Day 161

I literally did nothing all day and it. Was. AMAZING.

Actually, that's not true. I beat Pokemon Yellow today, except it was the online version, not the cartridge version because it was broken when I (Sam) bought it and I haven't gotten the replacement. I even caught Mewtwo.

My Elite Four Team:

  

I feel like everyone has that one, totally useless thing that they love and nerd out over. That's Pokemon for me. Go ahead and judge. I don't care. I love it.

BITCH.

Sorry, had to finish the lyrics. For those of you who feel like this

refer to my guilty pleasure jam from Day 150.

Day 160

I'm sad today, guys. I'm not sure if I can disclose what triggered it yet, but even without it, I haven't been in the greatest of moods. 

I spent the day at my great grandpa's house helping him clean. When I say helping him clean though, I don't mean vacuuming and dusting. My great grandma was a hoarder. She died about three years ago, right around the Fourth of July, and ever since then, we've taken on the slow process of first making the house save for my grandpa and now going through boxes and cupboards and back rooms. Going through old things, especially ones that are connected to my family, it one of my favorite things to do. It's amazing the amount of cool stuff in that house that was hiding under all of the Dollar Tree crap. 

The reason it wasn't as much fun as usual today is because my grandpa wasn't having a good day. He loved my grandma with all his heart and they were together over 50 years, so going through all of the things she saved isn't easy for him. Today was just one of those days that was less about going through things and more about company. It made me sad for him, especially when he said, after talking about grandma for a while, "I can't complain though, we had a good life," like his was over. I almost lost it right there. I went there with the hopes that'd it take my mind off of things with Sam but it just made it worse. Still, it was nice seeing my great grandpa - I know you're not supposed to pick favorites, but he's up there on my list of favorite family members. 

It's already almost 11 and I have to work tomorrow with my mom, but I'll do my best to post pictures tomorrow of the things I brought home with me from his house today.

Day 159

Tonight's my aunt and uncle's last night in Oregon before they hop on the plane and head back to New York. Ever since we moved from NY to OR, my aunt has come out to visit a few times a year and, since she reads my blog every day, I thought it'd be fun to have her write an entry:

-----

Spent a wonderful couple of days with my "Oregon family" this week. It's always good to come "home." Had the opportunity to take a road trip to Fort Stevens, Seaside and Fort Clatsop. Despite the rain, it was a wonderful bonding experience. Spending time with family and making memories along the way sustain us. Watching my nieces and nephew grow from toddlers to teenagers has been an awesome experience. Getting to share the different stages of their lives has not only been an honor but has given me many wonderful memories along the way. From kindergarden to high school graduations,  from playgrounds to parties, to whatever the future brings, the memories that we'll make together will always keep us close at heart.

-----

(Sorry there's no pictures, she said I wouldn't get a good care package if I included a picture.)

Day 158

Today is the first day I've spent at home since I got home from school. Yeah, I've been busy. And it doesn't look like life is going to get any less busy in the near future. I don't know whether this is good or bad news, but I have the option of moving into my apartment on July 1st. The thing is though, I'd have to pay rent and the only practical reason I'd do that is to work at the university during InroDUCKtion (excuse the pun - university term, not my own). That means I wouldn't be spending much time at home this summer and living literally on my own. *sigh* The last thing I need is to be living by myself. I mean, I love the freedom of being independent, but I feel like it'd be lonely spending my non-working hours in my apartment by myself. Maybe I'll find another FA to live with me.

I don't think I've brought this up before, but I CANNOT WAIT to have my own place. Of all the typical Life Milestones, having my own permanent residence is the one I'm most excited for. I don't want a big house, just something cozy, maybe two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a gaming room (Sam's requirement). Oh, and it'd need to have a backyard so we could have an adorable little German Shepherd.

I fantasize about my future house like little girls fantasize about their weddings. Looking back, I think taking interior design in high school may have done some damage. Moving into my apartment will be the first step towards having a home though, since I have a bedroom and bathroom all to myself. Expect pictures.

Day 157

Days 152 - 156

I just decided it'd be better to write one big blog post at the end of the week about the rest of Sam's visit because 1. It'd make me feel better once he left and 2. Let's be serious, would you rather blog or hang out with your boyfriend?

