THE TIME FOR CHANGE HAS COME

I'm not one to hide my opinions, so i'm gonna shoot you with some straight up honesty.
I am a HUGE supporter of barack obama, and though i missed being able to vote by just three days (yup, today's my 18th b-day) I am very proud of America and the President we've chosen.

this election has taught me a lot about the people around me, and sadly i think it has brought out the worst in some of them.

I would just like to say that America is not over its racism. It is not okay to use a race or a religion as an insult. whenever someone accuses obama of being an Arab or a muslim, it is only an insult to all the Arabic and islamic people living here in the united states. It is not ok to accuse him of being a terrorist simply because of his name or the color of his skin. It is not ok to make jokes about him being assasinated, or worse yet, wish assasination upon him. It is not ok to call him un-american just because his father was kenyan.

I thought america was past this shameful stage in its history, but unfortunately racism is still very prevelent in our society. If it wasn't, our new president wouldn't have to give speeches behind bullet-proof glass.

I don't care what your political views are, it is NOT acceptable to push this aside as if it doesn't matter. Tuesday was a remarkable day in the history of america and i'm proud to be a part of it. I just wish people could put their ignorance aside and appreciate it for what it's worth.

I can't wait for the days ahead in this exciting presidancy. It may have taken time, but finally a new day has come, and i'm ready to face the changes that come with it. YES WE CAN!

Kid's rap the vote

i saw this on cnn today and thought it was so cute. I just have to share it with you all:



These kids are so SMART! They must have some pretty amazing teachers.

Senior pictures with Kabloom Studios

in grace's skirt. :)




my favorite old pair of jeans and shoes!





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She told me to make a serious face...this is what happened


this was taken at the cutest little coffee shop where all the walls are a different color!

I LOVE CAMP!

the youth group

future coworkers introducing me, 'the new girl'

PAINT WAR

banquet



lip sync...i'm the one in the white tanktop with the microphone hairbrush

pre-paint war


mid-paint war


post-paint war

kangaroo court...kami was put on trial for kidnapping free willy, her blow up whale

she had to set free willy free in the lake

shaking paint bottles for the paint war



saying the pledge

reading the bible

michelle forcing me to smile against my will. that was the last day. i was sad

youth group again

the cup game


and on a side note;
yesterday i saw the sisterhood of the traveling pants 2 with my friend kami. We then bought a magical pair of pants at wal-mart. the may not fit us both perfectly, but who cares. We're decorating them and having a ceremony in her parents gymnastics gym. then we're gonna send them back and forth between our friends when we go to college. It'll be great. I bet you wish you had a pair of magical wal-mart pants. haha

Please hold all aplause until the end...

As an end of the school-year event, my youth group decided to do an "akward prom." We all dressed as awkward as possible and then danced awkwardly.

this is my awkward husband, Edwin Quintanilla

this is my awkward hair in the face pose

This is the awkward dance between me, the awkward prom queen, and kellen, the awkward prom king

This is the awkard pick i put in my awkward fro

This is just a bunch of really awkward girls

This is my awkward dancing...and that other kid's awkward lack of dancing

These are two of my awkward friends

This is from my awkward photo shoot


in short...it was awkward

A big adventure with a lot of problems...7 to be exact.

Beware; this story is long, only the strongest will have the motivation to read all the way to the end...

Just a few weeks ago, I was trapped in the horrible world of Differentiated Pre-calculus. I HATED it. It made me cry everyday, and i was becoming desperate to do something artistic like writing or painting, but math was destroying my life. I was drowning in a sea of calculaters and textbooks, but i promised myself that if I finished all my homework and made it through the week, i'd treat myself to a day at the Benitt Martin Library. (the biggest library in Lincoln)
Thus, 2 Saturdays ago, I woke up at 8:00 in the morning, grabbed my acid-wash 80's style blue-jean book bag, and headed out. (I didn't even pause to put on make-up, which is pretty extraordinary in Natalie's world.)

I arrived at the library at precisely 8:57, got a perfect parking spot right outside the doors, plugged the meter, and attempted to walk in. At first i thought the automatic doors were broken, but then i read the sign stating "Library does not open until ten on Saturday mornings." I'd wondered why no other cars were on the street, but i just assumed it was because everyone else was still sleeping, not that everything was closed. LIBRARY PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE EARLY BIRDS FOR GOODNESS SAKES! There we have my encounter with problem number 1. (don't worry, there are many more to come.)

