Photo Scavenger Hunt - December 2009

Well folks... it's that time again (are you sick of my photo hunts yet, or do you just love them!?)

(click on the badge to be redirected to the list of participants on Photohuntchallenges.com)

As always, I'll be filling in the pictures as I go using my Nikon D60 - it's just how I roll.  Ready for the list?

1. Holiday Lights

2. Holiday Spirit

3. A Holiday Treat

4. An Ornament

1. 5. A Gift-Wrapped Package

2. 6. A Window Display
3. 
4. 7. A Winter/Holiday Icon
5.  
6. 8. A Tree
7. 
8. 9. A Tradition - The Dice Game
9. 
10. 10.Something that says Noel
11. 
12. 11. Something Precious
13. 
14. 12. Something Peaceful
15. 
16. 13. Something Hot
17. 
18. 14. Something Cold
19. 
20. 15. Something Red
21. 
22. 16. Something Green
23. 
24. 17. Motion blur
25. 
26. 18. Black & White Photo (with selective coloring)
27. 
28. 19. Any photo using an Infrared Photography Technique (in-camera OR post-process)
29. 
30. 20. A Macro Shot

uff-da!

Interesting Point

I got this in an email several months back and have been meaning to post it since... kind of an interesting point.

JOB - URINE TEST 

(Whoever wrote this one deserves a HUGE pat on the back!)
 
Joe, the average worker says:

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their lazy butts, doing drugs, while I work . . ..

 

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check? Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all will pass it along, though . . . Something has to change in this country -- and soon!!!!! 

Little Birdy

I've worked my hours for the week, Friday is upon us, my birthday celebration is a few short hours away... how do I prep for such a eventful evening?  I get in the hot tub before I shower and do my hair and make-up.  

I'm sitting in the hot tub and see a Woodpecker, a Downy Woodpecker I think, he has made his home in the wooden frame of what used to be a big wooden swing, which happens to sit right off the patio from the hot tub.  He pops his head in and out a few times, looking right at me each time.  Then he pops out and away he goes.  A few minutes later I hear a bird call, one that sounds like a birdy in distress.  I look around and find him hopping around in the branches of a little bush/tree we have off to the side, calling his call every few seconds.  I figure this poor thing is buggin' out thinking about how close I am to his home, his nest, his family.  Little guy just wants to go home and I'm the one in his way.  

I get out of the hot tub and let the little bugger go home.  He is happy now.

Do you ever watch animals or think about how they feel when you are in 'their territory'?  Maybe something to think about next time you are in the presence of a creature, then again, maybe not.

Have a good weekend!

My 28th Year

Today I enter my 28th year of life on this planet... silly how it doesn't seem that old now that I'm here.

1 year ago today, at around 6pm, I was in a car accident.  My brand new car all smashed up :(  Something I was hoping to forget about on this day, but also something that, in some small way shape or form, has made me part of who I am today - all of the events of that day, not just the accident.

28 years ago today, at 11:57pm, I was born.  The past 27 years have also shaped who I am today.  Today, on this 28th celebration of the day I was born... I am happy.  So very happy, actually.
I'm celebrating on Friday (if you are free and local, find me on facebook and I'll give you details).  I seem to have started a tradition of sorts, a night out for Ang's birthday - FINE by me!  People look forward to it (some friends need the night out and what better excuse?), I love seeing my friends and, honestly, I love the attention of it being a night for my birthday.  I'm an attention whore, but I think hope I am not obnoxious about it.

So what will this 28th year of life bring for me?  (Good Question; maybe I should send it into CCO?)  Maybe the better way to approach this is What are my hopes for my 28th year of life? 
First and foremost, I'd like to get a start and hopefully complete the December Scavenger Hunt... I am feeling, at this point, like I may as well throw the towel in and give up.  That's not a super big deal, in the grand scheme of things though... so let's move on.

