When The Doctor's Away...

I got this last weekend off of work hoping I'd be able to fly to Vegas but Nate ended up on call and working. In the meantime, My friend Mike called me on Tuesday and asked what I was doing for the weekend. I told him nothing and he said "Well, come to Hawaii! Everything is taken care of! You would be stupid not to come." As I was sitting on my bed, watching the blizzard that had hit Boston, I knew I needed out. And I knew I would be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity at hand, so I said okay and I told Mike that I was only coming to layout and get some sun. THAT'S IT. If he wanted to do anything extravagant he would have to do it alone. I was gonna come and I was gonna lay on the beach or next to the pool. He said "okay". Thursday afternoon I hopped on a flight to SLC, picked up my bathing suit and flew to Maui. Sure enough as soon as I arrived, I got a bunch of rules placed on me. I hadn't even been there 30 minutes and this guy was telling me how long I could be in the sun for. I was only allowed 12 min of laying out the first day and if I didn't burn, the 2nd day I could layout for 15. I'm sorry, WHAT??? I didn't just fly across the flipping country to have rules placed on me! I was livid. He knew I was coming out for the sun and that was it! Now, clearly, I understand he just had my best interest in mind, but still. I'm only gonna be here for 3 days. Let me be on vacation! Somewhere along the way I had gotten sick. I spent the weekend with a cough, a runny nose, and small sneeze attacks. We shot a couple of photos, and made a few more 'how to' videos that actually came out great! I was quite impressed with the quality. All in all it was a good vacation. I would definitely go again. I love Maui.

Viva Las Vegas

Vegas... here I come. I called Romeo and told him that I had decided  to fly in for the day. I asked him nicely if he wouldn't mind picking me up at the airport about 130. Of course he was all over it. By the time I arrived he had our whole day planned. LOVE IT. We stopped at one of the local hospitals first. (He needed to get "badged" for the pediatric surgeries that he was going to be shadowing and assisting with this up coming month). After that, we stopped for some sushi. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm. I  love sushi. It almost ties with Zupa's. We went back to his place and I got out of my uniform and into something comfy. In the short time that I have spent with Nate, I have not hesitated to tell him just how much I hate Vegas. And believe it or not, he remembered. He came up with the idea to go over to Lake Las Vegas, which is away from the strip, and go to the little shops they have over there and walk along the lake. It was so peaceful and breathtaking. I never knew this part of Vegas existed. It was amazing. All of it. We sat on one of the boulders, rolled up our pant legs, and just talked as we watched it get darker and darker. Once again, I lost track of time. The next thing I knew it was time to go. It was 8:30 and I still had a flight to catch back to Boston at 11:00. 

Before going back to the apartment and grabbing my things, Nate made one more stop. When I was in college at Dixie State, all my friends made Vegas runs on the weekends. I hated Vegas and they all knew it. The only way I would go is if they promised that we could stop at the Bellagio for the water show at some point during the night. Before I landed in Vegas Nate asked me if there was anything I wanted to do in Sin City. My response? "Only the Bellagio at dusk". And that is what I got. We stopped off for a few shows and we barely watched them. We were so caught up in our conversation, big surprise. I don't know why, but I could talk to that kid for hours!! I mean, I have talked to him for HOURS, yet we never run out of anything to say. This is definitely unfamiliar territory for me. Yes, at times I can be a talker, but not hours upon hours. Hello?? Has any one heard of cotton mouth? No, in all honesty, he is not only a great listener but he is a great talker as well. He makes me feel validated. I know that he hears and understands what it is that I am saying and he knows that I hear and understand him too.  I think it's safe to say that when it comes to communication between us, there is NOT a problem. We can be 100 percent open with each other about everything and that is extremely hard to find these days. I'm very, very grateful that I have found such a great friend and someone that I can relate too. I can't wait to see him again. 

And This Is Where It All Began...

Him... meaning the most outstanding, in tune, sincere, smart, funny, considerate, humble, uplifting, ambitious, respectful, passionate, extremely attractive man in my whole life. And those are just a few of the characteristics that he has. It's hard to describe just how AMAZING he is so I just call him... Romeo.

It all began on Feb. 28, 2009 when he rode up on his big white horse and carried me away into the mountains of Sundance. He took me to a very quaint restaurant called The Foundry Grill. This is where it all began. We shared one of the most fun, relaxed and calm evenings. I can't remember the last time that I literally lost track of time. Not even time, but DAYS. How did one evening turn into 3 days of bliss?

After the dinner we drove back down through the canyon. After stopping off for a quick game of pool, we ended up back his grandparents. Somehow between the hours of 10:30pm and 5:30am we found ourselves having a number of conversations, laughing, joking, and basically just enjoying each others company. I couldn't help but think that this is how it's suppose to be.

The next morning we ended up going to church together. My plan was to just go to sacrament and then to bounce... clearly that didn't happen. I ended up not just attending all of church but also joining the family for Sunday dinner. Nate had come up from Las Vegas for the BYU/UofU game that weekend and was heading back after Sunday dinner. We ended up saying our goodbyes (or so I thought) and I headed to SLC and he headed to Las Vegas. I got to SLC and tried finding a flight out to Boston. Small Problem... Boston got hit with a major snow storm and all the flights to New England had been canceled. I called up Laci, who is my life savor, and asked her if she wouldn't mind putting me up AGAIN. She of course said yes, so I worked my way to her house. To my surprise, Nate called and we chit chatted for a little bit. He told me that he didn't have to work the next day and to come to Vegas. As excited as I was, I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I KNEW I wanted to see him again. I was thrilled he felt the same. I just didn't want to ruin what we had going on. I kept thinking, "We just spent 2 days together and I'm not sick of him??? What's wrong with me?". I didn't know if it was too soon to see him, yet at the same time I was ready to turn right back around and take the last flight out of SLC! We both have such crazy schedules, I didn't know when I was going to see him again and if I did see him, when that was going to be. So, I slept on it.

