Weaknesses become Strengths

I have many weaknesses, but these are a few of my favorites : ). And honestly I think they're strengths because I have no desire to get rid of them ; ).

* Football. I love church, don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy going and seeing some of my favorite people. But honestly most Sundays I would truly prefer to sit at home and watch football, including all the pregame and postgame reports. I love it. I drink it in. I analyze. I listen to the hits. I boo at bad calls. I adore it. And giving my parents the opportunity to go to Cardinal (AHmazing) stadium today and have them send me super excited text messages just makes it that much sweeter. Tonight I will be searching the stands for my momma and papa bear in their Viking's jerseys! But really, football: I miss you when you're not here. Those 7 months are loooonnnngggg. And judge me how you will but college is crap compared to NFL.

* Soccer. I defend my sport to the last. I can't wait for the World Cup next year! First soccer kind of unites the entire world. (Let's just put aside the sheer violence that often results from the fans and focus on the fact that the whole world loves it) And I love seeing how excited South Africa is about having the games there. They're like little kids who realize it's their first Christmas. They want to make so much of it and they want the impact for their country to go way beyond just a sport. It's just like the Olympics bringing the whole world together, just with hotter men. And look at how awesome the draw is this year, there really isn't a weak group:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Poor group G but yay for us to watch! P.S. totally love the Ivory Coast!! I also would be cautiously optomistic about US' draw but really, we have a knack for disappointment so I stick with my favs.

* Starbucks. Um yum. Y.U.M. I can't even say any more about it because my heaven it just completes my life with its warm goodness. Any day any time I take a hazelnut hot chocolate (yes Abbey you win on that one), a caramel apple cider, or a chai tea latte.

* Cold Stone Waffle Cones. Just the cone. I can really leave the ice cream (don't worry I've already been informed I'm un-American), I really only need the waffle cone. I wish I had the bravery to just order the cone, but alas I don't.

So there we go, a few of my favorite weaknesses. And ya, I'm proud of them.

That's What it's all About!

I learned today that a couple days before Thanksgiving the 'real' composer of The Hokey Pokey died. I say 'real' because apparently there is a great deal of controversy over who actually wrote it. I don't really think that's important enough for controversy but I guess the people who said they wrote it (are all dead now but...) were quite proud of it.

Can you imagine though if that was your life's legacy?! And at your funeral people want to do that to honor/make fun of you? I hope I'm remembered for other things than a song that mercilessly gets stuck in your head. I can't even imagine the funeral of the guy who wrote "This is the song that never ends...." Don't get me wrong, I've done the Hokey Pokey many times and have some really fun memories of it, but really. I could have survived without it.

Another fun fact, this guy, Robert Degen, who wrote the song, is from Scranton, PA. Too bad Scranton is no longer famous for the Hokey Pokey, but The Office. And who doesn't love the Office. I didn't even know there was a Scranton before the Office. Maybe this is the life lesson: like Robert Degen and Scranton, you take what you're given. (Insert commercial break - You Will Take What We Give You!) Everyone want's to be remembered for something so even if it's small, like the Hokey Pokey or the Office, you take it because it's recognition of your life.... huh. That just got a little more existential than I was planning. I apologize...

You put your right foot in
You pull your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself about
That's what it's all about

And I'm done.

All in a Days Work

Here's the list of things I had to do today:
 - Call about satellite tv
 - Call the car dealership about my car
 - Clean
 - Study (uh perhaps the most important)
 - Activate my credit card

And here's what I did:
 - Cleaned
 - Activated my credit card

AND Decorated for Christmas!!

That's mostly what I did today and what truly made me happy. I love Christmas decorations and this is the first year that I get to decorate and I had no decorations! So yesterday I went out and bought some lights, glass icicles (my favorite), a wreath, and some other ornaments that I got from Bronner's a couple weeks ago.

So here's the fruit of my labors. It's not as impressive in pictures, but it's awesom eand it made me look forward to a couple weeks from now when I'm crazy from school and am going to go out and drive around and look at lights. Love them.

This is my wreath. It hangs on my door. I love the gold, especially the gold pointsettias.

These are the lights that I put up in the living room. They are Shannon's lights but I thought the arrangement was fun. Perhaps not the most functional thing, but fun.

These are the lights from my window. It's from the outside so you can't really see all my embellishments but I love it.

And these are my ornaments. The ones I have given my heart to. I love how they catch the light and how they will look when they're hanging next to little twinkly lights.

Christmas Joy!

Tik Tok

Normally I would put this kind of thing on my review blog but I think it's not exactly my highest standard....haha so it gets put on my blog where only I am judged. I found this new song by KE$HA called Tik Tok. It's really a ridiculous song, but it has a good beat that helps always, and the lyrics are so ridiculous that it makes me happy every time I listen because I just laugh. There is one line however that stands out above ALL the rest. So I came up with this (fictional) conversation that happens between Ke$ha and whoever wrote the song (I'm assuming it's some guy who has dreams about what girls really do, like pillow fights in our underwear during sleepovers):

Writer - Okay why don't we run through the song and you can see how you like it.
Ke$ha - Alright. (starts singing) ...(goes through about half the song).... "Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger, But we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger." Whoa. Wait. What was that last part?
W - Oh ya so you like that line?
K - Um.....well I like the first part.
W - I'm sensing some hesitation, don't you like the last part?
K - We're talking Mick Jagger, like the Rolling Stones right?
W - Ya! You know he's knighted right?!
K - Um no I didn't but uh....have you ever seen him?
W - In person no but I love his music.
K - Okay but you've seen like a picture of him right?
W - Oh ya.
K - Um I don't know how to say this but...uh...he's terrible looking. I would kick a guy to the curb if he looked like Mick Jagger. No guy I'm hoping to meet at a club better look like him. He's basically death incarnated. Not to mention I'm like 16 and he's like 60.
W - Oh man. I was hoping this wouldn't come up. Uh...I know that he's not that good looking, but I'm sure he has a good personality! And the guy's been knighted! And the Rolling Stones, he has to be rich ya know?
K - Okay that's all probably true....but why would that matter in a song about me finding a guy to go home with?
W - It should matter all the time Ke$ha!
K - Uh...seriously dude?
W - Alright you really want the truth, I really just couldn't find anything else that rhymed with 'swagger'.
K - Oh. Well alright let's go with it.

So there you have it. My favorite line of the song because the imagry conjured up is just hilarious.

It's Begun

Began? Beginning? I don't know that just doesn't look correct.....

