just did it

in keeping with my theme of the year of "just do it",i put an idea in my head that i wanted to do something...and today, i did it!!

i am very fortunate to live in north tacoma and be within walking distance of many great and beautiful things. the tacoma waterfront,starbucks(haha?), and the stadium bowl at stadium high school,to name a few of my faves. during the summer i took a few walks from my house to the stadium bowl and would always see people running up and down those gross,steep,loooong stairs. i could barely walk up the stairs one time...why the heck would anyone wanna do it MULTIPLE times?? ON PURPOSE????

well,tonight,i decided that I would do it multiple times...on purpose!

after i came home from work i walked to stadium high school(1.3 miles),climbed from the left side of the stairs in that picture alllll the way to the right side of the picture(up+down 5 times) the picture doesn't even do it justice on how steep and long these stairs are. i would be climbing and swear that i was almost to the top...only to see i wasn't even halfway up!!but i pushed through...and did NOT die! even though i swore i was going to. twice. i then walked the mile point three back to my house.

i can't even tell you how proud i am of myself! i even tried to cheat and told myself to cut some of the stairs out...but i knew i would be mad at myself for it when i was done. i have a such a great feeling of accomplishment right now,i feel kinda like superwoman! i can do anything!...except probably not tomorrow. pretty sure i'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow.

i'm so glad that i chose to just DO things instead of talking or thinking about doing them because i LOVE the feeling i get after i'm done. it's such a great natural high...i can't wait to choose my next adventure!!(actually,it's already chosen..you'll just have to wait til feb 12th to hear about it...bwahaha)

just do it

apparently all i needed was a fun weekend to get some blogspiration!

to say my weekend was good is a huge understatement. it was so great in so many ways,and it was just the right amount of busy. i had plenty of stuff to do,with plenty of time in between events to catch my breath. it was full of new experiences and good times with good friends. sooooo instead of keeping you in suspense(i know you're on the edge of your seat just DYING to find out what the heck it was i did!) lemme tell you about my weekend!(pictures included,of course)(WARNING:there is a LOT of food in this post. so if you hate food,stop reading RIGHT NOW!)


Friday night I met my goooood(looking) friend Ashley in Ballard. I really like going up there because it's so different from Tacoma, it's kind of like going on a mini vaca. I,unfortunately did have ulterior motives than just seeing Ash. Do you remember the burger place that i went to at the pub crawl around Christmas time? i have not stopped thinking about it and wanted to find it again and eat there for dinner! after a bit of searching...i found it!!! it's called Zayda Buddys and i'm SO serious when i tell you to go there and eat their burger!!! it's basically the best thing i've ever put in my mouth. ever. anyway,so after me and ash ate there we went to go meet up with some friends. it was basically a wild goose chase because they said they would be at one place,but by the time we arrived there,they'd be at a different one. FINALLY, one hour and 3 bars later,we found them!...at Zayda Buddys! apparently they had the same idea we did,just a little later.ashley and i ended the night falling asleep to The Big Labowski while eating lavender flavored popcorn(this sounds weird,i know. but trust me,it's delish!)

The next morning we went out for breakfast! we went to this place in fremont called Roxy's Diner where their motto is "you can't beat our meat". traditionally,when i go out for breakfast i get some variation of bacon,eggs,and pancakes/french toast. but since i was in a new place,and determined to experience new things,i got brave and decided to try their matzoh brie. i'm still not totally sure what it was...but it was good! i can't really describe how it tastes,and i probably wouldn't order it again,but at least now i can say i tried it! ash had a monte cristo,which was a french toast sandwich of some sort. short story long,if you're in the fremont area,i recommend Roxy's!

p.s. all the restaurant reviews i do in my blogging makes me thing i should become a professional restaurant reviewer,haha. why not get paid for something i do anyway??




my matzoh brie


ashley's monte cristo


a few weeks ago some coworkers invited me to go to Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn. i had never been there and after hearing we could go dancing there too,i jumped at the chance to go! we met up at this asian restaurant inside the casino and proceeded to have the WORST waitress ever in the whole entire history of waitressing. i had been there a whole half hour before she even took my drink order,which was a mango mai tai(this is important for you to remember). 15 minutes later she comes back for some reason and i ask about me and my friends drinks. she tells me the bartender is on break and the person breaking him doesn't know what to do......ooook?? 15 minutes after THAT she brings my friends drink then tells me they are out of mango vodka,and actually have been for 2 weeks now. Uh,what??? it took you a half hour to find out something you should have already known?? needless to say,i was not a happy camper and was getting pissed that she was ruining what was supposed to be a great evening! add the fact that she tried to not give me all my change at the end of the night and her tip went from almost non existent to zero. worst. ever.

