Random Updates...

Ok here is a new post...

2012-01-27T15:02:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the long time between posts. So to recap the last couple months, wedding went well, so did the honeymoon in puerto vallarta mexico. Married life is going fine, my canned response to that question is "Pretty much the same as engaged life, but with more appliances." Not sure if that is the totally right response, but it is the realistic one. One day I will get some pics up from the honeymoon, but frankly we didn't do that much besides move between the beach, the hotel pool, and the spa.

Signed up for the Blarney Stone 5k for St. Patty's day to start getting ready for the Warrior Dash. I haven't really started training yet, but I will have to step up my efforts soon.

Almost done with the planning...

2011-10-06T09:55:00.000-05:00

The wedding ring have arrived (and in John's case shipped back out again to get the exact size he had originally been sized for but was then worried it would be too small), the favors have arrived (tea forte for all!) and an extra 20 have been ordered even though I do already have 128, it was looking like that might be pretty close. I am trying not to worry about the small stuff. Because really, who is going to notice that my place cards are white instead of being ivory? Let me tell you it is a bitch to find print at home place cards in any color but white, so you guys are just going to have to deal. That is if you even notice.

Jeaniy had a pretty cool new hair curling technique that she posted about. What you don't have to put any effort forward and you get pretty sweet curly hair?!? Count me in. So I tried it last night, since I also have those elasticy headbands laying around.. I tried for a little bit larger chunks of hair all over because I wanted more of a wavy look, then tight retro curls.

For the most part I think it worked. The curls in the back aren't the best because I kind of half assed it by the time I got back there. I did the hairband thing at night before bed, but after a bath. So I would say my hair had some wetish parts, but on the whole it was dry. I put in a bit of hair spray before wrapping the hair up. It was pretty easy to sleep on, but I am a bit of a restless sleeper so by the time I woke up in the morning, the hairband was hanging on for dear life.

Overall I would probably try it again, I would probably try harder to make sure the back pieces got fully wrapped around and that might also help with it falling out so easily after sleeping on it. Please ignore the giant Nebraska flag, I am in the office which is John's decoration terriority.

Also whipped up a batch of apple pie shots last night in preparation for some pumpkin carving (and I guess watching a football game) on Saturday. This time I did 1 gallon apple cider, 8 cinnamon sticks, a pinch of cardamen, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar and then a whole bottle of everclear. I was just going to pour in 3/4 the bottle, but John was handling that process and just went full tilt all in. Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about it being weak this year.

Wedding Update...

2011-08-05T12:52:00.003-05:00

I think we are on schedule for what needs to be done so far. This last weekend I headed back to my hometown with John, which probably wasn't the best idea since both the Bix and RAGBRAI were happening there and there was an extra 100,000 people in town. But we needed to get stuff done, so there we were driving through the quad cities like crazy and figuring out the answer to the question "How much road construction can you you encounter on a road trip?", and the answer is a literal fuck ton. We were aided in our trips between Bettendorf, IA and Moline, IL by the closing of the major bridge that crosses between the two, so what would normally be an hour trip was changed into a 4 hour experience.

We have the officant, flowers, cake, tuxes and decorations worked out now. The officant we found was this nice VA chaplin, and is perfectly happy marrying us whereever we want and with whatever kinda of ceremony we want to do. Which was definitly not the response I got from Mom and Dad's minister at thier church. Another reason John and I really didn't want a relgious officant, but none of the judges that we called worked out. The one problem with this officant is he already has a rehersal wedding at the same time we would like ours, but is open for our wedding time. So what we are going to do is meet him on Thursday, and run through the ceremony with him then, and then John and I (and maybe the best man Chad) will run the actual rehershal on Friday.

Flowers you guys probably don't care too much about, but the cake, let's talk about that one. We are doing three layers, one white, one red velvet and one strawberry. I am so excited because the bakery we are using has awesome tasting cake, so I better get a piece at my wedding! The frosting will be buttercream and we are just doing some swirl design that kinda looks like vines. It is all going to be ivory colored with ribbon at the bottem of each layer. Currently trying to decide to pick up purple or ivory ribbon. Just looked on Ebay and it looks like I can find a lapis ribbon pretty easy.

Well that seems like enough of an update for now. Still got to figure out the rehershal dinner location, and a good salon for the hair, but otherwise everything is pretty much decided.

Looks like it is work rant time...

2011-06-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

My biggest pet peeve about my employer? They won't buy me a foot stool for my cube. I am short so my legs do not touch the ground when my chair is the perfect hight for my desk. So instead of letting me purchase a 12 dollar foot stool they said to just use the blocks of paper. I probably go through one of these reams ever 3 or 4 months because they weren't ment for durability. Just give me a foot stool and not worry too much about if it is a person item, becuase damn it I am using at work for work while working, it is a work purchase!

Also 9 dollars a year budget for a work calender to too little. You can only get the really cheapy calenders for that, come on there has totally been inflation since 1995 and 9 bucks just does not cut it.

And now it is Winter again...

2011-03-24T11:31:00.001-05:00

Those few days of actual Spring weather in Omaha spoiled me. I was really starting to think we were out of the cold, but now Mother Nature had other ideas. It's 42 degrees out right now, with chances of snow tomorrow and Saturday. Ugh, that is not how I wanted the weekend weather to go. Tomorrow we are planning on hitting the Ft. Calhoun fish fry, which has been a favorite now for 2 years. This friday will be the third friday in a row that I am eating fish. No KP I am not turning cathloic, but I could see them using this as thier catholic gateway drug.

Avenue Q was awesome. I have listened to the sound track for years, so it was wierd to be seeing the musical for the first time, but know ALL of the words to the songs. One thing you don't learn about the musical just from the songs are the characters of the Bad Idea Bears (a take on Care Bears). I thought they were hilarous, and really added a lot to the show, plus I loved the actors who played the bears. The entire case was awesome, even though for our show the understudy was playing Princeton. He did a great job, but it kind of makes you wonder if the understudy is that awesome, what does the princple sound like?

Probably going to go with my mom to Wicked in June. I have yet to see this one, and I was sad when I didn't suck it up and just buy the tickets last time they were in town. It just seems sooo pricy to put 84 bucks down for one ticket.

Work has been fine, a little bit frantic because we were trying to get a software release done as well as doing a new security assessment. Still working on the assesment, but the dates have been changed so I do have more time then was originally planned for.

Finally getting my master's diploma today, after finishing my last class I was just annoyed that the school then charges a $100 diploma fee, so I held off on ordering it for awhile. I finally sucked it up a couple weeks ago, and ordered it. It better have gold leaf on it, and be printed on some uber awesome paper becuase $100 should get you a freaking awesome sheet of paper.

Today is a good day...

2011-03-02T15:40:00.000-06:00

Made my own coffee before getting into work, so I didn't have to drink the swill today. Had a fun lunch at Chipotle with a coworker I haven't chatted with in a while, also she sprung for the meal and 2 beers for us to celebrate my birthday. Had a 15 minute chair massage at work (they call them 15 minute vacations) which felt wondeful, best way to spend $5. Found out that the project I am currently working on may not have as tight of deadline as I thought, which is awesome because I would rather be thorough then fast. Tonight John is cooking me Porcini Pork Tenderloin for dinner, and it has the best sauce ever on it. He only cooks this recipe on special occassions becuase it is kind of time consuming, but the end result is worth it. Also next week we are going to head to Avenue Q, and this will be the first time that I actually get to see the show. I have been listening to the sound track for a couple years, but I have never seen it all the way through.

All in all, I am having a pretty awesome 28th birthday. I am always amazed at the volume and diversity of people who wish you happy birthday on your facebook wall, but I have to admit, it is really nice too! Plus I just went onto Google.com, and becuase I am signed into my Google account, even my search engine is wishing me a happy birthday. Free food count so far = 4 meals and 2 desserts!

Birthday week...

2011-02-28T11:07:00.001-06:00

So far the free food is:

Kona Grill - Free Entree (up to $20)
Noodles and Co. - Free Bowl of Noodles (up to $7.50)
Red Mango - $5 Credit towards yogurt
Ruby Tuesday - Free Burger
Red Robin - Free Burger
Orange Julius - BOGO 20oz Smoothie

Might have a few more things come in but I think that it is it for this year. I think some restaurants kind of did away with their birthday programs, so the pickings are a little bit slimmer this year. Newest additions are Kona Grill and Red Mango, and I think their birthday programs look to be the best. Now the question is, what the hell am I going to eat for lunch today, because I am already hungry! The big 2-8 will be on Wednesday, and I think John will be making a favorite recipe for dinner, herb encrusted pork roast with a cognac cream sauce.

The aftermath of Valentine's Day...

2011-02-15T15:56:00.000-06:00

Is a pretty dirty kitchen, and the majority of my kitchen appliances being used. For dinner I cooked John linguine in a white clam sauce, roasted potatoes, and home made garlic bread. Yes it was pretty carb and fat heavy, but I figured it was nice to do something different and kinda decadent. The clam sauce turned out good, and I am pretty sure that I have so many leftovers that I will be eating it all week, the roasted potatoes will be a staple because it is very versatile, and the garlic bread was awesome but I usually don't use that much butter. I actually replaced half the butter with olive oil, just to make it a little bit lighter tasting. For the overall meal I think I use about 1 1/2 heads of garlic. It's kinda weird but I thing I had so much garlic that it influenced my dreams. For some reason I was dreaming about having to do SEO for my sister Emily, but it was so hard to get done because of all the vampires in the office building, but it was ok because the vampires wouldn't touch me for some reason. I think it is because my sub conscious knew about my awful garlic breath.

These flowers are pretty close to the ones that John bought for me, we didn't do presents but I let him know that I would appreciate it if he got me flowers. Also he showed up at my workplace with my favorite food every for lunch, Chicken Tikka Masala from Taj!.

Once again K-drama has sucked me in...

2011-02-05T23:03:00.000-06:00

This time with My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox, I have like 3 others I am watching too, and I swear I will finish them and then a new one catches my eye. They really are so addicting and it is amazing the volume of dramas there are out there. It especially doesn't help that Hulu is making it so easy to watch them.

Still too much sriracha....

2011-02-04T14:07:00.000-06:00

In the recipe I tried yesterday. It was easy and very quick to make but even with 1 tablespoon of sriracha, John and I were reaching for some milk and bread to turn down the heat. I am not quite as wimpy as I used to be with heat, but next time I make this I will probably only use 1 1/2 teaspoon instead. Also probably add some more veggies, the 1/2 cup of corn kind of melted into the rice, so it didn't feel like there were much veggies in it. Maybe more corn and something else, green beans? carrots? cabbage? Not quite sure what I will use, probably whatever is in the fridge. So if you do try the sriracha and spam fried rice recipe, I suggest you cut down the sriracha in half unless you really like the heat.

Dinner tonight...

2011-02-03T13:28:00.000-06:00

Is courtesy of Serious Eats and 1/2 a can of Spam that I still have left in my fridge. I am going to half the recipe (since I only have 1/2 a can) and plus take the Siracha down just a bit because it can be easy to make it too spicy, and you can always add more later, but you can't really take it back out!

Sriracha And SPAM Fried Rice
Adapted from Serious Eats, photo courtesy of Serious Eats
serves 2

1-2 tablespoons Sriracha, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons pearl river bridge soy sauce (btw best soy sauce ever, get yourself to an asain market asap and pick up some.)
1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 container SPAM, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (I kept this the same because more veggies are never bad)
2 cups cooked white rice, cooled (equivalent to 1 cup uncooked rice)
1/2 cup egg beaters (we have a sam's club amount of egg beaters, so I always use this instead of eggs)
1 clove garlic, minced
Sliced green onions, green part only (probably not going to add this because I don't want to go to the store)

PROCEDURES
1. In a small bowl whisk together the Sriracha and soy sauce. Reserve.

2. Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet or wok over very high heat until it is rocket hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the skillet and let it heat up until it begins to shimmer and wrinkle, 10 to 15 seconds. Toss in the SPAM and corn and cook until the meat begins to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1/2 additional oil to pan, and heat for 10 seconds. Add the rice, stirring to coat each grain with oil. Stir-fry for 3 minutes.

