Thursday, October 29, 2009

Re-living Halloweens

The clock is ticking to closer to that much awaited holiday. You know of the one, I speak. The ghoulish holiday in which for one night, we mortals can dress as creatures and brutes not of this world. But the absolute best part about Halloween is that the crazier one dresses up, the more praise he or she receives. In truth, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It allows us to express ourselves in a way that might never be possible were it not for this blood curling tradition.

Some might call Kyle and I creative, others might refer to us as "coo coo," but either way, we LOVE dressing up, and each year we try to get as creative as possible, with as little money as possible, which makes Halloween a interesting challenge. This year, we have, as with most Halloweens, procrastinated until the last possible moment to figure out what we shall be, and we are coming up a little dry, which is where you come in, my creative friends and family. What should Kyle and I dress as this year, which would be fun, interesting and inexpensive. To give you an idea of some of the costumes we have featured in the past, I have posted pictures from previous Halloweens. Enjoy, and we would greatly appreciate your input and ideas.

This year we went as Wolverine and Rogue. You might notice that my gloves are actually dishwashing gloves, and my boots are galoshes.
This might have been our first Halloween as a couple, and at the last moment, shopping through Target, we came across some very cheap pink sheets and decided to be PINK GHOSTS. It was fun.
Halloween 2008, we went as dice. We made these out of boxes, paint and rope. Sadly those costumes got tossed.

These two pictures are of what I consider to be some of our best costumes ever. I love that we were both dressed as pumpkin costumes as children. My mom made my costume, and my fat little rolly polly arms just make the costume that much more believable.

Halloween 2006, shopping through Michaels for ideas, we decided to go as a painter and his creation. This is one of my favs as well.

I don't remember if we were Sharon and Ozzy for a Halloween event or if it was just a dress up Communication Council event that had nothing to do with Halloween. But I think we pulled it off pretty well.

I was a butterly this year, but you can't see my wings here, and Kyle was a vampire.

Italy Halloween 2005- I wore the apron we bought for Kyle's dad as my costume, and went as a naked man. Having just discovered "The Big Lebowsky" Kyle went as "THE DUDE" and carried milk in place of a white Russian.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Quick update on the Graduation Bizness

Got an email from my adviser this morning and just wanted to let you all know how things are progressing;

Hi Kyle,

Your transfer work has posted and all we are waiting on now is your In Absentia paperwork to clear (it will take a few weeks). Your graduation application will be approved once that happens. As of right now, there is nothing left for you to do.

Congratulations on the completion of your degree!

Best,
Aida

Don't go queuing the Hallelujah chorus just yet but I think a little woohoo is in order so...WOOHOO!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

So close to success!

Tuesday, Kyle woke up with a fire beneath his behind. As his wife, I often times, am the party most likely to kindle flame to motivate his occasionally slow moving gigantic hobbit feet into action, however, he needed no pushing from me this particular morning. And, it was a GOOD thing; some might even say, a miracle that he called UT (University of Texas) Tuesday. Why? Because Wednesday was the deadline for submitting an application for graduation. Who Knew? Not us!

He had actually already submitted an application but because of some issues which I wont go into because honestly, it's just plain mind numbing to explain, it wasn't valid. Sooooo... the lady on the phone told him that he needed to get in his transcript from Texas State (where he took his final Spanish classes which by the way was the only thing keeping him from being a graduate) in by Wed. at 3pm. Kyle took his final test on the previous Friday and often times he didn't receive a grade for at least a week, but he called and pleaded, and low and behold, his professor graded his test within a few hours of his beseeching, and we were in the car, on our way to Texas State to pick up his transcript to take to UT in the morning as we had to meet with the adviser at 8:45 am the next morning. And if you know ANYTHING about Austin traffic, you are aware of it's lifeless movement in the morning, afternoon, also sometimes at midnight and on occasion at 4 am and well really basically at all times of day depending on the shadow of the moon on the Earth. So..., we solicited friends at the last possible moment so that we could save a tank of gas and a massive migraine whilst dealing with what might be considered equivalent to Chinese torture, Austin traffic in the morning.
Success! Texas State Transcript received!
Non success: San Antonio College Transcript not received, leaving Kyle without the adequate number of hours.
Success! he was allowed to apply for graduation.
Non success: We do not currently have a piece of paper which will pass as a prerequisite to a diploma until SAC's transcript is received.
Success! The lady on the phone told Kyle, it was basically impossible for him to get it all done before the deadline, and when he called to tell her that we were on our way, she was dumbfounded to which Kyle responded, "I know, I have been a RockSTAR!"

