Visitors of Friday

On friday, I got an absolutely lovely and fun-filled visit from my two good friends Haley and Jennie (who also blog and are followers of mine as well) - I missed them so much! I hope they visit more often, and I also hope sometime very soon in the future, that I can go visit them at NAU!
We met up on Mill Avenue at Urban (of course..) and then ate at Jimmy John's, a personal favorite of mine - I recommend everyone and ANYONE try it!!!
After eating, we went back to my dorm where we were just absolute sillies for an hour or so.
This is just some pictures from their visit here..





xox

Albino in Tempe?

So weirdly enough, my skin tone since moving to Tempe has gotten surprisingly much whiter. Why? I'm always ALWAYS indoors! At least in Prescott, I still went out. Now, if I'm not in class, I'm in my dorm. I am indoors much more now than I have ever been. I bike or walk everywhere, but not long enough to get some color.

I FINALLY get to come home this Friday! It'll actually be exciting; it's my old high school's homecoming game, so I have to get myself once again all dolled up to ride on a golf cart with my lovely King John. I think it will be nice to see everyone that I haven't seen for awhile, including college friends who are coming up from UA as well.

For the life of me, I cannot seem to get a good grade on my music theory stuff- it will never be an A! Now, in high school, I would be happy with a B- however, my standards since I've arrived in college have been put much much higher. Which is good in a way. All this schoolwork also keeps me from practicing a lot everyday, kindof a bummer. I'm lucky if I practice at all a day, haha.


I also got to spend the past weekend with my parents- which was fun! It was lovely to see them. :) My dad took me to the Kiss concert Friday, and it was seriously the best concert I've ever been to. The band Kiss is well known for their showmanship and concerts (known to be the most extravagant), and it definitely was the best concert! Honestly, I don't really care about who is caring, I just love concerts. But, it is a lot better when you actually really like the band playing. We had 2nd row seats, and I caught 5 picks! The only reason why I got so many was because the girl in front of me in the front row had huge boobs, so Gene Simmons (for a while!) was aiming picks in her cleavage. Hell, she didn't care about the picks- she was just flirting with the famous long tongue man with face paint! To my advantage, I would climb over quick and retrieve the picks. It was a great concert, and I can't wait to put photos up.
We also went to the ASU vs. Oregon game.

Happy Tuesday!

xox

P.s: Thank god for FB chat (which I normally extremely dislike!) - Got to catch up with my best friend for a couple hours ;)

Eydn & I ...

The Floor's Musical Inspiration

= Brandon.

Which is good, because he has a good music taste. We are currently sitting next to each other on our laptops; him actually using his time well and me...Well this. It's actually really weird. Songs I once really, really enjoyed that were unknown to others are now known to other people on this floor. For instance, "City & Colour". Seriously, NOONE knew about this lovely man before, until Brandon (also a lover of City & Colour surprisingly!) publicized C&C to the entire floor, haha. He's a popular boy, and he populizes things pretty quick. It's a gift.

this is one of my favorites by him : Love Don't Live Here Anymore. (It's actually quite depressing hah)


Anyway, I have such a busy day ahead of me, and I already am missing my home town. It's not surprising; most kids once they leave they always say "Oh I hated it! Never coming back!" - but me ... I always treasured my time there and I am one of the few that miss it.

I'm not sure where to start with my life so far... I've been absolutely wiped out the past couple days. Even if I get 8 hours of sleep (which is SO rare), I still end up being exhausted throughout the day. I'm just so burned out that I am really, really exhausted all time. I also have a lot of homework to do, and lots and lots of practicing which I haven't been doing unfortunately. I want so badly for my violin teacher to be proud that I'm in her studio, but i don't know if she will after this week. I've had so much homework that I've pulled almost 3 all nighters (almost all night) because of the work load.


- This is actually all from last week; I just haven't had time to post it. How sad is that?
I am crazed with anticipation and excitement for tomorrow, the "Glee" 2nd season premiere. It's been on my calendar for months :)
I haven't been up to much lately; I am pretty excited for this weekend though: Family Weekend at ASU. I haven't seen my parents in almost a month - It's weird! Hopefully they'll want to go to the game with me??

I miss my old friends, even if I'm making new ones.

xox

brandon and I working diligently on our computers...

Changes in the Land

The book that I have to write a 4-5 page paper on entitled
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England by William Cronon
is a testament and proof that shows why some men or even women are so bland that result in them never getting married.




Please by any chance avoid taking History 109 at ASU for this reason and this reason only..having to read this book, and writing a paper on it.
Don't get me wrong.. the teacher is actually really cool and he makes powerpoints for our notes during lecture which are extremely helpful. However I could have so easily done without reading this book. ...and STILL reading it.

All nighter (or close to all nighter I'm expecting)..here I come.