3. Move the rice mixture toward the outer edges of the pan, creating a hole in the center. Add the remaining oil to the center of the pan, and heat until it shimmers, 10 to 15 seconds. Add the eggs and garlic, stirring feverishly. Cook until the eggs are cooked through, then drizzle the Sriracha/ soy mixture over the rice. Toss everything together to combine, cooking for an additional 30 seconds or so.

4. Mound the rice into bowls, garnish with Sriracha and green onions, and serve immediately.

Watch out for buffets...

2011-02-03T09:44:00.001-06:00

So I went with John and his family to Horseshoe Casino's buffet for his Dad's birthday dinner. It was actually pretty good, but way over priced, like most casino buffets. I didn't think I really overate too bad, but I did have some indigestion when I got home. Unfortunately it turned into full blown food poisoning that kept me up until 5ish in the morning. I took a sick day Monday, because I needed the time to recover and wasn't feeling 100 percent. Tuesday I was determined to go into work, which I did make it in, but I still wasn't fully recovered and ended up leaving early and working from home for the rest of the day. Which was for the best since the roads were pretty sucky, and were even worse later in the day.

So needless to say, I haven't cooked jack this week. I have been living on soup, saltines and massive amounts of clear beverages. Doing better today, and I am going to try to get back in the swing of my exercise class this afternoon.

Edit: Class went fine this afternoon, and I am going to try to get three workouts in this week.

I'm not a vegan but...

2011-01-27T18:18:00.001-06:00

This recipe looks pretty darn tasty, easy and healthy. Of course I would probably serve with cheese and sour cream. Well I let you guys know how it turns out when I cook it. Since Jenny has been sharing some recipes I thought I should too.

Also I made Gallo Pinto for the second time and it is a pretty big hit. I don't add any cilantro, and I use a green bell pepper instead of a red one (they are cheaper) but I still think it taste pretty good. Plus it is easy to double the recipe for leftovers. There aren't too many recipes that I can get away with not having meat in the meal that John won't complain about. He has this thing where he thinks you need meat at every meal. I personally don't mind not having it all the time, but I am no where close to being a vegetarian or vegan, I just like to having those kind of recipes every once in awhile.

Yes another wedding post...

2011-01-26T16:10:00.000-06:00

So I am starting to look at wedding invites (and save the date cards), since the save the dates need to go out about 6 months out from the wedding. Since I preferable would like the two to match, I have been doing the shopping for both at the same time. I really like the idea of having a magnet save the date card, but a lot of the places that do those kind of magnets look a little bit skeevy and I am not sure about the quality. Also I wouldn't mind the save the date to have a picture of John and I, but our engagement photo session (which came with our photography package) won't be till April 30th, and I am afraid that send the save the dates after that time might be getting too late.

I just ordered some samples from http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/ and can't wait to see what they look like. When I get them I will post my favorites.

Back to Blogger...

2011-01-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

My experient in Tumblr is over for now. It was fun while it lasted, but I think it is a tool that is better for community type blogs and maybe not single users. I really like the option to ask questions and submit articles, but it really seems to work better for things like the F Yeah stuff (see http://fuckyeahfashion.tumblr.com/, http://owls.pie0.me/, http://fuckyeahladygaga.tumblr.com/).

Just started a new exercise program, and this will be my second week doing it. It is a 6 week interval training program that meets about 5 times a week (I will be doing 4 last week, Mon-Thu) and it alternates between cardio/strength training and cardio/core training. I just needed something that would get me back in the gym. So it does get me in the gym 4 times a week, for 45 minutes at a time. I think I read some where, that it is better for you to get in the gym more frequently for less time, then to go for a long time just sporaticily.

Figured out some more wedding plans. The bridesmaid dresses are decided, so that also means the main color is decided (purple, and the accent colors will probably be brown, green and ivory). Looking at DJs right now, and will have to do the stationary and florists coming up sometime. I don't want to make this a wedding blog, but it does seem like I have a lot of wedding stuff I have been doing, and I guess that is what is going on in my life. So if I have to suffer through it, I guess you guys do too.

Maybe I will just have to update both...

2011-01-04T10:01:00.001-06:00

BTW I ate way too many of these things and need to get the stupid 3lbs container out of my house!

Ok so you can comment on tumblr, but the person who wants to comment on a post must be someone that also has a tumblr and you are following that person. Little bit tricky, and not at all as easy as blogger is for comments. I do like the versatility of tumblr, it is pretty easy to just put something up quickly as well as have it import different feeds. If it wasn't for how hard it is to do comments, I would probably just switch over fully. Link again for my new tumblr, http://teenyatwork.tumblr.com/ .

The holidays went well. It was nice not be trapped this year, but the Quad Cities did get a lot of snow Christmas Eve and Day, but it wasn't even close to last year. The trip to Chicago went fine, and we made it back to Omaha without any troubles. It was great to lounge at home a few days before heading back to work. Overall I think a very successful holiday, except I still have confetti on my carpet from New Years, and need to get the damn vacuum out. Michelle and Ryan came over for New Years, and we just drank a couple bottle of Champagne, played Wits and Wagers and then Pitch, and Rock Band 3. Low key, but pretty fun.

I hope everyone had good holidays too, and Happy 2011! May there be more blogging, phone calls between long distance friends, and making it through this wedding planning process with my sanity intact.

What no comments?

2010-12-07T17:20:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about my blogger blog is that my friends can comment on my posts. I find this much harder to do on tumblr, and for that reason this makes be hesitant to make the switch. It really is a great way to keep in touch, because sometimes you forget the day to day little stuff when you meet up, but that is something you can share in your blog.

Maybe making a switch...

2010-12-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in awhile. Hell I still need to finish blogging about Italy. I am testing out Tumblr to see if it might be a blog platform I like using better, and maybe that it might encourage me to post more often. We will see, I am not officially moving yet but below is the Tumblr I started:

http://teenyatwork.tumblr.com/

Yes I know I need to update one more time one Italy...

2010-11-12T14:10:00.000-06:00

But I thought I would write about what is going on right now. Finally got all the pics (well the ones I want seen online) for Italy on Facebook, that only took about 2 monthes. I know that I got a two week vacation in September but I am really looking forward to having some more time off around Thanksgiving.

Moving in with John has been going well so far. We have both been pretty good about getting dishes done, and other stuff picked up, and we have been trading off cooking duty regularly so neither one of us cooks more then the other.

Hired a wedding planner for the wedding. I don't want a big fancy wedding, I just want it to look nice and not have to handle all the details myself. Mom has actually been pretty busy with her representive stuff, and my sis-in-law has been having family stuff going on, so the people who had been way into weddings aren't so much right now. So I figured if I wasn't going to have as much support from them, that I would just hire someone to handle it.

Work has been fine. Finally finishing up my Master's degree this semester. My last class in an accounting class for IT professionals, and it is just as difficult as I thought it would be. Everytime I try to read the book, my eye just glaze over. Thankfully I just have about a week left in the class, and I think I will still walk out with an A in it.

Well that's my update for now. I will post something later on about the final part of John and I's trip to Rome.

Naples to Rome - Tuesday

2010-10-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

We caught a morning train from Naples to Rome. The trickiest part was finding a ticket machine that would take my US credit card. Once in Rome, John navigated us and our luggage through the Rome subway to get out to our hotel. The hotel we stayed at in Rome (Marriott Central Park) was no where near as central as our hotel in Naples (Renaissance Hotel Mediterraneo). Once again the hotel was paid for by John's Marriott points. It really helped our budget to have the rooms all taken care of. So in order to get to our Rome hotel we had to take a subway train, then a commuter train. Overall it was about a half an hour or so trip from central Rome to our hotel, not bad, but not great.

In the afternoon we took a best of Rome walking tour. It really was great because we got to see a lot of great sites, but also were able to get ourselves kind of acquainted with the city. We hit the Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, and the Pantheon (although not the inside). It was a lot of walking, but a lot of the sites in Rome really are not that far apart from each other once you get to a central Rome location. Afterwards we did a bit more walking on our own and then went to dinner at a cafe close by the Trevi fountain that was suggested by a friend who studied abroad in Rome. L'archetto, the cafe, had wonderful pasta, and bruschetta, and best of all, it was also a great price.

Naples - Monday

2010-10-18T13:58:00.001-05:00

In the morning we hit the National Archaeological Museum. It contains all the best stuff from Pompeii as well as a ton of great statues, mosaics and tapistries from ancient Rome. We were kind of on a time crunch so we did the museum in about 2 hours. Met up with some Italian coworker for lunch (more mozzarella di buffalo, and gnocchi). It was great to eat lunch with some Italians, they were able to help us navigate the menu and steer us towards the best eats, plus ordered some tasty extras for us. It also was nice to finally meet some people that I have been working with for years, but have never met in person. Virtual teams are fine most of the time, but nothing can really beat talking in person.

In the afternoon we grabbed a ferry to Capri. It was a hour 20 minute ride to Capri, but the great thing about the ferry over the Hydrofoil is that you get to sit outside. Coming into the port at Capri is absolutely beautiful. It has a lot of cliffs, and some of the houses look like they would fall into the water at anytime. We walked around the island for about an hour an half, got to see some of the sites but not the famous blue grotto. Capri is catered to the uber rich and famous. All the name brands seem to have a store there, Louis Vitton, Burberry, Gucci, Valentino, but once you get away from the main square it is all small villas, clifside views of the ocean and narrow cobblestone street. On the way back we caught a hydrofoil, so it was only 45 minutes back to Naples. For dinner we finally got to have some seafood, and I had a baby squid dish, and John had a great shellfish pasta.

Sunday - Pompeii and Vesuvius

2010-09-28T11:43:00.002-05:00

Sunday was the first of our all day tours. It was one that John and I were very much looking forward to. The all day tour to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii was one we found online through Viator, and it had gotten a lot of very good reviews. We were picked up from our hotel after breakfast (complementary from the hotel because John has a lot of Marriott points) and headed out for Pompeii. The tour group was about 11 people, and John and I were the only ones who weren't coming from a cruise ship.

The tour of Pompeii was good. It took us all through the city, which was quite a lot bigger then we thought it would be. It was a city of 40,000 or so people that was covered, and you really are walking the length of it to get to the different areas. It was pretty amazing to be walking the same streets that ancient Romans used to walk. We got to see an ancient pizza oven (no tomatoes till the 1400s, but it was crust with toppings on it), the theater, the forum, and many other areas. The one that stood out the most on the tour (and the most intact building) is the brothel. It really is crazy to see the stone beds built into the building, and then the erotic mosaics that were used as the menu. Our guide was interesting and enthusiastic, and did a great job of moving us around the super huge 50+ person tour groups.

A pizza lunch was included in our tour, and with the rest of the pizza in Naples, was pretty awesome. In Naples, I didn't have a pizza that was not cooked in a wood oven. The afternoon then was the drive up the Mt. Vesuvius (pretty harrowing experience in a tour van). The road up the mountain is so narrow that vans need to honk before they turn a corner just in case another tour van is coming. The climb up Mt. Vesuvius wasn't guided, it was more of everyman for themselves. So John and I separated from the pack, and trekked up the mountain in record time. Unfortunately it was a bit smoggy that day, so the pictures of the view of the bay, and of Naples aren't the best. Still, the view was pretty awesome. The city really does wrap around the mountain. We were able to look into the crator of the mountain, and it was smoking! The hike up and around the mountain really wasn't too bad, but I think it was the hike down that killed my knees and my calfs. We had to do it a little bit fast because we were cutting it close with our deadline to meet the bus.

So we did end up surviving our first full day tour. It was about 6-7 hours, but with how much you get to see and hike, it kind of felt longer. After taking a reviving nap, it was time to go find some place for dinner. John and I were determined to finally find a place that we had read about, the pizzeria where the margarita pizza was invented Pizzeria Brandi. We were able to find it with not too much trouble, it was off in a little alley like so many of Naples restaurants. Unfortunately we were a little early (7pm) and most restaurants open at 7:30pm. So to kill some time, we went and walked around the Basilica di San Francesco di Paola and the Piazza Plebiscito. This was one site that we had visited before on our walking tour, but I guess on Sunday nights it kind of becomes a free for all with families letting their kids run rampant, and watching them from the Basilica's steps. Finally heading back to the pizzeria, we were able to get some dinner. We had one pizza margarita (because you kind of have to) and then I got one that seems to have an interesting assortment of toppings, clams, mozzarella, mushrooms, and meat. What we didn't know when I ordered that pizza is that the toppings were not all over the pizza but sectioned off in four different parts, and the translated name was four pizzas in one. The pizzas were good, but surprising not that much better then all the other pizzas that we had in Naples (which by this point was our 4th or 5th pizza). So if you go to Naples, get the pizza, and odds are it will be good.

