hop on the crazy train.

     I looked at the clock and it reads 10:30pm. What?! Where did the last 2 hrs go?! I got home from taking my friend Ryan out to dinner for his birthday and I was determined to get home and do homework the moment I got my pajamas on! How did the clock just fast forward to 10:30pm already? And then I recalled the last two hours...  oh dear...

     I walked in the door while on the phone with Jay who often keeps me company on my car rides, because car rides put me to sleep really really quickly. Unfortunately, this happens not only when I am riding as a passenger, but when I am sitting in the drivers seat, so Jay talks to me to keep me awake.  So, I walk in the door and immediately go upstairs to change out of my super cute, but skin tight black jeans and don my warn and comfy sweatshirt and pj pants.  Then Jay and I proceed to test whether our new cell phones can send text messages while we are talking on speaker phone. They do!  Then, we start playing angry birds on our phones while we are talking on speaker phone. Angry birds is so much fun.  I recommend the download, but I do have to warn you it will take over your life.  At this point, I finally realize we are seriously just wasting time. So we get off the phone. 

     I walk downstairs after I have put on my most comfy slippers and sit down and stare at my homework assignment. My assignment is to diagnose a skin lesion that a "Mrs P. who is 48 yrs old" has on her left cheek under her eye. The description says it's a woman who is fair skinned and has a mole that is growing and bleeds easily and blah blah blah blah blah. My eyes go cross eyed. I need a book! Duh! A book will tell me all the answers! So I go to the library. Other people call this room the "study" or the "office". I call it a library, because it is where I keep all my books.  Makes so much sense to me!  I find the book I need: Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking. I sigh... booorrrinnng.  To the left of my book is a plastic bin of blank cards. I love to send cards. Then I remember, I need to send Jay a card. He loves to receive cards! I sift through the packs of note cards and find a good one that isn't too girly.  I write him a cute note.  I sign, seal, deliver... well I don't actually deliver, just had to make reference to such a great song!



     Then I find myself sitting at the kitchen table wondering what was it I was supposed to do. Oh yeah! I went to the library for a book, not for a notecard! So I go back to the library and pick up the book. I sigh again... booooorrrrinngg! So, I pick up another note card and write a card to give to my cousin Kat who's bachelorette party is this weekend.  Then I find myself back at the kitchen table not doing my homework, but looking at Pioneer Woman's blog. The latest entry was one consisting of horse photos people sent in. So beautiful. I love horses. I wish I rode horses when I was younger. Horses are so majestic and beautiful. 

.....That is when I look at the clock. 10:30pm?!!!! 

     I am awful at concentrating and doing homework. Really really awful. Now I am tired and just want to sleep. So I have convinced myself that I am going to go to sleep and wake up early and do my homework, even though I very well know I am NOT a morning person. Maybe tomorrow will bring motivation and I will find myself at the library. The real library. The public library in a corner with headphones on, cranking out some awesome diagnoses and rationalizations as to why I think this lady has malignant melanoma.

Thanks for riding the crazy train. You may depart at this time.

Lists are easy.

Jay said I do not write in my blog anymore, which is true... because when I do blog, I end up just posting pictures. I just feel like I have been too busy to really organize thoughts in a cohesive manner that I would think others would enjoy reading. So... in a tiny effort to write... I will update you on my current situation.

Currently...

• Stressed out after filling out the next three months in school assignment deadlines. 
• The fourth quarter of my masters program just started yesterday and just looking at what lies ahead is exhausting enough for one day.
• Excited to paint pottery today. 
• Tomorrow is my friend Jess's birthday. I am taking her to paint pottery today and then out for some fun drinks and delicious food.

My pottery painting from last year... mid-paint.

• Wondering why I am awake at 4am.
• My sleep schedule is so insanely off due to working night shifts, but I like my co workers on my shift and the extra money we make working nights. So I am sticking it out until I graduate!
• Looking at a "wisteria" (shade of purple) bridesmaid dress I am wearing for my cousin's wedding in May and planning out my outfit in my head for her bachelorette party downtown Chicago this weekend.
• Loving all the new undies I bought yesterday from Victoria's Secret.
• Shopping around for a new lens for my camera!
• My tax return is pretty hefty this year, so I am excited to spend a little dough... then the rest goes to tuition... le sigh.
• Enjoying a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie from a delicious batch Jay baked for me.

so delicious.

• Playing too many games on my new Tmobile G2 Phone. I am addicted to angry birds. Make it stop.

we are in love.

• Excited about new nail polish I bought from Sephora yesterday.

• Trying to gain motivation to work out... ick.

... that is all folks!

