Category Archives: Wicked Cool Stuff

My heart’s a stereo – and I’m going to start sharing “deep stuff” ;)

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It is trite and dramatic to mention my entire world has changed over the past 8 months; of course it has!  Hasn’t everyone’s?  How can you LIVE and love and not change or grow? But yet I find myself wanting to say it!

I have changed.  I am changed.

I am also Queen of the Obvious!

But there!  I said it – I got it out of the way.  We can move forward.  :)  haha – ok I’m not like COMPLETELY changed.  My sense of humor is still about the same.  :)  which let’s be real – that is a HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!!!!

YAY!!!!!

You see, I LOVE to laugh and I think I’m funny.  So the fact that I STILL think I’m funny?!?!!  Wahoo!!   :)  :)

Anyway I’m only mentioning this because I’ve done moderately well at being “adjusted” despite my – umm – well – my life.  I’ve tried to maintain a happy perspective, I’ve worked at being optimistic and I’ve NEVER taken the “why me?” attitude; though I have most certainly wondered about the purpose of life.  But I’ve adjusted; I’ve adapted.   I’m still here and most days I’m still laughing.  :)

Up until recently I didn’t want to really admit… (continue reading on my new blog here.)

Or if you just want to stick with the light stuff …

Let me share with you my new favorite-est-est-est song!!!  I’ve mentioned that my BF and I have a soundtrack of US.  (you should read it the story – it’s cute) And this song makes it on the list.  The lyrics ring true in my heart.  I love J, and I WOULD carry him around even if he were an old school 50lb boombox, and I’d hold him on my shoulder wherever I walked, and turn his volume up  in front of the cops, and crank it higher every time they told me to stop. hee hee ;)  Yes – My heart’s a stereo.

Throwing caution to the wind…

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“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.”  - Bertrand Russell

Longtime blog followers may remember the cruise I went on 2 years ago.  Last minute, spontaneous – it felt right.  I didn’t even KNOW about the cruise until two days before it began.  And I had to postpone my departure to Sydney for an extra week to go. It is no stretch to say it was really, really, really, really a completely unexpected turn of my heart.

And THIS (on the cruise) is where I met him.

Fast forward to a few blog posts ago.  Turning my life upside down – or right side up.  Following my heart brought me back to my best friend, it gave me the balance I was seeking, the inner peace I had lost.  And it reminded me that I am surrounded by so much love!!!  Aaaannnd that same weekend – at the MMA fight – I met him again.  The boy in the picture above or below.  ;)

Or rather I should say, he made it a point to come over and ask me if I remembered him.  (:  Of COURSE I did.  This boy isn’t really the forgettable type. (plus he can dance!!)

But then October started and I had a lot of focusing-on-self to do (which I did btw!!  I successfully did all of that stuff for the whole month!!!  YAY!!!) and so I didn’t see him again.  Well not right off anyway.  He was patient.  And when we finally DID go on a date (which I didn’t actually realize was a date – HAHA!) we hit it off.

He makes me laugh.  And he makes the world seem brighter.  And so we saw each other again.  And again.  And again.  And it’s crazy and ridiculous and amazing and beautiful that I feel the way I do about him.

We spent Thanksgiving with his family.  We dropped the L word… and I know that’s insane!!  Like seriously – I know!!!  But I also know I’ve never said it more sincerely.  I both respected and admired him BEFORE we ever decided to “date”.  And I went into this seeing both the good and not-as-good parts.  But I love it all.  All of him.

And yeah… he loves all of me!  And accepts me, skeletons and scars included.  It’s crazy and ridiculous and amazing and unbelievable that he feels the same way about me.  HAHA!  Especially since he’s LEAVING in a couple of weeks to go live in another country.  (karma sucks eh?)

But we’ve decided to throw caution to the wind.  Love is love and it feels right.

Am I a little scared?  Sure … but not really.  The odds are a bit against us.  But ultimately we’d rather have a short-lived, amazing, life-changing love that has the potential to be more than short-lived than deal with an eternal “what if?”  And so we continue.

