7 Quick Takes: Spiders, Sisters, and Craftiness

Linking up with Jen's friend Carolyn for this edition of 7QT - yay, new friends!

1. Biggest and most exciting news first: I finished my Doctor Who scarf yesterday!!!! Woot! A more complete blog post on that is coming soon, don't you worry. This fangirl cannot limit her excitement to one little Take; a full post is definitely required. I mean, I crocheted the full scarf... I owe it to the scarf to write a full post about it. Here, I've already 'grammed it :) And here's a Flashback Friday to when two of my friends and I wrapped the first half around ourselves.

2. Speaking of crafty things, tomorrow night is officially Craft Night. A few friends and I are getting together to make Moscow Mules, do crafty things, talk, laugh, and perhaps watch a movie {if we can remember the three we said we would remember for such a time as this}. My craft is putting ribbons on cookie holders for a friend's wedding - wish me luck. It's going to be a blast, and it has been the happy thought getting me through this week.

3. My happy thought for next week is a person! My good friend Laurie {from the Frozen Tundra} is coming out for a business meetings our fathers have, and she is spending the week at my house! I will try and remember to take some pictures of us together - promise!

4. Alright, deep dark confession time: I don't get Twitter. Conceptually I understand it involves short notes and links and following and tweeting and retweets and favorites and hashtags... but I don't love it or use it frequently. Am I missing a crucial piece of knowledge that makes Twitter cooler than fro yo? Am I doing it wrong? Twitter Jedis, teach me your ways, for I am only a baby Twitter-bird.

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5. I get to hang out with my sister Jayna today! She came down for my dad's birthday dinner yesterday, and today we are going to coffee before she has to go back to work. I love spending time with my sister!

6. Just this week, I've killed three spiders. THREE! This. Week.
I don't care if the weather goes from 90* to 20* - spiders need to stay out of my house! Anybody have some good recipes for spider repellent? I'm frantically searching Pinterest as I type, because y'all know me and spiders do not get along.
The plus side of this story is that 2 of the 3 spiders were encountered before I left for work, so I couldn't just yell for Samara to come kill them. So I killed them. And then I killed them again, just for good measure. This picture sums up my life pretty well this week:

7. To end with a Funny Friday, here is Yzma as a Disney Princess:

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Happy Friday, friends! Enjoy your weekend :)

Goals Update {Sneaking in 7QT}

I read this wonderful post by Chelsea about making goals, and I realized that it is almost the end of June, which is a perfect time for a goals update! And since I had 5 goals for 2014, I figured I will expand just a bit and link up with Jen at Conversion Diary - two birds, one stone.

1. First of all, let us applaud the fact that I'm doing a goal update at almost exactly the halfway point of the year. Maybe I'm a few weeks days early, but at least I'm doing it in June. Be happy with what you get, people.

2. Goal 1: Invest time in new friendships. Status: successful thus far. Rebecca and I have become so close {we're planning on buying a cake - she loves cake - for our friend-versary in August} and we regularly make jokes about double dates and maybe even a double wedding, but could all of this happen without actually talking to boys, please? Thank you.
I've also grown relationships with several other people, most notably Notion friends. Also, Laura from A Single Drop in the Ocean and I have been getting to know one another via email {and we've both assured the other that we are not creepy stalker people!}, and that has been so fun. Actually, tune in for a blog swap/interview coming up!

3. Goal 2: Get into a real exercise routine. Status: pretty successful. I've been doing Zumba 2-3 times a week this month {Bradley class cut one from my schedule} and have been actually good at exercising at home when class isn't a possibility. Sugar intake has been down and water intake has been improved. Also, I've started using the MyFitness Pal app {shoutout to AJ who got me started!}, and since starting on May 29th, I've lost 5 pounds. Bam!

4. Goal 3: Continue to blog twice weekly. Status: rocking. I've already posted more in 2014 than I did in 2013, total. So that's cool. Any suggestions for posts can be made in the comments - I'm open to your ideas!

5. Goal 4: Try one new recipe bi-monthly. Status: I mastered one and made it three times - does that count? Ha! I will pick a new recipe for July and give it a whirl. And maybe even a blog post.

6. Goal 5: Goodreads goal of 40 books this year. Status: I updated my challenge to 50 books, and I've read 29 so far. The perfectionist-Type-A part of me would loooove to point out that I'm 5 books ahead of schedule, according to Goodreads, and the overachiever part of me wants to up my challenge again, and the stressed-out-making-life-decisions part of me wants to take a chill pill and just enjoy reading.

7. Just for laughs {and Funny Friday points}:

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Happy weekend!

My Life is a Romantic Comedy...

The theme of this post:

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This is also the theme of my life, but that is depressing and beside the point. 

Example One of Bek's Rom Com: on Wednesday night, Samara and I went to a friend's college's portfolio showing. Actually, it was a called a "port-show-lio" which automatically means that we're in a rom-com, right? Renaming things to be cutesy and rhyming? Anyway, we were having a great time, appreciating students' amazing skills and hanging with a couple friends. 

