just because

sarah's wedding is in a meager 20 days. and so, i am on this here blog thing to escape the inevitable crazies that are waiting around the corner.

1. Where is your cellphone? ummm...
2. Your significant other? jamie. he's fantastic
3. Your hair? blond/not blond and about to contain more highlights
4. Your mother? sassy
5. Your Father? stubborn
6. Your favorite thing? anything with sun
7. Your dream last night? it was horrible. normandale lied to me saying i was all set to sign up for classes (that start on monday) but then when i went to register, they blocked my account.....wait. crap. that wasn't a dream, that was today...
8. Your favorite drink? coffee and chai
9. Dream/goal? a giant steinway placed right in the middle of my livingroom
10. The room you're in? messy
11. Your fear? paperwork
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? anywhere but school
13. Where were you last night? playing with hans and esther, and then i played piano
14. What you're not? organized
15. Muffins? yes please
16. One of your wish list items? ikea. so i can hard core decorate
17. Where did you grow up? in the brown house with a goose in the front yard. but now it's green and the goose is dead.
18. The last thing you did? tried to see out my salt covered windshield while driving past a huge accident on 77. i keep forgetting windshield wiper fluid. and the windshield wipers.
19. What are you wearing? glasses. 8]
20. Your TV? not used
21. Your computer? is liken to a snail
22. Your life? i'm surprised i don't have gray hair
23. Your mood? i was crabby. but then i saw the jamester. awww!
24. Missing someone? diane b. :[
25. Your car? is definitely not lacking in personality
26. Something you're not wearing? ear muffs, hat scarf, mittens....the minnesota essentials.
27. Favorite Store? wherever there's free things
29. Your favorite color? green and yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? i'm not sure exactly....couldn't have been when normandale stole all my money and blocked my account so i can't go to school next semester....
31. When was the last time you cried? when normandale stole all my money and blocked my account so i can't go to school next semester...
32. Who will/would re-post this? jenn?
33. Four places I go to over and over: school. work. bed. school.
34. Four people who e-mail me: culvers. circut city. (?) becky. normandale.
35. Four of my favorite foods: fettucini alfredo with grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, pizza with thick crust, chicken enchiladas (the kind that mom make), and chocolate

it's begining to look a lot like christmas

friday marked the end of the semester. finally. after months of dealing with multiple piano performances, tests, crabby peers, and financial mishaps (thanks to normandale's "business office") i am done. i would have been perfectly satisfied with just that, but it got better. the death of my crazy schedule was met by a wonderful day!
mom decided to take all us robertson girls out for a day of much needed fun. she took us to cossettas where we ate amazing Italian food, talked and took pictures. from there we went to my favorite Tchaikovsky's ballet, the Nutcracker, then proceeded to get fabulous dessert at Cafe Latte. it was such a good day! i had so much fun spending time with my sisters and mom. i'm really hoping that this will turn into a tradition.

Matthew 10:29

I always hear this verse, but i love it more and more every time i read it.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart form the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of you head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

i don't know how many hairs i have on my head. i can't even find my shoes in the morning. He's awesome!

survey: my 'getting out of homework free' card

yes. it's true. i should be doing homework. but instead, here i am on this goofy contraption, filling out a survey. but hey, i honest-to-goodness have most of my homework done already. i'm just taking a little break.... =]


*What kind of car do you drive?
a very mangled, blue one. i'm pretty sure it was a crash-test dummy in a previous life
*Have you ever had a garage sale?
well...not a garage sale in the technical sense, but i did try to sell my teddy bears from the front yard at one point.
*What color is your iPod?
i'm not sure. i haven't found one with my name on it yet.
*What kind of dog do you have?
a very very smelly one.
*What's for dinner tonight?
mashed potatoes with gravy, and the rice krispy bars jamie gave me!
*What is the last drink you drank?
a large campfire mocha. i got my paper done really fast.
*Last time you were sick?
i think the better question would be "when was the last time i WASN'T sick"
*How long is your hair?
the perfect length. (thank you jenn!)
*Are you happy right now?
can't decide. on the one hand i have school and homework, but on the other hand there's a rice krispy bar. =]
*What did you say last?
"...maybe i thought that movie was good because i had extensively low expectations..." (as it turns out, it was a boring movie)
*Who came over last?
hurricane Ike. (aka: joe's friends)
*Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?
many many times. and with us all looking completely different, i almost believe them....
*What is your favorite key chain on your keys?
an old-fashioned key that was grandpas. i think it was for one of his clocks
*What is in your pocket?
...HOLY COW!!!! i have money in there!!! i love it when that happens. a whole dollar!
*Who introduced you to your boyfriend or girlfriend?
brother matthew and mike doughty....(but i actually had to introduce myself...)
*Who is the last person you had a phone conversation with?
jamie. he wanted to let me know that he saw a pet carrier on the shoulder of 77N (that apparently fell off a truck bed) with a unidentified pet still in it, and that if i wanted a surprise pet, then i should go pick it up. he thought it was really funny. but mom didn't.
*What DVD is in your DVD player?
good 'ol monk.
*What's something fun you did today?
i got to have coffee with mom, joan, matthew and havi!
*What do you think of when you hear the word "meow"?
a meat dinner
*What are you listening to right now?
joe and his ukulele that is in dire need of a good tuning
*What have you had to drink so far today?
water. coffee. milk. coffee. water. water. coffee. juice. water.
*When is your birthday?
when is the coldest day of the year? because that's it.

