May was my last full month of my Undergraduate career
as a student. Despite the overwhelming-ness of it all, I still found time to
make some incredible memories with some of my favorite people. So, thank you to
each and every person who adventured with me this month <3
Cal Poly Spring Dance Show
WOW. Let’s just start off with that. On May 23, 2013 I
attended Cal Poly’s Spring Dance Show for the
first time in my four years of college. Part of me wishes I had gone sooner…but
I was still so proud to attend this year. I went to this year’s show to support
two of my close friends—one I know through Orientation Programs at Cal Poly and the other I know through my a cappella group, Take it SLO. It was so beautiful to see their passion
of dance brought to life…especially since I had never had the chance to see
that side before. I felt so proud of their confidence and their outstanding performance…but
I also felt proud to be a student of Cal Poly. I absolutely love that this show
allowed the Business majors and the Engineers and the future teachers a chance
to indulge in what they love. I was beaming the entire time.
Let me not forget another reason this evening was so wonderful: my close and much loved friend, Spencer went to the show with me. If there is one person in this world that knows how to cheer a girl up—it is this guy. He is next year’s President of Take it SLO and I could not be more proud of him. Thank you so much for being such a supportive, loving, and entertaining friend to me this year. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. I can’t wait to see all the great things you do in your life.
My A Cappella Obsession
Once again, recap: Take it SLO is
Cal Poly’s premiere a cappella group. It rocks and I had the honor of being in
the group for three beautiful years. Now onto why it was so great THIS month:
Shows shows shows. I have always believed that Take it SLO
thrives before, during, and after performances and this month just proved that.
Take it SLO is available for booking for events
any time during the school year…assuming it works with everyone’s class
schedules. Lucky for us, we had three gigs this month (which is a lot for us).
Two of them were a blast—they caused us to hang out, bond, and drive all day—but
one of them deserves special attention.
Take it UU Hour
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| Take it SLO UU Hour Performance |
This year, Take it SLO was asked to perform at UU Hour on Cal Poly’s campus. This is a big deal
because every week, ASI books a new “band” to
entertain the students of Cal Poly in our neatly landscaped University Union
Plaza. We were beyond excited to get this request, obviously. The beauty of
this performance came a lot from (I believe) the “Takeit Ten Anniversary” that occurred just the week beforehand. Everyone was
focused and it felt like we all fell even deeper in love with Take it SLO that
weekend—I know I did. Anyways, the performance ROCKED…and you know what made it
even better? A few of our alumni from the audience helped us out and sang a few
songs. So here is my big shout out and thank you to IanO’Rourke and Joe Palomares. You guys
really helped us kick some butt that day. Side note: everyone should check out
these guys’ YouTube channels (I have them linked)…they’ve got a lot of talent
squished into their bodies. I’m so lucky to say that I have had the pleasure of
singing with them during their Take it SLO careers.
When Life Gives You Lemons…
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| Jumping my car together-- what a great bonding moment. |
Car. Troubles. That was a big part of May, unfortunately.
But now that my car is all fixed, I can look at the wonderful lessons I learned
from the experience. Thankfully, throughout all my vehicle complications, my
friend Sam was able to lend a helping hand, jumper cables, and some insight on
cars. Two good things came from this experience: One, I re-learned how to jump
my car (and got really really good at it...practice makes perfect right?) and two, it forced me to run to the
mechanic that was about 4 miles away. So I guess I can be a little proud of
that…haha. Also, thank you to all of my roommates and friends who drove me
around, let me borrow their cars, and helped me jump mine…it helped a whole lot
J
Spending Time with My Parents
If there is one thing that I have learned from living away
from home the past four years, it is this: My parents are two of the coolest
humans on the planet. Lucky for me, I don’t live TOO far away from home that I
can’t go see them (or them see me) for a weekend.
