Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Creative Wardrobe
This winter weather (60 degrees or less) has been tough on me. Not only does our lovely Greenfield not have functional heating but my office is freezing. While we've all taken to wearing our snuggies and turning on the fireplace while at home I can't exactly do that at work. This week I've spent a lot more time than usual at the office since the schools are closed. When I get there in the morning it is about 55 degrees outside and even colder than that inside. It's pretty bad when you open the doors and windows to let the heat in from outside during December at 9:00am. So I've taken to wearing t-shirts, long sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, vests, jackets, gloves, ski hats, and bringing a blanket to work. And when we're lucky no one is in the waiting room and we can steal our 1 space heater and bring it upstairs to the office. It gives me a whole new appreciation for the sunshine and the warmth it provides. I'd take the 90 degree heat over the 50 degree ice any day!
Martini has a new owner
As of this week I officially own Martini, my 2009 Corolla. It'll be wonderful to finally have her fixed after the rainy day mishap where the Escalade hit me. Then I can really celebrate Martini being all mine!
Last weekend after a couple of weeks off from all physical activity (except work) I thought it would be a good idea to get moving again. Karen, Ali, Allison, Chelsea and I went back to the archery range and man was it ugly. I was even worse the second time around than the first day. But after some one-on-one refreshers I was able to hit the badger with one of my arrows (never mind that I wasn't aiming for it). After archery was over I got out and played a little tennis. It was so good to get out there again. I've been neglecting the court for several months but I think it's time to put a renewed effort in. I do love playing tennis. I think that if I'd just done archery and tennis I would have been fine but to top it all off Ali and I went running when I got back from tennis. It was only about 2.5 miles but combine it all together and I think my body is warning me that I better take a little more care of it. Right knee is still yelling at me, right and left shins are stabbing me and my upper back is a dull reminder that I haven't used those muscles in far too long. Moral of the story: I must do all these things more often.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
New hobby
Halloween
For Halloween this year a group of us decided to be a foosball team. We quickly ditched the PVC pipe after taking pictures because it was way too hard to dance with all of us connected. Our ward was responsible for setting up a lounge area at the dance which is pictured below. It turned out really cool. I didn't get a picture with all of the apothecary jars full of slimy stuff and body parts sadly, but everyone seemed to love it.
Shana's Wedding
October 22nd one of my old roommates and good friends, Shana, got married here in LA. I was one of her bridesmaids and got to help with all the festivities. We had a great bridal shower here and a bachelorette party at The Grove. Turns out that they don't let you go up to people at The Grove and do things like ask for a dollar for your honeymoon fund, ask for a piggy back ride, or for marriage advice. Sadly Shana only got to do 7 things before security shut us down. The actual day of the wedding was beautiful. It really couldn't have been better weather. It did get really foggy at night, but things turned out great. Shana and Steve looked great and were really happy so I guess that's all that matters.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Employment
Before I left for Europe I finally decided that I'd had enough with my job and quit. I decided to take another job at a clinic one of my friends worked at in Culver City. I am still working with kids but now I see kids all the way through high school. We contract with the Inglewood School District so in the mornings I see kids in the schools and in the afternoon I am in the clinic. It's been almost 3 weeks there and I'm starting to feel at home. I really like the people that I work with and things are going well so far. It has been a nice change of pace from where I was before.
Europe
Now that it's been over a month since I left for Europe I guess it's time for me to catch up. My brother-in-law spent the summer over in Norway and in August I met he and my sister for 10 days. I booked the flight earlier in the summer and my first thought after booking it was anxiety over the flight. I really do not love flying and the thought of flying for 18 hours by myself was a little more than I wanted but it's the only practical way to get the Europe. So once again practicality wins over my irrational fears.
I left LA early Friday morning and flew threw Quebec and Frankfurt before ending up in Stockholm. Luckily I managed to make all my connections, barely, and after watching 4 movies I ended up in Stockholm on Saturday morning. The airline lost my luggage in one of the quick transfers and it was kind of stressful the first day. It ended up being a blessing because instead of lugging my stuff around Stockholm all day I just got it about 9:00 that night. The first day was hard enough to stay away without having luggage to drag around. I didn't know that it was possible to fall asleep standing up until spending 34 hours awake topped off by going through museums. I really don't remember anything about those museums.
