Seven Years Later

If you would have asked me 7 years ago,

"Where do you think you'll be on May 31st 2012?" 

I really don't know how I would have answered you, honestly, I have no clue!  On May 31st 2005 I was a newly hired teacher working at Boerne High School & I had just taken 20 JV & Varsity Cheerleaders & 1 Mascot under my wing, I had NO IDEA what in the world I was doing.  There were some days that it was very obvious that I had NO IDEA what in the world I was doing & other days I think I hid it well....or at least that's the hope.....but looking back on 7 years of teaching all I can do is smile & be really really proud of how much I've grown as a person.

Nostalgia is a funny thing....it kinda sneaks up on you.  Life has changed since 2005 in so many ways...:

*I'm an old married woman & have been for more than 4 years now! CRAZY! Lake & I have traveled the world (literally) & I can't think of anyone else I'd want to share this awesome experience with, to say that I've been blessed is quite an understatement.

*I no longer work at Boerne HS & I haven't for sometime, but I'll always carry that experience with me, forever!  I'm happy to say that I still keep in touch with a handful of my colleagues from Boerne & that was probably the hardest part of leaving there, leaving my friends.

*I'm no longer a cheerleading coach.  During my first year of teaching I was convinced that I'd taken on the hardest job in the world, on top of being a first year teacher, I was also a first year coach & a cheerleading coach to top it off.  Each year was a little easier & a whole lot more fun!  I especially hold my "girls" (my cheerleaders) very close to my heart. Sure I haven't seen most of them in years, but I still think of them often & love to see what they're up to on Facebook.  They are all growing up, getting married, having babies, it makes me feel old, but I love seeing what they're becoming, it's truly a beautiful site!  The tears, laughs, bruises, & all the other things that accompany coaching 20 girls will always stay with me & I'm grateful for that..

*I'm in charge of the "news" at my school, whaaaat?!?  I have the funnest job & get to work with some pretty awesome-ly creative kids.  Everyday is a new adventure with them!  Just like with my former cheerleaders I look forward to seeing where life takes my Falcon's Eye News Crew kids, their talent is endless!

*I've run a FULL marathon, I'm insane, enough said.

*I LOVE SAN ANTONIO!  I mean I've always liked the city, growing up we'd come visit SA & run track meets here during the summer, it was always fun & always reminded me of the Valley but it was bigger with better places to shop!  ;)  During my first 3 years living in SA I didn't have time to make friends outside of school or to really get to know the city.  After I left coaching I found myself with spare time, which was a luxury I didn't have before.  I decided to join the Junior League of San Antonio, a women's volunteer organization that promotes volunteerism & develops the potential of women.  I wasn't sure what the journey would entail when I joined but I thought it would be a fun way to make some new friends & get to know the city better & also help out in the city!  What the league has given me I can never repay.  I've been pushed, sometimes shoved, out of my comfort zone on numerous occasions, but I'm a better person because of it!  I've also met some of the greatest women & friends through the league.  That's something that has definitely changed since 2005......

*I have FRIENDS!  haha, I mean I've always had my core group of HS friends that I'm still very close with & I talk to all the time, but in college I really only left with a couple of good friends (Kathleen & my roomies), I moved to SA knowing no one other than Mark & Kathleen.  I quickly welcomed some new friends in the mix, but it wasn't until I joined the JLSA & got more involved that I made my SA Circle of Friends.  Sure people have come & gone, faces have changed, but I love all the friends I've made in SA even if I've grown apart from some, I truly believe that people are placed in your life for a reason & sometimes that reason isn't meant to equal out to a life long friendship....but sometimes it is :)

So, if someone were to ask me today....."Where do you think you'll be on May 31st 2019?".....

I have no idea, really....and I kinda like it that way!

Who Will Survive?!!?: Part 2

SPOILER:  DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE A GREY'S ANATOMY FAN & HAVEN'T WATCHED THE SEASON 8 FINALE!  (you've been warned)

Couple things:

1.  I was a bit disappointed in the finale, I thought it was all too rushed & they were just trying to cram everything in one hour, that could have easily been a two hour finale, so that was a bit disappointing!  I never felt emotionally invested, although my stomach did turn during several scenes....Derek's Arm, Mark's Chest, Arizona's Leg......bleh!
2.  DID NOT see the departure of Teddy whatsoever...so kudos to you Shonda Rhimes, you got me there!

