off to the island

i'm on the boat this next week, on what will be my last trip for a while. we havn't been to the island since august, so i'm excited to be heading back. hopefully the water will still be nice--it was great this summer, i didn't wear my wetsuit all of july and august. so sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, tidepooling, sleeping under the stars, here i come! (i still can't believe i get paid to do all that.)...

although, i AM NOT looking forward to our anchor watches at night. ugh. i'm going to be so tired when we get back. it's an 8-day work week for me, and then finally things, events, and life will die down for a while. i'll be looking forward to vegging...surfing the internet...reading...watching some football (haven't been able to catch many games this season because of all the busy busy-ness)....you know, just normal everday stuff that you can do when you have time to chill. it'll be nice.

also, i just wanted to give a huge CONGRATS (again) to haley on her engagement!!! i am so super excited for you two!!!

wow, '07 isn't even over yet, and i already have 2 weddings in '08 that i'm going to attend. the madness! everyone is getting hitched, it's crazy!

1300

that's how many miles i put on my car this past weekend! but a lot of if was an amazing scenic drive, so it's okay...

drove up to south lake tahoe on friday for alicia and jon's wedding. the rehearsal was on a cold rainy saturday morning, and the wedding on a freezing sunny sunday afternoon. although very chilly, the wedding and view was beautiful and we all had a great time! (we just won't mention my party-foul moment with red wine splashing EVERYWHERE...)

drove to monterey on monday and visited the aquarium, where they currently have a GREAT WHITE SHARK (!) on display, which was pretty darn cool. they also had two HUGE mola mola which were sooooo awesome too. such funny looking guys.

drove down the coast yesterday. it was my first time doing the highway 1 drive, and i loved it! the wind in my face, the smell of trees mingled with the smell of salty ocean and seaweed, beautiful views....oh, it was so nice.

Quote-o-the-day

PASSION every day

Fall in love with your life. Have a magnificent obsession. Discover what moves you. Listen to your heart and go wherever it takes you. You are here and it is now. There are opportunities rich with purpose and passion all around you. Capture these memories again and again. Life is the grand adventure and any life worth living is worth recording.

-insert on a journal

why it's worth it

a letter from two girls that came on one of our trips to the island:

Dear Jane,
Thank you~Thank you~Thank you! for taking us snorkeling! That was so much fun. That was one of our favorite things we did. You are so fun to be around and you are very encouraging! Thanx 4 making this trip a time we'll never forget!
Love Baillie & Lacey

so, yes, i'm poor. and i will never EVER see a 6-figure salary or own a pair of jimmy choos (unless i find a sugar daddy of course). but it's okay. because i care about the work i do, and i enjoy the work i do. i have amazing experiences, and get to touch and change lives. and it's worth it.

back with a bang!

after several years of the same old look and many months of neglect, i thought i'd come back and give my blog a little tlc! so here i am, with a new look and hopefully new and consistent entries. i know my readers (all 5 of you!) must be very excited. it's quite nice to have internet again, but not only that, it's even better having a computer that works to go with it.

it looks like my last update was in may, nearly 4 months ago--summer has come and gone, and fall is now upon us. it was such a busy and exhausting summer--i don't even know how many days i had off. it seemed like i was always working about 10-day stretches between the two jobs. and sandwiched in between being on the island and working at the aquarium, i went to two weddings in vegas, and was a bridesmaid in one wedding in pasadena.

my time on the tallship was incredibly amazing: taking kids snorkeling and tidepooling...making just the tiniest bit of a difference in the kids' lives...seeing blue & fin whales, tons of dolphins, mola mola, an elephant seal, leopard sharks, guitarfish, hundreds of stingrays, being up close to bison...sleeping under the stars...jumping off the boat and swimming in catalina waters...getting a nice tan...hiking and seeing awesome views...learning how to sail and crew a 130' tallship...and so many more wonderful experiences. the sailing season is coming to an end, and my last trip out to the island will be the first week of october.

some other things...
-bridesmaid in alicia's wedding in tahoe this weekend
-going to INDIA (!) for resh's wedding in january! (it will cost me an arm and a leg, but i've been itching to travel, and it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to go to an indian wedding IN india. plus, it's resh's wedding. how can i miss out on that?)

2 1/2 months, oh my!

Wow, I've become terrible at this blogging thing. So much has happened since my last post in MARCH. I can't believe time is flying by so quickly--summer is approaching very quickly! Okay, so what have I been up to? Busy busy at trying to figure my life out still...

1. Finishing up this darn teaching credential class that has been a pain in my ass the whole semester. Chan didn't think I would, but I got through it and will be turning everything in tomorrow! Woo hoo!
2. Left my position at the Zoo. Very sad, I know. My coworkers there were great and I had fun hanging out with the terrestrial guys, but my heart belongs to the sea. (Plus the drive from Long Beach was killer with gas prices the way they are now.)
3. Got a new job working on the American Pride tallship. A summer on a sailboat out on the water, going to Catalina, taking kids hiking and kayaking and tidepooling and snorkeling? Heck yeah! Sign me up for that!! So I did. I signed myself up for that. And it is awesome. I LOVE MY NEW JOB.

Witches and Whales

I did two very exciting things this week!

First: I got a call Sunday morning to see if I wanted to go see Wicked that evening (some friends were going with a group of their other friends, and there happened to be a last minute extra ticket.) Of course I wanted to go! I almost flew to New York City just to see this musical last year! I've missed the LA showings twice now, and I guess the third time is the charm. It was wonderful. Great music, funny, clever, and nothing like the book.

Second: some of my friends work on a tallship sailboat, the American Pride, and I went on a whale watching trip with them Tuesday morning. We saw a small gray whale heading north and ran parallel to it for about ten consecutive blows. It was absolutely AMAZING being so close and seeing it surface, blow, and the tail come out when it dove back down!

Quote-o-the-day

"It's still two human beings trying to get along, so it's going to become complicated. And love is always complicated. But still humans must try to love each other, darling. We must get our hearts broken sometimes. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something." -Eat, Pray, Love by Elizebeth Gilbert

Yeah, but getting your heart broken isn't fun.

Pro....cras....ti....naaaaaa....tor

You would think that one would have kicked the old procrastination habit after having graduated high school, obtained a bachelor's degree, lived on their own and entered the working world. You would think that one grows up, matures, and learns to no longer procrastinate.

WRONG! Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. And I am the prime example of that. I just can't seem to rid myself of this habit.

I recently started a class at CSULB--an intro to the science single subject teaching credential program (something I'm considering going into.) We had an assignment--our Science Autobiography in the format of a brochure, poster, webpage, podcast or song--given to us the first day of class that was going to be due in two weeks. I had TWO weeks to do it, and the NIGHT BEFORE it was due, I was scrambling to get my webpage done on a friend's computer, kicking myself the whole time. Yes, I've always worked well under pressure. Yes I finished the assignment and turned it in. But I definitely don't enjoy working under pressure and being stressed out, and really need to learn to stop this procrastination problem...

The Innovator's Song

I am the seasoned traveller

of the Labyrinth.

The genius of alacrity.

Wizard of the impossible.

My brilliance yet unmatched

in its profound originality.

My heart's full of potent magic

that could cast a thousand spells.

Seeking answers to my endless queries,

I overturn barriers and boundaries,

opening new paths and portals

for my own curiosity.

I am Shen, the Innovator

-Theodora Lau