In Stockholm we were the typical tourists and hit up all the museums, the royal palace and grounds, a cool cemetery, a 1700s salvaged ship, and many more things. After exhausting ourselves through Stockholm we rode the train to Oslo, spent the night there and then took the train from Oslo to Bergen. It was a gorgeous ride. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and I found riding the train was much more pleasant than flying. Then we spent the rest of the time in Bergen.
We did less touristy stuff in Bergen but still hit up a few things like Bryggen, an old Hanseatic village, and some more museums. We also took a cruise through the fjords which was incredible. We also took a 15 mile hike through the mountains surrounding Bergen which was a little exhausting but totally worth it. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It took me about 2 weeks to finally get back on the pacific time zone when I got back. But I had a great time and would totally do it again.
Here is the link to my photos from the trip rather than trying to post all of them or trying to pick out my favorites.
Europe Photos
I left LA early Friday morning and flew threw Quebec and Frankfurt before ending up in Stockholm. Luckily I managed to make all my connections, barely, and after watching 4 movies I ended up in Stockholm on Saturday morning. The airline lost my luggage in one of the quick transfers and it was kind of stressful the first day. It ended up being a blessing because instead of lugging my stuff around Stockholm all day I just got it about 9:00 that night. The first day was hard enough to stay away without having luggage to drag around. I didn't know that it was possible to fall asleep standing up until spending 34 hours awake topped off by going through museums. I really don't remember anything about those museums.
In Stockholm we were the typical tourists and hit up all the museums, the royal palace and grounds, a cool cemetery, a 1700s salvaged ship, and many more things. After exhausting ourselves through Stockholm we rode the train to Oslo, spent the night there and then took the train from Oslo to Bergen. It was a gorgeous ride. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and I found riding the train was much more pleasant than flying. Then we spent the rest of the time in Bergen.
We did less touristy stuff in Bergen but still hit up a few things like Bryggen, an old Hanseatic village, and some more museums. We also took a cruise through the fjords which was incredible. We also took a 15 mile hike through the mountains surrounding Bergen which was a little exhausting but totally worth it. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It took me about 2 weeks to finally get back on the pacific time zone when I got back. But I had a great time and would totally do it again.
Here is the link to my photos from the trip rather than trying to post all of them or trying to pick out my favorites.
Europe Photos
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Summer in 5 minutes
Somehow it has already turned into August and I feel like the summer is rapidly slipping out of my fingertips. It's been a busy summer for sure, but a fun one too. I had some time off work the second half of June and took a few little trips to pass the time. First I headed down to Gilbert, AZ to visit my cousin Melanie who was one of the only other people I knew that had time off during the summer (she's a teacher).
It was ridiculously hot there with a high of 113 one of the days. But it was great to see her and just relax. I also got to see my friend Courtney who used to live in LA but moved down to Arizona a couple of years ago. We just hung out in the pool all day. It's either the pool or the air conditioning there.
I was in Arizona from Monday-Thursday and then on Friday Ali and I headed up to Sacramento for her state hearing aid dispensing exam. She had to bring a subject with her so I volunteered since I didn't have to work. It was a lot of driving in one week but it was kind of fun to be back near my roots in Northern California. We walked around Old Town Sacramento, checked out the mall (LA ones are better, no surprise), saw X-Men, and even made it to a Rivercats (the As minor league team) game. The weather was gorgeous.
For the 4th of July weekend I spent all day Saturday at the beach for Whitney's birthday. Then Whitney, Karen, Ali and I went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Hall and Oats and see the fireworks.
On the actual 4th of July Shana and I went to the beach in the morning and then I headed down to Orange County to hang out with my family. John was still in town so it was fun to see him. We ate a ridiculous amount of food and the not so little cousins gave us a good fireworks show in the street at Brad and Carol's house.
