Hahaha. Ouch.

I feel like you're of course Princess Leia, and I'm trying to figure out, am I your brother, Luke, or your hero, Han Solo?

This was created by the website Boundless, which is for 20-something Christians. All about how NOT to pull a DTR. Don't know what a DTR is? Then maybe you should check out the website.

My New Love

It being Valentine's Day and all, I thought that I would share my new love with you... Running! I have rediscovered running. It is way different for me now, though, than when I did it in middle school/high school. Whereas before it was something that I forced myself to do, it is now getting to the point that if I don't go on my run, I feel antsy and I can feel the stress building in my body. I know, maybe that sounds weird... but until you have done it, there isn't really any way to explain how good it makes you feel. I figured that I wasn't getting the same amount of exercise as last quarter since I didn't have marching band brutalizing me and that I should probably find some other way to release steam. Enter in running. I jog about 3 miles, 3 times a week. Not that far, but it is far enough to keep my blood pumping and make me feel better. So yah, tomorrow is a "running day" and that makes me excited! Now if I could just find some headphones that would actually stay in my ears as I ran...

Shun the Non-Believer... SHhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuunnnnnnnn

Want cool? This is where it's at:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4&mode=related&search=

P.S. Yes, I am just sorta avoiding doing my homework right now

Does something smell fishy?

My animal behavior professor has been gone for the past week, collecting these:

Scary, huh? I flipped out when I saw the pictures he showed us today, fish are not supposed to look like that. But the scariest part to me, simply because it is so weird, is that these fish sing. They sing! Like birds! To attract mates. I don't care what my professor says, fish are not supposed to be singing.

So yah, more about these fish. They are called plainfin midshipman fish and they live all along the Pacific coast. They live in deepish water of about 300 feet, but they come into the tidal flats to breed, to the extent that at low tide they may actually be out of the water for 2 hours or so. They do their humming-singing thing to attract mates. They are bio-luminescent. Oh yah, and they growl. Apparently if you walk along the beach during the summer when they are mating and you hear a funny noise coming from a nearby rock in the tidal flat, it is because the fish is growling to defend its territory. Gah! I'm not sure why, but something about these fish really creeps me out. And they are my professor's pride and joy. Go figure.

This is, in a word, amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfrKqFp0Zg&NR

Clocks!

And no, I don't mean the Coldplay song.

So my parents just bought themselves an anniversary clock, never mind that the anniversary for which they should have purchased the clock is long past. They were shopping around. If you know my parents, you know exactly what I am talking about. Anyhow, they brought home their new prized possession and set it up in our dining room. Fine, dandy, that's great. But you add to that the grandfather clock in our living room. And the ship's clock that is normally at the church in my dad's office but that just came back from getting cleaned and is now at his desk here. There are a LOT of clocks making noises in my house. They all ring and they all have their own distinct sound. And my parents being who they are, each clock is set for a slightly different time so that they can hear all of the chimes separately. I don't even know which clock is technically correct anymore. I think that I am beginning to go insane. Every 15 minutes, a cacophony of sound erupts from that end of the house. Great fun.

On another note, I found this great website today: www.roadsideamerica.com. It is an amazing way to waste time, in case you are ever in the market. I really want to go here, the one in Oregon that is just outside of Grants Pass. Apparently it is the most authentic one around. So which one of my Southen Oregon friends wants to let me stay with them so that I can make my pilgrimage to this amazing place?? (As well as possibly joining me on my journey...)

Oh the excitement that is my life...

So we have gotten a couple of new people at work lately and quite honestly, I don't know who they are, where they come from, or if they are going to stay around our office. We ALWAYS have new people coming through, being trained, leaving for another office. It is terribly confusing. Anyhow, it became apparent to me last week that one of these people was going to stay on at our office, which is fine cause we have lost a couple of people lately.

