Hey Let's...

Wander.

2012-01-05T20:36:00.003-06:00

(Warning, for a rambling look inside this introverted mind)

wander.

What am I wandering for?

a life lived in search of hygge.

Hygge found and yet... never enough.

I find myself pondering roads not taken.

Where would my life be if I had made different choices. I'd never trade my experiences and friends and yet who doesn't pause and wonder and pause and think, if only? What if I'd?

I found a house. A house in Des Moines. A house that has nearly everything I could possibly ask for and yet... and yet I just can't pull the trigger. I can't take that next step. (stop yelling at me Kinsey)

I'm not ready to settle for Des Moines.

Is that the wrong attitude? Would it truly be settling? What's so wrong with planting roots and sticking around for a while? I have friends here. I have friends who live only a few hours away. I have family a few hours away. I have no good, logical, rational reason why Des Moines isn't enough. and yet...

When I was younger I wondered and awed at the great explorers. Men (mostly) who packed up their things, set out, set sail, and asked, what's next? What's over the horizon? What's over that hill, that mountain? Men with courage; courage and fear.

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear" - Mark Twain

I have friends who have lived their whole lives within hours of where they were born. Why not me? What makes me wander? Want to wander, long to wander; Wanderlust. Fernweh. Am I seeking or running from? Both?

Seeking.

To Seek.

"Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

-Lord Alfred Tennyson

To strive. To seek.

To strive and seek and find. To strive, to seek, to find and yet...

Apparently I'm not the first to struggle with this.

Seek.

"Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well" - Matthew 6:33

I seek. I seek through daily prayer. I seek through daily time in the Word.

I seek, and yet it simmers. Simmers, just below the surface. This wanting. This wanting to wander. This wanting for more.

Will it ever be enough?

think about birds

2011-08-31T12:26:00.002-05:00

I don't generally find myself thinking much about birds. Lately I find myself haunted, almost, by these two...

Blackbird, by the Beatles:

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise"

And then also:

the bluebird by Charles Bukowski
from The Last Night of the Earth Poems...

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be sad.

then I put him back,
but he’s still singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

If...

2011-07-09T18:21:00.005-05:00

I don't know what made me think of it, but for some reason, "If-" by Rudyard Kipling has been on my mind the last few days.

In case you're not familiar with it:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

-------

I've always felt like, despite his controversial image, Kipling got it mostly* right with this one. Maybe I've just been asking myself too many "If..." questions lately.

"Not all those who wander are lost"

*The line that never sat quite right for me was, "if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you". Who wants to live their life that closed off? right?

Read

2010-12-30T15:10:00.004-06:00

It's December 30th. Holy Crap. It's December 30th. Where did 2010 go? Why have I not blogged since April? Was it April? I probably should have double checked that before I started typing.

Anyway, It's the end of 2010. And if I have a regret it's this... I didn't read enough. This picture:

This is the pile of books I gained this year. Some were bought, some were gifts, some were liberated from the back room early reader's copy pile from my Dad's store. My point is, I only read four of them. There is a fifth book I read this year that I can't seem to find...... (Terry Pratchett's Going Postal)... that should be in the pile, and a sixth (CD Payne's Youth in Revolt) that I borrowed from a friend and, of course, returned before moving to Iowa.

I'm embarrassed. Ashamed, even. I only read six books this year? That can't be right. Only six?! Ugh. I guess it's true. Please don't tell my bibliophile parents.

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do have one for 2011: read more! I like reading. Odds are if you're reading this, you know me well enough to know that I like reading.

So here's to next year. And reading the 14 books I'll be carrying over from last year.

run!

2010-04-06T15:22:00.004-05:00

I went running today! I find myself a mere 20 min drive from the US National Whitewater Center. So not only does this place have awesome opportunities for rafting and kayaking, but also miles of wooded trails to explore.

Seriously. Don't tell me you wouldn't have rather spent your afternoon out here with me than in your office or wherever. Just look at that lake!

Well, anyway, today was also the first day I used my fancy new phone app "My Tracks" to see how far I went. Not only does this app measure how far, but also how fast, the elevation changes, average overall speed, average "moving speed" (you know, minus those times I stopped to take pictures) and also gives me an awesome little graph of speed overlaying elevation change.

I have to admit I'm pretty proud of myself. I went almost 5km (ok so I forgot to put in english units before starting out) in just over 45 minutes "moving time." Total elevation change over the course: 128m. Max speed: 9.18 km/hr (5.7 mph) and average speed: 6.33 km/hr (3.9 mph). Not bad considering the hills and woods and my fear of bees. ( I only had to sprint away from one bee... but it was huge!)

I won't delude myself into thinking I'm going to start running regularly like this, but it's nice to know it's an option. Maybe once a week? once every two weeks?

Anyone want to go running with me in Charlotte, NC?

Are you sure that's a no?

music music music

2010-03-10T11:10:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a good day. And not just because it was 75, sunny and I played my first round of golf since 2008. (oh and I bought a new putter! it's all shiny and awesome and the grip is blue and it matches my golf bag... ahem, moving on)

Yesterday three new CD's came out that I actually wanted enough to buy the whole album. This has been a rare occurrence in the last few years. I've probably purchased, maybe, 10 whole albums in the past two years. Not to say there haven't been hundreds of songs worth picking up in that time, just that I rarely feel like I need the whole album.

The first two I'd been eagerly anticipating: (Links will all open up the album in iTunes)

New Gorillaz - Plastic Beach! It's much more of the crazy out there Gorillaz, than it is the radio friendly hits Gorillaz, but I love it all the same! So far my favorite tracks are White Flag and Stylo.

New band... Broken Bells with their self-titled album. It's the non- Cee-Lo half of Gnarls Barkley and the frontman of The Shins. I've only listened to it all the way through once so far, but I can already tell it was worth the $9.99.

Unfortunately I'd been so caught up waiting to hear these two albums that I completely missed the release date of the third. I knew it was "spring 2010" but then stopped paying attention.

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks

If I haven't shared my love of Frightened Rabbit with you before, I apologize. Their 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight is one of those 10 albums I bought in the last few years and if anything I love it even more two years later. If you watch enough prime time TV you've probably heard at least one of the songs off their last album. It's a bit moody and depressing, but not in an emo, I hate my life kind of way... trust me, it's good moody.

Their newest album, however, is everything I loved about The Midnight Organ Fight but more upbeat.

Crap, I have to go to work, but you seriously should check out all these albums. Just do it. You know if you don't, you're probably just going to surf on over to LOLCats or something equally time wasting :D

2010-02-12T17:58:00.005-06:00

Seriously North Carolina?

I love snow. But part of our deal was that I would put up with 3 months of humid 95+ degree days in exchange for a winter that rarely dropped below 50 degrees. What gives?

Ok, I do really love the snow :D

Also, because I just keep forgetting to post this picture....

One of the computers at work was reverse Trogdor'd.

give up

2010-02-11T21:33:00.004-06:00

Ever just have one of those weeks?
Where nothing seems to go right...
And nothing you do seems to matter?
And every step forward feels like it's immediately followed by one giant push two steps backward?
(sigh)
I'm just having one of those weeks.

I know it will turn around.
It always does.
And of all the things that could be going wrong, my life really isn't that bad.

Some times you just want to wallow...
Keep your hood up and sunglasses on...
Listen to alternately depressing and angry music (don't worry I have playlists for these types of days)...

(sigh)

I need to move back to the midwest.
I miss you all.

Boo Apple

2010-01-27T18:37:00.003-06:00

If you haven't yet heard...Apple held a press conference today and announced the iPad. There's been quite a bit of hype about the "new Apple tablet" and to be quite honest I'm disappointed. It's a big iPod Touch. That's it. It's an expensive toy.

I never expected to say this but... Booo Apple. iPad shmiPad.

I want an Apple tablet that could replace my laptop (or at the very least compete with the netbooks out there). I want it to run OSX. Is multitasking really too much to ask for? It's great that they've upped the memory to 64GB, but no USB port? No Flash support?

Seriously Apple.

Weak.

Shiver

2010-01-06T17:06:00.006-06:00

Just in case you haven't heard, the South (and most of the rest of the country) has been experiencing record cold temperatures. Have no fear though, I've not become a complete cold weather sissy. We're still talking about daily highs of 35 degrees. I'm just saying that this is abnormally cold for North Carolina... and that I've been eating a lot of comfort food:

Grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Not just any grilled cheese and tomato soup, however, Grilled Havarti and Apple Smoked Garlic Cheddar on Asiago Peppercorn Sourdough. And Roasted Red Pepper Tomato soup. Mmmmmmm.

As you can see in the picture, grilled cheese and tomato soup is never complete without pickles and chocolate milk. Don't laugh until you've tried it. You've probably been missing out on a good thing.

Roll

2009-12-06T19:52:00.006-06:00

Tonight I attended my first ever Roller Derby match? bout? I think they're called bouts. Well anyway, my friend Angel had joined the Charlotte Roller Girls a while back and this was their first home event of the season. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was crazy! So many people! So much cheering!

Angel is the purple blur at the bottom of the picture there

Also, at the event were Angel's husband Will (who works at Trader Joe's with me), son Tyler and some of our other friends.

(My friend Chris and Tyler posing)

Who's ready for some Roller Derby?

and yes, that would be Will giving his own son bunny ears

Donate! It's Child's Play!

2009-12-03T14:42:00.002-06:00

Hey there! Christmas is soon upon us and if you're like me, you'll do a fair bit of your shopping online. (I talked about this last year, but it's important enough to me to bring up again.)

One of my favorite things about Christmas shopping on Amazon.com is how easy they make donating to Child's Play Charity. Check it out!

Here's a basic overview of what Child's Play does: "With the help of hospital staff, we’ve set up gift wish lists full of video games, toys, and movies. You can go to each hospital’s list and buy a toy, and that toy will be sent to the hospital. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape. Imagine being stuck alone in a hospital over the holidays... Some of the stuff the hospital will give away for kids to keep, while other gifts (like consoles) will be kept by the hospital for patients to use throughout the year."

I've been blessed in my life with a job I enjoy (most of the time) that pays me enough to take care of my own needs and still have more left over to give away. Whether you want to think of it as tithing or just giving back, if you're thinking about making a donation this holiday season, please consider Child's Play.