{20 minutes, of thinking, later...}

Is it horrible that I have no goals for my 28th year?  Why change something so good?  Not entirely true... I do have somethings I would like this year:

• I need to get my ass back in the gym and find a way to fully dedicate myself to it.  I hate working out, so even though I go because I need to, I would like to get to the point where I'm going because I like to.  One step at a time; I'll start by just getting the membership this year! HA.
• While it's not a personal goal, it is something I'd like to have happen... I would love for my SIL to have a healthy little baby (hopefully a boy, but I'll stick with healthy as enough).  Becoming an aunt again is exciting to me, and I can't wait to hold the little baby, cone head and all :)
• I hope that my grandma and her health recover tenfold, and that when she has to go back for this procedure, she is in and out with full success.
• Be the best girlfriend I can be to a man who is deserving of it.

Other than that... my main objective is to take life one day at a time.  Why hurry along and try to figure out what will happen?  Stop and smell the roses, take on challenges, don't worry about the future because you are probably wrong anyhow.  If only I could think like that everyday... 

I'm not where I thought I would be by age 28, but I'm happy where I am; I think that is more important than anything else.

Finally, I want to answer the questions that I asked all of you one week ago, today:
1. I don't know if I dream in color or B&W - isn't that so stupid?!  I honestly can't tell... I think it's color, but it must not be very vivid, if I can't figure it out.
2. I always get my hands wet first.  I cannot stand the feeling of rubbing soap around in my hands when they are dry.  I never even knew people did that until I started to watch other people wash their hands.  It grosses me out to even think about it!
3. I've recently learned how to laugh at myself... fully.  Obviously we all have times when it's not so easy, but really, life is too short and already stressful enough.  Sit back and laugh when you do something stupid, turns out it's not that bad!

Random v.9.18

Bullets today, since us Minnesotans have been dodging bullets on the road today... or something like that.

• I haven't started my December Scavenger Hunt yet and I'm kind of becoming uneasy about it.  I usually have a few up or, at the very least, taken by this point... I've got nothin'.  There are a a few items on the list that I'm not fully excited about (no offense Kristi!!)... B&W w/Selective Coloring and Infrared.  The selective coloring shot is exciting to think about... but I'm already feeling behind on taking the pictures when will I have the time to edit any?  As you may or may not be aware, I generally do not post-process my photos, so it's kind of hard for me to think about, especially this month.  The Infrared photo is simply mind-boggling to me; again, the time thing, not only the time to post-process, but the time to learn a new technique in Photoshop.  The end result should be pretty cool... but I just don't know how I'm going to pull it off.
  
  On top of not having the time... I think we've finally come across winter and if today is any indication of what the weather will be like in December... I'll have little to NO photos outside.  That's just depressing.

• Did you know that recycling one can (ONE CAN!!) can power a TV for 3 hours!?  That's a whole football game!  Maybe that will help motivate you to recycle or encourage others to do it.  Just sayin'.

• Here is a great idea for the holiday season... What if bill collectors (credit cards, electric, gas, water, garbage, car payments, etc.) gave everyone the month of December off of payments WITHOUT accruing more interest?!  So a month of free gas or water... or a month off of a car payment without having to worry about being behind and accruing more interest.  It'd help so many people with Christmas and it'd make those companies look so fricken good in the eyes of everyone else.
  
  
• I had a thought the other day... do you think fathers are proud of their daughters when they grow up to be sluts?  I have a friend on facebook and I often just wonder how proud her father is...

Some Random questions for you (and I expect you to answer each one!):

1. Do you dream in Color or Black & White?
2. When washing your hands; Do you get your hands wet then pump soap or do you pump soap first then get your hands wet?
3. Do you feel like you can laugh at yourself?

Stay warm America!

Good Point

It's no big secret that I've had an opinion about Favre joining the Vikings.  A thought occurred to me this morning that I want to put out there.

First, let me tell you my thoughts on Favre now, with 12 games under his belt.  So, you know I've accepted the fact that he is our QB and in all honesty, I'm glad he is.  We've had an amazing year with him in that position and, as a Vikings fan, who wouldn't want that?!  I do still think he is a bit of a prima donna - I'm starting to realize that he can't control the media and maybe he does just want to play football.  maybe.  I'm still upset that every game we win is because of Favre, or Favre this and Favre that... it's old news.  We know he's 40, we know he's a great QB, we know he breaks a new record (or 2) every game.  He absolutely aids  in the winning of games, but he doesn't win them on his own.
I say this to every person who asks me about my feelings on Favre and now I'm saying it to you....
It's week 3 in the NFL, the Vikings are playing the San Francisco 49ers, 2 seconds left in the game and the Vikes are down, we need a touchdown to win.  Favre passes 32-yards down the field to Greg Lewis, who catches the ball, gets both feet in to win the game!  Huge victory!  The announcers say "OMG he did it, Brett Favre did it!"  Excuse me?  Did Favre also run down the field and receive the ball that he just threw 32-yards?  Pretty sure Lewis had something to do with that game winning play as well.
So, I've remained very (some may say 'extremely') bitter about that the entire season, again, I'm trying to understand that it's not his fault, he doesn't write the news, he just makes it.  I'm slowly making progress... you can ask anyone who knows me well enough.

