girls' weekend!

My mom and I just got back from a weekend in Omaha with Blendy. It was unexpected and fantastic! I thought I'd tell our story through pictures ...

We're excited to see Blendy!!!

As soon as we got to Omaha, we headed to Chick-fil-A. It had been way too long since I'd had their delicious chicken!

Then we headed off to the Omaha Symphony. We were given free tickets to see Play!, a video game symphony (the unexpected reason for our trip). I'm not a gamer, so I figured I wouldn't know much of the music. I figured right.

Here's what I learned: most video game music (at least the music played by the symphony) sounds like it was composed by Hans Zimmer. Also, whoever wrote the narration seemingly tried to write it using only cliches. By the end, we could barely contain our giggles! 

As the performance ended, I did find myself feeling a little cheated. This picture from the program, while not promising anything, certainly seemed to imply that the Mario theme would be part of the performance. But Mario was nowhere to be found ... and now I have an incredible urge to play some Super Mario!

Dad got us a hotel room so we wouldn't have to drive home late. We stayed at the Comfort Suites, and, though they were in the middle of a major renovation, the rooms were nice. Sadly, though, the breakfast left a lot to be desired.

One of the highlights of our trip was being able to attend Blendy's church this morning. It's very small, and the people are so nice and welcoming. I think she'll really thrive there. Then we headed to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Our server, Alex, was one of the best ever! If you're ever at the Council Bluffs Cracker Barrel, look for Alex—he'll give you the greatest service! I also had perhaps the best fried chicken of my life. It's the Sunday special—two boneless breaded and fried chicken breasts. I could only eat one, so now I have lunch for tomorrow!

Following a rather extended trip to Walmart, we took Blendy back to the dorm and headed home. What a fabulous weekend! (And the icing on the cake? My cats, who were left alone inside for more than 24 hours, didn't destroy anything or relieve themselves anywhere but the litter box!)

chew spry gum and watch a great movie!

I went to the dentist yesterday. It was a pretty normal experience, as far as preventative care visits go. My dentist always gives the same spiel about eating foods that are good for your teeth, staying away from sugary drinks, etc. And he normally says to chew gum that contains xylitol because it can actually help your teeth. Well, he changed it up a bit yesterday, recommending (and giving me samples of) a specific gum which contains no sweeteners other than xylitol: Spry.

Immediately, I recognized the name, but it took me a while to figure out why. Then it hit me—My Girlfriend's Boyfriend! It's a movie I fell in love with a few years ago, and my post about it is actually my #1 viewed post of all time. (You can see it here.) Spry gum has a supporting role in the film—the main character's brother is the spokesman for Spry. I always thought the gum was made up for the movie, but I guess not!

See the clip about Spry, which is one of my favorite sequences in the film:
Now that you've seen the clip, go ahead and watch the whole movie. It's so cute and clean! Oh, and—if you can find it—buy some Spry to go with the movie!

introducing rocky and cortez

You know how there are dog people and there are cat people? Well, I'm definitely the latter. I've loved cats for as long as I can remember ... and I've disliked dogs with just about the same amount of passion! I grew up with cats--outdoor ones, of course--but for the last six years, I've been living in apartments or houses that weren't pet friendly. My new landlords are quite happy to let me have pets, though, provided I don't let them in the house. So today, Blendy and our friend Jamie went cat shopping for me! Through our local newspaper, they found a woman who had three 9-week-old kittens to give away. Blendy arrived at my house with two of them--a small black one for her (though it will live here) and a larger black and white one for me. They are so cute! Though a bit traumatized from the car ride (and from all the new noises--the train whistle was especially scary), they soon settled in and began exploring. I just hope they don't explore too much tonight--I'd like for them to stay around!

Cortez--Blendy decided to name him after an explorer because he was initially the more adventuresome of the two. She settled on Cortez pretty quickly, while I struggled to come up with a name for the other cat. Cortez greatly enjoyed the cat house my brother made in high school, and he soon settled in to sleep.

Rocky--I am terrible at naming things. My first cat was named "Fluff." My car? "The Green Car." So I knew naming this cat would be difficult. At first, I tried to go with something relating to his timid, skittish nature. I was pretty proud of "Leif"--because he dove into the plants every time he got scared, and he enjoyed batting the leaves when he wasn't scared ... but the look my mom gave me when I pronounced him "Leif" told me everything I needed to know! It took me another 30 minutes to finally come up with "Rocky." Why Rocky? Well, those rocks in the picture above quickly became his favorite place to play, and he also may have a career as a boxer--he certainly enjoyed batting my necklace around!

I also took a video of the cats playing with my necklace. (See, Val, I do appreciate the necklace!) I promise that I won't be one of those crazy cat ladies who constantly posts videos and talks about her cats ad nauseam, but I wanted Val to be able to see the cats, and uploading the video to YouTube seemed the simplest way. So, enjoy it if you're so inclined!

flat stanley's nebraska adventures

I'd never heard of Flat Stanley until some of my elementary education friends at Grace started talking about a Flat Stanley project. I didn't give it too much thought until a few weeks ago, when I received a Facebook message from a friend who teaches in Pennsylvania. Her class is doing a Flat Stanley project, and some of her students didn't know anyone outside of Pennsylvania to send Flat Stanley to. I thought it would be fun, so I volunteered.

I received Flat Stanley on Monday. Here's what we did:

We all gathered at Mom's house to watch the finale of The Bachelor, and we made ice cream using the sweet maker Jamie gave Blendy for her birthday. Also, Val threatened to eat Flat Stanley.

Blendy took Flat Stanley to work with her.

On Wednesday, Flat Stanley went to school with me. Here, he's reading Where the Red Fern Grows with my class.

Alice talks with Flat Stanley after class.

Flat Stanley helps Stephany, our office aide, get a mailing ready to be sent.

On Thursday, Mom and I saw Grand Island Northwest's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was absolutely fantastic! Then we went on a shopping spree at Hy-Vee ... I think Stanley enjoyed it :-)

I had a blast with Flat Stanley! He's on his way back to Pennsylvania right now. I would certainly do another Flat Stanley project if the opportunity presented itself!

find us on facebook!

I spent the majority of my workday doing something that just a few years ago I would have found unfathomable ... I created a facebook page for my workplace! I had lots of fun adding old pictures and getting things set up. There's still a lot to do--as of now, we have virtually no pictures from the '80s and '90s because I still need to scan them in--but I'm looking forward to spending more time on it. Check it out!

Nebraska Christian Schools

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rub-a-dub-dub

Three men in a tub ... I had to look up the rest of the nursery rhyme, and I find I didn't really know it at all. No matter, though! I think it was in one of my childhood books; at least I have a picture in my head of a drawing that had three guys in a bathtub on the ocean.

Crazy as it sounds, that picture describes what I did last weekend! No, I didn't get lost at sea in a bathtub ... I went tanking!

Seven friends and I went up to the Calamus River, rented two plastic cow tanks, and floated down the river! We had a blast--except for the hour when the sun went behind the clouds and the wind came up--and I didn't even get sunburned, thanks to my new Aveeno SPF 100. (SPF 100--a product created just for pasty white people like me!)

My pictures will tell the story better than I can, so follow this link to the album I posted on facebook ... enjoy!

superman, save me!

This is probably the closest I will ever come to kissing Dean ...

(We visited the Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, on Memorial Day. I highly recommend it!)