i left my heart in SF

Towards the end of my stay I had come to learn of a beach that I had yet to wander upon, Baker Beach.  I had seen the Golden Gate Bridge from many different views but not from this one.  It was a warm day and my last stop of the day was Baker Beach.  First arriving to the beach I was a little disappointed that it took me four months to know of this beach and visit.  I wish I had known of it before so that my visitors could have too been able to experience the beauty of this destination.  The best in this case was saved for last as I thought maybe I was not meant to go there  until when I did.  The sand was squishy in between my toes as I walked the distance of the shore.  To my right was the bridge and yet in a way I hadn't seen it before, much smaller and not as bold as my previous ganders of it.  I liked the bridge view this way, blended in with the scenario as if it was meant to be there all along.  I stayed until sunset in which would be one of my last for this stay in SF.

I spent some of my last days doing one of my favorite activities and that was taking a blanket, book and iPod to Washington Square which was a small park located in little Italy a short walk for me up a steep hill. Of course I stopped at La Boulange for my cup of coffee grabbing some cookies from a nearby bakery.  At this park I did a lot of people watching and learned from them.  It was not uncommon to see friends gathering there with their cheese and wine while playing ladder ball, they were really enjoying life, the beauty of living in simplicity.  I only wish that I would have made more of an effort to get to know more people, I tend to be a little shy when it comes to starting up a conversation but once I do I am quite comfortable to speak.

The city was my first exposure to a mass quantity of homeless people.  There was this one girl who had an appearance that was so inhumane it was hard to look at her.  It made me appreciate the life that I have and to be thankful for opportunities and the future that I get to live.  

At the end of my stay I was ready to head back to Utah as I missed having the view of the mountains in my life.  However San Francisco changed me forever and I would like to go back in the future either

 to live or for a visit.  Until we meet again frisco...

Lina's visit to SF made her a sea lion lover

Ocean Beach sunset 

Lina in harmony 

A few days after my sister Lindsay left my sister Lina arrived.  Our first outing was to Trader Joe's, I love and miss this store terribly. We stocked up on necessary supplies that we would need; raw almonds, dried mango and bananas (no sugar added of course), dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds and much more deliciousness.
We were able to experience a great day at Ocean Beach together and spectate an amazing sunset.  That day we saw about 20 dead jellyfish washed up on shore, never knowing for what reason but nonetheless a very rare experience.

We went on an adventure in Golden Gate Park where we drank some tea with mochi cakes in the Japanese Tea Garden.  Our exploration also included a trip to the conservatory of flowers and wandering aimlessly in the park.  We went to the spot where the jammin takes place, some guys were there juggling away.  Lina joined in the futbol activity showing those guys a thing or two.  They were quite impressed with her skills.

One of Lina's favorite part of San Francisco was Chinatown.  She was crazy about that area as she liked being emerged in a different type of culture and environment.  She did get a bit grossed out by the way they had some of their food sitting around like the dead fish, turtles and chickens.  She understood that it was the way the culture was and she accepted that.  

While my sister was visiting she discovered a new passion about herself, how much she loved and wanted to protect sea animals.  Everyday without fail Lina had to go to Pier 39 to where to sea lions liked to gather to say hi to them, fortunately I lived close to the pier.  One of her only souvenirs she got was a sea lion key chain, which of course some of the proceeds went to the help protect marine life.  

sea lions at Pier 39 

My sister Angelina is such a wonderful person.  She is very caring and concerned for the well being of other people and animals, sometimes a little too much.  She is passionate in what she believes and will always stand behind it.  Lina's trip to SF has inspired her in more ways than one.  I hope that she will soon be able to utilize her good intentions more as well as continuing her development into being a loving proactive semi-hippie that is her destiny.  

Lindsay and I covering San Fran one step at a time

sisterly love on Ocean Beach

That's right, standing on top of a log behind my younger sister Lindsay, I am barley passing her height.  She was able to come out for her spring break in April and by this time I had known the city a little bit more so I was able to take her to the best spots of San Francisco.

One of the first places I took her to was Ocean Beach.  It was an overcast day but that didn't ruin our time there, in fact I think it added to the fun.  That day there were lots of sand dollars on the shore as it was a low tide and more were exposed.  We collected a few, enough for ourselves.  That day we read, took a nap, drooled over surfer guys, appreciated the graffiti art and took in the moist salty air.