He left late last night, so needless to say I'm not a happy camper, but it's a lot easier this time than last time he left. Well, it wasn't easy last night, but today I'm doing better than I thought. Not having to say goodbye at the airport probably helped because we actually got to have a good goodbye (if there is such a thing) plus *fingers crossed* we won't be spending as long of a time apart as last time. We're trying to find a way to get me out to Germany at the end of the summer if he's not deployed by then.

Anyways, the rest of our stay at the beach was AMAZING. I can honestly say that Wednesday was one of the best days of my life so far. We slept in late and then went to Newport for the afternoon, which doesn't sound like anything much, but it was perfect. We went into this hole in the wall video game store which had a bunch of old games (Atari, Gameboy Color, N64) along with all the current ones.

Seriously, I don't feel old enough to have the games I played when I was younger be considered "collectables." I played Pokemon Red all the time when I was in middle school. I had Mew. Yeah, that game is considered a collectable. What was nice about going with Sam was that I didn't have to be self conscious about being a little nerdy with retro games because he topped me. Which was cute. I didn't have to pretend that I wasn't totally psyched about the fact that they had Pokemon Blue, Yellow and Gold. Thanks to Sam, I walked out with this:

I have yet to play it though since I haven't been able to get it to work with my Gameboy Color. After the video game store, we went next door a music store. I didn't touch anything since I'm not musically talented in any way, but I did sit and listen to Sam have fun on a bunch of the guitars. 

Yeah.....................

We went out to eat at this really good Mexican restaurant and did more shopping at little thrift shops. There is a little neighborhood of shops and cafes right by the turn off that leads down to the wharf (where Ripley's Believe it or Not and Undersea Gardens are) that are all brightly decorated and aquatic-themed.

What's sad though is that these shops are all worn down and many of them are abandoned. The area is pretty much dead, but we did manage to find a pretty big thrift shop that was full of awesome old stuff. I found A LOT of things I'd love to have in my future house but don't have the money to buy them or a place to put them. We went from there down to the wharf and were planning on going to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum but it was closed by the time we made it down there. (No way I was going to the wax museum - wax figures creep me the hell out.)

Nightmares.

Thursday was our last day at the beach. We went to my family's cabin, made a campfire and just hung out for a few hours. I threw all all of my papers from this past year into the fire one at a time and watched them burn like a pyromaniac, then roasted marshmallow's over the ashes. After that, we threw knives. Sam was obviously better than me, but I was getting the hang of it by the end. He was so excited about me sticking one in the "target" (it was actually a circle from where a big limb was cut off of a tree) from 20 feet away. Even though I barely stuck anything the rest of the time we threw, that's the first thing he told everyone who asked what we did at the beach. 

I think the reason I loved being at the beach with him was that we didn't really DO anything and we didn't really need to. We watched movies and played video games and wandered around. We made our own fun. I honestly feel like I could hang out with just him forever and never get bored, and that's the sign of an awesome relationship. It felt good just BEING with him. 

We ran around a lot after we got back from the beach because there were a lot of people he needed/wanted to see before he left for Germany. I think at this point I've met most of his family, so it was fun hanging around them. I even got hugs from the little ones :) That made me feel good. 

He's gone now. And I don't know when I'm going to see him again and it sucks. I'm not sad though, because even though we're not physically together, it still makes me happy that we're together. It's hard to be sad when you know that the person you love loves you back. So it's not sadness I'm feeling. I just feel... off. 

It's a weird feeling to be around someone every day, all day and then not seeing them at all, especially when it feels so natural when you're together. I LOVED hanging out with my family today, but it still felt weird not having him around. I don't really know how to describe it. I just can't wait until it's over and we can see each other whenever we want to. 

This is where he'll be though:

It's beautiful. And hopefully I'll be there in about two months. We're both going to scrap together as much money as possible to make this happen because neither of us want to spend another 5 and a half months apart again if we can help it. Wish us luck :)

Day 151

I just got home on leave and my girlfriend is making me write in her blog. God. Damn it... I mean dont get me wrong, I love that she does this. It's a great hobby and she's really talented. But right now all I can think about is watching a movie and falling asleep. Not being able to do that, even though it's sitting right in front of me, makes me want to shoot something then stick it with an IV. All kidding aside though being home has been really nice so far. I got home the night before fathers day, which was lucky. Seeing my families faces again made me realize how much I miss home. But I guess it'll feel that much more rewarding when I come home for good. I know this is probably much shorter than the usual blog but I have enough down and theres a movie on pause waiting to be watched.

