day and doings.

Disclaimer: This was written at around 1:30-2 AM this morning. If I'm not as funny or witty as I think I am at this moment. I apologize. Don't hold it against me :)

I would like to tell you about my extremely full day today.

It doesn’t seem so full now that I look back on it. But I think about it right now (at 1:36 AM) and realize that it still isn’t quite over... and maybe, it needed to be a little fuller.

Lets go in list form to make it a little easier to follow (both for you and me)

1. Woke up at around... eh... noon-ish? This could probably have been the downfall of my day because I’m sure that everything I did today could have been spread out a little more, and maybe just maybe, I would have had the chance to jump in my pool, or get my tan on at some point too. However, that didn’t happen. I slept in.

2. Went to lunch with Courtney. She’s actually the reason I woke up. She called me and asked me to run her sunglasses outside (she forgot them at my house yesterday). So I woke up, and she asked me to go eat with her. End of story.

3. I knew this morning at around ten when I woke up for a hot second that I felt like I needed to be awake for something, but I wasn’t sure what, so I went back to sleep. After Courtney called me and got me to go eat with her, I got a text from Katelyn saying “You up? :)” and I immediately thought to myself. SHOOT! I made plans with her the night before sometime around midnight to work out with her at 1:30. Woops, it was something like 1:14 and I was on my way to Chipotle with my sister and my niece. So I texted back that I was, in fact, awake, but that I was on my way to eat and would be late (I hate it when that happens. And it happens to me a lot. ugh.) So directly after eating (ew) I ran home, changed clothes and ran to school(yes, school. It’s free, and easy. Plus I got to see some friends I hadn’t seen in awhile! Yippee!... did I really just say yippee? anyways...) So I worked out, which was so nice, and it was the first time I had been able to get a legit work out since school! Well, I guess I was probably able before that, but I’m lazy, and would rather sit at home and type to you nice folks :).

4. Chloe has recently decided that all black hair isn’t the bomb dig anymore. She, instead, has decided that red hair is the way to go. So I jumped on that and asked her if she wanted to try peek-a-boos first to see what she thought of red hair. So we ran to Walgreens and grabbed some Red “Splat” Hair dye. Then we came home and got to dying. And it was a PROCESS, the bleech that came in the box ended up being really crappy. The part of her hair that wasn’t color treated turned white almost instantly, but the majority of her hair was more of a light brown, and when I went back to put more of the bleech in, something had gone wrong with it (oxidizing or something maybe? I’ll have to ask Courtney...) and it did next to nothing. Then the red dye went in, but before I washed that out...

5. I went to the ATT store, and got my new iPhone 4, and it. is. pretty :). Some time in the time that me, Courtney, and Haven were eating, I got a call from the ATT store saying that my phone had finally come in. I’ve been waiting for something like 2 weeks! So I’m thrilled that I finally have it. But that took longer than expected (I figured it wouldn’t take long, so I left Chlo at home with the dye in her hair... woops), and didn’t get back until almost 20 minutes later than I thought.

6. Then I went home and washed Chloe’s hair out, and it looks awesome. But now she wants her whole head dyed red “like Ariel”... we’ll talk to mom and see what she thinks. :P

7. Then I had a small break from the action, and I wrote a blog on here. Don’t ask why I’m already writing another one. Probably cause it is now almost 2 and I’m wide awake and need more excuses to stay up and finish what I probably should be doing, but more of that later.

8. Then Kelsey came over. My dear dear friend from college who I met at school 4 hours away from here, who just so happens to live about 5 minutes away from my house! We have a little tradition ever since probably... january? of me dying her hair. She likes it dark, and when she starts getting roots she makes a dye date with me and we fix her right up and catch up and such, and its fun :). So we dyed her hair, laughed, Chloe and her bonded since they were both recently dyed, good times all around.

9. Then I was at a loss for things to do, and was craving cereal. So I headed over to HyVee and got me some Marshmallow Mateys and Golden Puffs.(For the record, off brand cereals are always better unless its Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Berry Captain Crunch) And then also decided to stop by RedBox. Who can resist? A movie for $1 a night? I think so. So I got Julie & Julia (surprisingly good, and it makes me want to buy her book so that I can be a good cook :) ) came home and ate my cereal and watched my movie.

