Coming to America...

Yeah that's how I feel everyday as I drive home from work, that I am coming back to America! I have 32 kids on my caseload, by looking at last names alone, at least 16 of them are Asian, 13 are Hispanic and that leaves 3 kids whose last names I can't tell what they are... Today I was in a classroom and there was 1 white kid, no black kids-- everyone else was Hispanic or Asian. It's just an odd thing to get used to. I mean don't get me wrong, last year I had a lot of Hispanic kids, I'm in Southern California, it's normal, but this is crazy. I hear & see more foreign languages on signs than in English, and the English I do hear has a really heavy accent and sometimes I can't even tell they are actually speaking English because the accent is so heavy. But that's just where I work...head back towards where I live--which is actually less than 10 miles-- and the signs are in English! (Maybe some Spanish ones but that's normal) And there's actually a variety of people, not just 2 major groups. It's so strange. The other day I was walking around this school and guess what flashed into my head... you know those infomercials about feeding some hungry kids for like 25 cents a day...I felt like I was in one of those countries!! Sounds kinda horrible but it's just so weird.

Going, Going, Back, Back to Cali Cali

Ok, we're actually already back, but now I have internet service! Watch out world! (And those are words to a song up top, it's not an accident that it's all twice!)

Kidding. So the trip home was good and long...maybe too long because I got used to being home and now I'm bitter about all the things I don't like about California. I'll get over it soon I'm sure. I don't really have any choice. Those things being that everything takes longer-- driving, lunch, waiting in lines...that sort of thing. And the sky in fact is not blue. It's brownish. And the grass is not in fact green. It's brownish. Everything is brownish. I knew this when I left but you know, after being around an actual blue sky and green grass it kinda pisses you off.

The good things...we got the apartment we wanted & we're all settled. It's bigger than I had imagined (just so I wouldn't be disappointed). We live on top of a mall. Our balcony overlooks a fountain and Mimi Maternity and Coach, and Footlocker is just across the way. The overpriced grocery store is just down the elevator, the post office is across the street and the library is 2 blocks away. Target is only 4 blocks--- so that is all very cool. We get to walk places :)

Work...today was the first day and I was completely overwhelmed. But I think that's standard for any first day. I won't get into the details other than it's much different than where I was for good & bad. Give me a couple weeks and I'll get to my kids and all will be well with the world again. As for right now I have a pounding headache. And want to fast forward. It's a much smaller area=good, I'm the only therapist=challenging, they don't have any materials=bad, I get to pick what we order=good. Just stress, good & bad.

I'm going to try & get some pictures up of that place later today, keep in mind it's not complete :)

Miss you all

I'm home!

As you know, I'm home! I will be home until sometime the week of Labor Day. It looks like everything is working out for the job in Pasadena but I haven't signed yet so technically it could all still go south. Although I think it's all fine.

Being home is good. One of the first things I noticed when I got home were the stars in the sky & how clear it was...that's when I realized I don't get to see stars in Cali b/c we're so close to L.A. that we have a lot of smog to deal with and the city lights are so bright, it's just never dark enough to see them. I'm also loving that there is no traffic...sometimes I'll admit it's a bit frustrating that nobody's in a hurry to get anywhere here though b/c really it makes it harder to pass people & stuff, but it's also nice to just go somewhere without having to be such a defensive driver you know?

I've got to visit with quite a few people so far and tonight I'm heading to Jacksonville (where Ivan went to college) to see a friend who lives there and pick Ivan up, then he's coming back up here for a couple of weeks.

Lucy is doing really well, I've been baby-sitting for a friend of mine during the day and they have a golden retriever and they just play all day long and Lucy loves it. She's so tired at the end of the day we hardly get to spend any time together :( I was thinking about getting another puppy b/c she has so much fun playing with other dogs and she hardly gets into any trouble but on the other hand I'd miss our little one on one time that we have :) hahaha

I guess not much else to say. If you're here reading this if I haven't seen you yet I probably will see you pretty soon!

I'm Coming Home!

Hey hey hey, so I'm coming home on Tuesday and will be home for awhile. I'm waiting to hear on a job in Pasadena and hopefully that works out. No matter what we'll be coming back to Cali at some point. I guess not much else to say, other than see you soon!

Notta

Hey there! Not much to say, I'll be home in like 9 days, so that's cool. Ivan will be coming home the following week. Yesterday we went to a Dodger-Cardinal game in L.A. Cards won 6-1. It was freakin' hot. It's been well over 105 here lately and today it was humid too...I dunno what that was about but it didn't make me happy.

I gave Lucy a bath today...my camera's batteries were out and that sucks because you should have seen her...looked like a drowned rat. Funny. She didn't like the hair dryer afterwards but she survived and it was for her own good :)

Not much goin' on

Hey everyone! So let's see, this week was pretty uneventful except that Ivan's sister, Leah, came to visit. We went to Santa Monica to the beach on Friday and that was cool. Me & Ivan played in the waves for like 2 hours. Love that stuff. And the traffic was great, we were smooth all the way home, which doesn't happen at 6 o'clock on a Friday. Crazy. Today we went & looked at apartments in Pasadena where I have a possible job interview. I like the city but the apartment hunt was a bust. Oh well. Then me, Ivan, Leah & Breigh went bowling, to kareoke, and then to Twins-- the only nightclub within like 30 miles. It was a good time, we closed the place down. I requested some Daddy Yankee and they finally played that, followed by Shakira so I was a pretty happy camper. I could dance to "Gasolina" (by Daddy Yankee, download it, I know they're not playing it in Central Illinois yet) all night, that could be the only song played and I'd be fine.

Anyway, that's about it. We actually just got home from the club and Ivan's talking to a friend outside and Leah & Breigh went to IHOP so I thought I'd write.

I'll be home on August 1st! YAY! I don't know how long, if I work in Pasadena they don't go back to school until September 11th so I will be home for like 6 weeks!!! Crazy! But looking forward to it.

Later!

Lisa Lampanelli Rocks

We went to the Improv the other night to see the comedian, Lisa Lampanelli. I'd seen her special on comedy central before and was dying to see her so luckily she came to Ontario. It was awesome, Breigh & Joe went with us & agreed that she was the best they've seen at the Improv. So basically all she does is tell racist joke after racist joke after racist joke-- nobody is off limits and it's the kinda of stuff you never would say. My God, it's just hilarious. So you need to rent her DVD or buy it or something, you will laugh your ass off. Promise. It's just relieving to hear someone say it & you know you have every race in the same room laughing at the same stuff, you can't get mad about it, and stuff. She's great!

Other than that not much been going on. I have only 2 sessions left with my trainer! I've been with her for 5 months...so that's kinda scary. But boot camp starts again tomorrow to keep me in line. Throughout the summer I have basically been maintaining because I've been lazy and not working out much on my own and haven't been as strict with my food. But I can handle maintaining, and last week I started working out more on my own to get myself prepared to not have my trainer. Luckily, if I stay here I will still have boot camp & there is one in Irvine, so either way I will have that if I want/need it.

Ivan just called to let me know he might be a little late coming home from work-- because the bears have come down from the mountains and are near his car, so they're waiting for the police to come and shoot them with something! Isn't that crazy?

Today I laid out a bit and then cleaned-- I really needed to, but also because Ivan's sister is coming to visit. I'm sure she wouldn't care but I know that I don't like tiptoeing around other people's dirty houses! That sounds horrible... but it has to be pretty dirty for me to care you know, but I do appreciate it when there's not like hairs all over the bathroom or I get to use a clean pillow or something. So you know, I try to do that for people who come to see me. I gotta say though, now that my hair is black I can see it all over the place & it's driving me nutty.

P.S.-- Lucy's good...still working on that housetraining :)

Hey Hey Hey

Hey! Not much to say. I dyed my hair black out of boredeom while Ivan was in Atlanta at a family reunion. I walked up to him at the airport and he just looked at me funny until I smiled, later he said he just thought it was somebody who looked a lot like me! I like the black but not for long term, it's good for now.

Lucy's good. Still working on the housetraining-- she has her moments of genius and then there's the moments where I'm like what have we been working on for the past 2 weeks?! This weekend we left her out of her crate but gated in the bathroom with her litterbox for about 5 hours while we apartment hunting and she went in her box every time! Woo hoo!

So I still don't know where I'll be working in the fall. I have 3 weeks left at my current job after this week and so hopefully I will be in a new contract within the next couple of weeks. At this time it looks like I will either be staying where I am or working in Irvine which is in Orange County and about 10 minutes to the beach!! Wish me luck either way, at this point I'm not super worreied where I end up, I just want to know where it will be. And once we know that, Ivan can look for a new job. So anyway, I will be home again on August 1st or 2nd for 2-4 weeks...depends where I'm working! See you then!

Hello

Hello everyone! Not a whole lot going on out here. I had the rest of last week off, so we've just been laying around and housetraining...which is going ok. Lucy doesn't go to the box on her own (we're using a litter box) but does go in it when we take her to it, and wait forever. Which I've read up on it & that's what you're supposed to do. We're trying! Other than that she does pretty well with other stuff, usually responds to NO when chewing and is doing ok on a leash, she has her stubborn moments. She doesn't cry too much either so that's nice. She loves being held & sleeping on you. Oh and she loves to lick anything she can get to-- whether that be furniture, the floor, or your face/arms/legs/neck/ears...you can see us tryingt oget away in the pics below.

Other than that, not much going on. I have been taking a bit of time off from working out because I blacked out the other day while I was working out with my trainer...just woke up on the floor. I think it was a combination of having not worked out while I was at home, it being hot out, and getting up & down a lot while I was working out. I'm sure it was nothing!!

