Uplandia

Oh heeeeey, party people.  I am in Upland.  Did you know that?  Did I tell you?
Welp, I am.  And here's the part that I know I didn't tell you: I am here indefinitely.  As in, Stanford starts on the 24th, and I am not going to be there.  I have a year left of school - I didn't graduate, but I won't be going back.  Why?

And here's the part where I explain it:
You knew I was a Mormon, right?  And by this point in our country's history, I'm assuming that you know what a Mormon is (see Mitt Romney, the Book of Mormon musical, the bands Neon Trees or Imagine Dragons, the author of the Twilight books, and a bunch of other people/events that I can't currently think of) - but we're actually called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Did you know that members of this church go on missions?  They are largely service/proselytizing, and often times you go to a foreign country, perhaps learning a new language, and almost always it involves getting in over your head, helping people, and learning a lot about yourself.

I've decided to do one of these missions.  I will be serving for a year and a half, but I don't know where or when.  (I will find out VERY soon) And after I'm done, I'll go back and finish my last year at school.  I wanted to do it this way so that I could go back and have a year of school left before I have to start the job search and enter the real world.  Just a quick little year.

IN THE MEAN TIME
I'm in Upland, I got a job at tutoring agency, I am bugging Lucas approximately every possible moment, and I am playing the piano like its my job.  At least for now, that's what I'm doing.

So, I was going to wait until I knew where I was going to blog, but I missed you crazy people.  And by "you crazy people" I mean, I missed telling random stories to a faceless internet.

SO EXPECT MORE OF ME, I'M DONE WITH VACATION!

Meanwhile, Lucas will continue to do this as if I never moved in:

The Sun'll Come Out.....

Tomorrow will be spent

• Doing laundry
• Baking a pie or a cobbler or both
• Sleeping in the Bed I slept in in high school 
• Flying in a Plane 
• Awkward Smiling at my Parents 
• Applying shameful amounts of fake tanner and possibly lying out 
• Reading 
• Eating 
• Getting my Eyebrows done? 
• Lamenting the absence of all three of my brothers (Is it a coincidence that they all left the day before I got home?) 
• Enjoying

Vamanos a la playa, playa!

Quiet

Things have been awfully quiet around this blog.  I've been busy with studying for finals, taking said finals and writing a paper and then going home.

Oh, and then once I got home for spring break, within hours I had convinced my oldest sister to drive down to California with her two little children to spring break with us. or really to spring break with me while the rest of the family had to continue with their normal people lives.  

I loved having Adri home.  We went to Disneyland, we lazily watched television, we went to the targets and the thrift stores, and we bugged our little brothers.  Meanwhile her children were fed candy after candy after candy and I chased them around like a madwoman because they are so stinking cute and they grow faster than dandelions in your front yard.  Also, I may be addicted to toaster strudel.  

I got really caught up in it all.  There was so so so much noise all the time.  It was glorious, it was like growing up in my parents house again.  I was actually left home alone for a couple of hours one day with only the zoo of animals we keep and my sleeping grandmother to keep me company and the quiet was absolutely deafening.  I actually got scared by that thing that we have in or house that sporadically sprays stuff that smells good.  You know you've seen the commercials.  

I have come to learn this week though, that when it comes to little kids (they are hardly babies anymore), all bets are off for me.  I mostly mean that I will do anything for those little suckers, but I also mean that I get sick really easily around them.  I think they expose me to about 17,846,921 new germs a day which I willingly absorb in the form of wet kisses and having my nose "eaten" until I beg for it back.  Which means that today, I am le sick.    (Also possibly to blame: Disneyland).  

I feel seriously sickly.  Like I am easily weak and my body feels achy and stiff and I keep getting the chills despite the fact that I have the space heater on and I keep wrapping myself in blankets.  Swallowing feels like shoving knives down my throat, and I think I have a fever.  My point in all this complaining is that whereas three days ago I wondered what I would do when left in the lonely quiet of my school-home, now I wish I could have that sort of quiet.  

My violin-practicing housemate had been subletting his place to a seriously quiet and sweet girl and now he is le back in all his violin-practicing glory.  Meanwhile, my neighbor to the back (slash his place goes directly over my bedroom) seems to be hosting some sort of boys night which involves what I'm assuming are video games making motorcycle noises on the tv that backs up to my bedroom, and jumping up in down every few minutes in the room that is above me.  What I wouldn't give to be trapped at home with only eight fairly silent animals to keep me company.  

