the story of "GiGi"

There is a house across the street from my apartment, which I can see from my living room window, that over the last few months I have decided must be some kind of adult family home. There are always lots of interesting looking people coming in and out, and sitting on the porch, etc... So the last 4 mornings, about 8:30, this woman has emerged from the house wearing a white fluffy bathrobe and a towel on her head, always calling out for a dog (i'm assuming) named "gigi". It goes on for maybe 10-15 minutes. The first day it happened I looked outside my window and it was so cute and it made me laugh. The second time it happened I was like, "ok, wow she is not good at keeping track of her dog", and the third time it happened I was just confused.

This morning I was laying in bed asleep and I wake up to the sound of "GiGi!!!".... "GiGi"... "Come here, i'm going to ring your neck." So I sit up in my bed and look outside, and there she is, fully dressed sitting on a chair in front of the house smoking a cigarette. A few minutes later I hear her calling out, "Adam".... "Mark..." "Come here." And the next 20 minutes are filled with this lady sitting in a chair smoking calling out random names.

My conclusion: GiGi is not real! Maybe she was real at some point, but there is definitely no GiGi for real right now. This lady cracks me up! I love her random names that she calls out, and how nonchalantly she was sitting in this lawn chair smoking a cigarette.

Sigh. I love the little things in life that make us laugh!

favorite dances

My two favorite dances from this season of SYTYCD:

#1- Jeanine and Jason, Contemporary, Travis Wall (choreographer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnfAx_Yn-HY&feature=related

#2- Kayla and Kupono, Contemporary, Mia Michaels (choreographer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ucBkE85ec

I like these dances because unlike many others from SYTYCD they are mainly focused on the movement, rather than the crazy lighting or costumes or the obscure concepts behind the dances. And they are two of the best choreographers on the show!

driving

Due to the fact that my job is 23.7 miles away from my apartment, I spend a lot of time in my car. For my birthday my wonderful mother got me an adapter for my iPod, so I can play it through my CD player, which has proven to be the most AMAZING thing ever! This has made my driving much more enjoyable.

However I have recently come to the conclusion that some people just shouldn't be driving on the road.

Example #1: early 90s model Buick, the driver was a middle-ish age lady... Smoking a cigarette. Going 35 in a 40mph zone, where most people (i.e. me and everyone else) usually go 45 ot 50... ANNOYING!

Example #2: same early 90s model Buick, merging on to the freeway. Merges at a speed of 40mph, because she was distracted by her cigarette. When a truck hauling a trailer honks at her because she almost hit him, then she steps on the gas.

Example #3: woman in a nissan, swerving around the freeway in the far left lane going 50mpg TEXTING ON HER PHONE!!!!


Conclusion: Okay... Maybe this post makes me sound very impatient and road rage-esque. But coming from a person who spends lots and lots of time in her car, I have a plea for everyone... Pay attention, at least go the speed limit, and if you text and drive at least be good at it. Also, stop smoking. It gives you lung cancer.

That is all.

The End.

a summary of summer...

Since I (obviously) seriously neglected my blog this summer, I decided I should write up a short summary of the craziness that was my summer. It was fun, insane, and at some points super stressful, but now it's winding down, which is both kind of sad and also good.

