Someone Pass Me The H2O Before I Die of Exhaustion

It's Thursday morning, I lazily woke up around 10:30 because not having a job and staying up until 1 in the morning will do that to you. I knew it was my last day of freedom. I knew it was going to be busy. But I'm a professional procrastinator. A lackadaisical lazy-face. Why rush in the mornings, anyway? I mean, I'm barely awake, groggy, and still warm under the covers. There's no reason to change that sooner rather than later. I loves me some sleeps, you know. I'm a college kid, so of course I catch the Zs like a pro, but don't you? 

Anyways, I finally dragged my unwilling to start the day butt out of bed and lounged around the house talking with my mother in the kitchen while we tried desperately to figure out what we should eat since both of our stomachs believed that our respective throats were, in fact, cut. 

I had leftover chicken tacos and she had leftover Spanish rice and some home-made hamburger helper dish that looked positively revolting, but I'm biased towards anything that even remotely resembles hamburger helper. To each her own. 

Then around 12:30 I hopped online to check in the boyo who I seemingly am attached to at the hip, since we are often everywhere together. Our family and friends have even combined our names together, not unlike how we refer to Brad and Angelina, you know? Matalie, they call us. But you know, they're just jealous that they aren't entirely as awesome as we are, it's true. 

At 3 o'clock Prince and I drove out for a mutual friend's graduation party. What a life to be explored after the graduation of high school! And we talked and talked and talked with friends that I haven't seen all school year who are near and dear to my tired little heart. I was sad to leave them when time came, but I'll see them either tomorrow or Saturday because they too are camp staff and can't escape me whether they wanted to or not. They don't. :) 

Six thirty rolled around and we met my parental units at the new Texas Roadhouse for barbecued supper of sorts. Absolutely delicious food. Absolutely. Prince-y had a chicken fried steak, I had BBQ pulled pork, my mom and dad both got ribs with pulled pork and BBQ chicken respectively. It was really good food. They play country music, the waiters and waitresses line dance for you, they serve peanuts to snack on so nutshells cover the floor, and I got to play with crayons while filling in all the activities on the sheet of paper they bring to the table for small children. 

I'm super duper awesome, I know. 

It's really loud in the restaurant too, which isn't always a bad thing, but it sure makes it hard to hear. And I don't know what it was about today, but everybody and their brother was having a birthday it seemed. So of course the servers would yell and sing and dance for every birthday and it seems they couldn't go more than a couple of minutes without going through birthday withdraws and therefore belting out in song and dance about someone or another's wonderful birthday. It was nice at first, but got pretty old pretty fast. 

I'd go back on a day when there weren't so many birthdays. 

After thanking Dad and Mom for paying for dinner and saying goodbye in the parking lot, Prince and I waddled to my car and headed to Jack's house. I laid on Prince's chest while he played with my hair and he watched Jack and his girlfriend play Little Big Planet while I pretended to fall asleep.

 (Was that sentence long enough for you? I'm tired, can you tell?) 

At 10:00 we bid them farewell since tomorrow we are supposed to awake bright and early for work. I drove Prince-y home so he could finish packing for camp and then I arrived home to do the same thing. 

My jungle bedroom was filled with unnecessary tote piles and cardboard boxes that are simply ubiquitous in meaning. I opened up our storage compartment underneath our landing. My room is in the basement of our split level entry house if that clears anything up for you. Ahem. And then I went to town. 

I pulled out all the stuff I wanted to take to camp with me and put it outside my room on the floor of the family room. Then I pulled out boxes from under the landing, put away suitcases that had been out since I moved home for Moscow, and replaced certain boxes before I combine elements from different boxes, emptied another box and placed all the full ones back in the storage compartment. 

I'm just tired reading that sentence. 

By the time the whole ordeal was over, I'd repacked the box I'd earlier emptied with necessary items for camp life, packed my duffel bag with clothing items, removed the unnecessary road blockage from my jungle room (who knew my carpet was blue?), and chatted with Prince online before he retired to checking his eyelids for cracks. 

I should be sleeping, too, but I wanted to just pop in and bid you farewell for a few days, since I don't know when I'll be back here. Trust me when I tell you that I'm not disappearing for the entire summer, but my activity level will be way down. Poop. I know right? 

Seven o'clock will come super fast and my eyelids are in need of toothpicks to stay open. My poor body is tired, tired, tired, but on the bright side I will be starting work, and we all know what work means. 

Money. 

And we could all use more of that. AmIright? Right! 

An Ending

Sunday night I found out some horrible news.

I talked to my dad on the phone, knowing something was wrong but not sure exactly what. I thought about his cancer. Maybe something had gone really wrong?

Until he said these words "Grandpa died today"

I didn't understand. Grandpa wasn't supposed to die. Grandpa was supposed to live forever.

I had heard that it was bad. Our trip down to SoCal for Christmas was because my dad really felt like this would be Grandpa's last Christmas. His dementia was worsening. His health was deteriorating. Still, I didn't want to believe.

