summer tiiiiime, everybody's feeling sexy.

my goodness, life is so much simpler without the internet! we still have yet to set up the internet in our house so when i do spend time online it's only for a couple of minutes rather than a couple of hours.

so freeing.

i have much to blog about. since i'm at work and blogging (terrible, terrible employee, i know), i will not be able to include pictures. once the internet is up and working at home, maybe i'll post a photo-only blog to accompany this one.

i'm now living in an adorable, little house up nestled up against one of the hills in san luis obispo. it's gorgeous. we have a deck that, if you wake up early enough, you can see the sunrise over the mountains in the distance. very cool. we still have yet to get a kitchen table but we're slowly but surely making the house our home.

i ride bikes now. it's pretty exciting. except i didn't ride to work today and i kinda wish i did because parking on campus is a freaking pain. i was ten minutes late to work because i couldn't find free parking. i had to resort to paying 5 bucks just to park far, far away from my job. cool. i'm so riding my bike from now on. i bought a sweet orange beach cruiser but uncle ed bought me a 21-speed specialized bike and it's absolutely amazing. i went from having just my two legs to get me places to having two bikes and a car in practically a day. i have too many modes of transportation and i love it!

summer has consisted of:
work (aka- online shopping, craigslist, blogging and postsecrets. please don't tell my bosses)
the beach and slushies
hanging out with gabby!!!!
watching entirely too many movies (i've watched more movies in the past three weeks than i have in like, two years)
being lazy
reading (nice girls don't get rich)

i like to be on the go and always doing something productive. these last two or three weeks have been completely lazy and i feel like i have absolutely no direction in life right now. which i know isn't completely true. but i start to feel like that when my days aren't filled with stuff i feel is important to complete, i'm not going anywhere or doing anything important with my life. i need goals and projects and deadlines to keep me feeling productive and content. i'm trying a different approach to life for the next couple of weeks. i'm going to relax, read, do nothing of too much importance, and enjoy summer. this'll probably be the last summer i'll be able to do that until i have to work or begin some kind of career. i'm taking a break before i'm beginning my work.

realxing is kinda driving me crazy.

i know that in about a week i'll be itching to do something productive, but for now i'll try my best to enjoy my lazy, non-productive summer.

life with a car: it's so lovely having a car. even though i'm not home right now, i feel more comfortable with being four hours away from my family. i'm going to go visit them soon and it's just a really good feeling. i'll do my best to take good care of my car because that sucker's going to last for a really, really long time.

hanging out with gabrielle buras: i forgot just how much i love that girl. she's exactly the same person she was when she was 10 years old, living in california, which makes me happy. she's my connection to my mom's side of the family and i value that relationship i have with her.

a couple of goals for the summer (i couldn't resist):
- write. a lot. i'd like to complete some kind of story. it doesn't have to be long, it just has to have a beginning, middle and end.
- read. a lot.
- practice taking pictures. ryan just got a camera, so hopefully i'll be able to do some fun photo shoots with him and rachel.
- save my monies. i am so very broke right now that it's ridiculous. i need to save some dollars.

overall, successful summer already. i can't wait to see what the rest of summer brings and what kind of trouble we'll be getting ourselves into.

holy jesus.

after a 7 hour train ride from slo to la, and an hour car ride from la to riverside, my dad and i pull into the driveway to two cars. one's our bmw that i use when i'm in town and the other is a stranger. i go, "whose car is that?" my dad goes, "that's your car, nik." and i go, "no, the other car. is it david's?" and he goes, "that's YOUR car, nik."

my dad just freaking bought me a car.

i cried. once i understood. it took me a while because i'm slow, but once i got it, i cried. kinda a lot. it was such an amazing surprise. not just the fact that my dad got me a car (which is AWESOME) but the fact that he took the time to search for one and spend thousands of dollars on me and keep it a surprise is what got me.

i can't believe my dad bought me a car.

there are so many things i can do with a car now. such as:

- go grocery shopping whenever i want.
- not ride my bike to work when i'm feeling super lazy (although uncle ed just got me a super nice road bike, so i'll still be riding my booty to work most days) or drive my car to school when it's raining.
- possibly get a job that's not within walking distance. like at avila golf course.
- go to the beach whenever i want.

most importantly, i can come home whenever i want. i don't have to wait for someone to drive south if i want to come visit. that, i think, is the best part of all.

life's going to be VERY different with a car.

i wonder what her name's going to be...

who hates finals week?

i hate finals week, finals week, finals week. i hate finals week, fa la la la la.

HAPPY FINALS WEEK TO EVERYONE. 

not.

am i 12 years old again?

get.

excited.

two down, two to go.

summer is 11 days away. these next couple of days are going to be hectic with moving and finals and work so i know i'm not going to blog unless i'm procrastinating, in which case i'll be posting weird youtube videos or writing dumb stuff. i figure i should at least get one more meaningful post in before summer arrives.

this year has probably been one of my favorites in a long time. it amazes me how much everyone has changed-- for the better, of course-- in the last ten months we've been here at school. i can honestly say that i am a very, very different person than i was ten months ago and i'm very happy with where i'm at and where i'm going. everyone in my life that i see on a day to day basis has influenced me in ways i never saw coming. even though most of you will be here over summer, i'm still going to miss our second year at cal poly. it was definitely a growing year and i know that next year is going to be the best year at poly.

