change of scenery?

Lately I feel like if my life were a color, it would be grey. I'm just kinda bored. But whose fault is that?

All this contract/future talk has me thinking about where I'll be going and what I'll be doing a year from now (and both of those are a big "I don't know"), and I think that thinking about all the potential for new places and things and people has me a little bored with my life right now. I think I'm also a little depressed because Tommy and Mike will both be gone soon, and Sara will be gone too in a few months, and that bums me out.

Also, I'm going through one of those funks at work where I'm like, "Uggggh I just don't feel like doing this!" All we had this morning was swine flu stories. That's it. And I was like, "There are other things going on in the world, right? Surely we can find something else to talk about." Nope. All swine flu. And especially since it hit Indiana yesterday, it's a big deal right now. But come on, a whole show about swine flu?! Yuck.

I've got lots of things to be excited about -- "So You Think You Can Dance" starts up soon, which will be a new experience for me, and Jillian will star in "The Bachelorette" soon as well! I have one more car payment to make and I'll be officially done, which means puppy time, and I'm currently putting out feelers for pug breeders (so if you know anyone, let me know!). And I just got time off approved for my SECOND vacation of the year (holler!), which will include my cousin's wedding and a week at Mom and Dad's newly-built cabin up at the lake! That's not till August, but still.

And all my adorable little High School Musical friends will be home for the summer soon, which (I hope) will mean more trips to Culvers for ice cream, afternoons by the pool, and weekends in Monticello! Summer!

So what's not to be excited about, right? I just need to get myself pumped up for all the fun stuff coming my way and stop feeling like my life is so boring.

Oh, final note -- and girls, back me up if you get this too -- the last two days I've had these lovely dreams involving beautiful beaches or lakes and dreamy dudes, which NEVER happens. I always have the weirdo dreams, not the sweet ones. But of course, I'm having these super-sweet dreams and then I wake up before I want to. Then I can't go back to sleep and back to my dream! But when I have a sucky dream, I either can't wake up, or I do shake myself out of it, and then fall back asleep only to enter Crazy Town all over again. So not fair!

Oh well. I'm gonna go to bed now and attempt a sweet dream that doesn't involve me waking up before I absolutely have to.

Happy daydreams! :)

it's a blog!!!

Here is is, folks!

I've launched my brand-new blog, "The Blonde Blogette" and as promised, YOU are the first to know about it! Don't you feel special?

Here is the new blog's home: the-blonde-blogette.blogspot.com. See? That's easy to remember, right?

There's also a little YouTube channel that goes along with, and you can find the link at the new blog site.

Do me a solid and go check it out, and if it's not your thing, you won't hurt my feelings. Like I said, I will still be here at this blog as well, not liking coffee and trying to grow up! :)

Happy Friday!

new project...

Thanks guys, for your input! Sounds like I should keep my little blog the way it is, and I will. Thanks to everyone who indulges me by reading and following it.

I am starting a new project. This is something I've been interested in doing for awhile, but have been taking some time thinking about how to do it. And now YOU are the first to know about it!

As you have probably realized, I'm a bit of a pop culture junkie, and I love music, movies, TV shows, webisodes, etc. So I'm starting a new blog that focuses on just that. I'm really excited that I've got it in the works, and I'm not sure yet when I'm going to launch it, but I hope that when I do, you'll stop by and take a look.

I'm still going to keep doing this blog; it's just that this one is kind of my personal story and I'd like to try the new blog as a more "professional" (???) project than a personal one. I just want to see if I can do this successfully and try something new.

So stay tuned! You will be the first to know when the new blog is up and ready to go!

Until later,
Lis

spring cleaning my blog

HELP!

OK, I have been writing this blog for over 2 years, and I'm very proud of it. At the same time, I'm not sure what to do with it because it serves like a million different purposes, which to me feels about the same as serving no purpose.

The main point of starting this blog was to document my journey as a twenty-something starting out after college on my own, and hopefully connect to others having the same or similar experiences. But on the way, it's also taken a lot of little side paths, like recaps of the Bachelorette or reviews of movies, music, and TV shows. Is there some way to split all those posts off into different sections? Or should I make different blogs for different topics? This way people who just wanted to read the Bachelorette stuff, for example, wouldn't have to wade through pages of my ramblings about life. So...does anyone know how I can do that; organize my blog posts into separate categories somehow?

Thanks for your time and (hopefully) help!
~Lis

oh give me a home where the palm trees are grown...

You're welcome, Sara.

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Here is a post about the first of several things that have been keeping me busy:

vacation!!!



I went to visit my older sis in Tampa. It was awesome! I had tons of fun on the plane ride there (of course). Then, when I got to Michelle's house, I almost died.

No, really.

I hadn't slept in like 24 hours, so I was pretty tired. Michelle made dinner and I took a nap, and then she woke me up to eat. Well, I was still pretty out of it, and I took a HUGE bite of steak that had a large piece of gristle (is that how you spell that?). I half-swallowed the piece of gristle when it got stuck; I couldn't swallow it and I couldn't spit it out. I tried to cough, but I couldn't.

