Do you know what you want?

I for one certainly have no idea as to what I want out of my life. I simply dislike what I'm doing right now (career wise), but just haven't figured out what I like to do. Those of you who are damn lucky to know what you want and then those of you who are way too damn lucky to be doing what you want to do - you all make me jealous!

I'm fine with personal life. I have great friends, an amazing husband, and a comfortable life. I have plenty of fun when I'm not working. But I waste so much of my precious time that I'm not working by torturing myself thinking about how depressing it is to go back to work the next business day. The thing is, this state of mind was okay to be in 5 years ago when I was still 21 and it seemed like I had plenty of time to figure it out. Now I'm bloody 26 years old and I have been working for the past 7 years and probably busy complaining 4 or 5 of those years! Such a sheer waste of time. I got no further than I was 5 or 6 years ago in figuring myself out. I'm a bit slow in even doing simple calculations in my head (and have no intention of wasting yet some more time figuring out the precise amount of time wasted), but I can assure you right now, it's way too much time to be wasting - way more than what I spent learning how to speak, walk, eat, and even run! On top of that, I am pretty darn good at what I do right now despite the fact that I don't put my heart into it and I absolutely dislike it. I really surprise myself at times on things that I can easily achieve without really wanting them or working for them. It almost seems grossly unfair when I see folks who really want them and work really hard for them yet not getting what they truly deserve. I can't stop and wonder what I might be capable of achieving if and when I get to do what I like. Who knows, I might even be terrible at it, but just the thought of me not whining every single day is so very awesome.

You know, one career option that I thought of and haven't really discussed with any other living soul yet is working for the Guinness Book of World Records. Wouldn't it be awesome to go around the world and just supervise all kinds of weird stunts, contests, and what not? Oh, it would be too cool.

So, tell me, is there a dummies guide to figuring out your passion and using that passion to make a decent living? While all my good friends are busy answering my question, let me check if Guiness Book of World Records folks have posted any job openings on monster or dice.

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On a complete tangent, 2 days from now, a very good friend of ours is getting married! Yay to him and his girl :-) Congratulations S and D! We are way too excited and can't wait till mid-august for you to come back!
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Travel - Part 1 - Lake George

I know I have abandoned this place for a while now, but we had some amazing trips past few months and it would be a shame to not to write about them. So, here goes...

Lake George

Hacker and I celebrated our first anniversary in Lake George. September 28th, 2008 marks a huge mile stone for us - we completed our one year and that too without killing each other ;-) We both learnt a lot about each other and life in general. We survived major roller coaster rides and came out of all that in one piece. In celebration of that we decided to get away for the weekend. We didn't have anything grand in mind, but just the two of us needed some "us" time. We ended up picking Lake George, NY since it's just a 4 hour drive and seemed like a cool place.

On Saturday morning we got into our car and drove to Lake George and took the scenic route that went through New Hampshire, Vermont, and finally to New York. The drive was amazingly beautiful since it was peak fall season and there is no better place to be in fall than north east. If you haven't visited New England area in fall, then you must add that to your list of places to see. As soon as we got there, we stopped for lunch on a boat. We didn't even bother checking into our hotel. Instead we decided to directly go have some REAL FUN! So, where do we go? Adirondack Extreme - Hacker and I absolutely loved the adventure course! It reminded me of my childhood when I used to climb trees/walls/people/anything really and play games on Jungle Gym (in fact, I broke my wrist once when I fell down while moving super fast on the jungle gym). It was simply an amazing place if you want some true fun and adventure. You go through multiple courses and as you go from one course to the next one it gets tougher. The pass a course you have to get from point A (Tree 1) to point B (Tree 4 or 5) passing a few trees in between. They have ropes and moving bridges and other things that I can't really describe which you need to utilize to get from one tree to the next. I am not doing justice to it by putting in words, but you must go try it! It is VERY SAFE because you are always securely strapped and will never hit the ground if you screw up.

