Antelope Island

Yesterday, Ryan and I played tourist and went to Antelope Island. I hadn't been there since highschool. knowing that they'd have less snow than the rest of the valley, we decided we might be able to find some less wet recreation out there. It was a fun laid-back day, and actually really nice even with all the smog and cold. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and then playing with them with Picasa Photoshop.

One of the first things we saw on the Island were buffalo!
Or Bison, rather. Whatever you like to call em.

Then we stopped by a beach. You can almost pretend the Great Salt Lake is the ocean sometimes. Obviously a cold ocean this time of year, since there's snow on the beach.

Ryan's such a good photographer. :)

Well, actually, he is sometimes. These are all his:

When nothings going on, I tend to take a lot of pictures.

This one took a lot of practice. I couldn't get the timing right. I'm pretty sure I only finally caught myself in the air because I jumped three times in quick succession and caught one in flight.

Here's some of the others that didn't work out.
Self timers are hard.

smog.

Next, we went up the hill to the Visitor's Center

We watched a presentation about tracking animals. It was really cool.
The tracker dude from Tracy Aviary has gotten some really cool shots of animal tracks.

This is how you get to Antelope Island: The Causeway

The right is frozen the left is not. That's because the causeway makes one side less salty than the other. neat!

On the way to the south side of the Island we saw what the Island was named for,
Antelope!
(I know, they look like rocks. But they were antelope, really!)

We visited the historic ranch on the Island.

Here's Ry checking out some buffalo.

As we were walking into the ranch some girls stopped Ryan to take their picture.
As I was taking this one of him taking their picture, I heard him say, "oh yeah, give it to me!"
Very nice.

After browsing the ranch we headed back to Salt Lake.

Here's the frozen lake on the causeway home. It looks almost like the Bonneville Salt Flats

Officially stronger

I'm at the end of the first stage of my weight training program. (Stage 1 out of 7, I've got a long way ahead of me...) I've been doing the same two workouts for 8 weeks. My last two of those workouts I take the weight back down to my original weight and do as many reps as I can. It's cool because I get to see how far I've really come.
I've found out that I have made a lot of progress on my lower body (I can do 50 reps of squats at the weight I could only do 15 before!), but less progress on my upper body. I can still do twice as many reps as I started out with, but the difference seems less dramatic compared to my lower body exercises. I've decided it's probably because of two things: My lower body is what I want to change the most, and my upper body has always been weaker.
So my new goal for the next stage is to really focus on the upper body sections so I'll hopefully make more progress. I also need to make sure I squeeze in my cardio workouts too. My heart rate still skyrockets on the really heavy sets. (Which is understandable since I'm now squatting 95 lbs! holla!) I notice on the weeks I get at least one cardio set in I have more stamina during my weight training.

Anyhoo... I know blog posts about other people working out are exceptionally exciting. But I like to keep track.

In other news: I know I totally only ever link over to Mary's blog when she has posts with me in it, or something to win. But she posted some old pictures from highschool when we busted my family's wagon. They are really really funny and brought back some good memories. So check it out.

Bowling according to Mary

I'd like to invite you to view Mary's blog post about our bowling adventures last weekend. Mary actually remembered her camera, and being the fabulous photographer she is, got some fun shots. Enjoy!

New shoes

Thanks to Ryan's fabulous family, I just got some new work shoes. They're very comfy and give me good posture. They also add some height which comes in handy. My feet have been getting used to them, and so they actually kind of made them hurt more than usual. But I'm sure after breaking them in and developing the appropriate calluses I'll do better. Thanks a lot guys! I love em!

oops! almost forgot!

I've been meaning to post the pictures of the craft project I made for Ryan's mom for christmas. I had to wait until she actually got it so I didn't spoil it. So here are the pictures:

The poka-dot part is metal covered by fabric and therefore magnetic. I made the magnets as well. The whole thing was spray painted and mod podged. The letters and dots behind them were made on the cricket owned by Brenna's sister-in-law. I was lucky our last name is so short and fit just right between the hooks. It was a lot of fun to make, and I'm glad Ryan's mom liked it. I tried to match their home decor at least a little.

So there it is! I'm not crafty often, but I sure like it when I get the chance.