In short- the trip was very successful, but not as successful as we hoped. But we are far from despairing. We are hopeful, that by Monday, all should be solved! We are so very very close, I can taste it! YAY for Kyle being a ROCKSTAR!!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Bulldog 2009 aka Kyle plays GI Joe for 2 days straight!

For those of you who didn't know, last weekend was my big airsoft event that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. It's called Bulldog and it's put on by these guys; OPLionClaws as a fundraiser for the Marines. It's also a big money maker for them I'm sure but regardless, they cut a check to the Marines for 5k at the end so they're all good in my book. Anyways, it all started after I went out to San Antonio Airsoft to hang with my new bud Julian. He's been showin me the ropes of airsoft for a while now and for the past couple months he's been getting me all hyped up for what basically amounts to the biggest airsoft event in Texas each year. It ain't cheap (180$ a head) and it ain't close (Ft. Hood Tx.) but man it was worth it! So the really cool thing about Bulldog that makes it so much better than any other airsoft game is that Ft. Hood lets us use their MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) site and it looks basically like a little Baghdad but it's HUGE! Like 10 acres.
And you have two teams fighting against eachother; The Freedom Fighters:















And the Marines/Russians:













Now again, airsoft is a little different from paintball in that the goal is not to just eliminate everyone but to complete objectives. For example, the first "evolution", (that's GI Joe lingo for game by the way) had both teams trying to unlock as many padlocks as they could find. The padlocks were in certain buildings but no one knew which ones so it was kinda like a treasure hunt...while being shot at...and shooting at others. GREAT FUN!
So at first, Julian and I were hoping that we could play with the Freedom Fighters as all of the dedicated San Antonio Airsofters were playing on the FF side. But because I registered a bit late and because the teams were ridiculously imbalanced this year, I had to go Russian so Julian switched sides. AND, one of Julian's customers/buds decided he wanted to come to! So Billy Coleman age 35ish, professional cool cat joined us to help fight for the Motherland. We had an absolute blast!
So here's a quick rundown of how it went, followed by pics from last years Bulldog just to give you an idea of what it's like. Recent pics are comin, we just don't have any yet!

Fri. 4:30pm-Van drives me out to SAAirsoft to drop me off. Julian and fam are SWAMPED with random customers. Good for business, not good for schedule.
6:30pm-Billy's drivin, J's freshly shaven and showered and rockin the shotgun seat. We hit the road, just 2 hrs. behind schedule...right on time!
10:28pm We pull in to the Ft. Hood Visitor's Center that closes at 10:30pm to get directions as none of us know where to go. We spend a good 10 minutes talking with the very nice but not so helpful MP that didn't even know there was an Airsoft event on base this weekend. A decision is made about the most likely location of our campsite and we roll out.
11:30pm We've made a full circle around Ft. Hood (no small feat mind you, nearly 60miles of driving) and we find our campsite!!!

Sat.12:45am Tents up, air mattress inflated without pump, we all pass out.
7:00am Roll out and start gearing up
8:00am Get yelled at for not being registered properly nor having guns checked properly
8:15am Get yelled at for not being in formation on time by Russian Commander Igor Doberov aka Scary Russian (really, he is Russian...but not really scary...except when he's angry) See for yourself; He's the one with the blue Barret on and the huge smile on his face. Don't let the smile fool you though, he's one tough Motherlander!













8:45am Evolution 1 begins!
12:00pm Evolution 1 ends!
1:00pm Evolution 2 begins!
2:00pm Evolution 2 ends!
4:00pm Evolution 3 begins!
5:00pm Evolution 3 ends!
7:00pm Evolution 4 begins! This one's a night game...but we didn't go to that one. Not sorry we missed it in the least. We were all dead tired and not too psyched about runnin through dark buildings without flashlights.

Sun. 9:00am THE LAST EVOLUTION BEGINS!
12:00pm Game over! YAY!
2:00pm Camp is packed, we hit the road.
3:00pm Bike racers are using our exit road so all 250 of us have to turn our caravan around, go back the way we came, then out the other exit. LAME...but funny!

Mon. 11:00am Wake up and can't move legs. Literally have to lift them with my arms to get in and out of the car for the next 4 days. I'm still feelin the pain! BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!
So here's J last year as an FF.