All the hospitals affiliated with Child's Play have wish lists saved on amazon.com. Just looking at this year's list from Univ of Iowa Children's Hospital, there are items as simple as a $3 box of crayons, all the way up to a $300 Xbox, with lots of choices in between.

Ok, I'm done on my soap box.

I will soon return to my regularly scheduled programming... aka food pictures and random stories!

Decorate the Store

2009-11-27T18:40:00.010-06:00

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! Hopefully you spent the day with good food and good friends and family. Of course while you were feasting and relaxing, I was working... Woohoo! Don't feel bad though, there were multiple food deliveries throughout the day so I still ate my fill of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes and more turkey.

In one day we (the store's artist and myself) had to bring down all the Fall and Thanksgiving themed decorations at the store and change it over into "winter holiday" mode. Because calling it Christmas decorations may offend someone. And we can't offend anyone. Of course.

In all honesty I'd really been looking forward to getting this done. Not just because it's nice to have it all completed, but also because we kept our plans top secret from the rest of the store.

We even covered up the doors all day while we worked.

I wish now that we had taken "before" pictures so you could see what the store had looked like. We changed just about every display and decoration.

Ok, that's enough rambling, you really just want to see the pictures, don't you? I recommend clicking the actual picture if you want to see the details of each.

As you approach the store:

The first display:

The entry way:

The next display:

On top of the cooler case:

Display number... 3?

Next:

The corner that isn't quite finished:

The Demo Station:

Did I tell you my cracker assortment joke?

Wine displays:

Front office:

Front displays:

The last? display:

Ok, I maybe lost track, but I think that's all of them. Also, a couple of ends didn't have the product available yet, so there are still some pictures that I'll try and get up in the next week or so.

I think it was time well spent. What do you think?

Eat German nachos

2009-11-02T15:22:00.002-06:00

While the rest of the working world dreads Mondays, I love them. Why? because Monday is my Friday!

Huh?

Since I work in a Grocery store, which is of course busiest over the weekend, I take my days off in the middle of the work week. My weekend is Tuesday/Wednesday.

It took me a little while to get used to, but now I love it! When I go out running errands I don't run into traffic or lines. When I go to movies, there's often only a handful of other people there. And last, but not least, The Flying Saucer has Monday night Pint night! With some 80 or so different beers on tap and all of them being $2.75, it's the perfect place to end a long week.

The fact that you can get food like this doesn't hurt:

What sort of heart stopping deliciousness is that?

It's a soft pretzel smothered in swiss cheese and sliced Usinger's bratwurst! (Before you freak out, I didn't eat the whole thing. I would like my heart to continue beating, thank you very much!) I ate just over half of it and it was delicious. Sort of the German equivalent of nachos, don't you think?

Make a mess

2009-10-30T22:28:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I know I should set the good example at work. I know I should be neat and organized as I go. But sometimes it's just so satisfying to get on a roll and make a mess...

oops.

Bake

2009-09-30T14:22:00.003-05:00

Aah fall weather... 72 and breezy. Ok, so maybe my definition of fall weather has changed a bit since moving to North Carolina. But believe me, if you lived here all summer, you'd be loving the drop to mid 70's too.

As much as I love the new cooler weather (and having bonfire plans for later tonight!) it has also deceived me; deceived me into thinking I can bake. For as long as I can remember my attempts at baking have gone slightly awry. I don't get it. Everything I bake turns out tasty, but the wrong consistency.

exhibit a:

These should be raspberry muffins. I either added too many raspberries or not enough something else. I can't tell. All I know is that they've completely fallen apart. Getting them out of their baking cups was quite the challenge.

This is the remnants of the 12th muffin. Disaster. What else can I say.

I guess I'll have to just stick to cooking. That I can do.

Stare

2009-09-17T11:38:00.003-05:00

Chicken tacos at Salsaritas - $6
Sitting outside to eat lunch after a ridiculous morning at work... pretty darn awesome
Being started at through the table while you eat... kind of creepy

Oh pup pup. You're so bizarre. And adorable when you're begging for chicken taco.

explain why I don't blog more

2009-09-16T23:59:00.003-05:00

I mean to post things. I really do. But then I have weeks like this where:

I work 12p to 10p, but really stay til 1245a to work on reorganizing the back room and we find out at the last minute that the first mate has to stay overnight with the register computer technician guy (So he's going to have worked 12p to 5a).

Go back in at 530a the next day to open, work till 11a. Go home and nap so I can go back in at 5p and close the office for the first mate who will likely be spending tomorrow passed out after his all nighter.

But no worries! I don't have to work Friday til 8a. In theory I'll sleep from about 11p to 7a tomorrow night. HA!

So sorry that sometimes I forget to blog. I'm kind of preoccupied with sleeping. or something like that. it's usually all a blur.

Snack

2009-09-03T07:23:00.002-05:00

This is my new favorite snack food*:

Snyder's Hot Buffalo Wing pretzel bits mixed in with the Buttermilk Ranch bits. The Buffalo bits have a good flavor but not too much heat and the Ranch bits add a good contrast. You should probably try it. I blame Bret from work for getting me hooked on this combo in the first place.

*Yes I'm blogging about this at 830a because I'm also eating some at 830a. Don't judge me or my eating habits :D

laugh

2009-08-28T15:42:00.003-05:00

As I meandered through the wild forest of the internets this afternoon I stumbled upon a post I somehow missed on one of my favorite "nerd" blogs. Chris Hardwick apparently ran Harry Potter SNAPS challenge. He was looking for the best Harry Potter insult/one liners. I didn't go through the full list, but his list of favorites was more than enough to have me laughing out loud. (Be warned some are definitely a bit inappropriate)

work all night

2009-08-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

So back in July (07/08/09 to be exact) we cleaned the attic at work. My brilliant plan was to open, go home and nap, clean all night and then work the open shift the next day. HA! Me and napping are still in a fight over this one.

Anyway... I snapped this picture while I was trying to sleep by the front door so I'd for sure wake up when the morning crew arrived.

Instructions on the motorized cart at work - Why are on and off in quotes?

Go home

2009-08-26T18:44:00.000-05:00

My mom melted a pack of gum and is trying to save it through refrigeration.

*Update - Apparently she loved doing this so much, the gum is now a permanent fixture in their refrigerator.

puppy nap

2009-08-26T18:01:00.003-05:00

Back in July I played puppy parent again to my friend Clancy Bananas. We played a little, napped a little. Ate, and then napped again. It was a good weekend.

At one point I was sitting on the couch and Clancy was sleeping at the far end. I heard him squirming around and when I looked up this is what I saw:

He had wedged himself against the back of the couch and just kept napping.

He also has this weird habit of hiding from me when he thinks I'm about to leave him. If I changed clothes or put on shoes, he was no where to be found. Usually he was treating my coat closet like his own personal cave hide-out.

Post something

2009-08-26T17:44:00.002-05:00

Believe it or not I have 5 draft posts just sitting there waiting... I meant to post something... I promise.

I've found that I'm only able to keep up with so many of these fancy schmancy "social networking" sites at once. And unfortunately the blog was the first to suffer. Blame twitter.

I would promise to do better, but I'd hate to lie to you. So I CAN promise that I will continue to periodically post things here that may or may not have already been posted to facebook or twitter.

buy shoes

2009-06-12T17:19:00.000-05:00

Dog-sit

2009-05-29T08:20:00.003-05:00

This is Clancy...

Clancy is the beagle I'm dog-sitting until Sunday. Although I may not want to give him back. He's a little bit crazy and a whole lot smarter than he wants you to think, but otherwise fairly awesome.

After spending the first 20-30 minutes doing "perimeter checks" where he literally ran circle around my house, checking each and every room dozens of time, he settled down into the window seat. I opened the window for him and he was done. set. not gonna move. Eventually he got distracted and came and napped with me on the couch.

Race

2009-05-16T12:24:00.003-05:00

For those of you not living here in NAS-Carolina, today is the first of Charlotte's big races. The All-star race. Of course I have to support my guy...

What you probably can't tell is that not only am I wearing my Matt Kenseth t-shirt, but I'm also wearing my NASCAR scrub pants.

Feast

2009-05-15T18:44:00.004-05:00

Last week my friend Dave bought a Smoker/Grill and each week we've been smoking various meat products.

This week was a whole chicken and some drumsticks...

As you can see there was quite a bit of carnage:

We ate so much food... you know that sigh you make when you've had your fill but you don't want to stop eating? I made that sound at least five or six times. I just couldn't stop. Hooray for food comas.

I wish I had remembered to take pictures of last week. The inaugural smoking was pork "picnic." I'm still not entirely sure what part of the pig that is, but I do konw that it was super tasty. Last week was also Chorizo sausages. Mmmmm pork products...

Make popsicles!

2009-05-14T14:55:00.003-05:00

The backstory:
I think when Amy decides to buy me a gift she thinks secretly thinks* I'm 8 years old. That's totally ok though, because then I end up with awesome if slightly bizarre gifts... like rocket shaped popsicle molds.

I had totally lost track of these when I moved and was super excited to re-find them last week. So here's they are, loaded with Pomegranate Limeade. Now I just need to have the patience to wait 4 to 6 hours to taste test them.

*Clearly I am still 8 years old, notice the Eggo waffles and two different kinds of chicken nuggets in my freezer.

Awesome and Awesomer

2009-05-09T13:02:00.004-05:00

Two Random things...

I see these boxes at work all the time... Aren't you glad that you don't live in Hicksville? Literally.

My friend Vanessa made me a knit hat with the Brewers logo on it!

When's the last time all you crafty people made me anything this cool? Huh? Huh?

The story behind this is that my friend from work, Dave, his wife, Vanessa, was recently laid off. In her free time now she's apparently been knitting up a storm. One day at the store he was on the phone with her and joked that she should knit me something. I suggested a Brewers hat. Less than a week later I was at their house for the inaugural use of Dave's new Smoker/Grill and there it was! My awesome new hat!

2009-05-09T12:51:00.004-05:00

This is the race car that has become the biggest hinderance to me going to bed early. The guys who live down stairs have been working on it for a while now and when they run the engine the entire building shakes.

They actually aren't too bad about it, they've never been loud after 9pm. It's just unfortunate that I was trying to go to bed at 730 or 8 so I could work at 5am everyday.

Also, notice it's painted to match my favorite NASCAR driver. (Feel free to mock, but you can't live here without at least having a favorite to cheer for)

Matt Kenseth

aha!

