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Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
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6:42 pm - Another Steele...
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Hola... my sister finally had her baby. Gina Renee Steele is official part of the Steele Family. There a some complications in the process though. Val went in to get an epidural so she wouldn't be in any pain when the baby came...but the umbilical cord broke before they could get the baby out so the nurses had to do an emergency cesarean section. They injected Val with a numbing medication, and decide to not wait for it to take effect for fear of losing the baby. They cut her open screaming, and the baby lived. It's a healthy baby girl of 7 lbs. 9.8 ounces. I still don't know who the father is, but think I'm okay with that. I probably won't be able to make it home for a month so I won't be able to see it.
I've made some college decisions for myself, and I'm going to apply to be a PA. I don't know if I'll get it because there are probably 70-80 people apply for 11 positions...but I feel that I should. If nothing comes out of it the application process will keep me out of trouble I could be getting into. Organic Chem is consuming my life just as much as last quarter. It's going to be a tough 3rd quarter.... I can already see it coming. Other than that life is good. I'm sitting first chair in Thalia Symphony right now. The principle cellist is student teaching so shes not in the class anymore. The talent show is this weekend and I'm playing with two groups. On is In Praise of Folly which is a group that I recorded with last year, and the other is with Danielle Henry who is amazing.....it will be a good time. I'm kind of wishing this intermediate between school and career were over so I could go do what I want to do....I guess I'll just have to wait it out.....adios.
current mood:  restless
current music: The Fray: She Is
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| Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006
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5:03 pm - Christmas Once Again...
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Hola... this year's break wasn't better than last years, but still not as bad as it could have been. I still don't pray as much as I should. The family still doesn't sit down to eat dinner together, and morale is abnormally low. I ended up working at Stone Cliff busing tables so I would make enough money to pay off first quarter and finally get registered for all my classes. That place never changes...at least I will be serving when I come back.
Break as whole was very relaxing. The biggest high was getting to see my family from Massachusetts. They haven't been out in 4 years, and I hadn't even met their newest kid Parker. He's by far the cutest baby of the three, and the most tempered. He loved waking me up at 6:00 by jumping on Hunter's car bed in my room. They were only in town for 10 days, and I felt bad for not being able to spend more time with them. They understood that I had to work in order to pay for school. We did a lot while they were here...Zoolights, the aquatic park.... I didn't do a lot more than that with them come to think of it. They also went to Multnoma Falls and the Oregon Trail Museum. Christmas eve church service was good even if I was the only one there. It feels awkward to be the only one in the family who is willing to go to church. Christmas morning was spent opening presents. I got three shirts and ties, a P-coat, boxers and socks, Strictly Ballroom, and Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. Latisha was having problems coming home for Christmas, because she wanted her boyfriend to come with her and my parents wouldn't let him. His father committed suicide when he was young and decided to turn down a bad road in his life. Honestly I wanted him to come because I know someone who chose the good road and he's the best friend I've ever had. I just wish they wouldn't be so quick to judge. Valaire is 9 months pregnant. She is going to have a little girl named Gina Renee Steele. She is due on the 9th so the clock is ticking. Val spent most of her time at home. She finished with this quarter of beauty school, and is taking maternity leave. Andrew didn't spend his whole time at home on my computer. He was sleeping with his girlfriend over at her house..... it wasn't pleasant finding condoms in the wash....James was working at the hospital most of break. He was home Christmas day. Scott came home Christmas day. I saw him maybe 2 hours of my entire time home. He's stopped taking his medication and slowly drifting away from reality... Mom and dad are their own unique little stories. My mom had biopsies taken, and she has two more tumors in her hand, and one in her upper arm. Dad tore his knee at work and is on workman's comp. He had knee surgery and gimps around acting like nothings different, and he can do everything. After presents I got dressed up and went to church again. My parents got dressed and waited for me to get home so we could go to the traditional family lunch..... I wish church would be a family "tradition"... as long as I got them there once a year. The family lunch in Dallas wasn't in Dallas, so we drove 2 hours for nothing. It was in Salem, and the same as every year. Everyone was watching the Lakers game, and there were the same group of old relatives I don't know by name. I wasn't forced to bring my cello this year, and my sister Latisha didn't even come so they couldn't make her sing.
New Years....where do I start......how bout right here...............andddddddddddddddd stop. That pretty much sums it up. I worked...and went home. I didn't get to hang out with anyone while I was at home. Steve and I went shopping Christmas Eve, and David and I went shopping two days before that. That's pretty much it. I tried to stop by and see Cindy Petty (Krit's mom), but she wasn't home. So here I am in Seattle surrounded by amazing people again. I can't wait to get back into the swing of college. It's dinner time!.....adios.
current mood:  ready
current music: Rascal Flatts: When the Sand Runs Out
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| Wednesday, October 19th, 2005
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12:39 am - Life...
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| Monday, August 8th, 2005
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11:02 pm - Miracle McCullough...
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Hola...today I was reminded how precious life is. It's not that any other day I don't realize it, but today hit especially hard. Today I realized that I take advantage of all the little blessings in my life. Every person I've met has made an influence on my life, and today one of them has left us. Today Kyla McCullough passed away. She attended my church and was only seven years old. In June she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The tumor soon took affect on her, and she lost movement in the left side of her body. This morning she began to have seizures, went into a coma, and died. For the past three weeks at church I've done nothing but stare at her and her parents trying to fight off tears. I honestly can't tell you anything about sermons for the past month. I can tell you that her mom loves running her fingers through her pony tail...I can also tell you that her dad can always make her smile...and that they have spent so much of their live caring for her. She just seemed so at peace with everything and everyone. I could look around the sanctuary and see parents letting their kids play in the pews with not the slightest worry on their minds. The time they spend with their kids is just as priceless as anyone, but they take that for granted. They don't have a set time period on when their child's life may end. Children are so innocent, and their lives are so fragile. Don't take them for granted. Thank God that you've been blessed to be in the presence of everyone you meet, because you never know what God has in store for either of you....adios.
current mood: uncomfortable
current music: Casting Crowns: What If His People Prayed
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| Saturday, July 2nd, 2005
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11:15 pm - Restaurant Peeves...
