snowy morning.

this was the view out the bedroom window when i woke up:
sigh.

it was amazing to just sit and take it in during breakfast. there's always something sort of magical about the first big snowfall of the season. no matter where you happen to be for it. :]
my grandma said that it's sort of rare for the snow to completely cover the branches and every little thing in the yard the way it did. i suppose that generally the snowfall here is a bit more heavy, so it tends to just fall right off. this one must have been just right. :]

we didn't end up going to visit the farm today. we were supposed to go up with my mom's parents, but my grandma wasn't feeling well. so we decided to reschedule, perhaps for the christmas visit.

this left us with a whole day of no plans.
we thought about going to a museum or movie or something, but we couldn't decide. instead, we went shoe shopping. ha. :]
i found three pairs that i really liked, but i decided that i didn't have enough room to get them home in my suitcase. i spent the past fifteen minutes doing some preliminary packing, and i'd say it was definitely a wise decision not to purchase any shoes. my suitcase is going to be super full.

we ate dinner at my grandparents favorite chinese restaurant. they really do have the best sesame chicken ever. i have a feeling that i'm going to be craving it in a few days. ha. after dinner, we played more cards. we played two rounds of pitch, which was new to me. i wasn't very good at it. i'll need to practice in order to be able to keep up around here. after those two rounds, we switched to ricke ticke and played two rounds of it. i won the second round! hard to believe. :]

i'm sad to be leaving tomorrow. i love spending time with my grandparents. i feel like i'm able to keep my grandpa in moderately good spirits when i'm here, despite what he's going through right now. it'd be nice to stay longer. while we were searching for things to do today, i came across this ceramics studio that i really would love to visit. i think there are a lot of interesting places and things to do around the denver area. maybe i should take a year of foreign language so i can apply to the graduate program here. :]

i better get to sleep now. i have to wake up early tomorrow, and i didn't get much sleep at all last night.
i hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend. :]

candle winds.

tonight while playing cards, my grandpa said that jamie's shuffle ranked a ten in terms of candle winds.
he explained that it was producing enough of a breeze when jamie shuffled the two decks of cards to put out the tenth candle if candles were lined up in a row heading away from the table. obviously, he explained it much more eloquently than i am, but maybe you get the idea.
i love the random little things my grandpa says.

i've been so so so bad at taking photos.
i took a bunch during my flight here though.
i had a row to myself, which is always nice. i forgot my ipod, so instead i listened to the music that was available by hooking into the arm rest. i found a jazz station, and i think that might be my new favorite flight music. seriously. james and i occasionally listen to jazz when we drive around. there's just something about it. ha.
the last portion of my flight took place during the sunset and it was beyond beautiful:
did you notice the snow? there was less than i expected, but it was still so pretty.
for a while, the sky was a very vibrant orange.
and this was right as we touched down.

oh and i got to have lunch with miss victoria and my mom and brother before my flight left. my brother got in an hour before i needed to head through security. it was great to see them. victoria will now shake her head "no" repeatedly, and it's adorable.

i'm having an amazing time here in denver.
we've not been doing a whole lot, which is nice. plenty of time for visiting and playing cards. :]

on wednesday, my sister and i went shopping at cherry creek. i made myself walk past the tiffany store there. i lost a ring a while back, and so badly want to replace it. i guess i need to do some more searching for it first.
i did not resist stopping into martin + osa though. my sister and i both fell in love with the denim there. i think i've mentioned that i've been doing the jean search for a while now at macy's with little luck. i tend to wear only joe's jeans these days, but was even having trouble finding those. i was so happy to find two great pairs of jeans. [added bonus: they are about half the price of joe's. woot!]

that night, we ate dinner at the olive garden. we all talked about how we tend to order the same thing each time we go. i have a few dishes that i rotate between. my grandpa has gotten minestrone soup and salad for years and years. my grandma and i both commented that we always intend to try something new, but then remember how good whatever we had during the previous visit tasted, so we just go with that. :] after our meal, we headed back to my grandparents for cards and scrabble.

on thursday we headed up to the fort collins area to see my mom's parents and brother's, etc. for thanksgiving dinner number one. that "dinner" was around noon. it was nice to see everyone, although the visit was brief. i never feel like i have time to get past the small talk and into comfortable conversation there before it's time for everyone to leave. ah well.

we ate dinner that night with my dad's parents and brother. we cooked a pork loin, which was a bit of an adventure because my sister thought it only needed to cook for 18-22 minutes. as we were leaving her house on the way to grandma's where we would cook it, i asked her if she was sure it would be done in time for dinner because last time dad cooked one of those, it took f o r e v e r. she said she was sure. but. once we arrived at grandma's, she fully read the directions which said 18-22 minutes per pound. we were dealing with a 4 pound tenderloin. it was ten 'til six. oops. luckily, ken is quite the cook and recommended that we could convection bake it for an hour. so although dinner was a little late, it turned out perfectly. :]

after dinner, i had to sneak away to my computer for studio calico reveal night, which was happening at ten. i secured the stamp set that i wanted, so i was pretty happy. ha. then i went back out to join in the conversation. seems i'm not the only night owl of the family.

