insert witty blog title here

Progress... not Completion

2011-09-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

So I didn't finish my project. :( bummer! BUT! I did make quite a bit of progress! and by the pictures below, you wouldn't know it, but really, i did! And I'm going to continue working in small spurts throughout the weekend then hit it hard again this next weekend to hopefully finish it up!

I have a few more "Before" pictures as well as some "In Progress" pictures to share!

My left closet "Before"

My right closet "Before"

ugh! scary!

Vanity "Before"

Vanity Drawer 1 "Before"

Vanity Drawer 2 "Before"

Vanity Drawer 3 "Before"

Wash Table Drawer 1 "Before"

Wash Table Drawer 2 "Before"

Wash Table Drawer 3 "before"

Behind the Door/Dresser "Before"

Kinda scary how many "Junk Drawers" I've accumulated over the summer! All unintentionally of course! Please be gentle, remember, i'm being very vulnerable by sharing all of my messy, disorganized, cluttered life with you!!

The Process:

Step 1 for me always when cleaning my room: Wash the linens! love sleeping in a freshly washed bed! :D

Part of the Process: Sorting! My mom gave me these "tupperware" bins which I used to sort things into the following categories: Miscellaneous, Memory Stuff (pictures, cards, etc), Games, Shoe Accessories, Electronics, Books, Office Supplies, Magazines, Stuff that's not mine, and To be Donated! (plus others that were added later!)

Believe it or not, this mess is progress being made! I have, or now had, many many many boxes and tubs scattered throughout our house: in the storage room, garage and under my bed, that were full of SHTUFF! This is part way through some of those boxes and bins!

There is still lots of work to do, but much was accomplished over the weekend and I feel good about it! Hopefully by the end of next weekend I'll be able to give you some more updates!

That's all for me tonight! I've got my first day with the students at school tomorrow! My lunch is all packed up (now hopefully I won't forget it tomorrow!) And my outfit is picked out! Hopefully everything will go great!

Wish me luck! :)

p.s. What did YOU do with your Labor Day weekend?! :)

Weekend (hopefully!) Project

2011-09-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

The goal this weekend is to tackle my bedroom. Not just clean it, which it so obviously needs, but to deep clean, organize and purge it of LOTS OF SHTUFF! I have way too much stuff that has accumulated over the years, most of it unnecessary to keep for anything. So this weekend I'm hoping to get rid of lots of stuff, organize the remaining stuff that is hopefully only the stuff I really need, and maybe even tackle a few of the decor projects I've been wanting to do for a while! So me posting this here is to help keep myself accountable so I can hopefully show you so after pictures instead of just leaving you hanging on the before pictures for weeks on end! So here goes nothing! It's about 12:40 on Saturday afternoon and I hope to have it all done by Monday evening! YIKES! better get to work!!

The pictures below are taken from each corner of my room in it's current state. I did nothing to fix it or make it look better before snapping the photos, so be gentle! I'm being very vulnerable here! :)

from the door corner

from the vanity corner

from the bed corner

from the towel hook corner

and from standing on my bed :)

Did I also mention that I have a few things left to do/organize in order to be prepared for my first day with the kiddos on tuesday?! AH! (which means tuesday is the first day with the students at the school for my student teaching!)

wish me luck!

p.s. Just a note that today would have been my grandparents (dad's mom and dad) 59th wedding anniversary! My gramma passed away in June 2004 just before their 52nd and my grampa just passed away in January of this year. So this is their first one together celebrating in the best place they could since their 51st! Happy Anniversary Gramma and Grampa! I miss you both very much!

No Promises

2010-10-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

Been a while, huh? I am simply going to blog, with no promises of continued blogging, because I think every time I make those promises, I break them :)

Facts/Details from my life as of Late:

1. I'm a senior in college

2. I'm 22 years old

3. I am loving living with my best friend, Katie in our "new" apartment

4. I'm obsessed with Lady Antebellum

5. My apartment is INFESTED with asian beetles, and they're disgusting! (sitting in my living room right now i can count 20 and there are easily 20 more hanging out just inside our front door)

6. I'm working on making an "evolution of hair" collage with pictures of my changing hair styles from the past 4-6 years, when finished, I'll post it here

7. I got a job working at a childcare center here at school, and I love it

8. I ride the shuttle to campus almost every tues/thur morning, and Jerry (the driver) is awesome

9. I would like to take more pictures

10. I am working on being more artsy/crafty

11. Working with kids this summer and at school now has really helped me become more patient than I already was

12. I am still somewhat in shock that I am starting to have friends who are getting engaged/married... I don't feel old enough for that!

13. In case you're wondering, I've had more bloody noses in the past 2 years than in my entire life... mostly because until last year, I'd never had one

14. I am growing my hair out... again. (and hopefully succeeding this time!)

15. I have a new found accessory obsession... watches.

16. I still think we're in the second week of school, even though we're in week 7

17. Two weekends ago, I attended a gopher game at the new TCF Bank Stadium - my 2nd gopher game and my first at the new stadium... it was really cool!

I'm off to take a nap now before my night class. I am hoping to do SOMEWHAT better with blogging, but like I said at the beginning of the post, NO PROMISES! :)

snip snap snout, my tale's told out!

New Title - I NEED YOUR HELP! :)

2010-02-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

So i'm not digging my new blog title... i like it - i think it's clever (b/c i'm clever... haha j/k) but i don't think i'm THAT much of a drama queen... some of you might agree, some might not... but either way... I think i want a new name... maybe the new one will have the current one "confessions of a 20-something drama queen" as the sub-title.... maybe not.

so basically what i need from you - the very few readers i have - are suggestions! :)

now if you give a suggestion and i don't end up using it, PLEEAAAAASE don't be offended... i'm an EXTREMELY undecisive person so these things are hard for me! i want something clever and that captures me and since pretty much all of my readers know me pretty well, that's why i'm asking them... or you. whatever.

also - i might not even end up using anyone's suggestions... i might come up with one on my own! but either way, here is my plea for help - please post a comment with your suggestion(s) and maybe my next blog will be a voting session on my favorites!! thanks so much for your help!!

Flashback Pt. 1: June 2009

2010-01-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

Pardon my 2 week hiatus... but remember, i never promised a post everyday or every week... so there.

But alas, here I am again, and as promised, i'm going to walk you through what you've missed since i know you're all just DYING to know! :P

So we're going to start with June 2009... since that's where i left off!!

My last "update" before my 6 month leave of absence i left you with a picture of a boy and i... his name was Mike and the picture was from our first date... This post was also posted on June 16, 2009... so you might think... "we already know about june"

... but you don't... b/c little do you know, and little did i know at the time... 3 days later, i'd have myself a boyfriend! :)

On June 19th of the year two thousand and nine, Mike and I discussed our relationship and decided we wanted to date exclusively, based on this decision, Mike wanted to talk to my parents, and make sure that he had their blessing to date their daughter (me). So we talked to my parents and they gave us their blessing, a bit of advice about dating, and then prayed for us, it made me very happy :)

This was a very strange beginning to a relationship though... my sister did not know this boy, and it sorta freaked me out! In the past my sister knew every single boy that i ever had a crush on, and here i was with my first boyfriend and she'd never met him! So we decided to fix that... through skype! :)

Mike meeting Cara on Skype :)

Mike & Cara again, chatting away while I got ready :)

Now i know this is an extremely unconventional way for one's sister to meet one's boyfriend... but Cara wasn't going to be home until late July and i couldn't date a boy for 2 whole months without my sister meeting him, so i had to do what i had to do! :) (btw... I met my sister's boyfriend, Tim, this very same way :) )

As for anything else in June... nothing quite as significant as this that I can remember! So there you have it... a short little peak into my first month of last summer!!!

Stay tuned for Flashback Pt. 2: July 2009

Coming soon to this very blog! ;)

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays!

2010-01-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

This week we had two big birthdays in my house here in Winona. Monday was my roommate, Kelsey's 21st birthday and Tuesday was my roommate, Shadia's 21st birthday! Monday night we went to Ground Round for drinks and dessert after eating a yummy rotisserie chicken, potato wedges, and caesar salad at our house.

Kelsey carving our chicken for dinner

When we got home from dinner my roommate Katie and I gave Kelsey and Shadia their presents... we got them each a birthday martini class and a post-secret book. If you haven't heard of Post-Secret you can check it out here. It's pretty cool.

Kelsey & Shadia with their presents

Tuesday night we went to Schyde's (a local bar here in Winona) for "Wing Night" (20 cent wings) and some more drinks.

Kelsey, Me, Katie, and Shadia before Schydes

Kelsey and Shadia at Schydes with their first legal drink at a bar!

