white whine

sometimes i feel like the things that upset me no one else cares about. and that makes it worse. and in the midst of feeling pitiful and sorry for myself i stumble across a site like this, which just puts it all in perspective.

last night i was on the phone with anna when she received a very special package in the mail. we discovered that we had bought each other the same thing for valentines day (great minds think alike and so do ours) and we took baths with our bath bombs together but 2000 miles away. sounds kinda kinky (it wasnt) but after the extensive race day training we have been doing, it was pure heaven... my race is in a month and hers is in about 2 months but she is running about 3.5x longer than me. good luck!

jeremy retiled the kitchen yesterday... i mean bleached the grout and tile so it looks like a whole new kitchen. i can see my reflection in the counter! (and the stove and my tea kettle) he stunk like bleach even after his shower but it was worth it!

!m!

tuesday...

things i have learned this week.

i don't like braeburn apples. gala and fuji are much more favorite.

the blood bourne pathogen movie isn't any better the second time around, worse, in fact.

the woman who teaches the monday night body works plus abs class at the sherman oaks la fitness is in league with the devil.

i will definitely be attending the academy awards, in a fancy dress, no matter the outcome of the writers strike.

bret michaels is a very strange man.

......................................................................................................
today is the one year anniversary of me being on the maker's diet. in that time i have had no soda, no cheetos and no shellfish. i surprisingly dont miss the soda or cheetos but man i miss shrimp and lobster. i have learned that i like bell peppers and some fish. i still don't like mushrooms. i have reduced the amount of medication i take by half and hopefully by the end of the summer (i have a colonoscopy to look forward to) the doctor will let me reduce/discontinue. i have more energy and havent been sick at all in that time. i think i have had two migraines in a year which is waaay less than before i started the diet. so yay. jordan rubin: if you are out there, you are my hero. and jeremy's. and lottie's. and sarah's. so yay for you.

friday, friday

it is raining for the third day in a row. several freeways are closed because of snow and "white-out" conditions (like five snowflakes). there were for real tornadoes here in southern california. i feel right at home.

im tired and it is friday. i want to go home, go to yoga with kris and christina, and sleep. but also i have laundry to do from camping last weekend. and our house is a mess. thankfully i dont have any plans until sunday so we have plenty of time to catch up around the house. yay!

our iep for today got cancelled because the parents didnt show up (big surprise there) so now i am stuck with a mountain of filing and a messy desk. ick. friday should be a happy day and it is gloomy and depressing instead. well... 7.5 more hours of work to go. anyone want to play scrabulous with me to help the time pass?

bible study last night was really great. jeremy and i shared our life maps and passed out the instruction sheets to everyone else. i cant wait to hear from everyone else what important events and people helped shape who they are. it will be a really great way to draw closer to each other. we are also starting a series on prayer. all of us agreed that prayer gets overlooked and left out so easily and we want to refocus on something that is so important and powerful. we are all really excited.

!m!

portos

i am sure i am blathered on about the wonderfulness of portos bakery and cafe before but today i have a much more serious issue to discuss. today i went to portos with karla and ceci and ate a steak torta (YUM) and then went to get soup for lunch tomorrow (they have the best best best chicken tortilla soup which has somewhow become my favorite kind of soup but i have no idea how to make it at home) and some coffee for karla and i was waiting at the counter and this guys comes up behind me and says excuse me sir. then he looks at me from the front and says oh i mean maam. i was really offended. not only am i wearing high heels and have pretty girly hair, i have been working out like a crazy person and have a very nice rear view if i say so myself (which i apparently am). what guy has a butt like mine i ask? and the simple answer is no guy. also i felt like i was in the middle of a brian regan routine (sir? ma'am! excuse me human being?)

i am going to go cry then go to the gym. i guess i am only wearing flowerdy skirts from now on. sheesh.

