If I had a journal

So this might be a little weird to blog about but I am in one of those moods where if I wrote in a journal I probably would write my thoughts in it but since I don't the blog is the next best thing. Sometimes I have these days when I reflect on my life and where I am at in it. Sometimes I am excited about life sometimes a little anxious or overwhelmed or pleased with where I am and tonight I think I am all this emotions in one big ball. Today I was sitting in church looking around at everyone and thought I bet all these people never imagined in all their craziest dreams that they would be siting in this congregation single and most of them older then 32 and it made me start to think where in the world did I think I would be at 26 turning 27 in september. I knew I would be doing physical therapy since I have wanted to do this in high school but did I ever imagine I would live in a really great condo in downtown San Diego single? I knew I would never get married really young but did I think I would be married by now and what will it be like if I am still on my own in another 8 or 10 years. Now of course I know these are all question I can't answer tonight but it's just something to think about. Of course i know no matter where life goes i will be happy. It's crazy to think about the different paths we take in life and how we always seem to end up where we need to be. I do think I have tried to live close to the spirit and done what i believed is right or what I felt was the right path for me, but it's strange to think what might lie ahead. I have been blessed to meet a crazy amount of wonderful friends along this journey and most of them I consider family. I have been blessed to travel and live life to it's highest potential and would never change my journey for anything. sometimes I wish I could look into that crystal ball and see just what my life is like an a few short years. But really what would be the point because this would take all the fun out of it all, which is why I will just keep living life and continue to enjoy the ride.

things i am thankful for

short blog post on a monday night
top things i am thankful for today
GG, aka gossip girl. for some reason this tv show makes me still feel like i am 16 although the content is pretty adult :)
Music, recently my roommate and i found a great record store where we love buying old school vinyl records
mom, i am very blessed to have a mom i can call whenever i want and never feel completely alone because of this
friends, i could never survive life without all my friends
mexican food, man i love chips and salsa and since moving to san diego i have had the best mexican food
sonic, its even worth driving 20 min to have a strawberry limeaid
my job, physical therapy is the perfect fit for me and even though i HATE waking up early i really love the people i meet everyday
money, money doesn't buy happiness but there is sure a lot less stress when there is a little in the bank account
living by a park, balboa park is like a mini central park and i love living so close to a giant park
brothers, i never feel sad not having sisters cause i have the best brothers in the world
heavenly father, i am grateful he is aware of me and loves me very much
my apartment, its just perfect and feels like home
my roommate, there is nothing better then coming home every night after work and having dinner ready and having someone to tell all about my day to. she really is the greatest friend ever
being single, i love being single
life is good with so many great blessings!

another hiking story but it's a classic

I know i know another hiking story but when you live is southern california and you can go hiking along the coast in shorts and a tshirt in the middle of january you just have no choice but to blog about it. especially when you are my roommate blair and me. we have done more hiking since we moved here then in our whole lives. One of these days we are going to learn we prefer laying on the beach then climbing steep mountains.

That being said, blair and i had the chance to go on the most beautiful hike along the coast a few weekends ago. it was a beautiful 70 degree saturday and off we went torrey pines state reserve. with the rain that was suppose to come the following week the surf was huge and the surfers were out it was awesome because the hike went right along the coast where they were surfing. after we parked the car we started the hike up this long straight up trail but the weird thing was there was this helicopter flying straight over our heads the whole time and i kept saying to blair man for a town that loves their outdoors this helicopter is sure distracting. once we got to the point where are the trails are there were a few different border patrol cars parked which i thought seemed odd but then again in so cal a border patrol car is not an uncommon thing to see.

