Apple Seed's

Re-evaluation of my goals for January.

2010-01-04T14:22:00.001-08:00

First of all! Today I got the clear to walk freely on my foot and take a shower without a stupid plastic bag wrapped and tied around my leg/foot. It felt really strange to be walking on my heel, I havent walked on it since before I had the surgery! Secondly, I've noticed that me not being able to move around as effectively as I would generally like, puts a dent in my plans of losing a lb a week. I don't do well with not being able to eat, or just eating...lettuce. SO! I think I'm going to have to wait a week or so on that one. However, I've been doing well with everything else, so far (I know, it's only day 4.) and have been drinking a lot more water (big grin). For the record, I want what is in the picture.

Well, I might test my luck and go to the gym to do some non-cardio type workout. They have this 22 minute circuit I can do, and doesn't require much pressure on my heel - ya know? My gym is also having a promotion this month, where you can bring a friend in on Wednesdays for free (usually $15). I'm going to have to drag someone to take a class with me. Bwahahah.

This week my goal is to start heading to bed at a decent time, and waking up for 5:30. I have big plans that are sure to fall through! I want to start going to the gym in the morning, apparently you're more likely to do it in the morning and have more energy throughout the day. Who couldn't use more energy?

My schedule would start to look a bit like this on most days:

0530 - Wake & Small breakfast
0600 - Gym. (Spinning/Total Body Condition classes/cardio)
0700 - Shower
0800 - Class till 1:00
1300 - Lunch and feed rabbits/cats
1530 - Work till 8:00
2000- Justins till 2200
2200(ish) - Bed.

I would love to wake up later, but I'd really want to go to the spinning class.

New Year Resolutions

2009-12-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne

Thinking of my resolutions for 2010. Knowing my inability to stay true to long term commitments, I'm wondering if I should stick to monthly goals. Which, then again...I couldn't do monthly either. How about weekly? Oh goodness, this is truly sad!

Anyway, here's some of the resolutions I've thought of so far:

Lose at least 3 lbs. a month
Go to the gym at least 5x a week. (Which means I will have to head to the gym BRIGHT and EARLY some mornings - 5:30-6:00.)
Finish paying off some bills and eliminate some credit cards ;)
Get an A in my last semester of nursing school (graduate in May! Woo!)
Memorize lab values.
Maintain a clean and organized room.
Stop swearing (ah, my dirty mouth.

Here are some goals for January:

No purchasing items that aren't necessary (clothes, shoes, smelly stuff, take-out, soda, books, papergoods/pens, bags, etc.)
No drinking beverages with empty calories.
Lose a lb. a week.
After foot is all fixed: Gym at least 5 times a week.

Given, some of them are listed twice. BUT I NEED TO FIT IN MY PANTS AGAIN!!! CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN MURDER! *sniff*

Whatchya Reading Monday

2009-12-28T15:29:00.001-08:00

I started reading Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I have to tell you, I haven't had much time to read it. However, what I've read to far is wicked-awesome-fabulous-captivating-spectacular. You're probably asking "well why aren't you reading it now then?", it's because I forgot it at home and I am currently elsewhere. Darn. I can't wait to finish it and pick up the next book from the library.

I have Leviathan by Scott Westerfield up next to be read. I need to read quick before the semester starts back up again!

Ew, it's snowing.

2009-12-20T19:16:00.001-08:00

Yes. Snow. Actually this picture was from the first snowfall that we had about a week ago. Today we had about a foot+ of snow. It's no good. Especially since I had that surgery on Thursday, which by the way I had no idea I was going on crutches. It was simple procedure (plantar wart removal) and didn't think you would need crutches - not to mention I wasn't told I was going to be on crutches till January. Well...I've been noncompliant anyway. Carefully noncompliant, I avoid putting pressure on my heel and just toe walk. The crutches were killing me, I didn't understand how I used them for so long when I was younger.

Seeing with this cold weather and my overall miserable state - I needed soup! So I made myself a giant pot of matzo ball soup. Yum!

Baking Palooza!

2009-12-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

Baking palooza! Ok, so this is what I've been doing the past few days. Along with the help of my mother we have pumped out over 28 dozen of cookies, 6 breads, one apple crisp, 2 dozen chocolate covered pretzels, and 2 dozen chocolate covered peppermint sticks. Making cookies with one leg isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Top left: Peanut butter temptations

Top middle: Banana nut bread and Apple crisp

Middle left: Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cookies w/ white chocolate chips, and oatmeal date cookies

Middle right: Mexican wedding cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate covered peppermint sticks

Bottom left: Chocolate covered pretzels

Bottom right: A cookie tray with some peanut butter blossoms.

Now it's time to assemble the cookie baskets so we can hand them out!

In my Mailbox

2009-12-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

Yessss! I bought more books. Okay, so some of them were from a gift certificate I received as early Christmas present. So I picked up 3 new books. I adore Amazon.com.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Cameron Smith, 16, is slumming through high school, overshadowed by a sister “pre-majoring in perfection,” while working (ineptly) at the Buddha Burger. Then something happens to make him the focus of his family's attention: he contracts mad cow disease. What takes place after he is hospitalized is either that a gorgeous angel persuades him to search for a cure that will also save the world, or that he has a vivid hallucination brought on by the disease. Either way, what readers have is an absurdist comedy in which Cameron, Gonzo (a neurotic dwarf) and Balder (a Norse god cursed to appear as a yard gnome) go on a quixotic road trip during which they learn about string theory, wormholes and true love en route to Disney World. Bray's surreal humor may surprise fans of her historical fantasies about Gemma Doyle, as she trains her satirical eye on modern education, American materialism and religious cults (the smoothie-drinking members of the Church of Everlasting Satisfaction and Snack 'N' Bowl). Offer this to fans of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy seeking more inspired lunacy.

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future - between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future - between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Cute and Functional!

2009-12-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

I Like:

Torino™

This is my Christmas present. It's a mix of 50% dominatrix and 50% lumberjack, 100% cute. I can't wait to get them :) I have a pair of Columbia boots I bought a couple of years ago. My Columbia's failed me during a snow tubing trip where my feet turned into the color of paper and the tips of my toes had a blue hue, not to mention my feet were wet. So, I've been on the hunt for a good pair of boots that are waterproof, warm, and ties so tight that snow would NEVER get in them. I found them! Let's hope they live up to my expectations. ^_^

Dear Target

2009-12-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Target,

Let me just say that I was skeptical when I saw Egg Nog yogurt. First, I thought the fat content must be outrageous - it's fat free. Second, I thought it must have ridiculous amounts of calories and sugar - 90 calories and only 10 g of sugar. With these numbers I had to give it a try, Archer Farms has never done me wrong in the past (Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese and vidalia sweet onion kettle chips...yumm!). I have to say that I wish this yogurt was available all year round. It's not only yummy, but it's super creamy too. To boot, it also has a cover :)

Thank you Target, this is another reason why I'm always in your store.

Love,

Crazy Target Shopper.

Ok I was bad again.

2009-12-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

I bought more books. *head down* I'm ashamed of myself. I was excited though, I got them all on sale! I'm now able to read whenever I wish, because the semester is officially over today! Woo! I also landed myself a nice fat A. Another reason to be excited! I have soooo many books that I have planned to read over the winter vacation. It'll be interesting to see if I'm able to actually read them all.

Soooo here what my Amazon.com shopping cart looked like:

Worldweavers: Gift of the Unmage by Alma Alexander

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Girl in the Area by Lise Haines

Eight Grade Bites by Heather brewer

AND A RESERVE FOR THE THIRD HUNGER GAMES BOOK!

I suck.

2009-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

For the record, I completely blew my goal for December. I bought books AND I drank some Coke. For the record, I didn't go completely overboard with the Coke either, just had half of a kids cup. Try try again? I think that I should add chocolate to my list of things to cut back on as well. Oh and Bagel-fuls. I LOVE those things, perhaps a bit too much. They aren't really all that bad for you, but the carbs are probably outrageous.

Google Chrome is out for Mac now, hooray! I'm using it now. I was very excited when I got my email that the beta was out for Mac. They even have adorable themes for it too! I love Google. As a matter of fact I'm getting the HTC Google-goodness phone soon. :D

Yaayyyy!!

2009-12-01T15:35:00.001-08:00

This needed to be done. I was much to excited about my Amazon book arrival to even straighten out the picture. :)

Detoxing

2009-12-01T13:38:00.001-08:00

Currently...this is me. I decided that for the month of December I was going to go without my Coke. I'm dying. It's awful. I don't know how long I'll be able to do this. Sadly, it's only the first day. *sigh* I miss the cold burn as you take that first sip. School is crazy and I could REALLY use it right now. I have a 1/2 hour presentation on cultural competence and death and dying to start (due Monday), a test that is VERY cumulative (from 2007) on Friday, another test on Thursday (1oth), and a paper due Friday. I NEED MY CAFFEINEEE!!! I'm also not going to be purchasing anything in the month of December (like books, magazines, bad food, smelly stuff, clothes, basically anything I don't really need). We will see how this goes too. I'm thinking that it might not go well...I'm thinking that I'll have to convince Justin into buying my Planet Smoothie fix.

I'm going to go have my $1 iced tea now.

In My Mailbox: Week of 11/22

2009-11-29T06:29:00.000-08:00

I have a tendency to be a book collector. Sad but true. Sometimes, *gasp* they don't even get read. I buy them with great intentions of reading it...but school tends to get in the way of that. Psh, nursing school and their unrelenting reading list. I'm going to start doing a weekly update of books that I have purchased, borrowed from the library, or lucky me gotten for free. If I'm lucky enough to see a movie or rent one from Redbox, I'll include that too!

Week of 11/22-11/28

Bought and Haven't Read Yet:

Vampire Academy Collection (Books 1-3) by Richelle Mead (Borders)

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (Borders)

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (Borders)

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Bought and Read:

Deadly Little Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz (Borders) - If I had a rating scale it would be out of 5 stars, anddd I would give this one a three.

Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz (Borders) This one would be 3/5

I also bought some movies on Black Friday: Coraline, Hot Fuzz, and Aliens vs. Monsters. I rented Haunted Airman.

No Kill Book Shelter

2009-11-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

I've been searching to adopt a new book as of late and stumbled upon this wonderful adoption agency this morning. I sent in a request for adoption, lets hope I get it! :)

I have a beautiful old bookcase that now has a fresh coat of tangerine paint on it in my bedroom with a warm and welcome spot waiting for a new book. There are plenty of other books and a old loving rabbit to keep it company, and of course I will be making sure it feels loved and accepted.

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

2009-11-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I completed my 2009 YA Challenge and am signing up for the next one! They've changed the rules a bit this year. Now there are four levels of the challenge:

The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.

Just My Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 25 Young Adult novels.

Stepping It Up YA Reading Challenge – Read 50 Young Adult novels.

Super Size Me YA Reading Challenge – Read 75 Young Adult novels.

Most of my books I'll read are already on my GoodReads account on my To-Read bookshelf :) Here are some that I intend to read, not exactly 25 but I'm sure I'll find more!

1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

2. Lament: The Faerie Queens Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

3. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

4. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

6. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

7. Fire by Kristin Cashore

8. Captivate by Carrie Jones

9. Fallen by Lauren Kate

10. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

11. Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

12. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

13. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

14. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

15. Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

2010 Debut Author Challenge

2009-11-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

2010 Debut Author Challenge

Yay for book challenges! Here is what the challenge entails (taken from The Story Siren):

What is the 2010 Debut Author Challenge?

The objective is to read a set number of YA (Young Adult) or MG (Middle Grade) novels from debut authors published this year.* I'm going to challenge everyone to read at least 12 debut novels! I’m hoping to read at least 30! You don’t have to list your choices right away, but if you do feel free to change them throughout the year. I will also be focusing on mostly Young Adult novels.
Anyone can join, you don’t need a blog to participate. If you don’t have a blog you can always share your views by posting a review on Amazon.com/BarnesandNoble.com/GoodReads/Shelfari, or any other bookish site.
The challenge will run from January 1, 2010- December 31, 2010. You can join at anytime!

I will be posting my books I intend to read here, I'm just not sure what I'm going to be reading!

Halloween

2009-11-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ok so I'm late. A month late. Shoot me. :P

I just had to post the pictures from Halloween. I was quite proud of the reactions I received when people looked at my neck. It was fun painting my tires with black acrylics and running over a set of clothes.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-26T12:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I would've loved to make that bigger. Oh well! I suppose I should update, seeing as though I haven't in awhile. School has been insane, but I'm almost through. I graduate May 14, hopefully...I don't know why I'm so negative about it, I haven't failed anything so far! My birthday passed last Saturday. I had tons of fun and spent waaay too much money. I've fallen in love with Vera Bradley's little wallets and clutches, there's so much pockets - I love it, one can never have enough pockets. Oh, my other new obsession is Crabtree & Evelyn's Wisteria and Summer Hill scent. It's good for me because it's light and I can wear it when I'm on clinical (where you're not allowed to wear perfume, I think I'm the only person that still follows that rule.)

My next big buy that I want is a Kindle or the Sony Reader (pink!). I'm actually running out of space to put my books, and I have a hard time giving them up. I also discovered to book blogs that I frequently visit as of late. Of course, these blogs touch upon my favorite genre - YA Fiction. Oh, I get embarrassed just typing it out - but whatever I love it. YA Fiction is my little indulgence, a quick, easy, entertaining read.

Death is an adventure in itself

2009-10-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Well, this is going to be another morbid post.

It all started on Thursday. My clinical group just finished it's telemetry rotation and we were being guided around for a next rotation: PACU (Post-anesthesia Care Unit), Emergency Department, and ICU. I was really dreading going to the ICU. It was where my aunt died.

Here's a little history on that:

My auntie. She was the 'cool' relative, you know? All of my friends called her auntie, or TeeTee (what I had called her when I smaller and counldn't say auntie.) She was my godmother and best friend. In 1995 or 1996 ( I can't quite remember), my aunt moved in when my father had moved out. Auntie became the second parent in the house. She helped raise my sister and I and of course helped out my mother. (My aunt had previously lived with my uncle to help raise my little cousin whose mother wasn't in the picture - at least at that time anyway.) My aunt loved to go shopping with me, if it wasn't for her, I would probably be the biggest tomboy ever. Not that thats a bad thing, but I now have a deep appreciation for heels, mascara, animal print, and shiny things. She also taught me independence, which she was quite big on. She was a DIY freak too, I guess overall a pretty well rounded person. In 2004, my aunt had started with some flank pain. After some tests, it was showing some liver and spleen issues. The doctor scheduled her to have her spleen removed. Before the surgery my aunt made out her advanced directives and a makeshift will. I kept thinking that she was overreacting, that she was just getting her spleen removed. The day of her surgery, my grandmother was with her in the living room, my mother was at work, my sister at school, and I was getting ready to head to school myself. I almost flew out the door, when she goes "Hey! Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Of course I would have, but she was expecting a bigger goodbye than usual, because after she said that...she stated "I might not come back." I kind of just blew this off once again. That night after her surgery, I went to visit her when I had left work around 7:30. My aunt was in the ICU, bed 10. While the surgery was being perform, it was noted that she had advanced cirrhosis of the liver (and no, she wasn't an alcoholic). After my aunt was stabilized she was sent up to the general med-surg floors. I mostly remember this, because this is one of the last places I saw her. I remember how she had such a hard time breathing and the significant ascites, and how often she hit that morphine button. For 3 days my aunt remained on the med-surg floor until she was sent back down to ICU after her condition faltered. During her second ICU stay my mother went in to visit her, and was taken aback by the sight of the ICU staff performing CPR on my aunt. Between 12 and 1 am on Saturday morning, I flew out of my bed straight to my mothers room when I heard the phone ring. I still remember that insanely clear too. Just the look on my mothers face said it all. I basically cried myself to sleep and didn't stop for a long time. My mother wouldn't allow me to go see my aunt when she had to go to the hospital that night to identify her. I really wish she had. All I envision when I step into that ICU is them calling a code on her, and as much as I wish I didn't do that...it's hard not to. My aunt was 45 when she passed away, and it took a week from her surgery date. I always wondered how no one knew the extent of her disease. Why they put her cause of death as heart failure, sure by the end she had total organ shut down, but I guess you could put heart failure as anyones cause of death. A person who was hit by a bus would eventually die due to their heart stopping, no? I don't know.

Enough of that.

My poor mother. Honest to goodness. My mothers father died when she was 11 or 12 years old. She was awoken to her mother screaming for her around 4:30 in the morning. When she left her room she saw her father laying in the hallway, she sat with him while my grandmother called 911, she was the one there when he died of a massive heart attack. She just found out YESTERDAY. 40+ years later, that her father had stopped off for a drink with some cousins and friends that afternoon prior to his death(the Western Hotel for a shot of ginger brandy) and has such a sharp chest pain that he fell out of his chair. The cousins tried to take him to see a Dr. but of course he refused. Anyway, my mother felt crushed by this. Knowing that something could've been done to prevent her fathers death, and that opportunity just flew by. My mother had watched her father and her sister die. Sad.

Ok, no more sad now. JUST FREAKY STUFF.

My uncle was coming over in the morning to finish painting our bathroom walls and vanity. While getting ready to leave the bathroom after brushing my teeth, I heard this deep males voice, but couldn't understand what the person had said. Very mumbly. So I popped out and called for my uncle assuming that he was there already, and no sight of him. I checked outside to see if the landscapers were doing their business, sometimes I can hear them talking. - nope. I then proceeded to check the front, maybe my neighbor was outside - Nope. Ghost? Perhaps my grandfather didn't want my mother to learn that missing piece of the puzzle? You call the shots on this one. All I know, was that I was spooked out of my mind.

I hear from my aunt all the time. (What? Don't make those faces.) Which makes me a happy camper. Actually, when my aunts fiancee finally moved out of the house after she passed, I was alone in the house in the living room, which was directly underneath my aunts bedroom. I was sitting on the couch with the kitties, just taking in the silence, when I heard footsteps upstairs. My aunt had broken her ankle awhile back and kind of acquired a heavy step in the healing process. I sat there chilled, and the cats ran away. At the memorial service for my aunt, there was a picture of her on a table next to the priest. All of a sudden, the picture just flew right over. Not fall over like some pictures do when they're in an old frame. It really just went further than it should've. The priest looked down at the picture and picked it back up to be put on the table and made sure it wouldn't fall again. Five minutes into the priest speaking again, the picture went flying once more - I couldn't help but fall into a fit of laughter ( I think I was the only one.) The priest just left the picture face up on the table this time.

I'm not really sure where else I'm going with this. I think there is a ghost in my house though. Actually my whole household did at one point. Funny.

Halloween

2009-09-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Martha Stewart Halloween is out. Just incase you haven't run out to buy it just yet. You should go do that now, I'll wait here.

You have it now? Good! Turn to pg. 76. I think if I had that dress, I would go as the Gray Lady for Halloween myself. Although it is still quite adorable, the 'Bee Girl' on pg. 50 is from previous year, tsk tsk Martha, you need more new stuff!

Turn to pg. 87, I love her Halloween playlist. I'm a big fan of Monster Mash and of course the Time Warp. :)

Ok, I want to make the ghostly cake on pg 90, the ghost and witch-hat petits fours on pg. 96. I think I just like the little fat ghost theme.

The picture above is from MarthaStewarts.com, I loved the yipyips from Sesame Street when I was younger :)

Thank You Chris Weitz

2009-09-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Weee!! New trailer for New Moon! I don't know if I'm just being overly hopeful...

but the acting seems better in this one? Even the trailer for Twilight had bad

acting - not a good sign. But, this trailer seems more promising to me. Although

I can already see myself laughing at Bella when she's having that overly emotional

display on her bed after Edward leaves her. That scene was the only part that

made me go "oh god, that looks bad", unlike the Twilight trailer where I had my

hands covering my face in shame.

