365: Draw Some

My sisters and I started playing a few different app-based games a while back. I've added a few other friends here and there but it's really fun to play with them because we have the same context for jokes and family inside info. I may not be Van Gogh, but I can draw some pretty funny things! This picture was modeled after my brother-in-law. I cracked myself all the hell up over it. Fun way to spend some alternative quality time with my sisters (and others!) each day.

365: Motivation

22 days until we leave for Africa.

SO MUCH WORK TO DO BEFORE THEN!

Luckily it was a gorgeous day and I pulled the hammock out of hibernation so I could enjoy the day, spend time with my babe AND get work done. Not too shabby!

365: Spyder & Scarlett

These were our get-ups for the white trash party (yes we know that's classist and not pc--it wasn't our party and we just rolled with it). Ange was also known as Spyder & I went by Scarlett. We carried ketchup and mustard bottles for our beverage containers. All together we spent about $25 putting our outfits together. It's ok to be jealous. We know we're hot.

365: Go Big or Go Home

One of my/our good friends texted me this morning to see if Ange and I wanted to have drinks this evening. Well drinks turned into more drinks turned into dinner and long (hilarious) conversations. We' finished our second pitcher of margaritas but had more stories to tell and since I wasn't driving I got one final drink. Grande margarita! Good times with a good friend. Olé!

365: All in a Day's Work

Today I walked into the HCSV office to find Ms. Tina here manhandling Bubba. Who's Bubba? He's our Department Mascot. He has a torso, head and arms--they just were waiting in the wagon until Bubba's body got put back on his stand. Bubba dresses up in all sorts or gear all year round. He's got a graduation outfit (that he's wearing now), a Santa Suit for Christmas, some casual Wildcat gear for non-holiday/celebration time. And of course he has his g-string. Since he gets moved around so much and is always changing clothes someone thought it would be a good idea if we didn't let him hang in the breeze all the time. And obvs a g-string is the best choice. The things you have to deal with if you are housed in our department! (And I'm talking about both Bubba and Tina)

365: Amazeballs

So first, a small rant. I get REALLY sick of hearing about how social media and Facebook in particular is causing the world to be more superficial and weakening "real friendships." These articles and comments in my experience come from two places:

1. Older people who don't actually understand technology all that well or are for some reason stuck in the "good old days" mentality (that doesn't actually exist) pre-technology. Basically, natural-born Luddites who resist innovation "cuz it's soooo scurry."

2. Hipsters who like to eschew technology because it's the cool anti-conformist thing to do. Basically, Luddites by choice because "I'm so much better than you because I don't participate in social media."

To which I call BULLSHIT.

I have several Facebook friends that I have become BETTER friends with (by many measures) because of Facebook. People that I know from various places in my past but if not for Facebook would be a distant memory because I'm probably not going to pick up the phone and chat with them or make plans to go see them. But because of Facebook they are people that I actually think about in more than a reminiscing way because we've built a connection via the web that wouldn't have been there without it.

And occasionally these people do astounding things that both amazes me AND fuels my disgust for the articles and comments that I mentioned above.

I got a quick Facebook message the other day from a Facebook friend that she'd popped a package in mail that contained some donation items that I could take with us on our upcoming African trip. Out of the blue. This person is a former grad student friend of mine, that again, I enjoy her and always thought she was great while in grad school, but we were never BFFs and OMG I'm going to miss you so much let's get matching tattoos! But through Facebook we have gotten to be much better friends than we have ever been "in real life."

Now this is NOT a diss to my "real life friends" (e.g. the people I do call on the phone on occasion, I do hang out with, people I do visit on vacay) because they are awesome and amazing as well, but how many of them have ever sent me a care package of donations without any prompting whatsoever? How can someone say that Natalie isn't a "real friend?" Get out of here with that nonsense. Friends come in a variety of formats and don't give me any speech about the quality of your friendships. Cause ALL of my friends rock. No matter how little I see them or how we conduct our friendship.

Rant aside, how cute is their return address stamp??? I love it!

And seriously, Natalie sent me BBQ Kettle Chips! Swoon! (We've had a mutual asynchronous conversation going on about the amazingness of Kettle chips for the past couple of weeks--that little package right there should be a major indicator of friendship status right there).

