"How do you think you have improved?" I asked my 13-year-old client.
"Well," he replied, "my friends tell me I conversate more better."
Monday, March 02, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
25
Caleb tagged me (on facebook) to write 25 things about myself. I tagged a couple people, but you don't have to do it... I tagged you because I included you in my 25 statements or used an inside joke. So here goes!
1. I feel egotistical writing this.
2. I'm a nerd at times... I like learning things, especially when they're literary. For example, I'm reading a book entitled, "The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way." Can't get much nerdier than that! Well, unless you write programming code stuff. =)
3. Contrary to most people's impressions, I am actually an introvert. Perhaps an extroverted introvert, but an introvert nontheless. I just figured this out in the past 2 years or so.
4. I love to read. I usually have about 4 books going at a time.
5. Though I enjoy watching certain TV shows and some sports, I do not plan on having a TV when I move out. I think I could use my time more productively than staring at a screen for hours.
6. My family didn't have a TV until I was 15 or so. Perhaps that is why I do not feel compelled to have one.
7. In the 1930s (or so), my grandpa and his brother would ride the trolley to both the Rose Bowl and the Coluseum (sp??) to watch USC and UCLA football games. It finally got too expensive to go to both, so they had to pick one: they chose USC. My grandpa started getting season tickets in the '60s, and, with the exception of 1 or 2 years, we have been going ever since. My dad, my aunts, my cousins, and my sisters and I have all grown up going to USC football games. None of us have ever attended the school.
8. I played basketball in HS, and my nick name "Bulldog" and "Pit Bull." (I wonder where the expression "nick name" came from..?)
9. After my freshman year, I loved college. I wish I could do it over again. I was actually really kinda depressed and in shock on graduation day while everyone else was celebrating.
10. I was my mom's doctor's first baby born in 1987. I still have the cool little shirt that they gave me.
11. Though I am the oldest child, I am the shortest.
12. I am also the only one with red hair, though both sides of the family are rife with redheads.
13. My California-born grandmother and her younger sister rode the train by themselves all the way from N. Michigan/Canada to Southern California when their family tried to immigrate. The rest of their family got stuck at the border because they were Canadian and there was an issue with their visas. My grandma was 16 at the time, and had to live with relatives for about a year before her family caught up with them. [Ok, so this wasn't about me, but it's an interesting fact about my family.]
14. At first glance, my sisters and I look very different from our cousins. We are pale, blue-eyed people, while they are dark because they are half Mexican. Upon closer look, there are a lot of family resemblances. Unfortunately, dark skin isn't one of them, though distinctive noses is. =)
15. I would really like to be spontaneous, but I'm not. I'm working on it, though! Santa Barbara, anyone??
16. I have a pretty darn awesome best friend. Our current project is attempting to master "The Books" for our sister's basketball games. Oh, and just experiencing LIFE! I am SO thankful for her, and am glad she moved back, at least for awhile.
17. I would like to move to WA, and I am half-seriously contemplating it. There are three main factors involved in this move: (1) How my current job pans out, (2) if I can find a job/living situation in WA, (3) if I have enough monetary resources to, in fact, move.
18. My next "daring" activity is to go skydiving. Some of my friends have gone, and they said it was AMAZING. So I hope to go within the next 6 months.
19. I've been going to the gym with my friend Janessa for the last month or two. It's been super fun, and she's a great workout buddy! Though my legs are currently sore from the stairs machine she made me go on...
20. Though I have lived in Southern California for all my life (except 4 school years), I don't know how to surf. I do know how to wakeboard and almost know how to snowboard, despite the lack of (good) lakes and snow in this region.
21. I tend to hurt myself when trying things for the first time. I banged up my knee badly while attempting longboarding (it still bothers me, though it's been about 3 years). I also bruised my legs when jumping off a 40-50 foot bridge; they were black and blue for about 2 weeks. Some guy ran me down on the slopes during my first weekend snowboarding. Perhaps I shouldn't try skydiving...
