Powerhouse09

Lineup: Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Lil Jon, Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Flo Rida, LMFAO, FarEast Movement, Sean Paul, New Boyz, and Ya Boy.

Katie and I felt like High Rollers when we landed in Long Beach, California at 6:30. Although we had a total of 4 hours of sleep and were sporting airplane clothes, we went straight to Powerhouse!09 in Anaheim, California from the airport. Yeauhhh, that's how we live. My mother and my friend, Andrea Welch, greeted us at the airport and were also game for the concert. We arrived at the concert a tad late, but just in time for "Shots" by LMFAO. Highlight of the night: watching my mother dance to Pitbull's "Calle Ocho" and watching her mouth every word perfectly. I was so proud of what I created from forcing her to listen to my music every car ride. Even though, I swear she enjoyed every second. Ohh what a great way to be welcomed back to California, after what felt like a forever-long trip in Utah. Thank you Powerhouse 105.9

Goodbye California.

This morning, Katie Murphy and I left for EFY this morning at a whopping 10am. That was a stretch for me and Katie due to the fact we are on summer time, plus we both procrastinated on our packing and were forced to squeeze in some time before taking off to Salt Lake City, Utah. This year marks my third year of EFY in Provo, Utah- which in my opinion is the place to go for EFY. Because Katie is an EFY-virgin, she was so excited and had no clue what to expect. We both looked at this experience as pre-look at what rooming together in college would possibily be like. I am curious to see how this will turn out, because me and Katie are complete opposites. I am a complete slob and see no harm in living in a room with no visible floor and piles of clothes in every corner. Katie, on the other hand, has OCD and has to have everything in order and perfectly tidy and organized. So this week will be an adventure, for sure.

The Fray!

Today I got a phone call at around 1 in the afternoon, that seriously made me so happy. My best friend, Karenna Soto, surprised me in saying that she got The Fray/Jack's Mannequin tickets for tonight at the Verizon Amphitheatre! I was trying to tickets for this, but was unsure if I could go because I'm leaving for Utah tomorrow morning. The concert was amazing; the Fray sounds so much better live and Jack's Mannequinn brought me back to last summer with "I'm Ready" and "Holiday From Real." Karenna and I went, along with half of my high school was there. The Fray's song "Never Say Never" and "How to Save a Life" struck a chord with Karenna and I and consequentially of course made us tear up a little. We felt like losers, but it was very therapeutic for the trials we've gone through together for the past year. However, we were forced to miss the Fray's encore, because we had to be home before curfew. I was so happy though that I got to be apart of this though. It might possibly be the best concert this summer.

My New Baby, E20

This is my new love. For my 16th birthday, I gave my parents the choice of gifting me either a Mercedes GLK or a Viking sewing machine. No surprise, I received the Viking. My friend was confused whether the sewing machine was a good present or not. Because not only am I the only one of my friends who is fascinated with activities that numerous grandmas aliken to, but also because once I unwrapped the sewing machine, my mom gave me a list of "projects" to do like: repairing all the torn blankets in the house and replacing the buttons on her clothes, ect. 

Today I was able to put my sewing machine to good use. The free classes that came with this baby began today, and boy were they interesting. I showed up and I was the only person who was under the age of 50. The lady who was in charge of the Beginner's Class was - let's just say, accustomed to the sewing world for quite some time. Within the first 10 minutes, she was fed up with my questions and pretended like she didn't hear my questions or comments for the rest of the class. After I watched her discipline another woman who was advanced in her years, she continued to yell at me for my lack of preparation in class. The two-hour class did teach me a lot about the ins and outs of entering the world of sewing as a beginner. 

Note to self: do not take classes from RoseMary, the sewing nazi from Denmark.

"C.Bake-isms"

Chadley: You have used the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th worst "S" cuss words: 'Stupid, Sassy, and Shut Up.' It's 12:02 am and the Holy Ghost goes to sleep at 12:03 am (that's what Shelby Brown said) so stop cussing.

