So, I tried LaDonna's and thought it was cool. Therefore, I made my own! Nough said. go and tell me what you tink. its late nite

Casting Pearls!!!!!!!

Casting Pearls will be in Harvest at Riverside this Sunday! They're gonna broadcast their performance live on the web. Go to Air1.com and there's a Day 7 link. That will take you to the broadcast. Of course, if you're like me, you'll be in church at 6:00 PST on Sunday. That's okay, because they have the webcast available in the archives! I've already checked out Todd Agnew's and Paul Wright's. You just have to sit through the worship and a mini-message before the performance.

GO BRYAN!!!! GO SCOTT!!! GO CASE!!

YAY!!!! CASTING PEARLS!!!!!!

Day in the Life

Here's the update guys! Now I can actually get from my bed to my computer desk without climbing over stuff. I just don't have a bed to sleep on. There's a bed somewhere under all taht stuff in the left picture. Also, in the left picture, on the bookshelf on the first shelf is the majority of my smaller journals. The journals actually range from to the right of the orange colored book (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #3) to the taller books (fresh, new journals). In the big red Talbots bag are my final project prints from my photography class. Hopefully I can scan them or get a copy to show you what I printed. And yes, if anyone's wondering what that orange stuff is that is in my purse, it's a bag of goldfish crackers.

Radio Station #1 Vs. Radio Station #2 vs. CD player

Don't you love it when you turn on the radio to the local Christian station, you decide you don't feel like listening to whatever song they're playing at the moment, switch over to the only other Christian station that actually plays music and find out that they're playing the EXACT same song the other station was just playing and you end up listening to your CD instead? Living in LA, there's only TWO stations that play music all day long. And it has happened more than once the scenario above. The first time it was Salvador's "Heaven," the second time it was Switchfoot, and it happened again today with Jars of Clay's "Lovesong for a Savior." My favorite story is how I was listening to my Todd Agnew CD and decided I didn't feel like listening to that particular song at the time. Instead of skipping the song, I wanted to see (hear) what was on the radio. Guess what? Without skipping a beat, the radio picked up exactly where the CD left off!

So, miracle of miracles, I'm working and cleaning up my room. Right now, it still looks like a disaster zone. But at least my books are better! I discovered, boy, I have a lot of journals!

Today, I showed up to work and my boss was in there having a review with her boss. Tracy (my boss/store manager) forgot to call me to ask me to come in at ten instead of nine. So, she handed me five bucks and told me to go get myself a mocha. I sat on a bench for an hour playing with my Nintendo. And got paid for it! This week has been horrible for us. Starting Saturday, Sophia couldn't work because she hurt her foot. I covered her shift because I was supposed to work that day anyway, but a short shift. Then Sunday, Jeiza was covering Sophia's shift, but got sick and had to go home. Joyce tried to call me to come in, but my phone was turned off. It's a good thing she didn't reach me, because before Sunday I worked six days straight and after Sunday I had two days. Come Monday, Gabriel came down with something and had to leave work early. Then Joyce called in sick and was out the rest of the week. Aside from Jani, Mariam, Tracy, and myself... half our staff was falling apart. Plus, our top associate in the store is leaving us. Actually, Tracy informed me that I'm the only one making productivity this month. Plus, I'm actually ahead of Annette (the top associate). Now I've got to keep it up! Speaking of falling apart, I spent the better part of my morning limping around work, trying to work out this pain in my right side. It eventually went away on it's own.

Update

I guess I haven't been posting much. Let's see. Show of hands here... how many of you heard our big news recently? Brother Darry is retiring and our new pastor is gonna be Brother Byron Parker. News of this possibility of Brother Darry retiring leaked out a couple months ago, but of course I kept my lips tight on that. Here, with March almost being over I thought we were in the safe zone. Brother Alan announced this news on Sunday night.

Also, I tried all week to find a way to get up to Portland for Jay's wedding this weekend. Sister Berda tried to call me last week, so I called her. Apparently, they sent me an invitation but it got returned to them because they had the wrong address or something. I mentioned this to Juan the other day and he asked me, "who do you know?" He was surprised I was invited. So was I! Nina was surprised I wasn't. I think Roxie was too. Anyway, with no way to get up to Portland, I will be working when the couple says their "I do's." However, if anyone does go, please take lots of pictures! I can't wait to see if anyone will have pictures from the wedding. Too bad Diane couldn't go. There'd be lots of pictures then!

