Revival!

So, we'll be reviving this to cross-country posts... but tonight I have some stuff to do like packing for Christmas break, so I'll update it next week for real.

To explain, I'm off to college, and Sarah is a senior in high school, so though we can't meet we'll at least update each other on our weekly goings-ons. I'm at Duke University (go Blue Devils!) and having a great time.

Okay. Tonight there was a women's basketball game versus Vanderbilt, who were good, but we didn't have much of a problem beating them. Last night the men beat Holy Cross but weren't playing well at all... the women have been playing much better than the men lately. The men don't seem to kick it in until the last ten minutes or so.

Today I had a Japanese interview test... I was really nervous, and though I didn't do that well (I made some stupid mistakes) I felt pretty good afterwards. Tomorrow I get to see my final EGR53 grade, which I'm kind of nervous about, but I've already done what damage I will, so I'd best not think of that now.

Okay, I'd better go now. I have things to pack. I'll check in on Wednesday if I can remember to. Remembering things is not one of my specialties.

Boy was I grumpy last night!

So, Matt was right. Yesterday was pretty uneventful, at least in comparison to some of the other Wednesday nights we've had. I came to choir almost in tears after a fight with my mom, and I felt close to tears the whole time. On a side note, I hate arguing with my Mom because she's so unreasonable I can't even state a point without being classified as "disrespectful" or "sassy" and threatened with extremely harsh punishments. My residual anger from that fight lingered over into choir, and I'm afraid I didn't make very good company.

Let's see . . . we went to safeway (wow, we have so many interesting times there) and Matt bought a bunch of hygienic products. I love guy's shaving gel, deodorant, ect. It all smells so good!!! I get wonderful visions of being close enough to amazing, clean attractive guys. The sense of smell is very important. For me personally, I get an instant association when I smell something. Sometimes it's a memory of feeling happy/sad/sick and sometimes it's a person or a place or a time. I wonder if guys care as much about that as girls do? I guess I should have asked Matt. Ah well, another time.

Also, Matt told me my hair kind of looked like Susan's (from chronicles of Narnia) and I was pretty pleased. Her hair was awesome! Of course, the real reason why I was happy was because Matt noticed or cared enough to mention it. It made me feel instantly happy, even though I was having a bad night.

After Safeway, we went back to the church and talked about fairly random stuff. We started talking about what gifts of the holy spirit we have been given. It's something I've haven't thought about that deeply before, and I've been thinking about it since we talked.

I brought up how I really liked the duet Matt was doing for districts. The female part is very pretty, and it builds so nicely with the guy's part . . . me gusta. I still kind of wanted to do it, even though Matt thought it would be weird, which it probably would be. I don't know . . . I just have a hard time giving up a good part . . . even if I don't like the baggage. I still think it would have been alright, even if it was odd at first, but I understand where Matt is coming from and it's all for the best. Still, when he told me that I got a little upset, more because of what had happened before then what he said. I just wasn't in good emotional shape last night and what my mom had said was still weighing on my mind. I felt pretty bad afterwards, because I was really unhappy last night and I think I made Matt feel like it was his fault when it really wasn't. So, if he reads this, I'm sorry . . .

Well, I best go pack for CYC. G'night.

An Uneventful Wednesday...

Well well... it's been a while. Weeks have come and gone, and things have happened and not happened. Today was a funeral. Err... that is, I will be playing at a funeral in nine hours, even though I really have, because I'm writing this at 6:42 pm MST on 3/9/06.

We talked last night, as usual. Sarah was mad at Señora for accusing her of cheating and mad at her mom for being overcontrolling since their move to Montana. Sarah is 17 now and her mom still has an 11:00 curfew, which we both agreed is unreasonable. Her mother doesn't seem to trust her much, considering that she is a responsible young woman.

Sarah was also a little bummed that I had opted not to do the La Ci Darem La Mano solo with her. I sort of understand... I mainly didn't want to do it with her because our relationship would make it weird (to me) to be singing to her, trying to lure her into bed. It has very little to do with the music or Sarah's voice.

We went to Safeway and bought some cookies, as well as copious amounts of hygiene products for me, such as an Oral B Hummingbird, Old Spice Classic (more on this later), Gillette Moisturizing Shaving Cream (the new Fusion series), some floss (just in case the Hummingbird doesn't work as expected), and some soap. More about the soap later too. Go to the Hummingbird website if only to watch the little hummingbird follow your cursor around. Fun stuff.

Okay... first about the Old Spice... Sarah told me she loved the classic Old Spice scent, and I used to wear it too, so I got some... but then when we smelled it, it had so much alcohol in it, it made me gag. All was well, though, for when I put some on, the alcohol quickly evaporated, leaving the ordinary Old Spice scent :). Now for the soap. I have dry skin, so I was going to get the soap that looked like it would best moisturize. That turned out to be Dove Nutrium because it had vitamin E and moisturizing crap... except... then I found it it's pink. That's okay and all... but what's a guy supposed to do to moisturize his skin without feeling so... pink? Eh, it's not important. Just disappointing.