Me: Why does the Holy Ghost go to bed? I thought it stayed awake all the time.

Chadley: He gets tired from entering bodies and calming them down by making them feel warm by jogging inside of them. He needs to sleep sometimes, he gets tired of making people happy.

June Lake: Day 1

I knew this June Lake trip would be a success when Meghann stepped out of her car at a resting stop wearing the exact outfit I was. Meghann and I have always been compared for our latina-flavored looks, extroverted personalities, and just our pure likability. But out of all our 500,000 outings, the event of us dressing similar has never happened before, until today. Meghann informed any person who looked at us oddly that this was all planned and it was actually our 18th birthday as twins. On the other hand, I corrected her in saying that this was not supposed to happen and she was just going out of her way to be me. Shows our true love for each other.

The Murphy's and us went out to dinner at La Catina, where the second we walked in we all received much attention. Besides the fact that there are 7 girls & 2 guys, our matching outfits and Cheyenne's loud mouth helped us make friends with everyone. Chadley also kept informing the waiter that she was indeed underage and shouldn't be served "any alcohol or an ounce of liquor" and Chey kept pronouncing each Spanish dish as a whitey. Tomorrow's dinner is gonna be hard to top this one.

Guess whose the gimp?! Katie's painful look on her face would make it seem that she was the Murphy girl suffering from a sprained knee, but in reality Meghann is the one in possession of the crutch. You see, Meghann sprained her knee four days ago at a dance class. Excluding the mocking and sporadic crutch-removal maneuvers, we have been patient with the fact that she's been dragging down our pace and causing us to detour.

This is "Chadley Zesty Baker" aka my roomie. I was lucky enough to be stuck in a car with this girl for five hours. I slept 90% of the car ride, only woken up four times by her awkward staring and/or her mating calls to the wildlife around us. Chadley caused Chuck to learn the value of patience at the dinner table. Chadley not only entertained our table, but also all those around us. As I was getting ready to go to bed next to Chadley, she reminded me, "I have spaz-attacks in my sleep. Oh, and I sleep with one eye open."

Family Destination: June Lake

My family has been going up to June Lake ever since I could walk. The earliest memory I have of our family prime vacation spot is when my dad could still talk us all into camping. Now roughly ten years later, our family's idea of camping is a 'quaint' little five-room condo that holds about three TVs, a Jackie-approved kitchen, a jacuzzi in walking distance, and a balcony that overlooks the pure beauty of June Lake. Yeah, the Pinner family enjoys roughin' it. This year the Murphy family and my cousins are coming up with us - so this trip should for sure be interesting haha. We leave in about three hours and of course, I'm in my room blogging away in an effort to avoid packing and dealing with the fact that I ran out of contacts and have no phone/iPod charger. Looks like I might be the only one roughin' it - horribly blind and technology-free.

Driving With Chuck.

The video below (starting at 6:22-end) best describes what occurs
when my drive with my father, for the following reasons:

- my dad makes me drive listening to Marvin Gaye.

- my dad gets angry when I glance at him while driving.

- my mom says it's okay to drive faster than the posted speed limit.

- my mom is the one who yells at bad drivers.

Today was a breakthrough for my dad and I. After church got let out, I raced to the car so I could drive my family home from a wonderful day at church. I've had my permit for almost 6 months and I take my license test on July 7th. I've been driving pretty much everywhere with no mistakes for the last 6 months, but for some reason - my dad still refuses to get in the vehicle with me. I've driven with my dad three times, the third time being today. The first and what I thought would be my last time I drove with my dad was a week after I got my permit. It was the first time I drove a car, let alone a HUGE black Cadillac that I swear is the size of a school bus and life itself. Anyways long story short; he thought I was going to hit a guy on a bicycle and I couldn't stand the fact that he made me drive 10 mph slower than the speed limit. Second time: it lasted 30 seconds and didn't get farther than the neighbor's house. I do take part of the blame though. I should have known not to fool around with the Chuckster when he's in the passenger seat. I suddenly stopped on the hill, causing him to jerk forward without warning. Why did I stop? Because I still had my rainbows on and I must drive barefoot. Anyways! Today our family drove in peace. I let him point out obvious things I already knew about driving - ie: breaking a couple yards from the stop sign or signally before switching lanes. I know my daddy is just being so critical of my driving habits because he wants me safe.

