In Tahoe...

So this weeks posts will go up when I return! Wahoo snow!!

December 25

Christmas at the Ficketts haha, love them.

December 24

Merry Christmas Eve! In case you're confused, we're Scandinavian and we open gifts on the 24th instead of the 25th :) Watched Julie & Julia today, and realized how sub par my blog is, but I still like doing it.

December 23

This one is blurry but it was just too cute not to post!

December 22

Reunited in SF and it feels so gooood!

December 21

Aunt Lynette is here! Let the gingerbread house making and It's A Wonderful Life watching commence.

December 20

Had a lovely tea time with the ladies today, complete with a lemon curd and a milk blanket!

December 19

Went ice skating tonight... My friends and I are extremely graceful and coordinated :)

December 18

La Victoria's, yummmm orange sauce!

December 17

Its about to start being really stormy, but for now it's just been misting... this pretty little branch jumped out at me in front of Al's house.

December 16

Dew drops :)

December 15

Didn't want to drag my big camera to the city today, and I was a little too freaked out to take a picture of all the super scary people we encountered, so this was on the train ride back via the iPhone!

December 14

Ellie stayed home sick from school today so I made her my picture for the day... She's going to kill me for putting up this one with the double chin but I thought it was adorbs.

December 13

Christmas lights are the BEST!

December 12

Goodbye kelp, hello Sunnyvale!

December 11

Finals are over, winter break is here, and it was 80 degrees today in beautiful Santa Barbara. So incredibly wonderful, most amazing day in a long time.

December 10

In honor of the end of finals week, I thought it would be appropriate to commemorate Eric's finals mustache. Here's to a job well done!

December 9

It was hot and beautiful and amazing out today. It was even warm at night, and Augie and I finished an entire crossword puzzle. Satisfaction.

December 8

Last night Eric and I were walking over to Paul's house for some pre-undie run fun, and Manzanita looked as beautiful as ever. I obviously was doing more important things than uploading the picture in the hours following, so that's why I'm late :)

December 7

This picture isn't my favorite, but the islands looked amazing and I live the majority of my life at this park.

December 6

Here is a picture of some ants. If you're reading this, you probably are procrastinating for finals, so you should also watch this: http://www.ted.com/talks/deborah_gordon_digs_ants.html

December 5

Rainy day today perfect for studying, and/or lazing around watching Titanic... the rain is making the grass turn green again :)

December 4

Lazy today, so here's a picture of a picture. New Lady Gaga poster, wahoo!

December 3

I have some amazing models for friends...

December 2

Storke tower, pre-treasure hunt

December 1

I LOVE when people jump straight up. Enough said.

November 30

Today was so beautiful out, but I want to put off taking a typical beautiful day in Santa Barbara picture, so I procrastinated and ended up with this beauty. The less glamorous part of my home, the trash cans :)

November 29

This is where I wish I was today

November 28

Today's photo courtesy of the lovely C-Bomb. 5am drive back to SB and a lovely sunrise... I'm sleepy.

November 27

It makes me happy when it rains because rainbows are one of my favorite things in existence!

November 26

I've decided to start my year of pictures with a Ginko :) Laura and I went for a lovely little walk today and the bright yellow leaves were EVERYWHERE.

Not a ton to write about today... we did our last dive yesterday and the water was pretty murky but it was fun to be diving all together with my buddies here since they finished their course! After diving we got our tickets for the ferry to Koh Samui and went to do a little shopping. Claire got her lip pierced, and I got a little tattoo added on to the outline on my back! Again, pictures coming in the future, I'm sorry my camera situation sucks so much here :(

Last night we went out again with our little crew and it was really fun, but I'm so sad to have left all those awesome people and I'm really stoked for another excuse to travel the world some more! Today we checked out of the hotel and caught the ferry over here, which was a bumpy ride to say the least... I felt like we were going to capsize the whole time and poor Julia spent some serious time throwing up in the back haha :/ Anyway, now we're here and we're pretty much just taking it easy until our flight to Bangkok, so I probably won't write again until my return to California! Wahoo, can't wait to see everyone :)

