Friday, March 28, 2008

Seriously...

Seriously, has the bachelor turned into a talent show?!?!?!

Update on my week

It's been crazy busy!

Today I had two finals and my exit interview from the teaching program at Judson. Wow, my time there is soon coming to an end.

One of my dear friends had her first baby this week. It was fun to meet Blake, hold him, and see how his mommy was doing.

Next week I start my four week teaching experience for Judson. I will be teaching two subjects a day and assisting where needed. My commute will be a minimum of an hour each way, pray that God gives me patience!

I finished tutoring all my students this week. It is bitter sweet to see that come to an end.

Last week, we didn't do "Baja" night...I was happy to rekindle that this week. We even switched it to an earlier night because we all were craving it!

I have had a good week of exercising and staying on my good eating plan.

I can't wait for tomorrow...I want to sleep in and then catch up on all the shows that I didn't get a chance to watch.

I am thankful to my friends who have supported me through all of this stuff this week.

Monday, March 24, 2008

To a new week

Last week was not such a good week of staying on my healthy eating pattern...there were two holidays (St. Patty's Day and Easter) and a few other evenings of eating out where I made poor choices. I don't think all the salads and working out I did balanced it out.

Well thank goodness I have a fresh new week ahead of me to get back on track!!!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Say my name, say my name

Earlier this week I was out with some friends and were discussing the different ways that my last name gets pronounced and even my first name. It's crazy. We got some great laughs out of it!!!

Yesterday I went to pick up some Panda Express (can't stand their food) for my sister. As I paid with my credit card, the man behind the counter said "thank you ms. _____ and then one of the funny pronunciations came out of his mouth. I am going to try to explain to you how he said it.

Say the word geese. Now take how you say the "gee" in "geese" and add zzo to the end of it. Now say it all together and really emphasize the "ee"s. You got it?!

You may not think it is even funny, but I almost busted out laughing!!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Deep thoughts by Gina

Ok, well they are not really that deep, but just what's been on my mind lately.

Many of you know that I have been thinking about moving to California. I have talked about it for the past few months, but now as I begin the process of applying for jobs the reality of finding a job and home are settling in.

In previous posts I have mentioned that I think about California on a daily basis. This thought has began to increase. When I see a team from CA, I want them to win or a girl who is on the bachelor and is from CA, I want her to win...the other night I spent the night at my friends house and the clock in the room was 2 hours behind and I thought of CA time. I know that all of this might sound strange, but there is a reason why this state is always on my mind.

Recently I have begun to doubt why I think about it so much. Maybe it is just an infatuation or maybe because the weather sucks here and is way better there or ...But I can't help but think that God has a plan for me and at some point going to California might be a part of it. I need to hold fast to it and see what happens.

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future", declares the Lord.

Monday, March 17, 2008

I was deceived

Today as I drove to church and back, the sun was shining and I was a bit warm in my car. So I cracked the sun roof and enjoyed the beautiful change in weather. With the sun shining, I just feel different and better.

Since we are going on a family vacation in a few months, I knew that I needed to step up my work out routine and "diet". With that said, I thought I would put in an extra workout today. After a healthy lunch I threw on a sweatshirt and pants and decided to take my workout outside. As soon as I walked out the door, it was freezing cold. My walk soon turned into a jog because all I could think about was getting warm. Then my lungs started killing me, every breath was painful. In my head I just wanted to turn around and give up. But I pushed through the pain, started walking again, and after 15 minutes, the breathing wasn't so painful. Until, my way back when I was walking against the wind. AHHH!

I think I will continue to use the treadmill until it is significantly warmer out. How do those people run outside during the winter? I must have done something wrong.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Summer Song

For the past few years there seems to be a song that comes out in the spring and then by summer it is THE song. You know the one that you crank up the volume to and drive with your windows down and can't stop dancing too. Last summer for me it was this song and at times I still can't sit still when I hear it. Enjoy... http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=157700



What will this summer's song be? I am anxious to know.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

My little getaway

This past Friday I headed to Arizona for a long weekend. I really needed a break from life here. I was visiting my college roommate, Tracy. We lived together all 4 years and now she is married and has 3 kids of her own.

