Unfiltered Nonsense

"To tell the truth" Tuesday

2012-02-07T10:09:00.000-06:00

I probably should have posted this on Music Monday, but I've been fighting with myself on whether or not to share this one with you.

The shameless side of me just won out.

On Saturday I had the CMT Top 20 Countdown on whilst cleaning and heard a great song come on the ole television. I decided I already loved it by time I reached the living room to see it was actually Miley Cyrus covering Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go."

My heart sunk. I already love that stupid "Party in the USA" song, if I like her version of this song I'm practically a fan.

So here's where you all come in. Listen to this and tell me what you think. I can't make you do a blind listen because there was no way for me to post this video without her name at the top of it so you're gonig to have to get past any anti-Miley bias right now.

To balance out this post I'll also post the original version by Bob Dylan.

Clearly, it's just a great song.

You know we have to talk about this

2012-02-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Overall, I was pretty bored with the Super Bowl sideshows/commercials this year. Probably due to too much hype and early online previews, but I still have two favorites.

Wait, actually three.

Funny.

"Let's kick some ass and buy some cars. RAWR!!" Inspiration.

Best use of Betty White.

What were your favorites?

Music Monday

2012-01-30T06:30:00.000-06:00

This weekend I went to the Randy Rogers Band concert down in Westport at The Beaumont Club. Of course RRB was amazing, but their opener, Sam Sliva and The Good, turned out to be a great find.

There is a pretty noticeable reggae influence in some of their songs so I can think of a few friends out there that would like them as well. If you ever see they are playing in your city you should check them out, the bass player's hair and dancing alone are enough to keep you entertained for the 45 minutes they'll play :)

Ad astra per aspera

2012-01-29T17:16:00.000-06:00

HAPPY KANSAS DAY!

Growing up in Kansas is probably the second coolest thing a person can do in a lifetime. Mainly because in grade school you likely had to dress up as pioneers and churned butter to celebrate Kansas Day. So, in honor of this special day in history I'm going to share some Kansas Fun Facts with you that I got from this site (some editorializing may take place on my list though).

Only acceptable state nickname: Sunflower State

State flower: Sunflower

State tree: Cottonwood

State reptile: Ornate Box Turtle (I gotta be honest, I feel like box turtle is a real stretch. What about the garter snake? There was probably a vote way-back-when — when all of these things were being decided — and the group felt having a snake as the state reptile would hurt tourism.)

State bird: Western Meadowlark

State animal: Buffalo

State song: "Home on the Range" (In grade school we performed this one play, probably called Home on the Range, that had this song in it. So I can sing this for any of you if you need me to.)

State motto: Ad astra per aspera (To the stars through difficulties)

Sadly, my fun fact source site and I disagree on what makes the state famous and famous people from the state. Seriously, did anybody know that Charles Curtis was 1. a vice president and 2. from Kansas? I mean, if you are super bored, educate yourself with this wikipedia link on him and then let me know if this gets a famous Kansan vote or not.

Not to 'suade your vote any, but I've driven through and around Topeka lots of times and never seen a sign boasting "Home of former Vice President Charles Curtis." If the votes come in famous though, I'll contact Governor Brownback tout de suite to remedy this grave oversight.

Audience participation

2012-01-25T13:13:00.000-06:00

I'm loving how you all have been active participants and leaving blog comments lately.

I want to reward you with more new posts, but there is one problem.

I have blogger's block.

I don't know what to write about next.

Give me your suggestions and there's a 93% chance I'll write about it.

GO!

Music Monday

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

There are few things in life I love more than music from the 1980s. However, videos from the same era are a serious competitor.

In my pursuit to procrastinate from doing anything productive this weekend, I spent the better portion of the afternoon watching music videos from the '80s on youtube. (Seriously, I don't know how grown-ups procrastinated before the internet.)

Anywho, I stumbled upon this golden nugget and had to share it — Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now."

My reason's for loving this video are tri-fold:

I don't sing at karaoke bars, but if I did, this video shows how I would perform this song — with exactly the same gusto as the female lead does in this video.
It has opened my eyes to a new Netflix Queue item. It uses scenes from the movie "Mannequin," which I have never seen, but want to now, based on the following: It appears to be some sort of "Sex in the City" meets "Police Academy" RomCom, it has a dog that may or may not have a breakout comedic role and finally, it has Andrew McCarthy. I adore Andrew McCarthy.
It's just a REALLY good song.

Enjoy!

Drum roll, please....

2012-01-21T15:37:00.000-06:00

I told you I wouldn't leave you hanging!

Ok, so as I posted earlier, I had a wall(s) that had drywall tape cracking, probably from settling so I did what Dad taught me to do. Bugged one of my brothers until he came and fixed it for me.

I'm not even joking about that. In college, Dad drew my name for Kris Kringle gifts and made me a toolbox. It came equipped with emergency contact phone numbers and everything.

Fair warning, Brian & Greg, Jeremy said next time I can call 1-800-BRIAN or 1-800-GREG.

So Jeremy fixed the walls and then I was charged with the tough decision of picking a color to paint the living room.

I have plans to upgrade my living room furniture in the next year or so and I want to get a grey couch so I knew I wanted to pick a new neutral color that would go with that. But I had to be careful, because the current khaki color on the walls bled into the kitchen and the hallway and I was not mentally prepared to do that much painting.

Thankfully, Glidden has a great Color Palette tool that helps you see what colors will look like together. After lots of emailing with willing subjects, I landed on Canyon Echo on the walls and Regal Purple on the interior of the front door and under the bar.

Here's the color before.

During painting...

You'll notice that I hit the jackpot on Day 1 of painting, because CMT was airing Overboard!

Door before.

Door after.

From the living room looking into Red/Khaki/White kitchen.

Here is a better view of the purple with the red. You can't really tell it in this photo, but the sidewalls of the bar are the old khaki color, in certain lights you can't tell they are different colors I guess.

So there is the big reveal. I LOVE IT! And thank goodness for Pinterest, I got my inspiration for the painting the interior door while dorking around on there.

My next project will be updating some of my wall art before hanging.

Under construction

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

Big doings in Casa de Erin.

I used to have a wall that looked like this.

Now I don't.

Stay tuned to see the big reveal.

(promise I'll do a real reveal and not leaving you hanging like that one road trip teaser that never happen)

Music Monday

2012-01-16T09:37:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BETTY WHITE DAY!!!

While tomorrow is technically Betty White's 90th birthday, NBC will be airing a tribute to one of my favorite Golden Girls, followed by the premier of her new show "Off Their Rockers" tonight.

Don't plan on needing me between the hours of 7-10 pm, I'm busy.

Music Mond...errr Tuesday

2011-12-20T08:20:00.000-06:00

Hey look! A blog post.

I woke up this morning to the most beautiful version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by Paul Klein. I've never heard of this guy, but I love this. And coincidentally hearing this made me want to share with all of you (if there are any of you still reading this thing after an extended blogging drought).

Enjoy.

Music Monday

2011-10-31T07:07:00.002-05:00

This weekend, college friends reunited when Kristin and I took a good old fashioned road trip to Dodge City, Kansas for Jessi & Ryan's wedding.

(I would insert a really cute picture of the bride and groom right here, but it's a lot harder to take good photos when one hand is preoccupied with a glass full of wine. So...this is the best I got.)

Said road trip was brought to us by Lady Gaga's "Yoü and I" and the umlaut.

Consider this your teaser for the next post that will outline the ABC's of a good road trip weekend.

What in the wide world of sports is going on here?

2011-10-19T20:16:00.000-05:00

Why aren't people leaving comments on my posts anymore? I know you fools are reading it. Is blogger blocking you or are you just mean?

No acknowledgment of completing the blog challenge? It's seriously going to be very hard for any of you to guilt me into blogging more often if this is the thanks I get.

Sincerely,

Overdramatic and Neglected Erin

Twelve weeks later - Day 30

2011-10-16T19:02:00.000-05:00

Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge

5 good things...

I got to spend the day with Sam, Jeremy & Trisha today at the pumpkin patch and got a super sweet pumpkin of my very own.
I made a new recipe from my Olive cookbook.
This tv commercial
Fall weather showed up.
The K-State Wildcats won their first 6 football games this season.

And that ladies and gents, is how you do a 30-day blog challenge in 12 weeks!

What on Earth am I going to write about now??

Hold on for one more day - Day 29

2011-10-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Day 29: 3 wishes

To finally invent, patent and make millions off my idea for the Hovercraft.
That Justin Timberlake would make a new studio album. IT'S. BEEN. TOO. LONG.
To live a day as if it were taking place in a musical.

Olive you: Round 1

2011-10-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

Back in August I did a post on goals. Now, while I fully intended for that post to be born and die on the same night, some people got excited about my goals and requested follow up.

Luckily for y'alls. I'm in an accommodating mood.

Goal: Make one of the delicious dishes I have tagged from the Olive cookbook Becca bought me.

Target: Pasta with mushrooms and olives

Preliminary hypothesis: This could either go really good or really bad based on the fact that I picked a recipe that didn't have a reference photo of the finished product and there is a discrepancy on the page. In the description it says, "In this heavenly dish, the fresh mushrooms provide a sweet, earthy taste which contrasts strikingly with the tartness of the green olives." but, the recipe calls for black olives instead of green.

I chose to power through based on the ingredient list. I mean, what's not to like?

Olive oil: great cartoon character
Coarse salt: good
Noodles (fusilli): good
Fresh mushrooms: good
Garlic: good in moderation
White wine: hella good
Black olives: good (but maybe they should be green)
Salt & Pepper: good seasoning combo and pretty good '90s rap duo
Butter: good
Grated Parmesan cheese: good

Abbreviated Steps:

Boil water, make pasta, test a few pieces without burning yourself, drain and sit aside.

Open wine and pour yourself a glass.

