The Eighth Week

And so we've made it to week eight. This was a pretty busy week. So busy in fact that there is even a day that I don't even remember. There are some weeks that just sort of leave you wishing that every week could be like them. This week was half that, and half hoping that it is the only week like this. For one, I've had a minor cold all week. Nothing bad. Just a small cough and a recurring runny nose. I can't complain though, because I still did a lot of fun things. I also spent a lot of time appreciating nature. That's a pretty decent theme for a week like this. And I must apologize that some of the pictures from this week overlap days, but some were too nice to leave out. They may seem irrelevant to the day they are on. My apologies. So here goes...

SUNDAY: Sunday was a relatively boring day. I went to church in the morning, which was actually extremely tiring. It's a good thing there was a lot of standing up and sitting down or I never would have made it through the whole service. After that I bought my amigo Eddy lunch in the caf. I've been buying a lot of people meals lately. Primarily because I have a surplus of points on my card while everyone else is running low, which makes me a very popular person. I have no objections to this.

MONDAY: This blog is called "The days that Mini-Mitchell remembered." Try as I might I can't remember anything interesting that happened on this day.

TUESDAY: I had another paper to write on Tuesday, which is naturally what I always look forward to doing. I just love writing papers. They make my day. Especially papers on whether or not Christianity helps or hurts the environmental movement. It was a trick question though. Christianity helps and hurts the environment. Christians help the environment by being loving and nurturing towards God's precious creation. We hurt it because for some reason the Bible is the top selling book of the last one thousand years and it's like a thousand pages long.

WEDNESDAY: First of all, I had class at a yoga studio. That's what the picture is of. It basically just made me realize how not flexible I am. So... moving past that self-esteem lowering event. Then things got interesting. So I'm texting Riley while I'm at work and while he's on his lunch break. He's talking about how he's on spring break and he's bummed that he couldn't come up to visit me at Pepperdine. In response I say(through texting), "Wen u get home pack ur car and drive up. imagine the story thatd b"(I don't actually use the abbreviations, I just thought it'd make this more interesting). After another hour and a half of talking him into it I finally got him to come. He arrived at 2 a.m. on...

THURSDAY: Having Riley around made this day pretty sweet. Since he's on spring break I figured the natural thing for him to do when he was here with me would be to come to work with me. So he did. We set up and cleaned out four tents and watched a couple episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show(or the Jerk Van Gay show if you have a T.V. Guardian). Then I took him to have lunch at the law school, which was delicious. Then I had class, which I didn't force him to come to. I did get my philosophy paper back though... A-. Made me happy. Then we went to Ralphs and bought amazing things, and then I showed him Heroes Garden, and then we went to a showing of a thing called the Randumb show. And then Riley left.

FRIDAY: I enjoy eating. Having barbecues makes eating that much better. Not only is the food amazing, but hanging out with friends around a grill also has a really relaxing feel to it. I only ate one burger this time though. Had I had any more it probably would have been much more unhealthy for me. I found out in one of my classes this week that it takes a really long time for meat to digest in a person's system if not eaten a certain way. Sometimes it can even start to rot in a person's stomach. Think about that next time you eat a burger.

SATURDAY: On any other week this would have been the funnest day. Riley wins though. That doesn't change the fact that this day was awesome. I went on a hike with some people from Campus Ministry. It was really fun. Every ten minutes or so we'd stop and either say something we were thankful for or we'd share a verse. It was my spiritually uplifting time of the week. I got to know some people I hadn't really known before and I also met a guy who's going to London next year. The hike ended at a cross on the top of a mountain with quite a good view of the ocean. It was truly inspiring. And then I came back down from the hike and checked my facebook(just kidding. That was just for irony. I actually went to a baseball game). But now the sun has set on this fine week. Here's to the future that seems like it will never come.

The Seventh Week

And so we've made it to week seven. I should probably start by apologizing for the lateness of this post, but I had quite the busy week. This was the performance week for songfest, which meant that school was basically put aside for singing and dancing. I had to battle sickness, allergies, sore knees, and possible embarrassment. In the end, I'd say it was worth it. I don't know if I'd do it again, but it was definitely worth doing once. So now I suppose I'll tell you about

it.

