Is it spring yet???

Hi Everyone!

So, it is a sunny Sunday mid-afternoon and I am pretty happy. It is the first weekend in a while that I have had time to relax a little bit and enjoy the simple things. Well, just wanted to up-date a little since my first post (almost a month ago). Now that I have some free time and don't feel like doing my homework quite yet.

As you all know, Brad and I went to Florida a couple weeks ago for Spring Break, which was a blast...we took it pretty easy and mostly just enjoyed laying out by the pool and at the beach, and went for nice walks and went out for some nice dinners. We went to the HardRock Casino, where we both lost money, but we dressed up fancy and drank at a Hooters, bah ha ha... it was probably my favorite part of the trip. The last day we went snorkeling in the ocean, which was so fun, but the water was freeeezing! All in all, it was fabulous but now I am poor :(, but worth it! Coming home to cold Michigan weather has left me feeling blahhhh. There are signs of spring, but frozen rain storms and freezing temps are just nooooot cutting it yet. I am starting to feel the itch for summer bbqs and being outside!! and I can't wait to go golfing!

School has been about the same... doing well as far as I know. I am taking an Animal Tissue culture lab, and we get to culture cells and learn how to properly grow them and passage them so that we can obtain this immortalized cell line... like HeLa!!! If you have not read, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I would HIGHLY recommend it! Anyways, last class we had to sacrifice a chick (which was still in the egg and prob around two weeks old)... it was pretty sad and discusting... we had to tear it's head off and then mince the body into tiny pieces. :( Poor lil birdy.

But..... good news, my lab professor for that class is pretty much going to hook me up with a summer job/internship working with some scientists at the MSU health building right next door to the GVSU health building. Nothing is set in stone yet, but he is going to send me some papers from a few different people who I could possibly work with. I am really excited for this and hope that all goes according to plan! If it all works out I get to continue living in GR this summer, and hopefully keep babysitting as well :) Cross your fingers for me... and hope that luck is finally going my way. (Thanks Pupitar~!! you are a Star)

I guess that is really all that is new with me. I am still trying to work out as often as possible..but had about a two week furlough after spring break... but am getting back into it a routine and hoping to see some more weight-loss :) I will be sure to up-date on my progress if any drastic goals are met!

I miss you all so much and hope that a Mom reunion is in the works soon... but if not then hopefully I can continue reading up on your life using our blog!!!

Love you all- <3

Becs

A brief summary of my life

I decided I would tell you all a little bit about my life after talking to Nora and realizing she had no idea what Culver was.

School: I am taking 4.5 class this semester.

1) chant - love it, we get to chant a lot and the teacher is a crazy pants. He thinks we should be fluent in Greek, Latin, German, French, Italian, Hebrew, etc. (http://music.nd.edu/faculty-and-staff/peter-jeffery/)

2) polyphony - love it, we get to sing polyphony a lot and the teacher is a crazy pants. He loves to discuss Renaissance polyphony conspiracies and he has a great sense of humor. And he is tall. (http://music.nd.edu/faculty-and-staff/alexander-blachly/)

3) voice lessons - love it, I don't know if you guys knew but I had serious voice issues last semester. I was sick a ton and my voice never seemed just right. It's getting a lot of better and I'm actually starting to enjoy singing again. My voice teacher is adorable. I have a big crush on him, even though he has a boyfriend. There's a lot of hands-on action in my lesson. It's exciting. I'm doing a recital on April 27th at 7 pm, I think it will be pretty good and you should all come! (http://www.stephenlancaster.net/Stephen_Lancaster/Home.html)

4) organ lessons - love it, I'm taking lessons with a 2nd year organ student Laura. She's a good friend and a great teacher.

5) master singers and recital choirs - tons of singing for conducting students who have to have conducting recitals. I have two recitals to sing in this weekend!

Placements: what enables me to pay for my housing/food/Cosmo/church major supplies

1) I provide the music for an 8 am Mass Monday-Friday. I have a different priest everyday and I love them all! And I have a pretty steady group of congregants and I've become friends with several of them. Good gig, but don't love waking up early every day.

2) I'm a music intern at the Culver Military Academy. This is a boarding military school (high schoolers) and I work with the singers and instrumentalists and do music for their Mass with them every Sunday (planning music, singing, directing, accompanying some of the time). It's interesting. They're all in uniforms and they process in with 4 huge flags and march. It's the most bizarre Mass ever. But I've made their music sooooo much better. I don't love this because I have to drive an hour to get their for a weekly rehearsal and Mass, but it could be a lot worse. And the kids are nice.

