Wonder Woman

I've never been much of a comic reader, when I was younger I read mostly archie comics, or sabrina the teenage witch. However I wish I would have known how awesome wonder woman comics were, now later in life I have become a fan of wonder woman. Crazy I know, but one of my friends (bethany) pointed out to me some of the powers and core values of the character wonder woman and it has become a character I am a huge fan of.

I mean just read this quote by the creator, William Moultan Marston, of wonder woman "Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women' s strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman."

If you know nothing about wonder woman here is the story: 

"Born the daughter of Queen Hippolyta on Paradise Island to a race of Amazon Warriors, Diana is a princess, an ambassador, a warrior and a superhero. Using divine powers, granted to her by the Gods of Olympus, Diana went to the United States of America to fight for peace, justice and truth as Wonder Woman. 

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Amazons were in fact reborn from the souls of abused and murdered women from ancient days. In 1200 B.C. a debate occurred in Mount Olympus on how mankind should be made to believe in the Gods. Ares, the God of war wanted to descent upon the world with his army and force mankind into following the Gods. This was opposed by the others Gods present including Artemis, who wished in peace and wanted to make a new race that would lead men on the right path. Zeus turns his back on them and they decide to proceed without his blessing. 

With the aid of Charon the ferryman, the gods reach the Womb of Gaea, were the souls of women who were abused and murdered at the hands of men were preserved by Gaea herself. Artemis sends the souls to Greece were they form into adult women. Aphrodite observes that one soul still remains in the Womb to which Athena replies the time has not yet come for that one.The new race in Greece are approached by the Gods who bestow them with the skill of hunting and the purpose of leading humanity in the right path. They appoint Hippolyte and Antiope as the rulers while Menalippe is the Oracle. The civilization is named the Amazons. 

Stories of this civilization, named as Themyscira by the poets spread throughout Greece and reaches the ears of Heracles who is driven into attacking the city behind the scenes by Ares, who seeks to sabotage the gods' plan. Heracles approaches the Amazons but is defeated by Hippolyte upon which he fakes friendship and declares the Amazons as allies. When their guard is down he poisons Hippolyte and his army attacks the women in full force taking Hippolyte, Antiope and the other survivors captive. 

In his cells, Hippolyte is freed by Athena who reminds her of her purpose and asks her to avoid revenge and pursue peaceful means. Hippolyte escapes and frees the rest of the Amazons. She relies Athena's message to the women but blinded by their thirst for revenge, the Amazons slaughter the men ruthlessly. The Gods appear and tell them they have failed in their purpose and banish them to an Island known as Paradise to guard the terrible evil within as punishment. They are also granted Immortaility as long as they do not stray from their new purpose, which would eventually purify their souls. 

The Amazons build a nation and live there for Millennia. It is during this time that Hippolyte, leader of the Amazons feel an unexplainable yearning. She conveys this to the Oracle who tells her she was the only one pregnant during her death and thus the yearning she feels is the call of her unborn child. As per her advise, Hippolyte goes to the shore at sunrise and makes a clay form of a baby. She then cries out to Artemis. Seeing this the Gods decide it was time for the remaining soul in the womb of Gaea to depart. 

The soul is sent to the clay form, which then becomes a real child , blessed with Gaea's gift, life. Demeter grants the baby great strength, Aphrodite grants her great beauty and a loving heart, Athena grants her great wisdom, Artemis grants her the eye of the hunter and unity with beasts, Hestia grants her sisterhood with fire and Hermes gives her great speed and the power of flight. Hippolyte names her after a holy warrior Diana and she grows up knowing the love of a thousand mothers. Thus Diana of Themyscira was born.

Wonder Woman embodies Marston's vision of woman as intelligent, honest, and kind. 

