Justine's Blog

2012-02-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

Finished my slingshot, and I have to say I am happy with the results. Now it's time for phase 2 of my diet (which is exactly like phase 1 only I exercise for about 5 minutes more a day.)

Because I don't feel like writing anything more about my diet today I will, instead, list my current obsessions. In no particular order, they are:

myfitnesspal app to keep me motivated on my diet.
Can You Stay For Dinner blog to read really good & even good for you (sometimes)recipes.
Jennsylvania blog to read until I buy Jenn Lancaster's next book.
VitaSurge Strength Gel to keep my nails from constantly splitting.
Tourist Brochure/Pamphlets because I'm determined to get to know Colorado better (while spending as little money as possible) during my Spring Break.

Yep, so that's how I waste about 90% of my time these days. Just thought I'd share ;)

New

2012-02-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

Above is a picture of the duck pond by my house. I take pictures of it a lot because it is soooo pretty.

Today I got up early went for a walk (not by the duck pond -this was taken at sunset a different day.) Then I went grocery shopping so that I can spend my day cooking for the rest of the week.

I'm really excited about this, probably because I get to cook with carbs since this is my slingshot (high carb) week.

I already have a pan of chicken enchiladas that were donated by some wonderful friends who are going on an even stricter diet than mine. I just finished putting everything in the crockpot for chicken and rice soup, as well.

Next up are mini-quiches. I'm going to use my muffin pan to make quiches that have a (thin) phylo crust filled with egg whites, spinach, and peppers. I should add an extra protein but I'm not sure I care that much. I would add cheese but, unfortunately, high carb week means no fat which means no cheese. Unless....I use low-fat cheese so that might be an option.

In any case, I'm excited to have a little more variety in my diet because I'm getting tired of greek yogurt and protein shakes. Other things I'm excited about: a box of girl scout cookies that I have stashed in my freezer for next week's Sunday Funday cheat :)

Update

2012-02-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

Still doing the carb cycling thing. Next week will be my slingshot week were I do 7 days of all high carb and high protein meals. I *think* I am looking forward to this. It is supposed to prevent my body from catching on to my new eating pattern. In theory this will allow me to loose even more weight. In any case it is not suppose to make me gain weight.

I lost a few more pounds for a total of probably 5. I'm going to weigh on Saturday to have a more official number. Mostly I'm seeing a lot better muscle in my arms and less flab there. My thighs feel stronger but they don't look much leaner to me same with my tummy.

I have to admit, though, I cheated today. And it wasn't a cheat day :( I ate out and then I had a candy bar too. I'm not feeling too bad though. Definitely not bad enough to skip my real cheat day this weekend...I'll just have to exercise a little more.

Carb Cycling

2012-01-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

For almost a week now I have been on the Carb Cycling diet. Diets usually make me nervous because they seem like short term fixes to long term problems. However... I have been waaaay overindulging since the Holidays (and when I say holidays I'm including Halloween.)

So now I eat high-carb meals 4 days a week and low-carb meals 3-days, basically alternating every other day. Carbs are usually my go to binge item so I think this plan is helping. Even on my high-carb days I don't eat ton's of bread and stuff, I just *get* the opportunity to eat carbs (which could be bread, pasta, potatoes, or even fruit) with my meals.

I'll tell you what though, I don't think I have ever eaten this much protein in my life! I am supposed to consume one portion of protein at every meal (5 meals a day, 7 days a week.) My pocket and my pantry were not quite prepared for that part. If anything, I'm usually pretty protein deficient. I usually cheap out at the grocery store and skip buying meat. My main forms of protein have come from dairy and eggs -heck I'm practically a defacto lacto-ovo vegetarian!

I ate a ton of Greek Yogurt last week to help with this transition. I just made a trip to the store and now I have protein powder that I can mix with liquid and drink which counts as a meal. This should help so I don't feel like I have to eat so much, plus it is a lot cheaper and easier than most of the alternatives.

My carb-cycling inspiration came from my couch-potato obsession with Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The trainer wrote a book, I read it, now I'm giving it a try. There is a work out regimen that I am following as well. I'm supposed to weigh every week. This week I lost 3 lbs (more than likely water weight) and I didn't eat half as much junk so I'll count that as a success!

2012-01-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight I am making another valiant attempt at making my own Sweet Potato French Fries. I have been obsessed with these delicious fries for the past six months, no joke. Six months is a long time... I'm starting to worry!

The first time I ever had this delicious treat was at the Kansas State Fair. They were so good with cinnamon and sugar, but equally tasty with garlic and pepper!

I tried to make my own by putting sweet potato chunks on kabobs that I grilled one summer, they didn't really cook all the way. Then I tried baking the sweet potatoes in the oven, but they weren't cut small enough and once again did not cook all the way.

Then I moved to Colorado and discovered that grocery stores actually sell frozen Sweet Potato Fries. Joy of joys! Also two of my favorite resteraunts here offer these fries as a side.

Problem is, I'm cheap. I, therefore, don't like to spend $5 on a 12 oz bag of fries. I thought I had solved that problem by buying my fries at the Dollar Tree (yep the dollar store has a freezer section.) But it turned out the only thing in the bag was the tips and ends of what used to be fries.

So tonight I bought a sweet potato, cut it up very small using my fancy new knife from Gramma, seasoned it according to a "no fail" recipe, and am waiting impatiently for them to bake....

Turned out pretty good! I cut them a little small so they cooked too fast...ah well I'm up for some more experimentation :)

A Post

2011-12-22T17:15:00.001-08:00

I was just looking through all the blogs that I have attempted to post but for one reason or another failed. They are kind of random. For example, the most recent three were:

Catch Up Time -Photo Edition! (somehow there are no pictures in this post)
An Ode to Soup
and
The Grinch that Turned Down an Invitation to a 2 Year Old's Birthday Party

...yep. It is suddenly becoming more and more clear why I am sooo very single. I'm kinda weird.

So, anyway, here is a picture because it is nice to look at a blog with pictures every once in a while.

This was Thanksgiving II. It was a lot of fun and the food was delicious.

I think it is a good picture, at least it is the only one with everyone in it. Well, except for the three ravenous dogs. Plus Katie is smiling, which is nice. And Katie if you don't like this pic just let me know and I'll take it down.

But your the only one who reads this anyway so there is really not much to worry about =D

Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

Since I have a project due in about 8 hours and since I really don't want to do it, I have been procrastinating by any means possible. So far this includes: taking the dog for a long walk, going grocery shopping, baking cookies, washing dishes, and playing online (all before noon impressive, no?)

My current means of pushing off my homework is creating my Thanksgiving Day Dinner Menu. I'm pretty proud of it. So proud, in fact, that I am going to blog it (mostly because it gives me something to do ;)

So here it is, Thanksgiving Dinner:

Turkey Legs (1 for me, 2 for the dogs to share)

Homemade Stuffing (not cornbread, cornbread stuffing is gross)

Roasted Brussel Sprouts (sooo good!)

Fresh Cranberry and Green Apple Salad (another non-carb item)

Mashed Potatoes with Gravy (required carb)

Popover Rolls (they look incredibly easy, guess we'll see on Thursday)

This is the first year I have attempted to cook Thanksgiving on the actual holiday I generally just do Marie Calandar's Turkey with Stuffing frozen entre. My menu this year looks soooo much better -can't wait!

2011-11-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

It was a nice day for a hike at Rabbit Mountain. A little windy, but it won't be long until it is snowy and then muddy again.

I woke up at 6 am and couldn't go back to sleep today so Terra and I ended up going on an early morning walk once the sun was up.

On our way back to the car there were a whole bunch of Prairie Dogs popping up out of their dens and making funny noises. I let Terra try to get them because her leash was too short for her to actually get to them.

It was pretty funny though, kind of like a real life wack-a-mole game. Every time Terra got close the Prairie Dog would hide and another would pop up across the trail.

Public Service Announcement

2011-10-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

"Warning: Windows are transparent! All residents should keep in mind that just because the glare from their lamps prohibit them from viewing out does not mean that others cannot see in. Therefore should you choose to cook your dinner clad only in your boxer shorts, you should not look surprised when other residents won't make eye contact with you because they can't get the image of you flaking freshly grated cheese off your naked belly and back into the bowl. "

So... this is just a rough draft. I still have a lot of rough patches to smooth out before I print and staple this to everyone's door in my apartment complex, but I think it is shaping up nicely so far.

O Oreo!

2011-10-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Remember that song? The "Oh oh oreo" song -yeah it was awesome and now it was stuck in my head. The Rice family came over last night and made Oreo Balls and watched Lion King and hung out. It was a very good time. Also, a much needed break after a very busy week so far.

I am very excited that I am writing this post on my new netbook at the bookstore. This is going to make doing homework a lot easier when I am not at home. Unless, of course, I get distracted like I am right now....

Well, good news all around: got to hang out last night, my computer works, and my school just got approved for a huge grant so we can open an extension! So I'll end on that positive note :D

2011-09-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Today's project....creating a budget/spending analysis. This task is always somewhat depressing yet at the same time empowering. I get to learn how poor I am, but I also feel better about myself because I am not making myself even poorer by overextending myself financially.

I have been slowly tidying up my financial situation over the past few weeks. It's crazy but with virtually all payments being automatically debited now days it can be hard to keep track of what you are paying for. Moving always puts a kink in things too. Currently I have three different banks in three different states. So, yeah, I am definitely trying to work on consolidation right now ;)

One thing that I am very proud of is that I recently called and cancelled a credit card I wasn't using. The sales/retention lady was very good at her job and almost had me persuaded to keep it but I stuck to my guns. Woohoo! Now I just need to make sure I stick to my budget (fingers crossed!!)

My Zen Moment

2011-09-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

I just finished my homework. Ahhhh....

I have decided I really like my Early Childhood Education classes. (Somehow I always feel this way after I've finished my homework and never before.) I've had a couple of my co-workers comment about how boring my classes must be. Maybe that's because they've been doing this longer and it is boring to them, but I think it is all really interesting.

I really like the chapters on child development. It kind of combines all of my favorite parts of Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, and Psychology. And since I love history learning about the evolution of Early Childhood Education programs in the U.S. has been really cool. Plus there is a lot of discussion of diversity and culture which appeals to my love of Anthropology and Sociology.

So I guess what I am wondering is...why didn't I figure this out during the eight years I was in college?! Actually, I am glad I didn't because then I would have changed my major again and I really never would have graduated ;)

I think probably the best part about taking these classes is that it is self-affirming. It reminds me that what I do at work is real "work", that playing is teaching, and that caring makes a difference.

Lake on top of a Mountain

2011-09-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

I finally went for a "real" hike in the mountains last weekend. Terra and I have done plenty of walking around town, but this time I actually left town and went into the mountains.

Katie and John recommended and directed me towards this hike. I really like it. Boulder Canyon trail starts in town and then just keeps going. I only walked about three miles of it. Terra didn't walk any because I was mean and left her home so I could take more pictures and play with my camera.

When I finished walking, I went back to my car and drove the rest of the road. It ended in Nederland, Colorado. The town has an elevation of 8236 ft. so you end up going about 2500ft. in about 18 miles (no wonder my ears were popping so much.)

What I though was really cool was that when you reach the peak of the drive you look out to the left side of the car and all the sudden, from nowhere, there is a lake. It kind of reminds me of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I have only been there once but it definitely made an impression.

I plan to do a little more hiking this weekend. I'm bringing Terra this time. She is such a good walking buddy!

Mission Impossible?

2011-08-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

I read in my Early Childhood Practicum book that in order to be considered a professional or part of a profession you need to have a mission statement. So here is mine:

~Don't make the babies cry.

There is one little boy in my afternoon class who cries everyday when I come in. I have deduced that this is because he very attached to the two lead teachers and he has come to associate my arrival with their departure. Poor kiddo!

