Saturday in California

Well technically my everyday is in California. But I couldn't think of anything else creative to say.  In about 15 minutes my fake cousin Cheyenne will be here so I can do her hair for the Winter Formal. She's a sweet girl and I've been the go-to girl for fancy dance up do's since I was her age.  It'll be fun to play around with her pretty blonde hair.  

Also today: Kelli and Hector Marquez's wedding reception. Aren't they just gorgeous? 

My friend Court is the bassist in this great band J.Wride and the have a cd coming out on the 18th of February.  They just put a preview of the album up on facebook.  They did a collaboration with MIMS (you know, the guy that sings "this is why I'm hot") on their last EP. Want to hear it? Yeah, of course you do!

Also, Jesse's collaboration with John Allred. So great. I'm a huge fan of cover songs.

I'd like to also give a little shout out to my one follower on Bloglovin! It doesn't show me who my followers are, but I like that one person a lot :) Bloglovin is a great website that manages all the blogs you read so that you can just click from one new entry to the next without forgetting any! 

So Close!

I got a filling today and scheduled my Bishop and Stake President interviews for Sunday afternoon and after that it will be just 2-3 weeks until I get my spot on the globe! We took my pictures for my mission application last Sunday and although this one is too silly to turn in I think it best represents how I feel. 

And a shot of my feet because it was a funny accident.

I created a new button and moved them to their own page so that they don't make a mess all over my blog page. It is to show off that you're writing to me! Because then you get a grinny smiley face on your blog to show off to your friends. And they'll be jealous and want it too. So they'll write me letters. And I'll be even happier! It's a cycle.

Bravery

I've been an avid follower and poster on Pinterest for the past few months and this quote is one of the most popular posts today

source

Now I can say that I am mildly put into this situation daily as my mom has found a new favorite food, green smoothies.  I'm a die hard believer that smoothies should be delicious blends of fruits and dairy with a yummy little bit of whipped cream on the top, with maybe a serving or two on fruit included.  My mother on the other hand has a new cookbook of health friendly blends and she's having a kick out of feeding us all her concoctions.  She claims that if it follows the recipe it has to be delicious. 

source

Excuse me? Grapefruit + dates + spinach + cinnamon + pears+ bananas + lime + berries +cilantro does NOT equal a scrumptious blend of breakfast to me.  Cilantro? Really?  The good part is that if I throw it all back in about 3 long pulls it doesn't really taste all that bad.  And I'm getting bona fide nutrition in one glass! 

The most memorable one so far? It was pretty good, with grapes and berries, but then she said, "Oh look! Parsley!" and threw a little sprig in. Don't ever. Just trust me.  

you are what you eat. pineapple pants!

The best part of this obsession is that it gets my little sisters to each more vegetables.  What mom hasn't struggled with getting her kids to get greens in their bellies? Her other trick is when they are playing Wii she'll slice up a pineapple or some bell pepper and just stick it into their free hand. One game level later and the goodies are gone! Sneaky mom of mine :)

The Ideal Double Date

Yes, the past two evenings have been filled with a Pushing Dasies marathon which has been far too long in the making.  Kristin and I have a weakness for the nerdy too talkitive type and we realized tonight (via cross country and time zone texting) that we would make the ultimate foursome if finally combined with our TV sweethearts. We meaning; Ned the Piemaker and Kristin, Me and Chuck Bartowski of Chuck.  Wahoo! Here's our pretend date. Indulge me and play along?

Well here's Kristin's idea, it begins with dinner at Craigo's (the world's best pizza place, located in Rexburg,Idaho. Yes, there are potato flakes in the crust) and would continue for like, ever because it would end in Eureka (California) at Bon Boniere ice cream (the world's best frozen dairy).  Yes, my best friend is a fantastic schemer.  If you plan the world's longest dates to the best places then you get to spend all of that time with your favorite people! I'd like this arranged please.

Now my idea was an evening at the Buy More in the home theater room playing board games and watching both Tron movies (with cuddling being not optional) followed by something yummy at the Pie Hole. A delicious situation that I would love to find myself in.

But alas, I will not be going on this date any time soon. Nor will Kristin. But I do have a lovely kitty sitting on my back as I write this and I think that will do just fine for now.

Also, I'm not really sure why I chose the ridiculous picture of myself. But it seemed most fitting. And Kristin's new glasses are so cute!

New Button!

Hooray! New year and a new button! I'm no expert at photo editing but I'm happy to have my face on this one. It's a little less boring I think.

Peeved

I HATE ANTS.

Hate hate hate them.

The way they feel if they crawl across your foot.

The way they smell if you squish them.

The fact that there is no way to get rid of that smell.

If I see one I feel like its crawling all over me.

They are impossible to get rid of.

And for some reason they like my Grandparent's cat's food.

And I'll have to man up to deal with them tomorrow.

