Skipping from a Caribbean Sunset to a High Mountain Wind...

Well, we've changed nests drastically and temporarily. So this calls for a new blog look and more pictures! (More pictures of Chewey, of course!)

Can you find the Chewey?

There's a Chewey in the box on the table in the hole in the middle of the sea...

A little snowman made by Ryan

Silk-tie Easter eggs per Ryan

Chewey in the loft. And upset by it.

"I doin' much better now that I'm in da swing!"

Right now, I'd kill for...

• a cookie bar
• Harry Potter movies that won't skip on my computer
• a bath
• a hair cut
• a hair color
• one more pair of workout pants
• 17 liposuction cookie bars
• with chocolate chips, drizzled caramel and sweetened condensed milk, infused with love & coconut flakes all pressed into a graham cracker crust
• that move your fat cells from your waist into your boobs

My day today.

I sang Phantom of the Opera songs while washing dishes tonight. It was nice; I haven't sang for a while. :-)

Tonight, I created a delightful couscous concoction with sauteed garlic and onion, cooked in vegetable broth and seasoned with basil, cumin, salt & black pepper, with black beans and some green peas. Pretty fun! A very good, quick, vegetarian dinner.

Today at the gym I did Leg Presses. (Mondays & Thursdays I work out my legs.) And I really, truly dislike that WHOEVER uses the press machine at the sub-par gym at St. George's University leaves all those plates on!! I hope whoever you are, you are reading this. I don't care if you think you are better than me because you are stronger than me, or more hard-core than me, but I don't care, because it doesn't change the fact that you left all that weight on for me to take care of. My leg workouts are about me, and not about you. Just because you can press that much, doesn't mean that I can, or that I can even remove all of those 45-lb plates you leave on the machine. I do not incorporate cleaning up after you as part of my workout. Beware, Heavy Presser, for I will bring my Post-Its next time, and you will experience my wrath.

I'm watching "Julie & Julia" as I write this--and it makes me very happy. I can relate: I myself am venturing into a new, slightly-scary adventure with my exercise stuff, and like these Julia characters, I also fortunately have this wonderful husband who acts as my cognitive therapist, business consultant, and partner in crime.

It rained a lot today, which in Grenada for me means: not a laundry day, a no-show yoga day, high humidity, no random fires of burning whatever, and lots of cool wind through the house.

Ryan's been sick for 5 days. Which basically means he sleeps in about four hours longer than normal, eats less, and tells me to find a good husband and that he loved me very much. (Notice past tense.) Although he insists that the ibuprofen doesn't help, he keeps taking it from me when I offer it to him. As far as the man stereotype goes, he is a very chipper & tough sick man. As far as Ryan goes, he has become pretty dramatic. (Which is up .25 notches from his normal even-kill self.) So in summary, I've been taking care of a now-7-year-old medical student who is behind on his Pathology. As usual, I am more concerned than he is.

I decided yesterday when I have to severely repress my desire to smack my own head against the concrete wall because of stupid things that people say, I will do 20 push-ups.  And I did 20 push-ups yesterday. And my hypothesis was correct: I did feel a lot better.

And with that, I leave you with a wonderful quote from Albus Dumbledore:

Tales of a High-Strung Mass Comm Major's "Fingernails-On-A-Chalkboard"

Part 1

There are a small handful of things that come naturally to me. Correcting spelling and grammar errors is one of them. So every time I see a sign in public like the following, I have to actively repress my carnal, cave-woman urges to not start screaming incoherently:

This is taped on our complex's washer. I have to look at this 2nd grade level sentence every time I do laundry. It just adds to my contempt for it all.

This one, I'm not 100% sure about--it could be a European way to spell "energizing." It's still ugly, though.

It's "sanitary napkinSSSSS" or cut the "all," you dolt! Are you plural, or are you singular? Pick one! You can't have both! C'mon, it's university bathroom! And where's my semi-colon after the "provided for you"? That's not even everything that is wrong with this sign... They're trying to provoke me, aren't they? I'm already having one of my "delightful woman" days, and they purposefully write destroy this phrase.

How Do You Succeed in Business... When You're REALLY, REALLY trying?

It's March 2nd, and I have a thriving in-home personal training business and a full yoga class clientele.

Well, kind of.

I think I'm experiencing the part of running your own business called discouragement?

