Weekend Update

So, I meant to post more "Sunday night funnies" last night, but I accidently fell asleep at 6:00pm and only woke up for a little window around 11:00 before falling back asleep for the night. Guess I was tired. So I'll skip the tweet highlights for last week, and just tell you a little about my weekend! This weekend wasn't as busy as last weekend in some ways, though it gained momentum as it went.

1. On Saturday, I introduced a good friend to the joy of hooping. I've mentioned how much  I love hula hooping these days, right? I've made about 5 or 6 hula hoops this month, for myself and friends, and it is my newest favorite way to exercise. Anyway, since Sarah is a regular work out buddy, I needed her to get on board with hooping! So she came over Saturday to get her hoop on (yeah, I just said that).

I warned her that the hoop will leave a mark on one or both hip bones at first but that the body will toughen up over time. She sent me a text later in the day with this picture:

Ouch!

2. I saw my friend Liz graduate with her master's degree! I tried to zoom in on her from my nosebleed seats and it was a complete bomb, so here is a close up too. Congratulations, Liz!

She's the one in the graduation cap and blue gown.

 

 3. I got to see my friend Kara, who was in town for her graduation as well! She graduated from the University of Michigan with a PhD in chemistry. (Why are so many of my friends way smarter than me?) It was so great to see her and catch up. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of Kara when we hung out, but she looks something like this: 

4. I spoke at church on Sunday. This went fine, but I forgot to throw in that quote from Ace Ventura that I mentioned in a recent post: "Pride is an abomination. One must forego the self to obtain total spiritual creaminess, and avoid the chewy chunks of degradation." My talk was based on the Conference talk "The Laborers in the Vineyard," by Jeffrey R. Holland. It's an amazing talk (his, not mine), so if you haven't read it, I'd recommend it!  

Besides these bigger events, I had smaller events that made me happy too. I went out to dinner with one of my sisters (and then to Dairy Queen, which I pretty much love lately), I caught up with a bunch of friends, and I slept to my heart's content (try not to be too jealous, parents of young children). 

How was your weekend?

Wednesday Thoughts

When you're trying to watch what you eat, you start noticing certain patterns. Like that you eat when you're bored, or when you're sad, and when you're hungry. You know, things like that. Eating my emotions is one of my biggest temptations and because of that I've learned a lot about which emotion brings on which cravings. So much so that I even made up a little menu for my new restaurant: Eat your emotions! There are no prices on the menu because the price is the same for each item: regret.

In other thoughts, I'm having kind of a weird week. I keep accidentally falling asleep at 7:00pm which is pretty much the worst time to take a nap. Last night I changed into my workout clothes at 7:00, laid down on my bed "for five minutes" and woke up at 9:15. What the? I think my allergies are acting up or something (oh wait - is it still uncool to have allergies, or was that just a 90's thing?).

I'm also having a weird week because I was exposed to a song called "3 Second Rule," which you should only listen to if our friendship is strong enough for you not to hate me when you hear it. It's worse than Rebecca Black's "Friday." Here's a link, but remember my warning. I don't know how anyone allowed this to happen. Or why I've listened to it all the way through four times.

Now I'll leave you with the funniest image I've seen this week (I take no credit for it - I don't know who made it):

Happy Wednesday! 

Weekend Instagram Roundup

A super fun weekend like the one I just had deserves to be documented. I mean, I saw a lamb AND a Mason in the same weekend. Pretty sure that's a first for me. But hopefully not a last (actually I guess I'd be fine if it were the last since it's a pretty strange combo).

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from Friday night, which was a girls night with Erin and Katherine. We ate pizza, made cookies, hula hooped, talked about cute guys, and watched the most classic of chick flicks: Ace Ventura II: When Nature Calls. (That is a chick flick, right?) I hadn't seen that movie in years and I laughed a lot more than I care to admit. But how could I not with lines like this:

"Pride is an abomination. One must forego the self to obtain total spiritual creaminess, and avoid the chewy chunks of degradation." - Ace

I'm speaking at church next week. Should I find a way to fit that quote in?

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some instagrams from the weekend but instead of explaining them as I go, I'll just tell you about them now and then you can scroll at your leisure, without the burden of words to slow you down.

