On The Road: Day 2

Touch down in Harrisonburg, VA. I am EXHAUSTED. Here's what we did today...

We woke up in Philly around 7am and left for the city around 8:30. We took a tour of Independence Hall, saw the liberty bell, and walked around the city from 6th and Market to 3rd and South. We ate at Steaks on South. I had a real Philly cheese steak sandwich. It was amazing. Then we had Rita's Water Ice for dessert and headed back to the car to start driving to Virginia. We stopped in DC for a small snack at Current Sushi because one of my friends from Hawaii works there. I haven't seen her in 3 years and it was nice to catch up a little. By 8:30 we were back on the road. I kept a watchful eye on my phone since I get twitter updates from the Bruins sent to my inbox. I followed the whole game on the drive down the Harrisonburg from DC. I yelled and sat on the edge of my seat most of the drive because up until 6 minutes before the end, the game was scoreless and power playless. Then the Bruins scored and won the game!! I'm so excited that I will get to hear all about their next games for the Stanly Cups (I'm a pretty big Bruins fan). In the down time that I wasn't reciting Bruins updates, I was singing to my favorite songs on my iPod. I'm just going to say, there's a reason I dance!! My singing is terrible!! But it kept me up to help navigate while my sister drove from DC to Harrisonburg.

Now we're at the hotel and about to go to bed. Tomorrow we're headed up through Cincinnati, OH to Hoosierville, IN and spending the night there (we're leaving at 7am). We're trying to get to Bloomington, MN by Sunday so we have to drive a lot tomorrow and the day after. After tomorrow we're going up through Chicago to get to Bloomington, MN. Of course, we will probably stop at random places along the way but at the moment, our goal is to get to Mall of America for Memorial Day SALES :P Keep checking back for more updates!! Until then... Laters.

On The Road: Day 1

Well, it's official!! I'm on the road en route to Oregon. Of course with me, everything is an adventure, and my family and I aren't just driving to Oregon. Here's our simplified route. Saratoga, NY--> Boston, MA--> Farmington, CT--> Philadelphia, PA-->Harrisonburg, VA--> Hooserville, IN--> Chicago, IL--> Bloomington, MN--> Omaha, NE--> Mt. Rushmore, SD--> Yellowstone National Park, WY--> Bute, MT--> Spokane, WA--> Bend, OR. Of course, there is always room for additions, deletions, and extensions. We essentially have until June 16th to get to Oregon.

So far, we've left Saratoga and explored Boston for my birthday (yes, I'm 22 now. How scary is it to know I'm growing up?!). My birthday in Boston was absolutely fantastic!! I walked the entirety of the Freedom Trail and enjoyed yummy Boston foods. Not to mention took tours of my favorite ballpark, Fenway Park, and this year I even got to visit the home of the Boston Bruins and Celtics, TD Garden!! I was very disappointed that the Bruins lost game 6 on my birthday, but with my family NOTHING feels like a disappointment. This morning (May 26th) my mom and dad said good bye as they boarded their plane to go home to Hawaii while Auntie Sandy, Rendi (sister), and I loaded up the car once again. Loading up this car is getting to be an adventure in and of itself!! We keep buying more and more souvenirs. Another great adventure: Toll roads. We have fun scrambling to see who of the two passengers in the car can produce the exact change first. It's even more funny when we produce the wrong amount and have to scramble again to get the right amount to the toll collector before they get mad or the people behind us get mad. Hawaii sure has spoiled me with nice people and free roads!!

We drove for two hours and stopped in Farmington, CT for lunch at my favorite restaurant, The Rainforest Cafe. I try to eat at every Rainforest Cafe I see, even though they have the same menu at each location. Once we had eaten more than enough and walked around a bit, we hopped back in the car and hit the road en route to Philadelphia. We got stuck in traffic three times: once in the Bronx and twice in New Jersey. Both New York and New Jersey drivers scare me!! My sister drove to Philadelphia while I panicked that we were going to get hit by crazy drivers next to us. We finally arrived in Philadelphia around 8 and after checking in to our hotel we went to have an experience at Sonic. We had never eaten at Sonic but we always see the commercials. It was weird having people come to our car. This really puts a whole new worry in my mind regarding the laziness of Americans. At least I can say I ate there!! Then we drove into the city center to see the city lights. We walked around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and I ran up and down the famous Rocky Stairs. I ran up first for a photo (of course!!) and then I ran down thinking that I forgot my own camera in my bag that I left at the bottom of the stairs. I really wanted to take a picture of the skyline from the top of the stairs. Once I got to the bottom I realized that my camera had been in my pocket the whole time, so I ran back up the stairs to take the picture. Can I just say that it's 84 degrees and humid here?! Running up and down those stairs was not the best idea I've had. Regardless, I had fun.

Tomorrow we're exploring around Philadelphia a little more and then we're headed down to West Virginia. We'll spend the night in Harrisonburg and then head on to Hooserville. I can't wait to see what adventures await us!! Check back tomorrow and I'll let you know what troubles we get ourselves into :) Until then... Laters.

