2008 is Gonna Be Great

Yes, yes 2008 is gonna be great! 2007 wasn't a bad year by any means, but I really feel good about 2008. Ivan & I have finally got our money under control, are making headway, and have big plans. Our first year out of college we moved to California and lived like we were on a year long vacation. Our second year in California we got rid of credit cards and struggled for a long while to recover from our 6 weeks off work... we didn't plan well enough for that 'summer break' because I didn't expect it to be that long. And adjusting to living with only the money you make is well, it's really hard. This year in Arizona things have been so much better! It was a rocky start because I had a lot of car troubles but being able to pay for those in cash without any real difficulties is pretty awesome in itself. So, we are now firmly on our feet, 'off' credit cards (because yes, I would say we, as most people are, were addicted, or at the very least dependant on them for some time), and paying off bills, BIG TIME! Financially, 2008 is going to be OUR year!!

So I am just going to look at what I'd like to improve upon in 2008. I refuse to call them resolutions. I don't plan to just magically change my life 3 days from now. These are things I want to change, work towards, learn more about etc. in 2008. And I am completely confident that I will.

1. Obviously number 1 is to pay off old debt and majorly save some money. This should be no problem at all if I just focus. And hell, even if I don't focus 100%, this should still be very feasible now that the holidays are over, I have started my second job, credit cards are out, we already 'binged' on our new TV's and entertainment center, and we're ready to committ to our financial goals. I'm super psyched about this. And it helps that I am at home right now and everywhere I turn everyone is obsessed with Dave Ramsy, this financial guru, and they appear to be doing very well. Anyway, it's great motivation and I really have no excuses left. This is OUR year.

2. As usual I need to get my health in check. I have been on a yo yo weight thing for years and once again I have packed on some pounds. I just need to get more active. I need to find something I enjoy. Ivan just bought me a bike so I do think that will help. I'm not saying I'm going to lose a ton of weight or anything like that, I just need to put more effort into being active and healthy (and ENJOYING being active and healthy).

3. I want to learn more about Buddhism...am I going to be a "Buddhist?" Doubtful! But I think the Buddhist way of life is something that anyone should be trying to live. I think it's a positive way of life...and at the very least, I just want to learn about it. Even more than that I just want to focus on positive thinking. I have 2 Buddhist books right now I'm reading so I can see what it's really all about. I even found a Buddhist group in Surprise. I'm scared of it though...We'll see. Like I said, I just want to learn about it. ***And for those of you worrying and questioning this, I'd just like to lay out the disclaimer that Buddhism really IS NOT a religion.

Those are my biggies for 08, finances, health, and positive thinking. Can't hurt anyone.

My goal had been to get to South Africa this year and I don't know if that is going to happen or not. Seeing as how I'm trying to eliminate my old debt I think I should do that first and next year be able to go to South Africa with complete financial freedom! haha On the other hand I SOOOOO want to go and talk South Africa into the living right & positive thinking category very easily. We shall see. Maybe money will be amazingingly great... :) haha...

Anyway, I'm very excited about 2008 and am sure it will be a fantastic year!

Checked Out!

Dude I am so checked out! I'm at work and I cannot focus on anything. I don't have many kids on Friday mornings anyway, and they are only in school a half day today, so it's going to be a long day! Yes, I have stuff I need to do. But I'm so tired, and just checked out! I'm ready for a break from work. I'm ready to come home. Mostly I am just ready to be done for today!! SOOOOO Ready!!!!!!!!

Our New Entertainment Center

So this was long overdue. This weekend I finally got an entertainment center. Before our stuff was just sitting on a coffee table and just looked sloppy!! I'm so happy! Next we need somewhere else to put the computer. This'll do for now though.

Me & my bike!!

I Am Legend

So, I started my second job, and it's good. At the moment I'm just seeing one kid because I have to wait for more information on the other kids. I have to tell you though, I am not really looking forward to more kids ya know? Ah well. It won't kill me.

