I'm sore!!

I started boot camp on Monday...I am having mixed feelings about this. I need to do it. I haven't even moved really since the day the marathon was done...that was in March! And I've gained SO much weight. I need to do this! But because I haven't moved since March and have gained so much weight, boot camp is extremely difficult! I had to stop with about 5 minutes left on Monday because I thought I was going to hurl...or pass out. There are 2 other contributing factors I think, it's about 30 degrees or more warmer here than in CA at 5:30 in the morning. In Cali we'd be wearing gloves & hats and everything, here, it's already warm, not hot, but warm. Also, I think this woman has a lot more cardio in hers than lifting weights. Maybe that will change a bit but for now it's freakin' killing me. I sooo wanted to quit on Monday. I am a quitter you know :) But, my neighbor Katie is doing it with me so I can't. I know it will get better as I get more active, but all I kept thinking was man, I don't want to do this. This is not fun for me. Who knows, I may only do it this one month to kinda get me started. I don't know. I just know I really don't want to go back in the morning! I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, but I am. I'm walking kinda funny I think so I can't imagine running and doing more weight training with my legs feeling this way! UGGH! I was thinking, "man I don't want to be uncomfortable." Because really, that's what it gets down to when we're tired or sore or whatever, it's just a degree of uncomfortable. It stuck in my head because when we were at the starting line for the marathon our coach told us "I don't want anyone here thinking 'just as long as I'm comfortable I'll be ok'...it was funny because that's always what I was thinking when we did those long runs, I could get through it as long as I wasn't too uncomfortable...he wanted us to not think that because we should have been thinking about the chemo patients who are in pain and completely uncomfortable...he wanted us to feel everything just for one day. Anyway, I did! And for several days after. But I'm not curing cancer right now so dangit, I don't want to be uncomfortable!!!!

So Charlie escaped from the apartment this morning. Scary! My neighbor Jeff came over for a second and I was standing in the doorway holding Lucy, and Charlie kinda wandered out the door...no biggie...she got to the stairs and I swear she kinda looked back at us like...here I go! And away she went. Jeff took off faster than I've seen anyone move probably, chasing her, I threw Lucy down and took off barefoot...keep in mind this is like 7:30 in the morning. So Jeff goes one way yelling and I go the other way across some rocks (did I mention I was barefoot?) I was thinking she'd come around that side but she didn't, Jeff & I end up in the same place with no Charlie. So he goes another way and I go another calling for and she just runs out of the parking lot outta nowhere...well as soon as I head for her she turns, so I stopped and just called to her and she came to me. Can I tell you how scary this was?! She didn't have her collar on so if we didn't find her she'd have been gone for good. She was roaming the parking lot so I thought she was done for good already. When I picked her up she was super calm, I think she scared herself a bit too. Good. Brat.

I was going to try and come home the first weekend of October because we have a fall break here but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. Flight prices went up and so did the travel time. I'm not going to spend 8 hours in airports and switching planes if I'm only going to be there for a few days...so that sucks a bit. I'll keep you posted.

Life Is Good

So, life is good! It's amazing how happy I am here. I think it's a combination of things-- it's so nice to be around normal people, as a group they are probably the nicest people I have ever met, I'm really happy with our apartment and the complex as a whole, my job really couldn't be any better...

And I'm finally starting to volunteer instead of just talking about it or reading about it. Did anyone see Oprah last week when Bill Clinton was on there? (Quite possibly my 2 favorite people in the world.) Well, Bill just wrote a new book called "Giving." Of course I went and got about 2 hours after watching the show. In the book he talks about all these ways you can give--he breaks it down by chapter if you want to give money, give your time, give a skill. He tells about all these organizations that have been proven to be really great ones to give to or copycat. At the end of the book there are all the websites for the places so you can find them. What I really loved about the book is that he was just trying to say, no matter how little you can give, it WILL make a difference. That's something I have struggled with a little and has probably kept me from volunteering sooner, I have this 'go big or don't go at all' mentality and you can't always go big! It helped when I was raising money last year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I really saw how even the littlest amount ended up helping me out so much. Those little amounts really do add up.

One of the organizations featured on the show & in the book was Kiva.org. Basically you can go on there and pick someone who needs a small loan to get their business going, once you donate you can watch their business grow. It's amazing how little some of these people need to really make a difference in their lives. So, last night I went to the website, and guess what? After being in the book and on Oprah, all the loans had been fulfilled!!! Kiva is now working to find more small businesses who need help. I can only imagine how much all the other organizations will benefit just from getting exposure. Pretty amazing.

So of course, I'm going to tell you to check out the book. That saying "Many hands makes light work" comes to mind. If everyone gave just a little it would a HUGE difference. I'm trying!!

Ok, enough about that. I'm also really excited because I found a masters program that I would love to go into. Yes, I just started my bachelor's but there is nothing wrong with thinking ahead. And, keep in mind, I change my mind pretty frequently...but anyway, there are 2 degrees I saw, international development or public service. I've been saying for about 6 months to year I guess that it's be awesome to get into international development or crisis relief-- meaning working with third world countries to help develop or working with people after a natural disaster or something like that. I just didn't know there were actual degrees for it, I just sat here always thinking, how the hell do you get into that stuff? So, my volunteering I'm starting and my trip to Africa will hopefully really help me see if that's what I really want to do, although I can't imagine why I wouldn't...we'll see :)

Other than that stuff not much going on. Busy with classes, although I just started a new class and it is MUCH better, not nearly the amount of work needed. We're in a bowling league with a couple neighbors and that is always something to look forward to. Pretty much every weekend we're grilling out and swimming with our neighbors and it's just fun. We have great neighbors :)

Ok well I will get going. Go buy the book, donate some time or money... :)

International Rescue Committee

I went for the orientation for the volunteer stuff I want to do. It's with a place called the "International Rescue Committee (IRC)." Basically they provide all kinds of relief to refugees, both abroad and by bringing people to the U.S. Learned some interesting facts: there are 14.5 million refugees in the world, and only about 1% of them will ever get resettled, and half of those are in the U.S!! That's a lot of people, living in bad conditions, and a lot of them coming to the U.S. Good for us right, but kinda makes you think, what the hell is the rest of the world doing? I guess that number is going down every year because it's getting so much harder to get into the U.S.

Anyway, this organization is exactly the kind of place I would love to work for someday after my degree is done. It'll be great for me to get that volunteer experience for the future, but also just because it's something I'm really interested in.

So, as a volunteer I will be paired with a family who has just been brought to the Phoenix area. IRC picks them up from the airport and provides them with a fully furnished apartment, clothes, all of that stuff for 6 months. They get them job training and help them get started and the expectation is that within 6 months of being here they should be self sufficient, and 86% of them are! That's probably better than some of our own citizens do. Anyway, my part as a volunteer is to be an "American Friend." I will meet with them once a week and help them with whatever they need help with-- learning English, finding the library, finding a park, teaching them about American culture, really whatever they need. It's a little scary to think about because normally these people don't know a word of English! She said in the orientation, that it's a lot of gesturing and everything with the people...so it could be pretty awkward at times. Although after my internship in Florida working with European families and after being with a lot of families in Southern California who don't speak English, I know it's possible to create a bond without language, what will be hard is teaching them how to do stuff! And keep in mind a lot of these people have been living in refugee camps for years and some don't even know what electricity is or a toilet!!??! So it could be really basic stuff they need to learn. I'm excited. I should be paired with my family within a month hopefully.

Aside from that, life is good. Work is keeping me really busy which I really enjoy. My schedule has worked out so that I can help with the Special Olympics on Fridays during the workday. The district I'm working for sets aside every Friday to take their special ed kids bowling and then at the end of the semester there is a competition and everything, so I'm excited to go with my kids for that.

Alrighty well we're having people over later so I'll get going.

The Girls

Here they are in Lucy's bed. Charlie fell asleep in it last night and Lucy joined her, I think just to stake claim on her bed :)

Busy Bees

I have never felt so busy in my life! Really. I think it's just because of starting my new job. You know when you start a new job you are meeting all new people and learning their system & stuff. I mean, I love their system & the people are good, but you know, it still turns the old brain to mush. Plus I'm actually working full days. Last year my contract was only 35 hours a week, and on top of that I was always done with my stuff & would just go home. Really makes a difference when you actually have stuff to do, and truly spend a full day there. Makes the night much shorter. I think the other thing is that since Johnathan is here it feels like we're always doing something I guess, just because we're all hanging out all the time. Whereas if it was just me & Ivan it doesn't feel as much like that, you know? That's been going pretty well too. I get frustrated with them both, but that's normal. I'd get frustrated with just Ivan so you know, what's new.

Also, this class I'm in right now is ridiculous. There is so much work to do in it and I just never want to do it! In fact right now I am avoiding writing a paper, doing text exercises, and responding to discussion questions. Yuck.