We decide for our last few minutes, we would go and watch a video one of the students created. We stand in the back and are commenting on the soundtrack {kind of a cross between Sleeping At Last and Josh Garrels, in case you were wondering} and then it hit me: we forgot to pay for parking. We had parked in a lot that said "$5 Parking" and we pulled in thinking that five bucks was not bad, and we got out of the car and walked straight into the building. Without paying. And now the $5 that we would have and should have paid could look more like $60 from a parking ticket. 

Wide-eyed, I turned to Samara and panic-whispered, "We didn't pay for parking." Her eyes got as wide as mine and she asked, "Do you think we should leave now?" Still slightly stunned, I nodded, and we both turned and gave our farewells to our friends, and then we power-walked down the street to find....

no parking ticket! Praise be unto the Lord! And Nora Ephron, who is kind to her rom-com heroines.

Example Two of Bek's Rom-Com: Thursday was a second-day-hair day for me, so I got up and grabbed my hairbrush and dry shampoo, intending to hit the trouble spots and call it good. Except that I grabbed hair spray instead of dry shampoo. And I didn't notice until after I had sprayed quite a lot onto the crown of my head. 

I figured that maybe dry shampoo would remove hair spray, so I switched bottles and sprayed again. And then I brushed my hair and braided it and spent the rest of the day hoping no one would look at the crown of my head. And while no one dropped down on one knee like Nora Ephron would have dictated, no one pointed and exclaimed, "What happened to your hair!?" so I'm calling the day a win. 

Example Two reminds me of this:

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And on this note, I bid you a happy Friday and wonderful weekend. Peace to the out!

Funny Friday: Laugh and Then Vote!

I thought about posting this story on Saturday, but then I went to Zumba and never looked back at my computer, which was rather nice.

For my mom's birthday last month, it ended up that both my dad and I bought tickets for my mom to go see Carol Burnett. Great minds think alike, right? So my aunt joined us for a fun evening of "laughter and reflections with Carol Burnett." It was really great!

She shared some clips from her show, and of course the most famous is her "Went With the Wind" spoof.




The focus of the evening was audience members asking Carol questions about anything, basically. My favorite interaction went like this:

Guy in audience: "What happened to all your wonderful dresses? Did you keep any?"

Carol Burnett: "Why, do you want one?"

She was brilliant.

But this is not the story for Funny Friday! Nay, this is mere context. Now let me set the scene.

Carol is on the stage. I'm sitting with my aunt on my right and some older dude {probably 60s} on my left. Throughout the evening and the clips Carol showed us, this dude keeps making comments to me and the girl on the other side of him. At first I thought they were together, but then I glanced over at her and she looked like she was a) my age and b) not amused by this guy's commentary. I was getting a little annoyed, too, so I tried to just ignore him and give him - literally - the cold shoulder.

When the evening had first started, I noticed two people dressed oddly {even for downtown Seattle} and wearing what I thought were white sombreros. They had something to ask Carol, so when they got their turn at the microphone, I was really intrigued. It turned out they were two men dressed as nuns for some order or society that probably has a session at ComiCon.

Sister-Who-Is-Really-A-Brother: For all your work and life, Carol, and for bringing light into the lives of so many, we have a proclamation of canonization.

Audience: *applause applause applause*

Carol: Thank you, really, thank you.

Guy next to me: "That's so cool! They're going to make her an honorary citizen of Canada!"

Me: ...

SWIRAB: We hereby canonize you as a living saint, Saint Carol Burnett!

Audience: * applause applause*

Guy next to me: *wild applause because he's so excited to be in the same room as Carol Burnett that he has no embarrassment over his error*

True story, peeps. 

Happy Friday! Please please please pop over here and vote for me to go to Rwanda! Remember that you can vote daily, so if you want to save this link in your browser and visit it daily, that'd be awesome. And as a thank-you {because I know you're voting right now even as you continue reading} I've got a Funny Saturday post ready for tomorrow! Woot! See you then!

Yes, I did link to the voting site 4 times in 4 sentences...and now it's 5 for 5... #ashamed #butnotenoughtostop #sorrynotsorry

Funny Friday is Back! Scaredy Cat Edition

Try and contain your excitement - Funny Friday is back! Brace yourselves... literally, brace, because this post is about being scared by your flatmate. Coming back with a sha-bang!

Samara tells me on a semi-regular basis that she has extra adrenaline, and I believe her. I forget, but I believe her. She'll be making breakfast in the kitchen and I'll come down the hallway and say something really frightening like, "Good morning," and she'll jump and drop her toast. It's quite amusing, mainly because I never mean to scare her but she scares easily. {That's how the picture above relates: I'm the guy, minding my own business and going about normal activities, and Samara is the girl freaked out of her mind by my entrance.}

Last night was one of those nights that was awesome and hysterical and deep and profound and just plain groovy for besties {and that's all I'll tell you because I wouldn't be a good bestie if I told you everything, right?}. Samara and I were talking in my room and then we finally moved; she went to go clean her bathroom and I used my bathroom and then followed her to finish the conversation.

