Since I've started classes, I've cut back on my work hours which means I'm home more often studying. This is great for my studying, but kinda not so great for reducing Toby's separation anxiety issues. Yes, I'm just as surprised as some of you that have never heard of such a thing w/ dogs. He gets super lonely whenever I've been at home w/ him for several hours and then I up and leave b/c of work or class. How he lets me know he's not happy w/ me leaving him home alone is by barking through the door and even scratching at the door very, very loudly. (to the point of my neighbor letting me know about it -how embarrassing!!!)

I had to research techniques to put his poor bx.(behavior) to a stop. One of which includes shaking a very loud and obnoxious sounding tin can full of metal objects in his face as soon as I hear him barking once I've shut my front door. This entails me:

1. shutting my door & locking it

2. stepping away from door

3. waiting for two mins or until he barks

4. opening the door, not saying a single word, shaking the hell outta the tin can in his face

5. and repeating steps 1 -4 until he stops

This process can sometimes take a total of 5 -10 mins b/f he calms down and accepts that i'm not gonna come back home just b/c he's barking like a maniac.

I swear, the things I go thru to train him... HA!

I think this is across the street from the famous THE PENINSULA hotel -not super sure, though.

My favorite Vietnamese restaurant called LO CHIU VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT (I will get it's address as soon as I can remember to look it up) The food was served fresh, hot, and very reasonably priced ~ $7.50USD for a plate. The plate shown above cost ~$12.00USD, and well worth it. YUM YUM!! This is Mr. Bruce Lee and he's located on the boardwalk of movie stars along the water.

NGONG PING VILLAGE one of the most beautiful temples I've visited (of course, I haven't been to too many, yet, so my opinion doesn't say much about temples. haha!)Hong Kong at night, taken from the top of a hill that you can reach by either trolley car or a super windy, but really fun, road!

Macau

Macau

Add caption

So these are just a few of the highlights of my trip to Hong Kong and Macau. I only spent one day in Macau and I thought that was enough time since I didn't feel like gambling in the gorgeous casinos. I didn't put in pics of the casinos here just b/c they didn't do any justice for representing the super shiny, ornate, and luxurious adornments of the ones we visited.

Anyhoo, this entry is still in the works, but I thought I'd post what I have so far and come back to filling in the holes later.

Sorry it's been so long, guys, if you want to see all of my pics, just lemme know and I'll send you the link!

Snow is in the air!I had trouble sleeping last night and I thought it had something to do with the small cup of coffee I had around 4PM (a little pick me up b/f my chemistry class -only to find out that the class was cancelled due to weather predictions!) When I woke to a beautiful blanket of snow outside my windows, I realized that it had to do with my body telling me that I needed to wake up and play in the snow & not the coffee.

So, Toby and I set out to walk to the nearby dog park. I wore two pairs of leggings, wool socks, my hiking shoes, down jacket, and water resistant jacket, gloves, layers of long sleeved shirts, and my puffy hat in order to stay warm during the trek out to the park. After about 30 minutes of sledging around we made it. Toby was sooooo thrilled he couldn't help but run around like crazy for a good long while. I video taped him, but unfortunately the video won't load right now. Who knows why, but I'm hoping it'll load completely by the end of this entry.

For those of you that even read this thing, I haven't written an entry in ages, and it's mainly because I was given the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong with my mother! I was super pleased that she even asked and super fortunate to be able to say yes. Then my grandfather passed away a month after we returned to the states, and then the holidays were upon us. So, you can imagine all of the craziness that ensued with such events, so I got caught up in it all. I will blog about those events in separate entries. So more of that to come. It seems that the video hasn't loaded, so I'll give it a few more minutes and see what happens! (yeah! it loaded!) Enjoy the video! He's such a silly little dog, I honestly don't know how he got the personality he has.

What have I been up to since my last entry, you ask. Not too much.

I was recently visited by my auntie and uncle of MN and lucky us the Blue Angels were in town & we got to watch them fly over our heads performing crazy acts of skill and talent! We were super lucky to have a great viewing spot and a beautiful clear day to view it all.

After their visit I kicked the studying into high gear and studied for my third exam, failed it, then studied until 4AM the day of my final exam and completed the qtr. with a B-. Can you believe it?! HA! I was sooooooo incredibly happy my hard work paid off, I'm still awaiting to pick up my final exam to see what I did to pull my grade up.

The day of my final exam, yes, that's how much I wanted to leave chemistry behind, I flew to our nation's capital to visit some Peace Corps peeps and viewed the monuments from a diff. perspective -the Potomac River! I've visited D.C. on three diff. occasions so this visit was strictly to catch up w/ old friends and enjoy the parts of the capital that I didn't enjoy on my last few visits.

(eq.) {(weather = good) + (friend time = awesome)} = successful trip!

Other exciting news is I FINALLY got my glider rocker reupholstered! Yeah! People, this may not seem like something too hard to achieve, but the work that went into finding the fabric, earning the $ to purchase it, and finding a reliable and skilled reupholsterer was tough! HA! I'm super happy w/ the results and my butt is so happy to sit in the chair everyday.

I'm taking Fall qtr. of classes off b/c I'll be traveling overseas! Yippee! Details to come next time.

Have a great day and remember put some Karen into your day, it's guaranteed to turn you into a super model!

The Blue Angels and their awesome planes!

my auntie and me waiting for the planes

on the D.C. "cruise" ship viewing a few national monuments from the water

after

before

Since I've last blogged, the format to add entries has changed quite a bit. However, b/c of how savvy I am, I'm able to catch on to this new format quite well and write this blog with ease. (please note, I'm speaking very sarcastically)

Summer has finally made it to Seattle, WA. I actually got to wear a skirt and a short sleeve shirt for about six hours, warming my skin in the sunshine. Then 7PM hit and it was chilly, again. This year it seems that all other regions of the U.S. have sucked up the NW coast's sunshine and warmth. Although many Seattlites enjoy this unusually cool summer, my Southern roots have gotten the best of me and leave me wanting for hot, humid, and sunny weather! ha!

Thankfully, I don't suffer from S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) b/c I'm not too easily affected by the weather. I've become accustomed to sitting inside boring buildings on beautiful days by working all hours during every season of the year weather in the good 'ole SE or the beautiful and peaceful NW. This leads me to tell y'all that I'm still taking classes and very slowly accomplishing my goal of fulfilling several prerequisites b/f applying for the Master's program for naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University.

Last quarter (yes, they're on a quarter system up here, something very new and quite diff. from the semester system I was so accustomed to in TN) I finished up my biology requirement and began the first part of a three part series of basic chemistry. I struggled quite a bit, but persevered and had to take many many different routes of solving problems b/f I finally settled on a handful of strategies that led me to success in the class. If any of you have taken a college level chemistry class you probably understand what I mean by the previous sentence. For those of you that haven't had the luxury, well, don't worry, you're not missing out on too much.

This qtr. I'm enrolled in the second part of the series and it's going well. I'm learning about molecular structures and how shapes, sizes, weight, and forces w/in substances cause them to do what they do when they interact with others. It's sorta like behavioral science, except not with people (who are a bit more complicated if you really think about it). It's finally becoming interesting to me, which is a great relief, b/c I really thought chemistry was going to become that enemy that you have to keep nearby b/c you never know how he will affect your future if you don't pay attention to him.

So, here I am, taking a study break at 12:34AM. My second exam of the qtr is tomorrow and I don't feel quite confident, but my mind is racing w/ so many other things that I'd like to do besides studying for this exam that I can't quite focus on studying. I've wanted to add an entry for the longest time, but LIFE got in the way. I got caught up in the glitz and glamour of it all (not so much, but I thought I'd add some spice to this entry) that I forgot that there might be a few of you that actually read this.

