A Day in the Life of...

A coworker and I take turns randomly sharing crazy or funny stories the two of us experience throughout our days. We call it "A Day in the Life of..." and we insert our own name..  


Well, I have two stories to share, these types of things really only seem to happen to me, but I find them hysterical, so I thought I would share...


Story #1: To give a good idea of what is going to be discussed, here is a picture of my hair for the day this took place:

It was hot outside and I had no desire to mess with my long, thick, curly hair, and bangs, so I braided my bangs into my hair and pulled the rest up. Matched my earrings to my shirt and shoes and was good to go!.. Or so I thought.
One of my coworkers came into my office for the daily stealing from my candy dish and a few minutes of chatting and banter. This coworker reminds me a lot of Grumpy the dwarf, so to protect the guilty, we shall call the coworker Grumpy.
After a few minutes of talking about the week's happenings Grumpy stops and looks at me then asks "What did you do to your hair?.." I initially thought the question was posed at the fact that not long ago I dyed my hair from blonde to brown, so I comment accordingly. Grumpy pauses and says "No.. Normally your hair is full and thick.. today it looks more......." I begin laughing and say "Closer to 'plastered to my head'?" "Yes, it's not as nice." 


I just began laughing... Especially since Grumpy is bald.


Story #2: My best friend from home moved to Atlanta, GA which is about 6 1/5 hours away. I drove down for the weekend because she asked me to come be a part of her and her fiance's housewarming party... Later did I find out it was a "Hook Krista up" as a second goal party. However, unbenounced to them The Gentleman (name has been changed to protect my last shred of dignity!) that was supposed to show up and sweep me off my feet to be my knight in shining armor actually had vacation, and left a few days prior to go home and visit family. 


Haha... I thought I was off the hook. I was wrong.


I arrived a few hours early and helped do last minute touches on the new place, hang pictures, arrange food, etc..etc.. Once the other guests started arriving we ordered pizza and prepared to pray before commencing to expand our waistlines. The three couples divide up to hold hands with their spouses when my best friend realizes I am standing alone (totally content to talk to Jesus without holding someone else...). She pulls me close and links arms with me saying "Aww, no worries The Gentleman will be here soon enough to snuggle with." ... =O I giggled a bit and said "ok, lets pray." Her fiance began praying such a nice prayer about the food and friends... then switches gears and says ".. and we want to thank you for The Gentleman and Krista's relationship, and we ask that you bless their marriage..." I began laughing and about then reached around my best friend and smacked him... 


That was the closest thing to embarrassed I have been in I cannot even remember how long!... It was incredibly funny though! ;)


I spent the rest of the evening fielding questions about The Gentleman and I... Most of which I diverted by simply pointing out I have not met him yet! :)


Oh a day in the life of Krista!


~K

Daily Geometry

One of the negatives of being a single woman is the lack of having a strong man to do things around the house for you... I mean there are certain things I can con my guy friends into coming and doing, especially if I offer a payment of food. However, there are instances when because of timing there just are no guys around to help, and since I am a perfectly capable woman, I attempt to tackle tasks on my own... This is one example:


A friend so wonderfully went and picked up a new mattress, box spring, and frame that was being given to me for FREE! He unloaded it into my living room (which in fact took up all the free space) for me to then take care of when I got home from work. Now, to help paint the picture, I live upstairs in a loft at my house. I LOVE it, but it certainly is a challenge getting things that are decently large up the stairwell because of the angles and width of the stairs. So, while no one else was home I decide to commence getting the mattress upstairs by myself. First, I removed all the pictures off the wall, cause I knew I would end up taking them out and somehow destroying them. 


First, I try sliding the mattress standing tall through the door, which worked perfectly, until I had to turn AND begin acceding the steps.. The height of the door prevented me from also going up the steps, and no amount of body slamming or attempting to fold the mattress would work. Start over. 


Second, I flip the mattress horizontal and think maybe it will be easier to get the angle right using the height and the lack of width of the mattress. Mind you, I was not the best at geometry, and angles, while I can understand the basic concept, I have never been the best at figuring them out ahead of time. I tend much more towards having to figure it out as I go, and can see what the problem is or is not in the midst of it. 


So, I commence to bending the mattress in order to get it around the corner and up a couple steps, then I have to take turns going to the top, pulling over the step, going below it and pushing with... what else than my hips! haha I repeated the pull/hip check process the entire way up the stairs because there are no handles on the mattress, and since my steps are painted they are rather sticky when it comes to sliding things over them. Once I got the mattress upstairs and put in its place, I realized... There is NO possible way I will be able to get the box spring upstairs... especially without help. I did end up disassembling the frame and carrying the pieces upstairs.


