The '90's are officially over.

Oh, you say, they ended 9 years ago? Really? Well, not for all of us. This has been pointed out most recently to me by both Bridget and John. And today, especially John. 

So John and I both had the day off today, which actually hasn't happened in quite a while. So we decided to spend it together. (Shocking, I know) Originally the plan was to go to Sedona, but I didn't really make a good plan for that or get ready early enough, so instead we spent 5 hours shopping. No, I don't know how I got him to spend that ridiculous amount of time shopping with me. I almost died myself. And yes, I did buy a dress that was a little hot that I didn't need because he thought it was great, but I think that's to be expected. (Oh, we also had a very fun lunch at Benihana, but I have to wait for Brad to track down a video clip for me before I can post a little about that.) 

So anyways, as we go along this happened on more than one occasion:

Me: "That is a Terrible shirt."

Him: "That is a great shirt."

US: Really?

Now there is one main reason why I trust John's opinion at least as much as my own:

1. He's from LA. People generally are a little more put-together and trendy in LA than in Idaho, I imagine, as a general rule, what with all the celebrities living there and stuff. So I will listen to John since he obviously knows all the rules for living in warmer western United States. Which is also why my hair is worn straight at least 50% more often since he's come around. 

The reason he got points today is:

1. The first pair of shoes he picked up for me were black pumas which I'd wanted for at least 3 years. 

So today when I thought something was terrible or he thought something was terrible I actually thought about it. Now don't get me wrong, there were plenty of things we did agree on while shopping. One was an $86 shirt that I didn't end up getting. Along with 3 pairs of shoes and that dress. We could not agree about the orange J. Crew shirt I loved or about the checkered Roxy shoes that he thought were just great. 

The words "so 90's" and "white trash" were thrown about probably more than I usually use them in a year. Okay, so I never use the phrase "so '90's." 

And this got me to thinking about the '90's-ness of my wardrobe. There's a lot of it in there. Or there was. Apparently when you're 29 things can actually go out of style while you are still in college!! (Or just hanging around people who are. Grad school should probably be a wardrobe warning sign.) So when I got home, everything taking up space in my closet circa 2002 or before was put in the Buckle bag to be taken to DI tomorrow. And a few shirts that I just know John thinks are awful or that I haven't worn in a few years. This includes a bunch of shoes that I've been in denial about for a while. And some red capris that Candice gave me once that really I feel weird wearing every time. 

Um, Bridget, I'm going to need my Anthropologie shirt back soon. I have a lot fewer clothes now!!

Recompense

We all make bad decisions from time to time. And usually, we have to deal with the consequences of those decisions. But sometimes, we make bad decisions and somebody else has to deal with the consequences. Take yesterday, for example (Mindy & Maria, you are so quick on noticing the post... I was still at work when Brad loaded up the picture!). Actually, we have to backtrack further than that. Back to December when I wrecked Brad's Cadillac. And got a ticket for having expired registration. HIS expired registration. A $136 fine. I called Brad since we were so close to the house and had him try to register it online, but it needed an emissions test, which is hard to do on a totaled car. Anyways, to sum it all up, I had a hearing yesterday in Tempe. Which I couldn't get out of, despite faxing a "motion to continue" to them in the morning, which was denied. I had to wake up 2 hours earlier than normal and drag my butt to court to fight this registration thing. And it was all Brad's fault. Did he feel bad about it? You decide:

• He ironed both my scrubs and my shirt I wore to court
• He made me both a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and a turkey sandwich, just in case I wanted options. And packed the rest of my lunch. 
• He made me a breakfast burrito to enjoy this morning at work.
• He stopped by Urban Campfire for dinner, which we'd both wanted to try. Excellent Baked Potato. 
• And he refilled my water twice while I ate. 

So I guess if your brother lets his registration expire, and you have to go to court for it, apologies don't get much better than this. 

And, no, I ended up not having to pay the fine. 

Or I might still be a little pissed. 

Maybe. 

