aloe vera please!

ouch

i'm burnt.

it sucks.


my dumbass plopped herself down in the backyard to read all afternoon. i wasn't too worried though - i have had yet to actually tan since moving to this great northern state nearly 14 years ago and i've only burnt twice in my whole life - both times involved water. and it was a beautiful sunny day - i didn't want to waste it. after reading chris and i took moose and the log to the dog park - more sun. (i also got a flat tire - damn screws in the road) i didn't see how burnt i was until i got home and looked in the mirror! i think my exact words were 'holy shit!'

needless to stay i've learned my lesson. my arms are glowing. they are hot. they hurt.

anyone got some aloe vera?

what the....?

ummmm......

what....?




?????????.......









oh. just chris being a dork with the toys from my Frosted Flakes :)

kinda creepy though, no? i thought so at least...but i'm kind of a wimp so....

snapping out

i had no sooner gotten off my bummed butt from writing the previous blog than my phone rang. it was a request for a second interview! one for a job that i really hope i get! not only that but as soon as i hung up the phone from that call i got another call to set up another interview for another good job!

so - i'm snapping out of my bummed mood! and i'm off to exercise!

woohoo!

bummed

today i am bummed.

and to be honest i was kinda bummed yesterday as well.

i am currently bummed about the interview that i went on this morning. it was for a temp agency. they make you take those assessment tests. i did horribly on the spelling and grammar and i don't know why! (part of that could be due to the fact that i just spelled 'grammar' 'grammer' and had to fix it) i felt like a complete dumbass. spelling and grammar have never been my strong point but i'm not horrible. thank god for spelling/grammar check - you know that program that comes on every computer out there? maybe they thought i would be too dumb to use this feature. or use a dictionary. who knows.

i am also bummed about how the whole situation was treated. when i sat down for the interview portion she just had this look of pity about her. 'oh - what a shame. such a nice girl but so dumb.' her attitude/facial expressions/and tone of voice just left me feeling like i wanted to cry. i'm NOT dumb. then i got bummed about the fact that i let myself feel bummed about what she thought of me. she had a completely fake air about her and had I not been so bummed i probably would have thrown-up in my mouth a little just watching/listening to her. sigh.

either way they had nothing for me. which in a way is fine - i didn't want to drive all the way to the western side of the city for a job everyday anyhow. and they seemed to only specialize in temp work - not the temp to hire i was looking for anyhow. so there. poo.

speaking of poo. i feel like poo. i look like poo. you may remember - long before i began to blog here - that i lost some weight this past summer. 17.5 pounds to be exact. 38 inches too. it took me about 2.5 months. i looked and felt great! then i slacked off. since i moved i've slacked even more. i'm gaining weight and inches and just feel like poop. chris is in a similar situation (although i still can't see where he's gained any). we did that bmi -piece of crap - and are both overweight. according to that bmi i could lose up to 43 pounds! i can't imagine what i'd look like! and i really don't want to know - that's a lot of weight. i do want to get fit again. i want to loose this 'happy fat.' (as chris and i are terming it - although there is really nothing happy about it) i keep meaning to do it everyday but just end up sitting around and reading. not having a job is draining in a depressing way. you have all the time in the world but end up doing nothing with it....maybe i'm just extremely lazy...

anywhoo - dear god - why did I just say that?

so that is why i am bummed. i am a dumbass and i look and feel like poo. hopefully things perk up soon.


**it has been hours since i posted this blog. i went back to read it over and realized i said 'i currently bummed' and 'it for' - and i wonder why i sucked at the grammer....oops...grammar (that was on purpose)

a walk in the park

today was absolutely beautiful! the skies were clear! the breezes were warm! it was fantastic! chris and i took nattie for a walk in the st. croix state park - we just got passes for the parks yesterday (with a deal of buying your second pass for only $10 chris bought me one as well :) isn't he a sweetheart?).


i wish i were a great writer. i can never fully get across exactly what i mean to. some writers can just take you and drop in a place - so much so that you really feel like you're there. seeing the sights. smelling the smells. i cannot do that. i wish i could though. i've decided that i don't have a favorite season - although if forced to pick i'd say fall - but i more enjoy the changing of the seasons. right now spring is on it's way. buds are on the trees - green things are sprouting up all over the place. and the smell! i wish i could bottle it up - i love it! it's strange how strong a memory trigger scent can be. just on our walk this morning i was taken back to sixth grade camp (remember that Kari?) and girl scout camp, 4-h camp - it was awesome! i love the sound of the leaves crunching underneath your feet. i love the sound of the birds chirping. i love feeling the breeze on my skin. of not being able to see any cars. any people. any reminder of the suburbia that surrounds the park. i just love it.