However, the box spring is currently still leaned against the wall waiting until my roomie and I can figure out how to disassemble it and carry the pieces upstairs... We are women.. Hear us roar?... OR, maybe just watch us do things in an incredibly round about way.. haha


~K

Back to Writing and to Musing

I realize I have been absent from our little blog for quite awhile now, and frankly not one of my excuses are terribly interesting. Oh it would be nice if I could say that I was busy vanquishing all evil from the world, saving whales, or finding myself, but in actuality, life just got in the way.

Here is a brief summery of my time MIA: Initially I put off writing because I had finals to prepare for, and like a good student, I was dedicated to getting that A… or maybe just not failing. After that my husband and I were able to take a two week vacation back to our home state of Michigan, and it was wonderful. Once we got back to Southern California the Marines claimed his time, which left me with the daunting task of trying to find a new apartment to move into (a goal we still have yet to reach, more on that frustrating process in a future blog) and packing up our apartment. Then, a few weeks ago my fickle wisdom teeth decided it was time for them to leave, and proceeded to break the news to me by causing a terrible amount of pain. Thankfully, pounds of Oragell and more Motrin then I would ever recommend came to the rescue. So, half drugged and a little out of it, I come back to our blog.

The last two months seem to have flown by, and reflecting over them, I think I have discovered a few things. The night my husband and I got back from Michigan and walked into our apartment, it was the first time we had ever felt like we were really home. Not that Southern Californian is our home, but that the space we have spent so much time making into our own finally became ours. For a long time it was hard to leave Michigan, it was our home all of our lives and we dearly loved it there. But “home is where the heart is” has many levels of meanings, and I think we finally experienced it when we walked through our door. In a way, that simple feeling of being at home opened my eyes to a lot of things. Home is never a place or a thing. For me, home is wherever my husband is, it’s where we have spent our time making a life together, and it’s where we live and love and learn to deal with life. Home is the North beach in San Clemente, the woods in Northern Michigan, the used book store down the road, and the place where we feel most comfortable.

-RS

Me vs. Bugs

My roomie and I have just recently moved into a new house, a house that she bought. Then, she promptly has spent the last month gone. Meaning I have been left to take care of things, which is not really a big deal. Until, the bugs decided moving with us would be a fun idea...


I am not normally a squirmy person, I do not scream cause of bugs, spiders, crawly things... or even slithery things. I do not particularly like most bugs, insects (is there a difference) or snakes, but they certainly do not scare me... Just annoy me most of the time. However, In the last week I have engaged in scores of battles.


The Enemy: Ants, cockroaches, spiders, squiggly unidentifiable bugs with antennae, stink bugs, june bugs (what are their real names anyway?!), MIB alien looking crickets, and moths..


My weapons: Bleach/water spray, shoes, any hard object within reach, disinfectant wipes, sticky tack, and rags.


The worst part of all of it is the ants that just will not seem to give up! Even when there is nothing to eat, everything has been cleaned, locked away, put in ziplock bags (note: cereal is a ziplock bag must) the trash has been taken out and the trash can's cleaned.. they still insist on being obnoxiously everywhere... Which leaves only going to ant killer next.


If I am going to be completely honest though, I got the heeby-jeebies.. and definitely did the heeby-jeeby dance in the kitchen this morning after I killed a cockroach and had to clean it up... ew.. ew... ew. All I could think of was my old youthgroup kids that kept saying (while in Mississippi on a missions trip) "They (cockroaches) don't die they multiply!"... I really hope that's not true!


Bugs just were never this bad, big, or obnoxious back home that I can remember!... I NEVER remember cockroaches, and I certainly do not know where the alien looking ones come from. All I know is, apparently the gloriousness of the warm weather brings the grossness of the weird and gross bugs. Yuck.. ew. ew. Gross.


Once the roomie gets home... Pest control here we come!
~K

Missed Life Lessons...

I was always a very aware child. My earliest memory after I describe it, I was informed by my mom that I was in fact a year in a half old at the time. I became a Christian at 2... standing between my mothers knees. At 4 years old, I could read, write, and navigate my directionally challenged great grandmother through a large city in order to go pick up my mom from work... and, thanks to my uncle Mark I learned to climb trees, play video games, and how to sneak down Grandma and Grandpa's stairs without the floor creaking when I was 2 or 3... I remember my childhood very vividly, and I grew up as though my life was this epic adventure movie.. where clearly I am the beautiful yet completely capable protagonist.