after that the night was pretty awesome,though. we basically just spent the rest of the night dancing like maniacs. it was SO fun,i can't even remember the last time i went dancing! and i love to dance! i didn't even gamble,that's how involved i was,haha. the only thing i would really change is that i'm planning on investing in a fake wedding band to deter all the grimy guys that are at that casino. my friend kasey has a real one and it worked great for her! i'm hoping we make this a semi regular thing because i can't wait to do it again!

the cool light that hung above us at the asian restaurant:


i am a professional rice picker uppper using chopsticks:


oh hey,look...it's me!


theresa and kasey,the winos of the night


theresa said from across the table i looked like i was in a jungle


kasey's part asain?


this was the really cool rattail that was attached to the lady sitting at the table in front of us


this is me really angry that our waitress sucked


i couldn't get my mango mai tai so i decided on drinking chardonnay straight out of the bottle. i reek of class.(juuuuuuust kidding. i used a glass,i swear)


after dinner me and kasey....


took a lot...


of pictures together...


i'm not even kidding...


this is probably...


only half.


one semi group shot before we go!


today,sunday,my roommate heidi played in a benefit show for haiti at The Swiss in tacoma. she didn't play very long but she did well! you should listen to some of her songs here. my personal favorites are the hangover song and prince charming.

a terrible quality picture of lindsey,ashley and me at heidis show


heidi on stage performing


to finish off my weekend i am consuming a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup from safeway(which is DEVINE when paired with saltine crackers). reading for my online classes will be done later as well. which,btw,that is going well! i accidentally got ahead with the online part(the course is half online/half classroom experiences)but that can never be a bad thing. oh,and laundry. i need to do that too. i work at 645 tomorrow instead of 830 because i have a doctors appt for my lumps. eek,kinda nervous. wish me luck!

p.s. i have recently discovered Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches and i am completely and totally in love. i don't feel this way about many foods. probably only chicken teriyaki,pizza, and coffee,so you know this is serious business. if there's one near you,or even if there isn't you need to go!

p.p.s. random picture of the day:we have about a million pots in a variety of sizes in our cupboards. i walked into the kitchen today and found heidi boiling one little egg in this huge ass pot and found it funny. maybe you had to be there? oh well.

vlog is such a weird word.

One of my favorite songs! Atlantic City:



I was actually at this performance,this is my favorite song done acoustically. I'm Still Here:



Here's the same song with the whole band playing! (love love loooooove this song!)

supplied

in case you haven't figured it out by now, i kind of have a geeky side(or 10).

i'm a food geek,i'm a blog geek,i'm an education geek(more about teaching it than getting my own),i'm a cheesy 90's boy band geek(go ahead,ask me anything),but there's one geeky side i have i'm pretty sure no one really knows about.

i,andi, am an office supply geek.

i could literally spend hours in an office max,office depot,even target or borders book store just looking at all their notebooks and pens and pencils and organizers with facination. every year before college,even if i was still well stocked up from the year before, i HAD to get brand new school supplies. that was always my favorite part of elementary through high school as well, when my mom would bring home bags full of new supplies for me to take to school. i'm pretty sure that's one big reason why i've always wanted to be a teacher-teachers always need and always use office supplies. i'm so supply geeky that i have my own desk at home i keep them in as well as boxes in storage...now that i'm thinking about it,maybe i have a problem..ha...

my point being,any chance i have to go supply shopping for myself i jump on it. since i'm starting online classes for my eCDA in about a week and a half (eek!)and realized i have so many papers i'm going to be printing,as well as dates i need to keep track of,i'm going to need things to keep myself organized! so,yesterday after work i decided to put the gift cards i got for barnes and noble for Christmas to good use and buy myself some school supplies. since i didn't really want to spend THAT much money,i kind of forced myself to choose things out of their selection and actually found a pretty cute expandable file and planner!

next trip was to office depot because i wanted a notebook (for notes,duh) and a "school" pen(aka a pen i use just for school and nothing else). believe it or not, office depot did NOT have what i was looking for!i actually ended up at target and found a nice notebook and a pink pen that i got cause it was pretty. total cost of supplies: $10.03. shopping success.

You might be obsessed with Chuck Norris if...

you devote a whole entire blog post to Chuck Norris facts.


*Chuck Norris got his drivers license at the age of 16. Seconds.

*Chuck Norris once went skydiving, but promised never to do it again. One Grand Canyon is enough.

*When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail, his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather, roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He always makes it to Oregon before you.

*Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.

*If Chuck Norris were a calendar, every month would be named Chucktober, and every day he'd kick your ass.

*When J. Robert Oppenheimer said "I am become death, the destroyer Of worlds", He was not referring to the atomic bomb. He was referring to the Chuck Norris halloween costume he was wearing.

*Chuck Norris does not "style" his hair. It lays perfectly in place out of sheer terror.

*Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.

*It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

*Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoloy card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game UNO.

