So Sensitive...

Commercial: "Every day one in thirty women learn they have cervical cancer."

Tim: *looks at me in the eye* "Do I have cervical cancer?"

Yoga Kitty.

Ok, I know I just posted a few minutes ago, but a few nights ago Tim and I found this website and pretty much were crying with laughter...

It's from Yoga Kitty an awesome website. Check out the videos. There's only three. Here, one for your viewing pleasure right here on blogger. Enjoy! Well worth it.



PS. Nessa does not enjoy to re-enact this video. Next try, Myla!

Oh happy day! :)

Yesterday was a good day. Like, one of those good days that good things just keep on coming. It started off subtle, and by the end, I was like, man, good day :)

8am: Woke up almost misery free for a good 3.5 mile run before work.

1pm: A rare popcorn lunch at the office

9-3: An oddly fast and nice day at work

3-5: Nice followup run. 5.5 miles

5:30: Extra relaxing yoga.

Here's where it gets good...

7pm: PURCHASE FLIGHTS TO L.A.!!!! Where I will get to see these lovely lovely ladies. Good times will be had.


AND

Found out that my recently graduated brother finally got a job! Dish room at Montage, but hey, it pays!

8pm: Drive the town and countryside with the convertible top down, enjoying the breeze. Also, discovering these crazy parachute hovercraft things outside of town.

9pm: Visiting my parents

10pm: Hearing a bit about Matt's trip while watching DaVinci code and FINALLY putting away laundry

Midnight: Scrubbing away at the shower, which sounds miserable, but its so nice to cross that off my list!

Ok, so most of its little stuff, but still. I like days like this. Let's do it again today!

Isn't my brother lovely (Graduation Day Two)

I am one tuckered puppy right now, but tomorrow and Monday are going to be just as busy, so I want to continue on with the Graduation Festivies.

I at least got to start my morning with an hour long massage, which I offered up to my withered mother, but she refused (silly move woman, it was fabulous) and I was forced to get rubbed and scrubbed myself :) The morning was gloomy, not the kind of weather you want to plan for an outdoor open house. With Carol and Mike's help though, Mom and Dad were set up before we could even get over there, so we joined them for some late Panera breakfast. Got a nice 5.5 mile run in too before Open Housing it up Nordyke Style.

Full decorations complete with all sports schtuff and photo boards were in order, as were the mini cupcakes, barbecue sandwiches (BBQ theme) chips, coleslaw, and a rootbeer keg. It was a hoedown waiting to errupt. I was worried there might be a mandatory bandana dress code (phew!)
I swear I told a million and a half people what I am up to, what I'm doing, yada yada. But you know the one question that I just realized not a single soul asked? When are the kids coming? This is awesome! Maybe people have finally taken the hint. Anyways. Lots of people showed up, I knew most, not all, but enough to stay busy through the whole open house in between licking the frosting off numerous minicupcakes (I'm naughty, I know).

Friends from other states even came(See Barthelemy's here!), which was cool to catch up with everyone. The rest of dad's family flowed in from their prospective states. Carol and Mike from the night before (OH) Tom and his daughter Molly, and randomly one of his sons Patrick was playing a gig in Waterloo tonight (IL), John and his 3 kids (IL), and Margaret with her husband Scott and daughter Carly (WI).
Once most of the non relatives left, everyone finally got to chill out some more and chat, and Scott had even brought some lawn games that a few adults and most of the younger kids decided to try to whip each other's butts in. I kept on hearing the screams from my Uncle to his daughter ("Wait, which one of us is in softball?!")
Darkness came, as did the pizza and the clean up. By 930 I was ready for bed, but we stayed to listen to the utter insanity that was them playing Apples to Apples until 11ish, and finally I could take it no more and we headed home. Tim's asleep, fully dressed, shoes probably still on, and tomorrow is going to be just as busy...we must remember to breathe!

Night One of Graduation Weekend!!

My brother graduates from High School this weekend. Yes, somehow they are letting him on to the real world...but he turned out to be a pretty decent kid. Loves working out, loves hanging out with his girlie girl, and is just a nice guy all around.

