We're the Hip Hop Kids. Check it!

For my birthday, I received many awesome presents. I love them all equally-almost. There is one thing I got that I was so excited about when I opened it.
The name of this beloved item? Hip Hop Abs.
For those of you who haven’t heard of this fantastic thing, it’s a work out DVD, that is (of course) specifically for your abs. I have seen the infomercial for this about a thousand times. It’s this black guy who has the most amazing abs ever, and he says his DVD will make your abs look like his, but without doing a single sit up! I have always laughed while watching it, because these people are all just dancing, having a good time, while supposedly getting a great midsection. I’ve done this the last two nights, and they are a rocking good time. I have never felt more white doing something in my whole life. I always thought I was a good dancer, I could dance and move to the beat, but trying to do their stuff, and seem cool about it at the same time does not work. I feel all stiff, like I’m a middle-aged person who doesn’t know how “the kids” do things nowadays. The second day was better than the first, and I hope I just get better from here on out. It does make your abs sore while you're doing it, though.
By the end of a few weeks, I’m hoping to have abs to die for. I’m hoping to be able to do laundry on my ripped muscles. If they do look like that in a while, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be wearing short shirts everywhere, just to brag about it. And I’ll post pictures on here, too, to let everyone know how great I look. And until then, I’ll keep dancing it out.

Way to go, Idaho!

I have returned safely from my travels abroad. And by abroad, I mean, to another state. A great state-the state of Idaho. More specifically, PJ and I went to Boise. Many people are hating on Boise, which I can’t quite figure out. It’s a cute city-pretty much exactly like the one we live in. But we wanted to go north, since every time we take a vacay we go south, and Idaho was our choice. After much deliberation, we decided Boise was our destination.
Saturday, (as most people know) was my birthday, so it was my one day out of the year where things get to go my way. *wink* I took full advantage of this, and made PJ go to the zoo. She’s not a fan of the zoo, and I think they’re kinda fun. I had heard from all sorts of people that the Boise zoo was a good one, and I was looking forward to going. I don’t remember who told me this one was good, but whoever they are should be punched in the face. I think I even remember that the Boise city website said it was a good one. What liars everyone turned out to be. That zoo is tiny-and there are no animals to speak of. We saw a few animals, but our favorite ones were in the exhibits that were closed-they closed the entire African section. Seeing every animal in there took 23 minutes-I know, because I timed it. It was sad. Then we walked through this awesome rose garden near there-there were so many different kinds of flowers and everything there smelled so great. I found myself a new favorite flower there, too-the Dainty Bess.
We also went to Ontario, Oregon-now that is a happening town. We drove around the town for a bit, went to this lake they have, and that’s pretty much all that you can do over there! I think I’d hate to live in that sort of town. I mean, where I live now doesn’t have all that much stuff, but at least we have mountains here to go up into to do stuff.
We also went to the art museum-and I swear, I will never understand art. There was a whole exhibit devoted to cockroaches. There were cockroaches with clothes glued onto them, and some pictures of cockroaches getting burned, and a giant cockroach with a noose around its neck, hanging from the ceiling. It was so weird. The exhibit we went there to see had actually closed the day before, so that was a little disappointing, but oh well.
It was a super fun trip. There were some things I learned, which I’d like to share in parting. Boise State University is to Boise as BYU is to Provo. Everyone has their merchandise, and everyone wears it. There are stores all over the place to sell this to everyone. If ever a guy starts talking to you about homeless people, start to walk around right there. We had a homeless guy that chatted us up for a while, and it was all nonsensical. If you have any doubts about going to Boise, have them no longer. Just pack yourself up, and take a quick trip.

¡Cien!

This is my 100th post!! Dear readers, I can’t believe it’s already come to this many! As I look back on the past 100, I can’t help but be touched by all the things we’ve gone through. The soccer games, the running, the good times and bad. Most people do a contest or trivia game of sorts to commemorate their 100th post, but I couldn’t really think of anything for that. I’m not as clever as others, I suppose. So to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’ve decided to make a list of the 100 things I’d like to do before I die. I hope to accomplish them all-most likely with PJ at my side.

