Be Inspired

It is true this blog is mainly for the small observations I see and appreciating these things and the humor in them.  I feel like my duty is to see or do and report for the simple fact that my life is funny most of the time and how I tend to deal with things is hilarious (side note:  There will be a post about the MINI and snakes....stay tuned).

However, this post is more for the realization this past week of how we can sometimes go through the motions of daily life and forget what it is like to be inspired.  I should back up, I am a kind of a notebook/post it junkie.  I find things I like or thoughts I have and I write them down. Some don't make it past that.  But today this fell out of a bag in my closet....I can tell by the paper it is on that it is from a notebook circa 2007-2008.  Here is what I have written, granted there is just this one page so there is no back story on why or what....but I think you will get it:

"And Hansel said to Gretel let us drop these bread crumbs so that together we find our way home.  Because losing our way would be the most cruel of things.  This year I lost my way.  And losing your way on a journey is unfortunate but losing your reason for the journey is a fate more cruel.  This journey lasted 8 months, sometimes I traveled alone, sometimes there were others who took the wheel and took my heart but when the destination was reached it wasn't me who arrived.  It wasn't me at all.  Once you lose yourself you have two choices; find the person you used to be or lose that person completely. Sometimes you have to step outside of the person you have been and remember the person you were meant to be.  The person you want to be.  The person you are."

George Bernard Shaw once wrote "There are two tragedies in life; one is to lose your hearts desire and the other is to gain it".

I once went to work with one of my friends.  He and I told ourselves that I was "shadowing" him but let's be honest.  We just hung out all day.  He worked I mostly just procrastinated my grad school homework.   The very first thing that he said to me when I got in the car was "Okay so to start the day we listen to this mix" (he was in sales).  That moment has always stuck with me.  Every morning we decide how our day will be and you know Brandon kills it every single day.

So this morning when running seemed like the worst idea I have ever had at 6:00 am.  "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heros was the first on the mix....and there was my moment of inspiration and it has stayed with me all day.  I LOVE this song, someone once made fun of me for liking it so much but I do and I remember why.  Here is the line that stuck "If you fall pick yourself up off the floor and when your bones can't take no more just remember what you're here for".

Nothing big or bad has happened but it put in to motion this thought.  Where am I at?  Where do I want to be? What do I want to do? What do I want to become? What will I do today that will matter?  You can choose to blame your circumstances or fate or bad luck or you can fight back.  Things are not always going to be fair in the real world, that is just the way it is.  But for the most part you get what you give.

Let me ask you some questions.  What is worse not getting everything you wished for? Or getting it and realizing it is not enough?  The rest of your life is being shaped right now by the dreams you chase and the choices you make and the person you decide to be.  The rest of your life is a long time and the rest of your life starts right now.

So go get it.  Kill it.  Do it.  You have got this.  Listen to Gym Class Heros and be excited to duke it out with life and WIN.

Boise vs. BYU

About 4 years ago, I posted "I heart Nevada" about a 24 hour random trip that I took....and I thought you know, I am getting older, this may be the last one of these trips.  I was wrong.

At some point in the last few months I had asked for tickets to this game for a friend and then forgot about the request.  A few weeks before I find that I did get these tickets and the seats are kind of ridiculously good....so, I HAD to go.  And when I thought of who to bring I thought, Jenny and I have not had a fun adventure in awhile (see the Twilight movie post) so this seemed like a brilliant idea. 

Here is how the 24 hours rolled out.....

1.  In prepartion for our trip, I go to get gas.  And my car will not restart....when I finally do get it going I call Jenny to see where she is so that she can stay with my car while I run up stairs and lock up my house because I worry that it won't start again.  That way we can drop it off at the mechanic and drive the MINI to ID.  She then informs me that I can lock my car up and just bring my spare key down to get back in.....so I drive a Volvo...the dang things are so safety conscienous that it will allow me to lock 3 doors but not 4 when it is running.  Apparently this has been an enough of an issue that they have now built them this way.

2.  My mechanic is one I have gone to since I was 15, so they know me by name and I can just leave my car there.  Here is the best part, when I introduce my cousin, the guy says to me and her "Eiko always smells so good" and then proceeds to fan my scent towards him and then does the same to Jenny.  So, because we don't look alike he assumes we smell the same?  Boys confuse me. 

3.  Jenny comments to me that this guy likes me.  My comment "he has a tatoo of a baby drinking a beer on his forearm".  Enough said.

