"nukler"

 these pictures are evidence that i have other friends too katrina ;-)

you know that you have become a grown up when, instead of having a huge party where you invite a bunch of people (some you may never have known) and get way drunk and do beer bongs, you drink champagne and watch the state of the union address.  haha.  

it was sarah's 24th birthday on monday.  the plan was to watch bush make an ass out of himself and play a drinking game.  for example, everytime he said "nukler" instead of "nuclear" we were supposed to take a drink.  everytime the republican side of congress gave him a standing ovation but the democrats stayed seated and kept their hand still, we were supposed to drink, etc.  the drinking game didnt last very long because it was just too hard to keep up.  plus it was a monday and some of us has to work the next day.  it was fun though.  sarah's co-worker colleena and her boyfriend came over and we all hung out and ended up just drinking and watching superbad (ive watched that like 5 times now but i still love it!)

sarah pouring herself some champagne from one of the like 5 bottles her and derek brought.  that's her boyfriend derek with her

i took this picture because noah and derek were cracking up about some reaction video to 2girls1cup.  dont look it up.  you wont be able to sleep at night...

me and sarah later in the evening.  im all scrunched because i thought that i was blocking sarah but it only made me look funny.  i want to add a disclaimer here; i looked pretty drunk for it only being like 9:3o in the photo.  this was only after like one glass of champagne so i have no idea why i look like that!

stu was there too but im not allowed to take pictures of him.  he's mean...i still love him though ;-)

Also:  very excited because tonight is the night of the season premier of LOST!  i watched the season 3 finale last night with stu and now im all pumped up...and a little sad that i had to watch charlie die again :-(

book reviews?

another blog.  but a short one.  just wanted to mention that i finished Duma Key by Stephen King on sunday and it was awesome.  there were a ton of ties into the dark tower and it was scary too!  Kenton, when you get done reading the dark tower, i would recommend this one.  

noah loaned me a new book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.  Haddon was a teacher who actually worked with kids with special needs and it is supposedly from the point of view of a 15 year old with autism.  im pretty excited about it and ive read a chapter or two so far and am definitely into it.  ill let you know how it works out.

do i have too much time on my hands that i can read and blog?  hmmmmm....

more lost stuff

i know that i have been putting up a lot of things on this blog about LOST.  im just so excited!  i know that some of you might care so i thought that i would share.  throughout the LOST hiatus since season 3, verizon wireless has been showing mobile videos or "mobisodes" to their wireless customers called missing pieces.  it is meant to be like the "LOST experience" that was put out between seasons last year.  these mobisodes, like the LOST esperience dont usually give any answers or hard evidence but they tell a part of the story that isnt included in the actual LOST episodes.  while these are meant for verizon customers, they post them a week later online so that other people can view them.

however, this last mobisode called so it begins, was aired to those customers today and was actually leaked onto youtube and it is a good one.  jack's father christian is actually in it and he is on the island!  he calls to vincent, walter's dog, and tells vincent, "...go wake my son up..." and "he has work to do..."  then jack wakes up in the jungle, looking up into the bamboo!  the scene from the pilot episode season one!

do you know what that means?  christian was really there all the way from the beginning?  it wasnt only jack's imagination that he was on the island!  crazy.  anyway...if you want to take a look that the mobisode, just look up "so it begins" or "lost mobisode 13".  it might be taken down since disney doesnt want it up yet but if you are lucky you will be able to see it.  by the way, there are 12 other ones if you are interested.  just look up "lost mobisode number ____"

try this link for the particular i was talking about: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEn72T6poA0

obama fever

effing credit card!

so its a beautiful sunny, wintery, snowy day.  most people are outside playing in the snow with friends and family.  me?  im walking through the snow...to the police station...to file for id theft.  yep!  once again, i got a bill in the mail saying that i owed $4,884 on a credit card that i never saw.

this has happened before.  my junior year in college, i got a call from a debt collector telling me that i needed to pay like $2000 on a credit card in my name.  over the years, ive gotten a few more calls about cards out in my name.  i have always disputed it but not very successfully because whoever was doing it has ALL of my info, including my social security number. 

