the simple life

I had the most beautiful lunch with my newly engaged best friend's mother yesterday:)
We went to Del Mar and had lunch on the beach with a yummy bottle of white wine. We chatted about weddings, life, family, and just caught up in general. I am glad I am not the first to be engaged so that I can learn from all the frustrations and the small "mistakes" that often take place. Ha. sounds selfish, I know, but there is so much that goes into planning a wedding. I'm going to sit back, relax, and watch everyone else freak out for the next year or two. And then maybe I won't when it's my turn.... maybe. Our lunch was followed by 2 hours on the beach chatting some more. Who knew we would sit for 4 hours together and just talk. It's the simple things in life :)

our "plan"

I have chosen to put "plan" in quotes because hardly anything really goes as planned. Especially when traveling Europe for 2 months and especially in my life. Sooooo, here is a quick "plan" of our next few months. It will be interesting to see what REALLY happens. ;)

Adam and I move out of our Encinitas, CA beach apartment this Thursday, September 30th. We are sad to leave our place only 3 blocks from the beach, but happy to get away from the loud train and more than excited for our European adventure! We're driving up to San Francisco first, possibly doing some beach camping along the way. My dad and sister (and entire dad's side of the family) live in the bay area. So we have packed up our cars and will stay with them before we head to Europe on October 5th.

Europe Itinerary:
Ireland to England to France to Italy to Spain.

We'll be in Ireland for over a week driving the lush countryside, London to visit a friend, Paris where we have rented a 'chic' apartment for a week, all over Italy (even down to the boot of Calabria), and finally to Spain where we will be visiting my Spanish family (great grandmother and second cousins, etc.) We will blog along the way and give specifics on where we have been and what we have been doing..:)

We return back to San Francisco on December 5th. From there, we will be looking for jobs in the San Francisco area and will then move out of my dad's place and look for our own ;) We are looking forward to a new city together, I think SF is going to be great.

Now let's see what actually happens..... stay tuned for posts while we're traveling. We can't wait!!

Not just us

Another quick political topic I noticed. Australia just voted in their new prime minister a month or two ago. There are also 2 parties in Australia: Labor (most similar to Democrat) and Liberal (most similar to Republican). Quite funny because our liberal is just the opposite. Anyway, they have just voted in a red headed WOMAN representing the Labor (Democrat) party. Not that hair color matters but the fact that she is a woman has many people up in arms. I haven't seen any of this on our news here in the US, but since I lived in Australia for a short time, I had friends posting all over facebook who both loved her and hated her. I saw really crude things, "This firecrotch lesbian won't do anything for our country!" or calling her "nothing but a bogan" which is basically a country hick. And then I saw others who said" Thank you Labor party for progressing Australia!" "Australia is on the right path, we have needed a woman!"

So of course I had to research what was going on, and yes, Australia voted in a woman Democrat. Doesn't this all sound a bit familiar? Woman dem vs. "black" dem. It's all the same. Everyone getting all fired up about something they really don't have any control over. Sure, our vote does matter. But once they're voted in, there is nothing the public can do anymore. They are going to call the shots... most likely "puppet" around like the rest of them... and everyone is going to have something to say about it.

Here is a recent status update from one of my aussie girlfriends who is supporting the new PM:
(mind you, I am not sure what all the slang means but you get the idea)

"I'm avoiding facebook until all the derogatory sexist ranga/ginga/fanta comments die down. So far you've picked on the fact she's female, her hair color (red is fantastic by the way) and now her accent. What defines a bogan?? Someone who wasn't educated at a North Shore or Eastern subbarb private school who speaks and acts like a total stuck up spoilt wanker?!"

I just had to blog about this because the bottom line is that this happens all over the world. Everyone has their own opinions about people in power and will get all shaken up over it. (I know I have). It sure seems as though we're more alike than different. Just try not to lose your friends over it. :)

politics shmolitics

I got a lot of requests asking this to be a political blog. I still have a huge interest in politics here in the US and around the world, but I'm not as vocalized about it anymore. I've experienced first hand how politics and religion conversations can ruin friendships, or at least bruise them. And it's a shame this happens. Some people will hold a grudge for much longer than I thought was possible, but then again, a grudge takes more energy out of you than me. So I won't be sitting here bashing or getting upset or angry trying to make a stance. The couple things I will say is that I have traveled a lot. I feel that my opinions are validated more because I have seen what other countries have to offer, (both the good and the ugly). I have volunteered in "slummy" areas both here in the US and other countries. My belief is that very little things will change based on who we nominate as President. Until we as individuals start realizing that we choose our reality, not "superman", we will keep having unrealistic expectations of our government and people in power.