Stuff we've been up to

First, over a week ago, we went to the Auto Show. It's kind of become a tradition. I never went unti I was married to Ryan, and we went that first time with my dad, Jordan, and Laura. It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. The next year it was just Jordan. This year we went with Laura, Jordan, and Miquelle. Jordan and Kell met up at our house, and we all went together. We met laura there, along with Garrhet. Garrhet ended up being with some friends mostly, and Laura stuck with us. It was fun to sit in all the cars and check out some new models. Ry and I sat in our future car: a Ford Flex. When our family eventually gets big enough to need a bigger car, it's what we're gonna go for. You can see Ryan modeling it in the bottom left of the collage.

After browsing all the cars, we headed over to Jordan Commons to maybe see a movie, but nothing looked good. (that is We and Giardia and Kell. Loufa was going hot tubbing with friends) We ended up at our house and played Ticket to Ride. I kicked myself some train building butt, but I'm not bragging. :)

Recently, as you know I also got my nurse's license in the mail. Ta da!
Complete with finger covering my license number so you can't steal it. I also recently got rid of a bunch of the crap on the windowsill in the picture.

Speaking of, some of that crap was a box of old text books. I finally went through all my text books and stuff and gathered all the ones that I couldn't sell or use. I put them into a big ol rubbermaid container and hauled them out to my car. They were heavy, and I was wearing heels. I made it halfway down our apartment steps before i had to readjust and put the box up on my shoulder. The whole time I was wobbling on my heels and talking to myself, things like "oof, this is freaking heavy!". (I know, I'm smart. smrt.) I made it to the car, and went upstairs again for the second box. As I was carefully coming down the stairs I noticed a guy on a ladder fixing the cable or something behind the house. I swear I saw a little smirk on his face. he knew that I had just realized he had watched the whole thing. He was probably thinking what a stupid woman I was. Embarassing!

Last Friday night I also got to see a bunch of old nursing school friends at the wedding reception of one of our class mates. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up. There's a few more receptions coming up of other classmates, so it will be something to look forward to. The reception was in a church meetinghouse, but they did an amazing job disguising it. I was really impressed. They took wire and plastic table runners and made this:I thought it was so cool!

This last Saturday after work, Ry and I went bowling with Mary and Vince. It was a lot of fun, and I bowled my second best score EVER: 125. But no one could even touch Ryan who killed us all three games with an all time personal high record of 215! He got 3 strikes in a row, some spares, and finished off with 5 strikes in a row. It was crazy! Mary, Vince, and I sat in amazement and wondered to each other where this had come from. We've all been bowling with Ryan before, and he was never that good.

So that's some of the exciting things we've done recently. Stay tuned for more fun in the future.

Ashley Has a Job!

So, now I've done all this whining and I feel a little silly now that it's happened, but I have a job! I filled out about 10 applications the other day, and I was faxing a few of them off at work. (whilst grumbling to myself, " if they can't hire me after working here for 4 years the least they can do is let me use their fax machine to find a new job.") and ironically, my manager asked to see me in her office.

She asked me if I'd gotten the job that had caused the angry outbursts posted earlier this week. I told her no, they'd found someone with experience. Then she said she'd been talking to people about hiring me anyway. After all, they'd practically raised me, and she'd hate to see me go. She had to get special permission from administration because they don't really have a spot for me until the spring, and she will be over budget with the amount of orientation I have to have. But she got the approval and I'm the newest RN on the unit starting next Wed!

I start the Basic ICU class that day anyway, but will start getting real nurses wages and orienting! I'm so excited, and relieved, and scared! Cuz this is an ICU we're talking here. It's what people work up to, not start out in. I've got a lot ahead of me as far as stuff to learn and growth to make. But how great to have it be in a place I know and that my manager was willing to make an exception for me! What a blessing! I don't know how I could deserve it, but I'm extremely grateful.

Me on a pedestal

This is an article Ryan's mom sent me. It says everything I already know and just stubbornly refuse to accept. The truth is, I know I deserve to be humbled. I believe everything happens for a reason (but that we have the choice), and maybe someone else needed the jobs I didn't get. I am a lame-o graduate nurse with a huge head. Lesson learned. Time to get over myself. It's just like swim suits: maybe my role is to make everyone else feel better about themselves. Poor Ashley, working in a nursing home... Poor white girl gleaming in the sunlight... Glad I'm not her!

The article:

"There are no jobs out there for us!" "I thought nursing was supposed to be such a sure thing for job-security, but I can't get a job anywhere!" "All the positions are for experienced nurses only...how am I supposed to get any experience if no one will hire me?" "Nursing shortage? What nursing shortage? If there's such a shortage, why aren't there any jobs?"

