IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS | NOVEMBER 25, 2007

This is a photo of the street I work on downtown. Even though the photo is poorly composed and blurry (hey, we can’t all be bobbi, can we?), I hope you can still make out the trees in the background - beautifully decorated in white holiday lights.

I am no grinch. I love the holidays. I love spending time with friends and family. I love holiday music and movies. I love baking too much food and eating too much food. I love exchanging gift, playing games, staying up too late and laughing too hard.

But this year I haven’t gotten into it. Thanksgiving didn’t feel like Thanksgiving (even though I had a blast). Christmas doesn’t feel like it is a month away. I have made holiday gift lists and purchased holiday cards to send… but I feel like I am going through all the actions without the emotion.

Luckily, I get to see the beautiful holiday lights in downtown Chicago five days a week. Even when I am leaving work at what feels like a too late hour, they still bring a smile to my face.

PICK YOUR BATTLES WISELY | NOVEMBER 24, 2007

I consider myself a feminist, but I think this is a bit over the top:

(Isn’t the caption under the photo a bit lame? I took this article from the Chicago Sun-Times… I suppose I should just be grateful they included an article about something happening outside of the US!)

FRIDAY QUESTION #30 | NOVEMBER 23, 2007

Are you a “Black Friday” bargain shopper / what is your preferred method for buying gifts?

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and unofficially the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The day was originally called “Black Friday” because of the heavy traffic in stores, but it also refers to the beginning of the period when retailers are “in the black” (making a profit). Most stores open very early - as early as 5am - and offer “doorbuster” deals to lure people into their store.

I’ll admit that I’ve done this shopping a few times with my mom. When I was in middle school, we would wake up at 4:30 and rush to the stores to buy the “special” deals. Of course, I didn’t actually have any money, so I was just along for the ride - for the crazy, crazy ride of mostly middle-aged women pushing and screaming to get the last Tickle Me Elmo.

When I was in high school I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so I didn’t do it anymore. Maybe my younger sister and mother still went. I am not sure.

Now, I think it is CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY. One of the malls near our house opened at midnight last night, to have special “doorbuster” deals between midnight and 5am! The last thing I was thinking about last night was shopping, I just wanted to clean my kitchen and go to bed! I started getting electronic ads for today’s sales in the beginning of the week - the ads told me to “create my shopping list early” so I knew what to look for on Friday.

I think I will do most of this year’s shopping in stores, but try to avoid these crazy shopping days. I just don’t have the patience for it!

(Ironically, my mother called me while I was writing this - she was out shopping and wanted to ask me what kind of underwear I like… ha ha ha!)

THANKSGIVING DAY FORMULA | NOVEMBER 22, 2007

When you are applying whipped cream to your pumpkin pie today, please remember the correct ratio of equal parts whipped cream to equal parts pumpkin pie.

Incorrect Application of Whipped Cream:

Correct Application of Whipped Cream:

Ideally, the whipped cream should be spilling of the pie and onto your plate. In fact, you probably shouldn’t even be able to see the pie under all the whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving!

IN CASE YOU LIVE UNDER A ROCK | NOVEMBER 21, 2007

Surprise surprise… I am getting tired of hearing/reading about Drew Peterson, his missing wife, his deceased wife, his other two wives, and whether or not he has killed any of them.

In case you are unfamiliar with the story, Drew Peterson is a police sergeant living in a Chicago suburb. His fourth wife - Stacy, younger than him by 30 years - disappeared October 30th and still hasn’t been found. His third wife was found dead in a dry bathtub in 2004. His second wife says he was abusive and told her he could “kill her and make it look like an accident,” but his first wife says “he wasn’t controlling.” He cheated on wives 1-3.

While we were in Aruba I thought about this story and hoped it would be “solved” before we returned, but I only found out that it has gone global. It seems like the media coverage is spinning out of control. It kind of makes me feel sick to read about it everyday.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about it. What’s yours?

DATA'S HOUSE | NOVEMBER 20, 2007

Data is the only one who is happy to be back home.

Just kidding…

… he’s not happy to be back home either!

Ha ha, that’s a joke. Data is happy to be back home, and the only reason I was happy to come home was to see him.

Have you ever had to leave your pet at the kennel for more than a few days? This was my first time doing so. After I gave him his last hug I tried not to look at him while I walked out to the car. Then I cried a little bit in the car on the way home. I hope Steven didn’t hear me sniffling.

We had to drop him off the night before our flight departure and pick him up the day after our flight arrival. The house felt so empty without him here! I know people who don’t like cats will think that is dumb, but it really did feel lonely with only me and Steven in the house. I suppose we have grown used to Data’s companionship (i.e. constant ruckus and begging for food).

Let’s say it together now - “Awwwwww…” gag gag gag!

