ALS Challenge: Awareness is Key

Even though my video is at the top, I believe that what I have to say after it is much, much more important.

This week I was nominated by my friend and fellow cymbal lady Makayla McNaughton, to do the ice bucket challenge. Seeing as I don't own a bucket and have no means to make that much ice, Nick (who was also nominated for this challenge) and I jumped into Lake Washington, which is cold and quite murky near the shore. So, we did it-- Go Dawgs!

Well, there's more to the story than that...

Please click this link to watch the ice bucket challenge that brought me to tears. 

ALS is all too real. This, among many other diseases, are breaking down people and their families from the inside out. There is very little research on this topic, and not many people really understand what this disease does. I may not have the best insight, but when people are hurting, I hurt too. How can there be a disease that cripples people neurologically, then physically-- and it to fall upon good people? This breaks me. 

I can't do much, but I donated some to the ALS foundation to which you can too by clicking this link. This whole trend and spreading of awareness has also reminded me of the things I am passionate about. 

I am passionate about mental health, to be more specific, depression and suicide. I have lost people close to me from suicide, and have been affected by depression and self mutilation in my life. 

Though I want to study to become a counselor or therapist, I want to to my part by contributing to organizations that help. So in addition to my donation to ALS, other organizations receiving funds from me includes donating to the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, which helps manage most local suicide hotlines (1.800.273.TALK) and I will continue to support To Write Love on Her Arms, an amazing organization that has inspired young and old in renewing their self worth, including myself.

To those that I have challenged, and if I have not challenged you verbally but you are reading this page-- my wish is that you find whatever it is you are passionate about, and spread awareness to all those around you, in hope that change will occur. 

Be the good in this world, one thing at a time. 

Making Friends with Job

This year, I have faced more forms of rejection and loss than I've ever had in such a small amount of time. From last August losing my Nana, to being dumped that September; from being rejected from a major, to basically losing a job... I've been through hell and back this year. To top it off, let's add getting broken up with... again.

To say the least, much of this has piled up and taken its toll on me. Much of me wants to just say screw it all and delve into depression again; to just shut down and never let anyone in again. 

You know, I believe in God but I'm not very good at being a 'religious' person. Spiritual, yes, but in practice I'm not good at going to church every week and reading the bible as much as I should. 

However, I am inspired by the story of Job. In the bible, Job is a man, and one of God's most faithful servants. So faithful, that Satan challenged God to take away all of the things that Job found valuable in his life, to prove a testament that Job loved and served God purely because that's what he wanted, not because of what he had.

Now, I'm not as steadfast as Job. Nowhere near it. But this story reminds me that I have so much more to look forward to in my life. I am young, and perhaps it's God's plan that I have gone through so much in my life, not just this year, so that I can be so much stronger as a person.

Recently I've been thinking more about my future. But it hasn't been as conscious as it sounds, more like passive thoughts that pop in and out of my head as epiphanies and revelations.

Most recently, I've realized what I think I want to do... Actually, I think what I'm meant to do. Once I get into Psych, I want to go into counseling. I want to love on people who don't feel loved and let them know that things have purpose and that they are important. 

I feel good when others feel good. I'm more than a people pleaser, I depend on their positive energies for my gratification and some of my happiness relies on the happiness of those around me. 

I believe that I've gone through so much in my young life in order to relate with those who are struggle with depression, or affected by drug abuse-- you name it. 

It's the people who truly understand that want to help others, 

and I want to help, too.

In the end of the book of Job, God gives him twice what he had. I'd like to think that I'm facing this rejection because perhaps my future will be twice as good on another path. 

I just need to remember to be grateful. I have amazing family and framily who support me throughout any trial and tribulation. There are people I've encountered who have heard me out when I wanted them to be strong for themselves. There are people who go out of their way to make sure I am okay, and spend hours just talking and ensuring that I know I am important. 

I am special. I am loved. And I am so grateful for that.

Thank you, as always, for reading. It means a lot to me. 

I do apologize for this wall of words, more pictures next time!

Call of the Wild

I'm wrapping up my second to last day in Colorado, a vacation in which I spent most of my time not even at my Aunt's house. Here's a little anecdote summing up our adventures elsewhere...

Camping is one of the best ways to find out how adaptive you are to not sleeping in your own bed, along with living without certain amenities that most of us take for granted.

Road-tripping is another way to challenge how flexible you are with the company around you while in enclosed spaces from one destination to another. 

So, after having not visited my Aunt Sonny, Uncle Troy, and cousins Quinn and Syri for four years, we figured: why not combine the two?

Troy teaches at CSU, and had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone to start on a project of reintroducing wolves to the park. My Aunt, cousins, and I drove up to join him, stopping in many places along the way.

This was our first campsite.

The first site was pretty nice, a little south of Jackson Hole, WY. This was my first time camping in years, and we were now in bear country. 