today marked two years for james and me. i was secretly hoping he would show up here in denver. ha. no such luck, but we did talk on the phone a bit.

this afternoon, we had thanksgiving number two here at my dad's parents' house. his brother, sister, and cousin were all able to make it with a few extras. all together, we had a nice group of eleven. we ate around one, and it was so so yummy. my favorite detail [that i hope to remember in the future] was my grandma's tradition of putting a little chocolate turkey at each place. so simple, but so cute. and even more cute was seeing my grandpa break into his chocolate turkey first! i wasn't even sure he would eat it. ha.
we did have one little conflict because my aunt brought her dog, and my grandparents are taking care of gonzo right now. my aunt has a big rottweiler. gonzo is a little guy. smaller than helix even. so we had to keep them separated for the most part. after we ate, my sister, jamie, and i took gonzo for a walk, which delighted him.

this evening, my sister and i made a trip to archivers. i didn't find much. i was hoping to find some stuff that we don't have locally, but that wasn't the case. the only thing i picked up was more of the american crafts moda bella papers that were now on clearance. funny thing is that last time i visited that store with my sister, it had just been released, and i was so exited to see the line. so basically, i purchased the same papers during both of my trips to archivers. ah well. :]

we got some food after our little scrappy shopping trip at "taste of philly". my sister and jamie eat there pretty often. i would actually say it was better than the cheesesteak that i had in philly. but then again, i was totally underwhelmed by the one i had in philly. this one was pretty good though. i would probably eat there again if i was ever in the mood for a cheesesteak.

tonight, we had another good round of cards. i lost one round, then tied for fourth in the second. i still have fun, even when i loose though. plus, it's refreshing to play games instead of just watch tv in the evenings like i tend to do at home.

my sister and i might head up to my uncle's ranch in wyoming tomorrow. it's been snowing outside tonight [which is so nice to see], so if that keeps up we won't go. if we do go, perhaps i can catch up on taking some photos though. we'll see...

oh amy.

i've been rather mad at myself for the past few days.
in my true procrastinator/afraid to fail style, i didn't register for the gre.

i wanted to be absolutely sure that i was totally ready for it, in order to ensure a high score.
well.
i went to register for it the other day and all the spaces were full within the time period that i need to take it in order to apply to the school where i want to apply. ahh.
i had been keeping my eye on the schedule, so it didn't seem like it would be a problem to wait.
well.
it was.

it's not too late to take it for some of the other schools i was thinking about applying to, but i'm not sure now.
i really want to apply to a certain school, or i feel like i'll always wonder if i was good enough to get in there.

so. i have to decide if i should wait and apply next year, or go ahead and apply this year and forget about the school where i really wanted to go.

ugh.
i'm totally kicking myself.
big time.

i guess i need to join deepa in figuring out a back up plan.
it wouldn't hurt to be a lab tech for a year or so. more experience in that environment never hurts, and there is always more to learn. i just know that i need to be in that setting and away from the setting of my current job.

anyway. i'm leaving tomorrow.
it will be so nice to see family and get away. hopefully it will help me clear my head and figure out what i'm doing.
the only sad part is being away from james on our two year mark. sigh.
i better get back to my laundry now.

adventures.

adventure number one: i finally got my hair cut today. :]

before:


after:


i've been meaning to do it for a while now. i almost made an appointment last time i was in vegas with the lady who cut it for my birthday. then i got sick, so it didn't work out. plus deepa's friend hannah is just finishing up beauty school, and deepa kept telling me that i should let her cut my hair. hannah has been cutting deepa's hair so much lately. seriously, every time i see deepa, she has a new hairstyle. ha.

anyway, i'm so happy with it. we'll see how it looks when i style it on my own, but i'm definitely excited about how much less time it will take to dry and straighten my hair. :]

adventure number two: last night.

we decided to have a girls' night because deepa's friend was visiting from boise. we met up for dinner at bangkok cuisine. a clear favorite within our group. it turned out to be one of the most hilarious meals ever. we had five [slightly loud] girls sitting around this big round table, and at one point, we looked around and noticed that the rest of the tables in the entire restaurant were filled with couples. meanwhile, we had two newly single girls talking about how relationships suck. :]

after dinner, we went to the chocolate bar for some dessert.
the fondue is the best ever. and i always forget to take a photo of it. ah well. at least we managed a group shot outside. [photo order is deepa, me, roxana, marissa, and natalie.]

