Tagerino

My former roomie Midge tagged me. So here we go:

4 places I go over and over again:
*this is hard for me as I have been TOTALLY out of my routine since school ended and moving...
so I will predict the future
my sister Kim's house
my sister Andrea's house
my sister Kristi's house
my sister Jill's house


4 people who e-mail me regularly:
Rachel (my grad school buddy)
my Aunt Donna-Fay
my family
my bank


4 places I would rather be right now:
Target
my bed
Hawaii
Sonic :)


4 people I talk to on a regular basis:
Rachel (my grad school buddy)
Alisa (my former Vegas roomie)
my family
myself :)


4 favorite places to eat:
Sonic
Chipotle
Chick-fil-A
Pei Wei (I have only eaten there once but it was SOO good I want to eat there every day!)


4 shows I would watch over & over:
Alias
the Office
Arrested Development
Malcolm in the Middle

What a trip.

10 states and 2 provinces. Here are some of the highlights:

We ate at Whitecastle. I have heard about it and finally got to experience their sliders (mini burgers). They were soggy/greasy and left a nasty aftertaste. PLEASE ignore my pointy chin and my hair that looks super greasy (I promise I showered that morning). I was trying to be IN the picture- my photographer didn't tell me I wasn't and looked nasty. She's fired.

This crazy white car followed us the WHOLE way home. We were finally able to lose them in Saskatchewan but they seemed to always find us when we stopped for gas.

A nice person pointed out my soon to be flat tire while we were cruising down the highway. We found a gas station- put some air in it and found a repair place. Here is my family waiting for my tire to be repaired. Aren't they cool?

This is the nice man repairing my tire. But then he found another hole that couldn't be repaired so he found another place that had a tire for my car. So we drove there...

And Kristi got to continue reading her magazine.

We were on the search for a hotel north of Chicago and took an exit that apparently wouldn't let you back on the highway. So the next day we took back roads. But after not finding the road we were looking for we decided to ask this nice lady for directions. She was taking her cat for a walk in a stroller. yup. Cat. in a stroller. Weird.

Whenever I looked to my right, this is what I saw. So I just kept my eyes on the road and all was well. :)

We passed a Sonic after my flat tire. I was kicking myself the whole time as I was sure it was the only one along our route. But tis not so- Minnesota apparently just got their first Sonic. And I think the whole state came to partake of its goodness. There was a police officer directing traffic. We had to go to a parking lot down the street.

Where we had a Sonic sign placed on our windshield.

And there we sat until it was our turn. Mmmmmm. Sonic. So good.

My car reached 100000 km's (60000 miles) a few miles south of Bowbells, North Dakota. We celebrated by pulling over to take some pictures (my sister has them on her camera) and ate a mini snickers.

It was a miracle that they let me and all my stuff across the border. I just had to list everything I had with me and what it was worth.

The highlight of Saskatchewan was seeing the site where Corner Gas is filmed. The rest of Saskatchewan was

b-o-r-i-n-g.

Good thing I had this fun gal to keep me entertained.

oHIo

Greetings from Ohio. What an adventurous day of traveling it has been.

I managed to give away or sell or stuff into my car and my parents car everything I own. We stopped in Leesburg to shop at the outlets. Anitra was kind enough to meet me there for a few last moments together.

We carried on and stopped a few miles up the road at a cute antique store. I found a vintage soda pop sign I really wanted. The lady said it was $95 but they would give it to me for $45. I couldn't do it. For the money. And the fact that space is VERY limited. So we carried on.

But HAD to stop at the ribbon outlet in Hagerstown. Luckily ribbon can easily be smooshed into small crevasses.

A road trip with my sister Kristi wouldn't be complete without a stop at Cracker Barrel- in West Virginia.

Then we drove through the scariest lightning storm I have EVER witnessed. There was one flash of lightning that seriously made my sad, pathetic life also flash before my eyes. Yikes.


Tonight we are in Columbus- awaiting the sweet Eddie Bauer Warehouse sale to start in 11 hours. Can't wait. And pizza in Chicago. mmmmm.

But I miss Virginia. It doesn't seem real that I have left for good. I am not sure when it will.

Reason #2- I will miss Virginia

Personalized license plates.

Apparently Virginia is the #1 state for personalized license plate with 16% of license plates being personalized. Here are a few that I was able to photograph as I was stuck in traffic throughout my time here.

