Adventures in the Orange House.

Yeah, yeah, calm down. I know its been awhile. If I had the time to sit down and write, I would!! I'm trying here, people. But due to the many texts and e-mails I have received, I suppose I can come up with something...

(This first part I actually started writing a while back but never finished)

Its been quite the week, friends and countrymen! It included medical issues up the wazoo, starting with the wonderful gift of food poisoning early this week...whoop-de-freaking-doo. I felt funny on Monday after work and decided against going to my 7 pm discussion. Turns out I have killer instincts because had I gone, I would have created what would have been the most embarrassing moment of my 20-year existence; puking in front of 23 philosophy students. Sorry, I'll stop the details from going any further. The saddest part in this whole experience was that I got sick from a bad salad. A salad. If I'm going to get poisoning, I could have at least gone out with a bang. With a food I actually enjoy eating (you know, like a hot dog or chimichanga). Confession: I don't even know nor have I tasted what a chimichanga is. I just like the way it sounds. So Monday and Tuesday I was out of commission, having no appetite and living off of saltines and free online TV streaming.

I was feeling better for about 2.7 hours, that is until I woke up on Wednesday with a plugged ear. No big deal, I thought. Happens all the time. Well folks, 2 days later and the ear was still. popped. I scoured wikepedia and scoured every solution and home remedy to popping one's ears. And I tried it all. Drinking water upside down, forcing myself to yawn continuously, chewing enormous wads of bubblegum, even something called the "Vasaca" method. (??) Nothing. Worked. This was slightly more dramatic than it should have been because I was growing nearer and nearer to my Thursday night Cru meeting (where I have been helping with worship...yeah. Thats a whole different story) and I could not hear myself sing out of one ear.

UPDATE: 2 weeks later, and the ear still goes in and out of plug-ness. Thinking I should have gone to the doctor a while ago. (2nd Confession of this Post: I have a slight, no huge, fear of going to the doctor on my own in college. So there you have it.)

Enough about my health problems, I am just 20 after all. A more light and humorous moment in my week involved a man and toilet paper (and you thought I was done talking about "health problems"...). Biking home and taking in my Davis-surroundings, I spotted a man. Dapperly dressed, suit and tie, briefcase in hand (no, it wasn't Eric). But cradled in his arm like a newborn baby, was a Costco 24-pack of Angel Soft. Toilet paper. Between his outfit and the t.p., I had no choice but to dream up what could possibly be going on in that man's life at that very moment. Perhaps he was on his way to a "Bring Your Own TP" business meeting. Maybe he was preparing himself for the end times. I'm open to your interpretations.

Another reason why I have been away from you wonderful cow-tippers, is because I was at Fall Retreat. It was a short and sweet weekend away from the cow smell and into the great outdoors. And sadly, the camp food was better than anything I've eaten all year. I did learn that I have a *slight* fear of raccoons. A few of us were huddled around a dying campfire in complete darkness, and they thought it would be fun to turn on their flashlights at random times in an effort to spot the 'coons. Well, every time they did this it elicited more and more screams from yours truly, as each time the light flashed the raccoon seemed to be closer and closer to us. Of course, all they really wanted was our leftover s'mores, but I was wholeheartedly convinced that they would have eaten me, had they the chance.

The only reason I had any wish to stay at the coon-infested campsite, was because my roommates and I knew that when we returned home, our house would be painted. And not just re-painted--painted a completely different color. Not a big deal, until we started noticing the color scheme they were going with on the rest of the apartments. Some were blue, some were gray, some were purple. And some were orange. We kept telling ourselves that as long as we didn't return home to an orange house, we would be fine with the color change. Who wants to guess what happened next?

Our house. Is. Orange.

I've never been a fan of this particular color myself, but I would have been fine with a light orange. A muted orange. A tan orange. But this is what my roommates and I have described this orange as: "a pumpkin spice latte", "cheap tanning lotion", and this gem, "someone throwing up cheap tanning lotion". Does that sound like a pleasant shade of orange to you?! It is revolting. Our coping technique is telling ourselves that they only did it as an act of festivity for Halloween. Or as a tribute to the Giants winning the World Series. (Surprised I know the Giants won? Me too).

I hope that helped my deprived faithful followers. I'm trying trying to be more consistent! Oh, and Happy Halloween Eve!! Tomorrow is Halloween and you know that must mean I have some tricks up my sleeve...I'm going to see an Improv show on campus--either it will be good and I will laugh, or it will fail miserably and I'll still laugh. A win-win.

Back with Sass.

Its meeee, its really meeee! Back in the town of cows and ready to kick some "bottom" this Junior year! Wait, what. Junior? Eek. Strap on your seatbelts, ladies and gents. This one's gonna be a doozy.

