The mini choppers

I can't seem to hold onto a mini chopper to save my life. Its a small kitchen gadget that chops up nuts, veggies or whatever. So when I first moved into my own house my mom got me one as a housewarming gift. For one reason or another at the following Christmas she bought me another one. I laughed and told this story for years because I thought it was silly.

I moved out of that house when I moved to South Carolina and I didn't take much with me, including my two mini choppers. So when my mom came to visit for Thanksgiving she had to buy me another one. Mom mini chopper tally is now 3.

So I moved out of that house and again didn't take everything, including my poor mini chopper. So Mom came back down to SC to help me get situated and was astounded to find that I again lacked a mini chopper. She bought me my 4th mini chopper.

Mom, ended up staying with me for several months before moving back to Illinois and when she left she TOOK my mini chopper :(

So 4 mini choppers later, I still don't own one and I decided to give up on the idea that I could have one of my own.

Today I'm moving out of my apartment and into another one and I just emptied a cabinet and lo and behold THERE IS A MINI CHOPPER IN THERE. I swear to all things I have never seen this thing in my life. After what I've been through with the other mini choppers, I would know if I actually had one. A mini chopper materialized out of nowhere or someone is playing a joke on me!

Cute idea that turned into a priceless memory

A few months ago Nick took a vacation to Japan to climb Mt. Fuji. We had just begun dating but things were going really well, so I wanted to do something special for him. I decided to get a box of cards and write to him.



I made one card for various points on his trip. They were things like "Open before you leave", "Open before you go to sleep", "Open when you miss me the most", "Open when you get to the top of Fuji" ect..



He loved it!

Just after he returned from his trip I came home from work to a candlelit dinner. On the table was the box of cards I had given him. He had me open each one and inside he had written back to me...



Now we have this adorable box of love letters to each other, one of my most cherished items.

Its here!

One more piece of awesomeness to the board game collection. I present to you...MUNCHKIN QUEST!



Its the board game version of a popular card game called Munchkin. I played it the other night at a friends board game night. Have I mentioned the totally awesome people that I've been hanging out with lately? I never knew I could actually know IRL more than a couple of real geeks but as it turns out, there are TONS!
This game is cool. You start out at level 1 and you spend your three moves exploring a dungeon. Explore a new room and face a monster, each room has a special ability or dis-ability as it were. Cards determine your items, class, race and abilities. Use them with other players or against them! Get to level 10 and face a boss to win. SO. MUCH. FUN!

Bitchin' Text

We are almost through ALL of the seasons of The Office! I love that show, btw. The other night there was a scene where Andy sent Daryl a pigeon text. I wanted to find a video to post here but couldn't, so here's the Wiki:

Andy becomes overzealous about their friendship in "China" by constantly texting Darryl to his annoyance. When Darryl gives Andy an ultimatum that he's one text away from being banned by texting him, Andy wagers it into telling him that his next text will be so good that Darryl will have to high five him. This is proved when Andy finds pigeons eating an ice cream cone and texts Darryl to witness it.

After the scene we're giggling and such and Nick turns to me and says "I'm gonna send you a pigeon text". What I heard was "I'm gonna send you a bitchin' text" which I thought was hilarious and made total sense, I love getting totally bitchin' texts. Apparently in my old age I forgot that bitchin' wasn't what the kids were saying these days.
I think pigeon texts are bitchin' anyway

JON HAMM'S JOHN HAM!

Last night we're browsing google images of teeny tiny puppies and ooh'ing and ahh'ing at their teeny tiny cuteness. When I scroll to this page:



Nick suddenly leaps off the bed shouting "OMG JON HAMMS JOHN HAM" "google it, google it now!" and laughing like a madman. Somehow a guy named Jon Hamm ended up in my puppy cutefest.

And this, my friends, is Jon Hamm's John Ham:

Betrayal! At the house on the hill.

Let me tell you a story about 6 ordinary people who find themselves together in a big old house! Its a board game I recently got and have fallen in love with. The game starts in the entrance to an old house, the players are each given a set of stats and a misson. Explore the house. Each turn you find a new room that holds an event, a new item or an omen! Encounter enough omens and the house becomes haunted! Based on which room you've discovered and what omen you've unleashed you will find one of many possible haunt scenarios.

So far I've been attacked by my own doppleganger, found the ghost of Crimson Jack, been nearly lured into the depths of hell by a mysterious fiddler and sucked into oblivion by a vortex! Even if you've played a haunt before, each encounter will be different based on the rooms you've discovered and the items available.

We had our first game night get together last weekend and everyone enjoyed the game so much we played twice!

I love this guy.

I remember when I met him. I was at a Nerds meetup and he walked in with his friend. I thought "he doesn't belong here" and assumed his friend made him come to the group. I was kinda bummed too because I thought he was super cute. Finally he sat down next to me and we struck up what ended up being a 3 hour conversation where we tuned out the entire rest of the room. He will never let me live down the fact that (because I thought for sure he was just some random guy there with a friend) I asked him "do you use the internet?".