So far so good...

2010-09-28T11:03:00.003-05:00

Checking on the weather for Saturday, and it looks like Bonner Springs will have some nice fall weather

4 days till RenFest time!

No I haven't forgotten my travel posts, I am going to work on finishing up the posts for Naples today.

Saturday - Naples, Italy

2010-09-20T19:07:00.001-05:00

Arriving at the main Naples train station was not nearly the dram fest that John and I thought it would be. We had read many different websites that talked about how prevalent pick pockets are in Italy, especially in Naples, and then mucho especially in the train station. It wasn't, but we wore our money belts anyways (we followed the Rick Steve's approach, wear a money, travel light).

The hotel was pretty awesome. It was just a short (but terrifying) taxi ride away from the Train station. We had a walking tour scheduled, and got a view of the city. The guide was all right, it seemed like she really didn't take us to the actual main road, but she was pretty enthusiastic. We were just a little bit tired going on the walking tour, and might have looked a bit like zombies, because she suggested that we end early. Since the tours seemed to consist of walking through small alleys, lots of churches, and walking straight into the sun so you couldn't see, we didn't protest. One cool part though was that we somehow ended up walking in a local churches parade to St. Mary, and so walking through flags and then a lot of guys hoisting a fairly large float to St. Mary on their backs.

Diner found us trying to find an open restaurant at 6:30pm (We have now learned that opening time for restaurants is actual 7:30) and pretty much wondering for about 45 minutes till we found one that was decent, and didn't shoo us away. The name I think translates to something like the brotherhood of the buffalo, but it was a restaurant the focused on water bufflo meat and cheese (mozzarella di bufala). I was really excited because I have read a lot about mozzarella di bufala, and hadn't really tried any before. So for dinner I order an appetizer of grilled veggies and mozzarella di bufala, and then a pesto cream pasta. The appetizer was great, the cheese tasted richer then normal fresh mozzarella and was a great contrast to the grilled veggies (mostly eggplant and zucchini). The problem came with the pasta, it was cold. Really didn't decribe the pasta as cold in the menu, so I wasn't expecting it. Plus then it was too saltly to be truely edable. Which was said because it did seem to have a great basil taste, but was just overwelmed. John's meal was about the same, pretty good apitizer with a surprising (but not in a good way) main meal that was kinda dissappointing. The owner was so nice, and helpful that we didn't want to say anything, so kinda just ate and ran.

We just wanted to get back to the hotel after that experiece, so didn't even try to get any gelato. But I had plenty of other chances to try some. So that ended our first day in Naples, tiring but at least it was easier and safer to get around then we thought.

Friday Night to Saturday - Travel to Naples

2010-09-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

The overnight sleeper train was a good way to travel, if only we didn't have to stop at 4am and get off in Bologna. Our train took off at 9pm from Munich, and had a couple stops along the way, ultimatly ending in Rome. Our stop was at Bologna at 4am, and then our train to Naples came in at 6:15 am. The funny part is our Naples train stoped in Rome before heading to Naples. Why we couldn't have stayed on our overnight train till Rome, I don't know, but that is how the trains worked out when we ordered online. I still feel a bit screwed over, because we could have gotten a full night's sleep instead of the half night we got.

Sleeping on a train is hard. Even though we did have beds, the train stops quite a bit, plus the running of the train is kinda loud. I think I did get some sleep, but I was pretty paranoid about somehow sleeping through our stop, but they have an automatic alarm that wakes you up. Getting off in Bologna, they gave us a little breakfast, but it is kinda hard to eat at 4am. Waiting for the train to Naples took forever, but it really wasn't bad, but John and I were pretty paranoid about thieves and might have psyched ourselves out a bit.

The train to Naples seemed to be a fairly normal communtor type train, and took about another 4 hours to get us to naples. At the main Naples train station, we had read that a gypsys and pickpockets were common, so we had the idea that we would probably be swarmed when we got of, but it really wasn't bad. I didn't see a single gypsy at the train station, and the taxis were actually quite easy to find, and were polite. We were too tired to try our hands at public transportation and just decided to get a taxi to the hotel since it was just supposed to run 10 Euro.

Me in our sleeper cabin with our picnic we picked up in Munich. Setting up the table was a pretty interesting process.

Germany - Friday - Munich

2010-09-17T11:16:00.017-05:00

On Friday since we didn't really finish the Lonely Planet walking tour, we decided to try and hit some more stops on the tour. The residence museum really took up a lot of time, so we got a little distracted. So we headed up to the english gardens, and some other sites. To get all over Munich, we used the metro. It was really easy to use, and makes me want Omaha to have something better then our little bus system. But then I have to wonder if I would even use it, because right now I really miss my car, and not having to be on some sort of schedule to catch trains. Back to Munich through, the english gardens were really the biggest site we saw, and then just did some shopping.

John and I had our train to Naples to catch at 9pm, so we kept our eye on the time. Anja headed back home earlier, and John and I went to the supermarket to pick up a picnic for the train. My favorite food in Germany really was the bread. Germans love bread. It is all over, and it seems that every block has a bakery or two. And my favorite bread of the trip was pretzel bread coated with pumpkin seeds, instead of salt. It is wonderful, and tastes good with spread or as a sandwich. I am going to miss that bread. Also I am going to miss quark. It is an awesome spread that you can use on bread that is a cross between a yogurt and a cream cheese, my favorite is chive flavored. So if you are ever in Germany make sure to have a lot of bread, and get yourself some quark.

Germany - Thursday - Munich

2010-09-17T11:13:00.003-05:00

The train from Hedilburg to Munich wasn't bad at all, it was just a quick 3 hour trip. Anja had booked a hotel for us that was pretty close to the train station, so it wasn't too long of hike from the station with our bags. John and I only brought one bag each and one personal item, so we were pretty portable. This really helped with how many trains we took throughout our trip. To start off our trip in Munich, John and I did a walking tour courtsy of Lonely Planet Germany. We got an awesome view of the city atop a church as you can see from the picture. Then we went by some of the most famous beer gardens, which will be pretty crowded in two weeks for october fest. Then we spent some time in the resedence musuem. The musuem is actually the old palace for german kings (electors?) and is so huge that one half of it is open in the mornings, and the other half in the afternoons. Needless to say, a literal ton of very expensive furnature and paintings. Very cool, but kinda exhausting. For dinner we hit one of the local beer halls, the Augustiner. It was huge, and very full with diners and people just there for drinking. You kind of just need to find your own seat, it is not a place were one waits to me seated. For dinner I had schnitzel with a great cream sauce and some local chanterelle mushrooms. John got sausage and sauerkraut, a very appropriate dinner for a beer hall.

Germany - Wednesday

2010-09-16T14:49:00.000-05:00

The weather still was pretty rainy on Wednesday, but we decided that we still needed to venture out. We visited the next town over from Heidelberg, the Schwetzingen Palace Gardens in Schwetaingen, Germany. It was pretty deary out, but the gardens at the palace were pretty amazing. The palace was pretty cool, but what everyone comes to see is the gardens. There are french gardens (think very germetric, and orderly) and english gardens (more like nature, just a little idealized), and they are just huge. I think we walked around maybe 2-3 hours just in the gardens. Lunch was at a little cafe across from the palace, it has a cute magazine theme, and had a cracker thin crust pizza with a creme, cheese and bacon on top. I am the worst foodie and can't remember the proper name for what this is called, but I know it is french.

Later in the day we headed to Manheim for dinner. We met up with Oliver, and spent a while trying to find a parking spot (these are in way short supply all over europe, no wonder they need so many smart cars). For dinner we went to a Leboneese place, but a lot of the food that was on the buffet was actually items I have had at most Greek restaurants in the states, pita bread, tabouli, hummus, etc. There was a buffet for dinner, with some awesome lentil soup, and some sort of ground veal in a yogurt sauce, and then all the other usual suspects. I think my favorite part was the awesome cup of spiced strong, strong coffee that they give you when you first sit down. After dinner, we moved over to the other side of the room and enjoyed a hookeh and after dinner drinks. John had never done a hookeh, so we thought it might be fun to try. The hookeh was similar to the times I have tried it at the KC ren fest, but I think the flavors were a bit tamer. We just went with a normal apple flavor, supposedly the most popular flavor. The pipe only came with one hose, which we shared with the group. Our drinks were mint and citrus flavor, and pretty awesomely decorated, as you can see.

That was about it for Wednesday, we had to do a early night since we had a morning train to Munich on Thursday morning.

Germany - Monday and Tuesday

2010-09-10T01:32:00.000-05:00

Well, John and I had made it past traveling, and staying awake for most of our first day in Germany, but on Monday is when we got to see some sights in Heidelberg. We visited the castle, twice, and got to go around and see a lot of the town sites. We went up to the castle in the morning/noon, and viewed the outside of the castle, stopped and then had a picnic on the banks of the Necker river, and then went back before dinner to view the inside of the castle. What's cool is if you go after 5:30 to the castle you can still go view the inside, but you don't have to pay to get in.

For dinner we went to a German beer hall, and had some traditional german food. Pretty much everything on my plate had liver in it, and this might include that potatoes that came with the dish too. Afterwards we thought it would be a good idea to not stop the night and hit a local college bar. It was extermly crowded, and I had way too much beer and schnapps.

So for Tuesday, I was pretty out of it all day. Sad, but at least it was raining, and we really didn't miss too much. If it helps, our German drinking buddy, Oliver, was also the worse for the wear during the day too.

Germany - Sunday

2010-09-08T01:49:00.000-05:00

After getting into Frankfurt, Anja, Oliver, John and I journeyed off to visit Kurt and Inge, Anja's parents. They live in a small village in the Palentine region of Germany called Enkenbach-Alsenborn. The town it old in the way no US town can be, it is all cobblestones and red-roofed houses with small winding streets. It really is one of my favorite places to visit.

Inge had lunch ready and waiting for us when we got in. We had a sorrel and shrimp soup, caprese salad, a roast with dumplings and gravy, and ice cream with fresh raspberry sauce for dessert. Unfortuntly since my jet lag was starting to kick in, I couldn't properly demolish the food like I normally would. All of the veggies and herbs came from Inge's garden, which is quite extensive.

After lunch there was a town parade and fair in Alenborn, Enkenback and Alenborn are actually two towns that are associated together. I was really getting tired now, but John and I had brought some five hour energy drinks with us, and decided it was time to use them. The parade was cool, we watched it from one of Inge's friend's house, and was full of local clubs, and bands who had made floats. The coolest think is that many were just poring beer, and you could just walk up to the float to get a drink.

Then we had to stop by the fair, which really was just two beer tents and a carnival ride. That's German priorities for you. After a beer or two at the tent Anja and I were able to drag Oliver and John away and head for Heidelberg, were John and I were to stay in Anja's apartment. Somehow John and I were able to stay up till 9pm that night (remember only 2 hours sleep in about 30 some hours), so this was a huge feet for use, and our effort to try to get on a normal German time schedule.

I will update later with how Monday and Tuesday went.

Teeny

Traveling to Germany

2010-09-06T03:41:00.000-05:00

I made it to Germany, sometimes times during the three different flights that I had to take to get here, it felt that I would never make it. But I did and I finally did get some sleep.

The Omaha to Minneapolis flight was no problem but I did start getting a little panicky when I realized that John and I only had about 15 minutes to get to our next flight after we touched down. Luckily our flight had arrived early, and the Minneapolis to Amesterdamn flight was pretty big so boarding took a long time. I really think that flight was the worst I have had in a long time. My TV monitor didn't really work, so no movies or TV shows for me. Of course I thought that was fine for awhile because I needed to try and sleep to try and get on the Germany timezone. But unfortunately sleep pretty much eluded me for the whole 7 hour flight. It is not that I didn't try, but it seemed like I was just trying too hard. In the end I might have gotten an hour total after trying to sleep for about 5 hours.

