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Saturday, 04 July 2009

Seattle

Happy 4rth of July BTW!! :)
Some pitures from the Seattle Marathon trip last weekend...
Okay.. not many pics of the actual marathon...but here's the trip..

Below is the finish (the evening before the race)...

Quest Field (where the race finished)...

One of the bridges that was part of the race...if you look close...you'll see runners running both tiers of the bridge...

   I didn’t get pics of me finishing. :( My mom saw me finish but it happened so fast no time for a pic in action. I did, however get someone to take a pic of my mom and I together right afterward, but the picture looks so horrible (there is salt on my face and I just don’t like it)- I was going to be humble and show it, but then on second thought, I've opted against it. Call it vanity or what you will, if had turned out even just okay, or 1/4 to the way of okay, showing it would have been a done deal, but I'm too embarrassed to show it. Lol! Ha ha! Vanity wins.
I wish my camera was w/ me during the marathon- you go over bridges, see the downtown and all these different styles of architecture, greenery, plus the pier, ocean, markets, etc. It was very scenic. There were some hills, but none steep. And the weather there was perfect no rain, unseasonably warm- which for Seattle was nice.
Re: finishing: my time wasn’t my fastest, but it’s all good. Training in heat in AZ was difficult. You can still overheat, even if well hydrated. But then, despite knowing I trained like that, during the actual marathon I was hard on myself, sometimes thinking “you should be going faster Karen”.   And thing is, during any marathon, even if disappointed with the time (which I shouldn't have even been in this case), always got to feel grateful at the same time just to be healthy because always plenty of people around pulling muscles, or having to stretch out shin splints, other injuries. So got to be thankful to be in healthy condition the whole way through. In some ways I didn’t train properly anyhow (I did only 2 runs a week- long run included- not smart/should do at least 1 more short run, and I went totally slow on long runs when running outside as to not overheat, which was probably smart but totally not good for helping my time. Not proper training in all).
Anyhow, back to the pics...
The Space Needle...

The peir:

The fish market...

They had so much they were selling there besides the fish though - produce, and homemade goods, deserts of all types (at least on the weekends).  A fish market/ farmer's market/ delicious foods market of all kinds...very cool. I didn't capture a good pic...I think I'm a bad historian w/ the pics in general. I was historian of this service sorority one year in college...kind of a shorter photo album that year.;) Poor historian I say.
Random cute dog pic taken in the fish market area...

We took this tour of the town in these buses that go on land & float in the water.  This was the tour guide (he only wore the goggles for a little bit though)...

My mom and I on the tour bus...

On the tour, it was pointed out to us one of these below houses was the "Sleepless in Seattle" one.
I forget which of the houses it was though. Maybe I should take a guess. Naw. Just know it's one of them LOL

The Mariner's stadium..

Down town area w/ lots of shopping...

I bought a book of poems at one of the bookstores, by this girl that writes these really emotional, sometimes dark, but captivating poems. It's called "the Beautiful Collected Poems" by Michelle Tea. She lived through all these different hardships including different types of abuse, selling herself, drugs, poverty, being used, among other things. I'm entranced by her poetry. She writes well and captivates emotions well. Raw emotions, often angry and dark- but conveyed so clearly. Talented.
Seattle is quite a libral city. Laid back, but libral.  There was a gay pride parade going on while we were there, the day after the marathon. I wanted to see part of it, just to see what it was like. No pics though. Again, I'm a poor historian for this trip ~_~
As far as down down, a lot of coffee shops, a lot of clothing stores.
Close to Seattle there's a near by attraction called Snoqualmie Falls- there was a hiking trail to the bottom of the falls. Which the little hiking trail would have been way cool but we didn't do that..
because...
my mom hurt her leg and couldn't walk normal! LOL! Ironically, although I had no injuries from the marathon, my mom- randomly twisted her foot while walking to meet me at the finish and it swelled to the size of a softball. She kept walking on it throughout the trip, which she probably shouldn’t have (bless here heart). As a result, it’s probably healing a lot slower now, just talked to her earlier today and she says it still hurts her even though it’s been a week. I felt bad because she was trying so hard to still do things. It was just funny at the same time to hear some of the comments come from her, that I would have originally anticipated I’d be saying during the trip like “I feel like an 80 year old woman getting in this car.” “I’m tired.” “I can’t walk that far, my leg hurts.” “I’m concerned about walking that distance.” Lol! It wasn't funny, but it was funny in some ways.

This is us at one of the "view points"...

View of Seattle from the flight home in the air...

