Aluminum Foil Swans? I Don’t Think So…

27.9.08 - Saturday

So, you know how in some restaurants, when you get your leftovers, they wrap it up in aluminum foil & shape it into a swan? Well… I’ve discovered what animal I shall request next time this happens…

And please note the elephant beneath the moose. Amazing. There was also an alligator, but it didn't fit in my picture. :)

Oh, the things you discover when you’re on a mission to make enough Puppy Chow to send the 5 people you’re hanging out with into a diabetic coma.

Bakers Rack = Small Alabama Towns

26.9.08 - Friday

This lovely piece of furniture is called a Baker’s Rack. And it is helping me fill the void of having no pantry in my apartment. (Seriously, what kind of apartment doesn’t have a pantry!?) I recently bought it off craigslist for like $25 (a steal!) under the assumption that it would be easily attained by myself by just driving by the previous owner’s house & picking it up. But I have yet to learn, that things aren’t always as easy as they seem.

So, I started off my little adventure to Maysville, Alabama with directions from Google Maps & $40 cash. I’m jamming to the radio in my car & cruising down Highway 72 keeping an eye out for the road sign indicating where I will turn off. Umm… this simple task turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. Why? Oh, well, maybe because I was in the middle of the Boondocks where they don’t believe in street signs bigger than the size of a ruler. Nor do they believe that they should be placed on both sides of a road, where people can read them regardless of which side of the highway they are on. This resulted in me driving a good 15 miles past my turn-off, only to realize this when I drove past a Piggly Wiggly. Yup, a Piggly Wiggly. At that point, I knew something was wrong. Piggly Wiggly’s don’t exist within 20 miles of Huntsville.

So I turn around, call the house I’m trying to get to & set on my merry way again. I finally find my turn off. Yay! It’s another 3 miles down the road until I get to their neighborhood, so I’m watching all the scenery go by. And by scenery I mean little tiny shacks that say “Feed” and “Grocer” on them. Amazing. I feel like I’ve fallen into a secret little southern Pleasantville. I get to the neighborhood, and now I know I’ve made it to Pleasantville. The neighborhood is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and all the houses are the same. The grass in their yards is all the same. It seems that all the cars in the driveways are all the same. It’s not creepy, just a little strange. Very “Wrinkle in Time.”

But I get my Bakers Rack, and return home with a little adventure in my back pocket. Good thing that thing sat in the back of my car in pieces for the better part of a week. And good thing it now provides me with my own little pantry. Good story. :)

Hummer^2

27.9.08 - Thursday

Today was a fun day. I experienced Zumba for the first time (That’s one heck of a work out!) & I got to go with a friend from work to see Eagle Eye (I wasn’t expecting much from it, but it turned out to be really good).

But the cherry on top was walking out into the parking lot after the movie & seeing this. A giant Hummer (not an H2 or H3, but a big giant, gas-guzzling, original road Hummer) with the very astute license plate reading: HUMMMMR.

Thank you Alabama.

Infinite Twilight

24.9.08 - Wednesday

I went to the Madison Public Library today for the first time in 10 years. It still has not changed. Well, some of the books inside it have. As well as some of the posters.

I came across this poster with the stars of the new movie Twilight reading the book they come from. When I saw it I nearly laughed out loud, though quickly remembering I was in a library. I couldn’t resist taking a picture for a couple of reasons.
1. The Twilight Series (by Stephenie Meyer) has become one of my favorite series of all times. It’s ranked up there with Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings. Just spectacular.
2. I knew KimJim would get quite a kick out of it. And she did.
3. I just couldn’t believe they actually made a poster with this on it. It’s just kind of weird in my mind. Like when you’re standing in a hall of mirrors & there are an infinite number of mirrors & your reflection going on forever. Just funny to me I guess.

Oh, I love me some Edward Cullen.

Baby Jail

23.9.08 - Tuesday

I just wanted to share this picture that my sister-in-law sent to me today. Ummm… how incredibly precious!!!

This is Everett, my youngest nephew. Although I am quite sad that I no longer live in the same state as them, and will miss out on all the amazing little things little people do, I still remain quite happy that Bethany sends me pictures of some of the favorite men in my life.

When I return to Colorado to visit, I want Avery & Everett to be the same size as when I left, but I know that is not possible, so I can only look forward to seeing them bigger & better than before!!

Joe’s for Joeys

7.9.08 - Sunday

Joe’s Jeans are one of my favorite brands of jeans. They are great quality & fit amazingly. So, to my absolute amazement & wonder, I found a store in Madison, AL that sells the entire line. Holy moly.

