Three Various Topics

There were angry people on the metro this morning. We changed trains at L'Enfant plaza and some guy proceeded to get mad at everyone who wouldn't get out of his way. We were all trying to fit on the train buddy! Chill. Then some lady told me to get out of her way, which was difficult because she had a horrible rolling suitcase. Then some lady slapped Lisa's hand away from holding the pole in front of her. Literally. The lady, knocked Lisa's arm away and said, "Exuuuuse me" (rudely obviously) while that lady proceeded to practically body hug the pole so no one else could read it. Shocking behavior from the metro today.

* * *

I'm going to the beach this weekend. Duck beach. Every year I say I'm going to do something better the following year. This year I gave in again. And I'm actually surprisingly excited and thrilled to be going. I have a small agenda for this year. It's really simple:

1. don't get fried the first day. I'm hoping to counteract the sun with my SPF 50 and SPF 85. Not kidding. Knowing me I will tan still and I'm hoping not to be as miserable as previous year. I burn in like 20 minutes anyway so I'm pretty sure I'll still have a burn. (I also bought a big hat.)
2. glam it up. This will mostly be accomplished by my tinted lip balm (Best. Stuff. EVER. Seriously. Yes I have every color.) And then I will look like I'm wearing lipstick at the beach. Ridiculous? Yes. Awesome? Definitely. (And then I will feel gorgeous. Seriously.)
3. skinny dip and have my clothes waiting when I return. Did I ever tell you my clothes got stolen when I skinny dipped in the Sea of Galilee? True story. It was terrifying. The clothes were returned. Trish gets the credit with the theft and lucky for us, the return.
4. finish two books. I haven't chosen the second yet but I've been saving THIS one for the beach.
5. get tan, make new friends, and get to know old ones better. Duh.

(Duck post from last year.)

* * *

I desperately want cookies right now. Preferably a coconut, toffee, chocolate chip one like the ones I made on Tuesday for a coworker. I should have saved some for myself...

* * *

I'm going shopping during lunch today. Hoping to find another sleeved maxi dress because I've now worn my new one every day this week. Mostly when I get home from work but it has still made an appearance on my body every day this week. I'll probably have to wear it after work today to round out the week.

Pssst!

1.  I'm wearing my new maxi dress for the third time in three days. Thank goodness for deodorant, inside activities while sporting it, and gorgeous weather that didn't make me sweat.

2.  My sister Jess is currently sitting in the hospital a couple metro stops away with broken ribs and a healing liver laceration. If she doesn't get to go home today, I'm popping by after work.

Thursday after work when we got mani-pedis and then Mr. Yogato

Friday after work (ok actually Saturday, but I'm sure Friday didn't look much different, maybe more doctors and nurses).
Also, this picture looks really bad. But Jess was looking at Michael who was at the end of the bed so her eyes are kind of closed, she's not dying,
 just under close watch and supervision by the ICU nurses.

3.  I'm going to the beach this weekend and I can't seem to stop looking at bathing suits I don't need. And because I'm going to be at the beach, my mom is flying in on Wednesday to help take care of Jess before she moves to Brooklyn, NY at the beginning of next month.

4.  Something miraculous happened to me last week. I discovered THIS tumber. And despite the occasional bad words and references to things this Mormon girl doesn't do, it's pretty funny (just giving you a warning).

5.  Saturday night after some mishaps and logistical detail malfunctions we ended up sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. It was the most gorgeous night. And let me tell you, sitting on the ground in a maxi dress? So much better than sitting on the ground in anything else. And after paying homage to Mr. Jefferson, reading a favorite part on his four quotes, and then coming out of the rotunda and seeing my friends just chilling on the steps (or in the boy's case, practicing their golf swings and imagining what it would be like to launch a ball off the steps into the Tidal Basin), it just seemed like the start to a beautiful summer.

