4.20.2007

addictions that pay.

i'm not gonna lie. i'm a lucky girl. yeah, yeah...for all the normal reasons like i have an awesome family and i'm lucky to live in a free country and i have a good job and my health (for the most part--but that's another story for another day.) but i'm lucky, just for the sake of being lucky. let me explain.

growing up, saturday was the day we did chores and yard work and stuff around the house...as it probably is in most homes. well, saturday was also the day that if we helped out with the work, my dad would take us to 7-eleven and we would get slurpees. i loved slurpees. i love slurpees. they are heaven sent...you know the saying, "oh thank heaven for 7-eleven." well, it's true. thank heaven. and banana slurpees are the greatest ever made. don't argue with me about this, you will lose.

so, needless to say, i have been enjoying slurpees for a lot of years. thirty, give or take a few...well, actually, take a few. anyway, this last fall, my sister, kristen, got my addiction to slurpees going full steam ahead. (she was far more addicted than i, but she has mostly kicked the habit, so we put off the intervention.) well, after a few weeks of slurpee consumption, we noticed that there were codes on the slurpee cups. it was a contest to win prizes. things like t-shirts, movie tickets, ipod shuffles, nintendo wiis, portable dvd players...just a random selection of prizes. we decided that since we were consuming a plethora of slurpees, we should probably start entering the codes from our cups into the contest.

we were on a mission. i'm not going to tell you how many slurpees were consumed...but i will tell you that we raked in the prizes. oh, i forgot to say that even if you didn't instantly win, you could earn points for each code and then you could "buy" prizes with your points. so, we were able to buy/win 2 t-shirts, many dollars worth of movie tickets and 2 ipod shuffles. well, it turns out that we didn't get actual ipod shuffles, they just sent us these gift cards to buy ipod shuffles. and we sort of got ripped off, because ipod shuffles cost about $80.00 and these cards only have $69.00. but it's okay, we enjoyed every last one of those slurpees.


and the most exciting prize that we won was this nintendo wii. i had just gotten home from a graveyard shift, where i had consumed my delicious slurpee. i went into the computer, entered my code and hit "spin." that's what the little thingy said and then it would spin around and almost every time it would land on "sorry." well, this time it didn't land on "sorry." it landed on the nintendo wii. and then it said congratulations, you have won a nintendo wii.

what the??? this never happens to me. but it did. and that is when i decided that i was a lucky girl.


in january, the slurpee contest ended and that is when i picked up my diet mt. dew addiction. i know, i hadn't been drinking soda for so long, and when i fell off that wagon, i fell hard. but, the pepsi corporation was having a contest and i had to participate. i am a lucky girl. so, i would buy bottles and i would get the codes of the bottle caps and i would enter them on the computer and that was that. no instant winning in the contest and no earning points to "buy" prizes. every now and again i would get a bottle cap that said "buy one, get one free." that was like instant winning and it was enough to keep the addiction going.

then one day, in the mail, i got this letter.


and this check.


pepsi corporation paid me $20.00 for entering a code. i am a lucky girl. but better than getting one check in the mail. i have since received another. that's $40.00, folks.

so, moral of the story...some addictions pay. some pay more than others. but they can pay.

the end.

4.17.2007

i'm a grown-up.

so, a few weeks ago, i was at dinner with some of my girlfriends...okay, it was natalie and lindsey...anyway, we were either paying or getting up to leave and lindsey (with all the tact she could muster--she is a west, after all) told me that i needed to get a "grown-up" bag.

now, i know what you are thinking, but it's okay...this is something only lindsey can say to me and only she can get away with it. she is a west, after all. and she has really great taste...she is a west, after all. so, trust, i wasn't offended. mostly, i was curious about what distinguishes a "grown-up" bag from all the others. if i were to use lindsey and natalie's bags as examples, it means really, really big with lots of pockets and enough room for everything in the bathroom, including the sink. i like to call them "mom" bags. i guess moms are grown-ups, so that made sense.

i have been carrying this red bag around for quite awhile, and maybe it isn't the classiest, but it does have enough room for what i need to carry and several pockets on the inside, so i can keep my stuff organized.

not a "grown-up" bag.

but now that i am going to be a college graduate and, in turn, a "grown-up," i decided to really be on the lookout for a new bag...a grown-up bag. i had been wanting to get a new bag for awhile, but i just could never find anything that i really loved. but a couple of weeks ago, i found it. i wasn't sure if i liked it that much, but it was on sale (which always makes it better). i carried it around for a bit and decided that it was the one.