"Coarsely chop" mushrooms (whatever that means.)

In a skillet heat mushrooms, oil and garlic for 5 minutes.

Add wine, cook for 5 minutes.

Add olives, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the butter and cook while stirring until the butter melts.

Fall into a trans as you watch a giant stick of butter melt.

Pour the sauce over the noodles, mix and top with cheese.

Eat.

Final verdict? Good, but better on the second day. I think I'm going to have to try it with green olives and maybe a little chicken too next time. The recipe was super easy to follow so I really love that too.

Stay tuned as I'll attempt another recipe from this cookbook in the next umm....3ish months!

Under pressure - Day 28

2011-10-05T07:30:00.000-05:00

Day 28: Something that stresses you out

In general, I feel like I handle most stressful situations with great aplomb. You can tell I'm stressed and not handling it super great when every third word is a curse word. Seriously, just ask the people who sit next to me at work. I would have been rated TV MA for adult language this last month. It's not really my fault though, I'm pretty sure it's genetic...from the Germans.

So, yeah, work stresses me out.

Thankfully, work only really stresses me out in June and September sooo...there's the bright side.

Somewhere in Overland Park - Day 27

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Day 27: Original photo of the city you live in

Also known as: the post topic that almost killed my domination of the 30-day blog challenge.

I really struggled with this one. I guess because it seemed like a fun idea, but then when it came to actually taking a picture of Overland Park my interest wained significantly.

Luckily, Ashley has me on "leaf watch" and I've had a keen eye for the turning leaves. One of my favorite things about eastern Kansas is all the trees and how they look in the fall.

Enjoy this fall tree and the clear blue beautiful Kansas sky.

Music Monday

2011-10-03T14:41:00.001-05:00

It's no secret we here at Unfiltered Nonsense love a good cover song. Nor is it a secret that I heart Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Today, I give you both.

Here they are, covering Beyonce's "Why Don't You Love Me?" from Cee Lo Green's Show "Talking To Stranger." (which is a good watch if you ever come across it on your TV)

I'm not above swiping ideas - Day 26

2011-09-22T19:54:00.001-05:00

Day 26: Your dream wedding

Apparently, I'm still holding on to the idea that a prince charming exists.

Plus, I could do some serious party planning with a budget like Kate had.

Shuffle up and sing along - Day 25

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

This is probably my favorite post so far. It's like 10 Music Mondays all in one!

1. I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash

2. Jessie's Girl, Cast of Glee

3. Medicine, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

4. She's A Little Bit Dangerous, Roxette

5. Elvira, Oak Ridge Boys

6. Top Back, TI

7. King of Anything, Sara Bareilles

8. Beast of Burden, The Rolling Stones

9. Southern Girl, Amos Lee

10. Faster, Matt Nathanson

Wow, I'm not really sure where else you can hear the smooth vocal stylings of the Oak Ridge Boys and then transition, quiet seamlessly, into TI. Plus, I'm super impressed that more Glee songs didn't show up. It seemed like every other song this thing played yesterday was from Glee.

It's a good thing they're pretty - Day 24

2011-09-19T22:53:00.000-05:00

Day 24: Something you've learned

No matter how good looking of a team I draft for fantasy baseball, I can't finish higher than 10th out of 12 teams.

I refuse to half-ass this one - Day 23

2011-09-15T23:53:00.000-05:00

Day 23: A picture of someone you want to switch lives with for a day and why

I'll do you one better than a photo, I'll do you a full length commercial.

To be perfectly clear, the reasons I want to switch places with the girl in this commercial are tri-fold.
   1a. Henry Cavill is hot
   2b. Henry Cavill is super hot
   3c. Real life or acting, that's gotta be at least a full day/night of up close goodness with Henry Cavill.

Plus, he has to smell good, because this is a cologne ad...unless the cologne smells gross...I guess I didn't consider that....oh well, I don't care, I've had years of character building experiences, this just looks like good fun.

P.S. The sunflower iron-on bedazzlement is still up for grabs and I just gave you fools three very good clues as to the identity of one of the gents.

Did I just vlog?

2011-09-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

We interrupt the 30-day blog challenge to show you what I figured out how to do in the last 30 minutes.

Get excited.

Next time I'll stop laying on my couch before filming.

Type F personality - Day 22

2011-09-13T17:00:00.000-05:00

Day 22: What's in your purse?

I know there's such a thing as a Type A personality, which I am definitely not. Is there a Type F? If so, the F probably stands for Freaking Disaster and this post is about to reveal that I'm it's poster child.

So here's my purse.

Here's the pile of crap when it first gets dumped on the ground.

Here's the pile of crap sorted out...it's about to get really real, people.

Ok, so here's what we've got, starting at the bottom and working our way counter-clockwise-ish.

wallet
empty travel size saline solution that I use as eye drops because I won't buy eyedrops for contact wearers
one splenda packet
wedding program my sister gave me as inspiration/encouragement for starting a wedding invite/paper junk side business
allergy meds from Walgreens
nice pen
keycard for work
pile of receipts that I typically leave in my purse until I file in my trash can
player rewards card from Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, KS (last used mid-July)
two grocery lists
3 paid bills from last month
Oklahoma Joe's menu
Sweet Baby Jesus, a dirty pizza cutter wrapped in a Walmart sack (from Friday when I took fruit pizza to work)
iPod Nano
K-State pen
bread bag clip

Thank God I didn't try to go through airport security with this purse in the last 4 days. It's really only a matter of time before my laziness puts me in jail or on a Dateline TV special.

Could I get any cuter? - Day 21

2011-09-12T21:30:00.000-05:00

Day 21: Favorite picture of yourself ALL TIME*, why?

*ALL TIME in this post means that I have a digital file of said picture.

This is me on my 2nd birthday and from the looks of it, I just received the best present ever – Bedtime Bear. I love how excited I look hugging the head off that silly bear.

If any of you are curious, yes, I still have this CareBear.

I'm also super curious if the only other presents I received during this birthday were a red bucket and book tote. If so, kids these days get entirely too many pricey presents and all of my nieces and nephew need to look forward to getting red buckets for Christmas.

Family members who remember this birthday are encouraged to chime in if they remember the significance of the bucket and tote.

The girl with a thousand names - Day 20

2011-09-09T21:08:00.002-05:00

Day 20: Nicknames

I'm not exactly sure how or why, but nicknames are one thing I have never had a shortage of. Let's see if I can name them all in the order I was given them.

Mini Kimmi - This lasted until kindergarden age. I'm not sure who started calling me this, but I do know I got this nickname because I looked like a miniature version of my older sister, Kim. All of her friends called me Mini Kimmi...until the basketball game when they fed me too much licorice and I threw up all over three of them in the student section bleachers. I'm not sure if this is the reason the name kind of died, but my memories of it stop about that time frame.

Like I said, the "mini" dropped off years ago, but my dad's side of the family can never tell us apart so I still get called Kim a fair amount.

Cuddle Bug - This was my CB handle back in the day before cell phones. Having a CB in your house and car was loads of fun. Let's see if I can remember all of our handles, I may need to phone a friend.
Home = Big I Base;
Dad = Gopher;
Mom = Honey-do;
Brian = White Lightening;
Kim = Sweet Thunder;
Jeremy = Hungry Jack.

Those of you interested in being as cool as my family or wanting your own CB handle, feel free to consult this eHow article.

Squirt - Kim used to call me this when I was in grade school. I think it was because I was short, but I can't be for sure.

Little Woman - I went to Park for grades 1-3. I was the only girl in my class of four and subsequently was the shortest girl in the school. The 4th, 5th and 6th grade boys called me this. I lost the name when Cheyenne started first grade the next year. It could have been worse....and I think it did get worse.

Gertrude - Ugh. And so the downward spiral of never being called Erin begins. As we already established, I wasn't a coordinated or athletic child. God made me to play Barbies, color and look cute, not climb ropes, run and sweat. Apparently, my attempts to dribble, run, stretch, play line tag, etc. al., reminded Mr. Heinz, our PE teacher — who in my mind back then was like a mean drill sergeant with bad teeth, goofy laugh and funny name — of a grandma. So, he'd yell things like, "Come on grandma!" "Lift your feet, Gertrude!"

Gerdy - Gertrude was quickly shortened to Gerdy and spread like wildfire all over school. By the second grade I was convinced Mr. Heinz didn't know my real name. I'm a little weird, so I actually didn't mind Gerdy as a nickname. I liked being "heard of."

Kirby - I think during 12 and under softball one summer Kirby was born, out of someone mishearing Gerdy. I liked this even better because of that cute little pink guy from Kirby's Adventures.

Gert - During junior high the nickname got shortened to Gert. To this day, people who I haven't been around since high school and some friends parents still call me Gert when they see me back home.

Kirb - Same story as Gert. Kids get lazy in high school and I still get called this from some long-time friends. I think this is one of my favorite variations of the nickname.

EG - Now we enter the college years. Part of the magic of going to K-State for college was nobody else from back home was really there, so I got to be Erin again...or the closest variation of it I was ever going to be. My dorm neighbors/friends quickly started calling me by my initials.

EG3 - Sometime during freshman year, the EG got a twist. I was with a group of friends and we were talking about one of their high school classmates, who Becca always referred to as James Elmer Fox the Third. I quickly proclaimed that I wanted to be Erin Garrett the Third. Dee, didn't miss a beat, and said, "Ok, EG3!"

Femminim - I went through a two week phase sophomore year where I thought I could be a while girl rapper.

Thundercat - Another self-inflicted nickname inspired by the song "Shake Your Tailfeather."

TC - Short for Thundercat and Dally still calls me TC.

Lulu - Ok, only my family and small children are allowed to call me this name. When Payton was little she as super tubby and had lots of crazy brown hair. One day, Kim had her dressed in a red and white checkered dress and I asked her why she had her dressed like Lulu from Hee Haw.

