Dude. Sitting here. In a coffee shop. Earphones in. Coffee in front of me. No rush to be anywhere.

BLISS

So I’m on spring break. This break, as compared to some of my recent breaks, has been tamed way down. No big and crazy trips. Simply, sticking around Fresno, hanging out. I would have much rather gone on a trip and done something crazy. A few friends and I had a Mexican Riviera Cruse lined up.. but finances didn’t allow.

sucky.

However, break has still been good. Monday I went home and spent the day with my Mom. She made me a bomb Portuguese breakfast. Then went to Grandma’s house. We had another bomb Portuguese lunch. Then went back home and dinner with Mom and Dad. We just relaxed. Was nice to go home. Ha, my mom even has a new sign-thingy hanging in her kitchen that reads, “good food. good friends. good times.” I’m especially a fan of that sign, because I’m prettttty sure I’ve used those words numerous times as status updates.

Hrm. Seriously. Can I get paid to sit in a coffee shop, listen to music, and blog? I’ve got a summer’s experience. I’d like to think I’m good at it. And, it just makes me really happy. I’m pretty much on cloud nine right now. I’m a huge fan of these little cubicle-area-things over here at the Revue. Kind of wish they had a curtain, though. I would close it and take a short nap in here.

*shrug*

I want another tattoo.

I also want this next one to be full of color.

I’ve been pondering the idea for some time and think I have some direction for it.

I would like a shoulder-piece. My right shoulder to be exact.

It is going to be a variation of an old design I had several years ago.

I want it to include these flags of my family’s heritage:

Also, possibly my last name.

My original design was to be a full back piece.

Come to think of it, I’ve had two back pieces now that I ended up not getting.

They were just too big.

This one will be condensed. Tastefully done. Beautiful.

Also, more important: Meaningful.

Here’s to saving up funds again.

Here’s to re-designing it.

Here’s to tattoos.

Yee!

Today, several opportunities became available for me. One of them has always been an option, but it wasn’t today that I started to take it to heart. I’m not really sure what struck the thought today – but now, I’m gun-ho about getting my masters degree. I’m so tired of homework and studying, yet I feel I should keep going and do it while I can. And I’m going to get it from FPU. That’s all I know.

And then, I became aware of another job opportunity. This would make two that are in the works. I’m not going to say what they are yet. Mostly I don’t want to jinx them. Graduation is coming up quickly. I’m hoping something works out.

A verse I’ve been constantly reminding myself of is Jeremiah 29:11. It reads,

“‘For I know the plans I have for you’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’“

I know he has a plan for me, but I’ve got to my part to. So I’m going to take the initial steps in a few different directions – hopefully one being in the right way – and trust that one of those directions will be the right way, and he’ll close doors in the other directions.

More like SuperEat Weekend.

This past weekend I ate so freaking much. But it was all delicious. And I have no regrets.

Saturday, a friend of mine cooked dinner for us: Steak with a cognac sauce, and these bomb potatoes, annnd I made blue jell-0.

I really, really like blue foods and drinks and the color. Always have. Prolly always will.

Sunday, pretty much I never stopped eating. I went to Mr. Papaya’s Thai Kitchen at the NE corner of Kings Canyon and Winery — hoooooly cow. Really good Thai food for really cheap. After that I went to a Superbowl Party at FPU (right after lunch, mind you) and I ate a stinking frito boat … and then candy.. and then they ordered pizza. and I ate pizza!

Then we came back to my apartment. I’ve been craving frozen yogurt for days now (I’m like a pregnant woman, I guess). So we were going to go up to Shaw to get some from Tutti Fruti. But then I decided that Doghouse Grill sounded better. Me, Eli, Jeremy, and Sister Melody went to Doghouse. We all ordered a tri tip sandwich. And washed them down with a nice cold beer. De-freakin-lish. To top that off, my roommates and I came home, and we were in bed by 11pm.

Glorious.

That’s what it was, glorious.