a "grown-up" bag.

so there it is. i am moving towards being a "grown-up." first the bag, then college graduation...maybe one day i can move out and live on my own. hahahahahaha. or not. baby-steps, let's start with baby-steps. handbags first.

and i would just like to thank natalie (on the left) and lindsey (on the right) for helping with this first step!!! :)

4.13.2007

lost. never have i been more lost.

when, oh when, will we ever know what the crap is happening on that stupid island.

i just got done watching the last episode and just when i thought maybe some light was going to be shed, they throw in a sick twist and now i am more confused than before.

i hate it so much that i just can't stop watching.

that's all.

4.12.2007

apparently, a traumatizing childhood.

so, i know that i have previously mentioned that my parents are moving to vegas. well, in the process of moving, we have been going through old "stuff." ya know, the stuff from childhood that you held onto because you thought for sure that you would want it when you got older because you loved it so much and you thought that your kids would love it, too. yeah, you know the stuff. btw--just get rid of it...but, i digress.

now, don't get me wrong, there isn't that much stuff...okay, there is but, it is slowly disappearing. well, a couple of weeks ago, we found the boxes of books that my mom had put away for us. i was thoroughly entertained while going through the boxes. reminiscing is aways fun. and i have to say, we had quite a few really good books. that was one thing we didn't lack, growing up. but, again, i digress.

for those of you who have accessed my myspace, you are aware that my sister, laurie, and i have this little unicorn-liger-fairy-mystical creature thing going. well, in the spirit of keeping that up, i pulled out the books in the collection that had to do with unicorns so that i could send them to laurie (and i figured that kaylie will enjoy them, too). surprisingly, we had quite a few books about unicorns. maybe they were popular back then. i remember the girl up the street was obsessed with them. i never really got into them. well, besides the books.

so, last night i was looking at the books again and making sure that i wanted to send them all and i opened up the little gem pictured above, and written on the inside cover was the little message pictured below.

(just in case you can't read it clearly, it says "dear mom and dad, i left for til night. becaus mom locked us in the room. and she was meantaly abueing us. love, julie love ya" julie wasn't the greatest speller, fyi.)

oh my heck. i was laughing so hard and every time i thought about the note, i had to giggle...still do. anyway, i immediately got out the camera to document (simply so i could blog about it). then today, i had to call everyone and tell them about it. my oldest sister, kristen, couldn't stop laughing...and she couldn't breath, either. laurie thught it was hilarious too. (laurie said she was glad that she didn't write it.) and julie laughed, too.

mom, on the other hand, didn't think it was all that funny. she was so concerned about the message and what she had done and what the precise situation was in which julie needed to write this message. she demanded that i call julie and find this information out.

well, here's what i found out and the consensus we came to, as sisters.

a.) julie doesn't remember writing this, therefore, doesn't remember what had happened or when or why it was written.

b.) it must not have been that serious of a note, seeing as how it is written on the inside cover of a unicorn book--probably the last place someone would look.

c.) we didn't have locks on our doors growing up, so it was physically impossible to "lock" us in a room.

d.) we (the three little girls) probably got sent to our room and told to stay there because we had a tendency to make pretty big messes...so, there is a good chance that is really what happened.

e.) laurie and julie used to write in a lot of books, so it could have been just writing.

f.) we were not mentally abused as children.

so, mom, no worries...we don't hold you accountable for any of our mental problems. and thanks for all the books!

4.09.2007

roughly four weeks and counting.

so, the title implies that i have just started counting down to the day that i graduate, but that is just not true. let's be honest, i have been counting down since the day i started. or even before then, if we are going to be really honest. when i started college 12 years ago (holy crap, i'm old), i really didn't want to be there. i had been working in jackson hole, wyoming, and had fantasies of working there right through the winter and then starting school the next year. my parents weren't going to hear of it, so they picked up an application for me and came and moved me back to logan and my college career was underway. and that all happened two weeks before school was supposed to start. (utah state apparently doesn't have standards...ha, ha--go aggies!)

i had no idea what i wanted to study or what i wanted to be. i wanted to be everything and study everything. because of the indecision, i changed my major 3 times a quarter. finally, after two years, i gave it up. i opted for bridgerland (cause that was a smarter choice...huh?). and then there was the 5 year hiatus, filled with east coast adventures and more.

