Currently I am in Wyoming for Thanksgiving, I got here yesterday. Today a guy who goes to my mom's church came to check her car radiator, because it's supposed to get into below-zero temps at night and he didn't want her car to get destroyed! He asked if I could help him, of course I said yes. The coolant that was in her car wasn't the right temperature rating for Wyoming (because how many people in the world have to have engine coolant that is rated into the negative 30/40 degrees?!?!), so we flushed and filled her radiator. After it had flushed, we realized we didn't have a funnel to pour the new fluid through.
So because I am super creative, I got my tall-sized Starbucks cup from this morning's pumpkin spice americano, cut a hole in the bottom, and we used that as a funnel. And because we had to do 50/50 coolant/water, we used my mom's used iced passion tea lemonade cup to measure the coolant and water. As we were doing this all I could think to myself is, "wow, I wish i had a video camera to record this and send it to Starbucks." I guarantee that has to be one of the top 10 creative uses for a Starbucks cup ever!! Maybe I could have gotten a free cup of coffee or something?! And to top it off, after we were done Jay said, "well you are pretty good, for a girl."
Haaaha, totally made my day. I have to thank Tim Verellen, who helped me fix my car many-a-time when I was in high school, and who taught me how to flush a radiator!
What a day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
so far so good...
Three blogs in the last two weeks. I am doing well i think!
In the last 4 days i have written 6 complete papers and/or reflections which amounts to about 20 pages of writing. Then I have also written 10 pages of my literature review for my capstone, which at this point is looking like it might be about 35-40 pages long... Currently the wind is howling so loud I can't really concentrate and the lights are flickering, so I have maybe taken that as a sign that I need to take a break from writing academic things and maybe write a blog.
A few weeks ago I thought that if I wrote a to-do list of everything I had to do for the rest of the quarter it would help alleviate the stress. On the contrary, after finishing writing down an 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper full of tasks with little check boxes, I felt super overwhelmed. How was I possibly going to finish it all? Well I buckled down and got to work and last weekend I wrote out a whole new to-do list and took off everything I have done... Right now as of this moment my "to-do" list between now and December 10th has only 9 items on it, which is starting to make me feel like there is a dim light at the end of the tunnel.
I will be in Wyoming in less than 6 days (in 2 hours it will be 5 days... but who is counting?!)! I am suuuper excited, and in between now and going there I will get to cross another 2 (maybe 3!) things off of my list.
Right now I am sipping on some hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps and many many marshmallows! This is one of my favorite fall/holiday drinks. Gotta love a hint of peppermint and warm feeling in your tummy. mmmm... I probably should stop writing this blog and get back to writing about PTSD experiences of women who have experienced trauma.
In the last 4 days i have written 6 complete papers and/or reflections which amounts to about 20 pages of writing. Then I have also written 10 pages of my literature review for my capstone, which at this point is looking like it might be about 35-40 pages long... Currently the wind is howling so loud I can't really concentrate and the lights are flickering, so I have maybe taken that as a sign that I need to take a break from writing academic things and maybe write a blog.
A few weeks ago I thought that if I wrote a to-do list of everything I had to do for the rest of the quarter it would help alleviate the stress. On the contrary, after finishing writing down an 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper full of tasks with little check boxes, I felt super overwhelmed. How was I possibly going to finish it all? Well I buckled down and got to work and last weekend I wrote out a whole new to-do list and took off everything I have done... Right now as of this moment my "to-do" list between now and December 10th has only 9 items on it, which is starting to make me feel like there is a dim light at the end of the tunnel.
I will be in Wyoming in less than 6 days (in 2 hours it will be 5 days... but who is counting?!)! I am suuuper excited, and in between now and going there I will get to cross another 2 (maybe 3!) things off of my list.
Right now I am sipping on some hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps and many many marshmallows! This is one of my favorite fall/holiday drinks. Gotta love a hint of peppermint and warm feeling in your tummy. mmmm... I probably should stop writing this blog and get back to writing about PTSD experiences of women who have experienced trauma.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
what's the antonym of superficial?
Some have accused me of being a bit superficial in my previous post. After a two-month hiatus from blogging, I may have neglected a few details of things that have happened in the previous months. However, it seemed easier to blog about my love of soy pumpkin spice lattes than to attempt to compose a blog that accurately portrayed the ups and downs and ups of the previous months. I am going to try and remedy that a little bit in this blog, however I am not going to use the internet as a toilet for my "life vomit" (don't you love that analogy?!).
