(Mis)Adventures in Theatre

Monday Mingle!

2011-10-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Back at it again with Jen @ Eighty MPH Mom! Link it up or just stop by and visit!
Password is: misadventure
Enjoy! :)
PS - I have one chunk of hair that will not stay put through this whole thing, and it kinda drove me crazy lol.

iSad

2011-10-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

I felt like I needed to change the post I had originally hadscheduled for today, which will still be coming later, no worries. In light of the passing of Steve Jobsyesterday, I thought I would do a little post in honor of him.

Now, I’m not an “Apple Fangirl” per se, though I do tend tolove everything that gets put out by the company. I will also say that since I “made the switch” 2 years agoand bought a MacBook Pro, I have never had ONE computer issue. Not one. And I adore my computer and won’t ever go back (sorryBill!).

You know the thing that I like best about Apple though? It’s not the sleek, simplistic look oftheir products. It’s not that I’mtrying to be a hipster. (Lordknows that is NOT the case…lol). It’s the fact that they don’t just sell products, they sell alifestyle. There is a cartoon thatillustrates this point perfectly:

For some reason, Apple products make want to be better. They make me feel like I can achievethings I wouldn’t have achieved otherwise. They make me want to go out and DO things. Is that a lot to be taking away from anelectronics company? Probably. Is it too much to ask that the productsyou buy inspire you? Steve Jobsdidn’t think so.

I will admit that while I followed the news about productreleases as much as the average Joe, I didn’t really read a lot about SteveJobs himself until yesterday. Andyou guys, it kind of did a number on me. It made me sad, much sadder than I really anticipated, that the worldlost such a brilliant mind so young. He was a man with a vision. He wanted to inspire, to create, to leave the world making animpact.

And even though it made me sad, it also inspired me. It reminded me that I wanted to do thesame thing. I wanted to go outinto the world and create things and make the world a little better than it waswhen I got here. I’ve been in myown little Cave of Doubt for so long now that I lost sight of where I wanted togo. I want to make a dent in theUniverse.

Most of all, I will always remember and follow this advice:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

A little intro

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

So....yeah. Here we are again. Not posting on your blog in a while is like having a ridiculously long silence with a person you've just met. It's all awkward and you don't really know what to say.
"So, nice weather we're having..."
*looks at cloudy sky"
"Yeah, great...."
*cough*
Anyway.

Things are going really well, better than they have in a long time actually. I'm loving my job, I'm starting to get myself in a more stable place financially, and I'm staying busy. Everything is still going in baby steps, but I'm at least *making* baby steps, and quite honestly, that feels awesome.
I'm having the most struggle with my finances...still...because whenever I get money, I immediately find things to spend it on, oops! Seriously, it's a problem. I think that if I kept up with my checkbook instead of putting in all my receipts from 3 weeks at a time it would probably help. Somehow I've worked it into my head that if I don't subtract the money it just won't go away. Makes sense right? Unfortunately, the bank doesn't really agree with my logic there. BUT, I am managing to pay all my bills completely and on time, and that's a big improvement, so YAY. I will take the little wins where I can get them.
My goal this month is to post 2 to 3 times a week....I think I should have enough stories I can make that happen. And my stories, I mean random bits of thoughts that go through my head every day. I'm trying to wrangle them all up to make something cohesive, but it takes some time. My mind is quite random lol.
This month is also when 2 of my charity events happen, so that will be exciting! I'll let you all know how those go. :)

Monday Mingle!

2011-10-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's time for Monday Mingle again! To join in or if you just want to say hi, head on over and see Jen @Eighty MPH Mom!

Password for the video is: misadventure.

Enjoy!

Monday Mingle

2011-09-13T04:50:00.000-07:00

I'm late but still here! Go over and see Jen @ Eighty MPH Mom for more mingles!
Password is: misadventure
Enjoy!

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Monday Mingle!

2011-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's Monday Mingle time again! Look at me go! If you want to join in the fun, go on over to Eighty MPH Mom and link up!
Password is: misadventure
Enjoy!

I wanted to ask you guys too, I'm trying to come up with a good, geeky derby name. I wanted something along the lines of these things:
Harry Potter
Star Wars
Lord of the Rings
Pirates
Currently, I may default to Death Starlet if I can't think of anything else. Any other sort of good geek theme is of course welcome. If you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments!

****Also, I would like to direct your attention over to the sidebar where it says "Support Lauren - Extra Life 2011." I am raising money for the Children's Miracle Network and would LOVE your support! Any donation is welcome and it's all tax-deductable! PLEASE stop by if you have a moment. Thank you!****

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Monday Mingle!

2011-08-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have become the worst at remembering about this. I happened to be in front of my computer when I remembered today though, so yay! Go on over to see Jennifer @ Eighty MPH Mom and say hello to her and the other Minglers! My password is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Variation of MadLibs

2011-08-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

I got this meme from @subWOW on Twitter, her blog can be found here. And the original link to the text is found here. It looked really neat, so...without further ado, here is where I'm from.

I am from a ship, from Legos and morning sun.

I am from the South, warm, inviting, and full of sweet tea.

I am from the honeysuckle, the sweet fragrant blossoms.

I am from Scattagories on Christmas Eve and stubbornness, from Mom and Dad and my two siblings.

I am from the leaving ridiculously early and somehow still being behind.

From always say please and thank you, and you are perfect the way you are.

I am from what goes around comes around. Of kindness and acceptance and no judgement.

I'm from Poland, and peirogies and BBQ.

From the traveling cousin who called from Hawaii to surprise us, the random visits, and the many postcards.

I am from photo albums and storage sheds, boxes of things forgotten, but when looked at spark so many memories. I am from making memories and keeping them safe with me always.

More stuff to come

2011-08-05T13:51:00.001-07:00

I have a few good posts in the wings, but I haven't really had time to sit down and get anything to paper. Or screen, as it were. But I do have stories coming. Promise. And as soon as I get a good night sleep and an hour to myself I will let you in on what I've been up to.

Have a good weekend everybody.

Things I'm Looking Forward To

2011-08-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

Now that I have a job, these are some of the things I'm looking forward to:

*The occasional cup of morning coffee from the roaster down the street.
*NOT having to work on a ever-changing schedule, holidays, or weekends. F YES.
*Going to have dinner and a beer with friends.
*Sushi. OMG.
*Joining a gym/fitness club/workout class/something to make me less fat.
*Getting back into crafting. Which is a surprisingly expensive hobby.
*Getting a desk that I so badly need.
*Having my own desk/cube that is MINE and I can do with what I please. (It's stupid, but cubicles hold a special little place in my heart.)
*Not wondering where the money for my next bill is coming from.
*Another tattoo perhaps.
*Can we say....health insurance? F YES.
*A professional cut and dye job for my hairs. Maybe even a mani/pedi, I've never had one of those.
*New contacts. The ones I have right now are such little troopers....they're about 4 months old.
*New Chucks! Yeah! I'm thinking a neon color of high tops.
*Affording to travel occasionally.

There are a lot of other things I'm looking forward to about having a job, but this is just a quick list from the top of my head. I got the official word today, I start next Wednesday. I'm currently out of town and I'll get back a couple days before I have to start. Ahhhhhh.......you don't know how excited I am. SO so excited. Finally, something to do with myself during the week. Finally, I don't have to worry about bills.

Finally.

Happy Birthday to me!

:)

It's like riding a bike....right?

2011-07-29T23:58:00.001-07:00

I feel like I've forgotten how to blog. Seriously. I used to be so good at updating on a regular basis and now I pretty much suck....sorry about that. It just seems like I haven't really done anything exciting or noteworthy lately that's worth posting about. That's what happens when you're broke though, can't go anywhere.

I actually think I might start having things to post about again because.....

...are you ready?....

I finally GOT A JOB!

*confetti*

This is a big stinkin' deal, I've been unemployed for about 3 and a half months now, and I am down to my last penny. But I've made it. I don't know how, but I've made it. And I'm SO excited. Not gonna lie, when the gal called and offered me the job I almost cried I was so happy. I get to start in a couple weeks on the 8th.

Today's lesson: Persistance and faith both have HUGE payoffs. And they kind of go together, you need one to help the other along.

Sorry for such a quick, lame update. More to come in the pretty immediate future!

The Smoke Out

2011-07-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I had quite an exciting evening yesterday. It didn't start out exciting, nor did I ever really intend on it being exciting. But here's what happened.

First of all, I should preface that the kitchen in our apartment is currently a giant disaster, most all of which is my fault. I feel that I should also mention I had every intention of doing the dishes tonight as well. However, that not being done yet, among other things, there was an empty pot on the stove that had one of those black plastic serving spoons in it. This is very important.

Being hungry, I decided I was going to make some dinner and then tackle the mess that was (is) the kitchen. So I get out a little pot, put it on the small burner behind said pot with spoon, and turn it on to boil some water for pasta. You may already see where this is going.

Having done that, I went to the other side of the counter and sat at the table. I figured I'd make a new playlist for my drive this week while I was waiting for the water to boil. I should note that I do this all the time, because I hear when the water boils and then I just get up and tend to it.

So I'm sitting there, debating on happy, upbeat songs to go on my new playlist (Deer in the Headlights is my new fave by Owl City. You should go HERE and watch it.), and all of sudden I sort of look up and think, "Huh, it smells like something is burning." I figure that it's a crumb of something that had fallen under the heating coil, being something that also tends to happen often. I get up to check it out.

Actually, before I even get up, I just turned my head toward the kitchen……and see a GIANT plume of smoke. I shot out of my chair and into the kitchen where I see that the burner I thought I had turned on is still sitting there with a pot full of still cold, salted water. The burner in front of it though - the one with the empty pot and aforementioned spoon - is emanating an alarming amount of smoke. I quickly grab it and set it off of the burner, but it's far too hot for me to do anything else with it at the moment, and as I looked around I realized that the apartment was literally FULL of smoke.

I'm running around opening windows and turning on fans. It should be noted here that neither our smoke alarm or carbon monoxide detectors went off, so that's safe. (Side Note: I Googled "burning plastic" and it turns out it can emit toxic fumes, one of which is carbon monoxide. So, you know, nothing like trying to gas myself in my own apartment. Go me.) Not being my most intelligent moment, I FINISHED COOKING MY PASTA (What? I was hungry…), and then sat in my camp chair outside the door to my apartment while I waited for the smoke to clear inside.

I did wind up finally meeting out next door neighbor, he's quite nice. After I finished eating I checked inside and the smoke has mostly dissipated so I wandered back inside to do some more damage control. Although the smoke was gone the apartment still smelled like a toxic wasteland, and I didn't really feel like staying there. So I called up some friends of mine and asked if I could stay at their house for the night. As it turns out, they were camping 30 miles away for the weekend, but told me I could come stay with them in their RV.
After quadruple checking that the stove was off, I packed a bag and left to meet them, leaving all the windows open to hopefully air the place out while I was away. And so that's where I still am now, enjoying nature and friends and whatnot, and waiting for my apartment to air out.

Yep. Just another normal day. *sigh*

Mythbusters!

2011-06-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

I've discovered that there are a few seasons of Mythbusters on Netflix, so I've been doing a lot of watching the last couple days. And although most of what they do on the show is not reproducible, I did see one thing that was fairly easy to do and works. So here is my brief, silly video! Password is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Super Strong Phonebooks from Lauren on Vimeo.

Caffeinated and Waiting Redux

2011-06-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Like I promised, here is the link to the Hyperbole and a Half post that I've had in my head all day. Besides being scarily accurate to my life, it makes me laugh for a good long while. If you've never been to her blog, oh my goodness GO NOW. I'll wait.

As for the rest of my life, well, it's doing well, but not a whole lot has been going on on a grand scale. Mostly I've been sitting around my apartment looking for work and sending out resumes. If there is anyone out there who would like to hire a pleasant, good-natured individual, drop me a line in the comments would ya? I'm really quite handy. Like a Swiss Army knife. That sounds like it should be it's own post actually, which I might keep and use since blog fodder for me these days is running a little low. I did make a week-long trip up to the summer theatre I usually work at (but decided not to this year), which of course lead to some mild adventures as well. Not the least of which is how I managed to poke a hole in the bumper of my less-than-a-year-old car. C'est la vie. I'm also trying to start up a crafty business (for reals this time), since I continue to say that I'm going to and never *actually* get around to doing it. Kind of like blogging...heh...*cough* I actually sent off some coffee cozies to a cafe that said they would love to sell them in their store, so it is actually official, I'm in business. *cue confetti* Next step is to work on my sad, little, empty Etsy store. The only problem I seem to find is that, like in my day to day life, I tend to be a little ADD in my crafting. I can make a lot of things, but what do I make to sell? A little of everything? Start with one thing and add? WHAT DO I DO?!? Life is hard.

So in a nutshell, that's what I've been up to. Bumming around, looking for work, and making coffee cozies. Fun times in the life of the unemployed. Oh, and being a roller derby official. But that's another post.

Caffeinated and Waiting

2011-06-15T12:24:00.001-07:00

I'm not even going to pretend anymore that I'm going to blog regularly. They're all empty promises, and I'm not going to be that way to you guys (if there's even anyone still reading reading out there in the blogosphere). Right now I've just finished a latte that I got from the local coffe roasters a block from my house, and I'm waiting for my car's oil to get changed. When I get back to my computer I'll link to a particular post by Hyperbole and a Half that keeps running through my head today, but for the moment I just have to tell you its awesome because I'm on my phone and trying to link that right now might make my head explode. Did I mention I've had coffee? Maybe that's the secret to blogging...I should just have a double shot espresso before I plan to write. Apparently it makes me very chatty. Anywho, I'm hoping my car will be done soon so I'mma wrap this up. I *will* post again with said promised link and maybe even a more substantial update. Stay tuned!

Little Victory (or The Day I Took on the Treadmill)

2011-04-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. So, if you guys have never been on a manual treadmill, well, you're very lucky. This machine is the devil incarnite as an exercise equipment. I'm pretty sure the reason it's so difficult is because ours isn't oiled real well, and being totally powered by human-power, there is probably more friction than there really should be. Regardless, I have grown to loathe this treadmill since the day I bought it. Yeah yeah, I know, it's that very reason that makes it that much better of a workout. But come on, it's HARD.

Anyway, Friday, in lieu of doing my usual 2 mile walk/run (which usually takes me just over 30 mins…this is important for later), I looked at the treadmill and decided I was going to take it on. You guys, I had no idea what I was in for.

So I start out strong, nice brisk pace. My original plan was to walk a 5k on it, since I'm trying to build up endurance for my next 5k in May (more about all that later). So I set the display to only show the distance, and just keep on truckin'. What follows is the rundown of what happened at different points of my workout.

Mile 0.1 - Feeling good, still going strong, brisk pace. Breathing is picking up. Dreams of 5k grandeur floating around in my head.

Mile 0.3 - Starting to work up a sweat, breathing has settled into steady huffing and puffing (I'm really out of shape, no delusions there for sure). Still determined to walk a 5k, but considering settling for just 2 miles instead.

Mile 0.5 - Really sweating now, still a steady rhythm of panting. Beginning to feel sore muscles in my butt and thighs (the treadmill has a slight incline, so it's like walking up a really gentle hill). Thinking to myself "Are you kidding me? I'm only halfway? Crap…." Quickly deciding that 2 miles is a better goal.

Mile 0.85 - Am now literally blinded by sweat running into my eyes and can't look up, sweat is pudding in the lenses of my glasses. Try to frantically wipe away the sweat from my now burning eyes so I can see, all the while continuing to plug along…have settled on doing 1 mile and 1 mile only today and CRIPES WHY CAN'T I GET THERE ANY FASTER?!?

Mile 0.95 - Again blinded by rivulets of sweat running into my eyes and try frantically to wipe them away before I walk myself off the side of the treadmill. SO FREAKING CLOSE.

Mile 1.0 - Stop immediately, wobble to sofa, fall down. Proud to have pushed through, but HOLY CRAP. Am completely drenched in sweat and desperately need a shower. Eyes still burning.

You guys, I think I sweated out half my body weight onto the treadmill (gross, I know, but whatever).

