Clean, at last!

It's been almost two weeks since we were robbed, and I am definitely guilty of procrastinating the clean-up process. Right now, I'm incredibly busy with school, volunteering at the hospital, and studying for the TEAS, I just couldn't help but put this stupid mess off, because I didn't even create it! 3 more weeks until I leave for Spain and 2 more weeks of school left. So much to do!

But today, after some poolside TEAS studying, I decided to bust out my cleaning energy. And it took HOURS!!

Here are the BEFORE pictures of the mess throughout the house, right after the robbery:

My room

McKenzie's room

Dean and Kristal's closet

After about 6 hours of cleaning and laundry, my beautifully clean room is back!

I decided to zoom in on the back of the door, since every one asks what it is. Dalton did an art project behind this door, but never finished. It says "Sheep in Society" and he had a good message going there, but he never finished it! I always tell him he needs to finish and SAVE more of his artwork, because he really does have a special talent.

He drew me an anatomically correct heart while I was traveling a few months ago, and I need to find it and frame it up before it gets trapped in his lost abyss of old artwork!

:)

Replacements

Yesterday I got my new MacBook. :/

I am grateful that I get to use the reimbursement money so quickly and especially during these last 3 weeks of school with so many papers, projects, and studying to do, but I still want MY computer back. I haven't gotten over how much hard work and memories I've lost so quickly...

Looking on the optimistic side of things, I DO get a brand new MacBook for free, with all the upgrades and fancy new software that come with these new MacBook Pros. The guy in the Apple Store was showing me all the new things these computers do and I was really surprised how much changes in a computer in 4 years!

Also, one of my friends gave me a pair of their True Religion jeans that fit me perfectly! I have such a hard time finding a pair of jeans that actually fit me, and I have no idea why! (It probably has to do with the fact that I refuse to pay over $35 for any article of clothing). But finally I have a perfect pair of jeans! Along with the $6 pair I found at the Kobey's Swap Meet this week!

Haha, just a few things to be happy about :)

Ocotillo Wells

This weekend, a few of my friends and I went to meet some friends out in the desert for a night trip. It is getting REALLY hot out there now, and there was almost no one out there since it was so hot durin the day. We got there close to sun down, so we missed the heat thankfully. I usually get to go out with them multiple times throughout the season, but school has completely owned my life this semester.

Although the total trip was 14 hours, it was nice to take a mini trip out with some of my favorite people and sleep in a tent crammed with 5 of us :) Luckily, we were able to leave before the intense heat hit the desert, which I hate!

Now that I have 3 weeks left in the semester, it's time to start hitting the books HARD again. I've completed a good majority of all the end of the semester papers and projects and now I absolutely have to focus on getting a higher grade in my TEAS. For very 2% I go up, I get 1 more point on my nursing application. And although I'm still clearly in the competition for points cut-off, I still could use any last point I can get.

Just over 3 more weeks of non-stop work and I'm off to Spain!!! :D

This is our usual camping spot with everyone, right on the county line in-between San Diego and Imperial County. This time is was only about 15 of us and we slept either in the back of a truck or in a tent. This many people would NOT make a trip to the baking desert right now! :)

Gotye at Nokia Theater

Last Thursday I went to the Gotye concert with a couple of my friends from the pre-nursing science classes at the Nokia Theater in LA right next to the Staples Center. 2 of the made it into the program that I made it into, and it's always bittersweet hearing about all their nursing school adventures :/ Oh well, at least I have a few friends to give me some hints on how to do well :) 

Before the concert, we went to Venice Beach which was about 20 minutes away from the concert. I absolutely LOVE Venice Beach. I love how there are street vendors, hippies, homeless entertainers and every other strange attraction on the walk right next to the beach. We didn't have much time to hang out there before the concert started because of traffic, but we did get to eat at this cool little bar shack right on the beach. One of the best non-homemade burgers I have ever had! We got yelled at by a bum who played piano for everyone at the restaurant because no one tipped him as much as he asked for. Sorry sir, I have not one bit of change to spend on any one right now, I spent my last bit of cash on a trip to Spain! The only reason I went to this concert was because we bought tickets a while ago.

After Venice, we got lost in LA. We ended up being late for the concert, but only missed the opening band who was reported to be nothing special. Oh well! We had great seats in the front above the floor seats at although he didn't play many songs (and I only now 2 or 3), he was really good! It wasn't wasn't the usual concert where the band puts on a show, it was more of him casually doing whatever he wants up there like he's just at a rehearsal with his friends, but still played great!