Oh, I also am starting boot camp again in a few weeks. I don't know how I feel about that yet. I really enjoy being a lazy ass, but I've let that go on too long. I just really don't want to get up at 5:00 in the morning. But Ivan's already up so I guess that will help.

And, I signed up to volunteer at this place. I haven't started yet but I go for orientation next week. The volunteering I will be doing is called being an "American Friend." So basically, when a refugee family comes to the area, I will be paired with one it's kinda like a big-brothers big-sisters kind of thing only for a refugee family. You like help them get adjusted to America, walk them through things like if they need to get a drivers license I would help them figure out how to do that, and just hang out and do stuff with them to teach them about American culture. You know eventually I want to either work with refugees or international stuff, so I thought, once I finish up this degree it would be perfect experience to have. They ask you to commit 2-3 hours a week. Sounds like a lot, but I'm willing to try out this whole "being busy" thing hahaha. I'm sure I will be pulling my hair out at some point. I really think once work gets rolling I won't feel as busy at all.

Hmm, oh, the 3 of us are joining a bowling league, cool right? haha It was hard for me to commit to that because it's like every week until basically the end of the school year! But I thought, ok, I said I really want to meet people and everything...we'll see. It was my idea and I'll probably be the one that quits. I am a quitter you know :)

So really everything's been good. The neighbors are good, we met a few more. I kinda feel like I live in a college dorm but that's cool I guess cuz I never did haha.

Ok well I really need to do this paper...although I'll probably fold some laundry or something instead of actually working now :)

First day!

Today was my first day of my new job. It went remarkably well! Maybe third time is a charm? (It's my third contract). I think it has been so good for me to be a traveler because I have been in both ends of the spectrum as far as OT departments go, where first I was in a kinda large department that was pretty well off, and last year I was the OT dept, and it was chaos! This district is more like the first, but from first glance, it appears that everyone gets along a little better, a more cohesive team environment. Not to say there won't be bumps, but you really can tell a lot from first meetings with people.

1. The first wonderful thing is that there are a ton of COTA's! (That's me!) My first contract there was only one other, and for some reason I tend to let myself be intimidtaed by OTR's (supervising therapists), although I am getting much better with that with more experience. I am just happy to feel like more of an equal with people than beneath people, although again, I am the only one making me feel that way, the OTR's I've worked with have always been great. Sometimes I feel like I am always apologizing for being just a COTA...when there's no need for it, and so it is nice to be amongh COTA's. And last year there was only me & an OTR, so it's just nice to be among people period!
2. These people are oragnized! This is similar to my first contract, but MUCH different than last year. I walked into a mess last year, and thank God for my first year's experience to get me through it. But anyway, there was an agenda for the meeting with all the occupational & physical therapy staff (called the motor team). They already had OTR's paired with COTA's, and the schools divided up among those smaller teams.
3. My team of myself, my OTR, and another COTA, get along great. There are 5 schools, and it worked out that the other COTA requested two schools close to her home, the other 2 are the closest to me, and the last school for the OTR is the one she wanted anyway!
4. My schools are close to me and super close to each other. No more than about 3 miles from my house, and probably a mile apart from each other. Also, the district office is probably less than a mile from me too. The schools are NEW & NICE! My district last year was old...and kinda poor. You just feel better when you're among nice things ya know? So on top of that, each school has a room for the O.T to work in! You may not know that this is quite a big deal, as typically I would be in a hallway or cafeteria or something like that. Nope, I have rooms with supplies in them already. Sweet. Oh, and only having 2 schools is awesome! My first year at one point I had 17 schools spread over like 5 different cities, last year I had about 8 schools although they were close together. It's just so nice to think I won't have to travel much and will be able to stay at one school for an entire day?!??! So exciting.
5. Hmmm what else...everyone is super friendly. Oh yeah, about the schools again, they are indoors with hallways & everything. In California when you walk out of a classroom you walk outside, because the temperatures tend not to get too unbearable either way & stuff it's all outdoors. I'm sorry though, it does get hot! So here it's wonderful to just be inside all the time. And good thing I won't have to get in my car all the time because it's a freakin' oven when you do. Whew. It was around 110 today...yeah.

So anyway, that's all my excitement. I think it will be good. Let's hope it stays on a positive note for awhile :)

Lucy & Charlie meet

The meeting of Lucy & Charlie went well I guess. Let me back up.

Charlie did great on the flight & car rides. Never even made a sound until we were off the plane.

I left Charlie with Ivan outside and I came in to see Lucy...she's huge!!!!!! I'm sure it's just because I have been with Charlie who weighs 2 pounds, but when I saw her I was like whoah!! She's just big! Definitely changes my opinion of where she stands in the food chain at the dog park. Also...she's hyper. I will never know if Charlie really is just super laid back and Lucy is normal, or if Lucy is crazy...oh well, but their energy levels are very different! And I always thought Lucy was just spunky & friendly...now I'm not so sure!

So Lucy just wants to play with her and Charlie isn't the least bit interested. But they aren't fighting or anything. Charlie will snap at times. Like right now they are both chewing on bones laying right next to each other. Lucy will share and doesn't mind at all, Charlie nearly bit Lucy's head off when she tried to take the bone.

I'm not sure if Lucy remembers me or not. Charlie just follows me around, so in turn, Lucy just follows me around! Ivan said yesterday when he picked us up he feels like a step-parent or something! I do too, like I'm in charge of Charlie and he is of Lucy. It's weird.

The bad thing is that Lucy is the one who knows to stop when we yell & stuff like that so we find ourselves yelling at her more even if it's not her fault just because we know Charlie doesn't know yet. We're working on it.

OK, well I'm gonna go. I can't believe I just wrote this long of a blog about some dogs?!!!

Back to AZ!

I'm leaving for the airport in about an hour to head back to AZ! Mixed feelings about that...I'm excited to see Ivan & Lucy. But as usual, after a few days home I get really comfortable here. And it's just so nice to see everyone and hang out & everything. Thanks for a wonderful trip home!! If I didn't see you this trip I'll try again on the next one!

Home

I'm home! I have to say, it did take me a few days to adjust. Each time it gets a little longer to adjust really. It's strange. I'm always excited about coming home and then there's this time period where I'm ready to leave after I see everyone. But that time has passed and now I'm so happy to be here again :) I flew in on Monday the 23rd. Megan & Becky came to get me and that night I went and saw all the kids and saw Johnathan too. Tuesday I went to Kentucky to get the new puppy, Charlie. Wednesday I went to my Grandma's for dinner with family, then over to Jon's for awhile. Thursday I went to the pool with Jyll, Heidi, my mom & all the kids and that night went to Schooner's which is where I basically saw everyone else I hadn't seen yet...Friday Becky & I went to see the Lindsey Lohan movie...it was ok. Saturday I went to Jacksonville to see Holly and go to a bachelorette party. Yes, there was a stripper...and I wasn't impressed, yet thankful I wasn't the bride who got raped basically! haha Sunday my bro & sis and all the kids came over so that is always a good time...and after that Megan, Jon, & Johnathan came over to watch "Waiting." It was funny. Hmm..what else...ooh Monday I finally went to see Celeeste. And then Johnathan came over to play Nintendo, yes the original Nintendo. He sucks and I'm fabulous. Last night me, Jon, Johnathan, Jamie & Curtis all went to see "Chuck & Larry," gotta tell ya, I was unimpressed. I love Kevin James & Adam Sandler, but it just wasn't as good as I expected. Today I'm going to see my cousin & then my nephews are coming to swim. Later in the week I'm going to dinner with old co-workers, then out at Pit Row (getting sloppy then swimming, yay!), Saturday will be another sloppy night at Celeeste's with Kristen in the hot tub, and Sunday I'm having a cookout, which I am so excited about!!! I just thought it up yesterday and I'm just pumped. Next week will be dinner with the girls and then I'm flying back to AZ on Thursday. All in all, it's been a really great trip home.

I wish Ivan could be here for this stuff too, but at the same time, I probably do more when he's not here because if he is I'm just content to hang out with him you know? And I'm sure he's having more fun than he should be without me there :) Living like a slob and doing whatever he wants! Every time I talk to him he's either with or was with or will be with the neighbors. Which is great since we didn't even know our neighbors in CA, but sucks because I'm such a jealous person, so I'm mad that I'm not there too!! Ah well. He's really enjoying & excited about his new job so that's good.

Oh, Charlie. She's polar opposite of Lucy! I was worried at first because she didn't have much of a personality really. But she has warmed up to me and is really sweet. She's just not nearly as social as Lucy is though. Which could be a nice balance I guess. And she's TINY! I hope the meeting with Lucy goes well.
Alright well I gotta get ready to go see my cousin. Peace

We're here!