This is a typical lament of the newly-graduated nurse, looking for his or her very first job out of school, at least in some parts of the country, and in some situations. I believe that some encouragement is needed, as well as some "sage advice."

The job market, in some places, is very tight. While it is disheartening, we need to realize that this isn't completely new. Nursing, as a profession, has been here before, to a degree. When I first began my career, nurses were being laid off, allied professions were being cut...this was over 2 decades ago now. New grads and both current and future nursing students: You're caught in the middle of a really weird situation right now. Trust me...there is a nursing shortage! And it is going to get worse.

The problem seems to be that, like every other business around, hospitals are having to make the same gut-wrenching budget cuts as everyone else. It's hitting so many areas of nursing right now...students, faculty, schools, hospitals...everyone is affected by the current economic situation. Hospitals, whether they're short on nurses or not at the moment, are dealing with a cash-crisis. A brand new nurse, fresh out of school--no matter how many "A's" you got in nursing school, no matter how many articles you've written above and beyond, no matter how many volunteer/student-work/extra-credit hours you've logged--a brand new nurse will take close to a full year to mentor and precept into an independent RN. They will spend tens of thousands of dollars on you, above and beyond the salary they pay you, just to get you to the place where you actually "earn" that salary. Don't be offended...the hospital typically knows that you are a great investment! These just aren't typical times right now.

You may not believe it right now, but most of the skills of nursing are learned after you get out of school! In school, you are learning the "science" of nursing, the "theory" of nursing. Upon graduation, you will learn how to apply that science and theory in the real world of nursing. Your clinical rotations were not the real world. Nursing requires judgment skills; judgment skills are the result of experience backed by the theory and science you learned in school. It just takes time.

OK, so...what can you do? First, recognize that you DO have options:

1. Realize that your first job is just that...it's your first job. Few new grads, whether they're nurses, lawyers, engineers, or architects, land their dream job right out of school. When you say that there are "no jobs anywhere" in your area, is it really NO jobs? Or have you limited yourself in any way by not considering jobs in, shall we call them, "less than desirable" specialties? I really disliked my first year of nursing! But you know what? It was only my first year. Once it was over, I was the "experienced RN" that hospitals were crying out for. I named all my future positions, where and when I wanted them. But that first year, in what amounted to a "glorified nursing home" was not what I had EVER imagined for myself. So...have you really looked everywhere?

2. I have read more than one nursing student posting comments online about how upset they were that there were "NO JOBS" out there, only to then read that she is a senior in nursing school or a brand new graduate nurse who wants to go on to become a nurse anesthetist, and to get into that program she has to have at least a year of ER or ICU experience...and "no one will hire me." To such students and grads, may I tell you in the kindest way that if any hospital does hire you into their ER or ICU as a new grad, they are setting themselves...and very possibly you..up for a possible lawsuit because of the dire consequences your lack of experience and immature professional judgements may cause someone?

I worked 10 years of my career in critical care...ALL areas of critical care...and new grads simply do not have the knowledge, skill, or judgment abilities to work in these areas. Period. Want to become a Nurse Anesthetist? Then graduate nursing school, take whatever job you need to to get working as a nurse, so you can actually begin to function as a "real" nurse (not just a student nurse!) at the bedside, fulltime. Learn. Learn all you can in that first job. Be the best new nurse you can be.

Get the best peer reviews. Get the best reviews from your Unit Manager. Be the nurse the patients and their families write letters to the hospital directors about (good letters, of course)! Then, at the end of that year, go apply for a job in the ER. Go get a spot in the ICU. Believe me, when you're in there, you'll be starting all over again with the learning curve! But when you're in, you're in...now, remember what you did that first year in that first position? Do it again. At the end of that year, go apply for that slot in the Nurse Anesthetist program. Smile...you'll have earned it, because you worked for it. Well worth it!

Again, few new graduates, whatever their profession, land their "dream job" fresh out of college. Most new grads expect to start, oh, somewhere near the bottom, and work their way up, gaining experience, wisdom, and leadership skills along the way that will be used in their futures. In nursing, we are fortunate...the bottom isn't that far from the top. It doesn't typically take more than a year of doing what you'd rather not be doing in order to shoot straight to where you do want to be. So just get started.

