Pictures!

My poor camera has started showing its old age...therefore the number of pictures that I normally take and subsequently post...well, it has significantly dwindled.

Nevertheless...here are a couple pictures that I thought I'd post:
I love-love-love this picture of Stacey, me, Dulce and Robin. These are my precious girls forever and always...Jenna is, I think, galavanting across the sand dunes with a certain '96er. =)

This is a picture of Karyn and me...in all the no hair/makeup glory. It was really fun having Karyn around! :) We went to 8th - 10th grade together at NAJA, and then after that, I think we saw each other once! Ah yes...a living testimony that googling each other and especially myspace brings people together.

Here's a picture of the girls at Robin's bridal shower. I can't believe she's getting married in three weeks!!!
Here's the girls at Kristin's bachelorette party. Let me just tell you...there IS a difference between bachelorette and bridal shower parties. I'll leave it at that. =)

Ima...Results

I, Valerie, am an Encouraging Leader. What does that mean?

Partly this:

"Your solid grounding in the practicalities of life, along with your self-assuredness and your willingness to appreciate new things make you a LEADER. You're in touch with what is going on around you and adept at remaining down-to-earth and logical. Although you're detail-oriented, this doesn't mean that you lose the big picture. Your outgoing nature, understanding of others, and directness make you ENCOURAGING. You want others to do well for themselves, and you generally believe in their abilities. You often know what's good for people because of your caring nature and your worldview."

I think that's pretty accurate about myself...not that I think I'm all that and a bag a' chips or anything, but I'm constantly in need of SOMETHING TO HAPPEN and for that something to happen when it's supposed to happen. If someone doesn't stand up and make it happen, well, I'll do it. Someone has to do it!

Of course, I've met someone recently that, although she's very nice, she doesn't seem to be able to NOT lead. She seems to love the control, and she isn't able to turn it off! She's very useful to have around...but at the same time...hmmm. It really made me think about how I come across sometime.

The bf took the test and turned out to be a free-wheeling inventor. Amy is an animated director, and Kristen is a benevolent visionary. Todd is a considerate analyst and Jenny is a benevolent inventor - I guess somewhere between the bf and Kristen! =)

I love that all my friends are different.

Ima...

I'm in Chicago, people!!!

So, since I haven't posted anything in a while, I thought I'd send you to a really cool place to take a personality test. Depending on how slow you are, it may take you about 15 minutes to take it (if you're quick). Thanks to The Camachos for the heads up to the website.

My Personal Dna Report

Oh...let me know what you are. Everyone I know who's taken the test have come up with different personality outcomes, which I think is really cool.

I am an Encouraging Leader, but I'll post more on what that exactly means.

Ta Ta!

Passion

Passion. A word I've thought about, discussed, felt.

I was catching up on a new tv series I've recently become a fan of - The Bedford Diaries. This show is about the students and the issues they deal with during a sexual studies class in college. Each week, a different topic is presented and each student is tasked with the assignment of a video diary answering the week's question. They have been tasked to document their thoughts on, among other things, love vs. sex, manipulation and secrets.

The last episode I watched, the teacher posed the question - what is passion...what are you passionate about!

More questions were raised instead of answers...what IS passion? Is it something you choose or is it something that chooses you? How much should you be able to control your actions or feelings for what you are passionate about? Can you be passionate about a lot of things or does that defeat the purpose of finding something to be passionate about? Is it a GOOD thing or is it a BAD thing since passions can really take hold?

What do you think out there? What is passion? What is worse - being passionate about everything...or nothing? Do you think having something to be passionate about is a requirement for actually living life?

Bye-bye, Highschool!

...so I ws thinking that I'm over highschool. Good thing, too, since I left highschool 10 years ago.

While in highschool, I was DETERMINED not to be the creepy alumnus who couldn't let go of the past and who constantly found themself back at MBA...so, with that being said, I think I went back maybe three times in the last 10 years...would've been less, but i think my brother would've killed me if I didn't go to his graduation.

So i realized that i left MBA and never really looked back. I moved on, but I didn't necessarily close the door on MBA...i never closed the door on my life there. To me, highschool lived on because so many things started and happened there. I met lifelong friends there, I dated seriously for the first time, I started forming my own opinions and way of thinking. A lot of ME started there.

Going back for our 10-year really opened my eyes. The last 10 years flew by, now that I think about it, but when I stepped onto that campus, it was as if I was 17 again. Of course I wasn't, so I was forced to start ending the chapters of my life that started there. I had to recognize that I wasn't the same person I was when I was there. My world felt upside down since things that seemed so interesting, people who I thought the world of, people who I DIDN'T think much of...they changed, in my eyes. Things that were soooo important back then, well, in the whole scheme of things, really weren't...

Leaving the campus, I was sad. 10 years ago, I was an excited ex-highschool- senior-soon-to-be-college freshman. Leaving the campus was like going out to see what all I was going to be! Going back to the campus was assessing where I've been since leaving. I wasn't sad at how my life unfolded these past 10 years, I wouldn't have given those years up for anything...

...what I was sad about, I honestly can't really pinpoint. The friends, the times, the activities on that campus will make up the most eventful and meaningful two-year span in my life. I'm so thankful that it happened and would live them over in a heartbeat.

So, thank you, MBA, my lovely friends, the beach, bluff, ex-boyfriends, dorm, cafeteria, classes, teachers...

Thank You!

10 Years Later!!!

Here is a picture of some of us who attended our 10-year. I'm patiently awaiting pictures from friends since my own camera was without battery the whole weekend...


I had a wonderful time, and it was soooooooooo nice to see old friends. Not too many changes, and some huge changes. I'll write more later!!!