HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, I wanted to start off the New Year right with tons of photos from over the holidays and even some funny videos that we got, but I also decided to give my computer a OS upgrade which has caused a bunch of problems and now I can't plug in my camera to my computer or upload to my hosting service. Bummer.
So instead, my friends, you will have to read!

So this is the year. I've been trying to many many years to fulfil one simple resolution - to play sports again. I grew up playing pretty much every sport available to me, and since moving to the US, I've only played Ultimate Frisbee for one quarter. But this past week, I spent some time checking out my options here in LA and I found the Los Angeles Field Hockey Association and the Santa Monica Waves Netball Club. I have made it my top priority to get in shape and start playing Netball and Field Hockey again.

I played Netball today for the first time in 9 or 10 years and it was SO much fun! I also got my first itty bitty sports injury (very promising for the first day back in team sports) - I got a ball thrown in my face from a foot away! I fell over on my ass a couple times too, that felt GOOD! The ladies that are playing for the Waves are soooo good! I'm going to keep practicing with them, and hopefully get good enough to play with them at tournements and stuff around CA.

I also ordered myself a new hockey stick yesterday, which I haven't done since the first stick I ever had when I was 11! It's so sexy, I get it on Thursday, I can't wait. I'm hoping to get a chance to go down to Huntington Beach for a few practices before leaving for Guatemala, and once I'm back I'm training like crazy to get back on form for the 2006 season that starts in August.

*This does not mean that dance is being dropped. Our tango and salsa classes are clashing with our Guatemala trip, so once we get back, then we'll hopefully be able to start dancing classes. I'm really banking on having a busy, active, and productive 2006!

It feels amazing to be active again after so many years. Now, if only I can quit smoking too... Does anyone know anything about hypnosis treatments and their effectiveness?

We're leaving for Guatemala pretty soon, and that's been a huge focus of my days trying to plan out the logistics of going somewhere on a budget, doing everything we want to do, and also living somewhere else for 5 weeks! It's been very interesting to say the least. But we're SO excited about things. We'll be staying in Antigua for the majority of the time, but we will be spending some time in Guatemala City, and also in Parque Nacional Tikal, which is where the largest Mayan ruin in Central America still lays. Check out this site for more info.

I've been working on my Spanish (a little) and I've learned some VERY important phrases (Thanks to Let's Go Mexico) that I feel would be important to share with you, in the event that any of you decide to head south of the border (sorry, I don't know how to add the accent marks etc.):

Me llamo Inigo Montoya. Mato a mi padre... Preparese para morir!
(My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father... Prepare to die!)

No se de donde vinieron las drogas.
(I don't know where the drugs came from.)

Hay cucarachas en mi habitacion. Estan mordienome!
(They are cockroaches in my room. They are biting me!)

No he podido ir al bano en cuatro dias.
(I haven't been able to go to the bathroom in four days.)

No me besas mas, por favor!
(Please stop kissing me!)

Casarte conmigo no te hara un ciudadano de los Estados Unidos.
(Marrying me will not make you a US citizen.)

No gracias, tengo muchas enfermedades!
(No thanks, I have many diseases!)

Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2005 will be your worst year yet! (An Armenian New Year's wish...)