My Favorite Holiday

Vegas heat so hot it feels like a rocket is going off in your face, multi-flavored sno-cones, swimming pools, hiking, parades, American flags, hot dogs and hamburgers...and not least of all-FIREWORKS. These are just some of the things that make the Fourth of July my favorite holiday. As my recolection goes, my love for this holiday was born when I was about 12-I had a day that included all of these things, and I just remember thinking that it was a perfect day.

Since then, I have had varying degrees of mediocre to great Fourths. But, this year, I was determined to make it a perfect day. With the help of a couple good friends, I was able to do all the things I wanted to...

1. Attend a Parade

2. Eat a Sno-Cone (7-11 slurpee will do)

3. Go Swimming (video of hand-stand contest coming)

4. Go to a BBQ (sorry no pic of the actual bbq attended-but it was fantastic)

5. Watch fireworks (we did at Lake Las Vegas)

5. Do fireworks (sparklers will suffice-our "sparklers" turned out to be sparkling birthday candles...)

6. Go on a hike (done friday afternoon)

It was the perfect day. Next year, I'm thinking of taking a 4th of July roadtrip-to see what other cities do.

A New Fav...

One of my new favorite singers is Joshua Radin. (I know I already mentioned him in our recent emails about music) But, I wanted to post the lyrics to one of my new favorite songs of his-'Brand New Day'-it's off his newest album that came out last year.

Some kind of magic Happens late at night When the moon smiles down at me And bathes me in its light I fell asleep beneath you In the tall blades of grass When I woke the world was new I never had to ask It’s a brand new day The sun is shining It’s a brand new day For the first time in such a long long time I know I’ll be ok Most kind of stories Save the best part for last And most stories have a hero who finds You make your past your past Yeah you make your past your past It’s a brand new day The sun is shining It’s a brand new day For the first time in such a long long time I know I’ll be ok This cycle never ends You gotta fall in order to mend It’s a brand new day It’s a brand new day For the first time in such a long long time I know I’ll be ok

I just love these words-and actually, I think he always has clever lyrics. There is just such a soothing quality to his voice...check him out. (You can listen to several of his newer songs on his website)

http://www.joshuaradin.com/

Adventure Girl

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about who I am, what I want to do w/ my life, what I want to define me and how I want to spend my time. And I've come to the conclusion that I'm not doing a lot of the things that really make me happy-at least not regularly. Many of the things that kept coming up on my list were more "adventure" type hobbies. Things where I could get outdoors, smell the fresh mountain air, do some sort of envigorating exercise, take my dogs w/ me, ponder and meditate...So, I have decided that I just need to do it-I need to take the plunge and start actually doing these things more often. There is nothing holding me back. Some of the adventure hobbies I've been missing are horseback riding, shooting, hiking, camping and kayaking. One at a time, I am going to start doing these things more-so, hopefully, pretty soon this image will come to mind when you think of me...

ps, thought this pic was really funny-people do the craziest things!

Resolutions May

I know, I know-I'm late. Here we are here at the end of May and I have not made any entries about my resolutions. I have actually had one goal for this month though. And I am pleased to say that I have been working on it little by little. In the last five months or so, I have developed a rather annoying attribute-shyness. I have NEVER considered myself to be shy or timid, but alas, somehow in my switch to the singles realm, I have developed this quality. I get really nervous in social settings. My palms sweat, I get butterflies in my stomach, and frequently say things that don't make any sense when I'm trying really hard to be clever-What's even worse, I often come up utterly blank when trying to create conversation.


However, I realize that I will never get over my fear/shyness if I don't take the trouble to practice. So, I have made a goal to speak to one person that I don't know very well each time I attend church, FHE or any other social gathering. And, guess what? I have started to make some new friends! I have a circle of people that I am getting to know there and that I actually feel comfortable with.


I attribute this mostly to the fact that I recently participated in the YSA Singles Conference "So You Think You Can Dance" dance competition w/ our ward. We had practices three times/week for a about a month. So, that gave me the perfect opportunity to get to know some people.

So, I guess that's been my goal for this month-get out of my comfort zone! Challenge myself to reach out to others around me, make friends...

(Visit me on facebook to see a video of the dance-can't figure out how to post it here-sorry.)