Swam with a whale shark yesterday, and it was SO AWESOME!! Definitely in the top three of coolest and most beautiful things I've ever experienced... we were out diving in the morning and it was already a great day since the visibility was awesome and it was just my dive instructor and I exploring and finding scorpion fish and blue spotted sting rays. We got back on the boat after diving and someone spotted the shark, so we all jumped in (not my first instinct, haha!) with just fins and masks and swam over to where it was! It was apparently small for a whale shark, but it was about 5 or 6 meters long, which is almost 20 feet!! We were all swimming right next to it and it was just hanging out up on top of the water and swimming all in between us... I went underwater and Bridget (my friend from South Africa) was going to take a picture of me with it in the background but then it came right on top of me and I freaked out! She isn't sure if she got the picture or not so we'll have to wait and see, but it was incredible to be right in the water with such a huge and amazing animal :)

Last night we watched the dive video since everyones course was over, and we had a few drinks at the hotel before going to Lotus, a live music bar/club a little ways down the beach. There were about ten of us, and all the people here are really cool - there are two girls from South Africa who are taking a holiday from teaching English on the mainland of Thailand, and a bunch of English guys who are super funny and sweet. Anyway, it was really fun and there was a guy playing guitar and a crazy fire show once it got later. Then we went to this other bar and I had my first bucket, which are famous in Thailand and really quite dangerous, haha! We all had much too much to drink and went dancing at some other bar and decided it was the perfect time to go for a swim in all our clothes... I also thought a guy was really cute at the first bar, but Natalie said that he was too skinny and that his torso was the same size as my thigh, so that didn't go anywhere haha. I have some battle wounds on my shins from the coral and we all had awful hangovers this morning but it was really fun :)

Just a couple days left here, and we're diving tomorrow and the next day before going to Koh Samui and then finally heading home. Love and miss everyone back in the US!

Wahoo I am having so much fun here on the island! After I posted last I did my dive review in the pool so that I would be okay getting in the ocean and not running out of air or anything scary like that... At night we went to dinner at this great Thai place on the beach and watched the sunset sitting on little cushions around the table, and we went to bed early since we were so tired from the travel here, and I woke up to leave at 6 the next morning for my first dive! It was awesome, the visibility wasn't great since it's starting to be monsoon season over here, but the coral reef here is beautiful and I LOVE the anenomes. We saw a little yellow box fish and almost got charged by a trigger fish... I was diving with a really cool dive master named Kate, and a really nice couple from Holland, everyone I meet here is so great!

After I got back I had the rest of the day to hang out since Claire and Julia are getting their certifications, so I went into the little town and did some shopping... for some reason there are about a thousand shirts in every store with Heidi Klum topless and flipping off the camera on them, so if anyone wants one of those just let me know! Hahah but anyway I got another massage on the beach so that was fabulous, and then we went to dinner at this cute italian place with delicious pasta! The beach here is beautiful, I can't wait to post pictures when I get back! It's super white sand and light water, and the island is really mountainous and dramatic with little bungalows all tucked away in the hillside. Today was great since Claire and Julia had their first open water dive of the course, so I went along on the same boat for a fun dive with another group... I got stuck with this little German brat who kept kicking me in the face underwater, but the dive site was beautiful with tons of coral that looked like cabbage, and lots of colorful fishies! I haven't taken many underwater pictures since the visibility would be even worse on the camera, so hopefully it will improve by tomorrow or the next day.

Tonight we went to dinner with like ten other people that we dove with today, who are all young and from England/South Africa/Holland and it was a lot of fun! Tomorrow is the last day of all their courses so we're going to go out for drinks and watch their dive video. This place is awesome and I'm having such a great time, but I'm also excited to be coming home soon and reuniting with everyone! And not being covered in mosquito bites will be nice too :)

Leanne and Michele thank you so much for telling me what you're up to, I love hearing what's going on back in the US! I can't wait to get back and hear more about what's been going on... and to SEE you Michele sheesh it's been way too long!

