Great book, new ideas

So this weekend was a little bit overwhelming for me. I felt like I had a lot to do, I had schoolwork that I'd neglected, wanting to visit with friends, ward activity and other random thoughts that kept my brain working the whole time. But I've also felt lately that I didn't really have direction. I have been doing good things, being with friends, trying to socialize, exercising, doing school three nights a week, working full time as well, going home to visit family...I was just doing whatever came my way and didn't really worry about my relationships with others, or more importantly with Heavenly Father. So, in the spirit of change, I started to read this book by Sheri Dew. I love reading her books. I usually start off feeling a little overwhelmed by her many great ideas, but by the end of the chapter, I'm able to choose something work on and I feel she had the same feelings I have now.

This week, I read the chapter, "Sometimes OUR charity faileth." And this was directed right at me. I feel like I've been somewhat self consumed lately. I've been doing what makes me feel good. And even then, does it make me happy to always be running around doing things, but not focusing on what is really important? This specific chapter delved into how to develop better meaningful relationships with others. We need to eliminate the Three C's: Competing, Comparing and Categorizing. And I've found that I do these, to myself and others. Sometimes I find it difficult to not compare myself to the great people around me and think that I don't measure up either physically or intellectually. And that can lead to competing with those people for the attention of others by either criticizing or trying to make them feel lower, and that leads to categorizing people, putting them into categories and not giving them the opportunity to be seen for who they really are, because we only see them for who we assume they are. Not a good pattern to follow.

So, I'm trying to eliminate the Three C's, and I think if I do that, I will be able to balance the most important things in life. All I can worry about it is how I treat others and how I treat myself. My dad has told me that one of the best ways to get out of a "funk," is to go and serve others. So I'm going to be a better Visiting teacher(sorry to my visiting teachees, they're probably going to take the brunt of this new charge) and try to find those opportunities to serve others and I think one of the ways to do that, is to get to know the new people in my ward. There are a lot and it has kind of intimidated me lately, so time to get out of that and welcome the newbies.

Has Summer arrived?

So, it is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend here in San Diego, in the low 80s with abundant sunshine. I can't tell you how excited I am, I hope it comes true. It seems like every weekend it's been nice outside, I've been out of town.

Anyways, for the occasion of summer coming, I splurged and bought a new bathing suit. I'm usually not one for buying suits online, but I found this site (after seeing a catalogue for it at a friends house) and decided to buy a suit from it. I'm so excited because I get it today! So we'll see how it turns out, but I'm so excited for summer and beach time. Especially....I go to Hawaii in three weeks!! Yipeee!

Website for the suit:
http://www.ajmodbe.com/

while i wish I could say this was me, it is not, it's just the cute advertisement for the suits. There is no way I am putting up a swimsuit model picture of me:)

CHP

I went home last weekend to see my brother graduate from the California Highway Patrol Academy in Sacramento and boy, it was pretty cool. We went up Friday morning and found the cadets all lined up in formation in front of the academy, all stiff and silent. They were not allowed to smile or move out of formation until they were marched into the ceremony. So of course, we tried take pictures and knew that Kiel could tell what was going on, but he couldn't make any movement. So we all go into the ceremony and watch as the cadets march in. Now, while Kiel is not in the military, his training had a militaristic feel, almost like a boot camp. They had to go through so much physical training, marksmanship and classroom time as well. After 6 months, Kiel is now an officer and is assigned to South L.A. Fun times! He's only 1.5 hours from me, and 1.5 hours from Shelley, so we can meet up occasionally.

My sister and her baby, Logan, came out for the graduation as well, so we all got Logan time. I'm sure Brigitte was happy to have many willing and waiting hands to help her take care of Logan, who I think was a little disoriented being in a new place and all, as evidenced by his occasional fussiness. But he's a cute "chubbers" nonetheless.

Since I now have a brother working for the CHP, I've become a little more aware of the drivers around me, and maybe how I drive. I need to back off of other's bumpers, I know! So I am going to work on that. After my friend picked me up from the airport on Monday and while we were driving back home, we saw a woman putting eyeliner on as she was driving on the freeway, how do you do that and still remain aware of the road!! Crazy woman. I feel like my life is speeding by anyway with a lot going on, that maybe taking the time to slow down on the roads will be beneficial to my health as well as my sanity. Road time=relax time. Slow it down people!

picture at stake conference with my dad:

Ozmopolitan and Swankified

I had one of the best weekends ever in a long time, if "defied gravity!" I, along with 3 fabulous and "popular" friends, went up to L.A. to see the musical WICKED! It is now my favorite (but I haven't seen many, so I'm open to anything that can try to dethrone this show, but it will be difficult). The day was beautiful, it was about 90 degrees in Hollywood, but not too stifling. We had lunch at a pizza/sandwich/anything place down the street from the theatre. We noticed that this cafe was right across the street from the Church of Scientology building, where the L. Ron Hubbard life exhibit was up. This attracted an interesting group of people, protesting the beliefs of scientology. Interesting start to the day, but the protesters were all in masks, so they fit in with the "theatre" ambiance.
Around 1:30 we made our way to the theatre to find our seats for the 2pm showing. The Pantages, while probably not as classy as it might have been in its hey day, was still awesome. The Hollywood walk of fame lined the sidewalk and we tried to figure out who many of those stars were, but didn't know very many. But we found Desi Arnez!!
The show was so great! I loved it, almost to a disturbing point as one friend now thinks. But it was great, the effects were great, the singing was FANTASTIC. The actress playing Elphaba was amazing. Her voice was so clear and strong, so great. The story is engaging and keeps you wondering and has so much foreshadowing. Very clever. I had to wonder who really was "wicked" in this story, if anyone has any comments on that, I'd be interested to know what you think. What really makes us "wicked?"
Anyway, after the show, and while were were still on our wicked high, we drove to Downtown Disney on the way home to stop in at ESPN zone for dinner. It was still so nice outside and just fun to walk around. Of course, I loved being in the ESPN zone, with sport updates all around:)
Such a great day!

