Very Random/Interesting/Fun Weekend

So first off I would just like to say that the new xanga is wack and it took me about 15 minutes just to figure out how to post a new weblog on here...isn't the whole point of xanga to post blogs?  Well, it WAS, which is why I don't understand why it's so hard to find the most common thing on xanga...Anyways, I'm not gonna remember how I figured out how to post a blog so I guess I should make this blog worthwhile haha.  I wanted to write a blog because first off, I haven't written one since November of 2007 so that means I'm long overdue haha.  Anyways, I had a pretty random, interesting, and fun weekend, just like the title states so I figured I'd write down what happened so I can remember the events that took place.

I guess I'll start with Thursday which began with swim lessons (I'm teaching swim lessons in Irvine for Montessori preschool in University Hills).  I have five lessons twice a week (Tues/Thurs) and it's fun but very fast paced.  So I taught my lessons from 8:45-11:30am and then came home, ate lunch, and then went to the arc for a swim.  I believe I swam 2000 yards or so.  I then came home, gave myself a haircut (which I had started the day before) and then I was just kinda hanging out until I got a phone call from Eric Fahsbender.  I guess he had just gotten into Mission Viejo and was spending the weekend with Brandon Boren who was house sitting, and they wanted to go see the Dark Knight with me on IMAX at the Irvine Spectrum.  I decided I'd go since my room mates went to go see it without me on Tues when I was working.  So we met up at about 6:00pm since the movie started at 7:00pm.  We saw the movie, which was amazing, and then we drove back towards my place and got some Taco Bell.  They went back to Mission Viejo and I came home and went to bed.

On Friday, I woke up and went to class for three hours from 10:00am-1:00pm and then came back home, ate lunch, and then went to the arc and swam 2500 yards.  When I got back my cousin, Drew, called and invited me over to his new apartment in Long Beach to come over and kick it later.  I hung around the house for a few hours with my room mates and we made a facebook event for my birthday party next weekend.  I left Irvine at around 9:45pm and got into Long Beach at around 10:15pm.  When I got to Drew's, they were still setting stuff up becaue they had literally moved in that day.  Drew, Chad Pearsey, Charles Eckburg, Charles' girlfriend Danielle, and Drew's friend Bonnie were all there and we just smoked, played Asshole and then Beer Pong, which I lost every single game (very unlike me, haha).  We passed out at around 2:30am and I swear I heard gunshots that night, haha.

Saturday was the craziest/weirdest/randomest day I've had in a long time.  I woke up at about 10:30am on the floor that morning next to Chad, and having only two beach towels cover me.  I got up to get some water and heard a pounding on the door.  Charles' dad let himself in and then went to wake up Charles.  He was upset because they were supposed to go furniture shopping and it was already 11:00am and Charles didn't answer any of his phone calls.  After things got settled down, we cleaned up and the five of us, Charles, his dad, me, Chad, and Danielle, went to two furniture stores and bought a four piece sofa and love seat thing and TV stand for Charles and Drew.  When we got back to their apartment we moved the furniture in and then I had to leave because it was already 1:00pm.  I got back into Irvine and Eric Fahsbender was waiting in my apartment complex.  We had decided to go get lunch, so we went to Red Robin in Fashion Island and then walked around for a while.  We headed back to my apartment and then watched Grandma's Boy.  When it ended at about 5:15pm, Eric left because he had to go eat dinner with one of his co-workers and her husband. 

I contemplated taking a nap, but at about 7:00pm, I got a text from Tara Nelson saying she had stopped in Irvine on her way to San Diego and wanted to say hi.  So her and her sister Paris came over and hung out for about half an hour and we just talked and caught up.  They left close to 8:00pm and I saw some of my neighbors/Fraternity bros who invited me over to their place.  I said I'd probably come over later and I went back inside.  My room mate Stanton and I decided to go to Wahoo's for dinner and we ate there and then came back.  Right when I walked in the door my friend Nichole texted me and wanted to hang out.  I went over to my neighbor's and Nichole and her two friends came over a little later.  About 10 of us just hung out and watched the UFC fight but everyone decided to go to a few parties so we just bounced.  Nichole and her friends went home and I went back to my aparment.  My room mates Mike and Gaby were hanging out with our friend Alina and we all just hung out for a while and then decided we wanted Mickey D's.  I said I'd drive and we left our apartment at about 1:00am.  We basically took like an hour road trip and saw all of Irvine, and every single McDonald's was closed so we went to Carl's Jr. and got food.  When we came back we just hung out and told ghost stories and other crazy stories that we'd experienced in our life.  It was pretty crazy, but fun.  We talked until about 4:15am and I passed out on the couch.  I woke up at about 8:30am and then went back to my bed and slept till1:00pm, haha. 

