Thing to do Around a Campfire

This is apparently what college students do around a campfire on a weekend away; play Elim-N-Ingo!!!

Triple Blade

Thanks to Alani bringing this movie into my life; every time I see a bug on my windshield holding on for dear life I think of this clip, and then I have to decided if I still want to go through with the windshield wipe or not!!

Mr Fancy Pants

On the subject of roosters, this is one of the fanciest roosters I've seen around town. Perhaps even ever. He was hiding in the bushes when we were looking at the "rooster gang" from the last post and suddenly he just leapt out; perhaps afraid that he would miss his photo op! Aside from the illusive "permed" rooster who I can only find when my camera is not around, he's the fanciest!

Summer's First Paddle

Today was my first kayaking trip of the summer and it was exactly what I needed.  The past several months (yeah I said months) have been torture because I drive over the river every day and the weather has been so nice that it often made me wish I was out on it.  So today was a day long anticipated!

There was lots to see and much excitement on the river today!!  I went out with my good friend Joy who is actually the owner of the kayaks and her friend Teri; we had a blast.  

Today's happenings:

Joy and I went through our favorite rapid twice; which required us to carry our kayaks back up the river for the second run.

We encounter a few rafts tied together full of about 30+ girls thoroughly enjoying their topless trip down the river (sorry no pictures of this experience!)

We saw lots and lots of baby ducks and geese.

(be sure to click on these so you can fully see the babies)

We saw a few people releasing a duck back into the wild after raising it from a baby.

I saw a few turtles

I got stuck on a rock which ended in my flipping my kayak, scraping my leg from knee to hip, and a rather extended float in freezing cold water.

And of course the usual affair of kumarans, egrets and herring!

I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting!  I can't wait to get back out there and do it all again; well all except the leg scrapping perhaps!

Hip-Hop

A good friend of mine Brandon; from the college group at my church is a hip-hop artist and on Friday night I had the opportunity to see him preform for the first time.  It was at an event called The Platform; put on by Bay Side Church through their hip-hop ministry (not sure if that's actually what their ministry is called.)  The event was an open mic night, and it was awesome.  What a great opportunity for local artists to showcase their talent and love for the Lord at the same time. The performers were amazing and it was so much fun. 

Brandon is part of a group called MCM - Messengers of Christ Media.  Check out Brandon - Namuh Stay's music myspace at www.myspace.com/mcmmusic. 

My favorite is Living Water!!

Hmm, How 'bout a Parade

I don't know of any other town that has as many parades as this town.  I can't tell you how many Saturday's I've been woken up to cheers, claps, honks, and sirens as parades or the annual marathon that comes through town right out side my window!!!  Fair Oaks comes up with any excuse to have a parade (much like my mom comes up with any excuse to celebrate a holiday!).  This weekend is Spring Fest, I'm not really sure what Spring Fest is, all I know is that it's parade worthy!  Spring Fest is actually two days long, so if I have some extra time tomorrow I might walk over to Old Fair Oaks and check it out.  

Normally I watch the parades and photograph them from my window (mostly because they wake me up and I'm not presentable to the world), but as I was doing that this morning I realized that I was missing out.  So I threw on some clothes and went outside to join in on the parade celebrations!!

The Spring Fest Sign

(through my window with the screen)

The Flags

There are always great sights to behold in our Parades

This girl was part of the gymnastics group; she was walking down 

the street like that, kind of freaky!

The guy who was driving this truck hopped out while it was 

still moving (very slowly) to give me come candy!

Here are more pictures from the parade, enjoy!

Balloon Lady

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in a community event called Kids Day. It's a free event for all the children and their families in the Rancho Cordova community. The only cost is for the hotdog and drink which together are $1. On average there are between 1500 and 2000 people who come to the event. There were 40+ organizations and businesses represented; each was asked to provide some information and an activity for the kids. I was working with the CSUS Kids Zone; I've been working on this since the beginning of the semester for units. The day was a blast; the event went from 11-3, I was there from 8:30-3:45! For the CSUS Kids Zone, we did carnival games, and I spend the day making balloon animal creations. Now I've never done this before in my life but Kathy (my teacher) asked if I wanted to learn, so she showed me and a few others how to make a dog and then wandered off. It was tuns of fun but very painful on the fingers (I still have a bruise on one of my fingers). We ran out of the balloons we brought, ran out of the balloons we bough off a guy at the event and ran out of the balloons someone went out to buy. In the end we ran out of every single balloon we had. Adding to my list of talents, I can now make; dogs, cats, giraffes, fish, flowers, butterflies and hats out of balloons!