Day 150

I refound my jam today while I was driving to go pick up Sam.

** Sorry this is late, the internet suuuucks in the hotel Sam and I are staying at.

Day 149

During our layover, Sam and I went out to this really good pizza place in the airport. When we went to pay, the waitress told us someone had already paid for it. They had already left when we went to pay so we didn't even get to say thank you. Sam had to travel in his uniform so of course he got quite a few "Thank you for your service"s, but this, damn.

The best moment of the day though had to be when a little boy (he was probably about 9 or 10) walked up to Sam, shook his hand and thanked him. I d'awwwed. We ended up waiting to board next to him and his mom so we started talking. The mom goes "ooh and a quick wedding while you're home?" just to tease us but it's amazing how many people assume we're married. Two of the people working at the airport did. Anyways, they got on the flight way before us so we had to pass them to get to our seats and when we were, the little kid gave Sam the "I'm watching you" sign and nodded. Sam goes  "You got my back?" and I didn't hear exactly what the boy said back but it was definitely an affirmative. Yeah, so fuckin cute.

I wish everyone had the same attitude towards people in the military, not because I think those people should feel they owe them or anything like that, just out of respect. Are there a lot of assholes in the military? Yeah. But that doesn't mean you should turn your nose up to every service member you see. I haven't witnessed it personally with Sam (yet) but I've heard of it happening. To me, you don't HAVE to treat service members any differently, it's fine if you don't, but I've heard stories of servicemen being disrespected to their face just because of the uniform and that's just not okay. If that happened in front of me, Sam may not be able to say anything but I could and depending on the level of douchebaggery, probably would. I would definitely take it personally, even if it wasn't directed at me, plus, no one talks about my friends like that, let alone my boyfriend. It's so nice though when people smile and say thank you, not because I think Sam necessarily needs to be thanked, but because it shows respect. I think Sam's response of "Thank you for your support" is perfect.

I'm sitting on the plane right now as I'm typing this and Sam's passed out next to me. It's been a long day but we're almost home. :)

Day 148

Oh yeah. This is my view as I'm typing this. Sam is sitting on the side of the pool with his mom and his sister just out of frame and I'm just chilling on a lawn chair in a skirt and a tank top loving the warm weather. This is good, this is a good time. 

I forgot how good it feels to have Sam around all the time. It doesn't feel like 5 and a half months happen between now and the last time we saw each other though because we pretty much picked up right where we left off like he'd never been gone. Definitely reassuring. 

Want to know what we got the most excited about today? This:

Well, let me clarify. We were not excited over the Xbox One itself, we got excited over how much worse it is than the PS4 and even the Xbox 360 and how badly Microsoft shot itself in the foot. Or, more accurately, the face. Again, reassuring. 

I made a deal with Sam that he could have the link to my blog IF he wrote tomorrow's entry so I guess you'll see tomorrow how that goes :/

Day 147

I could not be happier. You have no idea.

So Sam was supposed to be done and meet us at 3. We get to the place we're supposed to meet him at 2:30. Half hour, not a big deal, right? Well then I get a text from Sam saying they won't be released until 4. By the time he actually came he came out it was like 4:20 I was like:

Nah, but seriously though, gawd I was so happy. There aren't enough GIFs on the internet to express that. It doesn't even feel real at this point because we only spent a few hours together. After graduation though he'll be done with formation and everything like that and I feel like we're going to be physically inseparable after that. At least that's what my mom said.

I'm meeting all of his friend tomorrow and apparently they've heard ALL about me, so that should be interesting. I'm excited though. I'm super proud of him and I'm really glad I get to be there. 

Day 146

I've spent all day traveling with Sam's sister, Micaela. Dear God, I'm exhausted. But on the plus side, I'm writing this post during the commercial breaks of Maury. His show makes me feel so much better about my own life it's ridiculous.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67074

Do people really have that much tolerance for cheating? It's not even when they're first dating... these people are engaged and married! That first girl... what?! If I found out Sam was prostituting (or buying prostitutes) it would be done, no questions asked. There would be no negotiation. Do these people not understand how much they're being disrespected?

I've taken back a cheater ONCE and while I don't necessarily regret it, it's not something I'd ever do again.