Now I'm here in my room, typing yet another novel and not wanting to study for my Lab final tomorrow and my Ochem final on Wednesday.  But I suppose I should since I need to do well on these tests.  So, until next time, have a good day and I'll update the next time something random or memorable happens.  Later kids.

The Weekend of Thanks

Hello everyone.  I just thought I'd update once again because I had a pretty eventful weekend.  This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend and I went back to Bakersfield to spend a few days with family and friends.

The weekend began as Nicole Punelli (one of my friends from elementary school who also goes to UCI) picked me up from my apartment at about 2:00 PM on Wednesday.  We left Irvine and drove for countless hours in L.A. traffic.  Along the way we stopped to pick up Jessica Feghali, a freshman at UCLA, and one of Nicole's friends.  That cost us about an extra hour and a half, bringing the total time of the trip to 6 hours, the longest it's ever taken me to get home haha.  Along the way, we just talked and caught up and then listened to music.  I arrived home at about 8:00 PM and talked to my family (I was the very last one to get home).  Shortly after, Devon Basham called me and asked me if I wanted to hang out.  He picked me up and we stopped by Jake Desme's house.  I hadn't seen him in a few months, since he left for Kansas, and Devon and I talked to him and his family for about half an hour.  We then left and went to the Marketplace.  Devon got food at Carl's Jr. and then we met up with Elise Charron and Lisa Lundberg who were drinking Starbuck's outside of Wasabi.  We talked to them for quite and while and then Mark Goya came and met up with us.  We spent the entire time talking and just catching up and laughing.  I got home at about 11:45 PM, watched The Warriors, and went to bed.

Thursday morning was Thanksgiving and I woke up fairly late and got ready.  We went over to my grandma's house at about 2:30 PM and we watched football and hung out.  The Crossman's were there, as was my grandma, and the guests (otherwise known as the "boyfriends") included Kevin Bartel, Josh Scurlock, and Ryan Pedigo.  We all ate at 4:00 PM or so and chatted while we ate.  Afterwards, Drew, Pedigo, and I went outside to toss the football around and run some routes.  After playing for about an hour, and after getting fairly sweaty, we went back inside, cooled off, and then watched the USC vs. Arizona State football game which USC won 44-24.  We left Grandma's at about 9:30 PM and when I got home I went over to Jill Lerias' house and we just talked and caught up.  Pauline Fernando came over for a while too and we talked to her for a bit.  I left Jill's around 12:30 AM and went to bed.

On Friday, I woke up early, around 8:30 AM, because today was the day to get our Christmas tree.  We all dressed in red and drove up to Springville, CA.  We took family pictures just north of Springville, up in the mountains, and then ate lunch, which consisted of sandwiches, chips, and diet sodas.  We then drove back down to Springville and went to Dulitz Tree Farm where we cut down our tree (the biggest in the forest, of course).  My dad and I tied it up and we drove back home to Bakersfield, however, not after looking at houses on the river first.  We got back at about 4:15 PM and I showered and hung around the house for a while.  At about 6:00 PM, I picked up Devon Basham and we met up with Jill Lerias and Mark Goya at BJ's for dinner.  We ate and then went back to Devon's where we just hung out in the jacuzzi.  Nick Sherrill came over while we were in the jacuzzi and then we dried off and talked for a while.  Jill left at around 10:00 PM and then Devon, Mark, and I went to Blockbuster as Nick went home to change.   At the video store we saw Antoine Saldubahere and Matt Andrea and we talked to them for a bit.  We rented Fracture and then went back to Devon's, met up with Nick again, and then watched the movie, which was alright.  I then went home at about 12:15 AM and went to bed.

