#61 - goals

okay so i am not a vegetarian. i just like salami too much. i decided that if i want it i should eat it. life is short! so one night while i was trying to decide what to make for lunches and going over my credit card statements, i realized i was spending too much money. i was living over and above my means. i am not a very flashy person but i spend lots of money.

"we are consumers. we're the bi-products of a lifestyle obsession." -fight club

it's as simple as that. consume, consume, consume. whether it is new clothes, music, food or drink, i consume. i've decided i need to stop that so much. so i made goals. goals for february include a budget, work goals, food, exercise, books and sleep. these may seem a lot but they actually go well together.

budget
let's just say i was relying too much on my credit card the past few months. i've put together a simple budget where the main things:

• $200 - groceries (it may seem like a lot but i love to cook and eat so this is essential)
• $100 - going out (for drinks and food! this will be hard)
• $50 - misc stuff (if i can't afford it this month i'll have to save and wait)
• $100 - central america (been saving that much a month for my trip!
• $400 - rent and bills (why?!)

so a total of $850 in expenses. i could live on less easily but i love to eat and go out so i think this is justified. i won't mention what i spent on groceries and going out this past month...

work
i want to work a lot this month so that i can afford to save and eat well. i'm trying to work 4 shifts a week, which comes out to about 16 for the month. i worked exactly 16 this month. hopefully i can squeeze some extra shifts into this short month.

food
i've included a list of foods to eat every day: oatmeal, flax, 2 L water, salad, 2 other veggies, 2 proteins, 2 fruits, 1 yogurt, OJ, another whole grain, and seaweed. although it might get quite monotonous, it is healthy and can be interesting if i plan ahead. so basically i'll just check these off everyday.

exercise

• dodgeball - games on thursday and pickup on friday/tuesday
• cardio - 30 minutes of interval training every other day
• weights - lift every other day and include plyometrics every week
• rock climb - 30 minutes a week on tread wall

i love working out so this shouldn't be a problem.

books
to read 4 books this month, that's one a week. in order to reach my goal of 50 this year, i gotta do it! i created a little blog for this one called brandizzle reads. the reading is going slow right now, only read 3 this month so i'm gonna kick it up a notch for february.

sleep
i've realized i'm highly sleep deprived by my procrastination and general insomniac lifestyle. i've been sleeping past midnight and waking at 5 am everyday and that is not good. so my new goals are 6 hours on work days and 8 hours on non-workdays. it will be good for me. plus i'll spend less time online.

photography
almost forgot about this one. i started this project called brandizzle 365 where i will be taking and posting a photo everyday for a year. seems like a lofty goal. so far i have already failed because i was too tired to post at the end of the day. i think that's forgivable. i still took a ton of pictures that day. photography is my one form of art that i enjoy and so i am not only trying to get better at it, i am doing it consistently!

so those are my goals. i will look back at the end of february and see if i am successful. i made a chart so i can monitor my progress and will be dedicated to this. it takes 21 days to make/break a habit so if i can do it this month then i can for an extended period of time following. goals are good and i think these are SMART goals.

#60 - partying and dodgeball!

i love partying! i don't know if i am social by nature, in fact i know that i am not. i am pretty shy if i do not know someone. it's hard for me to just go up to someone and start a conversation. in fact i shy away from conversation with strangers. portland is a pretty friendly city (or crazy). people are always coming up to me and starting conversations. i politely try to carry on the conversation but am pretty uncomfortable. what is with that? i am not sure but it's something i want to work on. i have an easy time at work when i am talking to the old people. it's not very hard to converse with them for some reason. i think i am slowly turning into a senior. that is, when i'm not out partying.

when i go out and have a few i get happy/friendly. i will talk to anyone and it is easy for me to just let it all out. i go up and sing karaoke with total strangers. i think this makes them uncomfortable but I DON'T CARE! i haven't been going out much, maybe twice a week, mostly because i'm working a lot. this past weekend i went to barracuda, a club that i've heard mostly described as a "meat market". it is very interesting there and this was actually my best experience there. i try not to go too often because then it wouldn't be fun. this time was fun because:

• no creepy guys started randomly grinding on me
• $3 special
• danced with a nice guy
• didn't get wasted
• went with two girlies who love to dance and have fun
• i didn't dress up
• i danced a lot!

