• is about 40% done packing #
• says the 10 day forecast for most of Alaska is either showers or “few showers”. Nice. #
• didn’t get on the first flight, must now wait 5 hours for the next. must find ways to entertain ben! #
• finally boarding the plane to anchorage! #

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• is heading out to Alaska tomorrow…hopefully I’ll get over my phobia of icebergs… #
• says I still haven’t started packing, and I have a ton of work to do before I leave! #
• just picked up my camera from the shop, it’s all nice and clean now! #

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Chillin’, originally uploaded by Yano.

Ben and two of his best friends. Not a spontaneous picture - he totally posed for it!

I’m leaving for Alaska tomorrow, and as of 3:45pm I have not started packing. It could be an all-nighter!

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it already, but I’ll be going on a much needed vacation this week. We’re going on an Alaskan cruise, which has always been something I’ve wanted to do. Sure, it’s fun to go on cruises in tropical areas, going snorkeling and lounging on the beach, but I’ve always wanted to experience the beauty of our northernmost state, something I got a taste of when I visited there for work several years ago.

So of course, I’ve been doing research on things to do and places to see. I’m excited to see the glaciers and wildlife! But as I was going through people’s pictures in flickr, I realized there was something that I could have been suppressing, something that I will most likely have an encounter with during our cruise: ICEBERGS.

It’s something that I’ve mentioned in this blog, but never really gone into detail over…but I’m really scared of icebergs. I’d never seen one before in person (and really had thought that there was a likelihood that I’d never see one) but there’s something about them that rattles me. I think that part of it is the fact that you only see about 15% of it above water - the rest of it’s massive size lies hidden, waiting, under the water. The other thing is the sound that (I assume) they make underwater, this low frequency, ominous rumbling.

At first, I thought that maybe I was just making up this phobia, but in Wii Fit there’s a game where you have to balance on an iceberg to pick up fish, but if you go too far you fall off. I get all nervous and my heart starts beating heavy when I play it, so I know that this thing is legit, because I LOVE playing video games!

I just did a good search on “fear of icebergs” and I ran into an article that explains almost exactly how I feel:

Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words <-Link
It gives me the creeps.

Immense and unforgiving, icebergs show up where they are not supposed to be. They are cold and cruel-looking. More to the point, they often hide the worst of themselves.

I once came across a particularly vivid series of iceberg photographs.

Every shot showed different icebergs from two perspectives, photographed both above and below the surface of the sea. In one especially frightening shot, two jagged ice peaks reached innocently into the blue sky. Below the water, however, the thing spread into a monster, a craggy mass fully six times the size of the peaks in depth and width. It glittered with menace.

With an iceberg, it’s what you can’t see that is most terrifying.

So I leave you with this picture, as I try to get over my icebergophobia so I don’t totally freak out when I’m on the ship and I see an iceberg in the distance.

• is going to a baby shower… #

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The pre-Ben happiest day of my life happened 5 years ago today. I was planning on writing so much more today, but I’m sneezing and congested, and we had two parties we went today. It’s been a busy day for us and I just have under an hour to make this post before it’s technically tomorrow.

So yeah, Dave and I got married 5 years ago - it’s incredible how quickly time has gone by, and how much our lives have changed. Married life is never a fairy tale, and it takes some work, but we have grown so much together and it’s all worth it. I don’t want to sound like a cheesy Hallmark card, but essentially, it’s been a awesome, happy, loving five years.

I’ve been scanning all my wedding negatives over the last several months (we had our wedding before most photographers did weddings digitally), but haven’t had a chance to finish them. Be on the lookout for pictures, though…most of them are done, and that was my goal - to have my wedding pictures up, finally, after five years!

• is watching Olympic diving - the Roulin Chen has nerves of steel! #
• @NeverWanderer it’s even BETTER than synchronized jumproping, because they’re tossing ‘em up across to each other. it’s crazy! #
• says “Across the Universe” is a beautiful, trippy movie to watch…the plot, however, is just eh. #
• says aww, Ben just woke up and drowsily said, “i’m scared of brody!” (dave’s brother’s dog). Poor little guy must be dreaming! #
• is totally congested right now, my lips are chapped from breathing through my mouth! #

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I did this for the Winter Olympics in Torino, so I thought it might be a nice tradition. I’ve been watching quite a bit of the Olympics, though I don’t have the time or strength to watch it all the time. All in all, this has been an INCREDIBLE Olympics, from the political drama to Michael Phelps quest to the stories that fall in between the cracks, it’s been a good two weeks.