Why Wonder Woman was Created:

Wonder Woman’s appearance in the early golden age of comics made her the first prominent female superheroine. The psychologist William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman somewhat as a counter reaction to the presence of prominent male superheroes (at this time Superman, Batman and Captain America) with the hopes that the character could serve as an inspiration for young children (though in certain ways it was geared more towards female readers.) Marston had been partially motivated to create this character because of the accomplishments of his own wife, who was also an accomplished academic at a time when it was difficult for women to fulfill this role. As a result, the first Wonder Woman series contained many complimentary articles and features which sought to provide guidance to a presumed female readership. There were articles for instance on the different career paths that women could pursue (according to the standards of the 1940s) as well as a series of stories on famous and accomplished women, called the Wonder Women of History. Marston introduced the character in All-Star Comics #8 in 1941. She became the lead character in Sensation Comics in 1941, and got her first solo book in 1942.

And of course the best thing about Wonder Woman is her accessories, I mean only a female superhero would have accessories with magical powers:

Lasso of Truth

The Lasso of Truth forces people to tell the truth. It was forged by Hephaestus from the Golden Girdle of Gaea that Antiope had once worn. It is able to restore people's lost memories get rid of illusions or cause illusions to those it holds and heal the holder's body cure insanity and protect people who are in close proximity to it from magical attacks.

Bracelets of Victory

These are a pair of steel

A tale of a mermaids love affair with the sea!

Is anyone else there obsessed with mermaids?!?!?! Don't you wish they were real, they bring such a sense of wonder to the sea! Most surfer girl friends I have love the idea of being a mermaid, and maybe that's why we love surfing so much, it's the closest we will be to being mermaids!!!

I have a cousin who is 8 and is obsessed with surfing she is so adorable, her mom told me she believes in mermaids so much she googled how to become a mermaid found this recipe for a potion that turns you into a mermaid. She went through the trouble of making the potion and pouring it on her legs and sat and waited for them to turn into a mermaid tail! How adorable is that! (She was very upset when it didn't work).

Does anyone else have mermaid memories or obsession with mermaids?

Here are some images of this mermaid wannabes obsession with the sea!

We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again! 

Here's my little cousin she was so stoked to get a picture with Bethany Hamilton this weekend! If you look closely it says mermaid at heart on her shirt!

29 And Feeling Fine!!!!

Today is the beginning of the last year in my 20's and although I feel like crying a river over it, I decided I'm going to embrace it. I mean after all age is just a number.... right?!!! If you know me at all you know that I'm big on celebrating birthdays I never understood people who are like I don't really celebrate my birthday........ I always think.... WHAT!?!?!?! WHY NOT!!!! I mean this is the day that you came into this world!!!  This is the anniversary of the day that we got YOU!!!! CELEBRATE IT for goodness sake!!! 

So I feel like a bit of a hypocrite in that I didn't plan any celebration for my birthday this year, (so if you were feeling left out that you didn't get an invite, don't worry there were no invites handed out) I know I know so not like me but I honestly let my birthday creep up on me this year and it kinda took me by surprise. (or maybe I avoided facing the inevitable fact that I'm in my last year of my 20's) No but really it was the first one. I might plan something for the weekend. I'm not much of a planner anymore I've always been a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl and this year I definitely am just going to do a last minute party possibly for the weekend.

But I think in this post I am just going to reflect on 28 and share my goals for heading out my last year of my 20's with a BANG baby!!!! (ready or not 30 here I come!!!). 

So for me 28 was kinda non existent I spent the beginning of my 28th year forgetting my age I kept telling people I was 27 when they asked my age and then I would remember oh wait no I'm 28. I enjoyed the sound of 27 so much that later on in the year I decided just to lie about my age, cause 27 sounded better on me! But now that it's over I feel a little bad for 28.....sorry 28 I never claimed you! On to 29 I have a few major goals and minor goals. I could spend time telling you that I would love to maybe buy a house, get pregnant, have my career completely established, go on an awesome trip abroad, but one thing my 29 years of life has brought me is wisdom!! While it's great to have goals like these let's be honest do things ever really work out exactly as you plan??? The answer for all you youngens is NOOOOOOOO....... and while for some people that may be bad for me it's been pretty great. Sure I never imagined making it to this age in my younger years and having no children or house but I also pictured myself getting married getting pregnant right away being incredibly successful and having an adorable house all by age 27! Crazy right, maybe not for some people reading this, but for me that is crazy and i'm so glad it didn't happen like I had planned it in my mind because it turned out so much better than I imagined it would be. I spent most of my 20's enjoying life living free and meeting the most incredible people along the way I had adventures and fell in love and really lived a blessed life. I wouldn't change any of that for the world! So for 29 I'm not giving myself any lofty timeline goals like I gotta get pregnant by age 30. No instead my goals are pretty simple!