i actually went right after playing dodgeball pickup. i hope i didn't smell. if i did, the guys didn't really mind. every thursday we have dodgeball games and afterwards go out to the broadway grill to party. it is serious fun! the loser of the game is supposed to get free beer so it's a win-win situation. i started out buying good pitchers of beer for myself and our dodgeball special bud for the losers but now am just drinking the cheap stuff. it's a good way to save myself some money. thursdays are the days i most look forward to in the week. fridays are pickup days where we go to nw pdx and play at friendly house, it's free and so much fun! dodgeball for 2 hours straight, great workout!

for anyone who thinks playing dodgeball as an adult is silly ... well it kind of is, but it is so fun! the league is really fun and its instant friends who are just fun and awesome. i am on two teams. dwayne's world is my main team and we sport rocker T's, cut off jeans and an occasional mullet wig. team FOB is made of all minorities! it is so ridiculously funny. it's been a fun team to be a part of. there was even a team that was created just to bring us down called reinheitsgebot, an all-german team. incidentally, reinheitsgebot has something to do with the purity of beer. go figure. we beat them 6-2 last week though! the great thing is everyone is totally serious but not serious about it and its pure fun. for reasons unbeknown to me i didn't make it into either picture.

you may be asking why i am on two teams. well that is a good question, easily answered. FUN! each dodgeball game is only 30 minutes and by the end of one game you are ready for another. it's called double-dipping and many people do it, team FOB is actually made up of mostly double dippers. last season was my first one and i played on two teams because i knew how much i would love playing!! i was so right and now i can't wait till thursdays!

#59 - lasagna with greens

lately i have been cooking according to what new seasons has on sale that week. this week the things that interested me were: chard, bacon, smoked mozzarella. i have also been craving lasagna so it quickly became a great idea in my head. when i was at work i saw ina garten on the food network make a portobello mushroom lasagna and it looked and sounded awesome! it all came together perfectly in my head. so i went shopping and ended up with a nice bag of groceries, i couldn't wait to make it!

smoky bacon chard lasagna

1. bring large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 1 lb lasagna noodles according to directions. cook just before assembling so if it's fresh, wait until later because it only takes a few minutes.
2. make white sauce: melt 1 stick of butter in a large saucepan. add 1/2 c flour and cook for 1 minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. pour 4 c (1 qt) whole milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. [recipe says to heat milk first, which i didn't do and it turned out fine]
3. wash and clean 1-2 bunch(es) chard (swiss, green, rainbow, or red). [mine was extremely large so i just needed one] chop stems and leaves. chop 3 strips bacon.
4. heat 1 T olive oil in very big pan, add 1 minced garlic clove and chopped bacon. after a minute or so, add chard stems. cook for 2 minutes then add chopped leaves. cook until slightly wilted.
5. shred 1 lb smoked mozzarella cheese.
6. assemble lasagna in 9x13 pan: a little bit of white sauce, lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, white sauce, chard, mozzarella cheese, then repeat a couple times. for the top layer - noodles, white sauce, mozzarella cheese. bake at 375F for about 45 minutes, until all bubbly and slightly brown. let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

so how did it turn out? good enough to share but it definitely would've been better if i added some sauteed mushrooms. it is very rich and probably horrible for you cause it has bacon, cheese (although the ricotta was part skim!), whole milk and butter. it was worth the calories though. i will try to get a picture of this lasagna tomorrow. i love eating!

#58 - rain and cold

i don't know why but i love the rain and cold. yes, i grew up in hawaii where the weather is quite predictably warm. it's been in the 30's here in oregon for a week or so, and i love it! unfortunately it hasn't snowed yet but i am waiting patiently. i missed the "white christmas" because i was in aforementioned warm climate. i love being able to bundle up and wear my big puffy jacket or peacoat. it's so nice to wear sweaters and sweats too. i LOVE seeing my breath outside when i breathe. last year about this time in late january it snowed and it was great!! i got to make a snowman and snowdog, snowboard in the street (sort of), watch maui run around and enjoy the snow with pogo, walk to work a mile in the snow (enjoying the crunch and quiet of the snow), sit inside in front of a fire in between playing in the snow, and just enjoy something kind of new. i look forward to the changing seasons and love the rain and cold while it lasts!

i do also love being able to go home to hawaii though and feel at home even though i'm only visiting. it will always be my home no matter where i go. hopefully i'll always be able to boogie board in the blue waters at waimanalo beach park where the sand is the finest you'll ever find. or trying to surf the small waves at white plains on my big ass board. there are many reasons why i don't live there but it's a great place. if i could somehow create real seasons there...i'd move in a heartbeat.

