Some purchases

OK, these are a little out of order, as I still haven't figured out the order to upload them.
I've been pretty busy running around since Saturday. Saturday I went to 5 garage sales and found some pretty good deals, those pictures are further down. Sunday, my mother and I went to a scrapbooking store in a town about 30 min south of here, I will be posting those items on my Frog Palace blog. Monday, Kevin and I went back to Ankeny to go to a really good Chinese Buffet, then we traveled to a park/dam and really wished we didn't have to go to work that night. Tuesday I went to the Salvation Army where I was very disappointed in what they had. This is the 2nd time I've been to the store in their new location and I was disappointed the first time as well, I thought this time I might be surprised, not so much.
Then I wandered a little further on down the street to Target and picked up 5 shirts that were on sale. I've been on the lookout for t-shirts lately, as I found out we're not allowed to wear tank tops at the library, which is most of my summer wear. I also bought these cute sandals pictured below, we're not allowed to wear flip flops either, so I've been looking for some cute sandals, I saw these and decided to buy them. There's only one slight problem that I'll have to get used to.
Aren't they just cute on my feet?

My problem is that they have about 4 inch heel on them. I don't walk around on heels that much, but I decided they were really cute, and I asked a group of ladies what they thought, they agreed that they were cute, so I bought them. I do have a pretty long dress that I bought in Hawaii, that would look great with these, and I know Kevin will like them. I've been practicing walking around my apartment in them, and today, I'm planning to wear them to the store (I'll also bring along a pair of flip flops in case they prove to be too much for my feet), I think with practice I'll be OK. My mother never encouraged me to wear heels, I never played dress up in her high heels because she never wore any. It makes me wonder if she had encouraged me and I had been getting used to walking on them throughout the years if I could walk fine in them. Who knows?

So, I just succeeded in gathering my mail in my new sandals. I live on the 3rd floor of a Victorian house, so that's down and back up 2 flights of stairs, one being a curvy one and the other being kinda steep; out the back door, down 4 more steps, walk through my backyard, past the driveway and up to the front porch, up 4 more steps and back. It was a little slow, but I wasn't in a hurry, I may have to change my plans of wearing them to work tonight as it's a little chilly and it looks as if it might rain, and that will definitely spell disaster on my walk home.
Anyways, here are my purchases from Saturday, I don't know exactly what I'll do with a few but they were just too neat looking to pass up:

This is from the last sale I was at, it's a velvet painting. It's a painting on velvet. Unfortunately, it's got a couple spots where the paint came off, but it's still really gorgeous looking. I have it propped in my kitchen at the moment, as the hanger on the back needs to be replaced. It was $1.50.

This cute little tea cup I found at my second sale. It was only $3.00 with the plate. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I've been reading Tales from an OC Cottage and she's showed some of her tea cups, and I think the idea of just having a cute one jumped out at me. I kinda wish I had a glass cabinet in my kitchen to put this in, I may have started a collection, uh oh, I sure don't need more of those.

These beads were found at the same sale as the tea cup, I don't know what I'm going to do with them either, but I'm sure I can come up with something. These were 10 cents.

These, I'm not exactly sure what they are, but you shake them and they make some kind of musical noise. I honestly didn't know they were in the box. I just bought it because the box was cute. GIVEAWAY ALERT: I might put these in the giveaway, it depends on what kind of box I decide to use, because they're kinda heavy.

And here's a picture of the cute box. It was only $1.50

On Saturday, I spent a grand total of $6.35, that is $3.00 for the tea cup, $.10 for the beads, $1.50 for the painting, $1.50 for the box and $.25 for a vase that's not exciting, but I decided I needed another small one.

I did end up spening about $70.00 at Target the other day. The shoes were $25.00 and the shirts ranged from $4.00 to $11.00, and they were all on some kind of sale, I'm glad I didn't buy them when they weren't. I also bought a $5.00 movie I've been looking for for awhile.

I know I shouldn't be spending $$, but I needed t-shirts, I believe the sandals were a good investment, you can't pass up a good deal at a garage sale (even if you don't know what you're going to do with an item), and a $5.00 movie once in a while isn't bad.

Lonely

I really want to do something fun and exciting.
I've been trying to go to more garage sales now that the season is started, but it's just me going to them, not so much fun.
I'd love to have a cool thrift store or antique store to go to. Or a flea market, I've never been to one of those.
I was going to go to this cute little group of stores (sorta) we have here in town a few blocks from my house. It's called the Shoppes on Grand, and it's on Grand Ave, big surprise there. It used to be a whole bunch of separate little stores, now it's all one big one, but there's lots of little rooms. It used to be a house, so there are a lot of little rooms. And it's a great place to go every once in awhile, especially with a friend around lunch time, because there's also a tea room there and they have great food.
I think I'm really missing human interaction lately. Other than my 2 jobs, I really don't interact with people that much. I love the people I work with, especially at the library, where it's not just me for a certain time period.
But, I don't really have any close friends here. My best friend lives in Des Moines, which is about 45 min south from here, so I don't see her very often. Another good friend lives about 45 min north of here, she does come to town pretty often, but I've been working Mon - Wed mornings at the library and every night I'm working at one place or the other. I don't get to see Kevin that much anymore, usually only on Mondays (cause he works 6 days a week, 12 hr nights, and Sunday is his night off), last week he said, he wouldn't be surprised if they were working 7 days a week starting this weekend, I'm holding onto the hope that that's not true, but even if it isn't, he will be working 7 days a week really soon.
I don't do much outside of my apartment, I go to the grocery store, walk to Target and Walmart, but that's all by myself. My parents are trying extremely hard to know about my life more, but I really don't see why they need to know, it feels like they want to know what I'm doing every minute of my life, and that's a little annoying.

my weekend

This weekend was Kevin and I's 3 year dating anniversary. We set the date for May 1st, because neither of us could remember exactly when we actually started dating. We didn't get to see each other on the first because I had to work that afternoon and he had to work that night.
Sunday morning I wake up to him coming in my door with bags full of things. In these bags were:
A 5 quart Dutch oven

A 12" Frying pan

A 2 quart saucepan and

A 3 quart saucepan.

I've been wanting some better cookware for awhile now, and Kevin will probably say I don't have any reason not to cook now.

We then went to Ankeny and ate lunch at a Chinese buffet. After that we stopped at Walmart where I picked up:

Some wooden spoons and

a spoon rest.

We then headed south again, stopping to look at some car dealerships on our wat to Des Moines where we went to Bass Pro Shop. I've been wanting to go to it ever since it opened, and I was a little annoyed when he went with his friend on Labor Day. That was pretty cool to go into and look around, I would have liked to stay longer, but he did promise a friend he'd help with some truck maintenance.

After we got back, he dropped me off and went to help his friend.

I had planned on cooking him supper for my present to him, and those pots really came in handy.

I cooked Lemon Dill Bluegill (that's what I had in the freezer) and loaded mashed potatoes. I unfortunately forgot about the prep time, so I started at 5:30, thinking I'd have everything ready to eat by 7. It didn't really happen that way.

I started peeling potatoes, and realized I didn't have a potato peeler, so I had to borrow one from my parents. I used my new dutch oven to cook them, which took a bit longer than I expected. But, while waiting for them to cook, I did get the rest of the ingredients for the potatoes and the fish ready. After cooking the potatoes, I realized I was supposed to mash them up in an electric mixer, which I also didn't have, so I mixed them in a bowl with a fork, to squish them. Then they were supposed to bake for 30 minutes.

While they were baking I got started on the fish, all that turned out OK, and I got to use my new fry pan for it. I should have taken a picture, it was pretty cool looking with the water in it, and the lemons floating on top and then the bluegill on top of that.

But, it all turned out ok, and it was a really nice anniversary.

Here are the recipes if anyone wants to try them out.

Taken from Taste of Home's Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2006, Loaded Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used about 8 potatoes)

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

3 TB butter

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheddar cheese blend, divided

1/2 lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 green onions sliced

1. Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until tender. Drain and place in a mixing bowl. Add sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 cups cheese, bacon and onions.

