Class of 2008

Congratulations to my baby brother, the most recent high school graduate of the family. I won't bore you with the details of the ceremony, but I will say I have never seen my brother more alive. He is outwardly cheerful, proud, and social. Montana's really been good for him. So anyway, here are a few pictures of the graduate and his lovely party. (I created the fruit plate :)

Class of 2008

Congratulations to my baby brother, the most recent high school graduate of the family. I won't bore you with the details of the ceremony, but I will say I have never seen my brother more alive. He is outwardly cheerful, proud, and social. Montana's really been good for him. So anyway, here are a few pictures of the graduate and his lovely party. (I created the fruit plate :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom is the most generous, gracious, and giving person I know. When I am 49, I hope to be just like her. Highlights of her birthday celebration included shopping, special phone calls, dining, live music, laughing, and wine. What else could a birthday girl ask for? (Besides having her birthday advertised on the American Legion marquee, of course)

Tonight I tried Buffalo Tenderloin for the first time. I was skeptical, but let me be the first to tell you: BUFFALO MEAT IS BETTER THAN COW MEAT. It has absolutely ZERO fat, and was more tender than a baby's bottom. Think Filet Mignon...but better!

OH MY GOD. As I am writing this post, I am hearing the strangest horn/alarm/siren/scary noise outside. At first, I thought, "TORNADO!" and my heart began to pound. But, I just realized, it's a train. Okay. Breathe. Phew. (Why did I think it may be a tornado warning? See picture below.)

Anyway, back to the BUFFALO. It was awesome. But what was more awesome was the fact that we inhaled a carmel brownie sundae in about 30 seconds, my mom swigged red wine straight from the bottle, and my Grandpa's best friend, Pepe, rode the stair banister like a pony. You had to be there.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom is the most generous, gracious, and giving person I know. When I am 49, I hope to be just like her. Highlights of her birthday celebration included shopping, special phone calls, dining, live music, laughing, and wine. What else could a birthday girl ask for? (Besides having her birthday advertised on the American Legion marquee, of course)

Tonight I tried Buffalo Tenderloin for the first time. I was skeptical, but let me be the first to tell you: BUFFALO MEAT IS BETTER THAN COW MEAT. It has absolutely ZERO fat, and was more tender than a baby's bottom. Think Filet Mignon...but better!

OH MY GOD. As I am writing this post, I am hearing the strangest horn/alarm/siren/scary noise outside. At first, I thought, "TORNADO!" and my heart began to pound. But, I just realized, it's a train. Okay. Breathe. Phew. (Why did I think it may be a tornado warning? See picture below.)

Anyway, back to the BUFFALO. It was awesome. But what was more awesome was the fact that we inhaled a carmel brownie sundae in about 30 seconds, my mom swigged red wine straight from the bottle, and my Grandpa's best friend, Pepe, rode the stair banister like a pony. You had to be there.

Stranded in Denver

Due to the biggest, darkest, ugliest clouds I have ever witnessed, we were re-routed to Colorado Springs during my original connection to Denver. After sitting in the plane on the tarmak for a half an hour while we re-fueled, the pilot attempted a landing in Denver once again....20 minutes after my flight to Bozeman departed. FUCK.

So, thanks to my mom and step-dad for figuring everything out, I am booked on the first flight out tomorrow morning and shacked up at a hotel nearby. It's quite comfortable actually. Good pick, Mom!

I'll be in Bozeman at 10am. *crosses fingers*

P.S. United SUCKS.

Always on the go!

Im going on yet another trip, starting today at 2:05pm. I'll be in Manhattan, Montana by 11:00pm tonight. My mom's 49th birthday is tomorrow, and my little brother's high school graduation is Saturday. I get to see my family's new house for the first time and of course eat a few home cooked meals. I CANNOT WAIT.

My mom is flying with me to Minneapolis on Sunday for the AIHA convention. In between going to seminars and walking around an expo, we will be touring the MALL OF AMERICA! WAHOO! My aunt is going to meet us in Minneapolis as well and apparently I have a great aunt who lives in St. Cloud so we're going to make a visit to see her while we're in Minnesota.

Thursday morning I am driving 4.5 hours to Madison, Wisconsin to visit our parent company. Unfortunately I only have a day and a half to meet important work people, and look around Madison. It's supposedly an awesome city, so I am looking forward to seeing it!