So that is what I spend most of my time doing. I have a lot more free time this semester than I did last semester. Mostly because I'm being smarter about the way I use my time. Oh! I also babysit 3 days a week. 10 year old twins: Kieran and Kate. They are really smart, sweet kids and I help them with their math homework and tell them funny jokes. And their house has awesome snack food!

Family: a few updates

1) Sarah is engaged and will be married in September of this year. I'm the maid of honor. His name is John and he is a good guy. Too soon in my opinion, but I think they will be very happy together for a very long time. Hopefully until one of them dies. And hopefully that won't be soon.

2) My dad lost his job. :( Lowes downsized and fired 1700 managers. Too bad they don't realize that my dad is better than 250% of the guys they could've fired. Please pray for him. He has many mouths to feed.

3) I got to go home 2 weekends ago and everyone seems happy and healthy and they're still a big happy family!

So, that is enough for now. I am mostly happy with life and feel incredibly blessed, though things aren't perfect. I do feel like I'm missing something, though. It's probably my MOMS. And maybe a DAD to call my own. :( But hopefully I will see some MOMS this weekend and next one too! Which puts a huge smile on my face. :)

What will be will be...hopefully

Hi everyone!

I am not interesting, nor do I have fun pictures of my bedroom to post, but I wanted to tell you all that I miss you very much.

I have been wishing that we were living together now of late, even more than usual. I'm sad that we are scattered across the country. But I guess that is what this blog is for. It's just not as good as seeing you all in person every day, and I thought I should probably complain about it.

Also, I would like to share something that is really bothering me right now...even though it is sort of silly.

Verb Ballets is getting a new home (YAY!) and in the moving process right now. Previously, the company has rented space from a different dance company called Dancing Wheels (a company of dancers in wheelchairs and not in wheelchairs who collaborate on pieces...interesting) who in turn owned a floor or paid rent to the Masonic Temple in which the studio was located. This produced many problems because Dancing Wheels would suddenly tell us that they were holding a class in our studio one or two mornings a week and that we couldn't start our rehearsal until later in the day...cutting into our rehearsal time significantly, and they were in general, rude and not good landlords. Also, we had no dressing rooms and our offices were located in a different building several miles away. All of this will be BETTER now because we are going to be leasing space from a church in Shaker Heights (real close to my apartment- yay!) and we will be getting our own mirrors, floor, marley, we will have dressing rooms, and our offices will be in the same building. AWESOME. This means we can have company class whenever we please without worrying about paying extra money, and we can rehearse more if we need to, etc.

HOWEVER

Maggie, our director, has mentioned to Katie, one of the dancers and a dancer representative to the board, that she is considering changing our contract for next year because we now have our own space. As background I will explain what our contract is like now.

For instance, most companies have between a 30 and 45 week contract depending on their size and financial resources. Verb currently has about a 32 week contract- not bad, but the other 20 weeks of the year we have off-hence all my trips back to GR. In addition, dancers are paid a certain amount per week. We are all being paid differently depending on our level of experience, position in the company, and amount of time we have been with the company. I am currently getting $175.00/week.

Which is nothing, by the way.

BUT a lot of the time on our weeks off we have outreach programs to do, or smaller shows for which we are paid a per diam or per show rate. This is because much of our funding is made up of grants, many of which are for outreach for children or the elderly, etc. So sometimes we won't have an actual rehearsal week, but we will have 4 or 5 outreach shows which we get paid for separately.

Maggie is, apparently, now considering changing our contract from a 32 week contract to a 10 month contract, during which we will be in rehearsal every week of every month, and then the outreach we do is just part of our job description- so if we have a show at an elementary school one day, we just go do that instead of having a regular rehearsal day. This would mean that we would actually get paid a lot more, since we would be working every week, and getting paid our "per week" rate EVERY week instead of only 2 or 3 weeks a month. We would also be much more prepared for our shows and events, and be in better shape because we would be dancing very consistently.

SWEET - right? At least we wouldn't have such a spotty work schedule. BUT...where will the company get all the extra money you ask? ... Three possibilities:

1) The company cannot feasibly fund this change, the board says there is no way this is possible, and it doesn't happen. Pipe dream city.

2) Some magical grant or donation makes it possible. Hooray money!

