You're a wizard!

Been quite a while since I last wrote a blog y mucho ha pasado!
After Oregon I moved on to CA, I've been here the last couple months. First Fairfield, then Stockton, and then Los Angeles and now I've just come to Salinas. I also had a vacation in Spokane thrown in there. It's been a good time.
First reactions (well, this time round) to CA and especially L.A. is daaaaannngg there are toooo many people here! Everything is always super busy and traffic is horrendous, and it's dang hot! But, it is what it is and despite those things I had an enjoyable time in L.A.
One thing that made it awesome is that I have a friend who lives down close to L.A so I was able to hang out with her quite a bit, which was great. On the fourth of July we went to a parade and then a fireworks program/show. The coolest thing about both those events was that they had skydivers who dropped outta a plane and landed like pretty much right in front of us, it was awesome! Yay for America and freedom to jump outta planes! Woo! :)
Also, my dreams were realized when my sis in law and niece came down and we were able to go to Universal Studios and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, in fact, that has definitely been the highlight from my time in CA! It was totally a dream come true and I got somewhat emotional as I first walked into Hogsmeade and as I saw the Hogwarts Castle for the first time, also as I went on the Forbidden Journey ride. I just felt like I was actually a part of it all, which being a huge HP fan for many, many years it's something I never thought would be reality. It was an amazing experience overall and I'm super glad I was able to share it with my sis in law and niece, it was really special, and we had a blast! It definitely increased my desire to go to The Wizarding World in Orlando, and also go check out the HP stuff in England! :)
As much as we loved HP, I think we all agree the ride that stole the show was The Mummy ride, that thing is crazy awesome! You're like just peacefully gliding through the story of The Mummy and then BOOM you shoot off at like 45mph and go whizzing through some crazy junk in the dark then all the sudden SCREEEECH to a halt in front of a wall, you wait like one sec and say, "holy junk that was nuts!" and then you do it all backwards! Whoa, it was definitely so fun! We unfortunately discovered it at the end of the night so we were only able to go on it twice! But dang, so rad!
For anyone planning to go to Universal and you don't have small kids, you fo sho need to use the single rider line! We bypassed hours waiting in line and went on all the good rides several times! It was the best way to do an amusement park and I don't know if I will ever enjoy another park where I have to wait hours in line to go on a ride that's like 30 seconds long #notworthit
Anywho, as far as my job goes, it's going really well! I enjoy my job, it's pretty much awesome. I have quite a bit of flexibility and independence, I like that I change locations so often and get to travel and experience new places and meet new people. Keeps things interesting. It's pretty much like a vacation job, haha.
Currently I'm up in Salinas, which is cool, no, like literally cool. There was about a 30° temp drop from L.A. to here, which at first was kinda brrr...cold, but I'm getting used to it and enjoying the cooler temps.
After Salinas I'll be in Fresno, then LV, PHX, NE, OH, PA, NJ, NY, SC, and TX, so if you're in any of those places let's hang out! :)
Also, mixed up in there I had a nice visit to Spokane, it was great spending time with my family and friends, and just like always it went by too fast. :(
So that's that. I hope everyone is doing just dandy, enjoying the last bit of summer and such. :)
hasta la próxima.
Here is a vid I made of the nightly light show on the Hogwarts Castle.  

And a how to juggle tutorial I made when I was a bit bored...

 

(Not) Walking in Memphis...(and Oregon)

Yo! So I definitely forgot to write about my time in Memphis, and now I've already finished in OR and I'm in CA! Dang, I need to catch up!

So, Memphis was OK, I say not walking in Memphis because it does have it's sketchy parts that you maybe shouldn't walk in, especially by yourself...and at night. And in all truth Memphis seemed a bit dumpy to me. I mean, probably all cities have rundown parts, and maybe I just happened to see them all in Memphis, but there were quite a bit. Anywho, it was cool to experience though, maybe not the sketchy parts so much, but you know, just seeing another part of the country and seeing how different people live, I find that very interesting. And I feel like it helps me understand people a bit better as well. TN does have a lot of pretty green trees all over. So even when you're in the city there are a lot of trees all around you, which is pretty cool.

