Where Did The Time Go?

In a few short hours I am going to be finishing my last final of my first semester of college. I can't believe how fast it has gone, it seems like just yesterday I was moving in. I am already 1/8 done with my college experience(hopefully). I have made tons of amazing friends and had some great times. I can't wait to see what the rest of college has in store for all of us. Come visit!

However, I am so excited to be going home for a month. It is going to be a nice anticipated break. If you're reading this, we better hang out over Christmas.

Weird

I am not too sure why I have waited til now to write about this, but it was super crazy. About four months ago I came to ASU and met all kinds of people. In the crazyness of it all I met this guy Charlie Thuente(Tent-ee). Austin, him, and I have become pretty close over the past few months and we have come to the realization that we are such good friends because we have virtually lived the same life over the past 18-19 years.

Our fathers both own their own company.(Victoria Cleaners and Your Neighborhood Plumbing)
Charlie swam and ran cross-country. I swam, and Austin ran freshman year.
We both have younger, red headed sisters who dance.
We both are from families of five.
We both decided to attend ASU, obviously.

Weird, right?

You're Never Too Old

Don't you love it?

What The Heck?

I have only been gone for barely three months. The other weekend was the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving; and Austin, Charlie, and I were hanging around the house all week. When I left home in August I could walk around the house in the dark no problem. Now when I want to walk anywhere at night I have to bust out the cellphone flashlight. This sucks, what am I going to do when I go home for a month?

'Tis The Season

I am aware I posted about Christmas being awesome and whatever just a few days ago, but hey, its my sexy blog and I do what I want. Today Austin, Sineadh, Mary, and I went to the beautiful thing that is the 99 cent store. We found it last night and decided we must go today. Once there, Austin and I found some glorious dollar decorations: a Christmas tree, lights, questionably good looking ornaments, and other various things, all for under a dollar each.

We splurged.




39 days.

Have Some Courage

DISCLAIMER:
You may not find this remotely funny.
If not, I couldn't care less.

Don't you love the nights where you expect to do absolutely nothing, and it turns out to be an awesome time? Well, I do. Tonight at about 6:45 pm, I was not feeling hot and just wanted to take it easy, I was about to put in a movie and just chill the whole night. Then Kathleen and Cherise called, I almost didn't answer. She asked if we wanted to go to the basketball game or the lantern walk, neither of which sounded remotely appealing at the time. Eventually she talked us into going to get food then hitting up the basketball game.

Once at the game we sit with Natalie and some other people and start to watch in the student section. Eventually we are dominating and Austin, Kathleen, and I get kind of bored of standing, so we head up to the top where we can sit without being bothered. While up there we are just talking and watching ASU cream Mississippi St. and notice some kids walking around in the rafters. What the heck? Probably about 4-5 minutes later, we see cops walking around up there. A minute later, the kids are doing a walk of shame in front of us with their hands behind their backs, sucks, but funny.

After that we go up and hang out in the hall until we decide to go to Hollywood Video to rent a movie. We get there and go through all the old movies we watched as kids: Land Before Time, Homeward Bound, Aladdin, The Brave Little Toaster, and Jack Frost, just to name a few. Eventually we don't buy anything so we go over to In-N-Out. We get it to-go and eat it at a park. We only got one cup of Root Beer because we thought we could just go back inside and refill it a bunch of times. We get back to In-N-Out and decide we want to fill up Cherise's water jugs with Root Beer. I walk in and get a cup, then Austin goes and fills it, then Kathleen, then Cherise, and we all pour the Root Beer into the bottles. We are laughing so hard, "We just spent our Friday night stealing Root Beer and Dr. Pepper from In-N-Out!"

We decide to go back to our room and watch "What Happens In Vegas", but first we have to stop by Chevron for snacks obvs. So we go in and start talking to the lady at the register, she is nice, kind of weird, but nice. As we leave we are saying how we like her, and Cherise says, "Yeah, she is so... courageous."

....

What?!?!

Of all the words in the English language, she picks courageous? We laughed so hard, and that became the word for the rest of the night. We go back, watch the movie, and just hang out. We decided we are starting a band called Courageous. Our first single is going to be called Courage off our album, Can I Get A Fuck Yah? It is going to be epic. Our follow up single is going to be "Grow Some Balls."

Like I said, you may not even find this funny, but I laughed so many times tonight that I lost count, so I thought I'd share.

Who doesn't love good, clean, sober fun?
I know I do.

Watch for us when we hit it big:

Single: Courage
Album: Can I Get A Fuck Yah?
By: Courageous

41 Days

It is roughly 41 short days until the best day of the year, Christmas. You may find yourself wondering, "Derek, how so?" Well, curious reader, let me tell you. The Christmas/giving/loving spirit is just so awesome and contagious in the preceding month that all you can feel is warm. If you believe otherwise, you are dumb. There is no other way around it. I cannot wait to go home over Thanksgiving and bust out the fake tree(embarrassing, right?). Last year Austin and I went out and bought a real one because we couldn't stand the utter sin that is a fake tree, and we will probably do the same this year. But, all in all, its going to be awesome.






'tis the season

Oh How I Miss It

This weekend Austin and I went home to surprise and visit everyone. No one except Stephen knew, not even our family. It was such a blast to see the look on every one's faces. The one thing it made me realize is, I miss it so much. Just being able to walk into my pantry, crash on my couch, and just chill with everyone. I am sitting here wishing time would go faster until Thanksgiving. I cannot wait to see everyone then, gonna be a blast.

Also, how are some people so retarded when it comes to being a halfway decent person? I didn't think being a friend was that hard, but apparently it is for some stupid people.

