Brazil Chicken Snacks and Downsizing

As all of you Purdue folks may know, summer classes ended last week. Even though my group had issues with one particular member, we still managed to rock our presentation and only miss three points on the final presentation of our game which we designed in GUI in order to teach 8th graders a specific state standard. With that class under my belt, it was time to travel to KC, MO in order to see the family.

My sister drove from Bloomington to West Lafayette in order to pick me up for the 9 hour drive to see the family. Within an hour the two of us were screaming at each other in the car just like old times. You just have to smile at sisterly love right? I felt badly for my sister's boyfriend. The poor guy had to listen to our arguing for awhile, and our arguing is never pretty. Once my sister pushed me off her bed and knocked out my tooth. Of course back in the old days when we were young, lived in Green County, and shared a room the classic fighting tactics of pinching, biting, and hair pulling would ensue. Since then we have simply graduated to threats of dropping off the other one on the side of road and leaving them to fend for themselves. Some Veronicas and Augustana later, the two of us slowly began conversing civilly. I mean it was a 9 hour drive; the two of us were bound to make up at some point.

We arrived at the new house around 2am. Mom and the snakes were awake to briefly greet us. My dad wouldn't be home until the next morning; he had been in Brazil all week for his job (I know...what a lucky duck!). Once we all chatted for a baby bit, we all retired to our rooms to get some shut eye --except for me. I had to feed my addiction before I drifted to sleep meaning I stayed up for probably three solid hours watching Desperate Housewives (Update: I have officially finished all of the season!!! Go me! WhootWhoot! I can't WAIT for September 26th! Get ready everyone =)...I know, I know I have a problem...you don't have to tell me...but it's just sooo good!).

It was great to wake up at noon and not worry about being late for engineering. It was so good to see my dad! The last time we had seen each other we parted on not so great terms. Yelling and money was involved to obviously there is no way that could have ended pretty. Hugging him put all that water under the bridge. Spread across the chicken table was an array of candy from Brazil. In all honesty, most of it wasn't that great. Out of the large bag, I only like two different types--one had coconut and the other had a chocolate truffle center. I'm all about trying candy new foods and candies, but so far I've found myself partial to American candy though I suppose eating it my whole life makes me completely biased. Next to the candy lay a clear bag. The contents appeared similar to onion rings or funions except they were thicker and a light white/cream color. A powdery flavor substance of the same color coated the outside. The bag displayed the head of a freakishly happy looking chicken and a Portuguese game printed in red which I can neither spell nor pronounce correctly. Curious about these foreign snacks, I promptly picked one up, smelled it, and took a bite. I was utterly repulsed. It was sort of the experience I have when I dare to eat a pork grind except this snack was chicken flavored. Surprised by mine, my sister's, and my mother's similar reaction, my father went on to praise these Brazilian chicken snacks, stating how much he liked him. After a few retorts from my sister and I saying how disgusting they were, the subject was dropped.

Fast forward a few days. My sister and her boyfriend have gone home at this point, and my mother and I began the arduous task of sorting through my belongings. The time consuming task of deciding what clothes stay, what clothes go to college, and what clothes get thrown out or donated is not one which I ever under any circumstances look forward to. I'm what one refers to as a 'pack rat.' No matter what the item, I just can never seem to part with it! You want proof? Under my bed I have a roughly ten boxes all filled with notes and letters to from my friends and I. How old are these notes? Well, some date back to the fourth grade, but most of them are from my middle school days. Crazy, I know. I just hate parting with things! I love looking back at old pictures or fliers because so many great (and occasionally not so great, but the great out weigh the not so great)memories come flooding back. The smallest bead fallen off a bracelet can sometimes contain the most powerful of memories. That day, however, my mother and I went in there with determined attitudes to cut down my wardrobe and my amount of junk. Besides, I leave to return to Purdue in a week and two days, so it was time I started rounding my stuff together!

Surprisingly, through the whole process I was rather bold and got rid of many items which I probably wouldn't have if the day had been different. I said goodbye to t-shirts and sweatshirts from old clubs and activities which I had participated back in high school. Papers and cards (and by cards I mean from all random occasions, such as birthday cards for example) were tossed into the recycling without more than a third or fourth thought because let's face it--I'm indecisive to the point where it can be a problem, so everything was going to at least get a second look before it left my life forever. Dresses were set aside for repair and shoes were set aside for cleaning. I stumbled upon a TON of CDs which I had almost forgotten that I had! Let me just tell you for a second how much I absolutely LOVE Avril Lavigne. I've never been disappointed by one of her albums though I do favor her second one; I believe Under My Skin contains her best work. I took all of the outcasted CDs upstairs with the goal to go through them and see which ones were worth keeping and which were scratched to the point of uselessness. As I sat at the kitchen table examining the backs of all the CDs, my mother brought in a large box from UPS and sat it on the table. Immediately we began to open the package; turns out, the package was a house warming gift from my aunt (my father's sister). Surrounding the basket of cheeses, crackers, and sausage, were hundreds and hundreds of packing peanuts.

"You know what these packing peanuts remind me of?" rhetorically asked my mother, "those weird chicken flavored things your dad brought home from Brazil."

"Oh my gosh. They totally do! They even sort of have the same feel and consistency," I responded as my gears were turning and concocting a plan, "You know what would be hysterical? We should totally put a couple of the packing peanuts in the actual bag! Haha it would be hilarious if he actually ate one or bit into one!"

My mother's response? She laughed and immediately ran to the cabinet to grab the bag of chicken snacks. We strategically place several packing peanuts throughout the bag of chicken snacks and closed the bag. "I bet by the time he eats any again, the peanuts will smell just like the chicken things since they will have been sitting in that bag," observed mother.

Unfortunately, my father has yet to feel an inkling for a chicken snack, so our great prank has yet to officially occur. I checked on the chicken snacks today to shake the bag around in hopes that the extra powder lying at the bottom would stick to the peanuts. In all honesty, I had trouble telling the difference between the peanut and the actual chicken snacks meaning our plan is seemingly full proof at this point. You might be thinking since I'm preblogging about the prank before it has fully taken place that I have officially ruined everything. Not to worry though! My dad isn't aware that I have a blog, and he's not all entirely sure what a blog is. Shoot even if he did know he would certainly not have time to read it, so no worries = ) I'll let you know as soon as my dad informs me of how packing peanuts taste.

All my Love,
Koya = )

Smoothie Queens

When I drove Cherry to Green County so she could work at the beach, the two of us stayed with our good friend Nora Charles. I had been great friends with Nora before I moved to Indianapolis. Nora has the ability to make anyone laugh regardless of the situation. She is literally the funniest girl I have ever met. She is one of the easiest people to talk to as well. No matter how long it is until the next time I see her, I'm always immediately at ease and never worried if things will be awkward. Most of the havoc my friends and I wreaked upon Green County started at her house. She lived way out in the boondocks roughly ten minutes from town. I once got lost in the mint fields surrounding her house (It was dark, and it's a lot easier to do than you would think especially when ditches are involved.).

Cherry was exhausted from work that Saturday, so while she retired to the living room couches to sleep, Nora and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning catching up on each others lives and reminiscing about the old days and the crazy stunts we pulled while our posse concocted conniving, stupid, yet hilarious and fun plans.

"So, I went to the store the other day," started Nora, "and all when I got home I realized that the only thing I had bought was fruit! I love fruit, but I just didn't realize that that's all I bought! I just got a new smoothie maker, but I've never made a smoothie before."

"Well your shopping spree was perfect then! Let's make some now!"

Nora immediately fetched her brand spanking new smoothie maker while I dragged all the different fruits and yogurt from the fridge. After slight deliberation, we settled on making raspberry strawberry smoothies. I had already begun washing and cutting strawberries when a distressed Nora exclaimed, "Sequoia! You have got to be freaking kidding me! We don't have any ice."

"Are you serious?! Dang, that sucks."

"I know...all we have are these frozen bottles of water."

(Don't try this part of the recipe at home...it would not be a wise decision...)

It only took one look exchange between the two of us before we realized what needed to happen. The water bottles would have to be destroyed. Nora placed the two frozen Ice Mountain water bottles in the microwave for thirty seconds. This way, the ice would melt away from the plastic, giving us room to hack at the bottle. I simply continued cutting the tops off the bundle of strawberries. Nora took a large chefs knife and wacked the top of the bottle off. She continued to pry the end of the knife between the ice and the plastic in an effort to peel the plastic away from the ice. If Nora hadn't been so skilled with a knife and done this similar task before, I'm not sure it would have been accomplished. After a good laugh from both of us, Nora plopped the water bottle shaped ice chunk directly into the smoothie maker. Strawberry yogurt, strawberries, and raspberries soon followed. "There is no way this is going to blend," I stated with absolutely no confidence in the smoothie makers ability to do it's job. Turns out, I was right.

