:):(

well, again it's been quite some time since i've written...so alot has happened. some good, some bad. i guess there's gotta be a balance, right? be prepared for a novel.

anyhoo...the night of my last post (march 19th), i got picked up by abby for the september baby bash at d-flybar, or whatever the hell it's called. needless to say, i had an EXCELLENT time. jack on ice will get me every time. that, and about 2 shots, and multiple swigs of my friends' 40's. and that's just at the preset. when we got to the club, i was already good to go. hehehe. i didn't have to pay the $25 for the special open bar...i got lucky and found out there was a free 9-11 open bar well drinks. so i had a gin n tonic. the rest of the night, i'm sure i saw people there that i knew besides the ones i came with...and when it came to potty time, i got stuck downstairs for a while, cuz they weren't letting many people back upstairs. it was selective. geez. so while i was stuck there, i ran into a uofi'er and we had a shot! hahahah...i owe you one joyce! like you'll ever read this...but i WILL buy her one when i see her ;). yeah! so eventually we got back upstairs again, and i was the dancing QUEEN. that should be my theme song...go abba! yeah, so one of my friends was goin home a lil early (like at 3am), and decided to take me home. hahaha. so us three girls (arlene, juvs n me) headed back to my house. thanks for the ride arlene!!! so that was the good part about the night...when i got home, i heard that my aunt passed away at around 8:30pm.

so for 8 nights starting with sunday (9 nights total, saturday being the 1st), my family prayed a special novena for the recently deceased. yay prayer! =/ not really. not only is it sad praying for my aunt, it kinda has sad memories attached to it. i won't really delve further into these nights and into the funeral...all i can say was that it was really different this time...and i only cried once.

saturday night, i decided to go out cuz my friend carla from long beach, ca, was in town. it was also the night of the INCREDIBLE and AWE INSPIRING ILLINI game. man. it was just WOW. like wow na wow. i swear, i was gonna have a heart attack. so yeah! i was lucky enough to get a ride from my ading nate, since i was in addison at christine's house, and alot of us cuzins were sleepin over that night. anyhoo, justin dropped me off at a meeting point, and lookie who's drivin the car! it's not nate, but our friend chris...and look who's in the back! my hija!!! yay! then we picked up nate at jewel...hehehe...so then we went to buzz...i think? i can't quite remember. it was alright. the music wasn't great. and the drinks were weak. i think i was buzzing more during the game. then we went to what used to be bigwig, but was renovated and is now called four. or something. i don't know. but it looks ALOT better now. i don't feel as crowded and enclosed. we met up carla and my other friend jay, who just happen to be goin out with carla. hahahahaha. yeah, so the music got better as the night went on, and i saw a whole bunch of others that i haven't seen in a long while. man, those guys crack my shit. good times again! end of the night, i went home to sleep at christine's, and in the morning, we prepared for easter.

easter night, some of the cuzins saw the ring 2. lemme just tell u, samara climbs that well like a pro. a PRO. hahahaha. i did laugh at inappropriate times, but hey, i couldn't help it. i was also a lil freaked, so it was sleepover time at melanie's. so that was that wkd.

on tuesday, i had lunch downtown with abby. it was a BEAUTIFEROUS day. it was GREAT. anyhoo, we had lunch at my thai by her office...it was delicious! i love thai food! we had a great talk and caught up on stuff. it's always good to have a nice one on one time :D

so last friday, on april fool's (and i was not fooled by anyone, thank goodness). i went downtown to get a ride down to chambana...to watch the annual psa fashion show, and to watch the ILLINI. ahhhhhhhhhhh...it's always good times there. first of all, when we got there, we went straight to shnucks for a liquor run...hehehe...then, when we went to our temporary residence, we found a HUGE PAN of our favorite of all pad thai's...from the ymca y-eatery. i swear, it's the best pad thai i've ever had...maybe because it doesn't taste like regular pad thai. it's just DELICIOUS and spicy. to the max. hahahaha. so yeah, we began our drinking early, waiting for the kids to get out of fs run through practice. eventually, we end up at legends, our usual hang out, and do some more drinking, playing, dancing...then on to super nachos and horchata at la bambas. i love la bambas. but only in champaign. then it's nappy time! they put the snorers (me n joe) in one room, and everyone else goes wherever. hahahaha. fackers. ;) so that night, it was me, twan, juvs, sha, pj, joe, mata, and mini-mata, aka katrina. oh yeah, and henson, one of the people that actually lives there hehehe.