Approximate amount of sweat on the treadmill after my workout.*

(*No dolphins were harmed in the duration of my walk)

You'd think that I just ran a marathon with the shape I was in afterwards, but no, just one measly little mile. ONE! Might I refer you to my previous statement of doing (on an almost daily basis now) 2 miles, outside in the real world, in just over half an hour. Want to know how long this mile took me? 32 minutes. That is SAD ladies and gents. One mile in 32 minutes and I almost pass out, WTF?

Me before walk. (note happy, excited, go-get-em attitude)

Me after walk. (note lack of enthusiasm and lots of sweat)

Know what though? I did it again the next day and beat my time by 5 minutes. Still huffed and puffed, still sweat up a storm (but was prepared with a headband…I learn!), and my butt and thighs were still sore from the first attempt, but I did it. I have now taken on this machine as a challenge. I looked it square in the handlebars (no face you know…being a treadmill and all) and I said, "You are not going to beat me!" I probably have issues, lol. But anyway, I am continuing to take on the treadmill and by the end of the week I plan to do at least a 2 mile walk. If nothing else I'll sweat all my weight off, and that can't be too bad.

The Fire Alarm Hates Me

2011-04-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that correctly.

The fire alarm hates me.

For about the last 3 or 4 days (they're all starting to run together...), the fire alarm has been chirruping. Just change the battery you say? One would think that would be an easy solution. The fact of the matter is, the battery HAS been changed. TWICE. In TWO DIFFERENT fire alarms. Also noteworthy, it only starts beeping somewhere between midnight and 2 a.m. and continues to 6 a.m., when it then decides that it's tired and needs to take a rest. Is is just me or is that fairly bizarre fire alarm behavior?

I think this is also why I've had a twitch in my left eye for approximately the same amount of time.

*sigh*

After checking every other fire alarm in the house, the issue has been resolved....for the time being anyway. I'm not sure I trust it anymore. *sideways look*

In other bizarre news of my life, I seem to have done something to my wrist.....while jogging. Jogging! I can only assume I did it while jogging because I was fine when I left, and when I came back, as soon as I got some water and sat down I got a shooting pain through my wrist and it's been there ever since. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the planet that can torque a wrist going for a jog. This also proves that exercise is dangerous and should be approached (if at all) with caution. (Jillian or Bob, if you ever see this...I'm totally just kidding. I'll be back outside tomorrow AND doing your dvd workouts and pleasedon'tmakemedo1000pushupsImaydie.)

In not so bizarre news, I'm officially unemployed for the time being, with a couple job prospects in the wings, neither of which will have any conclusive decisions/interviews until the first week in May. Oi. Well...on the positive side, that *in theory* gives me way more time to blog. Right? Right. I'll try to maybe get some stories up of some of the craziness I've been dealing with the past few months, but I promise nothing. :)

Anyway, it's getting on really late and I'm going to try to get to bed before the fire alarm starts its antics again.

*eye twitch*

Monday Mingle!

2011-04-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!
It just dawned on me this afternoon that I should record a Monday Mingle for the week! This meme is brought to you by Jen @ EightyMPHmom, so you should go check her out! I apologize for the quality of this video, its pretty terrible and I'm not sure why. I guess my camera was just having none if it today, and I was too lazy to try and do it over for a better video. The password is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle April 11 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Oh hey

2011-04-04T13:45:00.001-07:00

I remembered I can actually blog from my phone. I suppose that means I don't really have an excuse not to post doesn't it? Crap. Well we're winding down here anyway, not sure how much longer I'll actually have work, which is kinda scary. After this I'm kind of in limbo until July...I potentailly have a really cool job that starts at that time, but I'm awaiting confirmation. When I get something varified for sure I'll tell you all about it. Untill then, these are a couple phrases I look forward to not hearing on a daily basis:
"As the good Representative from <i></i>__ stated..."
"Well I have heartburn about this..."
"This is really a simple bill..."

Pound for Pound

2011-03-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

I would like you all to notice that little button over there on the top right of my sidebar. For the second year in a row I am participating in the Pound for Pound Challenge. For those that are unaware, the Pound for Pound Challenge is sponsored by NBC and The Biggest Loser. For every pound of weight loss you pledge to lose, they'll donate a pound of food to YOUR local food bank. That's right. Your local food bank. When you sign up they match you with food banks in your zip code, and you can pick the one (if you have more than one) that you would like your donations to go to. It's completely on the honor system, and if you have no weight to lose but would still like to make a difference, you can pledge to maintain your current weight, which is equivalent to a 5 pound donation. So there isn't any reason someone can't help out. Help your community by helping yourself. It's so easy and makes such a difference.
Cheers!

Pizza Pizza!

2011-02-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hello all!
I had put out a call for suggestions on Twitter, and got back a couple good answers. Daffy (go visit her blog. No seriously, go. I'll wait.) suggested basil. Hmm...interesting. I don't often use basil in my cooking, which is odd cause I do really like it. Ok, so that was one good suggestion. Then I got another suggestion for homemade pizza. Ooo....I like. As an added bonus, I would be able to combine the two suggestions when I finally did embark on my kitchen adventures.

As I usually do, I went to foodnetwork.com to start my search for a basic pizza dough recipe. I settled on a recipe by Mr. Bobby Flay this time, which you can find here. This dough came together really easily, and made enough for two 12" pizzas. The dough I didn't plan to use right away I put in the fridge and just used the next day. The first time I made the dough, I used white whole wheat flour, which gave a chewier texture than the all-purpose flour I used the next time. Both were delish, it just depends on what your preference is for crusts.

The first pizza I made was, what one might call, a "gourmet" pizza. But I call a crazy pizza. I made a quick alfredo sauce (cream, bay leaf, little bit of flour) for the base, then sauteed some apples and onions in a pan before adding them on top. On that, a thin layer of sliced ham. Last, some crumbled bacon, then the topping of mozzarella cheese. It tasted awesome, but was kind of a mess because it was so tall.

After this pizza, I learned some lessons in proper pizza layering, which I fixed for my future experiments.
The next of which was just a simple margarita pizza. Margarita meaning tomato, mozzarella, and basil. Which turned out superbly.

Yum.

I have made a couple more since this first time, as I mentioned. One I don't have a picture of, was a delicious veggie pizza with sauteed zucchini, onions, and broccoli. The other one that you'll see below, is a BBQ chicken pizza. BBQ sauce for the base (obviously), chunks of chicken, tomato, bacon, onion, and a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.

Soooo good.

And with that my friends, I leave you with my pizza-inspired post. Until next time!

Little Update

2011-02-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

This job has been a total whirlwind from the get-go! The days are flying by, and by the time I get home and eat, it's almost time to go to bed again. I had plans to catch up on my blogging this last weekend, but I wound up having to go into work one day, and then needed to go grocery shopping the next. Always an excuse. How can I stop making excuses? I am the queen of having a reason to NOT do something until "later"and that has. to. stop. Anyone have suggestions on how I can kick my butt into gear? To start I will say that my one goal this weekend is to finish the uncompleted posts I have in my queue. I mean seriously, how lazy can I get, they're already started! Thanks for sticking with me. :)

Cop Out

2011-01-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

I'm so tired you guys. I'm sorry. I actually have like three posts started and not finished. I'll have one of them up tomorrow. Swearz.

Have a good night.

Mushroom Ravioli

2011-01-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

My cooking adventure for the weekend: Mushroom Ravioli. This is an adventure for two reasons. One, I hate mushrooms. Hate them. Two, I've not ever made my own pasta before. Bring it on!

I used Tyler Florence's pasta dough for ravioli recipe, which can be found here, at the Food Network website. It was pretty simple to put together, but it was a little more crumbly than I think it should have been. Also, I don't think I let it relax enough because it was SUPER elastic-y. Overall though, it tasted good as a dough, even if it was a little heavy.

The filling I made up on my own. I started by frying some diced bacon (about 4 slices) in my dutch oven (I love that thing!), and when it was crisp, removed it and set it aside. Then, I got a couple packages of fresh crimini mushrooms diced them up, and added them to the bacon fat. With the mushrooms I diced up about half a large onion and threw that in. While the mushrooms and onion was sauteing, I put in a splash of Marsala wine, then let it cook down until there was no liquid left. After that, I took it off the heat and let it cool a bit before I added about cup-ish of mozzarella and parmesan, both shredded.

After rolling out my dough, I used a circle cutter to cut the dough and then put a little spoonful of the filling inside each one. I had some leftover filling, but I had enough dough to make 19 raviolis. I plopped them in a pot of salted, boiling water, in batches of 5 or 6, for 4 to 5 minutes. Ta-da!
(And yes, that is a bite out of the top one...I tasted it.)

We had some leftover tomato basil sauce that I put on them, along with some of the leftover parmesan cheese.

The best part? They. Were. AWESOME. Both my parents like them a lot, and they like mushrooms as it is. But I think the most triumphant thing for me was getting MYSELF to eat them. I liked them. Like, they were actually super tasty. Score!

This weeks challenge, complete success. I haven't decided what my Iron Chef ingredient is for next week, so if any of you have a suggestion, I'm totally open. :)

Routine

2011-01-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

I love routines. I really do. I love them almost as much as I love spontaneity. This week I think I finally figured out my routine and I'm really happy. We started having our "real" meetings this week, which means doing official business-type stuff that I have to keep straight for both committees. I'm basically in charge of scheduling meetings and then sitting in and keeping an official set of minutes. Sounds easy, but I assure you it's much more work than you'd think. I do really like it though, so that's really the best part of the whole thing.

I'm trying to work some other things into my new routine, and I'm doing better with some than with others. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to do my cooking projects on Sundays (or Saturdays...just the weekend in general), and this week is mushrooms. I'm going back and forth between raviolis and soup. I think raviolis are going to win though, I love me some pasta. My plan at the moment is just to pick up the ingredients and then see what happens. Whoo!

Let's see....oh! So I had talked to a friend of mine and we agreed that we should run a 5k in June. I was all excited and like, "Yeah, this will be awesome!" Yesterday, this friend of mine says, "I think instead we should do the half marathon!" I of course agreed, cause how awesome is that, right? Neither of us have signed up yet (money and all you know), but registration just started and goes through May. The race is in July, so that gives me a lot of time to train so, you know, I won't die. Plus we don't have to RUN the whole thing, a run/walk combo is accepted and encouraged. But still I'm like, "That's a long way..." If this actually comes to fruition, this will be one of my major life goals as well. I've never been good at running, mostly because I've always been the chubby kid and didn't like to. Plus, being out of shape and trying to run is probably one of the most difficult things ever. But I shall overcome. I will make myself into a lean, mean, running machine. Oh yeah.
That's about all I got for now folks. Stay tuned to see how my food endeavors turn out!

A Lot of Random

2011-01-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wow, my first week of real work has come and gone and on to week two! This week will start my regular schedule, and I'm SO happy. This last week I've had meetings at 8 a.m., which I had to set up for at 7 a.m., and to get up and get there in time I got up at 5 a.m. Let me just tell you that me and 5 a.m. don't get along very well. I know, I know. Whine whine whine. People do it everyday and don't think twice about it. No offense if you happen to be one of those people, but I think they're crazy. No one should be up that early. It's just mean. And for me what basically happens is I can't get to bed on time no matter how hard I try, so I get like 4 hours of sleep. Then I drink about half a pot of coffee in 2 hours, get cracked out on caffeine for most of the day, and by 2 or 3 when the coffee wears off I'm a walking zombie. Well I guess most zombies are walking so that's a bit redundant, but you get my point. I just wasn't made for mornings. And I am totally willing to accept this fact and move on. Not to say I won't make every effort possible to be up and get things done when I need to, but I can't promise I won't be napping by 3 in the afternoon.

Anyway. My regular meeting schedule is from 3 to 5 in the afternoon, with me setting up around 2. Heck yeah. That means I can actually be a productive person because I won't be sleep deprived and then cracked out on coffee. And let me tell you, I was pretty freaking productive last week, so I should be ON IT from here on out.

My grand plan is to get up early enough to work out before I leave for work, and at some point look into joining a gym that I can go to after my meetings are over. At this point I'm really looking for a place to run more than anything. Why don't I run outside you say? I don't know if you guys know this, but it's winter here. Winter = snow. Melty snow = ice. Ice = broken face. I am quite partial to my face and would like to keep it from being broken. Yeah, I know there are people who run in this weather, and they're probably also the people who get up at 5 every day. I have managed to find a pair of Yak Traks, so I might give the outside running a try....but if I slip and break my face I am not going to be pleased. We'll see. I have a deal with a friend of mine that we'll run a 5k in June, and right now I can barely run a block, so I have some conditioning to do. And I would consider this a pretty big accomplishment, so I want to find a way to make sure my lazy butt does it.

Another thing I thought would be kind of interesting - particularly when my reader base gets built back up (please come back to me...I'm sorry I suck at updating) - is having you, my wonderful readers, give me an ingredient/theme/type of food to cook for the week. I have my weekends off, and one of my resolutions is to cook more, so I want to make something a little more complex or different every Sunday. I will of course post pictures and link/post the recipe to whatever it is I made. I think this would be really fun and a great way to challenge myself. As a personal goal, this week's challenge is mushrooms....cause I can't stand them. But, for anyone out there reading this, I am totally open to suggestion for next weeks dinner. Think Iron Chef with you choosing the secret ingredient.

Well, that's all my random musings for the moment. I hope you all had a great weekend, and Happy Monday!

Well Fine

2011-01-05T19:56:00.001-08:00

So while I was in the middle of a blog post, my father decided it was a good time to reboot the router and no tell me. Seeing as I am currently internet-less and also trying to make good on my resolution to blog more, I thought I would just do a quick post from my phone. If I'm feeling feisty and have some time tomorrow morning I'll do my original post. Until then, have a good Thursday!

House-sitting: OR Why My Neighbors are Awesome

2011-01-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

So my next door neighbors went to go visit family over Christmas and asked me if I would house/dog-sit for them. I've done this on occasions before and of course I said yes. Aside from getting to stay in their awesome house and play with their dog, they were paying me well. Bonus.

My goals here are simple: keep the dog alive and the house standing. Easy peesy.

And it was easy peesy. Until 2 days before they came home. It was that morning that I was going down to the laundry room to get the dog's water bowl to fill up, and then this happened:

Image borrowed from http://www.explodingdog.com/ via Google search

Except imagine that instead of another person, it's the dog looking at me from the top of the staircase. And really, it wasn't TOO big a deal because I was fine, just a rug burn, and it was only like 5 steps that I fell down (its a short staircase), but then THIS happened:

On my totally graceful fall down the stairs I managed to smack into the picture on the wall, which brought it down with me. Awesome. I was supposed to make sure everything was ok while they were out of town, and so what do I do? I break their stuff. I mean it was an accident, but still. So yeah, I freaked out and was in a panic about getting it out of the way and fixed before they got home.

I take the cracked picture to our hardware store, since they do glass replacement, and I'm all, "Can you fix this?" And the guy says, "Yup! No problem." "Cool, well can I get it by Wednesday morning?" "Oh sure, we'll have it done tomorrow. We'll give you a call when it's ready." "Yay! Ok thank you!" And I leave happy that this should be all repaired and no one will be the wiser. This on Monday.

Tuesday, I don't hear anything from them. So Wednesday morning at like 11, I go in to pick it up. My neighbors are currently in the air very quickly approaching and I've got about 2 hours before they come in the door. So I walk in and.....I see the still broken picture laying on the counter where it was left on Monday. I ask about it. The guy who was there who happened to be the owner tells me, "Oh I'm really sorry about that, my son (whom I spoke with on Monday) just told me about this this morning. I'll have it done for you within the hour and give you a call." Ok ok...so I leave again and wait. And wait. And wait. Nothing. My neighbors call and say they should be home in half an hour and I just realized I'm going to be forced to tell them that I'm a dork and broke their stuff.

Lo and behold, they arrive and I'm all "Welcome home!.....you may notice something missing...." and proceed to tell them what happened. Being the awesome people that they are, they laughed and said not to worry about it, and that they'd pay for it just let them know. I didn't even get a call that it was done until the NEXT DAY....and they didn't even replace the wire that had broken on the back. So when I took it over to return it (which I totally picked up and paid for regardless of what they told me...it's not their fault I'm clumsy), I'm like, "Here's your picture that I broke and the wire is still broken so it's not even really fixed and I fail don't hate me." It pretty much came out like that too, only more as one word instead of a run-on sentence. They still laughed and said it was totally fine and not to worry. I'm very lucky I have forgiving neighbors.