And here's a few action shots, just so you get an idea of what it was like. OH, and one thing you don't really get a taste of with the pics is how LOUD it was. Some Okies were nice enough to give us some simulation grenades and simulation artillery rounds. You know how loud professional fireworks are when you're right up next to them? Same stuff, just going off in the street 20 feet away from us. LOOOOUUUUD!




















































And here's my personal fave from last year. You just never know where those sneaky little turds might be hiding! Pun intended...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Kyle's left the building


As we speak, or more appropriately, as I type, Kyle is driving his petrified self to San Marcos to take his last Spanish test, the only thing standing between Kyle and graduation. (At least for now) When he awoke this morning at 8:00 am voluntarily he was shaking in his booties, like a puppy in his first snow storm. Calm had set in, however, as he headed out the door. He was like a gladiator prepared to face the lions, braced for any trickster Spanish tense or strange idiom that plunged towards his heart. The previous two tests he has received scores of 90 and 92 so I am not worried. I am really proud of him stepping up after so much time of hiding behind his shield of lies to face his demons. It hasn't been easy, but we are finally nearing the end of the journey. The finish line which has seemed so close and yet completely unreachable for eons, is now within our fingertips, and I for one may jump out of my skin with rapture at the end of today.
We will keep you updated as we are informed of his progress.

Interview update:
The interview was at a temp agency called adeco and from my vantage point, it went well. I wore a nice little number with my hair pulled back, and felt very professional so that was better than originally anticipated considering my limited options, ahem... middle school clothes.

The only hiccup, however has been the assessment tests, principally the one having to do with EXCEL! Yes, it wasn't very many days ago, in which I wrote about how EXCEL HATES ME , ironic how quickly, this mutual animosity has created such a thorn in my side. The first 10 questions I could muck through just fine, as they were simple things such as widening columns and deleting rows, however, when it came to using any feature that dealt with calculating, taking averages or using formulas, I might as well have been my mom, as computer savvy as the mice living in our attic.

And then there was the typing assessment, which I actually haven't taken as of yet, because quite frankly, I am timorous of what the results will be. You see, I am a quick typist, however, my fingers like to jiggy. They like to get down, turn around and boogie to whatever music they hear, which may or may not be what I should be typing. Basically, what I am trying to say is, I make mistakes, lots of them, and the more mistakes I make, the more my fingers loose control do whatever they like especially when my nerves get the better of me. I can only take the test once, and it is a full five minutes. Five minutes of reading, or having a conversation, is equivalent to a New York minute, but five minutes of speed/accuracy typing testing is equivalent to a millennium. It requires, non-stop intense concentration, and I would rather just hide under a rock and pretend it is already over and done with. Suggestions?

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Tomorrow


Tomorrow, Kyle takes (cross your fingers) his last Spanish Test EVER!! Pray that all of the information he has been desperately cramming into his head will not leak out until after the test! It tries to escape daily but with enough cajoling, and threats of violence with an airsoft gun, I think we can get it to stay until he takes that test.

- in other news... I have a temp job interview today. That's always exciting. At least the prospect of some income is inspiring.

Except.... that all of my work clothes I left in boxes in Korea. It should be interesting the clothes I find for this interview.... All of the clothes in my closest are from high school or before. The shirt I am currently wearing is from middle school. (I am 26, that would be too many years ago to count)

-In more news, we went to the dentist yesterday. Our teeth aren't rotting out of our head, which is always favorable.

Friday, October 09, 2009

My husband is a Goob!



It's sad but true. I married a genuine, inspector-validated goober, and there is no other word that appropriately describes Kyle, the kooky pacifist air-soft enthusiast and animal fanatic, except GOOB.
Proof and point- mega nerd!

Actually, on second thought, I take that back, according to dictionary.com the word DWEEB means a MEGA NERD. Mega-nerd- it's hilarious in itself, that the dictionary defines the word dweeb in the first place, but characterizing a person with the title as a mega-nerd is just pee in your pants, gasp for air ridonkculously uproarious!


Why you may ask, am I referring to my husband, the man I chose with my own free will to marry, in what may seem to the outsider as insulting. Well, I'll tell you, but I promise you will truly understand for yourself where the word GOOB surfaced from my elementary exiled vocabulary when you see these pictures for yourself!