1. Go Bungee-Jumping. I want to do this so much!
2. Go on a cruise. I’m not picky, any cruise will do
3. To do that, I’ll need a passport.
4. Eat a Gray’s Pappaya hot dog. I’ve heard they’re delicious-I’ve always wanted to try one.
5. See a Broadway show, on Broadway, in New York
6. See the Grand Canyon. Even though I’m assured this is not that big of a deal, I still want to see it.
7. Go the 4 corners-Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. PJ has said she’ll take me-and I can’t wait.
8. Wax my legs. Even though it’ll be painful, I so want to try at least once
9. Ride every ride at Disneyland. I’m dangerously close to finishing this one, actually. I’m one ride away-I’m hoping we’ll do it next time!
10. Be an extra in a television show or movie. I don’t even have to have a line!
11. Go river rafting. So scary-but I want to!
12. Go to London-actually, any part of England, probably
13. Go to Australia-love those accents!
14. Travel by train-in both Europe and America
15. Go to an awards show-either one of the Oscars, Golden Globes, or the Emmys.
16. Go to the Ellen Degeneres Show-an audience member, if you can’t tell
17. Meet a celebrity-someone that I’d like to meet. Best one-Robert Downey Jr.
18. Go camping. Sleep in a tent.
19. Learn to swim-properly
20. Visit New England in the fall and take a drive through the foliage
21. Go to the Sundance film festival (and maybe see some celebrities there…)
22. Eat in a small town diner. I don’t know why.
23. Walk down a dark alley at night. Maybe a superhero will rescue me.
24. Stay in the Plaza Hotel.
25. Visit Central Park
26. Go to the Hollywood walk of fame. Take a picture by my favorite stars.
27. Watch all the Oscar-nominated films one year- I haven’t done this yet because every year, most of the films look super boring
28. Visit the Empire State building
29. See the Eiffel tower
30. Go to the Chrysler building
31. Master an accent. Preferably British, but I’ll take any
32. Snorkel
33. Scuba dive
34. Overcome my (slight) fear of water
35. Watch a marathon of all Lord of the Ring extended editions
36. Go the Hershey factory
37. Take a midnight swim in the ocean
38. Visit a country club, go to their dance
39. Take a helicopter ride
40. Ride in first class on an airplane
41. Get a shirt from every Hard Rock Café in the world
42. Sing the National Anthem at a sporting event. Terrifying-but I’d love to try it.
43. Watch all the movies in my collection
44. Run a marathon
45. Visit every state in the USA
46. Touch a cow
47. Go to Venice
48. See RSL play in every city of the teams we play-I hope that makes sense.
49. Shop at Saks Fifth Avenue
50. Learn to like small children and babies
51. Throw a drink into someone’s face
52. Learn to play an instrument. I’m not picky, I’ll take anything
53. Attend one major sporting event-Super Bowl, MLS Cup, that sort of thing
54. Go skydiving.
55. Get a letter published in Entertainment Weekly
56. Learn how our democratic process works
57. Go to Oktoberfest-in Germany
58. Have a kick-ass New Years Eve
59. Learn to juggle
60. Ride in a hot air balloon. (see ya later, suckers)
61. Go skiing. First, overcome fear of skiing.
62. Coach a soccer team-preferably little kids
63. See an opera
64. Learn to be completely satisfied with myself-flaws and all
65. Learn sign language
66. Visit the American Museum of Natural History
67. Go to the Museum of Modern Art
68. Go to Madame Tussauds wax museum-any location
69. Attend a Hollywood film premiere and the after party
70. Slap someone across the face-and mean it
71. Break a bone-one that’s better than a nose, anyway
72. Eat something exotic and probably gross. Like octopus or something
73. Go to a soccer match in England
74. Ride in a limo
75. Introduce a new word into society. I don’t know what word or how, but I will
76. Play and finish an entire game of Monopoly. I always give up about halfway through
77. Play a golf game-all 18 holes of “real” golf
78. Visit the Great Wall of China
79. Swim with a dolphin
80. Own a pair of ridiculously expensive shoes-like Jimmy Choos or Manohlo Blahniks
81. Set a Guinness World Record
82. Time Travel – specifically to the past
83. Ride an elephant
84. Wear a dress that would require a corset. I’d love to wear a Jane Austen-type period dress.
85. Get arrested (For only a minor crime!)
86. Visit Mount Rushmore
87. I want to be able to do a flip.
88. I want to own a house that has a massive walk-in closet
89. Ride a jet-ski
90. Punch a shark in the face
91. Win an eating contest
92. Go to the Amish country
93. I would love to meet some WASPS. And if all goes well, I’ll marry one!
94. Learn how many pickled peppers Peter Piper picked
95. Be on the jury of a high profile important case
96. Find a treasure map-and then find the treasure!
97. See Britney Spears in concert. I don’t know if it’ll be as good as she was back in her prime, but I think she would give an amazing concert. Don’t judge me.
98. Learn how to fence
99. See the Loch Ness Monster in real life-I know he exists!
100. Get into a fist fight-and win