And that my friends, is the story of my house-sitting adventure.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T23:45:00.000-08:00

Ah yes. Can you feel it? That sense of excitement, ambition, hope. A clean slate. New start. Everyone gets a chance to try again. Refreshing isn't it? I think overall 2010 was a really amazing year, the best I've had in a while actually, and I'm very, VERY thankful. I decided to look back at my New Years post from last year and see how I did. Not surprisingly, I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but even still I did make some progress. Here's what I posted last year (abbreviated):

*Eat better and exercise more.
This I actually succeeded in the most of all my goals, and I think as far as a goal to do well with this is the best one. Since this time last year I'm down a total of 15 pounds and a pants size. I've lost 13 total inches off my body. While this is really great and I'm excited, I still have a ways to go. I wish I could have lost more, but at least I lost it and it stayed off. For that, I'm very thankful.

*Save my money.
I did really well with this for a good little while, and then....summer came. All the money I saved went down the drain in 3 short months. Boo. So here I am, back at square one and ready to start again. And also ready to take precautions against what happened last time. (PS - I had also mentioned saving for a Wii Fit to help with the healthy goal, which I did save for and get, and which did help me. So yay!)

*Blogging more regularly.
EPIC FAIL. Try again sister.

*Keep in touch better.
I think I've done this for the most part. I realize that there are ebbs and flows in friendships and I can't stay in constant contact with EVERYONE all the time. But I think I have tried to be more aware of keeping in touch.

*Craft business.
Also epic fail. Try again sister.

*Learn guitar.
Last epic fail. Try again sister.

So with that look at last year's goals, here's what I'm going for this year:

*Stick with the continuing diet and exercise. I'm on a roll baby!

*Try again with the savings. This year my savings goal is getting ONE ENTIRE LOAN paid off. Oh yeah baby. That would be a weight lifted off my shoulders and starting to see a light at the end of my tunnel of debt.

*Blogging restart. I've said it so often I don't even believe myself anymore. But I don't just want to blog more consistently, I'd like to do a total overhaul. Maybe even start a new one. We'll see how that pans out though. For now, let's try for consistency.

*Make time for cooking. I love to cook and I'd like to put some extra energy into making new things and getting in the habit of eating fresh over premade.

*Keep a list of things that inspire me and look at frequently.

*Also a list of things I'd like to do. Pick something and take a step to try one every so often.

That sounds like a good start to the new year. As always I expect a certain amount of laziness, but as long as I have some goals to work toward I feel good. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years and I hope 2011 brings you all lots of wonderful things!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:43:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season without too much undue stress. It's hard for me to believe that Christmas has come and gone already and New Years is just a few short days away. Crazy. I will, of course have a New Years post up soon (cause what is the new year without resolutions that you stick to diligently for a month or so and then slowly forget about halfway through the year?) so stay tuned for that. Also, I was poking around this great blog and have come across a post in which the author pretty well explains why I tend to drift away from my blog....expectations. And sometimes rum. But mostly the former. You should definitely read it just for the fun factor, she's always hilarious. So for your viewing pleasure I give you:

Hyperbole and a Half

You'll have to scroll to the top to start reading...sorry the link is being weird. Oh well.

Again, I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Monday Mingle!

2010-11-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

I told you I'd be back today! Got my video uploaded this evening so I can join the lovely mingle ladies. I do NOT know what is up with my sound ya'll. It's fine for like 30 seconds and then it goes out of sync again. Does anyone have any idea what might cause that? I'm open to suggestion. ANYwho, password is misadventure, as usual. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle Nov. 22 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Bloggy Bite!

2010-11-22T10:53:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post to say I'm going to post later, lol. Its Monday Mingle time again and I just haven't had time to upload my video yet. So stay tuned for that exciting tidbit. I know you can't wait. ;) Until then, I'm going to buzz back to work...break's over!

Blog Snack

2010-11-19T14:34:00.001-08:00

Another lunchtime blog session! And "Fireflies" is on the radio in the break room...awesome! Surprise for me today, I just ran into some folks from home here at work. I think we might have dinner plans for tomorrow, so that's fun. Other than that I'm pretty excited to finish up my week at 6pm today and be off all weekend. Working retail that doesn't always happen, but its sure nice when it does! Also a surprise for me today is actually getting a lunch break. I didn't think I was working long enough to get one so I didn't pack anything. However, our district manager dropped off a bunch of goodies I've been munching on...mwahaha. :) Alrighty, later Gators! Back to work!

Writer's Workshop

2010-11-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

I thought I would participate in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop this week. If you'd like to join in, just go visit Mama Kat here. And while you're there, check out what other people have written!
For this week's prompt I've chosen: Why are you burned out?

To be quite honest, I'm not sure if I'm burned out so much as fed up. Are they the same thing? Maybe. Here are my frustrations though.

*Not having a set schedule. It absolutely drives me crazy not knowing if/when I can schedule other things in my life due to work. I only know my work schedule a week in advance and it's never the same. I understand I work retail and that's the nature of the beast. However, if given the choice I wouldn't work retail. Which leads me to...

*Not being able to find a "Good Job." I would like to preface this with the fact that I am very thankful to even HAVE a job right now. I am also thankful that it's a job I don't mind doing. However, it's just not doing as much for me as it needs to. I have quite a bit of debt I'm trying to pay off, as well as being able to save some money for future endeavors. Right now I'm just barely making my bills with enough left for groceries. And while I'm glad I'm able to pay my bills, I don't like cutting it so close.

*Not being as productive as I'd like. I have grand plans of things to do when I don't have to work, but the fact of the matter is on my days off I wind up sleeping late, reading, and watching TV. I don't want to do anything else. Then later I always think, "Well, as nice as that was, you've wasted another day." A huge thing I'm working on is adding other things to my daily routine. Even if it's blogging. That's something different. Yesterday, a friend and I exercised for 45 min and it was awesome. Baby steps.

I think really why I'm burned out is because I do a job with a crazy schedule most of the week and then when I DO have the time to things I want to, I'm just lazy, which in turn makes me frustrated. So I think really like I said, I think I'm more fed up than burned out. Regardless though, I'm tying to work on it little by little. :)

Monday Mingle!

2010-11-14T23:14:00.000-08:00

Hello hello! I remembered (very late) that it's Monday Mingle time! So I'm going to go ahead and jump in for this week. :) I got a new headset with a mic, which I think helps with sound, but unfortunately made my vid and audio sync up kinda weird. So you'll hear me before you'll see my lips move. :/ Oh well. Password is: misadventure. Enjoy and laugh at my silly syncing audio! :D

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Lunch Break Blogging

2010-11-14T14:56:00.001-08:00

Maybe this is how I can be a more efficient blogger, writing a little something on my lunch breaks. It kinda makes me feel like I'm cheating though, using my phone. I'm interested to see how well it works actually. And until I get my reader base built up again I think lunchtime vingettes is where its at. Nothing really of note to say other than I'm trying out this new app for my Droid. Had a yummy and healthy lunch of whole grain pasta with basil pesto sauce, both organic. And of course a the Facebook flavor of Vitaminwater. What? Don't give me that look, its black cherry lime.
Until next time, hope everyone has a great day!

A New Beginning?

2010-11-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hello out there. If there is anyone that still reads this blog.....amazing, lol. I've said like three times that I promise to write more and I'll be good about posting. I am a dirty liar. And for that, I am sorry. Like Stella, I need to get my groove back. I still feel scattered, pressed for time, tired, but mostly, just lazy. Since it's NaNoWriMo/NaBloPoMo (National Novel Writing Month/National Blog Posting Month), I thought now is as good a time as any to make room in calendar for a small post every so often. For the month you're supposed to post and/or write every day, but I'm not going to commit to that. I will, however, commit to 3 days a week. I feel like that is a reasonable goal to help me get back into blogging. For reals I MUST learn time management. MUST. I tend to get blinders on and only focus on one or two things at a time, and truthfully I feel like I miss out on a lot by doing that. When I was blogging all the time, that's all I did: work and blog. This summer it was work and party. Now it's work and play games. The only thing I've been consistant at is working, lol. Which, I guess of anything is good to be consistant. So ok, I've set the goal of writing again, now here's another question I'm pondering. Should I just start a new blog? A full fresh start. I mean let's face it, the name of this blog is Misadventures in Theatre and I haven't really done anything theatrical since I've been writing, and the only time I AM doing anything theatrical I get all distracted and don't write. So perhaps it's time for a name change? Or does that even bother anyone? I would like thoughts and feedback on this, from anyone who still even floats by on occasion. I am also open to any name suggestions, since I seem to put naming my blog up there with naming a child for importance, and I also seem to be incapable of making these decisions on my own.

So hello again blogword. I hope to see you again soon. I make no promises, but I can tell you I'll try. I'll even put it on my calendar. And really, that's the best we can hope for. :)

Monday Mingle!

2010-08-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

OMG I know. It's been forever right? Well guess what, I'm back to the Monday Mingles again! Whoo! *confetti drops and crowd cheers* This lovely meme is brought to you by Jen @ EightyMPHmom so go over and check her out! (To get a straight link to the Mingles, click on the coffee cup pic at the top of this post.) Password for the video is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Winding down

2010-08-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

I know. I suck. Blah blah blah....no posting for a month at a time...blah....I'm sorry.

Let's move on, shall we? K.

So, as summer draws to a close I'm in the same situation I continuously find myself in: Searching for a home and a job. You'd think I'd really be good at this by now wouldn't you? Actually, I have the job thing lined up, which is really super awesome because the renters like to know that you'll have a continuous way of paying them each month. Now we're just waiting on the "yes" from the apartment. Would really be great to hear from them by tomorrow, plzkthx.

Also, I would like to say that for not planning on staying at my summer job for the whole season, I've done a pretty good job of throwing that plan out the window. Since I'm still here and all. There's actually only two weeks left....which seems so crazy to me. Aren't we still in the middle of summer? Didn't we just open the last show a month ago? What do you mean it's almost over? I do not like this time-flying-by thing. Not one bit.

But, I guess I should probably make the most of it. So on that note, I think the lake is calling me. See you soon!

In Limbo

2010-07-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well hello. I know, I know. I'm terrible. I haven't blogged in *counts on fingers*....um.....*counts toes too*....um... approximately a gazillion years. But we've been so busy! The first half of the summer is finally over an on to the second half that includes much more hiking, swimming, BBQing, parties, and most of all, sleep. Whoo!
We most recently had Christmas in July, which is one of my all-time favorite parts of the summer. We all draw a name for Secret Santa and have about a week to put something together. This year was really exceptional, I think everyone really kicked it up a notch. There wasn't a single person that wasn't excited about their gift, which means it was definitely a success. :)
Prior to Christmas, we also of course celebrated the 4th with our usual giant picinic-y dinner and loads of fireworks. Yes, we can light off our own up here, which is always more fun! Anyone who wants can shoot off fireworks while the rest of us eat food, drink beer, and watch them fill the air with a zillion colors. It's really quite the fantastic evening.
I've been to the lake a couple times already and have a nice start to a sun tan. :) I'm hoping to get to the park and go hiking here soon....it always kinda scares me because I don't know that I'm really in that kind of shape to go traipsing literally all across creation. I guess there's only one way to find out though huh? I've done much better taking care of myself this year than I have before. Even so I've gained some weight, but I guess I can't be too mad, my clothes still fit.
I'm kinda just hanging out waiting for my next job to start and get all moved again. I have two amazing roommates that I'll be sharing a house with, so I'm really excited. I think it's going to be exactly what I needed after this past winter.
Well, I don't really have a whole lot more to say. Just a lot of fun in the sun, a little bit of hard work, and lots of good memories. :)

Monday Mingle!

2010-05-31T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hello hello! It's that time again! This week for Monday Mingle I submitted questions, woot woot! To join in the fun, pop on over and say hi to Jen @ EightyMPHmom! Password for the vid is: misadventure. Have a great week ya'll! (PS - My still frame on the vid makes me look like I'm doing some bizarre kissy-face, lol)

Monday Mingle May 30 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Monday Mingle!

2010-05-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hey hey! Monday Mingle time! To go visit our lovely host Jen and all the other minglers, head on over to Eighty MPH Mom! I feel like I was a little spastic this week, sorry about that. Password as always is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle May 24, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Week One

2010-05-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Wow guys. What a crazy week! I feel like we've been here for months already and it's just day 7. I'm not sure we were even that productive this week, which kinda scares me a little. We put up two shows in two weeks and we've only completed one drop. What that really means is that we have two shows worth of scenery to get built and painted in the next week so we're ready to start techs the week after. Not gonna lie, I panicked a bit this morning when we discussed it in company meeting. It's really not like we're slacking either...there's just been a lot of running around that had to get done, and we can't paint anything until the shop builds it, so you know, there is that. We should be in pretty good shape though.

That's the drop we finished today. I like it. Very art nouveau. Also, just so you can have some perspective, that's 15 feet tall by 44 feet long. Yup.
Also, since we're a part of the Playhouse, we get a ridiculous deal on memberships at the local gym. And let me tell you, this gym is FAN-cy. So today during our lunch break I went over and signed up. The cool thing too is that you can just go month by month, so there's no pressure to buy more time than we'll be here. I have 6 weeks to get my Project Runway dress zipped up. And I'm not going to try it on until two days before I plan to wear it. This way if I need to make any alterations or alternate dress arrangements I have some time. In a perfect world I'll put it on and zip it right up and it'll fit just right. I have to quit making excuses like "I don't have time" or "I'm tired" or "Well I'll go out today, and just start tomorrow." NO! No no no. I've been so distracted by all these wonderful friends and just being so happy that I've kinda lost my focus. I mean don't get me wrong, I am definitely all about being happy, but I will be happier if I continue to lose weight and become the healthy person I want to be. Focus. Must, focus.
Also incredibly noteworthy, on Thursday I went to see the Barenaked Ladies in concert! HECK YEAH! I had bought the ticket in February, and got the go ahead for the evening off the day after. I was way prepared and totally wasn't going to miss it! OMG, it was awesome. It's right up there with my favorite life moments. They are truly amazing and talented musicians, and I just couldn't help but be overwhelmingly happy the entire time. I actually considered not going, I'm still fighting off a bit of a cold, and I was thinking I should just stay and work, but at the last second I was like, "Nope, you're going. Because you'll totally regret it if you don't." And you know what? I was right. I'm so happy and thankful I had the chance to go. I bought my boss a shirt as a thank you gift for letting me go. :) And on a complete fluke, I wound up texting with one of my friend's girlfriends during the set break, and she told me they were his favorite band ever and asked if I would buy him a shirt as well. So of course I said I would! As it turns out, he was ecstatic and said it was his very first band shirt, so I was totally a winner on that one and got Awesome Friend points. :D
I'm going to try to get a mingle up this week too, so hopefully I'll have tomorrow for ya. But this is just a snippet of what my first week has been like. Many more adventures to come! Stay tuned!

Sooo happy....sigh

2010-05-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

I am the happiest girl right now! Just got to my most favorite place in the world. Amazing the energy that something like that can give you. :) I got in on Monday, and every day this week a few more folks trickle in....and we all keep getting more and more excited to start the season! It's really like we never left. Even the new kids have taken to us like ducks to water. Which is good, better than scaring them off! lol!
I've been working a little this week, for most of the day, but nothing really strenuous. Just some piddly things. But those are finished now, so I'm done with working until Sunday. :D Whoooo! We have a small show opening tonight, so those of us that are here are going to get all gussied up and go watch the show. I'm so excited, it's awesome you guys. If you haven't heard of Forbidden Broadway (which I hadn't), you should look into it. SO FUNNY.
I've also been so happily distracted by everything that I'm already fearing July is going to arrive too soon.
Things I've done in the last 5 days:
Killed a spider.
Met up with old friends.
Been at the bar. Every night. (not always drinking! Just for the record. :) )
Had a night without heat or hot water.
Ridden in the trunk of my own car.
Made a midnight munchie ham sandwich.
Had some heart-to-heart talks.
Been waist-deep in fabric.
Curled a wig.
Lacquered just about anything that is standing still. (i.e. a giant platform and some show signs)
Repainted faces.
Walked up and down The Hill. It's still a pain, but not as much of one.
Met lots of new friends.
Been shot with a squirt gun.
Gone to breakfast at an amazing diner.
Promised my denim jacket to one of my new friends.
Gone grocery shopping for a super secret special dinner.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us! Yeah!

