Eight Years

I woke up this morning with the desire to write about where I was eight years ago today. It was a historic day and as much as we all want to forget, I think it's necessary that we remember.

I was in eighth grade at ACT Academy. They sort of let us run wild in that school (I miss it so much!)... so my best friend Rachel and I were down in the Art Lab all by ourselves (lol) on the lowest level of the school, for a good hour probably. When we decide that maybe we should return to wherever we were supposed to be, we walk up the stairs to nobody in the hallways. Everyone was in their rooms and quiet, and nobody but those who attended ACT Academy knows what that means. There was always somebody studying, laying down on the hallway floor, there was always someone sitting on top of the lockers sketching. I vividly remember us getting to the top of the stairs and stopping cold. We probably made a joke about how it felt like a horror movie, but we ran to one of our favorite teachers Ms. Holman's room. Hers was the biggest room in the middle school section of the K-12 school. We ran to the doorway and was met with everyone we knew sitting in the floor looking shocked, listening to something on the radio. Being the loud teenagers we were, one of us yelled "What happened?!" and were immediately shushed. We walked up to the teacher closest to the door, I forget who it was, and he said "The World Trade Center was bombed or something." What does that mean to a 12 year old? And honestly, I didn't know which one the WTC was, I thought it was "the big one in Chicago." I was gently corrected by Ms. Holman who explained, "No, sweetie, there are two of them and they're in New York City," and I immediately knew, as I had a poster of the New York skyline in my room. I didn't understand how big the building was or how many people occupied them. I didn't get worried until I heard about the Pentagon and how the White House was being evacuated.

We sat there for a good 20 minutes before we were forced to switch classes. But of course, the day didn't go on as normal. We were told with MUCH force that if we spoke a single word about it in the hallway we would be suspended for the rest of the day and then the next. The teachers were afraid of the little children hearing and immediately thinking they were coming for us too. I remember a teacher turning on the radio in our room and going into the elementary school section so some of those teachers could come and hear at least a bit of what was happening. The high school kids had TV's in their room, but the windows were closed (which also never happened) and no one was allowed in there without permission from the principal. At ACT we were each issued laptops, a couple of us ran to our computers and I was the only one able to log into cnn.com since there was obviously a lot of traffic. Everyone crowded around me, as we read that it was a plane and that it was almost positively intentional. They described how the plane was in no way in a nose dive or anything and how clear the sky was.

Another teacher gave us each his phone to call our mommies, lol. I felt like a baby, but I knew it would bring me comfort, and most of all, I wanted to go home. She didn't answer her phone. She would later explain that she stole my little TV from home and took it to work to broadcast in the conference room. She explained how on her way home she had to pull over and vomit while the radio newscasters described the people jumping from the skyscraper's top floors.

For our last class of the day, Mr. Tustin gathered the middle school kids to explain what had just happened to our country. He gently explained what a terrorist was, and how they just hate for no reason that we could understand. He explained how the plane nosedove into the Pentagon and how and why the buildings collapsed in the streets of New York City. My mom picked me up soon after and I said, "So we're going to war..." She said, "No honey, that won't happen." (.....)

My grandma wanted me to come to her house so she could feed me cookies and shelter me from EVERY TV station except the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. I watched MTV of course, like any good teenager, but even they broadcast the news. I saw the planes slice the buildings like butter and watched as they collapsed like something out of Armageddon. I remember falling asleep with the TV on, and waking up the next morning to "One Love" by Bob Marley, then "One" by U2.

In my time away...

I've accomplished more than I thought :)
And now, on this Saturday night alone in my apartment, I will tell the internet about it.

First of all, I never told you about my tattoo experience. Number 45! I got the lyrics from Strawberry Fields Forever, "Living is easy with eyes closed" tattooed on my right side on my ribs. All of my tattoos have meaning and importance. Even if they're ugly when I'm old, I'll remember what they meant when I was impulsive and 21. I got this because I always want to appreciate the little things and I never want to have something lovely happen to me and not appreciate or acknowledge it. As for the experience itself? I would NEVER do it again. It hurt so badly, and that's a lot coming from me. With all of my other tattoos, I've found that zen place and meditated until it was over. My 30 year old brother called me after he got a tattoo on his wrist and beraded me saying how strong and brave I was for having both of my wrists done. He never went back to get it finished. I literally almost passed out with this one. There was no fat, no part that didn't hurt. And the closer it got to my stomach, the more it felt like I was being stabbed. I spent the weekend on my left side in a bikini top (in cold weather) because even clothing hurt my swollen and pink side. I'm proud of myself and I don't regret it at all. But I will not be doing it again.

40. I went to church with my roommates Jordan and Aaron. They discussed between them how they want to go to church more, so I invited myself. It was a huge church in Highland Village, definitely aimed to a younger crowd. It opened with a full band and a singer that sounded like Bon Jovi. The sermon was nice. I still determined it was not for me. But oddly, I love that side of Garrett. Maybe it's because it's something that I don't possess. He was raised Episcopalian (Diet Catholic, as he so lightly puts it.) He doesn't go now, but he knows all the stories, plans for big events in his life to be church based (weddings, babies' baptisms) and can answer all of my questions.

