Sheridan Trails

i met some sort of famous people last night

2011-09-23T15:09:00.003-06:00

I have met some flippen awesome people since I've lived in Sheridan.
That is obvious...otherwise I probably wouldn't STILL live here.
ANYWAY...Last night I went to a little shindig for a man named Tom Balding
He makes bits and spurs. Which is cool...if you need bits and spurs.

The reason for his little party was because the Discovery Channel wanted to put him on their show 'How it's Made'.
While I think Tom is a cool dude, I was SUPER pumped to go to his party because I got to meet the CAST AND CREW of that show!
So pumped that I couldn't even muster enough courage to talk to them when I finally saw them.

It was so bad, that at one point during the night I ended up staring at them for a good 5 minutes straight.

At the very end of the night, right before I left, in the 11th hour, I basically ran up to them, with my hand extended and said "I'm ANDREA and you guys ROCK!!!!"
Which I don't think they totally understood....because they ended up being french Canadian with very strong accents...
Oh well.

I have a freakish addiction to the Discovery Channel.
If you are reading this blog, you probably already know that about me.
And you also know that I have a 'famous' brother...and I have met some of his 'famous' friends.
So you are probably wondering why I get so crazy about meeting the cast and crew of the Discovery Channel.
Your guess is as good as mine.
I even got it in my head that I was somehow going to marry one of them. Yes, I am a typical girl and for some reason when I meet a very cool dude, my mind goes straight to marriage. The funny thing is, I don't even want to get married. Well not yet at least.
Anyway...that was a cool night last night.

indian summer

2011-09-08T13:52:00.002-06:00

I've heard rumors that it is cold in my native land....of Michigan.
Well sorry Michiganders.
It is still hot in Wyoming.

Very hot.
Like 90 degrees hot.

I work at a Starbuxx which is usually pretty awesome.
But not when you have to be perky and happy all the time.
And talk about the weather.
And how awesome it is that it is still SO FRICKEN HOT!

This is basically everyone's reaction in Wyoming.
SUMMER WILL LAST FOREVER!

I do not share the same love of the heat.
Actually I hate it a little bit.
Michigan experiences all 4 seasons pretty equally.
3 months summer
2 months fall
5 months winter
and 2 months spring.

Not in Wyoming.
It's like 30 months summer...
30 months winter.

I know how weird I sound actually WANTING winter to come, because it will last forever too.
But right now, this is how I feel.

I love the holidays....they happen in winter.
I love wearing fall and winter clothes, because they are cool.
I am seriously running out of things to wear because all my summer clothes are cheap and flimsy.
I am tired of sweating...for no reason...at 8 o'clock at night.

I am a whiny baby, I know this.
But I am NOT a fan of Indian summers.
In Wyoming.
At least an Indian Summer in Michigan includes cool color changing leaves.
Wyoming either has green, brown or yellow leaves...
Cool.

horsies

2011-08-16T18:59:00.002-06:00

I have terrible artistic abilities.
One time at work my friend Giesella and I drew horses.
Mine looked like this.

Hers looked like this.

Guess who won.

car dance haze

2011-08-11T11:51:00.002-06:00

If you want to be embarrassed, hang out with me.
I have no filter when it comes to embarrassing situations. I actually tend to enhance them.

So on Tuesday I went to Billings, MT to go shopping with my friend Cassie.
This story has nothing to do with shopping.
It DOES have something to do with my extreme car dancing skills.

We were driving around, going to our next shopping destination...and Don't Lose My Number by Phil Collins came on. Go, listen to that song right now. Imagine unexpectedly hearing it in your car. Now try to NOT dance to it.
Impossible, I know.
Because I am sadly heavily influenced by pop culture, I always try to somehow incorporate fist pumping into my dance moves (thank you Jersey Shore). I know I am supposed to fist pump like this, but I usually fist pump like this.

So I am fist pumping away, when I roll up to a stop light.
When I car dance, all other outside surroundings get a little fuzzy.
So when Cassie yells at me to "be cool", I think she is telling me to "make it cool".
Naturally I amp up my fist pumping to an even 'cooler' degree. By involving my entire upper body.

If I had been a normal person, I would have easily noticed that directly across the street was an entire construction crew. With about 20 members, all watching me fist pump like my life depended on it.
Bless Cassie's little heart, she knew I was too far gone to fight my fist pumping spree.
She let me figure out for myself that I was looking like a complete idiot.
After a good minute, I come out of my haze and exclaim, "Oh! you mean because of the boys".
And I abruptly end my awesome dance, and start fussing with my hair.

I think the construction workers should have clapped. Seriously, it was pretty cool looking.

tweens.....the idiot age

2011-08-03T12:34:00.002-06:00

I will rant to you all today....all of my three followers.
I do not like tweens.
I don't think I even liked myself when I was a tween.
They are soooo annoying.

Example #1: I am at Starbucks using the free wifi (yes I go to Starbucks when I am not working....I have no life). And there are little tweens sitting behind me. I hate it when tweens sit behind me.....hahahaha jk. That's not why I don't like them. I don't like them because they are idiot eavesdroppers. I was talking to one of my fellow co-workers. I had mentioned to her that I was not yet friends with her on facebook (geez I sound like a tween) and one of the stupid idiot tweens goes "What's your name?! I'll add you on facebook!" I mumble something like "no....hahaha jk. But seriously, no". Then that idiot tween goes on for 5 minutes about how I should 'TOTALLY' add her.
FRICKEN ANNOYING TWEEN!

Example #2: They sometimes don't shower as regularly as they should. Please, for the love of God, if you can smell your own B.O......shower.

Example#3: They don't now how to swear properly. The tweens behind me are dropping all kinds of swears for no reason. "I was walking into damn Walmart to get my douchebag toothbrush".....wtf are you even saying? I don't understand any of that.

Example#4: They make some of my guilty pleasure bands really embarrassing. I can no longer admit that I like the Jo Bros or Miley Cyrus. .....Not that I like them.

Example#5: They understand twitter...and I don't.

That's all for now.....feel free to comment why you hate tweens.
They are more annoying than old people. That's for damn sure.

Joe Show

2011-07-31T19:39:00.002-06:00

Whoops...took awhile to get back on the Internet.
Anywho...about Joe's visit.
Where to start?
Hm... I guess I'll make a list of things we did.

Played power hour with my roommate Jesse....he did...not me.
Power hour is a dumb game.
Filled in on our softball team...he was first baseman....and killed a bird in a tree. He hit the ball so far , it nailed a tree...which held the bird...that he killed.
It was pretty funny to see...mostly because it was very strange.
We went out.
By that, I mean we went EVERYWHERE you can go in Sheridan. The brewery, the mint, Willeys, the American Legion, Beaver Creek, The Rainbow, The Mint again.
We got sick......aka very hungover
Went to Walmart to get some hangover food....aka Velveeta shells and cheese....family size.
Watched some redbox movies
I got Diary of a Wimpy Kid....Joe got The Next Three Days.
Joe made the better choice.
We wanted to go to Lake DeSmet and rent Jet Skis.
We went on the Mountain instead. Which was cool too.
We hiked around Shell Falls and Sibley Lake.
And ate at Bear Lodge.
We watched more movies.....Cassie came over and brought Green Street Hooligans.
Which I loved.
We went to breakfast...then Joe flew home.

I had a great time. And I miss Joe.
So I think I will visit him soon.
Because, let's face it, San Francisco is pretty cool too.

Pedicures can be bad

2011-07-26T12:40:00.003-06:00

So Joe (my brother) just visited me this past weekend.
And it rocked. I love that brother of mine.
I actually love my whole family a whole ton.
It's weird, I know, but there you have it.

Unfortunately I will not write about his visit today.
I probably will tomorrow.
Today I will write about what happened immediately after Joe left the great state of Wyoming.
I will write about my super weird, pretty awkward, but mostly hilarious pedicure.

I love my co-workers at sbuxx...
So much so, that we actually try to hangout outside of work.
On this particular occasion, my friends Hannah, Brittany and Cassie were all about to chill.
We decided it would be fun to go get pedicures.

I don't exactly understand it, but I have always had pretty banged up feet.
I used to row in high school and they would always look bad from that.
Now that I work at sbuxx I'm always on them, so they aren't the prettiest of feet.
Sorry for that rather uncomfortable confession.
Andrea has bad feet. Ew.

Anyway, we all walk in and sit down at the pedicure stations.
I'm sure plenty of you out there have had a pedicure or two, but for those of you that haven't, the pedicure 'stations' are big massaging chairs with little foot tubs at the base of them.
They are pretty comfortable.

I sit down and let my feet soak for a few minutes.
Then the very nice, very experienced, very Asian nail tech comes over to start her work.
I try to warn her that my feet are probably worse than most of her clients, but I think all she understood was that I, like a normal human being, have feet.
So instead of trying to yell 'My feet are TOTALLY DISGUSTING!' at her a millions times, I just pick up a copy of People magazine, and pretend that I get pedis all the time.

One specific aspect of a pedicure is that you get your calluses removed.
For normal, pretty footed people, all it takes is some aggressive buffing with a pumice stone.
Not for me.

My very experienced nail tech saw that my feet needed special attention.
Bless her little heart.
She gets up from her seat and starts rooting around in a tool box.
She then returns with a mask and a very scary piece of equipment.
It looks like a mini hand-held drill.

My friends are awesome.
And also a little mean.
When the nail tech returns with her hardware, my good friend Brittany cannot stop laughing.
Then I start laughing.
Then the nail tech says "yes? for your calluses?"
And then she goes to town on my feet.
Have you ever seen Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carey's character is getting ready for that fancy fundraiser for the owls and he gets a pedicure? Go here if you haven't....around min 1:45.
Well that's what I felt like.
And it would have been embarrassing if that kind of stuff embarrasses me.
But by some stroke of luck, it doesn't.
It makes me want to share with the entire world wide web.

After the work was over, I actually have some very attractive feet now.
Feel free to look at them.
They even have flowers on them.
Holla!

my weekends have been fun

2011-07-18T18:02:00.002-06:00

Oh my goodness. We just had rodeo week.
And it was a pretty awesome time.
Unfortunately I can't exactly remember any awesomely fun stories from it.

I do remember losing my temper on Ryan and Preston after the rodeo when they were giving me directions back into town. I think I screamed something along the lines of "SHUT UP YOU IDIOTS!!". I feel kinda of bad about that...but not that bad.
I also remember sweltering in heat on Saturday afternoon and decided to break into Jake and Brenda's house to enjoy their air conditioning....I told them I was going to do this, so I guess i didn't really break in.
Also the street dance was pretty cool. Pretty cool if you like milling around Main street with hundreds of people, and only knowing a handful. And out of those hundreds of people, at least 90% of them are drunk out of their minds. Cool.

I am SUPER excited for this weekend because...
.....
........
.............
My BROTHER is visiting! yay!
It's a Staley tradition for each of my relatives to visit me separately.
Now it's Joe's turn.
Mom's turn in next.
She SHOULD be here in August sometime.

The only bad thing is, I have no idea what yo do with him.
I might take him hiking, but I'm not much of a hiker, so I don't know any good trails.
He likes golfing but I've only been once I'll see if some friends will wanna go do that.
All I can think of to do is go to the brewery and see a movie.
I have no idea where all my creative energy has gone.

library weirdos

2011-07-08T10:09:00.002-06:00

My new computer is shiny and lovely....and persnickety.
She does not like the hijacked wireless internet my other green whorey computer loved.
Instead I have to lug her all the way to the public library, find the most out of the way seat, and plug her in.
It is really frustrating actually.

For instance, today my dad texted me about a shooting rampage that had happened in my hometown.
I needed to read the articles on it.
Of COURSE my flipping computer was not picking up the internet at my place, so I had to come the the library.
Instead of taking a shower, or even changing my clothes, I decided it is totally appropriate to wear my pajamas and have greasy hair while sitting in a very public place.
I used to always make fun of the weirdos that come to the library, but now I am starting to understand their weirdness.
Sometimes internet access is more important than hygiene.

You can stop reading this blog at any time.

back

2011-06-30T12:38:00.004-06:00

YO!
I'm back in action.
Sorry about that long hiatus....blogging took a back burner bc my computer broke.
And I am slightly scared to go to the public library and write weird stories about myself and laugh out loud and have everyone look at me.

But now I have NEW computer.
It is pretty and works fast and has a WEBCAM!
I'm pretty old school when it comes to technology because it is cheaper to be old school.
So now I can skype and meet creepy people on chat roulette.
My life is complete.

I haven't written since March...and obviously many things have happened...
But sadly, I have a terrible memory and cannot remember the funny and insignificant details of many of those adventures.
My bad memory is what makes me so happy and hopeful, so I'm not too upset with it.

However, I will tell you a little silly story today.
I just visited my family in Michigan and it was a wonderful trip.
I basically hung out with my family (and friends Tara and Abby) the whole time.
And I have to tell you (if I haven't told you a million times already) my little sister has got to be the FUNNIEST person I know.
This story happened last year, but each time I hear it I cannot help but laugh my ass off.

Alli works at a factory during the summer. She makes movie theater seats...it basically sucks.
Last summer, one of her superiors, let's call her Lisa, was showing Alli how to use a staple gun.
Alli, being a new summer employee, was a little nervous.
It didn't help matters that Lisa was also a freaking scary witch.
Throughout the tutorial, Alli had not realized that the safety on the gun was not on.
If anyone knows me, they will notice that I fidget a lot.
Allison also does this....and she pressed the trigger.
In her defence she did not know that she had actually pressed the trigger and proceeded to stand there looking interested in Lisa's instructions.
Lisa abruptly stopped the lesson and stared at Alli.
Alli smiled back at her and watched in horror as Lisa lifted her finger to show Alli a staple sticking out of it.
Gushing blood.

Ahhhh I love that story.
Ok blog post finished....
It wasn't a stellar post, but whatever.

sunday funday....sort of

2011-03-27T19:59:00.003-06:00

I am going to give you all a little snippit of my Sunday afternoon.

After work, I picked up my little sister.
Not my real little sister....my little sister from big brothers big sisters.
Because I was super tired and didn't really feel like having to do anything that required having to use my brain, I took her to a movie.
It was the Diary of the Wimpy Kid movie.
IT WAS AWESOME.

Let me tell you something.
I love kids movies.

There was probably 20 people in that movie theater.
And I belly-laughed.......seriously belly-laughed for a good 15 seconds straight at least 5 times.
I have a pretty loud and distinct laugh...
My little sister, half way through the movie leans over and says "You are so loud....and so weird"
Ha.
So I say 'Yeah...so what? This movie is SO good!"
hahahah.

thank you

2011-03-21T22:19:00.002-06:00

So tonight I went to the brewery with my friends.
This is only weird bc it's a monday.
And it was totally awesome.
I love my friends.
I love Juice (Jesse).
I love Nolan.
I love Brad.
I love Brenda.
I love Jake.
I love Preston.
I love Jeremy.
I love Ryan.
I love Dana.
I love Lish.
I love Carrie.
I love Jeremy's brother.
I love Michelle.
I love else I missed.

I also love that I had to talk to Brad, Juice and Nolan about being a mountain man for a week in nowhere Montana.
I mostly love that I don't really have to try to be anything special around my friends.

I also love that I can still get hit on by random cowboys at random bars on random nights.
Thank god for really cool boobs.
p.s. thank you mom.....I love you and miss you like crazy

some new discoveries

2011-03-11T11:40:00.002-07:00

My little sister is visiting this week.
It's her spring break.
And she came to Wyoming...she's brave.

We have been doing a whole lot of nothing.
Which is surprisingly awesome.
Yesterday we went up to the mountains with my friend Jon and went sledding.
It was hilarious.
Mostly because I found out that Alli sucks just as bad as I do at sledding.
I also feel a little bit sorry for Jon.
He had to hang out with Alli and I all morning and into the afternoon.
And we are a little bit confusing to hang out with.

It is commonly known in the Staley family that the women of the family have their own secret language between one another.
It isn't really that obvious when we are just with each other.
Or at my parent's house.
But when we are interacting with one another in the company of new friends, it becomes BLAZINGLY obvious.
We basically giggle, grunt, shrug, and say a word or two.
And that's basically a whole conversation.

We are a little bit weird.
I also didn't notice how similar Alli and I are.
Thank you Wyoming for all your new discoveries this week.

mountain sledding...only if you're brave.

2011-02-21T13:50:00.002-07:00

I've been pretty lame this winter.
I've been working a lot and haven't really been able to enjoy many winter activities.

Well yesterday, I changed that.

My friend Jon was going sledding with his bud and invited me to go along.
Sledding, I can sled. That's no problem. I love it!
But sledding down a hill in town is completely different than sledding down a hill in the mountain.
I didn't exactly realize there was much of a difference.

Anyway, so Sunday rolls around and it ends up being Juice, Jon and I that go sledding.
There was a mini snow storm the day before and the snow hadn't exactly stopped coming down yet.
And it was also around -3 that morning.
I wasn't exactly thrilled about going. But it was too late to bail on Jon.
So I sucked it up and we made our way up to the mountain.

The roads weren't ideal and Juice kept having mini freak-outs in the back seat (baby).

We get to the hill in Granite Pass and I sort of die a little inside.
This hill is like the size of the skiing hills in Michigan.
Imagine a sledding hill the size of 'the face' at Cannonsburg (to all my Rockford homies)
But without the ski lift.
And the snow is about 3ft deep.
But most of it was packed down....except every 5th step you took.
Then you would sink to your waist.

And I realize then that I decided to go sledding with two of the most fit people in all of Sheridan.
And I start cursing them....and the damn hill they are making me walk up.

