Home on the Range

It's Thanksgiving break. And for that I (Erika) am... SO thankful.

These past couple weeks at school have just been so draining. School-work, work-work, extracurricular-work, scheduling-work.... just so much work. And then there's fun that needs to be had.

And then there is all that other stuff - roommates, the DC serving all their good food on one day and all bad food on another day, Jessica being not here, nbc.com being stupid, and boys (goodness, haha).
All that to say - It's good to be home.

Reasons why I love being at home:

1. Timmy playing the drums for me. He can play almost the whole Switchfoot song "Meant to Live."

2. Being able to go out to lunch w/ Rebekah and watching movies like Aladdin w/ her.

3. Watching The Office and the Red Wings Stanley Cup DVD w/ Daniel (haven't done it yet, but we will).

4. Driving on the dirt roads. Ok. I don't really like this, but still - it's a sign that I'm home. Paved roads are totally overrated. ;)

5. Our backyard. 10 acres = pretty covered in snow.

6. Watching Spongebob Squarepants w/ Timmy and Rebekah and not having to worry (too, too much) about what homework I should be doing.

7. Telling my mom all about my life. And Kate's life. :)

8. Having a better internet connection than at school.

9. Daisy - she's so cute.

10. Being able to finally catch up on Heroes.

11. Toby - hahaha. I love tormenting our cat.

12. Watching Elf (again, hasn't happened yet, but it will)

13. Space heaters. Haha.

14. Free laundry! :)

15. Drinking hot chocolate w/ Rebekah.

16. Being able to watch or listen to sports games w/ Daniel.

17. Playing the Wii

18. Hearing all the crazy stories that I miss when I'm at school. (Crazy hunters on our property...)

19. Watching Seinfeld w/ Daniel and my mom.

20. Eating non-DC food!

Being at school is so much fun. But being at home is spectacular as well. And I was soooo ready to be home. :)

And hey! Thanksgiving is tomorrow!! Eat turkey and be merry, everyone!
Ok, Peace out.

Fairytale

I know some of you may scoff at me, but I've come up with some for real reasons why I should be a Disney Princess - I'm a montage of them, so it makes sense.

Ok.

Here goes.

Snow White:
I have to pick up after little midgets all day long. They throw crap all over my stores and I have to pick up after them with a smile.

Ariel:
Since being sick, I've lost my voice. Twice. I tell guests in Fantasyland that Ursula stole my voice because I'm too pretty and she got jealous.

Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty):
I sleep all the time. When I'm not working, I'm sleeping.

Jasmine:
A man whom I had never met before saved me from getting my hand chopped off. No, it wasn't in the marketplace, and it wasn't with a knife, but it was in the back stockroom with stacks of strollers that almost smashed my hand.

Cinderella:
When I get home, I clean for those who live in my house and won't do it themselves (not mentioning names...)

Pocahontas:
I live in North America and am part Native American...I know it's a stretch, but it works.


Gisele:
I have started singing things when they should be spoken.

Belle (last, but not least, and certainly still my favorite):
I live an average life and read books. I am extraordinarily beautiful and am destined for something more.

I know. Now that you have the proof, it's kind of hard not to see me as a Disney Princess, huh?

- Jessica

Picture Perfect

As promised, I'm going to recap my last week for you when my aunt, uncle, and cousins came to visit. But being so much happened, I'm just going to give you the highlights of each day.

Tuesday
My phone broke. My uncle was trying to call me and I couldn't answer. This basically stressed me out to the max. They ended up forcing me to buy a new phone. I was not a happy camper. Once all of that was settled, I finally got a hold of my family and they took me out for a birthday dinner.

Wednesday
We went to my home - Magic Kingdom.
The best part of the day? My cousin Mitchell got chosen to take part of Captain Jack's Pirate tutorial. It was straight up awesome.
The worst part of the day? My phone broke. Again. I had to leave my family to go BACK to Verizon to get another phone. I wanted to kill something. But that wasn't all - and this is just speculation - but I had an allergic reaction to something (we're guessing Verizon) and I actually had to consider going to the hospital. Scary Larry. Don't worry, though. I benadryl'd it up and ended up being totally ok.

Thursday
We went to my favorite park EVER - Disney's Hollywood Studios.
I met Caspian. Again. He's just so dreamy...I can't resist his charms.
I also got to go on the newest ride - Toy Story Midway Mania. It's a 4D ride (I know, it was terrifying and I was screaming my head off) and I totally schooled it. I got the highest score in the family. Excellent.