So after checking the score of last nights game (because there was no way I could stay up to watch that tortuous game) I gots to thinking (I did have a good 50 minutes in my car this morning)... since we lost, is that Favre's fault as well?  He makes the game-winning headlines; will he also make the game-losing headlines?  Is it now a 'team effort' when it's a loss or is it still Favre driving the ship?  It's a valid question... and a damn good point.  Just sayin'

That's all for now :)

Healthy Relationship

I'm happy and it feels good.  Seems now-a-days people have a lot going on and the negatives seem to be highlighted more than the positives.

It's been a whirlwind couple of years for me in relationships but I finally feel like I'm in a great place.  Why wouldn't I talk about it?

Other than blogging about my trips, I've never given much detail on my past relationships... I think most people know that I was dating someone from out of state (those that followed me on myspace know that we dated for several years), and that is really all I care to share, otherwise I would have shared more, obviously.  I also think that most of you know now that I'm in a new relationship - and if you didn't know, you need to read a bit more carefully.

Not to discredit any of my past relationships because I was happy in them; I am now in the healthiest relationship I've ever been in!  I'm very low-drama but I also need a lot of attention so it's hard for me to find a good balance; never anyone else's fault, my own issue.  In the past it's always been frustrating to me because of commitment issues, distance (long distance relationships are hard!), or something else that just wasn't working, for myself or the both of us.

It's amazing to me how relationships just fall into your lap.

It's easy to look back and say I can't believe I let myself continue in that relationship or Why did I let him treat me that way.  The one thing I've learned over the past few years is that I deserve to be treated the same way I treat someone.  I'm a good great girlfriend to have; I love completely and with my whole heart, I'm funny, I'm outgoing, I'm honest, I'm giving, I'm kind, and I honestly care about people.  I should have the same given back to me.
Those things are finally starting to come to me during the relationship, not after.  Isn't it funny how we learn and grow each day, and differently with different people around us?

One thing that is interesting to me is the whole 'relationship' aspect of it - I don't know that I've ever been in a "real" relationship.  I wrote a blog several months ago that I quickly unpublished (if you were lucky enough to read it, you may remember); it talked about how I've always been the girl that ends up in the 'friends with benefits' situation; I'm not sure I know how to be a big girl and be in a real relationship! It's fun learning though...

I'm in a good place and I've got a great guy - Its healthy and its good!

Wish List

Well, Happy December everyone!  Does anyone else feel like this year has absolutely FLOWN by?  I remember back in January/February it was soooooo cold here, below zero for years (it felt like), and because it was so cold we didn't have much snow... on top of all that it's dark for days (it felt like)... I thought I'd never make it to the end of the year.  Now, here I am in December; 15 days from my birthday (cause I don't count today) and 24 days from Christmas.  What the hell have I been doing the last 11 months?!  I'm excited to post my year end photo blog, though I fear it won't be much of me with friends/family; in the past year, with the new camera and my developing interest in photography, I've begun to slack in taking pictures of me, my friends, and my family (with the exception of Jordan).  We'll see how that turns out.

Kristi posted her Tuesday Top Ten today with the Top 10 being her Christmas List, at the end she suggested posting my own Top 10, on my own blog!  I tend to do pretty much anything Kristi suggests and it so happens that my blog subject is "Wish List", so I'm kind of stuck now...
With my Birthday and Christmas falling so close together, my list will be a Birthday/Christmas Wish List (hopefully I can come up with 10 things!); ready?

