10 Things

Thanks to Jonathan's inspirational blog about random facts related to himself I've decided to follow in his footsteps and reveal my quirks. In no particular order...here they go...

1) Making the bed before I go to sleep. I'm usually too busy and in a rush to get out of the house in the morning so I don't make my bed. However, messy beds really bug me when I'm trying to sleep at night. It just feels dirty even if I just washed everything. I like the sheets, blankets, and pillows all nicely positioned and properly tucked where it all should be. I know the bed gets messy during the night but when I get in it, it better be made. So I make the bed every night before I go to sleep. A little backwards, but that's me. So what if I didn't make the bed? What would happen then? I'd probably feel very anxious and have a hard time falling asleep. Then in the morning, I wouldn't feel so well-rested.

2) Tomatoes- I absoloutley detest them! I don't mind tomato products, or having a slice on a burger or sandwich (as long as it isn't one of those big thick honker slices) but as far as having them alone or in a salad...that'll never happen. I've tried force feeding myself cherry tomatoes hoping I could teach myself to get past my hatred of this fruit but I find that the small tomatoes are the ones I abhor the most. They just seem to pop in your mouth and it's quite a repugnant texture if you ask me. Maybe if I bathe the tomatoes in ranch dressing then they could be somewhat tolerable....ranch seems to doctor anything up. But then that would add inches to my already vast waistline that I'm desperately trying to shrink. I'd go for the fat free stuff but it leaves a nasty after-taste and that's the last thing I need with something I already loathe. But yay for ketchup! :)

3) Chewy textures-Here I go talking about food again, but the texture thing mentioned above reminded me that I don't like chewy textures in my food. Candy is okay...gummy candy and laffy taffys all the way....but for this reason I can't eat sushi. I have a difficult time stomaching the tuna especially. The flavor isn't what bothers me. It's the chewyness! Ack! Growing up my mom made this mexican soup called menudo. If you don't know what it is, it has cow stomach in it. It's chewy and yucky. When she makes the soup I pick all the cow innards right out and just eat the hominy. I can't even begin to explain all the textures the little wiggly chunks of meat has on it...

4)Rodentophobia-I doubt this is a clinical term but from the looks of my possibly self-fabricated word, you can figure out what it is. I have this intense fear of all undomesticated, uncaged rodents. They disgust me and I'm having a difficult time writing this without getting chills or knots in my stomach. I get this lump in my throat just thinking about a rat or a mouse. Bunny rabbits are mostly okay because they're cute. However I'll never forget the time I was driving from Utah and I was almost to Vegas. In the distance I saw a cute little rabbit at the road's edge. I was in the right lane and to my left was a semi truck. Suddenly the little rabbit decided to dart out into the road (smart animal). Out of nowhere a red fluid that resembled taco sauce sprayed all over the car. It was kind like when you drive past a sprinkler system and some idiot aims the sprinklers toward the street. As you drive past this sudden fan of water hits your car. Gotta love when they do that right? Anyway, I was driving and slightly confused (I'm a bit of an airhead at times) and I asked my friend "Did that driver just throw taco sauce at us?" to which she replied "No. Those are bunny guts". I tried spraying the windshield and using the wipers but all that did was smear stuff even more. When the horror hit me I started screaming and nearly vomitted. I had to drive with bunny guts on the windshield and the whole front of the car until we stopped at the big fancy Chevron by Buffalo Bills. We used the squeegees to clean the car off. We went through several. It left some scars.

5) Dental hygiene- I also have an obession with dental hygiene. Growing up I never had insurance or saw a dentist so when I was 18 and went for the first time, I had to get a lot of fillings. I never want to go through that again if I can avoid it. I don't think my routine is quite as rigorous as Jonathan's but it's slightly obessive compulsive. I brush my teeth until they're nice and smooth and then I floss. I might brush my teeth lightly one more time after that along with the palate, cheeks and tongue. Then i use my "enamel strengthening" Listerine. Sometimes I'll use a whitening pre-rinse before I brush my teeth or between the floss and final brush. At night I brush my retainer with toothpaste and then I soak it in Listerine for a few minutes before popping it in. Okay I lied...it's intense. When I date someone, if I'm going to be kissing them (which really doesn't happen much haha) I insist that they keep a good dental hygiene routine. Dirty mouths or teeth and stinky breath are extreme turn offs. I had a boyfriend once who hadn't gotten a cleaning in a long time and didn't floss. After a while I refused to kiss him and we ended up breaking up. But seriously...I work hard to have good teeth and I don't want someone's lazy germs messing it up! I think bad breath is contagious to a certain degree so I don't want that crap in my mouth!

