this computer hates me

every time I try to close something out it explodes into an evil mac preview of all the pages i have open. it is incredibly difficult to work with. We were trying to figure out what to write about in this post, but all we've done so far this break is watch discovery channel. although we did watch a pretty cool show about whale sharks.
WHALE SHARKS ARE AWESOME!

sweet, huh? world's largest fish. other than that we just watched mythbusters, in fact we watched mythbusters for like 5 hours yesterday.

mythbusters are also pretty awesome! (and very serious about this photo)

and I mean, Christmas also happened, but nothing cool ever happens then right? 

Okay, I was just going to leave it at that but I got really cool things for Christmas, so I just wanted to let you know that. Lauren also got cool stuff but she can never think of things to talk about on this thing. Maybe she will finally post later this week.

We also got a video camera so we will be making lotss of music videos soon yayaya!

Cheers,

Cayla

change

humans don't handle change well. it's hardwired into our systems to not accept change, it has something to do with back in our hominid stages when things changes (like the weather) we were supposed to react. I'm just kidding, that sentence is completely ridiculous, we are still hominids, so are monkeys (monkies?) but I actually googled "why people can't accept change" and nothing good came up so I just made something up. but anyway, back to not liking change. when things start to change out of our control, it is accompanied by a very uncomfortable feeling. like when you cut your hair really short and can't stop grabbing at it even though it's not there anymore, or when it starts to get colder and people that you had just met start wearing sweatshirts and jeans and it's weird because you aren't used to seeing them in coats, or when someone new moves to town and they say "rummage sale" instead of "garage sale". all of these minor things can cause a small amount anxiety, similar to the feelings of despair and confusion that accompany any new facebook update i.e. the changing of the "be a fan of" button to "like". but there are also bigger things, the more common causes of change anxiety like moving to a new town, breaking up with your boyfriend, other scary things. I thought of this today because I received a info package from DePaul University and the little letter that came with it said "I'm impressed that you are thinking about college so soon!" WHAT! According to every single thing they have told me at school and read on college websites has told me that I am too late to ever receive a good education because I have not already enrolled in an SAT preparation course and have allowed myself to get 3 B's. But this letter from this college has simply reminded me that I have plenty of time to not freak out about college and I don't have to accept this change for quite sometime! yay!!
But back to more amusing topics, today we were watching this show about this guy who almost starved to death in a cave even though he was only like 600 yards from the exit of the cave. and I mentioned that The Donner Party was only 6 miles from the nearest town. Then we kind of awkwardly chuckled because it was ironic but it also a bit of a taboo to bring up the Donner Party ever because it is such an uncomfortable topic. (did you know one of the guys opened up a restaurant after the whole thing? insert more awkward chuckles). But somehow, later on, when I left my mother and younger sister in the kitchen while I was on stumbleupon looking at weird ways people have died (okay so this is probably more strange then what I am about to tell you, but it really just came up and it was what I was actually looking at when this happened) my sister came in to ask if I could log her back on to lauren's computer because lauren wasn't there and I was the only other one that knew that password. So I walk out there and type in lauren's password and a page popped up where they had been searching the illuminati. oh, it's fine, I'll wait while you google illuminati. I refuse to explain what it is because I think it is so utterly ridiculous. So, back to the story, I expressed my disdain to my mother about their choices of topics, which had apparently sprung from my mention of the Donner Party earlier. Then, my mother proceeded to tell me that the illuminati was, in fact, real and were responsible for a lot of things, like the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and JFK and I should just ask my grandpa, who was in the FBI. ....right. I don't believe in this kind of crap. But I guess I am one of those skeptical people who don't really believe in all that kind if stuff: ghosts, aliens, romantic comedies. none of them really hold any water. Or at least not ghosts in my house or intelligent life on other planets. I do believe in capitalizing the word I though. as you can see I don't really ever capitalize anything else but it annoys me so much when people don't capitalize I. there was a perfectly good blog that I could not read because they were all about i and not I. I bet they also believe in love at first sight or whatever.

oh, look it's a gibbon! the only type of monkey to not be in the hominide family! which apparently not the correct spelling for what I am trying to get across, but I mean, isn't this a nice looking monkey?

Cheers,
Cayla

ghost party

right now I'm frozen on my couch because as I was sitting here doing some online christmas shopping, a very strange thing happened. our ceiling fans have these little buttons that turn them on, and when you turn them on or change the level, they make a little beeping sound. so I was just sitting here searching for gifts when I hear "BEEEEP". I nervously glance upward and see the two ceiling fans above me spinning rapidly. needless to say, I started freaking out. One of them has stopped, which is even odder, but  the other is still going. out of everyone in my family, I have the strongest belief in ghost/supernatural because the weirdest things always happen to me. these things can probably be explained rationally, but maybe not. all I can say is that I hope the fans decide to stay dormant until the rest of my family gets home, but as for now I really have to pee but can't bring myself to get up and walk across the family room to the bathroom.

tomorrow I have my last final (italian, the worsttt class in history) and then I'm FINISHED. when this semester started, I had enough credits to be considered a junior because of the college courses I took in high school. I decided that I would still consider myself a sophomore, but now that this semester's over I'm halfway to being a senior (!!!!) so next semester I will officially call myself a junior. JUNIOR. whether I graduate early is still to be decided, but one thing is for certain,

I AM GETTING OLD.

it's a little unsettling at times, but also quite exciting. alright, now to get to what I really wanted to write this blog about.

a few weekends ago we decorated for christmas at my dad's house. this consisted of us building a fire, dragging out all the stuff from the garage, then putting on a football game and getting distracted for a good 45 minutes. I must say though, the fire that my dad and I built was rather magnificent. 

then we finally managed to sort out all the boxes and start putting some stuff up. if anything represents our family more, it's our way of storing christmas decorations:

yeah... what can I say though, I suppose it's in our blood. we finally managed to pull ourselves off the couch and away from the football game and started unpacking boxes. my sisters, my dad's girlfriend julie, and I set up the tree and put the lights on while my dad "supervised". madelyn and julie put up a million strands of garland, then my dad and I put up the ornaments while everyone else ate some pie. after all of our immensely hard work, the tree looked really nice. we threw up some more decorations, but were kind of burnt out after the tree escapade. I don't have any pictures of the tree, but I do have a picture of a present that one of my little girls put under her christmas tree

it's kind of hard to read, but it says "Teddy". there are at least five presents under their tree with teddy's name on them, this one I think was a blanket, while another was some plastic rhinestone gems that she found. adorable adorable adorable.

