Ahh yes! FINALLY - my long-awaited day off!!!
And what have I done with it?
1. Returned a swimsuit and a dress for two swimsuits
2. Downloaded some much needed songs from iTunes
3. Applied for more jobs.
The first two are much more fun!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Independence Day. Indeed.
A day late, but Happy 4th of July!
Thanks to some quick thinking on my part, I took off the 4th of July quite awhile ago, and it became the best idea I've had all summer. I work so much lately that I haven't had a real vacation day to just chillax and enjoy what Minnesota does best...
...mosquitoes, lakes, and summer.
Of course, the 4th of July in Forest Lake is no joke, so 10k MMA was in the parade this year and we had a blast with it all. We supplied ourselves with candy, and swag from the U.S. Army, the float itself had guys grappling on mats, and others were hitting pads and sparring alongside the float on the street.
You'll notice that Timothy and I are thoroughly engaged in hitting the pads. Having a discussion or argument about the combo? You decide.
The best part of the day was hands down going to the beach after everything. I've needed a day to sit out in the sun and tan (not that I need it), and SWIM!!! How I've missed Minnesota lakes, 'cuz I always end up finding myself working on the best days of the year.
Thanks to the government shut-down, I won't be able to get a fishing license for awhile, but I can come up with many excuses to get on a lake.
Best day of summer. Guaranteed!
Now it's back to the grind. And apartment hunting! (Which I actually looked at five apartments today!) Time is ticking away, and August 1st is ever looming!
Thanks to some quick thinking on my part, I took off the 4th of July quite awhile ago, and it became the best idea I've had all summer. I work so much lately that I haven't had a real vacation day to just chillax and enjoy what Minnesota does best...
...mosquitoes, lakes, and summer.
Of course, the 4th of July in Forest Lake is no joke, so 10k MMA was in the parade this year and we had a blast with it all. We supplied ourselves with candy, and swag from the U.S. Army, the float itself had guys grappling on mats, and others were hitting pads and sparring alongside the float on the street.
You'll notice that Timothy and I are thoroughly engaged in hitting the pads. Having a discussion or argument about the combo? You decide.
The best part of the day was hands down going to the beach after everything. I've needed a day to sit out in the sun and tan (not that I need it), and SWIM!!! How I've missed Minnesota lakes, 'cuz I always end up finding myself working on the best days of the year.
Thanks to the government shut-down, I won't be able to get a fishing license for awhile, but I can come up with many excuses to get on a lake.
Best day of summer. Guaranteed!
Now it's back to the grind. And apartment hunting! (Which I actually looked at five apartments today!) Time is ticking away, and August 1st is ever looming!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
More Summer Favorites
I was looking through my dear friend Kristina's London photos again, and was reminded that I have many many things that I miss about London. So...I've come up with another list of things I am in LOVE with this summer. It distracts me from looking at apartments and jobs, but I think I need a break before my head explodes.
1. Hob Nob Vanilla Creams!!!
These things don't look like much, and if you were in a grocery store you'd probably move on to something that looked less healthy for you...but man oh man oh man, these things are tasty. In fact, Kristina, if you came home with some of these from London, that'd be the best thing ever! They're just oat cookies with vanilla in the middle, and the original kind are just the plain oat cookies...but they are delicious. I became obsessed with these cookies and kept some in my purse at all times so if I ever found myself in a park with a book and a free afternoon (that happened a LOT), then I had a delightfully tasty snack.
2. "Calgary" by: Bon Iver
Some things about not having internet at home have proved really useful this summer. For one thing, I get more Starbucks than is probably healthy...but being at Starbucks at the right place, and right time has lead me to this. Now in all fairness, my brother already showed me the full Bon Iver album when it came out, but it was Starbucks that gave me a free download in iTunes so that I could enjoy it ALL THE TIME!!! I even hooked some people up with the code so they could enjoy the free download too.
3. Follow @SororityProblem on Twitter
http://sororityproblem.tumblr.com/
Okay...so you don't HAVE to follow them on Twitter, or Tumblr for that matter...but if you have the same humor as me, you'll find it funny. And I need funny every now and again.
For example:
SororityProblem SororityGirlProblems
90% of the arguments I have with people happen entirely in my head. #SGP
And my personal favorite:
SororityProblem SororityGirlProblems
NEW GAME: every time you hear about another engagement, buy another bottle of wine. Proceed with caution. #SGP
Don't judge. Like I said, this is a list of MY loves this summer.
