saturday night reflection

1. i love list making
2. i am fascinated by quilts, but doubt i will ever take one on
3. i can feel the thirst for Christ right now
4. i really would love to have a pet
5. i am disappointed in american film making of late, but am really happy with television
6. my job just keeps getting better
7. i am pretty good with names and freakily great with faces
8. if i could change one thing about myself, it would be thicker hair
9. i am embarrassingly addicted to manicures
10. i LOVE surprises and hate anticipation

Day Three

Okay, when I said I was doing the 30 day music challenge, you guys didn't expect me to actually finish it in 30 days right? Good.

BTW, I am going to start answering these prompts on impulse. It is truly unrealistic to think I might be able to provide the be-all/end-all solutions for this posts. But I will put thought and effort into each of them. Hence the large gaps between days. :)

Day 3: A song that makes you happy.

Tik Tok, by Ke$ha

Before you judge me for choosing to listen to any person who opts to not spell her name with letters, but with currency symbols, give me a chance to explain.

I love beat driven music. I find them much easier to dance to. And given my dances moves look similar to a baby giraffe learning to walk, I need all the help I can get.

This song also reminds me of my really good friend, Pam. She introduced me to this song, and shortly thereafter we listened to the song on repeat for probably close to an hour or so. And while it does promote lots of drinking, it does give a great piece of advice:

"The Party Don't Start 'til I Walk In"

Hey, it might sound vain, but own that line! I love walking into a BBQ, cheese party or birthday gig knowing that the party would have a different vibe if even one less person was there. Especially if the person was me. Ha! So own it, ladies and gents alike!

loves!!

Day Two

Day 2: Your Least Favorite Song

I am not sure that this qualifies as my least favorite of all time, but currently this is my least favorite. I can't get it out of my head. I am being driven insane.

She's a Bad Mama Jama by Carl Carlton. Its great until you can't think of ANY THING ELSE!!!!

...help...

Day One

A friend of mine did this music challenge on Facebook. It was really fun to follow along with her, so I've decided to also play! Basically, I'll be posting songs and videos in response to the prompts! Feel free to play along, whether you want to answer the prompts in the comments section or start your own challenge!

Day 1: Your Favorite Song

This is an unfair one, as I change my fav song ALL the time! But pretty consistently I have loved the song Fuel by Ani DiFranco.

Granted, its most like beat poetry, but I love it. The song reminds me of my brother Bill, my sister Marri, my parents, my friends and driving with my windows down. It makes me wish I had pursued acting and reminds me of the joy of performing. Here is the version I like the best, though the video paired with it is kinda lame. Enjoy friends!

mulch

I spent much of the day avoiding my house, running errands and running away from the hot box (my apt). Anyway, I made my way over to the Apostle house for some play with the puppies and to loll in the AC for a while. Jess and I had a good day of getting stuff done around the house and running a couple of errands. Good day, but relatively uneventful. Until I went to get in my car...

Jess was walking me out, as she normally does, and noticed her flower bed looked...off?

"Looks like some thing has been in the flowers again!"Jess said. This is quite a concerning issue, as the rabbits in the neighborhood recently chewed through Sarge's perimeter collar fence. I looked over to the flowerbed and did notice the mulch around the flowers was a little messed up. Now, disclaimer: nor I or Jess would normally take note of whether the mulch was in disarray or not, but we had JUST watered the flowers not 2 hours ago. But the mulch just looked kind of raked together, not like the burrow the bunnies had dug two weeks ago.

"Yeah, but there isn't a burrow" I replied.

Then our lives changed forever.

I put my foot forward to kind of smooth out/stomp down/redistribute the mulch. And stepped on the prairie dog's head.

I screamed. The prairie dog shot (backward, mind you) out of the mulch. Jess started to run. There was general chaos. In the confusion, we (the humans) ended up further away from the house and the prairie dog ended up on the porch. Then, he started spazzing so bad, he resembled a 4 year old at Disneyland, hopped up in pixie stix.

He raced back and forth on the porch at top speeds. He tried to scale the walls of the house. He jumped and threw himself against the door repeatedly. It was so shocking, that Jess and I had no idea what to do. Except laugh really hard.

To all of you thinking, he must have been so scared! or you heartless fools! I dare you to witness such a thing and not dissolve into a complete piles of giggles.

Finally, compassion took over and Jess moved us in front of the garage so he didn't feel trapped. Once we were hiding from him, we peeked around and watched him some more. At this point, his adrenaline must have started to slow, as he was just standing with his little paws against the glass...then he would crawl over to the door and put his paws up.