It's been pretty hot here so we've been very lazy. It's been over 100 and seems a little humid out too. Needs to rain!

Well not much more to say I guess. Chat later. Some pics below!
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5YpA

The Lake House

We went & saw The Lake House yesterday (with Sandra Bullock & Keanu Reeves), loved it! Ivan & I both highly recommend it.

Pics

Here's some pics from at home that Jyll had taken and just sent me.

No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No! NO!

So most of my day has been saying NO! And trying not to beat the poor puppy... Just want to be make sure she understands what is not acceptable from the get go. I think overall she's been pretty good, most times she stops what she's doing as soon as I say No, it's just that there's so many things I have to say No to! So I tell her no and then find her a toy so she has something to chew on. And usually if I tell her no, she'll sit and just look at me like, what? I was just sitting here.

Potty training is going as well as can be expected for only being home like 18 hours. She went on the pee pad once as I was chasing her down with it! Seems like if I place her on it she will just walk off of it & pee, but when I moved the pad to her we had better success. We're getting there. For #2 I've just had to move it to the pad, which I've heard that it's harder to train for that anyway. Oh, as I was typing this she just went #2-- ran into the bathroom and went on the linoleum...better than the carpet, I'll give her credit for that. Patience! (I lack patience)

Flying back went well. The first flight from Peoria to Chicago, she whimpered a couple times and barked once, the flight attendant let me hold her so I did. While in OHare she fell asleep and slept the whole way to LA! So it was pretty awesome. Last night we put her in the crate and whimpered, well it was like 1:00 a.m. when we got back from the airport & stuff so I was a bit worried about the neighbors, but we turned the TV on and she slept until like 6...at which time she came into the bed and slept for a few more hours.

Off & on throughout the day I've been crating her for short periods of time and she's been whining/barking, so I wait for her to stop and then get her out. She did let me take like an hour & a half nap today and she went in her crate the whole time without a peep. That was nice.

Enough about her, my trip home was good. I love coming home. Didn't have a lot of time but it was still nice, and mom's surprise party was good. I think it was a pretty good surprise :) I'll be back in August, the first week of August. I don't know yet for how long. It depends on where I work in the fall & when I start that job, some schools start later than others you know.

I'm so happy to be off the rest of the week though because I'm still exhausted from the time changes, driving all day Monday, flying yesterday, and then Lucy being up late & early and stuff. I'm a grouchy new mom. And I find myself making Ivan feel guilty because he hasn't been here all day! The best thing I did today was put her in her crate and run to the store! I was going to take her with me, but I took her to the bank with me and she doesn't like her little bag yet so I thought, for both of our sanity I would just leave her home while I went to the store. Ivan's going to talk to the upstairs neighbors tomorrow because he knows them and just let them know if she's ever too loud to just come down and let us know. At home it was ok to just let her bark until she calmed down but it's a little harder here because we're in apartments you know?

Anyway, that's all for now. She's doing well! Oh, and I tried to get pictures but she turned her head every time, so this is the best one I could get!

Not much

So not much going on. It's the end of the school year so things at work are just a tad busy...which is weird and kinda nice too. Crazy that we've been out here 10 months already! Still no idea where I will be working in the fall...or living, or anything like that. It's a bit stressful but I'm trying to be patient. I really want to live in Encinitas. I loved it there...we'll see!

Still working out a lot. Last week my personal trainer was on vacation and boot camp was on an off week so I was like feeling crappy because I'm used to working out pretty hard like 6 times a week at least, and I just can't push myself as hard as they do! I had headaches and was bitchy and tired :) Much better already this week!

Alrighty, chat later

Ed

So yesterday I'm just sitting here on the computer and Ivan walks in and says, "Hey come to the door I want you to meet somebody." And there stands Ed, the English carpenter, from Extreme Makeover Home Edition! I was a bit embarrassed because Ivan had had him ome over just to meet me...so Ed's like "Oh don't be embarrassed." And we shook hands and he told me about the show a bit and how he always see Ivan out washing his car, and said thanks for watching the show, nice to mee you. And that was that. It was pretty damn exciting though. He seemed a lot taller in person, I don't know what I expected, but he was around Ivan's height (I think, Ivan says no, but he seemed that way to me).

Birthday Present

So my gift from Ivan was going to be going to Disney Land but we hadn't really felt like going so he got me something else...which you can see in the picture. Love it!

Lucy!

Here's the most updated picture of Lucy (yes her name is for sure Lucy)...at 6 weeks old. Isn't she sweet? She's all fluffy and everything. For my birthday, everyone from work got me puppy toys and a gift card to PetSmart! Fun fun.

So let's see, my birthday was good. We went to Olive Garden & totally stuffed our faces with cheese ravioli, bread sticks with alfredo sauce, and chocolate lasgna! Yum. Yesterday I finished my birthday celebration with a manicure, pedicure, and a massage. Loves it.

This weekend was awesome. We went to Encinitas, which is about 20-30 miles north of San Diego. There's also a possible job there, so we went to see if we even liked the place...I fell in love. It's this cute beach town with little shops, cottages, and great views. We went to the beach and for the first time since we've been out here that the water has been tolerable, not too cold. It was great, we just played in the waves for like ever. So we'll see how the job opportunity goes. Ivan needs more time to get used to the idea, he tends to need more time to adjust to change :)

Hola!

Hey everyone. Things are good out here. It's been nice out, around 85-90 and sunny. So we've just been laying out and hanging at the pool. I love it!

We got some more stuff for the puppy-- a crate, a couple of toys, food/water bowls, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. Still no leash because we can't agree on one-- one that will be cute for her but Ivan won't mind carrying :) He doesn't want a pink one!

Saturday morning we (me, Breigh & Eliza) went on a 5 mile hike. It was lead by my boot camp trainers and a bunch of people went. Good times. It was tough going up, because you're going up for about 2.5 miles and then most of the 2.5 is downhill. It's called the "Claremont Loop" (because it's in Claremont, which is like 10 miles from here, and it loops around a mountain). I'd like to do it again some time.

Today I got the cleaning bug and cleaned out my closets and stuff-- who knew I had 4 garbage bags of clothes, shoes & purses to get rid of! So I'll be taking that to the Salvation Army tomorrow. Oh, and a grocery bag full of books. I love getting rid of stuff.

Anyway, tomorrow is my big bad 24th birthday, woo hoo! So Ivan took off of work so we could hang out tomorrow night...probably eat at Olive Garden (YES!) and maybe a movie...

The Puppy

Here's the new picture of the puppy. She's 4 weeks old now. And she only weighs 11 ounces! Can't wait to get her.

Wango Tango!

So yesterday was Wango Tango, it's this giant concert and had Ray J, Natasha Beddingfield, Nick Canon, Rhianna, Baby Bash, Neyo, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West & Daddy Yankee. It was pretty fun. We got a hotel so we didn't have to worry about driving home afterwards and the hotel had a shuttle going too so we didn't have to drive at all. We thought for sure Kanye West would have been the last one to sing, but it was Daddy Yankee! And I'm pretty sure it was completely because of where we are-- Daddy Yankee's stuff is all Spanish! So being here in So-Cal, well you get the picture! It was definitely one time when I was like, wow I'm totally the minority right now!

Here's some pictures to look at, they're kinda hard to see at time but you get the idea. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5YoE

Hola

Hey all, just thought I'd say hello. not much going on really. I am getting a puppy this summer! The puppy is in Kentucky, so whenever I come home to visit in the summer I will drive to Kentucky and get her, then she'll fly back with me. She is a Malti-Poo, which is a Maltese-Poodle mix. They're kinda popular right now because it's the same kind of puppy that Nick Lachey bought for Jessica Simpson on Newlyweds. I just needed something small since we live in an apartment you know and they are all tiny & fluffy so that's what I'm getting. Need someone to keep me company (and sane) while Ivan is at work at night! I'm going to train her to a litter box in the house so we don't have to worry about getting home to let her out and things like that. Plus, being so small, she'll have a tiny bladder and this would just be easier for her! The picture above is her and I'm supposed to get an updated one pretty soon so I can watch her grow! haha

Standup.org

As you know I hang on nearly every word that falls out of Oprah's mouth :) What can I say, she's usually saying something worth hearing.

Today her topic was how America's schools are basically crap. And it's not just poor areas and inner-city, it's everywhere (although it is worse in those places). And yeah we probably kinda knew that, but we probably didn't think ahead a little bit about that and what it means, and I'm going to paraphrase this a lot!-- ok, if our kids are coming out of school stupid, who is going to lead us? A bunch of stupid people? Not only that, they're lazy! Did you know that 1 student drops out of school in the U.S every 26 seconds?! So, our kids are lazy so they don't even want to lead the country, but if they're not lazy, they're stupid! America will fall behind all the other countries (as we are already slipping quickly) and we will not be the most powerful nation in the world anymore. (Along with a host of other reasons that I'm not going to go into right now about why we are making ourselves suck so bad- such as being super fat and over-spending, healthcare, etc.) And the thing is, it's not even the kids faults that they're "stupid." They're not being provided the right education/resources. And keep in mind it's not just a matter of "leading the country" as in a president & people like that, it's people researching, and becoming doctors and all that stuff. The kids won't be ready! And America will be the dumb, fat, broke nation that was.

Why do you care? You probably don't. I sure didn't until I watched Oprah & thought about it for a minute. Anyway, just go to www.standup.org and you can just type in your name & address and it generates a letter to your state officials. That's it, you can do nothing else but that. And if you're reading this then you're already doing nothing on the internet, so just do it real quick! Big numbers folks!!

Top 33 Work-Out Songs!

