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If you've gone through a breakup, a troubling friendship, any situation where you have been wronged and there is no paranoia involved or thoughts of you being the bad guy because you know there was zero way. Fact…
You need to be patient.
That jerk is going to message you, call you, email you, what have you… whether it's 2 days time, 2 months time, or 2 years time they are going to realize they messed up.
They are going to ask for you back, or ask to be friends. Maybe they are lonely or whatever side project they had didn't work out for them… whatever the case, don't disrupt your own life to play along.
That chapter of your life is over.
It feels like absolute hell, I know.
And your going to want to message them right away and go off because you don't deserve to be treated in such a way, I know.
But be patient.
Don't sit around waiting for them to attempt to redeem themselves— or you. What you need to do is block them or unfriend them at least for a little while to clear any uneccesary garbage from your life that they may throw at you out of the blue.
It is hard to move on, but after a little while (different times for everyone) it gets easier.
You don't believe me now, but please trust me when I say wait.
And follow your intuition.


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How do you see us if you have Kaiser?
Central Counseling Services has a contract with Beacon, which manages patients access to care outside the Kaiser system. If you are a Kaiser member you may be able to use your benefits to see our staff for the cost of your co-pay. (If you have Kaiser Medi-Cal or some ACA plans you may not be allowed by Kaiser to go outside their system.)
How do you access CCS for your care?
Call your local Kaiser Mental Health office and schedule an intake appointment.
Attend the appointment and tell the intake therapist that you have an established relationship with CCS and want to come here for your care.
Have the intake person send a request for a Beacon referral to their in-house Beacon liaison and get that person's.
Check back with that person in three days to ensure it has been processed.
When Beacon calls they will give you the referral number, number of sessions, and co-pay. With that you can call us and schedule your appointment.

subset: commoncrawl


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Bicycle Mechanic
JOB TITLE: Bicycle Mechanic
DEPARTMENT: Service
REPORTS TO: Service Manager
This full-time position requires basic product knowledge and repair experience on all bike-related services.
Basic knowledge of most current repair methods
Assemble new bicycles
Ability to accurately diagnose and repair service items.
Build and maintain relationships with customers.
Continue education with industry trends
Participation and lead in shop rides and events.
Properly complete all repairs on time
Complete Rapid Cycling new employee training protocol.
Education/Experience: At Least one year of bicycle service experience.
Skills and Traits: Mechanically inclined, outgoing, enthusiastic, sociable, positive attitude, passionate about cycling
Please submit a cover letter and resume here.


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Citizenship Civics Test Prep: Week 15!
Welcome back!
After today, we are 3/4 of the way through the potential questions on the US citizenship test. I hope you've found this series helpful!
This week, I've included 2 economics-related questions, as well as three questions about the Executive Branch.
Question 71: What is the economic system in the United States?
Answer: capitalist/market economy
Capitalism is a type of economy that is based on private ownership of businesses for the profit of individuals. This is in contrast with other economic systems, such as socialism (where the public owns companies and divides the resources).
The United States was founded on the principle that every person has the opportunity to "live the American dream" and make it rich by working hard and climbing up the economic ladder. This idea was embodied by people in the 19th century like John D. Rockefeller, who had humble beginnings but went on to become the richest person in American history. Even today, people like Steve Jobs (who founded Apple in a garage and went on to become one of the wealthiest businessmen in the United States) have proven that common people can achieve great financial success.
Question 72: What is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?
Answer: April 15
Paying taxes is very important, not only for US citizens, but also for permanent residents and even people here on a visa or people who are undocumented.
If you plan on applying for citizenship in the future, it is imperative that you pay your federal and state income taxes on time, because you will be asked about any failure to pay these taxes on the citizenship application. You can find out more about filing federal income tax on the IRS website.
Question 73: What does the President's Cabinet do?
Answer: Advises the President
The President's Cabinet consists of the nation's highest ranking appointed officials in the Executive Branch. The very first Cabinet, selected by President George Washington, consisted of only 4 members; today, there are 16 Cabinet members, including the Vice President.
Most of the Cabinet members oversee Executive Branch agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice.
The Cabinet meets regularly to discuss the President's policy agenda and make plans on how to achieve his goals. Cabinet members advise the President about issues in their specific fields and offices.
Question 74: What are two Cabinet-level positions?
Answers: Secretary of: (a) Agriculture; (b) Commerce; (c) Defense; (d) Education; (e) Energy; (f) Health and Human Services; (g) Homeland Security; (h) Housing and Urban Development; (i) Interior; (j) Labor; (k) State; (l) Transportation; (m) Treasury; (n) Veteran's Affairs; (o) Attorney General; (p) Vice President
Keep in mind you have to provide two of these answers to get this question correct.
Other than the Vice President (answer P), each Cabinet member is in charge of a specific government agency. Those that are "Secretary of...." are in charge of the agency in his or her titles (for example, the Secretary of State is in charge of the Department of State). The Attorney General is in charge of the Department of Justice.
To prepare for the test, I would suggest just choosing two of these positions and memorizing them. Luckily, you don't have to know who the current people are who hold these positions!
Question 75: Who is in charge of the executive branch?
Answer: The President
As I've discussed in prior posts, the Executive Branch is established in Article II of the Constitution and is led by the President. This branch is tasked with carrying out the laws created by Congress.


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"A True Story"
I received an email from a potential client. As a Las Vegas Realtor, I get excited when I see a new inquiry in my email box. That means business for me and an opportunity to help somebody. The email was sent from a nice couple in Chicago who wanted more information on a home that they had seen on Zillow. When I looked up the property information from the MLS service that I subscribe to,..The residence had already been sold 18 months prior to them contacting me. They were very disappointed, but I was able to find them another home that they were happy to get into.
Another Zillow story comes to mind about a listing that I have at Angel Park in Summerlin. It is priced at $319,900 which is within market value parameters. A buyer's agent called me and asked to make and appointment for a showing. A lady from Arizona was going to drive to Las Vegas to look at only this one property. For the Homeowner and the Realtor, that is usually good news for a potential sale. When she arrived in Las Vegas and toured the home,.. she found that she really liked it but was adamant about not paying over $180,000 for it because this is the price that Zillow had valued the property at. This one piece of misinformation not only killed the deal but it also wasted the time, expense and energy to the buyer who drove all that way to view the home as well as all other parties involved.
These Zillow and Trulia "aggregate sites" access a summation of information from the various public sources that are available. The also duplicate partial multiple listing service records only to improperly regurgitate them back to the public. Although their property information is not accurate, there are many Question and Answer pages as well as blogs from Realtors (such as this one) that will be informative to people who are interested in real estate.
If you are looking to Sell a Las Vegas Home, be sure to get your information from a reputable Las Vegas Realtor. A good Realtor will devote quite a bit of time and research to come up with a valuation for your property. We do not pull this number out of a hat….! An exhaustive search of recently sold homes combined with what is available for sale and what has gone under contract in the subdivision needs to be taken into consideration. If there is nothing to compare it too, then we have to expand further into the surrounding area to find what we are looking for. Upgrades and amenities also need to be considered and added into the formula as an adjustment.
If you are in the market to Buy a Las Vegas Home,… Your Realtor can save you countless hours of research by setting you up a custom home search from the MLS that will send only the homes that are available and meet your criteria direct to your email box. Your Realtor may also have a website that will allow you to set up your own search engine an alerts to be used and modified at your leisure.
For Accurate Real Time Information,…. Call A Realtor
Las Vegas Realtor – Hank Lauzon


