He asked. I said yes.

Robert asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes. We were in Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta and he got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. The answer wasn't even in question.

What's crazy is a newscaster happened to walk by RIGHT then, and caught the moment on camera. How awesome is that? It was a truly candid moment and we'll have that forever. 

The Balloon Fiesta was beautiful, but after he proposed I was so excited I mostly forgot about the balloons. The ring that he proposed with was beautiful as well: 6 white diamonds on white gold. It is at the jewelers now getting resized. 

After the Fiesta we went out to celebrate with his family at Tim's Place, a restaurant in Albuquerque that was started by a man with Down's Syndrome where every customer gets a hug. We were joined by his parents and his sister and her fiance. 

I am happy that I am going to be spending the rest of my life with him. He's such an amazing guy and I'm happy to call him my fiance! 

Arriving in ABQ

 We made it to Albuquerque in one piece! We're staying with Robert's parents while we're here, and they're letting us borrow one of their cars while we're here so we don't have to be in a hotel or rent an auto. Here's our obligatory PDX carpet photo:

And on the airplane I got a pretty cool shot of Mt. Hood. There's NO snow on it though! They've been saying that we're in a drought, which I haven't really noticed. But with seeing the mountain I believe it. 

The flight wasn't bad at all. 2.5 hours and it was a straight shot, so I read my new Buffy book and tried to doze. I am glad that we didn't have a layover anywhere, which makes things much easier. Plus Robert and I didn't check any baggage, so we were just in and out of the airport without a hassle.

Today we're off to go explore Old Town (in ABQ), then off to play cards with his grandfather and then off to dinner with the family. His gpa won't join for that, though, because he's very old and slow. It's been nice so far!

New Mexico Trip

Robert got us tickets for New Mexico! We'll be there October 8-12, which is during the Balloon Fiesta. I'm very much looking forward to that! Robert has told me all about it, and it's the largest hot air balloon festival in the world. Think of how pretty that will be with all of those balloons lifting off into the air. You have to get up early in the morning to go and see it. Like they lift off at 4-5am I believe, because that's when the air is the coolest and the balloons can get that hot air from the burner to rise.

This is what's known as the 'mass ascent', or 'mass ascension':

We'll be staying with Robert's parents, who are super nice and accommodating. They always have coffee ready in the mornings and like to visit and play board games. I'm a board game boy, so that is fun for me. It'll be nice to visit with them, and it'll save on hotel and car costs. We won't have to get either of those, so this will be a less expensive vacation than it would be somewhere else.

It's nice to have a vacation to look forward to. We haven't been on one since last year, so I'm itching to go on one. Plus right now I don't have many commitments other than work, so it's perfect timing. I still can't believe that I'm not in school right now; I've been in school since Kindergarten and without that hanging over my head I feel like a free man! :p

Down 8 lbs This Month

I’m down 8 lbs so far this month! I started on the 29^th of April, so I guess I have a two day head start on the month. I feel good too; I don’t feel like I’m starving or anything like that. The only thing is that I’m eating mostly stir-fries because I don’t know a lot of vegan dishes. I am going to look up one this week and make it. Last night I cooked a huge stir fry with an entire head of cabbage as a base. I added in raisins, cilantro, pineapple, cashews, green onions, mushrooms and kale. After eating a bowl last night I still have enough for at least 6 meals. It’ll probably last me through this week.

If I keep losing at this rate I might be able to lose 16 lbs this month! My goal was 10, which I’ll easily get to. That’s only 2 more lbs, and I still have two weeks (plus a couple days) before the end of the month. I want to be back to my pre-winter weight by the time I go to Utah. That’s 17.6 lbs. Totally reasonable, considering we don’t leave until the 21^st. I have 5 weeks until then.

Overall, I want to lose 42.6 lbs, but the 17.6 will put me at a good place. 

Utah Tickets

We got our tickets for Utah! Robert and I will be flying down there April 21^st-25^th for my cousin Tasia’s wedding. I’m really looking forward to it! I’ll get to spend time with my mom, see friends, see family, and show Robert around. I’ll show him the temple grounds, maybe go shopping, go to a used bookstore in Bountiful that I like, wander downtown. The last few times that I’ve been to UT the sidewalk chalk festival was going on at the downtown outdoor mall, so I should check when that’s happening. There are some really talented people out there!

