I dont like hearts

Lulumumu

I don't like dorky hearts on everything...but I do have to say I love this necklace!

pipes frozen

Zippandesigns

So its New Years Eve...but this would be lovely for next year!

I got sent home early from work today because the pipes were frozen and none of the 75 people that work there could use the facilities.
When I walked into my apartment I saw Science of Sleep was on...so I am going to watch that, under a warm blanket and browse Etsy. What a great way to end the year!

Alright, I started this message about two and half hours ago. I totally fell asleep. I guess the movie put me in that sort of mood.

stinkin cold

Its about -50 degrees outside right now. I am not even kidding.
I would take a picture with my new camera, but I dont want to ruin it by exposing it to the elements. haha. exposing...camera...
Here is a picture I took this weekend!

Me and Snowzilla.
And for the record, this is in Anchorage where it was close to 0 degress...nothing like what I am dealing with here in frigid Fairbanks!

Teaching Lab

I am teaching a lab right now that has to do with calculating the solubility product and applying the van't Hoff thermodynamic laws...in short, I need to be wearing this shirt today.

The sharing machine

Bad situation

Squid Hat
Anytime that anyoen is that upclose and personal with a squid...its a bad situation.

I vote for art

coolest website. You vote for your favorite pieces and they end up on the front page to get more exposure. I have browsed and commented on pieces from there before...still cool though.

I Vote For Art

cereal on the floor.

Its definatly one of those days that things aren't going right.

I am hungry and my cereal I was planning to eat is on my floor.

Starting the seminar

Right now I am sitting in my office hours...and I really need to be working on my seminar, there is just one problem I am scared. That's right..I said it...I am scared of my stinkin seminar. I will get over it. I just need to solidify a game plan.
My boyfriend and I got in an argument about an hour ago on how underpaid teachers are. Currently there is a contract dispute in my school district regarding the wages of district school teachers, and I am going to side with the teachers on this. My Mom taught high school chemistry for over twenty years...for years of my childhood I would go with her to her classroom and play with my toys as she worked on entering grades or setting up labs in the evenings or on weekends. As I got older I helped her with chemicals and organizing the room. My Mom is a smart woman. She has a masters degree in chemistry from Berkley. I still run into people today that had her YEARS ago and said how she had a way of making even chemistry enjoyable. Before she retired she was what it means to be a good teacher. Now she gets to spend her days with her grandchildren and spend time gardening and knitting...all the things that in her thirty years of working never allowed her to do. She didn't have "summers off", she went to conferences, took classes and worked on lesson plans for the year to come. I know not every teacher out there puts the kind of heart that my Mom did into teaching. For someone to talk about how easy teachers have it and to not pay them with an increase that would cover the increase in the cost of living is a huge slap in the face. In a lot of cases these teachers spend more time with the kids than their own parents do. I am not okay with sending my future children to schools with second rate educators because people aren't willing to pay qualified people decent/competitive wages. Its really sad when paying TEACHERS the ones responsible for educating our youth, a 4% raise becomes something the community becomes divided over.
That is my rant for the day.
Now its time to focus on my seminar...I leave you with this.

Seltzer Goods

Sunday Night Reflections

Here it is, the end of the weekend.
I will be frank. It snowed...and stuck. No, flakes for a few days to ease into the whole winter process...it snowed, for real.
Today my boyfriend and I went to the "Winter Show" here in Fairbanks...wondered around about. It occurred to me why America is getting so fat, at a place that should be showcasing activities and winter gear to keep you warm DURING the activities, they had all sorts of cooking things. It was strange. So I left mitten less, and slightly heart broken.

Never fear, we went to a local shop, The Prospector and I bought myself a new fleece pair of gloves and a new down coat. Because my boyfriend was with me he began to learn about my struggles coat shopping...but have no fear, he bought a pair of socks so I guess it was a successful trip for him as well. :)

I woke up with a headache this morning..which was disappointing but I guess it happens. I had done so well this week! But I took one of my 30 dollar a piece pills, popped in two Advil, half of one of the worlds largest bananas and a little bit of iced tea and somehow my mystical headache cocktail worked. I was headache free the rest of the day!

I saw my Dad driving my dog to get a rabies shot today...it made me laugh out loud. My wonderful border collie is such a pansy...and cars scare him. Even four lanes of traffic away, I could see the horror in MacKenzies eyes.