the last one (in like september or something like that) was a capital one card and no matter how much i tried to dispute it, they told me that unless i could send them a piece of official mail, like a bill, with my address on it at with a different address than the one that the card was taken out at, they couldnt do anything about it.  i had to prove it with the bill with my real address on feb 2004 or i would have to pay it.  i was frustrated.  i had shredded everything over a year old and when i called my old phone company, etc, for a copy of an old bill dated in feb, they told me that they couldnt help me.  sooo, frustrated, i sent the bill to my mom to pay.  i mean, i had tried to file a complaint and they hadnt listened to me!

so this time, pissed, i called the collection agency.  they cant do anything until i file a police report.  so i did.  turns out, i should have been doing that all along but i didnt know it because creditors kept telling me that they couldnt do anything "unless you find an old bill, etc."  the woman at the police station was very helpful and told me that they had no right to do that and gave me all kinds of information to get me started on getting my credit back.  

today i filed a police report, tried to report id theft online but i have to send in a copy of my idea and everything, and got a copy of my credit report.  i have had four credit cards out in my name and i only know who took out the first one.  i hope that everything works out because my credit sucks because of this.  i have never taken out a card in my name and now, because of all of this, i had to buy a used car and pay HUGE monthly payments and get full coverage insurance for it when i could have gotten a new car for the same amount monthly.  all this time i could have actually been approved for those in-store cards like old navy and victoria's secret, i could be able to get a cell phone plan without paying HUGE deposits!

i really hope it comes together...

LOST recap in 8 minutes and 15 seconds and survey...

if you were on the LOST island who would you want to...

Befriend?  hurley.  he's the funniest and nicest person on the island.

Be enemies with?  kate.  i hate her and her always-wet hair.  oh yeah, and probably the others who are trying to steal my babies.

Possibly kill?  thats really hard to decide.  i dont know...the only person i hated was anna lucia and she's already dead.

Kiss up to for favors or supplies?  definitely sawyer.  he has all kinds of loot!  and is strong enough to protect me too!

Share a spot in the cave with? hmmm...how about a hybrid; sawyers head on jin's body.  oh yeah baby

Hook up with just once? probably jack.  i mean, if i was sharing a spot with my hybrid than i could spend one night with jack

Help the most? sun.  so that she could have her baby safely.

Would you ...

Go on the raft or stay on the island? i dont trust rafts leaving the island.  we dont even know if michael made it out...traitor.  and from the 3rd season finale im not so sure that leaving the island is the choice to make.

Live in the caves or on the beach? definitely beach it.  too many monsters and whisperers

Open the hatch or leave it alone?  well, that's already happened and it worked out pretty well right?

Keep other's secrets or tell them?  im thinking that working together is the way to go.  they have a lot more resources and i think i would be tired of sleeping on the sand.

Know your blood type to help Boone? i do but i dont think i would be able to help him

Eat fish, boar, sushi or just fruit?  i would eat anything.  im always hungry now.  i cant imagine what i would do if food was scarce.

If it were up to you ...
What would you name Claire's baby?  not aaron.  it would have to be something with deep meaning in true LOST fashion.  i would name him christian.  it would be deep because it of the way LOST is all about connections and christian is jack's dad and jack and claire are brother and sister and dont know it.  so it would be eerie because he would be the "reincarnation" of their father whom jack has already "seen" on the island.

Who would get Kate, Jack or Sawyer?  sawyer.  jack and juliet just come together so much better

Would you side with Locke or Jack?  hard to say.  locke seems a little crazy but i think hes on the right path.  i would probably follow jack just because he is hotter

The truth behind lost ...

What do you think is the secret of the island?  that there are too many to answer!  there is something about the island that makes it home for everyone.  while it is a scary place, it makes people become who they truly are; the them that the rest of the world wouldnt let them explore.  the thing about the island is that once you get there, you can never leave and if you do, you feel torn, as if you are missing something.  i also think that the island called all of these people to it.  it needs something to be done, something that needed them to meet the others, blow up the hatch, find jacob, etc, in order to be finished.

What do you think the monster is? jacob.  i think that he is pissed that ben is keeping him prisoner in the hut!

Will they get off the island?  of course!  but will they be happy?  i dont think so.  something goes wrong.  they need to find a way to get back.

Are the numbers really bad? i dont think so.  i think that everything is in the hands of fate.  i think that the numbers, even though it was through bad luck, got hurley to the island which is where he  was needed.

