Dancing

Here's a link to an interesting article. I thought it rather thought provoking.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15679626

Post #200!!!

This is officially the 200th post on this blog.

YAY!!!


P.S. And as a side note... I have, in the course of one month, posted over half as many entries as I did in the entire year of 2007.

Now I've probably jinxed myself...

Mom's Visit

My mom, and Marcus (her cute schnauzer puppy), visited this weekend. We had a nice relaxing time together. I took her to REI and Titlewave, where she found a nice jacket and gloves and then some used books. Then we checked out the new version of Middle Way Cafe. (Yay!!! It's open finally!!!)

We also browsed through JoAnn's and found some very nice sheer curtain fabric to put in my window to lightly block people's view of the inside of my apartment, while still letting light in. My mom is really good at coming up with cool ideas, and it really looks fantastic. And the best part is that it was done entirely without sewing, cutting, or anything! Just a little measuring, a few knots, and a few window suction cup hooks! I'll have to take a picture of it this weekend (when I'll hopefully be home while it's light outside) and post it on here.

Otherwise we relaxed, watched a few movies, read a bit, and watched a documentary about the Great Wall of China. Marcus loved playing in the snow... he didn't realize how much deeper it was here than at home until he jumped in and nearly disappeared! We all had a good time. We had nice weather too, or at least nice sunny weather with really cold temperatures. But now they're down in Palm Springs soaking in the hot sunny weather.

The snow is back...

So I guess I didn't need to worry about all the snow disappearing again. It nearly did, but then it dumped a few more inches on us. And it's snowing again now. I suspect I'll have a couple inches of snow on top of my car come morning.

My mom arrives tomorrow and will be here all weekend. :D I still have no idea what we're going to do, and she hasn't been any help with suggestions, but I guess we'll figure it out as we go. I did suggest ice skating, but she thought that might be a bit cold (which I have to admit I fully agree).

Our snow is melting!!! :(

First I just wanted to note that I posted the below lyrics because I love the song and I think it has some awesome lyrics. Some of them seem particularly applicable to my life right now, while others definitely don't... but don't read too much into any of it, cause I'm not. I definitely love the song though.

Anyways... it's 11:45 p.m. on a Monday night. Tomorrow is going to suck like nothing else because I really do have to get up early and get to the gym before work, while still making it to work by at least 8:00 a.m. Then I have jury duty from 9 to 10 and again from 1 to 4. And on top of it all, it's about 43 degrees outside and all our snow is melting!?!?! :( I'm not terribly thrilled about that. It's prettier when it's all white and not slushy and icy. But I guess I do live in Anchortown now, not the frigid north, which is probably a good thing.

Ok, off to bed now. Really just wanted to post that song and complain about the weather. :)

Tattoo by Jordin Sparks

No matter what you say about love
I keep coming back for more
Keep my hand in the fire
Sooner or later I get what I'm asking for

No matter what you say about life
I learn every time I bleed
The truth is a stranger
Soul is in danger I gotta let my spirit be free
To admit that I'm wrong and then change my mind
Sorry but I have to move on and leave you behind

I can't waste time so give it a moment
I realized nothings broken
No need to worry about everything I've done
Live every second like it was my last one
Don't look back got a new direction
I loved you once needed protection
You're still a part of everything I do
You're on my heart just like a tattoo
Just like a tattoo
I'll always have you (I'll always have you)

Sick of playing all of these games
It's not about taking sides
When I looked in the mirror didn't deliver
It hurt enough to think that I could stop
Admit that I'm wrong and then change my mind
Sorry but I've gotta be strong and leave you behind

I can't waste time so give it a moment
I realize nothings broken
No need to worry about everything I've done
Live every second like it was my last one
Don't look back got a new direction
I loved you once needed protection
You're still a part of everything I do
You're on my heart just like a tattoo
Just like a tattoo
I'll always have you (I'll always have you)

If I live every moment
Won't change any moment
Still a part of me in you
I will never regret you
Still the memory of you
Marks everything I do, oh

I can't waste time so give it a moment
I realize nothings broken (yeah)
No need to worry about everything I've done
Live every second like it was my last one
Don't look back got a new direction (don't look back)
I loved you once needed protection (no, no)
You're still a part of everything I do
You're on my heart just like a tattoo

I can't waste time so give it a moment (i can't waste time)
I realized nothings broken
No need to worry about everything I've done (no need to worry)
Live every second like it was my last one
Don't look back got a new direction (don't you ever look back)
I loved you once needed protection
You're still a part of everything I do
You're on my heart just like a tattoo

I can't waste time so give it a moment (i can't waste time)
I realized nothings broken
No need to worry about everything I've done (no need to worry)
Live every second like it was my last one
Don't look back got a new direction (don't you ever look back)
I loved you once needed protection
You're still a part of everything I do
You're on my heart just like a tattoo
Just like a tattoo
I'll always have you

Just like a tattoo
I'll always have you

My week in review...

So I know it's not the weekend yet, or even Friday, but it's close enough and it's about time I blogged again anyways. So here's some of the highlights from the week.

Tuesday evening I went over to Olin's place and had dinner with him and his roommate. The food (mostly cooked by Olin's roommate) was excellent, the homemade mead was interesting and not bad, and the company was hilarious. Olin is entertainment enough on his own, but combined with his crazy roommate, there is no end to the fun conversations. Due to this, time flew and it was around 11 p.m. when I finally got back home.

