an unexpected twist.

i was expecting today to be just another simple, fun day with the friends.  i got coffee with suzie, played mario kart with christine and her little brother, and was ready to play a good game of mao with the group from last week's barbecue at night.  nothing out of the ordinary.  and it seemed that my day was going as expected, as christine and i got into my little green bug and headed for ina's house.

alas, we were within three minutes of ina's house when it happened.  we were sitting at a red light at a major intersection, talking to pass the time.  we didn't notice anything funny, until the light turned green.  before i hit the gas, we felt my car give a rough shake.  it startled us, but we didn't think much of it.  but then, i pressed down on the gas pedal and nothing happened.  no noise, no shaking... nothing.  my car just wouldn't move.  i looked at my dashboard and my battery light was on.  this had happened to me once before (last year), so i didn't totally freak out, but the light had turned on while i was driving that time, so i at least was able to pull my car over to the side of the road.  but this time, i couldn't even move an inch, so we just sat there, turned on my hazards, and blocked traffic.  (some people are idiots and don't realize that they should go around a car that has its hazards on).

everyone else moving, but not us :(

we quickly called my stepdad and AAA.  of course, in the midst of this mini emergency, we had time to take a picture:

my stepdad beat AAA there and helped us out.  we were three full lanes away from the side of the road and my stepdad pushed us all the way there!  i had to manually maneuver the wheel back and forth to steer us over there, as he pushed (and let me tell you, i appreciate power steering a million times more now!).  it was so hard to steer that christine and i both had to pull on the wheel.  i even had to take my jacket off because i was seriously working up a sweat.  i felt like we were in a scene from a movie or something!  some nice man also pulled over to the side of the road and helped my stepdad push my car and ward off traffic so that we didn't get hit.

luckily, we were able to get my car to start again and i drove it to pep boys.  phew.  so much for a simple day.

but the night improved once we got to ina's (my stepdad dropped us off), thank goodness.  we made s'mores on her stove (which actually worked out quite well) and played mao and a few rounds of egyptian rat slap.  i still can't believe how many hours cards can keep us entertained for.  i <3 christine, nili, taylor, ina, gavin, matt and jeff :)

my inspiration.

i always told myself i would never do one of these, yet here i am.  i guess i've always felt like these kinds of things were for people who had interesting stories to tell or funny experiences to share.  i don't view myself as having either of these things, but somehow i still find myself wanting to share my life with others.  i'm not expecting mass followers or anything like that, but you never know who you can affect with your words, even if it's just yourself.  sometimes it's just plain good for you to get your thoughts out there, regardless of how simple or minimal they may seem.

now this may seem out of the blue, but it's really not at all.  most people don't know this, aside from a few close friends and family, but for years and years i dreamed of being an author.  i wanted so badly to major in journalism and to pursue a career in writing.  i wrote countless stories when i was younger and continued to do so all the way up until high school, but then stopped.  for some reason the creative juices just stopped flowing and a sense of practicality kicked in.  i dropped my writing hobby and instead focused on my school work and on pursuing a career in the medical field.

my freshman year of college has been an eye opener for me and made me realize that, as interested as i am in becoming a labor and delivery nurse, i don't want to give up my passion for writing.  throughout the school year and, especially, this summer, i have taken up writing for fun again.  however, i'm constantly struggling with the decision of whether i should write about reality, based on my life, or take more of a fantasy, make-believe approach.  i've always wanted to write about reality, seeing as the best inspiration tends to be one's own life experiences, but i've felt that my life was too boring or too typical to make for an interesting novel.  i've felt that i live in somewhat of a bubble, a safe little world, without much adventure or novel-worthy experiences.  so, instead i've just been sticking with the make-believe.  but somehow, as fun as it is to write about, this never completely satisfies me and i always have an itch to write about something real.

but today my good friend suzie (a fellow appreciator of the arts) reminded me of something during a lovely conversation with yummy mocha coconut frappucinos.  though she probably doesn't realize it, she reminded me of how important my "typical" life experiences have been.  what i consider to be boring or typical have shaped me to be the unique individual i am today.  these past five years, in particular, have been incredibly influential in shaping my personality.  between the friends i've made, the love i've found, and the experiences i've had, i've actually had quite an amazing life and i shouldn't be so quick to write it off as mundane.  suzie also reminded me that we don't want to forget the little moments in our lives and that by writing them down we can keep them with us forever.

so now here i am.  rather than trying to craft the experiences of my life into a novel, i've decided to publicly display them in a much rawer, imperfect, truer form.  why?  because i've realized that life in a bubble can indeed be beautiful and i think it's worth sharing.