PIXEL DIARY

6.20.17 The Beach

Today I studied outside and made a little friend! She let me sit next to her for a long time while she pooped all over this chair. I think she was waiting for her hubby (I saw them making out earlier) or something...

Tomorrow I fly to the Philippines for three weeks, so my love made me this charm so that I travel safely and make it back to her. I hope that no matter where I go or how long I am away, I’ll always be able to come home to her. I hope that the two of us will keep on taking photos and working on projects until we are able to travel and create and document together someday, and that the wait will have been worth it.

Either way, my depression is seeping back, and I’m trying to internalize that I don’t need to be all put together and full to grow into something nice. These plants are growing pretty well, after all.

My mom’s cousin is visiting so we took her around historic Bethlehem today and I took some fun photos!

I had such a lovely time visiting V and meeting up with other friends. Here is V being sad about me leaving. Further enhanced by a strong vignette, grain, and b&w. I really wish I could just stay. V and I went out on a dinner date at the end of my visit, finished her favorite anime, and did so many other fun things along the way though. I hope I get to visit again soon. 

Taken 05.23.17 - Went back to the study/hangout space on campus again today and played games with our friend. V totally thrashed me at air hockey so now I have to practice hard to be able to compete with her again.

Taken yesterday - my besties preparing veggies with our ravioli.

Taken yesterday - I painted a card for my friend’s birthday and V and I cooked pesto gnocchi for dinner. 

Our friend arrived today and she really liked the cake! An A+ reaction from her hahaha. The cake turned out really well!

Cake prep! V and I have been busy making a cake for our friend who is coming to visit in a couple of days because she has a summer birthday and doesn’t get to celebrate it with friends often. The cake is a strawberry and peach vanilla cake with sprinkles in it (funfetti, I think V called it?). There will be layers of cake separated by cream and sliced fruit and topped off with more strawberries. It’s a fun process cooking things with V.

V and I ran around to three of our friends’ graduations today! It was a hot and sunny day but we managed to stay in the shade for most of the time. It was nice seeing friends. V played Pokémon on my 3DS for a while in between graduations and caught a bunch of Happinys.

Cooked a meal that didn’t have prepared ingredients for the first time today (other than the panko, I guess). I made tonkatsu and then made katsudon from two of the chops and saved the other two for later. There was a bit too much egg, but overall I was pretty pleased with how it came out! We ate our katsudon and baked seaweed tempura while watching Cardcaptor Sakura. We also had ramen earlier that day, so overall a very Japanese-themed day haha. V really likes furikake, which makes me giggle.

As this photo project comes to a close, and as the day my love goes on vacation draws closer, I am overcome with overwhelming dazedness. I have the apartment to myself and all I’ve been doing is reflecting a lot. I wonder what we’ll do next after Day 70.

It was my first day being all alone. A lot of lying around and staring at my guinea pigs. A lot of staring in general. Look at all the circles in this photo.

My love went home today. He left me a letter that made me cry. I look forward to the next time he visits.

On Wednesday, my love and I went on a date and I bought this necklace at a fair trade shop. I don’t normally spend money on jewelry (beyond five or so dollars) because I am prone to breaking or losing things, but it felt important to me to find something that could be a physical manifestation of a promise to myself -- a promise that I’ll work hard to keep a positive and determined attitude. I want to do my best to reach my goals and stay close with my love despite our physical distance. A star hanging from the moon seemed apt.