Stephanie's Europe Journal Day 4 Continued Continued

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4 Part 1

Day 4 Part 2



STEPHANIE'S EUROPE JOURNAL

Day 4 Continued Continued



7.11.11



"I put on my pajamas, but I didn't feel like figuring out the toothbrush situation since we can't ingest the water here, so I just went to bed.



I wanted to write, but reading was mas importante {more important} and since lights out at 11, I had to pick. God's been giving me exactly the right Psalm every day, and last night it was Psalm 16. It was so right I cried. Again -___- That makes two days on this trip.



Then I just read "Lily's Passport to Paris" til lights out.



Let me tell you that sleeping without air conditioning is muy dificil {very difficult}. I was so glad Momma and Sarah didn't have to be here. Alicia has a thermometer somehow and it said 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah. Luckily I was on the lower bed with the window over it. Unfortunately it doesn't cool down that much at night, and the elevator runs right outside. XD I fell asleep eventually, after more crying, and 17 days felt like an unbelievably long time.



Oh! I forgot some things at dinner. We ate with the French boy, who's great. He's 13 and gorgeous. Brown hair, tanned skin, and a boy-cute face. His voice, I love. At dinner, Hannah, the resident translator, tried talking to him, but she's kinda mean. It's like she assumes anyone who doesn't speak English is stupid. She and Kira talked about the boy like he wasn't even there, and said things like, "He probably doesn't understand anything."



"Well, he probably does, just not the things we're talking about."



"No," he said suddenly in his adorable accent. "I do."



"Oh. But not very much."



"No, I do," he was endearingly indignant.



"I think you understand a lot," I said honestly. "You're much better at English than I am at French. Or Spanish." He smiled. We talked a little about tennis, and Hannah brought up escargos. We asked the boy if he'd ever had them. He made a funny face, confusion and skepticism and humor. It was cute.



"Whaht?"



"Escargo."



He looked totally confused, which baffled us.



"But that's French! Escargos? You know, snails?"



"Wait, I have a snail shell!" cried Hannah, leaping up from the table and leaving. While she got it we tried explaining it to the boy.



"They're slow...like a slug? With a shell?"



"Es. Car. Go!"



*makes crawling motion on table*



I tried pronouncing it French-ish, but it came out Spanish-ish.



Hannah came back with the shell and the boy immediately exclaimed, "Oh! Ehs-KEHR-gohh!" He laughed, we did too, blinking.



"That's what we said...!"



He laughed and shook his head.



"Say it again," I asked. He did, looking at me kind of annoyed-like, but laughing. I repeated it, he smiled.



Back to this morning. I knew I'd dreamed, but I couldn't remember. Consuela came in and told us we could shower then eat breakfast. This morning I felt terrible. My stomach was churning and the thought of facing another day was unbearable.



Alicia showered first; after a few minutes, she came racing into the bedroom. "Help! I can't turn off the shower! I've tried everything!" We ran into the bathroom. I turned the knobs both ways and all kinds of stuff but couldn't do it either. I felt bad for Alicia, in a towel, because just last need she'd told me she hates using other peoples' bathrooms because they always do something weird.



I went into the dining room and found Lucia.



"Ayudame," I said, motioning. She came and so did Consuela, who turned it off eventually.



While Alicia was finishing, I ate breakfast. I expected it to be awful from Kira and Hannah said. It wasn't! Not one little bit! The toast was good, we got to make our own hot chocolate with warm milk, the peach juice was fine and this little sugar muffin was delicioso!



Almost immediately after, we went out to shop. I was feeling rather worked up again. As we went out onto the street with a shopping cart that looked like a stroller, the world tilted and felt lumpy, like my body was in a house of mirrors. I really thought I was going to pass out, but as we walked I told myself to chill. Sure, it felt like we were in the ghetto, but as Lily says, "Details are details." I noticed the awnings and peoples' clothes, the cracked buildings and funny "walk" and "don't walk" lights. We went to a flourist first, where we left a plant. Consuela told the man something about water. Next, we stopped at a bakery, which smelled funny. The woman told Consuela that whatever it was wasn't ready and to come back.