SUNDAY: So the time changed on Sunday. Not the good time change that gives an extra hour of sleep though. It was the terrible time change that means I get one less hour of sleep. People that know me know this; I need every hour of sleep I can get. There is one good thing about this time change though. Now all my clocks are right. I don't change my clocks when the time falls back. What's the point? People thought I was crazy. But now that the time has changed and I saved the 30 seconds needed to change my clocks who's the crazy one?

MONDAY: Monday was the dress rehearsal for Songfest. It was the only chance we got to see the other groups perform, which was exciting, if not completely intimidating. Seeing everyone else go did get me extremely excited for the show though, especially since I knew my parents and Riley were gonna be seeing it. It was definitely crazy doing the whole performance on the stage for the first time. Our spacing wasn't that great the first day, so with a hundred people on stage at one time I'd be lying if I didn't tell you I ran into like five different people.

TUESDAY: Opening day. This was actually really exciting. I was nervous, sure, but at the same time I realized that it's hard to be nervous once you're on stage. You're just too focused on the moves that are coming up...or on the moves that you just messed up. This wasn't the best performance for my group though. We were still in the process of working out a few kinks. But it was still fun and our final song went over really well. It's good that people have short memories so they'll probably only remember the final song.

WEDNESDAY: I had a paper due. Having papers due during the week of performing a show can be very stressful. I had already been up until two with the other work that I had, but with a paper I was lucky that I was only up until 3:30. The only reason I went to bed then was because I decided I would finish the paper in the hour between class and the time the paper was due. Kind of like a race. Funny thing happened in the show tonight though. On the final song there's a part where we tip our caps to the crowd. In this part the girl next to me accidentally hit my hat out of my hand. It was quite the thrill picking it up and putting it on with the choreography. But...still pulled it off somehow.

THURSDAY: Thursday was an extremely exciting and chaotic day for me. I woke up feeling very under the weather, which was worrisome because this was the most important show night for me. I got some extra rest though and decided that I would stop being sick and be awesome instead. True story. My parents and Riley came up to see the show too. I had a good time showing Riley around campus, and I'm hoping he had a good time seeing me and my bro perform. Though it might have been painful to watch in comparison to the amazing work he does.

FRIDAY: I didn't have my film class today, which meant one amazing thing. I actually got to sleep in. Waking up at 1:30 is really nice. I wish I could do it more often. I must admit that by this day I felt a little bit old. My knees were getting sore from performing so much and there were a couple times where I decided to get microwaveable food from the rec center just so that I wouldn't have to walk all the way to the caf. No regrets though. I loved the rest (rest meaning sleep rest, now rest as in the rest of the day. The English language can be so confusing).

SATURDAY: The final day of performing. The final day of having a guaranteed two to three hours of my day spent singing and dancing. It was very bittersweet actually. Right before the curtain came up for our final performance I turned to Cory (Spenser's roommate) standing next to me and said, "This is our last time ever doing Songfest together." The moment just sort of hit us and we had a momentary embrace before the curtain came up to savor the moment. Our finale was powerful. All of us singing at the top of our lungs and dancing with all of the energy we had left. Pretty amazing stuff. The cast party went until around 1:30, which is why I hadn't written this 'til now. But at least it was that I was actually doing something right? The craziest thing about Songfest ending is after 3 weeks of practicing and getting ready everyday and then performing and then all of a sudden it's over. What do I do now? Well, it appears the sun has set on this way too busy week of ours. Here's to the future that seems like it will never come.

The Sixth Week

And so we've made it to week six. I've now been back at Pepperdine for a week, but it seems like it's been so much more than that. This has been a very draining week though. Whole bunches of stuff going on. With papers, presentations, singing, dancing, and baseball...slightly busy week. I'm not against busy weeks or anything, but gaining all of these new memories makes the memories of the week before this one seem like they were from years ago. Of course, I know they weren't from years ago. Unless I've been aging really well. But I know that a few years from now I will have much less hair. Something to look forward to I guess. Now I suppose I should try to fill you in on the memories of this week.

