you're not a true fan, unless you eat...

need a new mascara option?

You could always try painting a house. It only takes about 10 gallons of primer, and 6 hours later, voila - new white mascara.

We're almost there. The past three evenings I've been high as a kite from either the smell of primer or the fumes of spray paint, but I'm very aware that we are a week away from moving into our new house. And that's a feasible, doable, realistic thing. That's what blows my mind. We've set silly little timetables for the past several weeks, and now I can actually believe this one.

Tonight was a good, productive night, too. My wonderful friend Marquita came over to help me pack. I didn't anticipate getting as much done as we did, but boy did that feel good!!! Things are feeling emptier here at Kyle's parents' house, and the impending change is exciting.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful event, as it has been the past few years. It's odd just spending it with my in-laws and their friends, but I still do feel at home. Thanksgiving without my family makes me miss them even more...I'm always prompted with questions like, "So what does your family cook for Thanksgiving?" which opens up the floodgates of memories with my folks. The non-traditional Turkey day meal, with a little bit of of Filipino food and a little bit of American tradition: Lumpia and deviled eggs, potato salad and fried rice. Mmmmm.

Even better, was the fact that I did not go shopping on Black Friday. Yupsiree. I stayed in bed, bought a few presents online, ate, and took no part in the madness that is Black Friday. Last year's Black Friday event at Best Buy showed me I do not have the heart to do that ever again.

I also experienced the joy of witnessing the Hogs beat LSU. That was a very, very, nice experience as well.

I have no witty ending for this post, but a few pictures of two newly primed rooms at the new house. Enjoy. =o)

Living Room - Before

Living Room - After

Laundry Room - Before

Laundry Room - After

christmas gift links.

I haven't anything brilliant to say, but wanted to post something. It's been pretty busy between professional work and working on the house (both containing that miserable word, "work") so rather than fill this blog full of either subject, just thought I'd share some fun interweb links.

Uncrate & Outblush
I don't quite remember how I stumbled across these websites, but the inner shopaholic in me (although I can be quite frugal) goes absolutely insane over every little post. And stupid as some of the items may be, I want to buy all of them, either as gifts or for myself.

Elsewares
Candleholders, vinyl record bowls, and Coca-cola rings? Yes, ma'am.

Thinkgeek
This is just self-explanatory. For reasons such as this. And yes, I do have a wishlist there.

Sephora
If you have ovaries, you should already know about this website.

Etsy
Lots o' cute handmade stuff. Bags, mittens, buttons, stationery...and even Tetris earrings. Support your fellow craftsy folk!

CB2
An off-shoot store from Crate & Barrel that's intended for the not-so-spensive and much-so-thrifty in mind. Stuff for living, eating, decorating - in short - stuff for our new house!

Okay, time to go interweb Christmas shopping. Enjoy. ;)

PS - OneRepublic finally came out with their new (and first) cd. You must buy it. iTunes & Best Buy: $8. So go. Like, right now.

chivalry ain't dead.

There are a lot of lifestyles and choices people make that seem to be the norm in our society - going to college, getting married, having kids...I've got two of these three life choices nailed down, but by no means am I a die-hard advocate of all three. I don't believe everyone should go to college. (Though I loved my higher education) I don't believe that it's in everyone's future to get married, and I certainly believe that not everyone is meant to have kids.

But I would love to offer my opinion to those women out there who believe that chivalry is dead and that a good man is hard to find...Just date a nerd.

A geek. A dork. Whatever you call him. (For example, "Turd Ferguson" is a nice little made-up synonym from yours truly)

Yeah, I said it, and I'm absolutely fine with it, because I married one. Kyle and I were talking in the car on the way home from dinner about where we would be if we didn't have each other. Okay, "we" weren't really talking, "I" was really going on and on about how I'd probably be stuck with some loser whom I only adored because he gave me 5 minutes of attention on some day I was depressed, and he would probably have 4 baby mommas and shiny gold teeth.

