Have you ever had one of those weeks? Those moments in life lend itself for two things...immense laughter or tears. I have done both this last week. I have laughed at how much I have cried wondering what it will be like when my eyes aren't red and puffy. Long month seems to be an understatement.
There have been so many moments this month where I shake my head in disbelief at our luck. Whether it be sitting in traffic at the exact wrong time you need to be sitting in traffic because you are SO late for something (but really is there ever a good time to sit in traffic?) Or being so awed by how rude the customer service seems to be every time Sam tried to buy something. At one point my friend Danielle and I had to look away as we watched the shoe lady fit Sam for shoes while she berated each slight imperfection he had. The irony...I went in the next day and got fitted and have the same issues with my feet yet the lady was so sweet to me and I left feeling affirmed. Or my personal favorite was going to Outback with Holly and Kimberly...kind of too make fun of Australia because I bought Sam a shirt that said "Not Australian." The waitress was so shockingly rude all we could do was stare in disbelief. Holly, ever finding the positive in situations, decided that the lady was being "in character" and realized that Sam was from New Zealand so she had to be rude to them because of their countries rivalry.
We had a few bumps in the road in Redding and in the midst of vacation felt like we didn't really leave the stress, yet those situations made us laugh. Or my personal favorite laughing moment...which did end up being a huge stress reliever yet kind of bad. Sam and I were on a sweet walk at the McConnel Foundation just enjoying the nice weather and having fun together. He was having a great time bowling rocks likes cricket balls and making me smile. There was a huge flock of geese flying above us, and Sam thought it would be a fun idea to throw the rock into the flock. Seconds later it was like a scene from a movie. Sam watching the rock, me walking next to my guy, the birds dodging the rock, the one bird not dodging the rock, BAM, the bird falling to the ground, THUD, the bird walking around stunned, sam erupting in laughter saying, "I can't wait to tell your dad." The whole time me being so nervous that I was going to get kicked out of Redding!
All in a weeks fun...right? We finally had a great day, no tears, no stress, no fights and even NO rain. We spent the day at the lake, talking, laughing, sam bowling rocks like cricket balls, and me full of smiles.
We went and got Sam those shoes he got fitted for after shopping around for three days, then went to dinner with friends. We were heading to Sports Authority to get me some new running shoes, and I naively said, "we made it through a day with no drama, fights, tears...only a few more hours and we did it!" Then....
My boyfriend decided it would be a great idea to show me he could jump up and touch a sign in Sports Authority. I have to stay that I was VERY IMPRESSED that he did it. I didn't think he could do it, not because he isn't incredibly athletic but because it was SO high. And when he said he could I innocently said, "no you can't." If that wasn't the BIGGEST dare for a bloke I don't know what was. Well he did it....even hit the middle of the sign not just the bottom. As I stared open mouthed so proud of my guy, I looked down to tell him how impressed I was but instead saw him writhing in pain with that horrifying athlete in excruciating pain face. All I could do was stare thinking you have got to be kidding?
Why was I shocked? Not sure...it seemed to be how our week had gone in Redding. Sam landed on his knee and rehurt it (he was supposed to get surgery in New Zealand before he came but he didn't....came her instead).
So I did what any supportive girlfriend would do in that moment...burst into tears. I grew up around injuries and sports injuries so I knew the face and even knew what to do but it seemed to be that proverbial straw that broke the camels back. Sam was in pain but did look at me and say, "It's funny....c'mon it is." Sam put his knee back in place and said, "You might want to get me home. I am in shock so I have 5 or so minutes for it to wear off." So we hobble out of Sport Authority and came home and I just shook my head all the way home. So much for those running shoes and our plans to run the next few weeks...
All in all it has been a long week and last night we just looked at each other and laughed at how life sometimes is. I said to him, "feels like we take one step forward and two steps back." But at the end of the day I have kept the most important things in life in perspective--The fact that my boyfriend jumped and hit the sign in Sport Authority. I mean really what else could a girl want? A healthy knee is overrated!