I was experiencing full yoga classes of 5 people (a lot for me!) in January and February and had accumulated 5 training clients and possibly two more. I felt like I was working up to 30-35 hours a week there for a while! (That means 50 hours/week in Utah. I add on more hours because my phone is worse that the one I got for Christmas in 1999; the bus drivers are 100% on time, 40% of the time; and there is nowhere in 1,000 miles where I can get more equipment that I need.) But then midterms showed up. My schedule today consisted of teaching evening yoga and four client sessions today. Today, after several text messages, I have one client appointment and my one yoga class.

I shouldn't let it get to me because I should know better--I've been a student before! When midterms/finals arose, the entire world needed to go away until they were over, and then we would be friends again.

Oh well. I guess it's good I'm learning this now in my own "internship" instead of the real world where the bills depend on my money. And now I have time to hit the books and the Google to find more ways to improve my service and business!

Time for a pot of lemon grass tea and hit the books...

Good Bye, Hard Life, Don't Cry, Would you let it Ride?

Once upon a time, in October 1986, Van and Andrea Evans gave birth to me. Twenty-five years later, I was living in the wonderful and maddening island called Grenada. And that's when my sister Hayley sent me a birthday present.

She informed me that mailed it just a little too late; it probably won't arrive on the island until after my birthday. No worries! I was just delighted that I was getting a package in the mail; it's one of my favorite things. :-)  My landlord's assistant said that the post office calls them when something arrives for one of their tenants, and she goes herself to pick it up. Awesome! So it's really going to come right to my door. Happy Birthday to me!

October came and went. November almost left before I took it upon myself to go to the post office on my own. There was a package from my mom as expected: postmarked October 21st.

And I clearly asked them if this was all that there was for me--that there were no other letters or packages for me. She said no.

When December rolled around, Hayley asked me if I'd received her present yet. I frowned and said no.

"What did you put in the envelope? Nothing valuable?" I asked.

"No," Hayley replied, "Just lots of papers, some stickers, some autumn leaves from Logan." [Logan is a small college town north of Salt Lake City.] I later learned that she made small slips of paper of Activities To Do When You're Bored. That is easily one of the most thoughtful gifts ever. I get misty just thinking about it. :-)

My shoulders sank in perplexed disappointment. No one would steal anything like that, would they? Hmm...

OH BUT DON'T WORRY EVERYONE! Because in the early afternoon on January 30, 2012, someone placed a delightful manilla envelope under my doormat! (No knocking. Coward didn't want to face the recipient's rampage.)

Fabulous stickers, sorry leaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Delightful Holiday!

Ryan and I had a splendid holiday in the "Long Island" of Utah, aka Park City. (In Grenada, they don't say vacation, they say holiday like the British do.)

I did have two comical culture shocks:

One; as we left the SLC Airport, I was a little unnerved why no one was looking at me at all... and then I remembered that white people never stare at other white people! :-)

And Two; I almost told my mom about 3 times that she was driving on the incorrect side of the road. Oh boy.


Here are some fabulous pictures of the last 8 weeks or so on and off the island. And yes, I do realize that I am becoming that girl whose pictures widely consist of food and her dog.

"You guyz not leave wi'out me, wight?"

"Somefing's wrong with dis guy."

Where's the Chewey?

Chicken Cordon Bleu with white wine cheese sauce & Grilled Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto.

Baby brothers Spencer (left) and Emerson (right). (Yes, they're both a head taller than me.)

My pretty momma enjoying her Christmas present. And it gets better: I gave her a yoga class before, she took a bubble bath after dinner, and went to bed at 10 pm. Yep, Best Present Award goes to Ryan & Jessi this year!

Yom yom yom!

Amazing Dinner #2 per Chef Ryan: his bday meal. Lovely green Harvest salad! (Avocados were me. Thank you.)

Lobster Bisque (Fat Free, Weight-Loss Enhancing, & Cellulite Reducer, of course!)

What a pretty Tray of Creme Brulees!

Once again, whipped cream, berry, and mint leaf were me. Hair toss, Thank You!

So cute--Ryan teaching Zane how to fetch with Chewey!

Momma with her cute little kindergarteners

Umm... Super pathetic. And awkward. (Yes, he killed his toy lobster and moved on to his rope.)

Mom made Ryan an apple pie for his bday! It was dee-lish! And muy bonita.

Okay, who is the best wife EVER?! My best present to him yet, methinks.

Tah-Daaaahhhh!!! Now I should know everything. (Wait, what?!?!)