I'll be headed out to D.C. for the wknd of Aug. 12th as a celebration to my completing the qtr (pass or fail), so if you're going to be in that zona, let's meet up b/c I most enjoy catching up face to face, best. You know how to reach me.

Also, here are few pics of what I've been up to for the past several months.

Road trip to Eastern WA. The alfalfa seemed to go on forever! (and not a single car passed by for at least 20 min, it was amazing! )

I'm having fun with the camera!

My new Lodge logic cast iron skillet, manufactured in the great state of TN! woot! woot!

It took me getting a very pleasant, and surprising phone call last weekend from George, to remind me that I need to update this thing! Man o man! The last time I posted an entry was in November.

So let's begin with the month of December:

--I finished up my first quarter back at school, yes, the colleges are on a quarter system here in the NW, and I had no idea how quickly it would fly by. For my first classes since 2005, I decided to get spicy with a little of college level chemistry (w/o a lab)* and introductory to conceptual physics. Yep folks, I took those classes and didn't quite receive the GPA I was hoping for (i.e. not a 4.0), but learned enough to feel good about my overall foundation to this new career path I've chosen for myself.

*for those of you who don't remember, this is the kind of basic level science course that doesn't really count towards a degree, it's sort of a introductory class for kids that might be interested in pursuing a career that involves chemistry

---Christmas came and went with me moving out of a house that I'd been living in since I first moved out here (shed a tear) to a new house with two less people and an additional dog! ha! I now live with a gal and her two boxer pups who are oh sooo cute and fortunately, get along great with my little pupster, the "Tobester" (Toby).

Which brings us to January:

--I began my second quarter of school with the first (of a three part series) college level chemistry (w/ a lab) and an introductory to genetics class. Let me say, I'm remembering very well, why I chose to pursue a business degree the first time I went to college. Can you guess which class is my weakness? Let me start by telling everyone how much I LOVE, YES LOVE, my genetics class. I've learned so much about how our genes determine so much about how we live our daily lives and also confirmed my strong beliefs that we are all incredible machines that were built to run so smoothly, and idiot could make it work! Ha! I won't talk about chemistry b/c it doesn't make me happy; fingers crossed, it will someday, hopefully someday very very soon.

---the last week of January the dynamic duo of Nate and Sherry came to visit and I got to be a tourist in the city of Seattle. If you can't tell, I was trying really hard to a jellyfish the day we went to the aquarium. It was such a great activity to do since it was sorta gloomy outside that day. Surprisingly, the rest of the week that Nate and Sherry were in town, it was clear blue skies. I was super stoked to have them visit and was glad they stopped in on their way to pursue exciting adventures in foreign lands.

I will have write about February and March later this month. Final exams are next week (one of my finals is worth a whopping 30% of my overall grade) so I've been studying all week and will be this weekend. Writing this entry has been a nice study break, but it's back to the tables for my brain to feel like mush!

Until next time! Oh and for those of you that have been checking back every now and then, I'm so so sorry for not keeping up with thing, please know, you can always call to catch up, too.

Molly cooling off after a run in the fields So, If you didn't already know, it snowed last night. Classes at the community college were canceled today so I slept in and ate a delicious breakfast complete with veggies breakfast sausage and homemade blueberry pancakes from scratch by way of the wonderful Barefoot Contessa recipe. Then, we took the dogs out to play in it for a little bit, and from the pictures, you can imagine how much fun they had. I didn't get too many pictures of my dog, Toby, because he was running around with the other dogs so much, he wouldn't stay still long enough for me to snap a good one. Molly, my housemates' dog, did play, but more with the snow, by herself! So she's the star of this entry for today. HA!

Toby in the middle of a snow shake off! I'm spending Thanksgiving in the city this year and not going home b/c of the only two days of vacation from school I will be allotted and the very pricey tickets to go home don't outweigh the opportunity for me to work, have some extra study time, and make some extra moola to pay for school next quarter. Did I mention my classes are on a quarter system? This is very new to me, but I feel like I'm in high school all over again (some very annoying "know-it-all" classmates and all) Did I also mention that the only two classes I have, meet everyday? Yes, they do, which adds even more to the high school class feeling. Nonetheless, I like my classes, and am feeling better and better about my decision to quit working full time to pursue school. I'm stressed out a lot more, but stressed out about things that I feel I can handle a lot better than before. Anyhoo, I'll be making some homemade mac 'n cheese for Thanksgiving brunch with my friends at our house. I look forward to eating good food and then heading over to work with the boys to cook some tamales for them as a special treat. I'm excited to learn how to make tamales, and I really hope they turn out delicious. Wish me luck with fingers and toes crossed that they do!

Happy Halloween!!This year I decided not to dress up for the holiday because I was just too lazy! oh well! However, I did do some festive activities associated with Halloween and the onset of Fall by visiting a nearby pumpkin patch, picking meself a pumpkin, and carving a festive design into it. We watched 28 Days Later and Zombieland on hallow's eve and I recommend them both for those of you interested in zombies. Two very different movies about zombies, but both very entertaining.

Farmer Joe and Wife Wilma!I found my perfect pumpkinQue calabazas!Boo!tiful

For those of you that don't already know, Katie was recently engaged to her man of almost three years, Rodney. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a very affordable round trip airfare to see her, so I bought the ticket immediately and spent the majority of my visit in MI helping her dish out details of her wedding! A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a million!

My first trip to Michigan turned out to be spectacular. Good weather, good food, great people, and fun times. For those of you that have never been to Michigan, I highly recommend it.

On August 18th I caught my first ever wild salmon. Thanks to the Howard family, I was invited to hop on their boat and do some fishing. I was exhausted! We woke up at 4AM-ish to get to the dock by 5AM and "drove" off into the sea to find us some fish.

I never knew how difficult fishing for salmon would be and I have a new and improved understanding of why salmon cost the amount it does. It took us about eight hours to catch us about 12 fish. Each fish weighing an average of 10 lbs each. Apparently, that day was a slow day and we happen to be the lucky boat that caught one of the highest quantities of fish.

Here are a few pictures of our bounty.

From Salmon fishing

From Salmon fishing

The Howards were so very kind and very smart to take our fish to the nearby fish cleaning joint where our bounty was cleaned, gutted, fillet-ed, vacuum packed, and frozen for us to travel home with! I have a freezer full of salmon so if any of you have any tasty recipes, please let me know.

Life in Limbo is something that I haven't quite mastered. I imagine once I've become comfortable enough with that kind of lifestyle I'll be so depressed or so incredibly happy I won't realize that I'm a state of "life in limbo" and will just interpret it for what it is at that current time. You could almost say that my entire life has been a series of "life in limbos." HAHA!

Well, right now i'm in that state, but not the happy, jump for joy, soo content that I'm not constantly thinking about reality, state. I'm feeling more like reality is slowly winning and dragging me down with it. Don't get me wrong, life is good, just tough and real, VERY real. My last blog was about a wedding, and this one will be similar to the one previous to that so I won't repeat myself.

I've had a great last several days soaking up the sunshine. It seemed to take forever for Summer to finally arrive here, and I'm so thankful it's made it. I floated down a river in Monroe and then received a speeding ticket shortly after loading up my car for home. $124 really does hurt when you're only working part-time, I'm still wondering if the floating trip was worth it. I so wish I would've paid more attention to the signs!

Anyhoo, no pictures to show off my beautiful tan, but I'll paint a picture for all of you. I'm that beautiful shade of Jessica Alba, while you're at it, go ahead and just plop my face right over hers and that's EXACTLY how I look right now. Seriously, the food's so good here, it does WONDERS on your skin and body!

I went to Johnson City, TN for a wedding between two incredible people. I have known Liz and Andy a little over eight years and it's been so wonderful watching them grow as partners. I am super thankful to have been invited to witness their marriage and below are a few pictures I took on their special day.

