Totally Cool Stuff Tuesday

I don't exactly like Tuesdays. They just seem to be the day that gets in the way of all the other better ones. It doesn't do much but remind me that the day before was Monday, and the next day will just barely be the middle of the week. At least Wednesday makes you feel like you're at the top of the hill. Tuesday is that 90 degree stretch full of loose rocks right before the top.

Anyway, to combat Tuesdays, I will be posting some totally cool stuff that I know can get me through any Tuesday. Maybe you will find them helpful too, and before you know it, Thursdays, and therefore, Greys will be here!

1. Tia Rosa's Tortilla Bread. I don't have a tia Rosa, but if I did, and she could make this, she would be my favorite relative. We actually found this by accident, and now we search for it every time we go to Fred Meyer, because it is so addicting and soft and basically results in the PERFECT quesadilla.
2. My new NON-APPLE I-ANYTHING MP3 player. No Itunes, no compatibility issues. Just 2 GB of amazing, illegally downloaded music of my choice.
Gosh. That's a big image. Anyway.

3. Wheat Thins/String Cheese combo of champions. Seriously, this is the best quick snack ever. Just enough crunch and cheesy goodness to make Tuesday bearable. Or any day, for that matter. But especially Tuesdays.

+
= love.

Granted, you're not going to eat the whole box (as tempting as that might be) or a whole package of string cheese, but these were the only pictures I could really find. Oh, and if you're a poor college girl like myself, you'll feel (maybe, kinda, probably not) like you're eating fancy hors d'oeuvres.

4. The Oregonian. It's our only real nerdy splurge here, because we feel it is important to get the news outside of the Corvallis bubble. I adore our morning eating cereal while expertly trading different sections. We have it so we don't even have to look up from our cups of coffee.
5. Arbor Mist. Har har, I know. But frankly, I'm on a college budget and it tastes like a Capri Sun. After a long Tuesday, it hits the spot perfectly. Oh, and to really feel fancy, you could combine a glass of the Mist with the aforementioned Wheat Thins and String Cheese. Think of what a college sophisticate you'd be then! And, while I may look all of 14 in my profile picture, I am 21 and can therefore indulge in the adult version of Capri Sun. Also, I am only posting a picture of three bottles here because those are the three flavors, not to say that I drink three every Tuesday and am headed for dialysis before graduating.

Well, there you have it. This week's totally cool stuff that got me through Tuesday (I just realized it's Wednesday). Tune in next week for a new list!

So, this may sound weird. Actually, I know it will. But, I feel like I should have written about this particular inspiration of mine for a while, especially since I see it every time I sit at my computer which, I'll admit, is a more than a few times a day.

Ahem.

Okay, so there are people who gain strength from historical figures, or authors, or religious characters or someone. What do I get inspired by? A leaf.

Seriously. Now stop laughing and let me explain.

When winter began to descend upon little sleepy Corvallis, the leaves naturally started to fall off the trees that line the sidewalk outside of our apartment. All of them did, ending up on the sidewalk or street where they turned into rainy mush and were either flushed down the gutter or picked up by the street cleaner.

All of them, except one. This one leaf curled itself around a tiny thin branch and has weathered out countless rain storms, hailstorms, snowstorms, winds, and combinations of all those. There would be days where I have come home from a particularly heinous day and I sit at my computer all flustered, only to look outside and see this leaf steadfastly clinging to its branch while big heavy raindrops pelted down on it.

I can't believe I'm actually saying this. But it's true. I'm inspired by a dead leaf. I'm inspired every time I look out of my window and see this little leaf holding on quietly and calmly. I feel like I too, can withstand anything that comes my way.

wanderlust or something.

So, I've been wondering lately: why have I done things the way I have?

There's no real exciting answer, because the only one I've come up with is, "because that's what everyone expects you to do, and is sensible."

Will I tell my grandkids that the reason I didn't just pack up my stuff and head off into the world with little more than a sense of adventure was because it didn't seem sensible?

That would quite possibly make me the lamest grandma ever.

I have these two friends. Both have decided to sidetrack the sensible and head off on very cool trips that neither will easily forget. One is traveling the country by train and stopping at just about every big city, just to experience it. The other packed his few belongings onto a motorcycle, and took off down the west coast and into Mexico. His can't get lost or be late, because he has no schedule or destination. He just knows that at some point, he'd like to get to Costa Rica.

When I first heard about these adventures, I was apprehensive. How could they leave the normal scheme of things? They had school, right? And jobs to find?

And lately I find myself thinking that even though I have done the four straight years of college, and have had the tedious summer jobs, I don't have any more of a guarantee that my life will end up more successful or happy.

If I don't have that, then why? Because it's what I'm supposed to do? Man, if I had used that logic 90 years ago, I would be married with 4 kids by now, trying to breathe in a corset. Luckily, a few girls back then had the guts to take the leap and experience something else.

With no guarantees, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, right? So what if miss out on one job opportunity by using that time to run through thousands of pigeons in some piazza in Italy? If that means I get to breathe in the dusty, hot air of the Roman Colosseum? If I get to look up through the criss-crossed metal of the Eiffel Tower? Or get to hear my name echoed through the walls of the Grand Canyon?