22. My heritage is evident: Irish red hair, and the Scottish pairing of ginormous calves and small ankles and feet.
23. When I was in HS and my friend was in college, we wanted to streak our hair blue. Personally, I'm glad we didn't. =) Well, I guess I should say that I'm glad *I* didn't.
24. I love photos, and plan to have TONS when I get my own place.
25. My newest goal is to paint. I did it once in college, and it was SO great. I have recently been needing to release some stress, and I think that's a good way to do so.
1. I feel egotistical writing this.
2. I'm a nerd at times... I like learning things, especially when they're literary. For example, I'm reading a book entitled, "The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way." Can't get much nerdier than that! Well, unless you write programming code stuff. =)
3. Contrary to most people's impressions, I am actually an introvert. Perhaps an extroverted introvert, but an introvert nontheless. I just figured this out in the past 2 years or so.
4. I love to read. I usually have about 4 books going at a time.
5. Though I enjoy watching certain TV shows and some sports, I do not plan on having a TV when I move out. I think I could use my time more productively than staring at a screen for hours.
6. My family didn't have a TV until I was 15 or so. Perhaps that is why I do not feel compelled to have one.
7. In the 1930s (or so), my grandpa and his brother would ride the trolley to both the Rose Bowl and the Coluseum (sp??) to watch USC and UCLA football games. It finally got too expensive to go to both, so they had to pick one: they chose USC. My grandpa started getting season tickets in the '60s, and, with the exception of 1 or 2 years, we have been going ever since. My dad, my aunts, my cousins, and my sisters and I have all grown up going to USC football games. None of us have ever attended the school.
8. I played basketball in HS, and my nick name "Bulldog" and "Pit Bull." (I wonder where the expression "nick name" came from..?)
9. After my freshman year, I loved college. I wish I could do it over again. I was actually really kinda depressed and in shock on graduation day while everyone else was celebrating.
10. I was my mom's doctor's first baby born in 1987. I still have the cool little shirt that they gave me.
11. Though I am the oldest child, I am the shortest.
12. I am also the only one with red hair, though both sides of the family are rife with redheads.
13. My California-born grandmother and her younger sister rode the train by themselves all the way from N. Michigan/Canada to Southern California when their family tried to immigrate. The rest of their family got stuck at the border because they were Canadian and there was an issue with their visas. My grandma was 16 at the time, and had to live with relatives for about a year before her family caught up with them. [Ok, so this wasn't about me, but it's an interesting fact about my family.]
14. At first glance, my sisters and I look very different from our cousins. We are pale, blue-eyed people, while they are dark because they are half Mexican. Upon closer look, there are a lot of family resemblances. Unfortunately, dark skin isn't one of them, though distinctive noses is. =)
15. I would really like to be spontaneous, but I'm not. I'm working on it, though! Santa Barbara, anyone??
16. I have a pretty darn awesome best friend. Our current project is attempting to master "The Books" for our sister's basketball games. Oh, and just experiencing LIFE! I am SO thankful for her, and am glad she moved back, at least for awhile.
17. I would like to move to WA, and I am half-seriously contemplating it. There are three main factors involved in this move: (1) How my current job pans out, (2) if I can find a job/living situation in WA, (3) if I have enough monetary resources to, in fact, move.
18. My next "daring" activity is to go skydiving. Some of my friends have gone, and they said it was AMAZING. So I hope to go within the next 6 months.
19. I've been going to the gym with my friend Janessa for the last month or two. It's been super fun, and she's a great workout buddy! Though my legs are currently sore from the stairs machine she made me go on...
20. Though I have lived in Southern California for all my life (except 4 school years), I don't know how to surf. I do know how to wakeboard and almost know how to snowboard, despite the lack of (good) lakes and snow in this region.
21. I tend to hurt myself when trying things for the first time. I banged up my knee badly while attempting longboarding (it still bothers me, though it's been about 3 years). I also bruised my legs when jumping off a 40-50 foot bridge; they were black and blue for about 2 weeks. Some guy ran me down on the slopes during my first weekend snowboarding. Perhaps I shouldn't try skydiving...
