Harry Potter World & Dragons

Go to a theme park and ride a roller coaster 5 times.

Yes, I rode the Dragon Challenge in Harry Potter World five times… I actually rode it four times consecutively. It was a blast! The ride splits into the Chinese Fireball and the Hungarian Horntail, so I didn’t have the opportunity to get bored of it. My favorite was the Hungarian Horntail side. No wait, the Chinese Fireball. I can’t decide… I think I need to ride it 50 more times… ;)

(Not So) Giant Sand Castles

Build a giant sandcastle.

With the help of my family, I was able to build the sandcastle pictured above. I’m no architect, but I’m proud of how well it turned out. The castle is in the form of an arrow to symbolize my belief that everything has a point (pun intended) as well as my search for happiness. The arrow is facing the ocean because the ocean can be fickle and restless, calm and relaxed, just as my search for happiness is. Plus, the shape was a mistake I incorporated into something beautiful, as all mistakes should be.

One of My Many Lists

Make a list of 20 things you like about a person

I made this list for my best friend. I can’t seem to properly express my appreciation for him, so I wrote this instead.

1. The way he talks
2. His hair
3. His politeness
4. His spontaneity
5. His ease in meeting new people
6. His protectiveness of his friends
7. His smile…
8. And other facial expressions
9. The way he pushes me to do better
10. His genuineness
11. His laugh
12. His impression
13. His love of kids and dogs
14. The way he handles kids
15. His bashfulness
16. His nerdy-ness
17. The way he dances/always wants to dance
18. The ridiculous things he does to make me laugh or cheer me up
19. His loyalty to his friends
20. His gentleness

Breakfast Sparkling Cider

Drink a bottle of sparkling cider for breakfast.

My friend Sandra is visiting from Oregon and I have been trying to show her the awesomeness of Washington. So far, Sandra and I have walked the Tacoma Mall, visited with some friends, walked along Titlow Beach, and eaten very good food.

All the activities had kept us up quite late and we’ve been consistently sleeping in later and later.  This morning, I woke up around 8am and visited my sister’s room. Later, erm, well, around noon, I woke up again. After waking up Sandra, I made us a lovely quick breakfast of egg-on-toast and celebrated our time together by popping a bottle of grape sparkling cider. It was DELICIOUS. I don’t know why we don’t do this more often. I think everyone should celebrate the day with a little bubbly for breakfast!

Personal Mission Statement

Write down your personal mission statement and follow it.

"A personal mission statement is an individual statement that outlines what you want to be (character), what you want to do (contributions and achievement), and the values or principles upon which being and doing are based." (The Change Blog)

I endeavor to become the fullest version of myself.

I vow to enjoy life daily. I vow to find amusement and humor in the littlest things. I vow to adventure and learn. I vow to value love, cherish happiness, and relish in compassion.

I vow to love God above all else. To trust in God and let the Holy Spirit work through me. 

I vow to love my family and support them. I vow to encourage my friends to be their best selves.

I vow to view others as loved by God and treat them as such. To empower, lead, inspire, serve, and listen.

I vow to love with a subtle passion and never let love go. I vow to let my emotions move me and pass me like the wind. To forgive, learn, and forget the specifics but not the lesson. I vow to heal, not scar. 

I vow to be honest with myself. To take pride in myself. 

I vow to pursue my dreams fiercely. To dedicate myself to a cause. To take up hobbies. I vow to work hard.

I vow to recognize but not fear failure. I vow to give thanks for my shortcomings and blessings. I vow to be surprised, shocked, amazed, and humbled. I vow to never give up hope.

Birdwatching

Go birdwatching.

The Western Scrub Jay is one of the few species of birds I saw on my birdwatching expedition.

Before I begin, I would like to say that I don’t mind my biology class. At least this semester. This semester we are dealing with animals and those kinds of organisms. We’re kind of doing things out of order now as far as labs go, so this past week we did a lab on animal behavior. We planned to observe local birds feeding as part of the experiment.

Leaning against a tree yards away from the bird feeder, my partner and I waited for the birds to show up. It was a nice day and I was glad to be outside. My partner and I ended up discussing many things as we waited. She lives down the hall from me, but I never really took the opportunity to talk to her other than in passing. She told me about her family and several anecdotes that followed. I thoroughly enjoyed the time… and the birds!

