Mai Soli

Bare Escentuals / Bare Minerals

2010-04-03T00:41:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago I won a $100 GC to BareEscentuals.com via rethinkwhatmatters.com. I was pretty darn stoked because I was trying to win that IWG for so long, but never managed a win til the 2nd to the last week! It would've been sweeter if I won the following week's $250GC prize, but I'll take it!

I had to use my GC by 4/2 so the items below are what I ordered. I got an extra (ordered TWO!) blendable collection so all in all, I just had to pay $10.80 out of pocket, which isn't too shabby at all. I figured it would be worth it :) So pretty much...

1 liner shadow, 13 eye shadows, 1 blush, 5 brushes, & 2 samples = $110.80

Retro Lounge Eye Kit

bareMinerals Retro Liner Shadow (black coffee)
Full-Edged Liner Shadow Brush

Blendable Eye Collection: Fruit Smoothie (x2 - I got 2 of these!)

Banana Smoothie Eyecolor (icy yellow sheen) (size: small)
Ginger Peach Smoothie Eyecolor (honey coral sheen) (size: small)
Mango Smoothie Eyecolor (sunglow apricot sheen) (size: small)

bareMinderals Candy Cocktails

bareMinerals Strawberry Daiquiri Eyecolor (icy pink shimmer) (size: extra-small)
bareMinerals Mojito Eyecolor (icy clover) (size: extra-small)
bareMinerals Long Island Iced Tea Eyecolor (vintage copper) (size: extra-small)
bareMinerals Kir Royale Eyecolor (deep plum) (size: extra-small)
Mini Eye Quickie Brush

Get Started: Eyes Cheek Lips: Medium to Tan

Lemon Zinger Eyecolor (a light peach gold matte shade), size Extra-Small
Noble Eyecolor (a copper leaf glimmer), size Extra-Small
Patio Party Liner Shadow (a bronzed bark shade), size Extra-Small
Joyous Jennifer Blush (a bronzed pink shade), size Small
Mini Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish in Ginger (a cognac shimmer) Double-Ended Contour Shadow & Define Brush Eyeliner Brush Angled Blush Brush

Dress Me Up

2010-03-01T04:18:00.003-07:00

I stumbled upon @lulusdotcom Twitter account by happenchance. I did a search for contests and their page happened to come up. I suppose it was serendipity because ever since then, I've fallen inLOVE with everything on their website.

I've taken a liking to dresses over the years (perhaps I am growing up after all?) and I just wanted to share a few that I absolutely adore from their website.

Myriad Dress - $39

Class Reunion Dress - $36

A Very Important Date Dress - $39

I hope I win a gift card from them soon so I can buy some really cute stuff. Haha :) Anyway, I just wanted to share. I really like this store. There's a great mix of affordable clothing and other high-end items. It was love at first site for me once I laid eyes on that Myriad dress.

Visit Lulu's today: http://www.lulus.com

Sleep Talking Man

2010-01-24T03:52:00.000-07:00

It's almost 4AM, but because I am cracking up so much right now, I need to share this with everyone. This couple was featured on Yahoo news a few days ago and it was just so full of 'WIN' that I had to go check it out for myself online. I found their blog and have been cracking up with every single entry. No joke.

http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com

A British man, a voice activated recorder, & a plethora of dreams make for some great entertainment. He talks in his sleep and oh man you simply can't make this stuff up. The best part is that they put up some actual audio of him sleep talking. It just adds so much more when you hear it. I know I'll have to share it with peter in the morning.

I don't know think I could ever sleep if Peter talked like this in his sleep. I would be laughing so much, I just wouldn't be able to contain myself and relax enough to get some sleep. So go check it out! I've had many many laughs thus far.

Lastly, I read this article tonight and it's just so super cute I have to share it :) I have a soft spot in my heart for dogs.

Off-road racing dog has skill and a need for speed

December Wins & some of January.

2010-01-21T04:14:00.001-07:00

It's more than half-way through January already! Where does the time go? Well, as I said before I had a pretty good December. With my brother & his girlfriend being here and all the traveling that we did, it was a really good time. I'm glad they finally got to see snow! What also made December great was all the wins that I managed to get even with entries dwindling off while my brother guys were here.

In December, I started a separate Twitter account for sweepstakes. Twitter has been VERY good to me sweepstakes-wise. Here are my wins for December (a majority from Twitter) @ symbols denote Twitter wins and who they are from.

12/1 - $15 BestBuy GC - MCR
12/3 - Pantech Impact cell phone - @PantechUSA
12/4 - DJ Hero game XBOX 360 - MCR
12/4 - $5 FYE GC - @fyeguy
12/7 - $100 GC - @Ticketmaster
12/12 - SRS iWOW Premium - @MyBellaMia
12/14 - $100 FYE GC - @fyeguy
12/14 - Avatar Thrill Pack - @McDonalds
12/15 - $50 NFLshop GC - @shopcybermonday
12/17- Mario Kart Wii - @GamerHotline
12/23 - Official NFL Football - @SportsAuthority
12/29 - Swatch watch - @SwatchUS
12/30 - Dell Mini 10v Netbook - @ChaCha

The best part about Twitter wins? They come SO fast! I've already received everything EXCEPT my Ticketmaster win. I need to check up on that and see what's up. I figure I'll give them a month before I contact them again? We'll see.

January started off really slow for me sweeps-wise, but it finally started picking up last week! In less than a week I managed to win 2 iPod Touches (!!!). I know, I've won all my iPods (and I got the one I won replaced less than 6 months ago with a brand new one for free!) .. someone loves me up there ^^^ really.

Anyhow, I was REALLY stoked to find out I won an iPod via @SRSLabs on Friday. It was a random drawing so that was cool. BUT I was already entering another iPod contest via @FIRE_Music. I felt I had a really good chance at it. They mentioned to *be creative* about WHY you should win and also hinted that giving them ideas for album names may have something to do with you winning (they have since deleted that Tweet though.. lol). I took it to heart & provided album names for them everyday until closing day. I came up with 70+ album name ideas, wrote haiku poems. I even downloaded their album and have been listening to it since.

I thought people would catch on to what I was doing. I figure if they really wanted to win they would get creative. No one really did. I just kept seeing my "original" tweets regurgitated all over the Twitterverse. I had a good feeling about my chances of winning once they started following me. They even replied at the same exact time I sent them a message (it was really strange. our msg's matched so well I thought they replied to me REALLY quickly) ... could it be fate?! Haha. Anyway, I spent HOURS thinking & researching possible album names. I got a lot of my ideas from previous bible lessons I've had & just knowledge I already possessed. I'm hoping they were able to get some ideas. It would be even cooler if they used one for their next album!

Overall, I felt it was a well deserved win & I really don't care what the others thought. I saw messages being posted & then deleted. Silly people. It's funny how petty people can be. They never said it was going to be random, dears. They blatantly asked, "why do you deserve to win?" Haha. Take your haterade and move along.

My hard work paid off and above all, I found a Christian band that I really honestly do enjoy listening to. I took the time to visit their website, listen to their music, & do my research. I know I'll continue to listen to them and I'll even sing one of their songs at Church this summer :) [take note, I am not a singer]. I'm really excited to receive their signed CD (!!) and the iPod Touch. It'll be an upgrade at the very least :)

So, thank you FIRE for the CD & iPod and allowing my creative juices to get going. It really hasn't been used in a long time. I needed that. Also, thank you for your music and spreading His message. I watched your video, don't worry, you've definitely found a fan :)

Check out FIRE!

Download FREE album: http://www.rockyourfaceoffforjesus.com
Website: http://www.firefules.com
Myspace: http://myspace.com/fireyouthrules
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FIRE_Music

Everybody Loves Raymond Episode

2010-01-04T03:54:00.000-07:00

This is just a side note... an afterthought of all things I've been wanting to post about these past weeks. I just never come around to actually finishing a post and hitting "publish." I've had many adventures over the past few weeks and many great lucky days I'd like to post about.... I will get to those eventually. Haha. What I really wanted to post about at the moment..

Have you ever watched that "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode where Debra finds a tape that Ray kept from 1982 with a recording of his then-girlfriend breaking up with him? Then this whole ordeal blows up where Ray wants to share all the things they've kept from past lovers.

Yeah, so I watched that episode the other week and I was just thinking about all the things that I have kept that past boys of interest have given me. It's just a funny thought. I wonder what Peter would say or think if I told him who certain things were from and their significance. LOL. I still wear & use some of those things and so does PETER! Unknowingly of course. Ahahah.

Watching that episode also made me want to open up my own box of past memories. Sadly, it's tucked away in my closet in Hawaii. I honestly don't think it would bother Peter knowing that blankets, stuffed animals, etc. once had a significance. As long as it doesn't mean anything anymore right? I'm just kind of sentimental and like to keep those kinds of things. Not that it means anything to me anymore, but it certainly does humor me and reminds me of some things that I may have forgotten :)

Here's to bigger, better 2010! Just 2 more years until the end of the world. I keeeed! Do you really believe that? Haha. I must say, 2009 managed to pull a full 360 on me though. If you know what went on my life in 2009, you know what I mean. It went up, down, up, down, down down down, down, up, up, up. Shall I call 2009 the essence of the Konami Code (*shows inner nerd)? It certainly tested my strength and spirit. THANK YOU to those that stuck with me & listened. I don't go to many people about my life, so consider yourself lucky ;P

Everything considered, I couldn't have ended 2009 on a higher note. I was just extremely blessed and continue to be blessed everyday. Needless to say, I was/am very lucky sweepstakes wise :) I'll post more about those wins later. <3

Wishlist

2009-12-12T15:48:00.002-07:00

This is mostly for my brother's reference. Haha. I HAVE to do this every year 'cause well, I have different taste ;) I guess you could say, I'm hard to shop for at times. This I really want have asterisks ***

SierraSnowboard.com
Use coupon code: Extra 10 (get 10% off)

Foursquare Polo Scout Belt - $5.99 ***
Special Blend Checkmate Bandana - $2.40
Special Blend Scout Belt - $4.79
Coal Dubai Hood Womens Beanie 2009 - $5.00
Arbor Saigon SS Tshirt (Red, Sz S) - $11.99 ***

Photojojo.com

Ultra Wide and Slim Camera + 24 exp - $32.00 ***
Magnetic Photo Rope - 2 for $20.00 ***
Fotoclips (110 pcs) - $10.00 ***

TKBtrading.com

EZ Eye Shadow Kit ***

Steppie's Shop @ Etsy

Flying Panda T-shirt (Sz S) - $25.00 ***
Panda Bums Tunic (Sz +1) - @28.00 ***

Lovely Charm's Shop @ Etsy

Big Sweet Kawaii Monkey lovers toy Phone Charm Strap - $18.00

Ebay

Panda MEDIUM Hand bag - $43.00 ************

Shadows Fall.

2009-12-05T08:22:00.002-07:00

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you."
Peter took this photo of me the day we went pumpkin picking @ Tigges Farm. I post processed it in Photoshop. Have a great weekend!

Winners Circle.

2009-12-04T08:37:00.002-07:00

I took a break from sweepstakes & contests when my life started going haywire and I basically lost interest due to all the background noise (drama) going on. I got back into it end of September-ish and I'm glad that I did! I've had a steady stream of wins and it's pretty amazing. Just a recap of what I've won over the 2 months:

those that I won under peter's name are in red.

10/13 - Snow White Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition - Fandango.com
10/17 - Snow White Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition - thedvdlounge.com

10/24 - 2 movie tickets - Coke
10/30 - NCAA Football '10 game Xbox 360 - Wendys
11/4 - Michael Jackson PEOPLE Tribute Book - People Mag
11/13 - DodgeTag toy - @FamilyFun
11/13 - Madden Football '10 game Xbox 360 - KFC
11/13 - Adidas Superstar shoes - Dew Green Label Gear
11/16 - Bayonetta Demo Early Access Code - Sega
11/17 - $10 BestBuy GC - MyCokeRewards.com
11/21 - $10 HomeDepot GC - Wendys
11/22 - NBA Live '10 game PS3 - GamingShogun.com
11/23 - New Era Hat - Dew Green Label Gear
11/24 - $25 Pizza GC - @ComcastSports
11/24 - $5 Home Depot GC - Wendy's
11/26 - CSI Drawstring Backpack - deadlyintentgame.com
11/26 - 2 oz soy-based candle - Glade
11/26 - $10 HomeDepot GC - Wendys
11/26 - $15 Best Buy GC - MCR
11/28 - 200 Microsoft Points - @getxboxcodes
11/29 - $25 BeautyTicket.com GC - @stylebakeryteen
11/29 - South Park XBL Download - @Xtival09
11/29 - 600 Microsoft Points - Doritos
12/1 - $15 Best Buy GC - mycokerewards.com
12/3 - Pantech Impact smart cell phone - @PantechUSA
12/4 - DJ Hero game XBOX 360 - mycokerewards.com <3333
12/4 - $5 F.Y.E. GC - @fyeguy

I also won a box of Little Debbie's cupcakes and probably some random other things. I am pretty damn super stoked to start receiving all of these things in the mail. LOL. DJ HERO! You can't even imagine how stoked I am for that. Man.. I hope I can get those video games in time for Christmas! Peter is going to be so so happy.

I have been quite lucky indeed. I am definitely blessed by The Man Above ^^... I won 2 big ticket items in the past 2 days. WOW. Is this what you call GOOD Karma? Maybe I should go pick up more children's names off of the angel tree? Haha, just kidding! Here's to hoping December will bring lots of luck and blessings. Tis the season :)

Oh & Lastly, if any one of you could be so kind to do me a tiny favor:
Can you please vote for my photo (http://twitpic.com/s1zzs) @ http://bit.ly/50iJcA -- It is #13 London Shenanigans. I'd greatly appreciate it!

Suspect.

2009-12-03T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's 4:30 am, but I just have to blog this. I am becoming more and more paranoid by the minute.

