On a more serious note

When something's bouncing around in my brain, my first reaction is to reach for a piece of paper. I guess that's why I love blogging so much. It's somewhere to lock all my thoughts in one place and who knows, maybe even entertain someone for 30 seconds. So, I'm not trying to be like Rev Run who sits in a bubble bath and spreads encouragement through his blackberry, but I do want to make sense of the rubble in my head. Here's my fragments...

Sometimes it’s so easy to get down on ourselves. I’m sure I shouldn’t be saying such things out loud because it has to be some type of social disaster to let others know you aren’t perfect, but sometimes our lows seem unbearably low. It’s hard to accept that cloudy days are a part of life too. I’ve been starting to believe that I was the only person born with tear ducts, so therefore I had to overcompensate for others lack of.

Our world sets us up to believe that everyone has a perfect life…except us. People are fast to talk about their perfect this and that, but how fast are we to tell the real stories? Real is so refreshing. We hide the hard things and put our “perfection” on a pedestal for all to see, and we continue the cycle that makes us all believe that everyone else is perfect, except us.

At any given time during the day, each one of us could probably look up and see the handful of expectations hovering over our heads. If by some random chance that just one of those expectations fall, we chalk it up to being a complete failure.

Instead of trying to help each other out in this tricky world, we feel like we have to compete. Instead of working on our relationships, we are quick to feel alone. Instead of asking for help, we hide. Even though I have a lot of great blessings in my life, I’ll tell everyone right now that my life isn’t perfect and yes, I have bad days too. I think we are all a little more alike in this category than we talk about. Lately, I have felt like no matter how hard I try, I always trip and fall just short of the finish line. No matter how much I give, I’m not quite there. There’s always something I should have thought about.

All we can do is be better. Let’s all forget each other’s faults, be real, and then try to help each other survive this crazy world. No more unreal expectations. Everyone needs a support group and it can never be big enough.

My new to-do list:
embrace who I am
let those that rock know they rock
don’t drag myself over the coals
be a better friend

My life is incomplete without you...

My long lost friends...where have you been? I desperately (no pun intended) need your company. I know, Chris is sorry...he really doesn't hate you! Andrew Firestone was my favorite... but now I pray Jason is next! I'll patiently await your return but please come back soon! I've kind of been sick, sigh...again, and I've spent some serious quality time with my couch the last couple of days. First I got my wisdom teeth yanked, now all this stuffy pressure from a cold that won't go away! Seriously, who gets sick in the summer?

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It wouldn't be so bad, except I have now come to the conclusion that daytime television sucks! Have you ever honestly watched an entire episode of The View? Gag! Could someone teach them that it's rude to interrupt. Hello, we can't understand that pandemonium you call a conversation. And Whoopi for heaven sakes, could you be a more pessimistic person? Maybe I'm just extra sensitive because her voice made my head hurt even worse than it already did. Does anyone else think so or have I just become a crabby old couch lady?

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Hummm, crabby...come to think of it, Chris did leave an hour early for work today. You better believe I texted him when I realized just how early he left. "Let's play a game," I said. "You are either A- in love with your job, B- sick of your wife, or C- at the golf course." His reply, "well it's not A or B." Now I think about it, it very well could have been both B and C! When did I turn into such a prickly person? Call me crabby crab head. A grump from the city dump.

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At this point I need good reality TV and fast before my desperation and I turn to Flavor of Love for entertainment! Pathetic, sure but don't we all have weaknesses! Hey, maybe I could share one of your obsessions instead.

By the way, who do you think will win Big Brother 10? My votes go to Ollie or Dan

Red Sox Governor

PLEASE, PLEASE, VOTE!!!

Chris' dad is running for Red Sox Governor for Utah!

If you knew Dave at all, you would understand that being Red Sox Governor for Utah would seriously be his dream job.

If he won, he would get"special access" to Fenway, which I'm sure would bring tears to his eyes (not even kidding, he cried in Fever Pitch) and he would be in charge of local Red Sox parties, which I'm sure you all want to go to...you know you love the BoSox ;).

All you have to do is go to http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/fan_forum/rsn_gov_support_form.jsp

and put in his information. The more votes the more chance he has to win!

Name: David Torgersen

E-mail: dmtorgersen@comcast.net

State: Utah

You can vote 10 times per e-mail, so the more you vote the better!

Polls don't close until August 5, at 9:00 pm.

Thanks a bunch and good luck Dave!

P.S. I won't tell if you vote for your grandma, sister, and best friend too!

Meet little Miss Isabelle

We had such a fun little photo session together!

Tahoe

Disclaimer: Before you read this I want you to know that first, I am very grateful for the awesome vacation we were able to go on with Chris’ family. Second, Chris and I love most dogs. With that being said, let me tell you about Tahoe.