It comes out the day before my birthday. I'm sure I've already mentioned this,

but it needs repeating. What an awesome birthday present. :D

She Looks Awesome

2009-09-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Taken from here.

She really does look mean...

After seeing PUSH, I kind of questioned Dakota Fanning. However, seeing her in the

trailer/stillsfor the upcoming New Moon (little girl squeal) movie, I think she looks

pretty awesome. I really hope she lives up to her appearance! Dakota will be playing

Jane, as sadistic little member of the Volturi who has the ability to make people

crumble in pain by making the person 'believe' that they're in pain. Vampires and their

silly mind tricks ;)

Crazy Ducks

2009-09-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is some footage of crazy duck action. Listen closely for the pit-pattering of the little duck feet, very adorable :)

Justins Birthday

2009-09-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

To start off the birthday festivities, we had breakfast at the Windmill Restaurant in Concord. Very yummy french toast!

After breakfast we made our way up to Laconia, NH to go to FunSpot, the worlds biggest arcade. Justin has been talking about this trip for ooohhh...since the last time we went which was last August. He had tons of fun, and I've found a new love for pinball machines.

After almost 5 hours at Funspot, we stopped at Tiltn Diner in Tilton NH. The food was awesome and plentiful! I was pleasantly surprised. If anyone happens to go down that way, stop there! It's very retro.

Our last day which was Sunday, we stopped at York Zoo in York, ME. This is another place Justin is obsessed with. Not because of the zoo or exhbits as you may have imagined. It's because of this giant section of ducks. He's a big fan of ducks, and this pond is just bumpin' with them. We spent about 2 hours and $6 of quarters worth feeding the little buggers.

November 20th!

2009-09-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

November 20th couldn't come quick enough, honest to goodness. Not just because the 21st is my birthday, but because New Moon comes out that day!!!!! I almost passed out when I saw this new trailer video. I feel like a pedophile, Taylor Launter is only 17 and I'm sitting here close to drooling. I think it's due in part, to the book. I have a deep appreciating for Jacob Black in the series, unlike most of the screaming Edward fans *rolls eyes*. Ok, so I'm still geeking out about this, and I need to stop. BUT I CAN'T HELP IT!!! I'M A 24 YEAR OLD TWILIGHTER!!! I defend the first Twilight movie to my boyfriend even though deep down I thought it sucked (dont tell him this by the way.) If I hadn't read the series and went to see that movie, I'd want my money back. Ok?

Oh Stephenie Meyer...where's your next book?

Crazy birdies in Cranston

2009-08-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Coming home from picking up my FREE giant prickly pear plant, straight from Arizona and hitting up a local yard sale, I braked for these crazy looking birdies. They look like a cross between turkeys/kiwis/pheasant. My mom thinks they're wild turkeys, I disagree.

Any ideas anyone?

School Starts TOMORROW

2009-08-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

Oh this is so lame. For me, summer is officially over 10:00 tomorrow morning. The next 3 months are going to be hellish. I'm going to have to squeeze in lot's of Mr. Lemon in the next few weeks. Not that I haven't been anyway, they have Lime Rickey again which is lime, lemon, and vanilla layered slush goodness. I always call it frozen lemonade, even when it's watermelon and has nothing to do with lemon. I feel a google search coming on for the appropriate name.

I shouldn't probably think that way. Think positive Shalyn! Next Saturday I'm off to New Hampshire for Justin's birthday, so that's good I guess. Hopefully, there will be nice weather and I will be able to squeeze in a beach day.

Morbid.

2009-08-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Don't ask me why I enjoy these things, because I sure as fluff don't know. The text at the bottom was taken from here

143,110 People

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

Natural disasters in 1985

Armero tragedy
Hurricane Gloria
1985 Mendoza earthquake
1985 Mexico City earthquake
Nevado del Ruiz
Tropical Storm Isabel (1985)
United States-Canadian Outbreak

People who died on November 21 (various years)

2006 - Robert Lockwood Jr., American blues guitarist
2006 - Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese Cabinet minister (assassinated)
2005 - Hugh Sidey, American journalist
2005 - Alfred Anderson, last Scottish World War I veteran
2002 - Hadda Brooks, American jazz singer, pianist, and composer
2001 - Melanie Thornton, German/American pop singer, former member of La Bouche.
2001 - Salahuddin of Malaysia, King of Malaysia
2000 - Emil Zátopek, Czech long distance runner
1999 - Quentin Crisp, British writer, raconteur and actor
1996 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate
1995 - Noel Jones, British diplomat
1995 - Peter Grant, British rock manager, actor (Led Zeppelin, Bad Company)
1993 - Bill Bixby, American actor and director
1991 - Sonny Werblin, former owner of the New York Jets
1990 - Dean Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
1988 - Carl Hubbell, American baseball player
1986 - Dar Robinson, American film stuntman
1986 - Jerry Colonna, American comic
1982 - John Hargrave, British Social Credit advocate
1981 - Harry Von Zell, American announcer
1974 - Frank Martin, Swiss composer
1980 - Sara García, Mexican actress.
1974 - John B. Gambling, American radio talk show host
1973 - Thomas Pelly, American politician
1970 - Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Indian physicist and Nobel laureate
1970 - Newsy Lalonde, National Hockey League player
1969 - Mutesa II of Buganda, President of Uganda (1924)
1963 - Robert Stroud (The Birdman of Alcatraz), American prisoner
1959 - Max Baer, American boxer
1958 - Mel Ott, American baseball player
1957 - Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure
1953 - Larry Shields, American jazz clarinetist
1945 - Robert Benchley, American writer and actor
1942 - Leopold Graf Berchtold, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister
1941 - Henrietta Vinton Davis American elocutionist, dramatist, impersonator, public speaker
1924 - Florence Harding, American First Lady
1922 - Ricardo Flores Magón, Mexican anarchist (b. 1874).
1916 - Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria
1899 - Garret Hobart, Vice President of the United States
1881 - Ami Boué, Austrian geologist
1844 - Ivan Krylov, Russian fabulist
1811 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer
1775 - John Hill, British writer
1695 - Henry Purcell, English composer
1652 - Jan Brożek, Polish mathematician, physician, and astronomer
1579 - Thomas Gresham, English merchant and financier
1566 - Annibale Caro, Italian poet
1555 - Georg Agricola, German scientist
1361 - Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (plague)
496 - Pope Gelasius I

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-08-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

I read this book awhile ago, but it was awesome. I truly can't wait for Suzanne Collins second book in the series, Catching Fire.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars I absolutely loved this book. The characters were great and the story just sucked me in. My pre-order for the second book is already in. September 1st cannot come soon enough! View all my reviews >>

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book 1) by Rick Riordan

2009-08-19T11:04:00.001-07:00

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this book mighty quick. I loved the characters, and since I was fond of Greek mythology as a kid, it made reading this book all the better. I can't wait to get the next one! View all my reviews >>

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

2009-08-19T11:02:00.001-07:00

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 3 of 5 stars I had fun reading this book, the characters were very likable. View all my reviews >>

Southwick's Trip

2009-08-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Justin and I took a trip to Southwick's zoo in Mendon, MA.

I loved the porcupines! There were a bunch that were piled on top of each other, just napping the day away. It was pretty cute. The baby giraffe was gorgeous. I must admit though, I feel kind of bad when I go to zoo's. I probably wouldn't go to zoo's if Justin didn't like them so much.

I think I took about a million pictures. Especially of those porcupines. Oh and the giant turtles! They were about the size of a preschooler, it was crazy.

Baking extravaganza

2009-08-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

So about a week ago, I had a crafty baker streak run through me. It was quite the experience, seeing as though I made so little and it took SOOOO long. I made Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pies and Hello Kitty cake pops. The turtle pies were a recreation of the real ones that were released in the early 90's by Hostess during the TMNT craze. I learned how to fry things that day, and how to make pudding from scratch. OH, and that glaze is a pain in my butt. The Hello Kitty pops (courtesy of Bakerella) were another experience. A messy expensive experience, although not as messy as the TMNT pies. My edible pen died, rather quickly...and I was only able to put Hello Kitty faces on a few of the pops.

Fruit Striipppe!

2009-08-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was very excited when I came across this package of Fruit Stripe gum. It brought back some good memories from when I was younger, my aunt used to have this gum all the time. The fact that the gum was sugar free was just gravy. They even had the temporary tattoo's on the wrappers!

Gentlemen

2009-08-05T07:09:00.001-07:00

Gentlemen by Michael Northrop

My rating: 2 of 5 stars I didn't quite enjoy reading this book as much as I thought I would have. I suppose it's because I never really connected with the characters of the book. View all my reviews >>

Foodie

2009-08-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Awesome Foodie Links:

How to Make Pancakes: I always burn the first one.

How to Make the Perfect Omelet: I don't like eggs, but I think this is an important one to know.

Baked Tomatoes: I love summer, mostly because of the tomatoes.

Summer Salads: I was doing some mega searching today for salads, the dressing won me over.

Hello Kitty Cake Pops: Courtesy of Bakerella, cuteness and cake is a combo that never fails.

Woo! My 100th post!

Far out.

2009-08-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs to go 'yearbook' themselves asap. It's actually a lot of fun. Some of the poses weren't very photo friendly (some didn't have a neck, or had crooked faces), but it was very entertaining.

The furballs I live with

2009-08-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Ah, here are my kitties. I felt as if they needed some internet time. Merlin can't seem to sit still and Abbey did a perfect pose ( I think she was sucking in.) the first time around.

Herrreee's Merlin!

Merlin is 8 years old, we found him as a kitten hanging around outside very alone. He's scared of almost everything.

