Sleeping at Last (or not)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS AND FAMILY! I loooooove you!!!! Yeah, maybe you're looking at the time of this blog (or maybe not) and you've notice that it's after 1am on Christmas morning. Yep, that's right, I stayed up late JUST so I could wish you all a merry christmas first. Ok, I lied. I actually haven't been sleeping well lately. I don't know what my problem is really....it happened last night and the night before and the night before, ok you get the point. So last night, I stayed up late and just read...reading a good book called Uprising by Erwin McManus, I was also listening to Sleeping at Last (highly recommended band). So it was actually a fairly pleasant insomniac experience. Well, I didn't sleep in SUPER late to make up for the late night and found myself to be a little sleepy today. I was falling asleep during the movie I was watching with my parents (The Family Man...good movie). So I was like, "YEEEEES!!! TONIGHT I'll be able to sleep at last!!!" Yeah, definitely went to bed at 11:30 and definitely got my hopes up. I tossed and turned until 1am and then finally surrendered to the fight my eyes were putting up to stay open (or perhaps it's my mind....it's been going as fast as those saleen cars that Jake was drooling over today after forcing me to accompany him into the showroom...I GUESS a small price to pay for dragging him to the mall on the day before christmas). So yeah, I got up and here I am....complaining to you all. But hey, no worries, I get to wish you all merry christmas before everyone else therefore making me your number one most considerate friend, AND I can just use my inability to sleep as an excuse to read more. Like I was telling keith, insomnia works quite well with a book lover like me...Sleeping at Last (wow, I totally just realized how ironic the name of that band is...figures) or The Fray (yet another band that makes me happy) here I come. Hey, and remember I love you all, oh and please don't forget to be grateful this holiday. Be grateful for the fact that the Lord gave us Jesus, be grateful for the ENORMOUS love that has been poured (and is continuing to be so) on you. Be grateful for the family that you are surrounded with this holiday and if you got presents, for the fact that they had the means to even buy them for you. I pray that from these feelings of gratitude will come the desire to be generous to those around you and those in need. I love you all and I can't wait to see all of you! BLESSINGS!!!

Kiva

Check out this website.....this is a great way for those of us who have been blessed monetarily, to help in others who have not. It's basically a microlending website, check it out!!!! (shosh...it made me think of you) www.kiva.org

Pictures from SLO Graduation

Congrats to two of my favorite people in the world! The last fours years have been awesome (thanks to many hours at Uptown..hehe)! Seriously though, the weekend in SLO was great and I was so happy to see Jake and Keith finish college. Hmmm.....what now? Well, Jake, mr. engineer, congrats on the job, and Keith, may you always wander and wander well...see you in another country my friend. ;-) So yes, weekend was as awesome as they always are in SLO, now I'm back in SD still hunting for a job....we'll see what happens with that. Just wanted to share some photos! Enjoy!