So I walked out of my bedroom ready to pick up our topic, but I didn't know where Samara was. The lights in both her room and bathroom were on, so I tried to see where she was. I turned my head from her bedroom towards her bathroom, but then there was a flash of light from her bedroom and SHE APPEARED with a casual "boo." 

I screamed. She laughed. We're best friends.

What happened was that she had tried to turn off her light but it flicked back on, and because of the angle of the wall, I hadn't seen her until she stepped forward. We both laughed {and continue to laugh} at ourselves because we never mean to scare one another; it just happens. 

Happy Friday, homies! Have a magnificent weekend, and try not to scare anyone.

7QT: Fangirl and Funny Friday

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes!

1. This article from Relevant magazine made me stand up and applaud. So good!

2. My roomie from college wrote this beautiful poem. Please join me in praying for her family as her mom transitions to eternity with Jesus.

3. This article about women in ministry is incredible. Suzanne Burden writes about her journey of understanding women in ministry. My favorite line is a quote from Ruth Haley Barton: "When we require women to pay over and over again for Eve's transgression with their silence and submission, we negate the full redemptive power of the gospel."

4. I know that winter in the Northwest is like a wet fall to the rest of the country; therefore, I should not complain about the weather. BUT! The bi-polar-ness of March has been horrendous and my previously-nonexistent allergies have been hosting dance parties in my head and sinuses. Ugh!

5. My dad is hosting a meeting in July for some other business owners, and he's delegated me to get the hotel and meeting space taken care of. This has been an adventure, and it's been fun to learn how Dad thinks and what he means by what he says and what he expects out of me. And when I say "fun" I'm using my high school rhetoric professor's definition of fun, which means the process was challenging but the result is a positive.

6. For consistency, I think this Take has to involve some sort of fangirl imagery. "But wait!" the normal people cry, "What is the fangirling of which you speak?" Ah, yes... I too used to be as you are. Let me lead you to the light. The next two images you are about to see describe the life of a fangirl. Please proceed cautiously.

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If you want some more fandom experiences, you can read Doctor Who love, Sherlock cosplay, fanfiction, and a letter to Moffat.

7. Ending 7QT with a Funny Friday story! As you probably know, my bff and I live in a condo, and to put it mildly, we have way too much fun together! I've lost countless hours of sleep to lying in the hallway or sitting on her floor talking, and ya know what? Those are hours of sleep I don't wish back {unless my alarm is going off}, because bonding with my bestie is sweet, sweet time.

That's not the funny part. That's the serious part and the explanation of the funny part. Just to be clear.

So our upstairs neighbor is a lady who is really quiet. Samara and I have both met her once...I think. She works a lot and is super quiet and those are great qualities to have in a neighbor, may I just add. But just about once a month, Samara and I will be chilling on a Saturday morning {ok, fine, afternoon} and we'l hear the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. Perplexed, we speculated and finally concluded that our neighbor must participate in a "Rent A Toddler" program and that's what we were hearing.

Last night was the annual home owners' meeting, and I ended up sitting next to this upstairs neighbor. She's quite nice and smart, and after the meeting as we were walking back up to our respective condos, I told her that if Samara and I were ever too loud, she should feel free to tell us to shut up immediately. And she laughed and said we'd never been a problem {PHEW!!!!}. Then she said, "I'm having some people over on Saturday, and there's going to be...a few kids..and a two year old."

I then felt compelled {by what awkward social forces, I don't know} to tell her about Samara and my line about her "renting a toddler" and {thankfully!} she started laughing and said, "We tell him not to run around, but he just runs laps around the living room!" And I started laughing {both out of amusement and gratitude} and told her we wondered what was going on because it did sound like a toddler running laps...and that's what it was!

So we had a good chuckle and then I fled inside and said to Samara: "You know how we joke about Rent A Toddler upstairs??? It's real!!!" and we laughed at both how prophetic our hearing was and what dorks we looked like to the neighbor. Such fun.

Ta-da! Head over to Conversion Diary for more 7QT, and happy weekend!

7 Quick Takes: February is Tomorrow!

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes!

1. In case you missed my passion for link-ups the announcement, I'm going to be participating in #blogeverydayinFEB, aka #TryNotToCrashAndBurn jk not really okay maybe sort of. Anyway, the lovely Bailey Jean is hosting and I've already got Laura to commit with me :)

2. Kayla will probably appreciate this: last night I painted my nails blue and green.

I'm not even sure what happened, because we all know about me and sports {Fantasy Football, anyone?}. But I guess there's some local pride showing, so I'm rolling with it and will repaint my nails next week.

3. Alright, book lovers...what are our feelings about audio books? I've been listening to a trilogy in the car, and a couple months ago I heard/read To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. Audio books are great, I think, because they make my commute much more pleasant and productive. I'm 25% done with my 2014 goal, which means I'm probably going to have make an adjustment.

