Pedometer

I have this lovely app on my phone that tells me how many steps I've taken that day.  And so far, it's been let accurate.
Over 20,000 steps so far for the last two days.

My legs feel great.

My feet do not.

So, we'll see how tomorrow goes!

Conquering Mountains

Disneyland has a number of rides that are mountains. I rode all of them today. I actually want expecting that, especially since Space Mountain was slated to be closed today.
Big Thunder was the first mountain I conquered. Then Matterhorn, Space, and of course ending with Splash.
My poor shoes. I had planned on wearing them this entire trip. But they are sopping wet from having been on Splash Mountain twice today. Love the ride. Hate what it does to my shoes.
California Adventure tomorrow. :) Should be fun!

Spiritual Journeys

My cousin and I ward hopped today. We c visited a family ward that has a hub of mid-singles (the acronym MSA is totally a thing here... cool and word at the same time), and discovered there is a mid-singles ward as well. The building we lamed in first was the coolest Church Meetinghouse I have visited. It had this amazing mosaic on the main street side worth a depiction of Lehi and the tree of life. The building had a courtyard in the center. And we had to go outside to attend the mid-singles Sunday school class. Was really an interesting building. Easy to get lost in. And right next to the ocean. :)
We then visited my cousins assigned ward (YSA) which happened to be meeting with another ward (again, YSA). Got our Break the Fast on, and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
There was this beautiful bay that had a path going around it, about an 8 mile round trip, that we passed. It was beautiful and inspiring.
Been spiritually fed today. :)

Day two. #nablopomo

Start of a Journey

A family I once nannied for invited me to accompany them to Disneyland. I happened to have a credit for a plane ticket I never used and family near enough to Anaheim where I could stay.

So, a mere three weeks ago I was suddenly coming out to California. Since I am not fully employed as of yet, I extended the trip so I could spend some time job searching here in California.

I have to say I was thoroughly zenned out during the first leg. The flight was very empty, I listened to orchestral music, and read some General Conference addresses.

We have had a relaxing day so far here. No agenda for today. I am so grateful I will have a bed to sleep in tonight.

Happy first day of NaBloPoMo!

I was going to...

...write an entire blog post complaining about my non-functioning knee and all the things I can't do with it. Instead, I am going to write about something good.

This whole time I've been down and out, I have had a running joke that keeps on keeping on...and it hasn't been pushed by me.

I got my toenails done a week before the fateful accident. I decided to get gel-nails done, so that they would last and last. It was an extremely smart decision on my part.

Fast forward to 30 minutes after the accident. Sister missionary shows up, is helping, comforting, etc. She looks down at my toes and says: At least your nails look good!

Folks, that was the first time I stopped crying. I laughed.

The mission nurse shows up: At least your nails look good!

Nurse at the ER: Your nails look great!

Friend who took care of me for 72 hours straight: At least your nails look good!

A few more times, especially after I got home: At least your nails look good!!

So folks. The lesson learned is: I am forever and always going to get my toes done with gel nails.

So This is a Story...

All about how my life got turned upside down.

Once upon a time I was living in paradise. Well, paradise with potholes and people who persistently disobey traffic laws.

THEN: the unthinkable happened. The job disappeared.

Yes, that is all the detail you will get on the disappearance. I wasn't fired. The job just ended quite suddenly.

THEN: the even more unthinkable happened. I dislocated my knee.

No, not the one I've dislocated about 15 times (honestly, that probably isn't an exaggeration) and had surgery on. THE OTHER ONE. While I was still in paradise. Paradise with great doctors and service but terrible supplies.

And that went down one day before the job ended and two days before I was flying back to the states.

That was May 1st. I am still waiting to find out whether I need surgery on that knee or if I can start torture physical therapy right away.

So. There you have it.

It's been quite the emotional roller coaster. I loved the family I worked for...the kids, the parents, and all the other people I worked with/hung out with. I loved the beaches. I loved being warm all the time. I loved my skin and my hair in paradise. I loved finding new things to do. I loved all the new things I did do.

And it's all gone.

So, my mental status has been a little totally all over the place.

Anywho. I might be posting more. Not sure about much in my life at the moment, so we'll see if blogging will really make a huge reappearance.

Small Small World

Stake conference. In Puerto Rico. And my cousin's cousin shows up, on vacation, with his family. Who goes to a stake conference on vacation?
He wouldn't have picked me out of a field, but he is rather recognizable with his very red hair. Took him a while to place me.
I love small world moments. They happen every once in a while.

The Fork

Tonight after the adult session of stake conference I decided to treat myself and got a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. (I got the Hershey Chocolate Bar Cheesecake if you were wondering...not my usual, but very good) When I got home, I emptied the bag and discovered the server had put two forks in my bag.
So what, right? Well, I got all kinds of introspect-y on those two forks. The server might have thought I would go home and share the slice with someone. (Anyone who knows me well would know that that would never happen...they can get their own slice ;) ) Or she might have grabbed two by accident. Whichever it was, I kept thinking that there really should be someone else that I could share a piece of cheesecake with. (Emphasis on could).
A member of the Seventy spoke at stake conference tonight. Even through being translated from Spanish to English, the messages I was supposed to get came through loud and clear.
After the session ended I went up and chatted with him. He asked me how I was doing, how I was handling things here in Puerto Rico (we've met before). I was honest and said that I wasn't so sure I should stay here three years, being that the dating scene is non-existent and I'm not getting any younger. He gave me a few bits of advice on that front, but the main bit of wisdom was that I needed to do what the Lord wanted me to do. That things could come together in the most extraordinary ways, as long as I do what the Lord wants me to do.
So. Going to make a checklist and get right on that. :)
And seek inspiration and make sure that I am where He wants me to be, and doing what He wants me to be doing.
And hopefully, by some miracle, I'll find the man that this fork belongs to.

