The gym, the past and future

It's places like the gym where I wish I were back in Tonga and lifting with my buddy James. We used to just kick back, make jokes, and push ourselves in lifting (even though that noob did everything in the wrong order... but that's another story). In Tonga, there were no vanity mirrors to watch yourself or some stupid mind numbing pop music playing in the background. Nope, it was simple. Weights were the remains of what people didn't or couldn't steal and whatever that weight, that's what you lift.

The gym in San Diego is crazy. By crazy, I mean there's a lot of crazy people in there. It simply creeps me the fuck out when I see some of these huge guys flexing in the mirror for 5 minutes after doing a single set. They're not just flexing a little, I literally saw one guy inches from the mirror as he flexed and looked at his arms. It looked like he was going to kiss himself. I swear some people are there more to look at themselves in the extra large mirrors instead of actually trying to work out. *Sigh* Sometimes I miss the simplicity of Tonga.

It's been about a year since I first landed in Tonga, but it's felt like a lifetime has passed since then. So much has happened. During that time, I've lived in Tonga, backpacked across Europe, and now I resettled back into the States into a job I like. I've gotten the opportunity to meet such great people and learn more about the world. I feel really lucky. I know it's not the new year yet, but it sure does feel like a new chapter has begun. I had a great past year and I'm really looking forward to the next.

Settling into San Diego

So I'm getting settled into San Diego and my new job. When I moved in, I had a sleeping bag, a guitar, and two backpacks. Now I'm fairly nestled in with a mattress, chair, desktop, and pillows! It's funny what my priority for things are. Before I bought the mattress or even a pillow, I bought rock climbing shoes, a chalk bag, and a new mountain bike.

I guess it's a weird mentality to buy things in that order, but ever since I got back from Europe and Tonga, I've been wanting to try new things. Ordinary sleep pales in comparison to riding up technical trails or conquering my fear of heights. When you've lived on an island where there's limited resources, it makes you appreciate everything we have here in the States. With so many things that we are lucky enough to experience, why let our brain and body atrophy?

Speaking of which, two of my cousins are far from letting their brains atrophy; yesterday they graduated from UCLA. Grats to them!!! :) After I met up with them, I realized that I haven't seen some of my family for a while; I guess I'm pretty bad at keeping in contact with people, even people as close as my own family. I'll try to work on that.

After dinner my mom gave me $100... for ice cream. I guess she knows me well! Woot! =)
$16 dollars of ice cream has been spent and 3 boxes of Mochi Ice Cream has already been consumed. Which flavor next? I think I'll pick up something that's new to me...

Expect to see more writing soon. I have lots to update now that I have my desktop back.