true colors

Twas all a good night

Well what would Christmas be in my family without a lil drama? It is too long and dramatic story, but lets just say that my family almost did not celebrate Christmas this year. It would have been the first time. Although my parents are separated, they have managed to put their differences aside every year at Christmas time. This year things just seemed to get worse and worse, but we still kept hoping that they would forget all that B.S. and just get along! It was not looking too good on Christmas Eve up until about 7pm. There was going to be no holiday dinner, no presents, and no tree. I am not sure how it happened, but I managed to convince my mom that this was not really what she wanted. It took some strong words, lots of tears and some help from God to help me help my family, and bring us all together, but it turned out pretty good! My family has certainly been through a lot, but the bottom line is that no matter what, we will always be there for each other.

Also, this holiday season brought about a very important lesson for someone that is very near and dear to me. I am trying to see the good in this situation, because it could have been a lot worse, and hopefully he will teach other people not to make the same mistake. Sometimes this mistake can cost much more than losing your license, as well as a pretty big dent to the wallet. People die every single day because someone thought they were ok to drive after having one too many. Or in this case, 5 too many... but who am I to judge, we have all been there and done that. All it takes is is one phone call to a friend, family member or cab service, that can save money, time or even a life. Fortunately my little brother is ok, no one was hurt, and he learned a very valuable lesson that for some reason we will probably never know, he needed to learn that night.

On another note! We leave for our New Years trip tomorrow! Jarrett caved and told me on Christmas where it is we are going. Vancouver!!!! and we are also going down to Seattle Monday afternoon for the return flight the following day. So I'll get to see two cities I have always wanted to go to! I know it will be frikkin cold, and rainy as heck, but I am looking forward to it! I have packed about 30 outfits. Just kidding. I am only allowed to bring a backpack and a carry-on bag. (by backpack, I mean a backpacking or camping backpack. ) I am for once going to leave the suitcase at home! I just hope that it all fits ;-p

speaking of which, I need to go finish the laundry, and get to bed. It is a long day ahead of me tomorrow! Our flight leaves at 8:45pm, and I have to work all day! ugh! So I hope everyone has a very fun and SAFE New Year!

Heres to hoping 2007 is full of new and exciting changes for everyone. It is definitely time for some changes.

in a world of uncertainty, hope is born

I have found myself to be somewhat depressed with the world lately. Not so much depressed, but I sense a definite lack of faith and hope in humanity. While doing research on orangutans last week, I found some pictures that caused me to immediately break down, and this heartbreak and feeling of hopelessness overcame me. I know it seems miniscule in relation to lots of other world problems, but the situation in Indonesia is critical. Orangutans could become extinct in as little as 10 years if people continue to cut down their homes. They are slaughtered, and burned and captured as infants for the illegal pet trade. There were even more horrifying things that I can't even bring myself to type. I couldn't take it. how can people do such a thing. They are some of the most beautiful, gentle and intelligent animals to have ever lived on this earth. But apparently cookies and crackers are more important and valuable. People don't realize that an area the size of 6 football fields of old growth rainforest, are cut down every single minute to put up palm oil plantations. Palm oil is found in 1 in 10 supermarket items. Oreos, snickers, cheezits, granola bars, chips, etc. After seeing these pictures, I refuse to buy anything with palm oil. Check your labels, I bet you would be surprised. The trade off, oil for apes, is completely mind boggling to me.

This is just one example of thousands of species who are in danger of disappearing forever. I have understood this for many years, but it is easy to turn a blind eye to the utter horror and devastation that takes place. Those pictures really opened my eyes, and the "shock value" certainly worked as far as I am concerned. The feeling of helplessness stayed with me for several days. Then I slowly realized that just by doing what I do at the zoo every day, I am making a difference. As small as it is, every person I talk to about Orangutans, Otters, Elephants, Wild Dogs, Mhorr's Gazelle, and so on, every person I touch with the stories I share, is one small step. Knowledge is power, and by helping people fall in love with the species makes a big difference. As Steve Irwin said: " If people love animals, then they want to save animals." It feels great to have a fraction of the passion and enthusiasm that the famous "Crocodile Hunter" had about saving wildlife. Sometimes I wish I could do even more.