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Product Code: GA854
OUR MSM & VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENT BLENDOur MSM & Vitamin C supplement combines high-quality methysulfonylmethane (MSM) with pure vitamin C. Mixed with vitamin C, the supplement offers all the benefits of MSM, and the antioxidant properties of vitamin C. As an antioxidant vitamin C helps the body to destroy harmful free-radicals.
WHAT IS MSM?Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is a naturally occurring sulphur compound found in every plant and animal tissue, but modern food processing means that some diets may be deficient. It is the only bioavailable form of sulphur - a macro mineral that is used in significant amounts in the body. MSM is an organic sulphur compound. It is contained naturally in the food or it should be, but often it disappears or is significantly reduced because of the over processing done.
Vitamin C contributes to normal Collagen formation for the normal function of:
NO EXCIPIENTSOur MSM & Vitamin C supplement comes in the form of a vegetable cellulose capsule. This enables us to offer a supplement that does not require any unnecessary chemicals, excipients, binders or unnatural fillers. A vegetable celullose capsule is designed specifically to break down naturally within the acid of your stomach, ensuring that the nutrients are absorbed during digestion.
SUITABLE FOR VEGANSOur MSM & Vitamin C supplement is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. It is also approved kosher and does not contain any allergens.
CONTAINS NO: gluten, wheat, lactose, added sugar, artificial colourings or preservativesSuitable for vegetarians and vegans, approved kosher
1 capsule provides:
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"I am SO excited for my boudoir session, but I need an excuse to sneak out of my house as this is a surprise anniversary present for my husband. Do you have any suggestion on what I should say?"
"How can I sneak out of the house for a boudoir session without my husband finding out?" Is probably one of the common questions I get asked by clients who are hosting a boudoir session as a secret present for a significant other.
While I do not advocate lying to your partner I think sometimes we can make excuses, especially if they are the greater good. I've had some clients come up with some creative ideas and today I want to share with you five excuses that will buy you a numbers of hours out of the house for your boudoir session.
1. Schedule Your Session When You Know He's Busy
Many couples know their partners routine by heart and because of that can anticipate what they are doing and when they are going to be home on particular days. For example, my father would play basketball every Saturday from 9AM to 2PM and then we would hang out at the park another hour so he could speak with his friends before we all headed home. That was six solid hours we were out of the house. What my mom did on those Saturdays I still have no idea. However, anticipate his schedule and schedule your boudoir session around that.
Does he spend Sunday with his parents? Or does he have an old friend from High School coming into town for the weekend? Does he spend a certain day of the week meeting up with his boys and playing video games or catching up at the bar with them? Know his schedule and anticipate what he's going to be doing so you can go to a session without him getting wind of your surprise.
- Cons: His plans may fall through and opt to hang out with you instead. It's a good idea to have a contingency plan in place just in case things go awry.
- Pros: No need to make up a story about what you're doing because he will probably be too occupied with his own schedule.
2. Girl's Day
Tell your man that you are having a girls day. Most men respect the sanctity of the sisterhood so there will probably be very little questioning. If he does ask for details explain to him that you are planning on getting a late lunch and then seeing a movie (pick a long movie that you know he will have no interest in). Informing him that you will be seeing a movie will eliminated a need to call or text you since he will know you won't be looking at your phone.
- Cons: Your man may be a movie buff and invite himself to the movie section of your day. If that is the case tell him that Cindy (Insert your BFFs name here) is currently going through a tough time and just needs a friend. This will ensure that he won't ask any additional questions or invite himself along. Just make sure to tell Cindy that you will be using her as an excuse. The last thing you want is him calling/texting Cindy to give her his condolences and Cindy responding back extra confused.
- Pros: There is probably very little chance of him barging in on your girl time so this will be a solid excuse.
3. Brunch
This is a lot like the girl's day, but you can use the excuse of brunch if you need to get out of the house earlier in the day. Brunch gives you a solid 5 hours to host a boudoir session.
This plan will work because there is even less of a chance of your man calling you because he will know you will be out with your girls.
Cons: Now you have to let a number of ladies know your secret. We know the more people you let in on the covert mission the more likely it is for someone to slip up and ruin your surprise.
Pros: There is only a VERY a small chance that he may call you. However, you can actually have brunch with your girls after the session. Especially since you will be dolled up you will look extra glam and when you get home you will have a valid excuse for the amazing hair and makeup. Plus if you're looking extra hot there won't be too many questions after you walk in the door.
4. Getting Your Hair Done
It's no secret that it can take HOURS for your hair to get done at a hairstylist. Most stylists are juggling two or three other clients and this typically adds on to your time. Let him know that you are getting your hair done and tell him that later that evening that you want to have a night out on the town. This gives you reason to be very glammed up.
- Cons: he drops by the salon to see you get your hair done and you're not there. If that happens tell him you went to see a new girl. It's not like you won't have valid proof.
- Pros: You don't have to scrub the beautiful makeup off or wash your gorgeous hair. You already look amazing AND you get a date the end of the night! Sounds like a win to me!
5. Spa Day with the Girls
Maybe someone is getting married or one of your girls is having a milestone birthday party. Whatever the case maybe tell him you are going to treat this friend to a girls spa day. Don't give him too many details about where you're going or how long you are going to be. Just let me know you are doing it because it's Cindy birthday (she's the best isn't she) and you want to treat her.
- Cons: He may text you to see what you're up to. So you need to have an idea of how a spa works and let him know what you are doing… or about to do at the spa. One of my clients actually had to do this because her hubby would text her every hour to 90 minutes. You will also have to wash all that beautiful hair and makeup off so it really looks like you went to a spa. I know. Sucks!
- Pros: Being at a spa gives you a good reason as to why you didn't answer your text right away.
6. Volunteer Work
This is a solid excuse you can use to leave the house with little to no suspicion. Make sure you tell him that you are volunteering at a girls/women centric organization so he doesn't invite himself to come. Many women organizations don't allow men to be around for a number of different reasons so you won't have to fear him wanting to join.
- Cons: You will most likely have to wash all your hair and clean your makeup off to not garner any questions.
- Pros: This gives you a valid reason to be out of the house for an unlimited amount of hours and a good reason why you didn't answer your phone/text when he called to see how you're doing.
So There You Go!
I hope these six excuses to sneak out the house for a boudoir session helped you! Again I don't promote lying, but you are doing something for your beau so I hardly think he will count this against you.


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Skin, Bones, Hearts & Private Parts
7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise Conference
from Port Canaveral, Florida
Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas
October 18 - 25, 2015
This conference has already sailed, but that doesn't mean you have to miss the boat! Click here to see our complete schedule of upcoming programs.
18 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
Course Fee - $595 for Physicians, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners
|8-11 am
|Demystifying Emergency Medicine - Part 1
|11-12 pm
|Applying 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Reduction of Cardiovascular Risk (Rx=.5)
|1-3 pm
|JNC-8 Update
|3-5 pm
|Acute Coronary Syndrome
|8-10 am
|Metabolic Syndrome: It's a Short Trip to Cardiovascular Disease (Rx=.5)
|8-11 am
|Demystifying Emergency Medicine - Part 2
|11-12 pm
|Case Studies in Management of Cardiovascular Risk
|1-3 pm
|Deep Venous Thrombosis: To Treat or Not to Treat? and How? & Pulmonary Emboli Current Guidelines on How to Approach these Challenging Patients.
|3-5 pm
|Aortic Syndromes: Protect Your Patient Community from Catastrophic Outcomes (Rx = .75 hr)
Session Descriptions:
Laboratory Medicine & Clinical Application:
This course will cover the one critical question you have to answer about anemia, the biggest error in the evaluation of hyponatremia, the single best predictor that your patient is going to die during your shift, the secrets of acidosis taught in medical school, the nine causes of sinus tachycardia you must learn and the one that will BURN you!
Master the five players of liver function tests and how to decode blood clotting, platelets and clotting cascade.
Pulmonary Medicine & CXR Interpretation:
Topics to be covered include general management of pulmonary patients, how to diagnosis the patient in respiratory acidosis, how to ID the decompensating pulmonary patient, understanding hypoxia verses hypercarbia, the four critical secrets to the pulmonary patient, the best system to evaluate a chest XRAY in medicine, congestive heart failure, handling an airway obstruction with T.L.C., asthma and life-saving treatments, understanding the three radiographic presentations of pneumonia and fending off the grim reaper mastering the pulmonary embolism.
Chest Pain & EKG/ECG Interpretation:
Earn your black belt in Medical-legal Jujitsu. Learn the four secrets to sharpen your EKG skills, the 10 questions to a perfect medical history , and a deadly disorder that presents EXACTLY like bronchitis. Master the five deadly causes of chest pain and the two safety nets of EKG interpretation. Gain the respect of cardiologists by understanding the BEST way to identify ST segment elevation and the four tricks to recalling ST segment depression.
Common Emergency Medicine Complaints:
Learn how to practice medicine like a Jedi Master. Topics include three key findings on the plain film abdominal XRAY; assessing an abdominal pain patient like a surgeon, diagnosing and understanding headaches, stroke symptoms, wound care and fevers. When is a stroke not a stroke? Differentiate between Otitis media and meningitis, identify the six most commonly missed fractures, master the New PEA Pyramid when playing Resuscitation Idol and cardiac pharmacology, from antihypertensives to ACLS meds.
Joyce L. Ross
Each year cardiovascular disease is responsible for more deaths than all forms of cancers and other major diseases. Identification of those at risk patients with attention to lifestyle and medication has been shown to dramatically reduce this risk. Components of the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines along with the NLA recommendations will be discussed .
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session the participant will be able to:
- Understand major components of the newest AHA/ACC Guidelines
- Need for further recommendations by the National Lipid Association
- Indicate appropriate application of medications in the treatment of dyslipidemia
- Mechanisms of Action
- Lipoprotein effects
- Dose & Route of administration
- Contraindication
- Adverse Reactions
- Drug Interactions
- Advantages
- Disadvantages
- Statin therapy
- Bile Acid Sequestrants
- Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitors
- Nicotinic Acid
Discussion will center on metabolic syndrome as a major risk factor for vascular disease. We will evaluate how this group of independent variables relates to the development of disease and its impact on the current population of the United States. Case study approach will be applied both for detection and treatment of the syndrome.
Learning Objectives :
At the end of this session the participant will be able to:
- State five (5) components of the metabolic syndrome
- Understand that metabolic syndrome is not considered a cardiac equivalent but that the components are harbingers of vascular disease
- Use case study to create a treatment plan inclusive of education, lifestyle management, and pharmaceutical intervention for reducing components of the syndrome .
- Definition and diagnosis of metabolic syndrome
- Components of metabolic syndrome
- Common features of patients with metabolic syndrome and diabetes
- Assessing cardiovascular risk
- Traditional risk factors
- Framingham assessment
- Metabolic syndrome
- Prevalence of cardiovascular disease
- Role of insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia
- Endothelial dysfunction
- Glucose metabolism
- Inflammation
- Dyslipidemia
- Hemodynamics
- Hemostatic changes
- Treatment approach to metabolic syndrome
- Patient centered philosophy
- Lipids
- Hypertension
- hyperglycemia
Joyce L. Ross
Understanding the roles of guidelines and recommendations is only the beginning in applying that knowledge to the patients we see every day. This session will highlight varying cases as a means to implement current requirement but add that personal and independent touch to patient care .
After attending this session the participant will be able to:
- State needs for individualization of each patients care plan
- Recall necessity to treat all risk factors for the patient
- Implement basic plan per current recommendations and patient needs
Deep Venous Thrombosis
Acute Coronary Syndrome
Aortic Syndromes
Kevin Rebeck
Course Description:
From start to finish, these sessions will cover how and why we make the decisions we make to treat this patient population per the guidelines set by the American College of Cardiology & American Heart Association. Improving practitioners knowledge base, but also with philosophical view on tailoring your decision making to each individual. Learn to recognize these patients signs early, and how to protect them from catastrophic outcomes.
At the end of these session the participant will be able to:
- Understand the JNC-8 Guidelines description and how to help formulate decision making to adhere to their entire patient population on blood pressure management.
- Acute coronary syndrome will take a scientific approach to the current American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines on evaluating and treating this diversely presenting population.
- Deep Venous Thrombosis treatment profiles will be reviewed & applied to numerous presentations as to best help you with your decision making in this presenting population.
- Pulmonary Emboli-The most up dated guidelines and how to best apply these recommendations to the variation of numerous patient presentations.
- Aortic syndromes: to better understand the evolution of the ageing Aorta and its associated pathology to best protect your patient community from catastrophic outcomes.
Course Fee Cancellation Policy Written notice of cancellation must be received no later than one month prior to the conference for a course fee refund to be issued. A full refund, less a $75 processing fee will be provided to the original form of payment. Refunds will take two to four weeks to be processed.
We can assist you with all your travel arrangements. We'd be happy to help you plan your flights, hotels or tours before and/or after your cruise conference.
Joyce L. Ross, MSN, ANP, CS, CRNP, Diplomat ACCL, Clinical Lipid Specialist, FNLA, FPCNA
Ms. Ross is a Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Lipid Specialist with concentrated training in preventive cardiology. Her undergraduate and graduate work was completed at Gwynedd Mercy College, in Gwynedd Valley, PA. where she was graduated Cum Laude. She holds two Master's Degrees the first as a Clinical Specialist with subspecialties in Gerontology and Administration, and the second as an Adult Nurse Practitioner. She has received accreditation as a Clinical Lipid Specialist by The Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidiology. Ms. Ross clinical affiliation is with the University of Pennsylvania as well as an independent clinical consultant on cardiovascular risk intervention and education. She has been active in clinical research and has been both a clinical coordinator and sub-investigator on several cardiovascular risk reduction trials for lipids, and other aspects of risk reduction. Ms Ross is published in the fields of preventive cardiology, identification, assessment and treatment of cardiovascular risks and all aspects of lipidology. She has lectured both nationally and internationally and is frequently a member of advocacy groups.
Professional memberships include past Board Member, past president and Fellow of The Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA). She is a founding Board Member and secretary of The Familial Hypercholesterolemia Foundation (The FH Foundation). and is a Board member & Fellow, of the NLA where she sits on several committees and is currently the President of the Northeast Lipid Association.
John Bielinski, MS, PA-C
John is hailed as one of the greatest presenters in the country. With his unique active style and easy to follow presentation, attendees have reported learning more in one day from him than an entire year in the classroom!
John earned a master's degree in family and emergency medicine and is a national lecturer on emergency medicine and extraordinary patient care. His experience not only includes years of hospitalist/intensive care coverage, but he has also run a rural emergency department for nine years autonomously, having cared for hundreds of cardiac arrest and critically ill patients. John has lectured for over 10 years teaching PA students at two PA schools in Buffalo, NY, as well as instruction of paramedics/nurses on advanced cardiac life support.
Kevin Rebeck, PA-C
Following graduation from the University of California, Kevin completed his two year Cardiology fellowship. He is currently practicing in Norfolk, Virginia with the vascular transplant surgery team. Kevin has extensive experience in both basic and clinical research with applications in Cardiology, Interventional Radiology, and Vascular surgery. He has been on the AAPA Diversity Committee, the National High Blood Pressure Education Program, as well as the AAPA Liaison to the National Institute of Health and the co-author of the JNC-7 Hypertension Guidelines. He has 18 years of experience in mentoring students from numerous PA programs instilling the importance of the scientific method, as well as continuing a strong, hands-on philosophical view on patient care & education.
Accreditation: Continuing Education, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Designation: Continuing Education, Inc. designates this live activity for a maximum of 18 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Each physician should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Osteopathic Physicians: This program is eligible for Category 2 credit with the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) .
Canadian Physicians: This activity is eligible for Section 1 credits in the Royal College's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program . Participants must log into MAINPORT to claim this activity.
US or Canadian Family Physicians: Please let us know if you require AAFP Prescribed Credits.
Physician Assistants: AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME.
Nurse Practitioners: can claim either ANCC Contact Hours or AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ as needed.
Pharmacology credits are identified on individual activities.
Continuing Education, Inc. is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Accredited status does not imply endorsement by Continuing Education, Inc./University at Sea or ANCC of any commercial products displayed or used with an activity.
We can assist you with all your travel arrangements. We'd be happy to help you plan your flights, hotels or tours before and/or after your cruise conference.
|Sun Oct 18
|Port Canaveral, Florida
|Mon Oct 19
|Cococay, Bahamas
|Tue Oct 20
|At Sea Cruising
|Wed Oct 21
|Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
|12:00 pm
|Thu Oct 22
|Philipsburg, St. Maarten
|Fri Oct 23
|At Sea Cruising
|Sat Oct 24
|At Sea Cruising
|Sun Oct 25
|Port Canaveral, Florida
Or, take the short trip to the French side to shop for Parisian fashions and perfume or enjoy the more secluded beaches found there.
Our staff can assist you with all your travel arrangements.Questions? Call us at 800-422-0711.
We can assist you with all your travel arrangements. We'd be happy to help you plan your flights, hotels or tours before and/or after your cruise conference.
Freedom of the Seas
Prices below are for the full cruise including meals and evening entertainment
for Pricing
for Pricing
for Pricing
for Pricing
for Pricing
Port Charges, Taxes & Fees $283.15
Deposit $250 per person
Cancellation Policies vary by cruise line, destination and sailing date.
Please check with one of our cruise consultant for policies applicable to this cruise.
We can assist you with all your travel arrangements. We'd be happy to help you plan your flights, hotels or tours before and/or after your cruise conference.
TravelSafe.comPlease visit TravelSafe.com for travel insurance information.
Cruise Line cancellation policies are strictly enforced. For that reason, we urge all of our travelers to carefully consider whether travel insurance is a good value for them.
Certainly, if you have reason to think that "something might come up" that might force you to cancel, travel insurance is worth the cost of the premium. Examples we've seen in the past include ill or frail family members and changes in employment causing relocation.
If travel insurance is the right choice for you, we recommend TravelSafe. To visit their site and explore your options click here or on the link above. The cruise lines also offer travel insurance and we'd be happy to help you go that route if you'd prefer.