so now as i type and can't feel my hands or feet, i think about going out somewhere (like the gym) and just get lazy cause it's so nice to be in sweats and not do anything when it's cold. i am so comfortable! in hot weather i am always miserable unless i'm at the beach. most people think hawaii=beach but really not many people go to the beach everyday. hawaii is like any other place where when you live there you don't quite appreciate everything around you. maybe that is why i love oregon weather, it's not very extreme. you don't get to a point where you can't appreciate things because it changes pretty often. just about the time when you are hoping for warmer weather, you get it.

#57 - heath ledger

heath ledger died today, he was a beautiful, gifted actor from australia and was only 28. i don't know him but he is gone. i respected him as an actor so i guess that's why i'm sad. so many celebrities are in love with themselves and the limelight, they get into trouble and live crazy lives. he didn't really seem that way to me, he was very private, with his life focused on his career and daughter matilda.i first saw and loved him in 10 things i hate about you, a fun and fabulous movie based on shakespeare's "taming of the shrew". he had this crazy dark curly hair and was just really hunky and fun. he's made a bunch of films that i really like, playing a wide variety of characters. although he is a surfer looking pretty boy, he chose roles that brought him away from that idea, roles that challenged his acting ability. he played an australian outlaw in ned kelly opposite orlando bloom. another one i really liked was him playing the stoner skateboarder "skip" in lords of dogtown, a great movie about skating in the 70's. he was nominated for an oscar for his performance as troubled and quiet sheep herder ennis in brokeback mountain, the "gay cowboy" movie with jake gyllenhaal (now the godfather of matilda).his last two parts should be the most interesting. in i'm not there he plays a character who embodies a certain aspect of bob dylan. i really want to see it and it's still playing in theaters, maybe friday. he was just about to start publicity for the dark knight, sequel to batman begins with christian bale.
he plays the dark twisted character of a young joker. watching the trailer he looks totally different and just psycho! it won't come out till summer but i am anxiously awaiting its release already.

#56 - summer trip

in the ideal situation i would have an endless source of money with which to travel the world. unfortunately i don't so it's not my ideal situation but i do have an opportunity for a great trip this summer. my friend and former college roommate, amanda, is getting married this august in costa rica. her fiancee is a costa rican so naturally they are having it there. it was going to be a nice 3 month trip for me to explore central america but unfortunately i had to go and ruin my trip by failing my class. so instead of having from august till whenever to complete my trip, i will probably only have a month, depending on when my summer class is. i have to take a 1 credit class called nursing transition NUR 151. since my teachers/advisors are inept and generally wrong i have no idea about when and how i will take this class. it will start june 23 and get out either july 25, august 15 or august 29. then fall term starts on september 22. if it is july 25 i can do a 6 week thing. august 15 and i can do a 4 week thing but if it's august 29th i won't much time, barely enough for a 2 week trip. i have been saving money for awhile now for it so it would be a bummer if i could not make it work out. i have also been doing research, reading online and in travel books...only making me want to go more!

if i have a 6 week trip i could make it work. here are the 7 countries i am interested in visiting and planned on spending time in on my 3 month trip. instead i'm either going to cut out time in each country or skip countries altogether, thinking the latter probably.

• costa rica
• nicaragua
• el salvador
• belize
• honduras
• guatemala
• mexico

obviously i am going to be there because of my friend. since she won't be living in c.r. i am not sure how long she will be there before/after her wedding so if i cannot make the wedding in late august that would be a shame. then would i not even go? that is the question. spend my money to visit another area perhaps. i think my 6 week plan (school ending july 25) would include, in order of interest but not necessarily chronological/geographical order:

1. costa rica - 8-9 days
2. guatemala - 7 days
3. yucatan peninsula, mexico - 5 days(ish)
4. el salvador - 4 days
5. belize - 4 days

then if the trip were to shorten to say 4 weeks or less with amanda being in c.r., my list might be more like:

1. costa rica
2. spanish school and homestay somewhere to learn spanish

so these are two different possibilities that i've been thinking about, both not what i planned initially but change and flexibility are the names of the game. if she will not be in c.r. at that time though, i might do a trip to guatemala or mexico instead, the two i have a little more interest in and that aren't terribly expensive. i have something to look forward to, i'm just not sure what.

