It smells like vomit.

Don't fly delta.

It smells like vomit. Am I sitting next in airport terminal C14 awaiting my flight to SLC which is DELAYED…4 hours. I am sitting next to a giant stain where vomit once adorned the monotone carpet to my right. Flying is so inconvenient, yet, I depend on it so much. Usually, I am excited to leave Virginia and get back to Utah, but this time…not so much. Going back is more like the situation I find myself in…nauseating and painful. Excuse me, I might add to the carpet stain.



ONE of the true ironies behind airports is that they are starting to charge you for your luggage when the flight is expensive enough in the first place, and now, they make you pay for the Wi-Fi. Here was my conversation, my brief conversation, with the lady behind the desk after I spent a good 10 minutes in denial that my “free” Wi-Fi would work if I just tried harder. Reluctant to even ask I decided to face it and just ask.


Me: “Hi, quick question. Is there free Wi-Fi?


Lady behind the desk: “Yeah, but they charge you.”


(in my head I wondered why she said “yeah” when the answer REALLY should have been “NO, it’s not free. We are in an economic crisis and we, Delta Airlines, are milking it for everything it’s worth. We suffer so you suffer, and we take advantage.”)


Me: Some airports do that (implying the lack of free internet access--like this one)


Lady behind the desk: “Yeaahhh.” With a false apologetic look on her face and with a wrinkle in her nose as her eyes went back to her computer screen, where she was probably using her FREE internet.


Me: Oh, okay, well thanks.






I refuse to pay the fee. Who me?—no, I’m not bitter. O_____________________o

Frogs vs. Dogs vs. Diana

I once had a dog that when she found a turtle in the backyard...she bit off it's head. I yelled @ Madison for it, even tried explaning that turtles are nice and that as a dog, to her, turtles would forever be off limits. This is coming for a girl that when she was driving home spotted a shell in the middle of the road, passed it, and went back out of worry that perhaps someone would run over it crushing it's shell...I put it out of harms way, got back in my car, and went home. This is coming from a girl that tried explaining to a dog that it's not okay to eat turtles. Well, I'm all about conserving the animals--at least the ones I like.

Today, I let my dogs outside and noticed them smelling a frog about the size of the tip of a thumb sitting right in front of the door. Great. I immediatley got nervous that they would attempt to eat it or even kill it, by past experience. My parents currently have 3 dogs. Bullet is my brother Phillip's beagle who decided to move in with the rents. He's a major grouch, it probably has to do with the fact that he was abussed before Phillip rescued him from the pound a few years back. All he requires is occassional attention and all he truly asks for is a couch to sleep on and food in his bowl.  He's the perfect dog, just a little anti-social.

Next, we have Lady, my parent's dog that they got a year ago from the neighborhood pound. My own Father confuses her name with mine on occassion (and is most likely done on purpose), don't ask me how or why. My Mom calls her "gringa", probably because she's white and blond. I hoenstly think she'd make the perfect wife for Jacob--you know, from the Twilight movies--but she can only marry the wolf verison of him. That'd be awkward if it was any other way. Unless, she could turn into a human version of herself--but this is requiring too much thinking and figuring out to even make sense. She is just over a year old, and is the "big sister" for our newest addition to the dog pack--Chiquitita.

Chiquitita is a pitbull. Her real name is Amanda, obviously named by my brother Simone, and is technically his dog still. (They all somehow manage to make their way to my parent's house).Who can call a dog a human name like Amanda? My Mom one day called her Chiquitita--meaning: little one, little girl? My Dad gets the award for slottering the pronunciation of the name, on purpose, of course, and calls her Chiquilila. That is just the wrong way to say Chiquitita.

So, I let the two girls outside where we found the thumb-sized version of this frog. It was actually reallllly cute so I picked it up and set it beyond the exterior of our fence, to avoid it's death. I did not want to witness it's slotter. Then, the dogs got distracted on my other side. When I looked over I saw what was destracting them. A disgustingly oversized frog-toad-thing. I really can't tell the difference between a frog and a toad, but if toad means it's uglier, then it was a toad. They sniffed it and the this beast of an amphibian.It startled me because I was concerned about a few things: one, that one of the dogs would bite it's head off, just like Madison with the turtle, and second, i was worried that if I attempted to pick it up to put it out of harms way, it would pee all over me, like that one time when I was eight, and I picked up a frog. I was very excited about it, and I guess, so was the frog because his defense mechanism kicked it by peeing on me it got me to drop it. I did not want to be peed on again. Sick. I was officially grodied* out.

I'm happy to report that after holding the dogs back and giving the frog time to escape, it managed to jump it's way into the corner. I womaned up and did it, I grabbed the sucker between my fingers and placed it gently in the grass beyond the fence, with the mini-version of itself. I saved a frog tonight. Someone had to do it. Better me than the dogs...right?

