Sister Time

A funny thing happened several months ago.  I heard on the radio Kathy Griffin was going to perform at the Pantages in February 2012.  Okay, go ahead say what you say about Kathy Griffin, but Brandi and I find her funny, crude, dirty, and just plain awesome!

I called up Brandi on my way too work.  I remember telling her "Hey, I don't have a lot of time at work today to investigate, but Kathy Griffin is in town in February.  It would probably be fun.  See if you can look up some information and call me later."  She responded with "Holy, Jesus Christ, Mother Mary Joseph, I will check it out."

Brandi called back 10 minutes later and said okay DONE and DONE we are going to Kathy Griffin in February.  LOVE HER (Brandi, not Kathy, well her also.  Anyway, Brandi LOVE HER!)!!

Fast forward to present day and Brandi and I are walking around the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and I share how cool it is we can just call each other and say let's meet up in Hollywood.  Hollywood people.  No offense to any of the following cities, but we are not saying "Hey, let's meet up in Dallas (Kansas City, Minneapolis, etc. any other city here)."  NOOOO!  Let's meet in Hollywood.  I just felt like the shit for a moment.  Something popular, famous, important....NOPE just Emily and Brandi hanging out in Hollywood (you know where the popular, famous, important people hang out).

Had a great time.  Love you B!

(Okay fine, we are a bit far from the stage but you could see everything in person just fine.  Maggie and Kathy Griffin on stage.)

Cause and Effect...Simple Science People

CAUSE

• Knitting
• Pinterest
• Ravelry
• Yarn
• Modge Podge
• Circular Needles
• Playing on NEW Apple Products

EFFECT


No Cleaning
No Exercise
No Reading
No Sleep

Just Sayin'*

*Sidenote:  Did you know "Just Sayin'" is the most used phrase of 2011.  I am so 2011---JUST SAYIN'!

Word to LIVE BY

Saw this on Fancy Napkin (cute blog I have started to follow) and thought it was worth sharing.

Enjoy your day, week, month, lifetime of "withouts."

Aspiring to be my BEST SELF

This blog entry is dedicated to my amazing big sister:  I love you Brandi!


Every new year begins with a personal reflection of to resolute or not to resolute.  It generally ends with NOT, because it is always going to be the same thing; eat healthy, exercise more, make self a priority (BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!).  So this year I decided not to make 2012 resolutions, but to aspire to be my best self in 2012.
BODY
My body image is a challenge for most people I know.  No matter if you are overweight, underweight, or average you will always find something to not like about your body.  I simply aspire to take care of my body.  Let me share a little secret-I HATE GOING TO THE DOCTOR. I would rather suffer and wait for the ailment to disappear.  Smart, right!  I really am a idiot.  My thinking is I can go to the doctor, and they will just tell me what I already know.  You are sick, you need to loose weight, be sure you are exercising and taking your multi-vitamin.  NO SHIT SHERLOCK!  Hence, my avoidance of the doctor.  But I know I need to listen to my body and take care of it because it is the only one I have.
MIND
I use my mind a lot.  I know this seems strange to say, but I really do.  With my job as an Elementary School Principal, I am mentally exhausted at the end of everyday.  Hell, I am mentally exhausted as soon as I walk in the door.  I am constantly thinking how can I support the parents concerns, what intervention do these students need, what hours is my staff working today.  You name it I am mentally ON.  So, I am aspiring to turn my mind OFF.  I aspire to read at least one fiction book per month.  I want to have a quiet  escape through a book.  I prefer the book to require as little thinking as possible.  Hunger Games is as intellectual as I desire during the school year.
HEART
This one is tough.  Not to get into too many details, but my heart hurt in 2011. For this reason I aspire to hold my heart tightly this year.  Now, there will be times of hurt, but I must remember hearts will heal (mind you they heal on their own time, but they heal). 
SPIRIT
I aspire to stay present.  I am about to tell you something no one knows about me --- I AM A CONTROL FREAK (insert appropriate guffaw here).  This year I aspire to help my spirit by being present.  I am often thinking about my next or previous thought, response, action, etc.  (Warning:  cliche coming up)  The past is history, the future is a mystery, today is a gift.  That is why we call it the present.  I aspire to embrace the gift of present every moment. 


Happy 2012 to everyone!  May you aspire to be your best self.

WHERE IS AFRICA?

Africa is where Brad is.
Africa is Brad's once in a life life journey.
Africa is where my heart remains until by Braddy returns home.

I am writing this blog on my fourth day of Brad's 16 day trip to Zimbabwe, Africa. I am lucky to have received a couple of e-mails from him while he has been away. Here are a few notes to summarize what he has shared with me.

Plane trip to New York had hard seats.

5 hour flight to New York, 16 hours to South Africa, 2 hours to Zimbabwe...LONG TRIP! So tired!

Poorest area he has ever visited before.

Hospital reminds him of early 20th century with a x-ray machine.

People are all very friendly.

Eat basic meat and salads.

Takes about 30 minutes to access internet.

Some TV for families with a satellite dish.

Kids thought it is was funny he didn't wear a long sleeze shirt and tie during a devotion service. Brad wore his traditional dockers and polo shirt. Love him!

Sleeps every night under a mosquito net.


