ABC's of Me

 (stolen from the lovely Rachel Buckingham)

A. Age: 23

B. Bed Size: full

C. Chore You Dislike: I really don't like vacuuming.

D. Dogs: I like them a lot. 

E. Essential Start to Your Day: I like to ease into my day, so I set an alarm that allows me to take my time getting ready so I don't have to rush around. I need a cup of coffee and something edible before anything of value really gets done (if, by a cup of coffee, you mean 2 or so.) 

F. Favorite Color: Orange, but I'm also a big fan of Navy blue. 

G. Gold or Silver: I'm a mixer and a matcher, but I tend to fall along silver and white gold more predominately. 

H. Height: 5'6"...ish. 

I. Instruments You Played: the flute...for five minutes of my adolescence. 

J. Job Title: Barista, student

K. Kids: Someday

L. Live: Portland, Oregon

M. Mom’s Name: Louise

N. Nicknames: I go by Lo, which is, in itself a nickname, but I get Lo-Lo, Loseph, Locifer, Loey, Love Bug, Lola, Lo down, and Loface a lot. 

O. Overnight Hospital Stays: two or three

P. Pet Peeves: People not answering communication or not communicating clearly, lack of punctuality, passive aggressive comments, strong strong perfume or cologne in public

Q. Quote From a Movie:

 "I want you to get into the deep beautiful melancholy of everything that's happened"

"Sometimes change can be so slow that you don't know that your life is better or worse until it is, or it can just blow you away and make you something different in an instant."

R. Righty or Lefty: Right

S. Siblings: Three brothers, one sister, and assorted in-laws

T. Time You Wake Up: This is different depending on the day. The usual is around 7-7:30, but the ideal is around 9 or 10. 

U. Underwear: Maybe? This is just a word...what is the correct response?

V. Vegetables You Don’t Like: Mushrooms, tomatoes (whether they count or not,) pickles, peppers...there are more I can't think of right now. 

W. What Makes You Run Late: Very little. My alarm not going off is the only one that comes to mind.

X. X-Rays You’ve Had: All of the standard and regular dental ones, and the most recent one in my recollection is injuring my ankle during a ballet final. 

Y. Yummy Food You Make: French onion soup, beef and onion enchiladas, chicken pot pie, hot chocolate, chocolate spiders.

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Seals and sea lions. 

If I could I would...(stolen from the lovely Rachel Buckingham)

If I could I would...

-start every day with a great cup of coffee ...or three

-work a job that allowed me a superb balance of time for work and travel/adventures

-take a trip all around Italy and Greece

-Do all 161 official scenic byways and highways

-have more free time for cooking and exploring

-never wear my best jeans to the point where they are unwearable

-wear flip flops year round

-live in a place where it rains at least half the time...long term (and I'm on my way)

-go to all 50 states

-visit every Canadian province and territory

-take cooking classes in Italy

-learn to tango

-have coffee mugs from every country in the UN

-go bungee jumping off of a bridge

-visit Israel

-go to Switzerland

-make a cheesecake from scratch

-host a Thanksgiving dinner

-finish writing a novel I can be proud of

-work for a recognized publishing house

-own rain boots for every day of the week

-have my house smell like apple cider, pumpkin pie, and fall leaves year-round

-visit Donegal Ireland and trace my ancestry

-spend some time in Alaska

-have a lake house somewhere tucked away

-live close enough to friends to continue to learn and teach about open-minded, forgiving, unconditional love

-go to Savannah, Georgia

-see Roswell, New Mexico

-start a catering company

-attend weddings of good friends as often as possible

-keep my eyes and my heart open

Settling in the Pacific Northwest and the scenic byway tour

On my drive out to Portland, Kacey and I stopped and did Beartooth Mountain. It's one of America's scenic byways and supposedly the most beautiful drive in America. I just thought that it would be a pretty stop on the way through to Oregon. Beartooth blew my mind. It was one of the best days I've had in memory, and I decided to consider looking into more scenic byways. Oregon has 9-10 official scenic byways and another handful of unofficial byways. I dragged my roommate out to do the Columbia River Gorge one to see if Beartooth Mountain was a fluke, or if I should be pursuing this. I had another absolutely breathtaking and wonderful day. As a result, I've decided to try to do as many of the official scenic byways in the United States as I can. I'm not going to spend every waking moment pursuing this goal, but it's something that brings me a lot of happiness, so I'm going to start pursuing it.