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Hola....the last couple of days I have been back at Stone Cliff Inn. I've realized that there are some things that never change...ever.
Number one: I don't like coming back and being thought of as "the new buser". I had a kid today who thought he could kick me out of the downstairs and move me upstairs telling me that it would be better and that he was glad I covered it for him since he was twenty minutes late. Needless to say I kept downstairs and he went upstairs.
Number two: Smokers! They constantly leave you alone for fifteen minutes by yourself, and it's not like the are making settings or doing anything productive other than shortening their life so I don't have to work with them as long... I guess that's a plus.
Number three: Napkins put in the glasses backwards so I can't just pour them out on the table.
Number four: Settings that are missing spoons, forks, or any other utensil.
Number five: Rude customers that flat out tell you, "last time I was here I was kicked out."
Number six: New management. I feel that I can't do anything the same anymore. I have to make sure I'm doing something at all times, I'm not sure if they care about staff drinks under counters, and I can't dig in the candy bin when they're around.
The restaurant has been pretty much what I've been up to for the last couple of days, but I don't mind it.... I'll live....it's money....adios.
current mood:  okay
current music: Yellowcard: Only One
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| Monday, June 20th, 2005
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8:18 pm - 3 Months Later...
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Hola...I know it's been a while so it might be a long one. David Sohriakoff asked me to be his best man! He proposed last saturday to his girlfriend, and took me out to Jamba juice to ask me if I would be his best man. I have no clue how its going to work though....how do I make a toast....with sprite? I also am in charge of his bachelor's party so if you have any ideas shoot them my way (I was thinking paintball or something). It's really sad because all of his groomsmen are family members because he has no other close friends.
I haven't gotten back to work yet which sucks because Brenna has, and we are have the same exact job. They are switching management at the restaurant, and the old manager, Brad, gave me the new shirt and apron and told me to talk with the new manager because he already told him to rehire me. I talked to the new manager and he said that they were already fully staffed for the summer. I've been constantly bugging them since I live two blocks away it's nice to be on my way home and just say, "hey it'll only take 5 extra minutes." I was really miffed, but I'm not going to see if I can talk to Brad. Also a couple of waiters and waitresses have told the new manager and the new assistant manager that they won't find a better buser. They said they've had amazing busers, but they won't get them to come to Stone Cliff now will they. It's dumb because I live two blocks away and could fill in for anyone who called in sick. They just need to give me a call!
I broke my nose the last two days of finals... that was awesome. I had on the sexiest face cast you ever did see. I broke it playing ultimate frisbee above my dorm. I was diving off of a hill with another guy and he elbowed me in the face. Apparently they were two nice clean breaks that the doctor could fix easy when I came home so I waited 3 days with a broken nose. I went into surgery that they told me was going to be 45 minutes, and I woke up 5 hours later. I destroyed all the cartilage in my nose and they had to rebuild it...you can't tell anything happened...it's amazing. This week I'm a counselor for the summer church camp, camp d'vine (Christ the Vine Lutheran Church... pretty tricky huh?). We went to Roslyn lake in Sandy today, and I have an awesome group of six guys from 5th to 8th grade. There was swimming, tubing, kayaking, and canoeing. It's going to be the best week of my summer. We do little devotionals, and it's cool to hang out with them.
Sister wise I shouldn't get started, but here it goes. Valaire has a 5k credit card bill, a 1k cell phone bill, and another cell phone bill for 100 dollars. She won’t tell my parents what it's from, but they think she is supporting a habit. She got suspended from McDonald's and hasn't gotten back on the schedule for two and a half weeks now.
Latisha was doing amazing. She was in the national guard youth challenge program for 6 months, and my mom waited until the last two weeks to say, "oh by the way your not coming back to this house." She is living in a homeless shelter for teens in downtown Portland. Not a very Christ-like position for my mom to take. I know that my dad doesn't agree with her at all, but she would leave him if he didn't support her and he knows that. He keeps saying it's better for your mother right now with her blood pressure so high to have Latisha out of the house. I keep telling him he isn't thinking about the future when both of them are gone and there is no family because mom screwed it all up. Lisa Lau told me she saw Val and Tisha at the club on Saturday drunk and smoking cigarettes. I know Val is the worst influence that Latisha has but my parents refuse to see it. I love summer!
If you want to know anything else about my last three months feel free to ask....adios.
current mood: jubilant
current music: Switchfoot: Twenty-Four
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| Tuesday, March 29th, 2005
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12:18 am - Springbreak...
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Hola...I don't know if it's just me, but sometimes when I open these I lose complete interest in writing everything out. So here is a summary of what I haven't forgotten.
- Played cello at a funeral my first day back =/
- Hung out at Taco Bell with Liam, Ben, Steve, Morgan, Joe, Mike, and Linda
- went to two performances by the SPU choir
- Surprised Ashlee at Portland Christian High School
- Hung out with David and Steve
- Cody came back from choir tour and stayed with me for 3 days
- Went downtown to waterfront, the Schnitz, and the World Trade Buildings
- Hiked Multnomah Falls
- Watched The Incredibles three times
- Hung out with Sarah, Emily, and family all day.
- Went to Krit's mom's concert ($30!!!)
- Hung out with Linda in West Linn
- Watched David play games...
- Watched Passion with my aunt and uncle at New Hope
- Went to breakfast with Katie and Lisa
- Watched Chinese movies with Lisa
- EASTER CHURCH SERVICE!