1. A Wide-Angle lens
2. Flat Screen HD TV
3. Flat screen computer monitor (yeah, I still rock a CRT, don't judge me!)
4. Diamond Earrings
5. A new hairdryer
6. New kitchen pots
7. A gallery wrap of one of my best photos
8. A Trip, to either New York City, San Fran, or somewhere warm
9. A new Vikings hoodie
10. Clothes!
11. Free Sushi for a year (The good stuff!)
12. A new point and shoot camera

Ok, so this really is a 'Wish List', as in I WISH I had this stuff, but never will - except for the hairdryer, that's obtainable.  I have a hard time thinking of things I want... well, reasonably priced things.

{If You're Interested}

Kristi is done with her favorites from the October Photo Hunt - HERE IS A LINK to all of the postings, to make it easy on you.

If you care to go look and vote for a photo or two, this link will help with that.

Short and sweet this morning - have a fantastic day!

A Small Change

Well, I didn't want to have to do this, but I've been getting some spammy type comments as of late, so I've made a small change to my comment section.
Now, upon leaving a comment you have to enter one of those little captcha code things... super lame, I know.  I really just don't want random bots leaving comments.

Also, for those of you who already have trouble leaving comments, a tip that I've learned about these codes is that sometimes it doesn't go through the first time.  So if it comes back saying it can't leave the comment, try again - your comment should still be typed in the box.

Feel free to use this as a test run of these stupid codes so you can see how they work on blogger, even if you just type "123" as your comment... I won't judge ya!  Let me know if you're having any problems with the codes, so I can play around and see if there is a different way of doing things!

Happy Weekend everyone - make it a good one!

Random - v.9.17

If you are one of those people who read my blog through a RSS feed, through Google Reader, or through email, you probably don't make it to my actual blog URL that often, unless you come to comment.  Well... about 2 weeks ago I added a badge that will be expiring today because tonight I am going to one of the most exciting things I've done in a very long time.
The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie ever... tonight there is a one night screening in theaters around the country for their 70th Anniversary and Steve and I have tickets!  I'm stoked.
Imagine, if you will, one of the best parts of the movie - Dorothy is in her house after it's just stopped spinning, everything is black and white... she walks to the door, opens it, and voilà - COLOR!  Now imagine that on a huge movie screen!  There is a good chance I'll cry while watching this tonight - I'm going to be overcome with emotion.  I can't wait.

Went to the Vikings game this past Sunday, with Steve, my brother and SIL.  I had a blast... we made it out tailgating for a little over and hour and finally made our way into the dome to watch The Vikings {obviously} destroy The Lions.  I did take some pictures, but not with my camera, so you'll have to check out my facebook page if you want to see them - I may be a bit tipsy in some of them ;)
perfect segue...
I'm quickly falling in love with Steve's camera, well maybe not his specifically but just a little point and shoot in general, mine seems to not handle dark situations very well and with advances in technology ALL THE TIME, I fear mine is quickly becoming obsolete. - I wonder if anyone out there wants to buy me a new one for Christmas?  I sure do ask my readers for a lot of material positions; don't I?  I'm sorry :(

I wish I could wear sweatpants to work.

I have a cousin on my mom's side that I don't even know.  He's gotta be like 8 or 9 now.  I remember my aunt had him right around my parents splitting up; he must be 9.  I babysat him once when he was too young to talk, then my aunt and her husband my uncle moved to Florida.  Haven't seen any of them since.  That's really strange to me, even though I am not super close with my mom's side of the family, I see pictures of this little dude on facebook and don't even know who he is, yet.. he's blood.

I think I'm going to buy winter tires for my little machine... I wasn't too impressed with it's performance last winter - I hate spending money.  Hopefully it'll be worth it to me once they're on.

Thursday is another event I am attending - Minneapolis Institute of Art is hosting an exhibit called: The Louvre and The Masterpiece.  Pretty self explanatory really... and if not, click on the link.  It's should be a really beautiful display of art.

Then Saturday of this week I leave for 2 nights in Springfield, MO!  I'm going to visit Renee and I am very excited... I love her and her family!

Busy week - lots going on - I'm excited for it all!

I need a new banner, I'm bored with mine.

