#161 - christmas!

i know it's not really about the presents but christmas kind of tends to focus around presents. you wake up and all you can think is, "i wonder if i got any good presents?!" unfortunately with the new airline baggage restrictions, i can't really enjoy any big presents cause i'd have to lug them back with me and pay for them. i did not really get anything to write about. i don't actually expect good presents, never have and never will. i already got something i really wanted anyway, and that was a gym membership. i think at this point in your life, as adults, you already buy the things you need and want. or at least i do. i did get $25 to the mall so i'll have to use that before i leave. hopefully there will be some awesome sales!

we had a christmas party at night, which is more of what the day means. you hang out with family, eat a lot, and play games. we played bingo. i won $4! haha it was fun but i passed out before 10. i've been sleeping weird lately. i sleep by my grandpa who needs help to the bathroom so i have been sleeping lightly at night so that i can hear him. so i wake up to take him to the toilet and it takes awhile to get back to sleep. i then wake up early because everyone else does. there are ten people in this house that was probably built for 5. it's a small house.

we've been playing lots of games - scrabble, dominoes, and cards. i love scrabble, it's fun! i'm a nerd. i've been playing wii. my favorite games i lego star wars and i'm working on it right now, started last year and am just continuing it till i can finish, hopefully. i'm almost halfway i think. my sister got an "outdoor adventure" wii game that we played, it has a running pad like on the old nintendo. my cousin's fiancee has an iphone and had a ton of old nintendo games on it! i played some duck hunt!! gotta love the classics.

we went to lahaina today, which wasn't too exciting. we ate at cheeseburger in paradise MMMM and walked around art shops. it's hard to do stuff with ten people. everyone has to agree and people walk at different paces. while i don't want to abandon my family, it would be good to go do my own thing at some point. i've got a few more days here then it's back to my regular life/schedule. it will be a welcome change but i'm gonna enjoy the fam and islands for the rest of the time i'm here.

oh, the hawaii bowl did not turn out well for us. i went to the game, cheered as hard as i could, and still yet - notre dame 49, hawaii 21. boo!! i guess you can't win em all. but...i have a chance for redemption. sun bowl on the 31st, oregon state vs pitt. our top two players, the rodgers brothers, are out with injuries. althought that's no excuse for potential poor play, it sucks cause they are fun to watch. i am just gonna cheer and hope our team steps up. pitt is a pretty good, competitive, talented team. we definitely have to show up and play way better than in the civil war. that was embarassing. GO BEAVERS!

#160 - vacation thoughts

i'm here still, lots of sun. portland is still snowing i think. it's crazy! i've been pretty busy, seeing friends and doing things. today i'm going to the hawaii bowl to watch hawaii beat notre dame! it's always fun to beat them, even if they aren't necessarily good this year. oregon state beat them 41-9 in the fiesta bowl some years ago, that was AWESOME! right after my dad and i are taking a flight to maui to join the rest of the fam. yesterday i went golfing and the day before i went surfing. i've been to a few potluck dinner parties and hung out with pretty much all my friends here. it's been good.

the only thing is i'm missing lots of snow! i've never been in a real winter. portland usually has an inch a year, maybe. it's not a big deal and it's gone in a day or two. now this is real snow! it's still there after a week and it's gettin bigger! i want a white xmas. too bad it's not snowing here, that would be cool.


i've eaten a lot here too and haven't been to the gym as much as i planned. i've had loco mocos, manapuas, pork hash, cake noodle (mmm), and lots of dessert. i think i went to the gym twice. ooops. i did surf and golf though, if that counts as exercise. oh and tennis once! ha! i'm headed to maui where i don't have any friends, only family, so definitely more gym time. i'll need "brandi time" and i'm sure to be eating a lot more ono stuff so i'll need the gym. i've got a lot of projects that my grammy has for me. paint the front door and build a mailbox are two of the big ones. i always try to do some projects when i'm there cause its fun and makes my grandparents happy. plus, i like painting. it's fun and messy!

i am glad i still have another week of vacation cause i need it. once i get back it'll be non-stop for a few months at least. work, school, clinicals, dodgeball, etc. somewhere in there i try to squeeze in sleep but i'm figuring out that i like to take a 2-3 hour nap during the day. i'm not sure how i'll be able to incorporate that into my daily schedule but when i get back but i want to try. good luck with that eh? i better finish packing and do some chores my mom gave me before i head off to the golf course for lunch...adobo fried rice! oh yeah!

GO WARRIORS!

#159 - skinny jeans

i'm sorry, it may be "in style" but skinny jeans are dumb. i hate the look of them, especially on guys. i mean, aren't your balls being squished by the skinniness of the jeans? that could potentially affect your future family. skinny jeans work on skinny people i suppose but it only makes you look more undernourished.

skinny jeans just are not sexy, especially guys. if you are wearing skinnier jeans than i am - goodbye, not interested. i mean guys are wearing women's jeans and/or sewing them to make them skin tight. and the butt always looks weird in them. i'm not sure when it became acceptable to wear skinny jeans but i'm tired of it.

baggy jeans are also stupid but they are being worn a little less. i still see people's butts hanging out of their jeans. when your belt level is below your ass, what is the point of even wearing pants? just wear your underwear cause that's what we are seeing!

i am not a big fashionista. i don't even really care how i dress. i'm sure people criticize my "fashion sense" but i'm not gonna get caught up in every popular fashion of the day just to look cool. if i think it's uncomfortable or funny looking, i'm not gonna go there. end of story.