I've always been told that life is a learning experience. I'm beginning to truly understand this and think it should be dished out with a warning: life is a learning experience that doesn't come with a workbook, so take notes! My series of peaks and valleys has been feeling like an downhill slope that will only end the bottom at which you will have to work really hard to climb up again. ugh!

If you haven't already noticed, I'm feeling a bit frustrated. I'm having to make some major life decisions and making tough decisions is not fun. However, I know that once I overcome the slight discomforts, my life will be much improved and I will feel better for having made the tough decision. So, here I am deciding what to do about my current job situation, future school plans, financial plans in regard to these topics, and all that other yucky stuff associated with being a grown up.

Good news is the weather has been spectacular and I am really loving being in this city. Sunshine all day, better attitudes and energies from the general public, and lots of laughing and joking a good majority of the day. I couldn't ask for more from a Wednesday. Here's wishing to more days like today for all of summer. (and to more days of me blogging more often -fingers crossed extra tight)

I took some vacation time this weekend to visit nearby Portland, OR with some friends and I had a great time. Friday night we attended the Blazers game and unfortunately they lost. However, it was a very entertaining game and I was super glad to have witnessed a few fans get tossed out of the dome/stadium due to their poor sportsmanship while most of the stadium applauded them not b/c of their behavior, but more for the reason why these middle aged men were getting kicked out of the place -giving the refs a hard time. I could get used to attending NBA games once a week, it seems it would be something fun to do on Friday evenings besides going to a movie.

Saturday we visited the Japanese gardens of Portland and the famous Saturday market. The gardens were beautiful and although small in area/size, the plants and waterways were gorgeous and plentiful. The market was bustling with people (probably due to the fantastic weather that day) and venders. I treated myself to a tasty lamb gyro from one of the food vendors and then fell in love with a ZAFU floor pillow set, so much in love, I bought one! Chi Moore is a great man for giving up his saturday evening to sew and stuff pillows in the colors I wanted. www.organicdreampillows.com is his website, but you can always visit him at the Portland Saturday market. I've been using it for a couple of days now and it's oh so comfy.

Last night some friends and I went and listened to SIA sing at the Showbox @ the Market. She didn't sing any songs that she sung with Zero 7 so I didn't get to sing along much, but it was great fun listening and dancing to her new music.

Living in a big city has given me such great opportunities to listen to live music by great musicians, the only problem is making time and enough money to see them all.

I went to a Metric concert Sunday evening and it was great. We paid $30 a ticket and for an hour of so of great live music, it was worth it. Ms. Emily Haines was wearing a very cute outfit which included a silvery, shiny, mini skirt that reminded me of oversized sequins pieces, and a white, shiny, racerback tank. The first thing I noticed was her new haircut. Last I saw her at Bumpershoot it was longer, so it was quite the change.

The music was much better this time b/c I wasn't exhausted from standing on my tippy toes trying to see the band. Instead we were standing in the raised bar area of the venue away from the speakers. The sound quality wasn't that great for us, but the view was spectacular. The band played mostly songs from their latest album and saved Stadium Love for last and introduced the song with some crazy mixed beginning, it was fun to hear.

I don't have any pictures b/c I don't own a camera except the one on my phone and the quality of the pic would've been so terrible ya'll wouldn't believe it was Metric anyway.

And yes, believe it, even with my humble earnings, I can still enjoy myself by listening to live music at a nice venue in Seattle, WA. So no excuses for those of you making twice as much as me and not enjoying yourselves. Do it! It'll make you feel sooo good.

I just switched to CREDO MOBILE as my cell phone service provider so those of you who use Verizon Wireless we can't talk at all hours of the day w/o getting charged for using up precious minutes of your plans. Sorry!

However, with my new service plan I can talk for hours without using up all of my 1000 minutes per month. Which comes out to 16.66 hours. I don't think I could ever talk that much in a month, better said, I don't WANT to talk that much in a month! haha!

Anyhoo, my number's still the same so don't worry about that, ya'll can still contact me. Yeah!

I want to plug CREDO MOBILE really quickly since I've got your attention and let you know that this phone company give's 1% of its profits to non-profits that encourage social responsiblity and I thought how great would it be to spend my money with a company that believes in the same values of social responsibility like me! So here I am and I encourage all of you to take a little time, visit their site, and make the switch. Their coverage is great, their customer service is SPECTACULAR (you talk to real people), and their prices are competitive. What more could you ask for?

The question I'm constantly asking my friends is "What's new with you?" and the main reason why is because nothing new is happening with me! The latest news are as follows:

-new baby arrivals

-new job opportunities

-new engagements

-new marriages

-new condos/apartments

I imagine in five years the news will be:

-second baby arrivals

-new house/car

-job promotions (i hope)

-car exchange/trade (due to # increase of kids)

-wedding anniversaries

These are just to list a few. As for me, the news will probably be the same, work, work, some fun dinner parties at the house, a concert or two, wedding photos, baby shower photos, an exotic vacation (let's hope more than less), oh and let's not forget the news of me winning the lottery!

Seriously, though, everything is exactly the same with me and I'm very happy with that. I love my jobs still, and I recently took a mini vacation to Seaside, OR. Very fun beachy town with a nice span of beach and crazy waves in the water. I didn't get in the water b/c it was way too cold, but the waves looked fierce. Here are a few pics.

These aren't the greatest respresentations of the beach, but it was cold and I've gotten really terrible at taking pictures that mean anything.

I will say that I ate at some restaurants and wasn't too impressed by any of them. However, I did notice that eggs benedict was a popular menu item at each restaurant. So if you like your eggs prepared that way, you won't be at a loss in Seaside.

These are from McKewon's restaurant in the "downtown" area of Seaside. The waiter was friendly, and the decor really stuck out with red walls and red patio umbrellas strung with miniature lanterns, attached to one wall of the place.

The Best Western Oceanside hotel was very accomodating and had a great view of the beach. The staff were friendly and I'd recommend staying there if you get a chance and can afford it. I was able to stay at a fairly low rate b/c it was Spring season and I was given a voucher from Wyndham resorts for sitting in on a promotional presentation for their timeshares. All in all it was a great three day mini vacation. I will be taking these more often, I'm sure of it!

I recentely attended a wedding held at the Hotel Parador in Manuel Antonio. It was a beautiful hotel with great views, well run facilities/amenities, and an overall cleanliness that was worth the amount my friends paid each night to sleep in the plush beds of the hotel.

HOWEVER, I will complain about the staff and their odd views on customer service. While there, I approached the reception area many times to ask questions and to make request for taxis and such. Often, the phone would ring as I was approaching or as I was making a request, and for some reason the staff member would either answer the phone right as I reached the desk or he/she would answer the phone in the middle of me stating a request; which clearly took his/her attention away from my request! I found this to be rude and not very customer oriented.

Another example is when my friends and I wanted to eat dinner together at the same table. We made a reservation for 10 people, but four extra people showed up a little late (about 10 minutes). The wait staff of the restaurant resisted placing our tables together and combining our two groups. The restaurant WAS NOT BUSY and had only six others (who had already been served) sitting in the restaurant when there was seating for at least 20 others. It got to the point where my friends had to say to the staff members something along the lines of, 'I'm here to have my wedding, I want to enjoy my meal with my friends and family, it doesn't bother me if the food comes out at different times and we've all switched seats, WE will manage the distribution of food, I just want to sit with them and enjoy our time together!'

My last exmple and most infuriating was on my last night visiting the hotel. The receptionist asked me if I was staying at the hotel and then proceeded to ask me questions, in a tone that was very demeaning, such as "how many more of you will be visiting the hotel?" and "how much more will you be stopping by the hotel?" after telling him that I wasn't a guest at the hotel, but a friend of the 14 plus guests that were staying at the hotel. I answered him in a very catty tone, in Spanish, "I don't know how many more times I will be by the hotel to visit my friends, and I don't know who else is here visiting the other guests of the hotel, I know over 14 people who are paying to sleep here and they have invited me to visit with them while they are here. Does this bother you?" With that remark, he told my friend (who was "escorting" me to the lobby until my taxi came by) that my taxi would honk for me and that we could wait on the other side of the lobby & not at the desk.