1. On Saturday, I went with a group of friends to Greenfield Village, where we saw several baby lambs on the farm! We discussed smuggling one out in one of our purses, but none of us had enough space for a whole baby lamb. So sad. They were adorable times three.

2. As always, we stopped in Edison's laboratory, which was brought to Greenfield Village from Menlo Park, New Jersey. That chair that's nailed to the ground is where Edison sat for the Light's Golden Jubilee in 1929. Pretty cool, huh?

3. My friend Erin insisted requested that we ride the 99 year old carousel which turned out to be a pretty amusing experience. There was a long list of rules upon entering and while some were obvious, one caught us off guard: "Remember to stay within in the limits of your ability." Hm. Ok.

4. Ben wanted to ride the frog, which we were originally informed was insured for $250,000! But when he sat down on it, he was told he was sitting on half a million dollars. Apparently carousel frogs are extremely rare. Who knew? I rode a boar, in case you were wondering. The carousel ride was really fun but I almost slid off the boar I was riding when I took a few pictures and lost focus. I guess I wasn't staying within the limits of my abilities.
 
5. I have sort of a silly tradition with Erin and Katherine of taking pictures of them without them realizing it - not in a creepy way through windows or anything - just across the room when we're hanging out. Then I send them the picture and write, "I seen you." Just to be extra weird about it. You guys, I'm not creepy. It's just a joke, I promise. They love it. Anyway, they've gotten in on it too, and this was a picture Katherine sent to Erin and me later that day that she had taken of us walking, unawares.

6. At Greenfield Village, there's a pond with a covered bridge over it. It's so quaint! In the pond, we noticed a ton of koi swimming around. You can sort of see them in the lower left hand side of this picture.

7 &8. Later I met up with some other friends - Sara and Sarah - and we ate at a place called Honest Johns. Is John really honest? There's no way of knowing. Especially based on this sign inside the restaurant.

9. After dinner, Sarah and Sara and I headed over to the Masonic Temple to see a roller derby match. Across the street from the Masonic Temple is Cass Park, where all the playground equipment is tires. Seems fitting for Detroit, huh?

10. The roller derby was a blast. If you've never been to a roller derby match, I'd have to recommend it. Those girls are fierce. They all go by names like, "Misty Struction," "Eight Mile Rose," and "Honey Suckit." Here Sarah and I are pictured  with Daya the Dead. (She was super sweet, by the way.)

At one point during the match, Sara and I snuck out to get some snacks and decided to explore the Masonic Temple a little bit, which is rumored to be haunted. We didn't see any ghosts, but we did see a Mason (not quite the same). A cotillion was being held in the building at the same time, and Sara and I really wanted to sneak into it (or at least peek into), but we couldn't find it. So sad.

Ok, I've talked enough. Time for pictures.

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What would your name be if you were on a roller derby team?

Sunday Night Funnies

Grrrrr! Blogger has a new format and I don't know how to do it! Change is no bueno when it comes to formats we're comfortable with, as is evidenced by the screaming protests that show up in my news feed whenever Facebook changes. You would think switching to "Timeline" was a bigger deal to some people than...... hmmm.... world hunger seems like a good go-to for something that makes Timeline seem like a silly thing to worry about. But you know what I mean.

In conclusion, Blogger changed and I'm confused. For example, this is a private email I'm writing right now,  but somehow I'm afraid I'm going to post it to my blog. So like I was telling you, Mom, that guy I like's name is....

Wait a second, I think this is a blogging box... I get it now. Never mind. So anyway, since it's Sunday night again, I thought I'd share with you all some of my favorite Tweets from this week. Just to make Sunday evenings a little less "grrrrr." It's what I'm here for.

I'm sorry Megan Amram is featured three times here but that girl is seriously hilarious. It had to be done. Do you have a favorite? I hope at least one made you laugh!

Wednesday Thoughts

1. Monday was Kareem Abdul Jabbar's birthday. Guess how old he is?

WRONG!

He's 65. Yeah, my jaw dropped too. Seems like just yesterday he was playing basketball with Jesse Katsopolis! Which, of course, is my favorite Kareem Abdul Jabbar moment:

Guest star!

It's also Miguel Cabrera's birthday today. Happy birthday, Miggy!