Since then I've gone camping twice, gone to the Wiener Dog races, been to a Dodger's game, celebrated our ward victory in the watermelon eating contest, pie baking contest and tug of war at Pioneer Day, and signed up for another triathlon. Soon I need to start preparing for Norway and Sweden which I will be visiting at the end of the month.
It was ridiculously hot there with a high of 113 one of the days. But it was great to see her and just relax. I also got to see my friend Courtney who used to live in LA but moved down to Arizona a couple of years ago. We just hung out in the pool all day. It's either the pool or the air conditioning there.
I was in Arizona from Monday-Thursday and then on Friday Ali and I headed up to Sacramento for her state hearing aid dispensing exam. She had to bring a subject with her so I volunteered since I didn't have to work. It was a lot of driving in one week but it was kind of fun to be back near my roots in Northern California. We walked around Old Town Sacramento, checked out the mall (LA ones are better, no surprise), saw X-Men, and even made it to a Rivercats (the As minor league team) game. The weather was gorgeous.
For the 4th of July weekend I spent all day Saturday at the beach for Whitney's birthday. Then Whitney, Karen, Ali and I went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Hall and Oats and see the fireworks.
On the actual 4th of July Shana and I went to the beach in the morning and then I headed down to Orange County to hang out with my family. John was still in town so it was fun to see him. We ate a ridiculous amount of food and the not so little cousins gave us a good fireworks show in the street at Brad and Carol's house.
Since then I've gone camping twice, gone to the Wiener Dog races, been to a Dodger's game, celebrated our ward victory in the watermelon eating contest, pie baking contest and tug of war at Pioneer Day, and signed up for another triathlon. Soon I need to start preparing for Norway and Sweden which I will be visiting at the end of the month.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
80s Awesomeness
Once upon a time 27 seemed old. I remember my first home teacher when I was in the singles ward at Oregon State was about to turn 27 and I thought he was ancient. Hopefully not everyone thinks that about me (particularly because most of the people reading this blog are older than 27).
For my birthday my lovely roommates Jessica and Ali decided that I needed to have a party. I was less than excited for my birthday but we decided that since I had come to possess two rather 80s looking jumpsuits it would be the perfect opportunity to have an 80s party. The girls decked the place out and then we went to work on making ourselves the epitome of 80s awesomeness. I guess you'll be the judges to whether that actually happened. Getting ready with the crimper, large can of hairspray, neon nail polish and bright pink lipstick was almost more fun than having the party. The neighbors maybe didn't appreciate the 80s music jammin' from our place last night but we sure did. It was pretty fun. Complete with furry slap bracelets, fingerless gloves, pixie sticks and pie. We almost never have birthday cake at my house and almost always have pie so the girls carried that tradition on for me.
So what does a can of hairspray, a crimper, 10 shots of pixie sticks, and all the neon we could find give you...
John is staying with the Grandparents in Orange County and even made it up for the party. It was great to see him too.
For my birthday my lovely roommates Jessica and Ali decided that I needed to have a party. I was less than excited for my birthday but we decided that since I had come to possess two rather 80s looking jumpsuits it would be the perfect opportunity to have an 80s party. The girls decked the place out and then we went to work on making ourselves the epitome of 80s awesomeness. I guess you'll be the judges to whether that actually happened. Getting ready with the crimper, large can of hairspray, neon nail polish and bright pink lipstick was almost more fun than having the party. The neighbors maybe didn't appreciate the 80s music jammin' from our place last night but we sure did. It was pretty fun. Complete with furry slap bracelets, fingerless gloves, pixie sticks and pie. We almost never have birthday cake at my house and almost always have pie so the girls carried that tradition on for me.
So what does a can of hairspray, a crimper, 10 shots of pixie sticks, and all the neon we could find give you...
John is staying with the Grandparents in Orange County and even made it up for the party. It was great to see him too.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Memorial Day in San Diego
This weekend 7 of us spent the long weekend in San Diego. The lovely Karen's parents were kind enough to let us stay at their house. Her mom even cooked for us. We drove down on Friday night and got there in time to check out Karen's house and hit the sheets. Saturday morning we all went to the San Diego temple.