So my plan is to invest a little of my extra time between shifts. I am just going to drop into his class and hangout so that he knows my presence doesn't always mean something sad is going to happen. That is the plan, anyhow, I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

Waffle Sunday

2011-08-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I have broken out of my baking/cooking slump. I realized the other day that I still had some graduation money stashed away so I went to the store and stocked up on all the essentials: sugar, flour, brown sugar, salt, pepper, pumpkin pie spice, oregano.....except I forgot baking soda and baking powder but that can be easily remedied :)

The first "meal" I cooked in my new pink kitchen was mac n cheese but that didn't really seem like a good enough inauguration. So, this morning I went all out and made waffles. Not really that fancy but I was super excited to use my waffle maker that had been sitting in storage for 4 years. They turned out really good (how can you screw up waffles?)

Sitting and eating my homemade waffles brought back memories of my Dad making us a HUGE breakfast every Sunday morning. This made me feel a little lonely until I saw my dog curled up on the couch and decided I should definitely get her in on the fun. I generally try not to feed my dog people food because I have had a few too many overweight dogs. But I think this exception was well warranted!

Waffle Sunday just may have to become a repeat performance around here.

not sure she should take it

decided it is definitely ok!

So much to do

2011-08-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

My to do list:

clean the oven (still nasty from last tenant)

hang pictures

find pictures for empty frames

put away laundry

...and there is a lot more but anyhow...

Happier times

Why is it so much harder to clean/organize/tidy up when you live by yourself? Must be a lack of motivation. I am not afraid I am going to annoy anyone else with my mess so I let it pile up.

I also have even less motivation to cook. Cooking for one almost always sucks, but now I don't even have basic supplies to bake. And believe me I LOVE to bake. I always thought nothing would stop me from baking. Apparently, a gross oven and empty wallet are the exceptions to that rule.

Schools start Monday. I say "schools" because it is the start of a new year at Acorn Early Learning where I work and at Front Range Community College where I am taking some online courses for my in-state lead teacher certification.

I am excited. I am just not feeling it today. Soon, though, once those fall leaves start turning beautiful colors I'll get my mojo back.

2011-08-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Kenz drew an awesome picture of my Gramma for me today. I must talk about my Gramma a lot because she has drawn a couple for me now. She has also seen a couple of videos of my Gramma on my phone (courtesy of Aunt Julie) so she thinks my Gramma is really funny.

I would post a comparison picture of my beautiful, wonderful Gramma but I think I've already surpassed the quota of her pics that I am allowed to post. I think she made a good attempt at replicating Gramma's curls. She said her arms are really long because she is reaching into her pockets. (Must have deep pockets, huh Gramma? ;)

P.S. the goggles are a fashion statement, not for swimming, who knew goggle headbands were so chic?

2011-08-04T12:46:00.001-07:00

I got the apartment :)

Obsessing about the apartment with little pink kitchen

2011-08-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today I should find out whether or not I got the apartment I looked at with the little pink kitchen. The suspense is killing me! It is harder to find an apartment that allows dogs than I thought it would be. Actually, when I was looking before I moved here there were plenty.

Now, of course, they have all been rented up. Erg, this living transition has not been easy. I was rejected from the last apartment I applied to because my income was not steady enough. At the time I was working as an on-call sub with no minimum hours guaranteed. Now I have a real full time job that is verifiable with a title and everything. I have excellent references from my former landlords (Katie & John) --I was there for 3 years that has to show dependability in a tenant, right?

What makes me the most ticked off, though, is that I feel like I have all my ducks in a row: good references, a dependable income, savings for security deposits, and pretty good credit too. But for all that I still have not found a place!

I know it is probably an option I should have been willing to consider earlier, but I may have to reconsider looking for roommates. I just don't care for the idea of living with complete strangers. I also have a lot of furniture and most all the posts I have seen have been for rooms in fully furnished houses.

Ug, I am very complain-y lately and I realize this but I am just tired of constantly being in transition.

Oh and in other news, I am going back to school this fall. Apparently a Bachelor's degree isn't enough to qualify you as a lead teacher in an early childhood learning center. Even though I have a couple of Educational Leaderships under my belt I am not yet qualified. This doesn't really bother me though because I really love going to school. I am actually kind of glad to have a job that justifies my desire to be a life long student :) And on that happy note I am done for today!

Dirty, Rotten, No Good....

2011-07-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Oh sure, she looks so sweet -so innocent. But I have had it up to my ears with this hound!! For some reason dear little Terra has decided to go for a daily run...away from me. She has found an opportune moment everyday this week to sneak out the front door while people were going out or go under the back fence.

Today was the worst, though. E. was being helpful and opening the door for his mom and sister and Terra bolted. Unfortunately, this occurred 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave for work. So I tried to follow her, offered her treats, showed her the leash, everything short of chasing her and still she wouldn't come. So I left for work.

I came home 5hrs later on my lunch break and luckily the neighbor had taken pity on Terra and put her in the backyard. It was even more fortunate that she stayed!

For a longtime I felt really bad, like maybe it was a dominance/obedience thing. Everyone who I have talked to who has beagle or beagle mixes says it is just part of the breed though. They say they catch a scent and just can't stop until they find it. Considering that Terra always comes back with garbage or smelling like garbage this makes sense, but oh is it irritating!

So there is my rant for the evening...ah better.

Yahoo!

2011-07-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to log in to my blog tonight after two months of unsucessful attempts. Really not sure but for some reason blogger keeps re-directing me rather than logging me in. It does the same thing with facebook, but at least I can still access that on my phone! I have spyware/blocker stuff on my computer and did a full scan/virus check yesterday so who knows what the problem is?

Anyhow....what was I going to say? Yeah now I have nothing to write -go figure;)
Friday is my first day of training to be a substitute at a child care center in Boulder, Colorado. It is about 30 minutes away from where I live. The company is called Homestar and they have a very nice, homey atmosphere. I will admit that I felt a little out of place when I went to interview/try out. I think hippish would be the best way to describe the staff. I am really not a girlie girl but with the minimal amount of make-up and hair product I had on I felt way to "done up." I should have had more of an inkling about this after reading about the all organic diet, etc online.
Nonetheless (is that really all one word?) I really liked all the people there kids and staff and they've hired me and as soon as they see that I am a hard-worker, caring person, yada yada yada I'll get more regular hours.
I may also have an apartment lined up. On Wednesday I am going to look at a 1 bedroom basement apartment in a triplex. The owner lives in one of the upstairs units and both she and the other tennent are mature females. It is in a nice area of town and cheap (probable because there is a train that goes right past it.) It also has cheap utilities and will accept Terra, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it works out.
Loving Longmont so far! Still applying to full time positions and, ideally, looking for work as a paraprofessional in a local school district. Very happy with what I've got now, though. Updates to come....probably....unless the login stops working again :P

2011-05-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

So, of course, everyone knows I graduated. Woohoo! I posted the pics on facebook (including these ones) but I'll repost to freshen up my blog. Plus these pics highlight what an awesome time I had.

What I would really like to do, though, is thank my best friend Kathchen! Katie made me walk in my graduation ceremony. I almost got out of it but then she started talking her sister into walking in her graduation ceremony and since she was on a roll decided I need a little bit of pressure to walk as well.

I am very happy that she did! It was nice to formally end this portion of my college career. I am so gratefull that my friends and family all got to see this mile stone and to have something celebrate together.

I have a lot of great memories from graduation now: freezing outside the arena, spotting my friend's wonderful faces in the audience, texting my Aunt throughout the ceremony, eating the most delicious dinner afterwards, and cracking up at a video of my Gramma banging a pot and whistling while my Aunt yelled Moo as they watched me graduate (long story:)

Thank you Kathchen and also congratulations!!! Congratulations because you also graduated -even though you say it doesn't count. Believe me it counts! You got A's in nearly every class you took while also being a full time Mom. Where you went to school or for how long are really very small matters compared to the investment and sacrifice you made for your family. I am soo proud of you!! But be warned: one of these days I am finally going to get you to walk (oh, there will be an opportunity just you wait;) because you deserve the recognition that your hard work has earned you.
Love ya,
Justi

Cheater

2011-03-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

I cheated on my diet today...so far I'm still in the post binge dellerium phase where I'm so full and happy I don't care. I went to school for the Grad Finale event to make sure everything was set for graduation and to check to see how much it costs to actually graduate. I found out that it should only cost me about $35 for cap, gown, and cords. I thought it was going to be alot more, I also thought I had to have the money by today so now that I know I have some time to scrounge up some moola I am feeling celebretory. They had a table with brownies at there, but I only ate half of one. Woohoo for self control, kind of :P
Then I went downstairs and on the way out of the building I smelt Pizza Hut. I hadn't planned on stopping. But for some reason something in my head said If they actually have some ready you should get some. So I did....
On, the bright side I didn't finish half of my food and I'm hoping this cheat will re-energize my exercise initiative. I've only cheated once now and I think it has almost been 3 weeks so whoopie :)

Getting there

2011-03-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

It has almost been one weeks since I last baked, bought, or consumed any sort of dessert or fatty junk food. This is a really, really big accomplishment for me, so I am pretty happy with making it to the almost one week mark. The one week mark will be even better, of course.

The cravings were not so great the first couple days, but last night and today (day 5 and 6) they have been almost none-existent. Until...I started daydreaming and thinking about holidays and visiting my family. I was thinking about recent Thanksgivings and the last summer I spent in Idaho. The turkey and stuffing didn't get to me, nor did the hamburgers and hot dogs. Then I started thinking about my Gramma and how every time I come see her she makes Turtle Brownies. Darn it!!! That did it oh, I want those brownies so bad!

Well, I haven't given in to my cravings. Luckily I don't have any junk in the house and I am broke enough that there is no way I am going to go spend money on non-essentials, such as junk food. I've been pretty impressed with my will power so far, so hopefully it will hold out. Fingers crossed!

2011-03-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

It is my brother Ben's 20th birthday today! Woo hoo! It is slightly sad to me that we are all adults now. No more teens in our family.

I am avoiding homework and a workout right now by playing online. All this playing has me thinking random thoughts. Like about Ben and how he always used to say I had a big forehead. Well, I was just looking through my facebook profile pics online and (since it is his birthday) I have to agree. Too bad for him that concession is all he is getting this year cuz I'm broke ;)

Other randomness: I went to the zoo today and discovered my dog very much resembles a meerkat. And on a nother tangent: When I type in zoo in my GPS it should not, for anyreason, suggest a zoo in California or Michigan before the one that is 15 miles away.

Okay that is all I have for now because everyone is waking up from naptime and it seems like I should try to do something productive now.

Best. Valentine's Day. Ever.

2011-02-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

Ha, ha I'm funny! Since you don't know why I think I'm funny, though, I will let you all in on the secret: I am getting very tired of people separating words with periods to indicate emphasis or exaggeration of a statement. I told Katie & John this a couple weeks ago and they thought it was funny, or rather they thought it was funny that it bugged me :)

Regardless, my wonderful room-mates saved me from a night of utter boredom and self-loathing by taking my out to dinner last night. We went to Chili's, always a reliable choice, and it was delicious. I can't wait to eat my left-overs for lunch today!!!

We also watched Newsies last night. I love that movie so much. I need to own it and the sound track. Katie and I sang along to every song, and then went to the movie extras where they provide the lyrics to all music and sang all the songs again. John had never seen the movie and was a really good sport -it has to be just a little irritating to try and watch a new movie with two extreme fanatics. He liked it enough to threaten posting "Best. Movie. Ever." on my Facebook wall (which is why I am trying to beat him to the punch with my blog title.)

In any case, I was smiling all night. I had a great time and am very grateful to have such thoughtful friends!