after that, we headed downtown. we had a table at 210, which was nice. you get to have your own private little area to hang out. there are couches to sit, plus space to dance. so either way, you are pretty much good to go.

the only problem was that the business fraternity at unr had a table that night too. and way too many people. annoying people. [i never did like the business majors, no offense to any of my readers.] they kept trying to invade our space. deepa and roxana are friends with one of the bouncers, so when his shift ended, he was hanging out at our table and keeping them out. but at one point, natalie and i were left alone at the table with instructions to keep them out of our space. so we did. and one of the few girls who was hanging out with those yucky business majors decided to be rude to us. well. mostly just to me. i was going to just ignore it, but it sort of upset me. so. i told deepa and roxana about it. and then i pointed out the girl. [she was wearing a very memorable and recognizable too-tight purple dress.] and then the girl got kicked out [where she could join some of the other yucky business majors who had acted like fools] by our bouncer friend. but not before roxana and deepa talked to her. the only line that is clear in my mind was roxana responding "i'll break your face!" to the girl when she asked deepa and roxana what they were going to do about her being mean. by that point, natalie and i were laughing so unbelievably hard that i don't remember much of what happened. but i was no longer upset.

soon the yucky business majors cleared out. my guess is that they'd had too much to drink and wanted to join their friends who'd already been kicked out. then some of natalie's football player friends from boise joined us. at which point i was accurately described by one of the guys as "the mellow friend who stays sober." yep. pretty much. :]

the rest of the night at 210 can be summed up by this photo:
ha. i actually danced a little bit too. i just wasn't as brave as deepa, so i stayed away from anyone i didn't know, like these basketball players for example.

after i dropped the girls off at home, i stopped by tonic to visit my friend scott. i only stayed for about twenty minutes. by this point i had nearly lost my voice and was getting tired. but it was nice to see him and catch up briefly.

it felt nice to shower and crawl in bed after this long [but fun] night. luckily i didn't have work today, so the four am bedtime wasn't too painful. i just had to wake up around ten to get ready for my hair adventure.

tomorrow = work + laundry + cleaning.
not nearly as much fun as these adventures, but oh well. :]

a struggle.

that's what today feels like.

hopefully i can make it better somehow.

guilty pleasures.

deepa called in to work today because her boy broke up with her last night. so she and i went on a little adventure visiting different shops around town today. it got me thinking about guilty pleasures because i definitely should have been studying today. visiting craft stores and shopping for new clothes are some of my guilty pleasures.

when i got home, i noticed that helix seems to have a guilty pleasure too. i don't know if it would actually be considered guilty, but whatever.
i gave him a new bone when deepa and i left so that he would be entertained while we were gone.
when i got home, he still had the bone... he was just carrying it around in his mouth, not chewing it whatsoever.
i let him outside and tried to get him to leave the bone inside so that he wouldn't end up dropping it and just leaving it out there, but he just sat by the door until i gave him back the bone. when i went to let him back inside, he still had the bone in his mouth, which was a pleasant surprise.
now, i just let him come upstairs with me, and he is laying on one of his favorite rugs chewing the bone. i guess he wanted to wait until he could fully indulge and enjoy is bone to the highest degree.
such a silly little guy.

and speaking of indulge... i had so much fun taking these photos of him the other night:
he so loves being in front of the fire. ha. :]

do you have a secret indulgence or a guilty pleasure?

a heart on fire.

last night, i spent four hours talking to someone who i would never have imagined talking to for nearly that long.

i'd seen him one night over a week ago. he had just finished playing a show that ended with him breaking up with his girlfriend of two years. i basically had a short session of girl talk with him that night, helping him to feel better about the situation and the impending change in his life. apparently, guys don't do that sort of thing for other guys?

so last night, he was in the final stages of breaking up with his girlfriend, and apparently needed someone to talk to again.
not sure why i was the someone, especially considering the fact that we spent the first part of our conversation discussing how we used to hate each other. ha.

it was a good talk. a really good talk. i honestly think i helped him, and little does he know, he helped me realize a few things too. i gained a bit of closure on a chapter of my life. and all because he reached out to me because he needed some more girl talk. :]

i didn't realize on my way over to talk to him that i would leave feeling the way i did. i had no idea that our talk would actually have an impact on me.

i was listening to this song tonight, and i thought it was somewhat applicable to this situation. you really don't need to watch the video... it's totally ridiculous. but the main lyric is "with heart on fire, i reach out to you tonight."
the cool thing about music is that everyone can interpret the lyrics to mean whatever they think, unless of course the artist has spelled it out for you somewhere. i'm taking heart on fire to mean a breaking heart. but it could mean so many other things too. and you know, on a different day it probably will mean a different thing to me. i tend to do that with music... :]

so. you might be wondering who the mystery person is?
andrew valdez.
i guess i've known him for over eight years now. he and garrett were essentially best friends when i started dating garrett. we didn't get along at all.
last night, he told me that i was right about him back then. wow.
i've been thinking about it though, and i have to say... it's just really cool and even inspiring to see how someone can change their life around and come out on such a better side than when you first knew them.

