Fantasy Survivor

It's no secret I am a Survivor fan... when this blog first began I even tried my hand at writing recaps for them... but I realized I'm just not that funny!

For about a year now I have been watching Survivor with my good friend Michelle.  We order pizza and watch (and talk).  It's a lot of fun.  Somewhere during last season I told Michelle we should pick people we think are going to win and have a fantasy Survivor team challenge and she totally thought it was a great idea.

A couple of weeks before the season I printed out the picture and bios of the castaways that I found on ew.com.  That way we'd have a little bit about each person.

not sure why it's vertical instead of horizontal

 

On the day of the premiere episode we decided to watch the episode and then pick our teams.  Of course this created an odd castaway out, but whatever - it worked for us.  We also decided to pick based on the tribes, so we'd each have half of each tribe.  This is mostly because it's Fans vs. Favorites, so we have an equal number of each on our fantasy teams.

 

We rock, paper, scissored to see who would have first pick... and lucky Michelle won.

 

Here's Michelle's "team":  Favorites- Malcolm, Andrea, Dawn, and Corinne and Fans- Matt, Eddie Fox, Julia, Sherri, and Allie (already eliminated)

And here's mine:

Brenda - I picked her b/c she's cute and I think she can play a strategic game... she hasn't gotten any air time yet which makes me nervous.

Erik - I picked him b/c I like him, and I think he'll be nimble and good at challenges... he did make one of the most idiotic moves in Survivor history though...

Cochran - I like his awkwardness and goofiness... I think he could fly under the radar a bit

Brandon - All that was left was him and Phillip... and I just could no stand to 'root' for Phillip all season so he was really just the less of two evils.

That rounds out my pics for Favorites to win... Francesca was voted out at the first tribal council (poor girl voted out first twice!) and so that left one odd one out... and he's an odd one indeed... Phillip... so if he ends up winning... well... either Michelle or I will win... or we both win... whichever!

For the Fans...

Laura - after watching the first episode, she seems smart in the strategic game... I think she has a shot.

Shamar - when I first saw the line up on castaways I immediately thought that he looked like the type of person that could win Survivor... I however should have realized during the first episode that he was lazy and probably wouldn't be the winner... episode two really proved that point... so this one is probably not a good pick...

Michael - I think he's in a good position to get it.  He seems a bit strategic, from what I can tell can hold his own in challenges... I think he might be a bit of a under the radar player... but I think it's a decent pick

Hope - I mostly picked her because it was getting towards the end and she's from Missouri... so why not root for her?

Reynold - I got stuck with this guy... unless he makes a serious change with his strategy I don't think he will win... he kinda comes off as a douchenozzle... but he does have the HII so maybe it will work out in my favor

So there you have it... who's going to win?  I'm so excited to find out - I think I just found a way to make Survivor even more fun!! 

Number 3 - Fifty Shades of Grey

Yes... I know it's trendy but I just finished Fifty Shades of Grey

from NPR

(on a total side note, I was most of the way through this book before I realized that's a neck tie on the cover... I seriously couldn't figure out what it was, and even though it is reference in the book.  Finally it dawned on me... it was like the day I realized that the fancy D in Disney was a D and not just some goofy symbol)

Anyway... back to the matter at hand.  I recently finished Fifty Shades of Grey.  I had always heard that it was like reading porn... and in some ways it was exactly that.  At times it was awkward to read, but in the end I did enjoy it.  I kept wanting to figure out what was going to happen next. 

I know a lot of people think novels like this are like the death of literature...

Tumblr

and I do understand that point... but here's what I have to say... novels like this one have been around forever... when I was a shelver at the library we had racks and rack of those romance novels... so it's nothing new... this one just happens to be very popular, and not really sure why. 

I enjoyed the first book and have started on the second, although I seem to be reading that one a bit more slowly... maybe they just start out slow?  I actually started this book way back in July and just recently picked it back up when I needed a book to read at lunch and this one was already in my car.