We might be taking steps backward but at least we are moving and having fun in the midst of super stressful circumstances....So for now that is the update on the road...I will continue to keep you posted and add some fun pictures soon.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Season 7 Episode 4
As we drove up North to visit my family and friends yesterday I saw one of my most favorite sites...Almond Blossoms. The white flowers on the end of each branch signify a new season. I can remember as a young girl knowing that the end of the school year began with the blossoms coming out. Only a few more months until the Magnificent Summer...swimming, no homework, TV shows, playing outside until it was dark to then come in an play for a few more hours...Ahh the blossoms ushered in a new season and created such joy and excitement.
The timing of the blossoms was fitting for the state of my life. Sam was sleeping as I drove down the 99 and I reflected on the many beginning and endings life has seemed to have. I have used the term "seasons" for my life for years now. It helps me have hope that life will change if its bad or if I am bored. It reminds me there are new things ahead, and it helps me when life is dark or stagnet to know that just like winter there will be an end and spring will come. Pretty much, it's a coping mechanism...a mind game, if you will, that I play with myself when life isn't going "how I planned." :)
The more I thought about it yesterday though the more I decided my life isn't really like the Seasons, it seems to be more like a TV show with different seasons and different episodes. My friend Kerri and I have joked for years about our life happenings, giving them an Episode Name...much like the way Friends used to name their episodes. Again, I think for us it has become a coping mechanism/mind game to make us laugh at very "unlaughable" moments in our lives. And you know what? It worked. In a moment when life seemed to be falling apart, I would get an email or a text or nowadays a facebook message with one of Kerri's "episode titles," and I would laugh out loud, remembering that life really isn't that serious.
So this particular day I thought, really my life is more like TV show episodes, not predictable seasons. I just never seem to know what is going to happen in my life. If you would have told me some of these things would have happened I would have laughed at you. But then...then are actually really happening in my life. I had to stop and reflect for a second about the TV show seasons concept. It seems to work a bit better for me. My life changes a bit more like weekly episodes with new themes every year or so. And there is always some emotional extreme in my life and there are always new characters popping in and out.
Like now for instance, I just finished a temporary job in L.A. (the fun Red Carpet Pictures are below...) while having my AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL boyfriend, who moved around the world for me. If you would have told me last February that this would be my life I would have laughed you out of my face. Funny how in a moment (or a single trip to Fiji) one's life can totally change. You can't write stuff this good (as my friend Kerri often tells me when I share the latest drama in my life) I still don't have an apartment and now I don't have a job. And I started today, me and Sam affectionately are calling our next month..."perpetual vacation." We headed to my parents for a night, then will be off to Redding, but like all good sitcoms we couldn't just go to my parents and drive up to Redding. We both get sick, fight all the way over the grapevine and then end at my parents with Sam so sick we can't go to Redding. The best well laid plans just don't ever seem to work these days. The whole time too, my life and lack of order for my life is rolling through my head. After this "perpetual vacation" what will I do for a job, where will I live, where will Sam live, what is next, what do I want to do with my life? Did we ask these questions after college....how am I hear again?
But ironically, I LOVE my life. I was driving home in crazy traffic Saturday and had been sitting for over an hour already when I just SMILED HUGE thinking of getting to go home and see Sam, get Mexican food right down the road and call one of our friends in New Zealand. All I could think was "when did this become my life?" So simple and not glamorous but so sweet and what I hoped for. We walked on the beach at sunset this week, frustrated at some things in life and unsure where to go next but all I could think was "perspective dana, perspective." It is just another episode and a great story to tell. How many people really get to not have a place to live and a job and then live this adventure? The best part of a Season a lot of times is the first episode after a summer break and the season finale that you wait for all week once you see the commercial reminding you the finale is coming. The middle is interesting and often makes you laugh and/or cry, but the best and most intense things happen at the end.
