Day 9

Day 9 - Read

I am somewhat happy/sorry to say that I am back in school again after a long six month break of summer and China. I don't really want to go back, but I know that the start of the term means I'm this much closer to finishing and gaining my degree. I'm taking the most credits I've ever taken in a term (20. Yep, just shoot me now..) and so I think I'm going to have to work extra hard at coming up with purposeful pictures outside of textbooks, pencils, and papers.

I was/am extremely stressed today trying to get back in the swing of things. I'm still looking for a job and have had a few good contacts but haven't heard anything back yet. I know that God has something in mind for me, I just have to learn to have the patience to work hard and wait for what that is. DANG it's difficult, however, I think it's good for me.

I think having a picture a day as a goal is a good stress reliever and release for me. It takes my mind off things and allows me to just let my brain wander where it wants to, rather than me having to force it to be in a certain direction. We'll see how this statement holds up as the term goes on.

Day 7/8

Day 7 - Water

I went to the coast yesterday and found a new hike, "Sweet Creek Falls." It is absolutely beautiful and I would recommend it to anyone as it isn't too strenuous but still gets you up and moving. I want to go back when it's sunny and try swimming ;)

Day 8 - Statue

When walking out on the jetty the waves were crashing pretty hard against the rocks. They looked pretty decent for surfing today, too bad it's just a little too cold and I don't surf. The coast is one of my favorite places. Sometimes the weather isn't what I'd like it to be, but today was warm and sunny; I actually got a little too hot in the clothes I wore. While walking, Evan was being a goofball and trying to get his body straight while he held himself up with his hands. I yelled for him to stay there and ran over to take a picture. What do you think?

Day 5/6

So I forgot, again, to post. However, I did take the pictures on the right days this time!

Day 5 - Shadows

I had to go to Portland yesterday to make a return. The ride was crummy and grey on the way home, not very much fun to drive in! I was about fifteen minutes away from Eugene when the sun started peaking through the clouds making beautiful shapes on the mountains.

Day 6 - Stick It

My youngest brother had basketball practice today that I went to for a few minutes to see how he was doing. I started fooling around with my camera trying to get "action shots" (ones I need to work on, they're so difficult, especially inside with not very good lighting..) when I spotted an extra basketball. I liked the look of how worn it was and decided this was going to be the shot of the day.

Day 4

January 4, 2012 - Ginger Beer

This, ladies and gentlemen, is very popular in China. I actually never had the opportunity to drink it there, who knew I would come home to find it right here at PF Changs? Even though the food at PF Changs is absolutely nothing like the Chinese food in China, it still tastes good. The Ginger Beer is non-alcoholic, made with ginger, lemon juice, and lots of sugar, delish. Try it!

Day 3

Picture of the Day: January 3, 2012 - Run

I had just gotten back from a run and realized I hadn't yet taken a picture of the day.  There wasn't going to be light for much longer so I figured I'd take it then, before the light was gone and before I forgot. Maybe a better title would've been bundle up or something, but then it seemed like it would be more of an advertisement than a picture.
I think I'm going to expand on my New Years Resolution - Not take the same kind of picture twice. I want to be able to explore and take pictures in new ways. New subjects, new places.. just different.

New Years Resolution

     So, for my new years resolution I've decided to take one photo, each day, for the whole year. It can't just be a wham bam get it up, it has to be thought out and carefully taken. We'll see how it goes. It just so happens that I actually missed the first day (go figure), but that won't stop me, and I've taken two today to make up for it.
     I hiked up Spencer's Butte today and the weather was wonderful. It was blue skies and sunny so I figured it'd be a good day to get some fresh air. Here are two for the past two days.

Gnarly - January 1, 2012

     This is on the way up, just after the very start of the hike. I made my hiking partner stop 5 or 6 times to get the shot I wanted. The light was beautiful coming through the trees and I didn't want to miss it. I think sometimes I overlook the beauty that trees have when their leaves are gone. Yes, the leaves add to the trees, especially when they are in fall with all of the colors, but trees are incredible. They are so majestic and peaceful. Being in the northwest we don't realize how lucky we are to have so many around us, until we travel to other places and see how many trees they don't have.

Solitude - January 2, 2012

     What do you think about when you are alone? Do you prefer to be outside and be alone or do you like to be inside, curled up with a blanket? I think for me it really depends on the reason why I am choosing to venture out on my own; sometimes I need to think while other times I need to get out and not think.
     Being at the top of Spencer's Butte is a pretty amazing site. You can see all around the city of Eugene, all the way to Bachelor, and the mountain range between Eugene and the Coast. Sitting at the top is very clearing for my head, and helps me to remember the good things about life, Eugene, and what I am doing here. It's some good exercise up, very rewarding at the top, and a nice loosener on the way back down.

