Quick update

I signed a new lease yesterday so I won't be homeless on Jan 12. YAY! Stupid forclosure!!! But, if I'm out on Jan 12, they are giving me a check for $1500. And - my realtor gave me my full security deposit back - even the non-refundable pet deposit. YIPPEE!!!! All will help with 'relocation expenses'. This new house has a BRIGHT RED fireplace and a window seat that is 3x bigger than the one the puppies have now! So, if any of you would like to help me move...it would be GREAT!!!! I'll provide lunch :)

Scott got me a GPS for Christmas....WAHOO!! Now I won't get lost everywhere I go. Funny thing: before we opened presents I was telling him about how I got lost in looking for one of the offices of one of the 900 million people involved in this forclosure thing. So - appropriate and useful gift :D I got him a tent so we can go camping... :D (and a book that I started reading and didn't finish before I gave it to him. he gave it to me to take on the plane. i told him that he wasn't supposed to know that i was reading his christmas present first - oops)

And now, I'm waiting to leave with the puppies to the airport. So far - 2 hour and 46 minute delay because of snow and ice at O'hare. EEK!

I know I am coming from a different side than most people. But, this is appalling!!! I can't believe they won't even let him wear a hat!!!!

WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!

The weather pops up whenever I go to my homepage...Here's what it looks like today!

Today

Do you know what that is........SNOW!!!!!! Seriously...it isn't supposed to SNOW here!!

And, just in case you're wondering...yes, we are under a 'winter weather advisory' until 4am! C'mon people..........rediculous!

And, NO...This is not a dry spot on the ground...it is SNOW outside my window!!!!!!!!

Best Night Ever

Writing Christmas cards (again...since my disappeared somewhere in my house).... and drinking this......

PEPPERMINT PATTY

Ingredients
1 oz. peppermint schnapps
½ oz. créme de cacao
1 tsp. créme de menthe
5 to 8 oz. hot chocolate
About 1 oz. whipped cream
Shaved chocolate

Directions
Pour liqueurs into a glass mug, fill with hot chocolate and top with whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings. YUM!!!!!!!

thats normal...thats normal...thats normal

so, i ran out to my far for something earlier tonight. on my way back to my house...my neighbor drives by. he leans out his window and says....'get in your house before i kidnap you'.....

ummm...what?!?

this is the same neighbor who asked me if i smoked pot a few weeks ago...so maybe his mind was a bit foggy.....

Sneak preview...

No coffee necessary

so this morning was really hectic....you know sometimes you just have one of those mornings that feels like an entire day - all before you go to work. today was one of those mornings. I woke up late to begin with and had a class that was scheduled for earlier than normal. as I was getting dressed, I realized that the make-up powder that I use to draw on my eyebrows was GONE! WHAT!?!?!?! 3 seconds later, my doorbell rings. It is the woman that used to live downstairs from me. It was really great to see her, but I had to finish getting dressed. We chatted while I brushed my teeth and searched for my eyebrow make-up. No luck on finding it! The idea of going around all day without eyebrows was not a pleasant one - so I improvised. I had some brown eyeshadow that was going to have to work. It was darker than my normal make-up and smudged easier...but it was all I had. I shocked my neighbor with my naked face and bald head. She hadn't seen me since all of this started....she laughed about how different people look without make-up. I explained to her (while drawing on my eyelashes, putting on socks, and chasing the dogs all at the same time) that this was a recent development in my life and that when she lived below me I had eyebrows and eyelashes. I whipped off my hat to put on a wig and I thought her eyes were going to bug out of her head. HAHA!! It was really funny!!

After work I finally found my eyebrow make-up....in my pajama drawer?!?! How in the world did it get there????

my dogs are so far behind...

Pictures

a couple of pictures from bekah's wedding.....

It was really fun to see old friends that I haven't seen in a few years. It was really funny to see who did and didn't recognize me with my 'new hair'. Overall, the trip was really fun...up until the last 10 minutes. It was really windy and the plane was bouncing all over the place as we tried to land. And...I wanted to die. I didn't actually get sick...but felt horrible the rest of the day. I went home and went to bed shortly after that. My whole little adventure drained all the energy out of my body. Feeling better today though...and it was back to work

One of the best things about Christmas!!!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I can sleep on the plane

Last night, Scott and I saw the new James Bond movie. It seemed to reference the last one a lot. I don't think that the other James Bond movies did that as much (although I could be wrong, I don't really pay that much attention). This movie was pretty good. I liked it - except for the headache that I left the theater with. The fight scenes are really jerky...the camera is moving all over the place. I watched most of the movie skwinty eyed to try and make things stop moving so fast. (It didn't help) Appearantly the director did this so that we would feel like we are 'part of the action'. I'm okay watching the action and not being apart of it. It made me feel like an old lady complaining about how 'in my day - movies were shot so you could actually see what was going on. All this 'action' gives me a headache' . And then I went home, took out my dentures, and went to bed!

Today we are going to a barbeque and I am making last minute cookies. I looked for a recipe that I already had all the ingrediants for. I found Espresso Chocolate Chip cookies....TA DA! Why did I never know about these cookies before. They are AMAZING!!!!

