Case of the Mondays: From Malaysia!

Hello blog readers!!!! If you're reading this, that means I found someplace with INTERNET. Even though I am writing this ahead of time, I can assure you that I am having a great time and that Malaysia is AMAZING!!!

My 22 pound backpack, beautiful new beach bag (which will never again be as white as it ts pictured here), and of course my snack pack... because I need my food to stay happy

Until I can write more later, here are some things to make you smile. Have a great week everyone! I know I sure am! Summer vacay has FINALLY begun!!!!

Told you poop humor still cracks me up.

The title of my biography

HONESTLY now. Don't you think they would have at least TRIED?

One time a kid shoved a pencil up my nose. It bled for hours.

This is honestly my train of thought. Insane? Or optimism?

The most tragic love story there ever was.

Is it sad that I kind of really want this?

I do both of these. At the same time.

Sometimes the hamster has a seizure and it foams at the mouth.

Another reason why I don't understand video games.

The 30 List: Things for 16-year-old Me

4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.

Oy. Here goes…

1.       CALM YOURSELF. I know it feels like your drowning in an endless sea of things-that-must-be-done-NOW but it won’t be the end of the world if you take two seconds for yourself. Go grab a cherry slurpee and breathe.

2.       STUDY FOR THE SAT’s. Yeah, yeah, you’re busy. MAKE TIME FOR IT, IT’S IMPORTANTT!!!

3.       You're not stick skinnny. And honestly, your boobs are not going to get that much bigger. And being told you are officially "obese" at the doctor's office might make you cry (uh YES, this actually happened). But someday, you are going to discover that your flexibility+muscle will make you a kick @$$ rock climber. Hardcore? HECK YEAH. Love your body and start to be proud. Like, now.

4.       Get better at lying. You’re going to need it to survive. Otherwise, you’ll be 24, waiting half an hour on your boyfriend because you couldn’t lie to him about his shirt being wrinkled (I'M A TERRIBLE LIAR).

5.       College rocks. The people who told you that high school is the best time in your life are liars. It’s fun, but definitely not the best time in your life. That is yet to come.

6.        Don't worry about not driving a BMW or wearing designer jeans. Your disdain for the OC and all the materialistic BS will eventually serve as your drive to escape the bubble and go have incredible adventures... even without the designer jeans and Jimmy Choo shoes.

7.       Don’t be embarrassed about your dream career to be a dolphin trainer. Enjoy the awkward things people say to you, because one day you can tell share stories with the other dolphin trainers and learn that they all have those stories too.

8.       When the bad stuff happens- don’t hang onto it for too long. The people who hurt you simply aren’t worth it. When you hang onto the anger, you’re only hurting yourself. Letting go of it and moving on doesn’t mean that it wasn’t significant; it just means that you value yourself more than the people who hurt you.

9.       Be nicer to Josh. He’s not such a bad kid and one day you’ll think of him as a friend.

10.   You’re going to get hurt a lot. That’s what happens when you’re a teenager. But, you’re going to meet a truly great man someday. A guy who will tell you how beautiful you are without any make up on, a guy who will hold you when you cry, make you laugh when you’re mad, who will hold your hand just because. Don’t let the bad stuff get you down because so many good things are coming for you. 

First Movie Experience in Japan

I'm not going to lie... it feels really good to have friends. And not just the TV show I'm obsessed with.

If you couldn't tell, I've been a bit of a wet towel without my roommates. But both Ai-chan and Emma [who I'm sure will be sick of me by next month and will be kicking herself for volunteering to spend all this time with me :) ] have really stepped up and been keeping me busy and laughing. Last night, I had my first movie experience in Japan. I love movies, and it has been at least four months since I have been in a theater.

We decided on Man on a Ledge.

I thought it was excellent... but I have incredibly low standards for movies. Plus, I was so excited just to be in the theater, they could have shown four hours of Jersey Shore and I would have been just as happy.

There is a DISTINCT difference between American movie theaters and Japanese movie theaters. For one... Japanese movie theaters are quiet as a tomb BEFORE THE PREVIEWS EVEN START. I felt uncomfortable just eating popcorn. Emma and I would wait until a big action scene to chomp down on our popcorn. If you know me and my love of popcorn, this required a tremendous amount of self-control.