Orli

I found this out at our staff meeting on Saturday morning. One of the important guys in our company is the father of Kate Bosworth, who is/was dating ORLANDO BLOOM!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, i went to the last place I remember playing my DS, which was the hair salon. I left the lady my name and number. So, today when I got home, I checked the messages. Nothing. I went to pick up my mom and brother. When I got home, there was a message waiting for me. Actually, two. The first one was from the salon. They found my DS! The second one was from an army recruiter guy. Anyway, I got my DS back! My doggies didn't run away. They were dirty, parched, and famished, but sleeping.

DS

I've done it, guys! I've lost my Nintendo DS. It happened on Saturday afternoon. I don't know where or when, but it's not in it's usual place. We went over to Terri's house and I realized, Hey, I don't have my DS with me. Well, I've looked everywhere except for one place. Hopefully tomorrow I can go there and look. I don't know where it could be. But if it's really gone, then there goes 180 something dollars. Oh well.

RIP Status

How long does it take for one to gain RIP status? I wanted to see how long I could go without post. What was it... twenty days? Not bad. A few days short of a month. Okay, like a week and a half. But I did comment, so it wasn't like I wasn't on. It just wasn't adding to my blog. So, if you don't hear from me let's just hope that means i'm not posting anything and not sent to siberia. We'll see.

My Quote

"Getting lost is easy. Finding Starbucks is easier!"

This is soooo true. Brother ron was giving me a hard time yesterday about being lost. I was trying to find this place in Walnut which is off the 60 freeway. I happened to be on the 10 freeway which is PARALLEL to the 60. I ended up at this place called Ontario which is like an hour away from us. So, as completely lost as I was, I found the mall! Brother Ron gave me a hard time about having a homing beacon for the mall. Well, I discovered I have a homing beacon for Starbucks. Today we went back and found the place. I dropped them off and decided to go looking for a Starbucks. I didn't have to go any further than around the corner! Talk about a Starbucks radar!Now you can borrow my quote Reesie!

No more ink

Don't you love it when the night before something important, you try to print something and guess what? You're out of ink. Naturally, you had plenty of opportunities during the day, hey even during the week to buy a new ink cartridge. But did you? nooo. Then as you sit down, work on that thing you needed to have done before the next morning, and as you're printing it out, you're missing half the page because you're out of ink! sigh.

Work update

Well, this week we started the New Year (Chinese New Year as well as with work). Last month, I didn't make my target, but I did have the most charge accounts opened. Already this week I have one! I almost had another one. Drats. But, today, I did have a good day. One of my sales was like 500+! So, it's safe to guess that I made this week. Woohoo! Considering I made my day everyday except for Tuesday. Yay me! I deserve a mocha for this!

So, today, Gabriel asked me (like he always does) what are my plans for the weekend. We both have tomorrow off and he said he's been craving Old Spaghetti Factory. He said if i didn't have any plans tomorrow to go with him (he said he'd pay). He said he'd call me after he got off work. Just like a guy to say he'll call and doesn't. So, we'll see if we're on for Spaghetti Factory or not.

Library Fine

Okay, you’d think that as a library student, I shouldn’t have any problems with returning library books on time, correct? WRONG. Some of my fellow classmates would certainly agree that library students are notorious for library fines. An example? When I was in sixth grade, I ran up at forty-sometime library fine. Guess what? I just broke my record. Apparently, I’m missing some books. So, guess how much my library fine is? 284. Yup. You read that correctly. It’s not 2.84 (if only), or 28.4, but it’s 284.00! GULP! Hopefully I can find those books. Umm… wait… has anyone seen those books? Actually, has anyone seen the state that my room is? Now try finding some library books in there.

I forgot to mention what happened. Okay, so for my history final, I had to write two papers. Let's not forget to mention that the paper topics were passed out around Thanksgiving, giving us plenty of time to do research. So what do I do? Wait until the last week to go to two libraries, check out like thirty books each. And guess what? I never did the paper. I didn't turn in the paper and still got a B in the class. Being busy and lazy, I take my sweet time returning my books. All my books to the Los Angeles Public Library get returned eventually, totaling a 7 dollar fine. No problem. It's easy to track online. However, I couldn't do that with my Glendale library books until today. I get a notice of my late fees, processing fees, and lost book fees. GULP!