Me & Katie at the bar

Both celebrations were very fun! We're all done with birthdays now in our house for the 2009/2010 school year! :)

Stim Therapy

2010-01-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

Beginning this past October my left knee started to cause me some discomfort... after sitting "indian style" or if i were to tuck my left foot under me while i said (basically if my knee was bent to an angle less than 90 degrees with a little pressure on it... it would be extremely uncomfortable to straighten it.
I ignored it at first, figuring it was just temporary and that it would get better on its own.
It didn't.
Mid-November the discomfort turned to pain... not horrible pain, but definitely pain i didn't want to have.
From there my knee also started to get a little swollen... and when i say a little... i mean a little. it was hardly noticeable... but i noticed. I became VERY in-tuned to my knee and how it felt and what it looked like and such.
Beginning of December this pain also happened when i would straighten my leg after being curled up in a ball while sleeping... ie no pressure on my knee, just bent. With this knowledge i made a chiropractor appointment, and a doctors appointment.

My chiropractor appointment was on Monday January 4th. At this appointment i was told that i have the following:
-a low right shoulder
-a low left hip
-the start of a bunion on my left foot
-bad knots in my shoulders ("student knots")
-shin splints
-and ALLLL sorts of tightness in my lower legs
who knew!? My chiropractor then suggested i do "stim therapy" and that it was "really simple and only takes a few minutes, we just put a few needles in your knee and hook them up to a 9-volt battery to send a pulse into your muscles to contract them several times in a matter of minutes" etc. i'm not sure exactly what she said considering i started to panic what's she mentioned needles.
I get VERY panicky when it comes to needles... i hyper-ventilate sometimes, almost always cry (yes, at 21 i STILL cry when getting a shot) while crying or prior to crying tend to get the nervous giggles and just get very very freaked out.
I asked her if she meant we were going to do this today, she told me yes. My palms started getting clammy, i started my nervous giggles, and did my best to take deep breaths.

She then took me to another room and had me lay on a comfy cot with 2 pillows under my head and 1 under my feet. My boyfriend, Mike, was also with me at this appointment and was seated in a chair facing the cot.
As she was prepping the "materials" she was continuing to give me more details about what she was going to do as the tears came on. She said that they were acupuncture needles and that they were hair thin and didn't hurt a bit (once she stabbed me i disagreed). She then placed 3 needles in each leg around my knee as i blocked my eyes with my hand (i also get very nauseous if i see needles going into my skin, or anyone else's skin for that matter)

These needles DEFINITELY caused less pain than getting a shot would, but if i had to choose to ever get acupuncture, i don't think i would. Part of the reason it was more painful for me, especially on my left leg, is because that leg is stiff. While she was putting the needles in, Mike decided to make matters worse by asking the chiropractor why she was "putting such LARGE needles in my leg?!" which although i knew it wasn't true, still made me very panicky and made me continue to cry.
This chiropractor though was very much my friend and told him that she was going to stab him with one to see how he liked it. So after she had my 6 needles in my leg and had them hooked up to wires which attached to the "battery" she walked over to him and asked where he wanted his.
Mike was quite surprised and asked if she was serious. She was. She ended up sticking it in his right shoulder/neck area and that shut him up a little bit :)

After it was over she told me i would need about 3 more sessions of this... for the 2nd session she used sticky pads since i had such a hard time with the needles last time... but today for my 3rd session she used needles again, because as much as i hated to admit it, they had a MUCH better result with the pain reduction. This time she only did 4 needles and all in my left knee. and we got pictures! (oh! and i didn't cry today! :) )

Me laying on my cot after the needles had been inserted today with my nifty silver blanket :)

the 4 needled in my left knee! eek!

my support :)

sorry that was so long folks! but that's it! you're done! wooo! thanks for reading! :D

Back with a Vengeance!

2010-01-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

So I just finished watching "Julie & Julia" and it has inspired me to keep up with my blog! :) Now this does NOT mean I'm promising a blog every night (i'm not my mother... yet.) it doesn't even mean I'm promising a blog every week... i'm promising that i'm going to make a valiant effort to blog more often... i'm just not sure how often "more often" is yet!

In my next few blog posts i'm going to catch you up on all you've missed over the past 7ish months of my life! I'm not going to do it all in one blog, b/c that would be just TOOOO much! so i'll break it up... the rough plans in my head right now are telling me I'll break it up by month... but we'll see :)

ANYWHO as far as the here and now.... I'm back at school (Winona State University for those of you who don't know!) and tomorrow starts what is known in the college world as: "Syllabus Week"... the week that you spend all your class time getting the syllabus and going over rules and schedules and expectations and BLAH. it's also known as torture to many college students.. but better than lecture and homework i suppose... although who knows, maybe i'll get a lecture and homework tomorrow!
A brief glimpse at my schedule? Mondays = 1 class... 12:30-2:20 woo hoo!
and after class it's home for "stim therapy" on my knee and dinner with my boy and my rents :) woo!

and pssssttt.... HAPPY 21ST BIRThDAY KELSEY!!!!!

over and out :)

a photo update

2009-06-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

b/c i don't feel like writing a bunch! plus pictures are more fun! so here is a photographic update from spring break until now! :)

me and aria at my first gopher basketball game over spring break!

brit and i at the boys intramural game during my SB

me, heidi, and katie (my roomie) when we visited heidi at Iowa!

me, brigs, and cara with our matching non sweatshirts at preaster!

me and seester hangin in the gym at dickson valley for preaster!

shane, kate, ryan, jaden and i at shane's house over easter weekend!

me and daddy :)

me cookin dinner for the fam!

kenz, seester, bailey, me, brudder, and molly when they passed through to get their pup, lily!

me and brudder :)

beginning of summer days... jump-roping! (susie in the background chalking the driveway... ryan and mike twirling!)

mike taking a turn jumping!

kate and i before her sister's rehearsal dinner!

kate & i after her sister's wedding!

my adoptive sister of the night! me and rachel! :)

megs, kate, brit and i before chester's for kate's bday!

(not pictured: lauren, she was working and didn't make it in time for pics :( also ryan, colin and bj joined us for din din!)

jumping!

mike, me, sus, and brit during an INTENSE game of nertz!

me & mike before pescara! :)

well there ya have it folks! my life in photos! i hope you enjoyed!!

(and remember, if you'd like to see a photo larger all you gotta do is click on it! :) )

i did it!!

2009-03-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

i got into the education program at my school!!! (winona state university for those of you who don't know!) i found out today! so i thought i'd share with everyone!!!

see that's me! holding my acceptance letter!!! woooo hooooo!!

i'll be back tomorrow or sometime to blog all about my spring break :) but this is all for now!

twitter

2009-02-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

so i don't know how many of you out there have heard of twitter... but it's one of my new obsessions. it's www.twitter.com and basically what it is... is JUST the STATUS part of facebook. as the website says "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

twitter also allows for the shameless stalking of celebrities... which is mostly what i use it for! :) I follow john mayer, aaron shust, and brandon heath. It's amazing. so much fun to just read their random little tidbits about what they're doing at the moment! You can also keep up to date on me - since my twitter is right there to the right under my picture here on my blog! WOO! lucky you! :P

well that's all - i just wanted to share with you my obsession with twitter - you should join! :) it's fun! okay bye!

Random Things...

2009-02-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

Recently on facebook there was a popular note going around where you were to write 25 random things about yourself and tag 25 people so that they would read them and then do the same... well i did this but know that some of you didn't get to see it... so i thought i'd post it here! and maybe add some pictures?! so here's my list:

1. I am very weird and very okay with it :)

2. I absolutely love getting dolled up and wearing dresses and wear them at every given opportunity!

3. I also LOOOOVE wearing high heels. There is just something about them that makes me feel so girly and... well... tall ;)

4. I love my family and friends more than anything else. They are my life!

5. I am 20 years old and have never been kissed :)

6. I tend to be a little bit OCD... I can't let other people fold or hang up my clothes. I hate it when others write in my planner(s) or on my calendar. I don't like it when other people make my bed. I like things to be organized just the way I like it. There's more but yea, you get the idea... and some of you already know! haha

7. I have recently rediscovered my love of doing puzzles... or "puzzling." It brings great joy to my life to do puzzles! I also find them a great activity to do with others cause you can sit in silence and work, or it's a great opportunity to talk without having to just sit there!

(sorry this is sideways? i can't figure out how to rotate it!)

8. I have a hard time sitting still while on the phone... I tend to pace.

9. I drink almost everything through a straw

10. I hope to have a big family someday... at least 3 kids but would love 7! :) -- Would also like to adopt some of them!

11. I cannot wait to be a stay at home mom! (God-willing)

12. I LOVE music. Like really love it. I am almost constantly listening to it. I like most kinds
and am open to hearing anything new. - Along with this I also loove going to concerts!

13. I love sweets. Especially candy. I can't turn it down if someone offers it to me unless I've just brushed my teeth... and in that case I might accept it and save it for later!