2. Transfer to a greased 3-qt baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Yield: 14 servings

Taken from Taste of Home magazine February/March 2001 Lemon Dill Walleye

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 TB butter or stick margarine

4 cups water

1 TB snipped fresh dill OR 1 tp dill weed

3/4 cup fat-free milk

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1/8 tp pepper

2 lbs walleye, cod, halibut or orange roughy fillets (I used quite a bit of bluegill)

In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add water and dill; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes. Add milk, stir in lemons and pepper. Top with fillets. Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Transfer fish to a serving platter and keep warm. Strain cooking liquid, reserving lemons, onions and dill, serve with fish.

Need some advice

So, today I went to get my eyes checked (has been almost 4 years), and I was chatting with the optician about how my current medical insurance didn't cover eyes, so that's why I hadn't gotten it done. To which he talked about eyes being the most important and how money shouldn't matter, etc, etc, etc. Which I get, eyes are very important, but when you don't have a lot of money, the things that cost the most, don't get done.
Anyways, I was checking out new frames because my prescription changed (I asked my mother to come along for another opinion), and we didn't have any, because I have a tiny head (I usually end up with kids glasses). Afterward, I was going to schedule a dialation (where they put drops in your eyes, and the pupils get bigger, so they can see parts of the eyes, they explain it, but I never really understand.), anyways my mother said I should wait and see about costs at the Wolfe Eye Clinic (the place I used to go) because they have my family history and other things. To me it sounded like she just didn't want me to go to this cheaper place. She is against change (which is where I get it from), but she also said it was an optician and this place and an optometrist at Wolfe. I'm not entirely sure what the difference is between them. But I was also saying that the Wolfe place is in the middle of nowhere, and she said how location shouldn't have any impact on where I went. Pretty much meaning, she would drive me out there. Only thing is, I know she will complain the whole way out there and back about having to drive me and other stuff.
I'm trying to figure out how much of her argument is against change, and how much is what I should actually listen to.
One of the funny things is, if I lived anywhere else, anywhere I went wouldn't have all my family history either, so I think part of that argument doesn't work.
I honestly am not sure what to do. I know I will have to call Wolfe and see what their prices are, and figure it out from there. But I really don't know what to do, any suggestions?

Hawaii 1-8-10

No pictures for this one, sorry.

Got up more or less early, went for breakfast, packed. Mom and I went shopping. I bought a small piece of fabric, should have bought a sexy sleep thing for Kevin to enjoy. Looked at a shop with a lot of cars like mine (I collect metal model cars, like bigger versions of matchbox and Hotwheels, and this shop I could have spent hours in, it was so cool.). Mom bought some neat things for me for Christmas next year (I've already forgotten about them, let's hope mom doesn't loose them before then). Wandered through a lot of shops with cute clothes, should have bought some. Got back on ship, ate lunch, had a nap, felt sickly from boat moving way too much, took medicine. Went to look at pictures, ordered some. Went to shops, got postcard and napkins, ate supper. Packed More. Left our checked bags outside at midnight.

Some Memes

Found some new memes to play with.

The first is a fill in the blank. I found this one on Little Owl Arts
1. The first thing I do in the morning is Roll over and wish my boyfriend was in bed with me.
2. Every night before bed I Set up my music to listen to
3. My favorite thing to do when I'm having a bad day is Listen to music, always calms me down, especially Bruce Springstein, or Bob Seger
4. Something that makes me cringe is Millipedes, we had one on the wall by the bathrooms the other day at the library, and I sure didn't want to go near it.
5. Social situations Something I really need to get used to.
6. I like to collect Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, art supplies, frogs
7. Weekends are for Relaxing, hopefully with warmer weather going to garage sales, and of course because of warmer weather mowing the lawn

And the next one is called the five Spot. I found it on So Completely Random.
5 family members you can't live without?
1. 1 aunt on my mom's side,
2. 1 aunt on my dad's side,
3. my boyfriend (that counts right?),
4. my guinea pig,
5. because of financial situations my parents
5 girlfriends you can't live without?
1. Karli,
2. Loretta (I don't have 5 girlfriends)
5 foods you can't live without?
1. Pizza,
2. donuts,
3. ice cream,
4. water
5 favorite movies? This will be hard, how to narrow it down to 5. Umm,
1. Die Hard movies (I know that's 4 different movies, but it's counting as one),
2. We were Soldiers,
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine,
4. SAW movies (also counting as one),
5. Finding Nemo
5 favorite TV shows?
1. Third Watch,
2. Supernatural (or at least the first 3 seasons of it, I could care less about the 4th season),
3. Angel,
4. The Amazing Race,
5. New York Undercover
5 biggest pet peeves?
1.People who smoke,
2. people who call voicemail/answering machines and either hang up after the message has gone through, or talk like you're going to pick up,
3. People who are too lazy to park or do other things legally,
4. People who can't come to the library and pick things off the shelves themselves,
5. People who suck at driving
5 places you visited and loved?
1. Hawaii,
2. Lake Okoboji,
3. Kevin's parents place,
4. Washington D.C.,
5. The Ledges
5 places you want to visit?
1. Ireland
2. California
3. Texas
5 memories that you will never forget?
1. When I first saw Kevin
2. My first motorcycle ride
3. Hawaii vacation
4. The first time I went to D.C. and we got to see the Darwin's Rhea (big bird kinda like an ostrich) dance.
5. Childhood vacations at Lake Okoboji
5 things you love about your house/location?
1. Love my neighborhood (within walking distance to a lot of things)
2. Love that it's an old house (very gorgeous)
3. Love that I'm close to work (within walking distance to my jobs)
5 things you wish you could change about your house/location?
1. Wish I lived farther away from my parents (live on the 3rd floor of their house, and we are way too close in distance, and not far enough away in relationship)
2. Wish I didn't live in an old house (they have a lot of problems)
3. Wish I lived in a different town (should have gone away to college, and experienced somewhere else)
4. I'd love to have a bathtub (my bathroom isn't near big enough for one)
5. I'd love for my bedroom to not have windows facing east (it's kinda hard to sleep in that way, I even have mini blinds and very dark chocolate colored curtains, they still don't shut out all the light)
5 projects you are working on or want to accomplish this year?
1. The constant of my collage group atcs
2. making money (that counts right)
3. paying off my medical bill
4. hoping to become more creative, or do more artwork
5. Cleaning my apartment
5 material possessions you can't live without?
1. My ring from Kevin
2. My mp3 player (I couldn't live without music)
3. Chapstick
4. My wallet, that counts right?
5. My cell phone, though I'm noticing not as much lately
5 reasons you blog?
1. Hope someone else likes reading about my life
2. Like sharing my art with people
3. Like meeting new people I never would have otherwise
4. A good way to get advice
5. I've always found it's easier to write than to talk about certain things with people.

I've been very disappointed with some things lately.
One, I don't think I'm buying Levi's jeans again. It used to be I could wear a pair of jeans practically every day and they would last a year or so. In January, I needed some new jeans to wear to one of my jobs, so I bought a pair, there are parts that are already wearing through. That's not acceptable, especially considering I paid about $25-$30 for them.
Another, I bought some bagels at my grocery store last Saturday, I had eaten 2 of them, today I went to eat another, they were moldy. They weren't very expensive, but I would think they should last more than 5 days. They were bakery items instead of trucked in, but still. I had 4 I had to throw away today, it was very disappointing.

What are people thinking?

For one of my jobs, I work at at toy store in a strip mall, and right next to the toy store is a Pizza Hut where you can only pick-up your pizza or have it delivered.

Tonight it's raining, and sometimes pouring. I have seen 2 people pull up and park (in the fire lane), leave their kids in their car, leave the car running and go in to get their pizza. This is the perfect crime of opportunity for a person. It makes me wonder if the parent/adult would think it was worth it to stay out of the rain, if their car happened to be stolen. Now both times these people left their car, yes they could see the car, but they were also away from the car for at least 5 minutes, and if the person was walking toward the car, and then walked in front and got into the driver's door, I highly doubt the adult would notice, I'm pretty sure you could do it fast enough if you wanted to.

