Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas!!! Yes I'm still pretty bad at updating my blog however as I await my very very delayed flight in the Reno airport I thought I'd update with a mini post. Meaning I hope to commit to a long novel once I have more time, and access to more holiday pictures. As you can tell from the above, this holiday break we fulfilled my mom's wishes and posed for a family picture. So once again another year has gone by, 2008 jeeze where did that go? Funny how when you are in high school all you want to do it go to college, then once you are in college all you want to do is turn 21 (and stupidly graduate, who in there right mind ever wants to leave college......sigh) and then once you are in the working world and mid 20's all you want to do is pretend that you are not aging and relive the good old college years. Well thats at least true for me, every year I creep a little closer to what I used to consider "old". I use the word "used to" since now what I consider to be old has grown. I used to think 25 was old but hey now that I'm older and wiser, I realized that you're not "old" until at least 30, I of course promise to revise that age in approximately 6 years. Anyways, enough of that, here is my top 6 signs to help you tell if you are indeed old:
6) You go to bed at 10pm or earlier.... no work excuses this is a sign of age
5) You started a 401 K
4) Back pain and other aches that you no longer bounce back from
3) You no longer get carded
2) You have a kid
1) You are 30 :0

Now I do not apply for all of these, just some of these , but still....scaryy

More to come.... Time to Board

Smokey Sunday

Greetings from a very very smokey Sunday. As most of you probably know there have been several wild fires burning in Southern California. Yesterday morning I woke up to ash and smoke,even though I am over 20 miles away from the actual fire, the wind has brought most of the smoke directly over Long Beach, which means lots of dirty air and soot and ash everywhere. Even though the weather and conditions this weekend have been not so great, I do appreciate that fact that my apartment is safe, my thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families affected by the wild fires.

As promised here is so of the most recent updates and news. Below I have posted several pictures that have cataloged October and early November fun. For Halloween Adam and I were ....drum roll please... Princess Leia and Han Solo. It all started a spring afternoon in Disneyland where Adam and I posed for a Star Wars picture where your face is superimposed on famous pictures, as you can guess, we were this famous pair:

Besides Halloween fun, I have a lot of exciting plans coming up for November. Tomorrow night I am being sent to Minnesota for a training class for work...think warm thoughts. After returning late Thursday morning, Adam and I will fly out on the 6am flight on Friday for.....LEHIGH/LAFAYETTE!
Horray!!! Lehigh/Lafayette is not only a highlight of my fall, but it is also the longest and most played rivalry in the United States. Go Lehigh!!! Really I just can't wait to see all of my closest friends again, living on separate coasts from friends is very hard. I wish if for just one day I could go back to senior year, I cant imagine any other point in my life where I will live less then 5 minutes away from all my friends, with no work, and maybe a beer here and there, perhaps we'll all live in the same senior center.....close but not the same ;) Anyways I have posted a couple more pictures below from the fall, more to come, but for now I must pack. Think warm thoughts for me, I hear Minnesota is cold this time of year, brrr.

P.S Even though California disappointed me with their bad choices in voting yes on Prop 8, I have to say I am so proud of our Governor who regardless of his party, has supported what is right, civil rights! And also to the 10,000 people that marched in protest this weekend, don't loose hope, what is right will prevail!!!!

Former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright at the Women's Conference in Long Beach, pretty awesome and inspiring!!!!
Heck Yes Masters Swimg team, aka SOBA (south bay swim club)!!! We're technically gearing up for regionals in December...yea Taylore and I are pretty much the next Micheal Phelps!

Touring the caves on Tom Sawyer island in Disneyland....true Disneyland EXPERTS!

Yea...I almost got stuck, funny how the caves shrink as you grow older ;)

Thanks to Taylore's awesome picture taking skills we were able to capture one of the most beautiful sights in southern California...DISNEYLAND!

I'm Back.....

