Thursday, November 10, 2011

10 on 10

It has been a while since I've done a 10 on 10. However, due to recent events I have two things that work perfectly for finding the beauty in today. With a new camera and a day filled with my dog, and lunch with a good friend... here is my 10 on 10. See more 10 on 10's here!


Monday, October 17, 2011

From one blog to another

I read this from a blog I read occasionally and just felt like it was a great way to start off my Monday. I've struggled with a lot of this recently and with the help of my hubby I've recognized the value of good relationships. Plus, I'm getting a little tired of seeing that scary face in the last post.


1. There comes a point in life when you get tired of chasing everyone and trying to fix everything, but it’s not giving up. It’s realizing you don’t need certain people and things and the drama they bring.

2. If a person wants to be a part of your life they will make an obvious effort to do so. Don’t bother reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.

3. If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down – which is not always as obvious and easy as it sounds.

4. Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.

5. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You don’t fail by falling down. You fail by never getting back up. Sometimes you just have to forget how you feel, remember what you deserve, and keep pushing forward.

6. When you get to know people with different ethnic backgrounds, from different cities and countries, who live at various socioeconomic levels, you begin to realize that everyone basically wants the same things. They want validation, love, happiness, fulfillment and hopes for a better future. The way they pursue these desires is where things branch off, but the fundamentals are the same. You can relate to almost everyone everywhere if you look past the superficial facades that divide us.

7. The more things you own, the more your things own you. Less truly gives you more freedom.

8. While you’re busy looking for the perfect person, you’ll probably miss the imperfect person who could make you perfectly happy. This is as true for friendships as it is for intimate relationships. Finding a companion or a friend isn’t about trying to transform yourself into the perfect image of what you think they want. It’s about being exactly who you are and then finding someone who appreciates that.

9. Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason.

10. Making a thousand friends is not a miracle. A miracle is making one friend who will stand by your side when thousands are against you.

11. Someone will always be better looking. Someone will always be smarter. Someone will always be more charismatic. But they will never be you – with your exact ideas, knowledge and skills.

12. Making progress involves risk. Period. You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.

13. Every morning you are faced with two choices: You can aimlessly stumble through the day not knowing what’s going to happen and simply react to events at a moment’s notice, or you can go through the day directing your own life and making your own decisions and destiny.

14. Everyone makes mistakes. If you can’t forgive others, don’t expect others to forgive you. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.

15. It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.

16. We sometimes do things that are permanently foolish just because we are temporarily upset. A lot of heartache can be avoided if you learn to control your emotions.

17. Someone else doesn’t have to be wrong for you to be right. (Funny enough, this was my senior quote!) There are many roads to what’s right. You cannot judge others by your own past. They are living a different life than you. What might be good for one person may not be good for another. What might be bad for one person might change another person’s life for the better. You have to allow people to make their own mistakes and their own decisions.

18. Nobody is perfect, and nobody deserves to be perfect. Nobody has it easy. You never know what people are going through. Every one of us has issues. So don’t belittle yourself or anyone else. Everybody is fighting their own unique war.

19. A smile doesn’t always mean a person is happy. Sometimes it simply means they are strong enough to face their problems.

20. The happiest people I know keep an open mind to new ideas and ventures, use their leisure time as a means of mental development, and love good music, good books, good pictures, good company and good conversation. And oftentimes they are also the cause of happiness in others.

21. You can’t take things too personally. Rarely do people do things because of you. They do things because of them.

22. Feelings change, people change, and time keeps rolling. You can hold on to past mistakes or you can create your own happiness. A smile is a choice, not a miracle. True happiness comes from within. Don’t make the mistake of waiting on someone or something to come along and make you happy.

23. It’s much harder to change the length of your life than it is to change the depth of it.

24. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.

25. When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.

26. One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else.

27. Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things.