Tomorrow, after church, we are going to we TWILIGHT!!!! WAHOO!!! Then I need to return the dress I bought for Bekah's wedding and get a smaller size, buy a small bag of dog food for the puppies vacation with the Castros, find some books for the plane ride, give the boys a bath so they wont be smelly house guests...and somewhere in there I have to finish my proposal so I can meet with my boss on Monday. Hmmmm.......

Twilight

Nikki got me hooked on the Twilight Series. Holy Cow....you should read them. I think everyone in Nikki's life is reading them. I read most of the books in one sitting...didn't eat, didn't sleep... MUST. KNOW. WHAT. HAPPENS!! Seriously, it was rediculous. The end of each book gives you the first chapter of the next one. That was TORTURE!!! I had the first one and read it (straight through) and was getting the next 3 books from Nikki. I came into work and asked for the next 2 books at the same time. Twilight pretty much ruled my life until I finished the books.

Well, the movie is coming out tonight and Twi-Guy said that the midnight showing was sold out (early this week).

***Side note: Nikki and I see the same chiropractor. He and his wife have also been reading the Twilight series together. He has decided to call himself 'Twi-guy'. I wonder if his wife calls herself 'Twirl-Girl'***

Sunday afternoon, I am going to see the movie with Nikki and Alexa. I totally bought us buttons...We like the books a lot! But, there are some people going way overboard...Twilight Tattoos....wow! I don't know how I'd feel about that in 30 years.

ummmm....yikes!!!!

its a little long, but make sure to watch it all the way through with your sound on....



Scary!

moving up on nikki's list

so, it has been REALLY long since i have written here. I'm at work, so I cant include any pictures (sorry mom). maybe next time. Well, alot has happened in the past month or so. i have embraced this whole alopecia thing and shaved my head. i really like my little bald head. its alot of fun. **pictures coming soon**

My sister is in senegal and was officially 'installed' into her new life as a peanut farmer. I definitely suggest reading up on her adventures. Her life is so crazy right now. Full of parasites, bats in her hut, sheep interupting her showers, goats sharing her pillow... seriously, you should read it...she is hilarious.

Right now, I'm sick. Ugh! I sound like death...really just a head cold, but I cant smell or taste anything. I sound worse than I feel, but I feel guilty breathing near anyone. Hopefully it goes away quickly. I think it came from standing outside on Saturday morning in the wind. But, it is definitely worth it...I'd go back every week even if I get sick every week. It was such a great morning. Totally blew my mind and changed the way I see things. Definitely an eye opening experience. This group just recently started in Houston. I have been looking for a group like them since I moved here 2.5 years ago. I was so excited. I can't wait for the next time that I can go.

Evacuation

Scott and I (and the two puppies) evacuated yesterday from the island. We left at 11:20 am and arrived in Dallas a little after 11 pm. We are staying with some friends. The drive wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting...Long, but not horrible. The puppies were really great. They started to overheat in my car (without A/C) so Scott and I traded cars about 6 hours into the drive. They cooled off after some time in the car. Sammy did crawl onto my lap as I was driving. (He isn't allows in the driver's seat). He was trying to sit between me and the window...which left no where for my left arm (which, by the way, is sunburned because the sunscreen was in the trunk!!). He was rolling down the window for himself. He finally settled down, laying across my lap. Safe, I know! But, we arrived, safe and sound last night. We've spent the day watching the news (yikes!) and searching for a verizon store for a new phone (cuz mine is crap). But, we have no idea how long we will be here, or what our houses will look like when all this is over. I may have an alligator in my house because all the animals are seeking shelter from the storm. EEK! But, we continue to watch the hurricane and watch the water fill the island. Hopefully we can go back sometime soon(??) But, I have finally learned what a storm surge is. More updates to come... (and hopefully some pictures of the puppies and Lisa and her hubby). Yay for old friends...Boo for hurricanes!!! (We did get free cookies from Subway because we're from Galveston...)

Nikki tried to kill me!!

Nikki and I take daily snack breaks to escape our lab for a few minutes. Today we were eating trail mix that she had prepared last week with two other girls that work near us. We were talking and munching away on the delicious snack. We each had a little pile of trail mix sitting in front of us. We were talking and laughing like normal. I started telling a story (that I don't remember anymore) when I noticed movement on the napkin in front of me. There was a little white worm crawling out of my pile of trail mix!!!!!!! I immediately got up from the table and shouted "DON'T EAT THE REST OF YOUR TRAIL MIX!!" as I went to the trashcan to spit out what was in my mouth. Nikki asks "Why, was there a bad pistacio?" As I was chugging my gatorade to wash down any worm that I may have eaten, I hear three girls...AHHH...EWWW...AHHHH!!! Nikki then gets up and starts chugging her coffee. She picks up the edge of the napkin and squishes the worm. The other two girls go....EWWWW! We then sat there, staring at eachother, laughing - but really grossed out at the prospect that we were eating worms and not knowing it. Nikki goes - 'I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!! - do I need to get rid of the rest of my trail mix supplies at home?!?'. We both were laughing and talking about our stomachs hurting from the idea of eating worms and chugging our drinks. As we got back to lab, we both sat down. Nikki started writing in her notebook and I checked my email. I started telling her about an email that I received and I hear...."BURP!!! I'm sorry, my stomach hurts!!" And that's how Nikki tried to kill me!

