Wednesday Thoughts- vacation edition

My thoughts this Wednesday are very different from my non-vacation Wednesday thoughts. Here's a sample of the thoughts typically going through my mind this week:

Which should I do next, take a nap or go to the beach?
Should I have an ice cream cone at the beach, or save my appetite for smores later?
Why do I worry about so much when I'm not on vacation?
Am I tan, or have all my freckles just converged together?
How did my nieces and nephews get so dang cute?

I am in a total vacation mindset. I no longer answer to just Elizabeth, I also answer to Salibis, as my four year old niece calls me, Wibis, as my three year old nephew calls me, and Lizzy, as my uncle calls me.

My schedule consists of any combination of the following things: laying in bed reading, going on bike rides, watching the sun set (as evidenced in this picture taken from the porch a couple nights ago), going to the beach, going out to eat, and/or playing with my nieces and nephews. Not a bad schedule, huh?

Tonight I'm going on a canoe tour after going out to eat with my sisters. Life's rough, huh?

Summer lovin...

Is it too late for a summer romance? I'm heading up north this weekend and just like last year, I think I'm going to look for a summer fling while I'm on my vacation. Last year I had mild success, but I didn't really put my heart into it. As far as I see it, these are the rules for summer romance:

1.) We have to meet by chance on the beach or at the local carnival/fair.
2.) It has to be destined not to work out because we come from different worlds.
3.) At first we won't like each other because we think we're too different, but after some zany mishaps, we'll realize we're in love.
4.) We'll have a heartfelt goodbye at the end of the week and vow to write. (But we won't...although we will most likely become facebook friends.)
5.) He'll show up at my high school and I'll change my whole personality to make it work. (Wait...I might be getting this one mixed up with a movie...)

Think it'll work?

UPDATE: Some friends have been giving me a hard time about this post, so I thought I should add that it's a joke! (...Or is it?)

Wednesday Thoughts

I find myself from time to time feeling very passionately about things that, honestly, I know don't really matter. But every now and then it just feels crucial to make a decision on these things, even though no one but myself really cares. Actually, that's not true. Some of you care - I know this because I've talked to some of you about these things.

I thought it would be a good idea (or should I just say "an idea"?) to get these out there. If you think I chose wrongly in some of these debates, I'd be happy to hear your argument.

The Great Debates:

Who was the best boyfriend for Rory on Gilmore Girls?

1. Dean (by far the best, in my opinion! Love Dean! But I hate when he cheated on his wife...)
2. Jess (hot, but no good for Rory, and a punk to Lorelei.)
3. Logan (booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!)

Mac vs. PC

I don't know which computer is better, but I know which group thinks they're better.

Who's the funniest character on Arrested Development?

This is a really hard one. I think this is where I've landed on this one:

Funniest: G.O.B.
2nd place: Tobias

But I can never decide between those two. And sometimes either Gangy or Buster try to move up into the top spot. Any opinions?

Which is freakier: claymation or optical illusions?

Conclusion: They're both terrifying.

Summer Mix!

I'm heading up north this weekend for my annual Lake Michigan summer retreat! I'm way excited to have a week off of work to devote to the beach, hiking, napping, and general summer fun. But one thing I really need to work on before leaving is making a summer mix tape (or CD, as the case may be). This is were you come in. I need suggestions for a great summer playlist!

They don't have to be songs about summer (if I see one Jimmy Buffet song...Although I will accept the Beach Boys) - just fun songs you in some way associate with summer for whatever reason. Here are a few I've thought of:

Will Smith Summertime (obvious)
Cheap Trick I want you to want me
Van Morrison Brown Eyed Girl
Def Leppard Pour Some Sugar on Me
Badfinger No Matter What
Josh Turner Would you go with me
Eric Hutchinson Rock & Roll

Any others? These songs are not necessarily my "favorite" songs, by the way, so you can stop judging now.

And I quote...

If you're on the fence about our friendship, you might not want to check this out. But if you think our friendship can survive it, you should check out my sister's blog. She decided to post a bunch of quotes from me from over the years and it is semi entertaining. Well it was for me anyway, but then again, I'm extremely vain.

