I don't know a lot about everything...

snow and ramen

2012-01-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

One thing about moving to Japan that we've been excited to experience is the festivals. Winter and Spring seem to be the times with the most festivals up here in the Tohoku region, so we haven't really gotten to experience any thus yet. We just missed the Chrysanthemum festival (it was the weekend we arrived so we were beyond jetlagged) and the salmon festival just happened to be the same day we had already planned to go to Aomori to visit the aquarium. Then came Christmas, which is more of a western holiday; and New Year's, which Japanese families spend at home. We are extremely excited about the upcoming Snow Lantern Festival at Hirosaki, but it's not until next month! Our time in Misawa has been relatively festival-less. So when we heard about a Ramen festival, we were excited!

Now, some have asked if events (or even school) is delayed when there is snow on the ground. In Misawa, nothing is cancelled unless there is a fluke dump of snow that measures in several feet. So even though we have received 24 inches of snow over the last 48 hours, nothing was keeping us indoors!

We bundled up and drove (carefully) to American Park. We got pretty good parking and only had to walk a few blocks to get there. On the way, we had some fun playing in the snow. At some places, it was up to our knees!

We got to the festival and were excited to see several ramen booths open. For those of you who have never had real ramen, there is pretty much nothing better to warm you up on a cold day. We love trying new ramen and this was the perfect place to find it!

We wandered around, watching people make ramen and eat ramen and try to stay warm in the freezing snow. It was a great time to people-watch! People huddled around to keep warm, and others congregated around the space heaters that were set up.

Finally, we chose our ramen. I went to a booth that made yakisoba (mmmm) and then put it in broth to make yakisoba ramen, which is something I'd never seen before.

We crowded around the space heater and enjoyed our ramen. The local news crew came by to cover the event and there was even a magician who had shows to entertain the kids.

While this was no Sapporo Snow Festival or anything as huge as that, we had a lot of fun watching and participating in the Japanese love of all things ramen.

resolutions

2012-01-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

You know I'm all about taking pictures...I've done a few 365 projects (take a picture every day for a year). This year I'm going to participate in mcp's Project 12. Basically there is a monthly theme and you take a photo to match the theme. With the 365, it was more about a daily account of activities to go through a year of the life. This time, I'll try to focus more on capturing those moments, but I'll be more cognisant of style rather than just snapping a picture for each day.

The first month's category was "Resolution." My big resolution this year is to explore. We live in an amazing new place, but it's often easy to get caught up in life and not take the time to find new adventures to go on. I want to take advantage of living here and, while we certainly won't do "everything there is to do" around here this year, I want to make the most of our experiences.

I also want to make sure I'm continually seeking to learn more about the Japanese language and culture while I'm here. We are learning new words and phrases every day, and I would love to be able to go a temple or museum and be able to read the history of how it came to be.

My photo this month capture both of these goals. On New Year's Day, we had enjoyed a nice, relaxing winter break and decided we wanted to go explore. We found a beautiful park near an onsen, and spent quite a while walking around in the snow and taking pictures. It was a great way to start off the new year.

The park had some amazing statues, gates, and a whole bunch of other Japanese touches that set it apart from a typical American park.

I've always admired what Asian culture does with water - so my photo for the month is this:

how i love thee

2011-12-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

I just had another morning dose of how amazing Japan is, and it wouldn't fit in my facebook status update, so to my blog I fled.

Our garage door was broken. So this morning, I got on the phone with our realtor, who basically calls the utility places for us since most of them don't speak English. He let me know he would get in touch with the company who makes and fixes the garage doors and get back to me with an estimate of when they could come fix it.

There are about 6 inches of snow on the ground right now, so I didn't expect to hear back that they were coming for hours or even days. In NC, the snow would have meant that it'd be weeks before someone could come out and take a look at it, and that doesn't include the time that it would have taken to order parts and come back out to install them.

Five minutes later, he calls me back and lets me know that the garage door man is on his way and will be here shortly. Two minutes pass (I know I tend to exaggerate at times, but I swear this is two minutes to the tee) and the doorbell rings. It's the "garage man" and he is here to take a look at the door.

He fiddles around with it, figures out the problem, gets his tools and step ladder out of his car, and fixes it. Then he tests it out 5 or 6 times to ensure it works consistently. He proceeds to call our realtor to let him know it's fixed, passes the phone to me so our realtor can tell me that it's fixed, I pass the phone back and then we both bow and he's gone. The whole transaction took about 10 minutes, and if you've been lucky enough to see my video of how slow garage doors in Misawa take to open and close, you'll know that at least 7 minutes of that time was taken with the door opening and closing.

So from the time I decided to call our realtor to the time I sat down to write this blog, it took about a half hour.

Japan, how I love thee.

2011-12-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I read a fable to my students. Basically, it was about a crab and a lobster who are friends and about as different as could be. Lobster was laid back, outgoing, adventurous, and sometimes a little too excited about dangerous situations. Crab was a stickler for rules and preferred to lead a quiet, and sometimes boring, life. One day, Lobster convinces Crab to go for a boat ride. There is a storm approaching and Crab is very weary of going out in the boat. They end up going anyway and the boat sinks. Crab is terrified, and Lobster points out that they aren’t really in danger, since they are both sea creatures so drowning really isn’t a worry. The boat sinks, and as they take a leisurely walk along the ocean floor, Crab realizes that he had a great day full of adventure.

I asked the kids what the moral of the story was, and they all said something to the effect of making sure you’re careful when you go on a boat so you don’t drown.

While that is good information, I pointed out to them that the point of the story was that Crab had a good time when he left his comfort zone and had an adventure. We then had a class discussion about some of the amazing things they can do here that they won’t be able to do anywhere else. We talked about Japanese festivals and the cool restaurants they can eat at. They brought up how fun it is to talk with the locals here and how nice they are. They were excited about the salmon festival a few weeks back and Sapporo Ice Festival that is coming up in a few months. They were ecstatic to share some of the Japanese foods they have tried here that most American kids have never even heard of. It was a great conversation about stepping outside your comfort zone, and of course, being safe while doing so. We encouraged each other to go and try something new this week: whether it was something we had never done, a place to explore or an interesting food to try.

My new adventure was something that I had actually decided to do earlier that morning. On the way to work every day, we pass a mysterious bridge on the other side of the fence that marks where the Misawa Air Base land begins. This bridge is actually inside of two fences, belonging to some sort of “no man’s land” in between the main road on the base and the beach where military families can hang out and barbeque in the summer. Every day, we see cars driving on it and wonder how they got there, and where they are going. I told Ben that after school that day, we were going to find out.

When I got to school in the morning, I told one of our friends that we were going to explore the “mysterious road on the other side of the fence” and she let out a gasp, and then explained that she had always wanted to figure out how to get to that very same road. So a plan was set in motion to go on a courageous expedition (yes, we may have made it out to be a lot more exciting than it really was) to go find the road.

Two hours later, I read the fable to my kids, and was excited to be able to use a real-life example in our conversation. The kids were excited to hear about our findings, as most of them had seen the road and had never been on it.

School ended and we set out, with a vague google map and our iPhones to lead the way. I’m sure it would have been a lot more adventurous without the use of technology, but it gets dark here at 4:15 pm and we didn’t want to spend hours trying to figure out where it was and then not be able to see it because it was dark.

It took about 20 minutes to go around the base and the lake, and we started thinking that we must have gotten lost (which is very easy to do in a city with no street names and very little English) but we finally found a road that looked promising. As we drove over the mysterious bridge, we waved at all the cars on the base who were driving by on the other side of the fence. Then we took some pictures, admired the view of the lake, and then climbed back in the car to defrost and talk about how proud of ourselves we were for finding the mysterious road.

A little silly? Yes. But a great time was had by all. (And now, every time we pass the mysterious bridge, we know that we’ve been to the other side of the fence.)

(left) The mysterious bridge and (right) Lake Ogawara from the beach.

thanksgiving adventures

2011-12-08T14:57:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving was an eventful day, and was different than any Thanksgiving we had ever had. Normally, we have all the family traditions that we have tried to upkeep even though we lived so far away. Parade in the morning, decorating the tree, watching “White Christmas,” and the whole turkey smorgasbord. This year, though, it seemed like none of those things were going to be in the mix, at least in the way they normally are. Our household goods aren’t due until January, so there were no decorations (and we were in the lodge, so we couldn’t get a tree even if we had the decorations to put on it.) The parade would be shown live…at 1 am our time. And who wants to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in a tiny kitchenette for two people?

So we basically made other plans.

The plans made our first Thanksgiving in Japan an amazing day, filled with new traditions and old ones.

We have some friends who have been in Japan for a long time. When I say long, I mean nearly 20 years. Needless to say, they know the ins and outs and are a wealth of information and great ideas for things to do around the area. We went with them, and some new friends as well, to the beach. While this may sound like a nice place to spend a Thanksgiving day, let me remind you that we live in the northernmost area of the main island in Japan. This means cold weather and snow for a good part of the year. That part of the year had started, so our beach trip was quite literally freezing. We arrived and hurried to bundle up in the massive amount of layers we brought with us. It was 0° C and snowing, though our awesome Swackett app said that it felt like -4° because of the wind chill. It was beautiful and brisk, and we were excited for a fun adventure.

We walked the beach with different purposes. Most of our friends had the purpose of looking for sea glass. The fishermen up here use the glass fishing balls, and they often wash ashore. Apparently the area we were in was a prime spot for finding these treasures. My purpose, though, was to find some great photo opps. (Does this come as a surprise to anyone??) We were all rewarded one way or another! Most of our friends ended up with sea glass, I ended up with some awesome pictures, and we all ended up having a great time.

Here are some of the pictures from Shipwreck Beach. By the way, these are real shipwrecks.

After Shipwreck Beach, we all felt that we needed a warm place to warm our body temperatures (and go to the bathroom!) so we met up at a local shop that sells tofu donuts. The donuts were amazing, the bakery was adorable, and we had our first experience with a traditional Japanese bathroom.

After our trip to the beach was over, we returned to Misawa to join our work associates at my principal's house for Thanksgiving. We had an excellent turkey dinner and more pie than one could even imagine. It was a warm, inviting event and we felt right at home with our new friends. One of our friends even brought her Yorkie, so we got to play with him and find a new friend for Seamus once he gets here.

Later that night, I watched the parade, skyped with our families, and began my online Black Friday shopping! All in all, it was a great first Japanese Thanksgiving.

snow and sushi

2011-11-22T04:08:00.001-08:00

We are loving all of the "firsts" we are having here in Misawa. This week, we experienced our first snow and sushi in Japan. Ah, which one to start with...they were both so much fun!

Now, you know I'm really not the biggest fan of either snow OR sushi. I don't the combination of wet and cold that snow often brings, and I don't like to partake in much of what comes from the sea. So me telling you that I enjoyed both of these must say something about where we are!

The snow was crazy. It wasn't just that we received real snow for the first time since we left Reno several years ago, but it was the fact that it was bright and sunny for most of the day. The snow seemed to come out of nowhere, and then it just kept going. And going. And, wait for it, going. For about 24 hours, it snowed continuously. It was only overcast and cloudy for a small portion of that day. At times, it would snow lightly, with huge, puffy flakes. Then were the times that it felt like it was being dumped all at once. Either way, it was a pretty entertaining day just to watch the weather. Needless to say, my students had a hard time concentrating since we have an excellent view out our window. They had a blast playing in the snow at recess.

Like the snow, the sushi was crazy. We went to Kappa Sushi after hearing about how great it is from a friend as well as a Japanese local.

What we didn't know was that it would be more the experience than the food that made the night so much fun. When you sit down, there are several sites to take in. First, the food comes out on a conveyor belt. There are plates of sushi that are pre-made, and you can take the plate right off the belt if it looks like something you want. Second, there is a touch-screen where you can order something specific to be brought to you. Third, there is a track above the conveyor belt that holds the bullet train. Yes, the bullet train. Any food you order from the touch-screen is brought to you on a little yellow shinkansen that beeps to let you know it's coming. We had an immense amount of fun ordering our dinner!

So to sum it up, we've had snow and we've had sushi, but we've never had it quite like we got to have it here in Misawa.

of noodle museums and new coffee treats

2011-11-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

We recently had our first Japanese mall experience. And yes, I do say "experience." Just like most other things here, we are learning as we go, and the mall was no different. We went to the ELM Mall in Goshogawara (try saying that three times fast!). Since we hadn't eaten that day, the first place we wanted to head was toward the food court. We had gotten a recommendation to try out the "noodle museum." Having no clue what this was, we didn't know what to expect. Was this actually a museum about noodles or did we lose something in the translation? When we got there, we understood.

This was not really a museum...it was an exhibition. A noodle exhibition. Basically, you walk in and you're transported to this whole new world, revolving around noodles. It had a bit of a rain forest motif going on, and there were about 20 different noodle restaurants along this dark path with Japanese tiki statues and trees surrounding the whole area. Each restaurant had somewhere around 10 tables in it, and each one had what looks like a vending machine in front.

Well, it doesn't just LOOK like a vending machine. It is one. Basically, you decide what you want to eat and then push the button on the vending machine. You insert your yen and it prints a ticket. You hand the ticket to the person at the counter and they bring it to you when it's done being made.

Well, this is all fine and well, except that it was all in kanji and we had no clue what we were ordering. We decided to take a crack at it, though, and ordered a few things. We ended up with udon noodles (which I love) and a fishy soup (not so much) and some amazing gyozas. Ben ended up going with the noodles and soup while I polished off the gyozas. We had seen several Japanese bakeries throughout the mall, so we weren't too disappointed that we both only had half a meal.

We wandered around the mall, observing the objects and the people (as well as looking for Christmas gifts for friends and family back in the states!) We found some awesome little trinkets, but most of the things we found were really expensive. We figured we were better off going with some of the things we had found in local shops around Misawa instead. Along our walk, though, we found a few familiar sites, including a Baskin Robbins and (drum roll, please) the only Starbucks in Aomori Prefecture!

While we have a few cafes on the base that brew Starbucks coffee, none of them have nearly the selection that a real Starbucks does. While we were unable to find the Starbucks mug with "Japan" on it, we did find some really great Starbucks treats. We decided to try drinks that were not available in the states. I got a dark chocolate java chip frappuccino (which was the best drink I've ever gotten at a Starbucks!) and Ben got a matcha frappuccino.

Armed with our caffeine, we were ready to do some more exploring. We found a fish market (and a few vegetable and sushi markets) right inside the mall, where the Macy's would have been in an American mall. We found a suspicious looking KFC across from an even more suspicious looking Italian restaurant. And, we found a ton of bakeries with scrumptious goodies calling our names. We ended up getting an amazing cheese and meat stuffed sandwich to compensate for our small lunch, and marveled at how intricate some of the pastries were along the bakery shelves. We knew when we came here to expect the Hello Kitty cuteness that pertains to just about everything in Japanese culture, but it still surprised us that they even add these attributes to their bread.

We are excited that something as mundane as going to the mall could seem so exciting, and we're even more excited about exploring more around the area!

water for sunsets

2011-11-11T03:09:00.001-08:00

We finally got a car AND the insurance to drive it, so we have been trying to leave the base every day, if only for a little bit, so we can get to know our way around Misawa. It's been getting dark at 4:30 in the afternoon, so we don't have a lot of daylight once school is over, but we've have fun exploring!

Today, we had three missions. First, find the hundred yen store (which turned out to be awesome!), the McDonald's (which is WAY better than any McDonald's in the states), and the beach.