Ps. Today is 4rth of July. Horah!:) And it falls on a weekend this year! Yay!! My plans are still uncertain, but I have something I know I can go to, that will be fun, but I’m not definite on all plans though.
Other randomness…
I was reading in Oprah magazine recently an article about this interesting topic: if you’re feeling scared about something not working out, whether a relationship, job, or any other circumstance, you may, actually subconsciously do things to make that which you don’t want happen come about, just so your brain/body won’t have the stress that it could happen. You kinda subconsciously self sabotage, so that at least you aren’t stressed over the negative possibility. The article says this may be more likely to occur when we think something has to go a certain way, and we don’t want to picture any other possibilities of what might happen.
I can see how this concept is quite possibly true in some cases. Not being okay with worse case scenario could actually do you in.
One amazingly resilient person I know whose life had changed so much so fast (both in involuntary and voluntary ways) once mentioned…
“I know whatever happens to me, I’ll be okay.” (I think that sentence sums up a lot of how she remains resilient. I don’t think she meant “okay” in all senses of the word, just that she would be able to accept whatever happens/ was willing to deal with any negative possibilities that would come up).
That seems like good perspective. Not hoping or focusing on something negative happening, but being comfortable with all the possibilities. I think it allows you to be comfortable taking on more risks- risks that would make you happier. And probably, in the areas it’s most hard to cultivate that perspective, that’s were you need that perspective the most, because it might just do you in if you pressure yourself things have to go down a certain way.
I need to remember that.
I think that maybe could have been explained better though, hope it makes some sense- if not, then just ignore. Okay moving on….
Where was I before that? Oh yeah, it’s the 4rth. And I’m Americanizing it up:)…I’m decked out in my red tank top, blue jean shorts, rhinestone flip flops, and sparkly spray.. feeling that patriotic spirit!:) Go America! (for today)…then I’ll get back to complaining about whatever’s wrong in our government, ect..tomorrow! Ha ha! JK! I truly feel grateful to live in this country. I originally planned to write about my "America" views today but also wanted to post pics of my trip + didn’t want this post to be too long (which it already is. If still reading you're probably only one of the few). I may post about America another time I suppose.

Hope you have a fabulous holiday!