Rejection

2011-02-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

Oy! It is tax time again. I thought I was prepared --I never am.
I have been hording every single piece of mail I receive that I think may be useful to completing my taxes and finally received my last form yesterday.
So, last night I attempted to file. Of course I couldn't remember what service I usually use so I had to compare two different sites. Then they wanted to know how much Kansas tax was on my 2009 return and I couldn't figure if that meant tax I paid or the refund they gave me and to top it off my 2009 return was nowhere to be found so I had to pay $13 to check last years return.
Now I wake up to find out both state and federal have been rejected!!! Hopefully it is a quick fix. The reason it was rejected was the Making Work Pay credit. They asked if I received my payment I couldn't remember so I said yes. Since they rejected that answer the only alternative is to say no. So that is what I did this morning and I hope they accept it because I could reeeallly use my return right about now :)

BETTER NEWS/UPDATES ETC.
In job news, as I said on Facebook, I have a new job. I'm a substitute babysitter/daycare provider. There is a ton of licensing and classes that I am in the process of taking now. It is good information to have. My only concern is that this job may not provide enough hours and it sure would stink to put in this much of my (unpaid) time and not end up being happy with this job. So, I am still looking for a second job or a better one.

I haven't updated anyone about the boys for a while so here it is:
Bobby has had a couple of job offers and he is mulling over his decision trying to decide what his best plan of action is. He is still training with the wrestling group in Salt Lake City and having a pretty good time despite a few injuries.

Ben just got another promotion. He is a team lead now. This means he is now salaried, with benefits. He gets to make his own hours and boss other people around. You know he couldn't be any happier about that;) He is still working on his Bachelors in Criminal Justice online through University of Phoenix.

Other updates....not much going on... we got hit by the massive snow storm. It was 70 degrees last Thursday and -5degrees yesterday. This weather has prevented me from wearing my new boots because they have no traction. Yes, I do feel it is vitally important to keep you all updated on the condition and use of my boots. Just kidding I really just threw that in because I couldn't figure out how else to end this blog :P

Matchmaker

2011-01-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

I was out shopping the other day with Katie and her kids Kenzie and Ethan. And Kenzie randomly asked me who I was going to marry. So I asked her, "I don't know who do you think I should marry?"

Then Kenzie replied, "you can marry my boy Kenzie!" because she has decided that she is going to have 2 kids: one boy (Kenzie) and one girl (Ethan).

I told her I didn't know if that was a good idea since I would be so much older than him. But Kenzie said it would be ok because her boy Kenzie was already 16! I told her that 16 is still too young and she sighed, "ok... he can be 26."

Well, at that point I was out of excuses so I said if I ever met this same age as me-son of Kenzie-named Kenzie I might, maybe marry him. ;)

P.S. I am currently babysitting for Katie while she visits Emily in Idaho and I feel it is necessary to add that right now as I type Kenzie is consoling Ethan that Mom will be come later but right now she has to snowboard with Aunt Emily. Ethan meanwhile is just softly murmuring mama over and over... and also in the interest of full disclosure he may have just eaten a crayon :)
Love ya Katie we miss you!

Another Year Over

2010-12-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Tommorrow will be the end of my vacation. The journey here was so uneventful I am nervous for the flight home!
It is snowing again but nothing is sticking. And that is the way I like it! At least until I'm done with my drive down to Salt Lake. I'm actually hoping it dumps at least a foot after that so that Katie will have snow for her trip next week.
I spent most of my week at home. It was nice. Usually I get cabin fever being couped up all week. But not this time.
My brothers and I put up the Christmas Tree this year (more effort than we usually put out.) We also did our traditional dippped white chocalate pretzels. We went to visit our family in Burley.
.... Lots of fun stuff.... hmmm can't think of anything interesting ..... oh well maybe I'll blogging again next week.
Maybe a slide show or something. Right now I'm still in slacker mode :)

Oh no, it's almost December

2010-11-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

Getting closer to the end of the semester!!! Right now I'm holding my breath because I'm not sure how sure of a thing graduation in December will be. Something always comes up. All I really have left, other than the classes I'm enrolled in, is an English placement test to test out of English. And a whole lot of paperwork.

I hate that I always procrastinate! I knew finals and hollidays were coming up and that both of these things will make it harder for me to get done on time. Worst case scenario is that I break down and take English 101 and grad in May. But I'm not willing to go there yet. Not until I put out the maximum effort to actually git my sh*t done!

In summary I have very little clue as to what I'm doing right now or what I'm doing after December. I still do plan to move to Colorado (sorry Julie/Gramma/family in general.) The boys want to move there, too. I think there are a lot of good opportunities in Colorado. Not that there aren't in Idaho. I like that I will be a lot closer to Idaho, it will make visiting so much more convienient. And hopefully it will happen more often. Once a year is just enough to see you guys!

Anyhow, blabber blabber blabber I need to do homework. So I hope to talk to you all soon.

P.S. thanks for keeping in touch with me so much on facebook!

2010-11-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

As a sideline to teaching I've decided that businesses need to hire me as a consultant. They will pay me a yearly stipend and in exchange I will give them the random, unsolicited advice that I've been storing up for years things like:

We need a Starbucks on the Eastside. Who wants to walk all the way into the grocery store to get their daily quota o' coffee.
Chick-fil-A, pickles are definitely not a necessary component to to a chicken sandwich and why are you charging extra for substandard lemonade?
Chili's wait staff don't bother asking just bring on the cake after the entrees have been finished.
Universities shouldn't offer classes before 10am after 6pm or on Fridays. (That's the only thing I could think of that didn't have to do with food I'm a little hungry right now.)

Another sideline job I would be great at would be spying! I realized this today while waiting in line for my pickle covered chicken sandwich. There were these two kids and they were very awkwardly flirting and it was so cute! So I offered to let the boy line jump so they didn't have to keep talking around me, but I didn't stop listening to their convo (why would I;). Anyhow, no one would ever know I was a spy because spies are so suave and I am not. After I let them line jump I dropped my cup (once when it was empty and once when after I had filled it.) But I didn't miss a beat. Other reasons I'd be a great spy:

I have a strong short term memory.
I can remember incredibly useless and mundane information.
I take extremely detailed notes.
How else am I going to meet and fall in love with Jason Borne?

Ok... now that I've inflated by ego by about 700% I think I'll work on some homework -that should definitely bring me back down to earth!

Para que sepas

2010-10-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

In spanish class sometimes I stumble across phrases that seem extremely useful or just plain entertaining. For example: the title of the blog "Para que sepas" means "just so you know."
Here is a bit of dialoge I found in my text book that I found both highly entertaining and useful:

Te comiste el paste?
Did you eat the whole cake?

Si, me lo comi todo!
Yes, I ate it all up!

Haha! I chuckled for a good two minutes when I read that one. It is good timing, too, because I just got a several awesome sounding cake recipes from Katie's sister. So I plan on this conversation taking place in my kitchen in the very near future. Granted, I may be speaking to myself since I'm the only one who speaks spanish ;)

Time for a Break

2010-10-15T13:39:00.001-07:00

What a luxury to have a Fall Break! Idaho State didn't have one but the schools in Kansas do. In addition to 2 days off for Thanksgiving we get two off in October just for the heck of it. Usually I have to work the whole time or I sit at home writing a stupid paper. Actually, I did have to work yesterday but today was awesome!

First, my roommate tried to sneak out of the house without me ;) but I caught her so I made her take me to her pottery class with her. Last time I went I just watched, but this time she taught me how to throw. She said I did pretty good centering for my first time and I managed to make one thing that didn't fall apart. I liked making the stuff that fell apart too, though.

Then I got to watch her glaze some pieces and she let me pick out the colors of one of her tall vases. She did a cool double glaze process on it that should turn out really pretty (and now I can take credit for part of it too j/k.)

We were at the studio from 9 to 1:30 without taking a break and neither of us ate breakfast so we were starving! I had some money left on a gift card to Chili's so we went and split a apetizer tray. We do that whenever we eat there so it only costs $5 ea to eat at Chili's but with my card it only cost $2.50 ea Bonus!!!

Then I talked Katie into eating a Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. Well, first she talked me into it; but then she tried to be good and rational and say we shouldn't have cake and starbucks too. But ultimately I prevailed. We were so stuffed after Chili's that we sat out in the parking lot for about 45 just letting our lunch settle and chatting.

Now, we are sitting at Barnes and Nobles doing homework online and debating about whether or not we should get coffee. So it has been really fun, great weather, cheap food, best friend. Wonderful.

2010-09-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Kenzie drew this picture of me last night. I think it is awesome! Makes me look skinny -don't you think ;) I think the hair came about because I asked her if it was a good idea if I just cut all my hair off like her brother's. She said that would be a really good idea because then she could do my mohawk for me everyday. LOL!

I'm in love with Colin Firth!

2010-09-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

I decided today was the day to announce my love to the world. Colin Firth was the best Mr. Darcy ever! Additionaly, he has been awesome in almost every other movie I've ever seen him in.

I don't care that he's 50, that man is hot!!! Just thought you all should know. I don't know what brought on this sudden confession, but there it is and now whenever I check out the blogs there will be a picture of him on mine....sigh...

P.S. I know I am a goober, but life is more fun this way :)

Pictues of Home

2010-08-30T12:22:00.001-07:00

The title of this blog is slightly misleading. I hope you weren't expecting to see any actual pictures. No, this post was actually inspired by some photos I just saw on campus.
I was walking through campus when I notice pictures of mountains and thought, "ooh..pretty." I didn't give it much more thought until I saw a caption that read Grand Teton National Park.
"Hey I've been there," I thought. "Hey I used to live and work there," I then realized. It seems like so long ago. Then I saw pictures of Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Not sure why I miss that lava rock and sage brush so much?
Well, I had intended to visit this summer but I didn't plan very well so it never happened. I tried to put my trip off to the end of summer so I could afford it but then we had a mass exodus of employees from where I work which made getting time off impossible. I also thought it would be awesome to visit over Labor Day weekend (a long weekend) but the employment situation at my work has only gotten worse. So, now I'm using all my downtime searching for bargain plane tickets for the hollidays. For now that is the best I can do. I can't wait until I move closer so it doesn't take 18hours to drive or 1months pay to fly!
The countdown is on. I'm buying a calandar and marking off the days to my "vacation" home.

New Post...Finally!

2010-08-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

I've actually blogged twice in the past month but both times it took me so long to actually send my post that I got logged out. So now you get the short and sweet versions of anything I have to say! Of course now that I am finally back on the internet I can't remember what the heck I wanted to talk about...

Well, I had an awesome birthday. Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes on facebook. It was like getting one really big birthday card -very cool. On my birthday I went to Chili's with my roommates and then went to go see Eclipse (that's the newest one right?) with my bestfriend. It was a ton of fun. Katie and I had seen Twilight in theater and it was so funny to listen to all of the little girls giggle and gasp as they watched the movie. This time, as Katie pointed out, I was the one giggling because there weren't many younger people in the theater but this made her laugh which made me giggle more.

Oh fun times! Honestly, all my giggles were probably not helped by the fact that my birthday dinner was accompanied by a birthday Margarita :) We went to Barnes and Nobles between dinner and the movie and I have to say it just seemed wrong to have a buzz at the book store. It was hillarious, though. Kathchen practically had to be my translator -not because I was hard to understand but because, apparently, I don't listen as well when I have a buzz. (The Starbucks guy asked me if I wanted my drink with or without ice and my simple reply was "yes.")

I liked the movie. My only criticism is I can't stand Jasper's hair. He just looks like a sad clown all the time. Of course, I couldn't keep this observation to myself so I told Katie. The effect of this was that we would both bust out laughing anytime Jasper was on screen even if the scene was a serious one.