It was the first time I'd been inside. It is really beautiful. After that we hit up El Indio, the birthplace of the taquito, for lunch. It was pretty good. Then we went to Old Town and sampled the taffy in the candy store and learned how to throw a tomahawk.
We then went to the Mormon Battalion site. It has been recently redone and was pretty fun. I even struck it rich panning for gold there! Then we drove down to the border and went shopping at the outlet mall.
Good thing we didn't take a wrong turn here!
Sunday we went to church and then went to the La Jolla cove to watch the seals and take in the beautiful ocean views.
After that it was back to Karen's house for more candy than I should ever consume and lots of games. We even threw in MASH for a while where I ended up getting married in 2015, having 77 kids, living in a portapotty in Tijuana with a batmobile for a car. Man am I going to have an interesting life. Monday morning we headed back up to LA so we could be there for our ward activity of slip 'n slide kickball. Since I never made it past 2nd base I did not partake in the slip 'n slide which I wasn't that sad about since it was only 70 degrees. Not quite warm enough for me to want to get wet.
My resolution after this trip is to take more.
It was the first time I'd been inside. It is really beautiful. After that we hit up El Indio, the birthplace of the taquito, for lunch. It was pretty good. Then we went to Old Town and sampled the taffy in the candy store and learned how to throw a tomahawk.
We then went to the Mormon Battalion site. It has been recently redone and was pretty fun. I even struck it rich panning for gold there! Then we drove down to the border and went shopping at the outlet mall.
Good thing we didn't take a wrong turn here!
Sunday we went to church and then went to the La Jolla cove to watch the seals and take in the beautiful ocean views.
After that it was back to Karen's house for more candy than I should ever consume and lots of games. We even threw in MASH for a while where I ended up getting married in 2015, having 77 kids, living in a portapotty in Tijuana with a batmobile for a car. Man am I going to have an interesting life. Monday morning we headed back up to LA so we could be there for our ward activity of slip 'n slide kickball. Since I never made it past 2nd base I did not partake in the slip 'n slide which I wasn't that sad about since it was only 70 degrees. Not quite warm enough for me to want to get wet.
My resolution after this trip is to take more.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Welcome home Elder Evans
On Friday I flew home because my little brother Thomas came home from his 2 year mission to Colorado Springs. It was great to see him. He flew into Eugene which is the best airport in the world, only 2 terminals. The place was like a ghost town at 10:30 at night. It was fun to be home with most of the family and to see Thomas. Really it was just nice to be home and not think about any of the stresses of real life just for 2 days.
Cinco de Mayo
For Cinco de Mayo we had to go out and celebrate so we headed to Olvera Street for some stuffed churros. They were amazing. I'd go back every week.
Paint Dancing
Some may ask what paint dancing is. Well it is exactly what it sounds like. Painting while you're dancing, dancing while you're painting. One of my friends found a Groupon for paint dancing up in the valley a couple of months ago. After much schedule coordination we finally all got together to try this out. It was amazing. By Friday afternoon I'm usually quite dead after a week of work so this was just what I needed. We painted on paper, walls, each other and just had a blast. Here are a few pictures of the fun. I'd definitely do it again some time.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The unthinkable
After much pushing from several friends I finally broke down and did the unthinkable...
bought a pair of skinny jeans.
bought a pair of skinny jeans.
Ukrainian Easter Eggs
This weekend Jessica taught us how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs. They look super complex and it does take a while, but it's not as hard as it looks. It is basically several layers of putting wax on and then dying the egg different colors from lightest to darkest ending with black. As you put more wax on it covers the lighter colors and keeps them on the egg while dying the rest of the egg darker colors. Here are a few of the eggs that we made. You use a little tool that holds melted wax (pictured below) to draw the wax on. Mine aren't prefect by any means, but it sure was a fun way to spend a few hours.