Now, I may be willing to drop $150 for a pair of jeans I’m going to live in for the next 2-5 years, but I’m not sure I’d do the same for a little person who would be sure to grow out of them in 2-5 months. Nonetheless, this was a priceless display of consumerism at its best, with a table filled with miniature Joe’s Jeans. Gotta love it.

Rocket City

6.9.08 - Saturday

I would just like to point out that I have always enjoyed Huntsville. Even when I lived here previously, there was never a moment I didn’t cherish, didn’t learn from & don’t look back on fondly. Maybe it’s because this is the “Rocket City.”

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is located here (along with half of all the military & aerospace companies in the world), and since they are located here, so are their rockets. Now, this particular one is not actually at the Space & Rocket Center, but it’s just outside the city, welcoming people into a city that’s a sort of island in the sea of “The South.” I say this because it’s probably not what you’d imagine, due to movies you may have seen & books you may have read. It’s a hub for all things military & aerospace (sort of Colorado Springs’ sister city) and thus, people from all over the country reside here.

But back to my point. I’ve been to the SRC about a million times & I never get tired of it. It’s amazing. And apparently ranked as one of the 1000 things you need to see in the U.S. before you die. (Interesting, so I’ve been there enough for at least 10 lifetimes? :) I love seeing the giant rockets from almost any point in the city, and so I love that they planted this one right along the highway giving you a glimpse into the history of Huntsville. Rock on Huntsville. Rock on.

Sweet Home Alabama

5.9.08 - Friday

1200 something miles, 4 tanks of gas & an infinite number of plays of Kid Rock’s Sweet Home Alabama on my radio have led me to this point.

Welcome to Alabama the Beautiful.

I still cannot believe I managed to drive this entire way all by myself. I am very glad for the time spent singing out loud, learning about Houdini (via audio book… what an amazing man) & seeing my favorite kind of cow. :)

I am not sure what life has in store for me, what treasures I will find in here, what challenges I may face or what kind of people I will meet, but I can assure you, I’m going in with every intention of making the most of every minute & learning what story God has written out for me.

Pamela's Getting Married!!

28.6.08 - Saturday

Now, I do not have a lot of experience with bachelorette parties, but I'm going to go ahead and say that today was one of the best that there has ever been. Because you see, it started out with riding roller coasters! :)

This morning Pamela, Janelle, Laura & myself headed up to Elitch Gardens. We rode roller coasters, laughed, screamed & just enjoyed each other's company all afternoon. And, got some amazing pictures along the way. Such as this beauty.

But Elitchs was not all that was in the cards for Pamela's fun day! We then headed up to Greeley & Ft. Collins, to enjoy a freshly prepared meal at the Hibachi Grill & then a night out on the town at the Drunken Monkey. Oh, friends are fun. :)

Punch, anyone?

26.6.08 - Thursday

I must start this entry out with an amazing fact: I have lived in Colorado for 9 years. That is a huge chunk of my life. And during this chunk, I've lived in Colorado Springs for 6.5 years. Now, I've done all things touristy, via friends & family visiting. We've done the Garden of the Gods 8 million times, Pikes Peak 4 million times, the Cog Railway 3 million times, and most other things probably at least twice.

But today I discovered a new gem of Colorado Springs. Glen Eyrie. And the Punch Bowls.

My friend Julie & I went hiking this morning after hearing fabulous rumors of these Punch Bowls. Well, the hike started out simple enough, going over bridges, through streams, over boulders. And then suddenly you come up to a pretty waterfall. Now, when you start looking around to continue on your path to the Punch Bowls, the path is nowhere to be seen! What you do see however is a giant mountain of sharp rocks & loose dirt. Umm... yes, this was the trail.

So, after trekking over this mini mountain in the middle of a canyon, we come down onto more of the stream (which was feeding into the aforementioned waterfall) and then lots of slick rock and deeper water. But finally, after managing to stay mostly dry, we finally made it to the Punch Bowls!! There was about 15 other people there enjoying the lovely bowlness of it all. So we decided to go up & check everything out.

Now, I've already mentioned slick rock. This rock is already hard to walk on when dry, so walking on it when it's wet is nearly impossible. The Punch Bowls is all slick rock. With water. So I managed to make my way up a couple of tiers without any problems. But when Julie attempted, the poor dear slipped right in!! I must admit, it was kinda funny, considering it seemed to play out in slow motion, and thankfully no major injuries were incurred, and all electronics were safe. But once we climbed up to a certain point, we realized there was no way of getting back down without actually sliding down the natural rock slide right into a giant bowl of freezing mountain water. So we lifted our chins & gave it a go!! It was so much fun, and I must say, if you have a chance of finding your way into Glen Eyrie, then hobble on up to the Punch Bowls.