- Lots of 104.3 the Fish >O <-----that's a fishy
TOP THREE:
Easter Service
Passion
Hangin' with the Nolte's and Fam
I really don't want to type anymore......stop reading.......adios.
current mood: satisfied
current music: Audio Adrenaline: Big House
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| Sunday, March 6th, 2005
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7:10 pm - Lynden/Canada...
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Hola...I just had the most amazing weekend of my life. On Friday I left for Lynden, Washington to go home with a guy on my floor. Lynden is 6 miles from the Canadian border so I fell asleep in the car and woke up for the last half an hour. Chris drove us up in his 4 wheel drive Subaru, and we raced this crappy little Honda... we lost because we had 3 people in the car and an extra hundred pounds of laundry. We arrived at Cody's house 30 minutes before his sister's play. His dad had dinner for us 10 minutes after walking in the door with our dirty laundry. After dinner we drove to Lynden Christian High School, and I have hated public school ever since. It was the most amazing experience in the world. Every student knows every student, all the parents know all the parents, and all the students know the parents. I hate public school with a passion now. You don't walk in the door and here little freshman saying F this and that, or that girls a blah blah blah blah blah blah. I hate it, and the fact that parents only talk when there are confrontations between their kids! AH!....Amazing. The play was three hours long, (I thought it was going to be boring, but it was the best production of any high school drama program I've seen) with a 10 minute intermission to smothered me in the private school experience once again. The play was, "The King and I" and Cody's sister was Tuptim. After the play Cody, Chris and I went back to the house, while his parents helped break down the set and his sister was at the cast party. We sat in the hot tub for an hour and then went, rented, and watched Robin Hood Men in Tights. We ate some ice cream and then went out at midnight to Anna's house, who is a very attractive friend of Cody's, and he is a smart/buffoonish man for the situation between them. It was three thirty by the time we went to bed.
The next day we woke up to the great hospitality of Cody's parents, who had breakfast ready, and our laundry done. I love my rental parents! On Saturday Cody, Chris, Larry (dad), Candi (mom), Brady (brother) Branden Joe (Brother's girlfriend), Chelsi (sister), and Angela (exchanged student), and me, all ate breakfast and broke off in our separate ways. Chris, Cody, mom, dad, and I went to Canada. We got into Vancouver and visited gastown. We walked around a couple of stores, ate at the Spaghetti Factory (which Cody's parents paid for), and visited the '86 Expo from the World Fair. On the way back we stopped at the Colossus movie theatre. It has 19 theatres including 2 IMAX theatres. We watched Hitch, which his parents also paid for even after we offered to. Then it was back to the states. We got back around 11ish, and started on homework. It didn't last long, and we went for a walk, and then Cody and I drove around Lynden while Chris read for his UCOR class. Picture time followed the car ride, and I know the last 3 or so years of Cody's life. We got to bed around 2 or so.
On Sunday we all packed up our stuff and went to church. Service was good, and we sang a lot of songs that I haven't sung in a while. We had lunch at Boss Tweed's... Good ole fish and chips....we tried to make card houses with sugar packets, and reenact the Little John-Robin Hood bridge duel with french fries. After that it was SPU bound. I pretty much got two things out of this trip.... private christian school is where my kids are going, and Cody Vanderpol has the most amazing parents ever....adios.
current mood: awakened
current music: Congregation: Lord I Lift Your Name on High
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| Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
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10:38 am - Cabiness...
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Hola... this last weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. It started off horrible on Friday morning when I turned off my alarm and was late for Christian Formations class where I had a 5 page spiritual autobiography due. After that was over my Chemistry class was canceled, so I went back to bed setting my alarm to wake up for lunch and Animal Biology... I don't know how it happened this time, but my alarm didn't wake me up and i ended up missing lunch and 2/3 of Bio. At this point the day turned around. At the end of Bio she passed around an extra credit sheet to sign your name on saying you were there for class... it made me happy. After that it was CABIN BOUND!
DAY ONE: Kelly, Annie, Mark, Cody, Brian, and I all loaded up a van and drove four and a half hours to Winthrop, Washington. It was out in the middle of no where, with no phone, no clocks, and no cell phone reception. This made it perfect for us to go get hurt... which we all did. The first night there was just settling in and cooking dinner. The only dangerous thing that happened the first night was when I almost blew up the cabin. It was 3 in the morning and I decided to make top ramen with Annie. We turned the stove to medium and it didn't ignite, I asked, "Do you smell that, Annie?" and she said, "I was just about to ask the same thing." With the fireplace ten feet away, Kelly came flying off the couch and cranked to the stove to turn it on. There was a nice little fireball above the stove... It's a gas stove... I forgot... shut up. That night Mark, Cody, and Brian went to bed at a reasonable hour, while Annie and I stayed up doing a jigsaw puzzle until five in the morning. We also took pictures of Kelly and Nathan sleeping on the couch.
DAY TWO: We all woke up, and made each other breakfast. It's really nice to hang out with a bunch of close friends and fellowship for three days. We decided since there wasn't enough snow (and the fact that the lifts in the area were closed) that we would pull out the tubes, disks, and sled. We started off on a small hill in front of the cabin so that didn't last long. Later Kelly showed a hill that her family always goes down when they go to the cabin. The only problem is that her family comes when there is another two feet and everything is covered. So we went down it anyways... Cody took the sled and wiped out into the street below, Nathan and I went down in tubes and both hit trees, and Brian went down on a disk without brakes and nailed a tree stump. Mark was at the bottom of the hill taking pictures, while Kelly and Annie sat at the top laughing at us. About 30 minutes later they tried to be damsels in distress and wanted to see if any of us would stop them from going down the hill on the sled. We told them not to, and Brian being the hero he is jumped in front of them.... Yellow Leaf road was the next stop on our sledding agenda. It was an unplowed street next to the cabin. The main road had been plowed and the snow was pushed to the side. It made for a nice ramp into the street coming down the unplowed road. Mark and I experimented a couple of times and figured it was safe. Cody and Nathan both tried it once and were okay. Brian was kind of out of it from hitting the stump, because his butt swelled up really bad. I then tried a disk and ended up going off of the jump backwards and landing on top of the sled and skidding into the street. I was bloodied up and finished for the day. Cody went off with the sled and tried to jump off and land on his feet. He looked more like a gymnast trying to do a vault routine off of the platform. He ended up slicing up his hand and we had to get him to a clinic for stitches. It ended up being closed and we just bought hydrogen peroxide and kept it clean ourselves. Four days later he still doesn't have stitches. I stayed at the cabin and played carpetball with Brian, while everyone else ran to the clinic to find out it was closed. That night we watched Major Payne and U-571. I fell asleep after responding to the "Hello Mr. Tyler" at the beginning of U-571.