The whole way up, I start plotting Jon and Juice's death. And also a way to somehow rig a pully system with the surrounding trees.
I eventually make it to the top of this hill and pass out. Sort of.
Jon and Juice start sledding immediately once I get to the top.
I want to murder them.
Didn't they realize that I just hiked my own personal Kilimanjaro and needed a break?!
Nope.

Because I am so awesome and cool (and I don't want to look like a wuss) I clamber onto my greased-up green sled and shoot down the hill.
I slide to the bottom in about 5 seconds. Covered in snow. Cursing God and all his creation.
Only for a minute.
Then I buck up, brush off the snow and shoot up the hill....in 10 minutes.

Each trip kept getting better and better.
Jon brought his buddy Pat's sled.
I don't know Pat very well, but judging from his choice in sleds, I want to be his best friend.
That sled was the most awesome thing ever. It even came equipped with a bike horn.
No lie.
So I shoot down the hill once on it. And I didn't die.
But I DID get an insane amount of confidence.

Jon should be in the X-games, or at least an amateur version of the X-games.
He was going nuts on that hill. Going face-first down it, going on jumps, doing back-flips.
Well he didn't do back-flips, but he could of if he wanted to.
I bet.
So I decide, 'HEY! If Jon can do all these jumps, then I totally can!!!'
And I did.
And it ROCKED.
Here is the video that was made of our sledding trip.
I actually doubt that link will work....so if your fb friends w me, just look at the video on my wall.

So now, I have this weird mountain sledding high.
I need mountain sledding.
I love mountain sledding.
I will never be the same.

Also, thanks to Jon and Juice, I had a crazy awesome weekend.

the dog-sitter

2011-02-09T21:25:00.003-07:00

I'm house-sitting this week.
And dog sitting.
It's actually really fun.

I get to pretend I own a dog again.
Only this dog is mildly depressed because she thinks her parents have abandoned her.
This makes for a mopey, sleepy dog that follows my every move.
Or this may be the way she always acts.
I'm not too sure.

It is slightly annoying that every time I come out of the bathroom I run into said dog.
Or that she basically sits on my lap when I finally decide to sit down.
Or that when I get up to get a drink, she follows me into the very narrow kitchen.

But I do like that when I take her for a walk, she doesn't go ape-shit when she sees a deer 2 feet away (I went ape-shit....it's embarrassing that the dog can compose herself around wild animals better than me).
I also like that she is ridiculously excited to show me her new cow toy that makes the weirdest moo-squeak sound I have ever heard.
It is also nice, that when I sit down, mind you this happens only about 20% of the time, she sits on my feet and makes them warm.

Ok, I'm now a weirdo for writing an entire post on my friend's dog.
(owners of dog: your dog is fine and alive...and hopefully not really depressed).

the red-faced starbuxx worker

2011-02-08T08:37:00.004-07:00

As you know, I work at Starbuxx in town.
Love my job.
Love the people I work with.
Love how quickly the day goes.
However...
I do not love some of the people that visit my work.

For example, yesterday, it seemed like every single man that I have had an awkward situation with came into work.
Fortunately I could hide from one.
But only one.

Most of you know me pretty well, and you know that I am not the most graceful person.
I was not born with that wonderful quality.
I have NO IDEA how to diffuse awkward situations.
I just start rambling.
And make things worse.
MUCH MUCH WORSE.
I get all nervous, and my sentences don't make sense, and I look like I have turrets syndrome.
And my face gets all blotchy and red.
It gets pretty bad.

So I guess the message is, if I've ever completely humiliated myself in front of you, PLEASE for the love of God, do NOT come into Starbuxx when I am working.

Thanks

an uncomfortable clothing choice

2011-02-01T08:06:00.002-07:00

For some unknown reason, Jorts have been the topic of many conversations lately.

Jorts = Jean shorts. [GUEST NOTE: "Jorts” – a combination of the words “jean” and “shorts” – are used to describe the somewhat hideous attire often sported by NASCAR aficionados, Green Bay Packer fans, men over 40, and men who probably ought to be over 40. If you wear jorts, you probably have minimal relationships with women. Sometimes jorts are accessorized with a lovely cellphone belt clip and a braided leather belt, but not always, as sometimes the jorts-wearer lets the jorts speak for themselves.]

I think it's because of the White Trash Birthday Bash that I recently had.

Not saying that only 'white trash' wear jorts . . . just a lot of people that attended the party had them on. [GUEST NOTE: I can count the number of acquaintances I know whom habitually wear jean shorts on one finger. Although, I’m fairly certain this summer will bring more to light. HINT: Missouri.]

I don't really understand them. [GUEST NOTE: I’m told they provide the comfort and durability of jeans, yet provide the ventilation necessary for summer wear.]

Denim is such a durable and heavy fabric. [GUEST NOTE: It can also chaff. Pretty badly.]

But I do not see the benefit of using that fabric for shorts. [GUEST NOTE: Other than the fact that you are 75% more likely to meet a woman at the Indianapolis 500.]

So what? You would like to have sweaty thighs and cool calves?

My body would not be able to handle the confusing sensations that jorts would give me. [GUEST NOTE: It’s rumored that there is nothing like the sweaty sensation jorts provide on a hot and humid summer day.]

On the other-hand, John Cena wears jorts, and he makes jorts look good....very good. [GUEST NOTE: . . . (speechless)]

Guest author: Jake Haseman....for previous bio, find the goat post.

Reasons why I haven't written in a really long time

2011-01-26T13:27:00.003-07:00

I realize i haven't written for awhile.
I like to give reasons for my absence. Most of them are pretty lame. All of them are nearly honest.

I had a birthday. It was awesome.
I got a bad cold. Mostly I've become a snot machine.
Knitting has consumed all my free-time (which is an alarming amount)
My internet connection is ridiculously frustrating.
I've been reading a lot.
My roommate Jesse wants to talk to me. If I don't talk back he burns my clothes.
Number 6 is only half true. Try to figure out which half.
I have developed an EXTREMELY embarrassing love for all shows on MTV.
I'm working. Sort of a lot.
I like to clean my apartment.
I take walks around town.
Hanging out with my little sister
I'm going to the brewpub. It's a little slice of heaven.
Sleeping

I'm sure I am doing a lot more than just that list.
Either way, I have completely forgotten about writing in this thing. Sorry.
I'll be better.

my weekend list

2011-01-17T08:41:00.002-07:00

For having barely any plans this weekend, I did quite a lot:

Dinner at the Haseman's Friday night
FIGHT NIGHT
Fight Night was the best thing I have done in at LEAST.......5 days.
I think I will write a whole post about it. Eventually.
Knitting circle on Saturday with Brenda, Kim, and Dimitra. Making this a weekly event. Mostly because I realize that I can only really do one sort of knit...and there is a lot more that I could learn.
And I like to knit....and drink coffee....and eat brownies.....and kick it with my homegurlz.
Watched some football and had MEAT NIGHT at the Hasemans.
I hadn't had a steak in forever. It was pretty great. Sackett's market really DOES have good meat.
Karaoke an Saturday night. Homahgawd how I love karaoke. We totally brought the party to that place.
Worked Sunday morning. It was ok.
FOOTBALL in the afternoon.
Went to the Hasemans (again) and watched Get Him to the Greek and ate the best dinner EVER!
I didn't actually realize how much time I spent at the Haseman's this weekend.
Oh well, they are pretty awesome.

So overall it was a bomb weekend.

pen thumb tattoos CAN become pen face tattoos

2011-01-13T12:37:00.003-07:00

How's got two thumbs and is a really really big bonehead?
THIS GIRL.

Last night I was hanging out with some friends.
Not very bonehead-ish...yet.
For some reason there were sheets of paper and pens all over the table that I was sitting by.
This is dangerous for me.
I'm a subconscious doodler.

I must not have wanted to doodle on the paper on the table.
So the next best options was my thumb.
Thumb pen tattoos are SUPER popular right now.
Did you know that?
No? They aren't?
Oh, ok.

Well this morning I woke up with the exact replica of my fancy thumb pen tattoo printed on my very tired face.
The wonderful thing about this was that it wouldn't scrub off.
So now I have a faint pen tattoo on the side of my face today.
YES.

Sincerely, Me....the original bonehead.

geetar hear-oh

2011-01-12T12:18:00.002-07:00

I have started to play a lot of guitar hero recently.
I used to play it all the time, then I stopped.
But my roommate has it, so now I have started to again.
I basically think I am the best guitar hero player ever.
I envision myself in a badass music video with fireworks, panthers, and bmx bikers.
I don't really know where the bmx bikers come in, but it's still cool.

The thing is, I really suck at guitar hero.
I can't get past the medium setting.
I get all stressed out.
Start swearing a ton.
Then keep on playing.

It's pretty frustrating.
But also pretty hilarious to watch.

It's also frustrating playing with my roommate Juice.
He has like 5 extra fingers and can play on the expert setting.
It makes me want to throw the guitar at his face.
In the nicest way possible.

yep, i need a life

2011-01-11T11:06:00.003-07:00

I have a new job.
But right now I am training.
And I work very little.
VERRRRY LITTLE.
So I have gone a little stir crazy...because I have so much free time.
I have come up with a nice list of hobbies:

Knitting....an extreme amount. Currently creating a brown and burgundy scarf. I have no idea what I was thinking when I chose these colors. But it actually looks good.
Go to the bank. I don't know how this became a hobby.
The Library...they have a lot of cool magazines.
Cleaning...yes, I have gotten bored enough to clean on a daily basis. Should have made this a New Years Resolution.
Guitar Hero...I pretty much am stuck at medium...hard is, well, hard.
showering...for a long long long time. My skin is currently extremely dry.
the YMCA...I walk there everyday. I take different routes each time. I like variety. Walking is pretty much the only way I get around now. I love living in town.
Texting. I am starting to text people that I haven't talked to in AGES. I'm so fricken bored.
Bug my friends. I have spent so much time hanging out with my friends recently. It actually is really fun...but I feel like I may be starting to bug them now.

Ok, so I realize these may not exactly be hobbies.
But this is basically what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks.
So If you want to do something, call me. Because I'm bored.

Starbuxx

2011-01-07T08:27:00.003-07:00

Guess what.
In case you didn't know, I now work at Starbucks.
Which I like to write it as Starbuxx.
Because it's the ghetto way to spell.
And if I'm anything, I am ghetto.

So I have been training there for a few days, and, well, I kinda suck.
But that's ok.
Mostly because I have an unbelievable ability to totally suck at an activity then become relatively awesome at it in a matter of weeks.
Does that make sense?
So I take it as a good sign that I suck at my new job right now.

One thing I am good at?
Steaming milk.
I can steam milk like NOBODIES business.
mmhmm.

So if you reallllllllly like steamed milk from Starbuxx, I'm your gal.

Oops

2011-01-02T08:44:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I went to Billings with Jake and Jesse.
Jake had to pick Brenda up from the airport, and I wanted to help greet her when she got into town.
(side-note: I was a terrible greeting party. I was ridiculously tired and maybe said five words to Brenda the entire trip back to Sheridan....SORRY BRENDA. I become mute when I'm tired)

So anyway, the night before was New Years Eve and I had just gotten back into town.
I had a lot of fun celebrating with my friends, so Saturday morning I was not feeling very well.
Jake was going to pick Jesse and I up at 10, and I was seriously considering backing out of the trip.
At about 9:30, I crawl off the couch, grab a quick shower and try to become human again.
I throw on my go-to sweater which is an old red nasty 3XL hoody. Then I grab the first pants I can find, which are my $3 Target special leggings. I deem this a good outfit.
It wasn't.

Brenda's plane was delayed coming into Billings, so we had a few hours to kill.
We went out to lunch, went to Target, and hung out at the airport for awhile.
While walking through town, I started thinking that my pants could possibly be see through.
But it was at the airport that my brain started to work.
I noticed that when the sun hit my legs, I could see through my pants.
Confirmed: my pants were see-through.

So sorry Billings for flashing you all day.

my morning

2010-12-30T09:10:00.002-07:00

This is what is happening to me RIGHT NOW
I am watching my sister and mom meditate.
Which is putting me to sleep.
And I just woke up.

So to make myself feel more spiritually sound...
I decided I should drink more water.
Because somehow I think that water is good for my spiritual growth.

Welcome to my morning.

unexpectedly cool profession

2010-12-27T11:08:00.005-07:00

My mom is a librarian. Did I ever tell you that?
When I was little, I wanted to be one too.
After school, my siblings and I would walk to the local library and wait for my mom to get done with work.
My brother loved it because he could play the Arthur video games.
I loved it because I could read every single American Girl magazine without getting a subscription.
Alli loved it because she could play with all the hand puppets.

Now my mom works at an Elementary school as a librarian.
I used to come and help her a bunch when I still lived in Michigan.
A few friends have even come and helped mom in the library.
One time my friend Abby came with us.
It is really hard to concentrate on one task while working there.

I don't think we were actually helpful. ever.

For example, I'm sure Abby and I had a specific task that we needed to accomplish, but instead we ended up asking the janitor if we could use his space-pack vacuum for the afternoon.

So today I went and helped my mom at school for a bit.

I was supposed to do a few tasks, but in the course of the afternoon I found something wonderful...

A Librarian action figure.

So naturally we take tons of pictures with it.

Notice mom's glasses.

Librarians rock.

'mjessayin

xmas homes

2010-12-25T18:15:00.003-07:00

Co-authoring has struck again.

This time with my little sister.

Topic: Christmas day...

It's a doozy.

This year for Chrstmas, my 'big' present was my flight home to Michigan.

So I was basically ready to get nothing for Christmas, which was totally fine with me.

But Christmas morning, there were presents under the tree (joy!)

Such presents included:

Soap from my sister
Soap from my mother (a coincidence I hope)
a necklace from my parents
a cozy workstation (it's basically like one of those drawing boards that you can set on your lap, with an added cup holder)
stocking stuffers

It was awesome.

My parents also had a nice Christmas...mom and dad both shelled out for each other...it was cute.

After the present exchange, our family has a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas eve or day...depending on the year.

This year we went and saw TROOONNNNN.

In IMAX 3D. It was a cool movie, but i think it was a lot cooler looking because I saw it in IMAX.

Before the movie, and after the movie, Alli and I kept saying "TROONNNN" like they do on the previews. It was funny...mostly to us.

After the movie, we went to XO. It's a chinese restaurant.

I felt like we were in the 'Christmas Story'

My mom kept threatening to order a whole duck.

She didn't...wasn't gutsy enough.

I ended up getting fire inferno chicken.

Actually it was this mango chicken dish that lit my mouth on fire for the next 45 mins.

But it was good. I have the left overs....will probably eat them in the near future if I remember to.

We eventually make our way home in time for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Both of which I kicked ass in tonight....thank you very much.

Then I waxed Alli and my mom's eyebrows.

So overall, a pretty successful holiday here.

Alli:

ehhh Andrea thinks she way too kool 4 skool but the truth is she is just average coolness mostly.... and she didn't kick total ass in Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy she just got like five questions right, and it seems like she kicked ass because me and my mother's response time is a bit quibbly (slow) and so we missed every question. DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING SHE TELLS YOU SHERIDAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

on a lighter note....wanna know what I got for christmas!

1. Soap

3. razor

4. finger light (this is serious...i got this....it makes me feel like a wizard when i wear it...)

4. your mom (jk)

5. a rollers8

6. you

7. hippo

8. your dad

9. a GPS

I get lost a lot so I think I'm just going to find a way to attach my GPS to my body so I can navigate my way to class. It will be useful with the new semester coming up.

I had wine at chinese christmas todai.....

I don't know if you know but I'm recently 21.

I too also got a cozy wrk station for xmas...but I knew I was getting it bc I saw it in the closet when I was in my parents room stealing my mom's socks.

I saw tron.....it was trying to be like a futuristic big labowski...TRON!!

bye

Co-Author Bio: Allison Staley, little sister to Andrea. Lover of white wine, booty dancing, and big glasses. Goes to college and will on day be a successful human.

running, frosting and knitting

2010-12-24T14:35:00.002-07:00

Last night my family celebrated Christmas Eve.
It was because Alli has to work tonight.
We went to church, then looked at Christmas lights.
It was nice.

So today is like a normal day.
Which is cool too.
I've had a pretty full day actually.
Went shopping this morning.
Then got a crazy migraine....I hate the mall this time of the year.
Then went with my mom to get her hair cut.
Then went for a run/walk/stroll through the woods with her.
And finally ran a few errands with her.

Now we are back home.....
And....
I am now frosting her hair.

Yes, my mom frosts her hair.

Like an 80 yr old woman.

She is also helping me knit.

Like an 80 yr old woman.
It's cool though. It's actually been pretty fun.

And, yes, I realize that I look incredibly pissed off in all the above pictures.
I have no idea why.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

christmas break...so far

2010-12-23T09:57:00.002-07:00

I have been stuck in my parent's house for the last few days.
I don't have a car to drive anywhere.
It's ok.
I'm actually having a ton of fun.
But because I really have nowhere to be, a few things have gone to the way-side.
Like hygiene.
And sanity.

I think I have been hanging out with my sister too much.

And my mom.

But I'm in good company.

Alli's Birthday

2010-12-22T09:10:00.002-07:00

Just got back from Pennsylvania last night.
My dad's family lives there.
It was a roller coaster weekend.

I LOVE my family out there. I had such a great time with them.
But we all got together for my grandma's funeral.
So it was a confusing weekend.

My baby sister turned 21 when we were out there.
Not the ideal time to be celebrating a birthday, but it was still fun.
We initially went to a bar called DiMarcos, or DiMiccos..I can't really remember.
It was a sausage-fest. I loved it.
We also found McLovin there.
And my dad knew him. It was awesome.

