Something New.....

on the docket....

2010-10-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Here is what is to come:

recap of the St. George Marathon (or as i like to call it: the hot as hell race)
Portland to see the boy run his first marathon (i WILL take pics)
New York City for thanksgiving!!!
Denver in November
Halloween in Park City
Macchu Piccu (maybe) this winter
Germany (maybe) in the spring (my sister JUST moved there)
Mardi Gras (maybe) is New Orleans (my other sister is about to move away from there)
SKI SEASON- solitude again this year
graduating in May
Ghana in the summer
moving out of town to.....?

Since there are SO many firsts on here, I will try to be a religious blogger!

better late than never.....

2010-09-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

my first boba tea (no relation to boba-fett)
I know, I know...three years late! But i picked up some of these funny jelly balls today at the Avenue's street fair. For those of you less in the know than I am (if you have been living under a rock) boba are fruity flavored tapioca balls thrown into a "tea". According to wiki- it originated in Taiwan. Considering some of the other inventions originating out of Asia, its not too surprising they came up with Boba tea.
review: it was tasty, but the balls really only added texture, not necessarily worth the extra dollar.....unless you really love floaties in your tea...i could go either way really. My main question is why? why put the balls in the tea to begin with? it doesnt really add any flavor or nutritional value. It originated in the 80s, as did other silly fads such as slap on bracelets and rubix cubes, i guess in that light "why" isnt really a question worth asking.

There is a first time for everything....

2010-09-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend in McCall, ID, I had my first ever picnic with Portland in Ponderosa State Park. We hiked through the forest and sat on the beach watching Osprey Circle. I recommend this city to anyone who loves the woods, mountains, and lake....it is just a enough mix of luxury and outdoorsy-ness for anyone. It's my "undiscovered Tahoe" where you can rent a boat for the day and waterski and then stay at a mom and pop motel for $65/ night. Not a bad deal at all!
The weekend was a great getaway- although no moose were spotted (I love moose spotting)!!

blog re-vamp

2010-09-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

I have debated what to do with this blog....if anything at all. After much debate, I decided to dedicate this blog to my new experiences- some interesting, some boring, some gross, some delicious- because this is how I currently view my life, as a collaboration of new experiences. So I will try to blog daily.....errr.....weekly, about one new experience I had.

today for the first time ever, I re-vamped the blog (boring i know, but still a first!). I was blown away with all the options. I didn't even have to download any tricky apps or anything.

Much more interestingly: Tomorrow, I am driving up to the lovely Payette Lake in Idaho to spend the weekend in McCall. No, this is not new, I have been lucky enough to spend a quite a few weekends at this paradise; however, I am meeting a boy there (that is right, A BOY!!!), and it will be my first time there with him. This boy is not quite a first, but he is kinda new. He shall hereto be referred to as "Portland". i will let you all guess where he is from.....

today at work....

2010-03-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

....i received this email:

Dear tenants and visitors to the Williams Building,

Building management has recently noticed unusual wildlife activities around the Williams Building property. Specifically several mountain lions have been sighted in and around the parking deck. Building management is working with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources with regard to this activity however we want to make you aware of the following guidelines from Wildlife Resources should you encounter a mountain lion when entering or leaving the facility:

Do not panic. Most lions will try to avoid confrontation.
Raise your arms to make yourself appear as large as possible. Lions prefer smaller prey.
Slowly back away. Never run and never turn your back toward the cougar. Yell at the lion and wave your arms as you back away.
Do not make direct eye contact. Lions perceive eye contact as aggressive behavior.
If you are attacked, fight back. Try to prevent the lion from getting behind you.

If you do notice a mountain lion on property, please notify building security/life safety at 801-587-8725.

no big deal really....but do i get worker's comp if i am mauled in the parking lot??

SO EXCITED!!

2009-12-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

two more months.....and endless hours of watching just the promo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uso3ZaEX21g

If you havent been to the Banff Film Festival, make sure this is your year!

It's beginning to look at a lot like ski season!

2009-12-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

And Christmas of course!

Pick up line of the....week/month/year

2009-12-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

I considered starting the pick up line of the week....but let's be honest, that may be a little egotistical of me to think that will happen on a weekly basis.

so here is my new section: PICK UP LINE OF THE WEEK/MONTH/YEAR

Since i have just embarked on singledome, I am embracing it like a champ and trying to work my charm on the masses of single men in SLC...hahah, so far I have not been terribly successful, but i have received some humorous pick up lines and since many of my blog followers (or the two) are attached, i might as well humor you with a few lines.

Premise: my single buddy Katharine (tall leggy blonde runner/med school student....yeah guess who gets all the guys?) and I are pulling into piper down, a local sports pub. katharine and I do not have TV, so we come by this place often to watch the games. As we pull up we notice a gaggle of adorable men are outside smoking (damn smoking! it ruins so many adorable men). They notice us as well and as we exit the car we hear the following:

"Hey, you girls are a lot hotter than we thought you were"

thanks....i think??? I dont know if this was meant as a line or just a heads up like "hey dont worry you arent ugly" comment to make us feel better, or maybe just a warning that through the window of a car, we look terrible. It didnt get them too far, but katharine and i thought it was pretty funny.

I rate this pick up line a C..... not very creative, not very smooth, didn't illicit any sort of response, but made me smile for a few minutes.

Silly names for your kids.

2009-11-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

I know I am going to post one of these and I will get an angry parent email one of these times, but i could not resist with this one. While at my job i see A LOT of kids names, and some are just outrageous. Here is my favorite for the week........are you ready for it?

SURPRISE

Surprise is the name. Do you think this child was a planned pregnancy? Do you think anyone would believe she was a planned pregnancy. AAAAAH, Surprises can be good and bad :)

something new...

2009-11-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

This year I am putting my skis back on! its been years since I have skied, I usually put my good old board Gertrude (yes she has a name, she is a lady afterall) to good use. But i decided in my spirit of change, to mix it up. So I ran to ski swap and picked up these beauties for 25$. thank you utah skiers who buy new skis every season and sell their olds for super cheap!

Back from the dead....

2009-10-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hi loyal readers (the two of you out there)! It has been ages since I posted. I dont have much to write about, but i thought i would do a little updating.
Since March I have....

become single!! (ready to mingle?? maybe....)
gone to buenos aires....pics below
moved (down the block)
started to get my masters in public health
bought a ski pass (YAY!)
bought a computer
been involved in a law suit
been pregnant (hahahah, jk, making sure you are paying attention)
gotten another piercing -this one is true
reacquainted myself with climbing - climbing and i had a brief falling out- we are good now!
taken up yoga
taken up swimming
ran in the snow - just this week!
met Korean gangsters (no lie)
got invited to a Korean Gangsters yacht party
ran into a famous Gucci model on the streets of argentina and swoooooned
got myself a gay Peruvian boyfriend- aaah, Ivan!
ate piranha- this thing still had its teeth!
ate the stomach of an unknown animal- it didnt kill me so that is good
ate blood sausage (Love it!)
ate sweet breads (SO GOOD)
ate my first oyster (also GOOD)
gave up my dog (sad but true....i lost her in the break up)
been happy- lots of drama has been surrounding my life for a while, but i must say i am happy!

Here are some Argentina pics. I went with my lovely sister and played with my friend, Davin. He has lived in Buenos Aires for the past five years and loves it there. He has a GREAT group of friends who are excellent at dancing all night long and making us sad non-spanish speakers feel at home. I am so glad I went, it was a great time. Buenos Aires is a very cool ecletic city with lots of old and new architecture. It feels a lot like Europe but is a lot cheaper. We ate like kings and ran around town for two weeks enjoying food, art, music, and dancing. I have to go back soon, and you all should go at least once.