I ended up leaving Saturday morning around 3:30, in hopes to make it through the desert before it got too hot just in case my car had issues. Everything went great, and I got here just before 9:00. We unloaded my car & everything is pretty much settled in except we need to hang a couple things and buy some small stuff. I really like the new place. We have space, we have doors! (We lived in a studio apt. in Pasadena). We took a walk through the apt. complex and everyone said Hi, some people knowing Ivan by name already and asking if he'd be home tomorrow to help them with their IPod, or this other girl asking me how I was functioning because Ivan had talked to them about how I was driving down at like 3 a.m. I told Ivan, 'well aren't you Mr. Social' (because he had said this about me when I was making friends last weekend before he got here) and he said, "I haven't done anything! Everyone is just so friendly!" We agree that it's because he's black and everyone wants to have their one black friend, so when they see him they're like hey! because it is a mostly white area, hahahaha Really though, it's just nice to be around people who say Hi, and even actually talk to you.

Last night we were headed to Blockbuster and I was looking out the car window and saw nothing! It was great. If you haven't been to Southern California you might not understand this, but there is hardly anywhere, at least within 2.5 hours of a city where you see nothing (as it is around any big city really). It is just city after city along the freeway. Really, yesterday I'd say it took me a good 2 hours before there was just desert. I'm just like, wow, I don't feel claustrophobic. I can breathe, there is space here. Again, you don't notice the absence of something until you are around it again...I had no idea I was claustrophobic! haha

Also, who know I'd have to go to Arizona to see some freakin' rain! Honestly people, I don't know when the last time I saw rain was, I mean literally, I think it's rained maybe 2 times this entire school year in Pasadena. I swear to God, and I might be stretching it there because I don't even remember when that was. (To be fair, we lived in a cave-like aot so I might have missed a few times :) Not to mention, a thunderstorm. If it didn't storm while I was home last summer, then it truly has been 2 years since I heard thunder or saw lightning, and I MISS it!! So, guess what happened last night? I storm went by, it looked like it was going to be right here but it wasn't. But I did hear a little thunder, saw lightning, and saw the sky change to dark blue instead of this always-light blue/smog crap that I've had for the past 2 years. Didn't think someone would complain about near perfect-sunny days right? Well I am. I like some change! And, apparently this is monsoon season in AZ! So the weather forecast has a storm on there for everyday for the next like 2 weeks, but it's totally sunny & everything until it happens. Kinda like Florida, it rains and then the sun comes out & you never knew what happened. So, yesterday as the sky was getting dark & it was getting windy, I assumed it would be cooler outside because that's what happens at home.. oh no. It was still 100. haha And Ivan said the rain isn't cold, it's warm too! We don't have our cable hooked up yet, so literally I've just been looking out the windows; we had 1 window in our last apartment, and that was just the balcony door! Here we have 8 windows!! It's amazing! haha

So that's that. I will leave again tomorrow morning to come home! YAY! I'm excited for a visit. I told Ivan our neighbors are gonna be like, what the heck is up with your girlfriend? I was the first one they met, was here for 1 day, and then left for a week, I come back with more stuff, stay for 2 days, and leave again for 3 weeks! haha Oh well. I'm sure Ivan will have made us a bunch of friends by the time I get back.

Here's a link to my stuffed car & the place: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5Y-Y

Peace Out Californi-I-A!!

***I wrote this Friday, the night before I left, but it didn't post until today (Sunday)***

Well...last weekend we moved almost everything to AZ. Ivan's been down there all week starting his new job with University of Phoenix as an academic counselor. He likes it. In fact he's out with a co-worker right now...he used to be a Harlem Globetrotter...kinda interesting I guess :)So, today was my last day of work (THANK GOD!), I got my car checked out, packed everything--which my car is absolutely ridiculously full...if it's not in there right now it's getting tossed! I cleaned everything...and got a mani & pedi, so I am ready to roll first thing in the a,m.

What am I going to miss about CA...mostly Ryan Seacrest in the morning on KIISFM...really, that would be almost a good reason for me to stay here. I love me some Ryan in the morning and I'm trying not to think about how I won't have him anymore...I just can't wrap my head around it :) I will miss saying that I live in CA, and in the "L.A. area." haha I'll miss having access to the beach, hollywood & all the other wonderful things L.A. has to offer...even if I didn't do it all that often. I'll miss some people too...those of you here reading this going, hey, what about us?! Haha, thanks for some good times :) California has been wonderful and we got to do so many things, it was a 2 year long vacation with a little work thrown in the mix. But, oddly enough, I am ready to get back to reality!

What am I looking forward to...some space!!! Room in the new apartment, room outside the apartment that has grass, yes grass, room on the roads!!! Everything will be cheaper!!! And...so far, people are nicer/friendlier/normal! People driving regular cars, carrying regular purses, wearing regular clothes, and caring about regular stuff!!! hahaAlrighty, come visit in AZ!

AZ is a dream!

We moved almost all of our stuff to AZ over the weekend. I rented an SUV (it was a Ford Edge, it's their new thing that's bigger than an Escape but smaller than the Explorer), we actually most of the stuff into that & Ivan's car. Everything went well except Ivan blew a tire in the middle of the desert! Luckily my company provides AAA for me so they came to the rescue, although by the time they got there Ivan had fixed the problem himself.

As I was unloading my car I saw the leasing agent (Russell)who had signed us up & everything, and he's around our age, maybe even a bit younger, so I told him he should help me unpack. Well, he had like 5 friends coming over so they all unloaded my entire car in like less than 5 minutes. I was so happy! I got them a 30 pack for it. They enjoyed it, I saw him the next morning and he's like, "I'm still drunk!" So everyone won. Plus then Ivan didn't have to do much when he got there after his ordeal.

Can I just say, I was only in Surprise for about 18 hours, 8 of which I was sleeping, and I'm already happier there than I have been in 2 years of California! Now don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed Cali, but I am so ready to go.

First of all, the fact that Russell & his friends helped me, is amazing. I wouldn't even have said anything like that to our leasing agent, and if I had, I'm sure he would have been like "Well we have a cart you can use." Not even understanding I was joking, although joking around paid off huge with Russell. I still am not comfortable around our leasing office people here...the guy is all metro-sexual and I feel like a slob if I'm ever around him! They're a little snobby too. And I've always felt like I didn't belong here. Anyway, on top of that, Russell's friends were supernice. I also, within being there about 30 minutes had already met my downstairs neighbor. In 2 years here I've never known my neighbors names, and in this particular building, you don't even see them!! In fact, I am startled in the hallway if I happen to see someone!

So then, I go to the grocery store to get the guys their beer...and the cart kid says Hi How are you doing? Seems pretty simple right? Well try living in the L.A. area where people don't even look at other people, or even smile, let along actually say hello & ask how you are! Really.

The next morning Ivan & I went to the store again to get groceries. There were normal people at the store! What I mean by that is that people weren't freakin' shopping in their stilettos with a full face of makeup and some designer outfit. Again, I was like, wow, I fit in here! haha And as we're checking out the bagboy was making conversation...here they barely spit out paper or plastic. It gets better, the food is cheaper! I hadn't even thought about that fact until she rang up the total and I was like what?? Here in Pasadena it would have been at least $30 more, easy. We leave from getting our super cheap groceries to get gas...$2.68 a gallon!!!!! Can you believe it? It's like, this place is perfect.

The other big thing was how clear the roads were. It was amazing, I had space in every lane available. I loved it.

Unforunately I had to come back to Pasadena to finish work this week. I did not want to do that! Not after seeing how wonderful AZ will hopefully be. I'm sure a complaint or two will pop up, but all I can say is I was ridiculously happy with my first day there and I can't wait to go back!

Yeah it was a little warm, but not unbearable. And our steps lead straight down to the pool!! Friday can't come fast enough!

On a somewhat related note--- I was calling home last week to make appointments for a physical and with the dentist and stuff like that, and I can't tell you nice the people on the phone were. And the thing is, it was just normal I think, I'm just so used to people leaving the nice out of their voice here!! Haha. I was talking to Ivan's aunt who lives out here too and she said the same thing, there is just no people like the Midwest people!! Don't take it for granted guys!!

Yippy Skippy!

Official word today that Ivan got the job and his start date is July 16th!! We already knew it was going to be a nice increase for him, but after his initial training, there is another raise! He gets full benefits and another raise in 7-9 months (a big one!) It couldn't be better. The whole time we've been in California he's worked way too hard for way too little money, not to mention he's had to work at least 1 day of the weekend this whole time, we'll finally have a real weekend together! We'll be like the rest of the world! He'll be working normal hours too; the first year here he worked nights (BLAH!)

And, we got the apartment we wanted. And, it's available the 15th, so we can move our stuff straight into the apt. instead of moving to storage and then from storage to the apt. a few weeks later. Ivan won't have to stay in a hotel for a few weeks! Everything has worked out so wonderfully and so smoothly. It was the first job he applied for, only job he interviewed for, the job he actually wanted, a giant increase in pay, and his Masters will be F-R-E-E!

You all know that my company provides our housing right? Well, the apt. we found is under my housing allowance-- get this-- this apt. is $1150 CHEAPER a month, and double in size than where we live now!!!! Isn't that crazy?! Yes, we're living in a super-overpriced place right now, but it also shows you how ridiculously expensive it is to live in CA! And how cheap AZ is. YAY!

