the weekend

my weekend that is not done yet has been pretty good so far. saturday started with some babysitting for jenny's little cousins. i think in all they had 3 babysitters watching the 2 of them in the couple of hours they were here. tessa and i watched them for a good 2 hours until jenny woke up. in that time i occupied katie up in my room as she searched through my candy stash wanting candy that i wasn't going to give her. they're sweet kids and all but a handful. i think katie took some of my chapstick though as i noticed it was gone this morning when i went for it and i noticed her holding it and in her pocket yesterday and just assumed that we had the same stuff...she used our bathroom upstairs a couple of times yesterday....o well, not that i want it back or anything, it was cheap!

last night my friends nicole and nathan (the married couple) came up and we ordered pizza and had a great time. we actually wore ourselves out. we got done with a tour of walmart and we were all ready to hit the sack. (nicole was so excited about a super walmart, so we took a little trip on over there at 1 ish). we also went swimming last night at their hotel and just hung around and had a good time reminising and talking about other such things (perry couldn't really reminise). so after we had our fun i was dropped back off at home and then i pretty much fell asleep....and didn't wake up until the phone rang. it was nate wondering why i wasn't at the habitat breakfast this morning. so of course i got teased and i took it. i told them i could have not showed up...there was only a couple of us there so they didn't say much after that....hehehe. the inhalent of the day was vinegar. aparently all st.philips has to inhale is ajax (which we already took a pose with) and ecolab stuff that doesn't have a bright label on it advertising the brand. how unfun. square also shared her whip cream that i had shared with her. if that makes sense. she told me to bring it on so i was gonna bring on the whip cream...but then we almost dropped some on the table and she put out her hand to catch it. the left over stuff on her hand...yeah, on my face. it makes you wonder when you have been whip creamed in the face twice in your life...

o and also...square and i had another exciting adventure. we made an igloo in the back of her pick up! we couldn't find any where to put the waffles yesterday that we needed for today. obviously they needed a freezer and we didn't have one...so we made one! we packed snow together with broken hockey sticks, wrapped it all in a tarp...and it still didn't stay cold. AND we were delivered the wrong waffles! so naturally we're gonna change food companies because we just aren't happy with them anymore. but we won't worry about it.

o and sorry you guys...no friday five this week.... :(
less than a week till OK!!!

a day of the arts

today i had a glorious day in the cities with katie. it was filled with lots of art as we visited the minneapolis institute of arts and the weissman museum. it was great to just hop on a bus, sleep, eat and get off the bus and walk around, forgetting everything back in bemidji and just enjoying the wonderful pieces of art work.

we got off at the institute at 10 this morning (still a little groggy from sleeping the last 4 hours). the first place we hit was the store. i wanted to see what was there as i felt the need to buy something artsy (fartsy, i know). we looked for a good while and then we decided to head and check out the rest of the place. we went last year also but we got EXTREMELY lost there. it was basically yell-for-help-or-fall-down-on-the-floor-in-a-fetal-position-and-start-rocking-back-in-forth sort of lost. but this year we conquered the place! we ran through the exhibits that we saw last year but weren't all that interested in this year, saw the ones that we definitely wanted to see and then explored the places that we didn't even knew existed. we saw renoir, degas, picasso, toulouse-lautrec, van gogh, monet, dupre, dali, matisse, georgia o'keefe, kandinsky, gauguin, cezanne and so many more. it's so amazing to be standing there, staring at their painting and think that they made those brush strokes, the touched that paper and they made that masterpiece...it's so smack my head on my wall amazing. my favorite collections would definietly have to be the christ period paintings that basically look so gosh darn realistic that you would assume that they HAD to have had a photographer standing somewhere...or a camera. good thing it didn't exist then, huh. i also discovered that i have a fear of realistic portraits hanging in houses, or there is no way any of those portraits would be able to hang in my house! freaky lookin dead people who don't even SMILE and they stare and look at you with funky looking expressions. i have no problem of looking at them in a museum however. that's where they belong and i can look at them there...except for those scary lookin children and that one lady...(makes me shiver!) i think it's because of this one picture that my aunt and uncle had (squeak's parents) had in there basement before the flood. it was a painting of this weird lookin guy in odd colors and he had huge eyes...i couldn't look at him. i have no idea what it was...good thing the flood came and wiped him out. i don't even think squeak remembers him but i sure do....

