What a beautiful white Christmas

Snow drifts up to my head and all snuggled inside. What a beautiful white Christmas.
I love being with everyone I love! Aaron's here from Boston and Drew has moved from Florida. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family and such a loving fiance.

Now my trip to family from Lincoln was not such an easy one! I started on the 23rd...my ma's birthday :) it was raining in the morning, but not yet freezing. After I made it out of Lincoln it started freezing over and the sleet started falling. My knuckles were white on my steering wheel and I was wishing that I wouldn't have left home. My tires could barely find traction up hills and my car felt like the little train that could... 'cept I was starting to doubt that it could. The slush was building up on the highway and I was fighting to keep a straight line. I slowed down to 40mph thinking I was being conservative in my little 4 cylinder, 5-speed, no anti-lock break car. I hit a rut with my back tires and the mayhem began. I started swerving slightly...and then the swerves got bigger. All I said was, "oh shit oh shit!" haha I knew I was heading into a full out spin. And I did...I did about 3 spins. In my lane first and then over into oncoming traffic and then into the snow drift in the ditch. :( I had never gotten stuck before so I was scared. Making trembling-voiced calls to Drew and Dad, I was trying to call for a tow truck to get me out. I saw everyone looking at me as they drove by but nobody stopped. All the sudden a red truck that had passed circled around to me and the gal got out. She said, "you from 7-county? Are you headed to Norfolk?" yeah! She asked if I wanted a ride! So I literally unpacked my car and snuggled in with them as we made our 4 hour journey to Norfolk! I happened to know the couple too! Now, it's folks like these who make Christmas...who understand the Christmas spirit. She didn't know that she knew me when she made the stop, but she was willing to bend her schedule enough to turn my horrible start of a Christmas into a huge blessing. Thanks Jill Wilson :) And thanks to my Dad who then drove all the way back to Seward the same day to drag my car out of the ditch! And Drew who helped him!

Merry Christmas to all
May you be blessed with abounding love this Christmas season

a song inspired

I wrote this after my last Bible study here at FOB Grizzly. These last couple weeks it seems like the reoccurring theme is how to be quiet. It didn't occur to me that there was a different type of quiet other than the physical 'hush hush' 'be quiet!' But I was finding that even when all around me was completely silent my soul was still loud. Then I kept stumbling on verses like Psalm 46 "Be still and know I am God." and Isaiah 30:15 "In repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength." and Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." I knew I needed a change in my life. I needed to learn how to be quiet.

Then when I was reading "Captivating" I was learning about beauty...beauty other than physical beauty. The beauty that starts out deep inside. I started to realize that it's so easy in today's society to keep that beauty buried. But when that beauty reveals itself it draws people out, it invites people to also be real and maybe even to reveal their own beauty. I started to crave that. Then I heard God speak to me...that's when I had to write it down. It came out in a song...



Be quiet my soul
Be still and know you are God
Jesus, quiet me with your love

You said, "Bethany, you're beauty
You're breathtaking wonderful splendor, my love
But you hide behind the tasks of your day
Not willing to give one emotion away
Your beauty is hidden in all the noise."

Be quiet my soul
Be still and know you are God
Jesus, quiet me with your love.

You said, "Bethany, you're beauty
You're breathtaking wonderful splendor, my love
But you're so afraid of what someone may find
Wanting to show and have some peace of mind
But you build up your walls and the beauty's inside."

Be quiet my soul
Be still and know you are God
Jesus quiet me with your love.

10 of my lessons learned...Iraqi style

1. Always always always carry a flashlight with you to the porta-pottie in hours of darkness...always. There are always secrets that lurk in the shadows that are squishy and don't smell nice.

2. Don't sit in the middle of the seat of a porta-pottie when taking a dump. you laugh...but that poo drops straight in and that blue water jumps straight out sometimes causing a clothing dilemma.

3. During hours of sunlight do not, I say again, do NOT touch metal things without gloves. You will literally burn your hands off.

