If you wanna come...

You can find the address here. I'm a little nervous about my first band gig, to be honest. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!

Ok, bless you all.

Rain, rain DON'T go away!

Utah has been experiencing some uncommonly wet weather this Summer... thus far. I know that most of the population out there is aching to have the really, really hot weather that comes from living in a dry climate. However, you that know me and have known my blog posts know that I am a lover of the rain. Indeed, I *heart* an overcast sky like I *really heart* a milk chocolate dove bar. I secretly long for the days when Summer comes to an end. I long to see the misty clouds draped over the rough mountains, and the colorful leaves of Fall appear. I'm not trying to rush the Summer, but I do so love my beloved Fall. The sights, the smells, the layers. Ohh, I love it! This weather just takes me back to it all over again. I just checked the forecast, and it looks like next week should be filled with some pretty high numbers, so I'm going to enjoy wrapping up in my blanket and listening to the falling rain outside my window :)

Friends, I must admit something. There is a down-side to Summer storms. I'm afraid of lightning. AHHH! There, I sad it! Now listen, I don't mind watching lightning from a distance, but I really don't like it knowing it's right over me. I especially don't like it when it seems to be striking all around the restaurant I'm supposed to be entering with my sis-in-law! Seriously, it's a scared moment you dunna wanna see. Thanks Sharon for just laughing at me and my childish fear.

So, I'm in a band...

Yes, me. I never thought I'd actually be in a band. This one came about by chance, actually. My brother Shane was the one that made it all happen (bless you, dear brother). Anyways, check us out here! They may look like a bunch of old fuddy duddies (totally kidding), but they're actually pretty cool and GREAT musicians!

The beauty of Kauai

My boss asked me to stop over in Kauai to check out a property before going home, so here I am. Man, this island is fantastic! Seriously beautiful. I am leaving the island later tonight, which gives me plenty of time to check out the other scenic areas. Luckily I finished my work yesterday :)

Such fun in Hawaii...

What a great time I've had already, and it is only Tuesday! I still have 3 days ago, thank goodness.
Here are some pics to simply show some of the beauty and the fun being had.

Home to the Islands...

Work will yet again take me to a fantastic locale... home. If you didn't know, I spent the first 10 years of my life in Hawai'i ne'i. How I love it! I will be there for work, but am excited that I'll be no more than 10 minutes from my home town.

More

So, today was good. It was a busy day at IMEX, but I got a lot of appointments in and made lots of good contacts for work. You know, I’m different. I know you were going to say, ‘no, Erin, you are completely normal’. However, friends, I am not. I especially am not in Europe. Ok, this is how it goes:
Everyone: drinkers
Me: non-drinker (never had a drop in my life)
Everyone: f-bomb droppers (ok, not everyone, but lots)
Me: nope
Everyone: Smokers (ok, again, not everyone, but lots)
Me: nein
Everyone: Coffee drinkers
Me: nein otra vez (you like how I mixed the two languages, eh? That’s how they do it in ol’ Europe)

These differences could possibly make me feel really awkward and very out of place – especially when they ask why. However, no one has asked me. I’ve been able to simply say, no thanks, I’ll have a coke. No questions asked. Isn’t that nice?! So, being different is not so bad. I’m rather happy with the decisions I’ve made to not drink, smoke, etc – especially after I returned from a Visit London party tonight. Mucho alcohol, and mucho smoking. The smoking really got to me after a while. On my way home in the taxi, I seriously felt as if I would throw up. Not pleasant, folks. However, I had a great time with the people I was able to meet. Also, I won an Ipod Nano. Woohoo! This was the second time winning a Nano. Funny, eh? Remember my passed post… here.
Like I said, I met many a funny/nice person at this party. The Barcelona/Manchester game was going on in the background which made things particularly lively. I love fun people. Here are pics of some of my new, fun friends. One is Kiwi (NZ), and the other (tally) is German. One thing I do love about Germany… many tall men! Amazing!

Deutsch Land

Guten Tag! Here I am in Frankfurt, Germany. So, It's not totally for pleasure. I'm here for a rather large scale meeting conference. It's the first day of this 3 day shindig, and I'm happy as pie just to be here. I've been to Germany before, but it has been a few years (7, I think). So, here are a few things I've learned in my day and a half here. Come to think of it, most of these things I've learned before, but just figured I'd share anyway.

Bread and cheese is a wunderbar breakfast.
Nutella is also a great addition to breakfast.
Coca Cola Light needs to be manufactured in the states.
I'm not going to lose an ounce of weight while I'm here.
Orange Fanta is yum!
Not a fan of the sparkling water. Never have been, and still am not.

M'kay, I'll share more later.

Bis bald!

Happy 40th Ma & Pa!

How many couples these days make it to 40 years together? So happy that after 40 years and 8 kids, Doug & Colleen still remain. Love you both mucho!

Here they are on their honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel in NYC back in '69. What a beautiful couple!

Bret & Jemaine, thank you.

Salt Lake City hosted two of my favorite actors/singers/performers, Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords. Best thing about the concert - being on the 2nd row with my brothers (and their friend, middle). Thanks to Quinn for that!
Here is some footage from one of my faves. More to come.

Lush Life

I heard this song as a teenager and liked it. However, when I hear it now 15 years later, I go through a whole range of emotions. The song seems simple enoough, but is actually quite complex. It was written in 1915 by Billy Strayhorn, a 16 year old boy. I'm amazed that he could feel this song so deeply - both musically and emotionally at such a young age.

Hope you enjoy.

Here's Natalie...