Anyway, my English deficiency aside. Thanksgiving. More specifically stuffing. Or dressing. I'm still not completely sure (and yes I could google it daddy but ignorance is way more fun). Every year I ask my aunts (the cooking guru's of our family) what the difference is. I think it's only stuffing if it is actually cooked inside the bird, and dressing otherwise. I just always say stuffing. Mostly because I don't like to think about it coming from inside the bird, and I've just always known it as stuffing. Glorious, fragrant, bringer of all good, tasty delectable stuffing.

I'm pretty sure this is about the fourth blog I've written about my love of stuffing, but ya I just can't stop. I wasn't actually thinking about it that much this year because I was just concentrating on the going home part. But then I was listening to my ipod which has a cool/completely annoying feature where if you shake it, it shuffles through your entire library. So one day I'm rocking out to Lady Gaga and then it shuffles to...... BRIAN REGAN. What's the relation to stuffing you might ask? Well if it isn't entirely obvious I've failed as a story teller. Or it's just obscure.

I'll take pity though and maybe explain a little better. My amazing friend Kara loves Brian Regan as much as my sister and I do. She also happens to be a fan of stuffing. Last year during school we used to take breaks by having Stuffing/Brian Regan dates. They saved my sanity often.

So that long winded story about randomly hearing Brian Regan made me realize for the first time this year that Thanksgiving is coming!!! And very soon I will get to lovingly make and then devour stuffing. I can't wait.

Is anyone else as obsessed with a Thanksgiving food as I am? It is completely possible I'm just a weirdo ; ).

Running into Doors

I don't know if I'm the only one but I have a fairly significant amount of trepidation every time I come up to an automatic door. They're rigged to not open until they're sure that someone is really there which translates to - you have to be pretty close to them. I'm always pretty afraid that they're not on and thus not actually going to open when I come up. And if this happens then I would just continue walking and run straight into the door. I've actually seen this happen so I guess my fears aren't completely unfounded but the thought does go through my head every time I walk up to one. "Oh no what if it isn't really going to open?!"

it IS what's on the outside that counts

I notice my mood goes in phases and most often they have to do with whether or not I'm exercising regularly. Well lately it's been terrible and I haven't worked out hardly at and alas, my mood suffers. So in an effort to be happier and more positive and all that psychology stuff I ponder, I'm making a goal!

I'm going to exercise every day until Thanksgiving.

This is also to aid my incredibly superficial efforts to look better in jeans that are apparently not made to flatter me. And perhaps the more I exercise the less I will want to shop : ). Wish me luck!

we creep because we love

My bestest friend Lauren just came to visit me this weekend and we got to talking about our lives and it came up that one or the other of us saw a picture on the other's Facebook. Then we apologized for creeping. But then we both came to the conclusion that really, we creep because we love! How else would I know right after it happened that Laur thought she ruined a perfectly good picture?! Honestly though I only look around at people that I'm intersted in and genuinly like. Which is how I came across the fact that a lot of people in my ward have blogs! What fun! And so I started looking at all these fun people's blogs. I have discovered a couple things from this:

*One I am way more uninteresting than I originally thought. Disappointing.
*Two I'm okay with being boring because my friends and people I creep are so interesting and fun! So I can live through them/waste time reading about their lives/avoid doing work. Win-Win for everyone! My ward is really the best ever.

Hahaha my inadequacies aside though it's really fun to discover new ways to creep people! And I just have to step up my blogging game : ).

Hallowizzle

I think I am one of the few people who really truly LOVES Halloween. Most the time I don't do very much but that's just because if I started I would have to go all the way out and I don't have the means/time/energy to do that. But I do love it. I love thinking of costumes, seeing little children, candy, all of it. This year though I just focused on my costume, and I'm just going to show one picture because it really isn't that exciting. As I look back my costume was lame which makes me sad, but I was really excited about it anyway and I had a lot of fun. I went to one party and was really excited by the originality of other people's costumes. They were all so dang cute. I think I need to start thinking now about next year....

I was a rockstar btw. I was going to grab my guitar hero fake guitar but I forgot/thought I would be even more of a dork.

What was however interesting about the night was on the way home. I had my roommate Shannon in the car with me, we turned the corner onto our street and notice this guy in a long black trench coat seemingly waiting to cross the street. Then I notice that they guy is wearing a hockey mask like Jason (the horror film, there should be more information probably to describe him but I have none, he didn't have a chainsaw). So we turn the corner then he starts crossing the street and walking slowly down our street. Whoa. Okay here my mind starts going through horror film scenarios and I am internally freaking out because one I stop the car I have to put my boots back on! By the time we get out of the car the guy has made it almost to us and is still just walking slowly. We both non-chalantly walk to our door, making some kind of conversation about anything other than the horror film character following us. Then get to the door hurriedly get it open, get inside, and then proceed to check ALL our doors to make sure they are securely locked! Now guy was probably just doing this for effect, maybe he was even just walking.....creepy creepy night walking (at 12:30am!) but really. It was scary.

Fam Time

So I know I'm ridiculously late with this but the past couple weeks have been kind of insane. But this is about the weekend that Abbey and I had when she came to visit! I had so much fun and it was so nice to forget for a little while that I am 1500 miles away from everyone.

Saturday: Game time. So we played Delaware State which meant that it was pretty much a blowout, but it was still really fun to show Ab the hugeness of our stadium (ya it's bigger than Lauren's) and we had all kinds of fun with the wave (that's what the crowd does when we get bored). It was a little bit cold though so we only stayed until about the middle of the third quarter.
OH! the coolest thing about the game was at half time Delaware State's marching band performed, which while their football is terrible they have a competitive marching band that was awesome. They did a montage of Michael Jackson songs and the entire band did the Thriller dance! It was amazing.

Sunday: Road Trip. We took about a 2.5 hour trip to St. Joseph/Benton Harbor on Lake Michigan and went out to this cool little tiny lighthouse. I say little tiny not out of any real knowledge because this was the first one I'd seen, but just in my head I imagine them bigger. But we took a lot of great pictures out there, and generally had an awesome day. We also had some of the best cherry truffles ever!

This was the most awesome sign on the walk out to the lighthouse.

Abbey all serious.....me not. This wall though was aweomse, it was like natural photoshop!

So then I relented and we were both smiling!

Then we went to go we climbed down the cool little ladders.

And then just prettiness.

Monday: Shopping and daddy daughter time. No pictures from this but it was great fun to go shopping and find many wonderful things and then have dinner with daddy who had flown in for the day. I did take some other pretty scenery pictures that I could  mess around with and have fun so I of course need to show them off!

