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!!!!