Christmas Leftovers

Christmas is a magical time of year, full of magic and family and shopping. And if your birthday is in December, it also comes with a $10 birthday gift from Victoria's Secret. That expires on Jan 31.
So did a free dozen Krispy Kremes coupon that we got with our Christmas Tree.
So did a buy one get one free coupon from Juice It Up!
So I redeemed all my coupons, even if Krispy Kreme was a half an hour away and a pain to get to in the Bel Air. Plus, I got 15 doughnuts anyways for free because I wanted 2 custard filled and one cake doughnut and technically the coupon didn't say "glazed only." And some people were mad about it. I just pretended to be mad, laughed, and asked for those 3 and the guy gave them to me. Yay. That was the best. 

And my new John Legend CD came and my Abs Diet book, which doesn't actually have 6 weeks of meals in it (just 3) and currently I'm too busy eating out and eating ice cream to do this, but I'm sure I will soon. 

And I also bought some new running shoes, which were on a pathetic little sale, but I love them anyways and someday I will actually run in them. 

And my AZ tax refund was deposited at midnight. 

I love Christmas. 

The Purest Sushi

So my friend Dr. Brad (he is kinda working on the PhD thing, and it's hard to not get him and my brother mixed up, so we call him that) hadn't hung out in quite a while, so today we went to lunch. At PURE sushi. Now for those of you who missed this in my last post (or several others for that matter), if you click on colored words in my post, it links to things. Like J.Crew pictures. Or the PURE website.
Anyways, this restaurant is so sweet. It's all white. The white leather booths. The white chairs. The hot pink and white menus. And it's very new, so we had it mostly to ourselves. And our booth was D5. Which, if you're wondering, is the best one. Our server, Jessa, was so sweet. She loves the place as much as we did. It started with edamame and VOSS water. Dr. Brad had never experienced VOSS and was so excited about the bottle. Turns out, though, it was $7, and we could have gone through 3 or 4, so she offered to refill it for us with regular water, which wasn't quite as tasty but was quite hilarious. And appreciated.
The sushi rolls were the freshest I have ever had. Even the wasabi, which I usually don't like, was tasty. And we had some noodles with pink ginger.
Oh. Oh. Oh. And on the movie Prime, which I've referenced before and probably will keep referencing, so you should just go rent it, they eat quail egg, which Uma Thurman says is totally orgasmic, and they had them, so of course we ordered them. Funny thing, our server had just had them for the first time for the same reason. I guess I'm not the only one who orders things because of movies. (Skip to minute 2:25 for the quail egg scene. No words. Sorry!)

And we had mango rice ice cream for dessert that had vanilla pear syrup under it. So delish!

And I even talked our server into a pen. Which I love. And she said she might get us into the VIP lounge when it's finished. yay! This may become a regular hangout.
Good good times.

Go Cardinals!!

So although I have yet to see a game, I'm wishing my AZ Cardinals the best in the Superbowl. They're even selling cookies at work!! Look at me and my true red Arizonian spirit!

Proof that JVizz cares about my Heart

Yesterday I woke up to a present from John. Apparently he heard the news about my cholesterol.

Legend...ary

John and I went and saw John Legend a week ago today. I know, it is shockingly terrible that I could have neglected to mention such a phenomenal event. John knows most everything that is going on around here due to working at a resort, or I would never have even known about this concert. So even though we both worked a lot, I ran down the day of the concert to the box office (turns out these tickets were not any kind of a good deal on craigslist!) and got the last two floor seats together to the concert. They were great seats. John Legend is sooo sexy. And it was a sexy sexy concert. I have one of his CD's, but not the latest (until amazon.com delivers it to me in a few days), and I was shocked at how incredible this last album was. I may have gotten a little emotional during it (hello, it's a love concert), but sometimes that's a good thing. It was such a diverse and fun crowd. It was packed, and everybody was so happy. John V. and I danced a little bit and sang along. Estelle ('American Boy') opened and she was very entertaining and so fun.
Oh, what an excellent experience.
And I can cross 2 fun concerts off my 101 things list

I Work Nights in the Brownest State in America

ok, so I haven't verified the brownest state part, but I'm dying here. It rained today. I need sun. I need some green stuff. I need some water. I need a VACATION.
I know you may be thinking, um, Christin, I think you had vacation in September. And October. And you went to the Grand Canyon last weekend. Yes. I know this.
I just need Christin happy time. Again.
See this picture? here?
The first one? The one where she's kissing his cheek? I love this picture. This is a happy day. These are spring flowers. This is sunshine. I can feel the sun on my face and the love of my friends in this picture and I want it be here. (And in case you're wondering, no, it does not have anything to do with the wedding and everything to do with the flowers, the smiles, the friends, and the weather. Also, I know those people are probably all jerks and don't even like each other. I'm just saying that J.Crew did an excellent job of capturing a mood.)
Exhibit 2:
This is the Bahamas.

