not too shabby, i hope

yay elections! yay elections being DONE. now we can move on.

i had a horrific day of worry about a paycheck that had not gone through, so after work there was a 'quick trip' to the nearest mybank atm (40 miles away) to deposit a loan from my friend so that i wouldn't get even more outrageous fees on my account while i was waiting for everything to get worked out, so i was not paying much attention to the election results. (that and there is a significant lack of radio news in this area).

on the way home, i stopped for some caffeine at a corner truck stop and as i went in, the idiot who had run a red light to beat me to the convenience store held the door open for me. he also read my shirt (needed an excuse to be peering at the chest, more like) and asked me if i went to the iowa college of medicine.

'no. i've got a good friend who goes there,' i replied and made my way to the pepsi cooler.

he walked right next to me and said 'so, are you happy about the election?'

i told him that i actually didn't know, and that i'd been out of the loop for the last few hours, so he told me that Obama spanked McCain and i told him that i guess i am happy.

he said 'i hope your happy in a couple of years.'

instead of making some snide remark, like i really wanted to (his tone made me want to kick him in the balls... hard, even if i hadn't voted for Obama), i just said 'i hope so too.'

and it's true. i hope that in the next couple of years our president can lead us into a better economy and a better relationship with the rest of the world. i don't know what will happen, but at least i voted and made sure that i have a say in what is going on. whatever happens, i know that i made the best decision based on as much information as i could find about all of the people and measures on my ballot. i actually did some serious studying about a lot of them. and i hope i voted right, and that my state did too. when everything else is done, all a person can do sometimes is hope.

is that such a bad thing?

so much to tell!

let's start off with a joke:



i like a good lol goats every now and then. :)

there is so much to share with everyone, that i'm not really going to say anything in this post. i'm just letting you know that i have a few catch-up posts coming... i'm thinking three. they will all have pictures and random ramblings from me, just for you. meanwhile, feel free to paruse my photos and things through the link to the right of this post. yay flickr!

froehliche mai tag -or- when jess came to visit: part 3

(original post date: May 3)
so, it turns out that i had these photos all ready to post before i went to camp, but never did, so here's some stuff for you to look at. the first pictures are of the snow storm on the morning of may 2. the entire town was shut down. the more yellowish photos are of the night before, after i had come home from work. before that is a series of photos from when jessica and i wandered around the canyon over easter.
enjoy!

i am amused

baby!

so my sister had the baby!!! he's aweful cute!


mom and baby are both doing well. aunt is tired.

moved east

the first real piece of mail that i received at the new address was my National Geographic today. :) this makes me happy. i don't really get much mail that is not junk or bills, so the fact that my mail here started off with my only magazine subscription just made my heart smile. and my face. i'm pretty much smiling all over. something i learned today: hibernating toads stay in badger dens. who knew? well. national geographic did, i guess. anywho, just writing to let you know that i'm here, safe and sound, and with my yarn stash intact. :)

more to come later.

there's nothing like it

yay camp! i miss the internet, i miss my family, i miss my friends, i miss sca events, i miss sleep, and i miss my apartment, but i love it here. i'm online at the bar and grille 18 miles from camp, and the air conditioning is way too cold after a week of 90 degree temps. i want to put up some photos for you, but the wireless is uber slow, so just check flickr every once in a while, and you may see something fun. :) my staff is a lot of fun, for the most part, and things are going really well. and i have an awesome tan. i hope everyone is having a great summer and i can't wait to see you all!

jack's dull

apparently all work and no play really does make jack a dull boy. scientists have figured out that boring jobs turn our minds off.

huh.

truffle bliss

so, as i said earlier, jessica and i stopped at the chubby chipmonk in deadwood. this is a dangerous place. full of delicious chocolate and such. we bought a box of eight different truffles to try. not only were they all delicious, they were beautiful too. they were also almost too big to fit in the little holder thingy in the box. here are the ones we tried, and a bit of a description of the flavor as i remember it:

here we are, enjoying the first of the truffle bliss:


the first was creme brule. i'm not sure how to do the little accent thingy, so just imagine it's there. sweet, delicious, creamy white chocolate center surrounded by tasty white chocolate with little sugar bits on top. i've never had creme brule, but if it tastes like this, i won't turn it down!




2: the blueberry. one of the prettiest in the box! the picture doesn't do it justice. again, a white chocolate center, with blueberry chips on the outside. i'm not really a blueberry fan, but this was still pretty good.



3: and here is the first of the alcohol flavored truffles: amaretto. dark chocolate center, almond bits on the shell, uber tasty!