To me, every place is one in the same. It's all Out There, and I'd like to see it all. The monotony of this life (although happy and safe) can become stifling, and although I know I'd come back to it eventually, it'd be nice to smile to myself and know that at one time, it had been broken.

well.

As I was waking up on Monday, and eating my toast, Erik Ainge was becoming a multi-millionaire.

I find this horrifically unfair. In the grand scheme of things, I don't find it justifiable to get a seven figure salary for throwing a ball. Personally, I think one's salary should reflect the impact it has on our world.

football player = amusement = $500 dollars. Right?

teacher = educating future leaders, broadening minds, expanding horizons, etc. = 1,000,000

And I'm not being biased because I: a) have teacher parents or b) am dating an education major.

I just think that makes more sense.

Anyway, I digress. Instead of getting all bitter, I'm going to take joy in my simple pleasures. Here are some things that have recently made me very content:
I bought some crocs. I gave into the ultimate uber Oregon trend, and I couldn't be happier.
This isn't sheep poop. I am done with that. These, are chocolate covered peanuts and they are my new favorite sin. I would pick a handful of these over Erik Ainge any day.

Speaking of sheep poop, I finally got my paycheck today, and am now 178 dollars richer. That also makes me happy. No matter that Erik is making that while taking a wee; I refuse to let that get me down.

Ah, music. Lately, I've been listening to a lot of new stuff, and my two favorites are:

Mushaboom - Fiest. Just try having a bad day after listening to this. Seriously.
Love Song - Sara Bareilles. Quite possibly the most realistic love song I've heard in a while, which is ironic, because it's about how if this dude loves her enough, he doesn't need a freakin' love song to begin with.

Along with music, comes YouTube. I have decided to not completely kill my computer by cramming it with music, and the loss of my own music library has been assuaged greatly by this little video website.
And last, but certainly not least, there's Evan. No one has better withstood my terrible bouts of stress and insanity (and repeated playings of Mushaboom).Erik may have a lot of money now, but he will probably spend it on super sweat-proof socks and jockstraps, while I get to spend my days walking in amazing shoes, eating chocolate covered peanuts while listening to music, and getting truly fantastic hugs from a boy named Evan. So take that, Mr. Ainge.

cinco!

5 images that I love that aren't from family photo albums and such:

I love this because there is such feeling behind it. It was such a monumental time in history, and this guy was really celebrating. The fun part is that no one knows who these two people are. After this awesome moment, they both went on their separate ways and the photographer never got a chance to ask.

This captured me the first time I saw it and still am captivated by this photo every time I see it. It's a simple portrait, but it just says so much.
I love Diego Rivera paintings, because they bring out the beauty of Latin American culture. The vibrant colors, the people, the themes in his paintings are all very true and presented beautifully.
Any images from Santorini, Greece absolutely make me get over my fear of flying and make me wish I could hop on a plane and go live there forever.

Okay, so this isn't the exact image, but I do really admire wildlife photographers. They wait for hours to catch a single moment in order to remind us that there are other amazing creatures sharing this planet with us. If I had the money and could go back in time four years, I'd major in Photography and do this. Yep.

5 years ago I was: A junior in high school? My senior friends were all graduating and I was so horribly jealous of them. It also was probably my best high school year, minus the car accident, but that taught me a lot too.

5 months ago: I was in California celebrating Christmas Eve with various family members. Of course, this was the first year that it EVER snowed on Christmas Day, and I was wearing a t-shirt. Pffft.

5 minutes ago: I was picking out music from YouTube, because it was my turn. I couldn't choose between Shakira, Bach, or the TeddyBears. It's a tough choice.

5 things on my "to-do" list:

1. pick up my paycheck, because I sure as heck did not freeze my a$ off for nothing.
2. turn in my resume and cover letter to a possible job
3. cross my fingers until I hear back about the job
4. vacuum. We have dust cougars, that have devoured the dust bunnies.
5. look up events for Mom's Weekend.

5 recent pieces of mail:

1. Women's Health
2. Smithsonian Magazine
3. National Geographic...we subscribe to a lot of things, don't we?
4. Bed,Bath, and Beyond catalog, which tempted me to buy things I don't need
5. Corvallis Newsletter

5 things I would do if I became a billionaire:

1. pay off school
2. buy my parents a house
3. buy us a house
4. get a puppy...shoot, puppies!
5. invest

5 of my bad habits:

1. biting my nails
2. not biting my tongue when I should
3. addiction to refined starches
4. being disorganized
5. I don't often call people back

5 good memories:

1. any summer day in my old house
2. Ev and I's first kiss
3. First time we said, "I love you."
4. The moment I knew my dad would pull through
5. going on junk food binges with my mom

5 places I've lived:

1. Mexicali, Mexico
2. Lake Oswego, Oregon
3. Aloha, Oregon
4. Hillsboro, Oregon
5. North Plains, Oregon

5 songs I love:

1. Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
2. Yesterday - The Beatles
3. These are the Days - Van Morrison
4. The Seasons - Tchaikovsky
5. Lullaby - Josh Groban

5 jobs I've had:

1. Conservation Intern at the Oregon Zoo
2. General floor drone at Old Navy
3. Sheep wrangler
4. college food maker/milkshake extraordinaire
5. camp counseler for Camp Adams/raging hormone child wrangler

5 books I love:

1. The Time Traveler's Wife
2. The Namesake
3. The Giver
4. Life of Pi
5. Marley and Me

5 things that are out of place around my house:

really? just five?

