Blogging

Maybe starting to blog again wasn't such a good thing. Or is it? Instead of surpressing frustrations, I now am coming straight here to vent instead of just "dealing" with it.

Friends. Ah, the mysterious world of friends. It's no surprise that my group of friends isn't what its supposed to be. And maybe that can be chalked up to growing up, careers, relationships, marriage. But then I see Josh's group of friends that, despite living on opposite ends of the country, are still going strong.

So how is it so hard to keep a group of friends together that live in together in the confines of the San Fernando Valley. It'd be easy to blame everyone else, but I can't be that naive. I know I've changed, hell, I got married, but I really feel that I'm one of the few that's still making an effort.

I feel like my attempts at invitations, and planning, are now being taken for granted. It'll be interesting to see what happens after I leave. Whitney and Louis will still see eachother, of course. Nino, Andrew and Josh already do things outside the group, so they should be fine. Gregg and Lindsey will stay on their own, and Joe and Deb will make the final move over to her group of friends.

The group that's been going strong for almost a decade will finally break apart, the group that made me who I am, taught me my life lessons, helped me get through those life lessons, and the group that saw me become a woman will be but just a fragmented history of what used to be.

Wah wah

I hate getting excited about something only be be disappointed.

Josh drove all the way out to Culver City to go pick up my new camera with Nino. Turns out they didn't have it in the store, and Nino will have to order it.

I was so excited to play with it tonight, and use it this weekend up in Big Bear and at Calebs race. Hopefully I can still get it before the weekend, but unlike before, I won't get my hopes up.

Sigh.

A New Camera!

I've always loved taking pictures, mostly just for fun, sometimes bordering on amateur photography, but mostly to document my life.

For awhile, I took pictures every where I went, at every event. Birthday parties, family get togethers, trips, dinners, hikes...it was with me. One year, I even put together a book of all the pictures from the year.

Then, my beloved Sony Cybershot stopped charging. My parents got me a new camera for my birthday that year, a Canon Powershot. I enjoyed it for a couple of weeks before it became apparant what its limitations were. Basically, don't take pictures indoors, at night, when it's cloudy, or if anything is moving. On top of that, add a pretty crappy lens that only focuses on things if it wants to, and the dreaded lens error where the camera would freeze all together. That latter is why I have no pictures of my bridal shower.

Last week, I started looking at some new cameras, Sony's of course. I asked my friend Nino, who works at Sony, if they sold at a discounted price at his work. They did! And, they had a promotion at the time for an additional 10% off of the employee discount. This is when my camera searching went into a full frenzy.

I hopped around a few different cameras before finally settling on the DSC-HX5V and the DSC-WX1. The HX5V had great zoom, used SD Cards, had a GPS to geo-tag your photos and was fairly good in low light (one of my main requirements) and outdoor shots. The WX1 however had FANTASTIC reviews for low light (you could take pictures in complete darkness if you wanted to) - but did not have the GPS, had half the zoom, and only used Memory Sticks. It also had some not so great reviews for daytime/outdoor shots. Apparently the lens let in too much light.

I was conflicted. Do I go with the camera that takes "pretty good" low light photos and all the extra features, or do I go with the one that takes fantastic low light photos, and spend the extra time touching up the day time photos, on top of giving up the fun little extras.

In the end, I decided to go with the HX5V. I figured it would suffice all of my low light needs, and I would enjoy the other features it had. Plus, I could use the same SD Card I use on my DSLR instead of spending money on a new card.



The other good part - the price. It retails for $349. Through Sony, I can get it for $247 after tax. AND, I have a $100 Am Ex Gift Card, so thats only $147 out of my pocket.

I can't wait to play with it this weekend at Calebs race, and up in Big Bear.

Bummed

I should be in a better mood with it being Friday, but I'm not.

I was supposed to get a half day, but that was taken away.
I have to eat lunch alone because all my coworkers go out on Fridays, and I have to be good, both financially, and with my diet.
Josh didn't want to join me because he didn't want to shower and shave.
Rafting may not happen as I'm not getting a very good response.

I'll spend the rest of the work day wallowing in my self pity.

Perhaps I'll make myself feel better by buying myself a new digital camera after work.

Phew!

After the wedding, I didn't worry quite as much about dieting. The honeymoon was my time to enjoy myself and eat and drink to my hearts desire. And thats what I did. However, I didn't quite jump back on the diet bandwagon when I returned. I tried, but I still allowed myself some splurging.