then we went to the weissman at the u of m campus and saw a very cool exhibit on the human genome called genesis i think (the exhibit was called that). it was basically a bunch of human DNA tests made into an exhibit. it was pretty cool. unfortunetly it was a smaller museum in a huge building so katie and i ran over to the rest of the campus on the other side of the river. after getting somewhat lost there looking for the art department, we eventually found a library and a huge lecture room that was open. we went on in and sat down and couldn't imagine having class in there. it was so weird too...they had tunels that looked like the subway station with study boothes littered all over it. so odd....speaking of odd, on the way back katie stops dead in her tracks and looks over at the top of the tree right there....and we see shoes. thousands of shoes. it was a freaking shoe tree! i don't know if they just find shoes and throw them up there or steal the shoes as a joke or if they just don't want them they'll throw them up there, i don't know. but i took pictures! they'll be in black and white so they should be pretty cool.

after the weissman we ventured over to utrecht, which is a big art store that has pretty much everything. i just wasn't in the mood at that point to buy my pretty little heart out. i saved my pennies for another time. i think i was tired from walking around all day (by this time it was 5) and hungry and dehydrated. katie and i hoped back on the bus and headed on home after that. so it was a great day. filled with art. nothing else but art. all of bemidji and all that was on my mind stayed in bemidji. the perfect excape!

here's some of my favorite pieces i saw through out the day:


The Japanese Footbridge, about 1922
Claude Monet, French, 18-40-1926


Blessing of the Tuna Fleet at Groix, 1923
Paul Signac, French, 1863-1935
In this painting, it's all little rectangles of color...no two colors are overlapped!


Denial of St. Peter
Gerard van Honthorst 1592-1656
Oil on canvas, 110.5 x 144.8 cm
this is one of kt's and mine's favorites. it's so lifelike, it's unreal! and the light that is shown here, amazing!


Howling Dog, 1928
Paul Klee, Swiss, 1879-1940
I just like the colors in this one and the fact that the little 2nd grade girl in a tour we were watching, when asked what this painting was called as cried out, "I know! I know! It's called 'How, How, How-ling Dawg!" as she stumbled over the words...priceless. i told katie i wanted to take her home with me...besides the fact that it's totally illegal...you get the point!


this is a portrait of clementine karr. it will forever haunt me. can you see why i will never have a portrait in my house? NEVER! i'm gonna have nightmares...

the above were from the institute. i'll have to see what i can grab from the weissman. kt and i are going back to the cities in the summer so we can see the new exhibit they are putting in there collection at the institute which will become the modern pieces...it contains a lot of chairs and other artifacts from the 50's and up that totally inspired a our culture...i'm excited! but i have to get to bed...i tired!

pictures via The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

coach andi

went and signed my papers today! i'll be swim coach andi in a month! woohoo!

glasses suck

went to the eye doctor again today...he tugged on the skin around my eye and concluded that my eyes are getting better but still no contacts. cornia infrastructure really can bite ya in the butt. it's so weird because i can't even tell that i have it...doesn't hurt or anything...but eventually it will if i go back to wearing contacts right now. at least i'll be able to wear my contacts when we leave for OK next weekend.

a change

so i thought i would change things up a bit..especially with spring coming. i've also been on a sunflower kick. i've always loved sunflowers and after watching under the tuscan sun a couple too many times, i was reunited with my love for them. the only thing i'm having a problem with is the funky A thingys at the beginning of each post...anybody know how to get rid of them?

what's your heart made of?