As it turns out, he does use the internet. He also loves the outdoors, gaming, pets, travel and most of all he loves me.

Life is good.

Pushing limits

So the puppies aren't allowed in the bedroom. This is where they hang out if the door is open. Enzo likes to push the boundary as far as he can without getting yelled at.

...and this is what he does when the door isn't open:

Introducing Enzo!

Meet Enzo!

I've been wanting a dog as a companion for Ginger for awhile now. I only work 4 days a week but when I'm there I'm gone for 10 hours or more so I thought having someone to play with would be good for her. Boy was I right! Enzo has been a great addition. They are quickly learning to play together, respecting each others boundaries and learning from each other. Ginger is still a little jealous of her new little brother but we play close attention to give them equal lovins.

The day we got Enzo we were just going to check him out. I found him on Craigslist and Nick made an appointment to go visit him out at VJ Ranch. We met him and he was so friendly, not too hyper and so cuddly. Ginger and him didn't play right away so I was a little iffy about getting him. Usually she's scared of other dogs and occasionally we meet one she clicks with right off the bat. We decided to sleep on it and we left. Got about a mile down the road and Nick and I looked at each other and said, we just can't leave him, he's perfect. As you can see in the photo, Ginger was very curious about this new little guy!




First thing we did was give his stinky butt a bath. He's not the biggest fan of the bath but he was easier to clean than Ginger is (she HATES water!). First test of leaving him alone in the house he tore everything he could reach down! I guess this part of having him is good and bad. I can't leave anything out but it keeps my place super clean! Hopefully he gets better, I really don't' want to crate him while I'm gone.
The first couple days he ate all Gingers food on top of his own but this morning he finally let her eat and only ate what was in his bowl.
Nick is doing some leash training with him and has him almost sitting on command after only 2 days! Enzo is super smart, he really picks up on stuff fast.

All in all I am really happy with this choice. He was an anniversary gift. Its good that we celebrate each month together, even weeks in advance, right? :D

This weekend we're planning a mini vacation to Joshua Tree National Park in California. I am extra excited to check out Keys View you're supposed to have a great view of the valley and the San Andreas fault. I just like the idea of us hiking all day with the dogs, camping at night and hiking back in the morning. Hopefully there will be some great photos to follow!

I nearly had a heart attack today. Then I acted like an adult.

In May I got a letter on my door saying I owed $298.xx and it needed to be paid with my next months rent or I'd be evicted. I panicked thinking maybe I forgot to pay rent or I paid the wrong amount one month. I had no idea. After researching my checks I found that I'd never missed a payment so I called and left a few messages for my apartments management office. Nobody returned my call and the one time I did talk to a person she told me that nobody was available but assured me someone would call me back. Since nobody did, I assumed that a mistake had been made when the new management company took over. They accepted my next two rent check and no more notices or calls.

Imagine my surprise when I get a notice today for nearly double the amount of the last notice and it stated I had 5 days to respond or vacate. Words can't express the feeling I got when I read that letter. My chest hurt, I wanted to vomit, I even cried. I was about to run out my front door to that front office and make a SCENE.

But I thought of Nick. My boyfriend is seriously the calmest person I've ever met in my life. I don't know how he does it really. Thats a blog post for another time.

So I took a shower and cleared my head. I got ready slowly so I was nice and calm going down there, I even brought a pen and paper with me. When I got there the lady started going through all of my rents and the dates I paid them seemingly sure she was going to find a missing check but she did not. She was truly baffled. I sat there and didn't say a word though I wanted to scream. She even printed out my ledger with a copy for me so she could prove to me line by line that I made a mistake. Still, didn't find anything.

As it turns out, I am billed $45 each month for my water. However, the bill is much higher and the apartment complex eats the rest for me (thanks I guess) but for some reason her accounting system was adding my portion onto my account.

TL;DR instead of questioning why a person that pays her rent every month on time has a huge past due balance my apartment complex issued me an eviction notice. When I called to question it they didn't return my calls and 2 months later gave me another notice to move out in 5 days. Glad you found the mistake guys, but I'm moving out when my lease is up.

Fathers Day

I was lucky enough to get a Dad who loves metal. Needless to say, I was super excited when I found this shirt at ThinkGeek!

Its a few days early but screw it.....Happy Fathers Day Daddy!

irregardless!

I heard a guy on the radio this morning ranting about football or something. I wasn't actually listening but what I did hear was him say "irregardless" and as the words left his lips I instantly felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Now, I don't always use the right words and if you've read my blog you know I don't I usually don't write in proper sentences or form. However, there are a few terms that I just can't stand because its so clearly wrong and people say them anyway.

