someday teacher

when I cook

2011-10-27T18:47:00.000-06:00

So, the other day, I was browsing Pinterest, and came across a photo of an egg that had been fried in a slice of sweet pepper. I thought it ~~sounded~~ looked pretty good, so I tried it. Maybe I should have bothered to read the directions, but I think they turned out ok.

I started by slicing a sweet red pepper so that I had three approx 1/2 inch rings. I heated up a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, and placed the pepper slices in it. I then cracked the eggs into a measuring cup with a spout - much easier to pour them into the pepper rings. The only problem I had was that the egg whites went under the peppers, but since the pan was hot, they didn't completely drain. After the eggs were in, I sprinkled the top with the Fox Point seasoning from Penzy's spices, and splashed a little bit of water in the pan to help the top of the eggs steam. Covered and cooked for a few minutes, then enjoyed! The only thing that would have made the meal better? Toast. I love toast. Overall the 'recipe' was a success, and the bits of egg that snuck out under the peppers was great to nibble as well, and very easy to pull away from the finished product, so they looked nice. Here are some photos...

in the pan

on the plate

I like how the camera makes the plate look all liquidy in this one...

land of the flies

2011-09-25T12:16:00.000-06:00

My office has been taken over by the flies. They need to leave now. This game is a fair approximation of what it's like - only no fries or sugar packets... the coffee ring is about right though...

http://majman.net/flyswatter/

have fun!

everything being equal

2011-09-23T16:21:00.000-06:00

Happy Fall!

It's a gorgeous day here at the lake! I'm glad it's warmed up - I was beginning to think that I was going to be an ice cube until May. I've had many an adventure this summer, and most of you know about most of them, so I won't go into too much detail here. I just wanted to share the photos I've been taking. My sister had some old film, and so I busted out my Nikon SLR camera - oh how I've missed taking photos! Here's some of the first two rolls of film (I have two more that I haven't exposed yet) on my flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnorachel/

I've also discovered a fun website called Pintrest.com. I don't know how much I'll use it, but it seems like it could be another fun organizer/time burner.

My boss is taking a 3 month sabbatical, so I will be 'taking over' until she gets back. So far, I'm not thinking that it's going to kill me, but I will have a lot less free time, I'm thinking. After 20 summers of working here, I'm glad she's getting some well-deserved time off, but it means we are one more person down for hosting retreats and doing promos for camp. At least I enjoy my job!

Oh Yeah...

2011-03-17T10:40:00.000-06:00

I DO have one of these! :) Poor blog, it has been taking a back seat to everything else since November. *sigh* Well, a few quick updates - I am now officially an EMT. I spent the month of January in class, and took my national written test on the 7th of this month. Here's hoping that I never have to use the skills I learned, but I feel better about living in the middle of nowhere knowing them.

Anywho, I've been on the search for summer staff for camp, so since January, I've been travelling like crazy. I'm looking forward to the time when I will be staying for an entire week in one place. I think my house is looking forward to that as well - it needs some serious spring cleaning. I did get a good start on that the other day though, and my bedroom closets are now very organized and clean. Now to get to the rest of the house! :)

now I'm here...

2010-11-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy few weeks, and there is much upcoming crazyness! I have been traveling for work - to New Jersey. It was quite fun! I didn't manage to take any photos, but some of my friends did, and I'll see if I can find any good ones to post for you. This is just a short blog to say hello, I'm alive, and will be gone again for a spell. I will be traveling out west for a week, so look forward to photos and tales from that journey!

of stuff and things.

2010-09-27T17:38:00.000-06:00

September is upon us (and nearly gone). Holy Crap! I don't think I like this fact. But, there is nothing I can do to slow time, so I guess I'll just have to deal. I had a GREAT summer at the ranch - awesome staff, awesome campers, awesome horses. :) It's summers like this that make me want to work here forever!

Anyway, as I walked to the mailbox today, I saw several squirrels scampering about, searching for food (generally acorns around here), and it reminded me of several things, but mostly that I love food. :) I've had some fun lately in my tiny kitchen:

First, we had a German counselor this summer, and she LOVES potatoes. She made us some Bratkartoffeln one day, and they were soooooo good! I decided to try to make some, so, not having internet at my house, I made up a recipe. They turned out awesome, and when I looked them up online later, I was actually very close!

I added a dollop of sour cream, and ate WAY too much! If you're going to make them, I suggest slightly smaller chunks of potato...

Mom & Dad have started growing heirloom tomatoes, and gave me a few.

I decided that I needed to make something, and settled on Marinara sauce. I have no recipe for it, so I made it up.

The green tomatoes (yes, they're ripe. I don't know the variety, but they're the ones that are green with yellow stripes) made the sauce look a bit sickly, but it was tasty! I also baked some Italian Herb Bread that day.

I decided that the two must meet, so I whipped out the George Foreman Grill for some nummy grilled cheese sandwiches - with sharp cheddar cheese.

When all of the ingredients were compiled, it was exquisite!

(See what I mean about the way it looked? But trust me, it was heaven!)

sad, sad day.

2010-08-22T10:52:00.000-06:00

I just learned that Jack Horkheimer has died. I used to watch Stargazer all the time on PBS.

I will miss it.

"Keep Looking Up!"

Dalmatians

2010-04-26T17:11:00.000-06:00

We had a crew of about 70 1st-5th grade students here on Saturday. Talk about busy! They got here around 11 and left at 4. We had a meal, played games, did a Bible study, sang songs, and had a craft project. I was in charge of the craft - we made ShrinkyDink bookmarks. I learned many things:

Young children CAN use permanent markers without making a HUGE mess (I only had to clean a few spots off the tables).
Convection ovens are awesome, but will cause the ShrinkyDink to fly around because of the fan.
ShrinkyDinks curl alarmingly, but will mostly flatten out again
Stacking another layer of parchment paper and then another cookie sheet on top of the ShrinkyDinks will work and does keep them from ending up horribly mauled by the convection oven fan

Needless to say, I have now perfected the method of ShrinkyDink production in the camp kitchen. Things I never knew I needed to know. :)

When all was said and done, we went out to eat with the summer staff who had come up to volunteer. One of my favorite parts of my job is the people I meet and get to work with. Most of them are funny, smart, goofy nerds. Much like my friends (you all know you are!). I like them. I can't wait for summer!

Lately, I've been falling asleep to NPR. It's usually during 'World Cafe.' I heard a song the other night that I vaguely remember thinking that I should look up, and then someone posted this link on Facebook today. The song I had listened to was Josh Ritter's Change of Time. I've been listening to the whole album, and have decided that yes, indeed, I should buy it. Someday. When I have money.

There have been may things added to that list (the I should buy it. Someday. When I have money. list). I've started trying to keep track of these things with a list in the small notebook I try to carry around with me. I actually title the list (cuz I'm a nerd). It's called 'If wishes were horses...' Yup. :)

Planning

2010-04-16T18:27:00.000-06:00

I had a lot more to add to the last post, but it seemed to be getting fairly long. Anyway, I'm just glad that it no longer looks like this on the Lake:

All of the ice is now off, and hopefully it will be warming up quite a bit so I can get some good kayaking in before I move to the Ranch for the summer. :D

It's been crazy the last month here - we have all of the staff hired for the Ranch, and the Lake is almost done hiring (but we could really use a few more male counselors), so there's a million paperwork things to get done, not to mention program planning for the summer and even setting up the schedule for next summer. I'm working on getting all of the resource people I need together for staff training as well.

On top of that, I will also be studying for a CDL so I can drive the camp bus.