I did try some BBQ while there and some fried chicken, both came recommended by the front desk guy at my hotel and they were both really good. The fried chicken had some spice in the fried part of the chicken, and I normally am a totally wimp to anything spicy and I don't like it, but this was OK, just the right amount to give it some flavor without burning my mouth off too much, though it did make my lips tingle. The BBQ was good too. I know people have strong opinions about BBQ, and I'm not one of those people. It was good, I can't say that it was so much better than whatever state's BBQ or that it was unique in some way, it was just good BBQ, that's all. I'm not good at being a food critic, I say, "Hey, it's good!" Or "Nah, I didn't like it." that's about the extent of my food critiques.

So, I was really only in Memphis for a week, so maybe it would have grown on me a bit more if I would have been there longer. But I wasn't, and it didn't grow on me much. I did meet a cool couple when I went to the temple and they invited me to a Chinese Lantern Festival, so I checked that out with them and it was cool and they were cool. But turns out they live in Arkansas anyways ha!

Well, so Memphis, yah, that's it.

Moving on, and I did move on, the trip from Memphis to my next location in OR was just over 2,000 miles or 30 hrs driving. I didn't drive all that at once. I broke it up and first drove to Wichita, KS then Cheyenne, WY then I stopped in UT for several days and hung out with my fam and some friends, which was rad! I sometimes think you don't appreciate how great a place is until you leave it, or maybe just the people you leave behind, but I do miss it, I do miss them I should say. Same with everywhere I've ever lived. I always miss people a lot, like a hecka lot!

Anywho, so I made it to OR and that's where I've been the last month. We had some big areas up in OR that took us a long time to list, which was truthfully just fine with me because while I was in OR I was able to go home to Spokane every weekend, which was the best! I was able to spend a lot of time with my fam and with friends, and it was awesome. And as previously stated, now that I left, I miss it (them) even more. :(

Also, if you ever find yourself passing through the Tri-Cities, specifically Pasco, you must stop at a place called Country Mercantile. It has free samples of all sorts of chocolate covered nuts, and breads and dips and everything pretty much! It also has really good (and huge) ice cream cones! You for sure need to check it out!

OR is a pretty state also, but I feel like where I was in Eastern OR it wasn't as pretty as everywhere else in OR. It had a lot of farmland, which isn't that pretty to me, and I've discovered that most of the U.S. is made up of farmland. There were a lot of onion fields actually, like in one area you'd roll down the window and the air smelled like onions. So, I guess farms are important or we wouldn't have onions. ;) Anywho, there were some mountainous areas which we had to drive in and many dirt/gravel roads in those areas. I definitely have a new appreciation for paved roads!

The drive down from OR to CA was actually super pretty. I went through a lot of National Forest or something, there were seriously dense pine trees on both sides that just went on and on, I actually kept thinking about how I would surely die if I ever found myself in any part of the dense forest. Like if I was stranded there for some reason I would never get rescued because no one can see anything through all the trees. Put up a smoke signal and it would probably just get stuck in the branches, certain death for sure. Anywho, there were huge white mountains in the distance, some famous mountains I'm sure like Mt. Hood and Mt. Shasta. It was a cool drive down.

Now I'm in CA, in the bay-ish area. Not right in SF but close enough. So far it's been OK, I've only been here a few days. First impressions are:  #1 Too many people live in CA and #2 CA is too hot. That's all I have so far, I'm sure I'll come up with more later. Oh, and you have to pay $.10 per bag you use at any store, something about saving the environment. I should be here for a couple weeks, but I'm actually whizzing through my areas so I might not be here long at all. We shall see.

So that's that. I think you're all caught up on my adventures so far. I'm really gonna try to remember to write a proper blog, in the proper time frame after I'm done here. That way you won't get a hodgepodge blog of the last several months all smashed into one.

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing I hope that you are happy and enjoying life! I also hope that one of these days, on my journeyings, our paths will cross! :)

                                   Oregon, up in the mountains looking across these hills

                                                                  I think it's Mt. Shasta

                                                         Sturdy Walmart bags in CA: $.10

                                                            Roasty toasty in CA

Michigan seems like a dream to me now...

"...it took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw..."