3) Maggie is forced to downsize the company.

Option number 2 and 3 are what worry me. I will explain.

Option #2 means that HOORAY we have this awesome contract that basically no other companies in the country have! ...But it could mean that I won't be getting a raise from my apprentice wages (unacceptable. I know what the full company members are getting paid and I am dancing MORE than some of them.) It could also mean that everything money wise is great- I get a raise, AND we are working more weeks. Fabulous. But... there is this little problem of my long-distance relationship.

I am Terrified about what will happen between Jeff and I if this extended contract is approved, and wham I can no longer drive back and forth so much to see him. We will still have 2 months off over the holidays, like we did this year. But when will we see each other besides that? On weekends? Even long weekends would be a tough arrangement to carry on for an indefinite period of time. And that's the thing...this arrangement...is indefinite.

I fell in love - albeit fantastic, deep, never-ending, life-changing, magical, fairy tale love - with the only other person in Grand Rapids who is tied down to one location with an arts job/passion, that does not and potentially will never allow him to move away, or even frequently visit me in Cleveland. And, I know this is cliche, and perhaps premature, but I can see myself being with this person, this wonderful, loving man, for the rest of my life. So, what is more important? I can't give up my dream so that he can pursue his...and I can't ask him to give up his dream so that I can pursue mine...but I also don't want to give up this relationship. I think it's one of those once in a lifetime things. It feels like it.

Where does that leave us? ... I don't know. Encouraging paragraphs about how love will find a way are welcome here.

Option #3 from above scares me for obvious reasons. Downsizing the company means, well...possibly firing some of the dancers. And as one of 2 apprentices that are hoping to stay on for next year, that leaves me on the chopping block. Potentially.

If I lose this job, I have no idea what I will do. I'm not ready to be done dancing, but it's hard as fuck to find a dancing job. And where? Chicago? Unlikely. Also, I like this company. I like the rep and I like the people (mostly...more to come on these developments...)

In addition, I will have already signed the lease for my apartment for another year.

I don't think that I will get fired, but the fact that it's a definite possibility or even a remote one, scares the shit out of me. However, Maggie has already been talking to me about this summer, which is technically on another contract, and I don't know how she could realistically fire many (or any) of the core company members at this juncture...because we wouldn't be able to perform much of the rep we currently do with less dancers.

So again, I guess we will see. I know I can't know what is going to happen. It could be one of the three options above, or something completely unexpected, but I can't stop worrying about it.

The last couple years I have lived my life with the philosophies that everything happens for a reason and what is meant to be, will be.

But right now, it's hard to think that way. So much is at stake.

I know that there is a plan for my life, and so far things have worked out more fantastically than I could have ever thought possible. So, with this in mind, I know that it's possible to have the best of both worlds--to have my cake and eat it too--and I know that things will always work themselves out.

I am resilient.

But I'm scared, and I need support from my moms.

<3

Look at my new room!

Hi Knights!

So this past week I decided to redecorate my room, to make it look more like a room, rather than a jail cell. And here are the before and after pictures! You can guess which one is before and which one is after.....







And here are 10 facts about my current life in school/Massachusetts:

1. I have the worst karma (Car-ma) with cars. WORST. Short story: My car had been dead for a few weeks, it wouldn't jump, AAA came and said it was the old battery, so I got a new one from them. Car died 2 days later. Same thing happened again yesterday. Now I'm waiting until monday to take it to a repair shop and we'll see. So...in summary: BAD "CAR-MA".

2. We average 2 exams a week, which is FUN!!!

3. I have been above the average on every exam so far!

4. We have to learn how to use library databases and such at this school, so we have about 4 lectures in the semester about this = HUGE waste of time. For example, this past wednesday, we had one of these lectures where we watched an ENTIRE episode of Star Trek to prove a point about research or something. (thought you'd like that one Kara :D )

5. I have not found ONE person here that listens to The Beatles. It makes me horribly sad.

6. I made Irish Soda Bread today :)

7. I am currently living in Worcester = Woostah. Crazy east coast people spell things crazy and pronounce them a COMPLETELY different way.

8. I got to Dunkin' Donuts EVERY DAY. This is super bizarre because I don't think I had ever been to a DD before coming out here, but they literally have them at every corner. It is INSANE.

9. I had my first simulated patient in my Patient Assessment lab this week. Basically, they hire actors to come in and act exactly like a real patient and we have to interview them and such, it was neat and SO realistic!