For this week I am actually setting a goal of putting in a little extra time and making myself look nice this week. If I succeed in taking the necessary time to do all this, I am going to treat myself to a sweater a week from today.

I would post a picture of the sweater I want...but it is IMPOSSIBLE to find something with sleeves this fall/winter.

guilty privledge

My latest addiction: Privileged.
Part of me wants to a super high paid person tutor that can spend the bulk of the day lounging on the beach talking to my friends. Stinkin sweet deal. Oh television...I am well aware how it jades my perception of life...but a girl can dream, even if she might be wearing the worlds ugliest sweatpants. (I really wish I was kidding)
Tomorrow is my super busy day. I got annoyed at work today..and I don't want to be there..and the waking up knowing that the day could potentially continue for 13.5 hours, kinda makes me want to run away...to the beach...I would change my pants first.

Sunday Night

Here we are, at the very beginning of yet another week.
Typically I try and think about what needs to get done, and what I want to do during the week at a time like this. I know last week wasn't all I was hoping for so we are hoping this week is going to go a lot better.
I get to see my sister tomorrow when she comes to reclaim her children. I am excited for her to see my apartment. I had it cleaned up, my boyfriend helped me...then the boys came back and its a little less than tidy again. Living in a small space has its advantages don't get me wrong, but it sure gets messy fast, especially when a nine year old and a two year old are involved.
Yesterday I was trying to decide what to wear to one of my best friends birthday parties and I was just stumped. I am trying really hard to be more financially responsible, but its hard when everything I own is falling apart or doesn't match. Now, my closet looks even worse than before...basically like my closet puked all over my entire bedroom. I guess the most frustrating part of the whole process is that I am getting older *gasp!* and even though old clothes still fit, they aren't me anymore...but yet I can't justify getting rid of them yet. Well after last night, I had kinda had it...it was one of those purging experiences that need to happen every so often. In short, I am going to become a nudist. Alright, a nudist after I tone my thighs...dont thank me now, thank me later.
I looked for a picture, but I am tired. Time to go to sleep.

3 stinkin days

Yup, three days..thats how long my latest bout with my blood vessels has lasted. My migraines really are starting to freak me out. I only left the house today to go to the doctors. I honestly dont know what is going to happen to me, my future, my job, my degree...it all is very overwhelming.

So tonight, I actually feel semi human again and I figured I would hop on here...the next few days are going to be super busy trying to catch up with everything that I have missed the last two days, work, homeowrk, reserach time, and two out of the four of my nephews are coming to town as I write this. I am soooooo excited! Seeing them will be just what I need after a less than spectacular week.

In honor of one of the longest migraines that I have ever had, I have decided to post a picture that somehow reminds me of my migraines. The darkness coming from the girls faces reminds me of what flows through my viens when I am having a migraine. Granted, the birds make it a much more beautiful thing than I would EVER describe it as, but somehow it reminds me that maybe, just maybe something beautiful will come out of my pain.



Geraldine Georges

new lab

In approximently 30 mins I will be standing infornt of a room of people that I dont know trying to tell them how much fun chemistry lab will be...I can't say I get nervous, because I dont anymore...but I just want to know "am I going to say something today that will make me totally uncreditable the rest of the semester!?!?"

I am just one of those people that I refer to as "social-boobs". I say the wrong thing at the wrong time and end up coming across either perverted, stupid or just down right bizzare. As long as I THINK BEFORE I SPEAK, I should be fine...every semester has gone fine before this...everyone will go fine after this. I just hate telling a bunch of adults, "please, dont lick/eat anything while in this room." No matter what tone you say that in, it sounds strange, its a fact of life.

I should note that A. My chair is still broken and B. I onceagain had HORRIBLE nightmares, soo bad infact I drove to my parents house which is a good 20 min drive in the middle of the night. The whole waking up thinking I am going to die thing is getting old.

Maybe I should order one of these "be not afraid" braclets and I would be less of a wuss...


Kathrine Reichert

fall time

It once again is a beautiful fall day! This is the time of year that I loooove living in Fairbanks. Ask me two months from now, and my enthusiasm will start to dissipate. However, tonight me and my boyfriend are going for a walk near by my house to enjoy the fall weather. This will mark the begining of our training reguime to get into shape to one day for MACCHU PICCHU. More on this to come.

Note: chair, still broken...new one is in the works.