Now for the cookies.... we got Pepperidge Farm snickerdoodle soft baked cookies because I had a craving. They weren't bad, but they weren't as soft as snickerdoodles should be. Don't buy them unless you honestly can't make some yourself, because they're a disappointment. Even if you're a crappy cook, what you will make will still be better than the Pepperidge Farm cookies.

I also put some photos on my myspace place... I need friends, though, and the invite function isn't working properly. So here is my invite link.

Okay, that's enough.

Christmas Break!

Yes! This extremely busy day is finally over and Christmas break can begin. I would recount all of the busy happenings of the day, but that would just make me go *whew* and fall asleep in my exceptionally comfortable chair. Instead, I'm going to list my "favorites" of the Christmas season. This post will probably be followed by a post from Matt, so I'll try not to make it too long. Speaking of which, Matt needs to read my blog . http://walkawayrene.blogspot.com/

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS . . .

Childhood present: Harry Potter lego set (or any legos, I was obsessed) and my N-64
Not-so-childhood present: Europe trip (my parents paid for half of it)
Carol: O Holy Night; nothing compares
Weather: about 5 inches of heavy, good packing snow on the ground and heavy flakes coming down all day
Over-commercialized symbol: Christmas trees. There is little in this world as wonderful as walking into a dark room with a lit Christmas tree.
Meal: Prime rib, along with other traditional holiday foods we serve in my family
Church moment: Midnight mass at my old church was AMAZING. The chamber orchestra used to play midnight mass and I loved watching them when I was little.When I got older, I played with them and it was twice as fun. There is something so holy and sacred about midnight mass. It's hard to describe, but it's the sort of thing that gives me shivers.
Touching Memory: Two years ago, my family's friends were at mass with us. They had a son who had been in Iraq and was back on leave. His wife had died giving birth to their daughter and so it especially nice for the little girl to be with her only parent on Christmas. Before mass, the priest had asked him to give a small speech about thankfulness, which he did. It was the most beautiful speech I have ever heard. After his speech, the priest blessed the man and prayed for his safety. It was so . . . honest. It really put things in perspective. I was crying, and it takes a lot for me to cry. *sniff*

I could go on and on about my favorite Christmas things, but I won't because I'm tired. Christmas has a special aura around it. There is nothing else out there like the feeling Christmas gives. And Christmas is coming on Sunday!!!!!

A Weekend Post!

Last night, Matt and I discussed cool things we could do with this blog and we decided that it shouldn't be limited to just Wednesday Writings. So I've decided to post the first ever weekend post!

So, we saw chronicles of Narnia last night after the basketball game. It was AMAZING! They stuck to the books very nicely and the scenes were all very well done. The white witch was super creepy and had neat dreads. What amazed me was how close the scenery was to how I pictured Narnia in the books. Me gusto mucho. I'm pretty sure Matt liked it too, although we spent the whole movie making fun of the characters, lines, ect. I make sarcastic comments with almost every movie I see, even if I really like it, so this wasn't out of the ordinary for me. I think Matt might have this tendency too, because he was a willing participant when we saw I Heart Huckabees and Narnia. What else happened? Let's see . . . Matt felt unmanly because I paid for him (we didn't know we were going to the movie tonight and he didn't have any money with him) and gave him a ride. I secretly thought it was funny but was just happy he could go.

While we were at the movie we saw my Half-cousin Danielle. She freaked out when she saw us together and I'm pretty sure she thinks we're dating now. We arn't of course, but it's hard to stop people thinking that after a rumor has been started.

As we were driving back to the school to get Matt's car, we talked about the movie and getting drunk with a mutual friend. When we got back to the school, we had some fun playing around with the parking lot lights (which are timed, not sensor activated as we originally thought) and running around like idiots. At about 12:00 we finally left.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun. Lately, when I hang out with Matt I feel like I need his approval. This is a new feeling for me because I don't really seek approval from people. I mean, everyone seeks approval in some areas of life, but this is different. It goes much deeper then just wanting him to like me. I used to think it stemmed from residual thoughts that he hated me, but I know that's not it. I don't feel tempted to change or to do or say different things to get it, but it bothers me because I don't know what causes it. To quote Pride and Prejudice, "I cannot bear to think that he is alive in the world and thinking ill of me". This pretty much sums up how I feel, though the context of the quote isn't very helpful because the reason Elizabeth feels like that is because she is in love with Mr. Darcy. Point being, last night I just felt relaxed and happy instead of tense about the whole approval thing and I had a good time.

Well, I have to go do some Christmas shopping, so I must be off. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Mandarins . . . Fruit of the gods

Hello!

My name is Sarah Zora, and I am the other half of "Matt and Sarah's Weekly Wednesday Writings". Matt was right in his earlier post, we are rather freakishly alike and I don't mind having my last name posted. :)

So, Matt and I decided last night that we should write down everything we talk about on Wednesday nights because . . . well, we have some interesting conversations. Also, I personally think it will be cool to look back later on at what we talk about. I didn't think Matt would start the blog that night, but he did, and here I am. Anyway, about last night . . .