What were a pair of very thirsty girls to do in this situation? Well the answer was simple. We had to chop the block of ice. Once again, Nora fetched the chef's knife except this time, I took the lead. I began stabbing the side of the ice cube in hopes some would chunk off making the smoothies job easier. Our ultimate goal was to completely remove the obnoxiously large chunk of ice, but the bottom was caught in the blade. Nora and I continually laughed at the spectacle while wondering out loud how in the world Cherry hadn't stormed in yelling at us to be quiet. Eventually we were able to wiggle the ice chunk out of the blade, but not without covering our hands in half blended smoothie. From here, the ice chunk was placed in a a large yellow plastic bowl (upon retrospect, plastic was probably not the wisest of decisions) where I continued to stab the ice chunk into smaller ice shards. It sounds a lot easier than it actually was; the ice chunk kept slipping and sliding along the bottom of the bowl, and though I haven't double checked with Nora, I'm fairly certain I stabbed a hole in that yellow plastic bowl. Oh well I suppose; every battle has it's causalities, and the yellow plastic bowl was a small price to pay for the greatly anticipated deliciousness which we were about to experience.

Once adding the ice shards, Nora successfully blended the smoothies. A baby bit of raw sugar crystals were blended into the smoothies before their completions. I am not ashamed one bit to say that those smoothies Nora and I created made my top two list of greatest smoothies I have ever tasted. The flavors of the strawberries and raspberries really complemented the texture of the crushed ice and raspberry seeds. It was simply delicious.

Nora and Sequoia's Ridiculous Smoothie Recipe

1 frozen bottle of water (The plastic must be peeled and the ice must be crushed before
immediate usage-- feel free to substitute with actual ice cubes.)
3-5 large glops of strawberry yogurt (use the brand of your choice = ) )
wash all fruit before using it!
subtract five raspberries from the carton and add the rest to the smoothie
8 or so strawberries with their green tops cut off
1 small spoonful of sugar (to help the medicine go down...haha lame joke, I know.)
Blend in a smoothie maker until it is of your desired drinking texture. It's simple and simply delicious = )

After Nora and I made our delicious smoothies, we continued chatting and yelling ridiculous phrases in an effort to wake Cherry from her slumber in case she would want to sample our delicious blend. "Cherry," Nora would begin in one of her little voices that she does, "Cherry there is a fire! Wake up Wake up!" Another common exclamation went something like this, "Cherry, we made smoothies, and you don't even get a taste even if you want one! Wake up Cherry!" Basically the two of us were the equivalent to annoying five-year-olds; we were both just in one of those hyper moods.

Later the next day, I discovered Cherry hadn't heard a word of our racket from the night before. She had slept soundly through the whole ordeal. "You know Sequoia, before I went to bed last night I was soooooo hungry!" divulged Cherry. Slightly confused by my response of laughter after that statement, she continued to ask why it was so funny that she was hungry before bed.

"Why didn't you come in the kitchen and drink any of the smoothie we made?"

"What?"

"Are you serious right now? There is no freaking way you didn't hear us. Nora and I were so obnoxiously loud and annoying. Nora even started yelling ridiculous things to you in that one voice she does. You have got to be kidding. There is absolutely no way you didn't hear us."

"Smoothies?! Dang it! I seriously didn't hear a thing. I slept right through all of that; I was so incredibly tired Sequoi (No, I didn't forget the 'a' on my name. She calls me that sometimes.) you have no idea."

"Haha I still can't believe it, but that makes me feel way less badly about making all of that noise."

With that, I was able to look back on the Green County weekend trip very satisfied. There is no better way to reconnect with an old friend then by chatting over an icy smoothie -- especially if it was a little bit of an adventure to create your drink.

All My Love,
Koya = )

Nora Charles -- The Thin Man

All For One and One For All

When one of your close friends has a terrible off day, why is it that yours seems to go so great also? (Sarcasm? Yes!) It's kind of like when girls start staying together all the time.. they start hitting that certain time of the month at the same time. It's the craziest thing.

Koy likes to go all out in her blogs, give you every dirty detail, then give you details about those details. I'm the opposite. I live life in the fast lane, I'd rather go straight to the point. Like this, Today has been hell for the 3 of us because:
A. Elizabeth has had an eventful day: She broke her bed, cut her leg on her broken bed, broke her laptop, broke her glasses, felt sick, & stayed up extra late to eat a pie that is still non-existent at 12:34 am.
B. Sequoia Elite Murray (feel free to stalk her) (ps, she leaves the apt between 12:30-2:50 Monday-Thursday, just in case you want to rob her.) Anyways, Koy's day wasn't as hazardous.. She has accompanied me in all my ups & downs.. Together we have went to two different Walmarts, Walgreens, and a storage place, practically all over the universe, and accomplished a little bit of nothing. My car window won't go down now, my RCs sprayed all over Sekoy, & when we finally tried making the pie, I forgot to turn the oven on. Dang it :( So anyways, Sequoia is rushing me to let her do her own blog (blah blah blah) & I've got some pie to attend to!
Love CHERRY :)

She just thinks she sooo freaking cute doesn't she? Haha well anyway, like I was saying before a certain someone took over my blog, when one of your close friends has a terrible off day, why is it that yours seems to go so great too? Good friends have that whole telepathy connection thing and can literally feel each others' pain. In this case, it all started with Elizabeth.

I was jamming to The Veronica's and Sugarland on my way home from an extremely successful engineering class when I saw Elizabeth's white Jeep Liberty in the parking lot. I was extremely confused to see her because for one she ALWAYS comes back on Tuesdays and NEVER on Mondays. For two, it's shark week! The apartment's cable has been on the fritz all summer, so Elizabeth's obsession and favorite week of the year cannot be enjoyed from the comfort of the apartment futon. As I made Ramen, the two of us chatted and caught one another up on the goings on in our lives. When Sandy arrived, the three of us began packing all of my things. This is my last week living in Apartment 22, so everything is definitely a little bitter sweet. All of my things were packed in roughly an hour and piled by the door so Cherry and I could drop them off into storage later that day.

Things didn't start to go down hill until Sandy left for work. It was then that Elizabeth realized the extent of the damage Jo caused when she crashed (and by crashed, I mean Jo thought it would be a brilliant idea to pile drive Elizabeth into her bed) atop her huge princess bed. Before the crash, Elizabeth's bed stood no less than two and half feet off the ground. One of her risers had completely broken, and her box spring had been torn. The frame work of the bed had popped out of it's socket slots, so the whole ordeal was really quite a mess. The two of us unsuccessfully tried to fix the situation and gave up after Elizabeth gashed her leg open on her bed. . Elizabeth's bed is fairly ancient so of course she starts shouting about how she probably has tetanus. As we tried to move frames and drawers out of the way in order to simply lie her box spring and mattress flat on the ground, Elizabeth's computer charger cord snapped leaving a metal object (computer illiterate remember?) stuck in the charger hole. Elizabeth was finally able to wrestle the metal object out of the hole, but now the thought of buying an expensive charger weighed on her mind. When we finally got around to attempting to clean her wound, of course no one in the apartment had the proper supplies to clean and bandage the gash so off to Walgreens we went all the while Elizabeth's leg is bleeding. At Walgreens, I purchased some Oreos and milk in hopes that they would ease her pain, but the second Elizabeth approached me, my phone fell from my hands causing the battery to fall out and my screen to crack. "See you shouldn't even come near me today! I'm a walking accident and now it's rubbing off on you!" exclaimed a disheartened and frustrated Elizabeth.

When we returned, Cherry came to the apartment in order to hull most of my belongings to the storage unit. Elizabeth at this point was scared to leave the house again, so Cherry and I played a little tetris and squeezed all of my things into her tiny little Spyder Elicipse. While I drove us to the storage unit, two cars almost hit us forcing me to honk the horn several times throughout the trip. It's called a turn signal people. And another thing, when someone is driving roughly fifty miles an hour it is NOT EVER wise to try and cut them off. Use your heads you crazy, dangerous drivers! I had to turn around twice, because I had missed the turns to the storage unit since I had never been there before and Cherry had only been there once before.

Still crabby about her total misunderstanding of my pie comments from the Chicago trip, Cherry was determined to make a cherry pie (haha Cherry wanted cherry pie. Fun fact: Cherry doesn't actually like cherries. The only time she even likes cherries is when they are in cherry pie.) After the storage unit we went to Walmart to pick up ingredients. We weren't looking to win a pie contest, so we simply purchased a can of cherry pie filling and boxed pie crust (it can be found next to the cookie dough and whatnot). Cherry also purchased peas and a roasted chicken and ate dinner across the street with Rhett. We walked into the apartment to find Elizabeth lighting a candle on the kitchen table. "What are you thinking?! It is not wise to light a candle in this apartment while I'm here! You know my history with candles in this apartment, crazy lady, and at the rate today's been going who knows what will happen!" (Last semester I knocked over a lit candle in the apartment spilling wax all into the carpet. Earlier this summer, I knocked Sandy's tea candle off the kitchen table and shattered it to pieces. Candles and I just don't get along in Apartment 22.)

