Today was one of those days. Blew me over, literally. A) work never slowed down for a second and my To Do pile kept growing and growing. B) there was a wind advisory and it was quite blustery. AH. I hate the wind! But, I did find out today that I kind of like the wind when I'm running outside. Instead of blowing my hair all over the place and making it stick to my lips, it instead keeps me cool as I jog in the 80+ degree weather. Which is the best weather, everrrrr.
I have a reason for posting tonight. Do you have $1.49 to splurge on your new favorite song? Get on itunes and buy Parachute, VA's album. It's only two songs. One song, really - two versions. One regular, one acoustic. You'll want them both. The song is called She Is Love and you'll recognize it from the Nivea lotion commercial when the guy is kissing the girl's shoulders or something like that. The song is precious. MB, I think you will especially like it. Perfect late night tune to play as you climb into bed. Like right now :)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Late Night Blogging
10:15. This is late night for me. I am usually half asleep, trying to stay awake for the weather report by this time. I don't know why I'm not tired today. I just watched the 18th hour of the Bachelor for the week. I'm over it. And also a little bummed that Jillian is the next Bachelorette. She didn't really impress me that much. Plus, I think they need to cut this thread of rejects and start fresh. It's gone from Brad to Deanna to Jason to Jillian. I might have to officially give up on this show. I say that, but I probably won't for real. It's a fun thing to watch with friends. We've started g-chatting during the episodes, since we don't all live in the same town and can't watch it all together like we did in college. Plus, if I didn't watch it, what would I talk about at lunch every Tuesday? Sigh.
Tomorrow is Mark and I's two year anniversary. This is also my first time to ever celebrate a two year anniversary. It seems like such a long time. But then again, it does feel like I've known Mark forever. We're getting lunch together to celebrate, which is exciting because it makes the work day a little exciting and gives me a reason to get a little more dressed up than usual. So that will be fun :) He doesn't read this blog (or even know it exists) so I can reveal the amazing gift I got him for the occasion. Ready? A lamp. His first lamp for his house (that he has lived in for four years). He says he doesn't believe in lamps. Thinks they are stupid. I am here to change his mind and show him the true gloriousness of the soft dim glow of a lamp. I LOVE lamps. 99% of the time, I use lamps instead of the overhead lights. I have (mentally counting...) six lamps in my one bedroom/700 square foot apartment. One in the kitchen, one on my desk, two in the living room and two in my bedroom. I would have one in the bathroom as well, but it only has one plug outlet and it would be too annoying to plug and unplug it every morning for the hair dryer/straightener routine. I even have two lamps at my desk at work. Is this a little crazy? Perhaps.
In the spirit of keeping this post completely random, today at work I helped with a pizza party for 45 PreK kiddos, three cars got broken into in our school's parking lot, our phones were down all afternoon and are expected to stay dead until end of the day tomorrow, and the three legged cat bit me (another story for another day). But the good news is that my boss handed me and my two coworkers her school credit card at 12:30 and told us to go get lunch on her. So we had a nice (long) break at corner bakery, My only regret? We didn't get dessert.
Jay Leno's on now. I should so be asleep.
Tomorrow is Mark and I's two year anniversary. This is also my first time to ever celebrate a two year anniversary. It seems like such a long time. But then again, it does feel like I've known Mark forever. We're getting lunch together to celebrate, which is exciting because it makes the work day a little exciting and gives me a reason to get a little more dressed up than usual. So that will be fun :) He doesn't read this blog (or even know it exists) so I can reveal the amazing gift I got him for the occasion. Ready? A lamp. His first lamp for his house (that he has lived in for four years). He says he doesn't believe in lamps. Thinks they are stupid. I am here to change his mind and show him the true gloriousness of the soft dim glow of a lamp. I LOVE lamps. 99% of the time, I use lamps instead of the overhead lights. I have (mentally counting...) six lamps in my one bedroom/700 square foot apartment. One in the kitchen, one on my desk, two in the living room and two in my bedroom. I would have one in the bathroom as well, but it only has one plug outlet and it would be too annoying to plug and unplug it every morning for the hair dryer/straightener routine. I even have two lamps at my desk at work. Is this a little crazy? Perhaps.
In the spirit of keeping this post completely random, today at work I helped with a pizza party for 45 PreK kiddos, three cars got broken into in our school's parking lot, our phones were down all afternoon and are expected to stay dead until end of the day tomorrow, and the three legged cat bit me (another story for another day). But the good news is that my boss handed me and my two coworkers her school credit card at 12:30 and told us to go get lunch on her. So we had a nice (long) break at corner bakery, My only regret? We didn't get dessert.
