enJOY it

I am watching the US women's gymnastic Olympic trials. And I am already starting to cry and stand up and clap out loud. I cannot watch gymnastics with out remembering 1996 when the Magnificent Seven reigned supreme. I wanted to be Kerri Strug. Or at least put her in my pocket.

Oh, hooray for Olympic season.

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Timestamp: 2008-06-21 11:23:40 UTC

I have no idea what UTC time is, but it is 7:25 AM here on the East Coast. Congrats to Jen! A box o' stuff just needs your address. Please email me at elise.blaha@gmail.com.

You all have exciting weekends ahead. I have work today and then oh yes, work tomorrow. I am making up for vacation and trying to remember that the vacation was worth it.

Cheers to Saturday – make it good.

I am embarking on a mission to clean out my craft area and it looks like I have a big box of NEW paper and letter stickers and rubons and ribbons and stamps and everything to give away. Leave a comment with your plans for the weekend and I will randomly pick a name tomorrow morning.
Happy Friday!

One year, one month and one day ago I wrote a letter to myself from my future self. The person that I thought I would be today. The person I hoped to be today. This project was inspired by Kal, and I believe it came from The Art of Possibility.

Today I opened my letter. I could not remember what I wrote. Turns out I was generic. With nearly everything. But today when my present self read what my future self wrote I felt peace. Radiating from who I was on May 18, 2007 and from who I am today.

I will do this letter project again. But I may frame the letter and keep it out so I can remember where I am headed. Where I want to be in 1+1+1

Dear Paul,

Good news! The plant is doing better. I wish I had a before photo from the moment I walked through the door. Imagine the plant – only flattened. Turns out I am an excellent plant healer. And should probably be the one in medical school.

Other good news! I am doing better. I should never complain about work again. Because it saved me today. It got me out of the lonely house and it settled my mind. It reminded me of the task at hand. To Do Lists keep me going.

I still miss you, of course. But I will make it until Monday. (And so will the plant.)

Love you. Elise

Dear Paul,

I could not sleep last night. At all. Not even a little bit for at least three hours. Turns out I miss you a lot when it is just me in this apartment. Perhaps I am not the best candidate for Operation : Live Alone. Perhaps I am the worst candidate for that task.

I miss you.

I got lost last night coming home from the airport. Which we should have know would happen. We should have know that if there was not a big arrow that announced "Elise Blaha, Go This Way!" There was no way I could just "figure it out" as we had hoped. I couldn't call you, so I just circled back to the airport and got directions from an 80-year-old airport sheriff. Which was sort of the next best thing to you. I guess.

We get an exceptionally large amount of junkmail. Collecting it all in one day is not as exciting as one would hope.

I should also mention that I am currently trying my hardest to save our plant which when I walked it last night was gasping for breath. Or water. Or sunlight. I am providing it will all three and it looks like it is getting some of its color back. I will keep it around for you to call time of death if things take another turn for the worst.

This morning I will go on a mission to see the geese. Our baby geese who must for sure be adult geese with babies of their own by now. I will of course tell them hello for you. And try to convince them the benefits of staying together as a family unit.

You are the best. I miss you. Come home soon.

Love, Elise

Ka-boom. Back from Hawaii. Turns out I wore myself ragged on the relaxing vacation because since leaving Hawaii and getting back to Sacramento, I have spent many a moments sleeping. Yesterday I tried the high-tech adventure that is the video blog but youtube did not let me upload it. And today I am just too tired to try again. Any thoughts? Is three minutes and 721MBs too long for youtube?

Either way, I wanted to share a few trip memories the old fashioned way. See that sunset photo? You may be thinking: "How did she process that in photoshop?" But the secret behind that photo is called, "Put Your Sunglasses In Front Of The Lens." Pretty exciting results.

Tomorrow I fly back to MARYLAND and embark in the opposite of a vacation which is nine days straight of work. Somewhere around there I will figure out how to get a video up and running. I will also try to sleep.