While Cherry and Rhett ate dinner, Elizabeth and I watched the season finale of The Bachelorette . Let me just tell you how upset I am with Miss Ali. HOW IN THE HECK COULD SHE PICK ROBERTO?! I mean sure he's super hot and looks good in baseball pants, but I mean really?! Chris was OBVIOUSLY the perfect pick! I mean she could really have had her wonderful fairy tale marriage with him! He was such a sweetheart, and I'm just beyond upset that Ali didn't pick him! Ugh! What could she possibly have been thinking? I hate her. Team Chris all the way! Whoot! Whoot! Cherry came back to make pie right as I was screaming at the TV about how much I hated this Ali lady. About this time, Elizabeth started getting ready to go out with friends from work while Cherry and I realized we did not have a pie pan and needed to get one.

Of course like an idiot I suggest we go to Walgreens. On our way there something started spraying my leg. A can in the 12 pack of RC Sam had bought earlier at Walmart had busted and started soaking my leg, the floor, and the passengers seat of Cherry's car. It took a few minutes, but I finally found the busted can and threw it out. Not even three minutes later I started to feel the same spraying. ANOTHER can had busted and started spraying EVERYWHERE. We pulled over to inspect all of the other cans/throw them in the backseat. I was beyond sticky with RC; it was ridiculous. Let's just say RC will not be receiving purchases from me anytime soon. After searching Walgreens high and low no pie pans were discovered. Cherry and I then drove all the way out to the Walmart on State Road 26 -- a solid ten minutes off campus. We figured since we were at Walgreens we were practically half way there (turns out we weren't, but hey, you live and you learn right?) We quickly found and purchased a pie pan.

Once at the apartment, I discovered Elizabeth in her pjs attempting to fix her glasses. I was confused as to why she wasn't going out. She simply responded by saying she just in the mood, everything had gone wrong today, she broke her glasses, and she didn't feel well either. As Cherry and I continued to make the pie we realized something -- one can of pie filling was not enough. Unable to turn back now from our pie making plans since the ingredients were already out and open, Cherry and I made, yet again, ANOTHER Walmart trip. I swear Walmart would go out of business if it weren't for my friends and I. Setting the record for the shortest Walmart trip in history, Cherry and I were in and out before anyone even knew we were there.

Back at the apartment, the final can of pie filling was added to the crust. Cherry had been preheating the oven, so everything was ready to go. After about forty-five minutes, Cherry poked her head into the oven to check the pie. "Does this oven even work? Do you have to press a special button or something? The pie isn't even cooked!" (mind you, she said all of this and it's about midnight which is her bedtime since she gets up so early for work.) Cherry, being the Betty Crocker/Paula Deen/Julia Child that she is, didn't even turn on the oven at all. The pie had simply been sitting in a cold oven for over a half an hour.

As Elizabeth, Cherry, and I waited for the pie to cook (Elizabeth and I both triple checked that the oven was actually on this time) Elizabeth started playing with the wax from the lit candle. Of course she ended up burning her hand completely. Not learning her lesson and continuing to play in the candle wax, Elizabeth ended up spilling the wax all on the table, chair, her leg, and her shorts (For once I wasn't the one to cause a total candle disaster...which is very surprising considering I'm a huge klutz when it comes to stuff like that, but anyway...) . There really weren't many words to exchange in response to that occurrence; it was just one of those days, and these three musketeers were feeling each others' pain. While discussing plans and ideas which would finish our summer with a bang (including setting up Cherry with Elizabeth's cousin ; ) haha ) the pie was finally (sort of, the top was still slightly doughy in some parts) done. Elizabeth scooped us all out a slice of pie, and the three of us gobbled them up quickly while Cherry looked up lyrics to 'Sweet Cherry Pie' because everyone knows our cherry pie tastes so good it'd make a grown man cry.

After this, Elizabeth finally retired to her not so tall anymore princess bed to fall asleep (I'm convinced that at some point tonight she will come screaming into the living room because her frame and head board fell on her or something awful.). Cherry and I proceeded to pull out the futon into bed form. For some reason, however, this normally simple task became complicated. We could not figure out why the futon frame would not pull out. After looking at the back of the frame and discovering a crooked alignment, Cherry and I removed the futon mattress and discovered two screws had fallen out of the frame. Being the handy girls we are, I immediately searched the tool box for a Phillips head screwdriver, while Cherry aligned the screws in the holes. Even though it wasn't perfect, Cherry and I managed to get the screws in the futon frame and fold it out into a bed. While I retrieved pillows from Elizabeth's room, I retold her the futon fiasco. Her immediate response was to throw a pillow on top of her head and speak into it. She then warned me to check the stove and all the locks again because with our luck a fire would ensue and engulf the entire apartment tonight.

I have checked the locks and the stove several times;for now everything seems to be in working order and safely shut off. Hopefully tomorrow our little trio will experience a day free from Murphy's Law.

All My Love,
Koya = )

Rhett Butler - Gone With the Wind

Driving Miss Cherry

Back in March, Cherry watched her baby aka her Sunfire get towed away. A man in a truck rear ended her, consequently, totaling her car. Unfortunately for Cherry, that day she was driving without insurance on her vehicle. This accident caused a huge bump in the road for our wonderful friend. Not only did she not have a car or a way to work, her license was suspended until September, and it would be a long time before she saw a dime of insurance money from the man who totaled her car.

For months Cherry had made plans to get a new car. She discussed going to a car auction with her boss at the beach (who is actually more like her father than a boss), and she checked Craig's List religiously (Cherry really is the master of Craig's List...I swear she is always on there looking to buy or sell something!). It wasn't until last Monday that Miss Cherry had anything to show for all her looking and researching. Her insurance check had finally arrived roughly two weeks before, and she was about to purchase the biggest bang for her buck: a grayish blue '97 Spyder Eclipse. I mean sure it sounds old right? Let me just tell you that this car only has 75,000 miles on it which is pretty good if you ask me. I mean I really don't know anything about cars, but I know that 75,000 miles is pretty low for a car that has been vrooming since 1997. That was thirteen years ago! Can you believe that?! Shoot time sure does fly...but anyway back to Cherry and her Spyder...

Rhett (Cherry's ex-boyfriend, they are still on good terms), Cherry, and I drove to look at the Spyder last Monday. We had to drive over an hour and twenty minutes to reach Greencastle in order to look at the car. I studied most of the way there and part of the way back since I had an exam the next day (which I got a 99% on I might add = ) ). When we arrived at the local Walmart, the three of us started checking out the car. It was beautiful! There is some body damage on the passenger's side, and the two back tires need to be changed before winter. The convertible doesn't have AC, but the top goes down manually since the motor to operate the top needs a new belt. Overall the car was kept in decent shape and with some money put into it, the car will make a sweet, sweet ride. Since we didn't have cash, we were unable to take the car until the check went through. Disappointed but still excited for later in the week, the three of us drove back to West Lafayette empty handed, but with the promise that the seller would meet us in Crawfordsville (half way point).

Now as you may have read in the 'Road Trip! Road Trip! Road Trip!' blog entry, Cherry, Elizabeth, Jo, and I all took an impromptu trip to Chicago, and we left Thursday night. Well right after Cherry left work Thursday, Rhett;Cherry; and I made the long drive down to Greencastle in order to retrieve her car since the seller who promised to meet us in Crawfordsville discovered everyone was "busy" (I'm still bitter about this if you can't tell...). The seller instructed us to come to their house in order to pick up the car; however, the seller completely failed to mention that they lived in literally the middle of no where. I mean I grew up in Green County, so I know what the middle of no where is, and even I was surprised by how out in the middle of no where this house was. With that said, Cherry who had been in a depressive funk the night before was all smiley and giggly once we got the car. Since the car didn't have plate yet, Rhett drove the Spyder back to West Lafayette while I drove Rhett's Mustang. Cherry and I thought the man was going to have a heart attack since someone else was driving his baby.

Now we fast forward to Saturday--the day we returned from Chicago and put plates on Cherry's car. Neither Cherry nor I knew where/how to get to the BMV in Lafayette, so again we were forced to use Cherry's confusing GPS on her IPhone. Jo let us borrow her car and off we went. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided it would be hilarious if it started completely pouring down rain while Cherry and I struggled to find our way to license branch. An hour, four wrong turns, and two soaked outfits later, Cherry and I returned successfully with her new plates. When we went to her car with a flat head screw driver and the new plates, we discovered an unfortunate occurrence. Cherry's back left rim was almost touching the ground it was so low on air. The seller had mentioned that the car needed two back tires, but I suppose we were unaware that they needed to be replaced within the week.