We are finally on Koh Tao, and it is incredible! The last few days at the center were fun and full of more hard work, and then last night we took a taxi to Hua Hin, caught the night bus there at 11 and arrived at the ferry around 6am... needless to say we are pooped! It also didn't help that the guy sitting behind me on the bus was this disgusting drunk man from Norway who was making out with his wife for about an hour and kept rubbing my head thinking it was the seat... so awkward. Then we got the ferry here and talked to a guy from one of the dive resorts and ended up going to that one! It's really nice, and we're getting a sweet deal with a free hotel room for four nights since we're doing diving. Awesome that I already got certified with my dad because I only have to pay about 40 dollars for the whole four days... should be fun :) I'll write more once we start doing stuff, this place is paradise so I think I'm going to go read slash sleep on the beach and maybe do some snorkeling later!

My friend Shawnie just put up some pictures on facebook, and I'm not sure if y'all can see them so I'm going to upload them on here! Here's one of me on the first day when I was washing one of the elephants in the poop lake, I think this was before she gave me a huge shower with her trunk :)













This was from the pirates and ninjas party... Rosie was drawing beautiful pirate pictures on mine and Abigail's cheeks due to our lack of costume haha... hopefully these pictures tide some of you over until people upload more or until I get back and get mine developed!

Thanks for reading Daddy, to answer your question I think I plan on doing a little bit of both SCUBA and snorkeling, since I'm sure both will be awesome! And I brought my certificate with me so I'll probably only have to do a little refresher course... I can't wait :) Aaron the poo canoe is this crappy (haha) little plastic boat that someone has to take out into the elephant lake and pick up the poo out of the water... the scooper thing broke, so I had to use my bare hands - it was aweseome!

Yesterday was my day off and I went around helping a bunch of the wildlife people, since I wanted to see what it's like to hang out with the gibbons and other little creatures. Julia gave me some food to give to this little monkey who is missing both of his legs and one arm, and didn't seem to think it was neccesary to warn me about how aggressive he is... he took the first little bit of food and was really cute, and then when I reached out with the second bit he grabbed my hand and started screaming at me with all his teeth out hahah I obviously shreiked and ran away, and I'm pretty sure Julia got a picture of it with my camera, so I'm anxious to see that one :) The rest of the day I finished Twilight and got about halfway through the sixth Harry Potter, so that was great too!

Today I was with June again, peeling all of her food and being showered with fruit from her trunk afterwards... I'm convinced she is feeling better since she's so fricken sassy, so I guess that's a good thing haha. On the walk to the village today this lady picked us up on her motorbike and gave us a ride, it was so much fun! I can't wait to rent a bike when we get to Koh Tao to ride all over the island, it should be awesome. I'll write again either in Hua Hin on Saturday or Sunday when we're in our little bungalow on the island :)

Conquered the poo canoe today! Other than that it was a pretty lazy day since other people were taking care of June, who is an elephant to clarify things and she is getting much better :) The ice cream lady came by the center after lunch which we were all pretty excited about... the ice cream here is yummy and only like ten cents each! Julia is making fun of me right now for writing about ice cream in my blog... but oh well, I'm sure it isn't a surprise to anyone reading this.

We played pictionary last night and I stayed up way later than I have been, and it was really fun! Most of the things we were drawing were related to wildlife stuff, and it's cool how much everyone knows about animals just from working here for a few weeks. I have a day off tomorrow, so I'll probably do some laundry and take a bunch of pictures with the animals... there is a tiger here named Meow that was on an Animal Planet feature so you guys might recognize him! He was chained to a cement floor at a gas station to attract tourists for most of his life, so now he has some central nervous system problems and walks like he is drunk... but now he has a beautiful and huge enclosure with a big pond to swim in and he seems really happy! Hopefully he'll come out so I can take a couple pictures of him. Looking up bungalows and other places to stay when we get to Koh Tao currently, so I might not write again until we're on our way, but miss you all and Lindsay post more pictures I miss you and want to hear about what you're doing!

