#32 - Have A Quadruple Sleepover

Yep you read that right. Quadruple..as in four. As in Rachel and I together for over 96 hours (which really isn't anything new but still). In the past our record has been a triple sleepover, but nothing ever this crazy. We predicted that we'd be sick of each other by the end and we couldn't have been more wrong. Hah time flew by, and it didn't even feel like we'd been living together for the past 4 days. We alternated - my house, her house, etc. so that we wouldn't get cabin fever. :P

Saturday: Splatter painted shoes. Cruised around creeping on people. Drank ICEE's - it's like my life source. Played a joke/prank whatever on our youth leader because that's just what we do. Went on the swings at a park and discussed the wonders of love. :P

Sunday: Drank Cherry Limeade Sparklers from Taco Bell (those things are THE BEST). Shopped at Kohl's since it was tax-free weekend. Rachel got the best deal ever because of my sister's ridiculous amount of coupons - a perfume set that was usually 30-something dollars, she got for 55 cents..hahah the cashier looked so angry. Watched the movie Kick-Ass which was BRILLIANT. I really want to watch it again because it is that good.

Monday: Went to the Science Museum in Raleigh..yeah, yeah laugh all you want but at least we'll admit that we're proud nerds. Watched the stupid movie Role Models...however a guy from Kick-Ass was in it which made it tolerable! Did some major prank calling - hahah except everyone immediately knew that it was Rachel. :) Did facials, painted our nails, and hair treatments.

Tuesday: Feasted on Oreos, Rootbeer, and Freeze Pops! - aka Fla-Vor-Ice. Washed my VW bug, my dad's van, and Rachel's mom's minivan...we plan on starting a business so that we can get filthy rich. Watched an amazing, inspiring movie called To Save A Life that you have to go see right now.

There was stuff in between but I'll leave that up to your imagination. I could go on and on boring everyone to death with all the little details of our quadrupleness.

#13 - Splatter Paint

Rachel and I have been wanting to splatter paint something for a looooong time now. And finally we made it happen! :) Over the weekend (since it was tax-free!) we bought canvas shoes for seven bucks at Target and then proceeded on setting up in my driveway. We took out my stash of paints that I took from art class - yep, my teacher just handed them over to me at the end of school - and covered the ground in newspaper. Then, because I couldn't find a single paintbrush anywhere in my house, we had to use these weird thin wooden craft stick things instead. Note of advice: don't use weird thin wooden craft stick things; they look like they'd work but they do not. Instead, you'll just wind up with more paint on your body than on your artwork.

So anywho, we plugged in my iPod speakers, started blasting music for the whole neighborhood to jam out to with us, and began splattering away. Rachel's shoes were the black ones (left) and mine were the white (right). They actually turned out a lot better than they look in the picture. My friend said they even looked like they were bought at a store. Hah it was awesome! I am definitely going to be splatter painting more in the near future - if only I had some things that needed a new paint job. Hmm...my car perhaps? Bedroom walls? NOT my body. Dude, we were covered in paint for the rest of the day and day after. Which by the way was a Sunday. Yeah...my dad wasn't too happy to see me leaving for church with blue and red paint all over my legs. :P

#7 - Skinny Dip

....yep.
:)

#44 - Sara Contreras Day

Meet the amazing, one and only SARA CONTRERAS. Ever since the first day of summer, Rachel and I have been trying to set a date when all three of us can hang out. And finally...WE DID! *insert applause here* So we picked Sara up in Rachel's hardcore mini-van, and set out for Raleigh. After getting there and dodging all of the construction workers (every single time I go to Raleigh, there's street construction which is pretty inconvenient), we parked on the side of the road, beside a house with a purple/blue/lavendar door (we all disagreed on the color) hoping that we wouldn't get towed.

We first went to SchoolKids Records again, since Sara had never been. She bought a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album (yeah!) aaaaaand some other album that I can't remember. :P But it was on sale for 4 bucks! On our way out, Rachel and I saw this basket with stuff inside; the guy at the counter said it was free - so what do you think we did? Yep, the three of us stocked up with our hands full of freebies. We got a CD in a nifty, cute little indie case, Arcade Fire postcards!!, Wolf Parade magnets, and bumper stickers.

Then we just ambled around downtown Raleigh, stopping in a cute coffee shop and bought some goods from a Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts place. We passed this pretty small building wedged between all the other stores that had a sign saying "Bowling Alley". Our curiosity kicked in - I mean who ever heard of a bowling alley in downtown?? So we went inside, up the stairs, and were greeted by this adorable old-fashioned bowling alley! There was only one guy working, and the rest of the place was completely empty. He let us snoop around, and we've already made plans to get a big group together and come back to go bowling sometime.