Monday Mingle!

2010-05-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Iiiiiit's Monday Mingle! Sorry I was absent last week, time just got away from me. But I'm back now. :) To join in or just go see all the other Monday Mingles, stop by and see Jen @ EightyMPHmom!
Password for the video is: misadventure. Enjoy! :D (Oh, and the still frame makes me look like I just saw something really disgusting...lol. I assure you that is not the case.)

Monday Mingle May 10, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Panic Mode!

2010-05-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

But in a totally good way. I'm getting ready to pack up and head out for the summer and I'm SO EXCITED. We have the same work schedule every day the whole time I'm there, and I'm planning to set aside bloggy time so I can tell you guys all about our crazy adventures. Because you can bet there will be lots of those. It's pretty much a crazy ride from day one right up until we all leave!
And bonus, the title of my blog will actually make sense for a change, since I'll actually be doing theatre work. Woot! Being the scenic artist for a playhouse is an awesome job, so there will also be lots and lots of pictures of me and various others in paint-covered clothing dancing around the shop with rollers and brushes. :)
But before all the fun can start, I have to actually get there. And I am NOT ready. Well, mentally I'm totally ready. Mentally I think I was there a month ago. Physically though I'm absolutely scattered. I've got clothes in piles that need washing, forests-worth of papers in bags, and about 572384734958732 things to do before Monday.
In addition to that my eating pattern this week has been really screwed up. So about now I'm feeling like the Michelin Man about now.

Cause you know, my biceps look like a pair of tires. Amazing what a week of haphazard eating will do to you when you've been so careful for so long. I'm a little disappointed because NOW is when I wanted to feel my best. But I know this feeling will be gone soon and I'll be right back with it, and I have to be positive.
Alright! So, first step, climb the mountain of clothing in my bedroom. Then, tackle The Hill. Whooo!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

2010-05-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Pretty self-explainatory. I would hope. :)

So I just saw the greatest commercial ever, it was for Weber grills, and it had a bunch of people doing crazy dances. If there are two things I love in life, they would be barbecue and crazy dances. Both of which I'll get to enjoy very soon....yes! Well, mostly the barbecue part, I do the crazy dancing part most every day. Which is probably why most of the time my bosses shake their heads at me. Hey, at least I'm entertaining! Anydance, here is the video for your own enjoyment! (PS - The song rocks my face off too! It's called "You Light Me Up"...how appropriate. It was made for the commercial, and if you're like me and HAVE TO HAVE IT, click here for only place it's available. The Weber website. You're welcome. :D )

Speaking of songs that are catchy, Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti is right up there. The video makes me oddly happy. Everyone is just so content and really enjoying themselves. Plus, I don't think you can listen to the song and not dance. I dare you. :)

Hmmm....let's see. I don't know that I'm actually loving exercise, but I DO love that even though I look like this:

After I exercise, I feel like this:

And yes, I am usually laying on the floor like that when I'm done too. That Jillian...she doesn't mess around, I tell ya.

For absolutely hilarious blog posts, ya'll should check out The Bloggess if you haven't already. Hilarious. I wish I could write like these people who are so snarky and witty. (I'm looking at you Travis, Daffy, and Jen.) Alas, here I am, talking about tv ads for a charcoal grill. I tell ya, the fun never ends around this place. (Oh, and you should also read this, because it might be funniest Craigslist ad ever. Yup. Which I found on The Bloggess.)

Memoir Monday: That Time I Was Homeless (Kind of)

2010-05-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

Memoir Monday is brought to you by that fabulous funny guy Travis @ I Like to Fish.

Now, when I say I was homeless, I don't really mean HOMELESS. Way back when I was in high school, I was also in youth group at church. And my youth group, we did a ton of really cool things, but one of the most memorable, was the time we went and tried to experience what it was like to be homeless for an evening.
So this troupe of high school students, armed with cardboard boxes and every bit of clothing they could fit on their body, traipsed into the cathedral parking lot one cold Montana evening. We were given $5 for food for dinner, and told we would be walking to the nearest grocery store. Our herd was gathered and we started our walk to go find some food, all of us murmuring and talking about what it was like to be "on the streets." Once at the grocery store, we scattered. Some of us formed small groups of two or three, and planned little mini-meals. Like, "Alright, well So-and-So, you get salad stuff, You-There get bread and cheese, I'll go to the deli and get some ham and turkey." Yeah. We were all resourceful like that. There were some folks who went and bought chips and dip or fried chicken or candy (not even kidding...) and later on when we got back to "camp" were a little disappointed in their choices. (Hindsight is rough, ain't it?) What really wound up happening is that everyone eventually came together and shared their food, so everyone had a bit of everything and no one was forced to eat an entire bag of Snickers Minis for dinner.
Someone had also brought their guitar, and of course we made a fire (it was controlled, and in a parking lot) so we all sat around and had our very "Kumbaya" moments. Which really, is kind of the point of church retreats, is it not? So we sang, and ate, and I think someone even thought to by marshmallows so we went and grabbed some sticks from around the yard and roasted them over the fire.
When it was time for bed, we busted out our cardboard boxes and duct tape. The same groups that had planned at dinner time, had a plan for the night as well. What we did was tape all our boxes together to make a little "house" and share the space. So all the little intricate tunnels of cardboard boxes were littering the cathedral lawn. I'm sure it looked awesome. :) The girls whom I wound up sharing with said the next morning they were cozy and slept just great. I, on the other had, slept in one of the outer boxes and practically froze to death. I mean it's Montana in November people, it gets COLD at night! And here I am, layered in three shirts, a sweatshirt, my heavy winter coat, mittens AND gloves, and a hat and I'm freezing. I think I actually over-layered, which caused me to sweat, which then in turn made me colder because of the air hitting my body. (Again, hindsight's rough, ain't it?) But you know, we all made it. I know that our little evening was hardly a comparison to what some folks actually go through, but amidst all the goofing around we did have some serious discussion. Some of us faired better than others, but in the end we all learned a lot and were much more thankful that we only had to do this for one evening and not every day for survival. And I have to say, it was a really cool experience.

Monday Mingle! AND Memoir Monday!

2010-04-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

OR, Singing Out Loud and How I Learned to Change a Bumper

Whoop whoop! I'm getting ambitious again, watch out! This week I have BOTH the Monday Mingle (from Jen @ EightyMPHmom) and the Memoir Monday (from Travis @ I Like to Fish)!

Also you guys, apparently everything in my life is either "awesome" or "amazing" lol. Sooo....for next week my goal is to use neither of those words. My vocabulary is really much wider than that, I promise. :) Password for the video is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle April 26, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Alright! So for my memoir this week I decided to write about the time I changed the bumper on my car.
And to tell you why I had to get into mechanic mode, I have to tell you a little story first. It all begins with a trip home from the bar. Because what good story doesn't, really? So I always have my car with me, even when I'm working at the little summer theatre, where it truly is unnecessary, because I'm lazy. And this means I usually wind up being the taxi back up "The Hill" at the end of the day when everyone is at the bar. (In case you missed my guest post about this hill, go here to see what I'm talking about.) And I'm not sure how it came about, but it became a Big Deal to ride in my trunk. No, that is not a euphemism. I'd just pop the trunk and two or three people would sit in it like a recliner. Well, after about four days of this, I said, "You know, this is really unfair, *I* want to ride in the trunk!" So one of my friends said, "OK, well next time you give us a ride up, I'll drive and you can ride in the trunk!" Deal.
Fast forward a few days later. We're getting ready to head back up the hill, I had my keys over to my friend, some folks pile in the car, another friend and I pile in the trunk, and we head up The Hill. I should probably mention at this point it was about 2 in the morning. We pull in front of the house to let everyone out of the car, I get in the passenger seat, and my friend who is driving says, "Well I'll just pull it around for you and park it." Sure! This entails going around the block, which, nothing can happen in a block right? *crickets* RIGHT?
So in between where we are currently, and where my car would like to be, is a giant parking lot. Made of gravel. My friend is....adventurous....and asked me, "So, can I try something?" Ummm...sure! Why not? Now, I know him, and I should really know better than to give him permission to "try something" in my still-kind-of-new car. Lack of judgement like this is what leads to good stories. And new bumpers.
So we cruise on into this parking lot, and immediately the emergency brake is pulled, and we spin around like a record. On the second rotation, we exited the parking lot....right into a fire hydrant. We actually didn't realize we had HIT the fire hydrant at the time, and didn't get out to check. There was a general, "That was close!" comment before we drove on up, parked my car, said goodnight and went to bed.
Next morning I walk outside and....BAM. There it is.

Uh, maybe we were a *liiiittle* bit closer than we thought, eh?

So I showed my friend and he felt awful, way more so than he should have, cause I thought it was HILARIOUS. I mean the last time something hit my car I had to get a whole new car, so you know, a hole in the bumper, that's nothing. Despite me saying everything was ok, he offered to pay for it, which was really nice. And I let him, because it made him feel better and hey, free bumper.
Well I learned that you can get a bumper overnighted and delivered to your door for $65. Cool eh? So now I have this bumper. I had asked my boss where a good place to get it put on would be. His response was, "Are you kidding? You live with a bunch of technicians. I think we can figure it out." Good point sir, good point. And after that my Feminist Mojo kicked in and I was all, "Well I don't need their help, I'll DO IT MYSELF!" And I totally did, ya'll. It took about 45 minutes, and I removed, reassembled, and reattached my own bumper. Oh yeah. I don't know if you're aware, but that makes me a licensed mechanic now. So if you need anything, just let me know. I was a little nervous at first, like I kind of expected it to fall off at any moment. But I've since run over a parking curbs (you know the ones that you can't tell if you're parked close enough until you hear *crunch*) and it's still very firmly attached. The only difference is that they sent me an unpainted bumper, so I have a black bumper on my white car. And I thought about getting it painted, but you know what? I like it. And I'm proud of it. Gives it character. :)

**DISCLAIMER** I would like to say that I DO NOT in ANY WAY condone crazy or unsafe driving. (Unless you are a professional driver on a closed course, then by all means rock it out.) The town we were in is very small, and we were going a total of maybe 4 blocks...which kind of makes the whole incident that much more pathetic.

Writer's Workshop

2010-04-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Writer's Workshop is brought to you by Mama Kat from Mama's Losin It.

The prompt I'm choosing to write about is:
What is the joy in your current moment?

I think the thing that is bringing me joy in this moment, is the fact that I'm finally starting to get my life in order. It's been a *very* long time coming, and I was pretty much in shambles. I've come leaps and bounds in the last year, but in the last three months I've accelerated in such a good way. For years now I've been trying to get my budget and my weight under control. I've struggled with both for so long I was really stuck in a rut. This year though, I started at New Years, and I stuck to it. I went to the bank and had them help me balance my checkbook and start a register. I read Jillian's book "Master Your Metabolism" and I overhauled my diet. (Diet here meaning the food I eat on a daily basis, not something I am "on" to lose weight.) After my Olympic trip I had have a slip up on both, and I had a mess again. BUT, I picked myself up, went back to the bank, back to the grocery store, and started again. I've been making a conscience effort to exercise every day as well, and I've been pretty well sticking to it. I guess I'm just happy that I've finally seemed to find my inner strength to get things done. And I don't think that the correlation between my health and my finances is a coincidence. Actually, last week's Biggest Loser talked about that, and I had a total epiphany, lol. I was like, "OMG! No WONDER!" Makes total sense. They both require attention, dedication, and perseverance, and all I was doing previously was neglecting them. Because it was easier. Well I'm not about taking the easy road anymore. I'm taking control and I couldn't be happier!

Monday Mingle!

2010-04-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

It is time once again for Monday Mingle with Jen @ EightyMPHmom! Whoop whoop! This is also the most super-fast mingle I've done yet...under 5 minutes! Guess I didn't have much to say this week, lol. Also, word of the day was apparently "amazing" because I said it like 17 times...whoops! I'll have to study up on my thesaurus for next time. ;) Anywho, password is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle April 19, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Summer Fashion That Made Me Go "WHAT?!?"

2010-04-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Alright you guys. As you have probably guessed by now, I do a lot of shopping. I mean, a LOT. I also love clothes more than is probably healthy (and I work in clothing store…that’s like someone with a gambling addiction working in a casino…just not smart). HOWEVER, there are two things I’ve run across recently that I find ridiculous.

The first I think is not only ridiculous, but kind of infuriating. Let me just show you the atrocity in question:

No no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, those are socks made to wear with flip flops. Let me repeat that. SOCKS MADE TO WEAR WITH FLIP FLOPS. Who thought this was a good idea? These actually make me a little unnecessarily mad, I realize that, they fill me with the same rage as Heelys. And really, that is one of the cardinal rules of dress isn’t it? Don’t wear socks with sandals? I think if I see anyone actually wearing these, I will point and laugh very loudly at their feet, and make a very snarky comment that they are sure to hear. Yes, I realize that’s a very a-hole thing to do, but at least I’m an a-hole that isn’t wearing socks with FLIP FLOPS.

My next issue with summer fashion is this:

That, my friends, is an adult onesie. Not to be confused with footie pajamas, which are AMAZING (and made for the privacy of one’s home, for you know, sleeping). I literally saw a dozen different variations of these adult onesies in one store. Some were even strapless. And yes, for some people, I’m sure these look adorable, but those people make up like 2% of the population. For the rest of us, the onesie should be left behind at age 3. I just don’t feel like it’s terribly flattering. I am also well aware that if I were to try one on, I would look very much like Tweedle Dee.

That’s all the rant I have in me today, promise lol. Is there any particular clothing item you’ve seen lately that made you do a double take? Do tell!

Resolution Update

2010-04-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

This week I updated my progress with my weight loss, like I have been doing, but I actually looked at my totals thus far and was pleasantly surprised. Since January, I've lost 10 pounds, 5 inches off my waist, and 2 inches each off my chest and hips. It's nowhere near where I wanted to be three months later, and I can't help but think how much farther along I could be if I had doubled my efforts and really dug in. Don't get me wrong though, it's still a great start and I'm still very proud. It's encouraging. And I totally plan to keep up with what I'm doing, if not give myself a little kick in the butt again. For being such an eternal optimist I'm often times very hard on myself. "Oh...I could have done better." "Well I only walked today, I should have done more of a workout." Blah blah blah. Fact is, I've made huge changes in my life that are building toward a healthier future, and that's something to be proud of! So here's to no more negativity!
I've not done quite as well with my finances, but I've gotten back on track in the last month, so things are looking up there as well. I still saved a little, and a little is better than none at all! I've got a budget, I've got reminders, I've got my calendars, I've got it all, so hopefully in a little while I'll have some more savings to go with it! I'm not gonna lie ya'll, keeping up with my money is practically painful. After my Olympic trip everything went haywire and I didn't touch anything for a good month. Yeah...mistake. I spent two and half hours one just catching up on entries, and another two hours another day just getting everything to balance. Then I took the following day to uncross my eyes, lol. BUT, everything is SO scheduled and in line now that I'm very pleased. And you can bet I'm going to make sure it stays that way. I also learned that when I have to write everything down, I don't spend as much. Funny, isn't it? It's like, that was the point of a checkbook all along...hmmm..... ;)
As far as my other resolutions, I think I have done much better at keeping in touch with my friends. I have NOT done much for my crafty business, nor my guitar, which I've only picked up a handful of times. That's ok though, I gave myself quite a list to focus on, and focusing on the two I have been I think is the most important.
Well, that's where I stand on my New Years Resolutions as of right now! So tell me, how are YOU doing?

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore....

2010-04-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

If I told you the kind of weather we had last week, you wouldn't believe me. In fact, I AM going to tell you, and you probably still won't believe me.
Well, it was kinda chilly earlier in the week, but starting to warm up. I check the weather Thursday morning, see that it's going to be about 60, and go, "Great! I'll wear my cute new skirt!" I really should know better by now.
I leave in the morning around 9, get to work, and on my way to the bank an hour later, it's a lovely 57 degrees, as it should be. A little breezy, but nothing awful. Yet.
A couple hours later, the sun was still shining, but the wind had picked up. A LOT. And around noon...CRASH! The following picture was taken on my phone from the doorway of the store I work in.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but the entire awning actually BLEW OFF. It got the little barber shop awning too, over there on the left, and went all the way across. Craziness! That's some strong wind. I believe it was clocked at 53 mph. But that was not all.

