Titlow Park

Today after work, I went for a run at a local park/beach called Titlow Park. It was maybe a mile and a half long but it was very peaceful and I rather enjoyed myself.

This is a picture of the small pond that part of the trail is around. There is a bridge that goes right through the middle and splits the pond in two. As you can see by the slight sun breaks, it wasn't raining which made ideal jogging weather :)



Prior to getting on the trail, there were multiple of these little stone towers that jutted from ground. There were rather peculiar but caught my interest.




















A cute little creek that ran into the pond; the only one I saw on the path unfortunately.




















Probably the most intriguing aspect of this trail were the many "fitness stops" along the path. I passed about 4 which included a leg stretch, pull ups, vaulting, and some tires that were laid in twos on the ground in a row. With each stop was a little sign that explain the workout and "proper work out procedure". Here is a picture of the pull up bars.



The last picture is of the beautiful tree canopy that shaded a section of the pat, which was towards the end of the trail before hitting the main road.




















As a whole, this was a very enjoyable jog and if the weather permits, I will be doing it more often :)

Thinking Positive

After having moved in for only4 days, I am back in a position where I potentially need to move again /heavysigh

My current roommate is moving down to Las Vegas for work as her company's Tacoma office was shut down on Wednesday and everyone was laid off. I have 4 words for that "I hate this economy".

I am very mixed on this situation but hoping for the best. I am going to see if I can get approved to be on the lease on my own (although my credit is not great). That would be ideal so that I wouldn't have to move and finding another roommate would be a cinch.

If I am not approved, I do have other options available for a new living situation, which is a relief to know. My goal is to stay in Tacoma, that would be ideal.

But regardless of what happens, I will try to make the best of the situation. I believe that everything happens for a reason and when a trial comes along, we have an opportunity to learn and grow from it.

On a side note, I have a 4 day weekend this weekend. Yay me!

I love fall

This is by far my favorite time of the year.

Nature is putting on it's own fireworks display with all the vibrant reds and oranges and yellows in the trees!

I am starting to love my drive home out to Buckley because my last mile is down a road that has many different trees along each side and I love see them all fly past me in a blur of color as I pass them in my car.

The wind is picking up. That fierce wind that bites through clothes. Although it may not be ideally comfortable, it brings along an atmosphere and emotion with it. I crave it.

The next thing I am really looking forward to is a LOT more rain :)

More pictures to come as well!

"Autumn; the year's last, loveliest smile." - William Cullen Bryant

An October Change

"Each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives. When things happen to us, it is the reaction we choose that can create the difference between the sorrows of our past and the joy in our future."

My life is heading in a new direction. I am making the move to a new place filled with new people, new ambitions, and new experiences. I have a strong desire to return to school and finish my AA. I plan to meet many new people and build lasting friendships. I hope to have trials and struggles that I have never encountered before that will challenge me and help me grow stronger as an individual. All in all, I am almost ready for a fresh start.

I have a new sense of hope and adventure about me that I have extremely missed. In my current living place, I feel trapped and unmotivated. Granted, a good portion of these feelings are internally changeable. However, I am in an atmosphere where I feel I can't grow or be myself. One of my favorites sayings is "If you don't like something, change it". And that is what I am doing.

There is a certain individual who I cannot express enough gratitude to for helping me and being amazingly supportive and considerate for my well being. He has been a solid rock of comfort and support in my life for over the past year now. His insight and caring attitude has been the backing to my recent ambitions to change my life and improve it. For that, I can't thank you enough, Adam.

I have experienced so much in these past two and a half months after my move back to Buckley and I honestly wouldn't go back and change anything, if I had the opportunity. The good and bad times are all important to me. It has really helped me realize what I do and do not want in my life. The quote I referenced at the beginning of this entry is very gripping to me. You and only you can choose how you react and respond to the good and bad things that life throws at you.

I have my aspirations and dreams set high and I intend to follow through with them in the near future.