So off we go for the next hour and a half hiking around looking at rocks and the ocean. you can see the pictures below. Anyway the best part was after we get down to the bottom we see a news person working on a story so we asked what was going on. turns out around 4 that morning a ship carrying 30 illegal immigrants capsized and the helicopter was looking for people hiding in the bushes along with the coast guard searching for those trying to swim back to shore hahahh thankfully we did not run into any mexicans hiding in the bushes but we did have a good laugh. I swear there is never a dull moment when a person decides to go hiking.. no wonder people enjoy it so much. the other good news is my coworker told me about another hike to some waterfalls so this will not be the last of the hiking blog post :)


i know i look scary in this one but i was sweating and shoot i was hiking :)

The Purpose of Life

Do you ever have those days that are so great that you just smile the whole time because you are so happy? today was one of those days for me. This morning I drove to Temecula the town my brother and sister in law live in and hung out with them and their 4 kids for the day. I got to watch my niece and nephew play in their basketball games and see a job my brother's company is working on, i read a book to my niece as she went to bed, ordered pizza plus stayed up chatting on the couch with my sister in law after the kids had gone to bed. it was a perfect day. I couldn't help but think as i was driving back to san diego with the radio blasting this is the real plan of happiness. i usually don't get too religious on my blog but i just had to put a post out there saying how grateful i am that we have a loving heavenly father who placed us in families and gave us the opportunity to have these kinds of days. I couldn't help but look up at the moon with the clouds all around it and have this feeling that he really loves us and really wants us to be happy even with all the hard things we face and the ups and downs of life family really does make things happier. i sat tonight and watched my brother play with his 2 year old daughter and i couldn't think of a more important part of life. then when i got home and checked my mail i had a letter from my mom and dad with a wonderful note. I just sat their and read it and thanked my lucky stars that i have the family i do and parents who love me and would do anything for me. Sometimes i have these moments when i just sit and think about life and where we came from and the about the whole reason we came to earth and i just get overwhelmed when i think about how loved with are from our heavenly father. I look around at all the cars on the freeway and just can't imagine what that must be like to be responsible for all these people and for the out pouring of love that he gives us. I am so grateful that my family is sealed together forever and that nothing will break that bond. All i can say is i am so thankful for the great plan of happiness and for my family and all their love!

Man I love the public

So i am hoping i don't get in trouble for this post but sometimes the most classic things happen from working with the public everyday in the health field so i just had to blog about a few. earlier this week i was working with a patient who is from south of the border and has an injury that will remain top secret but the most important part is that he has to wear depends now because of it. now normally this wouldn't affect me BUT because this person just happens to be a few screws LOOSE this is an important part of the story. here it goes,so just as i am explaining what exercises i want him to do i ask him to turn around and hold onto the treatment table so he doesn't lose his balance he turns around he looks at me and says, "are you going to spank me now" I can honestly say i have never been asked this before and in my mind i never expected i would be asked that question under those circumstances. not only that but this same patient later on in the treatment when i am getting ready to put a heating pad on his back adjust his depends and ask me if i want to see his thong... again never been asked this by anyone much less a middle aged hispanic :) i of course walked out of the room and told my boss i needed a raise.

Next... so today i have a patient who only speaks arabic.. sorry i have no clue how to spell that... anyway this person was with their spouse who does speak english and does the translating.. at one point during the session i needed the patient to loosen their belt so i could put an electrical stim patch on their low back.. well the patient was struggling so the spouse stands up... not only loosens the belt but un-does the button the zipper and drops the spouses pants... looks at me says "that is my job" with a creepy smile..i of course was shocked hahah.. then when i put the heating pad on this patient the spouse looks at me and says.. don't burn the butt they need that with yet another creepy smile hahahah i swear it is a good thing tomorrow is friday

on the flip side today i also had a patient who is recovering from a traumatic brain injur. This patient has worked every single day to regain their speech. the use of their right side of their body along with so many other obsticles that come after the brain is injuried. Today i helped get their arm straight and the wrist flat on the table and let me tell you this patient was stoaked for that minor accomplishment. there may have been a few swear words and a couple of tears but it was really really exciting for both of us. I feel so lucky to be apart of these amazing experiences. I also had a patient who is close to 90 years old give me a hug today and thank me for helping her feel better with less pain. I can honestly say i love my job. i love the unexpected and the surprises that come everyday. i feel so blessed to do what i do everyday.