We went to markets and fruit stores and supermarkets and all kinds of places. As time passed, Lucia began to talk to me. She tried to tell me the name of each store and things like that. I used a lot of "No se" {I don't know} and "Que?"{What?} and "Si," {Yes} but we got along okay :) She showed me more, and in the supermarket we played "Que es?" {What is?} I identified cheese, soda, milk, a basketball, a camera, and probably more. She told me towel, cart, basketball hoop, juice and mellon. I'm much better with Spanish than Alicia, so Lucia would sometimes tell me to keep quiet so Alicia could answer XD



I asked what some things were, like a mirror. Espejo. I knew but I couldn't remember. We got pretty good at communicating between making connections, reviewing and hand motions :) She told me about vans, which hold "muchas personas."



After shopping we went to a "parke." It has an airplane model/statue thing, so it's called "Parke de Avion." Lucia showed us this "pyramide" of ropes you can climb, a "rio" {river} that runs through the park, a stage where they have "concertos y peliculas en el verano,"{concerts and movies in the summer} and a swimming pool. she also showed us a memorial that looked like a jungle gym in a concrete planter. Something about death and the sun. Each side was dedicated to a different person or creature or something, which an engraving in the concrete. She told us that unlike the pyramide, we couldn't climb on this one XD She showed us her favorite patch of flowers and made a picture-taking motion. I did.



On the way back a la casa {to the house}, we looked in the window of a pet store.



Later we played "Mentito," which is basically BS. Actually, it's exactly BS XD



For lunch we had pasta! And salad and bread. At desayuno, I had told Consuela "Como poco, siempre." {I always eat little.} She remembered because just when I was getting full, she smiled and said, "Si quieres no mas, es bueno." {If you don't want anymore, it's okay.} I was ecstatic! I told her gracias, that everything was muy, muy bueno and ate a little more. Perfect! :)



Kira and Hannah have been wrong a lot. Lucia is wonderful, the food is good, and Consuela is the kindest Spainish lady ever. You just have to be open and try!



This morning I was completely inconsolable and wanted to go home. Right now, at 5pm, I think this has been on of the best experiences of my life. 16 {days} is still a painfully, painfully long time, and I don't like to think about it, but I think I can do it.



Oh, one thing that SUCKS: no towel! I can't BELIEVE I forgot a towel -__- *sigh*



{minutes later}



We just ate this little loaf of cake-bread that was so good! And cinnamon milk called...h... {I couldn't remember.}



{that night}



We went shopping! I got two shirts. One is black with a blue glitter tiger and the other is green and white and peasant-ish. We went with Lucia and her wonderful mother, Rosa."



Stay tuned XD



~Stephanie

Stephanie's Europe Journal Day 4 Continued

STEPHANIE'S EUROPE JOURNAL

Day 4 (continued)



7.11.11



"All too soon, it was dinnertime. Consuela served us salad {lechuga y tomates}, French fries and chicken. At least that's what we were told. It was brownish and boned, er, like, bone-ful; lols XD



Feeling completely helpless, I ate. Salad, fries, chicken, water. Til I couldn't do it anymore. Then I saw there was a piece of bread too. >.< Noooo, lols XD I chocked down almost all of it. Still, Consuela asked me about why I didn't eat. I told her it was good and patted my stomach to say, "I'm full!" I still felt terrible throwing away the food.



After dinner, Kira and Hannah went into their room and watched Scrubbs on a laptop. Alicia joined.



What the heck?! was my thought. We're in SPAIN. We're in someone's HOUSE in SPAIN! And they're gonna be reclusive and watch American TV? Not me. I went into the dining room/living room and sat down. Lucia was watching "The Simpsons" in Spanish. I said, "Hola" and she said it back, and we watched in silence for a few minutes.