Me and my many lives

I've decided that we, as humans, cannot just live once.

There are too many different experiences in life for anyone person to undergo in a single life time.

I, for example, will never know what it feels like to be an adopted child. One of my best friends, Bonnie, was a foster child. Thankfully she was adopted by one family at a really young and was able to grow with them and acknowledge them as her true family.

While sitting on the porch tonight, enjoying the cool night air, she was mentioning contacting her biological parents. It was at that moment that I got a little jealous of her.

My thoughts were "I will never understand what she is feeling or thinking when she talks about her "real" parents...".

This is just one of MANY different scenarios that I will never in my life.

So I have decided that when I die, I will be reborn as an entirely new person and into a whole new atmosphere. But I will some knowledge and experience from my current life and with it, I can become a better person in my next life.

Maybe it's silly. Maybe it's not.

More pictures!

Here are a just a few pictures I've snapped along my daily trekking.

Of course there are the cliche floral pictures and one I took of Sydney while she was smoking.

Enjoy :)

Updated Bucket List

Doing some thinking tonight and I thought I should update my bucket list :)


1. Find that special someone and start a family with them

2. Travel through Europe; At least France, Ireland, Germany and Russia.

3. Learn to fluently speak Russian.

4. Publish some form of prose

5. Pose for a nude drawing

6. Go to Japan and try authentic sushi

7. Go to New York and visit the art museums

8. Learn how to ball room dance

9. Snorkel amongst the corals reefs of Australia

10. See the Broadway production of Wicked

11. Plant and maintenance a vegetable and herb garden

12. Be in a major motion picture

13. Have a picture of mine be published

14. Obtain a degree in Psychology

15. Bar tend for a night

16. Direct movie trailers

17. Be in a tv commercial!

I will update more soon.

Photography

I was talking to Adam a couple weeks ago and he suggested a wonderful thing!

I've always wanted to have a camera with me all the time (aside from a cell phone) and take pictures of things that have caught my eye in the past.

He told me to take them with my cell phone anyways. So today, I did.

"Untitled"

Intuition

Definition - instinctive knowing (without the use of rational processes).

Sometimes this isn't exactly the most factual way to address situations in life but it is the best.

It can hurt, confuse, enlighten and amplify all sorts of feelings, thoughts, people and ever the heart.

And yet, it seems to be one of the best ways to survive and grow from a problem.

To anyone that may have been hurt or confused by actions of mine that don't seem reasonable, I do apologize.

As corny as this sounds, I really am following my heart and looking through my second sight.

Old emails

I was going through some of my old emails today and found a couple things that brought a smile to my face.

First is a poem that I wrote one day when I was really bored at work.

Rain

“Tranquil taps on the windows. Light kisses on my skin. As the heavens lavish the earth with cool, crisp beads of water I am immersed in ecstasy.

The pitter patter of the drops on the maple leaves is an entrancing sound that captivates my entire being.

I sit amongst the trees and the many small flora. I hear their rejoice for the sweet nectar. I am in unison with their pleasure.

I too feel the rain’s life giving essence and consume it in my soul.”

Second is a picture that one of my co workers drew of me. I thought it matched pretty well :)



Enjoy :)

An eventful week

So this week is definitely a week to remember.

On Wednesday March 11th 2009, I was arrested at 7:27 AM PST.

On my way to work, I was stopped at a stoplight about... 2 minutes from my office.

I was eager to get there cause I had quite a lot of work to do.

A cop pulled up behind me as I was waiting for the green light; no big deal. I've never been that nervous when a cop was behind me.

As I got my green light and started through the intersection, the infamous red and blue lights start rotating and immediately my stomach was up in my throat.

So I pulled over into the gas station and got my license and insurance and registration ready and then rolled down my window. The officer cautiously approached my window and said "Mr. Norris...?"