Thieves

Today I experienced my first robbery. I hate being reminded how horrible people can be. I know we live in a horrible world filled with so much negative qualities, but I try really hard to focus on the good. And days like this make it hard. I live with another family near my university and the ENTIRE house was trashed when McKenzie (the 17-year-old daughter) walked in after school. When she saw all the drawers and cabinets open in her living room and kitchen and realized everything was on the floor, she immediately left the house (quietly, in case someone was there) and drove away and called me and the rest of the family who then called the cops. Unfortunately, I was in class and my phone died soon after she called, so I was completely unaware of how bad the break in was until I got home. She wasn't entirely sure that it was even a break in when I spoke with her, so I had my hopes up when I was driving home an hour later.

But, it turned out everything of immediate value to the thieves was taken. All of our (3) laptops, and iPad, jewelry, trophies, other electronics, and weird random things I don't even understand why a thief would want. Every square inch of this house was searched and destroyed looking for valuables. The clean up is going to take a while :/ I know this will sound ridiculous, but when I was eating lunch and preparing everything to go back to school, I had a weird thought that I should grab my computer to bring to school, even though I didn't need it today on campus because I have the iPad my mom gave me for school. Like usual, I ignored my weird intuitive thoughts because I assumed they're ridiculous, and of course, I lost the computer with all my documents for my entire life: personal documents, schoolwork, music library, and worst of all, my entire photo library of over 8,000 photos from the past 10 years of life :/ I've been meaning to find something to back it up on, but I'm constantly so busy with school, and always assumed it won't happen to me if I'm cautious, but it happened anyway :/ I know it sounds materialistic of me to complain, but I REALLY would have preferred my Cadillac to be taken over that...

We are grateful that no one was home/came home when they broke it. However, cops are thinking that the thieves came probably right after I left for school around 1:00. Dalton worked on my tail light for me right when I left and then neighbors reported hearing a strange car around a time right after that. The sheriff also told us that this happened to multiple houses today within 2 miles of us, and that recently, north county San Diego has been hit with robberies really hard. They have a few details on the possible suspects and vehicles, (they assume it's a large team of people hitting multiple houses) but we won't know anything for sure until next week.

So for now, the rest of the family and I just have to take inventory of what was stolen/damaged, start the clean-up and keep an eye out for the sellers putting out things up on Craigslist, EBay, and pawn shops (although pawnshops are less likely now that they take finger prints). It still feels unreal that this happened in the home I live in and at such a severe measure.

Hopefully me sharing this will maybe help someone else not make the mistake of leaving windows/doors unlocked, not being aware or strangers lurking in the area or NOT backing up your computer or any other important files. I will DEFINTIELY take advantage of this learning opportunity...

Study Abroad Paid in Full!

This morning, on my way into the hospital, I realized my final payment for my trip to Spain is due today! Luckily, (with a little extra help from my mom, of course) I had just enough money to cover the payment! And $2 to spare, haha. It's hard having to work 12.5 hours a week at the hospital and NOT get paid. I can't help but think about all the money I could have if I got paid for all this work...haha. Oh, the things I do to get into nursing school. I'm at 138 hours right now, 62 to go before May 19!

Now that my payment is in, hopefully I can find some time to work for money instead of hours to save up some spending cash before Spain! Either way, I'm still VERY excited, even if I have to penny pinch when I'm in Europe! :D

FujiFilm FinePix S2550HD

Last night I picked up my new camera I found on Craigslist! It's crazy how fast everything disappears on there! I was originally talking to a guy about the camera I REALLY wanted for a steal of $120, but mid conversation he messaged me and told me he sold it. Ummm, rude. But it was all good because I found another good one the next day for $150 (originally sold for about $400!) that's basically like new, and honestly perfect for taking some pictures of the beautiful architecture of Europe! :) It was quite the drive to Anaheim after a shift at the hospital, but Dalton came along for company (and ninja back-up, if course) :) Each little step closer to Europe is getting me more and MORE excited!!! :D

Haven't really gotten a chance to take pictures of anything besides people in a house with horrible lighting...I've been at school all day. But it took pictures pretty well with awkward light!