DAY THREE: SUNDAY! We sat around all morning nursing our wounds, doing puzzles, and singing worship songs. We went into Winthrop to take some pictures and look around. Everything as closed so we stopped by the grocery store and headed back to the cabin. The van we came in was a little handicapped. The sliding door only opens from the outside and there were shorts in the lighting circuits everywhere. No on decided to let us out of the van so all the boys sat in the car waiting for them to let us out. It didn't happen so we crawled out and walked up to the porch. The wonderful ladies locked us out, so Mark and I went sledding, while everyone else tried to break in. We made this amazing track that started at the cabin and ended three blocks away in a meadow. It seriously felt like a down hill slalom. There was a little jump a third of the way down the course that I had to stand on the brakes to prevent us from going to fast. Once we thought we had it under control we hit a bumpy part of the hill and the sled wasn't on the ground. With the brakes obsolete we zoomed through the road and through an embankment from the road being plowed. It dropped us another eight feet down where there was a down tree. It made a nice little ramp that shot us out into a meadow. We cruised for about thirty yards before coming to a stop. It was the best snow experience I've ever had....ever. We tried this a couple more times and never successfully completed it in its entirety. The course actually kicked our trash after a while, and I came back this bleeding appendages and a broken sled. Mark and I ended up losing control before the road, and ended up in a side skid (like when a motorcycle falls over) in the middle of the street. It looked like Mark tried to slash his wrists, and I was already really messed up. When we finally got into the cabin, the wonderful ladies who locked us out had made hot cocoa for us. I guess being outside made us appreciate it more. That night we watched Ocean's 11 (I'd never seen it), and Pirates of the Caribbean (I've seen too many times). I ended up skipping out on most of Pirates and went out and laid in a tube looking at the stars. I fell asleep outside and came in towards the middle of Pirates. I couldn't feel my legs..... it was bad. The sad part was that everyone fell asleep during the first movie... it was 9:50.
DAY FOUR: Breakfast, clean up, five hour drive back. We clean up the cabin, and I took out the broken sled and tried the course one more time, I almost killed Annie and myself... We totally bailed before we hit the tree. I got cut up again, but they turned off the water so we could leave. I had to let it dry up and try to wash it in the snow. I slept most of the car ride back. We stopped at Arby's and then Kelly's house for some more food. It seemed just as it started, it was all over. Now I'm back at SPU, and a normal student with loads or school work. Overall, it had its good moments, and definitely had its bad moments... but guess what? it's lunch time.... adios
current mood: Relaxed/Sore
current music: Annie and Kelly in the shower: Come What May
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| Thursday, February 10th, 2005
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11:45 am - Lent...
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Hola.... Lent started yesterday and I will be playing no games until Easter...that's kinda hardcore since last year I gave up practicing cello. My midterms are officaially done as of 10 minutes ago. I got a 91% in Christian Formations, an 88% in Animal Biology Lecture, hopefully an 80% on Chemistry 1212, and I just finished with the Animal Biology Lab test. It wasn't that bad, but I was completely clueless on a few questions. There were only two bone quesitons on the whole thing. The microscope questions screwed me over if anything. They only one I knew for sure was the kidney slide.... it looked like a lima bean... but then the multiple choice options were multiple types of kidney cells.
Other than school I've been doing intramurals. We are the third hill flamers. We all wear short shorts (I mean short shorts), pink tye-dye shirts, head bands, and soccer socks. When we warm up we have our boombox playing, "it's raining men".....I love college. I've been swing dancing a couple of times, which is always fun. My parents were up this last weekend for my Thailia Symphony concert. We played Tchiakowsky's fourth (40min) and a satanic Sibelius piece(30min)... I hate violin concert. After the concert my parents, aunt and uncle, Mark, Annie, Becky, and I all went out for dinner at Buco Di Beppo. They have amazing chicken. I got a new dress shirt from my parents and a new tie. They are going on a cruise to the Caribbean in three days, they need a break from all the troubles of life. Next weekend I'm going up to a cabin with 9 other people. It should be fun becuase I've never skied or snowboarded before. As for now I'm stuck in Seattle wishing I was home for another Anti-Valentines Day party at church.....lunch time.....adios.
current mood: relieved
current music: Switchfoot: Gone
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| Sunday, January 23rd, 2005
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12:52 pm - Bad News...