I can stay here for 4 nights with airfare for about $938. This sounds divine, actually. I also considered Tahiti, but apparently leaving on Saturday for there would put me back $2388. My supervisor Bridget has already said if I need a vacation, just go. I just don't know where to yet. hmmm.
p.s. yes, I am well aware that January is a gorgeous month to live in Arizona. But if I'm here, I feel obligated to go to work, and then it doesn't really feel like vacation. Plus, nobody makes my bed.
Do I sound a little pissy in this post? Do I sound like a need a vacation?

Dodging Lasers, Exploring My America, and Attempting to Sing. With Brad.

This was a sweet weekend. And not at all what I had anticipated. My to do list looked a little like this:
Work Friday
Go to Target
Workout
Buy Hair Stuff
Work Sunday.

This is what happened instead: I got called off of work on Friday night. I wasn't actually scheduled for tonight. So Friday night, Brad's friend Marie, who is very cool and just got engaged, threw a laser tag b-day party for her fiancee. It had been about a decade since I played laser tag (over Spring Break in Kerrville, TX)! But it was way fun. I shot 42 people. And got shot 38 times. Perfect. I was 12th out of 36th. Because, you know, your rank in Laser tag means everything.

Then we went and played The Office board game, which was actually very fun.
Then.... off to Big Bang, a bar here where there are 2 grand pianos and they play any song you want by request. It was very fun. John and I went and hung out with Bridget and her new boy.


We got home around 2 and then John went home....he had to work in the morning. :-( . And Brad announced to me that we were going to the Grand Canyon at 7. So on 3 hours of sleep, I crawled into the car. Me, Brad, Tyler, and Ariana, and her brother Anders, who we picked up in Flagstaff.

The Grand Canyon was very cool. It definitely is a lot of rock. I know that seems silly, but lots of AZ is brown, and this Canyon is no exception, although I know there are several geologists who would be appalled at my lack of appreciation of the subtle color variations. It was pretty, and I am looking forward to a future overnight backcountry hiking trip. It's going to be sweet. If we can get the permit. And decide when to do it.
The coolest part may have been when Brad and I decided to climb onto this cliff. It looked about 85 percent safe, so we both decided to climb on out. It made for the sweetest pictures of the trip.


Next to this one of Ariana.



We got home tired, but the weekend wasn't over yet. Brad's friend from NJ was in town with her fiancee (yep, there's a lot of engagements around here lately) and she was in the mood to Karaoke. Now, those of you who know Brad and I know that we are not known for our singing, and granted, I wasn't about to ruin everyone's evening with a solo. But John sang John Legend's Ordinary People, Brad and i totally rocked Garth Brooks' Rodeo, Ariana and John did Promiscuous Girl, and Brad and John basically made everyone's night with Warren G and Nate Dogg Regulators. Awesomeness. The night ended with a group rendition of "What's Love Got to Do With It." Perfection.
We all stayed up late and Brad and I went to church on about 3 hours of sleep. And then we came home and took 5 hour naps.
Work hard.
Play hard.
Rest hard.
:-)

Orphans

Nobody on earth should have 8 orphan socks. Really? EIGHT? My house isn't exactly 7000 square feet. I can look everywhere pretty quickly. They aren't lying around. Did they fall out of my backpack biking home from work? I mean, really, where could they go? This is nuts. This has not happened previously in my life. Not this bad. Oh, and Candice. You know my brand new lucy Christmas socks? Is there one at mom's house? Are there other orphan socks at mom's house? My whole house seems so in order except for these ridiculous socks!

Guess What Happens?

Guess what happens when you eat bacon 3 times during Christmas week and make a habit of eating ice cream for breakfast?
You get your cholesterol checked, and it's 206!!! I'm gonna die!!