I practiced a sentence in my head, organizing it and checking it. I breathed in and said, "Tu tienes hermanos y hermanas?" {Do you have brothers and sisters?}



She said a lot, but I only retained that she had a brother, and I asked his name. It's Juan. She told me some other people and some ages, but I only remember that she'll 11. She said, once she was done,



"Cuantos anos tienes?"

"A sis--un hermana."

"No, cuantos anos tienes!"

"Oh! Diecisiete."

"Muy bien," she smiled.



She motioned me to sit on the couch, and when Alicia came Lucia gave her the other couch seat. Then Lucia showed me her DS. "Juego," she said. And she showed me lots of juegos {games}.



Not much else happened that evening. It was 10:30 before I realized , and since I couldn't call home I sent Momma a text from Hannah's phone. I hope she got it."



Once again, to be continued XD I have school work to do now unfortunately. *sob*



~Stephanie

Stephanie's Europe Journal: Day 4

STEPHANIE'S EUROPE JOURNAL

Day 4

7.11.11

{This was during the Homestay, and I accidentally used a lot of Spanish because it's literally ALL we heard or spoke, so I'll translate sentence by sentence in this lovely brackets.}

Hola! Ahora eso cosas are settling dow, puedo escribir. {Hey! Now that things are settling down, I can write.}

Alicia y yo estamos staying with Consuela y ella nieta, Lucia. {Alicia and I are staying with Consuela and her granddaughter Lucia.} We were picked up by Consuela's either hijo {son} o nieto {grandson}, which scared me to death. I'm not sure cuando {when} I've been so scared. We were la prima {the first} to get assigned to a family, and Sabine, our guide, said, "You're going to be staying with his mother, who couldn't make it."

Okay, sketch. That immediately sent my estomago {stomach} churning. The guy was about 25ish, and he had a girl about the same age with him. He seemed simpatico {nice}, and even made a joke about how we pack smaller than everyone else. although he said it in Spanish.

He put our stuff in the trunk of her car, and the cuatro {four} of us drove off. More like "dug off." This guy drove like un loca persona {a crazy person}! We took esquinas {corners} like no one's business, pulling out without looking. We sped in front of motorcycles,m just hoping they'd stop. We drove 45 down streets narrower than our old driveway, zipping past people and open car doors with no room for error. It was freaky, but mostly exciting. The thing that bothered me was the lack of security; I felt thrown under the the bus, and I didn't trust this guy! He and his girlfriend kept talking in low voices, and the section of town was growing more ghetto with every hairpin turn.

His mother couldn't make it? My thoughts were jumpy and scared. What kind of rapist bull is that?? I was growing more terrified by the second, almost sure this would turn into something wrong.

Suddenly, the car stopped, right in the middle of a street that screamed "ALLEY OF DEATH" and the guy said, "Vaminos," and got out of the car. He went to the trunk. I looked wide-eyed at Alicia. "Here? Where are we going?" She shrugged, not looking as freaked out as me.

I turned to the girlfriend. "We get out now?" She laughed in an accusing sort of embarrassed way and called to the guy. I asked him the same question. "Here? Now?"

"Si," he said, looking like he doubted by mental ability. So, shaking, I got out. There were bars on every window and graffiti on every wall. A guy drove up behind us and honked the horn. He was about the same age as our guy. Our guy grinned and called something to the other. THey joked and gave each other thumbs up. I couldn't understand anything, but I felt like we were being led into a gang rape or something.

Our guy led us inside a storefront building, and inside it was pinkish tile and stuffy air. Directly in front of us was an elevator, to the left, some stairs. He pushed the elevator button--wait no, we just stood there with our stuff. After an eternity of me praying for help, the elevator opened and a lady like a Spanish Mrs. Bernie {my grandpa's wife} came out. Relief flooded through my body in cool, electric rivers. His mother?! We were safe?

"Hola, que tal?" she said.

