interview with God.

God is always here. Always.

i have no special talents, i'm only passionately curious. thank you, albert einstein

When you're sick, you're tired and all you want is your mom - make sure you have a piece of inspiration to keep you moving forward and friends to lift you up.

life is a journey, enjoy the ride!

oink, oink - brought a smile to your face, didn't it?

the time is NOW.

i wanna be a free spirited hippy riding my bike and people taking creative pictures of me when i'm not looking.

no room for being sad - turn that frown right upside down.

what i mean by someday is today.

10 ways to be a better crossfitter.

I found this on an inspiring crossfit website - thought I needed to share.


Lindsey Smith - what an inspiration.



10. Hold the bar straight.

9. Pay attention to your breathing.



8. Use less chalk. Really.

7. Read the CrossFit Journal articles and watch the videos. What’s this going to take? Like 15 min a day? Worth the time and worth the $25 per year. Stop whining and commit.

6. Stop whining and commit. Yeah, that was so good and simple, it needed to be said again
and for like all of life.

5. Put sh** away where it belongs. You might call it housekeeping but, really, it’s a form of discipline. You don’t want bumpers or collars or KBs or whatever all over the place. Pick your item, use it, and put it away. Mental discipline is as important as physical discipline, maybe even more so.

4. Get to class 15 minutes early, all the time. Use that extra time not to chat or work on stuff you’re good at — use it to suck. Suck at L-sits, suck at deadhang pull-ups, suck at KB snatches. All the stuff you and your ego have been avoiding. Put on your big girl panties and do the stuff you don’t want to do. It’s called being a grown-up. And a CrossFitter. Go do it.

3. Shut up about programming. Nobody’s ever happy with programming unless they’re the ones doing the programming. Do the workouts. If you’re getting stronger and quicker and feel better, guess what? The programming is working. And if you’re not getting stronger or quicker and you don’t feel better, grab a coach and address your concerns privately.

2. Pay attention. Stop chatting and daydreaming and goofing off. Focus.

1. Stop praying at the bar. Gather yourself, address the bar, breathe, and lift. Don’t make it more
complex — in movement or thought — than it needs to be. Lift the flippin’ bar.

22 things I've learned so far in life.

1. The first pancake always turns out badly.
2. You don’t have to get along with everyone, or make everyone like you.
3. You always have at least 2 choices, even if you don’t like your choices.
4. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.
5. There's fear and love. And one of them is more fun.
6. Soda is evil.
7. It’s okay to break the rules, as long as you are good enough not to get caught, and you aren’t hurting anyone.
8. “Be kinder than necessary ’cause everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”
9. You train people how to treat you.
10. There’s always hope.

11. If everyone threw their problems into a pile, you'd take yours back in an instant.

12. From every negative, comes a positive - you just have to open your eyes enough to realize it.
13. You can always be grateful for something.
14. Google can answer anything.
15. Being silly is one of my favorite qualities in a person.
16. Honesty is always the easiest route - even if it’s not in the short term.
17. You should never stop learning or trying to be a better person.
18. Worrying is useless, unless it motivates you to take action.

19. Forgive, it frees the soul.

20. Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.

21. Every person yearns to be needed.

22. I still have a lot more to learn.

Repeat after me:

Five Lessons About How To Treat People -- Author Unknown

1. First Important Lesson - "Know The Cleaning Lady"

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. Second Important Lesson - "Pickup In The Rain"

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home.

A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.


3. Third Important Lesson - "Remember Those Who Serve"

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "50¢," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "35¢!" she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.


4. Fourth Important Lesson - "The Obstacles In Our Path"

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand - "Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition."


5. Fifth Important Lesson - "Giving When It Counts"

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?".

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

life is going to shovel dirt on yO back..

I read this today - and the lesson learned is SO true.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the
well needed to be covered up anyway;

it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he
quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally
looked down the well. He was astonished at what
he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his
back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel
dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it
off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey
stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you - allllll kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles are a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping and never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the rules to make you happy -

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
 

Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

Live simply and appreciate what you have.

