Survivor China Journal Entry

SO I came across my journal from when I was traveling to China for Season 15 of Survivor. It is pretty hilarious and I thought it would be fun to share some of my entries. Here is an excerpt from my first journal entry. 

June 6, 2007

“Well talk about an adventure… I’m on the way to NYC and from there I head to China. This is not a ordinary vacation. I was picked to be a contestant on the reality show, Survivor. So, I really have no idea of what I am getting myself into. I don’t think it has really hit me yet. It is hard to believe that I am going to live in China for the next 7 weeks, in the middle of nowhere. We will be living off the land and it is a tad bit unnerving…to say  they very least. No electronics, no bed, and worst of all…no food. I think I can handle the mental and physical aspects of the game. I think dealing with the huger will be the hardest part. I don’t know what kind of characters will make up the rest of the cast. I pray they are a fun and diverse group of people. I really hope there are a couple of cute guys in the group. It has been really difficult to come across a cute, intelligent, datable guy at USC. Most boys in college tend to stay away from relationships at all costs. So maybe I will meet one in China!? “ 

HAHA How ironic. Not only did I find a “cute guy,” I ended up finding my HUSBAND! Pretty crazy. Well I was right about one thing, the hunger was the worst aspect of the game. I lost 20 pounds in 21 days and my hair even started falling out from malnutrition. I think if we had more food, the experience would have been much more enjoyable. But hey, that was a part of the adventure. Well, I will go through the rest of the journal and try to post other excerpts from my time on the show. 

My “HOT LIST”

Now we all know Paris Hilton’s famous saying, “thats hot” and it sparked an idea for me to make my own “hot list.” So this list consists of things that I love and I think you should love too!  

#10) Giraffe Socks- I found these adorable socks at Macy’s (half off I might add) and I couldn’t resist. They are adorable, comfortable, keep my little toes warm, and get tons of fun stares when I wear them to Publix. I think every girl needs a pair of giraffe socks!  #9) Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse Foundation- So I normal spend about $20 on my foundation from MAC. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE MAC, but I ran out and didn’t have time to make it to the mall. So I ran to CVS to get something to improvise. This foundation was on sale and I fell in love. If you check your Sunday paper you can even find coupons at Walgreens and CVS sometimes for buy one get one free Maybelline products. I think ever girl should defiantly try it out. It is nice and light but provides really good and VERY smooth coverage. I think it is the perfect summer foundation! 

Liquid mousse air-whipped formula provides skin perfecting coverage.

#8) Olympus Stylus underwater camera- This camera is made nice and tough. You can drop it, take it underwater and even in freezing conditions and it is perfectly fine. After averaging 4-5 cameras per year in college I decided to get a camera that was more durable. I came across the Stylus and it was the perfect match. I have had it over a year and it is still in great shape. Not to mention it takes AMAZING underwater videos and photos. It retails for $299 but this week at Best Buy it is on sale for $269. If you want a reliable, tough camera that takes great photos…go with the Olympus. Not to mention, it comes in cute colors! I love the blue one. 

#7) Surfing- Ever since I saw “Blue Crush” I wanted to learn how to surf. Last week I went surfing for the first time and it was amazing. Everything about surfing is awesome- board shorts, colorful rash guards, and anything Roxy, cute surfer boys, and the the thrill of catching your first wave. I even enjoyed busting my butt on the board. The hardest thing about surfing is the paddling. You have to paddle, paddle, paddle. It can really wear you out. But hey, it is a fantastic workout. So surfing defiantly makes my “hot list.” As a matter of fact, I want to move to the ocean and become a little surfer chick. How Hot!

#6) Books by John Grisham- So for the first time, in a LONG time, I actually have the capability to read for fun. It is such a great feeling. I love Law and Order so my mom thought I would love John Grisham’s books. She was right! I am hooked. I have already read The Firm and A Time to Kill and I couldn’t put them down! I am about to start The Pelican Brief. Then I want to read The Client, The Chamber, and The Rainmaker. I hope they are all as good as the first two. If you haven’t read one of his books before, I highly recommend it! His fluid, detailed, and highly addictive storytelling will keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to read more. It was not rare for me to skip meals so I could keep reading! These books are H-O-T! 

