A lil' SB Love

I needed to go to SB a couple weekends ago for an event with my old co-workers. I went on a walk along the bluff and got a few pretty pictures :D Enjoy!

Sparks Game!

I FINALLY went to my first professional basketball game! I know crazy that I have been to baseball, football, and hockey but NEVER basketball! I had such a good time the we are going back on the 18th!

The game was SOOO cool because it was the first outdoor sunset WNBA game ever!! They had some four square courts and balls so we played a little four square before the game. I haven't played that game since 3rd grade!

I got to see some of my idols, Sue Bird and Swin Cash who play for the Storm. The Sparks brought it close in the end but Sue Bird shut em down with her 3's. I think she was 100% from the floor the whole night. Tuesday my favorite player Diana T. was playing at the Staples center but I couldn't go because of tests. We are planning on going to another game on the 18th so stay tuned. Diana still won't be there but sometime in July I think I will see her courtside :D Those will be some great pics...

The G-Ma Rock

Grandma came to visit and I got her and Dad playing Guitar Hero! They both did very well. It was hard to get Dad to want to play but once he got started I couldn't rip the thing away from him!!
This is Zaphora's new favorite spot to rest. Dom is NOT happy about this as he has made clear many times, but I think it's just so darn cute! hehe

Pineapple Express!

Dominic had commented about wanting his own pineapple plant. When visiting my mom the other day I saw this weird looking green thing in a jar and I asked her what it was... of course, it was a pineapple top and it was ACtually Growing!! I told her about Dom's request so she handed over the pineapple for us to watch over :) I had this cute little vase that I put it in for the time being. The roots are getting pretty long so we will transplant it soon as we get more pots. Four of our plants/pots got taken off our patio the other day which we were pretty upset about. So, in the meantime, this little guy gets to soak up the rays like this. I figured that growing one this way would be much more speedy than from a seed! Wish us luck.

The Garden

Dominic and I tried to plant an assortment of veggies in the fall. Everything grew initially but apparently I just cared too much and overwatered everything! The only thing that survived me and the winter were baby carrots and a pepper plant that has never produced peppers!! Me and Dom decided to try again yesterday given the wonderful weather he have been having. Dom planted pumpkins and watermelon, and green beans. Meanwhile, I planted some pretty flowers in some bright new pots I got and a small strawberry plant. We decided to let Zaphora and Jaguar sneak a peak outside on the porch just to see what they would do. It was pretty cute! Jag is less curious and just wanted the sun, whereas Zaphora couldn't keep her nose out of everything! Here are some pics of the garden and the kitties playing for their first time outside.

A Visit to the Lagoon

Sunset through the very dirty car window on my way home from SB. I sure do miss that ocean!

One of my favorite places to run is in Santa Barbara at the lagoon. I was fortunate enough yesterday to have an orthodontist appointment up there. So, I got in my car at 5:40 am to being the journey through LA so as to be at my appointment on time. I had very little traffic for a Wednesday morning going into the city which was great. I got to SB around 8 and spent 30 minutes looking for parking in overcrowded IV. I found a spot pretty far from campus and my only mode of transportation was to pay for the bus or just skateboard with all the freshman from Santa Catalina residents' hall (formally FT) on the bike path... I arrived, after a short break to catch my breath, at the lagoon. It is basically the area on campus where the ocean washes in between the breaks in the bluff. The water is rather still, so a lot of the best animal life hangs out here. Big huge pelicans, egrets, ducks, fishies, snakes, and poison ivy. I usually make a big turn around loop around the lagoon when I am on my long runs. The bluffs are all relatively connected by a winding dirt path that goes up and down a lot, and sometimes you have to run through the sand dunes. I tried to take a panorama type shot of a small piece of the lagoon.. so these pictures all go in sequence.

Summer is here!

Here is Jag and Zaphora. They are doing very good lately.

I just thought this was a funny picture.. I don't know why she lays like this! haha

Another update, I got an expresso machine from Mom for my birthday. Now, everyday is expresso day! I am LOVING getting to make my own frothy concoctions before classes. So far, I make a pretty good cafe latte with mocha mint coffee. Sometimes I drop one of my valentines chocolates in for an extra kick of sweetness. Mostly I am excited about finally getting to use some expresso cups and saucers I bought a while back that have been sitting on top of the microwave in a cute little box.

mmmmmmmm.....

Can you believe it??! We got out of classes early today so a bunch of people from school and I went to Huntington beach. It was like 84 degrees all day and I think I might of even got a little burnt through the sunscreen. This picture is me and my friend Jimmy who is from Ohio. I love to compare stories with him about the midwest...especially how it is NOT 84 degrees there right now!!