nothing ghostly has happened in my house since the fans, so I think it's safe to say I'm going to live and can leave the couch. and start studying italian? nahh

cheers,

lauren

exempting a final

means you don't have to take it because your grade is high enough that the teacher thinks you know enough of the material so you don't need to waste your time on studying.
you are not allowed to exempt math and foreign language finals because those will probably be pretty hard and stress-inducing and teachers would definitely not want carefree students right before break.
Now, I am been a  wonderful student this semester and am currently I am in standings to exempt 3 of my finals (not including math and spanish, because you just can't), which usually entails a 95% average for the semester, possibly with a gold card. which is a little card they give you when you have good grades to let you know that you are better than everyone else. And I am 0.4% away from exempting another final.
Let's start with my history final, I am definitely not taking it because history is my favorite class so I get good grades, yay. I also have a like 96 average in my chem class, but a couple days ago my chem teacher was like "you guys can't exempt the final because you can take the class for college credit" and the entire class goes "WHATATTTTTTTTT" because a lot of the kids in my class are doing pretty good and I'm also taking history for college cred & as said before I'm not taking it, plus I am not even taking this class for college credit. also may I mention that this is not a college level class, it's community college credit so it just counts a credit, but like a "I need a science but I failed chemistry in high school so I have to take it again at this community college so I can know enough to pass the lowest level of college credit chem" class. So we start yelling at him and he says "I'm just doing what the department head tells me to do". really chem teacher? you are going to wait until right now to do what everyone tells you to? so you teach us your "own way" so that none of my friends in other chem classes know what I'm talking about, openly bash all school sports other than football, and say ra-tard in fron of the special needs girl in our class, but you wan't let us exempt the final? way to stick to the status quo.
next is one that it simply the most frustrating thing that has ever happened to me ever. I have no idea what my grade in child development is. My stupid teacher's brain is clearly not developed enough to use a computer because I have only ever heard about my grade once when it was mandatory to email them out. and she won't tell us what they are in class, because she is an idiot. but anyway, last I checked my grade was a 98% , so I clearly don't have to take the final. and on the last test I got 112% so clearly I know stuff. So I have been harassing her about exempting the final, and after 2 weeks of avoiding me she is like "I'm not going to let all of you exempt the final even though about 65% of you have over 100 because the girls in the advanced class have to take a statewide test"
...... just take it in.... that was her reason.....
so after she told me, I quietly walked back to my chair and looked for a way to outlet the pure rage that was bubbling up inside the very deepest realms of my soul. I asked my friend for a piece of gum and furiously chomped on it even though we aren't allowed to have gum in her class. eff her rules. I have never missed more than 2 on any of her tests and she is making me take an entire final, not because it was unfair that the girls had to take a test and we didn't, but because they did really crappy on it and she is making us take this final as a "practice test" so when we take the advanced class next year we will do better!
over my dead, cold, being eaten by hogs on the battlefield body I will take this class again next year.
and before I start tearing apart the keyboard, my english teacher currently won't let me exempt the final because I have to have a 95 both quarters and I have a 97 and a 94.1. it would totally average, but that would be easy.

So now that you've listened to me whine about my good grades and how I have to take another test :(((((
I hope everyone is doing well on their finals and does do well or did do well!
finals are evil

Cheers,
Cayla

i have a 50 question chem test tomorrow, why do all my teacher hate me?
well i bet college is harder, so i will probably stop complaining now so i can have some friends left to talk to when i actually get there

this is whAt happens when i get reallty tired

my family does this thing that whenever they have something to tell you and they are in a different room than you they call you, then you ask them what, then they tell you that you really really need to get off your bed and come alll the way downstairs. so you get down there and they are like, I made you a doctor's appointment for tuesday. and you are like... and? and they are like that's it. So you had to come all the way onto another room just so they could tell you something that they could have easily told you while screaming at you to come downstairs. it is reallly irritating.
Yesterday, as to meet my monthly quota of going out and being social, I went to a concert with my friends. I don't know who we actually saw but it was in a movie theatre in tempe off of mill and it was soooooo indie. then when we were walking out of the show I saw this really weird statue so we had to go over and look at it. turns out it was a giant jackrabbit. there was 3 of them all around a little pond/waterfall thing. it was incredibly strange. then we discovered a giant christmas tree that I never knew existed. After that we were walking back to the car and my friends denied me ice cream sandwiches. who does that? so instead we went into a creepy graffiti shop, then we went into fat burger and they got milkshakes. who would pick a milkshake over an ice cream sandwich? I was a little miffed over that so I pretended that I wasn't so thirsty that I wanted to die and didn't get anything. then we went home and I collapsed into sleep, because the caffeine in the coke I had at dinner could only hold me for so long. See I was so tired this week because I had a huge paper due on friday and I didn't really remember anything about it until that monday, even though it was assigned like 3 weeks ago. I had a lot of homework on monday and tuesday, mostly because I had a reading test in history, so even though I told myslef I wouldn't put the paper off until the last minute, I didn't do anything on monday or tuesday. so on wednesday I promised myself I would work on the paper, but my english techer decided to make our binders (which have all of our stuff for the whole unit in them) due on thursday. well I didn't have a single thing in my binder currently and it was all kind of scattered around my backpacks, and turns out I didn't even actually have 1/3 of it. so I spent almost the whole night doing that/spanish homework. then I managed to pound out about 200 words of my essay, after rewriting the intro 4 times. then, on thursday, it was crunch time, I needed 300 more words or I would not get crdit. but then my teacher decided to destroy my entire life my assigned another, shorter essay ON THE SAME NIGHT! what the heck. I truly do not understand, but after 4 1/2 agonizing hours sitting at my computer, I actually managed to finish both papers, my spanish homework, and some of my chemistry homeowrk (okay so I did one problem but that is irrevelent). so basically I was really tired, but I forced myself to be social because one I never see these friend becasue they go to a different school and 2 I'm terrified that I will have no soical-related hgih school memories so whenever my friend invite me to something that sound memorable, I jump on it. random indie concert on mill late at night + dinner before? sounds pretty memorable to me, but it actually wasn't that exciting, I actually almost fell asleep during the last band because I was sittin in a comfy movie theatre chair that leaned back. but we can just pretend.

I just realized that the other paper I had to write was actually assigned on wednesday, but i'm not going to change IT BECAUSE WHEN i GET REALLY TIRED i START TO SPELL WORDS LIKE "SPELL" "JUST" AND "PRETEND" WRONG THEN i HAVE TO GO BACK AND FIX THEM THEN i ACCIDENTALLY HIT CAPS LOCK, WHICH YOU CAN'T FIX MY HIGHLIGHTING, YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO RETYPE IT.

 well goodnight

cheers,
cayla

welcome back winter once again

IT'S COLD. right now weather.com tells me it's forty-nine degrees. that's freeeezing. tonight our street had our annual block party where everyone puts their christmas lights up. the street looks so cute! I'm so excited to drive down it every night and feel all festive :)

also, I have three days of class left until finals/winter break. I am really going to miss my tuesday/thursday schedule next semester when I have to go to class everyday. boo hoo. but before the death schedule of spring semester, I have basically a whole month off of school! which is good news for me, and even better news for pebble. here's the basic schedule for me & schmeb when I'm off of school:

10:00 - if I'm not going out, pebble and I get in bed. she gets super comfy right in the middle of the bed and gets all snuggled up in a blanket. I read a magazine or something while pebble makes a little nest.

