day 43

this is how high the snow is!!!  it's for real.  to scale and everything.  this is also at lake marie. 

my favorite little cousin boo, who is 9 and who is done with 3rd grade in june!!!!

ps.  her elbows are lethal - watch out for them!!

also lake marie.  without lake marie....

just before centennial.  it's GREEN!!!! 

although.  you can see snow on the mountains still...

you can't have everything, i guess...

day 42

i'm going to be honest (mom!!) and tell you that i forgot to take a photo yesterday.  so my photo of the day for yesterday is actually from today.

and in case you were wondering.  it's looking down on lake marie.  although lake marie isn't in it.  these are the cliffs above lake marie. 

but.  i want you all to know that this is my goal and if i want to use a picture from today for yesterday, i get to.  because i get to make the rules!  wahahahaha

also. since i'm on an honesty kick - not that i'm ever not honest (ok that was maybe a little lie) - ((see how honest i am being???))

ANYWAYS. the little sun/moon in the sky is the reflection of my flash off my phone (i know - pretty serious quality for a 'phone pic'!)

what can i say?  i'm good at getting to the point...

day 41

i got a new tattoo on friday...

this is the reason that you need to wear ppe (personal protective equipment) at all times when you work in a place like i do...

johnny thought it was funny to keep marking on me, so i was like 'you better make that into something that looks good'...and this is what i got...

day 40

the trees by my building are finally finally turning green!  when i look out my window i can almost almost see it!!!

also. look what i got!!!  i was so excited!  i tried to use it to go to "the new house" but their street isn't in the map.  so i used it to drive to dinner instead (while i was following the leader)  and then i used it to drive 2 blocks home! 

but that means that i know it works! 

now i want to go somewhere so i can use use it!

day 39

i was driving home and took a little detour.  this is first street.  on the very right are the train tracks, but you can't really see them well (in real life) from right here, because there is also parking all down the road.

the very first building on the left is the pedal house and that is where i got my gorgeous bike, muffin!

day 38

this is my fire stuff...there are so many bags (and that's serious because i'm a Girl and i think that!), and i don't know what to do with them all!  i have to employ my sister at the weekend - over the phone - to help me pack them all...

see that black reflecty one in the middle?  by my noodle drainer thing (i never can remember what those are called...)  well...it's called a "wolf pack" but it's actually a giant fanny pack.  it just had to be called something cool so it wouldn't like de-masculinate (i don't even know if that's a real word..? demasculinize? unmasculinate??) anyone (since the whole crew is boys except me, of course).  not that i'm a fan of fanny packs - but this one is especially bad because it's made for big giant boys with big giant shoulders (yes it has shoulder straps - also to take away from the possibility of confusing it with a fanny pack).

day 37

"fetching?!" is what my dad said...

if only you could tell that the zipper on my pants goes almost to my knees...

and even though i washed Everything before i would wear it, the shirt is basically grey.

but apparantly, you only want a new, very shiny yellow clean shirt if you want to be "that guy" on fires...so i guess i'm good to go.

day 36

it's the first green trees in laramie!  although none of the ones i can see out my windows are green yet, which is disappointing...

i have a horrible crank in my neck...i might have to call in sick tomorrow...

i need a yard...

this is why.

if anyone needs a truckload of dirt...feel free.

i'm pretty sure there's more now.  i planted some weird, horrible stuff (like cactuses...) after i took it.  this picture, that is. it's also all over my kitchen. the dirt. is all over my kitchen.

kitchen

living room

i rearranged, and by rearranged, i mean cleaned, my windowsills and put good plants/photos/etc on them!

ps.  i just had a very awkward experience, but i played it off brilliantly, if i do say so myself.

what happened was this:  my new neighbor came over to borrow some vanilla, which i didn't have.  which was not the awkward part. 

the awkward part was that i had 3 tons of dirt on my living room floor next to the microwave and noodle drainer thing (also in the living room), and two bras randomly on my coffee table.  i don't even know how they got there!  i would hope that maybe he just didn't notice, but he seemed like the observant type, so i'll just go ahead and fear the worst. 

here was me playing it off:  "i feel like i should have some vanilla, but i can't find any.  i barely ever cook, so you never know" (as my whole flat smelled like bacon since i cooked this morning...)

