Is it spring break yet?

This year for my spring break I'm doing something fun! Usually I am practical and decide to work for that week, but this is probably my last spring break I'll ever get. (sad!) So Brandon and I are going to travel to the Pacific Northwest!

To start, we will probably go to Vancouver, B.C. "What are you going to do there?" you ask... Tons of fun stuff!!

We are also going to visit Seattle. I LOVE this place! Especially the market! Hopefully my Best Friend in the Whole Wide World (BFWWW) and my BFWWW-in-law will spend the day here with us too. And another Best Friend has "penciled" me in her schedule to spend the day there too. Hopefully that pencil mark will turn into an ink mark!!!!

Next on our adventures, I think, will be the Olympic National Forest. Pretty! Washington forests like this ALWAYS have giant slugs. And they gross me out every time. But I'm excited to watch out for them!

And last, but definately not least, we will see the sights of the beautiful Olympia. My goal while being here is to find a tree hug-ish shirt that says "Olympia is organic" or something like that. WHOOO! Only one point five months!!

Sad day

The day has come for me to give up sweets. Since starting grad school I have picked up the WORST eating habits!! And I heard (from a guy at a bike store) that when training for an event, you have to be careful about what you eat. So far today I ate chips and salsa for breakfast, jambalaya with buttered garlic bread for lunch, M&M's, ice cream, and a treat my mom hasn't brought back from the store yet. And it's only 6:30. I still plan on eating dinner and brownies after that. :) So after talking to that guy, I decided I should cut the sweets out of my diet until the race. BUT... I'm not fully committed to giving up my sweets yet. I'll cut them out only on weekdays. Maybe when it gets closer to the race I will cut more out. But I love them so so SO SO SO SO SSSSOOOOOO much! Stupid triathlon!

BLEH!

So, today has NOT been the happiest day in my life. It's just one of those days... one of THOSE days. To cheer myself up I'm thinking about things that have made me HAPPY. :) Good idea, yeah?

1. Today I found out that there is a web site that'll show you movies for FREE! FOR FREE!! And not just any movies... movies that are in the theater RIGHT NOW! Here's the link. http://tvshack.net/. It's not the best quality, but free is free, right?

2. I am remembering my trip to Hawaii a few years ago, and one of my favorite things was laying on the beach reading the Twilight books. Maui... GOOD! Twilight... GOOD! Sunburned armpits... NOT GOOD!

3. Summer days at the pool. Every Saturday you can find me at the pool with my floatation device. AHHHHH!

4. Hiking the Narrows. That is the funnest hike I've ever done. EVER. Whenever I do that hike I keep thinking about it over and over... excited for the next time I can go. I love being in the water and being active and camping. This is the best combo since...

5. SWIMMING! I used to hate swimming. But now I can't get enough. I love it! As you may know, I'm training for a sprint tri so I've been swimming 3 times a week. I just love that I can see some improvements. I started out barely able to swim the length of the pool, now I can swim far... the new Michael Phelps (minus the pot). I love looking at the bottom of the pool (for some reason), I love that I don't get hot and sweaty, and I love that I can get a good workout without the stress on my body.

6. There is one memory I have that ALWAYS makes me smile. It was a few years ago, my friend slash roommate, Shannon, invited me to go to Island Park with her and her family and they rented wave runners! So fun! I love love LOVE water sports. So I was driving us and I like to go fast, maybe a little too fast. But I hit a wave and I felt Shannon let go of me, and when I looked behind me, all I saw was her body flying... FLYING off the wave runner. She airborne going sideways and so far away from the machine. I'm not sure how she didn't get hurt because it was a really hard crash. But that mental picture is one of my favorites.

7. Getting letters in the mail. Thanks to my good friend Robyn!! I'm horrible at sending letters in the mail, but getting them are my favorite!

8. Watching Gilmore Girls. I just love those two! I love the song too. They always cheer me up! It reminds me of when Kim and I drove across the country when she bought her new car. We drove all the way from Boston to Idaho Falls... that's 2,437 miles. One day and 13 hours of driving. Needless to say, we watched several seasons over those few days! So much fun though. We talked and giggled the whole time. :)

9. I really like painting my nails lately. I like to chose a fun new color. Yesterday they were a dark grape-y color. Today bright red. YIKES! But fun.

