Best Albums of 2007

I'm seriously going to do a better job of posting on both blogs. Hopefully you use RSS so you don't even really notice that I don't post that often. Anyway. I am babysitting for the whole entire weekend for Mr. Doesn'tknowhispossessivepronouns (ex. "Me ride me bike?") and Mr. Anotomicallycuriousdinosaur (read: playing T-Rex with squeezing claws that gravitate toward my butt), but (pun!) the good news is that there is a rocket-fast wifi connection so I'm downloading like crazy. Remember Limewire?! I'm so entranced. It's just like college. I feel a little (a lot) out of the loop and out of touch with my home culture so I decided to download a few of Time Magazine's Top 10 Albums of 2007 and Top 10 Songs of 2007. I haven't really listened to a lot of it yet but I'm excited to see what the big deal with Amy Winehouse is and obviously I can't wait to dive into the new Radiohead.

I've got a busy week ahead of me. Three days of doing everything Christmasy I've been planning before leaving for Germany on Thursday and then off to the land of snow and Starbucks (I hope I hope!). Tonight is baking, tomorrow is the gingerbread house party, Tuesday is watching The Nativity with some friends, Wednesday is the (inevitable) Secret Santa party with the group and Thursday morning is Christmas breakfast with my roommates. How's that for cramming an entire holiday season into 5 days!?

happy weekend

These two websites have consumed all of my free time. I thought I should share, just in case you had some free time laying around getting moldy.

Slate Magazine's "The Complete Bushisms"
My favorites are when he makes fun of the blind guy and the most interesting thing about George Washington

The Daily Show Video Library
Every Daily Show since Jon Stewart took over in 1996, sorted by date and segment, searchable by names, subjects and keywords. I'm working my way backwards from today. I'm at October 16, 2007.

Enjoy.

Warning: Graphic Content

Seriously. It's going to be gross, people.

So I stubbed my toe a while back and I looked down and this is what I saw, except with LOTS more blood.

I looked down and realized what had happened and thought, "Whoa...the boys are going to think this is so cool." Then I really realized what had happened and started to panic and yelled, "Hey somebody, my toenail fell off!"

This is about a week later after many soakings and things calmed down a bit. The nail was still connected under there somewhere. I waited for a long time for it to fall off on it's own but eventually I just hacked it off with scissors stolen from the BFD.

much better...kinda

stacy was right!

4 things about me.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. vegetable chopper
2. child watcher
3. desk sitter
4. coffee maker

Four places I have lived:
1. with my mom
2. with my dad
3. with my friends
4. north africa

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. the sahara
2. spain
3. nairobi
4. schaumburg, illinois

Four of my favorite foods:
1. popcorn with m&m's
2. things you wrap up
3. cheesy things you eat with a fork
4. sushi

Four friends that I think will respond first:
1. cate?
2. holly?
3. joanna?
4. someone?

well hello, new favorite

paper cloud

finally luggage tags get witty

I saw a picture of these luggage tags (which are clearly from knockknock.biz) on boingboing the other day and can't stop laughing about them. I'm thinking about printing them out and making them for myself.

Flowchart: Medieval sexual desicionmaking

Okay I'm sure this is borderline inappropriate but I thought it was awesome. Are there flowcharts for deciding what movie to watch?

Rock the Vote

First of all, I'm pretty sure I've used that title before. Anyway. I saw these links on BoingBoing today and thought it was really interesting. First, this site has a chart of the presidential canidates (who knew there were so many?!) and their stance on some hot issues.


This site has used the previous chart to build an online quiz to help you determine which candidate best lines up with your opinions. It's pretty interesting and fairly accurate. The problem is that the chart doesn't account for nuances in strategy and opinion which come into play in the quiz. Nonetheless, really interesting.