I wanted to think that my grandpa would make it to see me graduate college. It's just a couple years away. I wanted him around when I finally got married, to see how beautiful I will look on that day. A big part of me knew that he would never make it that long, but still there was that little part of me that hoped beyond hope that maybe, just maybe, he'd still be around.

It's hard. It's so hard to look at pictures, taken just a year ago. To think about Christmas, just a couple of months ago. It's hard to do that and not tear up at the thought of never being able to wrap my arms around him again.

I'm so far away from what's going on, that I feel like I will be able to fly down there and he will be there, ready to hug me when I walk in the door. We can go for a walk around the neighborhood like we used to.


I loved the sound of my name from his lips.   

My grandpa was an amazing man. An awesome husband, a good dad. He was a rowdy kid. A rolled up newspaper out one side of the car on the morning paper route and a lit match out the other.

I've heard his mother broke a broom over his backside on a weekly basis. 

He taught my dad to drive in a time where manual transmissions were the norm and I've heard the man could make gears sing. I've heard my dad tell stories of driving advice when he was having trouble keeping the car in the lane. "This isn't a sail boat, you don't need to tack into the wind."

He hated mushrooms.

I remember feeling like his disease had robbed me of getting to really know him. To know the him that was happy and active and didn't stutter when talked. But even though I felt like I wasn't as close to him as my cousins were, I could still hug him. I could still talk to him. He still loved me. 

I was his pear thief when I was little. He used to eat a lot of pears. Before we moved all the way to Idaho I would crawl up in his lap and steel bites of his pears. I still like eating pears, though these days they are the canned variety and not the fresh. Unfortunate.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm okay. And to be honest, I have no idea if I'm okay or not. I feel like if I don't think about it, then I can't be sad. But then in quiet moments, or when I see a picture of him (because on FB we've all changed our profile pictures to ones with him) and it's hard to imagine that he's gone.

It's hard to imagine the severity of someone's gone-ness. We say goodbye, but we never really say goodbye. Our farewell's are much more in a 'I will see you again later' form and less in a 'This is the last time I will see your smiling face' manner.

Which is for the most part how we operate. And we do see each other again. So wrapping my brain around the fact that my grandpa is missing? Not something I'm too keen on doing.

I'm missing a man whom without I wouldn't even be around. He's been a big part of our family. He was my grandma's best friend. They were married for over 50 years.

It's hard to write about him in the past tense. It's hard to know that next week sometime I will be making a fast trip to San Diego for a funeral. Funeral is such a HARD word to think about. My mom told me that if I want to say a few words about him I'm more than welcome too.

I may or may not write anything. Who knows.

But one thing is certain, he's with his Maker now. And probably the happiest he's been in YEARS.

Today it thundered. It's been a joke in our family that the thunder happens when the angels go bowling and get strikes. Well, I choose to believe that he's up there bowling with them and playing a perfect game. Because everyone knows that that old man could skunk us all at bowling, even with Parkinson's disease and he grinned like a little boy the whole time he was doing it.

I just can't believe he's gone.

Is It Just Me?

Or does it feel like every blogger and their dog is doing a post about 'ask me anything and I will answer you'? 

Not that it's a bad thing of course. I find it kinda amusing. It's mildly entertaining to read people's answers to questions like "What's a good name for a dog?" or "What's your opinion on the deflation of balloons in a European school district?" 

Those are good questions, right? 

It prompts me to wonder what people would ask me, given the chance. I like to answer questions. I like to fill out surveys. You know, I'm narcissistic enough. But I still don't think I'm going to come out and ask you all to leave questions in your comments. (Leave me questions. I will love you.) (No really, don't do it.) (No, actually you should.) (Not.)

But besides my sudden fascination with or without answering random questions, I got two of some of the worst types of news I could get at this stage of my life. 

First and probably worst, I am going to college to get a degree in art education so that I can teach students in grades K through 12. I've known since January that I'm going to have to petition to get into the college of ed because I dinked around my freshman year and got a bad GPA. Now I have to bring my GPA up (but hello people, I made the Dean's List last semester - that's a huge step in the right direction. I worked my butt off for that.) I'm also currently retaking Comm 101 to replace my D in that class and then next semester I was planning on retaking a core math class because I got a D in 143 because it was a class made of the devil. But Zelda told me today that like four different people told her she shouldn't even bother applying until next semester because they apparently won't even conditionally admit those students who are missing more than one criteria. 

She's only missing two. 

I'm missing three. 

Suck. 

Fail. 

For crying out loud can't a girl catch a break ANYWHERE?? But I was told to petition anyway and that they lady I talked to thought I had a pretty good chance at getting admitted. So I'm going to go ahead as planned and see what I can make of the current situation. 

And if they don't let me into the college of ed, then I'm just going to look for a different school that will take me. The university tells you that they're for you and they want to work with you, but then things like this happen and it's like, really? Really? You're going to build up my hopes and then bring in a fiery Godzilla death creature to stomp it all to the ground and then pick up some of the random pieces to use for a chew toy? Not cool. Not cool at all. 

