Bummer.

Well this is going to be a bittersweet post. First... I made it, during the month of January I blogged every single day! Thanks for reading my sometimes boring excuses for posts :) but I'm stoked I set a (minor) goal for myself and saw it through.

So that means I'm semi burnt out! I made a point of blogging every single day and tried to find topics that still interested me day after day. So apologies in advance if I drop off the blog world for a bit. My goal's going to be quality and not quantity.

And now for the "bitter" part: dog lady didn't call us back. I can't explain how excited I was at the prospect of having my own puppy! I'm actually quite upset that she won't call me back. Therefore I'm hoping she had a legitimate reason for not calling back and will eventually want me to come see them!

Hoping that we'll still be able to bring home a little guy, we went to PetCo today to get an idea of what kind of supplies we will be needing. I'm torn, should we buy supplies now and hope this lady works out? Or do we wait until we finally have a puppy and make our first stop the pet store?!?

Fingers are still tightly crossed we hear good news soon!!

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Kinda sore...

Ever since I started working full time, I've been looking for ways to work out here! My one problem is that running is almost out of the question because I don't wake up early enough to go before work, summers are pass-out-hot here and I work until it's super dark during at night during the winter and I refuse to go alone.

So I've tried the 24 Hour Fitness near me, but it's kind of sketch. And ended up costing me a lot of money I wasn't willing to spend on something I could essentially do for free if I had the motivation. Which is why I got pretty excited about all my Wii workout games that I got for Christmas. But I ran into yet another problem - I go on the road often and I work so late sometimes that when I come home I just want to veg out or read or not get all sweaty and nasty so I'm taking two-to-three showers a day.

So yesterday, I found a solution to my almost year-long problem now: I work in an athletics department! Our athletes have a strength and conditioning coach and a weight room accessible virtually 24/7. And during the lunch hour, those athletes don't have scheduled training sessions!

During our "lunch break" yesterday, a couple of co-workers, some softball coaches and I all made our way down to the weight room for a lunch sesh with the conditioning coach, who is essentially serving as our personal trainer for the time being!

What we're going to aim to do two times a week is TRX Suspension Training. What that is, is basically a pulley device with handles and stirrups designed for various workouts that use your body's weight naturally in resistance against your workout positions. He has them attached to taller weight machines, so we have our own personal workout spaces. And MAN is that a workout! We were all dripping after just an hour with it yesterday.


But the best part - still haven't reached it yet! - is that Tony's making up circuits and reps specifically for us! Starting off slowly and introducing more and more elements as we progress. Yesterday we started with squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups and leg curls. All that happened after 15 minutes on stationary bicycles and plank exercises to warm up our cores.

Only one day and I'm already super sore - but in a good way! I'm actually pretty excited to keep this up because a.) I want to tone up! and b.) this doesn't take away ANY time in my day. I can come home and do whatever I want, guilt free without that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I need to exercise today :)

Now back to the dog front... I'm not sure it's going to work out :( and I'm super super bummed about that. As soon as I emailed the lady about her dogs, she happily gave me her phone number and told me she'd love to meet with me. But when I brought up the prospect of heading up to see all the dogs this weekend, she hadn't responded to my email in two days. So I figured I'd give her a call when I got off work last night - after all, she did give me her phone number - and still no response. Who doesn't answer their cell phone these days?!

I just want a puppy, is that too much to ask?!?! Wish me luck......

The Best Soup I Ever Ate

I may be a little late in getting back to Mira's post on the same subject, but that's because I've been racking my brain in order to try to answer this question.

What is the best soup I ever ate?

Well, I've had tons and tons of soups, from creamy veloutés at prix fixé menus in Europe, to bread bowl clam chowders on San Francisco's Pier 29. But my all time favorite, and this is no joke, is Andersen's Pea Soup. Andersen's is a homey little pit stop off Highway 101 just north of Santa Barbara that started out as a Danish-owned ranch in the 1920s.


Today, they have a front novelty gift shop and a welcoming large back dining room. It almost feels as if you've driven right off the highway and into someone's home.