Kyle has left me alone this weekend for an air-soft tournament. Its not really a tournament per say but a three day shoot 'em up fest for dudes and a very few brave ladies, who liked to play GI Joe as a kid and just never grew out of that phase. (If you don't know what air soft is, click here for an explanation) Kyle and I have been walking nearly every evening for exercise and for quality Kyle and Vanessa time. One evening, as we got ready for our walk, Kyle, to prepare for the weekend that he has been looking forward to for weeks, maybe even years, well, if we get right down to it, he has been anticipating this spectacular event before the kid was even born, put on his holster/vest/backpack and filled it with weight (water bottles, cream soda, a whisky bottle). It only took one glance. I bit my lip, but it, that word, gurgled and sputtered it's way out of ostracization -

"You are such a GOOB!" I spewed
"Your just saying that because of the cream soda" - smiled Kyle readjusting his holster thingy.
"Nope its everything" I said looking away making a useless attempt not to fall on the ground from laughter.
"Yeah, but you love it. You love that I am a goob." Kyle laughed with a knowing smile
"It's true, I love that you are a goob! You are my goob and I wouldn't have it any other way!" I admitted, grabbing at his outstretched hand!

And without further adieu: MY GOOB! Kyle Rogers, the wanna-be GI Joe!




GRRRRrrrr- hear my growl! :)





I wanted to wear the vest too! I guess I am a nerd as well. This is me, trying my hardest at being a sexy FBI agent. How am I doing?

QT was too embarrassed to watch!

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Jealousy is bad

So one of the main things I am trying to work on is being present; present to what is happening now, present to my body, present to my thoughts. I am trying not to live in the past or in what I THOUGHT should have been the future. Living in the present, however, is hard, it is much harder than it seems. Living in the moment means not thinking about how I wish Kyle hadn't lied to me, or how we should have been somewhere else right now, or how I should have gone for a run yesterday. When my mind is filled up with these thoughts, the negative energy is electrifying. So electrifying in fact, that they lightening strike any positive thoughts that try to sneak their way in. Living in the present means throwing some perspective on the matter. What is currently happening is not so bad. I am typing on the computer. My fingers are pressing lightly on the black keyboards as I straighten by back so as not to have the terrible posture I typically keep. My unwashed hair is having a field day sticking straight out in its frizzy way of being in all sorts of directions. I probably look like a frazzled school librarian searching for her once again lost glasses. My stomach is beginning to indicate slight vestiges that it is craving nutrients, at least that is how I am interpreting the pains in my gut. If I look at what is, and not what should have been, life isn't the terrible I often interpret it as.

Triggered by my unwillingness to read blog posts of those whose lives seem seamless and perfectly mirthful, I began writing this blog post as an attempt at an honest look as to why I am choosing not to read certain cheerful excerpts. My first thoughts are, "if their life is so happy, I don't want to hear about it because it will just make me feel worse about myself." Why does others' happiness make me experience a plummet in self-esteem? Why can't I be satisfied with where I am and be joyous of others' good fortune? Why must I covet what I don't have? And if given the chance would I really trade my life with those whose posts I won't read or facebook statuses who are always so very blithe? The answer is NO. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I love my life. I love my family, I love my friends, I love my husband, and I love our opportunities. So where does this self-opposition come from? Why shouldn't I be satisfied?

Does anyone else have these feelings? Let me be clear. I don't actually wish ill will on anyone, especially those dear ones in my life. Please don't misunderstand this post to mean something that it does not. I honestly and truly wish the best for everyone in my life. What I am struggling with is satisfaction within, and really only sometimes. But I wanted to examine this as I have been doing a lot of candid soul searching lately and pose the question to others, "Is this something that you experience as well? And where does it come from for you?"

Some quotes on envy:
Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own. ~Harold Coffin

Jealousy is the great exaggerator. ~Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, The Conspiracy of Fiesco, 1783

