the mess that bestows me

so today I venture into my bedroom to clean. not a small mess, a HUGE mess. I'm not talking about trash, old clothes, or a good dusting... I'm talking about the mess my guinea pig made! she gets food and bedding everywhere and behind virtually everything in sight and in some places I can't reach when I clean. so you might be thinking, "so what? just clean it up!" but it's far harder than that. due to those tricky cleaning spots that probably have guinea pig food lodged in them I believe I have a bug problem. I can literally hear them crawling around at night, at least last night I did. I had to sleep with a mountain of blankets over me just to fall asleep. bugs really do freak me out, I have a fear of them crawling on me for some reason. right now I am rubber gloveless and seriously NEED gloves to do this whole operation. I prepped my room for this mass moving of objects and furniture. I have three trash bags awaiting this monstrosity that lays upon me. I am before hand also making sure my vacuum is clean and ready to go. wish me luck.

Letting Go

R.I.P. Spencer 1996-2009


Today I had to put my dog, my friend, Spencer to sleep. It was heart breaking because he was only 12 and a half years old, but he had medical problems. He had diabetes and was just getting sicker as time went on. He was going to the bathroom in our house, sleeping all day, and drinking all the time, spite the medicine we provided. Besides the fact of his poor health, he was just getting too exspensive to care for, and who knows if he was suffering, dogs hide their pain. Spencer was actually in the age range where Shetland's are supposed to pass away, he was old. My family did what we thought was best.

We toook him to the ASPCA to be put down. We picked him up and put him in the car, on the way there I didn't want the drive to end. Spencer was just his usual self sitting in the car panting due to the hot weather, also getting up and stumbling around the car when we stopped and started to move again (he was always quite a klutz). When we got there I took him out of the car and my father and brother followed into the building. There were so many people there today, mostly for adoptions. We waited about 20 minutes before anyone got to us, that kind of made it worse because we were standing there with a shaking/scared dog trying not to cry. A woman named Karen (who didn't work there) came up and asked us about our dog, she went behind the front desk and asked if someone would come out to get our dog so we could say goodbye. About 5 minutes later a man came out, who was responsible for putting the animals to sleep, got our dog. My brother and I said goodbye and he was whisked away. My dad was filling out paperwork at the time so when he turned around he said "I didn't get to say goodbye!". They brought Spencer out one last time and we said goodbye again. Then they once again took our dog away. What was probably the worst is that as my dad and I were looking at our dog walking and being taken into the back room he (my dad) started to cry. I've only seen my dad cry one other time before today, and that was when my great grandmother passed away. We left in tears and the car ride home wasn't really any better. My brother was practically speechless the whole ride. When we got home after a little while we all finally felt better. It's just so sad, it's like we lost a family member. I hate goodbyes. R.I.P. buddy!

The Big Apple

today I traveled to New York City and it was AMAZING. I have never been there before.
it is incredibly huge compared to Philadelphia, it makes Philly look like an ant in comparison!


I woke up at about 4:30am to get ready, and left the house at around 5:30am to go down town (Philadelphia) to wait for the Bolt bus that would take us (myself, my mom, my brother, and my grandma) down to New York City. we arrived at the bus stop really early and were one of the first people to show up. the bus was actually late to pick us up, but only by a few minutes. we all got on the bus and were on our way. the bus drive to New York was 2hrs long!

after we were officially arrived in New York City we had to take the subway to get to where our tour bus was, we all wanted to go sight seeing. at first we actually got on the wrong subway train, it was going the opposite direction of where we had to go, so we had to get off and get on the right subway train. after fixing that dilemma we finally made it to where the tour bus was parked, and we made it early. the tour then started about a half an hour later and lasted about 4 hours in total.

we first stopped at The Dakota building, where John Lennon was shot.


we then went to Central Park where John Lennon's memorial is.


we then also saw various sights such as:
The Flat Iron Building:


The Empire State Building:


SOHO CAFE:


The Brooklyn Bridge:



we then took a ferry ride to see The Statue Of Liberty!




after all of this, we got off the ferry and met our bus at the New York Plaza, where we then saw other sights such as:
Trinity Church:


NYSE, New York Stock Exchange:


Ground Zero:

to me, Ground Zero was absolutely amazing. as our tour group was looking out at what once was the World Trade Center, there was nothing but silence. it was truly just a touching experience, I think partly because it looks as if it could have happened last week. they haven't built anything there yet, so it's still essentially left naked and seemingly untouched as it has been for the past (almost) 8 years now.


the tour then ended, leaving us where we had started, so my family and I wandered down near Times Square.


well look what I found in New York City...
okay, so this was amazing to me, I don't have a Jamba Juice around where I live (at least I'm pretty sure), and I know they make awesome drinks, so I HAD to stop in.



I ordered a "Strawberry Surf Rider" drink. it was so tasty! mmmm.


happily trotting along with my juice, my family and I then where walking directly down Times Square.










we then took the subway back up to where our Bolt bus was going to pick us up, which was right in front of a diner called "Tick Tock Diner". we had time to spare so we went in and had dinner.