Yes, yes, I am still in Hawaii. Kauai to be exact. With Paul and his fabulous family (which includes Kristen, his sister, and one of my best friends.)

But, it is raining cats and dogs (or more specifically, chickens and roosters – they roam free on the island) so I figured I would do a little Paper Source post thanks to the suggestion by April.

I work at Paper Source. But long before I worked there and probably long after I eventually leave, these are my favorite, must have, cannot find anywhere else products:
The envelope is underestimated. A lot of focus goes into what is inside the envelope, but really the envelope is the presentation. It is the good part. I love the 4bar size because it is small and perfect for a little note. I have also been using envelopes in little books and paper projects.
The very first thing I remember buying at a Paper Source are these little file folders. I do not have any miniature things to be filed but together they make a pretty cool little book.
If I have learned one thing at my job, it is the importance of good gift wrap. And turns out real live satin ribbon blows that plastic curling ribbon out of the water every single time.
I am not a rubber stamper. At all. I only own three stamp pads: black StazOn, brown StazOn and VersaMark. But Paper Source sells the greatest stamps. I buy the versatile ones. Like this, this and this. Oh and this.
My absolutely favorite PS product are the mailing labels. These are my go to item for almost every layout or mini album. They are the best. And come in a ton of colors – much more in the store than shown online.

I also love Paper Source for the third party items we carry – like greeting cards, Kolo albums, and Cavallini calendars. And OF COURSE the paper. The walls of every store are lined with large flat sheets – generally about 26×20 inches in size.

I am going to end this before I launch into some sort of infomercial complete with buy now 1-800 number. Have an excellent day…I am going to go swimming.

There are at least two ways I like to use the word "awesome." One way is when I really mean "right on, dude." Most commonly used in situations were I have just realized that there is a Starbucks nearby. Or when the shoes I am buying turn out to be more on sale than I thought.

The second type of awesome is used only in moments when I am truly awed. Like when I see something amazing made by God. Like blue sky and blue sea with a dolphin jumping in between. Like a mile high cliff covered in salt stains. Like when a flying fish (which really should be called a swimming bird) soars a foot about the water for about 100 yards.

We went out in a boat on the ocean today. Three cheers for Captain Andy's for helping us get closer to such awesome sights.

My camera battery died after I took about 40 photos, so I unleashed the Polaroid. And now think I may be the only person on the planet with polaroid photo of a dolphin.

Drinking in Hawaii comes with a language lesson. The Kona beer caps have WORDS and their HAWAIIAN COUNTERPART on them. Check this out:

Hulo! Pau moana kamau! Akamai ono ohana!

Which means (obviously), "Hooray! All done ocean! Cheers clever, delicious family!" I keep searching for the beer caps with verbs and/or prepositions on them but so far not much luck.

The other good news is that I have found a replacement animal to obsess over while we are away from the geese family. Sea turtles are the new water fowl. I love them. And I have big plans to swim with them and/or photograph them drinking Hawaiian beer.

Speaking of liquid, I love the ocean. I mean, everyone, at least a little bit, loves the ocean. Even if it is just the idea of all those repetitious waves. But while on this trip, I have found that I am in love with it. I love to swim in it. Something about how it makes me feel a lot like a surfer is really fantastic. And I do not even mind that I have water in my ear. Or that I constantly knock myself in the head trying to remove said water.

Overall – absolutely fabulous vacation so far. My skin is developing what I would like to call pigmentation and my hair is doing its part to personally fight in the war against humidity. Seriously, this trip has been all about good food, good views and good people. Excellent. "Hulo!"

(Quick prize for those that read until the end of this jumbled post: Charlie Bit Me. Please watch this. And then watch it about 15 more times. I promise after that you will be on the floor laughing/scouring amazon.com for a British speaking child on sale. …and PS, there are none: I checked.)