The Capricorn Emerges

I will think of Byron as I write this post, because of all the other Capricorns I know, he's the most like me. Happy Birthday tomorrow, B!!
So I love love love this time of year. It's like productivity kicks in every Dec. 26th. I set lots of little New Year's Resolutions. For example, I will work out every single day this year and count doing 15 push-ups as working out when necessary. I know, of course, that this will not happen. In fact, I already missed the 27th. But it's not the first of the year yet so it doesn't count. This is a practice week.
The week where you buy your pretty new calming yet motivating calendar.
The week where you break out your planner and plan new plans.
The week where you stock up on groceries and start cooking dinner again.
The week where you send it your application to the Dr. of Nurse Practice program at ASU. (Yay!!)
The week where you consider that maybe mint.com might actually be a good idea for this whole budgeting thing.
The week where you feel organized and productive and thrilled that the weather in AZ feels like Sept in Boise and you just hold out and hope this whole thing can last.
Happy New Years!

Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple Horse

So I haven't blogged about Christmas, because, really, how exciting is hearing about someone else's morning of gifts? It was a pretty basic Christmas with a few twists and turns. Candice & Brad got wheat grinders. Apparently someone knows I don't cook bread. We all got food storage. I got a Garmin GPS for the next time I go to LA and John has to work and is not 100% available to keep me from getting lost. :o)
My favorite gift I gave, probably, was a book to Kaitlynn called "Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple Horse." I read it 4 times to different family members and laughed every time. I highly recommend this book, especially all you Arizonians. So cute! (And apparently you can get it used for 42 cents on amazon.com!) But you can't click this picture to look inside on this blog. Sorry!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....

It's been such an interesting December. And it's interesting to me how different Christmases can be as you get older. And almost as interesting which things stay the same. 

This month a bunch of us were supposed to go skydiving on the 19th for my birthday. In San Diego. But due to an unfortunate series of events, I decided not to go. I still wonder what the best course of action really was in that situation, but in the end we decided not to go until next month. 

I just hope it still happens. And that the weather's good. I'll be so pissed off if it's not. 

So. There's my internal conflict. Besides the fact that I have an awesome job that is still not allowing me to feel the sweet blanket of financial security that is always delightful at this time of year. 

MOVING ON!!

There have been some sweet sweet things that HAVE happened. Bridget threw me a surprise party on the 19th. And we all got together as friends and opened Christmas gifts. Some people that I hang out with often (Brad, Bridget, and John) and some people I very rarely hang out with (Chelsey & Kristine aka Polly Pocket, Bridget & Ariana's roommates), Phil (my hometeacher), Tyler, & Amber. Bridget was so sweet and got me IZZE's, which I love, and an ice cream cake, which I have never had but always wanted. Along with a birthday princess crown (The exact same one I had when I was 27 from other roommates :o)). The coolest was a book that Bridget got me that I read all the time when I was little called Betty Bear's Birthday. She found it on ebay and it was so sweet. 

Brad & Bridget shocked me by getting me Red Salt & Pepper Mills from Sur La Table that I've lusted after for 5 years. THANK YOU!! All the other presents from that night were so thoughtful & fun. It was absolutely wonderful. I also gave John and Bridget and Ariana cool posters of pictures we've taken this year that turned out so cool. Brad helped me make and order them while I was at work, which was so awesome of him. They turned out perfect. 

All of this made me remember a few wonderful Boise Christmases I had. See, until 3 years ago, I had never missed a Christmas with my family. But in 2006, I did. I had to work, and I didn't try that hard to get it off. My roommates were having a hard time all around, and I loved all 3 of them, and we worked hard to have an awesome Christmas together. We borrowed some of my family's traditions and read Luke 2 while putting together the Nativity, The Polar Express while ringing jingle bells at the appropriate time, and Jolly Old Santa Claus to truly get ready for the arrival of Santa Claus. We stuffed each others' stockings, and really got in the magical Santa Clausness of it all. And this was all after we got dressed up and went to a fancy little restaurant called Tapas Estrella for my birthday. The fact that we felt like a little family creating traditions made it such a fun holiday. And so did doing it all over again the next year. I miss my Boise Christmases a little this year. xoxoxo to Jessica, Craig, and Tara. Thanks for those memories. 

This year I'm in Bullhead City. Josh is alone in Alabama and kinda sad. John is working and not here with me. :o( My Boise friends are in Boise, and my Phoenix friends are in Phoenix. 

