Bittersweet Moments

   

     Hey, so I finally was able to get a camera and have successfully started my vlog: Emerald City Debut! You can either go to http://www.youtube.com/emeraldcitydebut , search "emerald city debut" on youtube or how about you just check out my newest upload (as of this blog post)?

     Happy times, hooray! If I didn't have to maintain my job at Starbucks, strive for a good GPA AND keep up my vlog I would totally be keeping this blog up as well. Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not Wonder Woman (her costume's way too weird for me, anyways. Could never wear that around campus and still have a life afterwords...). I'm much more awesome than her. Okay, not really but you get the idea. So, huge apologies but I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up this blog anymore. :( But hey, if you subscribe to my vlog on youtube then we'll be friends forever. :) I want to thank everyone for supporting me this far and taking the time to read my blogs so far. Thanks so much!! Until next time!
Go Huskies!!!

Victory is Near...

      So, I know it's been a bit but not a whole lot has been happening that's been worth an entire blog post so I waited until a few things piled up so I could write about them all at once. Oh, and that picture up there? Kinda couldn't think of anything else to put up for this blog post. That's a game of Risk that I've been playing with my siblings--it's been on hold for a bit as we slowly play our way through it amidst differing schedules. And yes, that is Mordor you're seeing, as well as Gondor and other surrounding lands, for those fans who noticed. Lord of the Rings Risk, naturally. Oh, and those red orcs horded together in Mordor? Yeah, they're mine. All part of the plan, don't worry. Mordor will prevail!!! ....I mean, where was I? Oh, yes--UW--this is a blog about UW.

     Coming back (reality--ew), through much trial and tribulation, I was finally able to sign up for an Advising and Orientation (A&O) Session at UW, set for exactly two weeks from today on Thursday, August 16th. And, let me tell you, it was one heckuva journey to get there.
See, I had originally scheduled the date to be July 25th--and that was a day before I came back to work when as far as I'd seen the day before, the schedule for that week wasn't posted yet so we're all good, right? --Wrong.
Came back the very next day to see that I was scheduled to work ALL day July 25th. Mind you, this was really my fault. There is definitely a request-off binder in the back which I could have and should have used for this specific date but did I? Nah, who needs that? So, needless to say, I was in a bind (no pun intended. Haha, binders, in a bind--I'm so funny... okay, not really).

     I did all I could to get the shift covered with no results. It's hard enough getting coverage as a Barista but as a Supervisor? Forget about it (did I mention before that I work at Starbucks? Well, I do--and it's awesome, in case anyone's wondering--except that shift coverage business can tend to get just a tad tricky every now and again). So I worked for a while on seeing if anyone would be available for a shift in the near future and since I found little luck in that department, decided to just bite down and take the A&O session further out in August (and a big thanks again to my fabulous manager for making it happen for me!).

     The thing about the A&O session that's so urgent is that you aren't allowed to register for classes without first attending this session. Pain in the neck, let me tell you. I mean, go Huskies and all but... yeah, I tried to see if I could set up my own session since none of their times were working out with my schedule but it turns out you're not allowed to even speak with any other advisers until said session has taken place. Really? --Reallly?

     So.......... yeah, fun times and that. This may also be a subconscious reason for that picture at the top. Feel like I'm fighting battles here, sometimes. ...As an orc, I guess, if we're being literal. Not sure how I feel about that. Kinda think an orc would just smash any opposition. Maybe that's why you don't see any in college...
I'm way over-thinking this.

     Anyways!!

     I've also gotten a good head-start on housing ops, as well. Found this great-sounding place--a group of Christian people who own a freaking MANSION and house a bunch of other college girls and host Bible studies and support each other and have events and super happy fun times. Or something like that.
The rent it seems is going to be about the same as anywhere else in Seattle but for this kind of environment? --Worth it. More details if I actually end up getting in. I'm still working through the whole application process so far. We'll see how it goes--keep your fingers crossed for me on this one, friends--it looks like it's a great place!

When Life Gives You Forms...

 (image retrieved from Google Images)

So, the Orientation letter finally came and (get this) apparently it had been around for maybe a few days already when I just happened to be straightening some things in my room and found it in there. Obscured by some other papers. On the floor. Yeah, did I mention I have a lot of siblings? Let's just say mail can be an issue, sometimes.