His interests are:

Shiny objects that can be eaten
Tuna
Laying on black clothes
Sitting on scraps of paper
Snuggling when no one is looking
Eating the rabbits hay
Headbutting

And this is Avalon (aka Abbey)

Abbey is also 8 years old. We adopted little Abbey from Burillville animal shelter. When we first adopted Abbey, she was VERY thin. Now she's a tubby mess, but we wouldn't have her any other way.

Her interests are:

Lot's of food
Belly rubs
Meowing at visitors
Naps
Men
Bugs
Squishy bedding

You're a WINNER!

2009-08-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

I WON SOMETHING I WON SOMETHING!!! Here is the email I received this morning.

Congratulations Shalyn!

You are one of our First Reads lucky winners! You will soon receive a
free copy of Outlander (Outlander, #1) in the mail. Please allow a few
weeks for shipping.

Don't forget to add the book to your Goodreads currently-reading
shelf, and we encourage you to post a review to a "first-reads" shelf when you are done reading. Posting a review is optional, but please keep in mind that
reviewing the book is in the spirit of First Reads. Publishers provide
free copies to Goodreads in hopes of getting early feedback about the
book. First Readers who post reviews are also more likely to win free
books in the future!

Thanks for playing!
The Goodreads staff

Needless to say, I was excited. I found goodreads.com by chance about 2 weeks ago. It's quite the awesome site and suggest all book lover to go sign up! If you do belong to goodreads, add me! I would love to talk about book stuff :)

Furry Butts Fursday

2009-07-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a remembrance to bunny's lost, and a loving shout out to the ones that are still with us! We love you and your disapproving looks. Beastie (BWB) I miss your crazy antics and big attitude. Jazmin (not shown) I miss your little princess self, and Paulie was quite lost without you. It is was hard losing both of you, and will both be terribly missed.

Photo Top: Colette (aka Coal)

Photo Middle left: C.C. and Debby

Photo Middle right: Paulie

Bottom: Beastie (aka Lady Buttercup)

The following is from my buddy at Some Bunny's Love

Dear BunFriends,
As you are all aware the rabbit blogosphere was severely saddened by the unfortunate passing of Hans. No one can be sadder than his mom, the highly esteemed Furry Butts. I purpose to fill her aching heart with the all powerful bunny love bomb.
What: Mass surprise for Furry Butts with her favorite thing-photos of FURRY BUNNY BUTTS (big fun for all!)
When: this coming Thursday, July 30th, 2009
What: All participants, (and I understand if you can’t for any reason) post their blog with the title ” Furry Butts Fursday” and have as the photo (s) pictures of your rabbit’s furry butt.
Who: Anyone with a bunny blog or with furry bunny butts photos can participate.

Hello, Cupcake!

2009-07-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

I find it funny that right after my diet post...I make a post about this carby business. Either way, I bought this book at Borders the other day. I'm quite excited to make some adorable corn on the cob cupcakes! Not to mention they recommend buying pre-made frosting for all their projects. WooHoo! I don't have to make frosting!

I'm an Oompa Loompa

2009-07-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Oompa Loompa doompadee doo

I've got another puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa doompadah dee
If you are wise you'll listen to me

Oh boy. With this tonsillectomy business (which I started a special blog just for that - I was bored.) I've lost some weight. When I went into work, I had received a bunch of comments on my weight. All these comments made me thing "Wow, was I that huge?". So...my low self-esteemed self is planning to go on a diet so I don't gain back what I lost. Nothing drastic, I'm looking at the South Beach Diet book. I like how it's low carb, but not REALLY low carb, ya know? I can eat vegetables for instance.

Don't hold your breath, I'm very quick to drop a diet :D

Tonsillectomy Days 5-8

2009-07-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday (Day 5):

Ok, so since it's Wednesday, I don't remember everything blow by blow. So! Sunday I was still feeling gross - still had no crazy pain that I was expecting. I however was drinking a lot more, which is a good thing. Justin and I went out to eat, I ordered french toast and ate TWO WHOLE SLICES! Drenched in maple syrup of course, but I ate it! Oh and I stole Justin's cup of Chicken Orzo soup which felt very nice on my irritated throat. Later on we went to a friends house to watch some movies. We watched Coraline and Push while I fiddled with my ice pack and tried to gnaw on some cheddar ranch pretzels.

Monday (Day 6):

I finally removed myself from my crutch: the ice pack. I was told that I needed to lay off because too much ice can result in inflammation too. Grrr. I was pretty grumpy for awhile, just didn't like having my neck numb - but I got used to it. Justin and I watched the Watchmen in the afternoon. I went out with my friend around 5:30 to go to Mr. Lemon for some slushies, the bead store, and to Chelo's for some supper. Chelo's was an interesting trip. I ordered a soup and a chicken pot pie. I had three bites of the pot pie and had 3/4 of the soup. I took home my blueberry pie dessert that came with the meal. I was hurting after that.

Tuesday (Day 7):

Still had no ice pack! And I'm waking up at my usual times now, and not between 6 and 7. I've even cut down on my medications. However, I did notice some classic signs of thrush. I called my ENT office and they said they couldn't do anything till Thursday. If that travels down to my throat someone is going to PAY. Move forward...I met my friend Appun for lunch at Gourmet Heaven. I'm still not an active person in conversation seeing as though when I told longer than a couple of words I get all gurgley. I ate most of my food, which was a hodge podge of everything that looks easy enough to eat. I wound up watching A Haunting in Connecticut with my sister (a let down). Went to get more slushies at Mr. Lemon with my mother later in the day, I got root beer float this time. I was certainly busy yesterday, because after the slushie trip I went to Borders with Justin, stopped at Office Max, and then Shaw's for some ice cream and a movie rental. Later on, I was awoken by a boyfriend amazed at how fast I fell asleep again. Perhaps I'm not 100% still. hehe. Oh by the way, I finished the rest of my pot pie and attempted to eat a french fry. The french fry got stuck and ripped off a scab on my right side. Hands down, that moment was the worst pain of the week.

Wednesday (Day 8):

I woke up really late today. I guess I woke up around 8:00, didn't move...and then fell back asleep around 8:45 to wake up again at 10:30! Justin and I just moped around the house all day. I made him a tuna melt and some broccoli soup for myself. We watched the movie we rented last night, Knowing (also a let down). I read the rest of my book: Need by Carrie Jones and started reading Gentlemen by Michael Northrop. I forced him to watch Kung Fu Panda again and spent the rest of the afternoon on the internet. Now it's 7:45 and I'm eating some macaroni and cheese, drinking fruit punch, and watching Golden Girls. Shortly, I'll be at Target with my mother and sister. I've only taken ONE Tylenol today. Hooray!

Need by Carrie Jones

2009-07-29T14:26:00.001-07:00

Need by Carrie Jones

My rating: 3 of 5 stars I kind of felt as if it was another repeat Twilight book. However, it was fun to read and had some funny laugh-out-loud type moments. View all my reviews >>

I love downtown

2009-07-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

I really do. The restaurants and the crazy fun bookstores. Parking is atrocious though, which I why I never really go down there. However, spotted this little gem: Shop Downcity.com. Free parking if I shop at certain places, which is no problem because I love Oop! and Symposium Books. Unfortunately I missed restaurant week! I see many more promising events from this website though and look forward to do fun downcity things (without the price of parking).

Days 3 (PM) and 4

2009-07-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, still doing the same as before. For the record, I never drove after the procedure. DON'T DO THAT. Okay, now that that's cleared up...

Friday (Day 3):

6:00 - Justin calls me (he's not here because I asked him to eat at home...to refrain from wanting to throw his food out the window). He says that a couple of our friends wanted to stop by have popsicles and watch a movie.
6:15 - I decide that if I don't get out of the house I might go crazy, so I change the plans up a bit and take a trip to Providence Place Mall.
6:45 - I take a dose of pain meds for the road and refresh my ice pack and off I go!
7:00 - We meet up, I get asked if I know that it's summer and not winter. I move the scarf to show the underlying ice pack. "Oooohhh" I sound like I have foam in my mouth when I talk (which I do.) and therefore have to repeat myself because no one can understand me.
8:45 - Dying of thirst and decide to get a drink. I look for a smoothie that doesnt have banana, strawberries, or orange juice. Found one! Grab at Razzo Mango smoothie from Ben & Jerry's. Very refreshing!
9:15 - Get home and put away the popsicles these wonderful people bought me. And pop in Greg the Bunny and try to eat some cold butter bunny pasta.
12:30 - Everyone left and I apparently fell asleep on the couch while waiting for Justin to move his butt.

Saturday (Day 4):
5:13 AM - OMG I"M DYING!!! I look around to see who the hell hit me in the throat with a bat. I see what time it was and know that I didn't have ice on my neck for over 5 hours and no pain meds for 9. I felt like death.
5:14 - Scurry to the kitchen for ice, water, and meds.
5:20 - Go upstairs and yell through paper at a boyfriend who is sprawled out on my bed and drooling on my pillows.
5:21 - He finally wakes up and says that "I didnt wake you because you're mother said no to wake up for pain meds". I then write "You're never allowed to listen to my mother again"...then change it to "at least regarding my pain."
5:22 - Pass out.
9:32 - Wake up again, go change the ice and take more meds. Pop into my moms room to harass her and watch some Golden Girls and Doc Hollywood.
10:00 - Shower time! Notice how blue my teeth are from the Blueberry Pomegranate Gatorade. I also have a habit at staring at my 'scabbies' and uvula for about a half hour.
11:00 - Wake up the boyfriend who continues to drool on my pillows and have him try the most awesome popsicles ever. Edy's Whole Fruit Mango Bar. Thank you Rachel!
12:00 - Eat a little more pasta and some potato chips (yes, they get very mushy if you chew them enough.) Witnessed what it feels like to have potato chip and gatorade up your nose. Which apparently happens on occasion after this procedure. Gross.
12:30 - Flip between Godzilla, Jurassic Park 3, the Mummy 2, with mom...and of course change the ice.
2:00 - Watch Night of the Comet with mom and Justin. In between that I read a little of my book Need...
4:00 - Go to Warwick. Wind up in Wal-Mart and looking at all the school supplies. They're redesigning the store, it looks much brighter and bigger. I suck down some water that I bought.
5:35 - Walk around RI Mall, total joke...but nostalgic.
5:50 - I'm starving and we decide to go to Boston Market. I empty the water out of my ice pack and fill it up (thank uuuu Boston Market!). I had some sweet potato mash, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. I picked at Justins chicken, and filled up on iced tea. I didn't eat very much.
6:45 - Sit around in the parking lot enjoying the breeze and freezing my neck.
7:00 - Go into Jo-Ann Fabrics just 'cuz.
7:30 - Head over to Warwick Mall and I roam around Target. I bought two pairs of very cute Minnetonka looking shoes for 4.95 each! I also bought a new planner and nifty pens for school.
8:45 - I realize I'm an idiot. I didn't bring my meds with me and now I'm completely out of ice. However, my new iced tea is holding me over.
9:20 - Rush in the house to take my meds and ice up my neck.
9:30 - Start chomping on my leftovers and tally up my liquid board. I've had 3001 mL so far! Woo!
10:00 - Watching MTV True Life...not much else on. And here I am.

