Reading Time

Fate and Ms. Fortune by Saralee Rosenberg
It's a fun read about life and the paths we are living, and how fate plays into it. A good read when you're starting worry about where your life is going to end up, and you feel like you might be missing something in the grand plan of your life. Trust in fate and follow it’s lead.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Set in WWII in Greece on the island of Cephallonia (Kefalonia). The story includes Greeks, Italians and Germans all living on this island. It narrates the change from strangers, to friends, and some to enemies. It narrates how the war changed their friendships, their lives, and their love for each other. Really beautiful. The main love story in the book is between Captain Corelli, an Italian Captain, and Pelagia (I just love her name!), a Greek daughter of the Island’s doctor. To see their relationship change and grow during such a tragic time was my main reason to keep reading.
I find WWII super fascinating. Typically the side that I read about is Jewish oppression. This time I was able to see a whole different side of the war. The book was a good history lesson as well as a romantic love story.

I finally got creative

It's been a long time since I've done any scrapbooking- well at least for myself, and last night I sat down at my desk and started going through photos, and well, I ended up doing three pages!

I'm trying to do more journaling with my pages, and not be afraid of my handwriting, and just lay it out there. So this is what I came up with:

Txt: this is what happens/when three girls/spend so much/time together/ we all chose the same shirt

Title: today i had a thought. what if... what if i had never met you?


txt: i wonder how it is i got so lucky to have such great friends like you. i cant imagine trying to go through the challenges of life without all of you. without your support, love and friendship i would not be where i am today- and that's happy. i get to wake up and look forward to each day because i get to share it with all of you.
you've opened my eyes to new things in life.
you've taught me honesty. you held my hand when i got a new car. cried with me during "dreaming with a broken heart." you suffered through green shots with me. you've shown me vegas. you've shown me new cultures. you share your bed and pjs with me.
you've loved me at my at my best of times, you've loved me at my worst.

bottom right: thank you for being my friend

And for fun!

Title: Kissy Kissy

Just loving life lately :)

Marines

Just started editing the pics from Brunch on Sunday with my family. My youngest cousin just graduated from the Marines bootcamp. He slimmed down, and looks fantastic! A ton more confidence as well.

San Francisco pictures are up!

Check out the pics from my trip to SF the other weekend:

http://www.pbase.com/skye/sf2008

It was SUCH a great trip. A weekend here and there is all I need. =o)

Ugh

Let me just say, that coming home at 4am, and getting up at 7am for work is no fun.

I feel drunk, but it's just a lack of sleep. And no shower. =o(

That being said though, I sure did have fun last night. We have a new frontrunner! Hahaha.

I actually remembered my dream

So unlike you, I hit the snooze this morning until almost 8am- oops! But what results in that extra couple minutes of "sleep" was a dream I can remember.

Dream:
I was in a boat with Kris, and for some reason we jumped in the water and the boat sped up in front of us and we had to catch up to it. Meantime we’re swimming really fast then these creatures start swimming up around us, and they look like dolphins, and I just wanted to get in the boat cause I'm scared, but it kept going. I'm thinking at this point Kris is making fun of me for being scared. Then when we get ashore Kris pulled them out into a basket, and they were called Polliwogs (which Kris pointed out is a tadpole), but they looked like opossums, but they were fish cause they couldn't breath and were dying in the basket.
Then we laid down on a blanket, one underneath and one above, and went to sleep.
That’s it. Strange huh?

Poolshark

I won in pool last night. Went out and played with a friend from my volleyball team. Won 3 of the 4 games (yes!). We were at Belltown Billiards. I don't think I've been to that place on a non-weekend/early night before. It was empty! And much better to play pool in. =o)

The bets I make when I play pool are usually silly ones moreso than money based. So Jack lost, and had to take me to a cool place to take my pic-of-the-day, as well as pose for it, haha. Here's the resulting shot (I SO wish I had my big camera...the city was amazing from this spot!)





All in all I had a really goofy fun night. Totally innocent, and I'd forgotten how fun that is. =o) I'm going to try to have more nights like this. No drinking, lots of laughs, and witty banter. =o)

I got up earlier than normal (I didn't sleep through my second alarm), but sat here editing photos, so now I'm still running late...time to dry my hair. =o)

Things I am thankful for

I came home yesterday, monday, and wanted to write the things I was thankful for today (Monday), but I got home read for a bit, chatted with a few friends, and then it started snowing, so Buddy and I went out and walked through the snow- got soaking wet, but it was so nice to be out it was okay.

