House of Mouse and Macy's and Dreams and Fireworks GALORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I'm in Los Angeles right now!!!! Its warm :) much warmer than Canada right now lol.
We've gone to Disneyland which is FLIPPING AWESOME. There's rides and crazy mascot dudes runnin around signing autographs and posing for pics (believe it or not, they're not just at Disneyland :p).
HEY! You know that friggin awesome castle that they show in all the disney movie commercials and stuff? ITS SMALL!!! Dude I know, I was very disappointed. It's like half the size it looks. But there's all these lands, there's tomorrowland and adventureland and frontierland and new orlean's and fantasyland and toontown (where mickey and minnie live :O)

Today we went shopping which was pretty fun, I bought a pair of honest to goodness Apple Bottom Jeans lol, like the ones in that Flo Rida song. They're pretty shmexy. And I hit Abercrombie and Fitch and Forever 21 for earrings and these awesome purple sunglasses. It was an eventful day.

We went there too! Its called the Crystal Cathedral. It was built by Rev. Robert H. Schuller. There's quite an extensive history of it, a good portion of which our tour guide dude named Ed told us and he's like this wecked awesome storyteller (seriously, he should be a narrator for something) so it was all super interesting.

I had a really bad dream the other night. It was right after I got back from LA and I was at this party with T and S and Stef and some other people but I don't remember them. And T was in this other room and S went into that room and came out and said that T had overdosed and died. And then it kinda changed scenes to me talking to my dad about how T died and I was crying and then I woke up actually crying. It was crazy, I don't think I've woken up crying from a dream since I was like 4... It freaked me out cuz I woke up and couldn't figure out if it actually happened or not.

So yeah, we're gonna spend tomorrow at Disneyland again for like 4 or 5 rides that we still really wanna take and there's some souvenir stuffs we want to get too.

Dude, we bought these New Orleans parasols for me and my lil sis and my grandmother and my great-grandmother (gigi). Its cool though cuz my gigi got one like 18 years ago when they came last time but it got damaged so we got her one and its like transcended 4 generations. Well I think its cool :p

So yeah... I miss my friends. I love going to theme park type places (although, where we're from in Canada we have LAME ASS theme parks) with them. I hope I'm able to go to a really good theme park sometime just with a huge group of friends. Its been a ton of fun w/my family though. We've got all our wacky inside jokes and cartoons we watched when I was younger and whatnot so its pretty awesome.

I bought a bikini. Its been YEARS since I wore one of those, and trying them on is nothing short of torture. Any person with reasonably sufficient self-esteem would be a blubbering mess if they managed to find any particularly bad fitting swim suits. But I found a nice blue one that actually looks kinda nice so I'm gonna keep it. Maybe try it out at the leisure centre :p

Well, I'm watching Die Hard (yippie kaiyay mo-fo!) and I wanna go to bed pretty quick.

Zhen

Slightly less bizarre but still interesting...

Don't doctors take an oath for this type of thing? I mean, yeah she's uncomfortable treating them but as a doctor, you have to treat anybody who needs help. Thats just what you do. I guess it would be easier to prosecute her if it was emergency medicine and she refused to treat the women. But this wasn't even medical, it was a "meet and greet" appointment... thoughts?

In other bizarre news....

Kanye West is obviously not very concerned with the controversy that name may stir. Plus he's a dork.

This is just weird on SO MANY levels. EW

Lol thats awesome. Pretty lame attempt though. If you're gonna assasinate the Queen, you make as well make it flashy and exciting. But honestly, who'd want to assasinate the Queen? She's not particularly powerful, she hasn't royally pissed off (no pun intended) anyone for oh say the past half-century. She's a nice lady. Don't try to kill the Queen peoples, go target some big mean dictator somewhere whom nobody will miss. yeesh...

Ahahahaha, The article itself isn't that awesome. I just like the title :)


Zhen

I Just Can't Keep From Falling...

Well I apologized. I don't think you care but I did my part. I guess I just wait it out...

GOING TO CALIFORNIA IN 16 HOURS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Zomg I'm so excited lol. *happy dance*

Did I tell you guys how flipping excited I am to be done exams? I probly did but just in case, I AM SO HAPPY TO BE DONE EXAMS!!! No more studying, no more worrying (except about my marks :/)

I'm going to miss you... it sounds lame but I will. While I'm gone and after, cuz I don't think it'll change while I'm gone lol.

So I've been thinking about tattoos again lately lol, and I found this pic
I LOVE this but its completely impractical. Expecially cuz thats a bad place to be getting dye injected lol. But also because I wouldn't be able to see it/enjoy it. So I'm thinking of getting one here
but probly not a butterfly.
I found this one too, completely impractical but very shmexy
isn't it awesome?