I have already finished the entire state of Wyoming and half of Montana having done Beartooth. Next up, I'm going to try to do most of the other 8 in Oregon and then Washington state. The pacific coast highway one will be more of an endeavour. It's a 12 hour drive minimum (and that's not counting stops).

Besides banging out scenic byways, life in Oregon brings me happiness everyday. I love the mix of the offbeat city culture and the proximity of the beautiful natural Northwest. I haven't been so at peace with staying put in...ever.

Turkey day and hectic sweet potato mania.

This week, starting on Thursday and running straight through until Sunday, I am doing three Thanksgivings. I find this to be hysterical since I'm not a big Thanksgiving person in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I' m big on being thankful and eating, but I dig those things year round. After Halloween, I'm totally ready for Christmas. I then proceed to irritate everyone who is anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving. Whoooops. Sorry guys ;)

I also cannot believe I'm going to be twenty two in pretty short order here. Time flies as soon as you hit 16, I swear. It's not that 22 is that old. I feel both older and younger than that at times. Overall though, time flies (whether you're having fun or not).

I miss a lot of people back at CCU, and I'm hoping desperately that I can visit them sometime soon. I would love that. I would love to see them before I embark on whatever adventure I'm getting dealt next in life.

Speaking of adventures,

ALL OF MY GRAD SCHOOL APPS ARE DONE. They are done. It is out of my hands entirely (which doesn't really sit so well with me. I suck and doing nothing and being patient. Here it goes...)

I am LOVING the New Moon soundtrack right now, and I am asking Angela to take me with her when she revisits the movie because I really dug it (I know...I'm dorky. )

Tomorrow I'm bodyshopping ALL day. Then, bring on turkey day part one. At least I kill food.

Quick highlights from England

-an 8 hour flight is long and uncomfortable
-an 8 hour flight is not as bad as a 24 hour flight from Australia
-a lot of australians, who have a butt ton of vacation time, come on European vacations
-Bath, England is gorgeous and full of culture
-London is busy, fast-paced, and essentially a European New York with a couple hundred years of extra history
-Bristol, England is not gorgeous. It's quite full of industry and although it has some neat features, it doesn't offer the same beauty that other parts of England do.
-England is not big on ice.
-Their car seats are better designed than ours are.
-Showers can be an adventure, and the water is very different all over the country.
-Canada has a lot in common with England.
-I've met a couple from Newcastle England, a man from New Zealand, a handful of Brits and 10 Aussies.
-Australian people are nice and use fun words like "kip" and "mate." They really do. I met a lady who runs a cattle ranch in the outback and talked to her for several hours over dinner.
-I love England.
-I do miss cold drinks.

Girly tomboy hypocrite

So today I start my first day of work at the Body Shop, and I realized I am doing exactly what I have told myself I shouldn't be doing: I am judging my fellow employees and the clientele prematurely. Everyone I have met so far at the Body Shop has seemed fully competent, very helpful, and kind. Yet, I am still joking around about putting on a fake, girlier personality to be a believable salesperson in a store full of beauty products. I'm full of it, and I'm stopping that now. So here's the facts as I see them

