We Had a Sushi Adventure!

So my sister-in-law, Beki, has come to stay with us for a while!  Yay!

Unfortunately, it’s been awhile since we’ve gone grocery shopping, so they only things we had available for dinner last night were rice with….. rice. 

So we decided to splurge and go out for dinner.  And what do we all love?  SUSHI!!!!!!  AHHHH… Omg, I love sushi so hard.  It is definitely my favorite food.  Besides ice-cream.  Like, I get seriously excited about sushi……….. Even now, all I can think about is sushi… Mmmmm..  California Rolls…… Salmon…………….. *sigh*

Anyways, so we decided to go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place here in Temecula called Gin Sushi.  It’s fabulous!  Between the 3 of us (David, me, and Beki), we ate 16 different rolls!  Yeah.  We love sushi.  And we were hungry.

The real excitement began towards the end.  It was our 2nd round, and David was filling out the menu list of the rolls we wanted next.  David put down an order for some kind of Cajun roll…. Sounded interesting.  He also found something called a “Rah-Rah Roll.”  We couldn’t find any descriptions for it in the main menu, so we thought we’d be adventurous and go ahead and order it.

The Cajun roll came out first.  We tried it.  It was interesting… it had a nice smoky flavor to it, classic Cajun spices, and really spicy!  We decided it was okay, but definitely not our favorite.  However, we continued to try to eat it (we were getting kind of full at this point), because the rule at Gin Sushi is anything you don’t eat with the all-you-can-eat, you have to pay extra for. 

Then came the Rah-Rah Roll.  It was a longer type of roll, wrapped in some kind of… something… like what they use to wrap won-tons.  Beki was the first to try it, and put the whole thing in her mouth… you know, the normal way you eat sushi.  And then the tears started coming. 

Tears were streaming down her face, but we all started laughing so hard!  Apparently, this Rah-Rah Roll has jalapenos in it. And spicy tuna. And sriracha sauce on it (an Asian hot sauce).  And no rice.  It seems the restaurant set out to make the spiciest sushi EVER. 

But of course, we had to eat it.  I was let off the hook, though, because I have a gluten-sensitivity, and the gluten content of it was unknown (especially with the wrapping).  AH, NUTS!!!  (tee hehe).  So Beki and David set off to finish it.  Now they typically like spicy food, but we were all so full at this point that the only way to make it edible was to try and pull out as much of the spicy stuff as possible… whole slices of jalapenos, mainly… seeds and all.

As we were trying to finish everything up (I was working on the Cajun roll while they forced down the Rah-Rah), the waitress came by to ask how we were doing.  We were laughing so hard, explaining how we had no idea what to expect with the Rah-Rah roll, and she didn’t seem to care that we still had a couple of pieces left.  Whew!

We decided to spend a little extra and get some mochi ice-cream in order to settle the quibblies in our tummies.  Felt MUCH better after that!

Now, we had a discussion and came up with several theories about why they named it the “Rah-Rah Roll.”

• When they first invented it, whenever someone ordered it, all the waiters would line up, bring it out to the table together, and shout “Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!!!!!” Maybe with some sparklers on top or something.
• After you eat it, you make a “rah…. rah…… rah” noise right before you puke.
• If you successfully eat it, they will cheer for you.
• When the chef makes it, he has an evil laugh, sounding like “Rah-hahahahaha!”
• It numbs your tongue so much, you can’t say anything else.

So that was our adventure!

…. And I’m still craving sushi.  If anyone ever wants to buy me dinner, sushi is the way to my heart.  🙂

Yup. I pet an ostrich today. I didn’t

Yup.  I pet an ostrich today.  I didn’t even have to go to the zoo! 

This adventure began when I went to Hemet today for work.  Now, Hemet is a…. nice….little town.  Population around 66K, nestled up near the mountains, with very… affordable living.