Anyway, longest 365 post yet right? But I just needed to put that out there. You're the bomb Natalie (& Tyler!) and you are definitely someone I count as a friend.

365: Obsessed

Confession: I am obsessed with Deadliest Catch.

I have NO idea why.

The show and I have exactly nothing in common. I'm a vegetarian and I abhor the continued pillaging of our seas. They're crab fisherman. They're all blue collar roughneck dudes. And clearly that is about as far from my life as you can get. The show reinforces a ton of gender stereotypes that I generally (fiercely) resist. I can't even fathom worse working conditions. All of the guys on the show are hardcore thrill seekers/risk takers. I've been terrified of a dead bat for two days. I really have no idea what the hook is for me. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

365: Riding the Bus!

'm ahead of schedule in my M/W Human Sexuality class so we got out of class earlier than usual. I had time to kill and it was a beautiful day so as I strolled along towards Stonewall to see my babe I saw the bus stop and thought "Hmm...I haven't rode the bus since I moved to Chico maybe I should do that?" and as if by magic a bus pulled up and I decided to hop on! All I knew is that it was headed in the direction I was going and that with a Chico State ID I could ride for free! According to Ange this made me a "weirdo" but whatevs! It was a random and fun adventure. I only rode about 5 stops before I bailed. I didn't want to ride all the way to Costco or wherever and be stuck there. More adventures to come once we move down here!

365: Old School Fun in the Sun

We've skipped over spring and headed full on into summer! It hit almost 90 degrees today and while we were bopping around town I decided we needed to throwback to the olden days and buy a sprinkler to play in! We looked several places and couldn't find one exactly like I was picturing from my youth but we found a pretty good substitute at Big Lots. We came home, hooked it up to the hose on the deck and ran through it for about half an hour. So. Much. Fun. And also like our youth it was nuddie pants only so we had to be crafty with the pictures we took! Definitely the best $3 we've spent in ages.

365: Post Carwash Par-Tay

The fundraiser carwash raised over $700 to fund HIV test kits for Stonewall! Wahoo! Of course we did what we do best and partied it up to celebrate our hardwork and sunburns! Love my peeps!

365: Deal of the Day!

While bringing Carmie to the vet this morning I spied a garage sale sign. So of course I made a mental note to stop on my way back up. I found this little baby laying on the lawn and the lady sold it to me for $0.50! It will make a perfect suitcase for hauling donated supplies to The Gambia next month and someone there will be a proud owner of a vintage suitcase when we're done with it! Love me some garage sales!

365: Doodles

I don't think I've ever seen more desk doodles than I do at Chico State. Almost every single classroom I've been in on campus has more than one desk with varying levels of doodles on them. Here was an interesting one I saw today. Alien invasion? Weird.

365: Caught Red Handed

The poison oak case I have is one of the worst I've ever had. I think I got it from giving the little girl dogs a bath this weekend. The most interesting part is checking out where I must have touched myself after giving them a bath and before I showered myself. This picture is of three fingerprint-shaped rashes I have on my upper stomach. So weird.

365: The Sleep Sack

Ange and I have a saying around the house. When you need to get wrapped up in blankets so good to stay warm and cozy it's called getting in the sleep sack! Last night we slept with the windows open since it was mid 70s in the Ranch yesterday. It might have been a little over zealous because this morning it was a bit chilly! After I got out of the shower I was feeling a little too Popsicle-like so I had to run and jump in the sleep slack until Ange got out of the shower! We're totally goofy. We know this.

365: My Life is Hilariously Awesome

How many of you have ever had the words anal intercourse appear in your performance/job review (and been ok with it :))? My job is amazing and I'm so happy to be here. For reasons other than anal intercourse, but that's just the cherry on top.

365: So Excited!!!

Tonight's Gambia party went well! Ange and I are super pumped for this trip! Only 36 more days til departure!!!

365: Don'tchawanna Fanta?

We're having our first official pre-departure meeting/party for the students going on the Gambia trip. We went out shopping today to get stuff for chicken yassa and when we were in the ethnic food aisle Ange spied these orange Fantas imported from Mexico! What would a Gambian dinner party be without orange Fanta?!?! We decided we'd roll them in the driveway and dirt tomorrow to make them look "more authentic." Can't wait to get these students PUMPED UP for this trip!!!

