The only exception

Lyrics can be a very powerful thing. Today, I thought I'd share with you a great new song by one of my favorite bands, Paramore, whose lyrics always say more than you may actually hear...enjoy.

When I was younger

I saw my daddy cry

And curse at the wind

He broke his own heart

And I watched

As he tried to reassemble it

And my momma swore that

She would never let herself forget

And that was the day that I promised

I'd never sing of love

If it does not exist

(Chorus)
But darling,

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

Maybe I know, somewhere

Deep in my soul

That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
Keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk


(Chorus)


I've got a tight grip on reality
But I can't
Let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving
In the morning, when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream


Ohh---
(Chorus)

And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, And I'm on my way to believing

Darn you conscience!!

"Do you ever feel you've become the worst version of yourself? That a Pandora's box of all the secret, hateful parts - your arrogance, your spite, your condescension - has sprung open? Someone upsets you and instead of smiling and walking away, you zing them? "Hello, it's Mr. Nasty." Tom Hanks (you've got mail)


Thoughts to ponder...
Be warned that when you finally have the pleasure of saying the thing you mean to say at the moment you mean to say it, remorse inevitably follows. So always try and think BEFORE you speak, take the high road when ever possible and let your conscience be your guide.

Mi tiempo favorito del ano!

Tonight my sister and I are heading to out to watch the Portland Beavers play! THIS, in case you were wondering, is my happy place:) There is just something about sitting in a stadium, cold beer in hand, the smell of hotdogs wafting, cheering alongside fellow fans of the greatest game ever that I can't resist. I think what I like most about baseball is the fact that it is an individual sport just as much as a team sport. Each player has a specific role and yet everyone relies on one another to get the win. Pitching is one of the most fascinating aspects to watch! I owe my knowledge of pitches to my college friend Jessie, who schooled me in every position and pitch, including daily pitching practicing in the yard!! (shout out to Jessiefriend!!;)
The great thing about my favorite time of year is....it is only BEGINNING!!!! LET'S PLAY BALL!!!!

Bad connection

Have you ever had one of those conversations where you feel that everything was lost in translation?? What about misinterpreted?? Can I get an all of the above?? Over the weekend, I was involved in the most confusing and misunderstood texting conversation, yes I said texting because apparently I'm the only one who enjoys speaking on the phone every once in a while anymore. I only have one question...where have everyone's interpersonal skills gone?

With texting and facebooking literally taking over as the main ways to communicate, I feel like there is SO much that is left either unsaid, confused or void of emotion. Nobody meets in person anymore. Sites such as myspace, facebook and about a gazillion others have replaced any need to see people with everyone updating and recieving constant feedback on what friends are up to without even so much as picking up the phone. I find myself constantly frustrated with certain people and their reluctance to meet me half way on communicating. I mean how hard is it to pick up the phone, dial my number and chat for five or ten minutes?? ESPECIALLY if you tell the person there is something important to discuss! I mean COME ON!!! (helpful tip for friend's of Rachael...say what you mean and mean what you say, in other words if you say you will call me, call)

I'm not saying that I'm not a texter. I can text with the best of them and yes, I use facebook too, BUT what I am saying is there should STILL be communication in other more personal ways. I consider myself a personable individual, I like to hear someone's voice when I talk to them or look across at them while we are having a discussion. I make the extra effort to contact the people that matter most either by phone or in person. Does that mean that I am not important to those individuals who can't be bothered to do the same for me?? Arrrggggg!!! I'm still oober frustrated about this.

In like a lion, and out like a...lion?!?

WOW. It's April. I can harldy believe how crazy busy March seemed! It started oober busy and even the end of the month, my spring break, passed with nothing but busy craziness!

To sum up...work in March was filled with testing, testing, testing. One of my super favorite things to do. Strike that. We had about 70 students take the state English language assessment and on top of that our district was audited by the State Department of Education, which apparently only happens once every five years or so. Oh so glad I could be there to be a part of it. Strike that too. I was more than ready for a week away from work needless to say.

School also has been relentless. I was, however, well aware of how much work taking graduate classes and teaching part time would be, but boy oh boy has it been a LOT of work! When I'm not in class, Monday and Wednesday nights, I'm thinking about what's due next class or completing online work. Good thing I'm a great multitasker! I did get a little break from two of my classes during spring break, which helped.

On to the exciting stuff! My little brother, who does not seem so little anymore, and his wife Nicoleta came back to the states on March 12th! They got married in Italy a little over a year ago, but are planning a reception for October in Oregon. Their new home will be in Tuscon. Needless to say there was much planning to be had including venues, wedding dresses, catering, etc. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE and ENJOY doing all these things?? LOL, ok, so I'm not Ms. wedding planner. I tried to be a good big sis and sister in law by playing along for some of the planning. They did end up finding a terrific venue (special thanks go out to mom and Angel) as well as a delicious caterer and pretty much the most FANTASTIC dress ever for Nicole! It was great to see and spend time with the whole family together, including a night of kareokee competition between Josh and I:) but family time is almost always busy time so I was tired! I also watched my sister's house and pets for most of the week while they were in Idaho. Some much needed time away on my own doing what I love to do...watching baseball:) If I could not be watching pre-season baseball in person you better believe I watched as much as I could on tv! A little sidenote...FIRST SEASON BASEBALL GAME ON SUNDAY APRIL 4th!!!!

