Tigger

Today was one of those mornings where drivers were being... well, stupid drivers. You know how it goes. When I finally got into the parking garage, I noticed that there was a line of cars because one car in particular was just sitting at the gate. They probably didn't know what they were doing, or their card wasn't working, or whatever. I didn't care. I literally said out loud "what the crap. GO!" And, finally, I think the parking attendant heard me (not really though because my windows were rolled up), because he got out of his booth and opened the gate for the car that was stalling everybody up (and, in the future, if you're in a parking garage and don't know what to do... DON'T just sit there. Take a ticket. It's not that hard).


Because I had time to sit in my car and enjoy my surroundings, I noticed that I had kitty foot prints all over the front windshield of my car. It's happened a few times before, but this time it reminded me of my family's cat back home, Tigger. I think that cat sometimes had it out for me. I love the cat, but just because she's been a part of our family since I was a kid. I'm deathly allergic to cats, so she (and her brother Bob, before he died) were strictly outdoor mouser cats. I think Tigger was born to be a house cat, because she would ALWAYS try to sneak into the house whenever anybody opened the door. I mean, who wouldn't? It was always nice and warm and welcoming inside our house. Remember when I said Tigger had it out for me? I think she knew I was allergic to her and hated cats. Maybe she wanted to win me over, but all in the wrong ways. One time, when nobody was home but my Mom, Tigger slipped into the house. Where did she run to? You guessed it. She somehow ran all the way upstairs, around the corner, down the hall, and to the farthest room down the hall -- my Mom found her sitting on my bed. On my PILLOW. I guess she loved me so much she wanted to leave behind her imprint and hairs as a present.

Now Tigger is a decade older, is missing half of her tail, and still rules our neighborhood. I'm guessing she's probably 87 in cat years by now. I'll be going home in two weekends for my little sister's High school graduation and I can't wait to say hi to Tigger (through the kitchen window, of course).

Ginger Training

I'm covering for a lady named Ginger at the end of June - she's the Managing Director's staff assistant and I get to leave my division and hold the MMD fort down while she's gone. She emails me tid-bits of info every once in a while and I finally decided to make a folder in my Inbox to hold the correspondence. I labeled it 'Ginger Training.'

After I made the folder, I glanced at the folder name and giggled to myself. Sounds like I'm in training to become a red head!

Then my thought process jumped to actual red heads and why they get such a bad rap.


I really don't understand. Some of the prettiest girls I know are red heads. Is it because they don't tan? Have freckles? If that's the case, then I guess I AM in Ginger training since I can't tan and have freckles. Sure, some red heads are homely looking. But that's definitely the case with any hair color.

Who knows, maybe I just have a soft-spot for red heads. I mean, come on. Who doesn't love the Weasleys? Or FedEx from Cheaper by the Dozen? The hilarious Emma Stone is prettier as a red head than a blonde, and I've known quite a few super cute red headed guys (remember Petey, Kate?). One of my roommates in college married a red head - his last name was Furniss and his nickname was 'Furnace' because he was so HOT (hehe, get it?).

Anywho, I'll enjoy my time Ginger Training... and, ironically enough, she is NOT a ginger. She is, in fact, blonde. :)

The Ugly American

Before I blog about my a-maz-ing trip to St Louis this past weekend, I thought I'd do a precursor blog post. A blog post about Ugly Americans. No, I'm not talking about un-attractive Americans (physically), I'm talking about Americans who don't care about other people.

People who know me well know that I hate repetitive sounds. I can't handle ticking clocks when it's quiet or I'm trying to sleep (just call me Captain Hook), people who snore, and basically anything that is annoying and repetitive - you get the picture.

There was a woman on one of my flights who fit all of my 'annoying, get the heck away from me' categories, AND she was conveniently placed right across from me (we both had aisle seats).

Let me just tell you why I labeled her an 'Ugly American.'

She snored when she slept.


Okay, I won't call somebody an 'Ugly American' just because they snore. That's something they can't help... but it certainly put her annoyance radar on the map.

This was the REAL reason she made the 'Ugly American' list:


When she woke up, not even kidding, she played bejewelled on her phone with the sound ON. If you've never played this game before, google it. Listen to the sounds it makes. Then pity me. At first, I thought maybe she was hard of hearing, or deaf. Maybe she didn't know her phone was making loud sounds. But, no. I witnessed her converse with a seat mate. She could certainly hear her phone.



Why would an adult play a game on their phone, with the sound on, in a crowded airplane? Did her parents (if she had parents) not teach her to be polite? The only reason that I can imagine her doing this, is that she is in the 'Ugly American' classification. She certainly didn't care about annoying the people around her.



Anywho, I'll end my rant about Ugly Americans. I dedicate this blog post to Mr Mitchell, my High School U.S. History teacher, who read us the Ugly American book.

Hipster 101

So, sometimes my friends and I like to talk about Hipsters. The guys and girls are attractive and way too cool, and they're all highly intimidating. Sometimes we see a new guy, think he's cute, but find out later he's a hipster (in our defense, you can't really tell when they wear Church clothes). Automatically we write him off the 'list.' Because, we like to say, "once you go hipster, you can't go back" (meaning, once a guy dates a hipster girl he wont go back to normal girls).

My co-worker sent me this video today and I wanted to cry it was so hilarious. I dedicate this video to all the normal girls in the world who want to date a hipster:

Hipster Rule Number 1: Never Try. Never put effort into anything.