A week with da boys

I've been in Charlotte hangin' with my sister Caiti and her cute family this week. It has been nice. There is never any big fan fare, or any rush to visit the sites of the city. It's just a time to chill and spend time with family I don't get to see more than a few times a year. This time around Caiti decided she wanted to make my visit a surprise for my nephews. It was a surprise indeed! Shown are the pics after I arrived at the doorstep as a long awaited "package". I sure love my nephews Gavin & Ryan. They are adorable, smart, and very TALL boys! Go figure! A tall Curran? No!



This pic is a little hard to explain. This is their imitation of what I do when I run around and scare them. I don't know what they're doing with their hands, but apparently I did something like this a couple of years ago, and it stuck.

Hi, it's me.

What a stranger to my own blog I have certainly been! Life has been busy recently. The end of this month and May will continue to be busy, actually. I just got back from a XanGo Las Vegas Regional convention last night. It was quite the show, really. When I got home yesterday morning, I was absolutely beat, which is evident by my early departure to dream land at 6:30pm and rise at 7 am this morning. Loved every moment of it. Tomorrow I leave for Charlotte on a surprise visit to my dear nephews Gavin and Ryan. I don't get to see them enough, so I fully plan on a week of hugging and kissing their heads off!
Later in the month I leave for a work trip to Frankfurt. It'll be a busy trip, but nice to be in a new place.
Anything else? I think not. Just wanted to let you, my faithful public know that I am still here :)

The Weather, Spanish peanuts, and Rochester

So, I have writers block...or something. You know, I don't feel the need to write something clever in each and every blog. I want to be real and just write the things that are on my mind. But sometimes the words simply won't come. Are you picking up what I'm putting out? Ah, ok. Lemme try, then...

Today it snowed. It snowed a whole heap of a lot! I don't mind the snow. I don't mind that it snowed late in the season either. I know many people have issues with it, but I rather like the drama in weather and the very unpredictability of it. My favorite part of the 'crazy' weather was the rain beating down on the house and on my window pane last night. It's romantic to me. I believe my parents influence has me on this one yet again. Each time it would rain growing up - especially when we moved to UT (Hawaii was always rainy anyway) my mom would buy vanilla ice-cream, Spanish peanuts and chocolate sauce. Perhaps it was the lack of rain storms in UT that provoked it. Anyhow, we'd then watch "Little Women" (just the girls). I should also note that my dad is every bit of a romantic and likes to curl up with his book and a fire whilst a good rain is falling. I suppose that is what feeds my craving for the weather experienced last night. I bask in it like I would bask in the sun on the shores of Mexico! Truly.

I love period films. I am at this moment watching "Jane Eyre" from the new Masterpiece Theater performance, and oh my! This isn't the first time watching it. I've seen it a handful of times, but with the weather, it was one I had to pull out. That Mr. Rochester, that dear Mr. Rochester. Would that there were a 'Mr. Rochester' for me. Bless him for filling my heart with romance on this overcast day. We all need a little romance in our lives, do we not?

The dawning of the age of Aquarius

I am an Aquarian. I don't always know what that means, but nonetheless, I find it very interesting. My life isn't guided by my sign, but horoscopes do tend to amuse me. Each day I receive a new horoscope by email. I don't always read it, but when I have a moment I’ll peruse over the specifics of the horoscope and see how it fits into my life. It usually doesn’t fit, but today it went a little something like this...

Your freedom is more important to you than anything else in your life. It is often very difficult for you to get involved, whether personally or professionally. Nevertheless Erin, today you may have to think about it. Could it be that your thirst for freedom is just an escape? You may feel it necessary to think about this question today. Who knows? You may just decide to take the leap!

I thought it interesting that it brought up my freedom. I've been thinking about that a bit lately. I often feel the need to get out and spread my wings, which is usually in the form of travel. Travel is a definite escape for me. But beyond this one thing, I have thought about my many “quirks”. Some of my closer friends know this about me more than others. So, let’s begin this.

I have issues answering the phone. My brother-in-law Ryan pointed this out to me the other day when he tried calling. I wasn’t avoiding his call – since it was on quiet. Anyhow, when I called him back a few minutes after realizing I missed the call, he said “are you so controlling that you can’t answer the phone, and have to call me back on your own time?” He was laughing about it of course, but it got me thinking. Now, I’ve known that I’ve had a “fear” of the phone for many years. Yet, the one thing I love about having my own cell phone is that I don’t have to answer it until I want to. I can let voice mail get it, and surely if that person wanted to talk to me badly enough, they’d leave a message. Isn’t it the greatest thing?! But yet I get crap about it all the time! Usually when family calls I don’t mind picking up, because I can say “Hello, what’s up? You need me to do such-and-such, or blah, blah… ok, bye”. And it’s done. There is no pretense to it. I don’t even feel bad cutting the conversation short if I’m busy, and they don’t care either. They are perfectly fine with it. On the other hand…

I have great friends; lots of great friends. The friends that know me best (bless their patient hearts) know that if they call me, I usually won’t pick up. This isn’t because I’m trying to avoid a call or don’t want to talk to them. The reason I do this is because I want to find the time to have a long conversation without interruption. For obvious reasons, I wouldn’t be able to chat it up while I’m at work. I don’t like chatting about personal things in the store, or anywhere else for that matter. The “safe” chatting zone is in my car or in my room. Do you get me? Yeah, quirky I know, but true.

So, maybe it’s not all about freedom, but more about control, eh? Hmm…

In short, I cherish my freedom. I will probably change when change is required, but for now, I think I’m going to hang on to my freedom. Oh, and a good thing to know, I’m GREAT at texting!

How does any of this have to do with being an Aquarius? No real clue, actually. It could be that Aquarians are generally those that are constantly looking to spread their wings, and experience difficulty settling down. What does that have to do with fear of the phone? Oh, I don't know. It's just a blog, people!