The Ups and Downs of Life

Since my last post, my life has been crazy full of excitement, stress, and business. But that's just life and it's what makes it so interesting! That means this post is gonna be full of good news since I don't like blogging about bad things. It also means that it'll be LONG so I'm gonna shorten everything. :)

Joesph and the Amazing and Technicolor Dreamcoat was amazing. I got to become friends with people whom I have misjudged and made new fabulous friends. The feedback for the show has been the best I've ever heard for a production I've been in so that's always good :). During closing night though, I was an emotional wreck. That's typically how it is though. I'll miss all my seniors! On the bright side, I still have half a year with them! 

National Honor Society has also had a lot of projects going on and that means a busy Lina. Trying to organize everything has been bleh, but I love it. The Ethnic Festival was a great success and I even explored St. Martin's campus with Matt, Corey, and Madi!

Not only did closing night and the Ethnic Festival happen on the same day... Lea visited from the Marines before moving to Japan for two years!

Last event, but not the least... I am Black Hill's High School OFFICIAL Lakefair Princess on the Royal Court! :). It's been fabulous meeting the other six wonderful ladies (although I've already known Katt). The support has been fabulous and I enjoy getting the free stuff... Who wouldn't? :) The whole getting a scholarship doesn't hurt either. Being a princess has actually meant a lot to me. I wouldn't have ever expected this. I'm not one to sound sexist or anything, but being a princess has been... EEK. So wonderful, can't even explain. It was even a part of my speech that I was a self-conscious child and everything. I can't believe I'm getting the royal treatment and everything! Special thanks to Mrs. Mulcahy for nominating me for princess! Also, thanks to Ha-Yoon for making me feel pretty and saying the right things to me at the wrong times. 

                       

                       

The day after Lakefair was also quite interesting... Before and after the coronation, Ha-Yoon and I freaked Naomi, Corey, and Madi out with our rapping skills. We went to Menchie's where I got a grand entrance thanks to Corey and Naomi... Then we went to Wendy's (my first time) and we got kicked out because of some dumb time policy. Then we played Sardines at my neighborhood in the middle of the night until we were told to stop by some mature, responsible adults... I'm laughing so hard right now. 

I mentioned that the Lakefair Royalty gets pimped out in clothes (Gap floral jeans, sparkly Guess belt, sparkly Vans, and MORE!), but I didn't mention how we had lunch at Red Robins today after doing some shopping! It was great bonding time with the girls and the folks with Lakefair :).

Oh yeah, I got to spent Valentine's Day with my love. A.K.A. my neighbor, Naomi! We had quite the trip to Fred Meyers... Did I say trip? I meant trips. I was a mess on Valentine's Day from lack of sleep and she was there to smack some sense into me. We had a romantic and classy dinner of Pizza Hut and visiting Kyle to give him a cupcake and balloon for his birthday. We're homies. Word out.

Just kidding. I'm not done yet. These are the highlights of my life the month or so and an incredible amount of things have happened. I've been done a lot more than I've been happy since my last post, but focusing on the positive stuff has truly made me feel happy. I have wonderful friends and family and I've been motivated to serve and help the community. I also haven't been doing too bad in school and got a 4.0 for the first semester! Yay! Hard work pays off! I'm trying to relax during this four day weekend and get things done, but the first part ain't happening. Adjudications and SATs are too soon! Lakefair has been keeping me busy and now it's time to adjust to all the craziness. This includes applying for as many scholarships as I can. I have to work hard towards the dream! In a more recreational sense, I caught up in How I Met Your Mother a while ago and have been re-watching Desperate Housewives. I'm also newly engaged to Skylar Astin. 

So in summary, I've been disappointed and hurt but I'm happy because I have a thing called the future ahead! Now it's time to make the world a better place and be the awesome person that I am!

First Post of 2013.

This is a bit delayed since I've been so busy but it's 2013! I'm 17 now, which feels really weird. I got a huge load of gifts for my birthday/Christmas! :)

Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has been keep me insanely busy. Though it was rough at first, as the performances are nearing (this Friday!) I'm starting to get super pumped :).

The weather has been insanely cold lately. Yesterday it was 23 degrees (Why is there no snow?) and Madi and I ran to Starbucks before a 7 hour musical rehearsal. Which was so fun :)).

I've kind of been crazy obsessed with How I Met Your Mother... Watched up to 5 seasons and a half of it in a week and a half.. :D

PHOTO TIME.

Lakefair Princess, Birthday Party, and the End of the World.

To start off, I am absolutely shocked that I am Black Hill's Lakefair Princess Representative. Thank you for all the support and whether I make it farther past this point or not, I feel blessed with this wonderful opportunity. I have not felt this much support for something and I just want to thank you everyone!