Things I'm Not Good At

Now that might sound like a really strange, self criticizing title, but hang with me here, it's not things I'm legitimately bad at like saaaayyyy, playing the piano, shooting three pointers, or painting (but those are things my sisters are good at), these are simple, easy things that seem really ridiculous that I'm not good at.

1. knowing my left from my right. I ALWAYS give people the wrong directions. Even though I'm really good at directions and knowing where I am and rarely getting lost, I still tell people my house is on the right side of the road when I clearly and thinking left.
2. cooking rice. How can someone be bad at cooking rice? I don't know, but I am. I rarely eat rice because cooking it stresses me out. Give me a multi-flavored cake, no problem. Throw a recipe I've never made before at me? That sounds exciting. But rice? Have someone else cook it. Except tonight where I'm making THIS, THIS, and THIS for dinner with my roommates and rice needs to be served.
3. not talking during class. I can't help it. It's a curse. My kindergarden "Indian Native American" Name was Little Babbling Brook. I've been chatty my whole life. And I especially cannot stay quite in church.
4. scooping litter box waste. Still can't do it. I'm still gagging. I bought gum, I plug my nose, I close my eyes (bad idea), and I still gag so hard I think I'm going to loose my last meal. So, I was a bad cat mama and didn't clean out the box for a few days. (Ok ok ok, like five days. Oops, that's kind of a really long time.) Well, they should be grateful, I went above and beyond my duty as a cat sitter and cleaned out that blasted litter box. I gagged once (more like a dry heave really) and then was done! Hoorah for me!

And for something I'm good at.

1. I can juggle. Thank you elementary school P.E.

What random things are you not good at? Or are good at?

A few things on my mind

A couple things on my mind:

1. I've decided I should take a cooking class. So, I'm going to take one when I'm done with my get fit, get skinnier program (cough, diet). Anyone out there interested in taking one with me? I think you shooooooould...
2. I just looked in the mirror in the bathroom and realized I have a zit brewing right in the exact spot a bindi would be. What do you think people would say if I wore a sticker on my forehead tomorrow?
3. I made a cake for my friend Erin's birthday party on Sunday and thought I'd show you a picture.

Things I'm looking forward to in the next few months:

1. Hitting up Pennsylvania this weekend for a last hurrah before Debbie moves to California.
2. Making a room change to the basement. With Deb moving I thought I'd mix something up in my life.
3. House sitting for a coworker in a couple weeks for a couple weeks. I'll be a DC resident for a bit. I'm pretty excited about it.
4. Going up to NYC to see The Hunger Games movie with former DC residents and awesome friends. (Bus tickets were purchased yesterday. We're so excited.)
5. Going to California for Debbie's wedding.
6. Going to Oregon less than a day after Debbie's wedding to see Emma who comes home from her mission!

Sigh of Relief

Our front window from the outside.

Yesterday I took a sick* day. I was not actually ill. I was more sick of work and needed a lovely day of R&R. It was awesome. I feel so rejuvenated to be at work today. Highlights of yesterday include: getting my computer fixed at the Apple store; putting together** the shelf I bought at Target while watching a really stupid and awesome movie, Christmas Cupid; having my new and lovely roommate Lindi surprise us all by bringing home Cafe Rio for all; and eating the cheesecake*** I made the night before for Lisa's dad's birthday.

Last weekend my sister Jess and I went and sang carols at The National Gallery of Art. It was so much fun because the acoustics were awesome and everyone was singing. There's something about singing the same loved songs with 200 other people that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. Then we went to the Christmas market by the National Portrait Gallery. I love living near a big city. (In the city would probably be even better.)

*when I told my sister Cami I was sick I imitated Karen on Mean Girls. Cami quickly followed up with Regina's response, "Boo you whore." So as I was looking for the clip linked I came across an 8 minute version of Mean Girls dubbed over in Polish and it made me laugh. For the Polish speakers out there, check it out.