Unfortunately, I know this doesn't just happen here. I've seen people do it down town as well and pretty much anywhere in town. Now, I know we don't have a ton of crime in our city (most likely more than people think), but we have had armed robberies at gas stations, one just a block away.

Not that I'm wishing something would happen to anyone, but I really wish there was some way we could get people to realize that cons will not outweigh the pros in these situations.

A few weeks ago, when I was working at the library, one of our full-time staff comes inside the library with a kid screaming his head off. We found the mother, but she didn't seem in the least bit concerned.

I got my degree in criminal justice and I have read about what people will do just because there's an opportunity. I don't think in any way there's an excuse for them doing these crimes, but I do think the victim is partly to blame in these situations.

Trouble in Paradise

He didn't call me in-between 7 and 8 on his way to work, he probably just forgot.
But, my mind kept telling me, I'd see his truck show up around 8 and we'd get to hang out tonight. That didn't happen, so I figured, maybe he's sleeping.
I missed a call from him at 8:30, that had to mean he wasn't at work, right? I called him back and he answered, he couldn't be working if he answered, right? No, he was just able to talk for a few minutes.
They said they would be working less, but already working 4 days didn't last a week, now it's 5 days of one thing and 1 day of another, unless he misspoke and it's actually 4 days of one thing and 1 day of another, but I doubt it.
You never can believe anything they say. They said last year after the workers came back (after a 3 month lay-off) that it wouldn't happen this year, well it didn't, they laid them off for 5 months this time.
The things I would love to do to the people that make the decisions. They wonder why they're such in a hole after the workers come back and why they have to work them 7 days a week, 12 hour days when they lay them off for 3+ months in the winter and know they're going to be selling a lot and need the workers there.
He hates what he's doing now, I started hating his job when it meant he had to work nights, and then more when he had to work 6 days a week, and if possible, even more when he had to work 7 days a week.
But they have all this money, so they can treat their workers like crap and they don't give a damn.

So, tonight instead of cuddling with my boyfriend as we would both like to do, I have to settle for a giant frog and The Boss on my stereo.
Of course, The Boss does wonders when you're pissed or sad or whatever. I grew up listening to him, Born in the USA can soothe the most annoying feelings I have, and tonight I need that soothing feeling.

My weekend

I am not a very happy person.
My plan for this weekend was to leaver Thursday night after work to go to my boyfriend's parent's house for the rest of the week and Easter and to return this afternoon in time for me to work. That would mean I took off Friday night and this morning from working at 2 of my jobs.
I called my boyfriend Wed night after getting off work to find out he was going storm chasing with his friend and was coming back on Saturday. I was upset to say the least. So I got to have a few personal days to myself.
Saturday comes, I keep waiting for him to call. I called him once asking what the plan was, and didn't hear back. I called him later in the day to find out he was working on his roommate's deck and that he was planning to leave again that night and go storm chasing again. I hung up on him and threw my phone across the couch. I was so pissed I was shaking.
He called me back and left a voice mail saying it was storm season and he would be doing this, and I knew this , that's the way it always was.
I called him back saying I was more pissed this time because I had been looking forward to this trip and that I took off work for it. I don't make a lot of money, so I can't really afford to take off work, but since it was for a nice trip, I decided I could.
So, I got a couple more personal days to myself. I did have a good cry in the shower that night. Sunday, I went out to brunch with my parents, and I was in a very bad mood. I have a tendency to zone out and be in my own little world when I'm pissed. I was on the verge of tears the whole time. I did go into work, when I found out my plans had been cancelled, I called the library and asked if they still needed people for Sunday (even though it's closed, people still come in to take care of items coming in and other things that need to be done), so I did get to work for 3 hours and that helped me take my mind off things.
Today, I moped in bed until about 11AM, then I hung out with a friend until I had to be at work at 5.
I'm still on the verge of tears, I'm still really pissed. I've tried listening to music, eating comfort foods and hanging out with other people, but I'm still pissed. Tomorrow, if it's not raining, I'm planning to go for a walk. If that doesn't help my mood, I don't know what will.

I hope everyone had a better Easter than I did.

Pizza Dip

Saturday, I went to a Trivia Night with my dad's side of the family and my dad said to bring along snacks to share. I've been toying with the idea of trying this recipe I found in a December 2009 issue of Family Circle, so I decided it was the perfect time to try it.
It has pepperoni, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, cream cheese and mayonnaise. Basically, all I had to do was mix it up and throw it in the oven. Here's what it looked like before I baked it:
And here is the picture of it on the table ready to be eaten. Sorry about the poor quality, but my aunt was itching to try it out, as she had smelled it the whole 20 minute drive to the trivia place.

Everyone said it was really good and I had to post the recipe on Facebook. It makes me want to make more recipes.

Anyways, here it is for you all to try:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup light mayo

1 cup moz cheese

8 oz sliced pepperoni, chopped

10 large black olives, chopped

2 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped

4 crusty Italian loaves cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients except bread in a medium bowl. Spoon into a 6-cup baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly brown and bubbly.

Serve with bread for dipping.

Now, I didn't use light mayo, put in more than 1 cup of moz cheese, only used about 4 oz of pepperoni and got sick of chopping so I ripped them up, I used a 2.25 oz can of sliced olives, and I picked up 2 small tomatoes at the grocery store. I also think I could have baked it a little longer, I just mis judged the time it would take to bake and what time we had to be out the door.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Who Wants Free Paper?

I am giving away this giant pile of paper. Go here and here to read the details.

Welcome Spring!

It's the first day of spring and this is what I saw when I woke up this morning:

SNOW!!! About a couple inches covered everything, the sidewalks were icy on my way to work. Thankfully, by the time I got off work, most of it had melted away. Now there's just a tiny bit to remind us all, you never know what Iowa weather will bring

Long busy week

This week has been crazy busy so far, and it's looking to be busy for the rest of it and into Sunday.
It's spring break for the college kids and below. I honestly thought everyone got a spring break week, but as I was hanging out with Kevin yesterday, he said they got a couple days around Easter, but never a whole week. People have been saying at the library how it's so nice and quiet with the college kids gone. Anyways, Monday, I worked at the library like usual, got done around 1PM, found out I had two movies waiting for me to check out: the 2nd Transformers and Star Trek, so I checked those out and popped the Transformers movie in when I got home, had to stop it to go get my hair cut. I got 8 inches cut off. I'll see about getting a picture taken so you all can see before and after shots. Started off in the movie where I left off when I got back home, had to go to work, and watched the rest of the movie when I got home again. I really don't like watching movies in segments, so I'm trying to find some time to watch it in full, but I know it's going to have to be soon, as I'm sure someone else is waiting down the list for it and I won't be able to renew it.
Tuesday: went to work at the library, when I got done, I found a text from Karli, asking if I wanted to go to lunch. We went to Pizza Ranch and then to Kmart and Earl May afterwards. Got back home about 3 and worked on my one world one heart art piece until I had to go to work, head over here to see it. Went to work and came home.
Wednesday: Kevin showed up about 3AM, I woke up kinda early and did my laundry, also scanned some ATCs (artist trading cards) for my collageatcs Yahoo group. Kevin got up about 1pm, and we went to a restaurant with some friends for lunch. Afterwards we went to Lowe's to get a present for his brother, who's birthday was yesterday. Then we went to the mall to get my ring fixed, the sapphire was a little loose. Finally we had just enough time to go get a DQ blizzard and drop me off at work. Work was pretty busy, then I went home to bed.
Today, I found out I won Susan's giveaway on her blog. I have to open the shop at 9:30 this morning and afterwards get to go on a picnic lunch and play with my friend, Loretta's puppies. Then we're going to go to PetSmart, after that I'm not really sure.
Tomorrow, I have to open the store again, and then sometime in the afternoon, my dad needs some help with computer stuff. There's also supposed to be a storm bringing rain and snow Friday night into Saturday morning. I read in my daily weather email that it's looking like 3 to 5 inches of snow.
Saturday, I have to open the store again and then I have the rest of the day free. Somewhere between Fri and Sat I need to work on some Trivial Pursuit ATCs for another Yahoo! group I'm in. I was thinking they were due in the middle of April, but was kindly reminded the other day, that they're due on the 1st, OOPS! I also need to finish up my one world one heart art piece so I can get it in the mail on Monday, I believe it's almost done, just needs a little more texture.
Sunday, I have to work at Hilton, the NCAA women's tournament is going on Sat through Monday, so I'm working some practice security from 8 to 1, and then a game from 4:30 to 6:30 that night.