My only "meh" feeling towards them comes from the fact that sometimes the vocalist {what is the correct name for the person reading?? Performer? Voice donor?} reads things differently than I would have if I had been reading it for myself. Listeners get the tone that the vocalist interprets, which is not necessarily how I would have interpreted it. But it doesn't happen very often, and I'd rather have a story going in the car than be searching for a good song on the radio.

4.  Last night I watched the very first episode of Doctor Who. "An Unearthly Child" aired in 1963, and the rest, obviously, is history...or the future...or a big ball of wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey...ceasing the fangirling riiiiight now.

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5. Remember last week's Take about "Gimme Shelter"? I went to see it on Sunday...it is incredible. The characters were so, so genuine and did such a great job. If you're able to see it, I recommend it. There was one scene I wanted to keep going, but they ended it too soon, in my opinion. Other times, it seems like certain situations were not completely resolved, but the main plot is well done and so inspiring.

6. Have you read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars? The first time I read it, I finished it in 12 hours. Three months later, I re-read it {which rarely happens, and never in the same year} and finished it in 24 hours. Check your tissue levels. Read. This. Book. Refill tissues. And then watch the trailer for the movie.

7. Because it's Friday and everyone needs a laugh, here are some faves:

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Happy Friday! Go see Jen at Conversion Diary for more 7QTs!

7 Quick Takes + Funny Friday

I'm going to attempt to bring some humor into my 7 Quick Takes, thus killing two birds with one stone, or rather accomplishing two goals with one post. I really didn't have to spell that out; you guys are smart and get my metaphors...I hope.

Jumping right in and away from the train wreck of a first paragraph...

1. Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock

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In case you've been living under a stupid rock caught unaware, Sherlock airs in the US this Sunday at 9:58pm, immediately after Downton Abbey. Click the image link to find local channel information, watch the past two seasons {it only takes 9 hours!}, and to see special previews. Do it now.

2. I've checked out a few other 7QT this morning, and literally every single one of them mentioned running. I don't understand it, to be honest. 

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3. What I can understand, however, is Zumba. And Zumba understands me. Most of the time. 

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4. Relevant Magazine has been wowing me recently. There's this little nugget which is totes approp considering I'm basically at one of life's milestones.  And this list is encouraging in the "way to go, you're on the right track" way and inspiring in the "keep moving in this direction" way. I don't know if those descriptions make any sense, but read the article and hope for the best, ok?

5. Need something sweet in your day? Watch this Peter Pan proposal...break out the tissues first!

6. Do you guys like reading about personality types like I do? Here are two fun pieces to look at: first, fictional characters representing each of the Myers-Briggs types. Secondly, here's an infograph demonstrating income by personality type. Fascinating!

7. In case running really is your thing and in case you hate Zumba or in case you were expecting a real life funny story, read this tweet from my flatmate. She actually said this in conversation while describing a movie. As soon as we realized what she said, we both collapsed on the floor laughing. Literally, we both dropped to the floor. Obviously, we are both hysterical. Try and rein in your jealousy that I get to live with my bff. 

Linking up with Conversation Diary for 7 Quick Takes. Happy Friday!

Funny Friday: "First Lines" Edition

Samara via her friend Simon introduced me to the tradition of "First Lines," where you post the first line of your first post for each month. I thought that this could double as a Funny Friday post, because lezbihonest: this has great potential for hysterics. And go!

January: Scene: Dinner is over and Grammie is doing the dishes.

February: So I meant to post a sweet something on Saturday, thereby rocking the alliteration club, but alas.

March: Been working from home for about 9 business days now {thankfully back in the office this week - got a little too stir crazy last week!} and I had lots of time to think.

April: So, sorry for dropping off the grid there, folks. I ride two airplanes and suddenly can't put my thoughts in order. Sheesh.

May: Well, here goes. It feels like I've been thinking I should blog about that for too long, so I'm going to try and get a few thoughts out. Brace yourselves.

June: You know it's a Monday when...you go to type "brain blip" as your title and type "brian" instead...yep.

July: Ok folks, I had one goal for this weekend: buy a bookshelf.

August: Today is one of those days where: ...the alarm is set for as late as I can handle, and still the snooze button manages to get hit.

September: Ah, Sunday. A day of rest, a day of worship, a day of...not finding one church and ending up at another. Oh well.

October: My two earliest memories both involve hospitals. Perhaps that is why I am so traumatized by them now.

November: Ok, guys, I know that I basically counted every single day of October via 31 Days of Writing, but still... I can't believe it's November already!?!?!? Because you know what happens in November? Christmas music. Which leads to Christmas, which leads to a new year...meaning November 2014 is in like 2 weeks, basically.

December: Wow. Sorry for dropping off the planet there for a while. Life just got crazy, ya know?

So there you have it! First lines of each month... I think this shows that my posting frequency decreases dramatically at the end of the month, since so many of my first posts start with "sorry for not posting..." Guess we'll work on that habit, eh?

Happy Friday!