Back At School!

yup, its that time of year. Year 2 of my masters degree is underway offically. I am in the lab now, its cold and quiet. It also might be the most BEAUTIFUL day of the whole stinkin' second part of summer...the leaves are changing and the sun is out, its warm but not hot. GLORIOUS.

I AM … hungry.
I WANT… class to be done for the night, and to be in my nice soft new sheets.
I HAVE … a lot of work to do on my thesis.
I KEEP … paper, ridiculous amounts of scraps of paper.
I WISH I COULD … pack up, and go on an extended vacation.
I HATE … hypocracy
I FEAR … I am not as smart as I like to think I am. ;)
I HEAR … the glove box breathing...nitrogen in, nitrogen out. ohhh the sounds of the lab.
I DON'T THINK … winter should come yet.
I REGRET … not packing more food for the day. Thrusdays are gonna suck.
I LOVE … sleep.
I AM NOT … going to keep pouting, and being such a fuddy duddy.
I DANCE … with some super-sweet moves.
I SING … horribly...but often none the less.
I NEVER … want to be 14 again.
I RARELY … wear open toed shoes.
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … my friends hurting.
I AM NOT ALWAYS … graceful.
I HATE THAT … soy is in all the super tastey foods.
I'M CONFUSED ABOUT … why there ALWAYS are more dishes to do. ALWAYS.
I NEED … a good backrub. The chair is missing part of its leg and I am sitting crooked, and its begining to get uncomfortable.
I SHOULD … be more thankful for all the great things in my life.

Being the blog reader I am, I stole this one from Jasmine Star Photography
She takes such AMAZING wedding photos. They always make me happy in the morning. :)

the little one

tonight I seem to have offended my little toe on my right foot. It is swelling and throbbing and just is very uncomfortable. I feel like a chair leg has been placed on the toe and a manatee came and sat down on it..then got up to reach for the ketchup, and flopped back down in the chair.

And even though I would perfer a manatee NOT sit on my toe, I still have a special place in my heart for them. I believe Larry from Veggie Tales says it best.

Deer cakes. yes.

I dont know how you even find yourself in this sort of situation.

http://www.andreacanalito.com/

Mt. Prindle

Good News!
I finally got my sorry "soft" butt off the couch and went camping this weekend!! And due to a lack of chairs I barely sat down the whole evening. It was grand. It was my boyfriend and two of his best friends, Cana the dog and me. While people may think..you were probalby very out numbered...not really. I had a very lovely evening. You see while I looooove Alaskan summers they have one critical flaw, no dark, warm starry nights. Last night we were up in the White Mountains about Fifty Miles east of Fairbanks and you could see the stars, the moon and even the northern lights (they were a little wussy though...). It was wonderful. ONLY problem was it was super windy up there. Which made it hard to sleep.
We all shared a tent, even the dog and I was between my boyfriend and one of his friends. One of my personal rules is to not be on the outside of a tent if at all possible...though when I would wake up I had to make sure which direction I was facing before scooting closer to share a little body heat. That could have been ackward ;). Another great thing about sharing a tent is its kinda like a big slumber party. All the little jokes and giggling before going to sleep...and after waking up in the morning which is always fun. I didn't know that boys do that. It was quite a fun surprise.
Next weekend is my last weekend of summer. I know I gave my boyfriend a hard time about not getting out of the house more often and blah blah blah. Looking back, I feel really bad about it. How dare I complain when he works all day six days a week..and I am just really thankful for all our time we did get to spend together and I shouldn't require that we drive fifty miles out of town to do that.
In honor of my guilt I have become more motivated than ever to clean my apartment and make it some place I WANT to be in..and I am trying really SUPER hard to save some money so I am spending this evening looking at inspriation for cheap and beautiful things to spruce this place up...I have been purging my crap and well maybe I purged too much...
First thing is first and I am going for a walk..or a run or a bike ride...I havn'et decided yet. I am updating my Zune as we speak. Gotta get new tunes to get that body movin'. I am thinking bike ride. My ankle and I have not been on the best of terms the last two days.

But as I like to say blogs are better with pictures....unfortunatley if I dont get up and get moving soon my motivation will be lost. As much as I loooove having the word "soft" associated with my backside, I need to get up and get going. When I return maybe I will have some inspiring life changing thought I will need to profess to the world. No promises though.

Pie

There are few things in this world that I love more than pie. Infact I have told multiple people that the man of my dreams will propose to me with my favorite pie. Thats how I know we will be happy forever, I have to know my man can meet my needs for pie. VERY critical.