Hopefully everything will work out in my favor. But right now it's all hanging in limbo until the petition meeting in April when I will hopefully know whether or not I've been admitted conditionally. 

My second sucky news of the day is about my job. I work on campus in a little shop in our Admin building and I. Love. It. Seriously. I don't want to work anywhere else. 

But I was just informed today that the new lady who is going to become the new owner of our shop, is not only going to be the new owner, but she is replacing the current workers with her daughters. Seriously lady? You're going to put college students and one really awesome lead worker out of business because you and your daughters want to run our coffee shop when you ALREADY HAVE YOUR OWN SHOP???? What's wrong with you!? 

I love my job. I'm a good and faithful worker. I'm a fast and efficient barista. But there's no guarantee that campus dining will keep me as a barista. We're losing a few coffee shops because of remodeling that Sodexo is doing around campus, so Heaven help me to at least keep my job let alone let me like my job. 

I may not even get a job next semester. The Big Man told us he's working on finding us new job placements on campus so that we can still be employed. But who knows where he'll put us? I'm scared. I love my job and now some snooty lady (I met her, she's snooty) is going to steal my job out from underneath me. Why are they taking valuable jobs away from students? Poor college students need their jobs you crazy lady with your coffee shop already in store. Why do you need my job as well? 

I don't understand it. I don't. I doubt she's even thinking about the students who would like to have those jobs. She's got her own agenda. I can't control her. Although I have to admit - if I could pull a Jedi mind trick and change her ways of thinking so drastically that the entire world is a better place I totally would do it. 

Ugh. 

On the bright side, I'm working tomorrow and it should be crazy busy. Me and the Fiery Red Head always so much fun that it's just gonna be a complete blast. I'm going to go into work tomorrow and have so many shots of coffee it'll be like nothing in the world ever was or will be bad. We're relying on God to take care of our jobs and my schooling and my sanity. Which may or may not be on the edge of disappearing permanently.

So I'm gonna change my mind a little bit and egotistically require all of you to ask me at least one random question to lighten my mood. Two would be great. Three if you're ambitious. Or none if you just feel like leaving me a comment but asking questions is too overrated for you. I get that. I totally do. 

I hope all of your weekends are super duper dandy and awesome. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go rot my brain with more blogs followed by some Calvin and Hobbes and maybe a short nap or two.

Welcome To My Corner Of The World

Hello BlogTrotters! Happy Friday and welcome to the North West. I know it's a bit of unfamiliar territory since we've been spending a majority of our time on the other side of the nation, but trust me, you'll enjoy it here! 



I am from Idaho. Some of you may wonder where that is, some of you may furrow your brows and ask if I'm from Iowa or Ohio because you can't remember and some of you may nod your head and think about potatoes. Well, to clarify a little bit for you, I live in north Idaho which is located in the Pacific Northwest and isn't anywhere near Iowa or Ohio (but I'm sure those states are cool too!) Also, because I'm in northern Idaho, we get our potatoes from Washington. The Idaho Potatos are grown in Southern Idaho - a place that I don't really know that much about.

Right now I go to school in Moscow, Idaho NOT Moscow, Russia. Here was say Mos-Coh instead of Mos-Cow. It's a little town with not a lot to do except go stare at the cows with Plexiglas stomachs.They really do exist. I promise even though I can't find any pictures of them to share with you.

I would talk a lot about Moscow, except I don't know very much. I'm not really from around here because I primarily am a student. But I do get really funny looks and people ask me why I'm in Russia. 


Apparently, there is a worm hole that we drive through that magically transports us to Russia when we arrive in Moscow. Ha, ha. But today I am going to tell you more about the town where I grew up. Because right now this is Moscow:

Moscow is primarily a college town. We have a Main Street and a nice little walking around down by Friendship Square, but besides the Wal*Mart there's not a lot going on.

I grew up north of where I'm currently located, in a place right outside of Coeur d'Alene, a city known for its huge resort and The Floating Green.

The CDA Resort is located right on Coeur d'Alene Lake and houses all sorts of events year round. It also has a few restaurants, including Dockside which is where the teens like to go after prom to score one of these delightful treats. In addition to the Floating Green of the golf course, the resort also has a spa area where you can kick back and relax supreme.

We also have the longest floating boardwalk which attracts tourists from all over, as well as locals who want to get out and walk. You can catch some mighty pretty sunsets on the boardwalk and if you're lucky you might get to see a plane take off on the water!

You can also go for a pleasure cruise down around the lake. 5th grades go eagle watching, 8th graders have their graduation party on the boats, the fireworks on the Fourth of July can also be witnessed on board, and in the wintertime you can see all the lights that the Resort displays. 

Downtown Coeur d'Alene not only houses the Resort, but also has Sherman avenue where you can weave in and out of the little boutiques. And if you're downtown you might as well visit Hudson's Hamburger's - a burger joint that doesn't serve burgers with lettuce or tomatos and good luck getting fries. They have 18 bar stools that people fight over for seating. But they've been here for 100 years and sport some of the best burgers around. Mmmmm I'm making myself hungry!