This post is admittedly whiny, which I don't really like to do because whining is boring to read and I just feel worse after writing it.  But I will publish this anyway because it explains the quiet of my blog which has been going on and which I think will continue to go on for a few days while I try to recover while simultaneously starting a new term in school.  This quarter system really throws you through a loop every single time.  I am possibly more negative due to the fact that I have a sinus headache.  Yummers.  

This is the part where I should throw in some cutesy photos of my week to make this end on a positive note.  Sadly I did not take any.  Weird.  

Instead, please to enjoy:

Blake Griffin at the Beach

Aladdin's Mysterious Lack of Nipples

A Photo of one of Upland High School's parking lots as found in a Google Images Search?

Yeah.

What a Weekend

I had a divine weekend this last weekend, and it made for an excellent birthday.  It was the perfect blend of lazy and fun and if I could relive that weekend every weekend for the rest of my life, I would (broken clutch and all).

Saturday was spent doing laundry upon laundry (so that I would actually have clothes to wear) and then my Mom and I went shopping.  I used to hate the shopping, but lately it is not so bad.  Because you get new clothes when you are done (and the Burberry perfume that I absolutely laaaaave).

Sunday, I got the extreme pleasure of waking my little brothers up to force them to eat birthday breakfast of waffles and fruit and so much orange juice.  If there is one thing that is important for my birthday, it is orange juice.

What I am about to describe is largely what I imagine heaven to be like.  After church, I was taking a nap and my Mom woke me up because my sister and her children were calling me to sing happy birthday.  Then I went back to sleep, only to be woken up to realize that it was time for dinner and more presents, and that while I was asleep my dad had started the fire in the fireplace and put a blanket over me.  I'm sorry, but you cannot convince me that 21st birthdays get much better than that.  Not for all the free drinks in the world.

Monday was the Harlem GlobeTrotters.  OH MY GOODNESS! If there is anything cheesy and awesome in the world, I will love that thing.  And if there is anything cheesy and awesome in the world, it is the Harlem Globetrotters.  Because not only are the puns abundant, but the basketball is good.  There were long shots and crazy dunks, and absolutely no defense and a billion travelling, but it was soooo good.  Or maybe you would only like it if you are under the age of 10, or me.

I was busy taking a billion photos for my photo class (just ask my mildly annoyed family), so I didn't take very many digital photos during the weekend, so sadly I have only one pic to share, and the quality is terrrrible.

What a Weekend!

Have you met my mom?  She's pretty cool.  This weekend she turned 50 (well, on her it looks more like 25).  And not only was her birthday this weekend, but it was on Friday the 13th.  How lucky is that?  So to celebrate, my family threw an awesome surprise party, that you should totally read about on her blog.  (I also just learned that my Mom has a blog.  That she rarely updates, but it exists!)

Anyways, to celebrate just a little bit more, let me tell you a couple of things about my mom:

• Her favorite color is red, as evidenced by half of her wardrobe, and a good portion of the house she lives in
• She loooooves chocolate milk.  For most of my childhood, I remember all of us kids around the table at breakfast eating cereal, while my mom sat and drank chocolate milk with some vitamins
• She likes listening to rock versions of the song Milkshake.  Like this, for example.  Does it get cooler than that?
• My mom can do a backflip.  Just kidding.  But she does have that magical mom ability where she knows where 85% of items  in the house are at any moment.  "Mom have you seen my flip flops?"  "Yes, they're under the kitchen table."  How did she even see that?
• She has run two half-marathons.  That's a total of one marathon!  But, she did them year apart, and I think she's planning on doing a third this June.  Girl can run!

That's all I'll divulge.  Happy 50th Mom!

The way this relates to my weekend is that I drove home on Friday in order to be there to see her as she walked through the door into a room full of people that she was not expecting to see.  Which turned into a lovely four-day weekend for me (well, I guess Dr. King also had a thing or two to do with it).  

SO what else did I do this weekend?  Well, Saturday I did largely nothing.  I'm actually trying to remember if I even left the house.  I did.  My mom took me to Hobby Lobby (which is probably her favorite store).  And I watched Laker game after Patriots/Broncos game after 49ers/Saints game (my man Harbaugh pulled out the W!).  

And Sunday, I went to church and probably watched more sports. 

And on MONDAY, I had a party.  Literally a party.  My familia got box seats to a Clipper game.  I have never been to an NBA game before, and my dad felt a little bad about that, so it was really cool that I got to go.  