                                             




That day and for the rest of my sister's stay we really got to connect on a level that we had not had before.  She was no longer just my little sis but a young woman who will continue to blossom into a wonderful human being that she already is.

                                                                             

Of course I had to take my sister to one of my favorite spots in all of the city and that would be Corona Heights Park.  We ended the day at Golden Gate Park of course where we listened to the live jamboree while resting at ease.  What an awesome spring break to be able to take as a junior in high school, definitely tops my 4 hour drive that I took down to St. George for my spring break.  Being the oldest I am glad that I was able to create an opportunity for my younger sister to come and experience this diverse city.


One of the most memorable nights we had while Lindsay was in town was the night  that we went to a live concert that took place in the middle of downtown in Union Square.  We went there thinking that we would just watch the band perform but it ended up being a night of dancing and laughter.  Below is a video of Lindsay learning how to salsa, I think she may have two left feet.  She did a really good job and was a sport when it came to learning this fast paced Latin dance style, better than what I did.        

Towards the end of Lindsay's stay we took things down a notch as we let life catch up.  We got to experience the freshness that the ocean nearby had to offer as we devoured a fresh seafood cocktail at Fisherman's Wharf.  San Francisco changed my sister's life and my sister's visit changed mine!

looking onto the city 

                                               

SF...hills, hills and then more hills

January 2011 - May 2011

Towards the end of my stay in KW, I was offered another opportunity to work for the same company in San Francisco , of course I was ecstatic to go.  I had never been to SF and could not even wrap my head around what it would be like. Getting out of the plane and into a car, looking around, I was a little intimidated.  I had never been in such a big city but I was ready for it.  This picture of the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the first that I took. I was a newbie in this busy body city.  My butt was feeling good from all the hills that I conquered in the rolling landscape.

Downtown SF from Twin Peaks

My friend Brian came into town in the middle of January and we did things the tourist way, it was nice to start out my time in the city this route.  In a whole day we went across the Golden Gate Bridge, explored Golden Gate Park, went to Twin Peaks and ended the day with a ferry ride to Alcatraz.  We took an audio tour of Alcatraz and we could hear some of the prisoners voices while walking around the cells, it was quite eerie to say the least.

In February my Aunt Julie was in town for work and we were able to meet up one of the evenings and go out of the town for an adventure.  We started our outing by going through the streets of Chinatown where we decided to get some tea.  The tea was quite nice and as a bonus we got a life lesson from the elder china man whom was serving the tea to us.  Afterwards we took a tour of Fisherman's wharf where we got to see a guy create an amazing picture using spray paint and some objects.   We ended the night with a award winning margherita pizza from Tony's in little Italy, some of the best pizza I have had.

On my days off my favorite thing to do was head down to the Haight-Ashbury area, aka hippieville, and wonder around all day.  I would start the day off by heading to the Corona Heights Park where you could see an amazing overlooking view of San Fran.  The nice thing about this park versus going to Twin Peaks is that you could walk there instead of having to take a car, there was a very steep hill to get here though, great exercise. After Corona Heights I walked to another park called Buena Vista Park which also gave a good view of some of the city but mostly it was nice because of all the foliage and dirt paths throughout the park.  I then roamed down Haight Street which was a world all of it's own.  I ended my adventure by going to Golden Gate Park where I would sit and watch a group of random musicians play while soaking in vitamin D.

Muir Woods

                                                             
I always liked to experience the nature parts of San Francisco, it was a nice break from the crazy city.  Across the bridge I took a trip to Muir Woods National Park which is a muggy damp forest of redwoods, something mysterious about that place.

While I was in San Fran I had some visitors come out and had different adventures with all of them.  My friends Whitney and Landon came out and they got a tour of the whole city, lots of walking included.  Whitney no longer believed me when I said it was just a short walk.  We were able to go to Oakland and go to a Golden State Warriors basketball game, which was not as scary as I though it would be.

My next visitors came in a pack of three: Missy, Jenny and Cassidy.  What a great week!!!! We definitely got to take in the Frisco life.  We went to this club called Bootie SF and I have never had so much fun dancing.  We went on a Napa tour, wine country, as we learned how to properly taste wine.
We were also able to go to a Giants game, the defending World Series champions at the time.