Today was such a long day! June was in the hospital still, and Sophie and I were taking care of her the whole day, with pretty much no breaks except during a torrential downpour after lunch. She can't eat any of the skins of fruits so we were peeling everything and getting eaten by flies for most of the day... we also were making these little rice balls so that she could get nutrients, and covering them in banana to fool her into eating them. That worked for a while but then she started throwing them at us, so at least she hasn't lost her sassy side even if she is very sick :)

We had another harvest today but we have a couple new pretty boy English guys to help, so it wasn't too bad! Julia and I are both rereading Twilight in our spare time, and I think our new roommate Alicia thinks that we are crazy... we were also wearing almost the exact same outfit this morning, so maybe we should try to be a little less alike, haha! The only real difference today was that she had a massive hole in her shirt from one of the gibbons reaching out and ripping her shirt... we got a new little monkey yesterday also and he is adorable! Matt, the main guy in charge, is taking care of the two baby monkeys since their mothers got killed by hunters, so he doesn't get much sleep but they always jump on me and the other blonde haired girls, not sure why! Sorry this post is so random, there's not much new stuff to talk about since we have a bit of a routine going every day, but things will start to be a little more adventurous when we leave for Koh Tao on Saturday - can't wait for some diving! And a real shower :)

Yes Michele I have more than three pairs of underwear! Hahaha I agree that I would be in a much more disgusting state if that weren't the case... Anyway yesterday I had my day off of working - we get one day off a week - and it was so nice to relax! I went to the spa at a nearby resort with another German girl named Julia, and I got an hour long Thai massage for only 600 baht, which is like $25. It was awesome, they cracked all my fingers and toes and my whole back... pretty different than massages in America and more similar to a chiropractor, but I loved it!

Later last night we went on an elephant safari through the national park that is really close to the center, and it was really cool to see some wild elephants through the bush, since the ones at the center are not in their natural condition. It's a bummer but the elephants we're working with can pretty much never go back into the wild, since they have this process called "breaking the spirit" here in Thailand that they put all elephants through before they can be used commercially. A huge male elephant who definitely still had his "spirit" charged us in the truck last night, and this guy Chris and I jumped to the other side of the pickup and probably missed being decapitated by less than a foot!

Today was a really busy day - three of the elephant volunteers left and we got new ones tonight, but there were only five of us to work with all the elephants, so we were running around all day and I'm totally pooped. Also, June, who has only been at the center for a week now and is extremely malnourished and covered in wounds, was lying on the ground this morning and couldn't get up... a couple of us had to spend most of the day peeling soft foods to give her and we hooked her up to an IV in the animal hospital at the center - I really hope she gets better soon! I wish I could post pictures but I'm documenting everything so that you'll be able to see all the animals and people I'm talking about when I get home! Miss everyone a ton - only five more days at the center before heading down to Koh Tao for some scuba! Wahooo :)

Leanne and Mitchy thanks for commenting! Haha it's nice to know that someone is reading this, and I miss you guys so much!! Keni I don't miss you at all since you haven't been commenting... how rude. Juuust kidding :) Anyway, everything here is still going great, and I can't believe how fast time has gone - I'm already halfway done with the volunteering part of my trip!

Since I posted last, we've been doing the same daily stuff with the elephants, but we have also gone on two harvests, which are possibly the most miserable inventions of mankind. Basically we all get in a truck and drive to a pineapple feild to pick more food for the elephants... this consists of getting totally sunburnt and dehydrated, not to mention the plants are super heavy and covered in thorns! So much fun... it's actually not that bad but I'm covered in scratches and mosquito bites so going to the beach after this will be hilarious! The people here are awesome, it's going to be weird going home and not hearing any accents... I'm one of only two Americans here! My roommate is this German girl named Julia who is gorgeous and totally hilarious. She speaks English really well, but still has to ask about some words, and whenever she get's frustrated she just says "fuck off" to no one in particular, just the situation... doesn't sound that funny but I always die laughing every time.