1. Hob Nob Vanilla Creams!!!
These things don't look like much, and if you were in a grocery store you'd probably move on to something that looked less healthy for you...but man oh man oh man, these things are tasty. In fact, Kristina, if you came home with some of these from London, that'd be the best thing ever! They're just oat cookies with vanilla in the middle, and the original kind are just the plain oat cookies...but they are delicious. I became obsessed with these cookies and kept some in my purse at all times so if I ever found myself in a park with a book and a free afternoon (that happened a LOT), then I had a delightfully tasty snack.
2. "Calgary" by: Bon Iver
Some things about not having internet at home have proved really useful this summer. For one thing, I get more Starbucks than is probably healthy...but being at Starbucks at the right place, and right time has lead me to this. Now in all fairness, my brother already showed me the full Bon Iver album when it came out, but it was Starbucks that gave me a free download in iTunes so that I could enjoy it ALL THE TIME!!! I even hooked some people up with the code so they could enjoy the free download too.
3. Follow @SororityProblem on Twitter
http://sororityproblem.tumblr.com/
Okay...so you don't HAVE to follow them on Twitter, or Tumblr for that matter...but if you have the same humor as me, you'll find it funny. And I need funny every now and again.
For example:
SororityProblem SororityGirlProblems
90% of the arguments I have with people happen entirely in my head. #SGP
And my personal favorite:
SororityProblem SororityGirlProblems
NEW GAME: every time you hear about another engagement, buy another bottle of wine. Proceed with caution. #SGP
Don't judge. Like I said, this is a list of MY loves this summer.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Summer Lovin'
Here are some things I'm in love with this summer.
Because I have a little too much time on my hands this afternoon. I work all the rest of the week and fantasizing about buying things makes me feel better about dealing with crazy customers the rest of the week.
And because watching music videos takes my mind off the fact that my younger brother will be shipping out overseas in a little over a month's time.
And because applying for jobs day in and day out, and looking for apartments is making every apartment look the same.
So I'm focusing on what I'm in love with instead.
1.
I think Nicki Minaj is better than Lady Gaga. There I said it. Especially this song. Partly because I never met a female rapper that I liked until her, and this music video blends the right amount of ghetto fabulous with bubblegum pop. If you knew anything about me at all, you would know that ghetto fabulous and bubblegum pop are just TWO of my not-so-secret weaknesses.
2.
I've never been a watch gal, but I could be with this rose colored Riley Plated Stainless Steel watch from Fossil. Mmm...I'm talking to you, Tim Burton ; )
3.
Since my bestest friend Kristina Cruz, is having wonderful adventures in one of my favorite cities in the world, I have been stalking her facebook more than is usual or healthy. And that girl has good taste, and I spotted this shoe. She copied my purse, so I can copy her shoe.
4. London. Enough said.
Okay...back to the grind. Back to applying for jobs! Tim and I are moving into an apartment on August 1st whether we are ready for it or not! Wish me luck!
Because I have a little too much time on my hands this afternoon. I work all the rest of the week and fantasizing about buying things makes me feel better about dealing with crazy customers the rest of the week.
And because watching music videos takes my mind off the fact that my younger brother will be shipping out overseas in a little over a month's time.
And because applying for jobs day in and day out, and looking for apartments is making every apartment look the same.
So I'm focusing on what I'm in love with instead.
1.
I think Nicki Minaj is better than Lady Gaga. There I said it. Especially this song. Partly because I never met a female rapper that I liked until her, and this music video blends the right amount of ghetto fabulous with bubblegum pop. If you knew anything about me at all, you would know that ghetto fabulous and bubblegum pop are just TWO of my not-so-secret weaknesses.
2.
I've never been a watch gal, but I could be with this rose colored Riley Plated Stainless Steel watch from Fossil. Mmm...I'm talking to you, Tim Burton ; )
3.
Since my bestest friend Kristina Cruz, is having wonderful adventures in one of my favorite cities in the world, I have been stalking her facebook more than is usual or healthy. And that girl has good taste, and I spotted this shoe. She copied my purse, so I can copy her shoe.
4. London. Enough said.
Okay...back to the grind. Back to applying for jobs! Tim and I are moving into an apartment on August 1st whether we are ready for it or not! Wish me luck!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
This Is Home
Been having a rough day.