Anyways, found it, read it, found out that I needed to actually ACCEPT their acceptance letter (who knew?) via a few forms I had to fill out along with a $272 Orientation Fee which I needed to enclose.
Seriously?
First off, let's just note that I already had to fork over $60 just to apply to the college and now I have to add nearly $300 to accept the fact that I was accepted? Explain that one to me please because my wallet isn't getting it. Unfortunately, life goes on and so does UW, whether or not you want to pay their orientation fee--or the price for a stamp, since the envelope they sent me to return the forms wasn't prepaid. Boo. So, the total bill so far for JUST applying to UW--I'm not even officially there yet, mind you--is currently $332.47 (yes, I'm counting the $0.47 stamp). Remember everyone, saving is important. And I haven't even started to think about buying books yet. ...Except for just then when I wrote that sentence. Ouch.

But... you know what? I'm in, so that's all the complaining about it I'll do for now (no promises for later, though). On a lighter note, I actually mailed the letter off to UW this morning. Yup, got up around 8-ish and rode my bike the mile 1/2 up to the post office (good morning for it) sending it off 2 days before the July 5th deadline--which is a considerable feat for me, considering that not only did I find the letter on the 29th--a Friday, with no mail going out on weekends, mind you--but I usually tend to... have a not-so-awesome habit of... procrastinating (let's not mention how I got my application in to UW a whole 6 days before the deadline... ). I don't like procrastinating and really am trying to get over it, so this is a good first step, right? Right. I knew you'd agree.
Also, I've been working on those leads for some housing options (more details later) so hopefully I'm on the right track for actually having a place to live once I start classes in September. Kind of important. Still have to find a Starbucks to transfer to up there, too. Oh, and got the official quarter start date: September 24th, 2012. Marked it on my calendar. Big things ahead. Excited.
Go Huskies!!

This is Not a Diary

Okay, so just to put everyone at ease, I got my transcript process thing in-gear this morning. Went to the college website, ordered an official transcript and had them mail it to the Admissions office at UW. So hopefully, if all goes well, that should be about all they need to realize how awesome--er--that is, to realize that I completed all the requirements. Yeah.

Moving on, I also started looking at housing options today. Fun stuff. As I said, I want to avoid dorms if I can but I've already been looking into a few things/places and have found a few promising leads but... I'm not actually going to post about them until any are actually concrete enough to write about. Sorry.

Mostly, I just wanted to let everyone know about the transcript but really, there's not a whole lot more I can do before I get the Orientation package thingy or whatever in the mail (which I'm supposed to be getting "within two weeks" according to the letter from the admissions office). But, I promised I'd keep y'all posted, so there you go.

And don't worry, you won't be seeing one of these random Here's What I Did every day. That would be boring. This isn't a diary (thank God!). --Remember when you'd write those when you were little, writing down every single detail of every day?
"And today I got up and had breakfast. It was toast with peanut butter. And some cereal. Then I watched a movie but had to pause in the middle to go to the bathroom. After that I played video games and then had dinner later and went to bed."
Come on, I know I'm not the only one who wrote like that, right? ....Right? ..............right?  

Okay, I didn't actually write like that either. Maybe in 2nd grade. That was fun. 

Anyways, I'm rambling--until next time, friends! 

The Letter

So, I was actually at work when I got the call. Closing, as usual. Ever since I got promoted last December that's been my default--closing. It's worked well for me so far and I enjoy the chill winding down of the day.
So, that's where I was, at my store, just me and another Barista, working on Supervisory things when I got a call from my Mom who said that she had something really important to tell me but since I was busy at the moment I had to call her back.
After we finished helping the customers and the store was slow enough for me to comfortably step away, I let my Barista know that I was going in back and gave her a call.
So, she told me she had received two letters from UW, one labeled "The BIG envelope" (obviously good news with a title like that) and one from the Admissions office. I'm not gonna lie, when I heard that news, I was definitely doing that super-bubbly, excited 5-year-old, Christmas morning, jumping up and down number.
True story.
Probably had the biggest, dopiest grin on my face coming back on the floor afterwards. Related the news to my Barista (one of my bestest buddies) and told her and another friend I'd let them know when I actually opened the letter and found out for real if I was accepted. Which I was. Freakin' awesome.