I will say that this story is a bit far fetched, haha... I mean a very attractive millionaire paying attention to a seemingly normal girl and the sex is unbelievable... hard to believe my friend.  Whatever though, that's why we read books, to be a part of something that's not real.

I enjoyed it enough.

Randomness - Late February Edition

I'm back with a random catch up on all the little things that have happened in the last two weekends.

• Way back on the day after Valentine's Day Dan and I took a little trip over to Illinois.  We first stopped for lunch at Schlaffly Bottleworks which is not in Illinois.  Then we headed to our destination in Maryville... Corbett Birds.  Where Dan put a deposit on a Yellow Crowned Amazon.  I know a lot of people aren't big bird fans... and probably find them silly... but honestly him getting a bird, and one as cool as a Parrot (this guy will be able to talk and you'll have him out of the cage) - I am really excited about getting to learn more about owning a bird and such.  The babies were so stinking cute... and ugly... but so ugly they were cute.  Here's a picture of them when we saw them.

And here's a picture of them just one week later - it's crazy the difference a week makes in bird terms.

They have feathers now!  It's still going to be about 6-7 weeks before he's able to come home... but I'm betting that time will fly by!  Dan requested a male, but there's still a change we'll get a female.  Although they tell me there's not a whole lot of difference between the two.

• On Saturday we had a pretty low key day and then hung out with my cousins that night.  Dan is really enjoying the cousins, so we've been spending a lot of time with them.  I always have a good time with them, they are funny, fun and not uppity in the slightest.  Plus, Andy's son Ari loves Dan... probably b/c he let him play with his phone, but it's like super duper adorable.
• On Sunday we decided to take a random trip to the zoo.  It was on the the cold side - but we were able to find street parking and it wasn't too crowded.  We got to see a lot of animals.  My favorite to watch is always the otters - they always seem to be playing whenever I'm there.  Dan spent a fair amount of time looking at the parrots... go figure.
• I ended up having two more days off past Sunday... so on Monday I hung around the house and was mostly lazy, but had a nice dinner with Lindsey and Mom.  On Tuesday I forced myself to do something more productive and since the weather wasn't too cold - I cleaned out my car.  In that process - I killed my battery... womp womp.  I ended up calling AAA and they came out and replaced my battery right there in my drive way... so in the end it worked out as good as it could have!
• On Wednesday after work I finally got my hairs cut.  I've needed it for a long long time but I'm lazy and always end up putting it off... and until recently I was really enjoying having really long hair... but then the ends were so dry and damaged it.  I made an appointment with my mom's stylist... I knew having an appointment I would actually go instead of putting it off any longer.  I snapped a couple of before and after photos...

 

Here's the before look... I didn't straighten my hair that day... but if it was straight it would be even longer!

 

Here's the after photo - quite a bit cut off... I took this pic when I got home, but since then I've been wearing the bangs more to the side and liking it a lot.  I'm really happy with how it all turned out and I'm so glad to have all that dry, dead hair removed.  I'm excited about the bangs too!  She also did my eyebrows which I think look really good too

• On Thursday we had quite the winter storm pass through and I got to work from home yay.  And it was so bad I got to work from home Friday too (although I think I would have made it in).  I don't think I'd like the working from home all the time thing.  It's nice to have some motivation to get up and get ready and put on clothes and all that jazz.
• Friday I went over to Dan's and we had a low key night... it was strange for me working on a Friday... and feeling worn out even though I worked from home... strange.
• Saturday was something that I look forward to all year long - VA Trivia night.  We really missed having Keith on the team (he just knows everything) but we still made a good effort.  Our team this year was - Me, Dan, Andy, Susan, Michelle, Dad, Janet and Sarah.  It was a wonderful time as always.  Dan made some rice krispie treats with Captain Crunch - they went over very well!  My mom does such a great job pulling it all together.  After trivia Dan and I went back over to Andy's house and hung out.  We are always there until late at night.
• On Sunday Dan subjected me to one of the most boring sports ever... and I use sport very loosely in that statement... NASCAR... although I do have some more knowledge about it and I 'get it' more than I did, I still can't get over that not much changes... there's not like passing all the time, it's just watching people drive around in a circle... and hope for a wreck... woohoo.  The other weird thing (to me) about Nascar is the in yo face advertising... I mean... it's all over the place and when they interview any of the drivers or whatever they are always pimping out whatever company sponsors them.  I mean, I understand the point of it and all... but I still find it pretty strange.  The other impressive thing is the amount of cameras they have to broadcast that stuff - I mean they are everywhere... and all the drivers are miked so you can hear their conversations... just strange for a "sport" in my opinion.  Let's hope that Nascar doesn't become a normal part of my weekends!  I can handle it for a big race like the Daytona 500, but I'll pass for an every weekend tradition.