We’re staying with my mom, which makes sense money wise. No need to get a hotel if I have family there. My dad will be abroad in Europe, so I won’t be seeing him. Otherwise I wouldn’t be going, in all honesty. He cut me out of his life when he found out that Robert and I were living together. Not a peep from him since, even when he came up from Utah for my brother’s homecoming. So it’ll actually be enjoyable/possible with my father gone. I don’t know if Robert and I will have another chance of visiting my Mom in UT any time in the next long while.

I want to have some of the classic dinners from when I lived with my parents at our Salem house. Home-made pizza, shells and curry. Mmm. I miss my mom’s home-made cooking! It’s been a while since I’ve had it. The last time that I was there they were doing the diabetes cooking regimen for my dad, so there weren’t any of the classics. Of course we’ll go out for Thai food at least once, and then we’ll probably make no-bakes as well. They are the best cookies in the WORLD.

Erika will most likely come down from BYU-I and Gerrit said that he might visit from Stayton. Kurt has a camping trip with the priests quorum that he is serving with, so that interferes with UT plans. So a couple of siblings will be there, but even if it’s just Robert, my mom and me we’ll still have a good time. Cooking, see new things, board games, card games, etc.

I’m very much looking forward to it! Not only for the reasons listed above, but because vacations are nice. I will get to be away from work, out of my normal routine and have a break from stuff back in Portland. :D 

Literature This Week

To say that work has been slow this week would be a major understatement. Usually there is a small pile of batchwork on my desk when I come in at 8AM and then there is more in a bin to get once I finish that. This week there's only been one day with work on my desk and there's nothing for me to go and get. So of course I'm taking calls like normal but there's nothing to do in the mean time. Instead of stare at the computer screen or count the number of times the florescent lights flicker and think about clinical depression, I read. It's perfect since I love to read and I'm entertained while waiting for another call. 

This week I've been tearing through the books. I've finished four of them and am starting my fifth. They are as follows:

Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk. It's a memoir from a Ukrainian boy before and during WWII. It's interesting because most of the memoirs that I've read during that time period are concentration camp survivors or people otherwise entangled with Judaism in Nazi Germany. This is from the perspective of a boy that is fighting for neither side and whose life is forever changed by a warring Europe. He endures a lot and this is an account of what he went through, all the way through his elder years. I rated it 4/5 stars. The writing was poignant and the material interesting. I have few criticisms of the memoir, as it is a personal experience and written in a language that was not his first. The following is the description from GoodReads: 

It is astonishing that anyone lived this story. It is even more astonishing that anyone survived it. Stefan grows up in the grip of a raging famine. Stalin’s Five Year Plan brings genocide to Ukraine – millions of people starve to death. To free themselves from the daily terrors of Soviet rule, Stefan and his friends fight imaginary battles in nearby woods to defend their land. The games they play are their only escape. ‘Sliding on the Snow Stone’ is the true story of Stefan's extraordinary journey across a landscape of hunger, fear and devastating loss. With Europe on the brink of World War Two, Stefan and his family pray they'll survive in their uncertain world. They long to be free. (In 1932-33, as part of their drive towards industrialisation, the Soviet Union demanded impossibly high requisitions of grain from rural areas in Ukraine. In a deliberate act of genocide, Ukrainian smallholdings were stripped of food, and the population began to perish, with some estimates as high as 10 million deaths, from starvation. In Ukraine, this atrocity became known as the Holodomor (death by hunger). The following years saw Soviet purges and terrors resulting in the elimination of academics and intellectuals, or of anyone who spoke out against Soviet rule. When World War Two arrived on Ukraine’s doorstep, many people viewed the Nazis as liberators – a view that was quickly proved wrong. ‘Sliding on the Snow Stone’ is Stefan’s personal account of a historical period drenched in the blood of a nation, and of his yearning for freedom.)