I miss Brad terribly and I know he looks forward to returning home, but I am HAPPY he is enjoying this once in a lifetime experience. Please keep him in your prayers and thoughts for a great trip and safe travels home.

Check out "Nyadire, Mutoko, Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe" on Google Earth to get a basic lay of the land. It's a whole different world out there.


HANKUNA MATATA


PS Pardon any type/spelling errors. I am attempting this blog post on the iPad which doesn't allow for the same features of doing on a PC.

Pacific Northwest DEVOR Family FUN

We are officially on our way home. We decided to take our time to get home by traveling by way of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Before leaving Washington, however, we drove up to northern Washington to see a high school friend and her daughter Reghan. It was great to catch up again (in person, not via FB or Twitter).

HELLO BLOGGERS...why do my pics do this!!  I am open to comments to help with this problem.

On our way down we drove through Tilamook where they make Tilamook cheese and ice cream.  We tried both-YUMMY!!

We have fallen in love with the Oregon coast. There are endless beach views which simply take your breath away.

Good night y'all.  Come back soon to hear about our final days of summer vacation.

Pacific Northwest DEVOR FAMILY FUN

WARNING:  Long post with several pictures.

SAN FRANCISCO

We began our trip early on Saturday, July 2nd.  We were all looking forward to a road trip and leaving the home front for a while.  Our first stop was San Francisco.  We got there around 2 p.m. and checked into our hotel.  Brad and I stayed at this hotel about 10 years ago, so we were familiar with the area and remembered it being fairly accessible to public transportation and walking distance to some attractions.  Since we already have to pay $20/day for parking, we always prefer leaving our car so we don't have to pay a parking fee AGAIN somewhere else. 

We stayed at the Americana Best Western.  They recently remodeled it with a more contemporary look, so this made it a fun environment.  Here are a few shots of our room and surroundings.

We dropped off all the luggage and headed straight out.  First stop would be Lomard "Crooked" Street.  Checked out the iPhone map and it said it would be a 2.1 mile walk...NO PROBLEM.  We made it but forgot about the San Francisco hills.  Whew!!

Sunday, July 3rd we slept in for a bit and took our time getting ready before heading out around 10 a.m.  Our goal today was to visit Chinatown.  The night prior, I did a little research and found a self guided tour which included about 13 "discrete" spots.  I uploaded the itinerary onto my phone and we were off.  Here were a few of the highlights.

Chinatown Gate and main entrance.  "Where's Waldo (Emily/Juan)?"

Old Saint Mary's Cathedral, the city's first Catholic Cathedral built in 1854.

Chinatown Kite Shop.

Eastern Bakery-oldest bakery in Chinatown opening in 1924.  It was recommended to try the Golden Yolk Mooncake.  We did...once was enough.  :-)

Tin How Temple.  This stop had you walk up 3 flights of stairs to a beautiful temple where locals come to pray and mediate.  It was beautifully decorated with gold lanterns amid smoky ribbons of incense.  (Pictures were not allowed inside).  I loved this sight, because it is something you would never stop at just by walking by.  It was a GREAT stop.

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company is where they make fortune cookies (DUH!!).  This was fun to watch and the employees were so sweet.  Giving us free samples over and over again, but you had to pay 50 cents for a photo.  Too funny!

Ten Ren Tea Company was a great stop to re-hydrate.

We ended our visit in Chinatown by having some traditional Chinese food at the House of Nanking.  Yum-O!

From there we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf.  We only spent a few minutes here because it was "uncomfortably" busy and we planed on going to this area tomorrow.

We were pooped, so decided to take the cable car to cut about 2 miles off our hilly walk back to the hotel.  Earlier in the day we stopped at the Cable Car Museum, so it was fascinating to see it all in action.

Our final day in San Francisco began early.  We had reservation to take a ferry to Alcatraz Island.  Here are a few pictures of our morning in Alcatraz.

 VANCOUVER, WA
July 5th, we continued north by making a stop over in Vancouver, Washington.  My Uncle Monty, Aunt Joan, and Crystal moved here about a year ago.  We had dinner with the family and then headed for a the hotel for a much needed nights sleep. 

Here is a pic of the family in front of their home in Vancouver.

The next day we headed out to view Mt. Saint Helen's.  It was interesting to see a natural disaster which didn't happen hundreds of years ago, but really very recently (1980).



(Sorry about the pic orientation-a few did this and I DON'T know why?)

SEATTLE



We then headed to Seattle, WA.  We stayed only a few blocks from the major sight seeing places in Seattle.  We stayed at the Moore Hotel.  This hotel is old and traditional, but had a clean bed and a warm shower. We liked it.



We visited the Pike Place Market Place.  This was a fun experience with so much to see.  We were in fresh produce and flower heaven.  We, of course, had to visit the World Famous Pike Place Fish guys.  They were so nice and really showed why CNN named them the "most fun place to work" in 2001.

The next day we headed to the Space Needle area and a local art show in Pioneer Square.

We also went to the Seattle Art Museum-free admission on Thursday's and we were sold

 We ended our day with some classic fish and chips on a Seattle dock.  It has been a great couple of days here in Seattle.

Tomorrow, we are heading to see Kami Bible, a high school friend, in Northern Washington and then will take a couple of days to travel the coast back home. 

Well, you made it to the bottom of this very long post.  Thank you for taking time to travel with us via the blog.  :-)