I mean, I knew I'd applied and I knew I'd made a little deal with Jesus that if getting into UW was what He wanted me to do then I trusted Him to get me in but still--it was so surreal actually holding that letter in my hands and reading those first two sentences:

"Congratulations! With great pleasure I offer you admission to the Seattle campus of the University of Washington for the 2012 Fall quarter"

Oh, heck yes. Freakin' amazing, best feeling ever. If you've ever gotten an acceptance letter, you know what I'm talking about. Christmas morning, right? Yeah.

The best/hardest part now is going to be what comes next.
First off, I've gotta move. I live an exceptional distance from Seattle and currently do not own a car and even if I did, would definitely not want to be making that commute to Seattle for school and then back to work. Yeah, no thanks.

So, I need to move. I've never moved before so that's an adventure itself. My family has talked of moving before and came close a few times but it never happened and so this will all be new.
I'm thinking I want to stay away from dorms because people say, "Dorm life is great!" the way they say, "McDonalds is a great first job!" --which means it isn't and that's just a nice way of saying, "It freakin' sucks!"

So, no dorms. The only way I would consider it is if I could get a single dorm because I don't do roommates. Which is odd you might think, since I've grown up with 8 siblings but here's the truth: I'm somewhat of a distrusting person and maybe a little conceited because I basically don't trust that people are as motivated as I am--motivated enough to do what it takes (which includes avoiding doing what it doesn't, if you know what I mean) to get where I need to go and do what I need to do to absolutely succeed 110%. Maybe a little snobbish but I kind of don't care. I graduated after 2 years from a community college with a 3.87 GPA and I'm going to fight to keep that grade up.

Before I move though, I've gotta get a few things into UW Admissions to make sure I get into UW for sure. Like my new official transcript, since all they've got currently is my transcript up through the outset of Winter Quarter. Then I've got to go to the Orientation thingy that I've never been to before (I'll let you guys know all about it when that happens) and figure out what's going to happen from there.

So, lots of stuff coming up, super-excited, kind of awesome. I can't really start a lot of things in motion until tomorrow since today is Sunday and I wouldn't be able to get ahold of the college to send off my transcript anyways. So, I'll let you all know how that goes!

Until then, friends!

Intro

Well, let's start off with some basic info, shall we?

I'm a Christian first and foremost. Jesus is the most important person in my life and I can vividly see His hand in my life guiding me to the right places, meeting the right people, putting me in the right circumstances to succeed in the plan that He set up for me. It's truly been an adventure and I continue to thank Him for it, so if you don't want to hear a bunch of mushy Yay Jesus talk then you'd best find a different blog to subscribe to because with me it's all about Jesus.

As far as my life until this point goes, I've lived in the same little city in the same little neighborhood in the same (not that little) house the entire 21 years of my life thus far. I've lived with 8 geeky siblings (yes, eight), though about half of them have gone off to live other places now. Only five of us are still at home--my two oldest brothers, younger sister and my adorable little 6-year-old sister. And my parents, of course.

I'm currently employed at Starbucks as a Shift Supervisor and I love my job. Who wouldn't love working at a coffee shop where you get free drinks while working, 30% discount when not, free 1 lb of coffee per week (or tea or VIA or even boxed chai...). Kind of amazing. Oh yes, and helping customers is great, too. No, really--I'm honestly so proud of what Starbucks does for their communities and how they reach out to people and communities in need--actually using their Corporate power to help people. Another reason I love my job.

Moving on, June 11th of this year I had my big 21st birthday and can now legally drink and all that fun stuff (whatever--no big deal). 3 days later, I graduated from community college with my AA in Japanese and a plan to keep moving onward (kind of a bigger deal).

I applied for the University of Washington (Seattle campus) in February and on the 22nd of June received my letter of acceptance and--let me tell you--definitely in the top greatest moments of my life.
True story.

Honestly, I'm planning to eventually turn this blog into a vlog--mostly because I talk too much. No, really, you couldn't tell already? Check out the length of this post and I haven't even started yet! I can get so much more out when I'm directly talking to people (maybe because I talk too fast?) and also because, although I can type pretty fast, it takes me WAY too long to type up every single blog post I would ever want to write--time that could be spent doing so many other things--like making more blog/vlog posts!

However, until I can actually get a decent camera (all I have now is my 3DS camera which... works... kinda... but not nearly well enough for the quality I would need for the real deal vlog I've envisioned), I've decided that I really need to document important things and processes that will eventually lead up to my vlog at UW.

Starting with The Letter.