My top picks (not surprisingly) were Obama and Kucinich and it's pretty clear that I will NOT be voting for Tancredo.

stacey lens is my hero

she never lets me down

Confessions...A fun questionnaire

1. The phone rings. Who do you want it to be? my mom. well, anyone from home actually. i just got a vonage phone so it will be fun receiving calls from home for a change.
2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? always
3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? i mostly like to ask questions
4. Do you take compliments well? No. I hate being complimented.
5. Do you play Sudoku? NO! I hate it! I'm so bad at it. I've never even completed a square.
6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? Depends on the wilderness. I would probably be okay for a while.
7. Do you like to ride horses? I don't really know. Probably.
8. Did you ever go to camp as a kid? Yes...and I don't really like talking about it.
9. What was your favorite game as a kid? Life and then Labyrinth
10. If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was married, what would you do? Be really annoyed and then hit him.
12. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you? He would probably be creeped out by me and we would probably have different goals.
13. Do you like to pursue or be pursued? Be pursued. Totally.
14. Use three words to describe yourself? fan of fans
15. Do any songs make you cry? A couple.
16. Are you continuing your education? Why yes, yes I am.
17. Do you know how to shoot a gun? if by gun you mean super soaker, then yes, but not with much confidence.
18. If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed? my computer
19. How often do you read books? daily
20. Do you think more about the past, present or future? mostly future...too much probably.
21. What is your favorite children’s book? Where The Wild Things Are and Next Place
22. What color are your eyes? Hazel
23. How tall are you? 5′9ish
24. Where is your dream house located? Good question. Probably Portland.
27. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Yes of course.
28. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden? Like, 7 months ago.
30. Where was the furthest place you traveled today? in 24 hours i've flown for 14 hours and been on a train for 5. I was far away yesterday.
32. Do you like mustard? Only on onion rings
34. Do you look like your mom and dad? Mostly like my dad
35. How long does it take you in the shower? like, 6 minutes.
37. What movie do you want to see right now? Ratatouille
39. What did you do for New Year’s? Um, I don't remember. Probably nothing. I hate New Year's.
40. Do you think The Grudge was scary? I didn't see it.
42. Do you own a camera phone? No.
44. Was your mom a cheerleader? No
45. What’s the last letter of your middle name? o
47. How many hours of sleep do you get a night? usually 7. I really can't sleep more than 8.
48. Do you like care bears? I used to a whole lot.
49. What do you buy at the movies? Cherry Coke and Junior Mints. Most recently it was a Black Currant Fanta. Highly recommended.
50. Do you know how to play poker? A little.
51. Do you wear your seatbelt? Not in taxis.
52. What do you wear to sleep? plaid pajama pants or Iowa basketball shorts and my Antique Acres shirt or the shirt I was wearing that day that I forgot to change out of.
53. Anything big ever happen in your hometown? Nope.
54. How many meals do you eat in a day? Usually 3 but it's too hot to eat now.
55. Is your tongue pierced? Nope.
56. Do you always read MySpace bulletins? No. I hate them so much I deleted my MySpace.
58. Do you like funny or serious people better? Funny.
59. Ever been to L.A.? No. I probably never will unless it's to visit someone. No desire.
60. Did you eat a cookie today? Um, no. I did eat a digestive biscuit though.
61. Do you use cuss words in other languages? Yes but not on purpose. Pronunciation is tricky.
62. Do you steal or pay for your music downloads? I just make requests to Alex and she sends them on over. It's the best system I've ever had.
63. Do you hate chocolate? No. I eat a lot more chocolate here than I ever have before. I'm okay with it.
64. What do you and your parents fight about the most? Not a lot. Money probably.
65. Are you a gullible person? No. But I'm trickable.
66. Do you need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy? Definitely not.
67. If you could have any job (assuming you have the skills) what would it be? I pretty much have it. Or taking pictures.
68. Are you easy to get along with? When I want to be.
69. What is your favorite time of day? Late afternoon.

The end.

PS - I decided to keep posting on this blog with random not North Africa stuff. I hope that's okay with you.

Long Time No See

Hello.

First of all, if you're reading this, I'm really surprised at your diligence. I've started a new blog to share my African adventures with everyone and I would love for you to see it. For security reasons, this blog will only be open to invited readers. If you would like to read this blog, send me an email or comment on this blog and I'll add you to the list!

See you soon!

you are invited!