14. I love musicals! Grease, Hairspray, High School Musical (don't judge), Rent, etc. I would LOVE to one day see one on broadway! :)

15. I can honestly say that 99% of the time I really really do not care what people think about me! In that sense I love to wear wacky things on occasion and act out in public. I like making a scene for the fun of it!

16. I someday would like to go to cosmetology school and be a beautician :)

17. I (secretly.. okay not a secret at all) wish I was left-handed and am jealous of people who are... and admittedly I sometimes write with my left hand in hopes that if I practice I'll be able to do it!

18. If I look down when I walk I revert to when I was a child and I will make an honest (almost obsessive) effort to not step on any cracks, so I do my best to NOT look down when I walk b/c if I do it usually takes me quite a bit longer to get anywhere!

19. I don't like "perfect" numbers... such as even numbers or numbers ending in 5's or 0's... I prefer 3's and 7's .... 1's and 9's are kind-of okay... My alarm is always set to a number ending in a 3 or 7. (this might result in this list actually having 27 things instead of 25... even though the title is "my 25!")

20. I am a definite movie cry-er... even on movies that most people wouldn't cry in... Songs also have a tendency to make me cry... I get choked up every single time I hear "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle

21. I love to laugh! Especially laughing till my tummy hurts. I also laugh very easily... or am "easily entertained" ... I like to consider that a good thing :)

22. I hate going up or down the stairs in the pitch black dark... or walking anywhere in the dark for that matter. It freaks me out and i feel very unstable.

23. I love scarves, sunglasses, purses, shoes and jewelry! If I could have an unlimited fund to by these things with, that would be great! :) (however that said... i get most of these things for $10 and under b/c spending more than that on them seems silly to me!)

24. I currently am thinking about making a very big decision that would mean some big changes for my life... I just don't know what to do!!!

25. I'm not a huge fan of capital letters... especially capital d's... I write my first and last name with lower-case d's. I've also had to retype almost every "I" in this note b/c I never capitalize them but I'm working on it. Even with this odd situation in my life, I rarely ever get marked off for capitalization on papers or homework b/c I can somehow magically shut off that dislike while doing them.

26. I sometimes think in a british or southern accent... :)

27. I went to church by myself for the first time in my life at the beginning of this semester... and I actually liked it :) not that I am against going with people, but going alone was not as bad as I thought it would be! :)

well i lied. there were 27... please refer to #19 for why :)

well that's all! i have others... but i'll save those for another blog - another day ;)

again already?

2009-02-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

Yup. I'm back. briefly though.

I am just back to say that ... oh yea nothing.

I'm back b/c I am using this as a quick distraction/break from my homework.. at 12:57AM :)
I have had a very busy day and thus far have been using facebook as my distractor... but as of about 40 minutes ago, i "locked" myself out.. how you might ask? Well I simply typed in some random letters and numbers for a new password that i knew i wouldn't remember and wrote them down (so i could EVENTUALLY get back in) to give to my roommate until a later date when I have less to do! :)

So i just wanted to share that with you all.. b/c me locking myself out of faceook is a HUGE accomplishment! some of you know this and are proud as you read this... and some of you are reading this going, "but you already found another distraction...?" and you're RIGHT. i DID. but that's not the point... facebook is my MAIN distraction that takes the most time... these little things here only distract me for about 10 minutes before i get back to work! facebook takes my life away hours at a time!

alas there it is. now back to work! :)

manic mondays

2009-02-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

So clearly it's been a while, and for those of you who consistently check this (which i'm not sure if any of you do?) i'm terribly sorry that i fell off the wagon for a while... again haha.
but i'm going to try and do better!! :)

so anyways! i'm hoping to at some point come back to this and post some pictures from thanksgiving and then christmas break also, but i'm not making any promises! i just wanted you to know that I am back!!

other thoughts? well i don't really have any... haha! 2 weeks of school left before spring break! which i'm very excited for!! :) and one week from yesterday is my mama's birthday!!!! :)
woo!

okay that's it. i'll share more later i guess!

Back Tracking - Wacky Bowling!

2008-12-17T18:21:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Weekend: Nov 7-10 2008!
Okay so like I promised FOREVER ago... I'm back tracking all the way to NOVEMBER to get you guys those awesome pics of wacky bowling from when I went down to Illinois w/Nate over veteran's weekend! :) Cara also met us there!!

So we arrived Friday evening and just hung out and had pizza and goofed off with the children, which was a blast, as always!

Me & Jersti

Kale, Me & Jersti! Kale was a little premature w/the silly face there! :) but ya gotta love it!

Me & Tristan -- love this one!

On saturday we went bowling... but not just any kind of bowling.. we went... WACKY BOWLING! (my brilliant idea if you must know ;)) so we got all dressed up in whatever we could find and went to the bowling alley to attract as many stares as possible... and oh boy did we attract the stares! and it was amazing!!! Here's some photos to show you what everyone was looking at! ...

That's me all ready to go!

Tristan & me at the bowling alley!

brigs and i!!

Kale & me and our "grrrr" faces! :)

hahahaha nate & i... typical :)

Cara & i!!

Lindsey, Bailey & I! :)

Molly & me! :)

Kenzie and me!! :)

Well I think that's all i've got for now!! i hope you enjoyed my mainly photographic post! i find photos more interesting anyways!! :) i'll be back soon to give you some thanksgiving stuff!! :D

peace out girl scout! :D

A Few Extra Minutes :)

2008-12-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

So i know i still need to get the pictures up from veteran's day weekend with the fam! and now i have some roomie pics to add as well as thanksgiving! AHHH i'm so behind! but hopefully i'll do that sooon!! in the meantime... here is a quick little "Fill It Out" blog for you to enjoy that i stole from my sister's best friend, Brianna's blog! (so thanks brie! :))

I am: Danae Joy Dietzman :)
I know: a lot less than I tend to let on... hehe
I want: to go home for Christmas! :)
I have: my spanish final in t-minus 2 hours and 47 minutes!
I miss: my family and friends from home... and dancing.
I feel: cold
I hear: Matt Nathanson singing "Come On Get Higher"
I smell: nothing :)
I crave: my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies!
I cry: at a lot of movies! and for no reason sometimes too :)
I search: for my phone all the time
I wonder: how long it will take...
I regret: not being able to spend more time with my Gramma before she passed away
I love: knowing that I am loved by the creator of the universe
I worry: about my family and friends and their well-being
I remember: playing on the slip'n'slide at my old house and loving it!
I dance: in the morning to 80's music to wake my roomie up!
I don't: want my sister to live in Cincinnati
I argue: less than most people
I write: less than I should.
I win: drawings :)
I lose: any sport! haha
I wish: .... if i tell you doesn't that mean it doesn't come true?
I listen: to music almost constantly!
I can usually be found: in my room :) or in the kitchen!
I am scared: being alone, needles, the unknown deep dark waters of any body of water!
I need: forgiveness and love :)
I am thankful for: the way God has blessed me with the best family i could have hoped for as well as some pretty amazing friends! :)

well that's it! copy and paste and do your own! :) it gets ya thinkin!

More Pictures :)

2008-11-18T15:17:00.001-08:00

Megan finally got her pics from halloween weekend posted on facebook! So I decided for those of you who don't see them there, I'd post them here cause she got some good ones!!

Here's Karla, Me, and Megan in front of a HUGE jack-o-lantern by Wild Thing!

Megan & Me! :) I love this one!

Me & Megan at Jay's soccer game at Bethel!

Me & Steven after the game!

Me, Steven, & Megan! :)

And later when I'm feeling more ambitious... probably this weekend... I will be blogging about LAST weekend... which was amazing and you should be looking forward to the blog because it will be CHALK full of pics and not just any pics... but wonderful pics!! :D

an early christmas treat! :)

2008-11-18T09:24:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

halloween weekend! :)

2008-11-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so i just need to get this out there that i'm an IDIOT. i completely forgot an artist on my list of concerts that i've been to... and it's one of the most important!.... KEITH URBAN!!!!
okay. so now that we got that taken care of... let me tell you about my weekend :)

I came home thursday with my roomies, Shad & Kelsey to go shopping with them! After shopping I went to subway/walmart with my momma and brother and then came home and hung my new curtains and lolly-gagged doing who knows what till 2AM! UGH!

Friday morning i went to the doc to get my hip checked out since i have old lady joints and it had been bothering me! Luckily, nothing is wrong... but i got my first legit x-ray taken, and that was fun! :) Then i got to get some culver's ice-cream with my mommy & nate for lunch! it was delicious! then i lolly-gagged some more before finally taking off for the cities around 2:30!