#55 - reading books

since i was in school pretty much all year i think i only read a few novels (in '07). i can't even remember what i read besides the new harry potter book and where the red fern grows. i thoroughly enjoyed both but read the second just to see if i still really liked it. it was my favorite book way back in the day. i cried like a baby when i finished it this summer. it was still great, but sad. i was sitting by a pool in molokai with sunglasses on. my mom was reading next to me and i finished. she was very quiet then said "are you crying?" it was funny cause i told myself i wouldn't cry. it was just so sad.


from 7th grade to the end of high school i really didn't enjoy reading because we had to analyze the hell out of every book we read. huck finn, great gatsby, scarlet letter, night...usually i didn't really get the deeper meaning and used cliff's notes a lot to do my papers. i don't like to analyze books. i don't really care what the deeper meaning is, or the metaphors. i enjoy a good story. i also enjoy learning about random things and reading cookbooks. ever since college ended i've been a library fanatic. i'll spend hours in there browsing the bookshelves and looking for interesting things to read. right now i've got a dozen books on building green and/or small houses. i'm really interested in housing design, especially environmentally friendly houses. i tend to not read those all the way through though, they are more a reference than anything. i just haven't had time to read a novel with school in the way.

so i decided since i'm not in school i want to read. my goal is 50 books this year. of course i will have one class next term and one during summer. then i start up full time again. but i think i can do it. i spent quite a bit of time looking up popular and classic books to read and came up with a list of 50. it is not all-inclusive at all and will probably change as the year goes on but i think it's a good list. i later found a nice list at the library of 100 fiction classics, 21 were on my list and i read 9 others. the thing about reading is you can read constantly and never read everything out there.

#54 - life list aka bucket list

i first heard of a life list when i saw this episode of scrubs called "my old lady", it was episode 4 of season 1. this clip features a great song and my second favorite version of it, "hallelujah" as done by john cale. my favorite is brandi carlile's version (duh). it definitely brought me to tears but also made me think of what it is that i wanted to accomplish in life. whenever the end comes i want to know that i don't have much on my list left. i've always had ideas of what would be on that list but never wrote one.



there is a new movie coming out called "bucket list" starring jack nicholson and morgan freeman about two old guys with cancer. basically they decide to do everything on their list (things to do before you kick the bucket). seeing the trailer for that movie brought back that scrubs episode and encouraged me to write mine. i am not dying or even close but if i make that list now i can actually have time to do the things on it and enjoy it. a lot of the things on my list have to do with travel and experiencing new cultures/things. i stumbled upon this site called SuperViva and here is my life list.

so far my list is over 170 things to do, some examples:

• mardi gras in new orleans
• swim with sharks
• see aurora borealis
• write a book
• build a house
• live in italy

my goal is to complete 90% of the things on my list before i die. i don't know how much time i have so i better get started! i have a few things on that list i know i'll do this year. woot!

being young, i know i have years to get things done on my list. the things i haven't yet done are not important yet because i know i have time. i don't know how much time but living healthy is a good way to ensure at least decades. i work in a nursing home and have these conversations with old people all the time. i ask them what their life was like and how they lived so long. getting to know them as they used to be is a lot different than who some of them are now.

i lost one of my dear residents on friday. let's just call her "mary", fictitious of course but i abide by HIPPA regulations. she has lived at my facility for at least ten years, probably more. she was a very interesting lady, graduated from reed college, married and widowed twice, and liked politics. she was involved in politics earlier in life and liked to talk about it. whenever W would come on tv she would just scoff, that made me laugh. she enjoyed watching animal planet and had this picture book called "stuff on my cat", hilarious pictures of cats with random things on them. i don't think the cats enjoyed posing for these pics but it was entertaining. many people i worked with thought mary was unfriendly and mean. they didn't get to know her. i went on a little vacation for the holiday and when i returned, i heard in report that she was on hospice, lost 10 pounds in a week and wasn't speaking. so i knew she was going to die. i didn't have her in my section that day so i thought i'd drop in and say hi. her face was hollow and body thinned out, she looked close. i said hi and when she saw me her eyes lit up. i told her i missed her and she said "i missed you too." i gave her a hug and went back to work. the next day she was in my section so i was glad. it was her day for a bath and i tried to keep her comfortable during it. i knew she was in pain and was so tired. she was ready to go. when i put lotion on her arms and legs she looked relieved and comfortable. she slept most of the day and when i was done i went in and said goodbye. i knew it would be the last time i saw her so i just gave her a kiss and said "i love you". that was it.

