That’s a Good Question


How cute is that? She (Miffy) is a gift of sorts from an overseas friend that connected to me from my blog. Oh how cool is that?! Kay is the third person that has written to me after reading my blog. So she’s been reading it for a while and had some questions. She’s from Great Britain so she didn’t know some American things that I right about. And since she is not the only non-American reader I thought I would answer the questions here as well as in an email to her. Oh, but before I forget you can make your own Miffy with this: Download miffy_blue.pdf
. You simply print it out, snip, snip, glue, glue, and you too can have your own Miffy. Don’t be scared by the Japanese instructions, just look at the diagrams and you’ll get it. So to the questions (Kay is in green)
I have been following this for a while and blimey you’re energetic, this is a great blog but I have a few things I don’t understand and hope you can clear up for me my love:
OK, what is scrapbooking (she hesitantly asks)? Maybe that’s like saying ‘so, what’s the whole essence of your life?’ but we most certainly don’t have this phenomenon and I would like to know?  Is it your job?  What is your job?  Have you finished university now?  How on earth do you make a living?
Well what is scrapbooking? I think most basically it is taking pictures and putting them together with journaling to create a book that holds memories. I told Kay to check out Creating Keepsakes Magazine since they are like the number one scrapbooking magazine. You can also go to Two Peas in a Bucket a scrapbooking mega site. They have shopping, galleries of work, message boards, and a design team, called the creating garden that has some awesome examples of what can be done with scrapbooking. Yes, I scrapbook a lot, but I am trying not to make it the whole essence of my life. Though, be warned, if you know me well enough you will probably get something homemade and artsy for a gift at some point. My job. Well I don’t exactly have one right now. I’m on a break. I quit my job in late December and have been scrapbooking and traveling since then. I think I know what I want to do now, but I’m going to wait just a little big longer before I tell everyone so I can be sure. I graduated last June with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts and a Minor in Business Administration. How do I make a living? Um I sell some stuff on eBay, but mainly living off my savings from when I did work right now.
I like the apple.  Very good my chick, i am writing to you from my little iBook (and would not swap it for the world) so I share in your apple glory – I think you should work out how to list things on eBay though. Come on girl, don’t let the side down!  What is Alma mater? Nice new shoes, very nice new hair,  what the bloody hell is an inversion table? That nasty sugary egg thing sounds revolting, but I don’t like sweet stuff so maybe I’m not the best judge really.
I love Macs, enough said. 🙂 Okay okay I am going to be listing some more things on eBay, I’ll have bj post a link on the blog to them. An Alma Mater is a school you graduated from or went to. An inversion table is to help your back. Apparently if you hang upside down enough you can straighten out your back and relieve pain. I don’t know I think it is just kind of funny. Bj said it made him feel sick to hang upside down. Not many other people like those eggs either.
Okay so those were some answers. Now I hope everyone knows a little more about me! But still no one has answered mine, who is that little McDonald’s guy?

Odd things on the road

Bj and I drove back from the Tri-Cities today in the afternoon. Instead of pouring rain we got… extreme wind!!!  Yeah!!!  And when you are in a desert environment that means tumbleweed, cool. We were driving into the sun for a while. Bj was fine with that though, after he found these:


They used to be my mom’s and they have been in the Acura as a back up for 15 years, so they are quite “classic.” Before Hood River it started getting rainy instead of just windy. I did manage to get this picture of some gigantic tires, what are these for?



Bj says giant dump truck, Sciarrino says one of those big rigs that runs over smaller cars, and I say, “those are tires, damn.”  At the end of interstate 84 Bj asked my favorite question, “205 or do you want to go through the city?” My mom always asks me that when she picks me up from the airport. I’ve actually never said 205, I love going through the city so much. I love going over the bridges, and Portland is so pretty at night, even though it was pouring, so of course I said, “Through the city!” Just as we were getting through Bj asked if I really liked, “living in a water park year round.” Referring to the rain, rain, and more rain. And I really do. I’ve thought about it before. We didn’t get much rain this winter, actually a really low amount for us, and I missed it! I love nice rainy days. We got off I-5 at Salem to take the paper in for my mom. I’ve been passing this billboard for a while, and finally had the camera and was a passenger:


Bj says, “Ya, so it’s looks like they are just fixing it up or something.” “Those don’t look like two big tire tracks and you don’t think that rock was kicked out when the rig backed up?” “Well ya, that’s tire tracks, but they’re just fixing it up.” What do you think?  I think there is a big rig out there with rocks and dirt in the grill. Okay so the final question I’ll pose for the night: “What are these character’s names? I’m specifically interested in the purple one.
Mc
And do you remember the old McDonald’s play grounds? Man, I hadn’t had these cookies for a long time, and they brought back some memories. Oh, one final funny thing from Bj (regarding submitting layouts and stuff):
“Honey, you need to get your stuff out there.
Do you think they are just going to call you out of the blue?”
“well, no”
“Amber, do you have any layouts, we just picked you at random”
Bj in a high squeaky voice: “Hey I do.”
“Okay send us one layouts and we’ll send you $12,000 and a new car.”
LOL he’s right, I’ve got to start submitting!

The world upside down

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Bj and I were up here in the Tri-Cities, Washington area with his parents. We pretty much just relaxed up here. I got my hair highlighted just a little in the morning, it makes me look a little perkier. Last night we rented The Incredibles and I finally got to see what everyone was talking about! It was so good. And if you haven’t rented it on DVD you should because there is a new short film added to it, Jack Jack Attack, that is really funny. Other than that we just hung around. These pictures are of Bj and I on his parent’s inversion table, that thing cracks me up! It is really relaxing though!

At the races again, and shorty’s back


Isn’t Aj a cutie?  Bj and I got up super early this morning to drive down to the WSU vs. OSU race in Dexter. Here are the results. Like Bj said, “An hour and a half of watching and we got to see 20 seconds of racing. But that’s not the point… the point is freezing your ass off.” No Bj! The point is seeing everyone and cheering on my Alma mater. One reason I wanted to go to this race is because my novice coach, Jane, is now the head coach for WSU in Pullman. Jane made my first year of crew such a good experience. Because of the opportunity I had that year I got to travel all over and participate in the coolest sport with the best girls. I made lifelong friends and gained so much confidence. I love keeping in touch with everyone from crew, but especially my first year. I love seeing Jane. I know she thinks I’m a little hyper, but hey, I only see her every once in a while so I have to be. I ran into a bunch of old friends at the show:


from left: Karen, Lauren, Katie, Kathy, Me, Eric, and Jennifer.


Oh and Bj was there too! 

I also got this cute picture of Cj (Charlie’s son) on a fire truck that just happened to be there. He loves firetrucks, so it totally made his day. We only got to stay for a few minuets and didn’t get to see all the rowers after their races. I am planning a trip down to PAC-10s in Sacramento, CA at the end of spring with some other former rowers so I will get to see them all later.
Then we took off for the tri-cities. Man, it was the worst drive we’ve ever had. It rained, and I mean poured, almost the whole drive there. It was windy and sideways and everything. We only stopped a couple of times once for a potty break and once for Tillamook cheese burgers at Burgerville. We rolled into town at about 4:30. We both had “hair appointments” with Bj’s mom when we got to Bj’s parent’s house. I was first and after pretty poorly describing what I wanted and totally confusing her, my haircut got underway. I can’t stand this long hair any more! I hate in the shower feeling in on my back, and I hate blow drying it, and I hate putting it up cause then I get a headache. I was basically just sick of it. And I know a few people wanted me to grow it out, but that was just about as long as I could go. So below you will see my before and after!  I love it! And I think that I may have lost another pound, that was a lot of hair! Now we’re just hanging out and relaxing after our long drive.

At the carwash

Just some cute pictures of Beeg at the carwash tonight. I posted some more cool ones in my photo album, so if you haven’t checked it out please do! I like my new digital camera. It only has auto focus, but it’s great for point and shoot and keeping in my handbag (the real reason I got it). Oh, you know what I just realized that the other pictures I have of Bj at the car wash is in the same shirt, weird. hmm.

Off the wagon


uh oh…. easter candy.
I love easter candy. I stock pile it for the whole year. Everyone knows this. Jenna sent me a peeps card a month before easter just to get me ready for the holiday (it was so sparkly and cute it made my mouth water). There has been much research on peeps, but I think perhaps the funniest of all is the surgery to seperate peeps. After surgery was complete the “doctor” used fun dip to reduce scarring (LOLOLOL). Please if you click on nothing else check this (please tell me you all knew those were links before) out. So I have had some easter candy already. But the thing is I didn’t have to wait until easter. See I invest in a year round supply of Bunny Basket Eggs.