But oh my gosh the Clippers!  Obviously I'm still a Laker girl (always will be), so I was still a little sad that on Saturday the Lakers lost to the Clippers, but the Clippers are suuper fun to watch.  You've got Blake, who's always dunking and being cute in those commercials, and Chris Paul who I have a major crush on.  Because, I mean, look at this:

I can't get over how cute he is in this picture.  Sure he's married and has a kid, but chances of me actually ever meeting CP3 are preeeeeeeetty small.  So there you have it. 

Oh and afterwards!  We went to this great little restaurant in East LA called El Tepeyac which has giant portions of deliciousness.  It was weird eating the leftovers yesterday for lunch knowing they had been made in LA by real Mexicans (and probabl using real animal fat).  But it was delicious all the same.  

And then I drove home.  Which was actually not that bad.  When there's not traffic, and I am not throwing up, I don't even end up crying.  

Also, another Clipper photo:

Oh, and apparently my Mom took a video of me dancing (I reeeeeeeeeaaaaaally wanted to get on the jumbo-tron but no one around me was excited), which you can see here if we are fb friends.  I just learned that I'm that girl who always dances, although I guess I should have known.  

Home for the Holidays

So what did I do in the 3 weeks I was home and apparently too busy to blog, you ask?

Well, largely nothing.  Seriously, I watched a lot of tv, played a surprising amount of video games, and was happy with the day if I ended up leaving home.  (helpful hint if you are me (which is another way of saying note to self): if you don't leave the house in a day, you will end up feeling bad about yourself).

For realzors though, not a lot going on.  Which is how any good vacation should be right?  Then again, normal vacations do not last three weeks.

So without further ado, pictures of some of the schtuffs I saw at home:

I call this sequence, "So did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?"  which is a Hercules quote and a reference to the fact that while shirtless you can be....

An Accountant,

A creeper,

A chef,

A good uncle, 

and a model, but I don't know if I will share that picture (it's a bit embarrassing)

This sequence is called, "Only at Home"

I wake up next to a penguin wearing what appears to be actually functioning headphones.

We actually go through this amount of flour.

Fridge Tetris

And these guys don't have a group:

And there, you have it, folks.  

Me? I Want a Hula Hoop.

Thanksgiving is over.  December starts on Thursday.  I officially have a license to start spreading Christmas cheer.  Dudes, do you even know how awesome Christmas is?  (Do you get annoyed when I call you dudes?)

At my parents' house, Christmas is not really that big of a deal - ON OPPOSITE DAY.  Christmas is the absolute best day of the year if you are a Gamboa.  And I am looking so very very forward to it.  I don't think you can quite possibly comprehend this if you haven't been to our house before during the month of December.  Allow me to illustrate what I am describing:

See these boxes?  All of them, every last one of them, is full of Christmas decorations.  Christmas decorations!  They come in all shapes and sizes.  From the giant ornate ornaments that we hang from our railings to the homemade felt trip to Bethlehem that is a Velcro advent calendar to the creepy robot Rudolph that walks around and scares small children and animals.

Before I left my Mom had started the tedious (but very worth-while!) process of decorating the house!  It's crazy!  She puts up garland with lights in it everywhere and inevitably half of the lights are bad so she has to re-string them throughout the garland.
In process:

I literally walked up to my mom and sang, "Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."  It was a bag of cheese, but I love Christmas.  Hopefully you all don't get sick of me and my holiday spirit.  We're all going to have to wait til I get home after finals to see the finished product.  Unless of course you are any of my readers that live in my house.  In which case, don't have too much fun without me.  Merry Christmas dudes! :)

A Fair-ly lovely Schmorgisboard

So, back a billion years ago when my life was all carefree and I had no studying to not do, I went to the LA county feature with a couple of girlfriends from high school. And then weeks later I remembered it and decided to talk about it on my blog.
So here we are. The fair! Ok, besides the fact that since being at school I have heard LA referred to as "a stink of a city", I love so many things about it. And one tradition that rests deep in my heart is the fair. When I was a kid, we would go to the fair every year and my mom used to work at the information booth and all the kids would beg for those wristbands that got us onto unlimited (or as I like to say, infinity) rides, and a lot of years we actually got them.

I remember one year I was on the ferris wheel with my two little brothers and at the top of it I got a terrible nose bleed (we must have had quite the elevation change) and we kept yelling at the creepy carnie folk working the machine to let us out every time we were at the bottom and finally like five rotations later they let me out, after I had gotten blood all over everything.
What an appetizing story.

