DPP 23: Photo Fail?

The only photo I could get in of the gift exchange before my phone died. Apparently not charging it after my morning at the gym wasn't helpful.....

DPP 22: Taco Eating Father!

I'd be creeped out too by all the little dolls watching me eat my tacos....

Cedar Falls Police. Get some manners.

So both of my parents are sicker than death right now. To a degree that my dad left work at noon. Which is UNHEARD OF. And it's currently 11:30pm, and I get a call from their house.

Dad tells me that the police just called to ask if the red Civic had been moved from downtown because the snow plows were going to start working.

Ok, backing up. I had been at the salon this evening from 7:15-9:15. During that time, the cops had come in and told everyone to move their cars from the side streets. Well, thats like 20 cars. But the Tom Green show was tonight, and tons of people were downtown to see that, and eat and whatnot. And its 8oclock on a weeknight. People aren't going to be moving their cars anytime soon. So I just left my car and kept watch to see if other people moved.

By the time I left a bit after 9, half the cars were still there. No biggie.

BUT TO CALL MY PARENTS TWO HOURS LATER?! Please note that this street in particular is TWO BLOCKS from the police station. They werent even claiming that the car was still there, just calling, at 11:30pm on a weeknight, that the car had been moved within the past two hours.

Morons. Completely rude morons.

Fat and Fakin It

I don't know if I would go as far as to say that I'm a gym rat, but I feel like I am there enough to no longer be considered a poser. And now that I have the Legit Gym User status, the people that don't, drive me INSANE. I mean really, quit fooling yourself, you are just wasting your time and blocking my use of the bike with the good head phone jack.

This past week has been a great example of nearly every pet peeve I have at the gym, including:

-wearing button down collared shirts (ex. the Mayor wearing Hawaiian print)
-unlaced shoes
-shoes not meant for working out, Chucks, designer "tennis shoes"
-jeans (ESPECIALLY during yoga. Denim does not stretch people)
-being drenched in cologne (I should not choke for minutes after you walk by, breathing is rather important during cardio)
-elaborate jewelry
-long hair being worn down (if you arent sweating enough for that to be annoying, you shouldnt be there)

And this doesnt even begin to actually start my annoyances with using the equipment, like the guy that treats the rehab bike like its a normal bike despite the HUGE clacking "Im breaking" noise with each foot push......

New Artwork. Loves.

College Hill Arts Festival this weekend. Most of the time I walk through and don't see anything that I am willing to pay for, or even nothing at all. But this year, there were these GORGEOUS photographs done by Scanlan. Santorini, Tuscany, Ireland, Capri, all beautiful photos of amazing locations.

Cue equally amazing parents who bought me the following photographs. 16x20. Can't wait to have them framed and hung. Yay art. Now where to put them....


Scanlan Photography

Back in the Day (A Wednesday, of course)

I remember the walk I took a few months ago, the last real walk of 2009. It was almost "too cold", but I had my new camera and wanted to do it anyway. Oh, what I would give to have a day "too cold" like that again. It would be as if a huge heat wave had hit, and color had painted the skies. Remember blue? Remember how it felt to be able to actually see the ground? Without snow or even layers upon layers of salt. Even the ground that you can see is as what as the snow with much salt has been put on it this winter. It gets on your car, your shoes, your pants. Everything, as if you've been prancing around in a coke den all day.
The smell of grass. Of life. I swear the only outside smells I get now are the smells of going out to the garage where my car is warming up and the door is barely cracked to let just enough of the fumes out. Yummy, eh?


Reds, browns, kitties, and Tim!

Wednesday Whiteout.

These show why everyone in this town is in some desperate need of color in our lives....

Backyard Beauty.

I don't mind this being my backyard....

Sweet Sturgis Falls

I know it was two weeks ago already, but after the crazy bonding that was around Cedar Falls this weekend after all of the tree damage, I thought I would post a few better times of the streets of Cedar Falls.