A few of my favotie things. . . wait I mean videos

The first is one of many indescribable clips from the show Pushing Daisies. A show I can't watch without writing a quote or five down.


SNL has always been a great show, but these past few years haven't been up to par. The one exception is las Christmas's episode hosed by Justin Timberlake. Unfortunately what I would have to say is one of the best skits to come out of that show, I cannot in good conscience put on my blog, so we'll have to settle for second best.


And then just because I can and because we (or at least I) cant' get enough of them. . .


One more for good measure. Mac and PC commercials always crack me up, so incase you haven't seen their Christmas one yet, without further ado

Bringing back the Cowboy Boot

I was joking around with a few friends before Halloween, talking about how I have some cowboy boots that I love, but because it's not my style, I feel like a nerd wearing them anytime of year now that I don't have horses. So, instead I just save them for Halloween. The past few years I've done just that; worn them on Halloween, this past year they weren't really even part of the costume, I just couldn't let the opportunity pass me by. Well apparently I'm not the only one.

(Disclaimer: Time and People are my guilty pleasure when I'm traveling through an airport. I like to buy and read them while waiting and flying. Other than that, I never really buy them. It seems that I'm usually flying somewhere when the Sexiest Man Alive issue comes out, so I have the perfect excuse to buy it. Well I wasn't so lucky this year, but I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by, so I bought it today. This disclaimer could be it's own paragraph at this rate, eh, might as well!)

Today while looking through People, I came across an article by Jimmy Kimmel aptly titled "If I Were The Sexiest Man Alive," it was pretty funny, which shouldn't be a surprise if you know Jimmy Kimmel at all, but I came across one part that made me laugh out loud in my car. (Disclaimer two: I was reading this in my car while I was stuck in traffic on the off ramp of Hazel on my way home, I never read things and often laugh when I see people doing it, but I had this magazine with Matt Damon staring at me on the seat next to me, so I just had to. Also I read from the back to the front, not that this really applies; just thought you should know.) It said, and I quote; If I were the sexiest man alive, I would wear cowboy boots even when it wasn't Halloween." Even if the rest of the issue was a disappointment (which it wasn't) that alone was worth every penny.

Charlie and Lola

I stumbled upon this cartoon one day while watching a little "movie" as Aden calls them, with the kids. I totally fell in love with the show, I'm not sure why I'm so in love with it, but I just can't help it, it's so cute. Perhaps its the simplicity of it, or perhaps it's the fact that kids have the most excellent of accents!! I hope you can enjoy these little shows as much as I do!!!

Dancing on a Treadmill?

I'll admit, I've got some serious talent; you know your thinking it!

Do you have one of those songs that no matter how hard you try you can't help but dance too, be it a full on dance or just a sway of the body? Well "I've Had the Time of My Life," is that song for me, when it's one I have no control over my body; I just can't sit/stand still no matter how hard I try! I was at the gym today and just happened to be watching Oprah (I'm not a huge fan) and she was doing her show on popular YouTube videos; oh how the times change, who would have ever thought Oprah would do a show on YouTube!?! Anyway this one couple did the Dirty Dancing Time of My life dance as their first dance as husband and wife. Oprah was having them demonstrate their skills (Patrick Swayze was waiting in the background ready to cut in half way through the dance; he's still go the moves!) So all of this to say in a very round about way; I was watching this on TV while walking on the treadmill and I just couldn't stop myself from doing a little mini dance, and I also could stop myself from laughing at myself. I mean seriously, who dances on a treadmill at the gym. I'm pretty sure I was very smooth and no one saw what I was doing, but it's kind of a hard thing to accomplish, go ahead, give it a whirl next time your on one! Anyway a funny little bit about myself, so next time you need a little laughter in your day just think of me dancing ever so slightly on a treadmill in the middle of a crowded gym!!