Another two hours pass. The sun has long since been replaced by ominous dark clouds, and the temp has dropped considerably. Then, just to top things off, it begins to snow. Not just any snow, big, wet, heavy snow. And it snowed like a beast for about....20 minutes. Then, like nothing had ever happened, the clouds part, the sun comes out, and I'm pretty sure I heard birds chirping somewhere.

And yet, it still wasn't over. Before I got home that night at 8, it snowed and melted three more times.

Ahh....Springtime. You gotta love it.

I just wish I would have worn pants.

Monday Mingle!

2010-04-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness you guys, I suck. Though I did manage to squeeze out a couple posts this week, which is an improvement. I just don't seem to do much of anything exciting lol. ANYblog, it's time again for Monday Mingle! Password is, as usual: misadventure. :)

Monday Mingle April 12, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Blogs I mentioned in my video:
Jenepper @ Maybe If You Just Relax
Karie @ The Five Fish

Things That Crossed My Mind Today

2010-04-06T22:56:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure that if I were start school over again as a kindergardener, they would say I'm ADD. I feel like I have at least 50 thoughts a second, which really is pretty impossible to properly separate and give due attention to every thought or idea. Some things that crossed my mind today....

I never, EVER, want to depend on prescription drugs to sustain me if at all humanly possible.

Why on earth would you wear shorts so short they get eaten my your crotch? GROSS.

Chocolate dutch mints are delicious....and give me a ridiculous sugar high.

Does it just become an unwritten rule that once you reach a certain age all the standards of society change to how you think they should be? Cause, um, they don't. Just sayin.

I wonder if I could reserve an apartment three months early without having to pay rent.

I really need to get some sketching done.

Wow....it's snowing!

....and now it's 50 degrees, I'll go for a walk.

Why do these numbers not add up?!?!?

Pistol squats are the DEVIL. And impossible.

Melissa totally needed to be kicked off, yet again. No one likes a game player.

That's all I can really remember for today. I know it's kind of a cop-out, but I'm at least trying to exercise my bloggy muscles again, so I think I can get a little credit. :) Back atcha tomorrow with more useless drivel! Have a happy hump day folks!

Notes to the Universe

2010-04-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

*dusts off blog*.....*chokes and coughs on dust* Whoo boy, it's been a while hasn't it? I apologize for that you guys. Since two Wednesdays ago I've kinda just been running around in circles. Goal this week is post every day, even if it's just a blog fart. Today though I thought I'd do my Notes to the Universe, since I seem to have started doing that on Tuesdays. And they're easy. And I'm lazy. :)

Dear Marc Summers,

I wish you would have just stuck to being host of Double Dare. You're just not as charismatic on Unwrapped. You are hilarious though, on Best Thing I Ever Ate. Maybe you should just try Unwrapped with no script, I bet it would be pretty awesome.

Dear Older Gentleman with the Walker,

You really broke my heart today. I hope you had a lovely visit to the store and thank you for talking with me. I really wish the best for you. Enjoy the wine!

Dear Hips and Belly,

Thank you for helping me to carry large boxes, laundry baskets, and very small children. I suppose you're not ALL bad.

Dear Springtime,

You. are. my. favorite! I love very much that I can work a full day and it's still light when I leave. This makes me very happy and much less irritable. Which is really a win for everyone.

Dear Budget,

Why do you hate me? Please, let's get through this together ok? I just need some balance.

Dear Sky,

You've been kinda dark lately. Lighten up!

Dear Adorable Small Children,

You guys are SO incredibly well-behaved, you've really impressed me. You give me hope for future generations. Thank you for being so sweet. You totally deserved those jelly beans.

That's it today folks, short and sweet. Have a great day!

Monday Mingle!

2010-04-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hi again! I'm back with another Monday Mingle, brought to you by Jen @ EightyMPHmom! Stop by and say hello to the other mingling folks, won'tcha? :) Password for the vid is, as usual: misadventure. I really rambled on this time guys....so sorry! Enjoy!

Monday Mingle April 5, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

I'm a Guest!

2010-03-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! Not too long a post today, but I wanted to let you all know that I'm guest posting over at Travis' blog, I Like to Fish, today! So you should stop by and check it out! I didn't realize it's been almost a week since I posted... I'm really sorry about that. I've got loads to write about too. I better get on it! I'll try to be more regular in my posting here soon. (Do they make a blog laxative?) But for now, pop on over and say hi to TravyG and check out my post!

Happy Hump Day!

Olympic Escapades: Vancouver! Curling!

2010-03-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Alright! Day two of our Olympic adventure, curling! The curling was my favorite thing of the whole trip. Really.

We started out the day having lunch at a little Japanese restaurant. Hello sushi! Then we headed out to find the Olympic Village and some souvenirs. I wanted my red mittens! It actually took the better part of the afternoon to find where we were going, and then to find the “Official Olympic Store” that was housed in the Hudson Bay Company. The line for the store was ridiculous! It went down the block, back up the block, and down the block again. But really, for how long it was, we only waited about 45 minutes to get inside. Once I got in it was like total sensory overload. I didn’t know which way to go. I did immediately try to find my mittens, but was told, much to my dismay, that they were SOLD OUT and only had the kids sizes. Heart, broken. So I did the rest of my shopping, and right as I was getting ready to get in the checkout line, I saw a girl walking by with an adult sized pair of mittens with the tags. I stopped her and said, “Where did you find those?!?” and she said, ‘They just brought them down! They’re over there, RUN!” So I darted off to mittens fresh of the truck, and grabbed like 7 pairs. Mittens for everyone! :D I also bought this really cute sleek white winter jacket that I’m so totally excited about. Right when I got home though the weather got nice again, go figure, lol.

After that truly Olympic shopping experience, we headed off to go watch our curling game! The lines for the games was like being in line at the airport. Ok, empty your pockets, take off your jacket, please step through the little metal detector, ok thank you, you’re good to go! While waiting I started chatting with this really lovely couple who were actually from Vancouver and had curled together for 18 years. They were telling me all about the game and how big a part it was in their lives. I learned that it’s basically the Canadian equivalent of bowling. Like instead of Friday night bowling leagues, there are Friday night curling leagues. This couple’s regular Friday game was actually cancelled on account of the Olympics, lol.

Once we got in, I wandered up to what I thought was my seat, which I found out later (over halfway through the match later) that I was in the wrong section. But I settled in and started talking to the folks around me, and we had this little sort of community discussion, where the folks who were avid curling fans would explain the game and strategies to those of us who didn’t know. It was really very cool. What was also cool was that there were four matching going on at once, so we got to see eight teams play, one of whom was Canada. The matches were: Canada-Denmark, China-Sweden, Great Britian-Japan, and Russia-Swiss. And let me tell you, the Japanese were kickin’ butt and takin’ names. Their game was over first, they didn’t even play the last frame. The Canada-Denmark match wound up being a tie, so they went into overtime. OH. MY. GOODNESS. Never in my life have I witnessed such a crowd! It was truly phenomenal. And when it came down to the last throw of the game, which happened to be the Canadians, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The stone was let go, and as it got closer and closer to the center of the target, more and more people were slowly rising to their feet. When it landed in the center there was an ERUPTION. And eruption of epic proportions! Cow bells, yelling, feet stomping….it was so joyous. I’m so happy to have been a part of that moment. :)

A shot of all the teams getting ready to make their throws.

Some Canadian curling action!

Me with my new coat and snazzy mittens sporting some Canadian pride after the game!

I think that's all I got for this installment of Olympic Escapades. There will probably be one more post about it, with some pictures of the city, and the torch of course! Have a great day everyone!

Another Installment of "Dear Universe"

2010-03-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure when all of a sudden I started doing this so frequently, but I always find myself making notes to the Universe nowadays. So, here are a few that I've made recently.

Dear beer,
Thank you for being so amazingly tasty and enhancing the fun of my friends and I. I do wish you'd work out a deal my intestines though, that would be lovely. Plzkthx.

Dear Mother Nature,
I realize we all have our mood swings, but driving home in a blizzard I can't see through one night and then waking up to sunshine and 60 degrees the next day is a bit of a stretch isn't it? I know it's a wishy-washy time for all of us right now, but all I'm asking is a little consistency. I just want to know how to dress.

Dear weekend,
Thank you for letting me sleep in. I really do appreciate it. However, all that resting up kinda throws off my sleeping pattern, making Monday much more difficult than it really needs to be. Let's work on this together ok?

Dear T-shirt with giant screen print on the front,
Please stop smelling like crayons. I don't want to have to quarantine you.

Dear Nintendo,
Creating a shortage of Wiis on the EXACT DAY I get my tax refund is NOT NICE. I would really love to give you money for a product, and there is not one store in this town that had one for me to buy, when they all had at least three the day before. I repeat, NOT NICE.

Dear natural peanut butter,
I realize sometimes you separate and I need to give you a stir. However attacking my good leather shoes with your extra oil will in fact only make me want to throw you across the kitchen instead.

That's all I got for today folks! Have a lovely Tuesday! Oh, and Minglers, I *will* be making the rounds this week. Please be patient with me. :)

Monday Mingle! AND Memoir Monday!

2010-03-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's that time again kids! Time for Monday Mingle, brought to you by Jen @ EightyMPHmom. Also, this weeks questions were submitted by Greg @ Telling Dad, and if you haven't gone to visit him yet, please do so. He's a fabulously funny guy. Password for the video is, as usual: misadventure. Enjoy!

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

In addition to doing my Mingle this week, I am unusually on top of my game and am going to participate in Memoir Monday, which is hosted by Travis @ I Like to Fish. And without further ado, I bring to you...

Olympic Escapades: Vancouver Time! The Hockey Game.

Oh. My. Goodness. You know, it's been almost a month and I still can't believe I was actually there? It was all very surreal to me. And I know I'm never going to be able to remember everything for this one post, it would be forever long. So, for this post I'll just cover the hockey game.

First of all, Vancouver is GORGEOUS. I want to live there. And the people were so nice. What a great place to attend my first Olympics. (Yes, I say first, because I hope to go to more in the future. :D ) The events we had tickets for were a women's hockey game and a women's curling match.

The hockey game was between China and Russia. We wound up getting there right after the first period ended just due to the transportation. Oh, and by the way, the public transportation was amazing. They did a phenomenal job shuffling around so many people. It was actually really incredibly efficient, we were just the ones that were running a little late. Anybus, we get there and get in our seats to settle in for some hockey action. It was a really good game, which ended with a score of 2 to 1, Russia. Two Chinese girls got thrown down, one limped off the ice and the other had to be half carried....she hit the wall pretty hard. That said, checking is not allowed in women's hockey, news to me. (Checking = throwing yourself into your opponent, basically.) The Russian's weren't messing around though! Also noteworthy at the game, when they had the clock stopped and played music, at one point they played Lady Gaga, which made me totally happy. BUT the best part ever, when they played the YMCA at the break between the second and third period. The volunteers that were helping seat people were down in front of the stands demonstrating to those who might not understand what the heck was going on. It was...truly a hilarious and awesome time. So I got to do the YMCA with thousands of my closest friends. :D There were also some China fans who were chanting "CHINA!" to the tune of the Imperial Death March from Star Wars, which I of course thought was hilarious as well. In case you're unfamiliar, here is a little sound bite for you:

It went something like "Chi-chi-chi-chi...chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-NA!" Yeah, just imagine that if you can, lol.

Oh, and also, after the game when we were walking back to the bus, we were behind a Chinese mother and her little boy, probably about 6 or 7. The little boy was singing what I imagine to be some traditional Chinese song, it sounded very lullaby-esque. Whatever it was, it was SO cute. He was just singing quietly the entire time we were walking back, and I just had to smile.

I realize that I didn't say much about the actual game, but it was the whole experience that was great. I don't know a ton about hockey, just that it's fun to watch. The crowd was great and really supportive of both teams. And I think another cool thing too was actually being back at home and watching the USA/Canada game and going "I was RIGHT THERE a week ago! Wow..." Crazy. Just crazy I tell you.

Stay tuned for the curling match recap coming soon! (and by soon I mean this week...and not, you know, sometime in the indefinite future. Heh.)

Me at the arena after the game. You can see the flags they had hanging up showing the teams and the rings on the railing I'm standing by. :) Woot!

Monday Mingle!

2010-03-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Once again I will welcome another week with Jen@EightyMPHmom's Monday Mingle! On time this time too, woot! Oh, and please ignore my disheveled appearance, I had gone for a speed walk beforehand and didn't bother to pretty myself up before I recorded the video. You'll still love me right? ...right?
Anywho, the video password is, as always: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle March 8 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Olympic Escapes: Pre-Vancouver

2010-03-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

So, before I get into my post today, I just want to say I give all of you props that hold full time jobs, have kids, or otherwise have real, busy lives and still blog daily. I strive to be as awesome as you. *hat tip*

Alrighty! So. My Olympic adventure began several months prior. And also with a bit of misinformation. So, as you all may know by now, they were last month. Well, before I saw any advertisements, I had text and verbal confirmation that we were going in January. I was all in a fluster because I had't gotten my passport yet, and I had gotten time off from work, yadda yadda yadda.... Three days before I thought we were leaving, I saw a commercial. February? Well....don't I feel like an over-eager idiot.

Fast forward a month. NOW I am for real ready, and getting excited all over again. This was such a much-needed break for me. We wound up staying in Seattle for a couple days prior to heading up to Vancouver. We happened to be there for Ash Wednesday, which was perfect, cause there's amazing seafood everywhere. For those not familiar, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, where you fast and give up some luxury in order to re-examine your faith. During this religious season, meat (excluding seafood) is not allowed on Ash Wednesday or throughout the Fridays until Lent is over. So you can see where being in Seattle was beneficial lol. We went to church at a beautiful cathedral in downtown, and ate at Ivar's along the pier. I had some great halibut tacos (though, to be quite honest, I think mine are better. Sorry Ivar's!), and we wandered around Pike's place for a while before heading back to the hotel. We also did a visit to the Space Needle and IKEA (which really deserves it's own post, but for a very accurate representation of what IKEA is like, go read this post from Greg @ Telling Dad. He's hit the nail on the head.). I did purchase a little moose for my friend Allison at IKEA because I thought she'd appreciate it, and let me tell you, I think I win for smallest, cheapest purchase there ever.

We really just kind of puttered around the city, biding our time until we headed up to Vancouver. Seattle, I love you, but little did I know what was waiting for me!

Some photos from our Seattle time:

Me getting in touch with my inner (and outer) child at IKEA

My little ducky (who always travels with me) at the top of the Space Needle

....the Space Needle

Post Alley at night. This is where the infamous chewing gum wall is located. :)

Me adding to the wall. :) If you guys have never heard of this, you should google it. It's pretty cool. Here's an article to start you out.

A Ninja Turtle made from chewing gum! Props to you, person that made this! This was awesome.

Monday Mingle!

2010-02-28T22:46:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! I'm back after my two week hiatus! Exciting stuff ahead though (at least I hope it's exciting....I was excited) so stay tuned. It's Monday Mingle time now though, so pop on over to EightyMPHmom and visit Jen and the rest of the mingle folks! I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance for how long mine is...I just got really excited. :) Password as always, is: misadventure. Enjoy! (And thank you Vimeo for choosing a frame in which I look like I'm about to sneeze. That's so attractive. *eye roll*)

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Why My Life Rocks Right Now

2010-02-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Alright. So as I'm sure you all realize by now from reading my incessant whining less upbeat posts, I've had a few rough patches over the last year. Well not right now my friends. Not.now.

Reason #1
I'm an avid fan of Project Runway. LOVE me some PR. Last week they had the Campbell Soup aDress Your Heart challenge (and yes, the "a" is little...I'm not just dumb) and had some really cute dresses. Well, I went to go see how much they were selling the limited run of the winning dress for, and saw they were auctioning off the rest as well. ... I totally WON ONE! The one I really liked too, AND a total bonus, it'll probably fit me just fine. Maybe a little alteration needed, but it's not a size 4, and neither am I. :) So in 4 to 6 weeks this is going to arrive at my door:

*shoes and attitude not included*

I just loved it. I think it's so retro and cute. :) Can't wait to see it in person! And for the record, this woman totally rocked the dress, and part of me is sad that the participants didn't get to keep the dresses made for them. But I'll wear it proudly!

