first day of school

so another first day of school comes and is almost past. i woke up early this morning to make it to work at 8 and actually awoke ok...then i waited for the bathroom, got in there and prepped for the day, got dressed and then the girls wanted a first day of school pic. so, with no on to take it, we smoshed together, one held out the camera, we smiled cheese...and snap. and it'll probably be a wonderful picture of our nostrils...

work this morning was horrendous...i had 10 calls in 20 min. and i eventually responded to them all. i would be chatting with one person on boldchat when all of a suddent the phone would ring...my coworkers were laughing at me and the fact that i was ready to scream at someone.

my classes went well this today. my first class was digital video. we'll have 3 assignments. the first one we have to shoot and make a 30 second commercial slot for bsu. then we'll have 2 final assingments. documentaries are encouraged...hmmm....

then i went and did some things like pay rent and SEND OUT MY INTERNSHIP RESUME!! it's about time...cross your fingers. then i went back, ate, and then went over to my next class, publication processes I. my prof, steve, is hilarious, without realizing it...which is even better. he sat and talked about all that he has done in the design field. he has done a whole lot...kind of impressive. and then he was amazed that an hour had gone by so fast. but i realized that when i journied over to the bookstore a couple of weeks ago to find out which books i could order online for cheaper, the two books for that class didn't exist...so now i find myself ordering more books and not feeling nearly as happy about the fact that i DID have only one book that i needed. i knew i couldn't have been that lucky....

well...that has been my day so far. how's yours been?

a new school year

so here goes...start of junior year and 3 more years of wonderful bsu. i was on campus all summer and no one was here. now...there's all these people on campus. i asked kt, "where did they all come from??" her only response...the sky.

but in all actuality, it's kind of exciting to have all the students back. friends that i hadn't seen all summer are back (but i have yet to actually go over or to their respected house and see them) and it should be good to catch up. habitat will be back in full swing, although i have yet to work on it. well, i take that back. i did set up a start up date, i made pretty posters to hang around campus and i emailed tim to get a build date set up. that's all i've done. and the campus picnic and organization fair is on thursday. maybe we can figure out something wednesday night...hmmm.

of course with school coming up, you hear about everyone's latest drunken adventures. so and so got drunk and did this and did you hear what happened last night when so and so got drunk??!!! yeah. let me rant about this quick. i don't care if people, or you the reader in specific, go and get drunk. but let me get this clear: i NEVER want to hear about people drinking and driving. there is no reason for it. even if you think you are ok to drive, you're not. people usually think they are ok to drive because they are still fully conscious, still can remember things, they aren't dizzy and so on...but it's not that that is what is going to determine if you are ok to drive. when you are drunk or have been drinking, you're reaction time slows down, meaning if something darts out in front of you, the chances of you stepping on your break or swerving out of the way go down because you react slower than normal. this is what is the result of drinking and driving accidents. even if you have been drinking, be the responsible one and let someone else drive you home. if you're with friends who think they can drive home just fine and they've been drinking, take the keys away! explain to them what it means to you for them not to drink and drive and they more than likely will hand over the keys. they'll do it if they are a true friend and you'll ask for the keys if you are a true friend. i am not ready to hear about another person killed by a drinking and driving accident. you don't have to be drunk to have an alcohol related accident. so prevent the tears, grief and sadness that come with drinking and driving and take action, prevent it before it happens.

so that's my rant for the day. and it's my pledge for this year. i saw one too many times last year and this summer when people just take off to go and drop off an even drunker friend even if they have been drinking themselves. i've watched people just let their friends who have been drinking drive off and when i query as to why they let this happen they respond with, " they're old enough to know what they are doing." come on people. obviously you don't care about your friends to stop them from possibly getting in an accident. let's all grow up and take a little responsibility for our actions. get a dd...it may save some lives.

so tomorrow...or tonight...we'll see, i'm going to send in my application to walt disney imagineers. i'm excited. i hope that they choose me to come and internship but at the same time, i don't want to get my hopes up. ugh...please please please....

so...here's to the start of tomorrow and a new school year...may you all get a's...or at least one, i'm sure some people would be happy with that.... :)

quick shout out

and i have to give a quick shout out to my sister alli, who yesterday at 1:30 am came into this wonderous world 12 years ago. happy bday little sis!