When I got home I changed my soaking wet pants, climbed up on bed and started to read again, then realized I was falling asleep. So thinking I might nap for a bit I closed my door (this is 8pm) and fell asleep until 4am. Ooops. When I woke up my roommate and his friend were just finishing playing wii (I'm still not so sure what everyone sees in that game). And they left all the lights on, so I got up and turned everything off and checked the snow outside- yep still there!

I've been experimenting with my new camera, still not sure if I like it or not, but getting more used to it. This is what I got last night


I think I like night time photos with the "slow synchro" ON. It gives the cool orange look.

And this is what I am thankful for- in no particular order

1. that david and goliath doesn't sew their labels into their shirts, so if need be they can be worn backwards
2. For Revive
3. That I made it to the gym again
4. That Jenny asked me to have lunch with her, even though we didn't get to go
5. That I get to talk to Luke on the way to work
6. For all the funny/loving pictures of Emily and I that make me smile
7. That Buddy wanted to go walking in the snow

I want to make a list of at least 3 things I am thankful for every day. I'm thinking that should be easy to come up with right?


K

Lunch break

Blogging as I chow on my Lean Pocket. =o)

You know, I really like these...they taste good, are warm, are cheap, and are relatively healthy for you. But my downfall always comes when people in the cubes around me bring in stuff that smells even better. I know they have chemicals that can make food taste like different things, and like in perfumes can make things smell like different things. If only they made hot pockets smell like curly fries, maybe I'd be more excited to warm it up in the microwave. =o)

I'm super super SUPER excited to be going on a plane tomorrow morning. I love flying. I think it's more because anytime you go on a plane you're headed somewhere new/fun more so than the actual experience of flying (because really, having long legs is not all that fun when you're crammed into a seat for a couple hours).

I'm excited to get a chance to explore the city a bit more than I have in the past. To see my mom, dad, and brother. To have a weekend away. To stay in a hotel. To see the hotel my dad's staying at (apparently his has a bar made out of a solid redwood tree!). To have a fabulous dinner with everyone at a fancy restaurant(this will be interesting, as I don't think my mom & dad have dined together in YEARS).

Maybe I'll bring my GPS device and print out a geocache or two. I'll probably use it anyways (I inherited my bad sense of direction from my mother) just walking around the city. We're staying by the fisherman's wharf, which should be a fun area to walk around and take pictures.

I'm not bringing a laptop, so I'll have to catch up on my pic-a-day blog after I return, but I will still take the pics every day and hopefully have some fun new ones once I get back.

Weekend trips are so exciting. I've got to add that to my wish board. =o)

Excited about my maybe dinner date tonight as well. This one has potential! =oP

So yeah, all in all, life is good and I'm smiling. =o)

Gym Time

So I've been back at the gym for 3 days in a row now. I split my workouts by doing cardio (elliptical or treadmill) for 35-40min every day, and weights alternating upper and lower body each day, abs everyday.

So far this week I did upper body on monday and lower body on tuesday.

Today I can not lift my arms above my head, so I decided to forgo lifting today and just do cardio and a good abs workout (which I'm thinking I will continue doing on wednesdays).

So far this week I have been feeling very out of shape. I can't lift as much as I used to (although I'm not super far behind), but I can't do as many reps or as large a variety of workouts.

But today was different. I rocked the treadmill, then pushed my abs till just doing sit ups made me sweat!


And it felt awesome!


Even though I haven't lost any weight (since yesterday I have gained .4lbs), and my pants aren't fitting better, I felt the muscle in my stomach! And that is pure motivation to keep going.

Because last summer my abs looked like this:
Looking back I wish that I would have appreciated all the work that went into looking like that, and realize how good I really looked.


Now I promise to reward myself more, because it is a lot of work, and it seems never ending, like we could always be in better shape, stronger, faster, slimmer, but we need to be nice to ourselves and congratulate ourselves on all the hard work. Especially because it take A LOT of work. And the dedication it takes to stick with it is huge!


So back to the gym I go, with new goals, new workouts, and a new appreciation for how I can (and have looked), and how hard it is to get there.