Alright it has been a very long time. Too long, I have been busy with work, friends, family and have unfortunately neglected my blog and my fans.....who hopefully have not abandoned this blog. Several things have inspired me to return which include the following: 1) I am bad at emailing and I kind of think of this as a mass email to all my friends at once..horray 2) Its a great place to vent, if you haven't noticed already, I love airports....read blog 2 from Feburary 3) Finally its fun to write. Anyways I would like to begin with the most recent and pressing issue, the election. Let me first preface this with that these are my views and I do not expect everyone to agree with them. Please feel free to comment and share how you feel, however with that being said, HORRAY FOR OBAMA!!!! Even though I voted in the last election, there was something different about this election, there is so much at stake, the next President will have not only 2 wars but a failing economy as well. I woke up yesterday morning with a sense of urgency and excitement, there was nothing that could have kept me from making my voice heard. I waited in line for nearly an hour and it was well worth it. The people have spoke and they have spoken well, I can not even begin to describe how happy I am that Obama won, he brings the country hope and change which is exactly what we need. Unfortunately I cannot say that I was happy with how all of the California propositions turned out. For the most part a lot of great things went through, a high speed train, more humane treatment of animals and not limits on abortion, however what surprised me and shocked me the most was the approval of Prop 8, the ban on gay marriage. I will begin with that I am horrified that in this day and age discrimination is not only present but being voted in as a constitutional amendment. Shame on you California and all of those who put their religious view ahead of equality, it is absolutely wrong and shameful. Perhaps its because of my age or where I live but prior to Tuesday I was almost certain that prop 8 would get voted down, everyone I talked to agreed it was wrong and there was a sense of urgency to vote it down. However, election day came and went and me and my peers watched in horror as the numbers went the other way. What was initially shock has over the past 24 hours turned into anger. Even though I am straight and this law will not prohibit or limit any my civil rights, it pains my heart and conscience that my fellow Californians are so narrow minded. Here is what I do not understand, how does gay marriage adversely affect anyone? Sure, I understand if you are religious and your beliefs dictate that marriage is only between a man and a woman, however if that belief is rooted on linked to the church then we already know that is must be separate from government, i.e separation of church and state. Everyone has a right to practice and believe whatever religion they choose to follow however that does not mean that you have the right to enforce those beliefs on others which is exactly what prop 8 does. A lot of the arguments for the pro 8 camp sited children, "protect children", I would like to ask protect them from what? 1) I do not recall ever being taught about marriage in school ...EVER so I dont buy that without prop 8 all students would have to be taught about any kind of marriage 2) Would it really be a bad thing if children were taught in school to be TOLERANT? which is clearly what our society today is lacking. I cannot believe that California has voted to take away rights from a group of people, it is wrong, absolutely wrong. To some of my peers and fellow citizens I would like to pose one question, since the pro 8 camp made this about kids I would like to turn it around, lets make it personal, what if someday your kids or sister, brother, uncle, aunt comes to you and explains that they are gay, would you be able to look them in the eye and tell them I dont think you deserve the same rights as me? I think one of the problems with this prop is that everyone that voted for it removed themselves from it somehow, like since it didn't directly affect them it was easier for them to pass judgement and impose their beliefs, there was no consequence for the supporters, if they lost they did not loose any rights, if they won they got to take a precious right away from a group of people unrelated to them. The opponents of prop 8 unfortunately had everything to loose from this prop. I think the most common misconception was that most voters did not understand that this prop did not just define marriage as "between a man and a woman" but it also stripped rights from gay couples, rights that any commited couple should be able to enjoy which includes but is not limited to, right to share property, hospital visitation rights, fiscal rights in terms of pensions, health benefits (insurance) etc the list goes on. Can you imagine if we had a prop to take away the right for religious groups to marry? Or maybe just catholics or just presbyterians, I mean we have already passed judgment on one class and group of people why stop there? I know this is a long blog but its is something I am passionate about, not just prop 8, equal rights, I believe that everyone, every US citizen should have the same and equal rights, no discrimination. Hopefully this prop will be turned down/over ruled by the Supreme court, I pray that it does.

Enough with politics I have put my ideas out there and anyone that knows me probably already knows how I feel about this. Aside from being crazy busy with work I have joined a swim team that forces me out of bed way too early and am taking Italian which keeps me out at night way too late ;) However, I love them both, swimming is awesome and makes me miss my high school days with the Hox summer rec team. When my coach asked me how long it had been since I last swam I winced when I realized it had been....gasp.....6 years! (I'm getting old) As for Italian, Mi chiamo Amanda e ho sonno ( my name is amanda and I am tired..), hopefully this class will help with the Italy trip that Adam and I are planning for spring 2010, woo hoo. If any of you have any recommendations please let me know, I have a growing list of places to see and things to do but I could always use more. Anyways its getting late and I think this is pretty good for a come back blog, a little political ....ok a lot political, sorry, its out there and now I feel better, as for updates, expect more to come with pictures and who knows maybe a video or two. To all my friends near and far I miss you all and know that I can't wait until I see you again soon. Good night!

P.S.....50 days until Christmas!

Superbowl 2008!!