Wednesday Thoughts

Something has been happening to me lately that I'm quite uncomfortable with. Lately when I come across pictures of winter scenes, I've been feeling a bit nostalgic. This has caught me completely off guard. I mean, what is wrong with me!? Do I secretly like winter!? What kind of sicko likes winter!? Not me. No. I refuse to believe it. I love summer. I'm so confused.

Moving on. I've been back from my trip for a couple days now and looking back, I learned a bit about myself on this trip. Here are a few things I learned:

1.) I'm actually a little nervous about flying. I never used to be scared of it and I'm not sure why I suddenly am. I hope it's a phase. It might have come from watching Lost too much.
2.) Weddings + single women = bad decisions. I'd rather not elaborate.
3.) I have more Michigan pride than I realized.
4.) Del Taco + sushi = regrets.

Ok, here's one more Wednesday thought, and in typical Wednesday Thought fashion, it is completely unrelated to the two previous ones. It's actually less of a thought, and more of a video. Chris sent it to me and it's too good not to share. You can thank me later!



Chris promised me that it's not a gateway drug to becoming a fan of t.A.T.u. I hope he's right.

I'm baaaaa-aaack!

Should I blog about my trip to Utah? I'm not good at that kind of writing - I've tried and I'm never make my trips or experiences sound as interesting as they actually were. But I had such a great time that I think I'm going to write a little bit about it. The trip was wonderful and I got to see such good friends! Here are a few of the highlights:


This is a picture of me with Diane and her new baby, Shayla. I have only seen Diane once or twice since we were missionaries together all those years ago. But we were able to pick up where we left off right away and it felt like no time had passed! It was so great to see her.



After visiting with Diane and her family, I met up with Priscilla and hers! Priscilla is another friend I haven't seen in about ten years, and just as with Diane, it felt like no time had passed. Well, except for the fact that in that time she's had four kids! Her family was so nice and cute - and don't even get me started on Zipper, their dog (tooo cute!). I'm so glad they drove down to meet up with me! I had a great time with them.


Emily! I was so excited to see Emily. I have missed her so much since she abandoned us last fall! We had a great time together. Adventures include: finding a "wild side" Snuggie, four wheeling in the mountains and along the lake (wow), getting pulled over for riding in the back of a truck, and absolutely cracking up at the most ridiculous greeting cards you'd ever see. I miss her already!

Christi got married!!! I am so happy for her. I've never seen her this happy, and she and Lorin are obviously in love. I'm glad I got to see her and be a part of this special occassion. Lorin got on my good side right away by taking me to Cafe Rio. Wow. It lived up to the hype!!


Another special visit on this trip was with Malissa! After not having seen her for a year, it was wonderful to see her again. It made me miss her more though! She's doing really well, for those of you who know her.


This is the view from Kelly's window. I thought Springville was gorgeous - it was one of my favorite places.


I can't leave out the dogs I met this week. The dog on top is Zipper, Priscilla's dog, and the dog on the bottom is Lily, Kelly's dog. Lily has a much longer tongue than you would expect. I learned that the hard way.

Wednesday Thoughts

I'm flying out today for Christi's wedding and I am way excited. But... I've had some issues with packing. My issue is: how many hair irons can I pack before I'm considered high maintenance? I have curling irons of various sizes, and the same goes for flat irons. Plus, there's shoes, clothes, hair products...I have limited myself to one suitcase though so I don't think I can truly be considered high maintenance...right?

See you next week!

Laffy Taffy

Do you guys remember Laffy Taffy? Each package has two jokes written on it and they are usually written by 8 yr olds, or at least it seems that way. Well, this afternoon, we all decided to dip into Kathy's candy jar (since her desk is closest to the window, she has by default taken on secretary responsibilites, which she [correctly] assumes means bringing in a candy jar). We all read our jokes out loud and it led to some pretty amusing conversations. Here are a few:

Joke #1
E: What is a fat ape?

J: A grape? Oh no wait...I don't know.

E: A chunky monkey.

J: That's my favorite kind of ice cream.

Joke #2
E: What's black and white and has 16 wheels?

J: Does this have something to do with spiders?

E: No. A zebra with rollerskates.

J: I don't get it.


Joke #3
A: How do you make an orange laugh?

E: Does it have to do with peeling?

A: No. It's disturbing.

J: Take out it's seeds?

A: No. It makes me really angry, actually.

(thinking)

K: Tickle it's naval!!!

J: Dang it! Kathy's winning.