I know this post is kind of rambling and all over the place but I have just one more thing to mention. We decided that my birthday would be the day to try out karaoke. Katie, John, and I all got to go the day after my b-day which was amazing since I don't think the 3 of us have all gone out with out their kids in years! I know your probably hoping to here that we got up there and belted out some tunes, but despite the presence of a good amount of liquid courage none of us got up there. Everyone else was just too good! And it was still very entertaining just to watch. So, there's that.

2010-06-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Lawrence to go to Worlds of Fun with my roommates and all of their family. Late one night while we were hanging out Katie's sister Erin played this song which is hilarious all on it's own; but even more so because it reminds me of Terra (she is part daschund after all ;)

Dixie the Tiny Dog
by Peter Himmelman

I'm a tiny dog named Dixie
I have small feet which pitter patter on the linoleum floor,
you can hear my toenails in the middle of the night

My tag says I belong to the Johnsons, but they don't own me,
they just feed me, they just bought me one day
No one owns me, I'm Dixie the tiny dog

And in the middle of the day I sit in the sun and I hear young children call me a weiner dog, perhaps that's what I am
The Germanic term is dachshund, and I like that

I'm thin and I'm proud and no one can make fun of me
I can slip through the bars of a prison if I were ever incarcerated,
but I don't know what I would do wrong

My body yields no evil inclination, I'm a pure weiner dog

My name is Dixie, and I go dancing 'cross the floor in the evening of the Johnsons when everyone is sleeping

Sometimes I look for a morsel of food, but they're so clean they're almost anal-retentive in their cleanliness habits and there's nothing for me
But I don't despair

Because I know tomorrow my Gaines Burgers will be there, and they will unwrap the plastic from them and then feed me this succulent dish, and I will eat

And oh, I've watched the German Shepherds with their long necks, their graceful necks, dipping into the toilet to drink whenever they want to have a drink of cool water in that well

But I must plead, I must beg, I must whine for Mr. Johnson to put out my bowl, or one of the Johnson boys to refill it after I drink it,
because I'm Dixie the dog and I like water

And in the middle of the night you can see me dancing a small Fred Astaire tap dance,
with my little toenails
They go click click click against the linoleum, and I run down the hall and I slide

And the back of my goes in front of me...slowly
I'm long and I'm thin,
I'm Dixie the tiny dog and I like it.

Yeah, it's funny and if you don't believe me you should find the song on the internet and look at this picture while you listen to it

Memorial Day Weekend Camping

2010-06-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

The Rice's Tent @ El Dorado Lake

Silly Kenzie has table for a dress!

Ha! finally got a pic of Ethan almost looking at the camera ;)

I broke my tent last time we went camping so Terra and I slept in my car; it was probably more comfy than a tent.

I went camping with the Rice's this Memorial Day weekend it was short but definatley sweet! Katie John & Co. went up to El Dorado lake on Friday night and I met up with them Saturday night after I got off work. I only got slightly lost so by the time John led me to the camp site dinner was ready (Delicious barbeque burgers!)

The camp site was right on the lake which was pretty warm and the water was fairly calm too. We ate dinner and toasted a few marhmellows then Ethan and Kenzie went to bed. After a couple hours of talking, drinking, and poking at the fire the grown ups went to bed to.

There weren't many bugs at the lake, which was awesome.

The next day Kenzie got to spend some quality time together. Poor Ethan hurt his arm and his parents took him to the hospital just to make sure everything was ok. In the mean time, Kenzie and I went to a playground then we went over to one of the ponds fed by the lake tributary and swam (waded) for a while. By the time we showered and dried off Ethan and his parents were back with a full bill of health and lunch, too! Then the storms rolled in so we all headed back home. The End.

Clarification

2010-05-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

O.k. so my last blog was a bit vague at the end. I meant that I was planning a vacation to Idaho this summer, not that I was planning to spend summer vacation in Idaho. Sorry! Although the weather would certainly be an improvement plus all the family! Oh I wish... but I don't know how that would work with employement. So, school is almost over this semester. Just my presentation is left for tongiht. I think I'm ready however I have had a major case of mumble mouth today which is not too promising.

What else....everyone got sick last week -I made it through with nothing more than a stomach ache.

Finally got my Ipod working so ofcourse today I downloaded a bunch of new stuff.
We've made it through about 3 tornado watch/warnings (?) no damage/nothing close.
My car's registration is expired and I'm now driving illegally :( I have to fix the windshield before I can take my car to be inspected and of corse it won't stop raining long enough for me to do that.
Bobby just started training at a Professional Wrestleng company in Salt Lake. He goes down on Monday and Tuesday. He is still working construction full time this summer too.
Ben is still working at Converges. He is up for a promotion to Assistant Trainer- I don't know if he got it yet or not. He's also working on getting registered for fall at ISU.
Rainey passed away a couple weeks ago which was sad for us and really hard for the boys since had to put her down. But we were all comforted by the knowledge that she was extremely spoiled in the last years of her life after our family adopted her.
Terra is just as spoiled, and healthy, as ever.
I got a bunch of beautiful pictures of all of the Great-Grand daughters from Julie last night (thanks bunches!) It's good to see what's going on the other side of the world :)

That's it for now but maybe I'll be motivated to get out and take some interesting pictures now that the semester is over and I have more free time...

Deadline: one week!

2010-05-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to get busy! Finals start next week but first I have a research paper that needs to be finished, a presentation, and an interview to be conducted entirely in Spanish (yikes!)
I can do this... it is not a big deal I've had a heavier course load before and I have procrastinated worse before.
I also set up another meeting with my advisor because all the sudden Wichita State isn't so sure the math classes I have taken are sufficient to grant me graduation in December. Ok-that is why I switched to Bachelor of Arts instead of Sciences we had this discussion last year :P
I feel like no matter how many things I remember to get done I still end up forgetting the other half of my list! (Like updating the registration on my car or getting the accelorator fixed on my Toyota...)
I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. I keep making lists because that always helps me when I don't know where to start. Unfortuanely, I start on the list then when I can't get the first 3 done for whatever random reason I get discouraged and give up on the whole thing.
Katie has the same problem and we have acutally joked about swapping lists and doing the others chores so that we have more motivation to get things done or so that if we fail at least we fail together :)
For now, my plan is to get everything done -in one week- and then to reward myself by planning a summer vacation back to Idaho. Time will tell how well that pans out!

The Almost Adventures of Terra and Justine

2010-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

I have had a hard time getting going in the morning on days that I don't have to work lately, so today Terra and I took a walk. The weather was perfect for walking; not too chilly or to muggy. I love to walk long distances especially when the weather is good, so we walked for quite a while. We actually didn't stop walking until the road was blocked by several (large) fallen tree branches. At that point, I was contemplating finding a way through or around the branches but then I guess my self-preservation instincts kicked in. I've heard a lot urban legends about hidden fields of wild pot in Kansas. And I think I've seen too many movies like Without a Paddle and Rolling Kansas where some innocent bystander stumbles across said field only to be chased and terrorized by some backwoods drug lords. Well, I decided Terra and I weren't quite up for anything that adventurous this morning, so we went home. In actuality, I'm pretty sure I just let my imagination get away from me -after all I was probably still on the May's land and not several miles from the last vestiges of cultivated farmland as I had envisioned.

Lazy Lady

2010-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Oi, I have been so lazy lately! It's got to be all this wonderful weather we have had this week but I just cant stand to stay inside and do homework. I am also very irritated that the university's wireless network only exists in the library so I can't leave this building and go smell all the blooming flowers. Oh, well.

So I got my haircut a couple weeks ago. I finally decided to try something new and at the urging of Kathchen got a what basically amounts to a shaggy bob. I really like it because it is so easy and I am so lazy right now. What I think is really funny though is that my hair is right on the verge of being a mullet. (Eew I know :)

The thing is all my life (or at least as long as I have had control over my hair) I have avoided anything too wispy, shaggy, or short layered. This, I think, stems from the fact that I was born in the 80's and that my Mom was a big fan of all those feathered hairdos so popular during that time period.

So anyway, now I have a mini-mullet and I don't really mind because there is no bulk, no heaviness, no hair flying in my face...besides I guess if Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning can rock mullets in The Runaways I can, right ? (haha don't answer that)

And sorry, but no pictures will be posted because I am feeling particulary un-photogenic as of late.

2010-04-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

~Robert Frost

Something New

2010-04-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

My roomates both heard about a webste called chatroulette.com. On the site you can go and chat with people all over the world. You chat by typing but you have a webcam up too. If you don't like the people that randomly appear you can pass them and they can pass you. Otherwise you can have some pretty interesting conversations. Last night my roommates went on to see what it was like and it was pretty different. Unfortunately, as you might suspect, you see a lot of male parts but you can report that stuff.

Katie and John chatted with a nice guy from Malaysia while Katie cut John's hair. Then they talked to some teenagers who were taking hits off an airdust aerosol can from Wyoming. Katie and I took turns on camera too, because it seemed like people were passing John just because he was male. We talked to some guys in Switzerland, Norway, Brazil, and a couple of high-school girls in Florida who said I looked like a movie star (they were stoned.)

It's kind of fun if you can get over how slow chat moves sometimes and if you can learn to block out all the male parts. It is strange to to sit there and type when you are looking right at a person, but it takes some of the pressure off you so its not hard to think of something to say. It is also impressive how many people around the world speak English fluently. Especially when I am struggling to pass Spanish II =)

So, if you go to the website: don't bring your kids, keep an open mind but keep your eyes slightly averted, and bring Nutella because it is a good icebreaker -almost everyone will talk to you about how much they love Nutella!

Terra's New Boy-Toy!

2010-03-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

I noticed a couple weeks ago that Terra seemed kind of bored lately. All she would do was sit on the couch (probably because I was sitting on my butt next to her studying.) I have bought her a whole bunch of different toys buy she is pretty picky. She likes rawhides but devours them pretty quickly and they sometimes upset her stomach. For some reason she only likes toys made out of hard plastic like the kind my niece and nephew's toys are made out of.

One day the thought occured to me that it would be hillarious if I got her a Barbie. I could just imagine her dragging it around the house by the hair. I told Katie about my idea and she said I was nuts, but I did it anyway. I actually decided to go for a Ken instead of a Barbie so that 1)Terra wouldn't choke on the hair and 2) Kenzie wouldn't be jealous (her parents aren't really digging the whole playing with Barbies thing:)

And, despite the eye rolls from my roommates, it was completely worth it. Ken only cost $5 and Terra has had a heck of a time attacking him, cuddling him, and protecting him from Prints and Sugar. You probably all think I'm nuts but I feel better too, poor Terra has a new friend to terrorize for a while.

Smell...

2010-03-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

The weather was wonderful this weekend! There is a Burger King across the street from where I work and whenever I go out to check in or out a car the smell makes me want to have a barbeque/picnic soooo bad! My family had quite a few barbeques last summer when was I was in Idaho and I think now I'm having withdrawls ;) I love how smells trigger memories like last night as I was bringing in Terra I could smell dirt and rain and it smelt like summer. I think it is weird, though, because every so often phantom smells will trigger a memory or a craving. For example, I was home and all the sudden I thought I smelled eggo waffles with maple syrup and it smelt so good! This was pretty odd considering no one had cooked with maple syrup, we don't have eggo waffles, and besides that I don't really like eggo waffles or maple syrup.

I think it would be interesting to study how a craving is created. What happens in the brain that makes you think you need brownies. Everyone talks about how pregnant women have the worst cravings, so it must be hormonal. But how the heck can a hormone tell something in your brain to eat ice cream and pickles? (I've tried that before, btw, and it wasn't that bad.)

Ok, I don't know where I was going with any of that. I guess I just felt the need to babble about food for a while. The good news the whole time I've been writing about food and thinking about food I haven't been eating food. If I keep this up, though, I'm afraid a craving will attack and I will be forced to eat something that I probably don't need so goodbye!