or ok.  maybe i didn't play it off.  and now i'll be known as the girl with bras on her table.  but it's kind of exciting anyways because this is the first neighbor i've met since i moved in last august! and he has red hair! (i don't count the one i met from the basement who i had lecture And lab with, because he always acted like he didn't know me)

day 35

this is my dr. seuss garden. 

i have been planting all day, strangely enough.

day 34

my orchids lost all their flowers.  but apparantly if you report them and cut the old stems off they will grow back. 

hopefully.

if i don't kill them.

i'm trying very hard not to.

random fact of the day:  apparantly plants grow really well in haunted...places, so i guess that means that my little flat is Definitely not haunted...

tomakemysisterfeelbetter

i felt like i should do a little mc hammer dance (i think that's his dance?) since i was wearing combat boots with shorts. 

also.  i wore this in public.

they are my new fire boots, but i like to call them combat boots, and i was really excited (don't even ask me why, because they are HORRIBLE!), so i wore them when we went to Lowes and target and somewhere else.  and to make it even better i spilled soda all down my front at target, so then not only did i look like a weirdo, i looked like an insanely sloppy weirdo. 

also.  everyone should read this blog.  she is amazing and she inspires me!  i've already read the whole thing.  it's like i can't tear myself away from it! 

day 33

this is driving up grand.  at the end of may.  does something look strange? 

i'll give you a hint:  it should be GREEN not BROWN.

can you even believe the trees are STILL not green????

for all of you who live in normal places (HAHAHAHA) that have green trees in Summer - feel free to fly me out for a little vacay - but you're going to have to hurry, because i start work on monday...

 I'M SO SCARED!!!!!

i went in today to ask about some paperwork and online classes and days off (yes i know, i haven't even started and i'm asking for days off...just trying to stay on top of things!) and i told them (my however many bosses and supervisors i guess) how my mom said i should ride my bike to work and be really green.  which is a really good idea, except that work is 4 miles away and my bike only has one gear and it's a cruiser and it has a pink bell with hearts on it.  and i told my mom, "mom! no! they won't take me seriously if i show up riding a bike with a pink bell!" and my mom said "they won't take you seriously anyways"  and bones (who i guess is one of my bosses) said, "nope. definitely won't take you seriously anyways."  or something like that. 

and then another...boss...asked me if i was ready for monday, because we're doing a half marathon and a 12000 vertical foot hike for PT.  i was like "i'm so ready!! i even ran a mile and a half yesterday!!" he just looked at me...and then i left.

that's why i'm scared.  because i've been in there two or three times for whatever reasons, and i keep saying weird stuff, and i don't know if they just don't think it's funny, or don't know how to react or what.  but they probably just think i'm nuts. 

also i have this irrational fear (that i've had since i was small) that i won't make any friends....??????

the end.

day 32

PJ!!!!!! I FOUND IT!!!  NOW WHEN I COME OVER, I CAN BRING MY OWN AND I WON'T EAT ALL YOURS!!!!

for anyone who wants to know:  my sistah had this Gorgeous cheese at her house and every day after we ran i would eat some (randomly enough...) and i had never seen any before...but when we were at the store the other day I FOUND IT!!!!!

also.  don't buy this cheese:

it comes in a CAN, for crying out loud!  Real Cheese does NOT come in a can.  squeezy cheese is understandable, because that is made of plastic and other chemicals that looks - sort of - like cheese.  but this is Real.  it even had a pull tab on top...  i'm so disappointed in the cheese industry of america. 

besides laughing cow, but that's beside the point.

day 31

sunset from "the new house".  i had a brazilian to choose from - it was so hard!

does everyone know the brazilian joke?  well, i'm not a very good joke teller - in fact, i usually ruin it, but i will do my best, because i think everyone should know it.  if i really do butcher it, i'm sure you can just google it and get the good version.

one day a blonde (of COURSE it involves a blonde - it wouldn't be a real joke if it didn't!!!)