Anyway, by this time we got calls from Faddu and Bhindi checking on us and wondering if we checked into the hotel. We were least bothered to get to the hotel early, but these guys seemed to be more interested in us getting to the hotel. So, obviously I had a sneaky suspicion that they are up to something. And of course they were up to something - we had a nice surprise awaiting us at the hotel room. These guys got us upgraded to a suite with a beautiful view of the pool, lake, mountains and the hotel chef made us an AMAZING and HUGE cake. Thank you Faddu, Impeccable, Bhindi, and Chikoo!

That night we had dinner at The Algonquin restaurant. It was a fabulous dinner and Hacker and I have a great picture in that restaurant. I'm not a steak person, but I remember Hacker's steak being REALLY good. My chicken was superb too. Later than night, we got drunk :-)

So, next day, September 28th, our anniversary, we had a late start with a huge breakfast which was compliments of our friends along with the cake and the upgrade (these perks just kept coming!). Later we roamed around in the area - visited a couple of haunted house type stuff, shopped for souvenirs, and went up a mountain for a great view and some pictures. After that, we just drove back along the same scenic route which is so much more appealing than driving down a plain interstate.

This trip also signifies our trademark jumping pictures. You will see that in all of our travel going forward, we will have at least one jumping picture. It all started in this trip when Hacker took a really cool picture of me jumping on top of a mountain. Inspired by this, we tried it again and again and again in the next few trips and everytime we got great pictures! I don't have it with me, but hopefully I'll put it up this weekend.

I ran a mile...

...in 13 minutes :-)

In my entire life, I have never ran a mile straight without catching a breath by switching to brisk walking in between. But today, I ran an entire mile and I ran as fast as I could - which is 13 minutes and 2 seconds. I'm so happy!

All my friends know that I hate running. I will do other cardio, but not treadmill. But Hacker wants me to run so bad, so I started running in the last week. I just can't believe I, I, I could run a mile without stopping. YaY! Maybe because I have my best friends right next to me (yeah I know it's a bit cheesy). Hacker was running on a treadmill on my left and Bhindi was cycling on my right. You should have seen me at the end. It was almost like there is an imaginary finish line and I'm running in Olympics and just got the Gold. I finished my mile with both my hands up and stretched in the air and yelling "yayyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Yeah I know, a little too dramatic :-)

What the...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hindu-Christian_marriage_invalid_under_Hindu_Act_SC/articleshow/3802261.cms

Great news!

So, guess what? Impeccable is a Dentist. She obviously needs to take the board exam(s) and study a couple more years and all before she can start practicing in America. Anyway, she just got her exam results which we have ALL been waiting quite nervously for because we want her to get into Boston University and stay close to us! Anyway, BU is a good university and we wanted her to get the best score possible, so she can get in for sure without doubt. The point is, she just got her results and she did amazingly well!

The GANG is super excited about the results :-)

My dear Impeccable, we are so happy and thrilled for you and Faddu and for ourselves :-) :-) :-)

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Barack Obama is THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How freaking AWESOME is that????

I'm ECSTATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even though I have been eligible to vote for several years, I was never in India to vote and not an American citizen to vote in America. I voted for the first time in my life and you know what? This is so worth the wait...I feel like I'm part of making this history! Heck, this is an amazing moment in history...

I really really really hope Obama makes a positive difference because for the first time in my life I participated in the political process, took interest in the elections, and also trusted a politician enough to believe that he will be different than all others. And I know I am not alone. Just look at sheer volume of new voters! I'm proud to have voted for an intelligent, articulate, and yes an elite man (who wants a dumb or even an ordinary person to run for President for one of the most powerful countries in the world?) - that is saying a lot considering the past few Presidents we had!

I still can't believe it. The second CNN flashed that Barack Obama IS the elected president (CNN Projection of course), I squealed so loud that I think I startled Hacker, Faddu, and Impeccable! This is so awesome...I gotta call up my friends in Alabama who thought he could never make it.

I know I sound incoherent, but I was so excited when I voted today. All my life, I was so disinterested with politics that I never even thought about voting. But today, I wouldn't have missed my chance to vote for anything.

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

I can't wait to hear Obama speak!

We bought a TV!

It's not here yet, but it is awesome :-)

Check it out: Our very own first LCD!