What About Peace?

http://www.whataboutpeace.org/
so this was the contest i entered about a year ago with the help of Ms. DeMarco ( ♥ ) and although i didn't place, it was an awesome process that made me start thining, so what is it about peace? how i can i show the world my interpretation of peace? last years entry was kind of a last minute i didn't put a lot of effort into it. i mean, i did, i advertised around the school to recruit models because i wanted to make a human peace sign, but that didn't work out. so, instead i made a triptych, all tied together with the quote "be the change you wish to see in the world" - ghandi. this is last years submission -

all different information for each picture

thisss year, the submission is next friday (5/2/2010) and i wasn't really planning on entering. i was talking to my friend Evan, who showed me this contest last year, and i decided i should at least see if i can pull something outta my butt that i can hand in. i was going through all my albums on my computer from january 2008 until january 2010 and thought, what better for a peace contest than a hippie concert on earth day (20/4/2009) at the National Mall? i picked two pictures and got them all dolled up enough for submission but there was open space so i got a quote for each picture. so, i have the two pictures ready for submission, just which to pick? i still understand that no one reads this but it's worth a try.

date: 20/4/2009 location: National Mall, Washington DC camera: Olympus Stylus 850sw

date: 20/4/2009 location: National Mall, Washington DC camera: Olympus Stylus 850sw

food for thought

all this bolded stuff doesn't pertain here

probably the single handed weirdest assignment of all time - to take a picture of a flower/place, yourself, and an animal and create a xerox collage out of them. like wtf mrs. murphy, are you serious? this took me soo long, along with the other one i made. so obscure and so awkward. but this one, the original picture was of me in disney (yes with my leash) hugging pinocchio, which i found completely appropriate because he was my favorite. i replaced his body with a city skyline picture i took from the top of the empire state building (i'm not a tourist i swear). it didn't really look right so i cut out pinocchio's eyes, nose and eyebrows to put in it so you knew what the figure behind me was. one of his eyebrows fell off but laila fell in love with it lolololol.
this could be really deep, like the city i live in is comforting me, hugging me, holding me. and especially at such a young age. i don't know, it's not what i was intending for but take it as you see it - that's the beauty of art.

this is the second one i made --
this stuff doesn't apply to this picture

this one is a little harder to see. the main picture is of me, Brina, Lea and Jan in the bathtub ( ;) ) when we were little. from left to right it's lea, brina, me, jan. i had cropped the original picture because it just wasn't going with the rest of it. in place of lea, i put the same picture of the NYC skyline which i found appropriate because she was here visiting over the summer and she is definitely a city girl. in place of brina, i put a picture of the dictionary definition of "crust" LOL which is... just obvious why i put that there :) i couldn't disconnect me and jan because it would have come out awkward, so in place of the two of us is a picture of the train tracks that i took not too long ago. i didn't think about this until just now but the tracks could represent me in the way that i aspire to travel when i'm older, and as for jan, he recently took a train from Vienna to Amsterdam to go to a huge techno rave show. maybe i thought it subconsciously? or maybe it was because i only came to class equipped with about seven pictures to pick, choose, and crop.

so uh, hey

i know no one is reading this anyway but i'm apologizing to myself for not being on top of this. i got bored with the theme i was doing so i kinda stopped and forgot about it.
i don't have new pictures yet but i'm working on itt. a lot more creative things will come after my birthday/license day (: uhh for right now, i'm studying honors precalculus for my midterm tomorrow afternoon that i'm going to fail.
good luck during midterm week everyone, xoxo