So, as the cheap person i am, i didn't want to waste the 2 quarters i'd already put in the meter, so instead of driving away, i put on my mittens and started walking. I told myself i'd just walk around downtown until the doors opened...i don't know what i was thinking. My ears hurt, my fingers were numb, and my nose was dripping. My original plan that morning was to go to the mill (a local coffee shop) and read my books with a nice cup of joe, but due to the circumstances, i figured it may be a better use of my time to walk to the coffee shop now instead of driving to it later. Problem number 2: the coffee shop is located on the complete opposite side of the down-town area.

I had no idea, but the streets of down town lincoln are completely desolate on Saturday mornings, and with the eerie fog that flooded the allyways, i couldn't resist imagining i was a brilliant detective. Of course i would never express such a scenerio out loud, for that would draw far too much attention, but i was playing it out in my head, just waiting for a mystery to solve.
So, my morning was beginning to cheer up as I pranced down the street in my sophisticated button up jacket.

In the middle of my adventure it occured to me "i could use some new shoes!" So i stepped into the black market, one of my favorite down town stores which is full of vintage clothes and shoes. Much to my dismay, there were bars across the inside doors; the black market was closed as well. Problem number 3. So I plowed ahead in my journey to the mill.

As i finally reached the mill i thought to myself:
"why would i go to the mill now? The whole point of going to the mill was so i could read and drink coffee at the same time."
So then i said (in my head of course) "Oh, i'll just go there twice"
But then after some reasoning i had an aha moment:
"Aha, i'll go to scooter's coffee shop now, and i'll go to the mill later, that way the people at the mill won't think i'm a weird obsessive coffee drinker who comes to their shop twice in two hours!"
I have a unique way of thinking through my decisions.

So, upon coming to that conclusion, i entered scooters and ordered a fancy drink with a completely forgettable name. Unfortunately, that little occurence only used up 20 minutes of my hour to waste, so i stepped outside and trudged on up to the Unl Campus; i thought it'd be a pretty place to walk around.

Once i reached the campus i noticed a sign for the Shelden art gallery. I also noticed a sign stating that it was free. So i barged right in. Here i met problem number 4: art galleries are VERY very quiet places...i was not wearing quiet pants, and with every step, the bottoms of my blue-jeans would swish against eachother and echoe off the ginormous gallery walls. I must say, the acoustics in that place were fabulous, but not ideal for my current situation.

Not having been to the gallery in a while, I'd forgotten where the exhibits were, so i had to ask one of the only two people in the WHOLE place where the exhibits were located. Problem number 5; "Where are all the exhibits?" is a stupid question to ask an art gallery worker. So with my head hung low, i swished up the stairs, echoing the whole way with the eyes of the two workers following closely following. It was pretty intense. Once i finally reached the top i realized my meter was almost out of time...problem number 6; running out of an art museum immediately after asking where all the exhibits are is even more stupid.

Okay, i realize this story is getting painfully long, so i'll try to wrap it up quickly.
I plugged my meter again, and went in the library for an hour. As i was ready to check out my books i realized my meter was about to run out of time again, so i set my books down and ran outside to plug it. I'm not very smart so i put enough change in it to last me another hour, when all i had left to do was check out my books. Problem number 7; i wasted 2 quarters after all.
After everything i'd been through...i never went to the mill.

EPILOGUE:
3 days later natalie dropped pre-cal for the rest of her life. She can eliminate math mathmetician from her list of possible future occupations.

2 new favorite youtube videos

Ouch charlie, that really hurt:


Ouch Charlie, the College kid remake:



...This is what i do when i'm bored; watch you tube videos.

a "hot" day in Lincoln Nebraska.

It was a pretty warm day in lincoln today (50 degrees). All the neighborhood children were running around in shorts and short-sleeves. Some were even running through sprinklers and sun-tanning. (alright, that part might be a bit of an exaggeration)
Anyways, Katie and I decided to take Daisy for a walk...then we gave her a bath with garnier fructise shampoo...

She looked really pretty...

For Female eyes only...

This entry is long overdue, but i suppose it's better late than never;

Last month, before Christmas, my choir had the opportunity to sing with the Lincoln Symphony. In order to prepare for this event, we had to attend numerous practices, one of which was down town, at the UNL campus.