Worried about how we were going to fix everything before we needed to leave for Green County to get Cherry to work on time at the beach, Cherry called her boss. Daddy Warbucks, Cherry's boss, told us to purchase Fix-A-Flat. Cherry and I walked to the nearest gas station located on the corner of Stadium and Northwestern (unfortunately, it's a BP gas station = / ). Let me just tell you something: Fix-A-Flat ROCKS! I'm a total and complete supporter of this product. Not only does it fill up your tire for a compact car completely, but also releases a sealant. Immediately after filling your tire with air, drive it two to four miles in order to allow the sealant to cover the inside edges of the tire completely hopefully stopping the leak. This Fix-A-Flat stuff has saved this back tire for now --at least until winter.

We left for Green County around 3:30 Lafayette time, and so the adventures of driving Miss Cherry officially began. Our first goal? Figuring out exactly how to change the radio station was our first task. The seller ranted and raved about how wonderful the stereo and sound system were in the car. Our discover? We have for sure seen better, and we would for sure NOT classify it as wonderful. I mean we couldn't even figure out how to change the radio station or even work the CD player. It doesn't take a genius to figure out those things, and together we make a pretty fairly intelligent pair. Seriously, it's the dumbest and most confusing radio/CD player set up ever. I mean come on! It doesn't even have a seek button to traverse through the different radio stations! I don't think Cherry and I could have had worse luck. We pressed every button and every combination of the buttons yet still, NOTHING! Yet, for some reason, though Cherry and I could not figure it out ourselves, Rhett, being a car crazy male like he is, was immediately able to figure out how to operate each! Dumbfounded and slightly annoyed, Cherry politely thanked Rhett for his insight into the workings of her new, mysterious car.

When Cherry and I arrived at the beach, Daddy Warbucks and Joe were sitting at the gate taking five dollars a person as an entry fee to the popular summer hang out. I went inside the cafe in order to finish some engineering homework while Daddy Warbucks and Joe checked out Cherry's new ride. They all immediately started detailing the Spyder and giving Cherry advice on how to fix the little odds and ends that are wrong with the vehicle.

"Now Sunshine," explains Joe with his classic Chicago accent. 'Sunshine' is what Joe calls Cherry. Joe has a house on the lake and spends all of his summer weekends on the beach with Daddy Warbucks. "You see that side button on the gear shift? That there is the over drive. It's sort of like a fourth gear. It'll drop your rpms by about half if you use it when you are going about 45mph over the speed limit."

When Cherry got off work, the two of us went to Joe's lake side house. Joe began oiling the hinges on the convertible top and doors. He taught us how to check the pressure in the tires, check the oil (both motor and transmission), and how to check the antifreeze. Since both Cherry and I aren't exactly geniuses when it comes to cars, Joe's lessons were really helpful. I think it's important for everyone to have at least a simple basic knowledge on how to care for your car when it comes to things like checking the oil and changing a flat. It will help extend the life of your vehicle as well as get you out of some sticky situations. No one likes to be that person stuck on the side of the road because they have no idea how to change a flat. Don't let that person be you!

From there I drove Cherry and I to a friend's house for an extremely lame get together. Both of us were exhausted, so we left fairly early. I believe it's safe to say that I have driven Cherry's car more than she has. Until September 4th rolls around I'm sure I'll be driving it a lot more. I've driven Cherry to and from work both in West Lafayette and Green County. Occasionally it's a pain and physically exhausting to get up at 7:45am to get her to work by 8am, but I would never not do it. Cherry is my best friend and will always be my best friend. I'd take a bullet for that girl so waking up to drive a few miles is really nbd, no big deal! Every mile I drive her is an adventure for both of us. We are constantly talking and singing way too loud (well...at least I'm always singing WAY too loud lol ) to the radio or cd all the while continually getting to know one another as our friendship continually grows down the winding roads. There is still a lot of road left for Cherry to travel in her life, and I'll be there for her whether the road is full of pot holes or freshly paved. Most of the time, I'll be in the passenger or back seat, but for now I'll be driving Miss Cherry and enjoying our time together as always.

All My Love,
Koya = )

Daddy Warbucks -- Annie
Joe Boyd -- Damn Yankees

Road Trip! Road Trip! Road Trip!

Elizabeth and I were appalled upon hearing that Jo had NEVER been to Chicago. Never. Ever. Never ever. Growing up in Northern Indiana, this fact was hard for me to comprehend. It felt like i went to Chicago all the time. It's my favorite city in the whole world (Not that I have seen or been around the whole world as of yet so right now I guess Chicago doesn't have much competition but honestly that's not the point. I mean the girl has NEVER been to Chicago.), plus my boys of summer aka The Chicago Cubs = ) are there! Unable to accept that Jo had never been to Chicago before, Elizabeth suggested that we go to Chicago. And, we did. = )

Spontaneous road trips are always adventurous. Elizabeth, Jo, Cherry, and I all left for Chicago Thursday night. Elizabeth drove as always while Jo sat in the front seat. Cherry and I sat in the back of Elizabeth's white Jeep Liberty. With the help of Alley (Jo's GPS), we set off for the north western suburbs of Chicago. We were staying at Cherry's mom's apartment that night, and we would rise early in order to achieve maximum Chicago time on Friday. The ride was a long one. We left around 10:45 Lafayette time and arrived at 12:30 Chicago time. Music, singing, snapping, stories, White Castle ( I personally hate White Castle, but Elizabeth and Cherry LOVE it and Jo thinks it's pretty okay.), and Jo obnoxiously asking Elizabeth over and over "Are we there yet?" helped the time fly by. Approximately 20 miles north of West Lafayette on 65, we were surrounded by bean fields. Above these beans fields were flashing red lights. "What are those?" Jo asked.

"They are the windmills!" I responded, "All the windmills have to have those flashing red lights, so planes can see them." As we drove farther down the road, we approached some windmills built closer to the road. It's incredible to be close to them. You don't realize just how huge they are.

"I forget who I was talking to, but they said something about how the main post of the windmill is the length of four school buses," stated Cherry as Jo stared wide eyed at the giants (Every time I pass these windmills, which is more often then one would think, I ALWAYS think of Don Quixote and how he fought the windmills because he thought they were actual giants.)

"On our way back home you'll see them during the day," I said. "You know, in their own way, I really do think the windmills are beautiful."

As we got closer to our destination, we stopped at a gas station. I had been wearing a Hawaiian leis Elizabeth kept in her jeep the entire trip. A short man named Theo was working the counter. Super happy and chatty, we conversed while he checked out my items (which were actually Cherry's) and he proceeded to ask me if it was my birthday because I was wearing the lei and a constant grin. Of course it wasn't, but we all got a real kick out of him asking. When we arrived at Cherry's mom's, she greeted Cherry with a hug and a smile. The two hadn't seen each other in quite sometime. I myself hadn't seen her in roughly five years. It was late, and we were tired, but Cherry went to wake up her little three old sister. I hadn't seen her since she was a wee little baby, and now she was three! She was the sweetest little thing! She kept kissing all of us girls and telling Cherry how much she missed her. Our visit was short lived due to our early leave to get to Chicago, but I'm really glad we were able to stop there. I think Cherry needed some family time, and they needed to see her too.

The hardest thing in the world to do in Chicago is find somewhere to park. We drove around downtown for an hour looking for somewhere to park that would cost less than $50. Eventually we found parking on Van Buren for $21. Really the best parking deals are the valet parking that restaurants do. The only catch is that you have to eat at their restaurant in order to get the good deal parking of $12 - $16. Once we parked, the four of us began our walking journey. We walked to Grant Park where we saw the beautiful giant fountain (pictured at the top). After taking pictures, and Jo jokingly pretending to jump into the fountain in order to "see how deep it is" we continued to walk toward north along Lake Michigan to Navy Pier (also pictured at the top...forgive me...I'm still trying to figure out this whole posting pictures in my blog exactly where I want them to go thing). There is a bunch to do at Navy Pier. They have fair rides, such as the giant ferris wheel which Navy Pier is famous for. Water taxis offered rides to Navy Pier all along the beach. Any kind of food you could want can be found country corn, funnel cake, elephant ears, Bubba Gump Shrimp, and Billy Goat Tavern are just a few of the places/food items that you can enjoy while you are there. I have a particular interest in the Billy Goat Tavern because of it's connection with the Chicago Cubs' Billy Goat Curse, but I will save that for another blog entry.