Just a short jaunt from the Resort and all the wonderful downtown shops is Ft. Sherman Park. It was built by volunteers whose names are carved into the fence surrounding the structure. Ft. Sherman was also a legitimate fort here in the North, and I wish I could tell you more about the historical side because Coeur d'Alene is full of that stuff, but I learned it all clear back in fourth grade and memory serves me not to well in this area of life.

But the park isn't just for the little kiddies, although that's clearly who it's geared for, but us big kids play on it to. And not only do we play a form of tag where touching the ground is something you only do if you're 'it' but we also take lots of pictures.

 

 

Our town is also full of moose. They aren't real moose, so quite quivering in fright! These moose are big statues and were painted by local artists and auctioned off to raise money for the schools. You can spot them in front of businesses, restaurants, in people's backyards, and on street corners. They're all beautiful and different and largely entertaining.

On the other side of the resort, there's Tubbs Hill - a place where people hike, go for a run, cliff dive in the summer time. There's even a rope swing if you are so inclined to try it out. Tubbs Hill is also where I had my senior pictures taken, where I took my friend's senior pictures and where I will take my brother's friends senior pictures.

If the lake and beachfront aren't your scene, then you can check out Riverstone. Riverstone has a huge movie theater, a Cold Stone Creamery, Pizza Schmiza, and a sports bar that I can't remember the name of to name only a few of its eateries. There's also a little bit of shopping and park across the street including it's own man made lake. Perfect for late night photoshoots with the girls:

The farther away you get from Coeur d'Alene Lake, the closer you get to where I live. I'm from the small town just outside of the great CDA called Hayden. And in my opinion, Hayden Lake is better than Coeur d'Alene lake as far as swimming and tubing are concerned. 

This is the kind of fun we have in the sum-sum-summertime! 

 

 

 

If you more of a winter person, we live within hours of several mountains. The top three being Schweitzer (the biggest), Silver (the longest gondola ride to the top of the mountain) and Lookout Pass (the smallest, but my favorite). 

Lookout is where my dad takes me on Father/Daughter ski days. Schweitzer is where his heart is. Along with my brother's hearts as well. 

If you find yourself in Coeur d'Alene and you're just itching for the "big city" you can hop on the freeway across the border and right into Spokane, Washington. I place both loved and hated by the good people of Coeur d'Alene.

Spokane has Build-A-Bear, my grandparents, outrageous for us Idahoans traffic, and bigger department stores. But I try to avoid trips across the border because their street system is so backwards and if you're not careful you can take a one way street to nowhere.


But let's end on a happy note, shall we? With a sunset on lake Coeur d'Alene:

And I didn't even mention Silverwood! But there is a theme park located about a half hour away that makes for some pretty fun times. 

Actually, there's a whole lot I didn't even begin to get to, but hopefully I didn't bore you too much and I've sparked your interest to come for a visit! 

The One Where I Draw A Baby

In my Drawing II class we're learning to draw figures. Our outside assignment is to draw a figure from real life or from a picture, but we have to spend a lot of time on it to make it detailed. It doesn't have to look exactly like the person, but it has to look like we tried.

 So I found a picture that I really wanted to mimic, and I think I have a good start on it:

I'm using charcoal - vine and compressed to draw this adorably little baby. But I'm totally not even done yet. All I have so far (obviously) is the figure. But I need to work on making his forehead longer and sloping the his little bottom slightly different, not to mention adding in the texture of the blanket he's laying on.

I have my work cut out for me!



Especially because this is my studio! Fully equipped with game watching neighbors who scream loudly that the members of whatever team they are rooting for are stupid. And blaring base from across the hallway! Woohoo!

I can't wait until I'm out of here.

Seriously.

Anyway, make sure you come by tomorrow because they're going to feature my blog on BlogTrotting. If you don't know what that is, go check it out. Right now! What are you waiting for?

The Name Of The Game Is Tuesday

Tuesdays are very odd days. It was once upon a time that Tuesdays were the most ignored day of the week. "What's up Bill?" "Oh nothing, it's only Tuesday after all."

But I like Tuesdays. They're right after Mondays - which I hate. Mondays and I aren't really the best of friends. Mostly because Mondays like to be devious and pretend they are sneaky when they pop out from behind Sundays and end the weekend so unceremoniously. Mondays. Bleh. 

Now Tuesdays, Tuesdays do not pretend to be something they are not. Tuesdays are perfectly happy in their Tuesday ways. They don't care if you ignore them. They don't care if you don't love them as much as you may love Friday. Friday is a snobbish day. He is all excited to be the one leading you into the weekend. He's also payday for a lot of folks. Friday is a good day. Lots of people love Friday. But sometimes all that lovin' just goes to his Friday head and then he's on his own agenda all weekend. Whatever.