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In conjunction with the Civic House Alternate Spring Break Program and The Fox Leadership Program many Penn students and staff worked on service projects in the Gulf area during Spring Break. See www.sas.upenn.edu/foxleadership/docs/civic_hurricane_relief.html for pictures.
About 1500 Penn students have participated in ASB since its inception in 1990.In 2006, ASB had 92 participants and they served in seven different locations:
1. Flagstaff, Arizona assisting the Navajo United Way in serving the needs of the residents of Navajo Nation at a community health clinic
2. Florida City, Florida promoting involvement and awareness of human impact and proper use of the Everglades and Biscayne National Parks
3. New Orleans, Louisiana helping the on-going rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina with Habitat for Humanity
4. Fayetteville, North Carolina helping to construct affordable housing in partnership with families, volunteers, and the Fayetteville community with Habitat for Humanity
5. Georgetown, South Carolina (a town where one-third of all housing is substandard) working with Habitat for Humanity
6. Robbins, Tennessee (Appalachian Mountain Region) helping rural families build their own homes with Habitat for Humanity
7. San Juan, Texas working with La Unidad del Pueblo Enterro helping farm workers deal with issues surrounding poor working conditions and low wages
See www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v52/n32/asblist.html for a list of the ASB 2006 participants.
In addition to ASB's traditional Spring Break trips, students and staff members have several times taken up causes and responded through service trips. This year in particular, many groups of University community members traveled to the Gulf Coast to support the ongoing relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Civic House initiated one such trip to Biloxi, Mississippi over winter break. Fourteen staff members and students participated in the trip:
Alison LaLond, Civic House
Beth Hagovsky, Wharton Undergrad Division
David Grossman, Civic House
Elizabeth Curtis, C '06
Kim Hsu, C '07
Lisa Zhu, C '09
Malik Cooper, SPP graduate student
Meredith Edwards, C '06
Natasha Miller, Christian Association
Sean Vereen, Greenfield Intercultural Center
Sheri Halpern, C '06
Suzanne Bellan, PennCard Center
Tavor Sondheimer, C '08
Ty Furman, Student Performing Arts
While in Biloxi, they worked in partnership with Catholic Charities, removing damaged property from individuals' homes, clearing yards, taking down moldy and unsalvageable walls and ceilings, and, most significantly, hearing the first-hand accounts of people who had been affected by the storm, lost most of their belongings, and remain hopeful to rebuild their homes and their lives.
A group of the students who went on winter and/or spring trips to the Gulf Coast are in the midst of planning for summer trips to New Orleans. More information can be found at http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~altbreak/nolasummer.html.


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Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to conformation: confirmation
The spatial arrangement of a molecule achieved by rotation of groups about single covalent bonds, without breaking any covalent bonds; the latter restriction differentiates conformation from configuration (as in anomers and related stereoisomers) where a bond or bonds must be broken in going from one form (configuration) to another. Conformation is one of the most important aspects of sugar chemistry and is basic to an understanding of the chemical properties of sugars. Compare: configuration.
The spatial arrangement of a molecule achieved by rotation of groups about single covalent bonds, without breaking any covalent bonds.
Compare: configuration
Compare: configuration
The form or shape of a part, body, material, or molecule.
symmetry, size and shape of the various body regions relative to each other or the general appearance of the animal in terms of satisfying the observer's appreciation of what is a desirable appearance. Most breed societies issue lists of desirable and undesirable points of conformation. Most of them are desirable. Some are not and react adversely on the animals' well-being. Desirable conformation may also be indicated by diagrams or photographs.
Also may refer to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule.
mitochondrial conformation
mitochondria may be in an abnormal state of condensed conformation, detected by comparison with mitochondria of orthodox status; orthodox conformation is linked to inactive oxidase phosphorylation, condensed to active phosphorylation.