But as much as this weekend is about him, its not. Its about the massive gathering of everyone he has ever known. My parents have been preparing the house on weekends for the past two months, and for the past two weeks its been a daily task list. But the time is finally here! The preparing has ended and the festive itinerary has begun.

Tonight we were joined by Chris' girlfriend, as well as the first of my dad's relatives, one of his sister's and her husband, who are hilariously loud and know how to have a good time. So after a delicious Brown Bottle dinner on the patio, what else is there to do but Apples to Apples!


Here's the newcomers Aunt Carol and Uncle Michael!

Not Quite the Emerald City...

Tonight was a newly annual event put on by EPI (Exceptional Persons Incorporated). A local director and a few mentally able actors, as well as a group of handlers put on Wizard of Oz with dozens of local mentally challenged people. It was a full range of mental capacities, with lines being whispered to each person at the time it was supposed to be said. The sets were beyond my expectations, very creative and expansive. Here are a few snapshots of the night, including a blurry image of my Uncle's debut of being a crow...



He's the one with his arms outstretched in the middle!

Kansas City ended.

Continuing on from the last post, where I so abruptly ended. I'll be honest, I was just sick of typing.

Not that I had much more to say really. After dinner we headed over to the Sprint Center for some lovely Dane Cook action. Tim got a killer parking spot on the street a mere two blocks away, which was good because once we got to the building, I learned I couldn't take my camera in (hence the no delicious Dane pictures) and had to take it back. ALTHOUGH, once inside, I saw a million and one people with their cameras had gotten in. This always frutrates me. It's like, really, why do they care so much if I take the guys picture? TMZ does it! Why can't I?

We crashed after the show and woke up super early on Sunday, hit up the BEST BREAKFAST PLACE ON THE PLANET and ate the most scrumptious strawberry banana crepes. I would have taken a picture, but I was so focused on consuming them, that it totally skipped my mind. Plus it was ungodly early. But oh! I found them online!

Then yada yada we drove home for 4 hours yada yada boring stuff, nothing exciting happened then, but who just ends a story like that? Apparently I do.

Out like trout.

KC was the place to be!

Belated Birthday weekend 2009! I had bought Tim tickets to see Dane Cook for his birthday a few weeks ago, and so we were off to Kansas City this weekend to complete the gift! We left Friday evening after my training session and Tim got off work. But we didn't make it all the way to Kansas City, we paused in Des Moines for a heavenly fajita dinner at On the Border and to meet up with Travis and his girlfriend (who we had never met) for some pie. It was a quick catch up session, but good to finally meet the one we hear about so much. Plus, it was nice to get there by dark since the roads were wet with rain....and lots and lots of deer blood.

Sidenote: We stayed at a Marriott, which seemed nice, I've never stayed at a bad one, but this one had gross sheets. There were hairs, so we called to request new ones, and they were lippy about it! They didnt want to give us new sheets!! The did, but still. Gross.

After a bit of a sleep in and some yummy bagels on the road, we made it to Kansas City! The weather was gorgeous, a bit chilly, but the sun was beating down when we rolled up to the City Market. That's one thing I miss about big cities, fresh produce markets. I really like this one though, not just produce, but spices and nuts and seafood too. Seeing those bags of spices makes me wish I knew what to do with them all! I have a spice book, but haven't really been able to figure it out. The fruit all looked super delicious so we got some apples for ourselves, but also some HUGE scallion onion things for my mom and a bag of cherries for my father. AND THEN THE BEST PART....I FOUND BUBBLE TEA!
How glorious does this look?! Mango bubble tea with yummy orbs of chewiness at the bottom. How I missed you.

Dropped off the purchases at the hotel, checked in, ate our nummy Doubletree Hotel cookies (makes me think of Adriano) and went to the next heavenly location on the list. Whole Foods. It is virtually impossible to explain how happy going to a grocery store made me. So I won't even try. But we spent over an hour in the smallish Whole Foods and came out totally happy with ourselves. Tim made quite a few purchases, I was able to hold off all the crunchy granola urges. Ok, no more on the topic, I will start to drool.