While we were at Navy Pier we went into the Amazing Chicago Fun House Maze. It was definitely an old maze. I could tell because Scott (our video tour guide man) was wearing some clothes straight from the 90s and he referred to the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) as the tallest building in the world. The premise of the maze was to learn the history of Chicago. Facts about Chicago are written throughout the maze. First we journeyed through the underground tunnels of Chicago. This part of the maze was pretty challenging. There were a bunch of mirrors and laser lights we had to navigate through and several times we got completely turned around because it was so dark. Elizabeth being the jokester that she is even pretended to run into one of the mirrors. After the mirrors we were squished into a tight wall made from the material of those large bounce houses. from there we helped the fire department put out the infamous Chicago Fire. We ran through punching bags painted like fire and had to find the bag which would sound the fire alarm. Then we went into a room to stomp out the fire. After we saved the city, we went into a tunnel. Bare with me on this description. We walked out onto a stationary metal platform with rails;however, the platform was surrounding by a spinning tunnel lit with glow and the dark stars. As the tunnel and stars spun around you, even though you yourself were stationary, it felt like you were moving. We must have looked completely ridiculous, but the tunnel completely throws off your sense of balance. We dawdled in there from quite sometime; it was for sure my favorite part of the maze.

I'm not sure what was going on in Chicago that day, but Kraft Mac-N-Cheese was EVERYWHERE! We got free already made samples, and they were passing out free packages on the street. The new Transformers movie is also being shot in Chicago, so several streets have been blocked off due to the filming. Unfortunately, we were unable to find and capture Shia LaBeouf. = / = (

From Navy Pier, we continued our walking adventure to find Michigan Ave. Most of the good shopping is on this street and Gino's East is right off Michigan Ave on Superior. Gino's is by far my favorite pizza place in Chicago. Their deep dish is to die for. The four of us split a large crumbled sausage and cheese deep dish pizza. Splitting the large allowed each of us to have two pieces, which is more than plenty when you are eating a deep dish, making each of us pay roughly $8.50 for dinner including the tip (this is assuming you eat, I mean drink, water with your meal and do not get an appetizer. All and all it's a pretty good deal for a dinner in Chicago.) We didn't do much shopping though we did explore the Garmin, Apple, and Disney stores for awhile. By this time of day though, we were all totally exhausted and completely unsure of exactly where the Jeep Liberty was. We used the GPS on Cherry's Iphone all day in order to help us navigate Chicago; however, there is serious lag time and it was confusing to figure out exactly how to hold the GPS in order to figure out which direction to go.

As we walked to find Van Buren and the white Jeep Liberty, we stumbled across the bean. The bean is made of stainless steel and is the focal point in Chicago's Millennium Park. The reflective bean takes the classic 'MySpace Mirror Pic' to a whole new level. After taking several pictures in and underneath the bean, we continued our search for the car. Gray clouds had started rolling across the city, and beating the rain was going to be tough. Luckily for us, Michigan Ave and Van Buren run right into each other! We quickly dragged our exhausted bodies into the vehicle and headed for my grandparents house to rest for the night.

Cherry fell asleep on the drive to my grandparents house. I kept chatting and warning the others about my grandparents and their specific habits. "If we are lucky, there will be pie. The casinos give away apple pies a lot. Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie go quite a bit, so if we are lucky, there will be pie."

When we arrived to my grandparents house, no one was home. As we settled in, Cherry started talking about how hungry she was -- hungry for desert. "Where is the pie?" Cherry exclaimed, "You said there would be pie!"

"What?! I never said there would be pie. I said if we are lucky there will be pie. Big difference. Apparently we just aren't that lucky."

"That's not what I heard," countered Cherry with her little sassy attitude.

"You were asleep! How the heck do you even know what I said?"

"I woke up for a second and you said 'I can't wait to get to grandma's because there will be pie' and then I fell asleep and got all excited about this pie and now there isn't any."

Cherry never did get her pie. When Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie arrived they were ready to sit and chat with us girls. We talked to them for roughly two and a half hours before they went downstairs to watch Evan Bayh on Sean Hannity. Elizabeth and I tucked Jo into bed on the couch that night. We worked really really hard to completely tuck and snuggle her in, but that crazy girl just had to get up and use the restroom right after we had finished tucking her in. We had to leave early the next morning in order to get plates for Cherry's new car. When we arose, Grandma and Auntie had started making breakfast. Cubbie Bear pancakes, omelets, peppers, milk, juice, cereal, and a variety of fruit was all laid out and ready for us to consume. No one can cook quite like Auntie and Grandma. Everything they make is always beyond delicious. Once everyone was forced to eat more than their stomachs could actually hold, we had to bid my grandparents and auntie adieu and head back to West Lafayette. Sorry for this abrupt ending folks, but I'm pretty tired and still have a minimum of two other events to blog about from this weekend.

All my Love,

Koya = )

The Things People Do For A Buck Or Two

As I sat in the kitchen of Apartment 22 pondering what my next blog entry would include, Elizabeth and Danny started another one of their epic disputes. Both were at the stove attempting to make something delicious. Elizabeth was reheating her wonderful chili (which was delicious), and Danny made hot ham and cheese (we will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it tasted okay). Elizabeth has a gift for knowing exactly what to say in order to irritate Danny. Sandy sat on the futon tired and exhausted. She didn't feel well and decided to not get involved and let her best friend and boyfriend duke it out as they always did.

"Danny, you're an idiot!"

"Shut up Elizabeth! I'm going to suffocate you with a pillow in your sleep!"

"Ha! Too bad I sleep with my eyes open Danny! I'll kick your a**!"

No need to worry. This is how the two normally address each other-- like a brother and sister pair who aren't afraid to wrestle until the death. So many empty death threats are exchanged throughout the apartment, I have already declared that if one of us shows up dead I will not be providing alibis for anyone. When a pause in the bickering occurred, somewhere in between Danny flipping his hot ham cheese to toast the other side and Elizabeth tasting her chili's temperature, I lamented to my friends about my short comings as a blogger. "I've been so busy with school. I haven't even really had time to think about what my next blog will be. I've been slacking so hard core when it comes to posts. If I even have a shot at this job I really need to start writing more often, but all I've done lately is school work. I mean, you can only write so many blog entries about how awful MatLAB programming is. I need to write one tonight and post it, but I haven't done anything worth posting! You guys need to do something entertaining tonight. Do something funny. Hey, Danny could you do something really stupid for us?"

Still fired up from his tiff with Elizabeth Danny replied, "Dang it Sequoia! I knew that's where you were going with that little speech! And NO. I WON'T!"

"Haha just talk about the stupid things Danny has done," giggled Elizabeth uncontrollably while she stirred her chili, "for example, the time this idiot snorted an aspirin."

With this comment Sandy jumped in with a laugh, "You mean a baby aspirin, and he couldn't even do it!"

Defensively, Danny replied, "Hey, back in the day I used to be able to snort those huge pixi sticks okay. That really hurt when I tried to snort that aspir-"

"You mean baby aspirin," interrupted Sandy.

"I really need to start hanging out with more boys," stated the defeated Danny.

Here is the short but hilarious tale of Danny attempting to snort (emphasis on the word attempting) a baby aspirin.

I was reading my MatLAB textbook in an effort to actually understand what was occurring in my engineering class when Danny waltzed into mine and Elizabeth's room. "Is five dollars enough money to snort a baby aspirin?" asked Danny as if it were a normal question anyone would ask.

"What?"

"Don't ask questions. If someone offered you five dollars would you snort a baby aspirin?"

Assuming Danny was going to give Sandy five dollars if she completed this snorting task, I decided to help her cash in more than five dollars. Of course we all know what happens when one assumes."Uhhh...are you serious? No way. It would take a heck of a lot more money than that to get this nose to snort anything. A minimum of at least...I don't know...say...twenty bucks? Yes, it would take at least twenty dollars for me to consider snorting aspirin, so you can imagine how much money it would take in order for me to actually do it."

"Thank you, Sequoia," nodded Danny. While he walked out the door he shouted, "Sandy! I'll do it for twenty dollars!"

Obviously if I would have known Danny would be the one snorting I would have lowered the price to fifty cents in order to help a sister out, but I suppose we all know what happens when one assumes.

"Twenty dollars? How about I give you three?" countered Sandy. She wasn't going into double digits let alone into the twenty dollar range.

"What? That's lower! I'll do it for ten."

"Five."

"Nine."

"Five and a half."

"Seven?"

"Eh, I guess seven is fine. Now snort!"

"You aren't seriously going to snort that are you?" I questioned, attempting to be the voice of reason. Though when Danny responded with a yes I certainly wasn't going to press the matter. It was always entertaining when Danny did idiotic things. "Okay, well if you are really going to do it you need to wait while I get Elizabeth because there is no way she is going to miss this...ELIZABETH COME QUICK DANNY IS GOING TO SNORT BABY ASPIRIN!"

"I hate you Sequoia."

"Haha the feeling is mutual Danny," I replied with a sly grin.