Parasite Pig by William Sleator. I didn't even know that this book existed until I saw it at a book shop beneath Pikes Place Market when I went shopping there with Robert last weekend. It is the sequel to Interstellar Pig that I read when I was in middle school. I had memories of reading the first one, so a few months ago I checked it out from the library and read it again. It was fun to revisit it. Both the books are YA Sci-Fi targeted at middle school or young high school readers. Totally frivolous reading, but very entertaining. I didn't connect with Barney (the protagonist) in Parasite, but I think that was because the story was so outlandish (hey, it's YA science fiction) and it didn't really focus on character development. I gave it 3/5 stars for the entertainment value. I think there will be a few more Sleator books that I'll revisit as well. The Goodreads synopsis:

The daring game of intergalactic chase that thrilled a generation of science fiction readers in Interstellar Pig has started again, and round two is deadly! This sequel to William Sleator's sly masterpiece takes readers on another hunt for the sinister Piggy, this time in the far reaches of space.
Poor Barney has a boring after-school job, earning money to repay his parents after their beach house is destroyed in a battle with aliens. Of course, they don't believe that aliens did the damage. No one, in fact, realizes that sixteen-year-old Barney saved the world by outsmarting the visitors at their violent game, Interstellar Pig. No one but the aliens, and for them the game is far from over. 
Barney is about to be drawn into the contest again, becoming the unwilling partner of a chatty intestinal parasite; the potential snack of giant, man-eating crabs; and the competitor of a stinger-happy seven-foot wasp woman. Life just got a lot more interesting. 

The Runner by W.J. Davies. This was a dystopian novella based off the recent hit of the same genre Wool (by Hugh Howey). I liked it because it took the exact universe and situation that Howey had set up but used different characters to explore what was going on. The concept was the same because of the nature of how people live (I don't want to give too much away), but this time it is with two men who are in love. I hadn't read a dystopian piece that had main homosexual characters and it was a breath of fresh air. Though it was short and I would have liked more, it piqued my interest in Davies if he were to do anything more in the Wool universe. The cool thing is that Davies and I had an exchange on Twitter!

It's pretty cool that he responded to me on there. I had asked him why he chose to write about gay characters and he responded with that. It linked to a blog post about marriage equality and it's voyage that got him thinking. I rated it 4/5 stars and hope to read more of his work in the future if it's Wool-related. I know that was only a springboard to get his name out there for his upcoming novel, but it didn't sound super interesting to me. The Goodreads synopsis: 

This story is set in Hugh Howey's world of Wool
"We all have a reason for being here, we're just not sure what it is."
Time is running out. As the Great Flood threatens to consume the silo, Ace and a team of divers are in a desperate battle to avert disaster. When a terrible accident destroys the person he cares about most, Ace has little left to live for. 
After nearly succumbing to the silo's flooded depths, he realizes that drastic measures must be taken in order to save their underground home. But those in charge deem his ideas too dangerous, his methods too forbidden, and he is shunned for his sin of toxic words. 
When an opportunity for redemption presents itself, Ace has only one question: Why should he fight to save these people, if they aren't willing to help themselves?

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. My coworker lent this to me when I finished my other book. I read this in less than 24 hours. It was super light reading, as I thought it would be, and mostly entertaining. There were a few good one-liners in there, but I was just mildly interested in the rest of it. I don't know why, but it didn't really speak to me. I think that it was very scattered and maybe her trying too hard. Or not trying enough. I couldn't tell. I'm not used to reading comedic memoirs (or comedy in general for that matter) and I haven't read anything by her before. It made the NYTimes Best Seller list, so it's popular for sure. Everyone has different tastes, though. I gave it 3/5 stars because I didn't really have to think and it was mildly entertaining. Goodreads:

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”  Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly! In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka. 

Disconnect by Imran Siddiq. This is another new dystopian novella that was free on the Amazon Kindle. I am really into it so far! I am 57% done with it and I just started it this afternoon. I am always interested in striations of society, castes or institutionalized social hierarchies. This book plays on that by separating people not only by those castes but moving the people into different halves of the world, only to have a boy and girl fall for each other from different parts of the world. You could totally see that part coming, but the world is a very interesting one. I'm interested to see where it'll go!

Zachary, a 16-year old Underworlder digs in waste to find anything worth bartering. That is the rule of scavenging.
When he discovers footage of an Overworld girl, Rosa, he’s intrigued by her sorrow and breaks the rule.
That decision changes his life, and he will suffer for it.
Zachary must overcome worthlessness, prejudice, and not let a twisted lie devour the new reason that he survives; Rosa.
In space, love had boundaries.