Ivan gave me my Christmas present Friday...well he was going to give it to me Friday and then I walked in while he was hiding it and so I got it a few hours early :) He got me a bike!! I've been wanting one and he got me a better one than I would have bought myself. So it's a beach cruiser---think old school looking bike with a big seat, fenders, and it's all pink. I'm so excited! When I got it I felt like I was 5 years old again. It was awesome.
Friday night we had a Christmas party at my coworkers house, Karen & Bob. Karen is a hearing impaired teacher that I share an office with and Bob is the school psychologist at my school. It was a good time. Our first adult party I guess. Bob, Karen, their kids, and a lot of the friends are musical, so they sang & played the guitar & drums all night. They were good too. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday morning I had to get up for practice. This week was the longest practice of the season before we taper down, 20 miles for the people doing the full marathon, and 10 miles for the people doing the half marathon. I didn't run, instead I hlped set up the fuel stations (orange slices, PB&J, gatorade) and cheer everyone else on. It was fun because it wasn't just our team, we practiced with the East Valley as well. I met the director for Team in Training here who also was the cycle coach for 6 years. She just about has me convinced to sign up for the century ride, which is a 100 mile bike ride. Eventually I'd like to do the century ride & a triathlon with them to earn the "triple crown" award. So, we'll see :)

All day Saturday Ivan was in a charity golf tournament (which his team placed 2nd by the way) so I went out to lunch with Jeff & his girlfriend Janice who was in town from Vegas. Then we went & saw "I Am Legend." Which I thought was awesome!!! It's weird because all the guys (Jeff, Johnathan & our neighbor Jared) didn't like it nearly as well as me & Janice did. Either way, it was good, and worth seeing. Not to mention, Will Smith is getting better & better looking the older he gets, and his body is outta control!!!

I'll be home in a week, on the 23rd!! YAY! See ya soon!

New Tattoo!

Hey there! Been awhile I guess. Let's re-cap.

I'm starting my second job doing home therapy this week. Right now I'm starting with just two kids. I'm scared! These kids might be more severe that I've been working with, probably more work!, and having the parents there can be an added stress you know? Normally I don't care but when I'm getting to know a child then yes, I would rather work with them one on one to get to know them. Oh well. I will survive. And the money will be nice too.

I'll be home in 3 weeks! I can't believe Christmas is only 3 weeks away. It's gone soooo fast. Time is just flying.

Ivan & I went and looked at furniture so I think we might be buying our own before next year! (you know my furniture is provided right now through the travel company). It's pretty dang exciting actually.
And now the fun stuff. Holly came out to visit for the weekend. We had such a great time. It was so nice to have a girl around! And someone from home! Friday night we went out to dinner and then just drank here with Katie from downstairs. Saturday we went & got tattoos!!! It was a good time. I've wanted another one for like two years so I finally got it. It's another small one on my left wrist. The definition/description is:

"The home to the Akan is a special place. A home which has a fence around it is considered to be an ideal residence.The fence symbolically separates and secures the family from the outside. Because of the security and the protection that a fence affords, the symbol is also associated with the security and safety one finds in love."

I'm very happy with it. Holly's is pretty awesome. It's a good sized one but the picture makes it look bigger than it really is. So that was super fun.

That night we went out for eat & drinks at the Yard House, which as usually was flipping fabulous. The food was awesome and they make a bomb ass appletini!!!

After that we went to this bar in Surprise called Coyote Alley. We danced there all night. I have not danced in forever! It was so much fun and like old times.

This morning Holly had requested Jeff's french toast since I talked it up so much. (It is almost a religious experience I think...haha...I asked Holly if for her first time she would like to be along with the french toast :)
Then it was time for Holly to go. It was so good to have here here! And next time she will come for longer!!

So I guess that's it. Head over to my pics to check out the tats.
Later

My Boys

So I ended up not going with Ivan to L.A. nor did I go to Vegas with Johnathan & Jeff. It just wasn't a good weekend for me to do either thing. I do however want to go to Vegas sometime in the near future. Ivan & I had already decided we wanted to go once we got our tax returns so we could do it right, although I suppose there is still a possibility of going before then.

So I was really looking forward to my time alone. This might sound crazy...but I really needed to clean the carpet! Yes I could have done this when the boys were here but it was easier with them gone. Plus when they are here I just chill with them instead of doing what I need to do. Plus, I don't really like cleaning with people just watching me when they could be helping!! Anyway, I feel so much better now that the carpet is clean :) And I've been listening to the radio station I want to listen to! Watching the TV I want to. Playing the Wii games I want to. I also went shopping, when I wanted to :) Ate lunch when & where I wanted to. Didn't have to consult with someone or think I should probably pick something up for anyone else! Then I went to the movies (yes you guessed it, when & what I wanted to!) I finally saw The Comebacks. Overall it was ok, but my main focus was on the audience scenes. Of course I didn't see us or anything but it was still cool. I also rented some movies that I want to see. So it's been good.