On Tuesday it snowed overnight, which was awesome because I LOVE snow. On Wednesday, there was a beautiful white coat of snow over everything. Peter let the dogs out in the backyard as usual. Aside from the snow, Peter noticed that there were FOOTPRINTS on our deck that led to our kitchen window. WTF. They were fresh footprints because obviously, the snow would've covered them up and who the f&ck would go in our backyard!? It's OUR private backyard. It was obviously a boys/men's footprints as well.

Now, I was up the whole time till 8AM Wednesday morning (I can't sleep at regular hours these days and usually sleep only 4-6 hours a day). I didn't hear anything except these new people that moved downstairs alive and kicking til the early morning. I didn't think anything of it until Peter told me what he saw.

Now tonight, I fell asleep in the living room and I suddenly start hearing BANGING noises coming from downstairs. It's 3:30AM what the f&ck man?! I listen closer and I can hear the dad, an older teenager, and their young son who doesn't seem any older than 6 years old. It's now 4:30 am and I can still hear them downstairs.

I can't sleep because I am so sketched out! They were banging around something and then one of them goes outside and I can hear them walking around. I can hear him poking around or doing something outside, but what? I didn't hear their car start (it's loud and clear as day when they start it), it's 4AM, 7 degrees outside. They're not smoking outside because they've been smoking inside ever since the fucking day they moved in!

I am getting freakin paranoid because something is NOT right here. I'm a night owl and apparently they ALL are too? However, who let's their young child stay up in the wee hours of the morning like that? Does this kid not go to school? I don't want to pass judgement, they seemed nice at first, but now I am just annoyed at everything.

These people are heavy smokers and I don't know why, but apparently they are allowed to smoke in the house! This REALLY annoys me, especially because we were asked if we smoked before we signed the contract. There is nothing in our lease that blatantly states that smoking is prohibited in the house. Therefore, Peter went down and nicely asked if they could smoke outside because our house shares a central AC/heating system. Therefore, all the vents in the house are interconnected. Unfortunately, smoke rises UP and even worse gets SUCKED THROUGH the vents when the heater turns on. Moreso, because of the weather, the wood windows warped and we haven't been able to open any of our windows for MONTHS now (this may be a good thing I guess if someone tried to break in). All the smoke gets caught in OUR house and is making our whole house wreak of the stench. I've had to open my doors on 30 degree nights because I couldn't breathe. I fucking hate smoke with a passion. These people were good about smoking outside for TWO days. I've resorted to covering our vents with Saran Wrap because they just smoke all freakin day.

I don't have a problem with people smoking. That's your fucking business. If you're around me and you're smoking, I'd just walk away and come back when you're done. Unfortunately, I can't leave my own house and these people simply can't go outside and have to subject me to this poison. I know it's like, "why should they bend over their ways because I don't smoke?" But where the fuck is the common courtesy? Obviously, I can't go outside in 10 degree weather everytime you're smoking. You're doing it all day! I don't smoke for a reason. I could never handle the smell, my nose is incredibly sensitive, and I can't breathe around that stench. Most importantly, second hand smoke is HORRIBLE for you.

A call to my landlord will be going out soon. We are getting out of our contract one way or another! I'll have to site the clause in the lease "Refrain from activities and/or noise or practices which disturb other TENANTS or neighbors." They are certainly disturbing my livelyhood. Peter & I should not have to suffer because of my landlord or these tenants. This place is overpriced, these people are using OUR driveway (yes it's ours. says so in our contract.), and I just want to get the hell out of here.

Goodness, I just really freakin` hate people sometimes. The more annoyed I get, the more I'll give back a taste of their own medicine. Good thing I have two huge doggies that like to run around a lot. If only I could teach them to bite on command.

/end rant

Friendships.

2009-11-28T23:58:00.001-07:00

I chatted with an old friend today. He never fails to make me laugh, whether intentional or not. I enjoy those kinds of friends. He brought up the obvious past that we never truly confronted head on. It was always blatantly obvious. No one could be so naive to not notice a single droplet of that energy. It was really hard to keep a straight face on during the conversation, without letting a smirk, smile, or bit of laughter slip through. To dissect someone who in many aspects share many of your own traits is challenging at best. It's hard to resist and maintain a perfectly good friendship. It's also relatively easy to ruin a perfectly good friendship over things we selfishly desire. We're an enigma in a riddle. An unavoidable addiction I tried to avoid so well. I love and hate him all the same.

Louis Vuitton. Seriously?

2009-11-27T23:59:00.001-07:00

Oh, I have been absent for my blog. There's been numerous moments where I've attempted to write up a "New Post" but I never got anywhere with it. FAIL on my part. There were a lot of things that I wanted to blog about. Unfortunately I just didn't. I spent time with friends, Peter, my pups... amongst other things.

Today was Black Friday. Peter was gracious enough to go with me to check out the deals. I wrote out a list of each store and items that I wanted from that store. However, some of the deals from the ads online clearly did not reflect the prices in store :( I want to go back today and see if there's any other deals out there.

Since Peter worked, I took to the internet to do some shopping! I ended up buying a sweet new FourSquare snowboarding outfit for myself -- jacket and pants. It was perfect since I've been eyeing that Jacket for over a month since I saw it at Zumiez! I got the last one in my size so I am happy! I also bought Peter's "big" present which was a FourSquare Michalira snowboarding jacket for him. I hope he likes the design... LOL. I went with a semi-crazy design but with neutral colors to go with his FourSquare pants that he already has. The reviews for this jacket was solid and he mentioned today he needed a new jacket :)

I also bought him a family-sized Black & Decker griddle (hey, it benefits me too!). I didn't realize how big it was soo I had to try and cover part of it up with my jacket and told him not to turn around the whole time. LOL. I also bought him "The Office" season 4 and when he put his stuff in the basket he was like "OoOoooo... I saw what you're getting me!" I guess that evened out the fact that I saw him with "House" in his hands. We're silly. Who actually thought you could shop for your significant other when you're WITH them?! Haha.

Conflict of the day: My brother calls me up saying, "Hey, what kind of Louis Vuitton bag do you want? We're at the LV store with mom."

Long story short, I thought I almost got out of it when she settled to (and bought) me a bag from Guess. && then my mom went and kept insisting I find a bag that I want from LV. She kept saying, "All the LV bags you have are my hand-me-downs. You don't have a bag of your own." I basically told her I'd rather have a "cheap" bag from Guess and cash to spend on stuff I am interested in like Electronics. I think that hurt her feelings and she sounded mad at me :( (man, I just can't justify spending THAT much on a bag!) She pulled the "Alright! I'll send you the Guess bag and cash. You and Dianne (my bros gf) can split all my bags when I die" card. Oh boy.

Yeah ok, so I guess she really wants to get a bag for me because that's the one thing she LOVES. I understand that. It would really give her pleasure to get something for me that she really loves. I can't believe I felt selfish denying her the pleasure by refusing a bag? I totally think that's what she thinks. Isn't that so backwards?! After talking to my bro again tonight, I decided to just go with the dang bag. I can't believe I got talked into this. Hello Louis Vuitton bag.

I don't know what my mom was on today (she bought herself and my bro's gf an LV bag)... but OK mom, be happy and buy me the bag. I have to send my bro a style that I like tomorrow. I'm eyeing the Totally PM in Damier Canvas. At least this style is less noticeable than the monogram canvas. Maybe I'll change my mind when I wake up...

I seriously don't need anymore bags than I already have. Hmm.. is it normal to already know everything I'm getting for christmas? That kind of sucks. Where's the element of surprise these days? Am I that hard to shop for? Boooo.

Twitter Contests

2009-11-17T04:51:00.000-07:00

I've been transitioning into doing more Twitter contests. They're rather easy to enter. Though my friends probably don't enjoy all the messages that I send out. "SPAM BOT" .. sure. Most of my friends rarely ever use Twitter anyway except to lurk and update every so often. In any case, I've made an account geared towards Twitter related giveaways. The first day, I managed to win a DodgeTag toy from @FamilyFun. It looks like a game Peter & I will enjoy.

Currently, most of my focus is on winning Twilight related contests. Hey, New Moon is coming out soon! I have Twilight fever. Nothing gets me going like a bunch of sexy vampires & werewolves ;) Here's some contests to check out:

@twilightMOMs - New Moon Soundtrack Giveaway: http://bit.ly/4A1EXF (ends Today! 12PM PST)
@twilightees - Free Twilight shirt w/ every 50 followers
@Shakefire - Shirt worn on screen by Robert Pattinson or The complete TWILIGHT book series & Twilight BLU-RAY: http://twurl.nl/syvm1l

Twitter Name: @xriyah

Black Friday Deals

2009-11-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a shopper, but I do love getting deals anytime I can find them. I'm currently checking out some of the Black Friday ads from various stores. Currently looking at the Target ad and it's looking promising. There's a few items there that I'm interested in/making a note of:

$3.99 - DVD Movies: Kung Fu Panda, Nights in Rodanthe, Dark Knight, Madagascar 2 ($5.99)
$12.99 - TV Seasons: House, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Friends
$10 - $17 Board Games: Balderdash, Catch Phrase, Scattergories, & Taboo

Make this deal sweeter with a $5 off coupon on Hasbro games

Appliances - $19 Griddle, $3 Coffee Maker, $3 Sandwich Maker
Electronics - $149.99 Sony Blu Ray player w/ $20 GC + $10 GC on purchases over $100. $119.00 for player. Not too bad.

I'm hoping the DVD deals & board games will be live online so I can get them via website instead. Then I'll have to decide if it's worth getting up early in the morning to snatch up those other deals. I've been wanting a coffee maker. Haha. The griddle would be a good present for Peter as well. GREAT for breakfast! My bro was also in the market for a Blu Ray player soo, for $119 that's pretty good.

I'm currently watching "Ngayon Nandito Ka." It's one of my favorite movies. I really have a soft part in heart for sappy filipino movies. Haha. This movie brings back so many memories and flashbacks in the Philippines. I really love it there... Although I didn't grow up there, I spent a good deal of my childhood there and a lot of good summers during high school. Watching all these filipino shows and movies also helped me to relearn the language and appreciate my culture more.

Man, I really miss the Philippines. I haven't been there for over 3 years. I love it there. I love the simplicity. I love living in the countryside. I love the silence of the night. One day.. I'll go back!

Scoots Magoots.

2009-11-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

This little man is a purebreed West Highland White Terrier. They are technically, Cairn Terriers, but white. Imagine that. He is a 7 month old puppy, 13.5 lbs, and almost fully grown. He was sitting in a sea of puppies that were going crazy and not once did he bark. He was very well behaved and cute.

Normally, I am against buying puppies from pet stores, etc. I just like to visit the pet stores to see all the cute little babies. This little guy was returned by the previous buyer and it seemed like the store owner was just trying to get rid of him. Poor little guy. He was going for a really good price and Peter got really attached to him, so I consented, said yes. I can't turn down an opportunity for a new doggy! I love dogs.

The guy gave us an "out the door" price with everything included-- dog + tax + papers (certifying he's a purebreed) + microchip + meds. Not to mention, he's all up-to-date on shots except for rabies ($5 at the Humane Society!). We figured we could take care of him and if worse comes to worse and we couldn't bring him to our new place (we're looking at places in Denver), we could find a really good home for him.

This little guy is such a ... "feminine" dog though. The only "small" dog I've ever wanted was a Boston Terrier (we couldn't get that one since she was $650!). I'm not the kind of girl that dresses their dogs up and carries them in their purse. He's kind of a scaredy cat. He's trying to mark his territory all over our house, even our Siberian Husky, Zeus. He cried when I put him in the bathroom to sleep, but he can't sleep in our room until he is fully potty trained. He already had a poop accident in the house yesterday! Thankfully, he pooped outside today. At least he doesn't run away.

He does have a bit of temper though. He gets really defensive when Zeus tries to play with him. Perhaps this is why he wasn't playing with the other pup's at the store? Then again, Zeus is also a bit much to handle. He's 70lbs and poking at this small 13lb dog! I'm trying to work on that though. Otherwise, he's a good dog. He loves to be cuddled, pet, and follows you around everywhere.

Oh yes, we named him Scooter.

Trekkin' It

2009-11-09T00:03:00.000-07:00

Peter got off of work early last night so we decided to go on a bike ride. We were both pretty hungry so we biked down towards 16th St. first to get some food. We planned on going to DP Dough, but "Taste of Philly" caught Peter's eye and we decided to go there. The guy was cool enough to let us bring our bikes in and eat inside. The philly cheesesteaks were absolutely delicious! Wow. The meet was perfectly tender, super hot and fresh, and the bread went well with everything. I enjoyed it.

After that we headed towards Bittersweet Park on 35th Ave. We ended up biking all the way to Sushi 1 and back to our house for a total of 9 miles! Wow. I can't believe we biked 9 miles at 11 o'clock at night. It didn't even feel like a "workout" really. It was moreso fun and enjoyable! Haha. Although, I was really sketched out a lot of the time because it was so late and some areas had no light at all. You never know what could happen in Greeley. There's a lot of crazies out there! It was fun though.

Today, we went on a tour at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Fort Collins with Shawn & Keilyn. For a free tour, it wasn't too bad! My nose was definitely not agreeing with all the smells though. Haha. The beginning smelt like dog food, but it was neat seeing the time lapse of their packaging, marketing, and advertising over the years. At the end, everyone got 2 samples of beers. Many people say that drinking beer is an acquired taste. I'm sorry, but I don't think I will every truly "acquire" that taste. All beer tastes the same to me. Beer is beer is beer. The only time I will drink it is when I'm on a mission to get drunk and it's the only thing available. With that said, Peter finished off my beers for me. Haha!