**actually I did a terrible job putting together the shelf and couldn't find pliers to pull the little wooden pegs out of the holes when I messed up putting it together (due to lack of direction following) and the closest thing I could find to the strength of pliers was my teeth. Yep, I pulled those pegs out with my molars.

***it was a cheesecake making first. also, I used orange instead of lemon, and decided to go overboard by busting out my juicer to get the orange juice.

Please tell me it's on purpose

I always find myself saying the word verification words out loud when I'm commenting on a blog. Today I had a really good one:

I said it kind of like: kerrrrreeeeeeeepeee like a really dramatic reading of creepy. And obviously I thought that was REALLY funny, maybe even funnier than the blog post I was commenting on (cough, not likely Carly, your post was really funny).

I hope the people that put the words together do things like that on purpose. It sounds like a funny job.

A Few Things

this has nothing to do with the post. its just a silly picture.

1. I made my bed this morning. No that's not what was awesome. Actually, you know it is. I'll keep that as number one.
2. When I was making my bed this morning (shocking I assure you), I found a spider. A spider that was probably the size of a nickle (don't worry, that includes the legs), crawled across my duvet and over my pillows. Ew. I slept with a spider.
3. I'm looking extra good today because I got four, yes, that's right FOUR, catcalls this morning on my 15 minute walk to the metro.
4. I was running late today (hence missing the bus and having to walk to the metro instead of catching the bus) and so I didn't get breakfast. Found a bagel on my desk after my 9:00 meeting and a note from Lisa. I love working at the same place as friends.
5. Water spilled all over my desk. Well, I guess the water didn't spill on its own. I knocked water bottle across my desk (avoiding my phone and keyboard luckily) and spilled water all over. But that means the mess that's been on my desk is two things. One, it's now wet, and two, it's now somewhat organized. So I'm thinking it might have actually been a good thing.

Confessions

1. Even though I've loosely keep up with BYU basketball this season, I haven't watched a single game. 
2. I think the cashier yesterday gave me a 20 in change instead of a 5.
3. My legs were shaved today for the first time since November.*
4. I ran almost 3 miles yesterday for the first time in months and it wasn't easy. 
5. Sometimes when I'm listening to my iPod at work, I'm actually listening to a book.

*They were waxed throughout the winter though. Yes, Mother, I still have good hair hygiene.

Slight stream of consciousness

I have become a once a week blogger. How boring. I wish I had something exciting to write about. I don't. But, I'm going to Oregon tomorrow and will be there through Tuesday morning. I haven't been to Oregon since April and I always forget how much I love it when I go back. I wonder if my parents feel the same way when they go back to California, you must always love the place you grew up in.

I'm antsy. I want to travel, I want to see the world, the US and have fun all the time. I don't want to stay here right now. I would rather be in: England, Poland, Germany, Italy, France, China, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Hawaii, Oregon, California, Utah, New York, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee etc. (Those are the first places that came to mind. I know, random mix. I don't know why I chose some of those states either. Something about Tennessee is appealing...)

I even wish I was a student again. Something about the first day of school is so exciting. I remember staying up late and figuring out my classes, where they all were (that started in middle school and continued all through college) and getting excited about pulling out my new notebooks, using my new pens, and colored pencils (even though you really didn't need them after elementary school). I think college was extra exciting because it was like experiencing a whole new first day of school every four months.

I want to have access to an awesome bookbinding lab. I feel like making something. But not necessarily sewing. Maybe that's why I always end up baking. Maybe I'll make pudding tonight. That sounds nice. Chocolate pudding.

I used to make chocolate pudding on my mission at night. Sister Cox would make popcorn. Her night treat was a lot more healthy than mine.

I wish I had a Kinder Bueno right now. Mmmm. Those are tasty. I wonder if Cami brought some back from Finland. Actually, I know where some are sold in DC. Maybe I should stop there and get some.

I don't want to go to the gym after work tonight. I didn't go last night. I went and saw Nanny McPhee Returns. I liked it. It was cute. I thought Emma Thompson did a good job.

