flying:fireworks:forth

On my aunt and uncles property...a barn where chickens lived. My tent was to the side of the barn and out a ways.



The tent we ate all our meals under. There's a big grassy area on the other side of it where volleyball and bocci ball were played, trampoline jumping was done,as well was where we set off fireworks and had the bonfire:



Just a tiny fraction of the farm that grows all the veggies for sale:



My uncles checking out the "Little House on the Prairie" cabin...you can see the green outhouse on the left. Apparently the house is on a sled so it can be moved from place to place!



Aunt Linda, me, and cousin Sue. Obviously on day 1. We look so clean and refreshed!



My aunt and uncle who own all the land that make it possible for us to celebrate the 4th together every year!



"the grandkids" on the trampoline that finally broke after many many many years of use. Really, I don't recall a time before the trampoline. It will be missed:



For some reason Connor kept doing this muscle man pose,totally cute(look,he has TEETH!):



best sister ever:



right before we left to go home...baby was woooore out!



(last connor picture,i swear) Connor had a 13 month old girl, Marley, as a playmate while we were there. He's only 9 months old and twice her size!



my grandma and grandpa,who are wonderful:



Uncle John, mom,dad, and Connor sitting by the bonfire:



Cousins Joe, Anna(1/3 of previously mentioned group "Word"), and me by the huge bonfire:

free tattoo,anyone?

yep, i did it. i got ANOTHER tattoo. and this one was FREE! jealous?

it all started this morning when i woke up. parker, heidi's 8 year old son called my name as i walked out of my room(the boys' room is right next to mine). now, usually in the morning me and the boys' conversation is limited to "hi boys, bye boys" as i walk by them on the way out the door. so parker calling my name was quite unusual. i walk back to their room where he shows me this sign:



and proceeds to inform me that he and his friend alex were opening a tattoo shop when they were 18. only 18 year olds will be able to come, and it will be for boys ONLY (because girls don't like to get tattoos). I said to Parker "you know parker, there are lots and lots of girls who have tattoos." "No there aren't." he replied. Ok then.

He then pulls out this fine piece of work:



and this one:



Now, not only are those the cutest 8 year old drawn tattoos i have ever seen...but the best part is...they're all FREE.
now, i had woken up late, so i was running late and did not have NEARLY enough time to decide which delicious tattoo i wanted temporarily placed on my body. however, when i got home later that day, you can be SURE i took FULL advantage of having a freelance tattoo artist living in the room next to me. i got this piece of work on my arm(which,i later found out, is actually Baker, the family cat):



SO bad ass. If anyone needs directions to my house, just ask. Parkers hours are listed on the poster.

inspired by the Tacoma Aroma

(this picture is one i took as i was sitting here writing this blog)

Not much new stuff has been happening lately...I HAVE had a weird stroke of luck in winning things,though. I won tickets to a concert i was attending via a radio contest, i won a signed electric guitar via a website contest i wasn't even aware was going on, and i won $11 from 2 one dollar scratch tickets!(i never buy scratch tickets, and on the rare occasion that i do, i never,ever win).

Life has been pretty much the same as usual. It's a 3 day weekend but I, unfortunately, had to work yesterday(sunday). The whole preschool team came to take inventory of our classes and rearrange and clean everything. this took ALL day. we were there from 830 am to 430 pm and did not stop working at all. i was exhausted by the time we were done. i wanted to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather but my body just would not have it. i ended up crashing on the couch for an hour or two shortly after arriving home.

Today I had lunch with a friend who i love with all my heart and all my soul and guts! We went to Olive Garden and had unlimited soup,salad,and breadsticks(which,btw,when did this go from 5.99 to 6.99?? blasphemy). I had the chicken and g-someitalianwordicantpronounce soup which is the best soup i've ever had in my whole entire life. seriously, if you love cream of chicken soup, or just creamy soups in general, you HAVE to try it. we ended our calorie fest by sharing dessert-italian donuts dusted with powdered sugar with a chocolate dipping sauce. simply divine. NO idea how we managed to fit through the doors on our way out, but we somehow managed it and i can't wait til we do that again.

I'm planning on heading to Mt. Rainier next weekend sometime. I LOVE hiking on this famous mountain. The views are always beautiful. Last time i was there, in august of '07 me at my friend stood at the bottom of this HUGE hill saying to each other "do you wanna try climbing that? there's no way we'll make it..." and in the end, wound up climbing the whole thing, all the way to the top. We felt SO good. that's probably my favorite part of going to mt. rainier, that feeling of accomplishment. oh,and the blackberry pie we stop for on the way home.

