Spring has finally sprung!

It is actually suppose to be 80 degrees on Monday. I am thrilled. The warm(er) weather is such a nice change. I found this picture in my iPhoto library. I took it back in the summer of 2005 while I was home visiting my parents house from Manhattan. It was the first picture I took with my Canon 10D. There isn't anything incredibly amazing about this picture but it makes me think of the days yet to come. Running around the yard with the dogs and sitting on the patio and drinking wine. My parent's backyard is a true oasis and I just can't wait for it to be warm enough for me to enjoy it. Azim and Mateo love to use the circle in the sunken part of the garden as a race track and chasing each other til they drop from exhaustion. But soon enough it will be warm enough for those days and I can go visit the koi fish and feed them food. I love summer.

obsession: customized google

It isn't often that something on the web excites me but recently google introduced a theme for the top of your google homepage. I chose one that has a little fox on it. He apparently lives in Japan somewhere and the screen changes as the time of day changes according to where you live by simply putting in your zip code. The little fox is so cute. He even goes to sleep in a sleeping bag on the dock. And maybe the customizable google homepage isn't new but I recently just started using it. If you haven't already, you should too. It allows you to add searchable fields for site that you use often including youtube, wikipedia, mapquest and information like your gmail inbox, bbcnews, and your weather forecast.

I also recently updated my firefox browser and the thing has spell check now!! I cannot spell to save my life so having this little option when I post on newsgroups or send someone a myspace message is invaluable. I used to hate firefox but now I use it all the time instead of safari. Now I know none of this is news but I love that fox so much! He even looks like Azim a tiny bit.

finally!

IMG_7586.jpg
Originally uploaded by rah rah!.

i updated my flickr account. its been months. take a look. its not all that exciting, but it's something. the snow is making my hands hurt worse than ever and for the first time, i really do feel like i have arthritis and not just back pain. ughhhhhhhh

about body image.

For the first time since I believe 10th grade, I am under 130 lbs. I think for most people this issue would be inconsequential but it's a big deal to me. Why? well, if you don't know me or haven't seen me in a long time I will explain. I was what I would consider thin until the age of 19 when my obsession with terrible fatty foods caught up with me and I spent half of my twenties round and chubby. For the most part I wasn't completely bothered by my extra weight. I actually kind of enjoyed it. But with my back pain it really made sense to get rid of the extra weight that could possibly be making my back pain worse. This time last year I was at my heaviest, 164 lbs. Since August I have lost about 35lbs. I never imagined that just eating well would cause me to lose this much. I still eat everything that I loved before but just in smaller amounts. It's an odd thing to go from wearing an large/size 12 to a small/size 4-6. I do really feel good about myself again and it isnt just because of my weight loss. As a teenager, I never thought I was skinny enough. I was often told I was fat or that I needed to lose weight when I was tiny (see photo of me at age 15 with my bff at that time, ariana) For me this is a do over. I want to enjoy the work I have done and I want to love my body because it is mine. Even when I was this size before, I was so self conscience that I never enjoyed it. I was so concerned with being thinner that my size and my looks were never good enough. These days, I am just glad that I can leave the house in jeans and a t-shirt and feel totally comfortable. I no longer look in the mirror and see millions of flaws. I do not care if 10 lbs comes back on or if I never lose another pound. I am just happy to be me.

thank god its spring, right?

Enough already!!! I am ready for spring. I can't deal with the damn snow any longer! My birthday is in two weeks and I would love to not wear a winter coat that day. It is weather like this that makes me wish I lived someplace where the weather wasn't so unpredictable that its 60 degrees one day and a major snow storm the next. California is looking better and better everyday...