I really hope next week slows down a bit.

Hawaii 1-7-10

Great day today. Woke up early to go snorkeling, which was great. Got to see sea turtles and lots of fish.

Came back to ship, had lunch and a nap. Got dressed to go to manor house for a tour and see a lu'au. Got to the manor house, got picture taken, took train ride around compound. Came back had a great supper of chicken, salad, purple sweet potatoes, pork, beef, mahi mahi, and lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon pie. Went shopping in stores. Bought flower earring for $3.70 (I had originally seen earrings like these when we went to Pearl Harbor, but had told myself I didn't need another pair of earrings, and later, decided I did want some like that and had looked at pretty much every shop we went for some I liked), and a frog for $5.21.

Watched the Lu'au. Very cool day.

The lu'au was so cool, it was a bunch of people doing a dance about a guy leaving his girl to go to a new land and hardships that happened inbetween. Ross said not to take any pictures as we weren't supposed to use our flash and they wouldn't come out, but all my pictures turned out rather well, some of them look kinda like they're glowing in the dark. I'm very glad I didn't listen to him.

UGH!!!

I love it how my parents think I have no life. If I'm not working (and they always want to know my schedule) than I'm obviously not doing anything else. I must just be sitting here and doing nothing. My dad got a new computer recently (it was supposed to be a birthday present, his birthday was in Feb, and it finally came on Wed), anyways, Kevin came back and we spent Wed afternoon and Thurs together, but my dad calls on Thurs in the afternoon, and I happened to be in Des Moines and not hear my phone ring. Then he calls last night after I get home from work, and my phone was in the other room and I still didn't hear it ring (I wasn't ignoring him, I really didn't hear it ring), and then called about 10 minutes ago, and was annoyed when I told him I had something else going on this morning. You'd think they would want me to have a life. But, I've noticed my parents tend to have that effect on me, they love saying things that would get me upset. On Wed, when the computer was supposed to be delivered, they wanted to make sure I was downstairs (I live on the 3rd floor of their house), waiting for it, because it would have to be signed for. Granted I was downstairs doing laundry IN THE MORNING, any time after that, they would have been SOL, but since I wasn't working, I obviously had nothing better to do with my time.
Today, I do have an art project I am way overdue in making (it's from the OWOH giveaway on my other blog, that was almost a month ago, and my life got in the way, I've finally started it, go over to that blog to see how far I haven't gotten, it's at the bottom of the post), and I need to do something at the mall, plus I need to go grocery shopping. My parents are only happy that I work part-time, when I can help them with stuff, they'd be so screwed if I worked full-time (which I'd love to do if I knew what I wanted to do).
OK, now that I've ranted and gotten that out of my system, I have stuff to do.

Hawaii 1-6-10

Too much moving around today. When we can feel the boat moving, I feel like I'm drunk. It's weird when the floor moves.

Got up pretty early, had breakfast and went to get in line to get on the boats that would take us to shore. We got in line about 8:50 and finally got ashore about 9:50. It was an experience I'd like to pass on in the futres. Found out later that because the swells were so bad, they stopped letting people off at 10:00. After getting to shore, we went to the seahorse farm tour and found out the glass bottom boat had been cancelled. The sea horse farm was pretty cool. We got to see little baby seahorses, seadragons and even got to hold seahorses.

The best part was seeing the frog fish.

Went back to the dock and decided to eat fish for lunch and go to the local farmer's market. Had shrimp, crab stuffed shrimp and coconut shrimp. Wandered through a very hot farmer's market. Stopped at the Whaler's General Store, found Kevin a Ford truck with a Hawaii surfboard. Also bought a seahorse keychain and poster at the seahorse farm and collected coral at the beach.

Got back on the boat about 3:00, relaxed for the rest of the day.

Hawaii 1-5-10

Nice day today. Got up pretty early to go on Volcano and Rainbow Falls. Saw trees planted by famous people and big Japanese garden. Went to Rainbow Falls, didn't see any rainbows by tgot some nice photos.

Went to a botanical gardens, not very neat, but got some great pictures.

Went to see volcano. I didn't find it very exciting. Bought a postcard and postcard book fo $5.50. Walked through lava tube, that was the coolest. Went to Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory. Bought milk chocolate Toffee macadamias for myself for $3.95. Bought Macadamia nut white chocolate flavored chip cookies and dry roasted macadamia nuts for Kevin for $4.17. Had vanilla macadamia nut ice cream, not that exciting. Got back on bus. Got to wear one of my new dreses and new shrug today, I thought I looked pretty good thought they made me look bigger (that could have partly been because I had a bikini underneath and the ties on the bottom made the dress fan out a little). We went tot see the lava flow, also not that exciting.

Hawaii 1-4-10

Nice day today, Woke up late at 7 this morning. Mom and Dad were already out. Went to the Aloha for breakfast, had tomato with cheese, cottage cheese, pastries, waffle and milk. Went back to room to found out Atlantis submarine excursion was cancelled (we were supposed to go down in this submarine and look at stuff on the ocean floor and underwater) due to wind. We decided to go on Lahaina On your Own tour instead. Got on bus at 9:30, reached Lahaina about 10:20 (I saw a whale jump out of the water and flip over on the bus ride there, it was pretty cool). Was greeted at Hilo Hattie's store and received shell lei. Bought very cute dress on sale for $9.99 instead of $34.99 and beautiful postcard of Olowalu for $.25, total was $10.67. Walked to Hard Rock Cafe and bought Hawaii pin for $5.21. Wandered on to another shop where Sharon bought me a nice crocheted shrug and some more cute postcards (I have found on my vacations, some of the cheapest and best souveneirs are postcards). Went to oldest banyon tree and decided to split up for lunch. We saw this cool shipwreck on our way to the banyon tree.
Mom and I went to Pacific'O where we had fish . Went to Whaler's General Store and bought underwater camera, water, and dolphin pin for Karli. Wandered past beach and saw crabs. Went to a couple (3) local galleries. Bought 3 postcards of banyon tree for $1.88. Went to get gelato, got a bunch of tastes before finally deciding on mango and passion fruit lolikoi. Went back to ship and found these towel creatures on our beds.

Dad and Ross, who don't like just wandering around, didn't enjoy the day as much as Mom and I did, I think it was a nice substitution for our submarine dive. It was better than sitting on the ship and doing nothing all day.

Hawaii 1-3-10

Well, I have no pictures from the 3rd of January, most likely because it wasn't that great of a day, so I'll post January 4th right after so you can enjoy a picture.
Not very exciting today. We didn't have anything until 3:45PM today. So we got up, ate breakfast, went to sun on the deck, planned to go to a movie at noon, but at 12:30, the movie still hadn't started, so we left to have lunch. After lunch, we went back to sunning on the deck. At about 3:30, we left the boat to go get on a bus for our sunset cruise and whale watch.. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the boat dock and boarded. Unfortunately, it was very rough and windy and everyone except Ross got sick. I was only nauseated. So, none of us ate the included dinner. I did see some whales, but mostly I sat with my eyes closed at the back of the boat. After arriving back at the cruise ship, Don, Ross and I had supper. Then we watched TV before heading to bed.