So rough that I just got into the car and went on auto pilot. Of course, I wound up somewhere with the internet and put the ear buds in.
Trying to tune out the world, and focus no what I need to do.
It's been a little hard.
But Switchfoot helps.
So rough that I just got into the car and went on auto pilot. Of course, I wound up somewhere with the internet and put the ear buds in.
Trying to tune out the world, and focus no what I need to do.
It's been a little hard.
But Switchfoot helps.
Friday, June 17, 2011
New Haircut!!
It is halfway through summer and I FINALLY got a haircut. I've been needing one badly for a couple of months now, but I did it!
It is super short for me, but I had to do it. I've had the same long hair for a LONG time, and have gotten the same haircut for six years. I always wanted to try to go much shorter, but I always chickened out. So I just manned up and told the gal to just do away with it. Seven inches later, I love it. I thought about going shorter, but the chicken in me finally came out.
Oh well.
This summer is going to have many many things happening and I can't wait. I'm anxiously searching for new jobs as we speak because Tim and I will be moving on our own! Of course when I'm searching for jobs, I'm also looking at furniture and inspirations from IKEA.
I can't wait to get rid of all my old college things and start furnishing a real "grown-up" apartment. That means that dear Timothy will have to get rid of a LOT of stupid things.
----
Also, to satisfy my nerd urge...the only thing I want to do this summer is go see Harry Potter. The only thing I want to do in my life is go see Harry Potter. If I could fast forward to LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY...I would do it. I can't even handle this.
I wish someone were filming my reaction to this trailer, just released yesterday. There were literally GOOSEBUMPS on my arms, and I was definitely holding my breath for the duration of the trailer. And the eyes were watering. Good thing no one cares to pay attention to me in Starbucks.
UPDATE:
Literally a minute later, I watched it for a second time. Closer to tears than I should be willing to admit...but I honestly cannot wait any longer. I'm going to burst! Did I mention that I rushed out to buy the Blu-Ray copy of Deathly Hallows pt. 1 a few weeks ago JUST for the special scene of the new movie? Not that I had the money for such a purchase...but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Up Up and Away
Boo on Youtube for not wanting to agree with me today. But I'm super feeling this song on a gloomy Friday.
Kid Cudi: Up Up and Away
Enjoy.
Kid Cudi: Up Up and Away
Enjoy.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Do Better
Also...words cannot describe how happy I am for Red Wing FFA.
Many of these kids worked their tails off throughout the year and at State Convention, earning RW FFA the honor of 3rd Best Chapter in the State!! WHOO HOO!!!
Many of these kids worked their tails off throughout the year and at State Convention, earning RW FFA the honor of 3rd Best Chapter in the State!! WHOO HOO!!!
Supsicle?
Do you ever try to form words out of those "please type this same thing so we know you are not a robot..." boxes?
The latest word I thought I saw in the mire of text: "supsicle".
Considering it is now almost summer...I found that to be entirely appropriate.
The latest word I thought I saw in the mire of text: "supsicle".
Considering it is now almost summer...I found that to be entirely appropriate.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New Year: The Solo Ninja
That was the last picture my three siblings and I took together, and I must say we are looking quite dapper. This was taken as our youngest hermano graduated from high school back in June. Who knows when the next time all four of us will be together...
It is the new year, and I am without siblings, but a new roommate.
Josh: off in Washington D.C. having adventures that only he could have. Seriously. Go ask him about the girl he met on the plane. (Just living the dream).
Lani: living large in Mankato and about to finish up her Junior year. She was elected PHC President (it's kind of a really big deal) for the sororities on campus, so she's super duper swamped.
Vinnie: about to graduate from Basic Training at the end of this month and then who knows where the Army will send him to.
And I...am sitting here waiting for my life to begin. About to start school again in the summer...just got to finish up the application process and we will get the ball rolling. (FAFSA here I come!) I am going to start a career in (wait for it...) Cosmetology and looking into the Aveda Institute (don't act so surprised...). It will be a good change, a new fresh start, and the launch into a career that can take me any where.
I do change my mind a lot, but this time off from the U has given me lots to think about, and new perspective.
...
So this is the New Year...