Ok, as you know I work out quite a bit, especially lately. (Yeah you can't always tell that I work out a lot, but I really do work out consistently) Anyway, tonight I was doing my cardio after I had my trainer session and got through it by finding my absolute, all time, most energizing songs that I have on my IPOD. And then I felt I needed to share them with you! I guess mom & Jyll because I think you're the only ones I read this every once in awhile :) haha

Anyway, I thought maybe it would be my top 20 or something, but I couldn't narrow it down at all...you should try some of these songs because for me, they are awesome!!! There is quite a range on here, but I think there's something for everyone, and it depends on my mood too ya know? (Can you tell I'm bored?? And in the zone right now??)

I could only rate the top 5, and that was a fairly difficult decision :) ha But the rest are all still in my faves!

1. Boom Boom Boom- Vengaboys
2. We Ready Remix- Archie Eversole & Bubba Sparxxx
3. Evil Deeds- Eminem
4. I Want To Be Sedated- Offspring
5. Lose Yourself- Eminem

Like A Prayer- Madonna
Mony Mony- Billy Idol
Beverly Hills- Weezer
Material Girl- Madonna
Right Back Where We Started From- Maxine Nightengale
Like A Virgin- Madonna
I Think We're Alone Now- Tiffany
Let's Go- Trick Daddy
Over & Over- Madonna
Jesus Walks- Kanye West
I Want You to Want Me- Cheap Trick
Sweet Caroline- Neil Diamond
Throw It Up- Lil Jon
I Hope You Die- Bloodhound Gang
Lean Back Remix- Fat Joe, Eminem, Lil Jon, Mase
Welcome To Detroit City- Eminem
How You Like It- Petey Pablo
Three Point One Four- Bloodhound Gang
Party- Dis N Dat
Outta Control- 50 Cent
Oh- Ciera
Gasolina Remix- Daddy Yankee
Hoochie Mama- 2 Live Crew
Cotton Eyed Joe
Yeah- Usher
Candy Shop- 50 Cent
Goodies Remix- Ciera
Rompe- Daddy Yankee

Big Bear Mountain

This week I was on Spring Break and loved it :) Ivan planned a little trip to the mountains, Big Bear Mountain which is about 55 miles from us. We went up on Thursday afternoon-- we had to buy snow chains for the tires. They were required; there was a little stop & the police made sure you had them on before you could go any higher. And the driving was crazy too-- as you can imagine, driving through the mountains is bad enough how it winds & stuff, now imagine doing that when you can only see about 20 feet in front of your car! It got really foggy up there and I was scared to death. All of a sudden it was completely clear and when you looked over to the side you could look down on the clouds! Very pretty, there's some pictures of them down below. So anyway, we got up there about 2:30, got some food and then went tubing. It was a good time. There was a moving sidewalk thing that you stood on & it took you back to the top of the hill and so we just kept going & going.

Friday we went to the Big Bear Resort and signed up for our lessons-- Ivan snowboarded and I skiied. I have to confess I was scared out of my mind before we went into our classes, I was crying a little & everything! Pathetic, I know. So anyway, it started out a little shaky... we were on like relatively flat ground and anytime I started gaining speed I totally forgot what to do because I was freaked out a little bit. It got better though, I actually only fell once that day! I was starting to enjoy it quite a bit & then it was time to go. Ivan was doing pretty well too, he fell a lot but the snowboarders did quite a bit so he was normal :) Today we went back and skiied for about 3 hours, and I didn't do nearly as well today! Neither of us did, must have been beginners luck yesterday. I fell 2 or 3 times coming off the lift-- both times when Ivan & I went up together, if we went separately I did much better! And one other time I fell and I fell good-- poles flew out of hands, I'm dragging my hands in the snow trying to stop! It was crazy. After that I did alright. Ivan fell pretty hard once, his tailbone is pretty sore right now. But overall I think we did pretty good for beginners, and had a lot of fun. Oh & my face got so burnt, day 1 I didn't wear sunscreen (duh) and you can tell, I look like a red & white raccoon. Ivan looks like it too only not as bad :)

Here's some pics for ya: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5Ylw

Snails!

Ok, this is kinda random, but anyway, I see these snails around sometimes. Mostly I have just seen a couple hanging out on our patio wall-- all you see is a shell like hanging there. Well last night I was out running & the snails were like out of the shells, with their antennas up slithering along. So tonight I saw them again & thought I needed to take a picture & post it :) Enjoy!

For anyone wondering, Megan made it back to Bloomington, a couple bumps in the road, but she's back :)

Friday night Ivan and I went to see the movie "Stay Alive." It's about this video game that once you start playing it, if you die in the game, then you die in real life. It was pretty creepy. Oh and we bought the movie "Kids." Yes it's like 10 years old but I had never seen it, that movie is crazy. If you haven't seen it, watch it, it's crazy I tell you.

So this week is my spring break and Ivan planned a little surprise-- Thursday we are going to Big Bear Mountain, which is about 40 miles from here, to go skiing!! I'm psyched. He got a little cabin or room...something, either way it sounds nice. And neither of us have been skiing before so this should be interesting, but really fun I think. So I will be sure to fill you all in when we get back, assuming I don't run into a tree or something messed up like that!

Megan's Gone :(

Well, Megan left yesterday to go back to Illinois. So, she worked one week for that porn lady & then I think the lady was just cracked out and said that she didn't need an assistant after all. (A little sidenote, the lady's porn name was Kelly Madison, so you should go check out her picture on her website...she's got like triple F's, and I guess they're real)

Anyway, so then she almost had a nanny job, but they didn't need her to start for awhile. Long story short, the job market wasn't kind!! She tried but it just didn't work out. Wish her luck driving back, she left around 4:00 p.m. yesterday and I talked to her at 10 this morning, she was in Colorado and had already hit some ice and flew off the road, but all is well :0

Next week is my Spring Break so I'm looking forward to that, sleeping in! Yes! And not dealing with any kids! YAY! I'll have to get up for boot camp but then I will just crawl back into bed. Did I tell you all about boot camp? Well I get up around 5:00 on M,W,F to go work out with about 40 other women while 3 personal trainers yell & yell & yell :) It's painful and wears me out but it's all good. I've still got my own trainer who I see 2-3 times a week, who also kicks my butt, but she's a lot nicer about it :) Ha!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Guess who is our neighbor? Ed, the Australian carpenter on Extreme Makeover Home Edition! Kinda exciting right? Ivan's talked to him, I guess he is looking to get a Mustang so he was asking Ivan about his. I've yet to see him but Ivan says he's seen him out with his son riding bikes & stuff. I'll be keeping an eye out!

The Car!

So as you know, Ivan got a new car-- an '06 Mustang GT, here are some pictures. They're not the best but you get the idea. He didn't want me to post these because he hasn't got to do stuff to it yet-- tint the windows, get new rims, etc. But I assured him I'd send new ones when he gets that done :)

Hey!

Hey! I just got my computer fixed. Yay! Not a whole lot has been going on really. Been working out my trainer & that's been going well. Work's good.

Oh Ivan got a new car!! He got an '06 Mustang GT. It's black with black leather interior. It's nice. Fun to drive! I'll put a picture on sometime.

Hello!

Long time no write :) My computer has been on the fritz, hopefully I'll get it fixed tonight so for now I'm using my friend's computer. The trip home was good, but so quick! Friday night I went out with some friends, Saturday I had the wedding, Sunday was my nephew's birthday party and then I came back here on Monday.

The weather has been nice, actually it rained yesterday for about the first time in like 4 months or something. It was great!! I miss rain! It's been around 70 I think lately.

Work is good. I'm beginning to wonder where I will be in the fall. If the need was there I think I would stay where I am right now. I'd like the opportunity to move closer to the coast but if I can't, I'd stay here. I'm enjoying my job more lately, I think because I have been putting more effort into it.

Ivan's good. He might be looking for a new job soon though. He's getting frustrated with his because of his co-workers. As you know, he works with some trouble-making kids and he doesn't feel like his co-workers are helping the kids at all, he feels like he's the only one who's really doing anything, and that's not enough...hopefully he finds something better or finds a way to be happy with his job. We'll be car shopping for him here pretty soon. His car is about to give out, I can't believe it's made it this long, so wish us luck with that. Hopefully the car will last until we find the car & money for a new one!

What else...oh yeah, I've got my personal trainer and she's kicking my butt into shape. It's been about 2 weeks and I'm already starting to see some subtle differences. I probably won't post any pictures of me for awhile because I want to surprise everyone when I come home (if there's a big change!) ha!!!

Oh, Megan, my friend who lives with us now started her job yesterday. She's working as a personal assistant for an internet porn star!!!!!!! How fun!! So she just does whatever the woman needs her to do-- run errands, take other porn stars home to L.A. after a shoot (crazy!) and answer fan mail!! I'm so jealous just because I think it would be fun.

Alrighty, talk to you all later! Oh yeah, I think I won't be home again until the summer...will keep you posted :)

I'll Be Home Tomorrow!

So here's the agenda, arrive in Bloomington around 8:30, head to Pit Row, Saturday is a wedding, Sunday is Clayton's birthday party and I leave on Monday...hope to see you all!

Valentine's Day

So instead of going out to eat or anything I told Ivan to make me dinner...and since I'm trying to eat healthy I told him to just pick something with chicken, turkey or fish out of my friend Breigh's "light cooking" cook books. So last night, Breigh & Ivan made dinner-- we had honey glazed salmon, brown rice, and broccoli with champagne. Later we had this mint pie that Breigh made. It was all very yummy! And I'd never tried salmon, rice or broccoli (pretty pathetic I know) so I was little scared but it was all really good :) So here's some pics!

First Meal...