Anywho, I’m sitting here finishing my glass of wine, and then I’m gonna head to bed. Yeah, I’ve been on a wine kick lately. However, I know nothing about wines. All I know is if I like the taste or not. But yeah. I thank God for all he has provided and continue trusting in that he has a plan for all of us.

Over & Out.

welp.

I’ve been on this random energy-high. Honestly, I’ve actually been pretty obnoxious lately. But I’m okay with that.

Had a good weekend.

Thankful for great friends.

My family rocks.

Classes are going alright.

I’m graduating in a matter of weeks.

Future outlook is looking promising.

Not saying much, though.

Just praying a lot.

God is good.

He’s def been challenging me.

But I’m okay with it.

I’m really excited for this semester. year. the future.

… I’m also scared at the same time.

*shrug*

One of the things I’ve been learning lately – life isn’t about the materialistic things.

Relationships and who you surround yourself with makes life worth living.

Fun fact: I’m in class right now.

The class is debating about a tangent gone way wrong.

I’ve checked out.

Actually caught myself in my own world and whistling in the middle of class.

(again.)

Haha.

These are my thoughts for the moment.

I’m out.

AAAccctually, jk.

I want to share this piece that I made yesterday:

The picture is of a man who died in Haiti. I found it in the newspaper. It moved me. So I turned it into something.

K. Bye.

I went to bed a little over an hour ago. Was playing on my phone, as I always do before going to sleep. I found myself reading through my blog – like my older entries. I don’t know exactly what happened, but my blog has definitely lost its charm lately. My posts haven’t been as happy-go-lucky as they were in the summer. I think I was forcing them too much. Like I wanted them to be deep and meaningful and serious. That isn’t me, though.

I mean I’ll have an occasional good and beefy one.

But those are usually times when I just need to get something off my chest or am passionate about something that day. I’m definitely a fan of my original ones. The random thoughts that I’ll blabber on about. Ha. Like here I am now. I couldn’t sleep. So I’m writing, blabbering on about how I couldn’t sleep and have these thoughts running through my head.

But, back to my past few blogs – I also have some hunches as to why they were so blah. Last semester was plain and simple a crappy semester. Granted, good stuff did happen, it was just all around rough. And I think my posts reflected that. This semester’s been off to a great start, and I’m definitely back to my old self. All is right in the world. Or my world, at least.

So here’s to  less-trying-to-be-something-else and more-of-my-real-self-and-light-heartedness-coming-through-in-my-posts.

Deal?

Deal. Done.

Adventures.

The word is part of the title of my blog. I use the word a lot. It is a loose term.

Anything can be turned into an adventure. Life is more fun when you make everything an adventure. I’ve been doing this a lot lately. I think it roots from this being my last semester. One of my goals has been to make the most of every opportunity. This first week has already been a blast. This weekend alone, I already encountered many adventures.

- We got attacked by a tumble weed.

- I went to a Portuguese Pig Killing

- My car died and I was stranded in Tower.

Anywho, yeah. I’ve decided life is a lot more fun when you make everything an adventure. Try it out. You won’t be disappointed.

So this Christmas break I was kind of bummed, for I didn’t have any kind of elaborate road trip planned like I did last year. (Last year, me and a few other friends took a week-long trip in attempts to drive all the way up to Canada. We only made it to Seattle because of the crazy snow storm that hit)

So this year, I knew I at least wanted to take a day trip. I made it happen. I gathered some friends, and we were off to San Jose. We ended up turning the trip into a two-day trip and stayed with my good friend Jon Nickel and his wife, Whitney. It was even more special because I hadn’t seen Jon since his wedding – back in September 2008.

So, for this post, I felt my blog could use some media. It has been a while. So here are a few pics from our trip.

The Mystery Spot! For $5 we got a 45-minute tour and some cheap thrills!

A fun picture from the Mystery Spot. I didn't realize until after our tour that I had left my camera on manual focus. I was bummed :/

The second half of day one. After the Mystery Spot, we went to the Tech Museum in San Jose. A robot took my picture and then drew my face! This museum is one of my favorites. I didn't take many pictures inside here though...

