So far so...good?

I have exactly fifteen minutes to blog.  Why fifteen? Because in fifteen minutes it'll be midnight and I will be turning off my light and going to bed.

I've been living in the sunny Southland for 2 months and 13 days although it really feels a lot longer than that.  My transition from Salinas to here has been one filled with ups and downs.  For example...

• Down: For the first few weeks I thought my address included a house number, that wasn't my house at all.  That address was on my new checks, my textbooks (that were not delivered until three weeks into the semester), my Wall Street Journal subscription, a scholarship check and many other various forms and job applications alike.  Luckily it was just the house next door and my neighbors were cool and put up with my mistake and I was able to switch over everything to my new address quickly.
• Down: I've filled out almost, if not over, 20 job applications in four cities (Cypress, Long Beach, La Palma and Lakewood) and have never received a call back from a single store, restaurant, or babysitting seeker.  
• Up: I was the "new girl" at the Lakewood Hollister for all of about a day.  Now I'm once again being called the best in the store and really love working for my managers there.  I don't really know exactly how to describe it but when I walk into work down here I feel like I'm home.  I've really realized how much I value working and how much I truly do enjoy it.  
• Down: I had a lot of downtime for the first month that I was here.  I didn't know what to do with myself!  I'm not used to being in a house all by myself.  In Salinas my home seems to be always full of people, whether they're related to me or not, and that's what I'm used to.  It was a really big challenge for me.  The television was always on just so I would have some background noise.  
• Down: I watched a lot of TV...ugh.
• Up: I went to a school event with Hannah Elliott and we got free t-shirts and our picture was posted on The Nugget's (a restaurant on campus) website.  We were sipping our "mocktails" and it's really cute.  
• Up: I've been going to Rock Harbor church since I got here.  My roommate Angela has been going there for a few years now and Stephen Paulsen recommended it to be long before I moved.  I love it.  It's very geared towards people my age and their worship is amazing.  

• Major Down: What would my life be like without car trouble?  I can't even begin to tell you because I don't really know.  I drove my car around for two weeks with a major gas leak.  The guy at the repair shop said that I was lucky that my car didn't explode.  I unfortunately couldn't agree with him...I wish the dang thing had exploded.  Two days after I got that fixed Corinne and I were on our way back to Salinas when my radiator cracked on the Grapevine.  We had it towed to the nearest shop, left it there for the weekend, got a ride back to Northridge to get Corinne's car, and by the time we were on the road again heading home it was 7:30 at night and if things had gone right the first time we would have already been home.  That weekend really was not the best for me.  Now my ABS light is on and while I'm driving on smooth, paved roads it feels like my car is going down some unpaved, country road.  I swear this car will be the death of me and my parents.

Well it's now 12:08 a.m. and I need to get some rest.  I have many more stories to share with you and I'm making blogging a priority now.  I need to write.  It feels good to write something that I know I'm not going to be graded on.  Goodnight world.