I was so proud of myself that I successfully navigated us to the store, to the McDonald's, AND to the beach...until we actually got to the beach. After the tsunami, the Japanese began building breaker walls because of the crazy undertows and the damage to the beaches. We could smell the salt air and the fish at the port, but there was no ocean in sight.

We decided to try and drive up the coast to see if we could find beach access. Twenty-eight km later, we still had no luck. We found a few areas that used to be access points, but are now closed to the public. We decided to be intrepid and continue on, and we finally found a wharf. From there, we could see the ocean! My wish to touch the Pacific Ocean from its Asian boundaries will have to wait, but at least I've seen it now!

On the way back to Misawa, we were lucky enough to be able to watch the sun set. We found a few spots that were so breathtaking, we had to pull over and shoot some photos!!

While we didn't get to walk along the beach, our day of exploration ended up being a great time!

accident

2011-11-03T22:01:00.001-07:00

Well, our rush to jump into local culture continued when we got into our first Japanese car accident today. Now, let me preface this by telling you that nobody was hurt and we were not the ones driving.

We were on the way back to school from lunch and got into a bit of a fender bender. This was nothing unique, but what happened afterward was truly Japanese. See, when a driver in Misawa needs to make a phone call, which isn't allowed while driving, they simply and stop the car and make the call. Note, I didn't say they pull over and make the call. They often just stop in the middle of the street. So it's understandable that the lady whose car was hit stayed put in the street for twenty minutes while waiting for the police rather than pulling to the side.

When the police finally came, they directed the involved cars into a nearby parking lot to get them out of the way...and then proceeded to park the police car right in the street. It was at least entertaining watching all the traffic coming from four directions trying to maneuver around it.

backwards

2011-11-02T02:35:00.001-07:00

So we have realized that while many aspects of life over here are similar to what we were used to in the states, there are differences we never expected.

Take for instance driving. We knew to expect cars to drive on the opposite side of the street, but didn't realize that this would affect us in so many ways. When crossing the street, I never realized how engrained in my mind it was to look to the the left, and then to the right in order to cross. You do that here and you are road kill! Looking right first is the way to ensure safe crossing. Then there are the drive-thru windows. Never did it enter our minds that one would go around a drive-thru clockwise!

When entering a building that has multiple doors, you enter on the left and always walk on the left side of the sidewalk to keep traffic flowing.

Another thing that is different is the signs! The stop signs look like the yield signs you would see back in the states, and then we kept seeing this sign all over the place.

What looks similar to the "illegal immigrant" signs you'd find all over southern California, or maybe a warning that people might be running and to watch out for them, this is simply an exit sign.

We have learned a lot in just a few days on how to live here, and we still have a lot to learn!!

konnichiwa

2011-10-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Well, we're here! After what seemed like the slowest month in our entire lives and the fastest and busiest, we are finally in JAPAN!

The last week really flew by as we got the house packed up, finished working, and said goodbye to some pretty amazing friends. Don't forget the piles and piles of paperwork that needed to be filled out! And then out of nowhere, we are on a plane with bilingual directions for everything, headed for Tokyo!

After 19 hours of flight time, we arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo and took the shuttle to the main terminal. Having never traveled with enough belongings to last a month or two, we had some trouble getting all of our luggage where we needed to go! Luckily, customs wasn't too far away and we made it through without too many hitches.

After getting through customs, we found the counter that takes care of Takuhaibin shipments (they will take your baggage and deliver it to you the next day, anywhere in Japan) and from that point it was much easier getting around. We only had three bags instead of six, and I honestly don't know how we would have gotten through the rest of our trip if we hadn't done it!

After the Takuhaibin counter, we took an escalator down to the train station and bought the first of several sets of train tickets to start our rail trip to Misawa. The first train we took was the Keisei express to Tokyo - it was about 45 minutes on the quietest train I've ever been on. It felt like a really fast version of the monorail at Disneyland! Passing through Tokyo was AMAZING. There were so many buildings, cars, and people everywhere!! It's definitely a city I want to spend some good time exploring.

From there, we navigated our way through Ueno, which is Tokyo's main train station. It was quite a feat, since we had to leave the station we were at and head to the Shinkansen (bullet train) station down the street. This station was also in the middle of a Japanese shopping mall, and it was PACKED. We passed by a Starbucks (which we had been craving, big time) but weren't sure we'd have time for it. We found a ticketing agent and purchased our Shinkansen tickets that would take us up to Hachinohe. The tickets cost about ¥ 16,000, (about $200) -- still have to spend time trying to calculate the conversion rates in our heads! Good thing we have an app for that ;)

Finding our way to the terminal was a pretty crazy experience - I'm pretty sure we went up and down about 10 escalators at the station - one of them has got to be the longest escalator I've ever seen. It just kept going and going and going. It seemed like we had to be a mile underground by the time we got to our platform.

The Shinkansen was a great experience. There was a nice old lady sitting behind us who had a great time trying to explain to us how to get the seats to recline. She demonstrated the whole thing for us and then watched us do it. There was a family traveling from Omiya to Morioka and they had some young daughters who were entertaining to watch. The youngest was fascinated by the motion-sensor directed door between the cars and would try to sneak up on it to get as close as she could without opening it (or opening it at the last minute and running into the car before her parents could catch her!)

We got to Hachinohe at 8 pm and had exactly 8 minutes to get off the train, ride the escalator up to the gate, put our tickets in the machine to leave the terminal, find the ticket office, purchase tickets to Misawa, go through the terminal gate, ride the escalator down, and get on the train. We almost didn't make it, but the captain of the train saw us and waited for us to board! (wheww!)

The last train ride was only about 20 minutes or so. We got there around 8:30 pm and Denise and Ben were waiting for us at the Misawa station. From there, we entered the base, checked in to the lodge, and collapsed into our bed!

We are loving it here already!

hello and goodbye

2011-09-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

In some ways, I can't wait for the next month to fly by and be over!! In others, I wish I could hold onto them for just a while longer.

I never expected to feel remorse about leaving the great state of North Carolina. I kept telling myself not to get too involved, not to make great friends, and to be ready to leave at any point. Of course, that didn't happen.

I'm so excited to make this huge change that moving to Japan will bring. I can't wait to meet my new class and my new coworkers. I really can't wait to experience all the culture that is just waiting to be explored!

But I have to say that I will miss it here. Not that I will miss Fayetteville by any means. I will, however, miss the amazing people I work with (and often play with!!) I will miss several of the families I have had the privilege of getting to know while teaching their children. I will miss several aspects of living in the south. (Though, I won't miss the insects and the humidity!!) I will miss only having a three hour time difference between us and home. For all of you who made my time in NC not only bearable, but amazing, thank you. You, I will miss.

new, fun things

2011-09-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've discovered some really cool, new products in the last few months, and thought I'd share a few of them with anyone who is into new, cool products!

The first thing I want to tout is my new website!!
I really did love the old one, but upon my lurking on Blu Domain's blog, I realized their birthday was coming up. They always have some amazing prizes, giveaways, and sales around their birthday month, and I was ready to take advantage of it! I searched every single new website they had put out to find the one I would eventually fall in love with, purchased it for HALF OFF, and then, voila. Magic was in the air. I love the unique features you can add to their websites to make them as individual as the people and businesses who run them, but they are simple enough so that even those with no html/graphic/coding skills can still manage them. If you're on the lookout for a great way to advertise your business, I'd definitely recommend them.

Another great product I recently (and it's recent, because it's NEW) discovered and played with is Totally Rad's new RadLab. It is designed to be used with Photoshop (I think they may have a Lightroom version in the works). I've used their actions before, and have always loved them, so all the hype they were putting out about this new RadLab intrigued me. The more I read about it, the more I wanted it, and I have to say that I was not disappointed. As someone who has learned quite a bit about Photoshop, I am loving the shortcuts into making my photos look amazing!! The nice thing, and something you don't see with too many actions packages, is that it's completely customizable. You can go in and change the opacity and intensity every step of the way, and you can pile several of the "stylets" on top of each other for a unique look. And if you find that you want to get rid of the first stylet you applied? You don't have to go all the way back in your history and redo everything else...you just delete it. This program is great for Photoshop beginners, and it's a godsend for those who know Photoshop but don't have the time to go in and do everything manually.

I recently decided to jump on the bandwagon and try out Groupon and now, I wonder how I got on without it. What a fun way to save money on things we do all the time, and a cheap way to try things we've never done! For example, we got a movie deal at this great theater near us. We got two tickets (any time), popcorn, candy, and two drinks for the same price two matinee tickets would have cost us. Then there's the new adventures. Next week, we're going to MollysMud to try our hand at painting. I'm sure that our paintings will be completely awful, but we've already set aside some wall space in our office to hang our very own paintings so that we can remember how much fun we had creating them. It's something I never would have thought to spend money on until I found the Groupon for it and realized we could afford to try it!

I'll keep you posted on any other fun findings...'till then...

news!

2011-09-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Just found out that we are moving!! I got a first grade teaching position at Misawa Air Base in JAPAN!!!

It seemed like this moment would never come - we have been trying to prepare our families (and ourselves) for this for nearly two years...and it just seems so surreal. Will write more later as we find out more details about the how's, when's, and all the important info!

month of the military child

2011-04-27T08:31:00.001-07:00

We are in the midst of celebrating the Month of the Military Child. One of the activities our school participated in was to interview any teachers who grew up as military kids. Having a third grader interview me about my life as an Army Brat really made me look back at my life. Growing up in so many towns, posts, and cities, I've lived a different life than most people in this country. Honestly, I hated it back then. Every time I'd finally get situated at school and make some good friends, off we'd go to the next place. Even the places we returned to after several years were like new, as those I had been friends with had moved on as well. Now, though, I see it as an important part of who I am. I feel I'm capable of dealing with change better than many of my counterparts. I might not like it or want to embrace it, but I deal with it and move on. With all the upheaval we've had due to the economy and being laid off, I think it was the constant change growing up that helped me to deal with it this time around. Yes, it was devastating to lose my job. Yes, I hated that we had finally gotten to choose where we wanted to live, and now we had to move across the country, where we didn't know a soul. But, move we did. And it was a lot easier than I had envisioned. Not that I see myself staying in North Carolina forever, as we have bigger and better plans...

A few months ago, I went up to Seattle to visit my best friend. While I was there, I was able to go back to Ft. Lewis, where we were stationed several years ago. I was probably 4 or so when we lived there, and it's the first real home I remember. Not having been back since then, all I had were these pictures in my head: some from pictures I've seen of us living there and others, just foggy memories. Going back was an amazing experience - getting to see the park I remember playing at, hiking the paths I remember walking down with my family when I was younger, visiting the lake where we used to feed the ducks. Even though all the houses basically look the same, I was drawn to the one that was ours for that brief time. It made me realize that, yes, we moved a lot and didn't settle down until I was nearly an adult. Though fleeting, that time was real and it made me who I am today.

Walking down memory lane was an eye-opening experience for me. What can it be for you?

ft. stewart

2011-04-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was asked to lead a training down in Ft. Stewart on guided reading and our new reading curriculum. I would be going with two other teachers from our district, to a school nearly twice the size of ours, to teach other teachers (some of whom have been teaching since I was in elementary school). It also included a two-hour model lesson, where they (along with their principal and district superintendent) would be watching me teach THEIR kids, whom I had never met. What a daunting task!

It felt like every step was another sign that I wasn't cut out for this, though. Any source material or reference I wanted to use mysteriously disappeared from our school and even district office. Videos on the topic with a good lesson to show couldn't be found (and once we found some, they couldn't be downloaded.) After days of creating my own material, asking my tech-savvy husband to rearrange our entire hard drive and download programs that would allow me to download a video, and still running my own classroom, I was ready to go.

And what a trip it was. We felt so totally unprepared once we got there -- we worked tirelessly to revamp everything we had come in prepared to demonstrate. And in return, we got a lot of great ideas and hopefully, some new friendships.

This week, I got something else amazing out of it. Dr. Curtis, our Area Superintendent (meaning the superintendent of not only our district, but of the entire DoD continental U.S., Puerto Rico, and Cuba) sent me a letter, thanking me for my service. What an honor and what a great testament to the organization I work for. That someone so high up would take the time to personally sit down and write a letter to me was just amazing. (And it can't hurt my resume either!!)

You know me...I had the camera with me (of course) but didn't have a whole lot of time to go out and shoot. Here are some I snapped around post on my travel day, before heading back to North Carolina.

blue ridge

2010-12-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

When we moved to the south, we decided to make a sort-of bucket list of the things we wanted to see and do before moving on to our next destination. We figured places like New York City and Disneyworld would be places we'd visit eventually, no matter our location, so we chose places of interest that we probably wouldn't get a chance to visit after we move. In our first year in North Carolina, we had crossed off most of those places. We drove the Outer Banks, we toured DC, we went to several beaches, explored Charleston and Savannah (twice, even!), so the only place left on the list was the Blue Ridge Parkway. I've always wanted to see it, and seeing as how the majority of the Parkway is within hours from where we live, we figured we definitely needed to take a long weekend and make the drive.

What we saw was even more amazing that what we expected. We drove up to Roanoke, Virginia, close to the beginning of the Parkway, and were immediately surrounded by...autumn at its best. Golden yellows and oranges, bright reds, and shades of bright brown and cinnamon we had never seen before greeted us on our journey. In the 270 miles we traveled through the Parkway over the weekend, we saw amazing mills, mountain views, waterfalls, trails, and the cutest little towns you could imagine. Here are a few photos from our trip:

no more misadventures!

2010-09-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm glad to say that the rest of our vacation went a lot more smoothly than our misadventures with the drop zones! We took a three day weekend drive down to Charleston and Savannah, both of which I had seen, but Ben and Naomi hadn't. We took a carriage ride through Historic Charleston, which still has cobblestone streets, and learned about some of its amazing history. We saw Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were shot, some amazing houses build in the 17 and 1800's, and the first Otis Elevator in the south.

We then visited the Charleston Aquarium, home of the rare albino alligator. We also walked along the waterfront of Charleston Harbor.

We spent the night in Charleston and headed south toward Savannah early the next morning. On the way, we stopped by Morris Island to check out the beach and the Morris Island Lighthouse. It was definitely one of the coolest lighthouses we have visited so far in our east coast travels.

Once in Savannah, we were caught up in the history of this amazing city. We visited Old Fort Jackson, a fort that has stood the test of time and was used during the Revolutionary War and the Civil War; Fort Pulaski, one of the first forts targeted by the Union Army during the Civil War; Bonaventure Cemetery, resting place for many of Georgia's historically important founders and governors; and Wormsloe Plantation, which is famous for its beautiful moss-draped trees.

Old Fort Jackson

Fort Pulaski

Bonaventure Cemetery

Wormsloe Plantation

Of course, we spent some time swimming at Tybee Island and strolling down the waterfront of Historic Savannah. We saw some amazing sights and drank in the southern atmosphere.

the misadventures of the in-laws (hopefully part 1 of 1)

2010-06-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

Ben's mom, Naomi, is here to visit for the week. We seem to have had some back luck this week, with a series of misadventures. Today's, at least, we got pictures of!

We read in the Paraglide that the 82nd was going to do a jump yesterday, and thought it'd be fun to see, seeing as how she has never been witness to one before. So we searched for directions, picked up a friend of mine, and headed out to the hills (or in this case, forest). An hour later, we arrived, only to find that this jump was private because of the presence of several congressmen. We were politely asked to vacate the premises, and to come to the Thursday jump instead. Bummed, we drove home and tried to decide whether to try again in the morning.