Last night was my first time back at Weight Watchers since April 15, right when the Wedding Craze really began. But, it seems I did more good than bad, as I am down .2lbs since my last weigh in. It's not tons, not by any means - but it means I didn't gain, and it's nice knowing that I don't have to go back and try and re-lose any weight that I had already lost.

138.4 - 8.4 to go to reach my next goal!

Rafting on the American River

When I was younger, I was heavily involved in my church youth group. There would be small events at the church on the weekends, youth retreats up to Big Bear, and one retreat even to Seattle. One of the trips that we took that remains close to my heart was to a camp called Rock n' Water. It was a camp located in Sacramento on the American River that took you on a two day rafting trip and one day rock climbing trip. I had the best time of my life doing something so new and exciting.

After that I was hooked. I convinced my Girl Scout troop to go not once, but twice. The first time we went, we went with a company called White Water Connection. The camp was great, the food was good, and the guides were so funny (and cute to boot!). After girl scouts, I convinced my family to go a few times as well.

The first trip I planned in my college years was with my group of friends. We were on our way there when I get a voicemail from the company asking me to call them. Immediately, my heart sunk. What if they had to cancel due to overbooking or some other matter. We had already driven about 4 hours. But, it was the opposite. They had a cancellation for their Middle Fork, and wanted to move us to that one for free. The Middle Fork is a bit more for intermediate rafters with higher class rapids, where as the South Fork is fairly tame.

This change in plans couldn't have gone any better. The Middle Fork was so much fun, and was a nice deviation from the section of the river I'd been on a handful of times. Even some of my friends who had never been rafting before enjoyed the more intense rapids.

The last time I had gone was in 2006, and every summer since, I've regretted not going. Now, with a move to the East Coast looming above my head, and this possibly being my last Summer in California, I knew I had to plan one last trip to the American River. We're tentatively looking at the 4th of July weekend, as they have discounted rates that weekend, and because its a built in 3-day Weekend.

I'm still trying to get the troops in line, but even if its just Josh and I, I know it will be a blast.

Gym! (and other stuff)

I'm finally starting to feel almost completely better. I only get a twinge of pain when I press on the area "of concern", lol. So, with that, Josh and I are headed to the gym tonight. I haven't had a proper workout since a week before the wedding, so I'm going to start out just doing the treadmill and stair machine before getting back into my more strenuous DVD's.

Bootcamp starts back in about a month, and I'm thinking about signing up for another class through Pierce Extension classes.

Speaking of Josh, his cold is finally starting to subside. He was back to his normal self yesterday which was nice. I'm still avoiding kisses from him, because I can't afford to get sick again.

We went and visited my Dad yesterday and he seems to be doing better. They prescribed him a drug called Chantix, that is supposed to block the nicotine receptors in your brain. Apparently he felt immediate relief after taking his first dose. He still has cravings, but its taken the edge off and has allowed him to kind of relax. My mom said that he's just been going and going, jumping from one project to another. Today he's going to remove the back doors to paint them. I'm so glad he's doing so well after his heart attack, and ready to make some life changes.

My boss offered to treat me to Starbucks today, but I gratefully declined. I need to be good too, and eat my Weight Watchers bagel that I brought. I them promptly burned said bagel. But I ate it anyway.

Time to start again!

I used to blog all the time - on multiple blogs. Besides my wedding blog that took hold in the past year, I've all but stopped blogging. How will I remember my life?!

So, now that the wedding is now behind me, it's time to get get back into it.

What have I missed?
Obviously - I'm now happily married.
My Dad had a heart attack, and he and my mom are now forced to change their life-long habits.
My constant struggle with weight, and now, health.

I recently had a bout of stomach pain that landed me in the E.R., coincidentally on the same day that my Dad had his heart attack. The stomach pain still has no known cause, but only lives on in a small tender area under my right ribcage. It could be gallstones. It could be nothing.

But while I was at the doctor, they wanted to recheck my cholesterol since it had tested high back in October. With my recent weight loss, it should have gone down. But to my surprise, it has gone up.

With my Dad's recent health scares, this is something I really need to watch. So now, not only am I concerned about my weight (according to the doctor, I am still an overweight adult), but also my blood. I'll really need to watch what I'm putting into my body, and not just how many "points" it is.

So my new goal is to lose 10lbs by August 5th (my trip to Virginia and Canada), and hopefully lower my cholesterol to a healthy level. Also, to be able to run a mile without stopping. Woo! Lol.

Okay, done for today!