the whole time i knew that i wanted to finish school, but it wasn't until i moved back from boston that i had an idea of what i wanted to be and what i wanted to study. it started out with prison warden. yep, i wanted to be a prison warden. who does that, you are wondering...well, me. then i started school and i took a sociology class and i loved it. so, i signed up for another, juvenile delinquency, and i was hooked. i knew that i wanted to work with little criminals. and, wah-la, sociology wins.

it's been 5 years since that decision was made and i just can't believe that it is really almost over. sometimes i wonder why it has taken me so long. i really am buying into my own theory about not wanting to grow up, not wanting to be a real adult with real responsibilities. i guess i am going to have to grow up now, though. or maybe not.

yeah, so that's about all i have for now.

4.06.2007

employment does not equal knowledge.

i don't have much to say right now, but i want to share something. so, i will think of stuff to share as i go.

first, yesterday i went and met with my advisor to have him sign the graduation packet that i have so thoughtfully neglected. he was checking all of my credits to make sure everything was in order and he so kindly mentioned that i was 1.4 credits short. i knew he was lying because 5 minutes prior to him dropping this bomb, he told me that he had only been employed there for 2 weeks. i knew he didn't know what he was talking about. i maybe-kinda-sorta had a minor mental breakdown, but i kept my cool. after all, 2 weeks of employment does not give him the right to tell me that i am not graduating. and besides, what is this 1.4 credit crap. i only need 120 credits to graduate and i technically have 136. so, 1.4 short is bull crap. he told me he would have someone more experienced check it and if he was right and i was truly short, he would email me. i haven't heard from him, so he was wrong.

next, i do believe that i might have a slight internet addiction. and when i say addiction, i might mean obsession. and when i say obsession, i might mean problem. my latest internet adventures consist of me trying to figure out html coding. it may or may not be a problem, but i may be in denial about it, as well. i just need to figure a few things out about coding and then i won't be so dang obsessed. i'm buying a book on it. that's the extent of the addiction. there are worse things, though, aren't there?

have i mentioned that i have one of the raddest friends in america? and yes, i did just use the word "raddest." but seriously, i do. she may or may not feed my addiction, but i think she rocks anyway. she is extremely talented and beautiful and fun...and to prove it, here are a few pictures. and yes, these were all taken while i was trying to figure out html coding. go figure.







okay then.

that's all.

(and if you don't like me posting pictures of you in my blog, ade, don't take them with my camera....hee, hee. jk.)

4.02.2007

it's really happening.

well, i never thought that i would see the day that the 'rents would move out of the house and away from the valley. what the crap? i know, but it really is happening. this whole week, i have avoided helping in any fashion because i truly think that i might have a breakdown about it. seriously, i know, right. i mean, it's not like have haven't had 9 months to prepare. but, seriously, did any of us really think it would happen.

the craziest part is that i am now going to live with the grandma. the crazy one, at that. oh, i know she is my only living grandma, but i do believe that she is the only crazy one that i will have. it's a crap shoot as to how it really will be, but having everyone wish me good luck doesn't help. i know that i am the most outspoken and i really probably won't let her tell me what to do and how to be, but how much of her telling me what to do and how to be will i be able to handle. the only good thing is that i can move out, but do i want to write myself out of the will? oh, that is a bad attitude, but it's not going to be a picnic, that is for sure. i love that when kristen asked me how long i was going to live with her, my first reaction/response was until i had to go live in prison. i know, not funny, but funny. oh, i am being a bit dramatic. i will survive. i always do.

yeah, so they took apart the house. it's not completely empty, but it might as well be. the only good that has come out of it is that i scored the leather sofa set. okay, it's not the only good, but it's a good good. the other good is that mike has finally gotten out. now, what that means on the other end is another story. it could go terribly wrong, but we are crossing our fingers for it to be good.

so, on a lighter note, ether made sushi again and i again ate way too much of it. it was extremely delicious. i just don't think that you can go wrong with sushi. i haven't ever had any that i just didn't like. i have had some that i like more that others, but i have loved all of the kinds that ether has made for us. even the sashimi was good.

this is sara and adriane.

this is adriane and ether.

and to change the subject again...i CANNOT wait for school to be done. it is crazy to me that it will be done in less than a month. a little scary since i haven't applied myself like i should have, but so exciting. i serioulsy didn't think this day would ever come.

so to sum up...empty house, not so good; living with grandma, maybe a wreck; sushi, very good; graduation, excellent.

alrighty then.