And…for as long as our hearts guide us, we’ll walk into the unknown together, hearts smiling and inexplicably tied to one another.

Taking it to the next level – Online Dating Step SEVEN – The Voice Call

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Online Dating goes in steps.  Today we’re going to talk about step SEVEN – yes step SEVEN – the voice call.

I’m not going to lie – I think I have this online dating thing about figured out.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  I’m kidding – kind of.  Ok the fact of it is – that I had no intention of pursuing online dating AT ALL but then I met some dudes who seemed to be pretty cool and as I engaged in contact with them I realized there were similarities in relationship patterns.  It’s quite fascinating!!!

Oh and watch for my upcoming book “Online Dating for the Dense.”  HAHAHAHAHA – just kidding – for real this time – well 90% for real.  I think I COULD prolly write a book on my studies but we’ll save that for another post.

Step Seven – A pretty big deal

Step seven is a pretty crucial step in online dating.  Yeah – that’s right – it’s a pretty big deal.  No more hiding behind words – the dude you’re talking to will now be able to HEAR you laughing at him, HEAR the cynicism in your voice, HEAR excitement – whatever – he can HEAR it.  And omgosh – don’t let me forget – umm – say hello to AWKWARD PAUSES.  (though nothing is worse than an awkward pause on skype – but that’s like level NINE so we’ll discuss that another day.)  So yeah – voice calls – a pretty big deal.

Timing is Key – calling too soon

WHY??  It’s just a phone call!!  Well because you need to make sure the timing is right.  Accurate voice call timing is crucial. Too soon and you may find yourself ending the phone call being like, “Umm alright -so yeah …” and you feel like you SHOULD say, “Talk to you soon” but you know you’re NEVER going to talk to him again so it’s a bit awkward.  PLUS if he’s all like, “This was great – I’m so glad we talked” blah blah blah – well – you feel even MORE awkward when you realize you don’t want to talk to him again.

Timing is Key – waiting too long

And then you have the other side of the fence – waiting too long before the voice call.  When this happens – you’ve been instant messaging so long that you already have an idea of how you think the other person sounds – or reacts – or just IS.  You THINK  you have an idea of their personality and then because of course you’re wrong – when you hear their voice you’re like, “omgosh – you sound like a nasal-y star trek geek who probably studies vulcan in your time off.”  WHAT DO YOU DO THEN??  Here you had these great expectations and then you talk to him and you have a mini online dating crisis.  Is this guy his voice??  Or is he his words??

Phone Calls – Golden!!

ANYWAY – if you’ve already made it through the first six steps of online dating and are prepared to take it to the next level – it’s a good sign.  Buuuutttttt – BEWARE.  Voice calls are not all they’re cracked up to be.  (haha especially if your voice cracks while talking.)  HOWEVER it’s not all gloom and doom.  Sometimes you talk to someone on the phone and are pleasantly surprised.  Suddenly you’re like, “Omgosh – I could totally see myself talking to you on a continual basis – you’re fun!”  And THAT is pretty dang cool.

Oh wait – let’s not get too excited yet.  Let’s be real – if you feel that it went SO AWESOME there’s a good chance he thought YOU sounded like a 16 year old girl who giggles too much.

Yeah – such is my life.  I bet you can’t WAIT to read about Webcams.  ;)

ANYWHO – Tonight I watched the sun set …

december 16a

It was pretty.  :)

december 19e

And because I heart me some seagulls :)  Here are a few of them:

december 16d

(I hope you love these pics ScoMan.)

december 16c

december 16b

NEW CAMERA – Wahoo!!

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Microsoft Word - Document1HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  ”ALOUD?”  hahahahaha!  ok I’m mostly done laughing – we can move on.  :)

For a graduation gift to myself (WAHOO!!!  Did I tell you all that I’m about to graduate with my second post-graduate degree and my first masters?? YAY!!) I decided to give myself a DSLR.  AAANNNNDDDD what could be better timing for a new dinosaur (yeah – dinosaur – especially when compared with my ultracompact!!) than an unexpected trip across the continent??  I agree – no better timing.   So thanks to a little shipping help from M&D I got my camera in time to rock and roll!!!