Feeling Accomplished Friday

Samara will testify that today did not start out feeling accomplished. Last night we had some fan and light challenges, and I woke up this morning mad at the world in general and Samara's bathroom in particular. But Samara gave me some encouragement and perspective {thank you, dear friend} and I left the office at 2pm determined to cross at least a few things off my to-do list and feel like a conqueror. So here's what I did in just a few hours:

• bought and replaced florescent light bulbs
• washed dishes and ran the dishwasher
• made laundry detergent! I followed this recipe and am excited to try it.
• vacuumed the living room {where I made the laundry detergent...don't judge}
• listened to this song about 1 million times...love love love!
• am writing this blog post - totes counts
• am about to start working on a blog post as a contractor - yes, I sometimes get paid to blog, but my identity must remain a secret!

Tonight I'm heading to Notions, a writing group that Samara is a part of and that her lovely {albeit insane} compadres invited me to....kinda to replace her since she's outtie this weekend, but I also like to think that my charming personality alone warranted an invitation... I guess we'll see if I get invited back- the true judge. 

Well, that's all folks. Here, enjoy some humor just so Funny Friday doesn't feel completely left out in the cold. 

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Happy Friday, homies!

Funny Friday & How Is It November Already?

Ok, guys, I know that I basically counted every single day of October via 31 Days of Writing, but still... I can't believe it's November already!?!? Because you know what happens in November? Christmas music. Which leads to Christmas, which leads to a new year....meaning November 2014 is like in 2 weeks, basically.

Speaking of 31 Days of Writing, I think I may have forgotten how to write a Funny Friday post. Does that count as its own deep twisted version of humor? No? I know, it's more sad than funny.

Well, while I scramble to think of something funny for Friday, allow me to entertain you with weekend plans. Samara and I are going to IKEA! Woot. We are fortunate to live within 30 minutes {weekend-only traffic times} from one of the blessed places, so tomorrow morning, bright and early, off we go! Just kidding. It'll be like bright and middling... after last night's adventures, there will be much sleep on the morrow.

Speaking of last night, wanna see some pictures?! Of course you do, and even if you don't, too bad, because I promised you pictures and I keep my promises...eventually. But today is the day after, so we're not gonna ruin a good thing, k?

The Fantastic Fox Family

Totes adorbs, right!? Yes I did ride the bus downtown looking like that. Yes I did walk over a mile to the theater dressed like that. Yes I did take off the mask to watch Frankenstein. Ain't nobody get time to let anything get in the way of seeing Benedict Cumberbatch!

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The show was even better than last time. {I guess I haven't formally reviewed Frankenstein yet, so add that to my list of promises to keep.} I found that since I knew what was going to happen, I could appreciate the parallels and contrasts better. Plus, the acting....always, always superb. Can't praise them enough.

Right. Funny Friday. Last night at the theater, I was sitting next to Samara's friend Sammy. There's a scene where the Creature reaches for a pot that's just been taken off the fire, so of course he burns his hand. 

Since we had just watched the film/play, Sammy whispered, "Don't touch it!" And of course the Creature touches it and burns himself. 

I whispered "They never listen, do they" and Sammy replied "He didn't hear me." 

And then they guy in front of us turns around and whispers, "I did." Oops! 

Sammy and I couldn't look at each other because we would have laughed too loudly. It was awful....ly funny. Such fun. 

Happy weekend, all!

7 Quick Takes: Hopefully It Counts as Funny Friday

Ok, peeps, here goes nothing. Hoping you get at least a chuckle out of these Quick Takes... if you don't think they're funny, then please scroll to the bottom of this post for some humor courtesy of Pinterest.

1. Thank you all for your kind comments on yesterday's post. I appreciate your encouragement! Now you tell me: where's your action? What are you doing to initiate change?
   
2. In case you live under a rock don't read my bestie's blog, be sure to check out her tale of our farewell to the Tenth Doctor. She went into more detail about our evening, whereas I stuck with the feels.
   
3. Next weekend my friend Laurie will be here! She's coming out to visit from the Frozen Tundra, and I am so excited to see her! We will be hitting up the downtown area and maybe head to the mountains to be tourists. She is one of my very good friends; ours is a friendship that we know is God because we clicked so well in such a short time. Thank You Jesus for Laurie!
   
4. Sorry, but I'm bringing up Doctor Who again. I've been thinking about bringing some fangirl to my bedroom {not like there's not enough inside my head already!} and am looking for a somewhat-sophisticated way to do that. I'm thinking of a picture in Gallifreyan, like this:
   
   Any other ideas, fellow Whovians?
   
5. Sorry, it seems that once my brain is on the Doctor Who train, it doesn't want to leave. I will try, though. Here are some links if you would like to enjoy:
   - a gender-neutral nursery- they're waiting to find out!
   - words from a three-year-old...too funny!
   - a cool story about babies
   - great effort from this guy!
   