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Of course, there wasn't anything too complicated about the time travel in "All the Presidents' Heads." Really, the most thinking you had to do was when Professor Farnsworth was explaining the unrealistic reason a time leap was even occurring-- the power of opal essence or some such. No, this was the simplest of time travel stories, using the conceit to give the characters a chance to crack wise during Colonial times. And I, for one, was happy to be along for the ride through the space-time continuum.
The entire episode was nicely constructed, starting with Farnsworth presenting his holographic family tree. The bit could have randomly stood on it's own, earning laughs with its visuals, including Fry's fungus covered and dung beetle-infested branch. But it actually established the Professor's pride in his lineage and set-up his unstoppable desire to go back in time and stop a distant relative from besmirching the family name.
Before getting into the meat of the story, we got to enjoy some time at Fry's second job. The night job exhausted the poor guy, but he needed the extra money to buy coffee so he could stay awake for his night job. As night watchman at the Head Museum, Fry was taunted by the former presidents into throwing them a little party. As FDR put it, "We have nothing to fear but running out of beer." And I know it was a bad pun, but I loved that Ulysses Grant was throwing up in the Bushes. From there, we discovered that ingesting the head water would send you back to that head's living time period. Told by George Washington that David Farnsworth was a colonial traitor, ("You're lying!" "That's George Washington. He tends not to do that.") Farnsworth goes back in time to fix things.
The historical bits in this episode were a lot of fun. Crossing paths with the Continental Congress, Ben Franklin and Paul Revere offered up more laughs than one might expect. The running gag of how these men saw Bender (as a still, a crock pot, scrap metal) was a very successful part of this time trip, as were some of the digs at Philadelphia and Boston. Perhaps my favorite line of the episode came from the Professor: "I'm sure no one's said this before. I must get to Philadelphia as quickly as possible!" And as a former resident of Boston, all those sight gags and Swan Boat references were especially entertaining.
The story was a standard "go back, change something, return to something new" time travel template. And the return to a British ruled future kept the jokes rolling, from the accents, to the historical documentary to Hermes' "Manhattan United" soccer jersey. The return time trip to right the wrongs was quick and effective, further proving this episode wasn't so concerned about the plausibility of its time travel timelines. Instead, it just wanted to deliver a fun story full of great laughs. And that it did.
In This Article
Futurama: "All the Presidents' Heads" Review


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Principles and Practice: An Integrated Approach to Engineering Graphics and AutoCAD 2011
Out of Print
Tools for Design is intended to provide the user with an overview of computer aided design using two popular CAD software packages from Autodesk: AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor. This book explores the strengths of each package and show how they can be used in design, both separately and in combination with each other.
What you'll learn
This book is designed for high school and college age students wanting to learn the fundamentals of computer aided design with AutoCAD and Inventor and how the two can be used together. No prior CAD experience is required.
For additional information on downloading, unzipping, and using these files visit the downloads section on our FAQ page.
Autodesk AutoCAD 2011: Fundamentals
Out of Print
Residential Design Using AutoCAD 2011
Out of Print
Commercial Design Using AutoCAD 2011
Out of Print
Tutorial Guide to AutoCAD 2011
Out of Print


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This is my first entry in this blog - which I hope will record my efforts to build a successful photography business. This website is perhaps the most obvious sign of my progress so far. Additionally there's been some further web presence building - a FaceBook page, a LinkedIn page, and a Twitter account. You could say that I've got most of the social media scene covered! The links for these various pages are at the foot of each page of the website - along with links to my 500px and Flickr pages.
As you've probably seen, I've added some of my pictures to this site - mostly landscapes and some aviation pictures. Pictures I'm proud of, but not likely anything that people would pay money for: I need pictures of people.
So, in order to build my portfolio I offered a friend a free family photoshoot. This was a great learning experience, and we got some great pictures. You can see a couple of images from this shoot in the 'People' gallery.
After delivering the images, my friend ordered himself a canvas of one of his favourite pictures. Here it is up in his lounge:
I think that counts as happy customer number one! Off the back of this I've already got 2 more shoots arranged over the next couple of weeks!
I'll plan to update this blog weekly (or as and when I've got something to say!) - so please come back and see how I'm doing!


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Hi there,
When I work with women to discover their meaningful career, I always ask them what they would you do if money was no object. The answers are, "I would help people", "learn new languages and travel the world" or "I would write a book" or "start a shelter for animals or homeless children".
Follow your intuitive voice
If you look at these answers you can see and feel that these wishes come from the heart. These wishes do not come from the mind or from a rational place. When money comes in, helping people and developing ourselves seems to be off the table. In my experience we can still do these things at work when we change our intention.
It seems that when there is money involved or we use the word "work" we have to be practical and rational as that is the only option. But if we would align our rational practical ideas about work and money with our intuition, with the voice that whispers from our heart how would it be like?
How would it be?
How would it be like if we pause for a moment and ask ourselves what we really would like to do? Which wishes and dreams do you have then? When we start to open our hearts for ourselves and allow ourselves to dream and to wonder what would fulfill you, some interesting answers can come up.
In my experience I started to follow more my inner voice when I was so disconnected with myself that there was no other option than to follow that, because I felt miserable and tired.
The key thing for me to design my meaningful career was to allow myself, to give myself permission to dream, to fantasize, to be creative and let that flow. To really open my heart and listen to it.
That way i re-connected with myself, with another part of me that is there and I neglected. I see it is not about choosing the intuition or the rational part in us as we need both in life. When we feel out of balance or we would like to shape a more meaningful life then we will need to develop our skills to listen to our intuition. It is there always, we just have to pay attention to it.
Dream, Express, Pause
So when you would like to start your meaningful career: connect with your intuition and dream and pause, dream and pause until you have embodied your dreams and projects you'd wish to do.... and then you can think about how to put it into practice. But first dream and take time to do so without thinking about the practical stuff. Enjoy it. Do not hurry to go to the next stage....First own it and flow with it.
I invite you to connect with your intuitive voice and feel what your wishes would be without censoring yourself.
What are your wishes and dreams then?
Today is a good day to express your dreams, tell me about them and share in the comment box below.
to your soul being,
Hi, I am Eva and I support women who are working hard to climb the career ladder or grow their thriving small business.
I facilitate them to create a life and career with purpose and wellbeing so that they can create a balanced and conscious life. I do this by helping them to re-connect with their body and soul. This alignment creates authentic leadership and contributes positively to our current changing world.
Find out the different services I offer for women like you or contact me when you wish to work together on your challenges.


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Individual Income Tax Changes delayed in Seychelles
On February 14, in his State of the Nation Address, President Seychelles' Danny Faure announced that the implementation of a progressive personal income tax regime will be delayed to January 1, 2018.
Under the new regime, a SCR 8,555.5 (USD 630) tax-exempt threshold will be introduced. However, it will not be available to expatriates. Income tax above that threshold will be subject to progressive rates of 15%, 20%, or 30%.
Its introduction had already been delayed to July 1, 2017, rather than January 1, 2017, in the 2017 Budget announced in December 2016. According to the President, the further 6-month delay is needed for more qualitative preparation.
Also, he disclosed that, within its continuing policy to reduce the cost of living in Seychelles, the Government of the jurisdiction will revise the list of goods which will not be subject to value-added tax (VAT). The revised list, which will include new products, will be published as from March 1, 2017.


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Custom Real Estate Signs for Fullerton CA
Are you a Fullerton real estate professional? Do your competitors have signage products that are newer and more visually appealing than yours are? Are you starting out and need some highly competitive Realtor signs for Fullerton, CA? The graphic artists at Superior Signs and Graphics can help – and we can do it quickly! What are your options?
"For Sale" Signs
The quintessential realty sign, this marker comes in a variety of looks. The standard inverted "L" post with its hanging shingle is a necessity. Opt for a sign that offers you space for the display of additional shingles that may detail highlights of the listing. Commission multiple realtor signs that display your likeness, office name and contact information. In some settings, a basic "for sale" sign is more visible, so it is a good idea to have some of those on hand as well. Depending on the area where the listing is located, consider that addition of a graffiti-proof coating, which makes it easy to wipe off spray paint or marker.
"Open House" Signage
Once again, your likeness, office information and contact phone number serve as the backdrop for the sign. Add an attention-getting arrow with contrasting lettering that points to the property where you hold the open house event. These signs come as A-frames, PVC signs with lawn stakes and shingles that attach to your "for sale" sign. Flags and banners are also available.
Vehicle Magnets and Car Wraps
Turn your car, truck or van into a mobile marketing platform. For your personal vehicle, we recommend the use of magnets that feature a reproduction of your business card. Place one each on your driver and passenger door. When you are done advertising your business, simply detach the magnets and store them in the trunk. If you have a truck, trailer or van that you will let your clients use when moving, talk to our graphic artists about having it wrapped with vehicle vinyl. This highly effective mobile marketing product catches the eye and advertises your business – while your clients are doing all the driving.
Real Estate Office Signs
Do you have a building sign in place? A box cabinet or channel letter setup is a necessity to stand out from the crowd. Window vinyl graphics inform consumers about your business hours and may show off some listings. On the interior, consider the use of framed posters, which help to show off your motto, business philosophy and advertising messages. Logo floor mats are ideal for adding your branding message even to the floor.
Order Your Real Estate Signs for Fullerton, CA
Contact our professionals today to discuss your need for effective marketing and branding signage. We work with you to discover the most successful display opportunities. If you already have some signs or artwork, we take an inventory of these items and offer you an honest evaluation of how they stack up with today's market demand for attractive signage. If you have taken over an office with existing sign blanks on the property, we gladly come out for a sign survey to see if we can refurbish these markers and save you money. Call us today to discuss your signage needs.