and this one goes out to....

just thought i would wish one of my favorite people in the world, laura, a very happy 19th birthday! have a great day! o...and i need your new address so when i am able, i can send you your bday present. love ya lots!

getting ready for the start of school

so i'm about to start my junior year of school. yay. i am actually pretty excited for it, excited to be able to finish another year and to be in my major classes again. i love to be surrounded by the design tech and art department. so anyway, square asked me to post my schedule so she can figure out when i'm reachable. here it is:

Monday:
8-10: work
10-12: multimedia processes I
12-1: eat/possibly work
1-3: work
3-5: typography and layout
5-6: break
6-8: swim practice
8-10: habitat meetings
10-whenever: homework/relax/eat/whatever

Tuesday
8-10: work
10-12: digital video
12-1: eat/work
1-3:30: publication processes I
3:30 - 6: homework/relax
6-8: swim practice
8-whenever: hoemwork/relax/eat/whatever

Wednesday
8-10: work
10-12: multimedia processes I
12-1: eat/work
1-3: work
3-5: typography and layout
5-6: break
6-8: swim practice
8-whenever: homework/break/relax/habitat stuff

Thursday
8-10: work
10-12: digital video
12-1: eat/work
1-3:30: publication processes I
3:30 - 6: homework/ relax/whatever
6-8: swim practice
8-whenever: homework/ tv/relax/whatever

Friday (i'm gonna throw a curve ball...)
8-10: work
10-12: multimedia processes I
12- whenever....whatever the heck i want to do, i can go home if i want!!

so yeah...that is my schedule!

bye

stimulation

so last night, as square and i were talking, she decided she was going to get off line as we weren't "having a very stimulating conversation." then it hit me: i don't have stimulating conversations.

i can do the whole, "hi how are you?" conversation. short and sweet. but when it comes to good, deep down, stimulating conversations...i don't have them. i would give the world to have a stimulating conversation with someone, to be able to sit down and actually talk, but with me that doesn't happen. my brain doesn't think fast enough to come up with questions and all those sorts. most of my friends are good at preaching, which is good for me because i am a good listener and i will listen with my whole heart and not stop listening until they're done. but to be able to sit down and talk about something that is in their heart and be able to respond and to give good responses and to inquiry them...i don't have it. i would love to be able to talk like some of my friends do...sending emails, all sorts of things. i want to be able to go to lunch with some of my closest friends and just have a good heart to heart CONVERSATION, not them talking and me just sitting and listening to them vent. what happened to my communication skills? why can't i have a conversation? why can't i find a rebuttal for anything (i'm not sure i spelt rebuttal right or not, but right now i really don't care)? why can't i think up of a stupid silly obituary right then and there without thinking about it and just blurt it? i can't stand that when i need the words the most, they aren't there. i can bring stimulation to certain situations...like bringing energy to a dull, boring, group of people...but to a conversation...forget it.

this sucks.

i think part of the problem is that i think to much. i have way to many thoughts on my mind already and i just blow simple things such as a conversation way out of proportion. i can't participate in an argument, i can't stick up for what i believe in just because i can't think fast enough. 8 out of 10 times, the person i'm arguing with will walk away and ten minutes later i'll have the perfect comeback...but it's to late.

and now i will stop. that is my venting for tonight. i just want a relationship with someone where i can actually offer feedback when they want it. it may be that i have it and just not realize it, but i just want a stimulating conversation. i need a best friend that lives in bemidji...or maybe what i'm really looking for is the boyfriend to have stimulating conversations with...a different point of view...but i would have to stop being afraid of boys first....but that's a story for another time.

camping in the back woods

so this last weekend, square, nate and i headed out to the chippewa national forest for campfires, fishing, adventurous meals and lots of daddy long legs. it was a good time.

square i got there on friday night and we set up camp in the dark and then sat around a glorious campfire until all was dark and quiet. it was a little nipply out (about 30 degrees F and frosty) so we warmed up water in our nalgenes to heat our feet and climbed into sleeping bags and went to sleep. the next morning we made a big ole breakfast of eggs and bacon and then we set out to do some fishing. we caught nothing but we had a heck of a time rowing. at one point i mentioned to square that i didn't think we were going anywhere and all she could say was, "shat up." it was funny.