**Here's the part where I plug 'the secret.' Could it be "luck"? I guess, if you believe in luck. Could it be coincidence that every single thing has worked out as we needed it to...maybe. Could it be the power of positive thinking and knowing that what we want and need will happen? We think so! Just saying...whether you believe that 'the secret' is God or the universe, the law of attraction, or just positive thinking, doesn't matter. Putting your faith in something, and being confident of the results has certainly been proving well for us...we've learned to not doubt anything and simply state what we need to happen. We try not to even say things like "what if" or make other plans. Normally you'd apply for a lot of jobs... why do that if you know you'll get the one you want? We went ahead and got the lease for the day we hoped Ivan would start...and he got that day... All I'm saying is this, in the secret it says to act as though you already have what you want, plan for it, etc, don't doubt it, and it will happen...that's what we've been doing & everything has worked exactly that way.**

Hey

Hey all :) Not much new here. The background check for Ivan is done, we got a copy in the mail, so tomorrow he'll be calling UofP just to make sure he really officially got the job, and see if they've established a start date yet. It will either be July 16th or August 6th. If it's the July date he'll have to go stay in a hotel for a couple weeks because the apartment won't be ready until July 31st. But it would be good because at least he'd be working and making money, one less plane ticket to buy, and we wouldn't have to pay for storing our cars either, they'd be at the hotel with him. But the August date is good so he can come home for a visit too. We'll see...it's out of his hands.

Only 3 weeks til I'm home! Yay! I need a break from work, and I need outta this place. I'm just so ready to leave that I'm just waiting and waiting. But it's going fast.

I started class last week. It's so weird to have 5 week long classes because it's like you don't even get a chance to get sick of it you know? Just as soon as it starts it's over. I have taken online classes before, but this is a little different than an online class at Heartland or ICC, because even your texts are online. It takes a little bit of organization you know? To think, ok yeah I saw that, but where was it, and then kinda search back through the different links. But they have everything set up really well. My academic counselor has been great, set up a time on my first day to "walk me to class." So he just went through everything and showed me how to use the library and other online services. The class itself is just an intro to human services and online education. So each week the instructor posts 3 discussion questions-- this week they were just things like why are you pursuing this degree, what are the pros & cons of online learning, what challenges do you face as an adult learner. Answering those questions are part of your class credit, and you also have to respond to I think 2-4 other posts for participation credit, and that has to occur over the course of 4 different days to count for 'attendance.' On Mondays, the last day of the class week, a written assignment is always due. This week it was just something to help you get around the website. From now on it will be papers! Ah, writing papers again! It will take some adjusting I think, I'm so used to just writing blogs and I love that, but to have to write properly will be different.

The interesting thing about the online classes is that you know the people in your class are from all over the country, could be from all over the world, and have very different circumstances. Most of the people in my class are moms, some working and some stay at home, there is a girl who is serving in Iraq right now, and a few people around my age just heading back to school. Some people you can tell have been out of school for a long time, and I'm amazed at the grammar people use!!! Seems like common sense mistakes and drives me crazy! I don't have great grammar but I know the basics...and some of these people just don't! That makes me feel a little better though! haha

Well not much else. Oh, I am contemplating whether to do another season with Team In Training this fall doing a triathlon or do the 'Hike for Discovery' program they have. Which is just like TNT, but they train for hiking trips-- to Rocky Mountain National Park, Yosemite, a place in Hawaii, and the Grand Canyon (which is the one I want to do). I figure I can do a triathlon anywhere but the hiking that I could do in AZ would be pretty cool, so if I do one I'm leaning towards the hiking trip. Plus, it's something I would have more of an interest in contiuning after the hike than running!! I just need to see how much money they ask you to raise for that. Plus since I have my Africa trip to save for I just want to make sure I'd have enough for both!

Alrighty, gotta go

Couple more things about Phoenix

The other thing I was gonna say about Phoenix-- we went downtown and had lunch before Ivan's interview. There were a bunch of kids on a field trip. You know what I noticed about the group? All black & white kids. Now, normally you wouldn't think anything of that. But the district I work in is like 65% Asian, 30% Hispanic, and the other 5% is white/black/whatever else. Which...actually I don't know if I've seen one black child ever if any of my schools. I only have 2 white kids on my caseload, and I've only seen a couple more in any of the schools I go to. And I knew my caseload was mostly Asian & Hispanic, but it's like you don't really notice the absence of white & black people until you're around them again. It was just strange, the way I was like oh wow, I haven't seen white or black kids in a long time.

Oh, and the heat. Everyone told us we were there on the hottest day this week, it was about 113. We didn't really think it was that hot, we thought maybe more like 90. Anyway, I can say, my description of the "dry" heat is this: even in total shade I felt like I was getting a sunburn!

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

We went to Phoenix/Surprise yesterday because Ivan had a job interview and to check out the area. Well, his interview went really well. They said they'd email last night to let him know if he went on to the second round or not. He DID! So, the second round was this: they sent all this info about UofP policy, and then there were 6 example questions of what students might sometimes ask. Ivan then had to type a response as if he was talking directly to that person. So we didn't get back home from Phoenix until like 10:30, Ivan sent in his repsonses around 12:30. Poor guy then had to get up for work at like 4:30! Anyway, they called him today and said he did well and now they're going to complete the background check...so once that's done we're pretty sure it's all systems G-O! YAY! So send Ivan some love and congratulate him (nicholsi@ic.edu) It's a big step for him career-wise. It's a big raise, not to mention now his going back for his Masters will be FREE!! And, its' what he actually wants to do in life. No downsides here :) It's also the first job he applied and interview for in Phoenix. No sweat really! I'm so happy for him, and us of course. Maybe I should back up a little. You know we're both going back to school at University of Phoenix (UofP)? Ivan's job will be an Academic Counselor with UofP! So that's that.

Ok, so before & after the interview we checked out some apartment complexes. And one of them we really liked, it had a great layout, a couple pools, a basketball court, and the guy showing us around said it's a good mix of people-- families & non-families. The pool is open 24/7 (yay) and he said people are always out drinking there (he was a young guy & knew what we were wanting to know!) haha It had a very Rancho (where we lived last year) feel to it and that's exactly what we were looking for. We really enjoyed Rancho and the apt. complex we lived in, so that was all good. Plus, they were offering a killer special with 2 months free...what's not to love right?

We also drove by some houses I had looked at on the internet and kinda checked out the neighborhoods. It seems like Surprise was built yesterday (just like Rancho!) and there's not really a bad area so to speak. All the houses pretty much look the same. Unfortunately we didn't get to see inside any of them because the leasing people have been a pain to get in touch with, but I think we were happy with the general feel of Surprise-- secluded from the business of Phoenix, nice, new, safe, yet Phoenix is just a freeway away. We're happy.

Hmm...what else? I guess that's about it. Just really happy everything is falling into place so nicely. The only hangup will be Ivan's start date, might be sooner than my company would like to give us a place to live. We'll cross that bridge when we get there :)

Send Ivan a congrats!! I'm so proud!!

Hello!

Hey!! We'll be home in 5 weeks! YAY! I'm so excited to come home. It's been 7 months since I was home, and I miss everyone. I'm ready to just hang out with everyone, not to mention be done with work, this contract, and this city. Yes, Pasadena is a great city, but I am not a city person. Suburb, yeah, city, no. More of the problem I think is the building we live in. Yes, the building I begged to live in. It's become a little prison cell :) But, like I said from the get-go, good or bad I just want the experience. It's one more thing I know is not for me.

Anyway, today we went to the Dodger-Angel game. They have these bleacher seats that are all you can eat for $35. It's a pretty neat concept, but hot, and crowded. Nobody sits in the right seats, which is fine, I'll sit wherever, but then you'll get some stupid ass who walks up & wants to sit in their exact seat. So then it's all this drama & comotion. So we were like literally sitting on top of each other in this one row. I got burnt (yay). I really did mean to wear sunblock but I forgot it. It's ok because I haven't seen sunlight in like a year, so it's all good. Oh the food, we get there, load up our trays with 2 Dodger dogs each, nacho's, a bottle of water, and some pop. We hardly ate it. We drank a ton of water & soda though.

After the game, we came home & the mall here was hosting this art festival where local artists compete for the best sidewalk chalk drawings. They were amazing!! So we took pictures of a lot them which I'm gonna post the link so you can see them. It was pretty cool.

So I guess that's about it. I'm off this week until summer school starts next week. Thursday we're going to Phoenix to just check out the area and Ivan has an interview!! Keep your fingers crossed. Oh yeah, I start classes on Tuesday, they're online. So we'll be home in 5 weeks (around July 21st or 22nd) and then I'll go get the new puppy (who's name is undetermined!) and we'll just chill for about 3 weeks. Probably going back on August 9th or 10th.