And I am here with my family. Which, really, is wonderful. I just am not used to wishing I was in 3 places at once!! And I want all my friends to be happy! And with me, whenever possible...

So... 

I slept until noon. I worked Sun & Mon nights and came up on Tuesday on 3 hours of sleep. So I slept for 12 hours last night. Delicious. My dad brought me breakfast in bed at 9. It was so wonderful, and I went back to sleep for 3 hours, interspersed only by random text messages of friends wishing me a happy birthday. (thank u all)

My cool family birthday present?? Well, Adam and Candice have been using my car for a month while we got a Camry Brad bought fixed and ready for them. While they had it, Brad ordered speakers from ebay online and Adam installed them. This is super sweet because I blew my speakers years ago and have had to turn the bass basically off for forever because it would buzz like crazy. It was such a surprise and it sounds so sweet!! And my dad had it cleaned inside and out, which I basically love. It was awesome. 

And Kaitlynn & I opened a few more little presents together (her birthday is on the 26th, but she's too little to really care too much). Candice got me pajama pants to replace my gray ones that are literally falling apart. Yay!! :o)

Kaitlynn and I also shared a birthday cake and also did some last minute shopping. She is such a trip. Kinda hard to shop with....very very busy....but so funny and cute. And we had people over for Christmas dinner and Brad made bacon-wrapped scallops which was cool and different. Amazing how many people have never had scallops. They turned out great. 

I read the Polar Express to everyone, including company. Nana couldn't quite do it this year, which almost made me cry. She's the best reader, but her mind isn't quite up to it this year. She did emphasize a few parts that she can still do better than I can. Which I loved. She's the coolest lady, and I know I owe so much of the Christmas Magic in my life to her. This is a picture of her last year reading to us, which she's been doing since 1987, when the book came out. 

After Kaitlynn & family went home, my brother & I & mom & dad wrapped the last of the presents. It was fun just to be here with them, and even though this Christmas seems a little more crazy and a little more stressed than usual, I realize that I am no less blessed. God still gave Christ to us. Christ still gave His life for each of us. I have friends and family who love & appreciate me and who bless my life everyday. 

I am so grateful for this season, and for the magic we can find in it. 

I've done not enough service this December, and I hope that's something I can make more of a priority this year. And maybe the Christmas spirit will be a little easier to capture. 

Now Brad & I are off to read Jolly Old Santa Claus. 

Because, you know, Santa Claus comes tonight. So you'd better be tucked in tight. I hope you were good this year. 

Green Bean Vomit

I thought that poop was my least favorite bodily byproduct. I was wrong. I didn't know that green bean vomit could be so vile. I didn't know it could almost make me vomit. I just cleaned it up off the floor. I feel a little traumatized. And I'm sure there's a little bit somewhere on my shoes right now. And that's almost too much to handle.

The Organic Perspective

So one thing about hanging out with John is that I'm discovering all the little restaurants around here that I couldn't find on my own. And I love love love them.
Last week we went to True Food Kitchen, a resturant based on the Glycemic Index and Dr. Weil and smells like WheatGrass. We had fancy non-alcoholic drinks - I had a No-jito (Honey Ginger Lemonade with Mint). He had The Medicine Man (a berry drink made with Olivello berries, which apparently are only served at this one restaurant in America). So delicious. We had butternut squash ravioli with yogurt sauce and chicken with squash and brussel sprouts and farro (like barley). And for dessert we had a flourless chocolate cupcake with a melted center and diced pears on top. And a slice of dark chocolate with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. We sat on the patio under the heaters and had so much fun. :o)
Today for lunch we went to The Green Restaurant. Which is totally vegan. Of all the diet adventures I will not try on my own, it is to attempt veganism. However, I will try it at a restaurant. Especially this one. We had a Balsalmic Picnic salad with apples and strawberries and pecans. And a flatbread pizza with spinach and "mock chicken" and "mock cheese." And it all actually tasted good. For dessert, we had a soy blizzard with almond cookies and toffee flavoring.
So delicious. And so exciting!

Prissy Weekend Pictures

These are all from my cell phone; It was actually kind of a busy weekend. Not busy enough to not take cell phone pictures. :o) It's hard to get the lighting good on an actual EYELID.... The lipstick picture is a red I almost got. And then couldn't figure out when I would wear it. Ashley went for it. And looked smokin' hot on Sunday.