To give you a taste, here is a commercial they showed to us before the previews. For some reason, I found it so entertaining, I started snort-laughing. In the Japanese tomb movie theater. Which only made me snort laugh even harder.

And because I'm awkward like that, I took pictures. To commemorate my first movie experience in Japan.

To buy our tickets, we awkwardly stumbled through Japanese and pointed

They have ticket attendants in front of every theater.

Soda+popcorn+movie theater= ridiculously excited

 The signs for the bathroom are even cute in Japan...

Handicapped people wear baseball caps and boys are cowboys.

And girls have tiaras!!

And the extra cherry ontop of this awesome outing? It was ladies night so we got 800 yen off our ticket price!!
Wednesday night might be the new movie night!

The 30 List: Relationship with Your Parents

3. Describe your relationship with your parents.

June 2009, UCD Graduation

At the young age of 21, two crazy kids in love became parents. I’m sure some (or many) doubted them, scorned them, dropped snide comments on them… But somehow, they fought their way through parenthood. Through skeptical cynics, working endless hours to make ends meet, and eating three-day-old leftovers from the restaurant because you-spent-your-paycheck-on-baby-food, and they ended up here.  Here is twenty five happy years of marriage. Here is having two healthy, happy children. Here is  enjoying steak dinners, weekends in Vegas, and owning a sweet house in Orange County.

Maybe it’s because of their early experience with parenthood, maybe it’s just because that’s just the kind of people they are, but my parents are pushers. They’ve always pushed me to be better, to try harder, to always do my best. And ontop of all that, they support me unconditionally.

Motorcycle license? YES! Four years at a UC school? OK! Study abroad in Rome? Do it, we’ll visit! Sky diving? Sounds great, I’ll go with you! Move across the world for a year? Awesome, good luck!

There are things that they’ve done that I haven’t always understood (and likewise, I’m sure). Things that seemed unfair and made me shake my fists up at the sky and cry “Why God?” But after all is said and done, it seems to always make me a stronger person. One of things I am most proud of is my independence. And if it weren’t for my parents- both in the way they have raised me, the values they have instilled in me, and the choices they’ve made, I’d be a sniveling, whining, OC girl, too scared to leave the nest for college. Instead, I have six stamps in my passport, a car named Taylor in which I make my own payments on and pay my own insurance, and an apartment in JAPAN. 

March 2012, before hopping on a plane for Japan

 My relationship with my parents? It can be complicated, and it’s not perfect, but it’s ours (cue the Taylor Swift song). They love and support me unconditionally, and for that, I am the luckiest daughter in the world.

Five weeks and 1 day

That's how long it will be until the boys come back home.

I'll be honest, I was a wreck yesterday. I watched John pass through the turnstile, pause to wave and blow me one last kiss, and had about .2 seconds to force away the tears. I know it's ridiculous, but five weeks is a really long time to be apart from someone I fall asleep next to, wake up to, and spend every possible moment with. Retail therapy, donuts, buying my weight in books and clothes, and planning the most awesome summer trip ever was a great distraction, but nothing could stop me from coming home to a dark, empty, eerily quite apartment.

I've distracted myself by deep cleaning the apartment, starting with the Mt. Everest sized pile of dishes. And planning my trip. Traveler's insurance? Check! Call Immigration? Check! Packing list? Check! Laundry? Check!

Plus I got the shakedown by some huge Japanese man today. Then he handed the phone to me and let me talk to some incredibly rude woman.

Where is Robert? Why are you in the apartment? Who are you? Are you Robert's girlfriend? Get out! Give me money! You better have a good alibi! 

Yeah, fun times.

Miss you guys. Both of you.

Computering together. Awwww.

On the way to the airport... USA bound!

You can take the boy out of Japan...

Gangsta style, yo. Don't mind my puffy eyes. Told you, I was a wreck.

Tried to get one with Robert. He compromised by letting us include his ear.

Then Robert said "Oh yeah, this is my last picture with Tango EVER." And smiled.