10. U-Swirl. MMMM!!!! Yogurt is such an amazing creation.

Reflections

So, it's a new year and as I was reflecting back on 2008, I realized that so many memories and experiences of mine have been embedded with the music I was listening to. There are some songs that will always let me remember what I was doing during that time in my life. So I decided to make a list of the 20 most listened to songs of last year. The interesting/sad thing is that some of these songs I can't even listen to anymore... I've over-listened to them and now I can't stand them anymore... but that's not the point. The point is these songs were a big part of my life in 2008. So here is the soundtrack to my life... 2008 edition:

1. WHEN WATER COMES TO LIFE by Cloud Cult
2. CAVES by Jack's Mannequin
3. I'M YOURS by Jason Mraz
4. FOUNDATIONS by Kate Nash
5. COLD DECEMBER by Matt Costa
6. MR. PITIFUL by Matt Costa
7. THE FUTURE FREAKS ME OUT by Motion City Soundtrack
8. FAKE EMPIRE by The National
9. MY RIGHTS VERSUS YOURS by The New Pornographers
10. CHALLENGERS by The New Pornographers
11. VERY LOUD by Shout Out Louds
12. STAY by Small Sins
13. CRACK THE SHUTTERS by Snow Patrol
14. COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING by Sufjan Stevens
15. M79 by Vampire Weekend
16. I STAND CORRECTED by Vampire Weekend
17. WALCOTT by Vampire Weekend
18. CAPE COD KWASSA KWASSA by Vampire Weekend
19. NEW SOUL by Yael Naim
20. THE RESOLUTION by Jack's Mannequin

I'm going to try to put these on here as a playlist for y'all... It might take some time though because I'm CLUELESS about how to do it.

*UPDATE!! I added my songs! WHOO! But there are a few that I couldn't find. Like the Jack's Mannequin songs and the new Snow Patrol songs. So you really need to look those up and listen to them on your own. You won't be disappointed!

Christmas Part-ee

Oh, man!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! My roommates and I had a little party tonight with our friend, Ashley. I truly love getting presents... it's just the excitement of opening something. I am crazy about surprises... Someone could tell me they have a surprise for me and give me a half-eaten sandwich, and I'd be TICKLED!

At this party, we watched our new favorite TV show... REAPER. I am in love with Sam. For reals! I think we have something really special going on. He is a bounty hunter for hell, but he's a really good guy... and super brave because some of the escaped souls are really SCARY! Isn't he DREAMY!?! I think he's replacing my crush on Seth Green... and I might even choose him over Fred Savage... and Fred is one of my first loves, so you know Sam is special!

Speaking of LOVE... I am in love with my socks in this picture. Do you see them? They are the long stripe-y ones. All day I've been thinking, "Man I love these socks!" So comfy! So warm! So striped! They are called smart wool socks. Try them when you have an extra $20 to spend on socks... or just ask for them for Christmas, like I did... THANKS BRANDON!! Anyway, in this picture, we are opening one of our presents that Shannon gave us... GINORMOUS cups. Useful for hot chocolate, soup, cold cereal, ice cream, etc... All good things!

So after opening presents and a few episodses of Reaper... we had a dance party. I LOVE Ashley's dance moves... so funny!

Well, this was one of my favorite parties I've had. Maybe next year I'll have more than 3 friends? That can be another New Year's resolution. :)

Baby it's cold outside

Yesterday I was still picking tomatoes off my plant... and today this happened...

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW! The trees around here aren't very happy about it. The branches kept breaking off and we were scared they were going to crush our cars... or us. But it was super fun for me. We made snow angels and Rocco played in the snow too. I like the snow, just as long as I don't have to drive in it, be cold, or walk in slush. I DO enjoy the crunchy snow (not for eating, but for listening) and cross country skiing.

Sprint Triathlon

I decided that one of my New Year's resolutions would be to complete a sprint triathlon. I think it will be do-able... in the sprint triathlons you swim half a mile, run a 5K, and bike a 10K. I'm really nervous about it though because I have to swim in the ocean! And I can't swim, period. The last time I played in the ocean, it wouldn't give me back. It just kept taking me farther and farther out. I had to have one of my big guy friends pull me to the shallow part so I could touch. ScARy!! But I am going to start training now, so that by May 17th, I'll be ready to CONQUER! So, yesterday I started to train... not by swimming, but by running one mile. And it took me 10 minutes. And I felt like I was going to DIE! I hate running. Biking is fun though. Anyway, have any of you participated in a triathlon of any kind? Any adivice on ocean swimming? Or how to enjoy running? I need HELP! Thanks!