ahhh...i wasn't going to post more pictures of my puppy but look how cute he is.. : ) i'm truly glad i got him...he makes me happy : )

its okay ...

i'm alive...i'm sure all of you where in a panic, being as i haven't written anything all week really. no need to worry though, all is okay. although my car did get broken into again...blah...and i've worked 3 days these week (and i'm supposed to be on vacation : ), and i have no idea how to train a puppy... but all is well...and i went shopping tonight and got the best ugly sweater in the world...yes, in the world, it is horrible and i'm very excited to wear it tomorrow. : ) i've also got a very ugly skirt to go with it...fun, fun, fun...

as i've said probably several times...i love change...i've changed my apartment around...and i love the change of years...i love new years resolutions...they are a challenge and i love challenges...last year, my new years resolutions went pretty well...of course they started out stronger then they ended but i accomplished a lot of them...i've lost weight...i've only had 4 pops all year...no meat...i've read at least 12 books, although it wasn't one a month...i'm feeling more confident then i ever have...so now for this years resolutions...of which i'm not going to tell you all of : )

1. there is still more weight to be lost : )...this i'm sure will always be the case
2. dance more
3. say "no" more
4. exercise 20 minutes 6 days a week...
5. pay off lots of bills

and there are a couple more that i will be working on that don't really need to be public knowledge : ) and i will be continuing my no pop/no meat : )

i'm working on a best and worst of 2005 post...stay tuned...

I woke up this morning and look who was sitting in my living room...

Prince charming : )
(oh funny : )

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

i hope everyone has a good one : )

this is my prince charming...which theresa got me for christmas (she always knows what i want : )...i've kissed him and put him in a cup of water...now all i have to do is wait 72 hours...maybe i should put the cup in a chair so he doesn't break the desk...i'll let you know how this turns out...

our fathers wedding was yesterday and thank goodness its over...it went well but the stress and stuff leading to it was not fun...but now he is married and we can all get on with our lifes...theresa and i played the wedding and i'm really glad theresa was there...it was nice to have someone who wasn't a family member to talk to
: )

We Won!!!

the girls team won our soccer game tonight...we had no subs and we were hurting but we all played really hard...beth was playing defense by herself practically...but she is awesome so it worked out for us...now i'm tired and am going to bed...i have some videos of my kids dancing that i took on my phone today and i'm going to try to see if there is any way to post them...if there is i will find it and post them here...if you know who i can do this, please help!!! then i can take videos of all the cute things riley does and post them here too for all to see...i promise not all my blogs will be about my puppy...my dads getting married on thursday...i'll probably switch to that soon : ) today is over and tomorrow about 8:00 i am a free women...so now i sleep...goodnight...

ah...hes still really cute : ) his wrapping skills need some work though...

i really have nothing to say so i'm posting more pictures of my puppie...everyone should check out baxter...he's really cute too...

last nights show was awesome...i'm excited for the next one...we had two singer/guitar players play with us and it really was fun...i think we are going to try and do different things like that a lot...thanks to whit, ray, ashley and lance for coming out and supporting your local stringents
: )

tomorrow is the official last day of school for the semester...i'm really ready for wednesday night about 8...my new roommate will be leaving for two weeks and i can go back to normal for awhile...hooray...and she keeps letting the dog shit on the floor...its like he knows only to do it when i'm not home ... : ) smart dog... : )

this is riley

he is the new addition to my home : )

he is a 10 week old mini schnauzer

isn't he cute : )

the concert tonight went as well as an elementary strings concert can go...i'm just really glad that it is over...i'm not exactly sure what i'm going to do for the next few days but i will come up with something : )

had stringent rehearsal tonight for our sunday show...it went really well...i think that the show will be good..we are playing blowers daughter by damien rice and it has a really cool cello part...this is exciting because it seems most of our other music doesn't give cello a lot of melody...hopefully i'll be able to hit F#...then life will be golden...

i guess its about time to start christmas shopping...i still have a few days after school gets out, maybe i'll start then : )

4 days..

until Christmas break...YEA!!! tonight is the big elementary school concert : ) okay, my part is only going to last about 10 minutes and thats only because i've decided to "play" (which is really just making noise) the night before Christmas...someone reads it and we then in turn make noise : ) oh to be a high school teacher again...i have been displaced from my school "classroom" (which is the stage in the cafeteria)...i'm excited for the normality that the beginning of a new semester brings : )

i've really got nothing...i've been reading a tree grows in brooklyn which is unexpectedly addicting...its really good...i'm also listening to the soon to come out belle and sebastian and i really dig it...i'm liking it better than their other two so far...