Payton started crying and was inconsolable. We assume she knew that wasn't a flattering comment. A few years later, when she could talk, Payton came running into mom and dad's house and firmly told me, "I'M NOT A LULU! YOU'RE A LULU!" And now that's what my family calls me. I can't wait for Sam to say it again so more people can hear it :)

I think between Gertrude and Lulu it's safe to say I could make a pretty seamless transition into life in the south.

Aardvark - Oh boy, this one was born from a conversation with Jessi where she kept referring to her Aunt Bunny, who was rich. Apparently my takeaway from this conversation was that every single girl needs a "rich aunt name" which starts with Aunt and ends with a type of animal. Jessi is Foxhound; Katie, Cricket; Choy, Panda; Kristin, Cobra and I got stuck with Aardvark (I only accepted this name once I was told it had to be said in a Boston accent.)

Wow, I'm exhausted from typing about myself for over an hour and there are probably still some that I've missed.

Cheaters may never win... - Days 18 & 19

2011-09-08T21:57:00.000-05:00

...but they sure do finish 30-day blog challenges in less then 90 days.

Tonight we combo up and speed through some of the murk and muck (is that a thing?).

Day 18: Favorite place to eat

Well, let's be honest, I love eating anywhere I don't have to do the cleaning. So I guess I'll pick a KC favorite: Grinders. They make an amazing Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich (I like mine with banana peppers, mushrooms and both kinds of cheese - provolone and cheese wiz).

You can also order a New York Style Chili Bomb Pie, which is a pizza of your choice with tots, chili-cheese and scallions plopped on the center of your pie. It looks and sounds more disgusting than it tastes. That being said, I don't have the kahones to order this myself, I just sponge a bite off someone else.

I'm also pretty sure there was one night, when Aisha and I were on the verge of being over-served and under-feed, where we had the funky dough and it came directly from heaven. DEEEE-LICIOUS.

To wash it all down they have about a million beers.

So, come see me sometime and we'll go eat there.

Day 19: Something you miss

In general, being a kid. I don't necessarily pine to relive any stage of life, I just miss being carefree and blissfully obvious to "real life."

More specifically, I miss staying with my grandparents when Mom and Dad went away for a weekend.

I loved staying at Grandpa Joe and Grandma Jeannie's house. I always got to stay in the back bedroom across from their room where the fancy smell-good powder for "powdering your nose" was. Along with a dresser full of Archie comic books that I read at night.

Grandma would always have some kind of cookies in the third drawer of the kitchen and make real fried chicken. Grandpa would play Slap Jack with me and act like I hurt him when I hit his hands. When we'd go driving, they let me sit in the middle between them and if I asked Grandpa to drive fast, he'd pull his hat down real low in front and make "fast car sounds" and act like he was steering an out-of-control vehicle. I'm not even doing it justice, but at the time (and still now, in my mind) it was the funniest thing ever. He probably never really went any faster, it just made me drunk with power :)

Staying with Grandma Jane and Vic was a different kind of fun. Probably because being with each other was less of a novelty since they only lived about 15 minutes from my house, we talked almost everyday and they lived on an actual working farm where there were daily chores.

I was even less into manual labor then than I am now, so I could usually complain/whine my way out of doing actual outside work. Although, I always liked watching them feed calves, especially when some were bottle fed. That is something every little kid should get to do.

But like I said, I could get out of outside work (let's be honest, a bored 10 year-old with an affinity for daydreaming would probably just be in the way of any actual real work getting done anyhow) and help Grandma make lunch and supper for the boys. I loved cooking with grandma, I'm not really sure why, but I liked it. There was also the extra bonus of getting to watch Days of Our Lives with her after lunch. Mom didn't approve of me watching "that trash", but grandma always let me watch with her. I think that's what made it so fun. When I was in college she would call me for updates if she missed a few days.

I also now have a piece of my childhood memories from the farm in my own house. It's a copper garage with moving car music box that plays "King of the Road" as it circles the building. I used to play that thing all the time when I was out there and that song always makes me think of the farm and Grandma Jane.

Cause that's how science works

2011-09-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

File this under: Brilliant ideas I wish I would have had, because it's a cause I fully support, but lack the tools, motivation, attention span or follow-through to actually accomplish.

I could be upset that I wasn't the brilliant mastermind behind this video, but instead I choose to be happy someone is finally bringing this issue to light.

Brilliant.

I'm sure there are worse things for me to look forward to - Day 17

2011-08-30T20:03:00.004-05:00

Day 17: Something you're looking forward to

That's easy, retirement. I'm always looking forward to retirement.

It's still some 36 years away, but I daydream of it often.

I imagine my retirement will look something like The Golden Girls, meets Wings, meets Designing Women.

Yeah, I'll either retire in Miami with a group of friends ...

get a part-time gig conning Christmas presents out of unsuspecting travelers in a small Nantucket airport...

or be insightful like Bernice when properly medicated.

There's a slight chance my perception of retirement has been based on tv sitcoms from the late 1980's/early 1990's.

Trash chutes and ladders - Day 16

2011-08-29T20:52:00.002-05:00

Day 16: Dream house

First and foremost, if we're talking dream home, it has to be a self-cleaning home. I HATE anything remotely related to housekeeping/household chores.

What next? Big enough to have friends and family over for parties and fun.

But not so big that I get lost in it.

A wrap-around porch would be totally sweet.

Definitely needs a nice view...

A badass backyard complete with outdoor kitchen, fire pit and outdoor seating.

Oh, the backyard also needs enough room for a big puppy to have fun.

Inside? I like a nice sized open kitchen with island/breakfast bar and appliance garage.

A jacuzzi bathtub...

OH with a giant flat screen tv in front of it.

And probably a home theater for good measure too.

Oh, and I really liked it in college when my house had a trash chute, so that would be pretty essential too...so long as it wasn't just an open window I'm throwing trash bags down like it was back then.

3:16 - Day 15

2011-08-24T20:30:00.002-05:00

Day 15: Bible verse

John 3:16 - For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

I know... I know...

This verse either reminds you of the wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin or seems like the easy answer because it's the most popular/recognizable bible verse in the history of favorite bible verses. You might be thinking, "Oh, she's catholic, she doesn't read the bible so that's why this is her 'favorite' verse." Two years ago you would have had something. (By the way, Mom hates it when I joke about catholics not having to read the bible.) But, I think the reason I wouldn't have claimed this as my favorite bible verse before is because I hadn't realized the truth in it yet.

As most of you know, my dad had a very quick and difficult battle with cancer. In the two months that he fought I received two, "It's not good, you might want to come home" phone calls. That's four hours in a car, each time, driving down the road wondering what will be there when I arrive.

At the very end, my family and I spent night and day at the hospital for four days. Each of us taking turns sleeping in various positions in a recliner, couch, roll-away bed or chair next to dad's bed. I probably would have done that forever if it meant I got to keep him here, but that was me being selfish.

The last night that he was with us here on Earth, that verse kept running through my head. "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life." Three o'clock in the morning, with my head on his bed, holding his hand, listening to his raspy breathing, crying. In hindsight, probably one of the first times my heart was truly breaking. I was struggling with questions like, If God loves me so much why would he do this? Why would he let Dad suffer? Why would he let us live in a world were such feelings even existed?

And then it dawned on me.

God himself has felt this exact same heartbreak. "he gave his only Son." He knew exactly how my heart was feeling. Who better to turn to? He let His one and only Son be crucified on a cross so that some day a sinner like me, imperfect and too smart-mouthed for my own good, could join him for eternal life in Heaven. He knew I'd disappoint him, act ungrateful, fall down, repent and repeat. Yet He still loved me enough to make that sacrifice.

It's humbling to realize that kind of love.

Certainly, that night was difficult, but learning to live again afterwards was just as hard, if not harder. After all, the world is short one of my most favorite people in the whole world. But I keep this revelation close, believe with all my heart that Dad is home with God and trust some day we will be joined together again in eternal glory.

DIBS! "Celebrity Edition" - Day 14

2011-08-20T15:04:00.004-05:00

Day 14: Celebrity crush

Talk about a topic I can get on board with.

So many choices....

A sunflower iron-on bedazzlement will be awarded to the first reader who can correctly identify all ten celebrities or be the first to introduce me to one of the celebrity crushes.

I know I should have fixed my hair, removed the folded towels from behind me or at the very least done a less crappy photoshop job on this picture, but I'm too busy laughing at this to care.

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life - Day 13

2011-08-16T20:56:00.003-05:00

Day 13: Goals

Seriously, how am I only on day 13 of this blog challenge? It feels like I've been doing this for 78 days.

I'm sure the originator of this topic list meant for me to talk about my goals to make me a better person, the world a better place and blah, but that's not really my thing. I put real effort into not telling people my goals until I hit them.

It limits liability.

Manages perception.

All that good stuff.

This blog challenge is a perfect example of what I generally try to avoid. If I hadn't told all 18 of you that I was going to do this thing I could just go back to being an absentee blogger or at least skip these lame-o topic days that do not interest me. Instead, I live with the guilt that if I bail on this y'alls will hold it over my head.

Which reminds me...

Way to bail on the 30-day blog challenge, Taddy Long Legs!

Sorry, where was I?

Oh yeah, goals = guilt.

But, for those of you who were hoping I put more effort and less smartass in this, here is a list of "goals" I want to or have accomplished in the recent past.

Witness a real life bench clearing at a professional game, most likely baseball or hockey.
Get back to my workout routine I had in 2009.
Make one of the delicious dishes I have tagged from the Olive cookbook Becca bought me.
Become a boss before 30. (check)
Visit all 50 states in the US.
Learn how to "dougie."
See Eddie Money live in concert (check and check)
Fix my stupid living room wall.
Buy grown-up living room furniture since I've been lead to believe, by more than one person, that my idea of buying Furniture Fix for my couch is not what people call a "good idea."