Most of these are probably impossible, or at least will be hard to do. I’m going to try to do all of these-no matter how long they take me!
Happy 100th!

You don't choose your family. Thats for dang sure.

Family parties are something my family does often. If there’s a birthday, we all get together. If there’s a holiday, there’s a dinner. We usually have a great time; there are games played and lots of food, which is my recipe for a good day.
We had a family party yesterday, to celebrate (jointly) the birthdays of my nephew and myself. I chose the menu, hamburgers and hot dogs, an old-school menu, and we were going to have cake and ice cream and all sorts of good stuff. When one of my siblings was informed of this menu, she was mad-she doesn’t like homemade hamburgers, and she hates hot dogs. I knew I couldn’t please everyone with this menu, so I didn’t care much about that.
People started arriving in the early afternoon, which was good; we planned some good games and stuff, so we needed time for this stuff. After a quick trip to the store by my brother and myself (we forget to get some essential barbecue items) we played some Rock Band. I won’t lie-even though this game gives me the rage; it’s pretty fun to play for a while. Until I start getting bad, then I hate to play, and I quickly give up. We did some eating, all delicious food, and more Rock Band, and then played some Apples to Apples. If you haven’t played this game, get out right now and purchase it. This is one of the most fun games I’ve ever played. I don’t know why-I am addicted to this game and I love playing. Before the Apples to Apples game, there was a fight between family members-myself included. I don’t like when people are rude and it seemed that that’s all some of these people were being. If you’re invited to a party, I think it’s rude to avoid everyone and sit by yourself when there’s games and stuff afoot. You should be with everyone else, playing and talking and having fun. But that’s just my own opinion. After the playing, there was the standard cake and ice cream, and then we called it a night.
All in all, the day wasn’t what I’d hoped. I don’t know that I’ll do anymore of these parties; maybe the time for them has come and gone. I’ll just have to remember the old ones, when they were fun. Maybe in a year or so, I’ll forget the animosity I have towards them right now, and throw another. Or most likely, never again.