FUELING MY WANDERLUST | NOVEMBER 19, 2007

Does a love for travel and a love for maps go together hand in hand?

I could waste so much time looking at maps - political maps, geographical maps, even fictional maps. Something about them fascinates me. It’s kind of surprising, because I remember finding Geography Class so boring in high school. Maybe it means more to me now that I actually have money to travel?

Last December, I bought Steven a map of the world for his birthday. We finally got around to getting a frame made for it last month, and hanging it in our office this morning. I have been really excited to put my little “travel pins” on the map. Based on the image below though, I think I may have exhausted Italy! Any suggestions for my next trip?

 

ARUBA | NOVEMBER 18, 2007

I'm going to sneak in and post some photos from our Aruba trip before Steven and I begin our very busy day of unpacking, washing clothes, preparing for Thursday's Thanksgiving feast, shopping, and finally... picking up Data from the Kitty Resort!

A couple of things first though:

1. Thanks to Christina, who blogged while I was gone! I second kapgar in thinking she should start her own blog. Thanksgiving break is the perfect time to get it all set up! I really enjoyed reading all of her posts and am happy I asked her to write here. Thanks again sister!

2. It was really weird for me to take an "actual vacation." Sure, I have been away, traveling for a week before, but usually my days are jam packed with sightseeing and I don't get a break. In Aruba, we were L-A-Z-Y. We slept in, meandered over to the beach, ate late lunches and big dinners, sometimes didn't even wear a watch... it felt strange at first, but now I can say I really enjoyed it! I need to take more relaxing vacations like this, instead of my usual chock full travel schedule.

And I won't even get started on how weird it was not to blog while I was there!

And now onto the photos, in a VERY LONG extended entry...

Our hotel

The Beach

Scuba Diving

One of the things we did, but I don't have any pictures of, is scuba diving. We took a scuba diving course in a pool, then they let us dive into the sea. We dove to a ship wreck that was 25 feet under the water. I was really scared in the pool - I thought I was going to lose my mouth piece and drown - but I ended up really enjoying it when we were in the actual sea!

Island Tour

Steven and I went on a Land Rover Caravan tour of the east side of the island. When we signed up for it, the agent told us to "bring our driver's license" because we would have the opportunity to drive if we want to. Steven and I were both thinking that each Land Rover would a tour guide in it and that they would ask us if we wanted to drive.

Well, it turned out that there were 6 Land Rovers, and only one tour guide, so a tourist was always driving each of the other 5 Land Rovers. And only 15% (maybe less?) of the tour was on paved roads! At first we were just driving on dirt roads and through huge mud puddles, but then it got really serious - we were driving on rocks at steep inclines!

Steven ended up driving most of it because the other people in our Land Rover were too nervous to drive. One girl actually started hyperventilating at the end of the trip. Ha ha ha. I guess off-roading is not for everyone. All of the passengers told Steven they were happy he drove and thought he did a good job!

The first site we stopped at - the Alto Vista Chapel. It is a pilgrimage church out in the middle of nowhere.

This is another site we were driving to - the Natural Bridge.

This is the other side of the Natural Bridge - part of it has fallen!

Another "natural bridge," though not as large.

Our tour guide was quite the comedian. He kept making jokes about his mother-in-law, and telling us that later on in the trip he would show us the solution to keeping your mother-in-law away. The solution is this - to build a fence made of cacti in front of your house!

Sunset Sailboat

We took a sunset sailboat tour on the west side of the island (which is much calmer than the east side). We really enjoyed watching the crew put the sails up and seeing the sun set over the Caribbean Sea.

Steven's "Vogue" model shot.

Jeep Tour

We had so much fun doing the Land Rover tour that we rented a Jeep to do a bit of exploring on our own.

What do you think of our hats?

We stopped to explore some caves.

These black specs are bats in the cave! You can see one flying near the right side of the photo.

The sand dunes -

In this photo you can see the hilly roads we had to drive on!

Now I know why there were so many signs saying "Do not drive in the sand"!

The Animals in Aruba

If you made it this far - congratulations! I feel like I left out a lot about the trip, so let me know if you have any questions!

FARWELL! | NOVEMBER 17, 2007

This is my last post! I enjoyed trying to think of interesting things to say, and hope that I didn’t scare anyone away from ilaxSTUDIO.com! Thank you everyone for your comments and encouragement!!

One last thing, go Panthers! I go to the University of Northern Iowa, and we just finished our football season 11-0! Hopefully we do just as well in the playoffs!

Kim, it will be good to have you back! I’ve missed talking to you!!

Adios amigos!

FRIDAY QUESTION #29 | NOVEMBER 16, 2007

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Mine is undoubtedly mashed potatoes. Yum! I could eat a whole plate full. My favorite is when they have chunks of potato in them that didn’t get squashed.