But even though the fair can be a bit gritty, I love it. I wanted to try a deep fried klondike bar this year, but I am mega cheap and it cost $7. I also love the farm animals. My mom loves the baby piglets and my older brother used to make us get fresh squeezed milk, but I would only get chocolate milk because high milk fat is very intense.
Another fair tradition is the table settings. I'm glad my friends were down to do this because out is such an old lady hobby. Basically contestants set tables:

And the judges take off points for things like "champagne glasses smudged with fingerprints" and "menu includes soup, but there is no soup soon on table" and there is an intense scoring system that scares all the manners right out of me.

And new this year! There was a shark exhibit where a man swam in a very, very small tank with sharks (it was so small that I felt bad for them) and played air guitar and danced a waltz with the sharks in what appeared to be animal abuse. But apparently if you flip a shark upside down it automatically goes unconscious. Which I think makes the animal abuse worse, not better.

Oh and Hot Dog on a Stick!  I love eating this stuff at the fair.  It is just... so very the fair.  They have cream cheese on a stick!  I want to try it sometime, but I saw the sign for it right after I had already ordered (and the lady working there had already taken a block of cheese on a stick and dipped it first in batter and then in a boiling vat of oil - yum!).  But the limeade is superb.
And just because I can, more pictures: (but don't worry, they are good)

Acrobats!

A very secure system!

I guess that's it!

Oh and ten points for whoever gets the reference in the title.  

Back To School (Year 3)

If you wouldn't terribly mind, could you listen to this song as you read this post?

Let me tell you a little thing about my hometown.  In my hometown, the first week that school starts is always the start of a massive heatwave.  It's like Summer's defiance of school.  Because Summer gets angry that there are no little children to watch cartoons until noon and go to the beach and get sand in their swimsuits.  Instead of sprinklers and popsicles there are backpacks, and pencil boxes, and tags to be taken off of clothing.

This year I've just been sitting back and watching the whole city settle into it.  New routines, new teachers, new friends, and for my brothers and I'm sure many other boys across the city, video games and pool side lounging are replaced with homework and staying after school for practice.  And every year, even though there is always a lot of dreading and sighing and tired eyes early in the morning, it feels good to go back to structure, to go back to activity and teachers and a sociability.

I'm starting to get really excited for this new school year.  Can you tell?  Things are finally, finally falling into place and I feel like there is a great year coming up under my toes.  I remember growing up, I met every year with a few nerves in my stomach and a few of those sighs that I mentioned before, but always excited to become immersed in something.  To get lost in my day and spend time studying and accomplishing.

This year feels different.  It feels like I'm losing a few of the safety nets that I grew up with.  But at the same time, I have that same little nervous feeling that I used to have growing up.  A little worm in my stomach that wiggles around and makes me antsy.  I think I'm more nervous for this year than for any other year of college.

But that's also because I'm sooooo excited!  Yesterday I made the drive back to school and let me tell you, it was actually kind of awesome.  I know, this coming from the girl who had an emotional explosion last time time I did this drive.  (I think the key to a good road trip is good mixed CD's.  I burned myself one and forced a friend of mine to burn one for me and I survived it all.  But that is just a side note.)

I was sad to leave Upland more than usual this year.  Sad to leave my family (even though they will hardly notice I'm gone once my Grandma moves in on Saturday).  But the exciting part is that I moved into my new apartment yesterday, and it feels like home too.

Please excuse my face.  No makeup and 6 hours of driving without air conditioning in a fairly hot environment will do that to you.  Or at least it does it to me.  Also, that is a strand of hair, not a crazy eyebrow.  

It's a little space to call my own (well, mine and kristin's) and it has couches and a bed and hardwood floors and a little makeshift kitchen and so many little things that make it feel like it's mine that I will tell you about later.  I feel like this little space is the start of a lot of good things.  The start of a year that I think I will look back on for the rest of my life, hopefully with smiles.

Home is wherever I'm with you.

Pudding and Pie

I love this picture.  It's from the last night that Jordan was in California before he left for school.

I love it for its awkwardness, because my Dad is barely in the picture and Puke wouldn't squeeze in close to me if I was holding a million dollar bill.
I love it for the night it represents, because we had a good time eating and talking, which is what Gamboas do best.
But mostly, I love it for the Jordan-ness of it.  Because his awkward posing is perfect for the occasion.  Because he looks so ready to set off and to take on new challenges and yet, we were all (we are all) backing him.  Our little (or maybe not so little) family that produced one Jordan for the world.  (you're welcome)

I'm so excited to see what he does with his time, because I know it will be something that he can put the Gamboa name on.