4: grand marnier (again, with the no french accent thingy). in those russel stoffer boxed chocolates, i've always hated the orange creme filled ones. this truffle, with its dark chocolate center and just a hint of the orange liqueur, this kicked their butt.



5: dark chocolate coconut. sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't, but almond joy and mounds have nothing on this. sooooo gooood!


6: the 'signature dark buttercream' has a hint of golden dust on top, and is just wonderfully simple dark chocolate. yum.



7: baileys. need i say more? dark chocolate center, irish cream. priceless.



8: i know you'd never guess it, but i picked this one. dark chocolate mint. it comes wrapped in its own bit of protective foil, to keep it from influencing the flavor of the other truffles. it worked, and it was unbelievably tasty as well. i may be a bit partial though. :)



it happened to be good friday when we stopped there, so jessica, being the good catholic, couldn't eat between meals, and therefore could not sample the truffles. i had to sacrifice myself, and sample them for her. i even tried the chili one. not terrible, but i don't think i'd get it on a regular basis. we sampled the truffle goodness throughout the next few days, one at a time. such self-restraint! i'm proud of us both.

stay tunned for the rest of the adventure...

as april sneaks up and slaps me in the face...

so, i was going to post my pictures of spring break with jessica here, but first, i must tell you about the dream i had last night. i dreamed that i was about nine months pregnant, about to give birth on a stranger's futon, but don't worry, they had called their midwife. i remember being worried that i hadn't felt the baby move, and then it

started kicking, so i knew it was ok, then it occurred to me that i didn't know who the father was, and i couldn't remember conceiving the kid. then i woke up.

so, either this means that i am knocked up, and will give birth to the second coming of christ or i have babies on the mind. i think the second is much more likely because a) if the first is true, i haven't been visited by any messenger angels, and you'd think God would at least let me know. and i'm probably not the best candidate for that anyway, and b) it seems like every time i talk to one of my friends they tell me that they (or a mutual acquaintance) are pregnant. what is it with everyone getting knocked up? i love babies and all, but holy crap people! all of your kids are going to be so much older than mine by the time i end up having kids, that we won't be able to hang out during play dates. won't anyone wait for me? i feel so left out. :(
just kidding - i can wait. at least long enough to find a man. :)

i found this cartoon here. you should check it out, there are alot of amazing things there to waste you time. :)

anywho, travel with me back in time... about a month ago, jessica came to visit. the following is a photo essay of our adventures.

here we can see jessica pointing to the wine glass that has a college logo on it for, as she said "mack-a-last-er" college. apparently she didn't see the little guy in a kilt. :) it was good times. the wine was the stuff i bought on the wool gathering adventure, and it was great! i think we watched stardust that night, which was also awesome!


one day (possibly the next), we went to the fish hatchery, and saw the saddest trout in the world:


then jessica was the king of the world...


we then went to deadwood, first for a chiropractor appointment, then we came upon the chubby chipmunk. glorious! the tasting of the truffles will be in another post...
we then went up and wandered around mount moriah cemetery. we found tons of interesting gravestones:



well, that covers through good friday, so i'm going to cut it off for now, and fill you in on the rest later...

ps: if you want to see all of the pictures, you can go to my flickr site.

OMG

thanks to my big sister, who just sent me the link to this:

that's right, bacon lollipops. i am speechless.

apparently, the store is new, and they only offer two flavors: maple-bacon and absinthe. yup, absinthe. they sound like an interesting company.

the SD barbie email

this is a forward that's been making the rounds, and it's pretty entertaining, so instead of forwarding this to you people, i thought that i would just post it for all to see. enjoy!

*Sioux Falls Barbie*
This queen Barbie is sold only at Macy's. She comes with an assortment of Chanel Handbags, a Volvo, a French poodle named Charisse, and a Lincoln County McMansion. Plastic surgery available upon request. Hey, she has to look beautiful when she works at KELOland TV. CitiBank Ken sold separately.

* Rapid City Barbie*
This tough little sport comes with optional hiking boots or mountain bike.When she's not selling magnets at Mount Rushmore,
she can be spotted off-roading in her Land Rover or running on the bike path.
Inhaler included to give relief during forest fires.
Buy her while you can because Ken works at Ellsworth and might begetting transferred!

*Spearfish Barbie*
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Ocean . She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Spearfish Barbies and the optional Hybrid Toyota, you get a "Free Tibet" bumper sticker for free.

*Aberdeen Barbie*
This "Frost Queen" comes with an entire winter wardrobe! Her parka is reversible and can be used as an emergency igloo whenever needed. Package includes a shrink for seasonal depression.