No complaints here!

2010-02-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

My last couple of posts have been fairly negative, fortunately I have nothing but good news to report today. I had the most awesome weekend ever!
After a pretty rough day on Thursday I came home to flowers and cookies from my roommates, who are coincidentally the BEST FRIENDS EVER! Then Friday night I went to go see Kenzie sing with her Educare class mates. She was adorable--Kathchen took a video so whenever you talk to her pester her until she posts it on facebook or blogspot or both! Saturday I went out with "the girls" for Sammy's 21st birthday we ate dinner and went to a comedy club it was a ton of fun. Then yesterday I went to Exploration Place (I think that is what it is called) with the Rice Family. There is sooo much fun stuff to do there: make music, play with potato heads, water tables, airplane stuff. Then after the museum Katie and I went shopping!!! Which was wonderful because we both had "fun money" that we could spend on whatever we liked without feeling guilty.
My goal is to use the positive power of this weekend to propel me through the next couple weeks so I don't get drug (dragged?) back down in to the daily doldrums.

A Quick Quip

2010-02-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

I am starting a petition to remove February from the calendar. I do not like February! January starts out with so much promise and then before you know it its Febuary again. When you think about it it makes sense: February is the shortest month of the year, everyone you know gets sick again in February, and who really needs another month of winter anyhow?
Now, if you have a birthday or anniversary in February (and several of you who I know and love do) don't worry...we'll just add another month into spring! Wouldn't that be great? More flowers, more sun, and birds chirping. You could have your birthday party outside!
Yeah I think that would work...now I'm just working on the logistics.

And the word of the day brought to us by dictionary.com is:
hypnagogic: inducing sleep, of or pertaining to drowsiness.

Definately gonna use that one! "This reasearch paper is hypnagogic," "Doctor D's lectures are hypnagogic," Q: How was work? A: Hypnagogic.

Playing Hookie

2010-02-08T14:16:00.001-08:00

We got yet another load of snow last night. There is probably only about 8 inches on the ground so it's not that bad. I'm just irritated because my roomate's school cancelled class today, plus all of the public schools cancelled classes. For some reason Wichita State (the areas biggest commuter school) decided to still have class. Well, I'm sorry but I can't get down the drive way and yes it is my fault I live in the country and not the city -but I also don't feel like driving down the icy interstate at 10:30 pm.
At this point I'm really debating whether or not I'll make it to my dentist appointment tomorrow morning. We don't have any more snow fall scheduled for this evening; I just have a rather embarrasing tendancy of getting my car stuck when there is a lot of snow. Last time I got stuck in front of our house and John had to tow me out with his work truck.
The bright side to all this is that I get to stay home and eat all the yummy superbowl snacks my room-mates and I bought but did not consume yesterday. I will try to maintain some level of will power and not fully pigout however because my workout buddy sprained her ankle on giant inflatible obstacle course at the birthday party we attended yesterday.

Happy Birthday

2010-01-24T15:26:00.000-08:00

I decided that yesterday, January 23rd, would be Terra's birthday. I made this decision party because my January calendar seemed so empty but also because I just wanted cake! Kenzie helped me make a Red Velvet cake which was delicious! I really don't understand Red Velvet cake. You would think it would taste like cherry or stawberry, but its just a little chocolatey and very red! The frosting did not go on as smoothly as I hoped so we frosted half then I melted the rest and poured it on so it would be frosted. Everyone like the cake alot, including Terra (I let her lick the frosting tub and some of the crumbs off my plate.) Then when I got up this morning Kenzie asked if we could "make Terra's birthday, again tomorrow." It turned out so well last night I'm not sure I should say no ; )
So in non-birthday cake related news:

I've still been getting to the gym regularly and I'm still enjoying it -probably because my best friend goes with me so it is not as much of a chore. I'm not really seeing any results from going to the gym yet, but that could be due to the fact that I like to make up birthdays and holidays just so I can eat desserts.

School started again. Not so excited about this but so far so good. I have Spanish II this semester and it's been so long since I took Spanish I I'm trying to catch up on old vocabulary. I also have a history research and writing class this semester. This one will be a lot of work but I think I'm prepared or at least I hope I am.

Work is work.

Boys are stupid.

My family and friends are wonderful as ever!

Well, now, I thought that I had been charging the computer the whole time I was writing this but no I'm getting a battery warning signal and I see that the cord is on the ground and not plugged into the computer as I had intended. So, I had better go before I loose all the work I've done online (for the second night in a row.)

Wrapping up 2009

2010-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe 2010 is here already! I haven't settled on any resolutions yet... not so sure I'm going to either ; ) However, the 6 month plan Kathchen and I created to help get in shape has been reinstated! (In all fairness we never quit we just got a little more lax with our workout schedule.) We've added sitting in a sauna to our routine which is really cool because it makes you sweat out all of your toxins and gets your heart pumping as much as if you did 30 minutes of aerobic activity. I am very grateful to her Aunt and Uncle who let us come up to their house and sweat in their sauna a couple times a week-it is awesome!

Another thing we've done is getting memberships to the YMCA. We had memberships last year but then it became too expensive. This time I applied for financial aid and now it only costs me $15/month to go workout, swim, or see a personal trainer. We've gone swimming twice since I got back last Tuesday! Actually, its pretty funny because both times we've gone things have gone a little crazy. The first time we went we were so excited to have something *free* to do on a normally boring weekday that Kathchen forgot to pack all the necessities. She packed swimsuits for her kids and for her, towels, shampoo, lotion, diapers, clothes for the kids, but she since she wore her swim suit there she forgot to pack clothes to change into after swimming. I felt bad laughing but it was just too funny! She had to use the hair dryer to dry out her suit and I gave her my shirt to wear over it and just zipped up my hoody since it was my only shirt.

We went swimming again today. This time we tried really hard to remember everything. Kathchen went over her list about 15 times and I gave her a hard time, too, about remembering a shirt and underwear. It seemed like we were all set, but alas, we got to the pool and found out Katie forgot towels! Oh-my-goodness. I swear I am going to make a swimming checklist tonight! Oh well, the whole thing was so funny and we had so much fun swimming that it didn't matter that we all had to share one towel. Besides that, swimming at the Y has taught me a very valuable life lesson: showering and drying and dressing kids is hard!!! Kudos to all you parents-I'm saving up for a nanny starting now!

2009-11-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Babysitting a 9 month old baby= unexpected games of hide and seek.
Babysitting a 9 month old dog= digging unexpected objects out of choking dogs mouth.

p.s. I love my room-mate who (after watching scary movies with me all weekend) decided to tell me that the the strange tapping noise that is suddenly occurring in our house is probably just someone stuck in one of the walls who wants out.

Fall Update

2009-10-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not sure if I should call it Fall or early Winter since pretty much everywhere is getting much lower than normal tempuratures, hard frosts, and the not so ocassional dusting of snow :P Here is an update anyhow
I have a cold- it is pretty mild but I've already given it to two of my roomates which makes me feel pretty bad since they usually get more sick than I do. I also skipped a couple classes just so I wouldn't get the evil eye from 40-odd strangers who think I came to class for no other reason than to infect them with H1N1 or something.
Terra is fat! Her belly is seriously bloated. She got into the garbage yesterday and ate a whole mess of things everthing from banana peels to dirty baby diapers. Oh and to top it off she has flees and I've already treated her for them twice but they keep coming back. I lover her to death and I feel bad for her but right now...? words escape me
Went to a pumpkin patch last weekend it was alot of fun. There are giant slides and trampolines and sand boxes filled with corn. It was a ton of fun to watch my niece play. Then we went and picked out pumkins we got just about every color and size of pumkin they sold then we carved them and they turned out pretty good. I would post pictures but 1 I didn't take any and 2 I can't find my camera cord so even if I took pics I couldn't post them.

Can't think of much else going on right now so I'll just end by giving you an update on the boys.
Ben: midterms went very well.
Bobby: has a new puppy -a black lab/basset hound mix named Annabelle.
Yep I talk to them fairly often and that is all the info I have. What can I say they are boys and they don't talk much.

Reading Radio

2009-10-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

I loooove children's books! I never remember this until I start reading one. Unfortunately, being back in school I have lost the privilege of picking which books I get to read. Another down-side to being back in school is have to drive into town (30miles) 6 days a week. Needless to say the local radio programing gets pretty annoying. I try to switch it up but I can only take so many sad country songs, so many depressing news stories, and maybe my age is catching up with me but the young pop stars and their endless stream of mindless singles are getting to me!
Luckily for me, my room-mate got a whole bunch of great books on tape from her sisters and her mom and she let me borrow them. Right now I'm listening to The Chronicles of Narnia series. Which, of course, explains my renewed obsession with children's books. Its just so relaxing to listen to a world of pure fantasy and optimism every once in a while. I think adults get too bogged down by all the responsibilities and all the reality sometimes to just sit and wonder.
Anyhow, I just wanted to share in case someone else was starting to feel run down by the real world. As for me, the next time I get online I am definately searching for the Wizard of Oz and Lemony Snickets on audiobook- let me know if you can think of any more :)

The Fair

2009-09-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

We went to the Kansas State Fair yesterday it was a lot of fun. I think the food was the best part. I ate a tacone ( a cone shaped taco you eat with a fork) and then for dessert I bought deep fried oreos. They were delicious but very sweet -good thing I had friends there to share with. We went through all the vendors exhibits and through the livestock too. We didn't ride any rides I think we were all too stuffed. One of the food vendors had stuffed cucumbers, I didn't try them but my friends said they were great. They were just giant hollowed out cucumbers full of either ranch, crab salad, chicken salad, or tuna sald. And because I had to have a souvenier from the fair I brought home a carmel apple.

I started back to work at budget on Friday. I'm glad to be making money again :) I was surprised that all of the computer stuff and rental rules came right back to me after 7 months. I was especially glad to have free car wash privledges once again (my car definately needed it!)

So far school is going good, I'm keeping up with all of my assignments and have only skipped one day -granted that was the first day :p
I need to post some pics because I've noticed my blog is getting pretty mundane so hopefully I'll get around to that sometime this week. In the mean time I hope everyone manages to keep healthy/get healthy with all the bugs going around.

Koodos

2009-09-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a minute to thank my best friend: thanks for helping me eat an entire bag of cookies today and thank you more for still being willing to workout 30 minutes later even if we were extremely full and Ellen was on. You're the best!

Terra's New Playmate

2009-09-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to think of too much to blog about lately. Mostly I just go to school and read a lot now. Terra hasn't readjusted too well to Kansas life, however. There's a new puppy in town and this new puppy just happens to be 60 pound white lab. It's kind of funny actually Sugar, the lab, will run over to Terra so excited to play and Terra just falls over flat on her back like a possum playing dead. She acts like she's a lot more traumatized then she actually is. I think she just misses Ebby-she ejoyed wrapping her arms around her and pinning her down while Ebby tried to chew off Terra's ears.
This was kinda short but it's time for me to go. I am babysitting and Kenzie has now scolded me twice for not eating my dinner (made of carebears and pinto beans) she said she would give me one more chance and then she was going to bop me on the head and blow me into a wolf :)
(we've been singing little bunny foo-foo and the three little pigs obviously.)

Where does the Muffin Man live?