Nothing Left to Lose

WOOO HOOOOO!!!!

Mat Kearney's new album, "Nothing Left to Lose" is going to be released April 4th! I already preordered my copy. Hopefully I'll be one of the first 500 so I can have an autographed one! Yay!!!!

2+2

So, today, I went to GJ to get my mocha and guess how much I paid for it? Two bucks. And... I got two punches on my punch card, making it full. Hee hee...

My brother had a basketball game today at a middle school in Hollywood/LA. It's right by the Spaghetti Factory on Sunset Blvd. After the game, guess where we went? Amoeba music. I ended up buying Newsboys' "He Reigns" and John Reuben's "the Boy vs. the Cynic." My other choices? Relient K's "Mmhmm", Josh Groban's first concert on DVD, Matthew West's "History," Nichole Nordeman's "Brave," amongst a few others.

Does anyone want to know how I did yesterday after all? Well, two of the four ladies did come back and purchased their things... bringing me to a total of 2188 (or something close to that). Yay! My target was about 970, so... someone do the math (Chris) and it comes to something like 1300 extra towards the month. Sadly, today was a slow day. I only got like half of my target. Sigh. And I think this week was the last week for the month. Sigh. I'm like 1300 behind still for the month. Sigh. I hope I don't get into too much trouble for being behind again.

Hitting the Target

So, last week, Tracy pulled each associate in to give us our productivity report. So far, I'm BEHIND again. Those first two weeks of January are what killed my productivity. So, I'm gonna have to sell sell sell during the rest of January to catch up. Not only am I going to have to continually meet my target (some days are harder than others), but I'm gonna have to exceed my target to make up for the days that I don't make it. Now, if only I keep having days like today, it would be great! I had "princess" hours today, meaning I only worked a five-hour shift. So, my target was like 970 or so. When I left, I had over 1800 in! At one point, I had three or four different piles of stuff for customers. One lady bought like 21 things. Another one bought just as much, but in three different transactions. See, if she had bought them all together, my UPTs wouldn't have dropped. Grrr... why do customers do that? They buy something, see something else, buy that, see something else, and buy again. I hate that. it just causes my UPTs to drop. So, when I left, I still had four ladies coming back to purchase their things. YAY!!! I hope they did. Hopefully Mariam left a report so I can see how I did.

102

That's how many wins I have in my winning streak in Spider Solitaire, easy difficulty. My previous winning streak was 49. Since I got off work early yesterday, I decided it was about time I beat my record. So, I spent a majority of my afternoon and evening playing Spider Solitaire, much to the distress of my wrist and fingers. Boy were they screaming by the time I went to bed. My goal now? To get better at medium difficulty.

BTW: today was the first time in awhile that I got a free mocha from BeBo. It was funny because Gabriel asked me to get him something from McDonald's if I could during my break. He also said I could get something if I wanted. I said I didn't want anything. So, he said to use his card to buy my mocha. I said it was alright, I had my money. Turned out, neither of us needed to pay for my mocha today. BeBo was about to wring me up, but he looked like he changed his mind at the last minute. :-D

Adious Audio A

'Adios' Audio Adrenaline

Published: 2006-01-20

After fifteen years of making music, Audio Adrenaline is bidding their fans Adios but not without a proper going-away album.

After selling millions of albums, the band says its next album will be its last. “After years of giving his all on stage and in the studio, Audio Adrenaline frontman Mark Stuart is experiencing ongoing vocal challenges,” the statement said. “After consulting with doctors, it is clear the toll his voice has taken will prevent his ability to continue a consistent live performance schedule.”

The popular rock band’s final album, Adios, will consist of its greatest hits along with two new tunes. A special edition package will include a DVD with videos, live performances, and interviews with AudioA and bands they’ve influenced.

Audio Adrenaline’s previous album, Until My Heart Caves In, has been nominated for a 2006 Grammy award.