This one reminds me of the "little person" on Amazing Race and her cousin that the other teams called Mirna and Smirna. ha ha.

I don't get this one? Any ideas?

yes, Y?

Do you think they mean the animal or perhaps a daughter named Cat?

What would your license plate say? Mine would say:
HEBGBS

get it? Too bad someone in Virginia has already taken it!

A hot mess

That is what I have been these last 5 days.

It has been so hot.

And the A/C at school doesn't like to function properly (if at all). Today I got to be in the kitchens with 5 ovens at 400 degrees all day long.

And when I got to my car, I saw this:


40 degrees celsius.

Which is 104 degrees fahrenheit.

And that doesn't include what the nasty humidity added to the mix. Yowza.

Good thing I will be returning to the frozen tundra of Canada in less than 3 weeks!!

Sarcasm...

is the lowest form of humor. That is what Elder DeGroot & Elder Christiansen would frequently say to me while I was serving the Lord on my mission. They claimed that President Hinckley said that. And my response was "at least he admits that it is humor."
I am a VERY sarcastic person. And even when I am not being sarcastic, I still sound sarcastic. This has gotten me into trouble. I am trying to stop. But being around 12- 14 year olds all day does not help the problem.

Here are some of the times my sarcastic ways have gotten me in trouble:

-freshman year at Ricks. I was watching tv with a roommate. A commercial came on- I remember it clearly- it was advertising the brand new show "Just Shoot Me" with David Spade. She said "I really want to see that." I responded "Yeah, me too." Seconds later she ran into our room crying. I was quite perplexed so I followed her and listened through the door as she cried on the phone to her sister. She explained "We were watching tv and a commercial came on for a tv show that I really wanted to see and so I said I really want to see that. And she said yeah, me too." As a new set of tears bursted forth.
But I really did want to see that show- although I have never watched an episode of it. But the previews did look funny. Back in the day.
It was then I knew this was going to be a long life of sarcasm for me.

-last 3 months of my mission. One of the Elders I had the privilege of serving in the same ward with was an interesting kid. He thought he was the big cheese. And acted like it. I had served around him before and knew how he worked. He told me once "I don't know how to respond to your stimulus." My stimulus being sarcasm. We had many chats about my sarcasm and his inability to handle it. So I honestly tried to overcome it. It was hard. But I tried. That still makes me laugh. My stimulus. Apparently all boys have problems responding to my stimulus. Hence my singleness. (that was sarcasm). :)

-Spring break 2008. Yep- a couple of months ago. I blogged about trying Arby's Chocolate Turnover's that I had heard were to die for. Or more like return to Arby's several times a week for. (I haven't done that but I have heard there is someone out there who has). And I quote "I have heard that the chocolate turnovers at Arby's are quite delicious. So I decided to try it. It might look good but it really isn't. It is just a flaky, chocolatey, creamy, triangle of nastiness. If I were you, I wouldn't go get one. (then there will be more for me)" I thought that last part in brackets canceled all sarcasm used. Nope. As I spoke with my friend about them and if she had gone to try them she told me no, because I had said they were gross.

-Last semester I was explaining to one of my classes the exciting thing we were going to do that day. One student raised her hand and said "you don't sound very excited." I knew it was my sarcastic tone getting in the way. So I re-explained the events in an airheaded cheerleader fashion. Apparently that is the only way I can sound non sarcastic.

-2 posts ago about my dilemma over going to the dance. I didn't really want or need a new dress, a date, or a limo. I was just poking fun at the 8th grade girls that take a Middle School dance so seriously. But apparently my sarcasm got me in trouble again.

I want to change. I really do. But sarcasm is what I know. And what I do best. Does anyone know of a book that will help me over come my sarcastic tendencies?

Or maybe I should write a book on how to respond to my stimuli. :)

i apologize for the wacky font sizes and colors. I have tried to fix it... but it keeps getting worse.

Kids these days.

Well I went to the dance.

And I have lost faith in all humanity.

So I am going to bed.

What to do...

If you haven't noticed by now, I am a horrible decision maker. Although I have been making major decisions lately (like Grad school and moving) and feeling good about them. Usually I am second guessing myself every day for weeks.

So now it comes to my next huge-life-altering decision.

Tomorrow night is the 8th grade semi-formal dance.

I haven't bought my dress or got a date or even booked a limo.

Crazy I know.

But do I go? I have missed it the last 3 years and this is my last year at this school.

Could be fun. Could be crazy.