For lunch we headed over to Pho Duy for some delicious pho!! I love pho. Haha. Meatball alll the way. While we were there, this guy dropped by to drop off the Yakima Rhode Gear bike rack. $10 for a bike rack, not too shabby! Layne also came by to pick up his jacket/license from me.

Once we got home, I realized that I took off the house key from my chain of keys when we went bike riding the other day. Yes, we were locked out of our house. All our windows are SEALED shut as well because the wood warped during the warm/freezing weather. I tried using a card to slide the lock open for a while, but Peter was getting frustrated and I stopped. I can't deal with his frustration a lot of the time... he's so impatient when it comes to certain things, but I wasn't about to call a damn locksmith for a stupid thing (Teri, where are you when I need you?!). While I was looking for a number, Peter tried his luck with the card and guess what? The door opened! Hah. Now I wish I just kept at it so *I* opened the door and he would learn to be more patient and see how awesome my ideas are. Lol.

With that said, I'll be locking the deadbolt as well from now on ;) That or teach Lexi how to unlock doors.

The rest of the night consisted of a 2 hour nap, football, and eating junk food. Loves it!

Mountain Bikes

2009-11-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to get a mountain bike for a very long time. I especially wanted one just in case I found a job somewhere close to my house and it was close enough to bike to. I posted a "want ad" on Craigslist on Friday and made a deal to pick-up a bike by Saturday morning! On Sunday morning, Peter & I headed out to Fort Collins to pick-up a bike from a guy. Once I saw him, I knew I was getting a good deal! As it turns out, his family are cycling enthusiasts. They were pretty hardcore.

This bike is used, several years old (7 or 8), but still in good condition and a quality bike. It's a Torker Alpental. I looked it up online since I never heard of it, once I saw all the details I knew I should get it. It's not your mass-market, run of the mill mountain bikes from a chain store. It's a $200-$300 bike equipped with Shimano components. The bike is 18 speed and complete with grip shifts. He also installed reflectors on the front & back of the bike and a cute little bell (this bike was his daughter's). He also lubed it before selling it to me! For $25, I think it's a steal!

I rode it around that same morning since it was really nice out. It would've been nice to have Peter riding with me! I tried to take Lexi with me while biking, but I think she still needs to learn not to get excited and run in front of the wheels. The seat is pretty hard, but it's replaceable! Overall, I am satisfied.

After getting my bike, Peter wanted one. It'll be a good way for us to hang out, have fun, and get a work out at the same time. We both are in dire need of that! I found this Mongoose EFX bike on Craigslist (Yes, Craigslist is my friend!). It retails for $130 in stores, but I got it down to $40 (from $55!). We'll be picking it up tomorrow! I read a lot of good reviews for this bike and for our purposes, it will do just fine. I don't think we'll be hitting up the trails anytime soon anyway, especially with the unpredictable weather. For casual riding around town and bike trails, we're set to go!
I know, it's November, but you never know with Colorado weather. It can be really cold one day and beautiful the next. Today would've been a good day to go, but I forgot about daylight savings time and it was dark by the time I realized the time! Grrr. Hopefully tomorrow Peter & I will be able to ride around for a little bit before he has to go back to work!

Halloween & Costume Arsenal

2009-11-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

For Halloween, I was Little Red Riding Hood. Unfortunately, we were in a rush due to already being late and Peter & I never took photos of our costumes. I also couldn't find my little camera, so I didn't take any photos at all on Halloween! That's a first for me. I must certainly be getting old. The LRRH costume was pretty impromptu. I was debating all day on a back-up costume just in case my original costume didn't come in on time. I searched through the mall, Wal*Mart, & Target. I knew I didn't want to spend more than $10 & I so LRRH it was.

Red Fabric - $2.75
Basket - $3.00
Knee High Socks - $2.00

It was 8PM by the time I got home (I waited for the mailman & took a nap to sleep off the remaining alcohol from the night before). I had less than 2 hours to get my costume together! I actually SEWED my cape/hood. Albeit, it was a really crappy sew job, but I was in a rush! Most people couldn't tell I sewed it myself anyway. Lol. I covered my basket with 'spider webs' and filled it with candy rather than breakfast for grandma.

Overall, it was a success! I really loved my knee high socks. I loved rocking them in middle school and I'll be getting more soon! Peter decided to be Allen from "The Hangover." We could've got a baby carrier & the baby and all that, but again, no time! Once we were ready we headed over to a party. Parties these days seem so lame compared to the ragers back when I was in college. We were one of the oldest ones there and it was a bit strange, but whatever, I had fun. After the party we ended up eating at Taco Rapidos, which was awesome!

It was a great night overall. Glad I wasn't hanging at all the following day. Thanks to daylight savings, we got an extra hour of sleep! I was originally going to be a race car driver/danica patrick. I'll just save that costume for an upcoming year or some kind of party.

Wet Seal currently has a deal for additional 50% off on Halloween items. A lot of the costumes were already marked down so w/ the additional 50 off, they were a steal! When they say that Halloween is an excuse to dress like a slut, I am indeed guilty. I like 'slutting it up' every so often ;) I'll be set for the next 4 years of Halloween! Photos of my purchases below.

Original costume - Race car driver, Danica Patrick
Beer Wench - would make a great Gretel costume or fun to wear on St. Patrick's Day
Sailor - originally $80! got it for $10. it's a steal!
French Maid - back-up costume

Aunty Leoning

2009-10-25T23:24:00.000-06:00

I finally got to talk to my aunty today. She sounded a bit rough and she was clearly struggling a little with every breath. She is in much better shape now though compared to 2 weeks ago. Her recovery has been very rapid. She's actually back home on Maui now and instead of staying at our house, she's staying at her son's house for the time being so that she doesn't have to climb up our stairs all the time.

The procedure they did on her was pretty risky to say the least. Any surgery involving the heart is pretty risky. Her aorta was fully calcified and needed to be replaced. She also had to replace a valve. They cooled her body down and stopped her heart while they performed surgery. She was literally "dead" for 5 hours while they fixed everything in there.

I can't even imagine all the thoughts that would be going through my mind if I had to go through someone like that. This was her second surgery on her heart, the 1st being a bypass surgery. Hopefully this surgery was able to buy her just a little bit more time here on this Earth. I'm just really thankful to the Lord for keeping her safe and answering all our prayers on her behalf.

Out & About With Life.

2009-10-24T04:26:00.002-06:00

I didn't mean to be MIA. I just haven't been able to log-on to this thing for a while. I actually missed blogging and reading other blogs. I promise to sign-up for internet service within the next week. Seriously. LOL. Besides, my promotional period for my G1 phone & 3G services are going to end in a couple of days. I can't hijack the i-net from my phone for much longer. Boo!

So anyway, a slight recap of my life from the past 9 days. I've actually been out & about a few times ;) Let's play catch up.

Friday the 16th - Sushi 1 & Panera
Shari was in town visiting. Shawn called me up to have lunch and they picked me up to head to Sushi 1. We had some great conversations and did a lot of catching up. Thankfully it wasn't busy at all. We also scored dessert on-the-house, a banana lumpia (seriously) type dish w/ vanilla ice cream & graham cracker crumbles. Sometimes it pays to know the owner & date the manager of the restaurant ;)

I hung out with Peter for a bit during his break. Then, Shari, Layne, & I headed to Centerra to browse around for a bit. We didn't buy anything, but I did fall inlove with a FourSquare snowboarding jacket. Now that I'm reminded about it, I'd like to go back and purchase it. Perhaps on Sunday? I probably shouldn't, but it's only $99! Hah.

Then we headed over to Layne's house and hung out with the house around the dinner table. Always nice to hang out with old friends. Layne then treated Shari & I to dinner at Panera. I've never had it before, but I enjoyed the onion soup & my sandwich. I also liked the whole ambience of the place.

Saturday the 17th - Old Chicago's
Peter cooked some bacon & rice for breakfast. Although, I can't quite remember why I was up early enough to even eat breakfast. I intended to be productive, but instead I ended up entering a bunch of sweepstakes and Shawn called me to have some dinner with the boys. I haven't hung out with Kevin & Jayson since Marcus', so I decided to go. We headed to OC's and I just drank 2 long island iced teas and ate a big cookie a la mode. Yum! It was nice to reminisce and laugh about past shenanigans. Once I got home, Peter & I just hung out and watched "Hitch."

Sunday the 18th - Denver + Chinese Restaurant
Peter spent the morning at Nathan's while I slept in... per the usual. He brought home KFC for me to fill my tummy! After that I started getting ready to head to Denver. We got to Denver pretty early so went to Jamba Juice first and I tried the Fruity Pebbles flavor for the first time. Dude making my drink looked unsure of how to make it, but it turned out pretty similar! Then we headed to Target since we had more time. I saw Guitar Hero World Tour game for $12, so I decided to buy it :) Peter also got a movie, "Green Street Hooligans."

We met up with Peter's family at this chinese restaurant (I can't remember the name! Peter took me there before) to celebrate his little sister's 22nd birthday. It was interesting observing how everyone interacts with each other. Peter's mother also always fails to remember I'm not Korean. Although, my brain seems to think it understands Korean. LOL. It reminded me of how my cousin in London would speak to Peter in a Filipino language and Peter would just reply without realizing it. All in all, the food was really good and so was the cake that Peter's brother bought.

Once we got home we popped in the movie, "Green Street." It's an independent film based on the futbol firms in England. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Charlie Hunnam is quite yummy in the movie. There's something about the English that attracts me. Must be the accent. Seriously. I'm dying to go back to England. This movie didn't help.

Monday the 19th - Denver vs. Chargers @ OC's
Peter brought home some udon soup w/ shrimp tempura for lunch for me. I am truly spoiled. Hehe! It was delicious. Weirdly enough, my tooth started hurting really bad afterwards. I couldn't function. After Peter went back to work, I decided to sleep off the pain. I texted Shawn to cancel on our plans for the night.

During my nap, someone knocked on the door... it was Pascal. LOL. I was a bit surprised he showed up. I told Peter to tell him I was watching the game with the boys at Old Chicago's and that he was welcome to join us. I didn't really expect him to accept. I felt bad canceling on him since he was already here, so I decided to get changed quickly and we met up with the boys. Skyler joined us this time and Kyama was there again too. It was funny having all 7 of us crowded around such a little table at the bar. Peter joined us for the last moments of the game. BRONCOS WON! We are now 6-0. I am so glad I went. It was a GREAT game. After the game, Pascal, Shawn, & Kymana came over to drink some more and hang out. Pascal must think I'm a lightweight or something since I have yet to drink more than a sip around him. Lol.

Wednesday the 21st - Possible Employment!
The night before I was feeling really lucky for some reason. It was moreso on the lines of perhaps winning some prizes, but the news I got was even better. I received TWO call backs today (finally!!) for some openings I applied for. The funny thing is, for one of those positions, I accidentally sent in an UNFINISHED cover letter. As in, I wasn't done changing out the names, etc. SO I had the header text correct, but the body of the cover letter still had ANOTHER companies name in it. Yet, they still called back. Awesome!

The 1st call was from the Weld County School District and I scheduled to meet with the guy 'informally' the same day. I kept saying "yah" during the interview. I wanted to slap myself, but I couldn't STOP. Seriously, WTF. He gave me a lot of positive responses though and made it seem like he was trying to sell ME the job? He told me he liked what he heard and would most likely call me back to schedule the real interview for next week. He "wants to see how the others react to me." In that case, I'll make it good!

Later that night I watched "Live Free or Die Hard" with Peter. It was a pretty good movie! The night before that (Tuesday) we watched "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and the night before that we watched "Transformers." We're on a roll with watching movies huh?

Thursday the 22nd - DirecTV hooked up!
After 3+ months of no cable, we finally got DirecTV hooked up! It's actually not even fully hooked up yet, but the guy set us up for now. He has to come back once the pole is set-up so that we get better reception. Peter was pissing his pants with happiness once the TV got hooked up. LOL. I got a great deal for $19.99 a month -- 150+ channels -- 3 months of Showtime and some other things. Peter now has access to 10+ sports-specific channels. Honestly, there's so many channels I don't know what to watch. I rarely ever watch TV anyway so I don't know what time things are on or any of that. So far I've just watched old reruns, the food network, & the history channel. Yep.

I also entered a good amount of Twitter contests, which I'm sure annoyed some of my 'followers.' Honestly, those posts were nothing compared to some of the people I follow on my list. LOL. I'm just giving your twitter some action, guys ;) Besides, it's quite an easy way to possibly win things.

Friday the 23rd - I'm In For Round 2!
Friday's are usually quiet on my end. It's quite the opposite of what it used to be. I woke up pretty late, 1pm to be exact. I must've been cold. When it's cold, I sleep like a bear. I'm thankful I didn't have dreams like I did the past couple of days. While I took a nap on Thursday, I had a good dream that suddenly turned sour. I ended up dreaming that I beat the shit out of this bitch and I was compelled to physically throw a punch while I was dreaming as well. My effort to throw that punch woke me up, of course. That was probably the best. I woke up pretty angry. Haha!

Anyway, Peter kept stepping on 'pokies' today so I ended up vacuuming everything. I hate the fact that I have to vacuum twice a week because the dogs just shed too much. Mostly Lexi. I guess shaving her fur that one time wasn't such a good idea. Ever since then she's shed like crazy. I also finished up washing the rest of the dishes to make room on the counter and the sink. I intended to cook beef mushroom for dinner, but the mushrooms prematurely went bad :( They were slimy and looked sketchy. I ended up cooking chopped steak with onions instead. It turned out pretty good! Just a little on the chewy side. I don't know if a bit of freezer burn had something to do with that since I cooked it on LOW. I still have much to learn in the world of cooking.

Oh, this afternoon, I did get a call back from the Weld County School District! I scheduled my formal interview for Monday at 8AM. I think being the first interviewees has a lot of benefits. I plan on printing up some projects and perhaps also a portfolio of some work I've done. This is an Administrative Assistant position w/ benefits and also serves as the back-up Substitute Secretary (which means, higher pay for the days she's absent!). He said he's working on getting a raise for this position and made it seem like it was A LOT of work. I really don't mind. I'd rather be kept busy at work than stay idle.