I saw this article today and I was AMAZED at the caloric numbers of each food. Not that it really surprised me, but they are so high, I was shocked. So
The 20 Worst Foods in America Posted Wed, Apr 02, 2008,

Restaurant food is bad for us. You may assume that anything you order at a drive-thru is less than sterling in a nutritional sense, but, in fact, the majority of what we eat at restaurants — even ones with helpful waiters and real tablecloths — is worse for us than we might ever imagine.
A study from the University of Arkansas that found the average diner in this country underestimates his or her caloric intake by up to 93 percent when eating out. Translation: Every time you eat at a restaurant, you're probably eating twice as much as you think.

Some studies even show that nutritionists — the PhD-packing "experts" — can't get their calorie counts right. So how can you be expected to?

In researching our book "Eat This, Not That," and to help combat the problem and give people a better idea of how perilous a simple dinner out can be, we spent months reading nutritional info, analyzing food, inspecting menu boards, and, yes, even eating some of these industrial-strength calorie bombs to come up with a list of the restaurant industry's worst individual offenders. Our primary criterion? Sheer caloric impact. After all, it's the top cause of weight gain and the health problems that accompany it. We also factored in other key nutritional data, such as excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium.

The result is our first annual list of the worst foods in America.

Worst Drink
Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie (30 fl oz)
900 calories
10 g fat
183 g carbs
166 g sugar

Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie; we call it a milk shake. In fact, this beverage contains more sugar than 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's Butter Pecan ice cream.

Worst Supermarket Meal
Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
1,020 calories
64 g fat
86 g carbs

The label may say this pie serves 2, but who ever divided a small pot pie in half? Once you crack the crust, there will be no stopping.

Worst Mexican Entree
Chipotle Mexican Grilled Chicken Burrito
1,179 calories
47 g fat
125 g carbs
2,656 mg sodium

Despite a reputation for using healthy, fresh ingredients, Chipotle's menu is limited to football-size burritos, overstuffed tacos, and gigantic salads — all of which contribute to a humongous waistline.

Worst Kids' Meal
Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese
1,210 calories
62 g fat
3,450 mg sodium

It's like feeding your kid 1½ boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese.

Worst Fish Entree
On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans
2,100 calories
130 g fat
169 g carbs
4,750 mg sodium

Perhaps the most misleadingly named dish in America: A dozen crunchy tacos from Taco Bell will saddle you with fewer calories.

The Worst Food in America
Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing
2,900 calories
182 g fat
240 g carbs

It's the caloric equivalent of eating 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, before your dinner arrives. Even if you split this "starter" with 3 friends, you'll have downed a meal's worth of calories.

Pictures from my first ever run!!

So the race I ran in, posted a few pictures. Kind of fun to see yourself in a race. Anyway, it was fun!

Easter in Utah

For Easter this year, my family gathered in Utah for my nephew's baby blessing. I got to meet Logan Christopher Brown for the first time, he is such a cute, solid boy! It was great to be with my immediate family, see Karma and Steve's family and hang out with the Brown's. Celia is in BYU Women's chorus and they had a concert Tuesday night, so Mom, Shelley, Mariah and I got attend that. They were good! I also got to see some old SD friends who now live in Utah, Melissa and Brad, and Allison, in her new house! All in all, it was a great trip. The drive back alone was a little long, but if you have good music, you can sing yourself anywhere for any amount of time.



Of course, what would a trip with Lisa be without one little speed bump in the road. In Beaver, a gas station attendant noticed that my front right tire was bald. I knew I needed to get those checked out and so, he said he would put on my spare for free. Well, long story short, I ended up buying 4 new tires, they apparently were were all going bad. My well laid out budget for the trip was shot down the tubes before even reaching Provo. Oh well, Pearl drives great now. Should be good for another 3 years at least. I guess my prayer for safety was answered, but I was hoping for a less expensive way.


Lil' Logan

Mariah baby

Cousins, cute!

After Women's chorus performance

News Flash!! NKOTB

So, if any of you lived through the New Kids craze of the late 80s and early 90s like me, then maybe you'll get really excited...at the reunion of NKOTB! Yup, it was announced yesterday, that the band will reunite and produce new music! I know, take me back to those days baby! Hanging Tough, Step by Step, all your favorite classics brought back out. This was my original boy band.
Then:


Now:

Gas prices!!! Out of this world!

I just had to post about how much gas is costing right now. I drove back from Utah last week and went to stop in a little town north of San Bernardino. The gas was $3.99!!!! for regular unleaded! Oh my gosh! I thought that there had to be one place cheaper. I was lucky I kept going, even with my gas light on. I found a place about 5 miles further down advertising the cheapest gas around, $3.49!! Of course, there was an incredible long line for that place and, sorry Steve, it wasn't a Chevron. But I didn't care at that point, get me something cheap. Little gripe. I filled up yesterday as well for $3.53 a gallon. I'm not driving to work anymore, taking the shuttle as much as possible.


Ahhh, remember the days!


NOW! (i found another station near my house, with the unleaded 87 gas being $3.83, crazy!)