There are a bunch of French girls also working with the elephants who are totally incompetent, but a really cool British girl named Emma and I just laugh about it and end up doing twice the work. Tonight we're having a party since a bunch of people are leaving and new people are coming, and it's themed pirates and ninjas! I have no idea what to wear since I only brought three shirts and three shorts, but oh well, should be fun. Oh and last night we went to the night market in Cha-am and I got some sweet rainbow parachute pants before I had to leave because the smell of fried bugs was making me so nautious. Ha! Luckily the center is veggie friendly and the food is Thai and delicious! And free, yum! Miss you all so much, I'm having a great time but I'm also looking forward to getting home, where I won't be covered in elephant poo and I can meet my family's new dog!

Wow this place is so amazing!!! The work we're doing is really hard, especially because it's extremely hot and humid all the time, and all of the clothes I brought already smell awful... but basically what we do in a day is feed the elephants pineapple plants, clean their enclosures, wash them, water them, and make toys and food treats for them to play with. Yesterday I went in the lake with one of the elephants and I got to be on top of it scrubbing it's back... despite the pooey lake smell I had on me for the rest of the day, it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

They are such beautiful animals, and it's really sad how badly they are treated all around the world, but it's wonderful to see them living happily and being treated well at the center. I'll write more later, a bunch of people are waiting for computers but I just bought my ticket to the south so I'll be scuba diving and stuff once I'm finished volunteering - wahoo! Also my camera isn't working so no pictures but I have some disposables that will have to wait until I return. Miss everyone and happy birthday miss Hannah Meade! Hope you don't have too awful of a hangover :)

Whew! I'm finally in Thailand and all settled! It was really a crazy time getting here... we got back from Mexico on Wednesday night and I went to see Eclipse with Leanne which was wonderful :) Then I packed my stuff for this trip and left Thursday morning for my 18 hour flight... yikes! When I finally got to Bangkok around midnight I got my backpack and everything and then I went to get money out of an ATM and it wouldn't take either of my credit cards, so then I proceeded to freak out for the next hour or so and I was super hangry which didn't help matters since I hadn't eaten much of anything on the airplane.

Luckily though, Thailand is known for being one of the friendliest places ever and a bunch of random people pretty much saved me from being stuck in the airport with no access to the outside world! And my mom also saved my life by talking me through the minor breakdown I was having :) I guess you have to tell your bank if you're going out of the country, otherwise they block your cards to avoid fraud... whoops... the hotel I stayed in near the airport was pretty sweet, complete with a lizard on the ceiling and a few hours of French cartoons that I entertained myself with instead of sleeping since I'm super jetlagged.

This morning I got a ride from this nice Thai driver who loves Arnold Schwartzenagger (wow how do you spell that?) to Petchaburi which is where the wildlife center I'm volunteering at is! I really love it here, all the other volunteers are super nice and fun to hang out with, and it's a very diverse group, which is awesome. Tommy, one of the main guys at the center, gave Claire (my newfound Australian friend) and I a tour so that we could scope it out before starting work tomorrow, and the things the rescue center is doing are incredible... I'll be working just with the elephants, who are all really beat up from their past lives but doing much better after being here, but there's also a ton of other animals that have been saved - monkeys, bears, a tiger, and a bunch more. I'm particular looking forward to using the "poop canoe," which is for scooping the huge elephant poops out of the lake that we wash them in... yummy! Hahah the place is really cool though, all very open air with a bunch of places for lounging and little huts that us volunteers sleep in. I'll take some pictures to post once I get a little more settled in!

