Released

Today was the big day: the day Ever Present, volume 45, was released.

To say the least, I am so overwhelmingly happy with all the positive feedback we've gotten! Although sometimes I feel like Caitlyn & I don't get enough credit for our layouts, I'm still so happy to know that people love our work. (:
This is going to be hard to top next year...

On another hand, today was absolutely hectic.
Spanish grammar quiz, vocab quiz, math test, physics project and yearbook distribution.
Theeeeen, after distribution Josephine, Caitlyn & I went to Chipotle!(:
When we got back to school Caitlyn, because she's the smartest girl evaaaa'(; , locked her keys in her trunk. So I had to take her home so she could get her keys! I didn't mind, though, cause I laaaaave talking to 1/2 Franclyn, my other half! (:

There are so many happy faces in this post, I think I'm being excessively/unnecessarily happyy.

Nerves

The yearbook is being released tomorrow, and I am so nervous, seriously. Caitlyn & I (Franclyn), along with the rest of the Ilium staff, have put in so many hours into this 400-ish page book. Having contributed to this year's book alot more than last year's, since I was layout editor this year, I feel so much more attached to this book than "Out of Bounds." I think it's pretty safe to say it's like Franclyn's baby is being born tomorrow, and 2631 people are going to be there to judge how pretty it is. (Hahahaha, weird analogy, but it works!) Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter what people think about our "kid" anyways. What really matters is the friendships and good times that I've had within the last year with my Ilium family. The inside jokes, stupid pranks and timeless traditions: all the things that can't be tainted by the criticism of the public. Ilium Staff/Family of 08-09, I love you. (:

Underwater Enchantment

My laptop is finally letting me blog! (:
Soooo, Prom was amaaaazingly fun. I went to San Gabriel in the morning where I met my mom & I got my hair done. I got home at around 12:30-ish when I went out to eat at Seafood Palace (Lol) with my familiaaaa. After lunch, I got ready and went to pick up Ronak/the flowers. We drove to Cerritos Mall where we met Todd, Tamulyn, Jane & Justin (it's so much less stressful with a small group!). Anywayssss, Ronak & I got lost at least 3 times, but it's okay, car adventures make things more exciting! Also, he's a creeper who has amazing eyesight; go figure, hahaha. After Say Cheese where we saw alot of people, we headed over to Long Beach's BJs. Since we got there early, we walked around and went into this one store where we colored a turtle, haha. Theeeen we met Jay's group at 7pm and watched the Lakers game (well the guys, anyways) during dinner. When we finally got to the Aquarium of the Pacific, we walked around the exhibits, which was pretty fun! I met up with the Ilium kids at 9:30 when we took our picture after camera whoring with Caitlyn/Emily for at least 10 min. The view on the aquarium patio was sooo nice! All in all, prom was so much fun; I can't wait for next year (;

Pictures are all up on Facebooooook!

Tomorrow, tomorrow

This week seemed so, so long; mostly because everyone was looking forward to prom tomorrow. On Tuesday I updated my photo wall(!):






































We shot our APUSH poster picture on Tuesday, too (:















Taking silly pictures in yearbook on Tuesdaaaay!

PROM IS TOMORROW & I AM SO EXCITED!
Schedule (for my own reference) :
9:30 San Gabriel to meet my mom
10:00 Hair appointment
2:00 Pick up corsage/boutinniere
3:00 Meet at Say Cheese
7:00 Meet at BJs
8:00-9:00 Aquarium of the Pacific

Reflect

Thursday- Troy dance team's Spring Show was amaaaaazing! Too bad I dropped Jenny off at the wrong house afterwards -_-

Friday- Yearbook tryout submissions! Stayed at school 'til 5pm with Weaver, Sarah, Sung Hyun, Andy, Tuan, Abraham & Jeff to look over all the submissions. Serious fun, but can't say who got in yet! (;

Saturday- I CLEANED MY ROOM! Huge accomplishment; well for me, at least. Then I went to Costco for lunch with my dad, brother & cousin. Afterwards, we headed over to Borders/Anchor Blue. I really miss reading nonacademic books... ): Went to dance @ 3pm & came homeeee. I'm excited for recital in November! (:

Sunday- SPANISH VIDEO PROJECT! Steph arrived at my house first, then Jessica came & theeeen Monica! Then, we went to Chipotle to get the quesedillas, Rubios to get the taquitos and PetSmart to get dog food for Charlieeee. We met Ken @ Rubios & headed back to my house to eat lunch/start filming. Later on, we went to Ranch Hills to film where Steph unsuccessfully drove Ken's car (LOL). How lucky are we that we got Gore to fill in as Miguel? Hahaha. Today's weather was gorgeous, but unbelieveable hot! PROM IS IN 6 DAYS, EXCITED!