One Square Foot

play trivia and save the rainforest. for every nine correct answers one square foot of rainforest will be saved thanks to ads along the bottom of the screen. some questions are hard, some are easy. all are preferable to work. so get on out there and save the rainforest!

hint: kindle is a really popular answer - i have had that question three times already and no other question has been repeated. i think amazon is paying for some brand recognition!

all mugu things must come to an end

monday morning we got up and ate next to roaring fire (we figured we might as well use all the wood we accidentally illegaly collected), then started packing. it was chilly, and my fingers werent working super well, but we managed to get everything loaded in rex before it started raining. we were headed on the highway, looking for adventure (or a shower) when the first drops hit. we made it home and into the bliss of a hot hot hot shower... i had to wash my hands three times before the water ran clear. dirty!! after cleaning up and unpacking we ate lunch then went down to hollywood and highland to shop. i got to eat a crepe for dinner (looooove them!) and we found some good deals. monday night in a bed with the usual sirens and horns honking = wonderful. we went to bed early and this morning... did not get up early. after a long day of work we hit the gym and watched american idol and now that it is shortly after nine, i hear my beautiful bed calling my name... if you are quiet you might hear it too...

point mugu: day 2

sunday we woke up ridiculously early... around 4:30, when murphy and his friend crunched gravel next to our heads while walking through our campsite talking really loudly. thankfully i fell back asleep and woke up after the sun was out. we ate breakfast and cleaned up and went for a walk. we went up the side of a mountain. thankfully someone had cut steps into the sideof the hill. we went up and looked over the valley where we were camped. just on the horizon, you could see the ocean. also, you could hear murphy. of course. we walked down the mountain and through a creekbed back to the campsite for lunch.then, we headed to the beach and jeremy tried his luck at surf fishing. i laid on a blanket and read my book and magazine and relaxed. after jeremy got tired of not catching anything we headed back across the pch to the campground. we took another walk and then started cooking dinner. once again, we were in bed ridiculously early but thankfully it was blissfully quiet as the scouts and college kids both left during the day sunday.

point mugu: day 1

saturday morning jeremy and i woke up early and started packing and cleaning up our apartment for camping! we left afer lunch and headed out to malibu. we got to the campsite in point mugu state park around 3 and unpacked. we were lucky enough to be in between LOUD boyscouts and rowdy college kids for the first night . the boys (there were about 20 of them) had incredibly loud speaking voices which they all used at the same time, mostly yelling at and making fun of a larger kid in a tye dyed shirt named murphy. murphy had three plates of food. murphy was fighting the other boys with sticks and kept getting beat by another kid with a double bladed sword (duh murphy!). murphy and one of his friends were walking straight through the middle of our campsite, which they did with alarming frequency, when murphy whacked his friend on the back with a stick and said "you gotta be ready at all times man." the other kid, instead of getting mad, which is what most all the rest of us would have done, says "i know man, i know." weird kids. the college kids had loud music playing all night (at least when we went to bed at oh around 7:30). i climbed a tree, which i havent done in ages. we had a great fire and roasted hot dogs. it was cool at night (my hands were pretty much numb from about 4 pm until i was in my sleeping bag) so we went in to the tent early and played cards: war and i taught jeremy crazy eights. i havent played crazy eights since max was like 5 or something. it was fun though!

thoughts on american idol: #1

there are certain people who american idol tryout-ers should never ever under any circumstances ever attempt to sing for their audition.

these people are as follows:

whitney houston, mariah carey, celine dion. seriously do you think that if you could actually sing as well as them you would need to be on american idol? and since that obviously means you can't, attempting to sing one of their songs will just make you look worse than you prolly are. no one has the range that these women have... seriously just give it up.

kelly clarkson, carrie underwood, chris daughtry ( i dont even know if there are any other idol winnners/best sellers). while none of these people are the best singers ever (which is why they are in this category and not the previous one) you will be compared to them and found lacking. tough. thats just how it is. especially if you resemble them even slightly physically and/or are from their home state (or worse their home town). just dont do it.

janis joplin, bob dylan. amazing song writers. very unique voices. not a whole lot of opportunity here to show off your range and you would be pigeonholing yourself right off the bat. stick to a safer choice.

queen. seriously you want to tr to sing some of the most difficult songs ever? you better be good! really good!

people who are great choices to imitate

pick some safe poppy song and add you own flair. like maroon 5. or a classic religious song like amazing grace. plenty of room to do your own thing with that. or try a less whiny alanis. or rihanna. picking top 40-ish songs increases the chance that people will remember you after we slog through all these auditions and make it to hollywood week and eventually get to vote for you.