Here we enjoyed some pizza for dinner. Was really tasty. We were really hungry and ordered two larges for the four of us. We found that we didn't need that much food... oh well!

Sir Jon himself.

Here's Whitney. Apparently she didn't want to have her picture taken. It didn't help either, that I kept flashing them with my camera's flash just for fun.

Myself and Pia! Just relaxing after our first day.

Car picture! This was the beginning of day two.

We saw a pirate. He also didn't like being touched.

We rented bikes and rode around Monterey. We stopped here for a bit to take some pictures. It was really pretty.

After our bike ride, the girls felt like being "models". So we had a little fun and snapped some shots. There was a lady in the background who kept chuckling at us (not visible in the picture).

We were walking to the shore, and I was pointing and clicking my camera randomly. I liked this shot.

We had just arrived the place where we stayed to watch the sunset. We're pretty sure we were off the coast in Monterey somewhere. Not 100% sure, though.

Audrey was really hoping to find some creatures in the tidepools. She didn't find much, however she did find this little guy... that she eventually chucked back into the ocean.

We ended our second day of our trip watching the sunset at Monterey. It was a really pretty one.

I’ve been living in Fresno for four years now. I’ve been in southeast Fresno as I’ve been  a student at Fresno Pacific. There I’ve lived on campus and have become quite familiar with the area. I often take Butler Avenue to get to Peach Avenue. It is on Butler Avenue, just east of Winery that I often see an older man walking his dog.

Now this man, I don’t know his name. However I have seen him many times. He wears his windbreaker coat and beanie and walks his golden retriever. I assume they do this on a daily basis, for I have seen them countless times. Now this dog, I was able to see he was getting old. My freshman year, the dog walked at a slow pace. My sophomore year – at an even slower pace. My junior year, with a limp. And then, this morning. This morning was the first time I had seen them in a while. I was driving back to my place after church, and when I saw the man and his dog, my heart just sunk.

Today I saw the man walking, but this time his dog was not walking along side of him. Instead, the man was pulling his dog in a red wagon.

Seeing that today made me so sad, but so happy at the same time. I was able to see that lasting relationship between man and his dog.  That no matter what, the man and his dog would still go on their daily walk. That today was really a highlight and it has been on my mind a lot.

Now, there was one of those large medical-liners that was hanging over the edges of the wagon that the dog was sitting on. I don’t know if he had surgery, or simply can’t walk much at all any more. But yeah. Was just really heart-warming and I immediately knew that I wanted to share this story with you guys today.

Welp. We’re in 2010.

Yesterday had I wrote, my only thoughts would have been: “Happy Hangover New Year!”

Today, after much needed sleep and a ton of mom’s bomb food, I’m feeling much better. The words are also flowing a lot better. My new year’s celebration was grand. I got to spend it with so many friends through the course of the night.

However, my biggest celebration of bringing in 2010: it has been one year since I have stopped smoking. Qutting tobacco has been one of my biggest and only real new years resolutions that I have actually followed though and made a reality. So I was pretty stoked. Not gonna lie, though, I had my moments of weakness when just one cigarette sounded mighty fine. But I said no. And here I am.

One thing’s crazy, though. Since Jan 1, 2009 I have been tracking the year marking my progress of staying away from ciggies. Because I was celebrating with each month, I was actively watching by how fast the year really goes by. That was really an interesting way to have lived this past year. I had never really tracked the months and weeks as they have gone by before, but doing it for a whole year really changed my perspective on things. Like, it made me realize how fast time really does go by — and especially how it gets quicker and quicker each year.

Alas, this year should be grand. I’m going to graduate in May. Annd that is about all I’ve got goin for me so far. But I’m okay with that. I’m taking it one day at a time and enjoying the ride, and hopefully will find some guidance to keep me on the right path along the way. So, Happy New Year to all, and to all a good year