Anyways, you should Google my titles if you're unsure what I'm even talking about. Simon and Garfunkel yo! That's the only song I've heard/can remember that references Michigan, and Saginaw is actually pretty close to where I've been these last 3 weeks.

I'm in the thumb region of MI, which they actually call, The Thumb, it's like all over signs and junk, "best burger in The Thumb" or whatev you wanna say. But it is the thumb so it makes sense!

This town I've been in is pretty rural, not many people, not much to do, but it doesn't take much for me to stay entertained anyways. I truthfully had a cold most of the time I was here so I didn't venture out of my room too much. I went to Wal-Mart several times, which is about the only thing to do here...besides work. I worked quite a bit and it's been good. I'm liking the new job so far. It's taking a bit of getting used to working full time again, and to realize it's not just temporary traveling, I'm not going back to a home after a month, but this is legit my job now. Anywho, it's pretty flexible and I make my own hours pretty much, and I don't work with other people really, so the transition back into full time working is going well. And it changes, every day is a new area, and yes I'm doing the same thing, but the area is different so it will be different each day. So it mixes it up a bit, which is what I like, variety and flexibility and stuff. I'm responsible for getting certain things done and I get them done and everything is good.

Not many members of the church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka Mormons) up here, but they do have a branch (small congregation), it's about 40-50 people total which is pretty small, but dang those people are super nice and friendly! They were really hoping I was moving in, but even just visiting they were so kind and made me feel so welcome. I enjoyed participating in their meetings. That's one thing I love about being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is that no matter where I go in the world, I can walk into a church on Sunday and feel like that's where I belong and feel comfortable and loved, and feel at home. I'm also able to meet new people wherever I go who are genuinely kind. So really, all these new places I go I always have somewhere that I feel at home. But in all truth, it's not just the place, or the people either, but it's just having the gospel in my life in general and knowing who I am and why I'm here, it brings meaning to everything I do and brings peace in my life, no matter where I am or what's happening. Everything around me can change, and my life circumstances may change, but the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't change, and it will always be a constant for me. It gives me a firm foundation in my ever changing life, in this ever changing world. And holy smokes am I so super grateful for that. Fo' realzzzz!

So, next stop for me on my journey is Memphis, TN! Home of blue suede shoes and the delta blues in the middle of the pouring rain...wait, what? ;)

Resurrecting my blog!

Wow, just WOW! Do you see it's been over 2 years since I last blogged? I know you're wondering, what the JUNK happened? Was I kidnapped in a foreign country and just now escaped? Did I hit my head in a freak kite accident and get amnesia? Or did the freak kite accident put me in a coma in which I am just now waking up from? Or did I die from said freak kite accident? The answer to all of the above is NO! UTAH is what happened! I've been living in Utah the last 2 years and truthfully blogging just fell off the radar. Also, I put most my life updates on Facebook or I just talk to people in real life, so I haven't felt the need to blog, and I also feel that no one even blogs anymore, like it just slowly slipped out of everyone's lives. Weird.

But now I have decided to resurrect my blog. Even if no one reads it, I am at least going to have a record for myself, and yes I do have a journal, but this will also be a way to document some of the happenings in my life, the ones I want to make public that is.

So, I can't recap the last 2 years, it would be a novel, and it would be rambly and truthfully, right now, it would be pretty emotional and me gushing about the people I love and will miss greatly in Utah and how they changed my life and how I'm going to miss them so much and how even after just leaving yesterday my heart is breaking and I'm wondering how I'm going to be away from them for so long and how much I hate goodbyes even when I know I'll see them again. They are the best of friends, legit, true, genuine friends that will be my friends forever I know it. I love them, and I love the experiences I had in Utah because of them, and I will be eternally grateful for those experiences and those people. Also, I loved, loved, loved living so close to my sister and my bro-in-law and my nieces, that was truly awesome and I'm grateful for all the time I was able to spend with them. I love them and will miss them so much.