6. Weekend plans! Who's got em? This girl! Going to the mall with my sis will be the highlight tonight, as well as potentially hanging pictures with the flat-mate tomorrow. Oooh, on Sunday my sis and parents and I are going to a glass-blowing factory to learn how to make glass. Be totes jealz. I know you are.
   
7. October...look at what is coming in October!
   
   Danny Boyle's 'Frankenstein'
   Don't remind me that I already saw this performance in July... that was in a different city, so there. Totes diff. 

Well, there are my 7 Quick Takes! Enjoy, and have a marvelous weekend!

In Response to Complaints That I Haven't Blogged All Week...

You know who you are. ;)

I should tell you upfront that I wrote a post on Tuesday, an appendix to the PEI Travel Journal, but I haven't added the pictures yet, so it's just sitting in the "drafts" bucket. It will get done tonight, if I can find the sticky note...

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Literally, this is my desk right now. I have a list of things to do around the house, a list for purchases I need to make, a separate grocery-and-coupon list, a list of errands to run before I die, and a list of people to call. And my home internet is being a poo. And I'm shopping for car insurance. 

My list of lists should qualify for today's Funny Friday. If only I was being funny. 

But it's all good. I like being busy, and I know that this weekend will have a lot accomplished. The antsy side of my brain just wants to cross things off the list, but I can't do that yet. So in the meantime, my brain just keeps coming up with things to add to all my lists, which is kind of maddening, but hey, that means I'm being productive, right? Right????

I have crossed a few things off my list, which is nice. One of the most important things was installing one and replacing the batteries for two additional....smoke detectors!

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I feel so grown up with the smoke detectors...until I start cooking. Lame. 

A Funny Friday story is unlikely to happen at this point, I'm sorry to say. But hopefully you'll get a Travel Journal special this weekend, and maybe even a My Productive Weekend post on Monday. Happy Friday!

Funny Friday...Not

I'm sitting here working on a mind-numbing task, searching in my brain for something funny I can share on Friday, and sometimes you just gotta give up the goat. Don't ask me where the goat comes from or where it's going once you give it up, but just give it up. Let that goat go.

and now we're into awkwardness....

In other news, I've had two phone dates with two different friends this week, and as usual, it's so great to talk to my friends! AJ and I got to chat this past weekend, and golly do I miss her! While it was good to see my Kentucky friends in Nicaragua, it made me miss her even more!!!

Last night, Laurie, my friend from the Frozen Tundra, and I had a great talk. She's going to Colorado this week, so I got to tease her about smoking weed. Payback for all those references to Washington's pot laws! But all pot aside, Laurie is a great friend, and I'm so grateful for her. Hopefully she can come out for a visit in a few months, which will be magnificent and awesome.


Didn't I promise you a review of "Warm Bodies"? I've been listening to the soundtrack for a few days {really, a great soundtrack!} and am feeling inspired both to watch it again and to write about it. So here goes, with full disclosure: it's been a while since I've seen this film.

                           source

I like that this film is pretty clean. There's maybe two gruesome scenes, and they don't last that long. And then for the *ahem* scenes, I think the previews showed the most graphic part, and it wasn't bad.

Again, the soundtrack was pretty awesome. There are a few songs that I just keep listening to over and over, because they're just fun. Oh, and did I mention that R has a record player? Totes awesome.

The sarcasm and humor in this film is so perfect. My sisters and I were cracking up basically the whole movie.

I don't do zombies, and this was not a zombie movie. They explained things pretty well for us non-fans-of-zombies {not like there was a ton to explain}.

Love story? Check. Humor? Check. Cute actors? Check {this one varies depending on which sister you ask, but hey, I'm writing this!}.

                      source
Anyway, this was a cute movie. If you're not convinced, come over after 9pm some night and watch it with my sisters and me.

Speaking of movies, November is shaping up to be pretty awesome, entertainment-wise! Let's review:

• Catching Fire 
• Ender's Game {which I promise I will read before I watch, Samara!}
• 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who
• Danny Boyle's Frankenstein {as a film, sadly} comes to my city

Pretty hopping!

I wish I had an appropriate conclusion, but I don't. Approaching drop-off zone. Ready. Go.

Happy Friday!

Funny Friday, First Nicaraguan Edition

You know how you go on a trip with a group and when you come back you have all these inside jokes? Well, today I'm going to let you in on some of our Nicaraguan inside jokes. You're welcome or I'm sorry, whichever you deem appropriate.

One of the big ones was "Make wise decisions." Whenever we ran an idea past our leader, we made sure to add "...and we will make wise decisions!"
Whenever someone did something stupid, we would scold, "That was not a wise decision."
When someone did something awesome, we would gush, "Look at that wise decision."

Yeah, we kinda beat the horse dead. But we made wise decisions while doing so.


Another funny line came from the leaders' three-year-old daughter. She is in the stage of identifying humor, so several times adults would say something funny and laugh, and she would pipe up with, "That's a joke!" and then join in the laughter.
Her best timing was after her dad threatened warned us about being prepared to share.
Leader: "If I call on you and you have nothing to share, you will have to run up the {incredibly steep} driveway three times."
...
Daughter: "That's a joke!"



