ezra loves coming to ulysses
he loves cousin amosand is very tolerant of obie one's attacks

a&p take 3

today during our a&p class one of my classmates had yet, another stupid question. after just going over the bone structure of the spinal cord for our last test, we are now going thru cranial and spinal nerves.

class: (looking at Cranial, Thoracic, & Lumbar nerves on slide)
student: what does C stand for?
andi: banging head on table
student next to me: also banging head on table
teacher, who somehow kept a straight face: cranial
*pause*
student: what does L stand for?

oh dear....

chem test!

ez gets pretty peevedwhen william studies for his chemistry test all day

today we celebrated my brother's birthday. since we had a gift card to outback we automatically chose that restaurant for lunch. when you're in my family, it is important to make sure that you leave with plenty of time to make sure you find the destination ok....because it would, after all, be very awful to be late. the outback strangely enough doesnt' open until noon on sundays.

today, like usual, we overestimate the time it will take for us to get there, so this is us... the nerds waiting for it to open. (if you can't tell, everyone in the car is waving, and look how full the parking lot is!)
of course it would be embarrassing to actually be the first customers in. so a couple other families show up and they too, wait in their car. we all look at each other to see who will be the daring group to go in first. it wasn't us.

we also tried the self timer on the camera. it's pretty much the most uncomfortable looking picture in the world

Concert

my parents came up for the Mannheim steamroller concert tonight. actually they came to town, we went shopping, did all my laundry that i've been putting off for the past 2 months, fixed one of the doors and started on the dishwasher. PHEW. too bad they don't live closer!! so tonight we went to the concert. it was a real interesting experience. the music was really good. the graphics, possibly from the 80s with a strong emphasis on mid evil. at any rate, the only pic i got of the entire evening was this, in the parking garage:

why did i take this in the parking garage? well, maybe perhaps because we were in there for 50 minutes talking to my poor sister on the phone for lack of better things to do.... and then, broke open the trail mix for something else to do (eat). i was driving my parent's vehicle and couldn't stop laughing. here's what it was like for 50 min:

mom: oh my gosh! those fumes! i can hardly stand the exhaust smell
beezer (sister, on speaker phone thru radio thing in car): phyllis! bad kitty (talking to cat in apartment)
mom: andi, stop tinkering with that
****** pause*****
mom: andi, put that down! i think i'm getting sick off emmissions....
dad: (trying to figure out why we are going so slow, as in not moving)
andi: this is totally like the seinfield episode..... JJJEEEEERRRRRRR-RRRRYYYY!!! ELAINE!!? KKKRRRRAAAMMMMMMMEEEERRR!!
beezer: you are stupid. that's why i don't watch seinfield
andi: this is SO funny
mom: oooh my stomach does not feel good....
dad: (pulls out trail mix)
mom: wait! we all have to sanitize our hands before we eat this!
andi: are you picking the m&m's out of the bag?
mom: andi! you cannot eat while driving! you need to foucs! (not moving)
andi: we're in park........ this is like when we go camping and i try to pick all the good stuff out of the bag and leave all the peanuts .... digress into camping story
beezer: hey! that's what i do too! phyllis! bad girl!
dad & andi: beezer, why don't you put her in time out again? ha ha ha!
mom: everyone is required to take random handfulls. no picking
dad: (best line of the night...) i've taken 2 random handfulls and only got 1 m&m!
everyone: aaah! we're moving! wait, what's that parking guy trying to signal to us? look.....? uhm....
dad: oooh! turn your lights on
everyone: thanks for entertaining us beezer! bye!

i know, it doesn't sound entertaining but i loved every minute of it!

finally feeling better!
i always forget how miserable it is being sick.
you know it's winter when, once again, the olive oil freezes in the garage

what we've been up to...

andi: has sinus infection, which makes every life activity a complete "blow" (as in, yes, lots of kleenex)

ezra: has sprained knee and is to do nothing for 2 weeks. we might drive each other nuts

william: as you might guess, william can get pretty cranky to live with when he gets cabin fever. (he hates snow). today he pulled a daring venture out. here is trying to take the biggest strides possible to avoid it as much as possible. right now he is still enjoying his box

also, here is another gem from a&p:
we take a quiz about every other class period. after the quiz we go over the answers together.
today, one question was:
which of the following is a part of the CNS?
teacher: what are the two parts?
class: brain and spinal cord!
student (who ALWAYS asks annoying questions, AND i just found out shes in my class next year): so what is the answer to the question?