"Where is Tiffany?"

Apparently this is a question frequently asked to my roommate and others, because I'm never around. While doing my homework in my room, my room mate and our friend down the hall was reading a Vogue mag in our room, when she randomly says,
"I have a confession/observation proposition to make to you."
Okay, what could this be?
She continues on with, "We all feel like you are never here, and we don't want you to turn into Karina (her roommate who is never there because she's always with her boyfriend). We always never know where you are, and we feel like you are always just with your boyfriend all the time." Then, my roommate chimes in with, "Yeah like 50 people asked me where you were today" (obviously an exaggeration).
I was so taken back, I didn't respond for a couple seconds - I had to muster my thoughts. Finally, I replied, "You guys do realize I am a music ed major being treated like a performance major as well - I HAVE to practice on top of my 18 hour work load. I haven't even seen Tyler all week so I'm not sure what you guys are talking about."

Something like that. Anyway, I feel like they are getting mad at me because I have a boyfriend, and that I'm not hanging out with them every free second I get. Yeah - I have hung out with my boyfriend of almost a year and a half, MY BAD! I feel like only people that are actually in relationships understand the breaking and dividing of time commitments. I have so much going on; I'm balancing practicing, studying, homework, orchestra, relationships.. It's a lot to balance. I'm almost a month into school and I'm still adjusting. Tyler never gets mad when I can't see him during the week, ever. He understands I'm in class and that I have an overload of classwork. I was so insulted that my "friends" could tell me how to manage my time, saying "We don't want you to turn out like Karina"... Ok, so Karina isn't very social and her boyfriend is her life... but that is HER. That is her choice.  Who cares if she is obsessed with the t.v. show "Friends"? It' is her choice, and I don't understand why these girls have to be so critical (or just 'girl' I suppose..) of the others on this floor. I am at the dorms when no one else is, because my schedule starts early unlike theirs. They think I'm never there, but they just aren't there when I am.

Also, I haven't really felt included for a while, either. The girls are always making plans to do things together, and it's like the kind of invite that goes, "Oh, well you can come if you want" ... I am not for after-thought invites at all. If someone isn't directly inviting me or is saying "if you want" that is not exactly an invitation to me. This might all sound old fashioned or stupid, but I just think invites like that are kindof rude. Like, they didn't even think to include me in the original plan, but when they talk about it in front of me, oh okay she can come. No, not okay. And that really hurts me. They wonder why I'm not jumping for joy to hang out with them, and that's why.

Intimidating

Today was my first studio meeting for violin (for Jiang's studio), and now I'm scared, and intimidated. Everyone there is better than me..and I know it should just be making me want to play harder and better, but to be honest - it's intimidating me and making me shy away. I mean, why bother playing? People that are my own age are much better than me. I am in this state of being both overwhelmed and intimidated at the same time. I wish I took violin more seriously these past couple years, maybe I'd be not so intimidated right now.
I practiced for almost 6 hours yesterday (not consecutively, 3 earlier in the day & almost 3 later that night), and my fingers were so, so sore after. I feel like if I wanted to be a music major, then I should be used to it. Of course now, I'm not a performance major, and before the studio meeting lesson I probably would've said, "yet" with that, but now I am just too scared. I feel way too far behind. I mean, yeah I can try as hard as I want, and I can practice for hours every day - but they and everyone else are always going to be steps ahead.
Maybe, I could look at the other side. Maybe I can think, "that just means you have to work double hard", and it's all about how much I want it, how much I want to get better. I do want to get better, and I want to be considered a good musician to these other classmates of mine. They haven't heard me play, but I am the only music ed major out of all of them, and you know they're all thinking "she's JUST music ed." Music ed majors are typically not good enough to be professional, haha. There's another side - my professor did want me in her studio even just every other week, which is awesome. So, perhaps I'll just have to work harder, and not let her down. All this lady can teach me is good higher knowledge, so I should be taking advantage of it, and "soaking it up like a sponge" as my previous violin teacher would say I do.
All I can do is practice, I guess. Just practice, practice, practice. I was hoping to double major in performance and ed, but ASU doesn't allow first years to do that. Apparently, you have to choose one or the other. That's such a hard decison: I defintely want an education degree under my belt, because I love teaching. However, I also want the technique of a performance major. I don't want to be the typical teacher that is just teaching because they teach better than they play, or weren't advanced enough. I want to be versatile; be able to say yes - I can teach, but I can also rip at the violin, haha.
I am so looking forward to this weekend - I need this break! Today I decided I am not practicing until I start AND finish the music history literature class paper that is due tomorrow. I have all weekend to practice...and do homework...
Anyway, that's about all for now - I better start working on this paper. Then practice ...no 6 hour session or anything though!