But after awhile, it was obvious that my parents were the oldest people there...
So we went to O'Gillies. It's like the American Legion in Sheridan.
IT ROCKED.

There was this wicked good band playing.
It was fun just hanging out with my family.

After we got Alli sufficiently drunk, the bar was closing.
As we were walking out, Alli screams "I NEEEED KFC!"
'Can we get KFC?!! I NEED fried chicken!! NOWWW!'
It was hilarious.
Mostly bc our family NEVER gets KFC. Ever.
And I have never once heard of a drunk person begging for fried chicken.
But I guess everyone has their drunk food.
Mine is a peanut butter sandwich. MMMM.

Anyway, I had a wonderful time celebrating with my family.
I took Alli and her friends out last night too.
That was fun.
But I feel old with them.

homie home

2010-12-15T16:30:00.002-07:00

I'M HOME!
Well my Michigan home.
Yep...it feels so good.
I really hate travelling. I know flying is convenient and easiest.
But I think it is dumb.

From Sheridan to Denver, I sat next to an obese man that I don't think had showered in about a month.
From Denver to Michigan, I passed out then started talking in my sleep. The businessman next to me had to bump me to wake me up. I should have been embarrassed, but I was just way too grouchy to care.

But...

When I walked out of the terminal, I saw my dad.
And I felt much better.

Then I walked in my house...
And it smelled like home.
It was decorated for Christmas.
And my family was there.

These little things are making what our family is going through easier.
There is a lot of love coming our way and it feels so nice.

Driving to PA tomorrow, then will be there til Tuesday.
Going to be tough, but it will be good to be with everyone.

bleck

2010-12-14T12:48:00.004-07:00

So, sad day around these parts.
My grandma just past away last night.
Here is a link to an old post I wrote about her.

It sucks, but it is also a relief.
She held on forever. She was a true fighter.
I am going to miss her so much.

I am so thankful for all the wonderful people surrounding me.
SO THANKFUL.
Love you all!
Will be going home tomorrow, then Pennsylvania on Thursday.
See you all after the holidays!

monday, monday, monday

2010-12-13T16:48:00.003-07:00

I think I just experienced the best Monday ever.
Or at least in the last few months.
Get ready to be jealous.
This is the exact progression of my day:

slept til 8:30
sat on my butt
watched bad reality TV
g-chatted with friends
went to lunch with Kim (THANK YOU KIM)
bought some stamps
finally showered
cleaned the living room and kitchen
sat on my butt again
wrote a blog post.

hahahah. It has been wonderfully lazy.
I am so happy.
This break has already been wonderful.
Now Dana has to finally get here and hang out before he drives back to PA.

poor kids are the best kids

2010-12-10T14:41:00.004-07:00

I seriously love co-authoring. I do. It rocks.

Today, I’m rocking this post with Carrie (bio below). We talk most everyday. About whatever. Recently we have been talking about being poor. I am currently incredibly poor. And have been for the past year.

I also grew up slightly poor. We weren’t living in a cardboard box or anything, but we were poor enough that we thought garage saleing in the summer was back to school shopping.

Co-author: I grew up in a cardboard box. Or something very similar. Double-wide trailer, ie two single wide trailers of different lengths pieced together by my father, which had no insulation and only one fire place to heat the entire place. Garage saleing to us was top-of-the-line. We were more accustomed to the land-fill version of school shopping. I like to think of my childhood and family as "resourceful" as opposed to "poor".

So this post is really going to be in honor of my awesome parents (mainly my mother)(and Carries entire family who are still living the dream) who taught me (us)that you are able to do so much with so little.
Here are a few examples:
1. I got my brother’s old Nike high tops in elementary school. And wore them everyday.
2. My brother’s favorite pants were Gloria Vanderbilt corduroy pants my mom got from Value Land.
3. My aunt made 90% of my wardrobe growing up (it was totally awesome clothes)
4. Goolosh was the primary dinner in our house. It’s essentially chili mac.
5. My Halloween costumes each year were basically whatever Joe was the year before. (bum, pirate, robber, etc)
6. I drove a Dodge Dakota Sport in high school. The driver’s side door would fall off if you opened it, so I had to crawl in on the passenger side every day. Eventually the brake cable broke when I came careening down a hill. Oh, how I miss that truck.
7. We considered an 8 hour road trip to PA to visit relatives a vacation. (Which I loved…don’t get me wrong, those are some of my fondest memories)
8. I am convinced my mom dressed Alli and I alike when we were younger because she got a discount on the outfits if she bought more than one.
9. We would buy slightly damaged clothing so we could haggle the price down. We got really good at that.
10. We played outside ALL THE TIME. We got incredibly creative at making games up. One of our favorite was jumping off the second story porch onto the hill beside it. If you jumped far enough, the fall was only a few feet. If you didn’t, the fall was about 7 feet.
11. I would collect cans for gas money. (Can’t do that in Wyoming…which blows)
12. I used to break into my college’s cafeteria and steal food.
13. The best thing in the world when I was younger was our ‘special days’. My parents would rotate months. Each week, one kid would get to go with them after church and do a special thing. It could be to see a movie, or go out to your favorite restaurant, or go to the park and hang out. But you got to choose each time. The limit was about $5 bucks. It was so much fun! And pretty cheap. My parents were geniuses.

Carrie: While these are all very great and many of them apply to my family as well, I would like to focus on the resourcefulness of being poor and give you some examples from my childhood and family.
1. It was never unusual to eat leftovers from a cool-whip or country crock container.
2. We were taught to use, rinse, reuse..with paper plates of course. Oh and baggies.
3. It wasn't uncommon to mending all holes in our socks, matching or not.
4. For fun we would save all the dish soap and shampoo bottles for squirt guns in the summer, and of course garbage bags for slip-n-slides.
5. Anytime we were at the deli or convenient store we would stuff our pockets with free condiments so we could have salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo etc.
6. Not having a gas gauge on your car so you have to slam on the brakes and be really quiet to hear the gas sloshing around in the take to determine how much was left.
7. My family also recycles cans religiously. So religiously that my grandma to this day will pull over on the highway if she sees something shiny.
8. My entire life my real dad has kept a piggy bank welded to the hood of his car as a hood ornament. Once a month he will empty it and buy himself something real nice.
9. Not only did we have to reduce, reuse, and recycle but we had to be resourceful in other ways. For example, we used to thaw the pipes that ran inside our trailer with blow dryers. We also used to walk the mall and pick up change throughout.
10. Fortunately for me, I have been able to carry this resourcefulness on into my adult life. For instance I learned very quickly what a Plasma Bank was and how much they would pay me, and how to hit the one that marked my finger second to the one that did not. Although I have a permanent track mark on my arm it was well worth it.
11. I could go on and on and on, however, Andrea told me to keep it brief (oops), so for my final thought many of us poor folk grew up thinking that if you added water to the ketchup bottle it would taste more like McDonald's ketchup. I remember the day in college when I finally figured out that this was a lie.

So all you people out there that didn't grow up poor. Be jealous.

Co-Author Bio: Carrie Shaw, Punk princess, Kick ass Lawyer, lover of weiners (dogs), pez dispensers and shopping online.

micah wyatt. unabashedly shitty human

2010-12-09T11:23:00.003-07:00

This co-author thing is catching on like wildfire. It’s pretty awesome for me because I don’t have to come up with the topics anymore. Another way for me to slack. OH YEAH!
So today’s co-author is Micah (like always, see bio below). Micah has a very special quality. He is the world’s best ditcher. He NEVER shows up for ANYTHING. I wish this was a joke. It isn’t.

Micah: It really isn't a joke, either. Andrea thinks that I only have this problem with her, but if you look at my overall history of social interaction, I'm a virtual helmet-wearing nincompoop with regards to actually getting anyplace on time. Or at all. This is not to say I sit at home and watch my walls deteriorate. I go everywhere. I just really really mess up PLANS. Also, I am a flake. Also, I make sure to TELL people (usually after a major offense) that I AM a flake. Consider me a butterfly with a half-broken wing. Yeah. That's about right.

First major offence: If you remember awhile back, I had a very big, very stressful Bookfest fundraiser to plan. Every single person that I talked to knew how stressed I was about it. I begged people to show up to it. Mostly because I thought no one was going to show up (don’t worry, about 500 people showed up). Micah had assured me he was going to come. The day came, from 8-11 I had so many wonderful friends roll in. Jeremy, Lish, Ryan, Callie, Preston, Carrie, Matt, Jake, Brenda, Kim, and I am sure there are others that I am missing. But no Micah. What a jerk. I was so stressed out all day. It was awesome to see my friends show up to support me. But no Micah.

Micah: This was a jerk thing. I felt WAY too hung over to be showing up for a family-oriented breakfast. However, this totally highlights my difficulties. Note the times: 8-11. Even the world's biggest hangover should not have kept me from attending. What a jerk.

Second major offence: My best friend Abby had come to visit me awhile back. We had an awesome time hanging out with everyone. She fit right in with all my friends (not surprised). On one of her final nights in town, we had a game night over at Carrie’s house. I invited Micah because game nights are fun and he had met Abby earlier in her trip. He gives me some bullshit answer about how he can’t come because he has something MAJOR going on. Like sitting, or running, or singing. All of which are NOT as fun as game night with awesome people. NOT COOL.

Micah: Well this MIGHT just highlight a different root of the problem. Sometimes I miss things because I am skipping through the daisies or had too many pbr's somewhere and end up talking with a grizzled old man at a bar instead of doing what I said I would do. However, on this occasion I had a legit excuse. Andrea forgets that I am all the things she puts in my bio below and I have a lot of my time already planned out for me. Also, she doesn't get to follow me in the rest of these pursuits, so she doesn't know I'm just as flaky in those respects of my life.

Third major offence: This past Monday, I was having some friends over to watch Monday Night Football. They were also going to be fixing some of my new furniture. Yet again, I invite Micah. He says he has some sort of practice or rehearsal but will be over afterwards. The game comes, the game ends. No Micah. Not too surprised. So after all these ditching, I think I may completely stop inviting him places. At least say you can’t come or whatever.

Micah: hahahahahahahahahahaha. Too many pbr's. And yes. A jerk. And yes. You should quit inviting me places - a little secret....if you DO, I'll probably start showing up.

I think that all friends should make themselves somewhat available to do things. I go out of my way, or over schedule myself to do things with friends, I expect them to do the same for me. I should get what I give!!!!!

Micah: No. I have fought long and hard to be accepted as a flake. I will not submit to this.

Co-author bio: Micah Wyatt, musical phenomenon, sort of almost lawyer, and hippy dancing extraordinaire. Loves them stars.

mountain goats. they really ARE interesting enough to talk about.

2010-12-08T10:07:00.005-07:00

I tried something new yesterday, if you didn’t notice. I co-authored a post in my blog. And it was really fun! So I decided to continue this trend. Today I am co-authoring a post with Jake (See biography below). This is going to be a strange post.

When I went to Deadwood for Thanksgiving, we all ventured over to Mount Rushmore. I had been to Rushmore twice before, and that place does not change. So it was nice to go, but not cool or special anymore. [Co-authors note: I have strangely never been to Mount Rushmore. I assume it looks much like the rest of the Black Hills, except with the super-bizarre heads of ex-Presidents carved into the side of a mountain.]

We tried to walk the path around it, but it was closed. We took about a million pictures, but they all just end up looking the same. We were all kind of bummed about the trip . . . until . . . .

When we were leaving, we saw a crowd gathering. And there were about 5 MOUNTAIN GOATS!

Now animals freak me out. And these ones were wild! [Co-authors note: Mountain Goats have voracious appetites and the uncanny ability to stand in tiny cracks. Perhaps this is why Andrea is freaked out by Mountain Goats (a type of animal). Additionally, they like high elevations, are sure-footed climbers, and enjoy licking salt. Don’t question how I know these indisputable facts.]

Well if you consider mountain goats that are around people all the time and have big ol’ tracking collars on their neck wild, then they were wild.

Well Kyle and Dana are NOT scared of wild animals. And they were inching closer and taking pictures while I was standing roughly 10 feet away using my zoom function on my camera. After they had their fill of the mountain goats (which I accidentally called billy goats) we left. [Co-authors note: “Billy goats” and “Mountain Goats” are not the same. They may not even be related. A domestic goal (aka “billy goat”) is a member of the capra family, the genus of the antelope/goat family, while a Mountain Goat is not. Again, I am an unquestioned expert on goat science/lore.]

We were walking to the parking lot and BOOM. The goats were there too. And WAY too close for my comfort. Like 2 feet away. Kyle and Dana were geeked. I was terrified. [Co-authors note: Probably because of the Mountain Goat’s well-known voracious appetite.] Thankfully the goats didn’t charge me, but they were eyeing me the whole time. It was bad.

Co-Authors story: In the summer of 2004, I had the privilege of being employed by the U.S. Forest Service at the Russian River Campground in the Chugach National Forest, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Whilst on a strenuous hike, a rogue Mountain Goat decided to follow/stalk my hiking partners and I. For roughly three (3) hours, the individual Mountain Goat followed behind us at roughly twenty-five (25) yards. When we stopped for a break, the Mountain Goat would stop for a break. At first, we were a bit apprehensive, as several locals had advised us of the potential dangers of Mountain Goats (again, probably because of their voracious appetites). After a while, it became amusing. It even reached the point where we could get within 5-10 feet of the animal before it started authoritatively bleating. When that happened, we decided not to mess with it. Anyways, it was pretty cool, and seemed innocent enough.

Fast forward to this fall -- October, 2010. Which to my horror, I learned that a singular Mountain Goat murdered a human in cold blood in Olympic National Park, Washington. Upon learning of this, I immediately recalled the Mountain Goat experience in the Chugach. I now don’t think it was so innocent -- the Mountain Goat was clearly stalking us (probably because of its voracious appetite).

Also, here is a nice song that you can listen to. Dana told me to add it. It's by a band named The MOuntian Goats. Here is the link.

Co-Author Bio: Jake Haseman, Bears football lover, Beer pong beast, Lawyer extraordinaire. Married to Brenda Haseman (coolest woman ever) and owns Reba, badass dog. Also terrified of aliens, robots, alien-robots, and Andrea.

moving day

2010-12-07T10:36:00.004-07:00

I moved into my new apartment (pictures will be up soon, I just need to take them) last Wednesday. And had no furniture. So on Thursday Jeremy, Lish, Jake, Preston, Matt, Carrie and I moved some of Carrie's old furniture into my place.

As a thank you, I promised Jeremy I would write a post in his honor. He also helped to co-author this post.

The following story may or may not be entirely factual....but you get the picture.

It all started on Thursday morning. Carrie offered her furniture to me, and I gladly accepted. Then we ran into a snag.

In Wyoming it appears that every other person owns a truck. Well we only know people who don’t own them. (Co-Authors note- To be a true Wyomingite you must have a truck with 4-wheel drive capabilities, at least one dent, and the capability of carrying at least five separate dead animals after a hunting trip) Bad thing when you need to transport huge love seats and entertainment centers. Lets face it, even in Wyoming my 2003 Toyota Corolla with a floral love seat tied on top would be a weird sight.

But then we remembered that Jeremy owns a truck. So Carrie contacted him and asked to use it that night. He said yes...thankfully.
His wonderful 2004 Toyota truck with over 150,000 miles on it that bears a candid resemblance to the batmobile. Granted not the batmobile of new, but still reminiscent of the old school batmobile from the TV series, pulls up in front of Carrie's house. Jake, Preston and Jeremy were able to fit the majority of the items in the first trip over to my place.

Now, you must understand. I have moved many times in my life, but I am not an owner of furniture. I did not realize that when someone is following you with a truck full of furniture unsecured in the dark, you cannot drive the speed limit. They said I was speeding, but I was just going the speed limit. I PROMISE. Anyway, Jeremy and the boys were following my car, they have never been to my new place and didn't know where I was going. I stupidly was not exactly aware of what I was doing. I ended up speeding through town as they tried to keep up running red lights and almost dumping the top of a brown chair into main street on a busy night. Not the best situation ever. Co-Author: also unbeknownst to Staley, the curse words flew freely as we careened around the corner praying that the chair and coffee table stayed put and that hoped that we wouldn’t be arrested for an unsecured load of the equivalent of “junk”- a treasure to anyone who actually appreciated the plethora of furniture we were about to strategically place in Staley’s new apartment.

We finally get there all in one piece and the boys start unloading. Co-Author Note- after expertly jumping the curve and parking the truck on the sidewalk by the “no parking sign” we were able to minimize the distance we had to pack the awkward load we needed to carry. They (imagine He-man, superman, and the Hulk strutting to the back of the truck to man handle the furniture) successfully got the lazy-boy in the living room and went out to get the love seat.

Coming up the front steps, Preston(he-man junior) misjudged the final step and massively falls, possibly a result of the mud they managed to track through the entire house. Causing the love seat to jut up and smack Jake, squarely in the face. All of this happened within a 2 second period. Luckily, no blood flowed and they were able to continue to successfully maneuver the “grandma colored love seat” into place.

Eventually, after a second trip, all the furniture was safely put in the living room. Without any other minor or major injuries. And let me tell you, there is a lot of furniture. I have a red couch, floral love seat- with a broken leg that bucks you off every third time you sit on it (Jake fixed this last night....and it works perfectly now. THANK YOU!), a brown chair, an entertainment center converted to a plant stand, and a purple coffee table for the TV that uses stolen cable- along with my first super short miniature air mattress that would seem more at home in an upper class homeless man's place than my room. (I now have a bed, thank you Ryan)

I guess when I was gone dropping my little sister off, the guys had tried to stick a 36 inch TV into a 30 inch hole- then promptly placed it on top of the entertainment center- a result that very easily could have resulted in a trap for any unassuming guests entering the house. Granted, The trap possibly could have deterred any cat-burglars, but also may have fallen squarely on the head of my unassuming roommate the first time he entered the house.

