Stache-tacular!

The things we do for friends. :)

A mustache themed surprise party! It was a blast. Everyone got really into it and we had a great time. I highly recommend it as a theme if you are looking for your party.

The Stink Eye- Zoological Edition

I went to the Oklahoma City Zoo yesterday to take some pictures. When I got home, I noticed there was a theme. Many of the animals were giving me the stink eye!

I noticed it first with the owl.



Then it became a trend!








Ah well- I'll just take it to mean that they were trying to pose for me.

In other creepy news, these two shots make me literally both gag and get the chills while I edited them.

My Everest- My Driveway

I may have mentioned before that I'm a bit obsessed with Mt. Everest. I absolutely don't want to climb it and think those who do are crazy, but I do love watching documentaries about it.

So, what better time to live my crazy Mt. Everest dreams than during Snowpocalypse 2011? [Un]luckily for me, my driveway is my Everest.

I've talked about my driveway before. This weekend I measured. It's approx 130 feet. 9 feet wide. It is sloped and bordered by a fence. This makes it a nightmare for drifting snow.

But yesterday- day 3 of Snowpocalypse- I was determined to try to get out! My car was in my garage and blocked in. And all that stood between me was that driveway. And the snow. And the lack of a snow shovel. But I did have a large rake and a regular shovel.

So anyway, I set out in 15 degreeish weather. I suited up.


This is what it looked like to start:


Then it looked like this.


Three hours later, it looked like this:


And that's when I wanted to collapse. Suddenly I felt very cold. :) I measured- I got about 50 feet done. I think it was the hardest 50 feet, but still, 80 MORE FEET. Kill me. Not really.

When I stopped, I realized there was steam rising off of me. I tried to get a picture of it. This is the best I could do.


Okay, that's not me, but that's pretty much what I looked like. :)

Today I worked from home. I walked to the store. I'm still homebound and more snow came down today.

If my driveway is my Everest, then I was one of those climbers who decides it sounds so nice to take a nap in the snow. And then dies there. But really, but kind of. :)

Respect the mountain.

Failure, examined

Back on the optimistic day of July 2, 2007, I decided to make a 101 goals in 1001 days list. Turns out that ended last March! Ha! Who knew!?!

I accomplished some and not others, and decided to look at some of the ones that I did not accomplish.

Take dance lessons
No, but I did dance a lot!

Learn to juggle 4 balls
Nope. Other things to do. :)

Read something by Jane Austen
Life's too short to read books you don't like.

Print and bind my blog entries from Japan
I actually started this process. Turned out to be a lot more complicated than I anticipated. It'll still get done one day.

Stop drinking cokes
Oh well. They're good!

Go back to Brazil
Yeah, didn't happen. But I did go to Paris!

Reach conversational fluency in Spanish
Nope.

Begin studying a new language (German, Latin?)
Nope again! I think I'm out of my "foreign language phase."

See the Grand Canyon
Boo, no. :(

Go one month with no fast food
Nope.

Get to know a neighbor
No, but I do know them better than I did 3.5 years ago. :)

Write a poem
Waiting for my muse.

Go camping and sleep in a tent
Nope. I had the chance, but it was raining.

Take piano lessons
Still want to do this!

Go ice skating
I did go roller blading!

Buy the all seasons of The Office on DVD
I don't want to this anymore. I do have 3 seasons of 30 Rock. Much more important.

Re-read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit
I actually recently started reading The Hobbit.

Watch all AFI Top 100 movies
Nope, lots of other movies though!

Memorize “The Love Song of J. Alfred Pruffrock”
Still love the poem, still haven't memorized it.

Not shop at Wal-Mart for one month
I actually might have done this... on accident.

Go to a rodeo
NO! I WANT TO!

Perfect my brownie recipe
Forget that- I tried a lot, but the box is so much better and easier.

Play bingo in a real parlor
Why did I want to do that?

Compile a comprehensive friend birthday/anniversary/baby’s birthday calendar
Thanks, Facebook.

Read Brother Kazmarov
Again, other books have been read. Sorry Peter, I'll read it one day.

Blog every day for a month
Yeah, you know that didn't happen.

Invite someone over to my house weekly
I'm still a cave dweller.

Learn how to play chess
Why did I want to do that?

Make a pie from scratch
Still want to!

Learn the names of local wildflowers and trees
I'm a lot better than I used to be, so maybe I actually did this. Taking a crazy amount of pics of flowers will do that. :)

Become CPR certified
No. No heart attacks around me, please.

Grow my own tomato plant
Ha, no. I have bought tomatoes from a farmer's marker. That almost counts. :)

Train myself to make my numbers more legible
The keyboard makes this less important.

Throw myself a great birthday party
Nope. Someday maybe. Next year is the big 3-0!

Read John Steinbeck’s entire body of work
I have read several more now. Still not the whole thing.

Learn to recognize 3 constellations
No....

Take a class in some technical field I want to know more about (accounting, web design, medical terminology)
This is probably coming soon.

Become certified to teach Spanish
No way, Jose.

Visit 5 new states
No, but I visited 2! Holla Wisconsin and Missouri!

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I may not have accomplished all those goals, but I accomplished so much more that I didn't realize I wanted or was important to me. Especially the last year has been so full of good things and growing up. Can't wait to see what the next 1001 days hold!

Snowpocalypse ingredients

Things I got to prepare for Snowpocalypse 2011

1. A tank-full of gas
2. Brownie mix
3. Mt. Dew Code Red
4. Bread
5. Milk
6. Sweet potatoes
7. 4 seasons of How I Met Your Mother
8. Crafting supplies to decorate my bathroom

So far, so good!

12 inches of snow. I would love to be out taking pictures, but it is bitterly cold! 10 degrees and -10 wind chill. 40mph wind gusts. No thank you very much!

I made delicious chicken and rice. I also made a scrumptuous blueberry and strawberry cobbler with homemade whipped cream. Mmm! Who wants to come over to share? Haha, you'll have to fight the 3 foot snow drifts surrounding my house!