Christmas Party Photos!

Well, I'm an idiot.
I thought I had wound up my film already, but I hadn't.
Yes, I exposed some of my film.
However, most of the photos survived. The best were exposed.
So here they are, a couple photos from SoCal



and heaps of photos from literally the BEST party I've been to in years;

The Last Few Days

I went down to LA, and had an awesome time. I got to see some family and friends, and it was really nice to hang out with those I saw. For those of you I didn't see, I'll be down again!

Everyone in my family seems to be doing really well, and I couldn't be happier. After all the hardships that life has offered, everyone seems to be pulling through and turning each situation into a positive.
I love that.
I took some pictures on my Lomo, so whenever I get those developed I will post them.

I drove back to Truckee after dinner, and got home at around 2:30 in the morning. I slept for a bit, then dragged my bum to the gym only to find out that my fish oil exploded all over my gym bag, workout clothes, bikini and towel.
Needless to say, I smelled so awkward that I didn't make any friends at the gym.
Hahahah.

I am also super excited to spend Christmas Eve with my mom and Cliff tonight, yummy dinner at the Ritz. The holiday sweater party and Secret Santa tomorrow will be fun as well!

Yesterday I bought something that I'm uber excited about...a Lonely Planet guidebook to India. India has been top of my list for years....the culture, the colors, food and spices; everything. Currently I'm reading my Israel/Palestine guidebook, but I'm excited to delve into the new one.

I'm thinking that this trip to India [after summer] will also include Indonesia and Oz. All my Aussie friends have been bugging me to come over for years, so I figure I might as well half-ass circumnavigate the globe. Please, STA, give me a ticket I can afford!
So, tentative plans [planned so I can actually pay for this shizz!]
April 14th: London
April 16th: Dublin
April 19th: London
April 21st: Tel Aviv
May 5th: Rome
June 21st: LA
Work in the bike shop for summer
Late August: Delhi
September: Bangkok
Late September: Melbourne
October: Truckee

Anyways, I hope everyone has a very safe and very happy holiday! Mind the gnarly storms and embrace those you love. To all my friends and family: I love you to pieces and I'm beyond grateful for you in my life! Cheers :)

Yeah!!!!

Stoked!
Friday- Pat Smith's birthday party, Apples to Apples, cake in his face, will upload pictures eventually.

Saturday-Bourgeois Gypsies at Bar of America, so much fun! Albeit it almost looked like old people soft core porn the way those 60-somethings were grinding on each other and making out. I had to leave for a bit because I was a bit disturbed [hahaha]. It was folk music!

Today-Crazy at work! But, I got off early and am doing my laundry....I'm driving down to LA late late night/early early morning to see family and my wife.

Watch out Hollywood, tomorrow Lyndsay, Andi and I are on the prowl for some hipster babes! Les Deux, or Opera anyone? Yes, please!

Oh, how I missed girls' night out. So excited to see family and friends. I'm going to hurry and clean do I can get some sleep and get on the road again.

See ya in two and two folks!

So Effing Ecstatic!

An unexplainable (okay, well, I guess I'm about to explain it) sense of jubilation came over me about two hours ago.
It's to the point that I was smiling ear to ear and laughing like a crazy person in Safeway.
No, it was not because of the gaper in the once-piece, ski boots still on [and it's dark outside], although that just added to my insane happiness.

Factors that Led to the Happiness;

1. Good workout, good hot tub, good endorphins.
2. Finalizing an end to the past, and having an enormous burden of stress that I didn't even realize I had dissipate with past memories.
3. Getting paid, and having more than enough money to buy the first of my tickets to my Middle Eastern/European adventure [yeee!!] This is when I REALLY started to literally jump up and down in glee. Yay to dorking out on archaeology and visiting friends!
4. Driving to the store when "There's No Home for You Here" by the White Stripes came on shuffle, and it was so good I had to put it on repeat.
5. Feeling and realizing, yet again, that I am absolutely FREE to do what I want, not just in the immediate future but life in general. Realizing all my potential, opportunities, and passion that I have will get me far in whatever it is that I want to do.
[Laughing, smiling, by this point to the extent of someone in an insane asylum]
6. Walking into Safeway and seeing that my favorite brand of Tofu, taco mix, Orangina AND PERRIER was on sale! And some yummy fruit!
7. Seeing the aforementioned gaper [hahaha]

8. Thinking about how amazing the snow has been so far and that it will be a great winter
9. Spending only 20 bucks at the store for everything I wanted
10. Driving home to a clean, empty house with yummy food
11. Eating leftover lunch deliciousness

ECSTATIC! Now I think it's movie times with friends. This day turned out way better than I expected it to; fantastic!

Life is good. I hunger for the possibilities.
:)

Hiking Mt. Rose yesterday...

...was an absolute failure. The hike out was nice, but we didn't find the rails buried under the snow, the snow wasn't right to build a kicker, the tree jib was a bit sketch, and a storm was blowing in.
I started to walk back, and the wind had blown over and filled in our tracks, so all two feet of me needed to re-hike in waist deep snow and super strong wind that was blowing me literally over [I'm little]. My sled ended up smacking me in the head a few times.
It wasn't the greatest, but it was still nice to be outside.

