Moab Day 2

Oh my.
I don't even want to go to Provo now!
Today was great.

This morning, my dad and I woke up early to go rent a bike (for just him, since I'm taking mine to college) and we took off on a trail and rode for about 12-13 miles. We went off-roading for a little bit--there's a network of mountain bike trails ranging from beginner to expert, and let me say that the intermediate nearly killed us, so I don't think we could have done even the beginner, haha.
We stuck to the trail after that.

Afterwards, we went on a 3 mile hike to Corona arch, which was absolutely amazing. It's not part of Arches National Park--it's a little closer, I think, just a few miles off of 191. Even though we left at about 11:15 and it was hot hot hot, it was so worth it.

The rest of the day we spent swimming, walking around, and eating good Moab food. Literally everyone we talk to--the health food store people, the bike rental people, the little shop owners-- are hippies. It's kind of awesome.
Tomorrow we'll head towards Provo, and the BYU excitement will begin.

Emails, Studyin', and Moab

Today, we left our hotel at around 9am to head off to Moab!
It was a beautiful drive. Oh my goodness.

Pretty much the entire way, I was studying/reading out of this old textbook my dad had from the 80s when he was a Portuguese major. It's called Brasil! Lingua e Cultura, and it's literally the best Portuguese book I've ever used. It's really interesting--every couple of pages, they have a little interview with someone off the street about a certain topic, or something about Brazil's history/culture/social life. I wish I had time to read all of it before my class starts in 1 week.

This morning, I caught Dane at the library (where the missionaries go to email their families once a week), and it was pretty hilarious. He cracks me up, that boy. If we're both online at the same time, it's almost like IM-ing through emails.
My dad was also being funny, telling me to tell Dane to "text him" (which missionaries are not allowed to do), and asking other silly questions.
My family and I have this thing--something I did when I was little--called the jealous smile. You squint your eyes, scrunch your forehead, and move your eyebrows up and down, which I believed (at age 5 or younger) would make others jealous. (I mostly used it around Dane, when I was whistling [something he can't do] or when I got something he didn't.)
So, since Dane loves hiking and the outdoors, and that's all my dad and I have been doing, we sent him this gem:

Behold the jealous smile.

Anyway, plans for the rest of the day include going to some of the little shops here (well I'll probably do that on my own), and going on a hikey hike once things cool down.

:)

Phone Rantin' and Father's Day

First, I want to wish a super happy Father's Day, especially to my cute pappy, who only occasionally reads this blog.
I gave him a letter (that took weeks to write, because I kept crying every time I tried to work on it) and some golf lessons, since he rarely spends money on himself to do fun things. He's the best, though, this trip has been so fun already.
Since the wifi is (unfortunately) terrible in this hotel, I'm typing this little post on my phone.
Today was a great day! But any day is good if you eat fruitloops for breakfast...I'm pretty sure that's how things work. (Continental breakfasts are excellent.)

My dad and I drove about an hour to the Grand Canyon, but first went to the grocery stores to buy granola bars and water bottles. I also needed a sun hat (since I left mine at home, gaaah!), but thankfully found one for $15. We arrived in the national park around 11:30, and decided on a 6 mile hike on the South Kaibab trail, which we started at about noon.
Ohemgee. Not our best idea.
Going down the canyon isn't a big deal--pretty easy, as long as you watch your footing (I fell once).
Coming back up was hell. I hadn't eaten enough beforehand, and our water quickly depleted. It was, without a doubt, the hardest hike I've ever attempted. Finishing felt like a huge accomplishment, despite burned and sore. In hindsight, it seems enjoyable, but just sosososo hard.

I took my daddio out to a super cute Mexican restaurant (see the photo attatched), and we just got back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we're headed to Moab, Utah, which is probably my favorite city in the whole world. (It gives Joao Pessoa a run for its money.)

Roadtrip Day 2

Yesterday, after a ridiculous amount of tears, my dad and I took off around 4pm (way later than planned) for Carlsbad, New Mexico.
We got there around midnight, and though I normally love roadtrips with my dad, this one just feels so different. I'm not coming home with him this time. It kills me.

Despite that, and the rain (which inevitably makes things sadder), we still managed to practice a lot of Portuguese, listen to excellent music, and "ask each other questions", which is our favorite game to play.

This morning, we went to the Carlsbad caverns, which were incredible. It's about a mile and a half walk down into these amazing bat caves--and the base is 750 feet underground. We had to hurry back to check out of the hotel in time, but I'm glad we were able to make it to the caves first.