i've included a lot of pictures to let you enjoy it to - too bad the blogger doesn't come with a scent attachment. hope you are all enjoying the changing of the seasons as well :)

chris and nattie

my favorite picture of the day
old railroad ties along the st. croix river

nattie

blue skies - smiling at me. nothing but blue skies - do i see

the only semi-good picture of myself

chris and i holding hands - again...i'm still a dork :)

st. croix river

creek bed

a night out

mary and i in all our tongue-ie glory

it's not like i haven't had the time for a 'night out' - but i don't have the funds to really justify driving across two major metropolitan cities and then to buy drinks on top of that. but seeing as how every time mary came to duluth i was in the cities it was high time we see each other!


mary lives in st. cloud but was in the cities tuesday night to visit her sister becca (hi Mary and Becca!) so we all met up at figlio's in uptown. i love love love figlio's. not so much becuase they have outstanding food that you can't find anywhere else - but they're presentation of that food is awesome - so i love going there. and it just so happened to be happy hour - which did not stop me from ordering a sugar mama martini - not on the happy hour list but absolutely heavenly. i forget all that's in it but i know it has vanilla vodka, pureed strawberries, and champagne. it is awesome. try one.

becca and jordan

after the martini i decided that i really needed to get a piece of cake - red velvet! mmmmm! very tasty! and big - that piece of cake was massive and i had help in eating it :) all in all it was a really good evening! it felt good to get out! and it was wonderful seeing mary! hopefully soon i'll have a job and will be able to afford going up to st. cloud to visit her and kevin :)

red velvet heaven w/strawberry ice-cream

becca and i eating the cake
i don't know why i have that look on my face

asinine

at my last job i had a radio at my desk that was always tuned into MPR/NPR. i felt that was i up to date on the goings on in the world around me. then i moved and was unemployed and lost touch with the outside world. so i was shocked when i finally turned on the news today and saw the devastation that occurred at virginia tech. 33 dead. 33. it is something so unthinkable. how do you even begin to wrap your mind around something like that?

i continued to watch and learned of the bomb scares they had had earlier this month. the school responded with a lockdown. this made sense to me - as i think it would make sense to anyone. what completely shocked me and has me outraged is the fact that at 7:15 this morning two students were shot and killed in a dormitory on campus. how did the school respond? by sending out an e-mail saying that it was under investigation.

a fucking e-mail? someone threatens to bomb the school and you lock it down. but someone comes and murders two of your students on campus and you send out a fucking e-mail? where was the lockdown? had a lockdown occured perhaps the shooter would not have been able to gun down 21 out of 25 students in a german class two hours later.

who the hell cares if you thought the shooter had left campus. two of your students were murdered - there should have been an immediate lockdown. the administration at virginia tech and the local authorities should be held accountable for this incredibly asinine decision making. it just absolutely blows my mind........

Burrito Bliss

i love chipotle!


i love it even more today! i went it to purchase my yummy lunch and found out that if you bring in your receipt tomorrow attached to the burrito tax form you get one free! and that applies to purchases made both today and yesterday - the two days i happened to buy my lunch there :) (please refrain from making any pig references...thank you :))


so i get two free burritos tomorrow! (aren't you jealous sue?)


hmmm...that was a rather lame post. but it's only 1:30pm and I'm trying to post daily....what else happened today?


kelly came over to see if 'The Log' (her puppy Logger) would get along with Moose as I wanted to dogsit him the week that kelly is on her honeymoon. there was a lot of butt sniffing and running around but they seem to get along perfectly which is great!


i realize more and more each day that i'm down here - with moose, nattie, and the log - that i'm becoming a dog person! weird.....

Good Day Sunshine!

it is a beautiful day outside!


that is all...just thought I'd share :)

Welcome Max!

Here he is! I realized that I had not given my sister my new e-mail address and had therefore not received an e-mail with pictures! (that or she was shunning me for forgetting her birthday...again...I'm awful about such things!)

To give you a quick summary here is what the e-mail said :)


"He was born last Friday morning in the wee hours, coming in at 7lbs 12.7oz. (3.5kg) and was 20 inches long.

He's doing really, really well. His first hobbies are: sleeping, eating and pooping."


I thought that summed it up nicely :) I wish I had photos of my own to post but I am sadly too poor to be taking any trips. My parents, however, are leaving tomorrow to visit and will return with many more pictures that I can post :) So enjoy!

Max

Soren checks out his new baby brother along with Papa Chrisptophe

and once again...max...enjoying one of his favorite hobbies :)

Here Comes the Sun!

It's been awhile - but the sun finally decided to return. Well, it might have returned yesterday but I was too busy being lazy inside to really notice.....