But their signature split pea soup is so hearty and warm and salty delicious! A few of us piled into our friend's car one rainy winter day down in Santa Barbara and took a break from studying for finals to make the 30 minute drive north up to Buellton, Calif. Our goal was simply to taste this famous pea soup.

But the best part was that it could be enjoyed in a flaky, buttery bowl made out of sourdough bread! It was heavenly. They put enormous chunks of salty ham, and I hear the giant hambone that the soup starts out with is by no means light on salt. Furthermore, the blended soupy texture is wonderfully smooth and then accented by pea chunks that seem to dissolve in your mouth.

That, my friends, is the best soup I ever ate.

In other news, J.D. and I might be heading up to Jackson, Calif., on Sunday (my day off) to check out...... the puppy in my last post! Her name is Gracie and she's so adorable. They're close to 15 weeks old, so I imagine they've had all their shots and are at least paper trained. The woman who breeds the dogs has four her age - two long haired and two smooth coats - and then she has an entire litter of brand new puppies who won't be ready to leave until March.

This one's Walker, the male who's available now.... so cute!!! 'm hoping one maybe speaks to me this weekend..... :) Wish me luck!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

I think I've finally talked J.D. into the joys of puppyhood :)

So we're looking at the end of baseball season, when we both stop traveling for the year and have the entire summer off! At least, that's when I'm trying to find a puppy by! Since we still live in an apartment complex, and let's be real here, I probably will be renting for a while longer, we're looking at small dogs.

In the meantime, I'm familiarizing myself with adoption/breeder sites. Ideally, I'd like to adopt and save some little tyke! Plus, adoption dogs aren't purebred so they can be cheaper.

But at the same time, I'd really like a long haired miniature dachshund!

Like this guy...... I found him on one of the sites and melted.

I'm on the hunt!!

OH MY (@^#^!*)#$%! GOD!!! I'm moving to Germany

What the heck..... why aren't I in Germany?!?!

Everyone knows of my love affair with wiener dogs. Well, I'm getting back on the "I-need-to-have-a-dog" kick, big time. So I went back to Googling puppies and where to get one.....

But then I came across this little gem. And immediately had a heart attack. I can't look at it anymore, the cuteness is going to make me explode.

So, boys and girls, I bequeath it to you then, today. It's a story from Berlin that actually happened last year. But oh man, it still kills me. I have to have one.... of each! It's actually kind of a sad story, but the ending is happy. I mean, read the lead from another article about this story:

Stroehen, Germany - A tiger cub born in a German zoo at the weekend and rejected by its mother has experienced a further tragedy, as a dachshund which adopted the newborn was run over by a postman's van, the zoo reported Wednesday.

I frickin' KNEW I loved weenie dogs :)

(P.S., we saw the Weenie National qualifiers at the San Joaquin County Fair this summer.... I'm still flipping out over the cuteness.)

I WANT ONE!!!

Hahaha, I'm a joke.

For working in sports (clarify, collegiate), I really don't know that much about pro sports. But I would like to work in professional sports someday!

So pretty much whenever a job in pro sports opens up, I'm always half-heartedly applying. A few months ago, something came up with ESPN and I figured what the heck, if anyone ever calls me back, it doesn't hurt to keep practicing my interview skills, right? Well the chances of anyone ever calling me back are VERY minor when you apply online.

Buuuuut, ESPN called me this weekend, looking to fill a statistics/information position. Which is cool, because I work in sports information and keep stats often.

So when I finally called back, to my surprise, instead of an interview, they had a list of "random sports knowledge questions" to ask me, just to see if I'd even be worthy of moving on to an actual interview.

So here are the six random questions they asked me and tell me if you think I passed or not:

1.) Explain how you calculate a pitcher's earned run average
2.) Name five current Lakers other than Kobe
3.) Name all of the golf masters tournaments
4.) Who is the winningest college Division I men's basketball coach and what years was he at the school(s) he compiled that record
5.) Something about NASCAR, I had no idea so I asked to come back to it, but never did
6.) Which NFL player recorded the most career touchdowns, what years and who'd he play for?
7.) Name the last 10 Heisman Trophy winners and where they played in college

How'd you do? Could you work for ESPN?









