graduation pix
As if I didn't miss California enough aleady, here's some graduation pictures. All in all, it was great. Except I tried to "do" my hair and it ended up looking like a really weird wig, but who cares right. So without further ado...
With Hambone, Green Card, and Houtz.
Parentals.
Vanessa, Douglas, Bradly, someone, Chessa, Yumiko
My Chugokujin
I had to say goodbye to Cart-y...
Then we went to Oceanside
The end.
Labels: beach, california, college, special occasion
surfing extravaganza numero dos
Basically, one of my favorite things to do in life is surf, and I got to go yesterday. I don't have any substantial pictures, so this post is pretty much going to be story time with Haley. For the skim readers I'll just highlight the important words. It's record worthy though. Let me start from the beginning.
My roommate
Samantha 
is definitely my cohort in extreme sports. She's pretty skilled at inviting herself places, so she managed not only to snag an invite to the coast, but also a teaching session with
Kai.
He's from Hawaii, so he's nothing short of pro status.
Well, we met up with Kai,
Joey
(the body boardin pizza boy), and
Chris
(a first timer, but nonetheless a fellow quarter Jap, which automatically gives him major brownie points in coolness.)
So we headed out around 8:45 in the morning. Sam and I followed Kai in his gigantic manly truck (which for some reason has a personalized tag that says CEO WIF) all the way to
Oceanside. We stopped by this house (which I will further allude to as the Hippie Bungalow) to pick up some of the guys' stuff. One of the guys from the two families that live there
totally blessed Sam and I with two boards and the wetsuits to match!
Then
Nino showed up and helped pick out a place to surf.
He actually played a set in our campus coffee shop last semester, but it took me about 2 hours to recognize him. He's a rep for Truth brand and totally hooked us up with some sunglasses (thanks Nino!) I don't know what's weirder...that he knows another girl from Alabama, or that he asked me if I'd ever heard of
Wild Sweet Orange and I got to tell him that yes, I actually remember being on drumline with Chip and laughing at the songs he used to freestyle about Coach Newton, and being best friends with Garret's little sister, Loren, and trying to avoid the whole awkward pajamas in the hallway thing with him. Small world, huh?
Well, we finally hit the water. Sam caught some waves...
But I caught some pretty good ones myself. I cranked an ollie then did a fin throw and rode this one all the way in.
All kidding aside, I feel like I actually got better and more comfortable on a board. Can't wait to try some bigger waves. I remember thinking, "Wow, I haven't done anything today except surf...and all I have left to do today...is surf."
No serious injuries. Besides injesting at least three gallons of salt water, the only other slightly not-fun thing that happened was the almost-concussion. Kai's like, "Haley, catch this wave." So I did, only to tumble over the front of the board and totally
eat it, which was normal. Except in the mean time my board was flipping 100 feet in the air (not exaggerating), and as I came out of the water completely drilled and still gagging up salt water, it landed straight on my head and knocked me back down into the water, very much like the
gopher bash game, where you mallet the rodent back in its hole. You know it's not good when everyone else is giving the "OOooh" face. I later found out from Nino that that move is called "pearl".
Sadly, Sam got her worst owie just putting on her wetsuit. I won't lie, those suits were dang small, especially when your hips are wider than Texas. Plus, you already feel vulnerable because you're having to change
commando in a car. With windows. And one small towel. Taking them off was probably worse. I vocalized how I hoped the restaurant didn't mind wetsuits, because I
wasn't going to peal mine off. And Kai goes, "Yes you will."
Amazing. Can I just say, that I haven't had anyone tell me what to do as many times as that guy did since Jeanette's been gone. After that it was like, I wanted to take my wetsuit off...
Then we went to eat at Mexico Viejo, near where Joey used to serve pizza. Mistake number one - ordering fish and chips. Mistake number two - ordering fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant. Mistake number three - ordering fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant when I already had a fat headache from board bash.
Queeziness sets in. Not sure if the fish and chips were worth it. Decided later that they weren't.