Five things is about all I can think of right now. I'll post the rest later as they come to me.

So many things, so little time.

i have so many things I've been wanting to blog about lately but now very much time to sit down and write about them! I'll probably write several blogs in the next few days because I've been in a bloggish mood.

This blog will probably be yet another blog about dating. It seems as though getting asked out on dates isn't really a problem for me. The problem seems to be that once a guy asks me out, that's it...we never go out. This is the 3rd time it happens and while I'm not heartbroken by it, it really is annoying. It's almost as though the guy said"Ohhh I want to ask her out. Okay she said she'll go out on a date with me but I don't think I really want to go anymore. Maybe I can just not bring it up and maybe she'll forget about it. "

WRONG! I don't forget. I'm just not desperate or clingy so I don't go bringing it up. I think the problem is, it's BOYS who ask me out. I need to find a real man who will keep his word. It's time to find a guy wit h some balls because apparently these other boy's balls haven't dropped yet. Sorry to sound crude but I'm just being raw, real, and uncut. Besides, if you think you're a real man, this shouldn't offend you anyway, right?

And a note to the guys...

If you want to score brownie points with a lady, call them at a decent hour. When you say you're going to call, don't call late at night and make it the last thing on your list for the day. Call at a decent hour so she can feel like maybe she was a priority. I say this because a ball-less boy said he would call me, and called at 1:30am. Then only talked for 10 minutes and said he would call back in 1/2 and hour....he called back at 4am. Annoying. Then the next night he called at 12:30am and only talked for a few minutes before saying he was going to bed. The way I see it, is it you're not interested enough to sacrifice some time to talk to me and get to know me, how am I to expect that you might be willing to sacrifice your time to spend quality time with me. This is especially important in long distance relationships. This is almost as bad as not calling at all. Actually, I think it's on the same level.

I understand you males have lives, too. You work and go to school and try to balance that with other aspects of your lives such as church/callings and family. Sometimes you might not be able to call because of the demands life places on you, but if that's the case, call the girl anyway. Even if just to say "hey I know I said I would call you today but it looks like i'll be very busy. i just didn't want to leave you hanging. Is it okay if I call another time?" This shows considerations and thoughtfulness...qualities which most girls value. If she's a cool girl she'll understand. So that could be of service to you males as well because it'll let you in on another aspect of the ladies' personality.

If you actually go on a date...

Assume that you are paying for the both of you. Don't ask her "Am I paying your ticket?" because she'll probably get the impression that you don't really want to pay for her because if you did, you'd do it without asking. In girl world, when you ask it basically translates to, 'Do I really have to pay for you? I'm being stingy but if you really want me to pay I will. But if I can get out of it, then it's all the better.' And if you ask, most girls won't say "yes. please pay for my ticket." because a girl shouldn't have to do that. More than likely we'll end up paying for ourselves and then vent to our girl friends about the guy who made us pay our way. Even if the girl asked you out...pay anyway. This will really impress her. Doing the opposite is a surefire way NOT to score a 2nd date.

Call the day before D-day!!! Confirm your plans the day before you take her out to make sure you're both still on. If you don't call sometimes we get a little confused and think maybe you forgot. I've had friends to whom this has happened. We don't want to waste our makeup getting all dolled up only to find that you forgot. Nor do we want to wonder if you forgot beacause we haven't heard from you. While you might not lose brownie points for not confirming the day before, chances are you'll score some points by doing so.

I could go on with a list of tips for guys but I'll save them for other blogs. If any of you guys reading have any tips for the girls please don't hesitate to leave comments. I know there are two sides to every story and I'm sure there are things us ladies do that really get under your skin. Maybe I'll compile a list of gripes from my guy friends and post a blog for my lady readers to tune into.