Not for those easily creeped out...

This is a bit scary and gross, but it was too funny not to share!! As you may know, I've been looking at wig websites lately for this little hair problem. Yesterday, I posted about how you can buy chest hair. If you went to the website, you saw that you can buy all sorts of hair products (made from 100% human hair): fu manchus, mutton chops, eyebrows, viking beards, merkins. You may be more educated than I am, but I had to look up what a merkin is. Well, the wikipedia definition is frightening. I'll let you look that up on your own! But, I emailed my favorite friend and told her about the chest hair and that she needed to look up a 'merkin'. This was her email response::


WHAT IS MERKIN??? Please tell me its not what I think it is....I am trying SO hard to contain the laughing/tears/peeing.......I CAN NOT handle this!!! :)

Okay I just googled it AND For the love -- it is what I was thinking...I am HORRIFIED!


Later that evening, I received this email picture from her. I laughed so hard!!



**Merkin has become the new insult among all of my friends**

WHAT?!?

I just discovered that for $19, you can buy chest hair made of 100% real human hair....EWWWWWW!!

suggestions?

Tyletta is way smarter and whay more acrobatic than Tyler... time to get creative. Any ideas on how to get rid of a mouse that can jump over all the sticky traps and eat all the peanut butter out of the regular traps without triggering them to snap?

Tyler is gone!

After a huge ordeal...Tyler is gone!!! It was actually kind of funny. Seriously, that is one smart mouse! But, YAY...no more Tyler in my house!!

Bad news....I just discovered Tyletta...Tyler's girlfriend!?! WHAT?!?!?!?! At least I know how to get rid of it this time. Oh my life!

I miss her already!

Dolphins and Sea Turtles

Yesterday, Sarah and I took a one hour harbor tour. It was really fun. It was really hot yesterday, but being on the boat and moving helped to make it seem a bit cooler. The best part was that we saw lots of dolphins in the water. At one point, there were dolphins all around us, mostly mommy and baby dolphins :) So fun!

After that, we did a bit of shopping to find Sarah some longer than knee length skirts. We found a really cute one. We decided to go to Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream. Sarah had to get Imagine Whirled Peace ice cream in honor of her going into the Peace Corps. Then we came back for a photo shoot with the puppies...I know, we never do that!!

This morning, we went to learn about Sea Turtles in the 'Turtle Barn'. Its NOAA turtle research center, but I promise it really says Turtle Barn outside the door.

See! But, it was definitely worth it. They were really cute...of course Sarah wanted to take one home. Scott's idea was to put a hubcap on Sammy to turn him into a turtle...hmmmm....

San Antonio and Tattoos

We've had a really busy weekend. Friday afternoon we made our way to get our matching sister tattoos. They really, really, REALLY hurt across the top of the foot. Oh Crap!! See our faces....

But, they are really cute. Definitely worth it. We went to PF Changs for dinner...YUM!

Afterwards, we drove to San Antonio and definitely slept well. Saturday we went down to the Riverwalk. That was really pretty but REALLY hot (see picture). 107 degrees!! We went shopping for a little bit to escape the heat of the day. Once we cooled down, we headed over to the ity bity Alamo. Seriously, so much smaller that we were expecting. But I guess I'm in Texas so we had to go see it. We headed back to the hotel for a little bit to cool down and take a break. We watched 'Wipe Out' which is the American version of 'Ninja Warriors'. Ninja Warriors is definitely amazing and Wipe Out did not disappoint and was almost as entertaining. We laughed really hard. We headed out for a drink that evening. As we were on the Trolley, the driver stopped in some random spot and got out for a smoke break! Seriously, who does that with a car full of people and a tired baby. There were some creeps sitting on a bench watching the girls go by...but it was entertaining to watch them. Sunday we headed back and picked up the puppies from Sarah and Richard's. They were definitely spoiled and had alot of fun playing with Richard. They were happy and eating lots of cookies while we were gone.

We got back just in time to prepare for Edouard!! YAY for getting off work! We went to some friends' house last night to drink hurricanes for the hurricane. Funny thing was that we were already planning on doing that so we have hurricane mix in our fridge for today too :)

ICE CREAM CAKE

Sarah and I decided to make an ice cream cake for her next 2 birthdays. And, the cake is certainly big enough for two birthdays!! We even left out a layer of cake and a layer of ice cream. And, the cake is HUGE!! Its chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream with chocolate 'crackles' in it. And, covered in toffee. DELICIOUS!

Tapas and Pictures!!

The other day, we got dressed up and went out to dinner for Tapas. They were really good. The only bummer was that they didn't have Sangria. What kind of Tapas restaurant doesn't have Sangia? But, their food was delicious. Afterwards, we came back home and had a photoshoot with the puppies (shocker, I know)

(Look at how Sammy is staring at Scott)

No words necessary

Puppy Pictures as requested