While we have had our fair share of intense in this season, this season is not over, we are just on to a new episode. Scenes from last week...to catch you up because of my lack of blogging :)
(On the way into the Awards Show I worked on the last two months...)
(All Dressed Up On The Red Carpet...Who knew?)
(More Pictures...Sam had to look snazzy because he was walking Elizabeth Perkins down the Red Carpet moments later...he was her date all night long. Who would have thought? A guy from Te Puna walking a celebrity down the Red Carpet..."
(The end of a VERY LONG night....)
(The day after the Award Show I woke up early, skipped a shower, went and got Sam and took him to the Rugby 7's that happened to be in San Diego. This was right before we walked in....we like taking pictures in the Car Parks)
(In Petco Stadium waiting for New Zealand to play)
(Sam was pretty stoked to have Beer and Chips and even more stoked that they had New Zealand Beer--Steinlager)
(Look at that smile! This was right before he was hassled by a security gaurd, got pretty angry, then found out that in America they close the alcohol sales at 4PM. Him, along with every other non-American in the stadium was appalled that at a Rugby tournament that their would ever be a stop of alcohol sales. It was even worse when the Steinlanger just sat tempting and taunting him at the concession stands after 4....only in our TV Show do you start out to give your guy a great day after a long few weeks and end on an emotional roller coaster of chaos. He looked at me at the game and said...I used to be so even keeled before you....Ooopsise...welcome to my emotional roller coaster of a life. Kind of crazy, but never lacking for excitement and laughter...)
Scenes from next week...
Redding.
Tons of Friends.
Kids I have missed like Crazy.
Linclon--more friends and more kids to play with.
LA for a bit.
Florida to meet all Sam's family that lives in the states.
Then....
Reality Check.
Stay Tuned...it seems simple enough and straight forward, but you know with me it NEVER seems to go as planned!
The blogs will continue now and the episodes will be up for your viewing on a more regular basis :) For now enjoy the "hour long episode" to catch you up!
The timing of the blossoms was fitting for the state of my life. Sam was sleeping as I drove down the 99 and I reflected on the many beginning and endings life has seemed to have. I have used the term "seasons" for my life for years now. It helps me have hope that life will change if its bad or if I am bored. It reminds me there are new things ahead, and it helps me when life is dark or stagnet to know that just like winter there will be an end and spring will come. Pretty much, it's a coping mechanism...a mind game, if you will, that I play with myself when life isn't going "how I planned." :)
The more I thought about it yesterday though the more I decided my life isn't really like the Seasons, it seems to be more like a TV show with different seasons and different episodes. My friend Kerri and I have joked for years about our life happenings, giving them an Episode Name...much like the way Friends used to name their episodes. Again, I think for us it has become a coping mechanism/mind game to make us laugh at very "unlaughable" moments in our lives. And you know what? It worked. In a moment when life seemed to be falling apart, I would get an email or a text or nowadays a facebook message with one of Kerri's "episode titles," and I would laugh out loud, remembering that life really isn't that serious.
So this particular day I thought, really my life is more like TV show episodes, not predictable seasons. I just never seem to know what is going to happen in my life. If you would have told me some of these things would have happened I would have laughed at you. But then...then are actually really happening in my life. I had to stop and reflect for a second about the TV show seasons concept. It seems to work a bit better for me. My life changes a bit more like weekly episodes with new themes every year or so. And there is always some emotional extreme in my life and there are always new characters popping in and out.
Like now for instance, I just finished a temporary job in L.A. (the fun Red Carpet Pictures are below...) while having my AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL boyfriend, who moved around the world for me. If you would have told me last February that this would be my life I would have laughed you out of my face. Funny how in a moment (or a single trip to Fiji) one's life can totally change. You can't write stuff this good (as my friend Kerri often tells me when I share the latest drama in my life) I still don't have an apartment and now I don't have a job. And I started today, me and Sam affectionately are calling our next month..."perpetual vacation." We headed to my parents for a night, then will be off to Redding, but like all good sitcoms we couldn't just go to my parents and drive up to Redding. We both get sick, fight all the way over the grapevine and then end at my parents with Sam so sick we can't go to Redding. The best well laid plans just don't ever seem to work these days. The whole time too, my life and lack of order for my life is rolling through my head. After this "perpetual vacation" what will I do for a job, where will I live, where will Sam live, what is next, what do I want to do with my life? Did we ask these questions after college....how am I hear again?