11:00-11:30 - pebble starts hassling me to turn off the lights so I try to get comfortable in the 3 inches of the bed she has left for me.

the next morning:

8:30/9:00 - pebble and I wake up, usually from my phone ringing or something like that. I have to scratch her for at least ten minutes before she can move from the bed.

9:30 - I go to eat breakfast and peb trots out into the kitchen to snatch up some of my dropped cereal or a bread crust.

10:00 - I migrate to the couch to work on some homework or watch tv. as soon as pebble senses me unfolding a blanket she materializes on the couch and makes herself comfortable in the most inconvenient spot. 

life is good.

also, I understand that the last blog I posted was a little extreme, but it did come with a disclaimer AND it was obviously a joke. I was kidding, mostly. I'm not a psycho man-hater complainer, that's what taylor swift is for. :)

cheers,

lauren

wednesday night

I don't have a guide on the tv in my bedroom, so I just have to channel surf. Which usually ends me up on some pretty random channels. I have watched some weird shows in the past. I think tonight is a wonderful example. I'm holding apolo right now and I flipped on my tv. Every channel seemed to be on commercial so I kept changing. I decided against criminal minds and settled on a spanish soap opera. I think it was called alguien a mira. It was super confusing and didn't really make any sense so I changed to a spanish concert. I watched some commercials in spanish, including that starbucks commercial. I got bored with that too so I started channel surfing again. I somehow found my way onto C-Span which was showing questions for the prime minister in the British house of commons. It was actually so interesting. They yelled and booed at each other, talked in 3rd person , but mostly they just sat up and down a lot. I watched that until it was over & a thing on infectious diseases came on. I then turned on my old stand by for not having anything to watch, mash. As of right now I still really don't have anything to watch but I know now quite a bit out the current standings of british politics.
I just heard vampire weekend on a fricken honda commercial. Kill me.
cheers,
Cayla
ps happy thanksgiving!

Today

was just one of those days. You know those days when you're not 100% sure it was the right decision to get out of bed. It's not that you're depressed, it's just that it would be better for the safety of you and others that you stayed home, or at least didn't move from your seat. First off on Saturday my mother, Lauren and I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. We put up ceiling drywall. It doesn't sound dangerous, but leave it up to me to injure myself when my family took every precaution to make sure I did not. I was not allowed to work on the roof, I was not allowed to use powertools, I was not even allowed to climb up a ladder. I got the job of turning the lift that hoisted the drywall up to the ceiling so it could be screwed in. I smashed my finger twice in the lift and I have bruises on my knees from kneeling under the drywall to turn the lever. I dropped a hammer on my wrist, which doesn't really seem possible (I was not swinging the hammer in anyway, I was just holding it and it managed to fall perfectly on my wrist), but the giant bruise on my arm begs to differ. I also smashed my finger on my water bottle right before we left because I was running around going "ceiling, ceiling!"
So needless to say, I was kind of sore today. Which seemed to effect my ability to do things. In chem we were putting compounds into flames and observing the different colors. Chemicals + fire + Cayla = bad outcome. So I only caught a few wood splints on fire, which almost caught me on fire. Not that bad. To be honest I don't even remember what happened in English today so I guess that means nothing bad. I destroyed our chances at winning candy in Child Development because I picked a "bomb" in the game we were playing and we lost all our points. I didn't really care, but the freshman next to me really seemed to be upset. Whatever.
I forgot about my test in Spanish so I was freaking out at lunch and a little frustrated because I was trying to eat yogurt with a fork. In Spanish I was taking said test, and I finished with some uncertainty. I went to turn in my test, but I sit in the back and the rows are really close together and the kid in front of me had his elbow kind of in the aisle. Maybe it was because I was sore, maybe it was because I was still a little high off the natural gas from the bunsen burners in chemistry, but I almost fell right on the kid. No joke. It was a quick save by me, and when I returned the kid had pulled his elbow in, apparently he didn't want me to fall face first on top of him. But anyway the rest of the day went as usual, me being confused in math and bored in history. Honestly, these type of days happen to me more often than not and I'm starting to wonder if I'm not actually having "bad days" but am just generally kind of a fail. But I know I am not alone because there are directions on the back of my box of jelly beans and I know that they are there because of somebody.

Cheers,
Cayla

men are pigs.

that's a little harsh, right? wrong. I know cayla already wrote a whole entry berating hipsters, but I was already thinking about this one so it's getting posted.

I'm always trying to think of some way that I could put my english degree to use after I graduate. everyone always tells me I'm going to have to be a teacher or a professor, and that sounded so dull until I thought of the perfect idea. what is one class that every college is missing? you might be thinking a lot of different things, but the correct answer is a class called "how to talk to girls 101" a mandatory class for every male freshman. at most schools, this class is a semester long, with the first half covering "what to say to get kicked in the balls", which would advise young men how NOT to act around women. the second half of the semester would be "what to say to get laid" in which the boys would realize how girls actually want to be interacted with. of course, in more prestigious schools where the boys have a 4896.269 GPA but only a false sense of what they think "social skills" are, this class will be an entire year long, with a semester focusing on each topic. trust me, it's needed.

this idea struck me after having the lucky (yeah right) opportunity to watch boys try to interact/impress girls throughout my first two years of college. it's pathetic. so, obviously, they need a little help.

WHY WOULD YOU EVER THINK ________ WOULD MAKE ME WANT TO HOOK UP WITH YOU

*disclaimer: this list is not about just one boy, but many put together. some are things I've just happened to see, but using "I" to explain them is just easier. 