When Obama was campaigning, so many people thought he was God (or better). He was glorified on the cover of People magazine, his speeches sounded more like a church service being held in the South, and people really thought this was the "end all be all" guy. That he was going to come save all the poor people and get us out of this economic downfall. In fact, just the opposite has happened. I don't care if it was Bush's "left overs" that he's dealing with. The President made countless promises that he himself would never be able to fulfill. But people still believed this celebrity guy who promised "change".

The only thing that has changed is that our country is in billions more debt. The poor people are poorer. And our economy is falling apart. Maybe we have our parents generation to point the finger at. Maybe is was the officials they elected (Carter) that are responsible. "8 years of bush.." blah blah. No matter what it is, Barack Obama is not going to be able to fix any of this. I can't even listen to his speeches anymore because they all sound the same, and so rehearsed. Do I think McCain could have done it better? Not necessarily. But all these new 18-25 year old voters had no idea what they were voting for. I would hear my friends repeat Obama's promises verbatim and it would just crack me up. Just because he's a good speaker, HALF black (he's not black people!), encouraging and inspiring, "new aged", doesn't mean anything to me other than he looks sharp on the Today Show.

The truth is, his approval ratings have plummeted. I can't believe people are really surprised by this. Check out this Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/ (highly reputable). I tried to paste the actual link to the poll but just search it. Even the people who voted him in are furious..... and I don't blame them. But then again, I sorta do because this guy never had super powers and nothing he claimed he would do can be done in his position. Oh well.

This is super jumbled because I'm sitting in a noisy cafe and can't really think straight. But I just wanted to jot a couple things down. This is probably as far as I'll go politically..... It's just not worth getting a bunch of people wanting to argue. But the main thing that I feel is that I am still happy I'm an American woman. Spend a couple minutes reading about sex trafficking in Eastern Europe, for example. This crap happens everywhere. We may have some issues in the US, but I'm glad I'm not trying to sneak my family over. It's bad here to some people, then it must be really be bad there. I can deal with the fact that Spain gets a siesta and we don't. Or that Canada has free health care (which they don't). It could be a hell of a lot worse.

eye openers

It's September 2nd and I am still wondering why we were robbed of our usual San Diego summer. We literally had May-Grey and June-Gloom the entire month of July and August, and so far, September isn't any better. I am sitting on my patio sipping on hot tea, in my uggs and long sleeves. It's high 60's and this is cold for me. And for San Diego.

But none the less it's a nice day and I'm going to write. I have been out of college for a year now and have basically been unemployed the entire year. This is mainly due to the fact that we will be traveling Europe for 2 months, and I can't commit to an office at the moment. I get temp jobs from time to time but usually, I am sitting at home or laying on the beach. Which gives me plenty of time to think. Thinking can be good or bad, especially when you have a mind like mine (See traffic jam blog). In a nut shell, this is what I have learned over the last year, in no particular order:



-money will most definitely NOT make you happy.

-I don't depend on coffee nearly as much as I thought I did in college.

-I have to live near a body of water to refrain from feeling landlocked.

-our next apartment must have more kitchen counter space AND a washer&dryer.

-my boyfriend is the only one who truly 'gets' me.

-home grown veggies taste so much better than grocery store ones.

-YOU are in charge of your own life.



I'm not going to sit and elaborate on all of these, but I'll pick a couple:



-Money will not make you happy. I grew up in a pretty affluent area. We were not rich but not poor either. Middle class seems to be the right word. I didn't feel deprived growing up because my sister and I pretty much got everything we wanted and definitely everything we needed. But I always thought.. "If we had more money, my closet would be twice as big. I could drive a BMW too. We could go out for more expensive meals..." blah blah blah. I met a group of very wealthy people a few months ago. Good looking guys, in their mid 30's. Flying private jets to Istanbul, Turkey where the CEO of Corvette is located. This one guy in particular was showing me photos of this trip: Partying on a huge yacht, Don Perion flowing and beautiful women swarming them. But you know what he told me? He said, "I have a gap in my life. I'm missing love." So I go on asking him why he's single, etc. He said women just want his money, not him. He was tired of the royalty game that was now his life. Sex and drugs everywhere, artificial people, lies, manipulation, everyone only looking out for themselves. I'm not saying everyone who has money have these same opportunities or even the same outlook. But one thing it seems a lot of these people have in common is that somewhere along the line, they are more superior to the person who has less financially. I honestly don't even think they mean to be this way, but it's inevitable sometimes (not always) I think. I am still waiting to meet the super humble rich population. Take the guy in the Mercedes convertible flying down the highway and cutting people off. I see it every single day. "You car means nothing! Your looks mean nothing! What you HAVE mean nothing!" That's what I feel like yelling after those people. I want to ask them, "Who is the real you? Are you happy?" Maybe this is a result of living in a place like California, where image is so much more focused on than inside qualities. But then again, I've seen this in other places too (Denver, Australia), so it must be our world as a whole. Everything on TV is about image. Women and men have to look a certain way to get any sort of media attention. (ok getting off topic here..) I touch on this subject because Adam and I have totally been on our own over the last year. We have been living pay check to pay check and I have never been happier. When we choose to settle down and quit traveling, we'll be able to save of course. I have a talent that luckily will keep us more than comfortable and Adam has some prosperous business ideas. But right now, we are broke as a joke. But we're happy. One thing I feel like I have that others don't, is the love and trust I have with my boyfriend. There is nothing that concerns me about Adam. I know his love is pure and real and no amount of money or wining and dining will ever make him more attractive in my eyes. It saddens me to see people I know and people I don't know, who are caught in the alternative. I would rather pack a bag full of good cheese and wine and set up a picnic on the beach. I love to camp (as long as I can make a comfy bed free from spiders). Don't get me wrong, I like nice things, and some would even say I'm high maintenance in certain areas. But my point is, those things that you can hold in your hand, don't make you happy. I'm not putting everyone with money in a certain category, I'm just stating what I have seen through my personal experiences. Tangible "things" will not make a person happier. Happiness come from deep inside a person and from the people you choose to surround your life with. Maybe it's just my personality, maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm diving into something I know nothing about. But I do know one thing. I know how it feels to be so full of happiness. And it's not the times when I have a thousand dollar shopping spree at Nordstrom, or have just gotten my hair done, or have just paid 100 bucks for a steak. It's the time when I'm laying on the couch with Adam in our simple beach apartment, watching movies and eating fondue. Or the times when I have an hour conversation with my dad over the phone. Or watching my little brother get so excited over the smallest things. Or venting to my supportive girlfriends. I could go on and on showing my trend of happiness. I hope everyone will one day understand this because it took me a long time to come to this reality. And I'm so thankful I did.


-I have to live near a body of water so I don't feel "landlocked". After high school I went to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. It's a mountain town and reminded me a lot of Colorado. I remember my freshman year, about 2 months in, feeling queasy and claustrophobic. I couldn't figure it out and it was lasting for days. Then a friend of mine invited me to Sedona where they have creeks and large ponds I like to call them. We would go to slide rock and slide down this super long creek until you ended up in this big pond where you could wade in. Once I got there for the first time, my claustrophobia went away. Then I came home for Christmas and spent my days on the beach and again, I felt free and not so secluded. The water looks like it spreads out forever and it sorta does. After 3 years at NAU, I transferred to CU Denver for hygiene school. I loved the mountains but I liked Cherry Creek Reservoir more. There is something about the water and not the mountains that keep me relaxed. Plus, it's so much effort puting on layers and layers to go snowboarding. I hate when my face stings from the cold and I'd rather just put on a tiny bathing suit and be on the beach..... And this is why I came back to San Diego and definitely plan on calling California (even if we move up to San Francisco) home. Some people find their calmness in the mountains or desert. Mine is definitely on the water.


-Adam is the only one who truly 'gets' me. He can walk in the door after being at work all day, without me saying a word, and instantly know if something is wrong. He will call me at lunch and know from the tone of my voice that something isn't right. And he knows when I am happier than ever and that is his favorite part. Seeing me happy. I have spent just about every single day and night with him over the last year and I have gotten to know him so much more than before. Moving in together was the best decision I have made so far. But I take some of this back.... My dad is the other man who fits this description to a "T". I have been blessed with 2 amazing men in my life, I honestly can't believe how fortunate I am. My boyfriend supports me and cherishes me. He understands me and believes in me. I could flatter this boy all day long but for your sake, I will stop now.

-"Life is what you make it." My mom used to tell me that all the time when I would whine and complain about somewhere I had to go or something I had to do. It used to frustrate me so much, I would get so mad at her for stating something so true and easy. You mean if I just change my perspective and turn my bad attitude around, this really will be a good day? YES YES YES!! Sure, bad things will come up but it's how we deal with those that will change our entire day, month, or year, around. I used to have a poster on my fridge in Denver that said, "Today is a good day!" Our minds are so powerful and just thinking something positive will shape and change your outlook. At least it has for me, so give it a try. :)

I didn't mean for this blog to "brag" about how happy I am, but rather to say how thankful I have become over the last year. I take absolutely nothing for granted because people and things can be gone in an instant. I by no means consider myself to have all the answers, I am just stating what I have learned personally, and this didn't come over night. My ears and eyes are wide open and I'm anxious to keep filling myself with new realizations... Good thing I've got several years to do that;) I am way too excited for Europe and for what the different cultures are going to teach us. It's going to be a good end to a good year. I just know it.