Anyways, so I had a session there, and somewhere in that little town, someone has like, 3 ostriches in their yard (or so it seems).  I first saw them a few months ago while driving around the neighborhood.  It kind of took me by surprise and I thought “Wow.  That’s…. interesting.”  So today, the kids wanted to go see the ostriches.  So we did. 

Now, I’ve never had a fear of birds, but when they are twice as big as you, you have to feel a little intimidated.  And all that separated us was a simple, chest-high chain-link fence.  I guess these ostriches were used to having visitors and being fed, because they came right up to us.  Bravely, I reached over and pet its wing.  Then I kind of freaked out and backed away a little bit.  Then one of the kids that was with me was like “pick me up so I can pet it!!”  And all I could think was Umm…. How about NOT.  I swore that one of these birds was going to bite someone’s nose off…  I did NOT want to be responsible for that!  But he asked again very nicely, so I quickly lifted him up a bit so he could reach.  But as soon as he touched the feathers, I put him back down. 

It was kind of cool, but a fairly terrifying experience.  I was nervous, and I KNEW those birds could tell…. I could see it in their eyes…. Those huge eyes, and that long beak, and their face….  *shivers*  It was exciting, but I was very happy when we walked away.

 

We Got a Puppy!!

It all started when my parents were talking about getting a puppy… One that we would raise, but they could take over caring for if necessary.  So of course, there was a lot of debate about what kind we should get… Big dog or little dog?  Boy or girl?  Breed?  Color?  All kinds of things to consider!  My parents decided a Yorkie would be the best, but after a potential opportunity to get one fell through, my mom said “You guys pick it!  It’s going to be your dog anyways!” 

So over the weekend, David and I started looking up puppies for sale in the area.  We started with my favorite breed, Cavapoos (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Poodle mix).  One website had some pictures of one, and it was SO CUTE I literally started SOBBING.  Like, FULL ON sobbing.  It was THAT cute (and hormones may have played a small part). 

On Monday, we had several hours to kill before I had to go to work, so David and I decided to go into town, browse around different pet shops, and see what they have. 

I was very excited, because the first store we stopped at had cavapoos!  YAY!  They had 3; two 8-weeks old (brother and sister), and another boy that was 10-weeks old. 

Now, in order for us to make a decision, there are several tests (some official, some we made up) the puppy has to pass in order be considered.

1)  The Nose Test:  You hold the puppy up to your nose.  If it licks it, it’s friendly.  If it looks away from you, it’s probably not very sociable. If it bites it.  Ouch.

2)  The Paw Test:  You gently squeeze the pads of each foot to see how sensitive its feet are.  (Or something like that. I left David in charge of that test, since I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.  But it sounded important).

3)  The Calling Test:  You call the puppy and see if it comes.

4)  The Back Test:  You lay the puppy on its back to see how submissive and/or trusting it is.

5)  The Eye Test:  Check its eyes.  Make sure they blink at the same time, check for any abnormalities or any cloudiness.

There are probably several more tests you can run, but these were the main ones we did. 

Now, pet shopping with David is kind of interesting, because he has something about him that causes animals to gravitate towards him.  It’s the craziest thing!  Whenever we go over to someone’s house that has animals, he somehow manages to end up with all the pets on top of him.

Exhibit A:

Anyways, so the first two cavapoos we looked at, both boys, seemed partial to David.  They’d run to him regardless of who called them.  And one of the boys, the 10-week old, seemed a little, well… slow.  Or like he had the puppy version of ADHD.  He wasn’t terribly sociable (didn’t pass the nose test), and would get distracted whenever we called him.  He’d start walking toward us, but then would be like “OOO!  A FENCE!” and run the opposite direction.  He seemed like he’d be super quirky and cute, but not exactly what we wanted in a puppy. 

So then we met the girl.  She was super sweet, passed all the tests, AND came to both David and me equally, which was an unexpected bonus!  She was social, playful, healthy, trusting… perfect.  And SUPER cute!!!

So we called my mom to let her know, and she gave us permission to go ahead and get her. 🙂  Hoorayyy!!!!!