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Breakfast at Timothy's
With the Christmas season upon us, and both of my brothers away in far off lands... (Okay, well...Georgia and Colorado), I thought this holiday might be a little boring.
I should just know by now that when I think something will go one way, it always always always ends up going another way.
My wonderful Timmy and I are house-sitting for one Michael "Hamster Pants" Hansen, and of course we have Ares the beagle to look after. The whole weekend started off with Tim competing in a grappling/Thai boxing tournament, and that went great. Tim went 1-1 in his grappling competition, and even pulled off some high risk moves like his "Flying Arm Bar". He lost his Thai boxing match, but it was to a friend of his, and I know he was okay with being able to see a buddy of his. But the week went downhill for me from there.
I ended up getting what is called a Bartholin Cyst. I'm not going to go in to major medical details to prevent you from getting grossed out (you're more than welcome to look it up if you choose), but the jist of it: i had a cyst that ended up clogging a duct, making it very sore, inflamed and infected. The crap thing about it is, is that you have no way of preventing these things. Some people are prone to getting them, and I guess I'm one of them.
It was absolutely excruciating pain for longer than I should have put up with. Tim had to help me walk to the bathroom, get up and out of bed, and I would become so drained of my energy after every movement I made. If I shifted my weight, the pain would flare up, and all I could do was collapse back on the couch to catch my breath. (I think I now know what it's like for men to get kicked in the junk...because the pain would make it all the way to my stomach). Tim had been telling me to call the hospital and make an appointment, but a) I was afraid to (I had been reading about what they would do to get rid of the abscess), and b) because I'm not in school I don't have health insurance. After a few nights of waking up screaming, Tim said that I had better make an appointment or he'd take me in there whether I liked it or not.
Tim had been wonderful to me this whole time. He made me breakfast every morning after he helped me to the couch. He cooked me dinner every evening and tried to spoil me as much as he could in between. He helped me wash my hair when I couldn't stand up in the shower, he brought me countless glasses of juice and water, he let me have control over the remote, and the week would have been much worse without him.
After spending too much time in pain for much longer than I really needed to, I went in to the hospital, was pushed in by wheelchair with Timmy right by my side. As I was afraid of, the physician had to drain the abscess by making an incision. As soon as she saw what she was dealing with...she didn't even mess around.
She started the procedure to drain the cyst right away, cleaning out the area, injecting the anesthesia, and anti-anxiety medicine. My legs started shaking so bad, and I began crying so uncontrollably that the physician's assistant placed a warm washcloth on my head, and they both took a break from the procedure for me to relax. Once they started though, they gave me a washcloth to bite down and scream in to.
I had never known that I would experience anything like that. I know that I never would have made it through without the quick hands of the assistant, my doctor Dr. Julie Becker, and of course, Mr. Tim Burton.
Now I simply have to recover and get well in time for Christmas. All Timmy has to do is carefully watch me, and enjoy his freedom of the TV and XBox. And it's time to truly enjoy breakfast at Timothy's.
I should just know by now that when I think something will go one way, it always always always ends up going another way.
My wonderful Timmy and I are house-sitting for one Michael "Hamster Pants" Hansen, and of course we have Ares the beagle to look after. The whole weekend started off with Tim competing in a grappling/Thai boxing tournament, and that went great. Tim went 1-1 in his grappling competition, and even pulled off some high risk moves like his "Flying Arm Bar". He lost his Thai boxing match, but it was to a friend of his, and I know he was okay with being able to see a buddy of his. But the week went downhill for me from there.
I ended up getting what is called a Bartholin Cyst. I'm not going to go in to major medical details to prevent you from getting grossed out (you're more than welcome to look it up if you choose), but the jist of it: i had a cyst that ended up clogging a duct, making it very sore, inflamed and infected. The crap thing about it is, is that you have no way of preventing these things. Some people are prone to getting them, and I guess I'm one of them.
It was absolutely excruciating pain for longer than I should have put up with. Tim had to help me walk to the bathroom, get up and out of bed, and I would become so drained of my energy after every movement I made. If I shifted my weight, the pain would flare up, and all I could do was collapse back on the couch to catch my breath. (I think I now know what it's like for men to get kicked in the junk...because the pain would make it all the way to my stomach). Tim had been telling me to call the hospital and make an appointment, but a) I was afraid to (I had been reading about what they would do to get rid of the abscess), and b) because I'm not in school I don't have health insurance. After a few nights of waking up screaming, Tim said that I had better make an appointment or he'd take me in there whether I liked it or not.