2. Let's say you really have looked at every hospital, every nursing home, every assisted living center in your area, and there are NO jobs. You have a decision to make. I tell my own kids this all the time: you can either choose where you want to live, and then work at whatever you like best that is available there, or you can choose what you'd love to do, and then go wherever you have to in order to do it. It's just that simple. With a career in nursing, If you wait long enough and are willing to do what it takes at first (probably not too long, but be ready for a year or so), you'll probably be able to have BOTH.

Jobs ARE out there. Go where they are, get your feet wet and become the experienced, independent RN everyone's looking for! Do what it takes! It's WORTH IT!

Lori Havens R.N., B.S.N., is the author of "7 Essential Questions Every Future Nurse Must Ask," a free "mini eCourse" which helps answer the biggest questions that people looking into nursing as a career option have; she has also authored "Should I Be A Nurse? A Journey of Self-Exploration for Those Considering A Career in Nursing," a 102 page e-book which takes the reader through a series of carefully-crafted "conversations" and thought-provoking exercises designed to help answer that all-important question: "Should I Be A Nurse?" Both are available at her website, which you can visit at: http://www.isnursing4me.com/home.html

Anger Stage

When we experience any kind of loss, we experience grief. Whether it's someone dying, or the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship, the loss of your ice cream cone to the dirt...

I recently lost a job I never even had, but I had really high hopes for. It was my last hope for a job in the same company I work for now (therefore same benefits, computer charting, familiar people, etc.). I didn't get it because they once again found someone with more experience--not so hard when I have none. I really shouldn't talk about it because I'm still in the anger stage of grieving and I don't want to say things I don't really mean about said company's policies. But just know that stuff really sucks right now, and I'm unhappy.

Why should you care? You shouldn't, but since this is kind of my journal I thought I should log the fact that stuff sucks.

And if you write a comment that says anything along the lines of "Don't worry, it'll happen!" I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish. If you want to write a comment that says "Sucks to be you!" that will be accepted. Thank you for contributing to the online pity party. Please check back later when my spirits return to a higher level.

What Talent!

I saw this video on Rachel Ray this morning. These students and their teacher did a great job. Such a fun video!



The song also reminds me of one of my favorite movies this last year, (500) Days of Summer, with the adorable Joseph Gordon Levitt whom I've loved since 3rd Rock From the Sun and 10 Things I Hate About You. When does that one come out on DVD? I so want it.

Drum roll please....

I passed! I passed the NCLEX! I checked today on DOPL's website and I have an active RN license listed. Which means I passed! Hoooray! (Weird I can see that I have a license, but I still can't view my results of the test online yet. Whatever, I passed.)

I honestly wasn't that worried about it. We had to take the ATI for nursing school, which predicts whether you'll pass. (and I'm gonna pull a Julie here) It said I had a 93% chance of passing the NCLEX. So I only read up on a few things I didn't feel really great about. Like women/baby stuff, for example, reminded myself of the Kaplan test strategies, and called it good. I think I spent a total of 3 hours studying.

I did end up being pretty nervous the day of. I arrived, and one of my class mates, Jed, was checking in. Then another one, Amy, came out while we were still there. It was fun to see a smattering of old friends. Though they all looked a little under stress. The girl at the desk was really nice, I gave her good marks on my survey at the end of the test. :) After I was photographed, finger printed, and the veins on my hand were scanned, (yeah, way hard core. They must have had a lot of people take the test for someone else in the past) I made my way in and started.

I kept thinking to myself, "this question is easier, that means I got the last one wrong...." and other things like that. (Someday if you really want to know, I can tell you how the NCLEX works, but I don't want to type all that out. Go read a Kaplan book.) After a while I kept getting repeat types of questions. I got lots of prioritizing questions in a row, and kept worrying I wasn't getting them right so they had to keep giving them to me to see if I really sucked that bad. I got lots of "select all that apply questions." I hate those. and I got a repeat of the exact same question. Weird. It was something about Botulism. (uh oh, are the NCLEX police gonna get me for sharing information about what's on the test?!!)

I got down to question 74, and I was like, this is it. If I get more than 75 questions, I haven't been doing well, or I'm getting all freaking 236. I answered #75, and... It turned off! yay! I knew if I only got 75 questions I either passed, or totally and completely bombed it. The NCLEX keeps giving you questions until it is 95% sure you are able to answer at the passing standard of competency. And of course, for statistics purposes some random person gets to answer all 236 possible questions. I felt good enough about most of my answers, I thought it was more likely I got only 75 questions because I passed. Good thinking too, cuz I did!