Friday
My family went to the beach and I rested all day. Mandy's family also happened to be in town at the exact same time as my family and they pitied my being away from family and friends this holiday season, so they made me Thanksgiving Dinner and a birthday cake. It was so awesome and we have soooooo many leftovers that I don't think we'll have to buy groceries for a couple weeks...

Saturday
Busy day. We hit up Animal Kingdom and Epcot (and spent like 30 minutes outside of Magic Kingdom while I talked to stroller friends).
The best part of Animal Kingdom? The Kali River Rapids. We got totally soaked and it was awesome. I also had a lapse of judgment and went on Expedition Everest (AK's only roller coaster) and screamed like a little girl for the entire duration of the ride.

The best part of Epcot?
I got to dance with the Beast!!! I was in line with Belle and told her all about how the last time I met her she let me dance with the Beast and it was the best moment of my life. As I was leaving her line, the Beast walked up and I must have looked at her with the most forlorn look on my face because she grabbed my hand and brought me back to the front of the line. She told the Beast my story and he danced with me again. I love him.

So, that was pretty much my life this past week. I'm sick right now (blech), but it's ok because I just made waffles and I'm watching the Even Steven's Movie.

This is why I'm the best.

Peace out
Jessica

Also, for a more complete look into my last week, here are two links to my facebook photo albums. Enjoy :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021918&l=d9bc1&id=178200245

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021963&l=78c13&id=178200245

2nd also.

This is waaaaay harder than they make it look. Just so you know.

Wheel of the World

This post is really just a shout out to 3 of my new favorite guys. I'll be updating you on my past week in a later post...this is just gonna be the type of post that starts with me whining and then sighing with relief.

So. Back story.

This past week, I got deployed to strollers. Strollers at Magic Kingdom basically equals the hardest job at WDW for the worst pay. My heart goes out for the strollers people. They are so hardcore.

Back to the point.

I'm supposed to work in the castle.
I apply makeup and nail polish.
I am not strong enough to lift strollers on top of each other.
I belong in the kitchen...or something along that gender related role.

I am extraordinarily weak and I don't know how on earth I deserved this kind of bad karma.

All in all, had I not had Thomas, Diego, and Morgan there to save my life, I would have probably tried to scratch my own eyeballs out.

So, thank you Thomas,


Diego,

and Morgan.


I pretty much love the three of you more than you even know.

So that's it for me whining. Sorry, but it had to be done.
Also, my phone died. Long story short, I owned 3 phones in less than 2 days.
I also think I'm allergic to Verizon Wireless...because they suck.

But don't worry. My life is great now.
I don't even want to scratch my eyeballs out anymore.
My eyes are too pretty for that ;)

- Jessica

Hole In My Head

It's been kind of a while since I (Erika) updated... and lots of things have happened. Good and bad. So, the best way to go about this, naturally is to make lists. :) 

List #1 - things that kind of made me want to shoot myself (in no particular order): 

1. Not knowing who comments on my blog - "This one time..." Who are you??

2. Painting. I'm not very good at it... and it's frustrating. 

3. Senioritis. Bad, bad, bad. 

4. Not being able to say "no" when people ask me to do stuff for them. 

5. Being sick and losing my voice for like.... 5 days. 

6. Jessica being in Florida. 

7. Never being able to take naps. 

8. Typography - especially Dreamweaver and Flash. 

9. Cold weather. 

10. Rainy weather. 

11.U of M and the Lions losing a billion games each. 

12. The Pistons trading Chauncey for AI. I know it's good for the future... but still. I don't like AI.

13. Making plans for Christmas - stressful. 

14. Research.

15. NBC.com

16. Britney Spears - seriously? "Womanizer" = worst song ever written.

But, hey! Guess what! Despite all those things that kind of make me want to shoot myself, God is good cause He gives me more things that make me happy. :) 

List #2 - Reasons I will never ever shoot myself (in no particular order): 

1. I got a good grade on my last painting and felt really good about it!

2. Happy Hippies.

3. Still having Core reunions in my Senior year. (Bobby Pratt = officially the best core leader ever). 

4. Getting my voice BACK.

5. Cell phones and free IN talking so I can talk to Jessica almost every day. 

6. Little Miss and Mr. books. 

7. Art shows.

8. Warm weather in November!!!

9. Making a significant amount of money from the LINK concert for African babies. 

10. The Red Wings winning a billion games, and Hossa playing like an all-star (despite the loss to Pittsburgh - uunnggh). 