During the movie I ate my favorite new yogurt. The Chobani yogurt. I'm obsessed. I could eat it everyday, twice a day it's that good.

I need to pack tonight for my trip tomorrow. I don't want to do that.

I think we're going to watch Strictly Ballroom too.

5 second updates

Bought a crockpot, only to return it a week later unopened and having sat in the back of Lisa's Subaru all week.

Ran to the bus stop only to get there and realize I had no wallet, which resulted in me running all the way home, tearing apart my room and finding my wallet in my bag the whole time.

Wearing the same black dress as the co-worker who has her desk right next to mine and reconsidered wardrobe choices since she's a grandma (well, a young grandma).

Saw Inception, dreamed about it all night long and then woke up not remembering a text conversation I had with a friend at 2:30 am.

Almost burned down the house when chicken fajitas were left on the stove when we went to the movie; chicken was dry like wood; house was still in tact.

Bought bridesmaid dress for Jess's wedding.

Took a nap during lunch on the couch behind all the desks right next to the window, it was warm and cozy and the band was playing outside in the plaza.

I'm forgetful

Carly was so good to point out to me a couple days ago that I double posted about my last New York trip. Please see THIS post that I wrote a few days ago, and THIS post that I wrote in February for more information. Oops!

I have tons of stuff to post about but am having issues posting at home. Work really is a good place to post. But, when I want to post a picture it only works if I have them online. I suppose I could bring my camera/cord to work, but do I really want to have a bunch of pictures on my work computer? It's already slow enough.

On a really sad note, I dropped my computer yesterday and it's having issues. Not bad issues, just little issues. Like funny noises. But I think that's because of the workout DVD stuck in the disc drive that I'm kind of embarrassed about... (I don't really want anyone to see that I have Shape Magazine's Bikini Body workout in there--I wish it was something cooler like... hm... I don't know, something cool though.) I need to take it to a Mac Doctor. Maybe I'll call and get an appointment today...

PS- My parents are picking Jess up in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! That's 14 days! And when she finally gets back to Oregon, I'll be flying in a couple days later. I.cannot.wait!

I'm bored and this is random

Today is fantastically warm. I'm not wearing tights. If I was a cute trendy blogger I would have taken a picture of my feet, (Example 1. Example 2. Example 3.), I did not.

I wore really cute earrings today. They must have nickel in them because my ears are itchy and it's sad. I think I'll coat them in clear nail polish. Hopefully that'll work.

Work was SUUUUPER slow today. I'm leaving a little early. I feel a little guilty about that. But, I'm really just sitting here doing nothing. Here is what I've done:

• Organized my desk.
• Small talked with the people who are actually here.
• Fixed my hair. Twice.
• Gone to the bathroom. Thrice.
• Filled up my water bottle. Thrice.
• Went with Amy and Lisa to pick up their Half-Marathon Packets.
• Fitted my new "yurbuds" to my headphones. (Bought them when we picked up the packets)
• Ate lunch
• Surfed the web
• Read the Overheard @ BYU page on Facebook
• Ran a memo downstairs.
• Emptied out my google reader a handful of times.

Seriously unproductive.

But I'm really bored. And the bored-er I get the less and less I want to be productive and the less and less I want to go to the gym.

Oh! Speaking of the gym, I was on the elliptical last night watching all the people milling around the bar downstairs when I saw my friend Rachel from Eugene (by way of Boston) walking up the path with her friend (the friend is in my ward). I jumped off the elliptical and went running out the door, stopping to yell her name from the stairway and then proceeding to give her an awkward hug (because I was sweaty, not because it was awkward). But, it's so fun to see her. She looked really cute and pretty and her hair made me jealous.

That's all. I'm leaving work early today so I can be motivated again to hit up the gym and then clean my room so it's nice and clean when my family flies in on Monday. Yay!

Also, I'm going to the Mat Kearney/Ingrid Michaelson Concert tomorrow. I'm really excited.