I was first off STUNNED that he already knew my name... and then I was just like "Yeah" and he was like "Will you step out of the vehicle please?". So I did and he turned me around to face the car, put handcuffs on me, read me my Miranda Rights and then put me in the back of his car...

The back seats are SO uncomfortable. Cheap plastic seats that give you about 6 inches to sit on and then maybe a foot in front of you to squeeze your body into.

So he took me down to the jail. I got frisked like 3 times, they couldn't keep their hands off me ;) I got a mug shot, a court date, and then they walked me to the gate and told me I was good to go. Of course they impounded my car. Of course my cell phone service was cut off for just THAT ONE MORNING. So, I walked for about an hour, in like 36 degree weather, towards my apartment.

Thankfully Sydney was driving to the gas station and passed me! Unfortunately, I was only about a mile from my apartments, lol. So, we got my car out of the pound, which is a rip off...

To make a long story short, I couldn't drive for like 2 weeks. I finally got my license un suspended last Friday. I had a court date on Friday which was basically a waste of my time and I have another one on the 22nd of April. OY.

Reset Button?

Sometimes I get a deep urge to just leave. I want to just pack up all my stuff and move to some place FAR away. I really do wish there was eternal reset button that I could press and start things over.

It would definitely have to be on the east coast; I'm feeling Massachusetts or Vermont or Maine. It would a really nice culture change and I'm close enough to Europe where international traveling, which I plan to do a lot of while I'm in my 20's, is quite a bit cheaper. The accents definitely make it that much better of a place to be :)

I do love all my friends that I have here and I'm not wanting to leave to get away from them or anyone but sometimes I just think about what possibilities I could be missing or how my life could change if I did change my life that drastically. Granted, moving to Oregon or even Seattle could supply some life changes. Go big or go home, though! So I plan on going big.

When I seriously think about doing this, I want to leave sometime next year, depending on what/whom is in my life. I really feel like I need to experience more of life and meet new people and new scenarios. I'm starting to get extremely restless in Washington.

A dreary March morning

It's gloomy and gray outside. The sun is trying to burn through the clouds but it's failing miserably.

I'm sitting at work trying to not bite my nails. I've been going strong for about a week now. It's probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to stop doing.

These past few weeks have been really challenging for me, mentally and emotionally, but I am becoming stronger because of it. I believe that the difficulties in life are intended to make us stronger and better people, not bitter and withdrawn. Unfortunately not everyone can see things that way.

Recently, I chose to walk away from someone that was struggling with his hardships. Someone who withdrew himself when I trying to stretch out a hand of support. Someone who, in my eyes, I had thought and hoped was strong enough to overcome any adversity. Someone who I think I loved.

I've learned over the past few years that unless I get hurt by someone, I take quite a long time to let go and move on. In a sense, I was hurt by this person but apparently not enough to make moving on any easier.

In this situation, I would make myself vulnerable and put my feelings on the chopping block only to be returned with an emotionally unavailable person asking me what I wanted to hear and what he should say.

I would have hoped that after 6 months of getting to know this person, both on friendly and romantic levels, this person would be able to be direct and honest with me and not toy with my mind and emotions like that.

Most of his responses were, "I don't know what to say". I'm sorry but that's a stupid excuse. Your heart always has something to say. I could have cared less if what he said had hurt me. I wanted an honest answer and he wouldn't give that to me which hurt even more.

I have heard it said that some times not feeling is the only way some people can survive. This is how he is looking at life right now. Detaching himself from other people and from his feelings in an attempt to not get hurt again regardless if he is hurting those who care about him.

That's not surviving. That's just a more miserable way of dieing.

Untitled

I am so incredibly frustrated and angry that I don't even know what to write.

I am being treated poorly and I may lose the friendship, possibly even more, of one of the most amazing men I have ever met.

All because I hung out with a friend.

Jealousy, disappointment, dishonesty. Three things that I never afflicted on anyone regarding this nor would I ever want to be involved with; they are all being thrown in my face and I am crushed.