10. We have Monday off and then 2 weeks (which includes 5 exams...) until Spring Break and seeing one of my favorite MOMS!

That is all for now. That was a pretty real post right?

Signing out and miss you all,

Nora, PA-S (this is how we have to sign our notes PA-student wahoooo)

Like a Virgin... posting for the very first time

Hi Moms... Knights... best buddies

It is Saturday and I actually have some time on my hands and I thought I would finally contribute to this here blog. However... first I could not find it and ended up at the St. Thomas Aquinas high school web page where I believe their mascot must be the Knights or something... hmmm...
sooooo, yea finally managed to find our beautiful page and then I couldn't remember my password... which seems to be happening to me at every single site ever these days. I honestly use like two passwords so that I never have to worry about forgetting it... but somehow still manage to not sign-in until like 50th try.... but alas, I figured it out. So here we go.

Last night I went to Queen's with two of the moms, DK and Jessie Lawrence... we hung out at there house and had some wine and watched some tv/chatted and then headed to Queens and sit was pretty busy there so we only got to pleasure the audience once with our amazing rendition of Tiny Dancer. Around Midnight we went to the Meanwhile, because DK's brother was turning 21... and basically stayed there until 2 a.m.... and of course went to Checker's... which I kind of regret, because I haven't had any fast food since the New Year and really was going to try to avoid it for... the rest of my life??? but.. it was actually really amazing at the time and I guess I'll just let it be.

Speaking of which, I have lost 7 lbs since the New Year.... still not anywhere near my goal, but hopefully by Lisa's wedding I will be back at my normal/Pre-Germany weight....and look smokin' but not as good as Lisa, since she is the bride :) Speaking of which... my mom says I got a save-the-date in the mail!! YAY, I hope she brought it with her, because I am seeing my parents tonight at my brother's swim meet.


Nothing is really new with me.... Grad School is lame.... really just looking forward to getting my Master's and moving on with my life, I really wish my program was more Genetic-based, because I truly believe that is my passion... so I am thinking after this I will look at Genetic-pHd programs? I like how I wrote pHd like pH-factor... what a weirdo. What is it supposed to be Ph.D? hmmm... whatever. Anyway... yea, we are doing plant and tissue culture which is kind of cool, basically you just cut up pieces of plants and they can regrow into new plants.... and it has to be done in a sterile hood of course... which while I was flaming scissors or something, I managed to start my glove on fire, and burned the tip of my finger-nail off... it was pretty hilarious actually, luckily my professor was out of the room so she didn't kick me out of the program haha, j/k...


I am going to Florida with Brad in a few weeks! Ft Lauderdale! I looked to see if there was a Crabby Bills, and I didn't see any around that part of Florida :( I am dying for some crab legs.... so we will have to find some other location to indulge. I am excited to go there, but not sure if it will compare to our time in Tampa! jump on it.... jump on it.... !!!


I will make sure to post pics and update all about it following my spring break!!!

I think this shall wrap up my first ever post. Now I have been properly knighted into the club.

Love and other drugs,

BECS

I love food! And other interesting tales...

I've been COOKING so much lately, I need to share it with you all.

My lovely roommate and friend, Laura Bertram, happens to own a fabulous cookbook, which I have previously gushed about, Betty Crocker Cooking Basics. In the last two weeks I have made THREE...(count them... 1, 2, 3) recipes from the book. First, I made Chicken-Tortilla Soup, which was so easy and fabulous. THEN I made Pad Thai - something I bragged about on facebook and got many recipe requests for, so I will share, below. Today, I made Vegetarian Chili. Delicious.

I am so beyond proud of myself for these seemingly mundane feats. This is why:

1) I love food. So much. And it's nice to be able to make delicious food cheaply and easily for oneself.

2) Someday I will probably have to help provide meals for more than just myself. Developing this skill now will help me not panic when that time comes.

3) My dad is a phenomenal cook, and I want to be like him. :D

4) Last year I had many things planned in my head that I was going to accomplish this year if I succeeded in getting into a professional dance company. Which I totally did. *self props*

These things were going to occupy my time at night, after a full day of rehearsal, during which I would not have to do homework or write papers. *victory dance* Seeing as I took an average (average!) of 18 credits a semester, you can understand that I had been daydreaming since about sophomore year of the moment when homework would not occupy even a minute corner of my mind.

