extreme make-over

I've always wondered,
if I made it to the "What not to wear" TV show, what they would do with ME...
But my most recent "make-over" is when I got my hair cut in Vegas two weekends ago.

I had been dying for months to get something done with my nasty hair, but I didn't trust anyone in Hawaii (my ex roommate who does awesome is no longer around) so I decided to stick it out until I made it to Vegas and have the same girl from last year do some serious damage (in a good way) to my hair. She is VERY talented, and thanks to my cousin for suggesting her!

Here is my before picture. I'm thoroughly embarrassed to show this hideous before picture, but it is just to how HOW BAD it really was, hence I always had my hair up.


Aaaannnnndddd... AFTER!!

(before color)
(after color, although you might not be able to tell a ton in this picture)

I love it. I've been wanting to cut my hair really short for a really long time now, it's been a while since I've had it short. I'm still learning how to style it, and each day is a different slight challenge, and I also have to be careful not to end up like this little guy

Mr. Bieber himself.

I'm going to show the long hair world of Hawaii some FLAVAH. watch out!

(not the best of quality of pictures, I apologize, but I hope you get the idea.)

No place like home

Being home has simply been delightful. Right now I'm not going to share pictures because I don't feel like going through all of them, and I don't have them all in my possession anyway. So here are just a few of the things that we have done so far that are noteworthy:

-Celebrated our ONE YEAR anniversary in Las Vegas
-Chopped my hair and LOVE IT
-Thoroughly enjoyed The Blue Man Group, and maybe a little bit of gambling... (yes, we both got carded immediately.)
-Camped overnight on the beautiful Lake Powell with perfect weather conditions and hiked "Hole in the Rock" where the poor pioneers hiked down with wagons, families and livestock
-Eaten good food and enjoyed the lovely company of our family and friends

At this point, I have no desire whatsoever to go back to Hawaii, which seems a little ironic, right? But I'm trying not to think about it too much and to enjoy the moment, and doing a pretty good job of it, too.

Home at last

After counting down for months for these next two weeks, and after approximately traveling for 10 1/2 hours, we are finally HOME. It feels great!

We're still on Hawaii time though, we woke up today at noon AZ time. The weather is gloomy today, but that's ok because today is our recovering from traveling day.

We are LOVING the dry heat. As soon as we stepped out of the plane we could feel the heat wave, and that was even at 12:00am. The plane was so ridiculously cold, and it was nice to break free from the artic and say hello to the desert.

T minus 3 days

Only approximately 3 days left until we go HOME!!!

So, what does "T minus" mean anyway? I think it just sounds stupid, along with the new 'cool' word "epic."

Anyway, these are just a few things I'm looking forward to when we head to the desert:

-hugging my family
-being around my family and laughing like an idiot, and hearing my sister's embarrassing laugh when she really thinks "she's funny"
-seeing my relatives
-needing to make NO effort in just being comfortable and at ease around my family and old friends, I crave that.
-having meaningful talks with my mom and not feeling judged or having to question her honesty
-Vegas get-away for the ANNIVERSARY weekend!
- Getting my nasty hair cut and colored
- Playing on Lake Powell!
-No or little humidity
-eating at places like Olive Garden, Cafe Rio, In-n-Out, Krispy Kreme....etc. don't judge.

I can't wait.

Oh, and I even can't wait to fly. I'm weird like that.

New Book

Every time I go to amazon.com it confuses me into thinking that I should buy a Kindle



It's a pretty cool gadget, but yet I still like the feel of an actual book, and the feeling of accomplishment when you finish it.

So I've been trying to read more, and have been doing horribly. I've also found that I apparently have reading ADD- I've read half of two books (the last one located just to the right of this post) and became bored with them, even though they were both very good reads.
I attribute this reading ADD to the consuming technology/media era. I'm a victim. Hi, my name is Jaimie. (I think it's time to read "The Age of Missing Information"...)

So anyway, I just bought a new book last night at Borders. (My book cover has Julia Roberts on it to promote the movie...)

Usually, I buy everything on amazon because it's cheap, but I wanted to make sure I had a book to read on the plane.

Besides the fact that they made a movie from the book that will be coming out soon, two of my co-workers told me its a must read, so I bought it, and I'm excited to get going.

There are still a lot of books left that I want to read, but time is starting to run out; I hope to at least get a few more in before prison (when school starts again).

Happy reading.

"Well MY dad..."

...is in Alaska and went fishing yesterday and caught:

-2 salmon
-2 SHARKS
-2 sting rays, one of which was 80 LBS!!!!!!!!!!!

My dad's better than yours.

The search is on!

for...



JOHNNY DEPP! (Jack Sparrow, of course)

This sexy man in eyeliner and the crew are here on our island shooting Pirates 4. We and some friends of ours were on search for him last weekend, and although we didn't find them, we did find one of their sets that they are using- we plan on going back and finding him!

Currently him and the black pearl are at a bay about 30 minutes away, filming at night. One of my co-workers has already met him, and I'm bound and determined to do the same, hopefully TONIGHT. Keep your fingers crossed. If all goes well, I'll soon be posting pictures / videos of him, and of me probably freaking out (refer to my sea turtle video.)

That is all.

For Dad

This picture spells VICTORY.
If any of you actually saw my dad's office before this, this really IS victory.

This post is for my dad.

He just retired this past Friday, and even though we know it's bitter sweet for him, we know that it's only the beginning to a new (and exciting) stage in life.

My dad has been working for The National Park Service for 30+ years (ish). We are known as one of those "park families"; every one of us has (or still does) worked for the park.

My memories of my dad working at the park consist of:

1) When I was little I LOVED the little cans of Tree Top apple juice that were in the vending machines in his office
2) My dad letting me eat from his secret stash of candy he kept in his office
3) Feeling special but also embarrassed that he had one of my art class masks that I made for an assignment hanging on his wall (it was hideous, but he liked it).
4) Park Service work parties consisting of lots of yummy (free) food and co-workers getting a little rambunctious after a few drinks AND where I got "Free Willy" from Santa (that changed my life...just ask my family....)
5) Feeling "privileged" and "special" that I could just walk into the headquarters whenever I wanted to and see my COOL dad who works in a BIG building.
6) Listening to his incredibly long answering machine message, and learning to set the phone down for a little bit before returning and leaving a message for him.

I love you dad and I appreciate you doing what you loved, and also providing for your family so well for many years, even if you had to deal with a lot of grief at times. You have left the park with dignity and no shame, and you have done a lot of good for the company that I know you don't realize.

Now go have fun in ALASKA!