10 Things I love to do in my Free Time

1) Basketball~Any time I can, I'll play basketball. I can literally say basketball is my life. I love to watch the NBA and most of all, play it with all my friends :] I used to drag Jenni and Naomi to play with me but now Karen's my ballin' buddy! haha My favorite team is the Warriors and the Finals this year was the BEST! The Lakers got BLOWN away in game 6...pretty shameful...No way. No how. No chance. Anyway, basketball IS the best!!

2) Writing~I put all my thoughts down on paper...every last thought. From age three, I've written everything about my life in a diary and it's really fun sometimes to look back at how far I've come, how much I've improved, how much my thoughts have changed.

3) Horse-back Riding~I love to horse-back ride. They're my favoritest animals in the world :) When I was in 5th, 6th grade, I went to Garrod and Springdown with Kristie and April...soo many good memories and such goood times! Chief was my horse<3 At our little end-of-camp show, I was Pocahontas! HAHA I went full out with the whole Indian outfit and feathers! And then afterwards, April and I fed our horses with sugar cubes...they were so happy :]

4) Eat~When I'm bored, I eat. I LOVE to eat. At CTY, Jenni stuffed me full of sugar (Hershey's chocolate bars and stuff) I swear I gained 5 pounds! eek! haha anyway, when I mull over issues, I just eat eat eat. I'm gonna be super fat one day... =)

5) Listen to Music~Music is the world I escape into when life isn't too great. Some of the latest songs I love are:
--Who Knew By Pink [influenced by Andy]
--Mockingbird By Eminem [April's my singing buddy]
--Say By John Mayer
--Stop and Stare By One Republic
--Bleeding Love By Leona Lewis

6) Read~Another thing I like to do is read classics. This year, I read Gone with the Wind. It is a very touching love story that has survived through time and I love it!

7)  Debate! Debate is so much fun and though at times, it takes a lot of time to do all the research and prepare argumentation, the rounds themselves are sooo much fun :]  I've always been the arguing type!  

8)  Shopping!!  Yes, every girl's favorite pastime: shopping! :)  I love to shop anywhere, but Great Mall and Valley Fair tie as my favorite two shopping centers...Forever 21, Wet Seal, Aero, Abercrombie, American Eagle...ah, the list is endless.

9)  Cancer Read-ups: As most of my friends and family know, I really enjoy looking into the latest news on cancer, especially lung cancer.  I am keeping in touch with my mentor this summer and look forward to continuing in this field.  Science is among many of my interests and discoveries often excite me!  One of my idols is Judah Folkman, he is genius!!  Look him up!

10)  Play with my dog~Gregory takes sooo much pressure off my chest.  He's just so playful!  I love him so much and though I've been busy lately, I hope to be able to play with him more.  He loves going out at walks because often times, he's left at home alone and all he can do is sleep....

Ten things to do in my freeeeeee time :)

Ten Things I Most Treasure as a 15-year-old

I'm having one of my philosophical moments...After listening to the words of Randy Pausch on Oprah's show, I have begun to realize the true meaning of life: to live to the fullest and treasure every little moment before you lose it all. His farewell lecture gave me a reality check and reminded me of the words of Thornton Wilder in his play 'Our Town'. Emily, a character which the play focuses upon, experiences both life and death, all of which render her peace, but she mourns for her loved ones on Earth who become so intent on the very details and little things of life that they miss the whole big picture. I really recommend you take a look at the video of him talking at CMU [on youtube, downloaded by the thousands already!]. He is a professor there who just found out he only had a few months left to live. His farewell lecture is his last message to his loved ones, especially his three youngsters, 2 sons and the youngest his daughter. So, anyway, on a brighter note :], here are the top ten things I treasure the most as a fifteen-year-old. There are so many more important things in life but these are the most important, an internal reflection after Pausch's truly touching message.

1) Family: What would I do without them? They are my fall back, my inspiration, everything that keeps my striving. They're always there when I need them and they truly care about me. I treasure them very, very, very much.

2) Time: "Make Time for What Matters -- Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think." - Randy Pausch Sometimes, I think I don't have enough time for this or for that, but stepping back, away from the ensnaring details that I worry about in the present, I see that I have had a childhood filled with time, time to do whatever I want, whenever I want. It's just I never appreciated the true value of time, so, it has become a very valuable thing.

3) Friends: I don't know what I would do without my friends. They're like my second family! :] I love them all very much and I hope they love me for who I am as well.

4) Fun: If you can dream it, you can do it. - Walt Disney This is my life's motto: Always have fun! If you're not having fun, why do it? 'Girls just wanna have fun!' So true, so true. Raging Waters, Great America, Six Flags Marine World, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, yay!

