3 Things I like About Canada:
1. The weather
2. The scenery
3. The unpolluted breathing air

3 Things I Dislike About Canada:
1. The lack of cell reception
2. You are not here
3. My kittens are not here

WAAAAAHHHAAAA

The complete Canada post will come tomorrow. I promise.

I'm in Canada! I'm a bit exhausted so I'm not going to do a full post now. It is beautiful here and I think we're going to have a great time. Pictures will come soon.

Sorry about the double posting on a few things recently. I tried to use YouTube's automatic posting, but it didn't appear to work. So, hence the double post of Kim Zmeskal.

I already miss my kittens so much. Its actually to the point where I found one of Murphy's hairs on something and I kept it. I don't know how I am going to last three whole months without them. Kareah, I miss you too!!

Kim Zmeskal the Great!

The Olympics are one of my favorite things. Particularly the Gymnastics. When I was younger, my favorite gymnast was Kim Zmeskal. When I googled her today I found out that she now owns a gym in Coppell which is about 20 minutes from my apartment. I may have to stop by sometime and catch a glimpse of one of my childhood idols. And you better believe when I have daugthers I will do my best to make them Olympic stars. (Not in a bad way.) Take a look at this video of Kim's beam routine. Such control. It's amazing!!

When I was younger and my dreams of Olympic gold were still alive, Kim Zmeskal was my favorite gymnast. In the early 90's she was IT. She was the gymnast to be. I loved watching her and wanted to be her. She's been retired since 2000, but she is still my favorite. Check out this beam routine from the 1991 Worlds.



After googling her today I found out that she now owns a gym in Coppell, not 30 minutes from my apartment. You better believe that when I have daughters I will try my hardest to pass on my love of gymnastics to them. Maybe one day they can train under the great Kim Zmeskal and my dreams of Olympic gold can be passed onto the next generation.

This montage of Kim is also amazing. She sticks everything perfectly. It gives me chills. And her whipback tumbling passes are incredible.



Oh, to be young and in shape again.

A few months ago I got a speeding ticket. I won't bore you with the story, but lets just say I got screwed over by the city of Dallas. I had to pay $275 for the ticket and today I've been doing defensive driving on-line for an additional $25. I'm thinking the other 10 people who were pulled over on the side of the road with me are probably doing the same thing. If there are that many people pulled over in the same spot, wouldn't you think the city might say to itself "Perhaps the speed limit in this school zone is not marked very clearly. Perhaps we should fix that or at least give these poor people a warning instead of a $275 ticket." BUT NO.

Anyhow, today while doing my defensive driving I did learn one interesting fact: If a police car (with lights and siren), a fire truck (with lights and siren), an ambulance (with lights and siren), and a postal vehicle all arrive at a four-way stop intersection at the same time, who has the right-of-way? Because they are conducting official United States business, under federal law, the postal vehicle has the right-of-way.

With that, I leave you for the weekend. I hope that your weekend is relaxing and enjoyable. At least 4 hours of mine will be spent finishing defensive driving.

Canada, oh Canada! Let's leave today!

It's official! Keith and I are leaving for Canada on August 18th and returning home sometime around Thanksgiving. After much reserach, we figured out it will be a lot cheaper to drive instead of fly. So we're taking a road trip through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minesota. If all goes as planned we should arrive in Vermilion Bay late Wednesday night.

We have recently become addicted to "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network, starring the wonderfully cocky Guy Fieri. I have planned our route through the US so that we can have meals in at least three of the diners featured on the show. We'll actually drive past 12 so I've been having a tough time narrowing it down.

Right now our day 1 itenarary includes a nutritious breakfast of Egg McMuffins at McDonalds, lunch at Clanton's Cafe in Vinita ,Oklahoma and dinner at 39th Street MaMa's in Kansas City, Missouri. We'll stay for one night at the La Quinta in Des Moines, Iowa. (No we will not be eating at the Denny's next door.) Day 2 will probably begin with a complimentary hotel breakfast and then a lunch at The Wienery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Truth be told, The Wienery was the deciding factor in my decision to undergo our adventure to our neigbor to the North. Last Sunday Keith and I were watching the Burgers and Dogs episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and The Wienery was one of the featured dives. I decided I absolutely had to have a specific hot dog that includes cole slaw and there homemade chili sauce. Normally that kind of thing wouldn't sound good to me, but this looked amazing!! So I said "Keith, thats it, we're going to Canada. I MUST have that dog."