in theory and practice

i don't know how it happened, but the school year is back again. it's time to say goodbye to whatever tan i have accumulated, and say hello to itchy sweaters. i am, in some weird way, excited to start school, but at the same time, i know it will be extremely daunting at times. concerts, homework, tests, auditions, having to notate a song just by hearing it, knowing the format, key signatures, modulations and year beethoven wrote every single one of his sonatas...*wince* ...all things i know i need to work hard at in order to pass. but i know that if God knows why He put me in those ridiculous classes, He knows how to get me out. even if i have no clue how to manage this crazy schedule of classes, i'm thankful that God knows what he's doing, and how to inject this material into my brain. i'm happy to know that i serve the one and only God who can give me strength for this school year, and every season after!
(yes. you're right. the picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post. but i like it.) =]

O'ahu

i went to hawaii! the land of blue skies, palm trees, bright flowers and sunburns. i was there for a week, but it felt like only a day. it was SO much fun! i'm very excited that i got to be there with such wonderful people too! the balder family is probably the only family except my own, and the krafts, that i would gladly spend an entire week with. i feel much closer to them after this week, and it not just because the apartment we stayed in was tiny and the bathroom only had a sheet for a door.
it was so wonderful to just sit on our private beach, soak in the sun and drink guava juice with mangoes on the side. i was able to play Queen emma's grand piano (she's not the queen any more...), climb trees, take a nap by the waves, find sea cucumbers and take lots of pictures. and after poking and prodding the rest of the gang, i was able to explore a bit too; something i'm always in the mood to do. much to the balders surprise, they like exploring too. =] here's some pictures of what we found!

3 boys and a girl

Camping is a weird, yet enjoyable combination of work and relaxation. Unless, of course, you're the only girl camping with multiple boys, which in that case, it's just pain confusing. I knew just from the "planning meeting" that I was in for something that I had better get emotionally prepared for, and fast. The three hour talk of visiting every single way side and state park on our way to several campsites and even Canada, left me considerably overwhelmed and craving chocolate. Only after our first couple state park visits did I realize that these boys didn't actually intend on 'visiting' the parks or "Ooh" and "Ahh" at natural marvels. No. All they wanted to do was hike for miles, finally reach our destination after who knows how many hours, and take a quick picture only to instantly turn around and head back to the over-flowing van that was about to die. I'm pretty sure they spent more time looking through the screens on their digital cameras than the actual physical object of interest. Jamie has a term for this man-ish act. It's called: killing. According to the handsome eagle scout, boys have a need to kill things. By 'kill' I don't mean just hunting, and shooting or stomping on some poor animal. The boy translation for 'kill' is to defeat, conquer, finish, or even dominate. It has the same motivation as hunting and such, but tends to be less messy: find, kill, and bring back proof. (the proof in this case would be the picture, a stamp in a little state park passport thing, or a massive rock). A few times we never even left the van. We just sat in our seats as some ranger stamped proof into Brian's "passport". While these males carried on their natural behaviors, I was dubbed as an 'in the moment' type of person by the menfolk. I like to enjoy things that I've worked for. Maybe sit or explore my surroundings for more than 12 seconds with the chance of resting my legs. On rare occasions, I might even take a small snack and eat it once I've arrived to my destination.
A few times during our camping trip, I decided to test their tolerance for being 'in the moment' at a state park. Completely in the name of science and curiosity, I would try and wait them out. I was the only girl. They would have to be nice, or at least polite, but how long would it take for one of them to explode? Not very long. sure enough, 5 minutes after our arrival, they grew antsy, and unreasonably cranky. I took a note of their response, and refrained from trying the experiment again, after hearing a few choice words.
Many things happened on this camping trip that enabled me to learn about the male species in a less than enjoyable way. For example: boys don't care that they're 2 miles away from anyone and even the van, and there's only a stump with a hole in it to use in case of a full bladder. It didn't even faze them that the hole was almost full, and any space that was left was infested with spider webs, egg sacs and black widows the size of my fist, not to mention the lack of four walls and a roof. Granted, it left the user feeling closer to nature, but it lacked the welcoming flare.
I also learned that if anything does not go according to their unreasonably detailed plans, boys with automatically fire up their defense mechanism. This includes a throwing whatever is available to throw, while spewing a few words in interesting variations depending, of course, on the severity of the situation. For instance, in case of needing a tow truck or stitches, I learned first hand that the language is particularly colorful, and bigger things are thrown. Being lost or not getting that fish that kept biting brings lesser amounts of words and smaller loads of hurling object. In a more seldom situation, the boy will not say or throw anything at all, but instead he will start to sweat, widen his eyes and start making spears or smacking trees with the butt of an ax. These are usually brought on by timber wolves or bears that like to tinker with their gadgets.
At the end of the week, as I washed the bear slobber and claw prints off the van window, I pondered all the invaluable things I had learned from this experience. I am thankful that I was able to take part in this learning experience, and that I am now immune to multiple smells, conversations and noises. Next time, however, I will make sure another girl will come with me.