I love my house

I was reading this blog today, and I left a somewhat long comment on this post saying how she will definitely get through restoring and fixing her house.
I kind of know. My parents bought our house in 1987 when I was 3 years old, and it was in need of restoring. A picture on the wall of their dining room shows it shortly after the purchase. It is a 3-story Victorian built sometime in the 1890's, when my parents purchased it, it had a regular front porch covered in vines and was white, and very noticeable that it needed some love. It was rented out by the room back then, I remember moving some furniture in through a door in the corner of the house that is not there anymore, I remember when we took out a wall and found our oval window in a closet (of the room my brother wanted because of the oval window), I remember when we took down another wall and found stairs leading up to the 2nd floor (from there they did continue up to the 3rd floor). What I don't remember is the state of the inside of the house and the horrible tenants my parents had to deal with until their leases were up, or the countless hours we all spent restoring the house. I have seen a picture of my mother and brother working and me holding a box of graham crackers.
Now, I believe our house is as done as it's going to be, it's got a wrap-around porch like it used to, it's got original paint colors, we have beautiful wood floors, all of them varnished, we have a gorgeous fireplace surrounded by tile and a beautiful wooden mantle, we have built-in shelves, we have a marble sink on the second floor with a claw-foot bathtub in the same bathroom.
As I was typing my comment to Paula, I thought I should go around and take pictures of my house, so everyone could enjoy it, I'll work on that this week. I'm pretty sure you'll like, I do (but I'm bias).

It's coming!

Spring that is. Yesterday, I heard birds singing, and as I walked home from work (after the sun had been shining for 2 days), I actually saw grass poking out. YAY!!!!

My dad said the weather people said we had gotten 70+ inches of snow this winter, and the snow from our first big snowstorm in Dec, when we got over a foot, is still hanging out. I am so ready to get rid of it all. BUT, it needs to melt slowly or we are going to have some major flooding this summer, and considering Iowa had a bit of flooding a few years ago, no one wants more, some cities haven't even fully recovered from that flood.

I'm pretty sure everyone's ready for more sunshine and warmer weather, which I've heard we're getting next week.



Anyways, I was thinking about my birthday the other day (because my friend Karli's is next Sunday and she was planning a get-together). I was thinking it'd be fun to do something extra special for my birthday this year. Of course, it's not like it's a big birthday, I'm turning 27, but still. I haven't really done anything big in the past few years. A couple years ago, Kevin, Karli and I went out to the ledges for a nice afternoon in the water and some food. I don't think I did that much last year, Kevin did come over and give me this nice computer. We were going to go to the Good Guys Car show that weekend (my birthday is July 2nd, and they always come to Des Moines the weekend around the 4th), but he had the whole weekend off, so I said we should go to his parents house, cause he doesn't get to see his family that much when he's working.

Anyways, anyone got any suggestions for something fun I should do? I don't know how many of you know much about attractions in Iowa, so generalizations will be fine. I do have some time to think about it.

Hawaii 1-2-10

Pretty slow day today. Slept in until 8:00, went to IHOP for breakfast of french toast. Walked around a bit, I wanted to go to this gelato place I had seen a day or so ago, but when we finally found it, there was a sign in the window saying it was closed for business. Went back to the hotel and finished packing, then went to Duke's for lunch. Ate cold nachos (not very good), checked out of hotel and went to Na'uana Pali Lookout:
Left there about 2:00PM, drove to the boat dock. Got on the boat and have been here exploring since. The staterooms are very small. With 4 of us in here, it's very cozy. I'm also disappointed in the pools, they're very small, but we also don't plan to be on the boat that much. Tomorrow, we have a whale watch scheduled for 4:30PM, but nothing other than that, so I figure it will be a very relaxing day.

And we danced all night

Big mail day for me today. I received both my prizes from the OWOH giveaways. This nice bear from Kathy and a picture book from Twinkietinydog. Also received my UHU sample of the month, a star box, that I need to decorate, write a review and send them a link to my review.

As I've been sitting here at work, I've decided I really need to clean my house (OK, I always say this, I pick up a few things and call it clean, but this is different). I am a huge packrat (I think most artists are, because we see something and think, oooh, I could use that in something someday), anyways, I think part of the reason I find it so hard to get myself going on my projects (of which I have a ton of this month, is that I have to open my tiny closet (it is tiny, I live on the 3rd floor of a Victorian house built in the late 1900's and my closet is stuck under one of the eaves), drag everything out into my hallway, and trip over everything until I have finished the project I'm working on, and I usually just shove everything back in the closet and shut the door. I am in the process of putting together my supply package for Jules, that she won on my other blog, and I think I can put quite a few things in there (it's the medium flat rate box from Priority mail). I think if I cleared out enough room to actually work in my closet (which isn't that appealing now that it's cold), I might get more inspired to start on stuff. And I sure need to extend the less of a packratness (new word) into the rest of my apartment. I also need to buy less stuff, I have a tendency to buy a lot of material things when I go anywhere (though I didn't buy that many in HI), and if I stoppped buying, not only would I have less stuff, I'd sure have more money.
Now, since all I really have to do this weekend is work tomorrow morning and go grocery shopping, I'm sure going to put in the effort. I have no excuse for not cleaning, though lately, I've been watching one of the seasons of Bones, because I got this wild idea to put hold requests on all the seasons they have at the library and watch them, and since they only check out for a week, I have to watch them quickly. I also need to NOT turn on my computer in the morning, I don't know what I do, but I waste SO much time in front of it. Kinda like now, but I'm at work, that's different. OK, not really, I should really be reading all these books I also checked out of the library. But, I can blame my wasting time on computer in the evenings on the One World One Heart Blog event, I found so many new neat blogs through that, that I added way too many to my blog roll.
I know Kevin totally hates my mess, and I know my parents would love it if I got tidier. I currently have over a week of dishes soaking in my sink now, and of course way too much stuff on my floor.
I really shouldn't keep things I know I'm never going to use, or the completed Greatest Dot-To-Dot books, I mean really, what am I going to do with them now?
I really need to get rid of some of my old college books too, I had this thing where I underlined a LOT when I was in college and I highly doubt anyone wants me books.
I also need to throw away magazines I've read. How much can I really get out of old Glamours? Reader's Digest and Real Simple actually have useful things I can use later in life.
I need to stop picking up the free books at the library and things I may alter in the future, I have so many things that fall in that category, but just pile up in my closet.
I need to learn to get rid of clothes I'm never going to fit into or never going to wear and just keep because someone gave them to me.
Also things I'm never going to use, but keep because someone gave it to me.
I need to get rid of all the old toys from when I was a kid that have a little sentimentality.

Now if I could just stick to that list. Anyone got any ideas about organization and what one should and shouldn't keep?

Hawaii 1/1/2010

I can't believe it's the new year already. I'm a little buzzed from the drink I had with supper, so I hope this still makes sense. I woke up way too many times because of people celebrating. My MP3's batter finally went out around 3AM, so I attempted to plug it in and in my quest found out that the outlet my phone was in didn't work, so I plugged them both into another outlet and got them charged up.
Mom and I caught a bus to the zoo, and the driver wouldn't let us pay, we were all ready with our money out and he wouldn't take it, so that was cool. We got to the zoo too early, so we went out on the pier at Wakiki Beach and watched swimmers in the water. When we went back to the zoo, I found this really cool leaf (which you can't see and now isn't very cool anymore), but it was an oval leaf, probably about 8 inches long with pink and green on it, it was pretty neat. We got to see birds and monkeys and zebras and lots of animals you'd normally see at the zoo, unfortunately they didn't have their lion exhibit open (I always make it a point to visit the zoo and see the lion, or the aquarium when we go on vacation). This monkey below was one of the ones we saw, actually I think it was a lemur, but I really don't know. Anyway, he was just sprawled out in the morning sun like he was tanning, it was so cute.
Mom took a picture of me with a giraffe statue and I think it's pretty cute:

Also, Kevin called me and that got me happier. Ross picked us up around 11 and we went to the Dole plantation where we ate lunch, took a train ride and a garden tour. I didn't find it that impressive, we also ate some pineapple ice cream. That was pretty good. I bought a couple of postcards including one with a train that I sent to Kevin. We then went to the North Shore and watched the waves. We then decided to go back and deal with supper. We wandered down the beach and went to one place where we were suppoes to cook our own food. We all decided against that and went to the restuarant next door. I keep seeing all these people either doing a little cuddling or holding hands and I really wish Kevin was here.

Tomorrow we get on the boat for our cruise.