Now, let's recap...shall we:

Episode starts with all the interns entering in their first OR & Chief Webber giving his speech about their surgical residency....how cute & young did everyone look?!?!  Too adorable!  And awwwww, we got to catch a glimpse of George & Izzie....I miss them......

Flash to present & there's Meredith lying on the ground & then everything comes into focus, she wakes up & Cristina is over her & all you hear is Arizona screaming, NON-STOP....I could have done without that...over & over & over & over again.....Mark is stumbling around & now it's time to find Derek & Lexie.

Pooooooor Lexie :( Just thinking about it makes me really sad, although I kept it together last night...I try not to cry too much in front of friends & since I was over at a friend's watching it, I held it together....I plan on re-watching the episode this evening & I'm sure I'll bawl like a baby!!  I kinda figured this is the way it would end, I knew she was the one to go, but I just didn't think she'd be dead within the first 20 minutes, holy crap, talk about anti-climactic!  I was expecting for her to fight & have a chance & then die...which would have been so much sadder, so I guess maybe it's better she went quickly, seeing Mark Sloan that sad was hard to watch & I just wonder how he'll deal with her death, I knew he still loved her, stinks that she didn't know until about 1 minute before it was all over!  And how much does it stink that they had to leave her under the big piece of plane, ouch! 
Now we look for Derek, wow did his hand look awful!  I wonder what will happen in that scenario?!?  Will he be able to operate still, is this is a "Burke Can't Operate Like He Used to Before He Was Shot Scenario"...so Meredith will begin operating for him (secretively)...although she's a full fledged surgeon now, so I guess it wouldn't be as big of a deal as when Cristina was doing that for Burke.  Glad he was OK though, I don't think I could have handled more wailing for Meredith!  And props to her for keeping it together (for the most part).  I do really like where her character has gone & how she's matured.

Those are kind of the highlights.....Teddy got fired because Hunt decides her fate?!?  That was ridiculous & stupid & I hate that storyline!  BLAH!  :oP  The 3 other surviving surgical residents are left with Webber at dinner waiting for Cristina & Meredith...and seriously, does Hunt not have a cell phone where the doctor from Boise could have called him & been like...."hey so your surgeons never showed, what's up with that?!"

Season 9 Premiere Predictions:
The doctors are still in the forest, lost!  They'll be found, but I really think that Arizona is going to die.  TWO HUGE REASONS:
1.  I think she's much more seriously injured then was let on....the only clue really was that she kept coughing up blood, pretty much indicating that she's got some serious internal damage going on. 
2.  Callie's proclamation that life can change quickly.....yes, Callie, you are right, it can!  And I'm sorry my friend, but for you, I think it will....

Because of Arizona's death, Karev will stay at Seattle Grace Mercy "Death" Hospital instead of leaving.....Meredith will be devastated by the death of her sister.....Sloan will break things off with his current gf & become a hermit?!?!  OK, that one is a total random guess, but may be plausible??  OR Callie & Sloan will get back together because Callie will have a "back on men" season??  Cristina will stay to be with Meredith because she's so devastated & let's be honest....they're still each others "person"....Meredith & Derek will stay because, well because the show is called "Grey's Anatomy" & there's only one Grey left now.  Thanks for that!

That's it, my predictions were pretty much dead on for the season finale, we'll see how my premiere ones pan out.....see ya in September folks!

Who will Survive?!!?

So I very rarely post about TV shows....well I used to a long time ago, but I haven't recently, but there comes a TV show with an episode so HUGE, that you just have to!  The TV episode that I'm talking about would be the Grey's Anatomy season finale that will air on Thursday, May 17th on ABC.  I've always watched Grey's, always.  It started off as a Sunday night show for me, I'd watched Desperate Housewives, then Grey's, it was a good routine.  Then it got moved to Thursdays & so I'd watch Grey's then Private Practice....so yeah, always loved the show......over the past 8 years we've seen the doctors of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital face many obstacles.  People have lived, people have died, there's been drama, there's been drunkeness, some laughs, lots of cries & just some crazy story lines!  GOOD TV!  So this past Thursday's episode was no different!

