Thank you, everyone, for all the birthday wishes! I feel so young turning 21 again for the 7th straight year! My phone would NOT stop buzzing all day cuz of all the @replies, facebook notifications, tumblr posts and text messages...birthdays like yesterday remind me how blessed I am.

• _melistar
• 9natran
• adrian
• adrieee
• ajiiizzzle
• akachrisTOPS
• akbdc
• alexjohn
• aline-m
• and0n
• andykim84
• anita-jose
• anthong
• ari
• arielmariee
• ashish patel
• auroraempire
• b0otayx3
• babytoes81
• bing87
• bm-photography
• bored44
• briceorbryce
• bkeeeezy
• cathy-nguyen
• cedricjoshua
• chaaaany
• charlenedang
• chrisanne
• christina-b
• christina-luna
• christinieweenie
• cindyboo
• confidential
• cookiemunstarr
• cristie suzukawa
• cristina-dg
• da1flipguy
• dad
• dailo
• dajark
• danielszetho
• danitokyo
• darweeenie
• david-choi
• dee-celera
• dessiegirl
• devinxrenee
• djblinks
• djmajik202
• DoctorRico
• donnaaa
• dreamingoutloud
• droidoid
• eddieparas
• eddymyla
• eelyajekim
• elisa
• erniesbudolab
• ey_mikz
• farsid3pin0y
• fizzi
• flipgal77
• francisrochino
• FTWSammie
• FUNK_CHINK
• gabeezy
• genix
• goldylox
• goshNicole
• gotkatzy
• h20ballz
• halfsensed
• hayleigh
• hayley watson
• hazeldb
• henry-s
• heyitsthatgirl
• heylisajue
• hollisterloser
• hollykins
• hsustyle
• huskyboydrew
• hypnoticasia
• iiamjelly
• iknowrenato
• imjenni
• ImVeryActive
• ira-dg
• itsCHELLAbaby
• itsjonsense
• itstoofragile
• j0anne
• jackielyn
• jacraig34
• janicexp
• janiise
• janne
• janNYC
• jaypwnsyou
• Jdiep08
• jenny-suk
• jer0meskee
• jgibs
• jimb0
• jimmychenpiano
• JJANGNAH
• joeescobar
• jonchaniscool
• jonjcp
• joseph-diaz
• josephvincent
• JSQUARED
• jtam7992603
• julianna_amerie
• juliannemariee
• kabannaboyroy
• kame88
• karolangcaco
• kat-blanco
• kathleen-santiago
• kaydeex3
• kevinbognot
• kim-o
• kirsten-p
• kishan
• konradthompson
• kris-cunanan
• krismark
• krystalderosas
• krystovalina
• kulayberde
• Kuya
• KuyaDeejay
• ladykitay
• lifeisfilm08
• lilbearpeachie
• linhmonster
• LionGali
• loval
• lpina
• marichris1
• marinakamel
• markque
• marlo_t
• marnz
• maykimagination
• meganfromTC
• meggggan
• melissa-v
• melvinsings
• micahmarie
• michael-tajon
• michellepark
• mirtheous
• misschanto
• mizzamanda
• mom
• mquerol
• mrfuijikicker
• msclumsiee
• mynameisroth
• nadsmustafa
• nannerzz
• natlielatunay
• neegahson
• neenerslambchop
• neil_84
• neosubz
• NeroRamos
• nessarica
• noa-martinsen
• not_june
• nykko_x3
• olee
• omgitsrobb
• ooobbyitsloveooo
• paka79
• patflynn
• peachesudh
• peteeee
• phatts
• philchao
• pinktea6
• r0ckingreen
• rachel-s
• racheljasmin
• raelynnerosales
• ram_ree
• randolph-permejo
• raineezy
• raycel98
• reggiesee
• reii
• renC
• rhezamae
• rina-dakanay
• rjay23
• rock-star
• ron_palustre
• rosemary bales
• rosmel-ramos
• rowdysaudi1
• rtran
• ryan-shin
• ryanhurley
• safaricat
• samchy
• scarlett
• scikotik
• scottyoshimoto
• sean-doyle
• shazadsk
• shireen-h
• shraddha
• sinxjae
• slackerSC
• slimbeats
• sogooey
• spideyudh
• stefansinging
• stephanie-chiang
• stephbaloy
• sun_tzu
• thatsajudy
• theapradioshow
• thisGIRLis_
• tiffany-o
• tl2eesa
• toekneekay
• tpm_music
• udh7
• uhmberr
• uhohitsari
• ulysses
• usarmymich
• vankho
• vinimack
• vjayyy
• vobot
• whattheda
• xxflipxpryd3xx
• youlikepoo
• zeephunk