TFT: Surfing at Work

This week has been pretty slow at work for me... so I've had a lot of time to surf the web - hell, even in a normal week I have a lot of time to surf.  I sit at a desk and when my workload gets to be overwhelming or just when I need a break from the bump and grind... I jump online and play for a bit.  I usually start with Facebook, just to see if anything interesting is going on there then I find myself '6 degrees of separation' style far away from where I started and not even sure why I came to Facebook in the first place.  It's a true addiction of mine.

At any given time I have up to 7+ people I am poking, constantly getting notified that someone else commented on something I liked or something I commented on, playing around in the few applications I use (for blogging mostly), checking my groups for activity, reading my fan pages, saying hello to people I haven't seen for a long time, looking through suggestions of friends and wondering how/why Facebook would think I know this person, reading links people post, reading the help sections, and playing with privacy settings.

If I'm lucky enough to make it past Facebook onto other sites, a few of my favorites are:
People of Walmart - Check it out, no need for explanation.
Stuff White People Like - The satire of this site is spot on.  Makes me proud to be White :)
F My Life - While I know {or believe} some of these stories are completely made up, I can't help but laugh at them all.  If they are real, they are great... if they are fake, someone took the time to think it up and it's still pretty funny/sad.
A site that is pretty new to me but absolutely HILARIOUS is: Awkward Family Photos
I also spend a lot of time looking at photography, reading photography websites, cooking sites and recipes.

BTW - I do read news sometimes too... it's not all fun and games! :)

So TFT to you: How much time in an average work day do you spend surfing?  What are some of your favorite sites?  Are you as addicted to Facebook as I am?

Other TFT's today:
Kristi on Going Gray (You should seriously read this and post a comment, because I'm curious too!)

People are strange

I've posted a couple of blogs in my day talking about the silly things people search and end up at my blog - one of the funniest things was "Vagina Vagina I want to have sex with your vagina" - I still can't get over that.  I found a blog today of someone who has several posts listing her best search phrases - PinkNic's Planet is the name of her blog - Click HERE to be directed to her lastest blog of keywords (and PLEASE follow the links within that post to her other keyword posts).  She gets hits on some of the craziest things!  I've never read her blog (other than these few posts), but you'd think she was a porn blog or that she was running some sort of super nasty dating service through the blogging community, which she assures she is not!  Keywords like guy jacks off in car, freak dating sites, sit on bucket to steam vagina, really lonely, I want a one night stand.... amongst sooo many others!  Seriously check it out, they are short and hilarious posts!

It made me go check my stats and see what people have been up to lately on my blog... not even close to as funny as hers, I still get hits all the time on the Vagina Videos, which you need to go watch if you haven't - I don't care who you are, that right there is funny!
I also get hits by people searching variations of wondering how to pronounce Ciroc.
Migraine + Sushi in different variations has been a popular search as of late
The other day I got a hit from why do I have to pay full price for no meat at McDonalds - I thought that was awesome!
Another funny one: Officer I wasn't speeding.. I was in pursuit... pursuit of happyness
I've had a lot of hits on donated hair searches as well - which makes me feel good!
hate beer from a can bottle is another recent search...

why don't you let us play games, current strange news, scale from 100 to A, sudden distaste for coffee, strange football rituals, sushi diploma - LOL, people are funny, that's my point.

Happy Wednesday again :)

Voting is open

Just wanted to let you all know that Kristi has been posting her favorites for each category in the October Photo Hunt -

I know most of you, if any, actually take time to look at all the entries (hopefully you've looked at mine!).  So maybe some of you will take a few minutes to look at the favorites; it's quite eye opening (to me) seeing all the photos from the same category right next to each other!  There is voting for each as well... by no means am I asking for your vote. So far my photos have made it into every favorites listing Kristi has posted... that to me is plenty enough {to toot my own horn}- I don't need to win the voting :)  The other thing I found interesting is looking to see which photos people have voted as the best of the favorites... it's funny how peoples opinions are so different.

Anyhow - I won't keep you long today; here is the link to Photo Hunt Challenges - go take a look and cast a vote or two, for your favorites, not just because they are my photos ;)

Happy Hump Day, hope you hump a lot!

Thoughts For Thursday: Mr. Yuk

Why'd they ever stop making Mr. Yuk stickers?  Everyone reading this HAS to remember Mr. Yuk, right?
Well... HOLD THE PHONE...
Turns out, after doing a fancy little Google search for Mr. Yuk - it appears he is still fully functional!
WAA-HOO!