Irregardless
This isn't even a word, for one thing. And second it can't be used to get your point across. Most situations call for a yes/no right? You'd never say yes/not yes right? So if you're not without regard, then you have regard and your point is moot. With or without regard and never not without because then you're with. GOT IT!? ok.
Also, I googled this and irregardless was actually put into the dictionary as a "non-standard" version of regardless. DERP!

I could care less
You could? So then you still care right? right? yes. Well. I couldn't care less when I don't care about things. Just sayin'.

Summer Summer

Plans are good when you have them. I'm tired of dealing with the hard ones so here's my list of to-do's for the summer:

1. Visit my sister Lindsy
2. attend 5 concerts (|)
3. See the Grand Canyon
4. Go to Vegas
5. Tubing Salt River
6. Try out a new activity (Ice skating was fun!!)
7. Make a new friend
8. Horseback Riding
9. Brew my own beer
10. Go to a beach in California
11. Create something new
12. completely impress myself
13. Read 5 books (|||)

some are specific and some aren't, most of them will keep me outside and out of my own head. Cool thing about living in the desert is summer lasts way longer than most places so I have plenty of time to put a decent dent in this stuff.

A couple of years ago I was exploring my ability to communicate with others. I was so tired of being the wallflower, boring, quiet girl. I even blogged about it. Today I realize something else about myself that I get really annoyed with. When someone challenges my ideas, I almost always back down. I worked so hard at learning new things and being able to discuss subjects but somehow I missed the part where I needed to back up my mouth. This is the most recent example, it just reminded me of the fact that I do this all the time:

Cyndi: we're going to stop in Santa Fe to party. I guess its a big fun city and its the half way mark between here and Fort Morgan (where she's moving)
Me: I didn't realize New Mexico had any cool cities like that, all I know is Albuquerque the rest of it was boring when we went through.
Cyndi: What? I'm not going through New Mexico at all
Me: .....Santa Fe is in New Mexico
Cyndi: Lots of states have cities with the same names, this isn't new mexico
Me: ok

Later on I look at a map
/facepalm
Santa Fe is in New Mexico and it is the halfway mark

I'm never positive enough about my own knowledge or decisions so stick by it. Why do I do that? This has actually gotten me in trouble before because as soon as I back away from the conversation it sounds like I didn't know what I was talking about. I did, but I wasn't willing to challenge what the other person was saying to contradict me.
I need some debate skills.

dogs are the best animal to have in case of a robot uprising

I opted to take my book and go to the dog parp and let Ging run around while I chill in the sunshine there

I think its a good idea, Gives ginger a chance to sniff other dogs butts all day
sniff sniff "Yep, thats a butthole"
Dogs just want to make sure other dogs are real and not robots
robots dont have buttholes
dogs are the best animal to have in case of a robot uprising


Its days like this that I am so happy that Gmail logs all my conversations.

My book exchange books came!!

I got:

Catching Fire- Book 2 in the Hunger Games trilogy and with perfect timing, I just finished the first!

Blindness- Looks pretty exciting! Its about a group of people facing an epidemic in their city where everyone goes blind and then loses their minds. Could you imagine? Our entire society blind? Hide ya kids! HA can't wait to read it.

ROOM- I love books told from a kids point of view. I am so excited to read this one, probably cover to cover in one night!

Chain Mail Jewelry- I'm a crafter, I sew and have been looking for something a little more portable to craft. This is perfect, I spent last weekend at a Renaissance Faire so I'm already bubbling with ideas!!

Thank you so much for the books, they were perfect choices. I looked through each one cover to cover to find a note/name to no avail, so thank you random Redditor, I love them all!

I see it in my face mostly.

September 2009


Sept 2010



April 2011

Its April Fools

I am positive that my dad will try and prank me this year, he always does. The sad part is that I always see it coming but believe it anyway because I believe everything he tells me.

To this day I still call those 4 holed swings at the park "doggie swings". Thanks Dad ♥

I've got that rock and that roll!

Once again Manchester Orchestra has made my skin crawl with an amazing song. They released it today and it'll be one of their new songs released on Simple Math in May.

Its currently on repeat in my apartment.

Is symmetry too much to ask?!

A simple question from Vince turns into my major annoyance for the night.

I have a female question for you.

Oh sweet is it a dating question because I have no idea how that works but LOVE giving advice about it!

Its not (insert random question about what headphones to buy)---I still have no idea what that had to do with my being female..

Conversation turns to how it would be more comfortable to have two pillows

but for us it would be two unmatched pillows because of the loser sheet set rule

Basically. I got upset because when I was first single and I had only a twin bed, when I bought sheets they only came with 1 pillow case instead of 2. It was a whole ordeal due to unmatched pillow cases.

A few months ago I bought some sheets for my now queen sized bed and guess what?! THREE pillow cases. Who only uses three pillows? If you're going to have two on one side you need two on the other. So now when I change my sheets I have three blue and one red and when I change to red I have three red and a blue. ANNOYING. I really don't think that symmetry is too much to ask.