22 Days

3 weeks from tomorrow I am flying home for one of the nation's greatest holidays, Thanksgiving!!! I am so excited, I cannot even express it in words. I am going to spend time with my friends for the first time in three months and it is going to be epic. Hopefully a new friend may join us for his inaugural voyage to California, but we will see. I seriously can't wait anymore. These are going to be the longest three weeks of my life.

Get out and vote today!

Reliving The Glory Days

As some of you may have heard, last weekend was parents weekend here at ASU. With going two months without seeing my family, they are feeling very giving. We told them how hard it was to remain informed without having a tv. They took us to Costco and bought us a tv that is ridiculously large. It is so unnecessary. To make this new addition to the Gardner room, we decided to buy a little gem. I went on eBay tonight and purchase a Nintendo 64!!!! It was $35 and will be shipped in the next 48 hours. We decided that we are going to buy two extra controllers, Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, Golden Eye, Mario Party, and Super Smash Brothers.

It is going to be epic.

A Little Favor

If you are not too busy, I was wondering if you could say a little prayer. I have just had about the worst week I have could have possibly ever imagined in my short nineteen years of existence. Tuesday, my best friend Shasta had to be put to sleep. That was one of the most aweful things that I could have imagined. The rest of the week I just looked forward to seeing my family. Then the weekend came, and it plummeted downhill. I do not want to go into what happened but my friend is going through a really rough time and it is affecting me, Austin, Mary, and my friend Sineadh extremely. Everything looks like it is going to be ok, but if you could just send a little prayer to help us out, that would be awesome.

If I haven't told you lately, just wanted to make sure you know I love you.

The Wonder Dog

Tuesday afternoon, I am walking to class and all of a sudden I get a phone call from my sister. She is coming today to visit, so I figure that she has questions on what to bring or what not. I answer and she is hysterically crying. All of a sudden I hear her mumble, "Derek! Mom... and Dad... had to.. put down Shasta!!!". My heart stopped. "I will call you back in five minutes." I turned right around and walked back to my dorm. It took every ounce of my being to not lose it. Once I got back to my room I lost it, I am tearing up right now just writing this.

We got Shasta when I was barely three years old, I do not know life without her. She was the most amazing best friend a guy could ask for. Last night I just laid in bed thinking of all the times she has been there for me. She would rush to the door when someone knocked and would smile as she greeted them. Many people thought it was a snarl but it was a loving smile. She would walk outside and cruise the neighborhood while we were not home. Everybody loved her.

I got an e-mail from my mom. She said that she had been really struggling the past few months. Her legs would give out, she was getting sores all over, and her eyes started twitching. They brought her to a vet and the vet proposed a brain tumor. At Shasta's age of 16, what on Earth could they possibly do? My Mom said it well, "She was too good of a dog to suffer like that." She was so right, but I wish I could have just said good-bye. I miss her so much. That night everyone in my family called, and my Dad called last. He broke down while on the phone with me. One of few times I have heard this. He spent her last weekend with her at her favorite place in the world, the cabin.

I know it was her time to go, I am just so upset I couldn't say good-bye.

Shasta, may you rest in peace, and please know that I will always love you.

RIP
Shasta "The Wonder Dog" Gardner
1/9/93 - 10/21/08
What is a man to do without his best friend?
A house without a dog is not a home.








The Gardners lost a family member Tuesday, not a pet.

Everytime Without Fail

So tonight, Charlie and Mary came in to mine and Austin's room to "do homework". I currently, was on a roll preparing to write my essay but was still happy to see them. We were talking having a grand old time when I decided it was time to get down to business. I can't concentrate when I can hear people talking so I put my headphones in and went to work.

I was writing an essay on how Facebook makes our relationships more superficial and deep, meaningful relationships basically are starting to disappear. I was killin' the essay for a good half and hour and almost done. I was making my last point, and wrapped it up with a nice quote. Now the conclusion.

Cricket.... Cricket....

I had nothing. Why is it every time, no matter how well you are doing, when you are basically done with your essay that you can't think of anything to say. I basically sat in front of my laptop and stared for a good ten minutes. Then Cherise and Jordan walked in.All hope is lost. I give up. I just started talking to Stephen and Amanda on AIM, and Kelsey on Facebook(ironically).

Finally, screw it. I completely BS'd it. My conclusion probably makes absolutely no sense. Now that I think about it, I should probably go back and go over. But I really know that I am not going to.

At least its just a rough draft. But lets get serious, I am not really going to change it for the final draft either.

Burn After Reading

Tonight Austin and I ventured over to Tempe Market Place for dinner and a movie. I know, cute, right? We went to CPK and then saw the 9:40 showing of Burn After Reading. I went in, hoping it would be funny but not really expecting a whole lot. It was hilarious. I would highly recommend it. Brad Pitt is a freaking riot. It was so crazy and random, I think you all would highly enjoy it. Quite harsh language, but hey, what do you expect?

Burn After Reading
Rated: R
Now Playing

Go see it!

Happy Yom Kippur Everyone

Today is the wonderful holiday of Yom Kippur, so Austin and I decided to celebrate. You might be thinking to yourself, "Derek, you aren't Jewish?!?!". I know, I know. As a college student, I want to try new things, experience different cultures, things like that, you know? So now you are probably trying to think of how we might have celebrated today. Fasting? Ceremonies? Temple? Psh! As if. Austin and I didn't go to class today in honor of Yom Kippur, then we went over to Manzy to dine in style.

Go us.