Then we had the task of trying to pick out a name for the most adorable puppy in the whole wide world (if I do say so myself).  Most of my family’s dogs have had a Greek mythology themed name (a rottweiler named Athena, a Pekingese named Persephone – Persy for short), so I thought of some names along those lines…. And I thought of Penelope, but call her Penny!  And as soon as I said “Penny,” the puppy perked up her ears!  And it seemed so perfect for her!

We considered other names of course too… We thought of World of Warcraft themed names, such as Ysera and Alexstraza… but they didn’t seem quite right.  We thought of Linnielee (a name I made up) and Annie…. But nothing seemed quite as perfect as Penny.  🙂

And we love her so much!!  She is so smart and so sweet!  And so little and cute!!!! 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OMG, she’s so cute, I can hardly stand it!!!!

I Learned the Cup Song!

Now, I’ve never been one to give in to fads… I never did planking, the Harlem Shake, and didn’t even see Gangnam Style until a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve always been the kind that likes to make fun of people who do that stuff, yet secretly wishes I could be a part of it…. I mean, if I don’t, what crazy stories will I have to tell my children?!?!?  

But the Cup Song seemed a nice segway.   I love to sing, and I love rhythm games!  Perfect!!  

Here’s a quick history of the Cup Song:  The song itself is actually one from the 1930s, and the rhythm was from a classic cup game.  The two were put together by Lu Lu and the Lampshades as a video on YouTube, which was then featured in the movie Pitch Perfect, performed by Anna Kendrick.  The movie made it extremely popular, and there are tons and tons of different cover versions of this song on YouTube.  I guess it’s especially popular among teenage girls, or something?

Anyways, I didn’t even consider learning it until this afternoon when I was working with a teenage girl who LOVES playing hand-games!  So I thought I’d show her the cup song.  While we were watching it, I started thinking “I want to learn this SO BADLY!!”  So as soon as I got home, I looked up some tutorials on YouTube, as well as other people’s rendition of it.  It took me about 1 hour to learn, and about 1 1/2 hours to master.  

SO MUCH FUN.  

Then I started thinking about my good friend, Jonathan, who’s going to be leaving in a few days to join the Navy, and how much he’s going to be missed, and how upset I was that I wasn’t able to make it to his going-away party tonight.  And THEN I thought “I could SING it to him!!!!”  I mean, the lyrics are somewhat appropriate for the situation…

So I posted the video on facebook, and tagged him in it, as kind of my way of singing it to him without making it awkward…  Because sometimes it can be awkward when someone’s just singing in your face…  

So Jonathan, you’d better feel special, because I’m super shy about posting videos on facebook!! 😉 We will miss you!

 

I Threw Stuff Away!

That’s right.  I threw stuff away.  Now, for some of you who don’t know me well, I am a HUGE pack-rat.  Not quite “Hoarders” status, but pretty close.  I’m sentimental.  And I like to attribute my excellent long-term memory to the fact that I keep mementos from just about EVERYTHING.  So for me to actually throw stuff away…. yeah.  MAJOR accomplishment!

I spent about 6 hours on Memorial Day cleaning out our garage.  Now, we have a garage large enough to fit at least 3 cars… But there’s so much stuff in there that we can barely fit one!  So on my extra day off, I worked on the garage.

I usually have a hard time actually being productive when I go into the garage, because I’m usually distracted by all the wonderful, amazing artifacts from my past!  Old journals, books, mementos, stuffed animals, brochures, letters, photos…… SO MUCH STUFF!  I’m actually quite impressed that during those 6 hours, I managed to make as much progress as I did!  You can ALMOST fit another car in there!  

But it was so much fun going through old stuff, being reminded of awesome memories.  And then there were the few random things that I had no clue about….  Like a little stuffed shark.  I have no idea where I got it from, who gave it to me, or what it was for.  But I DO remember considering it one of my favorite things when I was in high-school… and it remained so up through my adult years, always finding a spot on my dresser.  But I have no idea WHY.