I have new favorite saying: "we plan, God laughs." Most of you know I was quite upset about my mom's move to Wyoming. In my head it was completely irrational and crazy and I had no idea how she could just pick up and move to a state so far away. Most of you know I am a pretty (some might say severely) independent person, but there was something about having her here at least within driving distance, "just in case" (or J.I.C., one of my life mottos), that was comforting. Wyoming seemed crazy. Driving there is an 18 hour adventure over at least 4 mountain ranges. Flying there is expensive. My entire life was changing before my eyes. Gone was the easy access to Mom, when I needed a bit of home. Forever changed were family holidays and our many Cato traditions that surround them. What if I met someone, when would he meet my Mom? What if I had a life crisis, how would she get here? Or how would I get there? In my mind this was devastating and overwhelming and I just couldn't handle it. I refused to see how this could be a part of any plan that God could possibly have up his sleeve. God wouldn't do something this crazy, or ask us to take this big of a leap of faith.
Mom moved to Wyoming, and summer passed, and in fact it was a great summer! I spent my time riding tons of horses and going to tons of horse shows. I won a High Point at a jumping show in August and it was great! Then the end of August rolled around, and summer came to a close. I was headed for my first visit to Wyoming and to see Mom since she'd moved. I hate to admit this, but I had knots in my stomach for days before going. Every fiber of my being didn't want to go; I felt a gravitational pull to not going. Even the morning my flight departed, driving to Barb's at 4:30am, I desperately wanted to turn my car around and crawl back into bed where I was safe and I could ignore the fact that Wyoming existed. During my layover in Salt Lake a brief thought entered my head, "what if i just didn't get on the plane?"
Well I did get on the plane, and spent my first few days in Wyoming sulking and being immature. Maybe if I had a miserable time it would all just go away. Then my third day in Wyoming my mom invited her landlord (a.k.a. Chris) over for dinner. And we hit it off, and long-story short, spent the rest of my time in Wyoming hanging out and started the beginnings of a long-distance relationship. He came out to visit me in mid-October for 5 days, which was wonderful! I didn't expect to have fun in Wyoming, let alone meet someone that I connected with at all.
Now, it wasn't meeting Chris that made me change my perspective on Wyoming. I think it was God's big huge way of showing me that I don't have any control! He's made the plans, he's the author, and we are just the pawns in his big chess game of life. Despite my doubt and faithlessness God gave me a blessing that I didn't deserve. This is where the "we plan, God laughs" saying comes into play... i have learned in the last two months or so that doubt and worry are pointless, however we spent much too much time dwelling on our doubt. We are lucky to have a heavenely Father that loves us and has orchestrated a plan for our lives. Not saying that this plan doesn't involve heartbreak and sadness and change. Those are the times that make us stronger and teach us that the only real way to live is to rely on God 100%. We have to trust Him with everything, not just the parts of our life that we are willing to give away to his control.
Now i'm not saying a long-distance relationship is easy, because it isn't. It is super tough at times, because I miss Chris a whole heck of a lot, and seeing him on Skype sometimes just isn't enough. However I have to keep reminding myself that I am immensely blessed. All we have is right now and sometimes it's easiest to take one day at a time (and take lots of deep breaths, and when in doubt have another cup of coffee!)
I hope this blog satisfies those of you who complained about my last post. Hopefully it wasn't too much to post online and no one is offended or angry at things I have said (Mom... this means you!). But it's all the truth, and I didn't mince any words.
Maybe my next post will be a little less verbose.... :-)
I have new favorite saying: "we plan, God laughs." Most of you know I was quite upset about my mom's move to Wyoming. In my head it was completely irrational and crazy and I had no idea how she could just pick up and move to a state so far away. Most of you know I am a pretty (some might say severely) independent person, but there was something about having her here at least within driving distance, "just in case" (or J.I.C., one of my life mottos), that was comforting. Wyoming seemed crazy. Driving there is an 18 hour adventure over at least 4 mountain ranges. Flying there is expensive. My entire life was changing before my eyes. Gone was the easy access to Mom, when I needed a bit of home. Forever changed were family holidays and our many Cato traditions that surround them. What if I met someone, when would he meet my Mom? What if I had a life crisis, how would she get here? Or how would I get there? In my mind this was devastating and overwhelming and I just couldn't handle it. I refused to see how this could be a part of any plan that God could possibly have up his sleeve. God wouldn't do something this crazy, or ask us to take this big of a leap of faith.