to my favorite friends:

jules, gracie, lauren, and kristin- i'm so glad we continued our hills night tradition! heidi and catfish spenser are the best to watch. =) you girls are always the life of the party and i can't wait to have wine nights with you over the summer and next year. and since we all live so close to downtown... hello, bar hopping!

gideon- i am so glad that we were ee banquet dates! we're definitely going back to the madonna inn when there's dancing. =) gideon, you are such a handy guy to have around. thank you for always being ready to whip out the pocket knife and fix all of our problems. i'm pretty sure you're not staying here for the summer, so i'm going to be pretty sad not seeing you for three months. when you come back in the fall, be ready for an exciting year. it'll still be hot enough to go to the beach to build another famous nikol/gideon sandcastle.

lucas roy- even with your pony mohawk, i still think you're a pretty cool kid. =) luke, you grew up so much this year! you're the baby in our group, and we love you. you're always down to do something fun and have a good time and i love being around people like that. you are always so nice, letting me sleep on your couch and come over to bug you guys at your rainbow house. i'm bummed that you'll be leaving for the summer (so stay!) but next year is going to be amazing. you, me and markus need to take some more trips to see the a's play. =)

brian- i hope that you'll still be our 6th roommate next year because you are probably the nicest boyfriend i know. i'm so happy that you and cassie are together. you take very good care of her and i love watching you two together. you definitely make each other happy, whether you're playing games in cassie's room, doing puzzles in the living room, or watching jon and kate plus 8. come over all the time and play with us some more over the summer. and bring your baby fiona. =)

cassie- woman, i am jealous of your artistic talent. cassie, i'm so glad that we lived together this year. you are definitely sassy mae and i wouldn't be able to love you any other way! living with you has been a lot of fun. i know we've all enjoyed your interesting food habits (lucky charm marshmallows on the side of the bowl and soup with a fork). i'm glad that we're ross shopping buddies-- we'll be doing A LOT of that next year for our cute house! we're going to have a wonderful summer together and i look forward to our next year (hopefully TWO) being roommates and friends with you.

markus- i'm sad that you're not going to be here over summer, markus. who else is going to agree to go streaking or invite me to go on an adventure to oakland or get donuts? thank you for always being willing to do fun things, even/especially when no one else wants to. you're a very nice boy (even though you don't like country) and i'm excited for all of the adventures we're going to have next year. have fun playing with babies this summer (please don't eat them) and when you're ready to go camping, let me know! we'll all take a roadtrip to come see you.

rachel- miss lady, i am so proud of the progress you've made, even/especially in the last couple of weeks. you are a wonderful friend to me and i'm so lucky to have you in my life. i know that you've been nervous about spain and not staying in contact with friends while you're overseas, but after this year it'd be impossible for us to not miss you terribly while you're away. we'll definitely be the ones missing out, not the other way around. thank you for all the support and help with the magazine club. i'm so scatterbrained all the time, so having you there keeping things in line REALLY helps me out. you are wonderful. i can't wait to hang out at the beach with you this summer. let's get tan. finally.

ashley- look at us single ladies! you and i are taking the "most changed" award out of the group. we've made so much progress together and i honestly don't think that we would be where we're at without each other. thank you so much for your support 24-7 and for always being there to talk after a really, really bad or really, really GOOD day. we definitely have a special relationship and i'm excited to see where our friendship takes us. hopefully it'll take us to NEW YORK this summer! i always enjoy our girls trips! you're my favorite traveling buddy, hands down. we're going to have a sweet room in the next couple of weeks. bachelorette pad, fo sho. year three of living together, here we come!

ryan- look at you, all grown up with a pretty girl! you've always been a good friend to me, ryan (even in gleason's class when i wanted to slap you) and i'm glad that we go to the same school together. i'm very happy that you found such a lovely jamie to be your girlfriend. you've been so good to her and i'm glad that she's around to keep your butt in line. i'm also very happy that we're going to be in slo over the summer. as much as i love my dad and my sisters, it's going to be nice, in a weird kind of way, to be on our own. you are always welcome to come over to our house and i look forward to having you over for bbqs and get-togethers this summer. =) thank you, ryan, for all your help and support with the magazine this year. you've been so encouraging and i really appreciate that. you're a wonderful friend and i'm lucky to have you in my life.

katerina- "we're women. it's 1770." kat, i'm so happy to have found someone as weird as i am up here in slo. we are constantly doing weird, funny things and i just love it. you are one of my favorite friends up here and i just wanted you to know that i love having you in my life. so don't go anywhere. you have been such a good friend to me all year and have always listened to me and my crazy ideas/stories. you are such a smart, independent, beautiful lady and i strive to be just like you. you have the most wonderful friends and i see why you love them so much. please bring them around some more. i'm basically in love with them. but really, you are such a classy lady and i definitely look forward to our next couple of years together. i know that we're going to make some more crazy, weird, funny memories together. plus, we can't break up tom kitten and jo. thomas and joseph. they need to be BFFs!!!! love you, katerina.

brett- this is a great picture of us. me talking. you looking at me like, nikol... are you sure...? basically this is what we do. i'm glad that you like to talk (especially after a couple of drinks) because we are good at that. thank you, bretty boy, for letting me be your friend and be part of your family. i love our friendship and i don't know what i'm going to do when we don't live within five miles of each other. that'll be a sad day. until then, we'll just have to live it up, like we've been doing! thank you for always giving me hugs when i cry or get sad over ridiculous things and for being a fatty with me and for always challenging me. i appreciate your honesty and your support and your love. thank you for being you, bretty. please come over all the time and see us ladies because we all love you very much.