But ironically, I LOVE my life. I was driving home in crazy traffic Saturday and had been sitting for over an hour already when I just SMILED HUGE thinking of getting to go home and see Sam, get Mexican food right down the road and call one of our friends in New Zealand. All I could think was "when did this become my life?" So simple and not glamorous but so sweet and what I hoped for. We walked on the beach at sunset this week, frustrated at some things in life and unsure where to go next but all I could think was "perspective dana, perspective." It is just another episode and a great story to tell. How many people really get to not have a place to live and a job and then live this adventure? The best part of a Season a lot of times is the first episode after a summer break and the season finale that you wait for all week once you see the commercial reminding you the finale is coming. The middle is interesting and often makes you laugh and/or cry, but the best and most intense things happen at the end.
While we have had our fair share of intense in this season, this season is not over, we are just on to a new episode. Scenes from last week...to catch you up because of my lack of blogging :)
(On the way into the Awards Show I worked on the last two months...)
(All Dressed Up On The Red Carpet...Who knew?)
(More Pictures...Sam had to look snazzy because he was walking Elizabeth Perkins down the Red Carpet moments later...he was her date all night long. Who would have thought? A guy from Te Puna walking a celebrity down the Red Carpet..."
(The end of a VERY LONG night....)
(The day after the Award Show I woke up early, skipped a shower, went and got Sam and took him to the Rugby 7's that happened to be in San Diego. This was right before we walked in....we like taking pictures in the Car Parks)
(In Petco Stadium waiting for New Zealand to play)
(Sam was pretty stoked to have Beer and Chips and even more stoked that they had New Zealand Beer--Steinlager)
(Look at that smile! This was right before he was hassled by a security gaurd, got pretty angry, then found out that in America they close the alcohol sales at 4PM. Him, along with every other non-American in the stadium was appalled that at a Rugby tournament that their would ever be a stop of alcohol sales. It was even worse when the Steinlanger just sat tempting and taunting him at the concession stands after 4....only in our TV Show do you start out to give your guy a great day after a long few weeks and end on an emotional roller coaster of chaos. He looked at me at the game and said...I used to be so even keeled before you....Ooopsise...welcome to my emotional roller coaster of a life. Kind of crazy, but never lacking for excitement and laughter...)
Scenes from next week...
Redding.
Tons of Friends.
Kids I have missed like Crazy.
Linclon--more friends and more kids to play with.
LA for a bit.
Florida to meet all Sam's family that lives in the states.
Then....
Reality Check.
Stay Tuned...it seems simple enough and straight forward, but you know with me it NEVER seems to go as planned!
The blogs will continue now and the episodes will be up for your viewing on a more regular basis :) For now enjoy the "hour long episode" to catch you up!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
New Room...New Rules
For those of you that follow my blog you might remember Raya's room rules....the most memorable one being, "NO OPEN MOUTH KISSING."
Well each morning Audrey (one of my current roommates who is 4) reminds me of a great "life rule"
She says each and EVERY morning, "what do girls do every day?"
CHANGE THEIR UNDERWEAR!!!
Just in case I forget this little important fact I have a walking 4 year old reminder....
For those of you who know me well, be kind in the comment section :)
Well each morning Audrey (one of my current roommates who is 4) reminds me of a great "life rule"
She says each and EVERY morning, "what do girls do every day?"
CHANGE THEIR UNDERWEAR!!!
Just in case I forget this little important fact I have a walking 4 year old reminder....
For those of you who know me well, be kind in the comment section :)
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