Saturday, August 26, 2006

Talk of poems, prayers and promises, and things that we believe in, how sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care..."

-John Denver

Here we go foks, hot off the press, in random order, 100 things that make me happy.

1. ERNIE
2. Playing piano
3. Train Rides
4. Getting packages
5. My digital Camera
6. Seattle
7. Keeping strong friendships with my friends that are far away
8. Performing
9. Surprising myself
10. Living in the same city as my brother for the first time in 8 years.

11. Walking
12. Backrubs (more specifically, SHOULDER-rubs)
13. Watching LOST with people who haven't seen it and watching their minds spin
14. Singing
15. Michigan rainstorms
16. The scent of walking by a laundromat when it is raining
17. Talking to Nancy, even if it can only be through the phone
18. Candles
19. Apple Cider
20. Having a big brother that is totally there for me even though he has seen me be the most moody little sister in the history of the world

21. Seeing my little brother loving to play music
22. Finding acoustic versions of songs that I love
23. Having random adventures and experiences that remind me that life is unpredictable
24. Learning a new piece of music
25. Camping
25. Baking
26. Writing in my journal
27. Opening a box of new crayons
28. Seeing my mom finally be able to fulfill her dream of finishing grad school, and doing it like a rockstar
29. Party Pizzas
30. Getting mix tapes/CDs from friends

31. Finding a new song and having it be perfect for what i'm going through
32. Artwork by Melissa Harris
33. Movies that make me reflect and help me process
34. Being able to look back on bad situations and find the good that came out of them
35. Bookstores
36. Coffee shops
37. Buying new sheet music
38. Big soft blankets
39. Sleeping in
40. Meeting a random person that you have a mind altering conversation with, and then never seeing them again

41. Scrapbooks
42. Watching the "La Vi Bohem" scene in Rent
43. Sunsets
44. Song lyrics that remind you that there are people out there who have been through exactly what you have, so it can't be all that bad
45. The Columbia River Gorge
46. Knowing that I can always go back to Milwaukie or Ashland if I start to feel like i'm forgetting who I am
47. Cross-stitch
48. Throwing things away
49. The way that when my mom makes me something, it tastes better than if anyone else would've made it
50. The nifty little escalator for the carts at Target


51. Having a long list of quirky jobs
52. The smell of Christmas trees
53. The last two pages of "The Great Gatsby"
54. Buying a new CD and listening to it the whole way through and discovering that every song is great
55. Fun coworkers
56. Renewing friendships that were thought to be lost forever
57. The smell of the air in the morning
58. Being able to feel bittersweet, instead of just feeling bitter
59. People who I can be sarcastic with, without worrying that they won't know I'm just being sarcastic
60. The live version of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" by Bruce Springsteen that I found on vinyl

61. Almost Famous
62. My tattoos
63. Reading a book that makes you think about life in a way that you never have before
64. Being able to see my sister
65. The quilt that Jessica and Amber made for me
66. Having moments of clarity where something or someone makes me remember that everything WILL be okay
67. Going to shows
68. Rivers
69. Swimming under waterfalls
70. Waking up in the woods to nothing but the sound of nature doing its thing

71. Tank tops
72. Friends that grow to be part of your extended family
73. Chocolate
74. Wine
75. Artwork by Wassily Kandinsky
76. Finding quotes that give me chills and then sending them to Daun because I know she'll love them as much I do
77. Mexican Food
78. Peanut Butter
79. Funny moments that I can replay in my head and that never fail to make me laugh
80. Relationships that can't be defined

81. Relationships that can be defined
82. Lazy days
83. Learning how to reach out for help instead of holding it in
84. T-shirts with sarcastic sayings that make non-witty people uncomfortable.
85. Vodka-tonics with cherries instead of limes
86. Telling Aly anything in the world and knowing that she'll completely understand what and why I'm doing what I'm doing
87. Listening to Joni Mitchell with Jessica
88. Having Ben and Kai living in the same state as me
89. Blogging
90. Shari's

91. Laughing with Rebecca
92. Nail Polish
93. Bracelets
94. The way that I forget to water Ashlee Simpson (my plant) until she gets droopy, yet she always comes back to life!
95. "The Trapeze Swinger" by Iron and Wine, and how every lyric in that song is absolutely perfect
96. Getting a new haircut
97. Coming home and collapsing on the couch after a long day
98. Lugsy and Sugar
99. Hugs
100. YOU :)

Okay, I really think everybody should go do this. It made me feel happy.

Monday, August 21, 2006

"in a bullet proof vest with the windows all closed, I'll be doing my best and I'll see you soon..."

-Coldplay

My throat has been really sore, but I don't think I'm getting sick. I think I have officially come to the conclusion that I have a dairy intolerance. I didn't start noticing my throat problems until I got to SOU, and my voice was always scratchy and my throat always hurt. Since I worked at the library five days a week for four years, Nancy took note of it and started asking me why it always hurt, and I never figured it out. But looking back, I'm realizing that I had a cheese sandwhich almost every day in college! (Protein that is easy to carry in my backpack). And now I've been noticing that as soon as I have anything that is dairy-ish, I feel like I'm coming down with something. I suppose it could be a coincidence, but I'm becoming more and more sure that it is dairy related.