Here we are at Evita's museum, those are her dresses in the background....we are making the "it is so sad Evita died of cancer" face. This is actually very sad, because she was a pretty awesome lady....the randomness of B.A. This is a very french building that looks like it has been chopped in half. the buildings around it are all shorter, and feel like dirty strip mall buildings.
This is my cute sis, Megs in La Boca. This is the touristy section of the city. Lots of tango, art, and color
Here we are in Tigre. You cant really see any of tigre, but it is essentially a city built on little rivers (almost like florence only more backwoodsy). You take a river taxi up and down the rivers and stop at whatever businesses you want to visit.
this is at the BA university. Its petals close at night!
downtown BA, where the yacht party was!! i didnt end up going, because i am pretty sure getting mixed up with Korean Mobsters is not the best idea. They seemed very nice to me, but apparently they kill people....hmmm
This is a famous bridge in BA by a famous European artist. I dont actually know his name, sad i know.....i do know he is famous though and i know that he wanted this bridge to represent a man and a woman in the act of making love......weird, i know, artists are weird.
this is my new place! It is very nice with exposed brick and a fancy new kitchen and hardwood floors. It is a definite upgrade.

I will try to be a little more present in my blogging....but i make this promise often and havent followed through too well...now that i have the new computer, i have no excuses!

MOAB (and too many pictures)

2009-03-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Mike and I went to moab so I could run the half marathon. We spent the three days afterward hiking around. Since I am much dumber than this blogger program and still forget to upload things in the correct order, here is our trip.....backward

Fiery Furnace

Our last hike was the Fiery Furnace in Arches. This was really cool! I would recommend it to anyone. You are literally in a maze of red-rock towers. Unfortunately it is incredibly easy to get lost so you have to go on a guided tour, but it is worth the extra planning. If you are a GPS guru you can buy a permit and head out on your own, but i would suggest the guided tour first. The above photo is also the fiery furnace as well.

CHESLER PARK

The day after running the half, we decided to hike a 13-mile hike called Chesler park. This is in the needles district of canyonlands and is BEAUTIFUL!! it was truly spectacular the entire hike. At about mile nine, i decided to cut the hike short due to some pain in my feet. below are the gnarly blisters i discovered in the car...it is gross i know, but this photo doesnt due my feet justice....i had about eight on each foot......no wonder I was hurting!!

little toadstools!

Climing through little crevices is honestly my favorite thing, it is always a surprise at the other side
its not hard to figure out why it is called Needles
pretty cool petroglyphs.....Mike thought they were fake until I pointed out to him that they were 20 ft off the ground....that is a lot of work for somone wanting the create fake petroglyphs

FINALLY the cars!! i was pretty happy to sit down-

HUNTERS CANYON

This little hike we did right after the 1/2 marathon....it was about four miles of flat so it was a good one to get my legs loosened up! It is tucked away down the colorado river...i dont even know where, but we were alone the whole hike which was nice.
I always make Mike take these pictures and he always gives me crap for it.....as you can tell by his little smirk!! i am such a sap!
there was a little spring the entire hike up
CANYONLANDS HALF MARATHON!!!
And finally the beginning of our trip...the half marathon! this is a beautiful race down the colorado river.....it is all red-rock and a lot of fun!

Expose for today.....

2009-01-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

.....i share my bed with my dog!!!

I know, it is way gross, but honestly it was SO cute when she was a puppy....and now that she is sixty pounds and quite large, she is too spoiled to move off the bed...plus look at that FACE!!! she has the puppy dog eyes down! Are any of you other dog owners guilty of this?? Or am I the only one with such a slobbery bed companion!

Oh and just in case you were wondering how izzy feels about her first winter.....here she is devouring a snowball mid air.....apparently she approves

BORING!

2008-12-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Alright, i am the first to admit that my blog has hit an ALL TIME LOW!!!!! really, honestly I am blogging about shopping?? FOR THE LOVE, AM I THAT BORING?!?!?! i think i am just in a funk over here, but I got a new camera for my birthday, so maybe my blog will take a turn for the best. Until that time, I am going to add A LOT of pics (because I know that is what makes every blog reader happy) of cute puppies/kitties....because let's be honest, we all LOVE cutesie pictures.

anyway, i decided I needed to resurrect my EXPOSE FOR THE DAY column....

so here it is....

I am incredibly good at doing really stupid things...i mean REALLY stupid!!! I am surprised to this day that I am even alive at times....

case number one: while running in DC, i run into an unknown park area, run smack into a drug deal, and then hop into a strangers car who promises to take me to my hotel....HELLO?!?!?! how DUMB AM I?

case number two: while in a river running and safety course, i am riding in an inflatable kayak with another girl, i decide in the spur of the moment that I am strong enough to pull us both upstream against rapids and grab onto a rope held by a man on land. I fly out of the kayak only to have the rope wrap around my neck and strangle me under water....i am not lying...this is how dumb i really am...i seriously thought that i could pull my body, this other girls body, AND the boat against rapids? HAHAHAHHAHA

and finally case number three: while in the middle of the forest in france with climbing friends, we meet some random english guys who invite us to go "sleep in the forest" rather than in a hotel room. we decide this sounds like fun, wander into the woods with a bunch of strangers and SOMEHOW end up NOT BEING MURDERED OR ROBBED!!!!

so it is time i do a bit of evaluating....i am DUMB, it is pretty obvious when i actually had ten to fifteen of these incidents i could have written on here, and had to narrow it down to three.......here's hoping the next 26 years of my life are full of smarter decisions.

Luck be a lady....

2008-12-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

During a second whirlwind trip to DC for a conference, I decided to do a little shopping.
Sometimes you know you are simply in the right place at the right time when you wander into one of the few United Colors of Benetton stores in the country and......everything is 50% off that day!

I usually have serious buyers remorse, but honestly man....i just can't feel guilty about that splurge.

:) aaaaah men

2008-12-05T09:13:00.001-08:00

good bye slc.......

2008-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

.....GOOD BYE MY PEANUT BUTTER HEAD!!!

Mama is heading to capitol!!

One week in the nation's capitol is sounding more and more appealing, and luckily I have a reason to go. Mike is giving a talk at the international Neuroscience conference so I though I would throw on the ole cheerleader outfit and root him on!!! hahaha, ah not really, but i certainly threatened to quite a bit. anyway, I have a free place to stay, a bunch of free museums to see, and a nice boy to see them with...hopefully izzy wont have a nervous breakdown.

HAPPY HALLOWEENY!!

2008-10-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Right now I wish i had a kid because we all know kids are WAY cuter in costumes than sad, slightly pudgy adults....hahaha, well i guess i am not really sad, but if i had a kid, i think i would dress the little monster as an eighties rocker like the costume below (maybe the saddest thing about this pic is it wasnt even halloween, i was just trying to relive my childhood i guess).......aaaah, the many dreams I have for my unborn children (poor little darlings! i feel bad for them already)

Running with a puppy

2008-09-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

So my extremely rambunctious puppy has gotten me running every night just to wear her out. We are slowly building to 5-miles (read SLOWLY). Turns out though, nine month old puppies dont really want to run unless they are chasing things, eating things, trying to hop on bicycles, trying to jump on their owner, etc. etc. Fortunately I don't have to plan any sprints, izzy adds them in whenever she sees a cat/squirrel/car/person/stroller/dog/leaves blowing in the wind/anything moving. Hey at least I am running(and a lot faster with a dog dragging me)!

The most dangerous site on the web....

2008-08-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hav you ever found a place so wonderful that the little kid in you tries to keep it a secret from everyone so it can be just yours.........i am fighting that little snot-nosed brat right now.

http://www.etsy.com/ .................ie wonderful

I am a terrible artist, but if there is one thing I LOVE it is collecting art. This is a database of "art stores" which are independent artists wanting to get their names out there...it is genious because it provides a place for artists to sell/buy/and browse hundreds of thousands of other artwork....it is like an art fair on crack.....one wonderful thing is, since a lot of these are unknown artists, the prices are unbelievable!

if you end up enamored like i am....be sure to say i referred you (robynmoore is my user name) i am hoping i get a little thank you or something from etsy.....they seem to be real people pleasers

happy shopping!!!

