Can't Introduce Squall Just Yet... :(

[Listening to "I'mma Be" by the awesome Black Eyed Peas! :D ]

Hey, everyone, it's about 11:30pm, and in about half an hour I will be working on my last Art History homework for the semester. I know, I hate having to do things at the last minute, but... What can I say? Lots of things to do... ^^; I will be up for a while, but I'm not gonna stop until it's done :) No, not an all nighter this time - I hope it won't end up being that way!

...shame on me, what did I say I was going to do for my Resolution(s)...? ^^;

Yesterday, I was supposed to take pictures and tell you guys about my wonderful new Rav4, Squall. Well, unfortunately, my digital camera has been giving me problems since yesterday morning: for some reason, it's malfunctioning even though I haven't done much to it in the last few days... Yes, I've changed the batteries, and yes, I've made sure that they were put in correctly... It's frustrating... :( I may have to invest on getting a digital camera that *will* work for me... That probably won't happen until around summertime because guess how broke Reiko really is... I hope to take a look at the camera and get it fixed soon so that I can show you guys some cool vids and pics of Squall. I will say, though, that I'm in love with it... even if it is a car ^^;

In the meantime, I want to tell you guys a few highlights of what's been going on with me in the last couple of days:

So, my college besties, Stephanie and Nicki, came home for a short break before starting their May Term (Good luck, girls!). I spent some time catching up with them on Thursday night when they came home, but I had more time to spend with them during my day off from work yesterday. We went to California Pizza Place for a late lunch, then went to my favorite gelato shop, Melt (soon to become "Confetti" about a week or so from now). After parting ways for a little while so that Nicki could finish up some homework, Taylor met with me and we hung out at Barnes and Noble for a little bit.

Guess what caught my eye when we reached the comic book section...

Yes, it's Yoshitaka Amano's Final Fantasy "Dawn" artbook. :D Now, for those who don't know, I'm a big Final Fantasy fan, and every FF fan would know one of the artists behind the concept art of the popular series. Amano is not only famous for his art for FF but also in other works such as Vampire Hunter D, another series that I'm a big fan of. What I really love about his work is that it is very beautiful and magical, almost as though the characters and creatures, though in 2-dimensional traditional art, could pop out of the page and come to life. As a fan of his work, I had to get this artbook. :)

This is one of my favorite images in the book - it's Firion, the main character from Final Fantasy II. :)

Anyhow, we were able to hang out, watch ourselves be silly and... just have a great time! Being with my friends yesterday made me realize how much I really love and miss them; I've been working a lot and doing a lot of things myself and with my boyfriend that it made me realize how much I really do love and appreciate people like them in my life. Even when I have my cloudy, gloomy days, I know that these guys and girls would always be there to bring back the sunshine! Much love!!

Another thing I want to share with you guys is that I'm getting into a physically better shape since the accident. I've continued to work out in the gym on the days that I do work, but tonight I started doing some abdominal exercises that I've been wanting to try in the last week.

While I exercised one night, I watched a couple of my co-workers as they did some ab-work; they followed along to a DVD series for physical workouts and this particular one caught my interest. I used to do ab-work a lot during my days in my high school's varsity tennis team; my coach trained us hard doing ab-work, pilates, etc. that by the time I finished my time with the team, I had some nice abs! I wanted to gain that back, and tonight, I started doing it.

I found the workout videos online via YouTube and I'd like to share them with you all in case you want to try this out. If you do decide to work out with these videos, exercise with caution and care - results come in small increments and large amounts of effort!
Here is part 1:


And part 2:


Trust me, after doing these exercises... I feel it in there! o_O Sexy abs, here I come! :Dv

...and I will admit: the guy in the video kind scares me with the way he talks to you while he's exercising... It's scares to where is actually pretty funny that it's scaring me and I end up laughing. ...but what else can I do? =/ Just saying... ^^;

All right, well it's about time I start tackling this Art History homework eh?! Better get a'movin' so I'll chat with you all soon!

Until next time, be well! I hope to get my camera fixed soon too!

xoxo,
Reiko