Saturday, I slept in pretty late and at 1:15 PM, I went to Deer Peak Park to play some frisbee.  Unfortunately, the only guys that showed up were Devon Basham, Yama Afshar, and Matt Andrea but the four of us played anyways: Matt and I vs. Devon and Yama.  We played for a while, got really tired, and then finally retired at about 3:30 PM or so.  I drove home, took a shower, and then read some Pyschology because I have a midterm on Tuesday.  At 7:00 PM, Mark Goya picked me up and we drove to Best Buy to get a gift for his mom's upcoming birthday.  We then drove to John's Incredible Pizza and met up with Dariel Medina (who I hadn't seen in a long time) as well as Eric Fahsbender, Justin Manalo, Phillip Kibbey, and Nick Sherrill.  We ate pizza and then I played Time Crisis II with Dariel and Justin and then Justin and I played some other shooter game...Ghost something? haha.  Anyways we left at about 10:00 PM and then drove to Garden Park to smoke some hookah.  Mark and I stopped by Von's to buy some tin foil, jolly ranchers, and water, and then met up with everyone but Dariel.  Jill came by for about 15 minutes to say bye to everyone and then we all smoked and went to Nick's house to watch the Office.  After two episodes we all decided to part ways and I returned home at about 12:45 AM.  I went to bed late, after looking at old high school pictures that Jill uploaded to Facebook.

Finally, today, I woke up early (at about 7:15 AM), showered, packed, and then Nicole Punelli picked me up at about 8:00 AM and we left Bakersfield.  The drive was quick, only taking us just over 2 hours to get back to Irvine.  Nicole and I talked along the way and we got back at about 10:15 AM.  I unpacked when I got back, watched church online, and then went to recycle with Brian (we made $4.85, haha).  I came back, showered and then met up with Miki Omori and we went to eat at In N' Out at about 1:30 PM.  We came back at about 2:00 PM and we hung out until about 3:45 PM because she had to go to work.  After she left I took a 4 hour nap until about 8:15 PM.  When I woke up, I ate, watched the rest of the Patriots vs. Eagles football game (which the Patriots won 31-28), and then read some Psychology.  Now I'm just typing away, once again, lol.  The rest of tonight I will probably just ready some more or I will just go to bed early since I'm pretty tired still, and fairly out of it.  Anyways, I'll probably update in a few weeks, during Christmas time.  That's all for now kids.

Pre-Winter Blues

Xanga...ha...it's weird how I always tend to stumble upon this thing...I really think that xanga is one of the coolest online sources primarily because it's meant for the soul purpose of journaling, which no one does anymore.  It's a great stress reliever and a good way to remember some of the best times of one's teenage and young adult life.  Anyways, I just re-read my entry from July and I'm sad because I haven't talked to many of my friends in a while.  Almost all of them are away at school, having a blast.

Me, on the otherhand, well I'm currently in Bakersfield, home for Veteran's Day Weekend and the weekend was somewhat soothing, although it took a while for it to get that way, haha.  I guess I should write down what happened this weekend just for kicks and giggles.

So, my cousin Drew picked me up from Irvine on Friday at around 2 PM.  We then drove to Long Beach and stopped at his apartment because we ran out of sunflower seeds and we were almost out of gas.  Well we talked the entire way home, which took almost 5 hours, and just caught up.  We got back to Bako around 7 PM, just in time for dinner.  I walked into my newly renovated home of brand new couch, love-seat, side tables, lamps, coffee table, dinner table, chairs...the works.  It was somewhat sad and somewhat surreal.  Anyways, Drew stayed to talk for a while and then proceeded home.

I ate chicken pot pie with my parents, since my little sister was gone baby-sitting, and we discussed how I had been feeling lately, primarily about anxiety and depression.  I got pretty freaked out mainly because it was a big change coming home for the first time this year, especially with a somewhat new house.  Anyways, my mom and I stayed up talking until about midnight.

The next morning, I was supposed to go swimming with my little sister, Anna, but we woke up too late and the pools closed at noon.  Anyways, I hung out around the house all day, and helped my dad fix the lights in the bathroom in the process.  Later, in the evening, I watched the Rocketeer with my rents.  Rachel Ponce texted me around 11 30 PM and then she came over and we talked until about 2 AM.  She left and I went to bed.