I had quite the time trying to decide on what pics to put up here...there are BILLIONS!! this purse won me over cuz it was $20 I love these earrings-plus about three hundred other pair....i just love the thought that these are one of a kind....and someone dreamed up these little danglers

I have never seen this before...it is called a scarflette....i am pretty out of the loop, but i think this is adorable

And of course, someone out there HAD to make a mosaic of the TEXAS state flag.....weird....but i thought since i was so hard on texas the other day i would post this pic......

The girl in the window

2008-08-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

Working in a children's hospital and for the local rape recovery center can be hard. You become amazed at some parents, and their inability to protect and in most cases their ability to hurt. I admire all you mothers and fathers out there. I know, from watching others, that being a parent is very hard, and that it can be very frustrating. I also know that this country does not provide very many outlets to struggling parents...this is why we have such a high rate of abuse...
but i do think parenting is perhaps the most important thing you can do, and doing it well is extremely underrated. So to all you parents out there, way to make the lifelong commitment to being good to your kids

This story really epitomizes what good parenting can do....and what bad parenting can do as well
try not to cry...i dare you!

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece

how to keep yourself from losing all your friends.

2008-08-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

So last night i am sitting at home with the boy eating dinner. Me with my spinach salad, and him with his entire pizza. Imagine first of all, for effect, how i am feeling about eating a spinach salad while he is devouring all of italy next to me. Then out of pure boy stupidity-i am certain that 95% of men do not think before they open there mouths-he says

"no matter what i do, i just cant put on any weight! it is terrible"

ok lets just think about it for one second.....almost half of this nation is overweight, and most of the other half works pretty hard to keep from getting overweight.....its about time people realized that phrases like this are not going to win you any friends...at all...point blank.

Now he is a man and, as i previously noted, stupid about what comes out of his mouth so i forgive him...but you have all been around the WOMEN who say the same thing! COME ON!!! we are reminded every day when you talk about how much you hate the gym and how you never go and how you are so glad that abercrombie now carries the 00 size cuz frankly, one zero isnt enough, you have to have two zeros to describe you (which doesnt make any sense at all, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a nothing as a measurement.....and zero squared still equals zero). but i swear to you when you open your mouth between bites of your extremely fattening whateverthehell you are eating to say how impossible it is to gain weight.....seventy five percent of the room wants to kill you. mainly because we havent eaten that way since we were ten....and if we even looked at a donut longingly again...we would have to go out and buy new jeans the next day.

so naturally skinny girls, honestly....we love to look at you, you look great and way to go lucking out on the gene pool there, but no one really wants to know about how you hate that you sometimes shop in the kids department.

Of all the cities......

2008-07-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

My job is pretty awesome about letting me travel. So far I have gone to New Orleans and San Francisco, so when i heard a conference was on the horizon, i got pretty excited....

that is until i found out where i would be going.....

the lovely, the underappreciated

dallas

...DALLAS?? what is there is dallas?? I suppose the national network doesnt really care that i ( a lowly research coordinator) doesnt have dallas on her top 500 cities to visit before she dies.....or any texas city for that matter except austin...and san antonio (i swear to all my fellow dems, san antonio was an accident, i didnt even mean to go! although san antonio is kind of fun). but now the gov is spending a ridiculous amount of money to send me to dallas......yee hah!

and here i go again gripeing about free trips to exotic and exciting places like dallas.....i suppose it could be worse........like ummm.....hmmmmm......oklahoma city??

No but really, anyone know something cool to do in dallas?

slowly moving into the 21st century

2008-07-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

To all my devoted fans out there.....the whole three of them the time has arrived....NO LONGER am i that hippie friend who refuses to embrace technology with her compost piles, no TV, soy milk, and no internet!!! cross that last one off your list (guess i got a lot of work to do before i am officially not a liberal/hippie/feminist.....anyway......so in complete and utter celebration of the world wide web entering my home....i spent the last hour on perezhilton.com learning about all of madonna's indiscretions.....and i uploaded almost everything that has happened in the past few months in pics......prepare to be pic overloaded!!! YAY. of course i am lousy at the whole uploading pics....so here they are, in no particular order.

check out the two loves of my life!!!! izzy the dog, and michael the boy.

Izzy's first swim....and no, i did not name her after the terrible character on greys anatomy!!! NO TV PEOPLE!!!!!! she looks soggy, and she was not too happy that we threw her in!! but she got us back by eating four shoes.....all from different pairs....aaaah dogs

double arch in moab.....pretty special

mike and i, in the arch....tender moments right here for the WWW to see....i feel so open and vulnerable

DOG!! izzy is really good at a few things...eating things like candles and wood chips, and making old man noises in her sleep

people kept warning me a puppy is like a child(i know you moms are just laughing hysterically to that notion...but for me..this is HUGE)....although my puppy is only 7 months old...and she is already potty trained(how many of your babies can do that?!)....and i can lock her in the back yard for five hours and no one calls family services

she already knwos how to sit, shake, lay down, and strike a profile pose....ready for the dog park and the run way

remember when i told you all i waas going to mexico about seven months ago??! here is proof!

MT biking in S. utah with the boyfriend

canyonlands!!!

Druid arch in canyonlands.....beautiful...just dont get lost like we did...turned 11 miles into 15...whoops

more druid arch...us being sappy-asses.....mike looks like a total schmoe

thats the end!!! turns out i really didnt have THAT many pics....i just dont really take that many pics to begin with...but hey now that i have the internet i will try to keep them coming

PARIS withdrawals

2008-07-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

I know i know, when i write about how much i miss Paris on a regular basis it probably makes some of you want to throw up......i am SPOILED, I KNOW IT!!! but damn do i miss paris today........and most all days. I have started to speak french to my dog (that is right, i got a dog, pics to follow...i get the internet on tuesday!! YAY) and while speaking to me dog it makes me cry that my fluency is so terrible

anywho, today i remembered one of my favorite late night haunts......

This place "the foot of the pig" hahahah, is like Paris's Denny's equivalent. It is open all night, the waiters are awesome....and (unlike denny's) the food is amazing( unfortunately not as cheap either...but in paris money doesnt count right?)!!! Nothing in paris is actually open all night, so this was a regular hot spot for late night youngsters...

I had my first steak tartare here....that is raw beef people....i am just crazy like that!!! It was pretty good

Weird fact....there is also a pied du cochon in atlanta, the parisian owners opened one there when it got more popular...weird choice....

Expose for the day (no pics yet, i am a slacker)

2008-06-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

I can think of about twenty people off hand who will be shocked by this post.....but this is my post of things i really dont like but pretend to cuz everyone else seems to think they are AWESOME.....and the biggest one i can think of is...

disney land! how sad for me huh?? i mean, it is OK...its just when i get surrounded by other peoples kids running around, i start to hyperventalate "where are you parents?? where are your parents?? anyone could just take you!!!!!" runs around in my head constantly. Then there are the really little ones you are afraid you may step on......plus everything is so expensive...i just want some water, thats all....its like an airport, water at disneyland costs more than a meal in the real world...

and next....cruises! I know!!! what is WRONG with me???? it just seems like you never have the time you need in the place you want, plus then you are stuck on a boat with a BAJILLION people wanting to run around and play bingo and there is no room by the pool for relaxing unless you want to sit up front with the uber peppy/slightly scary cruise "host" singing to you.

speaking of cruises....my co-worker (that one who wants to be everyone's best friend even though she is totally mean and devisive) came home from her cruise with those braids in her hair with beads on the end...and i have been biting my tongue not to be mean....but my blogging friends wont care....so really lady, you are 55 years old...i know you want me to invite you and your whole family to hang out with my friends who are all less than half your age but the braids arent making you look any younger....ok now i am really mean...but she does stop by my desk on a regular basis to tell me my job is SOOOOO much easier/less important than hers (while she has tried to get my boss to fire me so she can take my job)......

and for those still reading...here is a really good expose for today. I definitely picked my nose at work today!! hahaha!!! that is RIGHT!! i admitted it....sometimes you just got to get the little bugger out and tissues arent around. that is the reward you get for making it to the end!