Forget the show - what about you

If you were on an island with three people who would they be? losties?  sayid, jack, sawyer.  real people? stu.  macgyver..  and my brother jake.  he's really resourceful and outdoorsy.

And you could bring three personal items? the stand, good hiking shoes, and a nice tent

 
And what part of the world would your island be in? south pacific

One final question ...
Who is your favorite character on the show? ben.  i want to hurt him sometimes but im so interested in him connection to the island.  he plays a very good character.

this recap is really good.  it sums the first three seasons up in 8 minutes and 15 seconds (two numbers from the sacred number sequence) so you should watch it before this thursday.

baby food jars

this was a really fun weekend!  on saturday i went to katrina's Arbonne party.  she had yummy treats for us to eat and we got to do things like soak our feet and massage them with marbles and everything.  my feet havent been that pampered in a while!  it was fun to kind of be "one of the girls" for once.  i dont usually get to do things with girls since i usually am around guys more.  i ordered this really good smelling body lotion that im pretty excited about.  

this afternoon was spent in my pajama bottoms because they are warm and toasty and our house is kind of cold.  we have this really cool four-sided easel at the preschool and i plan on having the kids painting one day in my group this week so i spent this afternoon mixing paints in baby food jars.  it was a lot of work actually!  the kids get so excited about painting and now i can make sure that each child gets all the colors since they are now in small baby food jars.

i am sad because we were planning on going over to kenton and katrina's house tonight and now we cant.  we were going to attempt to play the LOST game that made me cry a few years ago and i havent played since, and then watch some episodes.  LOST starts up again this week and we are all really excited.  but there is so much snow and we figure that even if it melts a little, it will get colder tonight and then freeze and we'd have to drive home in the dark, on icy roads.  bummer.  i guess that we dont have to hang out with kenton and katrina every weekend.  i will be sad that i havent had my finley fix though!

weekend stuff

this was a really fun weekend!  on saturday i went to katrina's Arbonne party.  she had yummy treats for us to eat and we got to do things like soak our feet and massage them with marbles and everything.  my feet havent been that pampered in a while!  it was fun to kind of be "one of the girls" for once.  i dont usually get to do things with girls since i usually am around guys more.  i ordered this really good smelling body lotion that im pretty excited about.  

this afternoon was spent in my pajama bottoms because they are warm and toasty and our house is kind of cold.  we have this really cool four-sided easel at the preschool and i plan on having the kids painting one day in my group this week so i spent this afternoon mixing paints in baby food jars.  it was a lot of work actually!  the kids get so excited about painting and now i can make sure that each child gets all the colors since they are now in small baby food jars.

i am sad because we were planning on going over to kenton and katrina's house tonight and now we cant.  we were going to attempt to play the LOST game that made me cry a few years ago and i havent played since, and then watch some episodes.  LOST starts up again this week and we are all really excited.  but there is so much snow and we figure that even if it melts a little, it will get colder tonight and then freeze and we'd have to drive home in the dark, on icy roads.  bummer.  i guess that we dont have to hang out with kenton and katrina every weekend.  i will be sad that i havent had my finley fix though!

i woke up this morning around 9am and decided that since stu was still asleep and i didnt have any plans until the evening except cleaning the house and doing laundry, i was going to stay in bed for a while and try to finish my book.  it wasnt until stu woke up around 11:30 (he's so lazy when i dont get him up!) that i actually looked at the window and kind of saw through the closed blinds that something was falling from the sky.  i jump up and ripped them open to see that it was snowing like crazy!  i was so mad that i had been reading in bed for like two hours missing the snow!  i ran around the house like a maniac for a few minutes, made stu get up, and then rushed into the shower.  about twenty minutes later, stu and i were off on an adventure in the snow

this is the sidewalk right next to our house.  not a very good picture but i was really excited because there was like four inches of snow on our lawn!  you can see barry in the background too because i parked on the street last night.

our first stop was noah's apartment.  we had called before to make sure he was home so he was watching for us.  i really like this picture.  

we walked to campus to see if we could find a present for our friend sarah.  its her birthday tomorrow and we were thinking about getting her a ducks sweater or something.  this picture was taken next to peace heath.  apparently there are a lot of old farting people crossing in that area.  i thought it was funny.

after we got back, i took oliver out in the snow.  he didnt know what to think.  but it was cold so i grabbed some snow in a container and let him and cinder play with in on towels on the floor.  you cant really tell in this picture but he was scratching at the snow, making little snowballs and then dragging them out onto the towels.  it was a mess!

im sad that i didnt get any pictures of me and stu in the snow but it was really cold and stu's shoes were soaked!  there is still a lot of snow outside so maybe ill be lucky and tomorrow will be a snow day with no work so i can get some more pictures tomorrow!

this video is great! you have to watch it.