Slacker

I'm a total slacker. I haven't updated this thing for over a month.
My friend Kristyna came from the Czech Republic and stayed at my place for a week. She's a fun girl! We did the usual stuff around San Diego...Balboa Park, the beach, Old Town, La Jolla. We went to the MOPA to check out some photography. I liked the travel photos from India. :) It inspired me to keep shooting more pics! Then then on Saturday the 6th Brenna and I drove Krys up to Long Beach to her next host. We took PCH from Dana Point to Long Beach and stopped in Laguna, Newport and Huntington. We walked down the pier at huntington and watched some of the surfers. It was totally chill and I got some awesome shots of the pier!
I started my photography class at school. I'm doing black and white darkroom photo and it's a lot more challenging than digital. However, I believe if you can be good working with film and the darkroom you can be good at digital and photoshop! I'm seriously considering changing my major to photography. I know, I'm so indecisive. But i feel very passionate about it and I can see myself behind the camera the rest of my life without burning out. I have an awesome instructor. He's very patient, loves to answer questions, and really encourages you. Not to mention he's not very old and he's totally hot! I think most of the girls in class have a thing for him! Funny thing is, he's especially hot when he compliments my work! HAHA! I really feel like I suck working with film in the darkroom at times but I know it's something new and I can't get discouraged.I'm starting to improve in that I don't ask for the teacher to judge my test prints as much. I can look at it and guess which exposure time would be best...and he usually agrees with me...whereas before he had to tell me which one was good. YAY for improvement! :) I checked a tripod out from the school today so I'm eager to set it up and go try some night photography! :) I'm going to ask Christopher and John if I can come to their apartment in downtown since they have roof access. That'll make for some interesting vantage points.
Anyway, I could talk about photography forever so I'll shut up now. I think once we start scanning images and messing around with the digital aspect of photos I'm going to start up a photo blog. :) I want a place where I can post my best and worst work together so I can compare how each improves over time. Anyway I better get going. I have so much more I want to write about but I need to go buy some film and negative sleeves haha.

L.A./O.C. with Sarah

I haven't been blogging much because i've been busy. Last weekend sarah and I went to L.A. We visited Universal Studios, Hollywood Blvd/Walk of Fame, the hollywood sign, and Rodeo Drive. On the way down to San Diego we hopped on pacific coast highway from Huntington Beach all the way down till it hits the 5 again. We stopped in Newport for some food and watched a GORGEOUS sunset. My friend daniel was kind enough to host us for a night. He's pretty awesome and i miss him a lot already. While we were in Hollywood my friend Chris and his bf Dan met up with us and were kind enough to show us around the town a bit. I love those guys!

Sarah went home this morning. :( I'm going to miss her but I know we will keep in touch. I can't believe I've only known her for about three weeks. It seems like we've known one another so much longer because we totally clicked and spent so much time together. With her around, I've had the opportunity to learn some french. I find that french comes very naturally for me. It might be because I already am fluent in spanish. I understand french a lot better than I can speak it but I'm catching on quickly. Hopefully I'll be good enough at it to get around by the time I go to Paris next summer!

I got some practice in with my photography. My class starts tomorrow! yay! my favorite pic that i took is the one with the tree and the sunset behind it :)

I work hard, and play even harder.

This week has been so busy but it's been loads of fun! It started with the party at Tabbys on saturday. Monday Tabby Nicole Pam and I all went to go see the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I absoloutley loved it! Yes, I know it's cheesy! I actually cried at some parts. Their friendship reminds me a lot of the friendship I have with Tabby Bren and Lins. Those three girls are amazing. No matter what's happening or if we're mad at each other (which doesnt happen often) if one of us needs the other, we're so there. Tabby and I have a unique friendship. We can go months without talking but we're always close. Even when life throws us in seperate directions our friendship had always stayed intact. I've been spending a lot of time with her as of late and I love it. It's like old times but better.

Wednesday night I went over to Chris and John's apartment in the gaslamp downtown. That place is amazing. The guys have done an awesome job with the interior decor bu of course it helps that they're both studying architecture. Jeff went over, too which was great. He's been gone a lot so I kinda missed my buddy. Em brought over some of her new decal designs and they were great! I'm ordering some stuff for her to put in my room. I like her style quite a bit. We walked around downtown trying to find a place to eat and we stumbled upon Bucca de Beppos. It was my first time there and the food was absoloutley delicious. Then we went back to the apartment and went up to the rooftop. It gives an interesting view of downtown and all the buildings. I can't wait to post pictures. gah...stinkin router.

Do you want to know why I love Christopher? I decided I love him because he's one of the few guys I can say "I have bad gas." to and he doesn't get grossed out. Instead he'll go get me some anti-gas pills. Ohhh I almost forgot. They sent him 10 copies of the Men on a Mission calendar (he's Mr. October) and he looked GREAT! I actually started blushing. It was awkward hanging out with him and seeing the calendar at first because he looked really good haha. It hits the malls in September so you best be looking for it!

I also love Mr Daniel Noon. He pretty much saved Sarah and I. We were having one heck of a time booking a hotel in Hollywood at a decent price that wasn't a whore house and he offered to let us crash at his apartment in Northridge. I'm so excited to see him! :)

Today I went to lunch with the girls again at Olive Garden. I love the lunch special! :) And I love you. Thanks for reading my insomniatic musings.