Avalanche 2008

finally, moving away from Summer Escape :)

date: 7/1/2010 location: Schreiber HS, Pt.Wash camera: still don't know

The joy of the Lord is your strength. - Nehemiah 8:10

probably the coldest campus life trip ever, and greasiest :| for february break, we went snowboarding for a week at Smugglers Notch, VT. unlike any other trip, we stayed in three condos - boys, girls, and split. i was in the girl house with Haley, Julie, Grace, Tana, Kori, Mama Kate, Jen and Heather. Haley and i roomed downstairs in the room next to jen and heather's while everyone else was upstairs. our new friends, Amber, Kaitie and Karen were in the split house with their leader cause they're from a different group. the first night, all of the girls in our house hung out in Mama Kate's room and we were all just talking and laughing. i think that's the night that Rocket Power started, but i'm not quite sure. we each got the name of a character on the old tv show Rocket Power and had different things we would do for each person, (i don't remember most of that). the next day was the first time i saw a snowboard in person, let alone ride one. we spent the day on the bunny slope but i couldn't get it. the following days went about the same as i progressively got better. eventually, i could go down the hill but only backwards, which killed my calves like whoa. every night we did different things. the first night we went to the fun zone that had all sorts of thigns we can do and just hang out, then the teen center with video games and computers. another night we went tubing halfway down the mountain, it was so much fun :) then, after our activities we had "cabin time" kind of where we all met in the basement of this library on the campus and did group games, watched movies, and had discussions about God. it was such a crazy week, of course i'm missing a lot of details, but i forgot to write them down :(

date: 18/2/2008 location: Smuggler's Notch, VT camera: sony DSC-W55 (blue)

Summer Escape 2007

okay, i skipped 2007 Winter Retreat because honestly, i don't remember it at all.

date: 7/1/2010 location: Schreiber HS, Pt.Wash camera: still not sure

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. - Joel 2:32

the last year as a student at Summer Escape. oh my gosh did i cry. the week started off different than the rest of the times i've been there because james met a friend during the year, Eric, who was from Metro Pittsburgh. when we got to camp, james and i met up with eric and chilled. instantaneously, i had a new friend. during the week, we hung out with eric and austyn a lot, then we met Danielle and Amanda and they were our new friends. we had new students with us that summer so it was new within the Long Island group as well as the fact that we had branched out. specifics i don't really remember, besides when Yeon like broke her foot. lol so i wanted to get a jumping picture of a bunch of kids off of this ledge in the gym, so i got the shot, they're all holding hands jumping, then yeon landed weird and twisted her ankle :( sorrryy lady ahahah. and Mike and Mike (other one) were there, new best friends? kind of haha. ended up naming other Mike Depressica for some unknown reason. Cara came too ahah, that was interesting. i HATEEEEEEDDDDD her, can't remember why, and james and i made up code names for her and Sara ( ♥ ) because we didn't want them knowing. by the end of the week i fell in love with cara. also by the end of the week we had a lot of new friends. that was the first time i saw Danielle, as stated before, and a few months later she flew out here to see us. crazyness. i think this was the most emotional goodbye, everyone was crying because we had become so close. last year as students also, that was the hardest part for me. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL ANNNNNDDDD it was Jen's first time at camp and she vows to never go back as a leader because of james and i that week. we made it miserable for her HAHA i'm sorry mom, we love you.

date: 10/8/2007 location: South Gibson, PA camera: sony DSC-W55 (blue)

Summer Escape 2006

date: 7/1/2010 location: Schreiber HS, Pt.Wash camera: forgot to look

Our competence comes from God. - 2 Corinthians 3:5

summer going into eighth grade - almost done with middle school, the worst three years of my life. oh my gosh, this was probably the funniest week of my life. first of all, we got the same cabin for the third consecutive year, so that was a lot of fun, seeing what we wrote and our recorded heights from the year before. ann threw up the first night in front of my bed -bleh- but then she was good for the rest of the week. this year Sara came with us :) our baby Dominique was celebrating her birthday that week so we tp'd her bed and she cried! it was so cute. the day that sticks out the most was the fifth day. we had gotten our shirts (the green pictured) and were wearing them around the camp. ann, toniann and i were all wearing jeans also and decided to go kayaking/canoeing. after toniann and ann tipping their canoe, they decided to hop onto my kayak (from the same direction) to get pulled back to shore. since all the weight was coming from one side, my boat flipped also. it sunk to the bottom of the lake along with james's flip flops i was wearing, never to be seen again. we had to go back, shower, and wear something that wasn't covered in disgusting lake water in the group pictures. oh my gosh how did i almost forget?! the day before that was like any other, playing "who can go the longest without laughing" at lunch (ann, toniann and i losing) when it turned into "who can laugh without smiling" courtesy of brina. we went outside to the field to play noucum and ended up rolling down the hill, holding each other in a link and screaming, laughing. that was probably the funniest day of my entire life. that week, james and i actually conversed with austyn for the first time. i can remember that being the highlight of my life at that point - i had no idea what was to come.