"Bien," said the guy. She stuck some money in his hand and he left with an abruptness that felt rude. The lady asked us the same thing, and we said, "Bien." She was smiling and friendly and not at all scary.

We got on the elevator and she asked,

"Hablais espanol?"

"Poquito," I managed. Alicia didn't understand, so we took that as a no.

"Es muy calor," said the lady, acting out the feeling. I smiled and agreed.

We got out of the elevator on floor cinco {5}, and she let us in to her casa. She showed us our room, which is pretty much square, a little longer than a twin bed both ways. There were dos twin beds in there, with only sheets. The walls were pinkish tan and like a popcorn ceiling, but a little smoother. Above one bed is a big rectangular window with closed blinds. Above the other is a dark wooden Jesus on the cross.

I said, "Gracias," and we put our stuff in there. Then the lady started to tell us things in Spanish. No comprendo. At all. For a moment, I was totally lost, but then a girl my age walked in.

"Hola," I said.

"Hi, girls," she said, waving. Another girl followed. The lady made a motion like she was handing over the situation and smilingly left.

We soon learned that the girls, Kira and Hannah, were from People to People too, on the same trip but they'd done it backwards. They told us everything.

Shower for ten minutes, and there's no hot water.

Always wear shoes.

There's no air conditioning.

We can't drink the tap water here.

Lights out at 11, and be quieter once Consuela's asleep.

Don't put your hair up when it's wet.

Eat EVERYTHING or she'll think you didn't like it.

Her granddaughter will take you to the park and try to get you to do stuff that you can't fit into. It's horrible and it's like babysitting.

Don't feed the dog, Lica.

No phone.

Don't use the lights much.

You can't charge anything.

And lotsa other stuff, like how she'll give you this gross peach juice and nasty toast. Oh, and they speak no English; none of them. Not Consuela, not her granddaughter Lucia, not her daughter-in-law. No one. And there's a French boy here too, for tennis camp. He speaks a little English and Spanish.

They--Kira and Hannah--had us pretty much depressed and ready to leave, even though I really appreciated their help, and they really were trying to help.

{This journal entry is wicked long, so I'll continue it either tomorrow or Thursday :)}

~Stephanie

Stephanie's Europe Journal: Day 2

Day 1

STEPHANIE'S EUROPE JOURNAL

Day 2

7.9.11

"Well, I'm in Spain! Right now we're chilling at the baggage claim, and I'm starting to think our luggage is lost. Oh well, it'll work out eventually.

I'm so exhausted! I got about 4 hrs on the plane.

{later}

The bags were fine.

It's now 3:30ish {pm} I'm guessing and we're in the Prado! I keep falling asleep without realizing, but I really want to stay awake. Lunch was okay but we ate at the Hard Rock and they gave us specially made menus...which was a little disappointing.

We've been touring the city. Taking pics but I doubt I'll remember what they are! I've never been so tired!

{that night}

Alright it is now 9:38pm and we're at the Holiday Inn. I've discovered that I didn't pack my khaki cargo pants, which pretty much drove me to tears. I'm still holding some back, but I guess it's cause of TOM, lol.

We don't have to get up til 8, so yay. I can't wait to sleep.

It's because I'm tired, I know, but I cannot remember what I'm doing here. I'd like to be home.

I got kissed btw. 15 minutes off plane. But I can't talk now. I'm too down."

How's that for a cliff-hanger for ya? ;)

~Stephanie

Hi :)

I'm actually here this time! This is not a five-sentence quickie. Life has finally given me a breather, and I'm posting! Either you've been waiting with bated breath to hear about my Europe trip, or you've completely forgotten about it. Either way is cool with me XD The trip seems a thousand miles away to me too.



BUT, I journaled every day, so there are 19 little treasures for me to post here...and that's a lot. So, I'm only going to be posting my journal entries on Tuesdays and Thursdays. {The other five days of the week you'll get some of my usual unparalleled wittiness to chew on.}



Hopefully this will last longer than the Twi-Hard posts. I'm sorry guys, but about Chapter 5 I just sort of lost interest in Bella Swan et al. The book was never awful or anything, I think I'm just sort of over it. It will probably never interest me again. Ever.