"another blog already!" you say?

and to that i say, "i have a following to satisfy!"

i decided that i really wanted to write about my week.  i dont know if i can actually call it a week since my week really started on wednesday and i only had two days worth of teaching but i like to feel that something led up to this exhaustion that i feel.  

i am actually having a really hard time trying to remember what i did on my days off.  im pretty sure that we hung out at katrina and kenton's house and learned how to play a few games and made some awesome nachos with which i showed no restraint.  for some reason i was thinking that we did that during the weekend but apparently not.  man, i am losing it.  i do know that most of the rest of the time i was in my pajamas.  i must really like you kenton and katrina, i mean, i got out of my cozies for you!

work was a total blur this week, which was probably good since it was a stressful week at work.  today i took my first aid certification class with becca and katrina.  it was pretty exciting.  there was this really annoying woman in the class who actually asked the instructor if there was going to be blood in the video on how to treat open wounds and later literally came across the room to take a book out my hand because she couldnt wait for it to make to her side of the room.  i sat next to this guy named juan who was really nice but im pretty sure he thought i was an idiot because i couldnt put his arm in a sling.  during the break i didnt have to pee so i got stuck having awkward conversation with him that went something like this:

"so, what school do you go to?"

"i dont, im a preschool teacher."

"no, what school did you go to?"

(im wearing an oregon sweatshirt) "the u of o."

"no.  what high school did you go to?"

"im not from around here..."

maybe he was just trying to be nice.  it just came off as creepy to me.  maybe i gave him the wrong idea when he put the bandage on my arm correctly the first time and i said, "done this before?"

random photos

i uploaded a bunch of pictures that have been in our camera for a while today and when i looked through them, i decided that i liked a few and would share.  im sure that they are not going to be interesting to anyone else but me, BUT this is my blog and i will blog what i like! ;-)

these are pictures of hurlyfrog's bath.  he has this tendency to jump too high for his home and hits his poor head.  so our solution: put him in the bathtub and make him swim his energy out!  p.s.  we are looking into getting him a bigger home...

his little kicks were so cute.  but im pretty sure that he didnt like the bath so much.  his legs pretty much went limp afterwards.  im hoping he makes it through the night!  optimistic!

these are my "babies."  arent they sweet when they arent getting into anything, making a stink, or scratching at the playstation 3?  such angels...

random picture taken in our laundryroom.  i think it is funny that everytime i wash or dry clothes, our windows fog up.  i wonder what the neighbors must be thinking!  this would have been a much more "artistic" photo if i had moved my drying shirt.  however, i liked that i captured the neighbors chimney that looks as if those veiny things are the only thing keeping it from falling in on us.  seriously...friends have commented on it before.

i thought this picture really summed stu and me up.  we have some of our favorites in that collection; survivor, the office, LOST, gnomes...with stu's greatest love perched on top of them all.

anyway, those are a few of the pictures i had accumulated on the camera.  i feel better now that ive shared.  i would also like to say that as i was writing this blog, stu was, and still is, playing halo with noah...no judgment!  

oh!  but i would like to say that i finished life of pi and was thoroughly satisfied.  i loved it!  it was like the old man and the sea, only interesting.  and not pretentious!  i would definitely recommend it.  i am now starting on the new stephen king, duma key.  (this next part is totally going to peg me as a nerd!) im really excited because there are ties to the dark tower.  

early mornings

i dont know what it is, but i love early mornings!  there is something about the quiet, cold of the morning and knowing that, while you arent the only person in town awake and moving, you are alone in your house (ignore the snoring stu in the other room).  i wake up at 6:30 on the weekdays for work.  i dont have to be at work until 8:30.  i dont have babies to transport, or older children to take to school like most of my coworkers but i love that i wake up early enough that i can take my time.  i usually have some worry about work, like who is coming into the classroom to supervise or what child is going to be challenging today that sometimes keeps me up at night but for some reason, i never think about this in the morning.  i have time to shower, get ready, drink coffee, watch the news and look at stuff online (i am such a nerd!)  i am crazy.  i wake up early so that i can relax!  

