late birthday surprise.

this has been such a hectic week. and i had the craziest mental breakdown yesterday! but i'm over it now. i think this coming up week is going to be better.

right now i'm listening to random call of duty conversations and i'm also listening to my sister's off-tune violin playing, which is okay because she's only been playing for about 3 days.

i was super excited when she decided to switch from being a ta to taking violin classes instead, because then i would also get a chance to play the violin with her!!!! i used to actually be quite decent for my age, but i stopped in 8th grade, because i wanted to be in the publications class instead, to write for the newsletter, and after that i just never got a chance to play again. it was quite sad actually, after a while. i mean i didnt mind not playing at first, but now when i look back, i wish i just would've stuck with it. i'm amazed that i'm still able to remember notes and even play songs from memory!! yeah, i'm pretty excited. i thought about doing my senior project on going back to violin, but i'm pretty set on cooking right now. josephine's sister is going to be my mentor!

i'm going to go look for some scholarships, and finish up my homework in a little. but i forgot that i never uploaded my birthday videos/photos. so i'm sharing them now, even though september is already almost over! but my birthday wasnt that long ago :)

i decided to just upload one video, because the others were taking foreverrrr. byee guuuyss.

- PACHIAAAAAA bang

cheeeer up.

the economy is so bad, yet Americans are still going about their business, as if nothing is wrong. i guess i am guilty of that too, except i have this constant voice in the back of my head that keeps me a little worried everytime i purchase something totally unnecessary. i'm pretty sure the country's not gonna go broke dead, like back in the depression days, if our economy crisis gets out of hands-- but still, i am worried. i guess sometimes i worry a little too much though. i think its unhealthy.

school is so not as stressing as i invisioned it to be. however, it is still stressing! i'm not pulling my hair out of my brains yet, but i think i'm managing fine, seeing as how i still have the ability to procrastinate and get away with it. well, i can't say that yet, because i havent really gotten any grades back yet-- except my psychology test, which i got a D on. but the majority of class got D's... so i guess i'm on the right track. you can't blame me though! i've got 5 AP classes! and i really didnt think that was really that impressive or shocking, until i started telling people, and everyone gave me the impression of it being impressive and shocking! yay. i for once dont feel stupid. whooooooo. i'm still worried though. worried, worried, worrrrrieddd!

pheeeewwwwwwwwwww. so i guess i'm going to start typing slower now. i've really been rushing with everything these past few weeks! would anyone like a chihuahua by the way? we have accumulated too many dogs over the past few years, and we really no longer have time to take care of them anymore :( so if anyone's interested in adult chihuahua's, i have a few. REALLY!! i'm just looking for good homes for them! HELP ME OUT! there's no charge. and i'm getting desperate, because REALLYYY, i don't have time to take care of them anymore, and they need to get to good homes. i'd appreciate it, if you know anyone who's interested in chihuahuas, and you pass this information to them :) they're so incredibly sweet and cute.

i don't want to make this blog a reaaalllyy long one, but i havent blogged in so long, and i have so much to update on! well, let's just keep this short. i got my camera in! it's amazing, and i love it-- i've been taking pictures of everything! my birthday was freaking amaaazing. i've discovered a crazy love for baking. my senior project's gonna be on cooking (that's not official yet though).

today i went to the flea market. and there really wasn't anything that great. i got this cute indian bracelet/ring (or so my mom says-- that it's indian) and some yellow nail polish! then i came home to work on my yearbook "about me" and now after this i'm probably going to cook dinner and study for french...

ahh, i feel so sad thinking now, about how summer's over. i saw some of my co-workers at the flea market today, and i saw my kids at the Hmong Family Healthy Day picnic yesterday. i miss being a kid. this is gonna be my last year and the world is so crazy these days. ahhhh. that just means that we gotta cherish every moment, and savor all the good times. i mean look at my grandparents and my parents! they were in the middle of a war, and look at how far they've come. yes, you just gotta cherish every moment. and cheer up :)

salut, salut!
PACHIA

do want you wanna do.

"People don't listen to what you say,
but what you do."

--keith hawkins.

