Friday, June 30, 2006

Guess what?

Babies and the cost of living

While blog browsing this morning, I found an interesting article about the cost of living in cities around the world. I live in the 3rd most expensive city in the United States, but I'll get back to that in a minute.
I would like to offer a note of congratulations to two of my previous (I was going to call them old roommates, but they're my age, so they're not old) roommates and a friend from Utah State...

Tara & James Bekker are the proud parents of a little boy who was born on Sunday, June 25th. His name is James Henry Bekker, III. Since his dad's name is James, I have no idea what they are going to call him. Supposedly this baby has a ton of golden hair. Awesome. Many congrats to them!!

Sarah & Tamir Ganbat are also the proud parents of a little girl named Allison Mralkadsjfadf (or something Mongolian) Ganbat who was born on Monday, June 26th. This is their second little girl. I am so happy for them!

Kelley Kane Boston(& husband) had a baby boy Wednesday, June 21st. His name is
Alexander Agee Boston and everyone is healthy! Yeah for Kelley. She deserves all the happiness that this little one brings her.

After finding out about these recent births and realizing that I have three other close friends who were also previous roommates and are about to give birth in the next few weeks, I got a little sad that I don't have those things in my life. However. After seeing that San Francisco is the 3rd most expensive city in the United States and realizing that I live in a nice apartment with great girls, I have a nice car that needs to be washed, I am going on an awesome vacation this weekend, and I can afford to eat out for 90% of the meals I eat, I am a lucky girl. I may not have things of an eternal nature right now, but I am a successful person and I am HAPPY. Hooray for that.

Thursday, June 29, 2006




AMEN!

Oh yeah......

There are some things that I keep wanting to mention...so here they are in no particular order:
1. Summer reading time has taken off without me, but I'm hoping that some of you readers out there can tell me what your all-time favorite book is so that I can check it out.
2. My coworker received a dozen roses today from the President of our Association to thank her for all her hard work...but she's out of town for her cousin's wedding until next Wednesday. So thank you to Rebekah for letting me have the roses. :) They are beautiful!
3. I had my dad fill out this map thing online to see where he's been around the world and here is his map. If you want your own map, click here. Very cool. Only a few more to go Dad!!

4. More pictures from Duck Beach...Joanna is amazing. All the pictures I'm in have a common theme....do you think I had a good time?

Hometown lovin


Last night I went with a friend of mine to see the Giants play the Texas Rangers at AT&T park here in San Fran. Great night for a game; not windy and didn't even get cold until about 9! The home team beat the Rangers 5 to 1 and in the 3rd inning, Ray Durham from my very own Charlotte, North Carolina hit a grand slam. My first ever. It was awesome.

Go Giants!

Steph takes on Critical Mass...


A few months ago Kristy and I were on our way to a Giants game on the N line when suddenly our train was surrounded by thousands (and I mean thousands) of people on bikes. Pandemonium on the streets of San Francisco. Why were these people on bikes and how do we join the bike gang? We talked about how fun it would be to join them when suddenly we noticed a familiar face in the crowd just peddling away. Stuart. Stuart Braddock is a part of the bike gang. (There is a really funny story that goes along with this...something about me and a cell phone, but I'll save that story for later) The next day we talked to Stuart about this and asked how we could be a part of it. He said that its an unorganized bike ride through the city called Critical Mass and it happens every month on the last Friday at about 5pm.

The other day Kristy and I were discussing our weekend plans and EUREKA...this Friday is the last Friday of the month. We made some phone calls, emailed some people, and tomorrow at 5:15pm, I'm picking up a bike with Kristy & Stu & Tracy from the San Francisco Cyclery. I. am. excited. I don't really care about the political statement that I may or may not be making tomorrow; but have you really thought about what I've been writing about? I am about to ride a bike through San Francisco. Hills and all. Maybe we can hit up Lombard street while we're at it. I am out of shape and haven't really gone to the gym in a long time. Pray for me and all I'll post some pictures tomorrow night...that is, if I make it home.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Movie Review

Cars....
I forgot to write a post yesterday about the movie I saw on Saturday night. I don't know why I've been seeing so many movies lately, but I guess summer is the right time for good movies. I thought that Cars was incredible. The racing part had me yelling in the theater and the graphics speak for themselves. The only thing I had a problem with was at the end when the cars are on the verge of kissing. Little over the edge for me. The storyline seemed a little familiar and then my friend pointed out that its the same as the movie Doc Hollywood
with Michael J. Fox from the early 90s....do you remember? Someone (in this case, a race car) thinks he's a hot shot and gets stuck in the sticks for a few days. Ah...how touching.

Awesome addition to the sidebar


One of my very first posts was about the coolest site on the web for music lovers, called Pandora. I am proud to say that I have introduced quite a few people to it who are now happily listening to music while they work, study, or do whatever else you might do while listening to music. Today while browsing this site, I found that you can embed your favorite songs right into your blog now. Just another reason why I love Pandora so much.

Why do you love Pandora? Not that Pandora.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Out of the city and into the sun


For some of you who have been to San Francisco in the summertime, you know how wonderful the weather can be. hmm.. We were invited to go check out some nice swimming spots in Marin today and it was awesome. The first place we went was a little swimming hole outside of Fairfax in the middle of the woods. The water was fresh and very very chilly, but once your legs became numb to it, it wasn't all that bad.

After laying on the rocks like a bunch of seals, we went out to Tomales Bay and went swimming at Shell Beach. The water was great and we swam out in it for quite a while. The best part of the day was when we came home and realized that we were sunburned. Hallelujah. Silvia's camera battery died so we don't really have any pictures, but I found a few on the web. The one here is of Shell Beach. When we left Marin it was 90 degrees and driving over the Golden Gate Bridge it was 58 and so foggy that we couldn't even see the towers on the bridge. ewwwwww.