....Yeah, I apparently didn't answer enough of those questions right to move on to the interview. I'm the worst sports journalist/statistician, ever. The ONE time my name actually gets picked from a billion online applicants and I actually think I might have a shot, I blow it. Hence why, I'm a joke. I wonder if I'm ever going to make it to pro sports. And I'm really let down in myself, because this might have been my one big shot, you know?

But they did say I had an impressive résumé.... just not impressive knowledge I guess ;) I can't explain how lame I felt when I responded to their little quiz. Like I'm a girl who knows how to stat sports, just nothing actually about professional sports.

Boom goes the dynamite.

Hopefully I'll do better on this Friday's Jeopardy online quiz, where if you get a certain amount correct, your name goes into the database to be randomly selected as a competitor on the show!

Just because it annoys Ben

So I NEVER watch American Idol. In fact, I can honestly say that I've never once seen an entire episode of it.

But then, how would I know about crap like this, if I never saw it?????



"Pants on the Ground" was one of the many songs that unfortunately did not get a hopeful singer to the judging stage of American Idol. But it did go on to make this sweet remix, which is my boss's ringtone, and will be stuck in everyone's heads for quite some time.

Is it wrong that I think it's hysterical?!

Ta-da!

As promised, here's my new hair!


How'd I decide, you may be wondering? Well Target has a sweet kiosk by the hair dyes that asks what kind of color you're looking for, natural color, skin hues, etc. Then based on your responses, picks out a suggested color. So I actually ended going one shade darker than my recommendation.

This one's called golden cappuccino, but it oddly turned out reddish in the light instead of golden. And oh yeah, I also took your suggestions into consideration ;)

Please excuse the myspace bathroom photo, that's the best lighted mirror in my house.

You know how texting/talking on a cell phone is illegal in California? What are the odds blogging's allowed....?

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Murder?

After a painfully close game at UC Davis this evening, J.D. and I continue our quest of finding hole-in-the-wall dining establishments.

Oddly in the same vein as Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts, we're trying Redrum - formerly Murder - Burger here in Davis.

I can't figure out why it's called such... If anyone up here knows why please enlighten me.

But the menu features an odd array of various fried items, an entire one pound burger meal, BBQ slathered fries, nacho sauce drenched fries, over 50 milkshake/Italian soda combos and the big bird burger. I ended up getting the bird - ostrich burger, o rings and a kiwi soda.

Seating about 10 patrons inside, I'm curious to see if the taste is anything like the curb appeal here.

Luckily, it came highly recommended. Bon appétit!


Notice how the onion rings are the same size as J.D.'s half-pound burger!!! Huge!!


(Aaaand I bought a box of hair dye tonight. New hair post comig soon!)

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Pretty sure this is my new favorite website

It's pretty funny. From the people who brought you Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.

Also, I'm tired. It's Friday. So don't judge me. Just let me enjoy my açai berry topper from Jamba Juice (smoothie, granola, banana, what could be better?). 22 consecutive blog posts in January, bitches.

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Timber.

Ok, obviously it wasn't this bad, but trees definitely were knocked down this week. It's been a rough storm, after a moderately quiet fall/winter season.

I started Tuesday off solidly, waking earlier than usual because I was going to carpool with a co-worker and get some early coffee. Luckily I got up that early. Just as I turned off the water in my shower, all the power shut off completely. Freaking out, I scrambled to find my towels in the dark but knocked off the entire rack from the wall. Then I hit my foot on the shower and tried not to slip all over the place in the dark.

You have to understand we live in a middle condo unit, meaning we have shared walls on both sides. That leaves only the back of our house available for windows. So yeah, it's pretty dark in there. So I searched the house looking for candles and was unable to dry/straighten my hair. Instead, I threw it up in a quick, sloppy ponytail, hated my life and applied makeup in the dark. Awesome, since we had a game that night and usually have to dress up nicely.