See you at Christmas George!  I can't wait!

Your adoring little seester,

G

My Life

Welcome to it:

No but seriously, this is what I do all the time.  Since our filter is broken on the real pool and it is yucks, I've been making this kiddie pool work for me.  Here is my recipe for tanning without feeling like you are being cooked in an oven (it works very well in a kiddie pool)(and if you're hardcore like me and you don't believe in sunscreen or skin cancer) (both are urban legends):

Lay on either your back or your stomach
Read until you feel uncomfortably hot.
Flip.
Repeat.

Because you see, while the rest of the country was worrying about a hurricane and power outages and mortal safety, it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit over here.  And on one of those days my little brother decided we should do an eagle scout project in the sunny park.  Tangents.

The real point is that I am serious about getting my southern cali on.  Which includes driving through rush hour traffic in LA county:

Can I get a ticket for taking this picture?  That is besides the point.  The point is, do you like my photography style?  I call it first-person photography.  Do you feel like you are me tanning and driving?  Because that is the point.  I'm not sure if there is a real name for this or not, but I am calling it good.

Also, I probably made too many points for one blog post.  So here is one more: The life of luxury in here in the sunshine is being good to me, and like a sponge, I am soaking it all up.

Who needs an apartment to live in?  I'll tell you who - NOOBS!

Ugh A Bug A Boo.

Sometimes the title of my post has almost nothing to do with the content of the post except that when I think about the feel that I want for the post, a random something pops in my head and most of the time I just type that in.
The thing that popped into my head first was the ugh (you will see why in a minute, gosh have some patience, internet reader!), but then I didn't want it to be a whiny post so I added the rest so it sounds more whimsical (Did it have the desired effect?).

All stupidness aside, I am saying ugh because I am apartment hunting!  And I have never done that before.  It goes a little something like this:

Landlords:  Who are your references?

Me: Ummm.... My parents?  Please take pity on me because I am a starving college student.... please?

And I start school in a month and a week.  So hopefully I find somewhere to live.  .... please?


But speaking of me moving soon, I am trying to get my Southern California on before I leave.  Which means eating fresh fruit:

Watching the Project Runway with family:

That blurry woman on the television is Nina Garcia.  In my opinion, the toughest judge of the show.  Although her personal style is a little boring.  Where's the color?  Where's the prints?  Where's the jewelry that is larger than a human ear?

I'm also planing a beach trip, going to the taping of a Hollywood show, and I'm doing lots of tanning and reading in the near future.  Like LOTS of it.  Did you know you can do a lot of tanning and reading in Southern California?

Summertime and the living is easy.... for now.

Give me an apartment please?

Lame

I've been trying to blog allll day today, but everything keeps coming out lame.
Maybe it's because my life is a little bit lame lately.  But let's try a little social experiment where I embrace the lame (because that is so totally different from what I normally do on this blog).  But I feel good about this time around because DJ Cell Phone keeps playing the songs that I like to hear.  Anyways...

I cleaned my room today:

See all that carpet space?  It's like carpet without stuff on it does something magic to my brain.  It sends messages like, "You will one day rule the world." and, "Everything that comes from your head is pure genius." Isn't that weird?

But what you, the reader, are really thinking at this moment is, "I think you accidentally posted the before picture of your room-cleaning-experience."  But you are wrong my friend.  Because all of the clothes that are sitting on top of my dresser are clean and simply need to be folded.  And while we're at it, probably all of the clothes in the drawers need to be folded too.  And there are NO dirty clothes on the floor.  And did I not mention that this summer I fit everything I own plus some stuff that is not mine into a room that was already full of other people's stuff. (Side note: That last sentence besides being grammatically a run-on is one that is technically a question but the tone at the end of the sentence doesn't feel question-y so I left it with a period instead of a question mark.  That was a long side note) (Another side note: Obviously the rules of grammar do not apply on this blog because I am trying to write in a conversational tone.  As in, the tone that I use when I have conversations with myself.  But that's normal, dontcha know?)

So what I'm saying is, if you want to get any good ideas out of me, you should probably ask them of me as soon as possible, because I've already put a chair in my room so that I have something to type in and the square footage of blank carpet is now reduced to roughly six? But then again, I'm doing some spring cleaning tomorrow in the wardrobe area so it could be either way cleaner or way messier in here tomorrow.