But I am happy everything went smoothly for the first time.

Third Time's a Charm!

My Favorite Missionary

Okay, I couldn't think of another way to start off my blog entries rather than with my big brother, Ryan. Ryan is my best friend, who since I was thirteen has been mistaken for my twin, younger brother, or boyfriend. He's the only person I can tell the whole truth to and at the same time be safe from being judged. He is my own personal body guard with one main goal: scaring off every boy within 15 feet of me. Looking back at when our family first started coming to the Santa Margarita Ward, I would have never believed you if you told me that my brother would be leaving for a Mormon mission when he was 19. I really do believe that my brother's decision to serve a full-time mission was because of the examples of his church leaders and LDS friends. Like I said, my brother is my best friend, but recently I admit I've been advoiding all thoughts that involve my brother. The reason was so I could hold myself back from actually realizing that I won't be seeing my best friend for 1 year, 9 months, and 3 days (is that right?) I have to hold myself back from realizing that he's missed my sixteenth birthday, and will miss me finally getting my license, and my first date . However, once I started thinking about everything he's missed and going to miss within the next two years of my life - I realized how selfish I was being. Ryan is truly an amazing and perfect person, as I am sure anyone who knows him is already aware of. Ryan has a gift of befriending any person who walks by by simply opening his mouth or grinning that huge smile of his. Ryan also possesses a very sincere testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and has made it his duty to share it with every person he encounters in his Charleston, West Virginia mission. As his little sister, I couldn't be more proud of his decision to leave his friends and family behind for two whole years to serve the Lord. I admire his courage and just plain and simple love for the gospel. Honestly though, I am still living every week for his email on Tuesday at roughly 7:30am our time saying, "Im on." And waiting for his usual close of the majority of his emails: "remember to pray everyday, and read the Book of Mormon and remember who you are bc there are people who are watching you as a member of the LDS church."

he's the best brother in the world.

Family16Birthday

Every year on anyone's birthday in our family, it is custom to all get together and celebrate the fact that that person is one year older. However, this all stops once a person turns 18 in our family. No family birthday parties, Easter baskets, or our family's annual Easter Egg Hunt once you turn 18. So Ryan's out of luck, but fortunately I still have two years left of kid traditions. This year I chose to have my family meet at El Torito, no surprise to anyone who knows me. Everyone came; my aunts, uncle, cousins, and Karenna Soto and Kari Hill (who are pretty much family.) I think everyone had a good time, including me- partly to the fact that that was just another birthday celebration added to the week-long list of events.

16 Finally!!

So for my 16th Birthday Party, my parents allowed me to invite twelve of my closest friends to go down to Hollywood for dinner at the Geisha House and go see LMFAO at the House of Blues on Sunset. Unfortunately, my mom got hurt her leg so she was unable to be the chaperone- so we convinced Emma Johnson and David Burton be the head 'body guards' of twelve teenage girls, not an easy job. I still can't believe they agreed to such a task. But I knew if anything got out of hand, David would be there to whip any misbehaving girl back into line. Luckily with only a few problems, the two survived the night. LMFAO was bomb and I was lucky to squeeze my way to the front row with my two best friends beside me; Katie Murphy and Devan Owens. LMFAO has been my obsession over the last year or so, so I pretty much flipped when I heard they had a show the night before my birthday. Although I did have to miss my church's annual Girl's Camp, I had the best time. Besides the fact that LMFAO's Sky Blu and Redfoo sang to me the entire time (no joke) and referenced us three the entire show, spending the night before my birthday with my friends was perfect. The night was what I imagined by 'Sweet 16' to be and I will never forget it.