We decided it was worth a shot, so this morning we headed out, excited and a bit nervous that this jump would also have problems.

Problems, it had.

Today's jump site was located in an area surrounded by sand. This is not dirt, packed down and hard like yesterday's drop zone. No, this was beach-volleyball-worthy sand.

We maneuvered our way to the drop zone, only to be told by two officers in a humvee that we needed to move out of the way, as they were about to drop heavy artillery right where we were parked. We were asked to follow them back to the side of the main road. Well, we tried, but these soldiers forgot that humvees treat the sand like dirt, and my Ford, well, not so much.

Needless to say, we got stuck. Unfortunately, the guys didn't see the sticking and left without us. We both, being praying women, begged and pleaded that we wouldn't be crushed by whatever was being dropped by the helicopters that flew overhead.

After several minutes of trying to maneuver out of the sand trap, the soldiers realized we had not been able to follow them and came back to our rescue. With me driving and a mother-in-law and two soldiers pushing, we freed the car and carefully drove back to the road.

After this, we had the decision to make: do we stay or do we go? We decided to wait it out (as the jump had been postponed because of our...incident...) and we FINALLY got to witness it! Sadly, it was only two paratroopers and a few crates, but it was something!

district of columbia

2010-04-24T09:19:00.002-07:00

Seeing as how neither of us has been to many East Coast points of interest, we decided that we want to see and do as much of it as we can as long as we're living here. It's hard to believe I've been here for six months now, and already I've been down to Georgia, we've seen the Outer Banks, and now, we've been to DC! It was a great trip, full of spectacular sites. I'll post a few of our favorites so we can share them with you.

After we each made a list of the Top 5 places we wanted to visit in DC, Arlington Cemetery was at the top of mine. After battling construction, traffic, an interesting site in Richmond that included the freeway being shut down for two men in a pick-up truck to fill in some potholes during rush hour traffic, and some horrible directions that led us everywhere ELSE in Arlington, we made it just in time for the last changing of the guard that day. It was a surreal and wonderful moment - knowing that these guards have devoted their lives for this task.

The next day, we made it to the Metro station and headed into DC. Already, I had the camera out and ready.

We had planned to walk around the National Mall and see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the several other small memorials in the area before heading to the Smithsonian museums. What we didn't plan for was the 90 degree weather, the dust flying everywhere, and the miles and miles of walking and walking and...can you guess it? Yep, that's right: walking, that we had to do to get there. We estimated about five miles that first day, and it was five miles well worth it! We saw all the monuments, a glimpse of the White House, an amazing butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, among other things.

Around 6, we trudged back to the Metro station, headed back to the hotel, showered, and met our friends in Alexandria for an awesome Chinese dinner. After catching up with them, we drove back into DC and wandered around the mall, taking in the beauty of DC after dark. Seeing the monuments all lit up was second on my list and did not disappoint!

The next day, we awoke, tired but excited, for the next day. We started at Union Station, another of my list items, and then trekked from the Metro Station over to the Jefferson Memorial, excited to get one of the quintessential cherry-blossom-in-the-foreground-and-Jefferson-Memorial-in-the-background photos, only to find that all the cherry blossom festival activities were going strong, but the cherry blossoms were nowhere to be found. We settled for a nice walk along the tidal basin, through downtown DC, and a walking trip to a Starbucks! We relaxed there for a half hour, before heading back to the National Mall. From there, we split up, hoping to take in as much as possible on our second-to-last-day in the city. Ben headed to the Air and Space museum, while I strolled along the mall, snapping photos along the way. I visited the Museum of the American Indian, walked to the Capitol Building, and went into the Botanical Gardens. Another thing on my list was the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. Since I didn't quite have the time to really explore it, it was a few quick shots of the courtyard and back to the Metro station to meet up with Ben.

Our last day, we checked out the National Zoo and taste-tested our way through the college town of Adams Morgan. We saw an episode of Food Wars that battled out and crowned the king of jumbo pizza in DC. We visited both, and agreed that Pizza Mart was WAY better.

friendiversary

2009-12-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is a little late in coming, but with the holidays and everything, it's been too crazy to get this all up!

About a month and a half ago, my best friend and I realized that we had been friends for 10 years. For a military kid, moving from state-to-state every few years (or months in some cases) this was a huge feat for me. Having a constant friend for 10 years seemed like something to celebrate, and as we had both moved recently and hadn't seen each other in a while, we decided to do something about it. Less than two days later, she was flying from Seattle to Raleigh, and we both had some ideas up our sleeves on what to do for what we dubbed our "friendiversary."

We originally planned to hang out in DC or New York, but since May had never been down to the real south, we decided to head down to Charleston and Savannah.

When planning our trip, we came across a Samantha Brown episode, where she spent the weekend in the very same cities, so we took a page out of her book and planned to visit some of the places she did while visiting the south.

Even coming from California, we were shocked at all the fireworks werehouses. We passed at least 5 of these on our way down to Charleston.

In downtown Charleston, we found the best burger EVER. (They also had the best fried pickles I've ever had, a southern delicacy you must try.)

We found a great pier along the waterfront. We had a great view of the bay, the reeds, and the boats.

Couldn't resist snapping some pics of May along the cobblestone streets of Charleston.

A gorgeous cathedral we passed by.

On the waterfront, near the Aquarium.

We were so excited! As we were snapping pictures along the waterfront, this dolphin just swam up beside us. It was the coolest!

The regal bald eagle at the aquarium. I had never seen a bald eagle before. This was our favorite part of the aquarium experience.

This was one of the many alligators at the aquarium. This one was probably 6 feet long.

After spending our evening in Charleston, we drove down to Savannah for the night. In the morning, we drove out to Tybee Island, where we saw a beautiful lighthouse, found a secret trail leading to a private beach, and found the retirement home we want to go to when we're old biddies!

After Tybee Island, we returned to Savannah to check out some of the local places. One included the Honey Shop, which we saw on Samantha Brown. This is the best little shop! They carry a variety of honey products, ranging from grilling honey to lotion to honeycomb and cheese appetizers.

We also visited St. Vincent Cathedral, which was built in the mid 1800's. It was truly the most beautiful building I've stepped foot in. It makes me want to visit Europe to see some of the truly old cathedrals there.

While in Savannah, we also did a cemetery tour (which I'll post separately one of these days) and walked along the riverfront to find a genuine, southern restaurant to eat at. Around twilight, we began the 5 hour trip back to Sanford. Along the way, we kept seeing all of these billboards for a place called Fort Pedro, which advertised the biggest mini golf course in the state. As we reached Fort Pedro, though, it looked more like Vegas, with neon signs running down the main drag of the town. It even had a huge tower in the shape of a sombrero. We turned in, interested to see what the hype was all about, only to find that it was mostly motels and seedy diners. It struck a strange cord, and we couldn't help but take some pictures of it!

All in all, it was a great weekend, filled with laughter and friendship. Happy friendiversary, friend <3

the holidays are here

2009-12-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

So this has been an interesting transition. It's the first holiday season I've ever spent apart from my family. We have all these traditions for Thanksgiving and Black Friday and the following holidays, and it's been a bittersweet time doing all of those things thousands of miles away.

The turkey turned out beautifully, as well as the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner, so that was an accomplishment on its own! We're finishing the house decorating and gift-wrapping and are ready for Christmas! All we need now is a good layer of snow, some holiday movies, and some hot chocolate!

tales from the classroom: patriots and starbucks

2009-10-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

My kids this year are hilarious. Smart, sassy, sarcastic, and hilarious.

I have a thing I like to do involving a classroom economy. Each student gets paid weekly for doing jobs, as if they were each on the job site every day. They get money for coming to school, for completing tasks correctly the first time, and for classroom jobs (we have a bulletin board for different jobs the kids can apply for). They also pay money for optional supplies or extra supplies that they have depleted (ie pencils they lost or markers that ran out of ink).

On the first week of school, I allow each student to create a money template that we'll use all year, and then the class votes on the one they like the best. Usually, I get pictures of whatever our school's mascot is. Being the Patriots, I recieved the expected bills with pictures of flags, patriot soldiers, eagles, and other patriotic emblems. One student, though, drew a simple shooting star on the front of his dollar, and sarcastically called it a "star buck." Of course, this one won the vote, so our new classroom currency is in Starbucks.

Har har har.

southernisms 101 -- aka "hymns and sweet tea"

2009-09-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

You know you're in the south when you have to differentiate your choice of teas. You can't just say "tea" in a restaurant (or even a fast food joint). You have to say sun tea, hot tea, or sweet tea. It's just one of those things one forgets about when coming from the west.

Another is the fact that when you ask someone how they are, they actually TELL you. At Waffle House, we heard all about the server's long day and her other job. At Cracker Barrel, we heard all about a vacation one of the ladies went on. Even at Walmart, you get the full story and not the western "good, how are you?" that comes so naturally. I LOVE it! It just makes your day wonderful, getting to know people you've never met and share in their lives, even if it's only for thirty seconds.

The last is the music. I was listening to the radio, and they bleep out the funniest words. In Sacramento, the radio stations hardly ever bleep out a word, but here, they can't even say the word "drugs" without getting censored. And they listen to gospel music everywhere! I went to lunch at a Chinese buffet with one of my new coworkers and they were playing worship music! I don't think I've ever heard blatantly religious music in a public place before, other than a religious family-based establishment or religious store of some sort.

Welcome to the south!

searched and sworn in

2009-09-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today was interesting, to say the least. I really can't wait until we get settled and don't have to be running every second of the day!

I'm still in the process of getting my military ID, so every time I go on base, I have to be searched and allow for the car to be searched. It takes a bit of time, but it's not a big deal. BUT, our registration tags hadn't arrived by the time we had to move, so it looks as if the registration has expired, so each time I try to get on base, they call the MP's (Military Police) on me and I have to go through background checks and they double search the car. It's crazy! I'm sure it's something I'll look back on with amusement, but it's really time consuming now.

On a good note, though, I found a house I LOOOOOVE! It's got a huge backyard for Seamus, a modern kitchen, and an awesome, very southern, front porch! I'm hoping we qualify for it.

day 4 (and 5)??

2009-09-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a long couple of days.

Yesterday, we went to see the St. Louis Arch and then left Missouri, excited at the prospect of coming back someday and exploring St. Louis quite a bit more than we were able to on this trip. We drove through Indiana and Illinois, and then stopped in Louisville, KY for...as if you didn't know...some lunch at Spaghetti Factory. It was by far the biggest (and probably nicest) OSF I've ever been to, though the food wasn't nearly as good and we're used to. It was amusing, though, so have the option of iced tea or sweet tea to go with our meal.

We left Louisville and traveled through West Virgina, which took FOREVER; Virginia, which was full of fog and rain; and finally entered North Carolina at around 2 am. We drove down to Spring Lake, which is right outside the base, and crashed at an icky, smoky hotel. Don't stay in Spring Lake if ever you come through here! (Well...if you do come you should stay with us anyway, but you get the picture.)

So after two hours of sleep, we got up this morning and met with a realtor. We were able to look at a few houses and neighborhoods and have pretty much decided on Sanford as our town of choice. Then we recouped at Waffle House (which, I have to say, is just as yummy as I remember it being years and years ago! It was the only thing I really missed about leaving the south as a kid...and Ben loved it too, so I'm pretty sure we'll make it a weekly weekend-breakfast habit) and then it was off to the airport so Ben could fly home in order to finish his last two weeks of work and packing up of the house.

I was able to check in at the base lodge at Fort Bragg (MUCH better than the lame hotel from last night) and am about to eat dinner and then crash for the night.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Pictures from the trip, and from around NC, will be coming shortly!

day 3

2009-09-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

First, let me tell you that google maps is not accurate when you're planning for long road trips, and it will ALWAYS take you longer than the amount of time it tells you it will.

We saw some interesting things along the road on Day 3.

In Colorado, we saw a man spray painting the grass along the highway to make it look green. In Kansas, we saw Truckhenge, a garden of trucks (and boats as well) in a dry creek bed. It was awesome, and pics will be coming soon! In Missouri, we saw the converging of about 10 highways and freeways all smack dab in the middle of downtown. (The city all lit up was beautiful.)

We tried to go by the Kit Carson County Carousel in Burlington, Colorado, but apparently a bunch of the roads were closed off and it just would have taken too long.

We finally stopped at Andrea's around 1 am (we crossed through another time zone) and got to catch up with her a bit before catching up on some much-needed sleep.

Today is the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Spaghetti Factory in Louisville, crossing through 7 states, and finally, our arrival into North Carolina!

day 2

2009-09-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Day 2 was a long one.

We started from Elko in the morning, excited for the drive ahead. It's funny, because the landscape along the drive was actually pretty nice. Nice, of course, for the Nevada desert, but still, not nearly as bad as we were expecting.

Then, we crossed the border. It was just funny that, as we were starting to really enjoy looking out the windows, Utah came along and ruined it. We crossed the border, and all we could see were miles and miles of salt flats. There was even a rest stop a mile in with an overlook so one could view all the ugly salt flats. It seems amusing that they build an observation tower for that, but none for Pacific Coast Highway or even 80 across Donner Pass, both beautiful roads. But I digress.

From Elko, we continued onto Salt Lake City, where we stopped for lunch at Spaghetti Factory. (Some of you know the story behind the restaurant..for you others, I'll put that in another blog. No time here!)

After Salt Lake, and even a bit before it, was a much prettier drive than the first part. We passed through some gorgeous mountain areas, hit some rain and fog, and got some awesome pictures of it all! I still don't have a card reader, though, so the pics will have to wait.

We reached Denver around 2 am and crashed. Again, we took a while and found a cheap motel that ended up being pretty nice, except for the roofers, who decided to wake us up by pounding on our roof at 7 in the morning.

So, we're on to St. Louis.

Some sites we hope to see today: Truckhenge and the Kit Carson County Carousel (and of course the Spaghetti Factory in St. Louis)

day 1

2009-09-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we arrived in Elko late last night. We had planned to get at least to Salt Lake City, but circumstances just didn't allow it. We got a late start, since Ben had to work, and then had a late lunch with family in Reno and dinner with a friend in Winnemucca. Then there was a TON of construction the whole way. By the time we got to Elko, we were exhausted from the long days we've had so far this week.

After an hour of searching (We finally drove to a Starbucks parking lot and used their wi-fi instead of driving around too much longer) we found a decent motel we could afford. I'm not sure why Elko has so many expensive hotels. Even the Rodeway Inn was around 80 bucks. Ben hypothesized that since it's the last major stopping point on the way to Salk Lake, but also going North to Boise, it must get a lot of
cross travel.

We finally found the Budget Inn, which was only $49 a night, and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a pretty nice room with a comfy bed AND air conditioning (We haven't had much luck in that area lately...)

So, after a not-so-long sleep, we're about to head back out onto the road. We're hoping to make it as far (if not a bit further than)Denver tonight.

Pictures to come soon!

all the craziness

2009-09-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Wow.

I have to let that sink in for a minute. Things have happened so quickly, that I almost feel guilty for spending the time to sit down and write this. I do need a break from all the craziness though, so this is how I'm spending it!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we are moving to North Carolina. Tomorrow. Wow.

Here's the story if you haven't heard it (if you have, you can skip this next part!) I had an interview on Thursday with three principals of Department of Defense Schools. Prior to the interview, I researched the schools I was interviewing for, and found out that one of them was named after a man who was stationed in Somalia with my dad. It seemed like it was just too much to be coincidence that such a position would have finally arrived. Even better, several other teachers at this school had spouses or other relatives who were there at the same time also. Awesome, huh?

