As I hang my head in shame, tail between my legs, I must admit that I'm an asshole.  I love that old quote, "excuses are like assholes--everyone has one and they all stink!"  It's good for a giggle...and it's also true!  I promised myself that I would get back to blogging, and that I wouldn't offer any "why I haven't blogged" excuses.  Buuuuut, as I say, I'm an a-hole.  Life took that challenge, threw her head back, and laughed at me.  "Try this!", she exclaimed as she dealt me a broken computer (going on 4 weeks without my macbook pro!) and a job training schedule that's left me barely enough time to shower and walk my dogs.  Okay Life, touche. You win.

My computer still isn't fixed, and my job training is far from over, so I'm not making any promises.
While I'm here, let's have some fun and play a game of
Blogger Yay+Nay.

Blogger Yay:
The fabulous Jenna from The Life of the Wife, happens to be my personal makeup guru.  I know, you should be jealous!  But what can I say?  I seriously needed some help and advice, now that I'm back in California, land of cheap and easy shopping.

I went to Target, and Jenna texted me through some makeup must-haves.

Here's what I walked out with:



I'm totally loving the falsies, and I also enjoy thinking of Jenna everytime I apply chapstick.  Is that creepy?  Probably!

My other Blogger Yay is that I received a VoxBox from Influenster.

I'm pretty stoked to be trying these products.  It's like they knew me and the shizz I needed {and love} when they put together this voxbox.  Lindsay swears by natural deoderant, and now I have some to try!  We've also been washing our own dishes 'round these parts, so the dish drying mat is a product I didn't know existed, but that I totally need.  Anyhow, once I have a chance to give this stuff a try, I'll let y'all know what I think.

Blogger Nay:

Back when we did vlogs about products we love, several bloggers talked about loving coconut oil as lotion.  Specifically, they suggested going to Trader Joe's to pick up some of the awesome, moisturizing goodness.  I'm a total sucker for TJ's, so any excuse to go is a good one in my book.  That is, until I tried the coconut oil.

Let me be clear, if you LOVE feeling like an oil slick immediately after showering, this product is for you.  You'll smell great, and you'll leave a greasy trail everywhere you go.  I wish I was kidding.  Perhaps in winter when this shizz is not liquid at room temp, it would be possible to apply small enough amounts to make this tolerable.  However, considering I would never slather myself in olive oil, vegetable oil, or bacon grease, I'm thinking this is just another product that should stay in the kitchen, as it was intended.

Well friends, I hope you enjoyed the game of Blogger Yay+Nay.  Please send me some good juju that my computer is fixible, and that it gets fixed soon!

And just so you can laugh along with Life, here's another gem.

Remember how I got back to the U.S. after 7 weeks of travelling and I said I wanted to stay put for awhile?  Once again, Life just listened, silently crafted her plan, and is now having a good laugh!

My work schedule for the next five weeks:

Week 1: Fresno

Week 2: Atlanta (through the weekend)

Week 3: San Francisco

Weeks 4+5: Kansas City (through the weekend)

So much for staying put!  Once I'm through with my job training, things should settle down considerably {at least that's what I keep telling myself!}  My brain is so full of science that I've been forgetting things like how to add, which streets to turn on, the words to prayers I've previously memorized, days of the week, and which team I picked for my fantasy football this week.  I'm not sure if this makes me smarter or dumber.  On the flip side, ask me anything about immunology, conventional and non-conventional MRI's, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease!  One of these days, I hope all this knowledge can co-exist harmoniously.

I love you my bloggy friends!  I hope y'all haven't abandoned me just yet.

This weekend, I got to do my favorite thing in the whole world.
Something I haven't done for the last three years,
something I used to make a living out of,
and considered to be a huge part of my identity.

On Saturday, I woke up at 6:30am,
did my morning meditation with a smile on my face,
and then I slipped on my cowboy boots,
and got ready to head to the horse ranch.

One of my former riding students
bought a beautiful, big Half Arabian in February.
I've been dying to catch up with her & meet her new horse.

The feeling of being back in the saddle just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy.
Even writing it now brings that flood of feeling.
I'll never forget how to ride.  I'll always just have it.
I've spend enough of my life on the back of a horse that it will stay with me forever.
Watching Michelle warm up her horse reaffirmed that I still have my eye for it too.
I can watch someone ride and know exactly what's happening,
and what correction should be made to fix any problem.
Meet Richochett....
{aka Ricky}

Michelle standing him up for Halter

Without a doubt, it's one of the best feelings in the world
to be on top of a horse.
I'm going to continue working with Ricochett and Michelle
and we might even do some showing next year (!!!)
So, yeah, this grin might not wear off for quite some time.

Big news around these parts....

I GOT A JOB!!!!

{via}

And not just any job, my plan A I really want this one job.
As most of you know, I'm a big believer in the Universe having a unique, awesome plan for each of us.
This job search has been an excellent reminder of this phenomenon.
Despite having applied for jobs while traveling, I got almost no action.
However, as soon as we returned to LA, it was on like Donkey Kong.
I had recruiters calling me, I had phone interviews, face-to-face interviews,
and I knew pretty quickly that there was one position that interested me far more than the rest.
Since then, I've done multiple interviews and ride-alongs with this company,
culminating in a final interview last Friday in Sacramento.

By Monday afternoon, they provided me with a job offer.
Was I excited? Hell yes!
Did I accept the job right away? Hell no!
One of my goals for this job search was to practice my negotiating skills,
and to really make sure I was getting the best package possible.
After 24 hours of negotiations, which included my manager-to-be fighting with HR several times,
they provided me with an offer that I felt good about accepting.