So much to do, so little time...

Summer Dawning

2010-04-13T20:50:00.001-06:00

:) There was a glorious thunderstorm last night! I stood outside on my back stoop (after I gave up watching Castle as it pixelated every time the wind blew or lightening struck) and watched the storm blow through. There wasn't much rain, and the wind was just right so I could stand outside and not get wet. The frogs were croaking all around. It was awesome! I love thunderstorm season! I can't wait to get out to the Ranch and watch them roll in over the miles.

Anywho, *pause to check last few posts* here are the photos I promised a while back. I don't have any photos of it before I started painting, but you'll see...

You can see the lovely 'wood' grain of the original color in these first photos:

The next photos are 'in process' and the old pulls (top) and the new ones (bottom).

And finally: the finished product! :)

I am very happy with this little project, maybe it will even inspire me to work on the pile of other projects.

hey there fruity lips...

2010-03-30T16:39:00.000-06:00

Apricot. *mwah* That is the shade of my new tinted lip balm. In an attempt to 'be more professional,' I have started wearing makeup. This is not something I am used to. At all. For those of you who've known me since high school and prior, you can probably count on one hand the number of times you have seen me wearing makeup. Anyway, it's happened: I'm growing up. (ish) When I go out into the community and recruit staff and talk to potential campers, I will now look like an adult. Scary. Please tell me if I look funny when you see me, though, as I really don't know what I'm doing with makeup, and am therefore highly self-conscious about it. Thank You. That is all.

The Products of Pi Day

2010-03-15T16:28:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know that today is the Ides of March, but yesterday was Pi Day, and I feel that that is just as important. Anyway, once upon a time, I was attending a meeting for work in the city where my sister and Aethelflaed live, and I met my boss after a class in the town 40 miles South of here, so we parked my car in an obliging church parking lot and carpooled the rest of the way. Fast forward 48 VERY exhausted hours and 150 miles (one way) later, and we'd left my car in said parking lot. Sigh. We also had a group coming in this weekend, and it was midnight by the time we'd gotten this far, so we decided that it might just be easier to fetch the car later. It was a great weekend, and I got to hang out with a 10 year old the whole time. We played a lot of fun games, including one called Mau Mau, which is basically a German version of Uno. (Both of the kid's parents are German, complete with Ze Accent). I hadn't played that game since high school German class, so I was very excited!

Anyway, after everyone from the retreat had left, I hitched a ride with the boss down to my car, and since I was in 'town' anyway, I went shopping. There were a few things is needed, but I mostly wandered around the mall for a while. This mall is kinda awesome in the fact that there are not too many stores, but there is always something going on. This weekend, they had a craft fair thingy. There were booths up and down the length of the mall (there's only length, no width - it's a small mall) filled with hand-crafted items for sale. Always fun to look at! I took several business cards, as I have very little disposable income at the moment, but it was great fun talking to everyone and looking through some really neat things.

I managed to not buy too much - I spent the most on groceries, but I also went to Menards and got the stuff to give my dresser a face lift. I will post photos later, but I got this dresser from my mom. She knew that I have been looking for a dresser or some sort of shelf or something, and so when she saw this one, in good shape for only $15, she bought it for me. It's not the best looking piece of furniture that I've ever seen, but, as I already said, it's in good condition, so I decided to make it work. I bought a quart of paint and new drawer pulls, and when I got home last night I started sanding and painting. I had a brief moment of annoyance when I tried out the new drawer pulls and the screws were WAY too long, but it worked out to just use the old screws, so life is good. I have one coat of paint on each of the drawers, and on one side of the dresser, and I'll be painting again tonight when I get home. I even unintentionally managed to make the paint color and hardware match the color of the fabric and upholstery tacks that I used to re-do my headboard. :) Yay for me being awesome and not even knowing it!

It was a good trip, and a fun weekend. There's a new radio station in the area that plays oldies, which is a nice change from ten million country stations or three pop stations. I listened to this song on the way back from my shopping/car retrieving expedition. I'd never really listened to the lyrics until then, and it kinda made me giggle.

live long and prosper, Mr. Nimoy

2010-03-08T13:32:00.001-07:00

did't realize that Spock was also a singer. see: http://www.last.fm/music/Leonard+Nimoy

his version of 'if i had a hammer' is... well, interesting.

it's creepery outside

2010-03-08T09:11:00.002-07:00

you know those movies? the ones that are supposed to be scary/disturbing? where the whole landscape is stark and it's not really light outside, but not really dark, and there's fog everywhere and the only noise you can hear - other than the footsteps of the main character waling down the deserted road - is the caw caw caw of a murder of crows somewhere in the distance (you can't actually see them). that was my walk to work this morning. kinda cool, kinda creepy.

in other news, i'm dying for some girlscout cookies. i don't know any girl scouts in the area, so i didn't get to order any, but i could devour a whole box of caramel delights right now. maybe it's a good thing i don't have any...

'is there anybody going to listen to my story'

2010-02-26T16:17:00.003-07:00

i love this song... it's been playing in my head for a few hours now. the beatles make me smile - so many awesome songs.

anyway, this weekend has been a blur (yes, i do know it's only friday). we have a group of quilters in from thurs-sun, and today, there were almost 160 kids plus 40 adults here for a 'winter fun day' for the local school. helping that many people get set up with/retun and get the next person set up with cross country skis is exhausting. i am ready to fall asleep on my feet. i'm very glad that we don't have to do this every day (or even every weekend).

speaking of weekends, i am ready for them to start existing again. i've been travelling for the past month, and so my days are all confuzzled. next weekend, i may have off, and i may make a quick escape somewhere, but i don't know where and i don't know when, and i may just stay home and work on stuff that needs to be done. we'll see. i will be taking bribes (;

dear Pandy and Ace...

2010-02-15T13:39:00.005-07:00

...keep your spam off my blog! i don't mind people stopping by and reading and commenting on my posts, but seriously, i do not look kindly upon those who just fill my comment section with crap in order to get people to look at their 'blog.' not cool. i always get really excited to see that someone has left me a comment (yes, i am that sad, pathetic person with a tiny social life), and you dash all of my hopes. grrr.

GC_little_batman_valentine

2010-02-14T15:00:00.001-07:00

GC_little_batman_valentine,
originally uploaded by PopKulture.

insomnia

2010-01-28T02:22:00.001-07:00

i gots it.

good time to catch up on shows, i guess.

no wonder!

2010-01-21T19:05:00.004-07:00

i admit. i'm addicted.

let me back up a few steps...

now that i live where i do (aka even more the middle of nowhere than ever before), and now that tv has converted to digital signal (whose stupid idea was that anyway?), i can only watch 3 stations 'over the air.' all three of them happen to be pbs. this is not my issue - i love pbs! my issue is that, even when the signal strength indicator says that i have a significant signal, i can't rely on any of the stations to work properly. at least with analog, i could put up with a little fuzz in the picture, but now, it's all or nothing (most frequently, nothing). but i digress...

the point is, i don't get any network tv. this doesn't bother me too much, there were only a few shows i tried to watch: house, grey's anatomy, and pushing daisies. and now that daisies is cancelled (stooooopid abc!), there were only two shows for me to catch up on when i had time. through this process, i have become a great fan of hulu. it seemed to have fewer problems than either the abc or fox viewer, so life was good.

then, i was introduced to firefly. this is awesomeness incarnate! i know it's been around for many many moons, but i hadn't seen it (for a variety of reasons [stooooopid fox], but there's another huge digression...). through this, i fell in love with nathan fillion. even if he is canadian. ;) i watched a few other things that he's done - worth mentioning are dr. horrible's singalong blog, and waitress.

then, abc introduced a new show. starring mr. fillion. castle has quickly become one of the 'i must check on hulu to see if there's a new episode posted' shows. i know, i know, it's totally predictable, and it's full of clichés, but i love it anyway, and you can't stop me.

anyway, with that as background, i talked to aethelflaed the other night (i think it was when she called me to make sure that i hadn't been killed or injured in a car accident that took place near where i live), and we chatted for a few moments and the she said something like, "i gotta go - i'm watching castle and it's really good!"

i just finished watching the latest episode, and now i understand. holy crap! it was awesome!

if anybody wants to know what all the fuss is about, i do now own the first season on dvd, and would be willing to loan them out (as soon as my boss is done borrowing them). oh, and i also now own the complete firefly as well... hooray for christmas!!!