Anyway, without further ado, I give you {uncut, unedited, uncensored}...



STEPHANIE'S EUROPE JOURNAL

DAY 1



7.8.11



"I'm on the plane to Dallas as I'm writing this :) Two other girls besides me had never been on a plane either, and we're all sitting near each other. I'm sitting with Claire and Karson, who are really nice and helped me not be too nervous during the take-off.



The take-off was not bad at all! At first I didn't even realize we were moving, then I noticed as we picked up speed and inclined. My stomach felt jumbled once, but that didn't last long.



And it's a good thing because I forgot to take Dramamine! I threw my water bottle away before I did.



I chewed my first piece of gum when the plane took off, and everyone thought Sarah was the coolest, sweetest sister ever for doing that for me. I'm about to put in piece #2 :)"



IMPORTANT NOTE: So, I really do have an amazing sister, guys. She knew I was nervous about my first plane ride, so she made me a gum package. A piece of gum for every hour of the plane rides, each a different flavor, each Sticky-Noted with the appropriate hour. {First Hour, Second Hour, etc.}. She made me gum for the plane ride from here to Dallas, from Dallas to Madrid, from Rome to Chicago, and from Chicago back home. She's so awesome XD Anyway. Back to the journal.



"The flight should arrive at 12:45, and the pilot said we're right on schedule. He seems wonderful from the intercom and he said the flying weather is perfect. So far no turbulence really :) Flying isn't as freaky as I feared, although Claire said this is even gentler than usual. Perfect, haha :)



I think I really like it. We're literally in the clouds! They look just the way they do from the ground except closer and lower...which is a dumb thing to say, I guess b/c how else would they look? XD



The stewardess just came by and I got some ginger ale, even though I feel just fine.



I've started reading 'Lily's Passport to Paris,' and I still love it :) Having Lily and her family is a little like having my own here :) I don't feel at all the horrible, empty loneliness I expected. Yet XD"



~Stephanie

HEY YOU.

Well hey there. I am home.

This is one of those things that's just too hard to explain. I had an unbelievably good trip and saw things that I still can't believe... There's really no way to express how inexpressible the whole 19 days were... Amazing. Completely incredible. So...yeah.

BUT, because I anticipated this kind of mental collapse upon coming home, I journaled on the trip. In my usual excessive style. But at this moment the entries are not typed up and I just got home and things feel weeeeeeird, so I'm going to take a little while to chill and get my brain back. I plan to start posting my journal entries probably around...the 7th or 8th.

And then I start school on the 10th. Yeah. Bite me. Urgh.

Europe rocks guys XDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Gah, I'm so inarticulate right now.

And thanks for following Sarah-who-I-can't-find-a-link-to and Dave!

~Stephanie

Last Day

I'm coming back tomorrow. I haven't seen my family in 18 days. That's longer than I've ever done ANYTHING, much less been without my family for it. I've see three new countries and one new continent. I've heard accents and eaten strange food and switched hotels about every 3 days. It's been crazy and fast and scary and probably wonderful. And now it's all over.

There are two possibilities to how I'm feeling.

Either I'm sick and tired of being in a strange and scary place and ready to get back to my own country...

Or I never want to come home.

~Stephanie

Homesick?

It's Day 13 of my Europe trip. This is the day my non-biological brother Daniel is betting I'll get homesick. Am I? I don't know. Because I'm writing this ahead of time and scheduling it, mwaaaaahahahaha.

But I bet he's right.

~Stephanie

Day 8

I feel like I'll be in France today. I still haven't actually checked the itinerary *shameful wince*. I know.

Soo. France. At least I know the food is supposed to be good. And French sounds so pretty. And it's all about fashion and stuff, so it's probably at least classy and clean. I'm assuming. Totally assuming. I am basing that on nothing.