Ok, again negativity.....but then i think, well wait, this is good for everyone....because i will be one less person crowding the most wonderful place on earth and cruise ships.....yay for less crowds!!!!

Quick update

2008-06-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have moved!!! which means i will soon be adding an addition to my life......a dog!!! WOOHOO!!! anyways, life has been busy busy busy, but soon i will have pics posted of mike's and my trip to moab for hiking and trip to st. george for mt. biking.

it may be awhile but i will get them up there. This next month brings weddings and trips as well, so hopefully lots of pics!

Expose for the day

2008-05-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

I LOVE NERDY GUYS!!!!!

I really do....if you can whisper sweet nothings of cell transport, force=mass*acceleration, or the way a carbon chain breaks down to make the essential buildin blocks of life....i am yours!!!!

with that said....this nerdy wonderful man is going on tour in the US FINALLLY!!!! its like my hearts desire to see the ingenious BECK in concert possibly may come true.....if i can figure out how to get to seattle or san fran in the fall.........

Ganglion Cyst

2008-05-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Anyone ever had one of these?

I have had one for years and i am finally getting it taken out and i am NERVOUS! I know, coming from someone who has had thousands of shots every year, i probably sound like a huge wuss....but this is my wrist! i am freaking out just a little bit. My appointment is next thursday, hopefully my doc wont slip up and cut a tendon or finger or my entire hand off.

Do you know what your kids are watching???

2008-05-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

OK, i know it already. Blogs are SO much more fun with kids on them.....I LOVE the cute things all your kids do....so i am stealing a kid!!!! (well for my blog anyway!)

This is my nephew, who will remain nameless cuz i would feel weird putting any info about him online without my brother's permission. He was about four when this next conversation took place:

nephew: "mom, should we talk to our doctor?"

mom: "well, sure, we should always talk to our doctor"

nephew: "Yeah but shouldnt we talk to him immediately?"

mom:" hmmm......well i mean, that depends on if we are sick, if we are sick we should definitely talk to our doctor immediately"

nephew: "yes, but shouldnt we talk to our doctor immediately if we experience a rrrection that lasts more than four hours?"

Ok moms, daytime TV (probably the sesame street channel) taught my nephew the word erection.....what are you letting your kids watch?? hahahahah, just kidding...im no moming expert, but i do think that story is HILARIOUS

Expose for the day

2008-05-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

I HATE DREW BARRYMORE!!!

I know...i know, you all love her....but i cannot even stand to hear her voice. Hate is a strong word....and it isnt even based off of her as a person. I haven't a clue what she is really like and she may be the mother theresa of movie-land, but in almost every movie she has ever done that I have been forced to see, i can quote my LEAST favorite line of hers...you know that stupid whiny line she says that is so completely stating the obvious. I feel bad for hating her, i think it is weird that i really cant stand her voice...but i do...i hate hate hate almost every movie she has starred in. I also hate that people think she is a "good actress"....she ONLY EVER PLAYS THE SAME ROLE EVERY TIME... anyway, enough of that, i could really go on for hours, and then i would move on to other actor/actresses i do not like at all....like that "scientist" on jurassic park./.....BLAHhhCH!

I LOVE Cate Blanchett....everything about her...that should even out all the hate....

PS- i know, i am a mean person who is judging someone i dont even know and i am probably going to hell.....but i cant deny this any longer...i will not be a slave to drew's whiny/romantic comedy crap any longer

Expose for today

2008-04-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

So, i was thinking....i blog stalk pretty much everyone i go to high school with. So if you arent on my friends list, blog stalking me....i am probably doing the exact same thing: here is a list...and please if you are reading your name on this list...let me know, because then i wont feel like such a loser....then again if no one responds...that is even sadder!! haha, oh well..warning...some of you i didnt even know in high school, so if you go private within a few days i will get the point. I decided not to put the current last names...there are some maiden names on there, so if there are like seven jessicas i am blog stalking, you all got lumped into one....

the danjanoviches (both of you girls, except stephanie who is now private...meany)

cassidy

emily

jocelyn

brianna

nichole

camie (well i used to, again private)

jacy

jessica

andrea

katie

mcCall

those are really just the ones i go and look at regularly(and i know i forgot a ton)......if you are reading this, i have probably read yours too!! though, if not....hey cool, i am being blog stalked...im not the only one doing the stalking...drop me a note and i will blog stalk you as well!

You may be.....

2008-04-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

You may be a GRANOLA if....

.....you are considering buying this backpack, even though you dont have kids.....

ISNT IT CUTE?!?!? I was thinking, i have nieces and nephews right......they dont actually live near me, but i could take up babysitting. Dont worry, i have packs for my future dog too, so when we go backpacking, he can carry his own food! ( i dont own a dog yet, but soon)

Expose for today

2008-04-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

I decided to try and and do a little expose about myself (or those around me) once or twice a week which hopefully are embarassing/revealing/and/or humouress...just because it is good to get things out in the open.....

I pride myself on good movie tastes...my favorites are things like Coen brothers films, royal tenenbaums, life is beautiful, last king of scotland, once, juno.....mainly indie films that are very dark, passionate, thought provoking, and well contrived...

this weekend while my boyfriend was away i rented high school musical two...and watched it TWICE!!!! i couldnt get enough, so i went and rented one the next day!!!! It was pretty embarrassing in the line at blockbuster with HS1 one day after i had rented HS2..... i dont care if i am way too old for him, but zac efron is such a dream boat i could DIE!!! (oh and HS2- WAY better than HS1). SUch a guilty pleasurel, but DAMN those tunes are catchy!

SUMMER CAMP!

2008-04-12T16:22:00.001-07:00

As many of my close friends will attest to, each year I would run away to a magical land called Diabetic camp.....I know it sounds cheesy, campy even (sorry i couldnt resist) but camp is the GREATEST place on earth. I used to cry for DAYS when i would come home from camp as a kid. Its not just that you are away from your parents, but you are with people who totally get the whole diabetes things, plus it is FUN!

At 18 they kick you out as a camper, but fortunately for me and all other perpetual kids, you can always volunteer. The past few years I have been lucky enough to be program director...specifically in charge of FUN.....

I cant help when the snow starts melting to start thinking about camp fires, skits, and pranks...I needed to dedicate a blog to it, cuz all i can think about is karoake night, the annual camp-wide waterfight, and late nights playing poker with the camp docs.

****WARNING**** some of these pics are SCARY! At camp, make-up and sometimes showering kind of fall by the wayside....so be prepared, things may get ugly and may be inappropriate for children.

talia(my co-director) and My annual grape stuffing contest....i always lose....but i have been practicing so this is my year

karaoke night!

teaching Diabetics good skills (that is right, early morning yoga)

WATERFIGHT DAY!!!!! my absolute favorite especially the giant slip and slide

the camp sleeze (a dirty, messy relay race of sorts) yes, that is my real hair...took a couple of hours to get that back to normal

AHH camp songs

talia and i leading a song or two

The kids (cute little brats)...the reason we give upa week of work and any sort of sleep.....but we sure have fun doing it

And of course I have to give a schpeel about volunteering...if you have any talents (yoga, cheerleading, dancing, mt biking, ANYTHING) you feel you could contribute and would like to come to camp for a day....or the whole week visit this site and fill out an application:
http://fcyd_inc.org

Adult job

2008-04-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

So i now have an official adult job and it scares me!! since this job is really just a job to fill the space between undergrad and med school it scares me even more....because i am supposed to make "contacts". I honestly have to wear fancy clothes and call up docs from UCdavis and schmooz....but the good thing is....they pay for trips!!!! February they flew me out to a conference in New Orleans....i stayed on bourbon st and canal....right in the thick of it....and tomorrow i am flying to san francisco for another conference . As it turns out, docs dont like to stay in motel eight, so we are hitting up the Hiatt at peir 49.......Dont be haters y'all (ok i am WAY to white to pull that line off).

I guess uncomfortable pants and pointy shoes are a small price to pay for an all expense trip to one of my favorite cities, right on the pier.

