Best Moments of 2013

I hope every one's year has gotten off to a great start! Mine certainly has, and I couldn't be happier. I'm in a really good place.

I don't make a list of my New Years Resolutions, more so I have a mental list. And you might think, well, wouldn't you forget or just break the rule. No. It actually works like this. I think about what I want to try and do for the New Year, then once I get it down, then it kind up pops up like when you're on the internet and a pop up window comes up. Like a reminder! It knows which moment to flash up in my mind. Do you get me?

Well, a New Year Resolution that always stays with me is; Start fresh start with a new slate. Be more mature with your decisions. People who i've had a not-so-great relationship with, I tell myself "it's a New  Year" start with a clean slate. Just forget the embarassing arguemnts/grudges and just forget it because that's all in the past. And what's the point of holding onto something from the past. It's not going to help you in the present. So, it just makes me feel good. Oh! I have soo many great things to look forward too!

But first, let's see what great memories happened in 2013.

January --
My first trip of the year... to Los Angeles to visit my grandparents. It was for my grandpa's 90th birthday! I flew by myself and had a good friend pick me up at the airport, in his Mercedes. OooOoo, haha. We hung out for the day  We went to the Griffith Park Obersevatory, on eof my favorite places in LA. Never Gets Old. And had In N Out burger for lunch. Watched the sun set from the Observatory and saw a show. Very memorable day.

Oh! And my cousin and I went Snowy Owl siting in the Westport beach area...during January. 

March 10 --
I had my CP (Culminating Project) presentation. One of the most important presentations in  my life. So far. This determined whether we would graduate or not. My 20 min. long presentation on job shadowing my city's local photographer for the newspaper. With a pannel of judges. I had my notecards handy and would rehearse with my powerpoint numerous times. I PASSED!! 30 mins. later :D Best day in my life! My friends didn't present until late April so I was very relived.


April --
My dad and I went to New York!! It was chilly, but still a great trip! We went to all the tourist attractions, except The Statue of Liberty due to construction. Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Times Square, neighborhoods; Manhattan, Battery Park, Wall Street....

Don't know why this man is ruining a perfectly good photo!!

May --
PROM!! I went with a group of friends. We had dinner at one of my friends' house. Her parents made dinner and had cheesecake for dessert! Danced the whole night away and left with a great picture! "it was a good ab workout" haha. We had a sleepover and watched movies on the wall projector. Ate junk food and stayed up late. It was an unforgettable night.

My bestie and I about to meet some friends. (This is before Prom)

June 14 --
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
I did it!! I can't believe it. Time really flew by fast. I remember being in middle school, thinking time is going by sooo sloww! When will it hurry up! Now i'm off to college in the fall. Damn. After the ceremony was over, my friends and classmates went off to Grad Night! Didn't get home until 4am the next day. We went to Seattle and were taken on these fancy buses not told where we were going the whole night.

More friends!! :)

Summer '13 --
I worked for the City of Olympia. Being a summer camp counselor for the  Parks, Arts & Recreation programs. My location was with the S.K.I.P.P. Met so many great kids! I grew up going to their camps since I was about 6 years old and to be a counselor was so great! Some of the counselors I had growing up were still working! And being able to work with them was shocking, but Amazing to say the least!

One of our little campers! :)

I volunteered for some huge events like The Color Run and similar ones like that. Also, Bumbershoot and Seafair. I got free tickets in!! ;D It was literally AMAZING.

Kendrick Lamar. Key Arena. Bumbershoot 2013.

December --
To top it off. My parents and I went to Chile! We did a 3 week trip. Still needed more time, but we got to see a lot. Easter Island, Punta Arenas (southern tip of the country), Santiago and Antofagasta. I got to stay at Valentina's house and meet her family and friends.
Overall, I left with the impression that Chile is a BEAUTIFUL country and I wish I could live there, haha. Soo amazing. The beaches, the SEAFOOD, the people, EVERYTHING I just really enjoyed. I want to go back!!