Face Your Fears!

23.6.08 - Monday


So. Wine. Vino. Delicious. Thus, when you get to attend a party with wine (and some cheese) it is obvious that the party will be fun, delicious & crazy.
The night started at my friends' house (Will, Donavan, Mac [aka - Trevor] & Joe's house). Well, it ended there too. But okay. So, we enjoyed some laughs, some drinks, some cheese. Insert a bit of drama from Becky's oh so drama-free friends (yup... right) & then a bit more wine & you will find yourself at the end of the night when pretty much everyone has gone home. All except like 8 of us.
Now, my friend Will likes his wine. I like my wine. But Will likes to mix his wine with some fun games. Such as Face Your Fears. If you've never played this game, I don't blame you. :) But let me explain the 1.5 rules involved in this little activity:

1. You must start out on your knees with your arms behind your back.

1.5 Fall forward onto your face.



Haha...

That's about it. An interesting little example of gravity in all its glory & the faces it creates. :)

Hush Little Baby, Don't Say a Word

15.6.08 - Sunday

Today is Father's Day. A day of celebration, of happiness, of joy. A day to hang out with Dad. A day to have the entire Anderson family over for chaos, craziness & crying. It just wouldn't be an Anderson outing without the 3 C's. Thus, our nickname, the Von Anderson Flying Circus.

Now, this picture is one of my new favorite pictures ever. If you've been reading this blog at all, I have said over & over how I love babies, and in particular my nephews. (Well, I might have only mentioned Avery, so I'm introducing a new nephew, Everett.) I love to hold them, and hug them, and kiss them. But sometimes they just don't love me back, thus creating this artwork of a picture. Poor Everett. He doesn't like his Aunt Becky. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I call him Fat Baby Big Head (though pronounced fatbabybighead). Or maybe the fact that Apache decided that eating his arm would be a good idea (well, licking it, but Everett probably thought he was being eaten). Have I mentioned I love babies?? :)

Movies, Ice Cream & Alcohol

14.5.08 - Wednesday

Movies = Good

Ice Cream = Good

Full Service Bar = Good

Movies + Ice Cream + Full Service Bar = Fantastic!!

There is this movie theatre, Kimball's Twin Peak Theatres, right downtown in Colorado Springs, that plays all the fantastic, odd-ball, independent, documentary-type movies. It is my favorite place to see movies in C-Springs, and I'll tell you why.

First off, they only have 2 screens. Meaning no large crowds & giant banners displaying upcoming blockbusters.

Second, they have a full service bar inside. Wine, beer, espresso, etc. You name it, they've got it. What a way to quench your thirst.

Third, they play those fabulous movies that most people are embarrassed to admit they saw, because they don't star Brad Pitt & Julia Roberts doing kung fu while saving the world during their wedding. I'm all about the quirky, independent films.

And last, they are located right next to Josh & John's Ice Cream. The happiest place on Earth! Or is that Disneyland? Either way, I love Josh & John's. All their ice cream is made in store, which results in my udder happiness (why, yes, that was a play on words). AND, they have the most amazing ice cream deal ever invented: Ice Cream Scoop Punch Card. Now, this might sound like any other punch card at any other food store. But it's not. You see, the colder it is outside, the more punches you get on your card in efforts to save up for a free cone! If it's 10º F outside, you get 10 punches. I love ice cream. Even when it's 10º outside. :)

Baby Steps

9.5.08 - Saturday


Babies. Love them. I mean, they have miniature everything! Miniature hands, miniature clothes, they eat miniature food. What's not to love?

And I've mentioned before how much I love my nephew Avery. Well, we got spend the day together, because his parents were packing up their house to move down south. This day presented such wonderful weather, that I decided we should play outside. And playing outside means you get to wear your shoes. And Avery has miniature shoes.

Oh man, I love babies.

Dog Tales

30.5.2008 - Friday

I must say, I definitely prefer dogs over cats, and mostly because of their personalities, which are just so much funnier, especially my brother's dog, Merlot. Merlot is a basset hound. And she encompasses all that is basset, with her stubborness, smarts, and the ever famous vertically-challenged insecurities. One of my favorite things to do is to watch Merlot when she doesn't know I'm watching her. Because then she does things like what's happening in this picture. See if you can find her. Oh, how I love dogs.