Looks like you can get the stickers here - I think the entire concept of Mr. Yuk is great, teach kids to stay away from this little guy and save them from trouble!

Do you remember Mr. Yuk?  What do you think of the whole 'campaign'?

Hey, it's Thursday, this started out as a random blog, but it's kind of a TFT, isn't it?!

Random - Vol. 9.16

Sometimes do you just wake up and want to die?  That was me today - I was blessed with a migraine.  awesome.
NOT!
I'm not sure when it happened, but I woke up right after 4am with a pounding head, confused thinking I had to wake up in a few minutes I laid there angry.  After about 30 seconds I thought... wait, I still have 40 minutes to sleep and went right back to sleep.  It's 830am and I'm still suffering with a horrible headache and nausea - though I feel as if it may be getting a bit better.  Whatever.  I don't want to talk about it.

I'm way behind on a lot of my TV shows (thank God for Tivo), which is fine because I have all winter to watch them.  The other day I watched the first episode of Nip/Tuck's sixth season and I think this could be the year I give up on that show.  I've religiously watched every season of Nip/Tuck, and slowly fell in love with it - last year I had a hard time continuing but I stuck it out.  This year, after the first episode I feel bored.  I will watch a few more to see; it seems a shame to give up on a show I've dedicated so much of my life to.  Anyone else watch Nip/Tuck?
Another show that I'm completely in love with is The Office - this season is redeeming any unfunny episodes from last season.  How funny is that show; seriously!?  Having Friday's off allows me to keep up on The Office - it's generally the first thing I watch on Friday mornings.

October is over and so means I've finished yet another Photo Scavenger Hunt - Click HERE to see my finished hunt, and click HERE to see the list of entries.  It's amazing to me what people come up with for these items, sometimes I feel like I put way too much thought into them.  I do enjoy them though, and I'm thinking of making up my own list for November... just to give me something to do and focus on.  I love my new lens and I'm actually learning a lot just by having it.  Silly how once something clicks... it really clicks, all thanks to a lens.
Anyhow - Kristi will be going through and posting her favorites from each category, I'll try to remember to post again once voting has started, or as it's going on... in case you want to go look through the 'best in show'.
**quick little side note about my scavenger hunt, for my loyal readers: my contrast picture is a quarter doughnut, with sprinkles on it.  Here is the original:

Pretty neat what a simply process in Photoshop can do, huh?

Does the black background of my blog hurt anyone else's eyes, or is it just mine?

I've joined a meetup group, it's a photography group - if you're interested, sometimes they post classes for a small fee, or host meetups for specific photo shoots, etc.  HERE is that link, pass it along too if you think someone would be interested.  Joining is free.

btw - GO Vikings (even though we're on a bye week) and Go Phillies!

Happy Tuesday.

Photo Scavenger Hunt - October 2009

{click on the badge}

1.  A Fall Activity - Carving Pumpkins

2.  A Fall Treat - Homemade Pumpkin Seeds

3.  A Harvest - I've eaten Pomegranate's since I was a child (before it was cool)

4. Leaves

5. Fall Colors

6.  Something Orange

7. Something Spooky - I think it's a voodoo doll

8. A Cemetery

9.  A Costume - A Monkey

10. A Black & White Photo - Dome Seats

11. A Critter - Seahorse

12. Symmetry - Stone Arch Bridge (arches are symmetrical as well as the reflection in the water)

13. Contrast - can you tell me what this is? (This is my 'thinking outside the box' version of contrast - Thank you Photoshop.)

14. Texture - Vinyl Record

15. A Logo/ Mascot - TC, the Twins Mascot

16. Something Neon - My Halloween Costume (one of the only photos I actually took of it, sorry Steve)

17. Something Inspiring - Breast Cancer Awareness

18. Something Entertaining - Football (Broncos vs. Patriots)

19. Something Fast - Richie on the Drums

20. Something Slow - Ladybug

Random - Vol. 9.15

Sometimes I just want to live a day and know what to expect... but what fun would that be, right?