Insult of the day:
Mallory (Justine Bateman): I'm glad Nick & I are so compatible. It's like we have one mind, you know? Like we share one brain.
Alex (Michael J. Fox): Who's using it tonight?

El Fin?

Today marked the End to AP tests this year!!
Sadly, there's still the Business Management two day IB test next week. "/
Oh well, almost there! Besides, prom makes it all worth it!
Today was pretty tiring. APs wore me out in the morning but that, combined with a makeup math test in 5th and my period fatigue just made me reeeally tired.
The weather's so nice nowadays, I love it. I just hate how dehydrated I'm getting. Today I had a nosebleed & now Charlie won't stop licking me. (Sorry, TMI?)

Today's goals:
-50 questions on APUSH Final Study Guide
-Bake
-Secret Project, hehe

Insult of the Day:
Ugarte (Peter Lorre): You despise me, don't you?
Rick (Humphrey Bogart): If I gave you any thought I probably would.

-Casablanca (1942)

Potential

So I found the perfect accessories for my dress on Forever 21 online but hopefully they have it in store @ the Brea mall! If not, I guess I'll just have to order online. "/

Today was alright, but there isn't much to say about it.

Things I've Learned from today:
1) Don't play "Would You Rather..." with Greg. Ever.
2) Actually, that's pretty much it.

I'm getting excited for Prom... ! Time to go bake now.

Mission Complete

So today I left my house at 1 with my brother to get an early start on the road to Arcadia. Unfortunately, I realized I had left my phone at home when I was halfway there... so I had to turn around to get it. Other than that misfortune, the mall was absolutely packed. I ended up parking about 1/2 mile from the mall in the farthest, creepiest lot. But on the good side, my mom helped my find my prom dress at V Generation in the new promenade that opened up last Thursday! The Arcadia mall (Westfield Santa Anita) is HUGE, but it was really hot because there were so many people. Anyways, after the mall we went to dinner.

Dinner was amazing! So much good food, all Beijing style. So, so yummy. It was so good seeing my family again! I just wish Mother Nature didn't have to visit me today. ): (Sorry, TMI.) After dinner we drove to see my mom's new apartment that is super close to the mall. It was really pretty! That's pretty much how my day went. I'm so exhausted now; the driving, weather, food coma and shopping really drained me. Next mission: shoes & accessories!

































































-edit-
After getting home last night my dad came home to take me to Carol & Connie's house. It was really good seeing them again & catching up. They make college sound like so much fun, I really can't wait to goo! Anyways, we left their house around 12 & I drove home because my dad had drank while all the adults were singing karaoke, haha.

Forward

It's finally over, the APUSH test is finally DONE WITH!
I feel so relieved now, it's an amazing feeling.
So after school, to celebrate our newly restored freedom, Steph & I went out with JennyLeeeee to the Brea mall where Jenny tried to get me to ask these two guys (who weren't even cute ): ) if they knew a good place to get shaved ice. We were like seriously one foot away from them going "YOU ASK THEM! No, YOU ask them!" So then I think they were flattered and followed us to the puppy shop. Thankfully, they left soon (even though we spotted them in Sears later...). Jenny Lee is so sillaaaaay. We eventually did get our shaved ice though! Jenny took us to Life Plaza where we had yummy shaved ice, watched Men in Black, got watched by our bad waiter while we tipped him, and played Uno. On the way back to Fullerton we sang fun Chinese songs in the car like Tong Hua and Kan Guo Lai. :D So overall, today was really good.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when I'm gonna go prom dress shopping with my mom & then have dinner with my grandma, aunt & uncle for Mother's Day! There is so much to look forward to these days. (:

Liability

I wish I could help my dad make $$! ):
Today I found out my brother & cousins started using the (not sure what it's called) food program for students with parents that have low incomes. I feel so useless; all I am is a financial liability. My dad works so hard to support my family and never asks for anything in return; I wish I could do the same. I love my dad, he deserves the world for all the selfless things he does for us.

On the other hand, Mother's Day is this Sunday. I think I have an idea for a present but I'm still working on it!

APUSH in 2 days!
9 practice tests so far & 2/3 more to go!