On a positive note, the cleaning staff was SO INCREDIBLY helpful and sweet. One woman went out of her way to look for a complimentary toothbrush for my friend b/c he forgot his somewhere. She offered with a genuine smile and seemed happy to be with her job at the hotel.

My summary of the hotel is that the staff that I interacted with the most were rude. I didn't feel that my friends and I asked too much of the staff nor were we the typical loud and obnoxious Americans that so many tourists tag citizens of the USA as being. We were all concious of cultural differences, my friends that were getting married, had lived just four hours away in San Jose for almost a year by then, and had made an extra attempt to be understanding of the staff's reasoning for answering phones BEFORE fulfilling a our requests. It wasn't until the night of the wedding when my friend slipped one of the waiters a $20 bill that all the wait staff was all smiles and our glasses were always full with wine or water.

If you'd like to hear more of my opinion about this place in regards to it's location to the beach, the food & it's prices, etc. Leave a comment for this entry with your question and I'll do my best to answer it.

The brideThe groom

Nate and Sheri met each other while working for Maximo Nivel in Cuzco, Peru and fell in love over the course of the next year. I was so glad to hear that Nate wanted to marry Sheri b/c I knew just after a month or so of hearing him talk about her that she was the one meant to be in his life forever. They are wonderful compliments to each other and most of all they enjoy each other's company by their infectious laughing with each other.

Felicidades Nate y Sherri les deseo los mejores anos de tus vidas por siempre.

My last post was a bit of a drag and I want to let you all know it was written in a fit of frustration and anger days before I posted it and b/c I feel it is an important topic to be read by everyone, I decided to go ahead and post it. I hope it doesn't affect your days negatively. I'm no longer feeling frustrated. I'm actually very glad to be where I am on this very very sunny day in Seattle!

Feliz Navidad!

I'm sure a good majority of you have had a run in with someone who is passive aggressive. Wikipedia.org states it as:

Passive–aggressive behavior (negativistic personality trait) is passive, sometimes obstructionist resistance to following through with expectations in interpersonal or occupational situations.

It is a personality trait marked by a pervasive pattern of negative attitudes and passive, usually disavowed resistance in interpersonal or occupational situations.

It can manifest itself as learned helplessness, procrastination, stubbornness, resentment, sullenness, or deliberate/repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is (often explicitly) responsible. It is a defense mechanism, and usually only partlyconscious.[citation needed]

We all have a bit of passive aggression in us, in others more so. It comes in all shapes, sizes and colors, and it is not kind once it invades people's souls. I know once I've indulged in just a bit of it's so-called satisfaction of instant vengeance, I have a slight temptation to continue feeding the terrible virus and sinfully enjoy carrying out small acts of nastiness. However, I don't fall into it and snap out of it b/c I know that no good can come of such behavior. I learned it from watching others fall apart from buying into the idea that it is a healthy method of problem solving especially when it comes to dealing with people. I could list a slew of examples, but then I would mortify all parties involved and that would be a form of passive aggression on my part by listing these people and showcasing my negative view points of them to complete strangers.

To those of you reading this that I know on a personal basis, don't worry, I'm not angry at you or anyone. I'm just frustrated, and writing in my journal where I can be as nasty and hateful as I want doesn't seem to be cutting it for letting me blow off some steam. So here I am, blogging a negative entry that I really do hope will not affect your day poorly. To end this entry on a positive note, my life is going well. My jobs are going great and I am still very happy to be working and getting paychecks! I'm starting to think about 2010 and my feelings are slowly converting to excited and hopeful more so than nervous and worrisome. I'll be working Christmas day, but I'll be with good people celebrating Christmas like I've never celebrated it before.

Thanksgiving came and went so quickly this year. We had a small gathering at one of my aunt's house, played a round of pictionary and participated in a one man game of cherades. If you don't know what I mean when I write "one man game of cherades," it means my cousin Al acted all of our suggestions that we wrote on pieces of paper in reference to stars, singers, and popular band members from the 80's, 90's, and now. He did this for an hour and was sweating like a mad man while the rest of us laughed our hearts out until he stopped from being so tired! My cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

I also went to a wedding over the Thanksgiving wedding. I didn't even realize her wedding was happening until two days before and I've known her all of my life. I guess this is how things go when you move so far away. Anyway, here's a pic of me and the bride. I caught up with a few friends and spent most of my evening hanging out with my auntie.

Her and her husband made a very happy looking couple who were having a great time at their wedding. I was glad to be invited to share something so special with them and their friends and family.

Hello Everyone!

Roy threw a fun Halloween party and if you can't tell who we are, we are Olive Oil, Popeye, Bluto, and SweetPea! I think we look pretty good, don't you?!

Things with me are going great. I'm still working at Pier 1 and Friends of Youth and still holding on to my sanity while working a 48 hour work week. To some this might sound very little, but understand, I'm not making $75,000/yr either!. I really enjoy my co workers and the work I do, I think it's the hours that make me cranky. lol!

In other news, Thanksgiving's just around the corner and I can't wait to see my family and EAT!!!!!! haha!! Most of you already know that I love to to eat and it's mainly because my family loves to eat, too! I'm going home to visit all of my many many aunts, uncles, and cousins, and my mommy, daddy, & sis.

Anyway, nothing new and exciting except that I WON THE LOTTERY!!!! (okay, just kidding) On a serious note, no news is good news in my life, so If you don't hear from me, it's a good sign.

Nick and I drove up to Vancouver for the concert last night and it was awesome! Bono's voice was going out, but he still rocked out. I lost energy just after an hour of the show unfortunately and wish I had worn better shoes so my feet wouldn't have been so achy

Anyhoo, they opened up with one of my faves off their new album and continued the set with more from their latest and of course mixed it up with some of their older songs that still sound amazing today.

More to come later, I'm exhausted after arriving home at 4AM and then starting work at 7AM! Only for U2 would I sacrifice such sleep. haha!

I know, I know, you're thinking, "uh, karen, you've been away for a lot longer than just a week." It's true, I haven't been around. I have way too many excuses, but one great one is Jenny was in town! She graced us with her presence for four fantastic days. Unfortunately I worked way too much and didn't get to spend enough quality time with her, but we had a good last night filled with cheese, crackers, grapes, and wine.

Jenny, if you're reading this, next visit will be me and you in D.C.

Besides that news, everything else has been going great. I'm earning extra money working at Pier 1 part time and working at Friends of Youth full time for my trip to Costa Rica and (hopefully) getting Chewi sent to me by Christmas. Things are in the works (fingers crossed). He has been in Bolivia for over a year and I feel like such a terrible owner for leaving him with Matt for as long as I have, but I won't give up until he's here with me. I'll keep everyone posted!

It's getting colder each day here in WA state and the leaves are turning those amazing colors of reds, yellows, oranges, and purples. The other day we went to a park and took this picture of me and the house dog, Molly.

Also, I'd like to note, that I've been trying my best to blog every Wednesday as promised a year ago so please be patient with me and I will be forever grateful. Thanks again for popping in every now and then to read my blog!

It's true! I've found a full time position with an organization called Friends of Youth. My first day was yesterday and so far it's been training and orientation. I'm so glad to be working with the people I work with and for the organization. I won't discuss much of my work with Friends of Youth in detail mainly because of privacy issues, but if you want to know what the place is all about you're welcome to visit the website at www.friendsofyouth.org

I've been very absent minded about writing entries and I have no excuse except that I've been ignoring my duties as a good friend to those of you that actually read my blogs and care about the ongoings of my life! I just want you to know that I do care about this blog and want to keep ya'll as up-to-date on my life as possible. Thanks so much for reading my blog.