It was adorable. And very pathetic. My two favorite things animals portray. Meanwhile, Sarge and Maggie are inside the house. We could see their shadow racing back and forth. Jess then took my phone and crept up the walk to take a picture or two...

As you can see, the prairie dog is now turning around. I think he was planning his next move. Unfortunately, there is no documentation of the next move. Because he decided to charge directly at Jess. I swear to you, he FLEW off the porch. Staring straight at Jess, vengence in his eyes. My guess is he was getting retaliation on the potential exploitation that would come from the antics. I suppose he was justified in that. Anyway, Jess turned to run back to our "hiding place" and the prairie dog changed direction and bolted to the side of the house.

All of this happened so fast. We were dying with laughter and shock. I included a pic of the mulch hiding place. We thought it would be hilarious to have Maggie come out and sniff out the burrow. She was being crazy...she could smell the little guy all over the place.

Quite possibly the funniest thing that has ever happened to Jess and I ever. In fact, I have been laughing out loud during the whole blog post. Which might be a little awkward for the other patrons of the coffee shop as I type. Oh well. :)

Love you all...even you, little prairie dog.

unit #1

My house might have its quirks. The toilet is unusually short, the kitchen floor squeaks no matter where you stand, it has no washer dryer, and I am convinced that the outlet in the bathroom is controlled by a switch in the adjoining apartment. Also, I can hear when the occupant of said apartment is getting up, as their alarm clock must be at the same place my head is but on the other side of the wall.

But, all things considered, I absolutely love it. I have been putting up decor and making it home. I have figured out how long of a hot shower I can take before the hot water is all spent. I get to check my mailbox everyday. So, with those things in mind, I have made a list of things I can't believe I survived without for a number of years.

1. My own fridge filled with whatever I want
2. My own keys
3. The perfect neighborhood to run in
4. The ability to leave my underwear in the middle of the floor (not saying that happens :))
5. My own couch blanket
6. Tea before I go to bed every night
7. A perfect place to stretch after a good run
8. A bookshelf full of my books
9. A place to invite friends over
10. My own little sanctuary

With that said, I hope you all are enjoying your own four walls as much as I enjoy mine. Love you all!

procrastination...and an update

I think I should be honest here and tell you that right now I am blogging to avoid my 4 miles. Yep. So I am sure the guilt of not doing my workout will settle in soon, making this a really short post. Just be forewarned. :)

That being said, I am happy to say: Life is pleasant. I am really loving things. Work is really picking up with the onset of graduations, wedding season, mom's day and of course warm weather. I am a little nervous at the growth we are experiencing at She She, but SUPER excited! Growth is always good.

In fitness news, I am training for the BolderBoulder and really enjoying being on my feet again. Its nice to take the time for me and my health. Very freeing. Plus the dropping of a pant size doesn't hurt too much. For the first time in a while, I am really proud of my health habits.

I also am planning my birthday trip already. Yes. Four months out. Yellowstone is the destination, and it will be a really awesome camping trip. I have a confirmation for one guest and a maybe for the other. Anyone is welcome to join, and if anyone has suggestions, please speak up!

And finally, I have fallen back in love with all things Potter. Damn you, JK Rowling.

Okay, I am off to the treadmill (thanks Apostle Gym). Wish me luck

Just a little relaxing...

Lakeside cool down

in all honesty...

1. Age is what you make of it.
2. I can't help but love Sarge.
3. I love inside jokes.
4. Computers and I get along pretty well.
5. My education is one of my most treasured aspects of my life.
6. She She is the coolest place to work.
7. I can't accessorize to save my life.
8. My "fulfillment theory" is proving itself more and more each day.
9. Colorado has stolen my attention from any other location to live...for now.
10. It's not getting older I hate, it's the birthday part.
11. I'm pretty lucky that I get to be me.
12. Pigs are evil. I'm not budging on this.
13. I love it when people surprise me.
14. "The Office" is the best show.
15. Being active is leading to a healthy mind and body.

Inspired by Jess's Recent i am post

Home!

I love a good trip home. And since I hadn't been home since my birthday, the trip was even sweeter! Jess and I went back to Columbia together at the end of Feb and had a BLAST!! Seeing family, laughing from the belly, and sweet snuggles with a couple of cuddlebugs. All in all, it was a great weekend. But then again, each time I go, it gets a little sweeter!