I promise to congratulate myself more along the way, so maybe this time I wont fall off the track!
-K

Doing what I want

I haven’t scrapped for myself in so long. Christmas has been insane, and I still need to finish my book from last year, and the pictures are already starting to build up from this year!
It’s never ending, but that’s the cool thing about my life. The experiences and the fun photos I take are continuous. Everyday there is something new to learn or do or plan. I love it! I love living life everyday, making my own choices and doing whatever it is to make me happy (most of the time at least), and as much as I want kinds and can’t wait till I’m married I really want to enjoy this time to myself.
I love being able to go to the gym when I want, meet up with my friends for a random dinner if it suits, take away for a weekend. I need to take more advantage of this freedom now. Realize that this is my life and I get to do my own things on my own time. No one else’s.
I think that’s why it’s so hard for me to be in a relationship- I just like doing my own thing, and I don’t want to feel guilty for wanting to hang out with my girlfriends or my family rather than the guy I’m seeing. Is that bad? It’s totally contradicting what one of my major long term goals is- having kids, having a family, and all that comes with it.
Maybe I just need to realize I’m not ready for that now. I love my life too much to “give it up” for someone. But maybe if I met the right guy he would be apart of my great life and I wouldn’t have to give anything up? That’s a big maybe though. Not sure that’s how it works. But for now I’m just going to keep having fun and doing what I want! Take more pictures, get further behind in scrapping, but know that I am enjoying every day doing what I want.

This is my life and I love it

-K

A new year

I’m trying to put together a list of my new years goals/resolutions. I love making resolutions. It seems so silly because I don’t keep them, well sometimes I do, but they give me a chance to put a new perspective on a new time in my life and get me thinking about where I want to be and what I want to be doing over the next year. This past year was amazing.

Things I did in 2007:
I met new friends, that have changed my life, and will hopefully be there forever.
I’ve taken so many more pictures, and learned about taking better photos.
Became more involved in my scrapbooking, and better at it
Took a trip to Bali for an amazing adventure!
Learned how to surf
Took a golf lesson
Spent more time with all of my family
I’m working at a job that I enjoy, and without a boss I don’t.
Made improvements to my house
Got a “new” car
Took a vacation to Hawaii with my sister, and really toured the island.

So many things have happened this past year, and I’m so excited for 2008. Here are some of my resolutions so far, and there will be more to come, but this is where I’m at now:
Learn to Knit
Learn to play golf
Travel to Scotland/Ireland
Stop saying stupid sh*t when I’m drunk
Join the Propeller Club
Finish my 2007 scrapbook
Start journaling
Continue to take better photographs, and improve my scrapbooking
Continue reading new books

So there’s some. I’m sure I have more. Here’s to a great new year!

only in dreams

So, a friend of a friend keeps a dream blog, writing down his dreams after he wakes up. He did it for 10 years straight. And the results are nuts. Haha. Sometimes looking back, you can see how you knew the answers to life questions all along in your dreams, even if at the moment it's tough to get through all the wackiness in them as well. I have pretty odd dreams, and luckily remember most of them, so I figured I'd start keeping a journal of mine as well.

Last night:
It was a long dream, but I only remember the last part. I'm in a shower (but not mine), and am having a tough time figuring out how to do the shower part rather than the bath part. I finally get it, but it's not draining like a shower (it's holding all the water like a bath). It's an odd tub, and pretty big, with a fireplace at one end.

I go on with things, not worrying about it filling up until I realize the water's filled up over my head. (But it's a dream, so I can breathe normally of course, hehe) My thoughts are more about how it's odd that the fireplace is now underwater as well, and 'gee, I hope I didn't break it'. Then I fuss around with the knobs and figure out how to drain it, and it looks like the water is going through the fireplace (which in the dream I was releaved because if it's meant that way, then I didn't break it after all). Before it's fully drained, an owl swims up to me. It's about the size of a small cat, and is white and light brown. I'm more amazed that I get to be so close to such a pretty owl than I am taken aback that this owl just swam up to me inside the shower, but whatever, hehe. It takes me by the arm and leads me out of the shower (I'm magically clothed and right outside of the shower it's more like a living room, where people I know are watching tv, and not at all amazed that this owl is leading me somewhere (which I was kind of peeved at). So I let it lead me around the corner to a picture on the wall.

It's like a construction paper puppet show though, with what looks like a hill of dirt/rocks. Then a figure that looked like me was walking up the hill. I kind of spaced on what the rest of the play was about, and then it ended up being that this was made for me by the intern at my work (in real life). Somehow it was held in a jar now though as she gave it to me, which was filled with lentil beans. I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I should be more appreciative/thankful in real life. As we passed a shelf, the intern was berating herself that she 'should have used Jasmine rice instead', and I was trying to convince her that no, lentils are perfect. (in the dream i figured she didn't know that jasmine rice didn't actually smell like jasmine, and that that's probably why she wanted to use it instead)

And that was pretty much it. Kinda odd, huh? It made sense at the time though (as most odd dreams do, hehe)