anyways, one day a blonde is watching the news and her husband comes in the room to find her sobbing hysterically.  he asks her whats wrong, and she can barely talk; she's all "it's so horrible, i can't even stand it!" and she's crying and crying, but finally she can tell him that 2 brazilian men died in a sky diving accident.  her husband just kind of looks at her and tells her "honey, it was a choice they made, there are risks involved with sky diving."  she cries a little more, and finally she asks him "how many is a brazilian"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

whenever i hear a blonde joke, it always reminds me of another one.  i told it to my bulgarian and my italian and they could not. stop. laughing.  it was funny to see them think it was so funny.  this is it:

a blonde goes into a library and up to the counter and says "hi! i'd like to place an order!  can i have a hamburger an order of fries an-"

the librarian cuts her off, and is like "i'm sorry, i can't help you, this is a LI-BRAR-Y"

and the blonde whispers "oh sorry.  can i have a hamburger?"

HAHAHAHAHA 

i don't know why, but it gets me every time!

day 30

i like all things green!  and crunchy.  ok that maybe wasn't quite true.  but very ripe bananas are not my favorite.  i like them when they taste not so...banana-y...!

day 29

the moon looked a lot better in real life.  i tried to set my camera on my car, but it didn't work as well as i thought it would - and it kept making funny sounds...

this is the house behind my building, but really it's made up of a bunch of studios.  cute from the outside though!

day 28

the drive home from casper.  a slightly boring drive, i have to admit. 

at least my radio in my car worked this time...

day 27

this is stephanie's graduation.  from nursing school. 

she says that now she has to put on her "big girl panties"...

day 26

when i buy a house it's going to have numbers like this on it!!!

day 25

we went to the cinema downtown (bricktown) and so after we walked around bricktown a little, and it's pretty cute, and i liked this little bridge

day 24

this was the fattest frog (toad?) i have ever seen!  we spotted it in the grass on our way back from the hottub and so i ran as fast as i could for my camera and made mikah be the lookout to make sure it didn't get away.

please note the absense of sidewalks.  in a residential area...oklahoma is so weird...

this felt a LOT worse than it looks.  see the blister and the red?  on my pointer finger?  well i was trying to make my sister moussaka, which is greek and very delicious, you should probably try it, i'll give you the recipe if you want it.

anyways.  i was trying to make moussaka, and i had to move the oven rack but i couldn't find any hot pads - NO I DID NOT GRAB IT WITH MY HANDS OK??

anyways, i couldn't find any hot pads, so i just used this little, uh, handle holder thingie...a minnie hot pad, you could call it. 

needless to say, it didn't work very well.  my sister didn't even come in that time to see what happened because i was screaming the whole time i was cooking:  cracked eggs on the floor, burnt sauce, the list goes on.

suprisingly, it turned out really well, eh mikah??

sissyiloveyoudon'tbemadok??

my sister is going to be very angry at me for posting these pictures, but they made me laugh so hard - i simply had to.

(don't worry, we didn't dress up just to model bread.  we were actually getting ready to go out...or maybe we were just coming home again...?)

she made "amazing bread" and so i told her we had to model it.

(hey, maybe this is how you should advertise when you start your business, sistah - i'm sure it would get rave reviews...!)

this is mikah not taking her modeling seriously, so i had to catch her "unawares" and with a mouthful of bread just to get a halfway decent model shot!

this is me trying to reenact mikah's successful modeling shot

here she is, still not taking our modeling seriously...!

day 23

this may or may not have been "tornado day"  there were severe tornado warnings, and my sister was gone, at dance lessons, and so it was pure panic, and so i did what any normal person with a functioning brain would do:  i got in the shower!

and when my sister got home i said: THANK GOD YOU'RE ALIVE GET IN THE BATHTUB!

or something along those lines.  and she said: maybe we should meet my downstairs neighbors and get in their bathtub.

it was exciting, to say the least

day 22

this is looking off mikah's deck.  love this tree!

day 21

we ran most of the days at the lake, and it had a lighthouse!  so i made - ahem, asked very nicely - mikah carry my camera all the way there just so i could get a "picture of the day"

i can't remember what these flowers were called, but they were so pretty.  and so full of bugs.  sick.

we were at bed bath & beyond - who even knew they had accessories?!  this was the most beautiful (as in feeling, not looks) sleepy mask that i have ever tried.  it was like bug eyes, so nothing actually pressed on your eyes.  i think it might have to be an investment in the very near future (i love sleepy masks!!)

