Wordless Wednesday

(Sunrise in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains)

Swimming: the good, the bad, and the ugly

If you know me in real life or know just a little about me already, you probably know that I spend the majority of my days in the water. Water meaning pool (most of the time). I started swimming laps at the tender age of three and started competing just nine months later at four years old. As Brad Paisley would say, "and so it began, my love affair with water." I flippin' love swimming. LOVE IT. I have been swimming for so long (so long meaning fifteen years) that I consider it an integral part of my life.

Since high school has ended, I haven't swam too much because all the teams I was on ended after graduation. Lame! It was a sad end to the season(s) and then I got thinking...wow, this could possibly be the last time I ever swim competitively! It's actually really sad and after a couple weeks I already missed it. For about a week or two now, I have been lap swimming most mornings to keep myself active and in the water. Don't get me wrong, it has felt so incredibly nice, but something is missing. Do you happen to know what that something is? My team. My team(s) were the absolute best and without them with me all day every day, my heart feels a little bit empty.

And that leads me to the good, bad, and ugly of swimming (I'm sure non-swimmers have heard that it's a love/hate "relationship." And that, my friends, is 100% truth.):

GOOD

Team bonding!

Knowing how to swim! This is always a plus because I can trust myself in the pool, plus it makes it easy to teach swim lessons! :)

BAD

Getting beat up on a weekly basis...(this is in water polo, actually)

UGLY

Broken equipment. When I hear swimming, I think of very little clothing (or whatever), not much equipment, and little financial issues. The truth is, that swimming can quickly add up to be a very expensive depending how often you go through caps, goggles, swim suits, fins, pull buoys, etc.

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye sucks. The last time I had to say goodbye to someone was when I was about five years of age or so and my best friend in the whole entire world was moving to Nebraska. Lame! I, of course, had no idea what was going on except that my home away from home was completely empty and I was saying "bye bye" to my friend for what could very well be the last time. Luckily we still keep in touch but it's not the same from states away, rather than houses away.

Well, this week has been the week of goodbyes. Let's see, in the last week, I have been to four going away parties. FOUR! And at those parties were all the people (okay, not all) that I went to high school with and could possibly rarely see again. It was pretty sad but in all honesty, it was more of an exciting time than an emotional one.

(me and A)

This is my gorgeous, amazing, brilliant, stunning friend A. A is the best thing that ever happened to me in high school. I am so incredibly blessed to have met her and become so close to her. It is absolutely amazing how close her and I have gotten over the last four years. Anyway, A, being the Mormon she is, left for Utah on Tuesday morning to attend a University out there. I will miss her boat-loads but I know that she is going to do so well out there and that this has to happen at one point or another. Plus, while I'm sun-basking in San Diego this coming winter, she will be shoveling snow. Ha!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple months. Trust me, we have taken thousands together, so thank me for so few pictures! ;)

me and A at a water polo game

A and me camping

A and me at graduation

With her gone now for almost two full days, I may feel a little empty inside but deep inside I am still honored to call her my best friend and cannot wait until Christmas break when I get to see her again!!!!

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Hitched!

After college, graduate school, residencies, three different locations, five different continents traveled to, many memories made, and seven years of dating...

...let me introduce to you Dr. and Mrs. A

July 31, 2010

Congratulations, L and P!!!!! You two are going to be a fabulous couple for the rest of your lives and be some awesome parents once parenthood comes your way. I am so blessed to have you both in my life- hopefully I will see you in Denver soon! xoxo

L and me on wedding day!

L and me at the Yankee game in NYC, 2007