• spitting: IT'S GROSS. yesterday this boy rode up on his bike (strike one, bicycle rider) and stopped right next to me at the crosswalk. he then proceeded to spit all over the place, which landed centimeters from my shoe.
• ignoring me: I know it's hard for you to think of words to make into sentences that constitute a conversation, but talking to me for 2 weeks straight then not making any contact for the next week and a half doesn't exactly earn you brownie points. it'll give me time to think of all the reasons I hate you so that by the time you actually do contact me again I'll be ready to push you into traffic
• smoking/drinking in excess/doing drugs: I get it, you party. that doesn't mean you have to be in a semi-concious state of drunken haze when I come to see you. chances are if you're smoking, you probably taste like an ash tray, and if you're shooting something up then you obviously have some issues that I don't want to deal with.
• acting WAY overconfident: that's great if you have good self esteem, it means I won't have to constantly remind you you're still good enough to live. but if you're acting like God personally sent you here himself as his own special gift to mankind, it probably means you really have no confidence whatsoever. yes, girls do know this, so it's time to cut the act. we know you're not perfect, IT'S OKAY
• whistling at me while I'm walking down the street: this also includes yelling/ pulling over/ honking/ making a fake pair of binoculars out of styrofoam cups. why would you think that harassing me is going to make me want to jump in your truck?
• talking about your ex: this one seems pretty simple, but guys still can't seem to get it. even if we're just friends, there's still a very high chance that I don't give an eff about your ex-girlfriend.
• making fun of me: so what if I still name my stuffed animals? and, for the love of god, when I say something that I think is cool, "wow, that's so gay" IS NOT the correct answer. there is a very fine line between teasing and making me feel dumb, guys don't seem to know where it is.
• freaking out when I say something personal: obviously I get that you don't want to hear when I'm on my period, but if I say something like "I'm really upset because my pet died" and you short circuit, it's over.
• bragging about hanging out with other people: PLEASE by all means, have other friends, but if you spend an hour telling about some party you went to with really hot girls, it doesn't make me jealous, it makes me angry, which makes you lose your chance. 
• criticizing my driving: I obviously passed the license test. you will get out & walk if you complain one more time.

alright, there's a lot of more things that could go on the list, but I have things to do today. so, obviously if a guy shouldn't do all that stuff, they're probably drawing a blank about what they should do. 

THINGS TO DO SO I WILL WANT TO BE SEEN IN PUBLIC WITH YOU

• have good style: now this isn't true for all girls, but I can't get enough of boys that know how to match and occasionally will wear the same color hat and shoes. wearing sweatpants and some hole-y shirt shows you obviously put a lot of time into yourself...
• shower: boys are smelly, but thankfully by now most have learned how to use a toothbrush and turn on the hot water. some are still looking for a hairbrush.
• argue with me: obviously not about EVERYTHING, but please don't agree with absolutely everything I have to say. like if I say I think stoplights are a bad idea and people should just take a chance and drive into oncoming traffic whenever they feel brave and you agree with me, that was a test and you just failed it.
• say nice things: you don't have to compliment absolutely everything that I do, but if you think I look nice, tell me. I understand that my life isn't a michael buble song, but if I took three hours to do my hair, I'd love it if you said something about it.
• hang out with me: no, I won't think it's creepy if you ask me to get frozen yogurt. I will think 'oh, how nice of him' and most likely go. unless you're actually creepy
• do stupid things: this does NOT, I repeat DOES NOT, mean do anything that would fall into the other list above. this means things like dancing or quoting a line from spongebob or something. don't be afraid to look at little stupid, but also don't embarrass yourself. 

alright boys, read up!

cheers,

lauren

indie? hipster? scenester?: A Guide to the Alternative World

 it is important to distinguish between these 3 labels/stereotypes. When navigating the music world and even the real world you have to be able to quickly size up a boy and place him into one of these generalizations.

Indie: We're talking music here. So I am going to tell you how to spot someone who truly plays indie music. To be honest, you can't . They look just like you and me. You could be sitting next to an indie boy on an airplane, in class, behind one in line at a coffee shop (this one is a very high possibility). Okay, so it's not that hard, they probably dress a little strange, just the slightest thing off about them. They are probably in a band with group of eclectic looking boys that seem to have absolutely nothing in common except that they all play in the same band. Their band plays witty music that may come off as snobby because they use words that you don't understand because they are more educated than you. Their band name doesn't make any sense and is most likely an inside joke that you were never meant to understand. Their lead singer has a distinctive voice and they are all really good at playing their instruments. They are from a big city and they played in underground bars before (kind of) making it big. They "aren't in it for the money"
ex: Vampire Weekend and Death Cab for Cutie (they like to take pictures sitting on couches?)

Hipster: Mainstream thinks that they're indie, hipsters wish they were indie. They have long, greasy hair that falls in their eyes and 5,000 white v-neck t-shirts. They are small, skinny and white and sing songs about how beautiful girls broke their hearts. All these girls have really strange names. They are probably from a small town or a suburb, they have never suffered in any way. They are all networked together and all know each other somehow. They might have a girl in their band, but she is always the lead singer. They have probably had a change in line-up and went through a major change in sound during which they changed their hair and their throngs of tweenaged fans freaked out. They cite old classic bands that sound nothing like them as major influences. They like hip-hop and rap. Their band name is weird and too long and wear hoodies with neon shirts, flannel or vests.

ex: The Maine and The Ready Set

Scenester: a couple of years ago the scene um, scene kind of died out and everyone either went hipster or broke up. But I guess you could almost say that scenester were the misunderstood suburb rats that just couldn't quite go goth. They actually ended up a little emo. Except that they never had anything bad happen to them, they are just under the impression that they have the worst life in the entire world and no one in the history of the world will ever understand them. This movement was very popular among middle class teenagers that listened to hardcore music but couldn't bring themselves to live an entirely hardcore life. So they ended up wimpy and scene. Then they all formed bands where they dye their hair and sings songs about how no one likes them. Ones that made it big during this time are now looked upon as heroes of every little scene/hipster kid that is also in a band. They probably had a side project and a lip ring. They were the infamous wearers of skinny jeans. Sometimes they can still be seen slinking around bars with live music at night, reliving the glory days of their existence. oh and don't forget the guyliner

ex: just one, the most infamous scenester of all time and possibly one of the worst people in the entire world: Pete Wentz.

ugh he is entirely unpleasent. But there you go, now you can successfully judge any boy in this currently thriving alternative music scene. Of course I could go into detail into another stereotypes that have nothing to do with music, like bro, but that would take forever and I've got a paper to write.

Cheers,

Cayla

p.s. I was reading over this and I got a little harsh in the end, but you know it's pretty much true and someone needs to provide this information. also, no offense to the bands above, they just all happen to be good examples, I actually do like some of them, but not pete he's a tool.

sailboats wish that they were stars

we finally got a new layout! hence the adam lyrics referring to sailboats title.

this blog is not about sailboats, but #78 that has recently been added to and crossed off of our list. we realize that doing something and then putting it on the list is a very buried life thing for us to do, but the actual list item was very buried lifesque as well. here's what happened:

cayla gets home from school on wednesday and freezes next to the couch with her phone in her hand. "lauren," she says, "have you seen the buried life's facebook?" from the tone of her voice I'm dreading what she's going to say next- one of them married taylor swift or their show's getting cancelled or something. but then she informs me that duncan & dave are repelling off a building in downtown phoenix. ?! so we obviously jump in the car and fly down the freeway.

please note, my car was completely on empty, we got stuck in traffic there & back, I missed the deadline to register for my spring semester classes, and used all the change in my wallet to pay for a parking meter.

so, we get there and see someone getting ready to repel down this huge building. ! could it possibly be one of them? finally, the person gets to the ground and we realize it's baxter, the mascot for the diamondbacks.

 baxter dances around then heads inside the building. thinking that the buried life must be in there as well, cayla and I nonchalantly follow baxter into the building. as we enter, a lady asks us if we're here for the cocktail party. looking down at our sweatshirts and ripped jeans, cayla and I aren't really sure what to say. we try to convince her that we are definitely allowed to be in there, and then she informs us that this is a private condominium. then she asks us if we're looking for the buried life, and tells us that they're gone.

