Question for the Blog World

Yo!
If you go down to my comments and take a gander, you will find some interesting information. There have been several posts from anonymous authors in Chinese/Japanese, some kind of Asian communication.

Well, I thought it would be interesting to find out what was being commented on my blog. Maybe some nice lady in Korea, reads my blog and wanted to say, "Oh thanks Audra, your blog posts always make my day, and I just enjoy reading about your interesting stories." I couldn't have been more wrong. I copied and pasted the hopeful sweet comments from my unidentified Korean lady, to google translations. Hmmm....what a surprise my sweet little lady turned into a conglomeration of Asian porn discussion.

WTF! I'm really not interested in Asian porn to be honest and I'm really not interested in it being on my comments. So my question to you all in the blog world: How the Hell do you turn the sweet Korean/dominatrix comments off?

Fillet o' Fish

I just attempted the unthinkable..well actually not really, I just didn't think it was something that I would ever do. I filleted a fish.

Seriously...it was kind of hard. This sucka had all of his bones intact. I did the stupid thing by naming him, Jose. Spanish names always come to mind when I am naming things. I guess I just like the way it rolls off the tongue...Jose!

Thank goodness he was organless, that would have been an adventure in itself. As I attempted to cut him in half, I hit bone...back bone to be exact.

As usual...I panic.

The Internet is so fantastic when it comes to crises. I had a little help from Salmon University...."Your complete Saltwater Fishing Resource." It was step by step instructions on how to take Jose Fish to Jose Fillet. Fish are very interesting. The outside layer (scales/skin) is very tough but when you cut inside the meat part is very delicate and can be easily mangled.

So...back to cutting Jose. I proceed to slice him in two. Then I take one side of him, turn him over and cut right along the back bone. It was pretty spectacular. Once I turned him over, I had separated backbone and ribs and had a nice slice of salmon heaven.

Now the other side...got a little carried away. I tried to de-rib him and found myself getting a little "cut happy." I ended up salvaging what I could and ended up with a beautiful fillet and a half.

I'm actually really happy that I attempted that. It gave me new appreciation for the profession of meat cutters. Here's to you, butcher/fish monger: Thank you for taking the bones out of these tasteful creature to make our lives less stressful.

Happy Birthday Grandma Esther. I miss you everyday.

Audra...out!

Blog Lost

I've never been sure how I've wanted this blog to go. At first it was just a great way to tell the cyber world how I was doing. Which hasn't been too exciting. Then it became a place where I let out frustrations and filled the page with messages from the heart. Then I had ideas of attaching a health and fitness blog on top of that. I have failed miserably.

My blog is lame! My summer project will be posting at least three times a week on RANDOMNESS. This gives me lots of range to post whatever. It may be about relationships, work, aging, just randomness. Get the defibrillator and stand back, I'm hoping that this will shock me back into the blog world and get me back to writing, which I do love.

I want to talk about my most recent obsession with Brandi Carlile. A native folk/new age singer from Seattle who stole my heart the moment her video was released on Grey's Anatomy. I fell hard for "The Story" and was immediately a fan, this past Christmas I was gifted with her entire album collection. Every song takes me somewhere different. If you have a chance you tube The Story.

Hello world, its me...Audra!

I remember getting really upset when I would check blogs and the post date was like six months old. So for all ya'll who have opened my blog page and felt completely frustrated with my lack of blogestry, I apologize.



So...how about an update?

I'm coaching Track at UW. We have been busy every weekend with meets. Spring is the season for track and my life has taken off. I was hired at UW in January and since then I have been swamped with travel, coaching, training, and meetings. I am so happy with the way things have turned out. A year ago I was bitching about going back to school and working 3 jobs and now I'm doing something that I really love.



I had an unfortunate run of luck about 6 weeks ago. I was doing a hurdle workout and realized that my foot hurt...so instead of stopping and resting on it, I just kept hurdling until I couldn't walk on it and if you touched it I would have decked ya.