Goal #1 

I would like to use less social media (I realize this is hypocritical of me as I am using social media right now to write this blog post, but I have always thought of this blog as my public journal, so really I'm journaling right now)

Goal #2 

I am going to embrace optimism this year! To be more joyful ( over age 28 I don't know how this happened but I have become a bit of a negative nancy) and for those of you who don't know how my year has been this year it was really challenging for me I'm not going to go into all the reasons why, but I'm turning my back on those hardships and am going to look for positives in everything. ( I mean after all I used to be like this I used to be a joyful person, and I lost her somewhere along the way). 

Goal #3 

I am going to challenge myself physically, I've been a bit of a lazy girl this past year and I want to get back in the healthiest shape of my 20's yet!!! I realize it will take twice as much work and dedication than it did in my early 20's but I look at some of those 40 year olds who look not a day over 25 and think wow I want that! So first step toward this goal will be to sign up for my very first half marathon (I know I know crazy right, but like I said I'm going to go out of my 20's with a BANG) 

Goal #4 

I will be gentler on myself, I have been so hard on myself this past year when it comes to my abilities in work, life, marriage, friendships, etc. and I think it has really been a downer, I'm going to try to be gentler on myself and say "Hey I'm in no way perfect, I make mistakes, I rub people wrong sometimes, and all I can do is my best"( this goal is to work on my self esteem and be ok with not being anywhere close to perfect) 

Goal #5 

Study the Bible more, I've spent a good portion of my life studying for school and once in a while studying the bible, but this year I'm going to start studying the word more, mainly because I feel like that verse that says "the joy of the Lord is my strength" is truth. You can only find Joy in the Lord if you work on getting to know Him more. 

Goal #6 

I am going to embrace this quote more "you have to live spiritedly in many directions never loose your childlike enthusiasm and things will come your way"! I'm going to try to embrace my childlike enthusiasm. 

Goal #7 

I am going to try to increase my independence, since I've been with Tim I've been so dependent on him for everything, and before him I was so fiercely independent. I mean I don't even go surfing alone anymore, and before him thats the only kind of surfing I would do, (so first tangible step toward this goal is to surf at least twice a month alone).

So 7 goals for this next year!!! Let's see how I do! Thank you friends and family for the journey you have joined me on so far! 

Here's a few past birthday posts!! fun to reflect

Here's 27 a complete look back on a decade!

Here's 25 didn't accomplish all these goals but most!  

Favorite Scents

Do you have some some favorite scents. Do you even notice how some smells give you the warm and fuzzys. Maybe because we have such good memories associated with those scents, but there are just some things that I really enjoy the smell of, they make me take a deep wiff and go Ahhhhh...!

Here are a few smells my friends and I stated were our favorites.

 Nothing like the smell of camping camp fire

 The smell of eucalyptus 

 nothing like the smell of BBQ in the summertime

 this one's my sisters favorite, the smell of the pirate ride at disneyland

 Pine trees reminds me of christmas time

 not just any rain but a summer rain, that smells like earth

Orange leaves and blossoms, remind me of my hometown

And of course nothing like the smell of ocean spray

Random Fact Friday

If you know me well you know that I LOVE random facts. If there is an interesting bit of useless information, I just want to know it. It comes from being a wonderer (a wonderer, is  a person who thinks or says hmmm.... I wonder pretty much all day everyday, just in case you were wondering!).

so here are few fun random facts.

