I said Hey! What's going on???

Here's a bit of what's been going on and what's to come:

I have an apartment!!!
My friend Brian (who will be my roommate this upcoming school year) and I went down to Eugene a couple weeks ago to hunt for somewhere to live. We looked at several complexes near Autzen Stadium and finally found somewhere to apply. We went down to Eugene again two days later to turn in our applications, and we even got a look inside the apartment we hoped to get. That Friday, we found out that our applications had been approved and we got the apartment. We will be living in the Parkgrove apartments, which are next to Ducks Village and across Kinsrow from Chase Village. We get to move in August 14, after which I will be posting pictures documenting the move-in process.

Claire and Melissa got married! But not to each other!
The weekend before my birthday, I was super busy. Two of my friends had weddings in as many days.

The fun started Friday night with Claire's bachelorette party. We went to Washington Square Mall, a shopping trip which included Icing (for the all-important "Hot Bride" sash), Spencer's (for body crayons, which we used immediately upon exiting the store), and Victoria's Secret (for a couple of surprises for Ian).

It continued the next day with Melissa Kelley's wedding, on the Cammack farm just south of Salem. Our families have been neighbors for a few years now.

Sunday was the longest day of my entire life. Brian picked me up from my house at 9 a.m. for the two-hour drive to Rockaway Beach. When we got there, it was starting to sprinkle, which gradually become harder and harder rain as the time for the wedding drew near. Claire made an executive decision to keep the ceremony on the beach as planned, although everyone got fairly wet. Luckily we got inside for the reception just as the monsoon started. :)

Brian was in charge of the music, and we danced to all of our favorites from high school dances and ice cream orgies. They had two cakes: a coconut cake and a champagne cake, both with lots of raspberries. I caught the bouquet...which should be really lucky, right? And when it was time for Claire and Ian to leave, the crowd that had gathered outside the city hall (where the reception was held) made so much noise that a passing driver who had turned to see what was going on ended up driving off the road...haha :)

So basically, it was the biggest party weekend ever.

I turned 20!
My actual birthday was fairly uneventful, although my parents took me out to dinner Saturday night at McCormick & Schmick's. I slept through the entire morning (the craziness of the previous weekend had finally caught up with me) and had class that night, so I couldn't do much. However, I did get lots of lovely birthday wishes, beginning at 2 a.m. when Josh and Cameron both texted me (Josh actually texted me, emailed me, wrote on my facebook wall, got on facebook chat and sent me a message on Twitter). After chatting with Cameron for an hour or so, I slept for about four hours until Mom and Matt came in to give me my gifts (a card, five pairs of earrings and a new Oregon hoodie). After they left, I tried to go back to sleep, but I was soon bombarded with six text messages and a ton of Facebook notifications. Thank you so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! And I still need to figure out a date for Bess and Brian to take me to dinner at the Melting Pot!

I got an A on my first psychology test!
Because my birthday is in the middle of summer, I usually don't have class on my birthday. However, because I'm taking PSY 215 this summer at PCC to get some science credit, not only did I have class on my birthday; Tuesday was the date of my first test. Luckily, I did well, considering I finished the thing in 15 minutes. Even better news: I looked up the transfer equivalent online, and my PSY 215 class counts as PSY 210 at UO! Yay!

More to follow!

An attempt to revive my poor wilted blog...

Sorry, it's been busy the past few weeks, with class, two weddings, a bachelorette party and my birthday...Hopefully later tonight I'll have time to post something groundbreaking and thought-provoking. :) Stay tuned!

To do this summer

• Get my license -- finally -- so I can actually consider myself a legitimate citizen of society.
• Learn to play the euphonium.
• Work.
• Hang with the cousins. This will include swing dance lessons and air guitaring at the McLoughlin Blvd. Burgerville as well as a fashion photoshoot.
  
• Possibly make it down to Central Point?
• Secure an apartment for next school year.
• Have another SEXtet get together before Claire and Ian get too far into their married life...
• Turn 20. That one should be easy, provided I don't die sometime in the next couple of weeks.
• Start planning for 21.
  
• Buy books for next school year.
• Write article for a friend's online magazine.
• Something epic. I'm not sure what. But it needs to happen.
• Love the puppies :)
• Go to the drive-in at least once.
• Oaks Park (also with cousins)
• to be continued...I know there's more, but I'm really tired.
  

It's been a while...

so I guess it's update time!

