Shuffle

I have this iPod, and I’m pretty in love with the iPod. It’s not new, I’ve had it for years and it’s been well used. It’s 20GB of space and it’s jam packed full, not enough room for a single song. To put new music on I have to remove something which is always a hard decision, I’m afraid I’ll take off something that one day on my walk home from work I just HAVE to hear. The last couple times I’ve gone to remove music I’ve started to think that maybe since I don’t listen to everything, it’s full of songs that aren’t that good and I should go through and remove them. I never actually follow through with this thought though.

Then there’s the feature I could never really grow to love... the shuffle. In the years that I’ve had my iPod I think I’ve used the shuffle 3 or 4 times. The music is too random, I didn’t like that. I think over the years though, what with having to remove music to put new stuff on I’ve ended up with an iPod full of some really wicked music. I actually used the shuffle yesterday and today and ended up with the greatest mix. I heard so many songs that I’d forgotten I loved. So here’s to my favorite toy and new music to come, bring on the shuffle!
L

Wednesday Woes...

It’s 10:55 and I’ve seriously said two words at work this morning...

It’s one of those days. Brad and I woke up late this morning so we were rushed... I called in sick yesterday and I’m still not feeling super today. I’m working on a project I don’t really want to do.

I expect the day to be long and not very fun
L

Ashamed

Remember the Cookie Scandal of 2006...

Well today I proved that I learned nothing. That I have gained no more character then I had back then.

I made cupcakes for a friends birthday yesterday and there were extras so I brought them to work. These cupcakes are no ordinary thing, they’re a work of art. A yummy chocolate, moist cupcake with pretty piped cream cheese icing on top.

So I pass them out and people are enjoying them. My boss says, “This isn’t Duncan Hines from a box is it?” I shake my head no (It was Betty Crocker so I wasn’t actually lying :). She says, “You can tell, it’s so moist”.

I absolutely let her believe that I made the cake from scratch when it really was from a mix! In my cake mix defense, I was in a hurry, they were last minute and I added some stuff to the mix to make them yummier.

Don’t think less of me...
L

Golf = Life

When you think of classic date activities, two you normally come up with are bowling and mini golf... two things I happen to be really bad at.

It must have been at least 5 years since I’ve mini golfed and it was an embarrassing experience, I came in dead, dead last. There was no confusion over who lost that game, it was certainly me. So when Dave invited us mini golfing to celebrate Naomi’s birthday the only reason I said yes was because I knew Brad would want to go. I regretted accepting the invitation pretty quick though and was not looking forward to golfing, I wracked my brain trying to come up with reasonable excuses for us to back out. I came up with nothing convincing though so we headed off to golf.

Surprisingly I ended up having a fantastic time! The course was really fun, with little streams and a waterfall. No one took the game too seriously (except the ridiculously annoying kids behind us) and we laughed and visited and loved it.

Possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life...I’ve tried to recreate it in picture form. It was just as impressive as you think it was :)

The biggest shocker of the evening came when we looked at the scores though... I tied for 1st place! Never before have I done that well. I’ve enclosed a copy of the score card so you can share in my victory with me. Notice the three circles, yeah, that’s right... those are three hole in ones! (Guess they made up for all the holes I did horrible on)

7 over par is not to shabby in my books.
L

Discoveries

I discovered something about myself on Monday night and I’m ready to declare it...

I don’t like Dairy Queen!

I know, shocking, me who likes all desserts but I’m ready to declare that I don’t like them. I think they’re super overpriced and I don’t think they use quality products. Their ice cream is okay but it’s the chocolate I don’t like, it’s cheap and waxy. Other products aren’t much better, like their whipped cream and brownie chunks; they’re just not that good. I’d rather go somewhere for a good scoop of quality hard ice cream or maybe some gelato. Even a carton of Safeway ice cream is preferable.

It doesn’t help that the DQ by our house is really, really hot every time we go in. I don’t know how the employees handle that heat all day, it’s awful.
L

Shakespeare in the Park

What a great idea! Some friends of ours invited us on a picnic to Shakespeare in the park at Mount Royal College. There were 5 of us in total. I brought a potato salad, there was some yummy spinach dip and bread and the greatest pita sandwiches, they were seriously so good. Strawberry shortcake for dessert topped it all off. We sat in the outdoor amphitheatre and enjoyed the sun and the 70’s themed play, As You Like It. It was the perfect Saturday activity. After the play Brad and I invited everyone back to our place for some Wii, and we had such a fun time playing and eating candy and visiting.
L

Entertaining Overload

I just can’t seem to help myself, I keep inviting people for dinner! It’s an addiction really...

