Snapshots

I feel like the last few weeks have been a blur. I feel like each day blends into the next with few distinguishing marks. I'm trying to break this pattern by being productive and actually being with the people I'm with. Despite the haze of the last week, here are a few things that have stood out:
1. SNUB. This stands for Sunday Night Uhh...Bonding (so wittily named by yours truly) and is a time each week that Stephanie, Caitlin, Laura, Amy, and I have set apart to be with one another.
2. Beginning my work on Senior Project again. Although it's been hard to get re-motivated, it feels so good to be productive!
3. Andrew eating 9 cinnamon rolls in one sitting. Living with 8 boys is eye-opening.
4. Monday night bible study. Talking about God and snacking on brownie bites is a wonderful combination.
5. Making plans to walk with Anna. Although this morning's rain thwarted our walk today, we have big plans.

I miss being wet.

Today I miss being wet. I blame this on the rain, which always reminds me of Ireland. It's making me think of the day Colleen talked me into walking across town to check out a B&B and then getting caught in a colossal rainstorm. It was so bad that my umbrella was getting turned inside out and we had to find refuge in a cafe before we could complete the trip. Luckily this cafe had excellent berry crumble that kept us happily distracted. It reminds me of long afternoons spent trapped in the apartment, kept hostage by the solid wall of water streaming down our windows. I credit these long afternoons with giving me a true appreciation of Scrubs and Gilmore Girls. It's making me think of all the things from daily life in Ireland that I never thought I'd miss, like wet jeans and dripping umbrellas and ruined hair; sopping flats, permanently damp tennis shoes, and socks dried to a crisp on the heater. And these not so good things make me miss the great things, like flatmates and red hair and hot tea and fast, gray rivers.

Beach day

On Thursday, for the first time in way too long, I went to the beach. Just the thought that I was there in the middle of the week made it wonderful. That and the hot sand and the sun and my diet cherry 7-up. As I said, it was wonderful. I brought some senior project reading to make myself feel productive, but I spent a good chunk of the time just people watching. A few of my favorite finds were a chubby baby wearing a swimsuit stretched tight over her diaper, a semi-gothic teenager wearing her black cut-offs and holding a black and white beach blanket, and a college student napping with his Economics textbook over his face. Even though I was only there for an hour, it completely changed the tone of my day. Well, it did until I had to drag myself to Spanish. I'm making a resolution to go to the beach more often. Something tells me this will be one of the easier resolutions I have ever made.

Happy Easter!

Due to the fact that Easter fell a measly one week after Cal Poly's spring break, yesterday's holiday was the first Easter spent away from mi familia (please notice the smattering of Spanish). It was a little sad knowing that my family was getting together without me. Luckily, there were still nine of us in the house so we decided to have a little Easter celebration of our own. We started with an epic egg hunt put on by April and Anna. I think that my favorite hiding place had to be the one in the fish tank. Poor Wesley (the fish) must have been a little overwhelmed. After the hunt we had dinner together. Caitlin, Anna, April, and I made a ham, potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, and the ever-popular Pillsbury biscuits. Even though we weren't at home, it felt like we were with family, which was really special. It's been such a gift to live with these people and develop relationships with all of them. Now, even though Easter is officially over, we are still celebrating it by eating our way through a pile of chocolate, cake, and jelly beans left over from the celebration. This would be a good time for my will power to kick in.