Even Dean Wormer would be proud of my ambition.

Music Monday

2011-08-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

I dare you to not want to do the "Carlton Dance" while listening to this song.

Urkel gets close more than a few times.

Bottoms are good - Day 12

2011-08-13T20:48:00.009-05:00

Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without

Ack! This post topic is nearly as boring as that first love one.

I guess if I'm being super literal, I'd have to say underwear. Does that make anyone uncomfortable? Seems silly if it does. I mean, wouldn't it be more unsightly the other way around? Oh wait, maybe this is why they are sometimes referred to as unmentionables...whoopsies.

I don't really have allegiance to any one product like American Express and I'm too poor to pay for something designer that would warrant flaunting every time I left home. I'm just enough scatter-brained that I'll leave home forgetting something and just ~~convincing~~ lazy enough to decide I don't want to turn back around and get it.

So yeah, this seems like the most appropriate response to this topic.

Honestly, sometimes I can't believe you people read this garbage.

Who's that 10, with the 6, that thinks she's a 9? - Day 11

2011-08-11T20:00:00.002-05:00

Day 11: Favorite TV shows

It's no secret, I love tv.

Among my favorites: Big Bang Theory, Friends, Hawaii 5-0, The Tudors, The Golden Girls, Hot in Cleveland, CSI: New York and since it's summer and nothing new is on, my newest favorite show is The New Adventures of Old Christine. The show is only on in syndication now, but I adore it. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a comical genius.

Enjoy some clips, won't you?

Apparently, some people want to be stingy with their video sharing on the youtube, so you'll have to click below to watch some other hilarious clips if you haven't had enough.

This one is good.

So is this one, too.

Fraidy cat - Day 10

2011-08-10T19:00:00.006-05:00

Day 10: Something you're afraid of

The angler fish.

Some of you might recognize this monster as the scary ass, spiky, lightbulb fish from Finding Nemo.

Computer animated or real life, I don't like it at all.

ICK! Gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Just as scary, but not as likely to face in real life, Gargamel, from The Smurfs...

...and the Wicked Witch of the West, from Wizard of Oz.

Actually, after further consideration, I might just be afraid of ugly.

Walrus Mustache - Day 9

2011-08-08T19:49:00.008-05:00

Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend

First off, let's get something straight. I do not ascribe to the idea that a person can only have "a = one" best friend. Most likely because when I was in grade school none of my friends ever gave me the second half to the best friend heart necklace.

(insert sounds of pity here)

There were 5 girls in my 4th grade class....4 of them had half of a necklace.

That's right.

(go ahead and make more pity sounds here, I don't mind.)

Labeling a best friend can be hurtful. Especially when the two best friends get in a fight and the other one returns the half necklace in an envelop, via a really cute brown hair-brown eyed, 3rd party under the tractor tires during recess. I'm no dummy, as soon as I delivered that envelop to Rachel I didn't want to be near one of those things.

Ergo, I believe all my friends are the best, so I couldn't possibly spotlight just one friend. But I absolutely have a favorite photo series with a friend.

Enter, the Garrett/Gleason Walrus Mustache collection.

It all started at a New Years Eve celebration. We had reached the point in the evening where every second was a photo op. I grabbed two stick pretzels to become a walrus and Amanda Gleason promptly eclipsed me by giving herself a pretzel mustache.

The year was 2008.

Then in 2009 at the Schicks' wedding we had...

The warm up...

And then probably the two greatest versions ever captured, where we more than quadrupled the prop size from 2008.

In 2010, Gleason dragged me to a Gov't Mule concert and their repetitive garbage music caused me to forget about taking our special photo. So, like any good friend, I've enhanced a photo for our 2010 moment in time.

Sometimes the good ideas are just right in front of you, aren't they?

Colorado dreaming - Day 8

2011-08-05T17:55:00.001-05:00

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

While all of my travels have been exclusively domestic and nearly always centered around where friends live, I've seen some pretty, interesting and odd places. The heat and drought must be getting to me, because I've chosen to spotlight Dream Lake, which is part of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Water, blue and green never looked so good.

I'd probably require a mini oxygen mask to do the hike to get there now, but it's almost worth it, don't you think?

I like when she goes bah, bah, bah, bah, bah. - Day 7

2011-08-02T20:17:00.007-05:00

Day 7: Favorite Movies

I gotta be honest, I have a lot of favorite movies. How many movies am I suppose to list here? I guess I'll go until I get tired or run out of titles.

Troop Beverly Hills

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The Departed

Elf

Sweet Home Alabama

McLintock!

Anchorman

The Proposal

Young Frankenstein

Pride & Prejudice

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

It Happen One Night

House Bunny

An Affair to Remember

Easy A

Miracle

Say Anything

A League of Their Own

Hangover

Talladega Nights

27 Dresses

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Gidget

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Adventures in Babysitting

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

And finally...

The.

Best.

Movie.

Ever.

Made.

In.

The.

History.

Of.

Movie.

Making.

OVERBOARD

"Hey TRAV, don't knock her up!" ha! classic. never gets old.

Josie's on a vacation far away - Day 6

2011-08-01T19:22:00.011-05:00

Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

People say it's the little things in life that mean the most. I suppose that's not true for all people, especially if you're referring to diamond rings or raises, but for me it definitely is. I get excited about the goofiest and smallest things.

For all the TMI and annoying things facebook and other social networking sites bring directly into our computer screens and mobile phones in an instant, they also make the art of sending a quick, "I'm thinking of you" note as easy as it could possibly be.

For instance, take today, I got the below message from my friend Kara.

This is a three-pronged happy feeling photo:

It's nice to know when people are thinking about me. It feeds my already blossoming ego.
I have officially played a fairly "sizable" role in her four-year old son, Max's life. I put The Outfield's "Your Love" on a mixed cd I sent her and as you can see, Max can accurately identify this song in public and LIKES it. Seriously amazing. I also really can't wait until the day I get to hear Max sing the line, "You know I like my girls a little bit older."
I'm synonymous with The Golden Girls. Who doesn't want that!??!

So there you go. An email, text, facebook message, blog comment, signing telegram, hand-written note or phone call goes a long ways in making me smile and brightening my day.

Brighten someone's day this week!

Who your name is? - Day 5

2011-07-29T14:08:00.007-05:00

Day 5: A song to match your mood

Music is probably one of my most favoritest things in the whole-wide-world. It can transform your mood, take you back in time or remind you of a person you haven't thought of in years.

In the instance of today, I have two great friends coming for the weekend. I've known Angie since grade school, but her, Bria and I (along with Becca, Julie and Herres) did the majority of our damage in college...back in the infamous 1709 Laramie days.

Photo shout out to my old roommates!

Yes, when we moved in to the trash-hole that was the cockroach penthouse we adopted this lifestyle.

ANYWAYS!! Angie and Bria are going to be here this weekend and when I think of those girls, I think of pre-parting at 1709 with this song blaring from Angie's computer speakers.

Thanks for being mine - Day 4

2011-07-27T18:38:00.011-05:00

Day 4: Your parents

I'm convinced that God blessed me with the absolute best parents in the world. Were they perfect? Of course not, how many of you...I meannnn...us are?

Did they make me furious, push my buttons, tell me "not only no, but hell no!" and embarrass me?

On several occasions.

Did they love, support, teach, feed, clothe, encourage, guide, tolerate and build me up?

Again, yes, on several occasions, sometimes while they were making me furious, pushing my buttons, telling me no and embarrassing me.

As a child I looked to them for all of those necessities a child needs from her parents. As a teen, I mainly looked to them for money. As an adult, I found friends – two special people who knew, loved, understood and respected me for the person I was becoming.

They taught me how to live: Granted, I was ten years old before they took me somewhere where I could ride my first escalator, about the same age when I finally learned how to ride a bike without training wheels and at 17 I finally got a job where I didn't take naps during an 8-hour shift...good grief, they're lucky they ever got me to move out of the house! But we always had some sort of family time. There were times to work, but also time for God, traditions, family and friends and making memories.

They taught me how to laugh: Look at these two clowns!

Is there any wonder I turned out the way I did? We are never short for laughter in this family.

And most importantly, they taught me how to love: I never wonder if my parents love me. I'm still convinced I'm the favorite. After all, I had them all to myself during four years of high school and they still claimed me as their own. Hugs, kisses and "I Love You's" were never far away. There wasn't a recital, ballgame, art show, program, banquet, bake sale or CYO fundraiser that they missed. They've listened to me cry on the phone while hundreds of miles away from home and provided the pervertible shoulder to cry on or those perfectly timed words a girl just needs to hear, like, "Wouldn't it feel good if you could just tell those people to go to hell?" "Yes, Dad, that is exactly what I wish I could do."

I've seen their marriage vows lived out – in sickness and in health, for better for worse, until death do us part – and know their relationship with God is what got them through those times.

So I guess to any of you parents out there, just starting out or entering the dreaded teen years: You'll be loved for the things you give them, just as much as you're later loved for the things you didn't give them. Those young eyes and ears are taking in everything you do, because until it seems uncool, they want to be just like you.

Thanks for being mine, Mom and Dad.

First right of refusal - Day 3

2011-07-26T13:07:00.004-05:00

Day 3: Your first love

First love?

Bleck.

What kind of dumbass topic is this?

Pass.

(I was only planning on giving myself one veto so I really hope there isn't a topic schedule for later on that I dislike.)

Music Monday

2011-07-25T09:56:00.003-05:00

We interupt the incredibly productive 30-day blog challenge to do an easy post.

I love this summer song and may or may not have a giant crush on Jake Owen and that million dollar smile of his.