SUNDAY: This was a bittersweet day. It was my last day of break, which meant that I had to come to come back to Pepperdine. It was nice to be able to catch up with some people here, but at the same time that home cooking will be dearly missed. Driving up with Kalie was fun though. She saved me from either having to go back a day early, or from having a very long walk. Neither of those options were ideal. In case you were wondering, that picture above is the light as we came out of the tunnel leading to the PCH. I felt it was oddly symbolic, but strangely confusing. Is Pepperdine the light at the end of the tunnel?

MONDAY: I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this already (I know what you're thinking. "Why wouldn't you just go back and look at the previous blogs you've written to figure out if you've mentioned it yet? Because I'm lazy. I feel that's explanation enough) but I'm in a film class. This week I had a paper due for the class. I got to write about The Royal Tenenbaums, which was unsurprisingly enjoyable, but also surprisingly difficult. I ended up getting a solid B on the paper, slightly above average. Perfect in my opinion.

TUESDAY: Tuesday was a bit of a rough day. I got my test back for Humanities and found out that I got a C-. Just more college gold in that class. But as has been the theme for my life the past few weeks I received good news to balance it out. I received my film midterm back as well (the test that I thought I had failed miserably) and I found out that I got a B+. That's better than failing miserably in my book. And so my life has maintained balance in that department. Let's hope it does in other departments too. I was also introduced to a game called Tribal Wars. I can already feel the life being drained out of me.

WEDNESDAY: Wednesday, the hump day, brought me a much needed pick-me-up at it's close. It also had a pretty big hump leading up to that point though. One of my classes I found out that I have a bunch of papers due the next few weeks, which was very disheartening, and also that in four weeks the class has a presentation in front of the entire school. Graduate school and law school as well. That won't be fun. Or maybe it will be. I'll set my expectations low though so that maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. At midnight, after songfest practice, I got invited to a mini-worship service in the chapel. There were only ten of us there, half of whom I didn't know, but it was amazingly enjoyable. Not that I'm surprised. It was just a change of pace. A much needed change of pace.

THURSDAY: I have never really been a person to show much school spirit, but when I'm bored I do unusual things that go against my normal character. On this day I decided to go to my first Pepperdine sporting event. This event ended up being a Pepperdine baseball game. I only went for the first four innings though, since we were winning 3-0 after the first inning after which nothing happened for the next three. In that small window of time I still managed to get a small bit of a tan though, which means my slow process of building up the perfect t-shirt tan line by the summer has begun. Oh yeah. We ended up winning 5-3.

FRIDAY: Apparently one day of baseball is not enough for me, so I went back and watched another game. This game was much more fun to watch in my opinion, but was also much more of a blowout. We were leading 10-0 by the end of the fourth inning. The game also gave me a new goal for my life. Apparently they hand out a free souvenir Pepperdine baseball to any fan who brings back a foul ball after the fifth inning. My list of lifelong dreams just doubled. I also registered for my classes for when I got to London in the fall. Nothing too exciting there, though I'm completely dreading Science As a Way of Knowing. Why would anyone ever use science as a way to know anything? It's so unreliable.

SATURDAY: And so we've reached the end of another long week. There were parts of this week I really enjoyed and there were parts of it that I didn't enjoy so much. So balanced. I already miss being home (You know it's bad when I'm thinking that Taco Bell is a luxury meal item. Sad face) but I know time away will only make being home better. Or maybe I'll end up falling in love with London in the fall and I'll never leave (which would work out wonderfully for me since they have amazing public transportation and I hate driving). Don't worry though Mom. I won't let that happen. But now is the time for the sun to set on this week. Here's to the future that seems like it will never come.