Spoiler Alert:
Last week's episode left us with a scene of a bad plane crash, in the middle of the woods somewhere & Meredith on the ground with her eyes closed.  A few minutes before we knew that Meredith, Cristina, Sloan, Lexi, Derek, & Arizona were on the plane flying to Idaho or Iowa or one of those "I" states to perform a surgery on conjoined twins.  So there are the 6 passengers.  In previews it's already been teased that one won't make it, but who will it be?!?!  Here are my theories of why it can't be certain people ranked in the order of least likely to most likely:

Meredith:
OK, seriously, how many times is Mere going to "almost" die?!?!  She almost drowned in the ferry boat accident, then almost died because of hypothermia due to being in the water for so long.  She basically got blown up in another episode & managed to survive that one.  The girl is resilient & finally happy!  Now, we haven't seen dark, angry, depressed Meredith in a really long time, so could this accident bring that back in her?  Maybe....but I think she makes it out of the crash perfectly fine.

Cristina:
Cristina has really only faced death in the face once....way back in like Season 1 or 2 when she was pregnant then things went wrong & she had to have an emergency surgery & Burke didn't even know about the pregnancy (sound familiar?) & chaos of course ensued!  But that's pretty much it.  She's too much of a character on the show to be written off this way.  I just don't see it happening.

OK, so Meredith & Cristina are my real only definites. The other 4 are just educated guesses, so from here on out, I'm really not so sure.....

Derek:
Oh, sweet handsome Patrick Dempsey, you truly get better with age.....**sigh**
Oh wait, back to Grey's, back to my ramblings. 
OK, so Derek almost died during the Season 6 finale with the hospital shooter who blamed Shepard & little Grey for his wife's death.  Cristina saved his life in surgery, etc., etc.  Why I don't think Derek will die.....
He's a huge character on the show, He & Meredith are FINALLY happy with their adorable adopted daughter Zola, I CAN'T LOSE McDREAMY!  I just can't! 
Why I think he might not make it....
Well on the previews, they can't ever seem to find him & Cristina says that he was sucked out of the plane, so from those scenes, he's the obvious one to be dead....but that's exactly why I DON'T think it's him.  The only thing I can think is Meredith has been happy for too long now, there may need to be a shake up......
 
Mark Sloan
Sloan or "McSteamy" has never really faced real death.  He was close to it during the Season 6 finale, but never received any injuries that would lead me to believe he'd almost died.  His character is whatever, so if it's him I wouldn't really be super sad, but I think it would definitely effect Derek, which in turn would have a huge effect on Meredith.....again, all coming back to...are MerDer just too darn happy?!?!

Lexie & Arizona
The last 2 possible options, now it becomes a guessing game & a bit interesting:

Arizona & Callie are very much a happy family with Sofia, she didn't almost die last year when Callie did, I think killing her off would definitely send lots of characters into a tail spin, so I think she may have gotten lucky in her & Callie's car wreck, but maybe in the plane wreck she doesn't fair so well....but, as Lee Corso would say...."not so fast my friend, not so fast!"

Lexie, well she's Meredith's half sister & most likely about to have a reconciliation with Sloan, so why kill her off....because of those exact reasons:
Mark is obviously still in love with her, so that would lead to huge repercussions for Mark's character & where he goes from here.  And, how would Meredith react to losing her only real family?!?  I mean obviously Derek & Zola are her little family, but this is her blood...they shared a father & she loves Lexie & opened up to having her in her life, so for her to lose her would be pretty life shattering (in my opinion)...so that's why, my vote for who won't make it out of Thursdays episode alive is:

Lexie Grey.....super sad......I love Lexie & her perkiness & naive sunny outlook on things & her photographic memory....I hope I'm wrong, but actually I think any of the characters dying would be sad, but I think Lexie leaving will have the biggest effect on the entire cast, so that's my vote, guess I'll have to wait & see who it really is though.

What do you think?!?!

So I HATE Giving Speeches.....

I've never been the type of person who can stand in front of a room & just speak.  Public speaking is a huge fear of mine.....not as big as snakes as I can immediately go from 0 to petrified at just the sight of a snake & I get incredibly nauseous even THINKING about a snake let alone seeing one in person!  YIKES!  But that's not the point of this post....and plus my stomach is starting to knot up because I'm thinking about snakes....

Back to public speaking, this became the subject of conversation the other day in the Ellis house when I was telling Lake that I had to deliver a very short speech at a small celebration ceremony for the New Members of the Junior League as they completed their first year yesterday (CONGRATS AGAIN LADIES!)  After I had a mini panic attack in front of my friend & chair, I decided to suck it up, get over it & give the speech.  It's not something I like to do, but I know that the only way to get better at something is by doing it, right?!?!  Plus, I really loved what I did this year & did want to share what I had to say, I just wasn't super jazzed about having to give the speech....