2. In other thoughts, a close guy friend of mine recently told me a story that seriously blew my mind. It was about a girl who he's known for awhile from school. They're friendly with each other and run into each other after classes but they don't hang out at all, or spend much time together. Recently when they were talking, she said, "I have a question for you." When he said ok, she said, "Why don't you take a chance on me?"

{Insert mind being blown sound effects here.}

When he told me this story, all I could think was: "that girl is my hero."

Have any of you ever done anything like that? How did it work out?

3. It's spring and it's getting so pretty here in Michigan. The tulips, daffodils, and blossoms are all blooming now and the air smells so pretty. Like cut grass and flowers. Here are a few instagrams from this week (I had to include one of my cousin's adorable puppy):

4. I keep hearing about this new boy band, One Direction. I just heard one of their songs yesterday, and yeah, it was ok. But come on. NO boy bands can beat OUR boy bands - you know the ones I'm talking about - N'SYNC, BSB, NKOTB. Yesterday I saw a great list of 63 ways boy bands were better in the 90's. If you want to be highly amused (and embarrassed), check it out here (link). Here's a sneak preview of what you're in for:

Happy Wednesday.

Sunday Night Funnies

I have that Sunday night feeling. That, "here we go - another week.... I can do this..." feeling. Not to be too negative - I mean, I'm sure this will be a great week. Nevertheless, that Sunday night feeling is one of the more unpleasant parts of the weekend.

Some symptoms of the Sunday night blahs are:

• slumped shoulders
• alarm clock dread
• resolutions to eat better that we did over the weekend
• plans to work out every day
• resolution exhaustion

So to get the week started out right, I thought I'd share with you some Tweets that have made me laugh recently. Laughing is usually the best cure for the blahs. If you enjoy these, there's more where they came from. Twitter is a constant source of amusement for me!

Have a wonderful week! I hope these helped with some of your Sunday night feelings and that you are mostly symptom free now.

1,000!

This is my 1,000th blog post! Anniversaries like this call for reflection. I thought about posting my top ten favorite posts, but I already have a list like that on the left under the heading of "Highlight Reel." I tried to go back further for some older posts, but let's face it, 1,000 posts is a lot so I scrapped that idea.

We've been through a lot these past four years, since I started my blog on June 4, 2008. Remember 2008? The Beijing Olympics? A merman named Michael Phelps? The presidential election when Obama ran against a Republican candidate and Tina Fey looked like Sarah Palin? The Jonas Brother song "Burnin Up" was number 66 on the top 100 songs of 2008, and so much more, I assume. (I googled stuff about 2008 because who can even remember anymore.)

Through these past four years, my blog has had certain themes. I decided to do some searches to see how often I posted on some of my favorite topics. So here they are, along with the number of times they've been mentioned on here:

Dating 148 - always vague, no specifics! That's my blogging philosophy on dating. So I'm sorry, but even with that little teaser in the previous post, I can't tell you who my secret crush is. ;)

Grandma 33 - my grandma is wonderful and hilarious. She recently asked me if she's too bossy. I, of course, said no. I'm on the phone with her as we speak and she's talking about plans for when she dies. She mentioned it right after she told me what she had for dinner.

Candy 41 - kind of surprised I've talked about candy this much. It is pretty good though, you have to admit.

Michigan 108 - Michigan is beautiful and awesome. That is all. Other states are pretty good too though.

The Brady Bunch 12 - see, this is why I can't read back over 1,000 posts. I get too embarrassed by the things I've blogged about. I didn't dare do a search on "Full House." Too risky.

Swine flu 11 - remember the swine flu and how we were all going to die of it? We made it, you guys! Well, most of us.

Snuggies 27 - confession: I own two Snuggies and I don't use either of them ever. I guess I just liked the idea. The infomercial sold me. Does anyone use their Snuggie?

Facebook 50 - I guess I've kinda blogged about Facebook a lot - including "Some simple Facebook rules" which I still want to enforce.

Ludington 24 - Ludington is a magical place in northern Michigan where my family has been vacationing since I was a kid. Between the lighthouses, the quaint downtown, and the beautiful landscape, I can hardly think of a place I like more.

TV 29 - kinda surprised I've only talked about TV 29 times on here, not gonna lie. I watch more tv than that.

