Black and White!!!

last night pam, dino, and i met up with my friends from riverside at Medieval Times in Buena Park. I had so much fun and learned the hard way that mixed drinks: NOT the way to go for me….ugh. i felt soooo sick. after 3 “maiden’s kisses” we were freakin GONE. i remember cheering for our knight, the black and white knight, and the dumb bastard was the first to die!!! we had the BEST cheering section too, complete with standing, screaming, cheering, booing, and miscellaneous chinese girl that paid way too much for her royal section flag!! but, we lost. i think there was more excitement going on in the ladies restroom during our bathroom break. but i had a blast. and it’s always great seeing my friends from riverside. i love them so much. despite the fact that i haven’t had a chance to really hang out with them this semester, they’re still the most awesome friends that keep me laughing and give the BEST hugs in the world. can’t wait for a sushi night sometime soon…pictures to follow shortly.

posting this on a saturday night when i should be pretending to study for my class on monday DURING MY SPRING BREAK. so i guess ill keep it short. and why lie, im going to read everyone else’s blog, chat with pam, call dino, myspace stalk, watch tv, and eat something i shouldn’t in the kitchen before i even open my book tonight.

twenty things i appreciate in life (cause i forgot to do this yesterday): Day 3 & 4

1 – hot showers.

2 – incredible california weather

3 – flannel sheets

4 – my own room to sleep in

5 – when people hold the door open for you.

6 – designated drivers

7 – drive-thru windows

8 – tuition fellowships

9 – forgiveness

10 – alone time

11 – words of encouragement

12 – contagious laughter

13 – good driving directions

14 – when dino plays the piano

15 – traveling

16 – half-days at work

17 – canceled classes

18 – the Internet

19 – pets

20 – music

GEEZ. my prof wasn’t kidding…this is getting harder each day. and i’m only on day 4!! it’s kind of ridiculous how little time i spend reflecting on the things i appreciate most in life. and im trying really hard not to get to that “the green grass and the majestic mountains” stage of this exercise when it all starts going downhill from there… but i have found that this exercise is a nice way to filter out my stresses for the day and get me back on a more positive track. yay for self-management and positive psychology.

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” - Frederick Keonig

Appreciative Inquiry

First of all, i’d like to start off by mentioning how disturbing it is to me how excited i was to submit my midterm to my professor so i could finally have some time to blog. it’s ridiculous. i blame gloria completely. =P

anyway….moving on…

i’m currently taking this self-management class and one of our assignments for the upcoming weeks is to keep a log of things we appreciate in our lives. we’re supposed to write down 10 things every day for two weeks and we can’t repeat anything. seems simple enough, right? apparently it gets harder each day and you start writing stupid things down like, “i appreciate the green grass and my middle toe..” but i’m going to try it anyway. i decided my log would be on my blog…it’ll give me a chance to reflect on the things i appreciate anyway.

on a different note: i spoke with my aunt the other day over the phone and she told me she likes talking to me because i make her laugh. what an awesome compliment. i realized that i love making people laugh; seems like there’s nothing to lose. my aunt told me that as you grow older, laughing is what gets you through the day. and if you are able to share the gift of laughter with someone, consider that a good deed for the day. i love seeing people laugh..it’s as if for that brief moment, they are able to forget all their troubles. and i played a part in that?? awesome! my favorite memories of my family and friends, old and new, are all about laughter. i remember the day my friends and i met up for lunch to celebrate gloria’s engagement and we were all laughing about old times and good times (kinda like a scene from sex in the city). an old man came up to us and asked in a gentle voice, “excuse me ladies. can i ask you…what are you ladies laughing about?” and we told him that our friend just got engaged and we’re excited. the old man replied “well, congratulations! sounds like you ladies are having a great time! i wish i could laugh like that…” and we all pausedfor a moment, and realized what a great feeling it was to be able to share moments like that with loved ones.

10 things i appreciate in my life (in no particular order):

1- my family. my amazing family.

2- my friends, old and new. everything about them.

3- roommates. who all know just way too much about me, and still love me.

4- the boyfriend.

5- my senses. often taken for granted.

6- my education. and the opportunity to continuously learn and grow.

7- the essentials: roof over my head, food on the table, clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, clothes on my back, etc.
8- good health

9- my faith: provides some sort of direction in life.

10- the time i spend with my parents: which ive realized is not infinite, and have grown a new appreciation for, even if i get annoyed at times. i know that it won’t be readily available forever…

well, now that ive included every aspect of my boring life in that list, i guess this two week assignment is going to be harder than i thought. =\ …but im glad i can take some time out of each day to really think about what i appreciate in life. i don’t seem to do that enough.

“If every word I said could make you laugh, I’d talk forever…”

Daylight Savings.

decided to take advantage of the fact that my boss won’t be in til 9am today and couldn’t wait to blog for a bit. (although i am a bit upset with myself that i didn’t check my voicemail from home and could’ve slept an extra hour) today was painful to get up. i was brushing my teeth in the dark! why is it that daylight savings time makes you change on sunday!! the last day of the weekend that you want to extend as long as possible yet, we have to “spring forward” and LOSE an hour! completely threw me off and now im exhausted and apparently bitching to a computer about it. =P why can’t we spring forward an hour on friday evenings at oh, say around 4pm?? wouldn’t that be dandy.

on a brighter note, i had a chance to have brunch with my fabulous girls on sunday afternoon and it was definitely the most refreshing experience of the weekend. i just can’t help but walk away from our not-frequent-enough get-togethers feeling absolutely blessed to have them in my life. when im with them, i feel like we’re in our own little world (granted we were the only ones inside the restaurant for a while) but we’re able to take a step away from our chaotic lives we have outside of this group and just reconnect on levels that others just wouldn’t understand. i think we’ve been through so much together, both good and bad, that we’re all able to meet on common ground and just enjoy life together. i mean, for two hours, we sit there and listen to each other’s hardships, good times, happy moments, career changes, life changes, wedding plans, future plans, life complaints, mid-life crises, parental problems in our mid 20’s and through all that, i can honestly say i walk away EVERY time we meet feeling so blessed to have them in my life.