That was an exaggeration. I think I have a little more self-respect than that, but I'd honestly be lost in the dating world nowadays, just like I was back in high school. At any rate, I have many reasons why I suggest dating a nerd - other than the fact that they make great husbands. Some of the following reasons may just be particular to Kyle, but he is the biggest nerd I know. =o)

1) They're sweet.
They're kindhearted, yet manly in a "I'm-not-REALLY-that-sensitive-but-secretly-AM" kinda way. They're sentimental and remember special things, like the day of the month when they first asked you out, or a line from your favorite movie. It's cute.

2) They're good at tech stuff.
This includes setting computers, TVs, DVD players, consoles, microwave ovens, and the like. And if it's got some sort of wiring or electrical parts and they've never attempted to fix/set it up before, they'll learn and master it, or at least die trying. (Okay, another exaggeration)

3) They don't do anything halfway.
It could be a house-project or trying a new recipe...among other things. They give it 100% ;)

4) They're loyal, and let you know it.
Any doubt that you're the only one for him? None here.

5) They're funny. Sometimes in an awkward way.
It may be witty banter about Apple vs. Microsoft or a silly sci-fi character impersonation. But still incredibly cute.

6) They're smart.
At least mine is. And he can do more than just simple math. This guy made me mad in school because I had to study my butt off for tests and he just remembered everything - even if it was from my notes.

Okay, I've only got 6 reasons in this post, but there are plenty others. I think the more I write about it, though, the more I lean toward who Kyle is more than nerds all over the globe. But still. Just wanted women out there to know...Chivalry ain't dead. It just comes in the form of a geek. ;)

what a beautiful day.

This post recognizes two things:

1) I shouldn't be blogging at work (although I've hit a dead spot as I'm waiting on some revision notes on an edit to come in)

2) I shouldn't be videotaping while driving

But I'm blogging, and I did some shooting (on my cell phone) while I was driving. This morning's drive to work was absolutely gorgeous. I love the fall.



Music: "Home" by Josh Verdes (myspace.com/joshverdes)

feliz lunes

I have to admit it's been one of the best Mondays I've had in quite some time. Work went well - there was no kicking and screaming (such is the case oftentimes when our boss goes out of town), we all were productive, cracked several jokes and made fun of each other, and no one had to stay late. Aside from an 8-hour wave of nausea, today was good.

This evening we made some more progress on the house, along with my father-in-law's help. I opted for wearing my "cow poo" boots instead of the norm (tennis shoes) and found them to be much more durable when working on the house. Normally when I wear my boots for more than 4 hours my knees and legs automatically give out and I crumple to the floor in a giant blob. This was not the case tonight. Kyle and Brad sanded while I ripped up plastic covering from the floor, cleaned up leftover popcorn ceiling and climbed on the kitchen counters to clean the top of them with the shop-vac. It was pretty gross up there - mixed in with the giant chunks of popcorn ceiling were roach droppings, dead bees, and spiders. Yuk.

I only had a few hiccups tonight: the flood light and the vacuum cleaner did not like sharing the same source of electricity and I blew the breaker twice. Then I kept accidentally running into the chandelier in the formal dining room.

But I was productive, and the things I needed to clean tonight were cleaned. I've had several people ask me when our final move-in date on the house is, and we've changed it a few times. So I'm tempted to just put a giant "TBD" sticker on my forehead. ;) Sometimes I'm optimistic about the house - other days, I feel as though we're never going to move in. I guess I just need to keep in mind how lucky we are to be in a place where we don't "have" to move out right away. Move-in, however, may not be this weekend, or the next...

But it will be before 2008, that I'm sure. If not then, send a search party, we may be buried underneath popcorn ceiling and spackling-dust.

rainbows.

Aha, an afterthought. I was clearing some pictures off of my cell phone and thought I'd post some pictures of rainbows from several days ago...

where do we draw the line?

I have a hard time understanding why people do what they do. I'm no different - even I am inescapable underneath my own magnifying glass.

I'd like to think that I have a basic understanding of seeing all aspects of someone's character...but I've had one of those types of weeks where I found myself throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation shouting, "Why?! What is wrong with you?!" Okay, I really didn't do that, and my reaction was actually pretty close to cursing, but that's beyond the point.

This particular week, I was the unfortunate recipient of some _very_ undeserved disrespect. It was stupid and childish and yet, even though I should have left it at that, I remained bothered by it until I received an apology.