**Insert here my bitter complaints about how I am told nothing as a part-timer!!**

The other day at work, my new co-worker started having a seizure. Now, unfortunately, I have been around a few times to see this happen to other people. So while it was frightening, I knew what was happening and reacted calmly and quickly. I wasn't anywhere near her and my co-workers were already doing everything that I would have done had I gone over, so I picked up the phone and called 911. Unfortunately, I have also had what seems to be more than my fair share of opportunities to call 911, so that didn't even phase me to much. As I am telling the operator what is happening and being asked questions about whether or not this girl has a history of seizures and am saying that I don't know because she is new, my co-workers look over at me and tell me to get off the phone!! And I was like, "WHAT?!?!??!! Are you out of your mind?!?!?" You usually need to call for medical help when someone is having a seizure. So watching the girl, I decide that I am not getting off the phone and that I am in fact going to have them get the paramedics. The girl comes around and appears to be okay, but I know enough about seizures to know that this could just be a pause in the seizing. And more importantly, I am assuming that this is the first time that she has ever had a seizure. So yah, when an apparently perfectly healthy person has a seizure for no reason, in my book, that is a good reason to call 911. I thought that all my co-workers were a bunch of lunatics because they were just standing there watching her, not making any move to call for help.

After all of this has gone down and my co-workers ask me if I have called 911, I hear them say, "We aren't supposed to call unless it lasts longer than 2 minutes." What?!?! So you guys KNEW about this? And you didn't tell ME?!?! If someone has a seizure disorder, don't you think that I, even as a part-time person, should be made aware of this? Otherwise I am going to call 911 every time. I was so frustrated that nobody bothered to mention this to me. I wouldn't have treated her differently at all, I just would have known how to react on the off chance that she did have a seizure. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... methinks I need a new job.

Case in Point

The end of an era... sorta

It is official... today I signed the paper that says, "Yes!! Please get me out of here!" Although honestly, I'm not ready to be done with college, only because that means that I have real life to face. So I am doing the cowardly thing and running back to take two more years... =). Nah, that isn't REALLY why I am doing it, but I do still wonder if when it is time for me to start my real life whether or not I will be up for the challenge. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to hack it, but for me, there is some comfort in the idea of being in school for the rest of my life. In one of my classes we did a get-to-know-you sort of thing and we were asked what our dream job would be. I said that my dream job would be to be a professional student. There are SO many things that I wish that I could learn, classes that I would take, subject areas in which I have barely scratched the surface. Sure, it is great that I finally feel like I have an expertise of sorts, but I love learning and it saddens me that I will never get to take all of the cool classes out there.

On a similar note, two of my SON applications are done and I have two more left to do. I am REALLY trying to listen and follow the Lord on this, but it is still hard to know if I am doing the right thing and where I should be applying and all of that. My dad and I were talking and I was expressing frustration and uncertainty about all of this and he said something that really helped me. He said that sometimes the Lord does speak in lightening bolts and sudden visions and all that stuff, but mostly He wants us to listen to Him but then use our own intellect to figure out what is the best. And it scares me to think that really He may be leaving this decision up to me, but I figure He knows what He is doing and He did give me a brain capable of logical thought for a reason. So yah, never a dull moment. If I wasn't freaking out about this, I am sure that I would be worried about something else, because unfortunately, I don't think that it is in my nature to NOT worry. But I am learning to live with that =).

And last but not least... Lisa and Josh got engaged 2 weeks ago!! I am excited for them and these next couple of months will be busy because I am her maid of honor. I told her that I didn't know what a maid of honor was supposed to do, but that I would Google it... typical me. Anyhow, that is exciting. I actually have a lot of exciting things on the calendar for the next couple of months, but somehow I also have to finish out my last two quarters. Like I said, never a dull moment.

What you have all been waiting for... me!

www.blogger.com, MsPoppins20, password, new post... okay, I can do this. Just making sure that I remembered how to post to this thing!

I am really sorry guys. All you have had to look at for the past month was that lovely seagull picture. But in my defense, I stopped posting because nobody was posting and I had the feeling that I was just talking to myself. And why post about my life when I already know what is going on? Huh? But it appears that some of you are back, which means that I will gladly post and let you know what has been happening in my life. Although I may do this in a couple of posts, so as to alleviate as much confusion as possible.

So, uhh, last quarter was good. I got all A's, which made me happy. And then all of a sudden I was on winter break and using all my free time to do one of three things: 1. Work 2. Volunteer 3. Work on applications. Yes, that is right, even more applications. It seems that the Lord has different plans for me than I thought. I wasn't accepted to either of the graduate nursing programs I applied to, I think in major part that was because these particular programs value "life experience," of which I don't have much seeing as how I am just graduating from undergrad this spring. So after a couple of days of frustration and panic, I pulled myself together and decided that I would just apply to some regular nursing schools (to get a BSN instead of an MSN). I have been working on that stuff practically all break, and it feels like it will never end, but for better or for worse, the deadlines are coming and it will all soon be over. Hopefully I will get into one of those. I trust what the Lord is doing, but it is just hard to convince myself that the world hasn't ended just because my life isn't going according to the exact plans that I had formulated. On the plus side, the further I get from "the rejection" (as I fondly refer to it), the more I am beginning to think that this was a blessing in disguise and that maybe that program wouldn't have been right for me after all. Anyhow, we will see.