As I mentioned, wildlife conservation pales in comparison to some of the other problems in the world. We live in an age where people can fly planes through buildings, kill thousands and evoke terror in millions of people. On the anniversary of September 11, we need to remember the little things that have been done to make this world a better place. Whatever the cause, no matter how small, every little bit helps. These acts of courage, kindness, and compassion, when multiplied by millions can transform the earth. You have to look at the good things that surround you in life, like family and friends.

What will the future hold for a child born today? Will Orangutans, and other endangered animals still exist? What progress will be made in the war on terror? Will global warming continue to threaten the planet? Time will tell. All we can give them is love, faith and hope. There is always hope... sometimes in the form of a bundle of squishy newborn baby boy, that happens to be Jarrett's newest nephew!

9-11-01 - A day we will never forget

9-11-06 - Welcome to our crazy world, Tanner!

I owe it all to myspace

Most people either love myspace, or they hate it, but the majority of people have at least looked at the Web site. It is crazy how many people are on myspace, and it is interesting and entertaining to find all the people you used to go to school with. I am glad that it was not around when I was in high school though. There was too much to worry about without having an added dimension. It is really funny to see the kids I used to babysit with their profiles, etc.

Turns out, it can be good for come things, and I owe my wonderful relationship to myspace. One year ago today, I got a random message from a guy named Jarrett, and a few days later we had plans to go rock climbing. He wasn't a total stranger, we could have sworn we knew eachother from our mutual high school, although he was 2 years ahead of me. I opened the door to meet him, and his smile totally melted my heart. We have been been inseperable ever since. Those first few weeks were so thrilling! I felt like I was in a dream. I never had any second thoughts, or hesitations. We both knew right away that this was something special.

Here we are, almost a year after that, and I love him more and more every day. Thanks Myspace!

real men wear pink

So Jarrett's older brother Don is expecting a baby. The first ultrasound, they found out it was going to be a girl. The oldest brother Rick just had a baby boy a few months ago, so it was exciting to have a neice to go along with the nephew. Don's wife Kristin is due in Sept, and the baby shower has occured, all things pink have been bought, the room is pink, and she has enough clothes to last for a year. They were really looking forward to their little princess. Don was quite the ladies man back in his single days, so it was a big joke that he is going to have a little girl to get back at him for all the player years.

Yesterday they had another ultrasound.

They found out that their little girl is not a little girl at all. she HE has a penis.

They were 100% sure that it was a girl... no mistake. But there IT was. Everyone is happy that he is perfectly healthy, but it is a little surprising to say the least! At least they found out now, and not on his delivery day. At least they have time to buy some blue clothes, and re-paint the room. It would be kind of funny to bring nothing but pink clothes, expecting a girl, and bring home a little baby boy dressed in pink. Not that there would be anything wrong with that.

Now Jarrett and I aren't planning on having kids any time soon... but I'm sure we are going to be due for the girls if/when we do. But we agree on one thing though... its a little old fashioned, but we would not want to know the sex of the baby until it is born. Especially after this fiasco!

reflections - how I met Jarrett

A few nights ago, I found a messenger transcript from mine and Jarretts first chat session, before we had met. It was so much fun to read, and made me realize that I have never written a blog about how we had met. Not that I would ever forget, but it is a great story.

After breaking out of a very long relationship that I finally realized was not making me happy, I was very hesitant about jumping into the dating world. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I had decided that maybe dating was not for me, and I would become the crazy old lady with all the cats. It was early September, and I got a random myspace message from this guy. It said:

Hi ya Lisa! My name is Jarrett and you went to my high school. I think I recognized you from there or did you ever work out at Mountain Side Fitness? I used to work there and you look kind of familiar. Anyhow, I am kind of new to this myspace thing and I saw a familiar face so i thought i would drop you a line. Must say you are absolutely gorgeous in the photos of yourself in the car. You have beautiful eyes. Send me a line sometime if you like. Talk to ya later!