One Of My Only Regrets

So this weekend Austin and I went up to San Francisco to visit some friends and go to the Cal/ASU game. Walking around San Fran the first day brings up one huge regret, why did I not apply to school up there? I love that city so much. I really like ASU but I think I would have absolutely loved going to school up there. One of my only true regrets in my life.

Do We Really Have That Bad Of Karma?

So I am sitting in a lounge in UC Berkeley right now at 4:57 am, and waiting for the sun to rise. You might find yourself asking, "Derek, why are you doing that?", and I will tell you, oh boy, do I have a story for you! Austin and I flew up to San Francisco for the weekend to visit Katherine, Lisa, and Lindsey. It has been a ton of fun and have loved every second of it. We started packing tonight at about 3:00 am so we could just wake up and leave.

Austin and I are flying out of San Francisco airport, which is about a 45 minute train ride from Berkeley. So someone has the good idea of checking to see what time we have to leave to make our 8:30 am flight(why the hell did I book it that early?). So we go on and it tells us that the first train arriving at SFO will arrive at 9:17am.

Oh great, just enough time to be 45 minutes late! Uh-oh. So we go talk to Katherine's roommate Simone(from Oakland), to see what our best bet is on getting to the airport. She says we can either try and take a bus or a taxi. We call the taxi.

"How much is it to go from UC Berkeley to SFO?"
"About $50."
"Bye."

Lets try the bus. She looks it up for us and says, well, you are going to have to walk, bus, bus, walk, and then bus again. Oh great, two kids who have never been on a public bus in their life have to manage that at about 5:00 in the morning. I don't think so. Great, here goes another $50.

So we have to get in a cab at about 6:00 am to make sure we get to the airport on time. Austin and I decide that if we went to bed for an hour and fifteen minutes, we would be more tired than if we just waited up. So we are currently just sitting on our laptops killing time. Hopefully we make it home.

The world officially hates us.

Isn't It Just The Pits?

Close your eyes and picture this; well I guess you need your eyes to read, so don't close them, but still picture this. You are taking a test, and you come to a question. For the sake of the argument, we will say it is #23.

#23. Number twenty-three isn't that hard of a question, and you are pretty sure once you look at the choices of answers you will know it for sure.
A. Not sure what this means.
B. Yes! I am pretty sure its this.
C. Never heard of it.
D. Is this even English?
E. All of the above.

Why do they have to do that? Once you get to "B", you are so certain that its that. But that God-forsaken "All of the above" just puts those little demons on your shoulders.

"It is totally 'B'"
"Well, it could also be the other ones"
"But I have never even heard of those"
"Maybe I just wasn't paying attention"
"Crap!"
"DGAF, its B"
"I hope"
"Dang"

Curse you Professor McCarthy and giving me a substantial amount of those situations tonight.

Please

So as annoying as my little sister is, she is going through a rough time right now. She went to the doctor a few days ago because she has been having serious back pains. They x-rayed her and found out she has scoliosis. Degrees of scoliosis vary and my sister has it pretty bad.

Under 20 degrees, they don't worry too much and just kind of keep an eye on it.

Between 20 and 40 degrees, they keep an eye on it, but you are required to wear a certain type of brace.

And anything over 40 degrees, they take very seriously, and highly recommend surgery.

My sister, her first diagnosis, was told that she is already at 38 degrees. They never picked up on it because she is very strong and her body naturally corrects it when she is standing. She is going to have to wear a brace while sleeping for the next 2 1/2 to 3 years. Please just keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
























Concerned,
Derek.

Good Way To Start A Day

So Tuesday morning I arose at approximately 10:00 to head off to English. I opened the laptop to do the morning e-mail/facebook routine. Yahoo is my homepage and it opened and I had 1 new e-mail. It was from Clinton Monson, took me a second to recognize the name. I opened it,

"Sorry for the last minute, but I am going to have to cancel our class today. Sorry if any of you don't get this in time."

Oh Clint, you don't have to apologize for anything! I think headed over to Manzy to have a substantial breakfast, which I don't do nearly enough these days.

Isn't college life grand? I am sitting, waiting, hoping he will cancel it again tomorrow.

Hopeful,
Derek.

I Love Multi-Tasking

Arizona State University has an amazing gym, more commonly known as the Student Recreation Complex. Tonight at approximately 8:30pm Mountain Standard Time, Austin, Charlie, Mary, and I made our way across campus to it. There, Mary did some intense elliptical work while Austin, Charlie, and I headed to pump some iron. We did mainly chest and back, then I did a heap of abs. Then we parted ways so Austin and Charlie headed to the treadmill and I did the bike.

On the bike, as well as almost all the cardio equipment there are personal tv's. I enjoyed fifteen minutes of "Family Guy" and the first five minutes of "The Office", it is extremely motivating. After 5 painful and extremely sweaty miles, Mary and I finished randomly at the same time. We made our way downstairs to meet Austin and Charlie. We made our way over to them, where they were just walking, maybe a cool down?

No.

Not when "The Office" is on, anyways.
Mary and I: "Are you guys ready to go?"
Charlie and Austin: "Well we were."
MI: "What?"
CA: "Well, we finished running, then started to leave, and realized 'The Office' was on, so we came back to the treadmill and just started walking and watching."
MI: "Hahahahahaha"

We then proceeded to walk on the treadmill and watch the remaining twenty or so minutes of "The Office". I walked a mile while watching one of the funniest shows on tv. It was a good night.

Accomplished,
Derek

Sicky Gnar Gnar

So I am sitting in my dorm room with a cold.
My mommy is not here to make me better.
This is officially not cool.

Sickly,
Derek.