I enjoyed Christmas, New Years, blah blah blah... spent some time in Portland, got sick, hung out with some people I haven't seen in FOREVER. Basically just had a good time over break, but classes started Wednesday and I am already back to the grind stone. It seems that one of my classes is going to be more work than I had anticipated, but it shouldn't be too hard. The others will be okay, I think. Like I said, once these applications are done, that will help a lot. And just for fun, to prove to you how big of a geek I am... this was my favorite Christmas present this year:

And a close second would be:

I am tired...

... and apparently addicted to the internet. I also don't speak English or have a conscience. More to come on this later.

And here is pretty much the most random picture I could find on my computer:

Going on a treasure hunt

Seeing as how I am stuck at home due to everything around me being a sheet of ice, I decided to clean out my sock drawer. I totally forgot that I like to hide things in my sock drawer, here is what I found:

1. Bag of Chex Mix
2. Bag of Baby Goldfish (the crackers, not the actual fish)
3. Candy cane (from last Christmas?!?)
4. Half a thing of Starbursts
5. A bag of M&Ms
6. A Crunchie candy bar from London ("Milk Chocolate with Golden Honeycombed Centre")
7. Bag of strawberry cream Japanese hard candies
8. Box of strawberry creme Koala's March cookies
9. Bag of chocolate covered puff wheat from Japan
10. Fun dip candy thing
11. Chocolate Mousse Pocky

Yah, maybe I should actually remember that it is in there so I can eat it... I have to throw half of it away because it is stale!

And just for good measure, a picture of me with the "Whore Beast" we made Sunday night... aptly named by my brother:

Here's how it went down...

A triumphant story, presented as a series of pictures:

It felt so good to win the Apple Cup, words cannot even describe. UW hadn't won the past two years, meaning that if they had lost this year, it would have been the first time in the 106 year history of the Apple Cup that WSU had won three years in a row. Fortunately, the wrecking of the tradition was one thing that this year's UW team didn't have to answer for. UW played some great football, similar to the beginning of the season. Sorta makes you wonder WHAT in the world happened when we got beat by Stanford. But alas and alack, we won the Apple Cup and that makes me happy!

The fact that UO lost its last two games to Arizona and OSU makes me happy too!

What the...?

Methinks that the Pac-10 had an upset of sorts this weekend. Since when is Arizona supposed to beat Cal? And where was it written that Oregon should only score 10 points against USC? And how did ASU manage to score 47 points to beat WSU? And finally... how in the world did UW end up losing to Stanford, the bottom of not only the Pac-10, but all of NCAA football?!?! (Well, I know how, but this is supposed to be a rhetorical question.) The only somewhat non-surprising result was UCLA beating OSU, which in actuality IS a little surprising considering OSU's winning streak as of late. (Which we so nicely started for them when we let OSU beat us at home.)

Don't believe me? Check the results for yourself...http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/conference?confId=9

Hello out there

To be lazy and recap my life yet again (as if any one actually reads this still...)

1. Most importantly, I am sick. With a cold. I don't feel good at all. I knew this time was coming, because it always does during marching band. But the fact that it took me until November makes me happy with my immune system. Usually I get a cold within 2 weeks or so of the beginning of school and then never really get over it and continue to add on other random illnesses through the end of the season. We will see what happens this year.

2. Apparently, seeing as how yesterday was Halloween, it is now Christmas. I went to Target yesterday in search of some rally gear in their Halloween section, only to find that Halloween was COMPLETELY over except the "gross" candy aisle and Christmas was making a strong showing already.

3. It is November and the leaves are beautiful and mass amounts of hyped up festiveness are starting to set in. Yay! I love this time of year.