10. And now it is officially 2 AM. My mother has been bothering me all day to pack a bag for them to take to Florida. I’m flying out on Monday, because on Sunday I will be attending a dinner at Wildwood, and apparently, the airline I’m going on now makes you pay to have a bag. DUMB. So my family is driving down my bag. I haven’t started yet. Woops. I better get on that.

Starting...

NOW!!!

night :)

brown and blonde.

Changing up your hair color is so difficult when you have naturally dark hair.

If you want to lighten it, then you have to think about long-term upkeep, which is just annoying.

And if you want to go dark then you have to deal with monotony.

And if you want to have some funky color, then it will most likely wash out in a week.

(Did you ever hear that Hailey from Paramore [love this video... oooh! and this one!] washes her hair in cold water so that the red doesn't wash out as fast? I don't think I could deal.)

But, being me... I have changed my hair a lot because I just can't deal with boring hair.

So just within the last year, this is all that I have done with my hair.

Blonde.

(Summer 2009)

Brown with a blonde streak in my bangs.

(August 2009-January 2010)

Straight up (boring, but healthy) brown.

(January 2010-Yesterday)

Brown with blonde highlights!

What can I say, I'm just a freak when it comes to my hair.

(My sister hates me for it [she is my own personal stylist])

It's damaged as the beaches in florida, but I just can't help it! I love change :).

So what's next? Who knows... probably blonde again. What do ya think Court? ;)

Listening to: "The Only Exception" By: Paramore (What? They're good!)

nordic.

i

love

luther

college.

Nordic Fest was amazing. I guess I didn't really tell you guys about it though, did I?

Oops... well here ya go :)

Nordic Fest is this big festival in Decorah where they celebrate Norwegian-ness. So they have stands with lots of Norwegian names like "Kringle", a parade, fireworks, troll statues, gnomes... everything you need to draw in Norwegian's from around the country to celebrate their heritage, I guess.

I'm not Norwegian... so I went up to celebrate Decorah's Norwegian-ness, which was amazing! I got to catch up with so many of my friends from school that I haven't seen since the school year, plus I finally got to meet Jack's dad! I realized recently that being at college is totally different from being at home, especially in my case because Decorah is such a tiny town compared to Des Moines. I felt like no matter where I went, there was someone that I knew while I was in Decorah this weekend. That NEVER happens in Des Moines, and when it does, it tends to be casual acquaintances, or people that I would rather not run into. In Decorah, I run into people that I love. The first night I went out I got about 8 hugs upon entering the club, all from people that I really truly have missed all summer. That alone made me want to go back to school, pronto. And I still have over a month until move in! I'm sure I'll appreciate the summer once I move in and really start missing my friends from home... but for now.

I miss Decorah,

and I want to be there.

NOW.

Jordan and I at VFW

Jennie(my roommate) and I getting ready to go out!

Laura and I enjoying some ice cream from the infamous Whippy Dip!

(If you haven't tried it, and you've been to Decorah, I'm pretty sure it's a sin... You might want to get on that ;) )

Me, Greg, Jennie, and Alyse chillin at the Courthouse!

(Excuse my extra chin)

At the courthouse with Kelsey, Marlena, and Desi!

Jack and I :)

Taylor, Desi and I!

Listening to: Dynamite By: Taio Cruz (Theme song for me and my girls!)

chloe.

So today and yesterday I was made head of the house hold while my Mom and her husband headed up to Mayo for a round of chemo [blah... stupid cancer]. But because of that, I got to spend a lot of time with my little sister. So I figured it was about time to gush a little about the goof ball.

Chloe is.... different.

We knew when she was about two or three that something was off. My Mom, having already had 2 kids, knew that by that time she should be talking and being social. But Chloe wouldn't talk at all. We figured she had a problem with speaking, so my Mom sent her to a speech pathologist, who then informed my Mom that it wasn't a speech impediment, but something else. So we had tests run and all that jazz, only to find out that Chloe had autism.

A hurdle we weren't necessarily prepared for, but that we were willing to tackle.

Chloe's changed a lot over the years. She went from being a non-verbal funny little girl that would run around the house in the middle of the night naked, and eat all the marshmallows out of the lucky charms by dumping the entire box of cereal on the floor in the kitchen and leaving it there for us to find the next morning.