Sandy ground the baby aspirin into a fine powder. After the bathroom counter was sanitized the powdered baby aspirin was sprinkled into a long fine line across the edge of the counter.

"Don't make me do it."

"Oh come on you big baby. I'm giving you seven bucks for it! Just do it!"

After about five minutes of bashing on Danny's ego, Sandy and Elizabeth were able to talk Danny into snorting the baby aspirin. He bent down, place a finger on one nostril and began to inhale the powder. However, after one quick sniff, Danny went into a fit of sneezes and coughs while Sandy, Elizabeth, and I went into a fit of laughs.

"That hurt. Do I get my seven dollars now?"

"Hahahaha heck no! Are you serious? You didn't snort all of it! Shoot you didn't even snort an eighth of it!"

"Man that hurt. I really could snort a whole giant pixi stick back in the day."

"Haha you are such a pansy Danny!" piped Elizabeth, "This baby aspirin thing is going to give us something to laugh about for years."

"I really wish you could have seen yourself," I added, "Hahahaha you should totally try again except this time we will video tape it, send it into America's Funniest Home Videos, and then it will be voted the best and we, meaning Sandy; Elizabeth; and I, will win ten thousand dollars and go on a big fancy vacation!"

"You guys really aren't ever going to let me live this one down are you?"

"Haha not a chance in you know where Danny," replied Elizabeth, "When we are old and in wheelchairs, I'll say 'Hey old fart, remember that one time you were an idiot and seriously tried to snort a baby aspirin for seven dollars? Hahaha ohhhh good times, good times.'"

"I really do need to start hanging out with guys more often."

After reflecting on Danny's baby aspirin stunt, I found it appropriate to include an event that occurred the first semester of my freshmen year. Before I left for college, I made a ten dollar purchase at Gander Mountain. It was a container of pepper spray in order to protect myself when walking back to my dorm at night. Don't get me wrong. I do feel very safe on campus because of programs, such as the Safe Walk program and the emergency response boxes with the blue lights scattered throughout campus; however, I had never lived anywhere but my house, and I wanted to feel safe in my new environment. The pepper spray clipped right on my key chain and went everywhere I did. It was a normal night out with my boys Riff, Action, A-Rab, and Baby John. The five of us went for a walk around campus that early September night. On our way back to Cary Quad, we wandered into Tark Mart or Boiler Junction as it is formally known. We used our dining dollars in order to buy snacks for our movie choice of the night, The Big Lebowski. On our way out of Tarkington, Riff managed to unhook my pepper spray from my key chain without my knowing. Ever since I had purchased the pepper spray, Riff had badgered me into letting him "test out the pepper spray to make sure it works properly." As we walked up the side walk toward the road, Riff approached A-Rab and said, "Hey A-Rab, I'll pay you ten dollars if you let me spray this in your face."

"Well heck yah for ten dollars I'll let you spray me in the face!" replied A-Rab instantly.

Upon realizing that Riff was holding my pepper spray, I immediately jumped in the situation. "A-Rab are you crazy?! You are not seriously letting Riff spray you in the face for ten bucks. Are you nuts? It says military tear gas on the side of the canister. MILITARY TEAR GAS! Are you honestly going to let him spray you in the face? Back out of this right now!"

"Sequoia, it's ten bucks. That's not bad at all."

Realizing that reasoning with A-Rab would be challenging especially with the support of Action and Baby John who had been enjoying every moment of my frantic attempts to stop Riff and A-Rab from being completely stupid and who were in full support of the spray in the face deal, I turned my attention to Riff. "Riff! Give me back my pepper spray! That's mine and you can't use it without my permission, and I'm not giving it to you! Give it back! Don't you dare even think about spraying A-Rab in the face. He'll go blind! Riff, please. Please just give it back. He could seriously get hurt, and it's only nine o' clock! People are out and about on campus still. Really guys this isn't safe!"

I tried playing the good cop/bad cop routine on Riff and A-Rab for another ten minutes, but my efforts were beyond futile. Within this ten minutes, Action and Baby John returned to Tark Mart in order to purchase a gallon of water for A-Rab's face once he was sprayed. Baby John also started video recorder on his phone in order to document the incident. There was no way I could stop this ridiculous scene from occurring. Brute force was useless considering all of the boys were significantly strong than I. Action held me back, and I was forced against my will to witness Riff pepper spray A-Rab right in the face. I had never seen someone fall like that in my life. A-Rab's legs literally collapsed right out from underneath himself as he grabbed his face with his hands. While the boys laughed I quickly ran to try and aid A-Rab. As I walked toward him, Riff slipped the pepper spray into my hand. Noticing the spectacle, students started to walk towards A-Rab and observe him flailing about in the grass unable to see. "What happened to him?" people asked. Action replied, "Oh he was trying to rape her (as he pointed directly at me) so she pepper sprayed him. No worries bro everything is fine."

You can imagine the reaction this rape cover story evoked from me. I don't think the boys had ever seen me quite so hysterical and angry. "Action don't you dare tell people that! Sorry about that folks. That's not what happened at all! This idiot (as I point to Riff) told this idiot (as I point to A-Rab whom is still on the ground) that he would give him ten dollars if he could spray him in the face with pepper spray! Let the record show I was against this plan from the beginning! Come on boys. You all are making a huge scene (though really at this point, I was the one making a huge scene), and now, thanks to you, Riff, A-Rab can't even watch the dang movie because he can't see anymore!"

We all started walking towards Cary Quad, the boys still laughing hysterically and brushing off my scoldings when a voice called from behind. A-Rab had managed to stand, but asked us to wait up because he couldn't see and didn't know where to go. Action's response? "Follow the sound of my voice!"

Riff and Action walked on either side of A-Rab and escorted him back to Cary Quad safely while all of the boys listened to a loud and long scolding from me. Once we returned, we were able to see A-Rab's face in it's full glory. His face had completely swollen and was extremely red and irritated. His eyes were completely swelled shut. Riff took A-Rab to the restroom in an attempt to wash him while I visited the neighbor whom was in ROTC. He had been pepper sprayed as part of his military training, and I was hoping to gain some advice on what to do for A-Rab in order to ease the pain. Unfortunately, there was no immediate relief. A-Rab would simply have to wait it out. While Riff and I attempted to help A-Rab, Action and Baby John hopped on the computer to upload the video Baby John took on his phone of Riff spraying A-Rab. It took about a half hour, but the pair successfully uploaded the video to YouTube. Though Action tried to edit the video and make the image brighter, he was unable to make the original film anymore visible than it was originally. If you wish to see the seventeen second video of A-Rab being pepper sprayed, here is the link but first let me caution you that the title of the video is vulgar, and the darkness makes it hard to see. If you watch it a few times you will see Riff approach A-Rab and spray followed immediately after by A-Rab collapsing. It might take a few tries and some adjusting of the computer screen, but you can see it I promise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VwQnaP75OQ.

Both Danny and A-Rab were guilty of the same thing--indulging in a ridiculous request by someone in order to make a little money. Now don't get me wrong. I've been guilty of this type of act before too. I once put sunscreen on a passed out man's belly for six dollars. I know as college students money is a huge issue since there isn't a lot of it to go around. But why is it when money is offered in exchanged for doing something idiotic and harmful to your body, males seem to jump right up to shake hands on the bet? This pattern can even be seen in the little ones. When I saw my little brother a few weeks ago he participated in a game called "Pepperoni." Every time the a person scored a point while playing ping pong, they got to hit the ping pong ball as hard as they could against their opponents bare back creating red circular marks on the person's back or "pepperoni." Ridiculous right? I don't understand why they participate in these sorts of ridiculous activities. It is amazing what people will do when a little money is offered in return for finishing the task.

All my love,
Koya = )

Riff- West Side Story
Action- West Side Story
A-Rab- West Side Story
Baby John- West Side Story
All of these characters are members of the "Sharks" for those whom are familiar with the show. Oh and Ps.
I cooked some peas and put them in some left overs from that chicken stuffing casserole from the last entry, and it was pretty tasty. If you like peas you should for give it a shot!

Viruses, Sun Burns, and Desperate Housewives

simply sequoia loves simply sam. it's just that simple.

let me do all this discussing for you...

-your comp virus was no good, but a dozen chocolate chip cookies later... problem no MORE!

-your sunburn? what sunburn? you are nothing but sexy bronzed skin

-desperate housewives is the best. kathryn murdered her husband.. who woulda thought? crazy lady. Gabi reminds me a lot of myself i kinda like her :). The pregnant cute one? I agree with you, she is very cute. The firecrotch is also wild. But she really likes to gossip, that's not for me. Cancer girl kicks ass. She's got the best thing going in my opinion.

Your casserole was delicious. You will make the best wife someday :) LOVE YOU!!!!!!!~!