He thinks I'm going to die on my trip.

Begin retail therapy/recover time with Krispy Kreme. It's been about three years since I've had one of these... So naturally I needed two.

And it was just as good (maybe even better) as I remember it.

Glazed (duh) and Cookies and Cream (my downfall)

Partner-in-crime and travel partner!! Thanks for cheering me up! Had such a fun time, our trip is creepin' up SO SOOONNN

Don't judge me. ONLY two are mine.

Then I bought every teal dress that Forever 21 sells. Apparently I've acquired some sort of addiction to teal.

Anyways, counting the days [5 days, eeeekk!!!!] till my own summer vacay really starts. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand... here we come!!!!

Case of the Mondays: Suicide Building

The building looked kinddd of creepy before the realtor had given us any reason to think otherwise. There were bars over every window, the elevator moved at a painfully slow rate, and the building itself was shaped like a triangle. Before we toured it, we would pass the building and casually mention "Oh, hey look, there's triangle building."

Right before we entered the apartment (which could have been our home for the next year), the realtor casually mentioned [as if referring to the dreary state of the weather] "And oh yeah, someone killed themselves here."

And that's all it took for me. No. No way. Absolutely not. There is NO WAY we are living here.

Plus we ended up with a ridiculously BOMB apartment anyways that is 1984792x more awesome and NOT haunted.

So now the building has a new name. And now when we pass it, one of us will always mention that time we almost lived in Suicide Building.

Something like this might have helped

Does this only happen to me??

I do this every time.

My birthday's coming up... this is a fantastic present for ME

 John and I have added this to our "rock-paper-scissors" compilation.

SOLO

The start to EVERY diet I've ever been on.

Definitely a true case of the Mondays for me. The boys left for America today. Soon I'll be traveling and we'll all be back here again, but right now I feel is a bit of sadness. And missing them like crazy.

The 30 List: Describe 3 legitimate fears you have

2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

Well this makes me a little uncomfortable. I don’t like telling people my fears because there is some sick thrill most people get in scaring others. I DON’T LIKE BEING SCARED.

Alright, can’t give up on the second one so here goes:

1.       Grates

They’re everywhere: in the parking lot, on the streets here in Japan, blah blah. It’s irrational and completely ridiculous (as most of my fears are), but I honestly don’t know how or why I am scared of them. I feel like the grate might give out while I am stepping over it, and I’ll be dropped straight to the fifth layer of hell or something. Then there is the added bonus that a METAL grate caved beneath my weight (can we say “Moooooo”?). Honestly, I know it’s insane but I can’t help it.

2.       Spiders inside me

because anything other than clipart would freak me out

 I’ve had this fear since before the show “Monsters Inside Me” came out. I think it started in Girl Scouts oh-so-many years ago. There were flimsy mattresses that were used by the troops who were lucky enough to stay in the cabin at camp.  Apparently, one time the girls took the mattress out and it appeared that the mattress was MOVING. They opened up the mattress and out crawled hundreds of rats. One of the girls who had been sleeping on said mattress had a spider egg inside her… and hundreds of baby spiders crawled out of her. The story has haunted me, even fifteen years later. EVERY TIME I get a spider bite, there is slight panic that it is a spider egg, and I am going to wake up to find millions of baby spiders crawling out of my arm.

3.       Worm in my apple

In second grade, we got to go on a picnic. Nothing fancy, but a trip across the field to the neighborhood park and eat on the neat concrete benches with a checkered tablecloth. We all felt so fancy. When we got back to the classroom, the class clown was busy making fun of me when he bit into an apple leftover from the picnic. His face turned ghostly white and he screamed “THERE’S A WORMMM!!!!” He spit out HALF a worm into the sick, vomited, and threw the apple to me (with the OTHER HALF of the worm inside). It’s safe to say I’ve been scarred for life… and I ALWAYS cut my apples now instead of just biting into it.

The 30 List: List 20 Random Facts About Yourself

ALRIGTY Then. Let’s start with numberrr 1.

1.       List 20 random facts about yourself

OKKKK. Seems kinnndd of repetitive from that facebook- 30-day-challenge thing I did a couple years back but what the heck. My facts will (hopefully) be different.