Words words words words

2010-01-05T14:02:00.002-07:00

as may have been mentioned before, i'm a word geek. thus, i found this quite interesting:

http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/

a blogging resolution.

2009-12-15T15:47:00.003-07:00

there are days that i just don't have much to say, so the facebook status update seems to be the best way to let you all know that yes, despite the frigid tundra in which i live and work, i am alive. but i feel that i have been cheating you of my witty nonsense that only this blog can deliver. i apologize. i can't make any promises, bu ti will try to be a better blogger in the new year. this is my resolution. no diet that i won't even stick to for a week, no cutting out caffeine (as if!) or sugar, just trying to be better about keeping in touch - here, with phone calls, letters, emails, and yes, even on facebook, if i have to.

I like words

2009-10-24T19:33:00.002-06:00

as some of you may have noticed, i like words. i'm kind of a linguisitcs fan-girl. i get an awesome email every day called "A Word A Day" which, as you may have guessed is a new word every day, with definitions, etemology, pronunciation and examples. there is also a 'thought for the day' at the end of every email. today's was "A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)." i highly recommend the email, because it's just fun to read. every week, there's also a digest of responses to each word. this one made me giggle a little:
Subject: mendicant
Def: A beggar.
Mendicant is one of my favorite words. When I was a boy, my father would meticulously record expenses. One day, looking at his notes, I saw "gift to mendicant" and asked what that meant. He explained and I remember thinking how nice it was that he had given money to someone in need. Only later did I learn that "gift to mendicant" was his code phrase for my allowance!

and i found this one very interesting:
Subject: gimcrack
Def: Something cheap and showy, of little use.
The old song De Blue Tail Fly comes to mind. There has been much debate over the meaning of "Jimmy Crack Corn". To note, in the original version the lyrics read "Jim crack corn". "Jim crack" has traditionally been used in reference to shoddily built items. Additionally, "corn" is considered an American euphemism for "corn whiskey". Other possibilities include:"Gimcrack corn" cheap corn whiskey; That it refers to "cracking" open a jug of corn whiskey;

anywho, words: i like them

too funny to passover

2009-04-08T18:44:00.001-06:00

http://9a4440c5.fb.joyent.us/haggadah/ultraModern2.php

i laughed... a lot! yay for facebook and for people with too much time on their hands. :)

this weekend

2009-03-30T11:15:00.004-06:00

i went to Ides of March this weekend in Huron. lots of fun! doom has already detailed much of the event on her blog, but i'll just add to it, saying a good time was had by all, even if i was still a bit sick (stupid cold - hanging on forever). svein was there, and happened to have a spare "for the good of the land"cd, so i bought it and listened to it on the way home. my car has a 6 cd changer in the trunk, but since i've got my ipod, this is only the 2nd time i've used it. good to know it works. anyway, the cd is filled with wonderful songs and peoms of the sca type, and that made me want to listen to more sca-ish songs, and i happened to bring my handy little ipod along, so i scrolled through the music and found the songs by wyndreth. svein had given me a cd with some of her music on it quite a while ago, along with a cd of icelandic sagas and a sequentia cd as well. anyway, as i was listening, i heard a song that gave me goosebumps. it was written over 10 years ago, but is very applicable to what is going on in north dakota right now, so i thought i'd share the lyrics. from http://www.savagedaughter.com/Floodsong.html

For Those Who Fight the Flooding

Word reaches us on higher ground

of kinsmen wyrd-and-water-tossed,

of rivers raging from their beds

and fordings, dams and bulwarks crossed

Chorus: My heart, it builds the longship

that my thick hands wish they could

to carry you and all you love

on wings of wind and wood

to where your anxious kinsmen

pace and pray for you

and rail the fates and wish that

there was something we could do.

We know the water's faces best

as sleet and ice and blinding snow.

When it comes as furied flood,

where shall our kinsmen go?

Chorus

All acorss the Northshield lights

burn in the dark of stead and hall

all and every evening as we

strain to hear you if you call.

Chorus

Those of us on higher ground

keep the guest-cups full and warm

and dream--when we can sleep--that you

are with us, safe from harm.

Chorus

Our thoughts ride waves to stand with you.

Our voices sing your names out loud.

Our hands dream that they can turn

the water's unforgiving wrath around

Chorus

two stormy nights... and then some

2009-03-10T19:41:00.013-06:00

monday, march 2, 2009:
i was not feeling so well. i think i was coming down with a cold - the boss kept looking at me and telling me to go home and go to bed. i didn't want to give in to that evil virus, so i fought it off as best as i could.

tuesday, march 3, 2009:
yup, had a cold - and it kinda won. didn't drive to the fort for a half-day of work like i thought i would. instead, slept and drank fluids as my voice started to trickle away. i think i had a fever, but was afraid to confirm, so i didn't bust out the thermometer.

i was on a quest. i was going to see not only my little sister, mother, one of the adopted sisters and some of my friends at home, but also one of the most awesome bands. ever. i was headed to see Gaelic Storm. that's right. two nights in a row.

i left the frigid north and ventured down to meet up for supper at little italy's, first making a stop in h2otown for the thing that saved my life: tylenol severe cold and sore throat blue liquid miracle drug. after i finally got out of walmart and took a swig, i felt almost 100% human again, and continued the drive. i met up with kaia and aethelflaed in sf and continued home. we picked up my mom & dad, went to town for dinner (the chicken fettuchini alfredo was delicious!) with doom and hagan. doom gave me the hat she made for me: it's awesome!

after dinner, we dropped dad back at home and headed to akron for the first concert. it was at the old opera house, and i had a blast! this was my first GS concert, and i can't even tell you how excited i was. the band was awesome - they put on a really good show, and really get the crowd involved (though i think the opera house crowd was a bit different from their usual - more sitters than dancers etc..). i know i had a great time, and i'm glad that my mom got to come along. here's a photo of two of us crazy fan girls, my mom, and some random passers-by in front of ye olde opera house:

wednesday, march 4, 2009:
after spending the night at mom & dad's we headed into town and visited with doom, hagan and doris at the u before we had lunch with tom at whimp's. two hours of lunch and chat with tom, we headed to omaha; the scene of the next concert.

we got there in time to meet dyetara at knitting night at whole foods, so we got in some good fiber craft time. i started a scarf, and i think i may have helped aethelflaed start her fingerless mittens. we all grabbed some whole foods supper, and then headed to drop the kids with the sitter and then to find the venue for the concert.

this one was at a 'music cafe' *read: bar* as much fun as the first one was, this was even more so! they had a local bluegrass band open for them, and that was ok, but i think that maybe kaia was not so fond of them. they all sang and played into one mic, and when you could hear them in balance they were fairly decent, but i think if they'd have each had their own mic (or at least not all 5 of them on one) it would have been way better. anyway, after a few sets from them, Gaelic Storm took the stage.

