The Olympics

Holy Cow, the Olympics were so awesome! I love the summer Olympics. I'm not sure why exactly. Growing up, my family didn't have cable, so when the Olympics came on, it was great tv! I think I always wanted to be an athlete too. I'm not a swimmer or a gymnast or anything and I'm not particularly found of hot weather, but to me the summer Olympics is where it's at. The Bejing Games have been super awesome. Hello? Did anyone watch the opening ceremonies? They were crazy out of control awesome. That's right...awesome. My favorite part by far was the tai chi masters all moving in unison. It was brilliant...well the whole thing was. And then there was Michael Phelps. If you didn't see his races you totally missed out. What an amazing guy. I loved it when he was screaming towards the end of the 4x4 relay. Um, and did anyone see the kids abs? Wowsers, those were some muscles! I watched the other swimming events, some gymnastics, some beach volleyball, a little track, the gold metal basketball games and the marathon. I DVR'ed the whole two weeks of coverage, so I fast-forwarded through everything else (like rhythmic gymnastics and table tennis). China looks ah-mazing too. Can't wait to see the Great Wall. It is definitely going on the "to-do" list! Besides everything Michael Phelps, here is a clip of my most favorite moment of the Olympic broadcast...



(Side note: Did anyone else find Nastia's name hilarious/unfortunate? Because, you know, she's in gymNASTIcs? It makes me think of that one movie preview where the girl goes, "It's not called gymNICEtics!" Love it!)

My High School Reunion

Well tonight was my high school reunion. Yes, I graduated 10 years ago. I didn't go. I was going to but plane tickets got to be too expensive. I figured it would be better to save money and just stay home and watch the Olympics. I'm bummed in a way, like I might have missed out on something.....like the chance to see some of the jerks I went to school with for 13 years. It's weird to think that I actually knew some of those kids that long. I mean I could name at least twenty kids that I knew the whole way. And I think it would've been interesting to see them all grown up. I'm sure this must be amusing to some of you that knew me then, considering it was almost impossible to get me to go to high school when I was actually IN high school. Whatever. I tried to rally some of the kids I actually was friends with at Prairie, but none of them cared enough to pay to show up either. I guess I get to see my most favorite person from high school all the time anyways (Ben). I keep telling myself that not going was probably better, like I saved myself from some neurosis. I guess I'll never know for sure. Here's a picture of one of my favorite memories from high school. (None of these kids were there either, so I guess I didn't miss that much!) And here I am with my sister, Becky, right after graduation over 10 years ago! AHH, I'm old!

Movie Review: Waitress

Waitress staring Keri Russell, and written and directed by Adrienne Shelly was a very sweet movie. At least I thought so. Keri Russell (who I love from Felicity) plays Jenna a waitress at Joe's Pie diner. She's in a horrible marriage, accidentally gets pregnant (is not happy about it) and has a fling with her married OB/GYN, all the while baking some excellent pies. There were some hilarious moments (like spontaneous poetry) that made me laugh out loud. The one thing that bugged me about the movie though, was that the pies didn't look as amazing as I thought they should have. I really wanted to eat some of them anyway, (because of their names) like Naughty pumpkin pie, or I hate my husband pie. Other than that, it was a sweet story with a great message...It's never too late for a fresh start. Favorite quote from the movie: "If I had a penny for everything that I loved about you, I'd have many pennys."

Seattle

Ben and I went to Seattle this weekend. It was great. I love Seattle and we had a really nice day Friday walking around being tourists. We went to one of my favorite places for coffee and cake, the B&O Cafe (this cafe was mentioned in my USA travel guide, and all of Vancouver was left out). I got a Valencia Mocha and a piece of Chocolate Raspberry torte and it was super good. Then Ben and I went down to Seattle Center and took some pictures of the Space Needle. I even bought a Space Needle charm for my charm bracelet. While we were walking around Seattle Center, KEXP 90.3, Ben's favorite radio station, was having a free outdoor concert. It was perfect timing! We didn't know the band, but it was just nice to sit outside, enjoy a cold beverage, and hear some great live music. It made me miss living in Seattle A LOT. We then drove down to the Pier and took a nice little walk along the water and ended up at one of the best book stores ever, The Elliot Bay Book Company. Ben and I could have easily spent a whole day there, but we had to keep it short so we could meet some old friends. Saturday we got breakfast with Ben's brothers before we got ready and headed out to his cousin's wedding (the reason for this visit) in Gig Harbor. The wedding was at a beautiful location, had excellent food, awesome pyrotechnics, great music, and as promised was a total love fest. It was great to be there and see all of Ben's family. On Sunday, Ben and I got breakfast with one of my good buddies, Steve-O. Then we walked around Jaunita Beach and did some window shopping before getting ready to come back to Tucson. It was a quick but nice time and I can't wait to go back!

Music That Matters Monday

I've added a new feature to my blog...a playlist player. I love music and going to concerts and festivals, but no one has ever heard of the artists I really enjoy. I thought this might be a good way to share some of the great music I love with all of you! Check out my first "music that matters"....Bon Iver.

Make sure to check out my other links too!

Lake Powell

This last weekend Ben and I drove 10 hours to Lake Powell (It's on the border of Arizona and Utah). One of Ben's good friends from college works in Ogden, and goes on a big house-boating trip each year. This was our second year driving up. The water wasn't as warm as last year, but it was more relaxing and fun and Lake Powell is beautiful. On the second night (we were there three nights) a storm came in and rain poured down on us for about 45 minutes. It was crazy! Here are a few shots from the weekend.