New Yorkers and The Garbage Ball

Hello hello friends and family. I have returned from the land of green hills (well, not Scotland or Ireland, but the green hills of Cali I guess is more accurate). That's right, I'm back from San Luis Obispo. Such a happy little place that is....I always have a hard time driving away after a few days spent chillin at Uptown or enjoying some Tahoe Joe's frozen goodness. Didn't have a job to come back to this time, but definitely had something better. That's right, my little New Yorker, Ali flew in on Monday. I was SOOOOO happy to see that puffy white jacket standing next to the luggage thingy (yes, thingy). But before I fill you in on the EVENTFUL day we've had here in SD, I'll just update you on my little weekend get-a-way in SLO town. I went up there on Thursday where I met my fave curley haired friend Erin at Uptown Coffee Shop. We then went out to dinner with Rachael (yes, there is another one) and had some FANTASTIC curry. After that Erin and I decided to take a trip back to our high school days....we went to the video store and rented two of the most HIGH SCHOOL CHICK movies EVER (you know...the usual plot about a nerdy girl being made over then becoming popular only to win the affections of the hottest guy in school...come on, we've all seen them). We then went to the grocery store and purchased about one of every chocolate thing they had there (I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but Flips are just about the greatest things to ever enter the world of junk food...absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! especially when accompanied with some fantastic Pinot Noir...sigh..yum). Then we went home and forced her husband to join us in our little jaunt into the past (lucky guy...forced to watch high school chick movies and eat chocolate...the woes of being married). Thursday night, done and satisfied...awesome time. Then on Friday I had the Garbage Man's Ball to go to with my fave wanderer Shosh (aka. keith or keifers at times). It was this little bash that was thrown by all the garbage companies in SLO county....two open bars, big buffet (although not so vegetarian friendly). and THREE desert tables, yes three....not bad for a "trashy" shindig (hahahaha). We dressed up all snazzy-like and wooed the garbage masses with our rare attempt at "formal" attire, and I must say, we pulled it off. Shosh, I saw all those women eye-ing you (hmm...must have been the haircut..hehe). After that, we walked over to....yes...that's right...Tahoe Joes. Yes yes, those of you who know me well, know just how much I LOVE their margaritas...there are none like them. HOWEVER just the other day I discovered a close second at this place down the street from my house here in Coronado called Costa Azul. Not the same, but a nice little substitute. Ok, so on Saturday I spent the day with Erin....we went to an AWESOME movie, and if you want to be inspired to fall in love, I recommend you go see it....it's called The Holiday. Absolutely LOVED it...yep, total romantic mushy movie...and yes, I did cry ( I KNOW....first a dress, then tears...this is the weekend of non-rachelness!). Then we went to CPK and took a nice little stroll (or should i say swim) in the rain on the way to the car. We headed over to Liz's engagement party which was so awesome. It was so great to see Liz and the look on her face when she walked in and saw all her friends there to celebrate with her. I'm so happy for her and Brian and can't wait to stand up there next to her when they say their vows. CONGRATS my sweet friend! So yes, another night of success in SLO. Then on Sunday I headed over to my fave church Calvary SLO. It was so wonderful to be there...I felt like I was at home. I love the people there, and the teaching is awesome...I don't know, I guess I've been feeling a slight hint of loneliness since I've moved to San Diego, and being there at that church made it more clear, but it also made me excited for the church family that I will find in SD later on. I've been going to the Flood in Kearney Mesa, and so far, am loving it. I know that God has a place for me like Calvary SLO, I guess I just miss it sometimes. So after church I spent some time at Uptown yet again and then helped Erin and Shaun pick out their first Christmas tree together.....we headed home, ate pizza, made paper chains and watched yet ANOTHER girly movie (lucky shaun). Then after that we continued with some snowflake making and Damien Rice listening...who, has a new cd out called Nines...which is GREAT! and would make an AWESOME christmas gift for someone who absolutely ADORES Damien Rice..hmmmmmm....who could that be? (wink wink) It was so wonderful to spend so much time with Erin this weekend, she truly is like a sister to me, and looking back on our friendship is a blessing because I can see how she has played a huge part in making me a better person (I love relationships like that because then you know they are right and exactly what they should be). So yeah, after one more night in SLO I hopped in my car on Monday morning and started the trek back to SD. Such a beautiful drive from SLO to Santa Barbara, I was totally distracted by all the green and then had a little bit of Oasis and some Snow Patrol blasting in the background...almost perfect. After five-ish hours in the car, I made it home, took a long nap, then headed over to the airport to pick up Ali. We came home, had some dinner with my dad, and then went to sleep. Oh, and Ali totally fell in love with my cat Bennie....that is a MUST for anyone wanting to be close to me! she passed. :-) Today we just spent the day walking around Coronado and the gas lamp. And now we are back at home....Ali is sleeping on the couch (yeah, and it's totally only 8:15....I guess I'll cut her some slack since she's still on New York time), Ben is sleeping on the table (as usual, and yes, I have no discipline). Then there's me, being a blogging nerd. On that note, time for me to get going. Oh, and just to give you some illustrations to go along with this riveting blog, click HERE for some pics from the weekend. I love you all and God bless!!!!

Go Greek!

I found a greek place last night that has great falafel and hummus! AND it's right down the street from my house! YEEEEEEEEES! Happy my little perrita? Thought you might want to here about it. Yep, made my day...YUM!