I think as adults, we tend to blame a lot of our own little quirks, tendencies, and discrepancies on a multitude of things: upbringing, a neat-freak mother, a control-freak dad, day-to-day stresses, other interpersonal relationships, etc. So of course, with this apology, came what I saw as an "excuse." This excuse covered a broad range of things - residual anger from an argument with another person, personal stresses, and it all sounded like a bunch of nonsense to me.

But where do I draw the line? On my end, where do I draw the line between being bothered and unaffected? On his/her side, where do I draw the line that this "excuse" was valid or a bunch of crap? I may sound forthright, open, and have a lot of nerve at times, but I'm in fact a very sensitive person - anyone who knows me understands this. Sometimes I take things to heart - yes, even the stupidest of things - and this is where I scrutinize why I react the way that I do.

I was very, very, tempted to accept the apology but chew this person out about their unprofessional behavior (I was disrespected in the presence of a client _and_ a coworker), immaturity, general lack of self-control in stressful situations, but that's where I had to draw the line on my end. That's where I have to have grace.

Yeah. I suppose I need a lot more of that.

happy tuesday.

I normally start my mornings off at work by checking out Woot's website. I've always loved the clever little stories they include with each day's item.

This morning's was no different.

www.woot.com

Enjoy.

removing wallpaper sucks.

There are few random acts of kindness in this world. One of them should definitely be to NOT wallpaper any room in your house. I'll definitely take note of this, as I'm still picking wallpaper adhesive out from underneath my fingernails.

I've already removed all of the wallpaper from the guest bedroom, but it was the master bath that was a pain. A room not even half of the size of the guest bedroom has currently eaten up 8 hours of my life that I can never get back. And I'm STILL not done. I guess that will make its full renovation that much more glorious in the end.


In other news, I wrapped my ankle after last night's Ultimate game. I'm starting to think I should just sit on the grass and cheer. This is for two main reasons: 1) I always end up hitting the ground awkwardly or tripping or running into someone unnecessarily because I'm a total klutz, and 2) I suck. I think it's better to have an invisible Me (yes, my invisible twin should be capitalized) running around on the field. She'd be better and not be so klutzy. Anyways, even with yesterday's ankle incident, it definitely hasn't helped with me standing all day putting pressure on it whilst removing wallpaper.

Oh, and yay...tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary. We've got a full schedule with anniversary activities: Kyle getting a hair cut, working on house stuff, a movie, and lunch. Not very exciting, but when you look at our gift for our anniversary - a house - everything else seems pretty small. ;)

Oh, and Kyle didn't get to take the day off like I did. Phooey.

I'm happy to celebrate 2 years of marriage with this silly man I call my husband. I'll save the sappy entry for a later date, though. ;)

when i grow up...

I had a long conversation with an old friend from Japan. What's interesting about this particular friend is that we talk about once a year, and every year we talk we're at a dramatically new place in life. Last time we spoke over the phone, he was about to leave San Antonio for San Francisco to pursue freelance and gallery work. I was starting a new job with Rizon, we had just moved in with Kyle's folks, and we had just bought a new car.

After today's conversation, I've learned he's recently moved again to the East coast to be an illustrator for a clothing company, and he learned that we now own a house (amongst other things).

It's amazing what can happen in a year.

Kyle and I, along with our friend Joey, worked on the house today after a short trip to Lowe's. Our Lowe's trip consisted of three new door lock sets (holy CRAP they are expensive!), some joint compound, and 2 sample hardware pieces for the kitchen.

As I type this, I'm sitting in our office at Kyle's parents house itching to go back to our house. "Our" house. It's 10:50 at night and all I want to do is read through magazines on the bare 27-year-old carpeted floor in our now wallpaper-less guest bedroom.

Work has been a little nuts this week, as well. It was all about putting out fires, time-management decisions and deadlines. But I guess that's just the workplace for you. It's not the industry I'm in - every job will have problems and none of them are immaculate. I've done some major thinking about where I want to be professionally (and personally) in five or so years, and this week has been integral to that. So I should be thankful.

My friend commented that I was now doing "grown up" things. If that constitutes being married, getting a house, and coming up with a rough 5-year-plan....I'm liking being a grown-up.

case of the short & sweet.