Then I realized I wouldn't be able to open my garage door, or security gate to the complex. What a disaster it was. Thankfully Ben was already driving, so I just grabbed my gate key and went out the pedestrian entrance, standing freezing in the rain. And I found out when I got home that the power came back on not long after I left for work!

Then yesterday, I awoke briskly to a severe crashing noise outside my bedroom window. I sprang to my feet to check what made the noise, and nervously hoped none of the evergreens beyond our backyard had crashed into the fence or house. Luckily they hadn't, but I was never really able to figure it out until I came to work.

When I arrived in the parking lot in front of the baseball stadium and my office, I sat my coffee on top of my car so I could readjust my lunch, purse and open my umbrella. Except it was so windy, the cup was knocked off my car, spilling the contents all down the side of it as well as my pants.

Best week ever.

And I learned from a co-worker who lives in the same area that yesterday's large crash was a palm tree being uprooted and falling to the ground at the Home Depot parking lot a block down the street from my house.

Is it summer yet......??????

New car on the horizon?

I've been thinking about it a lot. and I believe currently I'm in a financial position to outright purchase a car (but then I'd have nothing saved up for any large purchases in the future). However, I don't wish to do so just yet. And when I decide to go for it, I think I'd only put half down in cash plus the trade in value of my '04 Taurus (obviously have to get a new Ford then).

So as I've stated before I'm very into the Fusion or the Edge right now. Leaning towards the Fusion more than anything because it's cheaper and has a hybrid option.

But Ford also will offer something at the end of this year that I just can't refuse!


When the 2011 Fords are released (this summer!) sync will be standard. And it looks like the new version is going to be touch screen with climate control, automatic Bluetooth upon cell phone recognition during calls, iPhone applications, free Internet radio stations and Twitter/text messages read aloud by the car (yes turn by turn directions are also part of this package).

So essentially, my car's touch screen console could virtually be another extension of my iPhone. Yep, definitely trading in my car this autumn at the earliest! (Dang, that means I need to get a phone upgrade pretty soon, too!)

Read the article... It's so cool!!

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Ugh why are girls so dumb?

I apologize for the headline, seeing as how 95% of my readership is female (and, clearly, so am I).

But sometimes I really hate being a girl and I hate having that stupid gene that makes me want to buy things I don't need so often! Well, usually I don't like going to malls, etc. If I'm really in need of something, I will buy it. While generally I am fairly cheap, I'll spend a bit more on an item if it's of decent quality or is something I cannot live without (ie., I'm in need of a new black bra ... sorry for sharing, but I need a new one asap!).

And yes, I usually don't go shopping often. I'll usually wait until I get paid, or I'm always talking myself out of buying things. Plus, I'm really trying to save money so I can buy a car sometime next year. And I'm looking to hit that mark pretty well. But, I stumbled across something I've been avoiding for months now, that I really couldn't resist any longer.

As a member of my bank, they introduced a new program a few months ago called Add It Up. Which basically means if you buy things online from certain partnering companies and use your bank debit/credit card, you'll get a percentage of your purchase put back into your checking account later. And it's ridiculous, places like Barnes & Noble, ShutterFly, Target, iTunes, Wal-Mart, Under Armour, and Victoria Secret (plus a billion other companies) are all in on this!!!!

WHY?!??!!?!?!?!?

So I gave in. And since we all know I hate shopping in person, I just clicked around a billion times in 30 minutes and spent over $70. On stupid things at VS like underwear and a sweet new clearance bathing suit.

But hey.... I got $2.35 back into my checking account for using Add It Up. So that makes it worthwhile, right?

Right????

I saw it first!

When J.D. and I went to Las Vegas last month, we tried looking up things we could do for free and one of them was the CBS Television City Research Center.

CBS essentially has studios in Las Vegas where they run pilots of new, upcoming series. The website falsely advertised that they'd offer $15 for about half an hour of your time. We watched the pilot in a room alone in front of computers then had to answer about 50 questions, multiple choice and answers.