I still don't have a camera to post any pictures, however, I borrowed a camera this past weekend during my trip back home to TN for my grandfather's 90th birthday party. Here's a couple of photos of the party

My gramps was a great, he stayed at the party the ENTIRE time (six hours)! He also danced a few times with some of the guests and not once did he nod off to sleep! haha! Anyway, I'm glad he had a good time and that all of my family and close friends were able to enjoy the party with him, too.

*anything written about Friends of Youth are my own opinions and do not represent the organization.

I am back. Yes, I am still alive and haven't died from starvation from not having a job. My last posting updated ya'll on the progress of my buzqueda de trabajos and fortunately, I am able to tell you that I am an official employee of Pier 1 Imports. My official title is a sales associate and I love wearing my cute apron and working in a place surrounded by fun and artsy items. I work only part time, but part time is better than NO time! HAHA!

I continue searching for another part time job, specifically in the non profit area focusing on youth mentoring/tutoring/counseling. I volunteered my entire last year of Peace Corps at an orphanage and had a great time working with the kids and the administration so I'm hoping to find something similar. I've gone to a handful of interviews with several non profits within the past two weeks. Actually, today I just interviewed for the second time for an organization and even though I was 15 minutes late (traffic was bad -I should've known Friday would be busier than usual), I think it went well! The position is part time as a coordinator of volunteers, parents, and students of an after school tutoring program of the local Boys and Girls Club.

In other news, I just finished spending a week with the Danimal and also was lucky enough to have Anna, Ben, and Burnett visit with me at my house! I love B42ers!! It was really crazy to see us all together again. I can't wait for another PC reunion with mis otros companeros.

-George, I'll be here the night of the game, so give me a call!

As soon as I snag another job, I'm going to seriously start looking at colleges and the programs they offer for school. I've thought a lot lately about entering the field of medicine. With my background in business, this sounds completely ridiculous, but I feel it could work in my favor. I'll have to make lists upon lists of pros and cons before I commit to anything, but I am going back to school, no doubt about it.

I have one last update, but it's not about me. This very exciting news concerns some great friends of mine who have been trying their hardest to make their dreams a reality. They are known as Tenderhooks and just scored a gig as the opening act for ZZ Top in New York! Their music doesn't sound anything like that of ZZ Top, but who knows whose attention they'll catch by being the opening act. I'm so proud of them and wanted to share their little bit of success with ya'll. Their website is http://www.myspace.com/tenderhooks if you want to check them out.

I've been away for a while, are you surprised?! My mom is doing much better and I decided to come back a week early. Going home for two months and living off of my very generous parents was a tough dose of reality. I'm ready to become independent of their generosity and "strong suggestions" about my life. haha!

I've hit up the job search more intensely because I've become desperate to start making money. I'm no longer searching for full time administrative positions because it seems I'm not qualified enough for certain jobs and then too qualified to be an intern or an entry level hire. I'm still looking at some administrative positions, but mostly in the non profit sector where positions are usually part time and don't pay so much. I've started applying for sales positions at the local shopping malls, yes shopping malls where people with money spend it. So far I've been to two interviews for one retail position and am waiting to hear if I "made the cut."

While in Tennessee many people asked me what I do all day since I don't have a job. Well, ya'll are in for a treat because I'm about to tell ya. Today I woke up around 10AM, had breakfast, and surfed the web looking for a job until noon. Then I took a little trip to Office Max to buy some expandable folders to organize all my documents. This took me about an hour and I made myself a yummy salad and roasted up a delicious pesto basil flavored sausage from Trader Joe's and had these for lunch. While I cooked and ate I went back on the internet and searched for jobs. By 3:30ish I got a phone call from a friend who needed a ride to work. By this time I found a total of three, yes just three, jobs that I'm qualified to apply for and sent the links to myself to apply for tomorrow. I left the house at 4:30ish to drop my friend off at work and got back 45 minutes later. By now my eyes are sick of staring at the computer screen so I decided to visit a friend in another neighborhood. From 6ish to 9ish I hung out with my friends and had dinner. I got back to the house, showered, had a friendly chat with my housemates, got back on the internet to search for jobs and here we are, 12:55AM.

In the midst of this very boring day, an exciting event occurred. It happened while I drove my friend to his workplace. I received a phone call inviting me to a group interview at the local Pier 1 store, you know the one that sells affordable furniture. Yes, believe it people, my four year college degree in Business Administration and two years volunteer experience in Bolivia with Peace Corps has gotten me an interview at Pier 1 for a part time sales associate position. Now you could read the above sentence however you like it, but honestly, I'm very glad to have gotten the phone call.

I know it sounds weird, but at this point, all I can think about is the big picture goal of me moving out here. I want to become and official resident of the state and eventually go to school here. There is no other reason, so while working at the local Pier 1 isn't the most glamorous job in the world, it will allow me to pay taxes for the state and qualify me to pay in state tuition. I just want go to school for a decent price and try my hardest to make my dream job a reality. So many people have told me that I'm absolutely crazy for even thinking about starting school all over again at 27 years old, but I know I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don't try. I'm nuts, absolutely nuts, but I've taken hold of the reigns of my life. Oddly enough for this little bit of it, I seem to have some control of where I'm going, which is a nice feeling.

Hello Everyone!

It has been a little over 10 days since I've blogged and I apologize. My mom has been recovering just fine from her small surgery and is doing well. I've been covering for her and my dad at the family business so once I'm home, all I can think about is being a couch potato and watching mindelss television! haha!

The purpose of this blog is to spread the word of a really worhy cause that a peace corps friend of mine started just a few weeks ago. Tammy has lived in Sanyang for almost a year now and is a hardworking and determined volunteer. She is raising money so that she can provide proper bednets for the people of her community in Sanyang, Gambia. Rainy season is approaching and with the lushness of the country so comes disease carrying mosquitoes!!!! These bednets will provide some safety against this terrible disease.

I support her in this effort and want ya'll to know about her cause. This link will take you directy to her donation site. It takes LESS THAN $5 to provide one bednet for a child or family and I encourage all of you to take a look at her site.

Tammy's Fight Against Malaria!

Thanks for all your support!!

I get easily distracted by those faint sounds such as the possible scream of help from a nearby neighbor (only to find, it's a little girl screeching of happiness), or the low background ding in a song playing on the radio that makes me think the phone's ringing downstairs, and the worst is the the low grrrr of a car or motorcycle that makes me think i've left my phone on vibrate and it's somewhere in my room waiting for me to find it and answer the call.

so distracting!!!!

and of course i'm thinking, "you're phone's got the ringer on! why are you even distracted!" but of course, i fall for it every time. I live near a highly trafficked highway so you can imagine how many times in one evening when it's just quiet enough, the low grrr of a motor makes me think just for a few seconds that it's my cell phone vibrating!

it's gotten to the point where i have to turn it off just so i don't psyche myself out!

 While my cousin Jim was down to visit we went to Atlanta for the day to visit the city and see my little sis. She has an internship with the marketing research department of a branch of Comcast just North of Atlanta. 

If you don't know whose nose Jim is picking, it's Larry King's! lol! We didn't take a tour of the news building, instead we just browsed around the CNN store (and took silly pics with the posters). I don't know who the store sells their CNN plastered t-shirts, teddy bears, and caps to, but I guess people buy them. (?)  me and Anderson Cooper, man is he good lookin'!!! HA!

We wanted to get a drink at the top of a swanky hotel in Atlanta so we could get some nice views of the city, but unfortunately the bar was closed when we wanted to go up. We went right between the end of lunch and the beginning of dinner. We were a bit shocked that non hotel guests had to pay a $5 entrance fee to enter the rotating bar, but were willing to do it AND spend an exorbitant price for drinks had the bar been open. I can't even remember the name of the hotel, that's how great our experience was. ha! 