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Our Board
Our Advisory Board includes:
Mark Cardenas
As co-founder of HECHO – Hispanics Enjoying Camping and Hunting Outdoors – Representative Mark Cardenas works to protect the Latino traditions that rely on national parks and other public lands.
"Our public land, like national parks and monuments, support nearly 50 million jobs in the Southwest, many held by Latinos," said Rep. Cardenas. "Our tradition, our history and our culture revolves around our public land and we have a responsibility to protect it."
Cardenas is especially concerned that young Latinos, like other young people, learn to appreciate recreation and work to conserve our land and keep our rivers and lakes clean. As a young child growing up in Arizona, his parents took him hiking and camping, despite living in an urban neighborhood.
Citing a recent poll, Cardenas said that a majority of Latinos want government to protect public land, largely due to the "deep and enduring ties" many Hispanic families have to our open spaces.
Rep. Cardenas is proud to serve Arizona families and neighborhoods as a State Representative and is working to create good jobs, improve schools, including affordable access to colleges and universities, keep our neighborhoods safe, and to honor and support our Veterans. He brings proven knowledge, skills and experience to the State Capitol.
In addition to his work as a state representative, Cardenas also serves a commissioner on the City of Phoenix's Estrella Village Planning Committee, reviewing new zoning areas and land use proposals, and as an accountant for the Department of Defense, where he manages a multi-million dollar budget.
Rep. Cardenas is a native Arizonan born and raised in Phoenix and an Iraq War Army Veteran who currently serves as Sergeant in the Army Reserves.
Rebecca Chavez-Houck
A Utah native, Rebecca Chavez-Houck holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication and a Master of Public Administration (MPA), both from the University of Utah. She represented Salt Lake City's District 24 (Downtown, Capitol Hill, Guadalupe & the Avenues neighborhoods) in the Utah House of Representatives from 2008-18, focusing primarily on public policy related to health and human services as well as voter engagement and access. Her leadership appointments included: House Minority Whip (2014-16) and House Minority Assistant Whip (2012-14).
She now provides leadership coaching and community engagement consulting through her public affairs firm, Aspira Public Affairs, LLC.
Rebecca's passion for social justice advocacy and desire to develop progressive public policy was forged in the multicultural community of Bingham Canyon, where her parents met. Rebecca's compassion for the less fortunate, pride in cultural diversity, commitment to the environment, and support for our public education system was undoubtedly shaped by her parents' influence.
Rebecca served as a public affairs staffer for a number of local Utah nonprofits from 1985 to 2007 and cultivated a parallel "career" as a volunteer for nonprofits ranging from Envision Utah to the ACLU to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. She teaches nonprofit administration courses as adjunct faculty in the University of Utah Master of Public Administration program.
Rebecca and her husband, Martin Houck, live in Salt Lake City's Avenues area and have two children, Erica and Michael.
Lynn Córdova
Lynn Córdova was born and raised in Denver Colorado, and recently moved to Phoenix. While in Colorado she was active in the Colorado political, immigrant, and social justice communities for many years.
Lynn is presently a Consultant for Sherpa Public Affairs. Prior to her current position, she worked for the Colorado House of Representatives as Deputy Legislative and Outreach Director, and she worked as Chief of Staff in New York for the New American Leaders, an organization, which trains pan ethnic immigrants to run for office. Additionally, she worked as a Director of Operations for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and Program Director for the Latina Initiative. Lynn also spent several years working as the Regional Recruitment Supervisor for the College Assistance Migrant Program at Metro State University of Denver (MSUD). During the 2010 legislative session, Lynn worked as a Legislative Aide for State Senator Abel Tapia. She spent five years as a Lecturer/Tour Guide for the MSUD Language and Culture Institute Study Abroad Program during which she worked in Mexico and Central America.
Lynn holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chicana/o Studies from Metropolitan State College of Denver and a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver.
Sen. Mo Denis
Nevada Senator Mo Denis has been serving as a state representative for ten years. Born to immigrant parents from Cuba, Mo was raised in Las Vegas from an early age and was taught to care for and respect his community. He has done just that for nearly 20 years having served in the PTA, library board, as an assemblyman and most recently as state senator. Mo advocates for families and community members on key issues like education, tax reform, economy and consumer advocacy. His heart and energy are focused in fighting on behalf of his constituents and his five children and wife of 31 years, Susan.
Lupe Huereña
Lupe Huerena is a native of Flagstaff, Arizona. He continues to live in the mountain town of Flagstaff surrounded by beautiful federal public lands. Lupe served our country as a Marine and he recently retired from working at Camp Navajo Army Depot where he had a long and successful career of 35 years.
One of the first things he wanted to do the day after he retired was go hunting. Hunting is a way of life for Lupe. Like harvesting a garden, he has always harvested meat through hunting and has always included his family. Lupe's daughter Alexis grew up hunting with her Dad. Although Alexis is very busy with her nursing career, she continues to hunt with her Dad and is committed to passing on this family hunting tradition to future generations.
Sylvia Lovato Huereña
Sylvia Lovato Huereña was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. She started fishing since the time she could hold a pole, and her family has lived off the local land since before Arizona was a state. She remembers frequent family trips when the men would hunt and the women would prepare the harvest for sustenance. Sylvia is retired from her job as a Special Education Aid for the Flagstaff Unified School District. Today she enjoys spending her time going on camping, hunting and fishing trips with her husband Lupe; her kids Jesse, Angel, Sarah and Alexis; and her 10 grandchildren. She epitomizes what HECHO is all about – enjoying our public lands and passing down traditions of stewardship to the next generations.
Kent Salazar
Kent Salazar is a lifelong resident of New Mexico and an avid hunter and outdoorsman who has been supporting conservation efforts on local, state, and national levels for the past 20 years. Kent has served on the New Mexico State Game and Fish Commission and currently serves as the western vice chair of the National Wildlife Federation Board. He also serves on the Valles Caldera Trust Board, appointed by President Barack Obama, in addition to the HECHO Board.
Lenore Loroña Stuart
Lenore Loroña Stuart has served as a member of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors in Arizona for 15 years; and serves as the Chairwoman of the National Association of Counties Immigration Task Force. She was formerly the President of the County Supervisors Association of Arizona. During her tenure she helped shape public policy and represented all of the counties and county supervisors in the state. Among her many contributions to preserving public outdoor recreation areas, Lenore was a member of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Board, under the Direction of Charles Flynn, that helped transform an unusable wetlands area into a beautifully restored and easily accessible riverfront.
Lenore is a fifth generation Yuman. Her back ground is rich in local history. Her great grandfather, Jose Maria Redondo, was well known in Yuma history as a rancher and entrepreneur in early Yuma. He was a member of the Territorial legislature, a Yuma County Supervisor and the second Mayor of Yuma. Lenore is married to G.W. Stuart, Jr.
Viviana Reyes
Viviana Reyes is the Innovation Manager for the Latino Community with the Girl Scouts– Arizona Cactus-Pine Council. In this capacity, she helps develop strategies for engaging Latina girlsand their families in Girl Scouting. Viviana believes in empowering young girls to discover their leadership capabilities through enriching experiences such as skill building programs, community service projects, and environmental stewardship. She and her daughter, Vida, enjoy exploring their state through their many adventures.
Rock Ulibarri, Advisory Board Chair
Rock Ulibarri hails from one of the original 36 families that settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico and Rock is part of the 7th generation of his family born in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. With a back fence that borders a national forest, Rock has spent his life roaming the outdoors and going backcountry hiking and horseback riding.
Rock is a former San Miguel County Commissioner for District 1 and former educator. He spent many years as a middle school teacher and continues to use his expertise to teach youth leadership at the community college for at risk youth, teach grassroots organizing and nonviolent resistance at United Well college, and guide students into the backcountry to teach Leave No Trace wilderness practices.
Rep. Donald Valdez
Representative Donald Valdez is a 5th generation San Luis Valley Native and multi-generational rancher, tending to land he and his family cultivated in La Jara Colorado. Conservation has always been important to Rep. Valdez, who joined the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service.
He works closely with local farmers and ranchers, as well as community representatives and government partners, fine-tuning his skills in the conservation of water, soils, plants and ecosystem management. Rep. Valdez enjoys spending time at his family ranch where he grows small grains, alfalfa, and helps to oversee a cow/ calf operation.
Rep. Mark Archuleta Wheatley
Mark is serving his seventh term as a member of the Utah House of Representatives. Since 2004, he has been serving the constituents of District 35 which encompasses South Salt Lake and Murray, Utah. Rep. Wheatley's legislative assignments include the Higher Education Appropriations Standing Committee; Business and Labor Committee, Judiciary Committee; Administrative Rules Committee and the Native American Liaison Committee.
A graduate of Westminster College with a degree in Human Resource Management, Mark was named 2007 Alumni of the Year by Westminster College for his work and involvement in serving his community. Mark has 15 years of experience working for Salt Lake Community College serving as an administrator for several educational programs.
Mark was awarded the Cesar Chavez Peace and Justice Award from Utah Coalition of La Raza and a special recognition award from Centro de La Familia. Mark is the Vice President of Membership for the National Hispanic Caucus of Hispanic Legislators. He has served on Governors' Hispanic Advisory Council; Hispanic American Festival; Mexican Civic Center; SOMOS President, U.S. West Cooperation; National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers; and the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs
Mark has been married to Josie Valdez for 32 years. They have two sons, Mark, and Carlos. They are the proud grandparents of 4 terrific grandchildren.