Friday, April 22, 2011
I'm back!
No I was never really gone from anywhere, but I haven't posted in a while. I guess I just forget sometimes and then I don't think anyone really reads this anyway. But occasionally I get reminded that people do read, so here's for the 2 or 3 of you who actually do read this. My life for the last three months...
Well work was just terrible for the first month or so of the year. I was the only therapist there and just hated it. But Lisa started in February and things have gone up since then. We work really well together and it's nice to just have someone else there to share the fun stuff and the hard stuff. I'm actually liking it more than I have probably the whole time I've worked there. So I guess something is going right. Maybe it's emails like the one I got from one mother last week who told me her son is always excited when he gets up on Tuesdays because he knows he gets to come and play with me. Or the little ones who run up to me whenever I'm in their classroom and ask if its their turn to play. How can I not love them when they are just so cute?
Church has been keeping me busy, even though I'm down to two callings, ward music chair and choir pianist. But those two are enough to keep anyone busy. I was in charge of a musical fireside put on by my ward at the LA Temple visitor's center a month ago. It was A LOT of work, but turned out really well. I'm hoping the Easter Program we have lined up for Sunday turns out as good.
About a month ago I did my first triathlon. My friend Whitney and I did it together. It was a 600 meter swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 5K run. Whit stayed with me the whole time even though I'm sure she could have finished much faster. In some strange way I enjoyed myself, probably now more that I'm looking back on it than when I was actually completing it. But I kind of want to do another one in the Fall sometime. I guess it's good motivation to stay active.
In March my good friend and old roommate Heidi got married in San Diego. I'm not sure if I was more excited about getting a day off of work for the wedding or being a bridesmaid. But it was a beautiful day and a lot of fun.
Now that summer is coming I'm sure I'll have more excitement going on. My little strawberry plants are getting baby strawberries! I had a nice beach and tennis day last Saturday. Went to a Dodger's game this week (thanks to Jess who got tickets in the suite). Walked around the art galleries downtown at Artwalk.
Well work was just terrible for the first month or so of the year. I was the only therapist there and just hated it. But Lisa started in February and things have gone up since then. We work really well together and it's nice to just have someone else there to share the fun stuff and the hard stuff. I'm actually liking it more than I have probably the whole time I've worked there. So I guess something is going right. Maybe it's emails like the one I got from one mother last week who told me her son is always excited when he gets up on Tuesdays because he knows he gets to come and play with me. Or the little ones who run up to me whenever I'm in their classroom and ask if its their turn to play. How can I not love them when they are just so cute?
Church has been keeping me busy, even though I'm down to two callings, ward music chair and choir pianist. But those two are enough to keep anyone busy. I was in charge of a musical fireside put on by my ward at the LA Temple visitor's center a month ago. It was A LOT of work, but turned out really well. I'm hoping the Easter Program we have lined up for Sunday turns out as good.
About a month ago I did my first triathlon. My friend Whitney and I did it together. It was a 600 meter swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 5K run. Whit stayed with me the whole time even though I'm sure she could have finished much faster. In some strange way I enjoyed myself, probably now more that I'm looking back on it than when I was actually completing it. But I kind of want to do another one in the Fall sometime. I guess it's good motivation to stay active.
In March my good friend and old roommate Heidi got married in San Diego. I'm not sure if I was more excited about getting a day off of work for the wedding or being a bridesmaid. But it was a beautiful day and a lot of fun.
Now that summer is coming I'm sure I'll have more excitement going on. My little strawberry plants are getting baby strawberries! I had a nice beach and tennis day last Saturday. Went to a Dodger's game this week (thanks to Jess who got tickets in the suite). Walked around the art galleries downtown at Artwalk.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Opposing Forces
Recently I have been thinking a lot about how to balance out optimism and disappointment. I would consider myself a fairly optimistic person who tends to expect the best from myself and everyone around me. It takes repetitive offenses to really make me expect the worst from someone. But I've also noticed that I tend to stumble across disappointment frequently when people don't live up to my expectations or ideals. How do I balance out being optimistic about people and opportunities without then having the disappointment when things don't turn out? I don't feel like I should automatically have lower expectations. Maybe I need a better way to deal with disappointment. Food for my thoughts at least.