Yesterday was boring, or at least nothing happened beyond the usual work, yoga, and be lazy at home. But today after work I headed to Banana Republic (on Melissa's suggestion) and got some awesome deals on work clothes! I only spent $170 on 3 dress pants and 5 nice shirts. Yay!!! Now I need a bigger closet and need to stop buying clothes for awhile. :)

The other cool thing this week is that I have made it to the gym every single day since I got back in town last Friday night. :D I'm trying to make it a habit to go to the gym first thing in the morning before work, and so far so good. I did miss Wednesday morning due to the late night the night before, but I went to yoga after work instead. Woohoo! I definitely feel better because of it, and I'm happy with the results on the scales too. Oddly enough, what got me started is that I actually lost weight on the cruise, got down to where I prefer to be, and I intend to stay there! Wish me luck. Because come about mid-busy season I'm really going to need it.

Anyways, that's my week so far. This weekend should turn out to be fun if the plans end up happening. I'll tell about it afterwards though.

First day back at work

Today was my first day back at work in approximately 3 and a half weeks. It felt nice to be useful all day, and always have something to do. It was also nice to work out before work. I'm going to try to do that every weekday. Just a quick workout generally, about 30 minutes on the bike and then crunches and stretching. Eventually I might add more. Someday I need to start doing the weight circuit, but I'll take it slow for now. Just getting to the gym in the morning at all is an accomplishment, so I'll stick to making that happen for now.

It is dreadfully cold today (Fairbanksans close your eyes for this) all of about -5 degrees. I swear it feels colder still. My car didn't like me this morning when I turned it on. Fortunately I remembered to plug it in tonight, so as long as I remember to flip the switch as soon as I get up in the morning (to turn the power on), it should like me a bit better. And it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow... up to somewhere in the mid 20's. That will be very nice. And Olin invited me over for dinner tomorrow. Yay!

My New Bed

Here is my new bed... new comforter, new pillows, new sheets, even softer and warmer than ever!

A few more photos from the cruise...

Ryan and I in the Bahamas, with the cruise ship in the background.

A cruise photo taken on formal night. Aren't we cute?

The free version of the above photo.

Our official photo from the horseback ride.

Tech Woes

So I used to like iTunes. It has a great organization system and of course it makes uploading to my iPod very easy. Until you want to make a few changes and accidentally delete all your purchased music! And even worse, I apparently can never get it back without paying for it again since I didn't burn it or save it on a separate hard drive. But of course, since I have an iPod, I'm stuck with iTunes if I want any music on my iPod. Damn monopolies. Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions of how to get my purchased music back, or of any other software they suggest, or even other portable music players, I'd love to hear of them. I intend to do a bit of my own research when I have time. Of course the only time I really want to use my iPod is at the gym, so I suppose I could live with it for awhile.

I did find an awesome internet radio site: Pandora. It's by far the best of any I've tried so far.

Training in Nowhere, TX

So I'm in a little place that's called Grapevine, TX for training for work. It's only claim to fame is that it's near the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, and it's only saving grace is that it has a rather large outlet mall. Otherwise it's the middle of nowhere, TX. The hotel is pretty nice though, and the training has been pretty good so far. I seem to be a bit reclusive this week though. Normally I'm much better about meeting and talking to lots of new people, especially because it's training and networking is one of the most important things you can do as an accountant. But I seem to have lost my talent this week. I think part of it is that I'm tired. This is partly due to jet lag (although 3-4 days into it, I can hardly claim that anymore), and also due to staying up late and not being used to long days. Hopefully this will get me ready for long days at work again, because they are coming far sooner than I'd like to believe. But at any rate, the training has been pretty good, and I got to do a little shopping.

Across the Universe

A friend (Michael) and I went to the Bear's Tooth theatre this evening and saw a movie called "Across the Universe". It was pretty interesting. It's labeled as a drama/musical/romance by IMDB. I think I would label it a drug-induced/beatlemania/war/romance. Like I said... very interesting. It generally takes awhile after seeing a movie for me to decide for certain whether I actually liked it or not, and this one is no exception. But the more I'm thinking about it, the more I think I did kind of like it. It left me with a happy feeling afterwards, which is key in a good romance, and definitely laughing due to the absurd volume of Beatles music used throughout. And since it was a beatlemania film, it had to be drug-induced. I'm convinced that watching it while on drugs would make it far more entertaining, although I don't intend to test this theory.

At any rate, it was good to get out of the house and it was also good to have a reason to finish packing quickly, which I had to do when Michael called about an hour and a half before the start of the movie. But now the packing is more or less done and will be finished half-blindly at about 3 a.m. tomorrow morning when I stumble around and try to get myself to the airport. In the meantime, it's time for a few hours of beauty sleep.

Since I'm on a roll so far this year...

Here's a comic Kate sent my way: Hugging Trees

As for trivial news from my life, I have finally unpacked my bags from the cruise. And good timing too, seeing as I have to repack them very soon for a week of training in Dallas, TX. I leave early Sunday morning, so I have to be packed by Saturday evening. For those who may be interested, I'll be back in Anchorage late Friday night a week from now, unless the airlines determine otherwise.

Workaholic - and I'm not even working right now!

Check out today's Dilbert! It's a perfect example of my job. *grin*

Happy New Year!!!

Here's a link to some of the photos from the cruise.