saturday...we got ready for fs n the game, ate at dos reales for some authentic mexican food and margaritas, went shopping for more illini gear, met up with john n his buddy reggie, then headed out for the psa fashion show. it was a good show! that's how i started losing my voice. congrats to psa! unfortunately, some of our friends left cuz fs overlapped with the game...me, sha, juvs n katrina felt bad leaving, so we stayed for the whole thing. so we got out of fs, then headed over to the union to watch...man it was packed. people were sitting on the floor n everything. i think we were lucky to find an open spot to sit. man, that game was WILD. heart attack. i swear. and when the game ended....man, i kinda wished i went on green street to see the madness. all i can tell u tho...when we were about 1 city block away from green, you can still hear the roar of the crowds. it was truly an amazing time to be there. the air was just electric. people said that they had to close green street for a while...people were hanging off traffic lights and street signs...everywhere you go, you could hear I-L-L and I-N-I...it was just ELECTRIC. if you'd like to see the craziness at kams (local bar), here's joe's footage. i dunno how long it'll be up...but it's quicktime, and takes a lil while to load. be patient.

sadly, by 9:30, the streets were cleared of the masses. people were already starting to get into lines for the bars...as were we. and of course, we already preseted, so we were good to go...the alumni took turns to buy the pitcher of beer (well, pj, me, joe, john), and of course, dancing. it was good tho, since there was fs, they were able to reserve an upstairs room for whoever bought a wristband. sweet. again, i was dancing queen. not as bad as last time, but i was good to go. even tho there weren't alot of reggae/dance hall songs, it was still a damn good time. especially watching some of my friends and other people. :D after that, we went to some omelet place (BOGARTS IS NO MORE!), and i had a yummy bacon cheese omelet. mmmmmmm...bacon. yeah, since i heard that merryanne's changed the gravy of the stack, i haven't been wanting to go back. i don't want my memories of the stack to be marred by it's lesser form. after the eats, the girls went back to sleep, and most of the boys went to play at someone else's apt.

sunday was the usual wake up at 11, get ready, n eat at hooters. mmmmm...hooters. hahaha. but this time, i had clam chowder and a philly cheese steak. wasn't in the mood for wings. and no sangria. you can only buy it by the pitcher. poo. well anyhoo, mata had car trouble, so had to stay later than twan, who i arrived with...so thara asked me to stay longer so we could hang out a lil longer, and ride with him n his sis. so yeah! how can i say no to my puppy? hehehe. so then me thara n erwin (thara's ading) watched terminal (w/tom hanks n czjones) at her apt. then we watched sin city at 7...wow. violent, but wow. i love comic books. go to christine's site about that movie. then eats, then home. obviously, that was the abridged version. but this is getting ridiculously long. hehehehehe...

MONDAY. oh monday. it started out average, and ended in sad silence. at 5, sha picked me up...then headed towards schaumburg. jen gave us a call to tell us that the two places we wanted to go to were almost over capacity...but eventually, she found us a good place. we watched the game...and it hurt...while they were closing the point gap, each shot, each rebound, we gasped when refs didn't make certain calls... it hurt, but we were filled with hope. we believed. we tried to will them to win...use the force for them to win...but it just wasn't enough. the game ended, and it was silent. even the lone unc fan gave some respect, and was also silent. heads hung low, shirts over heads, hands over faces...and a tear was possibly shed. do i believe they were robbed? i'll say yes. do i think unc deserved it? no. i don't. is that because i love that team and my school? yes. those guys worked HARD. to be number one and maintain it, and work as a team. they made a school believe again, that we can make it...not just to the sweet 16, but all the way. and i believe that they could do it again...sure, i know some of them are graduating, but i hope it'll inspire next year's team to work just as hard, and be just as humble. i love them. :)

like ian says, they'll always be champions to me. and as liss constantly said...well, we're smarter than you. hahaha...oh liss.

:)