Well, that's what's been up with me in a nutshell, I'll be back soon with another book review and another thing I have going on with one of my favorite television shows. 

Valentine's Day

I think I had one of the best Valentine's Days I've ever had.  I've never been real big on the holiday... but I really do like the idea of having a day to express love... cause all you need is love... haha... just wanted to throw in a Beatles reference.

My Valentines started a couple of days early when my dad surprised me with a gift of M&Ms and a card - it was really sweet.

On Thursday morning I woke up to find my mom left me a Valentines gift.  She always does something sweet.  On a side note, when we were younger on Valentines Day she would make meatloaf in the shape of a heart, it was the only time we ate meatloaf... it's a fun childhood memory.

After work I headed over to Dan's place... We hadn't really made specific Valentine's Day plans... I kinda wanted to see what he would come up with on his own.  I know this could set me up for disappointment, but he totally came through.  I remember thinking a couple of times that night - wow, this is really great, he really put thought into this.

He made me dinner, beef stew (which I should have gotten a picture of... but I didn't) and he got us Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Americone Dream).  He served me and got me a card and even got me a gift.  It was totally sweet and totally overshadowed the silly gift I made him.  Although he said that he really liked it, in a very genuine way.

I made him a 52 reasons why I love you book... which is all over Pinterest, but I really liked the idea, especially b/c he always asks why after I tell him I love him (ok, not always, but enough... it's a thing we do.)  I really wasn't sure what we had planned, otherwise I may have gotten him more, but we have two more big gift giving days coming up in the next month and a half (our one year and his birthday), so I have plenty of time to spoil him.

Anyway... here's some pictures of my gift I made... it's super easy... first I came up with 52 reasons why I loved him (I started the list about a month ago and added/adjusted when I thought of new reasons).  Then I bought some shipping labels from Target (Avery brand 2"x4").  I used the template already loaded into MS Word to put the reasons in.  I typed them in each box and I used 10 different fonts to keep things interesting.  I turned the words so they read the long way (so it fit better onto the cards).  I also altered the font size so everything looked better too.  I used my printer at work to print them.  I then found an old deck of cards we had laying around the house (that makes it sound bad, but I liked the idea of worn cards, I actually shuffled them quite a few times and bent them back and forth... although I doubt it made that big of a difference)

I then cut the labels down to the right size depending on the text - and stuck them on the cards.  I just did the cards in whatever order they were in since I shuffled them.  After I stuck all the labels on I punched holes in all the cards - going based on a line that was already printed on the card.  I didn't get real specific and just tried to make it look good, homemade, but not perfect.  It worked out real well!! I used the jokers as the front and back page - so no waste.  I strung them all together with two binder rings - and viola, a Valentine's gift.  I hope he liked it as much as he seemed to... he keeps saying, what's reason 39? Like I remember them all by number haha.

I don't want to list out all 52 reasons, but some are serious, a lot are just random, but things I really do love about him.  Overall... it was a wonderful Valentine's Day... as perfect as I could have wanted!

Mardi Gras!!