2009-08-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

My best friend and I have a long standing argument over where the Muffin Man lives (i.e. Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?) She says he lives down Drury Lane; I say Mulberry Lane. I figure why would the muffin man want to live down Drury Lane? It sounds so dark, depressing, and drury. Where would he get the inspiration to bake? I believe it is more likely he lives down Mulberry Lane. Doesn't that sound like a nice, cozy, sunshiny street? There are probably even Mulberry bushes on Mulberry lane and that is what inspired him to become the Muffin Man- Mulberry Muffins!
In any case, Ben and I were driving down Mulberry Lane (actually Mulberry Drive) in Fort Collins last night and we had a pretty good time. We made it to Fort Collins, our stopping point, around 6 last night. We would have made better time but there was a lot of construction and the first 3 hours of the trip had to be driven at 45 mph. We also could have driven farther South so that the drive would be shorter today but I liked Ft. Collins last time I drove through and wanted to see more and show Ben what a real college town is like.
I made a tactical error right off the bat, however. Ben had his window down and as we drove up Mulberry to get a view of Ft. Collins and I kept saying very loudly every time someone walked by, "Do you know the muffin man?" This, for some reason, annoyed Ben. He took it out on me by driving around the enitre town for about 2 hours so that he could see every single resteraunt before he made up his mind as to what he wanted for dinner. I, of course, was starving since I hadn't eaten anything since my Little America hot dog at noon. Well, I've learned my lesson - if you want to be annoying you better be the one driving!
We should get to Wichita about 6 or 7 tonight (that is if Ben ever wakes up:P ) I'm excited to drive him around a bit and show him where I've been living for the past 3 years! Unfortunatley, I won't get to show him a lot because we get in at whatever time tonight and then I have to take him to the airport at 5am in the morning so he can catch a flight back to Pocatello. I don't think it will take as long to figure out dinner tonight, though. I made him try my frozen custard last night and now he is addicted. He wants to know why they don't have this stuff in Poky and is planning on rectifying the situation by opening his own shop-what a goofball ;) Gotta love the kid especially since he drove the 16 hour trip with me out of the goodness of his own heart.
That's all for today stay tuned...

Birthday Re-cap

2009-07-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm 25! Thank you to all my birthday well wishers. Yesterday was pretty good, pretty mellow. It was pretty much too hot to go anywhere until after dark but that ended up working out just fine for me. I did get the AC in my car re-charged so now I can manage to drive around without being afraid I'll pass out from heat exhaustion ;)
My plan was to get my ears pierced...I know how adventurous; but they haven't been pierced since 3rd grade so it pretty exciting to me. Anyhow, that was Bobby's gift to me but he had to work so it is postponed.
The boys and I went and ate dinner together, that was nice. Bobby bought me dinner at Red Robins in I.F. (if your in the area I don't recommend this particular establishment it was not as good as other locations.)
And, of course, I got my favorite birthday cake- German chocolate cake! Can't go wrong there unless you don't like nuts and coconut. Said cake has essentially ruined my current diet plan. Dang, what was I thinking having a birthday in the middle of my diet ;)
In any case now that I am 25 and more mature (lol) it's time to kick my butt in gear so today I am finally going to mail out the stack of bills I have had sitting on the table addressed and ready to go, call my Idaho friends and family and make plans to visit before I go back to Kansas, and of course clean the house. I'm pretty optimistic I will get this all done despite the fact that it is 11am and all I have done is lay in bed and eat cake for breakfast...

The Most Expensive German Food I Ever Ate

2009-07-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

I feel it is time we find a better material to make our roads out of. I mean rocks -how smart is that? Just last night I was driving on the interstate going to get some German food and a rock came flying at me at roughly 60 mph. I'm sad to say my windshield did not survive the collision. It immediatly cracked. At first the crack was only 4 inches (repairable by my insurance standards) but it quickly grew to gastly 20 inch long fissure right across the middle. So, of course, the windshield has to be replaced and the kicker is I have to pay for it all out of pocket because the cost will probably be less than my deductible.
So here is my rant: I hate rocks and cars that kick them at you and windshields that crack and insurance companies with rates and deductibles so high you don't know why you bother paying the monthly premiums....grrrrr.

4th of July

2009-07-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

Well, here is a quick update just because I get tired of looking at the same post everytime I get on the internet.

On the Fourth, as most of you already know, I was sick. Actually I wasn't really sick so much as I had the earache from hell. Not fun! I didn't make it to any of the Forth of July bbq's I was invited to but I still got to see the huge firework show they always have in Poky. I thought the weather would divert the festivities but it cleared up in time. I also invented a new 4th of July drink it consists of a glass of sprite a handful of blueberries and a red vine licorice whip that you use for a straw. Very pretty-and very sweet.

The only other new news is that I put in my two weeks notice at Sears since I'll be heading back to Kansas in August. I decided to quit early so that I wouldn't be so busy with boring stuff while I'm here in Idaho. Plus now I'll have more time for my farm ;) Actually, I think I'm gradually weening myself off of farmtown which I guess is an accomplishment.

Oh and by the way the photo above is my lazy pup. She snuggled herself under the covers all by herself, I did not pose her.

2009-06-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

I was a little bummed today because everyone in Kansas is at World's Of Fun today and I'm stuck working and cleaning. So I went to the website to look at the new rides and to brag to my brother's aboout all the rides I've been on. I was kind of suprised when I watched the video of the roller coasters. I hate to admit it but I always close my eyes when I go on rides because I am so afraid of heights. It's funny though because as I was watching I was thinking oh this is where i usually plead with the person in charge to let me off the roller coaster, hey this is where I start telling my friend I hate her for convincing me to get on this ride, and this is the part where I announce that I am going to die....Such fond memories :)

Making Plans for Fall

2009-06-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out what to do with school and work and what state i live in and everything. And I've finally been able to form some sembelance of a plan. In August I will be going back to Wichita so I can finish up school. The past month has been kind of hard because i am really jealous of all the people who have recently graduated. I'm even a little jealous of Ben who technically had an anti-graduation since he refused to go to the ceremony or even let me throw him a party or take him out for celebration.
In any case I need to get a move on and get my degree. I was thinking about transferring back to Idaho State since I'm here and my family is here and everything but that will not work unfortuanely. I'm not even going to think about whether or not ISU will accept my credits from Wichita State the main problem is moolah, $$$$. I currently have residency in Kansas. If I wanted to get residency in Idaho the rules state that I have to have been living here for one year prior to first day of the term I'm registering for. That would mean i couldn't even go back to school untill Summer or Fall of 2010. And that would reeeeally suck! I don't know why but i love being in school; I feel like a bum when I am not in school. Plus Wichita State has already offered me financial aid as soon as I verify my income records.
The boys and I have already talked about this for a while. Ben still plans on living here and going to school at ISU in the fall. Bobby is gonna stay here too. His band has been playing a lot of shows lately and have even been recording. Hopefully I can get his permission to put one of his songs on here sometime. So in the meantime I'm going to enjoy being in Idaho this summer (especially since it's already like 110 degrees in Kansas right now) just hang out with my family then plan to come back for Holidays etc.

A Day Off

2009-06-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

Terra and I had a very relaxing day off today. We went to the park and she ran in puddles. We stayed until she rolled in something dead. Our next destination was Petco-"Where The Pet's Go!" I thought it would be nice to get Terra some new treats, but she would not eat them so I had to test them myself (not bad). We also bought a mini Chuck-It; basically a stick that allows you to throw a tennis ball without actually having to touch the slobbery ball. We took it home and tried it out Terra, however, was more interested in eating a dead bird so I left her outside to enjoy herself and went inside to work on my farmtown. That's our day in a nutshell hope yours was as fun.

Random

2009-06-13T13:30:00.001-07:00

I was at Costco yesterday and I saw the funniest thing. One of the ladies handing out samples had the extemely easy (though probably mundane) task of distributing candy. It was like the bags of candy you buy at Halloween with the tootsie rools, starbursts, and laffytaffys. While alll the other sample giver-outers were microwaving pasta and cutting licorice chews into bite-sized bits she was going through her bags and reading all the jokes on the laffytaffys. And she was actually laughing out loud! I had to smile, plus it was nice to see someone genuinely having a good time at work.

2009-06-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I dragged Ben out of bed at the crack of 11Am and we took and impromptu trip to Yellowstone it was a lot of fun. We drove up through Jackson Hole, WY and into Grand Teton National Park. The scenery was gorgeous it made me miss old summer job at Jenny Lake Boating. We saw a couple Elk and a lot of Buffalo-one of the herds even had a baby buffalo.

Since it was such a short trip we didn't really have enough time to get out and walk around or take pictures. But we did pull up to the Old Faithfull Lodgue just in time for Old Faithfull to go off. It was kind of funny because Ben was going on and on about how the news says Old Faithfull isn't really faithfull anymore and has only been going off once every 4-6 hours. Then 2 min after we get out of the car Old Faithfull goes off true to its name. We turned around and drove home after that.

I was off yesterday too and made another impromptu trip. This time I got Bobby to come with me but we went to Salt Lake City because he has no interest in Yellowstone. Basically our only goal in driving down to Utah was to find this German deli my family used to eat at all the time. And with the help of google and a GPS we found it Siegfried's Deli in downtown SLC. We ordered our traditional meal of Wiener Shcnetzel and Spaetzel with hot potato salad. It was delicious, well worth the drive. I took Bobby to Guitar city after that because we couldn't think of much else to do. Needless to say he was in heaven.

After that we decided to get some ice cream and go home. Unfortuanetly SLC is not a easy place to navigate even w/ a GPS and we couldn't find any ice cream until we got to Ogden where we stopped at another family favorite: Farr Better Ice Cream. Needless to say I was in heaven. It such a nice quiet spot; a little small town gathering place for ice cream lovers of all ages. My weekend is over though and I have to finish getting ready for work now.

Reasons to Never Buy High Heels

2009-05-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

1. You will buy them thinking, "oh those are so cute and they don't look that high and if I wear them I will look taller and more professional and not have to hem my pants." In reality you will wear them to work and feel great for all of 20 minutes and then spend the rest of the night/day grimacing in pain as you run around taking 5 baby steps for every one step your merciless co-workers (in sensible shoes) take.
2. You will put said high heels away thinking, "OK not for work. I'll save them for a special occasion where I sit most of the night and only get up to go pee or chat with friends about how cute my shoes are." In reality you will come home from work ready to test out new special-occasion heels only to find that your dog has chewed them up!
C'est la vie; give the dog a treat and rent a movie instead.

2009-05-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Tried to put on my slippers this morning then realized I was stepping on my cat

Sharing Recipes

2009-05-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

I can't think of much else to write this week other than that I've applied for a job at a lot of places and so far have two potential aspects (MoneyTree and Sears.) But that is boring so here is a recipe just for fun.

BEN'S BETTER THAN SEX COOKIES...not for the faint of heart
1 layer of chocolate chip cookie dough (look it up or use the pre-made store stuff)
1 layer of home-made Carmel sauce (recipe to follow)
1 layer of white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie dough (again from scratch or store)
drizzle remainder of Carmel sauce over top and bake.
HOME-MADE CARMEL SAUCE
1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk
Place UNOPENED can of condensed milk in a saucepan. Add water until can is completely covered. Be sure can stays covered with water. Slowly boil for 3 hours. Cool can completely (overnight). Open it in the morning and you have a can of Carmel.

This is a recipe Ben and Mom made up apparently it is extremely rich and yummy. Of course, Ben doesn't remember what temperature you bake these cookies at or for how long but as soon as I find out I'll let you know. Ben just informed me he wants to make these cookies for school this week so its experimenting time!

Ben's Prom

2009-05-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures I got of Ben in his tux. I didn't get any with his date because I went to Burley before they left. That's ok she's ugly anyway...hehehe ;)

There is also a picture of the corsage I made for Ben to give to his date. You can't tell just by looking at the picture how huge it is, but trust me it was monsterous! I took the picture of it on my man-sized wrist but if you had seen it on a normal girl you would be able to tell how heavy it was.

In other news...

I'm really excited because I got the recycling can I requested from the City of Pocatello. I was paying my city trash bill online last month and saw that they were starting curbside recycling. I signed up for it but the site said that I would be on the waiting list for a couple of months. Then when I went to get my mail yesterday I found my new blue recycling can.

