I guess I never had more time or money...and I still don't!!

I was thinking about this blog the other day, especially all the girls who contributed to it. And I was thinking about the music on it too. Seriously, sometimes I come to this blog to listen to Beyonce sing "Irreplaceable" because I'm too broke to buy it on I-Tunes or the CD (assuming they still sell those) and it reminds me of so many good times in the program. Should we make this our MBA theme song? Or do we already have one of those? I mean we are irreplaceable for each other...but some of those men sure aren't!! Haha...

Following are some of my memories from grad school that affect my everyday life:

Every time I ramble like Dani is known to do, I think about Davis saying that Dani has rubbed off on me. What she doesn't recognize is that I'm left-handed and that typically means that I'm creative (when I don't squelch it) and that I am naturally random and bullet points are totally foreign to me. :) Also, there is an Au Bon Pain in my building not too far from Cosi. I remember Davis exclaiming that ABP was the white trash Cosi and that she liked Cosi so much better...needless to say, I now find ABP to be disgusting and eat Cosi when I eat at a sandwich shop. Sorry Joker!

Every time I say "almost there" in ANY context, I can't help but chuckle (audibly usually) and think of Erin Whitelock and a certain painted sign in Moab, etc, etc, etc. I must say the other day when a VP asked me if I was finished and I said, 'almost there' I literally busted out laughing and he looked at me like I was crazy. He thought I was laughing at him because it seems all investment bankers are extremely egocentric and insecure all at the same time so they think everything is about them. Needless to say, I could not in any way begin to explain why I was laughing so hard about saying "almost there!" :)

Every time I walk by the French cleaners down the street from me, I think of Kristin Hawkes Daines and her Martha Stewart mother-in-law. Who knew only the French knew how to dry clean clothes? I also start laughing whenever someone or anyone starts being very decisive about what needs to happen and when. They say things like, "we don't have much time" and "I have things to do!" At these times, I think of Kristin Hawkes and her no nonsense time management skills. I sure loved being in a group with her! :)

And Dani...remember late night trips to the store, gym, our kitchens, etc, etc? Yeah, I miss those runs. There aren't any 24 hour gyms close by nor are there any affordable 24-hour grocery stores. Oh the days... So, I think about those good times too!

Every time I think about running a marathon, I think of Craniac...and decide that she should continue to keep running those marathons without me. Seriously, I just don't think my body can take it...

I also remember all the talks about boys that I had with all you ladies. It seems that men and marriage are the obsession of all women, Mormon or not. :) Regardless, I can't help but remember all the conversations and analysis, etc of the men in our lives (or not in our lives and we didn't realize it). Now when I talk with other ladies, it always brings me back...and I have to admit that I paid the $12.50 it costs to go to a movie in Manhattan just so I could see, "He's Just Not That Into You" and I loved every minute of it!!

Anyway, I think of all of you so very often and miss you all just as much!! :)

Oh, do we have a blog?

Pardon, I believe it slipped my mind...

Italia...

Today I saw the statue of David...seriously breathtaking. Other things have happened too...and I will write when I have more money and time...

Have a great day!

So much to tell you...

So, I have so much to say...but I have no time so it will have to wait. Just know that I am teaching myself Italian with the help of some very cute Italians (and by that I do not mean sexy...I mean very short, old Italian men that do not speak English). Italy is wonderful and I think I might move here to find a husband, if I ever decide to get one of those. They are very forward and leave no doubt as to when they like what they see. Last night within two minutes of each other I got asked by two different men if we could have drinks and then go to bed. It was very entertaining...

And do not let me forget to tell you about the peanut butter story. Sarah D will especially love it since she accuses me of changing my approach when I deal with men and I want to get something from them. :)

Anyhow, I loved Rome and London and now I am in Florence. I will try to come back and write more soon (like maybe even tonight, if I can). I still have to write about parts of my Brazil trip too...but do not worry. It is all in my travel journal...

Much love to all of my ladies!!