Summer Semester Is OVER!

I'm done with Summer Semester and am now officially on vacation! YAY! Summer Vacation usually lasts about two months, maybe even three when you're a student...NOT TWO AND A HALF WEEKS! But I'm going to make the most of it! I finished my Psychiatric rotation last week and took my final test of the semester early. I'm really hoping I passed, but I won't find out officially until Thursday, so I'm still slightly stressed. I learned a few things with this last rotation of the semester. One thing that I learned was, no matter how crazy I have felt in my life, I have NEVER EVER been crazy. NEVER EVER. So, that was nice to learn. I was also reminded what an integral part Psychology is in all our lives. I picked up this list while hanging out on the Psych ward and thought I would post it for all of you, but mostly for me.

HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF

1. STOP ALL CRITICISM. Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.

2. DON'T SCARE YOURSELF. Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure, and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.

3. BE GENTLE AND KIND AND PATIENT. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.

4. BE KIND TO YOUR MIND. Self hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Don't hate yourself for having the thoughts. Gently change your thoughts.

5. PRAISE YOURSELF. Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.

6. SUPPORT YOURSELF. Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. it is being strong to ask for help when you need it.

7. BE LOVING TO YOUR NEGATIVES. Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So lovingly release the old negative pattern.

8. TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY. Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercises. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.

9. MIRROR WORK. Look into your eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. Talk to your parents looking into the mirror. Forgive them too. At least once a day say: "I love you, I really love you!"

10. DO IT NOW. Don't wait until you get well, or lose the weight, or get the new job, or the new relationship. Begin now and do the best that you can.

I hate USAirways!

I hate USAirways. They suck BIG TIME! They have screwed both me and Ben over several times. When we flew to Europe this last Christmas they lost our bags and it took TWO days to get them. That infuriated me. I mean, it was totally preventable and there I was, stranded in one of the most expensive cities in the world (London, which I happen to love) on my PERIOD with no clean clothes. That pissed me off to no end, but now here I am dealing with their crap AGAIN.

USAirways is based out of Phoenix, we live close to Phoenix, their tickets are cheap, Ben flies with them a lot for business, we've racked up a ton of miles....these are the reasons we usually fly USAirways. I'm starting to think that NONE of these reasons are good enough to put up with this crap. Did you know that they are charging for WATER now!? That's just criminal! I mean, what if you were really, really poor, barely making ends meet and you had just enough to fly to get where you need to go. You can't bring water from home because they might think you're trying to blow up the plane or the airport. You are totally subject to paying the ridiculous fee for water on the plane or at the over-priced store in the airport. It's bullshit. The air on the plane totally dehydrates you. How are you supposed to take care of yourself? I suppose you just have to pay the damn five bucks for water. I thought we lived in a free country, but really we live in a FEE country.

I tried to get over the whole lost luggage debacle, I mean, I was in the greatest city in the world at the time. But now, all those old feelings are coming right back to the surface. When I flew to Salt Lake two weekends ago to visit the Sharps, I had an 11:45 flight. For any of you that have ever flown into Tucson, you know that there is one little security line and one little hallway that leads to the gates. It takes about five minutes from checking-in to walking to the gate. Ben and I never get to the airport more than an hour before our flight. NEVER, and we've never missed our flight. So, on Friday July 18, I was there, attempting to check in at about 11:07 for my 11:45 flight. I couldn't find my information. I stood at the kiosk patiently waiting for the one frazzled employee to assist me. "What the EFF...I got my stupid check-in online email just YESTERDAY, where's my reservation?" "Umm, it looks like we've bumped you to another flight." "WHHAAAAaat are you talking about, bumped me to another flight!?"

Apparently, because they didn't quite have a full flight they decided to re-route certain passengers so they could down-grade their plane size thus saving on fuel. Well that was all fine and dandy, except that they bumped me to an EARLIER flight, a flight that left a 11:27. I was finding all of this out at about 11:15. I was PISSED. I did all I could to get on a flight, but basically ended up waiting at the airport for FIVE hours until I was able to leave. I was so angry. And the best part is that USAirways' complaint/"customer relations" department is only open Monday through Friday 9-5, and they don't want to hear about ANYTHING until you've completed your travel. I was so angry, especially when the sad little employee at the counter AGREED with me about how I totally got screwed over. She gave me two 25 dollar coupons towards my next flight, which of course I have to use separately. ARGGGGHHH!!!

Well, I called the "customer relations" department and told them about my FIVE hour wait on Friday, I was presented with a 75 dollar coupon towards my next flight. And no, I can't combine it with my other coupons I got, and I have to use it to buy tickets over the phone where they charge a 25 dollar booking FEE!!! I am sooo pissed, it makes me want to just never fly anywhere ever, EVER again. I'm not even taking into account all the privacy invasion I had to suffer through in the security line after they switched my ticket, or how I can't bring my freaking toiletries or how I have to pay the stupid checked bag fee and risk not having my bags AT ALL! AHHHH!!!! I could go on forever, but I'm going to stop before I hurt something, like my poor innocent laptop. I guess I just won't be buying the tickets for my high school reunion today. I've got to move to Europe so I can just take the train everywhere.