Funny names

2008-03-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

So at my new job (I work as a research director at Primary CHildren's Medical Center) I get to look at A LOT of kids charts. One thing I have really enjoyed are the odd/hilarious/sad/ peculiar names people name their kids. I feel for these kids I really do....sometimes parents are just asking for their kids to hate them later:

My favorite for the day is

MAXIMUM

NO JOKE! can you IMAGINE the jokes, innuendos, and all sorts of stuff kids will come up with......if i were this kid, i would refuse to ever go to math class

teacher "maximum, what is maximum allowance of volume of h20 in the jar?" \

He better be a poly sci major

ABC tag

2008-03-08T15:07:00.001-08:00

Here we go...
A- Attached or single: Depends on who's asking! attached...
B- Best Friend(s): Mike and Nicholas-right now I am lacking on female friends in SLC (dont worry lyndsi-you are always number one)
C-Cake or Pie: ALLERGIC TO BOTH-damn gluten!
D- Day of Choice: Saturday!
E- Essential Item: insulin pump, timbuk2bag
F- Favorite Color: love them all at different times...right now i am into burnt orange
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: BEARS!! something about the worms freak me out....maybe cuz i used to experiment on worms
H- Hometown: St. George, UT
I -Indulgence(s):too many to list....soydream, chips and salsa, organic PB, long runs, outdoor equipment (mainly coats....i have about ten different parkas), books, good CDS (way into peter paul and bjorn right now)
J- January or July: Oh man, they are both good. they are also both right toward the end of the season which makes you kind of sick of that season at the time....but i love them both
K-Kids: does my boyfriend count? i have plants...thats kind of close
L-Life is incomplete without: diet coke, mike, and the outdoors
M- Marriage Date: April 24th, 2009! hahahah- JUST KIDDING! that would be news to the Mister
N- Number of Siblings: 6, good gravy my mom was a champ! had us all natural too!
O- Oranges or Apples: not into fruit as much as veggies....but id say clementines, but if they are big oranges, then apples.....im a weirdo
P- Phobias or Fears: Crickets!!!! no joke-i find spiders fascinating, but i am scared to death of crickets....and being tickled to death...also not a joke, there is NOTHING funny about being tickled
Q- Quote(s): geez i dont know, there really isnt one i live by.....so ill go with an old favorite "its better to be a slug than a dead slug, right coach?"
R- Reason To Smile: It is getting warmer outside! i get to go skate skiing tomorrow, and next weekend i am in san horhey mt biking, then i go to SAN FRAN with work :) YAY!!
S- Season: spring and fall, the others are good too, but it is best running in spring in fall
T- Tag Six: whoever
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I once got a pine needle stuck in my ear, i also once got my headdress stuck in the scenery during the korean ballet, hmm.....i have never been stung by a bee, i have three chronic disorders (with 7 kids it is inevitable that one would be defective), i once almost died when the hospital misdiagnosed appendicitis and sent me home on morphine....then they tried to kill me when i came back...long story really, and pretty gross at that (that is a lot more than one....so just pick your favorite)
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: i was a vegetarian for six years! but try to be a vegetarian and celiac...you are asking for cornmeal the rest of your life
W- Worst Habit: Picking my face (stupid zits).
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: hmm....they are both fine, what a dumb question though huh? WHO CARES? i guess x is difficult...
Y- Your Favorite Food: chips and salsa....the hotter the better...with big chunks of veggies in them....and lots of garlic and cilantro
Z-Zodiac: Sagittarius....and i live up to it too!

Book Tag!

2008-03-08T14:12:00.001-08:00

Grab the book nearest you.
Go to page 123.
Go to the 5th sentence on the page.
Type in the following 3 sentences.

The performance of the heart is measured in terms of cardiac output-or the rate at which the heart pumps blood into the arterial system. Defined as heart rate times stroke volume from on ventricle, it averages 100 to 200 milliliters of blood per kilogram of mass per minute in birds. A large proportion of the oxygenated cardiac output from the left ventricle goes directly to the legs for the purpose of heat loss.

from Ornithology: second edition. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one to anyone....unless you love birds and science and are a big nerd (sadly i really enjoyed this text book and took this class for fun). I tag Lyndsi and Crystal.

NO TV

2008-02-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

So i dont have tv in my house.....(gasps, cries!) And i decided to post about it simply because people are SO funny when you tell them you don't watch tv.

The thing that really gets me is that people act like i am a better person for it. I promise you, throwing out my tv did not instantly improve my sinful tendencies....in fact, the only thing it really did was give me more time for reading, running, and homework. i am pretty sure hitler did not own a tv-with that said i think we can all conclude i am not an enlightened being for not having a tv.

the other really funny thing about no tv, is that SO much office gossip is about what was on tv. it is always a bit awkward when conversations go a little like this:
"hey robyn, did you watch american idol last night"
"nope, pamela, no tv remember"
"oh....yeah......well.......it was really good"
"really?"
"yeah there was this guy, and he sang this song and he looks a lot like my brother, but sounds more like my little sister...its like the high pitched whining....but in a good way, you know?"
"what song did he sing?"
"i dont remember....that one, that the older guy used to sing...uh you really just should have been there"
"ok, great"
awkward silence followed by something like this: "you are SO much better of a person than i am for not having a tv"

sometimes i think that having a tv would save me the time of having dumb conversations like this.

with that said, i do have a dvd player and i do love the office and scrubs.....so really i am not that much more righteous than the rest of you!

skate ski adventure

2008-02-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

So for those of you who don't know me too well (ie most everyone who runs across this blog) I am obsessed with picking up random sports....really...if there is a club on campus i sign up for it. so far my endeavors include squash, lacrosse, xcountry skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding, crew(probably the hardest i have tried), running, snow shoeing, climbing, road biking, mt biking, mountaineering (only did that once...but willing to give it another go), water polo, kayaking, surfing.....ok, i really could go on forever, and the list of things i want to do...probably twice as long.

the part i left out, is that i never do any of these things particularly well..I am a definite clutz and typically make some sort of fool out of myself while trying to accomplish a new sport. For example, my first white water kayak adventure-i accidentally got a rope wrapped around my neck...and blacked out from strangulation, which coincidentally saved me from drowning! (its funny in my head, cuz who the hell gets a rope wrapped around their neck while kayaking! I DO! so feel free to laugh :) i am alive after all)

so last weekend i checked off my list skate skiing.....For those of you southerners (most of my blog) skate skiing is like really really fast xcountry skiing on really really thin skis. this of course is a recipe for disaster.. I pulled my poor recovering boyfriend from off the couch and made him try with me. we were warned by multiple people that we were in for it.

My good friend who is a mad athlete agreed to give us a lessonand i have to admit, it was a ton of fun! it is my new most favorite outdoor winter endurance activity. If you have a chance, take a lesson (its totally required because technique is key). Mike and I were the slowest out of the entire track, but we loved every minute of it and WHAT A WORKOUT!! funny thing is, the next day the only thing truly sore was my neck....from falling over and over again.
No this isnt me, once again
did not take pictures!

happy winter sporting, too bad its almost spring...that means i need a new spring activity...maybe skydiving!

Happy valentines baby!

2008-02-20T14:14:00.001-08:00

Valentines Day, as a teenage girl, always inspired thoughts of some sort of "love miracles". Filled with wishful dreams each year that some boy may just express his undying devotion to me, usually made v-day a big bust. But i must admit, my current boyfriend has a way of turning v-day into a terrible event....for the second year in a row, he has not disappointed.

Mike decided to go skiing this year on v-day with his lab. It was about one thirty in the afternoon while i was plugging away at work that he called to let me know he had had a little accident.

Problem is, mike's lab is chalk full of extremely talented skiers, those post docs who ski'd the alps put utahns to shame. Being it is only his second season of skiing, he reminds me of a kid trying to be one of the big boys as he runs off willy nilly to throw himself off of double blacks and ski until he can no longer stand. So yesterday after hours of intense skiing mike decided to go on "one last run" down honeycomb canyon. As far as he can remember, he was trying to turn, lost control of his skis, started sliding, hit a tree, fell for a while, hit a rock, heard some screaming, fell a bit more, and landed. Turns out his little fall was about a thirty foot cliff right under the chair lift. The screaming were people terrified that they were witnessing this poor boy's demise right before their eyes.