And a side note: I like cats too. Just not as much. :)

Look Both Ways

29.5.08 - Thursday

I must say, working in downtown Colorado Springs definitely has its benefits. It's small, so you can walk anywhere within 10 minutes. You get to stare at Pikes Peak anytime you're outside. There are great places to eat on any block. (My two recent favorites are Jack Quinn's Irish Pub & Pita Pit [cause it's cheap...haha]). And.... they have these:

These little signs are posted at almost every street corner in downtown. Now, they wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the word 'look' actually has little eyes in it. Can anyone say "creepy"!? But wait... it gets better. The giant stencil of "LOOK" on the road also has eyes!!!

My oh my...

Puppy Chow

Wednesday - 28.5.08

Yum yum yum.

Tonight was Wednesday Night Dinner, and in honor of such an event, me & Kristi decided to make some Puppy Chow for dessert! Cause honestly, who doesn't enjoy a nice big bowl of the most amazing snack food ever invented!? Although, we did have a little snag in between making our delicious delicacy and presenting it to our host & fellow WND participants. Because someone (ahem... Kristi...) forgot to bring it! :) We made it all the way to Jeff's house & realized we had no Puppy Chow. Good thing he only lives 1.2 miles away from me. (Don't worry, I mapquested it... Haha...)



As amazing as our Puppy Chow was, it was not the most exciting thing about WND. You wanna know what was?! Jeff owns Kübb!! It's only the most brilliant game ever invented. So if anyone ever wants to have a sweet little tournament/get together involving kübb, let me know!!! :D

While You Were Out...

27.5.08 - Tuesday

So... The Jesus wrote me a memo today. This is what it said:


I'm pretty sure I should listen to him... And I'm pretty sure I had no idea companies actually used these "While You Were Out" memos... Made me laugh a little bit on the inside. :)

But if you could keep me & my fabulously futile job search in your prayers, then that would be outstanding!! Cause as much as I'm in love with clerical part-time work... I'd much rather be designing those fantastic gravity-defying death machines or creating magical moments on screen or stage. Just saying.

Thank you for enjoying today's PotD.

Shotguns & Orange Soda

So, I have a new friend. Her name is Kristi Vana. And she's amazing. I just wanted to start out with that. Oh, and she does this great thing on her blog with a Picture of the Day. It's so great in fact, that I'm going to steal the idea for myself. :) So here goes:

I'm actually going to cheat a bit and do a PotD for Saturday, yesterday & today.


Saturday - 24.5.08



This was the day for my first time EVER shooting a 12 gauge shot gun.... This pose? This is a true-blue action shot... Yup, it's the recoil having its way with me... I'm pretty sure my shoulder was dislocated... haha... I went with Kristi & Travis to Rampart Range to learn to shoot a rifle and a shotgun and it was a great time! Not sure I'm ever going to shoot a shotgun ever again in my life, but we'll see. :)




Sunday - 25.5.08



This is my nephew, Avery. He loves strawberries. And he really loves strawberry pie. I love feeding him strawberry pie. And well, I really love Avery and I love this picture.



Monday - 26.5.08


Today was Memorial Day. Happy Memorial Day!! And a shout out to all the men & women who deserve this holiday more than most people ever give them credit for. You guys rock my world. And in honor of rocking my world, I raise my box in toast to you!! Yup, that's right. That's a little tiny box of wine. And I drank it during dinner. Right out of the box. Only high class for me.

Oh... and a little P.S. to this story. Apparently I've been drinking some orange soda recently. Cause I've got a Crush. ;)

Pottery Barn + MDA + superb temp work = Great way to utilize my BSME degree...

So...

I graduated in what, December, from CSM with my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and it's now mid-May and I've yet to find a job that fits just right. I think it's because I lost my favorite pair of jeans that actually did fit just right. Boo. But anyway.

I have recently become gainfully employed by Pottery Barn. Could be way fun. I do really enjoy their merchandise, and I know my friend Pam will highly enjoy my discount... :) But I'm also working for the MDA for a couple of weeks making some nice $$, along with physically working for my temp agency in their office. I can get all this amazingly easy-as-pie crap to work with, but not a real job?? I think The Jesus has something else planned bigger & better for me, but I'm having a hard time seeing it... I wish they made special glasses for these type things... ug.

Needless to say, I think my situation is kind of funny, but I'm also a bit put out by all of it. At least I'll get some cash in my pocket.

But tonight is Wednesday night dinner!! Free food is fantastic! As is awesome alliteration. :)

And I have attached a photo from Physics day at Elitch Gardens with my friends Jeff, me, The Fackelman (my old high school physics teacher) and Travis! Notice the high quality. Yup, stolen via Print Screen from the internet. :) Enjoy.

One last sidenote... I like this song:

Maroon 5 Ft. Rihanna "If I Never See Your Face Again" Full Video