This was a bit scary for all of us, because we had to be a lot more careful about how we stored food, bringing bear spray with us if we had to go somewhere, especially at night. To top it off, all three of us girls got food poisoning in the middle of the night. Yay!

First campsite, still: Granite Hot Springs

It wasn't that bad overall, really. And our next night of camping continued the adventure.




Yellowstone's busiest month is July, therefore, you have to show up to campsites SUPER EARLY to claim them, which isn't very easy when traveling with 8 and 11-year-olds who aren't morning people. Heck, I wasn't much of a morning person on this trip, either.

Old faithful! It was phenomenal.

To say the least, we weren't able to get a campsite where we had planned for night two. But instead we ended up in a little town of Gardiner, Montana. Three states-- yeah!

Sunset over our campsite in Gardiner, MT.

Camping the second night, we had more of a routine, with Troy with us, also. So we split up into two tents. 

However, I was a lot more freaked out that night because there was something outside of our tent mere minutes after we retreated for the night.

We want to believe it was elk... So I'm sticking with that :)

One of our last days in Yellowstone involved camping at a site called Indian Creek, which is perched next to Obsidian Creek.

This is where I found what we believe to be an arrowhead! 

(Sorry, I'm too lazy to take a picture right now, but it's suuuuper old and awesome and I'm really excited about it because it was definitely one of those 'unwritten' things on my bucket list.)

Between Gardiner and this site lay a small 'town' called Mammoth. Here is where we discovered the Boiling River, which is a hot spring that flows into the Gardner river.

Gross camping Morgan next to the hot spring!

Hot springs are quite common in northern Yellowstone. I'm not sure how or why there is such bountiful geothermal activity in this region, but it is out of this world.

One of the many hot springs atop Mammoth's ridge.

Our last night on the trek back, we encountered more wildlife than ever, including following bison down the street, many elk, and even a moose!

Jumping bison!

We stayed a night in Jackson Hole, WY. A town that reminds me a lot of places I've visited in Montana. 

Our final morning involved some bouldering at a newly discovered park!

Tomorrow is my last day with my Aunt and her family. So we're going to explore Fort Collins and old town. I'm really grateful to know people all around the country who are willing to host me graciously, family or not.

I'm not sure how much I am looking forward to getting back to Seattle. 

But I think that with this adventure, I know a bit more about myself. 

Southern "Rouxts"

For years, I have been wanting to visit this town, this state, these people. Now that I'm finally taking this opportunity, I have one thing to say:

I am falling in love with the South. 

The thunderstorms, the heat, even the humidity: I love it all.

From the live oak trees, to the spanish moss;

from the food, to the hospitality-- there isn't much to compare it to.

I have SO MANY more pictures to post, but I'll definitely have to post more later (if you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll see a lot more when I'm back in general).

The LSU Memorial Clock Tower.
This was the first night I was here, how beautiful.

Couldn't help but take a touristy photo.
I squealed like a litle
This place-- I AM IN LOVE.

The Clock Tower at Dusk. So beautiful.

I FINALLY GOT TO MEET BRAXTON!
My lost brother and his family are hosting me this week,
and boy has it been a blessing. So many good talks
and laughter from the moment we met up at the airport.

AND JOSHUAAAA!
Another wonderful human being, with a heart (and beard)
worthy of a lion. I love his stories and mockingbird impressions.
(Or... Mocking-"beard"... hehe. Sorry, too many beard puns) 

The Old State Capitol was a beautiful sight,
how incredible it is that architecture can embody so much
culture and prestige to last for centuries.

I've been blessed to have the opportunity to finally visit the state, school, and people that I have come to know and love virtually-- while realizing that these all hold an even larger place in my heart now.

Trading recipes with Mawmaw,
(Braxton's grandma, and Josh's great Aunt)
after a long night of eating gumbo and playing
hours of Mexican (Trash) Train Dominos.
Southern people are my kind of people. :)

As always, thank you for reading my blog.

Time to geaux on more adventures this week!

Double Take

After three weeks of dismay, writing list upon list to brainstorm what I should pursue, where I could earn that degree, and how many years it would take, I came to the conclusion that I either wanted to teach or possibly go into counseling. 

Based on my credits and the strange variety of classes that I'd taken, I didn't think that I would get very far in my conversations with advisors about graduating on time, in 2016. I was planning to have to deal with graduating in 2017, forking out the extra $15k-- which didn't sound very pleasant at all.

On Monday, I had about 5 different meetings with different departmental advisers at UW, along with a meeting with a general undergraduate advisor.

My first meeting with a Psychology adviser resulted in me realizing that I could graduate on time with a psych degree. This blew my mind. Another meeting with an Art advisor about IVA (Interdisciplinary Visual Arts) also brought me to realizing this: the prior degrees I was pursuing just had much more strict of credit allowances.

This was where things got complicated. Speaking with the Undergrad advisor, I discussed my new career goals and how it would now be hard to choose between one or the other.