The most inconvenient thing about this trip is all the stuff loaded into the car! Gah. I really don't have that many boxes--just one big one with clothes, then 5 or 6 small ones holding random things, plus a laundry basket. But then I have my guitar, bike, and keyboard, which we have to unload and reload every time we arrive somewhere (safety first). It'll be a pain moving out of my dorm at the end of the summer.

The rest of the day was filled with a 10-11ish hour drive to Williams, Arizona, which is close to the Grand Canyon. On the way, we drove through Roswell, NM, which had a UFO sighting/ crash in the 1950s, and apparently the government wouldn't say what type of aircraft it was (though most people speculate it was just a new type of aircraft the government was testing out), so the entire city is filled with a UFO/ alien theme. The streets are filled with tons of alien totem poles, decor throughout restaurants and shops, and even the lamp posts have alien eyes. (I'll post a picture.) For the rest of the time, I chatted with the trio through FB messenger, drove the car for awhile, asked DeeDee and Carter to take a selfie (haha, Carter hates selfies), listened to all my favorite CDs, and chatted with the pappy.

Arizona is weird--they don't follow daylight savings, so they're actually 2 hours behind Texas time. :o
After this, though, I'm sleeping in!

Beautiful sunset.

The alien lamppost, haha, it's cute.

My favorites!!

The cave!

My mom sewed me a super quick blanket using 2 beach coverups from Brazil. I was running around the parking lot, using it as my cape. :') Yay for Portuguese majors!

Tomorrow should be most excellent, until the nighttime sadness sets in.

Saying Goodbye

The trio and I stayed up, literally, all night.
We watched a few movies, like the Notebook, part of Shrek (haha), Chicago, and then the Best of Will Ferrel on SNL. We also decided to go to IHOP around 4am, which felt perfectly right.

At 6am, my friend Jason called me to inform me he was coming over right then to watch the sunrise. His best friend is visiting him from Nebraska, so he was there too. It was really nice, even though we were hideous and sleepy.

Ashley and Alex slept for an hour or two while I derped around/ felt sick to my stomach (too much junk and too little sleep)--and then it was time to say goodbye. Needless to say, I cried. And I cried even harder once they left.

Gah.

You don't just meet friends like Ashley and Alex everyday, guys, you just don't. They are the most loving, accepting, kind, hilarious, beautiful, cheerful, loyal girls I know. I am so blessed to have them in my life.

Once I calmed down, I packed up the entire trunk with my things.
All that is left to do is:

• pack the rest of my things, including the keyboard and my bike
• head up to the Hall of Fame to turn in all my work shirts (I have a ton of XL ones that I never wore) and pick up my last paycheck
• say goodbye to my mom. Ohmygosh. Don't want to think about it :'(((
• drive off.

Damn.

Where did these past 18 years go?

Last Night in Fort Worth

I'm getting super sentimental and sad about all the little things.
My room is pretty much all packed up, as is my bathroom, the piano books I'm taking--everything.
My mom was getting teary eyed throughout the day, which makes me so sad.

Ugh.

Today, I got a surprisingly little amount of sleep after an insane night (haha), swam for a couple of hours with Andrea, and had my last piano lesson. :'(

The trio is over right now; we're eating our typical trio junkfood snacks, and watching Chicago. No doubt there will be many tears in the morning.

I took a little break from packing to do some little DIY pins and bracelets for the trio. I really like the way they turned out:

:')

As a whole, I'm so grateful to have lived here in Texas for majority of my life. For awhile (in my twerpy middle school/early high school years), I didn't like Texas at all, but I've learned to love this city. I've met some of the kindest people here, made the greatest memories, and had the best of friends.

It's been good, y'all.

Wednesday Wednesday

Aghhh, it's still so weird that I won't be living in Texas in just 2 short days! Not even. Sigh.

Anyway, today was excellent as usual.
The trio and I got a nice walk/jog in this morning around 9:30, then went for a dip in the pool while I made a smoothie to share. (It was pretty dang tasty if I do say so.) Words cannot explain both how wonderful it felt, and how much I'm going to miss the girls.

After, I actually showered, and then quit my title as "lazy bum" and started packing a little more. I had a therapy session at 2:30, which was really nice, and then Ashley came over to record 6 of our favorite songs to sing together. We included a song "Homeward Bound", a piece that Ashley sang in 7th grade choir, that I've loved ever since. (I can just imagine myself bawling while listening to it this summer.)