Anyways, I didn't just tell that oh-so-exciting story for no reason. I told it because my throat is sore, and that made me want Top Ramen when I got back from volunteering today. The broth just sounded really good. So I started boiling some Ramen and then went over to the piano to play as the noodles boiled. I started working on the Chopin Etude that I'm trying to learn, and I guess I was a little too focused. Because I suddenly noticed a not-nice odor in the apartment, and I also noticed that there was a decent amount of smoke filling the room.

Yep, I burned the Top Ramen. Then I opened all the windows, but as I was doing so, the smoke alarm went off. Sigh.
Don't worry folks. Everything is under control.

What, you don't believe me?

Whatevuh.

I'm going to go make vegetable soup now. Wish me luck.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

"Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole, just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound..."

-Deathcab for Cutie

Hi all. I don't really have much to say in the "update" department. Still really busy, still not unpacked, la la la. Kat got back to into town last weekend and it is great to have her here. It is also great to have her Gilmore Girls DVDs! I've been going nonstop all day and then crashing at night. It's weird, because I'm sleeping better than I have in weeks, but it's making me more tired during the day. Go figure.

Amber came over last night and I felt like I hadn't seen her in years, since last time we saw eachother was on moving day and we were both too tired and busy to say more than a few words at a time. We spent the night melted into the couch eating party pizzas, watching Gilmore Girls and talking. And at one point I put my hand on her stomach and Nacho started kicking like crazy! I'm pretty sure him and I were having a party. It was lovely.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

"You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart..."

-For Good

I've been really busy lately. It is quite fascinating to me, how I feel like I don't have a life, yet I never seem to have a spare minute of free time. Weird. Anyways, I'm too tired to recall dates and times of anything right now, but here are some tidbits for the sake of this blog not feeling neglected.

I'm full time at work now, and I've been doing some overtime to make sure we have enough fudge to last the week. I don't mind the overtime at all, since I love baking. It may be one of the most theraputic skills that I have ever learned. There was a bit of a crisis the other day. I had made 26 trays of fudge, (yep, and each tray is 6 pounds, and that is just enough to last the weekend), and I was putting the last tray in the cooling cupboard and (cue dramatic music) all the trays collapsed. IT WAS AWFUL. None of the fudge had cooled yet, so it all ran together, and I managed to save alot of it, but I ended up having to make a whole new batch of chocolate fudge in order to repair all that had been injured. It was very frusterating, because everything had been going so well. Sigh.

Today at work, I made strawberry cheesecake fudge. It is a new recipe, and it was only the second time that I had ever made it, so I'm still messing with it trying to get the strawberry part to taste right. Every time I added new ingredients, I had to taste it to see if it was where I wanted it to be, and it took a long time. I know you are all thinking that I should shut up and not complain about being paid to eat fudge, but trust me, when you eat it because you
have to, not because you want to, it is a very different experience. Don't get me wrong, I love the fudge and I eat it almost daily, but during this "time of the month" (are you all following me) my body rebels against me very easily and I get the worst cramps in the history of the world. If I'm careful about what I eat and drink, then I can usually stop that from happening. But I had to eat lots of fudge today to get the freakin strawberry flavor right, and my body did not like that at all. By the time I was standing at the bus stop after work, I had shooting pains going all through my body. Seriously, from my shins to my neck, pain pain pain. Ugh. I guess I can't have my fudge and eat it too.

Kai came over the other day and we spent the whole day in my apartment watching Sex and the City and consuming the leftover birthday supplies from Kai's party. It was really fun. I like my new place, but it doesn't feel like home yet, because I still haven't had time to finish unpacking. I've made a little bit of headway, but I still have a long ways to go.

I talked to Nancy today, which is always splenderific.

I played piano for an hour when I got home from work and my new neighbors don't seem to mind it, which is nice.

I have a huge bruise on my thigh from where I walked into a pole on my way to the bus stop. I rule.

I feel like I had alot more to say, but now I can't remember any of it. Sorry.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

"The universe may not always play fair, but at least it has got a hell of a sense of humor."

-Sex and the City

This last week has been pretty gosh darn crazy. Stefani came to town, then a couple of days later I went and saw Dave and Chris, then Kai's birthday party was on Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was great, as always, to hang out with Ben and Kai and their cute little cats.

I spent Sunday, Monday, and very early Tuesday moving all of my things from my old apartment to my new apartment. Sigh. Oh yeah, and then there is work, and that whole trying to figure out where my life is going... details.


Stefani leaves tomorrow, so she is here with me at my new place right now. We are drinking wine and eating ice cream (with plastic forks) and watching Sex and the City. Yay. I like my new place, although I really haven't had any time to unpack yet. I had a couple of hours today while I was waiting for Stef where I could've been unpacking, but I took the time to play piano instead.

That's all for now, because I really should pay attention to this episode, because Carrie is about to talk to Natasha, and I have only seen this episode one-million times, and I might miss something important.

In closing, here are some pictures of Sugar and Lugsy.