Zhen

Excerpt from "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris

God gives us singleness - a season of our lives unmatched in its boundless opportunities for growth, learning, and service - and we view it as a change to get bogged down in finding and keeping boyfriends and girlfriends.

Well I found that a rather unsettling perspective... He's right though.

Dude I swear, I have freaking localized arthritis in my right index finger... this is ridiculous. IT HURTS!

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
I Corinthians 13:6-8

I have always loved that verse. I can't even remember the first time I heard it, but I loved hearing it. It just filled me with content.

Zhen

YUS! I AM DONE!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen *drum roll* I AM DONE FIRST SEMESTER! (cue the balloons and trumpets and applause and noise makers)

I should stop... but I don't want to...

So we have a new most-powerful-man-in-the-world. Funky.

Oh hey guess what! I know what my personality type is :p Extraverted (vs Intraverted), Feeling (vs Thinking), Percieving (vs Judging) and Intuitive (vs Sensing)
Lol its okay, I didn't understand the meanings/differences between them either but its hard to explain. I feel smarter now though :p

Lol I've been going out almost every night for the past two weeks, I feel like quite the social butterfly ;)

Potentially problematic but still kinda funny. I'd totally compare the NDP to communists in Cuba but not if I was in public office cuz thats stoooooooopid.

I'm honestly too freaking ADD right now to even think about this. But it looks good...

Zhen

ugh, first you like someone who doesn't like you back.
Then someone likes you and you don't like them back.
Can there never just be mutual liking or not liking?? That would make things so much easier LOL

Woot inaguration today!!! Awesome. Gobama LOL. I would've voted for McCain but hey, Obama deserves his day in the sun right now so good on ya buddy.

Wow! I thought stuff like this only happened in movies! Thats awesome, RCMPers rock lol

well... nothin else much excitin lol...

Zhen

Proven

Thank God You Finally Let It Go

you want me to believe you care? Prove it.

more virgins recieve the bad news

I almost died laughing when I read that.

Woot, went to diploma prep and bowling tonight. It was fun, lots of jerks there though, one from our group, another one just worked there. Whatevs, people will be stupid, its like a right lol.

I read something like that in my biology class where this guy was mining and there was an explosion and a piston blew clear through his head but he was up and talking and stuff right afterwards. Had some serious brain damage after though lol...

Are you guys seriously mentally deficient or something?!?! I DO NOT LIKE HIM
(ugh I hate how "high school" that sounded but people are so flipping immature...)

Anywho, I'm seriously considering not going to my grad banquet and instead going to YC and chilling with my friends that weekend because honestly, I have no desire to go to the banquet at all. I just don't. I'll walk the stage and all that but the social stuff I'm just not that into... I'm worried that I'll regret it though. I'm not sure anymore.

YESYESYESYESYESYESYES

Whoops sorry... channelling cult like tendencies... I'm freakin myself out!!!

So yeah... good movie. Vaguely disturbing *shudders* for reasons I can't even name without gagging. It was a lot of fun though, we totally annoyed everyone in the theatre cuz J and I were laughing so hard at the WAY wrong moments and M and I have decided to dress up for HP and the Half-Blood Prince!!!! WOOT. Its exciting...

Hey I'm sorry you couldn't come, aww shucks man I love you too! *gets choked up* lol couldn't resist ;p Maybe you'll make it next time.

And I've learned NEVER to go to a Denny's again... though if I'm forced to I will. I just won't order a milkshake... Omg I need new friends, these ones freak me out.

Well its late and I need sleep. Talk to y'all later!

Zhen

Movie again!

Okay so we are gonna try going to Yes Man again tonight, maybe this time we'll actually make it to the movie! That'd be fun...
Oh! And there's also girls coming! I know right, I was surprised too :p

Anywho, I'll tell y'all how the movie is lol

wtf

why do you even bother? the both of you.
one's just toying and the other... i dunno what his deal is

Doppelgangers and troglodytes and petulance and duckpins and petting

I hate it when you do that...

You make me feel like an idiot for saying what I think... I don't think you realize you do it though. Thats the worst part.

I gotta lay off of you for a little while... I need to figure out where I am.

And I take it all back. Everything I said.

You Weren't Told To

You just chose to listen :p

And I appreciate that.

What was supposed to be a movie...

turned out to be rather different lol

So originally me +4 guy friends (I know sad isn't it? I do have girl friends I promise!) were going to see a movie then I totally changed the theatre cuz Dad didn't want to drive to the far one so they all bend over backwards to accommodate me and then it turns out we can't even see the same movie cuz it started earlier. LAME.