I work on Tuesdays. Very early on Tuesdays. At 7:30 in the morning whichisnotmyfavoriteatall. Humph. However, some way or another Tuesdays always manages to have fun. I don't think my ratio of good to bad Tuesdays is more in favor of the good Tuesdays than the bad. One Tuesday I came home from work with a ten dollar tip.

And getting a ten dollar tip on a Tuesday is like walking away from the coffee as a millionaire. It just doesn't happen. But hey, I'm not going to complain. I'm a poor college student. I'll take all the money I can get! (Donations accepted. If you are wondering where to send the millions of dollars of pocket change you have taking over your house, just shoot me an email!) Kidding. Ish. 

Tuesdays people are usually a little more relaxed. They're coming off of their Monday-Get-Back-To-The-Grind feelings and as a general rule, I've discovered, seem to care a little bit less about the little things. They pay less attention to detail and are just grateful for a smiley face full of conversation. They're less snarky on Tuesdays. 

I love Tuesdays. Wednesdays are Happy-Hump-Days and Thursdays are almost Fridays but better. Saturday and Sunday are just lazy and Mondays are mean. But Tuesdays, those are grand. Tuesdays are days spent with Morrie. "The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it." -Morrie 

Not all people think Tuesdays are rockin' though. To the Greeks, Tuesday was an unlucky day. And also to the Spanish - who neither wanted to marry or begin a journey on a Tuesday. And to both Greeks and Spaniards, it's Tuesday the 13th that's unlucky. (Don't let Friday read that okay? It'll just give him yet another ego boost that he doesn't need!)

I'm not Greek or Spanish though. So I guess I'm allowed to love a Tuesday. Because Tuesdays are days I spend almost entirely with Zelda. We have Ed Psych together, we have Comm 101 together, and she shows up at the end of my shift at work. Sometimes hoping to partake in downing a Caramel Macchiato and sometimes hoping to become involved in excellent conversation - which always happens when I'm around. You know it does. Shut up.

Tuesday is also the day that we elect the President. Freaky. And well admittedly I'm not a fan of the current President, my favorite President is Abraham Lincoln. Who apparently had a dream that he was going to be assassinated the Tuesday before it actually happened. How weird is that?

So now that you're all educated about Tuesdays, I'm going to go enjoy what's left of mine.

An Army Of Gnats

Remember when I told you all my name was Natalie? (Oooooh, you missed the memo? Well check out this post and you'll be all caught up. Go ahead. I'll wait.)

*waits*

*waits some more*

*thinks that you read very slowly*

*waits a little longer*

*gives up waiting*

Okay, well I'm assuming that by now you have already known this, you have finished reading the post, or you skipped the post and just want to see what the heck I'm gonna talk about and how it relates to anything. Right?

Blog hopping is one of my favorite things to do ever. You know, besides FaceBook stalking people and robbing banks. Because I love doing those too. They cheer me up enormously. Especially because mentally I am exhausted from this past weekend and all its high school crazy psycho drama that it held for me.

Anywho, I come across a lot of blogs. And I love love love following people named Natalie. And throughout my experiences, I've found a plethora of blogs written by Natalies. But what I think is beyond funny in its own right is that none of these other Natalies are my age. They are older than me.

I mean, there's this Natalie, and this Natalie and still this Natalie. There are even more Natalies out there. I just came across this amazing Natalie today! I know I've seen more than just these four too, but since I don't follow those ones I can't go back and provide you with links to their cute blogs.

I kind of feel bad about that. But only kind of. Just like I'm trying to kind of feel better since this weekend. I'm avoiding Prince's suite like it's the plague. I told him it was enemy territory and I won't go there. Until this situation with TheOther is resolved, I'm staying put. Especially because I don't want to agitate him further and make a bad situation worse.

On the plus side, I've heard that TheOther has decided he would much rather enjoy moving himself out of the suite. Right now we're just waiting for something final through the Housing Office. Once this is all resolved I'm sure Prince, LadiesMan and I will be back to terrorizing the hall just like normal.

And by terrorizing I mean hibernating in the dorm playing the PS3 and watching ridiculous movies like Fame. (Which I actually liked. The new one, not the old one. I haven't watched that one...but I've heard it's ummm...not so family friendly ha, ha.)

But you know what else? I kind of want to go by Natalie instead of Cinderella. Because I think Natalie is a really pretty name. But you know what? It's only a thought right now...

Time Warp

This is me when I was a junior in high school. I thought I was pretty cool.


And these two beautiful girls were my best friends. We were crazy in our own right and caused a lot of trouble. We thought we were pretty bad ass.

And then the almost unthinkable happened. We graduated and spent our last summer together apart. I visited Germany right after graduation and then traveled to Utah a few weeks later. But we still managed to celebrate 18th birthdays and shed goodbye tears before college.

I got to college and experienced SWEET FREEDOM! I celebrated by piercing my nose, much to my father's dismay.

In October, I met this cutie who wowed me with his love of art and music. I was smitten.

After freshman year ended, I was job hunting all the local coffee shops. And then Prince told me there was still an opening at camp, and I semi reluctantly applied. I got the job, and haven't regretted it whatsoever.