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Hola...recently life has been pretty good. I love my new classes, and it's great to be back up here in Seattle. I'm taking Animal Biology, Chemistry 1212, Christian Formations, and Symphony. Animal Bio is probably my best class because I've been around tons of animals my whole life, and I know first hand what she talks about. The last two sunday's I've been up on capital hill at century ball room swing dancing... it's amazing. It's actually a lot different than what we learned in PE. In Bio lab I dissected a fetal pig. I would have been fine if it were just a normal disscetion. Dr. Bishop also wanted us to look at muscles and a lot of other stuff to we started off by looking at muscles. We had to skin half the pig and identify muscles, and then we moved to the cheeks. We cut little squares out of their cheeks and dug under the muscle to find the salivary gland. From there we cut the cheeks all the way back to the ears. This part I didn't like at all.... we had to break their jaws so their face would lay flat on the table. We the cut open the throat to see the lymph nodes, and a bunch of other stuff. THEN we finally got to the stomach. By this time you couldn't tell it was a pig....it was three hours old and smelled really bad, and made we want to throw up. If your wondering what the "Bad News" is it's that my mom has no strength or feeling in her right arm. She went to the neurologist and they told her she had neuropathy with severity enough to require surgery on both hands. What's worse is they did nerve testing and there is a big problem that explains her falling down, cold hands, and feet. She either has Lupus or her Bladder cancer is active once again and her immune system is struggling to conquer cancer cells. They may be destroying her nerve endings, which is creating the numbness among other things. It just seems that sometimes I'd rather not hear from home, however bad that seems.....Well I'm off to lunch.....adios.
current mood: hungry
current music: Tchaikovsky's 4th
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| Sunday, January 2nd, 2005
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9:45 pm - Christmas Break...
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Hola.... this Christmas break has gone by fairly slow and I think that I'm ready to go back to school. Just being home makes me realize I don't pray enough at home, I have worse language at home, but I do go to church more. It may just be me, but I find it a little harder coming from a family that doesn't go to church to try to keep good. I was over at Sohriakoff's and they sit down eat dinner together and watch movies, while at my house everyone has their own agenda and horrible influences.... it makes me appreciate college, and the people at college even more.
Christmas was very interesting. My brother Joe and his wife April didn't come out from Massachusetts. James was gone for the two weeks prior to Christmas, Scott came home Christmas eve, and Andrew came home the same day as me. James was in Canada for two weeks, came home, opened his presents (his books for next quarter), and read while the rest of us opened our presents. Scott was home for a whole two days. He slept on the couch Christmas Eve, went to the family lunch in Dallas the next day and then went home. Andrew was different though. I knew where he was almost 24 hours of the day. The second I brought my computer home he installed his little video games and played games all break. He ended up selling stuff on the internet and making more money than I did working at the restaurant (I wish I had the lazy dedication of gaming). Christmas eve we had puppies... 8 of them.... two weeks early (a day for dogs is about a week for humans)... all tiny as can be. We're down to two.... it's really sad because one of the two that lived is the only deformed puppy I've ever seen in my life. I has half of a front leg. That wasn't a very good lead into Christmas. Christmas morning was okay. Andrew made wise cracks at every present opened, Latisha bugged Valaire, and the bulldogs ran crazily about biting each other. Do you think that if you got a 25 piece kitchen set, pots and pans, storage bins, and table clothes that you would take a hint....Valaire obviously didn't. I got two blankets, some gloves, a beanie, a lids card, an electric tuner, some ties, a cross necklace, some clothes, a mouse pad, Spiderman 2, Harry Potter 3, and Bourne Supremacy. To say the least it didn't seem very familyish. I missed going over to Krit's house and talking to him on the phone.....heck I missed going over there at all this break. Christmas lunch with the family was okay. It was the same as last year... a bunch of old people that I don't know names, all watching sportscenter and basketball games.... all the familyish things families do.... I was forced to bring my cello so my parents could brag about their children like they always do, and Latisha was forced to sing too...
New Years was fun. I went to Pam's house from church. Pam, Ashlee, Nathan, Steve, and I all jumped in the hot tub like we did last year. We toasted with sparkling cider too... big risk takers. We also played pool, Balderdash, and Ashlee and I turned on our brain waves to play catch phrase. I had to work the next day so I was in bed by 2. At work there were stories of how drunk everyone got (even the under aged ones too) and partied till 1. Seth, a co-worker came in drunk that morning still not home from the party he went to the night before. He sat at the bar for a good hour getting more drunk. Work in general sucked. They were day shifts so I would go home with a whooping 12 dollars in tips a day. Not only was it crappy tips, but every day I had something planned after work I was asked to work a double. Overall I think I'm missing have religious people to hang out with. For some reason it's been making me all the better person. I think I'm ready to go back to school... Gotta pack I'll write more in Seattle.....adios.
current mood: alone
current music: Green Day: Boulevard of Broken Dreams
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| Saturday, November 27th, 2004
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5:27 pm - Thanksgiving Weekend...
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Hola.... I'm back sitting in my dorm room right now. It was a really great weekend, and for anyone I didn't get to see I really wanted to, but there were a lot of things my family had planned. So... the weekend went like this: I left school on Wednesday at 3:30 with Steve and Scott Krager. We got my house at 9:20....traffic was horrible. Once I got home I hung out with my family and then went to David's house. David, Holly, her friend, and I watched Elf. Then David and I hung out and talked, while Holly took her friend home. She's staying at David's house since her apartment was recently broken into, and she woke up when the black guy was standing in front of her bed....thats just freaky. At 2 in the morning I went and picked up my dad from work and we went to Shari's and talked for an hour. It was good to catch up with what was going on at home, since he really has no one to talk to. On Thursday Linda came over, and we picked up Steve and went over to Krit's house to surprise his mom. His sister Emily answered the door with a, "Hey.....shhhhhhh". We then snook into the kitchen and I covered Cindy's eyes. Nanny ruined it when she said, "hey guys," or so I thought. I uncovered her eyes since Cindy knew it was GUYS. She turned and saw Linda and Steve. It was a good surprise at that point. Then she turned all the way around and saw me.... she freaked out and turned bright red, and hugged me like crazy. She was still holding on to me when she hugged Linda and Steve. I felt kinda bad because there were points in the conversation where she said, "Krit used to say that," or "Krit used to make that noise." It made me feel bad at first, but it was still really good to see the fam. Linda, Steve, and I then wrote Krit a little note for the next letter Cindy sends him. We talked for a little while and then we had to run.... literally. Linda and I had 10 minutes to get to the movie theater in Oregon City.... after dropping Steve off at home. We didn't make it, and my dad was a little miffed. We ended up not missing anything, just previews. After the movie my dad and I picked up my grandmother for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up eating at Stone Cliff Inn since my mom just got out of the hospital. It was weird to here all the stories of what had gone on since I had left. It was really just a bunch of random crap about people quitting and getting fired.... nothing really changed, just people. After dinner I took my grandma home I went and picked up Liam and go over to Steve's. Liam has the biggest mop of a head I've ever seen on a guy.....it's sad. We all played some Halo 2 and then got tired. I took Liam home and then went home myself. Later that night I hung out and played Tony Hawk 2 Underground with my brother James. He spent a half hour trying to get his own face on his character.....it failed miserably, but he still thinks it looks like him. At 12:30 I went over to Lisa's house sat over there and hung out till 3.