After finishing up, they all needed to get their strength up after the move. Similar to Popeye's spinach, these tough moving boys each had to stock up on ol' johnny walker black label- to reinvigorate themselves after packing the furniture no less than ten feet from the back of the truck to my house. Co-Author: man I have way to much stuff I could say- I threw Preston's coat on the floor at your place assuming, in his fashion style, that the piece of rags were remnants of cleaning rags rather than his only functional coat. As a final word to this wonderful account of a successful move by three superheroes, Carrie allowed her wiener (dog) to rest nicely on Jessie’s pillow. All in all it was a successful move into a living room now tastefully decorated in Wyoming style. Red Couch check, Floral Love seat-check, brown reclining chair (with a few issues)- Check, entertainment center that is completely useless except to put my six in plant in- check, purple coffee table with huge TV on it- check. A good night of moving with great company into a new place where I am sure good memories will continue. . . PRICELESS.

Co-Author Bio: Jeremy Kisling, Beer drinker extraordinaire, poor-mediocre fantasy football player, married to Alicia Kisling (rocking attorney), and owner of Rigs and Ruby

holiday party. yes'm

2010-12-06T10:27:00.005-07:00

WARNING: This post is going to be especially long. I was considering splitting it up into sections, but I usually never finish the sections. So I am just going to do it all in one.

This past Saturday, Carrie had her Christmas party.

We had been planning it for over a month. Yes, it was possibly unnecessary to put so much energy into it, but I think in the end it was worth it. It was the best Christmas party I have ever been to. But I could be biased.

It was a 'Nightmare Before Christmas' themed party. She had bought all the discounted Halloween items at the grocery store and basically bombed the living/dining area with 'Halloweentown" items. We also paper mached a big ol mountain thangamajig.

The kitchen was the 'Christmastown' area. That was my area. I cut out about a million snowflakes and stuck them on the ceiling. Then stormed the place with christmas lights, presents, glitter, and all other kinds of christmasy decorations. The house looked so so good.

And we were done with decorating by 6. Carrie had told people to come over at 6 on the facebook invite, but because I don't pay attention to details, I kept telling everyone to get over to the party at 8. So needless to say people started trickling in around 8:30ish.

My roommate Jesse came over around 7ish. We had figured out his costume earlier in the day. It was awesome. He was cousin Eddie from the Christmas Vacation movie. It was awesome. SO AWESOME. He won the best costume prize. Anyway, so we were all just hanging out, being bored before people came over, so Jesse and Matt went and broke in the beer pong table in the garage. And came back a half hour totally drunk. It was pretty funny.

Around 8/8:30ish people started coming in. Then all of a sudden, the whole house was filled with people. There were so many people there. I had spent the majority of the night in the garage.

And let me tell you, it got intense in there.

I think I had played a total of 2 games. The first with Brenda...we did decently well. The second with Bryon....I think we were a little bit too cocky and lost miserably.

Jake, on the other hand, was a fricken beer pong beast. Jesse and him were a team and won 10 games in a row, TEN! Which ultimately was a pretty poor decision. I don't know if I could win 3 games in a row. I would not be feeling well at all.

I had no idea that was so such a trash talker though. I really am not that competitive at all, but I do really really like giving people crap about things. I'm sorry if it got out of control, but I can control my mouth sometimes.

OH! One major detail I am totally missing. The fricken fog machine.

My friend Ryan owns this fog machine (I have no idea why), and he let us borrow it for the party. It worked like a charm. In roughly one minute it can fill an entire house with fog. And people totally took advantage of that. Micah took a particular liking to the fog machine. I think a few times throughout the night he filled the place up with so much fog you couldn't see 2 feet in front of you.

People started leaving around 2;30 a.m. I was dog-tired. But it was worth it. such a good party.

Funny stories of note that I didn't mention:

Brenda and Jesse had the same turtleneck on. It was a woman's...and Jesse's was altered to be a dickie.....but It was still pretty hilarious.
Jeremy sucks at beer pong

Doug showed up in a wheelchair...as his costume. It rocked.

Micah and Rod have a fascination for women's heels and tried unsuccessfully to wear them.

Dimitra is an excellent high heel foot pointer

Ice is slippery

Matt, Carrie and I dressed up like Lock, Shock and Barrel...I painted Matt's face like a clown. It was pretty funny.
Preston always does the 'Preston sneak'

Footraces at 2 a.m. down the middle of a deserted street is ALWAYS a good idea.
Jesse's tramp stamp

Bryon has an uncanny resemblance to Prof. Quirrell from the Harry Potter books

Hanging out with Michelle, Jesse, Carrie and Matt before the party actually started was way way fun.
Accidentally doing the 'Elaine shove' to Rod at 2 a.m. was not a very good decision.
About 38 pee spots in Carrie's backyard
Rod falling roughly 6 times.

I am sure I am missing a TON more, but I'll remember them later.

All in all the party was great great great.

a big event in sheridan

2010-12-02T13:31:00.002-07:00

A week of two ago the White House/congress/Washington D.C Christmas tree rolled through town.
It was cut down in Teton National Park and was making it's way over there.
Like I have said a million point two times, I love Christmas stuff.
So naturally I took time off work to go look at it.

TOTALLY worth it.
I got to be on the news.
I got hot chocolate.
I saw the tree.
I signed my name on the banner.
AND...

I got to see Santa and Mrs. Clause!

mmhmm

my current office situation

2010-11-30T15:30:00.002-07:00

I am ending my term as a VISTA.
So now there is a replacement that I have to train.
His name is Jesse.
He's a really nice guy.
Which makes it easy for me to by myself around him.
And that is probably not the best thing.

See, It's the Christmas season.
And I am a HUGE holiday nut.
I love all things Christmas.
Especially Christmas music.

I have had an office mainly to myself for an entire year.
Me, all alone, in my cave.
I have developed some very strange behavior.
Like singing at the top of my lungs without even thinking about it.

So, currently I have been listening to Christmas music in my office.
Jesse doesn't tell me to turn it off.
So I blare it (or what I affectionately call 'ghetto blasting')
And sing along with it.
This is how I imagine the situation in my office.

Me, really going after those high notes.
Jesse cringing the entire time.

Begging me to stop.
But he's too nice to actually say anything.

I think I hear his ranting behind me.
So I turn around to see what's up....obviously nothing.
So I continue with my singing.

This scenario really makes me laugh pretty hard.
Probably because it is about 85% true.
I'm such a mean co-worker.

the most humiliating moment in deadwood history

2010-11-28T09:52:00.002-07:00

Prepare yourself.
This story is pretty bad.
For me.

We rolled into Deadwood at about 7:30ish on Wednesday night.
I had only been in the car for about 3 hours, but the guys had been in it for roughly 8, so we were all ready to get out and do something.
Saloon no. 10 seemed like the best place to go....at 8 on a Wednesday night.
And it was completely dead.
There were us, the bartenders, and handful of locals, and some Englishmen.
We somehow start talking to the Englishmen, and find out that there is a free Thanksgiving lunch buffet the next day.
Happy about this unexpected tip, we start feeling all chummy with the dudes.
Mind you, these guys are roughly 50ish.
One looked like Smee on the movie Hook, one looked like an ostrich, and the other one looked like your typical, happy, middle aged Englishman.

Naturally, Mike the ostrich, asks me to dance.

There is NO ONE on the dance floor.
And the band is playing 80s rock ballads.
But I still end up out there with Mike.

The dancing started out nice enough...
Then it got strange.
Very strange.
Mike somehow lifted me off the dance floor, twirled me around and air humped me all at the same time.
At that very moment, Kyle had walked by and witnessed all of it.
AND WALKED AWAY.
Didn't even help me!
This dancing continued for a bit longer, with Mike getting slightly bolder with each passing second...probably to the dismay of everyone in the general viewing area, until I ran away yelling "I have to pee!"

For the entire trip, Dana and Kyle kept reenacting the dance.
To my humiliation.
The only good that came from that whole experience was that we got a free Thanksgiving meal.
And some good jokes.

mt. roosevelt

2010-11-26T09:32:00.002-07:00

Here is a Thanksgiving story for all of you.
I am in Deadwood this week(end) for the holidays.
It's been a pretty nontraditional Thanksgiving for me....which I surprisingly like.
I'm big on tradition, so it shocks me a little bit that I don't mind spending the holiday away from my family.
I love my family...I'm just saying that this is a nice alternative.

Anyway, yesterday we had found a free Thanksgiving buffet at one of the casinos.
It was delicious.
I ate way too much.
After stuffing my face for a good 45 mins, we tromp back to the hotel room and take the required Thanksgiving afternoon nap.

We had planned on going to Mt. Roosevelt earlier in the day.
Still stuffed from the meal, we make our way over.
Kyle had been there previously and knew the way. It was up this winding, completely snow covered road.
I did think I was going to die a couple times when he was driving on it.
Not because of his driving skills (which are very good), but because I am morbid and think of all the worst case scenarios.
I want to be prepared.
I'm like Robert Downy Jr. in that Sherlock Holmes movie....I plan out possible sequences in my head.
I don't know how I got to talking about this.

Anyway, we finally make it to the top and have to hike a little bit to get to the actual viewing spot.
Kyle is the leader, then me, and Dana is bringing up the rear.
One thing you should know about Dana, he is the most quiet man I have ever met.
Well maybe not quiet...but stealthy.
Very, very stealthy.
So we are all walking along ( I am semi dying bc I am so full from Thanksgiving still), and all of a sudden I hear a noise behind me....it sounds like books falling off a bookshelf.
It was Dana. Falling.
By the time I turned around (which was seconds after I heard the noise), Dana was up and already brushing his leg off.
It was hilarious. He is so quick!

We finally make it to the top and the view is gorgeous.
It is also about 5 below and windy...like hurricane windy.
But it was a fun trek.
And a fun memory from Thanksgiving.

sledding

2010-11-23T09:22:00.004-07:00

I went sledding last night with Carrie and Jesse.
To a place called Linden Hill.
HOLY MOTHER.
That is the BEST sledding hill ever.
If you like thinking you are going to die.

This picture was taken at the end of the night.
I think I may have hit my head a little hard.

This was before we went down the hill.
Jumping pictures.
Because we are still 13 yr olds at heart.
I accidentally punched Carrie in the face.

And Jesse.
I really punched Jesse.
I felt bad.

This picture makes me laugh til I cry.
I had slid down the entire hill just like that.
Dragging Jesse along with me.
I was in pain...and bruised my hip.

These pictures make me laugh super hard too.
I am facing down the hill.
Carrie and I had promptly fallen off the sled, twisted around, and proceeded down the entire hill in this form.

We barely survived.

And that damn red sled.

It was SO fast.

I had somehow managed to go down the entire hill on that thing.

And only cried on the inside.

So overall, Winter 2010/2011 sledding has been a massive success.

I will just need to remember to bring a tube instead of a sled, some schnapps, and maybe a helmet before I sled that hill again.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! (Read that message on Thursday)

driving in snow

2010-11-22T08:52:00.002-07:00

I am one of those really annoying snow drivers.
I'm sorry.
I grew up with snow, so naturally I am completely freaked out by what it can do.
All the car accidents I have been in, have been with snow.

So this morning was the first morning with REAL snow cover...not a light dusting.
I, stupidly, live on one of the ONLY hills in town.
I had to drive down it this morning.
Ten and two.
5-10mph...TOPS.
It normally takes me roughly 5 mins to get to work...
I rolled in in about 10 mins.
NO ACCIDENTS FOR ANDREA!!!!!!
Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it SNOW!
You didn't get me today!

Ok, well that's as about as exciting as my Monday is going to get.

monster andrea

2010-11-16T22:06:00.003-07:00

You know what?
I could NEVER be Martha Stewart.
Or Pioneer Woman.
Or Julia Child
Or any other crafty/cooking type person.
I can't.

I am generally a calm, collected, and content individual.
But there are times in my life when a rage monster comes out of me.
It is when I cannot do something.

Last time this monster showed up, I was trying to play Super Mario Bros.
This time, it was during paper macheing.
Most time consuming craft ever!

Good thing there was wine, or else I may have quit after the first layer.
I cannot tell you what I am paper maching....
But it will be worth it in the end.
Or so I am told.

one good day

2010-11-14T22:37:00.004-07:00

I love my friends that I have made in Sheridan.
I love all my friends, but the ones here are just a breath of fresh air.
It is so easy to have fun with them.
Stuff just miraculously happens with no prior planning.
It doesn't matter what I do with them, everything just has a way of working out.

Take Saturday for example.
I woke up that morning and thought to myself "I think Carrie mentioned something about Christmas party decorations".
So I bop over to her house, mid-afternoon to see what's up.
We go shopping all afternoon for her Christmas party.
And have the absolute LUCKIEST day ever.
Shopping-wise.
We found SO many hidden treasures.

Then that night, we were trying to put a game night together..but it fell through.
No worries.
We just called up Preston and found out that he, Ryan and Wes were just down the street watching the Wyoming Football game.
That sounded like fun, so Caredawg and I headed down there.
I love those guys.
The game sucked, but it didn't matter.

We all left early and headed downtown.
A few people I knew went to the Library auction and were hanging out at the Mint.
It was fun, but the Mint gets old after awhile.
But we met up with Kim, Betsy, and Doug there.

Carrie got it into her head to go over to the Legion...
But we got there too late.
So Doug, Carrie, Ryan and I headed over to the Beaver to play shuffleboard.
Carrie and I against Ryan and Doug.
Carrie Rules.
I rule.
Ryan Drools.
Doug Drools.

Well that's not ENTIRELY true.
Carrie and I won the first round.
And the guys won the second round.
They closed before we could play a third round.

Then we all went home.

Like I said above...none of that was planned.
And it was an awesome day.
I love days like that.
I am not a planner for that very reason.
I thrive off a spontaneous existence.

funkadunk

2010-11-12T14:49:00.002-07:00

A bad thing happened when I went away to London.

I didn't write in my blog.

I had gotten out of the habit of writing in it.

Now I am not excited about it anymore. It's like a chore.

I have gotten into this "my life is not exactly interesting" rut.

Which, lets face it, may be true.

But I usually find something comical to talk about on this thing.
I have to keep reminding myself that I am the only person that has these experiences, and views the world through my eyes.

Pretty deep, huh?

But man! I am really in a weird writing funk. I think I'm just fried.

I've kinda done a ton in the last 2-3 weeks. It's all a blur.

Then this is the last month at my current job.

So I either need to find a new job, or move home to Michigan.

And that is stressing me out a bit.

SHEESH.

Sorry for the lame blog post.

Here's a picture from when Abby visited.

Probably the only interesting part of this post.

We were walking down Main St.

Abby visit

2010-11-11T08:48:00.004-07:00

It's my good friend Abby's Birthday today.

She was visiting me in Wyoming this past weekend.

Well it was from Friday to Wednesday...so I don't know if you can consider that a weekend.

I made her do all of the following:

go to a bonfire right after landing in town

go dancing at the Legion (yes, that's the American Legion (Happy Veteran's Day!))

go to the Mint Bar

Shop on main street...twice. One of those times was in frigid snow...sorry about that.

Travel 2 hours to Billings to buy her cowboy boots just so she wouldn't have to pay sales tax

drive up in the mountains

hike in Tongue River Canyon and listen to me freak about bears. (I told her that the caves were full of dirty needles and meth addicts to deter her from entering them...I wish I was joking about this one)

have an impromptu birthday party on Monday

game night with my friends

made her meet just about ever person I have met in town since I have been here.

cook every meal....I was learning.

What she wanted to do, but we didn't do:

Hunt

Fish

Ride a horse

Sorry bout that. It was a really fun trip though. Now I am insanely tired.

I think I slept 10 hours last night. It was heaven.

So happy birthday Abby! Glad I was able to hang out with you for nearly a whole week...it was just like camp...but for grown-ups...and we didn't have to eat bad cafeteria food. Just pizza the whole week...Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

(This pic is an oldie, but a goodie)

i'm not that funny

2010-11-05T13:31:00.002-06:00

Before I went to London, I put up a photo album on my facebook page of old family photos.
It was to prepare for the family vacation.
Plus I love looking at old pictures.

So I was born into a ready-made family.
Mom, Dad and Joe were enjoying life, then I came along.
And made it better...naturally.

I was completely addicted to my fingers when I was born.
I sucked them FOREVER.
I won't tell you the actual age when I quit, because it was pretty old.
(and no, I don't still suck them...)
(trust me I don't)

Anyway, 3 years later, Alli came along.
Which was cool.
But she made me a middle child, which was not cool.
I made her my shadow. It was awesome.
So being the middle wasn't so bad.

This picture below is how I will always think of Alli.
She was such a little princess when she was little.
It was adorable.
And annoying all at once.

One thing I love about living somewhere that I wasn't raised is being considered apart from my family.
That sentence didn't make sense.
What I mean is, people in Sheridan think I'm funny.
Which is a nice compliment.
I think I'm funny too.
But in the Staley family, we are all outrageously funny.
Would you believe me if I told you that growing up I was the quiet one in the family?
I was until I reached the middle school years.

This is Alli, being a goof.
We are all seriously brave people.
Comically brave that is.
If you dare ANY of us to do something, we will do it.
I remember one time Joe had some friends over and they were playing truth or dare.
My mom wanted to play too, and she chose dare.
My brother made her run around the backyard flapping her arms screaming "I'm a pony!" in front of a group of high school boys.
No shame.

Joe struck this pose in SO many pictures.
If you go here, you can see his video blog.
It's actually really funny.