We were originally going to see that movie Date Night at the dollar-fifty theater, but decided to drive to Southpoint instead and check out Urban Outfitters. On our way there we decided to check out what was on the free CD we took from SchoolKids. The band is called Scraps, and I tracked down their myspace here. We all actually liked it and I think listened to the whole CD twice hah. Soooo we finally made it to Southpoint and headed straight to the huge Urban that has its own building. Since none of us had any money, we had to window shop which SUCKS and made us all cry (not really, but I felt like it).

Overall a pretty good, well spent, Sara Contreras-filled day! :)

#36 - Go To Camp

Every summer our church's youth group goes to Camp Caswell. It's probably the highlight of my summer; within one week I've grown so much closer to God and my youth group family, and have a ton of fun. Caswell is right on the beach and it takes us a couple of hours to get there. So super early on Monday morning, we all loaded up onto two buses and a few vans and were off. I read and listened to music the majority of the ride there; but as soon as I saw the first signs of beach houses and the air changed to that unmistakable beach smell, Rachel and I were hyped up. When we finally got there, everyone poured out of the buses and we took a gigantic group photo (above) - I'm pretty sure there were 88 of us, that's just our high school youth group, not including the middle schoolers. We were the biggest church there. Others had just like 20 kids!

All of the girls stayed in one huge building, in one big room. It was crammed full of bunk beds and it was like a mad house as everyone claimed their space. Just another part of Caswell you grow to love. In a row at the top, there was Rachel and I, our best friend Amy, and our lovely friend Amber. We unpacked and then headed straight to the beach. Everyone spent their free time there and found it hilarious at how pale we were. Ha ha ha. I even managed not to get sunburned the entire week!! :) After eating dinner, it was time for worship service - one of my favorite things about Caswell. I know that while singing, it's not important how awesome the music/praise team is or how great the lighting effects are, what matters is that we're praising God - but can I just say that my favorite place to worship is at Caswell. It is...unbelievable! The praise team chooses great songs, has amazing talent, the lights are fantastic, and I experience God's presence in ways that I don't back at home. Our speaker was Adam Robinson, a very fast-talking and funny dude who touched some great topics throughout the week. He stirred up thoughts in my head and led I think over sixty people to Christ!! :D

So our schedule throughout the week was waking up at 7 a.m. (ahhhh!), doing a quiet time, breakfast, and having a morning celebration - everyone got together in the Hatch, where we have worship, and we sang and watched videos. Afterward, we split up into our small bible study groups, then had a big bible study with our speaker, and then had lunch. Half the time I don't even know what it was that they were feeding us... my one and only complaint about Caswell is the food! :P And it doesn't help that I'm a picky eater - maybe that's why I lost six pounds haha. So after lunch, we had free time until 5:30, which was dinnertime. During free time, we did all sorts of things. We sometimes went to the beach, and other times explored the forts around the campus. It's awesome - there are forts there that soldiers used forever ago during wars, that we campers now get to adventure in. We also went to the gift shop, smoothie shop, played frisbee, watched Amber climb freakishly tall trees, and took walks. After dinner would be worship service, and then all of the churches would split up and have church devotions (another thing that I LOVE). Our youth group would come together as one and share things on our hearts, growing closer to one and another. A lot of people made some great decisions and commitments, including yours truly. :) I'm going to try to spend more time in the Word. The speaker, Adam, opened my eyes at how often we take the Bible for granted; many of us just have it sitting on our shelf collecting dust, while others across the country are dying to just have the privilege to read a couple of verses. So I'm going to try to read one chapter a day out of the New Testament, until it becomes a habit.

The whole week was terrific - and that's a huge understatement. Words can't describe my love for Caswell and the great experiences we have there. I already miss it and can't wait for next year! :)

#38 - Take A Class At The Gym

DITCH THE WORKOUT, JOIN THE PARTY!