After the test I took a drive up Ogden canyon, and around past Snowbasin to get out of the haze and decompress for a while. It was so pretty. I love that area up there. I'd like a vacation home up there someday. I am really really starting to hate this inversion. The air is so gross and I feel so yucky just looking outside. I'd love a good storm to just blow all this crap out.

Well, now that I'm licensed, everyone just pray I get hired. and soon! I can't work as a tech anymore, and I have very minimal clerk hours. Graduating now sucks. Stupid economy.

These are neat

I saw this in an advertisement in the back of my Backpacker magazine, and thought it was really cool. They also have Half Dome which I've also climbed. How cool! You can totally add this to your List of Things to Buy Ashley. Cuz I know you must have one.

There's more jewelry sporting cairns, hikers, running, biking, etc. Also just natural and ceramic jewelry. It's really some well made and pretty stuff. Check it out: tarmadesigns.com

Inspiration

I don't have a house. But someday when I do, I'd like to decorate it like this:

Sort of a cross between a country farmhouse and a rustic log cabin.
Mmm, I love it!


Pictures from Country Living.com

Do you have tickets?

My newest favoritest thing is weight lifting. Who knew I'd ever like it? I did Body for Life for a while my first year of college, but never really liked weight lifting. In fact I hated it so bad it's taken me this long to get back on the muscle wagon. I hated the: lift the weight, wait, lift the weight, wait. Blah. So boring.

Well thanks to my dear sistah, Loufa, I enjoy it! She showed me I didn't have to wait and I could then combine my cardio and weight workout into one. It also makes the time you spend way shorter. I also like the workout plans in this book (in the picture) because you don't do a lot of reps on one muscle. Alwyn Cosgrove, designed them to be combinations of many muscles. They're also motions you do every day. How often do you do a bicep curl? Only while working out. How often do you pick stuff up off the floor? Every day. The workouts are less boring and more applicable.

What I really like most about weight lifting though, is the results. I'm not any thinner, and no one else has noticed the results visually. (Ryan did grab my leg the other day and say, "wow, nice hamstrings." He has a weird thing for hamstrings.) I don't weigh any less either. What's great is that everything is just a little less... jiggly. It's really been a confidence booster. I feel like I look better, even if no one else can see, and that's all that really matters anyway. Not only that, I'm stronger. I've gone in to help nurses reposition patients and when I grab that 200 lb person and flip em on their side like nobody's business, I surprise myself and the nurse. I've gotten lots more, "wow, you're stronger than you look" kind of comments lately. ("Thanks, I've been working out..." I reply in my best man voice.)

I also love weight lifting because it's revved up my metabolism. On days when I workout I'm freaking starving all the time and I can eat like a horse and the next day I look even better than before. It's also a great thing for women because it reduces your risk of osteoporosis. Lifting heavy weights puts strain not only on your muscles, but on your bones. So they have to get stronger to withstand the increased workload. (Didn't know your bones did any work did you?)

Anyway, I totally sound like a freaking commercial, but I really do love it, and you should too! Buy my book and my protein drink today! For just three easy payments of $19.99! oh wait... I don't have any of that stuff. Really, I just like to tell people about things I like.

Now that I've done that, I have to stick to my new years resolution and tell you about something else I like. You know what's even better than Weight lifting? The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read up on it here. It makes you feel good and look good. :)

Snakes in Ryan's bed

I woke up this morning around 1 am when Ryan sat up and started patting me on the leg. At first, I thought maybe he thought it was time for me to get up and I was going to be late for work. When I asked, "What?" Ryan held up his hand like a gun and shook it at me. He looked like he was listening for something. I thought maybe he heard gunshots?

"The gun, the gun!" he whispered, like he wanted me to hand him one. uh, we don't have a gun. So I tried to figure out what he could really be wanting me to hand him.

"Are you having bad dreams?" I asked. Then Ryan rolled over, grabbed his phone, checked the time, then squirmed back under the covers like he was going back to sleep.

I still wasn't sure if he had really needed something, so I asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"I thought there was a snake."

"oh" I asked, relieved. "So it was a bad dream."

"No! This is different!"

Huh? Different? What? I forced my eyes all the way open, rolled over, and looked Ryan right in the face. To which he gave me an embarassed look and said, "do-n't" in a sing-song whiney voice like a 4 year old, and rolled over away from me.

I chuckled to myself and lay back down. I chuckled partly because it was funny, and partly because I knew that in the morning: it was going to be a good blogging day.