I know you all have missed my mushy mentions of the Prince, so this one's for you. We celebrated an "official" whole year together last month! We played hooky from church (shhh, don't tell Pastor John) and each planned half of the day to surprise one another. Well, if you know anything about us, we seem to always have the inability to pull off a successful surprise...this day was no exception. Part of my plan worked, taking him to brunch at a historic spot in downtown Sac. Well, that is after the 40-minute wait that I didn't anticipate. I also planned to rent kayaks on a lake at the Sac State Aquatic Center, envisioning a scene right of the Notebook.. alas, the weather had other plans. It was cold and windy that morning, and due to a lack of communication Eric's "event" had to start at 3:00. Well shoot. So we scraped my second half of the date and moved on to Erics--horse back riding! It was great fun, riding our new bffs Jimmy and Pistol. We had a private ride that went through old gold mining land and along a lake which we learned was-oh wait-the Sacramento Aquatic Center! So as we were trotting along, happy couples were kayaking 2 feet away from us. Ohhh the irony. We ended our day with a delightful dinner on the water with a view of the Sacramento Tower bridge.

I came back from that blissful day of adventure to find that all the new Freshman are officially back in town.  I know I shouldn't judge seeing as  how I was that Freshman with the U-Haul truck on move in day. But I think I've earned the right as an upperclassman to be slightly irritated when parents are walking in the middle of bike lanes and freshman walk through a round-a-bout the wrong way. Maybe I'll have to join the clan of upperclassman who set up couches on the first day of school to watch Freshman crash...

School is in full-swing (one week in) and I have a quiz tomorrow...the joys of the quarter system. I have been adjusting to a new 2-story apartment that, may I mention, has a nice hefty staircase. At first I was excited, seeing as how I have never lived in a 2-story anything. Now, a few weeks in...I'm trying hard to find the excitement in a nice hefty staircase. Its beginning to be somewhat pathetic how I now strategize and meticulously plan what I need to bring going up and down, heaven forbid I forget something and have to make another trip up or down. I feel my calves taking shape already.

Oh yeah, I'm 2 0 now. Everyone has been telling me that its "such a boring age" and "nothing cool happens when you turn 20". Welp, if you ask me, being two decades down is pretty darn cool. Then I started thinking, in one more decade I'll be 30. As in, appropriate-child bearing-age appropriate. *insert wide-eyed face here* So yeah, I guess 20 isn't that momentous.

My birthday was more like a birthend (birthday weekend, get it?) I made the drive to the utopia that is Reno, Nevada to see my sis! Moose gave me my first present of the weekend, a giant bite out of my chin. Its okay, his cuddles all weekend made up for it! After  fun girls weekend doing fun girl things, I trekked back to cowtown early Sunday morning, only to find the Prince himself cooking me a feast breakfast. After chowing down on some bacon and my second cup of coffe for the day, we went to church. Me and some of my best gal pals went out for crepes and accepted the fact that we were all turning into balls of sweat in Davis heat. But hey, at least I got presents. Coffee, candles and sock monkies--they know the way to my heart!! Eric took me out for a birthday date (sushi, per my request) and surprised me with a completely unexpected gift, a very nice big girl watch. Gotta love a man who knows a thing or two about good taste. I should also mention that my fave yogurt joint gives out free froyo on one's birthday. Obviously, I was not about to pass that up that bowl of sugar and artificial flavors. My friends advised me to overflow it, so I could save half for later.  Taking their advice, I jam packed that sucker with the heaviest and yummiest toppings I could find. And you want to know something? I ate the whole cup right then and there.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and I was ready the next morning for my "philosophy of science" class. Sounds riveting, right? I was getting the impression that it would be an easy A class; that is until I went to my discussion section. We were going around the room introducing ourselves and sharing an interesting fact. "I like tennis", "I play guitar", some said. One girl, however, states her name, year and major then shares in the most menacing voice, "My fun fact? I'm a snake in a can." Crickets could be heard in the halls of Wellman. Unless someone can enlighten me as to what this strange statement may mean, my hopes of a piece of cake class has turned into a fear for my life.

Of course, no blog post would be complete without a Shelly update. Basket: 0 Bike Lights: 2. Sadly, the basket made its final departure this week. I'm sure I've provided entertainment for onlookers as I find a way to jerry-rig my waterbottle, keys, and bike lock to my handlebars as I pedal. The basket has been chilling on our porch where the mailman keeps mistaking it for a mailbox, proving the notion that one man's trash is another man's treasure. But! I finally got bike lights. Using a certain someone's employee discount, I got a pair of 175 dollar bike lights for 40! Yes. People actually pay that much for bike lights. Personally I'd be fine duct taping a flashlight to my handle bars, but one does not date a bike mechanic and not get the best lights in the biz. They have the same watt power as a car or something, and come with a USB that plugs into the computer. They fancy.

That is about as much as my little hands sausage fingers can type at the moment. Much has gone on these past few weeks that I missed, but I will begin my "regular" posts starting now! Hugs to you all!