Seattle Vacation

Robert and I just got back from Seattle for his birthday. It was so much fun! We spent the night at Brandon and Micheal's house which was just a quick 15 minute bus ride from downtown. They were so nice to let us stay, and it saved us a lot of money that we would have spent on a hotel or other lodgings in the area. Seattle is an expensive city! One of the top ten most expensive in the US, according to this article. It was good staying with Brandon and Michael, though, because not only did we save a lot of money but I got to catch up with them and Robert got to meet them. They are such good guys, and we had a lot of laughs. Especially when we played Cards Against Humanity (description of the game here) with another couple; we were up until the wee hours of the morning laughing away.

Since I'm a huge nerd and I like things organized, I made an itinerary for while we were there:

Friday:
11:45 AM         Arrive in Seattle (5th Ave S & S King St, Seattle, WA 98104)
12:00 PM          Head to Brandon + Michaels    

2:00 PM            Dale Chihuly "Garden and Glass" exhibit (305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109)

TBD                 Jurassic Park 3D/IMAX at PSC

 Sat:
10:00 AM         EMP Museum (325 5th Avenue N Seattle, WA 98109)/ Open until 5PM
                        Pacific Science Center (200 Second Ave North Seattle, WA 98109)/ Open until 6PM
TBD                 Dinner with Michael and Brandon
 

Sunday:
Pikes Place Market (85 Pike St. Seattle, Washington 98101)Seattle “Great Wheel” (1301 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA) 

1:30 PM                Check in at Bolt Bus (5th Ave S & S King St, Seattle, WA 98104)
2:00 PM                Departure
5:35 PM                Arrival in PDX

We rode the Bolt Bus up, which was both Robert and my first time riding it. Not a bad experience at all. They have wifi, which is nice, and it's just a straight shot there. They have a restroom in the back if you need it at all. When we got to Seattle we used an app that's nothing less than amazing: Hop Stop. If you don't have it, you need it now. You put in the address of where you want to go and it tells you the quickest way and lets you pick how you want to travel (bus, train, metro, etc). 

On Friday we went to the Dale Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit. I hadn't heard about the artist beforehand, but Robert introduced me to some of his work online. It's featured all over the world and he's become quite renowned. I took the following photographs on my phone (and they didn't turn out bad at all): 

The art was really beautiful. It is all blown glass, and it showed the different periods that Chihuly had gone through. Rober's favorite piece was the Sun. He has the pictures of the sun on his camera and since I don't have those yet I stole a photo offline: 

It turns out that we actually missed Chihuly coming to Seattle and doing a book signing by one week. We didn't actually know about that beforehand, but had he been there that same weekend that we were there that would have been cool. I don't think that Robert is enough of a fan to want to go up next weekend as well. lol.

Later that night we went and saw Jurassic Park in 3D at the Pacific Center IMAX theater. We had already seen it in 3D down in Portland, but since we had the option of seeing it on the IMAX screen we wanted to do that too. I wasn't allowed to see it in theaters when I was a child (boo hoo hoo), so of course I jumped at the chance to do it now. It's such an amazing movie! Now I can say that I saw it on the big screen and the IMAX screen! I'm not a huge fan of 3D movies, but this one didn't look bad in 3D at all. I know it's just a huge money making ploy, but sometimes I get suckered in. And when it's a film as good as this one, I'm not afraid to say I jumped at it. 

The next day we went to the EMP museum for a couple of shows. The first one that we went to was 'Can't Look Away: The Lure of Horror Films'. It was awesome! It listed 100 of the top horror movies that someone should see and provided clips from most of them. It had stations where directors had been interviewed for the project and props from various movies interspersed through the exhibit. There was a 'scream station', where you could get your photo taken while you screamed your loudest in the little booth. Below are the photos that Robert and I took. I really think that his turned out better because I'm smiling a bit in mine: 

The props that they had were very varied with the films that they pulled them from. There were selections from films that I had never seen and then some of my favorites. I literally gasped when I saw two different ones from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'.

This is the infamous axe from Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'. 

Face-hugger from 'Alien'. This is the kind that attacked Sigourney Weaver's character. 

The 'Book of Ascension' off 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' 

"Mr. Pointy" off 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' 

They had lots of other props there, including a full suit of the alien from 'Aliens', then stuff from the 'Saw' franchise, 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', etc. We spent probably two hours in the exhibit overall. I thought that it was very well done and we were enthralled the entire time. 