As I write these little scheduled posts I can't help but become more and more NERVOUS. I can't believe that as you're reading this, I'll be in FRANCE. In EUROPE.

But I think I'll have fun. I think I'm HAVING fun as you read this.

Croissant anyone?

~Stephanie

Time Difference

Just so you know...

Right now, it is 8am at my house. {Or at least it was when this post was published.} That means that...

...in Spain, it's 2pm.

...in France it's also 2pm.

...and in Italy, it issss...
also also 2pm.

Well. That was a little more boring than I anticipated...

So anyway, I live on the east coast of the good ol' US of A, so at any given time at my house, it is 6 hours later in Spain, France, and Italy. Fascinating. Truly.

~Stephanie

Homestay

I'm not completely sure what the itinerary for the trip looks like {probably something I should check into}, but I'm pretty sure today I'll be doing my homestay; it's supposed to be near the beginning of the trip.

Basically, I'll be staying with a real family in Spain for three days, probably with a fellow Student Ambassador. I think it's a safe bet that today will be one of my homestay days, whether it's the first, the last or the middle day.

Hopefully I'm okay. Hopefully Spanish food doesn't make me sick the way Mexican does. Hopefully the shower won't be gross. Hopefully I'll be in good health. Hopefully I'm not panicking about anything. Hopefully I'm having fun.

I probably will be.

Probably.

~Stephanie

Bye, Guys...

I'm leaving today. For 19 days. Spain. France. Italy. A plane. The Mediterranean. The Riviera. Foreign guys. New friends. New food. A homestay. Basically the adventure of a lifetime.

Am I nervous?

Hell yes.

See you in 19 days.

Maybe.

~Stephanie

.BEACH RECAP.

Day 1 {Saturday}:

Driving to the beach.

Making horrible faces in the car.

Waves.

Current.

Sun.

Wind.

Spaghetti.

Mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Cookies'n'Creme Extreme ice cream

"Star Trek: the Prequel"

Day 2 {Sunday}:

Church.

Sermon about names {:O MY FAVORITE.}

Lasted less than an hour.

Winddddd.

Waves.

Current.

Impressive sandcastle

Sun.

Finish "Star Trek."

Citrus chicken.

Day 3 {Monday}:

Waves.

Current.

Sun.

Wind.

CRAZY CASTLE.

MASSIVE MOAT.

Long walk/run alone.

Thunderstorm blew up.

Running in the fat raindrops, rolling thunder, streaking lightning, crashing waves and blustery wind.

Amazing feeling.

Frozen pizza.

Watching the castle get attacked by the waves until midnight with a hott guy. {asterisk}

Day 4 {Tuesday}:

Inside day {don't want to tempt my sun poisoning}.

Reading.

Eating.

Watching "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief"

Reading.

Reading.

Eating.

Sun poisoning showing up anyway.

Reading.

Calling my friend and tell her happy birthday.

Chocolate chip cookies.

Hitting the beach stores.

Day 5 {Wednesday}

Calmer waves.

Rebuilding sandcastle bigger, taller, stronger, faster than before.

Getting sunburned on my back.

Reading.

Tacos.

Getting an upset stomach from Mexican.

Reading.

Finishing the Hunger Games trilogy {*adds another book to the list of books that have made me cry*}

Day 6 {Thursday}

Sleep in day.

Raid the beach house bookshelves.

"Forture" by Erica Spindler.

Reading.

Reading.

MY GRANDPA COMES TO VISIT :D

Celtic necklace. {asterisk asterisk}

Italian foooood!

Hottttttttttttt waiterrrrrrrr. {asterisk asterisk asterisk}

Designated GIRLS NIGHT.

Popcorn.

Ice cream.

Cookies.

Painting nails.

Watching "You've Got Mail."

Giving ourselves those sexy stick-on-with-a-washcloth tattoos.

Watching "17 Again."

Going to bed at 2am.

Day 7 {Friday}

Another inside day.

Reading.

Reading.

