Fun Stuff

Summer has set in at work and we are immersed in the craziness thereof. Last week started the first of the ropes course outings as well as the river trips in Moab. We had a great time...I still marvel that I get paid for some of the things I get to do (not much, but still paid).





For Memorial Day weekend Erica and I drove to Hurricane, UT where we met Kate and stayed for a few days to see some more of the wonders of southern Utah. We spent one day laying on the beautiful red rocks of Sand Hollow reservoir. On Monday we went into Zion National Park and hiked (walked really) into the Emerald Pools. It was beautiful and so much fun.




I of course have pictures of my feet in both places...apparently my sunscreen attracted some dirt:)

Book Club

I recently joined a book club. It is really just a few people that have wanted to be in one and decided to just do it. One of the women chose a book and sent an e-mail and that is how it happened. We had our first meeting last night. I only actually know one of the other members but I can tell that we will have a lot of fun together. Our first book was "The Witch of Portobello." I really enjoyed it and will leave you with an excerpt:



Everything is at once so simple and so complicated! It's simple because all it takes is a change of attitude: I'm not going to look for happiness anymore. From now on, I'm independent; I see life through my eyes and not through other people's. I'm going in search of the adventure of being alive.

And it's complicated: Why am I not looking for happiness when everyone has taught me that happiness is the only goal worth pursuing? Why am I going to risk taking a path that no one else is taking?

After all, what is happiness?

Love, they tell me. But love doesn't bring and never has brought happiness. On the contrary, it's a constant state of anxiety, a battlefield; it's sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if we're doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstasy and agony.

All right then, peace. Peace? If we look at the Mother, she's never at peace. The winter does battle with the summer, the sun and the moon never meet, the tiger chases the man, who's afraid of the dog, who chases the cat, who chases the mouse, who frightens the man.

Money brings happiness. Fine. In that case, everyone who earns enough to have a high standard of living would be able to stop working. But then they're more troubled than ever, as if they were afraid of losing everything. Money attracts money, that's true. Poverty might bring unhappiness, but money won't necessarily bring happiness.

I spent a lot of my life looking for happiness; now what I want is joy. Joy is like sex--it begins and it ends. I want pleasure, I want to be contented, but happiness? I no longer fall into that trap.

When I'm with a group of people and I want to provoke them by asking that most important of questions--Are you happy? --they all reply: "Yes, I am."

Then I ask: "But don't you want more? Don't you want to keep on growing?" And they all reply: "Of course."

Then I say: "So you're not happy." And they change the subject.

What you waiting for?

I have been shamefully delinquent in my blogging. This semester has kicked my butt and I have not had the time or desire to blog. Since January 21st a few significant events have taken place. Here they are in no particular order:

1) I went on a fabulous cruise to Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan Island and Cozumel
2) I turned THIRTY
3) I finished another semester

I am sure there were some other things but for now those are the things I remember. Here is some photo-documentation for your viewing pleasure!










This last one is after going to the Symphony, Natalie took us for our birthdays and it was WONDERFUL!

Fata Slaba

These two words, fata slaba, are some of my very favorite in the Romanian language. Just take a gander at what they mean. Read them slowly, enunciating carefully, what do you think they mean? Just guess!

Here's a hint:



Yep...it means skinny girl! And you guessed fat slab right? I love it!

I took this picture in the lobby of the amazing Getty Museum in LA when I was there on my fabulous vacation.

Do I look 13?

I went to see Quantum of Solace tonight. Saw it when it first came out but I have a big crush on Daniel Craig, plus, my friend waited to see it until he could see it with me so I had to...my pleasure.


Anyways, we were standing in a rediculously long line in the bitter cold and two young men in front of us were getting tickets for the same flick. The ticket taker girl asked the first boy for his I.D. Now for those of you who are unaware, this double oh seven is rated PG-13.


This kid was definately older than 13, poor guy. I don't think I've ever been I.D.'d for anything. Well, she didn't ask me for my I.D., so I guess I look like I'm at least 13.

Reading is Sexy

I've been too distracted to read much lately. I bought 5 or 6 books at Powell's in Portland and I got through the first chapter of one of them before I forgot I was reading it. Plus, I have a 'no-non-school-books-during-school policy' (curse school). The last book I read was one of the Amelia Peabody novels. Amelia is freakin' hilarious and has been the only one to keep my attention through more than one chapter, cause lets be honest, the textbooks ain't doin' it.

My friend is a little further ahead of me in the series and told me a quote from one of the books today. I love it...

"A lady cannot be blamed if a master criminal takes a fancy to her."

Pretty great eh? So I also ordered a t-shirt online today. I saw Rory wearing a similar one on an episode of Gilmore Girls and I was green with envy. Turns out you can find everything on the internet...yay!

It doesn't get easier...but it gets funner!

When I was little, we used to go get a family picture taken every other year. We would drive into L.A. with hot rollers in our hair and upon arrival at the studio we would change into our fancy clothes and mom would do finishing touches on our hair. It always seemed like a major production and mom was usually super stressed out by the time the photographer said "say cheese!" It was before the days of digital cameras and there were so many of us that it was always just a crap shoot to see if we could get a good one of everybody.

It hasn't changed, even though we can all dress ourselves now and we can approve the digital snapshots before we finish, we can't seem to stop goofing off long enough to get a good one of all of us. Mom wanted to get a few pics of the family since we are finally all together again. We skipped the studio, the hot rollers and the fancy clothes and took some shots in Natalie's living room. You don't enter into an endeavor like this without a plan. Strategy #1: take pictures in small groups. Strategy #2: Get the grumpy kids first. Stragegy #3: Do not attempt to get any photos with the entire family. With the boys making all the girls laugh and the girls needing multiple shots to approve it got a little frustrating. Plus, there was a tasty birthday cake sitting on the kitchen counter just begging to be eaten. Here are some of our results...





and here are some of the out-takes...


We actually deleted most of the crazy ones. My family cracks me up!