I arrived in the cities around 4 and hung out at the boys' (the boys being Steven, Aria, Mickey & Vince) apartment with them. Around 5:30 Megan and her friend Karla FINALLY ;) showed up! not too long after Shane, Emily, Julia, and Kayla arrived! It was a crowded apartment that's for sure! Steven & Aria serenaded us on the keys and guitar... played Free Fallin' and it was beautiful! Then Brittany finally arrived! Shortly after she got there which was probably around 6:45 we headed out and grabbed some arby's before heading over to Cam, Tony, Caston & Miles' place! We hung out there and ate our food and got to see everyone in costume! We also got directions for our destination... !

^^Here's Steven on the keys!

^^Here is Aria (not yet in costume), Me, Steven, & Megan!

By 7:45 we (Megan, Karla & I) were on the road... to Valley Scare!!!!!!! It was an absolute blast!! I would highly recommend going next year to those of you who haven't been! Valley Scare is actually Valley Fair. They turn Valley Fair into Valley Scare during the fall and have haunted mazes/houses and creepy decorations and the whoel 9-yards! We went through 2 of the haunted mazes which were SO scary! Megan was mine and Karla's protector! She was much braver than us! But I'll admit it, I'm a HUGE scaredy cat!!!
^^Karla, Megan & Me on the tilter! SO fun! and we for sure made the lady's night who was working the Tilter! she loved us! :)
^^Karla, Megan & Me on the Wild Thing! our 3rd time for the night!

After Valley Scare we had to come back to the U to pick up my car and phone (which i had forgotten... my phone, not my car!) so we could head to Michael's (Megan's older brother) place in St. Louis Park where we were going to stay! When we got to my car however we saw this:

yup. the car in back is TOUCHING my bumper and there were about 6 inches between the car in front and my front bumper. So we talked through what to do and finally decided that Megan & Karla would go to Michael's because he was awaiting our arrival and plus Karla had to babysit in St. Louis Park at 7:30 the following morning, and that I would stay at the boys apartment and drive to meet Megan at Michael's in the morning... assuming that my car would be free by then.

Well i headed out the door at 11am... only to find my car still blocked in... so after much to do about nothing, Aria offered to try and get it out and i said go for it, so with my help directing him, he went back and forth about 32897 times and finally got it out! WOO HOO! :D So then i was on my way to Michael's! Finally arrived there and me and Megan showered and got ready and then headed back to the U to pick up Steven and then were off to Bethel for Jaden's last soccer game of the season! Which his team WON btw! :) 2-1 in overtime! Go St. Mary's! haha after that was over we dropped steven back off at the U and headed to MOA!

Now once we got to MOA we parked in Hawaii, duh. We walked in and this "security gaurd" more like "Rent-A-Cop" approaches me and Megan. Mind you this rent-a-cop is looking like he was about our age. He blah blah blah's about how they're "enforcing parental something blah blah blah" and that he was going to need to see our IDs to make sure we were 16!!!!!! can you believe it?!!?!? i got CARDED to see if i was 16!!! i stared at him for a minute expecting him to laugh and be like hahahaha just kidding! but he didn't... so we showed him, i was glaring at him the whole time like see. i'm 20. DUH.

So anyways, we hit a few stores... stopped by this new store called Garage where our dear friend miss Brittany works and visited her! very cool store! You should check it out next time you go... it's a clothing store for girls... or rather teen girls/young adults! :) After that we headed back to Michael's place and changed and then it was off to our final destination for the weekend...

Jimmy Needham/Barlow Girl concert!! Most powerful concert of my life! They were both EXTREMELY talented and Barlow Girl and an amazing message! It was a wonderful experience and we loved it!! And then get this... as we're walking back to the car from the concert (in downtown minnapolis mind you) we get offered "free cover into a bar to get some drinks" by some guy! So now i'm confused... am i 15? or 22? hahah we just laughed! After the concert we just headed back to Michael's and hung out and hit the hay!

^^Megan & Me at the concert! :)

I woke up in the earlier AM to head back to Roch so I could go to church! I hadn't been to mine in quite some time and I really missed it! Plus my daddy was playing and i love to watch him play! Plus they were playing one of my favorite songs, "The Twenty-First Time" by Monk & Neagle! After church i headed over to the Sameni residence and enjoyed a delicious lunch from John Hardee's with Aria and his family! Then I came home and hung out around the house and helped my dad do some yard work... which really consisted of me 4-wheeling the leaves from where he had mowed them too the garden and dumping them... so it was more fun than work! :) then i packed up and nate and i along with Emily headed back to winona!^^Me 4-wheelin some leaves to the garden! :) i clearly had WAY too much fun doing my job! haha :D

So there you have it! another OBNOXIOUSLY long OVERLY detailed blog by me! :) hope you enjoyed!!! :D

About Me :)

2008-10-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

So I thought that I'd do a fun little blog with random tidbits about me that people may not know, or that people may know, but I'll share the information anyways... get it out there on the internet so anyone who wants it can find it! :)

My "Tidbits"
- I tend to be a bit OCD... no I'm obviously not diagnosed nor do I take medicine for it, but I definitely have a case of it! My clothes in my closet for example... are organized in color order and must all be hanging facing the same direction. As far as my other clothes that are not hanging? Well, let's just say I'm the only one who can fold my laundry. Everyone in my family knows this and even a few close friends, because if they offer to help me fold my laundry, I simply say "no" and inform them that I'll just refold it anyways. I'm extremely particular about how each item is folded and I am the only one that knows how :) haha.

See there's my closet... clearly i have WAAAAY too much black and white and need some more color. I'll work on it. But alas this is only the clothing version of my OCD :) I'm also particular about how my bed is made although I am a little bit more lenient about this one. I don't like it when other people write on my calendars/planners because then there are different types of handwriting on it and stuff. Other things also, but we'll leave it as those details for today :)

- I am an absolute sucker for sweets. I just cannot say no to candy. Well that is unless I just ate a ton of it and have a tummy ache, but even then, sometimes I still have a hard time saying no! Pathetic, right? Not only do I love candy, I also love those other sweets - like any type of dessert for instance :) Just a list of a few of the things that I love:
-Sour Cherry Balls (found at kwik trip)
-Zebra Cakes
-Chocolate Covered Raisins
-Swedish Fish
-Peanut M&Ms
-Oatmeal Creme Pies
-My momma's Chocolate Chip Cookies
-Coconut Cake
-Hershey's Symphony Bars (the Toffee one)
-Hershey Hugs
and well... you get the idea! I was just talking with my roomie, Katie, the other day about my self control problem, and how I hate those people who, when offered a piece of candy, say "No." I just can't do it. 9 times out of 10 I will say yes with no hesitation! I even sometimes take offense when I offer my candy or treat to others, and they say no, like they're better than me for not wanting sweets! haha, but I get over it and say, hey more for me right?

-I love Disney movies! And others of the like, for instance Pixar films, love those too! And when I say I love disney movies, I really really do. And it's not just limited to The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Aladin. I also LOVE Disney CHANNEL movies! Yup. Those made for T.V. movies that most people my age find annoying, I live for them! Even High School Musical! and by "Even" I mean that's one of my all time favorites! I can't wait to see the third on in theaters! :) :)

-I'm a Concert Junkie! I absolutely 100% love going to concerts! I have always absolutely loved music, I am almost constantly listening to it! It's so much fun to go and see one of your favorite artists play their music live! There is just something about the passion of musicians that makes me happy! Concerts always put me in a good mood. Thus far my list includes: Rebecca St. James, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, David Crowder Band, John Mayer, Howie Day, Dashboard Confessional, Guster, Motion City Soundtrack, Anberlin, Metro Station, Quietdrive, Catchpenny, Hanson (twice I might add), Matt Wertz, Shawn McDonald, Phil Wickham, Jack Johnson, Josh Gracin, Aaron Shust, Mercy Me, Monk & Neagle, Brandon Heath, Sara Groves, Sandra McCracken, Charlie Peacock, and Derek Webb. Shortly I will add Jimmy Needham and Barlow Girl to the list! Other ones I HOPE to add to the list... Jason Mraz, Matt Nathanson, Five Times August, Bebo Norman, and Colbie Caillat!

Well that's all of the tidbits I can think of to share for now! I hope you enjoyed this little sharing time. It was great fun eh? And I do sincerely apologize for the lack of pictures... =/ I know blogs tend to be boring with out them so here, I'll add a few randos to the end just for fun! :)

This is my & my Roomies this year! :D From left to right it's Me, Katie, Kelsey, Shadia!

This is me... in a 1994 yearbook! You can do one yourself at www.yearbookyourself.com! it's great fun! :)

This is me & my sibs this summer in McCall Idaho! I found that quote and just found it all too true! :) From left to right it's Cara, Me & Nate.

This is a picture of me in Iowa City at University of Iowa from May 2008 when I went to go see Heidi and pick up some of her stuff with her Mom! Heidi was being creative with angles and color accenting and it turned out to be a fun picture that i've gotten lots of compliments on :)

Catch Up Time... Again!