Here’s my highlights:

• Best Part of the Opening Ceremony - to me, it had to have been the Tai Chi.  Their lines were incredible, and it made me realize that we could never do anything like that in the US.  We’d have people sticking out all over the place!

• Worst Opening Ceremony Outfits - Come on, Hungary, what were you thinking?  Such beautiful girls looked like they were forced to were outfits from their grandmothers’ closets.

• Best use of Humans During the Opening Ceremony - Seriously, how did they do that Cube/Bouncing Block thing…even after the third time of watching it, it baffled me how they could have done it so perfectly, making waves with the blocks at different levels - there weren’t even any real beats to the music!
• Worst National Case of Milli Vanilli - Poor Yang Peiyi, not deemed cute enough by her country to sing at the Olympics.  I feel for ya, girl.
• Best Unspoken Requirement for Men’s Gymnastic Teams - that you need to have at least one hot guy.  See below for samples:

• Worst Follow-Through of Trash Talking - The French Men’s 4×100 freestyle relay team, saying "We’ll smash the Americans" before the race, and ending up second behind the Americans.  What makes the victory even more sweet was the NBC commentators saying that the US team had no chance…which brings us to…
• Best 46.06 Seconds Ever - That was the time that Jason Lezak swam his incredible anchor leg of the 4×100 freestyle relay.  When he was the first one to touch the wall I literally screamed in happiness.
• Worst Time for an Interview - Right after 15 year-old diver Haley Ishimatsu learned she didn’t make the finals, she was interviewed by NBC.  Even before the interview started I could see her eyes were puffy, and I could feel it coming.  Poor girl could hardly answer any questions she was so emotional.  She was a good sport and said the right things, like, "It was a great experience, I had fun" etc.  But I think that the press should let people have time for their emotions, especially ones so young.
• Best Post Olympics Plans - Misty May and Kerri Walsh want babies.  Walsh: "We need a baby…it’s that time." May: "We need the team of the future!"
• Worst Show of Happiness at Getting a Silver Medal - Alicia Sacramone.  Such a pretty girl, and I know that she felt the weight of the loss of the gold medal on her shoulders.  But come on!  You’re at the Olympics, and you’ve got a silver medal, more than most of the Olympians that you stood on the field with during the opening ceremonies could ever hope to get.  Cheer up, sourpuss!
• Best Sport to be a Volunteer For - When Kerri Walsh lost her wedding ring while blocking a spike, the Chinese volunteers brought in volunteers and metal detectors after the match to find it.  One lucky guy found the ring, and in return received some US flags, some Olympic pins, and a pat on the ass by Kerri Walsh.
• Worst Second of the Best 9+ Seconds Ever - Was it really necessary for Usain "Lightning" Bolt to stretch out his arms and celebrate during the last second of his 100m dash?  Watching this kid run is like watching me run against Ben - he makes it look so easy when he beats these amazing athletes.  What would have happened if Bolt ran the whole way?  How low would he have brought the world record?  Now we’ll never know. However, I don’t agree with the IOC reprimanding him for being a poor sport - this guy is making the sport exciting! If you’re going to reprimand someone, reprimand China for lying to get the Olympics.
• Best Reaction After Getting Your World Record Smashed - Michael Johnson, 2 time Olympian and previous 100m record holder, punched the air, laughed, jumping and shouting "Oh my god!" as he watched Usain "Lightning" Bolt run and win the 100m dash.  Although he has no longer the record holder, Johnson was totally excited to see such an amazing race.
• Worst Cover-Up - The Chinese gymnastics team saying that their athletes are 16 years old.  When you’re going to fake documents so your team can win golds, the least you can do is google them so you can delete any reference of their ACTUAL ages.  You may censor the internet in your country, but the rest of the world can still find these things out.
• Best Random Facts Blog - Yahoo’s "Fourth Place Medal".  They answer such obscure questions like, "Why do divers shower after diving?" (to keep loose),   "What is that black stuff on Kerri Walsh’s arm?" (kinesio tape that supports her muscles) and "Who was that really hot chick with Paraguay during the opening ceremonies?" (Leryn Franco, javelin thrower).
• Worst Case of Team Unity - Both the men’s and women’s 4×100m relay teams DROPPED their batons in the qualifying heats. Nice.
• Best Den Mother - Old lady Dara Torres (I kid!) went up to one of the officials during one of her semi’s. Why? To ask the official to hold up the race while a fellow competitor changed suits after finding a rip. After talking to the official, Dara talked to the other girls (because seriously, to Dara these were girls half her age) and told them to stay loose as they waited. It was obvious that they respected her. Once the race started, she took first in her heat, eventually winning silver.
• Worst Show of Sportsmanship - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian dropped his bronze medal on the mats in protest.  I don’t care if you thought you were wronged - go through the correct channels and suck it up while you’re on the podium and walking off.
• Best Moment I’m Glad I Missed - When German weight lifter Matthias Steiner won his gold, he took out a photo of his wife who had died in a car crash and held it with him on the podium.  I swear, if I watched that, I would have cried.  Man, it makes me a little misty even posting the picture.  (and speaking of Misty, Misty May dumped some of her mother’s ashes on the volleyball court after their gold medal win)******