See you soon!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5Y8Q (pics of sidewalk chalk)

July Vanity Fair

Ivan got me the July issue of Vanity Fair-- Bono was the guest editor and it was all completely & totally about Africa. You know I have a thing for Africa. Well anyway, maybe I'm stupid, but apparently I missed this in history class, or at least just never really thought about it, history isn't my strong interest, but anyway, did you know that all of us came from Africa? Ok, well I know I've thought to myself, we all really came from the same people if you go back far enough, I just never even thought about where that actually is. It's Africa. Yeah I'm sure if you're reading this you're going, duh. Well it was news to me.

So, anyway, you can participate in a DNA study which will tell you what part of Africa you come from! How cool is that?? As I was reading the article I thought to myself, I want to do this, but I bet it's super expensive. It's not. You can buy the kit for $99.95. You get some info, do a cheek swab, and in about 8 weeks you get the results. I'm gonna do it, not right at the moment since it isn't exactly pocket change, but I do want to know. I mean, how interesting. For girls it goes back through your maternal line and for guys they go through your paternal line. Anyway, here's the website, check it out: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/

Interactive Johari Window

Go to this website & do what it says. You pick 5-6 words that you feel best describe me and it compares with the words I chose for myself. Do it. It's fun to see how you see yourself and how other people really see you...

http://kevan.org/johari?name=Chelsbels_2000

New Addition to the family....

So it's official...our little family is growing! Lucy will have a little sister...

She was born April 30th, and I will get her when I go home in late July. She is a Shitzu Poodle mix. We're 90% sure her name will be Molly :)

Funeral Songs...

Ok, maybe a strange thing to think or write about. But you know at some point you've thought about it, if you were to pick your own song for your funeral, what would it be?? Ivan refuses to partake in this conversation because he doesn't want to think about it, but it's just for conversation...This came about because we were just letting iTunes play and The Beatles "Let it Be" came on and I said, I might like that at my funeral. For some reason I did some searching on the internet and a lot of other people think about this too...
Anyway, so the couple songs I had were:

-Let It Be (The Beatles)

-Only Time (Enya)

In the searching there were a lot of people who play James Blunt--which I love his songs, but it seems a little too pop & new for a funeral you know? To each their own I guess. And then there were the standard Amazing Graces, and Go Rest High on That Mountain, which was my Grandpa's, and I do really love. I dunno...
What would you want?

Crazy Dream...

I have some crazy dreams but last night just might take the cake. First I was at either a graduation or sports event, I don't really remember. Well, I went to use the restroom and everyone left while I was in there, so I ended up staying at this house with these people who apparently I knew, but I actually have no idea who they were or who they were supposed to be. Well I'm laying in bed and I see this opening above the bed open up...kinda like a skylight, and something leans its head in! (something being NOT human!) This goes on for a little awhile and I keep saying No No no! And I can hear myself saying it outloud too, woke me up a little, but I kept dreaming. So I run down the hall to this other person's bed, whom I guess that I know, and I ask if I can sleep with them because I'm scared outta my damn mind. Then this is crazy...the person I'm in bed with and the other person sharing the room both start looking at ME with scared looks on their faces...and I'm all what? what? I look down at myself and I'm turning into something! But guess what I was turning into......crunchy peanut butter?!!!!!!!! What the heck?

Knocked Up

1. Go see it :)

2. When you do, pay attention to the mall when they are looking at baby clothes & stuff-- the store they're in is Jacadi Paris. Then they're walking down the mall and you can see Macy's in the background, then they are in this book store looking at baby books, and P.F Chang's is in the background...That's my mall!! The one I live in!! I can see that baby store from my balcony!! Just very fun for me to see that stuff in a movie since it's where I live :) That doesn't happen much in the midwest!

AND, while in line for the movie, a designer from HGTV was in line next to me and sat a few rows behind me. I just looked on their website to find out her name & what show she's on but I can't find it. But I do know I've watched it, I recognized her voice behind me and turned & thought...where do I know her from?? Then I realized I don't...she's on TV. haha

Hey all

Hey :) I haven't written in awhile, not much to say I guess, at least not much eventful. Let's see...since I last wrote, I turned 25! Luckily I had been thinking about it long before the actual day, so I didn't really care much about it. But, a few months earlier, I really thought I was old. Anyway, for my birthday we went out to eat at Olive Garden (duh!) and we went to see Wicked. For those who don't know, Wicked is a musical about the witches of OZ, prior to Dorothy. It was so great. The acting, the singing, the story, the set, it was wonderful. I totally recommend it, in fact it is playing in Chicago as well so GO SEE IT!

Hmm...what else? Lucy's hair has grown out some so she looks a little bit normal now. Although I still much prefer her fluffy. Maybe by the time we're home this summer she'll be fluffy again...

This summer- I can't remember if I posted this or not, but I will be staying in California longer than I thought. I got talked into working summer school, so that will be done on July 20th and we'll head home that weekend. We'll only be home for 3 weeks. But that's ok.

My Aunt Deb & Uncle Stan came to visit last week. We had so much fun. They did sightseeing during the day, at night we went to dinner, I showed them where I worked, and the last night they were here we went to the Dodger-Cub game. I'm not even a baseball fan, but it was a good game, and a pretty crazy crowd. The Dodger fans were ruthless with the Cubbie fans...it definitely crossed that line of friendly competition. Security was all over the place that night. When we got home from the game we played the Wii for awhile.

The Wii--can't remember if I talked about that either...if I didn't, it's basically a virtual reality game, the new Nintendo. However you hold/move the remote is what it does on the screen--so if you are playing baseball you hold it like a bat & swing, bowling--you bowl, etc. It's really really fun. Especially for all ages. Adults can definitely enjoy it. Try it!

Hmm....not much else I guess. I just went through my closet & dresser and got rid of some clothes...5 garbage bags! Who knew. Ivan & I really don't want to move much with us to AZ. That's my contribution to lessening the load. Ivan has a TON of stuff he needs to get rid of. He has clothes that were never even unpacked, not even unpacked when we moved to Rancho!! A tub of junk that has just been traveling with him from college that needs to just be dumped. We're finally going to do it this time when we move.

Anyway, guess I'll get going.

Lucy's Hair...

So, Lucy is nearly bald right now! Her hair got matted in some places pretty bad so they had to shave her down nearly to the skin. She looks ridiculous. It's punishment for Ivan & I guess for not taking care of her hair better...I've been saying she looks like Nicole Richie or the Olson twins or something, with this giant head and tiny body, like a bobblehead!

It's working...

The Secret is working! So, in the secret book & movie they talk about just believing that things will work out, act as though you already have something and it will come to you, etc. Things like that. Well, when I found my South Africa trip and knew it was the one I wanted to take, I couldn't decide if I should put the deposit down or not since we were coming into summer and I didn't plan on working. I planned on probably baby-sitting for my friend and just kicking back. I figured that I shouldn't spend money on a deposit, what if because of that I wouldn't have enough money saved for my bills over the summer? And then I thought, I am going to trust in the secret, put the deposit down because that is what I want, and just trust that I will have the money somehow for the summer. The day after I did that, I was offered to extend my contract through summer school...could be a coincidence, could be the law of attraction...who cares? It doesn't hurt to believe that the secret is in motion. So, once I was offered summer school there were still some hang ups to get through--- the fact that my housing might not be taken care of by my company, the apartment might not even be available to extend the lease, I couldn't abandon my friend who I was going to baby-sit for... and all of those things have worked themselves out! The company decided to cover my housing even though I won't be working full time, the lease is able to be extended for those 5 weeks, and the day care I used to work at is able to take my friend's son so I don't need to worry about leaving her high & dry! Everything just fell into place. Pretty awesome. If you know anything about The Secret, choose to believe it or not, it's a classic example I think.

Ivan & I are going back to school in the fall! We met with a counselor at University of Phoenix-- the online & night school that has become pretty popular. In the fall I'll start the Bachelor's in Human Services (like sociology) and Ivan will start his Masters in Counseling. We're both so excited. It'll be my way out of O.T if I choose that someday, or I'll be ready to get my masters in O.T. if that's the route I end up going. And Ivan will be ready to get to what he wants to do-- guidance counseling. Plus, Ivan will be looking for a new job when we get to Phoenix, and there are a ton of positions for Admissions Counselors at UofP. Which would be really great experience for him for the future, he'll need a job, AND employees tuition is free! So hopefully that works out. It'd be the perfect job for him, but free tuition?? Pretty awesome icing on a really good cake! ha Hopefully that works out, we'll see. Even if it doesn't, getting back to school will be great. I always feel like I have more of a purpose when I'm going to school. I'll be that person who is going to school and changing careers forever. I'm still not even entirely sure what I want to do anyway-- but I know I want to be helping people in some way, and I think being on the social work end of it, getting people the services they need is more appealing to me than actually providing the services like I am now. I think it'd be cool at some point to help with disaster relief or something like that, with the Red Cross or the Peace Corps or something. Who knows!

South Africa here I come!

Ok, well not right away. I will be going to South Africa for a 6 week volunteer trip in June 2008! YAHOO!