other helpful tips. smile. make eye contact with the judges. dress well and to fit your body type. girls - wear girl clothes and tasteful makeup (leave the orange undertoned foundation off. ew. and bring blotting papers for your shiny noses.). boys - wear boys clothes and leave the princess leia slave outfits and creepy key necklaces at home. if necessary, have your friends nominate you for what not to wear several months before your audition. people who present themselves well have already won half the battle. have something snappy to say when they ask the inevitable question why are you here? duh to be the next american idol... why else fool? leave the costumes and leia hair and nail clippings at home. bring your adorable children and normal looking (and acting) family members and sob stories. above all else... if they say no nicely, dont flip off the camera and scream obscenities. you just make yourself look like an idiot on national television. by all means, if simon says your husband really really loves you and love is deaf, feel free to cry and maybe say something hateful (although last nights girl was very tasteful, just crying on her model husbands shoulder) but keep your "birds" to yourself. seriously.

if only i could sing then i would have this thing on lock. oh well.

!m!

oh no!

i think i might cry! say it ain't so!!!!

ides of january

january is half over but i keep thinking it is still october or something. although i haven't written 2007 instead of 2008 yet. so i guess i am living in the future... october 2008 here i come!

sunday we played with the three and four year olds at church. we had a good time as always but i still prefer the babies... :D after lunch and cleaning out the car (during which jeremy somehow broke the vacuum cleaner... so our house is really dirty right now... hopefully we get a new one soon!!!) jeremy went to the mayan for church and to hang out with zac. he saw nate torrence there, from our dearly departed studio 60. this week at work we have both been really busy which is unusual. we are looking forward to the long weekend so we can go camping! yay! i made sure that jeremy reserved a campsite by flush toilets and running water this time... :) this past weekend we almost turnedon te air con - it was hot. this upcoming weekend it is going to be cold. prolly because of el nino. which is spanish for the nino.

im very happy that american idol is back on. jeremy watched part of it with me last night. so far (i know it has only been one day) there have been no stand outs to me good or bad. we will see what tonight brings!

!m!

merry christmas to me!

i would like to take this opportunity to thank our corporate sponsors who made this possible: grandma and grandpa koci, grandma pat and grandpa phil, dad, mommy and daddy, grandpa bussey and barbara, and last but not least, jeremy. and west elm for delivering on a saturday so that we could be home to receive it. isnt our new headboard beautiful??? and our bed is actually made for once... not for long because today is laundry day and i am washing the sheets but i couldn't wait to post the picture. tonight will be my first night in a long time where my pillows dont get stuck between the mattress and the wall! yay!

i got home from the advanced laser center this morning (i love kris!) and found it almost put together. (it is shake and bake and) i helped! i had to hold the little thingies on the front while jeremy tightened the screws on the back. and then i lift the bed with only my pinkies and moved it back against the wall... ok jeremy helped some with that part... then he left me to go to the sporting goods store (i told him to bring me back anything for camping that is pink) to get his fishing license renewed so when we go camping in a couple weeks (or maybe next weekend... hmmm... whenever martin luther king junior day is) he can fish for sharks in the surf. which i will not eat because they don't have scales and fins. he will prolly throw back whatever he cathches anyways. we still have fish in the freezer from san diego.

!m!

fogo de chao churrascaria

last night we went with lance and kris and ryan and kim to the most amazing brazilian steakhouse called fogo de chao. we all pulled up in style in the escalade and headed in for our tutorial. everyone receives disks - green means bring more meat and red means no more for now. there was an amazing gormet salad bar and twelve different kinds of meat coming around: lamb chops, filet mignon, etc etc. plus did i mention the bread with cheese baked inside? man those brazilians know their business when it comes to food! too good for words. we ate until we couldn't eat any more and then we had dessert. apparently papaya aids in digestion so jeremy and i shared the papaya cream with blackberry liquer. wow! we took the time to take a few group pictures - lance was celebrating his 25th birthday (or something like that...). if ever you make it to los angeles... this place is a must stop for an amazing dinner and eating experience.

!m!

963Coffee

jeremy and i signed up to get a monthly delivery of fair trade, shade grown organic coffee from 963coffee. we chose the african morning blend and it came a couple of days ago. this morning we brewed our first pot. yum! i cannot normally taste the difference in coffees but this stuff puts starbucks to shame. wow. basically buying our coffee online through this company helps support economic growth in whichever country the coffee comes from (in our case africa) instead of in howard schultz's pockets.

mosaic screened the movie black gold a while back, which talks about the issues of fair trade coffee vs. not etc. we missed the movie, but the website also directs visitors to the black gold website as a way to promote awareness of these important issues. i am not trying to convince anyone of anything except this: this is the best coffee i hav ever had, and i feel especially warm and fuzzy drinking it knowing that i am helping people across the world.

check it out - you will be glad you did!