So, the next time you're in HOTlanta, check out the CNN building, ask one of the sales associates of the CNN store the name of the hotel with the rotating bar, enjoy a drink, the views, and then come back here and rub it in my face about how cool of an experience it was. 

If you didn't already know, I'm back in TN for the first part of the Summer to help with the family business. My mom's not feeling 100% so I offered to help her out a bit since I didn't find a job in Seattle that I wanted. Ironically, I started receiving phone calls for the jobs I did want the day after I left the state of WA. Isn't that how it always works out?! HAHA! I keep telling myself there's a very good reason why those jobs didn't call sooner. One of the reasons is b/c my mom really does need my help. Two, there's something way better just sittin' waitin' for me to get back to Seattle. (i figure if i tell myself this one enough, I'll evenutually believe it!) and Three, please tell me you have one!

Anyhoo, before arriving in the wonderful state of TN, I took a little trip to MN. I spent some time with my cousin and enjoyed the many parks (and lakes) of the area. Sadly, we took absolutely ZERO pictures of the outdoors. However, we captured our drunken faces at a bar called William's. Observe below.

Don't ask me why we failed to take any pictures of the outdoors, but managed, in our inebriated states of mind, to take this goofy pic! I'd like to mention something about this bar, IT IS HUGE!!! Two floors of craziness. Maybe I'm just accustomed to hanging out in small intimate bars in Seattle, but even so, this bar had A LOT of people in it when we were there, and it was a Thursday night! We played a friendly match of darts, I think we ended up 1-1. Jim, if you're reading this, correct me if I'm wrong, k?Well, are ya'll bored yet, cuz I am! Seriously, I don't even know why ya'll read about my life. haha!

Yep, I was enjoying myself at Golden Gardens Park playing beach volleyball with some new acquaintances and my backpack was taken. It had my wallet, my digital camera, my ipod, my car keys, some clothes, my cell phones, and my housemate's belongings. It was such a bummer to look over and not see my things anymore.

Fortunately, I was able to cancel my cards, and phone services right away. No charges were made to my accounts. We filed a police report, but I don't expect to see my things again. So I won't have as many pictures posted for a little while. I plan on borrowing digital cameras from friends until I find a job and can afford to buy another one.

My phone numbers are still the same so don't worry about changing anything in your cell phones.

Moral of the story here, watch your stuff at the beach! Strap it to the volleyball pole! haha!

I was bumming it up in my last few weeks in Seattle and spent a lot of time at the many parks in Seattle. Mount Rainier from Seward Park is really beautiful. This picture does absolutely no justice to the mountain. The weather has been so beautiful in Seattle and because of it, I've been able to enjoy to look at it w/o any clouds or fog.

This just another view of Seattle. This one was taken from Alki beach. I live just across the way from this beach and I'm so glad. The weather was so beautiful my last two weeks in Seattle, I couldn't believe it at times. People always mention Seattle's rain, but no one ever talks about how incredibly beautiful the summers are in Seattle. It's days like the one above that made me so happy to be jobless! haha!

Here are the boys being silly at Golden Gardens Park. They are posing in their "Roy." Roy, if you're reading this, we LOVE that you even deny this being your move, because it SO is!

I've been away for weeks from my blog. I'm terrible, I know. I went to my first baseball game not too long ago. It was Mariners vs. Giants. I already knew going to this game, that I should go to it thinking of it as a sporting event and not just a baseball game. So, before the game we all went to a random bar down the block from the stadium and drank a few beers. I thought, "everyone must be preparing themselves for the most boring sport ever!" (no offense to those of you that actually like baseball) After some beer and nice fuzzy buzz we marched over to the stadium and although nose bleed seats don't allow you an up close and personal experience with the players, it sure did allow a beautiful view of Seattle. I had a good time and after a few more games, I'll start to enjoy sporting events more and more.

The question is what have I been doing the past four weeks?! I'd like to say it was going to several interviews in which I dazzled all the interviewers with my mad people skills and received job offers with salaries well over $100,000 including medical, dental, vision insurance plans and company car.

BUT That is not the case, and I spent the last four weeks taking cheezy photos like the one above at local eateries around my neighborhood spending little to nothing on quality tasting food. I've also uploaded, built, copied and pasted, posted (breath) any other action verb having to do with resumes online, onto job sites in hopes of finding a job. I remain hopeful and am lucky I have a healthy amount of ego left in me to continue living like a bum and still enjoy being me. haha!

The picture above was taken in front of one of the many tacos buses in Seattle. This particular one is called Tacos el Asadero and it was tasty! I spent a total of $5 and some odd cents and was very satisfied with the flavors, the fact that I ordered in Spanish, and that I was served three tacos and a mulita from an old school bus.

La pregunta es "que he hecho estes cuatro semanas pasadas?" Quisiera decir que fue a muchas entrevistas en que me han ofrecido trabajos con sueldos mas que $100,000 que incluye seguros medico, dental, y vision y un auto de la compania.

PERO, esa no es el caso, y hice sacando photos como arriba en lugares alrededor mi barrio gastando casi nada para comida rica. Tambien puse mi curiculum vitae en los sitos de web del internet con la esperanza de conseguir un trabajo. Permanezco llena de esperanza y estoy con buena suerte que tengo buen auto estima para continuar vivir sin trabajo y gustar siendo yo mismo. jaja! La foto arriba saco en frente de un bus de muchos buses de tacos en Seattle. Este bus se llama Tacos (d)el Asadero y era muy delicioso. Gaste $5 y estaba muy satisfecha con los sabores, que pedi en espanol, y que me servieron la comida de un bus antiguo.

It's true folks! I've finally found a place to live and I'm moved in completely! Thanks to the help of my new roommate and his pick up truck, I got my bed and set it up. Most of my clothes are hung up in my closet, my 10 pairs of shoes set up in a cute little shoe organizer, my books set up in a bookshelf given to me by Anna and Lucie (two girls whose couch I've been sleeping on for the last month and a half), and the rest of my things sprawled out all over my room. haha! Tomorrow I plan on hitting up the huge Goodwill Outlet store nearby and buying a bedside table of sorts, a small lamp, and a comfy lazy boy type chair for lazy lounging! Wish me luck!

As far as the job news, there is none. Now that the stresses of house hunting are over, I plan on looking for jobs all day everyday until I find something. So I'll keep you posted.

In other news, I was recently in the San Fransisco/Oakland, California area visiting a friend and had a really good time visiting San Fransisco and the surrounding area. I became familiar with a little place called Richmond and found it very cute. From what I hear it's not the safest city, but I assure you, I was shown only the best parts of the town.

Me in front of Jodie's of Albany, CA yummy eats! Review to come soon.Me NOT in front of the golden gate bridge. haha!  Ah yes, here it is THE golden gate bridge. If you go, I suggest bringing a coat! It's windy, really windy!

Es la verdad! Por fin encontre un lugar para quedarme y ya me traslado completamente. Gracias a la ayuda de my companero de la casa nuevo y su camioneta, compre mi colchon y cama y los prepare in mi cuarto. La mayoria de mis ropas ya estan colgadas in mi ropero, mis 10 pars de zapatos estan en un organizador para zapatos, mis libros estan en un estante que fue un regalo para mi de Anna y Luci (dos chicas de quien su sofa he durmido por este mes y medio pasado), y el resto de mis cosas estan echadas en todos partes de mi cuarto! jaja! Manana tengo planes para visitar un grande "Goodwill Outlet" (un mercado de cosas usadas ccomo ropa, muebles, etcetera) y comprar una mesa pequena para poner a lado de mi cama, una lampara pequena, y una silla muy comoda para sentirse muy relajada y de floja. Dame buena suerte!