Hello dear blogging friends. For those of you who aren't on Facebook (why would you not be on Facebook?!), just wanted to let you know that I'll be in Iowa City for one last time this Thursday and some friends and I will be grabbing dinner at The Vine (Coralville) at 6:30 so I'd love it if you could join us! Bring anyone you would like, the more the merrier. I'd love to see as many people as possible before I leave!

See you at the Vine!

PS- let me know if you're planning on coming so I can warn The Vine!

christmas and such

Remember how all I really wanted for Christmas was you...wait...I mean peace? I totally got it. I had a really nice holiday season. I felt completely okay taking a break from the craziness of leaving to just be with my family. There was no drama or stress, things just went along as they always do. It was great. Here are some pictures from my holiday season. Notice the lack of group pictures of us doing the normal Christmas things...I forgot to take pictures during the actual celebrating. Oops.

Luke got to put the angel on the tree. We got a new tree this year and it's pretty big so that will be Luke's job from now on because he's decidedly taller than the rest of us...which is still weird.

I was excited to make Christmas cookies which meant going through all of my mom and grandma's recipes to find the right Christmas ones. It was fun to see my grandma's handwriting again. It's been a long time. I found this recipe for "Angie's Dad's Favorite Brownies" which was cute. My grandma really loved my dad (and he loved her too!) which was always really nice.
I made this scarf for the Secret Santa thing at work. We had a $5 limit which is just not enough to have fun with but yarn is cheap so I made a scarf. It was for Tiffany, hence the "T". She liked it. What did I get from my Secret Santa you ask? NOTHING!! My Secret Santa sucked! I have filed a formal complaint with Starbucks, don't worry.
On Christmas Eve we go to Grandma B's (my step-dad's mom) for a Norwegian food. She makes lutefisk, which couldn't be more disgusting, but there are meatballs and lefse, which are amazing. On the wall by the door is Luke's growth chart. Other people started adding themselves, which is really rude. All of the blank ones are Luke, there are lots.

Grandma hard at work in the kitchen while we do nothing.

My aunt kept commenting on how Luke blended right into the painting he was sitting in front of. She was right.

I taught my niece how to lay under the tree to look at the lights. She thought it was a pretty fun trick. I love how she scrunches up her whole face when she smiles.

It was hard getting a picture of Carter without the Spiderman costume I let him wear all night...by all night I mean including to the movie theater and to the Burger King playland where he introduced himself to the other children as Spiderman. "Hi, my name is Spiderman"

The best part of my Christmas vacation was getting to spend tons of time with Crissa. I love that she has a job that lets her have Christmas break. She really wanted to meet Isaiah so we went over to Alisha's to see him. I had just found one of the old versions of Labyrinth at Barnes and Noble so we played it. We played this game THOUSANDS of times in junior high and high school. It was really really fun to play with the true Labyrinth masters again (No offense, Eli). Alisha won but only because she tricked us...typical. Cady (Crissa's sister) was there too but apparently not allowed to be in this picture.
We got this hat for Isaiah. We also got him a shirt that says "brrr" on it. He was really fun and completely cooperative when we needed to pretend we were 14 years old and just play Labyrinth and pretend we weren't growing up at all.

So that was basically my Christmas break. I'm glad that my memories of this time include so many good things and not things like airline luggage regulations, running out of sprinkles for the peppermint mochas or the fact that global warming killed all of the snow. I hope your Christmas included peace and joy too...oh and the Sufjan Stevens cd's...I definitely hope it included those!

sorry jo

Joanna is totally right, it has been way too long since I've actually blogged. Basically I'm COMPLETELY overwhelmed. Completely. I leave in 12 days. 12. That's not enough time to do everything I need to do to be ready to go. My response to this is to just give up and admit that I just won't be completely ready. Ever. So now I have to decide what needs to be done and what doesn't, which just means more thinking. I hit a point every day where I just can't think about things any more and I have to stop. Last night I gave up and turned on Animal Planet, which worked for about an hour before thoughts like, "Can I afford to go to the dentist before I go? Can I wait and go to the dentist in Africa? Who do I call about that? Starbucks should have better dental coverage because their drinks are so bad for your teeth." I fell asleep last night wondering if the UPS Store would let me use their scale to weigh my luggage and then I woke up at 5am because apparently there was too much to think about for me to just sleep.