Rachel and I are members of the Lifestyle gym in Apex. We usually just go a few times a week, on the treadmills, zoning off with our iPods blasting. There's a big studio room in the gym with half the wall covered in windows, so you can easily see inside at all the sweaty old ladies taking a class. Not the best sight, but they do always seem to be having fun. So Rachel and I decided one day that we would take a class. Not just any class....but ZUMBA! We read this little pamphlet thingy about it at the gym and it looked pretty fun, yet extremely hard. It's basically Latin dance incorporated with hip-hop music, and super energetic and fast. Hah yeah...imagine US doing that. :P

So we showed up to the class one night at exactly 5:30, not sure what to expect. We inched into the studio, full of mirrors and older women, and took a spot near the back where we were hoping not to draw attention to ourselves. We were the youngest ones in there, too. The instructor stood on this little stage in the front and started blasting Shakira and shaking her hips. Rachel and I looked at each other, shrugged, and started copying what everyone else was doing. We were pretty lost, but eventually got the hang of it - or at least pretended to. It was kind of strange being the youngest in the class; there were old women there really getting into it, which Rachel and I were laughing about later. Zumba was so much fun, though! So much better than just walking on a treadmill. It was full of fast cardio, hip shaking, foot work, twirls, and chest popping. We even lasted a full 45 minutes! (Believe me, that may not sound like much, but I was sweating like a mad person afterwards). We plan to go to the Zumba class on Tuesday nights throughout the summer.

#42 - Stand On Top Of A Building

Yep, the picture to the left that your eyes are currently resting on is indeed a satellite image of Apex High. And it's where Rachel and I were standing at midnight - well, on the roof that is. X marks the spot!

Around 11:45, while everyone else in this lame town of Apex was asleep, Rachel and I were driving towards the school. We turned off our loud music, turned off my car lights, and began looking more sketchy than we normally do. We pulled into a parking space beside all of the empty buses (so as not to draw attention to ourselves, of course). :] And from there, we began sneaking to where the ladder attached to one of the walls was (Building B), that the maintenance people use. We climbed around the fence/wall, up the ladder - which I HATED by the way...something about ladders just makes me cringe - and stood on top of the roof of our dreadful school. Wow what a sight. But we weren't quite happy yet. So we climbed another ladder, and then another, and soon we were on the highest of all the other roofs! I'm not sure how long we stayed up there but it was awhile. Rachel danced, we stargazed, hid as cars drove by, and were able to see Apex from new eyes. It was really cool. Before we left, we each took a rock from on top of the roof. Yeah, who knew the roof of Apex High was covered with thousands of rocks?! Mine is currently sitting on my dresser right now. It's weird how just a normal, boring rock will hold in so many memories.

#19 - Go to SchoolKids Records

Rachel had been to SchoolKids Records before, and after hearing about it from my friend Jake, I knew that I had to go, too. The cute little store is located in Raleigh, so we drove on out there which took a good amount of gas but was definitely worth it. The store was pretty small but packed with good music! They had CD's and records from just about every band imaginable. I really wish I had brought a ton of money with me; I would have spent it all on the awesome records that were on display. I actually have a record player sitting beside my computer right now, but the only time we use it is during Christmas time - playing all those old classic Christmas songs like the Little Drummer Boy. But oh man, how amazing it would be to have Modest Mouse or MGMT playing from the speakers! I really want to go back to SchoolKids Records another time. There's this little stage set up against the wall where I guess local bands play? It would be really neat to go back there once someone is playing. :) So if you're bored and in Raleigh, my advice is to check the place out. There's a little something in there for everyone. Oh geeze...I sound like a commercial now.

#10 - Photography In A Field

I'm a sucker for photography...especially ones taken in a field. There's something about the endless grassy, peaceful, enclosed area that I love. Every time I drive past the field across from the grocery store, Food Lion, it seems to call my name. Rachel and I had been wanting to go there to take pictures for a pretty long time. So yesterday evening, we finally made our wish come true. It was pretty spontaneous. Rachel called me asking if we wanted to have a photography session in the field where some construction was taking place and I said sure! An hour later, around sunset, we were parking my car in a tiny, empty parking lot behind some building. And from there we produced tons of awesome pictures. I chose a couple to put up here for proof. :) We came home with many cuts all over our legs from the stupid sharp grass and weeds, but it was definitely worth it. We had a lot of fun and found some great spots to take pictures.

#5 - Phoenix Concert

Last night was....the. best. night. ever.

Rachel and I bought two tickets to see the Phoenix concert at the Koka Booth Amphitheater. I had never been to any type of concert before so saying that I was excited would be a major understatement. I was ECSTATIC. We talked about it for weeks in advance and took up the afternoon getting ready and pumped.

We got there an hour early haha, and waited outside the doors where a line was forming. After finally getting in, Rachel and I picked a spot in the very front of the lawn, right behind the pit in front of the stage, to put down our blanket. We saw a couple of other people we knew there, too.