On another note, I feel like I'm headed on to a new phase in my life, one without a person that has been very important in my life for the past almost year and a half.
Friendships come and go, but it sucks when a tumultuous ring of events causes the end of a best friend era; it makes one evaluate the existing friendships and appreciate them that much more. The past day has been a wee bit emotional for me, and as most of you know, I am not an emotional person [although I do care very deeply about the people in my life]. I'm better now after some time for reflection.

Tomorrow will be a new day, a happy day. I have an amazing life that I'm very grateful for, but that has no room for negativity or disrespect. I do not deserve that, and when I encounter this in my friends, which is very rare, I 'trim the fat.'
To this person, you know who you are; I will always hope the best for you, I wish you nothing but luck and happiness in your future endeavors, but I cannot be your friend anymore. There is no spot for you in my heart, but I will try to remember you fondly. Goodbye.

Preliminary Plans

I know it's a bit in advance, and I haven't bought my tickets yet, but because this trip will be much shorter than my previous European excursions, I want to make sure I see as many of the homies as I can.
I found some uber cheap flights, and I'm going to buy each one over the next few paychecks/if I sell anything.
I won't be visiting Norway or Sweden this time [sadly] but perhaps in the fall when tickets drop in price during the rainy season.

April 13th: LAX-LON
April 15th: LON-DUB [Dublin]
April 18th: DUB-LON
April 21st: LON-TEL AVIV

From there I'm going to spend at least two weeks traveling all over Israel, and stopping off in Jordan for a few days to visit Petra. Depending on where that puts me time/money-wise and what I can find for cheap tickets, I will go from Israel to Rome, maybe stopping in Turkey to stay at the treehouses in Olympos and sleep in the caves in Cappadoccia. Whilst in Rome, if I'm making enough money, I might take a mini trip to France and hit up Paris, perhaps Nice and Lyon as well. That will most likely be last minute, but if any of you Frenchies want to hang out let me know.

I fuond a cheap ticket back, about 250 quid LON-LAX around the third week of june, but that ticket might have to be in a few paychecks.

I hate planning but as aforementioned I want to be as careful with time and money as I can.

My secret to traveling so much when traveling is expensive?
Finding unnaturally cheap flights super in advance [or very last minute depending on the airline]. Flying is definitely the cheapest way to travel to and around Europe-trains are fun but way too much money.

Flying all the time for cheap does have its downfalls; out of the way airports low weight restrictions on baggage,, spending entire days in the airport, and just being at airports in general.

Oh well, you get what you pay for!

I Believe This Is Winter....

East Coast style!
I thought I lived in California...?
I'm really stoked that we're getting snow.
Please warm up a little though, I'm not enjoying the snot-factor.

Other things I'm excited about?
1. Visiting Miss Turley and my family in socal for a few days before Christmas.
2. Christmas Eve dinner with my mom.
3. Secret Santa with my buddies
4. Payday
5. GOING TO ISRAEL IN APRIL! [So excited to geek out on archaeological remnants of multiple religions and peoples]
6. Going back to Europe in Spring to work for Pub Crawl again, and check up on all those Spanish Steps crazies:)

What a good life! Man, I really need to save up some money and workout more. Even though I found uber cheap tickets to get me across the pond, I need money!
If you want to buy a BRAND NEW Rome Machine at proform price, barely ridden [too big for me, obviously], let me know. Also, I would be willing to part with some holden stuff for cheap!

Fun Weekend!

Friday night:
Show in reno! Story of the Year, All That Remains, and The Devil Wears Prada.

Story of the Year was a bit lame, but probably just because they are not my favorite, As I wrote on Facebook, "The highlight of Story of the Year was watching the entirety of Reno's teenage scene population adjust their hair; most likely te very crew that hangs out at movie theaters where Twilight is playing."
Hahaha.

All That Remains was amazing live; both the band and the show-goers where so pumped with energy, that it made it one of the top shows I've seen this year. Excellent.

And finally, after years of waiting, I saw the Devil Wears Prada. They were epic! I was a little bummed that they only played three old songs, none of which was my favorite, but they were amazing. I seriously loved it.

Saturday Night;
Dressed shop party downtown.

Trevor's girlfriend Kate has opened a really cool store in downtown Truckee called Dressed, and she had a type of 'launch party' for friends where everything was 20% off. A lot of really cool styles, and there is something for everyone. If you are in the Truckee area, you should definitely check it out.

Johnny ended up putting on some shiny black leggings that looked like really tight leather pants, and it actually looked good. Hahahhaa.
Here are some pictures;










And lastly, Sunday I went to work, and it started puking snow! I got off work early so I could unload the huge TV that Cliff/Mom gave me, and it was snowing up the bejesus.






Today is my day off, I am a little sniffly from the cold and have a lot to do today. Hopefully I can squeeze in a workout!