date: 9/8/2006 location: South Gibson, PA camera: hp photoshot r507

Summer Escape 2005

i have sucked at updating this recently, cause i couldn't find pictures. but then i remembered i have my whole in class photo shoot just chillen on my hard drive. so i'll be like, uploading one a day i guess till i run out.

our assignment was that we needed 3 self portrait pictures handed in - one out of school, one in school digitally, and one in school via film (out of school was posted on 16/12/2009). to portray myself, i decided to show myself as my devotion to God. most of you won't see much past the Bible verses that are in all the pictures but if you notice, each picture has a different shirt. these shirts are from Campus Life events, different days/weeks of my life that God has touched my heart (that i got a shirt from).

date: 7/1/2010 location: Schreiber HS, Pt.Wash camera: i'll find out

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. - 2 Timothy 4:22

this shirt is from Summer Escape 2005 - my second year as a camper at Rock Mountain Bible Camp. yes, i said second. the first year i lost the shirt for but it wasn't very memorable or fun, sadly to say. but, this was the first year for all my friends so it was an awesome week. there's only a few parts that i remember, like we shared a bunk with the Team iThemba lady, she was so sweet. also, i remember meeting Christopher for the first time, on that back staircase. i also remember seeing Austyn (not going to go into that fiasco) and who can forget that last day, the bus was so late and the whole shindig with Yeon and Eric went down, oh my lanta. what else do i remember? oh gosh, sitting on the field after everyone in the camp already left, with Eric in a tree with a few of the crazy boys we had with us pretending to kill the "tree monster". that was also the first time we met ToniAnn and Leahmai.

date: 5/8/2005 location: South Gibson, PA camera: Genovese Throwaway

every day i see my dream

LMFAO was sooo illl last night!

emily, daniella and i went to see LMFAO at Irving Plaza, NYC last night. we took a train at about 6ish, then went directly to American Apparel from Penn Station. i can promise you i have never been so cold in my life. i was wearing ballet slipper things, leggings, two tank tops, a hoodie, and a windbreaker. it was absolutely miserable. we went to get emily a bra thing because otherwise we would have had some problems. after the purchase, it was already 7pm - the concert had just started and we're nowhere near the venu. we walked to Herald Square from American Apparel and took the W subway to Union Square. we got out of the station and headed the wrong direction down 14th. upon realizing that, we went the right way and got to the show - except there was a monster line outside of it that was moving very slowly. the drunks were everywhere, and so was Schreiber HS. eventually we got inside and past the coat check and headed into the show.
it was soo much fun - mega dance party '10? i think so. we saw a lot of dancefloorsex going on everywhere. it was really sweaty and hot and everyone was just moving to the music. every time that we relocated, we ended up back behind these three very tall (VERY cute) guys, and of course the whole time i ended up with my back forcefully pressed up against one of them. after the show, i apologized to the kid and he kissed me on the cheek, and walked away xoxo. after the show, we decided to go to Max Brenner's for dinner/dessert. soo so good. after that was a lot of walking, rushing, and cold. we missed the 12:39am home by about 48 seconds and had to wait for the 1:19am.
worth it? completely. do it again? absolutely.