On Friday I applied for another loan =/, took my bow to get fixed at David Kerr's violin shop, and went to David's again. David's family got a dog. We played some Halo 2 with Mike Hundley, and David's brother Jon...that lasted a long time. I woke up this morning to my aunt and uncle coming in the door, so I jumped in the shower so we could all go out for breakfast. I got to Shari's to find out that Mark and his sister wanted to leave already, so I didn't eat breakfast with them. Mark and I picked up my bow from David Kerr's and went back to his house. Mark, his sister, her roommate, and I all got in the car and headed for Seattle. So here I am.... no ones here on my floor..... Mark and I are bored so we are going to go find something to do......adios.
current mood: thankful
current music: Aladdin: A Whole New World
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| Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004
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11:13 am - It's Been A While...
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Hola... what to say what to say... Its been one whole month since I've updated. I had my Thalia Symphony concert, and my parents came. My dad fell asleep because of the drive and his graveyard shifts, I don't blame him. It was really good to see him, and my mom. My sister's need some straightening out. Valaire has stolen the car multiple times, and we have theft bars on all the cars at home. Latisha got arrested at school for possession of marijuana. She has been skipping school, and cashing her pay checks, and blowing them at the mall. She's 16 and entering the National Guard Youth Training Program, which mean she moves out in January for 17 months. Valaire has retorted to physically abusing my mom, but none of this really has to affect my life. The only thing that has is the fact that my mom was admitted to the hospital a couple of days ago from a G.I. blockage in her upper intestines. I called her last night and she was home. I'm thankful to have family this Thanksgiving so for you people who don't have to worry about it that much your lucky people. We are having Thanksgiving dinner at Stone Cliff. The only reason we were able to get reservations is because they told the restaurant they were my parents...=) is nice to know you have connections, even if they're small. I'm having Thanksgiving dinner tonight with Mark, Cody, Kelly, and Annie. It's kind of our campus Thanksgiving farewell as we all go home. The boys are in charge of making everything... it should be interesting. Oh! story time! So, we walked to Safeway last night to pick up plates, cups, and a bunch of other crap for our Thanksgiving dinner. On the way back we were coming down this really big hill in front of my dorm, and we kinda got into a jog down the hill.... and then I decided to get in a fight with the sidewalk... and it won. I wrapped arms and legs in toilet paper last night so I wouldn't get blood all over my blankets. I banged up my knee really bad and it's really swollen. My arms and elbows aren't that bad. This morning I played cello at the Thanksgiving chapel service...it was okay.
There is a bunch of stuff that has happened in the last month. I've gotten 2 letters from Krit... it's good to see he's enjoying what he's doing..... I have no clue where to start for this last month.... um... I went to a Halloween concert at Benaroya Hall... I wanted to do many horrible things to Huw Edwards once I found out he left Portland for Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. They weren't great, but they weren't bad. I had a paper to write for Halloween so I didn't go trick or treating. I got it! Halo 2 consumed about 7 days of this last month for people here... I didn't have it and still don't (aren't you proud of me) so I haven't spent too much time wasting my life. I've been to a couple different churches and I have established that I don't like Mars Hill. There are about 1,500 people at each service. I don't feel I could become a part of the church since I would meet new people for my first 5 years of going there. I went to Bethany Church and it was okay. The main pastor wasn't there and he's the dad of the kid across the hall from me. He's supposed to be good so I want to go back and here him. I downloaded itunes, and have a massive collection of music ranging from Frank Sinatra to Metallica, to Tim McGraw... I had a really fun night about two weeks ago when Mark and I walked into Fremont with Annie and Kelly from Ashton Hall. We got ice cream at Stone Cold, and walked back along the canal. It was 1 a.m. and we got in a huge leaf throwing/tackling fest. Then we just sat on a bench in front of the canal and talked for an hour or two. Last weekend I ran a two mile Turkey Trot for intramurals thinking I was getting points for our floor.... it was a co-ed event and we lost because we didn't have any girls... we got 1st, 8th, and 12th. It was a waste of getting up on a Saturday morning so I went back to my room and slept till three. I've also screwed up my back since here and pulled my butt. I pulled my butt playing volleyball intramurals, and screwed up my back by popping it excessively. This last Friday I went to a Bioethics party at our professors house. Never, ever watch the punisher... it is the most lame movie in the world... trust me. In other news:
I come home tomorrow! It'll be the first time since I left that I've come home. It's going to feel so good being able to drive a car again! I have a hit list of people I'm going to see... Linda, Steve, LB and Brandon, my mom (Krit's mom), Lisa, the Noltes, Matt, David, Holly, Sonia, Pam, and..... ASHLEE! If I forgot you I didn't mean to. Give me a call and I'll make an effort. I'm only home Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday afternoon. I have to be back in Seattle for rehearsal for my Benaroya concert (it like Seattle's Shnitzer, but not as nice)...I'll see you all when I get home......adios.
current mood: bruised
current music: Men Without Hats: Safety Dance
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| Saturday, October 23rd, 2004
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1:52 am - School's School...