they played most of the songs they had done in akron, plus some, with no intermission. the crowd was very excited, and there was all kinds of dancing and shouting and clapping. it was awesome! i had made sure to take some of my magic blue tylenol liquid stuff, so i was feeling pretty good as far as my throat and coughing went, and i think i may have embarrassed kaia with my enthusiasm. we were in the front, right up by the stage again, and i think it was aethelflaed who said 'i could touch gaelic storm!' :) anyway, after a couple of hours of singing along to every song and dancing and clapping (and seeing a friend from high school), the show was over (2 encore songs as well). and then, we did get to touch gaelic storm.

we decided to get our shirts signed, and after kaia, aethelflaed and dyetara had their signed by pat, i said somthing like, 'i'll just have to shake your hand because i chose the black shirt,' and shook his hand. to which he said something like, 'there's a perfect spot to sign!' and i guess there was. the screen print of the snail worked perfectly. most of them even signed on it. (twigger had some issues with it, but that's ok). when ryan signed it he said 'you're making me work really hard on this one!'

then we became even more fan-girl-esque and got our pictures taken with the band.

Steve Twigger:

Patrick Murphy:

Peter Purvis:

Jessie Burns:

Ryan Lacey:

(we decided that he reminds us of 'animal' from the muppets when he's drumming. it's fascinating, really)

before we left, we took the time to attempt to squeeze the four of us into a photo booth, but i don't have the pictures from that - i think kaia does. it was an adventure. those things are not made for four women.

on the way back, we stopped in at dyetara's new house and saw how it is coming along. it's turning out really well, and i can't wait to see the finished product. we spent the night in the old house, and the next day, did some hanging out around the old market:

the weather was so nice that there were people just hanging out on the street corner with hula hoops, and ava joined in, as did kaia. we even stopped for ice cream before we headed back north.

sorry for the lengthyness of this post, but i could have gone on much longer about all of it. there are more photos on my flickr page, if you want to see them.

my first album

2009-02-28T18:54:00.005-07:00

here's the cover for my first album: what kind of music do you think i sing? or am i just in the band? what do i play?

have fun!

Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
Use photoshop or similar to put it all together (You can use picnik http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome , it's free and easy to use).

covered in bees! socks and note

2009-02-27T20:19:00.003-07:00

so, i've have these for quite some time, and i know you're all dying to see them, so here they are. i LOVE them! the are sooooooo warm, and not too thick or crazy or anything! thank you alpaca wacka for knitting them, and big sister for dyeing the yarn!

here is the requisite "blog modeling photo (the only good one):"

Miniature Knitter

2009-01-27T19:07:00.003-07:00

if the video isn't showing up, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT5MFdAB7fI

Um, I am amazed! I love Neil Gaiman and all of his books, and the books of his that I have seen in movie form as well (aka Stardust), and am really excited to see Coraline, so i went to the website, which is really fun to play around at, and I found this. Enjoy!

and here's the pattern for the sweater: http://www.coraline.com/images/sweater_pattern.pdf

for the time being

2009-01-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Your result for The Princess Bride trivia Test...

Westley

Inconceivable! You scored ###!

You live it, you love it, you lost track long ago of how many times you have seen it. You have been known to wish someone luck by hollering "have fun storming the castle!" You scoff at people who cannot recite the entire 'battle of wits.' You are a true fan.
Thank you. Its people like you that give me hope for humanity.

Take The Princess Bride trivia Test at HelloQuizzy

not too shabby, i hope

2008-11-04T23:08:00.006-07:00

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!

2008-10-29T11:55:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-29T11:00:00.000-06:00

(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

2008-09-23T14:37:00.000-06:00

baby!

2008-09-08T15:37:00.002-06:00

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

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

moved east

2008-08-26T22:45:00.001-06:00

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

2008-07-12T18:36:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-22T11:08:00.002-06:00

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

2008-04-17T02:46:00.007-06:00

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...

2008-04-14T21:01:00.005-06:00

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

2008-03-18T10:07:00.005-06:00

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

2008-03-18T09:51:00.002-06:00

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

2008-03-14T15:00:00.004-06:00

+ = 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

2008-03-09T14:38:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-02-28T00:59:00.002-07:00

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

2008-02-16T17:55:00.004-07:00

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

2008-02-15T14:20:00.005-07:00

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...

2008-02-14T20:33:00.003-07:00

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.

2008-01-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

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?!?

2008-01-17T21:10:00.001-07:00

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.

phototastic

2007-12-20T01:08:00.001-07:00

here are some photos taken back in march that i finally got to develop. they are going to be christmas gifts for a few people. :)

the meme

2007-12-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bag?
i like to wrap gifts. gift bags have their uses, but for under the tree, paper is best.

2. Real tree or artificial?
both have merit. i like the lack of stepping on/having to vacuum up needles with a fake tho

3. When do you put up your tree?
i don't have a set time. i don't think i'll even get mine up this year

4. Do you like eggnog?
no.

5. Favorite gift received as a child?
i'm not even sure. is that bad? (i think it's just end of the semester brain mush, cuz i can't even think of what i got last year!)

6. Hardest person to buy for?
frère jaque (my brother, john)

7. Easiest person to buy for?
ava. being 2, she's not too picky, and i can always find something she'll like

8. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received?
grandma has a tendency to get or make all of the grandkids something similar. one year she made us quillows. mine was the hot pink one with white polka dots. i was about 13, and was (still am) very anti-pink. she has a tendency to do that sometimes. a lot of my grandma gifts are one of those awful colors that i can't make myself use.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
i love getting mail. i also love sending it, but i'm very bad about getting cards out on time.

10. Favorite Christmas movie?
Nailz said, "duh, Nightmare Before Christmas" and i'd have to agree. :)

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
i'm a last minute sort of person.

12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
yes. especially the ones that come from the white elephant exchanges. they usually make the rounds.

13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
anything homemade. and sunday night toffee. that's one of my favorite recipes

14. White or colored lights?
i like either, if they're done well, and are not uber-tacky

15. Favorite Christmas song?
stille nacht

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
i'm sure i could name them, but they wouldn't be the names that everyone else is thinking of. i'm pretty creative sometimes.

17. Angel or Star on top of tree?
i'm not too picky

18. Open presents Christmas Eve or Morning?
morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
finals week and final projects

20. What I love most about Christmas?
being able to go home and breathe for a bit.
and snow. snow is good. except when i'm driving.

out of the void

2007-12-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

so, i'm at work. on a saturday. two hours early. we all know how much of a morning person i am . the school is supposed to be haveing a recruitment day. the admissions office was supposed to be here at 8am to set up, thus necessitating my being here slightly before that. it's now 8:30, and the only other person i've seen is the one who works for dining services (and does a shitty job of setting up a catering table... the cloth is crooked, and not even under the skirt, but that's a whole new can of worms).

i got here early for this? they had better buy me coffee!