Tim and Grandpa eating breakfast before the parade began.


Kids blanket. And yet, all of us are adults.


MMMmmmm....turkey leg. The first year they had them at Sturgis Falls!


Classic grandmother eating picture. Tenderloin of glory.


Matt. Framed very nicely ;)

Hurricanes in Iowa?!?

Early Friday morning, Cedar Falls was hit by 100mph winds, hail, and rain. We woke up at about 4am, and it was as though fireworks were being set off in the living room. I thought the hail was going to pierce the glass as soon as it hit. Power went out. And is still out in a lot of places. Streets are still closed. The sounds of chainsaws filled my ears all day. Tim and I are lucky, we live far from massive trees. Some people, only a couple blocks away were not so lucky. Sidestory: My dad's grill landed 50 feet away.

More pictures on my facebook if you are interested.

It takes more than one hand to count the scenes like this that I saw today.


One of the few house shots, I just felt too guilty taking pictures of their unhappy situations...


This is ONE tree. That used to stand next to the building instead of laying in front of it.


The roots of this tree were taller than I was.


Northern University High School. Right in front of the building.


My cute little upside down tree on UNI campus.


UNI Campus

Stormy days sweeping the Dome Away!

This was last week already. But it was quite crazy. There were rumors that a tornado touched down near the Dome, but you can tell I had quite the view, and I never saw a twister.

Throwback Thursday: Sturgis Falls

One of my first Sturgis Falls....ever, with my mother, and rocking the Sturgis Falls tshirt (which USED to be cool, until they started being all boring)

I am caught in a complex this weekend. Usually, at this point, I am prancing around in a gleeful manner, wishing it was the weekend. Because I am a true CF-er in my love for Sturgis Falls. I look forward to it ALL YEAR, and I miss it when I am away and unable to attend the town's glorious celebration. From the talent show on opening night to the Craft Fair on Sunday afternoon, I love it. The parade is the best though, my mom, brother, and grandparents all together. My mom goes early with the chairs for a primo spot. Then we join her and eat bagels and drink OJ and coffee as we watch completely awful floats, but still love every second of it.

But this year, I don't know...I'm just not feeling it. I still plan on going, but there isn't that buzz, that vibe. Hopefully that will change by tomorrow!

Sidenote: It's the worst weekend of my father's life. He hates it. In fact, Mr. Family Man pretty much refuses to attend any event Sturgis related. It's amusing.

Cedar Falls Isn't THAT Bad....

The conversation has been had many times. Are we going to stay in Iowa? Not forever, we know. But how much longer? We both miss Boston like crazy, but there are just some things about Cedar Falls that we miss when we are away. This list might have its silly points, but you would be surprised about what you miss when you are away...


-Green Grass in patches bigger than 3 square feet
-Evenings at Village Inn
-My car (and no public transportation)
-Fresh air
-Cheap movies
-Tanning
-Mexican food (Namely Rudy's)
-Working for my Father
-No Shame
-Kitties
-Places you can hang out without paying ridiculous amounts of cover
-Not dealing with the homeless several times a day
-Cheap alcohol and the ability to get it NOT at a liquor store
-HyVee
-Snow
-Christmas lights on houses
-Trails to work out on
-Four Queens
-Sub City sandwiches
-Life long friends
-Shredded lettuce
-Not paying rent
-Watching my brother in HS football
-Parks to frolic in
-Lawn mowing and the smell of
-Thunder
-Shows at the Reverb
-Not having to be scared to have bare feet
-State Fair, Sturgis Falls, and other festivals
-Being able to get in a car and just drive
-Saturday morning errands with the Nordyke's
-Stores that are open 24 hours
-No traffic jams
-Gyms that aren't full of body builders and Barbies
-Weekend drives in the country air just to get away
-CFU prices can't be beat
-A Target trip doesn't need to be a day long event involving a U-Haul truck
-Pool Halls

The list just grows...but as it does, so do the things I miss about Boston...