It is oddly fortunate that mike mainly ran into things on the way down head first. The times his head "bounced" off of rocks probably kept him from breaking legs and arms and slowed his decent. It's a miracle he didnt snap his neck. Since he had a helmet on he came home with only a minor concussion, some pretty bad scratches, and very sore muscles. Our valentines date consisted of me making sure he didn't fall asleep and slip into some sort of catatonic state. V-day always inspired some sort of hope in me for that v-day miracle. The funny thing is, I always knew when i met the right guy, my valentine's day would feel like i had always imagined when i was young....i guess concidering my boyfriend didn't die, i can say i finally got my miracle.

love you babe, wear a helmet!

BANFF mountain film festival

2008-02-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

Hey all you northern utahers....Banff is here! for those you not in the know about Banff, it is a world famous mountain film festival....so if you LOVE the mountains (skiing, boarding, climbing, hiking, mountain biking, or just looking at them) these are amatuer films dedicated to them. They really range from pure adrenaline pumping to taking a look at lost mountain cultures....

I have been a banff follower for years, and it only gets better as the years go by. It is going on two nights (feb19,20th) at kingsbury hall. Each night has a small collection of films, and it is always adrenaline packed. tickets are 10$ and you can buy them at the box office.

if you love the outdoors, you don't want to miss it.. here is a link to the trailer....the music gets my heart rate going! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gV6ThtY25Q

Here is a link to the official site: http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/festivals/2007/

Book Review

2008-02-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

So i just realized how much I LOVE throwing my opinions at people. The nice thing about the blog is, you can take them or leave them. I feel for my poor co-workers who have to hear me rant daily. So i am going to start reviewing the books that appear on the side bar of my lowly blog......and if you are a bookie like I am, then you will appreciate it. If not, skip it and go to a blog with more pictures on it!

this review you get a good book and a not so good book(or more like a book i wasted hours of my life reading).

Good book:

Many of you know this book as a play, or THE play of the moment. I have not seen the play, but may I say the book is fabulous. I have a hard time believing the play is better (probably cuz i am a bookie and the book is almost ALWAYS better in bookie world) but i look forward to seeing if it is comparable. This book is dark, hilarious, sad and insightful. I related, pitied, rooted for and against the main character all in a matter of chapters. The author is no literary novice like most best sellers around nowadays, and actually uses beautiful prose and vocabulary. (unlike people who write literary crap a.k.a.-thrillers, da vinci code, anything by steven king....dont get me wrong, those are fun, but HELLO have you ever heard of allusion, alliteration, metaphors?)

It is an easy read as it flows nicely, but it is riddled with large words and long dialogue(nice to learn while you read for a change). The book does something that I rant about all the time....shows the other side of the story. We get so caught up in our "right" deeming that everyone else is "wrong". Wicked beats that theory into the ground. I believe that to be a very important theme especially in today's society and in light of our present state as a nation (sorry, couldnt get away from a political jab....)

Not so good book:

I am going to get a lot of protests to this I am sure, but thankfully, not many people read this blog so i may get very few protests, but hear me out on why i did not like this book.

First of all if you are writing a book that is supposedly about the power of one life and the amazing thing that one person can do, isnt it just a little bit more convincing if it is a true story??! because i am pretty sure i could write an amazing story about a guy that sprouted wings, flew around the world and saved all the poor people and that would just be incredibly inspirational and all....except that it never happened! The power of one is a fanciful story about a kid that could have existed and possibly could have done amazing things IF a million things fell right into place for him, but frankly, it is fictional and none of things ever happened.

Point two, relating to my first point. If you insist on writing a story that is fictional about someone overcoming the odds and rising above his enemies to become a better person, what worse way to end it by making him stoop to his enemy's level and instead of rising above revenge, reep it instead in a really pointless stupid way?? I mean HONESTLY, what is that teaching kids "kids, go out and become a better person than your bully so that one day you can beat him up in the school yard and carve your intials into his head." NICE....really nice, that is what I want my 13 year old boy to read into so that he can get into fights with all the kids at school. fantastic ending....really

and finally, if you are claiming that your book is about social inequality, you greatly dissapointed a lot of readers who were interested in social inequality in africa, because frankly....i dont even remember social inequality being a big theme, yet if you read the back of the book, apparently that is all this one is about. Maybe someone gutted my book, ripped out all the pages, and stuck in a different one in its place....

on a good note, it was a very easy read....and it made me want to go back to grade school and beat up my bully.....wait, no....let's just stick to easy read.

Closet blogger!

2008-01-22T15:41:00.001-08:00

For those of you who keep asking for pics, I am sorry! My computer is down and i would use Mike's but......i am a closet blogger! phew, it feels good to get that out into the open. It's not that I am ashamed...but as Mike puts it, whenever I am reading blogs "shouldnt you be reading text books?". Yes, i should be reading text books, right this very second I could be learning about the excitement of electron sharing in phenol rings (OH JOY), but instead I am wasting away, reading and creating blogs.

So there you have it, I am lieing to the man I love....daily, about my blogging habit. If he weren't working 12 hours a day to get his PhD, i might just come out and reveal my love of the blog-but i just can't quite muster up the courage.

And so dear friends, it will be a bit of time until i have some real up to date photos.

oh yeah, and if you happen to run into mike and I, i'd appreciate if we could keep this little secret just between us!

How you know your guy is prettier than you are......

2008-01-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

....When every gay man you meet asks if he is single!!!

NO JOKE!!! my boy is so pretty that gay man don't care if he is straight, single, taken, married...they are determined to win him over!

Examples to support:

Mike and I go to vegas and wait for hours to get into club tao...which was way crowded and overpriced....but hey, you got to have that vegas experience I guess. While we were obviously very involved with each other dancing, A HUGE guy reaches into mike's pockets.....Thinking we are getting robbed, we both freeze!! Nope, this guy just wanted to let mike know that he was definitely digging him by reaching into his pants!!!!! ok, just to get things straight, if it were a chick, I sure as hell would defend my turf....but this guy was a monster!!! he grinned at me, waved his hand and skipped off!!!

This is the most extreme example of the men and women i have to fight off to keep my boy.....but this is exhausting, I have never had to fight with both sexes!!! I should have picked up an UGO, at least then I wont have to worry about EVERYONE hitting on him.

Something upbeat (that's a surprise!)

2007-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

My posts tend to be so sad or unhappy, which is not how i view my life. I guess i think a lot about things like this and how we ought to be out there trying to change them. So today, as a relief to the few that read this....I am going to write an upbeat blog!

I had a GREAT birthday and thanksgiving. My niece is such a doll....and my nephew is hilarious as well. I spent my weekend playing with them mostly. I also got a sick deal on a soft shell mt hardware coat and a kelty backpack! for those of you outdoorsy girls, head to outdoor outlet in San Jorge (for those of you who dont know, that is St. George in spanish)...you cannot beat those prices! I always get excited about new packs, in fact whenever I see those baby packs it makes me want to have a kid so i can justify purchasing one! haha, that is pretty sad and a little weird I know, but those kelty baby packs are SO cool.

My birthday was perfect. there really wasn't much that i wanted, so mike got me a day at the spa at snowbird (i have NEVER had a spa day but i am huge sucker for massages so i am stoked!). He also planned a surprise party for me later that night. The next day as a gift to myself I went down to the climbing gym and signed up for a membership (well OK, i actually just debated signing up for a membership because it is a year commitment.....but after my awesome climb i decided to just muscle down and pay the money.....which i will do when i return to the climbing gym).

this weekend is my first time with the rape crisis line....I am SO nervous. Although last night while i was watching "the waitress" (GREAT FILM!!!) with Mike he told me of his sister's friend who had just been raped....and i totally snapped into action and gave him a bunch of advice for his sister and phone numbers etc....Something inside me knew exactly what to do. So i am feeling a bit more prepared than i was before...we will see.