RockStar Virgin No More

I haven't slept really awesome the last week or so. Not terrible, mind you. Just not great. My sleep schedule seems to be off, and basically, I haven't been able to sleep as long. I've been much more tired at work and felt kind of miserable. I think quite a bit of it has to do with not working out, and even though I have tried to make it a priority, I've been really bad at it lately.
This all came to a head on Wednesday. I woke up at 3pm instead of 4:30, and I was tired! I felt fine until 5:30 when it came time to start getting ready for work, and I realized I was not going to make it. I wanted to call in "Sleepy" to work. 

Then John suggested I get a Rockstar. Now, I was, until this point, an energy drink virgin. It takes me exactly 1 Mountain Dew to stay awake for 8 hours on very little sleep. But this time I was more wiped out than usual. And desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Rockstar Juiced Guava here I come.

I drank half of this during report at work. I felt like I was on crack for 2 hours (I assume that's what crack feels like). I was totally restless. My patients all had linen changes. I had a ton of antibiotics to hang and missed exactly none of them. I basically had a very long to do list and all of it got done. My head was going nuts, but my body was Queen of Efficiency. It started to wear off a little about 1. I sipped on it until 4 and then decided to lay off. I didn't drink the whole thing, but I was still worried about how I would sleep. 

Turns out I slept like a champ. For about 7 hours. Sweet!

And on Thursday I went running. 

I think my schedule is back to normal. 

Prissy Weekend

So for those of you who know me, I'm not the MOST prissy of the girls I know. Yes, I do my hair and make-up very close to every day. Yes, I am particular about most things, and I'm neurotic about shaving my legs. But there are some very non-shall I say- beauty school girl things about me. Like the fact that I get highlights occasionally but have never truly changed my hair color. Like it took me 14 years to straighten my hair. Like I generally wear the same eyeshadow every single day. The colors I choose for this stay around for an average of 6 years. Clinique Pink Chocolates anyone?

Meet Ashley Minkalis. 

This beautiful girl has eyeshadow that truly makes me envious. Oh, I know it is superficial on so many levels. But, really, I have gone to several cosmetic counters in the mall trying to get them to imitate this woman's eyes. I just tell them to make my eyes more fun. And they just make them slightly less boring.

And then last Saturday Ashley mentioned that we needed to hang out more. And I mentioned that we should go eyeshadow shopping. We bought 4 sweet colors, and she made my eyes look AMAZING (I did have a few more to work with). She did one eye and then taught me to do the other eye to match. And everyday since has been so much fun. 

I also had my hair straight for 4 days. And got a little white t-shirt from Armani Xchange with A&X rhinestones on it. And I wore a fun new outfit to church. Basically it felt like a weekend where my priorities were totally in the wrong place. 

But that doesn't mean it wasn't fun. And it doesn't mean that doing my eyeshadow everyday this week hasn't been the highlight of my day. :)

A Saturday Thanksgiving

So I worked 5-12 hour shifts this week. I got off work Sat. morning and headed down to Bullhead City (in our rental car). Brad drove and I attempted to sleep, but really didn't. We had Thanksgiving about an hour after we got there. All the neighbors were invited so there were about 20 people in the community center. It was really nice, and as soon as we were done, I fell asleep for about 4 hours. Then we all watched Wall-E. And I fell asleep for the last half and slept until the next morning on the couch. 

Sunday was church. And afterwards we spent a lot of time reading www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com and finding out why I'm a sucker for everything I interpret as important for the Ultimate White Life. Really it was a laid-back Thanksgiving, but really good to be home. 

Dad made a great breakfast on Monday morning before we headed out. We jokingly tried to talk Kaitlynn into coming back with Brad and I until Christmas. She thought about it pretty hard. We told her it would be a long time and that she couldn't come back even if she missed her mom & dad. You could see the little wheels turning, and finally she said, "Do you have ice cream?"

hahaha. Oh, we love her. What a good Carbiener she is. 

And last night we went with most of our friends (miss you Ariana!!) to look at the temple lights for Family Home Evening and then to Chili's (which Ariana did get to stop by for). Just a relaxing night at home. It's always good to go home. It's always good to be back.