Surprising Dad
My dad (Pat 5.0) recently took up the hobby of running half
marathons….no big deal. I love this for so many reasons, one big one being that
him and I always have something to talk about or do together. His first half
marathon was on May 5, 2013 down in Orange County. I, of course, felt compelled
to come support him. I drove home Thursday night through the Camarillo fires so
that I could be at the airport the next morning to pick him up with my mom. As
he walked out of the airport, I bolted out of the car to run and give him a
hug. I have never seen a grown man look so confused in his entire life. I didn’t
tell him I was coming home to watch his race so I guess he was a little
shocked.
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| Dad coming down the final stretch of his first Half Marathon |
Come race day, I followed my dad around everywhere. I tried
to take a picture of him stretching, singing to the National Anthem, cross the
start and finish lines—everywhere but on the actual course ‘cause there was no
way in hell I was running 13.1 miles that day, haha. I was and am so proud of
him for completing his first half marathon in one piece, running another one
since then, and running yet another this upcoming weekend. I guess I got a
taste of the kind of pride parents feel for their children that day…only it was
inverse this time. I couldn’t be more proud of you Dad, I love you.
Morro Bay with Momma
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Memorial Day Weekend
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| St. Patrick's Day 2012 |
I made some of my best friends EVER through Take it SLO my first year in the group. One of those friends was my roommate the past
year and the other two both live down in Azusa together while they work at
their big-boy jobs. Since my two guy friends just recently moved in together,
me and Julie figured we would go visit for a little house-warming party.
When we arrived, their house was set up in the “True American” game board with the rules taped to the
wall. True American is a drinking game we all saw being played on New Girl one day and we all fell in love. We had been
talking about playing for over a year before the day finally arrived! One of
the rules of “True American” has to do with finishing famous quotes. Well, at
some point in the evening, Julie started laughing really hard (typical) while
she had beer in her mouth. She exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, beer just came…” and Joe
finished the sentence “…out my nose!!!!” and proceeded to the next game board
spot as if what Julie was saying was a quote for the game. We all died laughing.
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| Sometimes we pretend we're in a boy band. |
The next day we went to Flappy Jack's and got gluten free buttermilk pancakes, pretended we lived in
IKEA for over two hours in their showrooms, and played basketball and skeeball
at Dave&Busters. To close out the day, we all played Catch Phrase and “Heads Up”, Ellen Degeneres’ new Smart phone
Application (I highly recommend you all download it), at Congregation Ale House in Azusa. It
was a heart-warming way to spend the weekend with my best friends…especially
since it’s going to be at least a year before the four of us will be able to be
at the same place at the same time again. Thank you guys for all the laughs
this weekend and always :)
The Simple Serendipities
And now for my favorite section, the quirky events in May
that are too flattering, fantastic, or funny to skip over:
Trivia String Cheese:
Julie and I would always buy the Trivia String Cheese from the store because
who doesn’t want to learn while they’re consuming cheese? The question on this
particular cheese was “Meteorology is the study of what?” I sent Julie a
picture saying the question was dumb because the answer was so obvious...and she agreed. Upon
opening the cheese, I felt a huge rush of embarrassment. Newsflash: Meteorology
is not the study of meteors (my guess) OR stars (Julie’s guess)…it’s the study
of weather. Duh. I guess Trivia String Cheese actually is helpful…
This weather sign: It's hard not to chuckle at this...
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| Up to the minute weather reports courtesy of Paso Robles Inn. |
Maybe I should go
into Public Speaking?: In my poetry class, my Professor has us read famous
poems aloud here and there. On this particular day, I was chosen to read. After
class, my Professor told me that I have a wonderful speaking voice and that I
should consider going into Public Speaking of some sort. Maybe he’s on to
something…
That Graduation Thing: I picked up my cap and gown. So weird. But look at my cool cap!
Update on the right
now:
Countdown to
Mississippi: 27 days.
I’m back in Orange
County after spending the weekend with my Dad in Buffalo…and Niagara Falls
(pictures to come).
I leave for San Luis
Obispo tomorrow because a) I need to pick up my last paycheck b) its my friend’s
birthday and c) I’m already SLOme sick.
I have time to write
these blogs finally! But the next one won’t be coming until early July…so hold
tight til then J