Then we headed back to the Hippie Bungalow and pulled up right behind
Paul
and
Cody
and
Eric
who Sam and I have been calling "barefoot Eric" and "same shirt Eric", because we're pretty sure he only brought two shirts to school and wears them interchangably, and was actually the inspiration behind my decision to wear my Chargers shirt
five days in a row. The best part is that they thought Sam and I randomly followed them all the way from campus, probably because we were the most random people to show up that day. But anyways.
It was tyte hanging out at the Hippie Bungalow for a spell. Kai found a Sock'em Bopper and was nonchalantly bopping whatever random thing Cody threw at him. Cody and Kai have this special relationship where Kai just makes fun of Cody, and Cody rips out Kai's chest hair, and they both
grease their armpits to avoid chaffing. The rest of the guys just skated around, while Roxy the weenie dog stayed occupied with this turtle that apparently sometimes comes over to play.
Well, time came to put the wetsuits back on. Sam and I went in to change...I looked at the wetsuit...looked at Sam...looked back at the wetsuit...had to pee...looked at Sam...looked at the wetsuit again...and just couldn't do it. I knew if I put that thing back on and got back in the water I was going to have a gnarly blow out. Even though Eric said he throws up in the water all the time, I still wasn't convinced that it was a good idea.
So, lamely, we said our farewells and went back home. Thus was the end to one of the
sweetest times I've had at Bible college yet. Kid you not, I had such a blast. Like one of the guys said, even though the sessions might not be tops, the
fellowship always is.
Labels: beach, california, fellowship, friends, xtreme fun
the worm
Can I reiterate again...that I love Southern California. My dormbaby Sam and I decided to drive toward the coast. We hit up Laguna, watched some surfers shred up some waves, and got fat off icecream.
Then we went to "the worm", aka Newport beach. It basically looks like a hangnail off of Crystal Cove. One time on a late night excursion, Sam and I thought we were going down the coast highway, but we somehow ended up on the worm. We wanted to actually check this thing out in the day light, and the verdict is - it rocks!
And the source of a long running inside joke that I won't even attempt to explain...
Labels: beach, california, friends, omoshiroi
oceanside
Way too many play days. Saturday was supposed to be climbing, but due to thunder storms in the mountains I went to the beach instead. Lunch? Mmmmm....IN-N-OUT.
Biggest gnarliest bite contest. Sam wins!
Poor Jesse was the sixth wheel, so he was stuck getting crammed (pun intended) into every open space of the car. Crazy kid, totally reminds me of Matt from Extreme Days.
After pizza we went to the jetties and had some bonfire worship.
Jesse, Joey, Fin, me, Sam, JaNece, and Joe.
highlights:* Our football game was interrupted when I got full on body tackled by a half naked grandpa man kicking a soccer ball down the beach. It's one of those things where everybody just stares and nobody comes to my aid because the situation is too bizarre. Thanks guys. There was also a crazy lady named Sunshine who wanted to sing us a song, but ended up harassing everybody instead. Only in Socal.
* Pinched my nose too hard trying to pass through a wave. When I came up my nose pretty much exploded all over my face, down my hand, in the water. And you know how water makes blood look a lot messier than it really even is. It was a horror show.
* Long boards, skateboards, skim boards, hanging out, good times.
Labels: beach, california, college, food, friends, xtreme fun
steward retreat
I am a dorm steward again for my final semester. So aaalllllll the stewards came a few days early and went on a retreat to San Onofre. It was so beautiful, I had to take a bunch of scenery shots that everyone else hates. We just hung out at the beach, get sunburned, sang worship, burned mallows and camped out.
Ashdogg surprised me by coming back this semester. She had been in Peru and was planning to stay, but God lead her back here, which is great for my comical needs.
Janene is my wacky belt-blaming ketchup chip-eating Canadian roomie from first semester, and now she's all grown up and being a dorm steward.
Labels: beach, california, camping, cliffs, college, fellowship, friends, nature