-I, admittedly, feel that seven items of makeup everyday is a lot of makeup. However, I understand the reason for the makeup requirement. For starters, how can we legitimately sell products we don't know much about and have no personal experience with? Having used the Body Shop products over the last couple days, I know I am going in with at least my experiences to go on for the first few days until I get educated about the rest of the store. Furthermore, I have to admit...it's good makeup. I love what it does for my skin, and they have some great neutral colour choices, so I won't look like a baby prostitute, which could really be possible wearing so much makeup. The items also don't feel heavy. Body Shop makeup gets an A in my book.
2. I have a huge tomboy side. I love to watch football, hockey, and soccer. I love to play poker. I curse...a lot. I live in t-shirts and jeans. However. I am being a bit of a hypocrite pretending that I am not the kind of person who shops at the body shop. I used to love their lipgloss and body butter lines, and I only stopped using them because the Strongsville location closed. On top of that, I wear some makeup nearly everyday, even if it is just concealer and mascara.
3. I am smart. I am capable. I also love to buy flavoured lipgloss, smell nice, and feel good about how I look.
4. The Body Shop and I might be a very good fit afterall.

Product reviews are certain to follow after I get educated about the products. Until then,

Your pedicure loving, action movie attending writer.

As a movie loving bookworm...

WARNING: Harry Potter 6 spoilers will appear in this entry. If you haven't seen the movie and you still intend to, stop reading.

I love books. I love movies. I love books more than I love movies. That being said, I feel that I am a relatively fair book-as-movie critic. I will admit when I enjoy the movie more than the book (the newest Pride and Prejudice, anyone?). I also understand when they cut elements out of the film that appear in the book: they cannot reasonably include everything.

Now, I have read all of the Harry Potter books, and I have seen all of the movies. I had my gripes when the directors and producers cut out minor characters (Peeves) and limited Quidditch scenes (or cut them out all together), but for the most part, I understood. I love it when they add witty one liners and comical scenes, when they change scenes to get an artsy shot or an angst-filled take. HOWEVER, what I don't like is when producers distort major aspects of a books plot line in the movie adaptation. It seems to me that if you want to adapt a book into a movie, it's because the book was good and people want to see it come to life. If you want to change the story, WRITE YOUR OWN DAMN BOOK AND TURN IT INTO A SCREENPLAY.

I saw the 6th installment of Harry Potter last night, and I must admit that if I look at is as just a movie (and forget the books ever existed), it was probably the best one of the movies yet. The dilemma here is that I can't forget that the books ever existed. I understand MOST of what they changed, but here are my qualms:

1. Harry was not petrified in the movie when Dumbledore died--That, to me, is a pretty major plot change because Harry could have chosen to step in and try to save Dumbledore, which the books make it clear he would have done. Doesn't that change things?
2. They cut out the Hogwarts battle all together- Bill never gets mauled by Fenrir, no one is injured, the school isn't destroyed, NOTHING. That was kinda the climax of the book, wasn't it?
3. They added a weird Ginny and Harry running through the forest/Weasley house fire scene, which, in my estimation, served no purpose except for to look dramatic.

All in all, the movie was funny and well done. My concern is that the producers seem to have less regard for the original story with each movie. This one proves that they don't even have to stick to the same plot line--what does that mean for the seventh ones?

I feel like the beginning of the first part of the seventh movie would have to be a running script (like a star wars intro) listing all of the things we missed in the sixth like

1. Oh, PS--everyone feels guilty about helping Snape reach Dumbledore because they all believed in him and cleared his path...
Also, Ron has a brother named Bill---he was mauled by a werewolf, but he isn't a werewolf. He's marrying that chick from the fourth movie--remember her?
Oh, you should also know Ginny didn't cheat on her boyfriend, they broke up before she and Harry got together....we forgot to mention that. Eeep, also: McGonagall is now headmistress.
Oh yeah...Harry and Ginny kinda broke up too...but wait, they were never really together so...

Aw, hell....just read the books.

I'm done ranting now. As I said, mostly well done, but if you're going to cut things out because you say it isn't possible to do the whole book, please don't take the liberty of adding major plot twists that simply didn't exist in the story.

Sincerely,

Your loving reader and viewer.