And now I'm ready for the boys to get home!! I have enjoyed myself, but now I miss them :) I've talked to Ivan a few times. He went out last night in Rancho Cucamonga, where we lived our first year in CA! I bet that was fun. I've talked to Johnathan several times--- he's super drunk, so every time he calls he tells me that repeatedly :) They are having a good time too. He keeps telling me I missed out... but they were doing this scavenger hunt, which I do bet was awesome, but you have to drink a ton in it and I really don't think I could hang! Really! Ah well, I will be going soon :)
Alrighty well I will get going. Gonna watch my movies ad the boys will be back tomorrow!!

Vegas, no Vegas, Vegas, No Vegas...

Hey all! So before I get to this coming weekend let me re-cap.
Last weekend we didn't do much really. I fell asleep at 8:30 Friday night. Which I think I needed, obviously. Saturday morning I had marathon practice. That is going ok too. Jeff made us his fantastic french toast that morning. Good God that stuff is amazing. That night he made ranch burgers (again, AMAZING!) and then people came over to hang out. But I had a headache and fell asleep at like 10:30. Sunday....nothing eventful again. I had Monday off work because of Veteran's Day. Went to breakfast with Jeff & the kids, then worked on my homework and played the Wii all day. Like I said, very uneventful.

So this coming weekend I have a decision to make. Ivan will be going to L.A. for a conference so I could go with him, hang out with Cali friends or just go to the beach or something while he's at the conference. That night one of our friends is having a pre-Thanksgiving party in Malibu so then we'd go to that and come home on Sunday.

OR, Jeff is seeing this girl in Vegas so he is going there this weekend and asked if Johnathan & I would like to go with him. At first I was all excited but now I'm starting to think it would be kinda nice to have the place to myself and get some things done while Ivan, Johnathan & Jeff are all out of town. Just me & the dogs. I dunno. I figure if Jeff keeps seeing this girl I will have plenty of opportunities to go to Vegas with a place to stay you know? Plus, they are all doing this scavenger hunt and they already have all the team members, so if I went I wouldn't even be doing that. I would be hanging out in a casino or something by myself. Which don't get me wrong, could be a ton of fun! But I'm thinking why not just wait and go again when we can all hang out you know? Plus I'd have to do something with the dogs. They would probably be okay for two nights by themselves but I would feel bad anyway.

I dunno. Obviously Vegas would be a ton of fun. And Ivan has some co-workers going with him to CA so I don't really wanna go if they are going just because I haven't met them before and I just would rather not.
So that's that. I'm going to be buying my plane ticket home for Christmas this week. I will be flying in on either the 22nd or 23rd and leaving back to AZ on Jan 2nd. I'm excited! Seems like it has been awhile I guess.
Alright, I need to make some scotcharoo's for bowling tonight. A friend of ours on another team always brings snacks and stuff and I promised I'd bring something this week so she is taking the week off. YUM!

Picture Updates!

Here's some pictures of Charlie's haircut & the pumkpins we carved:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5ZLQ


The weekend before last we had a bunch of people over to party at that was a good time as always. Here are pics from that:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5ZKU

Saturday night we had a Halloween party with the usuals. It was a great time!! We made punch...it had 3 bottles of flavored Vodka in it, with orange juice and a splash of Sprite (YUM!) Here's pics:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5ZJY

Not much else going on. Enjoy the pictures!

This Week

Hey! So not much new going on lately. Chuck (oh yeah, we call Charlie Chuck most of the time now) got her first real haircut and it's adorable, and I love it! Let's see, last week seemed really busy but I can't think why right now. Tuesday night at bowling we won all our games!! That has never happened before. We have only won one game before that night so that was awesome. I got a turkey in the 10th frame too so that was cool...

Thursday night Jeff got hockey tickets through his school so him & his kids, Ivan, me, Johnathan & Katie all went to the Phoenix Coyotes hockey game. It was fun. I could really get into hockey I think because it's so fast paced and it's kinda cool to seem them fight all the time too! haha
Friday night all the neighbors came over which as usual was a great time. I'll post some pictures of that. Unfortunately I had to spend all day Saturday recovering. It was bad. I was in bed until about 2:30, moved to the couch but was still sick. Then last night me & Ivan, Johnathan & Katie all went out to eat. We rented "Fantastic 4" (the second one) and "1408." Which I was a little disappointed with but oh well.

Today it's like super windy here so we opened up all the windows in ours & Jeff's apartment and his door and our door, put the gate up at the top of our stairs and just let the dogs run back and forth. I sat on the patio between our apts. pretty much all day, the guys were back and forth watching football. It was fun. Here in a minute we're gonna carve pumpkins. I'll post pics of that too.

So that's about it. Talk soon!

Hola!