after square built a sand castle and dug up some dead fish, nate decided to show up and we decided we needed to try our luck at fishing again. this time i caught a whoppen 4 fish! although they were little perch, it was fun. square caught i believe 3 fish and nate didn't catch anything but a big ole northern that we took back to the campfire, along with one of square's perch to cook. after our neighbors who were professional filleters came over and showed us all how to fillet a fish (poor nate was teaching me until they came over), then we cooked them up with some burgers and were about to start on our s'mores when it started to down pour along with thunder and lightning. as square and i made a last bathroom run, she nearly lept into my arms when lightning lite up the sky! we finally all made it into our tent but it was awhile before we slept. nate kept pestering me to come up with his obituary and i tried to explain that i just couldn't come up with his here. he came up with obits for me and square which were quite humorus. eventually, with him disappointed with me, we went to sleep.

we had plans to fish in the morning but because nate had a headache and not much sleep, and because of the rain and wind, those plans were cancelled. we started to pick up camp and we made a morning goop for breakfast : beans, hotdogs, and bacon...does the body good! it got a little over done thanks to me but we ate and then before we knew it, it was time to say our good byes and head back to town.

wish i was still out camping...it was a good time....

what's wrong with me?

i just cried. i don't cry unless things are really bad. here's the other thing...i don't really understand why i just cried. i'm not a crier. i just suck it up and get on with it...there's no time for crying. here's what i cried about:

-heidi's brother's death
-everything that comes along with a death
-the funeral
-i've only been to one funeral before in my life...but not like this
-one of my roommate's just broke up with her boyfriend...it hurts me so much to watch her cry...
-i need my own space
-i need my own dvd player in my room so that select people won't watch my movie selections with me and make fun of them the whole way, even if the movie is cheesy
-how small i feel in this world
-how much i wish i was still camping and the weekend wasn't over
-so many more things

life goes on...here i go

a prayer for monte



God,

i didn't know monte well, but he was one of my closest friend's youngest brother. so much sorrow has happened to heidi's family with the loss of her oldest brother over 5 years ago. for heidi and her family to loose another member, i can only imagine their pain. please help them heal and let them know that monte is safe and happy with you and his brother scott in heaven. please watch over heidi, joyce, nick and family and let them know that they are not alone and that they are loved. monte was so young and for him to be taken away from us so tragically....please let him know that he is missed and loved very much.

and for heidi, nick, joyce and family...for them to go through another loss...it must be unbearable. please stay by their side and help them through their loss. watch over them, bless them and keep them with you always...

...lift up your prayers....

amen.

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared." Exodus 23:20

yay for personal goals!

last night was exciting, as one of my friends chose to stop smoking! it's gonna be a long hard month, but we'll get her past those nicotene cravings.

i had a bass board meeting last night which is always interesting. they sat and talked about what needs to happen to make the team bigger and better. now i'm pretty sure i know a lot of what is stopping them and i've told them at meetings before...there is no sense of a team. the kids don't know how to compete competitively and aren't willing to either. i should be able to come down harder on them but it won't happen when meghan is there. she's the complete opposite of me...yells at them for no reason but isn't hard on them when it comes to work outs. i don't get it....and then the board asked me to tell them 2 good things that happened this summer. well...let me see...there are always good things that happen, it's just hard point out a specific one as it all melts together as one good thing. but if they would have asked me to tell them 2 bad thing that happened this summer...i would have told them all right there about meghan, as she wasn't there. i'm just not ready to bad mouth about her yet...unless i'm asked, of course. i can give the board countless ideas, but it's them that has to take them and run with them...it's so hard to watch them like this. i feel i should be doing more to help them but it's so different at these meetings. all you can do is to shut up and let them talk, i feel so intimidated by them, it's horrible. as far as i'm concerned, i'll coach this fall and spring and then we'll see what happens.

this weekend i have a little camping trip planned with square and nate. i'm excited, it should be fun! campfires and freezing cold nights are what it's all about. also, lake's are awesome. so here's to being even closer to a lake than i am right now (the college i'm at right now is right on a lake).

i've finished writing my resume, now onto a cover letter. for all of you who don't know, i'm going to apply for an internship with walt disney company so i'm in the process of writing a kick butt resume and cover letter. it's hard work. you never know if you are writing the right thing or not. but so much left to do with that.