• I'm home for the summer. I just finished my second year at the University of Oregon and am (hopefully) halfway through my college career. I am also done with the SOJC premajor requirements and will be a full major beginning fall term.
• I managed to borrow a euphonium from the School of Music so I can learn how to play it before fall. So far it's going better than I would have expected, but Separate Ways still sounds like someone with an upset stomach.
• It's really cold in here...
• I miss a ton of people in Eugene.
• I also missed a ton of people here in Newberg while I was in Eugene.
• I made dinner tonight. It actually turned out quite well. It's amazing what working appliances and counter space can do for cooking skills.
• Baby Bear makes cute music when he dances on my keyboard. It scares him though. Which is even cuter.
• I can't wait until football season...pickup games, being in Eugene again, marching band, the antics of the Insane-O's...hopefully not having to bail any of them out of jail...
• I want to collect more Oregon stuff. Not as much as Cameron has...that's probably overdoing it a bit...but definitely more.
• I have too many collections.
• I should work on my photography.
• I really need to learn to drive. Seriously. This is pathetic.
• Bear reminds me of Woodstock the bird from the Charlie Brown cartoons when he whines.
• It felt like it was late when it was 8 p.m. Now it's almost 10:20 and feels early.
  

This has been a pretty awesome week. :)

• A group of people and I sang a reggae-ish version of "Stomp" by Kirk Franklin for someone's solo project audition for Gospel Choir. I doubt we'll actually get to perform it -- Andiel was laughing pretty hard the whole time -- but it was a lot of fun.
• My iPod crashed on Wednesday. But I fixed it and now it's all better.
• I have some of the best friends ever. :)
• I kick BUTT at Mafia Wars.
• The finale of The Office was pretty good, but it had a weird ending. Happy, but kind of random.
• A good friend bought me lunch at Qdoba on Wednesday.
• Ashley and I volunteered for University Day on Thursday. It was awesome and I got a really sweet brown shirt.
• We started rumba in Ballroom 1. Yet another example of how my "laughin' place" really is on a dance floor. :)
• I get to see the Decemberists in just less than a week.
• I get to see Relient K a week after that.
• I got a bunch of good music from Hailey. Sharing my iTunes library is hands down the most successful social gesture I have consistently made with people.
• I can't wait for football season! :D :D :D
• Life is amazing.
  

Confusion.

It's 1:30 a.m. and I'm still awake. My mind is a stew of thoughts and emotions.

My friend Bess informed me Sunday via Skype, and my band director yesterday via email, that the longtime band director at Boise State University, David Wells, succumbed to cancer. He was 70.

The marching bands at BSU and UO have a particularly close connection -- the BSU chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, a national honorary band fraternity, is the parent chapter for UO's colony (basically a pre-chapter.) So many OMB members have met and developed close friendships with many members of BSU's band. And of course, as musicians we're all part of the tight circle of band. When tragedy hits one group, we all are saddened.

Although I didn't know Dr. Wells personally, it's still a somber occasion. His death marks the end of an era for the Blue Thunder Marching Band and the beginning of a new, very different one. Band directors have a certain effect on the musicians they oversee, and their individual character is reflected in the performance of the band.

R.I.P. Dr. Wells. You will be missed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of Boise State, one of my friends who attends BSU randomly messaged me on Facebook saying "Hey, haven't talked to you in a while, we should change that."

My response: "Hi."

My brain's response: Huh?!?

You see, I had tried to talk to him several times on Skype in the past week or so. Most of those times he didn't respond. When he did respond, he said he had to leave soon. Why? To talk to his "ex of choice" on Skype. Yep, they're no longer officially dating, but they still make a point to talk to each other, even going so far as to say "I love you" to each other. He cares a lot about this girl, and yet she treats him like crap time and time again.

Why is it that so many of my male friends are so painfully masochistic? Another one of my male friends, who I met just recently, was talking to his roommate one night. He said something to the effect of "Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a nice guy." Yet another case of guys giving their female friends everything in their power and getting nothing in return.

Of course, if they're not "nice guys," they're douchebags. Like Chase. But we won't get into that. Mostly because you already know most of the story. And personally, I'd much rather have guys be too nice than be arrogant, uncaring jerks. I just wish I didn't have to watch my friends get hurt.

More random musings

• I love marching band. And after yesterday, I'm really excited for next year. :)
• cOcOnuts (Ben Hollander), Cam-O (Cameron Mertens), dUckbOy (Danny Cowley) and the other Insane-O's are more than just crazy, passionate student Duck fans. They're truly amazing, friendly people.
• Thanks to the Crock Pot, I have disccovered untapped cooking ability. Meaning my chicken noodle soup rocked.
• If Chase decides not to do OMB next year because he thinks I "hate" him, that's his deal. I'm in band because I love being in band. I'm switching to euphonium not to kick him out of "his" section, but because I have a genuine interest in learning how to play the instrument. Whatever personal issues he has are his and his alone. He will not affect me.
• I really wish I knew someone who could foxtrot, or wouldn't mind learning. And who can be here right now.
• I can't wait for this school year to be over...although I'm not really looking forward to summer...sigh.