I'm not sure what we'll do for dinner that evening. There are five or six diners in Minneapolis, but none any further north. So I had tentatively scheduled a stop in Duluth at Hell's Kitchen, a restaurant that I found on-line. But Duluth is only about two hours north of Minneapolis. We won't really have made enough progress in our drive to warrant a stop, nor will we be hungry. I can't find any information about any of the cities further north. Its mainly small Minnesota towns. So, at this point, I'm thinking we'll drive till we hit the Canadian border and go through customs, and surely there will be something near there suitable to eat. Rest assured, I will take LOTS of pictures to document our journey.

Meanwhile, I have about a million things to do between now and when we leave. It's one thing to move to a different city for a few months, it's quite another to move to a different country. I know Canada isn't that different from the US, but there are so many logistical things that have to be taken care of. We need international travelers health insurance. We need to figure out how we'll get money into our US bank accounts. I have to find a home for my kittens while I'm gone, which, to me, is like trying to find a home for my children. We have to arrange for people to pick up our mail and check on our apartment periodically. The list goes on.

Bottom line, I am SUPER EXCITED and I cannot wait to leave!

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)

The writer of this verse probably wasn't referring to physical possessions when he wrote this, but it definitely applies. You can learn a lot about a person by knowing what they hold dear to their hearts. Here are three things that mean a lot to me.

My Kittens. Most of my friends don't like cats or are conveniently allergic. I think cats get a bad rap. It is true, they are not at all like dogs. But to say that cats aren't loyal, playful, or loving is a straight up lie. Ellie (left) and Murphy (right) are two of my best friends. They have personalities and are genuinely loving creatures. Sometimes they can sense that I am having a bad day or am upset and they will sit with me or curl up in my lap. At night they sleep next to me. Often I will wake up and Murphy will be snuggled up under my arm so that I am spooning with the cat. They provide me with an unmeausurable amount of joy and entertainment. Almost every day at work I get on Craigslist and read through all the adds of people who are trying to find new homes for their pets. It breaks my heart to see how many people are simply getting rid of their animals. Just giving them away like you would an old pair of pants. I cannot fathom how people are willing or able to do this. There is not a thing in this world that could make me get rid of my kittens. I would risk my life to save Ellie and Murphy. They are my family, my friends, my babies and I need them just as much as they need me.



My Aggie Ring. If you're not an Aggie, you probably won't get this. Most colleges have class rings, but very few students actually ever get one let alone wear it. At A&M you count down the days until you are able to get your Aggie Ring and once you have it, you wear it forever. There are very strict rules about who is able to purchase one. You have to have a certain number of A&M hours, a certain GPR, etc. When you can finally order your Aggie Ring it is a HUGE deal. The Association of Former Students throws a big party at the Clayton Williams building on campus. Numbers and stickers are handed out, people wait in line for hours, family comes in town to see the big moment. (My family did not. I'm the red headed step child. No bitterness.) Its an important moment in the life of an Aggie. Every Aggie Ring looks the same. You have three choices: white or yellow gold, antiqued finish or not, and diamond or no diamond. Every detail of the Aggie Ring has significance.

The Aggie Ring is so important to the Aggie family that each year in the A&M Alumni magazine a whole issue is devoted to it. It always includes stories of miraculous ways Aggie Rings have been returned to their owners after having been lost. Stories of soldiers losing their ring on the battle fields of World War II or Vietnam, only to be returned to them decades later. I got my first Aggie Ring on September 22nd of 2004. Yes, I said first. Somehow I managed to lose my first one. I think it was accidentally thrown away inside a rubber glove when I was working at Bernie's (a coffee shop.) At a little over $400, it took me over a year to save up the money to buy the second one. I'm hoping one day my story can be featured in the A&M magazine after my first ring finds its way back to me. There is also the Aggie tradition of "dunking" your ring. It involves dropping your ring in a pitcher of beer and drinking it as fast as you can, ending up with your ring between yoru teeth, while your friends watch on. (Or hold your hair back while you barf.) Some people do a certain number of shots, a pitcher of soda, a huge ice cream sundae, but most do beer. Stupid...absolutely, but a priceless memory I will never forget! My Aggie Ring represents 6 years of my life (the best I've had so far,) the wonderful friends and memories I made, all of the life and academic lessons I learned, and the school that I love so much.