Just The Way You Are

It's taken me a while to realize just how important timing is in our lives. You would think after 27 years one would have figured it out by now, but clearly I like to do things the difficult way. I like things done on my watch. Some call that being stubborn, I call it, dancing to the beat of my own drum. My point is, it's really taken me some time to figure out who I am, and in the process of figuring out who I am, I know now who I want to become and I am able to work on perfecting myself. It has definitely taken me some time to figure this whole process out but in doing so, I have found out how important family and good friends are. I am so thankful for the friends that I have in my life and the positive people around me. It has honestly made the biggest difference in this self perfecting process. One thing that I have learned through my own personal experiences is that when you are able to accept yourself and realize you are perfect, just the way you are, with all your strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to look in the mirror and literally love the person looking back at you. And when you are able to do this, you will be able to give yourself to that one person, whole heart and soul and together you will be able to become a power couple. In the mean time....I met him. 

Are you going to come and tell me not to get on that plane?

Happy Jetting is right!! You know how everybody has their own little jetBlue experience?? Well, here is mine. Thursday came around and after spending unexpected hours at the Dr Office and in the hospital for some testing, I decided it would probably be best if I flew back to Boston on Thursday night. I wanted be be able to take the whole day on Friday to rest without any interruptions before I had to go back to work on Saturday. I checked out and headed down to Salt Lake City to hop on the Long Beach flight. I had some time to kill, so, I text Dave and asked him what he was doing his last night in SLC. He told me he was flying back to Long Beach. FABULOUS! I couldn't have planned this next part out any smoother. Thankfully Dave has a sense of humor because this scheme that I was thinking up could have definitely backfired. When he told me he was flying home, I was already at the ticket counter messing around. I asked the gate agent if he could do me a HUGE favor and look up the open seats and tell me if there was one next to a Mr. Dave Pond. There was! And it was all mine! A little stalkerish?? Hmm... maybe, but it was all part of the surprise. Honestly?? Who doesn't love a good surprise anyway? After printing out my boarding passes, I sat off to the side, by the gate, waiting to board. I was trying to decide how to go about this whole shebang. All these thoughts were going through my head. I decided I would wait until the very last to board the plane and then ask Dave politely if the seat next to him was taken. Just as they started to board he sent the perfect text... It read "Are you going to come and tell me not to get on that plane?" I text him back and said, "Dang! You caught me" he just laughed and I text, "Laugh it up!". I waited another 10 min. and I couldn't help it. I walked up to him and said..."Please don't go! Stay!" He got the BIGGEST smile on his face and said "What are you doing here??? I can't believe you are really here!?! Are you serious!?" I laughed, and thought serious as a heart attack. "If you don't stay, I'm going with you! I got my bags all packed!" It was CLASSIC. We boarded the plane and it was the perfect end to a great trip home. I'm not sure what will come of this new friendship and as of right now, I don't want to know. I'm just enjoying the ride.

You wanna make out and get some licorice? Eww... I hate licorice but we can get some lunch.

On Sunday night I went to a party at my friend Jason's home. While I was there I was able to meet some new people, one of which I became instant friends with. Let's call him Dave, since that is his name. We met, we mingled and to my surprise, I became quickly interested in this beautiful man. In conversation I found out that he was from LA, only in town visiting Jason for the week. He had actually flown in on jetBlue. Interesting, since that is the company that I work for. We chatted a little bit more and found out that we both served LDS missions in Brazil and that lead us into other small topics that we had in common. Needless to say, it was a great night. I left with the exchanging of numbers, and thinking that I would probably never hear from him again, but it was okay because it made for a pretty good night. To my surprise, he called the next day and asked me out for Tuesday. Unfortunately I already had plans on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. I knew he was flying out on Thursday so I was uncertain if I was going to see him again before we both left Utah for the month. We ended up texting a little bit on Tuesday morning and decided to do lunch. I chose my favorite, Zupa's. I love it!!! They have the best soup and salads around! And what's better then some lobster soup, oyster crackers, and a chocolate covered strawberry for a little lunch date. It was so fun!!

The more people I come in contact with and the more friends I make, it seems as if everyone is blogging now a days. I finally decided to jump in on this crazy state of uncontrollable excitement and wild behavior and start a blog for myself.

For awhile I was a myspacer, then slowly I turned to facebook to keep in contact with all my friends across the world. I'm not gonna lie, facebook has slowly taken over my life! Let's be honest, it's not like I have anything better to do with my time than stalk people on that stupid site. No, in all honesty, it's been great. That site has allowed me to find and stay updated with friends from High School, College and even my mission to Brazil that I never thought I would see again. This brings me to my purpose of blogging...I'm just going to throw this out there, I know that this is going to come as a HUGE shock to a lot of you who are reading this, but As perfect as I may seem, I'm not! I am horrible at keeping a journal. I'm hoping that throwing down my thoughts, and posting a few pictures every couple of days it will not only allow my readers to keep up to date with where I am and what I am doing, but it will also help me to keep tabs on my own life! Besides, we all know that what we really want is to see and hear are the juicy details of each others life, right??? LET THE BLOGGING BEGIN....