o, and on a side note...team usa is kickin butt and getten er done! the men and women both took the gold in the 800 free relay (4x200) and the women smashed the world record! yay! plus michael is earning golds left and right, natalie is too and aaron peirsol, who is one hot backstroker, is also earning golds! yay for usa swimming!

so...to all of you, have a wonderful day! i'm sure i will!

just a little something

This is pretty crazy... Check out this email I just received: This is a car advert from somewhere. When they finished filming the ad, the people who made it noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist.The ad was never put on TV because the unexplained ghostly phenomenon frightened the production team out of their wits. Watch it and about halfway look and you will see the white mistcrossing in front of the car then following it along the road...Spooky!Turn your sound on, then click link to watch the movie.http://www.stokeyouth.co.uk/Classic_Auto_1.mpeg

ice off banquet

so i was invited to participate in the activities of my relatives annual ice off banquet. squeak's family has a competition with another family on the lake that they have cabins on to see who can guess the date that there will be a clear line between one side of the lake to the other. the person who correctly guesses the date is crowned king or queen for the year. since liv (from the other family) had guessed the correct date, we had a banquet in her honor. squeak had made a beautiful crown (a basket with a flower pin wheel sticking out of the top and fuzzy pink flamingo lights inter twined in the basket) and we crowned her to some very hip hoppish music that my aunt danced too...it was very amusing! we had appetizers during the crowning ceremonies and then we went on a parade around the lake in which our queen had to wave too all that were out enjoying the weather with her crown on. the pinwheel almost caused her to take off into the air. then back at the cabin, we sat down to a huge pasta dinner that was absolutely delicious. i was in heaven until all that pasta settled in my stomach and i couldn't move...which was ok because i wasn't planning too move from the tv where the olympics, and swimming, were on. squeak's older brother also tried to keep me drinking by passing out the wine coolers. squeak and i shared her first one. aww, how fun. it was a good weekend though, very relaxing. lots of reading, playing card games and watching the olympics. fun fun fun.

it's sad

so of course i've been keeping up with the olympics coverage for swimming. and let me tell you...it's not going so great. it started off well with michael winning the 400 im...yay for that. 1 gold medal down, 7 left to go. but the 400 free relay bombed with south africa of all places winning the gold, the netherlands right behind them and us winning bronze. at least the aussies came in 6th! they won in sydney and had the world record but the south africans changed that. their will be some rivalries against gary hall jr (who was supposed to swim the relay but was replaced by michael) but then again gary doesn't like any one. i wish people would stop being so harsh with michael's goal and at least congratulate him for trying to win 8 golds. he went and swam the 200 free today against ian "thorpedo" thorpe, grant hackett, (both aussies), pieter van den hoogenband (netherlands) and klete keller (usa). he took the bronze with ian winning and pieter coming in 2nd. he dropped time though from what i could tell, so yay for him. at least he has medals for all the races he has swam. let's cheer him on for 6 now....

and in other swimming news...it was branden hansons bday yesterday and he was looking to win a gold in the 100 breaststroke. but some japanese dude took it after all that were watching on tv and all that were there EXCEPT THE OFFICIALS watched him cheat as off of his start and his turn he added a dolphin kick underwater. NOT ACCEPTABLE. he should have been dqed. and i guess he had been caught doing it at the world championships. i clearly saw him do it underwater when i was watching the race last night. aaron peirson and larson jenson also say they saw it (they're usa team members). of course, brandon says it's his own fault he lost the race as he should have swam faster. but i tell you, that would have been the greatest birthday present...your first olympic gold medal. o well...he'll get him on the 200.

it's so stressful to watch your team struggle...

get ready to laugh

or maybe not...but i know that when square and i were done writing these...booty, square and i were gasping for air...here's how they were developed...either square and i would start out and write two lines worth of funnies, then we would fold the paper over and cover every thing we had written except the last line, that would be all that the next person writing would get to see and they had to continue the story with only that line. makes for a good time...enjoy!