And as promised, this post has now lived up to its title.

Good night errrbody.

The 4th of Jooh Lie

Happy Independence Day everyone!  It is over, but America is still independent, so there is still reason to celebrate.  

I spent the weekend celebrating as follows:

Saturday I helped my sister sell her cute accessories and clothes.  schtuff like this: 

Then her family and I went to the fireworks show in Provo and one of my nephews FREAKED out. "We should probably go home now guys" through tears is both adorable and sad.  

Sunday I drove 8 hours from UT to home in a car with 2 babies.  Make that 9 hours.  Babies tend to slow things down.  

And Monday I went to a BBQ with the fam and a bunch of friends that I have had since before I was born.  It was fun. 

Afterwards I hung out with my friends from high school and had a blast.  You know when you know people really well and you are just weird around them if you want to be weird and they know you, so it's okay?  Well On Monday night I knew about half of the people at the party I went to and I decided to just be weird anyways.  It was weird that it worked out.  I feel like people are more comfortable around people that they think are not trying to impress everyone around them.  

Fun schtuff guys.  Fun schtuff.  Also, I apologize for the lack of pictures because I haven't been able to find the charger for my camera since I moved home.  What wah.  

Anyhoo.  I'm trying to get back into bloggermode, which means I look for funny things in the day.  Which is pretty much too much to ask for on days where I have to watch my little munchkin nephews.  But I'll try.  (I know that all my loyal, billions of readers are screaming right now).  

OK time to stop while I'm ahead?

Sooooo......

In case you haven't noticed (and I totally don't mind if you haven't), I haven't blogged in a few weeks.  Which is pretty uncharacteristic for me.  I try to get in a few a week.

It's been weird.  I moved home and I didn't freak out on the drive home.  And I've spent my days since I got home being laaaaazy and sitting around on my butt and wishing one of the billion places I applied at would want to hire me.

Oh and also I've been working out like a fiend.
Seriously, a lot of work out DVDs and gym classes have been going on since I got home.  Hopefully this will be a healthy summer for me (except that I have a cold right now).

This post is none of the things that I want it to be.  Which seems to be a recurring problem for me and part of the reason that I can't seem to get back on this blogging bandwagon.

I put a lot of myself onto this silly little blog.  I'm working on a letter to the room I lived in for the last about 9 months, and it is weird because there are so many things that I can't get them all right.

But I've been home for officially over two weeks and I think it's time for my laziness to be over.  Which is terribly easier to say than to do because I have no routine and so I end up just watching a billion television.  And now that it's a real television in a real house, it's not like I can just block TV from my computer.  I have to have real self-control.  What the heck is that?

The shortness of these paragraphs attests to my ADD and the fact that I don't really remember how to write a good blog post.  (Have I ever written a good blog post - maybe like 4 times max).

I don't know.  I may or may not currently be in a mood that I can't seem to sleep my way out of and I may or may not be using blogging as a way to get out of said mood.  But the point is, I had big plans for this summer and I'm not going to let myself sit here and waste my life away in probably the last time I will ever get a  "summer vacation" (in the way that I know it) in my life (unless I grow up to teach) (why would I say that?  do I want to grow up to teach?).

So, about 83,451,465,739 tangents later I'm going to go ahead and call this blog post a day and try and move on with my whiny pathetic life.  I mean my awesome, adventurous life.  Or something.

Ya digg?

My half of the State

I went home for Memorial Day Weekend.  Fun was had.  I always want to say that California is two different states but that's just because where I'm from and where I go to school are two very different, very far away places.  Anyways, I had a billion fun.  Good things.  Good good things.

THE BEACH.  I've been looking forward to going to the beach for what seems like a billion years.  To me, the beach is summer and carefree and sunburn and almost everything that I love about Southern California.  And I have kind of been converted to Zuma beach (yes, Camille, you can do a little victory dance right now). It's so clean and not very crowded and there's always the fun chance that you will see celebrities while there.  Anyways, as desired, I got lobsterfied.  Proof:

I don't mean to be inappropriate, I just mean to show off my tan lines and the general pink color of my skin.  It was way worse on Saturday, I promise.  We also ran into a little ... erm ... trouble getting home, but that's not really a story I wan to tell because it is neither entertaining nor something I want to brag about.  Unless you like laughing in the face of the entire Gamboa family.
Also, this picture is meant to show off my cool shirt, which is actually Luc's shirt that got packed with my clothes because we both have the super organizational skills of throwing our clothes on the floor after wearing them and I was exiled to Luc's room while I was home.  But the point is, I love wearing men's clothes.  I hope my future husband is ok with that because I definitely plan on wearing his clothes.  They are sooooo comfortable.