(favorite quote: "okay, we're gonna need to put jeans under that skirt. And sweats over those jeans.")

Hipster Rule Number 2: Only like things ironically. Books, Movies, TV Shows, the Environment.

Hipster Rule Number 3: Never show too much enthusiasm.

Final Rule: Everything is dumb. Someone says something you don't understand? You just go "I'm over it."

Tuna-fied and Loogy-fied Fountain

If you have a sensitive stomach, look away now.

Still here?

Okay.

Let me tell you a story. A story about a certain water fountain at work that can make or break my day.

Most days it's perfectly normal. No scents or 'residue.'

(Actual Drinking Fountain)

But, on occasion, somebody in that area decides to DRAIN THEIR TUNA into that drinking fountain.

Yeah, I know. So gross. Maybe I have a sensitive nose and nobody else is bothered. But, if the scent is there, it makes me gag a little everytime I have to refill my water bottle.

Anywho, back to the story.

TODAY I experienced something even grosser than the tuna smell.

SOMEBODY (I imagine it was a man), had hacked a LOOGIE into the drinking fountain. Seriously. I tried to rinse it down by running water for a while, but nope. No success.

I think it's gone now. But I still gag a little everytime I think about it when I'm drinking my water.

Yeah, I gagged a lot today.

To make up for this nasty post, and hopefully erase the memory of the loogie from everyone's minds, I put up a picture of my Nephew Carter:

See? Don't you feel better already?

The End.

Happily Ever After, Disney Style

How can you beat a fairy tale wedding...


And death of the evil villain...

All in one weekend?

Life is goood. Real goood.

Evil Step Sisters?

While perusing a few pictures of today's nuptials between my good friends Kate and Wills, I came across this dandy of a photograph. This is a picture of Britain's Prince Andrew and his daughters: Eugenie and Beatrice.


WHAT THE heck is on their heads? Automatically I bestowed the judgment upon them that they are the evil stepsisters, or whiny cousins, or acquaintances, that you always read about in the Pride and Prejudice type books. You know the kind that I'm talking about - that are always plotting about how they can get the guy. They probably both secretly hate Kate since she got Wills.

Or, you know, I could be 100% wrong. It's hard to believe though - not just a hat rack my friends... not just a hat rack.

Besties

I am flying here next weekend:


And I couldn't be MORE EXCITED!!! Seriously, I'm so excited I can barely stand it.

WHY, do you ask, am I so excited? Well.... (drumroll).... I get to see my two favorite girls in the whole world!!!

Miss Kate Barlow and Mrs. Courtney Howell!

I've been friends with Courtney since the Winter of 2004.... and Kate since Fall of 2004 (um, I think that's right?). So it almost feels like we've been buddies forever! But now Court lives in St Louis and Kate lives in DC.... pooh.

These girls made my experience at BYU-Idaho quite the adventure, to say the least. We have so many funny stories... one of my favorites is the "to the left" story. One night we were driving back to Rexburg from Idaho Falls and we had to take a detour... long story short, we ended up getting lost (the usual when you're with me). I kept saying "um, to the left?" and we ended up going through Lewisville twice without turning around. Yup. No joke.

Seriously, so many memories..... eating popcorn chicken salads with Courtney... eating my black bean and cheese (with taco time salsa) and turkey dips with Kate... going to Comic Frenzy ('Famous').... Going to Dairy Queen and Wingers... Bowling.... getting Texano Burritos at RAMIREZ.... Rigby Lake.... fishing in the La Jolla puddles.... listening to Matt Nathanson w/Kate before he was cool.... having 'LL' time with Court (language learning time)... Kate reading parts of her English books to me... Kate reading my homework to me... (hehe)... tanning.... volleyball.... wallyball.... DOMINOS.... watching Katschke at softball.... Bishop Hart.... BEEHIVE.... Sudoku puzzles... Tuesday Devos (naptime)....

Seriously, these girls are my favorites! And I miss them like the desert misses the rain (Sting, anyone?). In fact, I miss them enough that I'm contemplating moving to DC at the end of the Summer. Imagine the ADVENTURES!! But, shhhh, don't tell anyone.

9 DAYS!!!!

KSL Headline Picture.... seriously?

Anybody else see anything wrong with this picture??

Maybe it's just me, but her fingernails DISGUST me! I probably shouldn't be so critical, but I've never been a fan of long fingernails and these might just take the cake of nastiness....

Maybe next time they should think twice about their handmodels. Just saying...

Like Aunt Like Nephew

I eat my PB&J's EXACTLY the same way. (jk)

But I sure love my PB&J's! Had one today for lunch, in fact. YUM.

Kicked Out and Liberated

Well, it finally happened. This Sunday will be my last day in the University 34th ward. The Church is getting rid of University wards and my roommates and I will be assigned to a singles ward that our house is actually assigned to (boooh). Well, actually, I'm kind of excited. It will be fun to make friends with people that actually live near our house (since, um, we live quite a ways outside the boundaries). But I'll definitely miss the 34th ward! It's been my home for the past year and eight months and I've made a lot of great friends. And, on another note, the ladies at the Church Office Building have been liberated!! We no longer have to wear nylons to work! It kind of feels like the end of the world. I never would have thought that the day would come when I wouldn't have to wear nylons to work anymore.... well, I guess, it will definitely be a sign of the last days when we're allowed to wear pants to work...