So you see, I'm really not that funny.
I just appear funny, because I'm not grouped together with my family.
I love them all.

Even though I barely see them now.

I realized I just rambled on about my family for awhile.
Sorry.
I'll write about cooler things later.

the new girl

2010-11-03T13:51:00.002-06:00

So the London trip was fun. I liked it.
One of the major things that happened on it was the whole family met Joe's new girlfriend.
Our family is super close, so meeting boyfriends/girlfriends is a bit weird.
I have never once introduced anyone I have dated to my family.
Because I'm weird.
I think my family will meet whoever I end up with after I've been married to them for about 5 years.
My family's opinion matters too much to me.
Don't get me wrong, they would accept anyone I would want to be with (bar the murderers/rapists/thieves/etc).

So having this set-up for you, I was very nervous to meet Joe's new girlfriend.
I really wanted to like her. I wanted her to be a friend.

So we all went to dinner.

AND

It was a blast!
She is so much fun!

Alli (sister) didn't really care too much either way.
But she liked her too.
It's not like any of this matters.
But it's really nice to see Joe with an awesome person.

I hope he doesn't mess this up.
Ha, sorry. hahahah

no brain

2010-11-02T22:15:00.001-06:00

I got back from London yesterday.
And my mind is blank.
I'm sorry. I just can't think anymore.
I have mushymind. It's a medical condition.

So I'll write about London when I can think.

morelondonimsorry

2010-10-25T21:28:00.002-06:00

So I have this bad(ish) habit of talking stuff to death.
It can be anything really.
Recently it has been this trip to London.
I am sorry, but I can't stop thinking about it.
I am BEYOND excited for it.

Here is a small list of things I will be doing/want to do but may run out of time/money for:

Go to the Tower of London (mom bought tickets, so this is a guarantee)
See Joe's football game (main reason for the trip)
See platform 9 3/4 and take about a hundred picks of me running into it (I never said I wasn't going to be a cheesy tourist)
See more Harry Potter stuff
Go to the Globe Theater
Go on the London Eye
Shop a lot
Go to Piccadilly Circus
Take a cheesy picture on Abbey Road
Go to a Halloween parade with friend Courtney
Go to a gum factory (somehow this got into the mix)
Go to a pub or two
Make a friend with a local
Go to Notting Hill and pretend to be Julia Roberts ("I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" < I will probably say that)

And about a million more things. I only have 4 days, so I'm going to make them count.

i'm going to london

2010-10-24T13:48:00.000-06:00

'nuff said

see you on the flip side

butch staley

2010-10-20T12:00:00.001-06:00

Andrea has asked me to write something for her blog and I thank her for her gracious offer. I , like most of you, have enjoyed reading her funny takes about life in Sheridan and just about her life in general. Am not sure that I can match her wit and wisdom with what I am going to write but I will try my best so, here goes.

In the very near future our family is going on a trip to London. What is special about this trip for me is that all of us as a family will be together. Now this is a rare occurrence because all of my children live in different parts of the country so you can imagine my joy at us being together. We have taken many trips as a family and on these trips we always seem to have a great time and things go smooth for the most part.

But, there will come a time in the trip when my loving children accuse their dad of being “in the zone”, and believe me this is not a compliment. I think “ in the zone” for them means that I am determined, by any means necessary to have a good time even if it means making everybody miserable doing it. That’s what it seems like to them. Now, allow me to not only explain myself but to show you the reader how my “in the zone” behavior is not only positive for my children but also instrumental in their growth and development as the kind of people they need to be for me to be happy.

I mean don’t they see this, its all very clear to me. You’re probably asking yourself right now, “ Is he for real?” your damn right I am . And I hope that in the future all those involved in travel with me learn to get on the same page…..my page..I mean hell these people aren’t even in the same book, but , be that as it may, I’m willing to compromise my standards and beliefs in order for all involved to enjoy themselves. Far be it from me to stand in the way of somebody thinking they can have fun without my imput!

So as I contemplate the upcoming trip to London I , once again, will do my best to forgo being “in the zone” for the sake of the (supposed) happiness of others. Well, I guess that’s what dads are called to do.

Thanks Andrea for allowing me a forum here to vent and look forward to our London trip.

monday night

2010-10-19T16:44:00.002-06:00

I know this blog is supposed to be about my adventures in Wyoming.
I think I only write about my Wyoming adventures 45% of the time.
Most other posts are about funny/weird stories from years past.
But whatever.
This is my blog.
I can make it confusing if I want to.

But today I will write about my adventures in Wyoming.
I have been pretty busy with work, so when I finally leave work, I want to relax.
My idea of relaxing is hanging out with friends.
I am alone all day in my office, so after work, I crave human interaction.

Last night, I worked late.
My friend Carrie and I had made plans to play tennis after work, but both of us didn't get off work until after dusk/dark (around 6:30.....I do not like how short the days are becoming).
So I just went over and had dinner at her house.
She had just gone on vacation and needed to buy a thank you present for her brother for watching her dogs.
(I know I am adding an unnecessary amount of detail, but I can't stop myself).
So she was getting him the Super Mario Bros. game for the wii.
This is when my night started turning downhill.

I do not play video games.
I just never have ever had any desire to play them.
At all.
I have played guitar hero....but that's not really a video game.
I have played sega before...very poorly.
Carrie (little trickster that she is) had told me that she has only played the game once.
I'm thinking that means ever, on all gaming systems.
Not the case...she meant once on the wii system.
She actually was a nintendo freak when she was younger apparently.

I blindly think I will be at the same basic skill level as her.
Oh how naive I was.
She was like master super mario player.
I was master super mario die-r
I died within 30 seconds each time I played.
I got so frustrated.
My hands were getting all sweaty. My heart rate went way up.
I had the intense desire to chuck the wii-mote at the TV.
I was a mess.

I only stayed for about 2 hours.
I then went over to Jake and Brenda's to watch the end of MNF.
I needed to calm myself.
And I did.
We didn't watch any of the game (the Titans had a HUGE lead).
But we did joke over the strange cars wrecks we have been in.
Man, if you are ever in a really awkward situation...tell a car accident story.
Those are super interesting and usually pretty funny (if no one was hurt, dead, that sort of stuff).

I then drove home, feeling normal again.
I pulled into my driveway, and what do I see?
a MASSIVE BUCK.
As in deer.
As in, I am completely and irrationally afraid of these creatures.
I drive in the middle of my backyard to see if my little car will frighten it away.
It didn't.
So I just sit there....stumped.
I then drive around my house and park on the main road.
I then sneakily creep to the back door.
Hoping he doesn't see me.
He does, and starts walking towards me.
I freak, thinking he is going to charge me.
So I start praying.
"please God, do NOT let this deer kill me"
I reach my backdoor.

I can't find my keys....
But luckily it was unlocked.
I rushed in, prepared to tell my roommate about my freaky experience.
But she was asleep on the couch.
So it's 10pm, and I am wide awake from my deer encounter.
I didn't get much sleep last night.

Man, that post actually makes my life sound semi interesting.
Trust me, it isn't.

I have questions for my former self

2010-10-18T13:46:00.002-06:00

This picture is of me in middle school.
I have a number of questions about it.
All of them will not be able to be answered.
But here they are.

Why am I eating a caramel apple pop with braces?
Why is my hair pulled back in a ridiculously tight pony tail?
Was I really this much taller than all my friends?
Puca shell necklace....why?
Weird button down t-shirt....why?
Ugh. those braces.

Did you know I used to have a spacer on my upper jaw? I had to crank it everyday. It worked. I could fit 2 quarters side-by-side in between my front teeth.

There's some awkward middle school truth for you.

rage ina cage

2010-10-17T22:40:00.004-06:00

I went to "Friday Fight Night" ....on Friday.
It is like amateur UFC fighting.
WAY WAY amateur.
I know nothing about UFC fighting. Other than they are in a cage.
And they fight.
I think I last watched any sort of fighting on TV, it was of Hulk Hogan.
And his shirt ripping.

I went with my friend Lucas.
And met up with Michelle and others.
I felt bad because Lucas had to explain everything to me.

This drawing sucks....but I didn't feel like adding tons of detail.
Basically they are in this cage and they wrestle around.
It goes on for 3 rounds. and each round is 90 seconds long.

Some of the matches took up all the time and the winner won based off points.
Other rounds were over in 2 punches.
Either way it was awesome. All of it was.

My favorite part of the whole night was people watching.
I am a people watching freak.
This is the basic uniform of every single male in attendance.

They all looked like they have been injecting steroids into their eyeballs for far too long.
It was a little much.

This is what I looked like the entire time.

I'm surprised anyone even talked to me.

All of you who received my maniac texts from this night can probably imagine this image of me.
I was high. On local amateur UFC style fighting.

band

2010-10-15T13:04:00.002-06:00

So I was just joking about the dad post.
He will be writing something soon, just not today.
Sorry for the tease.

I work in a church.
They have donated an office for me to work out of.
It is in the back corner, it's like a dungeon, but I like it.
The church building is super old, so I can hear just about everything from my little office.
There is a lot of pipe creakage, sometimes it sounds like someone is dragging a huge metal bomb across a metal floor.
I have kind of tuned that one out, it freaks me out a little bit.

I hear choir practice.
Remember the hallelujah chorus post?
Well every Friday afternoon a man comes to one of the rooms in the basement and does music lessons.
It's usually for middle school kids and younger.
And it is adorable.
They do everything.
Some play the sax, some sing, some play the piano.
They all pretty much suck, but I still love Fridays because of them.
I get to eavesdrop on little kids squeaking out notes on a violin or trumpet.
They try so hard. It's adorable.

I played the clarinet in school.
I really wanted to play something cool, like the drums, or the trombone.
But I had to play the clarinet because my aunt had one.
I quickly realized I had minimal musical ability.
I could read music well enough, but I didn't have a musician's soul.
It didn't really matter to me.
And I joined the band because of a hot boy.
Bad reason.

I'm glad I did band though. I was last chair, so minimal responsibility.
I got an A in it.
I went to band camp and learned how to do the jazz run.
I know how to play the Star Wars theme song.
Overall I think it was a good investment.
I'm still pissed I wasn't able to play the trombone though.

Happy Friday!

dad post

2010-10-14T18:00:00.004-06:00

I am doing this new thing where I have people write posts for me on Friday.
I think my blogger tomorrow is going to be.....
.....drum roll......
my dad.

To prepare all of you for his divine wisdom (or idiot savant-ish wisdom), I will give you a nice story about my father.
I realize I tend to exaggerate a lot (I get this from my mother...it makes for better story telling), but all of this information is factual. No padding.

My parent's raised us Baptist. Initially the church we attended was nice. Very family friendly.
Then it started getting huge. and not really that great.
So we left.
Eventually, my family landed in a pretty awesome church that wasn't nutso.
It's a family thing. We like to go to church.

One of our many Sunday traditions (along with big family lunch, football, and nap time), is dad's sermon-after-the-sermon.
My parent's met at Tennessee Temple, a southern baptist college.
This shocks you if you know my parents.
My dad is very philosophical.
He loves the mind. He lives in his mind. One of his favorite activities is a lively verbal joust.
So every single Sunday, without fail, my dad would rail about the sermon.
He tells us what the pastor got right (not that much), and what the sermon REALLY should have been about.

He mostly would 'rail' when we went to the baptist church.
This new church is better.
They 'get it'.
Only bad thing...it's 45 mins from my parent's house.

I used to hate these sermon-after-sermons.
Mostly because I would get car sick.
But now I love them, and miss them.
I think my dad is one of the smartest persons (peoples? humans? aliens?) that I know.
He says that I take after him.
He calls me observant.
He says I understand the human dynamic....or something like that.
I love that.

My dad drove me out here.
It took 2 days.
I got many of dad's 'sermons'.
It was a great time.

So I hope you enjoy what my dad has to say.

other trips

2010-10-12T18:29:00.002-06:00

I went to Greece awhile ago.
I'm thinking a lot about past vacations.
And Greece was an AWESOME experience.
I went over there for school.

I did a bunch of stuff.
I joined a band on a boat ride over to Samos.
We never went on tour.

I went to this one place and I TOTALLY forgot the name of it.
But it was glorious.
There were all these jagged cliffs and perched on top were monasteries.
I visited the monasteries.
Let me say it again.
It was glorious.

I also went to a big amphitheater.
You could stand in the center of the stage and talk, or whisper, or shuffle your feet.
And the person at the very top of the seat could hear you.
Those Greeks were crafty.

I also had to endure an 8 hour train ride in a cramped compartment with 5 other girls and their luggage.
How did I cope?
I knocked myself out with 2 Dramamine and 3 aspirins.
I was out the whole time.

I also took a jaunt over to Turkey and saw the first Library ever.
It was pretty awesome.
Loads of tourists.
And hella hot that day.
But I love libraries. And history. So I loved this.

That's all. I thought you would like to reminisce with me.

family vacation

2010-10-11T09:14:00.002-06:00

In couple weeks, I am going on a family vacation.

I haven't been on a family vacation for a good 4 years.

I love our family vacations.

Have you seen those Chevy Chase vacation movies?
Well my family is the Griswolds.
We are that boisterous family that somehow found their way into the cool club.
Totally on accident.

So to celebrate this upcoming family vacation, I will tell you some HILARIOUS stories from our last family vacation.
We went to Hawaii for ten days.
I remember everything from that trip.
Because it was the best consecutive ten days of my life.
And I kept telling myself to remember this trip.
I learned how to surf, listened to whales, went to a luau, and a bunch of other stuff.

Funny story #1
My favorite day was when we went snuba diving.
It's not scuba because you are attached to this tank that is on a raft.
So you can't really dive that deep.

My mom and dad didn't want to snuba, so they just snorkeled at the top of the water.
Joe, Alli and I all snubaed.
I have always been fearless in the water. So I basically dove down to the water as quickly as possible. Looking at all the fish and such.
Alli took a little longer, but she eventually made it down to the bottom.
Joe...did not.
Joe and I were connected to the same tank. Which was bad for me.
Because Joe was getting super claustrophobic or whatever, he kept sucking in all the air. So our tank went WAY down.
He kept holding onto his little air tube and wouldn't get any deeper than a few feet in the water.
It was comical to say the least.

And if that wasn't funny enough, there were TONS of tropical fish surrounding us.
And Joe kept swatting them away.
Now I have an irrational fear of critters, but Joe is way worse than me.
It is SUPER funny.
We have all these pictures that my parents took of us snubbing.
Alli and I are at the bottom of this sea volcano, and Joe is still skimming the surface.
They are sooo funny.

Funny #2
We are a family of swimmers.
We had a pool growing up, and we would spend all summer in it.
So when we were in Hawaii, If we didn't have anything planned, we would all go swimming.

Or at least down to the beach.
So one day in particular we go to the beach and the waves are CRAZY big.
We are all really strong swimmers, so we are totally geeked about these big waves.
There was one problem.
Big waves in the ocean are totally different than the big waves in Lake Michigan.
We all found this out extremely quickly.

A good Samaritan gave our family a boogie board right when we got there.
Joe decides to take it out and mess around with it.
On his very first wave, he is riding high on his boogie board.
Having tons of fun, then it starts to break, and crash down.
Taking Joe and the boogie board with it.
Joe must have hit the floor of the ocean at a vertical angle, because he snapped his board in half.
And ended up with extreme sand rash.
HAHA it was SO funny.
He was out there for about 2 minutes.

The next Staley victim was Alli.
My mom, dad, sister and I all go out to play in the waves.
But play soon turned into survival.
Alli had gotten knocked around by about 3 good waves and was completely disoriented.
And that wasn't the only thing that was disoriented.
In the wave pummelling, Alli's top had come off.
It was so bad because there were a bunch of people on the beach getting a free show.
My dad had thought Alli had gotten a couple of big cuts and was coming over to help her.
I kept yelling "BOOBS!" at her.
My mom was having her own troubles.
Eventually my dad figured out what was wrong with Alli and instantly turned away, I still kept yelling 'boobs", and my mom was eventually able to help Alli find her top.
It was seriously the strangest scene ever.

After that, my mom and Alli went back in to lay down and recover.
I guess when my mom made her way onto the beach, she was a sight to see.
Her hair was all messed up, and her swimsuit was all twisted around.
Making her boobs look like a Picasso painting.
My brother tactfully yelled at her to fix herself.
hahahaha. I'm sad I missed that scene.

I only thought I was going to die a couple times, so I stayed out in the water the longest.
My dad got carried away my the riptide one time, and that was freaky.
But he calmly made his way back.
And freaked out when he got to the beach.

So I am excited to see what hilarity will ensue on our next family vacation.
Things to look forward to:

We will be in a different country
We will be joined by another family
Alli is older

The different country one is the big one. I can only imagine how horrible we will act and what stories will come from this trip. I AM EXCITED

the best friday night

2010-10-10T14:49:00.003-06:00

So I was going to write a post yesterday, but I didn't because I was sick.

It was actually the best day to be sick.

I had no plans, it was cold and blustery outside (which I loved), and I had the house to myself.

I love my roommate, but sometimes it's nice to have a whole day all alone.

So I took full advantage of that.

Now I am partially recovered and at work.

I have this big ol fundraiser coming up and I am a bit behind in work.

I was going to come in yesterday, but didn't.

I don't really want to write about this so I will stop.

What I DO want to write about is this AWESOME fight I witnessed at the bar on Friday night.

Let me set the scene.

I was hanging out with a group of friends by the back of the bar.

It was the place's anniversary "party" so it was pretty busy.

And every single guido that lives in Sheridan was there.

Let me give you a visual.

This is a guido.

So, you know, just visualize the biggest prick you can, that that is a guido.