it takes a lot of effort to get me up early on days i dont have a reason to get up.  but if i can get myself up before 8:30 on a weekend or holiday, i am rewarded with that wonderful solitude and the idea that i have so much time during the day.  the day just has more potential when you wake up before noon!

i feel like these mornings of relaxation and coffee, of the news quietly informing me in the background and knowing i dont have anything i have to do for another hour, are something i really need to take advantage of.  someday i will have more responsibility; a more demanding job that i cant get out of my mind, children, or at least a dog i need to walk, it could be anything.  or maybe my body's demand for sleep will just override my love of time in the morning.

okay, that was a HUGE ramble! i should go now.  my hour of not having anything i need to do has come to an end and now i have to brush my teeth and consider work...hmmmm...

okay, so there is this new phenomenon hitting the internet.  by new, i mean that it is new to me now and was new to others like three months ago but still.  its a little creepy but make you smile anyway.  this post is for you noah!

this next one noah gave me:




the craze is to watch videos of laughing babies. its awesome. it always makes me laugh...

its been a pretty eventful weekend.  on friday, after i got off of work, stu and i headed up to portland to his parents house.  the weather was actually really nice; you know, cold but DRY!

we got there earlier than expected so we ended up eating dinner and then going to the movies with his mom and sister, megan.  we watched 27 dresses which i totally do not recommend at all.  it was horrible.  and i ended up sitting next to these two older women who were totally giggling throughout the whole movie and talking really loudly.  errrrrrr!

on saturday, stu and i got up really early and went to ikea!  we were able to go because his family was busy that morning so we made the 45 minute trip out to the airport area.  it was amazing!  i have to say that i was a little overwhelmed and i think that my next trip there will be better because i wont go so fast.  i only picked up a few things (im on a budget and we only had a hour to shop) like a garlic press that ive been needed pretty badly, an organizer, some wooden utensils that i can use with my wok and our teflon pans, and a green scrubby brush.  lame, i know.  but next time i will have more money and more time.  and preferably, not a stu who doesnt like shopping!  oh!  i took a picture of this livingroom set because i thought that it was really pretty and it also made me think of katrina!

we got back to stu's parents house around 11:30 and then went with ann (his mom) and megan to the eukanuba dog show in portland.  stu's family are HUGE dog people and it was what ann wanted to do on her birthday.  it was actually pretty fun.  there were a ton of people there and stu and i spent most of the time walking around the back rooms so we could check out the dogs and walking around the booths taking the free candy.  hey!  if you dont want people to just take it, dont put jolly ranchers out in a bowl marked "take one."  got it?  haha  the low point of our day was when we went our second round and discovered that we had taken a piece of candy from a booth marked, "internation canine sperm bank."  ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

okay, now that i am grossed out again!  we went back to stu's parents house and had dinner and ann opened presents and then stu and i drove home.  we got in pretty late last night and i was super tired but definitely felt that i had a satisfying day.  i got to go to ikea, meet some crazy dog people (there were definitely some BEST OF SHOW types there), and ate turtle pie.  

AMERICAN IDOL!!!

OH MY GOD! 

just about halfway through the american idol premire and realized that i went to high school with one of the girls who made it through to hollywood!

Kristy Lee Cook

okay, so maybe i dont really remember her or anything but that doesnt make it any less cool...i freaked out and started blogging even before the show was over.

i tried to look up a picture of her to post but they dont have the contestants up yet.

and im totally pissed that she's made her myspace page private now.  i've stalked her before (yes, it was even a habit before you katrina...god im creepy...) thinking that she was this other kristy who i was friends with in high school and checked out her pictures and was like, "i vaguely recognize this girl but she's the wrong kristy."   

anyway, okay...breath jacque...you are revealing just how much of a nerd you are to your devoted reader(s)...i have to get back to the show.