And yet, somehow I find myself realizing I have missed some apparently key life lessons... Leaving the question to be begged: What happened?!

Let me share some of these with you...

Life Lesson #1: Insurance and Bills.

I have never been good with math, but I still always got A's in my math classes because I worked my tail off... So, the other day I get a medical bill summary, clearly stating in multiple places "This is not a bill" ... (Ok, then why did you send this to me?!...) what caught my attention was the serious problem with the math.

Cost of visit: $240

Insurance coverage: $182

Your cost: $0

And, I never got the official bill either...... That clearly leaves $58 that just disappeared!.... What in the world?.. Now I am paranoid that I will end up with some magically appearing balance of accrued medical visits bill... I still cannot figure out how the insurance math is so different then basic math!... Ok, so I haven't learned this life lesson yet, but if you know, please share it with me so I CAN learn how this works!

Life Lesson #2: Faulty Appliances.

A while ago a friend and I made dinner and dessert for us and a couple of our guy friends. After we were done the stove would not turn off... and in fact the broiler turned on making the entire stove molten hot. Initially we assumed some how the self cleaner had been turned on, but the door was not locked, nor was there any indication of the self cleaner being on. So, in our attempt to be capable women we were going to slide the stove out, but seeing as it was too hot to touch, that quickly got ruled out as a possibility. One of our guy friends had stepped out of the room for a phone call, while the other watched me be a capable woman (?!).. In my attempt to have everything under control I devised a plan....

Pull the bottom drawer of the stove out, and... unplug it! Which was a great idea.. to my friend and I. She stood over me reminding me to avoid touching the stove with my completely extended arm as I reached to the back of the stove and worked the plug out of the socket.... It worked great until my thumb touched one of the prongs and I got electrocuted, which caused me to yelp, and jump... but carefully so I didn't sear my entire arm on the stove, then just laid there for a moment as my entire arm went numb. Eventually I unplugged the stove and saved the world.... Only to then have our friend who stepped out return and inform me I should have just switched the breaker... Doh!.. (Did I mention my older brother's an electrician.. and I SHOULD have know that?.... whoopsie!)

Life Lesson #3: Cooking.

In my family, I am the second child of 4. I have an older brother who is married with 3 children of his own (being an aunt is AWESOME!), and I have a younger younger brother and sister. Growing up, my older brother and I (unbenounced to my poor parents) made every meal a chance to see who could eat more... So, my mom made LOTS of food. Subsequently I learned to cook making, well... LOTS of food. Currently, when I am at home and cooking, if my brother and his family come over, that means cooking for at least 10 people. No big deal, until I moved away and had to cook for just one.... The first year I lived alone I cannot even begin to fathom the amount of food I threw away because it would get bad before I could eat it. I mean, if you are making macaroni (a staple in my family growing up) you make the ENTIRE family size box..... And then, proceed to eat nasty left over macaroni for a WEEK (or more)! Why?... Because, mom always made the whole box, so of course you make the whole box... Not ever realizing that mom was cooking for 10... you are now cooking for a TENTH of that (plus the fact that you no longer are trying to out eat your brothers...). Soon though, soon you figure out, you are not actually saving money when you buy perishable food items in bulk because you end up throwing more than half of it away before you can eat it... It has only taken me almost 2 years, but I have begun to learn to cook based on the size of the crowd I am cooking for instead of habits learned growing up. 

I am a slow learner sometimes haha! I am sure I will be adding to these missed life lessons as time goes on...

~K

Before I die...

Once a long time ago made a list of things I would like to do before I die...  Then my computer's hard drive crashed and I lost it.. Then I made another, and my new computer's hard drive crashed too... So, this is a newly revised, new list that is hardly complete, but it is slowly getting there.. The list is in no particular order... at all, and I have tagged the ones I have accomplished.. but I left them on here because it is kind of a cool thing to see what you have accomplished :) I hope you enjoy my list, and steal from it to start your own!