I guess one of the things that's been holding me back from my usual lackluster writing has been the pressure to write at length: I'll wait until I have a soapbox to stand on or if I've had a crummy day to rant about or talk about house plans. Well, no more. I'm thinking about keeping it short and sweet.

For example, I was on YouTube today and saw the trailer for Jumper and about fell out of my chair. (Or off my bed. You get the picture) Not only is my beloved Hayden Christensen in a new film after a long hiatus, but a very interesting non-Star Wars-y film to boot. I never watched Sliders on TV, and never read the book, but you'll definitely catch me at Rave watching this on its premiere weekend.

Here 'tis:
www.jumperthemovie.com

ipod bling & swollen lymph nodes.

I originally started this post over the Labor Day weekend but I got about two sentences in before I felt an overwhelming urge to fall asleep on my keyboard. Thus, I called it quits and decided to start fresh, 3 days later. Well, fresh besides this particular entry's title.

First, the iPod bling. My loving husband recently bought me an iPod video out of the blue (yes, me, an iPod! And an iPod video at that!). He engraved it with some pet names we call each other, as well as our wedding date. It was very sweet. He also edited every memorable dance routine from this season's So You Think You Can Dance and put all of them on the iPod, which was also an amazing feat. Geez, I'm spoiled.

So my friend and I, along with her mom, decide to go out shopping on Labor Day, and we're milling around the housewares section of a particular store that was having a moving sale...she brings me 3 iPod cases, all marked down to a whopping $1.18. I had my choice of dressing up my new tech toy with a blue, pink, or silver be-dazzled iPod case. The sequins were frightening and funny at the same time. So, I got the silver. Don't be jealous. ;)

And the swollen lymph nodes. Those are no fun. Never had 'em before, and to be quite honest, they freaked me out a bit. My sis recommended Ester-C and Airborne since I'm "in-between" doctors. Airborne, might I say, is the nastiest medicinal ANYTHING I've ever tried in my entire life. Granted, I've never taken any pill larger than my thumbnail, nor have I had to have painful injections anywhere, but let me tell ya....Airborne = gross. It's as though they took every unpleasant-tasting thing in the world (liver, tuna, and green olives), bottled it up, turned it orange, and manufactured it in dissolving tablet form.

Something I've noticed the past several days, and actually on an ongoing basis, is our generation's ability to listen, or lack thereof. Listening has seriously become an ancient art, and I'm the last person who wants to admit that. But perhaps it isn't just my generation, either. I try my darndest to be intuitive to people and my surroundings, and for the most part, I'd say I'm a decent listener. But I find myself getting frustrated with people who, when I have a conversation with them, I have to preface it by saying, "I've got three things to tell you," and BAM, BAM, BAM. I rattle them off, one by one, because I know I've lost their complete attention after 30 seconds.

I call it the 30-Second Attention Span. After about 30 seconds, my listener's eyes glaze over, dart around the room, their head starts to dip to one side, or they completely cut me off and change the subject. It's aggravating. For the most part, I experience this at work - and I'd like to say that when I find my own attention slipping I'm verbal about my own inattentiveness, apologize, and have someone repeat themselves.

But I still can't help myself but find an individual entirely refreshing when you can see them listen. You see their facial expression steady, fixated, and absorbed in who speaks to them. When I meet new people, I find myself criticizing whether they're really listening or not - especially when meeting new people at work. I was at business lunch with a coworker where we met with the owner of an ad agency, and I kept watching his eyes. There's a lot to be said when an individual can't look someone else in the eye. As a shy child I was never able to look someone in the eye. I'd bow my head, hide behind my parents' legs, anything I could to stay out of the attention of someone else. It wasn't until I was about 17 - when I stopped being so introverted, that I broke that habit.

I'm glad this was a short work-week. (our power at work went out on Wednesday so we were basically out the whole day!) I'm looking forward to breezing through tomorrow and enjoying the weekend. Hmm, perhaps I'll do another blog, and up the quote to 2 blogs a month. ;)

"new" pics. from a month ago.

I use that term loosely. I've posted these photos to Facebook and MySpace, so I figured I'd post 'em here as well. These are some pictures from this year's 48 Hour Film Project - featuring various cast and crew from "Goode & Ledbetter."

finally, rest for the guano-covered weary.