Someday I'll post pictures of my special package I got. I just really need to clean my room before you can see it.

(PS- Not my picture. I just needed something to make the blog look prettier. I got it HERE via google image search.)

Hurry up Spring!

Right now I think I have onion breath. I'm furiously chewing gum to try and rid my mouth of it. And will soon be brushing my teeth (with the toothbrush and toothpaste I have especially to reside at my desk) to try and cover up the odor as well. Against my better judgement today I got onions on my Subway sandwich. I thought, "Heck, I should just get all the vegetables!" (Without the olives of course.) Should have left off the onions too.

I went to see An Education this weekend. I recommend it. Actually, I recommend it to the right audience. If you're wondering if you're the right audience you can ask me. But if you read the synopsis and think it's too snitchy for you, I will tell you that it's not. And I was pleasantly surprised by that.

I'm sure you're wondering what the heck "snitchy" means. If you're not, you're either a) my mom, dad, sister, grandmother or b) a former roommate, current roommate, roommate of one of my sisters, or an almost roommate (that would be you Erin and Liz). Snitchy is my family word for anything inappropriate. It began when I was in Kindergarten and saw people kissing on TV. I ran to cover the TV telling my family not to watch because the people were being snitchy. (What a good little girl.) How is snitchy used in a sentence? Well, let me give you some examples.

Snitchy example #1
Situation: A scantily clad woman showing cleavage and lots of leg. (I'd find a picture if I wasn't worried about pulling up porn.)
Sentence: "Whoa, look at that woman's outfit! It's totally snitchy!"

Snitchy example #2
Situation: A love scene in a movie (I would also find a picture but I know this would lead to an inappropriate picture.)
Sentence: "I liked the movie but there was a really snitchy part in it."

Does that make sense? Anyway, An Education was way less snitchy than I was expecting. What does that say about me? That I'm totally ok with snitchy movies? Hm... I don't know. But, I will tell you that the movie is PG-13 and I liked it.

I also saw Invictus last night for FHE at the Drafthouse (a movie theater that's also a restaurant). I liked it. And proceeded to grill my rugby playing friend on the metro this morning on all the rules of the game. All I knew from going to the one rugby game I went to in college was that they lifted guys up by their tiny shorts and they do that huddle thing called the scrum. Now I am semi-equipped to understand a game.

And lastly, it's March and I'm ready for Spring to be here. Please don't snow again. I've had my snow days. I'm ready for sunnier weather.

One of those posts again

Every once in a while I write a post of a bunch of different random things. This is one of those.

Randomness No. 1: When I was in Vienna in 2004 I remember seeing galoshes in the store windows. They were new. They were just coming out. I remember saying I wanted some. Then we went down to Venice. There was a really high tide that day and flooding. All the locals had galoshes they wore.
(Some even had thigh high galoshes. Like the ones for fly fishing.)
See below:

We walked around on these raised platform things that were set up all around the city. Like these people:

I really wished I had had galoshes. I remember my friends asking why I wanted them and wondering what I would wear them with. I thought they would look cute paired with a skirt. (Boots over pants were still kind of weird back then.) I didn't buy the galoshes. About eight months later I was going on a mission and had no need for galoshes, just thick wool lined boots. Then, when I came home, galoshes were all of a sudden trendy. I sometimes don't like jumping on the trend bandwagon (even though I wanted them waaaay before they were trendy).

Well, I bought galoshes on Saturday. Yep, I caved. It was now time to swallow my pride and think, would I rather have dry feet and calves or think, "I'm not getting those because everyone has them now and I wanted them looooong before they were popular?" Now they'll come in really handy with the rain. Though, I was slightly disappointed this morning that last night's rain storm had subsided and I didn't get to enjoy the full effect of the rain protection.