You can always go home...and steal it from others

Most people are comfortable with a schedule that they have. They come home at the same time, they do the same things, they have a routine. I definitely have that. I know that every morning, I will do the same thing when I shower (hair, then body wash, then any necessary shaving, in case you were interested) I have an order in which I put on my makeup, and eat, and dress, and everything. After work, I come home, chill for a few, then run. And to sleep, I wash my face, then brush my teeth, and then I'm done. Some people would call this a rut. I call it comfortable. I like knowing how things will get done, and this way, I know I won't miss anything. I'm glad I live (relatively) alone, so nobody messes this up for me.
Recently, one of my older brothers has come back home for a little while. I don't know how long he'll be staying, but when I heard he was coming here, I was excited. I rarely get to see him, and when I do, it's for a short while. He has been in the Marines for a few years, so of course, that takes him to far away places. Now that he's out, there's more face time. When he first got here, of course, I put down some ground rules of things. I may be glad to see him, but I'm not dumb. I know that if I don't establish some order, things will get out of control. It wasn't a whole lot of rules, just some things that I think are common sense, but are probably not what others think of.
My rules are sorta being followed, but others are cropping up. And I'm trying not to be crazy, and make it so that he has no space or anything, but its kinda driving me crazy. I have specific places for everything in the bathroom, and he is not following my rules! I'm trying to be loose about this, to not seem like a psycho, but its hard.
Also, I am losing most of my hard earned freedom. I outlasted all of my siblings to have things my way. (I know, I could just move out like the rest of them, but who can afford that?) I have my beloved Tivo and everything is done according to my time. I now no longer have the remote to myself. I know, you're thinking, I should just take it back, but that won't happen. He's a pretty big guy, and I've tried to wrestle things from him before. Last time this happened (on Monday, actually) he threw me over the couch, pro-wrestling style. I'm glad I don't bruise that easily, or else I'd just be a giant bruise. I'm getting smarter about things. I've either stopped trying to take things, or I'm quick about vaulting over things to get to a room that locks from the inside.
I'm sure all of this is a good thing. It's training me how to live with others, so that I won't become a hermit/recluse. Someday, I'll look back on this and laugh, but for now, does anyone know any sleeper holds they can quickly teach me?

Pain heals, Chicks dig scars. Glory...lasts forever

It's that time, people. The sky is blue, the grass is (probably) cut, the smog is thick as ever. You all know what I'm talking about...Olympic season! Now normally, I'm all about cheering on my country, as is everyone, but during the Olympics, it's heightened to even more. Team USA needs to take the gold in everything, so we can prove our country is better than the others. Which we already know, but it's nice to be able to prove it with a certainty.
Ok, that whole thing was a lie. I am all for team USA, especially when it comes to the sports I love, but I am not a rabid fan of the Olympics. Truthfully, I don't watch it. I will read the scores/standings, in soccer, at least, but I don't care that much about it. I know some of the names, enough of the stats to be able to fake my way through a conversation, but that's about it. I know sports is exciting to watch, but I don't have the time or patience to watch all of these events. There are some things I do like to know standings for. All the track events, I love to see who wins those. I've read about so many runners, that to see them win would be awesome for them. I am envious of all the athletes, though. To have that sort of drive in them to get that far, is just amazing. The hours they put in, the brutul workouts they do to themselves, I can't even fathom. And the thing that would kill me (especially in singles sports) is that all your hard work, everything you have worked for, comes down to one moment. One minute in the space of time is all you have, all guts in, to try to win for your country. To get there is even amazing, so I think thats all the victory I would need. Of course, to win the gold would just be mind blowing.
In 14 (or so) days, it'll all be over. Nobody will be talking about the Olympics like they are now, and it won't be on all day every day. I'm hoping to catch some of the events, but if I don't, at least I know that I'll be able to hear of the results. And the internet is good at telling me things, too. To all those of you who love to watch this stuff, kudos. And I hope you enjoy the next two weeks. But once its over, look forward to Vancouver 2010!

I!