Though Stuart is suffering from vocal challenges, he and bandmates Will McGinniss, Tyler Burkum, and Ben Cissell are still scheduled to tour until September. They plan to make a couple of stops in Canada—catch them before they say Adios:

More proof that it's not just BeBo

Friday, the 13th: I went to GJ after I picked up my paycheck. I asked and paid for a small mocha. When I got the cup, I looked at the cup. I double-checked the size to make sure. I asked and paid for a small, but I didn't get a small. I got a regular size! (Different guy, not BeBo)

Thursday, the 19th: I turned in my GJ punch card (a full one) for a 16 oz drink. Instead, I got a regular (24 oz) drink. (This time, it was the blonde armenian girl)

Messy messy messy

Signs that your room is really messy:

The floor is clean, but the bed is piled high with stuff.
Your bed is clean, but the floor is piled high with stuff.
Your friends tell you your room looks like a tornado went through it, and then came back for more.
You're sitting at your computer, eyes shutting close, but you can't go to bed because your bed is piled with stuff.
You can only get from the door to your bed, from your bed to the computer, and from the computer to the door. And it's about one step and a jump each.

I'll come up with some more after I get a couple winks. First, I better go clear off my bed so I can go to bed.

Bryan is leaving

OHHHHHH MYYYYY WOOOORDD!!!

Okay, so I was listening to KLOVE and "the one thing" by Paul Colman started playing. Before they started playing it, the announcer said, "and here's something from the Newsboys guitarman, Paul Colman." I was like... what??? It's official guys. Bryan Olesen, who subbed for Jody in 2002(ish) is now departing the Newsboys. At least we'll still hear from him with CASTING PEARLS. So, after the song ended, the announcer said, Bryan left to go full-time with his band, Casting Pearls. Paul Colman (also an Australian) is now the new Newsboys' guitarist.


From the Newsboys' website:
January 11, 2006
departure of guitarist bryan olesen
Bryan Olesen will be departing to focus on his band Casting Pearls

“These past few years have been an amazing gift in having been able to learn from, perform, and work with newsboys. I have cherished every second and every show, but I am ultimately excited about what is in-store for Casting Pearls” said Olesen. With Casting Pearls’ recent radio and tour success, it has been increasingly difficult to split time between both bands and my family at home in Lincoln. “Peter [Furler] and I have had several discussions about this and felt that this would be the best for both bands” Olesen explained.

We wish Bryan and his family the best!. We have had many great shows around the world with him, many lifetime memories. This decision was a tough one, but between recording and touring commitments and above all, the importance of family, it seems to be the right decision. We will be announcing his replacement shortly.

January 17, 2006
paul colman announced as new guitarist
Grammy nominated and Dove award winning solo artist Paul Colman is announced as the new guitarist for the newsboys.

Colman said, "Over the last five years I have done about 100 shows all over the world alongside the newsboys. Peter and I actually go a long way back. My Dad is a famous singer and I saw Peter play drums for him at a huge outdoor event in Australia when we were both teenagers. We've been mates for a long time and it truly feels like I'm joining a bunch of friends that I have a lot of history with. I am thrilled to be a part of the newsboys".

Furler adds, "Paul is a great guitarist, singer and songwriter. Hanging out with him is always a pleasure, having him in the band..........priceless"

Colman starts touring with the boys on the WinterJam tour.

From the Casting Pearls' website:

A BITTERSWEET DAY FOR CASTING PEARLS AND NEWSBOYS

With many great opportunities on the horizon for CP, Olesen bids a reluctant farewell to Newsboys.

January 13, 2006 Casting Pearls and Newsboys announce Bryan Olesen’s departure from the Newsboys. After much discussion and prayerful consideration, Olesen has parted with Newsboys to focus on Casting Pearls full-time. “These past few years have been an amazing gift in having been able to learn from, perform, and work with Newsboys. I have cherished every second and every show, but I am ultimately excited about what is in-store for Casting Pearls” said Olesen. With Casting Pearls’ recent radio and tour success, it has been increasingly difficult to split Olesen’s time between both bands and his family at home in Lincoln. “Peter [Furler] and I have had several discussions about this and felt that this would be the best path for both bands” Olesen explained. “I see unique talents in Bryan that I rarely see in the music world, and I feel we would be doing an injustice to Casting Pearls’ and Newsboys’ ministries to hold Bryan in Newsboys” stated Peter Furler, Newsboys front-man and founder. Although both bands regret to see this exciting chapter of their careers come to an end, both are mutually excited about the opportunities to come and to continue being able to perform and work together in the future.

Yay Me!