Anyways, I also spent the weekend GETTING FOOD.  We're talking Indian food, Mediterranean food, arroz con leche, zucchini bread, chocolate chip cookies, basically an average weekend at my house.
But then my Mom and I went to an aerobics class to try and undo a little of the damage, and let me tell you, I am still feeling it.  I never knew I had so many muscles in my lower back that could be sore. It's really cramping my style (so much pun intended that it's actually only funny to make fun of me for telling that joke).

Also featured were the traditional Disney movie Sunday.  And when it's traditional, it means that I fall asleep 20-25 minutes into the movie.  In my defense, Shia LaBeouf was not exciting before Transformers.  Although holes was pretty good. Or at least the first 20 minutes were.  Haha

Come a looong way, haven't we Shia?

Then, because it was a patriotic holiday, my family celebrated as we always do: with a Mexican BBQ.  Which usually means tripas, but this time only meant carne asada.  And grilled papas (potatoes), and guacamole.  I love guacamole.  It should be a condiment like ketchup: served EVERYWHERE.
I love my family's little tradition.  Mostly because I love Mexican food.

In other glorious news, I no longer live alone.  Hopefully, my livin solo days are done forever. If this were a video game, I would get points added to my mood.  That analogy sucks, but seriously, living with people is awesome.
Celebrate:

This is exactly how I celebrate.  It is even more awesome than this picture.  I know, hard to believe.  

Driving Back to Stanford (aka BAD)

I went home for Memorial Day Weekend and in general, fun was had.  But that is a future post.  Today's post is on the drive back to Leland Stanford Junior University. (No it is not a junior university, it is just named after Leland Stanford Junior, thank you very much).

OK well first off, I hate this drive.  The drive from the LA area to Stanford is probably the only thing that I regularly do that I absolutely hate.  Well, I also hate exercising, but sometimes I kind of like it too.  This drive just sucks.

I have made that drive in the dead of night almost every time I've done it.  I have made that drive while trying to suppress the urge to throw up.  I have made that drive 11 times now, and 9 of those I was completely alone.  All of those in the last 9 months.  And more than once on that drive, I have shed tears and vowed never to drive ever again.  It is a cursed drive, I promise.

6 hours.  6 hours alone is enough to make me act a little bit crazy, but 6 hours driving is just really taxing on my soul.  But of course at the end of Memorial Day Weekend, the drive didn't take just 6 hours, it tool an entire 8 hours.  8 HOURS!!  Oh my goodness, the bad state of mind that I was into by the time I had finished the drive.

Right after the Grapevine (it's a real city, but you better believe my family makes jokes about things they heard in that area at every possible opportunity), there was an accident on the 5 which was actually cleared by the time I got there.  But because the accident occurred about 10 miles before a construction site, I was in stop and go traffic on a highway (with a speed limit of 70 mph, mind you) for one and a half hours.

Actually, this part wasn't that bad.  I spent the first half of the time being Ms. Grumpy-Car (my last name is Grumpy, and my husband's is car, but I'm sort of a feminist so I go with the hyphen), but then I decided that was stupid.  And since I discovered three cd's that I had forgotten about in Lolita (my car, who is now clean inside and kind of on the outside too), I decided it was time for a one-girl jam sesh.  Three minutes into that, a car full of 17-yr-old boys was next to me and decided I was hilarious.  So they started trying to attract my attention.  Which ended up with a few cat calls and kissy faces in my direction.  Which, you know, I will always take the ego boost.
But their mistake was to encourage me.  Because after they were safely out of sight, I decided to up the ante. There was like choreography and attitude in my ogjs (one-girl jam sesh, duh).  So I'm just doing my own thing and appreciating the fact that I can enjoy myself even when I am stuck in a billion (and I mean a billionnnn) traffic.  Then I realized the truck full of guys probably 5-10 years older than me on my left was taping me using their iphone.  Somewhere, there is probably a youtube video of my dance moves and insane vocal stylings titled something like "Girl stuck in traffic sings and dances in car"  or something else creative like that. When I saw them I was overcome with a fit of the giggles, which of course started the whole truck of guys in laughing.   At least I improved someone's traffic experience.

