holiday cheer

this is a journal entry i found and thought i would share it...

As the holidays draw near
I sit back and ponder
Of the ones I hold dear
The people who care
Who light up the fire
To get others involved
And spread the inspire
My smile grows bigger
And my heart opens wide
When I see a total stranger
Who’s so happy and cried
Because the soul of one person
Who genuinely cared
Went out of their way
To do something they dared
It’s the feeling inside
You get when you show
You’re capable of so much
That you didn’t even know
So take that feeling with you
Hold it close and dear
And spread it everywhere you go
All throughout the year
Don’t hide it from the world
Don’t be ashamed
Care beyond the holidays
And kindness can be claimed
And the one who receives the gift
That will last forever and not just now
Will be yourself
That is a guaranteed vow

a 24 hour blast

i'm back from reno. let me tell ya about my journey...

so, it started off great. as usual i was jammin away to my ipod, it's been about an hour now, and i happen to read a sign as i'm flyin down the road that has a turn now sign with reno. lol i was so lost in my music that i wasn't paying attention to the fact that i needed to get somewhere. whoops all good though, a quick u-turn a mile later and back on my journey i go. i believe that for any kind of road trip, an awesome musical collection is necessary. and part of that collection would definitely include the late and great mr. michael jackson! love it! and of course, as i'm starting off my playlist of the pop king, i think back to my other mini road trip i took with my sister-in-law and nephews to the coast. on our way back home that day, windows down, sun shining...we are of course jamming out to the classics of michael. crazy thing, that was only a day or two before he passed away. i just thought of that.

ok, so back to my trip. i get into reno, which was a really weird feeling because i've never driven into town by myself. i've always been with someone. so i make my way over to harrah's and i creep my way into the self parking...surprised that i made it because my truck is a bit higher than other vehicles. so i think i'm in the clear and start heading up the garage and once i get past the valet section, for some reason or another, the ceiling looks like it drops a foot! scared me half to death and i actually opened up my door to make sure i wasn't going to scrape. i was squeezing my butt cheeks all the way until i could get a parking spot. worst 2 minutes of my life! but it worked.

with that behind me, i called my mom to find out where they were hanging, but of course she doesn't answer her phone. go figure. so i just head into the casino and look for them myself. i luckily find them right away and they don't even notice me. so i go up behind them and stand next to the empty machine by my dad and ask if it's ok for me to play this machine? his look was PRICELESS! he was in shock for a second then started laughing and hugged me. he couldn't believe that i was there. it was a great moment.

then we went and looked for my uncle jimmy and aunt kim. once we hooked up with them, it was pretty chill. just some gambling, chatting and drinking. oh yea! my uncle STILL has no idea what the hell is going on. he thought that he was just going over to reno for the night and then heading home to go back to work. he had no idea that my aunt kim was taking him to the airport in the morning to head over to vegas for a few days. she got him good this year! oh, did i mention that he gets to drive a nascar while he's there?? i'm totally jealous! but he's going to have a blast!

so as for today, we headed out to virginia city. i've never been out there and it's a cute little old mining town. kind of like weaverville...got some good historic points, the locals think it can't get any better, and you're wondering when the hell you're going to be able to leave. lol it's cruel i know, but true. but it was neat going through some of the shops.

so i'm on my way home, jamming to my music yet again, and what the hell do i think i see in my headlights? that's right, SNOW!! i hate driving in snow and there it was, just coming down like it's mid december. in the midst of this, i'm texting my buddy bradford, and i let him know asap that it's time to teach me how to use my 4 wheel drive. don't judge! i know i'm a country girl and i don't know how to use 4 wheel? i just got my truck 5 months ago and this kind of weather is just now hittin, so i'm ready to learn it and get my truck dirty! i also get a text from my cousin, who's my roommate, that we have no more toilet paper but she can get some in the morning. ugh! i have been holding it in already for 30 minutes and i have a hour and half to go, there ain't no way i'm going without! so at 10:15 i'm shoppin at foodmax for a few quick essentials.

lol but now i'm home. and in my nice comfy warm bed, watching a funny movie. my last 28 hours was well worth the drive and weather change. so once again, happy bday to my dad!

reno or bust!

tomorrow is my dad's birthday. my parents decided to take the entire week off and vacation over in reno. of course, they're going to stay at harrah's because that's where my mom gets all her comps for her big jack pots that she wins. they've been working crazy hard lately, so his birthday kind of gave them the excuse to get away for a bit. thank god!

well, i have today and tomorrow off, so what am i gonna do? bomb over for the night and surprise my dad for his birthday. he has no idea! my mom and i kinda laughed about the idea, but then i shrugged my shoulders and said why not?

but it gets even better! my aunt kim is surprising my uncle jimmy for his 50th bday and taking him to vegas for the week and then throwing a surprise bday party for him on saturday. BUT on the way to vegas, they are stopping in reno. and they're staying at harrah's! lol i have to laugh because neither my dad or my uncle jimmy have any idea of what's going on. so when i get there, i'm going to get a hold of my aunt, scope out for my parents and turn this big surprise upside down! i'm totally stoked.

so my bag is packed, my music is updated on my ipod, gotta make a quick stop at work, gonna grab a quick bite (thinking taco bell), and jam my way over to the biggest little city in the world. oh, did i mention i'm only going for one night and heading back tomorrow night to be at work on tuesday? lol I LOVE LIFE!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

here i go again

it's definitely been awhile since i've blogged last. hmm, since april? wow! well, i'm going to restart what i tried doing before. that's right, my exercising. but i'm not going to be doing the whole p90x deal. as i type, i can see my weight machine staring at me and the bike next to it too. i've started my diet again, high protein and low carbs, so i feel like i'm accomplishing something so far =D the cool thing is that i have my cousin that's going to be exercising too, so i'm not doing it all alone.

along with exercising, i'm going to be expanding my wings more and start reading again. i used to read all the time and then i just stopped. i can't really even give a reason. so i'm starting with mitch albom's the 5 people you meet in heaven. i loved the tuesdays with morrey movie, so i hope that this book gets me back into my love for reading i used to have. my next books will be the harry potter series. i read the first two and part of the third, but i'm going to go back to the beginning and read them all the way through.

another big thing, is that i'm planning on moving out of california as well. i'm wanting to head back to washington and be with a lot more family and friends. i like california, i just totally dislike redding! and with my brother expecting another little one, i want to be near my nephews, and hopefully a niece, and watch and help them grow. not to mention my sisters are up there too. just being around family in general makes me a happier person. even my boss at work notices that and she's only known me a month or so. she says that i never look as happy or alive as i do when i'm talking about my nephews. she says there's this light that comes out of me and i just shine.