• Worst Example of Getting Jinxed by the Media - Since the beginning of the games, NBC had been talking about how the Olympic Committee was going to get rid of women’s softball, probably since the US women had won all of the gold medals since it was included in the games.  Why keep a sport where one nation was unstoppable?  Then irony rains down in the form of a Japanese women’s team with an incredible pitcher.  They beat our girls and made them cry.  Goodbye softball.
• Best Genuine Smile - Shawn Johnson, after winning gold in the balance beam.  All week she has smiled and hugged as she’d been surpassed by her team mate Nastia Liukin and various Chinese gymnasts.  When her team fell apart, she kept a smile on her face and stayed cool.  Unlike others, she smiled during the team medal ceremony.  But once she knew she got that gold, it was a different smile altogether!  A well deserved win for someone who didn’t pout and stayed positive during the competition.  I remember her smiling and waiting patiently to be the first one to hug Sandra Izbasa, who beat her top floor exercise score on the last routine.
• Worst Use of Media Passes - After Michael Phelps got the record for most golds, he climbed up the stands to hug and kiss his mother.  however, he had a hard time coming back down because the press (or shall they be called paparazzi at this point?) had swarmed around him, leaving him no room to move.  He had to actually say, "Come on, guys" just so he could get back down to the pool.  Several times during the games I’ve seen photographers get way to close to the athletes…it’s annoying.

• Best Reason I Like Michael Phelps - (I know that makes no sense, but it had to start with "best", right?)  Yes, I know he broke Mark Spitz’ record.  Yes, I know he’s arguably the best Olympian ever (but come on, Carl Lewis was in 4 Olympics and won in 2 different events - running and long jump).  But to me, Michael could have been a guy that was full of himself and was going to waste his money away on booze (hello DUI!) and women.  Until I saw an interview with Bob Costas and his mother (not Bob’s, Michaels!).  Bob had asked Michael’s mom why she was going back to work as a school principal, and as she answered, Michael was looking at his mom with what could only be described as a look of pride.  He then said that to his mom, her kids (referring to the school children) are everything.  It made me melt a little to see him talk so proudly of his mom.
• Worst Try At Making an Interview All About You - In an arranged interview with Phelps and Mark Spitz, Mark tried every way he could to talk about himself.  From talking about meeting Phelps in Athens several times (which I’m assuming is a dig for not being invited to Beijing this year) to saying that he was the inspiration for Michael’s quest for gold, there was one thing that was clear with Mark…it’s all about ME! ME! ME!
• Best Event that I’ve Only Seen Five Minutes Of - I was flipping through the channels yesterday and came across the Rhythmic Gymnastics team event. The Chinese team was doing a routine with a rope, and let me tell you, it was beautiful! They were tossing them up in the air to each other and catching them, winding it around one of the girls and lifting her in the air…it was so pretty! But that was one of the last routines they had, so I didn’t get to see much more. I’ll definitely try and catch it tomorrow morning, er, night, ugh, this time difference confuses me!

• says the hardest thing about changing yourself is…changing yourself… #
• is watching team rhythmic gymnastics. dancing with jump ropes. fun! #

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• is accepting the fact that as life goes on, things change, people move forward, with or without you, just go with the flow… #
• just got spammed with 150 task emails for work. nice. thanks. #
• is up late working and watching a documentary on wolverines - the fuzzy animal, not the x-man. #

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