Chillin in Arizona.....seriously I'm cold

So I arrived in beautiful Scotsdale Arizona yesterday, leaving behind the frigid temperatures of New Jersey. 

I've been looking forward to this little break from winter for months and had high expectations. I packed my cutest summer dresses, shorts, a bunch of t-shirts, tanks and bikinis. 

We arrived at 11am and headed to the hotel. The sun was beaming, the sky a beautiful blue with puffy white clouds and flowers greeted us at every turn.

Ahhh.....how wonderful ...peaceful....and sunny.

Once we arrived at the hotel, I headed straight to our room, tossed my winter garb aside and put on a pair of shorts and a tee. I bounded to the lobby patio that overlooks the pool, plopped myself on a comfy orange couch and waited for the suns rays to envelope me. Instead......I was greeted with a strong "breeze"....ohhh not so warm. It's ok, perhaps it was just a passing breeze....

Boy was I wrong. After standing my ground for 5 mins, hoping the weather would change, I left the sunny patio defeated.

I dragged my teeth chattering, goosebumpy self back to the room and began to change back into my winter attire. I scolded my husband later on in the evening for persuading me not to bring a jacket or sweatshirt.

"We're going to Arizona....you're not going to need it."

Hello!!!! Where is the nearest mall? 

I am however hopeful that the rest of the week will prove  better....so far today has been warmer. I got to relax by the pool (yes, bathing suit and all) and had a yummy drink.

Either way, I'm here on vacation, sans kids (thanks to my mom and dad---love you guys!!!). I finished The Fault In Our Stars by John Green ~ fantastic, but have a box of tissues nearby....and I'm currently reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth, the second book of the Divergent series ~ another wonderful dystopian world series. Check them out if you have time.

Oh, i just got a text from my girlfriend.... apparently they enjoyed a lovely day with temperatures reaching a high of 21 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yea, on second thought, I'll take the balmy 70 degree breeze, goosebumps and all.

...no more complaining.

Where are you right now and are ya cold?

What books are you reading? What do you recommend?

Happy International Women's Day 2014

"Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world"

Hillary Clinton

I took this on my trip to China for a medical/humanitarian mission.

If we take the time to invest in the girls around the world, we can truly make the world a better place. Join me in supporting Girl Rising.

How are you helping the world?

Drowning In a Sea of Parenthesis and Curly Brackets

function....span....append....element....$(this).....var... )}; .......?!

help.

Now, as some of you know, I have embarked on a new path. I'm taking lessons to become a web developer and it's been a struggle. In fact, this past week I feel like a fish out of water.

What possessed me to start this?! Why am I learning how to code?

Well, to be honest, I love this stuff....... I must if I'm up till 2am trying to debug my project.....yes, 2am....and guess what? After hours and hours of looking for the problem, I found the culprit. The reason my "code" wasn't working was due to a misplaced quotation mark! UGH!!!! Really???!

Anyway, no matter my level of interest and passion for learning all of this, it has been dwarfed by my feeling of total stupidity.

Apparently, not only did my vision go once I hit forty, but my brain as well. I cannot for the life of me retain the information that I've been reading. What once would have taken me minutes to comprehend in my youth, now takes me an hour.

It's so sad.

However, I'm not giving up. I've got a wonderful mentor and a supportive discussion group from taking my course at Thinkful......I will finish the course, ugly web pages and all......well, hopefully not really ugly.

So, bring it on O'mighty tech world.....I will learn to embrace you curly brackets and all.


Have you ever felt lost at what you are attempting to learn? Has your brain turned to mush too?