Thanksgiving break started for me at 2pm. I am very thankful for a week off of school, but will miss all of my friends that are going home!

ACQUANTANCES | NOVEMBER 14, 2007

Is it normal to not want to associate yourself with the people you went to high school with after graduation? Not all of them of course, I have many good friends that I still talk to on a regular basis. But there’s the ones that you kind of knew. The ones you kind of talked to, but not really. They were just always there? Well I chose to go to a college extremely close to my hometown, figuring it would be close enough to be near my family, but far enough to get away… and all those people, the ones I thought I was getting away from, they’re still here! Sometimes I feel like I’m on my own and in a new world, and then they bring me down. This post may seem bitter, but its just something I’ve been realizing lately!

I’m not sure what else to say, my mind is blank! An update on Kim, she is having lots of fun in Aruba! Doing lots of exciting things that I’m sure she will blog about when she gets back. She is also sneaking online a LOT. KIMBERLY, ENJOY YOUR HONEYMOON AND GET OFF THE INTERNET!

Thanks for reading. I promise more interesting posts are on their way!

 

UNDECIDED | NOVEMBER 13, 2007

Undecided is my curse. I am actually considered a “deciding” major, just because it sounds more uplifting than undecided. I know I am just a college freshman and I have “plenty of time” to figure out what I want to do, but wouldn’t it be so convenient if I could just know now?! I try to look into things I am interested in, but there are just too many! Hotel management, real estate, interior design or even as broad as art or clothing design. I was really interested in majoring in real estate, until I was discouraged from an adviser because he thought it would be too much math for me. So frustrating!!
Any advice on how to decide? Did you change your major in college? I just need some encouragement!

Hopefully all of my friends with majors will change their minds. That would make me feel better, hahaha.

Thanks for reading

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF... | NOVEMBER 12, 2007

Hello everyone! This is Kim’s little sister Christina. I am excited to take control of the blog for the next 6 days while Kim is on a much deserved honeymoon in Aruba. I hope I am able to keep my posts mildly interesting, but bare with me if they aren’t, I’ve never blogged before!!

Thanks for reading! Check back tomorrow for a more thought-out post!

TE AWORO | NOVEMBER 10, 2007

For the next week, I will be spending the majority of my time here -

- which doesn't appear to have an outlet for my laptop! I will probably sign in from time to time, but I have handed the reign of ilaxSTUDIO.com over to my sister, Christina. She will be posting while I am gone!

I will miss you all, and be eager to tell you about my trip when I return!

(Extra credit to the first person who can tell me what "te aworo" means!)

FRIDAY QUESTION #28 | NOVEMBER 9, 2007

What was your favorite thing to pretend when you were a young child?

Oh, it's so embarrassing, but I must share it, because that's what I do here - share embarrassing secrets and stories.

I used to pretend that I had an identical twin sister. But I didn't talk to her like she was an "invisible friend," because I pretended that she lived in Florida, and that when she came to visit Iowa, I would go stay in Florida in her place. So she sort of “pretend existed” in my mind.

Seems innocent, right? Well, I told one of my friends that I really did have a twin sister who lived in Florida (this was in grade school by the way). And I would pretend that I was the other twin sister from time to time. My friend would say, "Kim?" and I would say, "No, I'm Kim's twin sister," and be all snotty about it.

That friend still thinks I have a twin sister.

Just kidding!

THIS IS ME CHAINED TO MY DESK AT WORK | NOVEMBER 8, 2007

Steven and I planned our honeymoon for the week before Thanksgiving, thinking we were being thoughtful by not taking it between Thanksgiving and New Year's when everyone else normally takes time off.

But it turns out my office has a ton of work to do and not enough people to do it. And I am one of the only people with clearance for some our government jobs. And I am going to be gone for a week. Oops.

I love being super busy at work. The time just flies by, and you feel like you have gotten so much done at the end of the day because you can't remember the last time you left your desk. This is what my last few weeks have been like. It has really made the wait for the honeymoon not feel like a wait at all.

And I know I will be just as busy when I get back, making the wait for the holidays and other fun festivities fly by as well. Yay.

"A' AS IN ANNOYING | NOVEMBER 7, 2007

A while ago, I was complaining to Steven about some screaming children that were on the morning train ride. He asked, "why would children even be on a train that early in the morning?"

I don't know. School? Daycare? To drive the other riders nuts?

Lately, a woman has been getting on the morning train with two toddlers and two middle-school aged children. They only ride for a few stops, but her younger children scream and yell the entire time.

She continually yells at them, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" while they continually scream and disturb everyone on the train. She sure does get a lot of dirty looks.

Yesterday, she decided she needed to make a phone call and yell at her kids to shut up, all while riding the train.