I really hope I get this position. I really want to get out of the house and be working full-time. Starting at 7:30am doesn't really appeal much to me though, but hey, at least I'd be done by 4:30pm! The place is also close enough for me to bike to. I'm looking at getting a mountain bike something this week-- a used one, for cheap, until I can afford a better one.

Lastly, tonight I bought 6 tickets to the Nuggets home opener! They're playing the Utah Jazz on Wednesday and everyone in attendance will get a FREE LIFT TICKET TO COPPER MOUNTAIN & bam bams. Yay! I mostly want to go for the lift ticket. Haha. I love Copper, but an $80 day pass isn't quite affordable at the moment. So on Wednesday, it'll be Me, Peter, Shawn, Pascal, Jayson & his date (?). Just me and the boys! I finally get to wear my Billups jersey too! I'll probably slap Jay if he wears anything Jazz related. For serious.

Yes, I totally wrote a novel. I told ya I missed blogging! It's like my daily record of my life. Surprisingly, I've been out and about huh? Hahah! You know, I think I just really need to start hanging out with the friends I have here before they all start leaving. Peter & I were reflecting just a few weeks ago how we're kind of alone here. Then it turned out his childhood friend lived right across the street. It's just really nice to actually have people to watch the football games with now! Maybe I'll start branching out and start inviting more kids to come out when the opportunity arises.

And I just realized, wasn't I supposed to go on a beer tour today?

Build-A-Bear Frankie Poo

2009-10-15T23:59:00.001-06:00

The great thing about my boyfriend -- he always humors my childish nature and my ~~want~~ need to indulge in anything and everything that induces childhood euphoria. Even if that entails poking, tickling, and scaring him every chance I get. Although, he now flinches/jerks after every slight movement I make, thinking I've got something planned under my sleeve, but what are ya gonna do? I keep him on his toes ;)

I am quite notorious for trying to scare people. If you're a good friend of mine, chances are I've probably tried to scare you at least once during our friendship. It is also very likely that I've gotten you REAL good (Jalene? Lol) ... HAHAH. I am seriously going to start taking videos of the moments I try to scare Peter I've gotten him SO good these past weeks. I am cracking up just thinking about it. The great part is, no matter how scared he gets, we both get a laugh out of it. Mostly me of course. One instance:

As Peter prepared some food to cook, I snuck into the kitchen while he grabbed things out of the fridge. He stood up and was awfully close to seeing me... so as he halfway closed the door, I pounced up and screamed "BOOO!" Oh man, I laughed so hard. I'm a ninja.

Now, we originally planned to go to the mountains today so I could bask in the autumn beauty, but he got off of work late and it was pretty windy. You think the leaves would still be pretty shades of gold & red? Man, I always miss autumn in the mountains. Maybe one day.

Instead, we horsed around for a bit. I played with my prizes from Shakefire. I am inLOVE with my Tale of the Despereaux lunchbox! It's tin, like I wanted, and just pretty nifty. Peter likes it too! We finally got off our butts once it started getting dark and headed over to Shops at Centerra. We headed directly towards the Build-A-Bear store! I can't tell you how excited I get everytime. We went there with the intention of getting me a Pander bear (panda), but they didn't have the one I wanted. Peter suggested I get the Polar Bear and after much deliberation, I did! Hehe. I think I overstuffed him though, I hope I can go back and getting him.. unstuffed? Lol. But I love him none-the-less! We named my new bear Frankie. He's a cute one!

I also got the simple Chocolate Cub bear for a future Christmas gift for my mom. I think she'd like it. His name is Sammie. I think I might go back again and get another bear for my bro's girlfriend, Dianne. Peter & I paid seperately so that we could take advantage of the $5 off $10+ bears. We got two bears for under $20! Not too bad. My Build-A-Bear army is now 4 strong! Champ, Mo, (Crap I forgot her name), & Frankie. Yes, I name all my stuffed animals. Yes, I still remember all my stuffed animals names from when I was 3 years old. Did I mention I'm a kid?

After that, we had Pho in Loveland for dinner. Wish they had a Pho place in Greeley. Perhaps I'll need to just open one here. Haha. It was delicious! I love Bo Vien. Yum Yum. Peter has definitely influenced my palette over the years. Now it's my turn! I'm going to cook him all these Filipino dishes and probably cause a premature heartattack in the future.

Once we got home, I shredded all the chicken breast that I boiled earlier for chicken sandwiches while we watched Wedding Crashers. Chicken, mayo, & pineapples! It was my first time making the mix, once again based on what my mom makes, and it was delicious! I made myself 2 sandwiches and have a whole tupperwear full for more sandwiches over the next couple of days. I am on a cooking spree!

So.. time w/ bf, build-a-bear, meatball pho, chicken sandwiches, & wedding crashers. Life is where it should be.

Did I mention that today I finally set-up a date to install TV? I can honestly do without TV, but Peter's been dying without it. LOL. 150+ channels, 9 channels of showtime for 3 months, free install, free ship, free year of service coverage -- $19.99 for 12 months. Not bad. I got the runaround with DirectTV afterwards though since the rep that setup my account gave me 'wrong information' .. Last rep I talked to didn't help me too much, but at least we had a nice convo about Colorado, snowboarding, skateboarding, & huskies. HAH!

32 Months & Counting

2009-10-14T23:59:00.002-06:00

Happy 2 years and 8 months to Peter & I! 32 months, wow, where has all the time gone? That's practically an eternity to be with a person... Hahah. Seriously.

Anyway, tonight I attempted my mom's Pork & Peas recipe. I picked up a ~5lb bag of pork butt the other night for $5.50 so I made a big batch! I'm always scared to try out new recipes, but so far so good. I haven't experienced too many blunders and I am quite pleased with myself. Considering the fact that my mom does not go off of cookbooks, she just tells me the ingredients & procedures with no precise measurements (lbs, tbsp, etc.), I'm getting better at guesstimating! Now, my pork & peas didn't taste exactly like mi madre's, but it was quite similar. Peter loved it and went back for seconds. I'd say mission = success. We also have enough left overs for a meal or two! Yay.

Up next, I'll try my hand at Beef Mushroom. I'm slowly building up my portfolio of dishes guys!

In other news, I received my tickets from TicketHorse.com today. 5 tix to Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks in December! I took advantage of the Family Night deal for when my family comes up for Christmas. For a total of $110.00 I got:

5 game tickets - 3rd level, 2nd row seating
5 pepsis
5 meals: choice of hot dog, pizza, nacho deluxe, salad, philly cheese steak, hamburger, or chicken tenders w/ fries

I tried finding tix to a Broncos game as well, but getting 5 seated together at a decent price is nearly impossible! Hopefully I'll win the Canon Sweepstakes and win 4 tix to a game & a camera! I saw that camera last night at Best Buy and it is freakin` beautiful. I wanted to cry. 15MP, IS lens, ahhh. I want!

I've gotten myself back into sweepstakes this past week, so hopefully I'll be getting some decent wins in the near future :) So far this month I've managed to snag some things here and there.

2 tix to a Denver Nuggets preseason game (but I never claimed them since I couldn't go)
Dark Knight collector pin set
Tale of the Despereaux lunch box
Pink Super Bad trucker hat
Shorts Frisbee
Leather GHOST RIDER wallet with chain
Speed Racer pins
Random movie shirt
Push Play hat
The Ugly Truth wife beater (L)
Back To The Future Blue Fanny Pack
Snow White Blu-ray combo pack with DVD

I missed a package yesterday when Peter & I went to watch "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs." (It's just an "OK" movie, btw. I think I was expecting too much. We should've watched Inglorious Basterds instead!) I hope it's all my goodies from Shakefire! We're planning on maybe going to the mountains tomorrow, but hopefully I don't miss it.

P.S.

Thank you Lord for all your blessings and being with my aunty today. I could never fathom the depth of Your love. Your love truly knows no boundaries. (More on this later...)

Early Snow Days.

2009-10-12T15:13:00.002-06:00

This is what I woke up to the other morning. Yippeee! I didn't go out and play in it though.. it was too damn cold! Lol. It wasn't enough snow to make a good-sized snowman either. I'll hold out on my snowman for now. It's been really cold and it doesn't look like the weather will let up very much this winter. I'm expecting tons and tons of snow this season! Yay. I love snow. I just can't stand being cold. I am a walking contradiction. At least I'm not dying of heatstroke like the rest of the kids in Hawaii. Hahahah ;)

In other news.. anyone watch/hear the Broncos vs. Patriots game yesterday? We're 5-0, b&tches!! Who woulda thunk? After a less than spectacular preseason, the Broncos have bounced back and keeping a 5 game winning streak. Yesterday's game was a game of epic proportions. The protege (Broncos coach, Josh McDaniels) pitted against the mentor (Patriots coach, Bill Belichick). This game also had the potential to solidify the Broncos spot as an up-and-coming team this season, to quiet all the nay-sayers. Of course, people will still hate, but what are you going to do? I have to admit, I wasn't very optimistic about the team this season, but I remained hopeful. We have a tough schedule ahead of us and I hope the Broncos continue to do well! The offense and defense are looking pretty solid! Cross your fingers for me that I win the Canon Sweepstakes so I can win a camera and shoot photos the Broncos on the sidelines!! Hehe.

P.S.
I forgot to mention earlier, I think my brain is going crazy. Last night by far showcased the weirdest dream I have ever had. Peter & I had twins, a boy & a girl, I think. They were half human, wait for it..., half dogs. Yes, dogs. They looked like regular babies, but with white, brown, & black hairs/fur. I dreamt of going to a grad party of an 'online friend' who was pretty well off. She denied access to people that were only invited to the 'formal' grad party since the 1st party was just for good friends. At the formal party, she hired singers, young children, that created music by rubbing the rims of cups and singing along. Think on the lines of church choir children & classical music. The formal party turned into a theme park-ish kind of vibe by the shore. There was a merry-go-round and a reggae band performing (if only I could remember that song!). During the performance, beyond the cliff, a huge tidal wave started heading towards us. We all managed the first set, but then an even bigger wave followed.... That as far as I remember. Weird.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T17:31:00.000-06:00

Saw the headline within minutes of it breaking the news... "Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize." Ever since then, Obama and everything nobel prize related became a trending topic on Twitter . The story made front page on every search engine out there and every other news agency. Facebook status' slowly trickled in congratulating the President, etc.

Now, I'm not really one for politics... let's just get that out there. I choose not to get involved in discussions and don't have much of a passion for it. I do however enjoy reading the news and be "in-the-know" about world happenings. My first reaction to this news was give or take "What? WTF? He didn't even do anything yet!"

Don't get me wrong, I voted for the guy, but... something struck me as awkward (?) or wrong (?) about this whole thing. He is still in the infancy of his presidency, 10 months to be exact. He's made great leaps and bounds in terms of foreign policy thus far, but we have yet to see the fruits of his labor. What has he done to warrant this highly prestigious award? He was nominated for the prize within 2 weeks of taking office. Seriously? I'll stay optimistic, but I think there were much more people deserving of this award.

This commentary by Aaron Miller - Commentary: Obama's prize doesn't 'feel right' - basically covers my whole thought process. An excerpt from his closing...

"The award says more about the world's love affair with Barack Obama and its collective sigh of relief that George W. Bush is gone than it does about the president's substantive foreign policy accomplishments. And in the end, America doesn't want to be loved by the world; we want to be admired and respected, and that will depend not on celebrity, process or celebration that the Democrats are back in office, but on real foreign policy accomplishments."

First Snow.

2009-10-08T23:59:00.000-06:00

I woke up today and found a text from Peter stating, "It's Snowing!! Love you." It was freezing once I gathered the strength to get out of bed. 30 minutes passed since Peter initially texted me, but I was hopeful. Unfortunately, I MISSED THE SNOW! I was pretty disappointed. Luckily, the snow gods decided to be gracious and granted me another snowfall later in the afternoon. SO much snow was falling and in big chunks! I managed to snap some photos, but they just didn't do the scene justice. I really hoped it would just keep snowing and that the snow would stick to the ground. Oh well, perhaps next time. I just really want to make a snowman. I have a huge front yard just waiting to college all that snowy goodness!

In other news, I posted on Twitter that I managed to tether my G1 phone to Peter's laptop in order to access the internet. Essentially, I turned my G1 into a portable modem, which was nice! I should've done that earlier and it was so simple! The connection however wasn't THAT fast at all. I thought it was normal at first, but after more research, things weren't adding up! I finally figured out that my phone is connected to the EDGE network, not the higher speed 3G network. UGH! I checked T-mobile's coverage and I am well within range of the 3G network. I played around with the settings, etc. still on EDGE. Now I am thinking it's my SIM. Yes, old SIM works fine, I get internet, etc. etc. but not 3G. I just never noticed since well, I broke the damn phone within 2 weeks of using it. That's the only other possible factor I can think of since someone else had the same issue. My SIM is about 7 (maybe 8) years old! Definitely time for an upgrade. I've been with T-mobile for almost 11 years. Crazy! My promo period is about to end with them in a couple of weeks... I'm itching to get the myTouch. Maybe for Christmas? Hehe. Or I'll just try to win it :)

Speaking of sweepstakes.. I think I'm going to enter THIS sweep. Considering NO ONE followed the rules/directions, I think I got pretty good chances at the prize(s)! LOL. I figure it'll be a fun way to present my photos from London anyhow. It'll be like a coffee table book of sorts. I just need to order the kit to get started. I was chuckling the whole time while looking at the entries. The sweep will be done at the end of the month, so chances are good!

Fried Brains. Annoying kids.