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Hola... today was a very uneventful Friday. I played Halo and Minesweeper. Thalia Symphony is having a concert next Friday, so if any of you want to talk to my parents you might be able to bum a ride up here. We are playing Mussourgsky, Saint Sean, and Mendelssohn. Classes are going good. I had my first test in general Biology and got a "D". I'm not taking it too terribly because the first test is to see what new type of studying you need to do. Obviously I need a new method. I also realized this week that I have 300 more dollars for college then I thought. Mr. Anderson hasn't sent me a check for the cello I sold him. There are a lot of cool people that I'm meeting up here. Tonight Mark and I have someone's boyfriend sleeping on our couch because the dorms are separated between guys and girls. About 20 people just finished watching Italian Job. I've never talked in short sentences in my life (way too tired). Tomorrow morning our sister floor is making breakfast for us. I have roomies tomorrow. It's pretty much a blind date that our roommate picks for us, but it was the girls who choose this time, so i guess Mark and I are liked by people because we are the only ones on our floor asked.
This weekend I'm trying out a new church called Mars Hill. It's supposed to be really good. Then I'm walking into Fremont with Annie from symphony (not like you know who she is but...). Then we are going to Gasworks park... I have no clue what it is, but she wants to go. Then we are going to go to Kerry Park which has a view of Seattle, the cranes of Seattle, and the Bay... it's awesome. I went there after the Mariners game. We had our campus Day of Common Learning. John Perkins (the one who gives out loans) came and spoke to our school about reconciliation. We then had mini-classes that had people speaking on different topics such as, Japanese American internment camps, Abolishing slavery in Europe, and Life in Vietnam. They were really interesting and me realize that we could be reaching out and help way more than we do. Did you know that 220 American dollars can send a college student in Vietnam to school for a whole year? Their families only make $550 a year anyway. It was really cool having the speaker there because he didn't even speak English, and he had a translator. His translator was a little iffy too. That pretty much sums up this week. Oh yea, we also played wink'em. It got brutal and someone split open their head. We had to call 911. Then we played sardines. It was a raid from the girls of 1st Hill. They run through right before floor hours, and scream raid... we then are pretty much obligated to go do whatever they want to. It sucks when you procrastinate on homework. I also pulled my first almost all-nighter of college. I started writing a 5 page Bioethics paper at midnight and finished at 4:30... I then met up with some people at 5 to edit mistakes. I got about 3 hours of sleep an was ready for class at 8. College is fun. Lots of ping pong, and floor bonding....adios.
current mood: content
current music: Tim McGraw: Don't Take The Girl
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| Monday, October 18th, 2004
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7:56 pm - My Short Tribute to Krit...
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Hola... you know you have by far been the best friend/influence/troublemaker;) /ventee/brother anyone could have asked for. In all the things we've done there isn't a moment that I'd change. It's going to be really weird not seeing you for 2 whole years, but I know its for the best, and that there are many great things in store for you. It's awkward not knowing what to write knowing that I only have and hour to write this. I think that everything that has needed to be said has been already. I'll keep your mom company on Christmas and Mother's day, and definitely be talking to you then. I guess since I don't have my list I can spit off a few.
DDR everywhere
seaside
planting shrubs in the wetlands
Liam in the trunk
Disneyland
Canada
my 18th
your 18th and 19th
chrono cross
Dr. Mario
secret of mana
extreme G
LORT 3
Sonic Adventure battle 2
Super Smash Brothers Melee
Earthbound
Supermonkey Ball
Crystal Chronicles
Moulin Rouge
Resident Evil Apocalypse
Emily's 18th birthday
Shari's
locking keys in the car
lighting a fire in my computer
running out of gas
cube club
XBOX Dome
Mormon bball
halo
MYS
falling asleep on cello
attempted kidnapping
airsoft
cav man
afro cheerleader
taco bell
state orchestra
Foster at 75
110 on the freeway
Philomath
the lamp
the spiders
shrek 2
matching PJ's (which I hope your taking with you)
muff tennis
your music blanket
all-nighters
bowling with the ladies
encore
Amanada Runion and Jessica Meyer's Birthday (where we first met)
Super Smash Brothers
Metallica
the quartet
My gay shirt
Your girl shirt
Random Rose Tuesday's ;) (Linda!)
007
night soccer
missionary discussion
Jason's baptism
girl scout cookies
WoT
Harry Potter race
hitting deaf people in cars
That's all I can think of............ Ha! you thought you were off the hook. Since no one can talk to you after 9 or two years from now......:)...... Krit pooped his pants playing DDR!....I've got a lot more, and I guess I could have looked at your, but thats just not the same.
I looked through the Bible for a good verse for you and this is what I've got for ya... they are my final words to you (for two years) other then the give adios.
"So, brothers and sisters, I love you and miss you. You are my joy and crown. Therefore, dear friends, keep your relationship with the Lord firm!....Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice. Let everyone know how considerate you are. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God's peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions though Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, what ever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you."......best wishes......adios.
current mood: Confident
current music: Postal Service: Sleeping In
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| Friday, October 15th, 2004
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3:56 am - Why...
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Hola... I still have enough energy to say that. Why am I still up... oh yea that 5 page paper due at 9:30 that I started at 12... I remember......adios.
current mood:  energetic
current music: Frank Sinatra: Fly Me to the Moon
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| Tuesday, October 5th, 2004
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11:45 pm - Monday...