Green Street Hooligans

I just finished watching Green Street Hooligans, and I think it may have just settled in the spot as my favorite movie ever. It is so good and has a good mix of things going on in it. It reminds me that no matter where I am in the world, I always have my guys back home that will always be there for me, no matter what. It is quite violent but I still think everyone can enjoy it.
























Check it out.

Postal Service

The Postal Service is one of my favorite bands, but I also love the US Postal Service. You should take advantage of it; draw a picture, write a letter, take a picture, and send it to me! I don't care what it is, I love mail.

Derek Gardner
711 E. Lemon St.
# 1227 HAV
Tempe, Arizona
85281

Why ASU is better than your school

I hope I don't make you feel to inadequate...

1. We kill people in football

















2. We have Sparky























3. We are 1000000 times more spirited than you
















You could probably transfer.

100th Post

So in honor of my 100th post, I am going to do 100 random facts about me, not too sure how this will go. But I am going to try my best not to repeat or anything, so here we go:

1. I like Arizona
2. I love California
3. I like when I understand math
4. I love driving down PCH with the windows down
5. I love going to In-N-Out and getting a #1, spread only
6. I love back massages
7. I like buying new things from Urban Outfitters
8. I love taking/looking at pictures
9. I hate starting a new pencil
10. I like pens more than pencils
11. I love Disney Land
12. I miss my Disney Land pass
13. It's all about Old Spice - After Hours
14. I have come to the conclusion that I love swimming
15. I enjoy blogging
16. I think The Office might be the best show ever, correction, it is
17. I hate Sociology 101
18. I like my new friends
19. I miss my old friends
20. a lot
21. I can't wait to go to San Francisco in October
22. I love college
23. Ensenada was the best time of my life
24. ASU is the best college in the world
25. I love my dog Shasta, and hope I will see her again at Christmas
26. My favorite food is PB&J
27. The best place in the world is Whistler in Vacouver, Canada
28. The best CD ever is In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson
29. The Postal Service comes in a close second
30. I loved High School and kind of miss it
31. Everyone should do ASB
32. I don't get cigarettes, and never will
33. I wish I lived in Palo Verde East
34. I hate when pedals fall off your bicycle
35. I love going to dances
36. Football games are the greatest
37. Watching ASU kick butt is even greater
38. Drunk people are my favorites
39. I wish I had my car in Arizona
40. 1000 Steps is the best beach in the world
41. Swimming is the best workout ever
42. I wear Acqua Di Gio by Armani, smells pretty good
43. I am a fan of a nice V-neck
44. Easy-mac is my friend
45. Microwaves are even better friends
46. Planet Earth is the one of the best series ever recorded
47. Best movies ever are as follows: Green Street Hooligans, Fight Club, and Dumb and Dumber
48. I plan to go to South Africa with Austin and Stephen in June, 2010 for the World Cup
49. You should come
50. I just bought my first plane ticket on my own
51. I am excited, yet sad to grow up
52. UPS might be one of the most boring jobs in the world
53. PhotoBooth is one of my favorites
54. I think I might minor in Religious Studies
55. PF Changs is pretty delish
56. The best holiday by far is Christmas
57. I miss my iPod thoroughly
58. I can't wait to go to San Francisco
59. My sociology teacher showed us a video where a guy said, "Teachers can't talk in a monotone voice for an hour, in front of a chalkboard."
60. See #59 for story of my Sociology teacher's life
61. I want to go snow boarding
62. I miss the weekend cabin trips
63. I plan to attend a Buddhism ceremony of a project, which I am stoked for
64. Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth
65. I should be in bed
66. I am glad I have friends who like me for who I am
67. I am glad I am happy with who I am
68. I love to text ChaCha
69. Arizona could cool down a bit if it wants to, that's okay with me
70. I live for mellow nights
71. I wish I could attend Hogwars
72. I don't care if you think that's weird
73. I am extremely upset with Warner Bros. right now
74. Secondhand Serenade just came on the radio and really makes me miss everyone
75. My last travel trip was my favorite, and I am so grateful
76. I miss my El Pollo Ranchero, no tomato
77. Now Chris Brown came on and made me miss the cabin
78. I miss my swim team
79. I wish I could go to open gym again
80. I want to go skydiving more than life itself
81. I love how Arizona doesn't have Daylight Savings Time
82. I have to be at work in 7 hours and I haven't gone to bed
83. I Kissed a Girl is the dumbest song ever
84. I bet you guessed that song came on the radio, if you are even reading these still
85. If you are, you deserve a pat on the back
86. I am excited to be 19, it seems so old
87. I love finding money in my pocket
88. Vanilla Mint is the best Chap Stick
89. I love my "Religions of the World" class
90. I just bough some clothes from U.O. which I am excited about
91. I am excited to see my parents over Parents' Weekend
92. Rainbow Sandals are second to none
93. I am extremely bummed YogurtLand is not a nation-wide thing
94. If you ever come to Tempe, AZ, be sure to check out Hippie Gypsy
95. Be sure to come to Tempe, AZ
96. I love being immature
97. I like inspirational sports posters
98. Road trips are grand
99. I need some sleep
100. A song just came on and I teared up a little for the first time since getting here, I miss you all so much.

Love all of you guys.

I Didn't Even Know It Was Possible

So yesterday, Austin and I were on our way to meet Charlie and Lauren for Sociology, the most boring class of my life, on our bikes. My bike is already a piece of crap, it is brand new but the seat won't tighten, makes a ton of noise, just a hunk of junk. So I am on the sidewalk and I went to go off the curb to get in the street to try and avoid all the foot traffic. I was luckily sitting on the seat, had my feet just kind of resting on the pedals and went off the curb and, "POW!".

My pedal fell off.