The principal let me know that they had to make their decision that day, and that HR would be getting back to the person they hired sometime within a week or two.

So yesterday (only 2 workdays after the interview) I awoke to a phone call saying that I got the third grade position and would start the next Monday. So here we are two days later, in the midst of frantic packing and planning, and we head out tomorrow! Ben and I finally get to do the cross-country road trip we've been planning for years, only without a lot of the fun stops we had planned to do along the way.

Pictures and road-trip (and house-finding and teaching) stories will soon commence as well!

I never thought I'd say this, but goodbye, California!

i guess this is growing up

2009-08-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've never really felt like an adult. I have a friend who comments each time we see each other on how we are really growing up, citing the fact that I am married, have a house, a career, pets -- every marking of the stereotypical American adult, minus the 2.5 kids and mini-van (or SUV??)

But I have never really agreed. Honestly, I have always felt just the same as I always have, somewhere between those confinements of teen-dome and old age. I always wondered if I would ever feel that "adult-ness" feeling coming on or if it would just happen. If it didn't happen with finding the love of my life, being married, moving away from home or even finishing college and starting my career, what would it be? Having kids? Buying a house? Turning 30 or even 40?

I hadn't thought about it for a while, but I realized last week that the feeling has finally come. I'm not sure if it's due to the fact that we have been knocked down by the failing economy just as so many others have, knowing that our parents won't be there to bail us out; or seeing that so many of our friends are having their second or even third kids; or even that some of them, as young as we are, have already divorced. I'm not sure.

But the feeling is here and I can't help but wonder if it's a good thing. Is it good to finally be that grown-up I always dreamed of becoming, complete with the same fears and worries of the older generations who lived before us; or should I be clinging to that security blanket of youth, never letting go? I know we can't have it both ways, not really, but it's hard to make the choice.

nothingness

2009-06-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

So I just realized that I haven't written in this thing since October. Seven months! Seven months full of nothing and everything at the same time.

Well, here is what the last seven months have held.

I still don't have a job, and that fact is growing more and more difficult as each month rolls by. Somehow by the grace of God we are still making it financially, but the prospects are ever dwindling as more and more money is taken from our state (and country's) educational budget. We are looking for teaching positions across the country, and it is very possible that we'll be moving to North Carolina in the next few months.

On that same note, I started a photography business. It's been a lot of fun and we've met some great people. I'm hoping that it builds up enough that I can put teaching on hold until the recession is over, so we'll see. It's a popular thing now for photogs to have their own portraiture blogs, with a few portraits and quick spiel about their clients...so that's where I've been doing my writing for the past few months. The link is here if you are interested in checking it out!

Other than that, things are moving right along, I supposed. We've been in Tahoe off and on for Ben's work. It's nice getting to stay in a hotel for free in one of the world's most beautiful bodies of water for several days on end!

That's about it...see you in another seven months (hopefully it won't be that long!)

the one with the dominics

2008-10-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Last night was the annual "costumes and tacos" night. It was awesome. A bunch of us dressed up as x-men, which was great, because I am trying to get as much use out of that Rogue costume as I can.

One of the great things about the costumes and tacos night is the creativity of the costumes. This year was not a disappointment.

When we showed up, we saw that one of our friends dressed up as Dominic, one of the high schoolers. Then, another Dominic showed up. I think by the end of the night, there were at least 6 Dominics walking around the party, each one bringing a unique set of the quintessential characteristics of the real Dom.

I'd love to see them all walking down the street or going out in public like that. :)

the woes of unemployment

2008-10-19T17:54:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or does it seem like it's more difficult and stressful to live off of unemployment than to work for a living? I swear, I put just as much time into filling out the paperwork, handing out resumes, researching ANYONE that might have the budget to be hiring, vying for interviews, getting turned down because I either have too little experience or too much experience, and trying to get ahold of someone at the unemployment office every few weeks because they have once again messed up my check?

But, alas, the school districts are still not hiring, the economy is as bad as it has been, and there are no jobs in site that will pay what my unemployment does.

I wish I had a job.

innocence

2008-07-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me the innocence a child has. There is no fear of all the bad things that could happen, no timidity.

We took the kids swimming today.

There was no check to see how deep that water was, how warm or cold it was, whether we'd be there to make sure he came up out of the water; just that initial excitement and...the jump. He had so much fun showing us all the cool things he knew how to do, and testing out the belly flops, cannonballs, and handstands we showed him. It was a great day.

the one with the wedding

2008-06-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, my sister is a married woman

What a crazy, hectic weekend! The weekend went by so quickly, what with frantically jetting relatives around, calming the bride's nerves, getting nails/makeup/hair done. It was a frantic and wonderful experience.

Then the day arrived. The bride was there, the groom was there, and the whole event went as perfectly as one could expect. She was radiant, they said "I do," and now my baby sister has joined the world of the "grown-ups." She's married. She's moving to another state to start her career.

When did time start moving so fast?

All my dad could say was, "Two down, one to go."

the one with the...

2008-06-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

So you might know that I'm pretty much obsessed with Friends. It's one of those shows you can just watch over and over. It's funny enough that it never gets boring, but not so in-depth that you have to pay close attention to it. It's my "watch-it-while-I'm-cleaning" or "watch-it-while-I'm-sick" or "watch-it-while-I-grade-a-huge-stack-of-papers" show.

Lately, I've discovered that two of my close friends also enjoy the show to the same extent. So much so that we have started naming the events that go on in our lives after Friends episodes. Such as "The One With The... blah blah blah". It's pretty much amazing. We can name it and then reminisce about "the one with the wall" or "the one with the iron will" or "the one with the stalker" at a later date and know exactly which memory is being recalled. (PS maybe I'll write about the above mentioned "ones" later on).

Good times, indeed.

a time to move on

2008-06-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

School is over. My first year of teaching has come to an end. It's been the most difficult and rewarding experience I've ever gone through. These kids who I spent my time with, trying to make an impression on, have left quite the impression on me.

On one hand, I couldn't wait to get rid of them. They drove me crazy, with their bickering and interrupting, their fifth grade attitudes coming into play every five minutes. On the other, I miss them already. I won't be the one they come to with their failures, accomplishments, jokes, and hand-picked flowers anymore.

They graduated last week. I cried. Yeah, I'll admit it. Knowing that they're moving on to junior high in a few months (yea! they made it!!) and that I won't be at the same school next year for them to come visit me and let me know how it's going...is difficult.

Teaching is difficult (and amazing) on so many levels.

to the governator

2008-03-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

Our governor has decided that, in response to our state’s $6 billion deficit, he wants to cut the budget in several areas, including education. Now, obviously I’m biased in this area, being a teacher, but this is an outrage and shows little care in the raising of a new generation. Most teachers (and parents) would agree that education is already under-funded. (The statistics also agree, putting California number at 46 in per-student spending. There are only four states below us, with New York spending more than 75% more than California on education.) With No Child Left Behind making it law to provide quality programs to any student who is below grade level, schools are spending that valuable money to hire more teachers, student aides, and materials which will assist teachers in better educating their students. This, in itself, causes problems, because there is often no money left for the purchasing of school supplies, computer programs, technology and teaching tools, which are necessary in running a classroom in this day and age. So, in turn, the educator has to supply these things him or herself.

I work in a school that is in a low socio-economic community. With this kind of environment, comes a special type of student. This is the kind of student who is often the child of a single-parent household, where the parent works several jobs, is undereducated, and is not around most of the time, leaving the student responsible for much more than an elementary child should be. Many of these kids are abused, many of them are already in gangs, and many of them live with other relatives, because CPS has removed them from their homes. Therefore, it is easy to see that these kids have a lot of struggles that the average middle-class children do not need to deal with. Education for these kids is not the main focus; the main focus is safety. When these children are dealing with all they have on their plates, it is difficult to put focus on what they are learning in the classroom.

Many of these schools, most of them protected and funded as Title 1, have ample programs to further assist these students, in addition to what they have in the classroom. Programs like this include interventions in certain subjects, before and after school programs, and even counseling programs. These programs are necessary in the growing of students in Title 1 schools, and are known to increase grades and test scores.

I can tell you that in my school, we have a wonderful staff who is dedicated to helping students by running these programs. I can also tell you, though, that there is not enough time in the day or money in the budget to give the necessary amount of extra instruction to our kids. I could work a 24 hour day every day, and still feel like something more could have been done.

If the budget is cut, this will take away not only smaller class sizes and teachers, but it will also cut the programs and aides designed to help our students succeed. If we feel we are barely reaching the surface with what we have, what will happen when what we have is taken from us? We will NOT be able to sufficiently support our children and help them to become lifelong learners. With larger class sizes, teachers will not be able to have small group or one-on-one time with struggling students. And students will no longer have a place to go when they do not understand a concept.

I fully believe that further cutting of the budge will lead to more children dropping out of school, because they are so far behind and do not understand any of the concepts they are supposed to be learning. Rather than becoming lifelong learners, they will grow frustrated and disoriented, and finally give up on the education system as a whole.

Another part of the legislation the government is trying to propose is called the “merit pay” system, under which educators only receive raises based on student achievement and test scores. How does this sound to the teacher who has CHOSEN to work in a low socio-economic setting, where the students often have NO background knowledge, have NO access to books and other learning tools, and have family lives that keep them moving from caregiver to caregiver or at least from apartment to apartment every few months? This is the setting I have chosen to teach in, because it is where I believe I can make the most impact, not only being a teacher, but being a positive role model in lives that have none. Many of my kids have such turmoil in their home lives that I’m surprised they are able to focus on anything we are learning in the classroom. These kids, though I do my best to ensure they receive the best education possible, will never score as high as the average middle-class student will on the tests. They will never achieve the same grades, because they come from completely different backgrounds. So based on this, if I choose to remain in the area I have chosen, I will never receive a pay raise, even though I’m working harder than the average teacher to ensure my students a quality education. I put in more hours than most teachers, acting as a private tutor, a listening ear, an advisor of sorts. I give up my lunch hours to assist my students in understanding the principles that flew over their heads during class. I give up my time before and after school to allow my students a quiet place to work (or to talk), because they don’t have that at home. I believe that teachers in schools like this should be compensated even MORE, not less for this hard work and determination, though the governments seems to think we should be punished for this. If this legislation goes into play, it will be harder than ever to convince teachers to take positions in low socio-economic schools; therefore, certain teachers will be “stuck” there, for lack of a better term, unwillingly, and will not put in the time and effort needed to reach this special group of students.

With all that said, please support your California teacher, by signing a petition against the upcoming legislation. Click here or here to save our students, and stand up to the government!

30 seconds of your day to change a life forever

2008-02-25T18:25:00.001-08:00

Hey guys...Most of you know that my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer last summer. Well...recently my sister entered her into a "total makeover" type contest, that will pay for the winner to have Lasik surgery, dental work, and thousands of dollars of pure pampering.My mom has been through hell this year, and she could REALLY use this! She was selected to be in the top 5, and now it's up to voters to choose the winner.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to the website, sign up (you can always just unsubscribe later) and vote for her!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Her name is Leesa Mischke (she is the third candidate).

Thank you SO MUCH for taking a few minutes to change her life! I'll update you as far as whether she wins or not.Thanks again.

Stupid Nevada Drivers

2007-12-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

Among the things I love about living in Northern California is the traffic. Not that I enjoy traffic jams, but it’s amazing, after living in driving hell for so long, how a traffic jam really works. In Sacramento, the freeways get jammed because there is a lot of traffic. There are tens of thousands of people trying to get to or from work, all in a relatively small window of time.

In Reno, though, traffic would jam because two cars were trying to get on the freeway. See, Nevada drivers do not know the term, “merge.” They have heard this word, and believe it means, “Turn your signal on and wait five minutes to get into the next lane,” or, “When you see someone put their turn signal on, speed up just enough so they can’t get in front of you…or behind you.”

It doesn’t help that the intersection between the two freeways, affectionately referred to as the “Spaghetti Bowl,” was fashioned to allow 10 cars to be on it at a time, regardless of the direction you are heading. Cram any more than that, and it’s an automatic jam. Add to that the constant construction (as long as we lived there, I have never been on the freeway and not had a lane closed or a slower speed limit due to construction. I was going on 9 years prior to moving here) and you have traffic.

Then you have the California drivers. See, California drivers know how to drive. (While this may not be applicable to places such as LA or San Francisco, most California drivers drive well.) They may speed and they may refrain from using their signals. Heck, they may even cut in front of you. But here, it is expected. It is done to you, because it is a well-known fact that you’re going to do it right back to them at some point in your life. This, though seemingly chaotic, is a good thing. It keeps traffic flowing nicely. You drive, expecting that the driver next to you will cram into that small spot in front of you. But they do it nicely. You let them in, because they will let you in when you “cut” in front of them two miles down the road. See? It’s not cutting. It is etiquette.

In Nevada, drivers try to mimic this. They, however, do not really know how it’s done, having been surrounded with other NV drivers for so long. They add this to the supposed “merging” and cause accidents, which slows down traffic even more (if that’s even possible.)

The list goes on and on with bad driving techniques I’ve witnessed while living in Reno, but, thus far, I’ve only seen two problems with California drivers. The first is the rubbernecking. A California driver is literally unable to pass by an accident (or even a police car having pulled someone over) without examining it on their own. They have to be sure everything is being handled correctly, which, of course, slows traffic down. Luckily, the number of freeway accidents is small comparatively, unless it’s a weekend when all the Reno-ites come to town.

The other problem is the Acuras. I first started noticing this phenomenon years ago, when I would travel to Southern California on road trips. Since then, I’ve been counting. Statistically speaking 2.5/3 California Acura drivers mean bad news. They drive like they are alone on the freeway. I’m not sure why this is, but I would be interested to find out what insurance rates are on California Acuras compared to any other vehicle. I’d bet the results would be surprising.

Of all the stupid moves I’ve seen from drivers around the Sac area, 98% of them have either been Acuras or Nevada drivers. Need I say more?

i'm in love

2007-10-05T07:23:00.001-07:00

I think today may just be the best day I've had all year. Not that anything great has happened so far (it's only 7 in the morning)...except one.

The weather.

Today is supposed to be a high of 60 with scattered showers. Now some may already know what this means, but for those of you who are lost, read on.

This morning, when making the all-important-what-should-I-wear-today decision (which can be an extra hard one, because today is dress-down day at work, and I ALWAYS wear my comfy jeans on Fridays) I decided to pull out my box of sweaters. I know it may be a bit early, but I figure, it's snowed in the pass already so what the heck. I may as well.

So I grabbed my favorite sweater ever. You know, the one you pull on and instantly feel warm and cozy. I was slightly afraid that it may not fit right, that it wouldn't be as soft, or that it would just feel funny...but no. It was (and is) perfection. It is amazing how a sweater (or any other favorite piece of clothing, for that matter) can just make you feel good.

There's nothing really extraordinary about this sweater. It's black, soft, and has a little (tiny) red deer or something near the top right. (It's from Old Navy, so that may be their symbol or something.) But it's so comfortable.

I've decided that I may even be intrepid enough to pull out my tall boots and wear 'em to work.