Heart of Crystal


What is Your Heart REALLY Made of?
brought to you by Quizilla

how's your sex life?

haha! lindsi stole this from another blog but this is so true:

You're walking through the mall/grocery store/fast food joint/bank/porn shop on a home weekend or break from school when you see someone you graduated high school with. This person and you were not close friends, merely acquaintances, but you definitely both recognize each other and are at least on a first name basis. Your heart skips a beat at the acknowledgment of anticipated awkwardness, you allow your eyes to wander while you decide whether or not to make eye contact. You take "one giant leap for mankind" and lock eyes with the acquaintance, manage a nervous grin and shaky "hey". If they stop, you feel obligated to take a moment to "catch up". Now, here's the dialogue of "catching up" between high school graduates:

"Hey! How have you been?"
"What are you doing with yourself these days?"
"Oh that's cool, where do you go to school?"
"Awesome! What's your major?"
"Do you like it so far?"
"Do you still hang out with Mary and Jimmy and Peter?"
"Well, see ya around!"

Personally, next time I encounter this situation, I'm going to make some desperate attempt at breaking social norms and ask them how their sex life is or something of the sort. Of course, the context would be best when set in a porn shop errand, but the grocery store may make for a funnier story.

Also, will this conversation be so prevalent at our 10-year reunion? I think I'm busy that day.

losing it

i think there is something wrong with me. never in my life have i forgoten my keys before. now, in the last week, i've forgotten them twice. the first time, they were easily retrieveable as i was able to get back into the office before it closed. last night however was not the case. i had a night class last night and didn't realize that i had left my keys in the office until about 9:30 when i was done with class. so i ran back over to memorial the whole time crossing my fingers that the janitor would still be there. i get over there and i think, "what great luck! the janitors closet is still open!" the lights are on, his broom, mop, and caddy are still out...but no sign of him. i wait around listening for foot steps or some form of life. then i start thinking of other ways to get to my car and move it off the wrong side of the street. i then remembered that my spare key is in my red coat pocket (i wore my blue coat that day), but i need a phone to get to it. as i was walking around upstairs i notice that their is a light flooding through the cracks of the door of the only lone office in memorial. i knock on the door and no answer. so being that their was no one around i check to see if the door is open. and it is! i step inside and the first thing i do is search the office for keys. no keys. then i see the phone and after some heavy brain work, i eventually am able to call off campus and to the house. i've been saved! lindsey says that she can come and pick me up and bring me my key. so i spent the night without my keys but at least i could drive my car. my boss shannon told me the next morning that i could have called security and they would have been able to let me into the office with no problem...the things i don't think of.

The Ballad of Squeaky and Squish

by: squish (erica)

There once was a girl named Squishy
And she didn’t even smell fishy
She had a best friend she called Squeak
Who was also referred to as eek
Squishy and Squeaky together had fun
They laughed ‘til they cried, until they were done
But Squish and Squeak lived so far away
They didn’t get to see each other every day
They tried to keep in touch by updating their blogs
They im-ed and e-mailed and danced wearing clogs
They saw each other on Christmas and Thanksgiving too,
And Easter, and New Years too name a few
They spent time together for every birthday
They giggled and laughed as was their way
Presents were important (but appreciated none the less)
All in all, they love was the best
So this is my poem about Squishy and me
And the friendship that will always be!

thanks squish! love your squeak

the honey mustard crisis

so i was wakling down to the union today to get something to eat for lunch. i find that there really isn't anything interesting so i decide on a turkey sub. i get my sub, and then i walk on over to the condiments table to get honey mustard for my sandwich and honey mustard/ketchup for my fries. before I go on, I have to tell you that the union's honey mustard is the best stuff ever. it doen't even taste like honey or mustard...it's just...amazing. so it was to my surprise that they didn't have my honey mustard down there. NOT HAPPY. no, they changed honey mustard brands, so now there is a different kind of honey mustard which isn't really like honey mustard at all. in fact, it reminds me of that herb whipped butter that you get at nicer restaurants but this stuff is thinner. personally, i'm not sure what to do. i was told i could tell deb, who runs the cashier and she'll take care of it. i just don't understand why they would change it when so many people love it. i don't know what i'm going to do....

hee he hee hee hee zbambillingbingbing! (the gross post)

(disclaimer: if you have a weak stomach or do not like reading about gross and sick things...you MAY not want to read. but then again you could read it and think it was the best thing ever. i don't know what you will do. remember that my mind is not always this corrupted. just when i am at home with, well, i think jenny starts all the action. so, i'm not this corrupted all the time. but hey, i warned you.)