Yeah, seriously. I didn't even know that was freaking possible. So I ask Austin to hold my bike while I walk back for the piece of crap pedal. Then I get a text from Lauren, "Hey I didn't see you, so I just went inside." I have only met this girl once, so after telling her, "Sorry, my pedal fell off my bike", she probably thought I was the biggest retard ever. So now I am in the 100 constantly degree weather, bikeless, and frustrated.

As much as I am pissed off about it, I still recognize how effing hilarious this is, so feel free to laugh as hard as you want, because it is quite funny.

October 2-5

Tonight I just felt much older than I have ever felt in my life. October 4th, 2008, the mighty Sun Devils are taking on the pitiful Cal Berkeley Golden Bears. At 9:30 I booked myself a round-trip flight to San Francisco! I feel so old, it says nothing about Renee and/or Randy Gardner. I did it all on my own. Woot Woot! And by the way, my 19th birthday is 3 weeks from today(that feels old too), so mail me something at my new address!

Derek Gardner
711 E. Lemon St.
#1227 HAV
Tempe, AZ 85281

Hello Tempe

So it is 8:54am and I am sitting in a hotel in Tempe, Arizona. Yesterday we had the unpleasent job of saying good-bye to all our friends and packing our life up and coming here. I am very excited but miss all of you guys. I am extremely bored so I am kind of just typing away right now, without anything really in mind of what to say. See, I don't even really know if what I am typing is making any sense what so ever. I just want to make sure you all come out and visit us when you get a chance. Hopefully moving into the dorm today so I will keep you posted.

Peace.

You Should Come!

Austin, Stephen, and I decided today that we are 100%, for sure in June 2010, we are going to go to the Soccer World Cup. It is amazing, and being held in South Africa. I have never been to another continent, and I am so excited. You should come along!

Another REALLY Cool Thing

In my last post, I said there was 205 countries in the 2008 Olympics. Where I found that, WikiAnswers. It is so sick.

http://wiki.answers.com/

Type in a question and it will try its best to answer it. Or, if you are feeling saucy, you can browse other peoples' questions, and answer those.

I love it.

USA! USA! USA!

I seriously think the Olympic Games are one of the coolest things ever. Just to see 205 countries from around the world come together for one common event, blows my mind. Knowing that so many countries have issues with others and the fact that they put those aside for 17 days to try to beat each other in various sports amazes me. Going to the Olympics, to me, is one of the highest honors you could ever reach. You just know that you are one of the top competitors in whatever you do, and if you win a gold, you know that you are the best.

Go USA!


p.s. My tv isn't working, so if any of you want company to watch some of the games, I am positive Austin and I would be more than happy to oblige.

Hiatus

Sorry for the hiatus. My laptop got a virus so it was taken away from me for about a month to get "fixed". Apparently when laptops get "fixed", that means all the music on them has to get deleted. Fun, right?

So if anyone has any cd's that they want to pass onto me that would freaking rock.

Thanks.

Last One

Tomorrow morning I leave for my last travel trip with the Gators. We are going to go up to Clovis, Cen-Cal(not 100% sure if anyone says that[but hey, this is my blog, I will say it if I want]). Hope its going to be fun, and probably the most fun part:

Thursday: 113 degrees
Friday: 109 degrees
Saturday: 103 degrees
Sunday: 99 degrees

So it is obviously getting cooler, but still.
Oh well, see ya Monday.

Summer Adventures Part 1

Every night this week, Austin, Tyler, Eric, Me and co. have gone on a midnight fast food run. It has been so unhealthy but amazing. Monday, we went to Oso Jack, then every other night this week we have graced Foothill's In-n-Out with our presence. I would suggest midnight In-n-Out runs, they totally hit the spot.

08. 08. 08.

Seriously gives me chills.
Every time.

I freaking love the Olympics.

I Have Had The Time Of My Life

So Wednesday afternoon, at approximately 5:45 pm, I became a high school graduate. I never in a million years thought that it would come. It feels like just yesterday I was at freshman orientation meeting my mentor and finding that Shea and Kelsey were in my advisement class. Then in a blink of an eye I was spending the last minutes of freshman year in the pool with Babcock. Next thing I know, I am at Winter Formal with Butcher, and the most random group of people I have ever known. After a few minutes passed we were dancing on the Homecoming Float as people from Candy Land then I was at my Junior Prom. One more breath and its my 18th birthday. Then, what do you know, its Senior Prom and Graduation! Seriously, time has just flown by and if I had to do it all over again I would, in a second. I wouldn't change any of the experiences or any of the people. To any underclassmen: Enjoy it while it lasts, because you don't realize how much fun it is until it is all over.

New Experience

So the other day, I got a text from the lovely K.B., "Wanna go to sushi?". For many of you that know, sushi and I have never had the pleasure of being introduced. I was always for it but whenever it came up, I was starving and didn't want to need to eat it if I was hungry and didn't like it. So I was moderately hungry and went. We went to You & I and had some all you can eat. It was quite delicious. Crunch Rolls: Oh my gosh!

So if you are ever planning on going to sushi, I am down.

And today was my last day of high school, unless for some reason I decide to go on Monday, but that will be a blog in itself. It is such a weird feeling, it hasn't hit me yet.

One Last Dance

I can't believe last weekend was our last dance. It was the best dance I have ever been to. At the time, I didn't think it was that special, but now looking back on it, Prom 2008 was epic. There was no drama, that I heard/cared about. It was just an awesome night and I loved every second of it. Great date, great group, fun limo, and a great after party. Lisa: Thanks for being one of my best friends, and an awesome person to go with. Kellie: Thanks for opening your house to us, it was a great end to the night. Piranhas: Thanks for being there and making it such a fun group. Everyone else: I <3 You.