Next bit of news, i got a new job which i start on monday!! it is a job with a pediatric research network mainly doing clinical research. I am pretty excited about it. It will be hard to leave my old job and try something completely different...but it will be great for med school apps and it is about time for a change.

And finally, Mike and I are heading to sunny mexico in a week!! We take off in LA and head down to Aculpulco. We have three more stops along the coast. I am so excited I can't stand it. I have never been to mexico or on a cruise so it will be pretty sweet. Hopefully I will take some real photos and maybe you will get a post with something interesting! hope everyone else's holidays are as lovely as mine have been!

Erasing Stigmas

2007-11-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

Just this past week I have started my training to be a rape recovery center volunteer. It is really interesting when i tell people this; I get many mixed reactions. A lot of people become extremely uncomfortable about the subject and would rather I not elaborate on the things they are teaching me in my forty hour training. Now before i go any further, let me just add this is not an X rated post, it will be PG at best. I find reactions to rape amusing because one of the number one issues at the center is the number of unreported and untreated cases. These are mainly due to the fact that the VICTIM feels ashamed.....the VICTIM!!! Because of the way we tiptoe around the topic or ask questions like: Why weren't you with anyone? Why didn't you fight? Why did you go there? Victims almost always feel like this rape (a crime that NO ONE has the right to commit) was their fault. Society paints this picture like they could have avoided being raped if they really wanted to.

This led me to another thought: The way we blame victims, and how it keeps people from getting the help they really need. About two years ago I had a pretty bad break up. For a few days i would just sit on my couch and watch tv. This is a pretty normal reaction I think, but my few days turned into weeks...and then a month. I had long stopped thinking about the guy, yet I couldn't stop crying-the worst part was, I didn't even know why I was crying. I would wake up around seven, go for a run, lie on my couch and cry until work (which started at 4p.m.) Now those of you who know me, know just how weird this was for me. I am never sad! I always have a good outlook on life. I have so much to be thankful for...more than SO many other people. I tried and tried to get off that couch, and finally a good friend got me into a clinic. They quickly diagnosed me with depression.

It is funny how negative that word is. It immediately makes people think of unstableness, suicide, of how the person ought to "just get over it". Whats even more amazing is that people will often skirt around it too and suggest things like "maybe you should get a hobby" "pray more" "you have nothing to be sad about" instead of things like "do you need help?" "do you need to talk about how you feel?" "do you think you may have depression?".......the funny thing about it is, most patients know they have depression....most of them start crying the minute the doctor says it, chances are however, they never wanted to admit it out loud. I was one of those people, I was a diabetic who was going to be a doc and ran marathons and played lacrosse and I was strong enough to get past this.....but i was wrong, I wasn't strong enough, my body had created this chemical imbalance....no strength would change it.

Along with rape, depression is something we as a society blame on the victim. We think they are being irrational and that it is a pretend ailment....hell, I even thought it was a pretend ailment until i physically could not stop my sorrow. I hope that one day victims of things like rape and depression will no longer feel the shame of society, and society will erase the stigmas that keep people from getting help. I can safely say that I wont keep my mouth shut until this happens.

Halloween

2007-11-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you all (the few and far between readers i have out there) what I did for halloween! i holed up in my tiny apartment and studied! my boyfriend worked all night....we keep telling ourselves it will pay off eventually, although it is hard to see where the pay off is at this time...oh well, i could always try and get a sugah daddy if i ever get too depressed about being a poor student dating an even poorer grad student. So, in order to save my relationship I have taken up living vicariously through the rest of you and your blogs.

So now that halloween is come and gone, it is on to my favorite holiday....THANKSGIVING! my birthday sometimes falls on thanksgiving and frankly, i don't know what could be better than running in st. george weather, eating an awesome meal, opening presents and taking a nap....i am stoked! My favorite part of thanksgiving is the fact that regardless of my multiple allergies (i am celiac: i.e. no wheat, barley,rye, and all things good) my mom cooks me the best pumpkin pie ever!

Finally, so as not to dismiss halloween altogether...here is my neice all decked out.....She is a doll, and a hoot. I get to hang with her at thanksgiving as well, which is a definite bonus

to Jamie- who still doesnt believe i ever studied abroad

2007-10-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is the Cartier on Champs Elysee. I didnt really care that much but both of my roomates thought it was pretty cool
the twinkling Eiffel Tower.....we would gather here at night with friends and sit and talk
My personal favorite, Sacre Coure....this was a few blocks from my house
The stained gladd at Sante Chapel...the entire room was just stained glass windows....supposedly it housed the crown of thorns...but no one really knows because only the king was allowed inside (funny how that works out!)

This is my little bedroom window in our teeny apartment. I had the coolest window though...even though we were in the dirtiest part of the city, the wrought iron windows could not be beat!
This is the outside of the louvre. I would come here after class and wander. STudents in France get into the Louvre for free so it was always a good place to stop on the way home
My school was right next to this intersection. The Seine and Notre dame were right there. I would sit in that cafe and laugh at my rude waitor.
At Christmas they put together a ferris wheel at the intersection of the Louvre Gardens and the Champs Elysee. I wanted to ride it pretty badly but i didnt get the chance before i went home. That pointy thing in the distance is the Eiffel Tower.

Jamie, i decided to include some iconic french spots, and one with me in them....so you didnt think i just downloaded them off the internet :) i promise i studied abroad...it was the greatest time ever too! Once i get my computer up and running again i will post some more.

disgusted

2007-10-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

It seems like everyday i get more and more upset about the things going on in this world that we all seem to ignore. I know most of us have busy lives, but we all have food to eat and roofs over our heads. Even just wandering around the city i am moved to tears by the amount of people on the streets. These aren't just bums who are lazy and waste their money on booze. Just the other day I was at temple square and there was a man there whose arms had swollen to twice the normal size due to infection. it was obvious he was sick and thing that got me the most is that people not only did not feel it necessary to give him any money(that is fine if you can't afford it), but some flat out ignored him...He's a human too, others complained about there "religious experience" being ruined by beggars....take a lesson from Jesus people! Can you get more hypocritical...turn your religious experience into sincerely being Christ-like!!! I know I could give up a diet coke a day and easily pay that man five dollars...or at least take the time to hear him out and wish him luck as he is trying to overcome his trials.

mike and i walked past and i had to stop twice.....i have so much and this poor man had nothing. I asked mike what he thought might happen to that man. He told me what i already knew. "robyn, with that serious of an infection, he will probably die". I hope that his last thoughts aren't of people coming out of temple square complaining about how hard it is for them to see him there. I hope he thinks about the sister missionaries who gave him an apple and the elderly man who defied his wife and gave him change. I think most of all i hope people stop thinking about what a bother other people's suffering is, and think more about what Christ taught....we are all seriously blessed, and we all seem to think we deserve it more than others.....I dont think i want to stand up at the last day and have no excuse for not being charitable. Worse yet, I dont want to meet people like this man in the afterlife and have to apologize for being so close minded and self centered that i didn't have the time to even give him a friendly word of encouragement.

www.amnestyusa.org

www.savedarfur.org

www.thevolunteerfamily.org

More of life

2007-10-09T08:58:00.001-07:00

most of these are just silly random photos of me and my friends up in slc

me acting like bybee-baby.....my climbing buddy

the lacrosse boys at 458....gotta love em

my bestest friend nicholas, and two hot chicks

Tom and I, acting weird.

its funny to see all your children and families, kind of makes my life seem really silly, but i love it anyway

2007-10-09T08:39:00.001-07:00

Since a lot of you haven't seen me in years, i found some photos online (my pc is broken). they are a few years old of the camp I volunteer at each summer and of my study abroad. I also threw my cute neices and nephews (minus a few) in there as well.

This is a tiny little village where my friend Dionne and I had the best bread and chevre i have ever had. I call this my french love affair....because the food there was unbelievable!