I ordered a roasted veggie wrap, yummy.


we then got back on the Bolt bus which took us home, it was another 2hr drive, but my ipod was there to help ease the length of time.

my day then ended with a nice/delicious chai latte from Starbucks!

so the show I was supposed to go to on the 9th was actually horrific. my brother wasn't bad at all, but the whole set up and timing and just everything else was a complete disaster. the weather was horrible, there were a million mosquitos in the driveway where the "show" was. and after being there for 4 hours I voyaged home, alone... with out my friend Tim who I had originally gone with. my other two friends Var and Rachel couldn't make it. why? because Rachel had forgotten about the whole thing, yeah. what also was horrible is that I was hungry, since I hadn't had lunch, so I walked down to the super market that was around the corner and I bought myself a delicious looking mixed fruit cup. well, the fruit cup was 2 months expired! and what's even worse, I had finished it by the time I noticed the date. but it tasted fine otherwise and I am here right now typing this so I didn't die...

what I am really excited about is I'm going to New York on Monday! I also have a trip planned to go to stay with Rachel at her aunt's beach house, Var is also going. it should be fun but I hope it's not around the 29th, I have a doctor's appointment then so I would then not be able to make it:P

busy busy bee!

today should be fun, spite all of the rain...
there was a HUGE thunderstorm and it woke me up at about 8am. I thought it would never end:P

I'm supposed to be going to a show today, it's a local show with local bands, nothing big. it all starts at 4pm, but my friends and I are all leaving early.
I'm going with Tim, Rachel, and Var. there supposed to come to my house a little before 2pm, since that's when we're leaving. one band dropped out of the show, so there's really going to only be three bands playing. who knows if we'll even get to see the bands, someone might call the cops for all the noise.

so Friday I went to see UP with my family and it was so funny! it's well worth going to see!

this weekend I will be so busy! I have two birthday parties to attend back to back, and then Monday I will be voyaging to New York:D. we're going sight seeing and going on what my grandma calls a "tour bus"... I'm sure it's just a regular shuttle bus taking us down there. we will probably be eating lunch down there also. we're leaving really early in the morning and I have no idea when we're getting back. all I know is that it will be a long day! I'm bringing sunscreen, I'm so white that if there is a lot of sun I know for a fact I'll burn:O. but if it rains, an umbrella will be my best friend.

in July I'm going down to Wildwood, July 6th to the 10th. it's always really awesome down there, but it's a shame this year my Aunt Jenni, Dave, and cousins can't make it down, it was fun with them last year! but my uncle is still going, my grandma is coming down too. we always stop at this little diner which has good food, I always order waffles because there's really nothing else I can actually eat, the rest is some form of meat related product:P. we always call that diner our half way point because it technically is the half way point.

There's def more plans for this summer, although they have yet to be made:D

school is officially out! I couldn't be happier! IT'S OVER! Err... until next year that is. I didn't do as horrible on my French final as I had anticipated, I got an 88% on it. I took my art major final today, which was awesome, yes, I thought the test was awesome. it was so easy and I got to draw with colored pencils for my final still life drawing (fun!). I handed my drawing in which I took an hour and a half to do. I had the time since I had finished the question part and essay part of the exam early. when I handed my final composition in my art teacher said, and I quote, "Jackie this is awesome, you rock" it kinda made me laugh, and I was flattered, but at the same time I have never heard someone over 45 tell me that I rocked:). I also took my health final today, which was a joke... it was so easy!
I can't wait for all the things I have planned this summer, particuraly traveling. I'm supposed to go to New York in about a week, maybe in a little more than a week. it will be a fun/interesting trip because I have never been there! I'm def bringing my camera:). Hopefully I can make it to South Carolina this summer, and Wildwood again. I was supposed to be going over Var's with Rachel this Saturday for a sleep over but it has been canceled... maybe we can plan something else for this weekend.

xJackie

random nights are fun nights.

Ahh Friday, It's the weekend! Not only just the weekend, but a holiday weekend! It's exciting yet sad to think of how fast this school year happened. It's actually very quickly coming to a close and I now have so much work ahead of me in these last 9 days, 4 of which are really only review days, the others are finals! I always get kinda stressed around this time of the year... So much work in rather little time, and then I feel as if the material is never reviewed thoroughly enough.
Aside from essentially spazzing about finals, tonight was very fun. I got a text at about 6:30pm from my friend Tim who asked if I wanted to hang out with him. He got a new camera (which is very nice I must say) and wanted to test it out and take pictures. So I walked to meet him at Coco's Pizza since he was in another building down the street. I arrived at Coco's and sat on this bench to the side. The bench felt so cheap and plasticy that when I sat on it I swore if I moved the damn thing would have busted. It was basically like two pieces of plastic screwed into each other with a cheap plastic frame holding it all together, scary shit. Tim finally arrived a couple minutes later and ordered food. I didn't order anything because I had previously eaten dinner.
Meanwhile, I had no idea my brother was at the bowling alley next door with all his friends. Although, Tim did show me a picture of my brother and his friends on his way over to the pizza place, which was a little odd, but I didn't put two and two together. So after Tim finished his meal he said "hey, you wanna go to the bowling?" I said fine. And sure enough I walk in unknowing my brother was there. Tim and I joined the mass group of kids and then participated in a game of bowling.
After, Colleen offered that everyone go to her house.
So there we were, literally like 15 kids walking to Colleen's house. When we got there I was excited to learn there was a trampoline, I hadn't been on one in years! Of course all the guys got on it first, and were throwing each other around on it all brutally. Finally after about a half an hour they got tired and got off. THIS was my chance to get on it. I rushed to take off my shoes and I hopped on that trampoline so damn fast. I forgot how fun they were!