And my fav:

Leggings

I love leggins, don't get me wrong. I do not however, think that they are pants. I am not dellusional, and while I think I have an okay booty, it is not that nice. No one's is. I just don't understand why girls think that it's okay to wear leggings as pants. It just doesn't look good. Your legs just don't look that nice. Apparently though this is a great trend here in Ann Arbor. Odd girls will wear leggings, baggy shirts, sweaters, scarves and boots because it's cold.....but they're cold because they're not wearing pants. I don't know how this trend started, or was endorsed for that matter because every fashion designer I have ever heard has said "Leggings are not pants" but start it has and some fool girls have caught on or something.... Please don't expect me to ever catch on though, because if that is fashion (and I sincerely doubt it), then I am happy and pleased to never be fashionable.

Krazy Jim's Blimpie Burger

So this place was featured on Food Network by Guy Fieri. So when Abbey came we decided we should definitely try it out. And let me tell you it was really good. But I really hate the guy working there. I want to punch him in the face. I will go back but when I do, I am fairly sure I am going to be as rude as I am capable of being to someone who is handling my food. And here's why. The method that you order in that place is screwy, and it makes it painfully obvious if you've never been there before. Which is fine, ya know every place like that has to have some kind of schtick. Here's my problem. Just because I've never been there before does not mean you get to patronize me. I am not a moron and just because I've never used your random form of ordering does not mean that I am not capable of rapidly adjusting. The fool who I think has worked there for more than ten years and will continue to work there long after I'm gone told me that I needed a tray. Thanks, didn't see them at first. And then I only got one, because Abbey and I are not going to eat that much and we were paying together. In my analytical head there was no reason to waste another one. Then fool says in the most patronizing voice I have ever heard "She's going to need one too if she wants to eat." Do you want to know what I wanted to do with the tray? No but it played out like another scenario of have mused over involving a very large book. I DESPISE being talked down to. And if the hamburgers were not as good as they were I would not ever go back. But I think whoever goes with me may have to restrain me if that guy is working when I'm there.

Definition: Happiness

Just a few things that make me happy all the time:


Mm beautifully defined boys. The kind that make you stare, and loose track of time because you're staring. The kind that make me sure that I would stutter if I talked to them, and then get quite pink and giggle. (The stuttering part has actually happened to me before so not that far off) I know it's a shock that someone as serious and well put together as I could imagine giggling from a mere look but it can happen. I won't go on more because honestly I would never move on but for visual evidence please take a beautiful moment and read my sister's blog Yuh-UM.

Imagining shopping. And I say imagining here because I have really expensive taste. Don't get me wrong I am not a high maintenance girl (whole other explanation for another post), but I love expensive things. Not because they're expensive, it's just what I'm drawn to. I was about to buy boots the other day ($30 so don't get excited) and they didn't have my size, so I went looking. And ran across these beautiful specimens of shoe love: Christian Louboutin.

Oh man even his name conjures images of beautiful shoes and how amazing my feet would look if only I were wearing them. But these shoes, are so amazing I had to stare for a good long time. The entire time thinking to myself what I would have to do to make them mine.
He also has a beautiful variety of boots but I could not pick just one picture. This love of beautiful shoes and other expensive clothing and jewelry plays quite well into my dream of having a job where I get to dress up every day in things like this. Feeding this addiction is this months Lucky magazine. I think I found about 20 pieces of jewelry in there that I wanted. Unfortunately they were all over $150. I think I also need to move on from this because I could gush on this as well (translate: reader boredom).


Family visits. This week has not been particularly good as weeks in school go. But I have been increasingly happy despite that because tonight my sister is coming! And to my sheer and utter delight I found out on Sunday that my daddy is also coming in! I'm a total family time whore and openly admit this.
Things about this trip I'm excited for: Actually going to restaurants. Pictures! My facebook sorely needs a new one ; ). Shopping. Going to see movies. People watching with actually someone to talk to again. Football with someone to talk to. My phone bill hopefully decreasing slightly (jk not).


Cleaning. Insert your "woman's place" jokes here, then watch me punch you in the face. This is not a commentary on who should do what in the house, this is a statement of personal preference. I love it when things are clean. The end. And like the cleaning nerd I am I bought a vacuum a couple weeks ago and used it for the first time last night while preparing for my sister to come. Oh man, it's so fulfilling to use it! No more dirt. I can finally relax.


Random Conversations with Cory. If I had the time/patience I would put the conversation we just finished on here because it was golden. We just go back and forth adding a line to the story and laughing. It makes the day go by so much better when every ten minutes I have a new email.


Ah Happiness. Such a beautiful thing.

Balloons

Oh how I miss you.

Picture this: It's 5:30 in the morning and your alarm has just gone off. Normally this is not a good thing but today is different. You get up and drive to the mall to catch a bus which takes you all the way across Albuquerque to Balloon Fiesta Park. The city is just waking up and it's cold. And then you see hundreds of balloons spread out across the Park in various stages of set-up and taking off. For the next 4 hours you watch balloons get laid out, blown up, and then take off.

Alternative: It's about 7:00 at night and again it's cold. You again drive to the mall to take a bus to Balloon Fiesta Park. Tonight when you get there however the balloons only get blown up, they do not take off. And you get to wander through the balloons and watch while lit propane gets pumped into their insides lighting them somewhat like a glowing pumpkin.

They're massive and such fun shapes. Not just the normal balloon shape or the skinnier racing shape, but special shapes too, like the Shoe from the old woman who lived in a shoe, the haunted house, smokey the bear, the bees (a girl and boy)... And then you have the smells of the one-of-a-kind breakfast burritos that only New Mexico can truly make, and doughnuts and funnel cake, coffee, hot chocolate, basically everything good in life. These are all the things I miss right now. This is the first year I've missed it. Ah well, at least I have Kara to text me pictures of it :).

Wake Up Call

Dear Right Knee,
We have a long 22 year history together and I just want to start out by saying that I know how you feel. I also know that I perhaps have not taken the best care of you. I broke your femur, tore your ACL and then didn't fix it for 9 months, then after those surgeries I didn't ever wear a brace. I know, it was bad. So I totally understand the revenge you see fit to have on me when I start playing soccer again, or running, or just going up stairs. I get it. I am trying to do better at taking care of you. I also know that the cold bothers you. I'm pretty sure it's from the screws but I'm not sure because it doesn't happen all the time. But anyway here's my point. Man up knee. I live in a cold place now and so you had better get used to it being cold. 55 degrees is not that cold, so you better get used to it. I love ya but really drastic actions will be taken if you don't man up.