Give more. Expect less.

Now -

Enough of that crap . .  The donkey later came back,

and bit the farmer who had  tried to bury him.

The gash from the bite got  infected and
the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong, and try to cover
your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

Happy Tuesday :-)

tsnuami warning::

; after being woken up at 2am by my roomie Sarah, Virginia's phone blowin' up & a tap on Sarah's window to tell me a tsunami is on its way for 8:30am (Japan had an 8.9 earthquake and San Diego has a tsunami warning right now) - my responses from family & friends were: 

Kelsie: "i advise u don't go surfing today"  

Smash (Loo Bean): "my mom called & told me & my first thought was..damn i hope shoreclub will still be open tonight" 

Englebert: "have no fear mike englebert will come to save you!! just ask n' i'll rescue your ass!
followed by..."im gunna try n sleep a lil more b4 my crzy friend from the west decides to start texting me again at 4am :) ha"

Mom: "send me pictures!"

Colin BROMalley: "Wear that life vest I gave you yesterday"

Dad: "Holy shit get to higher ground"

Amy: "Thatts sick! Get a picture for me :) lol i read ur text this AM and thought f&*^! I hope it's still pretty for SB :)"
".....but I'm glad everything is okay!! i was worried..."

Treml: "Watch out for the tsunami!!!"

Needless to say folks, we didn't get hit. The waves were pretty gnarly this morning though - and there were a TON of people standing at the top of the bluffs on the coast watching the water.

---as a ton of surfers were tearin' up the waves. HAHAHA. GOOD MORNING WEST COAST!!!!

don't give up on love ♥

i served the cutest elderly man the other night. He came up to me and said "you look just like the love of my life when she was younger - but I let her slip away, stupid me. I was an idiot. All guys are idiots when they're younger. She was the only woman I ever truly loved." a tear came to my eye because this is SO true ♥

ATTENTION ALL MEN OUT THERE: if you've got a woman who loves you, pushes your buttons, pisses you off on a regular basis, and makes you face your shit, keep her around. That's your soul mate ♥

Love really IS all its cracked up to be. It's the only feeling that is SO stinkin' powerful - you have the worlds most natural high at your finger tips and you feel unstoppable and uncontrollably blessed.

Just remember - after a break up, if love felt sooooo amazing with the wrong person, just imagine how kickass it will feel with the right one!! Don't give up on love ♥

"I know how to get to Tenaja Falls"

Saturday. February 19 2011.

10:00AM - all packed up. Looney and I met Shawn, Jeremy & Lincoln at Camp Pendleton to make our way towards Lake Elsinore to find Tenaja Falls. Jeremy has been there before so he "knew how to get there." After a little more than an hour truck ride, we came to the conclusion we were all lost. Looney and I in his 2 wheel drive Tacoma and the other three guys in Shawn's $2,500 rigged 4 wheel drive Tahoe, we plowed all wheels into the mountains to search for the waterfall. We came to an area in the trail where there was a small area to the left to turn-around (if need be). As we drove a few feet further up the trail, a HYUNDAI - WAS - PARKED - IN - THE - MIDDLE - OF - THE - DIRT - ROAD. No passengers in it, all belongings out of the car and this Hyundai blocking the trail from traffic to go through. Needless, to say - we needed to get through to see if the waterfall was up that way.

4 guys, 1 girl and 2 trucks later::: Shawn plowed over the hill incline, through the brush, dodging the Hyundai and landed on the other side of the trail with a few scratches on his vehicle from the brush. I say to Looney, "let's just park your truck and go hop in the truck with them. There's no way your Tacoma is going to make it - your ass end is going to fish tail right into that car." Looney, on the other hand, had FULL FAITH in his 2 wheel drive baby. "Nah, I'll be fine" Here goes nothin'....SMASHHHHHHHHHHHHH - pegs off the hyundai's right side mirror and scrapes up the side of the car!!!
Looney "oh shit, did I hit that?"
Me "oh my god..yep."
The look on his face was priceless. He wanted to laugh but wanted to be pissed at the same time. He writes a note, hangs onto it in case he sees the dumbasses who parked their car in-the-middle-of-the-flippin'-road up ahead and we all carry on our way to explore what's ahead.