I went and had it looked at....and after one xray, mri, and consultation, I was put in a walking boot. I was told I had a fracture on my navicular bone. Google it! Pretty much the worst bone to have a fracture on besides the talus bone. Fan-Freakin' Tastic right? I was pretty crushed but I kept a positive attitude. Then two weeks after the MRI, I was told, "no fracture just a case of bone marrow adema, still got to stay in das boot." I'm finally out of it but it was just some freaky thing. Having pain in a small part of your foot that hinders so many things that I do in my everyday life was kind of crapy. But I made it and even though it takes me out of contention to do anything fantastic this year, I'm just glad it is not broken and I am out of DAS BOOT!



So....I missed you blog world.

Check ya later!

Family Pictures...its about time!

Hey Ya'll
Yep...that is a burro. Her name is Jenny. Isn't she so cute?
Anyway, I wanted to get these pics up. When I went home for Thanksgiving Becky McArther came to the house and took some great pictures of my family. With a few "point and shoots" she had captured some pretty great moments. Thanks Beck. If I end up getting married one day...you know you're my number one.

ENJOY!! PEACE out!

Almost Happily Ever After

This morning was interesting.
As I was coffee deprived, I sat and tried to zone out the "Curves" conversation of cohabiting before you are married. Again, I was trying to zone out but when you get words like, not married...four years......and something about free milk, my eyes and ears started to follow the direction of conversation.

As they looked down on this couple who was cohabiting, and not wanting to marry I couldn't help but make it about me. I wanted to yell...Um...hi, I'm that person! I felt like they were telling my story. Yeah so I'm a little hungry for marriage. I'm a little hungry for lots of things and that topic is one of them. But it doesn't make it wrong or anything that should be frowned upon.

Oh but they continued....... about how it is just a "different era, and why would someone stay with a person, live with them, share their life if they have clearly stated they will never marry that person. In my day, you courted, married and then lived together." Yeah, well.....

My era things have changed!

We live in a world where women are successful, work their ass off, support their family and make time to cook, clean, taxi and socialize which gives new name to "House Wife."

We live in a world where two people (even of the same sex), live in a partnership, share life together and expenses. Even have children.

We live in a world where people spend the rest of their lives utterly alone due to early life decisions.

We live in a world where men and women stay in marriages for the children. When a part of them has been chipped away and when they look in the mirror, they don't recognize the reflection.

We live in a world where MARRIAGE is viewed as good and bad.
If you asked me: I would have to say...I'm 100% scared and 100% believer in marriage. How do you like them apples...eh!

So what if this couple that these ladies were talking about was still uncertain about their future? Wouldn't we say they were doing the responsible thing by "testing" the waters before they take the plunge? What if the guy in this relationship is apprehensive of marriage because he was hurt or had a bad experience? What if the girl doesn't feel he is the right one, but they still care about each other so they stay in the relationship, because it really is pretty good, they have a lot of fun together and it just works for the time being, even though there is no plan to marry.

I don't believe in Happily ever after...I do believe in Almost happily ever after which is pretty damn good. As humans we make mistakes, say things out of emotion, chemicals and hormones infest our bodies that cause us to do things, make decisions, and react in unexplainable ways. Almost happily ever after leaves room for those variables. Things are not perfect! Life is not fair! And it is all what you make of it. If for some reason you feel that the predicament you have gotten your self into is not working....then re-evaluate (favorite thing to do) and decide. Decide if what you are doing in your life, whether it is a relationship, job, responsibility or friendship, is the right thing and if it is making you happy. Because Happily Ever After is never going to happen. You decide your own fate and destiny in this world. You have that control. You can not wait for someone else to do it for you.

So...back to that "living in Sin, never marring", cohabited couple of urban Seattle, you don't know what the situation is. And before making judgement, maybe re-evaluate! There are two sides to every story and perhaps they are happy in their Almost Happily Ever After life.

My message for the day...

"Suffering produces enduracne, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts throuh the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5.