Lounging on the catamaran at Land's End.. So beautiful!




























Here's the whole group :)

Yesterday I decided to venture out to the fitness center on the resort, since all we've been doing is eating amazing food and playing in the ocean... the jog over there was extremely hot but the gym was gorgeous! By the time I was done and ran back I was super hot and sweaty (gross) so I was ready for some pool time for sure... we went down to the club and swam in the ocean a bunch. Brianna and I went paddle boarding or stand-up boarding, whatever that's called, and it was really fun! We both had pretty wobbly legs haha, but it was really relaxing until we got too hot and just jumped in the water :)











In the late afternoon we headed to San Jose, which is a smaller and less touristy town than Cabo San Lucas, and we roamed around in a bunch of cute little stores looking for jewelry and other trinkets.










We went to this adorable restaurant that had tons of colorful Mexican origami looking things hanging from the ceiling and matching tablecloths! We were literally the only people in the place, which was really fun since there are a lot of us and we didn't have to wait or try to be quiet... they also served us the biggest margaritas ever, it was pretty hard to even lift them up to drink, haha! A man came in while we were eating and played his guitar and sang, so we proceeded to start our own dance party in the restaurant... this would have been embarrassing but there was no one else there so it was really fun! The waiters looked at us like idiots but it was a really fun night. We're going out on a catamaran today, I'll post pictures soon!

The guys all went on a fishing trip today and left super early this morning, so us girls decided that we would have an equally awesome day and go swimming with the dolphins! We got a taxi to Cabo San Lucas (our resort is actually like 20 minutes up the coast) and got to swim and play with Monet, which was the sweetest and most laid back dolphin ever... he actually almost fell asleep when we were swimming around with him, haha! I would put up pictures but my mom uploaded all of them, so just look on her facebook if you're interested :)

After that we went into the town to do some shopping slash bargaining... my mom and Ellie got sucked into buying this hideous puca shell necklace on the beach yesterday for TWENTY dollars! Ha! So we were trying to avoid that happening again, but we didn't find too much good stuff and it was extremely hot and we decided to head back to our house. We lounged at the pool and beach for a while, and then went back and ate the fish that Tyler caught on their trip! It was really delicious actually, and we ate it sashimi style which I was shocked to enjoy so much.

We talked to our chef a bunch after dinner, who is really sweet and humble even though he makes some of the best food I've ever eaten, and we found out that he moved here from Argentina a couple years ago so he was super excited about the world cup game today! It was a great day, I can't believe how quickly the trip is going but I'm also getting excited for Thailand :) Lindsay leaves on her adventures tomorrow and I can't wait to read her blog so I don't feel like such a loser for writing so much nonsense! Hopefully someone is reading this...

Here's the whole crew...











This is the resort club, I love this picture of the two boys with their matching poses and drinks... side note I ordered my first legal drink at a bar today! We also watched Ghana beat the U.S. which was kindof a bummer but wahoo Keni!











Experimenting with my dad's waterproof camera for Thailand... still have some technique to get down but this picture shows a little bit of how amazing and bright blue the water is here, we were floating and swimming around for hours today :)

Cabo is INCREDIBLE, to say the least!! After a couple hours of delay in the airport we made the pretty short flight down here and were greeted at the gate by the guy that was picking us up and a handful of cold Pacifico's... yum :) Right when we got here we jumped in the infinity pool in the backyard of our villa, which is seriously ridiculous how nice it is. It's on this big resort area with a ton of other villas just like it, looking out over the beach and the Sea of Cortez. Mia and two other amazing women chefs were here and made us the best Mexican taco feast I have ever experienced... we were all super full so we decided to get out of the house and take our little golf carts down to explore the area!

After driving down some sweet little paths and across the golf course, we got to the beach and walked along it for a while... the current is pretty intense, a big wave came up and almost swept my mom away so that was pretty entertaining! After walking for a while we found the resort pool that we are allowed to use, and there was this dinner set up on the beach with rose petals and the full moon so we thought it might be for some cheesy reality TV show but it turned out to just be some loaded middle aged couple.

