Birthday Madness

Birthdays can either be lots of fun or they can be a real drag . . . I have to admit I was a little afraid of this birthday because it is the last before the dreaded 30. Saturday I got a call from my good friend and visiting teacher Emily, and she announced that she and her fiance had decided that they wanted to throw me a Birthday part. I was so excited. I like parties . . . I just don't like throwing them. We talked out a few of the details everything was set.
Tuesday came along and I was overwhelmed with Birthday messages on facebook, Birthday phone calls, and Birthday texts. I truly felt loved. I went to work and everyone wished me a Happy Birthday. My cute friend got me a fun present that is still sitting on my desk today. I went to lunch with a co-worker at this greek restaurant which was super yummy. My co workers got me my favorite cake (carrot cake) and even put frosting all of over my face. Pictures are included with this post.The party was amazing!! I had so much fun and felt so loved by all of my friends. Thank you Emily and David for such an amazing party. I don't have any pictures of the party. I forgot my camera in the car.
The next day was even more interesting. I went early in the day on a sales trip with one of my sales people. When I got back I got a phone call from my foreman. He asked if I could come over to the warehouse because they had something for me for my birthday. I got caught up on a few things and went over. I got there and my foreman and my other warehouse guy told me to sit down. My foreman came out of his office with this beautiful bouquet of lilies. I was thinking that was nice of them for the both of them to get these for me . . . he said there was a card. They weren't from the both of them. They were from another warehouse guy whom I think may have a little crush on me . . . and the card is in Spanish. I don't know Spanish so I have no idea what it says. They call Juanito over and I kindly thank him and give him a hug . . . but at this point I am feeling super awkward. I took the flowers back to my office and of course everyone is asking questions. I had my co-worker translate the card. It wasn't anything particular but it could be interpreted as more. My co-workers were all giving me grief because they were like . . . my warehouse guys never give me flowers. ha ha ha. Anyway so needless to say I wound up calling my foreman and told him that he and the other guy need to stop joking around about him liking me because I really don't want to encourage anything. The beautiful flowers are now gone, but I have attached a picture for your enjoyment.

Catching up Part 1

I went to Utah over Memorial Day weekend and it was funny because I was talking to one of my freinds and she gave me crap that I never do anything with this. . . I told her that it was because I never have anything to say and she just laughed at me . . . . well one of the things that I kept promising but never did was that I would post a picture of my new car . . . part of that problem is that I kept forgetting to take pictures of it . . . . so to compromise. . . I am posting a factory picture of my car. It is a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. I got a heck of a deal on it and it is saving me money every month . . . not only the gas . . . my car payments are less than my Accord. It is silver exterior, and blue interior. It gets me approx 37-40 mpg which is amazing because I am driving the same amount and spending $60 less every month on gas. Wahoo. I'll have to admit the thing that made me most excited about it was that it had an auxillary imput so I can listen to my ipod in my car . . . and the other thing that I am super excited about is that I have steering wheel controls for my radio. I know I am vain. Anyway so that is catch up number one.

Likes and Dislikes

So I have been texting my sister lately of a few of my recent thoughts of likes and dislikes. The one I sent her the other day was hilarious. She even mentioned it to me today when I was talking to her that it made her laugh. It is one of my dislikes. I never understood it but why on earth people like these things I will never understand. Every Easter these things come out in full force. But as far as I am concerned they are the most disgusting candy ever known to man. Behold . . . the Marshmallow Peep. I went to the store yesterday and found two whole shelves dedicated to this wretched candy and then I turned around and found another display full of them



As for some of my recent likes I have come across two albums which deserve a worthy listen . . . the first I know all the stereotypes. It is Kris Allen from American Idol. Yeah yeah totally over produced. But the other I heard one of his songs on the radio which made me curious so I went out and downloaded the whole album and it became an instant favorite of mine.



The next I also came across by listening to the radio, but I also fell in love with it after a few listens and had to download. The band is named The Script. They are from Ireland and have such influences like U2, The Police, The Neptunes, Timbaland, & Van Morrison. Ha ha ha, gee it's no wonder I found a liking to this band. . . they swear a little in two of their songs, but don't let that discourage you from listening to their other stuff. They are a good little Indie/Alternative Band.

Progress

Okay so it's been about a month since my last post, so much has happened. They totaled my car. Which wasn't so fun, but at the same time I wouldn't really want it back after how much damaged had been done. A week later I bought my new car. Which is a story in and of itself. I bought a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. It is silver. It has 28,000 miles on . . . then again it is now probably 29,000 seeing that I've had it for about month. ha ha ha gotta love commuting to work. I'll post pictures later. But for the most part I love it . . . . I miss a few of the luxuries of my accord. But I don't miss the $180 I spent on gas each month vs my $120 now. Wahoo!