Watch the sunset or sunrise from each side of every ocean: **Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, Southern | Go dog sledding | **Go on a Safari in Africa | **Scuba dive | Ride a camel in the desert | Pyramids at sunset | Tango in a milonga | Build a house start to finish | **Cross the Canadian border | See Cuba | Have a croissant at a French cafe | Take a road trip across the U.S. | Have an exceptional time in Greece | Whiskey at a pub in Ireland | Stay in the ice hotel | Visit that church made entirely of bones | Make butterscotch from scratch | Go on a multi-day biking trip | Get art in a gallery | Attend a Black and White Ball | Grow vegetables in my own garden | Learn to roll in a kayak | Write a novel | Be conversational in six languages: **1. English **2. Spanish 3. Sign-Language 4. Greek 5. German 6. Arabic | Set foot on all seven continents | Set foot in all fifty states | Help someone get into or through college | **Visit ancient ruins | Stand atop the Great Wall of China | Get my second degree black belt | **Get a tattoo (I have two) | Learn to snowboard, and ski| **Learn to wakeboard and water ski| Drive a sports car over 100mph| Stand inside the Taj Mahal | Do something for someone they can never repay| **Do two pull ups | Go berry picking and make completely homemade pies | Have a large dog again | Ride through the Panama Canal | Go Sky diving | **Horseback ride through a coffee plantation| Make my own perfume | Tithe my whole life | Go to the Kentucky Derby | **Go white water rafting | Taste 1,000 Fruits | Get in the habit of grand loving gestures | Live in a house with a window seat and wrap around porch | Go parasailing | Go paragliding | Swim with bioluminescent plankton in Puerto Rico | **Climb a volcano | **Climb a glacier | Go rock climbing | Watch the sunrise or sunset over the Grand Canyon | Attend Loy Krathong, the sky lantern festival in Thailand | Ring a church bell | **Move somewhere new alone | Organize a retreat | Rewire a lamp | Learn and be good at all the Latin ballroom dances: Argentine Tango, **Salsa, **Cumbia, **Merengue, **Cha cha, **Bachata, Rumba, Mambo, Bolero, Samba | Go on a cruise | Use my work to improve lives | Form a workplace with people I love | Participate in a giant food fight | Make my own list of the hundred best things to eat | **Climb a mountain| Choose fifty favorite places to relax and connect with God | Go a day without speaking | Plant a tiny orchard | Own a lot of land and create a “middle of no where” feel| Throw a block party | Remove money as a concern |  Take a month long vacation without computers | Zip line through a canopy | Lemonade on the front porch swing on warm summer night | Buy a stock on my own| Have a big wedding celebration with everyone I love | Christen a boat | Attend La Tomatina in Spain | Shoot every major gun: **Pistol, Shotgun, **Rifle, Muzzleloader, Revolver | Learn to surf | Be in Spain for running of the Bulls (but not participate) | See a glacier in Antarctica | Live in another country for a year | Dive with Manta Rays in Hawaii | **Start a fire without a match | Live in a converted barn with an ocean view | Hike the Inca Trail. | Spend the night in a treehouse | See a space shuttle launch | Swim with a whale

I hope you had a blast and got some ideas seeing the start of the fun things I want to try to do in my life!

~K

Adventures in Gardening

I grew up in a rather rural area of Michigan, surrounded by dairy farms, corn fields and two parents with green thumbs. So naturally, it seems odd not to have a garden with me here in California. However, living in an apartment, it’s fairly impossible to have full fledged utopia of flowers and vegetables, so I opted for plants that I knew could be grown in pots: tomatoes, peppers, and an assortment of herbs (I also use all of these things on a weekly basis when cooking). The problem was I neglected to remember a very important fact… I am no longer in the Midwest where it rains ten times a week and the sun only burns the albinos. Here in SoCal, it’s a different story.


Week one showed promise, and I boasted to all my friends and family back home of my wonderful porch garden. My tomato plant was blooming and my herbs seemed to be thriving. Week two, I noticed the plants starting to brown, and if I did not water them every morning, by mid day they would all be wilting. Week three, my tomato plant had decided that half its branches were going to die, a weird bug seemed to infiltrate my peppers, and I learned that parsley does not like the California sun. By week four my plants were pitiful, and I frankly did not have the time to water them five times a day…. This experiment was shaping up to be a failure.


But then I had an idea… I remembered those beautiful glass bulbs that could be filled up with water and then turned upside down into a potted plant, watering it as needed. This would solve the biggest problem… however, the military does not often permit much of a paycheck and after looking at the price on those glass bulbs and almost having a heart attack, I decided on a much cheaper idea....


Tacky much? lol

- RS