Aspartame

Every single human in the world has an experience with a dream.

There are the type of dreams we have during our nightly slumber, created by our subconscious brains. The average person who lives to be 90 years of age will spend between seven and nine years of their life in REM sleep, the phase of our sleep where dreams occur. Of these types, some are forgotten upon the quiet vibrating, gentle beeping and/or pulse-starting sirens of our alarm clocks. Some are remembered in bits and pieces making your mind-at-day ever confused about why your mind-at-night assumed the responsibility of making a connection between a unicorn and a german chocolate cake in Japan. Some are remembered so vividly you can recall the direction of the wind simply by re-imagining what way the leaves in the bouquet of flowers on your table billowed from the morning breeze when you were having breakfast with your best friend. These may be the most sought after dreams by some humans.

There are the types of dreams we have when we are caught between a combination of boredom and alertness. Each day the average person spends between 70 and 120 minutes daydreaming. In some cases it starts with a productive thought that leads to another productive thought, to another productive thought, and so on leaving you in a constructive state-of-mind. In other cases it starts with a fantasy, progressing on and on until you are standing on what you actually believe is your balcony in a villa overlooking Lake Como. These may be the most sought after dreams by some humans.

There are also the types of dreams that drive us. The type where we are fully aware of our surroundings, thinking logically, knowing precisely what we are seeking, created by our brains by us. Whether it be a positive or a negative experience, you are left with enough drive to pull a broken-down bus-load of chickens over a mountain to a starving village on the other side. The ones that give you the sense of self-worth and responsibility to become both who you want to be and also who you need to be. These are the most sought after dreams by this human.

Recently I have sought after this type of dream frequently. I have been looking for a change in career choice for six months. I am still waking up today with a dehydrated mouth, lips sticking together, exhausted, with a dry-scalp and hand condition, having yet another dream about a flight getting canceled because the cabin door won't close properly, trying to go the extra mile to help passengers get to their final destinations by making an announcement with helpful information while they slowly walk-away one at a time because they could care less about listening to what I have to say. Two things I do have to look forward too when I open my eyes is a caring man and a good breakfast. Both of which are searing hot and unavailable on the road.

While thinking about this recently I have often come back to the same questions, who succeeded at feeding me ideas about how second place is acceptable? What choices did I make to end up here? Where could I be if I had stuck with my dream from the moment I knew it was destiny? When has aspartame ever been better than the sugar I used to sneak mouthfuls of with my brother in the kitchen when Mamma wasn't looking and we wanted a snack and couldn't reach the graham crackers? Why did the importance of finding an alternative supersede the passion for having my real and ultimate career? And always lastly, how can I get what I want?

My father has said multiple times take the time to ponder. I spend so much of my time taking in information, it's at my finger tips, it's instant, quick, faster available than a bowl of oatmeal. But I often forget to take the time to think. I know the reason I am where I am today is because I've been living my life Quaker Oats style. When a situation is presented the extent of my thinking is calculating whether something will be good or bad. Which takes all of five, at the most one five, minutes. Then I either disregard or I pursue. This is the precise reason I am so many other places rather than thee one place.

I am happy with where I have been and where I currently am. I am indeed on course for having the one thing that is more complete than happiness, pure joy. I am so close to having everything I could want that I have begun to push harder so I may have absolutely everything I want. I have devised and set in diamonds my plan, destroyed all other diamonds so that nothing can cut, break, or chip my plan, and have set out on the trail. Though I know the universe will throw it's challenges to try and sway me, I refuse to allow any situation be a setback. They will only be switchbacks, because I will keep on climbing, I will make it to the top of the mountain, bus and every single little chicken in tow.

Carpe Diem folks. I hope you get closer to your number one dream today.

Lonely no More

As you may think already, being a Flight Attendant can be real glamorous. Everyone willingly lets you cut in the line at security without a single stink eye, the plane is always at the gate waiting for your arrival, the Gate Agent does everything in their power to get you out on time and assists special passenger situations in advance so you don't even have to think about it, passengers admire your every move and never raise a fuss about a late arrival or checking their humongous bags at the door because they don't fit in the overhead bins (which coincidentally is the same size as the "Check the Size of Your Carryon" metal fixture in the line to the ticket counter), the flight always goes smoothly with no medical or plane equipment emergencies, the hotel shuttle is waiting right outside the first door you try out of the airport, the hotel rooms are beautiful and the beds feel amazing, and there's always plenty to do.