Before entering, we had to sign that we were ok to watch a TV-14 show. We were curious as to what was going to be shown, since most TV ratings are TV-G and TV-PG. TV-14 shows, on the other hand, are reserved programs after 9 p.m. and movies that are rated PG-13 or R.

TV-14

(Parents Strongly Cautioned -- This program contains some material that many parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age.)

Parents are strongly urged to exercise greater care in monitoring this program and are cautioned against letting children of any age watch unattended. This rating may be accompanied by any of the following sub-ratings:

• D for intensely suggestive dialogue
• L for strong coarse language
• S for intense sexual situations
• V for intense violence

The show we viewed was called Life, Unexpected, which airs on the CW tonight (well, it's probably currently on as I type this). Although it was a bit cheesy and slow-moving at times, it's a pretty decent drama that J.D. and I both agreed we'd try to watch and see how it develops.

The only thing I'm pretty annoyed about is the fact that it will run on the CW. I thought that channel was for middle and high school girls....

But it's gotten some pretty good reviews. I'm just curious to see how the viewers' responses from the CBS Research Center will change what we saw from what airs tonight. According to J.D., the responses will shape how they edit/alter the first run from the pilot.

On road travel

For the amount I've flown, I shouldn't be as afraid of planes as I am. Granted, I've never really been afraid of flying, my hands just get extra clammy on take-offs and landings and my heart beats heavily in my chest as of late.

Maybe that's due to the small 60-person carriers I was used to shuffling in on my way back and forth from the Bay Area/Santa Barbara (with its two gates) when I was in college. I swear during one flight on an abnormally windy day in San Jose, our pilot made an announcement over the PA system that he couldn't fight the wind on account of our plane being so small. So we literally were tossed around in the air, my stomach doing flip-flops the entire time.

Today was much of the same story. Let me explain myself a bit.

We flew out of Orange County, the John Wayne Airport, in one of the first flights of the day this morning (8 a.m.). The county of Orange has some interesting noise ordinances regarding the airport, since Los Angeles is the epitome of suburbia and urban sprawl, and per capita, is the most densely populated city in the United States. So with houses literally on the landing strip, John Wayne Airport (referred to as SNA from here on out) has reduced hours of operation. Furthermore, planes must take off at abnormally fast rates, almost like a sonic burst of energy, to create as little noise pollution as possible.

See SNA's explanation of this ordinance below:

"John Wayne Airport (SNA) is one of the busiest and most noise sensitive airports in the United States. The Airport is located in the center of Orange County, California with residential areas in close proximity. To mitigate potential noise impacts from aircraft operations and to enhance compatibility with surrounding communities, the Airport maintains some of the most stringent noise rules in the United States. The General Aviation Noise Ordinance (GANO) has been adopted by the County of Orange to regulate the hours of operation and the maximum permitted noise levels associated with general aviation operations."

SNA, note the cluster of houses and businesses just beyond the airport

Another aerial view of SNA and surrounding suburban areas

Well, today when we began to take off, we streaked through the sky in less than one minute. However, a pilot could not rationally continue at top speeds like that, because it makes for a very turbulent and jittery ride on a small 737 plane. So as soon as we hit the appropriate marker in the sky, I believe the pilot completely let off the gas. Instead of slowly decreasing down to our average speed, he just let go.

All of a sudden, looking out the window, I noticed we were going from rapidly ascending, to quickly descending in free fall. You know that annoying, adrenaline-induced feeling in the pit of your stomach when you drop in a rollercoaster? Well it felt like that, but much, much worse without the suspension to a track to guide our fall.

A billion thoughts ran through my mind at once, as our free fall hit close to the one-minute mark. I thought for sure we were crashing, my biggest fear in life. As soon as the sensation subsided, I unlocked my vice grip on the seat handles, noticing that my hands were abnormally sweaty. At this point, my breath caught up with me and my heart battered around in my chest, as I began to sort of hyperventillate.