Love
Heidi

Giddiness

There are some things in my world that makes me so happy I would qualify it as giddy. I think about them, I'm immediately happy, I smile no matter what is going on (which occasionally makes me look like the village idiot), and sometimes when speaking about them I just laugh because I'm happy. Most of the time oddly (or in a more philisophical sense, more telling of my mental health) these this things are small, and really random. Because I'm happy, I write. And I promised Abbey I'd show her.

Acorns. I am from the desert. I have of course visited other regions of the continent but never long enough to study, really study, the trees. So this is the first time I have come in contact with acorns. And they make me happy. First because they are so small and yet so perfectly represented by tv and movies. This acorn is less than an inch tall. And they're exactly how I imagined them (and despite the inference I do not spend massive amounts of time day dreaming about acorns). Second, a great deal of my fascination could possibly come from Ice Age because Scrat and his acorn quest is one of the better parts of that movie. I also maybe don't know what my fascination is but I really can't deny that they're just awesome. They're so perfectly small.

Alright so I am, as previously mentioned, from the desert. The land of cacti and trees that don't change color all year round. There have been accusations of those two things translating to 'ugliness' but I really like it. The snow on green trees and cactus is really something that everyone should see. But as  we only have conifers in my region I have not been exposed to the changing of the leaves. And everytime I see a tree with changing leaves I really want to take a picture because some irrational part of me feels like I may never see this again. This can also serve as a warning that there will be many more pictures of trees in your blog reading future. I have only had the opportunity to take pictures once though so I just have a couple today.

I had to mess with this picture a little bit using my lame photo editor so you can't see the sky which was pretty awesome since it was about to downpour, but the tree is there...

Um can you even look at this and not think it is the most gorgeous thing ever? This is what I get to watch as I drive around and so it must not be surprising how it can make me giddy. I also messed with this pic a little bit just to get the colors to pop since my camera isn't the best thing ever (just wait though because someday soon I'll have an excellent camera! If Kara helps me that is : ) But just to prove that the picture is still amazing here's the original:

I absolutely adore that you can look at one tree and see so many beautiful colors. There is one kind of tree here that I've not yet been able to capture that is relatively skinny and tall and kind of sparse but the color change starts at the center of the tree and turns the dark green leaves to a beautiful blood red. The color radiates from the center. I almost can't describe it because it's so gorgeous. I wish I could capture the beauty as I see it, but I'll keep trying!

Friend Love

I'm a big believer in telling the people you appreciate that you appreciate them. The fact is though, that I'm terrible at it. I often think to myself how awesome someone in my life is and how much I love them, or I'll tell someone else that I know how awesome they are, but I rarely tell them. So this is a baby step in that direction. I also happen to be much better at writing my feelings than talking them. And this will also tell everyone else what awesome friends I have. So I'm hoping to gradually work up to an honorary post for everyone that I love, but it may take me a while because there's a lot to add! That's a lie. It's going to take me a while. I am loving it already though because I get to walk through my memories and laugh and cry and miss and love! So here is the first of many to come.

*Sarah*

The year was 2007.

The month was August.

The day was irrelevant.

Sarah moved into the same house and into my life.

Was it love at first sight? No. But only because Sarah went home every weekend and I went to my sisters a lot. It took a few weeks for us to get around to real conversations. But then Halloween came around. It was our first big outing together. And it was fun. The first of many to come.

Some might say it was all downhill from there. A typical day for us would be this:
Sarah goes to class.
Heidi goes to class.
They meet for lunch then go home to watch Hannah Montana.
Sarah and Heidi go back to class.
They come home.
Watch more Hannah.
Various evening activities.
Late at night, both are doing homework and Heidi calls to Sarah (or vice versa) "Sarah, I hate homework. Sonic run."
They go to Sonic.
The day ends and begins again.
Most memorable sonic trip occurred late one night, after midnight because we barely made it to sonic before they closed. On the way home we get pulled over. Sarah is driving and we are both in pajamas. I had no shoes and only the $1.25 to get my drink. Cop comes to the window and asks if we know why he pulled us over. We have no idea. Turns out our lights were off. Oops! Then the cop says (verbatim), "Did you guys rob anyone tonight?" Uh.....no. Well look at us. We do look like the epitome of shady.
After we said no he asked if we had any weapons in the car. This is my favorite part of the story because S looks around her car....... and then answers no. HA! We haven't to this day figured out why she looked around her car.

We've had so many times like this I can't even count them. We've had vent sessions where we're just yelled! We talk about everything, especially the boys and always have fun with whatever we do.

We have had lots of other fun adventures. Snowboarding in New Mexico, trips to sunny Mexico by the beach, Jerome, concerts, and other random excursions that we go on whenever the mood strikes. I love that Sarah will go out and do things with me, and even more that she loves to take pictures with me! And opportunity we have, we're taking pictures.

Things I love about my Sawah:

*She always makes me laugh

*She always tells me I look pretty.....ugly!

*Always up for a sonic run, and boy we need them all the time!

*She is always introducing me to new wonderful kinds of music.

*Our Hannah Montana/Panic! screaming sessions/car riding/drinking Monster times were the best times of my college experience.

*Our musical playlists are the definition of awesome.

I miss S soooooooooo much I always think of times we had and see pictures of us and miss the days we lived together. She is my favorite and one of the smartest girls I know! Not only is she smart, about to graduate, going to be an amazing doctor, my bestest friend, but she's also gorgeouso!!! Just look at that shot -

Sawah, S, Sarah, many names to me but I absolutely love her. And she better come see me soon!

Ah good times

Here's a couple of reasons I like being an engineer. Because I like to listen to their insane conversations. Granted I have had weird engineering discussions, just ask my friends or my sister even. But these two just made me laugh today.

*Number one. Walk past this kid as he proclaims the he doesn't have to pay for water in his apartment. Awesome! So he's considering putting a waterwheel in his bathtub. Sadly, this is the only part of the conversation that I heard. Haha so it is pure conjecture that his waterwheel is actually for electrical generation. Haha Oh man I would love to see it though.

*Number two. Kids I am fairly sure were freshmen were discussing how long it would take them to get to their dorm. Valid question. Then they proceed to say that how long it will take will depend on only the length of your stride. Then they were both trying to *totally naturally* figure out how long their stride was. They came up with some number and then were completely stumped as to why they couldn't get it. It was HIlarious. ***Insert my own engineeringism that I can't not put in*** You can't figure it out without the rate at which you're taking strides, no matter what the stride length is....Ha better luck next time boys.

This is why I love it. And whenever I talk randomly start laughing because I realize people could be listening to me too.

I have a problem.

Why do they sell Halloween candy 1) for cheaper than normal and 2) at the beginning of September and 3) at all?