Anywho, look it, I'm getting all emotional, ugh! Emotion all over my face these past few days. It's hard for me saying goodbye, it always has been. Some of you know from experience, I get really attached to people and I just love them too much for my own good, to the extent that when I have to say goodbye it breaks my heart and I just lose it. I know it's part of life and I know that it just means that I actually have people I love and who love me, and I wouldn't change that for anything. So, though it's hard, it is necessary, and I will go forth and be a better person for having known them (and still know them, because they didn't die, haha) but I will forever be grateful for them. I could keep going on and on, but I think I need to move on from this or this whole thing will just be really emotional, and you the reader will want to slap me through the screen and yell "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!"
Let's just say Utah overall was a lot better than I had imagined it would be before I lived there. It was a good place to live and I met amazing people and I would live there again someday.

So, in case you haven't picked up on it yet, which why haven't you? I moved. In fact, I just moved yesterday. I am currently back in WA, but I didn't really move here, you see, I didn't really move anywhere. I took a job where I will be traveling around the country for at least the next year, I will be all over the place pretty much. Staying in each city for 2-3 weeks then moving on to the next place. I will be listing addresses for a study. I'm not sure entirely everything that it entails, but I go to training next week and I'm sure everything will become more clear. So far I only know 2 places I'll be, a little town in Michigan and Memphis Tennessee, so the other places are a mystery.

Hence part of the reason for resurrecting my blog. I decided that I should document my adventures in all these places. So, even though I might not write as often as I once did *cough* college *cough* I will try to write at least about every place I go. It might not be so exciting, but I'm sure it will be random enough for you, which can be exciting, right?

Anywho, so here's to the next year full of basically the unknown, I'm nervous and excited, let's see what happens!

Oh, and I hope you are all doing well after all these years, and if you're reading this, you should really get Facebook or Instagram. ;) 

Smile like you mean it

Alright, here's the biz, I started writing this junk a few weeks ago and got pretty sidetracked, so since it's a new year and blah, blah, blah, I figured I'd finish this post I started. Enjoy! :)

Oh, why, hello!
Gee, it has been ages since I last posted anything. My blog has really gone downhill over the years. I remember when I started this back in college. I think I posted a lot mainly because I was usually sitting in the library and procrastinating writing some paper or somethin. But yahhh, I don't do that anymore. At least not just sit for hours in a library doing anything but actually working. Ha! That's how you get 4.0s and an academic scholarship. Procrastinate til the last moment and then *BOOM* inspiration, you get an 'A'. ;) Great strategy for everyone out there! But even those blog posts were just about random ponderings. I should probably just do that again instead of trying to think about life updates and jazz like that. Because I frankly forget about my life updates and/or they just don't seem so interesting to write about. But I should give an update, since I've only written like 3 times this whole past) year! Ugh! Horrible, but whatev, it has been a busy (past) year. Let's start from wherever I left off.

Once upon a time, I lived in Arizona and was a HS Spanish teacher. It was hot, school was stressful, good experiences were had, I met nice people, things were what they were, and then I left. Goodbye AZ, I moved to Utah. Snap! Everyone who thinks it was a hasty decision, it was not. I had been thinking about it for some time, but just didn't tell anyone. In case you don't know this about me, let me tell you how I operate, pretty much I don't vocalize anything unless there is a good possibility I am actually going to do it/ I actually do it. Meaning I think about things a lot, probably more than I should, but I don't go blabbing about it to everyone because I want to make sure I am making the right decision/I want to decide for myself and not have others tell me how foolish I am or whatever. Nope. I think about it, then I make up my mind that it's what I'm going to do, then I tell people and I do it. That way when others tell me I'm foolish, I have already made up my mind and I can't be persuaded otherwise(usually).

Moving on about moving on, I moved on, to Utah, to be precise. I moved my things to Utah the end of July, but I really wasn't in Utah myself for good until September, becausssseee, I went to Spokane to visit the fam, then I went to Alabama to visit one of my best friends Cortnie and her family. I was roommates with Cortnie in college and have remained good friends with her throughout the years. I'm mega grateful for that. Cortnie is amazing.  I was there for about a month and we had a lot of fun. We visited Ohio, Kentucky, and Louisiana. I also experienced attending my first collegiate football game. Seeing as how BYU-I did not have collegiate sports, I never had gone to a college football game. Anyways, my first game was at Auburn University. It was a good experience, lots of crazy fans and lots of fun.