Michelle noticed something was up and said, "Are you ok?" and started smacking me HARD on the back. Now, I don't know when the last time was that she updated her lifeguard/CPR license, but the last time I took that course, I was told smacking the person's back does NOT help...and they're right. I turned to her to try to tell her that, and that's when I realized I couldn't talk and I couldn't breathe. All that lifeguard training came back to me, and here is the thought that went through my head at this point: "Can't talk, can't breathe = choking! Omigod, I'm choking for realsies! Universal choking sign!" I then made the universal choking sign and Michelle's training came back to her too, and she did a few textbook Heimlich maneuvers, during which I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh, what if I throw up? I don't want to throw up all over her new furniture and her new carpet! It doesn't matter, that piece of meat has to come out!"

And then it did. Not like in the movies, where it goes flying across the room and breaks a window, or lands in your great-aunt's bowl of oatmeal. It just...came out. Like I'd just spit it out of my mouth. Am I grossing you out? Sorry. But I was just relieved it landed on the plate and that it was still in its original form of solid meat.

I stared at the chunk of steak and then noticed Michelle was still Heimliching. "Stop doing that," I said. "It's out."

"Oh, sorry," she said. Then we both started doing that releived laugh-cry-laugh reaction and I thanked her for saving my life. It was crazy! The best part was that nobody panicked and the whole thing just seemed really funny to me the whole time! But I know I was actually pretty lucky.

OK, the rest of vacation was pretty normal. We hit the beach on Friday and I got a satisfactory tan, and then on Saturday we got up early and drove to Orlando to visit Universal Studios. Now, this is the first time I've been to ANY of the parks down there, and I was as giddy as a 9-year-old. I took tons of pictures. You can see more of them here.

One of the most eventful parts of the day was when we got stuck in the middle of a ride. It was the E.T. Adventure, which is a dark ride where you sit on bicycles through the woods and then fly over the town and into space. It started out really cool; the forest looked totally real, the theme music was playing, and there were flashlights following us and police cars popping out of the trees, just like in the movie! Then this robotronic mannequin cop pops out of the bushes and yelled at us to "halt!" and we did. For like a long time. Finally, we were all like, "Uh...is this supposed to happen?" Then the music shut off and a voice told us there were technical difficulties and that the ride would start again very soon. Meanwhile, the manne-cop was staring at us and frankly, kinda freaking me out. Everyone on our little group of bikes sort of sat awkwardly in the silence for a minute.

"Maybe we should just pedal harder," I said finally. Everyone laughed, and that broke the ice. Someone started tweeting from her phone that she was stuck on the ride, and we all took turns joking about the situation. Then as the lights slowly started coming up, we looked around. It was very disillusioning; the trees didn't have tops and we could see the ceiling. Then a maintenance dude came up to our car and started fussing with wires. It turns out WE were the problem!

Well, they finally got the ride going again...sort of. We kept jolting to stops throughout the forest, and the maintenance guy behind us had to keep doing something to get us going.

"Is he gonna have to push us?" I asked Michelle. Then finally, we were launched out of the forest and over the town, which was tiny-tiny and all lit up below us. It was actually pretty cool...only we could totally see the maintenance guy walking on a catwalk right next to us. Sigh. When we finished the ride, a girl gave us free express passes, which Michelle and I used to skip the line for the Simpson's ride, which ended up being totally worth getting stuck on E.T. for!

OK, more things about life in later posts. But I think this will do for now!

Until later!

eeeeeeagle!!!

I am officially a week away from vacation!!! I can't even believe it. This time next week I'll be in sunny Florida at my older sis's new house! My new swimsuit came in the mail, I've got my packing list made, I have a hair appointment this Friday, I got an awesome new carry-on bag that I have been reallllllly good about not using until the trip, and I've barely had time to read the Vanity Fair I picked up like...what, a month ago?...so I won't even need to buy any new magazines! Who am I kidding; yes I will. I always buy new magazines for any trip that includes a plane ride and a beach. It's just kind of one of those things I have to do to celebrate the occassion.

And, by the way, I love flying. Everything about it! I know many people (my dad included) do not get the same kick out of flying that I do. So let me describe it to you from my perspective.

First, there's the thrill of racing through the airport to make your flight. Or, if you DO have lots of time, you get to take in all the fun things that an airport has, like moving sidewalks, stores that sell pillows, and crazy folks.

Then you get to sit and wait (cue magazine) for your flight to board. Now, even if your flight decides to run late, this is still fun because it gives you a chance to scope out (over your magazine) all the people you will be sharing a plane with, and try to figure out who they are and why they're going wherever they're going.

Next and at long last comes the excitement of boarding the plane, then watching (and yes, I do watch as a form of entertainment) the flight attendants do their little show about emergency procedures. And I always make up stories about the flight attendants and what they're thinking (wouldn't that be a great reality show? Oh, the drama!). Sometimes I narrate for them in my head. Like, I imagine Chelsea the perky red-head is secretly in love with Luke, the blond guy, but he's dating Renee the long fingernails girl who is clearly so over this job and hates everyone on the plane except for her blond BF...no wait, she actually hates him too because she's planned to elope with the co-pilot as soon as we land. Then there's Grumpy Drink Cart Lady (that's her name) who gets special satisfaction of catching Mile High Club inductees in the act, and finally the tall, flamboyant Roger, who knows he rocks the emergency procedure demonstration like nobody's business and is def. gonna get that promotion next week.