I started 2013 with a small trip and ended on a big one.

And now, starting 2014. I have many things to be looking forward to and the experiences I am thankful for. I am going to Ecuador for 4 months and staying with a host family. Then, I'll come back in the Spring! Missing the Winter :) and moving off to California to start college!! - Woo! I'm really excited and looking forwad for 2014, a new stage in my life, and an exciting, fun one at that.

I hope you have a Fantaastic, Full-Filled, Adventure-ful 2014!!

~ Julia

Happy New Year!! 2014!

Hey! Hope you all had a great Holiday break. I certainly enjoyed my vacation.

Chile is a BEAUTIFUL country and they have good looking people. I had soo much fun!! It was summer there so I definitely got a tan. My parents and I first stopped at Easter Island or Rapa Nui (as the locals call it). Got to see the famous 15 Moai's (heads). It was soo much like Hawaii. I basically called it Hawaii. The scenery, weather, friendly and tan people. The food was amazing! I had pretty good ceviche, with lots of lemon, of course. This is just one of the types of ceviche I had. Chile is known for their seafood, and it's soo cheap, but more specifically it's FRESH! Yumm :)

Iconic Easter Island Moai's!!

We then went to Punta Arenas. It's in the southern tip of Chile, very close to Antarctica. 

Here I am flying over Punta Arenas.

Magdalena Island

Here is a family of penguins in their burrow.

Then we went to Torres Del Paine.

There it is in the background. And no they are not llamas or deer. They're called "Guanacos." 

Then we flew to Antofagasta and visited, Valentina. The exchange student my parents and I hosted back in my junior year of high school. We got to meet her family, see where she lives and her city. It's next to the ocean. So many beaches!! :) My parents stayed at her house for a few days. Had some home cooked meals :D It was a fun experience. 

Our last stop, Santiago, before we had to go home back to the states. 

Part of the Plaza de Armas. They were changing the guard. Reminds me of London!!

Alpaca!! Just outside the seafood market. :)

Last seafood meal of the trip! So FRESH. So DELICIOUS! :)


We also stopped by Vina del Mar & Valparaiso!

Overall, BEAUTIFUL country. Want to go back! Still have to see the Atacama Desert. Delicious seafood that my parents and I definitely gorged on. Great sites!

Happy Holidays!!

Hello All!

So it's been very cold the past couple weeks in the PNW. It was below freezing for a whole week! And that's also when the furnace decided to die. And it couldn't get fixed until the following week. So I bought heated blankets and slept by the fireplace.

Getting out of this cold soon!
I'm going to Chile! To visit the girl my parents and I hosted for a school year (she was an exchange student). Also, to site see the country! - Easter Island, the southern tip and Santiago and of course, her city! to name a few... It's summer over there...I'm very excited to feel the sun and get a nice tan.

Our flights have longg layovers. So... right now I've just been packing, packing, packing!! Also, cleaning the house and getting ready for work tomorrow morning. One more shift before I leave!

Happy Holidays! :)
Talk to you in January!

November is gone.

That means Thanksgiving is over, stuffing our faces with turkey and mashed potatoes until we can't no more. AND crazy Black Friday shoppers are gone..! I make the pumpkin pie every year for as long as I can remember... which hasn't been that long, But all my relatives look forward to it and really like it. So that's the highlight of my ThanksGIVING. ... get it? ;D

Mine was more of a Thanksgiving Week. As it is every year. My grandparents fly up from Southern California and spend a week up in the PNW. It is fun. I get to be around my cousins and hang with them. We all only see each other once a year. So it's nice. Also, family-friends came up and that was a blast! 

Now that I'm done reminiscing..

I had my phone interview yesterday for my Ecuador (volunteer) trip. It went well! :D Then, she went over an overview of how it will be in Ecuador - weather, flight, first arriving and emergency info. It was all quite exciting and I'm getting more anxious! late January - early May eeek! It's coming up too quickly! I still need to get my vaccinations! 