I Have Decided

My favorite ride at Disneyland is Thunder Mountain Railroad. It is so fun. Aubrey and I both blew off 6th period today(nothing new) and went down to D-land(something new). We got there at about 2:00 just for the afternoon. We went to California Adventure and hit the must see's: Tower of Terror, California Screamin, and Soaring Over California. Not only those but since we are Annual Passholders we were privleged enough to try the new Toy Story ride(similar to Astro Blasters). It was awesome. And then, we headed over to Disneyland. We hit up the likes of Astro Blasters(I pummled her in both interactive rides, by the way), Roger Rabbit, Pirates of the Carribean, and of course Thunder Mountain. To start off, we were lucky enough to get put in the front of the ride(as well as on Pirates[where some silly girl thought that we would be dumb enough to switch rows with her, idiot]). It was sweet, then we took off. We were trying to take pictures the whole time, and then as soon as we came out of a cave ready for a photo op, my camera died. So we used Aubrey's iPhone, and that camera needs to be extremely still, so all the pictures look like we recently saw The Ring. We laughed hysterically the whole time.

I love Disneyland, and Thunder Mountain Railroad.

So Weird

I just got back from my senior year swim banquet. It is such a strange feeling. The thing that made this whole graduation phase seem real, was the senior slide show. It is creepy how I remember last years banquet like it was yesterday, I am truly going to miss swim so bad. It was a blast and our senior class was so freaking awesome you have no idea. I never actually thought this would come and now that it has, I am not sure how I feel about it. One thing I know is that the ride has FAR exceeded my expectations or dreams.

2 Months, 17 Days

August 21st, is the day I move into ASU. Austin, my mom, and dad went out to Tempe, Az this weekend for orientation. It was quite a jam packed weekend. We cruised the town Saturday night and Sunday. Then Monday we were at the campus bright and early at 8 am. There, we got our ID cards, picked all our classes, then me and Austin changed into the business school, and changed our classes again.

As it stands right now, I am majoring in Business Managment at the W.P. Carey School of Business. My schedule I have to admit is quite amazing, and that is a reason I am counting down and extremely excited to get started:

1. Calc- MWF 10:45-11:35
2. Religions of the World- MW 2:00-3:15
3. Computer- MW 3:30-4:45
4. English 101- TTh 10:30-11:45
5. Sociology- TTh 1:30-2:55
6. ASU 101: Wed 9:40-10:30

This is going to be glorious, I don't have class until 10:30 everyday, except for Wednesday and ASU 101 is just a group of 19 freshmen that meet for the first 5 weeks of school and we learn things to do, everything ASU offers, and basically getting a good connection with 18 other people. Then the computer class is basically CECA all over again, learning how to use Microsoft Office and stuff like that. The other classes might be somewhat difficult but I think I will manage. Not only do I have late mornings, but I have a time each day for lunch/sleep/whatever.

Its going to be glorious.

Top 08 Memories

In honor of graduation of the class of '08 being exactly 3 weeks from today, I have decided to brainstorm my top 8 favorite memories from high school. These have been an extremely amazing 4 years and I am so sad to see them end, but I also can not wait to head off to Arizona. Woot woot, here we go:

#8: Disneyland '04- Back in freshman year, a group of us went to Disneyland for the day. Looking back now it was the strangest group of people that I have ever hung out with. We were just being dumb freshman the whole day but it was such a blast. The main people I remember were Austin, Lisa, Mel, and Katie. We ran around all day having a ton of inside jokes that no one else will never understand, and some of them are: "We're not worthy!" "Doosh It!" "Oh, followers!" "Go home!" "Good thing I brought this ladder."

#7 Tennessee '04- This was, by far, my favorite travel trip I have ever been on. I could seriously write forever what went on those couple of days. The people who went were me, Megan Mc, Robbie, Megan Arnold, Becca, Chelsey, Andrea, and Rod. It was fun, mainly because there was so few of us and we were still just getting to know each other. We broke so many of the rules laid out for us and I don't think we went to bed before 2 am each day. Some of the best parts were the fire alarm at 4 am, Parthenon, The 5th Element, Resident Evil, Gaylord Operyland, Mall

#6 Senior Scooter Day '08- I will not make this long, since there is a previous post. But it was so fun riding around all day, even though I got caught before my first class. One of the best parts was Janelle(the proctor) came up to me a couple days later and said, "Hey, I thought you guys were so awesome doing that. In fact I went home and told my daughter to have Seventh Grade Scooter Day." How cool is Janelle?

#5 Whistler '06- This was the week where I decided that Vancouver, British Columbia was my favorite place in the entire world. Whistler is probably the best ski/snowboard resort in the world(my blog, your opinion doesn't mean crap). It is miles and miles and miles of just amazing terrain. If you want snow, obviously you can do that. If you want shopping, there is the city of Vancouver which is so fun to cruise around. And in the summer, there is just as much activity to do, not to mention Whistler is on a glacier so you can ski year round! We have bought a quarter ownership apartment sort of thing, and I can not wait to put it to use.

#4 Winter Formal '07- This was by far the strangest dance group I ever went with, but I think it was the most fun I have ever had at a dance. It was basically me, Austin, and Lisa that were having a good time. To show you the excitement of the rest of our group: Baby Got Back came on and obviously Austin, Lisa, and I are singing every word, and the rest of them didn't know a single word. Wow. But at the dance, I didn't have a date, which means no commitment. It was so fun not worrying about anyone and being able to dance with whoever and going wherever I wanted to. To this day, it was still my favorite dance.