Last Saturday I attended just my second Mardi Gras in St. Louis (the first was last year).  Until that point I had kind of avoided the whole Mardi Gras thing... just seemed like why would I want to go freeze my tushy off and be around a huge crowd of people that are all drinking... well... I'll tell you why... because is a fun time!  I was totally wrong about Mardi Gras I had a blast again this year.

This was Dan's first year at Mardi Gras... and he had a wonderful time too.  It really helps that I go with my friend Liz and her hubby.  They know a very nice fellow that lives down there and has one great house and party.  They have booze (a wide variety) and food (the best cornbread I've ever had) and clean bathrooms!  Oh,  and the decorate amazing for Mardi Gras... it's awesome

We got down there drank some (some of us more than others)... we went to the parade, caught a lot of beads, walked around, saw a drag performance, walked around, met up with my cousin, walked around, drank, and just had a good time.

The weather wasn't too bad, on the cold time but I dressed appropriately.  I only got a couple of pictures, but here they are... actually I take that back, I have about 100 pictures of the day, however they are mostly of me and Dan posing while Ken took the pics in rapid fire on the iphone (it's an awesome new feature)... I wanted to put all the pics into a slide show so I could so that weird moment in time in still photos but, I couldn't figure it out... so you'll have to settle for these.

Here's the best one of Dan and I - it's my new profile picture on Facebook..

And a kiss

I think it's funny how weird Dan is acting... even though it's blurry

Dan acting all gangster with Ken

And finally a pic of Liz and I

Can't wait for next year!!

Randomness - Late January/Early February Edition - including NEW RECIPE

I'd love to get these posts on a most consistent basis since I feel like I totally miss things when doing it so much later... probably should be a weekly thing after my weekend... but I digress

Here's some things I remember I did over the last couple of weeks.

• At the end of January Dan and I (and a couple of his friends) went to Motorcycle Racing on Ice.  The video below shows what it's about (from a couple of years go)...

Pretty cool looking huh?  Well... there's not nearly as many crashes... probably should have realized that.  It was only $5 to get in - so really it wasn't a bust, plus I enjoyed doing something different around the city.  Try new things yall! 

• After we went to the motorcycle races we went out on Mainstreet St. Charles - went to Trailhead first where we order a not very good appetizer... then we went next door to Millstream where Dan's buddy he hadn't seen in forever was... it was a pretty entertaining night!
• The following weekend we went to roller derby again... this time my friend Michelle met us up there. It's a great time as always... but I think we'll have to miss the final bout of the season... aw nerts! She came and hung over at Dan's place for awhile afterwards but that's the night we got hit with that CRAZY snow so she left, although she probably should have stayed because the roads were pretty crazy here's a pic I took that night.

• The next day was SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!  We went over to my cousin, Andy's house.  It's what I did last year too.  Let me pause for a moment and say how much I love Super Bowl... it's just a fun time to concentrate on a game, watch funny commercials and best of all - EAT PARTY FOOD - yum.  I made a couple of things (see below) We ended up staying over there until around midnight... I did end up calling in late on Monday to sleep in a bit and it was totally awesome!
• As for food that I made (my cousin had an amazing spread!!) I made some chocolate chip cookie/brownie things - which came from a box, they were good but got trumped by some other excellent desserts including these chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips - yum!
• I also tried a new recipe - Sausage Dip.  I asked Dan what he wanted and this is what he picked.  I had never heard of it.  It's super easy though!  Just cook some sausage (we got the spicy stuff in the tube thing near the breakfast sausage), a can of Rotel, and a brick of cream cheese.  I did end up adding about a half a brink more of cream cheese and a half more can of Rotel.  It was pretty yummy.  It was all gone by the end - so I'd say it's a pretty good recipe!  I love dips! I'm sorry I don't have a picture.

So that's what I've been up to the past couple of weeks - busy busy!

The Medical Thing

Do you remember that lovely female problem I've had going on for like five years.  You can read about the past two years here and here.  It should have come with no surprise when I got another letter in the mail saying that I should schedule another colposcopy...