Librarian Video

2007-12-01T14:48:00.001-07:00

this made my day brighter. enjoy!

name that car

2007-11-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

i love my happy little car. it's great. the only thing lacking was a name. well, on the way back from the family thanksgiving festivities, it found a name. i was driving along the lonely interstate, and it hit me (literally). my car shall now be known as bunnyslayer. it was a pretty big one too. at least it wasn't a deer. :)

other than that, my break was good, if short. i got to see some people for a very short period of time, and lots of family. too much food, not enough homework done - you know, the usual. when i got back, i had a letter from the guy in charge of placing me for student teaching in scotland. it may end up being later than i thought, because of the holiday schedule in the uk. i guess we'll see what happens...

the beautiful fork

2007-11-08T00:21:00.000-07:00

i got placed for student teaching next semester. it's not in town here, but it's only 10 miles away. :) ...that is, for the first 10 weeks... after that, i'm planning to go to scotland for 6ish weeks. :):)
i start in the local class room on jan.2 and go to mar. 11. after that, assuming that i pass, i go to scotland. yay! scotland. kilts. loch ness. kilts.

kilts, people!!!

i may be a little bit excited...

(now, just pray that i can survive this semester!)

do good stuff and learn good words

2007-11-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

http://freerice.com/index.php

feed people and build your vocabulary at the same time. be awesome all around...
it's fun (says word-geek girl)
do it.

this has made me indefinably giddy. i'm thinking that when i teach, i will use this for something. i don't know what, but it will be used. :)

cream of rainy day soup ala rachel

2007-10-21T13:16:00.000-06:00

yesterday was beautiful. i worked all day long (but no one came in, so i got caught up on a few of my favorite shows...). it was one of those overcast sprinkly kind of days, so the air smelled so nice, and it wasn't even too cold. by the time i got off work, it had actually really started to rain instead of mist, so i decided that it would be a good night for soup making. so here it is, the step-by-step process (i wouldn't call it a recipe, it's sooo much more) for cream of rainy day soup:

decide to make soup and then spend about an hour looking through recipes in your little box and online at http://allrecipes.com
after reading a whole bunch of corn chowder recipes, pick and choose ingredients from several and make a grocery list
spend way too long at the store getting ingredients and a few other essentials
get home, wash the small skillet and the big soup pot
in skillet, cook half a package of bacon to the damn near burned stage (i like it uber crispy) and place the cooked pieces into the soup pot
in bacon drippings, saute half of a large onion (diced)
add to the onion two diced celery stalks
when veggies are tender, spoon most of them into the soup pot with the bacon.
throw a big package of fresh sliced mushrooms into the rest of the drippings and the few onions that you couldn't get out of the pan with the spatula
when the mushrooms are tender and have soaked up all of the rest of the drippings, dump them into the soup pot as well.
into the pot, add bag of frozen corn from your grandmother's garden (about 2-3cups), three medium potatoes (cubed), 4 cups of water and enough chicken bullion for it.
boil until the taters are tender, then add a splash of heavy whipping cream (probably about 1/2 cup), and copious amounts of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (think half of a bag or more people... no such thing as too much cheese)
let the soup cook for about another 10 ish minutes until all the cheese is melted in and everything thickens up a bit
eat. freeze the leftovers in individual ziploc bowls for lunch or dinner at work.

one thing that i would suggest in retrospect would be to take the cooked potatoes out of the pot and blend them up for a bit, so that you don't have huge chunks of taters. also, eat with biscuits. never forget the biscuits. :)

like a rainbow with wings

2007-10-15T18:04:00.000-06:00

flying colors, that is...

i passed my praxis for history!!! i needed a score of 135 to pass, and i kicked that test's butt with 187. :) *happy dance*

Eddie Izzard-Cake or Death

2007-10-11T01:32:00.001-06:00

gotta love eddie...

my date with sir elton john

2007-10-08T22:21:00.000-06:00

wow.

that man can play the piano. the concert was AWESOME. thankyouthankyouthankyou to my buddy chris who sponsored the trip.

this is as good as my camera phone gets from row 'k' of the bleachers. that's elton there in the spotlights. there was also a really big led screen behind elton and the band, and there were several images scrolling around during many of the songs. this is the other picture i managed to get:

you can kinda see elton and the piano under christ's shoulder. i have to say that this is one of the top three concerts i've ever been to. :) tom petty at the rally was better, but only because we were so close to the stage. due to the traveling and crazyness of the weekend, i am again behind in the homework arena. tonight will be a catching up time for me. wish me luck.

on the way to elton john

2007-10-07T16:18:00.000-06:00

i'm sitting in the hotel, waiting for my friend to get reado to go. first, we are going to eat at johnny corinos (yum) and then we'll be off to the concert. yay!

royality

2007-10-02T23:13:00.000-06:00

hello all!

so, i'm not queen, but homecoming coronation was a blast. here is a picture with the crown that kaia gave me.

there are also more photos at my flickr site : http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnorachel/

it is also liked at the right.

things here are crazy. so much to do and so little time, so for now i'll leave it at that.

wish me luck!

2007-09-28T12:35:00.000-06:00

the voting has begun, and on monday, i'll find out if i'm the most popular girl among those chosen by an anonymous panel of judges after we filled out tons of paperwork from being nominated by a student organization. in other words i may be homecoming queen.

i find this odd. i never thought that i would ever be up for such a thing. it should be fun anyway.

the theme for the week of homecoming is "through the decades." therefore, monday's theme for the day is the 1920s. i've got a pseudo flapper dress to wear, and i'll post pictures if i can.

i also have a ton of other stuff this weekend. i'm going down to rc to visit erin and the boys tonight, and tomorrow i'm going to the book festival with becky. i also have tons of homework and i have to clean my house before my parents get here on monday. oh, and all of my paperwork for applying to student teach is due on the 18th of october, so i've got to make sure that that's all taken care of too.

wish me luck.

i don't think i've ever had a cookie hit on me before

2007-09-19T10:16:00.000-06:00

so, i went home this weekend for cecil's siege. it was way fun. i saw people get awesome awards, and even got one myself. i also managed to score a huge(ish) amber bead from the little sister's boy toy. the best part was hanging out with everyone that i usually get to see at lilies, as i didn't get to go this summer.

i also got to drive across the state with erin and the boys. good fun. now my car smells like french fries.

we got to rapid at supper time, and once we got erin and the boys on their way to grandma's, i went to the mongolian grill. yum. andrew skipped out on mondy night football and met me there, and when we were through with the eating bit, it was time for fortune cookies. here is what mine said:

"Are your legs tired? You've been running through my mind ALL day long."

andrew's theory is that either the cookie is hitting on me, or someone beat him to his goal of hacking into the fortune cookie printing machine. :)

the things i learned today (well...recently)

2007-09-13T17:41:00.000-06:00

you learn all kinds of things in school. especially when you are going to school for school. here are a few recent tidbits from my profs:

the only people who have more acronyms in their profession is the military.

we can't let anybody know what we're really doing because then they'd all want to be teachers.

you can trust me because i have the jacket...

there are more possibly humorous quotes to come, i'd imagine (plus i can't find all of the ones that i wrote down).

to go or not to go, that is the question

2007-09-06T20:14:00.000-06:00

fall classes have started, and at this point, i am taking 20 credit hours. i may end up dropping one, but i don't know yet. i kind of doubt it. the dilemma is that it's a class that's supposed to help me get everything in order to student teach overseas. i want to, but it's really expensive. if i'm going to spend money to go to europe, why should i have to work (for free) when i'm there? so i guess the question is, should i just stay here and finish up and then take a trip to europe on my own, or should i go for it?

of weddings, starters and families

2007-08-28T15:05:00.000-06:00

so i've been gone for a bit. i went to the wedding of two of my friends.
the wedding and ensuing celebrations (before and after) were all great, and i think that we all had a lot of fun.

after the wedding, my plan was to drive the 2 hours or so to the family picnic (yearly gathering of the powell side of the family). my plans were changed when, after a quick stop for coffee, my car refused to start. to make a long story short, thank goodness for manual transmissions. and hills. that way, when the starter goes out, you can still get the car going.

eventually, i made it home.
while there, i hung out with doom and others, saw stardust, and generally had a decent time. i even got to see both sisters and a niece. and the big sister brought me some yarn, along with my lilies amber. i'll get a picture of the amber soon, but for now, here is yarn that the big sister dyed. it is destined to be a bag for my friend gina.

yarrrrn and beans.