To a teenager that has boyfriends, a quirky sense of style, and an obsession with long black hair, and watching videos on youtube until she thinks of something better to do.

Despite her quirks, she's a sweet girl who just wants love, and pop [about a 12-pack a day... no joke]. And you should meet her. =]

Listening to: Everything by Secret & Whisper

wildwood in a whirlwind

Wildwood Hills Ranch

was my home for the first 5 or 6 weeks of summer. And it was amazing! Even though my friends and family never ever want me to go back, I think it was a great learning experience and a great way of growing in my faith.

So I'll start out by talking a little about the people I worked with. The directors ranted and raved after only a couple days of training that this seemed like one of the best groups of team leaders that they had ever had and that they were really excited to see how the summer went with all of us. I could see why they thought that... we all clicked right away and had a really positive air about us, or at least I thought so :).

So after training we went home for a weekend where I got to tell all my friends about how amazing the staff was. And they proceeded to tell me that after that week they already felt like I had been gone forever, and didn't want me to go back. But I was excited to actually get to work with campers, even though I knew I would miss my friends.

So then the campers came. The first week was supposed to be an "easy" week, and then a little girl in my group got lice... and so did like... HALF of my group of 8 and 9 year old girls. It made the week so much more stressful and a lot of people lost a lot of clothes because everyone in the cabin that had the little girl with lice had to have their clothes "de-liced"... if you want to call it that. AND we had to move cabins, and provide the kids with clothes to wear, not to mention there weren't enough bunks in the cabin that we moved into for counselors to stay in, so we had to wait for our other bunk to have the "bug bomb" settle so that we wouldn't inhale the deadly toxins, and get some mattresses from there to put on the floor of our new cabin... Oh, and we didn't have pillows... or any of our shower stuff. Pretty intense. I broke down one night because I was just so stressed because kids were so upset that they weren't going to be able to swim and all this crap because all of their clothes were being washed. Ugh.

StressStressStress.

Nomegusta.

That week was pretty much the worst. Most of the rest of my time at Wildwood was pretty smooth, other than some major attitudes from some ghetto or highly medicated kids. Or kids that didn't like getting dirty... which was just annoying. I felt like throwing a mud pie at their face... or maybe not. I may or may not have gotten fired for that. ha

But anyways, its kinda bittersweet that it's already over. I really miss the people that I worked with. They were all amazing and I plan on going back sometime in the next couple of weeks and volunteering and visiting them. :)

But until then... it's SUMMATIME! And I'm gonna live it up!

Listening to: Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack

Watching: Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me (BAHA!)

sorry and summer so far.

Hey lovelies!

I'm just gonna start off by saying that I am so extremely sorry that I have neglected blogging for this long. I know... its ridiculous. Heck... it's JULY. That's weird... I haven't blogged since, what?

May?!

Holy crap. I need to update you PRONTO!

So where do I begin? I started off the summer by chilling and then visiting Jack, since I figured while I was working at camp I wouldn't have time to see him. And on the weekends my friends would get to see me all the time! So I did that. Then I found out that the camp I work at didn't have my correct email address and had sent probably 15 emails to the wrong account. Lucky for me, that meant that I had to head home early (I found out at 11 PM through someone I know that was also going to work there that I was supposed to be at the camp at 4 PM the next day). So I rushed home, not really knowing what I needed for camp, and got everything that I thought might be necessary: a watch, athletic shorts, t-shirts, everything, and headed down to WHR.

So I got there and went through a week of training, where I got to know a lot about the people I would be working with, and a lot about what kind of kids I would be working with and how to deal with them in a proper way.

For those who don't know. The camp I work at is for at risk youth, meaning they tend to come either from really tough neighborhoods, or really tough households. And a lot of times that means that they are a little rough around the edges, and are quick to anger and don't know how to communicate as much as we would like. A lot are really heavily medicated for lots of stuff, ranging from ADD to depression. It's pretty intense.

I'll do another blog explaining a lot of the stuff that I did at wildwood (I only worked for half of the summer, so I'm already done! CRAZY!) But it's worth the time to write about funny stories that happened at camp in a different blog. There are too many people to mention and all that jazz!

But that's basically my summer so far. Lots of working at camp. Along with weekends usually consisting of hanging out with friends and family! Lovin every minute of it so far!

Listening to: Every Move I Make