2008-10-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm back! again... anyways!! i'll do my best to catch you up on my super exciting life! :P
so here goes... we left off with my birthday weekend, right? right. okay.

the FOLLOWING weekend... was wonderful! i drove up to the cities after class on friday with my roomie Kelsey who was along for the ride to go home for the weekend, since she lives in the cities. Now as for the reason i went...? Well i went because my dear friend, Aria, bought me tickets to the Hanson concert for that night!!! :D And about a week or 2 before the concert, Aria tore 2 ankle ligaments and ended up on crutches, but so graciously took me to the concert anyways! :)

^ Me & Aria at the concert! ^

After the concert we hung out for a bit at his and the boys' (Steven, Vince, & Mickey) apartment with Matt. Then around 3AM i headed back to winona cuz i had to leave to go on a field trip with my Science class at 7:30 AM :( so anyways. I made it back and spent all day in a cave and at some sinkholes. Then i came home and crashed from about 6-10:30... got up ate some food, talked to my mom and was back in bed by 11:30 and slept till 11 the next day! :)
So that was pretty much it for that weekend! The weekend after that there was more fun to be had!

Oct 2-5:

Thursday night i went to Olive Garden in La Crosse for dinner with my freshmen year roomies, Katie, Shadia, and Hillary! It was quite delicious and a lot of fun getting to hang out again! We talked and laughed and were quite loud and got some rude stairs from nearby tables, which made us laugh all the more! :)

^Hillary.Katie.Shadia.Me^

I headed home to Roch on friday after class w/nate. Friday i got to hang out with Megan which was so much fun! we went to the Mall and Target and closed both of em down :) then we stayed up late talking and catching up which was awesome! Then saturday i headed up to the cities again! Saturday night we hung out and i got to see a bunch of old friends from high school so that was really fun! Then sunday night we (cam, aria, cortney(cam's sister), kristin, and i) got to go to Northwestern to see Phil Wickham and Shawn McDonald! 2 Extremely talented artists and if given the opportunity to see them, you should! And until then, click on their names and check out their music on their myspace pages! :D

^Brit & Me!^^Steven & Me!^^Tony & Me!^^Me & Cam!^^Aria & Me!^^Caston & Me!^

^^All those black and whites are from saturday night in the cities! :)

The following weekend the fun continued! I had friday off of school so i headed back to roch thursday after class w/nate! Thursday night i got my hair done! (i'm back to brown! :) not quite my natural color yet.. it's a little lighter, but after next time it will be!) then hung out at home for a little bit and then hung out with aria for a little bit. Friday morning i got up and went to breakfast with Christian, a friend from high school! We went to Pannekoeken and had a good time catching up and talking about life! Then i went to caribou w/Kurt to grab some coffee! Was wonderful seeing him as well and catching up! Then it was off to panera for lunch with my Momma! :D after that i was finally on my way...
On my way to Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa to see my best friend kate! :D

Friday night the Art Music Justice Tour was at her school which was absolutely amazing!! The artists on the tour were Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Charlie Peacock, Sara Groves, and Brandon Heath. All amazing artists who you can check out just by clicking on their names! :D

So that was a lot of fun! then Saturday night we got dressed up and went to a bar dance! it was a Business theme hence our attire in the below photo! :)

^Me & Kate!^

Sunday I came home and got to see Brittany & Aria before they headed back up to the cities! Then i slept in my own bed and headed back to Winona w/Nate Monday morning. And here we are at another weekend! Only this one is a relaxing one! and it's so very nice! It's been waaaay too long since i've just sat around and had no obligations for a weekend! And i'm loving every second of it! I finally finished "Twilight" (which if you haven't read, you need to. No matter who you are, boy, girl, young, old, doesn't matter. Just read it!) and am on to book 2, "New Moon" and am already 120 pages in! And there's where i'm headed now! back to my book! It's SO addicting! :D gotta love a good read!

Hope you enjoyed another spastic update by me! :D

24 days later...

2008-09-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

i'm back! :) i don't really have much to saaaay... cuz if i try to fill you in on everything... we'll be here for FOREVER!!! and not because i have a super exciting life that has lots going on to tell you about...but because i for some reason have to give EVERY LITTLE DETAIL which is obnoxious!!! so let's just focus on my birthday! :D

so my birthday was Friday September 19! I turned 20!!! can you believe it?! no more teens for my rents!

So the original plan:
kate & brittany come down friday and we go out to dinner with my roommates and some other friends from school and then aria and cam were supposed to come down on saturday and at some point on saturday kate & brit were gonna head back to roch to see their families! so that WAS the plan... but here's what ACTUALLY happened:

Friday: kate & brittany arrive around 4-4:30 ish and we all start getting ready... which is clearly a 2 hour process b/c we're goofing off and putzing around the whole time! so anyways we're getting ready and sheila came over and the house is full with me, kate, brittany, katie, shadia, kelsey, and sheila! so i'm just about ready... got my outfit on, got my make-up on and hair almost done... just teasing left to do, so i'm in the bathroom teasing my hair when i suddenly see my MOM in the mirror behind me! and i FREAKED! i turned around saying "oh my gosh! what are you doing here?!?!" and hugged her then asked if my dad was there too and she said yup! so i ran downstairs and hugged him too!

so my parents and brother arrived... and this was at about 6:30 and they had "brought the party" my mom brought dinner and dessert and PRESENTS! :D they had decided to surprise me and come down for my bday and told kate that day so she knew she had to keep me at the house just long enough for them to get there so we wouldn't go out to eat! so anyways we all eat up the delicious food... pizza burgers, frog-eyes salad, snickers salad, and chips! then it was time for presents! i got.... "Step Up" on DVD, "Made of Honor" on DVD, Michael Buble's CD "Call Me Irresponsible," a 4-pack of mocha frappuccino(sp?), a 3pack of cinnamint Orbit gum, the brother/sister willow tree from my brudda, and a Ralph Lauren 3 pack of perfume, "Ralph"(my favorite), "Wild" and "Hot"! ... Earlier in the day when Kate arrived she gave me a Northwestern sweatshirt! :D

So a little after presents were done with Jaden and his soccer buddy Bobby came over! and then we had cake... my favorite, Coconut Cake which my momma made for me and was delicious! :D and shortly after that my rents and brother took off. Then steve (katie my roommate's boyfriend) came over, jaden went and picked up katelyn(his friend from St. Mary's who i've also become friends with) and we all headed out! We were at a party at some house for a while when i noticed that brit, kate, jay, and bobby were all missing so i gave them a call and brit said they had to run to kwik trip and i was like alright sweet! then about 5 minutes later kate called saying they were back but couldn't get in! (the house was VERY crowded and they were trying to keep it under control) so she asked if i would come get them.. so i go outside and who is waiting there for me? not just kate, brittany, jay and bobby... but i look over and see Aria, Steven, and Cam!!! i was beside myself with excitement!!! So i hugged them all and we all went back inside :)

About 20 minutes later we decided to leave cuz it was just too crowded and hot so we took off. Kate, Brittany, Jaden, Aria, Steven, Cam and i all headed back to my house after we dropped sheila, bobby and katelyn off. (katie & steve had left about an hour before so they were already gone). Once back at my place we hung out, people made t-bell and wendy's runs and then we settled into the living room for a movie... "Made of Honor" to be exact! Aria brought out his guitar and sang me "a" song for my b-day! which was actually a "collaboration" as he would say... it consisted of 3 songs... "Be Like That" by 3 Doors Down, "Come On Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson, and "Better With You" by Five Times August! (the 3rd one is one that i had suggested he learn a few weeks earlier.. so he did for my bday!)

SOOOOO now that this is getting long and boring anyways since i can't seem to just give an overall story and have to give every freaking detail! I'll continue! :D

We watched the movie and went to bed! Then at 9:30 the next morning Steven, Aria, Cam, and Brittany all left and headed back to roch and then kate and i went back to bed! Well kate did anyways... i couldn't get back to sleep so i showered and got ready for the day! when she woke up around 11:30 she did the same. Then her and i had a lovely afternoon of best friend bonding time :) we went to Acoustic Cafe for lunch and then took a 3.6 mile walk around beautiful Lake Winona! Then around 3:45 she took off and headed home too!! And that's pretty much all i feel like writing for now! so i guess i'll put up some pictures now!!! :D everyone's favorite part right?! i know i know, mine too!!!

^Ladies! Kate, Sheila, Me, Katie, & Brit! ^

^^Us girlies and Natey Boy^^

Family! (minus cara :( )

^me blowing out bday candles!^

^me & my big brother! ^

^ me & jay!! ^

Well that's all folks!!!

ps. SOOOORRY this was a novel. but if you read it all... i'm impressed! :)

peace out girl scout :)

Labor Day Weekend!