2009-10-07T18:00:00.000-06:00

It took me 3 days to finish this blog... lol. Having it saved as a "draft" finally got me to finish it. Now I have to change all the dates/tense to the present .. or past. I was meaning to update this blog on Sunday/Monday morning, but I didn't get around to finishing.

My brain was completely fried from trying to think in Tagalog for a couple of hours on Sunday night. Haha. I sent an extremely long e-mail in response to a friend! I had a good laugh writing all those stories up though. The dramas in life are only dramas for the moment. After time passes, we can look back not with contempt, but with a sigh of relief. You can finally laugh at those moments. At least, I can! Yeah, I'm probably completely mindf&cked from all of it, but hey I'm still standing.

Anyway, we didn't end up going to the hot springs on Sunday. Sad face :( It was just really cold and Peter didn't feel like driving all the way down. Boo! So we chilled. Peter got a text from his good friend Lance saying that their other friend Pascall moved up to Greeley for school. Pascall called Peter & we made plans to meet up at Hobnobber to watch the Broncos vs. Cowboys game. Everyone was preparing themselves for the impending slaughter. It was completely empty at Hobnobber! Haha. I finally got to satisfy my craving and ordered some fish & chips and Peter got a side of garlic fries. Their fries, paired with loads of malt vinegar, is to die for! Love it! We ate, chilled, & watched the whole game. Elaine joined us for the last quarter. Much to all of our surprise, the Broncos won! Yeah, baby. 4-0! 4 better than what everyone predicted! Take that! Haha.

Pascall came over to our house afterwards to hangout. Turns out, we lives just a stones throw away from our house. Like... you can see our house from his window! Lol. Imagine that. What are the chances? Peter's good friend lived so close to us for the past month and he didn't even know it! Crazy. I'm sure Peter was glad he finally got to hang out with people other than me. Haha! I'm happy I finally have someone to smoke hookah with :)) We smoked hookah and played rock band up until Pascall had to go.

Peter popped in Matrix: Reloaded afterwards and we both fell asleep while watching. I finally woke up during the end of the 2nd time Matrix played on DVD player. Lol. I couldn't sleep afterwards and stayed up till 4:40am to write that e-mail! Grrr... unexpected naps are NOT good for me. I'm still trying to recover back to my old sleeping schedule ever since we stayed up to watch "City of God" 2 weeks ago.

I totally woke up late on Monday. We ended up cleaning around the house. It was another cold day, so there wasn't much we could do. Pascall came over again and we headed to Pitcher's to watch the Vikings vs. Packers game. The Vikings were looking pretty good! We didn't stay to finish the game, but the Vikings ended up winning. Good job Brett Favre!

It's now Wednesday and I want to write up all these cover letters and send out as many resumes as I can by the end of the week. I still can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Haha. Hopefully something will come up soon because I'm going crazy just staying home all the time.

Not to mention, there's TWO families living below us. That's 7 people in a 2 bedroom basement unit. Small confined area with 2 YOUNG kids & a small yappy chihuahua = hell. I seriously am starting to not like kids MORE AND MORE. I've never liked them and this isn't helping. I'm really starting to question if I could ever love kids like parents do?! They're pretty freakin` annoying. Screaming all day, pounding on the walls, crying, yelling mother... I REALLY want to let my dogs loose on them so they can instill the fear!! Maybe they'll shut the hell up for once. Having more people downstairs is also causing our electric bill to go up (we 1/2 the bill). Totally not cool.

A new family also moved into the house next door. They're f&cking loud as hell too!!! The dad cusses at his children. The mother was talking so loud at 8AM. They were banging and moving things all morning. The kids were screaming at the top of their lungs. I caught them taunting my dogs. Ooo those little bastards. They think they're so sneaky behind our wood fence. I watched Zeus walk over to the corner & I heard the kid go, "Oh he's here now." & right then I yelled "HEY!" and made my voice sound REALLY mean. Hahah. F&cking kids. I need to let my dogs out in the front yard and see how big Zeus really is. They'll think he's a wolf! If only I could get my dogs to be mean and eat those little monsters.

I'm totally not a happy camper. I can't stand noise. I can't stand kids. I don't recall ever being that loud or disrespectful. I'm pretty sure I was scared out of my mind of my mom/dad or elders in general. Is that an Asian thing? Lol. Shit. Pray that I find a job soon before I go crazy.

Shakefire Rocks My Socks

2009-10-03T21:51:00.001-06:00

I'm playing an all-night contest thing on Shakefire.com ... I've won a bunch of super random things so far, so I want to keep track of what I've won so I know what I can look forward to. Haha. Here's the list so far.

Dark Knight collector pin set
Tale of the Despereaux lunch box
Pink Super Bad trucker hat
Shorts Frisbee
Leather GHOST RIDER wallet with chain
Speed Racer pins
Random movie shirt
Push Play hat
The Ugly Truth wife beater (L)
Back To The Future Blue Fanny Pack

-------------------------------------------------------------
Awww & the night ended prematurely :( They were experiencing massive hits to the site and the server couldn't handle all the traffic. Darn! I did manage to scoop up a decent amount of prizes though :) I had a lot of fun playing! Hehe. Can't wait till they all get here! I'm especially excited for my lunch box :D

Last night, Jared called me and asked if I wanted to accompany him to a 'Party' .. guess he didn't want to be the only old fart there. Haha! i didn't have anything planned so I agreed. He picked me up and we hung out at Kara & KeiLyn's for a bit. Brendan guys' met up with us there as well. We just conversed over some drinks & a few shots before heading out to Marcus'. Peter brought over the doggies while he was out running for a little bit. They were so excited to be outside! Haha. After that we headed over to Marcus' and just chilled, smoked some hookah (love!), and caught up with some friends. All in all, it was a pretty fun night. The parties these days in good ol' Greeley simply just don't compare to the ragers of back in the day ;)

The noise outside woke me up bright and early this morning and I had a really hard time going back to sleep. I didn't drink enough water last night, so I had a headache! Sleep couldn't come soon enough. Thankfully, I managed to sleep off any signs of a hangover. I was so hungry this afternoon, I ended up cooking some pork adobo! I must say, I think I'm actually getting the hang of cooking. My mother always made it look so easy and made it SOUND easy as well. Perhaps I was just never confident in my abilities to cook? I did have quite a few disasters early on.. especially with things being WAY TOO SALTY! Now, I think things have changed. My adobo tasted fairly similar to hers!! I couldn't be more happier. I just need to get a few more ingredients to make it exact!

Well.. now, I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. Peter should be coming home soon, so I suppose I'll just bum around till then. We'll be heading to the hot springs tomorrow!

Dragon Scales

2009-10-02T18:32:00.008-06:00

Dragon Scales is a complex color straight out of a fairy tale. Terracotta-brown base is illuminated with mystical green glitter particles! This color makes an amazing eyeliner when applied wet!

Contents: Mica, Iron Oxide, Glitter, Secret Ingredient.

via Lime Crime Makeup

Isn't this color just absolutely amazing?!? Oh man, I want this so bad! I'm in love with the color and the shine. Make-up doesn't normally catch my fancy, but there's just something so alluring and sexy about this color. I actually fell in love with quite a few Lime Crime Makeup colors. The creator is all about adding a splash of color into your life. Totally awesome. I'll have to put this on my future purchase list, along with all the panda items in my previous posts ;)

In other news, Peter & I changed our weekend plans. Actually, he did. On Sunday, we're going to head down to Denver to see his mom & sister. Then we'll all head to the hot springs together in the mountains. That will be an interesting family get together, I suppose. Haha. I have never been to the hot springs before, but it's a place I considered taking my family when they were up here last May. I'm looking forward to it! I get to see the mountains in all it's Autumn glory and take tons of photos! Hehe. I've never really gotten to see all the pretty changing colors in mass amounts (like a whole mountainside!) so it'll be awesome! Oh & yes, the hot springs, that will be nice too. What do I wear? My two piece bathing suit? I wonder if that's too scantily clad for Peter's mom? Lol. Man, it's just crazy how many natural hot springs there are here in Colorado. I'd say, next to Hawaii, Colorado was a great choice to be my home away from home!

Attitude of Silence

2009-10-01T02:22:00.004-06:00

"In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth."

-Mahatma Gandhi

One reason why I simply must have a fully converted IR camera-- the photos are irresistibly beautiful. Image via: tavelkyosoba. With IR, photographs turn out so whimsical, almost dream like. It literally captures the unseen beauty in nature, the very essence of life. Mother Earth is such a wonderful thing, don't you agree?

Oh & I happened to change the address/title of my blog. It is now http://maisoli.blogspot.com ... I came across the term while doing some random reading last night. I like the ring to it and it's much shorter than the previous title. Mai Soli = Never Alone. I like it. It can either really creepy or really comforting ;)

In any case, most of today was spent working on a website and converting .pdf's to .docs and then back to .pdf's once I got them all uniform and in the same template. Quite a long, arduous task. I had to take a break from it a few times. Ah, I still have to do some research for another client & reply to all these other e-mails/potential clients. Hopefully I get more work done tomorrow. I see it's going to be a cold cold day in Colorado! I might just want to snuggle up in bed all day :)

BAR-B-Q

2009-09-30T01:25:00.002-06:00

On Sunday night I was really craving chocolate. Being the good boyfriend that he is, Peter took me to Wal*mart. I was pretty grumpy throughout the day so this was a pick-me-upper. We figured we should do some grocery shopping while we were there so I quickly wrote up a list of what to buy.

We decided to BBQ on Monday since it was Peter's day off. We saw most of the grills on sale, but the one Peter wanted wasn't available. He decided to hold off till the following day to check out other stores for a grill. After practically going through the whole store and making it through check-out, we spent over an hour in there just browsing. Not to mention, it was 1AM. Haha.

I was really really craving chili so once we got home, I fired up the stove and started cooking away. Peter thought it would be good with pasta, so he cooked up some spaghetti noodles for the chili. It was past 2AM by the time the food was ready, but it was SO worth it! We also decided to watch "City of God." I've been wanting to watch this movie for sooo long. It was really late, but I'm glad we decided to watch it. It's a good movie! I enjoyed it :) It was past 4AM by the time the movie finished though, so now my sleeping schedule is all screwed up!

We got up really late on Monday. We nixed our plan to eat pho in Loveland and just BBQ. We didn't find any other cheap grills so we headed back to Wal*mart to just buy the display grill. Haha. I told Peter last night to just buy it since we're going to end up coming back anyway. When's he gonna learn I'm always right? ;)

I started up the music and Peter got the grill going and cooked up hamburgers, beef bratwursts, and my TURKEY LEG! I found a great deal on turkey legs at Wal*mart. I got 3 of them in a pack for $5.50. OMG! Such a good deal. I love turkey legs! They're always SO deng expensive at the fairs/amusement parks though, so I couldn't pass this up. We also had left over chili from the previous night! So much food. The doggies were going crazy when Peter would give them bits and pieces of hamburger.

After eating, I wanted to play cornhole! Thanks to Owen & Maren, they gave their set to us before they moved to Ohio. It was still pretty light out & it was a good opportunity to finally use our front yard for once. We put the doggies on their leash and let them roam around the yard while we played. It was a lot of fun! After 3 rounds, I came out on top! I killed him during the last game :) Maria 2, Peter 1. I win! Usually the case, I must say. Hehe.

The neighbors downstairs finally got to see how big the doggies really are. I hope that struck fear into the kids. I want Zeus to eat them! Hahah. Maybe then they'll stop banging on the walls and quit screaming bloody murder. Those kids also taunt the dogs, so I hope they learn their lesson soon. I just wish our dogs were aggressive in the least bit. They're too friendly. LOL.

After cornhole, I'm pretty sure we laid down and ended up taking an unplanned nap. My sleeping schedule is even further screwed! Aaahh. Oh well, we had a good time!

DIY Ideas

2009-09-27T14:31:00.001-06:00

OK, so I'm caught up in looking at all these cute little knick knacks, relationship articles, & WEDDING idea blogs/articles. WTF. Strangely enough, they're giving me some super cute ideas! I guess you could say I'm doing some blog surfing today.

DIY Wedding Menu Wheel - LOVE!
Why I would want to move to Europe - Sunday Love
DIY Terrariums - I want to do this!
Vanessa (@ Pois Rouge) introduced me to some uber cute items available @ Billet.jp
Possible wedding favor idea or ok, I just want to make it - Tin Travel Candles
Secret To A Happy Marriage - Agreed!
What a great way to display photographs. I think I'm inLOVE with this site.
MUST MUST DO. Adorable Valentines Day Kit.

I definitely think I need to quit reading blogs, news, etc. etc. for a little bit. Haha. But before that.. some fun facts!

The average woman kisses 29 men before she gets hitched! Damn, I am behind by 20 men!
Two out of every three couples turn their heads to the right when they kiss. (Do you?) Actually, yes I do. It's more natural/comfortable. Sometimes to the left to change things up!
Kissing releases the same neurotransmitters in our brains as parachuting, bungee jumping and running.

DreamWeaver.

2009-09-27T03:13:00.000-06:00

Currently upgrading my Adobe DreamWeaver program from CS3 to CS4. I've been having error boxes constantly popping up for a month now so it'll be a nice change. Hopefully it's not too different from the previous version, but I'm sure I'll get used to it nonetheless.

I'm going to need to clear out some files on my computer soon though. I only have 5GB left! I don't know how that's possible since I don't have THAT many programs installed & maybe 13GB of songs? I'm not sure. Half my harddrive is probably photos though. Yeah, I can guarantee that. Haha. Can't help it though :)

Speaking of which... I got all 225 of my photos in the mail this past week! 300 if you count the 75 I sent to my mom. The best part... they were FREE! Thanks to Snapfish.com for their free shipping code ;) All the photos were from our trip to London, so I'm pretty stoked to have them all printed & in hand. Some things are just better when you have a physical copy. I've already got some of the photos displayed around the house! I also printed up duplicates of some photos for my mom & my cousin's family in London. Need to remember to send those out to them ASAP. I also need to get a photo album or maybe even better, a scrapbook! I saved a bunch of the stuff we had in London. Our plane tickets, tour tickets @ Chelsea Stadium, maps, etc!