So, after buying my car, the next on my agenda is finding a place to live. This hunt has kept me busy for the past two weeks. As much as I've heard that Seattle is a city that welcomes dogs, it hasn't been proven true by all the declines from apartments and homes that I've seen. The general responses have been "you sound like a great fit for the housemates, BUT our landlord doesn't allow pets." I've received over 20 rejection emails telling me this. It makes me think long and hard about ever receiving a pet as a gift ever again. I miss my dog and I can't wait till we're reunited again, but it has been incredibly stressful finding a place to accommodate my dog and me.

anyhoo, the job hunt has been put on a halt until I find a place to live. It's been a full time job just looking for an apartment! haha!

In other news, before I left my home state of TN. My friend, Katie and I went to the Jack Daniels distillery and saw how the famous Jack Daniels whiskey is made. Here are a few pictures!

We learned that Mr. Jack .D was only five feet two inches tall (my height) and decided to build the distillery in Lynchburg, TN b/c the water coming from the nearby cave had a special quality for making tasty whiskey. You can see the cave in the picture where Katie and I are standing with JD's statue. Another fun fact is Lynchburg is a dry town, so no alcohol is served anywhere! For more interesting tid bits, just visit www.jackdaniels.com

So, I finally found a car! Woo-hoo! I'm very happy with it. It took me a week to find this thing and I'm so glad I found it before I had to return my rental car! I spent a little over $500 to rent a 2009 Nissan Murano for seven days which to me, is sorta pricey, but it was the best deal I found for that particular car class. What you see here is a 2007 Subaru Forester. I found it a non subaru dealership. It used to be a rental car and then traded in somehow a while back. So far nothing's fallen out or exploded and I'm very relieved it's functioning without problems.

There were snow flurries Wednesday night and we awoke to snow yesterday! everywhere! yeah! I continue in my search for a job and i'm also in search for an apt and a car! I've been staying busy. That's why this entry is very short. My eyes are exhausted from staring at the computer screen all. So, until next time! haha! p.s. purchasing a car for the first time all by myself is really intimidating. Good thing is I have a very strict budget, so negoitiating to save every penny is going to work to my advantage in that I keep thinking about putting food on my plate! guilt negotiating is my strategy. we'll see if it works! haha!

I'm putting job hunting on hold for a bit while I pack my things for the biggest move of my life! I'm headed out to the west coast and even though I've packed, I haven't really packed, if you know what i mean. I have a lot of things. I have to ship a large box or two tomorrow or Monday filled with just clothes. I feel completely embarassed that I've just written that statement. It's absolutely ridiculous that I can't fit all of my clothes into two huge suitcases, but it's true! Another thing I'm completely embarassed about is that a good majority of the box(es) will be filled with shoes. Yes, shoes of which only two pairs are brown, the rest are black! haha! You'd think two pairs of black shoes would suit a person, but in my case that doesn't hold true. That's a completely different entry that I won't even attempt to begin at this hour.

anyhoo, that's what i'll be doing for the next couple of days. in other news about job hunting, I received my first job rejection email today. It was sad, short and to the point so it wasn't too painful. I'm going to try and look at the bright side of the email and take it as a sign that other jobs will be responding soon. Of course i don't want them to all be rejection emails, but rather emails that tell me that i've got interviews and am closer to finally getting a job!

voy a parar de buscar trabajo por ahora para empacar mis cosas para el traslado de mi vida. Me ire a la costa oeste y aunque ya empaque, todavia no he empacado, si me entiendes. Tengo muchas cosas (demasiado)! Tengo que enviar dos cajas grandes manana o lunes llena con solamente ropa! que verquenza, no? es absolutamente ridiculo que no es posible poner todo mi ropa en dos maletas grandes, pero lo es verdad! otra verquenza es que la mayoria de las cajas seran llena de zapatos! Si, zapatas en que solo dos pars son del color cafe y lo demas son zapatos negros! Pensarias que dos pars de zapatos negros seria suficiente para una persona, per no en mi caso. Esto es una otra tema completamente diferente que no voy a intentar de escribir sobre lo ahora.

bueno, esto es lo que hare por las proximas dias. en otras noticias sobre mi busqueda para trabajo, recibi mi primer rechazo hoy. Fue triste, pero era corto y franco asi que no fue tan doloroso a mi ego. Voy a intentar pensar sobre esto con un actitude positivo. esto es un signo que otros companias van a responder a mis solicitudes pronto. Pues, no quiero que todo sean rechazos, mejor que son invitaciones a entrevistas y un paso mas cerca para obtener el trabajo!

Valentine's day is just around the corner and I've decided I will continue job searching so I can justify the gift I just purchased for myself for the occasion. JUST KIDDING! As if I had any money to pay for anything much less a gift for myself! HAHA!

I'm still on the job hunt and so far no responses. Eh, I'm not worried. I've taken some pictures so everyone knows how hard I've been working. Do I look like I'm working hard enough?

Dia de amor esta cerca y he decidido que voy a continuar buscar para un trabajo para justificar un regalito que yo compre para mi para este dia. No! una broma! No tengo dinero para comprar nada, especialmente un regalo para mi! jaja!

sigo buscar trabajo y todavia no he recibido respondidos. eh, no estoy preocupada. he sacado algunas fotos y para mostrarles como trabajo, les parezco que estoy trabajando bastante bien?

It's hump day and almost over. Exciting news, I got the day off from working for mama and got to do a little more job searching and (drum roll) I found one that sparked enough attention in me that I wrote my cover letter and customized my resume for it right away. I've sent it to several friends for proofreading. Fingers crossed I won't have to change too much and will be able to send it by the end of the week.

In other news, I went to a very favorite place of mine, the Waffle House to meet up with a long time friend, Coach T, aka Chelsea! I decided to take a little break from job hunting and have a nice heavy, unhealthy, greasy lunch to get my brain nice and chilled out from all the madness from the day on the web. It worked! I was in a food coma for the entire two hours that we sat and talked. One of the regulars, "Bob" took our pictures. He wasn't too familiar with my digital camera so snapped a shot without counting and then in the next one cut off my stylin' hat! haha!

Anyhoo, Waffle House should pay me for the plug I'm about to give it, but I really love this place, EVERYtime I go I know I am guaranteed a good time, good eats, someone so special and unique serving me, oh and a regular of the joint sipping on coffee with a good story and the best story telling voice to tell it! So, go and visit your local Waffle House today! I know you'll love it!

I'd like to start this entry with an apology at how boring it is! ha! If I were you, I'd just skip this one, it's definitely not my best and has potential to being my worst! haha!

Today I have felt the full effects of living in America. You're probably asking, "How is that karen?" Well, i'm sitting in my parent's beautiful home without a car, nowhere near a public transportation stop and only a bicycle to get me to the nearest grocery store. Luckily for me, I have functioning legs and could ride my bike in the very chilly weather and pick up something to eat if i wanted, oh yeah, and no job where i need to be. Being slightly trapped in this house has reminded me of the super convenience of metro systems, public taxi routes, public minivan routes, and tacky painted school buses of Bolivia and other cities, American and foreign, I've visited recently that got me from one end of the city to the other. My part of town doesn't offer such conveniences.

Anyhoo, the perk to being here without a car is I'm forced to look for a job more intensely and no excuse of leaving the house to distract myself. HA! (sigh) so far, I've found a few more at a university, a medical supplies company, and the Nintendo corporation. The last one sounds super funsies, but the last time I played a nintendo game was when duck hunt was the most popular thing to talk about in school the next day. and when i say school, i mean elementary school. haha! I've been working on my resume and it's coming along nicely. of course my cousin told me the other day that she wouldn't hire me just by looking at it, so that could mean i'm just looking too much on the bright side of things. She gave some good suggestions so I put her words to good use and changed some things, i think it looks better.

I know, I know, I've definitely passed the one week mark, I apologize. I've been thinking about changing my weekly update from Monday to Wednesday beacuse Mondays just seem to sneak up on me and then pass by so quick I can't believe it's already Tuesday. I think if I change my day of blogging to Wednesday I won't be so apt to skip an entry. So, I will try to blog on Wednesdays every week. Make a note, look for my weekly updates on Wednesdays instead of Mondays from now on.