day 20

this is mikah's little fruit bowl (filled with vegetables as well in case you were wondering...maybe it should not be called just a fruit bowl, but a fruit and vegetable bowl? it wouldn't sound as good that way i guess...)

anyways.  this is it after we went Shopping for some amazing Food!

day 19

i am not as behind on my "picture a day" as you might think.  i still took all my pictures, mikah just didn't have a chip thing on her computer so i couldn't post them.  so now i am many many bloggies behind.

this is mikah's patio/deck/whatever it's called.  and these are her party lights before she got some more party lights.

day 18

another work of art.  captured by my PHONE, no less!

it's out of my car window.  don't worry i wasn't driving while i took it...!

i would also like everyone to know...I'M FREEEE!!!  free from studying!  free from thinking!  free from exams!  until september!!!

and also.  my sister and i are very spontaneous, in that we have been planning a trip for me to come see her for about 2 months, for actually next week, and we decided today (or yesterday, perhaps?) that i could buy a ticket for today and fly down there tomorrow!!!!!!  so vacay in okc for me!! 

a week of pool, and planting, and buying deck furniture, and being lazy, and not thinking about anything that happens to be the least bit intellectually challenging!

horray! (hooray? - how do you spell that nonsense word?)

day 17

i'm late, i'm late, for a very important date!
but it was for a good reason:  passing my exams...which i am preetttty sure i did...!

this is a cute little (or not so little) house off grand, that i noticed on my way to the library.

please notice the depth; aren't i becoming quite the photographer?  for taking photos of Everything in my flat, i mean, there's nowhere else to go but up...hah.

day 16

my fridge:  the epitome of all things fridge - the decorations, that is. 

also exactly what my dear mum doesn't want - which i think is so weird - you can't have a fridge and not decorate it.  although i guess in her case you can.  her fridge at "the new house" is. Not. Magnetic. 

i don't even think that's legal.  the oven is more magnetic than the fridge! 

what is the world coming to?!?!?

also.

also.  i was studying at the library.  of course.  but suddenly, it was like i was in a bar or something - it was So. Loud.  i was getting so irritated, because i'm having a hard enough time focusing on this nonsense as it is, i don't need more distractions than the ones i cause...
so i am back at home (where studying almost never goes well) just for the sake of silence. 
so here is the end of my study break and the beginning (or resume) of my studying...

ps. yesterday i got kicked in the face by a horse radish.  (!)  it's true.  burned my face, and i got laughed at!

day 15

i'll be the first to admit that this photo (which turned out gorgeously, if you ask me) was a complete fluke.  i was just messing around, trying to think of a photo to take, and i accidently hit the button.  and look what turned out!!

one more thing

one more thing before we go
(haha, remember that, little pj?)
brought to you by...mr. waterson, in a sort of round about way, courtesy of me, courtesy of the lovely internet...

your comic of the day!

4 excitements!

it's been an exciting week, despite all the horrible exams and nonstop (well, in an ideal world) studying going on...
#1 excitement:  i saw someone getting arrested - handcuffs and everything!  in real life! 
#2 excitement:  today i shut my hair in my car door - which has never happened in my Life, because it has never been long enough.  not an experience i really loved.
#3 excitement:  i got my first parking ticket Ever.  I was 5 minutes late coming back to the meter from an appointment, and there was that insulting, hunter orange envelope on my windshield...  i think those meter cops or whatever they are, multiply like bacteria.  they're everywhere!  and they don't miss Anything!
#4 excitement:  also.  my [boss?] thinks that my t.a., who i happen to be working with this summer, and in very simple and upfront terms, Cannot Stand, is a ruh-tard.  hahahahaha  i just might live through the summer!

day 14

what i love about my little flat is that it just has so much character.  it's old, but there's all these little nooks and ruffles (?) and stuff that make it really...charming? 

i think the little flower is a cover for phone cords...

oh the days of wall phones and paper address books.

someday soon, i'm going to branch out and take pictures outside the confines of my flat.  or maybe i should aim really high, and say outside the two block range of my building!  it's just that in the morning, i leave with camera in hand, with such good intentions, and then i just forget all about them until 1130 at night!