Randomness No. 2: I bought a new Camelbak water bottle when I went to the local R.E.I. wanna-be store in search of a new water bottle since the stainless steel one I had has a small opening making it too difficult to clean properly (and it can't go in the dishwasher so that makes it even tougher). So now I'm drinking tons of water because it's so easy to just sip out of the straw. My problem is two fold: 1. I have a small bladder. 2. I probably have the desk farthest away from the bathroom. I find myself frequently walking briskly to the loo after having waited much too long before getting up to go. (In Jerusalem I took a Camelbak. I was drinking the entire time. I was probably the most hydrated person there. I also always took advantage of a bathroom when I saw one and always had a few shekels in change to use at the bathroom.) I am nice and hydrated all day at work but I'm pretty sure I go to the bathroom way more than anyone else. It's 11:19 now. I got to work at 8:30 (on the dot, hooray me!) and I've already gone three times. Did you really want to know all that? Perhaps not. But you just read it anyway. But anyway, I can't take my water bottle with me anywhere otherwise I'll just keep sipping and I don't have an iPhone so I don't have the Need2P Restroom Locator app.

So now that I've officially blabbed about nothing. I'm going to get back to work. But right after I visit the loo again...

Be here now

I woke up this morning with Be Here Now, by Mason Jennings stuck in my head and an overwhelming desire to go here:

Slovenia. I wish you were closer.

But I'll have to be content with Amish Country for now. And listen to Mason's words and "be here now" and someday, be there later.

Back with pictures and a full belly from Lancaster County soon!

Thoughts

I have a jumble of random thoughts today that are now coming out here.

1. I have a mosquito bite on the bottom of my foot and I don't know if I've ever had something more irritating in my life. It itches so bad I can hardly stand it.

2. Going out to coffee sounds so much more grown up than going to get hot chocolate. When asked this week if I wanted to get coffee I thought about the potential dorkiness it would spark when I ordered a hot chocolate (which of course always gets the question, "Would you like whipped cream?" and then they always seem to put sprinkles or sprinkle chocolate powder on it too and it just looks like a concoction perfect for a 9 year old).

3. Today marks the 70 year anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. (1939) And this past weekend I went to the Newseum here in DC and was hit with emotion in the small exhibit about the Berlin Wall. Although it's not Poland, it still reflects the life of the Poles in post-WWII/communist Poland and it makes me sad. This morning I read a few articles today on the relations between Poland and Russia regarding Russia's role in Poland's invasion. (They did nothing to stop Germany from walking in.) I just get overwhelmed when I see all the destruction and sadness caused by greedy, evil people. (That thought was also fueled by the graphic and incredible Pulizer-Prize winning photography exhibition at the Newseum.)

4. I'm trying to decide what to do for Labor Day weekend. Some roommates are doing fun and exciting things (Dallas for the BYU vs. Oklahoma game, Cancun, lake house), others are not. And I am one of those others who are not. Although, NYC is looking pretty tempting. I can see Liz, and Carly, and maybe Laura. We'll see what I end up doing. I suppose I could always go to a museum...

5. I actually had some work to do this morning. I feel productive.

Hm...

I have lots of things I want to blog about but for some reason don't really feel like doing it. But I'm going to force myself to write a few things down now:

1. I came home from a run Saturday afternoon and my dad was watching Mean Girls. It made me laugh and it made me laugh harder when he was cracking up during certain parts. (None of which I can remember exactly now--maybe the getting hit by the bus part? or the creepy/gangster-wanna-be Mathlete guy)

2. Sunday was the five year anniversary of Brooke Wilberger's disappearance. It's hard to believe it was so long ago because I can still remember vividly what I was doing and where I was when we got the phone call asking for my dad's help to search for her the day she went missing. I remember I had just come home for the summer after my sophomore year at BYU, I sat withBrooke at church the day before. We discussed "her missionary" and my impending study abroad to Vienna. This Sunday I talked with the mother-in-law of Brooke's sister at church on Sunday about it and how I miss her and have been thinking of her a lot this week. Brooke's family is incredible. They are still strong and so positive. It makes me really grateful for my church and our doctrine.