#3 Senior Knott's Day '08- Going to Knott's Berry Farm with the senior class was a serious blast. Running around and basically always seeing someone you know was the best. The first ride we go on, Silver Bullet, we maybe waited 20 minutes. Can you ask for a better day? Going on a bunch of great rides with all of your best friends, I think not. Not only did we go to Knott's, but that night about 15 of us went to the Angel Game. We went without tickets and ended up scalping all of them and barely getting in. We just sat up in the nosebleeds and cheered, we even got the wings from Angels In The Outfield going. Then we met a drunk guy that said he would hook us up with front of the line passes at Six Flags. Great Day.

#2 ASB Camp '07- Nearly the funniest 5 days of my existence on this planet. I know you have all heard the stories, and many of you have even claimed to have been there, but you seriously don't even understand. I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. Get 6,000 ASB kids together and throw in spirit awards and such, and get the craziest, most riled up bunch of people you have ever seen. Dances, spirit tunnels, volleyball competitions, it was a blast. Best moments: Quarter, dances, Titan TeePee, Aubrey "farting", and the list goes on and on.

#1 Ensenada '05, '06, '07- For those of you who have been living under a rock or just unaware, every spring break I would go down, with about 400 other high school students, to Ensenada with Saddleback Church. Each year it was by far the best week out of the entire year. We would go down and there are no showers, so no one is worried about how they look or what other people think about them, or if they did think that they had to get their priorities checked. But it was so awesome to get down there and see all these students teaching kids bible stories, about Jesus, songs, and awesome other things. There is just so much chaos, but amidst all of it, I feel more connected to God than any other time in my life. Even if you are not a spiritual person, it would probably be some of the best memories you will ever walk away with. We would all just get so connected and become each others best friends for a week. The countless van rides, bargaining for random objects, gauntlets, gallon challenges(started by Austin and Christine), trashcan jumping, mix cd's, Bufadora, and the amazing taco stands. This year, since the Mexican government is basically falling in under drug dealers, we were unable to go. It seriously bums me out that it is not happening, and I would give almost anything to be able to sing "Anque No Marche" or "Yo Tengo Gozo" one more time.

Better and Better

As the year is beginning to wind down, these weekends just seem to get better and better. I am sure that the fact they are more than two days has something to do with it, but who really cares. Not me, that's who.

Friday:

• Went to school until 9:30
• Capo's Mock Crash
• Afternoon with some awesome people
• Crazy leg sesh at the gym
• Andie's Birthday
• Hung out with the boys
• Helped Austin and Casey ask Christine and Mary to prom

Saturday:

• Batesole's Birthday
• BBQ at Lano's
• Jacuzzi sesh til 4 am

Sunday:

• Some good movies
• Made Mac & Cheese with Gahooshafawlson
• Dress up Tennis/ButtsUp/Silent Football
• Wendys
• Brownie making/Celebrity at my house

Monday:

• Some more movies
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Helped finish announcements

This weekend has been so grand. Not only was it great, but it was our last 3-day weekend, weird. There is only 3 weeks left of high school and I am in shock. I can't wait, and also am sad its over.

Sincerely,

Derek.

I Can't Wait

I can't wait to go to Arizona, and not compromise all my morals.
Some people here are so dumb and immature.
Most of you, I will sincerely miss.

Just chillin,
Derek.

Stupid Weather

I am well aware that I just recently blogged about how much I was loving the weather, but my opinion has changed. Sue me. Not only has my opinion changed, but the weather has done a complete 180 degree turn. Last weekend, Kevin asked if Austin and I wanted to go skydiving for his birthday. Well, duh! I was all stoked to go, and today I get a text, "Skydiving has been cancelled because of the rain. We're rescheduling."

Ugh!

This weather is so schizophrenic, and I wish it could be just a tad-bit consistent. What happened to April Showers Bring May Flowers, in case the weather forgot, it is now May. You had your chance to rain, and you straight up blew it! We were also supposed to have an awesome BBQ/Pool party tomorrow, but now it will probably be changed to a Lets Cook In The Kitchen Party.

A little bummed,
Derek.

Dear Letter "J",

I think you are by far, the most awkward letter in the alphabet.
I have to write from right to left every time I have to write you.
You are unique, keep it up.

Sincerely,
Derek.

Visitors

We all know how frustrating it is to have guests in our house. My, I guess he would be my second cousin, but more like an uncle, and grandpa are in town from Canada. They are here to visit for a week and a half. They got in last night and are staying 'til about next Wednesday or so. Now the fun part!

Since they are here for so long, they are obviously going to need somewhere to sleep. Where, you might ask. No, not in our younger sister's room, they each took one room. One in mine, the other in my brothers! Its not like President Bush came to visit, c'mon. So my sister is slumbering away in her own bed, while I am cooped up in a sleeping bag on the floor in the bonus room. Outrageous!

From the floor,
Derek.

I Love This Weather

Since we have basically a five day weekend, and the best weather we have had in a long time, I have been taking full advantage of it. I have been to the beach twice in the past 3 days and I am going again in the morning. The only reason I didn't go yesterday was because I was way to busy:

8:00 am- Bruegger's

9:30 am- Knotts

7:00 pm- Angel Game

11:00 pm- Ice cream

Some lovely pictures:

Thanks for caring.

Oh, How I Love...