Hopefully I got everyone in here that gave me a shoutout (over 240!?!). Love you all! <33

-Mel

// Due to my crappy internet, I'm gonna have to keep this blog post very, very short...

Thanks for your patience, everyone. It took me a few days longer than expected but 300 photos are up on my Flickr! (There's actually a total of 853 photos and videos which I'll make available for download soon)

What can I say? It was a very chill reunion, filled with a lot of nostalgia and laughter; it was a nice change of pace for once, compared to our past wild reunions. Once again we find ourselves as a group of people in the middle of no where, doing what we do best -- chilling, drinking and finding ways to amuse ourselves.

The highlights of the reunion are all in the photos.

Randoms:

Loren: you'd think it was only us kids that were drinking and partying but really it's just the adults were a lot better at dodging us than we were at them.

Mel: petting the dogs
Alan: hey Loren, do you have any peanut butter? (Reference to the movie Road Trip)

Mel: quick, deep, hollow fart
Samir: what?
Loren: dude, was that your ass??
Samir: oh shit! I thought he said "yo"

Re-Created Picture of the Moment:

In Closing...

In the movie Garden State, a wise Zach Braff one said:

Home is so much more than just a house to put your shit in.

The more I think about that quote, the more I realize how true it is. Home isn't just a house. It's not just a town. It's a time. A moment. It's the people around you in a certain phase of your life. It's the world in the eyes of someone before all that real world stuff.

Home is an experience when you're there, and a state of mind when you're not.

Let's face it, none of us will ever truly be able to "go back." Even if we decide to go to that Ar@mco sponsored reunion in Saudi next year, it wouldn't be the same. It's not that same time and it's not the same place.

But the people -- us -- we'll always have. And that will never change.

Maybe that's what 'family' really is: a group of people that miss the same imaginary place.

View Photos (289) | Downloads & Videos coming soon!

Cathy: i would love you guys to come out
Cathy: you could all share a rm or something
Cathy: and we could eat our hearts out in berkeley for aday!
Mel: hahahaha
Mel: that'd be the plan.....
Mel: 1. eat @ berkeley
Mel: 2. see cathy
Cathy: dude
Cathy: no the plan is 1. eat food w cathy
Cathy: ...
Cathy: thats it
Mel: oh.
Mel: yeah, that works too

From the Reunion '07 thread on the577.com:

Josh: Mel, is there something like a code name or group name we need to give the travel agent? You think she could give us better deals since you're getting ALL your friends to go...
Mel: The codename for our group is "It burns when I pee." Just tell her that and she'll know what it means.
Mel: Or you can just say "the reunion group" and she'll know.

A couple days later, Cathy emails the Travel Agent:

Hi, I would like to make a reservation for a cabin with our group. I guess I'm supposed to tell you that "it hurts when I pee"?

The travel agent writes back:

Hi Cathy, I presume you are talking about booking on the 8/18/07 Carnival Triumph round trip Miami to the W. Caribbean with Mel and Samir.

The cruise line doesn't really need to know about anyone's "pee" history, they do need to know if you need a wheelchair or oxygen or special diet though.

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

For some wierd reason a random memory popped back in my head today. This particular memory was something that I surpressed long ago so it was a little shocking to feel those emotions all over again. I never really posted about it in detail, and I haven't made a long blog post in a while so I figured what the hell, I'll write about it.

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