Charlie the Bunny. In 1999 a devastating tornado hit the Oklahoma City area. A group from my church youth group went on a mission trip to help clean up after the disaster. We took two vans full of teenagers and stayed at a church in Oklahoma. We brought sleeping bags, toiletries and work clothes. All of the girls and women slept in one giant carpeted room and the boys in another. We got up every morning at the crack of dawn and did hard manual labor all day. I spent one day in a field picking up debris - anything from pieces of houses to paper trash. (Did I mention this was in the dead heat of summer.) Another day was spent in a huge warehouse separating clothing donations that people around the country had given. And I spent another day in a food shelter packaging frozen blueberries. My hands were stained blue for several days after that. The work was hard and it was exhausting, but very rewarding. In the evenings we would go out to eat and hang out with all of the other youth groups that had come to help. It was just an all around great time. We had a blast. On the trip home to Arlington we stopped in an outlet mall and did some shopping. It was there that I saw Charlie. The name given to him by the Ty corporation was Hippity, but I named him after the cute boy I had spent that week swooning over. I haven't seen that boy since that trip and actually didn't even remember that he was my bunny's name sake until I was writing this. I slept with Charlie the Bunny every night until I moved in with Keith. Now he sits beside me on my bedside table. Charlie has been on many trips with me, stayed with me through out college, through break ups and crushes, and through times when I didn't really see the point of going on. He is a very snuggly friend and I will keep him forever.

Today is one of those days where I'm wondering "Whats the point?" Actually, its been one of those weeks. I'm overall frustrated with life. I'm a sad panda, if you will.

#1. I'm really happy that I'm back in school studying something that fascinates me. I'm excited about my future as a designer. However, I'm not excited about my present. This quarter I'm taking Life Drawing I and History of Art and Design. I am the opposite of excited about these classes. So far we've spent two classes drawing skulls and skeletons. I'm not very good at it, so its been 6 hours of utter discouragement. Do you know what its like to be forced to spend long periods of time doing something you're not good at? Its kind of like someone repeatedly kicking you in the stomach. On top of that, its so damn expensive. At the Art Institute it costs $437 per credit hour. Each class I'm taking this quarter is 3 credits, 6 total. So thats $2622 in tuition, plus about $200 for books and probably another $150 in supplies. That is so much money that I don't have. I'm willing to take out the student loans for the end result. But right now, it is grueling. AND, on top of it all, I feel like there is no end in sight. I'm in my 4th quarter now. I'm taking 6 hours per quarter, because that is what I can "afford" and that I can handle, time wise. I started with 37 transfer hours from A&M. The program I'm in is 180 hours.

So...

180 total credits needed
-37 transfer

-24 credits earned

119 credits still needed

At this rate...

6 credits per quarter

4 quarters per year

24 credits per year

4.9 years left of school!!

I'll be 31.4 when I get out. I know, I chose this. And I really am excited about it. But right now I'm overwhelmed.

#2. Keith and I are in one of those seasons where we are getting on each others nerves constantly. I feel like he doesn't help me out enough around the house, he's bad with money, he's not motivated to change his dissatisfaction with his job or his financial situation, he's never going to grow up and stop wanting to go out with his friends and drink all the time, and he will never want to marry me. He feels like I never want to do anything or be social, I sleep too much, I complain too much that he doesn't help me with things, and when he does help I complain about how he does them. I'm condescending, I nag him about money, I'm pressuring him to get married. I'm sure there are a million other things he could say. I'm at a standstill and I want change. But I don't know how to get it. It takes two to tango and I'm the only one who wants to dance.