Whether I stay, whether I go, depends on whatever you say

*NOTE* Pity post for me, don't read if you're already in a bad mood.

I am so sick of snow, I want to go back to Hawaii where it's warm and brightly colored and warm and not snowy.
I hate shoveling snow, it feels like I've been doing it every day for the past week.
My arms hurt, and I'm very sore.
I hate change, I hate the fact that my boyfriend has a job where he works usually 7 days a week, or like now he's on layoff and decides he needs to go home for a month. I've seen him maybe 4 days total in the last month, because there's nothing for him to do here except hang out with me and I guess that's just not fun enough.
I want flowers or candy or even a night out to a nice restaurant and a movie. Instead I get to cuddle with a giant stuffed frog in front of my TV.
I hate growing up, I loved high school: all I had to do was get up and go to school, I didn't have to worry about paying my own bills or making enough money to live.
I hate that I have over $1000 in medical bills to pay right now, which isn't a ton by any standards, but it's more than I can afford.
I hate where my mind wanders too all the time and the fact that it always puts me down when I mess up in any way.
I hate that I suck at making friends and that I don't have any close friends to chat with here in town.
I hate that I'm in a bad mood and don't really have any outlet for it.

One World, One Heart giveaway

Well, it's been a fun few weeks, but the One World, One Heart blog event is now over. There were over 1100 blogs when I visited the site last Monday night and I visited all of them, read all the posts and entered (mostly) all the giveaways, a couple were for things I wouldn't be able to use like a fishing trip in Canada, and some I could quite see the link to add a comment. I had a ton of fun and plan on going back to quite a few of the blogs and reading them again, I have added at least 10 new blogs to my following of blogs and you can see them all on the sidebar, check them out, they are very interesting.
I got an email (post on The Frog Palace) about me winning a very cute bear today, though I didn't go to these blogs to win, it's always fun to win things (and I secretly hope I win more). I also got an email from Twinkietinydog about winning a cute picture book, can't wait to see it. And, I have picked the two winners for my prizes on this blog (The Frog Palace's winners are already posted, hop over there to see who they are), so here they are: the winner of the scarf is FairlyGirly and the winner of the movies is Linda. I will be going to their blogs momentarily and adding a comment telling them they won.

I have had a lot of fun with this and I hope you all have too.

Congratulations to the winners.

Hawaii 12/31/09

I woke up at 3:00AM, 7:00AM Iowa time, found my MP3 player, stuck it in my ears and floated back to sleep until our wake-up call at 5:30AM. I ate the rest of my croissant from the night before and some water for breakfast. We went downstairs and drove to Pearl Harbor. We waited in line for awhile and got some tickets for 11:00AM, that was about 2 hours away, so we drove to the Bishops Museum and walked around there. We saw some historical Hawaii stuff, and some very cool replicas of dinosaurs. Besides the picture below, there were T-Rex, Brontasaurus (will probably butcher the spellings on these), the things with the plates on their backs, velocirapters, and quite a few others that I have no idea what they're called. They all moved when you walked past the motion detector. I also wondered through the lava exhibit.
When we finished there, it was time to go back to Pearl Harbour. We got to watch a short documentary on it, and then got on the boat to go out to the memorial. I was too busy taking it all in to get any pictures, but I know my brother got plenty. We got back on the boat and went through the museum and gift shop, I bought some postcards. We went back to the hotel and decided to walk down to a deli for lunch, I got a vegetarian sandwich and some water. Mom, Dad and I decided to walk to the aquarium and Ross decided to relax by the pool. It was quite a bit longer walk than we thought (or were led on to believe by Ross), but very enjoyable, we walked by Wakiki Beach. At the aquarium we got to see quite a few fish and seahorses, etc. We also got to watch them feed the sharks, that was pretty cool. At the gift shop, I bought a fish magnet, some postcards and some fish stickers. We stopped at the zoo to find out their hours for the next day before we headed back to the hotel.
On our walk back, we passed by a Harley-Davidson shop, so I had to buy a cute pink T-shirt with butterflies on it. I'd noticed how the prices were higher in HI, but the prices at the HD store seemed to be about the same as they would be in Iowa. We also walked by quite a few ABC stores (their convenience stores) and I bought a really cute green tube dress, some scotch tape and deoderant. We also picked up some food items for breakfast the next day.
We decided to go across the stree to IHOP for dinner as Ross was eating with his friend and we didn't really have anything planned. I was really hoping to find some authentic Hawaii food at that point. I fell asleep watching TV.

If you want to see all of my Hawiia photos, go here.

What happened this week?

I feel I've been pretty lax in posting lately, and I really don't have a good reason for not posting, especially with as much time as I seem to be spending in front of my computer.
This week has been pretty busy though, Kevin (my boyfriend) came back on Sunday and we spent quite a bit of time driving around and buying stuff we didn't need. By the time we got back to my house, the Super Bowl had already started and I decided to make hamburgers with the ground beef that desperately needed to be cooked, except I didn't have buns, so we went out again and ended up going to the SuperWalmart and getting food and other stuff we didn't need. By the time we got back and got our nachos (they sounded better than burgers) fixed, the Super Bowl was pretty much over.
Monday, I had to get up and shovel snow and then venture to work, got to eat lunch with Kevin after work and hang out a little before I had to go to another job.
Tuesday, got up and went to work, came home and shoveled snow again. The news people said we got about 10 more inches of snow with that storm that lasted from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon. And we're supposed to get more tomorrow. I'm really getting sick of snow. Went to work again that night.
Wednesday, woke up and pretty much messed around all day on the computer (I'm blaming it on the One World One Heart giveaway, there were over 1100 blogs on that list). And went to work that night. I got woken up about 3 AM to Kevin trying to bury me in frogs (I love frogs), and he spent the rest of the night cuddling with me.
Thursday, got up and did my laundry, Kevin and I went out to breakfast (or lunch for him), came back and had a birthday lunch with my dad. Don't remember what I did with my afternoon before I had to go to work.
Friday (that's today), wasted a ton of time on the computer again, went with dad to the grocery store, and spent more money on stuff I didn't need. Went to work, which is where I am now, and it's not very busy (which is why I can update my blog).
My weekend's not looking THAT eventful, I'm going to my cousin's wedding tomorrow, we might stay over because of the forecast of the winter storm, don't know how that will turn out.
I should really work on art projects tomorrow during the day, I have my Yahoo! group's neon cards due at the end of Feb, a bird collage swap due the middle of March, but I have to mail it to the UK, so I figure I need to be done at least by the 5th, 13 inchies swap for the same group due in March, a puzzle piece swap for that group due in March also, and a trivial pursuit swap due in April, plus my group's Girly cards for March and fabric cards for April. Of course, I can't do my group's stuff until those months as people are still sending me stuff.
I'm also planning to make/alter something for my One World One Heart giveaway on my other blog as I have over 200 comments on there, and I figured I'd do something for every 100 comments I got.

Oh, and Sunday is not looking very exciting either. Kevin's in Colorado at a Storm Chaser's convention until then and he goes back to work on Monday night, so I'm guessing he'll try to stay up on Sunday night to get back in the swing of things. I'm thinking of going downtown and purchasing myself some Valentine candy or something, and then watching movies with my frogs, or working on art that day.

And that is the update in my not-so-exciting life. Maybe I'll have something more exciting next week.

Also, a question for my readers, what's a good horror movie?
I've been drawn to horror movies lately, which I find strange as when I was little they always scared me. I think it's because I used to watch Supernatural and some of the things they showed on that show were pretty creepy. That's used to because when they started to go on about good and evil and God vs the Devil, I became disinterested. Granted they still have the cool car and the good looking guys (pretty much the reason I started watching it), but I don't know how I feel about that stuff and I'd rather figure it out before I start watching shows/movies about it. Plus, I work Thursday nights (when it's on), and I close the store at 8, which doesn't get me home until about 8:30, by that time, it's half over with.
Some movies I have already watched are: The Orphan, Case 39, The Omen, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Skeleton Key, The Last Winter, The Ring, I know there's more, but I can't remember them now. Any really good ones that will really scare me?