so.
who did you think i was talking about?

scrappy success.

i have a couple of finished layouts to share. :]

i still need to add the rest of the title to one of the layouts that i mentioned a couple posts ago. i think it's going to take me a while to finish that one. we'll see.
but i did finish this double page layout on thursday night:
yes. i've used more crate paper with those basic grey alphabets again. they go together so well that i had to do it. ha.
and fair warning, i may use the paper again. i'm sort of in love with it. and i still have tons of the glittery die cut shapes and other elements that coordinate, which i want to use.

you may have noticed that double page layouts are rare for me. i have another one that i began a while ago that i need to pull out and finish. it's funny because my first scrapbook is all double page layouts, but after i finished that, i started making primarily single page layouts. usually i don't have tons of photos that i want to scrapbook; in fact, most times i just have one large photo or a couple of smaller photos that i'll cluster together, so a single page offers sufficient room. i have enjoyed working with more space when i have more photos though. it's definitely a challenge for me. a bit out of my comfort zone i suppose. :]

on saturday night i stayed for the crop at my work, where i managed to get this layout finished:
it's for the studio calico hometown challenge, which was to create a layout about your hometown [duh] using the november kit. the journaling briefly covers how reno came to be a city. i printed it on thin graph paper, and i really like the way it looks in person. i used the same thin graph paper to stamp the title letters onto, then cut them out and traced around the light teal ink with a black pen. i had fun going back through my iPhoto gallery to pull out some photos for this page. plus, it made me think of an honors seminar that i took freshmen year of college that was all about reno. good times.

as part of the challenge, i made myself use only things included in the kit, which may be a first for me. i genrally just pull out pieces of the kit to use on a page, or add stuff from my existing stash to the kit. i realize that's not really the point of a kit, but it's just what i tend to do. for example, the flowers and basic grey alphabets on the corn maze layout are pulled from the october kit, but everything else was mine.

i also experimented with using flowers on both of these layouts. they tend to include some prima flowers in the studio calico kits, and i rarely use them. i don't tend to like using those fake flowers because well... they look like fake flowers to me. ha. i don't mind them on other peoples' layouts, but i've never had a whole lot of luck using them and liking them on my own pages. by layering them up with some paper and other elements, i was able to create a look with the flowers that was to my liking. plus, since these ones are printed, they are kind of fun. maybe you'll start seeing them on more of my pages. after all, i do have quite a few of them to use up. :]

anyway. that's about all for now. i think i might try to convince james to go to a movie tonight. i feel like we're falling behind because it's been nearly 3 weeks since we've gone to a movie. too long, i say!

i hope you all had a good weekend. :]

shampoo.

have you ever noticed how hotel shampoo tends to be ridiculously heavily scented?

i generally take my own shampoo, etc. along when i travel, but occasionally i have to use the hotel stuff.
and it's ALWAYS so smelly.

obviously this observation didn't just materialize on it's own...

tonight, as i was stepping into the shower, i remembered that i'd used up the last of my shampoo last night.
[i have to say i was a tiny bit delighted that i realized this before i was soaking wet. ha.]
i was too lazy to go all the way into j's bathroom to steal some of his, so i went to the bottom drawer in my bathroom where the hotel stash lives.

see, my bathroom used to be my brother's bathroom, and for some unknown reason i still have only one cupboard and one drawer in there even though he moved out over two years ago. anyway. when i "moved in" to the bathroom, i noticed that the bottom drawer was full of all the hotel goodies. and not just the usual stuff like shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion. we're taking sewing kits, shower caps, shoe polishers, loofas, and other rare finds. and some of that stuff goes back a while. there is shampoo from the disneyland hotel that i swear is from the 90s. the bottle labels are unmistakably 90s. plus, we've stayed at the grand californian since it opened, so it has to be old.

i really don't understand it, but boy was i thankful for that drawer tonight.
and i can't lie... i've been thankful a few other times.
once when i needed a shower cap, once when i needed a nail file for a scrappy project and couldn't find any of mine, and once when i ran out of q-tips.
hmm. now that i think about it, maybe my brother is on to something...
:]

nooooo.

a while ago, i heard that pushing daisies might be getting canceled. i seriously love that show. i didn't think i would like it, and i didn't intend on watching it, but somehow i watched the first episode and fell in love. so i was disappointed to hear that it might get cancelled.

then today i got word simultaneously from two of my fellow lipstick jungle fanatics that it's getting cancelled! what the heck!?