The good news is that I'm pretty organized. Every day has its own piece of paper which is labeled and hanging on my closet doors. My shifts at work and other appointments are on it and then there's a big (BIG) list of the things I still need to do and buy and every day I try to plug them into the days I still have left. Most of the big stuff is over. All of my medical stuff will be completely taken care of by Friday (when my TB test gets checked). Oh- good story. I went in on Tuesday for my physical and I wasn't really looking forward to it. When the doctor walked in she looked really familiar and I realized that she goes to Kaio church, this small church in Cedar Falls that I've been to a few times. We recognized each other right away and she pulled out the forms I had given the nurse that have the AIM logo on them and she said "I was SO excited to see you! You're my best patient!!" She was literally thrilled to be the one to give me my physical. It was so great. We kept getting distracted because she'd ask me a bunch of questions (GOOD questions like, "How is God using this experience in your family life?") and then she'd say, "Oh sorry, don't answer that yet, I need to listen to your lungs." It was amazing.

Okay so it's 6am and my step dad just came upstairs because he heard someone awake up here and he was downstairs not sleeping too. Pretty funny. He just looked at the map of Africa in my room and I pointed my city out to him and he said "I bet that's where I'll be in about a year." It was so cute. (My family is going to come visit me in a year when I get my vacation time). PS- I just looked it up and the current temperature in my city is 70 degrees. I can't wait to get there.

I can't wait to get there!

Okay. I'm going to go try and get some more sleep now. I'm having lunch with my step-mom and my sister-in-law today and that will require me to be well-rested at best. I do have a few pictures from Christmas so don't worry, there will be pictures soon.

like a fetter

hello.

It seems as if almost everyone is taking a holiday break from blogging. I guess I have too. Most of my post-holiday time has been spent in a support raising freak out haze. I have about $300 in monthly pledges left to raise and I'm at the point where I just have to be faithful in following through and then just TRUST that it will come in. Yikes. That's hard to do. Christmas was good. pretty much completely normal. norwegian christmas eve at grandma b's, church (although it was the 11pm youth service this year...not the same), presents in the morning, breakfast with grandma, dad's side christmas, dinner at aunt sandy's. it actually seemed to be a really calm christmas this year which was just what i wanted.

My aunt jaine (my stepdad's sister) is typically pretty strange, but in really funny and interesting ways. I love talking to her because it's fun to have a conversation with her. she always has such a funny point of view. well anyway, she said she had a gift for me and she pulls out several little fabric parcels and it turns out that it's a piece of fabric with Chutes and Ladders on it and inside the fabric was a pair of dice and some plastic animals. she said that she thought it would be a good thing to take to Africa because it's a game with only numbers so it's easy to understand in any language and I can even practice my Arabic numbers by playing it. She gave me several of them to give as gifts because she knew that at the beginning of my time in Africa I would be really dependent on the hospitality of others and they could make good gifts. I was so overwhelmed. It was such a thoughtful gift. I really don't think I've ever received a gift that had more thought behind it. It was so amazing. I'll post some pictures later.

Christmas with Dad was good until I had to explain to my family AGAIN that I will be gone for TWO YEARS. My step-mom's response was, "Well then we'll have to have lunch sometime soon!" Only a little frustrating.

Got the Sufjan Stevens Christmas CD(s). Very nice. I love it when he sings worship songs.

I quit my job yesterday. My boss was mad and it stressed me out but I think I'm pretty much over it. Everyone else is really excited and that makes me even more excited.

I've gotten to see Crissa a lot and I can't think of anything better to do at Christmas time.

I think that's it.

Ok Bye.

yes, another one

One. Word. Survey. You. Can. Only. Type. One. Word.