It took them about a month to finally get the police report but almost all is said and done. 100% his fault. We already knew that though. I have already settled my Bodily Injury Claim and now I am just waiting on my reimbursement for my deductible and the car rental.

All of this accident stuff put the training for a 5k off a few weeks, but I am back into training full swing. I just finished my 3rd week of training and I was thinking . . . wow I can do this. Then today knocked me back into humble pie. This weeks training consists of 5 min warm up, 3 min run, 1 1/2 min walk, 5 min run, 2 1/2 min walk, 3 min run, 1 1/2 min walk, 5 min run, and 2 1/2 min walk. After the first 5 min I thought okay that was a little challenging but not too bad. 2 min into the last 5 min I thought I was going to die. I finished . . . I had to stop a little in the middle, but I did it . . . but I guess that is how life is . . . . in the beginning something may seem a little challenging. But after a while you build your muscles (spiritual, physical, emotional, mental) and things seem normal then another challenge comes a long and requires us to work a little harder and flex our muscles a little more. I am really grateful for my many challenges in life. They allow me to grow and learn. Thanks all for your support. More updates later. =)

My Sad Car

Some sad pictures of my car after it got plowed into by a Hummer on the 405 tonight. I'm okay . . . I am still going to go to urgent care though tomorrow because my back and neck are a little sore. We'll find out the fate of my car maybe tomorrow.

To Run or Not To Run

So I have been thinking a lot lately about how I needed to shed quite a bit of weight . . . so I can feel better about myself and feel healthier and happier. I joined a gym like 2 years ago and I haven't really used it that much . . . really pathetic I know. Then with new years rolling around I started thinking about resolutions and how nobody ever actually follows through with resolutions.

I thought to myself . . . why is this . . . and then I thought maybe because they are always unrealistic and people get all gung ho and overwhelm themselves in the beginning. So I thought . . . okay to not set a resolution or overwhelm myself . . . what if I set a goal to loose 5 lbs and to work out 1 time a week. This was on the right track . . . take it slow . . . but there was something missing . . . something lacking from keeping me motivated behind my goal.

I was talking to my friend tonight and she was saying that her mom was talking to her over the Christmas break that maybe she should run another half marathon. In other words . . her mom was telling her that she was getting a little chubby. We laughed a little about how sometimes mom's mean well . . . but sometimes the go about it the wrong way.

As I was driving home I started thinking about it more . . . the whole half marathon thing . . . I don't know why it stuck with me . . . .but that was it . . . I was lacking a deadline. Something that would actually hold me to those lofty ambitions of mine. Some of you may know . . . I HATE running. In fact I loathe it soooo much that I would absolutely exercise in any other way shape or form before I would run. But maybe this is what I need. Everyone that runs a half marathon always tells me how rewarding it feels after you've done it. A sense of accomplishment.

With that being said . . . no, I'm not running a half marathon. My friend said I should start with something a little more simple. I've decided I am going to run a 5K. It's only 3.1 miles. I think I could do that. It would get me off of my duff and get me exercising. So I got online looking for 5k's to do that are local. And started researching on how to get myself prepared. I found this great website that gives you a schedule to go from the couch to 5k in 2 months (cool runnings). I think I am going to give myself about 3 months so I have a little cush time. Now just to find a race. . . . =) More to follow

Be Fake or Not to Be Fake, That is the Question.

So I have always been a very expressive person and I usually wear my feelings on my sleeve. While this can be good at times it can also be not so good. The good thing is . . . . you always know where you stand with me. I had a friend say to one of my other friends one day "I think Erin's mad at me." The other friend said "What makes you say that?" The person then started listing some things . . . . and the friend replied back, "Well honestly, if you think Erin's mad at you . . . she probably is." The bad thing is that it can get me in trouble sometimes. It makes me a little more vulnerable to get hurt by people. It also can sometimes offend people. So I went to institute tonight and a topic was brought up that is there any sin that isn't selfish. While we all know the answer is no there isn't. Someone brought up White Lies. We've all done it. We've told a little White Lie because we didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. With that in mind I'll bring you up to speed. After institute I went to grab something to eat with my roommate and two other people we know. Mind you I was a little tired so my patience wasn't the best. But the other two people that joined us were being rather obnoxious. Me being the person I am it wasn't hard to notice that I was getting irritated and annoyed. My roommate having already lived with me sometime could read my mood and just politely said she's a little tired. After we got home we talked about it and she said to me "Maybe we should teach you how to be more fake" I told her that I dislike fake people a lot. But then that comes back to the White Lie thing . . . is it bad to tell a White Lie? Is it bad to be completely fake with a person that you don't really like or that you are bothered by. Or should you be honest with people?? While I don't think it is smart to go around and tell people you don't like them and I don't think I handled tonight very well at all. But at the same time . . . I don't think you should pretend to like people when you don't. You know what I mean?? I don't know . . . . it definitely gives me some food for thought.