*Vermillion Barbie*
This young, hip girl actually comes with her own pepper spray. Her USD sweater is made of real wool and her Cavalier gets great mileage between the Empire Mall and Vermillion. Available keg with purchase of makeup. Ken doll sold separately with broken cell phone... he never seems to calls back.

*Mitchell Barbie*
This brassy, tobacco-chewing gal comes with camouflage overalls, Cabela's Credit Card, and a rifle. She can be found just north of town shooting pheasants and drinking an ice cold 40. Cabela Ken available with purchase of Chevy Silverado.

*Brookings Barbie*
This modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan or Honda Odyssey Minivan with matching Wal*Mart sweats. She gets lost easily while taking Stacy to her soccer games and has no full-time occupation other than the PTA. Ken doll sold with matching Daktronics company car.

*Sturgis Barbie*
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, leather chaps, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) ...unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about. Harley sold separately along with deadbeat Ken. Jail uniform available with purchase of Mobile Home.

*Belle Fourche Barbie*
This model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans, a NASCAR t-shirt and Care Bears tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Johnny Cash CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her Mega Ton Dodge Dually pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

*Deadwood Barbie*
She may be a 75 year-old, Brandy drinking, Virginia Slim smoking cuss, but she has more audacity than Calamity Jane. She just got out from Gambler's Anonymous and needs to get rid of some spare change. Deadwood Barbie can be found at the Monday night "Kevin Costner Fanclub" meeting just down the street from Cadillac Jack's Prime Rib Buffet. Ken comes free, but is usually working two jobs to keep a roof over their head.

*Pierre Barbie*
She comes with scooter and a state employee ID card, bowling ball, pool stick and dart case. Khakis can be rolled into capris. Ken available with purchase of fishing boat.

random thoughts for a random day

+ = a great day!

today was einstein's birthday and pi day.
seems to be a good day to celebrate! (i'm a nerd, i'll admit it).
einstein is one of my favorite people ever. i found a book filled with his letters to and from children. it's awesome. plus it has a picture on the cover of him wearing blue fuzzy slippers. like i said... awesome!

as another showcase for my nerdyness, i would like to inform you that i saw previews for 'john adams,' and the history geek in me is way excited to see it, but i don't get hbo, so i may never got too.

speaking of tv, i have been seeing ads for the new bachelor series, and apparently the guy is english. as i contemplated why they would choose an englishman (there are many reasons both bad and good), he proceeded to say, 'i'm here to steal your women!' now i see. he's shagged and left every woman in england, and is now attempting to take america.

anywho, in different tv news, i have stumbled across a new show called pop fiction. even though i think many celebrities are idiots, i have to give them props for this show. it makes the evil wench in me a little giddy. the only things dumber than celebrities like paris hilton are the paparazzi that follow her around. beautiful!

so, i've been thinking lately, and i have realized that i will be done with school in may. that means, my friends, that i will be able to read books that i don't HAVE to read. :) the only trouble is, i have trouble deciding what i want to read. so, i am asking for your input. i'll be adding a list to the side of my blog, and i will be filling it in with books that you suggest (if i want to read them and/or haven't read them already). feel free to comment on any blog post with a book suggestion. it would be helpful to me.
thanks!

wool gathering etc

hello again, i have a feeling that this will be a long post, so hang in there.

first, here are some photos from the trip to the Brown Sheep yarn factory and outlet store. the roads were a bit crappy, but we made it! i bought a lot of wool to continue in my bag making schemes, and anna, sam and christine also did some major yarn shopping. look at those happy faces!

in addition to all of the felt-able wool (mostly Lamb's Pride) yarn, i bought some sock yarn. i have decided to make some crocheted socks. most patterns i've found are for things that closely resemble slipper socks, but thicker, since crocheting ends up thicker than knitting anyway, and people think that crocheting a pair of socks with bulky fuzzy fugly yarn makes neat projects. however, after much searching, i have found a pattern for socks that actually look like wearable socks. it calls for some tricky stitches, and i'm not that great at reading patterns (i mostly just wing it), but i have the first toe done! it is taking me quite a while to get the patter figured out, especially now that i'm into the crazy stitched, but so far, so good. here's a picture of my pretty sock so far:

now for non-fiber news:

the week after the wool gathering expedition, i bought raffle tickets, thinking that i was simply donating money to the alternative spring break group, as i almost never win raffles. well, it turns out that it was my lucky day! i won! the prize that i got was from corale west, and contained an ariat polar fleece vest (size small - hopefully i can exchange it, as its rather nice), a horse figurine (also by ariat), and a justin boots rodeo bag. it's a figgin nice bag! it's a good sized duffel bag, with pockets on each side for your cowboy boots, which is fortunate, since i purchased a pair of justin boots at the stock show and rodeo for riding this summer. and they even fit in the pockets! sweet! here's a picture of the bag:

the next week was anna's birthday, so we celebrated on monday night by going out to eat and then we had ice cream cake at my house. i bought a plain one so i could decorate it, and it turned out pretty cool, in a way that says that i should definitely not become a professional cake decorator. :) here are some photos from a flattering angle:

for her birthday, i gave anna HIV from thinkgeek.com. she loved it! there are also several other awesome giant plush microbes, and i can think of so many people who need one of them. so much fun. think geek has now become one of my favorite websites. :)

*oh! and, on the trip, we stopped at the local winery, did some tasting, and bought some wine. i'm saving my bottle (a semi-sweet called 'neighbor's choice') for when jessica comes to visit for easter. :)

oink!

this picture from http://icanhascheezburger.com made me snort with laughter. :) there is more to post, including my wool gathering trip, but no time now... i'm writing papers (well... procrastinating on writing papers, but can't relate whole wool story now, that would be too much procrastination. enjoy:

DddddddGggggDddddGgggAaaDdddddAaaaaaDdddddddd

i've learned to play a song from the camp songbook. exciting, no? i only need those three chords to play several songs, but 'uyaimose' is the only one that i have successfully tackled as of now. my index finger has a funny tingling sensation where it hits the strings - well on it's was to a callus, i'd say. :)

i should take a picture of the gitter and post it sometime.
i should also post pictures from the various recent sca events and other stuff i've been up to lately.
we'll see if the internets will hold out for my wee baby laptop, which seems to be having problems with wireless these days (i'm on campus and didn't bring the usb cords for my camera, so i can't plug into this computer as there is no sd card reader.)

anywho, tomorrow is the big trip. some friends and i will be going to the brown sheep yarn factory, to tour it and to buy bulk discount yarns from the outlet store. hooray yarn! someone asked this week why we would want to do that, and my friend and i replied simultaneously, 'we like yarn' with the exact same intonation and probably expression on our faces. it was good times.

news from the motherland

i have found this wonderful blog, full of rants pretaining to my home state. much of what the author says is not only entertaining, but true. one of my favorite quotes from the page is:

"Welcome to the SD Legislative Asylum...only days to go."

if you're keeping up with what's going on in the SD legislature, that is quite apropriate.

here's the link: http://dakotatoday.typepad.com/dakotatoday/

enjoy!

hmmm...

Congratulations! You are Katherine Parr.
Katherine Parr spent nearly her whole life married to crotchety old men: Henry was the THIRD old fart she was forced to marry. Is it any wonder she turned to books and religion to occupy her time?
Katherine wasn't just smart, she was a tiny bit uppity, too: she almost got herself thrown in jail for arguing with His Royal Fatness about some theological issues. After Henry croaked, Katherine dropped the prim and proper act and married Thomas Seymour, a handsome, dashing pirate kind of guy who was also as dumb as a post.
Which goes to show you that even bookworms know how to get it on.



Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?
this quiz was made by Lori Fury not sure that i want to spend much of my life being married to a crochety old man, or even a stupid but dashing pirate-type, but whatever...

farewell bunnyslayer.

well, i now have a new car. as carrie pointed out a few days ago, i was just talking about how much i liked my neon, and about how i just named it and everything, and then i got into the accident. my poor neon has now been totaled by the insurance company. after a crazy amount of time driving a rental 2007 chrysler 300, i now have a 1999 chevymalibu. so far, so good. it was a very nervous two weeks with the rental car, especially since it sucks in snow. i have never had such a hard time getting out of my parking lot. the thing was supposed to have all this fancy traction control esp stuff, but it sure as heck had trouble going uphill on snow. my neon managed it alot better. and i'm glad to report that the malibu is also doing well with it. so i guess the point is that you should not buy a chrysler 300 if you live in a hilly snowy place. other than that, it was nice though.

anywho, school had started, and i'm taking the last few courses i need in order to be able to graduate, plus a couple fun ones. i'm looking forward to guitar class. and, i may even be able to buy the guitar that i'm borrowing, so that's cool.

guitar will also come in handy for working at camp this summer. i can't wait.

has it really been THAT long?!?

wow. it's been a while. i'm sorry. i guess life just caught up with me. so, here's the run-down of my "break." it all started the day after my last post. the last day of finals week, to be exact. i was on my way up to campus to drop some stuff off before i headed home for the holidays. i had everything packed (as far as i knew at the time) and was going to leave from campus. it was a bit of a snowy day, but knowing that the city does not like to plow the streets in town, i figured that i would be ok on the interstate (that's usually how it is). as i waited patiently behind a pick-up in the left turn lane at the stop light, i looked up into my rear-view mirror and what did i see but another large pick-up pulling into the turning lane. pulling into the turning lane and not really stopping. not even really slowing down. next thing i knew, it was a pick-up and neon sandwich.

