happy almost new year!!!

i had another awesome, awesome trip back to minnesota and am ready to bring in the new year in CA! just a few short hours until i can put 2006 to rest. i shoulda known better than to start 2006 with the attitude of "life is 90% attitude " 10% what happens to you..."

i'm also trying something new...you're not getting updated on the last couple weeks...i'm just movin' forward with the blog. crazy.

growin’ up

it's my last night in minneapolis...this week flew by! i saw a ton of fabulous people and have enjoyed every minute of it. ending on this high note of a polyester party is the best thing ever! i even have a purple polyester dress to wear.

i wanted to comment on how a ton of my friends are all grown up...many have moved from talk of marriage to talk of babies...from talk of getting a job to talk of careers...it's awesome.

we all grow up in our own ways, eh?

lercher’s new tv

it's ginormous

roseville volleyball court

it's snowing!!!

gary bloom was right

the coffee in roseville is nasty.
(they were out of green tea, so i had no choice)

it’s already thursday

time flies when it's action-packed " all sorts of fun.
and i learned to come to the office early to get some work done. seems i get distracted quite easily by fun people i knew well a couple years ago.
and the blog has been a bit boring this week 'cause i just don't have time to add much. i'll make up for it!

the new coffee

it's green tea

from wiki:
Green tea enthusiasts believe it to be useful for:

Cognition
Stopping certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's
Preventing/treating cancer
Treating arthritis
Treating multiple sclerosis
Preventing the degradation of cell membranes by neutralizing the spread of free radicals (which occurs during the process of oxidation). [1]
Increases fat oxidation (helps the body use fat as an energy source) and raises metabolism. [2]
Lowering LDL cholesterol (in high doses in lab tests)
Preventing lowered T-Cells due to HIV - In lab tests, EGCG, found in green tea, was found to prevent HIV from attacking T-Cells. However, it is not known if this has any effect on humans yet. [3]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected claims of health benefits for green tea. [4]

"There is no credible scientific evidence that drinking green tea reduces the risk of heart disease."
"FDA concludes there is no credible evidence to support qualified health claims for green tea or green tea extract and a reduction of a number of risk factors associated with CVD" (cardiovascular disease)."
The FDA has said that green tea likely does not reduce breast, prostate, or any other type of cancer risk.

food & people

my life revolves around food and people.
this is exemplified in minnesota...so far i have seen tons " tons of fabulous people...and eaten at many of my old favorites.

list o' mn favorite food:
Jimmy John's
Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3's)
Goodie Day at the Roseville office
Don Pablos (dip sampler!)

list o' favorite mn people:
you know who you are

california love

it was hard to leave California this time because of the amazing people i get to call my friends. seriously, my friends are the most intelligent, interesting, fun, exciting people ever. i am blown away by the quality of my friends...and the fact that they would choose me to be friends with. (you're probably reading this, cool friend)

i had a crazy last couple of weeks in CA for the year...really, i was out of control. it's mostly a blur, but holiday parties were had, finals are over and the semester was closed out with a bang of a celebration. i'm thankful for my friends who find me "fun" (hopefully more) and stick around. i can certainly provide some entertainment. of course, not getting let back into the bar was a bummer...but it was probably time to end the night, anyway.

thanks, all, for helping me see who i am! i value your friendships more than you'll ever know.
(and, minnesota...i'm here! and i love you, too!)

Goodie Day in Roseville, MN

I made it back to Roseville's annual Goodie Day, which happens to be my favorite day of the year (in Roseville). Check out all those crock pots " Hot Dishes!!!

help!

i locked the key to my bedroom door INSIDE my bedroom. idiot move, i know. i am gifted.

do i need to call a lock smith? other ideas? i've tried picking it with a paper clip, but i can't get the door to open...
(oh, and i have to leave for the airport in a half-hour)

wooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

that's how it feels to be done with this semester. i have all this free time now - i can watch as much tv as i want, read any book i want, make time for friends that used to be allotted to homework - it's amazing. freedom...i love it.

and i really don't think any semester can get worse than one filled with finance " stats busywork. i'm home free. (well...8 more classes to get through for the degree, but...)

friday funny

communication preferences

(since i'm not in school for a few weeks, i figured i'd use big words to make myself feel smart)

tonite i realized i often choose email over the phone because it's not as intrusive. people can pick up my emails, texts or IMs when it's convenient for them. if i call, it's more in their face.

i dunno. i guess i just prefer to make everything easier for those around me.

this is a bummer when it comes to keeping in touch with my family, though. i don't email them as much...so i should call..but i don't take the time to call.

new year's resolution #2: call each member of my family at least once a month

i got a sheep!

for Christmas, my boss bought me a sheep.

of course, it's through Heifer International, so i won't see the sheep. he's going to a good home to take care of that family somehow.

what an awesome gift. wish i got her something more meaningful than See's chocolates. :-)

tension scream

around 6:30 tonite you may hear the loudest scream ever. don't worry about it - i'm just trying to release all the dang tension inside me from these stupid finals. i really wanted to scream last night, but i knew finance was looming over my head...that'll be turned in at 6 tonite and i'm officially done!

then i just have to hope that i passed so i don't have to go through this again.

