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. :]