22. My heritage is evident: Irish red hair, and the Scottish pairing of ginormous calves and small ankles and feet.
23. When I was in HS and my friend was in college, we wanted to streak our hair blue. Personally, I'm glad we didn't. =) Well, I guess I should say that I'm glad *I* didn't.
24. I love photos, and plan to have TONS when I get my own place.
25. My newest goal is to paint. I did it once in college, and it was SO great. I have recently been needing to release some stress, and I think that's a good way to do so.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Life On The Highway
I am on the road a lot for my job, and I tend to see a lot of strange people in their cars. Take the other day for instance. I was actually driving with Sarah rather than traveling around for work, but I look over to the car next to me, and this guy is totally rocking out to whatever music he's listening to. I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about their music while driving by themself in a car. Quite entertaining.
I actually really enjoy trying to envision what type of person would be driving a particular car. (What can I say... I drive an automatic so I get prety bored while driving 100+ miles per day.) Monster trucks? Duh, a 24-year-old guy with a black baseball hat and a pierced lip. SUV? Soccer mom with lots of hairspray. Junker car? Young guy. Most unpredictable: VW beetle. Sometimes there are young girls with bouncy ponytails, other times there are orange-haired sexagenarians, and still other time, and perhaps most disturbing of all, middle-aged men in polo shirts.
I also see lots of dead animals. Dogs seem to have a rough time at life (or death). A bunch of friends and I had watched the movie Marley and Me (starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston), which, not to ruin it for you or anything, was REALLY sad! I mean, it was heartwarming, but sad. And then, THEN, I was driving along a couple days post-movie and I saw a large dead dog by the side of the road that looked just like Marley. Thankfully, I had 3 boxes of tissues in my car.
Now I don't know about anyone else, but I have always wondered/worried about those little dogs that hang out the window while their owners are racing along at exhorbitant speeds. Do they ever fall out? Does the force of the wind flying over their flapping tongue drag them from their master's loose grip? I found out this past week. They do indeed fall out. A little Chihuahua lay in the center divider, his stiff legs straight out, a blue collar hugging his neck. Poor little guy. I don't even like Chihuahuas, but it was someone's pet! Someone endured the TRAGEDY of their dog being torn from their loving arms and being HURTLED onto the unforgiving asphalt.
Wouldn't you love to commute??
I actually really enjoy trying to envision what type of person would be driving a particular car. (What can I say... I drive an automatic so I get prety bored while driving 100+ miles per day.) Monster trucks? Duh, a 24-year-old guy with a black baseball hat and a pierced lip. SUV? Soccer mom with lots of hairspray. Junker car? Young guy. Most unpredictable: VW beetle. Sometimes there are young girls with bouncy ponytails, other times there are orange-haired sexagenarians, and still other time, and perhaps most disturbing of all, middle-aged men in polo shirts.
I also see lots of dead animals. Dogs seem to have a rough time at life (or death). A bunch of friends and I had watched the movie Marley and Me (starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston), which, not to ruin it for you or anything, was REALLY sad! I mean, it was heartwarming, but sad. And then, THEN, I was driving along a couple days post-movie and I saw a large dead dog by the side of the road that looked just like Marley. Thankfully, I had 3 boxes of tissues in my car.
Now I don't know about anyone else, but I have always wondered/worried about those little dogs that hang out the window while their owners are racing along at exhorbitant speeds. Do they ever fall out? Does the force of the wind flying over their flapping tongue drag them from their master's loose grip? I found out this past week. They do indeed fall out. A little Chihuahua lay in the center divider, his stiff legs straight out, a blue collar hugging his neck. Poor little guy. I don't even like Chihuahuas, but it was someone's pet! Someone endured the TRAGEDY of their dog being torn from their loving arms and being HURTLED onto the unforgiving asphalt.
Wouldn't you love to commute??
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Well, there's a first time for everything
My 2 friends and I were sitting in Starbucks last night (per usual), and one of the baristas walked up to us on her way out.
"Hey," she shyly pointed and me and asked, "are you a cheerleader at APU?"
"Uh, no," I responded. I began to wonder what the APU cheerleaders looked like.
"Not any of you?" she her point included all three of us.