Next we walked over to the 'Icons of Science Fiction' exhibit. Both the Horror and Sci-Fi exhibits were done be guest curators, so the feel was different. The description of the exhibit was: 

Featuring iconic artifacts from sci-fi literature, film, television, and art, including an Imperial Dalek from Doctor Who, the command chair from the classic television series Star Trek, and Neo’s coat from The Matrix Reloaded.

It was a lot smaller than the horror exhibit, but since different people were doing them I should have expected them to be different. Initially I didn't know that it was different guest curators. I was totally nerding out when I was seeing different pieces there. A few of the pieces included:

 Lieutenant Uhura's uniform off the original 1966 'Star Trek' series. 

Captain Kirk's captain's chair off the original 1966 'Star Trek' series. The furry balls are Tribbles, off the episode 'The Trouble with Tribbles' (which I remember watching as a child).

The headpiece worn by David Prowse in 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'. How awesome is that?! 

Darth Vader's lightsaber in 'Star Wars' 

Yoda's pendant and walking stick from both 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' and 'ROTJ'. 

Me with Yoda's walking stick and pendant. Nerding out hardcore, as you can see! 

The original 'Superman' costume. Very insteresting to see how they've progressed through the ages. 

Data's uniform. Data is from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. 

Teddy from 'Artificial Intelligence'. It's a very good movie but it makes my cry like a baby every time. I saw Teddy and knew immediately who he was without the caption even needing to tell me. Robert hasn't seen the film so he didn't recognize Teddy. 

One of the machine models from 'The Matrix'. They look so sinister in the films!

The mask from 'The Terminator'. I haven't seen the film but this looks pretty awesome. I plan on seeing it at some point, so this was pretty cool regardless. 

I wish that there had been more Star Wars things there, but I had seen the Star Wars exhibit when it came to Anchorage, AK, and that had the largest collection at a museum exhibit. I took so many photos during that experience with Whitney (whom I was there to visit at the time) that those will last me quite some time! 

After the sci-fi exhibit we went to 'The Art of Video Games'. Robert was all a-flutter since he had been a gamer from 8-21 years old. I haven't ever really played video games, so most of them were ones that I was not familiar with. One that I did know was Space Invaders, which I played on our computer at home. I've since downloaded the app and played it on my phone on the bus ride back home to PDX. It's entertaining for sure! 

On Saturday we went to the Pacific Science Center. It's a lot like OMSI and more geared toward children, but we still had a nice time there. Lots of interesting things. There was a dinosaur exhibit with anamatronic dinosaurs and factoids on plaques. Robert was all excited because he was a big dinosaur geek when he was a kid. 

This is the footprint of a duckbill dinosaur. It makes my 11.5 feet look minuscule! 

Inside the PSC was also a butterfly room with live butterflies flying around. You could walk through the room and take photos. Of course you weren't supposed to touch the butterflies, but one landed on my bag that I was holding for a moment. It reminded me of my trip to the butterfly farm while I was in Costa Rica and how you could walk through the large room where a lot of them were kept and they could just fly around freely. I guess that they have a super short lifespan, which I didn't know. 

This is Robert holding a "germ"stuffed toy. I want to say "stuffed animal", but it's not an animal at all. How funny is that? Why would you want it? lol. Robert makes a good Vanna White though! 

A replica of a T-Rex skull gettin' hungry! 

Our final big Seattle activity was exploring Pikes Place on Sunday before we left back to PDX. We had both been there before, but it's always fun to go through and look at people's wares and get some food. We had a cinnamon pull-apart and then a doughnut and wandered around. We got flowers for Michael and Brandon (so many beautiful ones there for good prices!) and then Robert got a cute bow-tie. I didn't find one that spoke to me, but maybe I'll borrow his at some point. ;) We did find a used bookstore in a level below the street level and they had super inexpensive books. I got two Star Wars ones and then the sequel to William Sleator's 'Interstellar Pig'. 

All in all, it was a great trip! I'm really glad that we got to go. It was our second little trip together since we had gone yurting on the coast for my birthday in February. I always have a good time with Robert no matter what we are doing, but the food, window shopping, museums, traveling around and exploring just upped the ante from what we usually do. It turned out super well and he said that it was the best birthday that he's had yet to date, which makes me happy to hear. I give our Seattle trip two thumbs up! 

30.4 lbs down! I had wanted to be 30 lbs down by the time I went to Utah so that's perfect! I am hitting the gym today and tomorrow, and then on Tuesday I take off for 2.5 weeks. My goal is to not gain anything while I am in UT no holiday. There's no real reason to. Hopefully I can find a gym near by!