Today is going to be a good day.

thriller

2007-09-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last night, Ben and I watched Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within. While the movie was ok at best (It was better than I thought it would be, but it will never make my top 10 list...) The special features, though, made the whole hour and 46 minutes worth watching. If you didn't know, the movie is done with 3-D animation in order to look very similar to the video games. There is a special feature in which a short film was created in order to test the movement abilities of the animated characters. In short, they created the Thriller video all over again, using the cast of the movie. It was fricken' hilarious. The facial features, the hands, oh my goodness. I laughed, I cried, I watched it again. This will definitely be one of those amusing memories that will stay with me for quite a while.

And so, my dear friends, I began thinking about wonderful music videos that I have loved in the past. Videos that have also given me wonderful memories -- though not necessarily in the same way this one did. (All of these are ranging from childhood to around high school era-they are the videos that stuck with me even 'till now.)

NOTE: I was originally going to do 10, but being as indecisive as you know I am, I couldn' narrow it down without feeling bad that some of the others didn't make it. So the list is 20-something videos long.

22. Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar.
For the same reason as Thriller, which will be named later, this video rocks! The dance sequence is awesome.

21. Call Me Al by Paul Simon.
So you're sitting there, watching this video, thinking that Paul Simon is just going to sit there while Chevy Chase sings his song. But wait, there's a penny whistle solo and some groovy grapevining to come!

20. “Can’t Stop” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
This video is so pleasing to the eye. There are so many different things going on, so many abstracts, so many bright and vibrant colors, and the song is pretty catchy.

19. Buddy Holly by Weezer.
This is just a classic. Most of the video's footage is actually from the original Happy Days show, and the portions that aren't are flawlessly added in. It's so dorky and happy and just plain wonderful!

18. “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
I actually posted the link to the Final Fantasy version that I was talking about earlier. You've all seen the original and understand its wonderfulness. Watch this one 'till the end; there's a part where they all make weird faces, and it's to die for.

17. “Like a Prayer” by Madonna.
This was one of my favorite songs when I was younger, and remains one of my faves now. I love the Madonna-before-she-tried-to-hard-to-stay-young-and-hip music she did. This video, as controversial as it was, is simply beautiful.

16. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty.
I LOVE Tom Petty. I've never heard a song by him that I haven't loved. Several of his videos would have made it on this list if it weren't for all the other worthy competitors. I love this one though. Based on Alice in Wonderland, this video is creepy, comical, and just all-around-Tom-Pettyish. I especially love the part where he cuts the "Alice cake."

15. “1979” by Smashing Pumpkins.
This is one of the quintessential teenage-angst-and-fun videos. It shows various activities teens took action in, from serious to fun. They ranged from spinning donuts in a car, the teenage party scene and the accompanying drama, bowling with soda bottles, and the stupid mistakes teens often make. It's a video that tells a story of what it means to be young and "invincible."

14. “Runaway” by Janet Jackson.
Ok, you may laugh at me, but I LOVED this video when I was a kid. The places she visited, the people she met. Truly amazing and fun and beautiful. And as with most Jackson videos, the choreography was awesome.

13. “Deadweight” by Beck.
First of all, this song is one of those that will stay in your head, in a good way, for days and days after hearing it. The video is simple and complex at the same time. As with most Michel Gondry videos (who, by the way, wrote the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is one of the best movies ever made) is wonderfully created, and tells a complicated, ironic, and beautiful story.

12. “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys. This video is just plain funny. The Beastie Boys, who are extremely reminiscent of Starsky and Hutch, are just a crack-up in what I would call one of the most amusing videos out there.

11. “Natural Blues” by Moby. This video always captivates me. It's got to be one of the best animated videos in creation (I say ONE of the best, because of my number 3 choice.) It's a happy yet melancholy video, where the character sets out on a journey with his trusty dog. He meets many strange and interesting creatures along the way...and you can watch it to see what happens.

10. "Losing My Religion" by REM.
This video is beautiful, surreal, and perfect. The lighting and displays are in-keeping with the tone of the song, the shadowing is amazing, and the band's movements are mesmerizing.

9. “Redundant” by Greenday.
If you haven't seen this one, you need to. It's another story-teller with a simple storyline. While the band is talking about the redundancy of life, the video is showing it.

8. “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You” by George Harrison.
This was my favorite video of all time when I was about 10. The singing and dancing animals ALWAYS got me watching this video over and over. I thought that when I watched it again, after all these years, it would be lame and ridiculous, but I loved it just as much as I did when I was younger. I had forgotten about Harrison's dance sequence and the chipmunk's pipe/sax solo, and I nearly cried I laughed so hard.

7. “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel.
This was one of those just-plain-weird videos that always had so much going on, that you couldn't help but love it. The claymation and animation in this video are awesome. Luckily, when I was a kid, I had no idea what this song was really about, so it's funny to watch the video again, noticing the obviousness.

6. “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel.
First off, how can you not love those sunglasses? This video, with all its political innuendos, is amazing with all the different scenes, environments, and people you meet. It really portrays how the times have changed.

5. “Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai.
The dance moves are groovy, the illusions are awesome, the song is brilliant.

4. “Everlong” by The Foo Fighters.
Another Michel Gondry video, this one is comical and serious at its core. Dwelling on a couple asleep in bed and the dreams they have, we encounter many of the things we tend to dream about. The video focuses on the way that these strange, unreal elements seem almost normal when you're dreaming. Plus, the main character has home-made nunchucks.

3. “Take on Me” by A-Ha.
Watch the video, and you'll see how revolutionary it was. It was the first semi-animated music video in creation. (Second was Dire Straits' Money for Nothing, which is another classic). It took on the music video world by storm, winning several awards in the 1986 MTV Music Awards. (It, unfortunately, lost Best Video of the Year to Dire Straits.)

2 "Estranged” by Guns’n’Roses.
This is the third video in a trilogy based on the short story "Without You" by Axl Rose's friend, Del James. It's a simply beautiful song and video. While it IS 10 minutes long, the last 2 minutes really make the video.

1. "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim.
Some may laugh that this made it to my number 1. It's a ridiculous song and a silly video. BUT LET ME DEFEND MYSELF! Any video that feature Christopher Walken dancing around (and even flying) is a fine video by my standards. Watch it; I'm sure you'll agree.

what do you think?

2007-09-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Go here to participate in the fun interactiveness. Or something. But go. It's got me interested.
http://kevan.org/johari?view=chicadecasa2

the darndest things

2007-09-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Kids are too funny. I was tidying up my classroom last week and found a page-long love note from one of my kids to another. It was talking about how he was the love of her life, and how he was "lame for not realizing" that they were meant to be together. This, from the girl who, when given 15 minutes every morning to write a journal topic, will have, at best, a sentence or two written.

And then you get notes like this.

Oh, the silliness.

fall has come again

2007-09-15T13:06:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know, two blogs in one day, what was I thinking? But I discovered something important, so, here we go.

So it’s ALMOST apparently, officially, fall. It happens next week, though I wasn’t aware of it until today. I have been awaiting fall for so long, and wondering why it hasn’t yet come (summer decided to drag on FOREVER this year) so I went on a search to figure out when it was supposed to come.

It makes sense that it really is coming though, and making quite the debut at that. I meant to write about it when it happened, but, alas, the ever-busy weekdays strike, and I only seem to find the time to write on the weekends. On Wednesday, I awoke to find clouds in the sky. Yes, clouds. A phenomenon I don’t believe we’ve seen since last winter. I shook off the excitement, figuring that, as has happened many a time before, the clouds would leave and the hot summer sun would reappear later that day. The sky was smiling down on me, though, and it actually stayed around 75 degrees ALL DAY. It was the most heavenly day I’ve experienced in a while.

I love fall. It’s the perfect season. The leaves become the most beautiful colors you’ve ever seen. You can wear a jackets and hats, and won’t look silly, yet you can still wear summery clothes and not freeze. AND, now I get to pull out all my fall clothes. You know, the earth tone-ish outfits and the tall, leather boots you can’t get away with wearing any other time of the year. With fall clothing being the best clothing, one can only wish it would be fall for a greater time of the year.

I know I do.

Bring it on.

tales from the kitchen, part 1

2007-09-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

Today I made a calzone. I am so glad that this kitchen is about twice the size of our last kitchen. With several mixing bowls (one for the yeast and water, another for all the dry, messy ingredients that get all over the place and merely spread or become fused to the countertop when you try to clean them with a moist sponge, and yet another for all the “inside ingredients.”) Now usually, I’m not a messy cooker. There must be something about flour and yeast that just gets me crazy in the kitchen or something.

While waiting expectantly for the dough to rise (this phenomenon is even more boring than trying to watch grass grow) I attempted to clean up my mess. Once the dough finally rose to its peak, I took it out of the fridge, only to realize that I do not possess the quintessential rolling pin. Why, oh why?

FYI, though, a can of refried beans will work nearly as well. It might not be as long as a rolling pin, and it might leave weird indentations in your dough, but it’s easily accessible and multi-functional as well.)

All in all, it was the most scrumptious of the messy dinners I think I’ve ever made. It dripped with homemade pasta sauce and yummy toppings like Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and black olives. I’m getting hungry again just thinking about it. Good thing I made enough for leftovers!

wow

2007-08-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

So this month has been craz-azy! I got a job. We got a new computer. Today, we are buying a car. Can life get any crazier?!

I have to say, though, that it's been crazy in a good way. I've made it through my first two weeks teaching and it's been simply amazing. To finally have my own classroom, full of what my prior employer referred to as "empty minds to fill," is just the most amazing thing I could have imagined.

Though I've got some tough kids in my class, I've really come to be attached to them...already. I see kids who have had really bad experiences in school, because they aren't quite up to par with where they should be. But what I really see is kids who need another chance. Another chance to shine, to get the answer right, to feel smart and safe and special. I see a classroom full of minds that, while not being empty, are ready to be filled with much more than they could imagine.

It's an interesting phenomenon to be teaching 5th grade. They are at the top of their school. Next year, they go on to that strange new world that is Jr. High, where things will be so different. They will go to different teachers for each subject. They will be called to a higher sense of responsibility. They won't get the second and third and fourth chances they are given in my class. They will go through social changes, family changes, and hormonal changes. Looking at each of them now, they are so unprepared for that world.

Hopefully in 9 months, though, they will face it with confidence, intelligence, and responsibility. Afterall, that's my job.

testing, 1..2..3..

2007-07-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to say. With all that's been happening, I must admit it's been hard not to get depressed. I still don't have a job, though everyone says I should have gotten one by now and that they are "crazy not to hire me." Apparently "they" aren't aware of this. My mom has been in and out of the hospital 4 times in the last few weeks, and I don't have the money to keep driving over there to be with my family. I feel helpless and lost, and I'm trying SO hard to be patient and to have faith that this will all work out for the best.

I guess it's these times that really test your integrity and faith, huh? I hope this is a test I can look back and say I passed with flying colors.

mothers aren't supposed to feel pain

2007-06-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

I just found out that my mom has colon cancer. She’s been in the hospital for the past week, with doctors doing several tests on her to see what was wrong. The findings ranged from colitis to abscesses, and the final conclusion was colon cancer. She will have to go through surgery, where her colon will be removed.

This isn’t supposed to happen, especially to mothers. It’s a sad occasion to hear that someone is ill or has been hospitalized, but when I found out it was my mom, I couldn’t believe it. All I could think about was how she was not allowed to hurt. When I told her this, she replied sarcastically with, “Oh, I guess I missed that memo.” She’s doing her best to take this in stride, while I (not the one who is sick) is worrying and fussing about the whole thing. She is more worried about my worry than she is about herself.
That’s the thing about good mothers. They care more deeply about their “babies” than they do about themselves.

And there’s something about our mothers, that, while we may not always agree with them, it hurts more than anything to see them in pain.

Do me a favor, tell your mother you love her.

a mile in your shoes

2007-05-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago at TNT, we were asked to look at a pair of shoes and write a story about it and the person it belonged to. This is the story I came up with.

Her faithful flip flops . They had cost less than any other pair of shoes she owned, yet they had seen and done more than all the others combined. Faded and worn, these shoes had seen the beaches of the Caribbean, the sands of Lake Tahoe, and the beach-front sidewalks of southern California. They had been with her through friendships, moves, and graduations. They were worn on the day she moved away from her hometown, when she saw her first ocean sunset, when she received her first kiss. Though her friends often made fun of her for keeping the old shoes, she felt a bond to them, as if they were the tie to her past, present, and future.

can a movie really change your life?

2007-05-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

So I recently watched a movie that I was able to deem “my favorite movie” after just one watching. Now usually, I make myself watch a movie three times before concluding that it is, in fact, my favorite movie of the time. Such happened with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Italian Job and Back to the Future. (Yes, I happen to think that Back to the Future is the best movie ever made. If you don’t agree, it’s your loss.) But with this movie, I was taken in within the first five minutes. I forgot myself and even lost my sense of “I’m sitting here watching a movie;” this beautiful story was all that existed for that 123 minutes. To quote the comment on its IMDB site,

This movie has all the markers of a Crowe flick... an awesome soundtrack for starters. What is unexpected about this movie, though, is how funny it is. It deals with some heavy subject matter (death, suicide, failure) in a way that's fresh... and light. There are some scenes that had the audience crying, they were laughing so hard.It has many of the same American nostalgic qualities to it: that orange dusty tint to the American landscape that ultimately makes most people nostalgic for a home they've never had. The small town, where everyone knows your name (or in this case, your dad's name). Crowe introduced this movie saying that a lot of the scenes were from his memories of childhood and his family's eccentricities, which you definitely see. He completely succeeds in capturing the moments (often embarrassing) that families share... and outsiders never get to see.”

The movie, in case you haven’t already figured it out, is Elizabethtown. Since the first time I saw the movie poster advertising the movie, I had a strange sense of curiosity about this flick. I mean, it stars Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Now, I’ve never been one of those girls who croon over the “hotness” of Orlando Bloom, and I never really saw much depth in his acting. (Don’t throw the tomatoes yet, people!) In this movie, however, I was amazed at the intensity he brought to his character. Several times throughout the movie, the camera focuses in on his face. Without a single word or sound, with just facial expression, he was able to convey a vast number of emotions. I could actually feel the struggle of these conflicting thoughts and feelings as I watched his face. The first time it happened, Ben and I just looked at each other with surprised and amazed expressions on our faces. For that reason alone, I could have loved this movie. Of course, this was just the beginning. Kirsten Dunst plays the part of a neurotic girl who changes the life of Bloom’s character. At first, she seems as annoying as the kid who followed you around on the playground at recess and wouldn’t just let you be. By the end of the movie, though, I was actually rooting her on.

Another very important aspect of the movie is the soundtrack. Like in Forrest Gump or Almost Famous, the soundtrack makes the movie. This soundtrack did not disappoint. (I’ve been listening to it nonstop for the past three weeks and can’t seem to get the songs out of my head, in a good way.) Needless to say (again), this is my favorite movie.

And, as a footnote, I did watch it the required three times, and I have to say that, each time, I enjoyed the movie even more.

nobody is as mysterious as they think they are

2007-04-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

So the new neighbors upstairs moved in tonight. Yes, tonight. As in, it’s 12:30 in the morning and they are still moving stuff. Shouldn’t they have the common decency to wait until tomorrow to do this, at say, anytime after I’ve woken up? I mean, it’s not like they started at 2 this afternoon and just had to get it all moved in. They didn’t start until around 8 this evening.

There’s just something about neighbors, especially in apartment complexes, that gets me. Maybe it’s just because we’ve always had such interesting ones worthy of speculation and analyzing.