Ain't no party like a Tabby party!!!

Last night was crazy fun!!! Tabby had a party to celebrate her mom's birthday AND her puppy-dog Ashley's birthday! Chris even brough a "pupcake" for Ashley and Sam to eat haha. Anyway...what was so amazing was that everyone was there! Everyone as in all the kiddos we basically grew up with through high school...Kerrie, Andrea,Tabby, Nicole, Chris E, Brandon, Stefan, Gary, Shaina, Chris H, Chris F, Brandy, James, Sarah, Angel, Pam, Linn and a ton of other people. There were a few missing. :( I know it's a lot of us and you're probably wondering how such a large group of people can all be best friends...basically we were. It's wasn't impossible. We all had unique and close relationships one another. We've had our drama but more than anything we've had one another's back no matter what. It's the stuff friendship is made of.

We were always so close but after graduation we slowly all went our seperate ways. What is so amazing is that when we all see each other, we pick up where we left off. It's like we never missed a day. There isn't that awkward reacquaintance period at all. My wireless router is being lame so I can't use my computer to upload all the pics right now. However, I'll probably upload a whole bunch once I'm at Sarah's dorm. We're going to Universal Studios this weekend and then spending the next day doing all the touristy crap around L.A. :) It shall be great fun!

I also took Sarah with me ( see previous blog to figure out who that is) and I think she had a great time! She probably thinks americans are nuts but that's okay. It's pretty much an understatement haha.

I made it to the library....here are some pictures from that night. I'm going to go steal some more from tabby and kerries myspace.

Sporatic bursts of thought.

There really isn't any particular topic for my blog today. I'm just going to rattle off whatever I feel like writing about.

As some of you know, I've recently joined the Couch Surfing community. (couchsurfing.com) I'm enjoying it quite a bit because it's a great way to make friends with people all around the world. Tonight was the first time I met a friend from there. Her name is Sarah and she's here from Paris. We met up in front of Ben & Jerry's at Horton and went to get some paninis for dinner. Christopher and John joined us for some chit chat then she and I decided to go drive around. She'll only be here a couple more weeks so I want to make sure she sees as much of San Diego as she can. We went to La Jolla to visit the LDS temple. It was gorgeous as ever! We then drove down to the cove and watched the seals for a little bit. Then we walked around Prospect Street to take in the sights and sounds of the upscale La Jolla nightlife. She is a such a cool girl and I'm so glad I met her. She and I have a lot in common, even in our family situations. When you get to know people around the world you start to see that we're really not all that different. We all have more in common than we think we do, and the similarities outweigh the differences. When I go to Paris, hopefully next summer, I'm definitley going to hang out with her. Fortunately facebook and msn messenger are global so we'll have that to keep in touch as well!

I already registered for classes! I think I mentioned that in a previous blog...but I've also decided to change my major. I've been wrestling between nursing and social work. Nursing offers great job security and a great salary, but it isn't something I feel passionate about. It's something I'd end up doing more for the money. On the other hand, social work would offer me a decent occupational outlook and a salary I could comfortably live on, but the earning potential wouldn't be as high as is I was to go into nursing. After careful consideration and counsel with my mom, I think I'm going to go with social work. I'd rather do something I feel passionate about for the rest of my life, rather than do something I loathe but make a little more money. I wouldn't starve if I was a social worker so I'd still be well off enough. I already work in the social work field and I've applied for promotions within my company. There was only one position available as a supervisor and I was one of the top two candidates. The main reason why the other person had an edge over me was because they had the educational background and a few more year's worth of experience under their belt. Both are things I can acquire myself. Needless to say, even though I didn't get the promotion, it was still a learning experience for me. I'd never done something so bold in my career life. Not only was it a learning experience but it also brought me a sense of confidence and empowerment. I'm going to keep applying for promotions when they're available until the day I get the job. Something's got to give eventually!

I went to Sea World again. I love it there! I am absoloutley fascinated by marine life. I think my next passion after social work would be marine biology. Once my foot is better and I have a little more money saved up I would like to go for my SCUBA certificate. I'd love to combine my passions for photography and marine life and do some underwater photogtaphy. I think one of my favorite animals is the sea turtle. There are so many species of them but I think my two favorites are the green turtle and the leatherback turtle. Sea world has a few turtles. It would be so much fun to just go swimming with them!

Anyway folks, this is all for now. It's past my bedtime and I need to start getting on a more timely sleep schedule so I'm not all out of whack when school starts.

Au revoir!