^^^

This is an example of how my blog entries would be if my good friend Samantha were to always write my blogs for me = ) lol

Okay for starters...let me just tell you how much I hate computer viruses. This is the second time I've gotten this stupid virus. It's one of those viruses that poses as an antivirus so just a general warning to the world beware of the posers also known as the fake anti viruses. So what happens? What can you do if you are unlucky enough to contract such a virus? Well the first time I got this virus I went straight to Itap--Purdue's technology and computer support system. I asked them if they could please get rid of this virus, but they said no. Apparently this virus is so horrid that it infects your registry. Since it affects your registry, there is a liability and legal issue which prevents the students whom work at Itap from being able to rid computers of such viruses. I quickly called my friend dad whom worked with computers for a living. Since my antivirus did not even recognize my computer did indeed have a virus, my second father informed me to download a registry cleaner and a cc cleaner. I was able to successfully download these programs. After I ran them several times, enough of the virus had been removed that my antivirus software was able to detect and destroy the nuisance. This week, however, I was not this lucky. Trudy, who you should all know at this point as my computer, had to have her hard drive completely wiped. Nick in my engineering class heard of my whoahs and asked me to bring my computer to class. The next day in class Nick started fiddling with my computer; he asked me to save some files to a flash drive and upon completion I moved my fingers to the keys of the class computer in order to continue taking notes. "Okay, I'm just going to go ahead and close this screen right now, things are getting a little inappropriate." Sure enough, just as an engineering tour walked right by our classroom (my computer screen was facing the window of this classroom) my computer started downloading porn in the middle of class! I was appalled and greatly embarrassed by the virus's wonderful timing. Nick's words of encouragement were, "Really Sequoia, it's fine. I mean I highly doubt this is the first time porn has been downloaded during a class. And besides, I shut the screen quickly, so I doubt anyone saw." It was then when Nick decided wiping my hard drive would be the best course of action. As Sam put it earlier, a dozen cookies later Trudy was fixed! I had to reinstall all of my software and programs; it was frustrating, but Trudy really is a whole new woman now. Moral of the story? If you contract such a computer virus as this, try downloading this registry cleaner http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm and/or this cc cleaner http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/. After running these programs 2 or 3 times each, try running your antivirus software again. If your software still does not detect and kill the vermin virus, ask a genius computer to aid you in your troubled computer times. A batch of cookies is usually all they will want in return for payment.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of returning to my hometown of Green County where my dear friends and I floated the river. Myself six lovely ladies whipped out river tubes and floaties every one's lives. Initially we planned to start our float at noon, but let's face it. Getting seven girls who are all on very different schedules to the same place on time is nearly impossible. Scarlett parked her car at the park--our final destination. The seven of us all piled in "Old Blackie", Bertha's truck in order to ride out to 700 to start our river adventure. (Let me just inform you all that I am extremely fair skinned and start baking and burning the second I'm exposed to sunlight. The only sunscreen available was SPF 12 and it was not water proof.)Halley and Katherine sat in the back in order to keep all of our tubes and floaties from flying out the back. The river was much lower than we expected. It had been several days since a rain had come, and the river was proof of that. The seven of us waded into the river until our butts didn't drag our tubes against the river bottom and away we went! Now for those who are unfamiliar with Green County's Green River, let me just tell you it is not the cleanest or safest of all rivers. A little boy was swept under the rapids and killed just a week before; this incident made both Cherry and I slightly apprehensive about our excursion. I was floating the river in on of Halley's river tubes. Though lying on my back with my butt and stomach partially in the water from being in the center of the tube was the most relaxing way to lay, I found that for nearly the entire trip I was forced to lie on my stomach across the tube in order to steer myself through the obstacle course the river had provided for us. Fallen trees and rocks proved to be difficult to navigate through, and I could steer best when I laid on my stomach. At one point nearly the entire river was blocked by a combination of trees, rocks, and a sandbar. Being the intelligent person I am, I had the clever idea of attempting to float underneath a tree which provided no more than five inches between itself and the water. Against every one's better judgment, I began to limbo myself and my tube underneath the tree. The current picked up and eventually my tube and body were on the other side of the tree. Well, my body minus my head. My head was caught on the other side of the log. The current was strong enough to sweep my tube out from underneath me flipping me into the water and moving my head to the other side of the tree. Scarlett, who is gorgeous and still completely dry and put together even after floating the river for about an hour and a half at this point could not stop laughing as I being completely soaked at this point retrieved my run away tube. Our trip ended at Train Bridge, the landmark which informed us to get off the river because a. we were now at the park and b. the dangerous rapids are closely approaching. Train Bridge as the townies have come to know it by is an old train bridge that is no longer in use which stretches the width of the Green River. In the summer, kids ride their bikes down to the park and jump off the top of the bridge into the water. Many of my summers growing up were spent on that old bridge. We would mess around on that bridge and in the water for hours. It was always such a thrill jumping off into the water. Rumor has it that if you jump off Train Bridge you will stay in Green County forever (I believe I'm living proof that the legend is not true). Scarlett and Cherry had work at 4 and 4:30 respectively that day. Scarlett and I being the first two to finish the trip dropped our tubes by the side of the river and ran to Scarlett's car. it was already 4:15 and Scarlett still had to take me back to 700 in order to retrieve Old Blackie to pick up the other girls. Note only were we the first two to finish the river float, but also the two of us are most definitely the whitest girls out of the bunch and the most badly burnt. I didn't realize the extent of my sunburn until I was at the beach with Cherry while she worked. Since I had laid on my stomach most of the day, my entire back side was completely fried. I looked like a lobster that had been half cooked but still managed to pop the lid off in time to escape. Simple actions like sitting, laying, and moving in general were extremely painful. Aloe only alleviated the pain for a few minutes before the back side of my body started aching again. Five days later, my burn has slightly bronzed over but my skin is still slightly red and very very itchy. The moral of the story? It is never okay to not apply sunblock when you are as white as a ghost. You may think it's no big deal and one day won't be so bad, but you are dead wrong. Apply sunblock. It works miracles.

In 2004 a show called Desperate Housewives made it's television debut and took the small screen by storm. Six years later, I discovered it. I knew the show existed, but I wasn't one who usually watched TV unless it was Gilmore Girls. Well, let me just tell you that my roommates Elizabeth and Sandy have been addicted to it for the past year. I would occasionally and casually watch the show with the two of them if I happened to be in the room or over while they were watching it. It wasn't until this summer when I moved in with the two of them that I really started watching the show. The apartment has NetFlicks through the Wii console and conveniently seasons four and five are on instant demand. I don't think I have ever become so deeply and emotionally involved in a fictional story (minus Harry Potter) so quickly. I don't know what it is about that show, but Wisteria Lane is far from boring and call me crazy, but I wouldn't at all mind living on that street. I find it slightly entertaining that the characters on the show are both Colts and Pacer fans. Knowing this information I assumed that Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives, was from Indiana. After some research, it turns out the man's from Oklahoma. Who would have thought? If you are looking for a new show to watch or are just bored, rent the first season of Desperate Housewives and start watching it. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Most likely, should you start watching this show, you will probably become an addict like myself. My name is Sequoia Murray and I'm a Desperate Housewives-oholic. I don't want to tell you any plots because that just ruins everything. You can refer to Sam's mini description at the beginning of the blog, but some of her facts are slightly inaccurate since she is not as far as I am in the season. The show is totally bizarre and will not lose your interest. Why am I telling you this? There really is no reason. It's just become a part of my life lately and I thought I would share it with you all. However, if you are in college or going to college, it's nice to have a stash of movies and TV show series because I can promise you will watch a lot of DVDs throughout your years. Desperate Housewives. You should watch it.

In reference to the comment Samantha made about the casserole I made. In case anyone was curious I made a chicken and stuffing casserole the other day. My mom makes it, and it's extremely easy to make, so if you are interested here is the recipe:
(For those of you who do watch Desperate Housewives, just call me Mrs. Van De Kamp)

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing
3 chicken breast (raw or cooked the casserole can be made using either)
2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 stick of butter (used in the stove top stuffing)
3 cups of water (used in the stove top stuffing)
A splash of milk
A casserole dish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a casserole dish (if you don't, cleaning the dish is going to suck and you will be very angry with yourself for not greasing the dish). Cut the chicken breasts into bite size chunks. Make the Stove Top stuffing according to the box directions and place in a casserole dish. Spread the chicken throughout the stuffing. Pour the cans of Cream of Chicken Soup right on the stuffing and chicken. Mix the contents. Splash a bit of milk on top to ensure that the casserole will not dry while it bakes. Place in the oven uncovered for 45 minutes. The dish can serve roughly 8 or 9 people.
It's easy and delicious! I've been thinking about experimenting with the recipe more. Maybe I'll add some sort of veggie to the dish, since I'm a vegetable kind of girl. I was also thinking about possibly using Cream of Mushroom Soup instead of Cream of Chicken or maybe doing one of each? I don't know! The possibilities are endless! You are more than welcome to try out the recipe as is or add your own little flare to it. Regardless, you will enjoy this recipe. It's delicious.