Just add procrastination - Day 2

2011-07-23T15:39:00.007-05:00

Wow, three posts in three days. I know I should pace myself, but this re-ignition of blogging has proven useful to my normal procrastination routine. Normally, when procrastinating household chores I waste time on facebook, checking on my fantasy baseball team or catching up on my dvr recordings, but with topics out here just waiting for me to talk about, I'm rejuvenated!

Let's see here...Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name.

I had toyed with the idea of starting a blog prior to the birth of Unfiltered Nonsense for at least three years. I had different friends that were blogging and I thought it'd be fun, but I couldn't land on a name. I refused to write under a name I didn't love.

I wasn't getting married or embarking on a new chapter of my life like so many other friends at the time, so there was no life event to play off of.

This wasn't going to be professional for me like my portfolio blog that I haven't updated for 2 years, so no need to be tied to my name.

Plus, I didn't want it to be uncool. After all, I'm nothing if not super cool.

It had to be fun.

Punchy.

Maybe a little oxymorony.

I love a good oxymoron. I absolutely adore Jessi's blog name, Organized Chaos. It fits her perfectly.

When I thought about what kind of things I would blog about I figured it would just be for fun. Sure, there'd be life updates, but I'd write just for fun...comment on life and pop culture and things that make me laugh or seethe with anger in some cases. There'd be a lot of "nonsense" and if I was going for the laugh factor, I'd have to turn my filter off because well, let's face it...that's when I really shine.

And so, Unfiltered Nonsense was born. The blogspot url was already taken by some greedy woman who hasn't posted since 2004 so I had to add the word "my" to the url, but that's just a little thing.

And we're off! - Day 1

2011-07-22T22:36:00.016-05:00

Ok, here I am, going strong on the 30-day blog challenge. Today's topic?

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts.

Ok, well, I pretty much feel like yesterday's blog was an adequate introduction to this bit. so....CHECK!

(see i told you they should have given me credit for Day 0)

ok, what's next? Recent picture of yourself. well, this is about as recent as you can get.

I just got done playing softball and drinking celebratory beers. No, we didn't win, in fact, this was our worse season since we started back in '05, but tonight's game was a lot of fun.

ok, recent picture? CHECK!

15 interesting facts.

about me?

ugh. That's pushing it, I'm not sure I can handle that. Let's go half and half. Tonight I'll share credit with this site on fun facts.

Ok, in no particular order.

I used to be afraid of trains. Afraid as in I was convinced that a train was going to deliver my ultimate demise. We lived less than a block away from the train tracks and my super sonic hearing could hear a train whistle at least 8 miles away. My fear was cured when they taught me about the caboose. Why don't trains have cabooses anymore?
Hippo milk is pink. I adore hippos.
Just before the US started bombing Baghdad, nearly $1 billion dollars was stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq and is now the largest bank robbery in history. Also, right before the US started bombing Baghdad, I was in Las Vegas getting ready to board a Southwest Airlines flight back to KC with my friends Alison and Cindy. United Airlines canceled our original flight and I haven't flown them since.
I made my national tv debut on January 2, 2004 during K-State's loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. This is also the same weekend that I figured out how to ask for the beer garden in Spanish, “Donde esta jardin de cerveza?”
Scientists aren't sure what color dinosaurs were.
Up until about 2nd grade when I had my tonsils taken out, I was convinced onions gave me strep throat. If I ever have children there’s a high likelihood half of them will be mini-hypochondriacs.
I love daydreaming.
Back in 2004/5 I invented a game called "Yassar or a Cow." It's wildly unpopular, but I love it. Basically, you ask people who they would rather be in a situation with......Yassar Arafat or a cow. At Katie and Todd's wedding, Kristin's husband Matt asked me who I would have liked to brought as a date. I said, "Oh, I wasn't given plus guest." (like that was my only deterrent...taking dates to weddings is like a babysitting job you don't get paid for). To which Matt replied, "Yeah, but if you could, would you have brought Yassar?" "Yes, absolutely." Kristin, being the dark cloud that rains on my parade said, "Yeah, his dead moldy corpse would have been a lot of fun." me: "Uhhh, yeah, Weekend at Bernie's 1 and Weekend at Bernie's 2."
More than ten people a year are killed by vending machines.
I'm a sucker for tv shows that let you download music from each episode. FOX and NBC saw me coming from a mile away.
The zip code 12345 is assigned to General Electric in Schenectady, New York.
I dressed as Steven Q. Eurkle for Halloween in the 2^nd or 3^rd grade. Now-a-days it probably would have been racially insensitve for a little white girl to do that, but my impression of his laugh and signature phrase “Did I do that?” was so spot on I think it made it ok. I won first place in the costume contest at school.
There are more plastic flamingos in the US than real ones. 40 of them are in my brother Brian's shed.
The oldest patented company logo is the red triangle of Bass beers.
The KC star linked to my blog in an article that talked about Betty White. I'm credible if nothing else, right?

Well, I don't know about you readers, but I feel informed and entertained now. You're welcome.

15 interesting facts...CHECK!

30-day blog challenge

2011-07-21T21:25:00.005-05:00

It seems that my becoming an absentee blogger has not gone unnoticed. Let's just act like my blatant disregard for updating never happen, ok?

Excellent.

Now, hold on loosely readers, because in an attempt to remind you all why you love this blog, and subsequently, me, I'm embarking on the 30-day blog challenge. If I don't lose interest in the next 5-6 weeks** here's what you have to look forward to.

Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description
Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite movies
Day 8: A place you've traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: Celebrity crush
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
Day 22: What's in your purse?
Day 23: A picture of someone you want to switch lives with for a day and why
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge

I wish whoever invented this list had given me credit for Day 0. Oh well, let's do this. I'm excited!

**let's be realistic, I'm not going to go from blogging 4 times in 60 days to blogging every day for 30 days.

Music Monday

2011-07-18T11:02:00.002-05:00

I went to one of the free summer country concerts at the P&L last week to see the Randy Rogers Band. They might be a new favorite due to this song and the fact that the fiddle player's name is Brady Black. Hello!? That's a Days of Our Lives character...or at least it was when I watched 7 years ago.

Music Monday

2011-06-27T20:18:00.004-05:00

We can't let the month of June come and go with no music monday post at all.

The load at work has been daunting, challenging and maybe just a pinch soul crushing the last month or so. Since I can't take a 4 day vacation to Texas to see friends every month, this song offers a simpler remedy to such a situation...put a little gravel in my travel.

Disregard the dumb video and just listen to the song I guess, i can't find anything better.

Once you smell burning...stop

2011-06-03T21:24:00.005-05:00

When The Shirelles' momma said, "There'll be days like this." I wonder if she ever meant all of those days were going to fall in one week.

You know, the kind of week brought to you directly by Satan, where the only thing you are doing is reacting to people freaking out about things that don't warrant a freak out? Well, it has, in fact, been one of those weeks for me. Praise baby Jesus that it was only a 4 day week.

In fact, today when I was still at work past 8:30 pm for the 4th night in a row i decided to figure out how many more years I had until retirement. Bad idea. I have 36 more years of working...that's longer than I've been alive. Depressing until I remember there's still the options to marry rich and be a trophy wife.

Until then, I'm going to sit here, drink my bottle of wine and rewatch a few "My Drunk Kitchen" episodes...like this one.

I feel violated

2011-06-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

This commercial just came on TV, it's as if the creators of the first 14 seconds of the commercial have been watching my failed attempts at outdoor gardening.

How did they know?!?!

Music Monday

2011-05-09T09:55:00.003-05:00

This week the HMC goes head-to-head with BWB (Brian Wilson's Beard) aka Gleason's team. In what can only be described as a strategic move, I dedicate this song to my opponent.

It'll take her until 1:44 to remember that she doesn't like this song. I'm hoping the boo hook will get stuck in her head and cripple her ability to piece together a win. Let's be honest, at this point, it's my only shot at winning the matchup.

Royal thoughts

2011-04-29T05:59:00.007-05:00

6:00 am
Ok, I've been up since 3 am watching Royal Wedding coverage. I'm totally eating this all up. I'm certain I would have enjoyed living during the days of yore when Royals actually served a purpose....so long as I could have been part of the royal court. Otherwise it probably wouldn't have been any fun. Oh and maybe also so long as I wasn't beheaded or burned in the town square or anything like that. I guess that could significantly alter my will to live back then.

I considered live blogging, but fine motor skills don't kick in until about 10 am. So here are some of the thoughts that have crossed my mind in the last 3 hours:

I love all of these hats!

The three girl cousins from Princess Diana's brother totally look like "The Girls Next Door."

Now that Prince William is off the market I would still totally settle for Prince Harry, he's cute and has a mostly full head of hair.

I'd let someone give me a Rolls Royce Phantom if they wanted to, that is a sharp looking automobile.

Pippa & Kate's dresses are super beautiful.

That has got to be the world's smallest wedding bouquet.

I really want to know what Prince Harry said to William as Kate was walking down the aisle and he had his back turned to her.

Why doesn't the groom get a ring?

Betwixt is such a great word. I'm definitely going to start using it more.

I wonder if Kate has or ever will suggest to William to just be done with it and shave his head?

I wonder if Prince William could pull off the completely bald look.

Prince/Duke Grandpa looks like he can party, I bet he's the highlight of the reception.

6:38 am
I need more coffee. Bring on cup #3.

I should have taken today off. Is it too late to call in "sick?"

7:34 am
Oh my gosh I feel asleep and almost missed the first kiss on the balcony! That would have been a disaster.

Bravo Giants. Bravo.

2011-04-20T20:48:00.010-05:00

I admit it, when my two oldest nieces showed me videos of Keenan Cahill lip-syncing I felt confused and saddened for the younger generation. But now, I TOTALLY get it.

I was sent a link to this bleacher report today and well...the magic below is about to blow your mind.