#53 - 25 things i never get tired of

i've been reading random blogs lately cause i've been bored. i came across a blog about those 25 things so here goes my list, in no particular order:

1. music!
2. surfing and being in the ocean - the sound, feeling, wind
3. the sound of rain and feeling it on your face
4. hitting snooze so that i can stay in the warm blankets a little longer
5. wandering around central library & learning
6. kissing the doggy

7. trying new things
8. laughing and not being able to stop; making others do the same
9. smells - pikake, ocean, maile, food, rain
10. dodgeball and friends
11. dreaming and daydreaming
12. long island iced teas
13. great food, esp noodles, pizza, nicholas
14. vegetables
15. seeing beauty in the world (people and places), sunsets
16. meeting new people, even if i am a bit shy
17. interesting, funny, non-judgemental, unique and easy conversation
18. watching football
19. getting to know people
20. showers with good water pressure and the feeling right after
21. quiet and peace of freshly fallen snow
22. traveling
23. warm clothes straight out of the dryer
24. fall colors and weather
25. just to love and be loved in return

#52 - sports vids

no excuses


basketball freestyle


futbol freestyle

#51 - faith

i have a strange faith. but it has nothing to do with religion or spirituality.

my religious background - i was not brought up in a church but did go to sunday school as a kid and went to church in high school because of different friends that brought me there. i never really felt comfortable or 100% there. i loved singing though. i am totally interested in buddhism but i think i'm just not an organized religion kind of person.

i always thought it was weird to have a crazy faith in god. not any old regular faith but undying and unconditional, knowing that he has a master plan for you. i've always been one to want to make my own plans and believe that things happen because you make them. i don't believe in putting it all in god's hands or maybe i don't want to.. it's free will. which philosopher was it that said "there is no such thing as free will"? there has to be, or why live? why make any decisions at all if there is already a plan in place, if your destiny is already set? that makes no sense to me. what is the point of living if you have no free will?

whoops, wrong faith. : P

belief in god ensures your place in heaven, a good afterlife. is there an afterlife, a heaven and hell? it's all there in the bible so who am i to question that? it's good to question isn't it? i haven't really done much real "thinking" in awhile but these are my thoughts. to me, i don't know if there is an afterlife and if i did maybe my opinions would be different. i cannot have a faith like that in something that i have absolutely no proof. but i guess that would be the meaning of faith. one definition of faith is "firm belief in something for which there is no proof". there is no proof of an afterlife, therefore i don't believe it is necessarily true, i have no faith. it is possible but i don't know either way. i'd rather just live this life, make decisions, enjoy every second of it and then if there happens to be something else then great. the show goes on. those who have this kind of faith are amazing.

anyway. my faith isn't religious. my faith is in people. i have that naive sense where i believe in people, that they are good and do the right thing. i have proof of this and i was proven right again last night. well here is what happened in short - i had a few signed checks in an atm envelope and took it to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. it was left on the table and we went on our way. 3 hours later i realized that no one had the envelope and it must be at the restaurant. well it's not quite as dramatic as if it were actual cash in the envelope, but somehow i KNEW that my envelope would still be there. i had FAITH that someone would return it and it would be there for me today. and it was. people ARE good. another definition of faith is "something that is believed especially with strong conviction". maybe this is my faith.

one of the blogs i read is my friend joe from high school. he is a pastor and pretty much the last person in my group of friends that i thought would become one! it's not that he is not a good person, it was just the weirdest idea. he was so loud, proud and goofy. then i started reading his blog and have a new respect for him. it's interesting to get into his head and faith in god. go read it.

so my faith is different from the religious faith but i do believe people are good. they prove it all the time, and so when i am faced with putting my trust in a stranger who i will never meet, i do so. i know they will do the right thing because i would. maybe this is karma...a blog topic for another day.