Tim had been wonderful to me this whole time. He made me breakfast every morning after he helped me to the couch. He cooked me dinner every evening and tried to spoil me as much as he could in between. He helped me wash my hair when I couldn't stand up in the shower, he brought me countless glasses of juice and water, he let me have control over the remote, and the week would have been much worse without him.
After spending too much time in pain for much longer than I really needed to, I went in to the hospital, was pushed in by wheelchair with Timmy right by my side. As I was afraid of, the physician had to drain the abscess by making an incision. As soon as she saw what she was dealing with...she didn't even mess around.
She started the procedure to drain the cyst right away, cleaning out the area, injecting the anesthesia, and anti-anxiety medicine. My legs started shaking so bad, and I began crying so uncontrollably that the physician's assistant placed a warm washcloth on my head, and they both took a break from the procedure for me to relax. Once they started though, they gave me a washcloth to bite down and scream in to.
I had never known that I would experience anything like that. I know that I never would have made it through without the quick hands of the assistant, my doctor Dr. Julie Becker, and of course, Mr. Tim Burton.
Now I simply have to recover and get well in time for Christmas. All Timmy has to do is carefully watch me, and enjoy his freedom of the TV and XBox. And it's time to truly enjoy breakfast at Timothy's.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Top 100 Books
It seems to be that I copy a lot of what CBB does and says because she is so worldly and wise. Therefore, I have copied another something or other from her blog Delta,What? and have posted it for you.
Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. I'm going to bold the books I've read, italicize the ones I have tried to, and unsuccessfully, read.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
----
Huzzah! Eat that BBC..."only 6 books from this list"
B.A. in English WIN!
Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. I'm going to bold the books I've read, italicize the ones I have tried to, and unsuccessfully, read.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
----
Huzzah! Eat that BBC..."only 6 books from this list"
B.A. in English WIN!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Day 7: Cheating
Okay so I'm cheating by A LOT on this post.
But it's my blog so I'll cheat if I want to.
----
I can't decide which I'm more excited for.
Day 07: A Photo that Makes you Happy
It's a good thing they're not coming out during the same month.
Too much excitement for one lifetime.
I'm probably going to cry at HP.
And by probably...I mean most definitely.
But it's my blog so I'll cheat if I want to.
----
I can't decide which I'm more excited for.
Day 07: A Photo that Makes you Happy
It's a good thing they're not coming out during the same month.
Too much excitement for one lifetime.
I'm probably going to cry at HP.
And by probably...I mean most definitely.
Coffee Shop Eavesdropping
I've been sitting in Starbucks for over two hours shamelessly using their free wi-fi (good call Starbucks. Thanks for not making me pay anymore!) and I've been listening to these ladies next to me for maybe ten minutes. I usually stick my earbuds in (handy trick I learned in college), because even if you aren't listening to music, people will leave you alone because you look busy. And by employing this handy trick, you can always hear funny or interesting things.
So this brings me to these two women...
These women are talking about their "me" time (and their "me" time is in the shower...because you can't be bothered in there...ironically...that is also MY "me" time), and how they need to purchase new dishwashers, and what they think their landlords are paying for, and how they feel about their children in college. While not listening to music and listening to these women, I just had a thought.
How far away am I from having these types of discussions?
Since not being in college any more, my conversations with friends no longer consist of what score you got on the last exam, nor what happened at the party over the weekend and I "should've been there...". I am having more and more discussions with people about the bed I want to buy with Tim, and what I should do with the girls when the men go off deer hunting, how you shouldn't have children if the thought of them creeps you out...(this gal I work with is absolutely disgusted by anything baby related...hopefully her and her husband aren't planning on procreating any time soon).
This thought creeped me out a little.
Just because I didn't think I was old enough to talk that way.
----
Enough of that.
I'm 95% of the way toward my substitute teaching license.
I paid my car insurance today (wahoo!!)
Checked on my student loan repayment status (sadly my grace period is almost over)
Balanced my check book
Continued research on beds
Are we catching the irony of my day?
So this brings me to these two women...
These women are talking about their "me" time (and their "me" time is in the shower...because you can't be bothered in there...ironically...that is also MY "me" time), and how they need to purchase new dishwashers, and what they think their landlords are paying for, and how they feel about their children in college. While not listening to music and listening to these women, I just had a thought.