Hawaii, Day 1, 12-30-09

I got up at 2AM, crawling back into bed until 2:15, packed the few things I had left to pack and made sure things were unplugged. Mom made sure we all packed boots and a heavy coat in the car, so if we had any probelms on our way back we'd be ready. We left home about 3:30 arriving at the airport fhortly after 4. We had to ride in a tiny pnae, but got to be in first class, which pretty much consisted of extra drinks.
We got to Chicago about 7:30 and waited until 11:30 before leaving again, we were supposed to leave at 10. There were problems getting the plane in. I got sit in business class with Ross and his friend. It was soo cool:
The seats could recline into a bed, we had blankets and pillows. There were little TVs where we could watch movies, TV, play games, listen to audio books and music. We also got lots of extra food: warmed nuts in a little ceramic bowl and drinks in real glasses. For lunch we got some kind of salad with some kind of really good cut of beef, so tender and spicy walnuts with rolls and a warm chocolate chip cookie for dessert. We got real cloth napkins and warm towels. Later we got grapes, pineapple, honeydew melon, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese and crackers. I watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Orphan, and Case 39 and most of Up! I really hope we get business class on the way back. For some reason, my phone wouldn't turn on after we got off, and we haven't been able to figure out why. We finally got in to Hawaii about 5, Iowa time. It was about a 9 hour flight. We found our rental car and drove to the hotel. After somewhat unpacking, we wandered around looking for food. Unfortunately, we ran into too pricey, dark, and too long of a wait. Finally we stopped at a food court.
After eating, we went back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.

Double post

Here's a question for all the people in the US that sell stuff on Etsy: do I have to worry about the income I make from etsy on my taxes? My dad usually helps me with all my tax questions and has said in the past that I don't have to worry about my profit from Etsy, but I was on Etsy today reading this article and it says I have to file a form for my profits on etsy. I know I've made barely over $100 with both of my stores combined, and I sure don't do it full time, so it's not like I'm really investing a lot in it (I know, I should be doing more).

Any comments would (hopefully) be helpful.

UGH

Alright, I'm sorry it's been like a week since I posted, and I honestly have to reason to not post.

Except for yesterday, I was plagued with severe abdominal pains and pretty much spent the whole day at the doctor's today figuring out those are from a 3mm kidney stone. YEAH! So, at the moment, I'm drugged up on Ibprofen, cold and tired.

Let's hope the upcoming days are much better than today, and I hope all my readers are well.

One Heart One World

***EDIT*** Posts for this post have now been closed. I have 156 comments on it, but I only picked from 149 because some people didn't have blogs and some people didn't have active blogs. Without futher ado, the winner for the scarf is #26 which is Fairly Girly and the winner of the movies is #11 which is Linda . Congratulations you two, I will be adding a comment to both of your blogs and please get back to me by the 18th or I will pick another winner for your prize.
Welcome One and All to another snowy, cold and gloomy day in Iowa.
I know that's not somewhere you'd really want to go on a Magic Carpet Ride, so I'm sorry about the weather. But inside it's warm, somewhat bright and I have Chai. Plus, you can always cuddle with my guinea pig and that always cheers me up.
As you can probably tell, I'm participating in the One Heart, One World International Blog Event, and I hope you all are having a wonderful trip.


If you look around my blog, you will notice my interests are very vast. I graduated with a degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice from college about 3 years ago and have yet to really do anything with my degree. At this point in time I have 3 part-time jobs which I love (I just finished a temp job last week, which I also loved). Even though I have those 3 jobs, I still have quite a bit of free time which I spend on my artwork, exploring Etsy and getting reacquainted with leisurely reading.
One of my jobs is working at our local library and it've very hard to work there and not check out books.
I'm still pretty interested in Criminal Justice, I just don't know what I want to do with my degree (or my life), if you look at my blog list, it's mostly a mix of art blogs and cop blogs, and I'm always interested in adding more. I love learning about other people's lives.

OK, now that you've hung on this long, I'll tell you about the give away. If you're participating in the One Heart, One World Blog event, you know already, but for my regulars or anyone just stumbling in here, I'll explain:
In 2007, Lisa Swifka started this event to "bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way." (That was copied from Lisa's website, which you can get to by clicking on the picture at the top, the picture in the sidebar, any one of the OHOW words, or here.

I found out about this from a fellow blogger and artist from my collage group on Yahoo! Thank you Ms Paper Princess. Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of the afternoon and evening flying from one blog to the next.

MY GIVEAWAY
Here in Iowa at this time of year, you need lots of warm clothing, so to help some people out and because it's composed of very bright colors (we all need those right now), I'm giving away this beautiful scarf, that I acquired in October. I already have a scarf and I've been meaning to do something with it, this the perfect something.

THE RULES:

Please leave me a comment in the comment section about anything.
Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you in your comment, whether it's an email address or blog site.
You must comment on THIS POST ONLY to be entered.
ONLY one comment per person
ONLY bloggers can win, since this is a blog event. You must have an active blog.
This runs from now (6:46 AM Jan 26th) through midnight February 15th (that's 12:00 AM).

I will use a random number generator to find a winner.
Once I pick a winner, I will mention it on this blog and contact you privately.
The winner must get back to me by noon (12:00 PM) February 18th, if I have not heard from them by then, I will pick a new winner.

***EDIT*** Now that I have over 100 comments, I'm giving something else away. It will be two gently used movies: Universal Soldier: The Return and The Grudge. For everyone who wants to enter my giveaway, but doesn't want a scarf, or for the people that like action movies or horro movies, or Jean Claude Van Damme or Sarah Michelle Gellar, or for people that want to pass it on to their SO's that would like it, or whatever.
I believe I'm close to 200 comments, I will be adding another giveaway if I am, every 100 comments I get, I will add another giveaway, granted I have no idea what I will be adding, but I'll let you know.

Also, check out my art blog for another give away.

I hope you all are enjoying your ride, I hope our cold weather hasn't frozen you too much, maybe you're next stop will be somewhere warm.

Thanks for stopping by,

WW

Hey hey here we go

I meant to do this earlier, but I really haven't had time, so here's the 2009 end of the year meme:

1. Will you be looking for a new job? Not new, but maybe another one.
2. Will you be looking for a new relationship? Of course not.
3. New house? Would love to get out of this one, but don't know.
4. What will you do differently in 2010? Work more, since I have more jobs, other than that I don't know, I'm trying to eat healthier, but that's been an ongoing thing.
5. New Year's resolution? I don't make resolutions.
6. What will you NOT being doing in 2010? Won't be going to Okoboji most likely, other than that, don't know.
7. Any trips planned? Not at the moment.
8. Wedding plans? Not for me, but my cousin's getting married in Feb.
9. Major think on your calendar? Don't have anything really big.
10. What can't you wait for? Warmer weather, and more color, I'm so sick of white and gray.
11. What would you like to see happen differently? I've got some things in mind, but not going to share.
12. What about yourself will you be changing? Still working on eating better, hoping to get back on my walking plan.
13. What happened in 2009 that you didn't think would ever happen? Went to HI, ok technically that was more in 2010, than 2009, got a job I've been wanting for awhile.
14. Will you be nicer to people you care about? Maybe.
15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 2009? Feeling more girly, so maybe.
16. WIll you better your relationship with your family? Maybe.
17. Will you do charity work? Probably not.
18. Will you go to bars? Maybe.
19. Will you be nice to people you don't know? Maybe.
20. Do you expect 2010 to be a good year for you? I hope so.

And I have a question for you all: What do you get a guy for Valentine's Day, other than the obvious?

Pics & a weird commercial

I've uploaded my pics from Hawaii to Picasa, go here to see them. It keeps popping up with a message about stack overflow or something like that, I thought it meant I had too many pics, but I deleted some, and it keeps doing that. So, if you get that message, just click ok until it goes away, if anyone knows the secret to get it to stop doing that, I would love to know how.