2009-04-19T17:43:00.002-05:00

I've been a Flowing Data fan for a while now, but I recently came across this on their site:

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

I know that the whole financial mess we're in is more complicated than this, but it's a decent summary and easy to follow.

2009-04-03T17:52:00.002-05:00

Friday night traffic is ridiculous no matter where you live.

After a certain age it should just be assumed that you don't need a straw.

speculate

2009-03-20T13:05:00.003-05:00

So I spent most of my day running errands.. and then I saw this!

Blue bunny truck! Woohoo!

Also, while playing DVR catch up today I watched this new NBC show Kings. It wasn't too bad, although I'm not sure I'll record it every week. One of the things that grabbed my attention was that everyone in the government wore pins on their labels. Each one was fairly generic but then I spotted this one:

Does it look familiar? The Umbrella Corporation???!?!!?

Yes, I know, it's likely all a big coincidence. But if they found a way to tie it all together... I would definitely watch that show!

2009-03-17T15:04:00.003-05:00

Aah... Guiness on St Patricks Day.

Free beer? For being so awesome?

bring the cheese and crackers!

2009-03-13T11:54:00.002-05:00

It would be nice to pretend like this isn't the kind of thing that makes Wisconsin Wisconsin. But that would be a lie. I love my home state.

2009-03-12T13:59:00.000-05:00

Woo! Gas station car wash! See you all thought you wanted me to blog more but you underestimated how boring my life is.

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2009-03-11T10:07:00.002-05:00

Fresh air break at work. If smokers can take a break every two hours why can't I take ten minutes to sit in the sun after busting my butt? Got to love North Carolina springs. It's 75, sunny and there's a steady breeze :D

Today I enabled blogging by

2009-03-09T18:13:00.001-05:00

Today I enabled blogging by text message. We'll see how it goes. I just might become a blogging fiend.

watch battlestar galactica

2009-02-16T12:04:00.002-06:00

Oh Battlestar Galactica. Why can't I quit your addictive melodrama?

I've spent a large part of my day off catching up on tv that I'd recorded, but not yet watched. This included four episodes of Battlestar Galactica. I'm still not sure where they went wrong. How is this the same show I loved four years ago? The answer is that it's not. Which makes me a little bit sad. The show has lost it's way. Unfortunately for me, I'm still enough invested in it to need to see the final season. No matter how painful it's becoming with each passing episode.

Oh Battlestar Galactica. How I miss you.

Cake Wreck

2009-02-04T11:49:00.002-06:00

I found this blog and immediately thought of Hath.

PSA: I've now lost over an hour of my day laughing out loud, scrolling through cake pictures. Just to warn you.

Round up the funny

2009-01-30T21:47:00.004-06:00

Here's a couple of different videos that have been cracking me up lately.

a) Kitten's on a Roomba:

I especially love when, towards the end, the Roomba seems to be trying to buck them off by slamming into the cabinets.

b) Old Jews Telling Jokes (link):

(Not safe for work, due to a bad word or two)

c) Vaguely creepy children:

All this to sell some milk chocolate. It's time to start catching up on the cleverness Wisconsin.

Summarize

2009-01-23T10:03:00.002-06:00

Some people continue to refuse to watch the Star Wars movies.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Their loss, our gain.

Send Christmas Cards

2008-12-24T09:45:00.002-06:00

ooh I'm going to try and send Christmas cards this year (shut up, I realize I'm way behind on this.) so maybe we'll call them Happy New Year's cards. Anyway, I need the following people's addresses:

Amy Van Gorp
Jenna Aker
Bill Flinn
Cate Spencer-Motyko

I've got your address Jess and Kinsey. I think that covers anyone who may be reading this these days :D

Sing Along

2008-12-24T09:38:00.002-06:00

At some point in my childhood I was told to never comment on the people who can't sing well in church. And I totally agree. Just because someone doesn't have a great voice doesn't mean that they can't sing out with the crowd.

now that being said... meet Henrietta and Merna:

4 Questions
a) Is that a mullet?
b) What in the world is the girl on the right staring at off stage?
c) Is she even singing? It doesn't look like her lips are in sync with the song.
d) Is that a gospel choir in the background? Why can't this video be about them singing?

Merry Christmas everyone! You'll probably see a couple more posts from me today, mostly YouTube videos.

Donate

2008-11-07T22:53:00.004-06:00

Hi Everyone. It's that time of year again... time to shop for Christmas presents!

If you're like me, you'll probably be using the internet to do a bit of shopping for your friends and family; I do a lot of my shopping on Amazon. I know you all probably have chosen charities you like to give to on your own, but I wanted to let you know about an awesome opportunity that you may not be aware of: Child's Play Charity. (About Child's Play)

Child's Play works with children's hospital all over the country as well as in Canada, Australia, Egypt, New Zealand and the UK. The partner hospitals set up wish lists on amazon and donations are tracked much the same way a gift registry does.

I know I'll be making donations to both the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the University of Iowa.

No pressure though, I just wanted to get the word out there for this awesome charity.

laugh

2008-11-04T17:45:00.004-06:00

Still not going to make time to actually blog... but here's something I found absolutely hilarious:

So most of the cast of The Office has myspace pages and "Pam" and "Angela" often have funny blog posts. This is one made me laugh so hard I almost fell off the couch.

Butter?

Keep with the common theme

2008-11-04T10:22:00.001-06:00

This is too awesome not to post. Especially because it's nerdy in so many different ways.

PS Go Vote!

2008-10-13T16:38:00.002-05:00

I swear I do more with my free time than find ridiculous videos on YouTube, but I'm going to post this anyway.

Move with stealth

2008-09-18T13:20:00.002-05:00

Just in case you haven't been paying much attention to the interweb lately and have managed to miss this video...

Race

2008-09-09T14:48:00.002-05:00

Next time I complain about working too hard, remind me of this...

We got finished early (8:15ish) so I stopped to make breakfast burritos and Nick and Adam went outside to solve a mystery. Do both handicap motor carts go the same speed? Will being heavier cause your motor cart to go slower?

Eat

2008-08-28T13:40:00.002-05:00

What is it about food?

As someone who works in a grocery store and therefore thinks about food in some manner for the better part of her week I've come to an odd realization.

Food > Money

a) We bet "lunches" at work far more regularly than cash
b) My friend Chris recently needed help working on his car and how did he pay Mike for his time? Dinner at Sonic. (This is reasonably fancy for Mike. He no longer needs to order at the Bojangles drive-thru, they recognize his truck as soon as it pulls into the lot)
c) If I put up a billboard saying "Free $5 bills to everyone who stops by the store" I bet I'd get far fewer visitors than if I put up a sign saying "Free Sandwiches", which realistically would cost me less than $5 a piece.

I don't really know why this is, or even what it means. I just know that I don't blog often enough and thought I should share my random realization. Let's be honest, you all miss my randomness :D

Train in the art of thievery

2008-07-31T19:51:00.005-05:00

For those of you who have never met him, this is Karrrl:

Well technically, I think he's Karrrl II. I'm ashamed to say I can't remember which one I have. Maybe Angie remembers?

Either way, Karrrl here, is most famous for his involvement in the great prank war of 2004/2005. This is the same prank war in which I was deemed to possess the spiritual gift of thievery. As I was talking to Angie online this afternoon, I told her about how the "gift of thievery" had come up at work and how I'd mostly just gotten looks like I was crazy. Well, then she mentions that when ever she thinks about me and my spiritual gift she pictures me "wearing a black bandana, like the Hamburgler." (thanks, talk about a reputation for being cool)

After she said this I just couldn't help myself:

So just in case you were wondering what Karrrl had been up to for the last few years... he's been secretly training in the art of Thievery. Soon he'll be ready to be unleashed on the world. Or at the very least he'll be ready to take on North Carolina!

Meet the new crowd

2008-07-23T19:45:00.021-05:00

Woo the first of my "Catch up" posts!

Way back in February I went golfing with a couple of guys from work. There had been lots of trash talking going on and we had a lot of fun. It was the first time I'd been out in probably 6 months. If I remember correctly I shot a 54 on the front and then crashed and burned on the back nine. Oh well.

This is Mike S. stretching... narration by Rob... and shaky camera work by yours truly. Rob kept going, but I could keep from laughing and the picture just shook too much.

Chris and Rob were both in the woods by their second shot. So much for all that trash talking.

The only tiny scrap of woods on the entire hole...

Sand...

More sand...

Mike and I tried to stay on grass. What were we thinking? :D No, of course Mike and I hit our share of woods... Rob and Chris were glad we were only betting small though.

___________________________________________________

Some other random pictures...

Matt in the hat he found at the store

Rob and Mike F. drinking margaritas out of sippy cups after spilling once too often.

Andrew and his new BFF, Rob's son Dakota.

Rob's other son Parker rocking my sunglasses. Rob's boys are great, they crack me up every time I see them.

Really great sunset at the driving range.

Mike S cleaning up the case of wine he dropped...

... and then spilling again.
(Sorry I know it's blurry, stupid camera phone)

Irma... "peace"... rocking the demo station

Ollie welcoming people to our Summer Kickoff party

Who knew Daryl could hula hoop?

Bret jumping for joy about Summer Kickoff tastings

David and Danny... umm yeah I don't know why they wore the pirate hats...

PJ and Michael (aka Frick and Frack, the frozen boys) posing for me...

David S, grill master

...but mom I''m having too much fun at the Summer Kickoff party...

Jason getting in on the tasting action. This picture is really all about the flamingo for me... and yes that is a bubble maker!

"umm..."
"you can hear the ocean! in stereo!"
"sure. whatever you say Amy."

Have no fear, there will be more catch up posts to come. I'm sorry it's taken me this long in the first place. Stupid real life and being too tired to blog when I get home from work.

Road trip with Kinsey

2008-07-23T15:22:00.017-05:00

So I took a little vacation... and went on a road trip with Kinsey to Sioux City! Now, I can road trip with very few people. Often times I get sick of the other people or can't stand their taste in music, conveniently, these are never problems with Kinsey. We rock out. And by rock out I mean get our late 90's gangsta on.

One of the highlights of the trip was when me, Kinsey, Amy and Seth went on a tour of the Sioux City tourist spots.