How far away am I from having these types of discussions?
Since not being in college any more, my conversations with friends no longer consist of what score you got on the last exam, nor what happened at the party over the weekend and I "should've been there...". I am having more and more discussions with people about the bed I want to buy with Tim, and what I should do with the girls when the men go off deer hunting, how you shouldn't have children if the thought of them creeps you out...(this gal I work with is absolutely disgusted by anything baby related...hopefully her and her husband aren't planning on procreating any time soon).
This thought creeped me out a little.
Just because I didn't think I was old enough to talk that way.
----
Enough of that.
I'm 95% of the way toward my substitute teaching license.
I paid my car insurance today (wahoo!!)
Checked on my student loan repayment status (sadly my grace period is almost over)
Balanced my check book
Continued research on beds
Are we catching the irony of my day?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Heavier Things...A.K.A. Day 6: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
I have recently come off of a movie high...
"Sex and the City 2" was so-so, but I still enjoyed it. The girls, the fashion, the city. I even got Tim to sit down and watch it with me after we cooked dinner together...bless his heart. (I should probably suck it up and watch some major martial arts films in the near future to make it up to him).
"The Social Network" was much more worth my time, and I have to be honest...it really made me miss my freshmen year of college. Because as each advancement was made on that dastardly thing we like to call Facebook, it was made during my freshmen year of college. And I remember EVERYTHING.
----
Day 6: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
In the process of missing my freshmen year of college, I spied something in that little flick that REALLY made me laugh.
Mark Zuckerberg had a livejournal account...and why, so did I.
http://ikess7.livejournal.com/
So this is my fancy today...and you are welcome to peruse the thoughts of 17,18,19 year old me.
I find it quite funny.
----
Edit at 6:35pm
"Sex and the City 2"?
Better the second time around.
"Sex and the City 2" was so-so, but I still enjoyed it. The girls, the fashion, the city. I even got Tim to sit down and watch it with me after we cooked dinner together...bless his heart. (I should probably suck it up and watch some major martial arts films in the near future to make it up to him).
"The Social Network" was much more worth my time, and I have to be honest...it really made me miss my freshmen year of college. Because as each advancement was made on that dastardly thing we like to call Facebook, it was made during my freshmen year of college. And I remember EVERYTHING.
----
Day 6: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
In the process of missing my freshmen year of college, I spied something in that little flick that REALLY made me laugh.
Mark Zuckerberg had a livejournal account...and why, so did I.
http://ikess7.livejournal.com/
So this is my fancy today...and you are welcome to peruse the thoughts of 17,18,19 year old me.
I find it quite funny.
----
Edit at 6:35pm
"Sex and the City 2"?
Better the second time around.
Monday, October 25, 2010
"And a Goat"...A.K.A. Day 05 — Your Favorite Quote
Yes...my name is Cassie and I used to be one of those girls who collected quotes. In eighth grade I was quite the note writer. I had cool ways to fold notes, cool colored pens in which to write them in, and cool quotes to always stick down at the bottom next to my signature.
Yes. That was my thing.
I had several little notebooks in which I wrote them down in so that I could look them up whenever I needed to sign something.
So on this 30-Day Blogger Challenge, the favorite quote day should be a piece of cake. Right?
Wrong!
I now find them to be kind of lame...especially those that talk about landing among the stars. I recently took my Red Wing FFA chapter to the 83rd National FFA Convention where the keynote speaker was Josh Shipp, and he said that he hated that quote too. Especially because if you land amongst a star you'll burst in to flames.
But what he did say was something actually pretty great. He wasn't inspirational, (which I think was his point), he was realistic.
----
Day 5: Your Favorite Quote
"Your life could be either lame or legendary. You decide."
- Josh Shipp
That works pretty well for me. Pretty well indeed. It also goes hand in hand with another quote (actually it's a song lyric) that I've grown somewhat partial to recently:
"We are once in a lifetime."
- Switchfoot
----
So take those and meditate on them.
Yes. That was my thing.
I had several little notebooks in which I wrote them down in so that I could look them up whenever I needed to sign something.
So on this 30-Day Blogger Challenge, the favorite quote day should be a piece of cake. Right?
Wrong!