(Alright, here I am adding more to this. It's now the first day of the new year 2015! Wow!)

So, now it's the new year. The last year was good. Lots of changes, well, just the city I live in really, and job. Seems like I'm making that a thing, moving every year or so. I like to keep life interesting, mix it up. :) ha! So I live in Utah and am working as a sub for now, it's enjoyable actually. It's flexible and I get to be in a lot of different classrooms. I like it so far. I like the sense of not feeling trapped in my job, feeling like I am the one who controls what I do, and even though I have to work, I can still make choices about what I do and not just do something to do it because I have to pay my rent, but do something because I semi-enjoy it, and not let it define all of who I am. I am much more than a substitute teacher. My job is not my identity.

Anywho, so this next year seems like it will be pretty good. I have some other jobs I'll be doing this year too besides subbing. One of which I will be working up in WY for a little bit, not permanently, just for bit and then I'll come back. Some other jobs I might be doing could take me other places in the U.S as well, but we'll see about those. Hopefully I'll get to do some out of country traveling again at some point, maybe not this year, but it would be nice to get back to Ecuador. I miss all my pals over there, it'd be nice to see them again. Hopefully I'll also be able to attend many awesome concerts. :)

Well, it seems my foot has completely fallen asleep, like I can't even move it. Whoops! It feels weird to not be able to move my limb no matter how much I am trying to. So strange. Oh, looks like it's coming around. Good.

Hmmm...yah I have nothing else to say at this point in time. Maybe I'll be better about blogging this year, but we know what happens when I make promises about blog writing, I always fail. Anywho, life is good, I'm content. The end.

Fun times in Philly

Heyyy, I went on a trip to Philly to visit my pal Jillicious (friend from BYU-I who I hadn't seen in 6 yrs) so I figured I owe it to the world (y'all) to blow the dust off my blog and document my adventures from the land of brotherly love (phileo adelphos).


Captain's log stardate: 05.24.2014-06.01.2014

I arrived to Philly late Saturday night, Sunday I went with Jill to church, met some interesting peeps and coincidentally enough ran into the brother of one of my old roomies from college who I actually will be living with again in Utah in a few short months. Crazy! After church we went to a surprise birthday party for a ballet dancer girl from the ward and I was able to speak Español with some girls from Guatemala and Mexico! It was dang awesome, or as I like to say en Español "Super chévere." We then went to our second dinner at the Low's house which are Jill's friends. It was some tasty dutch oven cooking mmmmm soo good!

Next day would be Memorial day! Holla for 'Merica! We went to a parade in the morning with the Lows and then went to a BBQ at their casa with a bunch of peeps. We created an epic slip 'n slide, had a home-run derby, lawn mower races, and played croquet. Overall, it was a great day. Here are some pics to depict the events.

parade

Jill and I, can't contain our slip 'n slide excitement

epic slip 'n slide

We love slip 'n slide

Take yer mark

 Go!

Croquet fun times, Low's awesome house!

but first...let us all take a selfie! These peeps are cool kids!

Low's dog, Max, cutest, most cuddly lil dog EVER! I loved him so!

Next day it rained some and we went and saw "X-Men: Days of Future Past," ummmm...it was AWESOME! We loved it! It basically erases all the past movies tho, so now we are back at square one and they can make 5 more X-Men movies if they so desire. Thursday we ended up watching the first 3 X-Men movies cuz we needed a recap of what was now being erased.

X-Men, days of now you can have a whole new future

Wednesday we went downtown Philly to check out some historical sites and junk. Here's some pics.

Reading(pronounced Redding) Terminal Market, lots of food!

One of the best sandwiches ever consumed, pot roast sandwich. mmmm...soo good!

Liberty Bell, line was hecka long so we went to a secret side window and took a pic.

Rocky steps

Statue of Rocky

Champ!

There were a lot of these blobby type people statues all over, can't tell you anything about them, except they are blobby and usually hugging(or killing?) each other.

I stood where Rocky once stood.

Green trees! I love how green it is in Philly, definitely something I really miss living in a barren desert.

Philly LDS temple being constructed

 

Side view of temple.

Inside of an old church

Dang it! Plans foiled.

All you need is...