I fly home next Friday night...I already know how anxious I'm gonna be to get home.

Pictures and posts about my trip to come!

One of those days

Do you ever have one of those days when every little thing ticks you off? Well today has been like that for me. I am irritable and cranky. It all started when I was making soup and trying to grab a paper towel to set the wet spoon on. A cloth was stuck underneath the paper towel holder, inhibiting me from tearing off a paper towel. Normally, I would calmly move the cloth and proceed to grab a paper towel. But not today. Today I yelled, "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" and threw the cloth across the kitchen. Steve looked up from the couch like "who the hell is she talking to over there?"

Another example of my ridiculous behavior was when I was getting ready to go to the gym. As I was putting my contacts in, the shower towel fell from the door onto the ground. I have a phobia about clean shower towels touching anything, especially the bathroom floor, so I FREAKED. On a regular day, I would simply stop what I was doing and hang the towel back up as quickly as possible, but, no, it wasn't quite that easy today. Today I yelled, "STEVE I NEED HELP!!!!" So he runs in thinking my hair's on fire or something, and I make a pouty face and point to the fallen towel. He picks it up and hangs it on the door and asks, "so what do you need help with?" and I go, "you just did it, thanks" Yeah, I let him get away with rolling his eyes this time.

So, we get to the gym, and Steve is trying to show me how to use the different machines for different parts. Saturday when we went, he taught me all about shoulder and back exercises. I was in the ZONE. I've never had so much fun at the gym, and I was pumped to get my work out routine settled. But today wasn't so fun. Today, my stupid contact would not stop irritating my eyeball. I could not concentrate on anything Steve was saying. In between each rep, I'd whine, "my EYE!!! my EEEEEYE" Lucky for me, Steve is very understanding and knows that the gym thing wasn't gonna happen until my eye felt better.

We went home and I washed that contact like it was my job. I rubbed and rinsed and scrubbed and put it back in. IT DID NOT HELP! So, of course this makes me even more frustrated. We get in the car to go downtown for the day and on my way I get madder and madder at my eye. Steve suggests just wearing my glasses. I am very annoyed at this suggestion because, DUH, if I wear my glasses, then I cannot wear my sunglasses and then my eyes will hurt for another reason. But, I realized that I could no longer stand the agony of this rotten contact, so I flipped the car around and went home to get my glasses.

Steve thinks I'm insane, and he is partially correct. TODAY I am insane. Yesterday I was normal. Tomorrow I will most likely be normal. We can blame it on hormones, the wind, whatever...but everyone has those days...and everyone gets through them.

Down in the LBC

I spend 90% of my time with one man. As much as I absolutely LOVE that man, and enjoy every second with him, sometimes I just need my girlfriends! Who else can accessorize the perfect dress, or tell you what color eyeshadow to use.

Long Beach is the perfect place for a girls getaway. Helya lives in a quaint little part of town called Belmont Shore. Her apartment is walking distance to bars, restuarants, shopping, and the beach! I got there about 8:30 on Friday night, after a few detours and fighting my way around the Gay Pride Festival on Ocean Blvd.

As soon as I walked through the door, Helya was ready with vodka shots and chasers. Unfortunately for me, I was a bit unaquainted with taking shots, so of course I took too many. Four of us girls made our way to Legends (Helya's home) and...ok...you'll need some background info for the next part: imagine this...three girls between 5 feet and 5'2'', skinny mini's (80-90lbs), and we probably don't look a day over 18. Ok, I get it! It's the law to make sure we are of drinking age, but after awhile looking young gets so old!

Anyway, the Bouncer not only examined my ID forever, but asked for a credit card to verify. That has NEVER happened to me before. Then, the bartender asked for our ID's again!! I am so sick of that crap. To top it off, these ugly-fat-geezers came up to us and said, "are you ladies tall enough to ride the rides?" So I gave him a dirty look and rolled my eyes, "haha you are so hiliarious, jerk!" Three insults in about three minutes! We start walking away and the guys are like "oh but we meant that it's sooo cute and adorable!" Okay then, did you ever think about just saying that instead?!?! What losers.