Ok, you all know me, you know that I don't cook anything at all...never have, besides like pizza, mac & cheese...anything microwaveable...things like that :) Well anyway, I'm trying to eat better so tonight I made me first meal ever. Well Ivan really had to tell me what to do every step of the way but I did it... so I had chicken tenderloins and threw some cut up red potato on there and covered it in lemon paper-- very delish I must say. So anyway, here's a pic of it! And I swear it's better & more filling than it looks!

Mt. Baldy Hiking

Hola! Well we had a kinda fun weekend. Friday night Breigh & Joe & Eliza came over and grilled out & drank. Good times. Saturday morning Breigh made breakfast, yummy, and then we all went hiking at Mt. Baldy-- it's about a half hour drive to get up there and everything. It was cool, beautiful, and definitely makes you feel like you're out of shape. That night we went to Dave & Buster's for dinner & games.

Sunday Megan & I went to see Brokeback Mountain (yes I've already seen it.) It was just as good the second time around. And then we went & ate at Johnny Rockets-- my fave, it's just like Steak-N-Shake (we don't have those here!)

Here's some pictures: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5Yk0

Megan's Here

Some of you knew that my friend Megan was coming to stay on my couch for an undetermined amount of time-- well she's here! She left her friend's house in St. Louis on Monday afternoon, drove for awhile and stayed in a hotel around Oklahoma City. Tuesday she drove until she got to just around Barstow (which is only a bit over an hour from here)and she slept at a truck stop for awhile...spooky, in the desert especially! Anyway, she got here around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. So far so good :) I think she's a little like "Oh God, what the hell did I do." Which I'm not gonna lie, I felt that way when I first got here for a few days to a week...ya know? I think it'll get better for her once she adjusts to here and finds a job. Plus she has to adjust to me & Ivan-- we're not the type of people she's used to being around a lot-- not drinking ourselves stupid and going out every night and doing drugs ya know? Oh well :) I guess we're a little boring, she'll adjust. But anyway, it's pretty fun right now to have someone here!

Hey

Hey! Not much going on out here. Let's see...Friday night was pretty low key, I was knocked out on the couch at like 8:30...Saturday we slept in late and then went to work out. We got these 8 week free passes to Bally's so we're tyring to get all healthy. We have a deal that you have to work out at least 4 days a week and if you don't have to put $5 in the pot for each day that you miss. One week down and neither of us had to pay. I'm trying to do my Nutri-System more regularly. We'll see!! Last night we went out to this place called Club Vegas in Costa Mesa. It was fun, Breigh who I work with went with us and we met Ashley (who I work with) and some other therapists from other schools. It was a good time.

Anyway, that's about it, just thought I'd say hola! Hopefully soon we'll do something interesting, but it's pretty much just life as usual out here now-- just a little bit warmer :) It's been around 70 lately, and really windy.

Our First Visitors

Hey! Well we just had our first visitors...oh wait, I forgot that Ivan's cousin came, so I guess it's our second visitors-- my first friend out here though. Anyway, my friend Johnathan & his girlfriend Jill came out last week. They got here on Wednesday and just left today. It was a lot of fun to have them here & just really nice. Wednesday we just went out to eat & stuff. Thursday Ivan took them to Laguna Beach during the day while I was at work. That night we went to eat & went to the mall. Friday we all went to Santa Monica- my favorite place as you know. It was so nice & sunny out, but then like 10 minutes before we got to the beach the sun went behind some clouds and the temperature dropped drastically. That kinda sucked. It was like downright cold! We went to the Pier and walked around, went to the little aquarium there...and then walked up to 3rd street to the shops and things like that. Unfortunately we were ready to leave at 6:00 (RUSH HOUR) and it took us 2.5 hours to get back home...it's only like 50 miles away ok! So that night we order pizza and played some games. Saturday we were going to go to Tijuana but we all slept in! By the time we got up & would have been ready to go, we wouldn't be there very long because I don't really want to be in Tijuana after dark :) Who knows what could happen. So we hung around here, grilled out, had some friends over, and pretty much drank ourselves stupid. It was a good time! I paid majorly for it on Sunday morning... :( So yesterday me, Jill & Johnathan got manicures, and pedicures-- Johnathan wouldn't get a pedicure, it took hours of fighting with Jill & I to even get him to get a manicure, but I think he ended up liking it. Then last night after Ivan got off of work, we went to see the movie "Hostel." Wow...it's pretty crazy. Stop reading right here if you don't want to really know what it's about-- so anyway, these 2 guys are backpacking through Europe, end up at this hostel, and get drugged and kidnapped basically. Well it turns out that this happens to a lot of people and it's because they are running this like human hunting service! So once the people are kidnapped, other people are paying obscene amounts of money to experience torturing/killing people. It's was crazy!

So it's back to work tomorrow. Thank God for Dr. King! Love these random days off work. It makes the rest of the week that much better :)

Also, it looks like I will be coming home sooner than I thought. My cousin Samantha is getting married on February 18th and I happen to have Monday the 20th off of work so I thought, well, if I have 3 days, why not! And Ivan happened to already be going home that weekend for his fraternity's hell week (so he'll be in Jacksonville torturing young guys and will hopefully make it up to the wedding at some point). And it's Clayton's birthday around that time. So I'll probably be there!

I've been thinking about getting a pet...I'm totally not ready for a dog but I think I could handle a cat pretty well. That way even if we want to go away for a weekend a cat would be ok by itself. I'm looking into some shelters...I'll keep you posted. They have to come do some home visit, which is kind of a pain in the ass, and I don't get what needs to be special for a cat, but oh well...we'll see.

Later!

This Week...

Well this week was pretty uneventful! I got back on Monday night and have done pretty much nothing since then. I don't even remember Tuesday and Wednesday...pretty sad! Thursday I went to see Brokeback Mountain-- yeah the gay cowboy movie. It was pretty good, it started a little disturbing, then you got past that & it was kinda sweet & sad. Definitely some good acting there. Rented some movies- Four Brothers, The Devil's Rejects, Wedding Crashers, and House of D. All were pretty good....Four Brothers was good, The Devil's Rejects was just as messed up as the first part of it (House of 1000 Corpses), Wedding Crashers is super funny, and House of D...it was alright, about this guy growing up, nothing major there. That night Ivan went out with his cousins (one is visiting, one lives here), they got home at like 3 and got in the hot tub, I for some reason couldn't sleep, I was up watching TV & movies until 5 in the morning!!! Which lead to sleeping most of Friday, and watching more movies...we ended up not getting up until like 6:30 that night! Again, kinda sad really. Saturday we just hung out around here. I went & saw Rumor Has It-- it was ok. Kinda predictable, but I enjoyed it I guess. And today wasn't much of anything either...cleaning, and preparing myself to go back to work tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to at all. Luckily, my friend Johnathan & his girlfriend Jill are coming to visit on Wednesday, so that gives me something to look forward to!

Truth is, I'm bored with this job now...I had a feeling this would happen. Once I get used to something I immediately get bored & want a change. Same with Rancho Cucamonga...I'm ready to go somewhere else now. But I know I will be here at least until mid June, probably until the end of July if I do summer school, which would be easy so I probably will. I could work for companies that put you in jobs for 3 months at a time and then you go somewhere else, which I think would be right up my alley, but that wouldn't be fair to Ivan...so I can't really do that. I don't know! Ivan & I have talked about it and as of right now, I will probably do another year somewhere in California (hopefully closer to the coast) and then head back east...we're thinking about Chicago...who knows!

It's A Boy!

Hola! As you probably already know, Heidi & Jason had a baby boy at 11:41 on December 27th-- he was 7 pounds even, 18.5 inches long, named Connor Gabriel Spaulding. He looks just like Braydon did as a baby only with dark hair. Everyone's doing well. Heidi wasn't due until January 18th, but she worked hard to have that baby while I was home visiting!

Back in Cali!

Hey everyone! Finally got back to California last night after a long day of traveling & waiting--- I left Bloomington yesterday around 10:30 to Detroit, that went fine--actually it was pretty bumpy. I don't mind turbulence (Actually like it) and there was a couple of times I thought whoah, this is a bit too much. Anyway, I had about an hour in Detroit, got on the plane and then there was a problem with the plane, so we all sat there for 45 minutes before we took off. Finally landed in Minneapolis, settled in for my 5 HOUR layover!!!! Even though we were 45 minutes late taking off, we only got to Minneapolis 3 minutes late! So, I hopped on the metro to go to the Mall of America to pass some time. That was ok. I've never been there and wasn't there to do any serious shopping so it was kinda boring-- I got something to eat, and walked around a bit, got a new book (My Friend Leonard by James Frey- the same guy who wroted "Million Little Pieces", very good so far) Headed back to the airport where I laid on the floor and dozed for 2 hours. Finally get on the plane for the last & longest leg of the trip-- we were supposed to land in Ontario at 11:04-- about 10:30 I thought I was going to absolutely lose it. I couldn't get comfortable, I was tired and sick to death of planes & people, I just about wanted to cry. Then I'm thinking ok, when is the seatbelt sign going to come on & they're going to tell us it's time to descend...that time came & went- we landed 45 minutes late!!!!!!! Even though we left on time, and nobody ever said anything about why we're late- they just acted like we weren't. So anyway, by the time I got my luggage it was about 1:00 when we got back to the apartment. Tired! Just got done unpacking & all that fun stuff.

Anyway though, the time home was good. I had a lot of fun going out & seeing everyone. Got to see just about everyone I wanted to see. And I'm happy I have the rest of this week off of work-- still not ready/looking forward to going back to work. But Spring Break is only 3 months away! ha. At the moment I think I'll be back home then-- the first week of April...

Here's some pictures from my time at home:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5Yjo

Home soon...