Yuck

Exploring Home

Wow. I am eternally sore and I need to go back to the gym ASAP. It hurts so good! Last winter Erika and I took a weight lifting class together and I really liked it but I sure forgot how much work it takes to get my stamina built up. Well, pain is gain and I'm gonna get these little muscles of mine back up to how nice they were a year ago. 

A day of hats, humanity, and Humboldt

Today I went on an adventure with my friend Brooke down in Ferndale.  Brooke and I met my senior year of high school through some of my friends from Fortuna (both of these towns are about half an hour south of where I grew up).  We didn't have any plans for the day but to talk and catch up while we explored Main Street of the tiny Victorian town.  We had a delicious and probably not so nutrious lunch at the Ferndale Pizza Company and set off for some window shopping. 

The film noir secretary to the detective hat

As we glanced through the glass at a pair of earrings we both jumped back in shock as we realized that there was a dog right below them looking up at us!  The woman who owns the shop pulled us in and chatted for a while.  When I say chatted, well, it went something like this: She loo
ked like Professor Trelawny straight out of Harry Potter book 3 and was wearing some mass of yoga pants and wrapped up sweaters with at least 3 rings on each hand and frizzy hair coming loose from a hair tie that she probably put in the night before.
She began the conversation with "Come in! I've just been online dating for the past few days and I'm so tired!"  Uh...ok?  We heard all about the British guy she's dating and the one whos' teenage daugher had a bunch of crazy underage drunks over on new years.  Oh boy. At least 20 minutes of her incessant babble went on until we were finally able to get out of that little place.  She seemed really lonely and I think it was probably good that we stayed to talk a little.

The pimp hat and the innocent little girl

The rest of the trip was lighthearted and we tried on lots of hats at Abraxas and made up scenarios that each would be worn in.  A good day yes, a good day. Oh yeah! And my tights from We Love Colors came!

Movie Night

Everything is Illuminated

Holy goodness this movie is strange. It begins with a slow and kind of hard to follow account of a family. I wasn't really paying much attention so it might have been more interesting. I really started liking it at the point at the well, diner? restaurant? table with meat that only comes with potatoes.

Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. even turns out to be a pretty nice idiot of a dog. I love that the guy uses the word "premium" to describe anything cool, or spectacular.

Elijah Wood's character Johnathan is so ridiculously awkward that it is almost painful but it's an interesting comparison of the culture clash. Howerver I don't really think of Ukrainians as extremely outgoing people.  Though I could be mistaken by that. I have only met 2 Ukrainians and they were teenage girls that had a lot of attitude. They would not be in the extrovert category. 

As I'm watching it I'm trying to understand the pices of the grandfather's past, both the tour guide grandfather and the one whose past is being searched for.  It sems that the living grandfather is coming to terms with his side of WWII and what his anti-semitism has stemmed from.

As the movie progressed I liked it more and more. It is a story of history and putting together the pieces.  There is always more hidden than we see on the surface, and if we search hard enough, everything will be illuminated.
(awkwardly working in...the movie title)

The end. Oh the end.

Time Can't Keep Us Apart

This Christmas our high school crew was all reunited in one joyous place.  Danny and Joe came home from their missions this summer, Kristin, Katie, and I were home from college and Andy found his way up to Mack town to hang out with us.  Sarah and Daryl are always very inviting about their home and welcome everyone to get together there. It's always been a Blair family tradition to have squishy  couches and teen friendly living rooms so it's fun that Sarah is keeping that going at her house.  Here's some pictures from the night.

Katie looking mighty stoked about the night

Kristin and Me.

Dan and David

Joe gives this shot a thumbs up

I love these kids. Well, grown up kids.

So This Is The New Year

2010 was filled with my lowest lows and my highest highs.  I graduated from college, spent a summer and fall working full time and playing the rest of the time, developed a few very close personal relationships, went to my sister's wedding, made some major pitfall mistakes and poor choices in friends, recognized that I have a great support net of people who wanted to help me bounce back, fought long and hard with myself about who I want to be, and began paperwork to serve a mission and dedicate my life to the Lord for 18 months.  I don't think many more details need to be given about the lows because they are trenches that I have pulled myself out of and moved on from.  I hope to remember the great moments of the year that were stepping stones to where I am now.

2011 will be unlike anything I've met in the past.  I have moved home temporarily, something that I had vowed I would never do again once I was on my own, and am once again in search of short term work. I know that I am not going to be here more than 3 or 4 months and then I will be uprooted to another place on the globe.  Most of my best friends have been left behind and the social life that I crave is not available.  Living life where I am is going to be a big challenge. I love having my blog friends because I know that wherever I am I can just check in and see that life goes on.

I have some personal goal ideas floating around in my head that I am working on but I have never been a big resolutions person. Oh, except for that one year that I had a big time major crush on Billy Gilman and I resolved that not a day would go by that year that I did not have a little daydream about him. Yes. I kept that resolution faithfully! Oh 13 year old Elle. If only things were still that easy. But maybe not so stalkerish.