day 23

Day 23: Something you regret

Hmmm. I regret missing opportunities to create friendships and spend time with people. Sometimes, it is really hard for me to meet new people. It's hard for me to be confident and make the first step, initiating an introduction or pursuing other people. I had a rough freshman, sophomore and junior year in college because of this. It wasn't until my senior year that I found myself surrounded by great people whom I loved and made me feel a part of something. I'm sure this was because I opened myself up a lot, intentionally spending time with these sweet friends. I was really sad to graduate early and leave all these relationships 2,000 miles behind. I'm happy to say that I still keep up with a lot of these people, even if it's just through some few and far-between phone calls.

Even now, I can say that I regret not spending more time with people. Being at a job like this reeeeally makes me value my alone time, sometimes too much. I lock myself in my room on my days off, sleeping in, watching television, being on my computer...basically, doing useless things. I find that when I spend time with friends or family on my days off (even though I sometimes really don't want to), I feel so much more refreshed and recharged and satisfied. We were meant for relationships.

On that note, I have to add that I spent some good time with my co-workers last night. We used to have regular game nights and worship nights after getting off at 1030pm, but then I went over less and less, eventually never participating in after-work activities. Well, I went last night and it was so fun. We played telephone pictionary (SO freaking funny), sang some Jesus music, and took ridiculously fun pictures. Proof:

[hanging out before playing games]


[meet: my co-workers]


[attempting to get a jumping picture]


[when there were only four of us left, we continued the jumping picture-taking silliness]


[this was a workout]

day 22

Day 22: Favorite vacation

My favorite vacation was probably my spontaneous trip to Indiana, surprising my two best girlfriends from college and celebrating the new year with them. Reasons why it's my favorite vacation:

1: It was spontaneous. I already had a few days off and decided to ask for a couple more so I could fly out to Indiana for New Years. I bought my tickets less than a week before flying out. It was fun to do something so last-minute, which also meant I didn't have to wait long before leaving!


2: It was a SURPRISE!! Allie and JB didn't know I was coming. My friend Chris picked me up from the airport and helped me figure out a plan. I hid in the office while he showed Allie and JB around the house. When they opened the door to the office, we were all jumping up and down and screaming.


3: I was able to spend quality time catching up with my good friends. We sat around and talked for a long time...so much better than just phone calls.


4: I was reminded of how much I love my friends and how loved I am. It was such a good break from the stressful environment of work, soaking up time with people who genuinely care about me.


5: I was in the Midwest. I ♥ the Midwest and anytime I'm there, I'm happy.


6: The obvious reason - celebrating New Years with friends is always fun. My short trip was so memorable and well-worth the money and last-minute preparations. I have wonderful friends.


Guess what?? Stephy-poo is here! Visiting her family for Christmas and spending time with me! I saw her the day she flew in and we spent most of today together, getting Starbucks (obvi), making a trip to Target for some Christmas shopping, eating lunch, looking at apartments in Washington (!!!), and going to Barnes and Noble. AND, she's coming back tonight to play games with everyone. Happiness.

day 21

Day 21: What's in your makeup bag

There is a lot of random stuff in my makeup bag, most of which I don't use since going to work means putting on sweatpants and a jacket. But if you were to look in my makeup bag, you would find:

Arbonne liquid foundation
Arbonne powder foundation
Revlon powder blush ("softspoken pink"...I think that's the first time I've noticed the name of it)
L'OREAL Voluminous mascara
Arbonne Lash Coulour mascara
MaryKay eye shadow
Black eyeliner

Like I said, I hardly ever wear all this makeup. If I remember in the morning, I'll put on foundation and blush. Quick and easy.

[I feel so silly writing about all this. Do people really care about other peoples' makeup?]

day 20

Day 20: A picture of yourself

Here you go.

[a picture of me taking a picture of myself]

day 19

Day 19: Nicknames

I can't believe it is day 20 already!! The year 2010 has just F.L.O.W.N. by! Okay, so here are a couple nicknames I've heard:

Karebear
Kara T
Karate
Kara Teriyaki
Karavan

(I didn't realize there were so many creative variations of the name "Kara")

Soooo, I wanted to write a little about my mini-vacation to Julian with Erin! We drove up Saturday morning and stayed the night. First of all, there was SO MUCH RAIN. It was kind of ridiculous, but it did add to the "wintery" feel of the season.

Erin was a trooper and drove the whole time (it was about a 2.5 hour trip), while I just took pictures of myself and the scenery. It was nice to be in a car with a friend and just talk...no rush, no hurries.


You better believe we got Starbucks on the way. I liked what was written on the cup and I concur.


We stopped at a place called Dudley's to get some amazing bread (and of course, take some pictures). We were about seven miles away from Julian at this point and ready to be there!


Haha, meet our frilly, girly, barely-any-room with a super high bed, complete with flowered wallpaper room at the bed and breakfast. Yet, though we laughed at it, we enjoyed it. It was definitely what I expected a bed and breakfast room to look like.


Erin and I also laughed when the check-in lady told us (in her accent) that tea time would be from 500-630pm. However, we peeked in and were surprised at all the woooooonderful, sugary goodies that were available for us to eat. There were blueberry cookies, soft cinammon bread slices, mini apple pie cookies, and also coffee and hot cider! It was SO good. That's the last time we make fun of tea time!


We tried to be brave and adventurous by going "hiking" the next morning. First of all, we had no idea where any trails were, but Erin thought we could just walk around and probably find one. Well, we left our room and it was raaaaining and SO windy. But, we wouldn't be stopped and started walking down a random street in the hopes of finding some wonderful scenic trail. That didn't happen, but what DID happen is that we were freezing, wet, and almost got run over by a speeding truck. We walked to the end of this road, took a couple pictures and called it a hike.


We stayed in the Scripps Room. This was taken as we were on our way out.


We, of course, stopped at the Julian Pie Company before we left the little mountain town. The apple pie was so good.


Back at Erin's place, we got dressed for church at Rock Harbor, Fullerton. Erin's apartment was so cute, all decorated for Christmas.


After church, we spent some time with one of Erin's former EMT friends. We grabbed some Starbucks and drove around a neighborhood in Brea, looking at all the amazing Christmas lights and decorations that (almost every house) put up. It was definitely a Christmasy sort of night.