So far we’ve had two of Brad’s siblings with their spouses
Dave and Naomi
Janine and Chris
(I held off inviting Dave over for tonight)
I’ve already extended an invite to Al and Janae
I want to invite Ian and Jenn
I tried to invite Nathan and Jenn but they couldn’t make it
Ryan was suppose to come over last night but that fell through

There’s still a whole list of others in my head just waiting to be invited. I love having a home with Brad that we can invite into and the new BBQ and the Wii have only made matters worse. If I didn’t mention you on that list, don’t worry... I’m sure your invite will come though I’m trying to pace myself.
L

Surprise

Something that actually surprised me this weekend...

I really miss Confederation Park Ward. I didn’t expect to. I thought I’d go to 6th Ward and feel right at home, that was a little naive. I was very comfortable in Confed, I had established myself and knew almost everyone there. While there are quite a few people I know in 6th Ward, they’re all just acquaintances, none of them really know me. This has caused me to feel a little out of place and it’s surprising.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I hate 6th ward, I’m not saying I won’t love it eventually. I’ve always been of the attitude that you can’t expect others to make you feel at home, it’s up to you. I’m will to do what’s necessary it’s just going to take more time than expected.

Top 5 things I miss about Confed.

1. Irena and her hugs
2. Being able to sit by almost anyone in Relief Society
3. The quiet of our old Sacrament meetings
4. Dave
5. Not having to fear that I’ll be called to work in the Primary

L

Newest Love

It’s in a strange form, one you wouldn’t expect...

We have a new ice cream make so yesterday I decided to make some homemade strawberry ice cream (not the love I speak of). The recipe told me to puree the berries in the blender so I dropped my berries into our new blender and pushed the puree button. I think I had realistic expectations, I was sure I’d get some slightly mashed berries that eventually just bounced around in there, not pureed at all... I could not have been more wrong! These berries came out so smooth there wasn’t a single lump.

I believe there’s nothing this blender can’t do, it crushes ice effortlessly, make the most delicious smoothies and is stylish to boot. Oh how I love and use daily this wonderful blender.
L

Stories too Embarrassing to Share

So I know that entries are few and far between lately but in my defense, I started an entry yesterday but it ended up being so boring I deleted it. Really, it was no good. It was about this site, it makes for a good read if your bored.

So I had thought that I'd share a story from a awhile ago and was trying to come up with something when I remembered I happen to have my journal at work. So I pulled it open and thought I'd find a good gem or two. Boy was I wrong! That thing is embarrassing! I think I must destroy it! It's all about what boy I'm interested and their every movement that could even slightly be interpreted in my favour... there's no way I'm sharing any of that. It's also become apparent that I only write in my journal when it's about boys. I think I'll make an effort to change that.

So Let's just say that I've grown up a lot. I was silly and a little boy crazy and clingy and needy... thank goodness I learned to be independent and much more mature. Sorry to all those boys I hung out with back then, I'm a much better person now :)
L

Cell Phone Pain

I know, two posts in one day, I should save this for tomorrow but I’m posting it now.

I very nearly cried...

This month my cell phone bill was $174! The last two months it’s been $140 so this month I really tried to make an effort to be careful... I failed, miserably.

It’s all this wedding stuff. I have these long conversations with my Mom and I have people to call, things to take care of... I can barely afford to eat after this pain though :)

So I’ve done what needed to be done. I called Telus and come Monday I’ll have a land line as well as my cell phone. It’s just a basic phone, the only feature I got was call display, we’ll get an answering machine and be good.

The best part though... I have my old phone number back again! The really easy one to remember that I had for 7 years. So if you ever had my home phone number you’ll have it again come Monday. And if you could do me a favour... please call the land line from now on, not the cell. At least until after the wedding and things get back to normal.
L

6 Weeks and Counting

When you were a kid what kind of vacations did you go on?

We went on road trips. Long drives that didn’t just get us to our final destination, they were part of the destination. We’d drive to California, camping along the way. Staying in KOA’s with freezing swimming pools, showers and electric outlets. We’d eat eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes for breakfast and steaks for dinner. We’d hit up all the sites along the way, the Grand Canyon, Lewis and Clark caverns. Once we got there we’d see everything there was to see, after all, you may never make it back. Disneyland, Sea World, Universal Studios, Notts Berry Farm, Cotton Fields, Great Sequoia Trees, Venice Beach... you name it, we saw it. They were world wind trips, busy and scheduled so by the time we got home we needed a vacation from our vacation.

As I’ve grown up I’ve come to realize that these aren’t my kind of vacations at all. Now I love to go to Hawaii and sit in the ocean for days. I didn’t go to Pearl Harbour, I didn’t go to the Pineapple fields, I went shopping, I went for dinner and I sat in the ocean. Perfect.

I went to London, I saw Broadway shows, I shopped, I loved it. I went to one museum. I didn’t see the crown jewels, I didn’t see much of anything else... perfect.