2007-08-14T15:14:00.000-06:00

so i signed up for an account at ravelry.com today. it's supposed to be really cool if you're into that sort of thing. the sister said that it is a good way to keep track of your yarn projects, so i thought i'd give it a go. they have a blog up at: blog.ravelry.com

in other news, i have been looking up recipes on allrecipes.com for black beans. i've had an unnatural craving for black beans and rice, but no one out here sells the good stuff. i mean, they have zataran's but it's not the same as the vigo. so i'm on a mission to find something similar that i can make with stuff i can get at the stores here. i've found lots of delicious-looking recipes, and if any of them are winners, i'll let you know.

oh! and i turned in my 'caring narrative' today, and she said it was good. she especially liked my answer to #3. :)

comment free for over a week!

2007-08-13T09:52:00.000-06:00

well, i'm done with the all beatles lyrics titles for now. it was fun while it lasted, but i am no longer amused by it.

soon i will be headed back to the other side of the state. i don't think that i've been there since... *crickets chirp*... um, well, it's been a while. i can't wait to see everybody! i'm hoping to be able to hang out and watch movies and stuff, but i can't really afford to go anywhere or do anything fancy. that damn broke college kid stuff again. hopefully i'll have enough gas money to get home in the first place. anywho, enough of the financial woes...

i am now getting stuff figured out for the college of education. scary. i'm nervous, because... i'm not sure why. i guess it means that i'm almost done and i'll have to 'grow up.' sigh.

one of the things that i have to include in my teaching portfolio is a "caring inventory." i have to answer the following questions:

Share some evidence that you are working on behalf of other people’s welfare? How do you display your empathy? Are there activities or organizations or personal relationships in which you demonstrate you look after other people, or are of service to others?
From other people’s perspective, what would they say about you in terms of you being a caring person?
Identify two characteristics that you think a caring teacher possesses. Then, give an example of what that teacher might do to demonstrate those traits.
What personal characteristics or personality traits are you attempting to acquire (or diminish) that would make you more sensitive to others, or make you better able to care and serve as a teacher?

the first thing i noticed about this set of questions (quoted directly from the instructions) was the grammar. it makes me want to grind my teeth. second, how am i supposed to know what other people think about me. it's not like i can read minds. i think that it is stuff like this that has kept me from jumping fight in to the application process. now there is no longer any way to delay. sigh...

so, what do you guys think about me "in terms of being a caring person?"

i look at the floor and i see it needs sweeping

2007-08-08T09:45:00.000-06:00

my sister came into town last night/this morning at 1:30 ish. they are on their way to a camping adventure with another family. at first, they had wanted to stay in a motel, but being that it is rally week, this did not work out. then, there was the thought of just driving through. by the time they got here, this was also not feasible. so, they crashed on my floor. i kinda feel bad because i have not vacuumed for quite a while due to the fact that my vacuum is broken and does not work at all. but free is free and i'm glad they decided not to drive the whole way through the night.

i left for work this morning only 4.5 hours after they got settled in, so i hope they slept well, and can a) find their way out of town, and b) figure out the road that i told them about. if not, my boss said that they could stop by if they wanted, but who knows when they will head out.

it was good to see little monkey girl and her parents. i miss them.

i've been looking forward to seeing stardust. (imdb) i may be very disappointed, however, because none of the theaters in the area seem to be showing it. this is the only movie that i've really been looking forward to. i think that it is showing in soo foo, so maybe doom and i can go see it when i'm home? please? :)

images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes

2007-08-07T15:19:00.000-06:00

lots of stuff going on in the universe recently. stars are so cool. i think it would be fun to be an astronomer. i could watch galaxies collide and discover huge planets. and play with nifty telescopes and stuff. i actually really kind of like physics. maybe if i don't like this teaching thing...

anywho, i spent the weekend up at camp helping with the pack-up. it was hot. and slightly awkward. i guess that's what i get for always helping out when i'm not actually on staff. i got to lead a ride out though. on a horse that i haven't ridden forever. his name is lightning. don't let it fool you, he is not terribly speedy. except when you're trying to cinch him, and he is trying to bite you. other than that though, he's a wonderful horse. i hadn't ridden for a year, so i'm feeling it today, that's for sure. another one of those 'muscles that you never knew you had' things. i miss camp. sometimes. there is a year-round position opening up, and the director is 'nudging' me to consider it. scary. i realize that the real world is coming at me fast... only one school year left, and half of that is student teaching, so that's almost the real world. ahhh!

wish me luck!

i read the news today, oh boy

2007-08-02T08:47:00.000-06:00

when i got to work this morning, i say this article in the newspaper that i had to put out on the stick. ok, so the article was in the local paper, but the bbc does a decent job of reporting, generally, and i have their news bookmarked. no wonder my sister is always nervous driving over bridges.

browsing the bbc news site, i came across this as well. all i have to say is that i'm very glad that i didn't ever vote for him. i know all politicians are crap, but he seems crappier than most. i just get so angry when people in power seek to keep secrets from the people who elected them. it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when i think about it.

ah, but here is some good news...well at least not bad news. animals are so cute. even if they are ugly. i wonder if their leaders try to pull the wool over their eyes too. can animals lie? will we ever know?

but oh that magic feeling nowhere to go

2007-08-01T15:09:00.000-06:00

final tonight! wish me luck! :) i'll be done for the summer (what's left of it).
i went out last night for a celebratory grocery run (haven't gone shopping since last paycheck). it felt good to buy cheese, milk, veggies, rice, peanut butter and bread and 'fancy' name brand cereal. ah the good life. i even managed to get some apples that taste quite heavenly, instead of slightly bitter like usual (they always look so good). all in all a good trip to the store. until it came time to pay. it wasn't the total (under $40 - pretty good for almost a month's worth of groceries and a card for my parents' anniversary), no, the problem came when i swiped my debit card. and it was refused. i swiped again. no go. i had to flag down the self-checkout monitor lady and have her suspend my transaction so that i could run out to my car and get my checkbook. i called my bank's automated account info number, but it kept disconnecting after one ring. this made me nervous. but, at least my check went through (they scan the check and it does an eft instead of being sent to the bank, and then they hand it back to you). something was wonky with the bank, but i eventually managed to get my groceries and go home.
somewhere along the way, my driver's license, my check card, and several other cards that i carry in my little metal id case (it looks like this, only no cigarettes) somehow fell behind my seat when i put the groceries in the car. that sent me into a panic this morning, but i found them when i was going to go home for lunch. sigh. so much stress for nothing.

sleep pretty darling do not cry, and i will sing a lullaby

2007-07-31T10:56:00.000-06:00

i've got to stop trying to fall asleep to the i am sam soundtrack. it's good music, but i have this terrible tendency to actually listen to the songs as i try to sleep. then my mind wanders around the imagery of the lyrics and then i think of a million different things, which only lead to more things to think about and then i am so worked up that i can't possibly fall asleep. hence the finishing of a book last night and only about 1/2hr of sleep. i just couldn't bring myself to lay still enough to calm my mind. i sprawled out on my bed, tossing and turning to get comfortable for almost 2 and 1/2 hours last night after i stopped reading at 2:30 (which was when i finally felt tired), and before i gave up on sleep all together. hopefully i will sleep well tonight.