By the time John and I made it to Amsterdamn, I kinda felt a bit like a zombie. We rode Delta for all the flights except this last one, which we fly on KLM. Let me tell you, the Dutch know how to fly. Even though our flight was only 45 minutes, we still got a sandwich and beverage service, and not even just a sandwich, an awesome organic one. I am kinda looking forward to the trip home (not because I will be leaving) but because we are flying two of our flights back on KLM.

Met up with Anja and her boyfriend Oliver in Frankfurt, and they were kind enough to pick us up to go to Anja's parents house. Inge and Kurt had us over for lunch, a four course affair that I will write about that later.

Teeny

My pool is more popular then your pool...

2010-08-17T11:21:00.002-05:00

My current apartment's pool has been busy since the moment it opened before Memorial Day. I know this because I have a perfect view of it. It seems like anytime of day it is overrun by preteen clicks, tons o little kids, and perfectly tan college students who have nothing to do for three months. And I am pretty jealous of all these groups who have so much time to just hang out at the pool none stop. Then I remember I 1. Hate being hot, 2. Don't like crowds, and then get back to playing my PS3 and watching Hulu. But I don't really get why it is so insanely popular. It really isn't that huge or nice of pool, or really have that much space around the pool, but for some reason it seems packed both night and day.

Well let's see what has been happening this last month since I last wrote. Jeaniy's bachlorette party went well, I think we hit plenty of bars to make it feel like we did something different, but not too many that we were all beat. The spinach enchiladas that Jeaniy brought to the party were awesome, and were even better after we got back from the bars and scarfed them down. The wedding the next week was one of the funniest ones I have ever gone to, and I am not just saying that cause I was in the wedding party. Sure it was a bazillion degrees out, but at least we had some shade. The entire idea of the wedding party riding around on golf carts while every one else was seated at the reception was just genius, pure awesome genius. I really think every wedding should do that. Who needs to bar hop when you can stick a cooler on the back of a golf cart, and then run around the course doing donuts?

I am finishing up my summer course today. It really has been one of the most tedious classes I have done in all my masters classes. The teacher just really isn't present in the discussions, nor does she grade the assignments in enough time for use to get feedback. The group project is a joke, so are all the homework assignments. But oh well, I already know that the professor isn't going to teach another class at the university, so should I even bother filling out the class assessment form? Just one more class, Accounting for the IT professional. Ugh.

Well I need to get back on task and will update with how the plans for my trip to Italy and Germany are going.

I need a vacation from vacations...

2010-07-12T14:28:00.001-05:00

It seems like I haven't been in Omaha much these past 2-3 weeks. First the trip to Niobrara and then right after I headed to my parents place in Iowa. I won't be traveling again till August for Jeaniy's Wedding. It will be nice to be at home for a while.

Well I survived the camping trip to the Niobrara, even with the extra day of camping. We hiked up to Smith Falls and then went on a nature hike. It was fun, and a lot more strenous then I thought it was going to be. The best part of the day was hoping into the river after we got back from the hike. The water felt amazing, and sitting in the rapids with a cold beer is the best place to be on a summer afternoon. The actual float trip was fun, and much better weather then last year. I might have been the person who was having a little too much fun, but hey it's a float trip and you are supposed to drink heavy. I replied sunscreen every hour or less, so I just walked away with a little bit of a sunburn on my back. I was a bit worried about burning, especially since the sun was going to be out this year, but I ended up being fine.

Like the new design?

2010-06-21T13:35:00.002-05:00

Trying out the new design features on Blogger. They are pretty cool and I love the amount of backgrounds to choose from, plus it makes it way easy to change up the color scheme. Although I am still a bit disappointed with the amount of fonts you have to chose from default. I think I might be a bit of a typeface snob.

Class is going well, I am in Applied Systems Development this summer semester. My last two classes ended fine, got A's in both of them so my 4.0 GPA for my Master's degree is still going strong. It was kinda odd with my project management one, one of my group members just kind of disappeared from all group work for the last 2 weeks, but I could see them posting in the regular board. But it can kinda be hard with trying to handle groups with online classes.

Work is kinda hitting a slow patch right now, and that is perfectly fine with me. I have just three days of work this week, till I am heading out west for camping. Yes, me Christine, is looking forward to camping. Now I am not looking forward to no air, having to use a porta potty, or insects, but hanging out with everyone with no work will be a great time.

Death by mosquitoes...

2010-06-08T12:01:00.005-05:00

I really thought I might scratch myself to death or insanity. This was all from sitting out at the porch at Michelle's with Jeaniy and Michelle just for an hour! It just happened that the Off bottle was broken and there were no citronella lamps up. In that hour I got 15 bugs bites on one leg alone, I know I counted them. So since then I have used about every homemade and store bought recipe to keep them for itching. The worst is on my ankle and the back of my elbows. A combo of oatmeal bath, benedryl, soap bar and band aids (so I can't itch them if I wanted to) has seemed to work. Well anyway I am feeling much better now, and I know KP probably has much better bug stories then me, but I was pretty miserable this past weekend and it was a ton of bites for me!

Well my spring semester is finally over, which means my summer semester has already started! Just one class for me this summer, System Analysis and Design. Hopefully it is not too bad, I am just looking forward to having only one class instead of two. Also, this is my second to last class for my Master's degree!! Yay, soon I will have my evenings back.

BTW. picked up Sims 3 Ambitions last week (which I shouldn't have but damn you direct download for being so convenient) and I really like. I think there might be a few bugs going on with the memory usage or it just is a hog, because my computer is even running into a few issues with the rendering, and my machine really isn't the bare necessity required specs.

Bird drama

2010-05-25T00:03:00.005-05:00

So I was heading to my car to go pick up some groceries. I get to my car, start it up and then I am startled to see this half- finished looking little robin sitting on my windshield whiper. My first thought is "Holy shit, it's a bird!?!?!", and then the second is to cower and hope it goes away. Well that plan of sitting in the car at staring at it got me no where, so I tried knocking on the windshield polity (and then not so politely). That didn't work either, it just kept on staring at me with pathetic little bird eyes, all the while looking like it might be crippled. I figured this was getting no where, so I did the most girly thing possible, I called my boyfriend for help. I was in a bind here! The thing kept on looking at me, and frankly it looked more pathetic by the minute. John's response was what was he supposed to about some bird, and said I should try to turn on the windshield wiper. I couldn't do that though, I had a horrifying vision that it would just cling on the whiper and just get bonked on the side of the car or its wing would get caught underneath or some other such catastrophe.

So I grabbed my ice scraper and slowly inched around the car and poked it. The damn thing didn't move, just kept on staring at me with it's eyes. So I poked it again, and maneuvered every which way with the scraper to see if I could get the thing to hop onto the long end of the scraper. No such luck, the thing was dumber then a box of rocks, scared out of it's mind, or both. So I did an even more girly thing, got frustrated, started crying, and called John again. This time I got him to agree to come drive over and help me.

You have to understand, that this thing looked like it's leg might be broken, so I wasn't really trying to hard to get it off in case I hurt it further. Waited about 20 hours for John to show up (approx 5 minutes in real time). At first John tried shaking the windshield whiper to see if that might get him off, all it did was make the bird cling tighter and flap his wings a bit. Now I am a little bit pissed at the little pissant, he had me thinking he had a broken wing/foot but nope he had just decided this was a good enough place as any to sit and wasn't going anywhere. It took about another minute or two of John more violently shaking the windshield whiper and me holding out the scrapper for the bird to move to before the little thing final deemed he had had enough of a work out for the day. I quickly lowered him into the grass by a tree I think he might have fallen out of. What does the thing do? Fly into the middle of the damn street, but then got his stubby little wings going again and made it all the across.

Maybe this was a lesson from Darwin, or nature, that bird that dumb might need to be weeded out, but the thought of me actually harming it is not something that I could have done. Well at least we probably amused the hell out of whoever was watching us.

Sorry for the EPIC bird post, it just was very surreal and had to share.

I think these might be the ones...

2010-05-05T12:56:00.003-05:00

Ok, after 3 pairs of shoes, I think the 4th ones might be it! Who would've known it took this much effort to pick out some shoes. Even if they look tall, they really aren't that high, and they are very comfy and the wedge is even easy to walk in. Who would've thought Rockport would have some cute ladies shoes?

Tis the season to move...

2010-04-28T13:25:00.003-05:00

Well the boyfriend and I have decided to move in together, and have finally decided on an apartment complex, Orchard Village Townhomes. They are very cute, and it is awesome to only have one story plus and attached garage, and we most definitely need the 2 bedroom so we have plenty of space to spread out in. Because our leasing dates are on very different time tables (my lease isn't done till Oct. 1, and his is June 1) we had to make this discissuion in time so he could turn in his 30 days notice to his apartment complex. For the summer he will be staying with a friend in his house.

Work has been the usual, plenty of customer issues and have been doing some customization development too. It gets too boring when I am just doing support, so having a 50/50 mix of support and development works good for me.

I am also on my countdown till I am done with my graduate classes. My two classes right now (Project Management and Enterprise Resource Planning) are going all right. There is a lot more group stuff in these two classes then I have had in all my other classes combined. Working with online groups is not the easiet thing, but I think finally going into week 7 my groups have finally gotten more of a hold on it. Let me tell you, I don't think project management is a career track that I want to go into. First off you have to deal with Microsoft Project, which is definltly not the most intutive software, and then you have to juggle about a bajillion things to try to make a project get done on time, but still about 43 percent of IT projects are still not done on time. Ugh sounds like way to much work for me.

Looking forward to this weekend (and then of course in 2 weeks for the housewarming party/KP) but this weekend is Julie's (bf's sis) 30th birthday and I am joing her and friends for mani/pedis on Saturday afternoon. Should be fun, plus I love any excuse to go to the spa.

Is it spring yet?

2010-03-15T15:41:00.004-05:00

The weather seems to being "eh" to spring, one day you see hope with rays of sunshine the next it freaking snows.

Well my classes are starting today for my spring semester. I will be taking information technology project managment, and enterprise resource planning. I am not really sure what to expect out of them,but I am hoping for the best.

My newest food obsession is chawanmushi. I have made it twice in two weeks and I think it is awesome. It's savory, but jiggly and can stand up to about whatever I have one hand. Now my creations are probably not in the normal relm of japaneese food, but I like and that's what counts. The BF is not a fan of them, but that doesn't stop me from making them. I use my rice cooker for the steaming process, and can fit two mugs in at a time (I swear I fit 3 mugs in the first time I did it, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what the hell I did to make them fit). You can eat it warm, but I think it tastes pretty good cold too. I am so glad that joyce is starting to get into Japaneese cooking with her bentos, this means I have one more person to rant to about food. Not that I will stop ranting to everyone else, it's just that she might understand more of the foods and ingrediants I am talking about.

So far, so good...

2010-03-02T14:57:00.002-06:00

Well my week of free goodies has been going well so far. Monday got my free medium pizza courtesy of being a beer world tour member (which Jenny totally needs to join), and then free Qdoba burrito for lunch and the BF is cooking dinner! It's a surprise, so I will let you know later what he whips up. Tomorrow I am all set for a free burger at Red Robin, and free dinner at Noodles and Co. Thursday I am going for my free meal at my work cafeteria, and I haven't decided what to do for Friday.

I have already gotten my load of happy birthday wall posts from people I haven't heard from in forever, I should try to write some people back, but I am not the best about replying on facebook.

Dinner was great on Friday at the Gold Medal Tap. I got the braised short ribs because of a reccomedation from a review, and they were amazinly tender and savory with the most awesome white chedder mashed potatoes. Sitting at the tap table was cool to, if only the beer was a bit more reasonably priced. Between the 6 people drinking beer we finished off about $120 bucks worth a beer. That is way more then a keg, and we didn't drink that much! It was a great experience, but I think next time we go, a regular table would be better, or at least cheaper.

Other B-day freebies

Work cafeteria is a totally free lunch
Younkers = 25% off during birthday month
Dave and Busters = $10 play money (for games)
DSW = $10 gift certificate
Sepora = Free b-gift (looks like eyeshadow, mascara and eyliner)

Free week of food...