Mini Snickers. Okay I don't like snickers. The full size ones, I can't eat an entire one, they make me sick and wish I'd never see another one. The mini snickers however are an entirely different story. I think it's because of more chocolate. But really, they are my curse. I can down them all day faster than should be allowed. They shouldn't sell these things in the regular store. They should only sell halloween candy at a special store that you have to seek out, not randomly run across on your normal shopping trip.

I just can't contain it!

I apparently have too much time on my hands.... Or just too many things to say to contain them all in one space. We'll go with the second one, it makes me sound less lame. BUT because of that reason, I just had to go and start two more blogs.

The first one is making me so excited I almost can't stand it. If you remember my post from a couple weeks ago on obsessions this should come as no surprise. I, along with my beautiful friends Kara and Cory, and my sis Abbey, have started a blog where we get to review whatever we want. Movies, tv, music, books,...whatever we see. And since I'm a nerd, I used our initials to spell HACK. So we're hack-y critics and we're just around to have fun. I am SO excited about this not just because I get to share my opinions, which let's face it, are pure gold, but I also get to listen to my friends who are some of the funniest people I've met. So if you want to hack it up with us, check it out hither!

The second one really speaks more to my nerdness and OCD tendencies regarding list making. My lovely friend Cory (same as from above) thought it would be fun to start a blog where we just list things that we love; current obsessions, things to do in Albuquerque, study tips, whatever. So she's way more awesome at it then I am, but I get to enjoy basking in her shared light and pretending I'm just as smart! That blog can be found here! Both those links are also on the side of my blog under my blogs of interest.

So partly this is just fun because I get to write more, and I love writing! Yes I know I ramble sometimes, but it's just because I'm excited. Also, have someone tell me that they read what I wrote and then tell me their opinion or that they thought it was funny or I'm stupid or whatever, pretty much makes my year. So if you want to see more of my thoughts, or even better read the thoughts of my famously funny friends check it out! Anything to avoid homework right?! Here's the real reason I am so excited though. I LOVE talking to my friends and anyone about entertainment things like this. I love feeling that connection and critiqueing and laughing. But most of all, I love talking to the people that I love who are so far away and feeling like they're still near me because we all watched Glee today.

New Purchase

I've decided the next thing I want to buy. First though would probably be a purse. And normally, that would be exactly the correct thought. But my attention has totally been diverted. So come the end of October, I know what I'm going to buy.


Maybe not this exact camera, but one like it. I want a real camera that I can take amazing pictures with. And I'm going to read the entire owners manual so that I can try everything out. I'm so set on it. I can't wait. Now I just need to do the research to find the right one to buy and the best place to buy it!

Best Things of Today

Today was the first day of my classes. Which means that there were all kinds of new things going on! And since I love to people watch it also gave me excellent opportunities to do that. Like the undergrads who are blissfully unaware of the horror and discouragement that will come upon them if they realize that a bachelor's degree isn't where they want to stop....oh wait, that's me who heard how brutally hard everything is going to be. Yet again. But good things is why we're here right now :).

*First I love having a standard. So when I'm driving home from target and am super tired and just want to be home, I can rev my engine to 5000 rpms before shifting gears and just feel the wonderful sensation of going fast and shifting my own car.

*Second I love getting to class on time which translates into being 15 minutes early because of some phenomena called "Michigan Time", and on the way listening to poor little freshmen who don't know about it freak out because they can't run to class because they'll look like weirdos but they're going to be late! And Michigan time is weird. It's totally against all I've been taught to think that things really start 15 minutes after they say, except there are a lot of exceptions that you need to keep track of!

*And last my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing of the day happened while sitting outside my first class waiting for the previous class to end to go in. This kid was talking to another grad student and he asked her if we have lockers. Hahahahahahahahahaha I was so hard pressed to not burst out laughing. The poor kid was serious! Granted I have not been to every college, but I don't know of ANY that has lockers. Not one. Ha I laugh just thinking about it. That kid has an even longer way to go than I do.

And so ends my day.

Inadequacy

Inadequacy. I had to say it twice because that's just how I feel today. It's been a long day, locking my keys in my car, treking to sonic only to have my drink dump all over my car, going to get a spare key to find out they can't make me one.... But anyway, every once in a while you start talking to people and just get the overwhelming feeling that you could be doing more with your life. That's sort of how I feel today. So I'm looking for ideas to do more with my life. I wish wish wish that I could take more classes, in all the things that interest me. But since my big beautiful school apparently doesn't do online classes.... or trust me I'd be taking many.... I just don't know what to do. I am thinking about volunteering at the Humane Society, but they aren't taking more volunteers until October, can I wait that long? I am also a little worried I will get insanely attached, so I'm going to try to not do that. I just feel like I need to do more. That's I'm somehow not doing enough with my potential. And I know this sounds way stupid, but getting a phd in engineering just isn't that impressive or something like that.... Any other ideas I am definitely open to! And in the mean time perhaps I'll find my self confidence somewhere. I am not as down as this sounds, it's more like there is a hole that I need to fill, or I can do more to enrich myself than I am...

EXCITEMENT

With a capital X!!! Well capital everything. I'm that excited. And once I explain you'll think I'm nerdy to get this excited, but whatev I am. So here's the deal, my life plan if you will. I am in school now to get my Ph.D. *insert short divertion here* Today I officially became a graduate student. What I was before this point in time, I have no idea, so we'll skip that part. But today. Today was orientation, and while the information contained was completely useless to one who has been her for two months, I got a free honey baked ham sandwich out of the deal. The result however is the same, I am now a grad student. I am now free to make fun of undergrads! Now, back to the part about my life plan. After getting my Ph.D. I would really love to become a teacher. That's my goal and I've sort of set things up to make that happen. I went to a school that puts out a lot of teachers, and I told my former teachers at ASU that it was their job to give me a job when I graduated. We'll see how that last part works out. But because of that I have also planned many fun things to help me be a teacher, such as classes on teaching. Now to the EXCITING part. Yesterday I was called by my professor asking to meet with me urgently. So, fearing for my life, I went to his office where he told me that I was going to be considered for a fellowship if I wanted. Today I was told by the director of the fellowship program that it was almost guaranteed that I got the fellowship. This fellowship is called the GAANN (graduate assistance in areas of national need) and is from the Department of Education. So it is only for Ph.D. students who plan on becoming faculty members (Me!). Here are the requirements of the award:
*I have to get good grades and progress towards graduation (great, great plan, already on my list of things to do)
*I have to take ENGR 580 - Teaching Engineering (already listed on my plan of study as a class I wanted to take, listed 6 weeks ago actually)
*Be a Graduate Student Instructor (awesome, I'd actually get to teach and wanted to do this)
*Take teaching workshops at least once a semester (didn't know these existed but awesome!)
*Create a teaching portfolio (would have needed to do this for any job application anyway...so now it will just be better because I'll have help.)