i think i may have to give up bloglines...i just check all my friends blogs and there were post i've never read...this can't go on any longer : )

Cookie fun : )

we made cookies last night...amanda made sugar cookies and i made gingerbread and they turned out awesome...joey then created santos, the christmas terminator : )
we also watched elf which was funnnny : )

Which Disney Princess Are You? Snow White You're the most beautiful in all the land but you;re stuck living in some strange company! Snow White was the original Disney's princess and was first seen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

I'm awake again and its 4:50 am...this is getting to the point of sucking...but sometimes i do this. in the last few years there have been many weeks where i just don't sleep (or sleep very little : )...pretty much sucks.

Watch Videos:

AFTERNOON DELIGHT (Will Ferrell) Video Codes by VideoCodeZone.Com

in surfing the web, i have found the above video...and i'm sure all of you have seen it but its really freakin' funny.... so i'm posting it here for everyones great pleasure...

so what exactly do people do when they are awake this early...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!

we tied our soccer game last night...it was a good game, and i'm hurting : ) way to go krakens...

also went and saw the chronicles of narnia this weekend...i really liked it...there where a couple of times we had to laugh at peters acting but the white witch and lucy were awesome...

i've also been watching the lost dvds that my brother let me borrow...it is a really good show...

4 am

its now 4 am and i'm totally awake...i've been awake for about 1.5 hours and i finally have given up on going back to sleep so here i am...

theres really nothing new to write here...against my better judgment i'm going to spend the rest of my year teaching : ) i've finally been paid, which was a battle in itself and a very long story that i'm not going to re-tell...but i'm planning on getting through the year...wish me luck : ) and who knows what next year brings...only 8 school days left until christmas break...and i also get a lovely break from my roommate...i'm just not sure what i'm going to do with myself... : )

i have finally given the dog a bath, which means she is able to spend time inside...but i must get her a new collar before i go crazy...the metal keeps hitting the plastic everytime she moves and creates an extremely annoying noise...

i've been playing a lot of pogo these days...so i guess i will spend some time doing that and who knows maybe i'll get to sleep a few more hours : )

If i never hear jingle bells again...it will be way to soon...and yet i know i have to get up in the morning and listen to it about 4 times : ) oh, so much fun...

i missed...

this sermon...and its really good...

jon

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

i wish it would snow...and we would get out of school...i really hate wednesdays and i don't want to go...i know i'm horrible....

i'm really in the christmas spirit...i've haven't been this much in the spirit in years...i was walking the dog tonight and was walking by decorated houses and everything just looked so pretty...last year i felt like no one put much effort into decorating and i was really disappointed...this year it seems like everyone is decorating and it looks awesome in my neighborhood...i need to go christmas light looking : ) and ice skating downtown...anyone else want to go...

EVEN MORE PICTURES!!!

Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday dear mike...
Happy birthday to you...

this video makes me want to learn to dance (really i've always wanted to take dance class)

christopher walken

27

i like birthdays and new years...i feel that these are times in my life that i can make changes...i do realize you can make changes at other times but these times just get me motivate to think about what i would like to change and what i want to do with myself for the next year...i'm not going to lie...27 was not a good year for me...i just knew going into it that this was going to be one of the best years ever...well, so much for that theory, but in thinking about this recently, i've decided that you just have to make things good...you just can't sit around and wait for them to happen...and i think that is what i did a lot this year...i just waited to see if life was going to be good instead of going out and just living life to the fullest...i may not like where i am right now, but i can make it better...i think i've also realized i have time...things don't have to happen tomorrow, just because i'm not getting exactly what i want, and i sometimes don't know if i ever will, doesn't mean that they aren't going to happen...i just have to wait, and continue to live and not let it bother me (which is very hard to do, especially when everyone around you seems to be getting what you want)...but i think in my 28th year of life i'm just going to let it roll...do things that make me a better person...spend time with my friends and siblings...help people ...and continue in my vegetarian ways : )

some good things have happened this year...
i've made some great new friends who i love dearly, and reunited with some old friends : )
i have gotten closer to many people that i never knew i would
i learned that great friendships can last through hard times
i've seen great music and have acquired new great music
i have seen the people closest to me be the happiest i've ever seen them
my church
i've felt several great sense of accomplishment

okay, i'm done...now for some pictures : )

this is fun

here is a picture...

there are 75 bands in this picture...lets name them all : )

i'll get us started...

radiohead
blur
black crowes
postal service
blind melon
smashing pumpkins
scissor sisters
guns and roses
alice in chains
50 cent
eels
rolling stones
the cars
eagles
white snake
spoon
korn
sex pistols
garbage

okay theres 19...only 54 more to go : )

**added 12-02**
pixies
queen (?)
the dead kennedy's
gorillaz

**added 12-02** from mike : )
Beach Boys
U2
Prince
B-52s
Talking Heads
Madonna
Black Flag
The Police
Cowboy Junkies
Ratt
The Doors
The Vines
Phish
Seal
Kiss
Jewel
Lemonheads
Cornershop
Matchbox 20
Dinosaur Jr.

theres 43....