*grodied= probably not even in the dictionary, meaning: to be grossed out

Traveling

It's Sunday morning, and I just spent the night amongst the clouds, even amongst the stars. I was actually going to say that I spent it in an airplane really uncomfortable sitting next to an older man and his son that ruined my chance of getting an isle to myself, but, saying that i spent it "amongst the clourds, even amongst the stars", seemed that much more poetic, wouldn't you say? No, but, I did spend 5 hours in the air, and most of the time I was uncounsious, dreamless, but constantly was awakened by the flight attentant tapping me on the shoulder so I would move my feet out of the isle. Apparantly, stretching in a plane is close to impossible. If I ever get pety cash to waste, I will consider flying first class like Cameron Diaz in the movie The Holiday. Realistically, I know I won't, but, my Mom always says, "It doesn't cost anything to dream."

It doesn't feel like Sunday at all--at all. I almost put my itunes on of my favorite jams and favorite playlist but realized what day it was, so, now I am listening to that song that I adored on my mission while serving in one of my areas:Tumbes, Peru. You know how you can associate places with songs or smells or people? I associate Tumbes with many things, but mostly with this song because I think I listened to this song for a good month on repeat until I probably made my companion trunky to go home and get away from my awkward habits. I still could listen to it on repeat and have the same feelings about it as I did then--pensive ones of who they are singing about. Listen to the song...here it is in spanish (the version I am listening to now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfmvDOAzosY&feature=related

I'll find it in english:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDjjxJDc0Xs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh5uxRNd-xk&feature=related (different version but I like it!)


Ah, they both touch my spirit, it brings to a different level within myself, able to think outside my capabilities. When I like something, I like it and can listen to it or see it over and over again and puts my mind on a different plain. Just ask my brother Simone, haha, he grew up with me and knows how I can get when I truly like something. When I liked a certain movie as a kid (and MANY I did like, but let's say GREASE for now), I would watch it, rewind it (yes, VHS's, baby), and then watch it again. I couldn't get enough of it, perhaps I get it from my own Mother who taped Under the Sea,(from the Little Mermaid), for us as kids and we would dance to it often. When I was 14 she taped the song You'll Be in My Heart, by Phil Collins, onto a tape back in 1999 and when we went to King's Dominion we listened to it the whole way down--a 2 hour drive playing the same song, and not once did I wish the song would change. Not everyone is like that, but I am.

7:44 a.m. and I'm NY @ the JFK Airport. My flight is @ 9:20 a.m. Ah, home. This will be an interesting month to get back to the east coast, back to my family, back to my home. Being in college for a while, and having to move to a LOT of different places, I have come to realize that every place I move into is where I live but never really has been a home for me. Home is where the parents are and where the memories are. I will go home to my own bed, to my own flesh and blood, and some dogs.

I started to make a list of things to do for the next few weeks. I still haven't gotten my ticket back to Utah, but, it doesn't mean I won't come back! In fact, I have to! ha. But, here is my list:

>Go to the library and finish reading the book I always borrow and never finish:
     Between A Rock and a Hard Place (It's about the guy who went to Moah, UT and got his arm stuck between a giant rock and a boulder and had to cut it off after a few days or die there, alone, and unseen.)
     Also, to read other books: Papel Mojado, the Book of Mormon again, All the Conference Talks from this past April, the Biography of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and probably a few books about writing.

>Write a few papers (for myself)
    I have a few topics:
          What makes a good leader?
          Why was Washington an inspiring general, even until this day?
          I will continue to make more questions to write on so I can have topics. I feel
           like I will be doing homework assigned by myself, weird?

> Workout
     duh.

> Art
     I want to draw portraits again, at least one.

>Teach the puppy how to do tricks
     her name is Amanda (thanks to my brother...hmm) but my Mom calls her: "Chiquitita". My Dad calls her: "Chiquilila". haha--he does it on purpose. So, that animal, I will teach it tricks.

For now, that is "the list".

Well, I have nothing more to say, and I have an hour and 20 minutes to kill still...umm....I wonder if I'll ever live in NY someday...I like the diversity...

OH..........and.........

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29
************************************************************************************************************

Hit and Miss

So, I misjudged the use of my time, and totally didn't workout today nor will I. I am toooooo tired. But, i was thinking....there is no reason can't should be in my vocabulary. I say "can't" a lot. I "can't" do this because...I haven't learned it yet.... I "can't" do that because I am not as talented as (insert name here) ....no...why do we allow ourselves to think that way. I am in a mood of no "can'ts". It's fabulous. I hope it lasts....I can read my scritpures and sleep now so I have energy in the morning. night. (Ironic post, eh?)

What to Wait For

I have always liked surprises, that are GOOD and not the ones that involve me falling down in front of a multitude of people, or talking in my sleep and having someone overhear and ask me if I'm okay. No, not that kind. The good kinds always bring smiles to the faces or good thoughts to the mind. I got a phone call today that did that.