Friday, June 23, 2006

For my loyal blog readers

Last night after brushing my teeth, I walked into Kristy's room to say goodnight and talk to her about her/my day. I asked her what we were going to do this weekend and we threw around some ideas about what might be fun, i.e. going to Raging Waters, visiting Gladys in San Jose, laying on some beach topless, etc. I suddenly remembered that I have a four day weekend next week because of July 4th and I asked her what we were going to do for the holiday. We were dumbfounded, so we talked about it for a few minutes. My boss is getting married on Saturday, July 1st, so that threw a big wrench into the mix (no offense, Katherine...you know I want to be there!). We decided to look online to see where we could go for cheap from the 2nd of July through the 4th. I'd like to challenge you to a contest to see who can correctly guess where I will be next weekend. I'll leave you with a few choices, but the winner will get a trophy. Ryan, you may get one after all.
Here are the choices:

Amelia Island, Florida
Memphis, Tennessee
Boston, Massachusetts
San Diego, California
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Washington, D.C.
Baker Beach with this guy....


Good luck.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Movie Review


Went to see "The Lake House" last night with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. I thought it was a great chick flick...one of this calibur hasn't come out in quite a while. Of course its completely unrealistic and my roommate and I predicted the ending early on in the movie...but its great. Makes you feel good about love, life, etc. Four stars on the cheese factor. I will have you all know that even Rick Buck liked it. Then again, he also wanted to paint his nails when it was over. You be the judge.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Sometimes

Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to have such wonderful friends. To all those who consider themselves my friends, I thank you. Thank you for laughing with me, talking to me, being honest with me and allowing me to be myself.

for my pz's out there....I love you girls. A lot.
for the people who have known me since I was a little southern belle....knowing that you still want to be my friend after all these years means a lot.
for my friends from college...."if I could turn back time..."

everyone else.... :) Thank you.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Movie Review


While this movie was not the most intellectual or thought-provoking, I thought that it was highly entertaining and is definitely worth a few hours of someone's time. For a funny movie with some good bodily function humor, I give it 2 thumbs up. What do you think of "Free the Nachos", aka, "Nacho Libre"?

Monterrey Bay Aquarium

Stu, Me, Rick, Kristy, Marshall, Joe, Silvia, Maggie, Henri, & Susan went to the Aquarium in Monterrey on Saturday. Mucho fun. You should go sometime.












Friday, June 16, 2006

messed up

ever get that feeling that you're cinderella after the ball just sitting on the ground in a big mess of pumpkin?

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Great Women



This is a picture of me, Silvia, Kristy, and my Grandma LeOra. I love these wonderful women. What women have influenced your life and why?

My grandmother is such an inspiration to me because of her consistently upbeat attitude. She's 92 and still working in the garden and complaining that her high heels just aren't high enough. She's a great woman of faith. Love her.
wrapped tight
in large arms
feels warm
like a cacoon
swaddling my body entirely

Monday, June 12, 2006

Thoughts...

Lately I've been thinking about my summers as an EFY counselor and how awesome that was. I wish that I could go back to that time in my life. Almost all of the good friends that I had through college were because of my association with EFY and summers just don't feel the same without it. It was my battery recharge for the year and I could definitely use it right now. I've been feeling so uneasy lately and I'm not sure why. I don't know if its because I need to leave San Francisco, or because I've been seeing Rick an awful lot lately and that entire situation still makes me upset everytime I think about it. It's been really hard to be in the same place with someone who knows you better than anyone there, but act like you've never seen them before. I hate it.
Yesterday I went to church and had dinner with my grandma. Spending time with her is always great; she's 92 but doesn't act a year older than 29. :) What an amazing woman. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we did manicures, we watched a chick-flick. Good times. I'll attach pictures asap.

Friday, June 9, 2006

Great concert

I went to a concert last night at Cafe Du Nord here in SF and saw a couple of great guys. It was everything I wanted: hot guys playing the guitar and good, clean music to sing along with. Their names are Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes. I highly recommend them. You can find them on myspace or on i-tunes if you are so inclined. Here are some pics of them:
Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes Check it out. I feel the love.

love for the aao

I just want to take a minute to say that I like my job. A lot. I am happy that I work here. It makes me want to dance like this:

Thursday, June 8, 2006

Whenever I read posts like Yancy Zimmerman's, I feel inspired to be a better blogger. I feel so close to him, even though I am so far away. With that in mind, I want to try and be better at actually letting people know how I am doing rather than just showing pictures of the things I do on an every day basis, like sing like a psycho at a karaoke party.
Life in general right now is pretty moderate. I have wonderful friends here in San Francisco, but there are definitely things in my life that make me want to leave. Especially after my trip to North Carolina, I've been thinking about switching coasts. I'll definitely keep everyone up to date on that huge decision, but its something I'm thinking about.
This last week has been good. I've decided to give up candy/sweets again to be supportive to my boss who is getting married in 3 weeks. We're giving it up together and so far, so good. After doing this for a year and a half not too long ago, it isn't that big of a deal to me. I haven't even had a headache! On Sunday I went to a barbeque and ran into an old friend from EFY; that was awesome. After that we came home and hung out with some good friends and watched Napoleon Dynamite. Great movie. I've gone out to eat a few times this week to say goodbye to people who are leaving San Fran and to celebrate a birthday! Not that I like saying goodbye to people, but gathering with friends is always a good time.

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Finale


I just received this picture last night, so I wanted to post it. I'm not sure if it is good enough for a caption contest, but I figured that you'd all get a good laugh out of it.