im slightly bummed right now. stu and i are supposed to go up to portland to celebrate his mother's birthday this weekend and i was pretty excited because i wanted to go to ikea. well, stu reminded me that since we have that damn frog we should probably only be gone for one day and since the plan was to go up on friday night, go to the dog show and dinner on saturday, and drive home saturday night, we probably wont be able to do anything fun. :-(

i tried to go online and look at some stuff and found some really inexpensive stuff, mostly kitchen stuff and i got all excited because i was thinking, "well, if it is just some utensils and stuff, maybe the shipping wont be that expensive." of course, there are very few things on the site that you actually can order online (which, i guess is why they can keep everything so cheap; it being the warehouse do-it-yourself style but im still mad!). oh well, guess ill have to wait 6-8 years for that damn frog to die so i can go to ikea...

its monday morning and i have to work ALL five days this week...  :-(

sleepy jacque should have gone to bed earlier last night...

ummmm...cookies...

this week has gone by so fast!  i can't believe that it is already going to be monday.  wow.  over all, this has been a pretty good week though.  it was a little hard to get into the swing of things...i mean, i went from not working even 1 hour in three weeks to working 8 hours in a day!  man, sometimes it is a really big bummer that im an adult now.

the week started out nice because i finally got my car back with a "clean" bill of health.  as clean as a ten year old car with a bizillion miles on it can be.  im so happy that i can drive my own car again; a little bummed that the mechanic told me to only put premium gas in it though...what am i??  made out of money?? :-)

friday night stu and i went to noah's house for a

 few beers.  sarah and derek were sick and stu and i only knew one other person there, colleen.  it was mostly noah's friends who had gone to australia with him a few years ago.  they were all really nice but stu wasn't feeling very well and i was super tired from working all week so we opted to go home after a few drinks.  i didnt feel too bad though since they were all watching a slide show from the trip and having a pretty good time.

saturday night was really fun because we went over to katrina and kenton's house.  we (and by "we" i mean the girls because the guys were playing halo) made pizzas and cookies and played our traditional game of carcassonne, which katrina has a sixth sense for.  i love it that when we go over there finn actually wants to hang out with me!  cutest little boy ever!  and he already knows what sound an elephant makes...

This is the only picture i have of my week...man, talk about some good cookies...

so i posted my little thing about my lover stephen colbert and started thinking about the shows that i am excited to watch and it made me think of survivor.  im really excited because the next survivor, being held in micronesia (i had no idea where it was so i had to look it up), is a special one.  i was anxious for an all-star survivor and it seems that i am almost getting one this time!

it is a cast that is comprised of half all-stars and half new comers who are supposedly HUGE fans.  im pretty excited about it actually.

THE CAST

all-stars:

**James (china)

Amanda (china)

*****Yau-Man (fiji)

Jonathan (cook islands)

Ozzy (cook islands)

Parvati (cook islands)

Cirie (panama)

Ami (vanuatu)

Eliza (vanuatu)

Johnny Fairplay (pearl islands)

the nobodies:

Alexis (24-motivational speaker)

Chet (48-pharmacy customer service/pageant)

Erik (22-art student)

Jason (22-gymnastics coach/student)

Joel (32-firefighter)

Kathleen (45-golf course concessions)

Mary (29-real estate/financial company owner)

Mikey B (34-aspiring write/actor)

Natalie (32-bartender/personal trainer)

Tracy (43-commercial and residential builder)

*cast members who i am excited about

anyway, this was really random but i dont really have anything else to write about so this is it.

i have to say, if there was one older man that i would totally cheat on stu with...it would totally be stephen colbert.  i have no idea why but i think he is the funniest man ever.  and i love him.

My Artwork

i really want to make this blog a more personalized thing without writing too many blogs that do nothing but tell you what i did today.  im sure that no one really wants to hear that since i spend most of my days hanging out with people under the age of five.  so i have decided that i would post some of my pieces of art that i am fond of:

this is actually my rendition of Picaso's self-portrait.  it is done in charcoal and framed by matte paper

this picture is done in charcoal.  i felt that the picture looked better with the matte included but also wanted to take a close up because it is one of my favorites.  this picture was actually framed in glass but i took it out so that i wouldn't get a glare in the photo of it.  (i really should have taken one of those "photographing your artwork classes at the craft center before i left.)