4.  All of the hotels are sold out in Boise, so we stayed a few miles up the road in Meridian.  Jenny is in charge of directions....and so she gets us to a hotel.  We go inside I give them my name and it doesn't pull up, which with my name this is a normal occurance.  I then give him the confirmation number and he still can't find us.  When I ask if this is the Marriot Courtyard...he says that this is not a Marriot. Fail on Jenny's part. She tried to check us in to the wrong hotel.  The more embarrassing part is that we didn't see the sign or name on the building or the HUGE rug at the front door informing us of the name.  We fail at being bright some times....well most of the time.

5.  Game was great, seats were amazing and we sat next to some interesting dudes that flew their private jet to the game.  And yes, I did ask if the MINI would fit in the plane and we could go home with them and not have to drive back.  They said no.  I am fairly certain this plan was a win win.

6.  On our way in we were trying to park and got on to some one way road and ended up in some random tailgating/parking area.  But the lady informs me we can walk the Greenbelt to the stadium.  Matt and I have biked this so I kind of know where I am going...so we park and walk.  Side note.  Jenny is still in charge of directions and knowing where we are and how to get back.

7.  Walking out of the stadium with 36,000 other people we head to the Greenbelt.  Let me paint you a picture of what this looks like at night.  It is a paved path like 10 miles long, river on one side, woods on the other and there have been some huge fires in ID.  So, it looks like a foggy horror movie and the dude behind us says "safety in numbers people".  We walk the wrong way and the crowd begins to thin.  Clearly we don't listen.  Jenny's phone dies.  We keep walking.  By the time we decide to walk back to the stadium and take a new route (the right route) it is pitch black, no lights on the path and my phone dies.  Awesome.  I tell Jenny that I hope she was looking forward to dying in Boise because I am pretty sure this path is a serial killers dream and we are idiot girls without phones, nav, light etc.  Good times.

We make it back to the car 2 hours later, when Jenny has to use the bathroom.  I tell her that she will have to go in the bushes and I will wait.  Well, the only other group that was apparently left to get their car has also returned mid-stream for Jenny....which made her pee her pants instead.  Yes, we are full grown adults who apparently can't deal with directions, convince men to fly us home and who now pee their pants in public.  What?  This is pretty normal in my life.

So nothing has changed since our twenties. We kill every road trip.

The Boys of Summer - Dedicated to Nick

Tonight while driving home, I hear this song on the radio. Here is the thing I have probably heard it a thousands times in my life, however this time was different. As I am sitting at the light I have this flash back of my brother Nick and I. It was who knows some time in the early 80's and we had just figured out MTV and music videos, but this was so long ago this was when they only played actual music videos, and from what I recall not a huge variety.

So here is the scene, it had to be like 2am or something and EVERYONE was asleep but Nick and I would occasionally wake each other up and sneak into the spare room where a TV as and watch music videos....for hours.

This fabulous video was one of the many that we watched over and over and over. All I can remember is thinking that one day we would be that cool..... .just like those people on the video. And here I am in traffic driving home and 10 bucks Nick is doing the same! Cheers to my Partner in Crime on this random Tuesday.

Things for the New Year

Doing my annual clean out everything and I realized that my love for post notes is much bigger than I thought. I have found dozens with artists, songs and quotes in all of my filing. So in order to get rid of the colorful pile I have accumulated over the years I thought I would just share them here. Things to think about, to live by, to learn from and for a new year.

"Through adversity character is born."

"Living is not the same as making a life"

"Life always gives you a second chance"

"Always do something with an open heart - it is usually the right decision"

"It is wonderful to be needed and great to need and be able to say to someone 'I need' "

"To keep hidden, to lose you because of self defeating ideas is to die. Don't let that happen."

"Where ever you are, love where you are as it all starts there"

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own, after all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday"

"Your heart tells you what the mind cannot explain"

"People will forget what you said, forget what you did but will never forget how you made them feel"

"You can choose to blame your circumstance or fate or bad luck or bad choices or you can fight back. Things are not always going to be fair in the real world, that is just the way it is. But for the most part you get what you give. Let me ask you a questions - what is worse not getting everything you wished for? Or getting it and realizing it is not enough? The rest of your life is being shaped right now by the dreams you chase and the choices you make and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life is a long time and the rest of your life starts right now."

~Cheers!

Just a few observations

I tell you some weeks don't have anything and then some weeks it is like everything happens all at once. Here are some highlights of the past 2 days in my life.

General Observations:

Last night I ask Nick what he wants for Christmas and he states "binoculars, cuff links and a remote control helicopter". Pretty sure my brother is a spy.