maybe all of my favorite television shows getting cancelled is a sign that it's time to stop watching television again. during my first year of college, i watched basically zero television, and it didn't kill me. once i moved into my house, were i had an actual television set, i slowly started picking up shows to watch. and i slowly started spending more time watching tv. maybe less shows to watch means more laundry will get done around here. ha. right.

in other [more happy] news, i made excellent progress on two layouts during work today. i'm rather excited about that. i have to put on the finishing touches and add some titles, but hopefully by the end of the weekend i will have something scrappy to share. :]

it's super cold in the house tonight, so i turned on the fire. that always makes things seem so cozy and nice. it also makes me want some hot chocolate... i might have to go work on that. :]

the h.s. days.

alyssa filled this out a while ago, and i decided to give it a go as well. :]

1. did you date someone from your school? yep. for nearly the entire time i was in high school, i had the same boyfriend.


2. what kind of car did you drive? a red jetta. it was my dream car, and i still kind of miss having it.


3. did you pass your driver's license test on the first try? yep. someone almost hit me because they ran a stop sign, and i think the person testing me was rather impressed at my reaction. i was too. i'm not sure how i stayed so calm.


4. were you a party animal? not by any means. i guess you could say this still holds true today. during high school, i came to reno most weekends, and i would usually hang out with my sister. i went to a few college parties with her, but never any high school parties with my high school friends.


5. were you considered a flirt? i'm not 100% sure, but i'd say no. as i already said above, i had a boyfriend most of the time i was in high school. i'm sure i had my moments before he and i started dating, but my memory fails me.


6. were you in band, orchestra, or choir? nope.


7. were you on any varsity teams? tennis for four years. oh what an adventure.


8. did you get suspended/expelled? nope.


9. can you still sing the school song? "onward greenwave, onward greenwave, fight right through that line?" i don't remember if the word is line or something else. it's a lot longer than that, but like alyssa, i just read it off the wall during the assemblies.


10. who were your favorite teachers? mr. johnson and mrs. o'toole because they made me the science nerd that i am today. :] i also enjoyed mr. punchard, but mostly because he was so much fun to impersonate. mrs. lawson's class was another favorite. she made me like math until one of my college professors ruined it for me. mr. waite always told the best stories, and his class was tons of fun. i didn't really have any teachers that i specifically remember not liking. i do remember wishing that i could have had mr. waite instead of mrs. v for a.p. spanish because she wasn't the best teacher. ha.


11. where did you sit during lunch? before i could drive, i ate at the picnic tables near the main building or went to lunch with melanie and her sisters. once i could drive, i pretty much always left for lunch. when garrett still went to school in fallon, we would sometimes go eat with his mom. once he didn't live in fallon anymore i only had class after lunch every other day, so i'm sure i just went home on the days i didn't have to go back to class. on the other days, i still went and ate with his mom sometimes, or i remember that i used to go to raley's and get a sandwich to take to a.p. government [my class after lunch], and i would share it with jud.


12. what is your school's full name? churchill county high school


13. school mascot and colors? the greenwave and green + white.


14. did you go to homecoming? yeah.


15. if you could go back and do it again, would you? no. i loved high school. i had so many great experiences that i can't imagine would have happened if i had gone to school elsewhere. [the science fair is one example.]


16. how many people were in your graduating class? i think it was right around 325.


17. what do you remember most about graduation? calvin made all of us cry with his speech, including himself. i walked with kal, which made garrett jealous so he refused to come. once graduation was over, i left really fast so that all of the goodbyes wouldn't drag on and make me cry.
i have three photos from my graduation: one of my sister and i where my eyes are closed, one of my parents and i where my dad's eyes are closed, and this one. sigh. if only i'd been a scrapbooker way back then.


18. were you in any clubs? well i was in student council one year, young republicans during senior year, and national honors society. i think that was all?


19. have you gained some weight since then? i think i'm about the same as senior year, which is probably a little more than freshmen year. :] my weight fluctuates weekly by as much as five pounds, so it's hard to say exactly.


20. did you have a job while in high school? nope. just the occasional baby sitting thing.