The back door was next to where I was standing and a bunch of the guys rush out of it.

Because I could smell the tension, I rushed out too and asked if there was going to be a fight.

There was.

I am estimating there to have been about 15 guidos outside, yelling and puffing and hitting their chests.

Three different circles formed.

And at the exact same moment, all three circles of fighters started fighting at ONCE!

I swear someone must have yelled "GO!"

It was AWESOME.

So if you can imagine, there are all these guido rumblers and their guidette girlfriends freaking out...then there is me.

Standing WAY too close to the fighters, smiling like a kid in the candy store.

Yelling things like "WHOA!" and "YEAH!" and a number of other things.

It was the best show I have ever seen.

All my friends just stayed inside and watched from the doorway.

They were not as impressed as I was.

But whatever.

It made my Friday night.

Even though I did get slightly body-checked against the wall and now have a huge rug-burnish wound on my butt.

I love Sheridan.

Who Be I?

2010-10-08T15:27:00.004-06:00

Hey.

So this is not andrea.

Can you guess who it is?

You are probably wrong because its Melissa! From HoneyBee Hive <--That's my blog. I don't live there. I am from Canada and I am a guest here today at Andrea's Awesome blog. I had

Andrea guest post on mine a couple days ago and it was a gooood time.

Since Andy (she hates that but I shall call her that today) likes to paint pictures I will try to do that as well since most of her readers are expecting that.

So here goes.

Today I am going to teach you how to make an awesome rockin pumpkin for halloweeen!

Find some laundry duct (no idea if thats what its called)

I found some in the basement of our apartment. It was just sitting on top of the garbage. SCORE! (btw. i am using an online paint program and it wont let me use the fill!!! so thats why it looks crummy.. i will do better next time)

Wrap it around so that it makes a circle..like a pumpkin..you get the idea.

Secure it somehow. Mine ripped because it was too short.

Spray paint it orange!

Make a stem out of brown cardstock or something else and stuff or tape it in there

VOILA!

Well. thanks for having me Andrea.. its been a blasty blast.

I am sorry my pictures are not up to par. I need to get that blasted paint program working.

I hope you like my craft! Andrea I used that gift card you gave me to buy the spray paint.. as well as a plant!

It's been a pleasure!

Melissa

Next time i guest post i will tell embarrassing Andrea stories.. hahaha.. yessss.

new friday deal

2010-10-08T13:17:00.002-06:00

I decided that every Friday I am going to have a guest blogger.
It will be whoever really wants to do it.
So if you want to write a guest post for me, let me know.
Hopefully it will be someone new each time.
But it could end up being the same few people
And that would be cool too.

Happy Friday all!

survivor night

2010-10-07T11:14:00.004-06:00

My friend Dana took this picture and I like it.
A lot.
I love fall.

Just thought I would share that with you all.

Moving on now...

I am a strong believer in listening to one's inner voice.

Or your gut.

Or common sense.

Whatever you want to call it.

I am impulsive, spontaneous, and rash.

I blame it on my gut.

Everything I have done in my life has eventually worked out.

I knew it would.

And it has.

So last night, I went over to my friend Kim's house.

Every week, Kim, Kim's hubby Eric, Jason, Julie and I meet somewhere on Wednesday to watch Survivor.

I actually really don't like that show.

But I like the dinner and the company.

So I suck it up.

Well last night I really didn't want to go.

Initially.

I just wanted to lounge around the house and be lazy.

But I knew I would regret not going.

And I knew once I got there, I would have fun.

And guess what?

I did.

I had the best time I have had all week.

I was able to laugh with friends, drink some wine, eat awesome food.

And enjoy myself.

Sometimes I live too much in my head.

And I get down in the dumps.

So last night was the perfect remedy for that.

And I got to watch Good Will Hunting last night.

I loveLOVElove that movie.

I just forgot that I did.

So I guess the message of this post is that I like to ramble.

And make it sound like I am giving advice.

Even though it really isn't advice.

Just words.

coffee shops are mean

2010-10-06T11:12:00.003-06:00

Sorry about the weird post this morning.
I'm in a funk.

Here is another funny story from the past you might enjoy.
It is about the first time I ever went into a coffee shop by myself and ordered a drink.

It was the winter and we had just adopted our dog Bubba.
He was really headstrong and needed a lot of work.
It was early in the morning and my mom had just taken him outside.
When she came back in, I guess he was doing something bad and she was going to bop him on the nose.
He was really playful and was nipping at her.
Somehow she caught her finger on his tooth and ripped it open.

My mom likes to freak out. Too much sometimes.
Granted, her finger was sliced open like a sausage.
She came upstairs to wake me up.
She says "Andrea, you need to take me to the emergency room RIGHT NOW!"
Not the best way to wake someone up.
So I shoot out of bed and we get into the car.

I must have just been 16, because I had no idea where I was going.
And completely unsure about my driving abilities.

So the whole time, my mom is being ridiculous in the car.
Acting like she is fading in and out of consciousness.
It's like her whole hand was cut off, not just a little cut on her fingertip.
So I am thinking this is a huge emergency, and am getting freaked out.
Then my mom asks me "Andrea....honey.....do you think......you can stop.....at Beaners?"
BEANERS??! The coffee shop?!?!
I thought you were dying!!

So I pull into Beaners and get my mom's extremely complicated order.
I am all flustered already and walk up to the counter.
I ask the woman, "Do you sell cappuccinos here?!"
And she laughs at me...at my face.
I would have too...but I was soo truly offended by this.

I give the lady my mom's order and book it out of there.
I think my mom wasn't happy with the coffee.
I don't think it was hot enough.

I didn't go get coffee from a coffee shop for a long time after that.
I always remember that day.

sleeping too much

2010-10-06T07:11:00.002-06:00

I do not know how to properly handle crisis.
This stems from never really having to deal with crisis before.
And for that I am thankful.

But right now, my family is going through a mini-crisis.
And all I seem to be doing about it is sleeping.
I am not able to go home right now and deal with it or help out in any way.
So I am in this waiting phase.

All of this is to say that I have been sleeping a crap ton, and having an even harder time waking up.
I have 3 alarms set on my phone.
One goes off at 5AM and the snooze lasts about 15 mins.
Enough time for me to fall into my REM cycle again.
The next goes off at 6AM and has a 5 min snooze delay.
The third goes off at 7AM and has a 2 min delay.

And I still get up at around 8AM.

Except today, I am going to a swimming class with Kim this morning.
So I had to come into work early.
And let me tell you, THAT was a struggle.

this is embarrassing

2010-10-04T20:48:00.003-06:00

I'm in a funky mood today because of several unfortunate circumstances.
But instead of bringing you all down, I decided I would try to cheer you all up.
Or at least cheer myself up.
So I am going to tell you a pretty hilarious story from awhile ago.

I think I was in high school when this took place.
My mom, sister and I were going swimsuit shopping.
Every single woman knows that swimsuit shopping basically blows.
I get car sick swimsuit shopping.
I hate it.
Mostly because when you have to go swimsuit shopping, it is still winter-ish outside.
When your body hasn't seen the light of day for a good 4 months.
And florescent lights are incredibly unflattering.
Swimsuit shopping blows.

Shopping with my mom is like shopping with a fricken nun.
I am pretty buxom (thank you mother).
So hiding my blessings in a swimsuit is a joke.
A big joke.

So mother won't buy Alli and I swimsuits unless she approves.
And she won't approve unless they cover EVERYTHING.
Which rarely happens in our family.
I got me boobs, Alli's got an ass.

So we were getting frustrated because my mom was being picky.
Apparently I was showing WAY too much cleavage.
Our family is not very proper.
And we tend to get rowdy.
Instead of just bitching out my mom like normal bratty teenagers do, I decide to go out into the hallway of the dressing room and flash my mom.
I was proving a point.

Small problem.
I thought the hallway was still in the woman's dressing room, but it was much closer to the entrance of the dressing room.
And at the exact moment that I flashed, an Amish family walked by.
Father leading the way.
And looked right at me, in all my glory.
This is not a joke.

So, my mom and sister saw all of this go down and rushed me back into the dressing room.
Naturally we are cracking up like little immature kids.
We hung out in the dressing room for a good while, mostly because I was mortified to go out.
I didn't want to run into the Amish family.

My mom was trying to convince me to go out.
She was using all kinds of excuses.
I was still too scared.
Then she exclaimed something along the lines of "Well, that's probably the best thing he has ever seen!"

Eventually we walked out, and the Amish women were in the dressing room.
They most definitely heard my mom.
We ran out of that store.

I hope that story made you laugh.
I'm still kind of embarrassed about that.

I'm boring today

2010-10-03T20:40:00.002-06:00

I am boring.
I like being boring.
I like being boring on Sundays.

And I was really boring today.
Whenever I have a day like I had today, I ALWAYS think about that saying "Live like today was your last day"....or whatever.
And then I feel bad.
Because I didn't do anything significant.
You will see.

So today, I woke up around 8am, but didn't have to be anywhere until 11.
And because I love sleeping more than many things in my life, I decided a hour or two more would be the best thing to do.
Well, I never set an alarm on the weekends, and I slept until 10;45....accidentally.
Joe's game started at 11.
Normally I would be fine watching Joe's game a bit late, but I had to do a play by play for my mom.
She was staying at my aunt's house and they didn't get the game there.

So I wake up too late.
But because I honestly don't seriously care about my appearance, I just run and brush my teeth, change into some clean clothes and bolt over to Jake and Brenda's house.
They get the Sunday ticket.
I can watch Joe's game at their house.
For free.

So the game wasn't that great.
We were winning 14-0 in the first half.
Then the Falcon's started scoring.
Then in the last 7 seconds of the game, the Falcons kick a field goal.
And we lose.
14-16.

I got pretty grouchy.
And left their house. (Thanks for letting me watch the game over there! Again)

So I was in a terrible mood.
And had to go grocery shopping.
I HATE grocery shopping.
I pray every single time I go that I will not see anyone that I know. Mostly because it just makes for awkward grocery store convos..then you keep bumping into that person...and have more awkward convos.
I just would rather avoid that at all costs.
And get out of the grocery store as soon as possible.

Thankfully, I didn't run into anyone that I knew.
But I did get accosted by some random woman that saw me get out of my car.
I have MI plates still.
She decided to ask me about Michigan and talk to me like we were old friends.
Which was fine. But I was not really in a chatty mood.
At all.
But I finally get out of the grocery store.
And make it home.

Because I have a whole afternoon to myself (which rarely happens, but I was SO happy for) I decided to indulge.
I took an embarrassingly long shower.
Painted them toenails.

And waxed my eyebrows.
Honestly, if anyone ever saw me wax my eyebrows, I think they would think I was possessed.
I do not know how to wax my eyebrows without making a million awkward noises.
I sound like someone is slowly and painfully pulling out my toenails.
I huff a ton too.
It takes me about 20 time of saying "ok...GO!" to actually rip off the wax.

But I'm a pro now.

Now I'm watching more football.
And writing this blog.
I am so boring.
And my leg is now asleep.

I'm a guest blogger. In my mind that means I'm a pretty big deal.

2010-10-01T20:02:00.004-06:00

dearest andrea, how honored i am that you bestowed this task upon me...i haven't been bestowed with anything...ever! i'm thrilled, i might as well hijack your blog. clearly i didn't finish reading "Blogging for Dummies,"and can't make

my own blog. (and Jersey Shore marathons always seem to get in the way of anything remotely productive.) i will do my best to be as witty as you. i originally was going to post all sorts of embarrassing pictures of you from our youth, but then i realized not only are they tucked away neatly in creative memory scrapbooks, courtesy of my mother, but i am in them. and, the early nineties mixed with my fashion sense, or lack there of, is well, frightening, remember the bows? eek. on the TOP of my head of all places. and that vest that was sewed to my shirt? yikes. so, to spare you, but mostly, selfishly, myself, i've dedicated this post to your favorite weather man.

10 things you need to know about peter:

1. he likes to fish.

2. he plays the guitar.

3. delivers a mean weather report. (he was slightly off today. i won't hold a grudge though)

4. he writes. poetry. how dreamy. for you at least.

5. he can cook. food.

6. soccer. he plays. but didn't make the world cup.

7. he is a chief. not indian style. weather style. as in meteorologist.

8. he's witty. sometimes.

9. he has lots of awards.

10. he's way cooler than the weather men (and women of course) on channel 3.

enjoy.

p.s. i have a lot of run on sentences. don't hate. and i never use capitals. i'm rebellious like that.

p.p.s or is it p.s.s? i can never remember. now that i have your password, which is so clever, i can break and enter anytime. with photos next time. and stories about 6th grade camp. and bucket hats.

no joke

2010-10-01T13:30:00.002-06:00

This is not a joke. Or a test.
I am having a celebrity blogger blog a post for me.
Yes, this is happening.
Stay tuned.

consequences

2010-09-30T15:30:00.003-06:00

It is the last day of September.

And I no longer have friends.

Consequences of previous post.

I learned my lesson.

I'm here,

Lonely Andrea.

p.s. Just playin. I still got me some friends. Surprisingly.

p.s.s Preston felt jipped.

So this is Preston. He laughs louder than me. And yes, he really is this creepy.

mah friends

2010-09-29T12:03:00.004-06:00

I talked to my mom the other day.
She was just asking about my weekend and i told her about it.
She then said, "Andrea, you should send me pictures with names of these people you are talking about. I need visuals."
So I was going to do that today, but I thought to myself "why not just make it into a blog post?"
So I am making into a blog post.

I also noticed that I get the most comments/reactions when I have a negative post.
And I am all about comments.
So I then decided to add only descriptions of these peoples bad qualities.
So really this is all you peoples fault.
You should comment more.

Picture, name, bad quality.
Here mom, this post is for you.
(friends are in no particular order)

This is Courtney (Cerwin). She left me for London.

This is Jake. He is an angry, angry man. And is from Indiana.

This is Ben. Incredibly awkward.

This is Brenda. She is a sarcastic bitch.

This is Randy. He is cocky. And his thighs are way too white.

This is Dimitra. She is crass. And dances like a stripper.

This is Micah. He is a workaholic. And wears hobo clothes.

This is Dana. He is immature and smelly.

This is Michelle. She is a hermit. And crazy competitive.

This is Kyle (Ka). He is Dana's friend. And has a mustache.

This is Carrie. I never see her. And she forgets to wash her hair regularly.

This is Rod. He is the worst dancer ever. And he shaved his beard.

This is Kim...on the right. I can't find a picture of her. and She is a bad influence.

This is Jarod and Nate. Jarod is like a ghost. I won't see him for months, then he will pop up out of no where. Nate left Sheridan. I have still not forgiven him for that.

So mom, these are the people I am hanging out with.

(Realize I only found bad pictures of these people. Also realize that these people really are pretty great. I just like to make myself feel better by putting them down.)

(if I offended anyone...I am sorry. But you should know better)

certificates

2010-09-28T10:08:00.002-06:00

I like my computer a lot.

I am about to let you all in on a secret.
I really like to make certificates on publisher.
I REALLY like to.

I have made roughly 30 certificates for people.
Sometimes it's just because I want to.
Or because they have done something funny.
Or something good.
Or bad.
There is really no reason for them.
I just like to make them.

I made this certificate awhile ago for my friend Cerwin.

I had just visited my friend Dana in Cheyenne and was introduced to Cerwin.

We all went out.

At the end of the night, Cerwin got sick when we were on our way home.

And discreetly barfed.

And it was awesome.

So I made her a certificate.

There is really no reason for certificates.

If you want me to make you one, just tell me.

I will.

They rock.

when i learned how to surf

2010-09-27T09:53:00.002-06:00

Whenever I get bored, I look at pictures I have on my computer.
It's pretty fun.
I ran across a photo album from a family vacation I took a few years back.
It was one of my favorite vacations of all time.
Our family really truly actually enjoys hanging out with each other.
It's bizarre, I know. We are 'that' family.
We actually love each other.
So this vacation was wonderful.

One of my favorite parts was the surf lesson Alli and I took.
Part of the surf lesson was to have some man take pictures of the entire experience.
We did all the dorky touristy things.
And I am so not ashamed of that.

This is Alli and I and some other people getting basic instructions before we headed out to the ocean.

Obviously Alli and I were listening really hard.
The other couple look all professional. Alli and I look like we are about to take a nap.

So we finally get out to the ocean, on some KILLER 2 foot waves.
The next series of pictures crack me up.
Watch Alli.

Looking good. Going to surf side by side.

Oh Alli's going to pop up first.
Don't do it too fast!

Alli! your losing BALANCE!

HAHAHAHA.

GO ME!

Ok...now keep watching me.

I don't think I ever moved beyond this crouching stance.

I looked like a freak. But I didn't lose my non-existent balance.

So I'm just trucking along on my little wave...minding my own business

Then something bad happened.

There is a lot of people out in this ocean.

Surfing.

Hanging out.

And, well. I made a new friend.

I accidentally hit him. With my giant surf board.

It was pretty bad actually.

I think he was about 12. And moody.

And it didn't help that I just started laughing.

I laugh when I get uncomfortable.

Bad reaction....I know.

But he was alright.

And Alli and I learned how to surf.

It was a fun trip.

I love memories

hpa2

2010-09-26T21:05:00.003-06:00

So I had a really fun weekend.
It was one of those weekends were you sort of have plans, but they are so loose that you can really do anything you want, or nothing at all.
I love those weekends.
I decided to do a lot of things.

My favorite thing I did was on Saturday night.
I don't know if anyone really reads this blog and remembers past posts. But if you do, do you remember that post I did about that "hippie party" I went to?