We started off the evening by going to Safeway for some food. I personally think that going to Safeway at 9:00 at night is super fun, but then again I have no life. Matt and I go to safeway often on Wednesday nights and I'm sure the clerk who is ALWAYS there thinks we are freaks. I can't say that I blame her. We usually buy really weird stuff like breath mints and mandarins. We also have odd conversations or look for the lowest unit prices of non-perishable goods, which can't help things. As we were passing the ice cream case we decided to buy a new flavor of Ben and Jerry's next week. I'm pysched.

Hmmm . . . So, while we were at Safeway, Matt told me that he had told his voice teacher he was hesitant to spend time with me. At first I was a little unsure of how to take it, but he explained a little more and I wasn't mad. I wasn't really mad to begin with, just curious by what he had meant. I've been trying really hard lately not to get prematurely angry or defensive because while I'm pretty controlled most of the time, sometimes it does happen.

So, while eating some delicious goodies from safeway, we talked about people who are elitist and how uppity this year's freashman are. I felt immensly vindicated afterwards and then the topic of conversation turned to jean buying. After that, we were planning to go to Matt's car to listen to his ipod, but the minute we stepped outside, we were inspired to take a walk.

It was an absolutly magnificant night. The moon was so bright the mountains were clear like they are right before dawn. Soooooooo pretty. It was almost the best thing ever. You just can't fight the moonlight. On our walk, we practiced sliding on the streets because there weren't any cars, though Matt totally schooled me because his shoes were better . *sniff* Then, we practiced skipping really high and silent walking/running like spies. It was very fun, but in the end we had to go home because our parents would worry.

All in all, last night's conversation was not nearly as "deep" as our usual ones, but I had a great time. When I got home, I was in a giddy, almost high mood which I can almost describe as being totally happy, despite the fact I still had to finish a lot of homework. The again, Wednesday nights have been very happy lately.

Oh! I almost forgot. Kudos to Matt for:

-his excellent science fair project idea.It sounds amazing! I'm very interested to see how it turns out.
-Tom Cruise-like sliding skills
-taking a walk with me at night (because night walks are the best thing EVER!!!!)

12/14/05

Hurray! Hooray! The first post! Such an important time for any fledgling blog!

Tonight we went to the store and bought candy (Sarah a Cookies & Cream bar and myself Nestle Turtles), a sub sandwich for my hungry self, and some mandarins to share.

Earlier tonight, the Hamilton High School class of '06 made heroic efforts to win the food drive, so after donating to them, I was curious about low unit prices ($/lb), so we went around and found the lowest price items. If you're having a food drive, keep this in mind. Here are the top four, cheapest first:

1. Generic flour
2. Generic sugar
3. Generic fruit cocktail
4. Generic hominy (either golden or white)

Yeah... the generics are both obvious and redundant. In this case, it was Safeway.

We returned to the car, ate our goods, and went back to the church. We still weren't quite done talking, so we went on a walk. On the way, we had some fun sliding on the ice and admiring the beautiful night. My shoes were Doc Martens and I had some fun sliding. Hers had better traction and made sliding tougher. We skipped, jumped, and got back. My mom called, worried about me, so I went home.

Let's see... we talked about how alike we are... I shared that I felt a little weird hanging out with her because we are so much alike that I keep seeing minor inconsistencies in my behavior (through her behavior) I thought I had fixed, so it's always a little disappointing to discover such unfortunate things about myself.

She shared with me the complicated process of how women buy jeans and we talked about "fashionable" people and unfashionable people at our school.

Anyway, I need to update my own blog, and she'll be updating this soon too, so laterz!!!!111 (jk).

Intro to us

Hello!

My name is Matt Lyons, and I'm also writing on behalf of Sarah. I'm not sure she would want her last name posted... actually, we're freakishly alike, so she probably wouldn't care, but just to be safe I won't post her last name until later.

Just to give you a little background--she moved here this year from Denver and we are involved in a lot of the same things, one of which is the St. Francis Singers choir at (amazingly!) St. Francis Catholic Church. Each Wednesday the choir practices from 7:15-9:00 p.m., and afterwards it has become our tradition to have discussions. Sometimes these discussions turn into trips to the grocery store to buy chocolate or mandarins or sub sandwiches, sometimes we go on walks, sometimes they're just talks.

Today we decided to start a blog for our walk... the title is a little misleading, because the talks are definitely talks, not writing. But... we are going to be writing about the talks and what we talked and did and thought about. We can understand each other better that way and also maybe it'll be entertaining to someone who's bored and surfing Blogspot.

For the record--no, Sarah and I are not romantically involved. We're just friends who have started this tradition.

Also, we may start posting Kudos to each other (or to ourselves =D) to congratulate each other on whatever we may have done lately. They should be totally independent posts, so I'll retroactively give myself some Kudos after posting this.

Anyway, this is an intro. To follow is my account of tonight's talk.