Highlight of this moment: First Looney laughed. Then he was a little mad. Then he laughed again. I seriously wish I would have gotten pictures of the damage/incident but I was wayyyy too busy almost peeing my pants from laughing, then trying to be serious, then peeing my pants from laughing again. He handled this situation better than a lot of people. He was ready to make the most of the rest of the day - and not just call the day quits. haha. -----after this incident, we found a dirt biker who told us to walk up to the top of the mountain (which wasn't very far away) and take in the beautiful view. From being so far East, we surprisingly could see the ocean coast at the distance from that high up. The view was so green - it reminded me of the hills, in the Sound of Music. [Funny side note: Yes, it's extremely personal but sooooooooo funny. Jeremy had to do the dirty deed in the wilderness. He had nothing to wipe with and he was - desperate. I mean, when a guys gotta go, he's gotta go. So he used his hat - R.I.P. baseball hat. HA!!!!]

Famous words came out of Looney's mouth when talking about what he's going to do about hitting the car and getting back across to the opposite side of the trail: "I'll leave the note on their car or I'll just hit it again!" We get back over where the Hyundai is parked - and damn, it's a lot steeper of a lift going back the other way. All of us try shifting the car over towards the left side of the road - and the car alarm goes off.
Shawn "Don't worry - it will only go off for 2 minutes"
Shawn and I take the Tacoma's tail end, start pushing it and as Looney gets some speed, the mud underneath us makes us slip...and well, Looney called it, hitting the car again. A note left on the mirror with his name and phone number and we were getting the heck outta there.

Still determined to find Tenaja Falls? YOU BET!!! After asking someone, we came to find out we were rather close. The mile hike to the fall was sketchy - we had to cross over a river that is usually easy to cross (until you get inches and inches of rain like we had just gotten). The river was flooded and we carefully needed to find rocks to hop on. Shawn on the other hand, ended up falling in. HAHAHA. The waterfall was breathtaking. How God created such naturally beautiful scenery is beyond me. We went at a perfect time. Rain had just hit the waterfall, so it was flowing pretty awesome. We climbed up and down the waterfall rocks for an hour or so, took it nature's beauty and called it a day because we didn't want to be stuck in the mountains once dark hit.

The day adventures had called for a chill night. Lincoln made dinner at my place and we all took turns dominating Super Nintendo. Epic day & awesome night. Little did we know we'd have just as many problems the next day on our mud cave adventure....

SUP &Surfing.

Weekend of January 15 2011.

SUP = Stand Up Paddling
Surfing = one of the most peaceful, realization moments.

I recently tried two new water activities and must say, I'm extremely satisfied with both.

Stand Up Paddling (SUP)- In the early 1960s, the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards, and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to surf. The sport is an ancient form of surfing, and reemerged as a way for surfing instructors to manage their large groups of students, as standing on the board gave them a higher viewpoint, increasing visibility of what was going on around them. Today, the sport benefits athletes with a strong 'core' workout. SUP'ing is popular at warm coastal climates and resorts, and is gaining in popularity as celebrities are sampling the sport, and cross-over athletes are training with SUP.

My experience: At Liquid Force, two of our boats are docked at the Carlsbad Lagoon Wakesports. Since I work for Liquid Force now, I get all of my rentals for free (SUP, Kayak, Jet ski, etc.) - SOOOOOOO...I decided to try Stand Up Paddling. I had a short board (which is harder to stabalize yourself) & I decided to paddle from the Wakesport cove to Bristol Cove (which is my backyard) and totals to probably about a mile or so, if not a little more? I paddled to my dock, chatted with my roomie for a little while and then paddled my way back to Wakesports. It was very relaxing. Gave my shoulders and core a workout, so I didn't fall in the water, but it was just me. my paddle. the board. and the sunset :)

Surfing: a surface water sport in which a person (the surfer) rides a board on the crest of the wave as it carries the surfer towards the shore.