And oft, my jealousy shapes faults that are not. ~William Shakespeare


Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Excel hates me


Have you ever spent THREE hours making phone calls, getting transfered over and over again, researching on unnavigable websites, collecting data only to delete it all on accident permanently? Yeah, I did that yesterday. I have been working on a project for that non-profit I mentioned the other day called music in the schools (which is a super great cause by the by) and I thought I could work excel. I mean, all I had to do was input a little data right? I just made an itsy bitsy mistake and wanted to erase ONE ROW. What, pray tell did I erase however? The entire SHEET. Yes, an entire page- non recoverable. My head nearly exploded at that moment. I literally grabbed a blanket and hid with my new snow leopard stuffed animal named LEA (short for Leopard, but with an "A" for a girl which I got at the mac store because the mac representative took pity on me, being too poor to purchase a new laptop and all). We huddled under the blanket away from the mean computer for probably thirty minutes, yet the nightmare was still there when we re-emerged, ERASED PERMANENTLY. Luckily, in my desperation, I found a website, a golden website, which held the answers to all life's problems. Ok, not really all life's problems, just the one I was dealing with at that moment! YAY!!! It was the light at the end of a tunnel. I only wish that all of life's little curve balls had such simple solutions, but what would be the fun of that? Thank goodness for Lea- she made the day. Man, I miss my stuffed animal days. I sometimes find myself petting this FAKE cat, as if were real and enjoyed being petted! What does that say about me? Hmmm.... I am not sure I want you to answer that...

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Inspired (again)

I was having a conversation over dinner just tonight about how I had once read a speech by JK Rowling and found it one of the most inspiring speeches I had ever read. It inspired me to revisit this post which picks out some of the more inspiring parts of the speech, at least for me. And I once again was blown away at the power of her words. Many people who now follow the blog, did not follow it almost exactly one year ago (when we were in Seattle with my aunt), so I felt impelled to repost this wonderfullly inspiring speech. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

We have a lot of time on our hands lately so I find myself thinking about future posts more than I ever have in the past, partially out of boredom, but also because I have the time for creativity. I have the time and the energy to let my imagination and thoughts run wild. A hidden blessing in our time of frustration, one might say. Through my internet searching today, I came across a commencement speech by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, given to the graduating class at Harvard. And by her speech I was inspired. So much so, that even after an inordinately long post that most of you probably haven't had the chance to read yet, I have decided to post another. (p.s. please read Kyle's entry before you read this one as it is really worth the read, and I not just saying that because I am the biased wife, it really is so well written and entertaining. It is not one to be missed!) I am not going to post the whole speech, but take excerpts that particularly spoke to me. However if you would like to read the entire speech, click here.

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.... So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.


So obviously Kyle and I have had hit road blocks in our life, but we haven't even brushed the edge of the decline that leads to rock bottom. In no way, am I comparing what we are going through to the rock bottom that she speaks of, but I think what she has to say about failure is so intriguing and true for some, but not all. I love the quote from the movie Catch Me If You Can, "Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out." For some, failure is just that, failure, and there is nothing more to say or do. Rock bottom is just another place to live or die. But for others, for the fighters, for the ones who want more and are willing to struggle failure can be the lottery ticket to success, an opportunity. I am always so inspired by stories of failures that lead to success because I want to be one of those people who takes risks and isn't afraid of failure. The line where Rowling says, "I was set free" made so much sense to me. If what you fear is failure, and you have failed, than there is no where else to go but towards success.

Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. ...I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London. here in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. ... Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government.
... I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

This passage gave me a greater understanding of her books. While reading the Harry Potter series, I often got a sense that what she was warning against was not evil in the world, but instead, not standing up against what you know is wrong, even if you have to do it alone and at the risk of everything. Voldemort controlled with fear, paralyzing those who knew that he was wrong into doing nothing. Voldemort may have been a fictional villan, but what he stood for is unfortunatly far from fiction. Voldemort is much like the totalitarrian governments that strike fear in the hearts of many citizens of our world. Rowlings work with Amnesty International gave her a first hand look at what happens when we allow fear or totalitarrian governments to rule. Her books are beautiful stories, with imaginative creatures in a mysterious and enchanting world, but more than that, I think she wanted to send a message to all the children and adults in the world. Face your fear, don't let it control you, your dreams or what you know to be right.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridorwas this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

With so much time on my hands, I have been doing a lot of soul searching. "Who am I? Who do I want to become? How can I improve myself and improve the world?" After working at Alamo Segway, although I enjoyed myself greatly while exploring the city via segway and meeting interesting people, I have decided that in order for my heart and conscious to be whole, I need to know that I am useful, that I am helpful. I want to live life to the fullist and for me that means that I need to do something extraoridary. That doesn't mean that I have to live in poverty in an orphanage in China. Extraoridariness, if thats a real word, can be found anywhere, even in our own backyard. I don't exactly know where that leads me, but it gives me a general direction to where I am headed. (An example of working in one's own back yard, Kyle and I had a job interview yesterday with the community center here in Redmond and may have part time jobs helping middle schoolers. More on that later when we know more.) I leave you with this quote that has become my recent mantra, "Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "
~ Cadet Maxim