Well I prepared my "speech" on Monday & had it ready to go by that evening.  I practiced it in front of Lake a few times & I think he gave me the biggest compliment EVER!  (at least in the context of public speaking for myself)

After I finished, I stopped & said:
"so what do you think??"

He smiled & said:
"Wow!  I can see such an improvement in not only your presentation & presence, but in your writing skills, you've just gotten better at this.  That was really good & you don't need to change a thing!"

Now, I'm not saying I hit it out of the ballpark yesterday when I actually gave the speech & or anything, but it was a vast improvement to where I was last year at this point!  SERIOUSLY!  I felt a million times better when I was done & it hit me in the middle of my speech that I was speaking to my friends out in the audience & it wasn't until that point that I realized that really does help; knowing that you're speaking to people who care about YOU & what YOU ARE saying!  :)

But just for future reference....I'm not volunteering myself to give any speeches anytime soon.....just sayin!  ;)

2012 Resolution: May Race

Race Goal:  One Hour, which was quite a stretch.  I've only run one other 10K Race in my life & it was during my first running season.  During that race I ran a 1:18 time, definitely nothing to brag about, so I knew I would "PR" but I wanted to challenge myself & really push, hence the lofty goal.  Not sure how realistic I was considering that I've only run 6 miles under an hour ONCE & it was about 10 seconds under an hour & a 10K is 6.2 miles.....so yeah, there are all of my excuses.....
Actual Time: 1:02:35, 2 1/2 minutes off my goal, which is quite a bit, but I still think it's pretty decent.  Just gives me something to strive for in my next 10K.

The Race: I ran the PODER 10K.  The race started at Lanier High School, we ran over to Commerce, then managed to get to Houston St.  We ran down Houston & took a left on Lexington.  Right at about the turn around my tummy started feeling not so hot, so I decided it was a good time to take my GU gel & walk for just a bit (this may have been my 2 1/2 minutes), so at the turn around I started back up again, down Main Ave., back to Houston to Commerce, up the biggest overpass EVER, then back to Lanier HS.

the runners:  Justin, Ariana, Anne, Mike,
me, Mireya & Kristen

Who'd I run with?: 5K Racers:  Ariana, Justin, Anne, & Mike (they were an AWESOME cheering section for the 10Kers as we finished the race, along with Mireya's husband Matt)

10K Racers:  Mireya, me & Kristen.  This was the first 10K for both K & M & they of course did amazingly well!!!  I'm so glad I found other people to follow me along in my crazy resolution, so far it's been super fun!

Coming Up (June Race):  I haven't found one yet.  My "usual" group is running a race on June 9th, but Lake & I will be driving back from a wedding in College Station that day, so I'm out for that one.  I'm trying to find another one, but boy our weekends are filling up fast!  sheesh!  I'll find one though, maybe I can get Leah to run it with me......

My goal over the summer is to get faster though.  Since I'm only training for the RNR Half Marathon & not the Full Marathon this year I figure speed work is what I should really concentrate on at this point.  :)

Fruit Salsa

Next year I will serve on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of San Antonio as the Communications Council Chair.  This past Sunday I invited my council over to our home to meet, mix, mingle, snack, & play a couple cheesy "get to know you" games.  All in all it was quite a fun afternoon if I do say so myself!  ;)
I prepared a variety of snacks for the group, but I'd have to say that the most popular dish was the fruit salsa I made.  I apologize for not having step by step photos available for view, but I didn't think it would be so good that it would be worthy of a blog post, I was surprisingly wrong! 

Fruit Salsa
3/4 Cup Sliced Strawberries
3/4 Cup Sliced Mango *I went ahead & bought the pre-cubed ones that are available at HEB right now.  I think mangoes are the most difficult fruit to deal with, so yes, I paid more for the convenience, but in my opinion, the convenience was well worth the extra couple dollars I spent
1/4 Cup Sliced Red Onion
4 Basil Leaves Sliced
2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients & gently mix together.  You want to let all the juices mix together nicely so if you can, make this a couple of hours ahead of time. 
We enjoyed this salsa with Sweet Potato chips which I discovered over the weekend as well.  YUM-O!

Complete Fruit Salsa before hitting the fridge for a couple hours

After trying this, I think I may try a variation.  I think the mango was so good, as were the strawberries, next time I may also add in some pineapple & a little more basil (2-3 more leaves).  I think the amount of onion was fine though, I guess I'll have to slightly increase it if I add more fruit.  All in all a very good, yummy, & easy salsa.

Enjoy!

*recipe courtesy of Pinterest