After what seemed like hours of waiting and anticipation, the opening band came out. We had never heard of them: the Love Language; and they were pretty good! They played a couple of songs, and then introduced PHOENIX! Which by the way, if you have never heard of them or listened to their music - I advise you listen to their album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix". It's the best and most recent album of theirs. Oh my gosh...they were spectacular. I told Rachel afterward that it was the best concert I had ever been to! (...plus the ONLY one I've been to, but whatever.) They sounded exactly the same live than they did on their CD, which was such a relief. One thing I can't stand is when bands suck live and don't sound anything like they do on my iPod. They played a ton of great songs, and soon everyone around us was singing and dancing along, including Rachel and I. :)

Around 8:30 is when the hilarious stuff began to happen. First, a shirtless drunk guy started dancing in our section, and was all up dancing on one of the security guards. Then, we got some random guy to take a picture of us. But then he said, "Now let's take one of all three of us so you can remember me." He wrapped his arm around Rachel, took a picture, and then ran off with his girlfriend. There was a waist-high fence that separated the lawn section from the pit in front of the stage. Well, apparently someone wasn't happy just chillin in the lawn, because he climbed under the little fence and joined the mob in the pit. Soon after that, like every five minutes someone else would climb under the fence. Eventually, huge groups of people were just taking turns climbing under/jumping over the fence right behind the security guards' backs! Haha it was a pretty funny sight.

Here's an extremely crappy video I took. I promise the sound quality was actually superb. The lighting was crazy! :)


After Phoenix was done performing, they left the stage. But we weren't even close to being done! We started cheering and finally they came back out for an encore. They ended with their hit song, 1901 - one of my favorites - and at one point the lights went out. When they came back on a few seconds later, the lead singer was in the lawn section...just a few feet away from Rachel and I! A HUGE mob of screaming, sweaty, and drunk people rushed in from all directions so that the lead singer was kind of crowd surfing. I got lost in the swarm of people, and ended up just having my face smushed up against a sweaty shirtless guy...not too fun. However, Rachel? SHE GOT TO TOUCH THE LEAD SINGER'S BUTT! Plus, he smiled at her! :D

Ahhhh this was such a great night - I'm gonna remember it for a long time and hopefully this will spark the first concert of many more to come.

#21 - Have a Brownie Batter Fight

FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, BABY! :)
So today at approximately 10:28, the bell rang releasing us from prison! Err I mean school! Rachel and I walked to my house, grabbed a few dollar bills, and drove to Burger King. We each bought some fries and a BK Icee; which by the way, for $1 it's definitely worth it minus the bright red tongue afterwards.

We also bought some donuts at Dunkin Donuts, sweet tea at Panera, and harassed some customers at Target. This is an average day for us. :)

We went to Rachel's house for a few hours and proceeded to start on our to-do list. Today we scratched off #19 - Have a brownie batter fight! I was just innocently minding my own business, stirring the brownie batter when Rachel comes out of nowhere with a huge spoon full of it! She threw it on my leg (I was sitting on the counter), and the battle began. Soon we were covered with brownie batter and dying of laughter. We still had some leftover to actually make some brownies, too. A pretty good day? YES; summer watch out, here we come!

The To-Do List

Here are our summer plans and what we hope to accomplish within these next three months! These are in no particular order and once we've done one, we'll link the post to it. This will be continuously updating because we have that kind of power.

1. Go to the zoo.
2. Road trip.
3. Go to a water park.
4. Go canoeing.
5. Phoenix concert.
   
6. Crash a party.
7. Skinny dip.
8. Beach trip.
   
9. Send a message in a bottle at the beach.
10. Photography in a field.
    
11. Rent/Ride a tandem bike.
12. Make a documentary.
13. Splatter paint.
14. Fly kites.
15. Have a picnic.
16. Learn how to swing dance/shag.
    
17. Put messages in balloons.
18. Street perform.
19. Go to SchoolKids Records.
    
20. Go sailing.
21. Have a brownie batter fight.
    
22. Shop at Triangle Town Center Mall.
23. Lemonade stand.
24. Go to the art museum.
25. Play in a sprinkler.
    
26. Sneak into a movie.
27. Pull an all-nighter - no sleep.
28. Go to a beach music festival.
29. Adventure Landing.
30. Wear only a bathing suit all day.
31. Learn the T-Mobile dance.
32. Have a quadruple sleepover.
33. Make aluminum foil hats (so the aliens won't get us).
34. Bonfire.
    
35. Time capsule.
36. Go to camp.
    
37. Give Ashley's cat, Mittens, a bath.
38. Take a class at the gym.
39. Go camping...in our backyard.
40. Eat dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.
41. Throw a random surprise party for someone.
42. Stand on top of a building.
    
43. Car wash.
44. Sara Contreras Day.
    
45. At Target, put weird items in other people's carts and follow them to check-out.
46. Go to Exploris/the Science museum.