I am now back home! The last few days of the vacation were busy, but so much fun. On Friday before the game we drove up to the college (UC Irvine) to scope it out so we knew what we were doing before the game lol (it wasn't far from the hotel, maybe 10-15 minutes away). We bought tickets and found a couple geocaches and then checked out nearby Fashion Island, an indoor/outdoor mall/plaza type thing.it was huge! Most of the clothing stores were nothing I'd like, and amazingly, there was a Barnes and Noble there! I've never seen one in a mall before! I probably spent waaay too much time there, at least two hours LOL..oops. :P I was happy to see a lot of people shopping there <3

After that we relaxed at the hotel and then went back to UC Irvine for the game (and found a couple more caches lol). It was really surreal actually being there! I kept looking for Debbie (Scott's sister), and finally spotted her on the opposite side from us (I sent her a message saying I was coming too). The area was super loud, but it was SO MUCH FUN!! They did really, really well, and it was awesome seeing Scott's famous "Stadick Scream" in person haha. In the second set, they completely annihilated the other team..one player had 3 service aces in a row, and Scott had around 3 blocks as well. They won that set 25-12! (The team they played somehow won one set over Hawaii the week before..no idea how, considering how they played this night..Hawaii is REALLY good.) Before the third set started we went over to where Debbie and her three-year-old daughter Selah were sitting..she was COMPLETELY shocked when she saw us..she thought I was joking when I said I was coming to the game!! We haven't been a huge part of their lives (we first met in 2003), so I thought she'd be like "ehh" about a distant cousin (third cousin, according to my family tree lol) coming to visit, but no, she was very happy to see us! She was sitting in the first row behind where the team hangs out when they're not playing at the moment, and Scott spotted us and waved! (Yay, he remembered us lol.) ( more under here! )

What a great trip! Exhausting, but fun lol. We had a big sale at work on Saturday, so there will probably be a lot of shelving to do :P

( more pics!! )

I have just now heard of the fire at Notre Dame at Paris, and now I want to cry. :( That is so sad!! My heart broke when I saw the video of the spire falling..omg :(

Yesterday the cats were taken to the vet...Pumpkin and Snowy meowed the whole way and Cheetah a few times. It was like a chorus with different octaves! Mom said they were singing Christmas carols to us. They were good at the vet...he said they were very beautiful and healthy. Yay! They sang to us on the way home too. Then Ryan went to get his hair cut...majorly. It looks sooo different now. It was at that same old barber shop place...they had coloring books and I colored a pic with a king and I put 'King Luca' on the top. Then we went to the post office...I mailed David's card and Kathryn's present. Then we went to eat at this place (forgot the name) and the food was very good. We went to other unimportant places and I found out Ryan and mom's piano recital is the same day of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We can do both cause the recital is at 1 and the concert is at 3...eeek tight schedule...

Today feels like I should be in school...

"Blood-red the steel of our swords shall flow, and by the allegiance we're ready to go"--"The Way of the Warrior," HammerFall

Ok I'm freaked on having more than one entry in the same day and I didn't realize I posted this here so I'm putting the earlier entry I wrote here...yeah...I'm weird...

Yesterday it was 80 degrees...it felt sooo good. Anyone wanna move to Texas?

I got Christmas cards and some presents for people yesterday...I got one for David from the HammerFall forum...I really, really like him. I sent him a message and he got it and IMed me and I was like *meltsqueeee* He couldn't give me his adress though cause he was busy...I almost cried when he left...I didn't know I felt that strongly about him. I hope he remembers to give his adress to today

My mom said I need a really fancy outfit for that ceremony thingy so we need to go shopping for one...HELP MEEEEE...I hate clothes shopping majorly and all fancy outfits are uncomfortable *is scared*

( guess the lyrics! not from mainstream music... )

"Every solemn moment I will treasure inside, even though it's hard to understand that a silent wind can blow that candle out"--"Glory to the Brave," HammerFall

I sent Holy Thunderforce to Kathryn yesterday, but I didn't think she would like it. lol well now it's her 2nd fave metal song. Then after we listened to it I got it stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Kathryn was wondering if something was wrong with her cause she was listening to Holy Thunderforce and Battlefield over and over...lol I did that with Beyond the Gates of Infinity

I met someone really cool called David. I saw him on the HammerFall forum but we never talked...he's so nice and cheerful! He lives in Ireland

It stormed here at around 3-4 in thr morning and I couldn't sleep, so I probably didn't get a lot of sleep last night...oddly I'm not tired

"Test the blade of heroes, fury of the thunder hit my golden shield"--"Holy Thunderforce," Rhapsody