Guess what! We felt our first earthquake!!! We were sitting here watching T.V.-- I was in the chair, Ivan was on the couch and all of a sudden I felt my legs like shaking a little and I heard something-- kinda like if the apartment above us slammed their door or whatever, and I looked at Ivan and he looked at me and he had felt the shaking too. There's really nothing else it could have been...so I looked it up on the internet and there was little one (1.4 on the richter scale) not too far from here & we were in the radius that would have felt it. So that was exciting, finally getting to feel one- cuz I guess they happen all the time you know.

So I will be home on Thursday!! Woo hoo!

Less Than 2 Weeks!

I'll be home in less than 2 weeks!! So all of this snowing that's going on will have to stop...maybe it's just getting it all out of it's system before I come home, ha! It'll be weird; cold weather is just an inconvenience really. You have to be cold for one, 2- you have to wait for things to warm up, 3- you have to think more about what you're going to wear, 4- it's messy if it's snowy, 5-the bottoms of your pants get all dirty & wet-- I was thinking about all of this today as I was shopping-in my jeans & t-shirt. It's still holding steady in the high 60's & 70's. I had read that December was supposed to be the coldest month here but it's usually more like in the 50's so either I'm lucky or we're in for an awakening in January...I dunno! I'm super psyched to come home though.

Not much else to say really. Oh, Ivan gave me my Christmas present-- a diamond bracelet and a diamond pinkie ring. If anyone's ever noticed Oprah's pinkie ring, that's where he got the idea. It's really pretty. I tried to take pictures but they didn't turn out so you can just see it when I get home. I got his present today-- a PSP (portable play station) and a game to go with it. That's all he really needs though-- one more place he can play video games! But it's what he wanted.

Alrighty, have a good week!! See you soon!

Howdy

Hey, what's up? Not much here at all. Friday night we did nothing at all. Saturday I went to Knotts Berry Farm with Brook & Eliza. It was so much fun. It's an amusement park-- 2 of the best rides I've ever ridden in my life. Ivan spent the day watching the USC-UCLA game (USC won by the way). And watching some fight. He also found time to surprise me by hanging up stuff I had bought from Pottery Barn. It looks really good. Seriously that's it. Ivan wants to go to Knotts so we might go again next weekend-- they are having a "special" until Christmas where you get in free if you bring a toy for "Toys for Tots." It's a pretty sweet deal.

Anyway, not much new out here. Weather is still nice-- mid 60's. I'll be home in less than 3 weeks! Woo hoo!

So Excited!

Ok, today we, the world, just found out that the next Real World is in Key West!!!!! I'm so flippin' excited!! Just to know the stuff they are living around, and you know I have a special place in my heart for the Keys! I cannot wait! Just thought I'd share that :)

Christmas Tree

Ok, I didn't want to get any kind of Christmas tree or decoration, purely out of laziness. Ivan wanted one...I was accused of being a scrooge!! So anyway I was at Pier 1 this morning and saw this little thing already decorated. So here is our Christmas tree! No hassle, cut the tags off and set it on a table!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! What are ya thankful for?? Honestly, at this moment I am most thankful to have Thursday & Friday off of work! Ahh, to sleep in will be fabulous. I'm pretty thankful to live an hour from the ocean, and thankful for 80 degree weather in November...oh yeah, and for healthy friends & family :) haha, of course that is actually first in line :)

Anyway, so tomorrow will be my first non-family Thanksgiving. Kinda weird, but it will also be my first Thanksgiving where I actually get to see Ivan I think. We are going to my friend Brook's apartment-- she's a traveling speech therapist from Missouri, and Eliza will be there-- traveling speech therapist from Pennsylvania, and Ashley-- traveling occupational therapist from North Dakota and her boyfriend Mike who is a helicopter pilot for the news. He lives in Burbank but is from Michigan. I told the girls-- I don't cook, so give me something to bring that I can buy easily!! I'll buy anything you want, just to don't make me make something! Lucky me I get the relish tray (which you can buy already put together, haha, and I did) and some wine. And I made Scotch-A-Roos... so those of you who know that I generally eat 90% of the scotch-a-roos at family functions, have no fear, I will still do it this year! And they turned out alright I think for my first time ever making them. I realize it's not a hard thing to make, but yes, I am that retarded in the kitchen that I could screw them up. It's funny because I used to watch shows like "Friends" and think-- don't these people have families?? Because it was always just them having dinner together-- I get it now! It had just never occurred to me that people wouldn't travel to be together...but stinkin' Christmas & Thanksgiving have to be so close together...kinda hard to do.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great dinner! I will miss you & your food. I'm sure ours will be fine...but it won't be the same as home cookin' and stuffing myself several times throughout the day, laying around looking at sale flyers...and eating again :)

Love ya!

Ants Ants Everywhere!!!!

We have ants people. It's freakin' me out. First it was an occasional ant here & there. Whatever. Yesterday morning we saw a few ya know...by the time we went to bed last night there was a full blown outbreak. They are teeny tiny and stay to the baseboards but it's making me all itchy you know? So Ivan went to the office today and told them. Apparently it's not just us and there is an exterminator coming tomorrow. In the mean time I think I'm losing my mind. I'm like spraying them off the counter with water and vacuuming like a madwoman. Not to mention flipping out because I think there is something crawling on me every second. I'll probably make a trip to get some ant killer (duh) but at the moment I thought hosing them down would be a good idea...don't know if it was really...I mean I killed a few, but there's just too many of them! You'd think someone was stalking me cuz I'm like looking behind me and around me ever 10 seconds...ok, gotta go!

Santa Monica

Hola! How's everyone doing? Good here. Friday night we went & saw "Walk the Line," that Johnny Cash movie with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. It was pretty good. I thought they both did great--and I learned that I really like his music, I had no idea!

Saturday we went to Santa Monica. We took the long way and just drove through downtown L.A., just to see what it was like. One street looked just like Mexico-- with tons of little shops and stuff out on the streets and everything, and then 1 block over it was tall buildings and a lot "classier." We were driving down Wilshire Blvd, and suddenly the street was blocked off with signs saying "FILMING IN PROGRESS." We didn't stop to see what was being filmed but that was pretty neat. It must have been some cop show or movie because there was like rubble in the streets and then an NY police car & fire truck. From there we headed towards Beverly Hills...I wanted to see Rodeo Drive, and I saw a sign saying "Rodeo Drive this way" but then we never saw it, probably needed to turn somewhere...oh well. We'll try again some other time.

From there we just kept driving until we ran into Santa Monica, my love :) We went and got some hot dogs on a stick...which are awesome...and just went & sat on the beach for a few hours. It was beautiful, warm & sunny. The waves were huge yesterday. Some people were surfing. I absolutely love that city. I tried to go take a tour of this apartment building that I am infatuated with, but the office was closed. This place is called the Seacastle, and you walk out the front door across a sidewalk and onto the beach. I want to live there so badly! I keep talking to my company about how much I want to live/work in Santa Monica, they say "yes we know" but so far nobody has said anything more to me about. And I know that the Santa Monica school district is hiring. Today I was looking at any therapy jobs in L.A. County-- there are quite a few. I'll be letting my company know! I want to be closer to the water if not on it, in Santa Monica!

Oh we also went to this little aquarium on the pier. It was neat, they had volunteers there to tell us about the fish we were seeing, and we got to touch some. Did you know that a Starfish (actually called a Sea Star) actually takes it's stomach out of it's body, has it digest the food, and then pulls it back in? And this other thing...I think it was the sea cucumber, actually shoots its intestines at the predator to get away and then grows new ones?? It does... :) Oh and another fish, a flat fish, starts out like a regular fish with it's eyes on either side of it's head, and after awhile it grows flat and the eye moves to on top of it's head.

Anyway, it was cool. I'm so excited to only work 3 days this week. Looking forward to another long weekend. Here's some pictures from the aquarium & the beach-- the one sunset picture with less people in it, that's Ivan out there in the water...

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5YbE

Dolphin Human Therapy

Hey-- ok you call remember Dolphin Human Therapy where I did my internship last summer? Well we all just got official word that they will be closing. I had heard this here & there for about 8 months now and now it's true for sure. The place they rent the dolphins & space from was trying to increase the price, and this stuff was already expensive enough as it was. Dr. Dave, the man behind it all, has been doing some research with "animotronic dolphins" (a.k.a. robot dolphins) to see if they have the same effect on kids-- sure enough in 33 out of 35 kids, the results were the same if not better. So he is working on opening up a new facility in 2-3 years I think, that will be using these robot dolphins. And in addition to the dolphins, they're doing horse therapy, music, art & maybe some more stuff. They'll also being moving the facility out of the Keys to more central Florida to escape some hurricane threats.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass that along...I will try & post pictures of the robot dolphins sometime, you can't really tell the difference :)

San Diego

Hey!! So I had Friday off of work for Veteran's Day so we decided to head to San Diego to hang there for a couple of days. Thursday night I got out of a meeting a little late so then we had to hang around here to wait out the traffic. We got to San Diego about 10:00 and just checked into the hotel.

Friday morning we headed to La Jolla (northern San Diego I believe) and we had some lunch there at this place called "Cafe At the Top of the Cove." The food was alright, the view was great! We sat on the balcony overlooking over the coast, beautiful!! I took lots of pictures of that. After lunch we started to head down to the beach and saw this store that my friend Celeeste had told me about- "The Cave Store." So we went in there. It's just a store, but you can pay to walk down into this cave that was tunneled out in like the early 1900's. So you go down 145 steep steps, which aren't very well lit, and they're wet. It's a little creepy, we were thinking about how bad it would suck if there was an earthquake at that moment. Anyway, you get to the bottom and you're standing inside this cave and you can look out the opening at the ocean. It's cool...creepy too though. There's a bunch of pigeons inside and you can hear some seals barking... :) After that you have to go back up those 145 stairs, which really sucked. So then we went over to the beach and just sat there for awhile. It was really pretty. The water was super cold but it was warm in the sun and just really beautiful. We spent most of Friday just walking around the beach & La Jolla doing some shopping. That evening we had a couples massage-- that was great! I think massages could be a regular occasion now!!
From there we went to downtown San Diego to eat dinner & go to the mall.