#5 Ray-Ban Sunglasses- Well they are back!! Everybody has a pair of these old classics. Ray-Ban has been making  sunglasses since the 1930’s and they continue to make fun and fashionable shades. Girls, guys, kids, anyone can wear them. And they look great and classy on just about everyone! They are a must for the summer. And they even updated some of their old classic styles. My parents have been wearing Ray-Bans for as long as I can remember. And even Tom Cruise sported a pair of Wayfarers in Risky Business. I heart Ray-Ban sunglasses and I especially like the Aviators! #4 LOST- So I am a little late on the LOST phenomenon but I will admit, I am hooked. Each season it keeps getting better. But I must admit, it is virtually impossible to follow if you haven’t  watched it all the way through. Luckily, Erik and I started on Season One online and worked our way all the way through Season 5. Now I am patiently waiting for Season 6 to begin. I hope Jack and Kate get back together. They are like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston–even when it seems completely absurd for them to end up together again, everyone still hopes somehow it happens. At the end of Season 5 I was left with several questions… Who is John Locke really? How does he have 2 bodies? How did all of the people from two different time periods end up together? And what the HECK is the BLACK SMOKE!? Now I have season 6 to look forward to! #3 Thai Food- It’s healthy, delicious, and I freakin’ love it. I could seriously eat Thai food EVERY SINGLE DAY!! I have been eating Thai food for as long as I can remember and I am glad the rest of the country if finally catching on. For awhile it was hard to find a good Thai restaurant but recently more are popping up across the country. As a matter of fact there is an amazing Thai restaurant in Spartanburg, SC called “Bangkok Thai” and my favorite Thai place in Coral Springs, FL is called “Bow Thai.” For starters I would try a Thai soup. The wonton soup is always good but my favorite is Tom Yum Gai. It is a bit spicy and is flavored with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf. You can get it with shrimp but I prefer with chicken. A great Thai salad is Nam Sod. This is a pork salad with peanuts, mint, and ginger. It is fantastic. My favorite Thai curry is Panang and I like to add in bamboo shoots and bell peppers to mine. I also love Thai Basil Chicken. But honestly, I haven’t had a bad Thai meal…ever. 

 
#2 Pugs- so maybe I am a little bit biased because I own one but personally I think pugs are HOT! They are small, yet sturdy and cute and chunky. They have large, loving eyes and perfect wrinkles on their forehead, and extraordinary curly tails. They are calm and dignified  yet they still can be lively and playful. Pugs are loyal, silly, and stubborn. Some may find their snoring and wheezing a little annoying but personally, I think it is cute! Every hot babe should have a hot pug. (my friend Cissy is a perfect example) #1 Hawaii- So the entire state made the list. After visiting Hawaii, I decided I never really wanted to leave. Everything about it is wonderful. The beaches are breathtaking, the people are friendly and chill. Everything about Hawaii is laid back and beautiful. I would love to live in Hawaii one day! 

Subway…my new favorite restaurant!

So you may think I am crazy but Subway is my new favorite place to eat! Why!? Because the footlong subs are only $5.00. So for lunch today, Erik and I hit up Subway, got a footlong tuna sub, split it… and loved every bite of our $2.50 per person meal. Not to mention it is pretty healthy. There are several sandwiches with 6 grams of fat or less. These include the 6 inch ham, oven roasted chicken breast, roast beef, subway club, sweet onion teriyaki, turkey breast, turkey breast and ham, and veggie delite. I think they have to be on the 9-grain wheat bread and the 6 grams of fat includes lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, pickles, and olives in the equation. We got the honey oat bread and it was delightful. So we have decided, we are going to eat dinner at Subway twice a week. We are trying to eat healthier and save money… so it seems like a brilliant plan. I figure we switch up the types of sandwiches we get and we won’t get sick of it. 

Another exciting fun fact about Subway is they have an entire Meal Menu for $5.00. This includes a 6 inch sub of your choice, a drink, and a bag of chips. Their marketing is really quite brilliant. They started off by marketing as the “healthy choice” with Jarad as their spokesperson. Now they are marketing as the healthy yet cheap place to eat which is perfect for this economy. So, overall Subway gets two thumbs up.  

 

I heart 90’s Rock

I have to admit, I am still slightly obsessed with 90’s rock music. I could listen to it everyday, as a matter of fact I do.. Sirus satellite has an entire station dedicated to 90’s rock…that I love love love! 

So I was sitting here trying to determine my top favorite 90’s rock songs.  I was going to do my “Top 25″ but then the list kept growing and growing. So here are my top 60. 