After a couple hours of boring practice, the choir took a break for supper, which was served at a lutheran center there at the school. After we finished eating, I had the sudden urge to use the ladies room, so my friend Kerri and I made our way upstairs to the restroom. As I was in the stall, I could hear Kerri giggling, but wasn't sure why. She wouldn't tell me, but said I'd find out when i went to wash my hands.

Sure enough, sitting next to the sink, was a perfectly arranged boquet of tampons and pads packaged in flowery pink boxes that looked to be about 30 years old. The lady on the front of each box looked shockingly happy to be on her period, almost as if she were enjoying it.

I couldn't contain my excitement, I had to get some of these pads for myself, so I stuffed as many of the unusual boxes in my pockets as i could, but because they were so large i could only fit two.

As the generous person I am, I just HAD to share my findings with our choir director, Mrs Cotton. She was sitting at a small round table with a few other adults, so i had to be discreet. As I walked by the table, I dropped the package in front of her and ran away. (I should probably mention at this point that we chamber choir folk are all very close with our director, so it wasn't akward or wierd...she's kind of like our second mom.) I think she was very pleased by my surprise. She turned around and gave me a huge ear-to-ear smile, but she wasn't the only one smiling; everyone around her was grinning to. As the pad in the box was passed around the room i could tell everyone was jealous. They all wanted their own antique feminine napkins.

I snuck home with my own pad that night...here's the proof;

Don't you wish you were this peaceful during your period:

They were even complete with instructions :

Incase you couldn't tell by the picture on the front, there's a nice label on the side; Size No. 4 Feminine napkin.

Eight interesting things about Natalie...Finally

1.) My hair changes color/style almost every other week. It's been red, blond, brown, really dark brown, and magenta, it's also been wavy, curly, straight, puffy, flat, long, short, shoulder-length, it's been an emo mullet, I've had bangs and no bangs, layers and no layers, emo side-sweep...you name it, it's been on my head. (except for black, my mom still won't let me go black. It'll be my first color once i turn 18!)

Just a few of these crazy hairstyles.

2.)I'm notorious for my afro.

3.) My dream is to go to North Korea...the single most secretive country in the world.

A few facts

No outsiders are allowed in, and no people living there are allowed out.

Kim jong Il, the current leader has complete power over everything. The only books there are written by him and his father, Kim Il Song.

At night, the only lights in the entire country are located in the city of Pyong yang, where Kim Jong il lives, along with a few other wealthy people who work directly for him.

Twelve lane streets wind all throughout the country, with little girls in blue dresses directing non-existent traffic...the only people with cars are those who work for Kim Jong il.

All the buildings in North Korea are the same. They're all grey and made of concrete. The tallest hotel in the world is located there, but it is unfinished and there is no one staying in it because no one visits the country.

Many of the citizens have no idea that there is even a world outside North Korea, and those who do are forbidden to talk about it.

Kim Jong il hates america, yet he has one of the largest collections of american movies, and is the world's largest consumer of Henacy. (gangster alcohal!)

At night, you can see that South Korea is lit up, and North Korea is not.

The border between South and North Korea. The Men standing by the light blue building are guarding the North Korean Border. There are 2 instead of one to make sure neither try to run to the other side. The South Korean side is the one with the paved roads, the bottom of the picture is north Korea. The roads are cracked and made of dirt.


Little girls are assigned to direct traffic even thought there are no cars.

The tallest unfinished hotel in the world.

so, basically, entering North Korea would mean uncovering some of the world's biggest secrets. It would mean gaining information that know one else knows. I could be one of the only people with knowledge of what life is like on both sides of the border. It just seems so amazing and mind boggling to me. I can hardly even put it into words...I JUST WANT TO GO THERE!!!!

...so now that my little tangent is over, it's time for number 4.

4.) I have the best friends in the world:

Kara

Kerri

Kamala

Lauren

Scott (the left) and Jayce (the right)

AJ

Caroline and Carson

Bailey (on the left) and lauren...again

They're all basically amazing! :)

5.) I'm a Justin Timberlake fan.

6.) I totally wish i was from the UK. Sometimes I even speak in a british accent when no one is home.

7.) I watch George Lopez evernight at 10:00, and then i watch tyra at 11:00, and when i can't sleep i sometimes watch Janice Dickenson even though she's a botox-gone-wrong jerk who wishes she was as cool as tyra.

8.) I hate thinking about college. I don't want to leave all my friends, and I don't want to be forced to make a decision about what i want to do for the REST OF MY LIFE!

so, there you have it...8 random facts about natalie. you can go ahead and get back to living your life now.