Reason #2
So I've always wanted to participate in one of those murder mystery parties. I think it would be so much fun. My inner Harriet the Spy really wants the chance to solve a mystery. Well. Come to find out my town does a city-wide murder mystery every year, and the local businesses who want to participate get to have one employee represent them as a suspect. Guess who got to represent this year? Yup, I did! AND, guess who was the killer? Yup, ME! Me and my "half-sister" in the game. We were the Gruesome Twosome. :) And this year the game was set in 1944, so to look the part (and have an opportunity to shamelessly post pictures of myself) I had this lovely getup:

I got everything but the hat for $22 at the thrift store. And also, I think pin curls are my new best friend. :) There is going to be a picture in the local paper of me and my "sister" handcuffed by the sheriff, lol. My mother is so proud. ;)

Reason #3
I'M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!! For not really being much of a sports fan, I live for the Olympic games. I was born during the summer games of '84 and I haven't missed watching any yet. A fact I'm quite proud of. I have always, *always* wanted to go to an Olympic games. Really, I'd like to be an athlete (feel free to laugh at me, it's ok), but just going to be part of the experience is something I've really wanted. Thanks to my good friend Autumn (*waves* Hi Autumn!), I get to go this year. Am I excited? #@$! yes I'm excited! She wound up with an extra ticket and called to ask if I wanted go. I was practically packed before she got the sentence out. I was, in fact, ready a month early (story on that some other time), so I've gotten all worked up and excited twice now, lol. You can be sure there will be TONS of pictures, and I will try to keep good notes so I can come back and tell all of you how freakin' awesome it was. Vancouver here I come!!! :D

Writer's Workshop

2010-02-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Alrighty. Like I sometimes do, I am participating in this weeks Writer's Workshop brought to you by the lovely Mama Kat. The name of the game is you choose from a list of prompts (either one, a couple, or heck, all of 'em if you're feeling ambitious) and write about it. The prompt I chose this week is:

A List of Dos and Don'ts

Do....
- make dumb jokes even if you think they aren't funny. Chances are you'll brighten someone's day. :)
- dance to the song on the radio. Especially if you're at work. (Provided you won't get reprimanded...but who would yell at you for dancing?)
- make snow angels whenever you get the chance.
- exercise. You'll feel better. (That's more to myself than anyone, lol)
- send your friends cards randomly. Everyone loves snail mail that isn't a bill!
- dress up. Just because.
- stick up for your guilty pleasures. (Ha, I should list those. But I'd like to keep you all as my friends...sooo)
- eat tomatoes with mayo on toast. Weird. But so good.
- find yourself a pair of footie pajamas. You'll feel so awesome. Mine are Cat in the Hat. :)
- have a place you go no one knows about but you.
- put your music on shuffle and see what happens.
- write a story for the sake of writing.
- go visit the friends on my blogroll! They're all amazing!

Don't....
- wear so much perfume you choke those around you. It's one thing to smell nice, it's another to asphyxiate the people you come in contact with.
- complain that necessities are so expensive, and then go to the casino/bar/arcade/what have you and spend your paycheck. That is a big shot to your credibility.
- think that just because there is snow on the ground it is an open invitation to park where/however you feel like. You are still sharing space with other people, be courteous.
- think that your small contributions to the world aren't effective. Every little bit is important.
- sneeze with a face mask on. Trust me.
- get in a shopping cart and think someone isn't going to take off pushing you on a ride of terror.
- decide that buying a bunch of new clothes and putting it on the credit card is a good idea. Eventually that card is going to want money, and that is a very, very sad day when the bad idea realization kicks in.
- be afraid to be spontaneous!
- make fun of people that can run faster than you.
- forget the little things.

This is probably the most random, spazmatic post I've written, lol. But anyway, those are my lists! (Or the start to them anyway. Oh, and by the way, spell check tried to correct spazmatic to spermatic....um, no, not what I wanted at all. Thanks but no thanks.)

Have a great day guys!

Memoir Monday: The Gulf

2010-02-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hidey ho everyone! This week I thought I'd try participating in Memoir Monday again, brought to you by my buddy Travis. This week he's doing photo memoirs! WOOT! Which makes it super-easy for me, cause I have tons of pictures. And I'm lazy. It's a win-win. So here is the picture I chose to share with you today:

I don't have some epic, exciting story really to go with it, but here's what it is. When I was on tour with Montana Rep, we went all over the country. This particular picture is from my first visit to the Gulf of Mexico. Clothes laying on the sand as I ran out and splashed in the dark ocean waters with my friends very late at night. And no, it was not skinny dipping, lol, I was under-dressed with my swimsuit, but I thought the cast-off clothing and heart in the sand was a nice picture to remind me of that evening.

Go visit Travis and check out all the other photo-memories from around the blogosphere! Happy Monday!

Photos!

2010-02-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

In my haste yesterday driving in to pay my student loans (don't you just love student loans? I just love them. They rock my face off.**) I got absolutely pulled into the moment by this landscape. It reminded me of some mystical fantasy land. I was so taken by it, in fact, that even though I was pushing getting in by closing time, I stopped on the highway to take some pictures.

It's these moments that make me glad I live where I do. How many people get to see this driving in to work? :) I hope you guys enjoyed them too!

**Please note that this whole sidenote is absolute DRIPPING with sarcasm. Loans in general are the bane of my existence.

Just another day

2010-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

And here we go again, trudging along with another week. And it has been trudging, hasn't it? Or is that just me?

Dear Mother with Both Literal and Figuratively Sticky-Fingered Children:
I am sorry for you. I am. I don't like to have to follow your children around and make sure they don't hide things in their pockets. I am even more grateful that you are very kind and understanding about this, and try your best to keep an eye on them as they run in 17 different directions and you're trying to just get what you came in for. You are a stronger woman than I. I wish you much luck.

Dear Older Gentleman with Elf Ears:
Noticing this today really made me smile. And you were so kind too. I always knew you existed. Never had a doubt.

Dear Vodka Man:
I am sorry to refer to you by that but I do not know your name. I really do enjoy when you come in. You are always so cheerful. Some folks don't feel the same, but you are always welcome to come talk to me. And your jokes today? Totally worth it. Laughed for a good 5 minutes.

Dear Fellow Who Said He Was Just Trying to Make Everyone's Day:
You did. Job well done sir! :)

To My Lovely MM ladies:
I will probably not be around until late tonight or Wednesday. Sorry! Monday and Tuesday are just horrifically long days for me. I love you all!

Monday Mingle!

2010-01-31T17:34:00.000-08:00

Whaddddaaap! It's time for Monday Mingle! The best way to start out your week! :D If you'd like to participate in Monday Mingle, hop on over to Jen @ EightyMPHmom and post a link.

Without further ado, my mingle for this week. Password as per usual, is: misadventure.

Enjoy!

MM Feb 1 from Lauren on Vimeo.

I'm a Loser

2010-01-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

....And it's totally a good thing.

I'm going to start by saying that I do not remember a time when I haven't been trying to lose weight. I've lost and gained more weight...it's just ridiculous. There was a brief period of time during high school when I was a size 10 and quite happy, but it didn't last. (Oddly enough, this was when I was working in fast food. And yes, I did eat at work, all the time. No, it doesn't make sense to me either.) But without going into the "boo hoo I've always been heavy" thing, let's just say I've just come to terms with my weight.

I wanted this year to be different. I was starting off with my resolutions trying to eat healthy and make a real effort to exercise. Not even for the weight loss, just so I would feel better. I mean really, I've felt kinda like crap for a long time now and I'm really sick of it. My sleeping pattern was awful, I always had heartburn, headaches, nausea, blurred vision....you name it. I have been checked out by multiple doctors on different occasions and have been assured there is nothing seriously wrong with me - much to both my relief and aggravation. Aggravation only because if they knew there was something wrong, it can be fixed. I want to be fixed. Almost every one of them told me it was most likely due to stress, and that I just need to find a better balance. (All but one, who told me just by looking at me that I was - without a doubt - pregnant. Yeah. You can imagine that went over well with me. I did not give him a kind review.) Now, as nice as it is that "I'm only stressed," it's not the easiest thing in the world to deal with. I mean, if you could just wake up in the morning and go, "You know, I don't think I'll be stressed today" everyone's life would be dramatically different. And I tried. Lord knows I've tried, and keep trying.

But this month...this month I'm actually seeing progress. For the first time in a long time. At the beginning of this month, my sleep was still pretty much a mess, waking up every few hours, and I had fairly frequent reflux (or as I affectionately call it, The Breath of Fire). I also took body measurements and weighed myself, so I would know what I was dealing with. Well, I am happy and proud to report that this month I've lost close to 5 pounds (2.5 of that in the last week!), lost an inch from my waist and an inch and a half from both my hips and bust. My sleep has been much better, even sleeping through the whole night the last few days. I don't think I've had reflux in over two weeks.

I'm so excited. Measurable progress. Motivation to keep going. My little victories.

Wouldn't it just make sense?

2010-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! No mingle this week, sorry. :( I've had the busiest last two days, you don't even know. You know why you don't know? Cause I haven't blogged in ages. I'm starting to get really bad about that. I refuse to slide back into not posting for weeks. REFUSE! But yeah, the last couple days I've been at both my jobs, which makes for 10 to 13 hour days. And after that? I don't want to do anything but visit with Ben & Jerry and then go to bed.
Anywork, here's my little tidbit for you today.
Ok, so in this day and age we as a people are becoming more and more health conscience. Companies are starting to seek out better and more natural ingredients. You can find "New! 100% Natural" and "Organic Ingredients!" labels popping up all over the place. Now, I think this is fabulous. I'm all about eating better. However, I have two questions.

1) What *exactly* were you using to begin with?
and
2) If your product is improved, and, by your pronunciation "the same but better," WHY then do you not stop making the old product with whatever it is you were using and just make the "newer and better" version?

Seriously. I mean, wouldn't that make sense? Item A and Item B are the same. They look the same, they taste the same, they smell the same. Except Item B is made of better stuff and is better for you. Why even bother with Item A? From what I can tell, all you're doing is doubling your production cost and promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.

So I ask you. What do you think? Can you, blogland, shed some light on this for me? What are your thoughts?

A Little Promotion

2010-01-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

I decided after listening to a couple songs on repeat last night that I should share them with you all.

The first is a song I've been hearing on the radio and I kept saying, "I HAVE to find this!" Cause I would just head bop along and be all happy and content when it was playing. Turns out, this song is by Eric Hutchinson and it is called "Rock and Roll." You'll love it. Promise.

The second song is my *favorite* song by Owl City called "Hot Air Balloon." I can't seem to find a "real" version of the video, so I'm going to post my favorite homemade video that I found.

Also, I would like to give some love to my friend Jess' new blog. She's branched off and started one called "Jess of All Trades" that encompasses more of the art and writing part of her life. Go say hello would ya? :)

I might post more favorite things as I find them, but I these are my current loves. Enjoy!

Cooking with a Vengence

2010-01-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

So I've been a little stuck. For quite some time now actually. My Muse has up and left me and I'm rather miffed about it. I think I've even written about this before, I have been in a rut for quite a while. I think I'm just trying to force creativity, and I know very well it's not going to happen - or be very good - if I do that. So while I wait for my Muse to come back, I decided I would Google creative writing prompts for some blog fodder. The one I have chosen today? What would you cook for an enemy.

Oh. BOY.

There are a couple different ways to go about this really. You could of course serve them awful, bland, tasteless food. Cause clearly if they're your enemy you don't like them, and why serve them anything but the worst, right? Reasonable. However, I don't think that's the way I would go. Nope, I'd make them good food. Maybe even their favorite food. Do something fancy and delicious. The same thing I would serve my best friends. Why might I do this you ask? Why waste my time and my energy and delicious ingredients on someone I hate? Because they wouldn't expect it. Play the mind game with them. The whole time they're eating I want them to wonder why I would possibly serve them such good food. Did I spit in it? Did I poison it? What did I do to it? The answer of course is nothing. Just serve a good dinner to the best of my ability. Whatever mental questioning they would be doing is far more than I could ever do to the food I made for them. Tricksy huh? :)

That is not to say that I would ever skimp on food I made for my friends. I of course try to make only the best when I cook for those I love. But that's the difference. The food I make for friends I make with love, and the food I would make for an enemy I would definitely not. Has anyone seen Simply Irresistible? I fully believe that your feelings go into your cooking. I would like to actually test this theory sometime, making the same dish once when I'm upset and another time when I'm in a really good mood. See if I can taste the difference. What do you think? Do you agree or do you think I'm full of hooey? ;) Discuss!

Monday Mingle!

2010-01-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

Monday Mingle time again! If you'd like to join in the fun, go visit Jen @ EightyMPHmom and link your video! Or just stop by and say hello to all the other lovely ladies and gents. :D

Passoword as always, is: misadventure.

Monday Minge Jan 18, 2010 from Lauren on Vimeo.

And the link I mentioned in the video, the Pound for Pound Challenge! Go and check it out!

Mid-month checkin

2010-01-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that I'm...well...happy! Still a little irritated some days, but overall I am in a much better place than I was a couple months ago. I am taking charge of my life - finally - and I'm glad. I've been working out (almost) regularly, even though some days are not the Shred. I've been eating much better too. (And eating BREAKFAST. OMG. Why didn't someone tell me the reason I felt like I got hit by a train was because I wasn't eating breakfast? Criminey. Makes all the difference in the world.) AND. Now, this is the best part for me really. AND, I even have a POSITIVE bank balance! Whoo hoo! *does a happy dance* I even deposited some in savings like a good girl. I've had to make it a game for myself. I call it "Watch the Numbers Grow So You Can Move Away From Home." :D The good news is, that seems to be working for me, lol. And the really nice thing is that with my two jobs I get paid every week, and I'm being kept busy for a large part of that week by work, so in theory I should be making it faster than I spend it. In theory. Man, I hate that phrase. It always messes everything up. But not this time! Ha HA! *hands on hips in defiant pose*

I can only hope that the New Year's momentum keeps up!

Monday Mingle 2010 kickoff!

2010-01-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

I'm baaaaaack........

Guess what time it is? If you said Monday Mingle time, you would be correct! Yeah! Welcome to my first mingle of the new year! :) Password as usual, is: misadventure.

Untitled from Lauren on Vimeo.

Things

2010-01-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. I've been really boring lately. Truth is, I'm not much more exciting in Real Life. Just been working, coming home, eating, and going to bed. Whoo hoo eh? Anywho, here's a brief list of my current interests.

Things I am loving right now:
The Tudors
Owl City
My will power this week (I've spent NO MONEY this week! NONE! :D )
My job transfer prospects
The random phone calls from my far-away friends
The fact I actually picked up my guitar and "played" it (two chords, whoo!)
This video! The last couple minutes are the best...OMG...so cute. :D

**ADDENDUM**
I'm adding Travis and his blog to the "Loving it" list. Cause he whined at me and needed an ego boost. But mostly because he's hilarious and you should check him out. (He said he'd try the standup comic thing when he reached 200 followers, so go show some love and tell him I sent ya!)

Things I am not really loving right now:
Banks in general
How much in debt I am
My hellatious sleeping pattern
The absolutely bitter cold (although the sun is a bonus, and thank you, Sun, for being so bright even when the temperature outside immediately freezes my nosehairs.)
My lack of fitness motivation (yell at me people. I need it.)

An actual update to come this weekend! Maybe even a vlog! Whoo! :D

A New Year, the Same Old Changes

2010-01-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

Hello all!
Keeping in the traditions that have gone on so long before me, I am going to set forth some New Years Resolutions. Upon looking back at my blog from this time last year I realize I didn't actually make any. Boo me! I think I was just so wrapped up in being all sad about my situation that I didn't think it would get any better. *in best emo voice* "No one understands me...." ;)
ANYwho, not this year. This year is a time for some serious changes. And by that I mean the same basic stuff I try to do every year and fail epically at. But this time it's gonna happen. Srsly.