Jay Leno's on now. I should so be asleep.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Marchy
Happy March. Where is this year going? I had a really great weekend, until about one hour ago when I started thinking of everything that I have coming up this month and it made me start to freak out. I was trying to read Book Numero 3 of the Twilight series, and my mind kept wondering to all kinds of things. Such as: don't forget to fill out the (incredibly long) paperwork for my visa to go visit China.. what should I get Mark for his birthday later this month... I must make myself get to the gym this week, no matter what... where on earth can I host a party for 200 people on a Saturday night in Dallas for less than $25 per person (work. they give me impossible tasks.)... i need to do laundry. unpack from my trips last week. buy catfood. bake a cake for our (2 year!) anniversary later this week. run the dishwasher. clean out my closet. pay the bills. research a digital camcorder to get for our trip (note: suggestions?? anyone?). AHH. So I finally gave up on Edward and Bella and tried to knock out some of the smaller items racing through my head.
Before all this jumble took over, I had a really wonderful weekend. Friday night Laura and I went to the Mavs game and had such a fun time. They were playing the OKC Thunder, so not only did we get to see a brand new team play, we got to see Texas's FABULOUS Kevin Durant. Except that he got hurt 5 minutes into the first quarter and didn't play the rest of the night. Laura and I were much too involved in conversation to notice this happen, and kept wondering aloud all night why he was never playing. The BF explained to me later that night that he sprained his ankle early on and was out for the entire game. I'm sure those around us thought we were GREAT basketball fans, seeing as how every few minutes I was all "Why isn't Kevin Durant in!?" The game was great though, and we did intently watch the entire 4th quarter AND overtime. And, the Mavs won!
Yesterday Mark and I drove up to my parents' house to see their two new puppies. They just picked up Abby and Banjo, 7 week old border collie puppies. They are quite possibly the cutest things you will ever see. They are sweethearts. The entire fam was home as well, including my brother and (still) unemployed sister. We played a Battle of the Sexes Cranium match last night, which was a lot of fun. Girls won, of course. We were rocking at the Creative Cat. Mark had to act out Titanic at one point, during which he stood on a kitchen chair and re-enacted Leo's "I'm the king of the world!" moment. It. was. classic. On a side note, I watched Titanic late night Friday AND early Saturday morning on TBS this weekend. How I love you, TBS.
We decided to just stay the night in Muenster, so we scored a BBQ lunch with the family today, and then drove back home. I dropped Mark off at his house so he could get in another 4 hours of study time. He is studying to take his PE exam in April. I will spare the explanation of what this is, other than its a very long, hard test which, once he passes it, will make him a "Professional Engineer." What does this mean for me? Very little hang-out time during the next two months and a stressed out BF who has to spend hours every night after work doing sample problems and reading a very large text book that cost him a very large sum of money. Hmm. Kelly and I decided we'd start delivering "Meals on Wheels" dinners to his house, to make sure he is at least still eating.
Gus and I are trying to stay warm in my cold apartment. The 83 degree weather couldn't stick around for the weekend. It never does! I'll end with a picture of the new puppies. I realize this is a very bad picture, but have you every tried to take a picture of two puppies? They don't exactly stop and pose for the camera!
Annnd blogger put the picture at the beginning of the post instead. Whatev. I'm not going to try and move it! Goodnight, friends!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Texas on My Mind
I spent the first few days of this week at an Alumni Relations conference in Austin. All it took was one drive down Mopac into the heart of downtown on a sunny morning to make my heart ache to be back in that city. Our conference was at the Omni, which meant I could walk two blocks to meet both Morgan and Royale for lunch on a patio, where we sat in the sun and chatted like we were all still roommates, living together on the third floor of the DG house, eating our Mexican lunch on a Friday, still in our PJ’s. Before I left for the airport on Tuesday evening, I took a detour to campus and walked the drag, hitting up the Co-op and Tyler’s to add a few more UT t-shirts to my ever-growing collection and marvel and how everything looks so different from four years ago, yet still feels so very much the same.
The guy selling the silver rings at the little table among all the other artists is still there, with his sign recognizing him as the oldest vendor in the Renaissance Square. The chubby “homeless” guy in the tie dye t-shirts with the goofy cardboard signs still walks Guadalupe asking for money, even though I swear he also works at the Co-op. The yellow Starbucks that I passed every day on my way to class is still crowded with students meeting to study, while still smelling slightly odd and murky. Most of the shops on the drag look the same, although the bagel store is now a Potbelly and the Cadeau, where I’d always go to buy a cute birthday present, is now another trendy clothing boutique. I so wanted to be there, every day, walking across the street to campus and going to class. Being there, with all the current students darting around you and sporting their round up t-shirts really, really made me miss it.