Lovin' Boston

Boston truly is my favorite place to be. I turn 22 tomorrow... WEIRD. And I'm still loving being in Boston. My family and I did so much these last two days. In no particular order, we visited Harvard, toured Fenway Park, walked around The Garden, visited the Museum of Fine Arts, hung out with Matt, played candle pin bowling, and SO much more. We've walked around so much and have done so much that I couldn't possibly put them all into words here on one blog. My post would go on FOREVER. Although, I do have to confess that thanks to Bessey I'm officially a hockey watcher and now thanks to Boston, I have a team to cheer for. The Bruins are where my energy is now going toward. Red Sox will always be my first favorite Boston team. Celtics came second, and now I have the Bruins to love. My parents are trying to get me to love the Patriots but to be honest, I don't like watching football in the slightest. So that may not happen... But it's nice to have a focus ;) I have a deal with Bessey and for all you reading this, you may serve as my witness: He is going to try his hardest to make it onto the Bruins. When he makes the team, I will buy EVERYTHING with his name and number on it (I mean, he IS #1) and he will get me free tickets. Hopefully he won't forget the girl who took him home after Jr Ring and went to every home game to support him playing in the '10-'11 school year at Skidmore, because I know I will never forget my English class with him where he first told me that he was branded as a hockey player. Ever since that class, he has been my hockey boy.

Haha, anyway, I'm exhausted from another exciting day in Boston. I think we're going to the aquarium tomorrow... not quite sure, we kinda just play it by ear day-to-day. Regardless, I know with my family I will have a lot of fun. We laugh so much when we're together. I will be sure to update you every day when I hit the road again. Until then... Laters.

Please check my new blog!!

http://murodac.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-things-first.html

School's Out!!

Hey everyone!! So it has been a while since I’ve updated this (AGAIN >_<), so here’s the abridged version.

Classes ended and I made a new friend :) His name is Matt and he's awesomely weird lol. We get along because of our weirdnesses. We had one class each semester together each semester and we only started talking when classes were done. He has SAD so I was very interested in talking with him about it (since that's what I wanna study and work with professionally). We became a lot closer than I ever thought possible in just a week. Then again that's how I felt about Chris when I met him in November. I just meet my best friends late in life... case in point fab 5 arose senior year of high school :/ What is wrong with me?? Don't answer that. Anyway, I didn't have finals so I got drunk a lot with other people who didn't have finals because we were just SO unbelievably bored. Finally it was senior week!!!

Senior week… Aiyayai that went by way too fast. Although I didn’t go to many events, I still had a lot of fun.

Friday was the kick off and because I was exhausted, I decided to ditch that after getting my wristband.

Saturday was senior fun day and I didn’t go to that either. Raisa and I decided to play just dance 2 on the wii instead. I did wanna go check it out but we were tired after playing and it was raining so Raisa said she didn’t wanna walk in the rain. I refuse to go to it by myself since I had too many enemies on campus.

Sunday my housemates didn’t wanna go bowling so we ditched that too, although we did get absolutely TRASHED. Matt also stopped by with Chris and we played doubles ruit. It was so much fun because we all won one and lost one. Matt and I made a pretty good team but then we got raped by Raisa and Chris.

Monday was the Booze Cruise and oh man was that fun!! There was a dance floor on the second level and I had the time of my life. I didn’t drink anything because of the rough night the night before but I still had a lot of fun ;) Monday was also Freshman dorm night. That was absolute crap because half the places were non-existent or not open, or unaware that we had something going on. Most people hit up Tavern after 1 or DA’s before that but Putnam Den was where it was really at. Again, Matt neglected to buy me my drink for losing his bet, but whatever.

Tuesday was supposed to be a movie night but it got canceled due to the rain. To be honest, I really can't remember what we did on this day/night.

Wednesday was the commencement rehearsal and Senior Formal. The senior formal was AMAZING!! I couldn’t believe that regardless of having to leave early I had the best time of my life.

My CBEST test was Thursday morning at 8am and I got back to campus around 11. I slept until 3 and then had to get up to pack. Raisa, Maria, and I ate at Ravenous (HIGHLY recommended) for dinner and then took the rest of the night to pack up since my family was just getting in to NY. I went to a late dinner with them at Hattie’s. Then I brought them back to my house to play just dance wii (HILARIOUS!!). Then I went off to my friends’ birthday parties. Natalie and Alex Costa had their birthday parties on Thursday with a rubix theme. It was a very entertaining party. Matt was supposed to meet me at the party but FELL ASLEEP!!!!! So I was mad at him…. Well actually that’s a lie. I wasn’t mad, just drunk haha.

Friday morning I woke up and got ready for the Senior athletic luncheon at 12, then the brick ceremony at 3:30 and the meet and greet for my department at 4. Then I had my last dinner in Nwoods with my favorite people. We cleaned and packed and pretty much got a massive headache from it. Matt came over and hung out with me for the last time :’( and then it was time for bed.

I had to wake up early so that I could pack up my car. My family met me for the last breakfast in Dhall. And finally it was the hour of graduation. I went early to catch people who were getting their diplomas. Took lots of pictures, walked, took more pictures, celebrated, you know the usual. My family loved it, I loved it, I’m sure my friends loved it. I said my good byes, packed up the last of my things, and headed out.