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What's K'iche'?
K'iche' is a Mayan language spoken by about one million people in the central highlands of Guatemala. The K'iche' language has played a central role in the Mayan cultural revitalization movement and has a long literary tradition including such works as the Popol Wuuj (Popol Vuh) and Rabinal Achi. The Maya cultural revitalization movement and the subsequent rise in bilingual education in Guatemala have resulted in a number of interesting changes in both language structure and use, and have had important social and political implications for the cultures that speak the K'iche' language.
The structure for K'iche´ lessons similar to the Spanish courses.
We have two Programs, depending on how much you might want to study you can buy 15 or 20 hours per week, with a 15 minutes break
During your 3 or 4 hours of lessons per day the courses are your privated teacher is focused on grammar, conversation, vocabulary, phonology, syntax, morphology and practice. These programs and the materials were designed for both classroom instruction and individual learners
Every class is organised as the following:
After a brief introduction describing the unit objectives, each unit starts with a text in K'iche' (TZIJONIK), which can be a story, a conversation or a song. Listen carefully and read it aloud several times until you feel comfortable with your pronunciation. Remember, your goal should not be to achieve perfect articulation but communicational success!
Following the TZIJONIK section, you will find a detailed discussion of the grammar needed to understand the text (KEMCHI'). Each unit focuses on one particular aspect of K'iche' grammar so sometimes it may not include everything you need to know to understand the TZIJONIK text. But do not worry! Any loose ends will be systematically introduced in successive units.
Finally, the exercises (CHAK KECH TIJOXELAB') will allow you to practice and assimilate your newly acquired skills.
Price of Lessons $5.00 per hours.
Kamalbe offers online lessons for Kiche:
You just need to choose one of the packages that best fits to your needs:
- 5 hours package $50
- 8 hours package $60
-10 hours package $70
Contac Us
Kamalbe Spanish School
14 Avenida A 4-25 zona 1
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, C.A.
Tel. Office +502 41464319


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I went to yoga this week for the first time in a while. It felt odd walking into the studio again, as if I were vibrating on a different frequency than I used to do. As I unrolled my mat near the back corner and settled into child's pose, I felt more independent than usual, a bit divorced from the class format and the idea of following a teacher.
I reflected that it might have to with the fact that I've been spending so much time working and writing about my witchy spirituality. I guess it's recalibrated me a bit. Wicca is about individual spontaneity and freedom, following your inner self, doing "as you will." But on the other hand, I do love it when my witch-path intersects with and is enriched by other approaches.
The class turned out to be great. Our teacher tied the class in with the nine-day Hindu festival of Navrati which is happening now — a festival in honor of Durga, one of my very favorite Goddesses. Durga is very ancient and overarchingly powerful goddess with numerous aspects and manifestations. The first three days are devoted to her aspect as Kali, goddess of death and life, the middle three days to Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, and the last three to Sarasvati, goddess of wisdom and art. The presence of these three goddesses infused the class with wonderful energy for me.
As I went through the poses I did notice that I felt freer to do things in my own witchy way as opposed to the way I thought I was supposed to do them. Yoga teachers often tell us to make the poses our own, and this time I took that freedom to heart. This delightful confidence became especially clear to me during the last pose, the deep relaxation known as shavasana.
As has happened to me so often during shavasana, while I knew I was supposed to be lying there absorbing the present moment in serene bliss, my mind was actually jumping all over the place, from emails unsent to poetry to health concerns to spiritual thoughts to housework undone to plans for future decades, while my body felt stiff as a board.
Alas, I have never found another teacher anything like my Bikram yoga teacher in San Francisco in 1990, who calmly shared with the class during each shavasana a fullbody guided relaxation that melted my entire being into the present moment each time without fail by the time he stopped speaking.
But now, as is so common nowadays, the teacher whose voice had guided us so meticulously through every other pose left us all on our own for this pose that everyone says is the most difficult. So there I lay, eyes squeezed shut, watching monkey mind do its thing, feeling that there must be something wrong with me since I couldn't just peacefully notice its antics and move on
And then it hit me: monkey mind was acting out, just like an unruly toddler.
Now, I have successfully mothered two toddlers into awesomely wonderful people. And I did not achieve this by "noticing" their antics and moving on whenever they acted out. If I had done that, they would have just escalated their antics — exactly as monkey mind was doing!
Long ago, I realized that a toddler who's acting out is feeling unloved, and the only thing that will calm them down is: love. The thought came to me: if monkey mind were my kid, they would need a hug right now.
So, I did it. I violated everything I had been taught about not holding onto any thought and held onto monkey mind — hard. I felt myself flood with love for monkey mind, love for its curiosity and energy and how it always looks out for what might be good or bad for me. I said, "I love monkey mind!" to myself and, just as if it were a kid needing attention, I gave it a nice big mental hug.
And guess what happened next? Pure bliss. Within seconds, all was quiet, and monkey mind was nowhere to be seen.
Originally posted on Huffington Post