2008-09-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

So my labor day weekend is unfortunately drawing to an end :( that's okay though! it was a very nice relaxing weekend! i truely didn't do much of... anything at all!! watched some movies, sat around, slept in, went to the beach, went to lunch, sat around some more, made monkey bread... and yea... that's pretty much what i did ALL weekend... but it was amazing!!! :D sooooo being that that's all there was.... i guess i'll share pictures now! :D

This is me w/2 of my roomies... shadia and katie... at the beach! :D

Me and Katie wading :) hahaha
shad & me catching some rays :)

the monkey bread katie and i made that for the first time in my life i didn't screw up!!! :D it was delicious!!!! :D

well, that's all for now! later!

I'M BACK!

2008-08-29T17:16:00.001-07:00

Well maybe... i can't promise i'll continue to post regularly but i was inspired by my sister's update so that's exactly what this will be! just a quick update... all pictures and in no particular order... okay that's a lie... since they're in my computer in order, they'll probably be in order! :D hahaha so here goes:

^^Grandma.Cara.Me.Bailey.Becca.Kenzie.Molly^^
This is grandma and her grand-girls minus Brigs and Jersti -- we all met in illinois for a "girls weekend" and had an absolute blast! >>not pictured are the momma's/4 sisters - Cheri, Deedee, Barb, and Amy

^^Heidi & Me ^^
i went to visit heidi with her momma, Sandy, the 3rd weekend in may cuz sandy was going to pick up some of her stuff so i said, HEY! i'll go! and it was wonderful!

^^Nick, Me & Alex ^^
i went to see my babies at their senior prom grand march! everyone looked so good and it for sure made me miss my senior prom which was perfect!

^^Me & Kate on Navy Pier ^^
mid-June my best friend kate and i drove to Crystal Lake, Illinois for a weekend to spend some time with my Auntie Deedee and Auntie Amy and their families and to go into Chi-Town for a day which was a blast and it was a gorgeous day!

^^ Tony, Brittany, Aria, Me, Mike ^^
at the end of June i road tripped to somerset, wisconsin with Brittany and Aria, picked up tony & mike on the way to see, that's right JACK JOHNSON in concert! we went for a whole weekend and spent the day before and the day of the concert tubing down Apple River! It was an amazing weekend!^^The man himself, Mr Jack Johnson, up on stage singin away! :D ^^

^^ Cara & Me ^^
Cara graduated from college at the end of june!! aaaaannnnnd then just about a week ago? 2 weeks ago... SHE PASSED HER BOARDS!!!! she's a real person now! she's legit! :D way to go cara!!!! i love you!!!

^^ me & megan ^^
i got to spend probably about 10 days by the pool this summer due to my ridiculously busy work schedule... but this was one of the best pool days... day after 4th of july just all day relaxing by the pool ending with a late night pool "party" with a few friends!
^^Jay & I - Our tongues say "HI" ^^
we made cupcakes at heidi's house on megan's birthday EVE! we quickly discovered how to entertain ourselves by writing out messages on our tongues with the gel frosting!
^^Megan Kate & I... our tongues say "I (heart) U"
^^ Megan & I on her birthday! :)

^^Megan, Brittany, Abbie, Me, and Megan ^^
Quietdrive came to town to the St. John's blockparty as the surprise guest! The girls and i hit it up and stood "front row" and then met the band and got our t's autographed afterwards!

^^Leadsinger, Kevin, of Quietdrive rockin out!

^^Brittany, Julia, Victoria, Emily, Mickey, Shane, Kate, Megan, Megan, & Heidi!
we did an 80's bowling night... we got all dressed up in 80's gear and then headed to the bowling alley!
Cara, Nate & I at our cousin Drew's wedding in McCall, Idaho!^^Cara, Me & Nate at Artist Point in Yellowstone ... we spent 4 days there after the wedding!

^^Me & Kate^^
one night at kate's house i decided i wanted to see if her prom dress would fit me... turns out it did... and well the dressing up and picture taking just went from there! :)

Beej, Me and Colin at their going away party before they headed back to california!

^^Me, Shane, Kate, Josh, Aria, & Brittany ^^
these guys came to surprise me after i came back to winona before i even started school! i love em! :) ... and josh just doesn't like having his picture taken hence the rude face!

That's it for now! kinda long i know but it's just a picture summary! there's sooo much more and soo many more pictures! but you get the idea! i'll do my best to keep postin! but i hope you enjoyed the update! later!

Spring Break! (only 3-4 weeks late)

2008-03-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Okay so sorry about the lull in blogging... i have no excuse... i mean i've been "busy" but i've definitely sat around... but who am i kidding... i don't really HAVE to apologize... i just am! so here goes!!

Spring Break 2008:
Saturday March 1st:
Kate and her mom and 2 brothers, evan and ben came to pick me up around 10 to take me and kate up to the cities so we could get on the bus! well this trip was pretty sweet because we got to ride in kate's sweet new minivan... the kind with the swively chairs... so kate and i rode the whole way to the cities backwards!

That's kate and I backwards in the van... see the radio? =)

So once we arrived at the "bus stop" for the "Mega Bus" (the megabus if you don't already know is like a 1st class greyhound but for WAAAY cheap! click the word and check it out online =)) so we hopped on the megabus after loading up our luggage and headed to the 2nd level.. oh did i not mention it's a double decker bus? well it is =) and got settled in for our 7-8 hour bus trip!

Kate and I on the bus... somehow from when we first got in the van to when we started out on the bus... we made it look like we had been traveling for 3 days instead of 2 hours! haha

So the bus left on time at noon and then we stopped at the U to pick up the people at the stop there and then were on our way... we stopped in madison for about 30-45 minutes around 3:30-4ish I think? we stopped at a gas station that had a sign claiming it to be the "Madison Visitor Center" hahaha that was a joke. but it had a subway and a taco bell in it so we ate! and back on the bus we went to arrive in Chicago right infront of union station at 7:25... the exact time they told us we'd get there. it's amazing how on time everything was with this megabus!

So then we wandered down into Union Station to ask someone how to get to the Ogilve train station since that's the one we needed to be taken directly into Crystal Lake. So we got there and got our tickets and had about an hour to kill since our train didn't leave till 8:30. But then we got on the train and my Auntie Deedee picked us up at 9:51 at the Crystal Lake train station and we arrived at her house a few short minutes later! Oh to be in a home again after 12 hours of traveling!

Me & Kate in our green coats on the train! =)

Auntie Deedee and me! She was the bestest "host" we could have asked for!

Wow this will be a long blog huh? shoot. i hope you don't get bored! =/
anyways!

Sunday March 2:

We woke up and got ready and went to church! It was pretty fun too! Did i mention that Jersti and Kale were staying w/Auntie Deedee too? so we had a total of 9 people and 2 dogs in the house? well 9 people don't fit even in the Freemire's big ole suburban so we took 2 cars to church! After church we headed over to Chili's (my first time) for some lunch! Our waiter was behaving like an awkwardly nervous middle school boy so that was entertainment for sure! Then we came home and relaxed and hung out for the afternoon. After dinner we had some fun taking way too many pictures and kate & i helped auntie deedee make some chocolate chip banana cake w/chocolate creamcheese frosting and we decorated her chalkboard wall with a menu for dinner for the rest of the week and a beautiful picture!Kate & Me & our Menu & Picture! =)

Kate & I color accented our purple sweatshirts for our photoshoot =)me, kenzie & kate w/the cake! we got a little excited w/the chocolate chips on top =) haha
me, bailey, kate -- in our purple-ness!

Monday March 3:
Kate & I woke up around 6:30 to drive Molly to school at 6:45 and then came back to get bailey and her friend from the house to drive them to school around 7 and then came back to get kenzie for another trip to her and molly's school to get her there by around 7:25 i think? So back at the house we were around 7:30... so we sat around and chatted w/aunt Deedee and Uncle Scott and ate some breakfast and then showered and got ready for the day! Once we were ready me, kate, auntie deedee, kale & jersti all loaded up into the burb and headed out to shop! we went to target first and that's about all we got done before we went and picked up molly and kenzie from school for their early release at 11! Then we headed to marshall's and this is what happened....

we found some sweet hats, scarves, sunglasses and i found a pretty awesome purse
so we played dress-up! =)

So that night they had youth group at the freemire house so Kate & I said we'd take the younger kids (kale & jersti) to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for the next day's dinner and to get us out of the house! so off we went for an hour long trip to the grocery store for about 10 items! oh the joys of little kids! =) and of course we let them ride the horse b/c it was FREE!!! and then we headed back to the freemires and got them in the bathtub and got em in their pjs... all before youth group was over! =)Jersti on the Horse and kale making sure she's "safe" haha

Kale's turn on the free horse!