#50 - memphis

we were in memphis for a really short time it seemed. it felt like all we did really is eat ribs and go to graceland. my mom is a big elvis fan so it was very exciting for her. we arrived on wednesday evening after driving forever (not that i noticed cause i was passed out in the back of the van) and checked into our hotel. i was starving of course so we headed out immediately to a bbq place that someone recommended called marlowe's. it was amazing! i had a full rack of ribs with side of baked beans and mushrooms. ooh it was delicious, so saucy and tender. it was the most meaty ribs i've ever had.

the next day we headed to graceland, which was less 10 minutes from our hotel. it was so exciting to see elvis's mansion and all his fancy stuff, while learning a bit more about him. i learned he had a twin that died at birth. i also learned that he had a really interesting sense of style. well i guess it was the 70's. he had all these crazy outfits and such perfect hair. and tons of hits, he is the king.



it was a great experience, stepping back into time and trying to imagine what life was like with elvis. or just imagining how crazy i would be about elvis if it was my time, i'd be fanatic for sure! my mom said she was a little too young, just a teenager when he came to hawaii so she missed that. she was amazingly moved by graceland, it was like her mecca. when it came to the end of the tour at elvis's grave her eyes welled up with tears. it was sad. then i thought of my own dead musical heroes like kurt cobain and bradley nowell. if i visited their graves would i be so moved? maybe but probably not. while they have made their impact on music history, not at the same level as elvis.



besides his mansion and grave we also saw a car collection and private airplane, the lisa marie. it was all pretty neat and kinda eerie to occupy the same space as he once did. we had lunch there at graceland, i had meatloaf, which was one of elvis's favorites. :) it was yummy. after that we went to the peabody hotel which features 5 ducks that sit in a fountain all day then march out at the end of the day to music. odd. my mom really wanted to go see that though and it was kinda cute but didn't really excite me. for dinner we went to central BBQ and got more ribs which had a better flavor but was less meaty. it was also half dry and half wet, i didn't really like the dry. i got sides of mac & cheese and greens, which were excellent. unfortunately no food pics.

the next day we set out to this area which was very deserted. it wasn't very far but was a different part of town for sure. we went to see the STAX record museum, which was the place where soul was born. the STAX label featured artists like otis redding and booker t & mg's. i didn't know many of these artists but once i heard clips they were familiar. otis redding was only 26 (same as me) when he died in a plane crash. sitting on the dock of the bay is such a great song!! after that we headed to sun records, which is where elvis first recorded music. johnny cash also recorded a lot of his early work, he is awesome. it was a short but informative tour and i got to hold the same mic that they used to record songs many years ago! that was cool. i also sat at the same drum set that u2 used on rattle & hum.



we did check out famous beale street at both night and day, both times were pretty deserted. that was kind of weird because it thought for sure it would be more crowded. we didn't get to hear much music but stepped into bb king's restaurant for a minute. it was a very fun but short trip to memphis and i really wanted to continue on and go to nashville as well but it wasn't in the plan. my mom said you have to leave some stones unturned, and i left many. i will be back, tennessee!!



the people in the south were just so great, very nice and friendly. true southern hospitality. i thoroughly enjoyed myself in both memphis and new orleans, especially while eating! i will definitely be back, perhaps around mardi gras time in n.o. i would say at least 4 days there not including partying days, and probably 2 more in memphis and 5 in nashville (it's the heart of country music!). there is just so much to see and hear. that would be a nice little trip for someday down the road.

#49 - new orleans

the reason for the trip in the first place is the UH warriors playing in the sugar bowl. so we spent a lot of time doing football-related things.

sunday - we arrived in the crescent city (aka the big easy) via 5.5 hour drive down from memphis, where they lost two of our baggages. we got to our hotel in the garden district, it was a lovely place and it was late. we were hungry and picked the st. charles tavern cause it was one of only two places open within a few blocks. we arrived and ordered around 11 and didn't get our food till about 12. not kidding. apparently the two cooks working that night were both new. when it came time for one of our orders to come (pasta primavera - how hard is that?) the cook said he didn't know how to make it. WTF?! i'm serious. so rather than tell us when we were ordering an hour before he waited. so basically that person didn't get any food and we resorted to going to wendy's afterwards. my country fried steak was blah. it was possibly the worst one i've ever had.

monday - new years eve. we started out the day by taking a streetcar into town. we walked along the famous bourbon street in the french quarter and then found our destination - brennan's on royal. we had a fabulous brunch there and it more than made up for the lack of meal the night before. it was easily the best brunch i've had. we all ordered the three course meal, i chose cajun onion soup, eggs nouvelle orleans (crabmeat topped with poached egg and brandy cream sauce) and crepes fitzgerald (crepes with maraschino flamed strawberries). it was delicious and a great experience for the stomach!