(oh btw – Dad informed me today that if I’m bugged by the size of my new camera he’d be MORE than happy to take it off my hands.  lol)

First Self Portrait taken with new Camera
(oh come on now – did you expect anything besides a self portrait?? let’s be real.)

second self portrait

Want to know the best part of having a great camera?  Less post-production!!!  It’s not that I don’t love photoshop – but photoshop takes time – and having a camera that requires no photoshopping?? That’s pretty dang sweet.  :)

Second Self Portrait taken with new camera

first-self-portrait-with-new-camera

I’ll try to get a smiling one tomorrow (haha! ok I’m done giving time frames – it’s not going to happen tomorrow.  Let’s say instead – I’ll try to get a smiling one at some point in the future.)

So yeah – anyway – I think my new camera and I are going to be besties.  I’ve already decided she’s a girl.  And a dinosaur.  So now she just needs a name.  Maybe something fierce – after all I’m quite sure she’s probably a Bad A Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Yup Yup.  Ooh – could Yup Yup be a name?

Hmmm…

P.S. – Scoman pointed out that I also quit my horoscope project after a week.  LOL – I laughed so hard when I read that.  It’s true!!!  I did!!!  HOWEVER in my defense – I’ve done it for the last few days.  I sent an apology to CC+4 because of my horoscope, I was more demanding on an icrush’s time because of my horoscope, and yeah – fun times.  ;)

p.p.s. – yes mom – that DID say I sent an apology to CC+4.  And yes I know – you think it’s HIM who owes ME one.  lol oxoxox

Where is Daisy Going?? BIG SMILES!!!

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In case you haven’t noticed (hee hee) I’m a LIL bit EXCITED (omgosh *cough*SO SO SO EXCITED*cough*) about my trip to Western Australia next week.  YAY!!!!  So I decided to do a little research about where I’m going.  AND because it’s SO EXCITING I’m going to share it with you.  :)  TODAY we’ll talk about my first stop – Perth.  (btw all pics are under creative commons licenses)  *BIG SMILES*!!

Perth

First off – here’s a map of Australia so you know where I’m going.  Basically I’m flying from one side of the continent to the other (wahoo!)  I added little hearts to make it easier to see.  :)

map

I have to be honest – I really struggled to find pics of Perth to show!!  BUT THAT’S OK!!!  Because it just means I’ll have a challenge ahead of me – to take cool Perth photos.  YAY!  But here is the classic Perth shot just to give you an idea of the city I’m about to visit.

Earth Hour in Perth, Australia

With a population of about 1.6 million, it’s bigger than the actual CITY of Salt Lake where I’m from – but smaller than the 2.6 million living in the Wasatch Front (which is what most people think of when they refer to Salt Lake City.)

Aerial view of Perth:

Perth

COOL FACT:

Perth is set on Swan River – named after the famous black swans which are native to Australia.   And here are two pictures that I took of black swans myself (wahoo!) omgosh – they are the coolest thing.  BREATHTAKING!!!

x - black swans

Did you know there are SEVENTY train stations in Perth??  That’s a lot!!!

x - swans 2

Anyway – while we are there, we will be focusing on the historical districts (did you know Perth was founded in 1829 by Captain Stirling?) So that will be pretty freaking cool.  Oh and lil fact for mom and dad – there’s like a whole 5,000 momos living there.  :)

perth town hall

And this little “gem” (does anyone else think the back lit clock is a little weird??) is Perth’s Town Hall – it was originally built in 1867 but I’m guessing the back lit clock part was added later (roll my eyes.)  Most of the parks were created/established around that same time.  You can take virtual tours of the parks HERE but I’m not going to fool you – it’s a little disappointing.  I hope the parks are cooler in person because the virtual tours leave much to the wanting.  (cough – LAME – they need me to redesign their virtual tours!!)

Ok really that’s about all there is to be said about Perth I think … but tomorrow I’ll post about Geraldton – our second stop on our adventure!!!

Song of the day – Hysteric by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  (mom you should like this one) :)