xox

just a little fun with my webcam a little while back - welcome night at ASU

Settling In

So I'm in my fourth day of pre-collegeness.. It's been quite a trip so far!
Lots of free time, and I am so ready to be busy! I got the professor for violin that I wanted, even though I thought her name was something else and I requested the wrong prof. Somehow, it all worked out and they put me in Professor Jiang's studio- YES!!
I am so lucky to have such a chill room mate- we get along perfectly, and we're both pretty carefree. We're not like, "Get your robe OFF of my mirror!" It's like, "If you have a visitor, I'll leave. I'm cool with visitors.."etc. Love it!
I have gone to a few parties to ring in the college year, and have met tons of new friends. I'm really enjoying it, although it is really weird enjoying all this without the bf.
Aside from my roommate, I've met some interesting people on this floor, such a silly collaborative mix of people and I'm so glad to be spending the upcoming year with them. They are all so nice and friendly, and there is no complaints. Even my CA (RA @ most schools) is totally sweet. He offered me to practice in his room if my roommate got annoyed with me. Brownie Points!!!
Tomorrow will be my first ACTUAL day...when classes start. I can't wait - but I'm also so scared. Haha, I won't lie. I have people to help me along the way though, so thank you to them (mostly my parents).
I'd write more, considering it's been days since my last post, but I have class very early tomorrow - 7:30 am! Wish me luck!

xox

Casting Away..almost.

In about four days to the hour almost, I will be taking a drive down to Tempe with my parents, and staying the night. The next morning BRIGHT and early, I will be moving into my small little dorm room in the Arcadia community on campus. Moving is another new experience for me; I was far too young to remember the one and only move I have ever been involved in - Chicago to AZ. This is different: I'm not sleeping, playing around in the kitchen, or eating, and letting my mom pack for me because that's what a 3 year old has to do. Nah, I'm packing my clothes. I'm getting a first aid kit together, picture frames, ironing all my clothes! You don't really realize how much work moving somewhere else is, until you actually do it. I never thought it would be hard, and I certainly didn't think I'd have to start packing a couple weeks in advance. I only really, really starting packing maybe one or two days ago, and I am feeling really behind. I still have to get a substantial working (hopefully better than average) bike lock, insurance, bus pass, the list goes on. Fortunately, I got a few things taken care of today, such as 95% of my laundry, and packed all the tops, bras, and dresses I'll need for the upcoming semester. Unfortunately, this means I'll be scrounging for my not-so-fav clothing to wear for the next couple of days, haha. Beware- I may be a plain Jane! ;)
For a weekend update: I was at the Arizona State University campus on Friday, and we paid off my tuition - another thing checked off the list!
We had quite a fun experience while there: we thought we were being rather 007'esque, "sneaking" into my future dorm's back door (thinking it would be locked!), "sneaking" into the elevator onto the 2nd floor where I will be staying, and then successfully and surprisingly being able to sneak into the EXACT dorm I will be living in, in a week. We wanted to see if the lock worked, so we re-opened the dorm room door to let my sister out to check, and the next thing we hear someone say, "hello! Are you going to be staying here?" and so my dad, mom, and I are stealing quick glances at each other before we decided to open the door and introduce ourselves. My "CA" (an RA at most universities) was really nice - he is the person who caught us in the act, I guess you could say :) It was also cool to see someone that I had added about a month ago on my facebook through an ASU Group on a discussion board. We found out that we were both music majors, so we added eachother. One of the people I was in contact with online happened to be at the dorm at the same time I was. She recognized me, and I recognized her face - I just couldn't remember where from! Anyway, that was a pretty cool experience. And thinking that in a week, my residential hall will no longer be so desolate, deserted, and quiet as it was when I was there visiting - But loud, fun, and unlike anything I've experienced. I'm so ready to make new friends, KEEP my old friends of course, and just soak in the whole experience.

I think I'm just about done with the packing now, after all : I've been packing basically the entire day!

xox

Recap on Ventilation

I had quite a roll there this early morning, I actually laughed while re-reading some of it again, because it was.. it was a sharp one. In a literal sense. If it were a person, someone would feel a prickle. Besides the analogy, I am trying to keep relatively calm today and I might take a trip to the pool. It's a beautiful, sunny day (that I can see so far) and I should be making the best of it. I hope Eydn is okay. She had a rough night last night, we'd been conversing and I wish so badly she didn't have to leave my house so I could comfort her more. Her parents don't know what they're doing to her. Her parents are like how mine were to me, 2 years ago. But 4 notches worse.