2010-02-23T13:57:00.002-06:00

My attempt to eat free the week of my birthday has come once again. My online birthday coupons have started rolling in. So far I have:

Noodles and Company = Free bowl of noodles
Arby's = Free Shake with Roast burger purchase
Diary Queen = BOGO Blizzard
Orange Julius = Free 16 Oz Fruit Drink
BWW = Free Dessert
Red Robin = Free Gourmet Burger
Famous Daves = Prize Code B08 = Seems to be free Appetizer
Ruby Tuesday = Free handcrafted burger (can do toGo)
Cold Stone = Free Cold Stone Creation

I think there might be some other coupons that might still might come in. The only thing that I think usually prevents me from reaching my goal, is my hesitance to have to drive all over town to actually get to all the different restaurants.

You can make ramen out of anything...

2010-02-19T16:25:00.005-06:00

When life hands you a ton of leftovers, make ramen!

So the African Chicken recipe went well, it is just a tie consuming process to do all the chopping and prep work before you can even make the sauce. I used a little bit more chicken then it called for, about 4.5 or so lbs. So the pot was a little bit full during the simmering process but I had forgotten how divine the sauce is. It is rich, deep and makes you want to lick it off the plate, which I did because I have no dignity when it comes to awesome sauces. There was enough leftovers that it could have feed another 4 people, and the roasted cauliflower tasted awesome, even if John was not a huge fan of the cilantro sauce that went on top. I loved that I could just stick the veggies in the oven, which meant one less thing that I needed to worry about on the stovetop.

KP, I am going to try your sauce sometime but for John's v-day present I told him that I would do the recipe according to the recipe. Next time though, your sauce looks infinitely more simple.

So with all these leftovers, John and I made ramen, and it was awesome. I picked up some generic chili ramen packets, and then we added the leftover sauce to the the water while it was heating up. Then added in the chopped up chicken, noodles, and then at the end topped with an egg. It really is a great way to deal with leftovers, because the flavors of the peanut sauce and chili go great together, and it truly tastes like a new dish.

So today I found two fraud charges on my credit card today, and these are even on the card that I only use for in person transactions. I really don't know how they got my card number, and I understand that these things happen, but they freaking bought close to 600 dollars worth of pest control supplies!! On the charges I saw it say "Whatever Works MA" with a phone number next to it, so after reporting the charges to my credit card, closing the account and getting a new card shipped, I figured what the hell, and called the number. It really didn't help with anything, but after doing some research about the company and finding that they have a A+ BBB rating, I figured I might give them a heads up. I know that it probably did nothing, but it made me feel better.

I will update if there is anymore drama with the card, but I don't think there should be.

Is this the longest winter ever?

2010-02-09T13:32:00.002-06:00

I think I got a little bit spoiled last week when we hit 32 degrees most of the days. Now, at 20 degrees, it just feels downright fridged. I can't wait till it is is truly warm again, but why can't the spring and fall last longer in the Midwest? Is it just me, or does it seem like we just move straight from Winter to Summer sometimes.

Masters classes, Ecommerce Management and Management Information Systems, are going all right this semester. I am in week 9 of 12 weeks, so that means the hard stuff is coming up soon. Both classes use semester long papers for a lot of the grade, and writing these papers is not the funnest thing to do. I do always try to pick out interesting (to me) topics, but it still feels somewhat tedious to do the actually writing of the rough draft part. This semester I will be writing on Open Source Ecommerce Solutions and the future of mobile commerce. These will be my 5th and 6th master's papers respectively. I have done so much more writing with my master's degree then I ever had to do with my undergraduate. I sometimes miss the sample programs that I got to work on in my programming classes, the closet I have come to that in my master's was working on some SQL programming.

So John and I are going to celebrate Valentine's day this Friday, February 12th, because celebrating valentines day on a Sunday just doesn't seem right. To me, it seems like a holiday that should always fall on a Saturday or Friday, you know, date nights. But I am going to making dinner, John's Choice. So he selected a recipe I made almost 2 years ago, when were first going out. It is an African Chicken in Peanut Sauce dish, that requires quite a bit of prep work, plus about 50 minutes or so of cook time. So needless to say, not something I cook often. I do not know how authentic it is, but it is pretty tasty.

Got my shoes bridesmaid shoes...

2010-02-04T23:58:00.007-06:00

Just found them on Amazon after a unsuccessful DSW trip with Jeaniy and Michelle.

Before you comment on the heel, it really isn't bad and all the reviews have talked about the amount of padding in the shoe, so I thought I would check it out, even though I am such a wimp when it comes to high heels.

If these don't work though, I am just going to return them and get my backup ones.

This is a new post with a title that KP can totally not make fun of

2009-12-16T15:05:00.001-06:00

Yes it is December, and yes this is my first post, and yes I understand that I fell off the bandwagon again. This must be like trying to quit smoking, except for I am actually trying to start, oh well looks like I am not so good at the metaphors either.

November went quick, and for that matter so has December. I finished up my university semester 4 weeks ago, and a new one started about 3 weeks ago,so not too much of a break. I have still kept my 4.0, and I am enrolled in 2 classes (ecommerce managment, and management information systems). After that I only have 4 more class, and then I get my masters in MIS.

Orchestra also has finished up for a while, and our next concert isn't till Feb. 21, 2010.

Work has been going fine, pretty much the same old grind. Handle customer cases, work on designs for customizations, get on conference calls. Really nothing to talk about.

So there, I posted, and maybe next time I will be able to talk about something more entertaining.

Back on the blogging wagon...

2009-10-23T11:39:00.001-05:00

Did you know last October I had 11 blog entries? That is almost the same amount as my entries from 2009. When I think back when I first started blogging, Junior year of college 2003/2004, I would usually post once a week. It was just easier to get posts in, especially when I was in Scotland because it really was my way of communicating with friends back home. Now it is just more effort, plus I really don't think I am as interesting anymore. Spending the majority of everyday in a cube isn't so conductive to having interesting stories.

Well enough of past reflection, what's on my agenda for this weekend? Finishing up my Computer Security term paper on Security Certifications, working on some posts for classes, and making apple pie shots. John made some of these last year, and they tasted awesome, and the recipe is a snap. Pretty much goes like this:

1 gallon Apple Cider
1/2 gallon Apple Juice
10 cinnamon sticks
1 bottle everclear

Boil the cider, juice and cinnamon sticks together for 10 mintues, let cool, add everclear.

So not labor intensive (unlike the skittle vodka incident) but very tasty.

The shots are for the Great Pumpkin Fest that we are putting on at M&R's place on Saturday, there will be pumpkins, carving and apple pie shots. Fun should be had by all. Can't wait till Halloween when KP, Trix and everyone will get to hit the town! I am so excited about getting to dress up again, and I am dork but I have been testing out different makeup already to go with my gypsy outfit!

New resolutions, who needs to wait till January 1st?

2009-10-21T12:45:00.004-05:00

1. I will stop turning in my class assignments the day they are do, well more likely a few minutes before they are do.

I always get stressed writing the papers, and then I am hyped on "must finish now!" adrenaline and then I am up until 1am or 2am. Not good for my health or my school work. I need to start doing my classwork and papers further in advance to help with my stress, as well as help improve the quality of my papers.

2. Stop checking my email every 5 minutes, this includes both work and personal.

I am a compulsive email checker. I hit refresh multiple times, and then jump on a new email, even if I am doing something else at the time. Not good for productivity and then I am always of this mindset that I must reply or take action with the email even though I do have other items that might be more important.

At least I have pretty much kept up my promise to not open twitter before noon, but I need some new goals to get better on track. Lately I have been feeling some ennui with work, and school, maybe it is a seasonal thing?

Oh ya, I went there with the vocab.

Trying to keep up with the boys...

2009-10-15T22:51:00.002-05:00

It just doesn't work trying to drink with all guys. As hard as you try, it just really doesn't work trying to keep up with them. I have done this with work friends (which are mostly all guys) and then with just friends, and I never turn out that good. But I always think I can do better the next time.

The concert last week went well. Work is going fine, still trying to recover from my machine needing to be totally wiped, and it just takes time to get it back to the way you had it. Need to take the BF to the airport on Saturday, but I think we are going to try to catch Zombieland tomorrow.

Life has taken over my life...

2009-10-08T12:01:00.003-05:00

Sorry guys, I just have been in kind of a rut. Work, classes, dinner with the BF and then repeat. Yes I know it is fall, and damn it has hit hard. We are actually supposed to get some snow here soon. Talk about a short fall. Hey is there a word for a short fall, kinda like an Indian summer?

Work is going all right. Nebraska is being hit by the recession now, kinda like fashion, we always a little bit behind. My group is still very small, so it makes for a lot of work on me, and sometimes it would be nice to have more people to spilt the load with.

Classes are about 1/2 through now, going into my sixth week. It is really interesting taking Cyber Ethics and Computer Security at the same time. Some topics overlap, so it is nice to be able to reuse the knowledge I learn in one class for the other class. Also a time saver!

Just picked out my Halloween costume yesterday with Jeaniy and M. It is going to be an awesome gypsy getup complete with waist cincher. Still looking into getting something picked out for the bf, but we might have some sort of paired outfit going on.

Caved and bought some new clothes on AE.com. I know that haven't shopped their since college, but their clearance sale plus an extra web coupon made it a great deal,and I remember their clothes being fairly good quality. If they don't fit, at least I can return them to a local store, so not big deal. If they turn out to cute outfits I will post pics, but I am trying some skinny jeans so lets hope I got that size right!

Ok that's all for now, don't want to post too much that I don't have anything to say for another two months.

Is it summer?

2009-07-30T10:58:00.001-05:00

I guess I still feel like I should get some sort of month (or preferable 3 month) break when summer comes, and it is that magical time where you don't have to do Jack. I know I have been in the "real" world for close to 4 years now, but I wonder it really kicks in that no you don't get a summer vacation anymore. You are lucky if you get a week, and that yes you do have to work like you do through the rest of the year.

That said, it really hasn't felt like summer because well the temperature hasn't been summer temps. When went on a float trip on the 4th of July it was about 65 degrees out. On the 4th?!?! I couldn't believe how cold it was. I am not one who likes the heat, but it is expected that when summer rolls around (especially July) it is going to be really hot and most of the time humid.

I have survived camping (real camping, I guess my families version of renting a cabin doesn't count as camping) twice now. For two days over the 4th for our Float trip, and then again recent for two days for John's Birthday. I have to say I am still not a fan of no air conditioning, getting bug bites, and peeing outdoors (or is porta potties) but there are a lot more fun parts then not fun parts. It is cool that you get to hang out with your friends for a longer amount of time then usual, I think cooking outdoors is pretty novel, and drinking beer by a camping fire frankly rocks. We totally put bacon on sticks and cooked it over the campfire and it was awesome. So I will probably be up for camping for future outings, but I make no promises about not whining about the heat.

Teeny

I need to stop looking through my blog archives...

2009-05-21T15:34:00.002-05:00

God this blog is old, did you know my first post was 7.08.2004? That is pretty much 5 years ago. That really is forever in Internet time. Just like I figured out the other week that I have been on Twitter since Aug 21st, 2007. I have to say, for as short as my attention span is, I do stick with some things! Also to note, my spelling and grammar as improved a lot since 2004, now I can't say the same thing about my handwriting.

Hot damn it's May already...

2009-05-13T13:40:00.006-05:00

I have kinda been in a funk lately. My weeks have just fallen into a pattern these past ten weeks since I started up my 2 masters classes this semester. Definitely a lot more work then just the one I took last semester, and I think I am going to just take one class a semester for a while, till either my work load gets lighter or I get better at managing my time. Because frankly having to go home to work and school work right after you just got done with work, is a sad and depressing thing.

Modeled two more t-shirts for Neatorama, see below. Tried to take the pictures outside, and my BF was the photographer. It was kinda odd doing the pictures with him, definitely made me feel more self conscious but the scenery is better!

Pluto: Proof That Size Matters

Something Somewhere Went Terribly Wrong

Wine and America's Next Top Model Finale tonight!! I want Allison to win, but since I am not patient, I have already read a ton of spoilers online. I agree with all the spoilers, and I bet any fan can see who is totally slated to win. I just hope Allison get's second, cause that would be awesome.

Ohh yea totally check out this Font Fight, made me crack up.