The bathroom at Amy's hospital

The 33 foot tall Jesus

The 30 foot tall Mary

Clearly there is no fun allowed at this park. "Do not let your children climb ON ANYTHING"

There were all these posts throughout the garden that you could pay to put a plaque on. For $800 Kinsey and I could immortalize the awesomeness of our trip for all of Sioux City to see.

A life sized wood carving of the Last Supper

Kinsey wishing she was at the Last Supper

A painting of the man who carved the Last Supper

Next we went to the Louis and Clark Interpretive Center. It's kind of like a mini museum right on the Missouri river and it seemed to be all about correcting the historical inaccuracies of the Louis and Clark Story.

I'm not entirely sure why we're "remembering" heroes rather than just plain old remembering them, but...

... it's best to remember that they probably did not wear that much fringe.

Next were the animatronic robots who taught us all about the death of Sergeant Floyd, the only member of the expedition to not make it. I'm pretty sure he died of Typhoid. I clearly was not paying enough attention to the historical facts the Interpretive Center was trying to teach me.

The rest of the Interpretive center varied from taking itself too seriously to underestimating how immature the average visitor is.

I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for blogging this one. Bonus points if you can guess why we really really needed to take this picture. (Yes there is a legitimate reason, not just our immaturity) Also, that's not the Washington monument, it's the Sergeant Floyd monument in Sioux City.

And did I mention there's no picture taking allowed in the interpretive center? Clearly Kinsey and I can't go anywhere without getting ourselves into a bit of trouble.

Kinsey is Louis and I'm Clark. The dog's named Seaman.

Over the rest of the weekend we were able to see Seth and Amy's new house, drove up to Sioux Center, visited the Van Gorps at their campsite in Nebraska, ate dinner with Deb and Gary at an Arby's in Des Moines... Who could have asked for a better road trip?

2008-06-12T21:54:00.001-05:00

As Kinsey pointed out to me tonight, I've missed one very important topic in my list... NASCAR! The Nascar season officially kicked off down here with two back to back race weekends.

How could I have forgotten Nascar?

2008-06-12T16:23:00.003-05:00

Wow. Sorry that it's been over two months. I totally promised Jess some blogging the third week of April? I think? Sorry about that Jess.

Ironically my last post was about having a great day and then 4 days later my whole knee fiasco began... and I haven't blogged since. I suppose these things aren't actually related. I've never needed an excuse not to blogger regularly.

And yet, sitting here with a stiff knee shot full of cortisone I'm not surprised I felt little need to share the exciting non-events of the last two months.

Highlights I promise to catch up on and blog about include:

a) Minor League Baseball games
b) Olympic Whitewater Kayaking Time Trials
c) My ever growing pile of things to read (including books, magazines, ebooks and downloaded articles)
d) My South Blvd afternoon adventure, and meeting Ben Taylor (son of James Taylor and Carly Simon)
e) Rediscovering a love of music and bands I've never heard of
f) Upcoming midwestern vacation plans
g) European Cup Soccer

and of course...

h) How's the knee?

Smile

2008-04-11T18:04:00.003-05:00

Today has been one of those days. One of the good ones :D

I woke up and watched a couple movies (Empire Records and Shaun of the Dead).
Made myself some eggs, toast and mango chicken sausage for breakfast.
Went and golfed the front nine at Larkhaven Golf Course twice (the back nine are boring and horrible). Oh yeah, and I golfed for free :D
Then I had dinner at Anntony's Caribbean Cafe, which is quite possibly the best food I've found since moving to Charlotte.
Now I'm settling in for a night of DVR catch up and all new Battlestar Galactica.

I couldn't really ask for anything more. Except maybe to be less sunburned... but it was well worth it.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU

2008-04-07T22:54:00.003-05:00

Kansas Wins! Kansas Wins!

And to think I was laughed at when I turned my Kansas bracket in. In the past few years I've always tried to show a little midwestern loyalty and have picked Kansas to win, at the very least, their first round games. Year after year, Kansas has let me down. When they were seeded #1 I thought it might be too good to be true. No way was this going to be Kansas's year.

Rock Chalk

2008-04-07T22:30:00.002-05:00

So about 30 seconds ago I signed into blogger to post about how despite losing the final, Kansas has at least restored my faith in them enough that I won't second guess picking them to win their first round game in next year's bracket. And then they tied it. Mario Chalmers sinks a 3pt shot. Only the third 3pt shot Kansas had made all night. I was so excited I almost dumped my laptop on the floor. (Don't worry I caught it at the last second)

I'll post again at the end of OT.

Recover

2008-04-03T17:02:00.003-05:00

Ugh. That was the longest week ever.

Ok, maybe it wasn't so bad. But I am exhausted to the point that all I want to do on my weekend is sit on my couch and read. Conveniently when I checked the weather for the next few days I saw this:

This might be the weekend I finally tackle the pile of books taunting me on my coffee table. It's not that I don't want to read them, I'm just having trouble getting started.

Make mixtapes online!

2008-03-26T11:00:00.005-05:00

Woo! There's a new (new to me?) website out there called Muxtape that lets you upload songs and create your very own online mixtape. And the best part is... I can share my creation with all of you!

It doesn't require any downloading or logging in on your part, just some speakers or headphones. (Use the arrow keys to skip between tracks) I've also been having a lot of fun listening to the random mixes that are linked on the home page. I could probably spend all day discovering new music, so if I fall off the face of the interweb again, you know where to find me :D

Take a closer look

2008-03-21T22:30:00.003-05:00

As much as I am now enjoying living in The South now, it's definitely got an ugly side that gets too little attention.

Yesterday afternoon I left on my lunch break and headed up to the Food Lion grocery store on the next corner. When I pulled in the parking lot there were seven or eight cop cars and the store was closed. At the time I was curious, but unconcerned. Then today I learned about this:

Teen killed by taser

When I went to my usual friday afternoon lunch spot, Johnny Burrito, I got the rest of the story.

Side Note: I've been eating at JB's every friday for a while now so I've become acquainted with the staff there and we always make casual conversation/small talk while I eat. I say this because, while I don't really know these people, I feel like I've come to know them well enough to believe them when the filled me in on this story.

The short version is that this kid would never have gone after a cop. He had taken the sandwiches home with out paying because he was forgetful, not because he maliciously wanted to steal $3 worth of product from his employer. And why was the cop so trigger happy with his taser?

When I got back from lunch, my coworkers could see that something was bothering me and I told them what I had heard. I'm ashamed to say that reactions varied from "oh goodness, that's horrible" to "was he white or black? he probably had a gun." It makes me sick to my stomach to know that people I have previously gotten on well with could react like that. I didn't even have it in me at that point to be mad at them. I just turned and walked away.

Like I said, I'm enjoying my new Southern home, but I know I won't be able to just sit by and watch things like this happen. Sorry to post such a downer. It just doesn't seem right to sit here quietly.

Crack up

2008-03-19T19:00:00.007-05:00

So whenever I'm feeling bored and in need of a good laugh, I head here:

XKCD

I linked one of my favorite comics, but really I just can just sit here and click the random button and crack myself up. Admittedly, they aren't all funny. But then when you least expect it, you get something like this and I'm seriously rolling on the floor laughing.

Yes.

I know.

Giant nerd.

But you still like me anyway :D

Play catch up

2008-02-29T12:50:00.008-06:00

I have all sorts of pictures that never got posted after I first moved to NC. They aren't really organized too well, but I'll try to give a little back story with each of them...

Welcome to the South, where we will put lifts on any car you can think of. No lie, there was a little fold out ladder on the passenger side so that a person could get up to the seat. I cracked up.

Flying back into Chicago. One of my favorite things when I lived in Chicago was the flight in. Air traffic will inevitably back up at O'Hare every time and you'll be forced to circle the city at least once. It's really no hardship when I have the window seat.

Trader Joe's love at it's finest. On my last day at the Northbrook store I went out to lunch with Mike and came back to this.

Seriously, they did a great job. I laughed so hard when we pulled into the parking lot. I even left it wrapped like that all afternoon to entertain customers. I'd be ringing on a register by the front window, from which I could point it out to them, and they'd not know what to say.

Chicago in the rain the morning I left.

Christmas decorations traveling across Indiana

Kentucky? Somewhere around Lexington, KY the drive started getting scenic and fun to look at. (Indiana was horrible and rainy)

On long drives I get bored. This amuses me. It's surprisingly hard to do. Buck does not like matching 76 mph to 3000 rpm so I have to gun the engine a little and hope I can snap the picture at the right moment as the needle is falling back to about 2800 rpm. It took a few tries, but it keeps me entertained for at least 20 miles and that's 20 miles closer to where I'm going.

Tennessee. The most beautiful and scenic parts of my drive were unfortunately after about 7 hours on the road. I'm looking forward to the chance to go back on a day trip. There's supposed to be some great hiking trails and I can't wait to drive on the

Blue Ridge Parkway.

New Store!

When my mom visited in December she wanted to check out the Botanic Gardens at UNCC. They aren't huge, but they're definitely a nice diversion in the middle of the campus.

Now I know it's been a while since I had to think about scientific classifications, but this one seemed a little bit off to me.

I'll try and update more in the next few days. Blogging is tiring :D

Watch the Sunrise

2008-02-06T09:11:00.001-06:00

I have this skylight window... (the high one on the right)

Which would be great if it didn't face east. So every morning I am awake by 8 am at the latest. Usually this isn't a big deal because either I'm up and ready to start the day or I go into the living room and fall back to sleep on my sofa.

Ironically, to fall asleep I often pull up pre-recorded episodes of Sunrise Earth. Have you seen this show? I love it. It's just a straight hour of nature goodness. Nothing but bird sounds and sometimes rushing water (depending on the location). Plus it's on Discovery HD giving it high quality picture as well.

Yes, I know I'm a pretty big dork.

Ponder

2008-02-05T21:09:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm living two lives.

I don't mean this in a sordid, deceitful way. I guess what I mean is that I haven't fully committed to my new life yet. Part of me feels like I'm still living the same life in Illinois and this whole North Carolina thing is just one long vacation. Is that weird? I don't remember feeling like this when I first moved to Illinois, but maybe I've just blocked it out.

And don't get me wrong, I'm loving North Carolina. Today, February 5th, it was 74 and sunny and I went to the driving range. Seriously. Amazing.