I woke up this morning, Sunday, and I felt pretty out of it and was pretty upset that I wasn't feeling any better than back at school.  I drove to church by myself since my little sister was gone and my rents had already gone.  The drive was interesting - hard to focus, somewhat anxious, and pretty light-headed.  Anyways I arrived at church and listened to the sermon which Pastor Phil and Pastor Brandon preached on "Questions About Heaven" which was pretty interesting although it seemed almost too good to be true.  Afterwards the rents took me to Spencer's Cafe where I saw Trevor Jones and his wife outside.  During our meal, my dad flirted with the waitress (a girl a year younger than me who was pretty cool).  We ate and then went home. 

I talked some more with my mom when we got home and then we just hung around the house for a while.  My mom and I played some solitaire and then Ryan Pedigo and Anna came back from his "last" motocross race.  They left again and the rents and I ate dinnner (beef stew).  Brittney Younger called me after dinner and we caught up for a while. 

And then some good news came.  I think I figured out why I had been feeling so "out of it lately" and it was due mainly to the excessive ibuprofen that I had been taking.  I had pretty much been overdosing on it because of my back pains and that was causing me to be tired, light-headed, and out of it.  After dinner, my back was hurting but I felt better (mentally) so I lessened the amount of ibuprofen I was taking and now I feel much better, although still not great.

Anyways, then Drew called me and I headed over to Charles Eckburg's house and Drew, Charles, Chad Pearsey, Stuart Campbell, Derek King, and I watched Menace II Society - a crazy, but good, movie about the ghetto of L.A.  Then I came home, chatted with some friends and now I'm about to head to bed.

Tomorrow, Drew and I head back down south but luckily in less than two weeks I'll be home for Thanksgiving and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing everyone and falling into a triptofan coma.  Anyways, that's all for now...until next time.

Currently Listening Wonderful World By Israel Iz Kamakawiwo'ole Somewhere Over the Rainbow see related

Reminiscing.

     I entitled this entry as "reminiscing" but I guess that's not exactly correct.  Lately, there have been events that have happened that have reminded me of old times when I used to hang out with my friends.  It's really weird how you grow up and go to college and actually start noticing how you change as a person.  It really is a period of one's life where he or she realizes that they are starting to become an adult and I must say it's a really weird feeling, a good feeling, but weird, nonetheless. 

     So, I've been back from college for about a month now and I'm working at a preschool teaching swim lessons to kids aged from 2 to 6 years old and it's pretty fun I must say.  It doesn't pay well, but it's nice to finally get away from working for the city and feeling like you actually stand out as an individual, although it does get kind of lonely since I only work with one other girl pretty much, haha.  Anyways, so that's going pretty well for me.  Also, I've kind of noticed that our group of friends is falling apart and there are only a handful of us that still make time for each other, which is quite depressing.  Speaking of hanging out with friends though, I've had some pretty good times recently that I'd like to share.

     To start off with, we've gone to Corner Pocket a few times to play some pool and that's pretty fun.  I've always enjoyed playing pool as a kid and haven't had much opporunity to play, so going there more often now is pretty enjoyable.  We went for Jill's birthday which was on June 27, so a couple of weeks ago, and then just last week we went also, so that was pretty fun.  The most fun I've had in the past year or so, however, has just occurred in the last two days.

     So just two nights ago, Friday night I believe, Sarah Meyer came into town and wanted to hang out with me so she and Charmaine came over to my house and we talked and reminisced and had a good conversation amongst ourselves and then we got a snowcone at SnoShak and then decided that we'd get a big group of people together and go to dinner.  So we called up a bunch of people and only got a hold of a few people and thought that the night would turn out to be kind of lame.  Well, we decided we'd do it anyways and surprisingly it turned out really well. 

