Music is my life. Everything can be expressed, handled or just felt more deeply with the right chord or phrase. I have been blessed with some amazing friends and am still at that point where my life is an open book. If you’d like, stick around for a bit and help me write a few chapters…I’ve waited to post pictures of my new apartment until both Heather and my family had seen it. (Didn’t want to spoil the surprise.) Now that they’ve all seen it… it’s your turn!!! I’ve linked larger photos to each smaller one so that you get the full effect if you click on it!
Living Room:
Living Room Into Kitchen:
Kitchen:
Dining Area:
Spare Bedroom/Office:
My Bedroom And Favorite Room Of The House:
I’ve been back from Canada for almost two weeks now, and let me just say it was the best ResNet conference I’ve been to. Fredericton was absolutely gorgeous, and its citizens were the most friendly hosts I’ve ever experienced. I had the chance to attend some really thought-provoking sessions and feel more prepared and enthused to begin another fall semester. There’s just something to be said about getting to spend five days with two hundred people who do the same work you do, experience the same issues, and just understand.
While I was there I had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with old ResNetters and network with new ones. I had more seafood (good, real seafood…not the stuff you get in Arizona) than I thought possible and even spent an afternoon on a boat whale watching. However, due to the fact that the fog was so thick you couldn’t see anything in front of you, we didn’t get to see any whales, but we did get to see puffin, bald eagles, and harbor seals. Plus, I got to hold sea urchin and a sea cucumber! Once a biologist, always a biologist. I could tell a hundred stories, but for now you’ll just have to settle for pictures.
Pictures of Fredericton:
svgallery=fredericton
I’ve never really been one for throwing parties for my birthday, and to be honest the last time I had a party for my special day I was six years old and it was a horrible experience. I invited a handful of friends to a picnic in the park and then an afternoon at the swimming pool. The family friend who was watching us forgot to put sunscreen on me and bring my sandals, so by the end of the day, I had burns on my feet from the Arizona sidewalks and the WORST sunburn of my life. I was sick for days after and even my mom’s rainbow cake couldn’t relieve my pain. I should seriously scan a picture of my round, freckled bright red face. It’s so painful that it’s cute.
I was really hoping that this time around at 27 years of age the result of a birthday party would be a bit different, and it was. I’ve have always known that I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for, but it was proven as a scientific fact at my birthday bbq. Over thirty friends and family members were able to attend, and I had a blast with every person there. Zac manned the grill while everyone munched on the food that my mom and I prepared and chatted with each other. Heather’s house was the best spot for such a shin-dig, and I am forever in her debt for opening her doors to us. It was laid-back, relaxing and everything I wanted, and just to put the awesome-factor over the edge… I got a Pinky Pie My Little Pony. Best Birthday EVER!!!
One of my favorite moments in the afternoon/evening was watching so many of my blogger friends introduce each other as their blogging name. You know you’re a geek when you get to watch your friends put faces to names on your blogroll. But, that was the cool thing about seeing such a diverse group of people (all of whom I adore) interact with each other. From my dad searching for bugs with my boss’s kids to the group talking about building a supercomputer, it was heart-warming to see such a physical manifestation of the facets of your life come together so easily at a backyard bbq. So to each and every one of you who took time out of your Saturday to come help me celebrate… thank you!
The greatest birthday gift ever. Click to see a larger version. Tons of people from my hometown wishing my happy birthday thanks to Zac.
Apparently, they called each other and decided to all wear stripes.
Probably discussing Rifts.
Not only are they dressed alike, but Dad and Eric even sit alike.
The baby brothers.
Mya doing her version of ‘The Robot’.
The girls.
Chicago aka Ryan Adams.
My #1 bff.
While babies love him, everyone else was a lil scared of my dad.
Zac: Captain Grillmaster
Amare is the cutest baby ever!
Still not sure why she was acting like such a lil gangsta. Her words, not mine.
Yesterday was our final CaresTeam BBQ, and to be honest, it was bittersweet. For some unknown reason, I couldn’t do anything right and ended up nearly losing my eyebrows and burning the office down. Then to add insult to injury, it hailed less than an hour before I was supposed to start grilling. In the end, we had a great turnout, and well… the pictures speak for themselves.
It was so freakin’ smokey. I swear I’m happier than I look. Click To Continue Reading…
Today is my dad’s birthday, and as I’ve pondered all the things I want to say about my dad, the one thing that I keep circling back to is I am so blessed. Blessed in more ways than I can begin to articulate. So much of who I am and have become is a direct result of my father and who he is. I’ve said before that both Zac and I are the perfect blend of our parents, yet I’ve sometimes wondered as I watch my dad how we could both so alike and so different. It’s our ability to be on the same page one second and polar opposites the next that has made me appreciate the individuality that my parents fostered in both of us.