And I was super excited, because I found my long-lost box of some of my favorite books!  These books include many of my old Star Wars books, Harry Potter series, The Number Devil… Omg, I was just so excited to find them.  

I also found a lot of old VHS tapes I watched when I was younger…  We didn’t buy movies very often, so most of our movies were recorded from TV, making some very interesting video combinations!  For instance, Sound of Music followed by Look Who’s Talking.  Or My Fair Lady followed by Sword in the Stone and Dumbo’s Circus.

However, throughout this treasure-trove of memories, many things I found were covered in mouse poop.  Most of those were things I was okay getting rid of.  They may have been cool years ago, but once something is covered in mouse poop, you have to reconsider its value.  That’s just the way it is.  

So I threw stuff away, consolidated boxes, and pretty much got it more organized.  Needless to say, after handling so much stuff covered in dust and mouse poopy, I HAD to take a shower.  It was gross, but I felt so productive!  Yay!  And sore.  Super sore.  I’m STILL sore!  I mean, who needs the gym when you’ve got a garage full of stuff to organize?

But I’ll still probably join a gym.  (I have to say that, otherwise I probably won’t do it.  But it’s now online.  You all know.  So now I HAVE to!)

Anyways, I’m so exhausted, and my writing is getting really random….

What was I even talking about?  

Goodnight.

 

I Played in the Mud!

YEAH!!  I played in the MUD!  It was AWESOME!

And I also helped my dad plant some tomatoes.  🙂  It was so much fun!  I love playing in the dirt and planting and such.  Well, once I get motivated to go outside and actually do it!

I spent some good amount of time outside today, which was great considering what a gorgeous day it was!  Perfect temperature, a little warm with a nice cool breeze.  Would be a perfect day to spend reading in a hammock… if we had one set up!  *Note to self: Buy stuff we need to set up our hammock!!*

We planted all kinds of tomatoes: Cherry, Beefsteak, Big Boy, some peppers, and cilantro. They should be ready in about 70 days, so around August 1st, we should have some fresh tomatoes!  YAY!

I also spent some time pruning back some rose bushes we have that have gotten a little wild…  They had grown over our steps that lead directly to our peach tree, and that is simply unacceptable!  I watched a YouTube video on how to prune them, and everything!  So I’m an expert! (not really)  Unfortunately, I kept getting too offended by the bushes poking me with the thorns that I didn’t take TOO much care in pruning them “properly.”  It was mostly me going in with my shears thinking “Take THAT, you stupid bushes!  And THAT! And THAT!!!”  

And now there is a nice clear path down to the newly ripened peaches. 🙂

 

I Listened to ABBA

I’m the kind of person who has 1 or 2 CD she’s really into, puts them into her CD changer in the car, and doesn’t listen to anything else for about 6 months.  Lately, it’s been Taylor Swift mixed in with the occasional Sara Bareilles.

Now, I like Taylor Swift, but I’m not obsessed with her, despite what my music listening habits might convey.  It’s just that most of the CDs I have, I’ve already listened to a thousand times.  And I’m a little lazy.

But today, I said “NO MORE!”  At great cost, I dug through the glove compartment to find a different to CD as all the contents spilled out onto the floor.  But I found an ABBA CD.  I love ABBA.  So the mess was worth it.

So instead of my usual Taylor Swift, I listened to the classically happy music of ABBA during my commute.  

I love ABBA so much.  So many of their songs simply exude happiness!  I also have some really fun memories from a few years ago associated with the songs.  They remind me of some really good friends, a birthday vacation to Australia with my best friend Gingi (check out her blog!), and a cruise through the Mediterranean with my mom.  That was a year filled with some serious transitions, and the year I began to listen to ABBA almost exclusively.

So now that it’s been several years later, it’s fun to re-listen to those songs, sing along, and think of those awesome times and the awesome people I had (and still have!!) in my life. 🙂

My Adventure in the Emergency Room

I apologize for not having written for the past couple of days… I’ve been a little sick.