The land of China.

I'm less than 3 weeks away for going away for 3 months.. It's getting hard to wrap my head around it. I got accepted for an internship in China to teach English to elementary school children, what more could I dream of?! I'll be living an hour or two outside of Shanghai (pronounced, shonghai) in a city called Wuxi (pronounced wooshi). I'm staying in an apartment in one of the experimental bilingual schools and teaching in the classroom as well as workshops afterschool and on some weekends. There will be a lot of opportunity for travel and learning from my experiences. I do have to admit, I was hoping for a more rural place for my internship. When they said Wuxi was a small city, I figured that's what I would be getting. I guess I need to start realigning myself with Chinese thoughts on what constitutes a small city, 4.6 million people! The only thought that came to my head when I heard that is how much I'm going to get lost. I am getting nervous, about the language barrier. The internship didn't require interns to know Chinese, they just wanted native English speakers to be able to teach. I got a little book to carry around with me to help, but I have a strange feeling I'm going to order my food wrong, a lot.
I had a dream last night that I was leaving for the airport, getting ready to board the plane, and forgot my camera. Some people may not think that's a big deal, but I LOVE taking pictures and would be so sad if I wasn't able to document this wonderful internship I'm about to experience. That will be the first thing I pack now!

On another note, I got asked to shoot my first wedding! It happens to be going on the day before I leave for my internship, but hey, what's a little stress to add to the excitement? I just got a new camera and I'm really happy with it. I've been shooting a lot and I love that I can actually see what I'm shooting because the review screen is so much bigger and clearer than my last one. I'm hoping that for the wedding it will be good conditions, but I'll just take it as it comes. I did the engagement shoots for the couple who is getting married and they were absolutely wonderful in front of the camera. They were cute and cuddly as though I wasn't even there. Hopefully the wedding day goes just as well!



photos.

     I have been experimenting more with lighting in my photos and I think I'm finally starting to get to a beginning point.. I think this picture of one of my roommates with lighting is one of my best so far. I'm hoping to get better and quicker at it, I'm not always going to have patient people waiting for me to move around my equipment and wait for me! It's also hard trying to be able to wait for just the right moment. Yes, I could get a fancy camera that takes 8 pictures a second, (too bad they're super expensive) but I've got to work with what I have. I think it's better practice for me and makes me really think about what I'm doing.

     I've been thinking that photography is really somewhat of a parallel to how I'm doing in life. I tend to take more pictures when my life is going well, and vice versa when it isn't. I'm not positive about this part yet, but I also think the types of pictures I take somewhat reflect how I am feeling and the phases I am going through, whether my pictures are of people or nature or something else completely. Hopefully the pictures keep on flowing!

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

      I'm not sure what it is but as I was riding my bike to work the other day, something clicked, "I'm incredibly happy!" I thought. What? What was this random thought popping into my brain? Could it be from me riding my favorite green polka dot bike? Or the fact that I was wearing my bug-eye sunglasses? Maybe it was that school was finally over - It could have been all of them combined! Whatever it was, I'm glad it happened.
     I have been somewhat negative the last while trying to take pity on myself for this little mishappening or that, but really, why? I love where I am in my life and what I am doing with it. Yes little things may not go exactly as planned during the week but I wouldn't be the same I am today if those wouldn't have happened. Plus, I'm in a lot better mood once I can accept what's going on and know that my life is in God's hands. What's going to happen will happen, and I am extremely happy with the happenings.

Schooling.

I had a hugely wonderful opportunity to volunteer up at a school in Salem. I have gone up every Friday for the past 5 weeks and stayed throughout the whole day interacting with the children and observing the teacher and her teaching methods. I didn't realize how attached I would get to these kids in such a short amount of time... I think I'm going to be a "crier" when I eventually start teaching, every time my class moves on I'll start bawling.

It was very different being in a classroom for a full day rather than just part of it. I also liked being in a different district where I saw some things that they don't do here in Eugene. The school in Salem was low-income, and so they are trying out a new type of curriculum. The kids get there every morning at 8am and go to "team time". Team time is when the kids get exercise in, helps reduce tardies, and gets the children awake for school. The kids then come into the classroom and eat free breakfast while the teacher starts up the day. The kids are in school until 4pm every day except for Fridays, when they get out at 2:30. It was interesting for me to see how the kids showed up tired, then got energy, then their energy drooped towards the end of the day. This is something that you don't get to experience when you are only in a classroom for a few hours out of the day.