Saturday we slept in and then went to the Wild Animal Park. Which was cool. It's like the sister to the San Diego Zoo. The animals are more in a natural environment and you ride a little train type thing through the park to see them-- rhinos, zebras, giraffes, and tons of antelope/gazelle/deer type animals. After that we went back to downtown and got tattoos!! I got the Taurus symbol and Ivan got his fraternity letters on the inside of our wrists. We both agree this was the most painful spot (we both have one our back, our ring finger, and now this one.) But I think you always forget what it feels like anyway until you get a new one. So after that we went out to eat and then decided to go ahead & come on home.

It was a fun weekend. It's weird because San Diego is only like an hour and a half from us but it really felt like we were in a whole different place. Anyway, I'm putting the link for the pictures below here... enjoy! (You'll have to copy & paste into browser)

Ivan's got to back to work today, and it's supposed to be like 84 out so I think I'm going to lay by the pool and read :) Oh and go shopping for some thick bracelets to cover the tattoo during meetings!

Pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5YaA

FYI

Hola! Just an FYI-- I've discovered the cheapest way to fly to me is to fly out of Indianapolis. There were tickets on there for only $161!! Keep it in mind!

I have the Travelocity link to the right :)

Hey

Hey everyone! Not much new to write...Friday night me & Ivan went to see "Jarhead." For those who don't know-- it's about this one Marine and his life in Desert Storm basically. It was pretty good...not a typical war movie I think, and yes, you do get to see him in very little clothing...:) Many have asked about that! Saturday we went miniature golfing with Breigh & her boyfriend. (I work with Breigh, she's a traveler too, from Iowa. Her boyfriend flies out frequently to visit.) That was a lot of fun. I actually had the second best score. Maybe I'll take up golfing now! Then last night we went out to that club we went to last weekend-- Twins. It was fun, but not as fun as last weekend.

Today I have been planning a little trip for next weekend. I have Friday off (Thank God for those Veterans, huh?!) So we threw around some ideas-- L.A. all weekend, San Francisco, Las Vegas... and we settled on San Diego. There is a lot to do there...so I'm calling & making reservations and getting prices-- we're thinking about surf lessons, kayaking, massages, tattoos (yes tattoos), the zoo, Seaworld, hot air balloon...too much to choose from! So hopefully next weekend I'll have something fun to read & some pictures to look at.

Weather's nice, 75 & sunny. Love it!

Hello!

Hey! Not much to write about this weekend really. Friday night Ivan went out his friends in Ventura and I went to my friend's place for drinks and game night :) Saturday we did some shopping, oh and test drove the Lexus that I am in love with. And I'm even more in love now. Then last night we went out to this place called Twins Club right here in Rancho Cucamonga- its' the only club within like 30 miles really. And it was a really good time. We had a birthday pass thing for Ivan from a friend-- so we all got in free, free round of drinks, and a free pizza. So it was a cheap night too, which is always nice. I was hurting a little this morning...but I had so much fun last night!

Today Ivan had to work and it was gorgeous outside so I just went out by the pool and read my book. It was about 80 and sunny. Oh, and the book I'm reading is called
"A Million Little Pieces." You might have seen Oprah talking about it, it's really good. It's a detailed description of this guy's experience going through drug rehab.

I'm debating now on going to a movie-- I wanna see "Elizabethtown." I haven't heard good reviews about it but I still wanna see it.

Alrighty, have a good week!

What I Live With...

This is a glimpse of what I am living with out here :) Spooky huh?

I'm in Love, Again...

Ok, I'm in love again. This time with a car. It's the 2006 Lexus IS250. Isn't it sweet? Ok, so the plan is to save a ton and get it next summer. So anyone interested in an awesome little car that will be for sale next summer, let me know! (A '96 Toyota Corolla, good condition, no problems ever, awesome gas mileage, love the car and will miss it dearly, but I think a Lexus would help me get over it :)

Hey

Well we didn't do anything too thrilling this weekend. Friday night we rented those movies-- The Longest Yard (the remake, it's pretty good), and The Amityville Horror--which we tried again during the daylight and wasn't as bad. But I know if we had tried to watch it again at night, we would have had heart attacks or something. Saturday we got manicures...yes both of us :) What's not to enjoy about that though? Next time I think he might even get a pedicure, I got one too yesterday, love those. Last night we went to Dave & Busters. For those who may not know-- it's a restaurant/bar/arcade. It was a lot of fun. Came home, hit the hot tub for awhile and crashed.

This whole past month at work for Ivan has been orientation/training stuff, so his hours have been different all the time. This week his regular hours of 2-10 p.m. start. I will miss him because I have been used to him being at home in the evenings the past 2 weeks, but I think it will help me to not be so lazy :) When he's here we just hang together-- eat crappy food and don't work out! So I'm hoping when he's at work I will eat better and use the time to work out a little more! We'll see :)

The Amityville Horror

Have you seen it? The new one? Ivan & I rented it last night, and for the first time since I was like 12, I had to turn a movie off. We were in agreement that we'd have to try to watch it again in the daylight. And even this morning I mentioned the movie and Ivan was like "Please don't talk about it!" So we'll try again later today or tomorrow, early in the day so we have plenty of time to get it out of our heads before it gets dark. So if you want a really freaky movie-- atleast the 15-20 minutes I saw, go rent the new Amityville Horror. Afer we took it out we put in an Adam Sandler movie and it took me like 15 minutes before I was completely un-tense. It was bad...

We were thinking about going to this place called "Knotts Scary Farm" tonight-- it's a theme park all done up for Halloween. I guess it's pretty spooky. It's open from 7p.m.- 2a.m. We're still thinking, I don't know if I can handle an entire scary park for an entire evening. It's bad enough walking through one haunted house and you know it's over when you walk out...let alone walking out of a haunted house into a haunted park you know? There's no time to recover! We'll see...

House Hunters

Does anyone watch House Hunters on HGTV? Well you should. I just discovered this show and am obsessed. I'm a little upset right now because an episode just got over and I want another one to be on...and it's not. Anyway, it just goes with people while they are house hunting. So you get to see all these cool houses. Makes me want to buy a house! Oh, but that won't happen for a long time.

If you have HGTV you need to watch this show!

Coming Home!

I finally bought my tickets to come home for Christmas. It was a really tough decision-- deciding how long to stay, and what not. So I will be flying into Bloomington on Thursday, December 22nd and leaving on Monday January 2nd. Ivan and I won't be able to travel together because he can't get off the same times from his job. He'll be flying into St. Louis on Thursday morning and has to leave the 26th. So it will suck a little bit that we can't spend Christmas or New Years together...but I figure that I do live with him, won't be home long, and it's Jyll's 30th birthday, so I'm staying home for New Year's. And since I don't have to work, my only obligation while in Illinois is to visit & have fun... I expect to be completely entertained the entire time I am home :) Just kidding...I think that might be impossible.

Anyway, life's good out this way. No news really...it has cooled down a bit, mid 70's. It's nice...the other day it was raining though and it really was cold out. Like 50 or 60 with rain is pretty cold. No big plans for this weekend, thinking about heading back to Santa Monica, because I love it there! You know I'll keep you posted.

Later!

Pasadena

Hey! First of all, it was awesome to talk to you guys at the boys' party last night. I wish I could have been there, it sounded like a lot of fun!! Oh, and those of you "voting" about the purses...there was a tragic accident last night with the brown one...it got stuck on some gum. I think that everything is going to be ok, but it was pretty traumatic :)

So last night we went out in Pasadena for Ivan's birthday. (His birthday was the 11th). It was me, Ivan, his friend Rome from work, Rome's girlfriend and her friend, and then the girls I work with-- Ashley, Eliza, Breigh & Brook. I'm going to put up some pictures too-- there aren't many, and they're not that great, but you can at least get idea of what the people look like that we are always with.

So we went to this place called Q's. It's pretty much a one stop shop-- you can eat, which we did, and there's pool tables, and downstairs there is a dance floor too. So we stayed there all night. The food was good, drinks were too :) We got a private room...I'm not sure why, Rome knows the owner, and Rome's the guy who used to play pro-football...so maybe he feels we needed a private room, I don't know, regardless, it was cool. We just had a pool table, couches, and a couple of tables. And we could look out at the rest of the place but nobody could come back in our room. That was kinda cool. So anyway, we just hung out & played pool all night. The funny thing is that we had been talking about setting Rome & Brook up and then Rome walks in and introduces his girlfriend...oops... I guess they had broken up & were just getting back together to try it out. I think Brook's still got a shot :) Fast forward a few hours and Brook is so drunk, it was really bad. Luckily the bars in Pasadena close at 1:30 because she was in no shape to really be out much longer. So that was a fun ride home...I won't go into more detail than that! And Ivan paid too :)

So anyway, that was that. Today it's actually a little gloomy out, which is a nice change. It's been in the 90's and sunny of course, but today it's only in the 70's and rainy.

Here's a link to the pics, if it doesn't work when you click on it, copy & paste it to see them... share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5YZM

Purse Dilemma

Ok folks, I went shopping for a new purse, which I am very particular about. I found two that I like...didn't fall in love with them, but liked enough to buy. So here they are, which one do you like better?? Click to make a comment or shoot me an email if you have a strong opinion either way :) I'm having a really tough time with this!