Hey! So, another new & exciting venture. I will be starting a second job here in the next couple of weeks. I'll be contracting through a company providing therapy to children in their homes. The company will send me info about a child and then I will basically call up the parents and set up a time to come see them. I'm pretty excited about it. At first I was like...why are you doing this to yourself? Now is really not the time to get a second job, but I really don't see it so much as a job, although it does pay very well, which is a bonus. I think it will be fun and it will be so nice to see kids in their homes. Working in the schools you only see so much of what the kid's life is about, you don't get the opportunity to have contact with the parents sometimes but like once a year, and sometimes the relationship is hard anyway because the parents aren't always happy with the school system. I've always been jealous of home therapists when we're all sitting in meetings together because the parents always love them more! haha I think I'll get more of a chance to really do what I want to do with a little less restraints and things. We'll see, who knows, I might be complaining about it soon! But I will be starting slow and only picking up one or two kids, which is just a couple hours a week. Hopefully it'll be good. Plus I'm just trying to plan ahead to what I'm going to do this summer, and so I will be able to pick up more kids then and still have a lot of time to myself.

What else...tomorrow is Ivan's birthday!! The big 2-5. He's flying home for a long weekend to celebrate and go to Illinois College's homecoming. He hasn't been home since last summer so he's due for a visit. It'll be weird to have him gone but I have a lot to do so it's probably for the best.

Team In Training is going well. I have 14 mentees now!! So that's fun. Each week I just send them an email or phone call to see how things are going. The thing that is really different from my team in L.A is that there are a lot of people here who don't come to practices, they just train on their own. I'm really trying to get them out to practice though because to me that's the best part, obviously aside from curing cancer :)

What else...class is good. My 4th class just started this week. It goes so fast. They're a lot of work though but I've got it down to more of a pattern now so it's easier and I know what to expect. Every week there is typically an individual paper due and in each 5 week class there is also usually 2-3 team projects. I do great working with the team, which at first I didn't like the team projects, but I always leave my individual stuff to the last minute and scramble. Oh well.

I still haven't heard anything about a refugee family because there are more volunteers than refugees available. Which at this point is FINE! I'm thinking even if they do call I will have to tell them to move me to the bottom of the list until TNT is done in January. I know my limits! I really want to do it but I'll wait.

I guess not much else to say. Still having an awesome time here and everything. I had Monday off work so Sunday night was a drunken fest with our neighbor who also had Monday off for Columbus day. We were up until 4:30 a.m drinking and playing the Wii---we decided we better stop when we heard Ivan getting up for work! haha Good times though.

Oh yeah, reading a new, fabulous book-- it was featured on Oprah-- "Eat Pray Love." I love it!!!!!!!! Go get it.

My poor car...

Remember how I said it was making a very unhealthy noise? Well then last week it just wouldn't start a few different times I tried. Turns out my car is a lot sicker than I thought. I took it in on Friday and the guy called me with a list a mile long of things my car needed. He prioritized it for me because there is just no way I could afford everything. So, last week I got a new starter and belts (hefty chunk-o-change!) Friday we're going back for new breaks and break fluid (yet another, although not quite as hefty-chunk-o-change). And then there will be a list of "small" things that I can survive without but need to be done. Poor thing. Oh yeah, poor me too :) And poor Lucy! She needs her shots and they keep getting pushed off because random expenses like this keep coming up. Ah well. Soon, I see the light very soon...although if you ever feel like donating to a worthy cause (my car & Lucy's health :) feel free! haha We were joking that we should have a kegger or something to raise money for my car...but we don't know enough people to really make that worth it, but it would be a dang good time. I should be happy though because my car is a '96 and I've never had to put any money into it except tires and oil changes. So hopefully after this it'll last me as long as I need it to. Which would be...hmmm...maybe until '09 when the Prius comes out that gets 99 miles per gallon!! Does everyone get as excited about good gas mileage as I do? Probably not.

What else...this weekend we didn't do much, and you can expect to hear that for awhile until the car expenses are taken care of :) Jeff & the kids came over and made us french toast & bacon. Can I just say this was the best french toast I've ever had in my life!! I'm not even a fan of french toast really but this was heavenly. So good. Last night he shared stroganoff with us too, yum! Jeff says he likes to cook for people, and well, we like to eat...so it all works out. We agreed he should just give us a grocery list and then he can just make dinner every night. Totally fine with me. While we're on the subject, when we grilled out with him a few weeks ago, he made ranch burgers-- I guess you just put a packet of ranch mixed in with the hamburger...unbelievable! Try it.

So aside from food...not much else to say I guess. Just keeping busy with TNT and school work. I'm coming into the last week of my 3rd class. They're going fast!! YAY!