The drive back was pretty wild in the carts since Tyler and his friend Garrett wanted to drive... there was some offroading that definitely endangered the lives of at least a few cactuses on the side of the road hahah. We sat out by the pool some more with a bonfire going, it was really an incredible day. There's internet here in the house, so I'll post some pictures tomorrow!

Well, it's finally here! Today is my last day at home before I leave for about six weeks of fun-filled adventure... I definitely have had my fair share of relaxation since getting out of school though :) Last weekend Lindsay and I went over to Santa Cruz and had such a fun time at Hannah's incognito pre-birthday party, and got to see all the awesome Mt. Madonna people which is always a great time. I also experienced my first lesbian encounter, probably due to the head shave, so that was pretty entertaining to say the least!

For father's day I went over to Los Gatos to hang out with my dad and his wonderful girlfriend Connie... we attempted to go kayaking in multiple lakes and reservoirs around here, but I was apparently unaware of a huge mussel infestation that is preventing any boating in pretty much all of Santa Clara county! So after that plan failed, we went to Vasona and played frisbee for a while in the gorgeous sunshine... I also learned that simply attending UCSB doesn't necessarily lead to stellar frisbee skills :) We cooked a really fun dinner later on with homemade spring rolls and a yummy peanut sauce which was perfectly spicy, and my old friend Matt came over to join us so it was a really great time!

This week I've basically been running a little mini summer camp for my brother and sister, going to the park or riding our bikes, and yesterday we made lemonade and played Clue a few times... I forgot how much I love that game! Yesterday Keni made it to Sunnyvale after getting back up from Santa Barbara, and we went over and sailed in the Wednesday race out of Santa Cruz harbor. There were tons of boats out there, this picture is pretty much what it looked like, plus a beautiful sunset that turned the whole sky pink! We met up with a few friends throughout the night, and it was really great to see everyone before I leave tomorrow... I also took Keni to La Vic's and I won't speak for her but lets be honest, her "tweet" says it all. Hahaha anyway, I'll be writing again soon with slightly more exciting stories and definitely some more pictures, so I probably already miss you if you're reading this!

Yesterday Laura and I drove up to Mill Valley for the day, and we had tons of fun hanging out at Keni's house with Jaimie, Claire, Sarah, Augie, and Keni's fam. While we were waiting for Augie to get back from Santa Barbara with his head shaving skills we went to Scoop in Fairfax, SO delicious. It was super crowded with little kiddies getting ice cream, including one little guy wearing bike shorts that were wayy too big for him, and the butt pad part of the shorts was hanging down at his knees, it was hilarious. Luckily we got to the front of the line before Keni had a nervous breakdown over this kid that kept coming way to close to knocking his ice cream off the cone... we ate in the park and it was a beautiful day!

Augie got back pretty much right after we got back to Keni's house, and I started getting super nervous about the hair cut, so we got right to it! Claire had the genius idea to put my hair in three pig tails to get the longest chunks for donating it... this also lead to a beautiful mullet when Keni cut off the first two pig tails. I'll put up some pictures from the actual haircut probably when Keni gets back from Santa Barbara and uploads them!

After a huge BBQ in the backyard we were all about to burst from being so full when Mrs. Shea brought out the tastiest summer desserts ever, which we obviously made room for and scarfed down haha... then we drove up somewhere on Mt. Tamalpais and watched the sunset with a beautiful view of Stinson and Bolinas. Here's a photo of some of us that were up there courtesy of Augie's iPhone... I'll leave out the wonderful shots of Augie skipping off through the grass in his rainbow briefs. Awesome day :)

About to embark on one of the most fun filled summers of my life! Finishing up finals and getting ready to move out of our house in Santa Barbara is hectic, but hopefully it will all be worth it... definitely going to miss all of my wonderful friends down here!