21. are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? probably. alyssa, i think you should come with me. :]

veteran's day + a new goal.

happy veteran's day and a big thank you to everyone who has served our country.
i truly appreciate the courage and strength of the men and women who have chosen to serve.
and not just today of course. everyday.

last night, i went on a little search in hopes of finding some old photos of my dad and grandpa in uniform to add to this post. i couldn't find any around here though. so i've decided to make it a goal over the holidays while i am visiting my grandparents to try to acquire some old photos.

i think i've mentioned that my grandpa swears by slide film. so i might have to find some slides and take them to a photo shop and have them printed. i think my sister has been wanting to do this as well, so perhaps we can work on it together.

virginia city.

i seems like i waited so long for the virginia city crop to arrive, and it was over so quickly!

i woke up bright and early and left the house sharply at 8am. i was rather proud of myself for being so punctual. it only took me about thirty minutes to get up to virginia city, but then it took me ten minutes to find the hotel. google maps was way way way wrong, which i sort of knew, so i checked the hotel directions, which were also ridiculously incorrect. i could tell just by looking at the map that you cannot make a right on "e" street from "c" street when "e" street is left of "c" street and parallel not perpendicular. needless to say, i got frustrated trying to find directions the night before and decided that i could probably just find it once i got up there. virginia city is a teeny tiny little town after all. i didn't expect that it would take ten minutes to find, but it did. ah well. i was rather happy to finally come upon the hotel. :]

once i arrived, there were so many ladies all wearing orange waiting in the hotel lobby for 9am to roll around so they could head down to the crop area and check in. i had to sneak by them to avoid the questions about why i was able to go in and they had to wait. i ended up helping people get all checked in, and it was a pretty busy job! fun to get to see and greet everyone though.

after everyone was checked in and angela given a little welcome speech, i made all the nifty fifty girls get together for a photo. that's the nice thing about being among a bunch of scrappers... when you bother them for a photo, they rarely mind. :]
the top row is julie [who won the fiskateer of the year award during the train ride later in the day], angela, me, stephenie, and suzanne. the bottom row is jennifer, jen, and hisaho. all of us were in san antonio together, so it was a nice little reunion. stephenie was a lead fiskateer who now works for fiskars. suzanne also works for fiskars and hosts fiskarstv. the other girls and i are all considered part of the nifty fifty.

one of my favorite parts of the day was going on a little adventure with hisaho and jennifer. angela sent us to decorate the train car for our train ride. we asked her where the train station was located, and she said she was hoping we knew. ack. luckily, hisaho and jennifer remembered driving by it while they were trying to find the hotel (seems i wasn't the only one who struggled), so they had a general idea of where to go. angela told us to just ask for tom when we got there because he would be expecting us. so we drove down the street and found a stationary train car where they sell tickets for the train rides. jennifer went to asked if tom was there, and the guy replied (in a total western character, which we decided means he's probably never left virginia city) that tom wouldn't be there until 11:30 or noon. well. our train was supposed to leave at 11:30. so the man came and looked out down the mountain and said "oh. i see tom's car down there. you can go meet him... just take this road and cross over the railroad tracks, then go trough the s-curve and between the two metal buildings. turn left on the dirt road, and you'll know when you're there." so with these fabulous directions, we left to find tom.
once we started heading down the dirt road [in angela's mini van, which i nearly bottomed out at one point. not sure how it was decided that i would be the driver. ha.] we hit this gate blocking passage over the railroad tracks, which we had already crossed over one time. there was a sign on the gate that said something like "private property. do not enter." but there was a clear path heading around the gate and sharply turning back to pass over the railroad tracks on the part that is safe to drive over. so i decided to just take that path [again, nearly bottoming out in the van] and eventually, we made our way to this place with all kinds of broken trains and rusty old stuff.
by this point, we had to really hurry to decorate the train. we just put up some posters that said something like "welcome aboard the fiskateer express" and we placed tote bags on each seat. the train still had orange lights on the outside and inside leftover from halloween, so that was sort of perfect.

on our way back up the dirt road to get to the place where the train would pick us up, we found this car and thought it was the perfect fiskateer car since the fiskateer colors are orange and green. so we jumped out and grabbed a photo using the self-timer. :]

once we got to the train station thing, mandee was there. i was so happy to see her. it's always fun to have someone you know along at events where you don't know very many people. it wasn't too long before we got on the train.
i don't really know where we went on the train or anything. with 100 ladies talking, i couldn't hear anything that was being said over the speaker system. we did make a stop for the fiskateer of the year presentation, but people took so long to get off the train that by the time i got off, it was already part way done. these western guys did a little skit and shot some cap guns, but i couldn't really hear what they were saying, so i don't know what the whole skit was all about.

when we got back to the hotel, there were bbq pork sandwiches for lunch. a little spicy for me, but the bread was pretty yummy. then it was crop time. i didn't get much done expect for pushing a bunch of paper around. [at work on sunday, i finally glued some photos and paper down. woot!] i was super tired from only getting two hours of sleep. i can say with certainty, that i wish i wouldn't have wasted my time making all of those ATCs. i definitely should have slept instead. ha. i kind of knew what to expect and made them anyway, so i wasn't that disappointed. just a little. the sleep would have been much more useful though because i totally hit a wall from being so tired.