!m!

getty, h&h, the grove, santa monica

we were all over los angeles on saturday and sunday. saturday morning i got up early and went to the gym (i actually got up too early and the gym wasnt even open yet - i was not a happy camper let me tell you) then came home and we all got ready and headed to the getty center. we spent some time exploring the upper floors with all the paintings, then headed to the downstairs sections: household art (like decorations and bowls and furniture), the traveling medieval treasures exhibit (featuring a reliquary of a golden arm containing the arm bone of a saint that priests would use to bless people), the gardens (spectacular view of downtown los angeles), and a cool video installation called "please be seated." it featured copies of chairs in the decorations part with webcams aimed at them and one would sit in the chairs and be transported into a scene from the past (or future).

we headed to hollywood and highland for lunch and spent the afternoon walking up and down hollywood blvd looking at the stars, the chinese theater, the hollywood history museum, and the hollywood sign, etc. etc. etc. the best apart was eating shabu shabu at koji's. soooo good. they bring very thinly sliced pieces of meat and pieces of veggies and each person has a hot pot that is seasoned according to taste. one cooks one's own food and dips in the sauces. too good for words. lottie introduced me and i love it! shabu shabu means swish swish in japanese and is named for the sound made when one moves the food around in the water with chopsticks. (or a fork if you aren't proficient enough with the sticks) after dinner we headed home for an early night because we had to be up early for church.

jeremy and i stage managed so missy and audrey took the car and drove around beverly hills while we got things in order at church. they came back for the service and then we headed to the grove, more specifically the farmers market, for lunch. i love the french crepe place they have there!! we shopped around a little bit then drove to the promenade in santa monica. we shopped in the rain then trudged out onto the beach in the rain, then walked on the dock in the rain, then ate dinner at the end of the dock looking out at the ocean in the rain. it was wet and cold but beautiful! we headed home for some settlers of catan (wouldnt be an out of town visit without it!). jeremy and i headed to bed early because we had to be at work on monday.

monday the girls dropped us off at work and went to warner brothers studio for a tour and then out to zuma and point dume for some beach time in the sun (at least not in the rain). monday night we went to vallarta and got carne asada and ate dinner, watched football, and played settlers. early to bed early to rise because they had to be at lax before work...

we packed a whole heck of a lot into a few short days. we had fun and i think they did too...

!m!

missy and audrey!!!

last thursday afternoon, i left work early. missy (one of my oldest friends - we used to get babysat together) and her sorority sister audrey, who i had never met, arrived around 4 from kansas. they came for a long weekend and we had SO much fun! thursday night, lots of our friends came over for a small dinner party - the slovaceks, stellers, stiles, kris, and sarah. i made cuban chicken and black beans and yellow rice. it was, as always, delicious. i dont really feel like i am bragging because it is mostly out of my control how good it is (the mojo criollo pretty much takes care of that).

friday i <> called in sick to work and we girls dropped jeremy off at work and drove out to pasadena. we went to the rose bowl and shopped at xi. after lunch at in-n-out jeremy dropped us off at nbc studios and we saw a taping of jay leno. i asked for the tickets months ago before the writers' strike and was very happy that jay decided to go back on the air and write his own stuff so that missy and audrey could have the experience. audrey was taking pictures in the lobby where they graciously allowed us to wait (since it was raining) against the rules and almost had her camera confiscated - bad girl!he had an animal guy and a comedienne guy and an idol guy as the guests. my favorite part was blake lewis as the musical guest. he was runner up on american idol last season and his new band is pretty good. jay was funny, the studio was cold, and we were finished in an hour. all the things one would expect. we ate dinner at the italian place muceli's or something. it was delish! after dinner we came home and changed clothes then headed to universal citywalk to howl at the moon (a dueling piano bar). it was SO much fun! everyone who had a birthdya had to go on stage and they would make up a song about the birthday (usually) girl, rhyming their name in the song. often risque, but very funny. they did a medley of fight songs, starting with lsu and changing to whichever school put money in the tip jar. we didnt waste our money to hear the k-state fight song although we (we meaning the three girls, not so much jeremy) did sing it over the ucla song. it was raining when we left (actually it was raining when we got there too) and we tromped through puddles to take the requisite pictures in front of the globe. back at the car, we wrung out our jackets etc and headed home.