And until then, listen to the song for yourself and see if you can sit still!!! This has got to be the best part of the movie, and if you've never seen it, sorry for ruining the end, but seriously it's been 20 years, get with the times! (Excuse the subtitles, it's the best quality clip I could find, I'm still not a YouTube guru like some people I know!)

"Halloween Halloween . . .

Trick-or-treat, our costumes can't be beat." Oh, sorry had a little Dora the Explorer stuck in my head there for a minute! (which by the way they are not tricking me, I know Dora does not rhyme with Explorer, though they try)

So halloween came and went, it was lots of fun and lots of tasty treats, of course!! I went to the CAYP party and had a blast. I went as a Rubik's cube, and had a costume change half way through the night to a cowgirl, the cube was too hard to wear all night, I couldn't do much while in it. When trying the final cube costume on about half hour before the party I found myself stuck in it when I tried to get it off and started to panic. I thought I'd have to destroy it to make it out alive which would have sucked because I spent to much time on it to destroy it 30 minutes before the party. But have no fear, I made it out alive; I'm not still sporting it! But the next time I needed out I got assistance.

There were some great costumes there. These would be the 4 dominos. There were also crazy sports fans, Charlie and his angles, a gum-ball machine. Richard Simons made an appearance; we were graced with the presence of an Alaskan Wilderness Serial Killer, and of course you saw our punk rock fairy (Courtney). A few friendly pirates, some gipsya a pregnant lady, a bride and many more!
Tuesday night I went over to Alison's to help prep for the part and we had good times decorating, cooking and laughing while getting ready. And last night we had good times, eating, playing games and laughing while enjoying great company! Both nights I made it home after midnight, and I think we spent more time prepping for the party than the length of the party, but who cares it was all so much fun!!
I'm so lucky to have made some really great friends who I can have fun with and do silly things with!
Coming up next . . . How to Make a Rubik's Cube

Movie Wisdom

First things first, I was watching the news the other day and I don't remember the context but they were interviewing someone who used this word; irritatement! Yeah I looked it up, it doesn't exist!!! Though I did discover a word I've never heard of before; irritainment - any form of entertainment that is also quite irritating but which one is unable to stop watching, such as a spectacular trial or reality television show. I think it's a word I might try out here and there!!!

So to the real point of this topic. I went to see Evan Almighty the other day and I took away with me two very important life lessons. The first is biased off of this quote; "You want to know how to change the world; one act of random kindness at a time." Now I don't think just me personally doing one act of random kindness at a time's going to change the world, but if everyone applied that, than it truly would change the world. And it struck me more because it's so simple and true than anything else. I think it was just more of a reminder that I have to do my part to make the world a better place, and it doesn't have to be anything grand, just a little something here and there can go a long way in someone else's life. And yes I did write that quote down in the middle of the movie!

The second thing I took away from the movie was more personal, and I had to look this quote up, it was too long to remember or try to write in the dark! "Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?" I realized that it might be true that God gives us opportunities to make ourselves better, because we have to put in the effort if we truly want to change. I thought it was worded very well, and it made me realize I need to ask God for opportunities to grow myself, instead of just asking him to change me over night. The opportunity is truly how you gain the quality.

A very good movie, one I would say is a must see, funny, but inspiring at the same time! Two thumbs up!