This year I will try to:
Make myself eat better and exercise more. Like the whole rest of the nation is trying to do again too. But I have two big goal rewards. One, a pair of Silvers. Two, a bikini. For the first time in my life. I would really love that.
Actually SAVE my money! After looking at my finances, I've officially cut myself off of excess spending. Now, let me just state that in my current Goals of Things to Save For lies a Wii Fit. I really, *really*, REALLY want one. So all that other crap I don't need? Yep. Not gettin it. I'm saving for not only a Wii, but an apartment as well. And yes, that is my number one priority. ;)
To get back into blogging more regularly. I was doing so well. And then...I wasn't. Sorry ya'll. But thanks for stickin by me anyway. :)
On a similar note, try to keep in touch with folks a little more as well. In this day and age there is really no reason I shouldn't be able to keep in touch with my friends more often. I'm just a slacker really, is what it comes down to.
Get serious about this craft business I want. I'm never going to make money at it if I just whine about it. If I made stuff to sell half as often as I whined, I'd be rich by now. I need to GET ON IT.
Learn to play my guitar. It is beautiful and cost me a pretty penny. It needs to not collect dust. Plus, I want to be a rockstar.

Those are my major New Years goals this year. I'm off to a good start, hopefully I'll keep it up!

Body vs. Mind

2009-12-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

Stealing another idea from Travis, I'm going to post a conversation between my mind and my body, in accordance to one of my New Years Resolutions.

Mind: Hello?

Body: *snores*

M: Hellllllooooooo

B: *snores*

M: HEY!!!

B: *abruptly stops snoring and jolts* WHA...?!?

M: Hey, I need to talk to you.

B: Couldn't it have waited until I was done with my nap?

M: No, it couldn't. I'm not waiting until I'm senile to talk to you.

B: Rude. Fine then. What's so important you had to wake me up?

M: We're going on a new exercise routine this year.

B: You woke me up for that? You say that every year. I'm going back to sleep.

M: HEY! Don't even. No, for real we're doing it this time.

B: I'll believe it when I see it. So what's this "new exercise program" you're on about?

M: You know that 30 Day Shred DVD? We're doing that twice a day, every day.

B: Are you CRAZY?!? You're trying to kill me aren't you?!? AREN'T YOU?!?

M: Oh relax you big baby, I'm doing no such thing. We're going to do this along with Travis, so you won't be a whiney baby all by yourself.

B: Travis?

M: Yeah, you know, over at I Like to Fish.

B: Oh yeah! Funny dude. I like him.

M: I concur. But he's doing it too. And you should be thankful. HE'S doing a calorie cut like the year end clearance sale at Macy's. We're not going that extreme.

B: Oh yeah?

M: Yeah. Like 800 cals a day.

B: Are you for real?! I don't believe that!

M: Truf.

B: Naw. No way. I'mma go ask him.

M: Hey! Wait..where... *sigh*

B: Hey, Travis, this crazy mind says you're gonna go on some big diet thing. That true?

And be sure to stay tuned folks, you'll want to see what Travis has to say about this whole thing, I can guarantee it!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year! :D

Jesus in the headlights

2009-12-28T22:48:00.000-08:00

Hi all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas or Hannukah or whatever it is you do for the holidays! And I also hope everyone has fabulous New Year's plans as well!
Yeah, I know, the title of this post sounds like some country song about finding faith in yourself on the open road. Well, there's none of that here. The country song bit, not the other bit. :) I know I still have the final installment of the journey to finish, but I just wanted to do a little bloglette today.

This time of year, I do a lot of driving in the dark. It's dark when I get up for work some mornings, it's dark when I come home in the evenings. It's also really - REALLY - cold. The mix of these two things makes for some interesting driving conditions.

This morning as I was heading into work, it was dark and cold as usual. A fog had settled in the valley, sort of making it look all mysterious and magical and other-worldly. There wasn't much traffic on the road at the hour I was driving in, and the oncoming car was few and far between. Now, I don't know if any of you have driven in the fog, in the dark, in the cold, but I'll tell ya, when you're cruising along in a foggy sea of nothingness and then around the corner comes another car, their headlights look like you're driving straight to The Light at the End of the Tunnel. Hence the post title. For real though, the light catches on all the crystalline fog particles and creates a giant halo that mostly blocks out any semblance of a car shape, and just becomes this glowing orb with a bright white center coming at you rather quickly. I find it both beautiful and slightly disconcerting, only because I can see nothing else until the car passes. Like say, a deer. Which leads me to my next driving observation.

I am a lucky girl. I've not actually hit a live deer in my time that I've been driving. Notice I said live. I have, however, run over two - very recently - previously run over deer. One caused a lot of damage and my car to need a new engine. The other simply left some...er...jerky...on my undercarriage. After these instances, I am sometimes acutely aware of things in the road. That said, I will tell about what I saw this evening. I was driving home from my friend's house on the highway, cruising along, doing my thing. I saw some seemingly fresh skid marks on the road, so I slowed down a little, just in case there were animals or remnants thereof still about. And then I passed a fairly large poof of smoke on the side of the road, which I thought was odd, because there was nothing around that would make such a large poof. Whatever. So I keep on down the road, and probably about two miles later, I started to see the very familiar dark lump appear near the side of my lane. There's no other traffic, so I slow way down. Sure enough, another poor Bambi had met its fate with a fender not too long ago. This was not the unusual part folks. I know it had happened really recently because there was a giant poof of smoke coming out of the poor deer. (Poor deer...dear...ha...k. sorry. *ahem*) It's so cold and the body was still warm, so it was actually creating steam, like when you can see your breath. I can only assume this is what I passed not too long before, since it was a similar-looking cloud. It was really eerie though. I kinda thought it looked like the spirt was leaving the body and heading toward the sky....but then again, I'm just weird like that. Creepy and yet serene, those deer. So I made a silent nod to the animal as I skirted it, and headed on home. Funny the things that make you think eh?

Epic Travel Part 2: The Flatlands...and Travis!

2009-12-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys, I've had some internet malfunctions the last few days, so thanks for standing by. Last we left our story we were leaving the Arctic Tundra...

Our exit from Colorado was lovely. We had stayed with Jess' friend as I said, who has a very nice house in an adorable little neighborhood. When we left the sun was rising over the mountains and bouncing off the houses across the street...it was all very poetic. Though much warmer than the previous evening, there was still quite a lot of snow left on the roads that weren't main thoroughfares. As we were turning from our last side road onto the highway, Jess was stopped at a stoplight...on a slight hill. The light turns green, she hits the gas, and we spin. Try as we might there was no getting around that one either, luckily we had patient folks behind us. So when the light turned red again, Jess got out, ran to the back of the car, I jump out, and start to run round to the driver's side, and promptly fall flat on my face. Sneakers + slick snow + running = comedic fall. After I managed to get into the driver's seat and the light turned, a little push got us onto the nice paved surface and Jess jumped back into the car. Impromptu Chinese Fire Drill - check! After that little escapade we decided to go hunt down some coffee. This would be a good time to mention that Jess' GPS (whom is called Mandy...at least by the name of the voice that it's set to) likes to take the scenic routes sometimes. She tells us there is a Starbucks nearby, and we follow her directions, which takes us off the interstate, through a residential neighborhood, across a shopping center, and into a small corner where there is, indeed a Starbucks. We realize after we got there we could have made the journey with one (maybe two) left turns instead. But hey, we made it right?
All hyped up with caffiene, we are now officially ready to head out for the day.
Our drive through the rest of Colorado and Kansas was fairly uneventful. We did make a pit stop to The Mall in Hays, KS (and yes, it's called "The Mall," which is why I capitalized it), where we grabbed some egg rolls and rangoons and went on our merry way. We arrived at Jess' aunt's house later that evening where we feasted on leftover quesadias and chips and salsa. As nice as the house was that we stayed at the night before, this was really, *really* nice, and her aunt is the sweetest person ever.
After a very restful night of sleep, we got up and got ready to head out for the day. Jess' cousins came over in the morning to visit, who are ages 15 months and Brand New. And they are SO CUTE. So we had full breakfast, played with the kids, and then set out on our trek to Tennessee. About three hours down the way we were passing through Travis' neck of the woods, so I coordinated with him and The Missus to have lunch! As I'm sure you've read on his blog, we tucked in at the local IHOP and had some food and good conversation. And yes, he is just as funny in real life. :) Unfortunately we couldn't stay very long because we had such a long way to go, but it was very enjoyable pit stop. Thanks guys!
We then motored on through the rest of Oklahoma (...where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, and the wavin' wheat can sure smell swee...*ahem* sorry.) and Arkansas to get to Nashville. We wound up getting in pretty late, but the hotel was lovely and we settled in with an episode of Craig Ferguson and then crashed. I do have to mention the hilarious gas station attendant we met in Arkansas. I was waiting for Jess and buying a pack of gum, and she says to me, "So, cold enough for you outside?" And I said, "Oh, we're driving from Montana, this is much better than what we left. It was negative 10 a couple days ago." And her eyes get the size of saucers and she says, "Fo' REAL?!?" I wish I could put intonation into that...cause that's really what made it. I've also taken it and started saying it in my everyday conversations, so thank you BP lady!
That concludes the Flatlands portion of our journey. Stay tuned for the final installment, Epic Travel Part 3: The East!

Oh Kansas.... Nothing but flatness and hay....

....and giant, white, balls....?

Yay! Blog buddy! :D

The polar bear cookie I bought from Starbucks meets an unfortunate end. You might say he became a "molar" bear....*snort*

Epic Travel Part 1: The Arctic Tundra

2009-12-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

Last monday my friend Jess and I headed out to North Carolina. We were doing a road trip since she was moving and sharing in the driving. It promised to be an adventure.

It didn't disappoint.

Our first day wasn't much of a day, for me at least. I mean, by the time Jess came through to pick me up she had already been driving 7 hours, which is a full driving day in itself, but we needed to make it to Sheridan, WY which was at least another 5 from where she picked me up. We also stopped to have dinner with a friend of ours about an hour down the road, so that broke things up nicely as well.

I will tell you, there's a reason that I named this part of the journey The Arctic Tundra. It is COLD in Montana. One might even say frigid. I believe when Jess picked me up, which was right after lunch and thus still in the warmest part of the day, it was -2. Yeah. I know.

There was all sorts of snow hanging around the side of the road and sidewalks. The first adventure with which came the moment I got behind the wheel. Of course. It was after dinner and we were needing to get on the road so we could get to Wyoming. So I hop in the driver's seat, put it in reverse, back up, put it in drive and......spin. I do short little bursts of pushing on the gas pedal. Spin. Put it in reverse. Spin. Drive.....I think you can tell where this is going. By now I have dug us a nice little cradle that Jewel (the car) was quite content to stay in. We had no choice. Jess got out and we had to push the car. Oi. The roads to Sheridan weren't terrible, but there were a couple spots that had snow and ice. Get to our hotel, check in, try to warm up, go to bed.

Day two. We went to grab coffee and breakfast at the complimentary buffet in the morning, which was hosted by a very awkwardly chatty but very nice lady. While I was making my waffle, I learned that her brother and his wife were out of town in Vegas at a hotel conference and that she and the other gal at the desk were just holding down the fort until they got back. *awkward chuckle, sip of coffee* And that oh by the way she didn't drink coffee herself but the guys that came through earlier said that is was good and she hoped I thought it was alright because she made it. *confirmation that the coffee was, indeed, ok and more awkward chuckling....come on waffle* DING. Right! Well, good to talk to you, thanks for breakfast, thestaywasgreatwehavetogohaveagoodday *door close* She literally talked to us until the door shut. Like I said, really chatty but nice. Anychatter, back on the road.

Luckily the roads were dry, but there was blowing snow that made the day's trip a little more difficult. Especially when a car (or heavens, a semi) passed in the other lane. Whiteout! So yeah, that was fun.

You'll see what we had the pleasure of driving through at the end of this post. The whole state of Wyoming was under a blanket it seemed. It was the same intensity of grey from the time the sun came up until it went down. Just grey. No mountains, nothing. it was like driving on a blank canvas.

Then enter sunny Colorado! Finally! Sunshine! (Mostly) clear roads! Above zero temperatures! Oh Colorado, you were wonderful. We stopped in the amazingly awesome town of Fort Collins, which is a favorite of both of Jess and I. For those of you who don't know why this town is so special, in addition to just being welcoming and having a great downlown, it is also the home of New Belgium Brewing Company. Which I heart. If you get New Belgium beers in your area and aren't familiar with them, you really should be. ;) We stopped at the brewery for a bit, and Jess was kinda enough to let me drive that morning so I could drink beer and not have to drive afterward. Thanks Jess! I bought a zip up hoodie to take with me on the rest of out travels, and also met a nice, if not slightly intoxicated and chatty fellow who put his phone number in my back pocket on the way out. (Which, if you're reading this dude, I mean you no disservice here. You were great to talk with, but I don't think I'll be using the number. Thank you though for making me feel awesome!) After we had or fill, (or I had mine, rahter) we drove the extra hour and some to Denver to Jess' friend's house and also to have dinner with our friend Greg. Which of course I did NOT get pictures of, because that was an actual event with actual people and not just landscape rolling by.... stupid. Anywho, Greg suggested we go to the Old Mill brewpub, and an excellent suggestion it was. I had an amazing burger and a pretty freaking stellar coconut porter. YUM.

And so ended our journey through the tundra. Stay tuned for Epic Travel Part 2: The Flatlands!

And as promised, some photos of what we were dealing with....

We thought this was kinda cool. It was some little ol' town we passed through at night on the first day, but doesn't it look like something from a sci-fi movie?

A little look at our road conditions through Wyoming....

*sings* Sun, sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me! *pause* No really, could ya?

Me outside the Happiest Place on Earth. (No silly, not Disneyland. New Belgium Brewing of course!)

Jess and I having a delightful afternoon at the New Belgium Brewery bar. Our randomly-found friend offered to take a photo for us! And that pair of arms with the menu on the side was the other friend helping to "get the light right." :)

Letters to the People

2009-12-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

I'm totally stealing this idea from Travis, because I like to do it too. But I'm giving him credit because he actually used it on his blog first. :) These are just some letters to folks I've run into lately. Enjoy.

Dear Little Runway Man Who Waved at Me from the Plane:

That really sort of made my day. I didn’t think anyone would notice. Thank you!

Dear People Who Are Obnoxiously into Decorating for Christmas:

I have a new appreciation for you now that I have flown closer to Christmas time. Your homes are absolutely beautiful from the sky. Keep it up.

Dear Flirtatious Men Across the Country:

I love you. Thank you for making me feel beautiful.

Dear Airline Attendants that have Helped Me Today:

You guys have been phenomenal. And hilarious. It’s really helped out with the rest of the delays and gate mix up messes. Thank you.

Dear Denver Airport:

Thank you for having a New Belgium Hub Pub. You. Are. The. BEST. <3

Dear Little Older Lady at Quizno's:

Thank you for being so cheerful and telling me that I need jalepenos on my sandwich because every woman needs some spice in her life. Amen sista. Amen.

Dear Girl That I Ran Into Three Times Because We Were Both Lost and Who Wound Up Sitting Next to Me on Our Flight:

You are a kind spirit. I wish you much luck in your future teaching career and I hope you got back to Green Bay safe and sound.

Dear Man Who Sat Next to Me Going to Denver:

You helped me feel safe and relaxed on the longest leg of my flight. Thank you. I hope you have a restful two days and maybe even a super-speedy next job in NC so you can be home for Christmas.

Dear Man Who Sat Next to Me on Our First Flight:

Thank you for not giving me a strange look when I jumped ten feet because the DING! of the seat belt sign scared me. Thank you even more for jumping yourself the second time and then laughing and saying that it got you too. You made me feel like much less of an idiot. :)

Last Monday Mingle of 2009!

2009-12-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! This will be the last Monday Mingle of 2009! Due to the business of the holidays and whatnot Jen decided it would probably be best to wait to pick it up again after the New Year. So that gives all of you who have been thinking about it time to get your poop in a group. :)

Anyway, here you go! Password as always, is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle Dec. 14 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Made it!