I won't confirm how many of the above are actually true. But I will confirm the last is iffy. Recently I have taken on the challenge of finding activities to do on my trips to avoid desperately wanting to jump on a Greyhound and head home. My first trip I played with a sticky toy butterfly that you fling on to the wall and it slowly 'flutters' down, the trip after that trip I had a rockin' dance party all by myself for a solid 30 minutes, my last trip I checked out PhotoBooth on my computer and I must say it was thoroughly entertaining. Some have said the results are scary, others quite enjoyed them. I'll let you decide.

I'm a Toad!

I'm a chipmunk!

I'm a bug!

I'm a villan!

I'm an alien!

I'm Reese Witherspoon!

I'm so excited for Summer!

God bless America!

Tag Me Tag You

Game Rules
1. Post these rules. 
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things. 
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post. 
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them. 
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them. 

11 Random Facts

1. The arch on my foot is so high that my footprint is just my toes, the ball of my foot, and my heel.
2. I have a dessert after nearly every meal. Even after my snack.
3. I cried during the opening song, America the Beautiful, for the Superbowl, I just love our country and am so proud and thankful of our men and women who protect us and help others.
4. I love the taste of cake batter more than the final product. 
5. I don't like spending money on things I can make/do myself.
6. I wish I could put all the people I love in to a little box and take them every where with me.
7. I don't like spending more than 3 minutes doing my makeup because I feel super vain, and yet my only New Years Resolution is to have a body like a Victoria's Secret model.
8. I love Tawnya. She's the only one in the world that laughs at my jokes even when they aren't funny.
9. I used to not believe in romance and love. Even Cinderella annoyed me. But, then I met Tim. He's my Prince Charming. He's not thee "I ride in on a white horse with my fellow comrades to save my damsel" Prince Charming, he's thee "Get in my way of saving my beautiful Queen and I'll obliterate and destroy you" kind of man.
10. I really love animals but I don't want a pet.
11. I prefer quality over quantity.

Darlene's Questions:
1. Where is a place you go for inspiration?
     I go to my car and then I drive and look at things.2. What is one thing that makes you terribly happy?
     A delicious slice of German Chocolate cake.3. Would you rather go sky diving or deep sea diving?
     Sky diving, I want to find out what a cloud feels like.4. What is your favorite holiday and why?
     4th of July, I love the combination of watermelon, fireworks, a water activity, my family, sparklers, a barbecue and s'mores.5. What would you do if you won the million dollar lottery?
     I would reach my financial goals, buy a house, and open a flower shop.6. What is your favorite television show?
     Planet Earth7. Would you rather be stranded in the desert or in a frozen waste land?
     Desert, I like heat and I know how to survive off the desert land.8. Do you crave sweets or salts?
     Sweets.9. What is one thing that keeps you motivated?
     My future.10. Would you rather live in the east or west coast and why?
     West, the people are nicer.11. What is something you want to change in your life right now?
     My hair length.


Questions for my peeps:
1. Do you make your bed every morning?
2. If you were given the opportunity to have everything you want today but it meant giving up your favorite memory would you take it?
3. What's your favorite outfit?
4. What era would you like to live in?
5. Is your hair color natural? If no, why did you change it?
6. Who is your hero?
7. What got you out of bed this morning?
8. What comes to mind when you think about the word vacation?
9. When's the last time you wore lipstick?
10. When's the last time you took a risk and what happened?
11. Have you noticed whether you cry more as you age?


Tawnya
Nicole
Angie

When I Was an Only Child

I have never regretted coming from a family of five children. There are some people who don't quite understand why you might want more than four, three, two or even one child. At one point my very own parents said four is enough and headed to the doctors to get some tubing tied. But to their dismay along came the cutest baby ever, me. Their bopping baby girl. Their pride and joy. Their last born. Their heaviest 10 lbs 14 oz beautiful bundle of joy. This weekend I was able to give them a little taste of what it might have been like to only have me.

We met up in the beautiful city of San Diego. There was lots of restaurants, lots of shopping, lots of dilly dallying, lots of dolphins, and not enough good looking' Marines...for my Mother of course. The first day we went to a Greek restaurant for lunch and an out-of-this-world-delicious Italian restaurant for supper. We did some shopping and I helped my Mother upgrade to her very first Smartphone from her ancient "dumb phone," something I hope I never have to do myself.

On day two we hopped aboard the San Diego tour. It was amazing!!! Our tour guide/trolley driver was hilarious. We were only with him about 30 minutes because we hopped off at Coronado Island. The Island of beauty. Saying I would very much love to live there someday is the understatement of the century. We got bagel sandwiches for breakfast and walked out to the Ocean. It was breathtaking as usual.

 

After the ocean, Mamma and I went to the best Ice Cream store on the island for a little energy. Strangely right outside we ran in to the very cow that the ice cream comes from, Elvis, and Michael Jackson. All three!