the denison loy lake
the bus had been going for many miles and hours by this time and its passengers were all a little upset as the bus was running late due to an un-scheduled fireworks display. the passengers all piled out and each grabbed one of the porvided blankets as the blankets had magical pwers that gae the user beatiful skin and restored their sleepy bodies. then rejuvinated and ready to rooll everyone lined up for the 3 legged race. the passengers pair up with who they are sitting with and head for the texaco gas station. inside they find their first assignment is to conquer the SOSU saveges water tower which is nearly the height of 2 semi's on end. the bus driver gives the signal and the people scatter in every dirction leaving behing their clothes as they were now entering a nudist colony. all a little concerned with their new look, they decided to pu on wigs to disguise their selves. stasified with their new appearance they paraded single file down the median toward the chaktaw inn in hopes of finding larry, the over fridendly owner and also a nudist, who screamed, "ay iiiiiiiiiii!" and the group came to a hard right in the road. just around the corner they spotted presidential canidiates george w. bush and john kerry inthe middle of a very important gold match. the passengers quickly found their clothes again and threw them on as athey did not want to be arrested for presidential impersonation. they proceeded on, even though several members were overwhelmed with hunger and left the group in search of gorp as it cures all forms and types of hunger. but 2 members of the group, fred and bob, were hungry for the prize: a hot air ballon ride. however due to their age and lack of parental consent, the prize was void and everyone was forced to re board the bus.

mantua muchies
the radio beeped loudly to signal the announcer's interuption. "this just in: a large cattele stampeed has been spotted 40 miles n. of big booty's place. please take shelter immediately!" everyone started to scream and hands flew up in amazement. the announcer5 proceeded to instruct people to make their way to the library in an orderly fashion. your only hope of survival is to grab the book "the origin of species" by darwin, and to start reading, coming up with a hypothesis suer to combat that of current psychologists. convinced that he had inded perfected the formula, he recited it to the tune of "vanilla ice" preferabley rapped by a man named nathan johnson. i w was then that myk came in and declared, "square, i'm hungry, wanna split a pizza?" knowing all too well how that story goes i declined and suggested he ask kelly and andi to show them all what a vegas light stripper does, and as andi had no clue how that goes, kelly gladly showed them all. familiar with booty's talents, the 3 of them quietly left the scene, leaving kelly there all alone to perform. not to worry, though, just as she finished square decided that it was time for grub and gorp was pulled out, as it is known to cure all forms and types of hunger. so they decided to go for it and followed the truck. they went from city to city, sure they'd know someone who'd help them. "just a little further," their new found starnger coaxed. they kept pushing and pushing when all of a sudden, BAM! they knew they were in trouble! everyone grabbed for something of value but all they could find were life jackets and party streamers. confused , they threw out the life jackets and went to town with the streamers, all having a good time. the end!

puppy chow parable...this one we were only allowed to use real life experience we have had....
i was at the clay aiken concert with my cousin and brother when all of a sudden these people walk along the highway pushing my motorcycle. the game warden stopped to see if i needed help but i told him i was getting in shape to run a triathalon. the biking part was killing me and this hill wasn't making it any easier to slow down. the bumps were frozen hard from many previous sledders. my butt was in pain and there was no way to get rid of in. i ran to check on my sister, who had flown in the air. i started laughing until i realized what goes up must come down. i ducked to my left as the music rest part of the stand came crashing into the flute section. often at our school's musicals, i wondered if any one would fall into the pit and get hurt. we continued to showvel, sorting the dirt from the rocks and leading it into wheel barrows. this is not how we pictured h4h. i knew that h4h wasn't always building, that other things had to be done, so i tried to stay positive. there was no way we'd win playing like w were so something had to change. attitudes first. no more long faces and hung heads. we had to start and getter done. so after someone confronted the head honcho, we headed back to the church as there was no way we'd really be able to trade up for a semi truck and trailer all the way out at cenex and not be late. kelly, square, and i were wcreaming and wondering why we didn't just die. we sta there for aobut 5 min. trying to regain our breath and sense. what would we tell shari if hercar was dead because of our stupid mistake. what about dodgey?