I now find them to be kind of lame...especially those that talk about landing among the stars. I recently took my Red Wing FFA chapter to the 83rd National FFA Convention where the keynote speaker was Josh Shipp, and he said that he hated that quote too. Especially because if you land amongst a star you'll burst in to flames.
But what he did say was something actually pretty great. He wasn't inspirational, (which I think was his point), he was realistic.
----
Day 5: Your Favorite Quote
"Your life could be either lame or legendary. You decide."
- Josh Shipp
That works pretty well for me. Pretty well indeed. It also goes hand in hand with another quote (actually it's a song lyric) that I've grown somewhat partial to recently:
"We are once in a lifetime."
- Switchfoot
----
So take those and meditate on them.
The Vinster
My younger brother has had many nicknames over the years. A few of my favorites include (but are not limited to): The Vinster, Vince, Vin, Buddy, Diesel, Dragon, (and my personal favorite) Cinco. But today, Vincent Harold La'anui Petrulo became a soldier of the U.S. Army and I couldn't be prouder.
Over the years, Vinnie has always been a constant member at the Petrulo household. Being the youngest of four kids, it was weird to come home to find that Vinnie was off somewhere. My other siblings and I were so excited to find that he had been to a few parties during his senior year of high school. He was such a shy kid, that him having friends over at the house was a rare occurrence.
Even my first memories of Vinnie were always that of him being the brother to be there to welcome us home. When I went of to kindergarten with Josh back in Columbia Heights, MN, Josh and I would have to walk to the bus stop and we could see Vinnie's little arm waving us on as he stayed home to play.
Now when I come home, his guitars are all packed up, his X-box is on loan to a friend, and the bathroom is surprisingly clean.
What I'm trying to say here is that I already miss him. He's going off to do great things with his career in the army, and I'm super excited to see what he'll be like when he comes back.
Over the years, Vinnie has always been a constant member at the Petrulo household. Being the youngest of four kids, it was weird to come home to find that Vinnie was off somewhere. My other siblings and I were so excited to find that he had been to a few parties during his senior year of high school. He was such a shy kid, that him having friends over at the house was a rare occurrence.
Even my first memories of Vinnie were always that of him being the brother to be there to welcome us home. When I went of to kindergarten with Josh back in Columbia Heights, MN, Josh and I would have to walk to the bus stop and we could see Vinnie's little arm waving us on as he stayed home to play.
Now when I come home, his guitars are all packed up, his X-box is on loan to a friend, and the bathroom is surprisingly clean.
What I'm trying to say here is that I already miss him. He's going off to do great things with his career in the army, and I'm super excited to see what he'll be like when he comes back.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
New Goals
I've set a goal for myself that I will finish before the end of the year:
to obtain my Minnesota Short-Call Substitute Teaching license.
I just have to get my fingerprints taken, get my official transcript from the U of M saying that I did indeed obtain a bachelor's degree and pay 90-some lame dollars for them to process my paperwork. But I can't wait.
I want to teach so badly, but taking time off from school has slowed down that process. For the time being, I will be a substitute teacher so that I may still be a part of the classroom, and I can have the flexibility to return to school to get my actual license.
Can't wait.
P.S. In order to take good fingerprints, I have to lotion my hands for a week prior. While that may be easy for some, I work in a restaurant and I have to wash my hands every 20 seconds..
not so easy.
---
Also, Tim and I are apartment searching! I can't wait to live with him! I never thought I'd be excited to live with a boy, but he makes it worth it.
to obtain my Minnesota Short-Call Substitute Teaching license.
I just have to get my fingerprints taken, get my official transcript from the U of M saying that I did indeed obtain a bachelor's degree and pay 90-some lame dollars for them to process my paperwork. But I can't wait.
I want to teach so badly, but taking time off from school has slowed down that process. For the time being, I will be a substitute teacher so that I may still be a part of the classroom, and I can have the flexibility to return to school to get my actual license.
Can't wait.
P.S. In order to take good fingerprints, I have to lotion my hands for a week prior. While that may be easy for some, I work in a restaurant and I have to wash my hands every 20 seconds..
not so easy.
---
Also, Tim and I are apartment searching! I can't wait to live with him! I never thought I'd be excited to live with a boy, but he makes it worth it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Best. Commercial. Ever.
I've seen this commercial for over a month now, but I still can't get over it.
Nor...do I want to.
Nor...do I want to.
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