She started crunching numbers while looking at my transcript and program requirements and told me that it would be full-well possible and a good idea to instead pursue both and double major in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts and Psychology. What?!

I'll have to do a couple more summer quarters of classes, but the fact that I can double major and still graduate on time makes me so happy!

So what's next? I've already declared IVA and will apply for Psych in the Spring! After my undergrad, I will get a Masters in either teaching, counseling, or art therapy. But I have time to figure out what I like about any of those. :)

Work-related: I had my orientation/training session at Specialty's yesterday, and I totally love my new boss and the coworkers that I met! I am so excited for this kind of change. After my vacation I'm going to work my first shift with certification as an official Peet's Coffee barista! Yay!

Honestly, I think that there was a reason that all of these doors got closed on me. And as one of my friends pointed out (who's in a parallel situation): maybe we needed to experience rejection. As in, maybe it was His plan all along that in college I needed to grow by pursuing all the wrong things and get rejected from some, in order to be strong enough when the right door was opened to me. He works in weird ways, and always has a purpose, so I kinda like that explanation. 

So, life really is coming together, and I am much happier with my situation.

Next stop: Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Monday!

I'll be recording my adventures either throughout or after my vacation, but I am sure excited for a trip of a lifetime!

I'm also very excited to see Braxton!

And Josh! Love these goobers!

#SoulSearchSummer

This school year wrapped up fairly well for me, considering my freshman year I had a below 3.0 cumulative GPA. 

But even in the wake of achieving better grades, summer didn't welcome me with such open arms, but with rude awakenings.

Sweet painting done by a former coworker,
Arthur Johnstone, of me at Tully's.
Behind the bar is home to me.

Weeks ago, I found out that I was losing my job. Not fired, but I was basically pushed to quit due to unpreventable circumstance. This was a huge bummer. I had dedicated over a year and a half to this company, with my last shift at Tully's being today, you can say I feel a little empty. 

Luckily, this wasn't the worst of it. Upon finding out this situation and putting my two weeks notice in, I landed two interviews which has resulted in my new employment at Specialty's Cafe and Bakery. I am very excited for the opportunity to continue on as a barista in the professional world.

Speaking of jobs, let's jump back to the school side of things...

Some catch-up since September:

Two thirds through the prerequisites, everything inside me was saying that I was pursuing the wrong thing, so I decided to make the switch to Design. I received a decent grade and had to complete the Design Entrance Workshop, which is highly competitive and had less than a 30% admission rate. 

This past week, I had the rude awakening of the Design dream being crushed when I received a letter saying I'd been rejected from the program. 

So now, I'm left with very little options.

You see. UW has a 105-credit rule. This means that after the first quarter of Junior year, all students must have a declared major or must otherwise appeal to a board.

A new path; a new adventure.
Time to explore and discover myself.

This doesn't sit very well with me, so now I have to make some decisions about my future. I am left with choices in the form of questions:

Is UW the school for me?

Should I continue to pursue design elsewhere?

Should I take a break from school and work?

Is there another major more suiting for me?

This Summer is vital to finding my passions;

a soft reset to a harsh reality-- then seeking change.

I've lost sight of the goals and passions that I thought I had when I first came to Seattle. It's time to change that. 

I have some vacations coming up where I'm going to scope colleges, but also free my mind in observing what I find passion in during my travels.

I believe I'm meant to do something big in my life.

Hence, #soulsearchsummer begins now.

"Speranza mi da vita" means: Hope gives me life. (Italian)
Hope will bring me forward as I figure out the next step of my journey.

Trying New Things

So, I am almost 'all the way' moved into my new apartment. 

(I'll be posting photos likely with the next blog that I write, in due time.)

 It's the first place I've been in that has a lease in my name.

But with this new apartment, comes new responsibilities, like keeping the space organized, and paying bills.

Luckily, I was given a promotion at work recently (from Barista to Lead Barista... Kind of a lower management level position), which means that I will be able to work more flexible hours, and have (though it is slight) a pay raise.

With all kinds of obligations now, I have still to 'ball' harder on a budget, and do some things that I'm not used to doing.

Crazy, right? Trying new things? What?

The first thing I'm focusing on is food--

as in cooking for myself, not splurging a whole bunch on junk, and eating healthier.

With drumline in full swing, I'm in the best shape I will be all year-- unless I learn to maintain it.

So here's my first shot at a home done smoothie.

My roommate, Erin, brought this beauty (the blender) with her to Morgan Junction (that's the name of our apartment, I will indeed explain more about my place later), and today I was able to figure out how this old school piece of machinery works.

I threw in some frozen mixed berries, frozen pineapple chunks, chopped carrots, then added grapefruit juice.

Voila!

It was a bit sour due to all of the grapefruit juice, so next time I'll cut it with some other liquid.

Readers: Do you have a suggestion of new things I could try?

I'm thinking healthy, borderline-simple, and frugal!

Thanks for reading! I have a smoothie to finish!