For those of you wondering, I am back in USA. I've been back since January 13th. My flight from Paris to NYC was good. Seven hours with two seats entirely to myself. Who would ask for a better situation? The only downfall was in the aisle next to me sat four rowdy Irish boys who wouldn't shut up to save their lives! Even the flight attendants jokingly asked them if they ever got sick of eachother. I secretly answered a strong "i would if i were one of them" in my mind.

My flight from JFK to BNA I wasn't so smooth. I flew in a tiny airplane. So tiny that they decided not to load my luggage onto the plane because of weight restrictions of the plane in total. So, I was one of two lucky passengers whose luggage wasn't loaded onto the plane for the flight. Did I mention I was at the airport an entire three hours before the flight to ensure that I wouldn't miss it? Yep, this early bird DID NOT get the worm that day. The lesson learned from this experience, ask very blantantly if my luggage will be on the palne with me and take all necessary actions to ensure it will be.

Anyway, I'm over it! Traveling has burned a HUGE hole in my pocket and I will be out of comission for a solid two years, at least. Looking for jobs in another state is a bit of challenge. I definitely need to spruce up my resume and master the art of cover letters. I've spent the last week doing such things and so far, no jobs, no presentable resume, and enough caffeine to wake up a two year coma. Eh, I'm not too worried. I've lived off of a little less than $300/month for the past two years, I've grown accustomed to humble living arrangements and creative cooking. haha! I'm not going to be to selective with my job hunting for right now. Not too many companies are hiring anyway, so I have to take what I can get, I guess. Uh, I really hope I won't be living off of that motto for too long! I just have to keep singing that Bob Marley song in my head and believe that "...every little thing is gonna be alright."

Year of the Ox! To a very prosperous new year with many fortunes in 2009!

I am finally in Paris on the last part of my trip. Thanks to a friend and my uncle I've enjoyed some great eats in Paris.

Here they are in no particular order:

L'EBAUCHOIR

45, Rue de Citeaux 75012

33 (0)1.43.42.49.31

www.lebauchoir.com

near metro stop Faidherbe-Chaligny (8) OR Reuilly-Diderot (1 & 8)

*French Bistro style food

The owner lived in New York for many years and if I remember correctly, has recently opened up a place in Los Angeles, CA. I speak absolutely no French, so I was relieved when he asked if we needed any help with the menu. We had dinner there and for two entrees and two glasses of wine the bill came to 51 €. The food was tasty and the enviornment even better.

SAVEURS & CO

90 Avenue Raymond Poincarè

(0)1.45.00.44.00

near metro stop Victor Hugo (2)

*fresh soups and salads

I ran into this place by accident b/c I got a little lost, oops! I had just finished taking pics of the Eiffel tower and wanted lunch. I didn't want to pay 20€ for lunch so I thought if I wandered a little further from the tower I would find something a little less exspensive. I was very pleased to stumble upon this very busy restaurant serving hot soups and ready made mini sandwiches and salads for a very good price. I had Soupe brocolis & lait de coco and mini sandwich poulet coleslaw for only 9.40€. My sandwich was super tasty combining flavors that I never would've thought of putting together. For example my sandwich consisted of chicken, white cheese, cumin, cabbage, cresson(?), and traditional cereal. The last two ingredients I'm not so sure about, but the sandwich was yummy, regardless. ha!

LES QUATRE SAISONS

17 Avenue Emile Zola

75015 Paris

(0)1.45.75.77.83

near metro stop Javel Andrè Citroën (10)

*Korean

So, I've finally found a computer that cooperated with me and allowed me to upload some pictures! yea! Katie and I went to Parc Guell up in the hills of Barcelona. From what my friend tells me Gaudi lived up here. I have a picture of the house, but it's not that exciting. What impressed me the most were these cute benches! The colorful tiles and the signature curvy shape of Gaudi were great to sit on and relax a bit after walking through the gardens. There was no entrance fee and it was well worth the small uphill climb to see the quirky shapes and forms of the park. I definitely recommend going and seeing it if you ever visit Barcelona.

Por fin encontrè una maquina que me permite descargar algunas fotos de mi camara. (sonrisa) Katie y yo fuimos a Parc Guell (nombre en Catalàn) en los cerros de Barcelona. Un amigo me dijò que Gaudi viviò en este parque. Tengo una foto de la casa, pero no es muy impresionate. Lo que me impresionò mucho era los asientos/bancos. Tienen muchos azulejos de todos colores en una forma muy famoso de Guadi con curvas. Eran buenos para sentarse para relajarse un poco despuès un paseo por los jardines. La entrada es gratis y vale la pena para ver todas las formas divertidas del parque. Lo recomiendo mucho para ver cuando visitas Barcelona.

OK, OK, OK.

So the other day I was invited to join Refriendz to take a look at a friend of mine's pictures. Well, I stupidly allowed this website to upload my ENTIRE yahoo account address book. After this stupid website did so, it proceeded to automatically send an invite to every person from my address book!!!! So, if you're reading this DO NO SIGN UP!!! I NEVER USE THAT SITE TO UPLOAD PICS! All of you know I use this blog and my FLICKR website to show pics. Lo demàs (the rest of the people) who don't know about this blog obviously aren't with the program, so they'll learn about this mishap a little too late. OOPS!!!

Anyway! if you wanna take a look at my photos, they are posted at www.flickr.com/photos/karensenboutarath and I also upload my pics onto Snapfish and Facebook. Ugh! all of these sites! it's hard to keep up with them all!

Onto other news, I'd like give out some KUDOS to those of you that have emailed or called me since the last time I wrote an entry. (drumroll please) Here are the very kind people who have sent me a little message to let me know how he or she is doing.

David who just announced that he and Catherine are going to parents!!! Woo hoo!

Nate for making my entire Machu Picchu experience happen

Ryan for making it down to South America for the SECOND time within six months to visit with Nate and I in Peru

Andy for chatting with me on gchat

Rob for sending me a nice little email

Eric for ALWAYS chatting with me on gchat

Katie G for sending me an awesome link to her pics

Jenette for sending me a lovely email

Paula for keeping me posted on her travel plans and recent acceptance into a study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain -WOO HOO!!!

Katie Mc for always writing me emails and informing me of her recent job acceptance at a botancial garden!

I really love receiving emails and updates on your lives, so keep 'em coming! Hasta luego!

Here I am at Machu Picchu! I had a good time, but if you notice, this pic was taken at, oh around, 6:30AM and I was still asleep, hence the sunglasses. I sat on a bus for over 20 hours to get from Cochabamba, Bolivia to Cusco, Peru but it was worth it. Cusco is a cute town, the Plaza de Armas is super clean, but the rest of the city is sorta like Bolivia, less dirty and more organized, but the bldgs aren't too cute and the culture pretty much is the same. My favorite little town on the route up to M.P. was a town called Ollantaytambo. Super cute small town tucked away up in the mountains. It has super cute restaurants and very friendly townspeople. We ate at this SUPER cute and TASTY restaurant & hostel called KB THOMAS. The chef is Chilean and he can cook!

For those of you who haven't heard from Nate or seen any of his pics, here he is!!! Ross and I met up with Nate (and Ryan) in Cusco. Here we are in a minivan about to go to a small Inca ruins site just outside the city. It was a good day, really tiring, but if I were to do the Inca ruin sites again, I'd take a private taxi and start in the morning instead of the afternoon. Apparently all the tours offered don't start until the afternoon b/c certain places don't open until then, but seriously, super inconvenient. We got to the last site and the sun was down completely so no good pics came out of it.

Anyway! If I could do it again, I'd spend more time in Ollantaytambo and do a little more trekking around that area and eat at more restaurants.