No matter what I was involved in my dad was 100% supportive. Always a lover of gadgets and technology, he brought home my first computer, a Commodore 64, when I was in first grade and let me play on his Apple IIe every day after school when most kids were not allowed to touch such a prized possession. He was always on the sidelines or in the crowd at every sporting event and music concert and still insists on displaying my paintings in my parent’s home. We must have spent countless hours as I was growing up hanging out wherever his stereo was located playing his old albums. His love of good music was infectious, and I learned more from him than I could have in a lifetime watching MTV or reading Rolling Stone.
Never was there a time in my life when I looked at a friend’s dad and wished I could be part of that family. Instead, I had the cool dad. He was the one wearing Hawaiian shirts and sporting Nikes in outrageous colors. Heck, my dad knew who OutKast, Rage Against The Machine, and Stone Temple Pilots were and probably could sing more of their songs than you. He was the go-to backup dad that other kids came to when their real dads had skipped town physically or emotionally and they needed a hug, word of encouragement, paternal advice or someone to come watch their game and support them. As a child I never quite understood the reason that there were also so many young men hanging out at our house. Now as an adult, I can finally grasp who my father was to so many. We’ve joked most of my life that my dad only cares about babies, the elderly and animals, but I can’t count the number of times growing up that he stopped to help a hitch-hiker, bought dinner for a homeless man, or brought a injured animal home to heal. Don’t let the scowl fool you. My dad taught what it truly meant to love everyone.
Recently, two of my friends and fellow bloggers (Random Thoughts and A Dark Ale) had the opportunity to travel across the Pacific to China. To soothe the wounds of my travel jealousy, each brought me prizes back. A gorgeous fan, adorable notebook, jewelery bags, tote, and Fuwas… thanks, guys!
I left work 20 minutes early yesterday because as soon as I walked into my new office (Daddy’s house as I lovingly refer to it) I started breaking out into hives and having an allergic reaction to something around me (or stress). Oops!! After a quick stop at Sam’s Club to grab the needed supplies for a pancake breakfast Saturday morning, I arrived home to do nothing but shower and wait for my skin to chill-out. My roommate had mentioned that I had received a package that afternoon. Sitting on my kitchen counter was a large green box addressed to me from ProFlowers. Not expecting such a package, I was delighted and overwhelmed to find the sweetest card from Zac and 18 gorgeous pink, red, yellow, and white with pink-tips roses. No matter what’s going I’m going through or dealing with in my life, there has never been a time where I could say that I was unloved, and that simple fact makes any mountain climbable and any heartache survivable. Thanks, bff. Love you, too.
Recognize this view? Many of you should. It’s a photo taken a few weeks ago of the San Francisco Peaks and Flagstaff, Arizona. A colleague shared the link to this NASA pic of the day last week, and honestly, if it wasn’t from NASA, I would have assumed it was photoshopped. It’s that unreal. When I moved up here, one of the first things I noticed was the strange orange streetlights everywhere and lack of unnatural illumination at night. After eight years, I’ve come to appreciate the protected skies we’ve been gifted with as the first International Dark Sky city. From the desert I grew up in the to the never ending skyline of my uncle’s ranch in Montana, Flagstaff boasts the most magnificent stargazing I have ever witnessed. There’s just something breath-taking and humbling when you can stare up at the sky and marvel at both how small you are and how big God is.
Click for full-size image.
So it’s Sunday morning, and AGAIN I’m at work. It’s not a huge deal because after four weeks of these little four-hour shifts as a student worker I’ve learned to come prepared. Today, I felt like one of the kids as I hauled in my laptop, 500gb usb drive, and purse full of essentials (cell phone, iPods, sharpies). But, even with all my preparation, by 11am I was bored and looking for something to occupy my mind as I answered tech support questions. (Boredom + Laurel = trouble.) While I was speaking with a user who was working to create their first website ever… three hours before it I was due, I started pilfering (as my Grandma would say) around the lab station. The drawers labeled “Lost and Found” called to me, and I couldn’t help but open them. I’m not sure what I was expecting… a textbook, a pair of sunglasses, a scarf. Things people would forget about easily. However, what I found was nothing that I expected. Jackets, a pair of jeans, two cell phones, 15 sets of keys (9 that had auto door remotes), 9 usb flash drives, 2 wallets, headphones, bluetooth headsets, calculators, 8 student id cards, 6 pair of sunglasses, 3 pairs of reading glasses, and a passport. Wait, stop. Let it sink in. Someone’s United States of America Passport is chillin’ in the Lost and Found in the computer lab. How do you lose that in a computer lab??? Just in case you don’t believe, I’m including a picture. Wish I could wrap my brain around this one.