Today I have received an email from one of my dearest friends and well I couldn't think of anything better. This tee shirt by tealtown just says it all. If I didn't stay home sick today I would order this for my wonderful boyfriend.


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13319030&show_panel=true

Halfway done

Wednesday. It has come..and mostly gone, and to be quite frank. I was more than a litle cranky today.

Last night was one of those moments when my boyfriend and I actually may have had our first real fight. I am not sure what qualifies..but there was a lot of emotions while I was making my mac and cheese...but its okay. We ended the night back as normal and it was probalby good to vent our frustrations.

I made him a card last night...the poop didn't read it when he left.

Anyways I was reading this article about gaining confidence in yourself and your relationships today and it suggested that every day I tell him three positive things that I really like about him. Now we aren't really the schmoopy type of couple. But I believe it will help relieve some of our anxieties...But because we aren't a couple that sits around being well cutesty and what not...this has been a bit more of a challenge. Sooooooo I sent him a text message...I wrote him a note that says...Even if he does dig himself into some holes (sometimes some REALLY big ones..)...then on the back side I drew this.

This is my bed of the day. Today seems like the perfect day to crawl into that lovely soft chocholate fluffy bed and rest my neck. And for the record. Its organic :)

Lopsided

I pulled a muscle in my neck. Not only any muscle, but one that seems to be rather critical to daily motion and substaning the life that I have come to know and love. I can't rotate my head. SO that makes sitting at a desk in an office chair rather difficult. Here i ma lying in bed wiht a heating pad on, waiting my boyfriend to bring me an icecream sandwhich. Frankly I could get used to this. My lack of productivity today has really gotten me thinking about how badly I really wish to have my own business one day crafting. I have read today about all sorts of various endevours I would like to begin. And if I didn't have to spend most of my day at a desk I would have the necessary time to persue these dreams.

I believe my next project is to work on perfecting my lovely coupon organizer and begin an embrodery present for my lovely mother. I am thinking along the edges of pillow cases. I dont want them to be uncomfortable.

So the bird print has nothing to do with my day. I just really enjoyed it.

Only Tuesday.

Today is goign soo slow, probably because I am really tired and its just been kinda a lame day. My Mom took me to lunch though..that was lovely.

Great news, my brother, his wife an the little one are all coming up for a week. I am so happy I chould *shimmy*...but I will wait and do that with T-Dawg. He loves to shimmy with me. Its one of our little things we do together. He is three, and loooves to dance!

I am sitting in my last office hours of the semester wondering if anyone would REALLY care if I left 20 mins early...hm. I will be good, there is more internet to be surfed...and the moment I go home I have to clean and frankly, I am too tired for that funny business.

Fairbanks is flodding but there are some patches of blue sky out at the moment...for those of you not in the same geographic region as myself this is a rare oddity. Literally river levels are higher than they have been in 40 years. People have to canoe to their flooded homes out in Salcha.

Speaking of that end of town...the Presdient of the United States was sweet enough to grace us with his presence. I wont say anything too nasty....I am glad he fit us in 7.5 years into his time in office.

OHHH yes, I also cut my hair off. It is now shorter than it has been in years..I mean YEARS. I am sure next week there will be lots of photos taken and I will put one of those on here.

I have been acutally quite crafty lately...though I learned a lesson teh hard way last night...Yes! Paste does indeed stain polyester and you will see glue spots. lame. I learned this because I have been covering picture frames for my Mom. The first one while not quite my own personal taste looks lovely on her wall. And I also spend Saturday afternoon with a dear friend making magnets. They add a little extra pizzaz to my fridge...which is always welcome.

Okay. time to pack up and clean up. its "Andy cleans her floor night!!" and I dont want to be late for that ;) Afterall I am the guest of honor!

Wednesday, done.

Day 1 of the picture a day challenge was inspired by this photo by Heather Smith Jones. My boyfriend wants to buy a house soon or buy some land and build one. He talks to me every day about trying to find one. It has me thinking about what I want in a house one day...then somehow I decided I want a few days in a beach cabin...and this looked perfect!
http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/phm-studio-spaces-heather-smith-jones.html

It was an easy dinner night. Both my boyfriend and I were REALLY tired.

Today in lab I instructed an experiment about LeChatlier's Principle...one of my favorites :)

Tomorrow is vegetable day.