Ok, so for a few years now I have been looking into international volunteering, with my focus on South Africa. Mostly because I have a strong interest in the AIDS epidemic and all that has been affected by that. I don't know what made me interested, but especially since I gave a speech about it in December 2003, I have wanted to get over there and just have been waiting until I found the right opportunity and the money! And I finally think I have. I made the deposit!

The organization is called AVIVA. They are located in Cape Town, South Africa, and only do volunteer work in South Africa. So that was kind of nice to me, the headquarter's local, the people in charge are close by and therefore know exactly what goes on in their volunteer locations and visit them frequently. Comforting.

Plus, they're the cheapest place I found. Yes, you have to pay to volunteer. There's a lot of reasons for that-- what you pay helps with their operation costs, some goes as a donation to where you're volunteering, they provide your housing and some meals, and they include some fun tourist stuff as well.

Another thing I liked about them is that you're housing is like a dorm for all the volunteers. Some other places you stay with a host family or in a hostel-- for my first visit to a whole nother continent I'm a little bit more comfortable with having a nice little place to stay!

So, with all of that said-- where I have chosen to volunteer is called "Home of Hope." It's an orphanage, which has children from infants to 3 years old. Some kids have parents who can't take care of them, some have been abused, some have HIV/AIDS, some have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS or other reasons. Basically, my job there will be like working in a day care. Taking care of the kids, feeding, playing with them, giving their medications, all the basic stuff kids need. From what I read on the website, I think you work 3.5 days and then are off 3.5 days to do tourist stuff. And there is so much to do! I'm so excited :)

So I just wanted to share that with everyone. It's not until next June, but I will already be planning and saving up for that trip. If anyone wants to donate any money for me to take with me to give to Home of Hope, I will glady do that as well. But that's all for now. You'll hear much more about it the year ahead! Check out the website www.aviva-sa.com And if you want to come too I'm sure you won't regret it!

Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm Yours!

Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours...school district in Phoenix. Yes, I signed the contract, signed my life away from August 13th to May 22nd, to a school district in El Mirage, AZ...which is just the outskirts of Phoenix. I think it's like 45 minutes to downtown Phoenix. I'm very excited because now I don't have to think about it anymore. I know exactly where I'll be in the fall and I can concentrate on finding a place to live, AND having an awesome summer. Yahoo!

Visitors

**I wrote this a week ago but it wouldn't post**

Hey :) My parents came out to visit last week. Let me back up, last Friday night was Lucy's 1st birthday party. Breigh & a date, and Mari & Jeff came over to celebrate. See, we never do anything, so it was a great excuse for me to be social! Anyway, it was fun, we ate, we drank, I drank, I drank, we played a couple games. They left, and I was hungover the next morning. Thing is, I didn't think I drank that much, and I purposely didn't because I had to get my parents from LAX Saturday morning...I was throwing up, driving to LAX with a bag just in case. Felt like crap, thought I was going to pass out. But it was ok. So, my parents came, Saturday I just showed them around Pasadena, Sunday we went to Santa Monica, Monday we went to the San Diego Zoo, and Wednesday we did Hollywood. It was all a good time. It was fun stuff, good to see them, and it's always nice to have visitors you know? Oh, and while in Hollywood we saw "White Boy" from "I Love New York," we pulled up next to him and he said that he was in town filming the reunion show (which should be on Monday I think) and we also saw Will Ferrall's son playing in the driveway while on our tour of the stars' homes.

This week was my spring break, so after my parents left I still had 3 days off work (plus this weekend). I don't think anyone could have been less productive than me in these 3 days. I did some laundry, picked up a few things from the grocery store, got a couple little errands done, and took Lucy to the park (keep in mind, that is over the course of 3 days), and other than that, I've done nothing but lay on the couch :) Which is nice...I guess...I slept until noon today. YAY! I also watched a lot of movies, which is actually out of character for me, I prefer TV to movies because there's not as much attention involved. Anyway, this week was the first time in my life I'd ever bought a movie off the cable (I know...I'm a bit behind). Thursday night Ivan & I rented "Babel". It was good...but in a different way. So Friday, I found that I was addicted to renting movies from the TV-- I watched "Stranger then Fiction" (liked it), "Little Miss Sunshine" (liked it), "Employee of the Month" (could have done without it), and "Running With Scissors" (it was ok...not sure how I feel about it really). See...very productive!

I did have my interview for Phoenix on Thursday. I think it went ok. You never really know with those things you know? You could answer great, but it's all relative, what are they looking for? Now it's just a wait & see. And if this one doesn't work out, I'm not worried. There are always jobs to be had. And it's still very early in the game. Last year I didn't sign my fall contract until mid-August. I wanted to get it done early this year so I wouldn't change my mind!

What else...nothing I guess. I'm looking for a summer job. I can't decide if I want to try & get an O.T job because the money will be good, or try & go back to the day care, because I love it there :) I think it will be kinda hard to get an OT job though because if I go the OT route, I don't want to work the whole time I'm home, only 4-5 weeks, and take 3-4 off. If I work at the daycare, I'll probably work the whole summer. Who knows. Financially, makes more sense to do OT, but I'd also like to enjoy myself, and I'm not that comfortable in nursing homes & hospitals, so I'd be a little bit unhappy everyday...I dunno!

Sadness

So, I work for a contract company. In that company I have my recruiter, Allison. She is the person who I call or email when I need to bitch, am happy about something, need help with something, have any questions, etc. I first got in contact with Allison in the fall of 2004. We started talking and and actually created a friendship, even though I didn't work for her company my first year in California. We still stayed in touch, and this year I worked for her company. I have a loyalty to Allison, not so much to the company, but me & Allison had an instant connection; although I think she's just a people person so I'm sure she has that connection with everyone she meets. Anyway, she called me yesterday and told me that she is quitting to stay home with her kids...good for her right? I tried to pretend to be happy for her but it makes me sad. I kinda feel abandoned and like, how am I supposed to feel about a new recruiter? It's an odd lonely feeling. In the world of travel therapy, you need someone you can count on and someone you are confident has your best interests at heart, and someone you feel has your back, and really, someone who knows what it's like. Not everyone knows about this business. I've had my share of complaints and everything between me & Allison, sometimes I thought we were too much of friends instead of a professional relationship, and so that made it hard. But now I'm seeing that it was a good thing to have.

My new recruiter called me tonight. She seems nice. But she's not Allison :( And we won't have that same connection. And it's hard to just immediately trust that someone is going to do everything they can for you. I had grown to know that Allison could understand where I was coming from, whether I was being irrational or not, I think she listened, and tried to understand where I was coming from. And whether she could change the situation for me or not, that is ultimately what mattered. She at least listened and would chime in with me while I was bitching. Ya know? I think it's kinda rare to find someone who will just chat with you. Maybe not. It was just natural for us. And now I'm scared! Allison knew how I was obsessive about things and might possibly email and call several times a day when I was excited about a job or a move or some minor detail...can I do that with a new person? I dunno. Anyway, I'm just a little depressed, I'm not going to lie.

It's so hot in Arizona...

As we prepare for the move to the Phoenix area...oh yeah, we're moving to Phoenix in the fall. I love California but I am ready for something different. Have to keep me interested in life you know. Anyway, any time I say that's where we're moving, people say "It's really hot there" or something along those lines. Yeah, thanks guys. I realize that it's really hot there. Maybe I haven't experienced the actual heat, but yes, I understand it's incredibly hot. With that said, here's some one-liners about the heat in AZ:

• the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
• the potatoes cook underground, and all you have to do to have lunch is to pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
• farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
• the cows are giving evaporated milk.
• the trees are whistling for the dogs.
• you no longer associate bridges (or rivers) with water.
• you can say 113 degrees without fainting.
• you eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
• you can make instant sun tea.
• you learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
• the temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
• you've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
• you would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.
• you can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
• The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!
• you discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
• you discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
• you notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
• hot water now comes out of both taps.
• it's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is out on the streets.
• you actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• you break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. work.
• no one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
• your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
• you realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• a sad Arizonan once prayed, "I wish it would rain - not so much for me, cuz I've seen it -- but for my 7-year-old."

**Some of these I have experienced in the So-Cal heat...or because of the humidity in Key Largo! Although, I'm sure AZ is still worse**

And this...which could quite possibly end up on my blog in my own words... "Diary of Moving to Arizona"

May 15th: Now this is a state that knows how to live! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. Mountains and deserts blended together. What a place! Watched the sunset from a park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14th: Really heating up. Got to 108 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car, work in an air-conditioned office. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a real sun worshipper.

June 30th: Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th: The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least it's a dry heat. Getting used to it is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th: Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed two days of work; what a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though: got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 25th: Dry heat, my butt. Hot is hot! The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the A/C repairman charged $250 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th: Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. $1,600 in damn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

August 4th: 115 degrees! Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $1,200 and gets the temperature down to about 90. I hate this [expletive deleted] state.