1. the shoes that should be lined up inside my closet but are actually...well, they're everywhere
2. my backpack that is next to my bed
3. my spanish notes that currently reside in the kitchen
4. my socks that, like my shoes, are everywhere. I personally think they are trying to escape.
5. The 5 tons of newspaper that are in our "mystery corner" or our apartment. We really have nothing to do with this space, so naturally, we fill it with recyclables.

5 things I love to eat:

1. tortilla chips
2. french bread
3. really cold baby carrots
4. almonds
5. chocolate. duh.

5 people (non-blood related) who have had a positive impact in my life:

1. Evan - he is my hero.
2. Mr. Beals - amazing teacher that I want to clone so that my kids can learn from him
3. Lani Roberts - OSU professor who helped make me proud to say I'm me.
4. David Shepherdson - Oregon Zoo mentor. I want his job.
5. Loren Chavarria - OSU professor who is the embodiment of a strong, successful hispanic woman

I tag: Carl, Evan, Asia, and anyone else that feels like it. :)

ding dong, the hair is gone!

So, I was sick of having long hair. It was time for a haircut. I had been growing it since probably Christmas break and basically, it was working really well to blend me right in with the sheep I was working with.

Now that that is over, and I will be around human beings more, I decided to check out a new hairdresser. She had been recommended by a friend that has curly hair as well, which is so incredibly important. 99% of the time, I'll walk into a haircut appointment, and the moment I take my hair out of the ponytail, the hairdresser will gasp audibly, then say something along the lines of, "Oh. You have a lot of hair..." the she'll dare to reach and touch it, as if maybe I am playing a big joke and glued on extra curly, coarse hair to the curly, coarse hair I already have. When she realizes that it's not a joke, they usually repeat, "well...you have a lot of hair."

As if I didn't know that. As if I don't own a mirror and see that my hair has the consistency to that of a Shetland pony mated with a lion.

So I was ecstatic to hear this hairdresser exclaim, "you have a ton of hair...but I can't wait to play with it!!"

Sweet! She took the time to ask me what I wanted, and she gave me her opinion, which I took as valid, because she has curly hair as well. And, for the first time, I didn't have to ask her to thin it, as she thought of it all on her own! She gets curly hair!! I was amazed.

So, after about an hour and a half, and what she called, "close to heart surgery" difficulty, I ended up with:She even took the time to straighten it, which I would liken to building the pyramids or climbing Mt. Everest with one hand, blindfolded.

This is what it looks like now, in it's natural, curly state:



The smile says it all. I have finally found an awesome hairdresser, and I vow right now that I'll follow her wherever she may go. Even the Arctic.

a farmer's life for me?

I remember stumbling home after my last day of work at the sheep center on Saturday afternoon, utterly exhausted, soaked with mud, slush, and an assortment of sheep bodily fluids. I had herded, chased, wrestled, fed, and been abused by at least 400 ewes and their lambs for the last 23 hours. When I wasn't at the barn, I was sleeping. I got a minor case of frostbite on at least 6 fingers from sorting sheep for 2 hours straight in a hailstorm.

I walked in my front door, and kicked off my very caked with who knows what boots. Then, as I walked toward the shower, I literally peeled off my jeans, long johns, fleece, sweatshirt, and two shirts, finishing off with the three pairs of socks that had barely kept my toes from freezing off.

As I stood in the almost unbearably hot water, trying to convince the blood in my body that yes, my fingers were worth saving, I realized something:

I would miss being out there.

And, I do. As far as grueling jobs go, this is the most demanding one I've ever had. But there was something about being surrounded by such a beautiful landscape that seemed to put my whole self at ease. I remember one morning especially well: I had been sent out to fetch about 240 sheep from a steep, one-acre long hill. I trudged up there, my boots rapidly getting bogged down by the thick mud, and as I rounded around the flock, I paused to look around. It was absolutely beautiful. I was surrounded by soft rolling hills, dotted with these ancient looking trees, and farther, were purplish mountains that were capped with pines and snow. As I started to move the sheep down the hill, it started snowing lightly, and even though I ended up soaked from the tip of my nose down, I don't think I will ever forget how positively silent it was, save for my breaths, and the light footfall of the sheep. I felt so at peace out there. I felt at peace even in the barn, which was drafty and 37 degrees on a good day. After feeding all the sheep, I would sit back and just take it all in. The sweet smell of alfafa, the sounds of lambs playing, the birds that nested in the rafters. It was a very satisfying feeling and I couldn't help thinking that if I could, I'd do this for the rest of my life.

Maybe, a while from now, I'll get tired of the rushed, structured urban life that we're all expected to live, and go find that peace again.