Random thing I saw on campus today: Some organization was rolling around this giant inflatable ball. Every signature was a for a petition or a sponsor for money. After so many signatures, a certain amount of money goes to Rady's Children's Hospital in San Diego. Pretty cool! And definitely easy to get attention for this a campus crawling with kids looking for something to do besides sit outside their classrooms, haha :)

Easter

This year, I went over to my mom's house for Easter. She made steak, potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, and some sort of bread. Her and Kevin have been seeing a specialist about their nutrition, so they're moving on to whole and naturally organic foods! I wanted to send my grandma something a little special for letting me borrow money for Spain, so my brother and I had an adventure with my mom's camera and the tripod.

My brother was debating whether or not this "spot" was good for a picture for Grandma, so while he was trying to learn how to use the camera, I stood there being no help at all. I saw this and thought I would try my hand at editing (with the very limited photo shop software I have on my computer). I REALLY want to take a photography and editing class one of these days! My schedule is always just too packed! Sometimes I think it will be okay if I don't get into nursing school again, because then I will have plenty of time in my schedule to take one! But...then I think of how much I miss my science classes. Haha, yes I would still really like to get into nursing school this year!

 This is my brother trying to make the remote control clicker work...haha took him like 15 minutes :)

And finally! What we sent to the fam (better quality of course)

I tried to get one of Dalton and me, but the good pictures somehow got deleted, so I was only left with this one :/ Typical...what a freak.

:)

My dad and Melissa went to Georgia to meet my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle in Savannah, so we didn't get the usual jelly bean hunt at their house! They get the every-flavorjelly belly beans and COLOR match them to everything in the house, it's actually really hard! Haha, and the older we got, the harder they made it for us. And of course, my dad doesn't want old jelly beans laying around for years, so the jelly beans would get counted and we weren't allowed to stop until they were all found.

I miss the days when all my siblings would be around for the holidays...jelly beans and all!

Stampede

Last night we celebrated 2 of my friend's, Cody and Will's, birthday at a line dancing bar in Temecula called Stampede. I'm not very much into country and know a total of about 7 country songs, but it was actually really fun!! It was cool  how everyone there heard the name of some line dance that was coming next and could just do it! There were some nice people we ran into that would help us catch onto the dances if we looked like we were struggling, but some people were intense and would get pretty angry if we ruined their line dancing groove, haha.

I thought it was a great idea to go here because it was an 18+ / 21+ bar so all of our younger friends could make it too.  A lot of my friends are down from school or where they're stationed and are visiting for Spring Break so it was great to see everyone again altogether! I've been stuck in my homework cave for so long, I almost forgot what it was like to hang out with all my friends! I have missed them!

I really need to invest in a camera before I go to Europe. These silly, poor quality iPhone pictures will just NOT cut it for Spanish architecture! 

Boleto para España=pagado!!

It's official!! 

I have purchased my flight to Spain! I can't believe how EXCITED I am!! I can't wait the 6 weeks until I leave! Europe is going to be amazing...

My flight leave 5:55pm on Saturday, May 19th and I get to Spain the next day at 2:15! (A perfect 3.5 hours before the bus with my school leaves for Valladolid)

I scurried to get all my paperwork filled out in one night. They're sending the papers over to Spain this weekend so they can coordinate who goes with what family and such.

Got my extra passport pictures this morning on my way to work at the hospital. Haha, I had just gotten out of bed so my host family is just gunna have to envision me as tired Katie.

Paid my deposit and don't have to pay in full until next week. The lady who is coordinating this for us thinks she found a way to lower to price about $100, so hopefully I will save on that because I paid $100 more on my than I wanted to! It's crazy how fast the prices went up in less than 12 HOURS! But it's okay, because I'll be in Europe! :)

So, I'm all ready to go! Just gotta dust off my passport (literally) and wait 42 days to get on a plane to Europe! (And finish 6 remaining classes in the semester). I can barely believe I am actually going! I am so happy I have this opportunity to finally go, and so last minute too! 

A special thanks to my Grandma for letting me loan enough money to be able to buy my flight so last minute! You're the BEST! I will make this trip a great one because you made it happen! :)

I will be taking my "placement test" for my classes at University of Valladolid within the next couple weeks. It's not really a test, I'll get into whatever class I wanted no matter what, but I think my professor just likes to play power games. Haha, he really is a funny man. I had him for my SPAN 301 course (Basic Verbal Communication) and he did whatever the heck he wanted (and not a lot of "verbal communication" at all). He is a very energetic Spaniard and has severe ADD, but he knows everything in the world! He speaks 13 or 14 languages and gets side tracked pretty much constantly. It's going to be really great going to Spain with him, because he was born there and will have so many cool things to show us.

