Mother Nature is AWESOME

I've been living in Oregon for about 3 months now.  A big change from LA, Ca.

I guess I never mentioned what happened:  I discovered that Master's wasn't where I actually belonged.

Ever since I came to Oregon, it's been difficult to stay positive, considering I don't know anyone here.  I left my whole life in California.

At least I have my family, and luckily, these past few weeks have been good, even great.  Id say I'm back to my normal self...there's just more laying around because I don't have much to do.

I recently got a new job, and have been acclimating to actually doing something other than sitting on the couch.  It's amazing how hard it is to change a daily routine, ha!

I hope it becomes a positive outlet once I get the hang of things, I'd really like to make some friends at this job so I can be a normal twenty-something and socialize, because right now I'm best friends with the parentals (which isn't all bad, don't worry mom and dad).

Well now that I have brought the blog up to speed, I wanted to share a beautiful moment I had today.

I was watching TV in the living room of my house, when my dad tells me there are deer in the backyard.  Now, if you are from California (from certain parts at least) you would never expect to have deer in your backyard.  Let me tell those of you who have never gotten to experience it: it's amazing.

What's amazing about it you ask? They're just deer, you see them hanging up on walls and laying limp on the side of the road.  I'll tell you why it's amazing...it's because we don't see the beauty in these animals...we take them for granted.

From my backyard, I got to watch a small group of deer just do what they do.  They weren't afraid of me, (yes, they saw me, but they could've cared less about me) they were just being their natural deer-like selves.  I don't think I'd ever gotten to actually stop and observe how amazing these animals are.

They were all together, working as a team.  I could see their ears working, trying to figure out where the clicking sounds of my camera were coming from, and once they figured it out they all took turns making sure they were in a safe zone, they were all looking out for each other...which is amazing because it was just a natural part of what they do!

I encourage you: next time you see something happening in nature that is normal and completely natural, stop and observe it.  You might get much more out of the phenomenon than you anticipated...I know I did.

"All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." John 1:3

My Wonderful Weekend

I got to go home this weekend.

It was amazing.

I don't know if I have mentioned this at all, but I haven't seen Joel in 3 months, so basically since I came to school.  It was one of the greatest weekends I've had in a LONG time.  I haven't been this happy in months.

Which leads me to believe that...

He is my happiness. <3

Chinatown Adventure!

I want to tell you a little bit about my fun adventure to Chinatown...

I had never ever been to Chinatown before, so I had some idea of what to expect but overall had no idea what it was like.  Turns out, it was a BLAST.

There were some really cool little shops with all sorts of goodies...and,of course, there were cheap goodies.  How can you go wrong with cheap goodies?  I think the coolest thing we found was probably...

BABY TURTLES.  Baby flipping turtles!!! And guess how much they were? $5.00!!! Are you kidding me?  Who cares if they live for hundreds of years?  I want one.  They're so precious!!!

Anyways, my friend is doing a project on Chinese medicine, so we would go into grocery stores and ask around for different herbs and things to help with sickness.  Apparently, the most popular herb is called Gin Sun (sorry if I spelled it incorrectly).  It is supposed to help you regain energy and is very good for you.  The catch?  It's hundreds of dollars for just a small amount, so this stuff is a hot commodity to the Chinese people.  It smells like a pet store though...speaking of pet stores, in these grocery-type stores, we found all sorts of treats like dried seahorses, sea cucumbers, and starfish that you could cook and eat.  I'm not sure how I feel about that, but who knows!  Maybe it's good?  We tried Gin Sun tea...that wasn't good.

We walked around some more, and I was so in love with all the little tiny fun toys to buy.  I could have bought so many pocket-sized things today, good thing most stores only accepted cash.

However, we did stumble upon this one store that had a plethora of clothes for amazing prices.  (The place was a pit, but when a girl sees $1.00 and $2.00 shirts, it doesn't matter)  We booked it over to this store, and it was nothing but a warehouse, filled with boxes and racks of clothes. 
The guy who owned the place was talking to us about his dog, and how it had puppies, he showed us the newborns...SO CUTE!!  But the longer we were in there, the weirder it got...
He would yell "Today is our last day!  We are shutting down, come get what you can!" and "Everything is $1-$2.00!"  But when we went to check out, he told us the hours the store was open during the week...and that the clothes we picked up were actually $5.00 a piece...