She was calling about a phone account. They must have asked for her name, and she yells, "JULIE! J-U-L-I-E! 'J' as in..." long pause here, '... John? Yeah, 'J' as in John." Er...

How about "J" as in jacka$$? Or "J" as in jerk? Or, "J" as in, just quit riding the train because you're driving everyone nuts? (yeah, that last one didn't exactly work).

I need a vacation.

NO SURPRISE THERE | NOVEMBER 6, 2007

Coincidentally, one of my coworkers is from the same Iowa hometown as me. We are not close in age, and didn't know each other previously, but we still share our "hometown" stories and news (okay, and jokes).

Our recent gossip has been over an article which states that Iowa has one of the nation's lowest dropout rates in the country, but that Waterloo's East High School - the high school I went to - has one of the highest in Iowa.

It has been labeled a "dropout factory" - a high school were no more than 60 percent of the students who start as freshman make it to their senior year.

I'm not surprised. I think my freshman class started out with 400+ students and dwindled down to 250 or less by graduation. 

Sometimes I think back to high school and wonder why I hated it so much. I was very involved (orchestra, theater, soccer, various other dorky activities) and an overachiever in my classes, but I didn't like many of my classmates and remember being miserable most of the time.

Then I see statistics like this and remember that most of my classmates wanted to act like punks and harass the teachers, or act like whiny brats and have their mothers call and harass the teachers... or they wanted to harass their fellow students... the point is, not many people took school seriously. I got a sh*tty education and had a sh*tty time. 

Hey, at least it's over, and my two younger siblings made it through. There's no reason for it to be on my mind anymore.

FULLY HYDRATED | NOVEMBER 5, 2007

A glass of water infiltrated my laptop yesterday. Luckily, I am married to the Lord of All Things Electronic and he has given the laptop a full diagnostic, with a prediction for a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, invasive surgery was required, and my laptop is still under anesthesia with its innards spread out around it.

I hate when crap like this happens. But what’s the point of getting upset? Steven has another laptop I can use… with a smaller screen, internet explorer, no Adobe CS3… yeah, life’s tough! I’m spoiled, I know.

FILED UNDER "C" FOR CAT | NOVEMBER 4, 2007

I think it's safe to say that Data approves of the new filing cabinet/big cat toy.

ONLY 298 PAYMENTS LEFT! | NOVEMBER 3, 2007

Seriously. How many years is that?

I mailed my first student loan payment today. Luckily, I am an optimist, and imagine I will be paying more than my minimum payment before long...

FRIDAY QUESTION #27 | NOVEMBER 2, 2007

A little history: I started "Friday Questions" back in April of this year. I often found myself without much time to blog on Fridays and thought a good way to give myself a break and to learn more about my readers would be to ask a random question. I supply my answer in the post, and you are welcome to leave yours in the comments section.

I really enjoy reading your answers... as well as all your comments on other posts, so please don't be shy. I won't call out any names here - wink wink!

Without further ado:

If you could own one original work of art, what would you choose?

For me, it would be Van Gogh's Starry Night. For some reason, I am just drawn to this painting! It resides at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City - and I have never even seen it! Someday... someday... maybe I can satisfy myself with a print until then!

I LOVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION | NOVEMBER 1, 2007

I usually don't let idiot drivers upset me. I don't drive enough to warrant it, and if I am in the car for a long enough time I'm with Steven - and one of us has to remain calm. Of course, I do exercise a well versed collection of cuss words (thanks Dad!) while driving, but I rarely feel that deep-within urge to run someone off the road.

So I was surprised yesterday when I found myself deliberately trying to hit someone else's car. I was prepared to go straight at a red light and the driver across the road had their turn signal on to turn left (in front of me). The only other car was behind me. It was 5:30 a.m.! Imagine my surprise when the other driver turned left in front of me, cutting me off before I went straight... hmm... is that how it works now? The cars turning at a stop light get to go first? There are no left-turn signals at this light and I could tell this person was going to do this so I followed my natural instinct to step on the gas and try to run them off the road. Oops.

I continued driving to the train station and decided to let it pass and rock out to AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." Another card was behind me as I drove up to the train station parking lot. When I turned into the parking lot, the other car disappeared. "Hmm... where did they go?"

Out of the blue, the other car came cutting across the parking lot (I didn't see them coming because of the other parked cars), just in time to cut me off and pull into the parking spot I was about to take. This idiot actually drove through the grass and into the parking lot just to do this... and like I said, it was 5:30 in the morning! There were at least 30 other spots available!

Ugh. The train station is only a five-minute drive from my house and all this happens? No wonder Steven's hour+ commute makes him so angry sometimes.

I know I am not a perfect (gentle) driver, but I at least follow the GD rules!