The kid's personalities were absolutely ridiculous and I loved 'em to death. Each one had his or her own way of doing things, thinking, acting out, being kind, and learning; it's making me a little nervous for how I'll adapt my curriculum to fit each and every one of the kids in my classroom. It's somewhat of a good nervous though. I was waffling when I chose teaching as my major, I didn't know if it was right for me or not. After going up to Salem, however, I know that teaching is for me :)

Photo Website.

I've been working super hard on this photo website and have finally published it. Take a look and give me some feedback!

Sienna Leilani Photography

Kumijaka!

It's officially summer! And by that I mean that the weather has finally made up it's mind to be sunny. I just recently made a trip to Utah to see my friend's wedding and had a great opportunity to snap some shots while I was there (hence the pictures on top). Their last name is Malovich, can you see it? I was trying to be creative :) We got into a FREE Modest Mouse concert. It was nuts! There was a gigantic line to get in so we hopped by fence and were on our merry way. It was super good, definitely worth being squished, smooshed, and stepped on haha. After we left we found out that there were 40,000 people there.

So one friend was just in Europe, one is studying abroad in Australia, one just got back from study abroad in Switzerland, one is going to China for humanitarian aid... I think this is telling me that I NEED TO GO TO ANOTHER COUNTRY! I think I'd love to study abroad somewhere. With my major (currently) being elementary education, it'd be awesome to be able to visit another country and teach little kids, I love 'em.

I enrolled in two summer classes that are only 4 weeks long. I think that is the best idea ever. Granted, I may change my mind by next week when I'm super behind and cramming for a mid-term, but for right now it's super. I'm taking a biology class and some gender identity comparative literature class - both actually seemed interesting for the first day of class today so that was definitely a plus. We get to watch the movie 300 in my comp. lit. class because apparently it has some very good points in it that relate to our studies... uh huh, whatever, fine by me!

I got to see the Avett Brothers in concert up in Portland. They were awesome, the venue was awesome, the weather was awesome.... I don't think it could've been any better. Except maybe if the root beer floats weren't freakin' $6 for a teeny one! We got there about an hour and a half early to get a good spot and the line was an unbelievable like mile long to get in. However, we only had to wait in line for a couple minutes before it started moving. We got in, spread out our blanket, and napped in the sun until the show started.

(Semi) New Apartment

I got a new apartment... again. I've lived here since December.

It's time for updates.

My roommate is Courtney. She's wonderful :)

We live next to Autzen Stadium. (Perfect for duck games!)

We still have mistletoe hanging from the ceiling from Christmas.

We have bathtubs! So great.

Now I'll introduce you.

This is our living room.

Dining room.

My bathroom.

Kitchen.

My room was too messy to put pictures up.

So... on with my life. I'm going to University of Oregon and Lane Community College still.

I have been liking Eugene except for the weather (I think I say that in every single one of my posts).

I got accepted into the Elementary Education major at the University of Oregon.

I went to Sun Valley for spring break and it was AWESOME.

I've been going to lots of concerts and heard some good bands play.

I'm working on being more organized.

I want to join a yoga club in town, I think it will be good for me.

I'm trying not to eat dairy - no milk, cheese, butter... or ice cream :(

I just finished with a photography class at Lane and I'm pretty proud of my work.

I have a new baby named Giselle.

Kidding.

I am saving my money for a trip to somewhere I don't know yet.

Truth.

I am learning a lot about myself on what is good for me, and what isn't.

I don't think I'll ever stop learning that.

I don't want to ever stop learning.

and I kinda want to move again... It gets boring having to stay in one place for too long.

Where will it be next?

Any ideas?

hoi polloi.

So I figured that since I said I would put up pictures of my apartment (and I've now lived here for 4 months) I should probably do that. Anyway, here it is!

Living room.

Bathroom!

Kitchen.

Kitchen side 2.

My room!

and the other side. (I sewed those curtains, very proud.)

So I haven't really been doing much besides school and work. I cut back on work so I don't work Mondays and Wednesdays now which is super nice. It's good to have some time to yourself :) I haven't had much lately so I'm enjoying it. I went to the coast and got to see some sun! eat at Mo's, and see how fast my car could corner ;)

I've decided (once again) that I'm going to major in elementary education, but also hopefully minor/major in art. I've come to conclude that I really do love kids, and would love a job where I get to be with them and teach them every day. Not to mention that summers off will be nice...