Sweet innocent me

Do you ever have one of those embarrassing moments that will randomly come to your mind, and your insides squirm uncomfortably until you force your memories to move on to something more pleasant?

Well, I do. Why I'll randomly reminisce about embarrassing things, I'll never know. But one of those random moments came to me as I was washing our giantess pile of dirty dishes. My insides twisted, and I felt unduly uncomfortable for about the 20th time thinking of this memory--then I thought, "I know! I'll blog it!" I find sharing uncomfortable moments with someone else helps make it less so. I hope after sharing this fine moment in my life with all of you in the blogosphere, I too may be able to laugh at it, instead of squirm.

This embarrassing moment is even better because it wasn't embarrassing at the time. In fact, I had no idea I should be even remotely embarrassed until months and months after. Perhaps the continued embarrassment at the thought of it comes from the fact I could never clarify and make it at least a little less embarrassing.

Many of you know I was a river guide in Jackson Hole for a summer. Some of you may also know I had a summer fling with a cowboy. When I say cowboy I mean cowboy. Like--tucked his t-shirts into his oober tight wranglers, and then tucked said wranglers into his boots--cowboy. Like--only kid his age in 300 miles in the 4th grade--cowboy. Like--bowlegged from riding horses his whole life--cowboy. He was freaking adorable.

Anyway... the embarassing moment happened after a long day of tourist wrangling for me, and fence wrangling for him. We were chilling in my apartment and he commented on how tired he was. I said, "I now how to perk you up!" and proceded to kiss him. Afterward, I asked him if he was perky now.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you perked up?"

"What?"

"Are. You. Perky?" (starting to wonder if I'm really speaking english here.)

Then he gave me a weird look and changed the subject.

I was left wondering where the miss-communication had happened. Hello? I was asking if he was more alert, not ever thinking my use of words could be misinterpreted in anyway.
It left me baffled enough I thought of it again later after the summer had ended. It was only then I realized where the confusion came from, and also realized that I could never clarify what I really meant. To this day, that cowboy still thinks, if he even remembers that time, that I was asking him if he was... perky.

Oh, man. Like the title says, sweet innocent me.

Winner Winner!

So I heard on the radio a few weeks ago that the Utah Jazz were doing a movie promotion. It was one of those 'text something to some number to enter' type contests. I know they just do these to gather phone numbers they can call in the middle of dinner to ask if they want to buy mortgage insurance or something, but I thought hey, why not? I texted in and thought no more of it. Last week a lady named Meikle (pronounced Mikelle. That's THREE Mikelle's I've met in not a long time and with three different spellings. What are the odds? I'd never met one before Jordan's MiQuelle)- anyway- Meikle called me and said I was selected as a winner! Woop!

Last night was the big night. Me and a friend (Vince, who belongs to Mary and is a big Jazz fan) went to the Jordan Commons movie theatre to hang out with Paul Millsap, Ronnie Price, and Ronnie Brewer and watch Avatar in the IMAX 3D. We arrived and learned we were among 49 other winners and their guests out of 6200 entries. We first went through a line and met the guys. See?

Vince's big words upon meeting the players, "Wow, your hands are HUGE!" (Sorry, Vince)

Vince was especially lucky, he won a Fray CD in a Raffle! Lucky Dog!

We got a hot dog and bottomless popcorn and soda to take with us into the movie. Before that though I took a picture with the Jazz dancers that were there. Heeey!

We saw this guy out in the hall and he ended up sitting next to us. We asked if the Jazz Bear pinned him to get the autograph on his forehead. His answer? "Yeah, pretty much". Crazy Jazz Bear.



Movie review: I had seen Avatar in 2D already. I thought it was great even though it has a tired story. The movie is well worth seeing and lives up to the hype. In 3D Avatar is on a whole 'nother level. The 3D is fantastic. I don't know if it's the IMAX or what, but the screen was bright and I had no trouble seeing the movie which is a problem I have with regular 3D movies. The animation is excellent and the details really pop in the IMAX 3D. Bugs are flying around, ashes and other debris are right in front of you, and a few times I flinched in my seat to dodge the monsters and weapons that are swinging around. If you haven't seen Avatar, or if you saw it in 2D, it's worth re-seeing in IMAX 3D.

It was a great night. I've never won anything like that before. I may risk another marketer calling me in the middle of dinner and enter some more contests.


PS, Work outs today! Ashley: Something; Ryan: Nothing. Again. Don't judge. I had to blog!