misunderstanding all you see

2007-07-30T15:06:00.000-06:00

i found this interesting article today: what's in a name?
that is all.

living is easy with eyes closed

2007-07-30T14:16:00.000-06:00

two! two evenings left of class! ah hahahaha. (think:)

anywho, i've got tons of papers (two) to finish for the class. one is a historical analysis of literature on a tree grows in brooklyn, which is a pretty good book so far. i think that i may end up turning this one in late... the other is the term paper, which i am much farther along with and it will be done on time for wednesday.

i'm going to miss this class, i think. not the driving fifty miles each way twice a week, but the instructor is a hoot, and i feel like i'm actually learning something, which is nice for once. the thought of having two more nights to myself is highly appealing though. you wouldn't think it, but taking five hours (an hour drive there, three hours of class and an hour drive back) two nights a week really eats into your life. not that i would do anything terribly significant with those hours, but maybe laundry and dishes would be done in a more timely manner. ahhhh... it'd be nice to come home to a clean house. at least i got all of the dishes and some laundry done this weekend! :)

i also went on a run/hike/walk this weekend that was 3.2 miles long, mostly uphill. it was beautiful scenery, but my legs now hate me. they'll get over it. soon, i hope! there was some gorgeous scenery , like i said, but alas, no film to put in my camera. can't wait until payday!!!! this once a month thing is really a drag.

in other money-related news, i think i have a temporary job during the rally this year! i might be a cashier at one of the bar/concert hall/random dunk people gathering spots. a friend of mine says that they really need help, and they are willing to let me start late, since i will be home for a short while this weekend. whohoo! it's $9/hr more than i would be making sitting on my butt at home, and will probably be more interesting to watch than the 1 and 1/2 channels that i can get on my tv! the only real bummer is that my sister is supposed to be coming through town on the 7th, and i don't know yet what hours i would work. we'll figure something out, i'm sure.

in case of accidents he always took his mom

2007-07-27T15:33:00.000-06:00

here is some friday fun for you:

you too can have yellow skin at simpsonize me (if it works...)
or, become a lego here
both are lost of fun:
(here is where i would put a picture of me as a simpson, but it's not working at the moment...)

staring at the cieling, waiting for a sleepy feeling

2007-07-27T12:48:00.000-06:00

who can name that beatles song?
i'm thinking that i will try to use beatles lyrics for blog titles for as long as i can. let's see how long i can keep it up. :) afterall, "Everybody's born knowing all the Beatles lyrics instinctively. They're passed into the fetus subconsciously along with all the amniotic stuff. Fact, they should be called 'The Fetals'. " pop quiz: who knows that movie? two quizzes in one day! you are lucky people!

this moment of insanity brought to you by:
insomnia!
just when you think you will get to bed at a decent hour, we'll keep you from that good night's rest (longer that you thought possible!)
*insert cheezy grin and vanna white hand wave here*

battle scars

2007-07-25T09:57:00.000-06:00

three big red scrapes and bruises and one banged up ankle.

this is what i get for escaping a sweltering summer night by jumping on an intertube and not so much floating as jockeying down the swift current that runs over many a sneaky rock (read: boulder) in our friendly neighborhood creek. when we went at 7:00 pm, it was still 105 degrees. thus the 60ish degree creek seemed downright frigid! but after about 3 minutes, it's not so bad, and the good news is that when you do inevitably crash into a rock, you are already applying a cold pack.

it was so much fun! i have lived here for nearly 5 years and this is the first summer that i've actually been around long enough to want to brave the ice water of the creek. once again, it was way fun. i'm ready to go again!

i also saw some really pretty spots that i would like to photograph, so maybe pictures will be forthcoming (when i can afford film and development of said film)

update

2007-07-20T16:03:00.000-06:00

i love http://toothpastefordinner.com/ it's good stuff

things in the news

2007-07-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

here are a couple of fun articles that i found today: one about vikings sailing again, and another about german children's book nudity.

this weekend i drove down to visit jessica while she was in the area doing an archaeological survey. it was good fun. there's nothing like a nice drive through the hills. i only wish that i had left earlier so that i could have taken photos along the way. there are a lot of interesting things on the back roads between here and there. we ended up going to the local steak house for dinner, and the service was horrid. the food was good, but they could have really used a different waitress. it really wasn't that busy, so we shouldn't have had to wait nearly an hour (so it seemed) to order. while we were waiting, we did manage to get in some good chatting. i met two of the girls jess is working with, and they seem like fun. jason also joined us for supper, though he was late and decided to get the salad bar. This turned out to be a good choice, because we still ended up waiting about 15 minutes after he got there before our food came out. at least it was a tasty meal. and they cooked the meat correctly. after dinner, i hung out with jess and ellie(?) for a bit before the ling trek home. it was a good weekend.

sad news though, i will most likely not be able to make it to rabid yale next weekend. i just can't afford it. :( i'm sorry.

through the fuzzy contact

2007-07-09T11:36:00.000-06:00

for some reason, i can't see well today. my left contact seems a bit cloudy, and my right one seems like it isn't in right. all together it's a bit odd. good thing i have my handy dandy back pack full of handy dandy random items like purell hand wipes, various bottles of lotion, kleenex, several varieties of gum, tums, a mint tin filled with ibuprofen, and way down at the bottom, amongst several other random things, the bottle of rewetting drops. ahhhhhhh... sometimes i wonder why i carry such a drug store around with me, but it's days like this when i am glad for it.

anywho

i have been so tired lately, and i don't really know why. it's possible that it's due to the heat or allergies or something like that, i guess. it's just annoying, because it means that i can't pull myself out of bed in time to do a small bit of exercise like i've been wanting to before work. it's been nice and cool in the early morning around here, so i thought that it would be good to get outside and go for a walk/jog for a bit, if for nothing else but the chance to be outside, not to mention that i could really use the physical activity since most of my days are spent at one desk or another. i really need to start getting out of bed instead of hitting the snooze button so many times... blah. too bad i like sleep so much!

aside from that, i made a necklace for my friend's b-day. i don't have a digital camera, but i've found that my scanner can do well enough to at least give you the general idea:

and while i was messing with the scanner anyway, here is some of the yarn loot that i have recently aquired. this first one is stuff that my friends brought back from the estes park fiber festival thingy:

this is the stuff that i bought using my b-day gift certificate to the local yarn store:

and this is also from the local yarn store, though it was given to me by the owner. it was a sample that the yarn company gave her, and she knows that i like to felt stuff, and she wanted to see how this turned out, so i now have three balls of it. it's very soft despite the metallic flecks, but i'm not sure what to do with it yet. probably another bag. :)

for some reason the font is doing funky things. sorry if it looks a mess!

i'm a survivor

2007-07-06T18:27:00.000-06:00

47%

"the screams of another cat"

2007-06-27T15:20:00.001-06:00

i've had a few interestingly random conversations lately, and the title comes from one of them. i am very tired. this working early in the morning until close and then driving for an hour to sit for a three hour class followed by working early in the morning again is getting kinda old. i think that my boss has started to change the schedule a bit, but not until next week. i'm getting really sad, because i realize that by the end of next week, two of my friends will be very far away. and in about a month, another will be moving for grad school too. sigh. to celebrate/mourn lisa's moving, we went to a fabulous restaurant last night and had some tasty italian cuisine. mmmm.... chicken marsala! i had leftovers for lunch. tasty.

anywho, there will be a shindig tomorrow night and all will be there to enjoy margaritas and crazyness before my friends head off to the great wide world. it should be fun.

back from camp

2007-06-25T12:07:00.000-06:00

hello all!
it's good to be back in air conditioning! my trip to the camp that i used to work at was .... eventful. the counselor there who was a camper when i was staff is wonderful! it was good to see him again. some of the stuff that happened that week stressed me out a bit, but the director and i talked them over, and i think that things will get straightened out. i love that place.
now that my 'vacation' is over, i have to go back to class tonight. i've missed two classes (since i didn't plan on taking a class when i said that i would go to camp for the week.) i think i can get caught up, so i'll be ok.
other than that, i'm looking forward to moorish tavern this weekend. that should be fun!