Not Much Up

Hey there! Not much to say I guess but I felt like I should say something...um, my car is making some very weird noises. It has been for awhile and today they have multiplied a lot...I think it has something to do with my breaks. Whatever it is it's very unhealthy sounding.

I finally got some mentees with TNT. I was supposed to just get any new people, well then something fell through with one of the other mentors so I just got all of her mentees. I'm excited though. We went to a TNT fundraiser the other night-- me, Ivan, Johnathan & our neighbors Katie & Jeff. (Also our bowling team) I really need to get some pics up of these people so you all can put a face with a name. Anyway, it was a poker fundraiser, Jeff won. He's like a poker fiend or something.

The weather this last few days has been amazing. Only the low 90's, which actually feels cool. Kinda like fall weather really. It's amazing I guess how fast your body adjusts to the heat. The other day I was going to take the dogs to the park but I wondered if it was too hot out, Ivan said "It's only 101" I was like oh, well let's go then...at home we'd have died!

Speaking of Ivan, he's involved in a new business venture with his mom. It's something called "Your Travel Business." Basically if you buy your plane tickets, book hotels, anything like that, through his website he makes money off it, and the prices are pretty much the same as Travelocity. So keep that in mind if you're ever booking in the future. The website is www.ytb.com/nicholsi

Alrighty, well I guess that's all. Talk to you later

Charlie's Hairdo

So I took Charlie to get her hair cut and they told me on her first time they won't do anything major because they just want to break her in, they just cleaned up her face, tummy, and booty for her first time. So here's a pic in case anyone was wondering what her face actually looked like :)

Doesn't the one look like Charlie is telling Lucy something funny and Lucy's cracking up or surprised??! She's like "Oh my God!"

Charlie's first trip to the dog park...

Charlie made her first trip to the dog park Saturday. Unfortunately only Charlie, Lucy & I were there :( It was exciting because she got to run but not meet any other dogs.

So we went back tonight and there were tons of dogs! At first she just sat under my feet so I got up & walked around and she followed me everywhere and eventually ran around. Whenever she would see Lucy she'd run for her but most of the time Lucy was too busy playing with other dogs. This was one of the first times she's really been around other dogs besides Lucy. Overall she did really well. I was worried she'd snap but I think she's come out of her shell quite a bit being around Lucy.

She goes to get her first haircut tomorrow! I'll post pictures, I'm thinking it will be funny.

TNT I'm back!

I decided to join Team In Training for another wonderful season. This time I'm back as a mentor. So I will have a small group of teammates as my mentees and I will basically help them through the process-- if they have questions, giving them advice, helping/encouraging with fundraising etc. I'm excited to be back as a mentor because it makes me be more accountable and I'll be way more involved with the team. There's some paperwork and requirements for mentors, which is a little more work than I ever knew they did, but at the same time it's manageable, and worth it I think. One of my teammates from last year is a mentor now and she loves it. It's a little intimidating too because it's a new team to me as well...so they might do things a little differently, and I don't know anyone either so it will push a bit to step up and get to know people and take somewhat of a leadership role. Their season has already started so I'm coming into late and will start my training on Saturday! I didn't expect that already but the race is in January so it's time. I'm thinking this time I'm only going to to the half marathon. I will do a full sometime again in my life, but I'm not ready, plus, I'm joining late so I don't want to set the bar too high. I'd rather be a good mentor and enjoy myself.

With all that said, being a mentor I don't have the required fundraising, but I am still going to try and raise some money, maybe $500 because it still is a wonderful cause, and I can share that money with my mentees, as we all know, raising $2200 is HARD! But it can be done! So I won't have any mentees right away, which is nice so I can get to know their team first, but we will be doing a big recruiting event in a couple of weeks and basically whoever comes in off of that will be mine! Scary! Exciting!

Hmm...oustide of that, boot camp is getting better each day. It kinda stinks that I won't have Saturday's to sleep in now because that is when TNT practice is, but I will survive, I did it last year and this season is even shorter.

Well I'll get going...I'll probably hassle for donations in the near future, but not nearly as much as I did last year! haha

GO TEAM!

Pics

Here's a link to some new pictures of the dogs, one of me & Ivan at the Cardinals-Diamondbacks game last weekend, and of grilling out. The picture where Johnathan is blowing up that big ball, the stairs in the background are the stairs that go to our apt. Oh, and the ones of Charlie laying on the couch--she fell asleep that way, and stayed that way for a good hour before I took the picture!!

Enjoy!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5Y_c

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.