The two courses I am taking at the University there are 5 units of an advanced seminar in spanish to learn mainly about the culture there in Spain, and then 1 unit writing 3 essays about our activities just to get extra practice writing, but I'm gunna want to write down these memories anyway! Taking that extra 1 unit class just makes it so I can transfer 2 classes at home at Cal State San Marcos.

I'll be keeping everyone updated on the rest of my preparations for Spain! Hopefully I will hear about my host family soon and I'll let ya know how I do on the "placement test" haha :)

Study Abroad in Valladolid, Spain

I AM SO EXCITED!! I have been waiting for this opportunity forever! Every year I have looked into it, but have never had the money available when I needed it! So I assumed I would never have the chance. But yesterday, I was going through my emails and I saw that it was the LAST CHANCE to sign up for the study abroad in Spain. They were having an informational meeting right before my next class, so I went since it was right next door to my class. Before that, I added up my tax return money and the money I would save if I ended up not going to National University and found a cheap discount ticket to Madrid. All the numbers added up, so I had to make sure I was able to still sign up!

Valladolid is this pretty secluded town about 2 hours away from Madrid. They're sending us here so we can be completely immersed in the language, since almost no one speaks anything but Spanish in this city.

 Here are some pictures of the campus of the University of Valladolid. This school has been around since the 13th or 14th century, so I am incredibly excited to see all the amazing architecture and history it has to offer! I will be taking 6 units of Spanish courses during my 4 weeks there.

So, how this is going to work is I leave on May 19 and I am gone until June 16/17th (depending on what time my flight gets home). When I get there, one of my Spanish professors is meeting us at the airport in Madrid with a bus and is going to drive us to Valladolid to meet up with our host families. The trip includes all meals , room and board, and all the excursions that are planned for us. Apparently, a lot of the families do this because they get paid for feeding and housing us. So they know what they're doing!! Monday-Fridays we go to class from 9:30-11:30 and then 12-2 we go to class. Then the rest of the day is ours and we usually meet up with our professor and go do any activities that are planned for the day. I'll be taking 5-6 units over there that will all transfer back to Cal State San Marcos for my major in Spanish (I've officially decided to do a double major in Spanish and nursing! :/) In case I don't get into the generic 3-year program for Fall, my backup plan is to finish up the rest of my 7 classes for my Spanish major and once I have my Bachelor degree, I'm allowed to apply to the accelerated 20-month nursing program. I love the program they have at my school and I would really like to stay here to finish up the first part of my eduction. If I'm gunna do this the long way, I'm gunna make it FUN and go to Spain!!! I can not wait!!!

I just paid the deposit today ad the remainder of the fees will be turned in next Friday, so after I buy my plane ticket, I am good to go! I CAN'T WAIT!!! :D

Little Saigon

One fine weekend a few weeks ago, McKenzie and I decided to take a trip up to Orange County to visit Little Saigon in Westminster. My friend from nursing school went up there at the beginning of the semester, and apparently, they have AMAZING deals on all nail and beauty supplies. I'm really not one to go spend my money on these things, but nail polish is so expensive, so since McKenzie does nails on a regular basis, we decided to make the trip, since we wanted to get out of the house anyway, and take advantage of $2 designer nail polishes and other nail supplies.

We were driving down a road through what seemed like a normal American modern day community with parks and lagoons and people running on trails, and we cross one street and everything went Vietnamese on us. It really was a Little Saigon! Everything was written in Vietnamese and the community was packed with little Vietnamese folk walking around and doing their usual Vietnamese things!

This is the entrance to one of the bigger shopping centers we went to. There were Buddhas and little market selling the weirdest things (that I'm assuming was food) in buckets of preservative fluids an vinegar and such. I tried to get a picture of the things in there, but we got too overwhelmed rejecting samples from the ladies in the store, so we lost our chance

There was this mini little sanctuary in the middle of a huge parking lot for the Super Market. It was pretty random, but cool at the same time! I'm not sure what it was all for, but still cool to see some extremely different little subculture living in the middle of suburbia!