Sharks Everywhere

Apparently I haven't watched TV since I've been home from Tahoe because it took me about 5 minutes to find the remote a while ago (which might also give you an idea of how messy my apartment is!! Don't worry it's really not that bad and I'm gonna clean it tomorrow). Anyway though I haven't been watching tv at home I've been enjoying plenty of Shark Week while at work, who knew there were that many different shark shows on, crazy really. But the people who get into the water with the sharks are probably the craziest of all. Seriously I saw this one part where two people were up in a helicopter flying off the cost in South Africa, you could see the sharks in the water and the people swimming/surfing, well the people looked tiny but the sharks looked quite large, which means they are way to big for my comfort, I say that like all sharks aren't too big for my comfort! But all of this shark watching got me to thinking about how interesting it is that we are drawn to the things that we fear. For some reason, at least it holds true for me, the things that scare me most I also find very fascinating, and I wonder why that is. Perhaps it feeds fear( trying to give rational for it), or perhaps it to help figure out why the fear exists (in the hope that understanding will lead to change, I'm not sure really. I do know however I can't wait till I can watch more of Shark Week 20th Anniversary on Thursday when I go to work.

It's Finished

I'm excited to say, though sad at the same time, that I have finished Harry Potter. I was in no rush to finish it because I knew I would be sad that it was the last book when I was done. I will however not give any opinion on the book because I know there are several people who have yet to read it, two in my family alone!! So the book I have been waiting for has finally come and gone, and now I'll have to find something else to entertain myself with, any suggestions?

Harry Who

I'm not afraid to admit I'm super excited that Harry Potter comes out tomorrow/today. I'm leaving for Utah in a few minutes, but you can bet I'll be waiting outside the store at 12am ready for my book. I know, how embarrsing; but it's more than just getting the book, it's the whole experience, family bonding, and tradition. This will be the 3rd Harry Potter book I've picked up at midnight, because I'm cool like that. Ok really it's about the book! And I've been informed that my niece is going to be entering some sort of costume contest, so at least I'm not as crazy as my sister!!!

I Wish that I Was Jessie's Girl

No wait that's . . . "I wish that I had Jessie's Girl"

There are a few new shows on, apparently it's the hot new thing, to have people sings songs, see if they truly know the words, or just kind of make them up. I watched one tonight, and it brought back memories. I was thinking that if my daddy were around this would be a show right up his alley because he was the kind of guy to sing at the top of his lungs off key and with the wrong words, it never slowed him. The guy who was on the show tonight reminded me of my daddy, and got me to thinking about him, and my appreciation for oldies. On Firday nights on the way home with him the music that was always on was oldies and he would sing his heart out, it could always put a smile on my face. Thought a lot of the time I was probably smiling and laughing because he was singing the wrong words!! Not to brag or anything but in my family I'm usually the one who knows the words to the song, I'm usually correcting whoever I'm with that's singing. Though I do have my faults, for examply the song above, for the longest time I thought it was "I wish that I was Jessie's Girl" only to realize a few weeks ago that it's in fact "had," but give me some credit, the songs could be sung either way!!! I've got other songs that I sing my own words to, and really, maybe it's because I like my lyrics better!! Though my default song is Joy to the World by Three Dog Night, if I had to sing in front of people that would be my jam!



This one's just for my sister!!
"I don't need to be anything other than a prison gaurds son
I don't need to be anything other than the birth of two souls in one (brother to the chosen one)"

Pop Culture

Keeping up with my own life these days is hard enough, I can't imagine keeping on the up and up of pop culture, and not just current, but all of pop culter. The 2007 World Series of Pop Culture has got to be one of the best game show/reality show/media shows of all times!! The teams are super funny, and the vast amount of knowledge they retain about movies, music, actors, singers, tv stars, tv shows, etc is truly ridicules and amazing all at the same time. It's a kick to watch, partly to see if I know the answers, but also to be amazed that these people know them. Seriously they've go to do some hardcore training to know all of this usless informaion, which brings up the question, "do they have real lives?" Though I'm sure Mr. Joe Nobody from that one show in the early 80's that was only on for two weeks, you know know who I'm talking about, appreciates that he is recognized. Any person who has ever tired to be famous should appreciate this show because it's a environment where "Everybody Knows Your Name." Really a must see, I think you can even watch it online at vh1.com. At least check out one of the episodes, but seriously I think you might get hooked!

www.worldofpop.com

Transformers

"Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"

I saw this movie yesterday, it was so freak'n good, a must see for everyone. And a must see in the theater at that. I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't know how good, very intense, super funny, and nail biting! Yeah that's pretty much all I've got at this moment!!