Our next stop was Old Towne. Famous for it's hispanic fiestas, delicious food, market, and history. We ate at a delicious mexican restaurant complete with a band of senors, I picked up some Mexican Vanilla, and Mom and Dad nailed down their Christmas Card photo. 

My desires of living on Coronado were crushed that night when Mamma and I went to the movies to see a flick and didn't get any change back from a twenty dollar bill!!! Expensive. Friday Morning we woke up bright and early and headed over to the Marine Corps Graduation. They looked pretty small from a distance but when you're standing behind one in line at Starbucks for twenty minutes you can very easily start to see the back can have more than one muscle and each one can be a lot bigger than the next one (I only stared so that I could describe it to Tawnya, I'm a loyal gal).

Then we headed out on our adventure. Two words, Whale Watching. I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical. In the harbor we were able to see a bunch of Sea Lions and I was a little less skeptical when I saw the dolphins diving along side of the boat. They were very pretty! We learned about the type of whale we were looking for and two hours out we started watching for their famous heart shaped blow marks above the water. We didn't ever see one! Dream crushed. Skeptic feeling confirmed.

But low and behold we saw some water shooting up out of the water surface in a straight line. We took off. Then we saw another puff of water, then another, and then the back of a whale! You might think well that's nothing special, it would've been cool if it jumped all the way out of the water and sprayed us with it's tail smacking the water. But it was magnificent. The second largest animal on the planet, the same length as the boat we were on to be precise, the fastest whale in it's species and endangered, was out there migrating to warmer waters and we got to see it! Twice. 

Let me tell you, there's something bonding about being surrounded by people who have very little in common. We all had different backgrounds, different beliefs, different standards, and goodness gracious different hairstyles, but we were all hoping for the exact same thing, to see a whale. And you could feel the excitement as everyone ran from one side of the boat to the other to get a better view, as the one old lady friend was trying to show her other old lady friend where the water blows were on the horizon, and to the man standing next to me slowly saying over and over and louder and louder, "Show your hump! Show your hump! Show your hump! There's his hump!!!!" It was a beautiful journey.

On our way back our captain was gracious enough to follow a heard of only two to three hundred dolphins, nothing major, diving around most likely playing a game of tag. Mamma got some amazing sunset photos on the way in.

We topped it off with the best burger joint in the city, Hodad's! Where I also learned that homeless people sometimes dress normal and I've been missing out on something truly amazing my whole life, Strawberry milkshakes. Who knew there would ever be something better than Chocolate. 

I know my parents love my other sibling as well but we had such a blast I think they secretly wish I had been their only one. Just Maybe.

The day I Became a Woman

I have a wide variety of acquaintances who will read the subject line of my blog and be intrigued to read it. There's the vain new Mother who will want to confirm she was prettier than me after giving birth to my newborn baby. The name brand hoarder who will want to see if I picked the right pair of Christian Louboutins to start my collection. The black book Goddess who will want to read every juicy detail of the first time I did the dirty. The leader of the pack who will be anxious to see that I finally hit puberty and whether I was graced with my Grandma's bust! The geologist who wants to examine the size, cut, and type of rock a special love gave to me.

Unfortunately they will each be disappointed. Because today, I didn't give birth, buy shoes, have sex, hit puberty, or get engaged. I wish I had done two of the above, I won't clarify which in particular but I will say they both could cost you and involve an arch ;) No, today I picked up my very first computer. Not just any computer, but thee computer, the silver box, the one that makes you hungry for a special fruit, the one that makes you realize how overrated a mouse is when all you need is two fingertips, the one that converges your teenager e-mail account with your grown-up one, the one that makes you rethink your cell phone plan because you can call anyone with a computer for free, the one that makes life less complicated more clear and suddenly ten times more colorful.

There will be no daily trips to the public downtown library, dodging beggars who want money for drugs to put in the needles that coincidentally you have to dodge on the lawn. No more surviving through the middle aged man who chooses to sit next to you nearly every day because he can apparently read minds and knows how much you just love his incessant clicking that's either getting him to the next level in his mob wars game or a new record in the Guinness World Book for most mouse clicks per minute. No more checking my e-mail and watching a video of a hippo pooping from my bestest friend who thought it would make me laugh. Which led to my new friend, a little six year old african american boy who happened to be passing by at the same time I opened the video which led to about 30 minutes of finding other animals doing the same thing just so we could giggle!

Although the computers have been great to me and I got a free dollar every month to print 10 pages of whatever I wanted for the last two years, it's quite encouraging to be able to sit in my own chair, in my own room, and type a new blog post, or check on my sweet sister and nephew's latest happenings, or see homemade videos of huge moments in my friends lives and be able to tear up without someone staring. I can start making my own dreams come true. I have officially become a woman.