So yeah, traffic.  But as the hours wore on, my positive attitude was replaced with tiredness and loneliness (when did I turn into one of those girls who hates to be alone so much?) and the Dr. Pepper I had gotten at the gas station was almost all sparkling water and not very much of the syrup that makes it DP.  And I got sooo emotional.  It all just took it's toll.  I realized around 10 pm that normally I would be back at Le Stanford in my cozy bed by then and then around that time I came upon the second accident of the drive.

And it was a gnarly accident.  I'm pretty sure someone died based on the wreckage I saw, although I'm pretty sure I got there before the authorities did.  But I was so sucked dry from the drive, that I just started crying.  Like uncontrollably.  Ok, it was in control because I was still good to drive, but I just hated everything about that moment.  I don't really like crying, or most definitely admitting to crying, but it was just too much.  Then Green Eyes came on in my car and it made me feel sad in a good way and I listened to it about a billion thousand times.  Literally, 25 or more times.

Sorry for a long, wordy, complainy post, but you didn't have to read it if you didn't want to.  But there is hope.  Today is a new day, I am alive, and Lolita and I made it back to the Stans.

But I do have to make the drive one more time in then next 1.5 weeks, sooo.  If I have some sort of emotional breakdown around then, you'll know why.

Summer Lovin'

You wouldn't believe how excited I am for this summer.  More excited than I am for practically anything else right now.  Well, that's false.  But I'm still PRETTY excited.  (Yeah, I used all caps, so what?)

This summer I am going home.  It's weird how my concept of home changes.  When I had a roommate, I was starting to feel like Stanford was home.  I still love it here, but coming back to my room everyday doesn't really feel like home.  It could be because half of my room has empty walls and a weird, uncomfortable and bare blue mattress.  It doesn't exactly give off a home-y vibe.

Oh the digressions of my brain.

Anyways, to Upland I go.  In about 8 weeks, that is.  I have big plans for this summer.  I hope I get through all the stuff that I want to.

Hopefully, the internship that I wan this summer will pull through and I'll be able to have a grand ol' time learning le business skillz and whatnot.  We'll see.  I'm afraid to count my chicks before they hatch on this one.

But then, since I am recently sort of becoming a foodie (Thanks K-Trizz), I was hoping to get a job as a hostess or the likes at some restaurant.  Just so I can get a feel for restaurants and a little extra cash in my pocket.  Which Stanford can then take away from me in the fall.

And then here's the part where I will (hopefully) never be bored or without anything to do,  because I have made a list of things I want to do during the summer.
I want to:

• Learn to cook a lot of dishes that are yummy and healthy and flavorful.  
• Go the Beach about a billion times.  Or like 4+
• Get tan.  Like, actually look like I'm Mexican tan.  
• Learn all the spices that are somewhat common.
• Have a street art photoshoot in L.A.  I'm sort of obsessed with street art.  
• Explore Griffith Park especially the Observatory.
• Go to the Getty Museum
• Read through the Book of Mormon start to finish.  
• Go to the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade
• Go to the Grove and hear some free music
• Hear Friday Night Jazz at LACMA
• Hit up the Garment District in LA

It's crazy how I've lived so close to LA all my life and never seen a lot of these things.  Basically every Saturday of the whole summer will be a day trip for me, so hopefully I can get some friends to come along with me.

Also, I made this terribly awesome joke in a TUSB post and I'm afraid no one will ever see it, so I'm putting it here: Studies show that if you eat a bucket of spinach at every meal, you will grow big and strong.  (You have to click the link to get the joke).

And pictures make every blog post better, right?

This is relevant because he's at the beach.  

This is relevant because it's my blog and it's a picture of me!

This is not relevant.  

The End.  

Celebrate Good Times, COME ON!

I hope you sang the title as you read it.  That was my intention.

Recently, I turned 20 years old.  Old old old.  Okay, I'm not at all old.  I'm twenty years young.  So young, that I spent the weekend not thinking about school at all and instead taking a road trip to southern California.

While there I spent time:

• Eating with the fam

• Cruising the streets of Hollywood

• Oggling Blake Griffin

• Chilling with some princesses

• Forcing Marcus and Puke to step out of their comfort zones

• Dancing with Mr. Incredible

• Getting in powdered sugar fights in public

• and generally having a blast

By the way, Mr. Incredible is a FLIRT.  Just don't tell Elastigirl about our little encounter.  (I would also like to add that I was not overly flirtatious and that if anything, Mr. Incredible was coming on to me.  But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.)

But TWO DECADES.  I mean, that is a looong time. Bring on two more?