Tonsillectomies are for the Birds!

2009-07-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ok so let's recap since Wednesday, shall we?

Wednesday:

5:30 AM - awake and showering
6:00 - leave for Warwick
6:30 - Registration
6:45 - Admitting
7:45 - Off to surgery
9:38 - Waking up from anesthesia and given 2 more hits of morphine.
10:25 - Rolled into post op to meet mom, have apple juice, a popsicle, and listen to little kids scream and moan. Oh then I had to pee.
10:30 - Given a shot of liquid Vicodin. Tasted awful, chased it with some apple juice.
10:45 - Went to pee again and put on some pants.
11:00 - Get IV out, put on the rest of my clothes, refill my ice pack that is wrapped around my neck, listen to post-op instructions and get wheeled out to the car.
11:30 - Drop off prescriptions and head to work to drop off my sick note. I'll be out till August 4th. oh, I also pick up an orange ICEE from BK.
12:00 - I'm home. Time is blurry after this, I know I took a nap and attempted to suck down more cold fluids. Oh, and actually am able to eat some cold cream of wheat.

Thursday (Day 2):

1:45 Am - Wake up to take antibiotics, pain medication, and water.
5:45 - Wake up to take pain medications and drink some more.
7:30 - I'm awake. Why? I don't know. But my ice pack is officially hot water so I go to fix this. While in the freezer I grab two popsicles.
8:00 - Shower and brush teeth
8:50 - Go to a memorial service for a patient that passed away at work. Hide my ice pack with a strategically wrapped scarf.
9:45 - Head to Target to pick up some Tylenol to take at least once in place of the Tylenol III.
11:00 - Go back home, take pain medication, refill ice pack, take a nap (which is hard due to my huge jellyfish looking uvula.)
12:00 - Get some protein water down - drinking is becoming increasingly more difficult, it's going up my nose, I'm choking on it, I feel like I'm going to eat my uvula, and yea I'm pretty uncomfortable.
1:00 - 4:00 - Took a nap, watched some Spongebob and the Mexican.
5:00 - Justin took me to Mr. Lemon to get a watermelon vanilla slushie.
6:30 - Woke up again, and watched Justin eat hot dogs on grilled buns with red onion and mustard...potato salad...and green bean salad. Felt like dying.
7:00 - Had some cold miso noodles which ended up making me feel nauseous.
8:00 - Played some Scrabble on my Nintendo DS
9:00 - Watched M*A*S*H and Golden Girls. Took pain meds and had a popsicle.
11:00 - Woke up again and decided it was time to head upstairs, where I hopped into my jammies and rolled into bed.

Friday (Day 3):

3:00 am - woke up to take meds and adjust my ice pack
7:00 am - Definitely awake again to take meds and refill the trusty ice pack and have a fudgsicle. Watch some television.
10:00 - Guess I fell asleep. Because I woke up when I let out a really obnoxious snort and started to choke on who knows what.
11:00 - Received a call from my ENT office, asking how I was and reminding me to keep up with the water and ice pops. She also told me that today would be worse than yesterday - why thank youuu! *sigh*
12:30 - Showered and had a coughing fit - thought I was going to die...or at least start bleeding to death. Neither happened. My Post-tonsillectomy sheet says to avoid coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, and clearing your throat. I wish I could clear my throat.
1:00-3:00 - Took another nap and took medications
3:30 - Watched Emeril Green
4:00 - Watching Oprah
4:56 - Still watching Oprah, and here I am. I am probably going to go update my medication and liquid board that I had made. Making some noodles sounds good too. Not miso noodles. Ugh.

Here is to hoping that this is going to end soon. :)

The Disappearing Book Challenge Post

2009-07-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

Guidelines for 2009 Young Adult Book Challenge

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Read 12 Young Adult novels. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

3. Challenge begins January thru December, 2009.

So I have no idea where my post for my YA reading challenge went to. It fell off the face of Blogger. Here's a new one for me to update :D

Books I've read so far:

Uglies by Scott Westfield
Pretties by Scott Westfield
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Need by Carrie Jones
City of Glass: Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
Gentlemen by Michael Northrop
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Daniel X by James Patterson
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Deadly Little Lie by Laurie Faria Stolarz

I'm excited about reading the next Hunger Games book - Catching Fire. The book comes out in September, I've already pre-ordered it :D

Collection

2009-07-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for certain things. One of those certain things is stationary. Not just any stationary either. Note cards created by local artists (or family) are what my little hands crave to hold. I have a draw specifically or my little collection. The collection is bittersweet, I love to use them, but I hate to let them go too. Some of my note cards end up in a frame like my Catia Chen postcard prints.

The notecards shown are from a retired minister I met who was selling his watercolor paintings on Westminster in Providence. He was right outside the restaurant that I was meeting a friend at. The sunflower print was my favorite.

Hangs hot with ripeness here and there.

2009-07-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

I love summer fruit. Excitement flooded me when I found my Ranier cherries at the market! It was a good, warm, breezy day to enjoy with a cup of fruit.

Though other things grow fair against the sun,
Yet fruits that blossom first will first be ripe.
- William Shakespeare, Othello the Moor of Venice

Cupcakes!

2009-07-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I caved. Justin and I were on Federal Hill just putzing around when my sweet tooth hit. We decided to go into Scialo Brother's Bakery. I love going into that bakery, the atmosphere is wonderful, and always filled with old people looking for italian cookies. Out of all the things I could've picked from, I chose this cheesy (awesome) cupcake. I think the rainbow sprinkles and yellow frosting won me over. The cake itself was heavenly and I wish I could ask for their recipe.

Cake!

2009-07-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

Alright, so every now and then I get a second wind around 11:00 at night. Usually this results in me doing some serious cleaning...or baking. This cake is a result of this. Almond Starlight cake with pink vanilla frosting. Crazy doodling was involved too. I was quite happy with it, it came out pretty moist and I actually made the frosting myself this time. I'm not very good at making frosting, I usually beg my mother to make it for me. The picture on the left is my little cake being packed up and brought over to a friend, I thought the candied cherries made it ultra cute :)

Whoooooa Baby!

2009-07-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

I am SO making this monster of a cake. Pictures will follow it's creation.

Mango Cake Recipe
1¼ hours 30 min prep
SERVES 15
2 1/2 cups peeled and mashed ripe mangoes
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a mixing bowl, add the first 3 ingredients; stir to combine.
Add in the flour, baking soda, pecans, and 1 teaspoon vanilla; stir to combine.
Pour batter into a greased and floured 13x9 inch baking pan.
Bake in a 350° oven for 35-40 minutes or until pick comes out clean; let cool.
In another mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir to mix well.
Spread over the cake.
Cut into squares and serve.

© 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Tough Getting Old

2009-07-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

This post is just about a thought I had.

I work in a nursing home, and hear on a daily basis the gripes of the elderly. Completely understandable in my opinion. However, I also tend to hear "It's tough to be my age, so don't get old whatever you do". I usually reply with "well, I'll try...but no promises." Without fail I heard it again today, and thought about it a bit more after I stated my usual response. What else is there, really? If I don't get old that means I'm dead. I'm not quite sure that that is any better.

Yea.

That's all.

Lollipop, Lollipop

2009-07-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

I found the most fun candy at Pearl's in Smithfield. Well, one of them was new to me - the rest was just plain yummy. A giant bag of Twizzler bits, hot dog chewing gum (yum!), nonpareil chocolate saucer, and some French chewy vanilla taffy. The nonpareil chocolate was gone in about two seconds.

Swishhhh

2009-07-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Laundromats bring me back to my childhood. Being bored and sticky due to the popsicle I'd get next door at the mom and pop convenience store. I've grown to appreciate laundromats. The smells of fresh laundry everywhere and the various types of people that come in are refreshing.

Google Does it Again!

2009-07-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Google.com is my new best friend. They always come up with the coolest stuff (not to mention they give away free stickers). I just downloaded their Quick Search Box. It's a little search box (dur) that searches not just online, but on your computer too. You can open up applications from it or send an email. I love applications that multitask.

I also researched their new Google Voice, it's used for phones and such, it gives you one number for all of your phones/voicemail. I'm also a big fan of their free 1-800-GOOG-411, an information line. It's helped me many times!

Rollip - Create Polaroids From Your Photos

2009-07-13T15:28:00.001-07:00

Rollip - Create Polaroids From Your Photos

Shared via AddThis

I've seen this little online phot gadget on a couple of blogs, and saw a link for it in my Suggestion box on Delicious. It's a lot of fun, I've probably converted about 10 pictures already!

Atrocity.