Today I passed 2 old men in an old Buick wearing cowboy hats and had a collection of beanie babies in the back window of the car.....and that is how you know I work in Tooele.

Gym Observations:

I think I run further when my treadmill is in German. I don't know how it got to that language but at least the 2 a/days are interesting.

I no longer make fun of those that come to the gym in jeans...I mean really, that is some dedication to work out no matter what you wear.

I don't think that girls wash their bras as much as the should. I am pretty sure that the lady next to me in the yellow bra....hasn't washed hers maybe ever. Maybet the color isn't even really yellow to begin with....

I have determined that if I am going to run long distances I pretty much only want to listen to Eminem. And for abs I just want to hear Jay-Z. I don't know why my but I tend to do more if that is my play list.

Yes, this is what I think about and notice when I go to the gym. Jealous?

Lovin' the Walmart

Picture this:

11:30pm at the local/slightly ghetto Walmart

I am in line with 2 very "classy" girls on their way to a club. My guess they are in the age range of 17-19 in the most random clothing I have ever seen and no, it is NOT a costume. As I am standing in line listening to them talk about their night ahead of them wearing bright colored animal print tight spandex dresses and shenanigans, I notice that the purchase they are buying is gum and a "buty" which if you don't know (which I did not) is a pair of underwear with padding to give you a bigger butt.

2 questions:

1. I am pretty sure that last I checked girls were trying to decrease the size not increase...did I miss something?

2. Why on earth is the poor girl putting a buty and gum on a credit card! I mean going in to debt for a big but and good breathe?? REALLY?

And then I look down at my purchases

Cat food and vitamins

At what point did I become the lady buying pet food in a cardigan and jeans while the 18 year olds are plotting their night on the town?

I have never felt older. AND I have never been more okay with being older than that moment at the ghetto Walmart.

Embracing the madness

Do you ever have those days that you think “I want a do over”….where you want to go back to bed and pretend that this day never happened and start all over…well, welcome to my day. I have to say for the most part I find humor in pretty much everything I do…for example….

Last week…I wore a “fashion forward” shirt with a zipper in the back and this is the response I got...Mark wearing/posing in his shirt backwards.


Then I got a voice mail that said “Eiko, if you know who this number is and you think it is worth your time you should call me and se should hang out…” Let start with this.

1. If you are not one of the 500 contacts in my phone I am going with you are not someone I want to talk to…in fact if you are not in my phone I don’t even want to screen you.
2. I think I know who this guy is and to be quite honest I am pretty sure I my exact words when we hung up were “Never going to happen”.
3. If you are not man enough to apologize or even have the guts to leave your name…why bother? Do you really think I will call? Weird. Again, never going to happen.

Today…man talk about a perfect storm. So I decided to get the most out of the early Fall and the last bit of summer and so I wore some sweet platform Aldo shoes.
1. Just because they are platform contrary to what people think they are NOT “stripper shoes”…there is no clear plastic heels, glitter or anything that would lead you to believe they are used for that purpose.
2. I do not use the stairs at work because my shoes are so high that I am afraid I might fall. For good reason. Today, when walking down the stairs…oh yeah that is right I fell. Made a huge noise and walked away with a few bruises. Elevator = yes.

Then I get this text (see above)…oh boys….where do I start? First, last I heard you were asking me...but okay. How about this.
1. I am happy to make time to go out. But you are the boy who asked to go out and just because you can not man up enough to make a plan….do not send me these messages.
2. Clearly the past 2 weeks this has been weighing on your mind. Crap. That random guy at SBK was right, apparently I CAN take away happiness.
3. I apologize for not making a plan….what can I say I did not understand that that is what you were expecting me to do.

Then I think it is nice and cool outside so I will go for a run….remember that fall with my sweet shoes at work? Well my knee is a little swollen and it actually hurt when I tried to run….so home I went. Yes, I totally girl'd out and didn't run because it hurt....I'm okay with it.

And finally I get home and realize that in a moment to do more with my time I have turned off my cable. Awesome. Because tonight is the one time that you love your TV and watching anything to escape the day. But that is okay because I think to myself…why don’t you just man up and work out the pain. So on the treadmill I go….2 miles in the damn thing just shut off. I am not the type to even begin to pretend to know how to fix this…crap maybe I should have planned something with Nate or called that other dude back and they could have aided in the repair of my treadmill.

But don’t worry….I can roll with the punches. I have rediscovered Hulu…this day may be salvageable yet. Jealous of my life yet?

*side note…not all boys are lame…you know who you are.