All my love,
Koya = )
Scarlett- Someone Like You
Halley-Someone Like You
Katherine - Forever
Bertha-(Not from a book, my friend insisted this was the name I was to use)

The House That Built Me

Sorry it has been soooo long since I've made an entry! Trudy (my computer) decided that she would contract a virus...AGAIN! In a day or so I'll probably tell you all about that fiasco, because this blog entry is not about computer viruses.

Have you ever heard Miranda Lambert's song "The House That Built Me?" Ever since I heard it on the radio, I randomly sing lines from it throughout the day. At times, I feel like Miranda wrote that song for me -- that's how connected I feel to it.

I grew up in a tiny hick-ville everybody knows everybody kind of town (for Elizabeth's amusement, let's call this town Green County). The summer going into my freshmen year, my family moved to the suburbs of Indianapolis. However, five years later, my parents and brothers have spent the past two days on the road moving to a new house. When I went home last weekend, a lot of my belongings which I left behind were lost in a mess of moving boxes. Before I left, my sister and I walked around the house. I didn't feel anything. No sadness. No loss. The house I lived in the last four years didn't mean a thing to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm at a loss for how sad I am that my family is moving so far away, but I felt no attachment to the house or town they were leaving behind. It was interesting to compare my feelings then and the feelings I had when my family moved from my home town.

My sister and I cried for days and days; we were so angry with our parents. I was leaving what I believed to be the perfect life. Before all of us kids were shoved in the van to head to the Indy area, I walked through the house and around the yard. Not only did I walk around, but I spoke to things. I spoke to the individual rooms in the house. I talked about all the things I had done there and what I would miss. I went through the back yard and climbed the pear
tree one last time. I visited Little's grave to tell her goodbye; I still feel guilty about leaving her there.

So here it is folks, with the help of Miss Lambert's (Soon to be Mrs. Blake Shelton, though I highly doubt she will actually change her name..but anyway...I digress...) song, I'm going to tell you a little about the house that built me.

"I know they say, you can't go home again. I just had to come back one last time. Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam, but these hand prints on the front steps are mine. Up those stairs, in that little back bedroom is where I did my homework, and I learned to play guitar. And I bet you didn't know that under that old oak, my favorite dog is buried in the yard."

Thomas Wolfe once said, "You can't go home again." I was always skeptical of this statement until I tried going home myself. Green County was my life! My friends and future were all lined up right there for me. Just as things seemed perfect, I had to leave. Going home was the hardest thing. At first it wasn't terrible, but slowly I felt pushed out of the conversations. My friends would mention new people I had never met, and they didn't know anyone involved in the stories I told. I was always so incredibly excited to return home and see everyone. During the three hour car ride "home" however, I would get extremely depressed and sad about what I had left behind. Because, no matter how many times I made friends walk, ride, or drive past my old house, it wasn't mine anymore. A new family lives there. They play basketball on the hoop my dad purchased and cemented in place, yet they have no idea whose feet and initials are forever embedded in the concrete which supports the pole. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Wolfe is right. Once you leave, you can never go home again because you and your home are both constantly changing. Nothing will ever be exactly as how you once remembered it, and that fact is at times hard to stomach. Most kids don't learn about this until they go off to college their freshmen year, but lucky me was exposed to it my freshmen year of high school. What I just wrote sounds really depressing and harsh upon rereading it, but I want you all to know that it's fine. It's okay that you can't go home again. It's scary to think about at first, but it's okay because soon, you will find a new home. Even if you don't get the "homey" feeling right away, be patient. It will come.

"I thought if I could touch this place or feel it. This brokenness inside me might start healing. Out here it's like I'm someone else. I thought that maybe I could find myself. If I could just come in I swear I'll leave. Won't take nothin' but a memory from the house that built me."

So why did I keep going home? I would get so excited to go back home and visit everyone, yet every single time, without fail, I rode back "home" extremely depressed and saddened. It was a pattern which I repeated for four years of my life. In my new town things were different. No one knew me (which was partially my fault considering the first two years I lived their I had absolutely no intentions of getting to know or getting close with anyone in that town. I automatically hated everyone and everything related to my new suburban residence.). I felt empty and broken without my life in Green County. I kept telling myself that if I kept going back and tried harder things would be the same. If I kept going back, I could find the strength to be Green County Sequoia in my new town. Very few people from Indy know the Green County Sequoia, and a lot of that is my fault. I wasn't willing to embrace the change of my environment. I was losing myself to somebody I didn't want to become. In my mind, going home again and visiting those who helped create me was the only way to find and be myself again. Of course that logic is seriously flawed in more ways than one, but I was young. I probably would have felt differently had I known that in the future I would still be crazy close with some of my besties from Green County, but I didn't, and I did everything possible to cling onto those people and our memories together.

"Mama cut out pictures of houses for years from "Better Homes and Garden" magazine. Plans were drawn and concrete poured and nail by nail and board by board, daddy gave life to mama's dream. I thought if I could touch this place or feel it, this brokenness inside me might start healing. Out here it's like I'm someone else. I thought that maybe I could find myself. If I could just come in I swear I'll leave. Won't take nothin' but a memory from the house that built me."

This part of the song makes me think about my parents and how far they have come in their lives together. I don't think I've ever seen two people so in love even after all this time. I get a gag me this is adorable but weird because they are my parents type of reaction every time I see them together. My parents had a rough go of it at first, but through hard work and my father's genius career moves our family is now doing extremely well. This new move has hit me in a different way than the first. My parents and brothers are moving into an extremely nice house very far from my sister and I. It's weird to think that they are starting a whole new life together as a family--without us. At times I feel like this move and their new life doesn't involve me. It's like, I'm not apart of the new family that's starting over. Realistically, I'll probably never live in the new house. From here on out, every summer this little chemical engineering student needs to find herself internships meaning I won't live with them. Most of the year I'll be at Purdue, and during breaks we will all be up in northern Indiana with the family. I guess I'm trying to say that I'm just not sure where I fit. I don't know where I fit into this new family with this new life--which both saddens and scares the crap out of me. Trying to go home again brings me back to the times when I knew who I was within the family. But like I said earlier, people change. No matter how hard you look or try to act, your family and how they function as a unit is never quite the same.

"You leave home, you move on, and you do the best you can. I got lost in this whole world and forgot who I am. I thought if I could touch this place or feel it, this brokenness inside me might start healing. Out here it's like I'm someone else, I thought that maybe I could find myself."

So this is what I've done. I've left home and gone to college. I'm doing the best I possibly can, but Purdue's slogan should be as follows: "Purdue University: Where Your Best Hasn't Been Good Enough Since 1869." There really is a lot of truth to that statement especially if you are in one of the more challenging majors i.e. engineering. It seems as though no matter how hard you try, it's simply not good enough. You start realizing that the 60% you received on your math exam isn't half bad which is a state of mind I thought I could never achieve. Going from salutatorian of my graduating class and having the "I must get an 'A' on everything" mentality, the 52% I once received on a chemistry exam really messed with my head. Purdue academics are mentally exhausting and force you to push yourself to places you never thought you could go. I mean, I programmed a robot. Me. I PROGRAMMED A ROBOT! This is coming from one of the most computer illiterate people on the planet, and I, Sequoia Elite Murray can proudly say I programmed a robot. I'm starting to digress again...Towards the end of last year I had a mini break down regarding school and my life in general. I felt like my world was crashing to the ground; it was not a pretty situation. When I talked to my parents all I could say and talk about was how much I wanted to go home and how much I needed to be home. When people feel lost they turn to the familiar in order to feel safe and find themselves again. For me, home is the familiar place I turn. No matter what phase I am in my life, I always run home in order to get that feeling of security and reassurance. In fact, I'm doing so this weekend. Cherry and I are making a Green County trip this weekend to get together with some old friends. My old group of girls and I plan to float the river, jump off train bridge, and do other random Green County activities which I have greatly missed. I'll visit all my old hang outs and have a weekend full of reminiscing. At some point I plan to drive by my old house. It's a classic, old three story farm house with a front porch and a swing. Pine trees line the perimeter of the property (my family planted them), and a pear tree, grape vine, and raspberry bush are in the far back. The property is roughly an acre in total. So many changes have been made to the house since I lived there roughly five years ago. If I'm brave enough, I'll march up to the front door, knock, and if someone is home, I'll tell them how their current house helped mold me and state "If I could walk around, I swear I'll leave. Won't take nothin' but a memory from the house that built me."

Wish me luck!

All my love,

Koya = )