Part of Tim's Kansas City Musts is to eat at Jack Stack Barbecue. Now, I like barbecue, but not all crazy like him and the other men in my life. But what I didn't expect at this place was that they would have such a delicious salad. Bed of spinach, strawberries, plain walnuts, and some feta. A picture is needed to document a very rare occasion that took place soon after said salad was served:
During dinner, we were informed of a less than fortunate event that happened as my brother and his girlfriend headed over to her prom. Now that its over and everyone is fine, its ok, but throughout dinner there were a few rather stressed phone calls made.

. . .

A-List C Sections? Really?!

Ok, I just have to share the COMPLETE idiocy of these people with the world.

Yesterday, at my abs class, there were two new girls. One had just had a baby and came with her friend (girlfriend?). Anyways. The one that hadn't just had a blob of flesh was complaining louder than anyone I had ever experienced in this class. Yes, its hard, and most people groan, grunt, and scoff occasionally. I still do and I have been going for two years.Alas, this girl would not shut up. Everything was "impossible" despite the fact that the rest of the class was close to or actually succeeding at said exercise.

Near the end of class, the girl mentions that at least her friend did not have a c-section because she wouldn't ever be able to get abs again because they cut all the way through the muscle yada yada yada. First off, duh, they have to cut all the way through the muscle, what, are they going to cut through half of the fibers and then have the baby apparate through the rest of them? Yeah, exactly. They have to cut through all of the muscle, kind of how it works. She went on to say that once its cut through its not really possible to get the muscle back.

Now, Im not going to argue that once someone has a c-section they can go right back to washboard abs, but her comment bothered me to a point where I mentioned that well, look at all the celebrity women that have c sections (most celebs opt for this method) and they go on to have rock hard abs. Angelina Jolie and Victoria Beckham for example.

THIS IS WHEN THE GIRL TURNED NUTJOB.

She proceeded to explain to me and the class that celebrities get different c-sections than "regular people" She seriously believes that celebrity women pay their doctors to make the incision in a completely different location so that they can go back to having perfect abs. Seriously lady? Serious? A doctor is going to make the cut where it needs to go no matter how many episodes of Seinfeld or Greys Anatomy they have starred in. A doctor doesnt get paid more money to make the slit in a completely different location to get a baby out. I am pretty sure there is only one spot to make it and thats where it is going to be made.

Plus, what, instead of filling out a medical history form, you send in your reel and resume in order to determine how "celeb status" you actually are? Oh, sorry, you are a B-lister and therefore get the cut an inch lower than an A-lister? Hmmm...you really only were on The Bachelor for a few episodes, so you have to get the "Regular" slice and dice.

She continued on and on about it and I finally gave up trying to argue how ludicrous of a thought it was, but man oh man.

Seriously?

Can I get a muscle in the hizzy?

Could it be any more gloomy and dreary today? My body is totally channeling the weather and cannot seem to be anymore bored or blah than it is now. But that's still a step up from my body last Friday.

As I said last post, I just started working with a personal trainer. The goal was to figure out why my current diet and workout routines were not doing anything helpful, if not in fact hindering my body. With a side plus of learning some new stuff to work on my arms and legs. A daily plan perhaps. It hasn't quite worked out like that though. At all.

The first session was testing, to see where I was at. With Carissa's classes, I more than outshone all of the tests with the exception of pushups which was totally expected. The second session was really just her watching me do a ridiculous and probably unhealthy amount of weight lifting. My blood pressure went so low at the end that my hearing went out for a few seconds (like when you yawn) and I thought I was going to puke. All of this is fine and dandy, except that doing this once a week for the 6 (maybe 12) weeks that I can afford isn't going to affect much.

Which is annoying. I need a plan! A schedule! Tell me what to do every day and I will do it. Don't just try to kill me in the weight room once a week and think that's going to change anything really.

She's also led me to believe that I have a ridiculously slow metabolism. Great. Thanks. That helps me a TON.

We shall see. Hopefully it morphs into a crazy awesome good thing. At least I like her. She's super nice and all, just not too into personalities. Its a, "I tell you to do this many and then I watch you do them" type relationship. Army 101.