Wednesday night was terribly exciting, as I got to spend it in the Emergency Room!  Now, I might be kind of weird… No one really likes going to the ER, but whenever I return home from it, I usually think “Wow!  That was exciting!!” and have a pretty good attitude about it.  I mean, what could be more fun than being pushed around a hospital on a rolling bed???  Nevermind the pain, you’re getting a free ride!!  Well, not really free.  Hospital visits are expensive as (insert bad word).  So it wasn’t a completely horrible experience (as the hospital I went to is very nice), but I am very glad it’s over.

So, in order for me to tell the whole story, I’ll have to give you a little bit of history.  I’m hoping that sharing this will help those of you who may have had similar situations, or know someone who has.  

It all started last fall when I became pregnant.  My pregnancy progressed normally, with classic morning sickness, bloating, food aversions, food cravings, etc, etc.  There was a little concern about my blood-type being Rh-negative (where my blood could potentially attack my baby’s blood if the baby’s blood is Rh-positive), and the need for a rhogam shot (which would prevent my blood from attacking baby).  So my pregnancy was going along just fine, until around week 15 when I started spotting.  My doctor sent me to the Emergency Room in Riverside to get a Rhogam shot (just in case) and an ultra-sound (my first one) in order to figure out what was going on.  It turned out that I had a blighted ovum…. essentially I was pregnant, but with no baby.  The embryo never started developing, but my body continued to think it was pregnant.  I was pretty upset about it, because normally blighted ovums are diagnosed around 6-8 weeks.  I was 15 weeks.  

It took me about a month of bleeding/spotting before it was over.  I did regular blood tests to make sure my HCG levels dropped normally.  Then, about 2 months after everything was back to normal, I took another pregnancy test which came out positive.  I called a NEW doctor that had been recommended to me, explained my situation to them, and they got me in immediately.  They did an ultra-sound right away, and it turned out I had a blighted ovum AGAIN.  *sigh*  At this point, I wasn’t upset.  I think I just rolled my eyes and said “Not again….”  

They gave me a couple of weeks to see if I would pass all the tissue inside me naturally.  I did not, so they gave me some medication that would help my body expel it.  They also prescribed me vicodin, warning me that the cramps might get pretty bad.   So for the next week and a half, I had, basically, a really intense period.  The cramping didn’t get too bad… Just one or two nights of what I would describe as “the worst menstrual cramps I’ve ever had.” But they were bearable ….That is until a couple of days ago…. (Wednesday night)

Wednesday started off a very normal day.  Went to work, no problems.  Came home around 8:30p, relaxed, watched TV, played cards with my husband, David.  Then around 11pm, I started having some really bad lower back pain.  It felt almost like constipation or gas until the pain started spreading to my abdomen.  By 11:10, I took 2 of the prescribed vicodin, but it didn’t help.  I thought it probably had something to do with my blighted-ovum situation, but I wanted to make sure.  I called the on-call doctor (which I felt really badly about doing, because he had obviously been asleep), and he agreed with me… That this was to be expected from the medication I took.  He said I could go to the ER if I wanted to, but all they could do for me was pain management.  I was satisfied with that, and felt a little better after talking to the doctor, knowing it wasn’t really anything to worry about.  However, the pain kept getting worse.  It was so intense, that it was making me nauseous and causing me to throw up.  I’ve NEVER thrown up due to pain.

At that point, I decided to go next door to my parents, wake them up, and see if my mom had any stronger pain medication she could give me.  This was a very challenging endeavor because A) I could barely walk; and B) I HATE waking people up.  But I did it.  My mom gave me some medicine, along with an anti-nausea pill… Both of which, I of course, threw up immediately.  My dad suggested that if I was in that much pain, I should probably just go to the ER.  