Sitting next to me, our trainer, Kyle, let out a long, "WOAH." Seconds later confiding in me that he, too, feared we were all going to die in a matter of horrible seconds. Honestly, that was one of the WORST experiences of my life. Nervously joking, we both talked about the horrid sensation during the course of the next 15 minutes.

It is not without immense appreciation, that I say I'm glad to be back on solid ground for the next couple of weeks. I don't think we'll fly out again the remainder of the basketball season, unless we make the post-season tournament in Anaheim mid-March (spring break). I think that'll give me enough time to recover.

Had to find some flaw

Ok, I guess I'll admit that LA isn't perfect. Well, Orange County to be specific.

Despite the 35 minutes of traffic it took to go 15 miles last night (and we were even in the carpool lane), there is something else that's killing me here.

My Internet won't work! I have a Verizon wireless Internet card for work, but since so many flipping people live in LA, I imagine the cell towers are overloaded. Even on my phone, it takes over 10 minutes just to load a simple webpage.

Fingers crossed that this post doesn't take an hour. And for those of us blogging every day in January, we're over halfway done!!

Hopefully I can keep it up (and that it's not getting to be a boring read now, ha)!

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Ah preseason

I can't believe I actually get paid to do this... But yesterday I hung out at our team's baseball practice, arranging head shots for our website and action shots for the media guide with my friend Brian.

Now let's play a bit of seven degrees of separation (or less).

Baseball mega agent Scott Boras played here at Pacific until he was drafted in 1974. Boras is friends and a supporter of our head coach and our program.

So guess what... One of Boras's clients lives in Stockton. He went up through the ranks and made his start at the Stockton Ports (Oakland A's single-A affiliates... In my city), then to the Sacramento River Cats (triple-A), until he finally landed in The Show, with the A's.

He is Dallas Braden, current LHP for Oakland.





And since he's in the offseason right now, he's been working out with the University of the Pacific baseball team in his hometown.

And I got to watch him work out yesterday. Another interesting little tidbit, he went to high school with one of our graduate assistants here in Stockton.

Small world! And it's also weird that I'm now the same age as many successful baseball players. They've always seemed much older and from a different planet. Not working out at the university where I work.

(and upon unanimous vote, I may be dying my hair reddish brown in the near future! Thanks for the input everyone)

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Blonde or Dark Brown?

It's getting to be that time again... where I get really tired with how I look. About once every few years, I'll chop my hair super short (comparatively speaking, short would be at my shoulders), give myself bangs, or dye my hair. Since I'm trying to grow it out right now, and I'm tired of my bangs.... guess what I want to do soon??

So I can't decide, I'll let you people choose for me.

Do I dye my hair dark brown, or go with blonde highlights? (Or, do I completely throw a curve ball, and go as a redhead - since my skin color is so light and my eyes are green anyways.)

Current hair color:



Me as a blonde:



And finally, dark brown:

So what should I do???

If you put an A in "definitely," you're definitely an A-hole

My sister shared this gem on my Facebook wall this morning.

I don't know if it's because I was an English major, or used to be an editor, or because my biggest pet peeve is when people misuse further/farther, affect/effect, their/there/they're, or because I'm a grammar nerd, or plainly because I love manatees.... but she was dead on. I found it SO awesome.

(Side note: I did my animal report on the manatee in third grade. By fifth grade, I was a full-fledged member of the Save the Manatee Club. Currently I have a manatee Christmas stocking, Horny Manatee shirt - thanks Conan O'Brien, and numerous likeness of manatees, from thimbles, to stationary, etc. I love manatees.)

(God, isn't that thing cute?!)

So anyways, back to me being a dork. The link my sister shared is called "10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling." Might just be the greatest thing, ever!

I can't be that big of a dork, seeing as how I thought this book was kind of an overkill. It's funny if you can stand it in small doses though:

Oh and if you're keeping score at home, that was 18 words, not 10. (10 word pairs would have been more accurate, but not like I'm anal or anything.)