(College Humor link)

College Humor brings us the long-awaited sequel to the Font Conference. It’s Helvetica vs. Arial with help from their peeps in a fight to the death! -via Geeks Are Sexy

Is yoko meshi == yakamishi?

2009-04-13T16:34:00.002-05:00

My family has a rice dish, yakamishi, that is much beloved and I always wanted to know what it means in Japanese. We certainly could have been butchering the pronunciation to get what we call it today.

I wonder if it was that my Dad's aunt didn't know that name so she just called it this?

yoko meshi [yoh-koh mesh-ee] (noun)

"Taken literally, meshi means 'boiled rice' and yoko means 'horizontal,' so combined you get 'a meal eaten sideways.'This is how the Japanese define the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language: yoko is a humorous reference to the fact that Japanese is normally written vertically, whereas most foreign languages are written horizontally. How do English-speakers describe the headache of communicating in an alien tongue? I don't think we can, at least not with as much ease."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4457805

Who is that looking all sexy on the neatorama site...

2009-04-06T15:44:00.004-05:00

Me, bitches!

Check out the store for other awesome shirts, and other goodies.

I am totally thinking about changing my job title to be Software Engineer/Model, cause that would be awesome.

Back from CO...

2009-03-31T13:36:00.002-05:00

My cousin's wedding went well, although for a bit I didn't think I was actually going to get to see it. We flew out on Thursday, our original flight was for 3:30pm but was canceled because of a snow storm. We got bumped to a 6:30pm flight, but when we landed the Blizzard was still in effect. So instead of renting a car, we decided to let someone else do the driving. Grabbed a taxi and then took the $120 ride to our hotel (we went to Denver, wedding/hotel was in Golden). For the rest of the trip the weather was awesome, but just that day we flew in it sucked.

My cousin did a fusion Japanese/Traditional wedding, she wore a beautiful kimono, and they did the 9 sake thing, as well as the normal stuff. The food and drink selection for the reception was awesome! Two kinds of sake as well as full bar, and then sushi on the buffet setup! Saturday, John, My brother, Anne, Emily and I did the Coors Brewery tour (highly recommended) and then just hung out in Historic Golden till we had to head to a family gathering. My uncle was renting a condo so we headed to his place for a get together, it was at the top floor of some 50 story building. The view of Denver was great.

Sunday John and I had the day to ourselves. We went shopping down the 6th street mall (a outdoor pedestrian street with shops), then hit the Colorado History Museum (we were desperate and had a lot of time to kill), and then ran out to Red Rocks (natural outdoor auditorium). By then it was time to hit the airport, and head home.

Forgot my camera, so I have to bug my brother to get some pics from him.

Just cause I am 26 doesn't mean I can't wear t-shirts to work...

2009-03-19T11:05:00.003-05:00

So here is the newest batch of threadless tees, I have trying not to buy so many t-shirts because I should probably start dressing more like a grown up and all, since I did hit 26 this year. But then when I saw they were having the sale again, and there were some $5 tees I actually liked, I couldn't help myself.

BTW: Homemade skittle shots did not turn out the best, but they were pretty tasty mixed with stuff. But we also tried a recipe for Apple Pie shots, mmmm those were yummy.

Another reason I can still use a "student" discount....

2009-02-26T17:17:00.000-06:00

Created by Train Horn

My next project/christmas gift idea...

2009-02-11T00:29:00.002-06:00

God I need to get off of icanhascheezburger.com, but yay for randomly browsing the interwebs for they have lead me to the awesomeness that is skittle flavored vodka.

A laptop with it's own fragrence....

2009-01-09T13:44:00.002-06:00

Ok I will do an update post later, I just had to share this link because I am just absolutely confused to how this product even came about.

I will let the marketing materials speak for me...

This ASUS® F6V-V is Performance-tuned. Microsoft tested.

The ASUS® F6V Designer notebook represents a unique combination of features that will appeal to all senses. These thin and light weight solutions are packed with powerful features and include a stylish high-gloss finish with unique designs at an affordable price. Select from multiple combinations of scents and colors to reflect your personality. With Windows Vista Home Premium, this becomes your ultimate on-the-go fashion accessory, helping you stay connected and organized. Multiple colors with distinctive designs and scents available including:

* Bloom (pink) with floral fragrance
* Surf (blue) with ocean breeze fragrance
* Vital (green) with fresh meadow fragrance
* Extreme (black) with musk fragrance

If you read that again, yes, that is a laptop that has a distinctive design and SCENT associated with it. Say what?!? Who in their right mind saw all the laptops out in the market and decided their was a deficiency with smelly laptops? And then also the questions are raised, is it scratch and sniff? How long does the fragrance last?

But really, what the hell Asus?? They have an entire series (ASUS F6V Series) dedicated to being scented laptops.

Ohh you wanted to see the final product?

2008-10-31T14:12:00.003-05:00

So here is my work costume...

My Pam Costume

For heading out tonight I will be the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. The group should be pretty awesome!

Work cosume party...

2008-10-30T13:21:00.002-05:00

So my work is having a costume contest and I think I am going to actually wear something more then just devil horns. I don't really feel like wearing my white rabbit costume (come on ears all day?) and there is always to fall back costume of a software pirate (arggh give me all your mp3s) but somehow working for a software company, and then dressing up as someone who pirates software, hmmmm doesn't seem to be to good of an idea. So I am going to go as Pam Beesly from The Office. I have watched all of the first season (well that was when I wasn't fast forwarding it, I get embarrassed for the people!) and I like it, and well it seems like a low key thing but I am still participating. So I made a Dunder Mifflin badge today (it is a company Halloween party so I figure you know this is them helping me with my costume) and then I printed off some Dunder Mifflin letterhead. I am either going to wear a button up shirt and a skirt or a turtle neck and a skirt. I don't have a pink cardigan or else I would totally wear that. I will put my hair half up and then scrunch it with some gel. Any more ideas to add to the costume?

I will put up pics later, but for now here's my badge!

Weekend update a few days late...

2008-10-28T14:39:00.002-05:00

I have had a really hard two weeks at work. I am glad they are over and the bulk of the project is done with. 12 hour days suck, and are just so draining, but hopefully because I made the deadline early everyone will be happy, well that is until they start wanted fixes and can't figure out how to install it correctly. At least I have until then.

But this last weekend was awesome. KP came up from KC and stayed with me. On friday we tried to hit a Goth party @ Nico but it looked uber crowded so we went across the street to another bar in our Goth finery (I will be putting pictures up on facebook later) and enjoyed a few drinks there. Had a weird encounter with a boy who thought he needed lecture us that Jeaniy and I were robbing KP of her chances of hooking up with a table of guys who were sitting nearby. I wonder what brought that on, cause he certainly hadn't made any effort except for the stupid lecture. Ooooh well, we just kinda stared him down and laughed about it. Then came back and tried our hand at the new DDR, in our goth wear.

Saturday I helped KP henna her hair (she went with the brick from Lush), which turned out awesome. Then we hit up the hockey game (which the mavricks totally kicked ass in) and then back to the apartment for drunken talk and video games! KP and I made it untill 4am and then hit the sack.

Great weekend, and not once did I think about work!

I swear I don't usually go to these sites...

2008-10-23T17:11:00.002-05:00

...but it was on digg and caught my eye. And of course right below is a sideshow of Elyse Umemoto Miss Washington racy pictures, but one stood out to me.

Anyone else notice that red shot glass? Huskers hmmm? Wonder how that got all the way out in Washington?

Sometimes I am jealous of janitors...

2008-10-23T13:19:00.001-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with my job. I love when I can solve a particularly tricky bug in the code (especially one that might have eluded other people). And I love when I can answer a truly in-depth technical question that you can only answer when you truly know your software product. But at that same time, I am frustrated to tears when I can't solve a problem and I have absolutely no hope of help, and I do not have enough technical knowledge to solve it alone. Or when I am in the middle of debugging a particularly buggy project.

It dawned on me the other night, when I was still at work at 7pm, with the janitors making their rounds around the floor to pick up trash, and vacuum, that I was jealous of them. Our jobs really aren't that different at times, we both have to clean up other peoples crap. Coding sometimes is like trying to clean up a room in the dark, you don't know when the job is done, and you will probably end up missing stuff because you couldn't see it.

Is that you Mr. J...

2008-10-20T13:01:00.002-05:00

So who else thinks this looks a whole lot like Mr. J from America's Next Top Model?

Cyberintruders?

2008-10-16T12:09:00.002-05:00

Really USAToday is that the best you can come up with? And when did this become all one word?

And PLEease check out the first line:
Cyberintruders used the Internet to crack into at least 18 computer servers at the World Bank Group last July.

What they used the Internet? How the hell else would they remotly crack into servers? Is it really necessary to point the fact out? Ohh yea I forgot, don't you have to write at a 4th grade reading level? Might as well call them L334 H4ck0rz, you will sound just as intelligent.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2008-10-12-world-bank-hackers_N.htm

To Carve or not to carve...

2008-10-16T11:58:00.004-05:00

So I think I have found what I am going to try and carve my pumpkin as this year.

Courtesy of Pumpkin Way

I say try, because I am not good at carving pumpkins. It is sticky, and the knives are either too small or too large and I always end up with pumpkin guts on my shoes. But it seems like every other year I end up attempting to carve a pumpkin (it takes me about a year in between for me to forget my last experience and to start thinking that this is a good idea).

Also I have gotten some bunny ears, tail and bow tie (it was a pack) in preparation for the white rabbit costume from Alice in Wonderland. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to where for my pants and get a vest.

Another try with Henna...

2008-10-16T01:02:00.003-05:00

Punjab Henna and Indigo

Wanna see the new apartment...

2008-10-12T23:22:00.001-05:00

Check it out on facebook

I am all moved out...

2008-10-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

Well my work move is over, we are officially all moved into the new building. I am not really sure what I think about it yet. The cubes are smaller, but they are new. To colors in the building (beige, beige and more beige) aren't as bad as I thought it was going to be. But big downside, I am right by the break room. All I can here are people talking over coffee. Plus, I don't have to walk far to get my coffee, but damn it people I don't care about your conversations! Good thing I do my best work with my headphones on. Another downside is that my cube is kinda high traffic area, and my screen totally faces everyone passing by. Which makes me uber paranoid, cause well I am not necessarly doing work stuff all the time online. OOOhh and they also blocked Youtube and Google Video, and it will be any day now when they block hulu.

P.S. People, please do not take your cell phone to the break room, definitely not a private area!

Ok, and now for a real update...

2008-10-03T00:20:00.005-05:00

So I am all moved in. Jacki is still moving in, since she is coming from her parents house, she can take it all nice and slow. Good news, Jacki just got a real job! She is going to be assistant registrar at Bellevue University! Yay for Jacki!

Work is going all right, we are doing a major re-org, so I am not quite sure where I will be at when everything settles, but I do have a job.

God I have been such a social butterfly this week, Dinner with John Sunday/Monday/Tuesday. Johns Family BBQ Wednesday, Chads Bday Thursday, Hayrack ride Friday. I swear to god, I am doing nothing Saturday and Sunday. I will be surprised if I even change out of my pjs.

~Teeny

This is a update...

2008-10-03T00:20:00.001-05:00

Yay!!!!

Defcon...

2008-08-19T15:22:00.002-05:00

Rocked, frankly. I know, I know, Defcon was on August 8-10 and I am updating about it now? Yep, I am a slow ass when it comes to posts, hence why the blog title. Ok so Defcon was all about hacking, security vulnerabilities, ways to exploit/protect for those vulnerabilities, and a whole hell of a lot of computer/software related shit. It was awesome! I am so going again next year, and I hope to make it more about the drinking too, because dude, I didn't even get drink in Vegas once. Now one night I was pretty toasted, but not drunk. More drunkenness will be had next year! I will probably post later about my favorite talks, and the wall of sheep, but not right now. Let's just say the drama over the Subway hacking talk was fun, and the actual presentation (found on our handy dandy cds that were made before the injunction) was very informative.

So it looks like Jackie and I have found an apartment, don't know if Jeaniy has told anyone yet, but she is going to go of on her own (they grow up so quickly...) so I asked Jackie if she wanted to room, and she was pretty happy to have a chance to get out of her parents house. So we will be moving at the end of September, so whenever people come visit O! they have plenty of choices to pick from.