My experience: I went down to Mission Beach with Peanut, Jake, Mario & some other dude. They taught me how to surf. Wet suits, surf boards and decent waves - it was so relaxing yet tiring at the same time. You realize the world is so much bigger than what we see everyday, when you're out in the water plopped up on your surfboard, feet dangling waiting to catch the next wave. I got up a handful of times. It is a really hard technique to get down and you just have to "feel the wave."


"Everyone has a 'risk muscle.' You keep it in shape by trying new things. If you don't, it atrophies. Make a point of using it at lesat once a day." - Roger Von Oech

A story all you can do is laugh about.

So - last night I had the night off of work. My "plan" was to head to the gym, rent a movie and absorb the "me time" that was available. All the roommates gone. Beautiful evening with a perfect sunset on the lagoon. The start to a beautiful evening.

-BUT- I got to the gym, could not find a parking spot ANYWHERE (not even a mile down the street). The gym then sounded like a really bad idea. I decided to scratch that and workout harder this morning (which yes, I did - no cheating for me!). So then I was about to head home when I heard from a friend down in PB to come eat our homemade lasagna we made two nights prior and watch the Season Premiere of Tosh.O [an epic show about Tosh - this dude - making fun of hilarious YouTube Videos]. Yep, that seemed tempting and at this point I just wanted to chill with someone - so I head my way down to PB [which mind you, is about 30 minutes from Carlsbad].

I'm so anxious to go eat, I see the Garnet/Balboa exit, blinker over to the right lane... thinking to myself, "almost there!" Just when things couldn't get any better, they got worse. The car in front of me slams on their breaks, which causes me to put the pedal to the metal and hit my breaks. I look in my rearview mirror and think, "uh oh. this car is going to nail me." CRASHHHHH!!!!!!!! Luckily, I gave myself enough room in front of me that I didn't collide into the Camry in front of me (thanks drivers ed teacher DAD!) I crawl over my seat and hop out the passenger side door - mind you, we're on the busy, rush hour highway. I start getting all of the information you usually get from a person who just smashed into you and juuust when I didn't think things could get any worse.

......a lady comes and clips my driver side mirror!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH. I was like "are you joking me?!!??!!?" So - not only do I have to worry about one report from the cop - I now have to have 2 police reports.

the cop gets to the scene, thinks we're crazy for blocking traffic - dude, in wisco we have to stay right where the accident happened otherwise we get yelled at! So - that's what I did.lol But nope, in California, you have to get off the highway and go on some random street to not block the main traffic. Makes sense...
We pull over on some side street off of the highway - all 3 vehicles, plus a motorcycle cop. The officer talks to the guy who hit me, collects his information and lets him leave. Then he comes to me and asks what happened - so I tell him. When I told him that the girl clipped me when I was parked and out of my car, he BUSTED OUT LAUGHING saying, "wait!?!? She clipped you when you were parked and weren't in the car?!?" "Yes, officer." I had a very hard time holding back from laughing - so we kinda chuckled together. He then tells me that I'll be in 2 separate reports. He then asks me to come look at the damage done to my car. I get out of my car, we get in the reflection of my headlights, he looks at my feet and BUSTS OUT LAUGHING AGAIN. Yes guys - I had my five fingers on - the officer thought that was pretty comical.

Bet I made that officers night. Certainly didn't make his night with all of the paperwork he's going to have, but totally made him laugh. He said he had had a long night.
SOOOOOOOOO, remember that even when something bad happens, you just being there can turn the situation around. Seeing as how I shouldn't have to pay for anything, I was happy leaving that accident, making a police officers long evening - as I drove away with a back bumper shifted up and ready to fall off - and a mirror that needs some fixin'.

new lagoon HOME :)

Backyard

Here are some pictures of my little lagoon home. I have 3 roommates - Sarah, Virginia & Matt. They're all wonderful :)

View of my room from my door!

Living Room/Kitchen View