SO CLOSE.

unbelievable? not so much, more like typical of our luck. creepy? no, not that either, just dedicated.

dear the buried life,
just meet us already.
cheers,
lauren & cayla

I've been to the dentist a thousand times, so I know the drill

Today Lauren and I (Cayla) went to the dentist. We hadn't been in a while, so we started out on our usual journey of getting lost, panicking, calling our mom, then finally finding our way and being very late. Going to the dentist is an unusual experience. You wait forever, read bad magazines and brochures about how you should not go to Mexico to get your teeth fixed, go back and suffer through those terrible x-rays where they stick those gross cards between your jaws that cut the top of your mouth. Then the dentist comes in, pokes your teeth, does the little swirly cleaner and sprays water in your mouth that seems to be mostly pointed at the rest of your face and not your teeth because that is where most of the water goes. Finally if, like me, you are under 18 they rub that infernal fluoride on your teeth that was invented simply to torture young children. Then it is all over. Maybe it is so strange because it all happens so quickly. It is like a car wash for your teeth. Except there is no rinse at the end and you can't eat or drink for 30 minutes afterwards.
After that we stalled so I wouldn't have to go back to Spanish, then my sister drove me back to school to attend 2 uneventful and essentially useless periods. During the ride I chugged my yogurt because I didn't have a spoon and there was still a disgusting taste in my mouth. So I guess the dentist isn't so scary, but I might have an allergy to fluoride because my gums hurt so bad and I have hives. Oh dear.

Cheers,
Cayla

I'm taking a test?

So earlier today I remembered that I had an italian test to complete which was due very soon. I freaked out, rushed to my bedroom and feverishly started taking the exam. Halfway through, Madelyn comes into my room:
Madelyn: hey, what's up?
Lauren: I'm taking a test, please don't bother me.
Madelyn: I won't. [turns on sims, blasting the sound]

Then she left to get a pedicure so I was left in silence again to complete my exam. Then my dad comes in.

Dad: I didn't even know you were here! What are you doing?
Lauren: Taking a test.
Dad: Oh alright. Why did Madelyn leave sims up? How do I close this? Don't you want to come watch the football game? How do I close sims?
Lauren: DAD I'm taking a test.
Dad: Oh! You're taking it right now? Why didn't you say so?

My family.
Anyways, I finished the test. Now, for the real point of why I'm writing this blog.

Don't you hate when you have a dream that involves the most perfect situation and you're really depressed when you wake up and realize it wasn't real? That happened to me last night, I had a dream about a situation that is probably stressing me out the most right now, and in the dream the whole situation had ended up completely perfect. I woke up this morning confused about why I was waking up in my room and not in the place the dream took place in. Needless to say, it was a horrible feeling when I realized the dream was a dream, and not real life. Hmph :(

On Wednesday I got stung by a scorp. It was unbelievably painful and we had to call poison control because I was still having side effects. The lady said they could last up to two weeks. Even worse, the scorp was in my bed! Disgustinggg

Tomorrow's halloween, which means since tonight's saturday it's time to get crazzzzy

cheers!
lauren

a change in scenery

whenever fall finally rolls around and the weather starts to become slightly bearable, I always feel like I need a change in scenery. I just want to spend some time watching the leaves change and having different jackets for fall and winter. Here I have 2 jackets, one kind of warm one and one pretty warm one. That's really all I need. I want to go somewhere with crunchy leaves and chilly winds. I just want to experience a cold winter. We haven't gone back to the east coast for a winter since we still lived there (when I was 2). Just because my parents lived in snow all their lives and hate it doesn't mean that they have to deprive us of it. But they have made us soft, raising us in the land of 65 degree winters. Then they have tortured us with 115 degree summers. Why would anyone ever want to live here?
But I am starting to think that my change of scenery will most likely take place in about a year and a half. Which is, my graduation. I think that I should definitely go to college out of state and somewhere where I can actually experience what real weather is like. Chicago, New York City, Boston. I'm not sure where I'll end up but hopefully it involves red and yellow leaves or I'm going to be soo disappointed.

and i've never been to boston in the fallllll.
veggie tales reference complete.

Cheers,
Cayla

the importance of smelling good

right now lauren & madelyn are sitting in lauren's room senselessly screaming at each other, so I am out here being normal.
anyway, I have been thinking, and there are several things that make a person attractive, right? I mean obviously there is hair, smile, eyes, which are the most important, and I guess that leaves on the face... nose. I don't know how you feel about noses, I mean they are definitely important, try making a sim hot when you can't get the right nose, but no one really says "Oh my god he has the cutest nose ever!" (except lauren). But then of course there is personality i.e. sense of humor, wittiness, intelligence, musical ability, whether or not they have a british or australian accent, etc. Then there is the huge one of how they dress. Sense of style really depends on the person you are liking, so you may have to kind of adjust based on them, but there really is no denying if someone just wears really bad clothes. One thing that you probably haven't thought of, is how a person smells. Sense of smell is often the first sense that people think they could live without. But really, it is super important. Sense of smell helps you taste things and the smell of something invokes the most vivid memories. Every time I smell verbena lime lotion from bath and body works it reminds me of when my family went to ocean beach and lauren got super sunburned and she had to keep putting on that lotion. then it reminds me of all the gross beetles that were in my house. yeah, all that from just a whiff of lotion! But anyway, how someone smells can instantly change how you think of someone. Say there is this kid who is mildly attractive, then this kid that is miles ahead of him in good looks (he has a fantastic nose). so you sit by both of them and the one that is super hot doesn't really smell like anything, I mean he doesn't stink but it's nothing to remember. then the kid that is mildly attractive leans over to ask you a question and BAM, he smells delicious. he suddenly becomes great and you want to talk to him all the time and next thing you know you totally love him. why, because he smells fantastic and you will remember his wonderful smell. Trust me, next time you see (smell?) a guy that smells good you will think of me and love him. this, of course, brings up the topic of wearing too much cologne, but that is another story, which I will tell eventually if I do not suffocate in spanish due to the boy sitting next to me. (fyi the boy in front of me totally smells good, though).
So yeah, smelling good is good. So go out and buy a perfume that people will remember so that boys will love you, because they care about that stuff too. and definitely don't forget the forgotten sense.