my shoulder was even wet through my jacket!!! arent we cute when we are bedraggled?

san diego: coronado and exit

this post is really out of order as it should fall on the 26th of december etc. but i have no idea how to reorder my posts and i forgot to post these pictures when i was writing about our trip...)

the last day of our trip to san diego we woke up late. it was great. we had no plans to be anywhere at all. after we checked out of our hotel, we headed to coronado island (not to be confused with catalina island which i keep calling it in my head) via a loong loong bridge. when we got to the island, we drove down the main strip and... that was it. i was rather disappointed to be honest. i was expecting something like key west or another resort/island town with cute boutiques and cafes etc. we ate a really disappointing lunch at this sandwich shop (our other choice was panera, which i love, but we try to eat at places we dont have in la while on vacation, but we both wished we had chosen panera) where the service was slow, the food was mediocre, and the people weren't very friendly, and then drove back through san diego up the 5 and home again home again lickety split. i took a couple pictures of the industrial docks and part of the bridge we drove over. we got back to la around 3 - plenty of time for grocery shopping and going to the gym. yay.

new year's resolutions

i don't usually make resolutions, but this year i am going to. on the radio this morning they said that only 12% of people who make new year's resolutions keep them. this year i am counting myself in that 12%. i think part of the reason i am going to keep them is that i am making achievable goals that i actually want to accomplish (not those vague lofty things like lose ten pounds or keep a cleaner house etc)



1. run a 5k. and by run i mean actually run (or at least jog... but not walk). i signed up for one in conjunction with the la marathon on march 2. so yesterday i started my training.



2. only use reusable bags at the grocery store (or reuse the ones they give me). no more bringing home a bunch of bags and throwing them away.



3. keep eating healthy. by january 30 i will have had no soda or super crappy junk food (good bye cheetos) for an entire year. jeremy was shocked when i said i will prolly never drink soda again. although sometimes a coke still sounds pretty freaking good. by the end of the year i hope to be completely medicine free. last year (2007) i cut down by half so i think 2008 is my year!



i feel like i am leaving one out... anyways, did anyone else make resolutions? i asked jeremy if he was making any... "why? do you think i need to??" and since he is pretty much perfect (ha ha) i said i guess not.



today i am cleaning out my email inboxes and starting over. also tomorrow i am cleaning off my desk at work. tonight is set aside for the cleaning of our house because missy will be here tomorrow!!!! yay! we took down all of our christmas stuff yesterday and i cleaned out my closet on sunday.



new year, new beginnings.



!m!

new year's eve

for new years eve, we headed out to al and lotties. they always throw a great party. lottie's friend michelle was there, arianna, the dronens, the ochsners and us. we started the night with appetizers - quiche and bruschetta, then moved right along to a baked potato bar (yum!). we watched some of the nye coverage on tv, listened to lottie's new cds, and just hung out. it got to be midnight really quickly so we headed into the tv room, got our champagne, and toasted the new year. we took some pictures, hung out for a while, and then headed home around one. a pretty chill evening all in all, but a very nice time. we missed you all! it is funny how we just stand around talking... run into another room... blow noisemakers and kiss everyone... go back in the other room and stand around talking. the actual countdown doesnt seem to be a featured portion of the evening like it was when i was in grade school. a couple years ago we even missed midnight and had to celebrate the next time zone year change. hmmm... maybe because now i can stay up until midnight whenever i want to (not that i ever actually do that) and back then it was like one night only. anyone else feel the same way?

something is fishy here...

jeremy and i cooked the first meal from the fish we caught in san diego. after he cut the heads and tails off of them (EW!) we stuffed them in foil with veggies and lotsa butter. yum! it was actually really good... fishier than the tilapia i am used to eating (learning to like fish has been a slow process for me). some of the fish we brought back were filleted (just like one would find at the grocery store - that is how i prefer all meat to be brought to me... i always tell jeremy if he is hunting something i will cook it as long as it looks like it came from the store when he brings it to me) but the ones we cooked were just gutted. so after we cooked them jeremy had to peel the scales off.

i am just thankful all the things we caught had scales and fins so i could eat them!