The Fifth Week

And so we've made it through the first month. Thankfully I've been able to get into the habit of doing these blogs every Saturday night (and quite often extremely early Sunday morning), but sadly it could only take one week of a missed blog to ruin my whole system entirely. Let's just hope that never happens. Unless of course you haven't liked my blog. Moving on though. This week has been quite interesting. I've realized that being at home has actually given me the chance to take pictures at a lot of different locations, as opposed to being limited by the walls of Pepperdine. Let the adventure begin (or continue since this blog has been going for four prior weeks up to this already).

SUNDAY: The first Sunday back home is always nice. For the most part it's the first chance I have to see my friends from church that I haven't seen in months. But church was surprisingly not the highlight of the day. I have this friend, Ashley, who's family decided to randomly celebrate the 28th of February, 2010. I figured since it only comes around once in a lifetime I may as well celebrate it too. In celebration we took a journey to the Birch Aquarium with some other people, once again, because the day only comes around once in a lifetime. It was fun. Hung out in the mouth of a shark for a while, stared into the dead eyes of an eel, and just admired the scenery. Wasn't a bad day to celebrate.

MONDAY: This was my brother's birthday. In honor of this I went shoe shopping with my friend Riley while my bro and pop were off snowboarding on some mountain somewhere without me. But shoe shopping was fun for me. It also gave me the opportunity to try on hats as well, which is quite the thrill for a hat-lover like myself. Hanging out with Riley had been long overdue as well. He's definitely one of my much better friends. You know someone's a good friend when you can be absolutely, completely, brutally honest with them, they punch you in the face, and then you sing a duet (He didn't punch me in the face, but theoretically I'm sure we would still be friends if he did. Plus there could be the added bonus of the punch magically straightening my nose).

TUESDAY: And then it was Riley's birthday. Not just any birthday either. He turned 18, which means he is finally an adult. I wisely informed him of the much greater crime consequences that come with this adulthood. We celebrated this newfound adulthood by taking random pictures outside of a Pat and Oscars, and by going to the place that all adults love to visit... Nickel City. Sadly enough, Nickel City just happened to be closed for this one day this decade, so we just stared inside, drooled a little bit, then left...

WEDNESDAY:...and came back the very next day!!! I must say that Nickel City is much more enjoyable when it's actually open. The name Nickel city can be very deceiving though. It makes you think that everything is just a nickel, which in a small way is kind of true. But not at all really. You pay with Nickels. But some games cost like twenty nickels, which totally defeats the purpose. There were only a couple games that were legitimately only one nickel. It was still really fun though. Nothing quite like risking everything on a game of virtual Deal or no Deal with four hundred tickets on the line. We lost. But I came to the conclusion that there's no shame in crawling under machines to try and find lost nickels.

THURSDAY: This was a very sad day for a friend of mine. My friend Sarah MacLean's father, John MacLean, passed away. I had the opportunity to meet him a few times and really enjoyed the time that I was around him. He raised a very amazing daughter, that is for certain. There is a video that they had of a road trip they took together and it had a part where he was referencing Sarah's friends and said something along the lines of, "Hello to all of Sarah's friends... and Mitchell." I always got a kick out of that.

FRIDAY: This was quite a busy day for me, and a day that definitely made me feel like an old man. First of all I helped my church set up a thing called the Bible Bowl, but I'll talk about that for tomorrow briefly. After helping set that up I went to my former high school, which I loved so dearly (sarcasm sign) and ate lunch with some teachers who I loved so dearly (no sarcasm sign). It was a great time. Also just happened to have the amazing coincidence of running into another friend of mine who just happened to be on spring break and was visiting the school on the same day and at the same time as me. Quite the coincidence indeed.

SATURDAY: No better way to finish off spring break than to be running around keeping score for a hundred kids doing a Bible competition. This year did involve much less running around though, which made it a much nicer day. Being around all the younger kids definitely made me feel a lot older though, especially since my knees were sore most of the day. Maybe I'm growing. My bro's birthday party happened as well, but I kind of slept through most of it because I was tired from the Bible Bowl. I doubt he took it personally though. Sleep trumps ice cream cake. Overall this was just a really good week of being busy at home, but all good things must come to an end. Here's to the future that seems like it will never come.