Peter's Township, PA

(this is going to be a long post, so i'll entertain you with pictures)

have you ever met someone and just instantly knew that this person was put in your life by God's will? well, that's kind of how my relationship with sir Austyn began. it helped a lot that we met at Rock Mountain Bible Camp in the summer of 2004 for the very first time. we saw each other for a week every summer until we actually talked in 2007. that summer was the kick off of a lot of God given friendships. even then, if you told me that i would spend four days at his house in Pennsylvania, i would have laughed in your face at the impossibility of it, even after the other encounters we've had since then.

well you know what, it happened. and it was awesome.

as mentioned previously, Julie and i returned to Pittsburgh to visit our camp friends, but this time, instead of spending the majority of our time with Danielle, we stayed with Raffi at the Nixon's house. i couldn't believe it was happening, up until the first night we spent there.

on Sunday, December 27th, 2009 the three of us boarded an airplane leaving JFK International Airport destined to land in Pittsburgh, PA. ordinarily, Aaron would be there with Danielle to pick us up, but instead, it was Don and Austyn. we drove back to their house when we landed around 10:30am. after settling in and getting our bags into the house, the four of us walked up to Eric's house, who at this point still had no idea that we were visiting. his reaction was priceless, right before he went to get dressed to join us. our little group walked to Farmhouse Coffee (best place on earth) and chilled in there for a while, seeing various people we've met on different Campus Life trips. upon returning to our home for the week, the other members of We Are Merely Moving Shadows showed up for a band practice. Raffi joined them, so Julie, Eric and i walked down to Arby's (we walked everywhere) and just hung out for a while. we got a phone call saying to meet up with the boys on the hill, Eric will know what they're talking about. we finished up and walked to the most spectacular place i've been to in a long time. it's this open hill that overlooks the city of Pittsburgh. they're turning it into a residental area so apparently it was a lot nicer than it was. in the freezing cold, we all voyaged back to Austyn's house for the night.
... and Julie and i thought this would be the highlight of our trip.

as expected, Julie woke me up at 9 on the dot on Monday, December 28th, 2009 to get ready for our first full day in Pittsburgh. not only that, but we were going to see Danielle for the first time since arriving 24 hours previously. we got ready, and went down to see if Raffi and Austyn were awake, which they were. after we're all ready, the four of us walked to Bob Evans, a diner restaurant thing that Austyn works in. Eric met up with us for breakfast and we chilled there for a little while. i think those were the best eggs i've ever had in my whole life, and the potato things were awesome. when Eric got picked up to ditch us, we walked back to Austyn's house where Julie and i were waiting for Danielle to come get us. while waiting, Justin and Sam of In The Wake Of Giants came with their tour bus to fix a few things before getting ready to go on mini-tour. eventually, Danielle and her sister Brittany came to get us, and we were off to spend some time with her. after settling into her house, where we've spent two trips at, we went to the mall with the intention of going into Pittsburgh, but it got too rainy and cold. plus, Danielle was getting sick. so instead, we went back to her house and chilled for the night, put on PS I Love You, and fell asleep in her living room.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 was the battle of the bands that we were dying to see. as always, Julie was already awake and just sitting there, waiting for someone to wake up. we were both awake for about 15 minutes before Danielle came to find us. for breakfast, we had the SuperPretzel SoftStix which we've been DYING for since... last January. it was a really chill afternoon, we just hung out, went with Brittany to the mall again for a little while, then when 6 o'clock came around, we were out the door, heading to the Bethel Park Community Center to see the Campus Life Battle of the Bands Finals. we said our goodbyes to Aaron and Shelly Horney (go ahead and laugh, i know you want to) and headed inside. we met up with Raffi as soon as we got inside and chilled around the band's table until it was their turn to play. i made a friend named Jessica over my camera (go figure) and we walked around a bit until it was time. we saw quite a few people we know, such as my friend Gage that i haven't seen since July. then, Dave went on stage to announce the next band - We Are Merely Moving Shadows, Austyn, Matty, Jordan, and Bobby's band. their show couldn't get better if it wanted to. their performance and music was phenominal, a lot better than i expected. since it was a battle, after everyone was done playing, the audience got to vote. we stood in anticipation as the fifth, fourth, and third place winners were called. the boys' band still wasn't called so we were all nervously waiting for Dave to announced what we already knew - first place was We Are Merely Moving Shadows. personally, i wasn't surprised - they earned it and deserved it. after the show, a fairly large group of us went to EatnPark to get food, but we showed up about 20 minutes before closing. the woman let us stay and eat our food and even though i didn't get anything, it smelled so good haha. then we all went back to our homes, and for Julie, Raffi and i, that was Austyn's house. the four of us got to hang out and talk for a while before going to sleep at 1am. this week was by far the most restless week i can remember.