Good news
Over the last 2 weeks I've helped interview a couple of therapists to work with me. And finally I found out on Friday that one of them has taken the job. She starts in 2 weeks!! I'm super excited to not be seeing 35-37 hours worth of kids every week now. The kids will probably be excited too because now I'll have more time to actually plan for my sessions. Everyone wins.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
New Year
The first couple of weeks of 2011 have not been wonderful to say the least.
-Flu
-Other OT quit so double my workload
-Terrible neck pain for 5 days
-Foot pain for a week and counting
But luckily I've been able to manage. I'm trying to be positive about work and changing my mindset about things. It's helped a lot. I did get a great holiday weekend in San Diego and Orange County with my parents and Laura. It was wonderful to just sit by the pool and soak up the sun. 70s and 80s in January is why it would be hard to leave LA. A day off of work and plenty of sunshine will make any week better. While my triathlon training is going to be postponed due to injury I'm going to make it to one this year. A couple of new therapists have been interviewed so hopefully work will slow down soon. And with any luck my flu shot will actually keep me from getting sick again. Bring it on 2011, it's gotta get better from here.
-Flu
-Other OT quit so double my workload
-Terrible neck pain for 5 days
-Foot pain for a week and counting
But luckily I've been able to manage. I'm trying to be positive about work and changing my mindset about things. It's helped a lot. I did get a great holiday weekend in San Diego and Orange County with my parents and Laura. It was wonderful to just sit by the pool and soak up the sun. 70s and 80s in January is why it would be hard to leave LA. A day off of work and plenty of sunshine will make any week better. While my triathlon training is going to be postponed due to injury I'm going to make it to one this year. A couple of new therapists have been interviewed so hopefully work will slow down soon. And with any luck my flu shot will actually keep me from getting sick again. Bring it on 2011, it's gotta get better from here.
Catch up
I feel like I'm usually playing catch up on my blog. Somehow I just never manage to write things as they happen and then it slips my mind. But it's been an eventful last 6 weeks or so. I guess you'll get the quick version. We had our annual Greenfield Christmas party the first weekend in December. It was a success as always. We made hundreds of sugar cookies and had people decorating them in the kitchen and then we had a Christmas ornament making table in the living room.
Shana decorating her cookies.
All the Greenfield Girls
Sara couldn't stay away and decided to come back for the party. She ended up staying 20 days instead of 4. I guess we're pretty persuasive.
Our real Christmas tree. Love the smell.
Hundreds of cookies. Yes we had leftovers.
We had a ward activity down on Balboa Island at a beach house down there. It was lots of fun to look at the lights and walk around while peaking into everyone's houses because the USC vs. UCLA game was on.
It was Southern California freezing so we were all bundled up.
I got to go home for 10 days for Christmas. One of the perks of working at a school. We had great weather for the first 4 days (no rain) and then it still wasn't bad the rest of the time. We even got a little bit of snow. We made our usual gingerbread houses and went Christmas caroling. I also got to go to dinner with some old friends from high school. It was great to see them.
Shana decorating her cookies.
All the Greenfield Girls
Sara couldn't stay away and decided to come back for the party. She ended up staying 20 days instead of 4. I guess we're pretty persuasive.
Our real Christmas tree. Love the smell.
Hundreds of cookies. Yes we had leftovers.
We had a ward activity down on Balboa Island at a beach house down there. It was lots of fun to look at the lights and walk around while peaking into everyone's houses because the USC vs. UCLA game was on.
It was Southern California freezing so we were all bundled up.
I got to go home for 10 days for Christmas. One of the perks of working at a school. We had great weather for the first 4 days (no rain) and then it still wasn't bad the rest of the time. We even got a little bit of snow. We made our usual gingerbread houses and went Christmas caroling. I also got to go to dinner with some old friends from high school. It was great to see them.
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