as in HELLO!? you only have TWO options!!!!!
if you didn't pick one of those then you probably
didn't get it right!

snow day

william is having a productive snow day

whew! busy week!
here's a short recap:

the waskily squirrels finally dug into their winter present. now they won't be able to find it because of the snow, but that's their problem
heating pad, day 14:
heating pad has been retired. i'm thankful that ez is still alive. fortunately the thing shuts itself off after being on so long. also fortunate that ez decided to wait till it was off to chew through the cordafter baking on a whole 15 sq ft of counter space i decided to invest in a lowe's special and get this for our kitchen. it may not look like much to you but MY GOSH! where has this been the last 18 months!? (its even on rollers! how cool is that!?)

i dont know if you remember last year or not but my mom gave me a huge wonderful pumpkin for our porch for fall decoration. after 1 day it was devoured by squirrels.

this year i decided to get a smaller pumpkin to display inside and then give it to the squirrels (as much as i hate feeding them) as a winter present.

ok you waskily wittle squirrels... it's been 3 days...
yo'ure making me angry...
EAT YOUR PUMPKIN!!

another convo from: A&P I

if you've asked me how class is going within the last semester you've probably heard my frustration with my a&p class. not only do the students ask ridiculous but they also get absurd answers from teacher.
my fav 2 examples from the last couple classes:

example 1 (learning about muscles):
student: so when your IT band is tight, is that your vastus lateralis? (which is one of your quad muscles)
teacher (looking at me, while i'm shaking head no): uhm, i don't know on that one. it could be. i'm not sure

ACK! OUTRAGED!

example 2 (learning about tendons and ligaments):
teacher: moving on, the achilles tendon was named after some Greek god who had it as his weak spot..... but i don't know the god it was named after....

PLEASE!
i'm very much looking for the end of the semester to be here so the agony of this class is done! i was so frustrated after lecture i talked my lab partners into skipping half of lab and getting cold stone for my birthday instead. (it didn't take much persuasion). after finishing our ice cream we all agreed it was a good choice.

when i'm gone all day and come back, ezra is a complete momma's boy.
check out this "lean in".
ez gives pit bulls a sissy name!

***note on hamstring: no i havn't been racing this season due to an old running injury. today was the day i was supposed to be cleared but something happened over the last week and i'm starting at square one with a different part of the leg. any chances of end season racing are gone! nuts!***
.....back to making a's and cookies.....

for the 2nd year in a row i've got to spend my birthday with some of my favorite people! it was so fun going out w/ the girls for the evening! bobbi, are you sure double fist-ing is a good idea?

tonight i got to spend time w/ the family, but forgot my camera, of course! thank you for such a great birthday everyone!

happy birthday to me!

today is my birthday! YEAH!!! every year i celebrate two things: #1 is "birthday month" in which anything goes and i'm always right for at least 1 month of the year, and #2 my actual birthday!

dallas took me down to REI this year and got me snow shoes! i'm so excited. of course he doesn't get anything but the very best (which i really dont need) but they are beautiful and even have glitter on them. how could i resist?

when we got home i decided to try at least one on in the yard. i find it pretty funny that i'm wearing flip flops while buying snowshoes, and, probably more pathetic i have one of each trying them on in the yard!

hurry up snow!!!

i have some really great friends who moved to germany. luckily phillip had an army conference in denver this week and we got to go eat with him last night.

kim! I MISS YOU!!!!
we wish you were there too!

i'm going to go out on a limb and say that dallas' rear drop out, sheered in half, means his bike is broken.
just a guess....

heating pad day 3

everyone is finally content with their time share portions

it only took william 1 day to figure out that the heating pad was money. currently william and ez are duking it out. william, the alpha animal is winning and will put up with just about anything to be king of the mountain. he has tolerated ezra chewing on toys all night.
amazing....
i love how annoyed william looks in this picture

happy halloween!