2009-12-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, this week was my road trip week. No I haven't forgotten to blog. We've had long days and I've been tired. I just wanted to let everyone know that we have reached our destination safe and sound, and in two days I will be on my way back home to cold, windy Montana with plenty of time (and layovers) to start a proper blogging of our adventure.

Oh. And just so ya'll know, we did stop and meet Travis and The Missus in Oklahoma. Yeah, you should be jealous. ;)

Dear Santa

2009-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

I have been a (relatively) good girl this year. I would love the following items for Christmas:

A new iTrip for my iPod. Mine is starting to fuzz out on me, and I am tired of my jams being interrupted by the Christian Christmas radio station. And while it makes for amusing lyrics such as "I see you standing there with your hand on your *fuzz* Christmas tree...." I would rather rock out uninterrupted.
New headphones from Skullcandy. I <3 the ones I have now, but the fuzz on the earpieces is starting to fall off because I have worn them so much over the last 4 years. Yes, I know, I could send them in and get a replacement, but I love them so and they don't make the same pair anymore. Please don't make me part with them.
A Flip camera. I would really love to be able to take video without having to tote my laptop around. So much great stuff happens when I am away from my computer, I need a way to record it! Also, it would be very handy for Monday Mingles. :)
If not the Flip, then a spare camera cord. I am FOREVER looking for the blessed thing, and it makes it very difficult to upload pictures without it. (I find that this is a great case for getting me the Flip instead....since it's built in and all. And I'm very good about not losing my camera.)
A pony. Ok, not really. But everyone always asks for a pony. I'm still not really sure why, but feel free to leave this one out.

That's about it. There's a lot of stuff I want, but those are the big things. If you could just leave them by the tree, I'll have the cookies and milk in the usual drop off point. Just give a knock when you leave. Plzkthnx. :)

Love,
Lauren

Monday Mingle!

2009-12-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

See? I told you I'd get my mingle up. :) Go visit Jen @ EightyMPHmom to see the rest of the awesome mingling peeps.
My hair is a mess and I may be offering redundant information....it was late. But I'm here! Whoo! Password as always, is: misadventure.

Monday Mingle Dec. 7 from Lauren on Vimeo.

Packin' up, gettin' ready

2009-12-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

I realize this is where I would normally have a Monday Mingle post. Well....I haven't done one yet. I am about to, I promise. But I wanted to post a little something until then. I feel like I've been stressing out too much over my blog lately. I mean, I am SO happy that I have the followers I do. Really truly, I love all of ya. But the reason I started this blog was to just post about my thoughts and whatnot, and I think I've forgotten that. I suddenly feel pressure to be more entertaining. And as most folks will tell you, I am more so when I'm not trying. And if you guys liked reading "back in the day" I shouldn't be so stressed about changing my ways, eh? :) Anyshizzle, back to the stuff.

I'm getting ready to leave on a week long road trip with my good friend Jess. We will be driving to North Carolina, and then I'll be flying home solo. I'm REALLY excited for the first part. Really not so much for the second. I have a lot of layover time, so I'll be doing a lot of reading, making playlists, and puttering on the computer. Hopefully making some new friends too. :)

Getting ready for this and thinking about the places we'll be relative to all my friends made me realize how badly I want to go on a road trip of my own. I mean, like just go without a deadline or destination, stopping in to see all the people I love all over the country. Seeing friends I haven't seen in ages, or even those I saw last summer, or even meeting those I've only known from online. I started to think about ways to coordinate meetings of folks along the way...and then I realized that this wasn't my trip, lol. It is Jess'. And I am very happy to be sharing in it.

You should look forward to lots of pictures and hopefully entertaining posts for the week! Which reminds me, where is that dratted camera cord....

WTF Friday

2009-12-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

So in my slacker ways, I have neglected to do a WTF Friday post for last week, and am running a day late (and dollar short) for this week as well. Eh.
Let's see what I have in the ol' wtf bag for today.... *rummaging*
Looks like this is what we're going with. *drumroll*

Oh, what to say. I could tell you that this is a murder mystery about a secret sect of nuns who are up to no good. And that one of their sisters is running dangerously close to finding them out. And that for 25 cents you can immerse yourself in the tale of twisted fates.
However, I doubt you'd really be interested.
So many things went through my head as I was laughing about this title. Was it about a nun in the "closet?" Were the other sisters trying to help her kick the habit? (Sorry, bad pun there, but I had to.) Was she physically in the closet? Who put her there? Was she hiding? What from? And WHY ON EARTH would you name your book this if it was a suspense thriller?
Regardless, it does kinda make you do a double take and go, "WTF?"

Pftttt.....

2009-12-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

I think today is going to be a day of blog farts. I know I've been scarce lately. I go through phases, as anyone who has known me for a while will tell you. I guess I'm just in the ebb of my blogging at the moment.

I have been officially hired by two jobs, and I'm very, very pleased. This week marks my first full week of work in....golly, well probably 3 months? Yeah. And bonus, I even like them both. I know right? I'm still in training for one, I have one more day of that and then a real shift on Thursday. Yay!

Speaking of jobs and all that business, my friend Kate recently started a new blog Newlywed & Unemployed. If I was a good friend I would have posted about her blog a month ago, but I am a slacker. :-/ I'm sorry Kate! lol. So why don't you guys pop on over and say hello to her? :)

This last weekend I also went up to Bigfork to paint for the kids theatre. Fun times! I've never been up to Bigfork this late in the year, and it's SO cute right now. The whole town is decorated for Christmas. I got there when it was already dark, and drove straight to the shop, missing downtown. When we were on our way down to the bar, Brach told me "You've never been here for Christmas have you? Close your eyes!" So of course I did. When he said, "Open!" It was just like the picture on a Christmas card. If there had been snow, that would have just been it. Which, by the way, it did the next day. :) So yeah, had a great time this weekend. I took a couple pictures, and as soon as I find my camera cord I will show you lol. I am on a constant search for that stupid thing....

I know I mentioned a secret earlier. It's still in the works. The holiday season kinda reeks havoc on secrets, lol. Don't give up on me!

Oh, so I know that today is December 1st, and what more appropriate way to start out the month than with snow? I was up at the (butt)crack of dawn today and was shocked to open the door and find snow! Snow, wind, dark, and cold. A lot of the first two, but the last two dissipated within a couple hours. Way to go Mother Nature! You are so on it! Except next time, could you try to keep the roads clear? Plzktnx. :)

Alrighty, that's all I got in my brain right now I think. I'm working on making the blog rounds again. It's very overwhelming now with how far behind I am! lol. But I'll get there. Have a great week everyone! And Happy December! (Christmas is just around the corner!)

Monday Mingle!

2009-11-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

Oh man you guys....my mingle this week is a little delirious lol. Sorry about that. But as always Monday Mingle is hosted by the wonderful Jen @ EightyMPHmom. Go visit and have a look-see at all the awesome vlogs!
Password as always, is: misadventure. :)

Monday Mingle Nov. 30th from Lauren on Vimeo.

A Memo

2009-11-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

Dear People with Whom I Share the Road:

I understand we all have crazy days. I know I do sometimes. I know that everyone does sometimes. What I ask though, is that we try our best not to drive like complete idiots.

When I have just passed someone and have not yet slowed (i.e. am speeding) and you pass me in a flurry, I KNOW you are speeding. And going much too fast. I am not a slow driver. When you pass me like I'm standing still and barely make into your lane before you head-on with the car driving in it's own, you make me nervous. You don't have to drive like a bat out of hell to get where you are going. I'm sorry if you're running late. I know what that's like, I get it, I understand. Please don't be in that much of a hurry. You'll wind up making all of us VERY late.

For those that do the opposite. I appreciate that you are a cautious driver. In fact, I thank you for not driving with such reckless abandon. However, when you are driving 20 mph slower than the speed limit, I tend to get antsy. And please, when there are two lanes, the right lane is for you. You know that sign that says "Slower Traffic Keep Right?" You are a slower traffic. Please keep right. I would like to not feel rude when I have to pass you on the right because you are in the left lane going very slow. Also, you speedy folks that can't wait two seconds until I get a decent distance away from the car I just passed and go ahead and pass me on the right....SLOW THE CRAP DOWN. It will not hurt you to wait two seconds for me to pull into the right hand lane.

For people who decide to walk along the highway at night, when it's raining, and wear dark clothes. I'm sorry, I do not wish to hit you, but you are harder than a polar bear in a snowstorm to see and I really don't want to have vehicular manslaughter on my record thanks. I especially do not like it when you step INTO THE ROAD to try and hitchhike. You make me swerve to avoid you and then I look crazy to the on-coming traffic, whom I would also like to avoid hitting. If you plan to walk along the road at night, please at least wear something white or shiny so I can tell you are there.

Again, I know that sometimes I do not have the best road manners, but I would really appreciate if we could all try to be a little nicer on the road. Plzkthnx.

Love,
Lauren

Thanksgiving...in words and pictures

2009-11-26T23:53:00.000-08:00

Today, if you're in the ol' USA, was Thanksgiving. Turkey Day. The Day the Pants Don't Button. A homage to food, friends, and family. And a very large relative of the chicken. I cooked a large portion of the dinner this year, and I'm happy to report we have had an all round Thanksgiving WIN. Even the kids liked what we made, so score! I will now bore/tempt/torture you with pictures of food from our little feast. :)

Our turkey. Yeah, I know, it's a little fuzzy, but you can still see how awesome and golden it is. We brined it this year, and let me tell ya...they aren't kidding. This was one juicy bird.

In true pirate fashion, I made crossbones out of the drumsticks on the serving platter. ARG! Pass me leg!

This was an apple and sage sausage stuffing that I tried this year. AWE-some. Yeah. You can't really tell, but theres all sorts of goodness in there. Apples, sausage, pecans, onions....MMM.

Yummy sweet potato bake with fresh cranberries. I got this recipe from a friend last year, and it is stellar. And so easy!

Brussels sprouts. I love this things. I think I say that every time I post a picture, and I've probably posted two already, lol. For those of you that cringe, I say more for me! ;)

And our Seussian pile of mashed potatoes. It was GIANORMOUS. And so good. And totally almost gone by the end of the meal. We apparently are potato kind of people. :)

I can't even believe I didn't get a picture of my green bean casserole! It was my pride and joy. Made from scratch, as I mentioned in my mingle, and I am happy to report it turned out MUCH better than last year and I don't think I'll ever go back to cans again.

Follow all that up with pumpkin rum pie, and that was pretty much the day. We played a bunch of board games afterward, and watched "Up" (which, if you haven't GO NOW. I'll be here when you get back.) and generally had a good ol' time. I'm very thankful for all of my wonderful online friends! Love you guys! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday!

Monday Mingle!

2009-11-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey! It's that time of the week again! Go visit Jen @ EightyMPHmom to share in the fun!

This was all relationship based....so I had to get a little creative. It's a little lame, lol. I'll try to be more on my game next week. ;) Until then, password is: misadventure. Enjoy!

Monday Mingle for Nov. 23 from Lauren on Vimeo.

WTF Friday....late

2009-11-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

Geez! Where have I been?!? Well, where haven't I been, lol. I totally forgot about WTF Friday until right this second. So it's just reeeeaaaaallllly late. Sorry about that!

So since it was apparently "green week" (at least on NBC...or so the Biggest Loser told me) I present to you this:

....k? This, again, as an ad I found while I was scouring the interwebs. All I can picture in my mind is about 100 hamsters on 100 wheels generating a lot of static electricity. Does this make sense to anyone else, or am I just dumb? I mean, in all likely hood I'm probably dumb anyway, but seriously. How does one simply and cheaply make their own electricity? I kinda wish I'd have clicked the link, just to satiate my curiosity. Hamsters aside, I also get images of the giant Tesla machine from "The Prestige." And quite honestly I don't see that as being simple OR cheap. Clearly I'm lacking in creativity here. So I ask you, how would YOU make your own electricity?

When it rains...

2009-11-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

I've been really lax this week about making my blog rounds...and posting....and I apologize for that. I'll be making the rounds this weekend and getting caught up. But I have good reason!
So, as many of you know by now, I have been jobless for a bit. This has been a point of contention for me, if for no other reason that I hate not having any money. Everyone wants money from me, and I have none to give them. BOO. I figured, this would give me ample time to work on my crafts. However, if I want new supplies....nothing to buy them with. It's totally a catch 22. Anyjob, I have FINALLY gotten out of that rut! It's about time too. Man. What's funny is that one day I had no work, and over the next two days I now have THREE jobs. Three! Well, two and half. One is still pending, but is very likely. :) One is one day a week and the other two are part time, so in theory I should have a full-time between all that jazz. Oh, AND I'm going up to paint for the children's theatre the weekend after Thanksgiving, which I'll also be paid for. Craziness! Just crazy I tell you! To be honest, I'll tell you what I think is responsible for all this sudden work. These babies:

That's right. Those are my cowboy boots. Legit ones. I got these beauties on sale in a second hand shop and I *heart* them. I haven't worn them much though, and when I wore them the last two days, suddenly all this good news comes my way! Makes me never want to take them off! lol.

So yeah, things are lookin up for me! I'm really excited about this. You can look forward to posts complaining that I work too much now, instead of posts complaining that I don't work at all. And won't that just be grand? ;)

Oh...and I have a secret. But I'm not going to tell you about it yet. It's gonna be awesome. You won't want to miss it. Trust me. :D

Monday Mingle!

2009-11-15T16:49:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, it's time again for this week's Monday Mingle! Stop over at Eighty MPH Mom and say hi to Jen and all the mingle folks! Or to post one of your own. :)

So, I was all up on it and recorded my mingle early this week. And didn't notice that there was an extra question! URG! Sorry Shannon! I'll answer it next week. Promise. :)

Password as always, is: misadventure. I'll also say, this is probably the worst still pic to date. Go Vimeo!

Monday Mingle Nov. 16 from Lauren on Vimeo.

YES!

2009-11-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

OMG you guys! I totally just SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. This is usually an achievement saved for newborns, but I could not be happier or more pleased with myself. Really truly. I finally got my sleeping pattern back under control it seems. FINALLY. Jeez. After waking up at 11 pm one day, 2:30 am the next, and 5 am the next.... 8:30 has never looked so good to me. And I went to bed at 11 the night before. Heck yeah!

Sorry for the lame post, but I'm really excited. Stay tuned for later this evening when I post my Monday Mingle. It's much more entertaining, I promise. :)

(Mis)Adventures in Theatre

Monday Mingle!

iSad

A little intro

Monday Mingle!

Monday Mingle

Monday Mingle!

Monday Mingle!

Variation of MadLibs

More stuff to come

Things I'm Looking Forward To

It's like riding a bike....right?

The Smoke Out

Mythbusters!

Caffeinated and Waiting Redux

Caffeinated and Waiting

Little Victory (or The Day I Took on the Treadmill)

The Fire Alarm Hates Me

Monday Mingle!

Oh hey

Pound for Pound

Pizza Pizza!

Little Update

Cop Out

Mushroom Ravioli

Routine

A Lot of Random

Well Fine

House-sitting: OR Why My Neighbors are Awesome

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Monday Mingle!

Bloggy Bite!

Blog Snack

Writer's Workshop

Monday Mingle!

Lunch Break Blogging

A New Beginning?

Monday Mingle!

Winding down

In Limbo

Monday Mingle!

Monday Mingle!

Week One

Sooo happy....*sigh*

Monday Mingle!

Panic Mode!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Memoir Monday: That Time I Was Homeless (Kind of)

Monday Mingle! AND Memoir Monday!

Writer's Workshop

Monday Mingle!

Summer Fashion That Made Me Go "WHAT?!?"

Resolution Update

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore....

Monday Mingle!

Things That Crossed My Mind Today

Notes to the Universe

Monday Mingle!

I'm a Guest!

Olympic Escapades: Vancouver! Curling!

Another Installment of "Dear Universe"

Monday Mingle! AND Memoir Monday!

Monday Mingle!

Olympic Escapes: Pre-Vancouver

Monday Mingle!

Why My Life Rocks Right Now

Writer's Workshop

Memoir Monday: The Gulf

Photos!

Just another day

Monday Mingle!

I'm a Loser

Wouldn't it just make sense?

A Little Promotion

Cooking with a Vengence

Monday Mingle!

Mid-month checkin

Monday Mingle 2010 kickoff!

Things

Sooo happy....sigh