White Christmas

Looks like I will be spending Christmas in Utah. My parents said that they are flying me down there for the holidays, which I was pretty stoked to hear. I am not doing anything for Thanksgiving so it'll be nice to spend Christmas with the fam. Plus I will get to see my Utah friends, have a white Christmas, travel and break up the monotony of an Oregon winter. This is my hardest time to manage depression wise, so the trip will be a good break. I am going to need to map out a gym that's close to my parents house though because I want to be working out the whole time. Lately I've really been slacking at the gym and I've noticed it in my mood and my waistline. I'm starting a new exercise regimen today so that will get me on track.

Yay for traveling for the holidays!

House Hunting + Vaca

So the parentals have one more day of house hunting in front of them before they make their decision. Tomorrow is that final day that they are looking at the homes that are on the top of their list and making the final decision. I went house hunting with my mom and sister all today with my Aunt Angelina as our realtor. [Her website is here.] We looked at 8 different houses I think, but I really fell in love with one of them. It had Brazilian hardwood floors, 3 living rooms and 5 bedrooms. It's even bigger than the house that we have in Salem! Which is funny considering only Erika will be living with them. It was such a nice home and it was in a good neighborhood. I know that my Dad really has his heart set on another one that I've only seen the outside of. They are going to look at it again tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to go along and check out the inside of it. Everyone describes it as "really 70s", so I don't know how I feel about that. The one I saw today was very classy and spacious. The only thing that I would change is updating the kitchen. But that can be done after a bit. It just looks a smidge old. So I guess we shall see what's going to happen house wise.

In other news, I'm glad that I came down here to Utah. I always want to make the most of my vacations when I take them. I don't like to have tons of down time. So far I've seen Diana Ross in concert, playing Phase 10 with the cousins + Erika, gone to coffee and the mall with Gay @ BYU, had the MoHo Thai lunch and shopping that I wrote about earlier [here], visited with family, saw Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda's finished basement, got a new pair of pants and a ring, learned some about the geography of the valley here and house hunted. And I have plans tomorrow and on Friday as well. So I havent been lounging around.

Utah day 1

So I am in Utah staying at my aunts house with my sister Erika. My Mom, sister and I traveled down yesterday and got here late at night. Today was our first "real" day here and it was fun. I dropped Erika off at the BYU campus so she could visit her friend Casey and then I went to a Thai lunch with some MoHo friends.

We went to My Thai Asian Cuisine in Salt Lake and it was really good. For $10 I got a heaping plate of food that served as both my lunch and dinner. There were 9 of us MoHos there and it was a good group. For those with blogs, we had Scott, Warren, "Hope", "DarkDrearyWilderness" and "AKLDS". Afterward we headed to the Gateway mall and did some shopping and got Starbucks. Of course I got my tall Java Chip Frappuccino light, which means it only had 140 calories.

Between the Thai food and the shopping it was good meeting and catching up with a lot of MoHos. Funnily enough, I had only met Scott before and everyone else I was meeting for the first time in person. I had talked with most everyone online though at some point in time, so it was just like seeing friends again but just in a different dynamic.

After the mall I headed back to the BYU campus to pick Erika up which took an hour and we turned around to head right back to Aunt Lindas house. We settled our things and then took a 2.8 mile walk around the neighborhood. I found a neat way to map the amount of distance you are walking by putting it into gmap-pedometer.com. I saved that onto my favorites so I can easily tell what I am walking while outside. I want to walk more tonight, but it's pitch black out and I don't like walking in the dark. Tomorrow I am going to do that loop three times, so I will have walked almost 9 miles. Whoot.

Now it's bedtime. I had a party that I was invited to tonight but I am tired so Erika and I are unwinding at the house. Tomorrow I have walking in the morning, church at a German ward with my family at 1PM and then hanging out with my friend Taylor, which I am looking forward to. Should be a good day!

Weight

I'm down 21.2 lbs in the past 3 months (to the day)! I am way stoked! I really want to be at 25 before Utah, but I don't know if thats going to be able to happen since I leave on Friday. We shall see though!b

Diana Ross

Mi padre texted me today while I was at the gym telling me that he got me Diana Ross tickets for when I am on holiday in UT next week. The rest of the family is going as well. I am super excited! She is such an icon and legend in the music and entertainment industry. I am really looking forward to seeing her perform. It's on the 19th, so that's coming up here pretty soon.