Then there's -- dun dah dah dun -- TAKING OFF! Always a major highlight; I don't get scared, I don't go to sleep, I don't read. I just look out the window and enjoy the miracle of flight. I also love flying on a sunny day because then I get to wear sunglasses, which makes me feel supercool.

Now, my ears do pop terribly on airplanes. Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode from the pressure. And that part is not fun. I always wonder for a few minutes if the whole head exploding thing is physically possible. Then I do the thing where I plug my nose and blow, then I stuff six pieces of Orbit in my mouth and chew like an angry goat, and if that doesn't work, I just get the magazine back out and try to focus very hard on the comeback of the cork wedge slingback. Or if it gets too bad, I may ask Grumpy Drink Cart Lady to bring me an aspirin for my headache, or flag down Roger to ask him what he thinks about the "Who Wore It Better" page of my magazine. At any rate, the ear-popping problems will NOT ruin the flight.

Now, I love sitting by the window, because I love looking at what's below us, especially when it's nothing but clouds and you can see the plane's shadow. I just think that's unreal. And then the big finish...the landing! To me, this is just as exciting and suspenseful as watching an Olympic gymnast finish her balance beam routine. Will she stick the landing? I always sort of judge the landing and give it a score.

Upon landing, here is what you do, you savvy jetsetter, you: put your magazine away, put on your shades (in case you weren't already wearing them), whip out your cell, and call whoever is coming to pick you up. Then, be cool. Everyone is in a hurry to get off the plane, but guess what. We're ALL getting off the plane. Let the poor moms and dads herd their little munchkins down the aisle, help the lady who keeps dropping stuff out of her four different carry-on bags (how did she get that many on the plane in the firt place?), and let the self-important business dudes go ahead of you, because it's fun to watch them try to get out in front of everyone and then shake their heads and sigh impatiently when they can't. When the path is clear enough to get through without stopping every two steps, you go. Wave g'bye to Roger, thank the pilot, and cross your fingers hoping that Chelsea and Luke really do end up together.

And of course, the best part of flying is getting to a NEW airport in a NEW place just hours after leaving someplace that was colder, darker, and less exciting than your warm, sunny destination! By now you've probably made friends with someone on the plane, so you exchange excited "well, here we are!" looks, part ways, and go find the awesome person you've come to visit so they can help you find your luggage at the baggage claim.

See, half the fun IS getting there! And I'll be there in just one week! Yay!

what do i do with my hands?

You know that episode of 30 Rock where Liz talks Jack into playing a character on TGS and then finds out he's a terrible actor? You do? Great! Remember the part where he doesn't know what to do with his hands so he decides to hold a coffee mug in each one?

Well, that's how I feel about Private Lives right now.

I told you before that I was nervous about doing this because I've never considered myself a "real" actor. Because this is the first role I've done for a whole show without breaking into song and dance. And it's a big role; there are lots of lines, and it's only me and one other person onstage for the majority of the show. So it's a bit intimidating, and there are all these beat changes, and all these little blocking moves, and it takes a lot of concentration for me to do this and try to do it well, without cheesing it up.

And then there's the British accent.

It's not that I can't do it. It's that I feel really silly doing it. I'm trying really hard to make the lines sound real and natural because I want to be a good actor, but then when I try to use the accent, it just sounds (to me) like a silly affectation, and I feel like...how can I be sincere about what I'm saying while sounding like I'm talking funny? If I were playing some sort of character role, that would be a completely different thing. But although the part of Amanda is very comedic, she also has some very real, passionate moments. And I guess I just have a hard time taking myself seriously when I'm speaking in an accent, so I worry that other people are going to have a hard time taking me seriously too.

Now add to those two hurdles the fact that everyone in this play is in love with each other, so a lot of the blocking is touching, kissing, hugging, and I don't know these people. So yeah, it's awkward. I hate that part. I know by the end of the show we'll all be touching and kissing and hugging each other like it's no big deal, but it's the first week and it's awkward. I can't help it.

Blerg.

Anyway, I get tonight off, which is good because it seriously takes a LOT of concentration to do that stuff for three hours straight. And I can't concentrate on any one thing for more than like...40 minutes. Oh! Also, Act I has to be memorized by Sunday night. So...there's that.

In other news, I'm excited because just before work tonight I found my spare set of car keys, which includes a spare clicker for my door locks. My other clicker's battery died, so I've been doing things the old-fashioned way, and I knew I had another clicker somewhere but it took me forever to find it. But now that I have it, I'm back to feeling super-cool for being able to unlock and lock my car remotely. I know...it doesn't take much.

OK, more in a post to follow very, very soon. It's about vacation. I was going to write about it here, but things got too long, so we're ditching and starting a new post, K? K.

Until then!