Bangalore 2nd Branch

It was that time of year again, the Bangalore 2nd branch activity. It was decided that we would go to Yellagiri, a "mountain" about 150 kilometers away. Since 150 kilometers is about 90 miles, you would think that it would take about 2 to 2.5 hours. We got to the church at 6:30am to get packed into the buses and start the drive out of Bangalore. Much to my discomfort, the bus didn't have air conditioning and 5 of us sat on a bench made for 3. 3 adults and 2 8 year old boys on our laps. The young adults sang Indian songs, the teenage girls payed excessive attention to the missionaries and the children ran up and down the aisles.
6 hours after we left, we arrived at the park. Yes, that's right. 6 hours. Either I can't do math or someone is under the delusion that 6 hours is an acceptable amount of time to go 90 miles. But, we arrived. I was covered in sweat, but I was there.
We ate lunch, which consisted of some unknown meat and 5 cups of rice...for each of us. If I had any foresight, I would have taken an eating utensil. Instead, I ate with my hands and become one with the people. There were activities and Bollywood dancing. There were families and children and stray dogs. There was even a cow living at the park, but I didn't approach it due to my last experience with such things.
We finally got back to the church at 10:30pm. For a couple hours there, I was sure that I had died and that this was my hell. But, then we made it back the church and back to my air conditioner. Even though it was a day of heat, sweat and eating rice with my hands, it was great to be with the ward members. The kids are so cute and the women are hilarious. Only 4 more weeks with them.

Fights

so in my month of travel here in Europe I have been a witness to a number of fights. There was the fight between the bus controller and the Italian man as to why the man hadn't stamped his bus ticket and whether or not he deserved a ticket. There was a fight between a woman and a Greek couple on the ferry because the woman thought the couple was taking up too much room on the bench. There was a fight between the 2 boys of the family we stayed with in Sardinia about which cartoon to watch. There was a fight between a Spanish woman and a taxi driver because she thought she was overcharged for her taxi ride. There was a screaming fight between a couple in Greece that I have no idea what it was about.

But none of these fights compare to the bull fights I witnessed last night (none of my pictures of the fight turned out, so this is one from the internet, but it's exactly like what we witnessed). After seeing it, it's not a surprise that this sport hasn't caught on like soccer across the world, however it was quite an experience. Maren and I found ourselves in a rather large stadium surrounded with men, mostly in their 60s smoking cigars and chewing on sunflower seeds. We saw a total of 6 bulls be killed. I found myself at one time almost cheering for the bull to buck the matador.....I don't think it's a fight I really want to witness again, but it was fun to be part of a Spanish tradition.

Compete with this!

I love my life. True, it'd be even better if I were independently wealthy and Erin W., Sarah, and I could just sleep out on the back deck on love sacs and grill salmon and go for Harley rides every night, but as it is, it's really great and I'll take it. There's not a whole lot going on with me--just getting ramped up with the old HP and still pulling all-nighters. Oh, the good times we've had.

But the best time so far this summer was tonight...when I was at Ann Taylor and the super nice lady who owns Classy Cuisine next door came over and brought us two sandwiches as a gift to our friend Susan who happened to not be at work this evening. Luckily for me, the sandwiches were pulled pork. Even luckier, my friend Juliet who was working with me is a vegetarian. I used to be one of those things. And then I got very lazy. Even most luckiest of all lucks for Sarah, the pulled pork fanatic, was that she was on her way to Provo as I was taking my first bite of my two sandwiches I had just been given and as I bit into the lusciousness of a pulled pork sandwich from Classy Cuisine (the nice lady who owns it is Brett's aunt, by the way), I decided to text Sarah and to tell her to come by the good old AT.

Sarah stopped by after a 3-hour bike ride. Seriously, Sarah always looks beautiful, but for the sake of the story, let's say she looked like she'd just gone on a 3-hour bike ride. She stopped in, I gave her the sandwich and her face lit up and she said, "I'm so glad you thought of me!" For those of you who have spent time with Sarah recently and have seen her eat three pulled pork sandwiches on three separate occasions and then also saw her make "pulled chicken" for BBQ chicken sandwiches, you know what my answer was. "Who else was I going to think of?"

So while we were in the store I convinced Sarah to try on some clothes. Ever the efficient one, she tried the first one on over her long-sleeve t-shirt. The next item wasn't as conducive to this method, so she stripped off her t-shirt and tried the next item (which was a silk shell) on over her sports bra, pausing to take a few bites of her sandwich as we talked. Sarah is normally the picture of sophistication and professionalism, so I loved the opportunity this gave me to envision Sarah's youth in the double wide. It was awesome. Work out pants, sports bra, silk shell, messy ponytail, sunglasses on her head...and a pulled pork sandwich.

This, my friends, is my life and I love it. Sarah, Erin W., and I have had some good times lately. We've watched a couple of really lame movies, slept out on the deck, hauled love sacs up and down stairs, gone out to dinner, barbecued, had awkward moments with ex-roommates, had anatomy lessons courtesy of the internet, gone on long walks at the base of the mountains, talked about bike rides (some of us have actually gone), ridden on Harleys, made oreo-pudding parfaits (tell me that isn't blog worthy), and learned to see Katherine Heigl in a new light...our lives are so normal. And so fabulous.