And last,but definitely not least, i get a new phone in 2.5 weeks!! those that know me and know my phone understand how ridiculous my need for a new cellular device is. basically it works fine internally, but buttons to make everything work have fallen off, and i have been known to ask a person or two for a bobby pin in order to start a new text.

anyway, that's about it for me...i'll write more soon!

scammed (not)

a little over a month ago me and heidi were leaving a local bar. as we were getting into the car this man approached us. he said "hi my name is (whatever name it was he said) and i'm a teacher up in (some place far away). i have been visiting my friend (gives friends name and room number) at the hospital right down the road all day and my car was broken into. all my cards and money and checks have been stolen. is there anyway you can spare some change please. i have no gas and no way to get back home." me and heidi both thought the story sounded kinda fishy,but gave him a couple dollars just to leave us alone.

reasons why the story was fishy: the bar we were at was NO where near a gas station. if you need gas to get home, wouldn't you be relatively near a gas station and trying to get money THERE? also, if you were visiting your friend in the hospital ALL DAY wouldn't you eat or drink something at some point? why would all your money be in the car? the third reason this sounded fishy to me was because i had heard pretty much the exact same story about a year ago when i was leaving a sushi restaurant. except this guy was from Oregon, not up north.

anyway, fast forward to the present. i'm arriving home at about 1130 at night after birthday dinner with my parents. i hadn't even had time to turn off my car when another car backs in next to me so their drivers side on the same side as my drivers side. he motions for me to roll down my window. so i do,about halfway. dude then proceeds to inform me that he was from up north and was visiting a friend in the hospital...at this point i rolled my eyes. he asked me what was wrong. not wanting to call him out on his BS and make him angry i just said "i'm just really tired and want to get into my house" he says "oh ok, i just have no money, everything was stolen.." i said "i have no money either,sorry!" he then,thankfully,drove off.

i'm not sure if my super cool 2000 mazda protege with the cracked windshield,missing left hubcap and broken drivers side mirror makes me look really rich, or if i,as a person, just look like a huge dummy, but i'm not sure why this keep occurring to me. i'm pretty sure the same guy who tried to bum from me at my house is the same one who approached me and my roommate at the bar.

anyway, this is just a warning, if someone approaches you and gives you a story similar to this, do not fall for it! unless you feel that you would be in danger if you didn't give him money, then by all means, go for it. but please, just be careful!

bad blogger

sorry guys for the lack of updates lately. I have no excuses!

so much has happened since my last blog! I'm back home from Texas. It was a pretty relaxing trip. We mostly just hung out at the house and I played with Connor a LOT. He's such a sweet little boy and making him smile is the most fun thing ever, i tried to do it as often as i could. on the night i was supposed to leave there was the hugest thunderstorm! my flight ended up getting delayed to the point where i just rescheduled one for the next morning. i spent one last night in houston and left for seattle at 6 oclock the next morning. it was still stormy, so that on top of my fear of flying, i was pretty freaked out. BUT i made it safe and sound! i arrived in seattle at 1030 AM and promptly went to work. after being up since 2 am Seattle time i was not the most qualified person to be taking care of 20 3 year olds, but i did what i could. i have some pictures,but somehow misplaced the memory card, so as soon as that is found(when i decide to clean my room)...i'll put them up!

a few days later...i turned 27!! i celebrated the night before my actual birthday by going to dinner with my parents, it's tradition! we went to this restaurant called BJ's where i had the most perfect dirty martini and the most delicious meal. after that we went back to their house and had cake and opened my present from them (a desperately needed iPod).

the next day, my ACTUAL birthday, i went to work! now,since i believe my birthday should be a national holiday i generally take the day off. but since i had just been on vacation a few days before that i decided the most responsible thing was to probably work that day. i'm glad i did,because i was showered by all kinds of presents! one of my favorite things about being a teacher is your childrens parents give gifts! i got starbucks giftcards(always welcome no matter what the occasion), a cute baby bamboo tree, and a picture frame. my coworker bought me a cake and i shared it with my class of kids. i'm such a nice teacher. that night my roommate heidi, her friend colin, and i went to see one of heidis favorite bands in seattle. it was a lot of fun and i'm glad they got to spend my day with me!

that's about all i've done since my last blog, all the major things,anyway. i saw tumbledown for i think the 4 millionth time last night. their record comes out may 19th and i'm so excited for that! i hope it sells 56 trillion copies.

so,consider yourself updated. if i think of anything else, i'll post it as soon as i can so my blogs aren't so dang long!

p.s. i might not blog before then...so happy mothers day to all the moms! i hope your day is wonderful!

Howdy, Houston!

Well, after what seems like centuries of anticipation, I'm finally in Houston visiting my sister, brother in law and nephew! I got in last night after a loooong day of traveling. Today was pretty relaxed. We hung out at the house for most of it, then ran some errands. By the time we had come back a lightening and thunderstorm had started! It's still going on right now and I hope it continues through the night. We don't get any of those in Washington so I'm really excited for it! Connor loves me, of course. I've had the pleasure of taking care of him most of the day and I'm loving every minute of it. Every time he smiles it's the best thing in the world. Also, tonight, my sister made teriyaki chicken, garlic rice, and potstickers for dinner. Chocolate chip and sugar cookies were dessert. It was all SO good. Basically, I'm having a blast just hanging out. We don't really have anything specific planned for the rest of my time here, we may take a trip to Galveston and see the beach but that's kind of up in the air, maybe Monday. I leave Houston Monday and I have a feeling this trip is going to go TOO fast!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing my grandma and granddad Kymes, as well as my Aunt Martha and Uncle Steve. I drove up to Seattle Sunday morning and we all had breakfast together at this adorable restaurant called "Lolas". They had plenty of Starbucks coffee to offer me so I was a happy camper. After breakfast we said goodbye to Martha and Steve then I drove my grandparents to Renton to see my preschool as well as take them to an actual Starbucks store. Good times were had by all. I hope I see them all again sooner rather than later!