August 8th: If another wise a** cracks, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to tear his [expletive deleted] throat out. Damn heat. By the time I get to work the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and no deodorant works well enough!

August 10th: The weather report might as well be a damn recording: Hot and Sunny. It's been too hot to sleep for two damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this barren damn desert? $1,700 worth of cactus just dried up and blew into the [expletive deleted] pool. Even a cactus can't live in this heat.

August 14th: Welcome to Hell! Temperature got to 120 today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the [expletive deleted] windshield out of the BMW. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $1,600 house payment to bail me out of jail.

August 30th: Worst day of the damn summer. I'm not leaving the house. The [expletive deleted] monsoon rains finally came and all they did is to make it muggier than hell. The BMW is now floating somewhere in Mexico with its new $500 windshield. nobody told me about staying out of the washes during a "flash flood" warning. That does it. We're moving back to California and buying a house next to the freeway for some peace and quiet.

Puppy stuff...

Well, I am always thinking about getting another puppy. We will be celebrating Lucy's 1st Birthday on April 6th...yes we're having a party. Complete with homemade dog treats, party guests, and some doggy themed human treats...it's mostly an excuse for Ivan & I to have people over for drinks, and then go out, but we'll call it Lucy's Birthday party!!

So like I said, I've been thinking about another dog since about a month after I got Lucy...but I've been patient, haven't got one. I keep checking the website where I got Lucy just to eye their pups and see what's available. I used to think I wanted a black one, so we'd have one white & one black. But when we go to the park and I see Lucy playing with the other white maltese & poodles, and maltipoos, I think, that is so cute! They look like little twins. Anyway, there are some white maltipoos on the site right now...they are 4 weeks old, by the time I got them they'd be too old. So I emailed the breeder to see what she's got coming up this year, and if it'd be possible to get the same parents. Bad news...Lucy's mom died a couple months ago. Her name was Whodeanie. I guess she died a few days after giving birth to a new litter. I'm wondering if her litters were just a little too close together and that's what happened. They say to keep an eye out for breeders who breed their dogs too much, without a break in between. She had almost a year, I did some research and they say at least a year is good...so almost. Whether it's too much or not, I'm not really that concerned by it, maybe I should be. Pound-puppy lovers would say I should not buy from this place, but I can't argue with the fact that I got a very healthy, very socialized, well taken care of, and I believe, well loved puppy :) That's good enough for me, and I think the breeder means well. Maybe I'm naive...oh well.

So, she does have a couple of litters coming up this year...who knows. Ivan's a little bit opposed to another dog...but he was opposed to Lucy and I know he wouldn't change that. My thing is, I can't decide if it's good for her or not. I think she'd truly enjoy the company, she loves playing with other dogs, nonstop if we're around them all day even. BUT, when we're all just laying around I think...will she miss having us all to herself? Will I miss it being just her? I'm guessing this is a little bit of what parents-to-be go through when deciding to expand their family? I dunno...

Hey

Hey all :) Not much going on, just thought I'd post. So let's see...the marathon is over and so I thought I'd be able to sleep more now but that hasn't been the case. I had a conference for work the first weekend after and I've been working quite a bit at my second job so I've been busier than ever. The second job is good. I'm getting the experience at least with the old folks, but at the same time I'm not learning a ton of necessary things I think, not enough to just walk in somewhere and know exactly what to do. I know enough to get by. For now, that's ok I guess.

For me regular job the next 2 weeks are going to be really busy with meetings and things and so I want to get through that as fast as possible, but also because after that it's spring break!! So I won't have to work, YAY! Plus, my parents are coming to visit, so that will be fun too. And Ivan's mom might come out for a weekend right after they leave so it'll be busy. Which will make time go by faster, which is cool because 1. then it will be summer!!! and 2. because we're coming home for the summer! Yes, my contract here is done on June 15th, so within a few days of that, we will be home until after Labor Day! I'm working on getting a job for at least part of the summer if not the whole thing. Hope that works out. Ivan's not sure what he's doing yet, he might go home to St. Louis for the summer or he might stay in Heyworth too, we dunno! Depends on if/where he can find a job too.

We've pretty much decided that we're moving to Phoenix in the fall. It was always between staying in California or moving to Phoenix. About 2 weeks ago I would have said I'm 90% sure we're staying in CA, but now I'm 90% sure we're moving... I just need a change. I still like CA, I just want to see something new and Phoenix supposedly has more money, bigger living space (yay) and it's still warm...ok it's hotttt! I've looked into the city a little and there's tons to do, lots of dog parks, our gym is there. I've loved living in Pasadena, having that downtown city-life experience. It's been fun, but it's not me. I'm so looking forward to a suburban feel again! Kinda funny.

Gotta go, Ivan just brought home Popeye's & I'm starving...by the way, if you've never had Popeye's it's the best fried chicken you will EVER eat. Guranteed.

Lucy Lou-Hoo

Just thought I'd post a couple of pics of Lucy. The first one is of Ivan & Lucy having a very serious conversation... and then the next one is from today, Lucy just got her bath & haircut.

And yeah, her full name is actually Lucy Lou the Maltipoo...but I like to call her Lucy Lou-Hoo.

Post-Marathon Blues :(

They said "you might be a little depressed during and after the marathon." I thought they were crazy...but just like usual, they were right. No I'm not sitting here with tears streaming into the keyboard, but you get this "now what?" feeling. Since late September we (my team) have spent our Saturdays together hanging out, getting to know each other, and every weekend pushing ourselves just a little bit farther than we thought possible. Throughout the week we'd have Wednesday night practices and emails galore from coaches & mentors. All you (I) think about is oh man, I can't wait until I can sleep in on Saturday, stop taking ice baths, and give my feet a break! Can't wait until I can stop asking people for money :) Ok...so now's that time? Why aren't we all shouting from the rooftops? 'Cause now we don't know what the hell to do with ourselves, at least I don't, and I know several other teammates shooting around the emails saying the same stuff.

I was telling my aunt and a friend of mine-- it is really nice to hear how people are proud, or can't believe you did it & all of those wonderful things because to be honest, you're not really thinking it. Only until I was in the marathon did I realize how much it wasn't even about the marathon. You feel like the real accomplishment was signing up, begging people for money (actually getting all the money!), raising awareness, making new friends, and just getting to the start line--nothing at all about the finish line! The job was already done! Not to mention, you already knew that quitting wasn't even an option...so why should finishing be a surprise or feel good? And for me...it wasn't that great. So let me take you through it-- you cross the finish line, you're immediately corralled to the side where they cut your timing chip off your shoe, keep walking to get a congrats and a medal thrown around your neck, and then what? If you're me, you stumble around downtown L.A. frustrated that you can't remember how many blocks away your hotel is, and talking to people on the phone but not really remembering what you had said! The finish line isn't this glorious moment of running through the tape with Chariots of Fire playing!! That's pretty much only for the first guy! hahaha Aside from the immediate 'then what', you have to think about --what am I going to do without these people? without Saturday mornings? without the encouraging emails? without the "I'm curing cancer"? without your coaches, teammates, mentors & survivors constantly telling you that you're a hero and such a wonderful person? (yeah, it's easy to get used to hearing that one all the time! haha)

They also tell you, once you do this you will start to get this "Wow, I can do anything attitude." And yeah you kinda do. Name it-- I'll probably say yeah, you could do that. All you really need is the want, and crazily enough, you'll do it. (I don't even like to run! Still don't guys. But I like to cross a finish line...uneventful as it is!)

So...you're asking, what is it that she wants to do now? Would she do this again? Yep. Team In Training trains people for endurance events...not just 1/2 and full marathons. We're talking Triathlons and Century Rides--riding a bike for 100 miles! For people who complete all three of these, you are a Triple Crown winner!

I'm shooting for the Triple Crown!! Stay tuned 'cause I'll need your help once again. The problem is that I have such loyalty to the marathon team, parts of me doesn't want to do TNT without them, but I'm sure I'll be back to it, maybe even before I move to the triathlon. In the meantime, while I recover, I might go out and cheer on the summer team and hand them their PB&J and gatorade.

L.A. Marathon finsher right here!

So, about the marathon. Let's start at the beginning. Saturday I checked into the hotel that TNT provides, we were on the 22nd floor, that alone was exciting, right in the middle of L.A. Plenty of pictures of that. That night we had a pasta party and one of my favorite people, Sara, came & I didn't know she was going to be there so that was like a major highlight & boost!

Sunday, we wake up at 4:00 a.m., get ready, go downstairs, take a bus to Universal Studio's and let the chaos begin. We go to the starting line...I can't even explain what this looks like. Just imagine blocks and blocks of streets filled with people. I hope someone has pictures of it. Music is playing, although I could barely hear it. I did hear for the first time "I Love L.A" which I put as my profile song so you can hear it and because I have a little L.A. pride right now because of the marathon.