after that we walked around a bit then decided to take a walking tour of the area. we learned a lot about different styles of buildings and a lot of history. it was quite informative but kinda boring. we were out all day and it was a nice day, got to see the mississippi river and the st. louis cathedral, which was beautiful. i love stained glass!



that night we had what they called a "cajun warrior bash" where all the hawaii fans gather to eat, drink and cheer. it's a good idea but it wasn't well planned. it was an expensive deal and they weren't quite prepared to handle the amount of people. it was pretty much just standing and eating for most people. the food was excellent though. we had a nice variety of southern style food including gumbo, jambalaya, etouffe, fried oysters, shrimp, etc, and mini muffalettas. yummy! we stayed at that party till about 11, then we went to the waterfront to watch some fireworks. finally we made our way to bourbon street. it wasn't pure madness but it was a little crazy. definitely would've been more fun with friends but the parents were alright.



tuesday - game day. we slept in and then headed to bourbon street again to go to a tailgate party. there we had more southern food and some good fried chicken wings! yummy! after that we walked around a bit and went to cafe du monde, a place famous for its beignets and cafe au laits. it was so good! i guess they are like donuts but covered in powdered sugar. goes so well with the coffee. it was perfect.



from there we headed to the super dome on a free shuttle where i sat behind a woman from georgia who was super nice and we traded beads. it was pretty exciting to see all the hawaii fans together and just so excited over their team. it was such a great season and people who never even liked football were there to support them. the game itself was quite a letdown. colt brennan was totally off and georgia was just too over powering. faster, bigger, stronger. final score was 41-10. it was sad. the fans were there but once georgia got going, the fans in white were not very vocal. i for one am a crazy fan. anyone who's watched a football game with me knows i scream, yell and cheer my little heart out. if anything could be said about me, it's that i'm no fair-weather fan. i cheer till the very end, with the thought that miracles can happen. but they didn't. the most beautiful thing about the whole thing was all our classy fans, staying till the very end and singing hawaii ponoi. it was really a chicken skin moment and i was so glad to be there!! GO WARRIORS!



when we got back we went to this other bar up the street from the hotel to have dinner. it was way after midnight by then. i got a BBQ burger and "the best bloody mary in new orleans". it was the best one i've ever had. wonderful. we left the next day but not until i had a po' boy with shrimp. i didn't take any pictures of it but it was delicious! we drove back up to memphis and i pretty much slept the whole way again. yay for car sleeping!

#48 - eight

it's already five days into this new year, 2008. what will this year bring? i have a few things in mind but what stands out is:

• the debut of dwayne's world dodgeball!
• a term off
• then a term of one class
• then a term off (summer)
• central america trip!!!
• start of second year of nursing school
• new president, finally!
• much more dodgeball
• second season of kickball
• work=money.
• possibly st patty's barfly bus...
• winning the lotto
• more new friends
• hanging out with same great friends
• ski trip!
• taking the train
• QUADSTOCK!
• new tattoo

that's a pretty good list for now. i'm not gonna make resolutions cause i never do. they don't work. but as of monday i will be vegetarian. lifestyle changes people. all that hawaiian then southern food has made me feel unhealthy. i also haven't worked out for about a month. can't wait for dodgeball!

#47 - old year - bye 2007

i must admit, 2007 was a great year. i've never looked back on a year and realized it was so fulfilling. it was both happy and sad. things to happen this past year:

• started nursing school
• started new job at providence
• still working same HPP job
• broadway grill
• went to a TON of shows!
• saw brandi carlile twice
• silversun pickups, fall out boy, mason jennings, spoon..
• best summer ever
• barfly bus tour!
• musicfest nw
• kickball
• dodgeball and friends!!
• moved twice
• partied a lot
• started hanging out with fun cousins!
• got bit by a dog :(
• learned how to skate
• learned a lot about nursing - finished a year, sorta
• practiced becoming a guitar hero
• met awesome friends through school
• OSU beavers and UH warriors great football seasons
• won CIVIL WAR in autzen
• joined a new gym
• ate lots of thai food (but never enough!)
• three words - lego star wars
• fun times
• played in some snow
• partied on bourbon street
• RIP - grandma bean and ben

hopefully next year in my year review "winning the lotto" will be included. it was a good year. there was more but it's probably not interesting to anyone.