"hutchin's hickeys"...this is we were only allowed to use phrases from songs and movies, made it challenging...

this ain't comin' from no prophet, just an ordinary man. when i close my eyes i see...missed with my imperfections...the most beautiful girl in the world and she will be loved like the strawberry ice cream never ever end of all this love. this love has taken a hold of me i ask myslef, do you know what you are getting yourself into? how much longer will it take to cure this? how much longer i don't know cause maybe i'm in love the blues will be blue and the jealousys green, but when love picks its shade it demands to be seen...like the bright lights of texas, comma chameleon is seen stars and is gonna dance all night to this d j just trying to taste this spice of life. so hit me with your best shot come on hit me with your best shot come on baby make it hurt so good then put your arms around me cause what do you know about you and me? we're two of a kind workin' on a full house...my father's house is a big big house with lots and lots of rooms, a big big house with cotton candy, sweety yo, let me see that tootsie rool! cause i'm missin you like candy cause i want candy lolly pop lolly pop ooh lolly lolly pop, lolly pop lolly pop ooh lolly lolly pop lolly pop badoom boom boom. boom baby. squeak squeaken huh? and deehhhhhnnn?? we need to get rusty a girl. there's a women's prison aroun d the corner. down on the corner, down on the street all the colors mix together to make grey street.

the end! hahahahahha!

we live in disneyland

so i followed a link from my friend julie's blog and it was such a good read, i have to have a link from it here. so yeah, please check it out.

o, and also....THIS IS MY 200TH POST! YAAAAYYYY! LET'S ALL DANCE AND CELEBRATE!

so yeah, if you could shake your booty for me just a little, all will be happy.

back to reality

and i'm back from texas. it was a very fulfilling trip with lots of excitement. i even have picture's for you. here goes:

so after a day and a half greyhound trip with many interesting characters aboard (the jello man, the two teenagers who were AMAZED at everything) and late buses and bagage claims, lay overs and hard rock cafe minneapolis! - we made it to houston and were greated with a great big booty hug (booty is the person who we were seeing in texas, just to clarify) and we were also greated by a homeless person who insisted on taking our bags out to booty's car in order to earn himself, "chicken money." i was searching for pepper spray to scare him, booty kept telling him, "no, we've got our bags," and square, as she was trying to get something out of her bag, had her bag whisked away and into our car by our homeless person. we finally got into booty's car and booty was going to hand him a dollar...that was before he flicked us off. welcome to houston!

the next day we ventured over to six flags - astro world. there was also a texans game at the reliant stadium right next door, which confused booty and we ended up circling and searching for parking admist the millions of cars for over an hour...booty had road rage. it was great fun. but finally we made it in, rode on 2 rides: serial thriller and batman the ride (this one you stood up on!) then we headed over for some texas bbq (where we decided to be helpful and clean off tables that other people had not. it was all good until square dumped some strawberry and whipped cream slosh into the garbage can and missed, landing it all in some lady's purse. the lady didn't see nor did square, but booty and i did...and we booked it out of there so fast! we let square in on what she did and we all couldn't stop laughing after that...) and then to stand in line for the newsboys concert! somehow we got extremely lucky because we were 5 rows from the front and a little to the left. there were over 20,000 people there and we were all crowded in...it was amazing. inhibited and ian eskelin were the openers and our emcee for the evening was a very interesting kent matthews from the ksbj christian radio station in houston. here's our picture's from the day:

booty and i enjoying some texas bbq:



before the concert began; me and square:



before the concert; me and booty:



ian eskelin!




THE NEWSBOYS!!



and they all fall, like a million pieces...

















booty, me and square at the newsboys concert:



on sunday, after another huge breakfast made especially by booty, we ventured off to find the minute maid park. it was quite an adventure since we couldn't find it...or booty couldn't, she wouldn't let us help navigate. our adventure included coments such as this one: "booty...watch out for the! ooof!" and a complete view of downtown houston. we did make it to the astros game on time. they ended up loosing, i don't even remember the final score. from there we ventured on to nasa, were we bought tickets for 2 days as we were cutting it close to closing time. we went around the space center at nasa (the museum part) and learnt about how astronauts live, all about space ships and so on. booty even bought us some astronaut food to eat...it's a lot like dried up food. we explored a space ship, too. the next day we planned to come back and do the tram tour of the johnson space center but we were 5 min. too late. i cried. it's not every day that you can actually see that. but that just means we'll have to come and visit booty again. but anyways...back to sunday. after nasa, we traveled on down to galveston were we played and froliced in the ocean and beach. we watched as booty tried to run down the beach in the water and, not knowing were the dips were, would run, trip and stumble. it was highly amusing. we also ended up full of sand. we decided to eat at a seafood restaurant on the shore, especially since square loves seafood. we finally decided on a place called fishtails where square got her seafood and booty and i...we orded cheeseburgers. i felt guilty as i felt i should be ordering seafood...but i didn't want to spend money on it and find out i didn't like it. so cheeseburgers were the best bet. afterwards we endulged in their ice cream parlor. booty and i had the worst stomach cramps after that...we complained the whole ride back to houston.