I think we were at the bar for less than two hours when I desperately needed to just go to bed. Helya gave me water and a trash can and fell asleep to the sound of a "water-fall" (as she put it) coming out of my mouth. Yeah, I know, not so pleasant. Sorry about that. But I was out of practice!!!!

The next day I woke up in agony, but we got pedicures and sandwiches and layed out on the beach. Let me tell you...Pedicures, Subway, and sunshine are the perfect hangover cures. P.S. I am NEVER drinking again! :)

Saturday night we went to sushi where Helya taught me a new trick! SOY PAPER INSTEAD OF SEAWEED! I write that in CAPS because that's how excited I am about this. The worst part about sushi has always been the seaweed. I cannot stand it. I usually embarrass everyone with me and eat out the inside of the sushi roll with a fork so that I don't have to touch the seaweed. (Hi, I'm 5 years old!) But now, no more humiliation my friends.....I can eat an entire piece of sushi without wanting to vomit! THANKS HELYA! It's the best trick up your sleeve (and you have a lot of tricks!)

After sushi I experienced GUITAR HERO! for the first time. It was so freaking fun. I am usually very anti-video-gaming but this game seriously ROCKS! Lucky for me, my little brother has it in Montana, so next week I'll be spending most of my time Hero-ing it up. Look out girls, next time I am going to be the Champion. We also played Taboo for a bit and ate cheese and crackers and tried our hardest to sip on some wine (my body was rejecting it the moment it hit my lips!)

Girls weekends are always fun, but this one was extra special. Good friends are hard to find, so when you do, keep them around, stay in touch, and visit often! Thanks for the lovely time Helya, I can't wait to do it again!

Busy Bee!

Sorry it's taking forever to give the details about my Long Beach trip. I have been so busy experimenting with my hair, playing with my new (PINK!) hard drive, and sneezing every second. Oh, and of course catching up on my Tivo. God, I spend too much time watching tv, but I simply cannot help myself.

Here's a list of my top recorded shows:

• American Idol (GO DAVID COOK!)
• America's Next Top Model (YAY Whitney!)
• The Bachelor/Bachelorette (My boyfriend's favorite show..I'm serious)
• Dancing with the Stars (Soon to be So You Think You Can Dance - my ALL TIME favorite show!!!)
• Gossip Girl (Did I miss out on something in high school, or is New York just insane?)
• Grey's Anatomy (I LOVE Izzy's new hair)
• Intervention (Don't do drugs)
• LOST! (My body aches after watching this show because I hold my breath and tighten every muscle in my body for the entire hour)
• One Tree Hill (I cry at least once during every episode)
• The Hills (because it's addicting.)

Oh my gosh, I didn't even realize I watched that much tv. I need a hobby.

Woo Pig Sooie!

Arkansas was a blast! I asked Stephen what his favorite part of the trip was, and he said, "Jo's Mom!" Janet is a riot! She single handedly entertained us the entire weekend by getting drunk off wine, speaking in a southern accent, introducing the Furbee, and thinking of every way possible to experience True Arkansas Flavor! We tried fried pickles, fried catfish, and fried hushpuppies. We ordered our lunch from a red phone next to the table at Penguin Ed's, we tried many different types of Coleslaw, we ate ribs, chicken, pork, beef, french fries, sweet tea, sausage rolls, and Miller Light. Yeah, we pretty much spent entire weekend eating!

Other than eating, we experienced several other Arkansas stereotypes.

Stereotype #1: The entire town of Fayetteville (the entire STATE for that matter) is obsessed with Razorback sports. The University of Arkansas is dedicated to their stadiums on and off campus. We saw the state-of-the-art JumboTron (I had to ask what that was) at the football stadium. It looked like a professional team's stadium - I think they said it fit 70,000 people! The rest of the campus was absolutely gorgeous and lush. I was very impressed with the expansive green lawns, beautiful old brick buildings, and movie-like frat houses. We spent a good amount of time in the University store, where Steve found some awesome shades with a camouflage reflection on the front. He bought them for $20 because he absolutely HAD to have them and wore them for the entire weekend! haha!

Stereotype #2: insane thunder storms. Oh, man did we experience a thunder storm. Out of nowhere, the rain started coming down in sheets. Looking outside, it was like someone was on the roof pouring out bucket after bucket of rain. You couldn't see anything beyond the waterfall gushing from the skies. The thunder shook the entire house and scared the bejesus out of me!