so i just got back from a h4h meeting, which by the way, is funny as always. between the inside jokes and lutheran and catholic bashing and just us being our witty selves, you can't help but to fall on the floor laughing.

but my night gets even better.

and why wouldn't it get better when you live in a house full of girls who all have minds that have to be much worse than that of college frat boys.

so i get home and eventually it's th, ds, jv, and i and we're all in the (alcoholic) kitchen eating and talking. ds happens to mention that, yeah, she found 5 condoms in her dresser drawers as she was cleaning out and getting ready to leave for europe. but here's the thing: in the beginning of the year we got a lovely house warming gift from our dear friend leann that included 6 different condoms. ds just told us that she only found 5, which means (you do the math), WHERE'S THE OTHER ONE????

first we had to decide where ds had used the other ones...we had first concluded that they were from a box of 12...we tried to name the 7 times they would have been used...almost. then we figured, well what the heck, where did the other one go if it was from the original 6? who used it? and what were we gonna do now that we didn't have the 6th one? well...our well educated minds came to the conclusion that the remaining 5 would have to be recycled. yes...pump and wash.

this pretty much had us on the floor laughing with water running down our eyes. i'm surprised no one peed their pants but ds did wash her nose out with hot cocoa.

o and here is a comment board question: We still need to get our cocky as hell neighbors back for the pranks they played on us this year. We have decided that we need to do something that they would not expect to come from girls. It first started with jenny saying we should place a poop bag on their door step. then she suggested would bring home a nice big ole cow pie. but who wants to drive home with a cow pie in the back seat? then we decide that we should all just start saving up our poop so that we could get them bad at the end of the year, so why not put a poop can in the bathroom? we could have 2 since shortly we will not have a toilet anyways since it's falling through the floor, and we could label them #1 and #2. we would have to put a do not throw away sign next to number 2. then we thought it would just be easier if we could sump pump it over to their doorstep. could you imagine? flush............WHHHHOOOOOSHSSHHHHH! right onto their doorstep! it would be great...anyone know a good cheap plumber without the crack?

so yeah...have suggestions...leave me a note :)

mmmmm.....bleach!

i just finished up with another great habitat breakfast. i have come to realize that those breakfasts are truely the love of my life. i can now say that i have laughed so hard that i've cried lately! between all of us TRYING to be quiet (it'll never happen!) and sniffing clorox bleach underneath the sink (it'll be a great picture!) and trying to guzzle down the rest of the orange mcdonald's drink, o and can't forget the catholic and lutheran bashing, i think we all had too good of a time. and by the way, i believe that lutherans can drive better and smell better! heheheheeee

o and i also showered them all with my great dance moves. i'll have to show you all the ice auger sometime or the shampoo!

and as for last night...well...i'm sure katie and perry enjoyed it! they made a good audience for my audience craving roommates. i know that the girls were just dying to have someone over so that they could show off their moves! afterwards i slammed down two wine coolers, tried to talk to erica online and then we went off to a party. i swear i'll never get drunk...and you know, they all think that i'm drunk but believe me, after only two wine coolers...that's nothin. i was just in a good mood last night as i usually am...if you would have seen me at the breakfast this morning, they would have TOTALLY understood that i was no where near being drunk last night!

anyways, i have to get back to work and also get some homework done...ick....

packing list for OK

frisbees
kickball
jump ropes
sugar
inhalents.....
hammer
powertools
bandanna
camera to record the action.....

it's a beautiful day!

oooooo! spring and summer are a commin! i can't wait to whip out those rollerblades and hit the trail around the lake with katie! the snow's melting and i don't want to do anything but be outside. that's why i'm procrastinating. but it's almost that time.

today i went for a swim at the pool and got in a good work out. i had to take out my perscription googles which i haven't used in a couple of years since i switched googles and started wearing my contacts. this allowed me to see all the time! but today i had racoon eyes since i had to keep those googles on in order to see! then when i got back i went for a walk with jenny and tessa. it was quite interesting. the girls are talking about getting drunk tonight but i'm thinking they're in a good enough mood already... :)

i actually started to clean my room...it's almost done. a couple things here and there and it'll be complete. but since i'm a professtional procrastinator...we'll see if it actually gets done. i also organized all my art stuff. i'm so proud of myself! we'll see how long that'll last. i can't wait to move into the new house. i can get organized again! yay that!

bit of advise for all of you...if you sitting at your computer reading this. stop right now. go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!

friday five

When was the last time you...