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Hola... today wasn't fun. I had a lab partner, that didn't quite follow through on the first lab... I got screwed. So I think that the teacher has a bad first impression of me right off the bat. Then again I was one of the only people who stayed the full three hours. Other than that, orchestra class....blah....then dinner rolled around, and that was good. I love food. After that there was a badminton competition for the whole university, and Tyler Steele is the champ. Scott Krager (Steve's brother) gave me a run for my money, but I won. That was really fun, and I've never been so sore in my life... not even from soccer. For anyone who thinks badminton doesn't take A LOT of running... your very wrong. I can't move very well. Just about twenty minutes ago we practiced for fusion, which is kind of like freshman hazing... but you can't use that word... anyway we are reenacting the witch scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail... and probably a bunch of other stuff. Now it's time for a couple hours of studying.....adios.
current mood: pleased
current music: The Darkness: I Believe In A Thing Called Love
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| Monday, October 4th, 2004
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11:11 pm - First Weekend...
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Hola.... the first weekend of college was extremely fun. On Friday I had my usual Bio-ethics class at 9:30, then Chemistry at 11, and finally end with Biology at 1:30. After that the first weekend began! That night Mark and I bought some tickets for the Mariners game and went to watch Ichiro make history. He broke george Sisler's previous record of 257 hits in a single season. The record was from 1920 so it was pretty impressive. We were in a group of about 10 SPU students in the nosebleed section of the third level. The cool part about it is that we started a waves on the third deck and got them to go all the way around the stadium twice. The Mariners ended up winning the game 7-4... I think. After the game we got back to the dorm and Mark went to study. I stayed up watching Moulin Rouge with a bunch of girls... it was like 4 in the morning... none of us watched the whole movie, and we fell asleep in the lounge. SATURDAY! On saturday morning we ate at Gwinn, and the floor preped for our intramural football game by playing Madden 2002 on my gamecube. Our game was at 2 and very intense. We were playing against 3rd East Emerson dorm. They were a lot bigger than us. It ended up a tie game with a 1:17 to go in the game. I was sitting on the sidelines for my break when this 50 yard bomb goes flying by, and is caught in the in-zone. We are now down by 6. We then decided to do the same thing that they did, and it worked! Aaron (who no moved dorms cuz he was in "The Quad"/ our old lounge) caught the pass to tie the game. We then held them of for the last 11 seconds of the game. Over Time! we each started on the 20 and had 4 downs to score. Fourth down I decide to run through the back of the in-zone and scream, "throw me the ball!" I jumped in the back of the in-zone, caught the ball, was pushed out the back of the in-zone, and kept my feet in barely. They then had their chance to score. We held them till 4th down... when they decided to screw up the snap and let the ball hit the ground. In intramurals when the ball hits the ground it's a dead ball.... to say the least it was very anticlimactic. That night I went to the woman's volleyball game. They lost, but it was still fun. Mark and I then went to the Ashton dorms, and played Uno with a couple girls. We have ethics, and biblical conversations....I wouldn't quite call them arguments because we all had the same views..... it's a very conservative school.
Sunday was Sunday. I went to a free Methodist church, and had my 20 minutes of the day where I'm on the verge of falling asleep during service....it was bad. I have those sudden dazes during the day. After church I had to write a Bio-ethics paper based around the question, "What aspects of your "self" so you give up to pursue a career, especially in the medical field", we had to then cite a text, about something ethical (figures), and relate it to the ER episode that we watched in class. It wasn't a very fun paper. Before I could finish that though, we served our sister floor a spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic bread, and ice cream. We turned our lounge into a restaurant with tables, dim lights, tuxedoed escorts to the table, and piano, trumpet, and of course a cello playing throughout the meal. We were pretty much slaves for the night, but it was really cool. They had baked us cookies twice already so we decided to cook them dinner.
Today I had the same classes as Friday. Turned in my paper. Took a bunch of notes. Made a nice sign for our Phi Upsilon frat, and owned in our second intramural game... it was volleyball. I got a package in the mail with 50 bucks in cashiers checks.... I forgot I left them at home. I got a CD of pictures from home, my nephew, my birthday, Krit's birthday, and Rosie pictures.... I just happen to pop in the CD when Vitamin C: Graduation came on... sad times. Later that night/an hour ago, the guys all put on crazy hats and we went to 7-11. Kevin drank a half gallon of milk before we got back to the dorms. He's crazy. Well.... Mark and Greg are playing Halo, and I'm off to bed...as much as you may not believe it, I am off to bed... and that concludes another riveting weekend in the life of Tyler Ted Anthony Steele......adios.
current mood: amused
current music: Five For Fighting: hundred years
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| Monday, September 27th, 2004
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11:39 pm - First Day Of Classes...
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Hola... today was the first day of actually classes for Seattle Pacific, and they were kind of boring. I'm sure every first day was boring because the only thing talked about are class syllabus'. I started off my day in my University Seminar class, which is my Bio-Ethics class (life from the ER)... Prof Fitch is cool and only requires three small books for the class, all of which I bought today. From there I went to chemistry 1211 where I found out that I passed the advanced placement test and I'm allowed in the sophomore class. Other than the $200 book set that you have to buy, you also have to get the lab book, and lab coat w/ goggles. All together with the University Seminar books I'm up to $380. For my Bio class I have to get another $100 book, plus the study guide book for $80... O yea then theres the writing book I have to have for all my classes thats another $40, and to wrap it all up my printer didn't come with a USB cable so I can't print any homework yet....and for everything else... crap I don't have a Mastercard.... I guess I'm spending $600 on books for the year.
Other then classes everything's been really enjoyable so far.... I just found out that I can audition for the presidential quartet and travel with the president of the university to California and Arizona or where ever else he's going...but thats tomorrow at 8 so I have to get some sleep and practice! I also recently found out that I lost all my solo music so I hope good ole Bach can do the trick....adios....... and for last time........adios.
current mood: Broke
current music: J.S. Bach: Suite 2 Movement 1
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