2009-07-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm totally impatient when it comes to packages arriving. These little UPS tracking services that they provide do not help my case. Look at this! Today is the 8th and according to my tracker page it hasn't moved since the 3rd. FIVE DAYS PEOPLE! I think they like to screw with poor little people like me by not updating the status pages. Rude. Well, it's supposed to be here by Friday and it says it's "On Time" so...thats ok I guess.

I'm done whining now.

For the record, if you're curious...I'm waiting for a top from American Apparel. They're on clearance! I bought the same shirt in red in 2006 and have worn it to death. They only had grey left, so that's what I got.

Rockin' my stunna shades and turnin' up my radio

2009-07-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sunglasses from Ann Taylor = $9.00

New membership to Picknik = Free

Radio by Beyonce MP3 = 0.99

Crazy fun pictures and overdone sayings = pricelesssss

ikea hacker: Expedit bookcase cover up

2009-07-08T08:15:00.001-07:00

ikea hacker: Expedit bookcase cover up

Posted using ShareThis

Oh. I love these little 'Share This' options. Just click and 'poof' it's on your blog. Neat. Anyway, this sounds like a really good idea, and I've seen lots of nice wrapping paper that would be good for this!

Providence Waterfire

2009-07-06T11:33:00.001-07:00

Justin and I went to Waterfire for the first time on July 4th. It was nice actually, and I think I will go again before the season is over. There was good music and lots of glow sticks (which I took great will on my part not to buy one). After we watched Waterfire for a little bit, we retreated to the top of the mall parking garage to watch fireworks. We counted at least 10 different places having fireworks. It was quite a sight to see. I posted many more pictures on Flickr

Chapin Memorial Beach

2009-07-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

After my trip to Provincetown I stopped in Dennis to say hello to my aunt Deb. We all went to Mr. Frosty and to Chapin Memorial Beach. The beach itself was different from the beaches in my area, which was kind of nice. It wasn't very crowded and it was definitely low tide. The grass there is endangered and there was a lot of erosion, which was kind of sad. I had gotten to see lots of periwinkles and barnacles. Oh and I did LOTS of walking, but it was a nice walk. My calves were definitely feeling it this morning.

Provincetown

2009-07-06T10:13:00.001-07:00

Well here are some pictures from my day trip to Provincetown, MA. I love it there, and I missed out going last year, so I definitely had to go! All the little shops and cottages add to this little town's charm. We were there walking around for about 5 hours. I had the best frozen yogurt by Bliss, it actually tasted like real frozen yogurt.

I think I might go back in the Fall.

2009-07-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Karen O is my hero.

I wish I owned one of their t-shirts. $25 is too much though.

I'm not going to be able to see them in NJ *sniff*.

I hope they have other US tour dates - maybe Boston or NYC?

Thrift me this

2009-07-03T12:46:00.001-07:00

I like getting stuff for free. I'm always scouring RI craiglist's free section, you never know if you might find something awesome - Like my new table!

The lady I had gotten it from called it her Charlie Brown table, I think I'll call it that too. As I brought it in my mother was on the phone with her friend and said "Oh my god, she's brought in a Jetson's table" What is with all the names?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I would like to paint it, and was thinking an robins egg blue type color. I'm going to use it for a bedside table, it's a little low for my bed, but I can make it work. Hopefully it'll go with my orange bookcase and light yellow walls. My room is a total hodge podge anyway.

Along with my table, I had gotten some cute little numbers at Salvation Army. I bought this BRAND NEW shirt from Tweeds. 100% linen and such a pretty blue color with RUFFLES! I had never heard of Tweeds before, apparently the company is online only - and too expensive. I had also found this shirt by Columbia, funny thing is I had almost bought it at REI a couple of years ago. Good thing I didn't. Oh, and black Banana Republic capri's - today was my day. I picked up 2 little blankies for the bunnies too - all of this lovely stuff for $15.

I love presents

2009-07-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

I love it when I get little 'giffers, doesn't everyone. Every once in awhile my co-worker that works first shift leaves me an apple. Lucky for me, she has good taste in apples. The apple she left me, a Jazz apple, I introduced to her a couple of months ago. Jazz apples are sweet and very crisp. Yummm

Oh, she also tends to make little Post-It hats for them too. :)

Eh, well it sounded good at the time

2009-06-30T16:37:00.001-07:00

After reading a post on ljcfyi.com, I decided to look up the recipe for Creme Brulee oatmeal. I found a decent sounding recipe and cooked it up today. It smelled awesome! However, it was a little too plain for me. I think I should've added Splenda to the oatmeal, along with sprinkling the sugar mix on top prior to placing it under the broiler.

Yes, that is a Wall-E plate under those baking cups. :)

Go Green with Slurpee's!

2009-06-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

I love cute things. I love cute pink things. I love cute pink reusable things. On a run to Seven-Eleven for a pina colada slurpee I discovered a little box filled with colored aluminum straws for 99 cents. Thats right...NINETY-NINE cents. How can you go wrong? You can't. I purchased a pink one to go with my Megatron reusable Slurpee cup. I think I need to get used to saying "No straw please!" Oh, I can make a little straw carrying case. The possibilities!

Ah, foliage.

2009-06-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

The plant going's on around my house!

My strawberries and it's baby strawberry plant next to it. I have never actually eaten a strawberry from it...and I've had it for about 4 years now.

My pitiful zucchini plants! Too much rain has made it quite soggy in that bucket :(

My bucket of clovers! It was supposed to be for tomatoes, but I couldn't bear to tear up all the cute clovers gathered in there.

I just about ran outside with my camera when the sun poked out for a little while today.

My mom's hanging plant...and the only flower left on it!

My monstrous aloe plant. I really need to repot it again. My mother was wondering why I felt the need to purchase that little itty bitty aloe plant next to it. I found it at IKEA sitting in the As-Is department looking all pitiful, not to mention that it was only FIFTY CENTS. Can't let that go by, now can I?

YumYum

2009-06-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Food I wish to make

From Eating Out Loud:
Chili Lime Pickled Green Beans
Vodka Sauce
Watermelon Salad

From Epicurious:
Fancy goat cheese pizza

To-Do List

2009-06-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Find a beginner sewing class - I'm rusty.
Save my money
Save my money
Dont forget to not spend money
Get used to drinking coffee
Get used to drinking coffee with hardly anything in it (cream & sugar)
Get back to the gym to do the 30 minute circuit.
Wake up before 10 am - perferably 6 to head to the gym when no one is there
Finish up reading and start new ones
Read my required book for school and write the essay that accompanies the assignment
Find a scholarship I'm eligible for (I got 5 in less than 2 years!)
Cut bunny nails (how does this always land here?)
Start eating oatmeal for breakfast...or start having breakfast
Eat more yogurt
Clean and organize my closet
Play my Wii Fit more often
Make some fancy polenta dishes
Clear out my DVR

wow thats a pretty big list. Luckily I can get some of it done while I'm recuperating. Well...I guess most of it is just daily things - getting up early is going to be rough.

Video kid like you

2009-06-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

I <3 Birthday Massacre. This song is one of my favorites by them. In April I had gotten to see them in Boston. It was definitely a fun show, and I was able to listen to another band that was awesome - I Am Ghost.

Squeals

2009-06-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

A very bold rabbit.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

What isn't to love about this picture? It's a rabbit...stealing a cookie.

Who's the king now?

2009-06-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is hysterical. A lot of prison inmates to do this one.

I've been trying to convince my sister to actually learn the Thriller dance with me. Preferably by Halloween. Oh and how to moonwalk.

Summer Movies

2009-06-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

Here are so summer movies I've seen so far, keep in mind that I am not a movie critic :D

Terminator Salvation - entertaining - CGI Arnold is quite amusing!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - you already know how I feel - aweessommmee

The Hangover - hilarious! I loved it.

UP - the saddest Pixar movie. I was really getting all mushy while watching certain parts. I love Dug and Kevin though! :)

Star Trek - was pretty good for Star Trek

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - alright, wasn't expecting much out of it.

Drag Me to Hell - oh god, you might as well have gotten pots and pans and banged them together during insignificant parts.

Summer Blues

2009-06-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

So far this summer has been awful. We had one day in APRIL that was in the 90's. It's been rainy and cold ever since then. It's almost July and the forecast for the week is mostly rain again. I have too much to do before I get my tonsils out and this weather is preventing me from doing so! I've yet to go to the beach, drive-in, vacation spots, mini-golf, yard sale hopping, or even finish gardening! (which I don't know why I'm even going to bother, everything is just going to wash away.)

I did make it to the Providence Open Market on the east side though, I bought some very cute earrings from a vendor there. Actually that same day I met up with my sister and some friends at PRIDE day in downtown Providence. It was a lot of fun, saw many many many interesting things. Ha.

What did the doctor say to the patient after surgery? "That's enough out of you."

2009-06-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

This my friend is your mouth. Waaaay in the back is your tonsils, as shown by the diagram above. If you were to take those tonsils and enlarge them to twice their size; you would have my tonsils.

I spent Memorial Day weekend miserable with an icee and ice pack wrapped around my neck. I had a case of tonsillitis. My tonsils have always been considerably huge, however they never gave me a problem till now. A visit to my ENT resulting in a tonsillectomy date: July 22nd. I'm so nervous! There are few positive experiences from an adult tonsillectomy (until you're healed anyway). Apparently adult tonsillectomies are excruciating and take awhile to heal, whereas children are much different - quick and not as much pain.

From my ENT " Expect to be in misery for at least 2 weeks, if you don't follow the directions you're going to end up back in the hospital for dehydration, and I don't give heavy pain medications because it isn't necessary if you keep drinking."

Check out these scary websites.

http://web.mac.com/tkteri/TONSILLEMPATHY/Welcome_to_Tonsillempathy.html

http://www.karlkatzke.com/how-to-quickly-recover-from-a-tonsillectomy-as-an-adult/

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/xton.htm

I'm not dead, promise.