Tuesday March 4th:
Alright well... somehow we made it through all of tuesday w/no pictures =( sad i know! but tuesday we... what did we do! shopping... lots of shopping! after of course once again waking up bright and early to take the girls to school and chat with aunt deedee and uncle scott during breakfast =) so yes lots of shopping and then lots of hanging out with the family which was lots of fun =) so sorry... no pictures for tuesday =(

Wednesday March 5th:

Oh do we have pictures for today!! This was the day Kate and I took the train in to downtown Chicago! and that is where we spent the day.... wandering, shopping, tourist-ing, laughing, playing, skipping, you know... all the normal stuff... so here's the pictures! :)

Kate & Me and one of our many pictures at the beans! =)Laying on the ground and holding up the bean w/our feet! =)Kate & I on the Millenium Park sign... obviously =)Some pretty sweet artwork =)Artwork / Giant swing! =)Me & Kate on the Bull!Me & Kate at Ed Debevic's!!

So to get to Ed Debevic's (a delicious diner in Chicago that you must eat at next time you're in Chi-town!) we walked about 4 blocks in the wrong direction and then booked it all the way there so we could eat and get back to catch the 6:01 train! which we did! and so we got back to aunt deedee's and took one last quick shopping trip over to Discovery w/bailey and kenzie!

Thursday March 6th:
We got up and got ready... and then sat around and chatted w/auntie deedee and then she took us to the train station =( and we got on the train and went to union station where we hung out for an hour before getting back on the mega bus to head home... we got into the cities around 8:25 with my dad waiting there to pick us up so home we went!

overall the trip was amazing and kate and i are already planning a 2nd trip for the summer hoping that it'll work out!!! hope you enjoyed reading and seeing all the pictures!!!
there's more to come b/c LOTS has happened w/LOTS of pictures between then and now!!!

COMMENT AWAY!!

Spring Break Preview!

2008-03-08T22:01:00.001-08:00

So sorry it's been about forever since i've posted!! being that it's late and that i'm pooped i'm just going to do a little preview with a promise that i'll post more later!! kate & i left rochester last saturday around 10 AM and arrived safetly at auntie deedee's house around 10PM so we had a LOOONG day of traveling!! we left auntie deedee's around 10 AM on thursday and got back here to rochester around 10PM so another long day of traveling but we had a blast the whole week! auntie deedee and the rest of the fam were wonderful hosts and we couldn't have asked for a better place to stay!! below are just a few pictures from the trip!!! more to come later! promise!! =)

^ in the van on the way up! ^

^ Matching sweatshirts at Auntie Deedee's ^^ at the bean! ^

Public Universities =)

2008-02-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

The Joys of a Public University!
oh there are so many perks to going to a public university! such as this:^^yup. the sign reads "Get Knocked Up" hahaha free condoms for all!! who could want more?!
and then of course there's these awesome buttons that katie, hillary and i had entirely too much fun making! =) the buttons say: "Don't Be Silly, Wrap Your Willy!" "No Glove, No Love!" "If You're Gonna Get Funky, Then Cover Your Monkey!" "No Protection = No Affection!" hahaha our R.A. Lindsey got them from the late night sex talk show with that old lady and found pictures for them! hahahaha

that's all i have for now

and a note on the previous blog... FRIDAY! i get to see soooo many people that i love and miss such as.....
mom, dad, nate, kate (haha they rhyme!), heidi, & josh!!
and i'm SOOOO excited! :D

More Nothing-Ness =)

2008-02-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

So i really have nothing interesting to share but i thought i'd share it anyways! My week really hasn't been that exciting... i'm almost done w/my paper... it's at the "editor" (mom) right now so once i get it back i'll fix everything do the conclusion and get it turned in by 4:30 tomorrow! tonight's going to be just plain awful b/c i have to spend all of it studying for my bio test! i have such high respects for anyone who can understand science b/c other than physics... it is so beyond me!

so for the rest of this week it looks like this...
today: 11-11:50>>math
noon>>lunch w/katie
2-3:50>>college reading and writing
4:00>>study till my brain is fried =(

tomorrow (thursday)
11-12:20 >> business (BORING!)
12:30-1:50>> bio test! =/
2:00 FREEEEEEEDOM!!!!

Friday
11-12:50 math...
1:00 HOME FREE!!!!!!!!!
i'll probably be on my way home by around 2 and i can't wait!!!!
and then if you don't know yet... i get to go to chicago/crystal lake w/my best friend kate over spring break so we'll leave saturday morning for that!!! and trust me... the pictures next week will be endless!!!!

aren't you glad you read this?! haha =) i'm out! class in 10 minutes!

Weekend Update

2008-02-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening already? I can hardly believe it! I'm writing this blog in hopes that when I'm done with it I'll be more motivated to start my 2-3 page paper on electroshock therapy. Sounds hard right? ;) so anywho....

Friday night i went to Jefferson's w/Kellie and Beth which was fun and of course delicious! I got a gyro which i ate entirely too fast but it was still amazing none-the-less! After dinner Kellie and i stopped by the "Smaug" which is the downstairs of our cafeteria that has mock restaurants like a food court (you can get subs/wraps, burgers/fries, itailian, chinese, or mexican) then there's also a little store that has entirely overpriced goodies which is where we went to grab some snacks! Then we came back to my room to watch No Reservations which was really really cute! we both really enjoyed it! then we just hung out till she left around midnight and i went to bed =)

Saturday i was woken up at 10:39 to my phone ringing... incoming call from jaden which i answered and found out that him and katelyn wanted to "come over" today if that was alright. (jaden is one of my good friends from high school who goes to St. Mary's which is the private college here in Winona and katelyn is one of his friends from there who i've met and like to claim as one of my friends also =P ) So i said that was fine but i needed time for a shower thinking they were wanting to come sometime soon. So i got up and showered and got ready for the day and cleaned a little and then sat down to watch an episode of Lost (which i'm becoming completely addicted to btw) so around 2 i get a text from jaden asking if they can come now or soon and i say yes wondering why they weren't here already cuz i thought they'd be over by noon or so! so then i continue watching Lost and around 3 jaden comes bursting into my room (no knock... how rude) with katelyn and becca following (becca is katelyn's roommate) So after plopping on the futon and saying hello jaden immediately says "can we go get a smoothie now?" cuz we have AMAZING smoothies here at Winona and he had heard about them and wanted one... well we walked over to the smaug to get one and just as we were getting close i realized they don't open till 5 on saturdays... oops =) so then we went to mugby for smoothies and just sat and chatted for a while. Then they took off cuz i had to gather my things to babysit which i then went to do around 4:45...

babysitting was actually quite fun! i babysat for Jody who has cut my hair since i was 5 and her friends kids... Jody's kids were Aaron who's 6 and in kindergarten and then Allison who is 8 and in 3rd grade. Then her friends kids were Taylor who is 11 and in 5th grade and Kaitlyn who is 7 and in 2nd grade. They were all perfect angels! me & the girls played "Mall Madness" and did nails and make-up while aaron played video games and ran around. We also played MASH which i haven't played in ages so that was fun! had pizza for dinner =) then put in a movie to go to sleep to. Jody and Mark got home around 11:20 and i headed for "home" back at the dorms...

BORED YET?! =)

so on my way home at a stop light waiting to turn left i see a cop in the rearview mirror so i'm extra careful to go 5 under the speed limit cuz i knew if i tried to go the speedlimit i'd end up going 5 over. So i do this for 2 miles before i turn right on the street i live on. I made sure to come to a complete stop on red before turning right once i was sure it was clear and the cop followed right after me and of course, turned his lights on. "Are you kidding me!?" was my thought since i had been SO careful to do everything right. So i pulled into the conveniently located park parking lot that was right there and he comes up and blah blah blah i had no brake lights. He was really nice about it though. Never told me once to replace them just ran my license and asked me how far i had to go and if i thought i could make it home safely which i thought i could so off i went. =)

and this is the most boring post i've ever written so i'm done.
i'm sorry if you read all of this =(

i'll try to do better with more pictures and less boring details next time!
over and out! =)

Happy Birthday!!! =)

2008-02-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Happy Birthday to my mommy who so kindly brought me into this world and my little cousin Brigitta who was born 40 years later on her 40th birthday! =)

My beatiful momma and me! (and a chicken...haha)

Me & Brigitta =)

Happy birthday to the both of you! i hope you had a wonderful day and i'm sad i wasnt able to celebrate with you!! I love you!! :D

Bball & Church!