Keeping Healthy

In the last 4 years I've slowly regressed to my pre college weight. For some people, this would be a really good thing. For me, it isn't.
In high school I topped out at 240 pounds. For a 6 foot tall girl, that isn't too bad, but it isn't terribly good either. For a 6 foot tall girl with chronic knee problems, history of depression, and a family history of weight related diseases such as diabetes, this weight gain is very bad.
When I left high school I moved in with grandpa, and prepared to start college. Well, I was supposed to prepare, but then I got very sick. The doctor believed it was mono. It was the sickest I have ever been. I couldn't swallow without a great deal of pain. The tonsils looked like baseballs in the back of my throat. I couldn't eat, could hardly drink, and had a fever that wouldn't go away.
After a week, the fever finally broke. Eating was still difficult for a few weeks.
Then I checked my weight. To my great surprise, I had lost ten pounds that first week. I lost another 10 the next week, and continued losing 5 pounds a week for quite a long time. Nothing fit me any more. Except my shoes. Anyone who knew me that first year of college can testify I was in baggy heaven. I got down to 175, and stayed around there for the next 8 years.
Well. Here I am. And I don't exactly want to hope for a second bout of mono. And there are other things that have also crept up into my life in the last five years that need to be weeded out. I am not the woman I want to be. Time to come clean and healthy.
First of all, I am changing my diet. I am making sure I load up on vegetables and fruits. I have two other people who are keeping track of their food intake along with me. Not exactly calorie counting. Just being accountable for what we eat. We'll be changing the dinner menu to healthier food, which will make it easier for all of us.
Second, exercise. Three days a week I will have someone with me at the gym. The other days I will be starting a running routine. I have a 10K I am preparing for in February. And I will be doing a half-marathon at some point this year. If you are interested in doing a Disney run with me, speak now. My two sources who were going to come have since dropped out for personal reasons, and I'd rather not go it alone.
Third, which should be first, spiritual and mental health. I have totally dropped off the scripture reading bandwagon. For the last three nights I have fallen asleep listening to the Book of Mormon. It's nice, because my phone turns off sometime after I fall asleep, so it doesn't wake me up. THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS SCRIPTURE READING. So. This one I am going to be accountable to myself on. We'll see how this goes. Every morning I will be reading before the gym or before taking the girls I nanny to school.
Fourth, learning Spanish. I need to grow intellectually, and this is the perfect way to do it. Every day after the workout for at least twenty minutes.
Fifth, music. I need more of it in my life. The fact I now have two music callings at church does not fulfill the need I have to grow musically. This one I am still figuring out.
There. Not exactly a New Year's resolution thing. More like fixing my lifestyle. I guess you could call it resolutions, because I am resolved.
This better stick.

Research

I have had a relaxing day. Haven't done much at all in fact.

Except play around on my lovely new phone. Discovering more of the fun things I can do with it. I really am loving it. I caught up on Bones a bit (spoiler: Bones finally got married! ), played around on Pinterest, read email, bought a new Children's songbook, downloaded music to my phone that I've wanted to own.

While dawdling around on Pinterest, I decided to search for Puerto Rico to see what people have pinned.

I discovered that there were quite a few little islands belonging to the territory that have awesome coral reefs, beaches, caves, forts, lighthouses, and hiking that I need to see. I knew of three, two of which I have visited already. But even then, one I've only done by taking a taxi to a beach rather than explore it for myself.

I was amazed at how many things I haven't even heard about. And I'm excited to travel around a bit. I can't wait to visit the other islands in the Caribbean as well.
The easy access to internet via the phone suddenly has opened up a world of possibilities for me. Glad I took the plunge and made a big upgrade in my life.

New Year's

Don't worry, not going to bore you with any resolutions I am making for the year. We'll, except that I am going to try to be vigilant about keeping the blog up to date now that I have the technology that will allow me to post easily.

I am going to say how grateful I am for the ability and blessing to start all over.

We've all made a mistake here and there, and I have made my fair share of them. They can be fleeing silly mistakes, ignorant ones, super bad where the heck did that come from mistakes, or a mistake that grows into a monster. I've been through the loop on most classifications of mistakes. I just am rather private about them because I hate admitting to my weaknesses.

So here I am, Bayamón, Puerto Rico ringing with frogs, bugs, trains, motorcycles, midnight fireworks the night after the big event, and a language I only understand bits of, looking introspectively at what I want to change. There are a lot of things on my list.

Suddenly I felt this rush of gratitude knowing that I can in fact change. It may take what feels like an eternity to accomplish all the changes I want to make in myself, but by golly I can do it.

I look forward to these symbolic opportunities to renew, to leave the past behind, and try again and change for the better. New Year's Day is a great one. Every Sunday when I partake of the sacrament is another. Every 6 months at General Conference I feel that urge to change again.

Now. I need to get working.