Now, everyone who frequents this blog knows that I am a little off. I like organized things, and I like things to be in an order. This extends to so many aspects of my life. Back in June 2005, I decided to watch all my movies in alphabetical order. Why, you might ask? I don't like to choose between movies. I have so many good ones, that trying to pick one would be really hard to do. So to give everyone a chance, I decided to watch them all, this way, nobody's feelings get hurt. (Because in my brain, DVD's have feelings? I'm really not sure) I started this thinking it would be over within a year or so, and I'd be feeling all good about it. Was I wrong.
The reason I'm writing about it today is because is a momentous occasion in my quest. This evening, at approximately 9:53 pm (MST) I finished the letter I, which concluded with the movie, The Italian Job. 3 years in the making, and I have finished 9 letters. Now, before you go jumping to the conclusion that I have millions of DVD's (which I don't) keep in mind that I've not only been watching my movies. I also have my Netflix, and my beloved Tivo. Before Tivo came along, I probably could be going through these quicker, but it's so enticing to find as many things on my TV to watch as possible. At one click of a button, I get to watch new movies, old classics, favorite TV shows. Its a dangerous thing to have, and steals up entirely too much time. But don't any of you be thinking I do nothing but sit on my bum and watch TV all day. As you all know, I'm a runner, so for about 76 percent of the time I am watching, I am working out. So its not that I'm just a couch potato. I'm actually making my body awesome whilst I ruin my mind. It's a good trade-off, I think.
While I am elated that I have finished another letter, a sad cloud comes over me. 3 years, and I'm only done with I? I still have 17 letters to go? I will never finish this! But I'm keeping strong. Every once in a while, I think I should just chuck the whole thing, and not even do it anymore, but then I think about how much time I've put into this. I have not been doing this for so long, just to stop doing it now. I will keep going. One day, I will finish all my letters. I will throw myself a freaking party when this is done. There will be balloons, and games, and dancing. I will be doing my happy dance for like a week and a half. So in 57 years, when I finish this, to anyone that's still my friend, save the date. It'll be one heck of a shindig.

Now I understand that Miss Muffet

As I was getting ready to run today and pulling on my shoes, my shoe felt weird on my toes. I took it off to investigate. I saw nothing wrong with the shoe, so I put it back on. This time, the back of my shoe felt awkward, so I pulled it off again. As I did this time, a spider the size of a Buick came out my shoe. I screamed like a little girl, and made someone come pick it up and get rid of it for me. Yes, I'm that much of a sissy. I have been thoroughly traumatized by this experience.

And she's reading again. How novel.

Yesterday, Saturday, Breaking Dawn came out. Everyone knows, of course, that it is another book in the Twilight Series. I have been addicted to these books. I read the first, and had to read them all. I don't like the second book, and the third is pretty good. You don't realize, however, how ridiculous these books sound until you read them aloud. PJ and I have done this on our last few road trips-read the third book aloud. It sounds so funny, especially when you add voices and accents and the like. When Saturday came, I was glad my mom bought the book, so's I could borrow it and read it before she did.
That might sound rude, stealing it before she, the owner of the book, gets to read it, but there is a reason for it. I am a really fast reader. I don't know how many words a minute, or pages a minute or anything, but I have been told that I do read really fast. Actually, in 5th grade, I won an award for fastest reader. At the time, I was disappointed, (I really wanted to win something else-now I don't even remember what) but now, I'm proud of that little piece of paper I got so long ago.
My ability to read fast is both a curse and a blessing. It's a blessing when I want to get through a book quickly, like, with Harry Potter. I loves me some Harry Potter, but they're so long, and I have such anticipation, that I can't wait to finish them. Same thing with these Twilight books. I want to know what happens, so flying through the pages is awesome. The curse is that...I get through things too quickly. As soon as I'm finished with the book, even though I'm so happy I'm done, I feel a certain...disappointment. It's done. I'm finished-there's nothing about these characters left to read-until a new book comes out. It's always bad at the end of the series. The last Harry Potter book, I was so sad. I was glad it only took a few hours to read it, but then, that was it. No more adventures for our courageous Harry and Ron. I know I can always go back and read the old ones, but getting new ones is just so much more exciting!
Now, after I spent some of the day reading and finishing the book, I realize, I am a little sad. I was so fired up to read it, and now, I'm experiencing my reader's remorse. I probably will read this again (maybe even on a trip...) but until then, I'll have to entertain myself with new books and new peoples. I have a stack of books, just waiting to be read, most of which I've borrowed from PJ. But I never read as much as I want to-so I don't need something to read right now. I usually take a while to read a book now because of how few times I actually take to read. I can't wait to get wrapped up in my next book!