Finally, remember that frog in our room? Yeah, that's a story in and of itself. Here goes.

Heidi had been sleeping in her bed next to the wall, but she sat up and said calmly, "Something fell on my head." We were about to investigate when Stella started screaming and we found the scorpion visitor/intruder. Attention diverted.

We Stella killed the scorpion and we were recovering from the adrenaline rush when Heidi {again, perfectly calm and more tired than freaked out} comments: "Guys....there's a frog on my pillow."
Re-enter chaos.

When all eyes were in Heidi's direction, we also noticed that there was a cockroach on her bed.  We killed that without a picture, and then fixed our eyes on the teensy frog making its way up the wall.
How to dispose of such an innocent creature? This was not a vicious beast we could justify killing, unlike the scorpion. Also, how to capture the thing? It kept jumping higher and higher, and soon would be beyond our reach.

Stella again saved the night. She grabbed the lid of a shaving cream bottle and trapped the frog under it, then was able to transport it outside. Phew! No unnecessary deaths, and no unwelcome visitors to Heidi's bed.

For the rest of the trip, Heidi's calm words were a sense of joy and comedic relief to us: "Guys, there's a frog on my pillow." If Heidi could handle a frog on her pillow, we could certainly make wise decisions.


In case you missed it, check out the frog after it left the pillow.

Happy Friday!

Funny Friday on Tuesday...just isn't happening

Blame my dad for this...or my mom...or the stove. That's a lot easier, to blame inanimate objects. Blame the darn stove.

I'm trying to think of something funny I can share today instead of Friday, but my brain won't work. Alas, I got to work at 5:30 this morning because Dad trains at 6:00am today {thanks, Dad}. But Bek, why didn't you just ride in with Mom? Good question! Because Mom isn't coming in until later {thanks, Mom} because the stove is being replaced {thanks, stove}. Sigh.

Although I couldn't think of anything funny, I was able to come up with some "true confessions" type things. Again, re-read the above paragraph and recognize that I got 6.5 hours of sleep...on a couch. Yep. Anywho, here are some true, maybe funny, definitely weird confessions/ramblings/talking points from Bek:

1. The Oxford comma is where it's at. {You know it's early when the first thing that comes to mind is grammar!} Sorry, Samara, but it's the truth. {You also know you're best friends with someone when you know their opposite position on the Oxford comma and you still love them.}
   
2. Pet peeve: fingernails, particularly my own. I hate how frequently they need trimmed, and how shapeless they are...actually, they have shape, very distinct shapes...they're just un-named shapes. Actually, my friends and I went to get manicures, and when the guy came over, he said, "What are you here for? Oh, shaping." Yeah, thanks, that's just what I was going to say...not.
   
3. I totally have radio ADD. You know, when you're listening to the radio and you keep changing the channel because there's nothing good playing? Yeah, I do that all day, every day. Well, I knew it was bad when I was driving home the other night and actually found a station that was playing some good tunes, and they played three good songs in a row, but I still felt the itch to change the channel after 1.5 songs.
   
4. Ya know how bloggers have link-up parties and stuff? I don't know how to do that! Thanks to Ash I now know how to put a video in a blog post, and thanks to a kind lady who commented I learned about Bloglovin', but the link-up thing kinda baffles me. How am I supposed to put something on someone else's blog? Weirds me out.
   
5. Sometimes I wish I could email people and offer to correct their website typos. How's this sound: Hi, you don't know me, and you obviously don't care about your website enough to proofread it, but I care about proofreading, so if you could just fix this thing right here... Yeah, probably not too well, but it happens way too often for me to be comfortable raising children in the next few years. These websites threaten the very existence of grammar! What if things get so bad that I am unable to communicate with my grandchildren!? Guys, this is serious...bologna. And speaking of dangerous, bologna is the dumbest word ever and even dumber spelling, and bee-tee-dubs, what kind of meat is it anyway??? 

Things have gotten too out of control for me.  I better go sit down. Please laugh at this post; don't shed tears.  Everything will all be better after a nap...

Also, I just realized that two of my five confessions involved grammar. You'd never guess I majored in business, would you? In my defense, my mom, sister, and bff are all English majors. I'm surrounded. Oh, and I was a teacher's assistant, and I care about our nation's future. Happy 4th of July!  :)

Made the Switch & Funny Friday

Well friends, I hope you are preparing for the coming doom....of Google Reader going away, not the Mayan calendar ending. That was so last year.


Anyway, yay for Bloglovin' being there to support us.

Also, Funny Friday comes courtesy of Dad's new favorite joke. Did that sentence sound a little bit like the end of Sesame Street? No? Just me? Oh, ha, I've just been babysitting a lot...not watching Sesame Street by myself...awkward...

Dad's new favorite joke: If you had to choose between world peace and Bill Gates' money, what color would your Lamborghini be?

And now here are some humorous images.





And because eventually Monday will be here again...


Enjoy your weekend!