So basically, I get a really prestigious award that I can put on my resume proving that I wanted to be a teacher long before I graduated and had little other options. I get to not only do the things I was planning to do, they are now mandatory and will be facilitated greatly because of it. And I get help achieving those things. Honestly I couldn't have worked this out more perfectly if I had tried and I'm really so excited! Plus I get to save my prof a year's worth of money which puts me in his good graces at least for a little while :)! So there we go, haha I'm excited because my life plan is actually working out really well so far. I knew there was a reason I loved it here!


***UPDATE: two seconds after posting this I checked my email and there was the official letter saying I have been awarded this fellowship!***

Obsessions

We all have our own little niche in this world right. The things that make us tick. The things that we can't live without. The things that no matter how hard we fight against, our better judgement screaming the entire way, we give into everytime. Mine are usually in the area of good books, movies or tv shows. If I happen upon one I almost quite literally can't put it down, and lose a vast amount of sleep as a result. Things this has happened with lately: The Tudors, American Psycho, and a book called Still Alice. Thinking about these things, and the vast number of other movies, books, and shows I watch make me want to create an addition to my blog detailing reviews of these things. But I'm afraid I'll reveal myself to be even more of a nerd than I already am. But I've almost talked myself into it. Any advice either direction would be wonderful!

And if you are in the mood for an obsession, my most recent yet unfinished one is a blog about a city girl falling in love with a cowboy and it's the best love story ever. Except it's true which makes me somewhat depressed about my love life.... but THAT is another story for a never day. The blog is here.

Time rushes on

I have been in Ann Arbor for 7 weeks and 6 days. School starts two weeks from yesterday. In some ways the time has gone by interminably slowly. I've been waiting for school to start. It seems so strange to be without school and it's been a long time since I've been in school. This summer I've done a lot of things...I went on vacation to the Grand Canyon, I went to Pagosa Springs, I was home, I moved, and I've been settling in here. It's been almost surreal how time has just continued to go past. It hasn't been that long but it really has been that long...because it's all been completely new. Time takes so much longer when you're doing things you've never done before. Routine is what makes time take on little meaning. Then, on the other hand, I have only two short weeks until school starts. I am really aprehensive about classes so the time when I have to face school is coming quickly. It was so far away last week and then this week it is so much closer! School, I am fairly sure I can handle, I have before, and even if it's hard, I think I'll be okay, but there's still that small part of me that is apprehensive... Time has gone by so slowly and so quickly at the same time. I suppose my entire point of all of this was just to vent my frustration at being apprehensive and feeling unready for what is coming. I am however pleased with how much I have done this summer and how much I have learned. I love learning new things but I'll be happy to go back to the somewhat structure that school gives me to learn new things!

Gigglies

I feel I must explain something about myself. I laugh. A lot. I laugh when something about the situation is funny, I laugh when I think back on some situation that was funny, I laugh when something about the situation reminds me of something else that was funny, I laugh at sarcasm, I laugh at my own thoughts that I don't share with other people, I laugh at people's conversations I may be eavesdropping on. I laugh a lot. I almost never laugh AT people. Well people I know at least. I respect them far too much for that. I also have the horrible tendency to laugh uncontrollably when I get nervous. And I do mean uncontrollably. I try to stop because it's awkward and I laugh even harder. I can't stop it. It just has to run its sidesplitting course. (any doubts on this ask Abbey because we share the same sickness, and an example would be when there was a cat in Abbey's garage and Ben went to get it out and Ab and I are almost on the ground laughing so hard) And if I feel like my laughing is being taken the wrong way, I get nervous and laugh even harder. This presents me the awesome opportunity of having many really fun times and lots of laughter.... with people that I know. People that I don't know however, I fear tend to think that I'm either crazy or mean. I honestly don't laugh at people, I laugh at the situation.... and then when someone mentions that I'm being mean, and I'm surrounded by people I don't know, I try to choke out the words that I'm not laughing at them, but can hardly do it because I'm crying I'm laughing so hard. I really love to laugh but I'm thinking I should just consider wearing something on my forehead that states that I just love to laugh and I would never be mean to these people. I like these people that I hardly know and I just wish they knew me a little better so I didn't have to worry that they just think I'm a total beast or something like that... Ah how I love to laugh, but it does get me in trouble sometimes.

Recycling and the goodies

First recycling. I now live in a city that is somewhat hippie-ish. Not saying that it's a bad thing but it's definitely something different than what I'm used to. And they recycle everything. There are cans all over the place and seperate trash cans for paper, cardboard, and bottles just in the halls and on the sidewalk. The organization is really quite amazing. I'm just not used to it. I haven't gotten to that point where I just remember what I'm supposed to do. But I'm getting there. Here's the problem though. Here in Michigan, if you return an aluminum can to the right place you get 10 cents for it. Sweet right?! Except it's a complete pain in my arse to do it. I have two bags full of cans that I could get money for if I just took them. But I have to take them to the grocery store that I don't go to, and frankly scares me, and I just haven't done it. And to be honest probably won't I don't even care about the ten cents. I just want to put them in my recycling and be done with it because the cans are cluttering my life! So the dilemma...do I go completely out of my way to get the money for the cans, which my cheap self tells me to do, or do I just put them in the recycling....?

Second point. The phrase 'goodie two shoes' or 'goodie too shoes' I'm not really sure. Here's my thought. Why two shoes? Are you a goodie because you wear two shoes? Or are you a goodie-too shoes because you also have shoes? I just don't understand the origin of the statement I guess and it makes no sense.... These are the things I think about when someone says a well known statement like this to me.... Call me an over-analyst or something.

I'm a Peanut Butter Brat

You heard me. A peanut butter brat. Aside from just being fun to say, it's also true. There are actually very few things that I must have name brand on. The only other thing I can think of is soda, which is a whole other post/rant. However, peanut butter is definitely one of them. I think because it was bred into me since I was a small child. My mom has tried all kinds of peanut butter... but she's the only one who eats them. All my dad eats is Skippy Extra Crunchy, and for some reason that's all I eat too. I had a brief but intense affair with chocolate peanut butter (anyone remember that stuff?!), but that ended somewhat violently. I can no longer look at it unfortunately. Sadly that's how many of my love affairs end. But back to skippy. It's the only kind of peanut butter I can and will buy. I am reminded here of Brian Regan talking about his mom buying peanut butter. BUY SMOOTH! Haha except I'm opposite. Still a funny man though. So there you go, another look inside my crazy mind. My yummy peanut butter brat mind.