Yay! I've been having a good week at work so far I guess (Considering the talk my boss had with me considering the new assistant manager). The target is much lower than last week, so it's easier to reach. I'm not sure how I did on Monday, but yesterday I met my target! My target was 1984 and I had 2805 (somewhere around there). Today, my target was 1960 and guess what? I only had 1905! If I had kept up with two of my customers, i would've gotten two more sales! That would have been 200 more! Oh well.

Start praying guys!

Okay, here's the sitch. Camp Meeting is how many months away and here I am, trying to plan for this. Why? I actually don't know why. I guess first of all, I'd like to know how I am getting there. My ideal plan is to drive my own car there. Road block: parents. My dad won't let me. Well, here was a back-up plan: rent a car. It's looking complicated already. There's only unlimited mileage if you're driving the state of rental, according to most rental places. Plus,here's the major roadblock: there is a charge if you're under 25 per day of rental. The past "x" years (I lost count already) I have ridden with someone else. However, this year, I would really like to be able to drive my own car. One of the big plusses (sp?) is that I wouldn't really be limited to what I could bring. I have been looking forward to the day where I can bring my own blankets from hom. Every year I borrow tons of quilts from the supply cabin at camp and every year I am still not warm enough. Plus, it would be nice to be able to drive around Oregon. Lord knows how lost I'll get! So, here are the current plans and back-up plans.

Plan A: Drive my car
Roadblock: Parents

Plan B: Rent a car
Roadblock: Restrictions of rental car places

Plan C: Flying
Roadblock: Limited luggage

Plan D: Ride with someone

And here's where I get down to the prayer request: may the Lord work it out for me to go to camp meeting this year, between transporation plans and work! Thanks guys!

I am Free cont...

So, yesterday, on my way home (okay, technically I was going to Nina's house) I put Air1 on. Guess what they were playing while I was stuck in traffic? "I Am Free." Seeing as the connection isn't very good in Glendale, it kept coming in and out with each inch I moved. I was waiting for the "He was..." spiel, but didn't hear it. I assumed that I must have lost the reception during it. Well, this morning, after I got up and got in my car to go to work, I put on Air1 again. This time, it was picking up where my alarm clock left off. My alarm clock is a CD/radio/alarm, so I always wake up every morning to Casting Pearls' "Alright." Well, when I got it the car, the chorus of "Alright" was playing, picking up where my CD left off. So, starting my day off with "Alright" was good... guess what the next song was? "I Am Free!" I was so excited to hear these two songs back to back. My morning started off very well. On top of that, I had a very VERY good sale day today. yesterday was okay, but today not only did I meet today's target, I exceeded it! In fact... I think I may have even exceeded my daily target from last week. Yay! Hopefully I'll get some more days like today to make up for last week. Plus, I opened another charge account. So far, I'm in the lead for the month with four charges opened! Hooray! I really have to make up for last month. I need to make this month. Last month, I missed it by 1800! And, I only had one charge opened. This month so far, I have four charges opened!

Just sometimes....

Just sometimes...
do you wonder if it really is worth it all?

Just sometimes...
do you wonder if it's time to give up?

Just sometimes...
do you wonder if you've gone too far?

Just sometimes...
do you wonder if there's really anything for you?

And in that moment when I think these thoughts, I am reminded

Yes, it is worth it all. Don't give up. Keep pressing on.
So, when is that moment coming?

BW and sepia

Okay, I have had my current digital camera for over a year now. And on Tuesday, after going to Fry's to look at new digital cameras, I decided to fiddle around with mine. So, I dug out the instruction manual that came with the camera (considering the current state of my room, it's a miracle I even found it). After fiddling around with the camera, I discovered that I could set the camera to manual, instead of automatic. Now that it is set to manual, I changed the ISO speed to 400 and it takes pictures much faster now! No more slow shutter speed for this camera. Also, it also has different modes, such as black and white, sepia, vivid, neutral, and different light settings. I guess if I stick with buying AA batteries for awhile, I can keep this camera until I save up for a super camera.

Again with the hook-ups

Okay, so today prooves that BeBo isn't the only guy to hook me up. Today, after lunch, Nina and I went to get coffee at GJ. BeBo was there, and he took my order. Well, in a way, he gave me my order... lol... what happened was, he said, "regular blended white mocha?" and I said, "yeah." The other guy in a beanie rang me up. He charged me the regular price for my mocha, and then charged me for Nina's drink. Guess what the total was? My drink was 4.60 and the total was 5 bucks (btw Nina got a iced chai). My punch card went from two punches on Thursday to seven punches as of today. That includes the three punches on Friday and two for today. Someone said maybe this is how treat some of their regular customers.

