Day 14

Day 14: Your earliest memory

I have a hard time knowing what is memory and what is from seeing pictures or dreaming stuff. I feel like I have a memory of knowing there was poop in my pants. Great early memory, right? There's a lovely half naked picture of me outside and my mom is hosing my lower half off. The question is: who took that picture?? Who thought that was a great time to photograph a moment?

I remember being at the beach eating a pb&j sandwich and seagull swooping down and taking it.

I remember David Higgins chasing me around the playground in kindergarten.

I remember pretending to cut my hair, or was it my dad's hair, and him getting mad and telling me to go to my room.

I remember running over my younger male cousin with his 4 wheeler. No harm done, by the way. What can I say, he told me to follow him and I was driving the 4 wheeler...

Day 13

Day 13: Somewhere you'd like to move or visit

There are too many places I'd like to visit, but here's a few:

Australia

Hawaii

New York City

San Francisco

Spain

Return to Italy, Ireland and Scotland and see more of them

Iceland

Greece

Move to:

hmm...I really liked Edinburgh. When I was there I wrote down that I wanted to go back and live there for at least 6 months. I would consider Vancouver, BC, as well. I enjoyed my time out of the States when I was gone for 13 months, but I was excited to be back, I feel at home here.

My other option besides Portland was Philadelphia and I wouldn't mind living there. I really love the architecture there and I LOVE the pretzel place that sells fresh pretzels for about $0.40/a piece at midnight...

Day 12

Day 12: Bullet Your Whole Day

6:10am My alarm goes off, I snooze for another 15 minutes.

7:20am Arrive at work. Traffic wasn't too bad, yay.

10:30am-ish Had to kick out a disheveled man because he came in a second time without money. He tries to barter with stuff that he's brought with him. He claims his money was left in his other jacket. He's very homeless looking and incoherent (like he's on drugs, he is constantly shaking and moving around in an odd manner.). Last time he left a cell phone while he "went to go get money", this time he had a bike and a bright yellow Jeep stereo. I told him to not leave anything, but he left the stereo. I hate kicking out people, it makes me uncomfortable. But at least he had some food in his belly.

2:52pm Leave work for the drive home, sad because I should've left work right when I got off at 2:30 because carpool lane starts at 3pm and it gets busy even before then. So sleepy on drive home.

Hang out with dogs a bit, change the chicken's water and left them out of their chicken mansion for a bit to poke around, then try to sleep, but dogs are playing on my bed and being annoying. Finally get to sleep when my sister gets home...

8:59pm Wake up after 4 hours and hang out with sister for an hour before she goes to bed since she has an early morning.

Hang out with puppy Tilda and watch Pulling on Netflix Instant in my bed.

I'm not good at bullets since they're usually very nondescript and I can't tame my words sometimes...

Day 10

Day 10: Put Your iPod on Shuffle & Write the 10 Songs That Come Up

1. S.O.S. by Abba- such a good band. Can anyone stay in a bad mood when they come on? My at-work experiences with it says no.

2. Chariot by Page France- i really love this cd (Hello, Dear Wind), this song is one of the best.

3. Obstacle 1 by Interpol- i own 3 songs by Interpol. they're all known as "Tracks", this one being Track 7, but i looked it up for your knowledge.

4. The Dress Looks Nice On You by Sufjan Stevens- i love Sufjan.

5. I Can't Stay by The Killers- this is off their newer album that I don't know.

6. Come on! Let's Boogey to the...(something, I can't see the rest.) by Sufjan Stevens- his Christmas album is lengthy and good. I love his version of the not-very-Christmasy song Come Thou Fount.

7. Adam's Song by Blink- 182- I shall never tire of this band.

8. Whyyawannabringmedown by Kelly Clarkson- wow, never listened to this song before. It's not her usual sound. I have a soft spot for Breakaway (it was playing on the radio a lot when I was making the big move west) and Since You (i refuse to spell it "u"!) Been Gone.

9. Untitled 9 by I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business- it's the solo project of the singer from The Early November, which is band I haven't listened. I believe my friend Becca is the one that put a couple icmamlnb songs on a mix for me.

10. The World Has Turned & Left Me by Weezer- such a good song to end this on! This is my favorite off their most famous album.