So my new long term goal in life is to get back to Austin. Maybe in two years, maybe in five, maybe in ten. Maybe I’ll just spend every other weekend there this summer and go back for (more than just one) football game in the fall. I know I’ll be there more often this year for Royale’s wedding festivities. Showers and parties and a bachelorette weekend are surely in the works. We even talked about possibly coming down for a weekend to help her pick out her dress! That would be exciting.
So I’ve go Austin on the brain and missing my friends who I had a great quick visit with. Every meal I ate was with either Morgan, Jamie or Royale and we really got to chat and catch up with each other. I’m sure after one weekend back here at home, I’ll be perfectly content with Dallas again. In fact, I’ve got a date with Laura for the Mavs game and plans in the works for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in a few weeks. What’s not to love?
The guy selling the silver rings at the little table among all the other artists is still there, with his sign recognizing him as the oldest vendor in the Renaissance Square. The chubby “homeless” guy in the tie dye t-shirts with the goofy cardboard signs still walks Guadalupe asking for money, even though I swear he also works at the Co-op. The yellow Starbucks that I passed every day on my way to class is still crowded with students meeting to study, while still smelling slightly odd and murky. Most of the shops on the drag look the same, although the bagel store is now a Potbelly and the Cadeau, where I’d always go to buy a cute birthday present, is now another trendy clothing boutique. I so wanted to be there, every day, walking across the street to campus and going to class. Being there, with all the current students darting around you and sporting their round up t-shirts really, really made me miss it.
So my new long term goal in life is to get back to Austin. Maybe in two years, maybe in five, maybe in ten. Maybe I’ll just spend every other weekend there this summer and go back for (more than just one) football game in the fall. I know I’ll be there more often this year for Royale’s wedding festivities. Showers and parties and a bachelorette weekend are surely in the works. We even talked about possibly coming down for a weekend to help her pick out her dress! That would be exciting.
So I’ve go Austin on the brain and missing my friends who I had a great quick visit with. Every meal I ate was with either Morgan, Jamie or Royale and we really got to chat and catch up with each other. I’m sure after one weekend back here at home, I’ll be perfectly content with Dallas again. In fact, I’ve got a date with Laura for the Mavs game and plans in the works for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in a few weeks. What’s not to love?
Monday, February 16, 2009
I Love You, Presidents
Happy President's Day! In honor of George and Abe, this post is coming at you straight from home, on the couch, in front of the TV. Nice. I feel like I have a lot to celebrate today, besides the day off from work.
In honor of Valentine's Day and me having two days off from work this weekend, I decided to throw eating healthy right out the window. I didn't take one day off like I did for the Super Bowl, of just the weekend off like I did for my sister's birthday. I took the whole week off. Mark and I basically celebrated V-Day from Thursday night until this morning, so I went ahead and started early this week, eating bad from the get go. We had our fancy dinner on Thursday and had (the very best ever) guacamole as an appetizer, and then I ordered a GREAT BIG burger with fries AND potato cakes. I had a beer. Yum. We got Paciugo for dessert and ordered the large size cup with four different flavors. For breakfast I had TWO grands biscuits, bacon, sausage and eggs. I think I must have eaten no less than 20 Hershey's miniatures this weekend. And that's a low guess. On Valentine's Day, we had our traditional romantic dinner at the McDonald's drive-thru and got (more) ice cream. Last night, we ordered pizza and i had FOUR slices. It was a fantastic weekend, food wise. I never let myself feel guilty about any of it.
This morning I knew I had to weigh myself to log my weekly weight. I debated skipping it altogether, but the online program I am using kept reminding me that today is my weight day. So I stepped on the scale this morning and cringed, more than usual.
Something is completely backwards. I lost two pounds. How?? I have no idea. Apparently burgers and pizza and chocolate, with bare minimal exercise works for me. Hmm. This also makes 5 pounds lost so far in '09. Woo! Slow and steady. Summer, here I come. Bring on the bathing suits.
One of my favorite blogs, yourwishcake, often posts about working out and and being healthy and staying motivated. plus, she's as cute as can be and makes all kinds of fun crafts. Following the lead from her blog, I am setting a goal for myself this week (just one, not a whole list! I gotta make it somewhat attainable) to run 5 miles. In 5 days. So that's a mere one mile a day for 5 days. The only catch is I have to run these miles, not walk them, like I tend to do these days. I figure if Sara can run 2.25 EVERY DAY, I can manage 5 short spurts this week.