For instance, in the apartment complex we lived in prior to this one, we had a neighbor who smoked. Now, he didn’t just smoke. He smoked. One could (and would) find him out on his porch smoking at 2 pm, 4 am, or just about any other time one decided to check the porch. Not only did he smoke, but he coughed. You know, the cough of one who has smoked for years. The cough that sounds more like a hack. Now, as a side note, if you know me at all, then you know I tend to make up nicknames for people. People I know or don’t know generally have a nickname, and I often refer to them by their nicknames. This neighbor was affectionately called Hacking Man.

Hacking Man wasn’t really a neighbor, as in, a person who shares a wall with you. His building was directly next to ours, though, with just a sidewalk between. Out my bedroom window, I could see him, standing on his porch, Budweiser in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Often he’d be talking to a friend on the phone (although most of the time, he merely spoke to himself or anyone else who happened to walk by). He’d talk about the weather or how annoyed he was that his wife “made him eat Pine-Sol again.” He would say this any time his wife mopped the kitchen and “stank up the apartment.” I honestly don’t know if he had a job. He would talk about work, but when could he have had time to be employed with all of his hacking and smoking and inhalation of Pine-Sol? I rarely had the occasion of walking by when he wasn’t on the porch. He often slept out there; I could hear him hack in his sleep through my window.

Then there was Suburban Man. He lived a few buildings down from the roommate and I. We used to sit on our porch quite a bit, and whenever he would drive by in his ugly, gold Suburban, he’d leer at us. This was the rubber-necking, can’t-see-where-you’re-going-because-your-head-is-behind-your-neck type of leering. It got to be annoying, but we never thought much of it. Until the day that we were watching tv in our living room, and he drove by. He actually stared into the apartment, as if looking for us. We noticed that he did this several times a day, and occasionally, he would drive around the complex several times, so as to pass by our apartment. It wasn’t scary, though, until we started seeing him at random places. Now, they were all legitimate places for him to be, but it was still creepy seeing that Suburban wherever we went. Luckily, he moved shortly after that, and we never heard from him again.

worth coming home to

2007-04-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

With the utter dizziness of...life, I haven't had time to write any blogs in quite a while. With all the transition having taken place, life has begun to slow down a bit. It's nice to have the time to write and not feel like I'm wasting precious time that could be spent on something important that needs to be done.

As I mentioned, things have been pretty crazy as of late. (As it always is. It's interesting how that always suffices as a "good answer" for when someone asks you how things are going. "Crazy," I say, and they nod their heads, knowing the craziness in their own lives. Why are we a society that can't seem to slow down and just...take a breather?)

Anyway...

We moved again. Actually we've moved two or three times since my last update. We're living in beautiful California now! I'm so excited to have left the drab brownness that is Reno to replace it with the fresh vibrance of green that is Northern California. We live (literally) RIGHT next to a beautiful lake, and less than two miles from another one. It's awesome, because, while the two lakes feed off of each other, they are completely different. One has the stereotypical atmosphere of a lake: calm, serene, and "room-temperature." This lake's temperature follows the weather, so in the summer it's nice and warm; it never gets too frosty to enjoy it. This lake has a laid-back personality to it. The other lake, however, flows like a river and has an aura of determination about it. It's always freezing, but it likes it that way. It dares to be different and it dares you, the enjoyer of lakes, to be different as well. Really, it's nice to be near lakes with personalities, you know? You can go to either, depending on your mood. Or you can just go swimming in the pool. Whatever.

Our apartment is awesome! It's so nice to have our things out again. (We were living with some friends for a while. As great as it was, it's nice to have our own space with our own possessions.) It's amazing how much I missed having MY things. It's like we identify with our "stuff." While, to some, it might seem vain or materialistic, I DO identify with my stuff. The things I own and decorate my home with reflect a little (or a lot) of who I am. The living room and dining room are cozy and country-ish, with wild flowers on the table and comfy couches. The porch has a comfy swing and windchimes that just call to you, "Come, Sit, Relax." The guest room is black and white, with the old falling-apart bookshelf that I proudly fixed, refinished, and painted to match. There are several photos (some of my own) adorning the walls. That room is my creative outlet. It's who I am. Then, the highlight of the place: the bedroom and bathroom. They display my wild side, full of tropical landscapes and bright colors. Some of the pictures are places I've been and some are fantastic places existing only on canvas. It's amazing how "at home" you can feel when you have a place that you can decorate with "your stuff." It just makes it worth coming home to.

through the eyes of an educator

2006-04-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Student teaching is crazy. My kids are crazy. And I love them. It's weird how attached you can get to these kids in such a short period of time. Each of them has such potential, and I have seen so much progress in the time I've been their teacher.

It's really amazing to see that light bulb finally go on in a child's mind, especially in the ones who you may never have expected it from. Those who spoke barely 10 words in English a mere 4 months ago, who are reading American chapter books. Those who couldn't do basic addition in September who now, in April, are doing complex multiplication problems. But most of all, the student who was afraid to try, afraid of failure, now excited about learning.

Teaching is truly the best profession I know.

the honeymoon is over

2006-01-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

The wedding plans are over. I am officially the wife of the best man I know. It's exciting and strange and a little bit sad at the same time. It's like "engagement-post-partum-depression." When you're engaged, you get all the attention, the gifts, the parties, and people just seem all-around interested in how things are going. Now that it's over, most of that has stopped as well.

But it's all worth it. I get to spend my time (for the rest of my life) with my best friend. Marriage is a wonderful thing.

PS if you want to see pictures, see myspace.

del playa

2005-06-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know Spanish, playa is pronounced "ply-a" and not "play-a." On that note, Ben, Corey, and Jonathan and I went to visit our friend May in Santa Barbara last weekend for her graduation.

This is the view from May's house on Del Playa, which is right across the street from the beach...

...and this is the wonderful futon on her porch that we "watched" the view from while Corey and May took the couches inside.

IV (Isla Vista to you non-Santa Barbara folk) is known for several things. First, it's the student living area of one of the biggest "party schools" in the country. Second, it's literally right on the beach. And third, there are parties going on all day, every day. One thing the parties are known for (other than alcohol and loud music) is the couch burning. Especially around graduation/move-out time, one can walk the streets of IV and see random fires EVERYWHERE. One will be able to hear several fire trucks in the distance, but may never actually see one through the throngs of drunken college students. Upon closer inspection of the fire, however, one can see that these flames in the middle of the streets were actually the remains of couches. Rather than said couches being moved back home, or wherever the students came from, they get thrown (literally) off the balconies and set on fire wherever they land. They burn on the street, in driveways, on the beach, and even in dumpsters. This, really, is a phenomenon that can only make sense once you have witnessed it. So next time you plan a vacation in the mid-to-southern California region, take a trip to Del Playa and see the location known for the worlds most couch-burnings per year.

All in all it was a great trip. Got to see friends, the beach, lots of fire trucks, and burning couches. Partayyyy

the beginning of an era

2005-01-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

So this was by far the best New Year's I've ever experienced. Some of you have heard already, but I got myself engaged last night. It was beautiful and, needless to say, I'm SOOOO excited! (Yes, with that many "O's") This is the wonderful man mentioned in the New Year's post from last year.

It was a beautiful night. Knowing how much I love that scene in Say Anything, he stood knee-deep in snow outside my apartment with the boom box playing our song until I came outside to see what it was all about. He ran up the hill, got down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife. It was the best moment of my life!

Though nothing can quite compare to that, other things have been good as well. It's been snowing like crazy here...we had the biggest snow storm in 17 years the other night. Usually I'm not one for enjoying snow storms, but it was actually kind of fun being "snowed in." I do admit that I will be excited once it melts and I'm able to leave the apartment once again. Not knowing we would be in for a snowy surprise, I refrained from going to the grocery store this week, a decision I quickly regretted once I realized my poor Saturn would not be able to make it over the four feet of snow blocking the exit to the carport. Luckily, the 'rents conned my sister's boyfriend (who has 4 wheel drive) into taking her to the store and bringing some food by my apartment. Thank you, Steven, my hero for the week.

Christmas was great too...several relatives came into town, and it was nice seeing them again. A whole evening was spent playing Trivial Pursuit, which will happen when you have 11 people each trying to play on their own teams, but, alas, someone finally won (quite possibly because he was the only person still interested in the game) and it was over.

By the way, the ring is white gold with three round cut diamonds in the middle and then there are two strips of gold on either side with smaller diamonds inside them. I love it. :D

rest is almost here

2004-12-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

THE DREADED FINALS ARE ALMOST OVER! It will be SO nice to finally have them done with. I will be on break, which means...no papers, no projects, no boring classes, and no having to stay up until 3:00 am working on pointless papers or studying. I'll be able to spend that late night/early morning time with the the boyfriend, who, by the way, is a great guy. Plus, my best friend (who I haven't seen since May) is in town so my mind will not want to be concentrating on the boringness of college.

Have a merry Christmas if I don't see you before then!

the debate is everlasting

2004-10-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

There are numerous views on topics concerning America’s public school
system, a more recent one involving the issue of school vouchers. “Voucher
plans, first suggested in 1955 by conservative economist Milton Friedman, are
designed to return tax monies to parents of school-aged children for tuition use
in a variety of authorized public and private educational settings. There are
those, including Commentary editor Gary Rosen, who believe school vouchers are a
valid means of improving both public and private education; and then there are
those, among them the National Education Association, who oppose vouchers,
saying that they only serve to destroy educational integrity.

Those who support the idea of school vouchers, including Rosen and Denis Doyle
claim that “competition will spur public school improvement, vouchers will
reduce the cost of education, students who get vouchers will show dramatic
achievement gains, and vouchers are a success in most industrialized nations.”
The NEA article, entitled School Vouchers: The Emerging Track Record tries to
prove that vouchers are destroying the public school system. The author divides
the article up into points of failure that the voucher systems in place already
have shown. Rosen composes his article, entitled Are School Vouchers
Un-American? to disprove the claims that the NEA and other anti-voucher programs
have previously stated. Three major points he, in rebuttal to the article by the
NEA and other works by authors including Janet Ferguson and The American School
Board Journal, talks about and then sets out to prove/disprove include the
constitutionality of vouchers, whether vouchers will act as a “subterfuge for
segregation,” and whether voucher schools can be held accountable.
Rosen begins by explaining the views held by the NEA concerning the
constitutionality of vouchers, quoting the NEA’s position that “a lucky few may
be helped by the government’s willingness to underwrite private education, but
society as a whole…will inevitably suffer from a policy so contrary to our most
fundamental civic principles and institutions” and that “vouchers violate the
bedrock principle of separation of church and state [by forcing] all taxpayers
to support religious beliefs and practice with which they may strongly
disagree.” Rosen then goes on to battle these ideas by citing numerous Supreme
Court cases in which the court has ruled in favor of public aid to private
(often religious) schools. Some of these included the significant Zobrest v.
Catalina Foothills SD, Agostini v. Felton, and Witters v. Washington Department
of Services for the Blind. These cases all involved issues where, according to
the Supreme Court, monetary assistance was “permissible when it [came] about as
part of a broader, religiously neutral program and when its benefits accrue[d]
to religious schools only indirectly, through the private decisions of
individuals.” In the issue of school vouchers, Rosen points out that the voucher
programs already in place in cities such as Milwaukee and Cleveland fit the
requirements laid down in these cases: that “families may opt for a religious or
a secular school, and the schools themselves receive public funds only as a
result of these private choices.”

Another crucial point to the NEA’s disputes against school vouchers includes
the idea that they serve as a “subterfuge for segregation” and that they will
turn “public schools into an enclave of the poor.” The NEA claims that the
voucher system has a “destructive effect…on America’s democratic ethos” in the
way that students with vouchers are selected to attend private and alternate
schools. Representatives from the NEA claim that those on the higher end of the
academic and socio-economic spectrums are the ones benefiting from voucher
programs, and that, because of this, schools are being segregated once again,
this leading to “further racial, socio-economic class, and religious isolation.”
Rosen disputes this, claiming that private schools are a better model of the
so-called American idea of the “melting pot” in that they typically “enroll
students from different parts of the community,” while public schools “tend to
reflect the ethnically homogeneous make-up of their neighborhoods.” A positive
effect of this is that private schools tend to be “more racially integrated than
public schools” and “are also home to more interracial friendships and less
race-related fighting.”

A third dispute between the supporters of the NEA and the supporters of school
vouchers includes the amount of accountability provided in the voucher system.
The NEA sites that the voucher systems already in place in Milwaukee and
Cleveland are not being held accountable either financially or academically.
According to their statistics, “Milwaukee voucher schools do not have to…report
test results” and that four of these “were shut down because of fraud,
mismanagement, or negligence.” The author goes on to claim that voucher schools
in Cleveland were even less accountable than those in Milwaukee, with one of
them employing “instructors [who] did not have teaching licenses, and one
[having been] convicted of first-degree murder.” The article also claims that
five of these schools “were able to collect $1.4 million in vouchers prior to
completing their application process, resulting in schools with serious fire
code violations, health hazards, inadequate curricula, and unqualified
teachers.” Rosen admits that accountability with these schools can be difficult,
and even goes on to admit that private schools vary in quality and some have
been “truly awful.” He counters, though, that “the vast majority are reasonably
well managed and…employ educators profoundly committed to their disadvantaged
students; most working for a fraction of what their unionized public school
counterparts earn.” Rosen then goes on to state that, even more important than
this is the fact that private schools are held to the same standards as public
schools concerning state regulations on “health, safety, attendance, and the
basic structure of curriculum” and that “in order to qualify for vouchers, they
often must meet other requirements as well, some of these including
nondiscrimination laws and accounting practices. He claims that the NEA and
other anti-voucher programs seek to require more standards in the private school
setting merely to “drive away as many private schools as possible.”

I can’t say that I fully agree with either side of this debate. In order to
make a fully-educated decision, it would be necessary to do quite a bit more
research from other, not-so-biased, people and organizations. Each of these
articles, though, had good points to ponder concerning vouchers. I definitely
have to disagree on the abolishing of school-assignments based upon home
addresses in public schools, which was a point brought up in the pro-voucher
argument. I think this would cause more stress than anything else. As mentioned
in my previous essay, if this happened in Reno, we would end up having half of
Reno parents trying to get their children into schools like McQueen and Reed
while Hug and Wooster are left with no students. There would be no benefit
whatsoever to this. I do, however, agree that vouchers help to create a more
diverse “melting pot” of students with the inclusion of those of different
ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and religions.

All in all, I’d say that I stand somewhere between Rosen and the NEA, saying
that the voucher system is by no means perfect, but it definitely has potential
to be a high-quality educational substitute to the school system we have now.

cruisin' on a sunday afternoon

2004-08-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

The cruise was amazing. Honestly, I never really believe water of that color existed in the real world. The people were amazing, the sites were beautiful, and the service was a much-needed break. It was, in the words of Ferris Bueller, "so choice."

I highly recommend a cruise for your next vacation. It wasn't as expensive as I had thought it would be, and it's all-inclusive.

I posted pictures here if you care to see them.

age never stops

2004-06-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

So the birthday was awesome. We had a bar-b-que and pretty much just hung out the whole night. I think I talked about most of it on myspace, so if you find that this is just not enough detail for you, you know where to find it! In addition to having all of my favorite people in attendance, I happened to receive several GREAT gifts. My parents got me a used washer and dryer, which were much-needed. You never think of that as something that you really need until you no longer have one. I also got a baseball bat (for the purposes of self-defense, since I am a single young woman living in an apartment. I wanted a gun, but what can ya' do.) ;) I was also given a Peter Gabriel greatest hits cd (which is a great album-you should get it)...and I got a bunch of movies, including Cool Runnings, Top Gun, and So I Married an Axe Murderer.