I find it ironic that on tv a girl just broke up with her boyfriend while drawing the infinity symbol.

I am REALLY hoping for sleep tonight. I started shaking when I was at work today and I am sure it was my body saying it couldn't handle this anymore. AS I TYPE THIS A LUNESTA AD IS PLAYING. I dont believe in sleeping pills, my Mom started taking some when she couldn't sleep and she would get up and walk around the house and people have even got in cars and wondered down the streets and when no one would notice when I am goen I am afraid of what would happen. No sleep aids...just sleep when I can get it.

Oh I also finally did a bunch of dishes. I think I got a head of what I used tonight for dinner but I am still behind. My next home will have a dishwasher...it may come in the form of an appliance or just a well trained man. My money is on the appliance but a girl can dream can't she?

Time to turn off the computer or I will never get sleep.

Searching for inspriation

My dear friend challenged me to draw a picture every day for thirty days. I am searching for todays inspriation. I told my boyfriend about it, he was greatly supportive and even drove me to go get my notebook.
Today has been a long, tired but wonderful day. Besides work being horribly mind-numbing, I really couldn't have asked for anything better. Lovely evening.
My favorite Scotish friend keeps talking about coming state-side, that makes me soo happy. He made a great film that makes me want to go for a drive. Now if only I could figure out away to draw that.
Oh my phone is ringing...apparenlty my Mom bought a new sander. Today really is a good day.

I just did a big thing and ordered two long sleeved shirts from freepeople.com if I am goign to be the weird plant lady, I am going to look good dang it. or at least not like a homeless person. Its cold outside. I need more sleeves...I think every year at this time I satrat to panic that I will be cold.

I dont like peanuts...

Sooo one of my nephews used to sing the peanut song...*ahem* "I dont like peanuts, I dont like peanuts...sometimes I like peanuts...I dont like peanuts"

Today is one of those I dont like peanuts, sometimes I like peanuts sort of day. One of my personal goals for the week is to take my life one step further into becoming crazy-plant lady and collecting coupons. Dear Lord, I never imagined how hard it is to do that. All that work and I might save $0.60 on cheerios. There has to be a better way.

Tonight boyfriend continued to make me eat seafood...in hopes of riding my totally irrational fear of anything from the water. He made shrimp and told me earlier today, they were like eating "sea-grapes" because they popped like the grapes in my Aunts chicken salad. I just thought I should share that.

The internet is totally inspiring me. Frankly, all I want to do is create. I posted a comment on the decor8 blog about how I believe some of my insomnia has to do with a creative frustration, but the insomnia makes me too tired to accomplish anything. My friend and hopefully will have a craft date soon. She has a quilt to conquire...frankly I need to figure out these coupons.

ALSO this friend of mine helped me solve a HUGE painting situaiton today. I have started painting a landscape for my brothers new house oh about six times and hated every single one..the want something that isn't my style and I haven't been pleased with anythign I have managed to put together. SO today I decided I would start it off as a stained glass painting...and use color and texture within the glass segments...maybe that is the happy comprimise for the both of us.

I want to live in a home of my own. I love my apartment...its getting cuter with time but I want a garden of my own so bad. My boyfriend is looking at property and wants to build a house soon. I am super jealous. I will be patient but one day I will eat my own carrots, dang-it.

Now its time show a picture of something I saw on the internet...oh the glories of the internet....

http://29olives.com/item.php?item_id=161&category_id=20
I used to get S+'s in handwriting. I think my second grade teacher would be pleased if I used this notebook to practice.

Teeth

HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA
funniest stinkin movie I have seen in a long time.
I can't even talk about it.

Watch it, laugh.
Though I will warn you. Its not meant to be a comedy.

Obama

Obama may be participating in the "year of the bike", but by the looks of his Lee jeans he may also be participating in 1995.

sleepy.

Oh my gosh. It is six thirty and ALLLLLLL I want to do is sleep. Here is the delema, I sleep now, I dont sleep later. OR I walk on the dangerous side and not sleep now and still risk not sleeping later. Insomnia blows big monkey chunks.

I am going to take a moment to vent, in a very non-pointed fashion. If you are a part of a group of people that are inpolite enough to smoke infront of my open apartment window...frankly you deserve to cough up that big wad of snot. I can't see who it is so I dont want to point any fingers...but I smell and hear this person and frankly I consider them to be quite inconsiderate and rude. I dont take a dump infront of their window.