Lately, life has been a roller coaster for me. I dropped the concerto competition due to not being prepared which was an extremely difficult decision for me since I hate quitting. I couldn't do it anymore without feeling overwhelmed everyday but congrats and major props to my brother for doing so well at it! On the bright side, I got to focus on my voice recital which turned out wonderfully. Who wouldn't want to sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with their best friend, Ethan Platter? By the way, thanks to Madi for coming out to watch it :).

We got some delicious Menchie's afterwards for the first time, too! 

In terms of musical news, I'm a featured dancer in Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! Though... I don't dance... I also got to play at Top Foods to help raise money for OMTA :). It was mucho fun and I felt like one of those pianists at fancy establishments! Except this was at Top Foods...

Hmmm... What to talk about next. I guess I can talk about my birthday party next! I wasn't planning on having one but there would be way too many people but then I thought FUGITIVES. I never played and I really wanted to! A lot of people dropped out because it was a busy weekend, or their parents felt it was too dangerous. The turn out was still good though and I had a ton of fun! Thank you everyone who came out! I got so emotional knowing that so many people are there in my life and I can call them my friends. Everyone had lots of fun which makes me happy :). Also, thank you for the gifts! The destination for fugitives was from my house to Brewery City Pizza so that's where we ate dinner. It was pouring at some parts of the game, and I felt so bad for the fugitives (I was a driver since so many people dropped out). Then afterwards, a few of the folks went to my house for some after party fun! In other words, Just Dance 4 on the kinect :)). There were a bajillion photos taken by Ha-Yoon but I'll just post my favesies.

According to a ton of interesting people in the world, in exactly 50 minutes, the world will end. My question is, why worry about one day that someone claims that we will all die. I'm pretty sure the Mayans did not have the intention of saying the world will end tomorrow. Regardless, the other day, Mrs. Alviar made a wonderful point. Everyday, someone's life is ending and it is the end of the world for them. We should just live our lives and show love to our loved ones. Sure, there are people in the world that put us down sometimes or hurt us but it should not mean that they don't need love either. Whether you love them or not, you shouldn't be showing them hate. As I type this, I realize that I need to apply this to my life and forgive the certain people in my life who have hurt me badly these past few days. I guess now it's time for me to go tell people how much they mean to me. :) Goodnight, everyone. I love you all!

Small Miracles.

I know that I have been letting life bring me down but today was a testament to how life is full of great people and things. Today, I had a voice lesson and Bree started to cry because she was proud of me. And it really touched my heart. And after the lesson, the mother of the next student decided to pay for the whole month of lessons for her daughter and myself because she heard about how I've been working so hard and had been paying for my own lessons. And oh my goodness. The tears keep coming. I honestly am speechless right now.

Friendship and the End of an XC Chapter

Going to Pasco to watch State was seriously one of the best experiences I've had. It was extremely good bonding time and it reminded me that there are those who are there for me :). Danielle and Brandon did wonderful, but major kudos to Brandon. He has shown everyone that hard work pays off. Brandon never made state until senior year... However, he broke the school record and placed top 20! There's a lot to say about this trip but I don't feel the need to publicly share this because it was quite special to me. :)
Well, I guess I could sum it up... Staircase, 43 seconds, zombie St. Clair, super sexy (not at all) photos, and grandmas.

P.S. Thank you for voting me for Most Inspirational. I love you guys! :)

On another note, I got a haircut that apparently makes me look more Asian. I love it though :). I also want to thank Howard for giving me unconditional love and dealing with me for 7 years. We are each other's back up soul mates :). 

Here's more photos!

Team.

According to dictionary.com,
team [teem]: noun
1. a number of persons forming one of the sides in a game or contest
2. a family of young animals, especially ducks or pigs.

Clearly cross country is number 2. ;) I'm super sappy when it comes to things like this, but it's truly important to me to appreciate every little thing. I honestly love my team. I love the bonding we do. I just love how each person is an individual in our dysfunctional team. We have our ups and downs, but in the end we are a team. This last month has for sure been one of the roughest months I've had in the longest time. No matter what though, I had a coach that cared about me and a family of runners to cheer me up. We're always there for each other because that's what family does even when they're not blood related. Today was districts, and it was definitely wet and muddy. Everyone cheered for one another and went 100%. Super bittersweet for me. I thought to myself a lot during the season how I'd have so much free time and wouldn't have to stress... But I already miss my team and cross country. However, congrats to Brandon and Danielle for making state! They've worked so hard and deserve it. I'm seriously extremely sad right now that the season is over for me even though I'll still be going to practices. Gotta love running :). Well, I'm gonna end this post by telling you guys that I'm gonna sit on my couch enjoying the warmth that was nonexistent at the meet :).