Now, some of my friends have had their gag reflexes evoked when they try one. They ARE sugary, but in a very unique way. They have a marshmellow in the center. One that is between the consistancy of a regular marshmallow that you roll between your fingers and the marshmallows from Lucky Charms. And way isn’t marshmallow spelled marshmellow? Ugh. Anyway then they are candy coated. Lots of products claim to be candy coated, but not like these. They have a good quarter inch of a hard crumbly candy shell around the marshmellow. This is what allows me to eat them year round. Yes, they get a little harder, but still yummy.
In case any one out their is wondering I have looked into the book The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program. I went to the website where all the sugar addicts comfort one another. But I felt they were all just in denial about the good things sugar can do. You know how scientist and people like that say that one glass of red wine a night is good for you? Well I bet their next study will read something like this: “Amazing new link found between eating a half pound of Jelly Bellies a day and looking younger.” The sub heading might also mention the good effects on the heart. Ha Ha, I can just picture it now: these really healthy people have to eat Bunny Basket Eggs. They start making them in an “organic” variety and the price goes up like a hundred percent. And the mom’s are like, “please honey, you can have the brocolli as soon as you finish one more Bunny Basket Egg.” I should front the money for this study man. But in all seriousness; it’s not like I do drugs or drink alcohol (ew, that stuff tastes so gross and WHAT is WITH the BURNING?)! So anyway, I like sugar. Yes, I used to sneak sugar cubes from the pantry and put a little more sugar than cinnamon on my toast. But I turned out fine. And I think my sugar highs are an endearing quality of mine.
Okay so here are two pictures of my cute shoes.

The Girls

Ladies we have lift off. Men you will never understand. Today I got up early (I set the alarm clock!!!!) and drove to Salem to meet my mom. We rode to Portland together and met up with my grandma at Nordy’s in Portland. She didn’t hear us creeping up on her in the makeup section so I got to run up and give her a little pinch, hehe. After telling each other that we look really cute and trying on some lotion we headed over to shoes (detouring through handbags we wanted but resisted). Man oh man, God was on our side. I got these awesome patent leather white pump slip ons with rows of circles on the band around the lower foot (good description? I couldn’t find them online to show you!). My mom got them in a suede turquoise (thanks for the misspeller’s dictionary Bill!) and they are hot! I also got a pair of deep cherry red kenneth cole flats, kind of mary jane style but with a pointy toe. My mom scored big time two other pair, and my grandma got cute red pumps. Did I mention we got all this on the SALE RACK!!! Yes we did. I learned something about Grandma today: she does not like tennis shoes, hmmm. So while we were trying on shoes the sales lady asked me if I was with those two (mom and grandma) I said yes, they were my mom and grandma, and she said, “You are the youngest looking generational group I’ve ever seen.” Nice complement thanks!
Okay we headed up to petites and “intimates.” This is where I had my revilation. {back story} I hate to shop for bras. I find one that I think fits and buy two and call it good for a while. It was time for an intervention. I had been measured for a bra when I was like 13 and got my first one (that my mom couldn’t help but hide in her pocket and bring it out at my grandma’s exclaiming how cute it was), but not since. So after a little maternal urging I asked for help. MY GIRLS HAVE BEEN SUFFOCATING!!! I was like a size and a half off. Geez. Apparently what I thought was a little pudge was actually part of my boob, whoops. So now I’m good to go. The amazing sales lady (she had a kind of exotic name, but I can’t think of it, maybe Sapphire?) also ran over to B.P. and found me some cute camis, so I stocked up. I upgraded my nightgown as well to a little capsleeve shorter style. It is made of terry cloth and looks like a tennis dress. So cute. When I showed it to Bj and told him I was retiring this other one I had (that had accidentally been left in a KOA bathroom in South Dakoda on our trip, subsiquently bleach and returned by mail) he was so happy (hey if you didn’t like it why didn’t you say something!!). 🙂
Enough with that. We left to go eat after Grandma found the cutest pair of pants in Petites, that department is really starting to come around (good thing since I’m the tallest of our bunch at 5’3″ and I think Grandma’s only 4’11”). We went to Henry’s in the Pearl and it was so yummy. We all had half a meal, their portions were huge! I had so much fun talking at lunch. I found out a little bit about Grandma as a girl living in backwoods Virgina. When she moved west at seven she had never seen a resurant or indoor toliet! Grandma told me about her scariest moment as a mother, when my mom fell out of the car when she was very little and Grandma was driving 45 mph. Grandma said she felt like she was floating above her body when she lept out of the car to go run and find her (she had rolled into a kind of sewer ditch). She also said my mom fell out of her highchair onto her head once. My mom then goes, “and look at me now,” LOL!! I love my mom and grandma they are so cool.
We headed out to Anthropologie, which Grandma had never been to. It was crazy! The first day of a four day sale. I got a super cute white skirt and some green pants (Bj, “Great, more green pants”). They’ll have to be hemmed, but a score since both were already on sale and marked down an additional 25%. Our last stop was Peet’s for coffee (mom) and tea (Grandma and me). And if you make tea for Grandma make sure you only leave the bag in for as long as it takes to sneeze because apparently she likes her tea extremely weak. Then I took these pictures, they didn’t work quite so well, but you get the idea.