I get to hang out with Keith tonight, which I am beyond ecstatic for, because him and I have not hung out in ages. We had this period over this summer where we were hanging out like every couple days. He is the funniest person I know, and is always there for me. I had a really, horrific day in June, and he read me so easily and was over with starbucks. Even regardless of bringing starbucks, he is one of the best friends I could ever ask for. He is always there to back me up; like this time when he actually got in an arguement via facebook with Tyler's ex - it was hilarious!! But he was there for me, full force and "Dirty like x-tina", quoting Keith himself. Too bad we aren't going to the same school, because he really is a dear. He's the only good friend of mine that's a good dancer. Hell, he could move better than some of the Pom girls when I was on the team! Thank god for gays! They make the world defined and unique.

I discussed with my roommate yesterday too about our mini-fridge situation... At first I was reluctant to share a mini fridge with her because my parents weren't cool with it. She did her good dose of convincing though, so we are indeed sharing.

I leave for Arizona State University in 11 days. I'm so excited, like I'm waiting for Christmas or something (not quite to that extent, though). Speaking of ASU, I will be going to Tempe friday to check out the campus some more, and maybe try and see where everything is like my classes if I can. I will also try and get an appointment with my advisor, and Dr. Swartz to see if he can tell me who my violin teacher is going to be! I find it odd that as a music major, I still don't know who I will be studying with.

Well, that's about it. Sorry if I scared anyone with my anger from last night.
XOX!

Goody-Two Shoes is a Storyteller.

I'm not quite sure how to sum this all up without making it sound like some typical drama scenario that happens, but it .. isn't a rather typical situation. At least, not in my life. I never have drama really at all, and at that - girl drama. The only other time I've really ever, ever had a "girl drama" in my life was with my boyfriend's ex. Which by the way, was completely pointless and a waste of wonderful living life time. God that girl. She makes me sick. On to the more important part of this blog post since she is of no importance (bitter much?)... I feel betrayed. A friend I grew up playing violin with is the cause for these feelings. I mean, we were never really good friends, let alone great friends. We were friends. Stand partners. I am the type of person that trusts others easily, and that is my fault and no one else's. I leave my purse in my car, my ipod in my car in the open, yeah I can go on. Perhaps it's the small town life that makes me trust people more even in conversation. I confided in her, thinking I could trust her. I guess I didn't really think anything of what I was saying at the time, just because I felt so at ease with telling her, and didn't think of it as an issue. It didn't stay confidential. She, for some reason I'm not sure why, told her mom. I never thought that on top of telling everything to her mom and it traveling to my best friend's mom - yes, on top of all of this, she conspired a story so wrought and ridiculous, the story that traveled to my parents, they actually didn't believe it (and thank G!). Why? because they were there.
One might ask what the story was, and here it is: Remember the grad party I had in May? Well, she claims that at that party, there was supposed to be illegal activity (smoking substances) occurring, but didn't because the guy didn't "deliver" for all of us. UNbelieveable! By the way, this never happened. Anyway, that's what she told her mother, that my party was supposed to be filled with marijuana lovers and whatever else. The comical part about all of this, is that she wasn't even AT my graduation party! That's what is hysterical. Making such false accusations like she was there. I'm not sure what her ulterior motive was for this, because there obviously is one. All I know is, is that I don't deserve this. What did I ever do to her? Is it because I'm better at violin? It can't be that immature of a reason. I'm really glad my parents actually threw me the graduation party, and know that nothing of the sort happened. We're going to try and sort this all out in the morning, well, later morning haha. I can't seem to go to bed. I'm watchin' the 9th episode (Wheels) of Glee which is about to come to a close, and writing this frustrating blog post. I'm still in utter shock that she could do something like this. She has caused so much havoc; between my best friend's family, my family (for a short instant), and that's really it. What was the point? Does she feel better now after spreading such a heinous lie?
Michelle, my older sister thinks she did it because she felt the need to belittle other people to her mom (even if it's untrue) to make herself seem like such a goody two-shoes disturbed by such acts, which is the totally the persona she gives off. Even to me until now. Anyway, making herself seem like such a goody good, even though she's off skipping orchestra rehearsals and sneaking out at night to hang out with her boyfriend at 2 am.

It was really cool. My friends stood up for me in this situation, and so did my sister. When we were discussing with my parents what happened, my sister was right there next to me on the couch, standing up for me whenever she needed to. A true big sister. Other friends Haley & Chey texted me to see if I was okay. One of my best friends Keith actually sent a message to this mystery storytelling girl, but wasn't trashy- just straight forward. Thank you x 10 to them. It was comforting to know my friends are still looking out for me even if we don't talk everyday. <3 br="">
Goodnight everyone, I've had such a terrible evening. Let's see..best friend crying at my house because her mother's kindof a psycho (but we made cookies. there's a plus), boyfriend won't make time to converse with me when I needed to talk to someone most (he obviously couldn't tell the difference haha), and then the topper of the evening, story-making girl.

Ok, signing off.