Cheers,
Cayla

marry me?

so, as any young girl would (yes I'm still a young girl, okay) all I do is think about and "plan" my wedding. No one is allowed to roll their eyes because y'all know you do it too. Anyways, when thinking of my perfect wedding (to a rockstar, obviously) I always find myself at a bit of a road block. Obviously I'd want to marry someone all serious and sexy like john mayer:

because even though he has kind of a bad attitude where he thinks he's god, I could deal with it because I've had to deal with a lot of regular boys that think that too. john mayer just gets the bad reputation because he's famous. anyways, everyone wants the sexy brooding john mayer, but also there is that part of us that still gets excited for christmas and watches disney movies. i don't think john mayer watches disney movies. this boy, on the other hand, does:

duh! he's a completely adorable little baby that will stay in with you on the weekends to watch finding nemo. he's soft-spoken so you don't have to worry with dealing with a huge ego. perfection? notttt quite because you still have the john mayer up there. so I was thinking to myself who could be the perfect combination of these two? OBVIOUSLY:

why hadn't I thought of this before?

is this totally creepy? yes, but it's hard to convey that I'm joking (a little) across the internet. but andrew mcmahon is still the perfect boy. anyways, yesterday we went to the state fair and while it was miserably hot and overcrowded, I managed to bring home a new little baby. his name is bode (like boat-ie) and he is a tiny little guinea pig. I will put up a picture once he stops hiding every time I walk into the room.

also, this weekend my best friend squidney stayed over for four nights and it is quite obvious that we need to move out and be roommates asap. she's really great, but everyone already knew that. I was having a REALLY bad week (more like six months, but anyways) and sydward helped me get my mind off everything bothering me and distracted me with more important things like rusty spoons and my house being haunted.

so I am off to do some shopping for bode, some treats and a new water bottle, possibly a bigger cage because he's way bigger than sloanebear. also I need to buy some things for my big and transatlanticism by death cab so I'll want to kill myself a little more. okayyyy sweet!

cheers,

lauren

say whaat

Cayla and I are dealing with an increasing problem. For whatever reason we've decided to talk like every section of the United States. Now it's not that accents don't have a part in our past, when I moved here from Ohio (alright, it was Kentucky), my voice was so weird I can barely understand myself in old videos. I was already picking up on the southern accent after four days in New Orleans. Here's a few things that we struggle with saying, and the reasons behind them:

First: You say it: fir-st
We say it: furst
Reason: Andrew McMahon. He was born in Concord, MA then moved to California (stalk stalk stalk), so just like us his accent is all over the place. He also says "to give a... different show" really weird. There are a few more things he says weird, but they're all pretty random.

Vanilla: You say it: va-nell-a
We say it: va-nil-a
Reason: Adam Young. He's from Minnesota, he can't help it.

Bag: You say it: bag
We say it: bay-g
Reason: Adam again, we listen to way too much Owl City

Y'all: You say: you all/everyone
We say it: Y'all (obviously..)
Reason: lots of girls in my sorority say it, it's catchy

So yeah... we're easily swayed by our music to change our speaking styles. Maybe it's because we listen to them so much, or there's something wrong with the language part of our brain. You know, the left hemisphere. Whatever it is, we're annoying but we're learning to deal with it.

Enrique and his girlfriend (Snooks) are chasing each other around outside. They're so cute! Pebble is barking at the door because she wants to go out and eat the fertilizer in the grass. Umm I don't think so.

Cheers,
Lauren

hidden under umbrella beach

I know Cayla already wrote today, but I haven't written in a while and have a few things I've been thinking about.

First off, today I successfully evicted the wind spider from our home. I thought it was a scorpion and was completely horrified when I looked closer and saw that it had really long legs. You can google a picture because there's no way I want to look at one ever again. Also, when you do look them up, keep in my mind that they run ten miles per hours. Sweet.

These past few weeks have been STRESSFUL. Finally, last night I stepped back from everything and realized that even though there are a few negative things in my life, I've been really blessed with the great things that I have. I'm not one to go on about blessings, so this is pretty important. Also you know that Cayla and I are really into lists, obviously since she already posted one today, but here are some absolutely unbelievably amazing things in my life that I couldn't live without:

MY FAMILY: this is pretty obvious, but they keep me going. sometimes I just can't wait to get home so I can sit around with them and talk about random things and have random dance parties and dinners in the dining room. we're all slightly crazy, which i guess keeps our lives pretty interesting.

MY FRIENDS: there are four girls in my life right now that I know for a fact I couldn't survive without. They listen to me complain about the same things over and over again, answer my texts messages at 4 am, watch spongebob and family guy with me, let me barge in on them at 10 o'clock at night. for some reason they continue to let me bother them and I love them so much for it.

MY SISTERS: being in a sorority is like nothing I've ever done before, and I've never loved belonging to anything this much. I've met some of the most amazing girls, and I adore spending time with them. They're all so amazing, we're all so different but have enough in common that we can all get along. They always make me feel better if I'm stressed, and are always willing to get coffee or ice cream when I need a break. They tell me when I'm being a dork and don't disown me when I have my blonde moments and say really stupid things.

MY PUPPIES: yes, obviously. My little dogs are so adorable, and I love how they always know when I need someone to snuggle with. Just seeing them makes me feel better, and I would bring them everywhere with me if I could.

MY MUSIC: we all know that I sold my soul to Andrew McMahon freshman year of high school. and with him, along with an other select few (ahem, adam), I can just tune out from everything around me and escape for a little while. I always know that when I don't feel like talking to anyone, I can turn on my music and feel better anyways. Andrew, where would I be without you?

My life wouldn't be complete without these things, and I love them all. These obviously aren't the only things that keep me going, I have my little girls that I nanny that always make me feel better, my tiny owl books and my chocolate soy milk juice boxes. My life is so quirky, and I would never want it any other way.

cheers,

lauren

Revision to #65

So I was looking over our blog, like I do everytime I get really bored, and I noticed one thing on our list that we added was "visit every major city in the US." That's pretty straightforward, but when I looked up the top 10 most populated cities, the list was kind of disappointing. I guess cool places to visit and where people want to live are two totally different things. So I found a map that listed all the major cities and after a few minor revisions (i.e. dumping Phoenix off the list forever and ever) I compiled a list of major cities in the US that I would actually like to visit:

• New York City
• Denver
• New Orleans
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• Chicago
• San Antonio
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• Washington DC
• Seattle
• Miami
• Indianapolis (so going during football season)
• Boston
• St. Louis
• Atlanta
• Nashville
• Portland
• Baltimore

See I had to ignore some pretty major cities, because I really had no desire to visit them and this is my list and I can do whatever I want with it. So I made sure that all the places CSI takes place in were on the list and made sure Detroit and any other places in Michigan were not. (It's really nothing against people from Michigan, well it really is, but I just don't like that state. It's hard to explain and slightly offensive as to why I don't like it) These may not be the biggest cities but they are ones that I am interested in visiting and (hopefully) everyone knows where they are. In case you were wondering I have already been to LA, DC, Seattle, Boston and Baltimore and soon to cross off Chicago and hopefully New York, but whose to say I can't get a head start. It is my list.