One of the things I vowed to accomplish in my projected free time was to learn to play the guitar better, and especially learning how to play bar chords so that I can play more Beatles songs.

FAIL.

One of the other things I planned on doing was learning how to cook. REALLY cook. Not just, "hey look, I made a pancake!" cook.

SO - the fact that I am successfully accomplishing this goal is exceptionally satisfying.

Now if I could only learn how to play the stupid guitar I've had for 10 years...

AS PROMISED, here is the recipe for Pad Thai:

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Lime Juice (2-4 medium limes, squeezed)

3 cloves garlic

1 medium shallot

4 medium green onions with tops

3 cups fresh bean sprouts or 2 cans (14.5 oz each) bean sprouts

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

2 large eggs

4 cups water

1 package (7-8 oz) linguine-style stir-fry rice noodles (rice stick noodles)

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar

3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup firmly packed fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

STEPS:

1. Peel and finely chop garlic and shallot (you can use an onion instead, but why? shallot has such a nice ring to it!) Peel and thinly slice the green onions to measure 1/4 cup. Rinse the fresh bean sprouts with cool water, then drain in a strainer - or drain and rinse the canned bean sprouts in a strainer. Finely chop the peanuts. In a small bowl, beat the eggs (until they say "OUCH").

2. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat 4 cups water to boiling. Remove saucepan from heat and add the noodles, push noodles into water so they are covered completely in water, and soak them 3-5 minutes until noodles are soft, yet firm. OOO baby!

3. While noodles are soaking, in a small bowl mix lime juice , 1/3 cup water, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper, and 1 tablespoon of the oil; set aside. Place strainer in sink and strain noodles, rinsing with cold water.

4. In a nonstick wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot; cook about 30 seconds until they begin to brown, stirring constantly. Stir in beaten eggs, cooking and stirring gently about 2 minutes until scrambled but still moist. Gross. Moist.

5. Stir in noodles and lime juice mixture. Increase heat to high; cook about 1 minute, tossing constantly with 2 wooden spoons, until sauce begins to thicken. Add green onions, some of the cilantro (I like it to be cooked in a bit, because I am obsessed with cilantro, but the original didn't call for it in the actual wok.) bean sprouts and peanuts (or if you're like me, and you forgot to buy peanuts, toss in some peanut butter...yummy). Cook 1-2 minutes, tossing with spoons. Serve with cilantro on top.

DELICIOUS!

So...get to work! Tell me if you like it!

Who says you can't have burgers in February?

I've been growing tired of my predictable dinners lately. The other night, I came to the conclusion that all I wanted was a burger. I decided to make a turkey burger (you know, because it's healthier for you), and then proceeded to make it as unhealthy as possible. Below, I give you my Turkey and Avocado Bacon Burger (complete with sweet potato fries and a slightly healthy salad)!

I topped off my meal with a delicious bowl of Chocolate Moose Tracks sprinkled with salted cashews (I've decided that the bananas in the picture make the ice cream healthier)
So my question to you all is, what is your favorite thing to cook right now?

Exams, exams, exams, oh my!

My first big ol' exam in PA school is in the morning. Wish me luck friends! It's Pharmacology! Send lots of drug thoughts my way! Wahooo!

Maybe one day I'll make an actual entry on here? Maybe...!

:D

Happy Feast Day!

Today is the feast day of our beloved patron, St. Thomas Aquinas! So let us be thankful for St. Thomas and for Dominicans all over the world who make it their mission to educate and be educated! And if anyone is near AQ, don't forget there's cake in AB!

C'mon people. ALL TOGETHER NOW!

So. Since no one else that we have invited to write in the blog *CoughBeccaNoraNicoleKeithCough* has decided it is worth their precious time or precious energy to make a post about their life, I have decided to BORE you all into action by updating you on how all of my new vows are going.

For example, here is a list of what I did that was (1) productive and (2) creative every day since I made the initial post about it, which was exactly one week ago.

Thursday, Jan 20: I made dinner with Laura which is both productive AND creative. I also went with Laura to "TV night" with her Law School friends, at her friend Chris's apartment, therefore making an effort to make more friends. I also wore real clothes to said event, taking care of that self-made promise.

Friday, Jan 21: Had the stomach flu Thursday night...so...I vomited all night into the morning...which was neither productive nor creative, but hey, I HAD THE FRICKEN STOMACH FLU OK? ... I also did not wear clothes this day. So. what.

I productively and creatively slept.