#158 - snow day!

yesterday i woke up to a blanket of snow and wind outside my window. i didn't have much to do except hang out with friends to eat and drink coffee. what an awesome day! i've got pictures of the snow covered streets and what not, will post soon. it's been awhile since i've posted pictures. i've been very lazy with picture taking. or maybe just busy with other things. today my work was canceled so i got another day to just play. it's been awesome and i had more coffee and food with friends! i wish that was all i had to do, everyday. no real commitments, just fun and laughter. i cannot wait until june when school will be over and done with and i can have one less thing to do. it will be work, dodgeball, friends, food, etc. work cause i have to and all the others cause i want to. hopefully i'll find a job that i actually like though. well i like mine right now good enough but it's not a forever type of job.

i love coffee. i know that i shouldn't drink it too much cause it kind of makes me jittery but i love the flavor and warmth it gives me. plus it's a great excuse to hang out with friends. i feel so adult when i say "wanna get coffee?" i'm not much into the fancy espresso stuff anymore cause it's too spendy. i like a good latte now and then but good ole plain drip coffee does it for me. mmm...i think i wanna go get a cup right now!

#157 - hope vs. fear

i recently watched the gus van sant film, milk. it was the first movie i've seen in a long time, at the theater. i just cannot afford it these days, i remember when movies were $5! anyway, it was worth every penny. it is about the first gay elected official, harvey milk. he was elected to the city supervisor position in san francisco during the 70's. it took several elections for him to become known and popular but he did. he brought hope to the people of san francisco, particularly the castro district, which was a big hangout for the gay community. at a time when there were a lot of crimes against gay men who were being beaten in the streets, milk stood up and said "no more". here is an excerpt from one of his most famous speeches, known as "the hope speech":

The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us'es, the us'es will give up.

this speech reminded me a lot of barack obama, believe it or not. here is an excerpt from one of obama's speeches. while it is not the same topic exactly, they are both very inspiring and full of hope:

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.

so often we are ruled by fear. the last 8 years have been full of fear. now it is time to turn that around and be inspired. what's so wrong with being hopeful and positive? i am guilty of being pessimistic at times but seeing milk i just have to have hope. harvey milk was a nobody who decided that being gay was worth fighting for and who became a martyr. it was not acceptable to be in the closet and he deserved rights as an equal human being. while we have come a long way since the 70's in terms of gay rights, to me it is ridiculous that people have to fight for such things. the main issue he was fighting was called proposition 6, which was trying to get all the gay teachers out of schools in california. people felt threatened by them, that they were teaching the kids to be gay. ridiculous! heterosexuals feeling that the sanctity of marriage is threatened by gays is also silly to me. your marriage is your own thing and no one can threaten it but you. you work for it. i think a lot of straight couples don't take their vows seriously enough, and where are the activists protesting divorced couples? aren't they threatening the sanctity of marriage?

people are so much in other people's business it kind of sickens me. why are you judging other people without even knowing them? why do you think you and your beliefs are better? make sure you are perfect before you judge. no one is perfect. all we can control really is RIGHT HERE. i totally believe all people should have equal rights. we are all human. after all, even animals have rights. people believe in different religions, some will be judged by god eventually. others believe in karma and get what's coming to them. judged by the universe i guess. either way, it is a power greater than any human.

#156 - DOMS sucks

so i joined 24 hour fitness again. this is probably my third "new membership" but it's a longer one. honestly i haven't been going everyday like planned. mostly this is because i got four personal training sessions. i went to my first one last week and it totally killed me! i've been weight lifting/working out for probably ten years, since high school. sometimes i take it more seriously than others but lately i've been kind of lax. i blame my busy schedule and other "more important" things like school but really i haven't been doing much besides playing dodgeball and pushing around some weights at the gym.

my trainer basically kicked my ass and made me hurt for a week. i cursed him a lot when trying to get out of bed or walk up stairs. i could see how his workout is a good one but DAMN! i am supposed to go again today at 4 but i am scared. i am scared i won't stick to it cause i'm a wimp. i can have the best workout planned with the best nutritional plans but if i don't take it seriously and stick to it, well it's all for naught. when i am hurting from DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) i don't want to do anything. i don't want to do cardio or even light weights. WIMP. so i've workout out once since my last session. my eating was not so good, i mean thanksgiving was in the middle of it and who could pass up pumpkin, mixed berry, and apple pie, plus a chocolate espresso cheesecake?! not me. and all the stuffing i could want...well it was a recipe for disaster.

when it comes to food i am weak. i am trying to eat cleaner. i am trying to eat every 2-3 hours with lean proteins at every meal. i am trying to eat more fresh fruit and veggies. it's like having another job. if you are serious about working out and putting in that effort then it is imperative to do the eating as well. eating every 2-3 hours is not the hard part. i am ALWAYS hungry! it's the planning and cooking and prepping. yesterday i was gone from 6:45am to 9pm and had to prep and plan meals for the whole time i was gone. it took a lot of time and effort to do so but in the end there i was with my little cooler full of food.

what i am anticipating when i return home for the holidays is food, lots of it and not necessarily the best for eating clean. i mean who can pass up a loco moco?! definitely not me. i even invented a whole new category of artery-clogger in what i call the "stuffing moco". it was half stuffing, half fried rice, leftover turkey, fried egg sunny side up, and gravy all over. of course it was to-die-for. literally. when i am in hawaii i want to eat all the food that i miss for all the time i am not there. chicken katsu curry, teri pork at tokyo tei, dry noodles at sam sato, loco mocos, shave ice from matsumoto, hamburger steak at kahuku golf course, ramen, tempura, etc. some of these foods i can get in portland but it's just not the same. when there is something in front of my that is amazingly awesome, delicious and not good for me, i just want to eat it all. portion sizes are out the window, meal planning is out the window, and working out...well we'll see. my goal is to get 30 minutes of some kind of activity besides lifting a fork to my mouth. surfing, golfing, 24 hour, stationary cycling or walking.