I started off the voyage from Colorado with a bunch of snow fall, lots of nerves, and a couple of colorful passengers on the plane. So when I got to KC, Marri picked me up and went for some much needed grub and drinks!

Just for the record, Marri got the girliest, fruitiest drink I have ever seen. It was pretty funny. We were at some place in Zona Rosa...wish I could remember the name because it was really a beautiful place. Like Rock Bottom Brewery, but classier. Yummy apps and drinks.

The next morning I boarded the trusty Mo-X shuttle. The roads were pretty bad that morning, but I was so excited to get to my destination, I didn't really care. Also, having a professional do the driving made me care even less.

What seemed like an eternity later, we got to Columbia and after a quick lunch, we proceeded onto Black and Gold Auctions for my first ever auction. I was SO excited!! It was so awesome to see the whole thing. I had my heart set on this collection of old fashion ball jars, which I was able to snag. Here is my loot!

And a CoMo blog would not be complete with out pics of my fav nieces. Audrey has such a personality! She is always laughing and smiling.I was so grateful to spend some quality time with her!

Elena is also full of personality...quite sassy and sweet. I didn't get many pictures of her this time...she is quite content playing with iPhones and running her own little world. Pretty stinking cute though.

Now, anybody who has ever spent a weekend with the Prices knows that Sunday afternoons are meant for napping. BUT after lunch on this particular Sunday, Ruth showed me a little treat. That treat is Just "Just Dance." Ruth, Jess and I played and were laughing so hard! I was crying and my cheeks hurt. It was awesome. Please note that Jess's hand is a complete blur in the picture...

Monday, Jess and I got to spend the whole day with the nieces. Okay, hats off to Liz for not only having a full time job but also wrangling these girls too! I mean, Laney is a general sass pot (as all 3 year olds are) and Audrey is constantly crawling into something or finding something to torture Truman with...I had a blast with them though. Was certainly a two person job, and I think we had a blast the whole day! Heck, we even ventured out to have lunch with Ellen and survived a total meltdown of both girls at once...

Here is Laney drawing pictures for Uncle Mike.

and LIttle Audrey cheesing the camera with some breakfast face.

Truman being a total hovercat. This is the most tolerant cat in the world.

See what I mean?

While Laney continued napping, the Aunts and Audrey got some chill time. She is a cuddlebug after she wakes up!

Also, she LOVES a drink! She will drink an entire cup of water/juice/whatever faster than any little monster I have ever seen. It's hilarious, then she stops gulping and sighs. Every time.

More play time.

After our day with the girls everyone met up at the Looten house for pizza and TV. Since I was not up to date on the Bachelor or Castle, I mostly annoyed everyone with questions about what was going on and annoyed Truman by taking glamour shots. It was a good last night in town!

I refrained from taking good bye pictures, because they depress me when I go back through them, but Mom, Dad, Jess and I shared a lovely breakfast and then headed to the Mo-X office for the return leg of our journey. It's always a bummer leaving, but here is how I am starting to see it: Each time I go back, the times are sweeter than the previous visit. So a goodbye is just a promise that the next time I will hug my "adoptive" family, I'll be even more filled and happy because of it.

Once at KCI, Jess found the coolest shirt EVER! I love it!

And finally, the end. Took this about 15 minutes before we starting boarding. Boots and baggage. A sign of a good trip.

some back posts....

Okay I've fallen off the wagon. I know this. But I will be bringing you a few bloggy blogposts including the following topics:

• CoMo Visit
• Donut Dog and the Beast of Burdens
  
• Scotty Spice takes on the Little Big City and Surrounding Areas

Stayed tuned....

iPhone app??

Okay, I hate that I can't blog from my iPhone, given that it's my only real Internet connection from home. So, bloggerplus might be my new fav app!! This is my test post...

b. a. l. l.

If there is one thing the doypostle pups love, its a morning ball chasing. I can't say that I blame them. I mean who wouldn't want to run at full speed in 29 degree weather with a ball covered in thatch in your mouth, hoping to not get taken down by a slide tack by your best friend at 7 am?

Me neither. :) However, it is really fun to watch them go crazy. I love these pups and how they smile the entire time they are outside. They always play good together and wear themselves out. I wish I could get better pictures, but the camera and the pups were not cooperating. Plus, I don't know how interesting a series of pictures containing my frozen hand, Sarge pawing at the ball, and Maggie gumming it up would be. I'll leave you with this one though...

Hope you have a lovely Thursday!