Funny Friday - Family Edition

As promised, here are two funny stories for your viewing pleasure. One is a bit of a throwback, and the other was a phone call earlier this week. Enjoy!

My Sister, the Pyromaniac

My family has this long-running joke about Sister J being a pyromaniac, or "pyro" for those of you who abbrieve :) The origin of this endearing nickname is a story from long, long ago. I don't think any of my sisters were in double-digits, but we were certainly old enough to help set the table for dinner.

My mom always has a pretty centerpiece on the table - usually flowers or a plant - and on this occasion, the flowers were flanked by two tall candles. For some reason, my pyro sister wanted to light the candles for a romantic dinner...with the entire family. I'm actually not sure why she wanted the candles lit, but Mom humored her and told her how to strike the match and light the candles without burning herself.

**Note: Sister J is now a mature young lady with a healthy respect and admiration for candles, matches, and flames in general. She also has a clean record. End note.

J probably used three or four matches to actually create a flame, so she was a bit flustered. Mom offered to help, but J was determined to accomplish this feat on her own. After lighting a match, however, the candles were stubbornly not lighting. I think the wick had wax on it or something; anyway, it took another couple matches to light the darn things. Finally, success! The candles were lit, and the ambiance was set.

Mission accomplished, J blew out the match. Without turning her head. So the candle she had just struggled to light was now blown out also.

Sister J learned a valuable lesson that night. What that lesson is, I don't know. I personally leave the pyro to the pyromaniac of the fam.

Grandpa & Greek Yogurt

Earlier this week I called my grandparents {you know, the ones who live in the Frozen Tundra} and was talking to Grandpa. To refresh your memory, this is the grandpa who told me "Grammie won't go fishing with me anymore...I made her be the anchor one time, and now she won't go with me!" That Grandpa.

Me: Grandpa, tell Grammie that I'm still enjoying Noosa yogurt!
Grandpa: She just had to throw one out the other day.
Me: Uh oh. What for?
Grandpa: It expired before she got to it.
Me: Well, why didn't you help her eat it?
Grandpa: I don't care for that stuff.
Me: I guess if this is the first one that she's had to throw out, that's not too bad.
Grandpa: Yeah, she's been eating it since you lived with us, but I don't think she looks any more Greek.

And that, friends, is Funny Friday. Enjoy your weekend!

Funny Friday- Bird Edition

I totes meant to post this on Tuesday when it actually happened, but ce la vie....and stuff. See how good my French is? So sad. 15 years of ballet and I can't even speak a complete sentence.

moving on...

So, Bird Edition. First of all, on Tuesday, I think that Mom and Sister P and I all said "put a bird on it" like 467 times total. If you have not seen this yet, please watch it...and then go put a bird on things! you tubin' here, yo
{P.S. if someone could tell me how to put the clip here on this very blog page, that would be wonderful. Please and thank you.}

Second part of Bird Edition: The weather has been fabulous this week, and so I went on a walk around the parking lot during my lunch break. And there was a dead bird on the ground. Grossness. I did not kill it or step in it. You're welcome for those almost-graphic details.

Third part of Bird Edition: Because of said-lovely-weather, my fam dined outside on the deck. And then I heard a *thunk* by one of the windows, but I didn't see anything. At first I thought my dad was home from work but had moved into the kitchen...and then there was a *thunk* on the kitchen window, and there was a bird in the house! Seriously, just like the Portlandia video {that I'm linking again} the bird was flying all over the place! Thankfully Mom was able to direct the creature out of the curtains and into the great wild blue yonder...of outside, not of our living room. Like a boss, Mom, like a boss.

Happy Friday, y'all, and be nice to birds.

Funny Friday-Kentucky Children Edition

Now that my love for Kentucky is public knowledge {as in, written down. I don't think you can talk to me and not know that I love Kentucky}, I thought it only appropriate that today's Funny Friday showcase some of my favorite Blue Grass kids. So here goes.

Hello, my name is:
Last year, when AJ's daughter was 2, my name was "Bubekah" as opposed to "Rebekah." Now that this daughter is 3, I have graduated to "Ferbekah." Thanks, I'll be here all week.

Stop being cute!
AJ has twin nieces who are almost 3. They were playing outside and I was watching them, and I told them "D! L! Stop being so cute! Just stop it!" And they giggled and shrieked and said "No, you stop!"
Later I said, "D, you're being cute again!" and she responded "No, I'm not!"
Seriously, they just got cuter.

When you text your sister...
AJ's son A is pretty brilliant, and he is always coming up with future dialogues between me and my sister; he wants to make sure that I share these important phrases. Here's his most recent suggestion {quoted to the best of my memory}:
"When your sister texts you and when you're in Ohio {don't know when I'll be in Ohio, but just in case}, and your sister says 'let's go to the movies,' you should text her back and say 'okie dokie artichoke!'"


I'm sure there are more funny things that these adorable kids said, but I can't remember any more right now, so you'll just have to enjoy these stories. Happy Friday!