5) My Dreams: 'Dream Big, Dream Far, Dream High' When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut...sounds really weird for a person like me, but I loved the idea so much that I researched all the planets at age six and wrote up a science notebook..but never finished. I drew pictures of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, wrote on a few pages in childish writing, but the pages are still virtually white and empty. I've left that dream behind, but once in a while, I look up at the sky and search for all those constellations I memorized.

Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

6) Mistakes: Treasuring mistakes sounds pretty weird..but if you think about it, how would any of us learn if we didn't make mistakes. I mean, none of us are perfect..at least, I'm not. Everything I've done well, everything I've succeeded in only happened because I learned from my previous mistakes. Believe me, I've made a ton of them!

7) Gregory: What would I do without Gweggy! He's my life! Whenever I come home from school, he's always there to greet me! Ears back, tail wagging, tongue lolling out. AH-DORABLE =)

8) Risks: DANGER! Without danger, there's nothing that would spice up my life! "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want and it can be the most valuable thing you have to offer." Dare to take a risk! Risks teach us so much: our potential and how to live our lives to the max!

9) Caffeine: I <3 Starbucks! White Chocolate Mocha, Cinnamon Dolce Latte! Coffee, coffee, coffee! Keeps me alive, warm, and awake =)

10) My room: It's my sanctuary, my place to think, my own place. This is where I spend the most of my time just relaxing and enjoying life. It has so many memories from my friends to school to family trips to my baby moments. It's the one thing I can call my own and that is why I treasure it so much!

Ten Things I loved about My Freshman Year at Harker

Wow! Where to start? Being a freshman at Harker was unbelievable. My adorable friends, my wonderful teachers, the amazing student council moments, the wonderful underclassman memories...There's definitely more than ten things that I truly appreciated...thanks to all of you for making my freshman year the BEST!

1) My Besties! April, Supi, and Jenni: thank you so much for the best memories! Halloween was quite interesting. April and Jenni were dressed in their sheepie costumes and me and supi were people falling asleep as they counted...TWO sheep hehe. Mentos Cart Heifer Squid Cruella SO GOOD! We have quite a fun time thinking up nicknames for special people!



2) Lake Tahoe! That trip was a blast! Snowboard Divas! Good memories, so many perfecto pictures! Twisting my wrist wasn't fun but snowboarding all together without crashing into each other was an accomplishment to be remembered! we missed you though jenni :'(


3) Teachers! Even though they doled out too much homework, it was all for my own good...yes, I just said that..haha. Although physics was a challenge, it is now overcome. :] Thanks so much for all of your care, efforts, and expertise!

4) Debate! What would life be without debate?? POFO pwns! wOOt wOOt! me and sheridan make a killer team! Sacramento NCFL: remember all those winning debates, sher? but we hit our own COACHES..obviously we lost but all in all, it was a great debate trip! too bad I had a fever at the stanford invitational :( but we shall always trust our lucky duckies (ms. green handed them out and ever since then, they've been the symbol of our harker public forum debate team) The Great Debaters was also the best movie ever! I love these lines:

Who is the judge?
The judge is God.
And why is he God?
Because he decides who wins or loses, not my opponent.
Who is your opponent?
He does not exist.
And why does he not exist?
Because he is merely a dissenting voice to the truth I speak.

5) Great America! From getting splashed on the bridge to just talking in the shade, that trip was so much fun :) of course, physics was part of it too...learning all about those fg's and fn's on those roller coasters was truly mind-blowing!

6) Student Council! I have learned so much about high school student council- SO MUCH WORK! haha but it all paid off! class olympics, student council conference Beat the Statistics, and just hanging out with the awesome sophomores, juniors, and seniors! (we miss you seniors!)

7) Lunch! I don't know what I would do if we didn't have those pro Chefs! Sushi, the world's best Caesar salad, yummy pasta, they never let me starve! Thank you so much for the delectable, delicious, delightful food, Harker!

8) Dances! Dress-shopping, doing our hair, makeovers - - getting ready for Harker dances! Thisit has the cutest apparel ever. Curling our hair wasn't exactly a successful venture (Kristie trying to curl Jenni's one bang and the look of horror on Jenni's face when she saw it..priceless!) we all looked beautiful anyway!

9) Blockles! The fervor of my freshmen year! Jenni is definitely hooked on this game..and got me hooked too! Although it's very much like tetris, all those items make the game all that better! +4, -4, swap, clear!

10) Basketball! GO CELTICS! 2-0 record against the Lakers. The finals are just heating up with Pierce's truly shocking performance with an injury and Garnett's poster-worthy dunks...I love this sport to death. I really missed playing it at Harker this year but I'll be sure to play later!