Mom moved to Wyoming, and summer passed, and in fact it was a great summer! I spent my time riding tons of horses and going to tons of horse shows. I won a High Point at a jumping show in August and it was great! Then the end of August rolled around, and summer came to a close. I was headed for my first visit to Wyoming and to see Mom since she'd moved. I hate to admit this, but I had knots in my stomach for days before going. Every fiber of my being didn't want to go; I felt a gravitational pull to not going. Even the morning my flight departed, driving to Barb's at 4:30am, I desperately wanted to turn my car around and crawl back into bed where I was safe and I could ignore the fact that Wyoming existed. During my layover in Salt Lake a brief thought entered my head, "what if i just didn't get on the plane?"
Well I did get on the plane, and spent my first few days in Wyoming sulking and being immature. Maybe if I had a miserable time it would all just go away. Then my third day in Wyoming my mom invited her landlord (a.k.a. Chris) over for dinner. And we hit it off, and long-story short, spent the rest of my time in Wyoming hanging out and started the beginnings of a long-distance relationship. He came out to visit me in mid-October for 5 days, which was wonderful! I didn't expect to have fun in Wyoming, let alone meet someone that I connected with at all.
Now, it wasn't meeting Chris that made me change my perspective on Wyoming. I think it was God's big huge way of showing me that I don't have any control! He's made the plans, he's the author, and we are just the pawns in his big chess game of life. Despite my doubt and faithlessness God gave me a blessing that I didn't deserve. This is where the "we plan, God laughs" saying comes into play... i have learned in the last two months or so that doubt and worry are pointless, however we spent much too much time dwelling on our doubt. We are lucky to have a heavenely Father that loves us and has orchestrated a plan for our lives. Not saying that this plan doesn't involve heartbreak and sadness and change. Those are the times that make us stronger and teach us that the only real way to live is to rely on God 100%. We have to trust Him with everything, not just the parts of our life that we are willing to give away to his control.
Now i'm not saying a long-distance relationship is easy, because it isn't. It is super tough at times, because I miss Chris a whole heck of a lot, and seeing him on Skype sometimes just isn't enough. However I have to keep reminding myself that I am immensely blessed. All we have is right now and sometimes it's easiest to take one day at a time (and take lots of deep breaths, and when in doubt have another cup of coffee!)
I hope this blog satisfies those of you who complained about my last post. Hopefully it wasn't too much to post online and no one is offended or angry at things I have said (Mom... this means you!). But it's all the truth, and I didn't mince any words.
Maybe my next post will be a little less verbose.... :-)
Saturday, November 6, 2010
i love fall
It's been far too long since my last post. So much has happened, but I don't have time to go into immense details. However I must say that I love fall! Here in Washington we had a pretty amazing fall, the weather was generally very sunny and wonderful, the trees were more GORGEOUS than i've seen in years. Now it's kind of rainy again, but Halloween is over and now just under 3 weeks until Thanksgiving, and we know what that means.....
STARBUCKS HOLIDAY CUPS!
And to be more specific, my favorite holiday coffee drink. Now most of you know I am your standard drip coffee that I make at home or Americano kind of girl. Gotta save your pocketbook. But when Pumpkin Spice comes out, I am so there. Today before class (yuck, school on Saturdays), I went down to Starbucks to get me a cup of heaven, which specifically means a "triple grande soy pumpkin spice latte with no whip." Which to you non-coffee lovers (i.e. fanatics) means-- soy milk with 3 shots of coffee and pumpkin spice syrup. You wouldn't think it would be that expensive. When the barista told me how much it was I literally almost threw up. I am ashamed to post on the internet that I spent $5.36 on that latte today. And it was worth every cent, it was soooo heavenly. But HOLY COW! Let's just say I might get to induldge in one or two more of those this holiday season but that is it. Wow. Who in their right mind spends that much on coffee on a daily basis? Or even several times a week...?!