More detailed posts too come, and they should be sometime soon too :)

If you are gonna battle with the big guns...

2008-07-28T14:30:00.002-05:00

You gotta not crash the first time you get dugg! Tried to use Cuil, brand new search engine made by ex-google engineers, but hmmm it is already down. Now that doesn't sound like something that is going to be able to stand up to Google anytime soon...

Just one cup at a time...

2008-07-24T11:10:00.002-05:00

So I took a gamble on thistwo days ago. This sharesenseo site kinda looked like a scam, but a lot of people had written up that they had gotten their Seseo machines fine, so I decided what the hell and got one too. I usually just have one or two cups of coffee in the morning, usually at work where they already have the coffee made, but lately I have been craving better coffee then folgers. So I saw this offer, and I have always wanted to try one of those pod coffee systems and decided to go for it. But as soon as I entered my payment info and completed my order (thank god for paypal or else I wouldn't have done this offer) the page said it would ship in 4-6 weeks! But I want my coffee now! So I was a bit disappointed, but it is like a $70 value for $15 bucks (shipping) so I figured I could hold on. But just yesterday I received a DHL notification that my senseo is already on it's way! Yay, so my machine is currently in Memphis and I might even get my coffee maker by the weekend!

What makes a muffin a muffin?

2008-07-21T14:28:00.002-05:00

Is it the use of the muffin tin or the ingredients? Because there can be sweet muffins and then savory muffins. And then question becomes, what is the difference between a muffin and a scone? Is a scone a hard muffin or is a muffin a confined scone?

Deep stuff people, deep stuff.

Just to introduce you a bit to my world, this thought was because I am trying to brainstorm a tricky javascript error I am getting just on websphere, not on tomcat. This is how my brain is wired 1. Computers, 2. Food, at anytime these subjects will be interrupted with each other, or whatever the hell else I am thinking about.

$1.50 Cheesecake???

2008-07-18T10:00:00.004-05:00

I am so there! Mark the date, July 30th 2008 @ Cheesecake Factory.

News Release

My new favorite webisode show...

2008-06-30T13:18:00.000-05:00

I can't wait till this comes out!

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

At least there wasn't a tornado this time...

2008-06-30T10:54:00.003-05:00

Yea so this is what it kinda looked like in Omaha at about 4:50pm.

This is before the storm hit the Quest Center hardcore. It actually ripped off some of the buildings roof, and there was still construction being done when the Olympic Swim Trials started. I will write a post later about how volunteering at the swim trials went.

Wonderful more tornadoes...

2008-06-11T19:21:00.002-05:00

Looks like they are going to hit SW Omaha, since Jeainy and I are in NW, we should be fine. The rain just hit, pretty bad, but no hail yet!

e.l.f. cosmetics scam?

2008-06-09T16:03:00.002-05:00

So while browsing my daily blogs (yes I have blogs I read daily) there was a post on WiseBread that caught my eye. E.L.F. cosmetics were on sale for just a $1 each. Well me being a huge makeup fan, thought this was an awesome deal that needed to be checked out. Also there was a coupon code (CAROLINA) for %50 off your order up to $15 (so pretty much if you spend $15 get $7.50 off). After reading some reviews it looks like there are a lot of mixed opinions on the brand. Some people love it, some people are calling it a scam. I am not going to cancel my order (I got 15 bucks worth of stuff and pretty much free shipping with the coupon code), I am interested to see how it turns out. Because if it is something that I end up liking, it would be awesome just to pay $1 for each item! If not, well that $15 I could have bought some drinks with, but I did learn my lesson, plus I have spent more money on one mascara before then what my entire order cost (and I still hold that the DiorShow mascara was worth it). Well we will see, also supposedly shipping takes a long time... Good thing I didn't order anything I needed right away, which then takes into account, if I didn't need anything, why did I order stuff? Hmmm I am just going to blame it on being a girl, and seeing $1 makeup and not being able to resist.

Twister in Omaha...

2008-06-09T11:16:00.002-05:00

Yep we are all ok. Kinda a scary night, but we just holed up in my bathroom with pillows, our purses, my viola, and cosmos. All this bad weather and tornado warnings happened at around 2:30am. There was a touchdown, but not in our area, but it did touch down right next to where Jenny works at. No deaths, no serious injures, but a lot of house and businesses had damage. Also, where my work is moving to had some damage so it isn't clear when we will be moving now. Which is kinda ok with me, because that means I don't have to do a long drive for a while.

Threadless time!!!!

2008-06-02T20:43:00.002-05:00

Wooot it's been like a year since I have gotten a new shirt, ok so maybe it was Decemeber last time I got a shirt, but technically that is last year!

Here's my new shirts that I should be getting by the end of the week.

Wine Picks...

2008-05-26T17:13:00.004-05:00

Ok yea 2 posts in a day! So I have been doing a lot wine stuff lately (John and I have been going to a wine tasting each week) and I did a Wine101 class just a couple weeks ago. So I think I am going to start a new thing where I am going to post about wine I loved. This will allow me to keep track of what I like (you would be surprised at how easy it is to forget).

So the first two wines on my list.

Elio Perrone Moscato d'Asti Sourgal, 2007

A semi-sparkling wine from Italy, very sippable and sweet, without be too much.

Mud House Sauvignon Blanc

So far my favorite sauvignon blanc, light crisp and with a hint of grapefruit and citrus.

Memorial Day Update...

2008-05-26T16:40:00.005-05:00

So I decided not to go home this memorial day, although I am regretting it a bit now. I just called home and it sounded like everyone was having a grand old time over dinner, and I really wanted to be there. But then I have to remind my self about gas prices, and the 5 hour drive there and then another 5 hour drive back, and it doesn't look as fun! I will be heading back for the 4th, and I don't even want to know what gas prices are going to be like then.

I have finally uploaded my pics of what my hair looks like a full month after I hennaed:

My hair is still a lot more even toned then before I hennaed, but more of my highlights are showing through and it is more red then before. I am still happy with the henna job, and if anything, I think my hair is waver. But that could also be because it is longer.

And below is what $120 can buy you from target.com

Yep that is 7 shirts, 2 shoes, 1 purse (well really a clutch), and a belt, plus an awesome headscarf that is not pictured)

Ohh I love target.com, the real store is all well and good, but it seems like some really deep discounted items you can only find on target.com. Plus it seems like they always have some free shipping deal going on, which is usually something that prevents me from buying something online. I just hate paying shipping charges! That's probably why I do Amazon prime too!

ANNOUNCEMENT! If you haven't heard KP will be coming back from Benin on Labor Day!! I know I am going to be down in KC to welcome her home, we should really plan some festivities!

~Teeny

There is a reason this is called Random Updates...

2008-05-22T11:11:00.001-05:00

Yea so it has been like a month since I last posted, sorry. Well I am still liking my hair, it has lightened from the pictures, but the ends still have a lot more color then before I tried Henna. I will try and get a pic up later for comparison, cause I am a geek like that. Just been busy at work, handling a uplift and trying to do support at the same time. Definitely keeps me busy! Went and saw Ironman with John, and loved it! Really it is just as good as the first Spiderman, and in a differently league then the Superman movie. It is so sad that I don't have much more to say, but things are going well!

My Henna for Hair experience...

2008-04-28T10:44:00.003-05:00

So about 2 weeks ago I got it in my head to try hennaing(?) my hair. When browsing through a Lush magazine (very dangerous btw, way too many products I want to buy) and I saw that they now sell Henna bricks. Kind of pre mixed henna for a couple different colors. I was all set and ready to try this out, but then I saw that the price about 20 some bucks and then I would also have to pay about 8 bucks for shipping. I decided I could probably find a better deal then that.

Didn't find anything on Amazon, but a quick google search later and I found hennaforhair.com. Not the best web design in the world, but it does have a handy little ebook, that contains everything you would ever want to know about henna. I then decided on the formula I wanted to try (300g Henna and 100g Indigo) to make a reddish brown. Turns out on the site that they sell kits for different mixes of henna, and they had the formula I wanted to try plus they include a pair of gloves (most definitely needed those). The kit was 20.50 but this included shipping! So score, 8 bucks cheaper then Lush, plus I kinda liked the idea of mixing it myself. I ordered the kit on Wednesday, and it was delivered (usps) on Saturday (or Friday because I didn't get my mail then) and I mixed the henna and let it sit over night. I mixed the henna with lemon juice like it said, and then added some ginger and cloves in to the sludge because I read those would help with the smell. Then on Sunday around noon I mixed up the indigo (this you are only suppose to mix 5 minuted before you use) and then mixed the two together. As you can see from the pictures below, the consistency of both is pretty much mud.

I then sectioned off my hair and proceeded to slather on the mud. Boy was this part messy, luckily I had lined my floor with younkers catalogs (I get an amazing amount of these). So about 15 minutes later I have my hair throughly covered, and then wrap my head up in saran wrap and then a towel. I had decided on leaving it in for about four hours cause that seemed a good amount of time (it said anywhere between 1-5 hours). I only lasted about 3 1/2 hours, mostly because it started dripping through the saran wrap so I decided that was probably enough time. Now washing that stuff out of my hair was interesting, it was still very thick and now had dried out a bit so it was also gritty. I would say it probably took about 10 minutes just standing under the shower to get the majority of it out, and then I put on some conditioner and rinsed. When drying my hair I could definitely tell it felt thicker, and I really liked the color. Now over the next two days the color is supposed to deepen somewhat, so I will try to remember to put another pic up of what my final hair color looks like. Overall I really enjoyed my henna experience, I felt it gave great coverage, because sometimes when I dye my hair myself, I always seem to miss a spot or two, but not this time! Also my hair feels healthier and a ton thicker then before. Also the henna did not cover up my highlights like dying it would have, they are still there just a little darker then before, and a little redder. It did have some cons though, I did not like the smell at all, next time I am using a ton more ginger and cloves in my henna. And I did seem to dirty a ton of towels and some of the henna drips all over my robe. But I think I would definitely do this again.

Before Henna:

After Henna:

Day 2 Henna:

Links:
Henna Website

Playing around with Jott...

2008-04-25T14:17:00.001-05:00

So I have been trying out a lot of new productivity tool lately (iwantsandy.com, Joost) and some cool stuff (mostly just GrandCentral). And I have just starting a system to kinda combine my use of this stuff. Really I probably wouldn't use any of these tools just by themselves, but combined you can really do some awesome things. Ok to explain, Jott in a online applcation that translates voice to emails. Pretty much you call in and it will send an email to who or what you state. Iwantsandy.com is an online email person assistant, send emails to her and she will keep track of notes and send you email reminders. GrandCentral is online application that gives you a phone number that will let you treat different groups of people differently, and forwards the calls to your cell/work/home. So for example, you might use this phone number when signing up for free stuff and then can screen all the soliciting calls.

So how I am using them together is if I am out and about and find a book I want to read, I can call Jott who will email Sandy to remember the book title and price. Pretty neat huh? Or also I am out on a walk and I remember that I need to by some milk before I come home, I just call Jott and add milk to my grocery list that is on Sandy. I use my GrandCentral number for Jott account, this allows me to direct which phone (cell/work) I will get reminder text messages on. Also it allows me some more protection if spammers get a hold of that number, I can block them a lot easier on my GrandCentral number then on my cell. What's awesome about all of these is that they are free. I am definitely still playing around with my system, tweaking it still.

Also you can blog from Jott, but that is something I still need to check out! Anybody try this one yet?

Check out the links if you want to try these:
Sandy
Jott
GrandCentral

Everybody was kung-foo fighting...

2008-04-24T11:44:00.002-05:00

So I have kicking around the idea of taking some sort of martial art. I have been doing ice skating for the past year and a half, and love it, but I guess I just want to try something more physical.

I have been looking at different martial arts places here in Omaha, and there are quite a few to choose from. Mostly I just want a place that isn't too far, has adult oriented programs, doesn't cost too much and I don't have to purchase too much equipment. With all these in mind, my choices are definitely are narrowed down.

The other day when I was attempting to jog (because really as soon as I start jogging I last maybe a minute and then have to slow down to a fast walk) I went past a martial arts place that is maybe a block away from my apartment, walking distance really. And I thought to myself, wow I would have no excuse about missing a class if I went to that place. So I looked up the website and it actually looks really cool. Right now I am trying to figure what I would have to buy to participate in the Thaibox lessons, but it looks pretty fun.