In the next post I'll tell you about what I'm up to now. Until then... Laters.

What FightClub Has Taught Me

Tonight was an intense meeting (yes, I'm writing this at 1am while it's still fresh in my head). People yelled at each other. People cried or were on the verge of crying. People talked. People argued. People defended themselves. People heard what was being said. But no one was listening. From this meeting I learned a few things being the silent secretary for the mediators, who reluctantly stepped in with high hopes that the group would be able to work things out for themselves. Unfortunately, things rarely work out as you plan, nor do they ever go as you would hope. My stomach twisted more and more as peoples' voices raised to the point where I thought we needed to physically break up the fight. I thought I was going to pass out or throw up. Conflicts scare me, but I learn from them. Here is what I learned tonight:

1. If you're here to make it easier, you're here for the wrong reason.
2. Learning starts where discomfort begins.
3. Too much of a good thing, can be bad.

There is a lot more that I learned tonight. I will continue to learn with each mediation and yes, I will admit that I am afraid of leaving the club the way it is, but sometimes you have to trust that everything will be OK. As I've often said, FightClub is my new born baby. At this point right now, I'm leaving my baby at day care for the first time. It's hard for every new mother to do but she has to trust that her baby is in good hands. I trust that this club will thrive because so many people are so passionate about making it the best club that it can be. Some day I will hear about the club on the news because they will be saving the world one conflict at a time. Some day I will be sitting in a mediation thinking to myself, "Compared to FightClub, this is not a problem." But right now, I'm sitting in my room on edge because I'm terrified that something bad will happen. So... because I've learned so much from you all, I would like to pass on some words of wisdom that hopefully you'll remember the next time you're in need of a mediator:

1. A title means nothing. People will recognize you (no matter how much you try to make it anonymous). No one will go unnoticed. Even when no one else recognizes what you did, you know what you did and that's one more person that that event had noticing it than it did before you did it.
2. An e-board has to be a team, not just a group. Work together and encourage each other but most importantly, keep each other in check. Don't take things your teammate says personally. He or she is just looking out for the chemistry of the team.
3. Listen to each other. Everyone has things to say. Think about how it feels not to be heard. Don't make anyone else feel that way. When in doubt, STFU. Physically take one step back from each other, take a deep breath, and then start again when all the noise has quieted down.

I want to see this club bloom. This is but a seed in a pot just beginning to root. We have a small stem but no leaves yet. I'm a girl, I want flowers. Keep it alive long enough for a flower to bud and bloom. Then send me a picture so that I can cherish it for all eternity. Please don't let your passion die, because I might go with it. Keep learning from each other and don't forget, I'm always here to keep you updated. Until then... Laters.

I am an inspiration

Most of you know that I am, among other things, a chameleon and a mirror. I try to blend in as much as possible while still being unique. I mirror everyone else's energy and personalities so that I get along with them as much as I can. Last night at our last FightClub meeting we had a compliment car wash for the seniors. Everyone said that they loved my energy, dedication, and commitment to the club and in everything I did. I found that to be touching but also kinda funny. I don't think of myself as a particularly energetic, dedicated, or committed person. I do what I'm told because it's what I was told. Sometimes I add my own flare with it (OK, most times) but for the most part, I'm just doing what I feels right. I matched the level of energy that I felt in the meetings and carried it out from day to day making sure I was never without the support of my conflict coaches, my mediators, my friends. I never in a million years would have called myself an inspiration but almost everyone wrote that on my shirt.

Parents in my old dance team used to tell me I was a role model for their daughters or I was someone they wanted their children to grow up to be. At the time they were telling me that, I would always think to myself, "yea if you knew me outside of the dance setting, you would NOT want your daughter to be like me." I'm exceptionally uptight, neurotic, and I worry about the little things too much. After attending a college 6,000 miles away from home and going through about 4 different personalities before settling on one I could live with for the rest of my life, I finally realize what people are talking about when they compliment me. I've managed to turn my views of who I am from negative to positive using the same personality traits. While I am still uptight, neurotic, and worrisome about the little things, that is what some people would call dedication. In my senior year, I learned how to have fun, how to live, how to love. I would not have been able to do that without my club supporting me.

Now back to that mirror image I gave you in the beginning of this blog. I mirror what other people are. You know that saying, "treat others as you would like to be treated"?? Yea, well, I live by a similar motto: Live the lives you see and like, then do it better (I'm a VERY competitive person). I see who others are and I mimic the ones I like. Then I take it to the next level and make it noticeable to you. We learn this in mediation, sometimes it takes another voice to tell you what you said before you realize what you said. If you all are calling me an inspiration, it's only because I am projecting what you are in a way you can see it. I am only as happy as the person I am with. You see me as happy-go-lucky?? You're probably the reason I'm like that.

So, with all that said, I would like to dedicate this blog to my beloved FightClub. Seniors, you already got my compliments last night so I'll leave with this last message, "Go shine, Go mediate, Go fight for what you believe in."
Everyone else, good luck with this amazing club. Keep me proud. I look forward to talking with you and hearing how everything is going. Keep me posted. Until then... Laters.