I also made some new best friends, since things weren't really working out with Belle and Ariel like I'd hoped. (We've since reconciled, but it was a tough second semester of college.)

And then I entered my first semester of my sophomore year. You know what they say - you can tell a sophomore...but you can't tell 'em much.

Only this time around, this kid joined me at school, along with a new major.

So now here I am, in my second semester of my sophomore year of college and some people still think I'm stuck back in high school because I look so young. But you guys know different, right?

Right.

It's been a long journey. It's not always been pretty. A lot of life around me is completely different than when I started this little blog. And we're not even done yet!

The Difference Between a Caramel Macchiato and a Caramel Latte

Okay, so this question has come up a bunch in my semesters working at a coffee shop. I'm sure you are all familiar with the concept of coffee shops/stands/cafes and know what espresso tastes like whether you drink it regularly or loath even the smell. Correct?

Show of hands?

That's what I thought.

So now the question is, how well do you know your coffee? There are different kinds of drinks. We know this. Especially if the baristas at your local Starbucks know you by name, ask you if you want the usual and can correctly decipher your groggy pre-caffeine grunts.

There is the mocha, the latte, the breve, the macchiato, the americano, the solo and the dopio. If you don't know what a solo and a dopio are, don't worry. They're simply straight shots of espresso, but even some baristas don't know what they're called. *ahem*

So we know a mocha has chocolate. A breve is a latte made with half and half. Americanos are simply shots and really ridiculously hot water. A latte is shots and steamed milk. But what the hey is a macchiato?

Let me tell you something. They call it a macchiato because of how you make the drink. A macchiato is layered differently than a mocha, latte, breve, etc. But not many college students know this, and they only order a caramel macchiato because it is loaded with caffeine and sugar.

But plenty of times I have made them a caramel macchiato only to have them tell me that their drink is not mixed up. I'm sorry, what? This is what you ordered.

So for all you college students out there who have trouble telling their elbow from their kneecap, let me help you understand what a caramel macchiato is.

Because you've ordered a caramel macchiato, here is how I am going to layer it in 5 easy steps:

1. drizzle caramel sauce on sides and bottom of cup
2. add vanilla syrup
3. pour in steamed milk
4. pour in shots
5. drizzle more caramel sauce on top

This is different from what you're expecting because what you wanted was for me to make your macchiato upside down. All that means is that instead of a macchiato, I'm making you a latte.

When making a latte or a mocha you put the shot in first, to give it flavor. If you pour the milk in first, you are flavoring the milk. The steamed milk is used to mix everything together because that's what the majority of your drink is - milk.

I worked with a barista who just made the caramel macchiato by putting in the vanilla syrup, pouring in the shots and then the milk and caramel sauce on top. When I asked her why she made it that way, she answered by telling me that most people don't really want a macchiato, they just like all the sugar that's in the drink.

Well, no more!

Now you can make an educated decision on the type of drink that you would like to order. And if you order a caramel macchiato from me, I'm going to make you a caramel macchiato. And you can talk to Zelda about my supreme caramel macchiato making skills.

She's unsatisfied with other baristas' attempts on campus, but today she stated that the one I made for her was simply fabulous. And I really am modest, I swear...

You're Hot Then You're Cold, You're Yes Then You're No

So there's this thing called 'Arts and Crafts' and some of you may or may not have experienced this phenomenon once or twice in your life. I am all over the artsy side, but the crafty is a bit different for me.

I'm not a very crafty person, but on a whim Momma and I decided to make those hot/cold scented pads. You know, the ones you can buy in a mall or so and they go in the microwave or the freezer depending on how achey your muscles are?

Yeah, we thought we would undertake the task of creating one. Off to Hancock Fabrics we went to buy fabric and thread. All the fabric and thread has to be 100% cotton, and since we didn't have any of that just laying around the house, we jetted off to the store.

I picked out some blue fabric, because blue is my absolute favorite color. I couldn't decide between two of them, so I go both. We just got some fat quaters because it was cheaper.

The fat quarters we bought measured in at 18" by 22" so we cut them down to 18" by 9" for our intended size. Just big enough to span shoulders, stomach or back. You know, whatever strikes your fancy.

I got some blue cotton thread to match. Mom broke out her sewing machine and we double seamed the edges to be safe. Since we were filling them with a rice mixture, we didn't want one seam to break and then have a rice spill all over the place.

After we sewed the edges, it looked like this:


We sewed chambers to fill with rice. The tubes were filled 2/3 of the way with a mixture made from regular white rice and Bengal Spice Tea (which smells divine when heated).

After we filled the chambers with rice, we sewed the open end shut with another double seam.

We heated the new creation in the microwave for 3 min. It came out piping hot and nearly burned TheKeeper, who reacted by prancing around the kitchen as though he had ants in his pants.

Too bad I didn't get any video of that.

Anyway, I would advise only heating it for 2 to 2 and half minutes. It stays warm for a quite a while, smells good. It was only 5 dollars for the fabric, four for two spools of thread, and it took maybe only half a day to do.