I'm a little tired of the grey skies here in Eugene, but that's part of the package right? I just applied for my passport. That was an irritating process. I went during my lunch break and waited for AN HOUR and the line didn't move a SINGLE PERSON. I went the next day at 8:30 in the morning and it took a whopping 10 minutes. I guess you just have to catch them at the right time apparently.

The power just flickered off and on... oh shoot.

One thing I REALLY dislike, is when Christmas music is playing on the radio before Thanksgiving is even here. I like it, but by the time Christmas gets here I'm so tired of it that I don't want to hear it anymore. Christmas is my favorite holiday, but it's just not supposed to come before Thanksgiving; turkeys should get their fair share of fame.

I really like my classes that I'm taking right now. My teachers are super helpful and seem like they actually want to be there, haha. It's nice when you have a teacher who seems like they really do care about how you're doing. I hope that's how I'll be someday :)

peregrination.

Since I have almost seven more hours of work sitting behind this boring desk, I think it's a good chance to elaborate on my short entry...

Summer is practically gone! I don't really know what to think about it. It seemed like it lasted forever when I was in the middle of it but now everyone is leaving for school already. Taking classes, working, and attempting to be social takes a lot of effort, I don't know that I'll be up for it that much longer - maybe I'll cut one of them out soon?

I moved into an apartment inbetween 11th and 12th on Charnelton Alley. It's a cute little two bedroom apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and a living room (the bathroom is practically as big as the living room). Kim and I have somewhat opposite schedules, but we've been getting along super well and we seem to have everything we need for right now as far as the apartment goes. It gets VERY hot in the apartment if we don't keep the windows open and fans on at all times, so I don't think we'll have any trouble keeping it warm during fall and winter.

I finally almost have my room put together/finished, I'm just waiting for a bed-frame and I'll be all set. My room in my apartment is bigger than either of my rooms at my parents house so that part is nice! Kim has a sewing machine that we've used to make curtains for our apartment (I made mine all by myself, woo!) we put fabric up on the walls as wall-paper, and we went to ross to get random things for the shelves that run around the ceiling in the kitchen (everyone always has random things up there, right?).

I just sold my Xterra a couple of days ago. I've been thinking about it for awhile, so I finally put it up on craigslist and got a call back about it a couple days later, and sold it! I wanted to sell it because it gets absolutely horrible gas mileage! I got 12 miles/gallon <-- bad. When I thought I was going to move to Bend it would've been the perfect car, since I'm staying here and "commuting" to work 15 minutes away it just makes more sense for me to have a car that is more fuel efficient. I'm looking at getting a volkswagon golf or rabbit, but we'll see what I end up with. And let's hope the grandparents will co-sign on another loan for me...

I'm dual-enrolling at Lane and University of Oregon this year. No going back to Hawaii for me :( Dealing with school has been a pain! I finally got admitted into U of O, but now I have to wait for orientation to sign up for classes, and guess when orientation is? The WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS! What is this?! I think they are trying as hard as they can to make it not possible for me to attend school there. I'm supposed to be giving next month's work schedule in by the 15th (two days from now) and I still have no idea what my class schedule is going to be like. Oh geez, I hope something works itself out.

My roommate and I have decided to get our motorcycle licenses... Haha. She might be getting a vespa, and in order to get one that goes over 35 mph you must have a motorcycle license. So that's what we're going to do! They get like 60 miles/gallon on fuel so we figure it's a pretty good investment. The training is only three days! Granted, they are going to be very long days, but it's going to be worth it. Wish me luck!

I've been a little more relaxed the last couple weeks, and hopefully it will stay that way until school starts (and maybe after?). I've gone to the coast a couple of times, ridden my bike, hiked Spencers Butte, eaten at Sweet Life, and slept. Really, how much better can it get?

I also just found out that flights from Portland to Hawaii, roundtrip, in January are $219. I AM GOING.

flower.

Yes, I am finally updating much needed to be updated blog. Lots of things:

• Moved into my own two-bedroom apartment with Kim!
• I'm going to be dual-enrolling at Lane and University of Oregon
• I just sold my Xterra, not quite sure how I feel about that decision yet
• I went to the Xavier Rudd concert up in Portland (awesome!)
• Just went see Michael Franti
• Also saw Band of Horses (can you tell where all of my extra money is going?)
• I want to go to take a road trip to Canada (as soon as I get a passport)
• I'm turning 20 in one month and three days, WOO!

There is my life.

elbow tag.