On another note, I'm leaving for Chile in 2 weeks!!! I can't believe it! I never thought I would get to host an exchange student then actually go visit her! :D This will be a lifelong friendship and experience I'll never forget. 

I'm going to end it here for now. 

P.S. It's 19 degrees!!! Can't wait for Chilean summer @ 80 degrees.

Fall in the PNW

Sorry I have been so absent! I just got my game back up and keeping  myself busy again. I was in a bit of a "slump" for the past couple months. By "slump" I mean, just enjoying not having to wake up at 6am for high school. - Thank god that's OVER! But now, I'm happy and I just recently got a job! :))

I am working with kids and working at off-site special events. Plus, volunteering my time at my Elementary school. You would think all this experience I'm getting working with kids I'd want a career in this field... but really, no. I just like kids! Anybody need a babysitter...?

Enough about that! On another note... I'm going to Chile!! I'm very excited, but all this planning and packing and just preparing for it is overwhelming. It is their summer, so 90 degree weather in December will be a nice change! :D Getting to visit Valentina, the exchange student my parents and I hosted a couple years ago.

Here we are in Hawaii '12!

I'm also in the process of going to Ecuador. I'm going to volunteer and stay with a host family! I knew I wanted to travel abroad and immerse myself in another spanish-speaking country. Put my spanish-speaking skills to the test! I will work at a school where low class children attend. Just play with them and help them with some academic work. They're elementary school ages. I'm very excited and looking forward to building new relationships with these kids!
Here is the name of the organization United Planet. You can volunteer for as short as 3 months up to a year! You can choose your travel dates and they accept volunteers on a rolling basis. So, whenever it's convenient for you! - March, October, February, etc..!

I've also been into indie rock/california chill-beachy music. Check out my Spotify account! @ Julia Odano
Been really loving Walk the Moon, Tegan and Sara and Batille, to name a few..

Really excited for college in SoCal!! Been checking up on the weather for this colder time of the year! 60-70 degree weather not bad, being a PNW native. :) My college is right next to the beach!! I feel so grateful everyday for the life I live.

Concluding this post, sorry my topics were all over the place! Just keeping you updated on all parts. Have a good day or night, depending on when you read this :)

Comments are much appreciated.

Summer's coming to an End

Well, August is ending. The sun is setting earlier and rising later. All my classmates have left for their new college adventure.

It hasn't really sunk in that I'm done with high school. I guess when that first day comes around and I start hearing the school bus make its route around the neighborhood, it will sink in. I don't have to put up with those immature classmates!

Just thought I'd give an update. I'm done working with Olympia Parks & Rec. camps and now moving on to Bumbershoot this coming up weekend! Woo!! for 7am shifts xP

I hung out with my friend Lauren the other day at Sand in the City, a local sand sculpture contest downtown. We stopped by this new ice cream place and it turned out to be really good! :D

Dog sitting, Last week of S.K.I.P.P. & Mt. Rainer

Here's a picture of my neighbor's dog! She's a ball of energy and fun to play with for the week after a long days work. 

   

So, as much as it disappoints me to say... This will be the last week working with S.K.I.P.P., Olympia Parks and Recreation summer day camp. I've mentioned in a couple previous posts. It's a summer day camp for kids and we give free lunch from 12-12:30pm and snack at 3pm and provide a free camp to anyone 18 and under! - It's been a blast! I've grown relationships with these kids and created many memories. I can't wait to come back next summer and be a counselor again!! :)

Today, my parents and I and a couple local relatives went to Mt. Rainer. It was cloudy all day. Getting an early start, 8am to be exact. We hiked for most of the afternoon, and even by 3pm the clouds didn't clear away! Here's a couple photos I got:


Let's make this week count! It's the countdown to my birthday!! :D