Being a senior is one of the best things ever. For whatever reason, seniors do not take the STAR tests, so all you juniors may rejoice once they are over. This week my school is taking the tests so we have a pretty weird schedule. Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal, run of the mill block days. Wednesday through Friday is where we get crazy. The underclassmen are taking the STAR test in the morning, so seniors are not required to come to school until 12:30. Because of this, each day we only have two classes, W: Per. 4/1 Th: 2/6 F: 3/5. So our stupid administration was smart enough to make the classes after lunch even though most of us leave at 12:17 since most of us have no 5th or 6th. Why would we want to come to school for an hour of school you ask? I have been asking that myself, I guess administration thinks that we will "Do the right thing", as Dr. Burch always says.

As if.

On top of all this madness, Thursday is our senior picnic to Knotts Berry Farm! Because of this joyous day, we are not required to go to 2nd and 6th. So if those classes are that optional, why not make the rest of them optional? So here is my revised STAR test schedule:

Monday: Math/ASB
Tuesday: English/Economics
Wednesday: Beach
Thursday: Knotts/Angel Game
Friday: Senior Pictures/Beach/Disneyland?

Oh, how I love being a Senior!
Thanks for caring.

What A Grand Weekend This Was

This weekend I had one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. From Friday to Sunday, it was just go-go-go and fun-fun-fun. Brace yourself, its long, and here it goes:

FRIDAY:

• CIF in Long Beach with Nano
• Watching Robbie, Erica, and the gang swim like crazy
• See two guys go under 20 seconds for a 50 freestyle, for those of you that are swim-illiterate that means swimming down and back the length of a pool under 20 seconds
• L' Opera for dinner, I would extremely recommend and thanks to Nano's Dad again
• Toilet Papering Mel
• Watching her come out to her "gift"

SATURDAY

• Swim Meet at SM with only 6 of us
• Watching yet another slide show on the kitchen computer
• Trying to convince someone to go to my prom, which he better change his mind
• Lisa's Senior Presents

SUNDAY

• Swim Meet again
• Telling someone to go to my prom, TELL HER NO!
• Yet another grand Gardner-Mielke-Sandison Family get-together

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and it will be a tough one to beat. On a happy note, I decided to stick with swimming over the summer. I will probably only be going 3-4 times a week though, so I will still have tons of time to do absolutely whatever!

Thanks for caring.

We All Can Relate...

You all know that it has happened to you although, most of us have long forgotten it. Remember back to your elementary school days... When you would be at some epic birthday party and you get ready for the best part, The Pinata! Well everyone is on edge, and then you have the big tall 10 year old freak, who could give a senior football player a run for his money. Its his turn, he takes a swing, and in an instant you think all your dreams have come true! Psych! Only about 3 or 4 pieces of candy have flown out of the top, but amidst all the confusion people are pushing and shoving, and hair is getting pulled.

Oh, you remember those days now. And let me tell you, I have so not forgotten those days.

Thanks for caring.

Dear Nano,

as well as fellow Gator teammates. Nano asked me to do this, that is why he is getting special treatment. I will truly miss all of you a ton and here is why:

Nano: You are one of us that always swims in the slowest lane. It basically rocks watching people like Kendall and Natalie lap us. I will never forget Arizona and putting your mattress in the hallway and all the other crap we did. "I swear, if you are not out of my bed by the next commercial, I'm getting naked!" For as much as we put you through, I still <3 u.

Andrea: As much as we may have bickered it was fun having you around. I will always remember having to pry you away from the stupid tv in Nashville. "Attention Andrea, we are leaving! Finals start in 30 minutes!"

Martin: You were always there to give us all a little laugh, whether it was a good situation or bad. When you missed your event in Arizona, oh man, I don't think I have ever seen Louis so mad in my entire life.

Courtney: You are one of the kindest, nicest, studliest people I have ever met. I don't think you have ever said a mean thing to anyone. Never forget, if he breaks your heart, give me a call and I will break his neck.

Jason: Thanks for always giving me a hug whenever you saw me. Except for maybe one person, I don't think I have ever seen someone skip so much during practice. For anyone wanting to become someone who can be a stud swimmer and get away with stuff, you should be their idol.

Julia: You were always my sprinter/backstroke buddy. I still remember when you started passing me because you are such a freaking stud. I love how you always know how to make things fun and make all of us laugh. I will never forget how when almost every single one of us got sick in Arizona, you managed to win High Point Award, can you say BAMF?

Scott: I will never forget all the crap we put Nano through on that travel trip. We were the only two our age on that trip, and in my opinion, I don't think it was nearly as awful as it could have been. From hiding Nano's tv remote to swimming that 1500 at Olympic status level, it was still a blast.

Erica: Oh, man. What a couple years. I just will always remember you, Alia, and I waiting to swim that damn 1650 in the 90 degree water. You were always my long distance buddy until you had to go and get fast behind my back. Like the one time at AA's when we drew Louis on your lap counter. Or how about remember when we convinced a certain someone that the dog was a distant relative of the orangutans, or that the koala has 12 toes. "Yeah, I heard that on animal planet!"

Chelsey: I parked today at about 3:55 and was remembering how we used to get to practice about 20 minutes before practice and just sit in one another's cars talking. Wow, we kind of had no lives. The times going out on your boat and going wakeboarding were a blast, we will have to do that this summer even though I won't be there, just give me a call, and while your at it, give Ms. New Booty a call.

Robbie: Every time we roomed together we seemed to have the strangest extra roommate. I'll never forget Arizona, when we shared the elevator in our speedos with some random guy. Or in Tennessee when I don't think we went to bed before 2:00 any night. You and your damn poison oak freshman year, making me share a bed with Rod, asshole. I want a rematch in Scrabble, you know I was cheated out of a win.

To all of you guys, you have made these past four years bearable and even fun at times. As much as I hate to admit it, I am going to miss swimming and all of you guys.



Thanks for caring.