365: I Always Get What I Want!!!

Today was a great day. Nothing huge and spectacular happened but I got to spend the whole day with my love and I got everything I wanted. Including these bad boys. Domino's has been hitting the adverts hard in regards to these. They totally worked. We picked some up while we were in Chico and we ate almost the whole bag before we could get home! I highly recommend them. Tasty and delicious!

Thanks to everyone who left me a message, called or texted. It was a lovely day!

And of course thanks to my wife who made the day extra special by spoiling me silly even though she's still coming out of the flu bug that's had a hold of her all week. I love you boogs!

365: Rock On Old Man

Duke doesn't really like to play with dog toys. But he does love some rocks. We went on a walk this morning and he found this rock about a 1/4 of a mile from the house. He scooped it up and decided he didn't want either of us getting it so he ran ahead about 50 yards and kept looking back to make sure we were still coming but not close enough that his rock was in danger. When we finally got back to the house he ran out of places to go and I could finally snap his picture. He tried to sneak it in the house but got in trouble; he knows the rules, no rocks in the house!

365: Awesome Discovery

Since my little boogie bear is feeling under the weather I decided to pick up some Thai food for dinner since it's the only thing she's been hungry for in days. While I was waiting for it to be ready I wandered into some local shops to check out the goods. I found a cool card/paper/gift store and at the very back of the store I saw this awesome rack of gift wrap that was made to look like various metropolitan areas. So cool! Next time I have to give a fancy gift I'm totally getting some of this!

365: Poppies!

California poppies are one of the few flowers I like and appreciate. I don't really care about flowers all that much. I mean, I'm not like DIE FLOWERS DIE, but they're just whatevs. Except for poppies. They make me super happy for some reason. Maybe they are one of the few things I associate with memories from when I was a kid besides my family and the beach. I have a shit memory and can barely remember things that happened last year much less 30 years ago. But I remember being fascinated by poppies when I was little. If you aren't aware, California poppies close up at night into little buds and spread open wide when the sun comes up. That's just so cool.

Today was gray and overcast so this little poppy field in the middle of campus had mostly closed buds. I snapped this right before I had to go in and bust heads with the people trying to ruin our Africa trip. Good thing I saw these first.

365: Haulin' Ass

Ange and I are major fans of Craigslist. We've bought many items there, sold as many more, found houses, roommates, etc. We love CL.

One of the funniest things that happens when we go to look at and probably purchase goodies is that potential sellers look at little Escape with doubt in their eyes and ask when we're going to come back and pick up said item. As if! Little Escape is the Queen of Hauling Things! And yet, people continue to doubt the massiveness of her inner bowels.

Today we picked up Ange's fancy new recliner (see her post about it) and I was surprised that the guy was in shock about it fitting. Seriously? We didn't pick up a dump truck dude; it's a recliner. Earlier this year another dumb guy (hmm, maybe there's a pattern emerging...) doubted our ability to fit a full size kitchen table into our little trooper. Well not only did we fit the table, we also fit two of the dining chairs too! Roasted ye of little faith! Typical man, always misjudging sizes and how much will fill a space. Pshhhht. Get out of here with that madness.

365: Balance

One latte & one bottomless mimosa. Good start to my morning with my peeps. However I was not informed about the impromptu hike after breakfast. If I would have known I might have ordered differently. Hopefully I don't fall off the trail into more poison oak.

365: At Home Date Night

We have a lot of work to do this weekend so we decided to have an at home date night. We worked until about 9 and then settled in for a movie. Now Ange isn't really a movie fan so when we watch a movie together it goes one of two ways:

1. We get a movie I'm super excited about and she falls asleep halfway through.

OR

2. We find some ridiculous comedy that sounds good to Ange and simultaneously doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out, and there's only a 50/50 chance she'll fall asleep.

Tonight's selection was Jack and Jill starring Adam Sandler x2. It was completely ridiculous as expected. Mostly completely OOC and kooky but lots of very hilarious slapstick. Ange made it through the whole thing which equals successful date night for me!