Ok, download is done :)

P.S.
I meant to make a note of it. I've been having really weird dreams lately. I don't normally dream in a "fantasy-like" kind of setting/plot. Perhaps it's all of the Dragonball Z that I've been watching? Last night's dream was pretty disgusting though. I could see myself throwing a punch towards Peter's way in my dream, but I could also feel myself acting out the motion in REAL LIFE. The funny thing is, I was so aware of my movements, I actually thought to myself if I should go through with & go through with throwing a punch. And I did. It was quite amusing. I don't normally move around/talk in my sleep... so I guess I figured, why not? Haha. All the other dreams consist of hidden passage ways, drunken stupor with a friend, & SNAKE for breakfast for my friends & I, courtesy of my mother. Yeah, not to sure where all of it comes from. Hopefully tonight will bring about more dreams. Night night.

Hello Subconscious.

2009-09-22T17:20:00.000-06:00

If our dreams speak our subconscious desires, then my dreams have been channeling the same message to me time and time again. If my dreams decided to transcend thought and manifest themselves into reality, I would not fight it.

Despite waking up numerous times today, I kept falling back into the same dream. As per the usual, there are a few significant parts that remain vivid in my mind. I love the fact that I can remember a good portion of my dreams. I can't imagine waking up a whole week without remembering a dream.

Anywho, it seems as if we've gone from summer and headfirst into winter! What happened to everything in between? I told Peter we'll have a crazy winter up ahead of us, but I didn't anticipate it starting in September! Seriously, winter storm warnings already? I could've sworn it was just 80+ degrees this past Sunday!

These past couple weeks have been dragging on. I'm still dreaming about Europe. I seriously want to move there. Seriously. I even looked up websites on how to achieve this. Peter is right there with me on the idea. I don't mind the cramped spaces, the older feel, all the walking, or crazy taxes. I just need to find a way there, pronto!

We've also spent a good amount of the time cooking. Peter cooked fajitas one night & two different kinds of pasta on another night. He had marinara sauce + meatballs & he made alfredo for me! Yum. None of that out-of-the-can stuff either. Homemade alfredo is the best, especially when cooked by my boyfriend! I made oven-baked teriyaki chicken, chicken adobo, steamed sweet corn, crab dip, chili (no beans!), & the usual portuguese sausage, eggs, & rice. Not too shabby. The chili was the bomb diggity! $6 for all the ingredients (thanks to Colorado prices!) & enough leftovers for a second meal!

On Sunday we had a late lunch at Old Chicago's, which was delicious. As usual, we got way too much food. We got the Italian Nacho's appetizer (freakin delicious!), I got the Wings & Pizza Rolls combo & he got the Wings & Pizza combo. We were instantly hit with food coma, but I told Peter we have to stay for the rest of the Broncos game (that's why we went to OC's after all!). We ended up winning, so that was awesome :)

Monday, it was cold and dreary, but I had to wake up early to meet with a client. Our meeting ended up to be 2 1/2 hours long, which isn't too bad since I get paid for it :P When I got home, we headed out for brunch at Village Inn and we both had Country Fried Steak (or was it Chicken Fried Steak?). Food coma again. We were supposed to watch a movie, but I ended up taking a nap and he played video games all day/night. Haha. Oh well.

Now I have a bunch of work to do on some websites and catching up on e-mail with clients. Fun.

News For Today

2009-09-14T12:44:00.000-06:00

I've been catching up on world news for the past couple of days. It's been a while since I've read more than a handful of articles. New's hasn't changed much though. The stories are still disturbing, saddening, & heartbreaking. So many people have been displaced. So many are fighting wars as we sit here in the comfort of our own homes-- a luxury the masses would die to have. Hmm.. What can we do about it? That's probably a good thing to ponder. I truly applaud those who are out there actually making a difference in people's lives. Just a few stories I've read recently:

Some of these stories are so backwards. They simply make no sense. A man who organizes a giveaway of flour at his compound to HELP the poor is ARRESTED because he didn't notify the authorities. I guess good deeds come at a price these days? A pregnant 15 year old get's shot in the head intentionally. A good Christian man is killed on his way to his wedding. A Yale graduate student, who was to be married YESTERDAY, was most likely murdered and stuffed into the walls at her University.

And yes, Kanye West, you are an ass. You have officially won the Douchebag of the Year award! In your own words, "How could you be so heartless?" Poor Taylor. It was HER moment. She's completely undeserving of your lack of respect & self-righteousness. I hope you feel the backlash of your actions.

Perhaps I should just stop reading the news for a little bit. I just get really upset at times.

I want. I want!

2009-09-12T17:50:00.003-06:00

Flying Panda Tee @ Steppie

Panda Face Neckalce @ Steppie

ACEO prints @ Steppie

Panda Lovers Phone Charm @ LovelyCharms

Panda Purse - KINDA looks like the one I wanted in London!

A super overload of cuteness, I know. Hahah! Not to mention, I also want:

IR (Infrared) converted digital camera
Holga camera
Polaroid camera
2009 Ninja 250R

Lastly, since I'm all over Etsy today, I entered Element Nineteen's September Giveaway (aka Anirtak @ etsy). I really love her necklaces. Here's to hoping!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T15:34:00.000-06:00

I had a great dream last night. I know I had 3 dreams, that I should remember, but the 2nd dream overshadowed the rest. Hence, it's the one I remember most vividly. I love how real my dreams feel sometimes. I know this dream was a reflection of my subconscious as well. I woke up unable to help the smile :)

Yesterday was a pretty fun, event-filled day. Peter & I headed down to Denver to enjoy Labor Day. Since it took us FOREVER to find FREE parking, we decided to go to the Rockies vs. Reds game first. HAHA. Actually, we decided to eat first since stadium food costs an arm & a leg! I had a chili dog and fries for lunch & he got a Chicago dog. We watched the first 3 innings in the bar while we ate.

All the Rockpile ($5) tickets were sold out, so we got the next best seats at $10 a pop. Peter thought we were in the right seats, but I knew we were supposed to be higher, but I didn't say anything. Hahah. This was my first Rockies game so I was pretty pumped! The sun was glaring, the seats were hot. Before long, our pants were & shirts were soaked with sweat. I KNEW I should've stayed in shorts. By the bottom of the 7th the clouds finally made their way over, bringing temporary relief from the sun. It was SO hot, but at least we won 4-3!

After the game, we headed towards 16th St. Mall for the Taste of Colorado. We got ourselves some tickets and walked around. It was $5 for 8 tickets & it was usually 2 tix for a 'Taste'.. I tried some strawberry banana gelato, bacon wrapped chicken, rum marinated grilled pork, rice pudding, crab dip (freakin` awesomely delicious!), & got myself a small shave ice. There was a lot of people there. I can't believe the things some people wore, their make-up, & hairstyle. HAHA. Anyway, it was fun. I should've got the packs of dip though, it was seriously amazing!

After that we headed out to Peter's mom's working place & brought her some stuff from London. We picked up some Pho to-go & I got a snow honeydew melon boba! I LOVE BOBA! It was muy delicioso :) Once we got home we ate the Pho for dinner and watched "Rockstar." Not too bad of a movie.

Good times. We were soooo tired after that! I almost slept-in past 10am today! Hahah.

London Photos: Day 1

2009-09-05T11:36:00.001-06:00

Just a few photos from our trip to London: Day 1. I spent a good amount of yesterday editing these photos, so enjoy. I'd post more, but I don't know how to do an "lj-cut" type of thing here on blogger. Haha. Please click on the photos to see the full-size resolution.

At DIA - waiting for our flight out to Chicago!

Our room - The Radisson Leicester Square Hotel

In Chinatown - just a block from our hotel.

The National Gallery - Just behind our hotel

The National Gallery (left) & St. Martins In The Fields (right)

Trafalgar Square - We probably went here everyday. Haha. It's the 4th most popular tourist attraction in the world. It's always busy here.

Pretty building I saw while walking. It's hard to do night photography without a tripod, but I do enjoy it!

Big Ben - I finally got to see him!

Westminster Bridge

The River Thames & The London Eye

Houses of Parliament & Big Ben

Waterloo Bridge, I think.

Having a drink on a boat on the River Thames!

Cheers!

There was a bar/club downstairs on the boat & we met this random group of guys there & hung out with them for a bit :)

With the London Eye behind us.

and that's our first day/night in London! I actually have to download the other photos from my little camera. I'll post a round 2 of day 1 sometime later. I took wayyyy too many pictures. Hahah. I got a couple great photos though :) More to come later!

Stonehenge.

2009-09-04T14:50:00.001-06:00

This was an old entry that was saved as a draft since my laptop crapped out & I was too lazy to go back and finish the entry...

Being in England has been great. I continue to forget that I am in a different country despite the constant reminders: driving on the "wrong" side of the road, narrow roads, ancient buildings, abundance of mercedes & BMWs, & extremely expensive everything. Different terms I've learned thus far:

Bathroom = Toilet or Loo
Take out = Take away
Cotton Candy = Candy Floss
Popsicle = Ice lolly
Fries = Chips
Subway = Tube

It's quite interesting. The accents still amuse me. Just listening to my little nephew speak cracks me up. Ok, he's not so little. According to this stores measuring poster thing, Gian is the height of a 7 year old (he just turned 6 on Saturday). I am the height of a 12 1/2 year old. Hahah!

Anyway, we checked out of the hotel on Monday morning. We left our baggage with Guest Services while Peter & I walked around London. We headed down to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. We made it just in time to watch them at their starting point. We then headed down the street to the gates where there was a SEA of people. We pretty much missed most of the ceremony as everyone fought for a spot near the gates. We could hear the band/guards, but we couldn't see anything. So we waited & waited until they came towards our way. The man standing next to us had extremely bad body odor. It was a bit nauseating to say the least. It was bright & sunny out, so everytime a gust of wind blew by, the feeling was bittersweet.

After that we got a drink & sat around & relaxed in the park for a bit. We walked some more through the sights and ended up in Covent Garden. We should've gone here earlier! We were hanging around Chinatown so much, we didn't get a chance to check this area out. We did some shopping and picked up some things for people. I also now have more scarves than I will ever need in a lifetime. There were a lot of shops & it was just a quaint collection of buildings, stores, & restaurants. Performers also riddled the streets as the masses were drawn to them like flies. We finally said our goodbyes to Leicester Square and headed to the Tube.

My cousin & his family were gracious enough to let us stay with them for the remainder of our trip. We all went to Stonehenge today. I never thought I would get to see such a sight this early on in my life, but I did. I expected it to be much more grand, but it didn't disappoint. Just being there.. was amazing for me. Maybe if we were allowed closer, allowed to actually touch the rocks, the henges would surely tower over me. Being in the English countryside was also a sight to see. Peter, my nephew (cousin's son! it's just easier to say nephew), & I took a walk through the grasslands to get closer to the sheep. It was adorable seeing my nephew follow Peter like that. I can't imagine how the experience would've been if we were there for sunrise or sunset. There were sooo many tourists there. I think I would very much like to enjoy the area all by my lonesome. There's a sense of mystery there, a sense of peace. I'd prefer it not be clouded by the presence of people all around me. I'll have to do that next time! I picked up some postcards & a stonehenge ecobag (only £2.50!) as souvenirs.

We headed out shortly after our walk through the fields. We stopped by KFC for lunch! Yum yum. I love KFC. It was interesting to see the menu & their portions of food once again. I continuously receive reminders of how over indulgent us American's can be. Their "large" sized side dishes were no bigger than those mini-sized play-doh containers! I was also amused by my nephews choice of food. Sweet corn dipped in baked beans & ketchup. LOL. Kids are so strange.

We started heading back towards the city to go "picking" at this farm. You can pick your own berries, fruits, vegetables, or flowers, & just pay for them at the closest kiosk. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and it started pouring rain. We decided to head back to Hayes & once we got home, the sun broke through the clouds & the rain stopped. Great timing! Hahah. At that point my cousin decided to just take us shopping in Uxbridge. I picked up a last minute birthday gift for my mom & my cousin hooked me up with a super sweet pair of Adidas Superstar shoes! Oh man, I love it, so much! I don't think you can find it in the states, which makes it even more sweet! He even got me a Nike top to use for sports/running. I know, I'm so spoiled :)) It's the benefits of being the baby of the family. Hehe.

I'm so lucky. So blessed in my life.

When In London.

2009-08-30T18:17:00.000-06:00

London has been great thus far. Everything is damn expensive. Everyone is hustlin` & bustlin'. The streets are lively. Never a lack of uninteresting passersby. The accents.. oh the accents! I love it.

I am so fascinated with my little nephew (my cousin's son!) everytime he speaks. Even my cousin & his wife's accents have changed. So awesome. Hahah!

We've pretty much seen all the staples here in London. Most of the must-sees. We didn't do any tours or go inside really. We missed our chance to see inside Westminster Abbey due to my misjudgement on the Tube rails/paths. We ended up walking another 20 minutes to get to the church. By then the service was ending :( Ugh.

We did take a tour of the Chelsea stadium (Soccer/Futbol) today though. This was moreso for Peter than me. Haha. He looked like a little kid in a candy store, all googly-eyed & drooling at the site before him. He's happy now.

As long as we get to go to Stonehenge, I will be satisfied. Seriously. That's all I want to see. Anyhow, I'm pretty pooped. Night night.

Sex Dream Interrupted

2009-08-22T21:12:00.000-06:00

"Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened."

~Jennifer Yane

Hahahaha, SO SO true! A friend of mine posted all these photos of us during our Freshman year of college. In looking back on these things, you really can't help yourself but wonder, where did all that time go? What happened? How did we get to this point now?