2009-06-28T14:08:00.001-07:00

Wow, I'm such an ADD kid. I flip from one thing to another very quickly. It's almost annoying how I have such a hard time staying focused on one thing for long.

Anyway! I saw Transformers 2 on Tuesday for the midnight release. I'm such a dork, I loved the first one. The second was still just as awesome, it just had one problem. There were too many characters, you hardly knew who was who by the end of the movie! I love Jetfire, such a cute character.

During the previews before Transformers 2 the trailer for The Last Airbender was shown, which was followed by much excitement on my part. It's a shame that series was so short. I really hope they do an awesome job, especially with Appa!

Easter and Bunnies don't mix

2009-03-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

Easter is a sad time for bunnies and rescues alike. There are far too many undereducated people purchasing rabbits from pet stores for their children at easter time. Unfortunately, unlike a stuffed animal this little fuzzball grows and turns into a big fuzzball and the kids lose interest. And there lies the rabbit, bored in it's itty bitty cage, in a shelter, or worse let loose outdoors to fend for itself.

Sad. Sad. Sad.

My point is: Don't buy a rabbit for your child for easter. If you're still interested in having a rabbit as a pet, educate yourself FIRST, then consider adoption!

It came in!

2009-03-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

I've been expecting some packages in the mail lately (which I love), and happily found my Bare Minerals sample in my mailbox! That came awfully quick - to my delight. It's adorable! The mini brush is smaller than it seems in that picture. It also came with a sample: RareMinerals Purely Nourishing Facial Moisturizer.

I already want more! *sigh* Damn my lack of funds.

There Must be Something in the Water!

2009-03-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Truly, there really must be something in the water because a lot of people I know are pregnant or just had a child. It's kind of weird to see people that I went to school with having kids. I think it's because I am SOOOOO not ready/willing/interested in children. At all. As a matter of fact, I think I don't want children.

Either way, I have a baby shower in June! I'm kind of excited, I haven't seen this girl in forever. She moved to Florida when we were younger. I am wondering what I should bring for a gift, I don't know if she started a registry somewhere. However, I think I will look up some neat baby shower gift ideas.

I loved this gift idea from MarthaStewart.com, little duckie washcloths!

To-Do List

2009-03-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

Stuff to do for the week of 3/15/09:

Update Ipod
Do the reading I thought I was going to do on vacation
ACTUALLY make notecards for the upcoming test
Finish cutting bunny nails (I got one down!)
Find out a way to keep Coal from eating the carpet
Fill out application for Memorial Hospitals nurse intern position and get recommendations/transcript
Actually go the GYM:

Monday AM - try jogging. (disaster)
Wednesday - Upper body, 20 min elliptical
Friday AM - Lower, hill routine

Blueberry!

2009-03-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

I love my blueberries. Whether it's the actual fruit or blueberry flavored food. Lately I've been coming across lots of blueberry things much to my delight!

This morning after I got home from wrapping daffodils for the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days program, I picked up a Very Berry bagel with blueberry cream cheese (really light and fluffy!).

The other day I had some blueberry Whoppers, the special Easter kind! They were awesome.

Last night I went to Mews Tavern in Wakefield and tried Newport Storm Rhode Island Blueberry beer. Now, for the record...I'm not a fan of beer. But, I would definitely drink that!

And I can't forget about my breakfast routine which tends to vary...so I guess it isn't a routine. Anyway! Blueberry muffin Mini-Wheats, blueberry almond Archer Farm oatmeal (gotta love Target!) and my blueberry green tea from Trader Joe's.

Oh blueberries.

Paulie

2009-03-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

Paulie
Originally uploaded by shaljg85

Ah, my smallest bunny. He's a whole 2 pounds of fluffy love. He also gives me the most trouble. Poor little guy had to go to the vet again. I noticed when I was clipping his nails that his nose was a bit runnish and his paws were a bit gunky (which means that when he cleans his face, all the gunk from his nose gets left on his paws). So off we went to Cumberland Animal Hospital. I was literally praying that it wasn't his teeth again. Netherland dwarfs tend to have dental issues. In July, he had to have his back teeth filed, which was a big project (small mouth.) and he didn't do very well coming off anesthesia. Not to mention I'm missing a left pinky due to the expenses. Anyway, it wasn't his teeth that was giving him problems and so we left with some anitbiotics. It's fun trying to sneak that icky pill to him. Fortunately he has been taking it shoved in his favorite snack: banana.

More Free Stuff!

2009-03-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

...well almost free anyway.

I've been on this 'make-up' kick lately. I never wore makeup. Maybe some lip gloss on occasion, but that's pretty much where it stopped. For a couple of months now I've started to wear mascara. Covergirl's Lash Blast is what I use, and I love it! I've also been applying 'mineral veil' from Avon - my cheaper alternative to Bare Escentuals. I eventually plan on getting myself the starter kit, but I still don't see myself spending more than 2 minutes to apply stuff to my face. Anyway, on the the (almost) free stuff. I discovered this on the BareEscentuals web site, a sample of Bare Minerals including a Buki brush!

Lately I've been breaking out like crazy, and I have no idea why. If there was a list of things I liked about myself, there wouldn't be much on it. However, my complexion would've made this list. And now...it's gone, I have scars/red splotches where my breakouts were (even if I didn't pick). Very upsetting to me! So, along with cosmetics I've also been looking for a nice face soap, that isn't drying (my face gets dry and irritated very quickly). During my online searching, I stumbled upon this little site, Pure Luxe cosmetics. The best thing about their site? They offer wicked cheap samples. The second best thing? $3.50 shipping. I think I may order their Soothing Calamine Facial Bar and High Voltage Lip Wand samples in Nymph-o-mania and Lewd.

Lagomorphs

2009-03-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Lagomorph (ˈla-gə-ˌmȯrf)

of the mammalian order made up of the relatively well-known rabbits and hares (family Leporidae) and also the less frequently encountered pikas (family Ochotonidae). Rabbits and hares characteristically have long ears, a short tail, and strong hind limbs that provide a bounding locomotion. In contrast, the smaller pikas have shorter, rounded ears, no external tail, and less-well-developed hind limbs associated with scampering locomotion. (Taken from: Britannica Online Encyclopedia)

Meet Coal.

Coal is new to my family.

Meet Coals nose in my camera.

This is Coal, causing trouble.

I...was down to three of these little monstahs. Now I'm back up to four. Let's just say I 'acquired' a teenage rabbit. I forgot what it's like to have a baby around, thats for sure. I have to watch his every move - especially when carpet is involved. Besides his eating everything, he has PERFECT litterbox habits, it's bizarre. He also prefers his hay over his pellets - which is also weird. I have to make an appointment to get the little guy altered. What am I getting myself into?!

Movies, Movies, Movies

2009-03-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

I have so many movies that I would like to see! I've decided to make up a list so perhaps I can get a grip on it. :P

Gran Torino
Slumdog Millionaire
the Watchmen
Fanboys
Friday the 13th
Bedtime Stories
Valkyrie
Rachel Getting Married
Juno
Bolt
Revolutionary Road
Defiance
A Haunting in Connecticut
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Changeling
The Reader

Ok, so now that I have a lot of them in a list. It doesn't seem like as many as I thought. But I feel much better now that I have them all down in one place. :)

To-Do List

2009-03-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

My To-Do List for the week of 3/08

Finish vacuuming
Make notecards for upcoming test
Enjoy my vacation time
Find a way to let Coal out without having to constantly supervise
STILL CUT BUNNY NAILS
Go the gym: M, W, R, Sa

Funny Concoctions

2009-03-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a gloomy day, very Eeyore-ish. I woke up this morning to rain, which of course makes me want to hide myself under my nice warm comforter. Last night my cousin had slept over for a Disney movie marathon. It was fun, complete with pretzels, Twizzlers, and Skittles. So, my mother, cousin, and myself watched Chicken Little and Finding Nemo (my favorite). We planned on going out for lunch today, and thats exactly what we did. We went over to Tokyo Restaurant on Wickenden Street. I had curried vegetable udon, and my cousin ate teriyaki chicken with rice and fried ginger ice cream. The soup was a good pick for today. After that my cousin started talking about having some tea, so we swung over to Tealuxe on Thayer Street. She went tea crazy! She bought about $26 worth of tea. I hope she enjoys every last drop - I'm sure she will anyway. I on the other hand, went for one of their specials - tea infused hot chocolate. I decided on the creme brulee tea for my hot chocolate with soy milk and bubbles. I love those little bubbles, I think I'll find some and add it to my morning tea. By the time I finish the tea it feels like I ate a whole other meal! After we got back home from our little afternoon out, we got back into our jammies and put in Wall-E. It would've been a nice way to start my night, no? Unfortunately I had to get back up and out to go to work. Oh well.

My Weekend

2009-03-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

My laptop's hard drive couldn't be 'found' on Wednesday. I had made an appointment at the genius bar for 1:00 on Friday. So Friday came, and I took the poor little guy to get diagnosed. Apparently my hard drive had failed, boo! Fortunately, I still had my protection plan until August and I was able to have my computer fixed for the bubble! AND, because they no longer make the hard drive I had, they upgraded it to a 60GB and installed the updates OS for me. I should break my computers more often ;) I now have my laptop back ( I picked it up Friday night) and it's working wonderfully, thank goodness.

This weekend (Saturday) I went candle pin bowling for the first time. It was a lot of fun! I generally stink when it comes to bowling, but I did alright on the second string.

Before Saturday however, I had never heard of candlepin bowling so I did so research on it. It was created in Worcester, MA in 1880. Actually we were pretty close to Worcester, we went to Mohegan Bowl-A-Drome in Webster. It was definitely old school, it didn't even have electronic scoring, it was a do-it-yourself type of place! The shoes were nicer there as well. I still want to buy my own shoes though, not only will they be more sanitary, but they'll be prettier :D

Sunday was boring. I hopped around a bit, and used one of my gift certificates for Victoria's Secret on some new undies, flip flops, and sugar scrub and shave stuff. I seem to really like their PINK line, it's just too expensive. I could spend forever looking at all the cute and fuzzy sweatshirts!