28. Anyone can make a difference. Making one person smile can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world.

29. Everything is a life lesson. Everyone you meet, everything you encounter, etc. They’re all part of the learning experience we call ‘life.’ Never forget to acknowledge the lesson, especially when things don’t go your way. If you don’t get a job that you wanted or a relationship doesn’t work, it only means something better is out there waiting. And the lesson you just learned is the first step towards it.

30. Regardless of how filthy your past has been, your future is still spotless. Don’t start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday. Every day is a fresh start. Each day is a new beginning. Every morning we wake up is the first day of the rest of our life.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Doomsday

Well, they are officially on. What a process and one that I am not surprised I blocked out of my junior high memories. Although things have changed a bit. This crazy contraption is what they had me in for almost two hours:



The whole time my mouth was being sucked dry and pulled open beyond comfort, I could not help but think that the man who invented this terrible device must also have been the man behind creating the jaw trap device in Saw.




A bit dramatic? Not one bit.

Anyway I will try to have the hubby take some pictures so we can begin to track the process but I can already tell that the teeth are on the move! Slimfast and mashed potatoes for me :) I think I will have to invest in some mac and cheese too. If anyone has ideas for soft, good-to-eat-with-braces food I am all ears! I'm sure many things will begin to get boring.



I've been hearing this a lot in 24 hours, but they are... they are that noticable. 22 months of my life I hope will fly by!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Bands

Ok, so I'm not quite ready to show pictures of my own mouth on the internet for everyone to see. This will take time, confidence, and humility. All of which, are not strong qualities I possess in this new braced adventure.

Yesterday they put these puppies in on four of my back molars --->

I know I had braces as a kid, and I know this isn't even the worst part (those darn separators were evil last week), but MAN these are tearing up my cheeks!! How quickly one forgets the pains of junior high!! ( In more ways than one)

Plus side, my husband is receiving a lot of evening silence as my mouth hurts too much to talk at the end of the day.

They also took impressions yesterday so that they can map out a plan for the braces that go on NEXT WEDNESDAY. How come that stuff has to be the nastiest stuff on earth? You are drooling, gagging and left with a light pink crust all over your face. You'd think in the fifteen plus years it has been since I did this the first time they would have thought of a better solution!!


Until next time,

Brace Face

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Brace Face

Day One

Well as some of you know, and some of you don't I am starting a 22 month long process. Today was my first step towards a more stable bite. I only had spacers put in, but come August 17th I will have full blown braces on!

Best thing about it? This will assure that I will continue to be carded for another two years and most likely cause some to question whether my I.D. is real or fake.

I will go into detail over the process I am undertaking at a later date. If you have questions before then, shoot them my way! Until then, my smile has entered the witness protection program and will not appear again until 2013.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Thoughts

Today I have a lot of random things roaming around in my head. So where better to write them down, on the blog, for everyone to see :)

1. I love Seattle, but am SO ready for summer. I am sick of this rain and if I see snow one more time this year, I will be very unhappy.
2. All this late snow means Scott and I may actually have a chance to go skiing this year. This is very exciting.
3. I want the weather to clear up so I can go out and ride my new bike.
4. I am really excited for Scott to pick out his new bike so we can ride together.
5. Kaya has one more week as a conehead, and hopefully one more week of rebellion. That's what I keept telling myself.
6. Last week of busy season!
7. I think I might start doing hot yoga again. Crazy? Maybe.
8. I'm really excited to have two days a week to spend with Scott. Just us. No work. It has been a long time.
9. Booked our tickets to CA to celebrate a good friend's achievement. Can't wait!
10. Scottie's birthday is coming up! What to do... hmmm
11. I am reading a really good book right now. I know it's that good because despite how exhausted I am at the end of the night, I can barely put it down.
12. Is anyone going to watch X Factor? I can't decide.
13. Healthy eating and healthy lifestyle start up again this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to this sense of normalcy.
14. I love my iPad.
15. Of all the things I am looking forward to in having my weekends back, cleaning my house is on the top 2.
16. I've noticed when I work a lot I definitely do not drink enough water, or move enough. Next busy season, it is a goal to change that.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Welcome Kaya



So yes, I haven't blogged in a long long time. But things have been pretty busy with work lately. But in the mean time, please welcome our newest family member!