The long drive to California was just as long as I remembered. Well, it wasn’t hard to remember having driven to Cali just the week before, but anyway, the long drive was overflowing with fun. My favorite part was a blow out tire in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, it was funny! Chris’ dad got a little stressed trying to figure out if we should turn around back to Battle Mountain or keep going for-ev-er to the next exit. Plus, all the tire stores were already closed. Who knew Chris could change a tire like that! The best part was the tiny donut on our big van that looked hilarious. We were piddling along so slow that even big semi trucks were passing us in annoyance. At this point, was it rude for me to laugh?

Then you have to love the many miles of warm dog smell creeping in your nose. Yep, all six of us and our luggage plus Rocky in the van. Maybe I should share Chris and my feelings about the family dog before I go too far. We’ll just say Chris was in a ton of trouble when he told his little sister he hated Rocky. Anita calls him the “little brother” and I just think he’s high maintenance. Two walks a day rain or shine. He eats human food at the dinner table with us. He whines until Anita does what he wants, but the worst is his bark that makes you wonder how really terrible it would be if you were deaf. Too far? Okay, I’ll ease up a bit. It’s mostly that Rocky hates us, well everyone except Chris’ mom.

It wasn’t until after we ate soggy food in our hotel room (which you can’t help but question if another dog had peed where you were sitting because the hotel “happily accepts animals”) because we couldn’t leave Rocky alone to go out to dinner, when Chris dropped the “hate” word. That was some funny stuff! Anita kept saying, “But Chris, he’s your brother…” That's a conversation that should be put in the family history books. Really Chris? The “h” word...that took guts! I love it!

Just imagine this. Chris' dad walking to Burger King to get Rocky a hamburger while we all got Taco Time because duh, Rocky doesn't eat Taco Time. Funny! To top it all off, the last straw was when I couldn't put my feet down for a couple hours in the car because Rocky decided to occupy my only two feet of personal space on the floor. When I reached down to move him after my feet fell asleep, he snapped and growled at me. Don't be fooled by his friendly exterior. Okay, enough about the dog. The rest of the trip was amazing. I’d like to name our vacation “the ultimate action packed Torgersen boot camp vacation.” Here’s our schedule to prove it: golf, rafting, beach, tennis, the park, baseball, more tennis, more golf, the fitness trail, more tennis, and on and on. Now, I like to think I am the ultimate planner, but this planning was way out of my league. We always had something going on. I finally had to give myself a time out while everyone else went to the course to let my muscles (and sunburn) recover. Tahoe is so pretty and it was nice to get the entire family together.

We don’t get to spend enough time with Chris’ aunt Jen and her family from Arizona. I’m really lucky to have married into such a fun family (minus the dog). Okay, okay, I’m just kidding! If anyone in Chris’ family is still reading this and doesn’t hate me for the dog comments, thanks so much for a great vacation! We loved it!

4th of July

This is how we do the fourth...

parades

treats

appreciation

friends & family

food and mostly, fun!

Living out of a suitcase

I love love love summer. Even though I am still having nightmares about school starting again in August, the idea of getting paid while out having fun might just make teaching worth it. How many jobs pay you while you ride rides in Dinseyland? Sweet! I bet teaching is a lot like childbirth. Yes, I really did just say that. You have to have a period of time filled with good memories to make you forget the nine months of pain. If not, you’d never do it again. So this summer we are totally taking advantage of the time I have off. Chris’ work is about to kill him for being gone so much, but I really have loved the time together.

First on the list was relaxation. Our summer started with an impulse trip to the cabin with a bunch of friends. I’d really like to say we went camping, but it’s more like a huge log house nested in the mountains above Oakley. Water running, toilets flushing, this is definitely my type of camping. Thanks for coming with us guys! We had so much fun up there that we are already talking about doing it again. Anyone up for a trip?

Next on the list was heat. Right when we got home we packed up our things and headed to California with my family! We spent a week in Disneyland, at the beach, and in Hollywood where they were having record heat waves. It was so HOT! We always have a blast with the family and this trip was no exception! So fun! Even though we walked a million miles, I still must have gained 50 pounds from all the eating out and yummy treats. Disneyland really is magical. Our favorite parts were having dinner in Goofy’s Kitchen and the new Toy Story ride in California Adventure.

The girl’s loved Libby Lou in downtown Disney and I already miss Huntington beach. Why can't Utah be on a coast so we can play in the ocean all the time!

To wrap up the trip we stopped for a couple days in Vegas on our way home. Along with a butt load more walking and crazy heat, we saw the jousting show at Excaliber, lounged by the pool, and Chris and I went out one night to see a Cirque de Soleil show. Seriously, this was the best show I’d ever seen. Ever! I can’t even explain how awesome it was. It wasn’t just a show, it was art! All the body bending was cool, but that wasn’t even the amazing part. The stage really stole the show. There were a few different floating stages that twisted and even went vertical with people performing on them the entire time. I can’t explain it well, just go see it!

Tournament of Kings at Excalibur

Ka at MGM

Now we finally cought up on laundry and are packed again and are on our way to Tahoe with Chris’ family. Just livin out of a suitcase! Wahoo!