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Some Enchanted Amy
holden steinberg
An Oscar-nominated role in Junebug, a singing-dancing hit with Enchanted, a part opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep in next month's Doubt, then Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, and a big sequel, Night at the Museum 2: Amy Adams has got to be the fastest-rising star in Hollywood. Amazingly, she nearly didn't rise at all. Michael Shnayerson hears about her run of canceled shows and dropped parts, her decision to quit the business, and her fiancé, actor Darren Le Gallo, who is handling Adams's breakthrough like a true prince.
Promptly at noon, Amy Adams knocks on the door of a penthouse suite at the glamorous Sunset Tower Hotel, in West Hollywood, and shimmers in with the happy, hammy air of an actress who riffs at the drop of a hat. She's dressed simply, in a white cotton peasant-style blouse, old jeans, and sandals; her light-auburn hair is loosely brushed and falls to her shoulders. She has aquiline features and perfect porcelain skin, but it's the way she moves—dramatically, with that sense of theatuh, as she would say—that really marks her as the actress she is.
Outside on the balcony, we take in the wide view of L.A., undulating out to the Pacific. Our eyes come to rest, inevitably, on the humongous black-and-white image of Jennifer Aniston endorsing Smartwater that occupies the entire side wall of the Hyatt hotel, just across Sunset Boulevard. Twelve stories high, she seems pumped up to this size by the endless tabloid coverage of her personal life.
This is a sad thought for any writer embarking on a story about Amy Adams, wholesome star of last year's magical Disney movie musical Enchanted, for since its great success ($339 million worldwide), transforming Adams into a top-tier star with a reported income of $l4.5 million last year (ninth among Hollywood actresses), she has embarked on no whirlwind romances, let alone taken after certain Hollywood bad girls by staggering glassy-eyed out of clubs at four a.m. or getting arrested for drunken driving on Pacific Coast Highway One. This, she's assured disingenuously, is just great. She seems to have …
"Not gotten caught?"
Maybe that's it.
"There's still time," she says sweetly.
With a boyfriend of six years who just became her fiancé? No way.
"But you know," Adams says, taking in the city view with a sweep of the hand bearing her new engagement ring, "I've been here for 10 years. I'm just grateful I didn't have to spend my early 20s in front of paparazzi cameras."
In those days, Adams worked eight shows a week in dinner theater in Minnesota. Ten years later—she's just turned 34—she's experienced enough to be very, very pragmatic about her hard-earned success, and to feel it happened just when it should have.
"Of course it's always easy to talk on the other side of it," she says, catching herself before she turns too serious. "Had you seen me at 27, I would have been like … " Curtain rises on barroom floozy, alone, stage right: " 'Let me tell you, I got stories for you!' "
Cheery, unpretentious, and, she admits, so focused on her work that phone messages from her friends go unreturned for days, Adams is, as Enchanted proved, a triple threat—singer, dancer, and comedienne. In that, she's a bit of a throwback: think Rita Hayworth or Ginger Rogers, queens of the movie musical at its peak. Yet she's a serious dramatic actress, too: her poignant performance in the sleeper independent film Junebug(2005), as a small-town southern belle whose wide-eyed optimism is sorely tested, won her an Oscar nomination and a place in the pantheon of young American actors who matter.
In a sizzling film version of John Patrick Shanley's Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play,Doubt (2005), coming out in December, Adams plays another character whose faith is shaken. Young Sister James is horrified when her mother superior (Meryl Streep) suspects their parish priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), of making physical advances on one of their Catholic-school boys. The movie, written and directed by Shanley, has scenes of sustained dialogue in which Hoffman and Streep do brilliant battle. One of its several revelations is that Adams—the "fulcrum" between these two giants, as Shanley puts it—more than holds her own. She shines.
"Her accessibility was what first struck me—she's so present," says Streep. "That's what I felt from seeing Enchanted. When she came to work, I wasn't disappointed. She was so open, no guard, no nothing." Yet, as Streep noted in rehearsal-room readings, the newcomer knew her craft. "She's a very, very skillful actress. She's deft. She has all those things we should know about but that we're not supposed to talk about—technique. Everyone has a different approach, but she was very, very well prepared. I have to tell you: it's not common with younger actors."
Streep's Sister Aloysius is tough and cynical, world-weary; Adams's Sister James is the beatific innocent, still radiating faith in humanity in general and Father Flynn in particular. "It's breathtaking, her radiance," Streep says. "It made it very simple for Sister Aloysius to look at her and imagine her own untrammeled self before the world had gotten to her, and to feel protective of her.
"This is hard to talk about without disabusing the director [Shanley], who thinks she is pure as the driven snow," Streep adds with a laugh. But, for all of Adams's guilelessness, "there's a gigantic intelligence dictating what line she won't cross, and where she will go off. She's got a shape in her mind for the arc of this character's life, a little map for where she's going to go.
"I was just very impressed," says Streep. "She's the real thing."
Perfect fit as she was for Sister James, no one thought to call Adams for the role when the script started circulating last year. Emily Blunt, her co-star in Sunshine Cleaning—an independent movie that stirred buzz at this year's Sundance Festival—read it and declared she'd found Adams her next film. "Amy was by far the best person for that part," says Blunt, explaining her hunch. "She has a glow of innocence that isn't naïve, just positive and determined. That, and I wanted to see those eyes peeping out from underneath a nun's headgear."
"I didn't audition—I hounded!" Adams admits. "I hounded [producer] Scott Rudin and John Patrick Shanley for months!" Another actor was attached to the part, so Adams was told to forget it. Still, she flew to New York and called Shanley with the old ruse that she was already there on other business, and could they just meet for coffee? "I'm a tenacious person, but I'm not usually that sort of dog-with-a-bone," says Adams. "But I just loved Doubt. I loved the delicacy of it."
"We met at the Cupcake Café on 18th Street," recalls Shanley. They didn't talk directly about the part, though both knew why they were there, and Shanley knew, in moments, that he'd found his Sister James. "Her natural, deferential charm and openness were traits the character needed to have," he says. "And she had the look for it, and was self-effacing, as Sister James was—and smart as a whip."
It was a case of be careful what you wish for: once she had the part, Adams started worrying—a lot—about whether she had the chops to carry off those long scenes with two of America's greatest actors. Shanley remembers her saying, "I just have to come out of this alive!" After Enchanted,she'd worked with Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War, but not closely. (He played the embittered C.I.A. agent who knows what America should be doing to thwart the Soviet Union in Afghanistan; she's the perky assistant to Tom Hanks's Congressman Wilson.) Streep she'd never met.
To gird herself, Adams went back to the play and matched it line by line against the script to see what was in and what was out. "There was a lot of dialogue for my character that was left out [of the script]," Adams explains. "Which was fine—it wasn't stuff that needed to be said. But I wanted to know that it had been said, so I knew what the intention was." Adams was still gripped by stage fright as the other two read. She didn't realize that, across the table, Streep was quietly impressed by her preparation: "She knew the play better than I!"
The film, like the play, leaves open the question of whether Father Flynn did take liberties with one of the boys. As he'd done with the play's leading man, Brian F. O'Byrne, Shanley confided the answer to Hoffman—the priest has to know what he himself has done, after all—but kept it from Streep and Adams. That way, their doubts would be real and unresolved. "Which was great," Adams says, "because even in front of the camera it forced me as an actress—and as a person!—to really watch him to see: Did he? Did he not?"
"I was like, 'Mom, you cannot tell everybody who comes in to get a latte [at Starbucks] that your daughter is an Oscar nominee,' " recalls Adams. Photograph by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott; styled by Michael Roberts.
The filming—on the campus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, in Riverdale, New York—took on a somber, almost spooky vibe with both Streep and Adams in their black habits, especially before the demanding long scenes. "Before them, Meryl would sit quietly and knit," Shanley recalls. "Even though she didn't seem to be doing anything, she needed to be left alone. She was going over in her head what she'd have to do in the scene. So then Amy learned to knit from Meryl—and the two of them would sit there in black like the Fates, knitting away." But when the shooting was done, Adams threw off her habit to become the life of the wrap party. "We were shooting in Queens at the end, so we had the party in a karaoke bar," Shanley says. "Amy got hold of the mike and put on a whole show to make that party happen."
Since then, Adams has gone on to make another film with Streep, Julie & Julia, a tasty concoction consisting of one part cookbook writer Julia Child's reminiscences of life in France, and one part Julie Powell's memoir of a year spent trying to cook every recipe in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay that intertwines the two, and directed; Streep plays Julia Child and Adams plays Julie Powell.
Because the stories in Julie & Julia are separate, Adams and Streep did no filming together. They barely saw each other in passing. Thank God, Adams thought more than once, to have doneDoubt first! "To be in a movie with Meryl Streep and I don't get to act with her! Aaarggh!" But she loved her character. "She's turning 30 and she lives in this really small apartment, and she's just watching her life go by. She's not accomplishing anything she set out to do."
Ephron is editing the film now in East Hampton, New York, and is thrilled by what she sees. "Amy has an acting style that's kind of like clear water—you don't see what she's doing. She just does it, and it's simple in the best possible meaning of the word. She is the person she's playing in everything she does, and that's the beginning and end of it in a kind of thrilling way. Mike Nichols [who directed Charlie Wilson's War] says she has the 'technical gene.' What's amazing is that the technique which is there is not visible."
Unlikely as it seems for an actress who now goes from film to film without a break—she's also just finished Night at the Museum 2 with Ben Stiller—Adams found it all too easy to identify with the desperate 29-year-old in Julie & Julia. Because at 29, after 10 years as a struggling actress, living in a little apartment with dingy carpeting on Croft Avenue in West Hollywood and worrying about the rent, Amy Adams faced her own existential crisis. Her story is her own, but it's also the story of the coat-check girl at Joe Allen, and the mailroom temp at William Morris—of all the would-be stars with their 8-by-10 glossies on yet another cattle call, clinging to their Hollywood dreams as their 20s run out. In Adams's case, only the encouragement of a few friends in one crucial summer—the summer she turned 30—kept her from letting her own dreams go.
'Faith is something I've been exploring in my roles for a while," Adams says as she takes a dainty bite of her room-service salad. "How we deal with doubt, how we deal with questions." With each new character, she asks herself: What is this character's religious background? "I think it's a great indicator of behavior—their faith or the lack thereof."
The struggle to hold on to faith is what gives Adams's character in Junebug such power. It's Sister James's struggle in Doubt and Julie Powell's in Julie & Julia. And long before Adams wrestled with her own loss of faith as an actor in L.A., her mother and father fought to hold on to theirs, both as Mormons and as parents of a Brady Bunch family that, unlike the one on TV, started coming apart.
It sounds glamorous to say that Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy. In fact, she was an army brat who got moved from base to base—eventually to Virginia, then to Colorado—until she was eight or nine years old. It was a blur: to this day, she's not sure what her father's rank was.
Any child forced to cope with new schools and classmates learns to act. But by the time Richard and Kathryn Adams settled in Castle Rock, Colorado, a onetime mining town at the base of the Rockies, they were on their way to spawning a whole theatrical troupe: four boys and three girls, overseen by two parents who loved to perform.
"My dad is a singer. He used to sing in nightclubs, or pizza joints," Adams explains. "We used to watch him—honestly, we went everywhere my parents went—so there would be seven of us in a bar. I mean, it was a pizza place, but it had a bar. We'd drink Shirley Temples in the 'bar area'—we couldn't sit at the bar itself—and watch my dad play guitar and sing. It was actually very helpful for kids to have to adapt to the adult surroundings, rather than making the whole world about the children."
By day, the children often went from school to the gym where Amy's mother worked. She, too, performed—as a semi-professional bodybuilder. "She did amateur competitions," Adams says, "so we would go with her.… She was yoked. She still kind of is. It's kind of bizarre." At the gym, Adams and her siblings would hang out in the back room, "ordering Little Caesars and just sitting on the floor.… There was no day care; there were no babysitters. We just kind of went where they needed us to be."
At home, bedlam reigned. "We were definitely in control of the house," Amy says of the brood. Being the middle child made no difference, she feels: in a family of that size, there's the oldest, and the youngest, and then all the rest. She did wish, fervently, to have been an only child. "And if that meant the rest of them had to go, I was O.K. with that," Amy says with a laugh. "'Yeah, you can take 'em.' " They would have done the same to her, she says. "But now it's just wonderful. There's always someone to call, someone to talk to."
There wasn't a lot of money, so for amusement the Adams children put on talent shows and skits. Usually Amy's father wrote the skits. One time, Amy recalls, he was gone on a military assignment, so Amy's mother wrote a skit based on her own version of a Pizza Hut jingle. "At the end of it, I did a front walkover, and splits, and the curtain closed, and my shoe was still out there, and everyone was laughing at me, and my brother, instead of picking me up, held me down so people could keep laughing. That was sort of our family in a nutshell."
Years later, when Amy received her Oscar nomination for Junebug, her mother was working in a Starbucks. Bursting with pride, she started telling everyone she waited on about her daughter, until the local media picked up on the story. "I was like, 'Mom, you cannot tell everybody who comes in to get a latte that your daughter is an Oscar nominee!' "