So we went to play pool instead lol and I embarrassed myself cuz I suck at pool lol and then we chilled at BPs for awhile :) which is always fun.
WOOT I got to see my friends at the restaurant too! The one I used to work at, and my fav coworker was there so I got like 3 hugs from him which was nice.
Then T drives me home and just as we pull into the driveway I realise I left my purse at the restaurant... *shakes head* I'm such an idiot. So T drives me back there to grab it because he's aweomse <3 and then I get home like 20 minutes before curfew *score!*

So yeah... that was my rather tame evening... bet it was more fun that yours!

love
Zhen

California, youth events, exams, grad pics and the middle east

I'm going to California in 3 weeks! WOOT, I'm so excited! I'll be able to refresh my tan ;) and shop and go shopping and chill w/my family.

Youth last night was fun, I didn't even get home until 12:30 lol and we
watched Knocked Up (which was probly not the best youth group movie option) and ate food and fell asleep on the couch. It was good times.

YUCK, I've got exams coming up. I really don't wanna take them either :( I've got a lot riding on these so there's a good chance I may not be posting much in the foreseeable future.

I wanna order my grad pics soon! They make me happy... Its a little weird tho. I've only ever seen my mom and my aunt's grad pics and now I have my own... I'm way too young for this lol...

Okay so Israel and Palestine are bombing each other over Gaza again... this is lame. Haven't they figured it out yet? Israel doesn't die. Its weird and its unfortunate, but its the truth. Tried and tested.

ZOMG I HAVE GRAD PROOFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And they're actually kinda pretty... *blushes*

*2nd update* and other random stuffs

Como dias wife's pastor?
So T wanted to say "how is your day?" and he came up with como dias which actually means "how days" and later that day a lady got on our bus and when we asked who she was A said she was the "wife's pastor". So "Como dias wife's pastor" became somewhat of an inside joke lol

Dude! Our bathrooms FILL with ants and other freaky insects at night so its like 1 am and I'm going to the bathroom and I go into the first one and get totally freaked out by all the ants and go into the second one and there's even more ants and one of them friggin BITES ME!!! So apparently the sound I let out cuz it bloody hurt sounded like a scream so Ray and mom come running and I'm like "chill out guys its just an ant bite" so I had to get a band-aid on my toe and mom's all "there's poisonous ants here so if it hurts or swells up you have to tell me!" and meanwhile I just don't use those bathrooms anymore at night lol... I still have the scab from the bite, its rather epic


So mine and daddy's fav movie right now is The Breakfast Club cuz its flipping hilarious and our fav line so far from it is "my home life is unsatisfying". It doesn't sound very funny but you just have to hear it said. Its definitely a classic movie...

I am workin the tan, everybody says I have a "summer glow" (Talia's words not mine lol) and
I gave G his key chain and he's actually using it now so that makes me happy :) and yeah. Its good times.

I have to go study for my french final now :( wish me luck!

*update* (or rather stuff i forgot to put in the first post)

So on like our 2nd last night there 15 of us went to play soccer with some people from the church in this weird synthetic field thingy. It was SOOO much fun! Cept my team kept winning so I played for all of like 2 really short games and that was for two hours straight. I was actually dripping sweat it was disgusting :p
But Antony came and that was cool and he gave me chocolate :D which is always nice.

And Claudia (one of the cooks) gave me her cross so I would remember her when I came back to Canada.

And I gave Pablo my funky aviator sunglasses because he really liked them and I figured he'd get more use out of them there than I would here in freaking ICE CITY. So I gave them to him the morning we left and we all said our goodbyes at the airport and then once we get in Jony is wandering around asking who's sunglasses they are. And I'm like "darn it Pablo!" so I grab 'em and Jony and I book it outside where everyone is in the bus and Pablo is the last one getting on so I holler at him and give him the glasses and he's all "thanks girl!" and he was so surprised cuz I don't think he knew they were gone. And he gave me another hug and Jony and I booked it back inside to the line up lol cuz it would suck if we had to go thru friggin US customs alone.

I bought souvenirs! Presents for my friends cuz I love them and a bracelet and two pairs of earrings and a little carved frog that I named Diego the 4th. Why the 4th you ask? Well Diego our driver has a son named Diego jr and Diego the 1st made Daisy a balloon camel that we named Diego the 3rd so my frog is Diego the 4th lol.