the close up

this is actually a watercolor that i did the other night.  the subject was a picture from the internet.  i have never actually used watercolor paint so i was pretty pleased.  i think i may have found a new favorite medium. (-:

one of my favorites.  my first ever oil painting and definitely my best.  the original painting, the outline of the woman underneath, was done in 2005.  i was unsatisfied but never got around to fixing it; i find oils difficult for me to work with because of my lack of patience.  however, i decided to paint over the original last year and was really very happy with what came about.  i liked how the two paintings went together.  i have yet to decide whether it is finished or not.

anyway, those are a few of my pieces that i really like.  im excited because i have finally set up my easel in a permanent place in our extra bedroom, organized my paints, and plan on making an art store run soon for more paper and paints, etc.  hopefully 2008 will be an inspired year!

this is me discovering that they DO, in fact, enlarge IF i choose the large format for the picture.  but then why can everyone else have normal sized photos and still have them enlarge?

this is me being angry because none of my photos enlarge when i click on them!!  effing blog and me not knowing how to use it!!!

ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

so the close of my break is coming.  im not sure how i feel about it.  on one hand, ive really enjoyed having all this free time to do whatever i want and to sleep in and stuff.  on the other hand, i havent really done anything besides catch up on sleep, read a lot and sit around our house.  i think that it will be nice to get back to work so that i actually have to get up in the morning.  it will be nice to see everyone again.

the first picture of the road.  can you tell that stu took the picture? :-)

to end the break with a bang, some friends of ours planned a trip to the coast and stu and i were invited.  we were actually supposed to leave friday morning so that we could spend friday and saturday night but unfortunately, we received a frog for christmas who needs to be "spritzed" every few hours.  so we decided that we should only go for one night.  we were going to meet sarah and noah in florence at 3 this afternoon.  the plan was to rent a yurt and pretty much just drink it up and have some fun.  old people fun though; drinking wine and playing boardgames.  no more sex, drugs, and rock and roll for us. haha.  

another one.  too bad we couldnt stop...

anyway, stu and i set off today around 2pm and got past veneta when i noticed that some of the cars that were coming from the other direction had a light dusting of snow.  all of the sudden, out of nowhere it starts snowing like crazy; huge, thick flakes.  the cars in front of me were driving like 35 miles an hour.  about 10 minutes later, we were all stopped by this woman holding a stop sign.  there was an emergency vehicle on the side of the road.  she told us that there were a few car accidents up ahead and that the highway was closed and she wasnt sure when it was going to open. 

two seconds later we were plunged into gray mist.  it was a little scary. ( i know that i sound like a crazy person who has never driven in snow.  im from the coast!!)

so stu and i turned around.  the pictures dont do the weather any justice because stu took them and he is terrible at taking pictures ;-)  but it was really crazy out there.  of course, when we got back past veneta again though, it had stopped snowing and was raining pretty heavily so all the snow on the toureg was gone and i felt like a wimp for turning around.  sarah and noah are now staying the night by themselves in a yurt somewhere in florence.  although, i have to say, i while i wanted something to do, im not sure that camping out in january was such a good idea.  maybe we could try again some other time when its not snowing...  

the cool thing is that it did start snowing here in eugene tonight.  stu and i walked around the neighborhood a little.  i took a few pictures even though it was dark.  i hope that tomorrow it will still be snowing so i can take some more!

this is actually right out in front of our friend noah's condo.  its a block from our house.  you cant see anything but for some reason i really like this picture 

its a bummer that we are missing out on the fun of camping with good friends and that i bought a new sleeping bag just for the occasion.  maybe i will camp out on the sofa tonight just so i can try it out!! :-P

random.  you cant see it but there was snow on my nose.  apparently it dried before the flash went off.  stu also said that i was dressed like a freak and that i should take a picture so that i can make fun of myself in a few months.

My Kids...

i think it is cute that everyone i know who has a blog can use them to share stories and pictures about their kids.  well, i don't have kids.  we do, however, have ferrets.  we have one little white ferret named cinder.  she is very sweet, will curl up on my lap, give us kisses, and sleeps a lot.  and then there is oliver.  he is a stinker, who gets into lots of trouble and only gives kisses if he thinks that you have something tasty on your cheek.  stu has had cinder since before we started dating.  i was with him when he got her from the pet store and i had to hold her all the way to his apartment.  she scratched me up like crazy!  but she was scared so i forgive her.  stu and i just got oliver a little over a year ago.  his favorite thing to do when he is out of the cage is to run over to the tv area and try to push stu's playstation 3 or wii over.