Oh and in case you were wondering, Mark was pretty adorable with his Valentine's plans. He mailed me a home made card inviting me to dinner with him and since I never check my mail, it sat in my box for almost a week, while he sweated it out. I finally got it the day before the invite's date, much to his relief. He was brainstorming ways to get me to check my mail without giving it away. This is our third V-Day together and our third time to celebrate our own "Fake Valentine's Day," which basically means we don't go out on the 14th, but skip the crowds and preset menus and opt for a happy meal and ice cream cone on the real day and a nice dinner out sometime else that week. It means two days to celebrate and twice the fun.
Well, I'm off to the outlet malls. Let's hope for some good sales. Big plans this weekend as well - an out of town wedding and a trip to Austin early next week for a work conference. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and celebrating some pretty big news with them :) I'm also looking forward to wearing my new black dress to the wedding. I got it at Zara on the clearance rack for 14.99, marked down from $129.99. Dear lord. You can't pass up something like that!
In honor of Valentine's Day and me having two days off from work this weekend, I decided to throw eating healthy right out the window. I didn't take one day off like I did for the Super Bowl, of just the weekend off like I did for my sister's birthday. I took the whole week off. Mark and I basically celebrated V-Day from Thursday night until this morning, so I went ahead and started early this week, eating bad from the get go. We had our fancy dinner on Thursday and had (the very best ever) guacamole as an appetizer, and then I ordered a GREAT BIG burger with fries AND potato cakes. I had a beer. Yum. We got Paciugo for dessert and ordered the large size cup with four different flavors. For breakfast I had TWO grands biscuits, bacon, sausage and eggs. I think I must have eaten no less than 20 Hershey's miniatures this weekend. And that's a low guess. On Valentine's Day, we had our traditional romantic dinner at the McDonald's drive-thru and got (more) ice cream. Last night, we ordered pizza and i had FOUR slices. It was a fantastic weekend, food wise. I never let myself feel guilty about any of it.
This morning I knew I had to weigh myself to log my weekly weight. I debated skipping it altogether, but the online program I am using kept reminding me that today is my weight day. So I stepped on the scale this morning and cringed, more than usual.
Something is completely backwards. I lost two pounds. How?? I have no idea. Apparently burgers and pizza and chocolate, with bare minimal exercise works for me. Hmm. This also makes 5 pounds lost so far in '09. Woo! Slow and steady. Summer, here I come. Bring on the bathing suits.
One of my favorite blogs, yourwishcake, often posts about working out and and being healthy and staying motivated. plus, she's as cute as can be and makes all kinds of fun crafts. Following the lead from her blog, I am setting a goal for myself this week (just one, not a whole list! I gotta make it somewhat attainable) to run 5 miles. In 5 days. So that's a mere one mile a day for 5 days. The only catch is I have to run these miles, not walk them, like I tend to do these days. I figure if Sara can run 2.25 EVERY DAY, I can manage 5 short spurts this week.
Oh and in case you were wondering, Mark was pretty adorable with his Valentine's plans. He mailed me a home made card inviting me to dinner with him and since I never check my mail, it sat in my box for almost a week, while he sweated it out. I finally got it the day before the invite's date, much to his relief. He was brainstorming ways to get me to check my mail without giving it away. This is our third V-Day together and our third time to celebrate our own "Fake Valentine's Day," which basically means we don't go out on the 14th, but skip the crowds and preset menus and opt for a happy meal and ice cream cone on the real day and a nice dinner out sometime else that week. It means two days to celebrate and twice the fun.
Well, I'm off to the outlet malls. Let's hope for some good sales. Big plans this weekend as well - an out of town wedding and a trip to Austin early next week for a work conference. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and celebrating some pretty big news with them :) I'm also looking forward to wearing my new black dress to the wedding. I got it at Zara on the clearance rack for 14.99, marked down from $129.99. Dear lord. You can't pass up something like that!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Better Late Than Never
Over Christmas Break, I made this video of pictures from 2008. The first picture is Mark and I on New Year's Eve '08 and the last picture is us on NYE '09. It's a glimpse back at the year and set to one of my favorite Coldplay songs. I never took the time to upload it online, but finally got around to it today. I'm on "Winter Break" now, so I have a FOUR DAY weekend (woo!) and had some time on my hands.
So, here it is. A month and a half late! 2008, you were good to me.
2008... in pictures. from Amanda on Vimeo.
So, here it is. A month and a half late! 2008, you were good to me.
2008... in pictures. from Amanda on Vimeo.
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