although our plane wasn't until the day after, Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 was our last day there, so with that, we decided to wake up at 8am. Austyn, Raffi, Julie and i walked to Farmhouse and met up with Danny and Eric. we took over this little room and were just talking and laughing in there. eventually, Becca, Liz, Jordan and Jason came to chill with us, all in pieces.we were there for a little while haha (: and this girl Hannah who works there came up also, i got to talk to her for a while it was really cool. we decided to go somewhere, so most of us split up but the three of us, Austyn, Danny and Eric went walking in the freezing cold on this trail away from the Nixon house, trying to figure out what to do. we ended at this community center where we warmed up for alittle then got picked up by Mr. Briggs and brought back to Austyn's house. Bobby was there when we arrived so he stayed and chilled with us. we played Super Smash Bros for the N64 (which apparently i'm beast at?) for a while until we got hungry again. we walked to a Subway/Dairy Queen place and got food. on the way there, Eric left us to go home for a while so it was just Raffi, Julie, Austyn, Bobby, Danny and i going there. i promise, i've never heard such insightful things come out of a teenager's mouth before in my life. Bobby was just throwing all these deep, metaphorical life things at us left and right. no wonder he's graduating high school at the end of next week. i also noticed i've never met people more modest than those who i got to know this week. we returned to Austyn's house to go to Don's home church. some older people came but a bunch of students came too. Bobby stayed with us then Scott, Cathy, Michael, Jordan, Brad and Matty showed up also. "I will separate your sins as far as the east is from the west" sums up the church service that night, which was such a good way to bring in the new year. after church, we all chilled, playing Super Smash Bros (surprise) while Austyn discovered the beauty of a Nikon d40. people started leaving, so we said our goodbyes, since we were leaving in the morning. in the end, it was Austyn, Bobby, Jordan and Matty still staying awake to wait for us to leave at 4 in the morning. "how good would it be if your flight was canceled?!" at 3:30am, the delta website had posted that our flight wasn't flying. i think my heart skipped three beats out of excitement for a longer stay. turned out the flight was in fact canceled, but rescheduled for ten minutes later. we said our goodbyes to Bobby, Matty and Jordan and headed for the airport. when we got there, tears were almost shed when leaving Austyn and Don to head back to New York. the five hardest goodbyes i've ever had to experience. the plane ride home took my mind off of it for a while, you know, flying first class to Atlanta, GA then back here.


so i'll say this once, and probably a zillion and sixty-three more times, but to Austyn, Jordan, Matthew, Bobby, Julie and Raffi, thankyou for the most amazing week that i can remember. i love you all sooo so much.

happy new years (:

so although i haven't been blogging here, i have been journaling in my trip notebook. its this generic book covered in duct tape with entries from every day of almost every trip i've been on since the summer of 2006. it has everything from Summer Escape to Wildwood to Pittsburgh to Austria. its awesome because i have all my Campus Life trips with thoughts and events in it. on the plane from Pittsburgh, PA to Atlanta, GA (will elaborate) i was reading through entries of things that i completely forgot about, like one of the first times i met Austyn, which is weird because i was reading over that entry when flying home from sleeping over his house for 4 days. if you told me i would be staying at his house, i would have bugged on you for reals.
i want to do a blog about the week but my pictures are on my computer which is currently infected with a virus. hopefully the pictures are safe and Sunday, i can get back on my PC. i miss her
so it's 2010, how's this year going to be referred to as: 20-10? 0'10? 10? 2,010? yo no se but i'm nervous. this is the year i get my full license, the year before graduation... it's going to be interesting.
i pray everyone's new year is going to be happy, healthy and safe. next time i'll post about Pittsburgh, with pictures and all. xoxo