Plastic

Hmmm....funny how sometimes I'll go weeks without posting anything, then suddenly I'll get on a posting spree and I'll post every single day and even more than once in a day....well, not like I'm on a posting spree right now, but that was just an observation. Ok, so, let me just first start by saying I'm in a rather weird mood (i know...SURPRISE!), perhaps it's the Fake Plastic Trees I'm listening to, not that it is a weird song, I just love it so much that I guess it stirs my emotions and then sends me down a path of thinking (oh, and it also makes me think about Bilbo Baggins..yep, it's true)...well, that and the green-ness of the song, I mean, come on, can you get any more green than that song? Oh man, I love that song...I really do. Quite a picture of this consumerist and superficial culture we sometimes (more often than we should) find ourselves in. Gosh, how we need to break free from our superficiality, to break free from those molds we create for ourselves...the molds that are wearing us out. The sad thing is that all of our investing in vanity and materialism is causing us to fall apart physically and spiritually (hey, and I'm totally guilty of it too)...whoooooa, rach...stop....got all negative there for a sec. Obviously, the modern world isn't bad. I'm glad to exist during this time. I'm blessed to be able to experience the benefits of the time and culture in which we live, but "I can't help but feeling, I could blow through the ceiling....and it wears me out. And if I could be who you wanted, all the time."

ALRIGHT...now that I got my Radiohead tangent out of the way (oh, did I mention that they are just about one of the best bands EVER? I didn't? Hmm...well THEY ARE!)...moving on. So, as of yesterday, I am currently un-employed. Yep, it's true. Took a little juant into working land (about a month to be more specific) and decided it wasn't for me...well, actually, that's not true. I am definitely not destined to be a couch dweller forever living off my father's retirement (no worries dad...although I do enjoy our breakfasts at 1134). Actually, to be honest, quite the opposite. I learned a lot from this last job...what did you learn Rach?well...I'll tell you. I learned about what it means to be passionate in your career and in life in general. I learned that I am NOT passionate about money, and probably never will be...I learned that money does absolutely NOTHING to fill you up as a person or to give you purpose. Nothing. Well, I tried to fool myself in the beginning because my potential for growth in this company was great and the company and the job itself were fun, and if I could just give it my all THEN I would get there.....no.

And you know what, I'm not at all saying that money is bad...hardly. Money is something that can be used for great good...I'm not one of those folks that goes around saying money is evil, all I'm saying is that I personally don't desire it. oh yeah, sure I would love to be secure and never have to worry about bills...but what I learned is that it IS NOT necessary for my happiness and selfworth, and I have found, just in people that I have met throughout life with money, that I am no less happy than they are, and no less fulfilled. So, one thing that I was reminded of at this job was that when you chase after your passion, it is then that you are on the right track...because it is then that you are being who you are. There are people at that company that are passionate about it and love it, and I think that's rad. But I was not that person, and for me to be there would have been a waste...a waste of my time and a waste of their money. So really, me leaving was a two way beneficial street. And I'm not saying anything bad about them at all (I was even inspired by them), I'm just saying that I was not the right person for the job...the people that stay there, the people who really love that company and pour themselves into it, those people are the ones who belong there. They are the ones who deserve it's success...not me. I did like the job though...it was fun talking to people and my coworkers were awesome. But yeah, I decided to leave the company and pursue something I feel passionately about...perhaps then I will achieve true success instead of emptiness. So yeah, not exactly sure what I'll be doing, but hey, guess you'll just have to keep reading my blog...something will pop up eventually...hmmm...someone recently asked me if I would ever consider being a groupie for a band...perhaps that's my calling, I mean, that would require a lot of world travel, I could read a lot of books on the plane, hmm...the only thing missing would be the tree hugging, but you know, Chris Martin is really involved in Fair Trade, so that's pretty tree hugger if you ask me...looks like I'm set...Radiohead, Death Cab, Chris Martin...be ready! ;-)

So I was totally going to post an excerpt from a sweet book I'm reading right now, but that would just push this blog over the top as far as length goes, so I'll save that for tomorrow...until then...buenas noches from your green friend, and may you find what it is you're passionate about.