Sunday, July 27, 2008

I Must Be Crazy...

This past week I spent a lot of time working on scholarship applications, hoping to earn some last-minute financial aid before returning to hygiene school. One such application involved writing a series of silly short essays, and induced an epiphany that I just might be certifiable.

About two days ago, I put some chicken on the stove to boil, and sat down to write a scholarship essay. What I came up with was a blurb about vegetable rights activism ("Love vegetables -- don't eat them"). Andrea laughed out loud when I read it to her; she also suggested that I add a link to a fake website "in case people want to make a donation" to my imaginary vegetable rights group. I took it one step further, and found myself actually creating a website called "The Virtues of Veggies." I got so sucked into it, that all of the water boiled out of my pot on the stove, and the chicken on the bottom of the pot burned to blackness...

Now I suppose I must redeem myself by reminding you that this website is not to be taken seriously. I did not found the ASPCV. I do not believe that harvesting green beans means we're "kidnapping the plants' children." I really do eat vegetables...all the time. In fact, I love them. I just occasionally get caught up in fantastic, crazy whims and don't know when to put them down.

Friday, July 4, 2008

A Week In Boise

I have to apologize to the three of you who read my blog...I have had a busy but fairly uninteresting summer, and my blogging (or lack thereof) shows it. The highlight of my summer was probably this last week, which I spent with my family in Idaho. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks, and I believe that the anticipation made the first half of my summer creep by; now that I am home, I fear that school will come altogether too quickly.

It was so wonderful to see my family. Although my mom and sisters were just here last month, I had not been home since Christmas. That is WAY too long! The week started with two late nights of "Sister Movie Night," which consisted of Steph and me cuddled up in Matt's big bed with my laptop, watching "The Wedding Planner" and "Spider Man 3." Unfortunately, about halfway into "Spider Man," my laptop exploded (and I think I may have lost everything on it)...that kind of put a damper on our movie nights for the rest of the week.

I got to spend some time on Saturday and Sunday playing Pinochle with Grandma Brookhart before her open heart surgery, which she had Tuesday morning. I hear she is doing well, though I think the whole family has been holding their breaths with nervousness. My time with Grandma was precious. Even for an 87-year-old woman, she is exceptionally sharp -- especially when she sits down for a hand of cards.

On Monday, Andrea and I went to Anthropologie!! They have a new store in downtown Boise, and both of us were just in heaven! Boy, if I had money, I would definitely be tempted to shop there regularly (at least for the stuff that I am too lazy to copy). While we were there, we each made our first Anthropologie purchase ever (and actually picked the same item): a cute, cute, green sweater that only cost $20. I think my favorite part, aside from the price, are the big wooden buttons that have butterflies and flowers painted on them. I later looked at anthropologie.com later on, and the same sweater costs $40 on-line. What a bargain we got!



Also on Monday, I got roped into doing Jared's hair. He asked me to put highlights in it, which my parents (and Colby) were less than thrilled about; however, he agreed to my mom's stipulation that he also have his hair cut, so I think my parents felt like they got the better end of the deal. His hair was getting very long. I did the highlights before cutting his hair, and snapped a picture with my cell phone. I guess I've never seen a guy getting a weave before. I thought it was kind of funny.



All in all, I had a wonderful week with my family. My dad and I had some time alone to visit, which was very nice, and my mom and I hit an excellent sale at Mervyn's. We made out like bandits, while saving over $200. It was so hard for me to leave on Wednesday, as it always is. But, hopefully I will get back up there again before school starts next month. I think that will make the semester bearable!