So this past Friday, my day off, was supposed to be spent relaxing, because afterall it is a day off, right?!  Well last week Steve had news of a death in his family, the wake was set for Friday evening and the funeral was on Saturday.  He and I were RSVP'd to a wedding on Saturday, so he decided to attend the wake Friday night... turns out the wake and funeral were being held 4 hours away.  As his girlfriend I reserve the right to be able to say that I didn't want him driving all that way alone (there and back in ~10 hours, with 8 of it being on the road) - so I imposed and told him I'd be happy to keep him company for the drive.  He agreed to let me come. :)
Well... my Friday started out fine - nothing special, just another day really.  Upon arriving at Steve's apartment around 1:45 in the afternoon I felt like I looked right at the sun... you know, where you have this annoying spot in your vision?  I traced back to the moment I got out of my car and didn't remember looking at any lights and the sun wasn't out so that couldn't be it!  I told Steve "either I looked at a light and don't remember it or I'm about to get a migraine"...
ugh.

You can guess where the story goes next -
entering a 4 hour drive I try to play it off as no big deal as far as Steve is concerned, he was mourning the death of a loved one, and I knew I'd be fine, eventually.  He knew I wasn't alright and kept asking if I was.  For about the first 30 minutes of the drive I was dealing with blind spots, then the headache set in :(
I felt nauseous and had a pretty dull annoying constant pain in my head and every now and then... just when I wasn't expecting it, there would be a super sharp intense pain shooting through my head.  My own mini-hell.
I'm absolutely 100% convinced that my migraines are menstrual  - the last migraine I got was right at the end of my cycle and this one was almost the same day, this month.  Ironic.  Unfortunately for me, they were back-to-back months.
The fortunate of this story is that the pain of it went away before we arrived at the wake.  So I was able to be a normal person around Steve's family during their time of loss.  I still suffered the 'aftershock' of my migraine the rest of the night and a little bit the next day - just those annoying pains when I'd cough, laugh, bend over, etc.  - in all and in comparison, it was one of the more mild migraines I've had, still doesn't mean it was good though.  Hopefully I won't be posting an update next month...

A few real randoms:
I had a dream about the Subway system in New York (your average dream of robots chasing you down 20 flights of stairs deep underground in the NYC Subway system...) - ever since then I can't stop thinking about New York and how badly I want to go there.  SO much to see... so much I haven't seen in my many trips there.

I'm going to see Saw 6 tomorrow night; I've heard its full of gore... not excited.
I went to Trail of Terror last Thursday; not as bad as last year, but I was pretty freaked out through the maze part of it.  This was my last year going to anything like that.

My car whistles ever since running over a dead deer.

I love my dad and I get to see him tonight!  Steve and I are going up there after work for his special and apparently wonderfully delicious ribs!  I'm so excited I'm bouncing in my seat at work :)

John Mayer's voice is amazing to me.  "Your Body is A Wonderland" could be one of the sexiest songs ever written.  I'm not late discovering it, I'm just now saying it.

Brett Favre and his Vikings found their first loss yesterday - makes me sad, but don't worry - it's not Brett's fault.

I danced my little (or big) butt off at the wedding Saturday, and I'm feeling it today.  I also got extremely drunk at the wedding on Saturday, but I felt that yesterday, so no worries!

buh-bye.

Punch Pizza, St. Paul, MN

Copied from my review on citysearch, and updated to be personalized for my blog:
Punch Pizza Website

After reading an article in Delta's Sky Mag, Steve and I decided we needed to make a trip to Punch Pizza. One lazy Sunday afternoon (yesterday), we decided it was the perfect day for it.

We inform the server that it was our first visit and she was very helpful in explaining the menu and how things at Punch work. She told us that their pizzas are make approx 10 inches and couples will generally order a salad or Antipasti along with the pizza, if the plan is to share the pizza.

We ordered the Artichoke Dip along with the Vesuvio pizza, both to share. The artichoke dip had EXCELLENT flavor and lots of big chunks of artichoke, something commonly missing from most restaurants version of this dish. I think our conversation went something like this: 'If this is any indication of what the pizza will be like... I have high hopes!'

