Hello Summer... FINALLY!

It was an awesome day! It was warm and sunny outside and EVERYONE seemed to be in a wonderful mood. I think everyone feels like Summer has FINALLY arrived in Reno because we have finally gone a week without snow! Work was enjoyable and so was everyone there (at both jobs). Laughter was heard everywhere and I feel like I didn't see a single person with a frown on their face all day! After a week of debilitating panic attacks and dealing with stressed out or angry people, this was an extremely welcome change.
I woke up at 6:30am, got ready and headed off to work where, to my surprise, I had something to do for my entire shift. I hung pants and shirts, unwrapped jewelry and rang up many happy customers. When I got off I headed over to my other place of work to say hello, where I ended up picking up an extra shift for the day. It was just my boss, manager, one of the newer gals and myself working there, and every one of us were in a good mood. We joked with other, with customers and shared some AWESOME cheese (yes, we would rather eat cheese at an ice cream shop).
After work I decided to go the the gym to work out for a couple hours since I had not really been able to get out of my bed for the past 2 days. And BOY what a wonderful idea that was! after a half hour on the elliptical I headed over to the Turbo Kick class (Insanity. FUN insanity). 10 minutes into that, I wanted to puke my entire cardiovascular system up, but I pushed through and eventually that feeling went away. I felt AMAZING after that class! My mind felt, and still feels, clear and happy. After the gym, I was practically skipping to my car like a little girl who had just gotten a unicorn for her birthday!
Now, I'm finally home. I SHOULD be sleeping because I work early in the morning again, but I felt like documenting such a monumental day :). The best part of the day? I wore a tank top the whole time! Something I have not done since... gosh... late September of 2010? Too long. And I used the air conditioner in my car. Also, it's 11pm and I have my fan on.
HELLOOOO summer!

Goodnight everyone :)

Here's to Friends!

I cannot express enough the importance of good friends! Whether you see them everyday, or once a year, friends really do make life wonderful. They are wonderful, kind, caring and just plain magnificent beings. Friends are angels in our lives. They keep us motivated, teach us important lessons, take care of us when we are sick and listen when we just need an ear to talk to.

They are people who we can be ourselves around, and who love us for all that we are. Heck, they'll even join you on those nonsense adventures no one else would dare to! Dressing up like a hippie and skipping around town? They're down for it! 

So, here's to friends!

It's All In Your Head

If there is one thing you never want to do when you are sick, it is to look up your symptoms on the internet. Every time I have ever done this the internet tries to tell me, pretty much, "You could very likely have one of these several deadly illnesses." I think the ONLY time I haven't been told I was dying by the internet was when I woke up with a black tongue and it told me I probably took Pepto Bismol tablets... which I had.
No, but seriously. You could just have a common cold and the internet will probably tell you that you have cancer or something. Although, I would hope most people wouldn't have to go on the internet to look up symptoms of a cold. I think it's funny that I still go on there to look things up when I am sick at all. I went on there when I had horrible abdominal pain and it told me it was either cancer or Appendicitis. Turned out to be kidney stones. Went on there this week because I was panicking and felt tingly and numb and it told me I had Diabetes or a stroke. Anxiety.
What's funnier still is that even though I know what I see on my computer is pretty much always wrong, I still tend to let it get to me. I know I have an anxiety disorder, yet I let myself believe that it is more sometimes... which is a symptom of my anxiety... ironic. I can watch an episode of King of the Hill where Bill thinks he has Diabetes and my brain, without thinking, takes on the symptoms that the character is experiencing. Or, I can watch the part of that movie The Fourth Kind where the peoples' jaws break and my jaw starts hurting. Basically, I know myself well enough to know that I either should not be looking up or watching these things, or I should not let them get to me.
So, next time my leg goes numb and tingly, I'm going to slap it and say, "KNOCK IT OFF!"
Cause it's all just in my head.

And So It Begins...

Hello out there to all of you! I am not exactly sure how I should begin this, so I guess I will do so by introducing myself. My name is Lindsey Abel and I am a 22 year old LDS gal from a small town in Northern California trying to adjust to city life in Reno, Nevada. I grew up living in quiet houses with property, raising lambs and pigs and playing in fruit trees and creeks. I now reside in a downstairs apartment near busy downtown streets, casinos, a hospital and a freeway. I work at an ice cream shop and also at a department store. I've been living here for a little over a year now, and I've learned quite a bit about city life.

• Apartment walls are thin, so if you want to get any sleep without hearing your surrounding neighbors' maniacal laugh or them doing "the big wiggle" you better put those earplugs or headphones in. (I recommend headphones)
• Apartments near downtown have 3 locks on the doors and it's still recommended you use a door-jam type device at night :S
• Sometimes streets smell like sewage (especially in the middle of town) and many enclosed stairways smell like cigarettes or urine (depending on how hot or cold the weather is).
• It's not uncommon to see a large group of drag queens in extravagant evening gowns posing in the middle of the street in the middle of the day.
• Construction in NEVER ENDING. I am thoroughly convinced they tear up streets and parking lots simply to have something to do... or I suppose to create more jobs...
• Walking downtown makes you feel as though you are living in an 80's movie. A majority of the time I'm down there I half expect Ferris Beuller to roll by on a parade float.

*Sigh* It's definitely an adjustment, but I think I am getting the hang of things. I miss my beautiful California, but for now I make the best of my life here in Nevada. The lifestyles of where I am from and where I am now are very different. I've traded the hippies living in the forest to the homeless living on the streets, and the trees, grass and Victorian homes for concrete and casinos. Crickets have been replaced by sirens and loud Hip Hop music blasting out of tricked out Honda Civics with neon colored rims and drivers wearing "stunna' shades". 

This will be an interesting and very worth-while journey.....