I'm so sad "Troy Tulo 'Party In The USA' Whiskey and Friends" team owner Amanda Gleason won't trade me Brian Wilson and that magnificent beard of his. Nobody else seems to want Cody Ross so that pickup shouldn't be a problem.

Next year I might only draft players with boss facial hair.

Thank you channel 225

2011-04-18T19:04:00.004-05:00

My cable company switched their channel lineup over the weekend and I'm not sure if I gained more channels or if I just never knew I had some of these great entertainment venues. For instance, I discovered I have not one, but two PBS channels and BBC America!

I've already been telling people that I have Royal Wedding Fever and this my friends, is the PERFECT remedy. I fully intend to be up at 3 am watching pre-wedding coverage by people with actual british accents.

Double-extra-bonus-no-take-backs I now get to dvr The Graham Norton Show now too.

Music Monday

2011-04-11T09:04:00.003-05:00

I don't know what it means that this is the song I want to listen to this morning, but I'm going with it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to rock some project status meetings this Monday morning.

Because sometimes I can't help but be a good friend

2011-04-06T20:43:00.006-05:00

"My friend" Ashley loves Britney Spears. So when I saw the new Brit Brit video on perezhilton I posted the youtube video on her wall.

This is the response I got.

I aim to please folks. So here you go, Ashley, another post dedication delivered just for you.

If you want to show your gratitude for such a grand gesture of friendship feel free to donate to my American Heart Walk page. :)

**Blogger note: I didn't use the words my friend in quotes because Ashley isn't a real friend or because I was too embarrassed to say I wanted to post this video in the blog. I did it because whenever she talks about any other friends outside of our circle she always says, "my friend" (insert name)... even after meeting and playing boardgames with Her Friend Charlotte she still continued to refer to her as "My Friend" Charlotte. It's a lovable quirk and I miss hearing it on a regular basis now that her and Matt live in Florida. (What are the odds of me still guilting a donation out of her after being a smartass?)

A girl and her handsome men

2011-04-03T14:51:00.019-05:00

Last year I introduced the world, or approximately 15 people, to the Handsome Men's Club fantasy baseball team and everywhere I went sport enthusiasts asked me, "How do you draft such a good looking team?"

Well, hold on tight readers, because I'm about to drop some drafting knowledge on you that will change your life.

When drafting a team solely based on looks, the internet is your best friend. Especially when you're an AL elitist and haven't been able to scout the NL players in person. Now, as you'll see as we go down the roster, you can't trust only one source. And by saying you can't trust one source, I mean, you can't trust the one image ESPN gives you in the draft room. It's a start, but it's not always accurate. You have to take advantage of Google Images and a little thing called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

(Nerd Alert On) SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engines via the "natural" or "organic" search results. (Nerd Alert Off)

If so, facto, if people are searching to see if a player has a girlfriend or wife, he is probably handsome, or makes a shitload of money. So, if I type in the player's name into the search field and a pre-populated suggestion of "Player Name girlfriend" or "Player Name wife" shows up, I have a contender.

Don't believe me? Try it out right now. First, do a google search for Joe Mauer. Now, do the same for Bartolo Colon.

See? Told you.

It's a science and an art. And I'm in the process of submitting it for a patent, so don't get any ideas of claiming the theory as your own.

Let's move on to the picture portion of this post, shall we?

Since this is year two of being in the league we got to select two players from last years roster as "keepers" for round 1 and 2. Two players clearly wanted it more than anyone else...

Round 1: Joe Mauer (C)
Definitely not just a face a mother could love. Le sigh.

Round 2: Brett Gardner (CF)
Steals my heart every time he steals a base.

Round 3: Chase Utley (2B) - currently sitting on the 15 day DL
Even with being on the DL and possibly not coming back until the All-star break, Chase Utley has a higher own percentage than last years 3rd round draft pick, Mark Teahen.

Round 4: Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)
That eye black really brings out the gold flecks in his brown eyes, don't you think?

Round 5: Grady Sizemore (CF) - currently on the 15 day DL
Grady's Ladies, rejoice! Grady has made it to it the upper echelon of fantasy baseball teams. It's just icing on the cake that Betty White's character on "Hot In Cleveland" is a fellow fan. As long as he steers clear of taking more Vanessa Hudgens-eqs photos we'll be just fine.

Round 6: Chase Headley (3B)
I love the excitement on his face after finding out he made the team!

Round 7: Joe Nathan (RP)
Enthusiasm and carisma, carisma, carisma.

Round 8: Billy Butler (1B)
I couldn't possibly have the HMC be sans Royal. Let's do this Big Donkey!

Round 9: Chad Billingsley (SP)
Kind of reminds me of Brian Bannister, let's hope he works out a little better than Banny did last season.

Round 10: Ian Desmond (SS)
The first of three smooth operators I drafted, he just looks like one doesn't he? Lucky for him, I hardly ever hear anything about the Washington Nationals so I'll have no idea if he's up to shenanigans behind my back or not.

Round 11: John Danks (SP)
I think I'm most excited about the return of this pitcher from last season's team.

Round 12: Garrett Jones (1B)
Great name. Great face.

Round 13: John Axford (RP)
It was around this time that the conversation in the draft room got started on crows (by me) and new team owner DJ distracted me with this awesome youtube video. Since I was preoccupied with the video I didn't consult google images for a second opinion on this guy. ESPN lead me to believe he looked like this.

When in actuality, he looks like a carnival worker. It is not a good sign when you start typing a players name in to google images and the most popular suggestion is "his name + mustache."

Round 14: John Jaso (C)
He more than makes up for the John Axford debacle of 2011.

Round 15: Ricky Romero (SP)
Smooth operator number two. Ay yi YI!

Round 16: A.J. Burnett (SP)
Nice skin tags.

Round 17: Bronson Arroyo (SP)
Last year I gave Mr. Arroyo a hard time for clearly losing a bet during the 2K10 photo day, but this year I think we can all agree, he got his "Redemption Photo."

Blogger's side note: Does anyone else think Mr. Red on Bronson's uniform looks like Mr. Met dressed up as one of the Mario Brothers?

Round 18: Ryan Raburn (LF)
Definitely considered an upgrade from the Detroit Tiger I had last season.

Round 19: Yunel Escobar (SS)
Jump on it!

Round 20: Edwin Jackson (SP)
Smooth operator number three. Warning: do not stare directly into his eyes, you'll fall in love.

Round 21: Rick Porcello
Adorable and half responsible for the great bench clearing of 2009. It would be a dream come true if one of my players was responsible for a bench clearing this season.

Round 22: Brandon League (RP)
This was a borderline Axford fiasco repeat, but luckily I stumbled upon this awesome photo of him and his hair.

Round 23: Skip Schumaker (2B)
This great find is couresty of some scouting done last season by my dear friend Darcie Brownback. Mother may I, right?

Round 24: Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B)
Look at that smile.

I seem to be incapable of drafting a completely healthy team, so much like last year, I had to bring in some extra help.

Coco Crisp (OF) - I love his name and even though he was kind of a big bust the one year he was a Royal, I still think he's got the handsome man swagger.

Ty Wiggington (1B, 2B, 3B) - He's so versatile how can he not be considered handsome?

And that, ladies and gents, is the starting roster for Handsome Men's Club 2K11. We look forward to entertaining you throughout the baseball season and hope to not come in last place.

Happy Opening Day

2011-03-31T09:44:00.002-05:00

The Royals are tied for first place, soak it up.

Bender over

2011-03-30T22:29:00.004-05:00

While doing some research for my upcoming draft blog I stumbled upon this golden nugget.

If it wasn't obvious from my Betty White calendar, I'll just tell you, I love Betty White.

Hot in Cleveland
Tags: Hot in Cleveland Video,Photos on the set of Hot in Cleveland,Betty White,Hot in Cleveland Official TV Show Website

You should watch Hot In Cleveland if you aren't already.

The suspense is palpable

2011-03-29T13:51:00.002-05:00

Anticipation builds.

Opening day is only two days away.

The Handsome Men's Club drafts players tonight!

Who else is excited?

Music Monday

2011-03-28T09:18:00.005-05:00

As I've already established here on Nonsense, I'm a purist.

So as you can imagine, I didn't like it when American Idol lost Paula. I hated Kara and Ellen didn't do much for me as a judge either. When Simon left, I was convinced they would never recover. And I adimately refused to watch once they announced J.Lo as one of the new judges.

Well, curiousity got the best of me about two weeks in, on a snowy night, and I watched and much to my surprise the new judges didn't suck. J.Lo has some of the same carisma as Paula, chair dancin' like nobody's business, and Steven Tyler is the semi-pervy horndog that show was missing! So, I took up watching once the talent got widdled down to the final 13 or 12.

I have a couple favorites, Paul McDonald being one of them. He's voice is different and he's got this incredibly infectious smile. I went on iTunes to listen to his cover of "Tracks of My Tears" and saw on the comments section that he is actually part of a band called The Grand Magnolias. After previewing the albums I'm in love. I now hope he doesn't win so he can stay in the band and keep making this music.

Here's Grand Magnolias "American Dreams." Enjoy.

Pigs don't fly for a reason

2011-03-27T20:17:00.005-05:00

And that reason is?

If they did, bacon and sausage would taste disgusting.

For nearly half a decade I've been convinced that turkey bacon tastes good. I don't know what kind of turkey bacon I had when I thought it tasted good, but I can say, without doubt, that I was wrong.

From time to time I've substituted ground turkey for ground beef in recipes like tacos or spaghetti meat sauce and it's tasted pretty good. So, a few weeks ago I thought I'd give turkey sausage breakfast links a try. Uhhh, barf. I couldn't even eat two links doused in mustard it was so gross. I had to throw the rest away.