I've been back in Eugene now for about a month and a half. I'm really missing Hawaii, but Eugene has been fun too. I haven't written in awhile, so I need to fill in the big blank space... I've found a job as a lifeguard at the Eugene Swim & Tennis Club, and I'm taking a writing class at Lane to make up for my passed A.P. English class senior year (long, horrible, boring story). Those two things are pretty much what run my life right now, but I'm still getting some time for myself so it's worked out really well. My writing class is very (un)iteresting. My teacher, Perry Ma, came over from China and taught himself english. Why he is teaching my writing class? I have no idea. It's very hard to understand him and he seems so stressed all of the time that I really don't know how he goes through the day. He also has a funny tree branch theory he uses that involves his arm and finger... HA.

I got the amazing chance to go see Coldplay. SO NEAT! The coolest concert, by far, that I've ever been to. They were better live than they are on their cd's. So good. It was up in Ridgefield, WA (right past Portland). We thought we were going to miss it because of traffic but we ended up getting there right before Coldplay came out so it was perfect timing. There were thousands and thousands of people there. I had only gotten my tickets like a week before the show, and I ended up sitting in the same row as my mom who had gotten her tickets back in February, it was pretty funny.

I've been admitted into University of Oregon, and hopefully I'll be attending this fall, but we'll see how everything goes. I'm adjusting to life back at home as a college student and it's been going fairly well. It's definitely different living on your own for a year and then coming back home to parents and everything you left behind. It's been fun, but it takes some adjusting.

I have signed my life over to the bank to be the proud owner of an Xterra. So excited, but let's hope I can keep up with the payments. and GAS! The car gets freakin' 14 miles per gallon and the gas goes so fast... I literally watch the needle go down as I drive. It looks like it's going to be back to the bike for me!

Nutrilligator.

I am back in Eugene. Besides the weather, I love being home. It's been amazing to see friends again and be back with family. I've gotten settled in and have been making up for lost time. I have already succeeded in losing my tan I had in Hawaii, but hopefully that will be somewhat coming back if the weather ever decides to get nice here.

I take that back about loving being home (well, the job department anyway). Finding a job in Eugene = Impossible. I've turned in like 15 applications and haven't heard anything back... I'm really starting to stress out because I need to be able to find a job this summer to be able to save up some money. Besides the job part... home is great.

I've been camping, been on a nutrilligator bike riding adventure where we encountered snakes and an alligator, been trying to get my body adjusted to the 3 hour time difference, and played a softball game with the IB Roof Systems softball team (IB Ballers...). I missed Eugene, I'm glad I got to come home.

Fillip.

I've been counting down the days until I go home, and it's down to 11... I don't know if I want to go! I really like it here, and have loved meeting new people and making new friends. It's so much fun having people come out to visit me, and just getting to be a goofy kid. I do miss Eugene, but I know I'm going to miss it here so much! I'm liking classes, biking, the beach, the swap meet, the people, oh boy... I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to leave. Here's a group of us waiting at the bus stop to head home from the Swap Meet.

I had my last day of work yesterday and I was actually really sad. I mean, who would've thought I'd be sad about not having to wash dishes for hours upon hours a night? Tui brought pizza for my last day! That was nice, I haven't had pizza for like 2 months, it was great!

My friend Cait came to visit with her family and they were so nice! It was fun getting to the other side of someone's life that I met in college. It was kind of wierd seeing her like 4,000 miles away from where I met her, but it was nice to see a familiar face. We went to Matsumoto's shave ice down in Haleiwa, and I took them to a secret beach spot where we saw turtles!

I'm so excited to go home, but I'm just not too excited about leaving here. I wish I could just have both as once, that would be the life. But oh well, you can't have it all. However, I have to say, having to choose between Hawaii and Home... neither is really that bad of a choice :)

Whoop.

I don't know what it is but, lately, I have been very into sepia. Hmm, maybe it's an idea for a new photo shoot?

Not much has happened since camping. I met a girl who seems like she fell straight out of Eugene, but she's from Utah! It's one of the wierder things I've come across. She's super nice and really motivated. Maybe she will help me in that department. We've decided that we're going to make a business making and selling lava lava pants. Woo! I'll try and remember you when I'm rich and have 20 houses all over the world.

My friend Cait, from Utah State, is here with her family and I get to see her on Wednesday! I'm SO EXCITED! She's coming up to the north shore for the day and I'm going up to visit them in Haleiwa. I can't wait to see her!

It's official, I'm going back to Eugene for summer. I'm hoping to move into my own apartment, so if you hear of anything cheap then please pass it on! I'd very much appreciate.

Mmm, I have my bio midterm this friday, and pretty much I'm only writing right now because I am procrastinating - I should probably start studying now. Ugh... Have I mentioned that I hate bio?