I feel like the past 5 years have been such a blur. An awesome blur that I wish could go on forever. Then there's reality. We're growing up! Kinda. I'd prefer to be a kid forever. I'll try my hardest to resist the oncoming reality.

Oh, before I forget... I had awesome dreams last night. The first had a bunch of my good friends, but I don't clearly remember the details. My second dream... it was so vivid. It took place in the room that I fell asleep in. The time, the daylight, everything matched up between my dreamstate & reality. I was laying in bed with my boyfriend (in my dream) and then as I was about to rip his clothes off, mount him, & have the greatest sexual extravaganza of my life.... I hear "Baby, it's 9:22. You should get up." HAHAHAH. Ultimate epic fail. Total buzzkill. I can't believe I was woken up from my dream. It was going to be epic. I've been waiting for a "sex dream" for a while. Have you ever had one? It's pretty amazing. HAHA. My dreams lately have been so vivid. So happy. I woke up this morning with a smile :)

Just a slight afterthought to tie the picture in more....

Everyday should be like your birthday. Reborn. Refreshed. Renewed. A new day. A happy day.

The photo above is the birthday cake that I got for Peter earlier this month. It's a single layer German Chocolate Cake. It was quite delicious.

I Likey The Dresses.

2009-08-21T17:49:00.004-06:00

I seem to have taken a liking to dresses over the course of this past year. They're rather convenient and easy to slip on. It was a bit cold on this day (Sunday) so I wore tights. I slipped off my jacket once I got in the house. I made it back home just before the thunderstorm kicked up and the rain started falling. Yay. I'm lucky Lexi is always a willing model. She's such a good girl.

I just realized that almost everything I'm wearing I got for super cheap. HAHA.

- Hurley Dress- $2.99

- Puma Roma Shoes- $19.99

- Beanie- $6.99

- Tights- $1.50

Anyhow, yesterday Peter & I got some Papa John's Pepperoni pizza after he got off of work. We stopped by the grocery store to get some snacks while we waited for our pizza. When we got home, we ate all but one slice, drank a bunch of soda, ate a bunch of chips, & munched on some twinkies. Goodness. Junk food addicts. Sometimes I wonder how my kidney's and everything else takes one all the crap food. Haha. It's ok though, it's been forever since I've had a pizza. Now I just want more... :)

Of course... we passed out for the next couple of hours. I woke up still SUPER full. We then played scrabble and Peter finally succeeded in beating me during the last game. BOO! I had the crappiest letters everrrrr. Rematch!

I woke up pretty early today. I woke up to Lexi sleeping on the bed with me (as usual). She couldn't last more than a day without doing this! Ever since I washed all the sheets & pillows, I didn't allow the doggies on the bed. I must've been sleeping really good if I didn't notice her sneak her way on. Haha.

Once I was really awake, I wrote up three cover letters and sent out two of them. I hope someone calls me back soooon! I need a job. A full-time job. Once that happens, I can start saving up some moolah. I've got my eyes set on all these goals. I think I should create a vision board sometime soon. It'll be nice to see all the things I want all in one place. Yes, I think I'll do that.

Till then... job hunt continues!

Testing G1 Pixelpost

2009-08-20T03:22:00.002-06:00

Taking a drive to Denver. We have the same look on our face. Haha! I was testing out this application on my g1 and I guess it uploaded this photo to both of my blogs. Strange. I'll have to change that setting. It's pretty nifty though. I'm wondering if I'll have internet access on my phone while I'm in London? I hope so! I'll need to make a call to T-mobile as well to get the unlock code for my Blackberry. Just in case... ya never know. I'm sure they'll give me the code, even though I've had the phone for less than a year. I've been with T-mobile for over 10 years now! Seesh. Have I really had a phone that long?! Crazy.

Anywho, after I write up these invoices and send them out, I need to make a few phone calls and get things in order. I also need to look for more jobs and write more cover letters. At least Wellsfargo e-mailed to say I can schedule an appointment with them. That's one opportunity! This job hunting thing is getting depressing. Haha. At least I have London to look forward to!

My Babies

2009-08-17T18:37:00.002-06:00

As promised, photos of my little big babies that I love so so much. We've had Lexi for as long as Peter & I have been together. Zeus became a part of the family about 8 months later. I gave these two munchkins a MUCH needed bath today. Lexi was VERY well behaved, as expected. Zeus on the other hand.... I wanted to kill him. He was a nightmare! Every chance he got, he would try to shake off all the water in his coat. Lexi didn't get me wet at all, but Zeus... oh man. The boy got me soaked! Aside from his misbehaving, I have two fresh, clean babies now. I brushed them both at least 5 times. I need to brush them again tonight. Oh the beauty of having a huskies!

Green Is A Restful Color.

2009-08-16T14:04:00.003-06:00

Did you know: Green is a restful color with some of the same calming attributes of blue. Like blue, time moves faster in a green room.

Green also denotes balance, harmony, & stability. Green is one of my favorite colors; it's a stark contrast from my favorite above all, black.

I also decided a couple months ago that I want either a moss or tea green with a touch of yellow/gold as my wedding colors. Unless I find some super awesome black dress(es), then you know... Hahah. I would TOTALLY rock a black wedding gown ;) No worries. I don't have 'wedding' on the brain. Far from that actually. Just need to keep these notes somewhere.

Anyhow, I should turn this blog into a "what I wear when I'm bored" kinda thing. Haha. Saturday, I was quite bored. I played with some make-up & made myself feel pretty. Always nice. Took some photos and played outside on the deck with my two baby dogs. After that, I cleaned up a bit and watched season 2 of House! Exciting. That was pretty much my whole day.

Right now I have some website work that I need to get done. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of the day though. *sigh* Maybe I'll play video games. Hah. We'll see. Smile!

"Keep smiling - it makes people wonder what you've been up to."

Asher Ida.

2009-08-14T18:24:00.005-06:00

My pretty sweet hoodie that I bought yesterday! It's a Matix Asher Ida hoodie. I normally wouldn't wear purple, ever, but I think it went well with the mix of grays & black. Plus, I can't see the purple insides & the purple in the back, so it doesn't bother me as much. As long as I don't see the color 24/7, I can tolerate it! Haha. Strange logic indeed. It's originally $67.95, but I got it for $20. Yay! I love deals.

Yesterday Peter & I went down to Denver and went to Park Meadows. I got the hoodie, MAC eyeliner, & $13 worth of white & milk chocolate covered gummy bears from Sweet Factory. A bit indulgent with the sweets. Totally worth it though! I love chocolate covered gummy bears!

We finally got home after a looong drive & ran into a crazy old man carrying a rock, looking for a certain place. Peter tried to help the man out, but he quickly became irate, & ended up arguing with Peter. LOL. Something was truly not right with the guy. I was afraid he was going to come back and smash my car windows in >_<

After some lounging around & eating a bunch of junk food, Peter & I played some scrabble! I beat him! Twice! I hope he's up for a rematch tonight. Lol. He needs to increase his vocabulary. It's rather hard trying to work with 3, 4, sometimes 5 letter words after a while. Haha. He'll get better, hopefully!

Today, I turned in a cover letter & resume for this position I really want. It's located in Fort Collins though, but *cross fingers* I hope I have a chance at it at least! Please, please, please. Until I get a call back, I'll just have to wait and see and send out more cover letters & resumes. Such is life.

Lastly, it's been 2 1/2 years since Peter & I have been together. What a milestone eh? Who would've thunk it?!

June. July. August. Summer.

2009-08-12T16:32:00.004-06:00

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade."

~Gertrude Jekyll

I wish it was still June. In June, I would be in Hawaii in the comfort of my huge, super sweet, best hangout place in the world, room. Maybe that's a stretch, but it's my room. I am biased. I would also be with my mom, brother, & my little lucky bear (whom they say is 15lbs now!). Not to mention, FRIENDS, my friends. I wish it was still June.

Summer is slowly coming to an end. Autumn will soon be on our doorstep. Fortunately, I get to close my summer out with a trip to London! I get to see the sights.. definitely SUPER excited for stonehenge.. just travel & experience a whole different culture and lifestyle. Awesome! I also get to see family that I haven't seen in forever & a day.

I'll definitely miss the sunshine of summer. I actually got a tan this time around! Though, I'm still considerably "whiter" than everyone else. I already miss you summer. Time to start planning out at least some kind of schedule for my trip to London!

Happy Day.

2009-08-10T17:32:00.002-06:00

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

~Mahatma Gandhi

I took time off from all the cover letter writing & application filling to stop and make myself feel ~~pretty~~.. er, prettier. Hey, nothing wrong with that. I find that when I feel pretty, I feel happier. Hah! Not that I am lacking confidence ;) Not the case. It simply feels nice.

I also stopped and took a few photos. I haven't really played with my camera in a long time. I'm happy with the results :) I got some great photos of Lexi & Zeus. I'll have to post those in a follow-up entry.

I spent a good amount of yesterday, TEXTING those two. Funny. I enjoyed it. I am rather happy with the results as well. Makes me feel like a played a hand in it all in a strange way. I usually try to avoid these situations, but this one was simply unavoidable. Best of luck, loves.

Today wasn't as productive as I would've liked it to be, but there's always tomorrow. Peter & I will be heading to Denver to visit his mom for a bit. Haven't seen her in forever. Maybe I can get my iPod fixed as well? Hopefully there's time. We shall see :)

Here's a full-shot of the photo I posted above:

Temptation.

2009-08-09T19:32:00.002-06:00

"The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come your way again."

~Korman's Law

This is my saying for the day and probably for the next week or month or longer :) Tis true in every which way. Have you ever been dealt a temptation so great only to deny yourself the unequivocal pleasure for years? In truth, YEARS doesn't even cover it. It is aeons by comparison.

Open the floodgates. Let the carnal desires take over with wreckless abandon. You'll never be more at peace with yourself, perhaps even a little smug. Just saying. The reality that it may never come your way again is a defining factor. When the opportunity presents itself accept it and go with it. The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.

A warning though, giving in may open the floodgates to other possibilities ;)

Chautauqua Park

2009-08-07T18:20:00.003-06:00

Boulder, Colorado

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

~John Muir

I took this on our way back down from the Royal Arch Trail in Chautauqua Park. I post-processed the photo in Photoshop to make the colors really pop and bring out the scenery below the rolling hills. Coming out from the clearing of trees, the space opens up to a pretty meadow overlooking Boulder County. Click on the photo for a full-sized image via flickr. There on the right you can see the CU- Boulder. Sight's like these make me even more doubtless that of a kind and loving God exists. Blessed assurance.

Tuesday's Adventures.

2009-08-06T13:19:00.005-06:00

Peter & I went on a late afternoon hike in Boulder and brought our babies along with us. We got to Boulder at 6PM and had about 2 or so hours before sundown to complete the hike. In essence it was a race against time and I had no idea what was in store for us on the trail. Within the first 1/2 mile my legs tightened, my lungs burned, & my heart, my poor heart, was ripping through my chest. So much for telling Peter, "I hope you're in shape, baby. They say its a moderately strenuous hike." Despite the absence of exercise in my life, I fair well in most physical activities. I carelessly forgot to factor in the mile-high altitude change which I have not yet readjusted to. My mistake.

I kept trucking along, trying not to let my face, breathing, or stance betray me by showing too many signs of weakness. Too proud. Too out-of-shape. Haha! We hiked through a scenery of forests, rock clusters, large boulders, stone steps, & climbing 1,200+ft in a matter of 2 miles (one way). We finally reached our destination, The Royal Arch. Who said a trip to Utah is required to see & enjoy beautiful natural arches crafted & shaped by natures hands? The arch was much larger than I expected. Not to mention the view... oh the view. Simply fantastic. I loved just sitting on the boulder overlooking the city of Boulder and further down south, Denver. Yes, I could see Denver from here. In this moment, I could see God's creation before me. Breathtaking.

Sometimes I wonder if Peter sees what I see in nature? I always get a casual, "The view's alright." Never an, "Amazing. Beautiful. Lovely." It baffles me. How can you not be in awe? How can you not fully appreciate the beauty of it all, simple as it may be? Maybe I'm too simple. Maybe I just enjoy nature. Maybe I see beauty in different things. To each his own. At least we got a work out ;)

On our way back down, twilight took over as the sun said goodbye. We made it out of the trees & into the meadow with just a tinge of sunlight leftover. The sky served as a backdrop for the Rocky Mountains in beautiful shades of dark blues, purples, & pinks stretching into the night. Perfect.

Next up: Wednesday's Adventures.

Game face.

2009-08-01T18:04:00.001-06:00

The heart giveth away what the mind and body refuse to convey. Be still my heart. I will no longer let him near you.

Hidden Treasures.

2009-07-31T19:03:00.004-06:00

Day 9.

Just sitting here outside, under the sun, thinking of you.. passing the time in between classes. Memories of you come alive as if you were here sitting, watching, & waiting with me. I do not miss you alone, but I miss you, me, and what we are when we're together. My heart gently calls your name through the distance. This is the kind of hurt a heart should be thankful to feel. It awakens the soul, gives it hope, & captivates beauty in all things. We should only be lucky to have someone to miss and to realize the depth of their worth in our life.

--------------

Raw. Unedited. Unfiltered. I'm sure the entry is riddled with grammatical errors. I'm also sure grammar was the least of my concerns when I wrote this.

I found this piece, among others, in an old Finance spiral notebook. Perhaps I did take on Jalene's advice.. years ago. Albeit, this was a different time and a different person. It was so secret that.. I completely forgot about it. So secret that I don't know where I've written the rest of the entries. I KNOW for a fact, there is a lot more. I handwrote these entries, though I vaguely remember writing them. Oh well, I love surprises :) I'll find them one day.

This was part of my brilliant idea entitled, "120 days of missing you."