Mother's Day

Without these lovely ladies muching on brunching, the world would not be graced with my presence....what a sad sad world that would be.... ;)

What better a time for May's lovely Nordyke family picture?!

Celebrations in May!

I've been a bit mopey in the head the past few days, only to be continued yesterday when super cheap plane tickets to Boston were found, and Tim's bank refuses to give him the time off...but I should focus on the busy weekend ahead! And besides, last weekend was pretty awesome too.

Julie had her birthday bash last Friday, good times were had. We had had some Nordyke famiyl time before that, and then it was on to some Toad's action with people and later on, pool at Cypress. Needless today, Julie is the best pool player of us all!





Saturday started off far too early, with my first personal training session, but with my second one today, I bet I have more to say about that later. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS. Sunny blue skies, slight breeze, perfect weather to have ZERO motivation. So we went and hung out at the Nordyke household hanging with the folks watching the two lovebirds (my brother and his girlfriend) get ready for prom. It's prom, so a MILLION pictures must be taken, and the whole family must get into it!





And then I pulled the big sister move and got up at 4 in the morning to make them chocolate chip pancakes and little smokies after post prom...how people eat at 4am is beyond me...



I surprisingly was up early enough to go for a run before the whole family took Linnea back to Cedar Rapids. There was the added plus of having Tim's birthday lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, his desired birthday celebration location. Linnea's mom was able to join us and got Tim the cutest birthday beer ever.



Did a little birthday shopping back in town, ate some ice cream, and watched a ridiculously boring movie. You know it's been a busy weekend when you look forward to the calm of the work week...

Do Re Me!!!!!

Quick love.

or

http://www.gnn.com/article/viral-video-that-makes-us-smile/413323

I love those Belgians! Not only for their waffles, but for their Maria VonTrapp action!

Entertain Yourselves.

I am still recovering from a lack of sleep over the weekend, meaning that my brain follicles aren't working very well. I suppose the episodes of Popular aren't helping brain function either.

In the meantime, entertain yourselves with a little blast from the past. 90s teen movies really were awesome.... Lessons to Be Learned from B List 90s Movies

Balding Poodle?

So when I realized that I waspurposely averting my eyes from the bathroom mirror so I wouldn't have to see what my current disaster of a coif looked like, I probably needed to do something about it. I liked what I had last summer, so why not recreate the lovely humid months of 2008 on top of my head.

While Lacy coated my hair with skank, the image in the mirror had different titles. I started with a nice disheveled birdnest, on to balding poodle, a nice and bloody head trauma and finished with 80s mushroom. If only I had taken pictures...but also, the dye started getting more and more Crayola colored, and the lady across the way started talking about a local news anchor and how horrible her stylist was because of the insane shade of red that her hair had taken on, and then continued to point at the bit of dye on my forehead and say, "Exactly like that"

Gee thanks lady...not like I can HEAR YOU! Whatever, she left looking the same as she did coming in. Nascar on the weekends, Spam on Thursday nights.

I also ended up chopping off about four inches. Which is ridiculously crazy. I had NO idea my hair had gotten to be that long. Tim stopped in during his lunch break and saw my hair straightened and long and we both realized that it probably hasnt been this long since high school, if not longer. So chop chop it went. I love it long, but I must be honest with myself. I am lazy. I do not like to take time to do properly. So chop chop it went.

Side story: Last night Tim and I went to Walmart for some grocery needs (I know, Walmart sucks, but it really is cheaper than HyVee) and on our way out. We saw a young couple and a dog on the corner, right near the gas station. They held up a sign, "Traveling, Poor,and Hungry" or something of the sort. They were uniquely dressed, She had henna or actual tatoos on her face, dreds, and the guy looked like a modest version of Clockwork Orange. The dog, CUTE dog, had on a striped sweater. Without thinking, I looked closer to see if I knew them. Its just how they were. Not common cashmere babies, but definately fun to talk to and hang out with. We didn't know them, but I wish we did. They would have been a good time. Plus, who doesn't love a dog in a sweater?!