Island Paradise

About 20 miles off the coast of Southern California lies an island that almost belies description. It is an area almost as pristine as the day it was developed. Chain businesses are forbidden so Vons and Coldstone are the only names you would recognize. Mom and Pop places abound and many have been there for decades. Families come back year after year, often with children and grandchildren in tow.

Welcome to Catalina Island and the tiny town of Avalon. This is the place my friends and I come back to year after year for fun in the sun relaxation. Everything is scaled down here. Smart cars are the only vehicles on the island outside of golf carts. Even FedEx has to scale down. Check out this tiny truck:



Catalina is a quaint village that can be exactly what you make of it. You can have a margarita at the bar:



Or on a beach:



It isn't all drinking and shopping. One of the coolest things to do is to rent a golf cart and tour the outskirts of Avalon. On one such journey, we encountered some locals! They were very calm and photogenic:



We love Catalina! My roommate took me there for the first time 8 years ago and I fell in love with the place. It is romantic, tropical and a wonderful place to get away. I look forward to this trip all year!

A Magic Dress

There is a series of books/movies about these girls that share one pair of jeans because the pants possess a magic quality. I haven't read the books or seen the films so I just assume the pants are magic because they make your butt look great! Now I realized there might be something to magic clothes

Yesterday I discovered this power for myself. I found a dress in a glorious shade of red. It fits perfectly and hugs the curves in all the right places. Most importantly, it's cut to accentuate my two best features and no, I'm not talking about my eyes!

What is magical about this dress is how it makes me feel! I feel sexy, empowered! The me in this dress flirts with the barista at Coffee Bean and tells the bully at work to back off and sit down! It was like the dress tapped into my inner Angelina!
I love the strong, intelligent, frisky and fun woman I am in this dress!

The magic of this dress isn't in how it made me look but what it helped me to discover. This sexy, strong, smart, flirty, funny woman is me regardless of what I have on! The feelings I felt in the dress yesterday have carried over to today. I realized this while flirting with the cashier at Panera in my shorts and Bon Jovi t-shirt! The dress just brought out what I had in me all along.

With all that said, I'm guessing the true magic occurred at the register. The Angelina-channelling dress was purchased on sale for $9.99, Brad Pitt not included. At that price, I can afford more! I am going back to the store and try to find pants that make me tap into my inner Italian model. George Clooney, look out!
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I'm Back In The Writing Groove

Ok, confession time! I have a tendency to get totally immersed in my latest activity to the detrement of all other aspects of my life. Case in point: My three+ years at The Church At Rocky Peak. Most people can go to service, maybe join a bible study or a ministry and be fine. Me? I had to join choir, give a testomony in front of 3k people over 3 services in a weekend, participate in skits, join a life group in Santa Clarita, teach 2nd and 3rd grade sunday school, participate in 12 performances of the Easter production while being a member of the Tech Team! Over commit much? Oh yeah, I do.

So now you get the picture. Which is why when I went back to school, I kinda disappeared. I started out slow, one class, but when that was interrupted by emergency abdominal surgery, I felt I had to make it up in the spring. So I took that class over, added another one and there I was at school every Tues-Thurs at 7A, after working until midnight the night before! Weekends and mornings were study time.

I was successful in that I was able to pull down a 3.428 average doing things but at what cost? We can start with the 15 pound weight gain that I am firmly convinced was the result of only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night! Then there were the friends that went unseen (Hi Selena! Remember me...your friend you haven't seen since Thanksgiving) and the little joys in my life that went by the wayside, like writing for my blog.

It was a lesson learned. I learned I need balance. I had it in my head that I wanted to finish school as quickly as possible however, I don't want to weight 500 pds and be friendless at the end of it. So I am taking one class this coming semester and it starts at 1:30pm. That gives me time to sleep and time to write.

A balanced life is a healthy life.