i decided that i needed a good old coca-cola at one point to try and wake up, but the hotel vending machine was sold out. so i convinced hisaho and mandee to go with me to the main street of virginia city where the little shops are located to try and find one. i had success in the fudge shop, where i also picked up a piece of peanut butter fudge that i'm still slowly snacking on. :] then we had dinner from round table pizza. the pizza guy was filming everything for some reason, so mandee and i had fun running away from him. when we noticed him entering one room, we would run into the other and vice versa. it was actually pretty funny.

the weather was pretty rainy all day. eventually the ceiling started leaking. not a good situation for a room full of scrapbookers. i decided to take my stuff out to my car shortly after that and noticed that the rain had turned into snow, so i decided to leave at that point. the drive home was a little sketchy for a bit... there was so much snow that it was almost a whiteout. but the roads were fine. i was glad to get far enough down the mountain to where it was just raining. i don't mind driving in the snow, but with all the twists and turns it adds a bit more anxiety.

as i was driving by the store where i work, i noticed that the crop was still going, so i decided to stop. i let the girls look at my ATCs, which was hilarious. :] it almost made it worth spending all the time to make mine. ha.

one hundred.

actually one hundred four.
[there's no "and" in that number either... i remember learning that in math when i was little, and it stuck with me as a pet peeve.]
i can't believe i got them all done. i was going to stop after the first deck of cards, but some part of me had to get all the way to one hundred. and really, what was i going to do with four odd cards leftover?
i used two entire rolls of adhesive, plus a little extra from a third, half a roll of glue dots, over 20 yards of ribbon, 104 buttons, and i made a small dent in my bottle of tacky glue.
i ran out of the skinny red polka dot ribbon for the last eight or so cards. luckily, i had some skinny black polka dot ribbon that was a suitable substitute. i really didn't want to drive up to my work at midnight. :]

i think it's going to be a while before i'm in the mood for a large swap again.
who am i kidding... i don't think i'll ever be in the mood for a large swap again. ha.

it's 4:30am, and i need to be in virginia city before 9:00am.
that means i have time for a two hour nap. but i'm not tired at all. i'm getting super excited to the point where i can't fall asleep.
typical amy. :]

nothing to say?

i feel like i don't have anything to blog about, but i can't fall asleep and kind of want to blog.

hmm.

i booked my flights for denver and vegas today.
i'm going to fly directly from denver to vegas. i'll save some money that way. :]
originally, i was going to fly home on saturday night so that i could work on sunday before flying to vegas, but you may have noticed by now that i don't like my job. so i'm not stressing about asking for the day off. the store will probably be closed, and i'll feel a little guilty about that for the sake of the customers, but i'm just getting to the point where i am so frustrated with that job that i'm over it.

it's definitely time to fix up my resume and drop by some labs.
grant money is not good right now around campus, so most labs aren't really looking to hire anyone.
here's hoping that i get lucky and something works out. :]

i ended up talking to my sister for an hour tonight.
i needed to ask her about the flights and stuff, then we just ended up talking about all kinds of stuff. it was nice. we rarely talk for that long.
we might try to go to a scrapbooking class during my visit. both of us could use something like that to get us going again. i've looked a bit online and haven't found anything so far, but we'll see. if not, i'm sure we can make do with a good shopping trip.
i'd like to visit the museum of nature and science again, but i might save that for the christmas trip.
oh. and she bought herself the christmas present i was planning to get her. ack! she was the one person whose gift i had in mind. back to the drawing board now.

tomorrow i have a lot of running around to do.
plus i need to do some serious laundry.
i will not buy new clothes instead. i will not buy new clothes instead. i will not buy new clothes instead. maybe if i repeat this to myself during my errands, it will work. ha.
and in the midst of everything, i'm going to meet james for lunch at pick up stix.
i've been in the mood for asian food big time this week... we've already had p.f. changs, palais de jade (a favorite local spot), and genghis grill. and i still want more. :] luckily, james is pretty easy going... he'll eat nearly anything. i'd imagine most boys are like that, right?

i'm feeling ready to crawl in bed and watch some satc now.
goodnight.

sigh.

what an emotional roller coaster today has been.
seriously.
i have a lot to say, but i'm just not going to say it.

done.

well. i'm back home now.
it took about two hours of driving to spend 5 minutes voting. :]
i had one person in front of me in line to check in, then i waited about 30 seconds for a machine open up.
i triple checked my vote for president before submitting my ballot.

i think i'm going to have to get out of the house tonight.
i want to go to free scoop night at ben & jerry's. deepa said she would go with me, but she decided to go to a big obama thing at one of the casinos here instead. i'm hoping to find someone else to go get my scoop with now.
we weren't going to have tuesday night movie night in order to watch election coverage, but i think i'm going to flip out if i stay here watching it. we'll see when james gets out of class.

that's all for now.
are you watching the election coverage or avoiding it tonight?