53. I planned out my college semesters and as of now, barring no unforeseen circumstances, I will graduate the summer of 2011!! That's still farther behind than I'd like, but it's a goal to achieve. I'm mostly upset with myself for not applying myself my first two years, because I would be graduating next summer. Ugh, I don't even want to think about it.

15. Romantic bubble bath. No details for that. Moving on.

16. Clean bill of health!!! This is something else I won't do too many details... but basically I had something that could have turned into something much worse. There was no medicine I could take to make it better, I had to let my body fight it off all by itself. I had to go back to my doctor every six months for a checkup. And after two years, it was undetectable, and I'll never have it again!

2. A real life apartment. Our apartment now is like a mini-house. It's not just a room with two bedrooms on each side! It has a mini-hallway and even a mini-dining room. We even have a pet! Colonel Lester von Frisbee, a gerbil. You may call him Lester, just not von. And he provides me with infinite entertainment. If I ever fix my digital camera, I'll post pictures.

I hope to update soon, as I will accomplish some more next weekend!

Hmm...

So maybe this is another thing I'll forget to keep up with. Or maybe this will be a good outlet. I'm hoping it'll be the latter.

I've tried and can't come up with 101 whole things to do. I suppose I'll just focus on the ones I have and then write about anything else cool that I do.

I've done a couple of the things on my list so far. One of them was number 38, go to a churascaria. It was mine and Garrett's year-and-a-half-a-versary. (Yea, that's right haha.) It was also Valentine's Day. A proper churascaria is on the expensive side, so for obvious reasons it can't be a Friday night tradition or anything. We both got dressed up and looked all lovey-dovey into each others' eyes lol. *barf* I even missed Grey's Anatomy for it... now that's love haha. There I discovered the Mojito. Mmmm...

Number 42. Have a star date with Garrett. It wasn't it's own date, but I definitely count it. A bunch of us snuck away from Kristin's birthday party for a second to go to her trampoline. We all were jumping around and slowly people went back inside. All the sudden it was just to two of us laying on the trampoline and looking up at the clear night sky. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) He explained the constellations to me and we spent a good 10-15 minutes out there looking up at the stars and being so damn cute.

I also did number 45! But I'll talk about that later. Preview of the story: Ouch.

Addendum! 38-53

I'm finding it kind of tough to come up with 101 things that I can feasibly do within in a little over two years. I mean, big goals. But I guess that's part of the point.



38. Own 5 recipe books... that I'll actually use.

39. Go one whole week without chocolate.

40. Go to church, at least once, with an open mind.

41. Stay up for 24 hours.

42. Go on a star date and listen to Garrett be nerdy and tell me about constellations.

43. Paint a painting.

44. Go to Six Flags and ride Mr. Freeze.

45. Get another tattoo.

46. Go to the DSM.

47. Write a long letter to my uncle by the time I graduate college telling him how much I appreciate his help.

48. Get new glasses.

49. Go out to eat with just my brother.

50. Get a 100% score on Rock Band.

51. Finish my stupid Portfolio.

52. Take Garrett to see my old farm!

53. Plan out my college career semester by semester so I can figure out when I can graduate.

I'm in the process of completing a couple goals right now... #7 and #25. So we'll see how that goes. I hope I stick with this, because I feel sometimes lately that I haven't really accomplished much. The closest thing I have is school, but that feels like more of a chore than something I enjoy working towards. I should make a goal to stop bitching as much.

101 Things to Accomplish in 1001 Days

I was inspired by my beautiful friend Jessica Nuanes to make a list of things to accomplish withing the next two years or so. I've always believed that if you want something to happen, all you have to do is throw it out into the universe and somehow it will happen for you.

1. Graduate college.
2. Have a real place of living, you know, one with a kitchen table.
3. Do yoga more.
4. Lose ten pounds.
5. Go to a professional football game.
6. Get a professional massage.
7. Write in a journal for 30 consecutive days.
8. Watch the first 3 (Episodes 4-6) Star Wars.
9. Watch the whole Godfather series.
10. Play hookie from work and school for a whole day.
11. Turn my phone off, throw it in a shoebox and detach from the outside world for 24 hours.
12. Go to a strip club (preferably a burlesque club.)
13. Pray more.
14. Write to Oprah and tell her how she saved my family.
15. Take a romantic bubble bath.
16. Get a clean bill of health from my doctor.
17. Learn to play one whole song on guitar.
18. Own a real designer product.
19. Get one more piercing. Then stop forever.
20. Go to Disney World!
21. Go visit my Papa and lay flowers down for him.
22. Sign up to be an organ donor.
23. Get an English Bulldog and name him Kiefer.
24. See real snow in person.
25. Reunite with ACT friends.
26. Read the Bible.
27. Spend a whole weekend with my cousins like I did when they were babies.
28. Design at least one more show by myself.
29. Make a dress for myself and wear it with pride.
30. Get my palm read.
31. Own more Beatles albums/CD's.
32. Get on a motorcycle (since I'm way afraid.)
33. Go to the batting cages with Garrett.
34. Go out to another churascaria with Garrett.
35. Cook a main dish for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.
36. Make a gingerbread house.
37. Get my picture taken with Santa.


This is all I have so far. 101 things are hard to come up with, especially since it has to be within this time period...

But I'm in the process of compiling, and I'll add more until I get to 101!