my only awesome idea this year was to dress as burritos and go to chipolte for my free burrito (like i used to do in college). dallas didn't want to go so we have no awesome burrito pic. nuts.

speaking of halloween sweets, i've started a blog designed specifically for martha's cookies, the cookie nook. my goal is to have it done in 1 year....which means i've gotta get moving!

ezra also did something to his hip playing rough in the snow. we felt sorry for him so the dog got some extra love: he has a heating pad on his pillow.

we know, he's spoiled, but he loves it!

happy halloween eve!

http://myhusbandisannoying.com/ was having a photo friday of halloween costumes that your hubby has worn and i was quick to send in dallas' pic from a couple of years ago. he made it on the website. here is that post:

From Andi:
“My husband is an engineer and actually is a nerd. he decided to dress up for halloween at work one year and the best thing he could come up with? Being a nerd.”

quote of the night:

dallas: "i miss my big bed of pillows" (referring to the hotel room).
andi: why don't you use one of these decorative pillows?
dallas: i can't! they're textured!

clearly at our house we are far short of the hobbs, nm holiday inn express. maybe our rating will go up if i serve a continental breakfast in the morning.

today the roads were so much better than i thought they were going to be. on an even more awesome note, driving is no longer a frogger fest in my jeep because yesterday..... drumroll.... I GOT BLINKERS!!

it seems like a rediculous concept but my blinkers went out sometime before Christmas last year and i just havn't got them fixed yet. yes, merging onto interstate is scary..... switching lanes in packed traffic....scary...but not anymore!

be thankful you have blinkers!
this is the line of semi's in line at the chain-up pull over area close to our house on instertate. it was a pretty popular place to be this morning

snow day!

no school today....dallas got sent home from work...

SNOW DAY!

i'm still having a hard time believing that we have 12" of snow and it's still coming down! ez has so much fun outside (notice poor sad looking lilac bushes in background).
and when he comes inside he's the most pathetic pit bull in the world

i've decided that i'm very happy i didn't strive for all a's my first go-around in college. my chem test tonight (that i did flunk, i'm very sure of it) has left me zit-faced and exhausted. i stared at my test for 3.5 hrs tonight before giving up and having dallas take me out to grab food afterwards. if i had done that for my 4 previous years ..... phew! that's a lot of zits!

tonight while we were eating it was dead silent so i thought i would bring up some kind of conversation. it went something like this (and yes, i'm really into conversations at the moment)

andi: so we started disecting our kitty cats in a&p today. ours was HUGE! it was like 2 williams put together *shove fries in mouth without stopping to breathe* you wouldn't believe how much fat was on this cat! and it was so heavy! oh and i think one of my lab partners totally butchered it already, which makes me really mad because i'm *fries, again* so anal about the dissection....

dallas *unable to get a word in*: *has begging eyes, about to lose his cookies* can we please talk about this later?

ooopsie. sorry dallas!

speaking of fat kitties....

dallas made it home last fri night from new mexico.
he has turned into quite the weather pansy.

example:
andi: (looking up from drying my hair).... are you going somewhere?
dallas: (in goose filled puffy coat made for really cold weather and stocking cap).... no
andi: then why are you wearing that?
dallas: i'm cold. what is the house set at?
andi: oh, somewhere between 63-66
dallas: i think i'm going to turn it up to 70
andi: no!! you can't do that! do you know how hot that is?!

so now he's resorted to wearing a long sleeved shirt thingie, and right back to where he was before he left: on the couch, coffee in hand looking at his ipod touch thingie

i wish i had more exciting things to blog about but i have a huge test monday and am currently trying to figure out:

what is the pOH of a 0.10 M solution of pyridine (kb = 1.4x10^-9)

exciting stuff, i know

part B of the question should ask:

why, or should i even care?

i have the ingredients to make cookies but i don't feel like doing the dishes.

maybe i'll wait till dallas is here tomorrow. :)

new diet!

when i was grocery shopping the other day the pomegranates were on sale, so i thought, what the heck? i decided to go out on a "crazy!" limb and buy not only 1, but 2.once i got home i realized that i had forgotten how much of a pain they are to eat...which got me to thinking this would be the perfect idea to write a diet book about (*disclamer: this diet isn't exactly what most call healthy). the book will consist of 1 page and that 1 page will say: eat pomegranates every day for the next 8 weeks.