1. ...went to the doctor?
today actually. i needed to get a new perscription for the eyes and i found out that i have cornia infrastructure or something like that. don't worry...i'm not going blind!...yet anyways. i can also tell you the next time i will go to the doctor. that would be next friday as i have to have my eyes checked again to see if my cornia something or another has healed. o, and that's why it looks like i'm crying all the time. case solved!

2. ...went to the dentist?
um, it's probably getting close to the 6 month mark! time to go see good ol' uncle paul at the dentist office!

3. ...filled your gas tank?
last sunday. i needed to so i could head back to bermidji. if i didn't i would still be stuck at home in egf. good thing, huh?

4. ...got enough sleep?
sleep? what's sleep? yeah...couldn't tell you the last time. it coulda been last night (i went to bed @ 11! i think that's a record!) but i usually base it on how i feel when i get up...if i get out of bed and can't stand up and then i hit my head on my ceiling/wall, i don't consider myself awake. and yes, i do then have this weird walk to get out of my room which involves grabbing surfaces and slamming my head on the wall a couple more times. i know...i have no idea other than the fact that i'm not awake as to why i do this...

5. ...backed up your computer?
yeah....the computer geek doesn't back up her computer. i don't have time. one of these days i know i'm going to wish i had time....but we won't go worrying about that now.

via Friday Five

the day of big blingbling

i hate money, i seriously do. i've often thought of what it would be like if everything in the world was free? no one would have to worry about how much they have, or how much they didn't have or making payments...but then i came down to the cold hard fact that then the world would just be greedy. so i quickly pushed that thought out of my head (opposite of the way it came into my head).

but anyways...i came to the thought of money as i am paying off everything with everything i have. i just got my paycheck today and it's already gone...another 2 weeks i have to go with nothin. the only thing i have left to pay with would be my first unborn child, which i still have yet to have (i got that from squeakers as that is her personal way to pay off debt! hehehe). i just got back from walmart and as much as it may be cheap there it's still dragging all my money in. i wonder if you got a job there if you get a discount...wait. i'm not that desperate! (nothing against the people who do work there, it's just not for me). so yeah. i've come to the conclusion that i might as well start up the Save Andrea Kroll fund right now, so go ahead and send all personal (and public?) donations to me. i will take them graciously.

so this is why i hate money. it puts you in a bad mood.

habitat for life

yes! habitat for humanity is finally starting to run 10 times smoother! i ran the meeting tonight and there were no complaints and we got everything done and we got outta there early. breakfasts are set up, chili dinner is underway, and even though we only probably have enough money to make it to OK(which means we'll probably be walking back) i think we'll do ok. i am so excited for the trip! i can't wait for the fun to begin!

this one's for you kt (and squeakers)

yes, i have realized that i haven't blogged for awhile...but eeka squeakers got me int he mood. i'm supposed to be doing homework but she just created a blog so i thought that i better get my butt in gear. also, kt asked me today why i had not updated in awhile...i had no good excuse. so, hopefully, here we go again!

friday five

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
I don't do much that is daring...street sign stealing? that was a great night...

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?
ok, first off, my mother doesn't approve of me doing anything daring. if i had it my way i would have traveled all over the place by now and who knows what else.

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)
my mother's voice is always in the back of my head...grrr, it would have to be a 2 or 3... i know! i'm boring!

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?
the best? o i'm sure there's somthing....

5. ... and what's the worst?
got yelled at any my mom started crying....which is why i'm not a bold or daring person...

grrr...

big files in photoshop are no fun at all! i'm sitting here waiting for a file to save that'll take 20 min. so much for technology....haven't posted in awhile, guess i'm not really in a mood to sit down and type everything out. yes, kt, i know you'll be overjoyed when you see i've posted! i really have to pee...file hurry up and save already!