Weekends

Weekends are funny. Most of my friends have unconventional schedules and I work almost every Saturday, but there is something about a weekend. Friday nights are just a little harder to get into bed. Saturday mornings, I still want to lay in bed just a little bit longer. And Sundays feel peaceful to me, no matter what I have going on. Its probably YEARS of conforming to a schedule that will take years more to break, but I like it just the same.

It's a beautiful weekend here in Northern Colorado, and I hope its amazing where you are too. Make sure you get outside today. Whether you are working or not! Take a walk, hike or bike ride. Heck just walk to the mailbox instead of driving! Park far away from entrances of buildings! Whatever it takes to make your that you make time to enjoy outside today!!

Off to work. Loves!

Photoshoot!

So, this past Sunday FoCo Girls gone derby did their second trading card photo shoot! It was amazing! I was all done up by Devin F., who is simply fabulous and also hilarious. Such a blessing that she was there because I would have never been able to pull off what she did.

It was a blast! This was taken with my phone, but still...check out that hair!! Absolutely fabulous! Last year, we did photos on a white set, and it was super fun, but this year we posed with classic cars. I was with a bright orange El Camino...and while its not my fav. car in the world, the engine was pretty stinking sweet. I won't have those photos for a couple months, but I did whip out my Hipstamatic app to take some artsy fartsy pictures...

Holy waistline batman! I love this picture! I had black leggings on the bottom, a la Sandy at the end of Grease and then of course my skates. Watch out 1950's , FoCo is bringing you back! Here's is a closer photo of me:

I really love this photo of me. I sent this one to my mom and she said she did a double take, thinking it was her mom! When Devin was doing my hair, I felt like my mom's mom must have felt doing her hair before she went out dancing. Here is a picture of her...holding her baby boy, that I would 30 years later call Unk.

I love that I kinda looked like my grandma on Sunday. I look soooo much like my dad's side, so its cool to see that part of my family history come out...Just special to me. Hope you all liked the photos! Love you all!

ps, thanks unk mike...i borrowed the pic of g-ma candy from your facebook!!

Mad Max

if if if

i love snow. if i don't have to work, if there are good books or movies nearby, if i have the right attire, if it's 31 degrees out, if the dog poops and pees in a timely fashion, if the roads are cleared promptly, if. if. if.

i was noticing the other day how often i put clauses on things. i'd love this song if the course were different. i like mornings, but i never get to actually enjoy them. its strange how normal this habit of mine has become. i think it makes the excitement and joy of a blessing less genuine. i don't think of myself as a bitter person, but i think this is really one of the ways that i have become a bit jaded.

a few days ago, jess challenged me to not complain for an entire day. she had read a blog that challenged her the same and shared with me. it was a really fruitful day. God used me that day in ways i didn't think he needed me for. surely it wasn't because i didn't complain about having a bad hair day, but it truly did change the way i spoke and behaved. it was a good skill to practice.

i am going to try to live life with less clauses this month. less ifs and buts. please keep me accountable to this. thanks for reading friends! loves!!

resting

i am having a hard time figuring out what to blog about today, and i think its because i am so tired. its sounds really lame, but its just the truth! i had a really long work week and i have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. i am aching for a trip i will be taking in a few weeks that will help me relax and unwind. but its far enough in the distance, so i need to figure something out before then. i just need rest!

God is pretty clear about setting time aside to rest. that he will protect us as we rest. that during rest he offers love and guidance if we just take the time to still ourselves. here are a few verses that i am reading and meditating on today:

Genesis 2:2 - on the seventh day God had finished his work of creation,

so he rested from all his work.

Matthew 11:29 - take my yoke upon you. let me teach you, because I am humble

and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Psalms 91:1 - those will live in the shelter of the Most High will find

rest in the shadow of the Almighty

hope these words bless you today! rest up good and find strength in truth. love you all!!

i'm going to get creative here...

soooooo much has happened since october. i know i suck at being a consistent blogger, but i am going to be working on that. i will be blogging two to three times a week for the next three months. but here is a quick update:

had a stellar Christmas with my fam

still loving working at She She...seriously the best job ever

started skating again (wow i love being on my wheels)

moved into my own place

and with the help of family and friends things are coming together quite nicely...

i am in such a healthy and awesome place...emotionally, spiritually...residentially :) and i am just happy. i started a bible study that i'm doing long distance with ari, and God is moving in very real ways in my life. there isn't much that happens in my life that i'm not excited about. its a completely different place than i was in even 6 months ago. its pretty great.

mostly this post is just to let you all know i am coming back to the blog-o-sphere. i'll be writing again soon!!