Cheers,
Cayla

good days and freeways

if I could think of one thing all of my best days ever have involved, the only common denominator would be me. My good days have been scattered over concerts, trips in big cities and friday nights spent in. But if there is one thing that should be peppered in to anyone's list of good days, it's a swing. There is something about just going back and forth on a swing that is relaxing, fun and reflectful that can complete any good day or simply make one. Right now I am currently on a swing, typing this on the miniscule keyboard of my phone, enjoying a sunny, breezy day in flagstaff. I've been here so many times before, but something about it just being me and nature out here made this day a little better. Of course it's definitely not just me and nature because I am less than 4 feet from our house, there is multiple golfers on the course just beyond the fence, and I can hear the freeway. But it smells like nature and I'm in a transcendental mood, so this will have to do.

cheers,
cayla

this was so gross

so today was slightly traumatic. here's what happened:
I'm sitting in 1st period chemistry, minding my own business, waiting for my chem teacher to get it together and write our assignment on the board and my friend looks at me and says "ew, cayla, I think there's a cricket on your shorts." okay, so I am totally, completely and irrationally terrified of crickets, why, I will never understand but they scare the living crap out of me, like heart starts to pound, color drains from face, mouth goes dry and fight or flight kicks in. So I look down to brush it off, getting ready to totally freak out once it's off me and as I'm brushing it off, I realize it is not a cricket, its a scorpion!! The first thing I felt was relief because it was not a cricket, then terror because somehow a scorpion got on my leg (EW). So I jump up and start brushing myself off all over, like everyone does when something is on them. Obviously the next question is where did the scorpion go so I can stop the crap out of it. Then, the same, very observant, friend says "Oh I think it went into your backpack!" Seriously, why me? So by now my chem teacher has noticed that I am out of my seat and I have a look of sheer terror on my face, so he asks me whats wrong, and I'm like "THERE IS A SCORPION IN MY BACKPACK" and then he asks if I want him to get it out. um yes? So he takes my backpack to his desk and then asks me if it's okay if he takes stuff out. and I'm like "just get that disgusting alien creature out of my bag" (I didn't actually say that). So of course the first thing that he pulls out of my backpack is my tiger lunch box and he holds it up looking for scorps on it, wow embarrassing. then he slowly takes everything out of my backpack (he was seriously taking forever, halfway through he turns to me ad says "Is this a ploy to get me off track?" yes I faked a scorpion in my backpack so I don't have to learn how to diagram atoms) and finally finds it. Then he attempts to get it out with a screwdriver. after several unsuccessful attempts we are starting to wonder why he doesn't dump it out and kill it, but  he "has to save it so the biotech classes can extract dna out of it or whatever" so then he gets test tube tongs and grabs it and puts it in a beaker. as he is walking out and I am gathering my things, he goes "what was that thing where they keep injecting him with scorpion venom? do you guys know what I'm talking about? I think it's James Bond" then this kid simply responds with "I think you're insane" and my teacher leaves.
that was my 1st period, followed with the wonderful frustrations of diagramming atoms, see he didn't get that off track. and then EVERYONE knew. I guess he told the bio class that he went into, and that teacher told all her classes, because every time I told one of my friends, someone behind me would be like, that was you!! so you are probably thinking that my chem teacher is insane, because he totally is, but it doesn't matter because he probably saved me from several scorpion stings so I am totally okay with him being crazy.
tomorrow is FINALLY friday and I am sososo thrilled. this week has not gone by fast enough. I have been looking forward to this break since school started.
well I think I need to stop writing because my legs are cramping up because I have to have them up on my chair since I am little jumpy due to the incident. ugh I hate scorpions, I was going to put a picture, but I got grossed out by looking at them so you are spared that.

cheers,
Cayla

sweatshirt weather

there's something about the way the street looks when it's just rained
there's a glow off the pavement

the past two days have been absolutely sensational. it's cloudy, it's rainy, it's 60 degrees. I'm sitting on the couch with all the windows open eating gingerbread and reading blake for my poetry class while pebble makes a nest of out some blankets and my sweatshirt. my geography lab got cancelled tomorrow because the building flooded, and i do not have to work. tomorrow = starbucks & reading all day. perfection.

unfortunately we're nowhere near where this picture was taken (ocean beach, ca) but it's the closet picture to perfection that I could find. instead, we are going to flagstaff this weekend. it's our mommy's birthday so we're going to go on a mini-escape for a few days. pebble always gets crazy legs due to the mountain air and runs around like a headless chicken. you know the type. then she ends up like this:

yes, she wears a sweater. she's just tiny.

& you know I want to ask you to dance right there,

in the middle of the parking lot

cheers,

lauren

_edit: continuing on the idea from the previous blog that adam young & I share a brain, here is an excerpt from his most recent blog:

"Sweatshirt weather doesn’t last forever in Minnesota and before you know it, it’s time to dig the winter coats out of mothballs and grimace through the raging bitter elements. "

please note the title of this blog. enough said.

ahoy

HEY

this summer is going to be so great! first off, cayla's going to europe, which we're not going to talk about because that's the trip i wanted to go on in high school & wasn't allowed to go. SWEET. but anyways, we're all excited for her and she'll get to cross off #57: travel around Europe since she's visiting like 345 countries. i will hopefully be studying abroad as well, but i'm so freaking superstitious that i don't want to talk about it too much because i'm afraid i won't get accepted. let's just say #4 & #9 could potentially get crossed off the list too! there's so many more that could also be crossed off the list, 13, 21, 24, so this summer is definitely one to get excited about. it's only eight months away so it's not like we have a ton of time to think about this or anything.

i'm not really sure what this blog is about besides the fact that i'm sick and really bored and slightly delirious. i'm planning a new music video that we're hopefully going to make if we go to flagstaff this upcoming weekend! i don't really know what else to say so here's a picture of me and cayla with a tiny bottle of hot sauce:

anyways... if you're not reading adam's blog you really need to get on it because it's been decided that we share a brain. alright superb. i need more cough medicine...