(I asked Ann later why that joke made her so mad and she said it was too PG-13 for Laffy Taffy, in her opinion.)

Joke #4
K: Where do really smart hot dogs go?

E: Does it have to do with the Ivy League?

K: No!

J: Does it have to do with taco shells?

K: What does that have to do with hot dogs?

J: You know, thinking outside the bun...

E: Someone's been going to Taco Bell too much.

(much, much later, after many wrong guesses)

E: Is it obvious?

K: Well, I thought it was. I knew it before I read it.

E/J: Oh dang. Someone thinks they're pretty smart.

(thinking harder)

E/J: We give up.

K: The honor roll.

E: Dang it! I was thinking honor bun!!

J: I couldn't even come up with roll! (Much self loathing in this statement.)

Hopefully these conversations entertained you as much as they entertained me!

Monday!

The only reason I'm posting today is because I'm so sick of looking at that flag/eagle picture from my previous post! Not that I'm not patriotic, don't get me wrong. I'm as patriotic as the next guy. In fact, I'm the one who started the "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" chant at both bbqs I went to on Saturday.

Speaking of which, did you guys have a good Fourth of July weekend? I had a really good one - busy but good. Here are the highlights (in case you care, which I assume you do since you're reading this):

*Fireworks Friday night in Manchester! Katherine and I organized a big group and we had a blast. During the fireworks, Brian kept us laughing with thoughts like:

"I wish they'd invent a firework that shot out of the earth's atmosphere and exploded when it reached another planet."

and

"They should invent a firework that shoots fish out of it." (Gross!)

Oh, another funny moment was when Brian's sparkler broke and was shooting out sparks at surrounding bi-standers. We yelled at him to drop it, which he did, but couldn't stomp it out because he had no shoes on. Good times. (Eventually someone else stomped it out.)

Other weekend highlights

* For now, I remain the favorite aunt of my niece Samantha! (Sorry, Katherine.) We'll see how long this lasts. I've learned the hard way that nieces and nephews can be fickle. For now though, I'm loving it. She was attached to my hip most of the day Saturday.
* I went to two family bbqs on Saturday.
* Did some other stuff that's noyb, no offense.
* Was accused of being a cougar by someone who's trying to turn me into one (what's an acceptable age difference for dating again? ha ha)!
* Had another bbq on Sunday with my favorite Arab family.
* Saw a lot of fireflies.
* Watched my dad light sparklers with a blow torch.

So, that was my weekend, for the most part. Ok, this isn't my best post, I'll admit. But at least I got rid of that flag/eagle picture, right? Oops, what I meant to say was,

USA! USA! USA!

Anniversary: I was framed.

Some of you may recall that today is the anniversary of a day many many years ago when my friend Kristin and I had...an incident, shall we say. Here's a link to the story. And here's Kristin's, along with her follow up post.I'm sticking by my version! A "happy anniversary" post on my facebook wall tells me the incident only made my and Kristin's friendship stronger. Whenever she sees the scar from the curling iron, it brings back fond memories. That's what she told me, anyway.

Happy Independence Day!

There I fixed it

Next to the failblog, this website is my new favorite time waster (thanks Chris): There, I fixed it. If you check this out, you'll have to let me know what your favorite is. I love the Jiffy Pop smoke alarm and the windshield defroster!

Wednesday Thoughts

I'm trying to break myself of the habit of using too many emoticons. That and writing "lol" whenever I feel the need to assure the reader I'm kidding. I used to think "lol" was so lame but somehow I started using it and now I can't stop. I've turned into a 13 year old girl. And I'm definitely not "lol-ing" as often as I write it.

It's like I've lost all faith in my reader that he/she will know when I'm kidding (lol), when I'm figuratively winking ;), or smiling :), or sad :(. I'm a bit nervous about ridding myself of my trusty emoticons, but I think I'm going to throw caution to the wind and go for it. (And here's a good rule: if you're not sure whether or not I'm joking, I probably am.)

Anyway, in other thoughts, the poll for "is it ok to argue on a first date?" is over, and the results are:

Yes 6
No 2
Depends 13
Absolutely 3

I must say, three of you said absolutely!? I feel like there's a story behind that vote, and if there is, I want to hear it.

Those are really all the thoughts I have so far today.

Happy Wednesday.