Stopping Nowhere

Jay and I made a day trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to have lunch with one of my best friends, Laura. On our way home, the sun was starting to set, the snow was almost completely melted, and it was just perfect picture taking time. So, we stopped somewhere between Wisconsin and Illinois and took a detour.

my new favorite boots.

hi guys!

jay

middle of nowhere can be beautiful too

Roo Nee Noo

This little, red, leather bound book contains quotes of many colors.  Whenever I would hear a quote I liked in college I would write it down, email it to myself, or have a friend text it to me so I would not forget it. All those little quotes ended up in this leather bound book. I entitled it Roo Nee Noo.  I forgot about Roo Nee Noo for awhile and just found it recently. I hope to add pages of colorful quotes to this book in the near future. 

The inside cover reads: 

"If you are a dreamer, come in,

If you are a dreamer,

A wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er,

A magic bean buyer,

Come in..."

Can you name where this quote is from? :)

him

There is this really great guy who loves me. 

He is amazing.

Five Cities in Eight Days

My trip with my girlfriends was a whirlwind of crazy. I do not even know how to summarize the trip in one blog post, but I will attempt!  

Five Cities...

1) Corvallis, Oregon

2) Newport, Oregon

3) Eugene, Oregon

4) Portland, Oregon

5) Seattle Washington

Each of these places was unique, different, and wonderful.

Trip started off with mimosas at my house!

 CORVALLIS:

 Katie is from Corvallis. She works for OSU and lives in a cute little ranch with two roommates and a pup named Pacey.  We hung out and ate pizza, walked around downtown and shopped, ate at a delicious vegan restaurant, played fuzball and pool at a bar, and watched Katie and her friends play indoor soccer.

Katie's roommate's dog Pacey. Cutie.

Cartwheels in the quad of Oregon State Univ.

Peace Bro!

NEWPORT:

We decided to drive to Newport which is on the Pacific Coast, especially since some of my friends had never seen the Pacific Ocean.  We played around on the beach for awhile, then ate yummy sea food.

Being silly on the beach.

Love is all around.

Stripes in the sand.

So pretty.

Moss covered trees everywhere.

Enjoyed the nature.

Headstands in the grass.

Ate delicious crab sandwiches.

ON THE ROAD FROM NEWPORT TO EUGENE:

From Newport we drove to Eugene and the drive was gorgeous and breathtaking. We took a longer route, but the route we chose drove along the coast and we stopped at some amazing spots.

Gorgeous

Driving down the coast.

Reminds me of Ireland

Reminds me of the land before time

EUGENE:

Manda lives in Eugene. She is in school to be a Waldorf teacher.  She lives in a ranch with her roommates Eliza and Eli. We hung out and ate pasta while watching Narnia our first night, then took a drive into the mountains the next day, then out to dinner and then Manda had her friends over so we could meet all her new pals.  Some of her friends know how to fire spin so they put on a fabulous show for us. We also painted a communal painting together.

Hanging out at Manda's

Manda's friends fire spun for us

More firespinning... a flower!

How cool!

An alien!

Communal painting that I started

A couple hours and about 15 people later...

Visited the Cascades

PORTLAND: 

This city was new and interesting. I loved visiting, but it is too small for me to want to live there. If I am going to move to a big city it is going to be more like Chicago, or even Seattle would do! We had a ton of fun exploring Portland. We went to Powell's books... drank a ton of coffee at different coffee places... and ate lots of good food. We went to a movie/dinner/drinks place. Then, went out on the town at night.

Such positive graffiti!

Ate weird doughnuts from VooDoo Doughnuts. Shley's had bacon on it.

Drank 40's of High Life.

Danced at a gay bar.

Ate delicious food from the famous Portland Food carts.

Ate a nice dinner at Andina's a tapas restaurant

SEATTLE: 

Lisa and I loved Seattle. The other girls had to go home and go back to work, but Lisa and I stayed a couple extra days to visit Seattle.  Overall, we loved it there and could even move there! The music scene is great, the food scene is fabulous, the night scene was fun. We also went on a food tour, which I hope to start doing in all new cities I visit.  We liked!

Went to: Experience Music Project

Up in the Seattle Space Needle

Beautiful view from the space needle.

Did a Pike Place Food Tour... tasted about 25 different things

The famous Pike Place Fish... they threw fish for us!

We did so much in 8 days... this barely skims the surface.  All seven of us being together was definitely an experiment.  We are all so different that we were not sure how the trip would go. Bringing seven strong personalities together is bound to cause some sort of trouble, but overall, it was a success!  We had lots of laughs and got ourselves in just enough trouble to cause a ruckus.  I love my friends.  We had so much fun and made so many fun memories!  I wish I could share all the photos with you, but there are hundreds upon hundreds.