There I said it.

And here is a picture, because blogs are better wtih pictures.


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12154666

Memorial Day Weekend

Well as I said in a previous post, my and my man went on an Alaskan adventure for the remainer of Memorial Day weekend. Again, I am going to only post a few pics but please check out my picasa site to get the rest.


This is me on the beach in Valdez. I am not as good of a rock skipper as I ahd remembered.


My boyfriend and I standing infront of the largest mountian in North America


We rode the bus into the park, as far as was open but we could only take sooo many pictures of sheep so we took pictures of eachother instead.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleykaren/MemorialDayWeekend2008WithDan

Night with Jolene Trappers Creek and Beyer Lake

My best friend and I went to what we thought was the Talkeetna Music Festival....in real life it was the Trapper Creek Music Festival. In short we needed to make the best of the situation. If you look really closely in this photo you can see what kind of classy establishment we found ourselves in.

I wont post all the pictures but here are a few highlights.





Then we spent the next day at Beyers Lake, a little north. it was BEAUTIFUL and a heck of a good time. Gave us some much needed time together.



http://picasaweb.google.com/ashleykaren/TrappersCreekMusicFestivalAndBeyersLake

strange, but found

http://shop.paraphernalia.nu/product/fauna-startled-lemur-brooch
I have always dreamed of having a lemur brooch.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12294734
For those familiar with Donny Darko...you will probably understand why I find this next find slightly concerning. Personally I want to stay as far away from Frank and his creepy bunny self as possible and I certainly dont want to awake to his shadow upon my wall. No Frank, I wont wake up to you!

crunchy crunchy

When one of my nephews was younger...and he happened to get angry he would squint up his face and say, "CRUNCHY CRUNCHY!" I was super impressed a three year old had spot on described those moments that just irritate you and you need to release. Some people punch walls, some people resort to mind altering substances. I just "CRUNCHY CRUNCHY!!!" in my head. It helps me find an inner peace.

I did a search for what artists made that conveyed my "CRUNCHY CRUNCHY!" moments in life well...this is what I have collected.



This picture provided by of an angry possum isn't quite frusterated enough....lets see what else is out there. In fact, he appears that he just would like to have a tastey snack. And really, everyone just wants a tastey snack. I identify with the possum but it is not my crunchy crunchy picture of the evening.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11843346

She sums up one of those angry moments with her pointy eyebrows. Mine personally dont get that pointy...but I think it works.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11474279
Who would have thought, angry pancakes. huh.



Fine. I will resume this search for the perfect angry craft later. I am sleepy and well frankly, my attention span just ended. Peace out.

I am back!

Okay so the last month has been crazy between work and finals and feeling under the weather and squeezing in as MUCH summer goodness as I can....there has been a lack of blogging.

Have no fear. I have returned.

Today I feel rather accomplished. I went to work, took care of getting my deposit on my old stupid apartment back, met with my old roommate and settled the last of our business...then I went to the lab and I started a reaction. Afterwards I went to dinner with my Mom and have begun tending to my herb garden.

I am watching this show on E! about "Dating Nightmares". It makes me want to curl up with my dear boyfriend and never let him go. The last few weeks I have really realized how much I love him and how I really want to do a better job showing it. But I am getting side-tracked.

I will tell you that once I find the cable to my camera cord I am going to upload pictures of all the little projects I spend my time doing. I wish I could find that thing...sooooo instead of posting one of my pictures I will find an internet gem.




This is from an Esty (of course ;) ) shop, http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12290195 I love it!

Prediction into the future

Before my boyfriend went to his sisters graduation he asked, "Would you like anything from New York?" And I was dumb enough to say, "uhh...not anything in particular". This is me and him in six days...except I am the blonde.

www.natiledee.com

Glorious Day

When I was in Scotland I stumbled across the glorious works of Edward Monkton. This is me today. The happy pig.

Purse-hata-4-life

I hate purses. I dont understand them and frankly nor do I really buy them. I am the queen of handing my keys to the sucker that ends up driving me when I get dressed up to go out and I dont have my overstuffed pockets to rely upon.

However, I should make the comment about tote bags. I love a good tote. I can put all sorts of things in there. Pens, sketch books, and most importantly my water bottle and snacks for the day.