3. I made a cake for our Memorial Day swim party yesterday. It was the Flag Cake from Ina Garten but was featured in Martha Stewart a few years ago. I think it turned out pretty good but I can't find the cord to hook the camera to the computer so there will be no picture, but just remember, I did the cake pretty dang good, and the cake and the frosting part were delicious alone but with a little added raspberry and blueberry it was divine. I probably could have eaten all the batter and frosting as they were. Not kidding, they were that good.

4. I graduated over a month ago. And I have done nothing. I can't tell if that's fabulous and wonderful or slightly pathetic and depressing. We'll see.

5. I'm trying to get back into shape. I felt really good about myself that summer Brooke went missing but after going to Vienna, I lost the good habits I had formed and slowly got back to how I was before Vienna. I guess the fact that I love to try new food didn't help at all, but Vienna + England + France + 18 months in Poland + summer Europe trip + back in Provo gotta try all the foods I loved and missed + Jerusalem, got me so off track from where I had once been that it wasn't even a habit to eat healthy or eat right. I found myself eating lots of high fat foods, using food to socialize, using food to comfort (Ben and Jerry's, especially the new Marzipan one, Mint Cookies and Cream, the cake one, and Imagine WhirledPeace--although I might just like this one because it has peace sign chocolate pieces and I like the Beatles). I made ridiculous goals for myself like this, that I knew I couldn't keep and then got frustrated and down on myself when my unrealistic expectations couldn't be met. (Although, I do understand that my goal could be met with a little self control, it just isn't realistic for me to not eat sweets, I like them too much. Giving up being lazy would be a more realistic goal.) So, back to why I'm blogging about this. Well, actually I don't know why I'm blogging about it. I guess it's on my mind a lot today because I had a slight freak out to my mom when I stepped on the new scale we just bought and I appeared to have gained five pounds from the morning weigh in to the lunch-time-testing-the-new-scale-weigh in. I was not happy because clearly the scale I had previously been weighing myself on is off by about five pounds! I've since mellowed out and calmed down, and I still don't really know why I'm blogging about this. Do I really want people to read about this? I don't even know who reads this. I have a few loving commenters but most people don't comment (as much as I wish everyone would comment *hint hint*), I know I read blogs I don't dare comment on! But I guess maybe this is why I feel melancholy today.

That's a lot going on in my mind these past few days. There was more I swear there was more. And it was more good stuff than bad. Today though I feel like the slightly depressing over powered the good.

And I thought this was going to be a short post. Hm...

Edit May 31, 2009: I found the cord for the camera so here is a picture of the Flag Cake!

17 March 2009

I watched House this afternoon while I did some Calligraphy homework. Have you ever watched that show? I LOVE it. I think House is hilarious. And the best part about the show today is that when House's team calls him on his cell phone the ring tone is MMMBop. I was dying.

I woke up at 7:52 this morning. I needed to be at work at 8. I was late.

I made an appointment at the Career Counseling Center today to figure out my life. I am not really that excited but hopefully it helps.

My roommate Amy made this cake yesterday for dinner group:

If you're interested, you can find the recipe here.
AND, it's low fat!

The weekend in Eugene brought back lots of memories. My best friend from high school came to visit me in Eugene while she was also in town for the weekend. I haven't seen her for years. We talked for six hours about our lives for the past few years. I told her I had found this picture:

This is Prom 2002. My date and I are in the center. I don't know why Melanie and her date aren't standing next to each other, but she gave me this picture in a 8x10 frame for a little graduation present. I re-found this picture frame a few weeks ago with another picture inside. I hoped that I had kept the prom picture in the back and was delighted when I saw I had. It made me laugh out loud and run to show my roommates. My date was a boy I had had a crush on during high school. I saw him this past weekend while he was home for Spring Break. I was not impressed. When telling the high school friend about this, I coined the term "love vision".