"neat," i thought to myself.

so, the three of us pulled into the gas station on the corner, and proceeded to find the non-emergency police number. the officer showed up almost as soon as we called, and after talking to all of us, proceeded to arrest the person who was driving the truck that rammed into me. apparently driving with a suspended license is not a good idea. the poor kid thought he was just going to be late for his final, but ended up missing it all together. i wonder how he explained that one to the prof.

by the time i got my insurance company called and all that jazz, i figured that it would be too late to head for home, especially since i had no driver's side tail/brake light or blinker. that would not be fun, especially in the dark. i ended up hanging out with my friend who was going to be moving to ohio (the third one in less than a year. am i missing something?), and later that afternoon the twinging started in my back. so, i went to the doctor, and he said whiplash. again, neat. i went home, took the prescribed muscle relaxer and went to bed. the next day, i left for home.

*i'll stop right now and apologize for the saga. it's been an eventful month, and i've been meaning to blog about each event as it happened, but there just hasn't been a whole lot of motivation. i'll try to continue to break it up with witty and sarcastic remarks along the way. and maybe even some photos. yay photos!*

it was a long drive. i had to stop frequently, since i was not allowed to take muscle relaxers and operate a motor vehicle at the same time. (i don't know, it could make the trip across the state a lot more interesting...) i got home fairly soon after dark, but probably should have left a bit sooner than i did. i somehow managed to forget ava's gift, (see the not earlier about thinking that i had everything ) so i had to stop in soo foo and pick something up. she'll be getting a random gift of little people next time i come home. if i remember it. :)

anywho, i can barely remember the week i spent at home, it feels like so long ago. i really enjoyed getting to spend some time with everyone. doom got to see a lot more of me that most others, except for the family. i spent some quality time chatting with doom and ho, and then we went to national treasure. it would have been a really great movie except for the fact that i am now bothered by really bad history and geography. as far as action goes though, it was pretty good. and despite what they show, sylvan lake is not directly behind mt. rushmore. i know it's just a story, but still...

so, i really miss the niece. she's too cute for words. i only got to spend a couple of days with her and my sister. i really wanted to be home that friday night, because there was to be a slumber party at the farmhouse, and i missed it. sadness. that meant one less day with everyone, which sucked. a lot.

christmas eve was wonderful. the family (minus the brother plus lord baron daddy) was there, and we had a good time watching the niece help everyone unwrap their gifts. thank you all for the wonderful loot! i scored a digital camera, luggage, yarn, a spiffy crochet hook, 'teacher' clothes, and a bunch of other wonderful stuff. thanks to you all!

the card my brother gave me was hilarious! see:

the rest of the week included the dinner at whimps with andrew, his girl, and her boy, which you may have read about on doom's blog. i was excited to see affreca there too, since i don't get to see her much. it felt i was home when i saw all of the people i hung around in high school (plus a few awesome others... jessica). i miss whimps.

at the end of the week, i got to hang out in the milk barn and make glass beads with pappa tom. it was fun, despite the fact that it was freezing! i also opted to stay an extra day so that i could go to church with my mom on sunday, rather than being home to unwind before a long day at work on monday.

here are some of the beads that i managed to make:


um... what next? well, i made it back, worked all day, and bummed around for a while. i helped hire new people for one of my jobs, which was interesting. i've never really interviewed anyone before. it seems like that time flew by too. i got everything figured out for school. i'm going to graduate in may with a history degree (minors in geography and english), and maybe i'll go back and finish the education stuff later. i just can't do it right now. it would mean yet another full year here, and that's not happening right now.

anywho, on her way to wyo, jessica stayed a night at my house. i hadn't brought her xmas, birthday or graduation gift with me to vermtown, so i gave it to her here. i got her some crochet hooks and a reference book, and for graduation, a flask. not just any flask tho, a holy water flask. the ladies at the jewelry shop where i had is engraved laughed pretty hard. here's a photo, you can't see it, but her initials are also engraved on the bottom.

i guess that's all for now. hopefully i'll be able to blog more often this semester. it's a goal.