Random Fact #1
Have you ever wondered why that compartment in your car just in front of the passenger seat is called the "glove box". Well the reason it's called the glove box, is because when the automobile first came out people used to wear gloves to drive they called them "driving gloves"(creative I know) and you know where they kept those driving gloves ......you guessed it in the "glove box". Although its been years and years since anyone has worn driving gloves the glove box still remains thankfully! (p.s. what do you have in your glove box?)

Random Fact #2 

Did you know the reason pirates wear patches over their eye (if you thought it was to hide their glass eye well you're wrong). It's to help their eyes adjust to the light and dark. The pirate used to move the patch when going below deck so that his eye that was covered was already adjusted to the dark and he could see right away. I don't know how true this is but I heard it from another random fact lover one day as we exchanged random facts. So I keep it as fact. 

  Random Fact #3

Did you know the sound effect crew of star wars used recordings from a trained bear that was recorded during feeding time when the bear was angry and hungry, to create the sound for Chewy Chewbacca. They pieced together the recordings from the bear to create words and sentences for the character Chewbacca. 

Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

Just the other day I was in a conversation with a person about being in the moment and about being more mindful of everyday things we take for granted. This person started sharing about how he does this thing with his wife when they go grocery shopping and it seems silly to most people but I found it really inspiring and made me think about how much we take for granted.

 He shared that when he buys produce at the grocery store, he takes his time and holds the produce that he will buy in his hands and silently in his own mind thanks the hands that tended the soil, the hands that planted the seeds, the hands that cared for and watered the plants, the hands that picked the produce, the hands the packaged the produce, the hands that loaded and shipped the produce, the hands that unloaded, and delivered the produce, and the hands that arranged the produce on the shelves.

I was so moved by what he said and I realized that if all of us shared this same attitude of gratitude maybe just maybe we would do a better job at being less wasteful, less consumeristic, and less entitled. What would it be like if we all were a little more grateful for the things we have and the things we purchase, I wonder if we would be more fulfilled and content.

Thats just my random thought for the day, and my challenge for myself today and everyday, to be more mindful and grateful for the simple things.

Is surfing fun or is it cool?

Ok I just have to ask do you surf to be cool, or to have fun?

The thought that prompted this question came to me on Sunday when I was out surfing with Tim and Elena on a pretty small day. There were waves and the sun was shining and we had the day off so what better thing to do than surf! right?!

Well I was out soaking up the sun enjoying the COLD water when I overheard this Father harping on his son for not catching a wave that went by, the son i might add was around age 7. I had seen him catch a few waves and he was definitely a skilled little grom, but as his dad rode off on the next wave I looked at his face and saw that there was no childhood innocence in his eyes. His brows were furrowed with concern and he had the look on his face of a boy who just disappointed his dad.

I immediately became frustrated and thought to myself, maybe I should stand up for that kid I mean his dad really needs to lay off surfing is supposed to be fun and he's freakin 7 let him be a kid and have fun, don't make it about work and about doing everything right and perfect. Parents and the pressure they put on their kids to perform is the one thing that really gets my blood boiling. A kid should be a kid they should enjoy childhood it's the only time in life where its acceptable to be irresponsible and spend your day having FUN. Let the worries of adulthood come once their childhood is gone, you only get one childhood don't spoil it for your kids. Ok so off my soap box with that!!!

It made me think about the Dad also, I started to think shoot, I wonder if that guy forgot when he first was learning to surf, I wonder if he forgot about how much fun it was when you catch a good wave or what the surf stoke is when you had an epic session. I then started to wonder if surfing was ever fun for that man, or was it always about being the best doing everything right catching the most waves etc.

And that's when I realized some people don't even get into surfing because it's fun they get into it because they think its cool (they're the ones that get pissed when they don't catch enough waves and have a bad attitude in the water), and to those surfers I have to say you are really missing out surfing is supposed to be fun that's the whole point. Catching a wave is FUN!!!!!!!!! not cool it's like getting the thrill of your favorite roller-coaster over and over for FREE. So all you surfers out there that are too cool for school lighten up and laugh and most importantly have FUN!!!!!!