We saw so many beautiful birds. I can’t remember the names of the birds we saw, but one was magnificently blue and another gorgeously golden. Being out in nature was peaceful and so was talking to my partner. There is something so thrilling about spotting birds and noticing their natural tendencies - it’s like spying on someone!

Origami

Hide origami creatures in public places.

Nicholson Library, home to all sorts of animals.

Yesterday afternoon, after a very long day, my friends and I created several types of origami animals and hid them in various places throughout the library. As an afterthought, we added encouraging puns to them in the hopes that whoever found them would be cheered by the animals’ cuteness. It was fun weaving throughout the library’s bookshelves hiding things, especially when we ran into people we knew. I witnessed two people encounter the animals and was pleased to see them smile and hold on to it while they were studying instead of tossing it aside.

First (Personal) Pet

Buy a pet (and take care of it too).

Hello everyone, meet Dorian.

Today I went to the store and bought a fish. There were so many fish to choose from! I spent a while deliberating with my friends, but ultimately decided that whenever I have the opportunity to, I will buy an aquarium big enough for the many fish I admired in the store. In the meantime, I chose a beautiful (or should I say handsome?) green male halfmoon betta fish. The tank is smaller than I wanted for him, but we’ll see how the transition goes. I know it will be nice to have something animate around to talk to during late night studying. :)

Pescetarianism

Become a vegetarian.

This past Lenten season, I gave up meat. I thought Lent would be make becoming vegetarian convenient, particularly because the college cafeteria serves fish on Friday. At first it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable experience. Over time, I came to appreciate my body more because of the physical repercussions becoming vegetarian caused. Unfortunately, due to health reasons, I had to become pescetarian. I enjoy seafood immensely, so pescetarianism worked well for me. 

I was fortunate to have very supportive family and friends. They made accommodations whenever I came to eat with them and some even encouraged my habits by joining me. It inspired me to cook more often and to add to the list. 

Overall, I had a wonderful experience with becoming (for a time) a vegetarian. I would encourage everyone to at least try it for a week (health conditions permitting).

Paper Moustaches

Tape a moustache to the TV.

Benny & Joon - The best of friends… plus mustaches. 

Since the beginning of the school year, I have been hosting movie nights almost every Friday and Saturday. I’d like to think that people came more for the company than for the entertainment, but the entertainment portion was not lagging. We would watch a few new movies every weekend and eat any kind of snack food we could get a hold of. At one point we fit over a dozen people in my room, but over time the numbers dwindled (probably because of the lack of space). After fall semester ended, the hype of hosting movie nights slowly but surely died down.

Several weekends ago I hosted another movie night, exclusive to my closest friends. I trimmed two different mustaches and taped them to the television in order to spice things up a bit. Although we enjoyed the movie, the mustaches definitely added to the experience. We counted the times the mustaches matched with the actors’ faces as well as the times when the mustaches looked like uni-brows for a total of 38 instances of complete ridiculousness.

The interludes of uproarious laughter definitely drew others to the scene!

Bedroom Forts

Build a fort in your bedroom. 

Bedroom fort building - complete with marshmallows, chocolate, stars, and a romantic atmosphere.

Valentines’ day can be the worst day for single folk. Being one myself, I decided there really is no reason to be depressed about a day of love however attuned the day is to couples. Throughout the day I tried to share my love and appreciation for my friends and family, including sending them cards with heartfelt messages and mischievous winky-faces. I planned to surprise my closest friends with a bedroom fort to watch what we have come to call “Crappy TV Tuesday,” consisting of two particular shows from ABC family that keep us just barely entertained. 

No one really wanted to come to Crappy TV Tuesday in trying to avoid the stereotypical single-girl Valentines’ day night. I hadn’t told anyone that I had a surprise for them, assuming that eventually they would find out about the fort and come. The fort turned out beautifully; I used two sheets, a few blankets, and several pins to hold it all together. The previously applied glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling added to the ambiance of a natural campfire tent. I set out marshmallows, chocolate, and blankets to make everyone comfortable. The night was a success!