Now I will have seen Britney Spears and Diana. What divas!

Things on my mind today:

- I'm almost half way done with 'Dude, You're A Fag' for my Gay Mens Portland Book Club group on the 10th. It's not a novel by any means. It's a study, so there is a lot of good information but I really feel like it's a book for a class at school. I would recommend it for someone doing a paper or project on masculinity but I would not recommend it as a read for the layperson. I would have put it down if it wasnt for the book club.

- Tomorrow I am starting to eat salad again. I used to hate it but I've discovered that spinach salads are something I can actually handle. I got no fat dressing (which was hard to find, believe me) so I can put some of that on without a problem. I'll add some low fat feta cheese as well for some protein. I was going to the gym every single day but when I took my trip to Salem to visit the family a few days ago I didnt go while I was down there. So tomorrow I am getting back on the wagon and doing a daily double at 24 HR fitness along with eating super healthy.

- Today being a holiday put a cramp in my plans. I couldnt fill my prescriptions at Target because they were closed, couldnt pick up the holds that I have at the library and couldnt go to the bank. But tomorrow I am going to do all of those along with dusting off all my books and cleaning my car so I will feel accomplished when they are finished.

- My phone is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I've been without one for 3 days now and I am excited to be getting another one. It had finally given up the ghost as it wouldnt take a charge anymore. They tested the battery and cords at TMobile and determined that it was the actual phone. When I tried to use my backup phone it wouldnt work for the first time for me either, so I took that as a sign and didnt try to get a spare from TMobile for the few days without one. They offered me an old one, but I didnt really want to bother with all that. When the new ones comes Ill just slip over my SIM card and then everything will be up and running again. At least I hope.That would really blow if my apps didnt go over and I had to redownload everything.

- I'm heading to Utah in less than two weeks. I'm going to be reading to and from there on the drive, so that will be good with my reading list. I'm going to need to get my plans in order once things get closer so that I wont have a ton of down time. Though Erika and I will be spending the night at my Aunt Lindas house so we can play games and such there. I've organized a MoHo lunch (Thai, of course) and am hanging out with a few different friends, including Gay @ BYU.

New & Old Roomie

Today I did weights (arms) and then 1 hr of cardio. After going home to help my new roomie move in then I am going to go back and do another hour of cardio. So today will be 2 hours of cario and weights.

Speaking of the new roomie, she's moving in today. The old one moved out, which is a huge relief. The irony is that I wanted things to work out with her but everyone told me I shouldn't move in with her. Every single mutual friend that we had together told me that she was bad news bears but I thought "Maybe she's matured. Maybe it will be different than she's left every other living situation that she's had." Unfortunately not. Everyone told me that it would ruin our friendship and that it was a mistake, but I didnt listen. Now we are no longer friends and she's moved out early. Am I sad? Not about her moving out. It's a huge relief actually. I am sad, though, that our friendship is over. We have years and years of history together. 10 years to be exact.

She said that she "couldnt take" living there any longer with how the living situation was. I am not really sure what she was talking about and when I asked her to explain she just got angry. I don't play music, I didnt have people over (thats what happens when you have no furniture!), I dont keep odd hours, I am very clean, I provided all the kitchen utensils and appliances, I drove her to and from work on many occasions and never asked (or received) any gas money, I cleaned up after her... I'm not really sure what she found fault in. And I didnt rub cleaning up after her in her face either.

Let's take for example when I went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. When I left the trash was almost full. And let me preface the beginning of this story with the fact that the old roomie had taken out the trash all of three times with the year that we lived there. I came back from vacation and the trash was overflowing. There were dirty dishes in the sink. The cats had not been fed or watered. The mail had not been checked. The apt had not been cleaned in any way. I vacuumed, washed the counters, did the dishes, checked the mail, fed and watered the cats and straightened up. When I ran into "X" in the hallway I said "X, do you mind taking out the trash? I think it's your turn."

Reminders:

1. The times X has taken out the trash could be counted on one hand.

2. I had been on vacation, meaning that I hadnt even been contributing to the trash.

3. Nothing else had been done in the apt.

4. I cleaned up everything else in the apt without mentioning anything.

5. I asked in a nice way for something that I shouldnt even have to ask about.

So you would assume that X would take out the trash right? Bahaha. Apparently, in "X language", what I did was an assault on her and meant I was attacking her viciously. Ensue meltdown and anger from her side.