Hello hello from Arizona!! Sorry for the delay in my posting but since the last post I have moved, been robbed and traveled to the great state of Arizona where I am now. First things first....the robbery. Last week, on the eve of my big move, Caitlin and I went to a movie as a last Danville horrah, being the trusting person that I am, I stupidly left my car unlocked in my parents driveway. I had not packed up the car yet, however my ipod, digital camera, fm transmitter, my dads old dell laptop and all my lab notebooks from all my summers at the lab were left in the car (I had cleaned out my desk at the lab a few days prior). You would think that leaving your car in your driveway would be maybe one of the safe places where you can leave your car unlocked.....WRONG! The next morning when I woke up to load my car for the drive to southern california I noticed that not only was everything missing but there was residual dirt all over the center console where the vile thieves not only took my things but dirtied up my car. Now let me say that if you have never been robbed you cannot possibly understand how much it sucks to have something that is yours taken from you so for those of you who are fortunate enough to never have encountered this, I will give you an idea of what I went through. A rush of different emotions plagued me for the first couple of hours, the first being anger, then sad that I didnt have my music to run with anymore etc but perhaps what bothered me the most is that all of my lab notebooks which are practically worthless to anyone else, are now gone and there is no way that I can ever replace them. I honestly think that if you rob someone you are one of the most vile kinds of people there are. On the drive down I thought of all the different scenerios that could have played out if I had caught the robbers in the act, some involved me and chasing them with a shovel, another me getting in the car and chasing them and bringing them to justice, all of which are pretty un realistic but still its nice to think that I maybe could of prevented it or stopped it (i.e always lock your car no matter what!!) Since the robbery life in so cal has been very nice, I"m still awaiting all of my things to be delivered on Monday but I'm in no rush to have to deal with the unpacking part of this move. On thursday morning me, adam kate and some of adam's friends from work drove to Phoenix for the superbowl parties which started thursday night and go through tonight (saturday). Through some weird connection through my dad we were able to get all of the tickets for free (this has officially bumped him up the coolness scale lol) So far we have seen Paris Hilton, 50 cent, Wyclef, Ludichris (sp??), Kendra from the girls next door, dennis rodman and tonight we are going to see Velvet Revolver perform, which I'm very excited about. More to come tomorrow when I update my blog again, but for now, miss you all and please come visit me in so cal!!!!!

Hello world and happy friday!! I am currently having the best move experience of my life! Due to insurance reasons I am NOT allowed to pack or assist in packing so while city moving company boxes and bubble wraps my dishes I am enjoying this rainy friday morning relaxing. Ok its not to say that I didn't have a lot of organizing and cleaning to do prior to this beautiful morning, basically everything I own is in piles and all is left to do is put them in boxes with tissue. I would also like to add that I tried to help several times but was politely told to "relax" lol. Apparently if the company does not package everything then if anything breaks along the way is not covered so everything that I already packed and wrapped from my dorm room is also being re-done. Anyways I send my thanks to Boeing for all the relocation help I can't even imagine how I would get all my furniture and clothes to Long Beach in one piece and in a timely fashion if it was left to me. Aside from packing I am getting ready to say goodbye to Danville :( Ok really I'm not that sad to leave Danville however I am sad to leave friends and family. Last night as I was cleaning up my room I realized that this was the last time that I will consider this "my room" and Danville as "home" from now on I"ll be ......the visitor. Very weird. I know its only a matter of time before my room is turned into some sort of guestroom or as my mom keeps threatening....a nursery, I keep gently reminding her that shes got about a decade until she needs to do that kind of remodeling. So recently in my down time I've been thinking of my top ten things that I will miss about good old east bay Danville as well as the top ten things I'm looking forward to with the upcoming move, basically best of both worlds so here goes:

Things I will miss about Danville/Nor Cal
10) Napa, Tahoe, we have it all!
9) Cable Cars....coolest moving national landmark
8) the use of the word "hella" ...ok not really but I appreciate people that can pull it off :)
7) Berkeley...more specifially The Cheese Board, if you haven't had it, it will change your life
6) Danville Bars....purely for comic relief
5) My cats, even though they both hate me...never be the one to take your cat to the vet
4) Actually having two seasons: summer and Fog (so cal only has one)
3) The Oakland A's
2) San Francisco: all time favorite city
1) Of course family and friends ....mainly my moms cooking and baked goods ;)

Things to look forward to in So Cal:

10) Warm weather 24/7
9) Living near the beach
8) San Diego: second favorite city
7) new place = amanda can finally get a pet!!!!
6) learning how to surf?!?!?
5) more In N OUT (sorry nor cal there are more in so cal)
4) ISLANDS.....when you come to visit me you'll get to try it, great burgers
3) one word: DISNEYLAND
2) Disneyland season pass
1) being closer to friends and family.... :)