I'm a two year old

1.       I have a stuffed animal dolphin named J-Shark. But the J is silent, so it’s said just like shark. Embarrassing, right? The summer before I left for Hawaii, John took me on a date to SeaWorld. We played one of those arcade games and John let me win so I could keep the dolphin. Jokingly, John said “How funny would it be if his name was Shark?” Annndd it stuck.

2.       I have this weird (and super annoying) knack to sing the theme to tv shows. ALL TV SHOWS. I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but one night while I was passed out cold, John put on some of The Office to help him sleep. Allegedly I started humming the theme song IN MY SLEEP. Is that creepy, or what?

3.       On the right side of my mouth, about half an inch down from my bottom lip. I have a scar from where my tooth went clean through my lip. Cheerleading isn’t hardcore? That’s pretty much a mild story compared to others I have heard (a girl’s two front teeth got knocked out, she kept going and cried because she didn’t smile, a guy broke his leg, could see his bone sticking through his skin and he pushed through the remaining 90 seconds of his routine because his team depended on him, etc, etc…).

4.       I will quote FRIENDS. Randomly and constantly. Standing in line at the grocery store, I re-enacted an entire scene. John usually pays attention, trying to figure out what THE HECK is going on until A)I drop one of the character’s names or B)He recognizes the scene and realizes that there is pretty much nothing he can do except wait it out. Poor guy.

(DANG!! I’m only at 5!?? 15 to go? I’m going to start doing shorter facts)

5.       I have to touch the roof of the car if we go through a yellow light. I picked up the habit in high school, and for some reason I can’t seem to stop. It’s almost some compulsion I have

6.       Besides being moody and eating chocolate like it’s going to be discontinued, I also PMS by having an obsession with organization and cleanliness. I will break a sweat cleaning the stove and making sure it is SPOTLESS before I can sleep. My shirts suddenly need to be re-organized into style, and then by color. It’s insane.

(Ok, they are going to get even shorter)

7.       I love the color red

8.       I hate odd numbers

9.       My favorite number is 8

10.   Being at Costco when it’s crowded makes me hate the world. I hate people, I vow to NEVER have children, and having a cart imprinted into my backside makes me feel like The Hulk. YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE WHAT I’M LIKE WHEN I’M ANGRY

11.   If I’m hungry, I turn into a legitimate monster. I will snap and sulk if I’m haven’t been fed in the past four hours. I would glare laser eyes at John when he would immediately ask “Ok, when is the last time you ate?” every time we got into a fight. Buttttt turns out he was right.

12.   I love to bake. Cookies are my favorite, but I truly just LOVE mixing, rolling, timing the oven temperature and cooking time perfectly… plus it’s a sweet product when you’re done

13.   If you put on FRIENDS, I really don’t mind folding laundry, doing dishes, any household chore really. It seems to make the task go by faster. If you had hours of FRIENDS loaded for me, I would sweep and mop your floors with pleasure.

14.   I have constantly owned a pair of Rainbows Sandals since high school. It’s one of those things that I NEEDDDD

15.   I am terrible at sports. My hand-eye coordination is beyond atrocious. People are a lot easier to catch than balls.

16.   I always wave “Sorry” or “Thank you” to cars when I’m driving

17.   I can’t stand the stench of cigarette smoke. Living in Japan is forcing me to grow accustomed to it, since everyone smokes like a chimney here

18.   It drives me INSANE if someone next to me shakes their leg like it’s having it’s own independent seizure. Probably one of my biggest pet peeves.

19.   I have this really weird fear/love of public speaking. I’ll be shaking, about-to-urinate-myself nervous right before, but after I love the thrill and the high from it. And secretly, I don’t think I’m all too shabby at it.

20.   I eat my skittles in rainbow color. I’m strangely neurotic about it… I will divide them into groups, one of each color. And then I’ll start with the group that has the least amount of colors and end with the groups that have ALL the colors.

I bet you learned more about me than you ever wanted. Anddd now you know a little more about how weird/crazy/strange I am.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, MINIONS!!