Awkward and Awesome: All the Awkwards

To be honest, this post is going to be heavy on the awkards. I'm feeling a little sleep deprived, punchy, loopy, etc.

In fact, it took me three tries to spell 'deprived', if that's any sort of indication.

I also just edited a 3300 word blog post for one of my other gigs, so that didn't help much either. There's a reason every blog post here takes me forever to write. And it's not because they are really long.

Anyways. I am going to move on from my rambling to bullet points. I think it will work better. Or less worse.

Awkward:
- Waking up an hour before my 5 a.m. alarm. Yucky. I'm still not over it. Obviously.
- I had to walk past a man sleeping outside my work's front door yesterday. I tried not to wake him.
- I wore a white top while cooking mole sauce. Very, very bad idea.
- My inability to nap is really a bummer with my current work schedule. I am not falling asleep as early as I need to and then I can't fall asleep during the day when I have the time to. So annoying. Also, I get off at 10 a.m., so I should have time to accomplish so much. But I don't want to. Because I'm tired. All that to say, I get why kids get so cranky when they lack sleep. I could go for a tantrum right now. </end rant>
- Feeling like an old woman. Random aches and pains.
- My roommate's cat Napoleon loves my window, but there's no screen, so I spend a lot of time worried he's about to fall two floors to the ground.

Awesome:
- Having a random guy on the street tell me I was beautiful. What girl doesn't love that?! Especially when it's not a sleazy/creepy.
- Being told I did a great job at work.
- My family already planning the menu for when I'm up visiting this weekend. Just one of the many reasons I love them.
- Peanut M&Ms

So, what was awkward and awesome about your week?

Versatility.

A blogger friend, Lil Desiqua, gave me a blogging award, The Versatile Blogger award. It's such an honor, and I really love the community I've gotten to know blogging.

As part of the award, I'm sharing seven facts about myself. I'm also supposed to nominate bloggers to share as well, but I'd rather just have you share a random fact (or seven) about yourself here in the comments. Because I want to know about all of you.

I've actually been trying to put these facts together for a while, but I've shared quite a few random facts about myself over the years (here and here). 32 facts, actually.

And I'm riding a bit of a sweet potato mole high, so if things get a little scattered, blame the deliciousness.

Seven Random Facts:

#1: I have a bit of a lead foot. Not in an endangering-lives way, but in a love-cruising-the-open-road way.

#2: I refused to wear dresses for a number of years. But now I love them. I like to think of my style as tomboy chic.

#3: Pre-braces I had an overbite big enough to fit my fingers in. Thanks Mom and Dad for chipping in the fix that problem!!

#4: I only discovered sweet potatoes last year, and am a complete addict. I eat them multiple times a week. Seriously.

#5: Onions and garlic make me emotional like nothing else. Tears pouring down my face. And the snot. I am never going to cook either while trying to impress someone. Because I will fail completely.

#6: I feel naked without a watch on. I got one I loved a couple years ago and then went to Europe sans cell phone, and now I hate to be parted from it. It makes me feel a little old school, but at least it's one more reason not to look at my phone.

#7: Okay, for real, I'm blanking on a seventh random fact. So ask me a question in the comments and I'll answer. Or, better yet, share a random fact about yourself. Or just pretend I wrote something incredibly interesting here.

But seriously, I want to know random things about you. It will make this whole thing much less of a vanity exercise.

Weekly Intentions: Back to the Basics

A little look at what I have planned for the week.

It's the start of the quarter, so I'm not trying to get too ambitious with my plans for the week.

Also, I woke up at 4am this morning, which is especially annoying since my alarm was set for 5. Great start to my Monday.

Next up: a nap. Then class tonight. I hope your Monday is going a little smoother than mine.

Awkward and Awesome: the short and short of it

This week has ended up being a bit crazy. I have only eaten one or two meals at home so far, if that says anything.

Due to that, this is only post #2 for the week. But I do have three more days to get another post up to meet my goal.

But before I have to head off to work (my coverage today changed from 6am to 3pm--a little different) I'd like to at least share my awkward and awesome moments from the week.

Awkward:
- 6:30 feeling like sleeping in.
- The amount of money Starbucks getting from me now that I have to be at work at 6am.
- Waiting until today, the day before the registration deadline, to sign up for classes (which start Monday)
- Injuries have decimated my fantasy football team.
- Having a whole bullet about fantasy football.
- Approximately 10 half finished blog posts. It's not that I don't have ideas or enjoy blogging. It's that other stuff seems to get in the way. Like playing solitaire. (Mostly kidding about the solitaire.)
- It's been cold in the mornings but hot by the afternoons. Basically, I have to make an outfit change most days. I'm such a diva.

Awesome:
- Catching up with a number of different friends. Plus the friend dates included brunch, lunch, and happy hour. So wonderful!
- Getting a comp ticket to a beer/food pairing event. 11 stations filled with local restaurants and breweries. So delicious.
- Having my work shift change for two days. I'm enjoying "sleeping in."
- Being able to use my old laptop so I can get work AND watch all the episodes of West Wing. Plus, once I finish I get into all the shows starting back up this fall.
- Freshly painted nails, that haven't chipped (yet).

So, what's been awkward and awesome about your week?

Monday (not-so-morning) Intentions

I'm not exactly back on the treadmill of posting regularly, but I'm trying to get there. A couple weeks ago I restarted my weekly intentions post, and I want to keep it going (albeit intermittently).
But first, before I get to it, I wanted to share this little song with you. It's been my pick-me-up tune recently. Tyrone Wells is one of my favorite artists. I've been following him since I first saw him perform in college. He's funny, talented, and you should check out more of his stuff. (If you're into singer-songerwriters, that is.)