11. People liking my poster designs.

12. Making plans for Christmas - stressful, but it's making me excited. :)

13. Macs. So superior to PCs. 

14. Mugs from Sacred Grounds, Coffee Connections, and the little ceramics shop in North Carolina.

15. AG Silver - proof that superstars are not better than non-superstars. Seriously, 110% better than 90% the stuff they play on hit stations.

16. The Office, Heroes, and Friends.

17. Coffee Connections going great.

18. Code names. 

19. Let's Network and the people involved.

20. Talking to Jessica on the phone. I know. I already said that. But I just love her so much it needs to be stated twice. 

21. Speaking of great friends. Kate really makes my life complete. 

22. Lay's Barbeque chips. 

23. Camping. Ok. I know I haven't been camping in a long time, but people have been talking about it and I really can't wait to go... sometime when it's not cold anymore. 

24. Scarves. Probably the best thing about the cold. 

25. Erin being able to spend more time w/ us this year and watching her plan her wedding. 

26. My Detroit Tigers bracelet. And my bracelets from Mexico and Aruba. I love my bracelets.

27. Facebook stalking. Ahahaha. Yes. ;)

28. Pickles. And Pickle time.

29. Singing random songs really badly with Kate.

30. And last but not least..... Chap stick. What would I do without it? :) 

That's about that. Don't worry. I won't shoot myself. The good list is longer than the bad list... and it could have been even longer, but I have to get to homework. Blargh. 

Ok. Peace out. 

Chapters

Prologue

I'm so sorry it's been about a million years since I've written on here. Don't worry - I'll make it up to you with a novel of a post.

Chapter 1

So, Halloween (fun fact - that's Kris' favorite holiday) has come and gone. I saw some great costumes being that I worked Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (Johnny Depp was again in attendance, but alas. I did not see him this time). Obviously, any Disney costume was fair game. I saw lots of Troys and Gabriellas (and parents were THRILLED that I actually knew who they were dressed up as. See? It pays to be obsessive about High School Musical. Score), LOTS of Captain Jacks, Cruellas...

But some of the best I saw were as follows:

#1 - Atomic Wedgie Boy. Unfortunately, being I was working, I didn't get pictures, but I googled some so that you could get a mental picture...this kid was like 8 years old and I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. Mad props to this kid...and he looked a lot better than the fellow in this picture...

#2 - Nerd boy. Basically, picture any description I ever gave you from the boy who's in my class, but add a propeller to the hat.


#3 - The Jolly Green Giant. Some man dressed up like this and painted himself green. It just seemed a tad bit extravagant to me...

#4 - This one was a bit of a combo...I was hosting a limbo game and this kid dressed as a New York Yankee went through...then two kids later, a Boston Red Sox kid went through. I of course yell, "Oh no! Not the Red Sox and Yankees together!" The 2 kids then pretended to get into a fist fight. They were like 7 years old. It was precious/slightly terrifying for me in the sense that if it turned into a real fight, I'd probably get fired for instigating such things. Oops...

#5 - I saw a mom turn her stroller into a tepee and she dressed her daughter as Tiger Lilly from Peter Pan. The dress was ho-hum, but the fact that she transformed the stroller was what caught my attention. Brilliant.


Chapter 2

For my class, we had to go to the mall and check out different stores and analyze their layouts and what not. Then we had to combine 2 of the stores to make a mega store. We decided to combine a sports store with a makeup store. I know it sounds lame, but it's a class assignment...anyway...here's a couple pics of my group...I know, I'm a pimp.

And here's a picture of Jeff trying to get fresh with me. I was not having it.


I believe that I punched him after this picture was taken...

Chapter 3

This week and next week, all Florida Disney employees get 50% off of all merchandise. SCORE. This was the shirt I almost got for Andrew, but didn't because the front of it could be misconstrued for...something else...


Thanks to Mandy for modeling for me. We basically spent a ton of money. But it's ok.


Because we met Caspian again!

And speaking of Caspian, this little British boy asked me if I fancied him. I replied that I indeed did.