#60) “Zombie”- The Cranberries 

#59) “Hey Jealousy”- Gin Blossums 

#58) “December”- Collective Soul

#57) “Evenflow”- Pearl Jam 

#56) “All for You”- Sister Hazel 

#55) “What’s Up?”- 4 Non Blondes 

#54) “Basket Case”- Green Day 

#53) “Beautiful Day”- U2

#52) “Bitersweet Symphony”- The Verve

#51) “Counting Blue Cars”- Dishwalla 

#50) “Barely Breathing”- Duncan Sheik 

#49) “Bitch”- Meredith Brooks 

#48) “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”- Deep Blue Something 

#47) “Story of a Girl”- Nine Days

#46) “One”-U2

#45) “Would?”- Alice in Chains 

#44) “Buddy Holly”- Weezer 

#43) “Been Caught Stealing”- Jane’s Addiction 

#42) “Everything Zen”- Bush

#41) “Fly Away” Lenny Kraviz 

#40) “Shine”- Collective Soul 

#39) “Loser”- Beck 

#38) “Just a Girl”- No Doubt 

#37) “Free Fallin”- Tom Petty 

#36) “Under the Bridge”- Red Hot Chili Peppers 

#35) “When I Come Around”- Greenday

#34) “In the Meantime”- Spacehog

#33) “Possum Kingdom”- The Toadies 

#32) “Round Here”- Counting Crows

#31) “Lithium”- Nirvana 

#30) “Creep”- Radiohead 

#29) “Longview”- Greenday 

#28) “Black hole Sun”- Soundgarden 
#27) “Interstate Love Song”- Stone Temple Pilots 
#26) “Glycerine”- Bush 
#25) “What I Got” – Sublime 
#24) “Song 2″- Blur 
#23) “1979″-Smashing Pumpkins
#22) “Everlong”- Foo Fighters 
#21) “No Rain”- Blind Melon 
#20) “Alive”- Pearl Jam 
#19) “Crash Into Me’- Dave Matthews Band
#18) “Runaway Train”- Soul Asylum 

#17) “Black”- Pearl Jam 

#16) “Semi-Charmed Life”- Third Eye Blind 

#15) “Two Princes”- Spin Doctors

#14) “Man on the Moon”- R.E.M. 
#13) “Better Man”- Pearl Jam

#12) “3AM”- Matchbox 20

#11) “Plush” – Stone Temple Pilots

#10) “Iris”- Goo Goo Dolls 

#9) “Daughter”- Pearl Jam 

#8) “Scar Tissue”- Red Hot Chili Peppers

#7) “Say It Ain’t So”- Weezer

#6) “Wonderwall”- Oasis 

#5) “Losing My Religion”- REM

#4) “Meet Virginia”- Train 

#3)”Mr. Jones”- Counting Crows 

#2) ”Smells Like Teen Spirit”- Nirvana 
#1)  ”Jeremy”- Pearl Jam

Other random songs from the 90’s that I love-

“Waterfalls”- TLC

“Gangsta’s Paradise”-  Coolio

“California Love” 2Pac

“No Diggity”- BLACKstreet

“Juicy”- Notorious BIG 

Let me know if you can think of any good ones that I missed! 

 

I think Peal Jam wins for my "favorite 90's Rock band"

Summer Lovin’

I have to admit, my favorite time of the year is definitely  the summer. I love being in the sun, going to the beach, swimming in the pool, and getting a nice tan. After moving to Nashville, I have felt a little landlocked but last week I was able to go to Rosemary Beach, FL. It was gorgeous and it made me realize how much I really miss the water. Erik and I are trying to “plan our future” which is actually pretty hard to do but I know one thing, I would love to be back near the water in the next 5 years. I can handle Nashville for a few more years. It is a great city, fun people, amazing music.. but I think eventually I would like to be back near the lake or the ocean.

When we were driving back from Rosemary Beach we went through this small cute town called Florala. The name Florala is said to have come from the city’s bisection by the Florida-Alabama border. A significant part of the town lies in Florida, and thus the town was named by combining the names of Florida and Alabama.(it is right at the border of the two states) and it had the coolest little lake. It is called Lake Jackson and it is said that in 1818, Andrew Jackson stopped at the Lake with his soldiers, and thus Lake Jackson is named after him. IT was such a cute, small, quaint, town. I started to think about what it would be like to live somewhere like that. The population is under 2,000. So it is is the epitome of a “small town.” In 2004, there were only 7 violent crimes committed in the entire town and there were NO murders or homicides. The median income is $17,000.  I am sure it would be quite the experience to live there. I have a feeling Erik wouldn’t go for it. Although we could open a little restaurant and he could be the live entertainment hehehe. What a fun thought.. 

I think I would REALLY like to live at Lake Bowen. It is so much fun, my good friends the Elmores already live there, and it is near our parents. So maybe that could be our 5 year plan. Ha.

Well I am off to watch Wizards of Waverly Place… gotta love the Disney Channel. 

 

The cute little campground in Florala.

So I watched Happy Feet tonight..