Insult of the day:
"You know, Ice-T's been in the game so long, they should just call him Ice Age. I tried to listen to one of Ice-T's songs... but I didn't have no cassette player."
-rapper Snoop Dogg on Ice-T

Improvement

6 APUSH practice tests later, I'm finally seeing improvement!
I love how I'm not stressing out over the AP history exam this year because I/Steph have/has pushed me towards not procrastinating. Barnes & Noble sessions with Stephanieeeee help so much!
Such a good feeling... despite the stress that comes with the APs this week, I kinda, sorta like this week!

Still looking forward to the weekend though! (:
OH, & THE YRBK MEETING TOMORROW!


P.S. I feel like I'm gaining 2134232 pounds because I feel obliged to buy hot chocolate from B&N's cafe since I'm using their facilities. I think I've bought at least four within the last week. D:

Insult of the day:
"There was a giant fire in Hollywood. Investigators thought it was started by two teenagers, who started the fire by rubbing the Olsen twins together."
-talk show host Craig Ferguson

Unexpected

Random source of inspiration today in the Spanish textbook:

Con paciencia se gana lo imposible

For those who don't take Spanish: "With patience, you can achieve the impossible."
I know it sounds pretty cliche, but the timing of it all just made it more... relatable?

These last couple days I've been feeling the most unburdened that I have felt in months. Ironically, it's right before the APs but I mean... spiritually(?), I feel at peace with myself. It's so relieving.
All you need in life is good food, good friends & good weather. (:

Insult of the Day:
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein

Drained

Today, I went to Barnes & Noble with StephanieFong and we studied for APUSH from 9:30 am to 7 pm. (Well, we took a lunch break and went to Chili's.) But wow, I am so drained right now, I think my brain is complete mush. I took two practice tests and I think I'm kind of, sort of screwed for multiple choice. Also, I'm in love with the REA prep book & I hate my stupid Princeton book even more now.

Sorry this post is rather unexciting! My day wasn't very exciting to begin with. "/
I can't wait to get this week over with!


By the way, I don't why but many people have said that I've gotten skinnier lately & it just doesn't make sense to me.
1) I eat alot more because I'm just sitting around studying nowadays
2) I just weighed myself and I gained 2 pounds

So no, I have not gotten skinnier. Don't worry... ! D:

Mother, dearest

I feel so relieved from talking to my mom today. She came over after taking my brother & my half siblings to the circus and we just talked about everything for 2 hours straight. I came to realize that we were so alike when she was in high school, it's just scary how similar we are. You probably don't know why I'm so freaked out so I'll just mention some of the things we talked about.

She always told me to never have a boyfriend in high school but ironically, she had one. Her first boyfriend was in military school while she attended an all girls school so it was kind of a long distance relationship. It was so cute though cause they would write each other letters and once, he gave her all his money after they went to the movies because she didn't have enough money to take the bus home so he ended up having to sell some stamps in his pockets to strangers on the street in order to get home. Ahhh! So cute! (: He was such a nice guy... But anyways, we talked about boys and she told me that:

You shouldn't change yourself to impress a guy. Don't lower your standards, don't apologize for something that wasn't your fault for the sake of the relationship, don't compromise yourself for his benefit, don't make yourself miserable for someone who doesn't deserve that amount of energy/emotion spent on him because simply put, relationships shouldn't make your life more difficult or cause undue unhappiness. If a boy doesn't make your life better, then why bother? A good relationship should only add to your happiness, supplement it, not hinder it. Don't rely on other people because that relates directly to disappointment. In the end, all you have is yourself. Don't waste your time on high school boys because at this age, they're really just too immature to fully appreciate you. Because you haven't had to time to experience the world yet, high school is all you know. That's why every boy makes such a huge impact on your life, like a tidal wave in a pool. But realistically, pools are minuscule. We have yet to experience the rivers, the lakes, the seas, the oceans. Therefore the only thing you can do right now is to make yourself a better person because one day, you will meet someone who can appreciate you for exactly how you are and who you are; and if not, you'll always have yourself and really, who else do you need to be happy?

We talked about so much more but this was the part that I took the most from.
Next week she's going to come over to help me out with prom dress shopping!
Despite my pent up frustration with her, I really do love my mom. (:

Sick

Sorry, but this is going to be a rant.

I am so, so sick of everything lately. I'm tired of obsessing over the same stupid things and I really just want to forget everything and start over. Honestly, I wish my mom had let me start school earlier because I'm so fed up with high school right now & just really want to graduate. Going to college and starting anew sounds so good, I wish I could just fast forward and get high school OVER WITH.

It's raining. I want to sleep outside just so that it'll seem like something's new.