We finally start moving, there were soldiers giving us all high-fives, which anything soldier-related makes me tear up for some reason. Anyway, it was steady uphillish for 1.5 miles, then downhill or flat for about 20 miles! (YAY) My teammate Rebekah and I were together for about 11 miles until she wanted to go faster, so I let her go because I thought I needed to save what I could for the second half you know? Well I don't know what would have been better--running fast in the beginning so you get done faster or going slow & kinda steady. Because by mile 15 it started getting rough. Oh-- around mile 11 the fat guy from Borat--his sidekick, was handing out the water, that's a highlight I guess! I would say 15, 16, 17 were really hard and I was alone. Well obviously there were thousands of people around me, but no teammates. Then out of nowhere, at 17ish, my teammate Billy came up behind me and we stuck together until mile 25. Lifesaver right there! Once you are out there for awhile you just go through all the emotions, you want to quit, you want to cry, it's crazy. At mile 18 & 19 there were more teammates who weren't running that day, just there to cheer us on. They stuck with us to the end!! You get to a point where you don't even want to talk to them, but you're so happy they are there. Around mile 20 I wasn't sure how my feet were still moving but they were, very slowly though! At mile 25 my wonderful teammate and another favorite person, Mari, showed up to cheer me on. I cried. It's so emotional and you're almost to the end and I was so happy to see her. Not to mention, I walked a lot faster once I got to her! So Mari got me from 25 to 26, then my coach came in at about 25.5 and kept me company until that .2 and then I finished!!! 8 1/2 hours later!!!! I finished 19,622 out of over 25,000 people. Which is kinda weird to think that I took 8.5 hours to finish and there were still like 6,000 people behind me!

Oh-- so the course started at Universal Studio's, went by the Hollywood Bowl, down Hollywood Blvd, through Hancock Park (rich folk sitting on their comfy lawn furniture watching you go by..jealous!), by the Colliseum, then some...not so nice neighborhoods...south centralish & East L.A., back across the bridge (where I literally felt like I was walking to my death...it was a low moment!), back to the tall buildings and that's where we stopped! There were bands along the way, tons of people cheering you on from their porches, handing out cookies, water & gatorade. Lots of ambulances flying by, firemen letting the hydrants spray into the streets, I think I may have seen someone have a heart attack...yeah so all exciting stuff!

Long ass day my friends! I have blisters, I have chafing in places I didn't know could chafe...I still can't figure it out, my face is so burnt I thought maybe I had some kind of sun posioning! My lips are chapped and I can no longer walk...I shuffle around. Although I do have to say that I have come a very long way. I remember the day of our 3 mile training in October...I literally laid on the couch for like 2 days and ached all over...and I can honestly say that I feel better after 26.2 than I did after 3 five months ago!

I talked to my veteran teammates about how it was for them and they all had a rough day. People were injured and had to walk most of it, and these are the ultra-prepared people. It was about 83 degrees which I think played a big part in everyone having a hard time- it was the 2nd hottest L.A. marathon in its' history. One teammate said if it had been her first marathon, she didn't know if she would've done another one...so I guess that's kinda good in a way, to know that future marathons could be easier, that it was hard for even the veterans.

So, thanks for the support! Pictures to come soon!

Old folks are cool!

So I got a part time job doing therapy in the nursing homes. What I enjoy the most is just chillin' with these old people. It's a nice change from the kids, being able to have a regular--ok fairly regular conversation--with someone. And I'm only there for 2-3 hours at a time, so that's nice too. You don't have time to get sick of anything.

So today, one of my patients was a deaf woman, who could read lips like nobody's business, and she could speak very well too-- I think she just was given the title of legally deaf recently. Anyway, you know what she wanted to talk about? Celebrity gossip. She's right up my alley. We talked about Mel Gibson, Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz & Justin Timberlake...it was hilarious.

Then I saw a guy who was from Hungary, a senator from Hungary-- so imagine a wonderful Russian sounding accent ok. I meet him, and he tells me several times that he thinks I'm an angel, that heaven sent to help "learn him" things--things about his arms and things for his mind. He's so thankful to meet me and have me help him. Do you think my kids say this to me? Let me help you out...they don't. They might kick and scream and cry on the floor, refuse to walk, or they'll run away. Yea, sometimes they love me, sometimes they don't, but they never say I'm an angel that they're thankful for! A nice change. And we talked about politics & traveling. And I actually spoke to his daughter on the phone...weird.

What I'm Learning...

As you know I'm learning more about "The Secret," which is the law of attraction-- like things attract like things. Meaning, good thoughts attract good things, bad thoughts attract bad things. I ordered the DVD, and Ivan bought me the book. I can't put it down! I am feverishly note-taking, and writing down what I want, what I'm gratfeul for, and what makes me happy! Notice how I didn't say anything about what I don't want... :)

What I've learned is that when asking for things, negative words aren't recognized. So for example, if you were to say "I don't want to get sick." You can just take the don't right out of it (I want to get sick) and that's what you'll get! Not because you might truly want that, but because the negative word isn't acknowledged! So what should have been said there? "I want to be healthy!"

There are 3 steps. 1. ASK...ask for what you want (I want a million dollars!) 2. BELIEVE...believe that you will receive it, and believe that you already have it. This is the tricky part I think because obviously if I had a million dollars I'd be on a shopping spree. But what they say is to believe you have it, so maybe you can't really go on that spree, but you can be picking out what you want! Or you can be on the spree and just believing that the money will come and so you don't need to worry about buying that stuff! 3. RECEIVE...be happy, be giving off the good vibes, and you will receive what you asked for.

Sounds like some hokey poke nonsense huh? So what if it is...What do you have to lose by believing? What do you have to lose by choosing to be happy? What do you have to lose by having faith that life will be good and you will receive the things you want? Nothing...or everything depending on how you look at it :)

I'd say, read the book or watch the DVD and decide for yourself. The worst that happens, is that you are happy and have faith and are grateful...Not so bad.

"The Secret"

If you know me, which if you're reading this, you do...you know that I am a faithful Oprah viewer and I really think her shows and her life are a good example of what people should strive to be like...

Anyway, did anyone see the episode about "The Secret"? And they talked about it again yesterday. Ok, I was literally taking notes as I watched so I could remember the phrases that really spoke to me. Whether you believe in anything that they talked about or not, some things that were said just seemed like good words to try & live by. To re-cap-- basically what they said is that the energy you put out to the world is what you get back-- so if you're a negative person, you will continue that cycle of negativity, and vice versa with positive energy-- what got more complex is that they are saying how we are all "energy" so it's literally the energy that you put out there. Anyway, that's not important to get into to get the key things that I really liked...so here they are:

*Life is not meant to be a struggle.
Now, I can honestly say that my life isn't a struggle. I have the issues that anyone has with money or weight or whatever, but overall I have it good. But I liked hearing this because 1. I think people sometimes make things worse than they need to be or overdramatize a lot of things, and 2. the people who do have a real struggle, well it's kinda hopeful and could show them that it's all about choice.

*Trying is failing with honor.
The example they gave was if you ask someone to a dinner party and they say "Oh I'll try to make it." We all know that means they're not coming. There is only doing and not doing. Sometimes I like to say "Well all I can do is try" or something along those lines...and when I think about that, I think I'm really saying "I'm not doing all that I need to do, I know I'm not trying my hardest." Think about it :) There's no need to say you're "trying" something, if you already doing it, say I'm DOING IT!

*Mediocrity always attacks excellence.
We all know this...it's jealousy. Whether you are feeling that towards someone else who is doing well and you wish you were too, suddenly you find yourself wishing them harm or bad mouthing them (I know I do this...I'm changing) Or whether you are the one is doing great and find someone being negative to you...
P.S.-I made a conscious effort to write "I'm changing" instead of "I'm trying to change"...you either are or you aren't. And I think looking at it that way makes you believe it faster too :) Mind over matter.

*Unforgiveness is a form of self abuse.

*True forgiveness is "giving up the hope that the past could have been any different" and being able to say "Thank you for giving me that experience."

*Unwillingness to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
There was a lot that they said about forgiveness that I liked. I've heard a couple of those things before. Along the lines of "you don't forgive for the other peson, you forgive for yourself." Odds are in most cases, whoever you are mad at doesn't even know you are, or care, so being mad isn't punishing them at all! Only yourself.

*Gratitude.
This is the biggest thing I think. To be truly grateful for what you have. Focus on what you want in life, not what you don't want. For example-- saying "I want financial freedom" instead of saying "I don't want to be broke." They say, unless you are grateful for what is already in your life, you can't invite anything new/good into it. To get what you want, you need to appreciate what you already have.

They also talked about maybe heaven & hell are happening right now, it's not some "place" you go to. Whatever choices you make in your life, whatever you create for it, makes your own personal heaven or hell right now! They quoted some stuff from the bible too to kinda back that up but I can't remember it right now :) It was interesting.

So anyway, I am really anxious to learn more about "The Secret" and just try to keep it's priniciples in mind on a daily basis...thought I'd share it with you. And if you want more info you can go to www.thesecret.tv