Also, I was watching TV last night and saw this commercial. A guy wakes up to a not so pretty overweight snoring girl, he looks over at the nightstand and sees a bottle of alcohol with a glass next to it. The voiceover says something about how people can forget a one-night stand as the guy slips out of bed, grabbing his clothes and wandering downstairs. Then he sees a wedding picture of him and the chick, and the voiceover says something like unless its every night of your life. Then it flashes to a black screen with a site name with an O, the o being a gold ring falling over and underneath it says life is short. Have an affair. I'm curious what's on the site, but I don't want anything like that on my history. But, who advertises for someone to be unfaithful in their marriage on TV? I thought that was the weirdest thing.

randomness

I've noticed lately, I'm becoming more girly. I believe it's because of a mix of Kevin telling me I look hot in certain things and me having more confidence in myself.
I have been buying more cute/sexy lingerie, and saying I'm buying it for Kevin, but I feel so hot and in a great mood when I wear it. I was JCPenney's yesterday and picked up a cute baby doll/thong sleepwear set. Kevin at the moment is at his parents home, but I told myself it was an extension of his birthday gift. I tried it on last night, and it put me in a really good mood, I looked pretty damn good in it too.
Also, while I was in HI, I kept saying how certain dresses and skirts I saw in store windows were really cute. I even bought myself a couple, and I really like how I look in them. I feel really girly.
And today, I think this is a huge step, I bought myself this wallet. OK, this isn't just one I can stick in my back pocket, this is one that I have to carry in a purse.
My wallet that I carry in my pants pocket, is way too big, now that I re-stuffed it with all my essentials after getting back from vacation. It's way too packed full, and kinda makes my butt go numb when I sit on it. Not a nice combination. I have been eyeing this wallet on Etsy for awhile now, and considered it when I bought the one I have now. I told myself when I had the money I'd get it. Well, when I had the money I kept telling myself I didn't want to be dependant on a purse. I still don't, but with all the extra stuff I carry around (sunglasses on sunny days, my calendar, my checkbook, and at times my camera), it's way too much to shove in my pants and coat pockets.
I also got a pretty cute bag from Glamour when I renewed my magazine subscription with them, only problem: it's got one huge pocket and no closure. I'm looking into sewing (obviously not professionally) a zipper into it, I figure, as long as I put a black zipper in with black thread, it shouldn't look too bad. I had bags with no closure.

I've watched a few good movies lately. My parents got me G-Force for Christmas, the real reason I wanted it, was because it had guinea pigs in it. I finally watched it the other day (sometime last week), and I really liked it. Sure some of the scenes where the government is chasing in their SUVs guinea pigs in guinea pig balls aren't really realistic, but how realistic do you think you're going to get with talking guinea pigs as government agents?
I also watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that's also pretty good. The only thing I really didn't like, is when Logan is looking at his "claws" in the mirror at the old couple's house, they look really fake. You can very well tell in that scene that they're CGI'ed in. I loved the story line and the new mutants they introduced. It was also nice that Logan's loss of memory was explained, though it was hard accepting him having a normal life and a woman he loved.
I watched Monsters Vs Aliens as well, that one wasn't as good. It was still good, but with all the previews, you knew what was going to happen for about half the movie.

Where have I been?

Alright kids, I'm sorry I've been so lax in posting lately. Here's what's been happening since I last posted.
12/19/09: was supposed to work graduation for Hilton, instead woke up with stomach pains and felt crappy all day, drank lots of water, stomach pains went away by bedtime.
12/20/09: Worked two basketball games
12/21/09 - 12/24/09: worked and got ready for Christmas.
12/24/09: worked a 2 hr shift at library, went home had a quick Christmas lunch with Kevin and my family, opened my family's Christmas presents, went home with Kevin to his parents house.
12/24/09 - 12/27/09: Was home with Kevin ignoring the rest of my life, had a nice Christmas with his family.
12/28/09: Came back to Ames and worked
12/29/09: Worked at the library in the morning, took care of stuff at post office, went out to lunch with Karli, finished packing for vacation, worked at store.
12/30/09 - 1/12/09: Hawaii vacation.

I will be posting my 'journal' entries about Hawaii very soon. Also will be adding all my pictures with descriptions to my picasa online album and will put up a link here. That might not happen for about a week as I have been working at the bookstore since the 13th and will be there until the 22nd.

Hope everyone had nice and happy holidays

UGH!

It hasn't been a fun week, well, except Sunday, Sunday was fun.
Sunday was my mother's family Christmas, and that was fun, with the food, the family, and the activities.

Monday I check my voicemail after work and find out my dad's in the hospital with kidney stones, and of course it's crappy weather outside.
Tuesday it's still really cold out and decides to snow while I'm at work, not a lot of snow, but with it being so cold I wasn't going out to shovel.
Wednesday, my dad has surgery to remove kidney stones.
Thursday I got to scrape the 1+ inches of packed snow off the driveway for 2 hours, that wasn't fun.
Friday, I don't really remember Friday except that the store had a really good day.
Saturday I was woken up early with abdominal pains, so painful I couldn't go to work and had to try and find a sub, but it being the Sat before Christmas, everyone who wasn't already working was busy. So, today I get to see what that does to me. I had pretty severe abdominal pains until about 3:30 pm, they'd come for a few minutes and be so painful, I'd double over and then they'd go away. Since kidney stones were on all our minds I was drinking lots of water and peeing a lot. Around 3:30, dad and I went grocery shopping because I needed food, and the pain was not going to get in the way of that. Then mom and I went to the mall to find a present for dad. I didn't really have any pain until maybe after 6pm, but it was very tiny, and I try not to make my parents worry, so I didn't mention it.
Had a few small pains for the rest of the night and then went to bed. Woke up at 2AM with a severe pain, went the bathroom and did some not so nice stuff, went back to bed at 2:30 and haven't been in pain since, though I did do some more not so nice stuff in the bathroom this morning.
I'm thinking it was food poisoning, because I had a frozen dinner of salmon on Fri before heading to work, and the salmon didn't cook all the way through, but I was impatient and ate it anyway. I was thinking it was kidney problems before this morning. Personally, I have no idea, but I have decided I will be going to work today. I missed out on 4.5 hrs pay yesterday and had no one to fill in for me, that's not happening today.

Hopefully, this next week will be tons better. It's gonna be Christmas, it has to be better.

We're shovelin' shovelin' shovelin' all day long

Ya know, I used to love snow as a kid, but now that I have to shovel it, it's not nearly as much fun, not even today where pretty much all the city is getting a snow day. Of course, the reason they're getting that snow day is the blowing snow, the fact that it's +8 (without windchill) and the fact that we got somewhere around 11 inches of snow. That, is not fun conditions to be digging out of the 11 inches of snow. It took us (mom, dad, me and Kevin) about 2 hours to get all the sidewalks shoveled, the porch cleared off and the driveway cleared off. Kevin was using the snowblower on the driveway while dad and I shoveled the sidewalks. Right about when we were done with city sidewalks and going up to clear off the porch mom came out and said she would do the porch. After dad and I did all the heavy lifting, but of course that's what mom does.
Afterwards, Kevin and I went out to look for some food. We found that the bank, Fareway, McDonald's, Walmart, the Chinese Buffet, HyVee and Village Inn were open. Everything else we passed was closed. We didn't go to the west part of town, so I don't know what was open over there. It was so weird to be driving around in the middle of the day and there were at most 20 cars on the roads, though there were quite a few people out walking around, mostly college students.
Tonight the low is -14 and tomorrow the high is 10. I hate winter in Iowa, but like someone told me yesterday, you deal with it or move. I choose to deal and complain when we get stuff like this.

Hello Winter

It is officially winter, not technically, but I think it is. We had our first snow (OK, not first, but first that stayed on the ground), and temperatures below freezing, and (I heard) plenty of accidents from the snow.
I also just finished shoveling (more like moving) the snow off the driveway.
I was thinking as I finished shoveling, I like this weather. OK, not the snow turning to slush and then ice on the streets, but the temperatures in between 21 and 34 degrees F, when it's calm outside, its beautiful. Don't let anyone know, but I love how I get all hot and sweaty shoveling, and then I'm not cold when I get done.