Books 133 - yeaaaahhhhh, I read wayyy more than I watch tv (not true). I do like reading though. In fact, in third grade I was one of three winners in a reading competition. Our reward was to go to McDonalds for lunch with our teacher. Pretty much one of the best days of my life, hands down.

Music 53 - I love music. Mostly rock, but some rockabilly (no idea what that is, actually, just wanted to say rockabilly). I like a little of everything. I just put together an awesome playlist for hooping. In case you were wondering what the best hooping song is, it's Groove is in the Heart.

NPR 19 - I've talked about NPR 19 times on my blog? I have no idea what I said about it. I do listen to it a lot though, until I get bored or mad. Then I take a few days off and go back for more.

Christmas 56, Halloween 54 - I love holidays so much. I love the scariness of Halloween, the crisp Michigan weather, the pumpkins, etc. I love the cinnamon-yness of Christmas, the family time, the cookies, the religious meaning, etc. Holidays are the best.

Nieces and nephews 85 - yep, I love them all a ton.

Greenfield Village 12 - a super fun historical village adjacent to the Henry Ford museum. As most of you know, one of my favorite things to do in the summer is go to olde timey baseball games at Greenfield Village, where they follow 1860's rules, wear spats, follow strict rules of no swearing or spitting, and tip their hats to the train whenever it goes by. It makes me feel like Anne of Green Gables, if she'd gone to a baseball game with Gil. (Sigh. Gil!)

Sarah and me with some of the players
(we both have a crush on the one on the right.)

So there you have it. Some of my favorite topics for the past 1,000 posts. Thanks so much for your comments, your readership, your support, your friendship, and your spam (can't leave anyone out). No but really, blogging has been a huge blessing in my life and a big part of that is because it connects me with fun and interesting people, helping me get to know you better and even introducing me to some really great people I wouldn't have otherwise known.

I hope you'll stick around for the next 1,000. I promise I'll try to blog less about the Brady Bunch (I'll try).

The post after this

source

My next post will be my 1,000th post! Hard to believe. Though considering how much I talk, I guess it's not shocking that I've already written 1,000 blog posts. That's nothing compared to how many words I speak in a day. Or an hour.

I feel that in honor of my 1,000th post, I need to do something special. But what? I've come up with a few ideas - let me know which you think would be best! Or if you can think of something better!

• Eat 1,000 jellybeans.
• Hula hoop 1,000 times.
• Hula hoop and eat jellybeans at the same time (that was my coworker, Justin's idea).
• Post some really embarrassing pictures of me (I'd be taking some of you down with me in the process since you're in some of these pictures - keep that in mind).
• Tell you 1,000 things about me.
• Spend the night in a haunted house.
• Tell you about my secret crush.
• Do a give-away.
• Send you all a postcard (but I've done that before).
• Legally change my name to the highest corporate bidder.
• Move to where ever my finger lands on the globe after spinning it with my eyes closed.
• Write a post with exactly 1,000 words. 
• Choose my top ten favorite posts and explain why.
• Come up with a five year plan (this is completely unrelated to my blog, but is something I should probably do).

So what do you think? How should I celebrate my 1,000th post?

Wednesday Thoughts

Yesterday I saw a "news" story I could get behind (no pun intended). A plastic surgeon was being interviewed about what the most popular procedure is at his practice and his answer was butt implants. I was pretty excited about this since this is one thing I don't need a plastic surgeon's help with. Finally I can stop working out! (Kidding.)

I was telling this story to my sister, Katherine, last night, and next thing I know, I get a notification from Twitter that she mentioned me in a tweet:

Looks like I need to be more careful what I say.

While we're on the subject of working out, I have been really into hula hooping lately. It's not quite as embarrassing as it sounds (that's what I tell myself). These aren't the hula hoops from your childhood - you make them from irrigation tubing and they're pretty large. Besides my own, I made hoops for one of my sisters and a friend and we got together today after work to "hoop." Or as my friend referred to it, "Hoop Group."

I have not only been enjoying the actual sport of hooping, but I've also enjoyed acting like a total nerd about hooping, first by calling it "hooping," which is just silly. Second by telling my sister I have "hoop dreams" (to which she responded, "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that"), and third by working on hoop tricks. The whole thing is embarrassing slash awesome.