oliver and cinder going crazy over their squeekie...and my super awesome pjs!

cinder stretched out on the couch with me

oliver "innocently" sniffing stu's playstation right before he climbs in between that and the wii and shoves the wii over.  happens everytime...but i guess at least he cant purchase things using a controller from the other room ;-)

playing in their toy box.  yes, its disgusting.  they have a lot of toys...and they still prefer the cardboard box.

i wanted to put up some pictures of the ferrets because, since i dont have kids and stu doesnt like the camera, they are the only thing that i ever take pictures of and i never get to share them.  i can be a proud parent of some weasels!

maybe next time ill post something more interesting.  right now im going to go read my harry potter book that stu got me from london on his trip and my brother thought was written in british...

HURLEYFROG!!!

in honor of this particular blog, i am going to write in frog green.  i was finally able to take some pictures of one of stu's christmas presents that he received from his family.

his name is hugo, after one of our favorite characters on the best tv show ever LOST. 

we call him hurley or hurleyfrog.  he is a tomato frog.  tomato frogs are found mostly around this one lake in madagascar and are apparently

 endangered.  but dont worry, we are helping hurleyfrog out by giving him a 

home and ensuring that he is safe...maybe.

<--this is a picture of his really cool home.  hurleyfrog is actually pretty cool.  i havent picked him up yet, im waiting for him to stop looking so mean, but i've petted him and he hasnt hurt me yet.  he eats crickets 

and apparently mealworms but we bought some mealworms for him today and he didn

t seem to take to them so well.  plus, they are really gross.  so im hoping that he doesnt take to them too well.  His house is super cool.  he has a pond and some fake plants and we get to "spritz" his whole place with water every few hours so that he is at the right humidity.  you can see him in his terrarium if you look in the left corner.  he is trying to hide.  he is the little orange blob...

<--here is another picture of hurleyfrog with his dinner...its gross and he didnt eat them so now they are just wiggling around in his little blue bean bowl. 

anyway, that is hurleyfrog.  just wanted to share some pictures while stu is practicing guitarhero.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My Brother Jake

My Youngest Brother Jeremey

My Mom and Stepdad, George in his favorite holey shirt!

The Kids.  I am the oldest, believe it or not...

christmas in new mexico was pretty interesting.  i left from portland at 5:30pm and we supposed to get into albuquerque around midnight.  i had a layover in san francisco that was supposed to be about an hour and a half so i rushed to have dinner and went to sit down and wait but turns out the plane was ready to leave at 8 but the crew was still in eugene, yes, eugene and we had to wait for them to fly all the way until we could leave.  i checked my phone about ten minutes after we were in the air and it was 11:30.  i couldnt believe it.  i got into albuquerque around 2 am and we had to drive all the way to where my parents live.  i didnt get in until 6:45 in the morning.  it was terrible.

aside from that long winded description, my break with my family was pretty good.  i was a little bored without the internet and with my brothers busy the whole time but i did get

 to spend a lot of time with my parents.  the weather was very very cold but dry so it was kind of a nice break from eugene.  christmas morning was pretty fun.  everyone loved the presents that i had picked out for them.  i bought jeremey some videogames and jake some clothes and cologne and the movie superbad, which he loved.  christmas day was pretty good.  i did get into one little fight with jake but other than that, the day was a success.  i made it back to portland late on the 26th and now i am just enjoying my break before i have to go back to work.

Birthday Fun

MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.  i was without the internet for a whole week and its been pretty hard on me.  haha.  i went to new mexico to spend christmas with my family; my mom, my brothers (jake and jeremey) and my stepdad george.  i never get to see them because they live so far away and they never seem to come into the state anymore i suppose i get pretty excited about seeing them every christmas.  lets back up.

i left on the 18th of december so i was still in portland for my 24th birthday!  woo hoo.  im

 never with stu on my birthday, not once, not in all the 5-6ish years that i have known him, so i was pretty excited about being able to spend it with him.  we had celebrated our own little christmas/birthday before we left eugene and stu got me a new computer for my birthday!!  i was so excited!  i have a feeling that it was mostly because he didnt want to have to let me use his anymore but i was still beyond amazed!  it is a macbook and has a little camera in it and everything.  i love it!!