Now, someone could argue that I had created an environment where I enabled her to be lazy. True? Absolutely. The fact of the matter was that I really didnt mind cleaning up after her and keeping the house in order. I don't splash bleach over the walls and vacuum every night; I just like it when there isnt garbage on the floor (like there was when I got home). So when I asked her to do something small, in a nice way, apparently that was such a departure from what she was expecting that that meant she needed to react in the way she did.

This is something that was the straw that broke the camels back for her. Me giving her rides, cleaning the apt and keeping quiet in my room was something that drove her away. I was out of control, right? I'm not saying we didnt have other issues. There was the fact that she hadnt paid the PGE bill in 6 months when I paid all the other bills. They were supposed to even out to about $50 each month so she took care of that and I did the other utilities. There was the fight about when she "forgot" to change the cat litter when I went on vacation even though I specifically asked her to and one of the cats ended up having a mess in the living room (which I cleaned up). There was the issue of when she insisted on being my date for Kurt's wedding and then decided not to go but didnt tell me until I was walking out the door to go to the temple (and I had to ask her instead of her coming to me). So it's not like this was her moving out over a bag of trash. It was a lot of little things.

I'm happy to see her go. I don't want to have to call and make sure the bills are paid each month. When someone says "I paid the bill" I expect that to be the truth. I don't want to have to walk on eggshells all the time. I don't want someone that only talks to me when they want rides, then never offer (even once) to chip in for gas or say "thank you". I want someone that helps out sometimes with cleaning. It will be nice to have someone that isn't volatile and angry all the time.

So the new roomie moves in tonight. I'm excited and relieved. For sure.

I'm back from NYC! I absolutely loved it. There was so much to do and see. We didnt have any down time and there's always something to check out. There were also tons of people, which is awesome for a feeling of anonymity and so much opportunity for people watching. I'm definitely a people watcher no matter where I go, but in NYC it's inspiring because of all the fashion. I love seeing how differently everyone dresses and there's such an eclectic mix. I got home at 2:40AM-ish this morning and then started errands today before heading to Salem. The madre, Kurt, Emily and I are going to go out for Thai food and then tomorrow I am learning how to drive my new auto. I'm way stoked to learn how to drive stick. I havent done it before but I hope I will pick it up fast. This is a good weekend!

Thai Time

I went and got Thai from a food cart with my friend Peter today. It was really good and only $6.50. And of course all Thai food is good with tofu instead of meat so I got that instead of chicken. Mmm. Its in NE so I'd be very surprised if I was there again but I love trying new places.

Now off to pack for NYC!

New Car

So I got a car! I went to different lots all day and was looking online and finally found one that I liked. It's a 2001 Saturn SC2 in yellow. It's a stick, which I have no idea how to drive, but my mom is going to teach me. Since I leave for NYC early Thursday morning, I won't really have time to learn how to drive it beforehand. So tomorrow I am dropping the rental car off at Enterprise and then borrowing Mom's car to drive back to Portland. Then i'll fly to NYC and when I get back then I'll drive back to Salem and have Mom teach me how to drive my own car. haha. A lot of shuffling around but it'll be worth it. My mom test drove it and said that it handled nice, and everything else looked good to me and it checked out well. So I'm the new owner of a car. Whoot. Glad to have that off my chest. I have had a lot on my mind with the NYC trip, my roomie breaking the lease and moving out and then the car getting totaled. So this is definitely helping put my mind at ease!

Partying with Vanilla

I'm happy to say that I am way more tan than him! haha.

I'm off to Vegas with Katy! I am super excited about it. We are taking her friends car, which is a nice Monte Carlo. So we will be traveling down there in style along with 3 other friends. I really am hoping that I get the front seat since I am pretty much a beast. They are coming to pick me up in about a half hour, then it's road trippin' time. Being the 80 year old woman that I am I'm bringing road games and such. I only have one duffel packed so I am going light, but since it's going to be super hot down there it's not like we will need many clothes. Plus I am spending a lot of time by the pool. Not that I don't have one here at my apt complex, but that just sounds cooler in Vegas, right? haha. Should be a lot of fun!