365: So Bourgeoisie

One of the perks of finally arriving in my career and making good money is the ability to have someone else prep and file my taxes. We're generally low maintenance, do-it-yourself kind of girls, but this year, with all the complicated factors of moving, domestic partnership, two different states, etc. etc. I knew I couldn't handle this whole thing and wouldn't be sure I was even doing it right and maximizing our return. So we hired a CPA to do it all for us. I was feeling super weird about it until we picked up our taxes today. All we had to do was sign six forms (5 tax forms and a CHECK for the accountant naturally) and we were done. He is e-filing our joint CA return and our separate federal return (because that whole separate BUT TOTALLY EQUAL thing re: gay marriage) and they had the Indiana returns all packaged up and labeled and ready to be dropped in the mail. It was like the angels were singing down from heaven. Totally worth the money we paid just for that alone, but on top of it we got some great money back for the first time in forever. The only thing we owed was $3 on Ange's Indiana return (which is ridic, but whatever, we'll take it). I can get used to this.

365: Rocking out with HPA!

Our Health Professions Club held a fundraiser at Cafe Flo tonight. Of course Ange and I were there to show our support. They had an open mic, lots of karaoke and some actual singers and bands. My favorite moment of the night was when three hipster nerdie guys got up and started rapping the most ridiculous song I've ever heard. It involved the words "cray cray" at least twice if that's any indication. All in all a successful event and super silly fun.

365: Silly Boy

This is our Dukey boy. Dukey only likes to eat his from a laying down position. He has bad hips so I think it hurts for him to bend over to eat. In the top picture you'll note two standing feeders that we got so that he could eating from a standing position. He basically told us to take a leap off a bridge because he refuses to eat from them. So instead squatty little Sam eats from them. Because he's weird too.

When Duke is done eating he likes to pass out on the floor next to his bowl. Never know when you might get hungry again and will need quick access to food!

I also like that Duke appears to be sticking his tongue out at me in the top picture. He knew I was going to rat him out on my blog!

365: Bargain Fashion Diva

One of my recent goals is to be more fashionable. Because duh, why not? I love fashion. It takes more effort on many fronts (time, thought, bargain hunting, etc.) but it's totally worth it. I feel better when I'm sassy and fashionable and it's fun!

I've been amassing new pieces here and there and trying to wear old things in new ways. This outfit is a perfect example.

The dress was a steal at Old Navy. On clearance for $13.99; it was missing a sash/belt or something. Being the fashion maven I am I knew if I inquired about it and acted all put out that it didn't have it (even though I could care less about it) I'd get a discount. I was banking on 10%, mayyyybe 20%, but BOOM! 50% off! Making it just over $6. Total bargain.

I thought I had a cute wide belt but I couldn't find it so I swapped out a black sash from a tunic-style shirt, threw on my cute suit jacket I bought for interviewing last year, dug out some cute Nine West wedges I bought at DSW ages ago, polished my tootsies and threw on some clearance earrings I got from Target a few years ago and VOILA! Fashionista was ready for work!

365: The B Team

My jewelry "reserves."

AKA the junk Ange won't let me keep on the dresser so I have to spread it all over the place when I'm looking for the perfect "something" to complement an outfit.

My A Team stuff comprises 4 small jewelry boxes on the dresser. But sometimes you gotta pull out a pizazz piece that isn't an everyday item. That was today. Ange just sighs so big when I pull out this stuff. No appreciation for my fashionista ways!

365: BIL

I somehow managed to not take a single picture today. But as I was looking through my pics to see if there was one I might say something about I flipped all the way back to December and found this gem! And then nearly fell out of my chair laughing!

Every year for the past 4 or 5 years I've taken my brother-in-law (BIL henceforth) Christmas shopping to buy gifts for my sister. We started this tradition after two years of him attempting to shop with his BFF, in which he was sucked into buying totally lame gifts by his dumb BFFs ideas and stupid salesgirl pitches. After coming home with $80 Victoria's Secret pjs and two scarf sets he decided he needed help. And ever since then it's been my job to help him.

In the midst of this tradition, we started another one. The "here's Clint wearing a funny hat combination." It's usually a silly Christmas themed hat, or sometimes a sports related hat. This year we didn't find anything good until our last stop (and after a text from my mom wondering where the crazy hat pic was!). We had to improvise and find the goofy thing available. The best part is that BIL has a giant gord so while I'm trying to set up the shot he's hissing at me to hurry before his head contents under pressure. Ahhh, good memories.