*Chuck Norris invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.

*Chuck Norris CAN believe it's not butter.

*How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris? ...All of it.

*Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren't the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.

*Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.

*If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.

*Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

*A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

*Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

*Crop circles are Chuck Norris' way of telling the world that sometimes corn just needs to lie the fuck down.

*Chuck Norris has never been in a fight, ever. Do you call one roundhouse kick to the face a fight?

*Chuck Norris is my Homeboy

oh baby

Happy 2010! I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve. Mine was pretty good. I just went out with some friends around the area. i realized in my previous post of mentioning stuff i did around christmas time, i forgot to mention my co worker dress up dinner party at the cheesecake factory! this was the sunday before christmas and it was a lot of fun.









I also have a couple of random photos...

this is from halloween of '09. my coworker patty was pregnant and planned to turn her belly into a peppermint...or a Peppermint Patty(clever,right?). well when i heard that i said jokingly to her "...and I'll be and Andes mint!" The next day Patty surprised me with a handmade Andes mint logo necklace for my costume. it was goofy,but a lot of fun to tell people what we were.(i don't tend to get good looking to chase around 3 year olds all day,so please forgive my lack of make up and hair styling)


this last photo i wanna say is circa...'92? i'm about 10 years old. This is of me,my sister,and our cousins Nicci and Travis at our aunt and uncles wedding. Yeah,we had great style,even back then.



in other news, i have something exciting to share...

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT AGAIN!!!

my sister called last night to inform me that she is pregnant with her second child. it's kind of funny because i told almost everyone i know that i thought my sister would announce she was pregnant when she came to visit for christmas.well that didn't happen. then,a week after christmas,she actually does find out she pregnant! i'm sooooo excited. i realllllly want a niece!! whichever way the gender of the baby goes, i know connor will be a great big brother. the timing with this baby announcement is pretty close to the same time she announced she was pregnant with connor, so i'm assuming baby will be born around the same time, end of septemberish.

i officially start online classes for my CDA in 2 weeks. i'm nervous/excited. i'm nervous because i know it's going to be a lot of hard work, trying to complete that while working,and staying on top of getting lessons plans done. i'm excited because when i was in school, whether it was high school or college,i didn't do well. i REALLY want to do well this time. i know it's going to take a lot of commitment and focus and NOT procrastinating on my part,but i'm up for the challenge.

that reminds me...usually in the new year, i don't make resolutions. i don't really have a reason why,i think maybe because if you want to change something or do something different,or accomplish something,why wait? do it now. but this year i have decided that i want a resolution. this year i resolve to stop talking about doing things, and to actually do them. this could apply to a bagillion different things. instead of talking to a long lost friend and saying "We should get a cup of coffee sometime",both knowing you will never ACTUALLY get that cup of coffee,put forth the effort to really get that coffee. if i decide that i want to learn how to make the most difficult recipe in the history of historical recipes...make it! this resolution came to me after i decided i was tired of wishing i could go to france,and deciding to actually put forth the effort to go. why only apply this to a trip to france,when i could apply it to my whole life?

i think that's enough blogging for tonight. this week has been rough,trying to change my internal body clock back to work time instead of vacation time. it's wearing me out, and i've been exhausted every day at work. i can't believe it's only tuesday. alright,good night!

p.s. while typing this i sauteed some asparagus with some butter,salt and pepper and it was DEVINE. i also wonder if i'm biased because i love the word sauté and think you can say you sauteed worm guts with butter,sat,and pepper and make it sound good. anyway,i digress...

i'm gonna do it. it's time.

for as long as i can remember,for no particular reason, i've been fascinated with everything french, or having to do with france. it's been my ultimate dream for as long as i can remember to visit this beautiful country. specifically, i would love to climb to the top of the eiffel tower. i've never actually attempted to raise any funds or be active in trying to visit paris. i think because as much as i want to visit france, my ULTIMATE dream was to vacation there on my honeymoon with my husband. Paris is,of course known as "the city of love" :) But since that isn't happening anytime soon, and my itch to visit Paris gets stronger and stronger every day, i've decided to get active and start pursuing my dream.

i am starting my own "France Fund". every paycheck i receive, a portion of it will go into this fund. i'm also requesting that any birthday or christmas presents anyone would like to get me, be a donation towards this fund. i really would like to save a lot of money up,because i would hate to not to be able to do something just because i didn't have the money for it. not only do i want to visit paris but i would also like to visit italy,germany,spain,more of europe in general. it would be such a waste to be living my dream but not be able to experience it to the fullest.

oh, and i'm saving all this money and making this trip before i am 30. this gives me TWO years! i believe if i am active and hopefully don't have any major financial crisis' i can do it! so far i have my friend sarah on board,but anyone else who would like to come is welcome as well! Wish me luck,here i go!