When I was graduating from high school the questions were, where am I going to go and what will I be doing. When it was time to leave Iowa I knew I was headed to Illinois but the unknown was what I would be doing there.

Now I've moved to NC (the where) and I work for Trader Joe's (the what), but I feel like there's still a big unknown staring back at me. (does that make any sense?) Like, now what? Is that an ungrateful question?

I prayed to find a job I could enjoy, and He answered. I prayed for something to catalyze me, to convince me it was time to leave my parents house again, and He answered. Now all I can think sometimes is, this is it?

And then I wonder why I'm so impatient. What am I in a hurry to get to? The rest of my life? This is the rest of my life. Every day is the rest of my life. Why can't I enjoy that? What is holding me back from diving into this new life? Why am I so restless?

So I sit here and play some of my favorite "thinking music" and ponder....

"As I sit here and think
About all that You've done
About how You gave me Your one and only Son
And I'm trying to fathom
All that You are, but so far, Lord
You're so beyond me
I fall down in reverence
And I fall down in fear
And I'm asking You, Lord, won't You please draw near
Won't You open my eyes
So that I can see
The way that You are working in me

All I need is Your love
To come and fill this heart of mine
My heart is a desert that has gone dry
And I need Your love to carry me by

And I lay down my life
And I put it before You
All that I am is in Your hands
And I'm not going to question, why You're so faithful
Why that You give me the blessings that You do have
Let the glory be known, let the glory be shown
I just lift You up unto the throne

You are my God, You are my King
To You I give, I give You everything
All that I need is Your love, my God"

- Shawn McDonald - All I need -
(Big Hooray for Amy Van Gorp who gave me this cd!)

Play in the woods!

2008-01-29T22:20:00.001-06:00

It was 65 degrees out today. That's still just blowing my mind. Unfortunately the rest of the week will be in the mid 40's so I knew I wanted to get outside to do something. Ideally I would have gone to play disc golf, but those plans fell through and it ended up being too late in the afternoon to be worth driving out to the park. Instead, my friend Chris and I just went to a nearby field and threw a disc around there. Conveniently there was a bit of woods near the field that we were able to explore. We found a nearly dried up stream and were able to follow it for what was probably a good half mile or so. After that it ran into a subdivision and we didn't want to be trekking through the backyard of strangers.

Sometimes it's nice to spend an afternoon in a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

Recap

2008-01-23T15:05:00.000-06:00

Wow, so I clearly am bad at this blogging thing. I haven't posted since I moved to North Carolina. Life has definitely been a bit of a blur since then... but here are the important highlights... in no particular order:

1) All my stuff arrived safe and sound. I'm definitely glad I went with the huge comfortable couch. I practically live on it.
2) I put up a bunch of pictures and some day I'll paint the walls... right now they're a neutral beige color. Which is neither horrible nor enjoyable. I did promise Kinsey I'd wait for her help/input. So no painting for me until Spring time.
c) I put up some chalkboard paint!!! Not a whole lot, but a big square in the kitchen so I can leave myself reminders and a big square above my shower for weekly verse posting.
d) I spent Thanksgiving alone in my condo watching movies and overeating chicken I grilled on the Foreman and mashed potatoes. It was awesome. It was my first day off of work in 11 days so I was really just enjoying the relaxation.
e) Just after Christmas I was back in Iowa for Jenna and Andrew's wedding (YAY!) and Chicago for some more relaxation. It was a bit weird to be back but I'm glad I got to see so many people. I ate way too much food that week though. Ugh. I don't think I got hungry again til the week after I came back.
6) I have bought dozens of DVD's since moving. Watching movies is pretty much all I feel like doing on my days off so I had to grow the collection.
7) Not to say that I've turned into a hermit who only leaves the house for work or anything like that. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well I'm getting along with my new co-workers. A group of us usually go out at least once a week. Some weeks more, some less. Most recently we got together to watch Football last Sunday. I had a ton of fun despite both my teams losing :(
h) I discovered the joy of online bill pay. It's seriously rocking my world. The only problem I've run into so far is a bit of confusion with a Mortgage payment. I somehow payed ahead a month so, oops! At least now I don't have to send them any more money until the end of February.
9) Despite being assured I wouldn't get to see snow here in Charlotte, it has now snowed twice! Both times the local media made it sound as if the blizzard of the century was bearing down on us. I think we managed to have about 1.5" accumulation over the course of both storms. No lie, they closed schools and everything on a day where we had a brief 3 hour snow flurry.
10) My mom became my first official house guest. She flew down for a couple of days so I could show her around the city.

I'm sure plenty more interesting things have happened, but I can't really think of them now. I promise to get pictures up and start updating more regularly. It's not as though I don't spend half my free time on my computer anyway :D

Move In

2007-11-12T18:43:00.000-06:00

So I'm here. I now officially live in Charlotte. Let the freaking out begin. I promise to post more in the next few days but for now I just wanted to let everyone know I'm moved. Well technically my stuff isn't here until tomorrow morning. So I'm not done moving.

At this particular moment I'm sitting on my sleeping bag in the middle of my bedroom eating a hot pocket. Yes. I know. I lead a glamorous life. Also I finished my first day of work. For now I'll say it wasn't as bad as it could have been. In the next few days I'm looking to just put my head down and do what I do best. I'm not sure how all these personalities will mesh, but so far so good. I decided that the best thing I can do is stay behind the scenes. I don't need a lot of attention. I'm good at what I do, so if I just do it and stay under the radar I should be just fine.

For example.... We aren't actually allowed to be doing work in our store until the last permit gets signed (hopefully tomorrow). All morning I was feeling especially useless because we were making signs and I have bad printing. So I organized some paper work and helped where I could, but basically lunch couldn't come soon enough. After lunch we were able to "sneak" into our store and do some work on the down low. After doing a sort of group tour to catch everyone up on the progress I wandered off to look at the sections I was taking charge of and was able to feel at least some what productive when i started to move shelves around.

So like I said, day one is done and it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Finally get those pictures up

2007-10-23T17:58:00.001-05:00

YAY! blogger finally let me post pictures of my new place! So check those out would ya?

Post pictures

2007-10-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

Blogger seems to be having some issues today and won't let me post any pictures. So in the post below this, all those numbers will soon be pictures. I just wanted to get the post up so Kinsey stops harassing me about my lack of blogging :D

Buy a condo!

2007-10-17T11:23:00.000-05:00

Woo! I am now officialy a homeowner. Well I guess technically something could still go horribly wrong between now and the closing date (Oct 30) but who wants to think about pessimistic things like that.

So last week I went down to North Carolina to do the whole house hunting thing. As it turns out, I'm either really great at it or really horrible, because I bought the first one we visited. Not then and there or anything quite so sudden. I knew at the end of the first day that I really liked that one the best and lost interest in continuing to drive around and look at more places.

One of the places I saw the next day did come in a close second, but it had a few more "cons" than this other one. The last place we looked at... I didn't like from the moment we walked in the front door. This was THE most cracked out floorplan I have ever seen in my life. I wish I had taken pictures, but please bear with my so-so description skills...

You walk through the front door and almost smack your head on a light fixture because rather than having a foyer or entry way you're immediately in the "dining room." A dining room so small that once you fillled it with a table and chairs you'd have trouble opening the front door. No lie. Directly to the right is the kitchen. (About the size of the Mazuniks kitchen for those of you who have seen it and would like a reference point) Not super big, but big enough for all the important things. At first I thought the kitchen had two pantrys and a closet... nope the other doors are to the stairs. What? I have to go through my kitchen to go up or down stairs? I think I'm done looking at this one thanks. It was seriously ridiculous. No wonder it was so much less expensive than other places with the same sq footage.

Ok, back to my house now....

This is what it looks like from the driveway

My front door!

Kitchen to the left

But it's very open with the rest of the living room

I have my own little porch and a fireplace and a computer nook and tv alcove that I actually don't think I'm going to put my tv in...

The master bedroom has a skylight type window and connected master bath. There is also a HUGE walk in closet.

Immediately to the right when you come in is the second bedroom. This also has it's own full bathroom and walk in closet.

Not the best picture of it, I know.

So that's my new house! I officially move down there on November 11th. Of course the moving company tells me my stuff won't be arriving until the 12th to the 18th. Yes that's right. There is a six day window in which my stuff whill eventually show up. This is of course complicated by the fact that I start work on the 13th. Great.

At first I planned to fly down and let them move my car, but once I realized I'd be without my stuff for so long I decided it was probably going to be easier for me to drive. Plus it's only 13 hours! Woo! So if anyone out there is interested in joining me on a 13 hour roadtrip across 5 states let me know. :D Ooh you will need to bring your own sleeping bag, though... (see above about not having any of my stuff)

*Update: Yes it is Park Creek Drive

Move to North Carolina!

2007-09-21T17:46:00.001-05:00

So if you haven't heard already, I'm moving to Charlotte, NC in the beginning of November. Answers to the FAQ's include...

a) Nope, I've never been there before.
b) No, I don't know anyone there.
c) Yes, I'm still with Trader Joes. They are actually taking care of the move for me. My job will stay almost exactly the same, except I'll be part of a team opening a brand new store on the Northside of Charlotte.
d) Of course, you bettter come visit me.
e) I'm incredibly exicted and also terrified at the same time.

I'll post details as soon as I have any to share. So far all I've done is buy myself a new TV and talk to a mortgage specialist at the bank about how much house I can afford to buy. So stay tuned...

Amy's Wedding

2007-08-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

So I promised Angie I'd blog all about Amy's wedding since she's so far away and likes weddings. Unfortunately I'm not good at remembering to take pictures of the things I'll want to have pictures of when it comes time to blog. So here it goes...

Sioux Center, Iowa is about 10 hours from Highland Park. Woo road trip. Thankfully Kinsey and Greg let me stay with them on Tuesday night so I could break up the driving. (see previous post)

So wednesday morning I drove up to the CRapids and lunched with Kinsey. Mmmm Pancheros. (insert mental image of your favortie pancheros meal here) I always like to order the chicken burrito; with rice, pinto beans, chicken, hot salsa, cheese and occasionally some guacamole. Oh and some Pibb Xtra. There is seriously nothing better than Pibb or Dr Pepper when it's a fountain soda. It's like no one can get the right balance and it's always extra syrupy. I love it.