Just goofing off in Barcelona

My lacrosse club at Diabetic camp...nothing scarier than a bunch of kids swinging sticks at each other

My little sister and I last christmas, destroying a gingerbread house....

My niece, outrageous personalities run in the family

My nephews...looking cool

I will try to get more current photos up there soon....

Nobel

2007-10-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

After YEARS of waiting, congrats to Mario Capecchi for winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. for those of you who are interested, he discovered how to knock out genes in mice in order to study diseases. So essentially, he has found a way to target all disease to specific genes making studying and curing those diseases a hell of a lot easier. he works in my building and I was lucky enough to have dinner with him a few years ago. the man is pretty impressive, especially considering his mother was taken by the gustapo when he was 4 and he lived on the streets until he was 7. can you imagine being homeless and alone at the age of seven?? anyway, he has a fascinating life story.

My heros

2007-09-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Sos this weekend, my brother dan ran a race. This wouldnt seem like such a big deal to anyone i know, but he ran a 50 MILE race. Even still, weirder things have happened, but get this: As of three years ago, my bro was pushing 300 lbs.....he was a good 75-100 lbs overweight. One day, he just signed up for a marathon, started training and now he is running 50 mile races. I have got to say he is an inspiration to me. I am always complaining about the ten extra pounds i want to get rid of, and he went and dropped 75. WOW. He did this with two kids and a full time job, my ten ought to be cake. way to go Dan!

Next i have to give tribute to my aunt Chris. My aunt chris was the youngest woman ever to be appointed to a state supreme court. She is also the FIRST woman justice in Utah. She is now the Chief supreme court justice in Utah and she is a democrat. Not that this should matter, but as we all know, this state tends to bleed red through and through, so needless to say she must do her job pretty well to keep her position, which she does. She does her job so well in fact, that earlier this month she recieved the Rehnquist award: a national award appointed to one state justice a year based on fairness and outstanding work ethics. She goes to D.C. where she will recieve her award. I am so proud. Way to go aunt Chris!

Gettin my butt into gear

2007-09-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

So last night my good friend and running buddy katharine called to inform me she had signed us up for a 10K trail run. Our last adventure was a half marathon in Moab, so this definitely seemed tamer.

So now i am determined. Ever since I started racing I have this nasty habit of training REALLY POORLY. Ex: my first race ever: SLC marathon (aren't I a go getter!) I trained for the SLC marathon kind of consistently...and very stupidly skipped a lot of long runs. I felt terrific the day of the race until I hit mile 22. There is a term in running called hitting a wall, and once you have done it you know EXACTLY why it is called that....i felt like I had been hit by a truck. thankfully I had a friend run the end with me otherwise i would still be asleep on the side of the road at mile 22.

Ex number 2: the SLC winter 30K....this is a series of of three races: a 5K, 10K, 15K spaced two weeks apart from each other. I wasn't really training for any of these, and ran them all rather poorly. Although i must say, by the time i ran the 15K i probably could have a run a pretty good 5K.

Ex number 3: Moab half marathon. around mile 6 my knees started hurting....very badly. I am pretty dumb when it comes to listening to my body when I am in pain so i just kept running......7.5 more miles. i didnt really walk for the next week.

So, my fellow bloggers and blog stalkers, you are my witnesses. The SLC marathon is in April and if i want to run it seriously, i need to become a serious trainer. So the 10K is in a month. I have run three-four milers this week and will end with a 5 miler.....i hope to run a consistent 8 by race time. So hold me to it! in a month if i dont post a happy race pic...you all have free range to make fun of my procrastinating ways.

2007-09-12T11:48:00.001-07:00

So i just thought for those of you( if there are really any readers out there) who don't know my boyfriend, that i would post a little about him.

Mike is a PhD student in Neurobiology. He is -as you may assume -too smart for words to describe, but he is very patient, not at all arrogant, and a great teacher as well.

Mike grew up in Viriginia and moved out here to go to the U. we met at a party where i flirted with him to get me a job interview (thats right, and i have NO shame...it was a great job). turns out i really enjoyed flirting with him and he did as well....so we started dating.

We both love hiking, skiing, and being outdoors. We both study too much and work too long and cherish the few hours in the day we see each other. Its been a year and a month now and it has been awesome. I cant quite get over how nice this relationship is...especially compared to the very rocky relationships i had in the past.

The other day I had to go to the ER for a pain in my back (again!)....and as usual they did not know what was going on so they sent me home. Mike took me to the ER and waited and then when we drove home he said he had to go into work....he came back 20 minutes later with my favorite foods and a new book. He is so caring its ridiculous.

Anywho, this is a pretty old pic of him, but i will post more as we are going on a cruise in december.....and moab next weekend. but yeah, I am not really good at doing tributes to people as many of you are, but that is my michael....and i am pretty damn pleased with him :)

Greek Fest

2007-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

The greek festival is this weekend in SLC. My friend, Andrea, will be dancing. It should be a really fun time with good food, good drinks, and lots of people. SO if you are in the area come on down.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...."greek square" the greek orthodox church near gateway.

Insurance

2007-09-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

So i have had it up to here (even though you can't see, my hand is really really high) with insurance companies.

As most of you don't know, I am afflicted with many diseases (all non communicably i swear!) Diabetes, Celiac disease, and a load of small things related to 22 years with diabetes are a daily reminder of the great genes my parents loaded on me :) . So, obviously, insurance has been a HUGE problem.

About six months ago, while i was on HORRIBLE student insurance that only covered emergencies-no meds or doc appointments-I was hospitalized for excessive vomiting and back pain. Of course we all thought kidney stones; however, as it turned out it is a mystery as to what I have and still affects me to this day. Thankfully, my insurance covered my three day hospital stay of test running that gave me no results at all....they covered it until yesterday that is.....when they called to tell me that they considered this a pre-existing condition......WHAT???

apparently the insurance got the BIG bill from the hospital and decided to try to blaim all of this on my Diabetes......yes that is right, according to my insurance company I have been vomiting blood for 22 years now since the day I was diagnosed with Diabetes. RIIIIIGGGGHHT. I am sorry for those defenders of insurance companies, but honestly, this is ridiculous.

What the insurance company forgot to look at while digging around in my past to screw me out of the money they owe, is to look up my legal history: i.e. my five cousins who are harvard grad lawyers, and my aunt who is a supreme court justice. They also unfortunately forgot to look up my many many uncles who are doctors. Needless to say, they are screwed. I have to say that I feel some sort of satisfaction that soon some croony at the insurance company will be shaking in his or her boots when they get a call from my lawyers/doctors. I'm sorry, but initially insurance companies are asking me to think twice about going to the ER and saving my life on fear that I will be in debt for the rest of it....and now I am going to have them think twice about whether or not they want to lose their job for trying to screw me out of medical insurance.

Catching up

2007-09-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't been around in a while, I have been entertained by many's blogs down in good ol san jorge. I sort of had a horrible realization that I was indeed a blog stalker as I would check up on people (unbeknownst to them entirely!). So i am coming out, and as long as work is slow, you all can blog stalk me as well so I dont feel so bad.

I am in SLC, working at a biochemistry/genetics lab and working on med school apps. It is exhausting, but thankfully i have my running buddies, the mountains, my climbing fellahs, my wonderful boyfriend and a few of my wild sisters up here to help me with the stress. I LOVE salt lake city, down to the smelly salt flats and all the way up to the Uintahs, although having lived abroad for a while, i totally yearn for travel.

My boy is a HUGE part of my life; however, being he is a doctoral candidate in neurobiology, we dont get nearly as much time together and we would hope. We've been together for a year now and so far its been awesome....no wedding bells soon though so don't get too excited. After reading this you all must think we are the biggest nerds in the world.....we probably are, but sometimes we do really cool things like drive cross country, go climbing, backpacking, and all sorts of wild adventures.

That is about it for now....if you know me or used to know me, i'd love to be you friend (seeing as how right now i probably just read your site anonymously...which is kind of creepy).