Well guess what people. I went to hippie party act 2 on Saturday night.
And it was awesome.
I still should learn a hippie trade...I did bust out some ghetto booty-shake/hippie dancing. It was a strange mixture, but I think I pulled it off pretty well.
Anyway. Instead of being the strange awkward wallflower that I was at the last shindig...I was normal Andrea. Which really isn't that normal, but I had a TON of fun.
Man, I really suck at telling stories...I never start at the beginning, I'm sure you all are very bored now.

Now I will start at the BEGINNING.
The reason for this hpa2 (hippie party act 2) was my friend Micah. It was his birthday bash.
So a bunch of us high-tailed it to rod&dimitra's hizzouse for some fun.
And the fun started early.
With burry-toes (burritos...I always spell it burry-toes in my head because I think I am mentally insane.)
Feed me and I will be the happiest person in the world.
And this food was g.o.o.d.

This crazy drawing is of me...and my giant burry-toe. I couldn't even close the dang thing.
I think I had 2 of these last night. YUM.

So after gorging on succulent burry-toes, Micah grooved out on his guitar.
It was his birthday bash, but he was the cook/general entertainment.
It was awesome.
I didn't even get him a gift. Or a card. I am such a bad party guest.
So after his mini concert, some people put up a big projector screen and we all sat around the campfire and watched the Big Lebowski.
LOVE. THAT. MOVIE.
But I think every single person there has probably seen it about a million times.
And we are all pretty immature.
So about half the party of people decided it would be the funniest thing in the world (which it was) to go behind the screen and make incredibly inappropriate hand puppets during the movie.

I'm trying to keep this blog PG rated, so I won't draw the hand puppet-y things they were doing, but I am sure you all can imagine.
It was funny.
I like having friends on the same maturity level as me.
Which is around the maturity level of a 15 year old. Maybe younger.

Many other fun and festive things happened last night.

Like a mini jam session with Micah, Chris, Jarod, and Julie. They all can play a mean guitar.
And sing.
In tune.
I'm tune death (aka tune deaf...this was a spelling error that I don't want to change because I think it is really funny).
I almost thought, for a millisecond, about joining in on the singing.
But I would have sounded like that penguin in Happy Feet....the one that can tap dance like....a really good tap dancer. But sounds like a bull horn when he sings.
So I just sat.
And bobbed my head. A bunch.

So I stayed at this party til the wee hours of the morning.
Sometime before I left, I found my friend Kim.
I think she was watching Anchorman outside, by the fire.
And fell asleep.
Poor pooped out Kimmy.

I love this picture.

So thank you to all my wonderful crazy hippie folksy immature friends.
You make my life full.

swimming

2010-09-24T09:43:00.002-06:00

I think I have written in posts past that my mom was semi-freakish about involving us kids in community sports.
Joe was easy. He liked all sports. And was good at all of them too.
Alli was a theater geek. She did community plays. She was too 'distracted' to really be good at sports.
I had absolutely no competitive drive. At all. I joined just about every sport and quit them all. I didn't find joy in any of them.
Except one.
SWIMMING.
When I was teeny tiny, my mom signed all us kids up to learn how to swim.
I LOVED it. LOVEEEEDDDD it.

While all the little kids in my class were scared to jump in. I was a freak. I couldn't wait!

I most likely cannon-balled it in there.
When I was little I used to seriously think I was the Little Mermaid.
It was a good childhood.
So after my mom figured out that swimming was basically the only thing I would actually enjoy doing, she signed me up for the local competitive swim league.
It was called Riptide.

I think you can start swimming in Riptide once you hit like second grade or something.
So I swam in Riptide until I was in middle school.

I was SO not competitive about it. And I was extremely easy-going.
So naturally at the meets I would always have to do the events that no one ever wanted to do.
I did the butterfly. All sorts of butterfly. The 100, 200, and relay. I was like the butterfly queen.
I also did others...i really sucked at breast-stroke....so I don't think I did that one.

I always hated the meets. Mostly because people would be watching me swim.
But I liked the adrenaline a little bit.
But mostly I just wanted to be done with the meets.
Is it bad that my favorite part about being on a swim team was the practices? I just liked swimming with my friends.

So anyway, I haven't really swam hard for some years. My friend Kim and I go swimming a couple times a week now.

We usually don't do hard lap swimming, it's more like low impact muscle building.

So yesterday, I decided I wanted to show off my cool swim team tricks. One of them was a flip turn.

Those are really fun to do, but you have to have some speed going into a flip turn.

So I just decided to pound out a couple really fast laps too. Might as well.

I did a few flip turns and a few fast laps.

And I forgot how hard swimming was.

If you really tried.

I had a mini heart attack.

But I also had one of the funnest days all week.

I forgot how much I loved swimming.

I could swim forever.

I LOVE IT

Yours truly,

Aqua Andrea

one reason i love living in wyoming

2010-09-23T10:55:00.003-06:00

This gorgeous picture was taken by my good friend Cerwin.

Cerwin, Dana and Kyle came and visited me over 4th of July weekend.

She took this picture on a walk we all took.

There is a wild animal pen about a block from my house.

That's where she took this photo.

This picture makes me smile everytime.

It makes me love living in Wyoming.

I get to see this everyday.

I thought I would share it with all of you.

If you live in Wyoming, then you can just be like me and be happy that you do.

If you don't live here, then you can be jealous and wish you did.

I'm all about speading the love.

Happy Thursday

allergies

2010-09-21T10:08:00.002-06:00

Allergy season has hit.
I NEVER had allergies in Michigan.
Well at least not until I was about 21.
And I'm still not sure if I experienced allergies. It could have just been a bad cold.
Well living in Wyoming, I'm experiencing some major allergies.
And they majorly suck.

All summer I was happy and not sick at all and living life.

Look how joyful I was with the happy sun, and happy flowers and beautiful mountains.
Breathing in the wonderful non-allergies-ish air.
I was happy then.
Those were good times.

Now...

Those pesky flowers have turned on me.
The sun is an evil demon from hell.
And those mountains, well I can barely see them through my massively puffed out eyeballs.
My nose really is a faucet.
My eyes are itching the crap out of me.
And I sound like a really sexy man. My voice is totally scratchy.
EFF allergies.
I think I am going to have to survive off of benadryl for the next few months.
I'll be a zombie for sure.

side note: Good job last night Joe! Tough loss, but you looked AWESOME out there!
side-side note: Thanks to everyone that came out to cheer Joe on!

my bad day

2010-09-20T08:57:00.003-06:00

This is a post I was going to do last week, but I ran out of time. So I'm writing it today.

I am a relatively devoid of all human emotions. Well, that's inaccurate. I do feel emotions, I just don't feel them the same way as a normal person. I have been called "unfeeling", "unsympathetic", "cold", and a number of other things. I am more like a huma-bot...robo-man.

Anyway, whenever I do end up showing a feeling (other than joy or contentment), I semi freak out.

So this past Wednesday or Thursday, I was semi-freaking out. Work was stressing me out, I didn't want to hang out with any of my friends because I thought they all didn't want to hang out with me. I missed my family, I missed my dead dog. I was getting pissed because I was missing all the fall colors changing in Michigan. I was going to miss going to apple orchards and going on hayrides, and picking pumpkins.

So basically everything in my life was somehow pissing me off to an irrational degree.

Putting it succinctly, I was moody.

So, I'm just sitting in my office in a foul mood. I wanted to go home and curl up i the fetal position and watch about 12 hours of TV and numb my mind. Or sleep. I love sleep. But I couldn't do any of that because I still had a crap-ton of work to do. So I called my little sister.

My little sister is the one person in the whole world that actually really truly can read everything about me. I think it is because she never left my side for the first 13 years of her life.

So I call her and she didn't answer. Bitch.

Because I know Alli ALWAYS has her phone on her, I figured she must be in class/work/driving/ignoring my call.

So I texted her instead.

This is honest to God my exact text.

I was a freaky person last week.

When a normal person gets a test like this, I would assume they would drop whatever they were doing and try and call/contact/make sure that person is alright.

Not my sister. Well Alli DID contact me. But she wasn't reassuring, or nice, or even attentive.

Alli sent this back to me, about 10 mins later.

I was so not expecting Alli to send that. She is the emotional sap of the family. She takes after my mom/dad/brother. She was supposed to say "Oh poor baby, tell me everything and I will tell you how cool/pretty/nice/awesome you are." I was so shocked by that response that I did the only mature thing I could think of doing. I sent her an angry text back.

And I felt instantly better.

So thank you Alli for knowing that I was being freaky. And knowing that I needed to snap out of it. And thank you for not enabling me to be a freaky drama queen, because I can't play that role very well.

LOVE YOU LITTLE SISTER OF MINE

most patched up post i have ever done...ever

2010-09-19T19:45:00.003-06:00

It's football season right now. So I am watching football.
Well, mostly watching the Colts school the Giants.
So, I'm pretty bored.
So, I started looking at the pictures I have on my computer.
And started laughing a ton.

I also thought it was time for some human pictures on this blog as well.

Here are a few pictures that are pretty funny/interesting/may not really be that funny or interesting.

This is quite possibly the worst picture of me taken... ever. I don't know where the whole picture is, but I know that I was in the background. Not really the main subject of the picture. Which makes it even funnier. I don't remember this ever being taken. It was during the first few weeks of freshman year. I to school all on my own and basically didn't know anyone. At this school, they did this thing called "Arbor Games"...it takes forever to explain arbor games, but one component of it, is to preform a skit. My team did something with Lord of the Rings. I wore a blue shirt because I was representing water. Nothing says water like a "Canada, EH!" shirt. I look back now, and I love this picture. But I think I was nearly depressed at this point in my life. I look miserable.

Flash forward about a month, and this is Elin and I in her room. For a Halloween prank, we decided to place her blow-up cat/pumpkin yard decoration in the stairwell of our dorm. It only lasted for about a milli-second because it was deemed a fire hazard. (Side note. Every time I write Halloween I ALWAYS sing the song I learned in kindergarten when I was learning how to spell. H...A...double L, O....W, double E, N....spells Halloween.) Anyway, this is when I FINALLY started making friends. Elin, Marjie and Melissa were a riot.

This is the fireplace at my childhood home/parent's house. It's in our family room. My parent's house is in the "sticks" of Rockford...which isn't really in the sticks at all. We used to have a HUGE mouse problem before my mom finally allowed my little sister to get some barn cats. (Alli and mom are both extremely allergic to cats and other things). So before we got said cats, tons of mice would scurry around the family room. There were rafters on the ceiling and the mice used to run along them....all. the. time. When I was younger and have sleepovers, my friends and I would be so freaked out to sleep in that room. I also somehow thought it was haunted...just that one room. I don't think it was. Also, we had a minor bat problem for a couple years because of that fricken fireplace. I have a slightly irrational fear of bats/birds.

AND this last picture makes me sad. My dad just tore down our pool this summer. This what my old backyard used to look like. The best place to be in the summer. Not to much in the winter. Unless you wanted to climb that huge hill in our backyard and bushwhack sled. There was a lot of ferns/reeds/tall poky stuff in our backyard. This is the place where I thought I was poisoned by a frog. I used to find snakes under this deck. I used to make up synchronize swimming routines. I one time swam for about 10 hours straight, then got incredible sunburn. I think I even had blisters. Now it's gone. And I am sad.

Thanks for looking at this post. It was semi-lame and boring, unless you are me. Then it was good.

youdub

2010-09-17T15:13:00.002-06:00

I'm going to a youdub (University of Wyoming) football game tomorrow.
They are playing Boise State. BS is ranked #3.
Youdub will get creamed.
But I like going to football games. So this will be fun.
And a whole slew of friends are going.
And I love my friends.
More than I love.....
............
..........my enemies.
Which doesn't sound like a lot.
But it is.
Also, youdub's colors are brown and yellow.
Poop and pee.
Which is funny to me.
Because I am immature.

OK that's all for my random rambling.
Have a great weekend! I know I will.

radio ticket winner

2010-09-14T15:56:00.002-06:00

I won some tickets to a University of Wyoming football game today.
I already had tickets, but I like to call into radio shows.
So I called in to win them.
Also my friend Megan is the co-host of the radio show.
So she gave me a heads-up on when to call in.

This is how it all went down.

I was listening to the radio and called in.

All you had to do was answer a couple questions about nothing in particular.

So I call in and they answer the phone. I naturally was way too excited about the prospect of being on the radio.

I need to learn self-control.

They start asking me the 10 questions.

The first one was "What is your favorite movie?"

Because I watch movies like a cow eats grass, I don't exactly have one movie that I love. I've seen too many. But because I was in a weird mood, I said the first one that came to my mind...which was dumb and dumber.

It makes for good radio....that's what I'm all about people.

Then they started drilling me on men's underwear. I honestly do not care.

But I got confused. So I said I liked both.

They went on to ask me about animal prints and blind dates and a whole lot of other crap.

It was fun. I like people asking me questions like this.

In the end, I won the tickets.

It's been a happy Tuesday.

Minus the incident this morning.

hallelujah

2010-09-14T10:58:00.002-06:00

I have to listen to music at work. I love listening to music at work. I need it for my existence.
I work for a non-profit, so my office is in some donated space from a church.
The church office is open until 12:30 everyday.
I usually keep my music pretty mellow and quiet until after lunch.
Then I crank it up. I have dubbed this action "ghetto blasting"
Because you can basically hear whatever I am listening to in all parts of the church.
But it's just me here, so I don't think I am offending anyone.

I come into work today.
Sit down, fire up my computer, and start checking emails.
Then, with no prior warning, the hallelujah chorus starts playing.
I am guessing the church choir is practicing, but they are seriously ghetto blasting the shit out of that song.
They played it about 7 times.
I become some sort of rage monster. I can't handle it. I want to start pounding on the walls for them to turn it down.

I don't think it would of worked. My walls are cement, I would just hurt my hand.

The song is STILL playing. And I might just lose my mind.

Hopefully I don't.

Yours truly,

Raging dreface

football kills me

2010-09-13T09:46:00.002-06:00

This past week/end was the official start of the NFL's football season.
If you haven't figured it out already, my brother plays in the NFL.
So football season is pretty huge for my family. We are basically consumed by it.
Don't ask me to do anything on a night when Joe is playing, unless I am able to watch the game.
It's a pretty fun life. It has taken me YEARS to understand football, and actually enjoy the game.
I don't think I have been this dedicated to anything else in my entire life.
I am a football junky. You can write that on my headstone.

So yesterday, I watched 2 games.
The Lions vs. the Bears
and the 49ers vs. the Seahawks.
The Lions game was so emotionally draining. I like both teams, but being from Michigan, I was secretly rooting for the Lions.
(sorry Jake and Brenda...mostly Jake. Please let me come over to your house to watch the games still.)
Jake like the Bears. A lot.
So after watching the insane Lions/Bears game, I was ready for a swift 49ers victory against the Seahawks.
.......
It didn't happen.
The niners were looking so good in the first quarter, but couldnt keep the momentum up.
It was heartbreaking. I hate how emotionally involved I get in football games.
So this past Sunday was a terrible day of football for me.

But I am so happy football season is back.
I love me some football.

Sidenote- Good job this morning Megan! You are the best PEAK radio co-host ever!

embarrassing andrea story #42342

2010-09-12T18:56:00.005-06:00

Another lovely story from my childhood.
My body started it's 'womanly change' sooner than most.
In third grade I had to start wearing a training bra. I was mortified by this.
I think I was the only girl in my class that had to do this...so naturally I got one of two reactions.

evil reactions from flat-chested little girls
awkward bra snaps from little boys

I hated my training bra. A ton.
So picture day was coming up, and I really really wanted to wear my lime green sparkly crushed velvet shirt. There was only one bad thing about it...it had a pretty wide neckline.
Didn't realize this was a problem until I made it to school.
My jockey training bra was clearly visible in this shirt. Sticking out on all sides.
I freaked out. So ideacided the only way to hide it was to raise my shoulders. Like you do when you shrug. I thought by raising my shoulders, it would cause my shirt to cover my bra.
Well it did cover my bra, but it also made me look constipated too.
So unfortunately I have a third grade picture in which I look constipated in a lime green, sparkly, crushed velvet shirt.

This picture is not completely accurate. I didn't look like a frog, and I think my hair was longer.

I should have known my life wasn't ever going to be normal.

Demons

2010-09-09T10:38:00.002-06:00

I've been getting the True Blood series from netflix for a couple weeks now.
I am basically addicted to it.
I know it is about vampires and only preteen girls with braces and acne problems are supposed to be the only one that like them. But this show is so fricken addicting.

Last night, I watched the last episode on the disc I had.
It was already 9:30p.m.
If anyone knows me, they know I generally have a bedtime of about 8p.m. during the week.
I'm an old woman.
But I didn't care, I wanted to send the disc back the next day, so I decided to watch it.

I went to my bedroom to watch it, because...I have no idea. I just did.
It started out all nice and true Bloody-kinda normal.
Normal vampire/human issues.

Then is started to get weird.
One of the characters, Tara, has a crazy mom.
This crazy mom was talking all this nonsense about demons and junk.
So naturally I start thinking I have a demon in me.
And get REALLY freaked out.

Then Tara's mom goes to this voodoo lady to get this demon exorcised (exorcized? exercise...hahaha) from her.
After that is done...which was a freaky thing in and of itself, the voodoo lady turns to Tara and tells her she has a demon in her.
The voodoo lady is all like "Are you grouchy? Do you pee regularly? Are you a HUMAN??!! you have a DEMON IN YOU!!!"
Actually the questions were more like "Do you have friends? Are you able to keep a job?"
But because I am incredibly insane in my mind, I think the voodoo lady is talking directly to me.

So I didn't get much sleep last night.