2008-02-17T10:54:00.001-08:00

SATURDAY!
Was wonderful! I got to sleep till 11:30 which i of course loved! and then i got up and laid around for a while.. then katie and i headed over to the caf for the ever delicious brunch that they serve on weekends! as we were walking back we realized how beautiful a day it was so we decided we'd walk around the lake! so once we got back to the room... we watched a few episodes of the office as well as the 1st episode of Lost and then we bundled up (b/c although it was beautiful.. it's still minnesota and it's still cold!) and headed around the lake!
After we got back we sat around for a bit more and then headed to grab dinner in the smaug and then came back and showered to head to the basketball game which was AWESOME!! saw a few good dunks, the other team's coach was thrown out, our announcer is a freakin awesome hippie! (as you'll see below!), we dominated (surprising right? haha) so after that we came back to the room and watched another episode of lost and just hung out before hitting the hay =)

SUNDAY
is just beginning... me and shad and katie woke up and headed to pleasant valley church here in winona! it was good (looong) but good =) and now we're all just hanging out in the room and i'm blogging! as for the rest of the day... it will be consumed with reading... "Back in Time" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" ... exciting! nope. i lied. it's not. =( oh well... the weekend's gotta end sometime right?

that's it i suppose! check out the pics! =)

^katie & me before heading to the game^

^our amazing hippie announcer!^

^warriors ballin it up... and yes he made that 3!^

^me, shad, & katie hanging out in the room^

^us 3 girls after church today!^

Valentine's

2008-02-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

So back in the middle of January Katie (my roomie) had said she was going to go home for valentine's day weekend but as it got closer she found out she had no ride and so was stuck here in winona. So as the time got closer we decided we would have our own valentine's date since she couldn't be with her boyfriend and since i didn't have one! ;) haha
Shortly after deciding this she realized she has a night class on thursdays and valentine's day falls on a thursday so we settled for getting a Little Ceaser's Hot'N'Ready and watching the end of survivor w/Hillary... and then studying in the basement- fun right?
Don't you worry though! We made up for it friday! Last night we got ourselves all dolled up... okay actually we just got out of our sweats and actually put some make up on ;) and headed out to eat at the Green Mill! We both got fettucini alfredo, mine plain, hers with chicken and then we split a Brownie Margarita.. which was icecream in a margarita glass with 2 brownie wedges, hot fudge and whipped cream! it was delicious!!
After we finished eating we headed over to the Winona 7 (the movie theater here... and for those of you from rochester... it was so reminiscent of when we had the barclay square and the apache 4... old school style compared to what we have now!) and saw Step Up 2!!
This is just a picture from a scene in the movie... and let me just tell you! i know that for the most part when there's a really good movie and people try to do a sequal, the sequal usually belly flops and no one likes it and everyone says it's awful and blah blah blah blah blah... BUT! for Step Up 2 this is simply not the case!! this movie was amazing!!! i would almost argue for saying that it's better than the first... maybe. they're both amazing! This one definitely had WAY more dancing which i of course appreciated! ;)

So after the movie we headed back to our dorm to join Hillary & Shadia in watching The Office... so so good! And then we couldn't help but popping in Step Up and watching that too before we hit the hay!! =) So overall I'd say my valentine's was pretty decent!!! =)
P.S. I apparently fail at having a camera and taking pictures as of late... cuz we were totally suppose to take pictures last night but completely forgot.... =( sorry!!

Valentine's!

2008-02-13T16:24:00.000-08:00

Sooo tomorrow is valentine's day... and what do you know a little something comes in the mail for me today!!

what's this?! a package for me!? =) what's inside?!
chocolate necco sweethearts!
Dove chocolates!
twizzlers!!
100 calorie packs!
& fake nails!
and of course a cute card!
thanks mom & dad! you're the best!!

As for the rest of the day... pretty normal. My college reading and writing professor, Ozment, kept us and rambled on and on about nothing important =) and my travel writing professor, Cumberland, continued to ramble on about nothing we'd read in her high pictched voice! =) that was fun! Alright I lied, no it wasn't... Math was pretty awesome though... we talked about what was going to be on our test for friday and she let us pick what would be on it and what wouldn't, what kind of test it would be, notes or no notes, all that good stuff, she's awesome! but i think that's about it!! i have a pretty interesing life huh? ;)

My Friends: Emily

2008-02-11T17:03:00.000-08:00

So I decided it would be fun to occasionally dedicate a blog to one of my super cool friends... so this is just the start!!

Meet my friend Emily: I've known emily for quite some time now.. probably since about 3rd or 4th grade? maybe even younger! When we first knew each other... we weren't exactly friends... i really enjoyed playing with barbies and playing dress up and emily really enjoyed destroying barbies and playing soccer! So for a while we had our differences... then in i would say... 8th grade, we realized that although we didn't have many interests in common, our senses of humor were quite similar. We began to hang out and quickly became very good friends! We've had some awesome times together from traveling to st. louis to see papa ralph, going on countless church retreats and camps, watching every episode of one tree hill, riding the golf cart around oronoco (before that yanked the privilege =( ) and things of the like! Emily never ceases to make me smile or laugh and i'm so blessed to have her in my life!! She's an amazing girl and i'm so glad to call her my friend!! I love you emily! :D
(here are a few other pictures of us!)

A Clicker =)

2008-02-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

So apparently i need to do some filling in here on what a clicker is... well below you'll find a picture of one. So a clicker is this really nifty thing that i get to use in my business class cuz i go to such a rad high tech university. (jealous yet? ;)) anyway! for business this is how it goes down... there's about 185 students in the class and at the beginning the prof (Dr. Dan) turns a program on on his computer and we turn our "clickers" on and push "join" which will in turn then mark us in for the class period. (We registered our clickers online which in turn gave us a number, mine is 20 and that's how it corresponds with his master program) Throughout his lectures Dr. Dan will stop and give us a multiple choice questions. To answer we push the respective letter on our clickers that we feel is the correct answer and then hit send and when you've sent it your number on the screen goes from light blue to dark blue so you can tell that it got your answer. After 60 seconds the question "closes" so that no more answers are recieved. Then it checks all the answers and distributes how many people answered which answer and put a green check next to the correct one so you can see right away if you got it right and how many others got it right. It's pretty sweet!

so that's it! I gotta go read before class! =)

oooh! a clicker! ;P

Number 2!

2008-02-07T21:52:00.001-08:00

This will be brief but i figured why not do a quick fill in of the day before i head to bed! =)

I had my first business test today and it was quite the experience... My professor, Dr. Sauers... or "Dr. Dan" as he likes to refer to himself as is a very interesting character! He's about 60 years old and about as loony as they come but is quite funny. I'll see if i can somehow snipe a video of him so you can hear his lovely voice that reaches all different levels! Now this is a lecture course so it's in an auditorium and there are 185 kids in the class. So at the beginning of the exam he gives this huge schpeel on "fill in your ID number here, write your clicker number here and then write it again here in about a size 36 font, i'm talking big here folks!" and all sorts of directions.

When we were done taking the exam we were suppose to raise our hand and then he, or his "assistant" (student helper chick..?) would come to you and you were to first hand them your test booklet and they would check that for your name and clicker number and then your scantron which they would then check to make sure you had properly filled it out. So "Dr. Dan" gets to me and takes my test booklet and checks it over then my scantron and looks at it and exclaims "oh! oh! give me a hug! why can't everyone do it this way!?" and then proceeds to extend his right arm to actually give me a hug! AH! awkward! haha but hilarious none-the-less! so i thought you readers might enjoy that!

oh and this too... he likes to play random music videos at the beginning of class... the other day it was "Stand" by R.E.M. and today it was "Born to Be Wild" by Easy Rider. But seriously watch the "Stand" one... it's hilarious!

That's all for today! I'm going to bed now!! =)

My First Post!

2008-02-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna try this thing since both my sister and my mom do it...
I'm going to assume that if you're reading this you probably already know me, but we all know what assuming does.... so I suppose I can fill in a few of the details of my life for those of you who don't know, and for those of you who do, I guess you can skip this part or just see what you think I'm missing and let me know?

My name is Danae but most of my friends call me Nae. I have an older brother, Nate who is 20 and an older sister, Cara who is 22. I myself am just a little baby at 19. My parents are Kirk & Cheri. And then comes the real babies... my puppies, Maddie and Gabby... both yorkies. and then there's the chickens... yup. chickens... I believe their names are Blanch, Dorothy and oh shoot. I can't remember the other ones name!

I am currently attending Winona State Universtiy in believe it or not, Winona, Minnesota! I graduated from Century High School in June of 2007 which meant I needed to do something with my life and college seemed like a good start ; )

I have 3 roommates, Katie, Shadia and Hillary. We have quite a bit of fun together and enjoy our living space although I am excited to have my own room and a real bed I can just plop down on again this summer! =)

I don't really know what else to tell you right now? I can't promise a posting everyday... or even every other day. Once a week will be a stretch. But I guess we'll just wait and see how it goes. Oh and I tend to type like I talk because I feel as though I am talking to whoever is reading this, so if my sentences aren't perfectly structured, I'm sorry, but my talking isn't all that great either! =) And this will probably be one of the only posts that I actually capitalize my "I"'s in... I tend to forget to do that and had to backspace almost everytime I typed "I" in this post... I want to leave you with a good first impression!

Well that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a real blog!