Tijuana!

Ok, so one of Ivan's friends from school flew out to San Diego to visit his sister. They were going to Tijuana, Mexico for the day...so we said we'd go too. We had so much fun...but we paid for it dangit.

It's only 2 hours from here. You just drive to the last U.S.A. exit, park your car and ride a little bus into Mexico. They drop you off and that's it. You don't have to get checked out or anything. So we met up with his friend and the people he was with, and went to have some drinks. Ok, so on their menu it will say that the drinks are 2 for 1...so if you order one, they bring you 2 automatically...which is fine...but you for sure end up drinking more than you should. But the drinks are so cheap-- I got 4 Margarita's for $8 I think. The other thing they do, which I remember from going to Cancun a few years ago, they are walking around dumping tequila down your throat, against your will, and then they shake up your head. At some places they say that their only pay is your tip after they do that, other places just say "OK that will be $3!" So anyway...they did that to Ivan :) Then we just walking around and bought stuff I don't really need...I will be sending it home to the kids-- what little crazy boys don't need slingshots?? Come on! It's just fun to bargain with the people...you know, whatever price the give you (which they actually give you awesome prices to start with) you just take them down or start to walk away. On one hand it's so much fun, and on the other you just feel horrible because these people have like nothing! And there's little kids running up to sell you stuff...and you say no thanks, and they just stand there and keep trying. It's pretty sad...so then we went to another place, which is the place that did us in I think. The guy we were with ordered Long Islands for everyone and then Ivan also wanted to try another drink, so we got 2 of those...and then those Tequila guys got Ivan again...this guy was much more adament about trying to get me to do it. I had my hand covering my mouth, shaking my head no, and he's like trying to pry my hand off my face! He finally went away. So we drank there and at that point everyone was over the sobriety edge pretty well...

Ivan's friend & sister were going to a Cardinal's game at 8:00 (this was all going on in the afternoon) so we all had to make our way to the Mexican bus that would take us back to our cars... "Luckily" the bus sat in stand still traffic for an hour giving me time to sober up. And Ivan time to get sick :( I felt bad...you know when you feel that way it's not cool? Then you have like an entire bus either grossed out by you...or laughing at you! And his friend (which is his frat brother) was taking pictures and I'm sure Ivan will never live it down. Then the bus driver starts yelling some spanish about maybe not letting us off the bus unless we clean up Ivan's mess! So the other girls got off the bus and went to the bathroom to get some paper towels...which by the way, they charge you to use the bathroom-- it's $.25 to use it! So they come back and we make do with those. Well, then we pull up to U.S. Customs, because it's a lot harder to get out of Mexico than it is to get in, duh, and the bus driver starts talking to a customs guy about us. Luckily, he was like just go! So we go through customs, get back on a bus, and get to our cars. Now, it woulda been nice to just get a hotel room. But you know, you just want your own bed. So I drove home the 2 hours. (Trust me you guys, at this point I was okay to drive, I know there are people reading who are shaking their heads and you don't believe me, but it was ok :) But the second we got home...it was my turn to get sick...which happened about once an hour for a few hours. And now I am ok!

Like I said, Tijuana was great!!!! Can't wait to go back! It's like, since you're in Mexico you think things are more acceptable :) Which reminds me, we went to a Mexican strip club...We just wanted to see what it was like... I figured it would be pretty raunchy because you know...standards are a bit lower across the border. It wasn't really any different than any other strip club...I mean, I bet it wasn't :) And Ivan's poor friend, had like 5 lap dances bought for him because they were so cheap...he claims it was the grossest thing he's ever experienced in his life! Oh, we also got out picture taken on a Zebra-Donkey thing...we're calling them "Zonkies." These poor animals--which are just zebra striped donkey's-- are on like every block, just standing there, waiting for some drunk American's too sit on him with sombrero's on and get their picture taken. So we took advantage of that... You feel bad though...and then you just do it!

Anyway...you should go sometime!

King of Queens

We went to the taping of King of Queens last night...so fun!! It started at 5:00 but we had to be there at like 3:30 so we could stand in line for awhile. Then they take us into the studio and have the "warm-up" guy (Roger) just make us laugh so that we're all pumped up for the show. And they had us watch a few minutes of clips from the show to get us in the mood. Oh by the way---me & Ivan were dead front & center. You couldn't have had better seats. It was pretty nice :) So then they introduce the cast-- which was so cool. I've just never really seen famous people except in concerts and sporting events and then you're never really that close. We were like 12 feet away. It was just cool. So then they just start taping the show. They do each scene at least twice...so that takes awhile. But it's funny...they might change the lines a little each time they do it. Oh and last night the show was about them all going to a kareoke bar, and in between takes the guy who plays Doug's brother, Gary Valentine, got up and sang to the audience-- in the show we was supposed to be this Neil Diamond freak-- wearing sequins and everything, so he got up & the audience all sang "Sweet Caroline." Also, to get the audience more pumped they had competitions between the two sides and since we were right in the front center, I was scorekeeper for our team...which is a very big responsibility :) haha...You know, you have to be able to count under pressure, speak, and get made fun of occasionally! So the show was funny. I got a hat for being scorekeeper and at the end the cast were signing autographs, so I get Leah Remini's...which was just too exciting! I think Kevin James' family was in town (his wife had a baby last week), they sat next to us the whole time, and we couldn't find him for an autograph so we just left..plus it was 10:00, we needed to get out of that place! And on the way out they gave us a copy of the script. It was good times...I was a bit surprised that Kevin James didn't interact with the audience...and Leah Remini never seemed like she was having a good time...if you don't watch the show you should!!!! It's so funny. It's on CBS I think on Mondays at 7:00-your time. And if you don't know who I'm talking about-- Kevin James is the guy from Hitch that Will Smith is helping... Leah Remini also played Stacy Corosi on Saved By the Bell-- she was Zach's girlfriend at the beach club... :) Anyway, good stuff...lots of fun...you should go watch a show sometime!

Hello

Hello! Absolutely nothing new to say but thought I should post something on here anyway. It's just life as usual now :) Friday we are going to a taping of "King of Queens." I love that show. So I will actually have something to write about then. Ivan's liking his job...last weekend (not while he was working) some of his kids ran away and stole a car! My work's good...I don't love it but I don't hate. I can't figure out what it is I don't love-- if it's the kids or the parents or the co-, workers or California-- I love it here, but the laws are different and they do things differently out here as far as OT goes that I don't like. I don't think we see kids enough, so I feel like I'm not doing any good. So if you don't feel like you have a purpose, it makes it hard to want to go treat sometimes! Oh well, it's good enough for now but I know OT's not it for me for forever. I want to try treating in the hospitals or outpatient and see if I like better there. In the schools I just feel like it's hard to see progress but if you have someone with a total hip replacement, within days or weeks you will see an almost complete recovery!
Anyway, hope all is well, gotta go.

What's up?

What's up? Not much here. Last night I was so exhausted, I just basically slept most of the evening :) Ivan volunteered to go into work because they kids were having this Madden football tournament thing, so he went to help with that...or play I don't know :)

I've been hearing it's pretty chilly back home?? We just got another heat wave, so it's been around 100 here. It's "fire season." I never knew fire had it's own season. I think we are okay but that fire near us wasn't getting any better. It had burned up I don't know how many thousands of acres and people were being evacuated from their homes. Crazy stuff.

I don't know what the plans are today...I'm debating between doing nothing and just chilling here in Rancho...or heading somewhere else...like Malibu or Santa Barbara... We'll see! Later :)

Hey

Hello :) How's life for everyone? Good here. I think my cold is going away a little, or at least changing-- now I can breathe but I have a bad cough. Ivan's sick now too, but he's off from work until Sunday so he can just sleep if he wants :) Haven't been up to much, but wanted to say hi. Probably won't do a whole lot this weekend either, just nursing back to health, ha :)

Did you see the brush fires out here on TV at all? Well it's not too near us, but it's close enough that the smoke just heads our way. Which is great, add smoke to the smog!! Alrighty, talk later :)

Hello

Hey :) Not much going on out here. We didn't do anything thrilling this weekend. I managed to get sick though--started getting a sore throat yesterday afternoon and by the time I went to bed last night I couldn't breathe or swallow. And it's not getting any better. Our secretary at work said that when she moved here from Ohio she was stuffed up for a month-- allergies, and she didn't have them until she moved here. I hope that it's not that. I will be mad. She said it's because the smog settles where we are because it doesn't go passed the mountain or something. I dunno, I just want to be able to breathe!

Ivan's working now. He started working weekends this weekend, so his schedule is Sunday-Wednesday afternoons/evenings. It works out ok. Sunday I did some cleaning & got groceries...then got a manicure & pedicure :) I think that might be my Sunday ritual! The place was cheaper here than back home and better too. They did my manicure while my feet were soaking and stuff. Nice!!

Anyway, that's that. Work's good-- planned a lot of fingerpainting for therapy this week so that's a good time :)

Later!

So tired...

Hey! Things are good. Not much new to say. Work is going well but I am so beat by the afternoon. Could just fall asleep anywhere. Too much thinking, I'm sure that's what causes it. No big plans this weekend. I have a conference for work all day Saturday and Ivan starts his regular hours of working Sundays. Friday night we're having a little game night though. It's way more fun than it sounds! Ivan is coming once he gets off work and maybe bringing a new friend from work. His name is Rome, and he used to be a pro-football player I guess. I guess they hit it off.

Alrighty, talk later.

Rain, Rain Come Again!