Oh, life on a college campus… I swear after eight years as both a student and now staff member at a university the cycle of semester beginning to end gets shorter each time around. Move-in… first exams… midterms… registration for next semester… reading week… and then finals. I remember the late nights of cramming for that comprehensive organic chemistry exam or days filled with those 40 page lab papers where you pray that the unknown you’ve identified is truly what you believe it to be. So in an effort to ease the stress of the next week and a half for my 25+ student workers, I put these lil goodies together for them last night with Keri and Lauren’s help. Breakfast on the go food, study snacks, peppermint candy to keep them alert, no. 2 pencils with erasers, and 3×5 cards all to help them survive. When did I become my mother?!?!
Assembly line
The ingredients
The finished project
Eight years ago I left my parents’ home and moved off to Flagstaff for college. Like most college kids, I had a strong case of homesickness for the first semester I was away. I missed my family. I missed my home church. I missed my house, and I missed my pets, a lot. Growing up our pets were always family members and living without a furry friend hasn’t been easy. Since life in Flagstaff was first dorm life and then settling into my first apartment, I haven’t felt equipped to be a pet mommy until recently.
Four weeks ago one of my mom’s cats had two male kittens, and from day one, I staked claim on them. I made the rest of my family pinky-promise I could name them and started preparing to bring them to Flagstaff to be mine and fulfill my long-overdue fluffy need. My mom has been awesome about sending me pix messages of them over the past month, and now that they look more cute than alien, I want you to meet them. In less than a month, you’ll be able to come over and play with them for real!!!
Spacewolf: Distinguished by his dark ears.
Colonel Sanders: Perfectly-round face with white beard.
Playing like brothers.
Checking out the camera.
Growing up, my Grandma Vi always told me that drinking water was the most important thing I could do each day for my fair, sensitive skin. But what my grandma didn’t know was that apparently in 2008 water means more than just great skin. As Keri and I were wandering through the grocery store getting the necessities for our Sunday Night Sundaes event tonight, we found these pretty, enticing water bottles. Who knew that those simple hydrogen-oxygen bonds would lead to health, luck and love?!?! At only $2.29 a 20 oz bottle, this ‘life-changing’ liquid seems more like a scam than a bargain. Call me crazy, but I don’t plan on throwing away my environmentally friendly Nalgene bottle just yet. Grandma would be proud.
This is one of the many “Castle Boutiques” in Phoenix. Many of you might know what this place is. Other might see the sign and be able to surmise what happens inside such a place. Until recently, I was not such a person. You see, up until last weekend when I was driving around Phoenix wasting time before I picked Jeff up from the airport and I saw twenty of them, I had only see one such boutique. For years I’ve driven past that white castle-like building without such a give-away sign and thought it was one of the awesome Renaissance Festival kind of places where you watched jousting and ate massive turkey legs. Apparently, I was wrong, and thanks to a caring friend was clued me into what actually took place there, I now know. (Strangely enough the lack of windows and publicity never really seemed odd to me.) Thank goodness, I never stopped there ‘for fun’ or recommended we hold a family get-together there because that would have been awkward and hard to explain. Whowuddya thunk?!?! Guess the old saying’s right… you really do learn something new everyday.
Unexpectedly, I found out yesterday that I needed to work this morning from 8 am – Noon and cover the help desk for one of my student workers. Like most Saturday mornings, I had a huge list of things that HAD to be done. Hoping that the phones would be slow and I’d have some free time, I did what my mother would and I packed up my projects bringing them with me to the office. I must have looked pretty silly with baby clothes, tissue paper, and curling ribbon spread all over the workstation in our 24×7 computer lab while I did phone tech support, but hey, you do what you gotta do!
Since it’s so much easier to do everyone’s gift at once I put together a gift basket for one of the my student workers new baby, River, and the baby shower I had this afternoon for Laura Jane, daughter of one of the others CaresTeams in Flagstaff. All the necessities for baby bath-time and the cutest baby clothes filled each of these adorable, woven baskets. Their shower gifts turned out so cute I had to share… If you can’t tell, I love babies… buying baby clothes… themed gifts… and curling ribbon. I hope the mommies like them because I’m sure the babies will.
Mr. River Willis’ basket
Miss Laura Jane’s basket
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