Chapter 4

I had to throw away my ipod blaster. I kind of wanted to run it over with my car, but I just threw it away instead. Rats. I really miss music in my life. I don't know what I'm going to do next week, because I'm SUPER pumped for the new Taylor Swift CD.

And speaking of Taylor Swift, check out the MAJOR diss that she dissed Joe Jonas with (forward to 4:10-4:50 for comments....)

http://www.popeater.com/music/article/taylor-swift-mocks-ex-boyfriend-joe/238879

Ouch. He should have known better than to hurt her...you know she's totally gonna write a song about it...She's Taylor Swift and that's what she does :)

Chapter 5

My family's coming next week!!! And so is Mandy's!

And by my family, I mean my aunt, uncle, and their 3 kids...but I'm sooo pumped to see someone actually related to me for the holidays!! I'm working on giving away my work shifts (because my managers wouldn't give me time off) so that I can hang with them a ton...I'm pretty much pumped to the max.

AND.

On top of that, when Mandy's mom comes, she's going to make us Thanksgiving dinner and a birthday cake for me! YAY!!

Chapter 6


Buterface is getting married. I know you already knew that, being you've read Erika's previous blog...and she asked me to be in her wedding. Yes. I love actually being able to talk about wedding stuff with her and not totally freak out Matt when we talk about stuff like that...

Epilogue

That's basically my life right now. Sorry I've deprived you of it for so long.

- Jessica

"It's Spooky in Here" (Digimon Halloween Song)

Friday was Halloween! WooHoo!

For the first time ever, Kate and Andrew and I (Erika) had a Trunk or Treat trunk. We decorated our trunk like Hannah Montana. Unfortunately we are also incompetant so we don't have a picture of all of us or our trunk. But! It looked spectacular. We borrowed a Hannah poster and cut out a bunch of purple circles and yellow stars and taped them all over the trunk and the bumper. Kate was Hannah. Andrew was Robby Ray. And I was Lola/Lilly. The kids loved us. It was better than last year when we dressed up as them cause people actually knew who we were.

Here's Hannah:

And here's Lola:

And yes, Andrew - she is pigeon toed.

We don't have any pictures of Robby Ray. But he looked good.

The most notable happenings of the trunk or treat were these:

1. Me offering a little boy a piece of candy and him sticking his tongue out at me and walking away.

2. Kate being impressed with a little boy's light up candy bag and saying, "Woah, that's a really cool bag ya got there!" To which he responded, "It's just a flashlight!!"

3. The homemade Spongebob Squarepants costume and Robot costume.

4. A little girl being in love with Andrew.

5. The skater boy who smiled at me. (yikes.)

6. The little girl who hugged Kate cause she was soooo excited to meet Hannah.

7. The number of risque costumes. (double yikes.)

And that's about that. It was suuper fun to see all the babies all dressed up. Not so much as fun to see all the adults trunk or treating.

After trunk or treat Kate and I went to Denny's because we hadn't eaten dinner yet and we were starvin' marvins. On the way there, we heard a song that was a combination of the Ghostbuster's theme song and Sexyback by Justin. Ohmygosh. It was. so. cool. Even though I'm definitely not a fan of Sexyback, I do like the ghostbusters song - and it made me happy.

Anyways. We wore our costumes there and on the way in some guy yelled, "Hey! I like your shiny hair." Hahaha. So Kate and I decided that the next time we get our hair done we are going to take the wigs into the salon and say, "here - make my hair do this." So I'll have a short blue pixie cut and Kate will have long blonde extra-shiny hair.

All in all it was a great Halloween.
And then on Saturday we went to Nate and Missy's house. And that's always a marvelous time. I got to meet Missy's sister Liz for the first time, and she's suuuper fun! We played all sorts of games -

1. Sniglet's [not the best game even though I won]
2. Compatibility [Kate and I totally kicked Nate and Missy's butts. We are more compatible than married people]
3. Scum [I was king twice and scum twice - so it was an average game for me]
4. X-men [Even though Kate and I totally sucked at killing the bad guys, it was fun. And! I got Wolverine on my team! That's an accomplishment!]
5. Uno where you make up a rule when you win. [Again, even though Kate and I didn't get to make up one rule, it was pretty much the best ever]

And, as if this weekend wasn't already good enough, it was Fall Back - so we got an extra hour added to our lives. Yess.

Ok. Time to get back to school and homework. Blech.

Peace out.