Speaking of Cool Runnings, I'm going to visit the beautiful land of Jamaica in 6 days!! I can't wait. We'll be visiting several locations, including the forested town of Ocho Rios. I hear there is a waterfall we can climb; talk about Caribbean adventure.

So I'll be gone for two weeks, but I will have tons of pictures to show ya'll when I get back. Have a lovely rest-of-the-month.

what am i doing here?

2004-05-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

It seems that I've gotten myself a life, because it's been quite a while since I've even though to update. The only really exciting things though (if you'd call them exciting; I know I wouldn't.) are the massive amounts of homework and crazy movie watching. For the past month or so, I've averaged one a night-which, as you know, isn't a huge thing. The only difference is that I now kind of have a movie-watching partner, and we've been actually watching NEW movies. I know, I know, Kari is watching movies that she hasn't already seen 80+ times. It's actually quite refreshing. For now, anyway.

Other than that, I think I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing..because, really..I have no idea. Life is extremely confusing right now, as it can be. There are quite a few things that just aren't going the direction I had wanted/expected them to go, so I'm learning again how to trust in God's timing, Pray for patience, because, right now, I just don't have any left.

Hope ya'll are well.

oh, the silliness

2004-03-29T21:25:00.000-08:00

hey ya'll. It's been a pretty good week. No sleep, but what's new, eh? Last night we watched Time Bandits and Surf Ninjas. They are both pretty amusing movies in very different ways. I'm not sure that either of them were meant to be amusing, but what can ya' do.

Time Bandits is a Terry Gilliam film that is very Monty Python-esque (which makes sense, since he was a big part of the Monty Python world.) The movie revolves around several midgets (yes, midgets) who are running from God, by travelling through time. Throughout their journey, they meet Robin Hood (this just might be one of the funniest movie scenes in history) and Napoleon.

Surf Ninjas, on the other hand, is one of those corny early 90's movies, which I'm sure is why I like it so much. The menu has an incredibly cheesy game on it, called "Pick That Flick," and let's just say that during the past few days, Ben and I have played it for at least a few hours. I must have WAY too much time on my hands.

permanent artwork

2004-03-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

It's crazy how lack of internet can affect the rest of one's life. At this point in time, I can only access the internet from the university. With all that's going on, it's like the internet has fallen off the face of the planet for me (or me for it).

In today's news, I got a tattoo..it's on my left shoulder blade. I absolutely love it. There's something to be said about designing your own artwork and then putting it somewhere permanent. I must warn you non-inked citizens, though. Tattooing is extremely addictive. This is my first one and I am already yearning to have another one done. All in good time, all in good time. If you ever decide to have it done, go to Garrett. He's the best.

new place for the new year

2004-01-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

New Year's was interesting. We were able to move into the apartment New Year's Eve. Since I didn't get off work until 5, we were only able to move the two couches, the tv, and the microwave moved. That, though, was plenty to have a New Year's party.

With the tv perched on top of the microwave's box (a tarp covering it to make it look a bit less ghetto) and the couches set in weird angles across the living room, we were all set.

Some friends and I went to get pizza and then watched some movies. We ended up falling asleep before midnight, sprawled all over the living room. So much for late nights in the new place, eh?

PS I'm pretty sure I met my future husband tonight. It's a weird feeling I have, so we'll see how that goes...

in search of boxes

2003-12-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a while. The craziness of moving has, unfortunately, not allowed much time for blogging. But, yes, I'm moving! Moving into my first apartment. Moving in with my first roommate. Moving away from the family (it's really only five minutes away, though, so it's not THAT far away.) I'm excited. It seems like we've been building up to this for months!

Marce is the new roommate. We've been talking about moving in together for what seems like years now, and we're finally going for it! We spent the last several weeks apartment hunting. Now, we just need to move in and decorate!

But first, I gotta' run. Got to get more moving boxes.

Oh, the fun.

according to the picture on the box, it's a tiger

2003-12-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

This has got to be the best joke I've ever heard.

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get it started."

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a tiger."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and
shows him the puzzle spread over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and
says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to
assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice
cup of tea, and then....." he sighed, "let's put all these Frosted
Flakes back in the box."

On a side note, it snowed the other day. It was beautiful! I don't usually like the snow all that much, but this time..it was a good thing.

all that jazz

2003-12-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was a beautiful event. Hung out with the family and all that good stuff. We watched White Christmas..which, if you haven't seen it, is the BEST Christmas movie EVER! And it's a musical, for all of you freaks like me who just can't get enough of them.

Then we decorated the Christmas tree and made the turkey and all that jazz.

great scots!

2003-11-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

I watched the whole Back to the Future trilogy this weekend. I love these movies..they are definitely in my top 5 movies ever made list. They are just so classic, you know? And to feature a Delorean in a film; how can you not love it. Christopher Lloyd is in town this weekend too, at some arts conference, but the tickets are $99 and I can't afford it. Too bad..maybe someday. Some guy my friend is friends with got him on camera saying "Great Scots!"

ace of bass

2003-10-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's crazy how hard it is to keep up with this thing. I always have so much to say and yet I don't know how to say it. And, really, who has the time, anyway?

It's been a really rough week..but tonite was jazz night, and you guys (well most of you) know how much I look forward to that every Thursday..There is just something about jazz. It never really finishes. There's no real pattern in real jazz. It just moves how it feels like moving, and you might think you know what it's going to do next, but it may do something completely different. Kind of like God in a way. Jazz is the God-music, and for some reason, even though we go to jazz night, which is in a bar, it's my devotion time every Thursday. It's relaxing and helps me to refocus.

Plus, the band is amazing. We have nicknames for each of them (I tend to give people nicknames once I get to see/know them frequently.)

Ian and I went tonite as in every single other week, so I think I'll "introduce you to the guys" who play..they are known as..The Collective.

This is Ace, the ultimate 80's Ladies Man..he looks like Bill Nye but with bigger hair. He's our heeeero. He plays bass..so naturally, we call him Ace of Bass. (His real name is Hans, by the way) One time I swear he was playing so fast that there was literally smoke flying up around his fingers. Occasionally, when he "bows" it, he'll spin the bow around and stick it back in its case like a swordsman would put his sword in his sheath. It's amazing, really.

There's also "Trumpet Man." He tends to drink a lot each week. It's amusing, because we can usually tell how many beers he has had based on how he plays. When he hasn't had any, he is very cautious with his trumpet playing. He plays a moderate tempo and rarely solos. When he's had between 3-6, he loosens up a bit. His tempo speeds up quite a bit and he lets out some daring sounds. (Usually in a good way.) Once he's topped the 6+ mark, however, he goes back downhill. He plays a bit too quickly for the rest of the band to keep up, and he wobbles on the stage. We are always afraid he's going to get too close to the edge and fall off. This is why we never sit at the tables right up next to the stage. I can't afford to be paralyzed by a drunk man with a trumpet.

The drummer is affectionately referred to as "The Animal." He is comparable to the character "Animal" from the muppets. He's craaaazy on the drums, but in a fun way. He sets the tone for the rest of the band, and he does it well. He can get away with doing percussive things no other jazz drummer would think of. A few weeks back, he actually ended one of his songs with a power drill ballad...Yes. A power drill. Apparently he found it backstage and though it'd be fun to "play" it. We had a lot of fun. We originally called him "The Animal," but the name has now evolved a bit. The night of the drill incident, Ian and I had watched The Animal, with Rob Schneider. (They both have the "animal" nickname.) We noticed a resemblence between the two once he got that drill out, and so, ever since then, he's been "Rob the Schneid Schneider."

Last, but certainly not least, is the piano player. David Ake. We don't have a nickname for him, because he doesn't need one. He's just "David Ake" and he's amazing. The amazing David Ake. Unfortunately, his amazingness wouldn't show up on film. Like a vampire. An amazing, piano-playing vampire.

next on COPS...

2003-09-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I got some..interesting news today. My other best friend seems to be moving..so this is both of them now. I'm really going to miss him a lot..

It doesn't help that the church situation is not going well. I don't want to badmouth the church, so I'm not going to post the specifics, but please keep them in prayer. Satan is attacking and the church isn't ready to fight back. Other than that, I'm not really sure what to do about it.

On a good note, though, we won the football game against SMU so we are 3-0 so far..which is the best our team has done in probably nearly 50 years. It was one of those end-of-a-football movie games, where you knew the "good guys" were going to win, but it came down to the last play during the last minute. It was amazing, though I'm sure I'll need several painkillers to make the college-kids-screaming headache go away. (Just kidding.)

We, unfortunately, got our pictures taken (by someone with no camera skills) with the big Ronald. He was completely hitting on us and wouldn't leave us alone until we got our pictures taken with him. I'm going home and watching COPS; I'm sure he'll be the next guy they nab. I can just see it now: "Drunk Ronald McDonald sentenced to five years in prison with 2 counts of kidnapping, 1 count of DUI, and 3 counts of fashion crime." Geez.

On a lighter note, we found a random couch on the grass by the parking lot. It looked quite comfy. I was extremely tempted to take a nap on it, since nobody was claiming it at the time, but Amanda didn't want us to get caught. Alas, the couch was gone when we left the game. I may never know that kindred spirit who thought to bring a couch to the football game.

the downward spiral

2003-09-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

It seems that just as you think things might finally be turning out for the good..it all starts to go downhill again.

If you pray, please pray for guidance and patience..because I really need them right now.

everybody cut foot loose

2003-09-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

This has been a long week..I had the unfortunate circumstance of being sick while having a sprained ankle. Everyone's out of town this weekend, and I couldn't get upstairs on my own. The doctor said not to even try to walk on it for a few more days. So yes, I actually tried out ordering a pizza online. I was able to order it, pay for it, and give the delivery guy specific instructions to come around through the back yard and knock on the sliding door (thus allowing me to NOT have to venture upstairs for another day). He even brought me a paper plate, napkins, and a bottle o' Dr. Pepper. How amazing is that internet, anyway.

On Monday night, upon the reappearance of all my friends, a bunch of us went over to David's house and watched Breakin2: Electric Boogaloo..which is the mother of all 80's break dancing movies. There is really no plot, but the level of dancing in this film surpasses any other 80's dancing movie, especially Footloose.

you spin me right round, baby

2003-09-10T00:32:00.000-07:00

I sprained my ankle today. It kinda' hurts..a lot. And then I got home and I saw this music video and it scared the crap out of me. It's the video for Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)." Now, most of you know how much I (sadly enough) love 80's music..but watching the video and seeing the lead singer dressed like a cross between Boy George and a pirate..I just don't know that I can justify it anymore...plus that dude on the right seems to be sporting a mullet.

I apologize, but if I had to endure it, so do you.

man-made picture of beauty

2003-09-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Today we got up at 4:30 am and drove to Rancho to watch the annual balloon races..people come from all over the world to see it. The best part is Dawn Patrol..before the sun rises (it's pitch black) five or six balloons rise above the park and it's awesome to see them glowing in the dark..so worth getting up early to see. This picture can't even begin to justify the real thing. It's one of the most breathtaking man-made creations in existence. (Well, at least in MY existence.)

burning things

2003-08-26T23:29:00.000-07:00

I started school Monday. I must admit that I'm already ready for this semester to be over..but I actually have some classes I'm interested in so it shouldn't be too bad. Enough on that, though, I'm trying to keep a good attitude, and if I keep talking about it...well, you know.

We have a tradition during the semester. Every Monday night (since Mondays seem to be so horrific to everyone) we meet at a park in town and we have a bonfire. We don't drink or do anything illegal; we just sit and chat. Sometimes one of us will be extremely ticked off about something that happened in class, so we'll occasionally burn papers, notes, syllabi (syllaby?). Thus, we call our Monday night get-togethers "burning things." It's amusing, because when we let it be known that we're going to "burn things," we get strange looks from other friends and/or more mature "adults" who happen to be in ear range.

Tonight we're actually bar-b-que'ing, so I'm hoping that no burning occurs.

it's that time again...

2003-08-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

It's that time again: Hot August Nights. Throughout the month of August, people come from all over and it's like the city goes back in time to the 50's and 60's. All the classic cars are on display, there are races the likes of which were filmed in American Graffiti ..tons of events, and free concerts of bands that were big back then.

This is my baby - the '57 T-Bird I am SO in love with. Swoon.

Most of my friends have never heard of any of these bands. I drag them along anyway, because, really, who likes to go to concerts alone? Each of them has found their own favorite classic rock/oldies band, now. This year, we went to as many as we could. Who can beat free concerts?!

Tonight we saw BJ Thomas, who sang "Hooked On a Feeling" and "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" at Harrah's downtown. It was a bit ironic, since Ian and I had gone to Carmel last week and had heard the dang song 40 times during the trip.

I saw Fleetwood Mac on Friday (it wasn't a free concert, but I did happen to win a free ticket to it). 14th Row, baby! This was really a once in a lifetime event for me; they're one of my absolute favorite bands. The concert was amazing.

Tuesday, we will be seeing the Rascals and Three Dog Night. Thursday is the Lovin' Spoonful and/or Grass Roots. Friday will be Herman's Hermits, which I'm always excited about. This is the concert we make sure to go to every year. A few of us will go early in the day and set up our lawn chairs. People will show up throughout the day to save our seats while we walk around looking at the classic cars (hopefully my coveted '57 T-Bird will return for me this year...the one in the picture above was a different one) But really, I think Peter Noone has got to be one of the only guys over the age of 50 who can pull off wearing leather pants. Lord knows Keith Richards can't.

as embarassed as i am to say it...

2003-06-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, my best friend, May, and I finally got some time to hang out. I went down to Santa Barbara to visit, and we spent the weekend in LA. We went to Disneyland, Manhattan Beach, and Hollywood. While we were there, we wanted to do something really "touristy."

As embarassing as it is to say, anyone who watches the Christopher Lowell show (or anyone who can bear it for an hour..) make sure to tune into it on Wednesday, the 18th, at 2pm central time..we're in the 4th row. good times..

getting old

2003-05-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

my birthday was good

went to see the 'rents

my dad had fun at the indy 500

i didnt get to drive the corvette afterall

(he took it with him)

i feel so old now..

life and death

2003-04-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

My friend Jeff died in a car wreck this morning. He was in his early 20's..and his wife is 8 months pregnant. i can't imagine how she must feel right now..

Well, I've learned something during this really long and hard 2 weeks. What with Jeff and..a lot of friendship problems and my constant migraine..I've realized that I've been focusing a lot on myself lately and I need to put that focus back on God where it should be. This is a song that we sang at Living Stones tonite and it's such a beautiful song and it really struck me tonite. It's hard to read the words without the music to it, because the music is really beautiful..but here it is.

Only You

Oh my God, You’ve turned your eyes

Now my heart..has come alive (X4)

Only You have come to find me.

Only You have come to pull me out.

Only You have come to save me.

Only You have come to wrap your arms around me.

And no one

Could ever love me..

Like the way you love me, wrap your arms around me.

And no one

Could ever love me..

Like the way you love me, wrap your arms around me

(Girls echo) wrap your arms around me

Wrap your arms around me

(Girls echo) wrap your arms around me

Oh my God, You’ve turned your eyes

Now my heart..has come alive (X2)

Only You have come to find me.

Only You have come to pull me out.

Only You have come to save me.

Only You have come to wrap your arms around me.