And it's really a good workout! It's kinda like belly dancing. Today we worked out in our church building because it was too cold to hoop outside. After normal hula hooping for a half hour, we started rolling the hoops down the gym and running through them (the record was five times through on one roll).

Try not to be too jealous.

Here's a picture of my friend and me hooping.

As close as I was willing to have a picture taken.

If you want in on hoop group, let me know. It's a really good workout and super fun. Here's a picture of my other sister excitedly realizing she can hoop with an adult sized hula hoop on Sunday. (Sorry, Heather - but this picture is too good!):

Happy Wednesday.

Easter

Thanks for your help in choosing which dessert to make for Easter! In case you were wondering which one I ended up making, wait no further:

The strawberry cake! And it was so good - especially the frosting. The dessert table at my family's Easter dinner was overflowing: flour-less chocolate torte with strawberries, Oreo delight (a family favorite), and pineapple upside down cake with whipped cream. Needless to say, we're all wearing our fat pants today.

After dinner we held our annual Peep diorama competition! This was the year my 13 year old nephew realized that "diorama" sounds a lot like "diarrhea." So needless to say, he had some fun with that. We all worked hard on our dioramas and they came out great, if I do say so myself! Spoiler alert: I did not win. Yet again. Even though my talented  7 year old niece assisted me in making my diorama! So as you can see, the system is flawed.

I decided to go with a timely theme: the 2012 presidential election. I downloaded "Hail to the Chief" and had it playing during the judging. (And yet I still didn't win! What the!?) Here are a couple pictures:

Bipartisan Peep Show

Close up on the candidates!

Here are some of the other dioramas for your viewing pleasure:

What About Bob Peep! (clip from movie)

There is a Peep inside holding up a sign that says, "Why?"

My nephew's diorama (first place winner).

Other nephew with his "proud face" on. His first diorama!

The Hunger Games!

Sumo wrestling.... I'm pretty sure.

Rapunzel!

As you can see, we had a lot of awesome entries this year! Sadly, not all are pictured in this post but that doesn't mean they weren't amazing. It was a somewhat chaotic time and the photographer just missed a few. Here are a few more pictures of the happy day:

My immediate family. Good looking group, huh?

My nephew, holding up his entry number. He was so proud!

Some of us non-winners holding up our participant awards (Peep erasers)

All in all, it was a wonderful Easter. And I didn't even get to mention how wonderful the church program was! But I will say the day was a perfect combination of holy, fun, and delicious. But not all at once. I hope you had a great Easter too!

Delicious Decision

I need your help. I'm trying to come up with a good dessert to bring to Easter dinner on Sunday. Several people in my family are allergic to chocolate so I'm leaning towards a non-chocolate dessert (mine won't be the only dessert there). But I can't choose between these delicious looking recipes! Which do you think looks best? I'll link to the original recipe in case you want to try it yourself.

Vanilla cake with strawberry cream frosting

Coconut Cloud Cake

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Coconut Milk Cake

Lemonade Layer Cake

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Which looks the yummiest?

Wednesday Thoughts

It's Wednesday! Woo-hoo, almost to Friday (ish). Right? Kinda? Today my heart is in all kinds of disrepair, ranging from broken to melted. 

What's breaking my heart:

Tomorrow is Opening Day for the Tigers and I won't be there. (On the plus side: baseball season is starting again!)

What's melting my heart:

This website about "Puppy's that could use some help"

Here are a few of my favorites:

A baby eating a puppy!

A monkey carrying a puppy!

A puppy in a baby swing!

A puppy in a cookie jar!

Two puppies stuck in gates!

One thing's for sure: I need more puppies and babies in my life.

In other thoughts today: 

*I'm plotting away to win this year's Easter Peep Diorama Family Competition! I'm trying to come up with something better than last year's. I have something up my sleeve but I can't reveal it yet. 

*I started playing Draw Something which is kinda like Pictionary but with smart phones. I stink at it. My drawing skills are sub par at best. Here's proof:

Bigfoot.

Superman.

But if you want to play with me, my user name is elizabethdownie. I bet YOU would've been able to guess my drawing of Snookie, unlike the person I was playing against. Hello! Bump-its! So obvious.

Anyway....

Happy Wednesday!