More than I thought possible.

A much needed deep breath of relief

So today is the first day in a long time where I feel financially stable. I finally feel like I "got my sh*t together" and looked at all my financial obligations, heavily prioritized that obligation list and eliminated any unnecessary costs.

Alas, there indeed is a light at the end of the tunnel. I can still have a reasonable amount of 'float' money while still being responsible.

"Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." - Spike Mulligan

My new favorite song

So
If you ever want something
You call, you call
And I'll come running to fight
And I'll be at your door
And there's nothing worth running for

When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to change it
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to stop it

You see you're just like everyone
When you share your falls
All you want to do is run away
And hide all by yourself
When there's fall, there's fall
There's nothing else

When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to change it
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point even talkin'
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to fight it
When your mind, your mind

There's no point trying to change it
When your


So
If you ever want something
Then you call, call
Then I'll come running

20th Birthday

As of January 24th, 2009, I am no longer a teenager! Even though 20 is no where near being old... I still feel it. It's like now is when my life is going to start picking up and the chess pieces of the rest of my life are going to start falling in place, you know? Which I hope they do.

I really did have a big blow out or anything like that this year. Actually, my roommate/best friend forgot about my birthday so nothing was planned. Granted, I would have planned something myself but my car cost me around $300 dollars to fix the week prior so all my fun money went to that.

Adam basically saved my weekend. He is such a great guy and a wonderful friend. Sydney made chicken fettucini alfredo before she went to hang out with some of her friends so Adam came over and ate with us. After dinner, Adam and I headed back to his house to check on his puppy. He took a detour and basically FORCED me to eat chocolate ice cream from Coldstone.

Somehow our topic, whilst eating the ice cream, lead to tape worms so Adam wasn't able to finish the rest of his ice cream; which wasn't too unfortunate cause he got nasty coconut flavored ice cream ;)

We wanted to go see this production called Color Fast at the Broadway center in downtown Tacome so we raced down there and caught the train and tried to make it before 8. Sadly, we were about 3 minutes late and they had closed the doors. So we went and got coffee and headed back to Adam's car where he triumphantly smashed every puddle that we came across.

We picked up Arryah from Adam's house and brought her back to my place to play with Boomer, it was really entertaining to see a 4y old rat terrier and the pit bull puppy intereact, and we then watched The Producers.

All in all, I am extremely grateful for friends like Adam. He turned my weekend around and tried his best to help me have a good birthday. And well Adam, you did well :) Thanks.

My Bucket List

So, inspired by Mary Beth Dempsey, I am going to share my bucket list.

1. Find that special someone and start a family with them

2. Travel through Europe; At least France, Ireland, Germany and Russia.

3. Learn to fluently speak Russian.

4. Publish some form of prose

5. Pose for a nude drawing

6. Go to Japan and try authentic sushi

7. Go to New York and visit the art museums

8. Learn how to ball room dance

9. Snorkel amongst the corals reefs of Australia

10. See the Broadway production of Wicked

11. Plant and maintenance a vegetable and herb garden

12. Be in a major motion picture

I will update more soon.

A Lazy Sunday

If any of you were wondering about my iron, it is working amazingly now :)

Today has been extremely lazy for me... I woke up around 8:30, as usual on weekends. Made some coffee. Played some shooting games. And just kind of BS'ed with Sydney and her boyfriend Jeff.

I decided that for my birthday, on the 24th of this month, that I do want to go up to Vancouver. I am think about the 6th-8th of February. I want Sydney and Michelle to come with me but I'm not sure about Michelle cause her boyfriend is extremely protective. I hope she can make it though :)

I was looking forward to go running with Adam this evening but it's snowing and icy outside so we are going to have to try for another night this week. He's so cute; he was like "I bought new running pants for it too", lol. Sad day.

My goal for 2009 is to be able to fluently speak Russian. I have the Rosetta Stone program for it so I really have no excuse not too.

Time for yoga!