Saturday, Jan 22: I was still recovering. BUT I found time to go to the nearest Mall - Beachwood Place [which, by the way, is ridiculously high-end. All designer stores and such. Good thing, or I would go there more often and spend invisible money that I don't have.] - and fill out an application for Victoria's Secret, because I am probably transferring there [productive], and I got dressed up [creative?] and went to a party hosted by Verb's board president.

The party was awesome. It was at this nice house in a nice area, it was catered, and there was a real valet service at the door to park our cars because it was literally a blizzard outside.

Did I mention there was a valet service?

Too bad my stomach still hurt and I couldn't really eat any of the fancy shmancy food... :/

I also cleaned my apartment a bit, because Stephanie was coming over. She went to the mall and the party with me. OoOoO and THAT counts as making a bigger effort to be friends with Verb people. Booya.

Sunday, Jan 23: I spent all day (a) cleaning my room, bathroom...anywhere that I was sick and left things lying about. (b) learning the parts of Bolero I missed in rehearsal on Friday off a Verb video (c) figuring out how to install and work my new external disc drive [because my internal disc drive is broken.] and (d) planning out the two classes I sometimes teach on Mondays, including music.

A word about this: the first class I teach on Mondays is teen contemporary ballet, so I start with a ballet barre. But I realized on Sunday that I did not have ballet class music...so I decided to be awesome and creative and pick out non-classical songs from my itunes that are the right tempos for the different barre combinations. I used music by Andrew Bird, Cake, Regina Spektor, Muse, and Kings of Leon, to name a few.

The music was, of course, underappreciated by the teenage punks I was teaching. They were like, ooo who is cakkee? Isn't that like, a food?

And I was like DO PUSHUPS BECAUSE YOUR MUSICAL TASTE IS AWFUL.

True story.

Monday, Jan 24: I taught from 6:30-9:30, as previously discussed. Then I came home and skyped with my man for a second, and then I probably watched some Dexter. And went to bed. And I didn't wear real clothes for one second of it. But rules do not apply, because I worked all night. [But teaching dance is still pretty productive and creative, I'd say.]

Tuesday, Jan 25: I went to Wing Night with Laura and her law school buds at The Winking Lizard. [No, seriously, the lizard winks.] I ate 10 delicious wings, and only paid $3.77 after tax. That is totally productive. And I think I also put pictures on my computer from my camera; oh so creative.

Wednesday, Jan 26: Today, I did so many productive things! You will be so proud of me. As soon as I got home from rehearsal, I put all my laundry in the washing machines conveniently located down the outdoor back steps [*_*].

Then, while the clothes were a-washin, I made small note cards out of paper and copied ingredients down for different recipes I want to try [all in Laura's handy dandy Betty Crocker Cooking Basics Cookbook] so that next time I go to Whole Foods to spend some me time and pick up some groceries, I can just grab one or two of these ingredient cards and buy the fixins to make some yum yums! Genius.

Also, I showered. [Necessary? Yes. Productive? ALSO YES.] Then, I got dressed.

In real clothes.

Because I next took a little Winter stroll down Coventry and hung two Verb promotional posters for our upcoming show on February 11th at the Breen Center in Cleveland; one poster at the coffee shop around the corner [Phoenix Coffee] and one at this amazing restaurant Tommy's, which, incidentally, has the best best best milkshakes on the planet.

[My own creation: house-made natural Peanut Butter and Black Raspberry chip yogurt milkshake. Inspired by Harry Potter. Serious YUM.]

But wait, there's more!

I stopped at this fabulous record store on my walk home, and bought four reproduced vintage posters.

Bad Kara!

BUT only one is for me! [Bob Marley and George Harrison concert poster. I couldn't resist. It's George Harrison. And Bob Marley. It is taking up the remaining 1 square foot of wall space left in my VERY colorful, decorated room. I have no idea what will happen when I buy more. They will just have to go in the kitchen.] Two of the posters are birthday presents, one is a present for my dad. Because he's awesome, and because he loves zombies.

When I got home I watched a fabulous episode of a fabulous show, Psyche, with my fabulous roommate, while editing many fabulous pictures from a fabulous Holiday season [creative]. And then I skyped with my fabulous boyfriend on my fabulous computer.

And NOW, ladies and gentlemen, I am posting on this fabulous blog.