I've been having quite the busy past few weeks. I haven't exactly been absent from my computer, but it does feel strange to sit in front of this eerie blue glow for more than 15 minutes.

I've also been well-educated in the nature of bats since my last post, as well.

For example, did you know that:

1) Bats eat mosquitoes?
2) They make cute little chirping sounds when they're disturbed...and high-pitched shrieking noises when they're ANGRY?
3) They look like burnt chicken nuggets when you find one dead outside a building in the blistering heat?
4) They poop...A LOT.

Yes, I've had quite the encounter with bats in the past 2 weeks. We've been working with an entertainment company to document a local company that "evicts" animals from the dwelling-places of humans. Y'know, they'll relocate (but won't shoot) that pesky Cotton Mouth in your front yard.

So one of the big jobs that this local company has is to get rid of some bats in a well-known Victorian house in downtown Little Rock. And by "some" bats, I mean thousands. We followed our heroic bat-removers on their scout, through their "prevention" process (installing bat-doors and caulking windows, cracks, anywhere bats can get in from the outside), and their renovation process (cleaning up bat poo, putting in new insulation, repairs).

Our "talent" consisted of the owner of the company, Mike, and a few of his employees - Tommy, Nelson, and Bubba. Yeah, every company in Arkansas has to have a Bubba, right? They were (and still are) awesome. Laid back, funny, down-to-earth fellas who shy as far away from drama as possible. They're heartwarming, hardworking, and incredibly tan - due to days out in the sun chasing after raccoons, repairing damages to roofs caused by squirrels, and rescuing wounded critters.

But the most challenging part of it all was the heat. We reached highs surpassing 100 this week - which meant heat advisory and a stay-indoors-past-1PM policy. Unfortunately, the high of 99 last Friday meant absolutely nothing.

I started out last Friday morning by hopping in a car with our executive producer on our way to Dardanelle at 7:30AM. Our mission: to document the adventures of Tommy and Bubba in a Presbyterian church filled with bats. The guano falling from the ceiling had caused a stench so bad they had to cancel services. AUW to the rescue!

By the time our day was over, I had been physically pressed the most since the beginning of that week. I'd climbed a 40 foot ladder (I'm not quite the fan of heights) to follow Bubba and Tommy onto the roof to shoot them installing bat doors. I videotaped the end result of spray-foam hardening in an opening while bats had tried to get out some time ago: bat skeletons and gross orange stuff.

I had also fit my upper torso into the attic of the church, later that afternoon, for approximately 8-10 minutes. The temperature ranged anywhere from 120 to 150 degrees. Drawing close to the tiny entrance in the ceiling caused whatever body part was nearest it to immediately perspire. I'd say that part was pretty dangerous - at least for me. I had simply perched myself inside to make sure Tommy, Bubba, and Tim would not pass out and fall through the ceiling.

And last, but not least, right before we wrapped, my last shot was in the space beneath the bell tower of the church, a narrow room with a high ceiling. Its flooring was filled with a mixture of 4 inches of guano and insulation. I met this mixture with an unsteady hand as I hoisted myself and my camera into the space. But at this point I had already had guano fall into my hair, stepped in it, accidentally wipe it on my face...yeah, gross.

All that to say...it was still fun. It's not every day I get to be in a small room with bats flying inches from my face, waving a camera around to try to capture their irratic circling and high-pitched squeals on tape. I'm hopeful that we'll get picked up. This ride has been amazing.

And if you've never seen a bat in real life before...just think: flying chicken nuggets. ;)

sweat, bug spray, and sunblock.

That's how I smelled about an hour ago. Now I'm fresh and sweet smelling as clean laundry and daisies. ;)

This week has been a whirlwind. It was my first shoot ever to work 10-hour days, and on a project that required a lot of attention-to-detail, thinking on your toes, and being ready and available for anything that was needed. 32 tapes of footage. Countless scenes and shots. Multiple cameras. Since Sunday's 6:30AM call time to today's 8:00PM wrap, I've been working as a script supervisor/tape wrangler/PA/driver/shopper/"slater." And that last title was in no reference to Mario Lopez. ;)

I love teamwork, and I hate egos. I love it when people who are passionate about something come together and utilize their skills and talents. Today marked the end of an awesome week. The weather conditions were insane, as well. Today we shot out at a house in Mabelvale (a gorgeous back lawn might I add) in mid 90's temperatures for hours at a time. Crew call was late - 10AM - so you can imagine all of us drenched with sweat only an hour into our shoot.