I did, however, make it out today and it was gorgeous! Chris and I took Nattie for a walk. Nattie belongs to Anne but her and her family are out of town this week and so Chris is watching her. She is adorable and so well behaved - she makes this cat lover want to get a puppy!

nattie

chris and nattie

nattie sniffing out her territory

sun shining through the pines

chris and nattie

holding hands - had to include one cheesy picture (sorry chris!)

and once again...chris and nattie

So there is my day thus far. I'm looking forward to taking more walks with her! Much easier to handle than Moose - we tried to take the both of them for a walk yesterday but Moose just went ape over seeing Nattie! He was way to hard to control so we had to nix it! Hopefully Moose and Kelly's puppy Logger (yes - it's a weird name) will get along better as I hope to take care of him the week that Kelly and Richard are on their honeymoon. We'll see.....


For now I'm off to enjoy my egg salad and do some more job hunting - wish me luck!

Knitted Beach Towel?

it's folded look can deceive you....

2006. The year that I learned the art of knitting.


Having a pregnant sister I decided it would the perfect time to learn - I could make her a baby blanket! What could be easier to knit than a big square? As it turns out...lots of things are easier. Buying a blanket at a store would be one. Paying someone else to knit a blanket for you would also have been easier. But I wanted this gift to be special - and special it is (but I think we all know what kind of 'special' I'm referring to*)


I forget the specifics but I ended up with three separate pieces. Apart I thought they look alright. Then I realized how long and skinny they were. Then I sewed them together and was horrified at what I saw....a knitted beach towel big enough for me to lay on. Poor Maxime (he is the recipient of this horrid gift**)


And just to further humiliate myself...here are some pictures.......

spread out in all it's ugly glory....

just to demonstrate how long the blanket is. (I'm 5'2)

my newest project

After seeing the results of the first attempt I decided to start a new - hopefully better - blanket. I still plan on sending the first - but I wanted to try and create something different. I am too poor to be buying new yarn and I just so happened to WAY over estimate the amount I would need for the first project and have a shitload of it left over.


So far I must admit that I am very proud of this project - minus the fact that I forgot to create the border I wanted to. I learned how to stream in a new color without knotting the strings (it's working thus far). It's hard to see in the picture but I have a tiny little row of yellow that is in there. I also learned the famous purl stitch from Chris's mom, Audrey, this past weekend. It took a few attempts but I have it mastered. I am now in the process of writing out the pattern as I go - I have this picture in my head - hopefully it works. I'll keep you updated on the progress (I know you're just super excited about that, right?)


Speaking of Chris's family - I forgot to continue my weekend story. I don't know what I planned on saying. It was great. I really like Willmar - it reminded me of the towns I grew up in. Not exceptional I guess - just gave me that feeling of nostalgia that I love. His sister Meaghan made some awesome sugar cookies and so I asked for the recipe. I attempted this a few days ago - not the same. They taste good but they are just not the same. I also attempted to dye them blue - they turned out a mold green. (I've been into dying my food - have you ever dyed your pancakes? It's fun - do it). Maybe for my next blog I'll include some pictures of my baking adventures and include the recipe.


As for right now I'm going to go back to my knitting. I know what you're thinking. Shouldn't your broke mooching ass be looking for job? Well I did. There were a total of 3 new jobs posted since yesterday. And I applied for them. So there.....


I should go exercise....hmph.....






*I don't mean to be politically incorrect........

okay...maybe I do.....






** Maxime is my newest nephew! He was born on Friday - April 6th 2007 at 4:15 a.m.! I don't have pictures yet but as soon as I do I'll post more.

Pretty in Pink

kelly's gift. the gift registry had been emptied and so I went on a pink spree

since i have not blogged in awhile and have received complaints from my (two) readers (hi Carrie and Kari!) i thought i would post my third blog for the evening . here are some pictures from the past two weeks activites - aside from the last picture they all revolve around my dear friend Kelly and her bridal shower and bachelorette party :) (hi Kelly and Molly!)

big pink tin full of pink stuff for kelly

me and kelly

kelly and her bows - very happy/tipsy


----the story of the missing hair dryer----

once upon a time kelly's best friend molly came to visit. she left her hair dryer there. kelly never bothered to tell molly this. molly searched and searched for the hair dryer. bridal shower day comes. kelly opens AWESOME red hair dryer (if you're reading this and want to buy me something - i want this). kelly is very thankful saying that the one she has reaks of burnt hair. kelly thinks for a moment and realizes that this stinky dryer belongs to molly and tells her. molly is stunned that kelly has had her dryer for years. kelly returns hair dryer to molly - who doesn't really want it anymore. it was funny in person at least :)

molly and kelly with new AWESOME hair dryer

molly and kelly with the smelly hair dryer

here comes the bride

the wine selection

woo!

picking out expensive martini's

the millenium hotel

show at comedy sportz

they brought kelly on stage to play cassanova

kelly and her peepsicle

kelly - aka 'the panty bandit'*

much fun was had at both parties. i am very very happy to be living closer to kelly :) can't wait for the wedding!!

---------------------------------------------------------------

weekend in willmar

awesome bag that chris's mom made and then gave me - i love it!

i'm getting tired at the moment and shall therefore right more about the weekend in willmar tomorrow. (hint: it was wonderful)