In other news, two weeks from tomorrow I am headed to Casper for Thanksgiving break. I am super super excited, these next two weeks cannot pass soon enough. However I have a ridiculous amount of things to accomplish before I get to go, which is stressing me out just a bit. I made a list of everything I have to do before the end of this quarter, which I thought would alleviate the stress a bit.. but no. It just laid it all out there for me, black and white, a full page full of tiny check boxes of all the work I must get done in the next 4 weeks.
I can't believe I was gone from blogging for almost 2 months. Note to self... don't let that happen again!
STARBUCKS HOLIDAY CUPS!
And to be more specific, my favorite holiday coffee drink. Now most of you know I am your standard drip coffee that I make at home or Americano kind of girl. Gotta save your pocketbook. But when Pumpkin Spice comes out, I am so there. Today before class (yuck, school on Saturdays), I went down to Starbucks to get me a cup of heaven, which specifically means a "triple grande soy pumpkin spice latte with no whip." Which to you non-coffee lovers (i.e. fanatics) means-- soy milk with 3 shots of coffee and pumpkin spice syrup. You wouldn't think it would be that expensive. When the barista told me how much it was I literally almost threw up. I am ashamed to post on the internet that I spent $5.36 on that latte today. And it was worth every cent, it was soooo heavenly. But HOLY COW! Let's just say I might get to induldge in one or two more of those this holiday season but that is it. Wow. Who in their right mind spends that much on coffee on a daily basis? Or even several times a week...?!
In other news, two weeks from tomorrow I am headed to Casper for Thanksgiving break. I am super super excited, these next two weeks cannot pass soon enough. However I have a ridiculous amount of things to accomplish before I get to go, which is stressing me out just a bit. I made a list of everything I have to do before the end of this quarter, which I thought would alleviate the stress a bit.. but no. It just laid it all out there for me, black and white, a full page full of tiny check boxes of all the work I must get done in the next 4 weeks.
I can't believe I was gone from blogging for almost 2 months. Note to self... don't let that happen again!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
lol moment of the day
This morning before church I went to Bertolinos (per usual) for coffee, and I was early (not usual). So I decided to sit a few minutes. At the table in front of me were two people who I assumed to be a married couple, they looked to be in their late 50s or 60s. They were sitting at opposite ends of the table, and this was the conversation I overheard.
man: had been saying something about a new bmw car
woman: "i don't care and won't pay attention" (looks out the window)
man: "no need to get nasty"
woman: "well shut up"
man: "I guess i will just stop trying to make conversation with you."
LOL. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...
man: had been saying something about a new bmw car
woman: "i don't care and won't pay attention" (looks out the window)
man: "no need to get nasty"
woman: "well shut up"
man: "I guess i will just stop trying to make conversation with you."
LOL. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...
Monday, July 19, 2010
crazyfastupdate
So I haven't blogged in awhile... life has been insane. Here are some things that have happened since I last blogged:
- summer officially started after 2 months straight of rain... we had a heat wave where it was 95 for several days. now its back in he 70s. the weather is WEIRD...
- my tires are bald. seriously bald. like smooth as a baby's bottom. i thought i could wait to get new ones until summer was over but nope. i am getting them on thursday and am QUITE excited to not be terrified every time i go over a bump.
- did i mention my mom now lives in Wyoming? Casper, to be specific. Yep, for real.
- i went to Spokane for a wedding and it was LOVELY to see many of my wonderful college friends and get to be in Spokane for a few days. brought back lots of memories, and i am so grateful and blessed i got to be surrounded by amazing friends in college.
- rachel johnson is awesome. she was there during my intense emotional breakdown about the whole Wyoming thing, which took place on the lovely I-90... yep, another awesome moment. thank god for rachel!
- i am doing Arts Camp at church again this summer. the first week of August, the 2nd through the 6th in the mornings (8am to 1pm), and i am looking for volunteers. YOU CAN DO IT!
- i went camping last weekend with a friend from church and her 3 year old son and 5 year old daughter. look for a much more in-depth blog about that experience in the near future!
that's it for now!!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
a "really?!" moment of the day
As a tribute to my fave part of SNL, here is my own, "Really?!" moment.
This morning on my way home from getting groceries I saw a woman driving a truck with a dog on her lap (not small, think black lab sized), cell phone in one hand and coffee in the other.
REALLY?! Let's be a little smarter here...
This morning on my way home from getting groceries I saw a woman driving a truck with a dog on her lap (not small, think black lab sized), cell phone in one hand and coffee in the other.
REALLY?! Let's be a little smarter here...
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