I'm only guessing on the time because Momma left me for over an hour to take TheMechanic and DP to an orthodontist appointment.

TheKeeper enjoying the end product:

I had to take this picture while he was actually laughing. Otherwise you would have seen him throwing up a peace sign and making a weird face. Typical teenage boy. Ha, ha, ha.

Honey, It's Cold Outside

Is it really December already?

I feel like yesterday I moved into this forsaken dormitory, only to turn around to shut the door and find myself shivering my buns off in negative degree weather sans any sign of that white flaky stuff they write songs about.

Thanksgiving break snuck up on me like Sneaky Snake going after your root beer. (Please tell me at least one of you out there caught my reference to the Tom T Hall song?)

(And apparently snuck isn't a word? It's being underlined in red. But sneaked just doesn't right to me. Call me a bad grammar user (HA!) but I'm sticking with snuck because I'm stubborn.)

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving break - because it wasn't really long enough and then it seemed to thwart motivation for school with promises of "But we only have three weeks left!" And lemme just say, motivation to do three more weeks of work is like dangling chocolate in front of my sister and then telling her she has to run a marathon in order to scarf down said chocolate like there was no tomorrow.

The DP loves her some chocolatey treats. Doesn't matter what time of year, who made the chocolate delight, and the darker it is the better. She can be easily bribed with chocolate too - just keep that in mind if you ever find yourself on her bad side.

But November is Novemore and December has brought upon our college campus a reign of frozen terror. One can not venture out of doors without a numb sensation engulfing their entire being. One must also keep touching one's nose whilst walking to class in order to ensure that frost bite has not incurred and succeeded with leaving oneself nose-less. Because a face without a nose is just ridiculous. I mean, lets be honest.

And besides that fact that it seems 2009 has decided to be the fastest year ever, as well as this semester seemingly whirring past, it's only a matter of days before I embark on a trip to SoCal to visit with family for the occasion of the Christmas holiday.

Can I just say that it's still perfectly find to wish someone a Merry Christmas? I mean does everyone get offended when that is in fact the holiday that a majority of us intend to celebrate during this festive season? I know full well that there are other holidays during this time in which people tend to participate, but would you be offended if Christmas was your holiday of choice and someone wished you a happy Hanukkah?

Really?

Okay, so I feel like this post is slightly random and full of useless bits of fluff tied together under the assumption that December has moved in far too fast for my liking?

Oh yeah, I remember why I started this post.

My family already put up their tree! With out me! Oy! It doesn't feel like it's far enough into December to be putting up a tree.

I feel kind of left out.

But on the plus side, I think I've called my mom on the telephone at least once every day since I've been back at school. It's turning into a daily ritual. And since Tues. and Thurs. I walk home from the coffee shop sans company, it's nice to talk to her while my legs move back and forth trying to transport my torso back to my room while also not falling off at the hips because they are so numb...

The Final Stretch

This semester is quickly coming to a close. I'd like to say we're slowly winding down, but instead I feel almost like we're spiraling out of control. I have so many assignments that are due this week and next week that I have to keep track of them not only in my agenda, but also on my computer.

Zelda and I got our Service Learning Project over and done with though. Our presentation took place at 9:30 this morning - so that means no more dementia adventures for us! That is both liberating and disheartening at the same time. I really liked spending time at the adult day health center, but also it took away from my homework time. So it's a good thing I don't have to worry about it during these last few weeks so I can gear up for finals.

Not only am I completing a final project, I'm also putting together a final portfolio, pulling a 2500 word essay out of thin air, completing my sketchbook with the drawings for everyday in the last month and reading 6 weeks of essays with paragraph write ups of each. So needless to say, I shouldn't be here in blogland, but my brain needed a break.

I mean, last night alone I completed 500 more words towards my 2500 word essay putting me up to 1000 words and then I wrote a 1 page reflection for my education class as well as attended a class meeting, wrote responses for my art theory class and helped Prince Charming with his English essay.

Not that you care about all the random assignments I have to do, but there you go. I like this time of chaos because the energy is great, but at the same time I hate it because I don't really want to do any of this stuff.

I'm just really glad when it's all over.

Really.

Glad.

Really.

Did I mention that I'm really glad when it's over?

Because I am.

I. so. totally. am.

*ahem*

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some homework that needs attending brain cells to lose.

I Want To Go To China

I was sitting in my education class this morning listening to this boring old guy yack on and on about our text book. Zelda and I were having more fun making jokes about his apparent hate for stockbrokers than we were listening to his lecture.

Until he started talking about China.

And now we want to go.

It's an opportunity for some university students to gain some insight about teaching and to have the opportunity to actually teach some English over in China. The trip is about a month long, so we have plenty of time to do some teaching exploration and some amazing sight seeing.

On the flip side, I have no idea how much this is going to cost me.

So I called my mom and gushed about how much I want to go on this trip told her about this wonderful educational opportunity this summer.