"Nooo."
"Well, you look just like the girls on the cheer team at APU. How funny!"
We weren't sure how to take that. I said that I was going to take it as a complement, and while my one friend seemed a bit disturbed by the comparison, my other friend reassured us by saying, "She's complementing our looks; she couldn't have heard our conversation." And even if she had, there was no basis for thinking we were stereotypical cheerleaders. *phew*
"Hey," she shyly pointed and me and asked, "are you a cheerleader at APU?"
"Uh, no," I responded. I began to wonder what the APU cheerleaders looked like.
"Not any of you?" she her point included all three of us.
"Nooo."
"Well, you look just like the girls on the cheer team at APU. How funny!"
We weren't sure how to take that. I said that I was going to take it as a complement, and while my one friend seemed a bit disturbed by the comparison, my other friend reassured us by saying, "She's complementing our looks; she couldn't have heard our conversation." And even if she had, there was no basis for thinking we were stereotypical cheerleaders. *phew*
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Another entertaining evening at home
"I guess I could play a game," sighed Mom. "I just have to be ready to go pick up Abby when she calls."
"Well, then you should have a staff in your hand," returned Dad cheerfully, "and loin up your girds."
"Well, then you should have a staff in your hand," returned Dad cheerfully, "and loin up your girds."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Well, the Lord does answer prayer
I did a dumb thing last night. I prayed for something I didn't really want.
"Lord," I prayed/sighed, "if you really want me to go to the gym in the morning, wake me up at 6:30. But I'm setting my alarm for 8:00."
I didn't really want to go to the gym, which is why I set my alarm for 8:00-- much too late to make it to the gym, work out, then come home and shower before work. What a tragedy.
But no. At promptly 6:30 this morning, I woke up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (relatively speaking). Most mornings at 6:30 I groggily hit snooze on my alarm clock, but this morning I was surprisingly awake.
"Ugh," I thought, "I don't want to go to the gym. My bed is nice and warm. But I did pray that prayer last night... Dang it."
So I went to the gym. It seemed like I would be directly disobeying God if I didn't-- after all, I had asked Him to wake me up.
"Hey, God, tell me to do something that's really good for me!"
"Ok. Hey Stephanie, do something that's really good for you."
"No thanks."
"Lord," I prayed/sighed, "if you really want me to go to the gym in the morning, wake me up at 6:30. But I'm setting my alarm for 8:00."
I didn't really want to go to the gym, which is why I set my alarm for 8:00-- much too late to make it to the gym, work out, then come home and shower before work. What a tragedy.
But no. At promptly 6:30 this morning, I woke up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (relatively speaking). Most mornings at 6:30 I groggily hit snooze on my alarm clock, but this morning I was surprisingly awake.
"Ugh," I thought, "I don't want to go to the gym. My bed is nice and warm. But I did pray that prayer last night... Dang it."
So I went to the gym. It seemed like I would be directly disobeying God if I didn't-- after all, I had asked Him to wake me up.
"Hey, God, tell me to do something that's really good for me!"
"Ok. Hey Stephanie, do something that's really good for you."
"No thanks."
Friday, November 14, 2008
Fall!
I love fall!
Sweaters, warm boots, scarves, eggnog lattes, hot apple cider, delicious smelling candles, pumpkin pie, upcoming holidays... who can resist??
"Why, Stephanie," you ask, "what was the weather like today? Were you able to enjoy any of these items such as hot apple cider and a fuzzy scarf?"
"Let's put it this way," I respond. "It is presently 11:20 PM on November 14th and it is a sultry 80 degrees outside. Fall doesn't seem to exist in this part of the world."
Sweaters, warm boots, scarves, eggnog lattes, hot apple cider, delicious smelling candles, pumpkin pie, upcoming holidays... who can resist??
"Why, Stephanie," you ask, "what was the weather like today? Were you able to enjoy any of these items such as hot apple cider and a fuzzy scarf?"
"Let's put it this way," I respond. "It is presently 11:20 PM on November 14th and it is a sultry 80 degrees outside. Fall doesn't seem to exist in this part of the world."
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