Valentines Day!

I had a wonderful Valentines Day! Me and Dom ate at this amazing bbq restaurant called Lucille's. I of course had a huge salad that I couldn't finish. I had a full serving left over for lunch the next day that filled me up nicely.. then I still had more left! We exchanged gifts and watched movies together most of the day. One of my favorite presents was a very pretty clear blue saphire ring, with small diamonds on the side, from Dom ......No no no, not even close to getting married or anything yet! But I gotta love him :)

Aquarium of the Pacific!

I have been really bad about posting since school started so here is my long awaited update. Me and Dom went to the aquarium in Long Beach and had SOO much fun! Here are some of the really cool animals we got to see :D

This was one of the CREEPIEST sharks in the big tank! He had razor sharp teeth and kept coming straight at me! We got to watch the big sharks get fed by these big long poles. They would just bump into the poles until they knocked off the food. They were VERY quick and good at it. Wouldn't want to be swimming with them!

Dominic and I got to touch some little baby sharks as they were getting fed!! There were also some sting rays in there too. They all felt like fine sand paper. Jaguar thought I smelled weird when I got home from the sharky water.
Another creepy picture. This eel gives me the heebyjeebies as my mom would say.
Ginormous crab!


Little baby sea horses.

Pretty sting ray.
Pretty colorful fish!

My new toy!

Sidenote: Yesturday's workout was a bike ride uphill to the closest 24hr fitness, then I ran 4.5 miles and then biked home.

Okay, so I ordered a new toy that should be here on Wed. It's the Garmin Forerunner 405CX I am SOOO excited to be getting it in!! It is a heart rate monitor that has GPS so that I can run anywhere and upload all the data about my speed, heart rate, elevation, etc. to my computer to compare with other runs. I can race a virtual partner so it will beep at me if I am getting beat, or I can do a course that Mom has done in the past and try to beat her times if she has uploaded her data to the server. (Mom has the same watch) I am super excited to give it a try on Wed. which will come with a full update on my blog.

Today's Training

Today's training included 2mi around my schools all weather track which was nice and warm.. I may have gotten sun burnt! I then proceeded to ride my bike the 7.5 mi's home with all my school stuff on my back which included:

huge heavy duty U-lock

cable lock (for quick release tire that the huge U-lock can't reach)

folder and pens and notes

pants

jacket

extra shorts

left overs from lunch

and some other odds and ends

My favorite purchase this week has been a set of lights for my bike. They have a sleek black outer casing and different settings for flashing or constant shining. One is clear/white light for the front and one is red for the back. They also are quick release so that I can slide them off when I park my bike somewhere where they might get stolen. I also got a little pouch that came with it's own rain cover in which I have placed a spare tube in case I pop mine on my trek home. I hope that doesn't happen because I have no clue how to change a road-bike tire, but if it came down to it there are a lot of other cyclists on the path that I could pull over to help me. So far, riding my bike home from school has been working. There is enough traffic in the sketchy over-pass areas that most cars/trucks are stopped at the lights and I can kinda come up the side aisles like the motorcycles. The best part has been that I haven't been stopped by a single train even though I cross the train tracks 2 to 3 times depending on which route I take home. With my car I would get stopped at least once every day. Yay, for not having much "bike" traffic, for saving gas, and getting in shape!

Marathon

Okay, so I like to work out but it has been hard while I am in school to do because after studying all day the motivation to go run and exhaust myself some more isn't there. That's why I have decided to start training for my first marathon. It isn't a new years resolution, because for that me and mom aren't eating red meat. This is just something I have always wanted to do, and to be in good enough shape by the end of the year I need to start training now! If giving myself the goal of completing a grueling 26 miles of continuous running isn't enough, I also have some ideas about how fast I want to do it in. More on this later though. I need to gather some more data on where I am at right now before I set a definite goal on time. I am hoping to keep a record of my progress here on my blog, one to keep me honest, and two to share how much fun it is! So, for my first entry I did 3X 1mi repeats around the track at school. Each mile was about 8.5min which is slow compared to what I used to do in highschool but I am sure these times will improve. I also biked 7.5 miles home after the run.

One of my options for marathons to do is a new one in Santa Barbara. I really miss running along the ocean there and I would love to go and compete there again. I still know a lot of people up there, as well as one of the guys in my class right now is going to compete in it this year. It's on November 7th, 2010. My old boss and his interns will likely be working a first aid table during the event like they did in 2009 so I will have tons of support. Here is a picture I took way back my freshman yr. in college at the tide pools. If you look closely, my reflection is in the top right corner. Compare the size of my head to that starfish and sea anemone!! They were huge!!!