The first weekend of spring break was spent with everybody at the beach. Here are some pictures of our family weekend beach getaway to Depoe Bay where we enjoyed sunny weather poolside, explored seaside junk shops, ate good food, drank awesome beer and enjoyed good company. All in close quarters too!! We must love eachother;)

Who ever heard of a sunny and warm enough day at the Oregon coast for swimming in March??             

Liv taking a break from swimming                                Mom and dad posing on the balcony of our place                                                                   

Addy in Grandpa's Indian Jones hat!                            Liv and Falcon relaxing                               

I'm not married so no bedroom for me! Couch cushions on the floor were awesome!    Being silly with Addy

Caleb and dad waiting for the rest of our 10 person group to walk through the shark tunnel at the aquarium!

 Nicole and I in our bright hoodies!

Grandpa talking on his shoe...lol and Addy, grandpa and I at Cape Fowl Weather

Nicole and Josh with the squirrels

First time on the Oregon coast!

Addy and Liv found a pirate ship!

Course I met a man!!

Even Falcon got to come to the beach:)

How do I love thee Nevada? Let me count the ways!

Well it's been about four months since my last visit to Las Vegas Nevada so I figured, "hey, they must be missing me by now!" There was talk about a month ago about a possible spring break trip out, but an opportunity arose a week in a half earlier that I just couldn't say no to!
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with one of my favorite people in Vegas, Mr. Andrew Smith, AKA Smitty, a long time family friend who I'm sure I made mud pies with way back in the days when we were practically neighbors in Arizona, and he asked if I was still planning a visit soon. I pondered this for about a second and asked if he was up for entertaining me haha! "Course!" he answered, and "hey, I'll do you one better! 311 Day is next Thursday and we are getting tickets if you're interested!" I don't even think I paused to think it over! Prettty much immediately I signed up for what was sure to be an AMAZING concert experience, not to mention a break from what has become a crazy busy life full of work and school. Within about a day we had bought our concert tickets and I had my flight booked! That's right, fly out Thursday afternoon after work and stay for fun until Sunday! (has anyone counted my exclamation points yet?? ;) Just reliving my trip makes me all happy and smiley!

Needless to say the 311 Day concert was SICK!! Sick as in wicked cool and pretty much awesome! For those who don't know who 311 is...they play a variety of music, mostly with a reggae backbeat and a few harder songs, but all in all great performers! The band played close to 60 songs over a 5 hour period. IT. WAS. AWESOME. Well worth the money and spent with good people.

The smiley guy in the center is Andrew, the fella in the DC shirt is his roommate Craig, and the other guys are buddies from out of town, and of course there is the coolest out of town friend...ME!! hopping in the background;)

our seats were so close!

The 311 concert was only the start of the fun times to be had! I got to meet up with my good friend Alicia and meet her new boyfriend over some coffee smoothies on Friday, which is always a fun time! Alicia is off to Reno in a few weeks for the remainder of her Americore time, so I may need to visit Reno as well. Friday night was spent enjoying a UNLV basketball game over chicken wings, beer and friends. I'm happy to say that we celebrated a win!

Saturday was one of my favorite days:) Woke up early to head out to pretty much my heaven...the baseball field. Andrew is kind of a big deal when it comes to playing ball and thus gets invited to join teams and they often win and thus play in tournaments. He had two games, both near his parents house. We went over early to say hey to the folks, eat some breakfast and catch up. His parents are great! I love chatting with both of them. His mom, Ruth, and I took his dogs, Libby and Baby, for a walk around the block after which I headed out to the field for game one! Such a beautiful day for baseball!!! Other than a bit of unnecessary wind and some angry ump drama haha, the first game was not too shabby. We met Ruth and Dennis back at the house for some delicious pastrami sandwiches and of course spring training baseball!!! We were off to game two around 2:00 and this game was crazy windy!!! However, Andrew played pretty darn awesome so it was worth the chilly wind:)

Saturday night was fight night!! I'm not a huge boxing fan, but turns out getting a bunch of folks together to watch boxing is super fun! Kind of a crappy fight, but the company, food, drinks and entertainment well made up for it! All in all a fabulous trip to Vegas! I'm sure I'll be back in another 3-4 months haha!!

Leading Lady

Lately I've been lucky to catch some wonderful classic movies on tv. The other day I was watching The Holiday and realization hit me. For those of you who have seen this movie, it occured to me during the scene where Iris is having dinner with Arthur and discussing her reasons for spending Christmas alone and in a strange place. 
Arthur-"One thing I don't understand Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend. Why?"
How profound IS that?? In your own life why would you NOT act like the leading lady?? I'll be the first to admit that I tend to fill the best friend role much much too often, but that's only because I find it such an easy fit. I'm a natural care giver and would do pretty much anything for those in my life that matter most. Until a few years ago, I was even pretty shy around the opposite sex and naturally the easier route was to be friends. It doesn't hurt that I love sports and beer- an "easy in" with any guy, but there is more to me. 

The older I get the more I understand that I deserve to be treated like a leading lady instead of the best friend. The best friend will be there no matter what, through thick and thin she will have your back. A leading lady expects more. She expects to be pursued, she wants to be a priority, she wants you to willingly make time for her and tell her you care about her and all that she is. I want all these things and so I have decided that I shall have them! So look out world...there's a new leading lady in town;>