Up, Down and all Around

Let me tell you a little story. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, the sun was shining, the air was crisp, the skies were clear, the temperature was a steady nine degrees, the birds were gathering pine needles to add a little extra cushion to their nests, two squirrels were chasing each others fluffy tails, and one dapper boy and a fairly cute girl began to suit up.

Suit up for what you ask? A charity event? No. Saving the world? Almost. A trip to the moon? You could say yes since every moment for these two together is like being amongst the stars! But the answer is the one, the only, the "greatest snow on earth" slopes of the Canyons Resort. She in her jumpsuit long johns that she soon learned would only allow her to use the restroom by taking all of her layers off, him in his cozy sweatpants and zip up hoody lookin hotter than a stove boiling a pot of potatoes, headed out the door with mittens, goggles, hats, scarves, boots, helmets, and boards in hand.
 

  After a stop at Smiths for drinks, sandwiches, and a banana for a certain lady's sweet tooth that was denied candy, they were headed to the resort. Breaking out of character all I have to say was this place was a-mawz-ing! The snow was fluffy with it's usual ice patches that, yes I have to admit, I had my two spills on. The scenery was beautiful!!! The mountain went on and on and on and left to right and left again! Just when I had thought we reached the end of the resort, there were three more peaks to explore!!! Tim was killer! He had moves that took him up the mountain, through trees, and over some huge jumps. Basically he should be sponsored... by the U.S. Olympic team.

What a handsome devil!

We like each other

This is how artsy Tim's photos get, I'm in his goggles!

This is how artsy as my photos get

It was a fun day! We rode the slopes, saw a certain celeb from Scotland in the latest movie the Grey, pretended to pee/flash/moon/flick off all the mansions we rode by that we were secretly jealous of, and made ten bucks doing something I cannot disclose that paid for our lunch! 

On a side note, at this house above, which is located on the resort, about a year and a half ago I caught on fire for the first time! It was a fun experience I guess, it brought Tim and I closer, but I don't remember not wanting children as much as I did the night I was shot with a Roman Candle in the back at point blank range by a little rat. I still have a scar. Memories :)

A Birthday, A Holiday, A Birthday, A Holiday

The last three months have been very busy with Celebrations. When I couple that with not owning a computer, it becomes very difficult to make a post. But I am happy to say I am only one month away from my very own computer :) The posts will flow more freely then. The first Celebration we had was Jocelyn's Birthday. She is so cute, full of so much love, and always has a grin on her face. Even when Alexis is trying to ride her like a pony! She loved her stuffed owl Nicole made for her which lit Nicole up like a dry tree struck by lightning! Tyler insisted on taking all the wrappings and stuffing his shirt so that he could belly bounce Samuel at the end. Of course we had delicious birthday cake!

 

The next Celebration was Thanksgiving! I had one of the best Turkey Days I can remember. We started off the Holiday strong by making Pilgrim and Indian hats for all of our guests. I was happy that everybody was a good sport and wanted to wear them. We had our delicious feast with all the fixings and just like the original story, the Indians and Pilgrims sat at the same table. Mike, Tawnya, Tim and I headed outside with all the kids to play a game of Gatorball. To say the least, it turned out to be a very colorful game and I received my first black eye! We have a tradition in our family of shooting trap in our backyard which carried on this year. I was proud to see how far our skills have come throughout the years. I think now between all of us we could at least get a moose, because they are the biggest animals! We then headed back inside and played some very competitive rounds of Mafia and Guestures. There were tears, there were arguments, but best of all the citizens won almost every time! We topped the night off with pie and some delicious home made Cherry Pineapple Ice Cream.

Celebration number three was Baby E's Second Birthday! Nicole made her famous Taco Soup and a Monster Cake that would put Martha Stewart to shame. Baby E loved all of his presents. Especially his new prized possession the Tricycle, his trucks and awesome superhero books. We topped the night off by playing Apples to Apples, the game that explains who knows who the best. Needless to say, Tim won, I guess first impressions really do carry a lot of meaning :)

 The last Celebration was Christmas! I was lucky enough to be able to have two this year. I celebrated with Tim in Park City and had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner and was very spoiled by everybody especially Tim! Then I headed to Minnesota on Monday and loved watching my Nieces and Nephews open up their presents! I was spoiled once again by my very own family! We of course had delicious home made ice cream and cookies for dessert. I am super excited for the New Year and I know 2012 is going to hold some very special memories for me! Happy Holidays and New Year everybody!