Day 10

Day 10: Discuss your first love and first kiss.

Well, since I have yet to be in love (unless I just didn't realize it, but I'm pretty sure I haven't), I'll go straight for the first kiss. I was almost 18, I had been dating my boyfriend for about a month, and we were in Winter Haven, where he lived. (We lived an hour and a half away from each other. He was in a band that came to my church to play and that's how I met him.) We were walking around after a show and he kissed me. I was so freakin' nervous about it and so I was happy that my first kiss was over with. (I still am happy when the first kiss with a new person is over...Some people love that first kiss, I just find it awkward.) Oh, I just remembered I had braces. Aw.

Day 9

Day 9: How You Hope You're Future Will Be Like

I kinda feel like this is a repeat to Day 2. Right? Or, at least, my answer will be the same. Yeah, it seems pretty similar. They totally just needed to fill in a day :o)

Day 8

Day 8: A moment you felt most satisfied with your life.

Hm. That's a hard one to pinpoint for me. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. You'd think you'd remember the most satisfied you'd ever felt though, eh? I would say that I felt very satisfied whilst romping around Italy, looking at amazing cathedrals, eating gelato (what's strange is that i don't remember eating pasta, other than gnocchi, which isn't pasta...), seeing amazing art, walking a ton. I felt pretty satisfied when I made the big move out to the Northwest. I have moments of happiness, but they aren't cemented in my mind of where and when.

Day 7

oh, hey, it's been a week!

Day 7: Your Zodiac Sign and If It Fits Your Personality

I'm going to go with the old zodiac signs though. Astrology-online.com tells me that these are signs of a Taurus:

Patient and reliable

Warmhearted and loving

Persistent and determined

Placid and security loving

But, on the "dark side" there's also:

Jealous and possessive

Resentful and inflexible

Self-indulgent and greedy

I've never put stock in astrology. It seems like I could match up to any of the other signs without much difficulty. But, yeah, I'd say most of the above descriptions fit me. Taurus's are also known for being stubborn and me and my friend (a fellow Taurus) were quite a match when we were both being stubborn/inflexible about something.

General: Astrology doesn't matter to me.

Day 6

Day 6: Write 30 Interesting Facts About Yourself

1. David Higgins was the first boy who ever liked me. It was in kindergarten and he would chase me around the playground, which I didn't like.

2. Most people find my Mennonite background very interesting. Probably because they think of the horse and carriage kind.

3. I lived in Germany for a year und Ich kann ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen.

4. I wasn't allowed to cut my hair because of my dad. I cut it within a week of my 18th birthday. It wasn't a good haircut, but my goodness it felt good!

5. My first piercing was an upper cartilage piercing when I was 19.

6. My first tattoo was when I was 26.

7. I was a fat baby with lots of dark hair.

8. I really wish I could draw or paint.

9. My favorite country that I traveled to is a 3 way tie: Scotland, Ireland, Italy.

10. My favorite food growing up was Chick-Fil-A nuggets.

11. We were a Pepsi family. But, ick, gross. I prefer Coke now, but I rarely drink it.

12. That's because one of my favorite things is Dr. Pepper. My one roommate and I bonded over our love of Dr. Pepper Lipsmackers.

13. My well drink of choice is currently: Greyhound

14. Favorite Show of All Time: Arrested Development. I watch this repeatedly. It never gets old.

15. My first crush was around age 16 (I was a late bloomer) and his name was Trent Sexton.

16. I played sports when I was younger. Lots of softball and a couple years of basketball. My basketball career was horrible, I made one basket.

17. I could not tell you how many, or all the names, of my first cousins on my Dad's side. He's got many siblings (I can never remember the official number...10?) and they sure can reproduce.

18. One of my favorite artists is Jen Corace.

19. Niff Nicholls is another favorite of mine. She's also my friend. <3

20. I almost moved to Philadelphia instead of Portland.

21. My only celebrity sighting (besides glimpses of Jerry Springer, who has a house in my hometown, and the girl who played Alex Mack, who was in my hometown promoting a film at a film fest) is Tom Green. He said "nice shirt" to me, I was wearing an old school NKOTB shirt. Weird times...