To Do List

2009-03-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

To-Do List for week of 03/01/09:

Bunny nails on Monday
Change duvet cover
Head to gym Mon, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday AM
Call cousin to pick up Microsoft Office for Mac
Re-Download all lecture notes onto laptop
Read over repro notes
Do VNS report on Wednesday

Running Like Crazy

2009-03-02T13:20:00.001-08:00

Running. I used to be on a cross-country team when I was younger. I had stopped when I had surgery on both feet - good reason. However, I never got back into the habit of running once I was healed. Not to say that I was a good runner to begin with, but I should never had dropped what I could do already.

Lately the urge to go running has caught up with me again. However, I don't dare run on a treadmill for fear of increased embarrassment and potential injury. While trudging on the treadmill (hill routine, no fear of falling there), a very lean looking 'fella hopped onto the treadmill next to mine. Of course, he began to run and I felt waves of jealousy flooding me. I wish I could just hop on there and run like that, and for SUCH A long time, by the time I left that guy was still running - about 45 minutes later. Not to mention, the amount of calories that you torch when you run.

So today I began reading beginner running advice and looking at some good sneakers. I have serious under-pronation problems. My ankles are the equivalent to jell-o. I loved my old Brook's running sneakers, they were the best. I think if I do this, I'll have to invest in another pair - preferably the one shown! I'm hoping that spring will be coming after our lovely March snowstorm we're going through right now, that way I can get to my outdoor running quicker!

To-Do List

2009-02-23T11:44:00.001-08:00

My To-Do List for the week of 2/22/09:

Clean bunny stuff
Trim bunny nails
Head to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Hang up my clothes
Start an study outline for last weeks Repro lecture
Vacuum bedroom
Check out things to do during March school vacation
Look up information on study skills - because I have none.

All of this talk...

2009-02-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

All of this talk about vegetarianism is making me feel guilty about returning to my omnivorous ways! At least 4 people today either spoke about or wrote about being veggie or having problems with being veggie.

I went out to lunch with a friend today who is helping support her boyfriends decision on becoming a veggie by becoming a veggie herself. This girl eats everything. She's about as thin as a rail and loves to eat. (I wish I could say the same!) So, being a nice person - I thought I'd order a vegetarian option off of the menu (veggie sushi and miso soup) so she wouldn't feel bad. She definitely misses her meat!

I have two problems with returning back to vegetarianism:
1. My mother would kill me. She seemed quite happy that I was no longer eating strictly vegetables and meat-substitutes. I don't know how Justin will react either.
2. It's kind of hard with my schedule to keep a balanced diet! It's almost easier to eat meat, which sounds strange. And it costs a bit more money at times, especially when you're the only person eating it.

I certainly have enough resources and cookbooks to utilize from when I was a vegetarian. I can catch up with the recipes in Veganomicon by Isa Moskowitz. I can start slow I suppose and just eat chicken and wean myself off of meat all together. I don't eat fish, but I don't mind tuna - so I suppose I could steal eat tuna. I DON'T KNOW! Oh the decisions to make. What's a girl to do?

Snow Tubing

2009-02-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

Well, for the first time EVER I went snow tubing...at an actual park. It was so much fun! I went with my boyfriend and his friend and girlfriend. The two boys bailed out quite early, leave me and my buddy to have all the fun. Oh my gosh, you would go so fast! The day had been kind of warm so the snow was a little melted, which left us to have quite icy hills as the night went on. The first time we went down, we decided we were going to trudge up the giant hill instead of taking the lift. Well, normally it would've been just fine for me to do that. However, with this crazy cold air - my lungs felt like they were covered in icicles. Rough first trip up - let me tell you! The lift was fun too, it was kind of relaxing making your way up the big hill. The way to stop was quite interesting. At the bottom of the hill you have someone screaming "DIG YOUR HEELS IN!!!", which was pretty hard to do when it was icy and you were going really fast - my friend almost lost her boots! As a matter of fact, one couple that went down together neglected to put their heels down and scaled the snowbank and fence meant to stop people, and ended up taking down a little kid. He was fine. The couple however, felt like a couple of dopes.

During the summer I'm definitely going back! They have summer sliding and an 'outdoor gravity orb' which is basically a huge inflatable ball that you roll down the hill in. The OGO ride is a bit pricey at $20 for one ride. Ouch.

After we were completely numb and sled-out, we went to a cute restaurant called the Old Salt in Hampton, NH. It was pretty good, anything at the point might of been good though - I was starving.

Reuse and Recycle

2009-02-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

So, I've been bringing sandwiches for lunch a lot lately. I can never win when I bring one. I don't really like plastic baggies for numerous reasons: they're expensive, you can taste the plastic, they're very wasteful, and the occasionally don't zip all the way and you have a mess in your bag. I have a small sandwich sized box that I bring on occasion, Hello Kitty of course :P. However, I don't always have room to cram it into my bag, and then it ends up being left in my car. Doing some research I stumbled upon some reusable sandwich wraps - cute. The price? not so cute. I then found a site that gave you instructions on how to make it youself! Woohoo! I think I already know what fabric to use and everything. I wonder if a calzone would be ok in there too? That's my next culinary adventure, making a bunch of different calzones and freezing them for later. Ah, the possibilites: broccoli and cheese, garlicy spinach, grilled veggies, yum.

Maybe I'll get to the wrap, my heart is in the right place - but nothing else is...

I might get to buying this though: Sigg water bottles. I hate the plastic taste mine leaves. Besides, they come in all sorts of designs and last a super long time. I also saw the little tin lunch kits they have - they look very durable (wonder if they could stand a chance with me?). Here is to helping save the environment with one less bottle/sandwich baggie at a time!

25 Things

2009-02-04T17:34:00.001-08:00

I took this from my Facebook page, it's been going around a lot - if you get tagged in someone's 25 Fact note, you have to write one yourself. I think I want to do another one. I'm a weirdo, and want everyone to know it!

25 Random Facts about myself:

1. I wish my name didn't sound so hippy like.

2. I can't sleep with my closet doors open

3. I have a blog

4. Snail mail is still awesome

5. Kimchee and Tofu is awesomeness in a bowl

6. Yellow is a great color and I don't care what Lauren thinks about it.

7. I'm spiteful, envious, and talk in circles

8. I think I want to work in Hospice

9. I need to dust off my 35mm and start shooting (pft.)

10. Speaking up is what I don't do...but should.

11. I wish I could keep in touch with friends more.

12. Seafood and eggs are disgusting.

13. On that note, I feel bad for lobsters.

14. Fell off the veggie bandwagon, and really wants to get back on!

15. I walk around saying random things that aggravate Justin (ex. 'Ello govnah! Thug Life.)

16. Is aiming for an A in Nursing 201

17. My short term memory is lacking

18. Have to sleep with my fan on, even if I'm freezing.

19. I suck at the balance games on Wii Fit

20. I'm the person who says "Can you smell that?!" and everyone usually says no.

21. Procrastination is what I do best.

22. My cars name is Sally.

23. I want to get through a Jane Austen book, preferably Emma.

24. I made a new year resolution list: I've got weight to lose, reading to finish, projects to do, and things to learn

25. Twitter is my new fun thing to do.

Friggin Groundhog

2009-02-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

First off, I forgot this ever disappointing holiday. However, I was cued when I saw this cute squashed little body being held up by a man in a top hat.

I have to wonder...has Punxsutawney Phil ever eluded his shadow? I'm thinking he hasn't.

Altoid Crafts

2009-01-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

I love my Altoids. Especially the cinnamon ones. I always feel bad when I have to recycle the tins they come in however. I've also always wanted to play the guitar. Let's just say that I'm not musically gifted. What's a girl to do and what do these two things have to do with one another? Altoid tin guitar. Thats what.

I found this on my Wikihow gadget on my google page. Some people are so creative! The pintoid camera is pretty interesting too, and seems not too complicated to make.

Apple Seed's

Re-evaluation of my goals for January.

New Year Resolutions

Whatchya Reading Monday

Ew, it's snowing.

Baking Palooza!

In my Mailbox

Cute and Functional!

Dear Target

Ok I was bad again.

I suck.

Yaayyyy!!

Detoxing

In My Mailbox: Week of 11/22

No Kill Book Shelter

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

2010 Debut Author Challenge

Halloween

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Death is an adventure in itself

Halloween

Thank You Chris Weitz

She Looks Awesome

Crazy Ducks

Justins Birthday

November 20th!

Crazy birdies in Cranston

School Starts TOMORROW

Morbid.

Natural disasters in 1985

People who died on November 21 (various years)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book 1) by Rick Riordan

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

Southwick's Trip

Baking extravaganza

Fruit Striipppe!

Gentlemen

Foodie

Far out.

The furballs I live with

You're a WINNER!

Furry Butts Fursday

Hello, Cupcake!

I'm an Oompa Loompa

Tonsillectomy Days 5-8

Need by Carrie Jones

I love downtown

Days 3 (PM) and 4

Tonsillectomies are for the Birds!

The Disappearing Book Challenge Post

Collection

Hangs hot with ripeness here and there.

Cupcakes!

Cake!

Whoooooa Baby!

Tough Getting Old

Lollipop, Lollipop

Swishhhh

Google Does it Again!

Rollip - Create Polaroids From Your Photos

Atrocity.

Rockin' my stunna shades and turnin' up my radio

ikea hacker: Expedit bookcase cover up

Providence Waterfire

Chapin Memorial Beach

Provincetown

Thrift me this

I love presents

Eh, well it sounded good at the time

Go Green with Slurpee's!

Ah, foliage.

YumYum

To-Do List

Video kid like you

*Squeals*

Who's the king now?

Summer Movies

Summer Blues

What did the doctor say to the patient after surgery? "That's enough out of you."

Squeals