And Zelda and I immediately started scheming fund raising ideas, because Lord knows I'm going to need all the money I can get to pay for this trip.

You know, since I'm a poor college student and all. I really want to go, but I don't know how I'm going to make it happen. I have to help pay for school, a car and just living. Plus Prince Charming and I want a PS3 - which is pretty spendy. The plus side of that though is that China isn't until May, so I have some time to acquire some funds.

China, you're MINE baby.

Something Worth Learning

You know how they say C's get degrees? And I'm at college to get a degree in art education. Which means I have to have C's or better to graduate with a degree.

And, come on, we both all know that last year I was lucky when I got C's. *ahem* This semester it's all A's and B's thankyouverymuch. However, I took some *important* classes last year that it would have served me better to achieve the C's instead of the D's.

Like Comm 101.

And everyone's favorite DEATH 143 class that I. LOVED. SO. FREAKING. MUCH.

*cough*cough*hack*gag*

I have to retake those classes, but fortunately for me I don't have to retake Math 143. I got a D in that class. I got a D in that class when I took it in high school even. I mean, let's face it people, Miss Cinderella is just not a math brain at all.

However, I'm SWAMPED next semester. I only have four classes, but three of them are studio classes and that means two hour blocks. I'll be able to fit the Comm 101 class in, but math is gonna have to wait for the summer so I can juggle the class that makes me want to shoot poor innocent creatures my favorite subject with a full time job.

I'm pretty sure I'll be okay. It's the only class I'd really have to focus on, so that's definitely a plus.

I'm still not exactly thrilled about it though.

Anyway, this just serves as a lesson learned a little too late for me to take advantage of. And that lesson would be this:

Just suck it up and do it already.

Gosh.

Mmmm Cookies

Okay internets,

This is ridiculous. I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to decide what to write. I keep clicking keys and then hitting control+a and delete. It seems, as some may say, that I feel as though I'm running out of blog fodder.

So I really don't know what to tell you all.

Except that at this particular moment in time, I'm sitting in Prince's dorm room alternating between staring at my screen and trying to figure out what Prince is drawing for his animation. Turns out the latter is his hand, which is amusing because he's drawing in sharpie. So there's a squeak of the sharpie moving down the page and then he thrusts his hand back into the air for two seconds examines his hand and then the sharpie reconnects with the page.

Oh ding! ding! ding! Fun fact:

I'm reading a book called "Our Stolen Future" and it's a novel I was supposed to read for my CORS 206 class Human Reproduction, Ethics and the Law. (It's a super easy class for non-majors and I LOVE IT!) Anyway, if you haven't read it, I suggest you do. It'll scare you, that's for sure.

And on a random note, I was just sitting here daydreaming for a second while my mind wandered off on its own. I was thinking about our dorm room doors and how bland they are. What could I do to dress mine up?

I'm an art major.

I'm crafty right?

Right?

Right.

So I was thinking I should utilize the space around my door as well. So I could use my gigantic paper and draw a window, maybe a plant box with some pretty flowers (or snow when winter comes).

It could be a fun project sometime when my homework count is zero and I find myself having nothing to do....hahaha.

Anyway that's really all I have for you. Oh, but you could check out this car:

The interior is what really
gets you.

The Cold Is Really Getting To Me

Today is a good day for a good book and hot chocolate followed by crashing in front of a toasty warm fireplace to some soft, ear pleasing music of your choice. Unfortunately the only books I read lately are text books and online texts, and I have no fireplace to speak of. The hot chocolate though I do have plenty of, but I haven't really been drinking it. Sad, I know. I'm also blessed with some cinnamon apple tea, but I've only made it once.

Good thing I have tons of blankets to curl up in on my bed when I do homework, take online tests and Facebook to my heart's content. Also good for using when Prince and I play my newly acquired GameCube. And really good for listening to Prince's Enrique music.

It's seriously cold in North Idaho. The leaves are all lovely golden yellows and reds. The air has that 'chill' indicative of the onset of winter. The sky has gone from bright blue to overcast. Insects are disappearing except for the occasional fly finding its way into my mother's house and driving her absolutely bonkers. The birds are starting to leave, too.

However, on my way home from my 12:30 science class, I passed by a rather tall evergreen tree where the top of the tree was covered with birds. And they were all talking to each other very loudly. It reminded me of being in a small aviary at a zoo or something, and I smirked when I thought it brought a new meaning to 'family tree.' Yeah, I'm corny like that.

On an unrelated subject, my hallway smells like a skunk. I'm not sure why though - unless someone is hoarding a pet they should not have in more ways than one, OR one of the football players has really bad gas. 

I mean,

who knows?

really.

Comments

Are like crack....feed my addiction.

Okay so I've heard that my blog wasn't letting people leave comments, so I switched back to my old template and hopefully that fixed things.

I don't really have any good blog fodder right now, so I suppose I'll just upload a picture for your viewing pleasure :)

This is both pictures for one half of the project I'm doing in Art 121. It's to take something pretty and make it ugly. Enjoy!