1. Yourself: procrastinating
2. Your sibling(s): brothers
3. Your mother: here
4. Your Father: quiet
5. Your favorite physical feature on others: laugh
6. Your dream home: small
7. Your best friends: away
8. Your dream last night: stressed
9. Your Favorite drink: psl
10. Your Dream Car: hybrid
11. The room you are in: guest
12. Your Ex: who
13. Your fear: staying
14. What you want to be in 10 years: overseas
15. Who you hung out with last night: cousins
16. Something you’re not: ready
17. Muffins: cranberry
18. One of Your Wish List Items: moleskine
19. Time: sparse
20. The Last Thing You Did: breakfast
21. Your Favorite Weather: Fall
22. Your Favorite Book: Thessalonians
23. The last thing you ate: cheerios
24. Your Life: starting
25. Your Mood: sleepy
26. What are you thinking about right now: resignation
27. What are you doing at the moment: survey?
28. Your summer: long
29. Your relationship status: ha
30. Who You Are Now: me
31. Who You Want to be in Five Years: still
32. What is the weather like: frosty
33. When is the last time you laughed: earlier
34. Who should fill this out: hojo

this totally makes my spirit bright

JANUARY

1. Who kissed you on new years?
Ha. Hahaha.

2. Did you have a new year's resolution this year?
I doubt it. I generally avoid things like that.

3. Does it snow where you live?
APPARENTLY NOT!

4. Do you like hot chocolate?
oooh yes

5. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop?
No, and I don't really have any desire to. New Year's is pretty dumb if you ask me.

FEBRUARY

1. Who was your Valentine?
Um...my dog?

2. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class?
Uh yeah! Cool ones, like the kind you fold into paper airplanes.

3. Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not?
No. The movie is much more important than the actual groundhog. Am I right or am I right or am I right...right right right.

MARCH

1. Are you Irish?
Probably not but maybe.

2. Do you wear green on St. Patty's Day?
Generally not. But I do drink green beer.

3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2006?
Alex came to see me and we went to the Panther Lounge for green beer and watched the guy put drops of green food coloring in our beer and stir it up and hand it to us. It was awesome.

4. Are you happy when winter is pretty much over?
I don't really like that week or so where it's still cold and the snow is dirty and everything is wet. But I love it when it's finally warm out and you don't need a coat.

APRIL

1. Do you like the rain?
Yeah, I love it.

2. Did you play an April fool's joke on anyone?
I don't think so. I've played some good ones though. One time I pretended to drink pee on a bet and then spilled it on Dan's coat. I think that's my favorite. It was diluted apple juice.

3. Do you get tons of candy on Easter?
Not tons. Mostly just lots of chocolate eggs and lots of jelly beans. Oh and lots of those malted milk ball egg things that I hate.

4. Do you celebrate 4/20?
Ha no....I don't think I ever have.

5. Do you love the month of April?
Not particularly

MAY

1. What is your favorite flower?
hydrangeas, daisies, cherry blossoms

2. Do you like the spring?
Yeah. It's not my favorite though.

3. Finish the phrase "April showers":
bring may flowers...duh

4. What is the first color you think of when you think of Spring?
green. and yellow.

JUNE

1. What year did/will you graduate from high school?
2000

2. Did you do anything fun during this month?
I hung out with Alisha a lot- we did lots of fun stuff.

JULY

1. What did you do on the Fourth of July?
Hmmm. I don't really remember. I know that Andrea and Alisha and I went to the fireworks but I think that's it.

2. Did you go on any vacations during this month?
We left for Alaska at the end of July!

3. Do you blast the A/C all day?
Not if it's up to me. I'd much rather be a little too hot and have the windows open.

AUGUST

1. Did you do anything special at the end of your summer?
Alaska! That was definitely special.

2. What was your favorite summer memory of '06?
Lots of animals in Alaska, getting ready for Alisha's baby, lots of time with my niece and nephew.

3. Did you have a sunburn?
Yeah! Kelly, Andrea, Alisha and I spent all day at the lake and I definitely got a sunburn that day. I think that was in June though...maybe July.