Once I'd dropped Kinsey off at work again, I was off! Oh! I'm gettng a head of myself though. I forgot to mention the Carnie Caravan I saw on I-80. Yes, that was exactly what it sounds like. First I passed a truck towing one of those food stands you see at the fair. Then a truck with go karts. Then Tilt-a-Whirl seats. Then a little kid rollercoaster. It was awesome!

So as you could probably guess the drive across northern Iowa isn't overly exciting scenery-wise. The afternoon started out sunny...

Then it got cloudy...

Then it rained.....

In reality I enjoyed the drive quite a bit. It's nice to have a bit of open road and good music every once and a while. Once I got west of Fort Dodge I had a really great view of the countryside around me. This was especially nice after the rain started clearing. There was a really cool break in the clouds where you could tell the sun was setting.

The pictures don't really do it justice.

By the time I got to Sioux Center it was sunny again!

Ok, I know. You don't really care about what the weather was like. So moving on....

Once in town I met up with Amy and the Van Gorp family at Pizza Ranch for dinner. Wednesday night we just sort of sat around and marveled at the dog (pony) that Lianne and Mike were adopting. It was a full size Great Dane named Chance the ninth. He had papers and everything. (Unfortunately they ended up not keeping him, but Chance was fun for the few days he was around.)

Thursday we decorated the church. (Remember how I fail at taking the right pictures? Yea I didn't take any of the actual church.) I will do my best to descirbe it all though: Amy's wedding colors were brown and light blue, so at the very front of the church everything was done in those colors. There were boxes covered in appropriately colored fabric, on which the candles sat, then a huge line of chistmas lights wrapped up in white tulle draped to create a proscenium look. Lianne and I made bows out of tulle for each of the chairs along the main aisle and then added ribbons to match the wedding colors. Someone found these great fake votive-y lights for the floor along the main aisle. They even flickered a bit like real candles would! These candles were loosely wrapped in matching blue tulle, which made them more eye-catching.

After decorating, I went to Le Mars with Amy and Lianne to their cousin-in-law's baby shower. With the ice cream capital of the world so close to home, of course we went to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. I was going to take a picture of the big sundae statue out front but got distracted by the cool thing the sun was doing as it set....

Friday morning we all headed to Dordt college to decorate the reception hall. Amy had ordered 400 white roses from ecuador for her center pieces. While they looked awesome, it took a lot of work to put all 40+ vases together.

From Right to Left: Amy, Jenna, Lianne, Mindy (Seth's older sister) and Janene (Seth's mom).

They also put all the boys to work filling vases, wiping them off, shuttling them out to Kinsey to set up on each table. In the end they turned out pretty great.

We also had a napkin folding party, where six of us sat around a table and folded all 240 napkins into these nifty little silverware holders.

The saucer and doily (sp?) are for the fudge cakes Lianne made. She was definitely a rockstar, making 4 of 6 batches all by herself. Each batch of fudge had to be cut into 40 circles each of three different sizes so they could be sugared and then stacked into these neat little towers. I only had to do one batch and I found it tiring.

Pictures of the cake...

Saturday morning, we snuck in a bit of pool time before getting ready for the wedding.

I mostly just love the inflatable Seahorse in this picture. (Sorry Greg and Andrew) Over the few days I was in town, I definitely got my fill of pool time. And raft wars. I think I still have bruises. I know I still have bruises from all those cannonballs I did off the top of the slide. (ask me later about my splash size as a ratio of pain theory)

Amy brushing her teeth before getting her dress on...

The bouquets....

(white roses and blue hydrangeas)

The head table at the reception....

The food at the reception was amazing! I'm always a bit skeptical of catered food, but this stuff was seriously great. I loaded up my plate big time.....

(if only my fruit hadn't fallen in the gravy!)

After everyone had eaten there was a slideshow of pictures and some old home movies of both Seth and Amy. Then the floor in front of the head table was cleared for dancing. Lianne's husband Mike had recruited his brothers to help out with DJ-ing. At one point they were having some sound issues which lead to this great picture....

(Matt and Chris are standing, Mike and Brian sitting)

Amy and her dad dancing...

Kinsey and Greg watching the fun...

The center pieces with the candles lit.....

All lined up....

Leftover cake for breakfast!

I did also stop and take a picture to use as my new desktop wallpaper. For all those times I miss the corn fields.

All in all the whole trip was a lot of fun. I forget how much I miss everyone until I get to see them again.

placate Kinsey

2007-08-07T21:30:00.000-05:00

Ok she's getting antsy. Kinsey is making me blog. As in, Kinsey is sitting next to me on the couch yelling at me and leaving threatening comments on said blog. So here we go...

Today is the beginning of Summer Vacation part deux (aka the Iowa Wedding adventure). I woke up today, printed my Wedding Timeline (thanks Amy :D) packed up the car and drove to Iowa City. The only place on earth hotter and MORE humid than Highland Park Illinois. Gregory made us dinner, we watched a little tv, and then went to see the Simpsons movie. Now we're watching Flipping Out on Bravo. (See this is why I don't blog, I have an unexciting life)

There is a pretty great thunderstorm brewing around us, so there's a little excitement.

Tomorrow's plan: Lunch with Kinsey (and Jenna?) in the CRapids, driving to Sioux center and then who knows what. (Maybe I ought to consult my timeline!)

Ok, I really do plan on blogging more soon. This is just to get Kinsey to calm down.

Stumpy's Back!

2007-07-16T00:57:00.001-05:00

So you may remember a news story I linked to a while back. It was about Stumpy the 4 legged duck. Well as it turns out Stumpy is a) down to three legs after an accident with a fence and b) in love!

Yes that's right, Stumpy has a lady friend named Alice.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468610&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow

Decorate

2007-06-27T16:36:00.000-05:00

This post is mostly for Kinsey, so she can see what she helped me create.

So every few months our store sends out a little mini newspaper thing that features anywhere from 30 to 100 items and we call it the "Fearless Flyer!" Geeky. I know. So part of my job is to design and build displays featuring flyer items and then also decorate the store in such a way that customers can tell there's something special going on... aka... Flyer Week.

Well this time around I messed up. I got overwhelmed and basically dropped the ball. I did everything I had to: plan displays, build them, work with the various order writers to keep them looking good and keep us in stock on all the flyer products. The one thing I did not do, was decorate. Well at least not on time.

So last monday after working my normal 3 am to 1 pm shift I set out in search of both decorations and ideas. At our old store we always did cheesy aka "joes-y" decorations. Christmas lights and craypaper and cardboard cutout type things. What with our new store being so ridiculously nice and non-joesy, I knew I couldn't really rely on all the old short cuts. So I called Kinsey!
Who knows classy decorating better than Kinsey? umm no one. Did you see her wedding reception? Her awesome new house? Exactly. So Kinsey came to my rescue.

I went to Hobby Lobby and Target and eventually Walgreens for some miscellaneous stuff. And I think everything turned out pretty good! I decided I wanted to do little "scene" like decorations. All in the spirit of summer. So I did....

...a summer picnic...

...a backyard BBQ...

...beach trip...

...a garden spot....

...another beach trip...

...and a road trip.

I also bought a bunch of brightly colored flip flops to catch your eye when you first walk into the store.

Then today, David, one of our store artists, made fun signs to go with each one. Things like, "Flyer Meats, perfect for the grill!" and "Flyer Produce, everything you need in one easy package" (since the only produce in the flyer was a pre-cut up back of vegetables for kabobs and then a kit for making guacamole, which included all the necessary veggies in one box).

Of course we also did the traditional balloons everywhere, just to make sure no one misses out on the fact that something special was going on.

I feel like such a grocery store nerd.

Face Reality

2007-05-15T15:54:00.000-05:00

"It's been one of those days
and everybody's on it everybody's on it

here comes the rain
the boys and the girls are coming inside
walking past the gate if i hurry i can get home in time
i love my house

it's been one of those days
and everybody's on it everybody's on it"

~ ATHLETE - One of Those Days ~

That sounds rather harsh, but no worries, nothing horrible will be unfolding in the post below. I've just been thinking an awful lot in the past two days about where I'm at and where I'm headed.

For the last 8 months of my life everything has been building towards a single date: May 11th. We accomplished the unthinkable... we opened a brand new store while keeping another store running at full force. It's been an amazing experience. (I'll post more about all that later on... hopefully there will also be pictures :D) I have little doubt in my mind that I found the job I was always meant to have. I look at all the random hobbies, skills, classes that made up the 23 years preceding and can see how they all came into play during these last months. This move has called on all my skills personally and professionally. (Am I really old enough to have "professional" skills?)

I feel as though God lead me down a road as twisted and hilly as the turn off you take to get to Sugar Bottom's Disc Golf course. And looking back I now see how both the failures and triumphs have gotten me here. Wow. Who am I to have been so blessed in this way and at such a young age.

For the majority of my "adult" life I've had one consistent prayer that is always included amongst all the others:

"Lord give me the knowledge to see the path you're laying out for me,
The stregth to walk down it,
And the faith to put one foot in front of the other on the days I've lost my way"

And let me tell you..... He made good. I knocked and the door was opened. I asked and He provided.

So if there's any advice I can offer to you, all my friends out there graduating or just looking ahead... trust Him. Follow Him down the road that feels right even when you can't read the map.

This brings me to the second half of my post, where to now?

Now that the store opening has come and passed it's time to start looking forward again. Talking to my boss it sounds like I'm going to be transferred to another store within the next month or so. This is sort of bittersweet, having just put everything I've got into this new store and knowing now that I'll be leaving it. I'm surprisingly ok with it though. I'm ready for that next adventure, that new challenge. I've proven that I can do the first half of the job. Now I have to prove that I can do the "people half." Now I want to show them I can be a leader and a coach and a good manager.

So here I sit on my front porch in the rain letting my mind wander...

This is the first real summer rain. Where the air is humid all day and then when the clouds break the rain is warm but the breeze has a bit of a chill to it.

I miss my dog. I miss bringing her our onto this porch in the rain. She'd sit by the ledge with her nose in the air discovering all the new scents brought alive by a fresh rain.

It's time to leave my parent's house. It's been great and I'm so thankful they let me come back and I haven't had to struggle to pay rent and bills. But now it's finally time I move on.