It rained today for the first time that we know of since we've been here! But I missed it :( I was on the phone earlier on the patio and was so excited just to hear thunder and see the sky get dark. I came inside and then it rained and I didn't notice. Ivan saw it though. I know this doesn't sound that thrilling, but believe me, 90 & sunny does get a little old after awhile. And they are calling for rain again tomorrow!

Oh and we lived through our first earthquake last week and didn't know it. I guess it happened at like 6:00 a.m. while we were still sleeping. It would've been nice to be awake for it to see if it was one that we could even really feel...

Lata!

Hollywood!

Yesterday we went to Universal Studio's & to Hollywood Blvd. It was so fun. Ok, so Universal first-- neither of us have been before, so that was cool. When we first walked in we saw Beetlegeuse. (I know you're thinking I spelled that wrong, it should say juice, but that's not how he spells it). Anyway, that was really exciting because I have to admit, Beetlegeuse is one of my favorite movies. I still love it. I used to act out scenes to that all the time-- like when they first cross over to the other world, and they are trying to "draw a door"...yup, if you take the drywall off the basement walls at our house, you will see many a door drawn on the wall. Ok anyway, so that was cool. Then all these super people pulled up on 4 wheelers-- Spiderman, Green Goblin, Wolverine, Storm, and Captain America. That was cool. Even though I know it wasn't really them, I think I was just as excited as all the other kids. Ivan was taking pictures and I was on my phone trying to call the kids to tell them who I saw. It was cool. So, then we went to the Terminator show. That was cool 'cause it was 3-D and so like bullets and robots were coming for you. After that we went on the Back to the Future ride. It was fun, but you could tell it had been around awhile...a little 80ish. But in ou car we had like 4 French people and the woman were laughing so hard, I think it made it a little more fun. From there we did this Van Helsing haunted house thing. It was scary. Probably could have been scarier but still made me jump :) And then we also watched the Waterworld live show. That was fun too. I love that movie. Oh and we met Shrek...:) I still want to go to back to take a studio tour (of like Desperate Housewives!!), and go on the Jurassic Park ride/show thing. We got a year long pass so we can go back anytime. So whenever you come visit, we'll be going!

From Universal we went to Hollywood Boulevard. It was pretty neat. Just to be around the places where you know all these stars have been at one time or another. It's a very cool place, but also kinda dirty. There are people begging for money, and freaks dressed up in costumes, and crazy people yelling. But it's such a busy area that all of that isn't really scary or anything. We went to this wax museum, which aside from meeting Beetlegeuse and seeing Spiderman, was probably my favorite thing. Some of the statues looked just like the people and some of them were pretty crappy... but was really neat. Don't you worry, I took pictures of almost every single one, so you can see! Ha! I just wish I could have stood next to them for pictures but they are roped off.

From there we went to see all the handprints and stuff in front of the Chinese Theatre. So cool! It was my purpose in going to Hollywood Blvd in the first place. It was nuts to look at the dates on some of those-- like I think Shirley Temple's was in like 1935 or something crazy like that. It was so cool though. And they had one roped off with security that hadn't been put in yet-- turns out it was Johnny Depp's, he'd just done it yesterday. All very cool.

Oh and really one of the most exciting things was just when we were driving down the freeway and looked up to see the Hollywood sign up in the hills. And also seeing the road signs for Hollywood & Sunset. Just really cool to see things that you've only seen in movies or on TV. We also went into the Kodak Theatre, which if I am not mistaken, is where the Emmy's are. I know that the Oscars are. Anyway, it is built in like a big circle and the middle is open...on the outside it's just like a mall and then upstairs is where the "special events" go down.

So anyway...that was yesterday. Did I say "cool" enough in this post?? And here's all the pictures that you're dying to see, copy and paste this up in your browser to see because the link won't work :)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5YYI


Later!

Virus

Hey everyone!! My computer got a virus so I was out of commission for a week. That sucked. Although there wasn't much to say anyway. Work is getting better each week. The more I get used to my kids and they get used to me. Next week I will have a full caseload. I was supposed to be eased into some of my kids with a therapist who would be going on maternity leave in a couple of weeks, but she got put on bedrest...so I get to just dive in next week! I'll be pretty busy then :)

Ivan starts his job on Monday. He'll be doing training & stuff. Learning how to deal with these crazy kids... Ivan has a cousin who lives in Long Beach, which is like an hour from here, so he went to see her on Thursday and brought her back to our place to stay. That was the first time I've met her, she's cool. So on Friday he went to Long Beach to take her back and also went to Venice Beach. He had a good time. Yesterday was one of our friend's birthdays so everyone ordered food and brought to our apartment to hang out. From there, us girls went to this country bar called "Brandin' Iron" in San Bernardino. It was fun. I haven't line danced in a long time!!!!! But they played pop stuff too-- like Usher and Def Leopard. It was a lot of fun though.

So today our plans are up in the air- we're either going to the L.A. County Fair or to Hollywood. I kinda want to see the L.A. Fair just to see if it's really even like a fair at all! The commercials for it on the radio are hilarious. They're talking about food making you fat & talking like hillbillies. It's just funny.

Anyway, I'll get going. Have a good day!!

Finally Treating Kids!

So today was my first day actually working with the kids and it was good. In the morning I worked with another therapist whose Friday kids I will be taking over completely in a couple of weeks. It is nice to have her there to see what she does with the kids and give them a chance to get to know me too. In the afternoon I was flying solo with my kids. It was fun. It was so nice to get to treat a kid and not have somebody sitting there watching every move judging you-- like when you're in school. It's also nice because if I have no idea what I am doing, nobody knows! I can learn that way. And I can figure out what works & what doesn't ya know? And I can always go back to the office and be like "Look guys, I need some suggestions." Which I'm sure I will need. The kids I worked with today are all much lower cognitively than I have any experience with. So that's new. I'll be doing my homework this weekend for sure. Figuring out what I can do with these kids. Such a learning experience! So that's work :)

I think we're going to see that new movie-- "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"...tonight. I'm sure I'll regret it about 10 minutes into the movie, but I like being scared!! We saw "Red Eye" on Monday-- it was pretty good. I'd reccomend it. Oh, and we saw "The 40 Year Old Virgin" last week...very funny. One of the funniest movies I've ever seen probably.

Is everyone making their donations to the Red Cross??? If you look to your right, yes right now on your computer screen, you will see I now have a link to the Red Cross on my blog so you can just click there and make your donations :) I think Ivan & I are going to do our part next week-- Steve Harvey, the comedian, is doing this huge comedy show in Inglewood with like him, D.L. Hughly, Bernie Mac, and a bunch of other people and all the proceeds go to the hurricane victims. We'll see, we had to make sure Inglewood was safe and all :) The only time I've heard of it was in Tupac songs so that's not usually a good sign...but the girls at work said it was a-okay!

Talk to you soon!

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I start treating kids! YAY! I'm really excited because that's when I'm the most comfortable I guess. Just me & my kid ya know? Anyway I will let you know how it goes.

Oprah

Did anyone watch Oprah today? (Today being Tuesday) She had her show taped in the areas where Hurricane Katrina hit. It was horrible. I just had no idea...I mean they show you on the news that some people are homeless, okay, you understand that some people died, and it's all pretty bad. But then there's the stuff that I hadn't ever heard anything about-- like that people were being raped, kids were being raped, and killed inside the Superdome... that the gangs were taking control and shooting people inside the place, people were being taken to the morgue even though they weren't dead yet, just that they were so far gone that they couldn't be saved. It's really messed up. Anyway, tomorrow she is doing another show...I think you should watch it. Everyone just needs to see it.

Hola

Hey guys! Not much going on here. Today I started making treatment plans, Wednesday & Thursday I will be hanging out with another therapist who's caseload I will be taking over after she goes on maternity leave, and Friday I will actually start treating! Only 3 kids on Friday but it's a start. I'm excited, hopefully it all comes back to me. Pretty nervous too though :)

Ivan's still waiting on his job to finish checking his references. Any day now I think he should hear something. I don't know what we're going to do this weekend...we were invited to Vegas for a co-worker's birthday (Vegas is only 3 hours away), but I don't think we're going. I've been spending too much money out here! It costs a lot to do just about anything, and people are always wanting to go out to eat! We'll have to go to Vegas some other time.

What else...I'm looking into doing some volunteer work somewhere. Kinda need to do something to keep yourself from getting too self absorbed! I will say this about California-- I love it here, and everyone is really nice, but at the same time, people seem to be in their own little worlds ya know? Something as simple as walking through the mall and nobody paying attention to the fact that they are about to walk into someone! It's a bit annoying :) Whether people try to or not, it's just apparent that it's easy to get caught up in brand names & nice cars etc... so I am looking into the volunteer thing-- either at the animal shelter or at a therapeutic horseback riding place. We'll see. I might not do anything!

Ok, gotta go. Talk soon. Come visit!

Long Weekend!

Hey! Not much new out here. Just life as usual now. This week at work I did finally get to go out & meet my teachers and make my schedule- which is exciting & very scary. I'm supposed to be a real therapist now ya know? I just want to fast forward a few months and be comfortable & confident with treating! I'll get there. But I'm so happy to have a 3 day weekend. The work days while doing nothing just kinda suck!

Last night we went out to Burbank Bar & Grill with the girls from work and a couple of them's boyfriends for one of em's birthday. It was fun. They had an 80's band playing and stuff. Good times. I think tonight we're going to Dave & Busters. Tomorrow Ivan invited everyone over to the complex to grill out & chill. We'll see if that really happens...either way it should be a good time.

That's all here. Happy Labor Day!

Just in case you forgot what we looked like, here's a pic from last nite.