Holy Sh** I went hiking today

Why is when something sounds like a good idea it turns out to be a REALLY bad one? So this week my boss and one of my coworkers told me about this really great hike not too far from my house. They said it was only 1.5 miles to the top and a lot of switchbacks so i am thinking hmmm must not be that bad and since it is beautiful here in southern CA i might as well get out there and enjoy it. BAD IDEA hahah so friday night I say to Blair "B my coworkers told me about a little hike we could go on." Now being the good friend that she is and knowing that I am trying to get back into better shape she of course agreed. Well around 10:30 am we drive about 15 min to the base of the so called small hike. we sat in the car for a good 5-7 min debating if we have just made the biggest mistake by going there. For the record we both HATE to camp and we HATE to hike hahah. after going back and forth we decide since we are already here we might as well give it a try so gatoraids in hand we start the long journey to the 360 degree view of san diego. Let me just say this the hike was not small and was wicked steep. the best part was they had a sign for ever quarter of a mile you walked. I knew after i saw that first 1/4 mile we had made a mistake but since neither of us wanted to quit we just kept chugging up a giant dirt rocky walkway. Half way up blair turned around and says "you owe me a trip to disneyland for this and we are so staying until midnight" hahah this is because we just went to disneyland and well i am ok if i only go once every 5 years and i could leave at 9 pm and be just fine. I think the only thing that got us to the top of the mountain was laughing over a convo we heard coming from 4 girls about our age... it went something like this:

"So that guy I went out with over the weekend he invited me to church with him. He told me god invites all children to come unto him."

So of course this perked blair and I's interest, but we could have NEVER guessed what was going to happen next. She stops looks at her friends and says.

"He was a mormon and was trying to convert me."

hahah we laughed so hard.

WEll to make a long story short we made it to the top of that damn mountain sweating bullets and breathing hard and decided we would never do it again. But i must say the breeze at the top and the view of everything was pretty amazing and it made me appreciate the 80 degree weather even more.Plus we stopped by sonic on our way home and crabbed a diet coke a diet strawberry limeaid rootbeer float and fresh fruit slush hahha Just so you can all see the view i added a picture of what it looks like at the top :)

Lots of random thoughts

I guess when you only blog once every 4 months you have a lot of different random ideas for the next time you blog. So much is going on in life that it is hard to even know where to start. first i moved to San diego, began paying way to much rent for a condo that I really love and started as I told my boss on the 3rd day of work.. "well there is day 3 of my career" the good news is my boss thought it was hilarious and i think that may have been when I decided heavenly father answered my prayer and sent me to the perfect PT clinic just for me. We listen to talk radio, we discuss the outragious amount of TV we both watch and I have some of the coolest patients ever, along with a few crazies but they keep it intersting.So even though i still say i hate to work I LOVE my job and along with the move i also turned 26. something i never thought would happen since in a lot of ways i still feel 16. Its funny how when we go through changes there are are so many ups and downs that go along with it. I feel so blessed to be in a profession that is safe in these crazy times. I feel beyond lucky to have the roomate i do and to be closer to the family i adore, yet sometimes i still feel unsettled and i am not really sure why. I've decided it must just be the feelings that come with being in the middle of your 20's and not knowing how life may turn out. but for today at 11:00 pm i have decided to focus on all the things that make me happy so here are a few of those things.

One of the reasons i moved to cali was to be closer to my brother phillip and his family. I have missed not getting to hang out with their kids which is why i love this new picture of aubrey and I


Today my niece brooklyn called me today and just kept saying hi joanna, i love you. this little girl makes me so happy. and doesn't Jackson make the cutest dragon. i love him so much


It has been so fun exploring SD with Blair. Its like i said all along, the best thing about Boston came with me to CA. And I am so lucky to have kacey be in my family


Riding the ferry to coronado island. Gotta love the view of my new city

Family vacations to bear lake. My mom threw this together and we had a blast. I am gratetful this is my eternal family.

Friends. I love them and since i have no sisteres heavenly father has done an excellant job putting amazing friends in my life

Taking my parents to fenway park. Its a day i won't ever forget.