They had a bunch of giant game pieces just randomly in front of some building.

Iron

Domino

Love is all you need!

Another blobby people statue, lots of hugs(or killing?)

just a piece in a game

Old church of some sort

Hmmmmm...

River

Go web, GO!

 

Interesting name for a children's museum! We tried to go but it was pretty pricey and it didn't look that cool inside anyways.

I may actually be disappearing in this pic! Ha! Not an invisibility cloak, just a poncho for all the hardcore rain. Dweeb!

Phillies game, we had dang awesome seats thanks to someone Jill knows! Holla for that dude! Yah!

                                             A player getting a hit and a runner scoring. RBI yo!

Where the Phillies play

At the game with Jill, brrrrr it was mega chilly! Phillies ended up pulling off a win despite being down the whole game.

 Andddd...that brings us to Thursday which Jill was sick and we needed a rest so we had a "X-Men" movie marathon that day.We also played some "Heads up" that game is dang fun and we kicked major trash on the songs category and also movies. We know what's up in the entertainment bizzznaasss!

Friday was pretty chill also. Jill was still not feeling great, but had to go to work, she dropped me off at the B&N and basically I read books for a few hours! It was way awesome actually! I read "The Alchemist" graphic novel(the whole thing), some Spiderman comics, an "Adventure Time" short stories book, and I perused a book about Hayao Miyazaki(if you don't know who he is, for shame! Google that junk!). He is a flippin genius!

First Miyazaki film I ever saw, I was obsessed with the tree spirits(Kodama)!

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

Spoiler alert!

"The fun will never end it's adventure time!"

"Oh my GLOB!"

Friday evening we headed back downtown for an Ingrid Michaelson concert! It was pretty legit! I love concerts a lot! Ingrid is super mega talented! She plays a bazillion different instruments and has a wonderful voice! Plus her crowd interaction is entertaining! It was tons of fun! I loved singing along to the songs I knew and just jammin out pretty much! We had a late night Friday but it was totally worth it.

Ingrid Michaelson! Holla! I posted other pics and such on my Instagram, check em out there!

                           Clip from the show, not best video quality and not whole song.

Saturday we went to the "Collegiate Rugby Championship USA Sevens" and it was daaaang amazing! Rugby sevens is basically like a fast pace, more intense rugby. It's played with only 7 players instead of 15, each half is 7 mins with a 3 min half-time, so games go really quick. I really enjoyed watching it. I'm a pretty sporty gal and I enjoy watching most sporting events anyways, but this seriously had me captivated the whole time. We were there the whole day but it seriously felt like not that much time at all. I was really into it. Rugby sevens gained at least one new fan that day!

CRC 7s

 

University of Arizona Tearin it up!

Just chillin with the bridge!

The rugby crew! Fun peeps! Had a blast!

This guy outta nowhere in front of us just starts dancing and totally bustin it on this song! It was awesome! They put him on the jumbo-tron and he had a dance battle with that other guy that stood up a few rows in front of him.

That's New Jersey on the other side of that bridge! Whoa!

A real Philly cheesesteak! Truthfully, the pot roast sandwich I had at Reading Terminal was better!

Saturday night after rugby we went to the Low's and had one last meal with them and all the other Philly peeps I met. The Lows and everyone I met are seriously such great people. I'm glad I was able to get to know them all a bit in the week I was in Philly.

Sunday we bummed around the house, Jill was still pretty sick. We watched an old movie about a boy scout troop with a young Kurt Russell. It was pretty cheese-ball but heart warming, dragged on a lil too long overall but had a good moral and such. We also watched more rugby and the softball college world series. Overall, it was very enjoyable.

Annnddd then... I peaced out from Philly and flew back to AZ where it is 106 degrees (on a good day) and one cannot even think without melting! Not cool...literally...not cool!

In the end I had buckets of fun in Philly with my friend Jill! I'm so glad I was able to visit and hang out with her. After 6 yrs of not hanging out it was still like old times. I'm super grateful she was able to spend so much time with me and show me around (even when she was sick!). It was way great! Jill you rock yo! This one's for you pal!

This is flippin the longest blog post ever! Way to be a trooper and stick it out til the end!

Paz afuera!