Nose piercing

I did this the first week of January. I really like it... I've been wanting to do it for a while. The only scary thing was that I didn't really think about any of the consequences. I did it on a Saturday night and had to give a presentation in front of all of the partners at my job at work on monday. I didn't know if the nose ring would fly given that I'm in a very conservative profession. Needless to say, I appparently had no reason to worry. All of the comments I've gotten on it have been very positive. It's fun for the time being, anyway.

It's been a while.

I know. Life has gotten somewhat strange and somewhat crazy lately. It's nothing I care to discuss here, but I am still alive and will be back soon.

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day spending time with family and friends.

More to come soon- I promise- on the Seattle leg of my northland trip and holiday party pics.

Adventures in the Northland

My trip up north was incredible. I loved every minute of it. I really didn't know what to expect seeing as how I was just going on rumors of what Alaska was supposedly like. It actually wasn't that cold. I packed long underwear and layers upon layers that I didn't end up needing to wear. The thing about Alaska is that it is so pure, so beautiful. There is a natural beauty there that I don't think people can really comprehend unless they've been there in person. People up there refer to it as the 'last frontier' and I would wholeheartedly agree with that. It is absolutely breathtaking.

I spent a few days in Anchorage, a city that I would say is a comparable size to Des Moines plus looming, gorgeous mountains and the ocean that you would never see in Des Moines. It's pretty small but it's the biggest city in Alaska. I met a few really cool people who I hope to keep in touch with. People up there are very friendly and open.

I then spent the last leg of my trip in Girdwood, Alaska which is approximately 40 minutes away from Anchorage. The drive to Girdwood is possibly the prettiest drive I have ever been on and the quaint town of Girdwood is stunning. It is a little ski town nestled in the mountains. In the summer, you can see glaciers from the top of a mountain in Girdwood. I cannot do it justice just to say it was beautiful.

The reason I went to Girdwood is one of my old friends from high school is living and working there right now. He went to school in San Franciso and then got transferred to Girdwood. Seeing him made the trip more special and unique just because I got to meet a lot of people through him, see the town in ways I probably wouldn't have otherwise, and most importantly I got to catch up with him since we haven't seen each other in literally years.

My adventure coming home kind of sucked but I will write about that more in my next post. And as soon as I have pictures, I will post them. Even though I had no desire to ever go to Alaska, I'm now thinking that I have to definitely get back there sometime. And I would highly recommend that everyone go up there at least once in their lifetime. You'll be amazed.

Alaska? Really? Um...yeah. I guess so.

Once again I find myself here a month after my last post apologizing that I don't post more. I always intend to, I just don't. I guess that's something that myself and my three readers will just have to accept.

I have a lot to post... including mostly pictures from my holiday party last weekend. Unfortunately, I can't do that now as all of the pictures are on my home computer and right now I am sitting in the airport on my laptop waiting to catch my flight to Anchorage, Alaska.

HUH?!

Yeah.

My reaction, too. I am going up there today through Friday... a little bit of work and a little bit of fun. I scheduled my trip for a couple of extra days so that I could see what this place is all about since I really have never had any desire to go up there before and I doubt I will again. Might as well explore it now that I have the opportunity.

I am pretty much prepared to absolutely freeze my ass off. Fortunately, I managed to find my loooonng woal coat leftover from my Iowa days that I got literally about two months prior to deciding to move to Phoenix. Needless to say, it hasn't been used much but I can almost guarantee I am going to be in love with this coat by the end of this week.

Anyway, I really have no idea what to expect up there. I feel like I am going to the Artic circle or something. It could be interesting. I'm also going to be seeing Seattle for a day or so... I have an overnight layover there and should have time to explore that city, too. I'll keep everyone posted on the adventures...

This post would be better with a picture...

But I haven't had a chance to take one.

The other day I had surgery. Intense, scary surgery.

Ok, so maybe I just had a mole removed. BUT. Can I just tell you that it hurt like f-ing hell?! And I now have stitches in my body where a chunk of skin was ripped out?

I was extremely scared before the surgery though because the doctor comes in (after I wait for 40 minutes) saying that he just caused a cyst to explode on him in another procedure he was performing. For sake of conversation and not really knowing what to say I asked, "well how does that happen?" And he says, "if you're not careful and you puncture it." Well, fantastic. So you're telling me that you were just NOT careful with the patient before me and you are going to proceed to cut me open? That makes me feel so. much. better.

Needless to say, it ended up ok with nothing bursting like the cyst dude before me. And now at least that sucker won't give me skin cancer.

A cold day in Phoenix

This morning I got into my car and turned the heater on, along with the heated seats.

Attire: black, wool turtleneck sweater, wool pants, black closed toe shoes.

When I get to the clients, the heater is on. It remains on all day.

The high temperature outside today, you ask? 90.

No joke.

90 degress is apparently our 60 degrees. So weird.

Swan Lake

This week has been insane. In fact, I think I say that every week now. Can I just have a chill week? It's been fun, though.

Last night I went with a couple of friends to the ballet, Swan Lake. It was beautiful... I haven't been to a ballet since I went to the Nutcracker a few years ago and I had forgotten how much I thoroughly enjoy going.

I almost died in the ghetto on the way TO the ballet. There was a suns game last night and being the idiot that I sometimes am, I forgot that I have to have cash to park in downtown Phoenix. Hello. So I had to find an ATM machine somewhere in the ghetto. I ended up at Walgreens at 7th Street and Thomas, which, if you know Phoenix, you know that it's a little sketchy there. I then proceeded to continue my smartness by taking back roads back to 3rd street and Washington (the nice part of downtown by the stadiums, symphony hall, etc). I especially loved the part where I drove by houses with police tape around them. Needless to say, I felt like quite the urbanite. The inner city girl in me certainly came out. After finally getting cash, we met at Kincaids, had a glass of wine and some brie cheese, and then walked to the ballet. At the end of the day, the ballet was absolutely superb. I was extremely impressed with the Arizona Ballet company.