We're just so much better than you...

I recently realized that I may or may not be an elitist brat....but that aside, my family is just so much better than other peoples'. I was thinking about my family, as I do a lot lately, and realized we are just awesome. Don't get me wrong I know a lot of families of my friends, really really well, and they are really awesome as well. But my family. My family is just amazing. And here's why:

*My favorite thing ever is staying up late playing games and laughing my a** off. We play all kinds of games, card games, skill games, wii, everything. We trade insults and just laugh all the time. I think my favorite game is when we have to adopt different personas. Take for example the game curses. Here we are sitting around making up stories about how we went to prison while Ben is a pirate, Ab has a french accent, Mom is irish talking about her lucky charms, Daddy is women school teacher with a high pitched voice, Megan has to talk without moving her teeth, and I'm Mr. T. Recipe for hilarity basically. I love it. And every time we are together that's what we do. We play games.

*Second thing, we people watch. Haha some might call it judging or making fun. I think those are strong terms...haha we people watch. It's fantastic. Best times of my life.

*We talk, about all kinds of things. We usually end up all intense into our random discussions. And as long as we're not at Olive Garden it's all good. Example. We're playing yahtzee one night in Pagosa Springs, and my mom makes the (mistake) decision to ask what the odds are that you roll a large straight on the first roll. Hahaha three engineers TAKE OFF on this subject and for the next hour argue about what the odds really are. Hahah about this time Abbey jumps in and says "mom, don't ever bring this up again." Ha it was fantastic!

*We love to vacation together. We just love to be together. The best thing is the world is knowing that the people you love want to be around you just as much as you want to be around them. The feeling of knowing that you're going to hang out with these people and have fun and just laugh together. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

So there you go. That's why we're better than you. Haha there are some people I can name that I know are just as good as us but I don't want to be rude...

Industrious...

Today's post is about how proud of myself I feel.

Today I came home from work and proceeded to chop the following items:






One Vidalia Onion
Three Potatoes
Three Red Bell Peppers
Two Orange Bell Peppers
Two Yellow Bell Peppers
One Green Bell Pepper
Two Celery stalks
One Bag of Baby Carrots


These items were chopped to make the following dishes:
*Vegetable Soup for a soup diet
*Vegetable Beef Stew
*Meatloaf
*And other random dishes I will make with the tons of celery and bell pepper that I have left over.



Just the two dishes I made tonight (the two stews) will feed me for many days lunch and dinner. And I'm making the meatloaf on Thursday for my roommate and I. All in all I'm pretty proud of myself because one they look good, all the colorful vegetables, and two they actually taste good. Which is awesome because I basically made it all up....Well I had a recipe for the soup but pretty much completely changed it. I'm doing the soup diet one with Abbey so I tested it first and let her know that it really does taste pretty good. And I guess it's only like 80 calories a cup so... sweetness. So this is totally random but I just had to share my cooking urge. I'll probably make cookies some time this week as well because they just sound amazing.

Age is a tricky thing...

It sometimes seems like time just passes but nothing really changes. And then little moments happen that seriously jolt you into the present and round-a-boutly make you look at how far you've come and how much, or not, you've actually grown up. I was slapped in the face with this just the other day. And I apologize if I sound mean in the upcoming paragraphs....it's just my view of the situation. Haha I guess that might make me mean but we'll just gloss over that part.

So I went on a date and realized that the distance between 18 and 22 is much farther than I had previously thought. When I look back on how I was all through college and all the things I did, stupid and otherwise, it amazes me that I am here now. Four years went by really quickly and most of the time I didn't feel like there was anything different about me. Time went by but I didn't change. Ha but then I think about how I dealt with things then, like for instance, dating, and not only do I feel completely ashamed of how I acted, but I also realize how differently I deal with things now. (haha maybe I intentially blocked those things from my mind) Now for instance, if I was on a date with someone and could just tell that things were going down hill, you have this sense that things just aren't going your way. Say you even asked, many times, if things were going your way and the reply was no....then now I would stop trying to make it like a date and just salvage any sort of dignity from the night at all. Then....I might have made my date want to cry from frustration and pity by not accepting the fact that some dates just don't work out. I have also learned that not all people are compatible and I can accept that fact much more graciously. I do though still have my moments of pure embarressment when I like someone....but again, only a few people know about them and I love keeping it that way. I guess my main thought here was just how differently I view the world in just four years. I've seen a lot pain and I've seen a lot of joy (haha unintentional quotation of Michael Franti), and the things that were important when I was 18....almost have no bearing now. And the things I took for granted, like my family and the times we spend together and my friends and how amazing they are. That's all so much more important then whether one date went well.

I have heard before that the four years between 18 and 22 you grow more than any other four years in your life. Maybe not intellectually or physically, because lets face it the years from 0 to 4 are pretty amazing, I have 3 little kids I love to watch grow and it's way more fascinating than any other time. But, I think emotionally that is definitely true. You really figure out who you are. And I have just turned into an Oprah show, so I'm going to be done here...

Public Service Announcement: Late Night Texties

Today's PSA is brought to you by a concerned audience for the benefit of single people, or people who do not live with their significant other. This threat is called the late night texties and can afflict us all. It happens late at night, when you're sitting watching tv or whatever, thinking about the person you'd most like to be with, playing up that dream in your head...we've all been there...I don't think I need to go on. And then you get this great idea, hey I can just text them! Texting is harmless because they don't have to hear the fear and nervousness in my voice, and because of that I can say exactly what I'm thinking with no filter on how this will look in the morning. It's the perfect crime! No kids. NO! Don't do it! Save yourselves! Resist the urge to share your hopes and dreams with someone you hardly know. Ya you're being flirty and fun and way more outgoing than you normally are, but you're coming off a little weird. Granted there are times when this can actually help your relationship, maybe after you've talked to the person more than once in a real live conversation, but mostly, you come off just a little bit creepy because you're thinking about that person a lot and you're telling them everything you're thinking. It's like drunk texting, but worse because you're coherent. Just say no to the late night texties.

*Ashamed as I am to admit this, I have actually done this so it's not totally bratty of me to say...haha it worked once and disasterously not other times.*

Thoughts of the Day

So today's post is separated into my thoughts of the past few days. They're incredibly random but that's just how I work I guess... Ha I have random thoughts during the day and since I have no one to tell them to they just get logged away until I can write there here : ).