I know I am way too excited about this but I think it's cool because you don't have to seperate anything you just put everything that is listed on the top of the recycle can in. You don't even have to clean out your milk jugs or plastics or anything. My current guestimation is that aleast 70% of the stuff my brothers and I have been throwing away could be recycled. That's enough about that for now, though.

Sweet New Slide

2009-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well...looks like I've found something fun to do this summer. Lava Hot Springs is opening their new slide attraction.

It actually starts across the highway from the pool. There is a 60 foot drop and you end up going over 60 mph.

Of course, I'm a huge scardy cat. I'm extremely afraid of heights and fast things. But I still want to go. And if my best friend would make a summer trip to Idaho I'd definately let her make me go :) (hint, hint Rice Family.)

Actually, on the Lava website http://www.lavahotsprings.com/ you can see that there are 2 slides. The yellow one kind of looks less steep so I might attempt to ride that one. More than likely I'll climb up the stairs, wait in line, then turn right around and go wade in the kiddy pool. That would be enough of an adrenaline rush for me.

Of Mice and Other Stuff

2009-04-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

The past several mornings I've opened the front door to take the trash out and right on the threshold of the door every morning has been a dead mouse. I know cats tend to bring dead mice and birds as presents or tributes to their owners, but I wish they would stop. Today when I went out side again there was a dead mouse. I decided I would come back for it later and when I did all that was left of the previously whole mouse was the head. YUK! I don't know if the cat decided I no longer deserved the full tribute or if it just got hungry...

Meanwhile, the dogs are going crazy! There are a couple of sink holes in the backyard that developed when we had a leaky pipe in March. The ground has solidified now and I have attempted to fill the holes back in . Unfortunately, Terra and Rainy saw me doing this and it inspired them to create a new game. Every time I fill in the holes they dig them back up. So now there are two holes in the backyard (a greyhound sized one and a mut sized one.) I've given up thinking maybe that would discourage them from digging, but the holes are still there they just keep getting deeper. Apparently, the dogs are digging to China. They'll be real dissappointed when they get there and find out they eat dogs in China :)

Bunnies

2009-04-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

I very sneakily took these pictures on one of Gramma and I's various trips to Walmart. This was actually the second trip we made on which bunnies were not on our list but yet we still came home with an entire cart load. (Yes, that makes 2 cart loads of bunnies!!!) The bunnies are, of course, for Aunt Ruby's baskets next year. And, of course, Gramma does not know I have these pictures otherwise they wouldn't be appearing here now :) I had to post the pictures though because the situation was just too hilarious standing there digging through three shelves of bunnies post-Easter then pushing the cart all around the store and finally making sure each and every bunny rang up at the properly discounted price.

P.S. I'm sure Gramma won't be too happy to see her picture online. Well, sorry Gramma but I think you look dang good!

Good Times

2009-04-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

These pictures are from right before I left Kansas. I took these pics of K. and I while her parents were in the hospital waiting for baby E. to be born. We had a great time finger painting, playing dress-up, etc. Miss you bunches Rice family!

Taco Bandito

2009-03-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

Terra has been adjusting to being at my Mom's house pretty well. I was worried things wouldn't go so well given there are three cats and a huge greyhound already residing here. She is doing good, though, she plays tags with the cats and take naps with the greyhound. She's been pretty well mannered too. She hasn't tried to eat or chew on any foreign objects...other than just once.
The night that my Mom got back home from the hospital we got her a soft taco for dinner. Unfortunately we made the mistake of leaving said taco unattended while we went to go do meds. Terra stole the whole thing right off the plate! After discovering that the taco was gone I went looking for Terra. She was hiding under Mom's bed trying to unwrap a Wurther's hard candy as a little after dinner treat. Stinker!

2009-02-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

I awoke from my post Valentine's Day candy comma around 11:30 this morning. I decided it was time to eat something healthy after the 5 pound bag of candy my roomates bought, the chocolate covered strawberies my neice and I made as a Valentie's day project, and of course the homemade Whopper's Malt-Shoppe Ice Cream pie that's been hanging around the house for the past week.

I made a beautiful salad with yellow peppers, provolone cheese, spinach and some other kind of lettuce that I can't identify. I enjoyed the first couple of bites. It was nice, fresh, light and then I found.... a dead cattepillar!

I'm usually pretty good about rinsing my produce, I get a little lazy with the lettuce though (especially when the bag says "4 times washed and pre-rinsed.") Well I've learned my lesson! My appetite was completely gone so I threw away the deceptively delicous looking salad harboring who knows what else.

I also stopped at Walmart first thing this afternoon and bought a salad spinner. Don't know when I'll feel like eating salad, or anything else for that matter, but when I do I'll be prepared.

Tag

2009-01-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

I guess I've been slacking a little, Katie tagged me over a month ago to post 6 things that make me happy. This task doesn't really sound all that difficult but I guess I've had blogger's block or something.

Six Things That Make Me Happy (not in order)
1. Bookstores. If ever I need to kill time the bookstore is always my number one choice. I can spend endless amounts of time checking out new arrivals, classics, magazines, cookbooks, even kids books. For some reason I always feel more creative and inspired after I go to Barnes & Nobles or Borders. If I can't think of good essay topic for a school paper I'll go there and eventually I'll come up with something.
2. Friends. My friends, though few, are truly awesome! I can't tell you how many times I've made light night phone calls because I got lost or slid into a ditch or something-and they always come.
3. Family. Silly me I moved 1700 miles away from all my family! But I still love them and they still make me happy. Blogging is awesome because I now I can see what is going on in everybody's lives rather than just sit and remember good times.
4. My puppy. Sooo glad I finally got another dog. I don't know how she has formed any attachment to me; half the time I'm at work or school and it seems like the other half I'm sleeping. But it sure seems like she likes me as soon as she sees me she wags her tail and rolls over so that I can rub her little pink pot belly.
5. Chai Tea Lattes. Hot or cold, it doesn't really make a difference. It's like Utopia in a cup! Getting Chai has almost become a ritual for me and my best friend, so much so that her two year old will now sip her milk along with us and say, "mmm... that good Chai!"
6. Firemen. Firemen...somethings don't need explaining :)

So now I tag Aunt Julie, your turn just 6 things that make you happy. They don't have to be in any order it doesn't have to be the 6 things that make you the most happy just pick 6 things and have fun.

Merry Christmas, Dumbass

2008-12-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

So... I a couple months ago I decided to that it was going to be about 100% cheaper to drive to Idaho for Christmas than it would be to fly. I knew this idea would not go over well with my Mom or Gramma though, so I kind of let them believe that I would be flying in. My conscience got the better of me, however, and I told my mom the day before I left that we were driving. She, of course, immediately called Gramma and told on me. With in thirty minutes I get a call from Gramma it goes like this:

Me: Hello (happy, pleasant, completely not expecting what's to come.)

G: Dumbass! (not so happy.)

Me: Huh?
G: What do you think your doing?!
Me: (catching on) getting ready to drive home for Christmas?

G: Dumbass!

This is pretty much how our whole conversation went. I think it relieved some of the tension when I told her that my roomates were going and would probably do most of the driving since they are better drivers then I am. Her response to this was, " Oh well, that's better... Dumbass!"

My roomates and I left early Saturday morning for Idaho. We made it safely. Itwas a very long trip-we didn't get to Poky until 12:30am. A million thanks to John for driving the whole way! Overall things went very smoothly. Traffic was minimal, weather was fairly accomadating, and my car didn't break down or anything. Aces all around.

2008-11-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Oh my heavens... I have no idea were it all went wrong today-it started off so good too. I went to yoga this morning feeling great because I practised this weekend and I was prepared for all my tests and homework in my other classes. I felt really flexible, I had really good balance; overall it was a great workout. And at the end when we were in corpse pose our instructor came around and gave us mini foot massages. Usually I hate it when strangers touch me but this just felt really, really good.
So the day went on, tests went well, all my homework was handed in on time. Then, I don't know why but it all went south. I had a meeting set up with my advisor. I got there on time only to find his door shut with no indication that he was present. I waited a few minutes in case he just had the door closed while he was eating. Then I decided to knock on the door. No answer. Waited for 10 minutes (all the while trying to figure out if I'd still make it to work on time.) I heard him cough so I knocked again still no answer. O.K. maybe he just needs a minute? I wait five more minutes in the hall and just as I'm getting ready to leave he comes out of his office. And he's not so happy to see me. I remind him why I'm there. He says "I know, I've been waiting!" Well, after explaining that I knocked twice I foll low his grumpy butt back into the office where he takes approximately 5 minutes to examinine my transcript and degree requirements and tells me nothing helpful, nothing new, nothing that requires the help of an advisor whatsoever. So I apologize again and leave. Frazzled.
It only gets better from there. My manager and the General Manager decide to make a suprise visit to my office. Thus interrupting my lunch. For one hour and thirty minutes we discuss how we can make it easier to wash cars at this location. All the while, my ramen was getting cold and mushy. No lunch for me:( They left here giving me about 10 minutes to clean a car for my two o clock reservation (it takes at least 45 min to clean and wash a car.) All I can remember for the rest of the day is that I was supposed to make a run to our other store but between fighting with customers, cleaning cars, and dumping the cash (and coin) drawer upside down inside the filing cabinet I didn't get it done.
Terrible day. And they want me to come back tomorrow night after school now too! They scheduled a mandatory meeting. I just received a very polite memo that says dinner will not be served but we are welcome to bring our own food. Well, I think will bring dinner. I am going to bring the noisiest most disrupting food item I can think of. Not only that but I'm going to bring enough to share just to increase obnoxious factor.

Pulled Over

2008-11-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

I must be a slow learner. I have been pulled over about 3 times in the past two years. All three times for speeding 10 mph over the speed limit. I don't make excuses, it's stupid, its reckless, careless, and I always get caught.
I've never cried or flirted to get out of a ticket, in fact every time I've been stopped I've gotten a ticket. Technically, the first ticket was because I didn't have a copy of my driver's license with me the second was because I didn't have proof of insurance with me. I had both with me this morning and -what do you know?- no ticket! I am so grateful!!!
I'm going to go right out and buy a car with cruise control so I never speed again. Well probably not, but I'll daydream about it -a lot.
I think I'm sensing a pattern. Every time I get bored or fed up at work I get pulled over for speeding. (I'm only allowed 3 tickets then its goodbye Budget, hello classifieds!) Well, for now I am safe. At this rate, I think I should be able to make it to spring before my lead foot forces me to dust off that old resume.

2008-11-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

Terra and I had our first obedience class last night. She did pretty good. Getting to class was the hardest part. I volunteered to work an extra shift after school which left me approximately an hour and a half to travel the 30 miles home and 45 miles back to the west side of Wichita.
We made it, though. I am slightly uneasy about the fact that the building is out in the middle of nowhere, sandwiched between two railroad tracks, and has a heavy duty pin-pad lock on the door that stays locked all but 2 hours out of the week (even during classes!) If your late to class your out of luck. All of the people there were really nice. Dog people are just good people in general, I think.

I get to go to Idaho for Thanksgiving. I don't know if I posted this already or not but I am really excited so I'll tell you again. I've spent the past 2 Thanksgivings by myself (my fault because I moved I know) so it will be great to be with my family. I *think* the plan is that Ben, my Mom, and I are going to Grandma Pat's for Thanksgiving. Bobby's going to a Dallas Cowboy's game (boo!) In any case I'll be in Idaho from Nov 25 to Nov 29 and then I'll be back for Christmas -I'm not sure of those dates yet, though.

A Year in Pictures

2008-10-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a while. I just can't think of anything that interesting to write. So here are pictures from the past year. Pictures say more than words anyway. The first picture is my puppy. Sh is such a sweet heart. Her name is Terra and she is an adorable red beagle mutt who likes to howl when she thinks she is being neglected.