#3. I started this "new" job on May 21, 2007. I had my one year review today. The whole reason I got this job was because I wanted to move to this part of the metroplex so that I could be closer to Keith so that we could see each other more thinking that would lead to marriage. Nope. Originally I was a Project Manager. I started out with a huge pay increase from my previous job and excellent benefits. About 4 months in I decided that I wanted to go back to school. A few months after that I decided that it was way too hard to juggle school and working full time. I approached my boss about decreasing my hours. I explained the whole situation to her. This was in March of this year. She offered me a new position as an Assistant Project Manager where I could decrease my hours to 32 per week. This decreased my pay by 20% which is the percentage I was decreasing my hours per week. Totally fair. What she didn't tell me was that due to this change I would not be eligible for a raise at my one year review. In fact, she did say "You do have a review coming up." Which made me think she was saying "I realize we're decreasing your pay quite a bit, but with your one year review coming up, you'll likely get a raise which will make up for the $8000 less a year you'll be making." I was wrong. They told me in my one year review that because of my change of position I would not be getting a raise and that I am actually over paid.

Again, I chose the change in position and decrease in pay. I know this. The decrease in hours is awesome and I'm not sure how I'll ever go back to working full time. But I was really counting on getting a raise of some sort. Its so disheartening. Keith and I can barely afford to eat.

I could continue on with the compaints, but I'm too sad to do so. I need a nap, a good cry, or a strong drink.

I am very much looking forward to this weekend. It is 4:30 now and I am finishing up the last few things I need to get done at work. (Billing my time in "Web Time Sheets", cleaning up my office, etc. You know, the really fun stuff. Ugh.) The day has been dragging by. If I can just make it through one more hour...

Tonight Kareah is coming over and we are going to watch the new MxPx dvd she got in the mail this week. We are both pretty psyched. MxPx was one of our favorite bands when we were in high school. We went and saw them several times and were always so stoked when we would actually get to talk to or even stand near one of the band members. I had a particular infatuation with Mike Herrera. In fact, I still do. He's on my top 10 list!


Saturday I'm meeting my dad at his apartment at 10:00 am. Which is a little earlier than I'd like to be up and moving around on the weekends, but thats okay. I know at this point you're thinking that 10:00 am is so late, and that I'm spoiled. But I'm unmarried and have no kids and that is one of the luxuries I have for "choosing" to be 26 and "alone". You get to claim children on your taxes, I get to sleep late. Anyways. I'm meeting my dad at his apartment and then we are meeting my uncle Jon and two cousins, Jessica and Elizabeth, at Wet N' Wild!! (I refuse to call it Hurricane Harbor. It will always be Wet N' Wild to me.) I'm super excited about this. I haven't been to Wet N' Wild since....well, since it was called Wet N' Wild, which was when I was still in high school. Kareah and I used to go somewhat frequently. And my friend Amy and I spent a good portion of the summer of 99 or 2000 there. When your 17ish theres nothing better then spending the hot summer days in the Lazy River being hit on by the boys who would stand on the little bridges waiting for girls to float by. Those were the days. I'm exceptionally excited this time though. I rarely get to hang out with my cousins. They are about 11 years old and are just the sweetest things! I know when I was 11 I enjoyed hanging out with older girls and young women, which is the category I think I fall into. I'm young enough to where they still think I'm cool, and I'm glad that I can share in some of their happy child hood memories.

This picture was taken during Christmas of '06. We were all showing off our new watches. My uncle Jon is the man in the picture, Jessica is in the red shirt and Elizabeth is in the black shirt standing in front of me.

Saturday night Keith, Lou, Mike and I are going to see the Dark Knight. I have been looking forward to this movie for months!! I have been counting down the days ever since I saw the first preview (a few weeks before Heath Ledger passed away.) I am still really sad about Heath being gone and I really hope that the Academy will honor him with recognition for his role as the Joker. Granted, I haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I hear he is supposed to be incredible.

I defy you to tell me that that is not one of the most beautiful men you've ever seen.