Which brings me to the point of this whole bit of shenanegans: if you don't want to be annoyed by my next rambling post about productive and creative enterprises in Cleveland, then you all-and you know who you are-had better get your asses in gear and follow suit in the blog-posting department.

That is all.

New Hobbies, New Wind

I've decided that this next chunk of time in Cleveland [right now, that is] I will make a larger effort to do several important things. Because, hey, if I have to spend the night alone and without a night job...maybe I should consider doing something productive with that time.

This is what I have decided:

1) I will put REAL clothes on every night. Even if it's just for a little while, and even if it's just for the benefit of saying to myself, "well Kara, if you did have to go somewhere, you would look presentable. Down right cute, even, you dashing dresser you." And let's face it, normal people do not put on pajamas at 5:30 pm. Unless they are a) sick b) pathetic c) poor and can't afford any clothes except pajamas.

2) I will actually hang all of the pictures and posters that I STILL have laying around the place from August. [Side note: I hung 4 pictures today and 5 yesterday. PROPS TO ME.]

3) I will clean things when they are dirty instead of thinking, hmm....that thing is dirty. Gross. And then walking away. [Small victory: Today I bought an empty plastic spray bottle, filled it with mostly water and a bit of bleach, and sprayed the shit out of the plastic shower curtain and the moldy cracks in the bathtub. It already looks better. YAY.] {double side note: I think I may have a slight but progressing obsession with the bleach spray concoction. I keep finding new things that look "dirty" to spray it on. Help.}

4) I will do something productive and sometime creative each night that I am not working. These things could be the same thing (see below). For example: today, I took myself on a date to Whole Foods. [Yes, Whole Foods counts as a date. 1-my boyfriend is not here to take me on dates so I have to take myself and 2-Whole Foods is wonderful and makes me feel safe and happy. Like a good date should. More to come on this subject later.] Also, today I hung pictures, as I previously stated. So, to recap, I did something productive: grocery shopping, and something creative: decorating.

I also colored.

5) I will cook more. Cooking something delicious will count as productive AND creative. Double frickin whammy. Booya.

6) I will make more friends. I need to a) hang out with Laura's friends and be a friend leech more often. b) Make better friends with the other company members. c) somehow find friends elsewhere? ... suggestions?

7) Possibly get a night job, since I am not teaching regularly...today I took preliminary steps toward working at the Victoria's Secret by my apartment. I will do my best to work this retail job in both cities...and also to try and keep my soul intact.

Seven is enough for now.

:D

Goodnight! xoxo

THIS JUST IN: I took the liberty of changing the look of the blog. I hope you like it! Feel free to change it if you have better ideas :D

The worst night of my life

So I'm starting to feel the effects of working full-time for zero pay. I created some fliers advertising my services as a baby sitter and placed them around the lovely town of Caro. Last week, I got a call from a mother who had seen my flier and was wondering if I could babysit her FIVE kids. This really should have tipped me off, but I figured, "Hey. I need the money. It can't be that bad." Please read the list below to discover how wrong I was.

1. The kids were 13, 12, 9, 7, and 5
2. The 9-year-old has been diagnosed with ADD, Bi-Polar disorder, and emotional and behavioral issues (ummmmmm....yeah)
3. The kids were constantly telling each other and me to shut up
4. They hit each other and threw huge fits every time they didn't get exactly what they wanted
5. Every time I tried to enforce anything, the 12-year-old would call her mom and get different instructions than what I had received, essentially eliminating the need for me to be there
6. The house was really dirty and unfinished
7. I had to drag the kids screaming and flailing into the bathroom to take their showers
8. When I made the 9-year-old take a shower, he just stood in the shower punching the walls as hard as he could
9. Their german shepherd kept trying to bite me (lawsuit?)
10. The parents were 2 and 1/2 hours late, with no explanation or apology
11. They only paid me $45.00!!!!!!!!!

I politely, but firmly told them at the end of the night that I would never babysit for them again. I think I'll just stick with being poor for a while.

All in favor...

OH HAI

It's been a while.

brb I have to poop.

...

ok.

back.

So I think we should start using this blog again. Perhaps it would be prudent to consider inviting others, although I would like to retract all my previous statements about inviting Kyle.

We could keep this blog between the three of us, or we could invite all our other good friends from Aquinas who are scattered around the country now.

It's something to think about.

I miss you both, regardless, and I think this was ALWAYS a good idea, and it was just...a forgotten good idea. And now it's remembered. So let's put it to use.

All in favor?