Now seeing as I had recently updated my account to say "single" I would get a plethora of messages from random guys, all saying "your hot!" or somthing as equally charming. I would usually click delete without giving it a second thought. But Jarrett was different. I knew I recognized him too, and we had gone to the same high school. So I clicked on his picture, and this is what popped up:

I had to stop and get a paper towel to mop up the drool... and then I checked out the rest of his profile. We had a LOT in common. Now I had just booked a trip to Australia, and he had lived there for a year. So I struck up a friendly message back and forth about Oz, and we figured out that we recognized each other from H.S., but had in fact never met. He graduated 2 years before me. After a couple days of excitedly checking my myspace messages, and writing back and forth, we exchanged messenger chat names. The very next day, (a Tuesday) I logged on to MSN as soon as I got home, and sure enough there he was. We chatted for 4.5 hours, and I felt so comfortable talking with him. It seemed like we had known eachother for ever. We were talking about my love of rock climbing, and I had plans to go that Friday with a big group of friends. I told him that he was more than welcome to come sometime, and he said he would love to come that Friday. We ended the chat, and I went to bed truely happy and excited for the first time in a long time. First and foremost, i was excited to meet someone new. I had no expectations, but was looking forward to meeting this guy.

We had decided to meet at my place, and drive accross town together, since we lived 5 minutes apart. I was pretty excited. We had also made tentative plans to go out for drinks afterwards, and my sister was going to join us. She was a bit skeptical of the whole thing, and said " I bet you $20 he turns out to be a dork!" But at around 6:15, right on time, there was a knock at the door. I opened it, peeked around and there he was. I swear it was love at first sight. I had decided to wear black pants, and a white tank top. You will never guess what he was wearing... yup. Black pants and a white tank top. We were twins. Haha, I opened the door and said, Hi! nice to meet you. We shook hands, and I invited him in. He was cuter than the pictures. And his smile was totally contagious. I brought him inside, and he met my sister. WE talked for a bit, then I whipped out my phone to check the time. He was like, oh my God! and pulled his phone out... we had the same phone! We didn't realize that this was the first instance of many that we would do, or say the exact same things. (To this day, almost once a day we say the exact same thing at the exact same time. It freaks us out every time)

We decided to hit the road, and when I got to his car, he had a water for me, (so sweet!) and we made the half hour drive to the rock gym. We just started chatting away, and there was never a dull moment in the conversation. I was not nervous at all. Everything was completely comfortable, and relaxed. After meeting some of my friends, and having a fun night of climbing. (he was very good) We decided to head back to our part of town, and go to a local irish pub. My sister was going to meet us there. We found a spot to sit down, and continued our conversation that had not stopped since the night began. My sister finally showed up, and when Jarrett went in to get us another round of drinks, she said: " By the way... I owe you $20!"

When he came back, my sister went to join her friends, We sat there and were holding hands, and I asked him to tell me a crazy story of his travels. He said: "I'll tell you a story... " Then he leaned over, pulled me close and kissed me for the first time. I just about melted right then and there. My sister remembered pointing us out to her friends, saying "Thats my sister and her date over there -> " and her friend asked, "how long have they been together?" And they all couldn't beleive it when she told them that it was our first date. We were just THAT comfortable from the very beginning.

After the bar was getting ready to close, we didn't want the night to be over, so we got a bottle of wine to share with my sister, and headed back to our place. We were talking untill very late, like 3:00 or so in the morning, when he said he should probably go. He asked me when he could see me again. I didn't want to play any games, and be like hmmm, I might be free next week. I wasn't kidding anybody, I really liked this guy! I asked him when he was available, and he said, "What about brunch tomorrow?" I smiled, and said of course! There was never a question that he was feeling the same way as I was. It really did feel like we had known eachother forever.

It was one week later, that we decided to make things official. We were a couple. Life can change at the drop of a hat. Since that day, things have fallen into palce, and I can't imagine what life would be like without him. He is my soul mate, and I am so happy we have found eachother. I can't wait to experience all the things that this world has to offer with him at my side.

I love you Jarrett!

communication is key

The other day Jay and I were watching a show on tv, and in it there was a couple talking about getting what they needed out of a relationship. Now Jay and I have really great communication. We also both happen to be the biggest smart asses on the plannet. So I asked him:

"honey, if there was ever a time that you felt like you weren't getting what you need from our relationship, you would tell me right?"

"Of course babe!" he says.

"Good, because then I'll be able to tell you why you ain't gettin it!"