Reeeeeeeading.

Walking 4 miles on the beach alone and seeing hott guys.

Day 8 {Saturday}

Packing up.

Coming home.

:(

Asterisk {Watch the castle get attacked by the waves until midnight with a hott guy}:

So. Cassidy and I built this really kick-ass sand castle. Well at least it WOULD HAVE BEEN if we'd had about ten people and three weeks to build. But we didn't. So we built the BEGINNING of a really kick-ass sandcastle. You could easily bury four grown men in the moat. It was about three feet deep and ten feet long. The castle walls were over a foot thick and built really beautifully if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately, we knew when the tide came it that the Steph-and-Cass-Castle would be history. So we decided to park ourselves behind the structure and watch it be destroyed.

It got really dark and really beautiful and really peaceful and really imagination-inspiring. We had some fascinating conversations, peed in the ocean and almost saw Jack Sparrow.

Then around 11, just as the waves were beginning to reach our moat, this figure comes walking down the beach with a flashlight.

We were used to that by then; apparently late-night beach walks aren't that uncommon. We'd been calling to the people to watch out for the moat, because, well, it was pretty damn deep and someone could really get hurt just falling into it by surprise. So we called out to the figure, "Moat! Watch the moat!"

It got closer. It was a guy. Whatever.

"A moat?" He got closer. "Daaaaang."

Me: "Yeah. It's massive." He was an OUR AGE guy. Well, maybe a little older, but definitely not out of range.

Guy: "Good thing you said something," he said. "I just had knee surgery; I'd have fallen right in."

Me: *laughs* "Yeah, that would have sucked." {<--no points for originality, I know.} "We've been building this castle all day and decided to watch the waves tear it down."

Guy: "You just built this??"

Me: "Well not JUST built it, but yeah. All day long."

Guy *circles castle* "Wow. I wanna watch this thing too."

And he did.

He sat down in the sand and I sat down next to him. He was really funny, nice, smart, and polite. I found out he's going to college this fall. And, get this, he lives near me. Like 15 minutes away. WHAT ARE THE FREAKING ODDS??

And then I killed it.

Guy: "So are you guys high school or college?"

Me: "High school." {This is where I should have said we'd be seniors, but DIDN'T. UGH.} "We're home schooled." SH*********************T. >>>.<<< I don't know when to shut up. Truth is we ARE home schooled, but DANG. He didn't ASK.

And then it gets worse.

After a really smooth, fun goodbye conversation, we parted ways happily.

And I never. got. his. name.

-________-

So basically. I suck. I had truelove practically in my reach {ex dee} and I dropped it. I didn't just let the sucker go, I DROPPED HIM. URGH.

So yeah. Sob story over.

Asterisk Asterisk {Celtic necklace}:

This asterisk isn't that long. I took about twenty minutes deciding which Celtic necklace to buy. Chances are you won't know this, but I'm obsessed with Celtic stuff. Culture, jewelry, Ireland, etc.. I love it. I also really get into symbolism. So when I stumbled across these necklaces that held both, PLUS they were really freaking pretty, it was a tough decision.

I struggled between five different choices. If you're actually interested, click on the name and it'll tell you about the necklace. I also took the descriptions into account when choosing; I'm not one to go by just the pretty look.

Dragon - Guardian Spirit I liked the dragons XD

Cerridwen - Transformation, Inspiration I liked the pattern and what it stood for.

Cat - Intuition, Prophecy I liked this a LOT because of the title. It applied to me.

Celtic Cross - Celestial Energy I basically just liked the way this one looked. It was the one that first caught my eye. Unfortunately I didn't like the description that much.

Spirals - Spiritual Growth I liked the description a lot, but not so much the actual necklace.

In the end, Transformation Inspiration won. I liked the look, I liked the symbolism, and it seemed like the perfect thing to take to Europe. I'll hopefully be inspired, transformed.

Asterisk Asterisk Asterisk {Hottttttttttttt waiterrrrrrrr}:

I'll try to make this brief, but it's late at night as I'm writing this and I just can't seem to shut up.