I was going to recap my last set of intentions, but I really can't remember what happened that week so it would be kind pointless to go back over them. I can tell you this, though, I accomplished some but not all of what I set out to do.
What I hope to do this week: 1) Go for one run, or two. 2) Cook at least one meal (I have a lot of things going on this week, so I won't actually be home for many). 3) Write three posts. I need some sort of accountability. 4) Take advantage of the beautiful weather we're still enjoying. It's supposed to be in the 70s and 80s for the next week or so, which is not normal this time of year. 5) Actually register for class since it starts next week. 6) Get all my clothes hung up. The closet is packed, so I have to sort of wedge everything in.
That's all I'm doing for now. Life is running itself pretty well right now, so I'm just trying to stick along for the ride.
What do you hope to accomplish this week? Is there anything you've been putting off?

Awkward and Awesome: Catching Up

It's been a busy couple weeks with a lot of free time (I'll leave you to decipher that one). I thought I'd use my awkward and awesome post to catch up on what's been going on.  Just in case I don't actually get everything posted that I've been meaning to.

Awkward:
- The amount of time I've spent watching West Wing recently. This wouldn't be bad except that I watch with my computer hooked to my TV, so I get absolutely nothing done while it's happening.
- Getting up at 5am. I am not and never have been a morning person. Case closed. Also, I fell asleep at 9:15pm Tuesday. And it still wasn't a full night's sleep.
- I planned to go grocery shopping on Sunday and still haven't made it. Although I'm a little bit proud of myself for successfully creating meals from what I had on hand all week (even if most of them weren't much to write home about).
- The size of my closet. It's tiny. My stuff is just wedged in there. Over the past year or so, I've gone from big to regular to small. I have purged and haven't really shopped much. I think I'll just have to keep jamming stuff in.

Awesome:
- The new job. I'm learning a lot and now about any current event that matters, all before 10am. And I know I complained about the wake up time (because it's not fun), but having my day to get stuff done, whether or not that happens, is pretty awesome.
- The weather here. We're set to be in the 70s for the next week. I'm not quite ready to let summer go, so I appreciate this.
- The West Wing. I love this show. And it's free to stream via Amazon Prime. I'm getting my money's worth on that one, just in the last week. (Seriously, I'm almost through season three.)
- The G-Whizz! app. I love it because I'm able to keep up with my blog reading on the bus, waiting somewhere, or while West Wing is playing. :)
- The number of new computer programs/systems I'm figuring out. I'm definitely going to learn a ton over the course of the internship.

So, what's been awkward or awesome about your week?

Whistler Recap

Finally, I'm here with pictures from Whistler. At this rate, I'll have shared all the pictures from my summer by the new year. So that's something to look forward to.

When my friend, Kacee, started planning her visit and mentioned Whistler as an option, I said, "heck yes." Just like I had never been up to Mt. Baker before this summer, neither had I been to Whistler.

(What? I'm not a mountain sport person.)

We gave ourselves about a day and a half up there, which wasn't nearly enough time, but we still managed to fit a lot in.

The first stop on our drive up was at Shannon Falls, which is just an hour south of Whistler. The falls drop almost 1,100 feet. To contrast that, Niagara is 165 feet (though it has a little more water pouring over it).

From there, we had an aborted attempt at lunch nearby. After waiting half an hour without anyone even offering a glass of water, we chose the drive thru at McDonald's and headed north.

We stayed at Aava Hotel in Whistler Village, just 5 minutes walking from all the shops and restaurants. As a bonus, parking was free because I drive a hybrid. That saved us about $20 a day. Score!

After checking out the options, we decided to purchase a two-day lift pass to be able to go up the mountains.

(As a handy tip, if you ever head up, you can purchase a two-day pass online for the price of one day. I'm assuming this is only true in the summer, but still.)

We headed up the Wizard Express to Blackcomb Mountain. We didn't really plan well before setting out for the day, and Kacee didn't have long sleeves with her. Spoiler: mountain tops are very warm, even in the summer.

After picking up a sweatshirt, we took the gondola over to Whistler Mountain, and took the ski lift to the top. The views the whole way were amazing and while in the gondola, we were 1,000 from the valley floor (a little scary).


We decided to take a shorter hike around the peak and then headed back down to the village for dinner.

The second day we went up the Whistler side, it was closer to our hotel, and took the big gondola over to Blackcomb for an even shorter hike. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the hike was a little more protected than the previous day.

I would definitely love to head back next year for some longer hiking trips. There are some four hours options that would be great, especially with a picnic along the way.

And if you haven't been up to Whistler, I definitely recommend it. It's breath taking, with a variety of activities, and small--the perfect getaway combination.

P.S. It also has a lot of activities for kids.

Weekly Intentions: Back in Business

I'm laying in bed getting ready for the week. Or relaxing before it starts. Or just being lazy. The jury is still out.

(Confession: I'm actually watching The West Wing. One of the best shows ever.)

It's been a busy but wonderful weekend. Thursday I drove up to my parents' so I could do laundry and run errands. Friday evening, my mom and I headed out to San Juan Island to spend two days with my uncle (more on that later). And today I got my room in order and cleaned (almost entirely).i also got groceries. Woman cannot live on Trader Jo Jos alone.

I wanted to start the week with a few things I want to accomplish. Give myself some goals, especially as I start work tomorrow.

Weekly Intentions:
1. Get up at 7am and shower each weekday.
2. Get a shelf cut for the closet.
3. Research custom frames for a print (suggestions welcome!).
4. Only eat out once...okay, maybe twice.
5. Go for a run, walk, something at least twice.
6. Put together my Shutterfly photo book.
7. Decide what class I'm taking.
8. Process photos from this past weekend.
9. Eat some vegetables.
10. Discover new, fun music (suggestions also welcome).

What do you intend to do this week?