once upon a time, a teacher wrote

on my WWI test (which i didn't do well on):

"keep up the good work,

i know you will do great things in life."

ever since that day,

i always think back to what

she said and this always helps me
make decisions/go forth!

as i'm imagining different lesson plans,

a memory from 2nd grade summer school

emerged in my head from thin air.

we were all sitting in the MPR.

it was dark.

stuart little was about to be

sucked into a vaccum and his

helpless little mouse screams terrified me.

i really wanted to go home.

i didn't want to sit there and 

watch this horror film.

then i met a girl

who ran away from home

because her parents

refused to let her eat hot dogs.

today, after stuffing ourselves with sushi,

we bought fabric from goodwill and

pinned it on our living room wall to make "wallpaper."

ashley and i took public transportation

all around all day and got stranded in tukwila

after crossing the duwamish river.

we walked to gas works to see the fireworks

which began at 10pm since that's when the sun set.

we bought cupcakes from a little girl and

there was a huge fire.

during the fireworks, i thought:
"this must be what it looked like when

the universe began,

except 109838283322222631033 times more massive.

 my classmate offered me a free boat ride

around seattle since she bought extra tickets

for her family reunion. vanessa and i

took buses and ran all over seattle trying to

make the ride but unfortunately, we missed it...

so we walked around the city, visited parks

and talked about our childhoods instead.

a washingtonian's reflection of her visit to texas:

"i am so used to it being green everywhere,

but i realized that in other places,

instead of lawns, people have ROCKS.

but you can tell that every rock was selected

and placed so carefully. it was kind of

beautiful."

a seattleite's reflection of his visit to new york:
"GIANT RATS"

first day of [grad] school!
~~and a massive heat wave~~

met my cool new cohort friends (all from Washington)

listened to some inspiring professors,

had my first class, and got free pizza!

then i walked to trader joe's with my new friend vanessa

and noticed every item in my shopping basket

was orange, such as this popsicle:

 first time using

F A C E T I M E!

me sitting far away in my new living room

over the hills and
through the floating bridge

this is so cool.

to be working on a Masters degree

learning, researching and designing ways

  to get young people

to feel curious, compassionate, aware

and excited about the world.

& having the privilege to be a part of this process.

 that's why i'm doing this.

it'll definitely be challenging..

but i am excited, optimistic and ready to start!

ps: by the end of the year,
i will have gained 1,000+ hours of field experience.
* * * * * * *

a little baby white french bulldog

running through canadian grass

playing with a pink balloon

^ ^ ^

the cutest thing i have ever seen.

this year is going to be filled with

mountains, flowers, children,

and lots of thinking, creating and acting.

"If I don’t finish it this year, I never will."

-Dale Chihuly

"mops? mops?
"mops, where are y-   oh my god."

snoqualmie
the sunsets and clouds here are

ridiculous (in a good way).

it gets dark around 9:15 pm

and i find myself always eating lavender

ice cream in this city.

this was the day may skipped class

so we could go to the farm :)

and the Washingtonian
adventures begin!
**me with the fremont troll

under the aurora bridge**

friendly foam

the drive to the ORIGINAL costco in kirkland
was so scenic: trees, lakes, lily ponds,

cottages nestled into green hills

and a long low bridge stretching across a sound.
i am so excited to become a seattleite :D 

~*i made tiramisu~*

using this recipe.

 "can you please make me tiramisu?" said my sister.
"okay."