The funny thing is... after I read this entry, I had no idea who I wrote this for until I read the other entries ;) Oh, I crack myself up. I would normally keep these kinds of things to myself, but I figure enough time has passed since I've written this. Such a corny, daydreaming sap I am.

Taking Advice.

2009-07-28T13:18:00.004-06:00

I took Jalene's advice. I can freely write without consequence, without inhibitions. In 5 years, right Jalene? Who knows where we'll be in a few years. For all we know, 2012 is gonna be the year of the Anunaki, Lol.

I'm currently debating whether or not to send this message at the moment. Ah f&ck it. All guards down until I go back to reality in a couple of hours.

Yep, back to Colorado... Leaving on a jet plane again. *shivers* I don't like the thought of planes. In about 12 hours. Thinking about leaving home again is kind of making me sad. I never feel fulfilled. Not enough. Nothing is ever enough.

All things aside, I think I feel a little guilty about leaving my mom again. I know she'll miss me terribly. Her health has been better, but I'm praying that her medications start working. It's been 3 months. I don't want to even bare the thought of her needing surgery, especially in THAT area. It's critical her medicine works. *sigh*

I guess I should do more packing.. my thoughts are becoming incoherent.

Paradox of Life.

2009-07-26T13:34:00.007-06:00

This week has been pretty awesome! I've been trying to spend as much time with friends as I can before I leave. I fell asleep early last night, perhaps my day-long fit with trying to puke had something to do with it. I had a slight hangover due to the previous night (amazingly fun might I add), but all I needed to do was puke to make myself feel better, but that was not happening for some reason.

Anyhows, I'll try to summarize the highlights of this past week.

Wednesday:

Horrible weather! The worst it's been since I've been home. We went hiking through the bamboo forest. I guess it's called The Four Falls of Na'ili'ili-Haele. Teri, Jalene, Patrick, John, & I chanced it. We were soaking wet within minutes of exiting the car and continued to be as we crossed the river numerous times & climbed up the pathways. We all eventually stopped caring about our shoes/socks getting wet and just stomped our way through the water. Getting over the 2nd waterfall required climbing up a ladder tied to the guava tree above. After Jalene & I unsuccessfully tried to find a pathway up the almost vertical dirt hill, we scooted our way back down and managed to get most of our backsides dirty. Washing off was not going to be a problem. Getting to the 3rd waterfall required jumping into the river and swimming across the pool to the side of the 3rd fall. Climbing the rocks lead us to the 4th & final waterfall. We came upon a 100+ foot waterfall with a wide, deep pool. If it wasn't for the rain, freezing water, wind, & overall lack of sunlight.. we probably would've all jumped in! Teri & Patrick were the only ones to brave the cold. On the way back, the water started to rise. I could feel nature gathering its strength slowly, quietly. We left just at the right time. The boys managed to make it out relatively scathe free. As for us girls, we each fell twice. 1st time, of all things Teri tries to protect, he tries to grab/hold up my head as I'm falling into the river. 2nd time, some kind of plant cut my hand open an inch. Jalene managed to pull her groin or some kind of muscle in her leg. Overall though, that hike was super super fun! The rain added a lot to the feel of the hike and brought about more challenges. I'd do that hike again. Thanks to the rain, the waterfalls were also full of life.

After the hike, we ate at Ichiban. We headed out to Teri's house, less the two siblings, to play on his dirtbike again. Unfortunately after Teri pressure washed his bike, it wouldn't start! They spent over an hour taking the bike apart and cleaning things out, but it just wasn't meant to be that day. We went home, ate some dinner. Later that night we played some COD4 at my house & then went to Bev's house for a hookah session. I'm getting better at making "O's"

Thursday:

This day was probably the hottest day ever! I was pretty miserable all day and did not know what to do with myself. I had a headache from the heat. I laid around all day trying to avoid getting as hot as possible. Later that night, Jalene came over a bit early with white wine from New Zealand & cheese + crackers. Thanks to her, I discovered another cheese that I like, Gouda! It's delicious! Our other friends joined us later and we got the hookah fired up. We chilled and played some Taboo as we smoked. Lovely.

Friday:

I had dinner with my mother, brother, & his gf at Yakiniku. I really wanted to do Yakiniku/Korean BBQ style dinner, but nooooo. Everyone vetoed that suggestion. I was a bit irked to say the least, & my mother took that as me not wanting to be there with them. She's been a bit emotional lately I must say. Lol. She's been misconstruing my statements a lot these days and making up things in her head. I also realized I was being a spoiled little girl, so I stopped immediately. Thank goodness my mother is very forgiving of my antics. After all, I'm the baby ;) I had the meat jun + mandoo dish. Absolutely delicious! Loved it.

After dinner, I let myself digest for a bit to make room for the rest of the nights events. I mixed 2 big cups of vodka cranberry (extra vodka, please!) for myself before the girls arrived. We then all took a shot before heading to the club. I was worried they wouldn't take my old license as a valid ID, but I got in quite easily! YAY. I got about 3 vodka cranberries that night, that I put down in random places and never really drank! wtf. Haha. Joemar, Patrick, & Josh took foreeeever to get in. It was pretty packed I suppose, at capacity. I saw a lot of old friends. I wish I could remember everything/everyone from that night. LOL. Too bad my mind was focused elsewhere.

There was a lot of dancing, a lot of walking, and a lot of smiles to go around. I was definitely in a drunken stupor, but I can't say that alcohol was the sole culprit to my inebriation. By the time the club closed down, everyone was in their own world. I jumped in with the boys & we headed over to Denny's. The girls joined us soon after. The rest of the night will be stored in my memory box for my amusement.

After Friday night's events, a few revelations, & epiphanies along the way.. I am satisfied. Yet, I am left wanting. The Paradox of Life. After you attain one thing, you are left with even more desire. Things are just never enough.

That Soon?

2009-07-17T02:57:00.005-06:00

Wow.. a month & a half sure has flown by. Has it really been that long since I've been on this island? Have my senses grown numb to time that I hardly notice the days and the pace at which they progress? Its bittersweet knowing that I'll soon be going back to Colorado, to the loving arms of my boyfriend & the slobbery kisses of our darlings, Zeus & Lexi. Yet, I'll be leaving my family, friends, and an extremely comfortable, familiar lifestyle. Yin & Yang, why must you exist? The next couple of days won't ease rapid rate of time either. Maui (Hawaiian Demigod) please capture the sun again and cast a spell on him. I hope he hears my plea.

Oh, my birthday, that day started out rough. I was rather irritable actually, but I am not surprised. My crazy sleeping schedule would make any person irritable. Not to mention, I've never been a morning person. Mother's never seem to understand that concept. Alas, I needed to deal with my vices. It was imperative to not ruin this day for me.

I was running around cleaning, picking things up, setting things up, etc. My family & some of the church members came over to our house to eat dinner. My mother and other family members prepared food such as: dry mein (tastes exacty like sam satos!), bbq pork, fish, arellieno, shrimp, chicken katsu, puto, etc. My brother also got what I asked for.. an ice cream cake!! Yippeee :) He asked me what I wanted and I told him to get me that. Haha.

After the family dinner and crazy karaoke singing, my friends came over later that night. I saw some faces I haven't seen in forever, Rae-ann, Drigo.. it's been YEARS. Cason, Drigo, & Eric were singing & just jamming on the acoustic + electric guitar. Rap, Hawaiian, & Heavy Metal all in one? The sound surprisingly collaborated well with each other. I had my usual poison-- vodka-- and we all had lots and lots of hookah. It was burning really well that night and was just plain enjoyable-- minus the negatives parts though which I refused to acknowledge for the time being for fear of ruining my night. I am grateful for my friends & family.. especially my mother and brother. I LOVE THEM! I am thankful for those that greeted me, came to my house, & all those that showed their love. I truly felt the love. Thank you!

The next day, Teri, Jalene, Abby, & I went to the mall to have lunch. I FINALLY got my hands on some meat jun. Oh how long I've been craving this dish. It was perfect! Too bad it was a bit chilly that day. We went to Fun Factory to help create some body heat, by way of playing some basketball! Wow, I didnt realize that the rules changed and they made the gameplay longer. So much longer that my arm felt crazy and wanted to fall off. It was fun though!

Today was Diane's LPN graduation. I arranged her bouquet of 18 roses in my favorite shade of pink too! Mom & I picked out the flowers and despite our skirmish (shared strong-willed, know-it-all attitude makes for many chances of butting heads!), I put the thing together. I admit, I felt bad afterwards and still do actually. *Sigh* I really need to control my temper around her. Must work harder at that.

Anywho, the graduation.. yes, after the ceremony we made our way to Lahaina and ate dinner at Aloha Mixed Plate w/ some of Diane's friends. I had a lava flow, which tasted like nothing was even in it! Boo. I also had the Breaded Teriyaki Beef. It was alright, but not truly satisfying. I've had WAY better. The beef was just overcooked and really crunchy. Ah well, I'll just have to satisfy that craving another time.

Tomorrow, we're heading to the Kealani Hotel to celebrate Diane's graduation. Her dad rented a suite for her :) Yes, more opportunity to get a tan! I'm excited for the pool & jacuzzi too! I'm hoping to play Taboo and Cranium too. On Sunday, it's my cousin's wedding. Too many things going on. I just want to sit down and read my book. I'll actually do that now.

I started on New Moon today. It hasn't failed me yet. Enjoying it so far :)

I Love Peaceful Melody

2009-07-07T03:12:00.001-06:00

I took this photo of Lucky & Ngayaw a couple of weeks ago. Kitty is Lucky's best friend. He absolutely loves her. Haha. It's the cutest thing. Look at them all happy and jolly. I love this photo!

It's been fairly quiet on my end lately. I haven't been going out with the friends as much, but concentrating more on spending time with family. Family takes precedence after all. My sleeping schedule is so off these days anyway. I stay up all night, wake up early, and sometimes manage to take a nap in between. By the time anyone texts me to have lunch, I've already eaten. Or sometimes I get texts 30 minutes to an hour before the actual planned event. I've never been fond of those. It's rather cumbersome most of the time.

It's strange, but I only have 3 more weeks here and I feel as though I haven't accomplished anything. I am going to make a list of things I want to get done/do before I leave so that I can set goals. Sleep can always wait. I can sleep on the plane if anything!

My brother and I will start on our "Dog House" project today. We were supposed to start it 3 weeks ago... Haha. We also have to practice our song in the afternoon for Church. I am not a singer... I don't even really know the song. This could get interesting. I also have to clean out one of the rooms in the house. I've been telling my mom I'd do it for weeks and got a good amount done. I REALLY need to finish most of it tomorrow. Although, my back is killing me. I hate it. Just need to wait it out for another 1 or 2 days and the pain should go away.

Other things I'd like to accomplish/do this week:

Give all the dogs a bath
Wash the 4runner & the seat covers (need to by wetsuit shampoo for this!)
Talk to my aunt about designing a website for the church
Send out resumes
Start planning London trip(!!)
Go to the beach

Am I missing something? Probably. My mom will have me doing something in no time. I have to wake up in about 3 hours to take her to the Farmer's Market again. Haha. Another early day.

Juxtaposition.

2009-07-03T04:20:00.002-06:00

When I came home there was a couch and a bunch of other random things in my room. I guess my family turned my room into a semi-storage in my absence. I highly dislike coming home with other's people's things in my room, but I guess I really can't do anything about it these days!

My best friend helped me clean up the mess and made a night of it. We rearranged some things and figured out where to put my newfound couch and other things. I also moved my bed canopy back a little bit & brought out my bookshelf that I kept in my closet (3rd photo). We also left the TV on the floor so that I can play xbox while I'm here (thanks to Teri!). I must say, it's good to be sleeping in my own bed. I've had the same bed for almost 15 years now and it's simply my favorite place to be :)

I've got more photos to post from the past who knows how many weeks I've been here. Time is just passing by so quickly. It's bittersweet. Going to the beach in a couple of hours. Yayy! FINALLY. My first trip to the beach since I've been home. Haha. I am in GREAT need of a tan. I'll remember to bring a book with me just in case the waves are too big for my liking. Haha.

Exhausted.

2009-07-01T00:59:00.003-06:00

I am completely .. utterly.. EXHAUSTED! I have been running on 2 1/2 hours of sleep since 6AM and my body is barely functioning at the moment. I'm surprised I didn't give in to my bodies desperate attempt for a nap and instead kept myself awake. If I took that nap, I would either 1) be up all night once I got up or 2) still be sleeping and would eventually wake up way to early to know what to do with myself.

I woke up at 6AM to take my mom to the farmer's market. Yes, every Tuesday I need to take her so that she can get fresh papayas cheap: 3 for $1.00. It takes all but 20-25 minutes really, but it screws with my sleep! What I would give for loooong, continuous sleep. The thought/feeling seems so foreign to me now.

I needed to get some website work done so I worked on that instead of going back to sleep. I had more work to than I thought. That's always a good thing. I had less than an hour before my mom guys had to leave and I had to watch the patients so again, it was useless to sleep. Once my brother & mom left for her appointment, I was left to watch my mother's patients. At 11:30, I got their lunch ready and round them up to eat. My Filipino shows came on shortly thereafter and I was able to just veg out on my shows for a little bit.

Later on, I went to the post office to send off a

surprise mini care package for Peter. Hope he likes the candy :) Actually, that kid just loves candy! Any kind of candy will do! After that, I went over to Long's and picked up more 2 liter bottles of soda. 10 of them to be exact. At 99 cents each, that's a bargain in Hawaii! Talked to Peter for a while, sat on my computer... I am running on empty. I need to sleep soon so that I can recoup the lost energy and prepare myself for our planned hiking trip tomorrow. Hopefully the 'unsures' will be sure to come tomorrow morning.

I took these self-portraits during Sunday's shoot. The lighting was perfectly awesome :)

The second photo has the wind swept effect in action! Haha. Can't wait to go back to this place next week. Portraits will be our main focus this time around. Woohoo.