4. I went to Leavenworth 2 weekends ago to see the leaves and they were VERY pretty:

5. The day after that we took the ferry to Whidbey Island to play for a nice man who is leaving HMB lots of money, but is dying. It was a sad, yet good day at the same time. And beautiful yet again. I love the northwest, but more specifically Seattle:

6. For all of those not following Husky football (which is everyone but me), let me give you a little recap:

10/7: USC-UW, Lost 26-20
10/14: OSU-UW, Lost 27-17 (The curse of 17 returns yet again?)
10/21: Cal-UW, Lost in OT 31-24
10/28: Arizona-UW, Lost in OT 26-23

So basically, going to games stinks right now. And we get to continue the fun by going down to Eugene this weekend where the fans hate us so much that the UO marching band volunteered to escort us to our busses at the end of the game so that we wouldn't die.

7. I learned in nutrition the other day that apparently your body actually NEEDS trace amounts of arsenic to function properly. Who knew?

Poe-tay-toe

As I sit here eating mashed potatoes and gravy, I am reminded of a random question over which I have often pondered. Since I was a kid, I have always had to mix my gravy into my potatoes. It is not good enough for me to just put the gravy on top and eat it that way.

The question is, is this odd? Do most people eat their gravy on top or do they mix it in? I just don't know...

Who needs a title anyway?

I am not dead, just trying to stay afloat in my crazy and insane life. To recap since I last posted:

1. September 29-October 1 I went down to Arizona with band for the UA-UW game where I am happy to announce that we forced them into submission and won 21-10. It was an awesome trip and we even got to "sight-see". Brad thought it would be fun to take us to a desert botanical garden to see desert botanical things, and it was fun. It was warm too... like 99 degrees, but absolutely no humidity, so it was wonderful. I did NOT want to come home. Yay for swimming at 9 in the morning because it was already like 85 degrees. I think the only time I was cold was A. When I was inside where it was air conditioned or B. Saturday night at 4 in the morning when it finally got chilly out on the "vista".

2. My graduate school applications are completed and turned in. Hallelujah!!!

3. I have three (3), count 'em, 3 (three) midterms this week.

4. I am working.

5. I am doing my usual stuff at church.

6. I am taking 15 credits.

7. I am volunteering at UWMC.

8. I am doing upwards of 20 hours of HMB every week.

9. I am going to audition for basketball band so that the fun can continue into next year!

10. The Huskies are now 4-3. Still a winning record, but sad none the less.

11. The USC game sucked. I wonder what would have happened if the clock (i.e. the ref) wasn't stupid and we had been able to get that last play going. On the plus side, we lost to USC by only 6 points.

12. We lost to OSU on Saturday. At home. I have no idea what happened. We aren't even going to talk about this one.

13. Isaiah Stanback is out for the rest of the season due to a foot injury he sustained in the game Saturday. There is no shortage of tears over here.

14. Sulu from Star Trek was part of our field show on Saturday.

15. My knee is healed up nicely, although I think I will have a nifty scar for a while.

16. I have three midterms this week.

17. It has started to rain in Seattle. I am happy.

18. You wouldn't believe the number of times that I got on to post to my blog but got sidetracked by Facebook because it was more entertaining.

19. I get to go to Leavenworth this weekend!

20. It sucks to be a senior in a predominately freshman class, but it is awesome to already know all the answers! (If you want more details, you'll need to ask me)

21. I get to go to UO in 2 weekends and WSU in 4 weekends.

22. If we lose to Stanford, I think that I really will cry.

24. A good portion of my life does indeed revolve around football right now.

Okay, that is it. I'm sure there are more things to post, but I have procastinated long enough and should go be a good student or some such drivel.

Why oh why?

Someone wanna tell me why lately all the nice, gentlemanly guys I meet are not from church, or any church at all, and therefore completely off limits for the most part? And why the guys from church are mean jerk-faces who don't know how to treat a girl with decency or respect her? GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Yes, bitter party of 1, right here.

How is it...

...that Washington is ranked higher than Cal in Pac-10 standings, yet Cal is ranked in national standings and Washington isn't. I am a bit confused.

Pac-10 standings:
1. USC
2. Oregon
3. Washington

This next month should prove to be rather interesting.

???

Does it make me pathetic that when I open up the homepage for Google to find that they have somehow changed the "Google" part into something cool, it makes me have a better day?

Last February during the Olympics... I had to to check Google everyday to see what sport they had somehow managed to change the letters into.