I promised two years ago to fix the chair I'm sitting on and still haven't done it. It's an Adirondack style chair I built in high school wood shop class. I took the class as a senior because unlike most of my friends who packed their schedule with AP this and honors that in order to get into the best school, I was accepted into Iowa by the beginning of October and wanted to relax and enjoy my senior year. I knew the wood shop teacher from the brief time he was at the middle school and then again when he would lend a hand for theater productions. I was his "handy Thiel person." So senior year Matt and I were in his class with all the usual wood shop trouble makers and he basically let us build whatever we wanted. It was great.

I should make Angie another mix cd. I wonder if she's gotten the last ones I sent to her.

I need a real vacation. And someone to go with me on this trip. I want to take an actual trip. Maybe another country? Highest on the list is probably Asia. Maybe Japan, or Thailand or China for the Olympics? Europe would probably be easier though. Maybe I can arrange to meet Angie somewhere on her next leave. It would have been nice if I'd had the time to get to Spain.

Not only is it time to leave my parents house, but probably also Illinois. I need a new city. When my boss and I talk about my transfer I'll have to pick his brain about where he thinks the best opportunities are.

That's all. The wind has definitely shifted to being cold and the shorts and t-shirt which felt like almost too much when I came out here are now not doing enough to keep out the chill. Sorry about the lack of structure towards the end. I just haven't posted anything in so long and I figured it was as good a way as any to share some of the random thoguhts I've been having lately.

I'll try and get pictures up of this new store I keep mentioning. It's seriously so great I want you all to come visit it. Maybe that 120 hour, 11 straight days leading up to doors open was worth it after all :D

Play the same chords

2007-04-18T20:37:00.000-05:00

If you've ever thought all pop songs sound the same, Rob here will explain why...

Make sure you watch all the way until the end. That's the best part.

Recap

2007-03-21T18:53:00.000-05:00

Goodness. Has it really been a month? I'm sorry. Someday I'll get back to finishing the trip pictures, but for now... eh. Maybe if I get bored tomorrow. Anyway....

Work continues to be stressful, but I'm doing a better job having a life outside of work. A couple weeks back I went to America's number one soccer bar in Wrigleyville on my day off. Yummy Irish food and Good beer and even better soccer. Not a bad day off :D

On St Patrick's Day I met up with my friend David in Evanston and we had a few pints of Guiness to celebrate the holiday. It was nice to do something besides work or sit at home, even if we did talk mostly about Trader Joe's and people we knew in common. The bar we went to was close to the Northwestern campus so we definitely spent part of the night mocking the rowdy college kids. It felt like being back in IC.

Sunday night another one of our friends Dj'd a bar in Wicker Park. It was one of those tiny hole in the wall clubs that is too cool to even have a sign out front. I think the only people in the place were TJ's empolyees from various stores, but it was still good fun. I made some new friends and now the count is up to 4!!!! That's right, I have 6 friends in Chicago now. Take that Iowa City! ( Just kidding. I'd still much rather be back there) One of the girls there spent a solid 15 minutes playing TJ customer charades were she acted out stereotypical customers while we tried to guess. I was laughing so hard I was in tears. We were practically rolling on the floor laughing. We also all made plans to go to Trader Joe's prom on the same night. Hooray knowing people at the party this year!

Yes that means I have to buy a dress for the party again. No clue what I want to wear, but at least this year I'm starting shopping earlier and I have a better idea of what other people wear. It looks like I won't be going the same night as my boss, which is probably for the best because he tells me he's "quite the partier" and he plans on "going wild." Like I said, I think I can miss that.

Hit the Slopes

2007-02-21T15:53:00.001-06:00

Day One on the Mountain. We woke up bright and early (7 am) and geared up for some fun. Of course we didn't actually get out the door until almost 930. We're not so together. Matt, Tony and Jason all smiles at the start of the day...

Our awesome condo.

The view from our driveway.

As you can see it was snowing at the base of the mountain. It had been snowing steadily for a couple of days and there was knee high powder when we got out there. I'd never snowboarded in anything that deep before so I did a lot of falling at first. This first stretch of mountain took me almost 20 minutes to get down

I'm told it kept everyone waiting in the lift line entertained :D I had a couple of awesome falls... some good sommersaults... only one minor injury. I only went about half way up the mountain that first time. This put me in the heart of the clouds and the snow storm. I took a cut through path to get to one of the big runs.

I also wanted to avoid the little kid ski schools. At one point I was following a pair of riders who decided to leave the path and go down the clif. Sure. Why not. Eventually I got to a larger run, but there was little visability.

I got a bit lost, but I did find this sign...

So I didn't feel completely lost :D It turned out I was on a different run then I planned. Only a bit farther and I got home just in time for lunch.

I was so exhausted I decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing in the condo.

The guys went a bit higher...

...but fell just as hard.

Once everyone was home we hit the hot tub and did a little bit of drinking. We spent the big bucks on Canada's finest variety packs. We bought a couple of cheap mixed cases that turned out to be halfway decent.

Andrew played with the fireplace

Matt pretended to be an Iron Chef

While Matt and I worked on enchiladas for dinner we accidently set off the smoke detector. Which set off the house alarm. Which we had no idea how to turn off. It was ok though, because while we all scrambled about trying to fix the problem, Andrew continued to play with the fire place. "Where's the lighter? Has anyone seen my lighter?" "No Drew, open a freaking door and let the smoke out"

After dinner Matt and Tony pelted us with snowballs every time we tried to join them in the hot tub.

So we decided to get them back with the Shovel Sneak Attack!

Ok well that was Day Two. Stay tuned for more updates.

Duck, Duck... Duck?

2007-02-17T19:14:00.000-06:00

Why yes, that is a picture of a four-legged duck. My question is why did he name the duck Stumpy?

(picture stolen hotlinked style from CNN)

Say Goodbye

2007-02-12T18:33:00.000-06:00

When I loaded the snow day pictures onto my computer I found the pictures from Angie's layover in Chicago. Jess, Eli and I went to Midway Airport to goof around in baggage claim for a couple of hours. Jess even wore her Cedar Falls t-shirt in honor or angie's visit

Then Jess scratched Angie's nose. I'm not entirely sure why. I think I was distracted by the hot pretzel I was snacking on.

This may or may not have led to Angie getting a nose bleed...

According to Angie it happens to her a lot. So I think Jess is pretty much blameless. Too soon it was time to say goodbye.

Go Cross Country Skiing

2007-02-12T17:36:00.000-06:00

I had a very ambitious plan to make this into a "choose your own adventure" blog entry. Of course that was back before arts and crafts time ran long. (I had to make signs for the store and apparently it takes longer to apply all that glitter than I remembered from first grade) Instead you'll be getting an average "this is what I did" post. I know, I'm disappointed too.

I woke up today to the wonderful sight of snow! And not just a little flurry. Almost 4 inches of fluffy powdery snow! Once I finished shoveling I couldn't bring myself to go back inside. I love my snow and it was a balmy 29 degrees out so why go inside. What to do? Cross-Country Ski!!!!!! It took me a while to find my boots but soon I was off to the park down the road.

I made a couple of laps. Stopped to take pictures of the playground...

There's something sort of sad about a snow covered Jungle Gym... but peaceful all the same.

My own skis...

The pretty snowy trees...

I had forgotten how tiring it was to break your own trail. I hadn't gone very far and it was only 945 am but I was already tired. I stopped at a local ski shop and they told me about a nearby forest preserve with good trails. Side note: what is it with Illinois and forest preserves? is this something they do other places? how is it any different than a park? I really don't understand.

This park was exactly what I was looking for. Of course having never been there before I had no clue where I was going. So I just picked a trail and was off.

After a couple of "well I guess I'll go this way" turns I found a river.

There were some ducks swimming but they heard me approaching and flew off as I got close.

Following the river I found a bridge...

...and more importantly a trail map.

I'd made a loop of the north trails, about a mile and a half so far. I figured I had enough energy left to explore the southern trails rather than cut across and try to find my car. So I kept following the river.

Eventually I came across a path no one had taken yet...

I couldn't resist. I got to tell you, I was having so much fun. I'm such a geek. There I was alone in the woods with a goofy grin on my face, skiing along.

In retrospect the new path was maybe a bad choice. I think it ended up being the longer way around and I have to admit it was a relief to see a bright yellow spot in the distance.

Was it? Could I have found my way back? YAY it's Buck! Right where I left him....

I'm not sure why the sign said Habitat Restoration. It probably means I shouldn't have left the trail and scared those ducks though. Oh well. So that was my day. How was your monday?

The whole adventure reminded me of my favorite Frost poem: Stopping By the Woods On a Snowy Evening. This was one of those days where it's easy to see how amazing God is.

2007-02-01T19:41:00.000-06:00

Ok gang*, I'm in need of a bit of help. Work has been stressing me out and I'm feeling a bit lost. Does anyone have good quiet time readings? I just really need get recentered and don't know where to start. Suggestions?

*Gang refering to the 3 people who actually read this.

Go to Canada!

2007-01-29T17:03:00.000-06:00

Ok. So, Canada. We all flew into Seattle and then drove up to Whistler the next day. But now I'm ahead of myself, because what makes you think "greatest vacation ever" more than having to diffuse a bar fight with hick Washington locals within the first 4 hours of the trip. I wish I had pictures of these guys but it was the most ridiculous situation I'd been involved in, probably ever.

Matt...

lives down the street from a townie bar. And we had sometime to kill before Drew...

landed at 1130. When I say townie bar I mean pretty much what you're picturing. Small, dirty, broken door on the men's bathroom, one bartender/waitress/manager. So when we get there a pair of Indian guys are playing pool. We do the proper thing and put down quarters, asking to have next round, they're fine with that. So we're taking turns using the table and then new people arrive and want to play against us. By this point Matt and Tony have left for the airport, leaving me, Jason, Steve and Matt's friend whose name I unfortunately can't remember.... Mike? maybe... let's just call him Mike to make this easier.

So Mike and Jason...

play this new pair of people and win, keeping the table. Then more people start challenging them. Steve and I are just sitting back drinking, laughing, having a good time, when Steve notices one of the "losers" giving Mike dirty looks. Now I've maybe had a few drinks. Steve has maybe had a few pitchers. You know, good times :D But we start joking about how Jason should run up, sucker punch the one redneck guy and then we all run away. This must have been over heard by the Indian guys (who kept disappearing into the bathroom to smoke weed we late figured out) because next thing I know they're talking to the hick guys and we're all getting even more dirty looks. So by this point Steve and Jason think a bar fight is the greatest idea ever, Mike is fairly indifferent but would go along and I don't want anything to do with actual violence.