Day 145

I was super stressed over my Japanese final and then coming home and packing and I forgot to post.

Day 144

So I've browse the internet quite a bit (more than I probably should) and I've come across 90's nostalgia posts quite a few times. Some of the items are SO specific to my childhood that I had no idea they existed for anyone else (like the Hit Clips), but apparently were iconic of the 90's. So for today, I present to you, my top 10 list of childhood nostalgia:

Day 143

This is what I accomplished today:

Okay, so maybe not all at once, but a significant chunk of it was done today. All I have left is the remaining 2.5 pages of another paper and two finals :D Holy crap, I'm almost done with my first year of college. Wow. It didn't seem like that long ago that I was unpacking all of my stuff and making my dorm room home-y, but here I am sitting in a completely bare dorm room. The only thing left for decoration is the poster I made of pictures and my Dr. Seuss quote (Day 2).

As a tribute to this year, here's the first picture of me from college: 

Yes, we're on a bike in the middle of Fred Meyer. Don't judge.

Day 142

HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS I'M SO EXCITED!

It's been a little over five months since I've seen Sam and now the wait is almost over. Part of me is surprised we've made it so long without any issues, but then I think about it and it doesn't surprise me anymore. We both respect our relationship and trust each other. It always blows my mind when couples who are in the same city have trust issues when Sam and I barely see each other and have no issues. 

I know I promised pictures of my stuff all packed up but my camera is still packed (I failed at being productive today). So tomorrow. Maybe. But I did get something done! I packed all my clothes for my San Antonio trip :) I felt like I was a high schooler getting ready to go on a first date because of how much I was fussing over my outfits. I think it's because we rarely see each other so the novelty of us dating hasn't worn off yet - if you think about it, if you only count the time we've spent together, we've only been dating a little over a month.

I feel bad that the past few days haven't been very long but it's dead week... do you expect me to have the energy to type out a long, well thought out post? That'll change during the summer when I have aaaaaaall day to think of things. Also, my new allergy medicine is making me extremely drowsy, so that doesn't help either.

The next three days might be blah, but expect a really happy update on Day 147. Good luck to anyone who's going through finals right now.

Day 141

I had class from 9am to 3 pm today and I spent the rest of the day packing up my entire dorm room (I'll post pictures tomorrow). This is the only thing I'm feeling love for right now:

Day 140

So, readers, I have a new obsession. The comic series is called "Scandinavia and the World" and it's absolutely hilarious. The characters are fantastic. I suggest you giving it a look: http://satwcomic.com/. I'm sharing with you my favorite comic (so far) even though it doesn't have any Scandinavian characters because LORD OF THE RINGS.

If you couldn't figure it out, the lamb is New Zealand. Because, ya know, where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. And the guy is Wales.

Day 139

Low observed? Are you kidding me? Tell that to the toilet paper roll that I finished in the past two days because there are no real tissues. AND I'm on allergy meds. It's absolutely miserable.

Anyways, I have a huge final worth 30% of my grade tomorrow so imma go study. Here's an adorable little penguin for everyone else who needs some encouragement! 

Sorry I don't have time for more, those 70 terms aren't going to memorize themselves.

Day 138

I was this on Imgur today and it reminded me of my bucket list. (I'm posting the link because the image isn't big enough here:

http://imgur.com/gallery/5nkU0jV

I was thinking, "If I had to choose ONE thing I want to do before I die, what would it be?" I looked back at my bucket list and as much as I want to do all of those things, none of them were things I would be devastated if I died without doing. 

Before I die: I want to go on an adventure. 

I mean a legit adventure, not one of those, "Oh I'm going to go explore London," adventures. They speak English - it doesn't count. I want to be dropped in the middle of a culture I know nothing about in a place where I have no idea where I am and experience everything there is to experience. That's the kind of adventure I want. Now, it may involve riding on the back of an elephant or going to the Holi Festival or any of the other things on my bucket list... but honestly the whole fun is not knowing what's going to happen and going with the flow. It's hard for me not to plan things (ask my roommate... or Sam... or my mom...) so that's part of the experience for me. 