on monday, booty had to work so square and i headed to one of booty's many pools in her apartment complex. i splashed around in the pool and played with the waterfall. then square and i watched tv till booty came home. then we headed out to nasa yet again, only to be dissappointed by missing the tram tour. after touching a part of the moon, watching a video on the development of nasa and playing aroun for a bit, we took off for cici's pizza, a habitat favorite. it was good as always. from there we headed back to booty's place to finish packing before we had to head back to the bus station. it was hard to leave as we had had a lot of fun and booty gets really emotion with goodbyes...but we made it...all the way back to bemidji. it was a long ride and we were glad to be back. when we did get back smelly and tired, we went to conquer square's ride to bemidji that was locked with out the keys to the door ( the place she was borrowing it from some how forgot to include those...and forgot to tell her not to lock the doors...hmmmm). so we stood out in booty's backyard with screwdrivers (not the drink) and coathangers, trying to jimmy the darn thing open. finally after four people trying, we gave in and paid fourty bucks and have someone come and open it in a record 20 seconds...how horrible. but all was good when we went out with gizmo for some ice cream at the coldstone afterwards.

here are some pics from nasa and the beach:

it's not rocket science...o wait, ya it is:



the rocket park at the johnson space center:



inside the skylab...no, that's not a real person:



moon rocks!



apollo 17...all charred up from the ozone:





a real rocket, as opposed to a fake one:



one of the 3 engines it takes to get a rocket to space; we stood

under one and they turned the fan on...we were blown away!



at the beach:




and that's it. i'm back to reality. i came back to work today and i've got a lot to do. but not for long...tomorrow night i'm heading out to bad medicine lake with squeak for their ice off banquet. hopefully it's nice so we can jump in the lake.

the olympics start tomorrow! it should be exciting. i hope to catch opening ceremonies otherwise, i have my family taping it along with the swimming parts from the weekend. i'm excited.

school starts soon...especially since i've picked up my planner for the new year. i'll use it the first couple of weeks if i'm lucky and then it will be shoved to the bottom of my bag. i've got to buy my book still. and habitat stuff has to be organized and done...i've got to get on that. august is such a busy month...to bad it's not being a warm one either.

texas: 21 hours!

yup that's right...well, almost. i will leave for texas in 21 hours, along with square and my ever massive amount of luggage. i' m somewhat packed but i think i may need to downsize. i was listing to square all that i was bringing when i was im-ing her and i think she nearly fell over at her own computer just reading all that i was dragging with.

so yeah...part of that list includes movies which i am trying to burn right now. i have ocean's 11 and chicago on my computer buy i need to burn them so i am doing that at work but to no avail. i've already crashed the computer once. hopefully this will work this time. i am trying to squeeze the movie first so that i can fit it onto a dvd. it takes so long. i'm doing ocean's 11 first and then we'll see about chicago.

tonight i'm making puppy chow. i love that stuff and i'm going to make the best stuff ever...extra chocolate! but i still need to pick up ingrediants and tomorrow, before we leave, we're making a pit stop at coldstone creamery so we can be sick the whole way down on the bus. our day and a half drive. it would be cool if we had more people and we could have driven down sans bus and used our own mode of transport but that didn't work out. people backed down. o well. it would have been fun but it's not like this won't be either. a whole adventure with square on a greyhound bus? who couldn't ask for more! (and that's not sarcastic)

so yeah...hopefully i can get these movies burned...they would be sooo cool. o well...if i don't post tonight...see ya in a week cause texas (and booty) is calling!

state meet pics

click here to see the wonderful (not the best quality because my camera is an older version) pictures that i took of my old team kickin butt at state. they took 2nd overall (only because they didn't have the numbers the other team had) and also qualified quite a few for zones. go wahoos!!