Mike finally suggests taking a break from playing and he and Jason give up the table by either intentionally losing or just bad luck, I'm still not sure which and the fight is avoided. Of course five minutes later Matt, Tony and Drew arrive and are mad they missed the fun and have to talked out of rekindling the animosity.

Whew. So that was night one.

Day One: Road trip to Whistler

Whistler is about a 5 hour drive from Seattle. So we piled all our stuff in to the Expedition we were borrowing from Steve and off we went. Tony and Drew slept, I rode middle in back so as to have a kick ass footrest :D

Woohoo the border!

It turns out the border patrol people have no interest in being anything but deathly serious with you. We stopped to run around anyway.

There were shenanigans.

Did you ever see that South Park Episode where they went to Canada to get Ike back and ended up finding Saddam Hussien? And on the way when they asked directions they were told "follow they only road"? That's how we felt. I turns out there is only one main road that runs from the border, through Vancouver and on up to Whistler. And when I say through Vancouver I mean it was like driving down the strip in Coralville. For almost two hours. Talk about good times.

But it did get us right to our condo (after a few wrong turns) and it was completely worth it. There was a ton of snow on the ground and we had a huge hill in our backyard so of course we did the only sensible thing: built a sled run!

Well first I guess we had a bit of a snowball fight. I ran up the hill and started raining snowballs down on everyone as they came out the back door. The snow at the very top was a bit britttle so I had a weight advantage being the smallest, it was easiest for me to get all the way to the top.

Matt tried the sled run head first

I wasn't so brave (foolish?)

I seem to have a bad habit of building sled runs that end in dangerous places. I'm thinking back to the one behind Daum which ended at concrete steps and there was that tree to avoid along the way. And then last year in Mammoth it ended in the road...

Well this year you had to brake before slamming into the side of the hot tub. :D

So there's the first 36 hours. I forget how time consuming it is to add all the photos so I'm going to break it up into lots of shorter posts.

Go Snowboarding

2007-01-15T14:05:00.000-06:00

I just back from the annual Ski Trip and am desperately in need of another vacation. I'm posting this mostly as a reminder to myself to post pictures and stories from the trip. Also, so when I get busy you can harass me into posting the hilarious trip details.

Party Like it's 2007

2007-01-01T10:53:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

I wasn't going to go out. The Packer game started, Grossman threw 3 interceptions and fumbled a snap all in the first half, I was feeling a bit tired. Then Noah called during half time and told me to still just come by. So I did. And I had more fun than probably any new year's since high school.

When I got there we watched the Bear's continue to embarrass themselves well into the third quarter. Then Noah's brother JP and three of the other people there decided to go out back and build a bonfire. (Yes there's a fire pit built for this purpose, they weren't just going to start it on the lawn.) Now I assume if you're reading this you know that I build a pretty great fire. But I also am fairly amused by other people's bad fire making skills.

So Tom and Andy grab an old christmas tree, douse it in gasoline, use a tiki torch to light it and whoosh! 12 ft tall fireball. It was ridiculous. Thankfully everyone was far enough back that no one lost an eyebrow or anything. This of course leads to lots of stories about people I don't know and a few about people I do. I laughed so hard my face still hurts this morning.

Well by now the guys figure out this probably wasn't the best long term fire building plan and it's awfully smoky so they wander off in search of more wood. I took the opportunity to fix the fire so me and JP threw a bunch of kindling in there and some cardboard and got a pretty good fire going.

Notice how I haven't mentioned my friend Noah? Yea that's cuz I have no clue where he was. I didn't see him until probably close to 1130 :D But that was fine because his friends were hilarious and really friendly.

So we stand around drinking for a while, laughing, waiting for the new year. If you've been to my house in IL and remember how there's lots of trees and undergrowth at the back of the yard, you can picture Noah's backyard. Tom and Andy go out there with a tiny litttle flash light and a dull axe trying to gather whatever more wood they can. This makes the rest of us a bit nervous, but they did all right. And of course it leads to more ridiculous "this one time in the woods..." stories and more laughing till I cry.

Once the New Year hits everyone's shaking up and spraying their beers and JP is running around "topping" everyone's bottle trying to get it to explode. Then I hear, "Oh crap I'm bleeding." So not only did NYE 2006 involve a 12 ft fireball, but now it's going to involve a trip to the ER. Poor kid shattered the neck of a bottle and sliced open his index finger. 4 stiches and an hour and a half later they return with one still drunk JP and a couple great ER patient stories.

Like I said, probably the most fun I've had celebrating in years! :D I just wish I had taken a camera....

Hope you had a good time as well!

Party like it's 2006

2006-12-31T15:48:00.000-06:00

So far I've spent New Year's Eve...

reading
writing emails
catching up on blogs
finding random things on the internet... the best being Adopt-A-Nun
all while watching rugby on the tv
snacking

Oh wow am I a party animal!

What's that you say? I'm sure you have big party plans to ring in 2007 later on?

Heck no! The plan so far is to watch the Bears play the Packers at 7 pm and then go to bed. If I'm feeling really wild I might go over to Noah's to watch the game. (Noah is one of my four friends here in the North Shore) He's having a bunch of his friends over, so I don't know if I really want to go and be the only one there who doesn't know anybody. But then again it would be nice to get out of the house. We'll see......

Happy New Year!

sleep

2006-12-27T21:10:00.000-06:00

Hooray sick days!

Just to reassure everyone, my bout with bah-humbugness was brief and i quickly regained some christmas cheer.

Now I just wish this stupid cold would go away.....

I took a sick day to day in hopes that lots and lots of sleep will speed recovery. I'm not sure how much good it did though. I still feel tired and have a stuffed up head and scratchy throat, but maybe when I wake up tomorrow it will magically all be better.

In order to secure the aforementioned sick day I traded a shift and will be opening the nest three mornings. Which I guess will be a nice change seeing as I closed for about a week straight. I did also end up with new year's eve off somehow. Now if only I had friends.... or plans....

Celebrate

2006-12-23T13:06:00.000-06:00

Merry bleeping Christmas. I'm exhausted. I'm sick. I still have to go to work and deal with the crazies.

I know that's not a good attitude, but right now I'm so run down I just don't even care. Is it sunday night yet? That's when I'll be able to let it all go and enjoy the holiday.

Sorry that I haven't posted in for ever. I'll try and catch up on Christmas Day.

Go on a trip

2006-12-03T16:22:00.000-06:00

Hey look at me I'm a business traveller!!!!

That's right, I'm on my very first business trip. Right now I'm staying here and feel especially grown up and adult... but also a little bored and lonely.

Thankfully Jason should be free by about 730 or 8 and then we'll go out, so I'll be less bored.

All right well now I'm off to explore the hotel.

2006-12-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

Holy December, Batman!

I guess I've been away a long time. So let's see... in the past three weeks I've....

1) Been put on and taken off the disabled list at work. I pulled a back muscle. Did I mention that before?
2) Gotten really frustrated with my job and coworkers.
3) Started liking my job again.
4) Bought plane tickets to St Louis for next week. Yay TJU. That's right. Trader Joe's University... where I learn to be better at my job, I guess.
5) Bought plane tickets to Seattle for the ski trip! I don't think I can explain how excited I am for this trip. It really can't come soon enough.
6) Started researching snowboards, seeing as I need to buy one before January.
7) Sent Angie and Amy some kick ass surprise presents. (Kinsey, yours in still in the works, so have no fear, well maybe you should have fear....)

2006-11-07T22:50:00.000-06:00

I think mine is pretty.....

http://www.aharef.info/static/htmlgraph/

Catch a fish

2006-11-06T12:06:00.000-06:00

Here it is... the picture you've been waiting for.....

2006-11-04T19:41:00.000-06:00

Hooray for the end of the week! It's my Friday and it couldn't have come fast enough. If I haven't told you already, I strained a back muscle this week and I feel completely ridiculous. It's the muscle that connects to my right arm, so I can bend and all that, but can't really use my right arm. And I'm right handed.

I managed to talk the doctor into letting me go to work on "light duty" but I've probably just been making it worse. So between the back pain and just end of the week sleepiness I managed to reach a new level of confusion while driving home. Angie left a message on my phone where she was telling a story and at one point I had lost track of the fact that she wasn't actually on the phone with me. I started responding back and thought she was just ignoring my comments.

Yup. Like I said.... YAY Friday.

Be Productive

2006-10-30T15:09:00.000-06:00

Since I started having two days off together every week, I've always followed the same routine. Day One: Sleep and watch movies and/or catch up on DVR'd tv from the previous week. Day Two: Be productive.

Starting today I have Sun/Mon off and since our schedules start with monday... I only have one day off by itself this week. I was going to keep the same routine and just forgo Day Two's productivity, but when I woke up there was a whole list of things to do from my parents. Boooooo.

So instead of being lazy I've cranked up the U2 (yes Angie, BONO!)and have begun being productive. I've already made the two of the three necessary phone calls and now I'm waiting for the oven to preheat so I can eat lunch. That's right. Feel the excitement. After lunch the to do list includes stopping by the hardware store for yard waste stickers, picking up milk and halloween candy and finding a mailbox so I can return some dvd's and finally send Angie and Kate support checks.

Things that may get put off for another day:
a) Buying a plane ticket for the ski trip
2) Starting the hunt for a snowboard, for said ski trip. YAY Merry Christmas to me.
3) Going clothes shopping
4) Learning Spanish (no for real, I need to and it's time I start)
e) all of the above

Also, I'll try and get a picture up soon of me and the bass.

Go Fishing

2006-10-26T00:52:00.000-05:00

So Amy told me to watch the mail because she was sending me somthing. I didn't really know what to expect. A book? A DVD? A homemade craft project? I definitely didn't expect this.....

I actually got the largemouth bass, the walleye is pictured here. Oh Amy Lassen... you made my day!

Snow!

2006-10-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

Remember how I smelled winter the other night? Well today it snowed!

Last night, as I opened the back door, I saw that it was trying to snow. Just the tiniest flakes, indistinguishable from rain until you got near the light. Then this morning I woke up, looked out my window and saw...

I love that it caught everyone by surprise. Only a week ago it was mid 7o's here.

When I went to work I had a huge smile on my face.