Because I am becoming more environmentally aware this recycled tote bag toots my whistle.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10678942

Thumbtack Press

I am waiting to figure out what the plan for dinner is and I am doing some internet browsing. I happened to stumble across Thumbtack Press. While I may not be a huge fan of all the prints there I enjoy the variety and its certainally entertaining to look at.

This image here, The Woods are Saying Things by Alex Noriega is a beautiful print, and I can nonly imagine how vibrant the colors are in real life.

However, this print by Bob Dob I think sums up my freakish cheese obession for the day. Anyways, you totally should check it out. www.thumbtackpress.com

Keyboard Crotch

Yup. that guy is typing on his crotch. I am sorry but I think this is just an excuse to multi task...You can get into a dirty chat room, and well have the full experience with a few stratigic key strokes.

http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/keyboards/hot-or-not-048770

I looove..... my cheese slicer

Last night my dear boyfriend that doesn't say, "I love you" kept saying..."I looooove.....(insert sometihng that isn't my name)" and yes, the multiple o's are necessary. he draws it out...I wonder if he knows what he is doing to my poor little heart when I hear, "I loooooove.....snowmachines."

So lets see here. What do I love?

I loooove my cheese slicer. mmm...anyway to make a big brick of cheese more accessable to my conumption is down right genius.

I loooove my shampoo. I was discussing this earlier today. http://www.bumbleandbumble.com/ I am totally addicted to the Seaweed shampoo and conditioner. It may be more expensive than other shampoos BUT this is an investment I totally support.

I loooove my plants. They make my cute little apartment so much more home-esque.

I loooove smutty reality tv.

I loooove the paitings my three year old nephew painted for me.

I loooove socks. smartwool to be specific. Though I am trying to reduce the amount of laundry I do and on days in which it is NOT snowing (which would not be today incase you were wondering) I am going without socks and wearing cute little flats. But thats a sidenote.

And yes...I do loooove my boyfriend. Even if he wont say it back. :P

I have decided that I dont get out as much as I should...In my defense I am pooped when I get home and finally get all my work done. POOPED.

Why do people need to wear frindge? What if they stand too close to the backside of a fan?? I see this as serious healthrisk.

Boyfriend is eating without me. I better go before he eats all my food. I just got the "uhh, I am eating now." call.

Its here!

Finally, its here. Spring!!
We here in Fairbanks, Alaska have finally crossed the line where we lose more snow per day than accumulate it. There aren't even words to describe the joy in my heart.

I also got my presentation finished...now onto making one for next Tuesday.

Oh the bbq sauce was delicious but I have no idea what kind it was. I threw the bottle out. oops!

I got a new box of food today. I am pretty excited about that as well.

Today finally was a good day. :) It was very much needed.

Egg Muffins

One of my goals is to be more responsible about what I eat. I know that some foods are responsible for some of my horrid migraines and I know there are a lot of gernally bad things in processed foods....so I am teaching myself how to cook. Slowly but surely.

This weekend my boyfriend cooked this delcious meal, http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1707673&cid=rk . I will say that he read the recipe wrong and added 3 tbsp. instead of 1 tsp of chili powder so the potatoes were pretty spicey. Over all it was a success and I would highly recommend it!

I made a lemon chiffon cake. mmm...it was good.

The next morning I prepared some egg muffins. http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=663044&cid=rk . Also very good. Way more filling than I had anticipated. However, the reheated version of them today at lunch, not so fantastic. Nothing like a nice soggy english muffin to really put you in a good mood.

Tonight it is just a barbeque chicken night, some corn...nothing crazy. I will write about how good the sauce is afterwards. Soy is one of the foods that I can't have...and finding good sauces without soy is pretty challenging. They are out there, it just takes some detective work.

New necklace

So I just ordered a necklace. I realize that I probably shouldn't but I couldn't contain my urge to be a super nerd. Incase you dont know me personally I am currently working on my masters degree in chemistry. Currently one of the classes I am taking is Molecular Spectrscopy and well this necklace looked like some of the wave patterns we were learning about in class last week.
I found my little treasure on Etsy.com and the link to the seller is, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5671182

I bought the green rectangular version of this necklace but here is a good idea of her work!

underpants.

The last few days have been crazy...but that makes for a good catchup blog right?