cheers, 

lauren

reminiscing

i often have a problem with getting burnt out with music. I will discover a new band and quickly go out and buy the cd, then listen to it on repeat until I know every word, beat and rest and get so entirely sick of it that I feel like I can never listen to it ever again. Then I will skip it on shuffle for a couple of months then, rediscover, rejoice, rinse, repeat. I have been really trying not to do this recently. So after about 2 days of constant listening to the lovely new vampire weekend cd I just got, I knew that I had to stop listening to it. So I quickly put my ipod on regular shuffle, after skipping through about 100 songs that I used to be obsessed with I stopped on a familiar song, fireflies by owl city. Unless you've been dead for the past year you know what song I'm talking about and you probably know it's a great song, and if you don't feel that way you can keep it to yourself. So I let the song play, figuring I would be doing other stuff anyway, but then I just sat and listened. Listening to that song immediately shot me back into the past.
The first time I ever heard it, sitting in a barstool in my kitchen eating breakfast before school sophomore year, the music video came on and I stopped eating, this song wasn't like everything else on mtv. so when got home I googled the music video again, watching this little awkward boy hunch over a keyboard and play an amazing song got me right away. And then at the start of one of the least exciting/happy school years of my life, I had discovered a new band. Not just a band, but my next band. The next band that would change my life in some huge way and would send me into hysterics at their concert.
Next I was sent to the frozen custard stand by my grandma's house. lauren & I had been waiting for that stop all year. As I sat eating delicious custard (10x more delicious than ice cream with 10x the calories) I was surrounded by flashing and buzzing fireflies, how could I not think of that song, then go home and sit in the room and listen to it 1000 times? owl city was that entire vacation, it was all my ipod played, it was when we discovered sky sailing and when we made our lyrics video to on the wing (remember that, if not just go back to june or july).
But then that one song transported me to a place i've never been, but somehow I knew so well. A house with a bedroom filled with magical toys and a boy crouched over a keyboard, with a kitchen with barstools and a tv that plays music videos while you eat cereal in the morning, with a frozen custard stand down the street and a big, green yard filled with trees where you can take pictures with umbrellas and lyrics. Everything that fireflies reminded me of came together in that house. It was like I could go and walk through the room will flashing lights and fighting robots, ducking from the flying blimp and walk over to that boy to ask him to sing me a song.
I think that building day dreams is kind of like building a house. You take an idea, then you stem off from it with stories and events that you make up, building frame work around the foundation, the idea. Then you fill it in with characters, some familiar, some made up, finishing the interior of the house. Then you add the finishing touches, the furniture, with personal moments from your real life. Then you have your daydream, filled with some rooms that you've known all you're life, like my kitchen and custard stand and then some places that you've only been to once or maybe never. Like adam's bedroom in the video that has suddenly become a part of my mind, I think that every single thing that happens to me makes its way into one of these houses. Every thing that I've observed, every place I've been, every decibel that I've heard adam singing to me from a tiny speaker on my floor has made that house. But maybe it's not just adam, maybe I've got a beach house in california with andrew mcmahon, maybe a trashed suburban sprawl with the matches, a lofty new york apartment with vampire weekend. it's not that I'm imagining living in these places with these people (although that would be awesome) I'm just saying that the more I hear a song, every time that I listen to a cd over and over again on repeat I am building an overview of their music and for me it takes the shape of a house. That house holds the personality of the music, the hardships the lyrics convey, the experiences that I imagine them having that would lead to their music. They build a house that houses not people, but the passion in the music.

in the word's of the man who inspired this all
if my heart was a house, you'd be home


which makes perfect sense, because no matter where I go, all I have to do is turn on my music and I'll be home.

cheers,
cayla

wish for a sandwich

you always catch the clock, it's 11:11, right? then you proceed to make the most ridiculous wish that probably wouldn't come true in a million years. I just checked the time while brushing my teeth and what are the chances it was 11:11. after making my wish, I remembered a story that often comes to mind when I catch the clock and it always makes me laugh. so, story;

junior year homecoming was one of those nights when you feel like you live in the little dice-popper from the game trouble and some kids club kid is pounding on it with their fist. for numerous reasons it was a mess and my friends megan, phill, and I decided it would be best if we got out of there as soon as we could. while we were on our way back to megan's, we glanced at the clock and discovered it was 11:11. one of us, it might have been megan, told us all to make a wish, to which I replied, "I've been making the same wish for three years and it hasn't come true." just so melancholy. then phill says "obviously you've been making the wrong wish, it's probably too unrealistic. you have to wish for something that could come true, like when you see it's 11:11, you say 'I wish I could have a sandwich tomorrow', then tomorrow you have sandwich and your wish comes true".  I was taken aback at how simple 11:11 could actually be, and vowed to make simpler wishes, even though they were always accompanied by my previous wish as well (which probably was too unrealistic and maybe the wrong wish as phill had said). After our 11:11 chat we decided that it would be a great idea to get some ice cream, so we stopped by coldstone creamery and stood outside the door, dumbfounded that it was closed. we then realized the quickly forgotten fact that it was passed 11 therefore the place obviously wasn't open. the kid inside wiping down the countertops was either sympathetic or frightened by our fancy clothes and tear-streaked faces so he let us in anyways. good times.

I'm not sure if either of them remember this, but I think about it almost every 11:11, so I thought I'd share. and like I said before, I started making smaller, more realistic wishes and tried to appreciate the smaller things a little more. but even better news, my "unrealistic" wish from long ago CAME TRUE. so I guess if you're persistent, keep going for the big wish, but if you're not in it for the long run just wish for a sandwich.

cheers,

lauren

playing mommy

over the last five months of being a nanny, i have gotten a lot of experience of what it is like to be a mom. i've picked up/dropped off at school, handled play dates, gushing head wounds, potty accidents, removed impossible stains from white clothes, made meals, tucked into beds, and acquired the messiest car ever full of tiny toys, random trash, and little hand prints. and after tomorrow i will have also stayed home with a kid with the stomach flu. all i can say to my children in the future is bring it on.

ALSO

season two TOMORROW. insert: life completeness. 

while you're still on the rush of our boys finally being back in our lives, go see legend of the guardians. it is most amazing and so adorable. if that's not convincing enough then this should seal the deal:

hooray for it almost being october!

cheers,

lauren

I will not

1. Severely procrastinate writing/memorizing my spanish project
2. Go read Adam's blog again, because I need to do my homework
3. go read dearblankpleaseblank.com, even though it is my new favorite website
4. correct my chem teacher's grammar
5. leave all my homework to do at lunch
6. avoid getting a job until the last possible second, because I need lots of money
7. do anything embarrassing at the europe meeting on thursday
8. do anything awkward while volunteering at the blood drive tomorrow
9. make racial comments at the national honors society meeting, because I am also there (and I do not want to be a terrible person)
10. leave all of my 50 volunteer hours for key club until the day before march
11. spend lots of money on new clothes for europe
12. pass anymore colds onto my poor puppy
13. learn how to express my angry about how much homework I have in spanish so I can give my teacher a piece of my mind en español.
14. download new apps on my phone
15. dance around my house listening to juanes and enrique
16. tell my history teacher that I do not need an American Revolution study guide because I have been learning about that fricken war since I was 7
17. go lay in bed with apolo and read
18. google when csi premieres, because it seems a little late and should be on already
19. play Zoo Tycoon
20. Spend 15 minutes typing up a list of things that I want to do but can't because that would waste a lot of valuable time

Cheers,
Cayla