It was my first time working as a part of a production company FOR a larger, much higher-grossing studio out of California. And for being my first experience, it was cake. Our director, Strath, was amazingly calm and laid back, but definitely commanded attention with his amical demeanor and Australian accent. He was very talented - and amazingly easy to work with. His wife, Marcy, was incredibly sweet, great to talk to, and equally mellow. They were awesome. As were Bob and Amy, our freelance lighting technicians and shooters. Very down to earth, hardworking, and fun to be around.

This week also gave me more insight into the joy of what I do. Every now and then, questions such as "Do I need to stay in this career field forever?" and "Should I do something else?" tend to slip into my mind. But I like what I do. I like it enough to want to do it for a living - not to the point that I'd hate to do it as a hobby, and that's a good thing.

With Ultimate cancelled for this weekend, I'm looking forward to finally settling down and doing things around the house that need to be done. For example, I've got 5 happy loads of laundry just waiting to be done. Woohoo.

I took a look at myself in the mirror a bit ago to see how much I had tanned. I say "tanned," but I really mean "how much blacker did I get?" You see, we Blasians aren't too proud of getting any darker. I don't like looking like a dark African native. I've turned a few shades darker - not too unbearable, but still, something that I won't be proud to show off. ;)

I also went to the 48HFP awards ceremony on Thursday. I was so tired at the end of that day that I almost didn't go, but it was worth it. I felt as though all the awards that were handed out were well-deserved, and Amalgamated (once again) did an awesome job with their film this year. While "Goode & Ledbetter" didn't win any awards, it did make #3 out of the audience awards of the entire 3-day screening process.

It's always nice to know that we'd make some money in the box office. ;)

a month overdue.

A few things have happened since my last post. I, for one, did not purchase a 40 gig nano for $199. (How unfortunate, I know).

We participated in the 48 Hour Film Project. My iBook died. Kyle got a new job. I played some Frisbee. My nephew left to live in Japan with my parents for a year. Now he may be coming home. We almost made an offer on a house. And, I've slept some.

The most significant (and though I love my dear nephew) of these events has been the film. The last film I participated in making was my own, about 4 years ago. It was horrendous. It was a psychological mystery/drama/thriller about a girl who, through an odd and rare eye disease, started seeing a girl who looked just like herself. Oddly enough, it turns out to be her dead twin sister.

Don't ask.

Needless to say, "Blindsided" will not be seeing the light of day again, but our film for the 48HFP, "Goode & Ledbetter," fared much, much better. To say we made a film in 48 hours is a huge thing, especially for those involved who've never completed a film, script, in such a tight deadline. Or within a deadline at all. This was something for them to be proud of, and I'm proud of my team. To the 20 actors, and the 18 crew members. It was an amazing weekend, with little sleep and big laughs.

Our director pointed out at the Q&A following our screening that the complete lack of drama that went on during those 48 hours was nothing short of a miracle. Sure, there were hiccups and tired cranky words muttered during the writing session that lasted until 5AM, but that was the worst of it. For the other hours, we were having fun, and working as a team.

The film also made me re-examine my current position with my employer. Although there's only so much preparation that can go into a film of such a tight deadline & with specific requirements, I think I had all our ducks in a row, going into this thing. I got excited about my own potential, and felt almost suppressed during the entire week following the event. It was like coming off of a high, and plateauing into the everyday grind of mediocre work that requires much less concentration and skill. It's not like it was my current employer's fault - it was that the sudden transition was nauseating.

I've much more to say but I'll have to leave that to another post. Right now we're on "vacation" (house-sitting for friends), and we only have 3 days to savor a nice big empty house to ourselves.

Which reminds me...I want a house.

I want a house somethin' awful.

a 40 gig nano for $199?

Uh-oh, and only 1 more day until the sale is up. What a steal.

46 days to go...

...until Transformers hits theaters.