Enjoy pictures of Kaya :)
(She's cuter than we are anyway)



We call this one "Garden Art"


We have one smart girl already... (sorry don't know how to rotate)







Monday, February 21, 2011

Help out my friends!


Hi everyone,


My friend Kathryn and her husband are looking to bring a baby into their home. Please help spread the word to anyone that you know who is considering giving a child up for adoption. Kathryn will be an incredible mother and I am so excited for her in this next stage of life.


You can contact both Jeff and Kathryn here!!

Friday, February 4, 2011

a happy happy day


This girl deserves a great day today...

Why you may ask?
She encourages curiosity.
She's always there to cheer a good friend on.
She can make you jump to new heights!

She's really good at arm length photos.
She knows how to accessorize.





oh yea. and she's one year older.
Happy Birthday friend!

Monday, January 10, 2011

10 on 10

I am joining a few friends of mine for a photography project in 2011. My goal is to appreciate the beauty and simplicity in each and every day (and maybe to inspire me to get a new camera)!

Here we go, my very first 10 on 10!











Thursday, January 6, 2011

Life Update/Close to 2010

Good morning bloggers,

Well it has been a while since we've put more than pictures and a few words up here on this blog, and so much has happened to us recently that I thought it would be good to jot down a few memories to close out 2010. Here are a few quick notes of some recent events for us to remember and enjoy.

Thanksgiving
For our first Turkey day as a married couple, we hosted the feast at our home. We are lucky enough to live close to both families and are able to split up this holiday every other year. Last year we traveled to central CA for my official Lee Family Thanksgiving. As I was accustomed to a 7 person table growing up, the small crowd of 75 or so was a big and welcome adjustment! This year, however, we spent the holiday with my family and had our largest guest count to date - 9 people! :) Since I was in charge of the Turkey and hosting duties this year, 9 sounded perfect! The turkey turned out amazing (I had a lucky first try) and we had quite the feast. As my Jumpy members would say, my Martha skills were in full force.

I'm already saving up for next year! Filoli here I come!

Christmas
A bunch of firsts for us this year - and how great it has been! This was our first Christmas together as husband and wife and we already can't wait for next year. Thankfully my hubby loves himself some Christmas and decorating for the season is strongly supported. He may have thought that 1,000 lights for our Xmas tree was ridiculous, but quickly recanted this comment after seeing how beautiful that Noble looked all lit up and adorned with ornaments. Scottie and I have actually bought Christmas ornaments together on major events from the start of our relationship. It was so fun to rediscover the Mickey hat from our first trip to Disneyland!

The hubby and I had our Christmas on the morning of Christmas Eve and boy do we love to spoil each other. We were "good" this year and only went a little over our proposed limits. You just can't help to get the ones you love something you know they will love. We then joined my family for Christmas Eve dinner which included many laughs, stories, and of course, football. The sister and I prepared a fabulous dinner together - we are quite the team! (Mom loves that we both love to cook!)

Christmas day we headed down to CA to spend some quality time with more family. (I told you it's great we live close enough to do it all!) Due to recent events that I will mention next, our four day trip turned into a week long trip which was long over due. Unfortunately, I think we both gained about 20 pounds combined (15 of which attributed to me). If you know us, you know we LOVE to eat. We had prime rib, gourmet mashed potatoes, croissants, Pakistani food, the world's best burritos, in & out, fudge, Chinese food and the list could go on. It was In. Sane.

New job!
2011 rang in with a new job for me and moving back to a career that I find both fascinating and challenging. I am so excited for this incredible opportunity and am having to pinch myself each day to make sure I'm not dreaming. Each day it seems to get better and better and I couldn't be happier.

We have had such a wonderful 2010 and are both excited to see what 2011 brings to us. I can't believe we have almost been married for 6 months! Thank you 2010 for a fabulous year.