This morning when I went grocery shopping, I wanted bacon, but in an attempt to be healthier, I picked up some Jeannie O turkey bacon. Umm...first of all, it doesn't fry crispy like real bacon at all and it tastes like really bad fried light bologna. And to top that off, they consider one slice a serving. If it even tasted a little bit like real bacon that would be a problem, because nobody can eat just one slice of real bacon. Ugh, but this crap, no problem. I only "fried" up like 6 slices and the rest went back in the fridge. I'm going to see if I can pawn the rest off on some schmuck at work.

So in summation, turkeys can't intimidate pigs, long live real artery clogging bacon!

If someone told me to haul ass, it'd take me two trips

2011-03-22T19:58:00.003-05:00

I think I'm going to be a big fan of Kirstie Alley this season on Dancing With The Stars. I hope she stays on for a long time so I get more golden nuggets like this one.

Music Monday

2011-03-21T18:22:00.003-05:00

It was a gorgeous day outside today. I've got some turkey cheddar brawts on the grill and this song matches that happy feeling that a hot spring day brings.

Grown up alert

2011-03-15T21:09:00.009-05:00

The last two weekends have been spent drinking copious amounts of libation with different groups of friends to ring in my 29th year of life. Early and mid-twenties Erin would have woke up from those nights covered in mysterious battle wounds like these.

But alas, nothing. This leaves me to believe one of the following has happen...
• I've grown up.
• I've become more graceful in my old age.
• My friends have become better spotters of potential danger zones.
• The massive earthquake in Japan shifted the Earth's axis just enough to cause an equalizing of my equilibrium.

Anything is possible folks. Anything.

Music Monday

2011-03-07T09:14:00.002-06:00

Since it's my birthday, today's music monday features the best song in the history of music, "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money.

You're welcome.

No Ps allowed

2011-02-22T19:29:00.006-06:00

This past weekend I went to Wichita to hang with my sister and family. Amy Wilds was nice enough to score us all tickets to the Thunder game that Saturday so to a hockey game we went.

Now, I know little to nothing about the actual sport of hockey, except that I like the fights. Not only is it comical that the refs will stand around the players as they begin to fight and allow it to happen, but I'm pretty sure this is the best possible sporting event for me to attend to be able to witness a bench clearing in person. It's also fun to yell, "TICKLE FIGHT!" when they start holding on to each other, because it generally looks like that's what they're doing.

Here's Kory being cute.

Here's Payton and Paul acting like they like each other.

As we were walking up the the arena, Kory saw a no parking sign and said, "Look, no Ps allowed." I thought her observation was hilarious, but apparently she wasn't far off. In this case, Ps stood for POINTS. Here's proof...the Thunder took 45 shots before scoring 1 goal.

Here's proof that the game didn't get any better.

And here's proof that I may be the most photogenic member of my family.

Suck it, KU

2011-02-15T19:16:00.001-06:00

That's really all I wanted to say.

Music Monday

2011-02-14T07:17:00.006-06:00

It's Monday and it's Valentine's Day.

Now, I could sit here and type some bah humbugy post about how this holiday smells when you're single, but the fact is, I love love. I can get behind celebrating love, I just don't like hearing certain people talk about how in love they are when I think I should be in love before them. Don't act like you've never felt the same way. I'm happy for 75% of the world when they are in love, but come on, you know there's at least 25% of the population that sucks when they have someone.

So with that. I give you "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney & Wings...

or if you're so inclined, the cast of GLEE!

Just as a note of reassurance, none of you faithful 15 fall into the 25%...I'm not making any promises to those of you who secretly read my blog :)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!

Bless you, Peppers.

2011-02-07T18:13:00.002-06:00

It seems like I never get to fully enjoy the Super Bowl commercials during the actual game, because there is always to much conversation and merriment going on in the background. Thankfully, Al Gore invented the world wide interweb and I can revisit those that caught my eye the next day at work...I mean...after work.

In general, I decided that I just love that eTrade baby too much to not mention his work.

Commercial #1

Commercial #2

Uncensored Babies

And my other favorite, careerbuilder.com monkeys.

That's just good stuff.

Ooh la la.....la la la la la

2011-02-03T19:18:00.012-06:00

I'm a purist when it comes to a lot of things.

I like my margaritas lime with salt, none of this strawberry/mango with sugar mess.

I like my salads made with mostly iceberg lettuce chunks and ranch dressing, no need to make it fancy with dark green leafy junk and a vinaigrette.

I like my Justin Timberlake singing instead of acting.

And I like to buy my music albums as CDs instead of mp3s. If I had been born a few decades earlier I probably would have a sweet vinyl collection. If I had purchased any other cassette tapes as a kid besides Rock Around the Mouse and Hangin' Tough I'd brag about my cassette tape collection.

ANYWAYS...

A few weeks ago I saw the video for Paris (Ooh La La) by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.

It's got that classic rock sound that you all know I love so much. So I used the ole' world wide web to do some more investigating on her (err...their?) music and decided I would love to fork over the $8 for the full album (thanks barnesandnoble.com).

Here's where we get to the part I love about albums...

The package came in the mail today, I opened the case and look what I saw inside,

a cd disguised as a record! See if I would have bought the album as 13 mp3 files I would have missed out on all the cool packaging, pictures, lyrics and experience of it all. Don't get me wrong, mp3s are great for when you don't want a whole album or you only like the one Rick Astley song, but I like to have the tangible goods.

So, not only is the album packaging cool, but the music is awesome! If you only buy one album this year, make it Essential Eddie Money. But if you already have two copies of that like me or plan on buying more than one album this year, make the next one the self-titled nugget from Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. So good.

Here's another song off the album just for good measure.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

2011-02-01T22:44:00.003-06:00

Don't worry this isn't another Facebook tirade, although the title is very appropriate for one of those, I'm quoting Gone With The Wind.

Over the last two months, I've developed a small love affair with old movies and the slightest of crushes on actors like Cary Grant, Clark Gable and even a young Robert Redford.

After watching It Happen One Night I convinced myself I had to watch GWTW since it was one of Gable's most famous roles. Four hours later, I'm not so convinced I needed to watch it. I mean, I'm glad I can say I've seen it now, but I did not fall in love with it like I was thinking I would. Does anybody else hate Scarlett O'Hara? I had some real urges to punch her in the face sometimes for being such a pain. But Rhett Butler, now there's a character I can get behind...to bad he loved crazy.

So while I'm on the fence about whether or not I'll watch the movie again, I can trace two quotes back to my life that I never knew came from this movie:

"Fiddle-dee-dee" - Originally quoted in the movie by Scarlett, repeated by Blanche Devereaux in an episode of the Golden Girls

"Lawzy, we got to have a doctor. I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies." - Originally quoted in movie by Prissy, repeated often, throughout my entire childhood by Alison's mom, Cherie Jo. (Not the birthin' babies part, the "Lawzy!" expression. I thought that was just a word she made up herself.)

Oh and I also left the movie experience with one quote from Mammy that I can't wait to use in real life:

"You can't show your bosom 'fore 3 o'clock!"

Hilarious.

Enjoy.

WEATHER, AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

2011-01-31T20:10:00.006-06:00

Facebook is ruining me. I've said it before in regards to my ever declining empathy for extremists who bitch about everylittleeffingthing or those who gross me out with their incessant proclamation of love and blessedness on a tri-daily basis, but now it's getting serious. Weather forecasts of any noted severity turn my Facebook home page into a who's who of Chicken Little's giving me more conflicting dooms day exaggerations then I can keep up with.

Last night, for example, at least 10 people in the KC metro area would like to have had me believe I was going to wake up to 18" of ice and 42" of snow barricading me in my home. When in reality there was no snow and no ice, just some light misting all day long and a cold temperature of 28 degrees.

Instead of hiding these "friends" or not reading Facebook on an hourly basis or watching the weather reports on tv for myself, I choose to bitch about these people on my blog and avoid the grocery store so I don't chance being categorized as a "preparer."

Apocalypses were designed to take people like me out. There is a possible foot of snow lurking in my very immediate future and I've chosen to meet it head on with one roll of toilet paper, a package of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough and a bad attitude. This should be fun.

If I get a paid day off from work because of the snow I promise to do an equally entertaining blog that is pro-snow.

Music Monday

2011-01-24T10:48:00.003-06:00

Back when I was in college, I had a professor that made us read a book about a Subaru advertising campaign. I can't tell you anything I learned from that class or book now, but I do love their latest commercial that features this song from Sean Hayes.

I wonder if I would have retained more in college if youtube had been around...

Music Monday

2011-01-17T21:00:00.003-06:00

Becca introduced me to the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros last year in our great cd exchange. Here is the cutest cover of said song...ever.

A handful of number ones

2011-01-11T08:49:00.007-06:00

Today is 1/11/11 and to celebrate we're watching one of my favorite Spongebob Squarepants episodes.

**Warning...I can't figure out how to make it stop auto starting so enjoy this post while you can it may have to come down next post :) You can now go here to watch the video.

Music Monday

2011-01-10T08:56:00.002-06:00

It's the first snow of the year and the metro's finest are all over the streets. For the past two hours I have been regreting not going into the education field so that I too could enjoy a snow day, but a little Mark Miller and Sawyer Brown always make me feel better.

Happy snowy Monday!

Happy Jersey Shore Day!

2011-01-06T08:08:00.003-06:00

My most embarassing guilty pleasure is back for round three. If you ever have a bad day and need to feel better about yourself, just watch these fools. I mean, Snooki, the little one with the hair poof, is walking next to the beach hammered drunk and is asking people where the beach is. That's just good entertainment, folks.

Music Monday

2011-01-03T17:19:00.004-06:00

Welcome to the first Music Monday of 2011. There's no real special story here, just heard it this weekend whilst celebrating the new year with friends and wanted to post it on here.

It's thug life meets Scranton, PA, so if you don't like or get in trouble for using big boy language, listen at your own risk :)

There's no "I" in Redemption Photo

2010-12-28T21:14:00.002-06:00

Actually there is and "I" look good.