**added 12-5-05**
Anonymous
green day
led zeppelin
tatu
white zombie
iron maiden
beegees
red hot chilli peppers
twisted sister
stixs
White Zombie
Blood Brothers?
Greenday
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Led Zepplin
Men at Work
Iron Maiden
Nine Inch Nails
Deep Purple
Cyprus Hill
Eminem
Crowded House
White Stripes
Jane's Addiction
Puddle of Mudd

Joe
great white

We have 68 total...

i've been working on a project that i'm truly excited about...its tons of fun...i love projects, especially ones that make me happy...

i did put up my christmas tree the other day...its really cute and i even broke out the christmas music to get the spirit going (really it was for patria, i hate christmas music : )

i was reading a blog today and it linked this site pandora, and i love it...you can type in your favorite band and it will play music that is like them, only a few of the bands i've heard i actually know...a lot of them i'm going to check into...i'm having fun with it...

the other day i saw a kid that had a shirt on that said "i'm a keeper"...my first thought was *thats a cool harry potter shirt*...it hit me after that thought, that the shirt had nothing to do with harry potter... : ) i'm a dork : )

have you figured it out yet?

its been a while since i posted...but here i am...i'm finally feeling better after about 3 weeks of this, whatever it is...i still can't really hear but as a music teacher, i don't need to hear.... : ) actually it probably works out better like this...i'm so not really wanting to go to work, but we've got 3 weeks and 1 day until Christmas break...YES!!!...i'm so ready, even though we just got back from a break (holiday)...it looks like my siblings and i may be going to london this summer...i really, really hope so, i've wanted to go to london for a long, long time....maybe this is why i haven't written anything in a couple of days....i have nothing to say : ) but i thought i would write...i'll leave you with an e-mail a friend of mine sent me...

The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent
strain of Sexually Transmitted Disease.

This disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior. The
disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim (pronounced "gonna re-elect him").

Many victims have contracted it after having been screwed for the past 4
years, in spite of having taken measures to protect themselves from this
specially troublesome disease.

Cognitive sequelae of individuals infected with Gonorrhea Lectim include,
but are not limited to:

anti-social personality disorder traits; delusions of grandeur with a
distinct messianic flavor; chronic mangling of the English language; extreme
cognitive dissonance; inability to incorporate new information; pronounced
xenophobia; inability to accept responsibility for actions; exceptional
cowardice masked by acts of misplaced bravado; uncontrolled facial smirking;
ignorance of geography and history; tendencies, toward creating evangelical
theocracies; and a strong propensity for categorical, all-or-nothing behavior.

The disease is sweeping Washington, trailer parks, and the red states.
Naturalists and epidemiologists are amazed and baffled that this malignant
disease originated only a few years ago from a Bush in Texas.

high fidelity

i went and did a little record shopping yesterday...i walked into rainbow records and i half expected jack black and john cusack to be around...it was a neat little shop, but it didn't really have a wide selection...so then i went north a while to size records...holy shit, they have tons and tons...i ended up buy the sufjan stevens illinois lp (birthday present : )...it is very awesome...pitchfork had said that they had made changes to the cover...(if you didn't know the cds and lps had superman on the front and they had to take them off)...so they put a sticker of three balloons over the superman...i really dig their changes : )

then i just happened to be near a thrift store today and went in to see if they had any good lps and i walked out with st. pepper and abbey road for $4....i felt good as i walked out...and they are in really good shape...so over all a really good record buying weekend...

favorite beatles album
	St. Pepper
	The White Album
	Revolver
	Yellow Sub
	Abbey Road
	One : )
	The Beatles
	Rubber Soul
	Let it be
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Thanksgiving

Well, today went well...it was a little odd....we had several non-family members at thanksgiving...thats a new thing for us...it was nice...in my family thanksgiving is movie time...we went and saw pride and prejudice, it was really good...then we went and saw harry potter, again...the only bad thing was i kept getting hell about almost being 30... :)

i'm thankful for several things in my life...
just being me (and being okay with that)
my friends
my family
my talent
and harry potter : )

we also saw rent last night...it was really, really good...

because i have been given hell about my last poll i will post this new and improved poll that mike requested : )

New and improved which is worse? (thanks mike)

Fine Young Cannibals Nickelback Tiny Tim Kid Rock C&C Music Factory Richard Marx Spyro Gyra Toby Keith Chico Debarge

 

Free polls from Pollhost.com

which is worse?