Of course, I wouldn't mind having a buddy to adventure with :) I'm hoping that at least one of my adventures involve Sam tagging along (also, never a bad idea to have someone with medical training along!) and I want to take a trip to Africa with my mom because I know that's something she's always wanted to do. That one might have to be planned out though, because I don't think either of us are spontaneous enough to just wing it. I think we would both have anxiety attacks haha.

Anyways, that's my "Before I die I want to..." I know you probably won't, but if you're feeling extra share-y today (or whenever you read this), post yours in the comments section. If not, that's cool, but really think about what yours would be for yourself. 

Day 137

Story of my life: I brought home all my nice clothes because they were just sitting in my closet taking up space. I get an email saying that I'm invited to an event because I won a scholarship through my department. What do I have the wear? BUSINESS CASUAL.

But now on to something love-related. Um... Well, my professors are really cool this term. With Sam being out of touch and it being Dead Week, there hasn't been really anything to be excited or passionate about. It's just school school school sleep Imgur school. So for me, going to class is actually a break from essay writing and memorizing and studying and since my professors are awesome this term, classes have been pretty fun. 

For example, in my Comparative Literature class today, we watched a Matt and Kim video, and if you've been reading my blog, you know I loooooove Matt and Kim. Here's the video (somewhat NSFW):

Also, I'm meeting with one of my favorite professors today, Professor Unno. He was my College Connections professor for my FIG, my Religion 101 professor and the professor that I'm working with when I'm a FIG Assistant. There's a reason I wanted to be assigned to his FIG. He's an absolutely awesome lecturer, hilarious and easy to work with. 

I loved a lot of my high school teachers but in college, there's a level of respect that wasn't there in high school. It goes both ways. I have an insane amount of respect for my professors, especially the ones whose classes I like, and professors respect students a lot more here than they do in high school. Even though they have degrees and have been studying their field for years, they don't act superior to students, at least in my experience so far. It's kind of hard to describe, but professor-student dynamics are a lot more personal and professional at the same time. 

For anyone that goes to U of O, I highly, highly recommend Professor Unno (religious studies), Professor Allan (Comp. Lit) and Professor Karim (anthropology). 

Day 136

Today, I interviewed this lady for Lane Today:

I don't want to give away too much into her story because I'm writing it as an article, but I do want to share a little bit about her. Her name is Joanie and she lives in one of the low-income neighborhoods in Eugene. She runs a kind of a daycare program, called the Mimzy Club, for the kids in her neighborhood so they have a place to hang out during the day that's safe. She doesn't make any money from it - the only money that comes in is from donations. She does it because she cares about the kids in her neighborhood. Joanie's home is also home to more than a few animals, including an albino hedgehog, and she works with Greenhill Animal Shelter to help with the feral cat issue in her neighborhood.

Joanie is the perfect example of how not to let negativity control your life. She talked to me about her rough past, social anxiety, and pain from her scoliosis (she actually had to have surgery to repair her back) but she never sounded bitter about any of it. Instead, she tries to bring positivity in any way she can, especially to her small community. Despite being in a few less than great relationships, she hasn't given up on love and is getting married this summer. She also mentioned the possibility of starting a family, even though because of her scoliosis, it wouldn't be easy. She's so full of love, you've never guess she's had such a hard life.

Anyway's I'll be writing the full story soon and of course I'll put the link here as always.

Dead Week starts tomorrow, so please don't expect too much from me the next few days.

Day 135

What to write, what to write? I've literally been writing all day. But I have my 3,500 word essay done :D Well, 3453 word essay. That doesn't have the Part 2 where I analyze my own story. But still, that's pretty good. I'm not going to write out the 3 page analyzing piece yet because last time I completely finished my essay, I HAD TO START THE WHOLE THING OVER.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. 

In the story that I had to write, my main character was a girl who could draw. I think it would have been so awesome if I could draw the pictures my character does to go along with the essay, but these are my artistic skills:

Yeah, I drew these on the computer because it was BETTER than me trying to draw the scenes on a piece of paper. This is the lesser of two evils. 

When I was Stumblingupon random things from the internet, I came across an artist by the name of Zach Johnson. While his name might be somewhat generic, his art definitely is not. So today I wanted to share with you someone whose art I love and am also insanely jealous of. Also, he's local (at least for me) so that's awesome too!

Want more? Check him out at: http://www.zachjohnsen.com/ and http://www.zenvironments.com/
Also, this is freakin sweet: http://www.zenvironments.com/sketch/