And no one

Could ever love me

Like the way you love me, wrap your arms around me

And no one

Could ever love me

Like the way you love me, wrap your arms around me

(Girls echo) wrap your arms around me

Wrap your arms around me

(Girls echo) wrap your arms around me

(repeat 2 times)

Oh my God, You’ve turned your eyes

Now my heart..has come alive (X4)

now that's comedy

2003-04-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday, I got to see Bill Cosby..he has got to be one of the funniest people alive. It seems amazing that, these days, most comedians can't get people to laugh unless they make their act completely vulgar (or get their audience very very drunk.) Cosby, though, talks about real life. He makes you see the humor of everyday events and everyday people. That is what humor in comedy clubs should always be.

Today, I got a job offer to be the new assistant director of children's ministries at my church. I'm not sure if I'm going to take it; there are some...things going on at the church right now and I'm not sure that I want to be on staff. I'm definitely going to have to think on this one for a while. If you have thoughts or opinions, let me know.

Peace out.

ps I did end up getting my hair cut. It's very short, which is very strange for me, but I think I like it. It's seriously amazing how life-changing a haircut can be.

america is on high alert

2003-03-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

Santa Barbara has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Tuesday, we drove down to Hollywood and spent the whole day just kinda' hanging around being tourists. Thankfully, I'm really good with a map or we would have gotten very lost quite a few times. LA is definitely an adventure in itself to us small town Reno-ites. We stayed the night at a friend's house in Santa Clarita (half hour north or so) and then yesterday, we drove back down to Anaheim and went to Disneyland all day. It was a blast..I haven't been there in ages. It's amazing how different it is to visit the place once you're no longer an awe-struck child. So many things I remember about the place no longer seem so amazing. At the same time, I had a great time, and quite possibly enjoyed the trip even more than I did when I was 6. To make matters even better, the lines half the size because the park is on "high alert" with all the war chaos..but there were no problems and it was great we didn't have to stand in hour long lines for each ride. Yay for high alert! Ok, maybe not.

Today we're going down to Ventura to check out the outlet malls and everything..and I'm hoping to get my hair cut..and then heading home sometime tomorrow. Road trip music is the best, don't you think?

the face of the planet

2003-03-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

Hi..this is pretty much to let you (you, as in all 3 of you who read my blog) know that I haven't fallen off the face of the planet..though that would definitely be an interesting site to see. I've been housesitting and the woman must be the only person in the world who doesn't have a computer..but I'm home for about 5 more minutes so I thought I'd update. I'm going down to Santa Barbara for a week on Sunday.. We are planning to stop by Disneyland on Wednesday, so if any of you want to meet us down there, let me know!

PS My aunt in California is really good friends with Shirley Jones (from Oklahoma, Music Man, etc) and apparently Shirley is staying with my aunt this week, so I might get to meet her when I see my aunt on Sunday! Good times

spam-a-licious

2003-02-26T22:22:00.000-08:00

Hi. It's snowing outside. That's about it for this week.

I found some spam haikus to share. Gross.

My friend pork shoulder
I return to you. this time
I've brought mayonnaise

And who dares mock Spam?
you? you? you are not worthy
of one rich pink fleck

Oh! Mighty is spam.

Bringing surprise to each bite

Rejoice all taste buds

kari on ice

2003-02-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

This week was busy..my poor car ended up having to be taken to three different shops to take care of all these problems. Other than that, this week's been pretty darned good!

The store is being renovated so it's crazy. It's amazing how impatient people can be! I read a statistic that the average person will refuse to wait for more than one minute in line to check out at a store. If it goes further than that, they are extremely annoyed and usually take it out on the cashier. Make them wait two minutes, and they will usually walk out without making their purchase. Our society is so impatient! I think that every person should be forced to work a retail job at some point in their lives, just so they understand what it's like. Maybe people would be nicer to that lady who rings up their food at the supermarket or the person who can't find the shirt in their size even though a computer says it's in stock.

I went ice skating on friday night..it's been about five years since I've been out on the ice, so it was quite the site to see. I worried myself for about the first 20 minutes or so but once I actually started trying to get it right, I improved immensely. For most of the evening, we had the rink to ourselves so we could do whatever we wanted. We were able to try out professional moves...ok, maybe not, but at least there was nobody else to laugh at us. After that, we went to the Hilton to go to tcby. (Yeah, we went to get ice cream on the coldest night of the year. Go figure.) We saw these kids hanging around, quite suspiciously I might add, and one of them was holding a huge wad of $20 bills in his hand. Apparently, they had found $8000 on the floor of the casino, or so they said. Hope that's true, because casino security is *usually* quite on the ball with these things, and these kids didn't look like they'd hold up well in prison.

ps i got new socks today..good times..shopko had a sale and they had all these festive socks for 99 cents a pair. I got 10. Sock fetish? I think so.

just great

2003-02-17T02:14:00.000-08:00

This night was a complete and total disaster. Which was unfortunate, because the day started out very nicely. So my friend Marcie and I went to this Bible study thing all the way in the far end of Sparks. For those of you not quite familiar with the Reno area, this is about a half hour from my house. Since it's fairly far away, we decided to take my car, rather than both driving separately. We left around 10-ish and decided to go to Jeannine's house. She's one of the youth workers in our church and has been kind of a surrogate "mom" for Marcie lately. She lives about 5 minutes from the church we had gone to earlier, so it wasn't really out of the way to stop by again. While we were there, we went out for a while (in Jeannine's car). While we were gone, her kids (they're in jr. high and high school) decided it'd be funny to toilet paper my car. Now under normal circumstances, I would have found this amusing. The circumstances under which this happened, though, were not very amusing at all. They decided that toilet paper was not quite enough, so they poured water on it to make it stick. Again, if this were it, the whole thing would have been funny. But, it was below freezing outside so the paper froze to the car. It took about an hour to strip the car of enough toilet paper to drive home. To make matters worse, the car wouldn't start. Now, I know people whose cars sometimes decide not to start when it gets extremely cold outside, and mine has never been one of them, but we decided to jump it just in case. Of course, nothing happened. So we are sure that all the freezing water probably did something to it and it just wouldn't start because of that. I tried calling home to let my parents know..since I told them I'd be home by midnight. (My parents tend to freak out when I'm not home at the time I arranged to be home. Yes, I'm 20. Oh well.) They were already asleep. So Jeannine had the lovely task of taking us home at 1 in the morning, and I'm positive I'm going to be under scrutiny tomorrow for getting home late..and for the car being messed up. I'm still hoping that the car will start in the morning, because work calls whether it starts or not.

lack of anything interesting

2003-02-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

Wellllll, I'm still sick, which kind of stinks because, of course, it means I can't really go and do anything. There is a major lack of anything to do around here (which always seems to happen when one gets sick, doesn't it?)

I was planning for jazz night tonite, which would have been great since we haven't frequented the place in quite a while..but after working all day, I was wiped so I just came home instead. Now I think I'll go watch a movie or something and go to sleep (hopefully).

Hope your day was better than mine.

**Random thought of the day: why they call it a "looksee" (like, you're going to take a little looksee)? It seems overly redundant, don't you think? Really, it's like saying you're going to take a "looklook" or a "seesee"..why don't they just say they're going to take a look at it rather than repeating themselves...

Ok, I am officially done rambling aimlessly now.

cruel intentions

2003-02-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm sick, and it's not my fault. I wash my hands. I use hand sanitizer. I cover my mouth when I cough. It's really all Rosemary's fault. She's a fine woman I work with (note the sarcasm).A few days ago, I showed up to work early. She didn't feel good, so I told her just to go home early, since I was there. So, in her excitement, she comes up and gives me a huge hug and thanks me for coming in early. Now at first I'm thinking, "oh that's nice..she gave me a hug"..and then I realized that she must really hate me or something because she contaminated me with whatever she had. And now I'm sick. And I'm stuck home all day. Needless to say, I'm not too happy with her right now.

But, on the plus side, I watched Remember the Titans today. Great movie.

say anything

2003-02-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched Say Anything. Now this is a great movie. It's an 80's movie of course..it's the one that has hims standing outside her window holding the boom box. I'm actually kind of jealous. Yes, jealous of a movie. But he is like, the perfect guy. I mean, how many guys really put themselves out there these days? He stands out there, not knowing if she will ever come to the window.

happy new year

2003-01-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

My life is now complete. Last night I went to a friend's apartment with some of the girls and we all watched Footloose and Pretty In Pink, both of which I'd never seen before. Footloose had a fairly good plot, but the dancing was barely worth watching. Breakin' was definitely a better movie in terms of dancing, but it lacks the plot that Footloose has. Footloose also has some classic quotables as well. One of the "old guys" tells Kevin Bacon's character, "you know there's no dancing in this town right?" and Kevin's friend yells "JUMP BACK!" That seemed to be the quote of the night. Anytime someone asked to pause the movie to get water or use the restroom, everyone yelled, "Jump back!" So sad, so sad.

Happy New Year.

lessons learned

2003-01-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

WARNING: this will be long. Have fun reading if you actually want to read it all. I'm officially jumping on the "2002 recap" bandwagon...remember kids, don't follow trends...

Now that its basically all said and done, 2002 has been one of the best years of my life...it wasn't because only great things happened to me (because, really, who has a perfect life?)...but because of the things I have learned from everything that has happened...

January was an interesting month..I went down to see my best friend and that was the realization that we were growing somewhat apart since she moved...lesson learned: change is inevitable and it seems that the things you dont want to change the most are always the first to change, so you need to accept that and make the best of it.

February marked another Valentine's Day alone...but I realized that I didnt need a "significant other" to make it a good time because I was starting to make some great friends from the college group that I started going to. I'm reaffirming my commitment not to date until I know "he's the one." lesson learned: being without a significant other is not being alone...good friends are even more important.

March was an interesting month..I transferred jobs, which, looking back, may not have been the best decision. Also in march, I met a lot of new people, two of whom I talk to every day and consider two of my closest friends. I also met justin, which was a big mistake. lesson learned: meeting new people is so important because they often become your best friends..but moving too quickly into a relationship often leads to disaster.

April, I went on the mission trip as a leader and found that I could be a role model to the high schoolers. lesson learned: that any one person can make a huge difference in someone's life, even by doing some thing considered small and insignificant. God is above all that crap we pull every day..

May was a good month..school finally ended and..that's about all that happened. Other than that it was pretty boring...lessons learned:boring can be good. We all get bored and often complain about it, but sometimes we need to just slow down, stop rushing and stressing, and just..be bored.

June/July were good.. the parents went on vacation for the whole month so I was able to just spend time alone at the house. It was a nice change. I love my family, but it's always crazy in our house. It made me realize how much I love my family but how much more I'd like them if I moved out. I also got closer with some of the before mentioned friends..and I got to go to a music festival with some friends from the collge group! lessons learned: family and friends are important, and regardless of whether you get along all the time, you need them just as much as they need you.

August/September were nothing special other than having to say goodbye again to all my friends leaving for college..and one friend who got married...and yes, then I started school again...all that jazz...lesson learned: life is basically a cycle, like it or not..

October was..school oriented..this semester was really difficult and my procrastination didn't make it too much better. Yes, everyone procrastinates but this semester was worse than usual. Other than that small drawback, the month was pretty good. I housesat for a week and had some friends come see me there. It made me realize that even though sometimes I feel like I don't have any good close friends, I am surrounded by people who care about me..and I love them so much. And, then we almost died in a car accident on the way home from Santa Clara..lessons learned: do the best you can at whatever you are doing, and you'll gain more satisfaction from it. Do not take anything for granted because it could all be gone within seconds. Just because you seem to be very close in personality to someone doesn't mean that you are meant to be with that person..and you are often MUCH more different than them than you thought you were..

November was an...interesting...month...some hard times with some friends...questioning lots of things...becoming really unoriented in so many parts of my life...some relationships will never be the same...some things that used to come so naturally are now so foreign...but I had great people sticking by me who I cant thank enough...lessons learned: once again with the change issues...it's a part of life...usually unexpected. When you're 100% convinced you're alone, you're not.

December was a pretty hectic month with getting ready for all the holidays and stuff...I wasnt really in the "Christmas spirit" as they say, until the 24th. Once it hit me, things got much better. Prior to that I had a lot of issues concerning three different really good friends of mine..but resolution comes with time and it's happening as we speak....lessons learned: family and friends really are the most important things..and that we're never done growing...and its never too late...for anything....

..and that brings me to here...standing on the verge of a new year...and I guess its all up to me what I make of it...so...I guess I'll see you all in 2003...

lies.

2002-12-22T02:21:00.000-08:00

I hate lies. I hate lying and I hate when people lie to me. I hate all the hurt it causes. I hate how it can damage or even ruin a relationship, and often it does it to even more than one relationship. I hate how it can devastate and depress people. I hate when you can't trust someone to be perfectly honest with you, especially when you thought you were so close to them. I hate how time and effort is wasted into conceiving and acting upon a lie, and how much time and effort it takes to reconcile the hurt caused by it, if there is reconciliation to be dealt with. I hate that I'm too nice and that I can forgive so easily. I hate that I am a pushover and people can walk all over me and I won't do anything about it. I hate the fact that I care so much, and that I let things like that upset me so much. I hate..this and that is all.

much ado about cars

2002-08-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Isn't is amazing how much we rely on our cars? I mean, we grow so attached to them that they almost seem to be a part of the family. We name them (this is Alice, by the way.) We clean them more than we clean the house or wash the dog. We get mad when someone else makes a mess in it. We are afraid to let anyone else drive it, for fear they might not handle it correctly. A car is like our safe haven. We can sing at the top of our lungs without anyone hearing. We can drive anywhere, just to be alone. We can get out of town, or have a night out on the town. We have our settings EXACTLY how WE like them. And because of this, we have a codependence with our vehicles.

It would be so nice to live in a big enough city that has reliable (and quick) public transportation. I mean, it's great to have your car, but what happens when it breaks down? You shell out 40 bucks (or more) a day to rent a car, or you just don't go to work, which loses you even more money. This doesn't even count the aggravation of having to call in or ask someone to PLEASE take you to the rental place so you can pick up your car. (And the fact that you can't rent a car unless you're 25 doesn't make matters any better for us youngin's.) This also doesn't take into consideration the hundreds to thousands of dollars it will take to repair said problems.

sleeping cities

2002-08-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

So there was a convention in California that my store was invited to. Since I've been there for years and am probably one of the top employees as far as product knowledge goes, I was invited to accompany the owners to Anaheim. It just so happened that my best friend, May, works at a store in Santa Barbara that is also connected with the convention. She was also invited to the convention, so this, of course, meant a night on the town with my best friend (after all the work was done, of course.)

It's amazing how quiet Anaheim gets after Disneyland closes. The streets are barren and it hardly seems to be a city in the bustling LA proper. I mean, LA never sleeps. Even in the wee hours of the morning you will find tourists galore crowding the streets and gangs prowling the alleys. This was different though. We drove for hours, talking about the most mundane things, which at the moment, seemed to be the perfect things to discuss. That happens with best friends. We found ourselves in front of the mobile home park my great grandfather once lived in, when I was young enough to sit on his lap while he told me stories of his youth. We bought California Lottery tickets, which, for some reason, has become a tradition whenever we see each other. We saw the "drive thru worship" area of the Crystal Cathedral, a moment I will always remember (and laugh at). We finally ended up at a Denney's when we found we could drive no longer. We ate cake, drank coffee, and took bad pictures of it all. It was a beautiful evening.