We took Grandma back home since she rode the Max in. I practically plowed over my uncle Robert trying to get to the bathroom at her place after three cups of tea. He has the coolest color hair now, that salt and peppery grey you know? Anyway Grandma is known to be one of the best decorators/incredible deal finders in the world. And that combination is quite cool (why didn’t I take a picture, ugh). She built this little koi pond in the back under a deck, so it looks like it goes all the deck, cool. She found some cool stuff at thrift stores, and man does she get lucky. She got this little side table that was all dinged up. When she sanded it down she found that it was made of a couple kinds of wood, inlaid and everything. It looks so amazing refinished. And how many people do you know that have an old library table as their dining room table? Grandma does (“oh sis that only cost $85” how does she do it!).
My mom and I stopped to visit my Grandpa’s mom, my great grandma Frank, on the way out of town. She was happy to see me since we keep missing each other at family events. Then someone commented that I was cute (she was sitting at her little table getting ready for dinner with two other cute little old ladies). So I asked them how old they thought I was and one said 15, the other one gives her this look and then says, “I say 16.” I told them I was 24, then g. grandma goes, “Oh honey, no one thinks I’m 92 either.” I love her! I think I am really lucky to have such a great family. I went home and my mom and I made Bill look at our shoes. I hope he doesn’t feel too left out, we would take him, but guys and girls shoes don’t get along. case and point: I had to laugh at a woman with her husband in the shoe department. She was looking at slides and he said, “but I don’t understand, you have a pair of slipons already, are they broken, do we need to take them back?” She’s all, “No these are different.” Men.

Thunder and lightning (very, very frightning :)

No, I don’t think it’s very frightning, I was just reminded of the Queen song. Well we had a quick and loud storm here today. Lightning, thunder, and lots of hail. It was so cool. I really love storms. They remind me of being at camp, in the Arts and Crafts building on the shores of Crystal Lake in Maine. You can see the storms coming across the lake and it is amazing. All I saw here was a flash, it looked like a camera, then claps of thunder, over and over. Then it started to hail, big time, it was so cool. Just a short little entry today since I didn’t do much that exciting today, but it was a nice day. I go shopping with my mom and grandma tomorrow, can’t wait!

The Skittles Crew


Ah the skittles crew. I’ve been thinking about crew since Kush asked me to come cox yesterday. I didn’t because I had a million things to get done (hence the no posting), but I had crew on the brain. I decided to get out some pictures from last year and do a fun layout. I’ve been doing so much for eBay that I haven’t done much for me. Now that all the Honorable Mention calls have gone out for Hall of Fame, and I didn’t get one, I feel a kind of presure lifted off me. I don’t have to worry about how anyone thinks about how I scrapbook because I’m just me. Well, I don’t know if that made much sense, but I’m some how at ease about the whole thing. I also did do an album for eBay. I really like making things and not having to worry about what is going to go in there. I won’t be posting it tonight though, Bj always does that for me. I kind of wish I knew how to do all of that kind of stuff myself. Bj had to help me use his majorly confusing printer, our internet connection, posting things, html, you get the picture. Well that’s what happens when you know how to do all of those things, everyone wants you to help them. 🙂
So I just got the coolest pictures out my window, the sky is going from an amazing pink/fushia to a deep purple. I only managed to get two before the batteries ran out, enjoy!