This weekend I went to Shushwap lake, to a cabin accessible only by boat. We sat, we lounged we dipped our feet in the water (it’s much to cold to swim this early in the season). We cooked and napped and visited. Perfect.

Here’s to a week in Puerto Vallarta in 6 weeks, here’s to lounging on the beach, swimming with the dolphins, zipping through the rainforests and loving every minute of it!
L

Blogging

Remember the good old days when I would blog nearly every day... yeah, those days are gone.

Reasons why I'm not loving today

1. It's raining
2. I lost one of the buds for my earphones
3. I'm SO exhuasted and I feel a cold coming on
4. I have a headache
5. I'm tired of huddling at my desk in the cold

Reasons why today's maybe not so bad

1. Betty's not in today
2. Breakfast was provided by my work this morning
3. I get to wear jeans today
4. Brad may have found us a place to live

Okay, so the bad outweighs the good today but only by 1 point... that's saying something
L

In Preparation for the Beach

Some friends and I decided to go out for dinner on Friday. We felt like Mexican so we headed down to Bowness for some Salt & Pepper. It was busy so we sent Al in to get our name on the list. The rest of us waited outside shivering in the light snow.

Unexpectedly the manager pokes his head outside, points at us and says, you guys, come with me. We were surprised we were getting a table ahead of so many others but we followed, happy to not be outside. We were mistaken though; he wasn’t taking us to a table but a new place to wait. He leads us to their outside patio, turns on the heat lamps and leaves saying he’ll be back when our table’s ready.

It turned out to be the most pleasant surprise. The patio was covered so we were sheltered from the snow, the heat lamps kept us warm. I found some mini lights and plugged them in and we had our own little private Mexican patio. The building next door had water running off the roof providing a lovely rain soundtrack. The only think it needed were some pretty drinks and some matches to light the tiki torches... Puerto Vallarta, I’m ready for you, here I come.

We eventually got a real table and had some delicious food but I missed the patio a little.

The Dairy Queen after probably wasn’t the best choice, a person can only hold so much food.
L

Isn't it about Time

So I'm sure some of you have noticed already...

I've decided it's time to start using the Google calendar feature. Nathan H will be happy to hear this and I hope he's excited when he gets the invitation I sent. I was sending an email this morning and happened to look at the top where it tells you all the other features Google has to offer, I don't use a single one of them. I'm going to change that.

I'm taking advantage of those features available... don't be surprised if you get an invitation via your google calendar :)
L

p.s. I suspect the novelty will wear off quickly

Pleasure in Pain

I have a problem
It can be summed up in 4 small words

Salt and Vinegar Chips

I’m only allowed to eat small bags now. That’s usually enough to fix the problem.
On Tuesday I ate a small bag of chips, on Wednesday I ate another. Bad Laura

“In a perfect world, every bag of salt and vinegar chips would burn off my tongue, but that's just me.”
- Chris Stewart, Beware the Cheese

I can absolutely understand this thinking. I love the burning, the intense flavour. Yet here I am days later with this “fuzzy” tongue.

The burning gets worse as I get older... you’d think I’d learn but part of me loves the pain!
L

One Shoe, Two Shoe, Red Shoe, Blue Shoe

A couple years ago I was a bridesmaid at a friends wedding.
As is usual the bride had a specific set of clothing in mind for us to wear so she provided a skirt, shirt, earrings, necklace and shoes. I lucked out and the clothing provided was all really cute, something I was comfortable in.

Let me talk about the shoes for a minute.
They were flat, and black, rounded toe with this cute “leather” bow that came across. They were cute, I liked them. I wore them to the wedding and was comfortable all day; my feet didn’t hurt, even after standing in the receiving line.

So why now and every time after, when I try to wear these shoes again are they incredibly painful?! I can go for about an hour, and that’s a stretch. But I wore them all day! With no complaints! I don’t’ understand.
L

Random

So I shaved my legs this morning, and between you and me, it'd been a looong time.

It feels glorious!

That is all
L

Secrets

"I'm a vault"

This is a phrase I use often. Someone will be concerned they've shared too much information so I assure them that I'm trustworthy. What comes in doesn't come out.

Well, I'm coming to realize that while this is completely true when it comes to other people's information when it comes to my own I spill all over...

L

Lappy goes to the Hospital

If you know me at all you know that I LOVE my laptop.
I bought it a year ago and I spend lots of time on it. I download tv shows I wouldn't normally bother to watch, I have crazy amounts of music and I just downloaded Lemmings.

Well Lappy is sick. The screen is kind of coming apart, I know, it's not good.
So I called Dell and I need to ship my laptop to them to get it fixed. They'll pay all shipping costs so this is a good thing, only drawback... she'll be gone for 7-10 business days!

What am I to do without my dear Lappy...
L