I love babysitting, and I especially love to babysit the two kids that I nanny for. They are adorable, well-behaved, and very entertaining. The little girl is 5 and the little boy is 19 months old. It is great fun and I get to act like I am a child again…well sometimes, sometimes I am quite the opposite when I have to act like a mom…but overall it is so much fun. For instance, today my afternoon consisted of playing catch with a bouncy ball, going on the swings, planting wild flowers, eating cheese pizza, and watching Happy Feet. It was great. I get to sing with them, the little boy’s current fav is “The Wheels on the Bus” and dance around the house and pretend I am a princess hiding from gnomes and Ursula.

And the folks that created “Happy Feet” really are brilliant. I mean the movie is great, and I enjoyed it just as much as the kids. Now that I watched it, I want to go to Antarctica and watch the penguins. The species of penguins in Antarctica are the Adelie, Chinstrap, Gentoo, Macaroni, and Emperor. (Before we watched Happy Feet, we watched a National Geographic special about the penguins hehe) Did you know the Emperor penguins are like three feet tall?! (Fun fact for the day!)

My favorite part was when happy feet met the Spanish penguins. That was classic:

Ramón: You know, chica chica boom boom. 
Mumble: You are not interested in chicas? 
Raul: You kidding? 
Ramón: Without us, the chicas got no boom! 

So I guess I will have to hit up Antarctica and check out the penguins. Poor Erik…one day I want to go to PRague, earlier today it was India, last week was Thailand, and now Antarctica. I hope he is prepared to do a lot of traveling  

Well now I am off to celebrate my friend, Mika’s birthday! YAY! 

SWEET DREAMS!  

I will leave you with some words from Ramon:

“We got personality, with a capital Y. Why? Because we’re hot!”

TGIF

I remember back in the day, TGIF meant to me, Full House and Family Matters were going to be on TV and I got to stay up 30 minutes late and watch my favorite show. Now it takes on a whole new meaning. It is the weekend… it is my sanity. HA!

 This weekend should be a good one. Erik gets back in town late Sat. night (really Sunday morning but we say Sat. night because it makes us feel better.) I think I am going to spend the majority of Sat. cleaning the house but I may take a nice little break and go to the WIne Shop near Mafioza’s for their wine tasting. This weekend they are having chardonnays. I prefer sweet wine, or as they say in Italy, Vino Dolce, but I love cheese so I will go, have a few sips of Chard, and eat a ton of cheese. hehe  On Sunday we hope to make it to church and have brunch with our friends. It should be nice!  

Most importantly, Erik and I will have time to see each other and “be married.” Hopefully we can watch several episodes of Lost, we are on season three now! And we are really trying to plan out the next few years of our lives.

My dream is to have my own travel show. I want the show to be about backpacking across Europe. I would love to show others, the amazing history and sights of all the European countries that I was able to travel to last summer. I want to teach them ways to save money and make the trip as affordable as possible. I want to give them recipes from different countries and let them get a glimpse into other cultures and ways of life. But I understand that is a little far-fetched. It is a great dream, and I am going to try to figure out a way to accomplish that dream, but I know it is not as easy as saying “I want my own travel show.” So if anyone reading this has any ideas about how to audition or pitch my idea to a network, please let me know.

In Prague

Erik wants to keep working on Florez and figure out a way to take their band to the next level. They have been touring for the last year, nonstop, and I think he is ready to figure out a way to continue his career as a musician but tour less.

But we both realize that sometimes life isn’t that easy, well life is really never easy, so we need backup plans.  Right now my backup plan is to go back to school and get my Master’s degree. I think I want to get it in Education. I love children and could really see myself as a teacher. I have been looking at several colleges and Master’s programs in Nashville and there are several that look amazing. Vandy has one of the best Special Ed programs in the nation. So now I need to start meeting with the admissions people and figure out what route I am going to take. It is a little scary but very exciting!!

Married Life…

Well I am married! We finally tied the knot on April 4, 2009 in Charleston, SC. It was a gorgeous wedding and everything went just as planned. I had a ton of help, and my wedding planner, Sara Cavallon, from Something to Celebrate, was a huge life saver. I don’t think we could have pulled off the wedding without her. 

It is kind of crazy to be married, I mean I am 23 years old, and I went from being a crazy college student to a wife in less than a year. But I think it is fantastic. Unfortunately, Erik’s band, FLOREZ, is on tour. So I haven’t experienced the “normal” married life quite yet but I am really excited to.  I can’t wait to come home from work, cook a big meal, sit down at the dining room table, and eat together. Maybe rent a good movie, watch a little Lost, you know… all of those great things that married people do. I try not to feel sorry for myself that Erik is gone so much, but man I am really good at it. HAHA But I am proud of him for following his dreams. His band has more talent then almost all of the bands out there and they are blessed to have had such a successful career so far. But man, sometimes I wish he would just be a teacher or have some normal 8AM-5PM profession so we could just be “normal.” Normalcy seems like such a  wonderful thing but I can’t remember the last time I experienced it. Maybe one day… But I have a feeling as soon as my life gets a little more normal, I will get bored and want to spice things up a bit. You know how it is… you always want what you can’t have. Aint that the truth!?