On Friday, I had a senior event, SENIOR BBQ. But before I go on to talk about that, let me talk about the Senior BBQ training. Well I was one of the students picked to be a leader at senior bbq. And the night before (thursday), we had to go to the "training" from 5-8pm. Yeah THREE HOURS!! Pretty crazy. What could we possibly do for three hours? Well it was worth those three hours. We even went a little overtime. So there were probably 40 or more seniors there (half of them I knew) and the speaker, Keith Hawkins was there. He was going to be the motivational speaker for the senior bbq and he was going to teach us how to lead these group activties. So no the senior bbq was not just going to be a day where you could hang out with your friends, the senior class was going to be broken up into "random" groups and we would be forced to do activities to get to each other. First Keith got us to do some really wacky activities that were totally fun and exciting. We had to partner up with random people we did not know and talk to them and play these insane icebreakers. It was a great way to start it. Then we got into real business and got split into groups and we learned these new activities.

Most activities were just a couple icebreakers where everyone could get to know each other's names, trust each other and eventually learn how to be a team. The last activity was pretty intense. We had to pass a toilet roll around and take a piece of tissue and we were supposed to tell a personal story of something that impacted our lives, made us the person we are, etc. Well we were all kind of like..."we did not really sign up for this". But it happened. The first person who started in my group was Catherine and I had class with her so I knew her but she set the tone and she really did tell a personal story. And after that we all told a story and got really choked up and I actually told a personal story I had never told ANYONE (not even my very close friends) about and I didn't break down but I did tear up/cry a bit but by the time I had finished, I felt better and it was let go. It was an amazing experience. We all found out things about each other and really sympathized each other. I honestly felt better telling a bunch of acquaintances/strangers my story and I did not feel like I was judged at all. We hugged it out in the end and it was an empowering moment.

Well after that the next day was senior bbq and we came early. That was the fun part. Keith Hawkins was an AMAZING speaker. He was fun and everyone respected and listened to him. I cannot believe how great he was and how personal he seemed. He truely understood us and what I remember most about his speech was about doubt and fear. He said at this time, we live in doubt and that doubt turns into fear. We don't apply to certain colleges because we don't think we can get in. We don't try to promote ourselves because other people said we weren't smart enough. And he said, it is truely sad how we can believe that. As long as you believe in yourself, it does not matter what you cannot do. He said job = just over broke. He said you should want to be able to do something so much that you would do it for free, but you are so good at what you do, you get paid for it. What he said may not be realistic or logical enough, but he made it happen for himself. And he supports his kids well enough and his family to do what he loves. And I believe him and I want to do as exactly as he said. I want to do something I love so much I would do it for free, but I do it so well, I get paid for it. that is why I want to go to college. To learn what I love and to find what I love and not to worry about how to make the quickest and easiest buck.

So during the senior activities, I did actually meet some new people in my group and from the parts where we had to partner with random people. I truely believe that senior year is about breaking barriers and not caring about who you are friends with. I find it so much easier this year to talk to people who I would not really ever talk to or be friends with. I don't even about "cliques" or status. All of that is in the past and I really hope the rest of the senior class feels like that to because HELLLO we are the only class of '09 left so we should know each other before we are not together anymore.

So at the BBQ itself was AWESOME. We went to the park across from our school and luckily it is pretty damn huge (a lot of grass area/fields) and we had a huge slide thingy, adrenaline rush jumpy thing, a bungee cord bouncy thing, and a velcro wall. I went on everything except the velcro wall. They were all awesome but I kind of got whiplash from the bungee cord thingy.

I look pretty intense because that thing was pretty intense.
And it was harder than you think.
I saw football players getting sore after this.

I kept falling. Look at the warrior, Chrissa
Mike and Kumar had to help me in the end because I could not get up.

Cutest kids ever. Craziest entourage ever.

And we like cheesy group photos like this.

And even make a pyramid. I felt bad for the guys.

And pretend to be like married couples. Yay gay marriage.

And pelvic thrust and stick the booty out like no other.


P.S HERE IS A HILARIOUS YOUTUBE VIDEO OF MY FRIENDs.
i was the mean girl with the black hair who was teasing mike and not giving him the velcro thing.

-----christina :]