And then there was...Hawaii

Jolynn and I just returned from our "second honeymoon" as I lovingly call our latest trip to Hawaii together. We went to celebrate her spring break, our birthdays and my sanity. We spent seven wonderful days in a little town on the north shore of Oahu called Laie. This is where the LDS Temple, Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU are located. It boasts other such attractions as McDonalds, Taco Bell, a Chevron gas station, Subway, wild roosters and chickens which roam the streets freely, rugged, green carpeted jungle mountains, beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal clear warm water as far as the eye can see. It is a beautiful place.







We stayed with one of our friend's sister and her husband, their cute family of six kids under the age of 8 and their renter. They were so generous to let us stay in their daughter's bedroom for the whole week! We enjoyed watching those little brown babies play endlessly outside, mostly without shoes, hanging in their tree.

We mostly wanted this trip to be unplanned so that we could really relax and do everything or nothing if we wanted--and that's exactly what we did. A whole lot of napping, reading or listening to our iPods in the beach. We also took the bus into town one day, got mani's and pedi's, visited the International market where we bargained with the cutest little Asian women for jewelry, and walked up and down the touristy parts of Honolulu. The next day, we took the bus up the coast to some really cute little towns with lots of artsy shops and great eats-turned us on to the best breakfast ever-imagine if you will:berry smoothie in a bowl with granola and sliced bananas and honey drizzled over the top. YUMM! Try it, you'll thank me later.
Anyway, it was a great trip--I would highly recommend such a vacation if you'd like to get a lot of R&R, dont' mind looking slightly homeless for the duration due to the fact that it is too humid to do your hair or makeup, and would like to come back looking like an Argentine.

Resolutions-April

Wow, can't believe it's April already. It seems like time is flying by in a blur-which is actually really good. It means things are moving along. It means that I am able to put some distance between me and some of the challenges that I've been facing. It means that I'm moving on.

For my April resolution, I decided to be more Creative. My very first semester of college, I signed up to take a class that I thought would be an "easy A"--Sculpture 101. I thought that we would spend our time working in clay, molding tea cups, vases or at the most, a bust of ourselves. I thought that because I have been more creatively inclined all my life I would be a natural in Sculpture 101. I though that this class would be a breeze. But, as it turned out, I was assigned to a teacher named Curtis Fairman, who was very much like Jack Black in School of Rock in the way that he was extremely passionate about what he was teaching. And I really had to work hard to get the 'B' I earned in that class. The class taught us how to work in all different mediums including paper, wood, metal, plastic, cloth-ANYTHING and everything-to create art that shared a message. This class changed my perception of what Art is-prior to this class I would have said, "art is something beautiful that we like to hang on our walls, or put in a china closet." Through the course of this class, my views were expanded to include both the beautiful and the grotesque-both things that you want to look at and things that you hope you will never see again-as long as it shares a message, it is art.

Curtis Fairman

Everyday of my five years in the UNLV Art Department was interesting, thought provoking, therapeutic and I always left with a greater appreciation for opinion/views of others and a deeper understanding of my own. I have never felt as confident and self-assured as I did then. I have never felt so emotionally healthy as when I was utilizing that creative outlet on a daily basis. So, for my resolution this month, I am going to try to spend at least five minutes a day doing something creative. It might be a five minute sketch, making dinner, setting the table, arranging flowers, color coding/organizing my closet, etc. Whatever it is, I will do it consciously, with the idea of communicating something...here it goes!

Resolutions-March

This post is coming very late in the month, I realize. And although I haven't blogged about it, or even thought about it in terms of a resolution, I have had a goal in mind this month. I have been trying to have more FUN.

Because of my new path in life, I am having to change my daily routine quite a bit. I used to work 8-5 every weekday, go home, cook dinner, clean, watch The Office and go to bed. (I'm a homebody, so this was fun to me-I LOVED my routine) However, I am told that this is not the best use of my time now that I am single. I have to "make appearances" at places, I have to go out, try new things and have fun. Not bad, right? Except that this concept of "going out" to "meet new people" (fyi, picture Jolynn's resonating voice with each quotation mark) is a little terrifying to me. I will say that aside from the many sweaty palms, stomach aches and incredible anxiety I have felt, I have had A LOT of fun. And it is entirely thanks to Jo.

Here is my new daily routine...

8-5 Work

6-8ish Dinner (sometimes I cook, sometimes I don't)

8-9 get ready to go out

9-12 go out (this may include any of the following activities: YSA FHE, sushi tasting, bowling, pie party, game nights, dancing, movie nights, having friends over, etc.)

12-2am, go to bed