My time there was pretty busy. I was able to see the area where the Superbowl was held, it's called Westlake. We walked around the stores, had coffee outside in the 70 degree heat, and sat and listened to a girl perform for the spectators. Another day we took a 3 1/2 hour hike up a mountain with a 4, 2, and 1 year old. That was a crazy experience! We ate a picnic lunch at the top of it, threw rocks, searched for lizards, and used lots of patience with the kiddos!

It was fun to drive around and enjoy the warm breeze and take in the view of the mountains. It was quite peaceful. Tracy and I hit up a few malls and parks for the kids. A huge highlight was getting the pleasure to eat at In-N-Out 2 times while I was there!!! Those burgers, fries, and shakes are too good to pass up if you are by one.

One night I met up with my best friend from high school. We lost contact over the years and I hadn't seen her in 12 years. So that was great fun getting to hang out with her and catch up on life.

While I was there, I forgot what it was like to be cold since I got a bit burnt and were outside all the time. I soon remembered as I walked off the plane and felt that cold draft come before I even got outside. Thankfully spring will be here next week...right?!?!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Chicks, cars, and service men

Story#1

For about 2 weeks I needed to get a few things for my car. The first necessary component was purchasing new tires. This is quite a costly endeavour but it had to be done. I was recommended to try this tire shop because they had great deals. I am always looking for a bargain so I headed right over. The sales guy was informative and was ranting and raving about a particular tire. So I decided to go with his suggestion. Four days later I am driving up to Elgin at 6:30 a.m. and my tire pressure light goes on in the car. I pull over and check everything out...no flat...that was good news. So I would do what any normal person does and head to a gas station to check the tire pressure and fill up on air. After I do that I reset the tire pressure light and I am good to go.

Later that night I am driving home and what starts flashing and ringing...the low tire pressure light. Now I didn't mind it the first time because with the cold air and what not the pressure drops, but twice in the same day was not cool. Unfortunately the tire shop wasn't open or I would have gone straight there. So the next day I take it there and the same guy who sold me my tires is assisting me. He runs out to the car and checks the tire pressure and told me that I put 2 pounds extra in a few of the tires. I am thinking, big deal. So he continually repeats his story and is trying to tell me that the light is on because there is too much air. HELLO....I am not an idiot. The light in my car doesn't go on because of too much air but because of too little. Then he says, but one of them is below the air level, would you like us to look at it? Hell yes I want you to look at it. So after sitting for over an hour another guy comes to talk to me. The way he started the conversation was in a way that he was accusing me that I did something wrong. After getting some clarification, he ended up saying that when I got the tires put on the car the worker must have forgotten to put the seal around my tire and scrape my rim. I wasn't too happy to hear that they just didn't do the appropriate work after I paid them a chunk of change.

Story #2

The next thing I needed to buy were some windshield wipers. I had gone to Walmart to purchase them (they would be about $13), but they were out of the size I needed. I did my research and knew what size and which brand were recommended for my car. On my way to school I thought if I saw any auto stores I would stop in and pick up the wipers. So I headed into this auto store where a worker was more than happy to assist me. He looked up in his computer my car type and all that to find the info, despite me already telling him the size and brand that was needed. (I am aware that I don't need that particular brand, most will do). So I see him bring up a whole listing of wipers and then tells me that ones I need will cost me $25. I said well is there anything cheaper and he said only the plastic ones for $3.

Ok, now I am ticked off. This is twice in a week where I feel like it is one of those situations where men are trying to rip me off or not do their job because I am a woman and don't know what they are talking about. I wanted to go over and smack some sense into these workers. Needless to say I didn't purchase any wipers from that store.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Spring will soon be here

With baseball season approaching soon, I can't help but think that spring is on the way. For the past two years I have had the privilege of attending many Chicago White Sox games, since my dad purchased season tickets. I loved going down to chi town, grabbing some great Maxwell Street food, creating memories with friends and family, and enjoying a beautiful day at the game.

This year no season tickets were bought, so this wonderful experience won't occur as much, but I still go to a few games. I might even hit up some spring training which would be fun! Go Sox!