time to vote.

i'm getting ready to leave for my hour-long drive to go vote.

i'm pretty much certain that i'll be singing this the whole way:


i said we can vote however we liiiike.
yeah. obama on the left. mccain on the right.
we can talk politics all night, and you can vote however you liiiike.
i said you can vote however you liiiike.
yeah. democratic left. republican right.
november fourth you decide, and you can vote however you liiiike.
i said you can vote however you liiiike.

if you actually listen to the song, the kids did their research! it's pretty impressive.

oh and why the heck didn't i change my address!?
ah well.
i guess it will be good to get out of the house for a few hours since i'll probably be glued to the news tonight in anticipation.

first place.

yep. james won the pumpkin carving contest.
which makes it even more sad that jack got smashed.
ah well. it's not like jack would have lasted forever anyway, right?

i just participated in my first ATC swap.
the girls at studio calico organized one, so i decided to give it a try. i made daily cards for my countdown to graduation [which i realize i've never posted. ack.] as a way to make use of my ATC spinner. i really liked making those little cards, so i thought it would be fun to join in on this swap. :]
i only signed up to swap with two people, but i decided to make four cards. afterall, four is my favorite number.
i was going to use the line in my blog header for the ATCs, but i decided to go with this line instead. i don't remember if i've mentioned it, but sharon from my old lab said it to me when i was sad about my dad one day right after he was hospitalized again. it's become something i find myself repeating over and over in my mind whenever i get sad about something. so when i got the news about my grandpa, i decided to use the line on my ATCs since it was on my mind so much. i think i might give one of the cards to sharon. she's one of those kinds of people who appreciate handmade gifts.

i've been hoarding that cloud paper from october afternoon. they gave me a little pack with four pieces of their new paper during CHA, and i've just been taking it out to look at it, then safely putting it back into the plastic sleeve. seriously. so silly. but i think most paper lovers tend to do that occasionally with the perfect paper, right? ha. anyway, i decided it was time to finally use some of it... and it think it was really the perfect paper. as the final touch, i decided to sew on each butterfly with the sewing machine, except that i just turned the knob on the side instead of using the pedal. it was a very slow process, but worked perfectly.

anyway, i'm pretty excited about my little cards. i would like to say that i can't wait to make more, but the problem is that i have to make more. like right away. and not just four this time. we are doing an ATC swap at the regional fiskateer crop coming up this saturday, so i have to make 100 ATCs. i have a plan in mind, but i'm not sure it's going to work on that scale. i think 100 calls for a simple design and the design i have in mind is not very simple. hopefully tonight i'll come up with a suitable revision of my plan.

otherwise, i've been making travel plans like crazy lately...
1. i'm finalizing plans for thanksgiving. getting pretty excited it. i'm still trying to convince james to come along, but i don't think he will. i might give it one last try though. :]
2. right after i get home or directly from denver, we are going to vegas to spend my dad's points at the bellagio. basically, you earn points for the amount of time you spend playing, then you get to purchase items with them in the "gift shop". they have iPods, exercise equipment, jewelry, and all kinds of random stuff. last year, i think my parents got an exercise bike and the year before they got a treadmill. almost makes up for the money lost. ha.
then my sister is coming here for some big work conference. she'll be pretty busy with that, but we get to spend a weekend with her. that doesn't count as travel for me, but i'm excited.
3. after that, mom and i are going to s.f. with her golf ladies group. they have all sorts of things planned for the quick trip. and i'm hoping that maybe i'll get a chance to catch up with andrew at some point.
4. shortly after that, it will be time to head off to denver for christmas. i'm excited that i'll get to be there for both thanksgiving and christmas this year.

well. i guess it's time to figure out something for dinner.
happy monday! :]

someone smashed our pumpkin.

but aside from that, it was one of the best halloween nights ever. :]


i'm so glad that i decided to find a costume yesterday and dress up with james.
i had a lot of fun going around to various parties with him and his friends. i hadn't seen some of the boys in a long time, so it was nice to see them again. [not to mention, drive a few of them home. ha. i really don't mind though. i like knowing that people get home safely. and they probably like knowing that the person driving them home is sober.]

when we arrived home around 5am [yikes] and saw that the pumpkin was smashed in the street, it was definitely a sad moment. i was honestly hoping that the kids who tend to do that sort of thing would take a look at our pumpkin and notice how cool it was and decide to leave it alone. guess not.

james went to carson today with some friends for the nevada day parade.
i had to work, so i missed out. i wish i could have gone though. i missed it last year as well. i'm sure you can guess that i've noted that on my list of reasons to find a different job. ha.

well. i've had three hours of sleep for the past three nights, so i'm seriously looking forward to the extra hour tonight. :]

p.s. can you believe it's november, which is almost december, which means the year is nearly over!?