The Adams kids were all athletic, not only for the fun and competition of it but also for the hope of college scholarships: when it came to college finances, they knew they were on their own. Amy did track and gymnastics. She was good enough at both that when she announced she was going to train as a dancer instead, the whole family voiced its disapproval: how would she pay for college that way? Amy had a quick answer: she wasn't going to college. "School was hard for me," she says with a sigh. "If there had been a school for the creative arts I might have thrived but … I needed that creative outlet so much. Also, I'm just bad with numbers. I'm horrible with them."
Adams says that Darren Le Gallo, her fellow acting student, "demanded that we go out on a date. He said, 'I know you're getting over this [other] guy, but I'm taking you out.' " The two got engaged this spring. Photograph by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott; styled by Michael Roberts.
By the time Amy graduated from high school, her parents had left the Mormon Church—and each other. She's still close to her dad, she says, though he lives in Arizona and is remarried. But it was her mother she followed after high school when Kathryn moved to Atlanta. Blithe and bubbly, Adams embraced her first full-time job, as a hostess at the local Hooters. The pay—$7 an hour—was double the minimum wage, a fortune at the time. As a hostess, she could wear a discreet little tennis outfit; when she turned l8, that August, she was told, she could become a waitress and start earning big money. But that involved a different outfit. "I hate to sound so innocent but … where I grew up, what was being sold to us was far less sexualized than what's being sold to kids now," says Adams. "So there was definitely an innocence to my interpretation of what Hooters was about. Though I did learn, quickly, that short shorts and beer don't mix! The nicest guy walking in is not necessarily the nicest guy after two pitchers of beer." She lasted three weeks as a waitress, then fled, having saved enough money to buy her first car.
Adams had made good on her vow to take dance, but she seemed at a loss as to what to do with the training until a friend from Colorado asked Amy to take her place in a community production of Annie. The job didn't pay, which was why the friend was leaving—she'd gotten one that did—but it was a chance to dance, sing, and say a few lines. Adams jumped at it. That led to her first dinner-theater gig, also in Colorado—a speaking role in A Chorus Line. The acting and singing were great fun, the waiting on tables less so, the backstabbing not fun at all.
"There's only so many girls who get out of the chorus, and it's a lot more competitive than you think in some small markets, because there's only so many theaters," Adams explains soberly. "One of these girls told the director just straight-out lies about me, totally smeared me, and we had been really good friends. I never really knew what the lies were. I only knew I kept getting called in and lectured about my lack of professionalism.… It was me against her, and she had woven a really wonderful web." In the nick of time, Adams got a call from a dinner-theater director in Minnesota who'd seen her perform in Colorado and asked her to fill in for an actress sidelined by an operation.
Adams began to think there'd always be a next call—and for a while, there was. In Minnesota, of all places, she landed her first Hollywood screen role, as a cheerleader in the locally filmed Drop Dead Gorgeous, a dark satire on beauty contests. (Another up-and-comer in the cast was Kirsten Dunst.) Kirstie Alley, as the wicked former beauty queen who pushes her daughter to win at all costs, played a sweeter maternal role off the set, urging Adams to head to Hollywood. And so she did—in a beat-up Toyota Celica driven by one of her brothers. The car died outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico, so the siblings transferred their worldly belongings to a U-Haul and journeyed on. Within a week of arriving in L.A., Adams had yet another call: to play the leading role in a new Fox television series called Manchester Prep.
The show was written as a spin-off of Cruel Intentions, the 1999 film about rich prep-school students baiting one another with ruthless romantic games, supposedly in the manner of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Filming progressed, and Adams exulted: she'd made it already! But then Fox deemed the show too racy and killed it. (Just seven years later, Gossip Girl would make it look tame.) Three episodes were cobbled together as Cruel Intentions 2—a straight-to-video disaster. The film is almost unwatchable, but Adams is amusing as the witchy president of Manchester Prep's secret society—like Blair in Gossip Girl—seducing the school's assistant headmaster so she can blackmail him later. "Please be quiet," she tells him when he gets on his knees and moans her name. "I'm trying to imagine I'm with someone attractive."
That led to a smattering of minor mean-girl roles—one was in Psycho Beach Party—until Adams was cast as Brenda, a sweet candy striper who falls for the con man played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. One day on set, DiCaprio shot her a look and said he'd caught her on cable the night before. "You were exhibiting some very un-Brenda-like behavior with the teacher," he told her. Adams winced. "Oh," she said, "that would be Cruel Intentions 2."
When Adams had left Minnesota dinner theater for Hollywood, the joke had been Hey, if you ever get to work with Leo, be sure to send a signed picture back. And so she did. "I was mortified, but I felt I kind of had to do it," Adams recalls. She strikes a pose, mocking herself—"Mr. DiCaprio? May I get a signed picture? Not to me … this is to my friends at dinner theater"—then drops it. " 'Mr. DiCaprio!' I don't think I ever called him that. I didn't know what to call him."
Catch Me If You Can was a hit in 2002, but somehow Adams wasn't. "That was the part that should have launched her career," Spielberg later told an interviewer. "But after the movie was released, she was no better off than she was before."
When that next call failed to come, Adams was stunned. Now she realizes she wasn't ready. "I was still so caught up in pleasing people—giving them what they want." That, she thinks, was true of herself as a person—and as an actor. "There was still that energy behind my intention And I think had I been given a ton of opportunities then I would have blown them."
Sensing her limits even before Catch Me If You Can, Adams had enrolled in acting classes. She got good advice that would take her a while to absorb. She also met the man she would decide to marry.
From acting coach Warner Loughlin, Adams began learning how to express emotions she'd always suppressed. "I had a really hard time opening up, because I always felt so vulnerable," she says. "My natural response to a stressful situation is to shut down. I do weird things, like I don't cry, I get really cold." As an actor, she says, "when I was using me, I couldn't do it, because I shut down." Loughlin taught her to create a separate world for her character. "So anytime I'm opening up, it's my character. I don't have to be the character myself."
For roughly a year in her classes, Adams regarded a fellow actor named Darren Le Gallo—tall, dark, and handsome though he was—as a platonic pal. "I had another boyfriend, and Darren was dating some girl I did scenes with him, and I liked him and thought he was really sweet." A little too sweet, she admits—"like he wouldn't be assertive enough." Also, she says, "I was really focused on the classes—he was a little scared of me." "It's hard to say what first caught Darren's eye, but any red-blooded male would be hard pressed not to fall in love with her," says Loughlin. "She is wildly intelligent, enormously creative, giving, loving, kind, and has energy for days. Darren is a consummate gentleman. There are a rare few of them in L.A. these days."
Then, one weekend, Adams and Le Gallo acted together in a short film called "Pennies," co-directed by Loughlin. "I got to know him outside of class," Adams explains. "And I just found him to be such a genuine, caring person. And assertive! He demanded that we go out on a date. He said, 'I know you're getting over this [other] guy, but I'm taking you out on Wednesday.' I think that was it exactly. And I was like, 'And so you are!' That was six years ago."
The romance bloomed, but the career seemed blocked. Maybe if she just … changed her hair? Resolutely, Adams the blonde became Adams the redhead. "When you're blonde, people associate it all with being flirty," she told one interviewer later. "With red hair, suddenly you're quirky."
The change seemed to work: Adams landed a role as a series regular on a promising TV show called Dr. Vegas, starring Rob Lowe as a doctor in a casino. At the time, it seemed a far bigger deal than the part she also won in a tiny independent film with the cryptic title of Junebug.
Just before Adams was to go to North Carolina for the movie, she learned that her character had been dumped from Dr. Vegas. She was devastated, not just by the loss but by how vulnerable she now felt. "I was really disappointed in myself, because I had focused so much time into this career, and then I let it dictate my happiness, and dictate my sense of worth, and when this happened, it made me really look at myself and ask, What am I doing?"
Never mind that Dr. Vegas would fizzle after five episodes. When Adams arrived in North Carolina for the start of filming for Junebug, she'd basically decided, with her 30th birthday looming, to play out her role and then look for a new career.
"She was inconsolable about the loss of Dr. Vegas," recalls her Junebug co-star and now close friend, Embeth Davidtz. "It was commerce: 'How am I going to pay the rent?' No one was handing out anything from her family." Davidtz remembers a brainstorming session. "She was trying to think what to do next. 'I can dance a little, I'm quite smart … ' I remember saying, 'You must stay away from this TV stuff.' Amy is almost too special for TV. Network TV wants a girl with bosoms and a different look. She said, 'But I would take anything I can get!' "
Not long after they met, Davidtz saw a side of Adams she wouldn't have imagined. The cast and crew were assigned to small houses in the piney North Carolina woods. To Davidtz's horror, hers had mice. So she moved into an upstairs bedroom of Adams's. In the morning she went down to knock on Adams's door. "I heard this racket from her room, and I came in to see her sleeping with the TV on full blast." There were clothes strewn all around. "It looked like a suitcase had exploded." Davidtz told her, "You have to tidy up!" But she also saw the scene for what it was. "I think it's an emblem of how she grew up in all that chaos, and yet then there's this tough little very determined person in the middle of all that."
When they began filming their scenes—Davidtz as the big-city art dealer come down to her husband's southern hometown to check out an undiscovered painter; Adams as her wide-eyed southern sister-in-law—Davidtz was astounded by the talent before her. "This girl was like a lightning bolt," she says. "I do feel like I have these witchy instincts on things. I remember feeling that about Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List before anyone knew who he was." (Davidtz played the Jewish maid.) But, for all her new friend's encouragement, Adams went home determined to quit.
"I didn't know what Junebug would be like," Adams recalls. "They were making it for under $1 million—you just don't know when you're involved in smaller projects if they're going to be seen. So I had to really come to terms with what I wanted in my life and what was going to make me happy. Did that mean staying in L.A. and continuing to pursue a career in film acting? Was it moving to New York and trying to go back to the stage? Or stopping acting altogether? I was at that point in my life where I did not know where I was going to go. I wanted to be a grown-up, but I didn't know how."
Not long before Junebug opened—and before the Oscar nomination that would pull her out of the pack—Adams went on a cattle-call audition for a role that involved singing and dancing as well as acting. It seemed no different from all the cattle calls she'd been on before. Three hundred actors auditioned for the role. Adams was just another virtual unknown in the crowd: No. 275.
With sheer talent, she won the role.
The movie was Enchanted.
That Adams and Le Gallo have stayed together since then says a lot about them both. Le Gallo hasn't had the good fortune in his career that Adams has. Aside from a few small television roles, he's starred in just two small independent films. One of them was "Pennies"; the other, "The Big Bang Theory," has Amy's younger brother, Eddie, in a small role. (Le Gallo is also an artist whose painting style is impressive in a Francis Bacon–ish way.) As Adams's star soared, Le Gallo might well have felt cast in a real-life version of A Star Is Born—and headed for the exits. He hasn't.
"He's not competitive with me," Adams says adoringly. "He has a wonderful talent, and there aren't many people in the world who are like that, where he does not think that my success is his failure. He just doesn't see it like that, and I don't either.
"If anything," Adams adds, "he's probably a little more protective.… He's very protective of other people's ownership of me."
Last year at Christmas, Adams recalls, she and Le Gallo were in New York. Adams was all for going to Times Square. "He said, 'Amy, we're not going to Times Square.' It wasn't 'Wow, you're going to be mobbed' "—Adams still often walks unrecognized on the street—"It was more like 'It's going to force me to be on the lookout,' which is very nice." At last year's Oscars ceremony, though, Adams's future fiancé did draw a line. "He said, 'Amy, you are just not wearing a dress with a train. I'm not going to be the guy standing behind you, telling Mickey Rooney to get off your train.' "
When a Hollywood couple decides to marry after six years—an eternity in Hollywood romances—a natural question arises.
"Spit take!" Adams splutters. "No, I'm not pregnant. I can confirm. I've been engaged for four months. I think we'd know!"
That dates the question-popping moment back to about April, though Adams waited until late July to announce the news. She's keeping her lips zipped on all details of that moment, says she has no wedding plans yet, only knows that the wedding will have to be large. "I'm one of seven kids. It's never going to be a small wedding."
Now the challenge, she says soberly, is balance. "For so long I was just so focused on either auditioning or working: either working or getting the work." She's determined, she says, to live differently now: as one half of a whole, working forward together. And that, she says, means taking a break after Night at the Museum 2 to plan her wedding. Or … does it? The actress who struggled for so long is still so astonished that roles come to her now, one after another; how can she turn them down? "The problem is I find characters I love, and I have to go with them!" Le Gallo, she says, "understands that it's important to take advantage of those, and he really supports me."
"I think it's a story of personal survival together," suggests Davidtz. "He's the quietest, most loving chap. He loves her so, he smiles when he sees her. What comes from him is this deep knowledge of who she is and acceptance of that."
It may not be the stuff of headlines. But after a long, hard slog, Amy Adams is both a star—and happy.
Michael Shnayerson is a Vanity Fair contributing editor.