So David and my mom drove to the ER at Loma Linda Murrieta with me curled up in the back seat.  We checked in at 1:05a, and waited for a while… It seemed a long time, but I honestly had no concept of time after that.  They eventually got me into a bed, and hooked me up to an IV for some blood draws (ouch).  They wheeled me in my bed (whee! yeah… that part was actually kind of fun) over to another room to do an ultra-sound to check up on my insides.  Things looked like they were progressing as they should (though apparently I had a small ovarian cyst?  They didn’t even mention it to me, I just noticed it on my discharge papers…. so hopefully not that big of an issue).  They brought me back to my room, where David and my mom were staying with me, and gave me some morphine for the pain.  It didn’t help the pain at all.  So they gave me another dose.  Yeah.  Morphine does jack-squat for me.  All it did was put funny images in my head (like, I think I remember a clown-face made completely out of yarn…).  So they gave me a different medication, dilaudid.  That worked.  They let me rest for a little while longer, and sent me home around 4:30am.  I went to bed, and woke up later that morning feeling very groggy/drugged, but very little pain.  I felt really badly about calling in for work that day, but I had no idea how I was going to be feeling later, plus I was exhausted!  Thankfully, the office assistant at work is awesome and completely understood.  

So I spent most of yesterday sleeping, taking a lovely (and partly drug-induced) 6-hour nap!  And today, I am feeling almost normal!  Hooray!  Just a little sleepy, but that’s what Starbucks is for, right?  🙂

Yeah!  So that was my exciting adventure in the Emergency Room.  It was a very nice hospital, and the staff was awesome.  Despite the pain I was in, I felt very well taken care of and very comfortable.  There was a lot of waiting, I guess, but I was so out of it, that I couldn’t really tell….

I kind of wish I had some kind of funny video to post of my silly drug-induced statements.  But from what my mom and David reported to me, the only funny thing I said was “Oh no!  The ballerina fell down the rabbit hole!”  David assured me that she was okay and that she was going to become good friends with Alice.  That made me feel much better.  Apparently, I was also very lovey…. Whenever David asked me something like “How are you feeling?”  I would respond with a sleepy “I love yooouuu!”  

Anyways, for any of you who have gone through a miscarriage, a blighted-ovum, or any other pregnancy difficulties, you are not alone!  Your experience will probably be crazy and emotional, but it will pass!  It may take some patience, so just hang in there.  Surround yourselves with people who love you, and try to take pleasure in the small things in life.  Like Starbucks.  Or flowers.  Or music. Or TV….  Or Starbucks.  🙂

I Made a Pop-Up Birthday Card!

I am not a very crafty person.  And you may be thinking that I’m just being modest.  I’m not.  I really have never been very good at crafts.  

I grew up with an extremely talented mother who could do just about anything that had to do with art.  She painted, sculpted, build doll-houses, sewed, decorated little books, drew, crocheted, etc, etc…. Like, freakishly amazing and gifted!

I, however, was too much of a perfectionist and really struggled with art concepts… especially when comparing what I’d done to what my mom had done.  I felt like nothing I ever did was quite right…. or quite “perfect” enough.  I was always my harshest critic, so it never became something I really enjoyed.  

Nevertheless, every once in a while there will be some kind of project that I will get really into and enjoy for awhile before eventually loosing interest and putting it on a shelf (leaving me with SO many unfinished projects).  Some of these activities include, tatting, cross-stitching, painting (with watercolors), scrap-booking, and making pop-ups.

*Ahem* Back to the subject of birthday cards….

Now, I HATE shopping for greeting cards.  After looking for about 3 minutes, I usually give up, feeling extremely overwhelmed.  The “funny” ones are usually kind of stupid, the “sentimental” ones have too many words, and they’re expensive!!!  The only time I can justify buying a greeting card is if something stands out as the most awesome thing EVER (like that Star Wars card that played the Star Wars Theme when you opened it up) or relates to some kind of inside-joke I have with the person.

But there are times when you REALLY want to give someone a card.  In these cases, I usually like to make them, using my fabulous pop-up art techniques, as well as some scrap-booking basics.