Other then that things are about the same. I watched the movie Marley and Me(finally) and am SO relieved I was at home watching it by myself. I cried SO hard. I don't think I cried that hard since my dog actually did die! It was definitely sad and if you are a dog lover and haven't seen it yet, you better check it out.

Alright that's about it for me right now, I will post pictures and right more on my trip once I get home. BYE!!

7 months

7 months.
That's how long I was employed at the boys and girls club. i would say i enjoyed working there maybe 3 months of that time. during the summer i had a blast going on the few field trips that we did, to the Pacific Science Center, Woodland Park Zoo, etc. But by the time it was time for me to leave, i was SO ready. i had basically come to hate coming to work, i hated everything, and disliked having to be with my "supervisor" every day. i felt stuck, like i wasn't going to grow or learn anything new as an employee(something i need,as i'm sure most people, in order to continue liking their job). I didn't get paid enough to deal with the obnoxious 11 year olds, non communicative supervisor, and waking up at 4 am to work a split shift (work 7-9am then 2-6pm mon-fri) was not my idea of a good time,and at a certain point, i just stopped caring.

7 months.
As of April 29th, i will have worked at Boeing Family Center for 7 months. it is inSANE to me how differently i feel about this job compared to the last one. these months have just flown by. the last 5 months or so at the boys and girls club just dragged on and on and on for me. i am still completely in love with my job. It's a 35 minute commute to work(in good traffic),which is my longest commute ever, and i don't care. i love going to work everyday for the same reasons i did when i started at my job. i am also enjoying the fact that i am at a place that can provide me with health care benefits...as of the 1st of this month i have health care AND dental...i couldn't tell you the last time i had dental... maybe 3 or 4 years ago? a LONG time. I don't get paid poorly,but i definitely could be making more, which i will be once i get my annual raise in sept AND complete my CDA degree this time next year. i am still striving to be a better teacher every day and i still love all of my amazing coworkers. what's great is that i know there are so many great teachers employed there that can and have given me tips and ideas on things to teach to my kids. it really is an exciting thing for me and i'm so thankful that i've found something that i love so much that i get paid for! there are people who are twice my age who still haven't found that,but i hope they do,because it's a GREAT feeling!

Now onto an update...

Tomorrow(well,technically today, it's 1:30 AM)is Easter! I love this time of year. I love spring and I am always reminded of the fantastic easter egg hunt productions my mom always put on for me and Samantha every year at this time. we were doing them up until maybe 2 or 3 years ago! she would coordinate the color of an egg with a prize, and if you found the specific special egg you got the biggest prize of all (often times this was monetary, probably the reason why me and my sister were willing to do this well into our 20's). this year for the first time i got the privilege of being the "easter bunny" both for my class on Friday and tonight for my roommates 2 boys. it's SO fun and i see why people enjoy doing it! the looks on the kids faces when they find eggs,or discover what's in the eggs is priceless! i don't have anything super special planned, i'm going to church in the morning with my parents, i dunno if they have anything planned after that, such as brunch or something,but i will probably join them for that if they do. that's about it...hanging with the family...even though they live 20 minutes away from me i don't get to see them too often because our work schedules conflict,so it's always nice to spend time with them.

Speaking of family, my grandparents (my birth moms parents) are going to be here next weekend from Oklahoma!! (HI GRANDMA AND GRANDDAD!) I'm super excited for this. I haven't seen them in probably 2.5 years, so they have definitely been missed by me. As an extra bonus my Aunt and Uncle who are from St.Louis will be in town too! I haven't seen them in about the same amount of time so it'll be great to see them as well. The weekend after THAT...is my trip to HOUSTON!!! It's still winter weather here, next week i think our high is 50 degrees,which disgusts me, so i'm anticipating the warm 80 degree TX weather. For some reason it seems that i ALWAYS have some kind of disgusting cough when I see Connor, and this time is no exception. I feel something coming on,not sure what, a cold of some sort, so i'm drinking excessive amounts of Emergen-C to hopefully combat the nastiness that's brewing inside of me. Hope it works!

This is the little boy i can't wait to hug and play with, seriously, could he get ANY cuter?? I love him so much!!




And on a final note...i watched Saturday Night Live tonight, Zac Efron of High School Musical fame was the host. It was great. I think I may be in love. don't judge me. (he looks 17 but he's really like, 20 something)