<3,
Karen
~~~
Random quotes:
“Trouble is part of your life - if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you a chance to love you enough." ~ Dinah Shore

“And he said take my hand,
Live while you can,
Don't you see all your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand.”
~Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton

Saturday, 20 June 2009

A list post…

I haven’t done one of these in awhile.

Things that annoy me…
•   Dripping faucets. Water wasted all at once is fine.;) Just kidding, but it's not remotely as frustrating.
•   The smell of Bactine.
• When I’m parked in a near empty parking lot, door open and one leg out of my car, reapplying my lipblam/gathering materials, when a car pulls up and waits for me to get out and shut my door so that he can have the spot dirrectly beside mine, instead of one of the other gazillion empty spaces. Why does he need that one?
•   Elevators that move so slow you wouldn’t beable to tell if you were stuck. Hospitals are always classic for this.
•   Having to change the vaccume cleaner bag. I always imagine the bugs (wheather vacuumed up dead or alive during the last few months) are waiting to crawl out alive and angry thinking “…and now it’s payback time, baby!” I don’t exactly know what they’d do, but imagine something that will ultimately kill.
•   When people throw away cold pizza just because it’s been sitting at “the Danger Zone” temp for too long (I’ve almost always worked around other dietitians, so with that.. it happens sometimes. Although not recently)
•   Along similar lines, when people refuse to eat and deprive their children of experiencing raw cookie dough in case they may possilly get salmonella.
• When I’m driving and another car insists on tailgating me in the slowest lane despite the other lanes being clear. Then finally switches to a new lane just to do the same thing to a new person in the new lane. You just want to say “if you wants to drive fast, then just go for it and stop bothering me and the other cars. Try to do the best you can with it instead of bothering us.”
•   Clorisceptic spray.

Expressions I’ve been overusing lately:
•   “Perfect!”
•   “Done is done.”
•   “No worries.”

Movies I’ve heard were absouletly exellent (old and new), should probably see, but keep choosing something else instead of:
•   Slum Dog Millionaire
•   The new Star Trek movie
• The Dark Knight
•   The Notebook (Yeah, I know, “it’s a love story” and “it’ll make you cry at the end” but that’s all I hear w/ this one and it’s just not enough info)
•   Shindler’s List
•   Philadelphia

Things I’m looking forward to:
•   4^th of July
•   The Seattle Rock N’ Roll Marathon next weekend
•   It's monsoon season here in AZ

Hope you have a great weekend!:)

ps Tomarrow is father’s day. I’m going to try to be with my mom most of the day tomarrow (since my dad passed away a few years ago I always try to be a support on days like this if possible). But my mom can be emotionally exhausting sometimes though. Let’s hope it goes okay.

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Short weekend...
I did not like the Sedona conference trip as much as anticipated. I must say the conference itself went very smooth though. Our booth surpassed nearly everybody’s (in positioning, info, giveaways, and arrangement)- which was a nice surprise.   In addition, there were several very cool personalities I met at the conference, got to stay in a nice hotel, + just <3 Sedona in general.   This trip was a very draining in some ways though.   I wish I could tell you more about why, but I can’t tell specifics about it here , due to a myriad of reasons.
What else to tell you this weekend…hmmm…..I touched up my hair! Yeah- I know, exciting, huh?;) Ha ha! I did finally get it blonde a couple of months ago (don’t know if I mentioned that ever - I know I mentioned I was trying to progressively make it blonde). Only for summer it shall be blonde though. Too much upkeep long term. I do it myself, and my hair is naturally very dark- coffee brownish/black (without creamer color). My scalp kinda hurts after I process it to blonde. >_<   I figure hurting/inflamed scalp = not a good thing.   Seriously, I don’t want to end up with scalp cancer or anything ...not that I heard that that's what happens... but I'm pretty sure those harsh ammonias aren't a great thing for your head or health.
Here are pics…

I know it doesn't look extremely blonde there, usually it looks blonder but it's all dependant on lighting.  I’m glad it turned out okay being I did it myself. My profile pic looks blonder but it actually wasn’t quite as blonde then as now. It’s related to different lighting.
I like shades closer to my natural/brunette color as well. However, I had wondered what I would look like blonde, so wanted to satisfy my curiosity, but it's too much upkeep to do long term. May go back to brunette in a few months or so with some blonde. I like this for summer though.
Ps Oh yeah- I almost forgot!! That speech went well BTW:) I was actually really calm from the moment I started it! I have no idea how- someone must have prayed for that. There were a few parts were I stumbled a bit and probably should have studies/perfected more- so definitely not flawless but did fine. Thank you for the prayers
Well out for now,
<3,
Karen
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“But when I get it wrong, I gotta start again”
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~Spaceman by Dave Matthews Band
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Monday, 08 June 2009

Wish me luck…

I have a big presentation tomorrow. It’s in front of all these supervisors at WIC clinics for Maricopa County. I’m so freak’n nervous about it. Public speaking in general makes me pretty uncomfortable. I don’t do it too often, but every now and then it’s a part of my job (like every couple of months or so). I don’t entirely mind doing this in all ways, because if I just did things that were easy for me, I wouldn’t be stretched at all. So it’s not like I don’t want to be doing it, but I’m so freak’n nervous about it at the same time. A lot of these supervisors are 20 years older than me, and know how to supervise situations I would just be run over by. I know the info is something they’ll appreciate, but I want to present it well. Pray for me if you pray. I want to do well.
The rest of my week is so easy though to balance it. Wednesday I have off. Then part of Thurs, Fri, and Sat I’m helping out at a pediatrics conference in Sedona. I won’t likely get to see much of the conference (since I’m working it) but …#1 it shall be easy days of work (it’s mostly just working at a booth on the new WIC food packages)- totally easy, #2 I get to go to Sedona. So, can’t complain.

Monday, 01 June 2009

My favorite celebs (in no particular order) ..and why..

Well, the ones I can think of right now.

Vince Vaughn...

I find him adorable and funny.

Julia Roberts...

Smart and gorgeous.

Kurt Warner...

~10 min after the Cardinals lost the Super Bowl earlier this year, and he was already saying ”I'm just going to enjoy the fact we made it as far as we did. I'm greatful we've come this far and just want to enjoy that fact.”/ similar to that. I was impressed he could go to that perspective so fast after losing. Okay, maybe he just a good spokesperson, but I don't think so. He also gives to a lot of things. He just seems like a good guy.
Dave Matthews...

He sings to me (well, I suppose, not just to me lol ;)...his songs about life, love, and taking chances. Plus he has talent..and seems humble..who could not find that attractive.
“Don't you know,
if you live life
Then you become what you are” ~ Dave Matthews

“If you hold tight to what you think is your thing, you may find your missing all the rest.“ ~ Dave Matthews

Oprah Winfrey...

I don't watch her show much these days, but I get her magazine. Love her focus on the positive and improving peoples lives.

Ira Glass...

He's the host of This American Life (a radio show on NPR). He entraps you every time in the story. He is so engaging with his good writing and introspective questions that it entrances you into the show. Just listen to him and you'll start to realize, he's a hottie.

Michelle Obama...

There's just something charasmatic about her.

Drew Berrymore...

She's free spirited, and relaxed. Plus, she's got her own unique style going, I like it.

Halle Berry..

I believe, physically speaking, one of the most beatiful people on the planet.

Who are your favorite celebs?