Please feel free to add and edit the list if you think that I've forgotten something I think anyone reading this is already included in my number 1 reason why I'll miss the bay area, of course you are all welcome to come visit me and anytime you're in the so cal area please look me up, I just got a sofa this week that has a pull out bed so I'm ready to open Hotel Simens as soon as you book a trip ;)
Below I have uploaded a video of a flock of birds that I watched about a week ago when I was waiting to get on the bay bridge, these birds continued to circle in this crazy fashion from the time that I got in line for the bridge and they were still doing this circle business when I finally got on the bridge 20 minutes later. What I suspect happened is that the lead bird was drunk and obviously got lost trying to get home and the other hundred just decided to follow. Watch for the little black specks in the movie its not obvious at first but after a couple of seconds they become very defined. Funny how this reminds me of LA traffic, a lot of people in one place going no where . Well thats all I got for now, enjoy!!!!

Thoughts on Airports and more......

Hello World!! Welcome to my blog :) This is my very first blog ever so I can pretty much guarantee all kinds of spelling mistakes so let me apologize ahead of time. Anyways theres been a lot going on recently, I graduated in December, got a job and am currently trying to pack and organize everything that I've accumulated over the past 23 years. Note to self: I need to work on my pack rat tendencies, the English binder that I saved from high school has proved to be not only a waste of space but a house for a family of spiders. This Friday, a moving van is coming to pack me up and relocate me to ...gasp SO CAL! Yes after being an advocate for nor cal for so many years I have finally crossed over to the dark side! I am now a resident of Long Beach California, and even though I will always leave my heart in San Francisco I can't deny that I am very excited to be moving to so cal. Even though I will be working in El Segundo (near LA) I am glad that I will be living out of the city, hopefully the traffic will be kind to me and the commute won't be too bad (fingers crossed) The pictures are of my apartment the top picture is a view from the living room window and the bottom picture is everything but the bedroom, I love company so please come visit me!!!
So aside from getting ready to move this past weekend I ran in the Carlsbad half marathon with Adam and Kristin and Ned (we all rocked it set new course records....) Anyways on Friday I flew down and en route I encountered several annoying things at the airport that I felt warranted my attention. First of all, what airport god gave the security people the power to be obnoxious and rude? You see them at every airport, its the security clearance that you have to go through to get to your gate, they typically are pissed off ( it's a requirement to when applying to be airport security.... are you inherently pissy, ok you may screen peoples bags) and not only are these security guards pissed off they feel that it is absolutely necessary to embarrass and harass travelers. As you approach them, don't make eye contact that might inflame the pissyness and you will immediately find yourself in secondary screening and in danger of missing your flight. Anyways back to Friday night, it was the changing of the guard, a new security personal was eager to exert his/her power ( I couldn't tell if it was a he or a she.....bad haircut) and unfortunately the person ahead of me made a grave mistake. It was a young couple and apparently they were holding each others tickets....an honest mistake right? Wrong, before they could even apologize the he/she makes an "annoucement", " ladies and gentlemen please do not hold your husbands or wives tickets YOU WILL ONLY SLOW THIS PROCESS DOWN," the smug he/she then shakes its head and signals the next victim to give it it's ticket. Now I consider myself lucky that I was not harassed on this occasion but is it absolutely necessary for airport security guards to be jerks? I have to many stories to recount now but I've never run into a nice and friendly security person. Case in point, traveling from college the security jerk examined my ID and then commented " Gee honey you've lost some weight," not ok, but if I say anything pertaining to her weight I just might find myself in airport contempt, if you ask me these people hold way to much power and they abuse it all too often. Alright enough about airport security, the next thing that I can't stand about flying is the arm rests in the plane. Yes its when you have the dreaded middle seat, the two armrests on either side of you also belong to mr.window seat and ms. aisle. Unfortunately on Friday I was in the middle seat.... And like always the person to my left and right completely engulfed both armrests. Now I am not unreasonable I think that two people can comfortably share a single armrest however I find that every time I am stuck in the middle seat it is a silent war with the two people next to me. It starts out casual, their elbow might just slightly touch my arm but then as the flight goes on it slowly pushes my arm a little more until its obvious that someone needs to move, and yes I'm weak ...I give in. Hence why I checked in early on my return flight on sunday so that I had a window seat and the power to bully the middle seat...muhaha. Yes its a viscous cycle but these two things annoy me the most when it comes to flying, let me know if you've encountered any of these or if you completely disagree, who knows maybe I've only had the misfortune of running into the dark side of the airport ( last plug for my blog I promise). P.s I dedicate this entry to Ashley from Ash in the City, she inspired me to start a blog and I am very excited to share my upcoming so cal adventures with friends,family and the world!!

Horray I have a blog!

Welcome to Amanda's Blog!! ....more to come soon