Humidity
I have lived in two places in my life, New Mexico the driest place in the country, and Arizona the hottest place in the country. And although AZ is more humid than New Mex, come on, who are we kidding, it's so dang hot it doesn't matter. In fact, that there is any humidity at all really amazes me, you'd think water would be smarter than to hang around in that state. (ps this is not a bash on AZ, I love it there, but it's hot) But that's beside the point. The point is, that now I live in Michigan. Great Lake territory, the great North, whatever you want to call it, it is super humid up here. And it hasn't even been that humid since I've been here, weird summer I guess. But yesterday was different. Yesterday it was cloudy all day and rained in the afternoon, so really humid. I didn't realize this. I did my hair all up nice and then went outside and immediately regretted that I didn't have a hair tie so I could just pull my mess of hair back and forget that I had even showered. Because it was a disaster. So lesson learned...haha from now on I'll have to be more creative with my hair. Although I suppose it didn't look too bad...I don't know though because I have no one here to give me an opinion of it. *Cue singing of "I feel pretty, oh so pretty..."*

Regional Cliches
Cliches, ya know I love them. They work because they are true and even though we make fun of them relentlessly, they're true. That being said, they are at times the things that motivate me to wanting to punch people right in the face. I am so unbelievably tired of meeting new people and having them ask me if I like it here, yes I do, and then follow up with, oh just wait until the winter. It's like they're rooting for me to hate myself in the winter because I chose to come to this miserable state. How dare you even think of liking it here! The winters are terrible! Get depressed now! You have no shot at even having the will to live once October comes around. I'm sure they're just being good nice citizens warning me that Michigan has harsh winters. Well thaaaannnkkks, I got that part. We can move on to other topics. I've even tried saying, oh no I am excited about the winter, I love cold weather and I love the snow. Ha. HAHAHAHA. No they say, you don't know yourself, you sad naive little girl, what could you possibly know. There's no way to like this. So while I'm thinking of punching them in the face for the mere case of being in the wrong time after being the 10000th person to spew the same regional cliche, they punch me in the face for thinking I might actually like the cold. I know this happens in every place to every new person who moves, so I am speaking out for the masses! Ha no, but really, cliches are cliches because they're not original. Don't think you are.
And for the record I am excited about winter here.

Boys on Motorcycles
Everyone has their stereotypical 'dream' girl/guy. Guys have cheerleaders, girl in the school uniform, whatever. Girls have firefighters, some girls like guys in other uniforms, I don't but I know many girls who do, and then the motorcycle guy. Monday I drove kind of around town and saw so many guys on motorcycles and yup, still the 'dream' guy. And it's all because you can't see there face. I'm sure 90% of those guys are not good looking at all, but you can't see that. All you see is the leather jacket, or nice arms if they happen to not be wearing a jacket, and so you get to create your own guy. And who doesn't like create-your-own? Plus they all seem to be such jerks, tailgating you when you're going 15 over the speed limit and then powering around you. They think they're cool and since you've inserted your own hot guy under the helmet, you think they're cool too. It's a fascinating adventure in imagination. However, like all dreams, you don't really want to achieve it. If I was dating a guy who rode a motorcycle, and I cared about him at all, I'm pretty sure the motorcycle would eventually have to be let go. Because they're pretty dang scary. I think it would be SO much fun to ride one and go incredibly fast as long as I never had to turn. That would ruin it for me. So me thinking about a guy I cared about turning, probably going faster than me, wouldn't make me happy. So while I don't want this particular dream to come true, it's still fun to think about.

More Men's Fashion
White sports socks, are never okay with black flip flops. Okay, maybe that's too restrictive. Socks are never okay with flip flops of any kind. Ah I'm so glad we got that cleared up.
Although it should never happen, it never fails to make me happy when it does. But honestly how is it comfortable? I've tried to wear socks with flips before, when I'm in a hurry to go outside and grab something and then come straight in. And it's not comfortable. Who wants sock bunched up between your toes? The point of flips is to let your feet be free! Why go and make them more confined by adding socks into the mix? Ah well, I'll just have to accept that I will never understand this.

My skills at Mindreading and the Amazing ability of Hot Chocolate to lift your Spirits
I'm not a good mindreader. It's unfortunate because I have a lot of other skills but mindreading is just not one of them. Honestly though I think it's a really rare skill. I'm almost completely positive that there are way more people who can't mind read, than those who can. That being said, I think it's a really safe to make the assumption that people you meet can't read your mind, and you should act accordingly. It saves everyone time and frustration. I promise. So unless you meet Cris Angel, go a head and just let me know what you want me to do and I'll be happy to do it. It will get done SOOO much faster than if you just wait for me to read your mind. K? Thanks.

As to hot chocolate, it really does make everything better. It's all warm and chocolatey and doesn't expect anything from you. It's fantastic.

My new house!

Okie here are some pictures of my new house and some part of ann arbor.

So first this is my west wall of windows. It's really so nice, except in the afternoon when it kind of gets hot...but I'm sure I'll be loving that once it starts to get cold here!

This is my most favorite part, my wall of closets that can hold all my clothes and all my shoes and stuff. It's amazing.

And then the staple of every room... my bed. Haha love it.

I'm thinking because I'm pretty far North and it's the middle of the summer, it stays light so late here. This is 9:30 and the sun is just setting. I think it's so cool.

These are my new neighbors. To be honest they scare me a little bit...They are fun to watch though, from the safety of my living room.

So I think that's everything! I like it a lot so far, it's beautiful and green and humid and I love it. Although the humidity makes running harder than I've experienced...haha it's still a lot of fun to be in such a new place.

Men's Fashion

Okay confession: I love shopping for guy's clothes. I like to think that I have good taste and outfitting guys in really good looking clothes is my favorite thing. I LOVE when my brother-in-law's birthday or Christmas comes along because I always get him clothes and I love shopping for him. Haha while my sister is the easiest to shop for, I like shopping for her husband best. Too bad I've never had a boyfriend who would let me shop for them... : ). I also can't wait for my little nephew to get to be about 10 or 12, because then his aunt is going to get him the most amazing looking wardrobe. He'll be the envy of all the girls he will probably want nothing to do with. So because of this skill that I think I have, I happen to pay attention to guys clothes a lot... and this is what I see yesterday. At my school there are a lot of older men. They're all professors of engineering, 95% of the professors are men, and they're in their late 40's or older. Yesterday I witnessed a man, probably late 50's or older, wearing not just man-pri's (man-capris), but manpri sweats. And then the classic engineer knee socks and loafers. With manpris. Honey. No. Actually the no part was not my first thought. Ha ha my first thought was wow, now I realize why engineers have a bad rap. Ha and then I started laughing. It made my day yesterday to see this old man.