Well I am off to clean the living room. (there are wedding gifts everywhere!) I will try to start back blogging on a daily basis and tell you more about the wedding details. 

Over and Out

If it makes you happy…..

“If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad
If it makes you happy

…then why the heck are you so sad?”

Haha! I know you all are busting out to Sheryl Crow right about now. Well this song was stuck in my head… So I started thinking about it. What makes people happy? What makes the human heart sing (or rap!)? haha! (for those of you that don’t know me personally..I love to pretend I can rap)

I read an article in Time Magazine that said some really interesting things when they tried to answer the question, “What makes people happy!?”

“Take wealth, for instance, and all the delightful things that money can buy. Research by Diener, among others, has shown that once your basic needs are met, additional income does little to raise your sense of satisfaction with life . A good education? Sorry, Mom and Dad, neither education nor, for that matter, a high IQ paves the road to happiness. Youth? No, again. In fact, older people are more consistently satisfied with their lives than the young. And they’re less prone to dark moods: a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people ages 20 to 24 are sad for an average of 3.4 days a month, as opposed to just 2.3 days for people ages 65 to 74. Marriage? A complicated picture: married people are generally happier than singles, but that may be because they were happier to begin with. Sunny days? Nope, although a 1998 study showed that Midwesterners think folks living in balmy California are happier and that Californians incorrectly believe this about themselves too.

On the positive side, religious faith seems to genuinely lift the spirit, though it’s tough to tell whether it’s the God part or the community aspect that does the heavy lifting. Friends? A giant yes. A 2002 study conducted at the University of Illinois by Diener and Seligman found that the most salient characteristics shared by the 10% of students with the highest levels of happiness and the fewest signs of depression were their strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them. “Word needs to be spread,” concludes Diener. “It is important to work on social skills, close interpersonal ties and social support in order to be happy.”

I totally agree with all of the above. When I made my “Top 10 things that make me happy” list, this is what I came up with.

#1) God

#2) Family

#3)Friends

#4) Children

#5) The ocean

#6) Traveling

#7) Puppies/Cats

#8) Food

#9) Music

#10) Sports

What makes you happy?

My Mom’s humor

My mom is freaking hilarious. When I was little, she used to make this face, I don’t know how to describe it… it kind of looks like a jester. I would ask her to make it all of the time and then I would just crack up.

She was notorious for dancing down the Ruby Tuesday’s salad bar. At the time we were embarrassed but now when I look back at it, I can’t believe she would start doing the “Walk like an Egyptian” dance in the middle of a restaurant. It is pretty hilarious.

She would crank up the Rolling Stones in her car and we would ride around singing at the top of our lungs and rock back and forth as fast as we could to the beat. She trained us to know all of the classics and would quiz us on the names of the band and lead singer when any classic rock song came  on the radio.

We used to go to the beach several times a week. My mom is defiantly a beach bum and Jenna and I grew up baby beach bums. We would stay at the ocean all day, snorkel, find shells, and go on adventures. Sometimes we would go lay in this lagoon and pretend we were Balou the bear. Then on the way home we would play the “honk” game (you know where you make a motion to someone driving (usually truck drivers) to honk their horn. Mom would slow down and speed up to help us get the drivers attention. One time she kept driving past our house so that we could reach our goal of 50 honks.

One of my favorite stories is when she would take us to the back 40 and we would trespass into the cow field to find my dad’s golf balls. She instructed us to tell the cops, (if they ever came since we were trespassing) “We speak no igle, you have a very nice hat!” Now we did live in Ft. Lauderdale, so it wasn’t too far-fetched but we both had Blonde hair and blue eyes…for some reason I doubt the cops would buy it. HA!

So as you can see, I had a very entertaining (to say the LEAST!) childhood.

Well my mom sent me a text last week and it CRACKED me up. I thought I should share. She had my dad set-up her Chemo appointments to alighn with her soap operas. She figured if she was sitting around for several hours at a time (I think it took 5 hours) that she should…at the very least, enjoy a good soap. The message said, “Dad set my Chemo appoint up so I could watch my soap while I was there, isn’t he a doll!?” hahaha! So I am glad to hear she is making the best out of everything. She seems to be holding up great after the first phase of treatment.