     We decided on going to dinner at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) and when I arrived, Jake Desme was there.  We were the first two there and so we sat by the fountain and talked and caught up.  Well shortly after, we saw Paige Basham and a bunch of her friends who were at Elephant Bar for a birthday party.  Well they asked us to take pictures of them (probably because they thought Jake was good looking, haha) and so we did and we talked to them for a little while and then we turn around and see my sister, Rachel, and her friends Kellie St. Pierre and Sarah Hester.  Sarah Hester was down for the weekend from Valencia and I hadn't seen her in a year or longer so that was fun.  Well almost right after that, all of our friends showed up, which included Sarah Meyer, Josh Cella, Phillip Kibbey, Eric Fahsbender, Elise Charron, and Jill Lerias.  Then shortly after that we saw Gabi Flores who was there for the birthday party, so it was really good seeing everyone.  So we all ate at CPK and talked and reminisced and laughed and it was a lot of fun. 

     Afterwards, we decided we'd go to Pin Oak Park and have some good sober fun playing hide and go seek.  Well when we got there it happened to be the "Movie in the Park" night and there was a bunch of parents and their kids there watching Over the Hedge, so we all just stood and talked and laughed, and saw a huge black widow, which I killed, haha.  Then, Charmaine Abasta and her friend Krista Ellsworth showed up and we continued our conversations.  Anyways, the movie ended and we walked across the park because Elise's key was stuck in her ignition.  Well we tried to get it out, but failed, so we all stood around talked some more and it ended up being a really fun, despite uneventful night.

     The next day, I woke up and helped my mom clean the house and then my sisters, Anna and Rachel, and I decided to go over to my grandma's house and swim and hang out.  So we went over there, us three and Anna's boyfriend, Ryan Pedigo, and we watched a Dodger game.  The game was pretty much over, but suddenly, the Giants made a comeback with a grand slam in the 8th inning and a run in the 9th to tie the game.  Well the Dodgers ended up winning in the 12th inning so that was pretty cool.  Then we went swimming and played toothpicks, which I happened to win, so that cool too.  Well, we left around 6 PM and then I came home, showered, and went over to Jill's because it was her dad's 59th birthday.  Well there was about 40 Filipino and Chinese Filipino people over there and we all ate good food and talked and hung out.  Eventually the kids went outside and we all talked and hung out.  It was actually a lot of fun.  Well, the party ended around midnight and everyone left but Jill and I decided to stay outside and talk on her trampoline, which we had a pretty deep conversation and ended up talking until about 4 AM, lol, but it was a good talk.  Anyways, then I came home, went to sleep, went to church in the morning, and then went to lunch at Rubio's afterwards with my dad and my sister Rachel (since only us three have been going to church for the last 4 weeks or so, haha).  Anyways, then I came home, played guitar, and now I'm just sitting here typing a novel on this thing which I never use anymore, haha. 

     Anyways, once again, I doubt anyone will read this, but I hope that someday in the future, I'll come back and read this and remember these past couple of days.  I don't know if I'll update soon or anything, but I go back to UC Irvine in September and will be starting my second year there.  I'm excited to go back but I like being home for the time being.  Anyways, to conclude this novel, I just want to say that I hope everyone has a good summer and as I used to say when I wrote on here, "I'll talk to you kids later!"

- Bert

Currently Listening Your Favorite Weapon By Brand New see related

So this is the first time I've updated in the year 2007.  I guess xanga pretty much died, lol, but yeah well I was reading my old xanga entries last night and I realized that xanga was pretty much made for the purpose of reminiscing.  It really made me miss high school and my friends and what not and I dunno I was actually kinda sad last night, haha.  Anyways, well I might start updating again, we'll see.  No one uses this anymore but I kinda want to update just for my own personal use. 

But yeah, so I'm in college.  I go to UC Irvine and I'm in my second quarter here.  In fact, we have finals this week so I actually should be studying.  I just finished writing a 7 page paper that was due yesterday.  I had to pull an all-nighter to finish it.  I was up till 8:30 AM, lol.  So yeah, and then I have Math 2B final tomorrow and then Chem 1B final on Friday.  Then I get to go home for Spring Break!  I haven't been home this entire quarter so I'm pretty stoked about that. 

And I get to drive my VW Bus!  I haven't driven that thing in about a year and a half, lol.  So I'm pretty excited to finally get that thing back on the road again.  And I'm also pledging a Fraternity right now, Kappa Sigma, and hopefully pledging is almost over.  I'm pretty sure we're getting close but we'll see.  Anyways, well that's all for now.  I gotta go shower and then get to studying but I'll update whenever I get around to it.  Bye for now.

- Bert