I went underwear shopping yesterday. I am going to spell it out...underwear hs gotten downright complicated and rather large. I dont mean to judge but some of that stuff is about the size of my torso...and as unpleasant as the occasional butt crack/thong exposure can be, I dont know how to manage underwear that comes up to my underwire. I finally found some that I thought was as close to what I was looking for as possible and I realize I am standign next to thongs that have glittler, ruffles and an emblem that says, "Princess". I really wanted to ask the girl at the counter how many of those she sells on a daily basis. We wonder what has gone wrong with our society...glitter/princess/ruffle thongs is where I personally am going to start placing some blame.

http://www.miloinmaine.com/ This is my new favorite website of the day. I just ordered the "Rock" shirt. frankly...I am very excited!!

I seem to have survived

Well I am still here. I took some antihystamines last night and was good to go. My chin however is still rather ugly. So I am hiding from public places today.

This is all I have to say for now.

unpleasant development

I seem to have developed some sort of food allergy...
I cooked dinner as I said I would...and as we were eating my boyfriend says, "Why does your chin look all wierd?"
me: uhhhhhhhhh....*dashes to the bathroom*
boyfriend: there are dots all over it.
me: yes there are.

The bottom of my chin seems to have broken quite a few blood vessels...now my lip feels all tingly.
Its too late to go to first care. and I suppose my throat isn't swelling shut or anything like that.
I am mildly concerned.

Its times like this where I wish my Mom was in town, and that I didn't live alone. I love having my own space but when I start choking on my own saliva because my tougne is swelling up I am going to wish someone was around.

Blasted. Why didn't I eat dinner sooner? Like when the doctors office was still open.

March Photos...

Oh man...I finally got around to uploading photos from March. My dearest best friend in the whole wide world and I at the Tired Iron Race...and yes, that is me...with a moose made of moss. Living in Fairbanks is unique!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....my boyfriend just got done at work..and so now I need to get my kitchen ready for dinner. I love doing dishes....blah.

Banana Bread

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001465banana_bread.php

Delcious banana bread. Solves two problems, stomach growling...and removes the shady lookin' bananas from my counter.

Pesticides are ruining my life.

Most people will agree that an abundance of pesticides probably isn't good for you. I am going to take this line of thought and apply it to homework regarding pesticides. Seriously reading about chlorpyrifos accumulating in the placenta is not fun and isn't improving my less than pleasant disposition.
I will have to say in some ways I am thankful to this horrid paper I am supposed to be composing because I have become even more anal about all the chemical byproducts that are produced in agriculture and other mass manufacturing processes...In fact, I have even become a weekly food purchaser of a CSA group in Washington, www.fullcirclefarms.com. Its great so far. I just need to get around to eating more of it. Which leads me to my next point.
This past weekend my boyfriend went to a snowmachine/ski race in Paxson...and I went to a Backyardagains birthday party in Anchorage for my three year old nephew. Both of us had a very good, very unhealthy trip (chocolate cake..pizza and dear lord knows what my boyfriend ate) Now we are back in town and we are supposed to be starting this new life of healthy eating and exercise...well Saturday and Sunday I was suffering for a terrible migraine probably brought on by eating so badly the previous days...and now I have this blasted paper to work on and he just found out that he is going to Anchorage for three days tomorrow. When is this new life supposed to begin?!?
More importantly, when is spring supposed to begin? Its the stinkin' middle of April and we got six inches of accumulation today.
I must apologize for my first post being sooo incredibly lame. I will be the first to admit, I am in one TERRIBLE mood.
Not only do I have this stupid paper weighing on my shoulders but I am having one of those "women's intuition" moments. As corny and unpractical as it seems I can't deny it. Its there. And the worst part of it is while rare, its exceedingly accurate, and never good. I seem to have a sense for when relationship trouble is on the horizon. When I heard about this Anchorage trip that my boyfriend is going to be taking, it was literally as though someone kicked me in the stomach. I am not that clingy girlfriend that has to spend every moment of every day with my significant other...nope this is not the issue at all. This feeling is the feeling of someone else entering my perfect little world and I don't like it one bit. You see, I am soo good at this that I was able to browse facebook months before me and my ex broke up and I picked out three of the girls he was going to date after me without either of us having either met them. I am good. dang good. and that's what scares me.I have been sooo happy and I really believe I have a very wonderful relationship, and have had this for almost a year now...but this is the first time I have gotten this feeling while I have been with this boyfriend. And now there is nothing to do but sit, and wait till Thursday evening when he is back with me again.
On a different note I am watching a DVR of Lipstick Jungle, maybe some mindless smut is what I need.