My sister Lindsay came out for her Spring Break and then a view days after my sister Angelina came out for a week.  Their visits get a whole separate post since we did a lot of adventures plus this post is already too long.

life in SF to be continued...

Key West...coconuts, key lime and more

 

August 2010 - January 2011


Well where do I even start with my Key West experience, definitely an eye opener.  After arriving to the island the other girls I was working with and I went out to dinner.  I was in awestruck, the picture on the right is  the first picture that I took in Key West using my camera phone, taken from the patio of where we had dinner.

Key West is known for their sunsets in fact there is an area called Mallory Square in which tourists and locals gather to watch the sunsets and sometimes even clap for them.  I have seen many great sunsets at this particular location.  Living in KW feels like your almost in a different country, there is a whole different way of life out there.  Here is a link for Key West to find out a little more about the island that brings many different types of people.  I met some interesting people that opened my eyes and helped me start towards my experiencing journey.

In October I was fortunate enough to have my best friends Missy and Jenny come out to KW to visit for a week.  While they were here it was by far one of the best weeks of my life.  We went cruising around town in our scooters causing mischief.  We were a scooter gang, thee scooter gang.  We went snorkeling, laid on the beach for hours on end, went to a drag show and danced the nights away.  It was hard to let them go but I was so glad they came to visit.


I was fortunate enough to room with some great chicas, Paige and Kiera, whom were also from Utah.  We had a blast hanging out and doing adventures in Key West.  In this particular picture we went jetskiing around the entire 4 x 2 mile island in about two hours.  We experienced Fantasy Week together (link is for pictures of Fantasy Week 2010)  which was something very new and different for us.  We saw a little more than we wanted to.  Let's just say women were almost nude with their bodies painted and it wasn't the women you wanted to see.  During that week Kiera and I went on a zombie bike ride where we got our faces painted as zombies while we road around town into the night with a thousand other fellow zombies.  We  had the opportunity to go to a military fort outside of Key West called Dry Tortugas, bottom right picture, and I have never seen bluer water.    I celebrated Thanksgiving,  Christmas and New Years all in KW.  It was my first holiday season without snow and it was quite interesting.  Towards the end of our time in KW, the three of us roomies went parasailing and the video is on the bottom left.  A few different times I was able to take a trip up the keys to Miami.  It was a nice break from key West as being on a such a small island can get a little old.  The beaches of Key West are not what was expected, they are a bit more rocky.  Miami Beach is very nice with the crystal clear waters and soft sand.

There are some many experiences, too many to write about,  that I had in Key West that will stay with me always.  I will am not sure if I will ever make it back to this island but was glad I got the time there that I did.  I tried a few different types of key lime pie but I would have to say that the Key West Key Lime Pie Factory is the best, not to sweet and just the right amount of sour.  

The Key West Motto is "One Human Family"  and that is one to take into consideration.  

Memento Vivere

What does memento vivere mean?  

In case you are not familiar with the Latin phrase it means remember to live.  I think this is a motto that people should live by.  


I have been having some fun adventures and I wanted to be able to write down my memories while sharing experiences, thoughts and future ambitions.  I have tried to do a journal but found that I wasn't writing in it as much but maybe this electronic version will work better.  

I have been getting out and about trying to live life.  I recently had a friend say to me that I didn't even know where home was.  I thought about this and felt the words might be true.  I am trying to discover what life is and have grown in many different ways while doing so.  

After graduating college in May 2009 with a degree in PR I stayed in my college town until August 2009.  The end of that summer I transferred to a new position with my company to Salt Lake City.  I was an administrative assistant sitting in a desk eight hours a day.  I was able to tolerate the job throughout the winter but then once spring came along I was going crazy sitting at a horrid desk.  I then decided that I needed to make a change to make me more happy.


Summer of 2010 I was a summer camp counselor for Rowland Hall and had a great time, much needed change.  While camp was coming to an end I knew I had to figure something else out to do.  I wanted to move somewhere different.  I had come to find out about a company based in Utah who sent people to work in tourism merchandising in different locations.  After applying and interviewing I was given an opportunity to move to Key West, Florida for 4 1/2 months, I said yes.  Not being the best at geography I didn't even realize that Key West was an island at the end of the Florida Keys.  


I took a chance and quit my mentally exhausting, physically undemanding administrative assistant job.  I have been quite happy with life choices I have made and hope to keep on growing in my near future and distant promising life.