Love vision [ləv vi-zhən] noun. The clouding of rational thinking and actions due to being infatuated by a member of the opposite sex. Love vision generally disappears when the lovesickness fades. Use of this term usually is accompanied with this motion:

I can now say that all former love vision of my life is gone and "I can see clearly now the rain is gone!" Cheezy? Yes.

President Obama is going to be on Jay Leno Thursday. It bothers me that he's still doing things like that. I think he's more of a celebrity than my President. And we don't need anymore celebrities.

I'm planning on my final project for bookbinding. It's going to be fabulous. I'm going to bind my most favorite childhood "girl books". I'm excited. I want to do five books. I have four so far and and trying to decide on a fifth. Here's what I have so far: Ella Enchanted, Goose Girl, Walk Two Moons, and Matilda. But I need a fifth. (I just like odd numbers.) Any ideas?

Don't cry over spilled ink

I might not be crying over it but Calligraphy is ruining my life. I just spilled almost an entire bottle of Higgins Black Eternal ink and it is on the carpet. It happened a few weeks ago and my roommate Amy proceeded to work hard to get the ink out. Here is what it looks like now:

Barely visible right?

But unfortunately when I sit and soak up ink it looks like this:

I'm so not getting my deposit back.

And the paper I spilled on is soaked and I almost dripped ink all across the floor but luckily that didn't happen and luckily I decided to do a test on some printer paper before I started on my final project otherwise I really would have been crying. Instead I have have dirty hands.

Socks and Shoes

I don't really like socks. I don't like how my feet can't breath. Winter stifles the life out of my feet and all that seems left is the slight stench of decay and despair. I have to wear socks because otherwise my feet will get cold and my shoes might get smelly. Because I don't like socks that much I don't have very many. I go home every break and have to raid my mom's drawer for socks to wear to the gym because I inevitably forgot to bring some home, or the only ones I did bring home have hearts or polka dots or stripes on them. I especially hate wearing socks to bed. They severely interfere with my sleeping causing me to increasingly get "stuck" in the covers. But my room is cold, really cold, so I have to sleep in full sleeping regalia, and it's really uncomfortable. I now sleep under two fleece blankets and two feather blankets, I have leggings that keep my legs warm and a long sleeved shirt for my upper body and arms to stay cozy, and socks. Stupid socks. One of the worst parts about being a Sister Missionary is that you have to wear nylons all the time. Even when it's hot outside. Of course I only wore knee highs in the summer, but it was still relatively unbearable in the record breaking hot summer of 2006. So I hate socks.

Actually I don't really like shoes either, they equally restrict the freedom of my toes. I can't do barefeet, but I can do cute t-strap flat sandals, or simple flip flops, or strappy flats. But, I don't have a wide enough range of winter suited shoes. True I have tons of shoes that cover the floor of my closet and the shoe hanger on the back of my door is half empty because the shoes that go in there are the ones I wear most frequently so they're strewn about my room, but they're church shoes (heels) or sandals, and I just don't have good winter shoes. True I inherited two pairs of boots from Missionary Jess and have a pair of black heeled boots and a pair of jean boots with little baby chicks on the side, and a pair that I got for Christmas, but I can't wear any of those because of various reasons including: no high heels to school; would look cuter with jeans tucked in but I don't have skinny jeans; too similarly matched to my pants; don't want to ruin them in the snow; don't fit comfortably over my spectacularly muscled calves. So why don't I just get more shoes that are "winter shoes"? Because they just aren't that cute.

But what really got me on this topic of socks and shoes is the fact that I'm wearing two different socks today. One is pink and the other is white with pink and red hearts. Because of the cut of my shoes and pants, both socks are visible when sitting. Mismatched socks are not bad, they're not a crime. And actually if you wear mismatched socks, you'll never worry about matching the socks when they come out of the dryer. (I hate doing that.) And one of the coolest people I know wears mismatched socks all the time. So, the fact that I hate socks, and then with me wearing mismatched ones makes me laugh and I've been half giggly and half self conscious about them all day.