To say I'm excited would be a ridiculous understatement. I'm ready for the Optimus Prime and Megatron show. With a side of awesome sound effects, explosions, and a giant serving of Autobot and Decepticon action. The only other film I recall wanting to see this badly was Garden State, because it involved my beloved Zach Braff. But this yearning for Transformers could very well pick up Garden State, smack it around a bit, and kick it all the way to Cybertron.

If you haven't seen the exclusive Yahoo trailer, you simply must. Shame on you for not watching like a giddy little school girl.

In small screen news, Kyle and I watched the first half of the Idol season finale. This has been the first year for me to even half-heartedly pay attention. Had it not been for Cingular Video on my cell phone I would never have discovered the awesome Jordin Sparks, through her amazingly awesome (love my shallow vernacular?) rendition of, "I Who Have Nothing." You have my vote, Jordin. Those judges and their commentary need to go, though.

This summer will be interesting...I'm looking forward to a short trip to Delaware to see my baby brother graduate high school, with some prospects of visiting Orlando or Chicago. It's been since October since we've done anything vacation-like, so I'm excited. I'm also looking forward to a canoe trip to the Buffalo River, as well.

Today's workday consisted of building a slew of website GFX templates, involving some rather in-depth research into countries. Lemme tell ya, trying to find 3 free non-copyrighted JPEGs of French Guiana and Guadeloupe is not my cup of tea. Others were much easier, such as Hong Kong, Israel, and the UK. Got a refreshing dose of information on many countries through Wikipedia. Which, by the way, I'm loving more and more. It helps me to research such things as the Spanish Civil War, spider monkeys, and alien robots that are robots in disguise.

Insert witty comment here.

happy maroon 5 week.

I've heard covers of their songs on American Idol, on the radio, and they're also going to be the musical guest on SNL this Saturday. Yeah, well, I'm much more excited to see Zach Braff hosting the season finale. It's going to be great! Either that, or it's going to make me think I'm having a twentysomething-life crisis, that I should yell in the rain, and then sing a song about poo. I would love love love to see a Scrubs parody this Saturday night.

Kyle and I watched Pan's Labyrinth last night...Absolutely loved it. It captures the very idea of what I think an "adult fairy tale" should look, sound, and feel like. And it also caught me up on some Spanish I've been missing out on. =o)

It's only the middle of the week, and tomorrow feels like Friday. Today was such a beautiful, breezy, fresh-air day, and if it's anything like this on Saturday, we're going to have a blast playing ultimate frisbee. I can't wait.

Our trip to Branson this past weekend was awesome. It's so good to see family, whether Kyle's or mine. We all just get along, and we always have a good time. We are definitely blessed to have in-laws that we can laugh, argue, and joke with.


Here's one of my favorite pictures. Sweet little Callie Ann, with her big blue eyes, and my favorite blue-eyed boy.

no rest for the frizzy-haired.

Something I've never enjoyed about Arkansas: its humidity. When I was growing up, there was always an outlet: namely the Pacific Ocean. You could smell the salty ocean when you poked your head out of my bedroom window in Hawaii, and you could feel breeze rustle through the trees in the Philippines. Granted, it was still hot, but not quite so muggy. And no matter what hair product I use - cheap or expensive, I have zero relief. It's days like this where I wouldn't mind being completely bald.

call me irresponsible.

Okay, so not only is that an awesome awesome cover by the wonderful crooner Michael Buble', but it's exactly what I was yesterday, irresponsible. I won't spare very many details, but it sure wasn't pretty. It involved a camera, Gov. Beebe, and a disc that was already half-full. Eeek.

I tried a Kashi meal today. I've passed by their cereal boxes at the grocery store and glanced at their granola bars, but never purchased anything by Kashi until yesterday when Kyle and I decided to buy some microwaveable meals for the rest of the week. Mine was lemon pepper chicken. Not bad. Wasn't sure what to think about the rice pilaf, since I'm not used to that sort of texture, but not bad at all.

Next up: lime cilantro shrimp!



It definitely looks a lot better on the box. =o)

watch out world.

It's my very first post. That's right. Good-bye, Xanga, MySpace, and countless other failed attempts at creating the "right" Blogger site. I'm back in the game.

And I clearly have nothing else to do at 10PM on a Thursday night.