Once the pizza arrived we both dug right in! Slowly chewing and taking in all the flavors of this pie we exchange looks and decide we made a good decision. I make it to the crust, both our favorite part of a pizza, and take one bite and stop dead in my chewing... 'OMG, this is the BEST crust I've ever had!!!' I could have ate an entire pie of just this chewy deliciously burnt crust! I say burnt because their pizzas are baked for 90 seconds at 800 degrees in a wood-burning oven! You get blisters and patches of flavorful burnt spots - not at all a bad thing, if you know what you're getting into. We devoured the entire thing in minutes, and both left wanting to order another, just to keep eating!

At the end, our server handed us the check along with 2 very yummy pieces of candy... again leaving our mouths full of happiness! We were also given a Punch card... where I believe the 7th Pizza is a free one (something tells me we'll be getting to that 7th in no time at all).

Overall, I'm highly impressed with Punch Pizza and can't wait to go back and try another creation! The boyfriend, who I would say eats pizza more than anyone I know, said it was the best pizza he's ever had - so I think that's saying a lot.

Now, how to get a location out in the Northwest Suburbs?

Kudos, Punch Pizza - you know what you're doing for sure!

• Pros: great service, great food!
• Cons: No location in the Northwest Suburbs!

Random - v.9.14

Just a couple things, but a couple long things...

• So the day before I left for Denver (yes, I still need to post about Denver, I know) I was driving to work and cruising along at about 65-70MPH (Speed limit is 65MPH).  I'm in the left lane, there is a truck in the right lane, a little back from me, but still very much along side of me.  On this particular part of my drive it's extremely dark  - pitch black in fact.  The two lanes of road going either direction are lined by thick trees, so you can't even see the traffic coming from the other direction.  Anyhow... it's dark, I'm cruisin', and all of the sudden I see some road kill in the road ahead.  Truck to my right, trees and ditch to my left, no clear view of what type of road kill I'm about to encounter, and traveling at a speed where there is no real time to stop.  I try to center my car over whatever it is and as I get closer I see it's a dead deer.  Crap... now I really have no time to stop and in reality, if I were to try and stop, I might damage my car more than if I'm going at a faster speed, right?  So I'm centered... I hit it.. my car makes a huge thud noise, and I'm still driving.  At this point I'm about 4-5 minutes from work, so I get to my exit and stop at a gas station to see what I've done.  My bumper is dented in the center and the plastic piece (I assume some sort of undercarriage protector) is all jacked up.  Doesn't look all that good, but I suppose it could have been worse.  I cry a bit (after all, my car is 1.5 years old and this is the second time I've managed to damage it).
  
  Since I was leaving the next day for Denver, I asked my mommy if she'd be able to take it in to have it checked out.  The most important thing was to make sure it was mechanically fine to drive; I already knew it was ugly to look at.  My mom takes it to my buddy Morgan who, after cleaning all the deer guts, fur, and various other insides, performs an alignment and says it's good to go... no major damage.  That's fantastic.  Crappy story, I know.  Morgan popped the bumper back out, so now it looks pretty normal to the naked eye.
  
  Point of my story is not so much to tell you how much I suck at life, but to tell you that I'm now this completely different driver.  I'm way paranoid, especially in the dark and even more so on my drive to work.  I carpool on certain days of the week and I'm even tense in other peoples cars... always looking for deer, straining my eyes looking for deer.  It's stressful and it sucks.
  
  To the deer hunters of the world... kill 'em all this year!
  
  
• So I'm going to this stupid Trail of Terror tonight... with my bff and my bf (lol) and I'm not looking forward to it.  People don't seem to understand how scary they are to me.  I know it's just people dressed up and being stupid, obviously.  What I hate is the dark, the suspense (I HATE not knowing when things are going to happen), and the actual jumping out at me part.  Most would say it's fun - I say it's hell.
  
  I go because my bestie wants me to go and I enjoy spending time with her.  I also go because I know it provides my 'friends' with some sort of entertainment - sick friends I have.
  Most importantly I go because my bestie and I both have fears - me of scary things/places, her of roller coasters.  My understanding in all of this was that if I did this, she owed me a ride.  Now she is kind of refusing to go... either way, I'm going to live up to my end, but this will most likely be the last year I do it.  No point in scaring myself for no good reason, right?
  Call me a pussy, that's fine - I'll own up to it.  At least I've done it 2 years in a row and at least I can excel in other areas of my life.
  
  
  I just needed to talk about it.  Thanks for listening.