you will either:
1) do the diet
or, what i would do:
2) get so frustrated eating them (getting the outer layer off first, getting a couple of pod things, getting the juice all over your hands and lap and then spitting out the seeds) that you'll give up and won't eat anything

this cow has some attitude and is thinkin what i'm thinkin...what up a&p test?
yeah, that's right.
i aced you today
next up: chemistry on monday
and then a breather.... of course,
just in time to make cookies!!!

i always get a kick out of the people in my class. i know "there is no such thing as a stupid question" but the people in my class actually do ask the stupidest questions. here is a great example from a person who claims to be in pre-health....
during the test...
teacher: class please omit question #73
student: why?
teacher: because the picture didn't copy off well enough for you to see
*long pause*
student: so you don't want us to do #73?
teacher: no
student: so do we skip it on the scantron?

(meanwhile i'm banging my head on the table, waiting for the painful conversation to end)

as always, i had a great trip home!

somehow i always get stuck single-handily being on the garden clean up committee (im sure you can imagine how great it is!). so the only thing that could have made the trip even better would be having beezer there to throw the rotten tomatoes at.

hm... what to do on a friday night?

play beetles rock band on wii with your parents!

we had a really good time!
somehow i got 100% on vocals,
none of us know how it happened.
if you've ever heard me sing,
you'd wonder too

just a plug.....

needing a relaxing mini vacation?

come to the holste homestead bed and breakfast between now and thanksgiving and you will receive a complimentary turkey to take home for your holiday meal
(you get to pick out your turkey looking out the window during your breakfast)

Cookie #1

although not Martha's cookie, my old roommate, Sandy's

PUMPKIN COOKIE

like a small cake,
these are perfect for the season,
retain their moisture very well,
do need frosting (sugar or cream cheese)
disappear fast
overall rating: 4.6
*note: overall cookie tastes better than dough*
"needed a more cream cheese frosting"
"have delicious aftertaste"
"mmmm small cakes! take them away before i eat them all"

COOKIES!

as everyone probably already knows, i have a "small" love for cookies. "cookies" was my nickname on the swim team growing up, i make them when i'm bored, when i'm stressed, when i'm happy, when i'm procrastinating, whenever we go somewhere i'm asked to bring:
cookies!......
so it only makes sense that i should too, blog about cookies.

someday when this is more up and running i'll have a seperate cookie blog. but for now, this will do. everyone has heard of "julie&julia" the movie and the book. basically julie makes all of julia's french cooking recipies in 1 year. i am going to make martha's cookies. i really don't like a lot of things that martha (stewart) does (theyre just a little too fancy for me) but i will say, her cookie book looks absolutely AMAZING.

here's how it's going to work:
1) i make the cookie
2) designated cookie testers rate it on a scale of 1-5. (right now i have specific people that are rating the cookie. if you would like to be a tester (local, or not) please contact me and we'll talk about adding you to the list.)
3) i post any fun info about the cookie, comments, and picture on blog. hopefully this will be happening at least on a weekly basis.

***please note that i do NOT like cookies with frosting, so if you're into the whole "tulip shaped sugar cookie with green frosting stem and purple flowers" it won't happen . just fyi.

i will not be posting recipies because, well, i don't want martha suing me for giving her entire book away on the internet

happy birthday!

gwen, or wonderwoman as we call her on the laser tag court, had a super fun birthday party this weekend! we all played laser tag and then ate pizza somewhere downtown-ish that started with a "p". yes, i know, very specific.

here's to another great year, friend!
gwen, accepting her laser tag score card on the lasertag podium while a dozen kiddos screamed happy birthday at hermmmmm pizza (and gf noodles)!

thank you for all your color help, but i have finally decided,
out with the tan and gold!

since packaging up the comforter set and shipping it back...
i bought a new one locally w/ coupon, of course!
have been to home depot 3 times
painted the room
got some awesome lamps

things are finally starting to shape up.

now if i just had that much motivation to do the laundry.
takers? anyone?