22. I have one sibliny. She's older and has taken very good care of me.

23. I've been auntie'd 4 times now. All dogs. I don't have favorites. Not because of my equal love for them, but for their equal 'meh' love for me. Though I have to say May and Tilda seem to be able to pull at my heart strings like Daisy and Mosie (both R.I.P.) never were able to. The faces, the cute pathetic faces...

24. I hate hoppy beer. Give me a fruity hefeweizen any day of the year!

25. Photobooth pictures are the best, aren't they?

26. I was in a 4 wheeler accident when I was about 14 or 15. It's the only time I've gone to a hospital-like place (I can't remember where I went, maybe an Urgent Care? I was in Ohio visiting my cousin.) I got 9 stitches and one funny looking (but very smooooth feeling) scar under my right knee.

27. I went to private school 4-8th grade. I believe that it made me a more introverted person because I went into a new school where I didn't know anyone and most of the 40 kids in my grade had been together since kindergarten. Then I chose to go back to public for high school and though I recognized some kids from my public elementary school, I hadn't seen them in 5 years and they had already formed cliques and knew each other well. I was lost in a sea of 250+ classmates (let alone a school of more than a 1000). It took me a long time to make friends.

28. I wish Junior Mints were vegan.

29. I love very old cathedrals.

30. I look like my dad, Elmer.

This was not easy. One tends to find most facts about themselves not very interesting.

Day 5

Day 5: A Time You Thought About Ending Your Own Life

Thankfully, I've never been that depressed. Death scares me more than living does.

Day 4, y'all!

Day 4: Your Views on Religion

I was raised Mennonite. My mom is from Ohio and my dad, from the land of Mennonites & Amish, Lancaster, PA. They met in Sarasota, Florida, which is where a lot of northern Mennonites and Amish go to retire or for the winter.

I didn't really know what being Mennonite meant, like what their doctrine was. Because we're not as conservative as some other Mennonites, I dressed like other kids (though my dad is on the conservative side and didn't want us girls wearing pants -unless we were horseback riding- and we weren't allowed to cut our hair, though my mom cut hers anyway). My mom wore a covering for many years, but by the time I was about 10, she had stopped wearing one. So I didn't feel like we were any different than the Baptists, Lutherans, and other denominations. As I got older, I learned about how Mennonites are different for their pacifist and anabaptist beliefs (anabaptist means you don't baptize your babies, you let them get baptized when they are old enough to decide for themselves.). I have come to really appreciate my background. I compare Mennonite to Jewish, it's a culture as well as a religion, so no matter if you're a practicing member or not, you still consider yourself one.

I do consider myself a practicing Mennonite and I am definitely on the very left leaning side of the Mennonite spectrum. Like any denomination or religion, there's going to be people you disagree with. I was happy to find a great Mennonite church here in Portland and the church is welcoming of everyone (Though under the Mennonite conference we aren't allowed to marry gay people...which I hope is changing...).

I consider myself tolerant of other's religious beliefs. I want mine to be respected just as much I respect yours. I do not wish to force it onto anyone. I think it's impossible to change people's minds so easily.

Day 3

Day 3: Your Views on Alcohol and Drugs

I drink at least a couple times a week and I have a really hard time dancing in public without it. I was raised in a conservative Christian home and I don't remember being told not to drink, it was just assumed (like smoking and premarital sex) that you don't do it. What I found out much later was that my Dad thinks it's okay to drink wine occasionally. Not beer, which is only drank so you can get drunk (what? you didn't know that?). I didn't drink at all until I was 21 (okay, once I took a sip of my friend's drink, which I thought was just soda and I was, like, dude, your soda's flat! Apparently that's what vodka can do to a soda...), I hung out with rule-following Christian kids, so I never was around any sort of peer pressure to drink. It was in college where I met Christians that drank and then when I went to Germany, where beer is king and almost everyone drinks. (Germany is also where I started to use "bad" words. It's not seen as a big deal.)