So yesterday, I did just that for my good friend, Samantha’s, birthday. (Complete with a Starbucks gift-card, hidden inside a Starbucks cup-sleeve!  Because who doesn’t need more Starbucks in their lives???) 🙂

My Last Day at Build-a-Bear!

Yesterday, I “celebearated” (haha, get it??) my last day at Build-a-Bear.  Well, celebrated seems a little too happy.  I am very sad to be leaving.  I have worked with some really awesome people, and I am going to miss them immensely!!  They have made working there SO much fun!!

Build-a-Bear is one of those awesome jobs where you can totally goof around, and it’s okay.  Not only is it okay, but it’s encouraged!  I mean, as long as you still pay attention to the guests and you don’t get too out of control!  But in between guests, we’d dance (well, a few of us would, anyways), we’d tell silly stories, we’d joke around with the kids in the store… it was awesome!  Making a fun experience for the guests can become an even FUNNER (I am MAKING that a word) experience for you!  

So, for those of you unaware of the Build-a-Bear experience, I will quickly explain it:  

Step 1) Pick out your bear.  There are several different options of bears, kitties, monkeys, dogs, cartoon characters, etc.  So you pick the one you like the most, and you grab an unstuffed one.

Step 2) Pick out a sound.  Sounds were my favorite thing to sell, and I have no idea why.  But I was really good at it (if I do so say myself) 😛

Step 3) Stuff your bear.  One of the employees helps you stuff your animal, adding more things inside if you want, like a sound, heartbeat, or a scent.  AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL:  A heart.  The heart is SO important, there’s a whole ceremony that goes with it!

Step 4) Wash your bear

Step 5) Pick out clothes/accessories and dress your bear.

Step 6) Make a birth certificate and take it home!  (after you pay, of course)

It’s a really fun process, and the Bear-Builders like to make it as awesome as possible.  And one of the ways this is accomplished is by performing a super cool heart ceremony.  Each employee has their own version, and sometimes we’ll change it up depending on the situation or the guest.  But here is my standard one:

“Okay, so take your heart, hold it tight, and make a BIG wish!  Now hold it up to your head so that wish you’re thinking of goes straight from your brain into the heart!  Now rub it on your head so your animal is SUPER smart.  Rub it on your face, so she is so beautiful, just like you!  Rub it on your nose so she knows you love her!  And jump up and down to get the heart beating!  Now hold it close to your heart so it fills up with love….. and give it a great big kiss!  Yay!  Now put it inside your bear!”  

Of course, this gets changed around… I doubt a little boy would be very interested in his bear being “beautiful.”  😛

And the kids can be so freaking adorable and say the funniest things.  Here are some of the highlights:

(2 brothers ages 4 and 6 are talking about Star Wars)

Me: Darth Vader’s kind of scary, though!

4-year-old:  He’s not scary to me! Be-because, if-if he was gonna hit me with his lightsaber, I’d just run up and kick him in the penis!!!

 

(5-year old girl approaches me to get her bear stuffed)

Me: Hi!  What’s your name?

Girl: Ava.

Mom: No, you’re name’s not Ava.

Girl: Sarah.

Mom: Ava is her zombie-fighting name she uses when she plays with her brothers.

 

(Little girl, about 10-years old, explaining all about her Christianity)

Girl:  I’m a missionary, you know!!

Me: Really? Wow! That’s awesome!!

Girl!  YEAH!  I tell EVERYONE about Jesus!  I’ve converted SO many people!  Like HUNDR—.. Or like… like 1 or 2.

 

So those are just a few of the cute things that have stood out in my memory!  

It has been such a fun job!  And I’m going to miss everyone I’ve gotten the pleasure of working with!  Both in Texas and California!  You all are amazing, and thank you all so much for making it one of the most awesome jobs on the planet!!!  It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without such cool people!  

“My bear is special. I brought it to life, I chose it, I stuffed stuffed it, now I’m taking it home.  Best friends are forever! So I promise right now to make my bear my #1 pal!” –The Bear Promise