Gensis The Pretenders Meat Loaf Fleetwood Mac Earth Wind and Fire The Lemonheads Hanson Wham N Sync

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Finally...

i made it to the doctor...i now have medicine so my cough will get better and it will stop bugging christina and ryan...
i also got my brakes fixed for my birthday : )...every girls dream, but at least i won't die : )

check out ryans new blog...you can also click the picture on the right

funny story

(if i can't relate it : )

tonight i was talking to a friend and was telling him that it really scares me everytime i walk into my house and see that pat is making something...one time i come home from school and she yells from the kitchen, jenn i need help....she was trying to make a fried egg...but she had smashed the yoke and there was yoke everywhere...not such a good fried egg... : )

not 30 seconds after telling my friend this, i walk into my house and in the kitchen my microwave is sparking...the microwave goes off and she comes in and takes out whatever she was making and in the bowl she has just microwaved a spoon and a fork (along with food : )...i then very calmly tell her she can't put metal in the microwave or it will ruin it the microwave...her response was "oh really"...(note, i have told her before that metal in the microwave not good : )....

got to love it...

just things

Saturday night was great fun...check these pictures out from the post wedding bachorlette party : )


cake fun : )

she doesn't like blow jobs : )

moulin rouge has never sounded better : )

men good : )

official wedding picture : )

theres one last surprise : )

good times, good times!!!

i'm standing up for me, for the first time, maybe ever....its hard for me to stand up for myself..which i'm sure not a lot of people understand, but i have a few theories behind this that i won't go into now...but just note i have taken a step in the right direction : )

i've decided that my heart is healed enough to go back and read the 6th harry potter book again...upon finishing it a few months ago i have decided it was one that i would not read again..but i think i have come to grips with the ending and am ready to catch more clues : )

i don't understand why the holidays bring about so much stress...shouldn't they be filled with joy and happiness and love...why is it that we make them so complicated...i don't think this is just my family but maybe it is : )

something i was thinking about today about the church i grew up in...i recall several sermons that basically said that no amount of good works can get you into heaven...at the naive point in my life i just took it for truth and went on...but now that i think about it, the message that comes off is that you don't need to help people...and that you just need to look out for yourself...wow, thats totally against everything i believe now...something that was said tonight that i really liked "you've got to look out for your own righteousness and the well being of others"

i think i've decided...

that the bright eyes album "i'm wide awake, its morning" is at least in my top 20 cds...i was just listening to it and i really like it, i forget sometimes how much i like it...

harry potter rocks!!!! there is a lot i could write about this movie right now and i'm not going to so that it will give everyone plenty of time to see it...then i will write away and tell you what i really liked and what i didn't like so much....but overall i think they did an awesome job of taking a very large book and making it into a movie that everyone will enjoy : ) so go see it...
(sorry about the coughing : ) and i didn't even cry : )

the stringents play tonight with kc clifford...we have added songs and taken out songs...we have a jeff buckley song that we are playing tonight...we are going to have mics so people can hear us...overall i think it will be a way better show then last week...oh, i need to find my kc clifford music : )

great suggestions for songs...i'm excited to get started arranging them...thanks for everyones help and if you come up with any others let me know...

not at work : )

If you were going to arrange an elliott smith song for string quartet what would it be?

What about a flaming lips song? what about "do you realize" (it could take me a while : )?

What about REM?

I finished...

the 4th harry potter book again : ) i think i caught a lot more this time then i have the other times i've read it...its still one of my favorite and i've linked some things in it to the 6th book...i like that jk rowlings does that in her books...i'm truly excited about seeing the movie tomorrow night...i'm going to cry and i will just let everyone know that now : )

it has been an extremely long day...i've got to find a lawyer..i think i have a friend that will work...this seems like such an adult thing to do...blah...

i'm ready to have a clean house again...everytime i clean...its a mess within 30 minutes...i think if i lived in a bigger place it wouldn't bother me as much...

one good thing about coughing all the time is that it really works your abs : )