I went horseback riding while we were there! Big Maestro (the pastor is Little Maestro :p) brought two of his horses and his son (who is like 10) to our camp! A couple of us took turns riding the horses and I actually got mine to gallop a few times! It was SOOOO cool.
Big and Little Maestro both brought their wives and kids (little Maestro brought Antony) to play soccer with us and let me tell you, those 6 and 7 year olds were fast little buggers. I did manage to score a goal but it was painful and I was trying not to trip over them lol. Course they've grown up playing since like ever so they've had a bit more practice than me.

Home. Tired. Happy.

2nd plane home was delayed :( by like 2 hours so we just chilled in the airport, watching A and T try and play hacky sack while completely strung out on cold medicine.

I am so glad I went, it was such an amazing trip and I would go again without any hesitation. I learned so much and got to meet so many new people and saw so many awesome new things.
I got to know everyone on my team so much better, figured out how to make the tour bus comfy lol, and ate lots of gallo pinto (rice and beans).

So first day there we were all kinda out of it because we landed at 8 or 9 and then took an hour long bus from San Jose to Sarchi which is where we stayed in this camp called Campamento Jennie Sue (it was named after a nice old lady who founded it). We all promptly passed out on the bunks because we were really tired from the day of flying and spending a 6 hour layover in Dallas lol.
The next morning we had breakfast and met our cooks; Rosita, Guillermo and Claudia, our bus driver Diego, our translators Bernardo, Pablo, Daniella and Salomon and our team leader John. We went to Naranjo which is where our host church is and 8 of us worked on started construction on expanding the church building while the rest of the team did children's ministry inside. Lol my gloves got so soaked with gasoline from cleaning the steel beams that i got a chemical burn on my hands, it was awesome.
So for the first two days we did construction and children's ministry in Naranjo which was pretty awesome cuz the kids were great and we were learning the names of different animals in spanish so we could make them balloon animals lol.
The times and days get kind of fuzzy after this because we went to so many different places and there was not a set-in-stone schedule because our itinerary changed constantly. We went to quite a few different churches and did children's ministry which for me meant doing kid's worship (lots of actions and repitition lol) with Alfe to start off and then alternating between balloon tying and bracelet making. I met so many amazing children down there, they are just so happy and full of life despite their unimaginably poor circumstances. You can't possibly understand how these people live until you've seen it. We were mostly in fairly poor areas and all the homes/businesses are built with the cheapest, thinnest materials and look so fragile. Costa Rica isn't subject to very hostile weather though so its not as bad but everything is just so temporary.
The perspective of these people is so amazing, we gave them soccer balls and bracelets and simple toys and balloon animals but they were so grateful and they loved them. We were actually making a big difference in their lives and giving them hope even though it seemed so simple to us.
We worked with another church youth group in Naranjo to restore a park so we cleaned up all the garbage and glass and repainted the fence and whatnot then in the afternoon we invited some neighbourhood kids to come play at the park with us so we sang songs and played games and I played catch with this guy names Marco for about an hour :p it was a lot of fun.
On our day off we also went to the Cataratas and Volcano Irazu (or so I believe, I can't remember the name) and the Cataratas or waterfalls, are also a nature preserve. I got to hold butterflies and A nearly got his ear bit off by a toucan and Diego's son, Diego jr lol got to see the monkeys and poisonous snakes and frogs. It was really amazing.
As a present to us, the translators bought fireworks that we set off on New Years in the field by the camp after we went to the New Year's party at the church in Naranjo. That was SO much fun! We got there at 7:30 and the celebration went til after midnight. Alfe and Jony and Bernardo and Adam and Pablo and I all did worship for what seemed like hours lol and we did our skit that closely resembles this one. And Marco and Antony saw it and afterwards we saw a ton of fireworks in the town square! It was so cool.

HOLY CRAP ITS COLD HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna go back as soon as I can :(

So Antony gave me a mix tape and I love it! Its got these 3 spanish songs on it and they're so pretty to listen to... I miss him lol.

One of the nights (I can't remember which) Ray and I stayed up until about 3:15 just talking about stuff. It was really cool though because it was stuff that we had wanted to talk about for a long time but had kind of just ignored. It was a cool kind of "bonding" thing lol.

I got to spend more time with a friend of mine which was fun lol, we figured out how to make the bus comfy. But he's got other stuff going on, things will go back to normal.

I hope things don't go back to normal for me though, I really want to stay this close to God. I want to pray like I did on this trip, I want to sow the seeds of God and do great things for His kingdom.

I'm thinking of going back there for my gap year if possible... not sure yet tho. I'll figure it out...

Anywho, I'm home now, its friggin cold in Canada, and I have a TAN!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!