• Summer camp was good this summer, each week was different and brought its own challenges. One week it was 105 degrees all week, one week we had some unexpected special needs campers, last week I had a camper who didn't speak English... All in all it was a pretty decent summer. I had 8 of the best horses who really help make camp fun.
• I was a bridesmaid in my friend Taylor's wedding in mid-July. The wedding was up in Darrington, WA, and was beautiful and wonderful! I have been friends with Taylor since we were both 1, and it's hard to believe that she is married now!
• I had to take a summer quarter class for school (YUCK!), and learned that going to school in the summer after working 8-10 hours in doing physical labor outside just really sucks. Also, summer school in general just sucks. I also started my Practicum (basically my internship), that spans 3 quarters. I am doing mine at Nativity House (www.nativityhouse.org), which is a daytime drop in center for Tacoma's homeless. We serve about 150-250 people a day, on average, which includes 2 meals a day, long-term and day storage, mail service, basic hygiene needs, clothing bank, art therapy, and lots more... Check it out!
• Lots and lots of time was spent riding horses, which was wonderful. I started jumping in my lessons this summer, which has been so much fun and so so challenging. I have LOTS to work on, and hope to keep getting better this year
• Lots and lots and LOTS of time was also spent at a variety of horse shows... We went to watch our friend Heidi at a show in Monroe (PNW Hunter Jumper), and Carnation (Evergreen Classic). My friend Katie also showed at the Emerald Classic, and then I showed in 2 shows (Brookwood Schooling Show...lol... and the Boeing Employees Saddle Club schooling show)... All in all we went to lots of shows. It's always fun to watch others ride, especially when they are jumping 4+ feet and are WAY better than you!
• At the end of July, Rachel and Kara came home from New Zealand and I was lucky to have them stay with me for 5 days. Shanon and Cheryl also came to visit, which put 5 people in my not-so-big apartment for a few days. It was totally crazy, but wonderful! Kelsey came up that weekend too, which just happened to be my birthday weekend, so we did lots of celebrating! We spent a day lounging at the beach, ate dinner at Katie Downs, and went and got lots of birthday drinks (luckily when it's your birthday people want to buy you drinks!). It was such a fun time, and it was amazing to have a reunion after almost a year. Amazing how time flies...
• The second week in August my church did a week-long Arts Camp for the kids of the community. I was in charge of the "dance" section, and at the end of the week the kids performed in an arts show at church. I had SO MUCH FUN choreographing for about 35 K-6th graders! My piece was to a really fun African version of the hymn "By and By". It was fun to see the kids learn more about dance, but also to see them have fun and praise God through the dance. I had fun teaching ballet to the little girls, and seeing a group of crazy boys having fun with movement. It definitely made me realize how much I miss dancing in a more formal setting... (dancing in my living room isn't quite cutting it...)

I am sure there are many things I am leaving out that I will think of later... Next post I will post some recent pictures. Of course, those of you who know me know that I have tons and tons of pics, but I will try and pick the 5 or 10 that summarize summer the best! Love to all... :-)

hello there!

so it's been awhile since i updated my blog! and i am hoping to have time this weekend... i just wanted to post a little blog that says that I haven't completely forgotten about my blog and will update it soon! so much has happened in the last month or so and there are many exciting things and pictures to post!

love love!

a pet peeve

Okay, i haven't posted a *real blog* in awhile, and this one is going to be quick. I just wanted to share with you one of my pet peeves, which I just witnessed outside my apartment building about 5 minutes ago...

Parking in front of my apartment is all parallel parking. My apartment takes up about 1 city block, which doesn't leave a lot of space for everyone to park. Most reasonable people would try and park kind of close together to get as many cars in there as possible... Today when I got home there was a large gap that could fit at least 2 cars. So I parked there, and backed up closely to the car behind me to leave as much room as possible. Then I decided to run to the store to get some groceries. When I got back, someone had not ONLY parked in my spot, but in the MIDDLE of the gap, leaving room for NO ONE else to park! What a jerk! Seriously, who does that?! Come on people... I am tempted to leave a little note. AGH! How annoying.

Lesson to learn: when parallel parking, park as close as you reasonably can to the car in front of or behind you... This makes room for more cars, and makes me happy!

The end.

YAY!!!/nay

My fabulous friend Jeannie is always coming up with wonderful titles for her blogs. I am not as ingenius, so I am stealing one of her ideas (yikes/yippee), and changing it to YAY!/nay. Here is a little bullet list of recent things, categorized by YAY! and nay.

• YAY!, it has been sunny for more than 7 days in a row! Sun makes me happy, makes me more motivated to go to work, and means I get to drink iced coffees!
• nay, the water in my apartment has been a little spotty this week. On Wednesday I came home from work after 9 hours covered in dirt, and we had no water (like you turned the dial and nothing came out.) Then Thursday morning, I turned on the hot water and it came out brown. As of now, sometimes it is a little brown, sometimes it is fine. I took a shower and was afraid the whole time that the water was going to turn brown.
• YAY!, one more week of this quarter! Just 2 papers to turn in next week, and then a 2 week break!
• YAY!, I am going to Oregon next week to pick up my Grandma, AND I get to have lunch with my dear friend Mallorie! I am excited to go on a mini road trip and clear my head, and to see my lovely lovely Mallorie (and of course Grandma as well!)
• YAY!, yesterday I survived the near death experience of climbing down the cliff by Kelsey's house to the beach. Many many total vertical ladders and rapelling down a rope later, and we survived. I even have some sweet bruises on my legs. Look for pictures soon.
• nay, my apartment is a mess and I am a little overwhelmed and don't want to clean it. Anyone want to magically clean my apartment for me, and organize it just as I would like it done?! :-)
• Finally, YAY!, it's Friday, which means the weekend (full of sun, studying, writing papers, hopefully relaxing a bit and hanging out with the sister!)

The End!