There was a hott waiter at the Italian restaurant. He unfortunately looked a little young, maybe more 16ish, but DAAAAANG he was SO ATTRACTIVE. He reminded me and Cass of Jeremy Sumpter. Like, a lot. He was TALL and lanky {totally my thing} with brown hair and the most attractive face. We both loved his voice {which is a big deal for me} and his smile was absolutely Hayden Christensen-esque. The butter on the table melted.

There was quite an awkward moment between us though. When he was filling my sister's water glass, I was staring at him. I know, bad move, but he seemed really absorbed in the whole icewaterpitcher thing, so I felt safe. Riiiiight.

He looked up. Saw me staring. Oops. I looked down, but it wasn't all that subtle. And THEN. It was time to fill my glass. He had to reach an awkwardly long distance because of where I was sitting, so I decided to help him. I reached for my glass, and so did he. Our hands touched. Oops again. Then we both did the awkward "I'll-get-it-no-you-get-it" dance with our hands a couple of seconds before he said in his smooth, amused, attractive voice, "I got it."

He did. He had it allllll.

So yeah. I really do apologize for being so high school {or maybe even middle school. yech.} about all this. It's just that I'm exhausted and I had the best beach trip ever and I missed two amazing guys, so I'm a little torn up at the moment. Yeah.

That's gotta be it.

Oh. And my sister took pictures. Like, a lot of pictures. Here are some of them. Captions on the bottom.

Me and Cass making the Slug Face. Isn't it absolutely repulsive?

Me and a giant cheetah. Yeah.

So apparently I look cool in the wind like that. With a towel... *sigh* Living with a photographer is never dull.

Tattooooos.

Finish product :D You can't see it well {I might find more pictures later, but I'm TIRED}, but it's a little curve of stars and a dolphin jumping over my belly button.

Building our castleeeee.

Again.

My...eye...

~Stephanie

~{...}~

Guess where I am? :D


Oh yeah. Be jealous. One week. Sand. Sun. Wind. Ocean. Sleep. Friends. Tan. Fun.

FTW.

I'll post when I get back. Until then, sayonara :D

~Stephanie

Busy Day

Today is going to be a very busy Saturday. Depending on when you read this, I will either be at

- An orientation meeting to go to Europe

- A baby shower

- A prom

Some of you already know about the Europe thing, but most of you do not. Well, it's kind of cool and I happen to be

REALLY FREAKING EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

about it.

I'll try to make this quick and awesome.

Ever heard of People to People?

Well, it's an organization that gets groups of kids together to be Student Ambassadors and travel to other countries in order to broaden our horizons and gain cultural understanding. The philosophy is that true peace won't come from Government to Government, but from People to People.

Every summer for the past three years, I've gotten a letter from them inviting me to have the most amazing summer, the most fantastic adventure, the most exciting journey ever. And every year, my parents are like, "Oh how cool! No."

But last summer when I got the letter, they said YES.

They said YES!!!

But it wasn't as easy as that. I had to go to an orientation meeting, go through an interview process, and some other stuff along with hundreds of other kids who wanted this. Somehow or another, the "delegation leaders" really liked me, and I got in.

So now I'm going to Europe for 19 days this summer. Specifically to Spain, France, and Italy.

I love to travel, I love people, I love languages, and I love different cultures. This is pretty much a dream come true for me. I'm having trouble expressing how huge and exciting this is.

So anyway, if you read this post between 10am and 12:30pm, I'll be with 40 other kids my age who are about to wet their pants to get on an airplane and hit Europe.

The baby shower is pretty self-explanatory. We know these people and they're gonna have a baby and they're having a shower for it and we're going. So yeah.

If you're reading this toNIGHT, I'm at a friend's prom. I had lots of fun at the prom I went to and everything, but I'd like to go to one with some actual dance music.

And that's my Saturday for today. W00T!

~Stephanie