4. Do you go to the beach a lot?
No. I don't really care about the beach. I love the ocean though!

SEPTEMBER

1. Did you attend school/college in '06?
Nope!

2. Who is your favorite teacher?
This guy John is a history professor at UNI and I like it when he comes to Starbucks...does that count?

3. Do you like fall better than summer?
Yes! I LOVE fall.

OCTOBER

1. What was your favorite Halloween costume?
My brother was "dead Ashton Kutcher" which was hilarious.

2. What is your favorite candy?
I think peanut m&m's

3.What did you dress up as this year?
I bought a wig to wear to work but I didn't end up wearing it.

NOVEMBER

1. Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving?
Everyone comes to our house. This year I worked.

2. Do you love stuffing?
Yeah! I love putting it in lefse and rolling it up.

3. What are you thankful for?
The "givers" of the world. I'm so so so thankful for them.

DECEMBER

1. Do you celebrate Christmas?
Yes!

2. What is December 1st, 2006?
Jeff Goodenbour's 25th birthday. (There are like 5 people from elementary school whose birthdays I remember and his is always one of them...I hope he doesn't google himself and get creeped out by that)

3. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?
My step-mom always hung mistletoe in a doorway and my brothers would chase me and pretend they had to kiss me but I don't think they ever caught me. Then there was mistletoe in Dan and Aaron's room (and a duct tape circle on the floor defining the "danger zone") but I don't know if I got caught. Obviously if I did it wasn't a very memorable kissing experience...

4. Get anything special last year?
My Ipod!

5. What do you want this year?
Monthly supporters! I would just really like a nice relaxed Christmas with my family without pressure or stress. There's a list of things that I need to take to Africa but I'm sure I'll probably just get a bunch of stuff that will sit in my room for 2 years.

6. Do you like cold weather?
If there's snow...

ok fine, no nap

I would rather be napping but apparently my mom would rather be vacuuming...so I'll blog.

Here's the rest of my superfuntime weekend. Alex was in town and I was assigned to Alex entertainment duty for Monday morning. The first order of business was to go to the post office to mail some stuff. Kinsey had no idea there was a post office downtown and was pretty upset that she had been walking to the one across from the courthouse all these years. Alex and I thought it was pretty funny and made fun of her all morning. Her response was always, "Are you sure it's been there that whole time? I'm SO MAD!"

We did some shopping, I found these cool pencils made from rolled up Chinese newspapers:Then...(drumroll)....BALDY'S!! My fav-o-rite.

mmm

the only place where i get the same thing every time
(chicken and jack!)i would also like to take a moment to point out that this is kinsey's first cameo in my blog. apparently she's been a secret reader for some time now. i like talking to her about her wedding and she's not too cool to hang out with you. that's all you really need to know about kinsey. (jk)then kinsey went home and we went to the q bar for some afternoon pool. Alex and I used to play pool and have a pitcher of miller lite every wednesday before bible study.

then alex left and i went hoa #1 for some milky tea and was pleased to see that abbie kampman was working. it was so fun talking to her. she's so great. then deedee called and i got to see her and kari and then deedee and i went and got betsy for dinner at quinton's, another favorite.

deedeebetsy

(aparently i only take pictures of people drinking?)

So there it is, yet another successful trip to Iowa City. Perhaps my last for a long long time. Weird.

beautiful

the most wonderful time

i had an amazing weekend. cate and i have been wanting to hang out to do some holiday baking and finally figured out a day that worked so i headed to west liberty on saturday afternoon to get that done. it was so fun. we made lots and lots of goodies and watched lots and lots of satc episodes from the last season that cate had never seen. it was perfect.

sugar cookies

toffee bars with hershey's bars melting on top.
super fun way to put chocolate on something.
rice crispies for scotcheroos
cate was listening for them to snap (crackle or pop) and then one did really loudly and we had to retake this picture after we were done cracking up.food coloring is funfrosting! we were done being creative after cookie #5

i decided that my favorite thing to do when i stay over at my married friends' houses is to put my toothbrush in their toothbrush holders.

and to add to their holiday decor

(that's my sock)so yeah, fun stuff. part two of the weekend is coming up next and it was pretty much just as fun. good times.