i was warned

squeak had warned me last night. her dad (my uncle and dentist) had hired a new hygenist. all she said was that she was thorough.

and so yeah. my mouth still hurts. i think she took chunks of my gum out of my mouth. they were still a little bloody when i got home ( i know, i'm sure you wanted to know this). she also gave me that fear that i may have a cavity when she said, "this looks a little questionable," as she proded at my teeth. but according to uncle paul, i'm good. she also took this bendable metal file thing to floss my bottom front teeth. my teeth down there are already a little sensitive to movement and proding and when she took the file and started sanding away....oww. but hey, i'm still living. it's not that she was a bad hygentist...just a little....brutal, i think is the best word for this. i wish my gums would stop hurting.

i know

i suck. i'll admit it. i got kind of blog lazy the last couple of days. not to mention busy. i don't even know where i left off last in my world wind life. so i'll start with last tuesday evening. the night of the bass swimming banquet.

it was all good. good food, good fun, and even an awesome turnout. then only thing that spoiled it? when my co coach and i were standing up there i asked her if she wanted to talk first and she said sure. so i quickly let her know a couple of things she should that others for, just some things on my mind. she looked at me and said, "i know andi, i am a teacher, i do this all the time." so, thinking she was kinding, i gave her one of those, ooooo, aren't we good? faces and laughed. then she said, " you know, i am older than you." in all seriousness. i'm wondering right now why i didn't slap her.

probably because i had all my kids and parents watching us, waiting for us to begin.

i realized right then and there that that whole little reason why we haven't "bonded" or at least figured out how to work together is because she thinks i'm too insignificant, too young, i don't know enough and all that jazz. well, she's got another one comming. one of these days it's going to turn around and hit her in the face. i'm not taking her crap anymore. at least she'll be gone in the fall and then we'll see what happens from there.

i have also purchased my tickets for houston online. yes, i'm making another trip back to houston! but this time it's not for habitat building reasons....it's for habifam reasons. one of my fellow habifamers has ventured out there and square and i are making a trip to see her. frankly, i'm excited. it's my big trip of the summer and i can't wait! even though nate and another backed out on us keeping us from doing the whole road trippen thing (oooo...it would have been cool!) i think square and i will be able to handle ourselves on the greyhound...with pepper spray. it'll be one that i tell my grand kids anyways. we also have tickets that weekend for six flags....especially since newsboys will be there! i'm pumped...how exciting is it that the one weekend that we're there, newsboys just happen to be too?! it'll be great...and all this time with booty in warm houston. i'll have tons to post about when i get back. ....i'm leaving thursday.

then this weekend i played photographer for the north dakota state swimming meet. i ran around deck with my digital snapping all sorts of photographs. when i have them online, i'll run a link from here to see them all. it wasn't the best of quality since my digital isn't the best of quality, but it will have to work. i just wish that they were a little more in focus. you have to train yourself for my camera. it's definetly not an action camera. i have to hold done the button half way and then gauge myself to be able to click a second before their head pops out of the water. so that means i have to count their breathing, focus the camera and just when i think they're going to breath...click! and sometimes it doesn't even turn out because they move so fast that it blurs. but every now and then i get a good one that turns out nice. but yeah...if it blurs and they're swimming a 50 or a 100...i've missed my chance on that shot. one day when i start getting paid for this, i'll have to save up for a really nice camera.

today i went out to the lake to see my grandparents. it's good times. we all had fun harassing each other. it was also shocking too when my grandma told me that i was getting more kudos than my older cousin, which my grandparents love...i nearly fell over. but yeah, good food, good times....and a good couple jumps in the mucky, seaweedy water.

i've also been asked to be habitat president this year. i'm kind of excited. i have so much to do for that. we also had a un official house meeting last week. we were all together and just had a different type of bonding time, late into the night. we also came up with an on going list of 60 some things of reasons why one should never leave bemidji. the next night we all got together again at greenmill where i treated friends with a gift card i received from the swim team. more good food and good friends and good fun.

life is grand.

well...if i write again this week, i guess you'll hear from me....if not, i'll have loads 'o posts to type up when i get back the following wednesday.

have a wonderful week!