Turns out he just lies to people walking on the street so he can get more traffic in the store.  Nice.

The good news?  I got a lacy dress and lacy skirt for $10.00 total.  So it was pretty much worth it.

Will I go back to Chinatown?  Yes, but when I do, I will bring cash, and some ibuprofen, because the Gin Sun smell gives you a headache.  TAKE HEED.

My Life Since the Last Post

Wow, hey everybody, I am so so so terrible at keeping up to date on this blog.  It's been almost a year since I was here last.

I was looking back on the date, and I couldn't believe how much has changed in a little less than a year.  I will now indulge you and tell you how my life has changed in so many ways.

May, 2013

My parents decided it was time for them to move from our house of 13 years in California to a house in Oregon.  It was a big change for me and I'm still not used to it.  Hopefully they decide to move back in a few years, because I really miss my hometown, but at the same time the decision wasn't about me, it was about my parents and their happiness.

June-August, 2013

I was a camp counselor for the second year in a row at an all girls camp in Monterey.  It was a really fun summer, and it helped me keep my mind off of the move my parents were making back home.  Meanwhile, looming ahead I had the huge change of going off to college.  That was the next big change in my life.

August, 2013

 

 I made the huge move to go to my third year of college out of the house, and now, way far away from home.  I'm about a day and a half drive from my immediate family now, so I haven't seen them since they dropped me off.  It's a really big change, but I'm really enjoying my time here at school and loving the people I'm surrounding myself with.  I'm beyond excited because I get to see my family this weekend, so I've been looking forward to that all week!

Now.

I haven't seen my boyfriend of two and a half years for about two and a half months.  This is a big change for the both of us, but we are still together and happier than ever.  We love each other and cannot wait until we get to see each other in a few weeks.  We took this challenge and turned it into an opportunity to challenge and grow our relationship, and it's been a great success.

Those are the major things that have gone on in my life since my last post.  I wish I had remembered to post more often, but I think this post is a really great and important one.  It's kind of nice to reflect on the past year to see how much I've even grown.  One year does a lot to a person.
 

Sorry I FAIL

Hey guys!

Sorry I am so bad at this blogging thing...I just had such a long winter break I had nothing exciting to blog about...NOW I'm back in school so I have junk to write about!

First to start off I want to show you the outfit I wore tonight, cause I think it's cute and I'm proud of it...and I'm procrastinating...I need to write a speech for one of my classes... EW.

 I have this super cute cream colored sweater that I bought at Forever 21 around Christmas time and I've been experimenting with what I can pair it with.  Tonight I thought a cute pink flannel may look cute...and by golly IT DID.

I LOVE my Victoria's Secret leggings, so I went with those along with my $7.00 boots from Forever 21 and some grey long socks...I'm pretty sure those are also from Forever 21.

I rolled up my sleeves so you could see more of the flannel, since the sweater covers most of it up...oh and I had a tiny little bow in my hair too, but I don't think it's worth showing. :)

Anyways, I was pretty proud of my outfit, I hope you guys liked it too. :)

NOW onto more important business!

My first tennis match is tomorrow...I'm getting a little nervous.

But we did get our uniforms today! and they're CUTE!

Pardon my horrible webcam, I don't know why it sucks so bad...anyways it's black and obviously white.  I can't wait to wear it for my match tomorrow!  Wish me luck you guys!

Here I am wearing it after tennis practice...don't I look lovely??  There's my puppy!!!!

Maybe if I win tomorrow, I'll let you guys know how I did... :) 

Have a good night!

Meanwhile, In Kelsea's Room...

NO JUDGING.

I just wanted to show everyone how beautiful of a sunset we had on the California coast today.  Simply amazing. 

I got to take a nice long walk on the beach with one of my good friends this afternoon, it was a much needed walk for the both of us.  We talked about our summer jobs and our past adventures in high school that her and I attempted together.  I say attempted because every time we would ditch school we would always come across my friend's mother...talk about a bad kid, I'm sure she thinks I am a horrible person!

Anyways, I think everyone should give a little thanks and appreciation towards one another for being with us when we need them, or just being there to have a laugh and talk with them, or both!  No matter what the circumstance, people are always important in everyone's lives.