My demon was keeping me awake.

photo contest

2010-09-08T09:48:00.003-06:00

I am addicted to pioneer woman.
I try reallly hard not to let this obsession be creepy.
But I must follow my heart, and my heart is creepy.

Every so often, there are photo assignments on her websites.
If you win, you get gift cards and junk. I don't really care about the winnings.
I have never entered because I don't take pictures for beauty.
I take pictures to remember that I have been places.
And also to make people jealous of my cool excursions. I'm sorry, I know that's rude.

I entered my first p-dub photo assignment yesterday. The category was 'funny'.
This is the picture I entered.

I sexied it up on picnik.com.
I prefer editing photos on the paint program, but I don't think my picture would have been accepted in that form.
I hope I get picked.

My username for that is Dr. Dreface...makes me laugh

funny

2010-09-07T10:30:00.002-06:00

i like it when you are facebook stalking someone and read their status...then see their comments and wonder how those comments came from that post....here is an EXCELLENT example of just that.

Andrea Staley looked at about 5 different horoscopes before i found one i liked. today might be rough.
(22)Hide Feedback (22)
Allison Staley and Keeley Adams like this.
Andrea Staley i hate those unexpected shits.
3 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley easily combated by proper butt clenching technique o sister of mine

Right now you are thinking "how the hell did they get from talking about horoscope to talking about unexpected shits?" here's how....

Andrea Staley looked at about 5 different horoscopes before i found one i liked. toda
y might be rough.
(21)Hide Feedback (21)
Allison Staley and Keeley Adams like this.
Them Stars pfffff. take it from me....my weird and chaotic movements don't have much meaning in a person's everyday life.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike ·
Andrea Staley thats a lie....google, thanks for loving me so much about an hour ago · LikeUnlike ·
Jr Kotrch hang in there
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike ·
Micah X Wyatt you should really listen to Them Stars...
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike ·
Andrea Staley them stars may be correct...or incorrect. i have a feeling they are heavily influenced by MXW
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley i want to like everything about this status ur use of syntax... the commentary... the underlying motifs this is fb gold!!!!
38 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Andrea Staley alli...you make me laugh everyday
33 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Micah X Wyatt whether that's true or not doesn't change the rightness of it. if you're going to base the goodness of a day on something arbitrary, it should be how many bicycles you see, i think.
19 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Micah X Wyatt p.s. i also read horrorscopes and STILL believe this.
18 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley im going to base the goodness of MY day on how many chin picture i see on fb
15 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley and how many times i refuse to puralize my words, and make up words and use bad english.....so far pretty good dai
11 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Micah X Wyatt this ^ is AMAZING.
11 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Andrea Staley alli is the funny one
10 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley nice profile pic micah!! lulz
9 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Micah X Wyatt that is my bathroom hall. and my "going to the bathroom" suit.
4 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley well...shit
4 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Andrea Staley but maybe shit once you get to the bathroom
2 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·
Allison Staley the space suit is for unexpected shits on the way to the toilet lol
about a minute ago · LikeUnlike ·
Andrea Staley i hate those unexpected shits.
Allison Staley easily combated by proper butt clenching technique o sister of mine

and THATS how its done....oh today is funny

stupid friends

2010-09-06T22:38:00.006-06:00

I feel lazy all the time. I'm usually busy, but I still feel lazy.
Then I started thinking about why that is the case.
And I figured it out. All my friends are fricken type A over-achieving freaks.
Here are a few examples.

Friend #1:

Cooks everything from scratch
Sews just about everything
Nannies for 2 families
Gardens
Raises chickens

Friend #2:

Taking guitar lessons
Mountain bikes any chance he gets
Helps out at Habitat
Is (finally) reading all of the Harry Potter books
Hikes...a bunch.

Friend #3:

Is in about 30 bands
in a bunch of plays
wakes up really early in the morning

Friend #4:

is doing her nuke-med internship
interning as a pharmaceutical technician
has a successful relationship

OK, well some of those things I should be able to handle...but honestly, I have no motivation.
Good thing my sister is quite similar to me....
Actually she isnt.......GOSH!!!!!

don king daze

2010-09-05T20:11:00.002-06:00

Today I went to Don King Days out at the polo fields.
It's basically a rodeo...on a polo field.
I know, I am awesome at creating vivid descriptions....
ANYWAY....it was pretty....interesting.
After living in Sheridan for about 8 months now, the whole novelty of a cowboy still puts a git in my giddy-up (or is it gid? ehh I don't know).

So one of the events was steer roping. It's when cowboys lasso little baby cows.
This is my experience....today.

"wow there are so many effing COWBOYZZSSZZSZSZZSZZ! They are so dreamy and cowboyie....."

"Oh look at that rope that he is rotating in the air!!!!!!!! What is that little cow doing running?"

"WHAT THE HELL???!!!! I hate you stupid cowboys..even though your still kind of dreamy"

Rodeos are a strange bizniz

cupcakes

2010-08-31T16:12:00.004-06:00

my good friend carrie's birthday is coming up. i think its next tuesday...or wednesday.

anyway, there is going to be a bday party for her on thursday (aka 2 days away). and i am making the cake (or in this instance, cupcakes).

it is a golf themed party...but i only think carrie knows its golf themed. anyway, i want to create really cute themed cupcakes. one problem....i am a disaster in the kitchen. i have no natural cooking talent.

I want the cupcakes to look like this.

but...

they will probably end up looking like this.

its joe

2010-08-30T10:15:00.002-06:00

today is my big brother's birthday. he's a really cool dude.
to comemorate his big day, i am dedicating an entire post to joe.

i'll start off by telling you a few facts about him

he started blogging before i did. yes.
he is quite possibly the funniest person i know.
he sadly grew up with two younger sister. sometimes he forgot we were girls.
he is one of the most competitive human that i know. apples to apples is not just a game. neither is euchre. or the wii.
he is afraid of critters. like deer. and raccoons.
he is surprisingly an amazing singer.
when he was younger he constantly licked his chapped lips. creating a ring around his mouth that looked like he drank red cool-aid very sloppily.

here are some funny stories from our childhood.

when we were younger, joe created this game called tackle that he made alli and i play. basically joe would be on his knees in the living room and alli and i had to run from one end to the other. we usually played this game on sundays after church...in our church clothes. i sucked at this game. im surprised our mom let us play it. joe wasnt exactly gentle. but it was a fun game.
i think when joe was in 4th or 5th grade, his friends would come over a bunch in the summer. they decided to make a tree fort in the back yard. after some deliberation, they must have decided that a tree fort would be too hard to make, so instead they decided to dig underground. for the whole summer joe and his friends dug a massive hole in out backyard, then somehow rigged a cover over it. girls werent allowed, but one day i snuck into it. it wasnt really that cool. i think that hole is still in our backyard.
when joe and i were waiting for the bus one morning, we got really bored. we lived on a relatively busy street. so joe decided it would be really funny if he pretended to smack me when cars drove by. this was funyn for the first 10 cars that went by. there was one last car that was driving by before our bus came to pick us up and joe wanted to make this one look good. he wound up and......smacked me. square in my face. super hard. he then proceeded to tell me not to cry because he didnt want to get in trouble.
when joe was in high school he had a truck. it was a blue dodge dakota...i think it was a '94. anyway, this thing was a beaut. the drivers side door would fall off its hinges if you opened it and the thing would staul out all the time. in the winter, if you didnt turn it on roughly 20 mins before leaving, you were basically screwed. one especially cold morning while on on the way to school, joe had to stop at a red light. he had gotten very good at not actually stopping at these things because his car would staul out everytime. this light he had to stop at. his car stauled exactly 14 times with in about a 45 second period. not joking. i was passed down this lovely truck. it blessed me with the scariest moment of my entire life. the brake cable broke when i was coming down a hill to an innersection.

so happy birthday joe. you are a pretty cool dude and a really great brother!

random memory from my childhood

2010-08-29T18:32:00.002-06:00

i went camping-ish this past weekend for my friend kim's birthday. her kids were catching frogs by the lake...or pond...or reservoir... im not sure what they call it here. anyway, it reminded me of a funny story from my childhood.

i must have been about 11 or twelve and it was summer. we lived in the 'country'....about 5 mins outside of town. not exactly country for wyoming, but for michigan it was country. we had a pool that was surrounded by trees. this meant that there was tree frogs always getting into our pool.

i must have just watched a program about poisonous frogs, or read a book about them. either way, my over-active imagination made sure that i considered all frogs poisonous after that.

so because its summer and i dont have school and was 11....or 12...i basically lived in the pool the entire time. im an aquarius. i love the water....which is neither here nor there...im not sure why i am rambling so much....anyway, back to my story. im sure you all know where this is going.

i used to love catching critters all the time. i used to catch snakes that camped under our pool deck with my mom's kitchen tongs...but one fateful day, i caught a tree frog. my new knowledge of poisonous amazonian frogs fresh in my mind. the instant this new little tree frog was in my hand....a jet stream of pee shoots out of it. but to my 11/12 year old mind, it was poison. i throw the frog (hopefully it landed in a nice bed of leaves) and jumped in the pool, hoping the chlorine will save my contaminated frog poisoned hand. it did. considering i still have my hand.

it was about 5 years before i realized that the frog most likely just peed on me. my imagination is insane. i blame my parents...because i can. it really isnt their fault.

another funny pool story for you.

because i was a horribly mean sister, i made up a very cruel story to scare my sister. when we were younger, we used to love swimming until all hours of the night. one night, i was extremely tired after swimming all day but had to wait until alli was done swimming before i could go to bed. my mom didnt want us swimming alone (great parenting mom). so instead of telling alli to get out of the pool, i thought it was more effective to make up a scary story. i told her that at the stroke of midnight a huge anaconda would come out of our backyaard and go into the pool. the snake would eat anything that was in the pool when he entered it. this story worked on alli's 7 year old self. but it also backfired too. because i started to believe it too. it wasnt until i was about 17 that i would swim in our pool at night.

just some funny summer stories for you.

jobs i'd like to try

2010-08-27T08:25:00.002-06:00

I change my mind a bunch, but at the moment, here are so kick ass jobs that i would like to try out.

i have wanted to be a professional writer on and off for about ten years now. but then i worked at a bookstore, and a library, an basically figured out that you had to know a TON of people in the publishing world, be a prodigy, or already be famous. i dont know anyone in the publishing world. my brain is not extraordinary, and i am not famous. so i started a blog. but, if i could, i would love love love love to be a professional writer. along with about a million other optimistic people.

minus the critters, i would love to be an explorer. but not in the traditional sense. i wouldnt exactly want to 'lewis & clark' it. more like 'rick steve' it. if i could some how figure out how to get paid to travel to awesome places all around the world, i would drop whatever i was doing and do that instead.

lastly, and most ambitiously, i would LOVE to be a talk show host. homahgawd that would be the best job in the WORLD. but i dont think it would be very successful because i would only want to have people on it that i actually liked. not the next hot thing. just funny people/interesting people/my friends. imagine, getting paid to talk to people all day. maybe i would do the oprah thing and give stuff away too. and i might do the maury thing too....have crazy people come on my show. whoa. i what to do this one BAD.

thats all. welcome to my mind.

...

2010-08-26T13:54:00.002-06:00

my friend courtney told me to do this. i had to make all the emotions for my paint andrea.
so here is a general flavoring of andrea emotions in no particular order.

sadness

rage

surprise

fear

disgust and/or confusion. (lips are hard to make)

cerwin wudyah think?

visual interest

2010-08-26T12:12:00.002-06:00

i like the paint program. to most it is a useless application on the computer, to me it is a hidden tresure. i edit all my pictures on the paint program. photoshop, shmotoshop.
my friend courtney told me about this blog called hyperbole and a half. it is awesome.
so i took some 'inspiration' from it and created me, paint program me at least.
i need to get a dress with a big A on it.

i think i look pretty good. ill start doing paint pictures that go along with the stories i tell on here. everyone likes a little visual interest.

these people are important to me

2010-08-26T09:14:00.002-06:00

i just went home to michigan this past week. i hadn't been home in roughly 8 months. 8 months makes you forget a lot of things. i forgot how much fun all the people i left back in michigan are. it was a crazy whirl-wind trip that was not exactly restful. but i got to see all the people that are quite possibly the coolest people in the entire world. i dont think i stopped laughing the whole trip. i now have a six pack. its a miracle.

this is abigail. abby and i have been friends since....birth, i guess. we grew up in church and bonded over our giantism (we were both extremely tall at the age of about 9). i hated her for a bit in middle school because i was a moody pre-teen, and she tried to steal the boy i had a crush on. we call those the lost years. we are better now. funny facts about abby.

she is the craftiest person in the world. more than martha stewart. we were going to start a cupcake business but didnt because i can't exactly cook and abby would of had to carry the whole operation. and we didnt have any money or client-base. but it would of rocked.
shes a mommy. to a dog named lola. that finally likes me and doesnt bite me anymore. thanks for loving auntie andrea lola. i love you too.
shes has to hide her love of jersey shore from her husband. he doesnt understand. she calls him a grenade. he doesnt understand what that means. but i think its funny. (dan's not really a grenade)
she has flexible feet. just found that out. she cant be a marathon runner anymore. i dont think she ever wanted to, but now she cant. pretty good reason.

this is tara. ive been friends with her since i was about 2. our parents are bffs. i call her parents aunt becky and uncle tim. our fathers actually look like brothers...and act like brothers...and smell like brothers. its kind of freaky really. anyway, tara is pretty awesome. she might actually come out to visit me one of these days. shes a smarty-pants. i think its good to surround yourself with people that are smart. it makes you look smart. and you dont have to google stuff all the time because they know the answers. shes going for nuclear medicine. its a little intimidating. she is also one of the quirkiest people that i know. so it evens out the intimidating factor a bit. plus i knew her when she was dumb.

this is hillary. homahgawd she is so funny. been friends with her since highschool. lived with her for a bit in grand rapids. she is ridiculous. and extremely unassumingly funny. at first she looks like she is going to pound your face in if you look at her the wrong way, but mostly she is just thinking about stupid stuff, like harry potter, or food, or her obese dog jack and whether or not he is eating out of the compost bucket again. shes a dental hygenist with bad allergies. she sticks kleenexes up her nose (like you would if you had a bloody nose) and puts her mask on. i think this is hilarious, and it also makes me wonder what other dental hygenists have under their masks. one time hillary and i sat in taco bell for 4 hours discussing harry potter. thats all we talked about. it was a good time.

these are my college roomates (well minus felice, i never lived with her, but she was always around). it goes felice, marjie, melissa, me and elin. melissa just got married this past saturday in canada and we all ventured over. missed these girls. it was a riot, that wedding. i sweated about half my body weight off that night. it was sexy.

this is my mother. she is hilarious. my whole family is hilarious. she doesnt like pictures of her laughing hard, but i really like this picture. its her mid-laugh. shes really blunt. its annoying, but good too. i basically do whatever she wants me to, after i fight with her for hours about it. she suggested the college that i attend, she told me about americorps. now she wants me to move home. she didnt say 'andrea, move home', its more like 'andrea, you are always welcome home'. thanks mom. im glad im welcome. she doesnt like to see her children move away. she only has alli at home now. and alli will move to cambodia, or new zealand, or somewhere extremely far away and we will never see her again because thats what alli likes to do. im sorry mom.

and this little gem is alli. my little sister. i love her. she is my best friend. look how cute she is. ugh i miss her already. oh well ill see her in a couple months.

so i had a ton of fun at home. now back to reality. not so much fun.

this ol cottage

2010-08-24T11:59:00.002-06:00

i came home to michigan for a little vacation and have been doing a TON of stuff. i actually just got back from the cottage this morning and have been winding down a bit. i got bored and decided to search around on my parent's computer and find some old pics. here are some pics of a cottage visit. every summer since i was 2 we have gone up to the 'cottage'. the 'cottage' changes every year because we liked trying new places in the silver lake area. this summer i must have been about 14 or 15. we were right on lake michigan having a fun time.

my dad playing his guitar. him and my uncle tim used to make up songs every summer and play them for us the last night of our vacation. they were hilarious.

tara and i just reading. like my shirt? i was way into looking like a clown.

look how little we all are! joe is still skinny! alli is a shorty! emily is still a baby!

us girls chilling in the tent. tara and i spent the entire week out there, it was pretty fun.

LAKE MICHIGAN

there must have been a huge storm. my legs look really tan. hahaha

i like this stuff

2010-08-16T14:21:00.002-06:00

im sorry, but im on a roll today. here is a list of things that i like...maybe even love, that people give me so much crap about.

lifetime movies.
snapped on oxygen.
dipping carrots in everything...well basically.
my love for harry potter
and twilight. im sorry. i did read all the books, and have gone to two of the three midnight showings
my unreal obsession with alaska
my love of hicks/hillbillies.
cooking supplies, even though i dont really cook.
every movie made. good/bad/dumb/funny/intellectually stimulating. i like them all. i will always be entertained by movies.
peanut butter. if i eat one thing for the rest of my life. it would be peanut butter.
love for john c. reilly
mints. i love mints. christmas is the best because i can buy boxes of candy canes.
i like it when ghetto groups cover songs. i dont know why.
i like watching people play musical instruments. i think it is because i will never be able to, so i just admire people who can.
really dark roast, black coffee. the darker the better.
cherries. addicted for sure.
heels. i love heels, but im 5'9'' (probably really 5'10") and should wear them that much in sheridan.
anything free. im dutch.
karaoke. too much. i even own a karaoke machine, but i broke the mic bc i was doing too many tricks with it.
football. this isnt weird, but its weird how much i like it.
peter chan. hes the weather man from fox in grand rapids. he is the best.
immature people.

ok thats it for now