I think I'm more excited than the time my mother-in-law sent me Reese's peanut butter eggs in Australia.  Yes, it's that exciting.
I'll still be doing sales in the same industry as before,
but it's a new company and new products.
There's more opportunity for advancement,
and a much larger bonus potential with this new company.

Let the celebrations commence.

This is about as patriotic as I get, people.
Without further ado, my Things I'm Grateful For: US Edition...

• Pandora radio
• Large, easy-access parking lots
• Trader Joe's
• Yogurtland
• being able to easily call & text friends/family
• my dogs!  my sweet, sweet dogs
• Olympic coverage biased toward my home country
• cheap fuel {yeah, I said it}
• cheap everything, for that matter
• weather reports in Farenheit
• using our electronics without plug adapters

I haven't been around the blog world much lately.  Part of me feels that I owe you all and explanation for that, and part of me says {in my best Cartman voice} "whatever, I do what I want."  Seriously though, let me take a crack at this.

Excuse #1:

I went to my week-long meditation retreat at the beginning of August.  It's an annual event for me, and I always make it a week without any computer or television.  I also limit cell phone use to the occasional communication with my husband.  Needless to say, I wasn't doing any blogging during the retreat.  But even more than that, I generally come home from the retreat with a new perspective on my attachment to the internet.  I realize how free I am without it, and how much time I waste on my computer.  So I'm always a little hesitant to jump right back in.

Excuse #2:

After returning "home" from my retreat, we emptied our storage space back into our apartment.  I spent one night amidst the boxes before flying to Albuquerque to visit my sister & pick-up my dogs.  Visits with my sister {and my cute nephews} always fly by, so once again I try to really limit my computer time and capitalize on the visit.  I took quite a few pictures & video clips with blogging in mind, but cannot quite seem to devote the time to it.

Excuse #3:

Fast forward to my return from Albuquerque.  I arrive back at my apartment to the sad reality that all my life's possessions are still in boxes, suitcases, and piles all over the house.  Like it or not, I had a lot of work to do.  In addition to unpacking, there's all the other small tasks associated with moving back home--like updating our renter's insurance policy, changing our car insurance, going through the stacks of mail we accumulated, and the list goes on.  I could continue, but I think you get the picture.

storage space

our bedroom...yikes!

Basically, life has taken precedence over blogging.  And for the most part, I feel really good about that.  I'm trying to let go of this idea that I have to blog 5 times a week.  I want to free myself from feeling guilty if I don't write a blog posts, or don't find time to read my favorite blogs.  This should be a hobby, not a chore.  

In an effort to reduce any obligation I feel toward blogging, I'm going to stop selling & swapping ads for awhile.  Once your ad expires in Passionfruit, I won't renew it.  If and when I return to regular blogging, I'll revisit this :)

So let's collectively cross our fingers and toes that I find a way to gracefully add a little blogging back into my life.  At the very least, the following posts have been floating around in my head far too long not to blog them:

• Paid Sponsorship Mythbusters (aka My Foray in the Land of Buying Ad Space)
• Passionfruit: My Two Cents (on the things I like, and also why it's a pain for ad swapping)
• Pictures & words about Saigon, Taiwan, Japan, and New Zealand!

"You cannot make steel until you have made the iron white-hot in fire.  

It is not meant for harm.  Trouble and disease have a lesson for us.  

Our painful experiences are not meant to destroy us, but to burn out our dross, 

to hurry us back Home.  No one is more anxious for our release than God."

-Paramahansa Yogananda

"Man's Eternal Quest"

On the last day of our vacation,

my husband finally decided to shave

the stubble that had been growing for a week or two.

Husband: I think I might shave a moustache.

Me: Yup, go ahead honey.

{mentally: "yeah right, he'd never do that!"}

I guess you can plainly see who called who's bluff.

I cannot take him seriously with that thing.

It's like everything he says must be part of 

some episode of "Reno 911."

It's either cop 'stache or porno 'stache

and the fact that it's so short and stubbly

is almost more ridiculous.

However, I just drudged up a picture that can trump it.

Several years ago, Jeff came back from camping in MI,

and before he completely shaved his beard,

he shaved this gem.

Enjoy this photo while it lasts.

I might be a dead woman by morning.

Let's recap,
Mazzy ran out and immediately gave me one-hundred kisses on the lips.
Toby had be to put on a leash in order to force him to come out of the house.
Haha!  He's my little, old man and he doesn't like change.
However, about fifteen minutes into our reunion, he was back to normal.
Both pups literally didn't leave my side the entire night.
I broke the rules and let them sleep in bed with me.
It was glorious.

I'm so, so happy to have my family back together.
I missed them like craaaaaazy.

So at this point,
all is right with the world.

"Dear Father, whatever conditions confront me, 

I know that they represent the next step in my unfoldment.  

I will welcome all tests because I know that within me 

is the intelligence to understand and the power to overcome."

-Paramahansa Yogananda

"Metaphysical Meditations"

Hi Friends!

As if I haven't been absent enough,

this week I'm gone to a weeklong meditation/spiritual retreat.

It's something I do every year, as an opportunity to unplug from the "real" world,

and soley focus on my spiritual life and being a better person.

{via}

I suppose it's my blogging summer vacation.

Many of you have asked about our dogs,

and the answer is that we haven't seen them yet.

We fly to Albuquerque next week to get them!

So when I return from my week away,

expect some puppy reunion cuteness!

"The greatest of all duties is to remember God.  

The first thing to do in the morning is to meditate on Him 

and think how you can give your life to His service, 

so that all day long you will be filled with His joy."

-Paramahansa Yogananda

"Self Realization Magazine"