I Am Free

Hooray!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! WAAAAAAAH!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, enough of me jumping around and screaming my head off. KLOVE just played a new single that has yet to be released. Guess by who? THE NEWSBOYS!!!!

You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this single! They performed it on their summer tour, and we got to hear it at the Ventura County fair. It's a praise song where the audience can sing back, and it's got some of the Newsboys rock sound in it. I love it. If you go to their website, you can hear the whole song! It's recorded live I believe. And oooohhh myyyyy. One of my favorite parts is when Pete starts speaking and he quotes some verses from Isaiah 53! Hehe during the concert, he was pacing on the stage when he started quoting! Okay, so on the recording, he's not exactly quoting the scripture, but it is from Isaiah 53. He just leaves little bits out. In the concert, I think he quoted more.

I AM FREE
(Oh!Who the Son sets free is free indeed! Do you believe that?)

Through You the blind will see
Through You the mute will sing
Through You the dead will raise
Through You all hearts will praise
Through You the darkness flees
Through You my heart screams “I am free”

I am free to run (I am free to run)
I am free to dance (I am free to dance)
I am free to live for You (I am free to live for You)
I am free (I am free)

Who the Son sets free is free indeed. Do you believe that?
As the first of Adam's sweat surrounds my face
Lord, may the last of Adam's blood, my soul embrace

(Parts of Isaiah 53:3-5)
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Surely he took up our infirmities, surely carried our sorrows,
But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities
Because of his wounds, we are healed
Because of his wounds, I am healed
Because of his wounds, you are healed
Do you believe that? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

I am free!

The hand of freedom is stretching out to you. Hold out your hands to freedom: freedom in your head, freedom in your heart, freedom in your marriage, freedom in your mind, freedom in your emotions, freedom in every area of your life.

The freedom comes through the blood, it comes through the word. It comes through the body. It comes through the spiritual family. It comes through the purpose of God

It's price has been paid. Freedom's price has been paid. The price has been paid.

www.newsboys.com

Coffee hook-ups

Okay, so BeBo may not be the only guy hooking me up at Gloria Jean's. But, he's the most consistent and well... the only one that really matters. But sometimes, I get an extra punch on my punch card. Today, the guy punched three punches instead of one. I already had two punches, so he finished up the row (there's two rows of five). And yesterday, the guy put a ton of chocolate sprinkles/shavings (whatever they are) in my mocha. But yeah, BeBo is the only one to give me a free mocha (or discounted one). Actually, I already get a 10% discount, being a mall employee and all. But, sometimes he undercharges me. Like, instead of charging me for a regular, he charged me for a small. Hehe. It's a good thing the owner of GJ doesn't read this, plus, I don't even know his name yet! He had that nametag on again. Same name, but he had the name tag on his sleeve.

Camera

Okay guys! After looking at pictures on Simon's website, I have declared that I officially want a new camera! No more shopping sprees for this lady till my camera is retired. (BTW Anyone interested?) However, I have no clue what kind of digital camera is a good one to get. I'd really like to get the new Canon Powershot that everyone seems to have right now. BUT (and that's a very big one) I don't want to spend money on new media storage devices. I already have a 256 and 516 MB memory cards (CompactFlash). The new CP used the SanDisk (I think) and not Compact Flash. So, any suggestions? I expect replies on this people (especially from those who take lots of digital photos as well hint hint Jennifer and Simon!!!) And yes, I do have a price limit. NOT TOO MUCH. Say... 250? Does that sound good?

Here's the backstory, I currently have a CanonPowershotA310. I bought this because my friend has a Canon Powershot and it works well for her. So, I thought the Powershot would be a good choice. Boy was I wrong about this one. It's too slow for my liking. I don't know about you, but for me, it takes forever taking pictures. It's very fickle. It also uses AA batteries. NEVER AGAIN WILL I PURCHASE A DIGITAL CAMERA THAT REQUIRES AA BATTERIES. Even using rechargeable ones, it ain't all that great. And the quality is okay, but the zoom is terrible. So, I'm in the market for a better camera.