Here are a few pictures!

From our walk yesterday

Meeee

Our little recording studio :')

Tuesday Schmoosday

Today was also a great day.
I don't know why I chose that title. I was thinking it was a Monday, and I wanted to write Funday Monday, but you know..

Last night, I had 5 or 6 friends over to go for a late-night swim, and even though one of them is a big jerk, (hah) it was pretty fun. The neighbors were not a fan though.

This morning started off with a really good (and final) piano lesson with my very first student. It was really sad--she started to cry a little once we were over. I'm so proud of all the progress she has made, though--she makes me a happy teacher. :')

Afterwards, the trio came over to go for a nice walk (with a few built-in runs), and then for a dip in Ashley's neighborhood pool. Literally a dip, though, haha--we probably stayed 10 minutes.
We walked back to my house to eat lunch and watch the Moulin Rouge, which is sosososo good, but of course I fell asleep. However I will not complain about a nice, unexpected nap.

Lastly, tonight was my scholarship recital at the Steinway Hall. The FW Music Teachers Association gave me a check for $600! Wahooo. That, after my BYU scholarship, completely covers summer tuition. Score.
My sweet piano teacher took me and my dad out to Chadras (a really good Mediterranean/Lebanese inspired restaurant). There was delicious food and good conversation. I'm going to miss both of them so much.

(I also want to apologize for this rant, I feel like it's kind of lame just because I'm so sleepy. Headed to bed now.)

Life Lately

First I must say that today was great. I did elliptical while watching the season 4 finale of Breaking Bad (which continues to get crazier and crazier), emailed with Dane, and spent time eating delicious food and playing Rockband with the Trio. I also had my last lesson with one of my students, which was a little frustrating sadly, but all is well.

I went through other's instagrams and FB albums to make this post possible! Haha.
Here are just a few pictures from recent life, all the excitement of the end of senior year, and a couple that I found from earlier in the year.

The last Sunday with my girls! Sadly not many of us are looking, haha.

Starting off the summer right with some statistics.

Our sleepover. :') (Sorry that we're looking kind of derpin.)

Grad party!

Josh + Alex is kind of my favorite couple ever.

I think more of us our looking in this one. :)

Post grad dinner.

I like this photo a little too much.

We bought a juicer! Haha.

From earlier in the year, with our good friend Raul.

Awards ceremony!

Preparing to juice!

The mammy.

I didn't want a picture to be taken of me, haha.

This was when I played the recital at my mom's elementary school.

From almost 2 months ago (how did that happen??), on our way to the Lumineer's concert.

We're cute.

NHS induction, haha.

I just like this picture because I was trying to pop my hip out like a sassy pants, and it turned out kind of hilarious.

Ashley's graduation party yesterday! We like to hold Ashley.. a lot..

Teehee.

This was post skinny dippin'..

This was two nights ago with Billy and Nick!

And lastly, our adorable little trio lunch today.

"Me" Day

Since it's technically Sunday and I'm still awake, I figured I'd write a post now.

Every Saturday for the past year, I've had either work, or a legitimate reason to not work--whether it was a piano competition, prom, something related to AP testing, etc. Always something. This Saturday was the first Saturday in a year where I had literally nothing to do. It was beautiful.

Considering we got 3 hours of sleep last night (last night was too fun though, it felt so much like summer), it was a perfect day to do nothing. I didn't take a nap until the evening, and the whole day I laid in bed and watched Breaking Bad. I did a little bit of piano practicing (I'm playing a solo tomorrow in church, which I'm feeling kind of unprepared for), but didn't do any cleaning or organizing. Just laid in bed. Ahhh.

My mom tried to recruit me to help her with some things, to which I informed her that it was Me Day. Haha.

I ended up going to Starbucks with the trio, which is always nice.

I went out later this evening with a couple of guy friends, but things ended up falling through. Probably for the best, though--it's so hard to pull two sleepless nights in a row.

 I also received some kind of shocking/disappointing news, which has me down right now. Sigh.

Nothing a few more episodes of Breaking Bad can't cure.

Oh! I forgot to mention also that tomorrow is my last Sunday in the FW 6th ward at church. Where did the time go?

Life of a Graduate...

• kiss all the boys
• skinny dip with your best friend
• get pancakes
• stay up until 5:30

Can't believe I'm leaving in less than a week. :'(

Quick quick quick

Just wanted to write a quick post before heading out!
Shake night + graduation party, so it should be a fun night. :)

Also, today was pretty productive-- bike riding, Plato's closet with Ashley, and lots of organizing my bathroom and practicing piano. Wahoo!