Kidding! I kid. Sort of. You all know how I like to toot my own horn.

During Christmas Brian and I were able to take our redemption photo for Unfiltered Nonsense and we added another good-looking Garrett.

Enjoy.

Music Monday

2010-12-27T20:01:00.005-06:00

Today's "Music Monday" doubles as a not-so-long distance dedication to my parents who would be celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary today.

I have multiple memories of Dad coming up behind Mom in the kitchen to give her a hug and singing the line "If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?"

Turbo embarrassing for a teenager, but super sweet when you consider there was still that kind of love 30+ years into a marriage.

Thanks Mom & Dad for being a living example of a faith-filled, loving and real love.

Music Monday

2010-12-20T08:18:00.001-06:00

Christmas is almost here!!

Just like Ronnie sang

2010-12-17T15:04:00.008-06:00

For YEARS I have been promoting Eddie Money and his music. FINALLY, Hollywood has gotten on board my Eddie Money, Take Me Home Tonight bandwagon and I couldn't be more excited. Seriously, I think I let out an involuntary squeal when I saw this video.

This is probably what love at first sight feels like.

Buyer's remorse

2010-12-16T21:05:00.012-06:00

We all knew this day would come. The day when I regretted buying my Civic. Show of hands though, who knew it'd be because of the sound the horn makes?

That's right.

The horn.

I'm not a violent person by nature. Sure I can mouth off when provoked and "accidentally" kicked Becca in the head that one time, but 50% of the time my gut reaction is not to strike. That is, unless I'm on the road. Suburban driving brings out the worse in me and it's like idiot drivers are bred here.

The two left lanes on north bound Antioch have been left turn lanes only, to west bound 435 for easily the last 2 years. Still, at least once a week there is some jackhole that "misses" the 18,000 signs telling them they are in a turn lane. Said jackhole then proceeds to hangout in the middle of the intersection, waits until I'm driving over the bridge at 40 mph and then tries to cut back into the lane, right in front of me.

My natural reaction to this is to ride their bummer and lay on my horn until it's time for me to turn into my condo complex in about 50 feet. How else will they learn?

With the Stratus, the sound produced by my horn matched what I was feeling and yelling inside my car. If that feeling were represented as a cartoon character it'd be Bluto, from Popeye.

However, in the Civic I now sound like Wade the Duck, from Garfield and Friends, wetting himself.

If the Dukes of Hazzard can have a custom horn, then so will I.

So. Will. I.

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!!

2010-12-13T18:28:00.005-06:00

Bubba, Bubba, Bubba...where to begin? He and I didn't get off to the greatest start, it's a classic tale of sibling rivalry. He tried to sell me for a quarter to his classmate Michael Zerr at his 3rd grade, classroom Easter party. I'd make myself cry and blame it on him. He'd tie my shoes together in knots so that I couldn't get them untied. I invented the term "smiling me off" to get him in trouble.

I'm 4 years younger people, of course he sounds like the master of sister picking, it's hard for a kindergartner to think of good retaliations...they still make up knock knock jokes like "knock knock. who's there? ummmm....ear....HAHAHAHA!"

But somewhere over the years we started picking on the same people and it's been friendship ever since.

I love you lots, Bubba! Happy Birthday!!

Going...going....GONE!

2010-12-09T21:36:00.004-06:00

Lately, I've felt a bit bored and stagnate. Luckily, I channeled that feeling into chopping 7 inches off my hair, like any reasonable lady.

Here I am with kind of a extra cheesey grin.

Here I am a little more posh and uncharacteristicly serious.

And here I am thoroughly amused at taking a picture while holding my computer upside down. Nerd alert.

Music Monday

2010-12-06T17:47:00.002-06:00

Boo, I hate being sick. Maybe hearing "Soft Kity" will make me feel better.

Zoom! Zoom! Zoooom!

2010-12-03T21:43:00.005-06:00

I ran like this at work this morning after two cups of coffee and a $5 dare (minus The Flash costume).

Erin = funniest boss ever. In tough economic times you gotta keep the work atmosphere light y'all.

Also, if you feel like you are a slow runner incorporate the "zoom zoom zooms" into your form, I think you'll find it makes you faster. I'm talking to you Kendahl Garrett! Bubba won't stand a chance in the next rematch.

The excitement builds

2010-12-02T14:17:00.003-06:00

The Sing-Off on NBC starts on Monday. I hope all of the groups are as good as The Beelzebubs were last year (even though they came in 2nd).

Happy Birthday, Brian!!

2010-11-29T18:21:00.003-06:00

11 months and 8,000 family birthday posts later we arrive at the second to last family birthday of the year, and perhaps, the most anticipated post by one, Brian Garrett. That's right, today is my big brother's birthday. I searched high and low, on facebook and in boxes of pictures at Mom's house and I could not find one good picture of the two of us together.

Here we are on Brian's 18th(ish) birthday where he got the latest in personal music players, a walkman. Neither of us are looking at the camera and Jeremy is overacting...fail.

Look, he was nice enough to let me try it out, but now my cute little face is blocked by his big ole hands.

This one had potential, but Brian isn't looking forward, my face is cut off and I can't decide if that is a homeless person's dress I'm wearing, or a nightgown (judging from the food left on the plates, our family tradition of birthday breakfast and my continued dislike of getting dressed before noon, I'm going with nightgown).

Perhaps God knows that a photo containing two such good looking faces would turn the world upside down or maybe neither of us sits still long enough to get a good shot. Either way, this travesty needs to be remedied tout de suite. Check back around Christmas time when Brian and I will be featured in the first ever Unfiltered Nonsense redemption photo.

Happy birthday, Brian!! I love you!

And......I'M BACK!

2010-11-28T21:58:00.002-06:00

Back in business with a new computer at home so now my absentee posting will be for other reasons.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Welcome to the jungle, Sammers

2010-11-27T22:02:00.007-06:00

This post is just a touch late, but I can still justify the timing if you hang with me here.

Jeremy & Trisha welcomed their first born into the world on Thursday, Nov. 18th and named her Samantha Jane Garrett. While the doctor delivered her two weeks early she still weighed in at an impressive 7lbs 11oz, 20 inches.

Though not readily apparent on this blog from a timing standpoint, I was beaming with excitment over the pending birth and timed my arrival to the hospital perfectly. All the grandparents had gotten to hold her and she was primmed for some "Lulu time."

Here I am telling her she looks just like me.

About 10 seconds after I started holding her the nurse took her away from me to check her blook sugar levels again. Long story short, they ended up putting her in to the NICU :(

I went back on Saturday with my sister Kim and Sam had clearly had a visit from Papa Garrett during the night because she had already pulled out her feeding tube once. I could just hear him say "Ok Sam, wanna see that lady out there run in here really fast? Just give this a real good tug."

Here's a picture of Daddy trying to teach her how to eat and breath at the same time so she can leave the hospital. It's a classic Garrett family problem, we just get so excited to eat breathing becomes non-essential. I mean, her Uncle Brian was so into eating a Thanksgiving dinner once he broke into a sweat :)

This is just a really cute picture of Grammy loving on her 7th grandchild.

So after being in the NICU for a week Sam decided she was done with that place, pulled out her feeding tube for a second time, started eating like a champ and went home with Mommy and Daddy today!

Congrats Bubba & Trisha! Love you all!!

Full of GLEE...again

2010-11-09T11:21:00.004-06:00

This clip makes me super excited for Glee tonight and reminds me that I hope NBC brings back "The Sing-off" between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled day.

Music Monday

2010-11-01T16:57:00.002-05:00

I bought an Eric Church cd last week in my preparations for the long trek home again this past weekend. The entire cd is a winner in my books, but today I'll be sharing the latest single/video, "Smoke a Little Smoke."

It's probably my favorite song to blare in my car with fully functional bass and speaker system. It's just icing on the cake that Kasey Kahne makes an appearance in the video.

Enjoy.

Smiles over tears for this post

2010-10-25T11:48:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that a years time has passed since we lost Dad to his battle with cancer. I think about him everyday and depending on the day that either results in a smile or tears. Today the teary moments are winning out, but I figured I would share a clip from one of his favorite John Wayne western, McLintock!

I remember the first time I watched this with him on tv he was reciting every punch line before it was said and laughing like it was the first time he heard them. We even made Mom wait until the movie was over before we would get around to go to the nursing home to see Grandma Jeanne.

Hope you enjoy this good old-fashion mud brawl.

Happy Birthday Sonya!!

2010-10-19T14:56:00.004-05:00

That's right folks, ANOTHER October birthday for the Garrett family. Today belongs to my sister-in-law, Sonya, who I've known since Kindergarden and can blame/credit for my budding owl collection.

I can't wait until she opens this years Christmas present from me!

Happy Birthday SonSon, I'm super glad you are part of my crazy family. Keep rockin' :) I love you!

Music Monday (special request)

2010-10-18T09:41:00.006-05:00

There was a special request for me to do a music monday post dedicated to my new car...so here we go.

For those of you who don't know, I come from a Dodge/Chrylser family and the guilt of buying "foreign" really weighed heavily on me during the car search. However, after two weeks of owning my 2007 Honda Civic I feel like my decision to go rouge was right for me.

This song goes out to my brothers Brian and Jeremy who might think I'm crazy, but were still supportive during the process (and by supportive I mean they limited the amount of shit they gave me) :)

And for those of you who haven't seen it yet, here is the car.

Happy Birthday Kimmi!!

2010-10-15T18:17:00.003-05:00

Today is a two-fer post because it is also my big sister's birthday! When I was in Kindergarden people used to call me Mini-Kimmi. Now they just call me Kim.

Happy Birthday, sister. When I count my blessings I count you twice :) I love you!!!!