My favorite part of the trip was our night at the Piano Bar, "Willy D's" (I keep calling it Wild Ed's). There were two piano's, head to head, and they sang/played back and forth. The songs were all common, popular rock/pop/oldies so it was fun to dance and sing to. At the end of the night it was a man vs woman piano war. What a fun place! Not to mention, I couldn't count how many drinks Steve and I ordered, and the total bill was only 35 bucks.

All of that crazy fun and lack of sleep made me sick. I blew my way through 10 kleenex packs on the plane ride home. I felt so sorry for the man next to me!

Next adventure...Long Beach Friday!

Fatty

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups WITH Caramel are for fat hogs. I just ate one cup and I gained 10 pounds and another neck. I think I also gained a cavity. WOO PIG SOOIEE!

Sicky

Just a quick note: Back from Arkansas but I stayed home from work today because I came down with a head cold. I will give all the details about my latest adventure tomorrow when I'm feeling better! Stay tuned...

New and Improved?

I hope you all like the new look of my blog. I finally figured out how put my own picture at the top of the page. Even though it doesn't fit just right, I still think it looks a lot better than that dumb green tic tac header. My current header is a photo I took in Cambria - my new favorite place. I will probably change around the picture from time to time...I had to think of some way to keep you coming back!! :)

Tomorrow morning, S and I are leaving for Arkansas for Joanna's graduation weekend. She will be getting her Master's in Athletic Training from the University of Arkansas! Congrats Jo! I am so proud of you! We get there late Thursday night, but Joanna has a handful of fun events planned for us...I can hardly wait! I have never been to Arkansas, so I am very curious to see where she has been living for the past two years!

I am looking forward to checking off another state on my list. The best part about this whole thing is I have someone to share it with...finally! I have such a strong desire to travel all over the place - to see new and strange things, meet new (and sometimes strange!) people, get lost in different customs and cultures - but when it comes down to it, nothing beats travelling like sharing the experience with someone you love. Even if we're just going to Arkansas, and it's just for three days, I will cherish the time spent exploring a new place with the man of my dreams.

Goatmeal

We didn't arrive to the campground until after dark, but lucky for us, Rachel and Scott already had a fire going and the bevs ready. Rachel made incredibly tasty burgers, bigger than our faces with a side of blueberry vodka. Scott spoiled us with "goatmeal" chocolate chip cookes and the rest of the night was spent by the fire talking about camp hookers.

Apparently there were really camp hookers because on two separate occasions, in two different bathrooms, we found used condoms strewn across the floor and dirty panties. YUCK! Scott also witnessed a couple together in the shower. We came up with different ways to ruin this inappropriate romance: by plopping things into the toilet and grunting, or squirting water out of a water bottle into the toilet. Next time Scott!

The next day, we went on a grueling hike up to pfeiffer falls. Actually, it only took us about 10 minutes and led us to Bug City. But, there were some HUGE Red Woods and tree trunk caves and tunnels, and lots of great photo ops!


We drove down Hwy 1 about 10 miles to another water fall, where some rude people took all the parking spots, and stood in the middle of the road. They were all there for a wedding at the end of the trail...the same trail we were going on. It was very annoying, and probably the WORST place for a wedding. But the view was spectacular and we got to see lots of strange people.

After our hike, we made it back to the campsite for a cat nap. I got up to start dinner: BBQ chicken and grilled veggies. Rachel made margaritas, with a blender!!! Yes, we brought a blender camping :) We camp in style! The yummy dinner only made us want more goodies, so we brought out the s'mores and finished off two giant hershey bars! YUM!

The rest of the night was filled with laughter, and lesbian talk (our neighbor campers were butch lesbians!) and then I got real cranky and whined my way to bed.

The next day we took our time getting up and Scott made pancakes with bananas and blueberry syrup! We really ate well this weekend. We packed up and headed our separate ways. :( It was a very memorable weekend, and I am very grateful for my lovely friends!

See you again in Catalina!

Camping!

We're off to Big Sur this weekend for some camping fun with good friends! I'm sure I will have some good stories and pictures to share when I get back!

Is it 5:00 yet?! Chomp chomp!!