My old roommate from last January '09 and friend from Virginia called me. What's the scoop? She's engaged! The story of how they met and how it happened is how it should be. He was her waiter @ Tucanos, he left her his number...she called, and he did all the work from there--calling, persuing, everything. Just as it SHOULD BE.

A quote with good recommendations. This is how it should happen.

**Wait for the guy who pursues you. One who will make an ordinary moment seem magical; a kind of guy who brings out the best in you. Wait for the guy who will be your best friend, the only person who will drop everything to be with you at any time no matter what the circumstances. Wait for the guy who makes you smile like no one else and when he smiles you know he needs you. Wait for the guy who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats and have no makeup on, but appreciates it when you get all dolled up for him. Most of all, wait for the guy who will put you at the center of his universe, beacuse that's where you belong.**

?Love?

I found what I wrote for my Creative Writing final in December. I actually liked my piece. The prompt was, "What is love?" In red--is my response.

LOVE

The epidemic is so great that there are doctors for this sort of thing. There is no cure. There is no logic behind it. The treatment given when the symptoms kick is not 100 percent. With few survivors of its repercussions, many have been affected by this unknown feeling with a blissful life while others seem to vanish away, darkened and suicidal from lethal side effects. Some see it as the plague and others as a vaccine. It’s quite unexplainable. Love is curious and strikes at any given moment.

According to Sophocles, this “one word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.“ Did he confuse this word with chocolate? To tell you the truth, my observation of love is just the opposite.

It is the unavoidable demon of some, possessing them at first sight. How can one be infatuated with someone with whom no words were exchanged? Incompressible. How many times have we walked by a restaurant on an empty stomach--looking through the glass to see the comfortably seated eater-outers smiling and nodding as their taste buds dance? Do you smell that? Can you can taste it. It’s so irresistible and next thing you know, you’re at the table next to the man that you were envying with his hamburger in hand. You even envy the mustard stain on his tie. For some, love has a similar effect. You see. You like. You love.


Love is the closest we can get to godliness--because it produces a sense of fulfillment gotten from no other source but from giving to another. To love and win--what an envy! To love and loose--the fate of many. That is why it can be so demonous…love is a poker game, the odds of winning and loosing are unknown as we stare down at 2 cards laying on a table. Hit…me?

Los besos del viento by: Diana Tartaglia

Desde cómo peinarme, hasta como ser una mujer de dignidad son algunas de las cosas que mi madre me enseñó. Pero hay algo que aprendí de ella y que no puedo sacar de mi mente.



No fue mucho tiempo después que Santa nos visitó cuando un día mi hermano y yo nos emocionamos por montar nuestras bicicletas pero pensándolo bien, no sabíamos manejarlas. Momentos como estos era los que mi madre disfrutaba con la única intención de poder ayudarnos.


- ¡Vamos afuera para aprender! Vamos niños-


- ¡Sí, vamos!


Corríamos a recoger nuestras bicicletas y como soldados en una fila esperábamos en la pista del barrio con nuestros regalos lindos hechos de metal y ruedas brillantes. Y estaba tan emocionada como cualquier voluntario que me ofrecí a ser la primera persona para aprender. Mi madre sujetó la silla y sentándome encima de mi bicicleta ella caminó conmigo mientras empezaba a esforzarme para hacer que las ruedas giraran y nos moviéramos juntas.


Como un perro con la cabeza fuera de la ventana en un auto así me sentía, estaba tan feliz y contenta hasta q me di cuenta q la mano de mi madre no estaba en mi silla. De pronto, vi que ella estaba muy lejos de mí y yo estaba yendo en una velocidad desconocida por no estar en un auto. Aceleré la velocidad y sentí los besos del viento en mi rostro mientras disfrutaba la experiencia de poder hacer algo nuevo por primera vez en mi vida.


Recordé que era humana y en donde estaba. Ahora quería ver el progreso de mi hermano, porque él iba detrás de mí. Vi algo muy diferente a mi experiencia. Intentaba montar su bicicleta pero cada vez que mi madre soltaba el asiento, mi hermano sentía que no podía hacerlo solo. Intentaron una y otra vez sin éxito. Vi la expresión de mi hermano derrotado. Sabía que él quería regresar a su mundo de videojuegos y nunca más aprender cómo hacerlo. Seguí dando vueltas por el barrio y cada vez que miraba a mi hermano también veía el rostro de felicidad y esperanza que tenía mi madre.


Mi madre no se cansó y no dejó que mi hermano entrara a casa hasta que lograra superar su desafío y debilidad. Con el amor que ella nos tiene y por entender la importancia de no aceptar una derrota, lo animó y ayudó. Fueron muchas caídas las que mi hermano tuvo ese día pero también se levantó por la mano de alguien que le ama y así fue cómo aprendió a montar su bicicleta. No hay éxito mejor que ver alguien que uno ama alcanzando una meta. Y que satisfacción recibí al jugar y recibir los besos del viento con alguien a mi lado, alguien a quien respeto como es mi hermano.