i look forward to this scream...i do.

good luck buddha

i just got an ecard with a good luck buddha so i could rub his belly...awesome. i have good friends. and i love the belly. maybe if you rub your mouse over it, it'll send me more good luck...
(or say a prayer...again)

the end of my rope…

i have reached the end of my rope a couple days too early. my take-home finance final is due tomorrow nite and i've got my stats final tonite...and i'm fried. i woke up yesterday morning completely burned out " can't seem to shake it. somehow i "finished" my finance final and studied a little for stats yesterday...and now i've got a slow day at work so i can focus some more on stats. finals suck. this semester from h-e-double-hockey-sticks sucks. in 36 hours i'll be done with it all, but dang...36 hours is a long time!

good thing i learned a cool phrase when i was a youngin'...
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

jury duty

i was told that as soon as i registered to vote in CA i would be summoned for jury duty...and it has proven true. contrary to most peeps' feelings, though, i'm excited about it! i think it'd be interesting to get called in " learn somethin' about our court system. maybe even sit in on an exciting drug bust, or somethin' (no murders, please)

of course, it's not until the end of january. if it conflicts with my birthday month, there's gonna be a problem...

this is how i feel about many of my school papers…

Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren't distracted by the total lack of content in your writing.
- Randy K. Milholland

(of course, this absolutely does not apply to my blog)

more on breakfast

i've recently made a huge discovery about breakfast...

back in october i blogged about making breakfast more of a priority, and i have. more importantly, i just found out how awesome oatmeal is. not only is it pretty dang good for me, it lasts freaking forever in my stomach. i don't get hungry until at least noon after a bowl of instant oatmeal in the morning..it's awesome.

eat oatmeal. it'll make life better....and the low fat stuff's ok, as long as there's flavor in it.

lines

i hate lines. i just do. if there's a way for me to get out of standing in line, i will...even if i have to sacrifice getting something i want. i just don't have the patience to stand in line.

i'm catching up on my stats homework before the final, and realized i missed the lecture on waiting lines. that lecture probably could have given so much data to make me feel better about my extreme impatience, and i missed it. hopefully the book can teach me a thing or two.

quote to start the chapter:
Standing in line - at the bank, the market, the movies - is the time-waster everyone loves to hate. Stand in just one 15-minute line a day, every day, and kiss goodbye to almost four days of idle time by year's end. Kathleen Doheny

mom’s famous beans

they did the trick again at today's pot luck! these things are awesome...and so midwestern people don't know what to expect. i did have a coworker ask me for the recipe, though, 'cause they tasted like her aunts in wisconsin.

start of an IM conversation

one of the funniest ways a friend has started an instant messenger conversation with me:

Who was the first person to see an egg come from a chicken's butt and think, "I'll bet that would be good to eat?

writing papers…

as i write this paper about some statisticial forecasting i did for my final project, i am blown away with the crap i come up with. apparently i've learned a thing or two about sounding smart. honestly, i don't really even know what i'm trying to analyze...but hopefully the professor buys into it.

1 1/2 weeks left of this semester...i can do this! (keep praying)

holiday parties rule

my company just knows how to throw a party...you get me in a party situation with tons of great people all around and i'm bound to have a GREAT time. this year was a Masquerade Ball. JJ " B pulled off the costumes amazingly well...handcrafted by B. and slb was my hot date for the night. :-)

hope

roommate " i participated in a victim/offender mediation this morning...with one of the kids who broke into our house. he was the only one caught on the street that morning in july with some of "other roommate's" stuff.

i confess, i went in thinkin' i'd meet a hard-hearted kid who had given up hope in himself. i wasn't really sure what to expect, but i was definitely caught off guard. the kid truly seemed to hear what we said...and understood what he'd done was wrong. he's in a good program that's teaching him all sorts of stuff about living a non-criminal life, and truly seems to want to lead that life. i saw it in his eyes, which is where i find the most hope. we had a good, two hour discussion with him about what had happened, its effects and where we're all headed. my favorite part was when he smiled about the many options he has once he gets out of juve...where he can work, how he can finish school, etc. he's excited, and that's AWESOME.

life is choices. people make choices " those choices pave the way for life. this kid's got hope....he's just gotta make most of the right choices. (let's be real - we all mess up once in a while)

he apologized several times. i realized this is a hot button for me - people spend so much time apologizing and dwelling on what was wrong with what happened, forgetting to move on. IMO - admit it, apologize, learn from it " move on. we've got to move on.

roommate " i both told him we truly believed in him " have great hopes for his future. here's to you, kid!

baking

i've gone baking mad! in the past two weeks i've made a birthday cake, cookies " birthday cupcakes. granted, i have a few burns from doing stupid things with hot pans, but it's been worth it. i'm quite the decorator, even!

yes, i bake. cool.
(it's all come from store bought mixes, but, hey...it's a start!)

Happy December!!!

this is the pic on my calendar this month. it's my mom...isn't that awesome?!? i love that mom " dad get to snowmobile all the time now, and that mom loves it so much. we went ridin' one day " she totally flew by me...it was impressive.

anyway, love you, mom " i can't wait to see you in three weeks!