For those of you who don't know, the beautiful blonde in the pictures that follow is my niece. (She has changed a lot from the picture I have posted on my sidebar!) My roommates (her parents) are also in some of the pictures.

Wow... I still have nothing to say. I thought once I started typing the words would just start flowing. Oh well, enjoy the pictures!

Camping

2008-10-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Remodeling

2008-10-24T07:33:00.001-07:00

Halloween 2007

2008-10-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

An addition to the family...

2008-09-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

My dog Duncan (who I had since I was 12) died last March I loved him a lot and have really missed him since then, but I decided it was finally time to get another dog. So last weekend I went to the Kansas Human Society and I adopted a dog. She is only about 7 months old but she seems a lot more mature than that. She is a beagle/daschund mutt. She looks more like the beagle with daschund coloring. I need to post a picture she is really cute.
The best part is that she was a member of the Lonely Hearts Club. This is the group of dogs they have a hard time finding homes for because of age size and temperament. Tara (that's her name but I may spell it Terra like terra cotta b/c she is red) is really shy. At least she was. The first couple of times I walked by her she didn't move from her bed and barely looked up. Then, my 2yr old niece came by and she hopped right up. She wagged her tell and sniffed her. She even acted interested in the rest of us after Kenzie woke he up.
We took Tara home and she got along great with my roommates dog Prints. She likes all of us, and she doesn't bark. (She has howled a couple of times though.)
Past couple days haven't gone as smoothly as we started out. Tara is still a puppy, after all. She has gone to the bathroom inside a couple times. She likes to eat garbage. I'm trying to teach her not to jump up on people (especially Kenzie!) Yesterday was probably the worst day so far, she got so up set at being shut up in my room she flipped up the carpet and scratched up some of the padding. In all fairness she only continued the work of the dog that lived there before we moved in. Still, I was not impressed!
Oh, well. I still love her. Kenzie loves her too. I've heard her say "thank you puppy Justi" a couple of times. Tara likes Kenzie just as much; I'm pretty sure she thinks she's Kenzie's puppy not mine. The fact that I had her sleep in a crate today instead of on my bed will probably only reaffirm that notion. What can you do?

2008-09-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

By the way, I just realized that the AdSense banner at the bottom of my blog is advertising job openings for "female escorts $1500-2500/wk" -guess I've found my new calling. Just kidding-I'm removing the banner. Namaste.

2008-09-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

I can't decide if I like the cold, rainy weather we're having right now or not. It is great to not be dripping sweat from morning to night, but I think I may have caught a cold already. I don't know how I could already have a cold I haven't gone any where or done anything. I've basically been unemployed since I went to Idaho at the beginning of August. I could have got a new job sooner, but I was being lazy (and enjoying it.) As it is, I ended up back at Budget Car Rental. What can I say the money is just to good to pass up :) Really I just like a lot of my co-workers and missed them too much. Also they told me I could go work at the new store where business is so slow that I can just sit and do my homework all day. I thought this was an exceptional idea!!!
Well, one good thing about having so much free time is that I actually got to do something over the three day weekend. I went camping with my roommates which was a ton of fun. We cooked over the fire (ok john cooked over the fire; Kathchen and I just made smores), we went swimming, and hung out outside all day in what may have been the last good weather days this year. There was one fatality during the trip, however. My tent is completely destroyed, it has been obliterated. I had one of those cool tents that just pops up all on its own but last time I used it one of the internal poles broke. This made it hard to pack up and when I tried I think I broke it more. Still, the tent went up just fine this weekend. When I again attempted to put it away there was just no what it would fold down. So ripped and cut and stamped and smashed my tent into a nice tide pile of rubbish. This, of course, was very therapeutic for me.
That's all I have for right now...

2008-08-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Back to school, again. I love school! What a dork, I know. It's ok. It makes me feel better about the fact that I've been in school for ... more years than I care to count now. This semester I have Geography, World Civilizations, Intercultural Relations, more math and yoga.
I was a little worried about the yoga class because it is listed as Vinyasa Yoga and I thought that I had heard that is the class where they turn the heat up really high so you sweat out buckets of toxins or whatever. That wasn't the case though. It was pretty much the same as all the yoga DVDs I've ever bought. Except when I do yoga at home in my living room I don't really care that my shirt keeps flipping up or that my shorts keep slipping off my butt every time I bend over. Oh well, my instructor spent about half an hour talking about how we aren't supposed to look at the other people in the class, or even our selves in the mirrors; but look into ourselves and get in touch with.... I forget what -I was frantically tightening the drawstring on my pants.
I have to admit that I have become much more noticeable on campus since I started taking yoga. That's because I'm the dork dragging a bright orange yoga mat around from Stats to Anthro. I could just get a locker, but then I'd just look lazy lounging around campus in my sweats. Anyway I like the pseudo-superiority complex that I get when other people know that I was working out and they weren't. Just kidding- we all know my self confidence is too non-existent to allow that to happen.
Well I'm hungry, so it's time to go ruin my homework.

P.S. If anyone sees or talks to my Mom would they ask her to give her only-ist, loving-ist daughter a call :)

My Concession Post

2008-07-12T06:36:00.001-07:00

Katie and I have a long standing debate over who gets lost the most. And after the morning I've had I think that it is time that I finally admit defeat. Although it may seem that she gets lost more often, I find that I tend to get the farthest off course and that, unfortunately, tips the scales in my direction-I am the best at getting lost.

I'm working out in Hutchinson again this morning and again the weather is horrible. I was driving 55 on a 70mph highway at least 80% of the time. And I had to pull over once, as well. Conveniently, pulling over gave me an opportunity to ask for directions and to discover that I had meandered more than 20 miles off track. I cannot describe how frustrated I was without using several four letter explicates (OK maybe just the same four letter explicative repeated several times...)

Google maps and mapquest have both lost my business, so what if I don't actually pay them. I am going back to the old fashioned fold out maps-the ones so big they take the entire front seat just so that I can make sure that I'm headed in the right direction and check back every few minutes to reassure myself that I'm still going the right way (because lets face it I am directionally challenged.)

Want to know someone else who's lost my business? The makers of the Chrystler Aspen-they stink!!! I drive a work vehicle from Wichita to Hutch on Saturdays. This time I drove the Aspen which does horrible in the wind and the rain. It does not handle well at all! The entire time I was driving I just kept having this image pop up in my head of an elephant riding a unicycle holding an umbrella to try to improve it's balance. I must have seen this in a cartoon when I was a kid or something (I promise I don't generally fantasize about pachyderms and there various modes of transportation. Regardless, the analogy is valid.

2008-06-23T16:35:00.001-07:00

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Find you inner princess:
http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354

2008-06-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hey, so I've been checking everybodys blogs and trying to see if anything new is going on and I realized that I haven't blogged in a while. Here's the update:

Work: still working for Budget Car Rental-still don't like it.

School: started my statistics class last Monday. So far so good. It doesn't seem that hard yet I just need to stay dedicated to the work and not skip classes. I've missed 2 so far, but it was for a good cause. I really needed to work out and go shopping and have lunch with my best friend and my niece... alright I'm out of excuses so no more skipping.

Relationship status: Chronically Single. Don't laugh it is a real condition, even if it is self-diagnosed.

Anyway, I've really enjoyed reading all the blogs of my family in Idaho. I miss Idaho a lot. I think I am going to start planning a vacation there for sometime this summer. Sometime between the summer and fall semester. That's all for now though.

Weather Woes

2008-05-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a crazy week as far as weather is concerned. We've had severe thunderstorms with winds anywhere from 20-50mph almost every single night. Last Saturday I got home late from a trip to Kansas city only to be woken at 3 am by rolling, rumbling thunder, then hail, then extremely high pitched whining and whimpering from my room mates dog. (She's deathly afraid of thunder-I picked a bad night to offer to dog sit.)
The next night I was baby sitting my niece because her parents weren't getting back from Kansas City until the next morning. I was about to fall asleep when I decided it would be a good time to check the weather. The weather was reporting sever thunderstorms (again) so I wasn't to worried. But then K's parents called to say they were just going to try to drive back that night. So I thought I should recheck the weather to make sure their route was going to be safe. Now the news was reporting gusting winds of 60mph, golf ball size hail, and telling all drivers to try and stay off roads. I called to tell Katie and John this, they said they would be careful but they said they were going to keep on truckin'.
The news had put out a Tornado warning but not a watch for the area I live in yet so I figured we were safe. Not 10 minutes later they issued a tornado watch which means there is tornadic (is this a word?) activity. They said a rain rapped Tornado was likley headed through Augusta and into Towanda where I live.
That was a bit rattling! The radio said to seek shelter. (By this point I was listening to my portable radio because we had lost all power.) But there weren't any tornado sirens and nothing had been sighted. If I had been home alone I would have just stayed put, but K was there and that just made me too nervous. So we hoped in my car and drove up to Katie's Uncle's house to seek shelter.
I know your probably thinking that it was unsafe driving in tornado weather, but its ok we probably drove less than 1/10 of a mile. Plus its a whole lot less dangerous than runing the 1/10 mile trying not to let your 22 month old niece get bopped in the head by golf ball size hail. Anyways... I think I kept pretty calm through out the whole ordeal. It was dark so I couldn't find a flashlight (ironic, huh!) I couldn't find K's pjs either or (to my extreme embarrassment) my bra. When we got to Katie's Uncle's they were all as calm as could be. They're pretty use to this kind of thing. It didn't bother them at all. So we just sat up for the the last 30 min. the tornado watch and then we all went to bed.
The End.
Sorry that was a bit long. I do have one more thing to add to my weather woes of the week, though. We had several storms sweep through Wichita this morning and my car is now covered with dents from all the hail. At least it was old and dented to start with :)

2008-05-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

It a fairly nice Saturday morning. I'm watching everybody drive past me to go do their nice Saturday morning things. The Big Kmart across the street is surprisingly slow right now; I only see three cars parked there. Must be that new Target they put in on 17th street. Well, so far I am not impressed with Hutchinson Kansas. We opened a new store here and management decided that everyone has to take a turn working the store on Saturday. Never mind that the new manager was supposed to work Saturdays since he's the one who chased the new Hutchinson Customer Service Rep away. Never mind that I'm supposed to have Saturdays off now that I've been here a year and due to our high turnover rate am now second on the seniority list. Never mind that I'm in the middle of finals, that I requested to work part time, that I somehow ended up working 45 hours this week. Never mind -what was my point? Oh well, it's still a fairly nice Saturday morning.

2008-04-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

I've been sick this week. It has not been fun! I have three tests this week plus a major paper that I decided to put off until the last minute. I'm not sure if my cold was brought on by stress or if it's just bad timing. It doesn't really matter one way or the other. I just hope I don't spread it to my room mates. It has been really hard with my niece M. She always wants to play and be held (she loves me soooo much :) and I can never say no to her(I love her soooo much, too :) It would be horrible if she got sick.
Actually, her Dad is already sick, but I maintain that I did not get him sick! His coworkers have been sick and I have been very careful not to cough or sneeze on any of my roommates. O.k. I may be overstating my case here, but it seems like its always my fault when everybody else gets sick. Just because the industry I work in is a germ-infested, playground for bacteria; does not mean that it should always be my fault when everybody gets sick! I know that argument isn't quite logical but don't forget I'm sick, cut me some slack.

2008-03-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

I'm new at this and I really don't know how often I'll update or check on my blog, so be patient with me :) I actually borrowed this idea from my best friend Kathchen she and her sisters use blogs to keep in touch and it seemed like a really good idea. I put a link on my page to hers, she has lots of cute pictures and stories about her daughter (my wonderful niece McKenzie.) Also, I selected and option that runs adds on the blog which I am reimbursed for if anyone notices anythin inappropriate please let me know.