I wasn't around drugs at all until I went to Amsterdam when I was 23. Since then the only other drug I've been around was cocaine at a party of someone I used to work with. That drug kinda freaks me out. Oh, I mean the thought of it, I've never tried it! I've not even tried pot. I hate the smell of it and just haven't been very interested in trying it. I feel like I'll be one of those people that gets really paranoid. I do think marijuana should be legalized. If alcohol is legal, marijuana should be even more legal. Have you ever heard of an angry pothead? I can't imagine someone high beating their wife or child. (I could be naive, maybe that actually happens, but you sure don't hear about it.) I read Eric Schlosser's book Reefer Madness and it made me mad of how much money our gov't wastes on locking up people caught with some pot. Meth and the like that actually ruin a person's life, sure, keep it illegal. (And why is hemp illegal to grow in the States??? It is such a damn useful plant and people don't smoke it!)

Time for a nonrelevant picture:

These be my sister's chickens. They were suspicious of the snow, but eventually left their Chicken Mansion.

Day 2 of 30 Day Challenge

Day 2: Where You'd Like to Be in 10 Years

I am horrible at planning ahead. Even 6 months is hard for me to plan for. Actually, strike that, make it 2 months. When I was in high school I had a hard enough time accepting that I would even graduate. It just seemed like something I would never get to. I'm not sure if it was because in youth group it's always pounded into your psyche that you could die at any time (and if you died "do you know for sure you'd go to heaven?").

So, in 10 years...I have no freakin' clue. I would like to be happy. I would like to be in love. I don't have the American dreams of owning a house (it sounds kinda like a pain in the ass) or having kids, they're not goals of mine. I may change my mind, I find that happens often. I want to find a job that I get some joy out of, or at least, doesn't completely suck.

And I hope these two niece dogs of mine will still be alive and well:

Isn't May (the Pit) the best at the Pathetic Puppy Dog Eyes? She breaks my heart every time I leave her at home. She was a rescue, she had been left in a parking lot and had saggy titties from the several litters she had already had. She also had been obviously whipped with a belt (she cowers when my brother-in-law takes off his belt...not to whip her, by the way). I just don't understand how people can do that to animals.

30 Day Challenge

Steffers, a PPK friend, fellow Portlander (if I consider myself a Portlander...which I do even though I don't technically live there right now) and blogger colleague, is doing this 30 day challenge on her blog, so I thought I might as well do it too.

So :ahem: Day 1...

Your Current Relationship, if Single Discuss How Single Life is:

I'm a singleton. Single life is...not the worst thing ever, but I do long for a partner-in-crime. The single life isn't something I enjoy. What I enjoy: cuddling and holding hands. I don't meet new people very easily and online dating is lacking in guys that I would be interested in. Cute boys are a dime a dozen here in Portland, but me and my girlfriends have noticed they aren't big on making the first move. The feminist in me says I can make a move, but, dude, I am sick of initiating stuff, I already initiate conversation, most of the time. I want to be pursued, I'm old fashioned like that.

Got a secret, can you keep it?

Oh, I don't have an actual secret. I've just been watching Pretty Little Liars...

I haven't posted in along time because...well, I am a great procrastinator.

There's a new pizza place in town called Sizzle Pie. The former owner of the delicious super-vegan friendly bar Tube has opened a late night pizza place with a lot of vegan options. Toppings include Daiya cheese, flavorful soy curls, vegan pepperoni, and creamy basil cashew spread. I've gone several times now. I usually get the $6 slice and salad deal.

This here is a New Maps Out of Hell slice (soy curls, basil cashew spread, 3 veggies- which this time was black olives, green peppers and onion) and the Caligula salad, which is just their name for a Caesar. Their Caesar dressing is made vegan and it's quite yum. Currently they only have bottled/canned beers, but when their bar (Quality Bar) opens next door, I can only assume there will be draft beers.

The pizza isn't the best ever (my favorite crust is still Hot Lips Pizza), but it's tasty. Normally, the two vegan slice options are New Maps and Spiral Tap (carmelized onion spread swirled with marinara sauce...good, but boring- i want toppings!), but occasionally they have others, such as Thunder & Lightning (vegan cheese with pepperoni!). They're open until 4am (I can't remember what the weekday hours are), so if you're out late downtown or at Rontom's on Burnside, it's a great after hours place to go. I just wish they had Dr. Pepper on their sode fountain...

I just made myself the yummiest boozy milkshake. I was mixing Silk Chocolate with some Kahlua when I remembered I had Coconut Bliss ice cream. Delicious combo, y'all!