Wooly Bullies

2007-06-25T12:04:00.001-06:00

te he!
and my friends wonder why i give knitters such a hard time!

oil it is

2007-06-15T08:10:00.000-06:00

thanks to affreca for the link to this article. i had been meaning to post about the gorilla project again, since i had found out that the wall street journal had reported that it was a land-based oil refinery. we found that out the night we went to the argo for kaia's birthday. i guess it's slipped my mind since then. some one is quoted as saying, “People of the area are very excited,” Bortscheller said. ”I think it will bring back people who used to live in the area.” for some reason, i think this person's not talking to the people who actually live where they are trying to take the land. maybe the people who will live 10-12 miles away in elk point are excited, but they don't have to move off their land or be next door neighbors to the thing.

The One (song by Gaelic Storm)

2007-06-13T09:00:00.001-06:00

so, i love gaelic storm, and i think i love this video. it's cute. :) enjoy!

quote of the day

2007-06-12T12:56:00.000-06:00

"A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read."

Mark Twain, Speech in New York, Nov. 20, 1900

how to control a runaway camel....

2007-06-11T09:53:00.000-06:00

hang on to the saddle horn and let it run, as camels tire quickly.
it's fun the things you learn from games. :) i also found out how long to wait after a nuclear attack before coming out of the shelter and how to eat an animal after a nuclear attack. thank you, worst case scenario survival game!

anywho, it's been a very long week. i somehow managed to lose my keys, and i have been crazy busy at both jobs as well as trying to finish up my first summer class. blah. thankfully, most of that is over and i have a great landlord, who got me a mail key for no extra charge.

this is the first year in quite a while that i am not at lilies. it's a bit odd. i like the event, but there is no way that i could afford to go this year. that, and i am taking summer classes, so missing those would have sucked as well. at least i can go to other events this summer. and i even have a friend who is willing to drive with me to moorish tavern. she was in a club in high school that affiliated itself with the sca, and then we were in the dorms together and randomly found out that we had a mutual interest in crazy dressing up and stuff.

well, i think this camel is all tuckered out for now...

gigglemeister

2007-05-29T14:11:00.001-06:00

this weekend was midsummer's eve in the highlands. it was way fun. my friend lisa came with me, and i think that she managed to enjoy herself. i was named the "minister of giggles" but i think i like gigglemeister better. we'll see what her highness has to say about that. i made giggle stickers with her label maker, and will be spreading the giggles across the land. i can't wait!

other than that, my grandparents will be out here for a meeting tomorrow, so i will be cleaning like a mad woman tonight. my apartment is a pit! that's what i get for not being there except to drop stuff off and sleep. :)

yay for summer...class

2007-05-21T13:33:00.000-06:00

i actually kind of like my summer class. it's not what i want to do, it's just another hoop to jump through for the college of education, but at least it breaks up the day. not that i wouldn't rather just be outside in the beeeeeeeeeeautiful weather, mind you. today i get a full day of the job that pays well, so that's good. i'll need it to pay for my summer class. it's a good thing that i'm not going to lilies this year, there's no way i could afford it. it's doubly sad since my friends, Doom and Hagan are now royalty, and the theme for the even is King v. Queens. i hope that they can both make it down, as i can only imagine the fun that they would have.

this weekend was wonderful. i got to hang out with the family and sca people at the same time! and i got to eat mom's roast - always a nostalgic and special treat! (and i have the leftovers for sandwiches!) i miss my mom and family A LOT. good thing i'm going home in a couple weeks for the littlest sister's 21st b-day! and i have that friday off, so i can be there longer! yay!

i don't know how long my parents will be living in our house anymore either, so it will be good to go home while it is still there. i guess there is some large corporation trying to buy almost 6 sq. miles of land where my parents live, and they are going to build something huge. the governor is all to glad to help them out, but no one will tell anyone what is going to be built. one newspaper reported that when asked if this is something his mother would be proud of him bringing into our state, the governor said, "my mother is dead." hmmm. the only details that anyone knows is that they want to build something that would use TONS of water, would take 3 years and 10,000 people to build, would employ 2,000 people in high-paying jobs, and would be centered in a 2-mile block with the rest of the land as a 'buffer zone.' my did thinks that this buffer zone will then be sold to executives who would then have the voting rights should something need to be built in the center. mind you, i only know about this through my dad, but it's still scary. what would they be putting up that they won't tell people about, and would take so much to build?

i don't like it. i don't like it at all.

*here is the link to an article in one of the papers covering the story*

2007-05-19T11:14:00.000-06:00

photos

2007-05-14T09:48:00.000-06:00

these are from my final portfolio:

i'm a princess!

2007-05-07T15:06:00.000-06:00

so, guess what? it's official and the votes are in, i am on the royal court for next year's homecoming. tehe. i get to wear a tiara! sweet!

in other new, the b-day was ok. i kinda celebrated all weekend (since my friend's b-day was on sunday and mine was friday, we all got together on saturday.) good fun. i scored an awesome tea stick from lisa, and a gift card to the yarn store from anne and chris. i win! the little sister and her roomate sent me a fun package, including crayons and a coloring book with pirates.
i was also reminded that i am 23, not 2+3. :)

what was that about not letting the man get you down?

2007-05-02T14:41:00.000-06:00

the last week of class sucks. there is always so much to do and sooooo little motivation! on top of that (all the projects and papers due), i don't know if two of the classes that i need next semester will go through, and i am out of financial aid. the amount they offered me in the letter yesterday was not enough to pay for books. time to find some other way to make it work. i only have one year left, and it feels like everything is conspiring to make it impossible. sigh. i'll think of somthing, i always do.

on the brighter side, i did get permission to sub one class for another so that i can have fewer in the fall when i need to be in the classroom for 90+ hours, plus do schoolwork. AND, i figured out how to apply for student teaching through the DOD. :D i'm thinking that england would be a wonderful place to go for a few months next year.

wool harmony

2007-05-01T12:25:00.000-06:00

this is a photo of my friend, rayelle, and i. we traded our skillz... she knit me killer socks and i crocheted her that beautiful purse. good times!

so many babies, so little time

2007-04-27T18:35:00.000-06:00

there is a rash of babies going around. i know way to many women who are or have recently been knocked up. it's even starting to affect my dreams. the other night i dreamt that i was in the overflow maternity ward (a hallway) and that i had just had twins (though i didn't know it right away). it was a very odd dream. my friend just had a baby, and i am working on making her a sling, and i am planning to make one for my other friend whose baby is due on mother's day as well. i also have a blanket to finish for the second friend. but first, passing the semester is my goal. wish me luck!

the poster

2007-04-24T14:51:00.000-06:00

here's the poster that i presented for NCUR:

(with a few alterations)

oops

2007-04-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

sorry about the lack of video on the last post. i'm not sure why it didn't work. here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9r0zm4surY