I'm not sure exactly what I've covered in those past posts, and honestly I'm too lazy to go back and read them but up until recently I loved my doctor... didn't have a doubt about her in the world, but a friend of my mom's had a pretty big issue with her and convinced me that maybe I should be getting a second opinion on everything.  I was leery at first, but when I received that letter my mom brought up a very good point - I haven't really received any new information about this condition in quite awhile from my current doctor - maybe someone else could provide me with more information.

So I decided that I would go ahead and make an appointment with a different practice to at least see what they had to say.  I went to that appointment, but didn't really get a whole lot of information... mostly because they had to wait for my current doctor to fax over all the test results and such...

But, a week or so later I finally did get some answers.  She basically said that with my specific condition my current doctor was doing everything right - monitoring it.  A lot of people have said to me recently they just didn't understand why they weren't giving me the surgery to correct things.  My current doctor always said that it was because I wasn't past my 'baby making stage' yet.  That they could do the surgery, but recommends to wait b/c that surgery may cause pre-term labor or miscarriages.  And if it was doing ok, then we could just monitor it.  That was fine and dandy and all... but I'm kinda sick of going in for biopsies/colposcopies each year.  They are painful and gross... really gross... for like a week afterwards...

Ok... feel like I got a bit off topic there... so, my current doctor was right about monitoring the condition and not just zapping it... however they saw no real reason why she keeps taking biopsies.  She said my pap tests are reading abnormal, but only slightly, which means things are getting better down there.  Plus, every time my current doctor has taken biopsies they have been in different spots of the cervix, which indicates it's not just one spot that's bad... wait, that didn't come out right... all of those biopsies just showed normal inflammation that ANY women could have... in other words, showed nothing alarming!

I feel like I'm not explaining this super well, but this new office feels confident that my condition can be monitored with routine pap tests and not biopsies... praise.the.lord!

Another great thing about this office was the amount of time they spent explaining everything to me... I really felt like I just got more information there than I had gotten in the previous five years at my other doctor.  While it was nice to know that my other doctor wasn't doing anything wrong per say... I did like this other office's attention.

They also gave me a blood test while I was in the office... which we all know I hate... BUT she ran more tests than I've ever had... or at least gave me more results.  They did a cholesterol test (which I have had before and showed high cholesterol) but she gave me my specific numbers.  Explained that while my bad cholesterol was high, it was barely over the marker and that my good cholesterol was high too - which is good.  They also realized that I have low vitamin D... they like to see that at a 30 and mine was at a 13.9.  I will be taking some prescription vitamin D for 8 weeks and then getting another test.  A vitamin D deficiency can cause sleepiness and irritability - which I do have on occasion... so I'm eager to see if taking a supplement will make either of those things better.

I've pretty much decided that I will be switching doctors... honestly part of it is I don't want to get another biopsy if I don't have to - and so far this office seems good.

I just wanted to follow up b/c I know everyone was just dying to know :)

Number 2 - Who could that be at this hour?

Here's the second book I read, Who could that be at this hour? in the All the Wrong Questions series by Lemony Snicket.

From Amazon

This is a kids book, I know... but I read Lemony Snicket's other book series - A Series of Unfortunate Events which I loved.  When I heard that he had a new series out I was totally excited.  His writing style is the same as in Unfortunate Events.  I know it is a kids book, but it's really enjoyable to read.  The story does not end at the end of this book... I think I saw there would be four in the series. 

Who could that be at this hour? follows the story of a young Lemony Snicket that works for an organization that's secret.  He ends up in a weird town and in midst of a mystery which is part of his training.  The story takes some twists and turns, but easy to follow (hey, it is a kids book!)  I love all the quirky characters he adds in his stories.  Like Unfortunate Events, they live in a world that is like ours but different, more magical at the same time.  I love that sort of whimsy. 

I'd recommend this book or any of his others.  I heard he has some more which I may look up at some point.

Happy Reading!!