I think, also, tomorrow is the first Saturday where I have absolutely nothing to do.
Pure. Bliss.

Summer Day 3

Last night with the trio was great!
We have a habit of buying way too much junkfood before we watch a movie or derp around. Yesterday was no exception.

We finished What's Eating Gilbert Grape (I like that movie a lot, but it also makes my heart ache), and chatted, and laughed, and cried, and sweat, and bled.
Well, only some of those things happened.

Once Ashley fell asleep, Alex and I decided to go skinny dipping. Technically, we decided that we would go skinny dipping long ago, and last night, we were finally brave enough to do it, haha. Skinny dipping is literally the best feeling ever--I used to do it every day after cross country practice the summer before freshman year (perks of having a private pool). I'm really glad my dad is back in our old house for the time being. I'm also glad that I won't have to be here when it sells, since it will inevitably make me sad.

Unfortunately, our swim was cut short by a big storm, but the rain made today incredibly nice outside. It was wonderful.

I went to Six Flags over Texas with the family that I teach piano for, on incredibly last minute notice, but it was a lot of fun. Their dad couldn't go, and they needed someone to come along so the kids could go on rides and whatnot. My student and I started off with all the really big rides before it got too crowded, which was sooo nice since there were absolutely no lines. It started raining lightly, so a lot of people cleared out, and there were even less lines. Once we had lunch though, it was pouring, and they closed down the rides for awhile, so we headed home. I'm kind of glad we did, honestly--Six Flags is fun, but I can only handle so much of it.

They built a new ride-- it's a 400 foot tower called the Texas Sky Screamer. It's basically a gigantic swing, and I absolutely hated it. It gets really windy when  you're that high up, plus today was stormy, so it was not enjoyable, ha. They only finished it on Monday, which is also a little scary.

Once I came home, I practiced piano for awhile, and fell asleep for over 3 hours. I woke up (luckily) just in time for my own piano lesson, ha. And now, given that it's 78 degrees outside and absolutely beautiful, it's time for a bike ride. :)

Summer Day 2

I woke up early today to work out and then go to my mom's elementary school. It was pretty cute; I played a recital for about 40 minutes, and the kids loved it. It was a little bit of a pain taking my new piano up there, but two super adorable boys helped me carry it to the auditorium.

After that, my mom asked them to write me thank you notes. They're pretty much the cutest things ever-- I love when kids write silly things, and misspellings make them even more adorable. Some of my favorites were, "In all I just really liked your jolly beautiful piano playing!" and "We loved your peanio playing and for that we thank you!" Haha.

This is only like, 20 out of the 40.

I stayed there pretty much all afternoon, but left around 2 to go to my counseling sessions. (I met with 2 different people today.) Honestly, the first was so much better than the second. I don't know. Right now I feel slightly more stressed out and a little bit on the verge of crying. Sigh. Life is rough sometimes, even when it's not supposed to be. 

Anyway, things will get better because the trio is spending the night!

First Day of Summer

I feel like I have a lot to say, so I'm going to make use of bullet points.

• Last night was absolutely great in hindsight. So much love, so much excitement, such a whirlwind time, but so worth it.
• The trio is having trio time every day until I leave. This makes me incredibly happy.
• I've gotten, exactly, $425 in graduation money. Crazy. I've been writing thank you cards left and right! 
• I had my second-to-last lesson with both of my piano students today. It's going to be really hard to say goodbye--they're my little piano babies! The moms of both my students were especially generous today-- one gave me a Ralph Lauren watch (omg.omg.omg) and the other, $50. I wish I could graduate every day! Ha.
• Alex, Ashley, and I ran some errands, made our own mugs, and watched What's Eating Gilbert Grape with blankets and ice cream. We're cute.

• My dad and I are going to the Van Cliburn competition this evening at the Bass Hall. I'm super excited. (It's a big piano event here in Fort Worth!!)
• Before senior year began, the trio wrote each other letters to save for the entire year and open after we graduated. Well, I just read mine. I'm crying. I have the two best friends in the whole world, and I'm just ridiculously lucky. Friends like those two don't come around often.

Ahhh. Summer will be beautiful.
Here are graduation pictures from last night!

Selfies with the Valedictorian! (NBD right!) We carpooled together. She gave an amazing speech.

Cuuuuute.

:)