We'll see if I end up doing it, but if I do, I will definitely post some pics of my kicking some ass!

I am now offically a professional psychic...

2008-04-17T11:07:00.002-05:00

New website I am checking out, all you have to do is predict future events and if you predict right, get some dough!

I decided what the hell, and decided to use my psychic powers for profit!

No I didn't get a tan...

2008-04-09T10:54:00.003-05:00

But I did try to get some time out in the sun. So sorry for this follow up post being so late, I did get back from Disneyworld last Sunday. It was a lot of fun! We (mostly me and Lars, Jana joined us for out afternoon/evening outings) hit up all the parks, Magical Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (I still thought this was named MGM Studios), Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. Now you have to remember that I did this in three days. I think my favorite rides were Rocky Mountain railway in Magical Kingdom, and Everest in Animal Kingdom. Luckily Lars is over 48 inches even though he is just 6, and I was able to take him on the bigger rides. Although I couldn't get him to go on the Aerosmith rollarcoaster in Hollywood Studios, we really did hit up a lot of other rides. The weather was pretty awesome there, mostly 70's partly cloudy. Which is fine by me, because I probably would have burnt if it was any sunnier! I did get some time by the pool, but it was probably just three hours the whole trip. It is amazing out expensive the food was there! It makes me very thankful that Jana was paying for my meals, pretty much I had to just pay for my ticket out to Orlando and everything else was paid for! Really I think I made out great. If anyone wants to see pics, I put some up on facebook, although I couldn't help posting my favorite of Lars below.

So the boss finally decided yesterday who gets to go to the Java conference, and I didn't get picked. I am pretty disappointed, but I know that I do have a customer trip that should be scheduled around that time, but damn it, the customer thing has already been rescheduled like two or three times. Orginally I was supposed to do the customer thing in February! But in better news, I am going to go to DefCon!!! I am sooooo excited about this, it is the biggest hacker convention and it is in Las Vegas every year! I am going with my brother, a coworker and maybe my brother-in-law.

Well back to work for me,
Teeny

Disneyworld ho!

2008-03-25T23:11:00.003-05:00

Yep I am going to be gone for the rest of the week in Orlando, FL visiting all the wonderful Disney world parks!!! I am so excited, it will be, my older sis Jana and her kid Lars. I will be heading to the parks most of the day with Lars and then Jana will meet up with us after her conference meetings in the afternoons!

Hopefully I don't get burnt to bad! Or blind anyone, cause DAMN I am pale.

Over and out,
Teeny

Drunk Update...

2008-03-23T02:29:00.000-05:00

Soo I am blogging sem-intoxicated. I was the DD, but don't worry, I was only buzzed, but occurding to the commericals buzzed driving is drunk driving, but how the fuck do you get around other wise???? It is not like you take a fucking taxi in this town. Ok, so friday I get the day off for good friday. Yay!! Sleep in time! I just have to stop writing right now and pay triubute to the double cheeseburger gods, mmm thank you for this days two pattys topped with cheese pickles and onions, amen. Ok to continue had an entire day planned, working out, studying, you know all that jazz, what did I end up doing?? Sleeping till around noon and well that was about it. Damn day wasted. Kinda sad cause me and Jenny have not gotten to really hang out since my birthday and she was sick then. We were suppose to hang out tonight, but she ended up going to Lincoln. Sorry I might have been a little bit short on the phone, mostly cause I was upset that you weren't going to hang out tonight.

Well work wise, I might get a chance to got to a conferece for java (JavaOne) but my boss has not decided yet.

Ok so that was my update KP!!

Wow the Marketing department is working overtime...

2008-03-11T14:55:00.000-05:00

So I am waiting for my new iPod to come. Long story short, my other mp3 player got its screen stepped on and I would need to replace the screen in order to use it. Screen cost about $100 and if I wanted another zen (that is if I could find another one) it would cost me right around $200, so I took option three and decided to get a new iPod. So really not the most cost effective thing, and I should have saved my money and replaced the screen, but that takes time. I want my MP3's and I want them now. So I got my iPod shipped overnight from Amazon (oh Amazon how I love you so, let me count the ways) and I am expecting it before 3pm. Well the site says that it should be delivered before 3. Me being the impatient person that I am, decided to call up my apartment complex and see if the fedex truck has arrived yet (fedex and UPS alway come around 4 so I don't know why this it is going to be different today). I have to look up the phone number for the apartment office, cause really I can't be bothered to write it down or memorize it, and one of the listings for my apartment complex caught my eye"

Downtown only 12 minutes away ... Close to I-680, West Dodge Road and Maple Street ... 24-hour mega fitness center, sparkling pool, spa, and sauna. BE A PART OF THE LION'S DEN: LIVE AT LIONSHEAD. Truly the one and only apartment community for the trend setting socialites of Omaha, LionsHead is where you'll want to hang your hat. Our Northwest Omaha apartments offer the ultimate combination of the three L's; location, lifestyle, and luxury.

Wow that is a lot of marketing BS. Not that I don't like my apartment, it is clean, fairly cheap (well for Omaha) and the neighbors aren't too loud. But really 12 minutes away from downtown, yea right, 15 on a good day, and really did they time it? Oooh and 24-mega fitness center?!? Where the hell is that? You mean the little dinky room at the bottem of the apartment office? The one with the equipment from the 80's and a hot tub that has not been filled in 2 years? Yea I think not. Plus Jenny tried to go super early one day (5am, 6am?) and the mega fitness center was closed. Also the one at the nearby apartment complex? Yea that is only open from 6am - 11pm. Not 24 hours. And don't even get me started on the "trend setting socialites of Omaha", I see more retirees then anyone under the age of 30.

Richdale Marketing department, I call BS!

So far so good...

2008-03-04T15:42:00.001-06:00

Well I haven't had to pay for lunch yet, but I did end up packing my lunch because I have a huge amount of leftovers from my party on Saturday. Not sure how long this will last because damn it, I am lazy and I hate driving all over the place during my lunch hour!

So I ended doing a "Back to Maryville" party. Had Tony's party pizzas, Jack a roos (ended up mixing orange juice, vodka and blue curcao and kinda tastes like I remember, but it is hard to remember a drink that you only drunk when you were drunk) and then had some beer and cranberry juice for backup if the jack a roos didn't turn out. Ended up having about 8-9 people over, and then we hit a bar at around 9:30 ish. It was a little bit skezy, but Michelle said it reminded her of her high school. Saw some awesomely bad white boy dancing, and overall was not too impressed. Really the high point of that bar (2010 Cafe) was that they had $.50 draws. Then headed over to Club Patrick, which was not too much classier, but had a whole bunch more people there. We called it a night after grabbing some McDonald's. So it really did end like a night in Maryville. I got two double cheeseburgers (what can I say, a girl has got to eat?) and Kyle kept on telling me I should eat them stacked on top of one another. It was a tempting thought, but I ended up eating them one at a time, and yes I did pretty much finish both of them.

My orchestra concert on Sunday went well, I screwed up some bowings, but really who doesn't? And then John and I went out for Japanese, and then ended up watching some Farscape back at his apartment.

Overall, a good weekend.

Plus Jenny is feeling better again, too bad she was still a little out of it and couldn't go out with us on Saturday.

Teeny

Can I make it a week without paying for my lunch...

2008-02-26T15:40:00.002-06:00

or Dinner, and sometimes breakfast?

So it is my birthday on Sunday. Yep the big 2-5. Kinda excited, because I am really hoping that my car insurance premium goes down. Isn't that what happens at 25? Well anyways, I got a coupon for a free ice cream at ColdStone creamery in honor of my birthday. And that got me thinking, how many meals (yes ice cream is going to be considered as a meal) can I get for free cause its my birthday? So with a little help from Google found this site and just signed up for a bunch of birthday clubs.

So the plan so far is:

Sunday March 2nd (Actual Birthday)

Lunch = Taco Bell (Supposedly you get a free combo meal)
Dinner = Provided by Boyfriend (I think we are either going for Japanese or Persian)

Monday March 3rd

Lunch = Diner @ work campus (free meal - show ID)
Snack = Cold Stone Creamery (free love-it size creation)
Dinner = Moe’s Southwest Grill (free burrito coupon)

Tuesday March 4th

Lunch = Arby's (coupon for sandwich)
Dinner = Famous Dave’s Barbecue (free meal coupon)

Wednesday March 5th

Breakfast = Krispy Kreme (free 1/2 dozen donuts coupon)
Lunch = Qdoba (free burrito coupon)
Dinner = Red Robin (free burger coupon)

Thursday March 6th
Snack/Lunch = Diary Queen (free Blizzard)
Dinner = Noodles & Company (free meal coupon)

Friday March 7th
Lunch = Ruby Tuesday (coupon for free appetizer)

Ok so the plan is ambitious, and well not that healthy at all, but hell I am not going to have to pay that much for one week of kinda kickass food. Yes I might be a few pounds heavier, but at least I will be happy!

Mmmmm Green Tea...

2008-02-08T14:28:00.000-06:00

*happy dance* I love my green tea. Today is Friday, I am almost done for the day (and ready for happy hour!), and I am drinking a cup of green tea. Life is pretty awesome right now! Oooh and I have laser tag with John to look forward tonight *continues happy dance*

New Palette...

2008-02-07T13:34:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of COLOURlovers

My newest obsession...

2008-01-23T12:14:00.000-06:00

Audiobooks! It took me a little while to get used to "reading" these things, but it is amazing how they can make menial tasks go quickly. I mostly just listen to them while working out, because really who likes spending a half an hour on a treadmill? I have a short attention span, and next to no drive to hop up on a treadmill, so if I reward myself with an audiobook, presto, a half an hour is gone and I got my cardio workout done. Also I find that listening to them while cleaning/doing dishes, really makes things go faster. Cautionary note: If you just listen to audiobooks while lounging on your couch, you will look weird. Your eyes kinda go vacant, and you stare at random stuff for a long time. Unless you don't mind looking a little slack jawed, find something else to do while listening.

Recomendations: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
March Upcountry by David Weber
Any Harry Potter book

ps. I am a huge SciFi/Fantasy freak so that is mostly what I listen too, but there is a ton of other stuff out there.

Ok so this is my first post of 2008...

2008-01-09T12:58:00.000-06:00

Well I guess that is fine, cause its not like I made a resolution to blog more (although that would not be a bad idea). Now that I think about it, I really didn't make any resolutions.

Well since I haven't written in a long time, let me recap my holidays:

Went back to my hometown (which if I don't catch myself I still call it "home" although I guess Omaha is technically home, anyone else still do that?). Both of my sisters were able to make it back for Christmas. I really didn't see them that much, they did have pressing social engagements of hanging out with old boyfriends and sitting around hippy bars smoking keeping them busy. And surprise, they actually decided to get me Christmas presents this year (yea last year no presents from my sisters, I am not whining but this is the only time we do exchange gifts). My older sis was not able to make it back for Christmas but she was able to come the weekend after, but I had to head down to KC to meet up with everyone. The drive to KC was not bad at all, and driving about 80 mph really helps! Got to spend some quality time with KP, Michelle and Ryan. We hit the mall, and I made everyone spend way to much time in Sephora. Hit a casino that night, pretty fun, but the lights kinda freaked out KP. Then our big night out with Jeaniy, Joyce, Kyle, Rachel, Rachel's data (hmmm sorry forgot his name) and then KP, Michelle and Ryan. It was fun, cause we got to have the back room at the restaurant, anyone else feel very vip? Then hit a bar, we had intended for that to be plural, but it was a nice bar, and we were kinda winding down. Ooooh and they had a drink with Pop Rocks in it!! That officially makes it an awesome bar.

Sooo that was about it.

Since then has pretty much just been work. Joyce visited this past weekend, and we had a unsuccessful shopping trip trying to find her some jeans. Jean shopping is always a hard thing, and then when you actually buy jean you love it usually takes you several months of wearing them to make you realize they are your favorites and then when you do realize, you can't find any more to buy. I know,cause my favorite pair of jeans ever are a pair of Sliver jeans, and I cannot for the life of me, find anymore of them.

Kinda turns you off of shopping in general, that a what normal prices are for jeans now a days, and the ones you like are never on sale!

~Teeny