4. After a full dusty day of being outside with your hair in a bun, do NOT attempt to brush through your hair without washing it first. I believe 'rat nest' is enough explanation. One day I looked like I had dreadlocks. I almost kept them :)

5. If the Iraqi tells you "meet me there at 10," they do NOT mean be there by 10. They mean, I will start to think about getting off this chair at 10. Then I will put on my shoes, my jacket, have another glass of chai tea, converse a little longer, gather everyone up--and meet you...later. okay? haha

6. If you will be traveling the Iraqi countryside-take a car with awesome suspension. Not just good or decent or even great suspension...but awesome. You'll need it to prevent shaken baby syndrome that is prevalent among Iraqi adults who travel on Iraqi roads. And I'm sure I have a case of it from riding in military vehicles...that and brain injuries suffered from hitting my head off of the ceilings of the vehicles. hehe

7. Before traveling anywhere be it by truck, airplane, or helicopter ALWAYS go to the bathroom...even if you don't have to. Something psychologically happens when you step into that porta-pottie which will delay the urge. but if you don't, you will be doing the cross-legged dance because something ALWAYS comes up to delay travel. And that's a FACT.

8. If you step outside and everything has an orange hue to it, go back inside. Poo is in the air. It's much like a snow day :) Except orange instead of white...and poo instead of snow. haha

9. Don't use the lights unless you trust them. I have watched a light fixture pop, spout a small fire and smoke while mounted in a vinyl tent. I think my jaw hit the floor before I did anything about it. haha

10. 70 Degrees can feel cold. I didn't know that before. After a day of 120-130 degrees when it drops down to this at night, I get the shivers and the goosepimples...I may even wear sweats and a long sleeve shirt. I believe I am in for a shock when I get to the 'Braskee :D

I woke up to a thunderstorm

In Iraq
Amazing.
It rained on me on my walk to the shower and I was actually cold. I think I got goosepimples. It thundered and lightning-ed last night all through the Husker game-which I stayed up for. It didn't get over until after 2am :) I thought of the thunder as God's way of saying, "GO BIG RED!" (I'm pretty sure God is a Husker fan. I don't see how he could NOT be.) There really hasn't even been a cloud in the sky for many many moons. The last time there were clouds was probably late February. It truly was one of the best things to see clouds after endless and continuous days of the unshielded bright desert sun. The only other weather we had other than sunny was dusty. Now it's been overcast all day. It's quite an amazing sight to see clouds when you haven't seen them for 6 months. I never knew that before. I find myself just staring at the clouds in amazement. wondering how I could ever take for granted how the sun barely peeks through the clouds and how the clouds billow and roll through the sky. wow. The smell of rain is still in the air. It is only 90 degrees today. It's beautiful. For a long time now the song that goes, "Let it rain, let it rain, open the floodgates of heaven," has been on my mind and God opened his floodgates last night and today for us. He had mercy on this dry and weary land. Praise the Lord oh my soul.

We had church today too. Our church now has a worship band :D :D There are three of us who play guitar...including myself and a drummer and a singer! I never thought I would or could ever play in front of people for real. But when I first got over here there was no one who played and people were aching for music. I couldn't say that I wasn't good enough to play when people were begging me to play for service. So I played...awkwardly and with lots of mistakes, but I played. Then, when these other guys showed up who played guitar I've not only gotten better at playing and singing, but I've also learned how to jam out with others AND a drummer. It has been an amazing experience and I've overcome my fear of playing my guitar in front of people. Well, we played for service this morning and I get to play again at the service tonight. Just when I thought I was alone here and the person I love had to leave to go back to the states and my heart ached with how much I missed everyone, God provided. I've been blown away more times than I can even count at how awesome our God is. Who knew God could open my eyes so much with just a simple thunderstorm.

Poke poke POKE!

How to poke a yawn
By Bethany "yawn-poking" Davis
and with original inspiration of Jennica Huscher who taught me everything I know about yawn-poking...and Andrew Lierman for giving me (not willingly) lots of practice on yawn-poking which is why I am now an expert. Thanks!

Once the opportunity presents itself, you have to prepare yourself. Look closely at the open mouth and position your finger directly in front of the mouth. (This could take some practice. As you can see, I am quite focused).

Once your finger is positioned, move your hand slowly to the open mouth so as to not miss the target.

As you move your finger closer, you must pay attention to any signs of the mouth closing and the yawn finishing. An unexpected closure could result in an injury on the poker's part.

When the yawn is in full swing, insert your finger into the yawner's mouth just enough to break the plane, but careful not to touch any part of the inside of the mouth. Unless your hands are freshly washed. Then you could lightly poke the yawner's tongue for an added bonus.

Once your finger has broken the open-mouth plane, quickly remove your finger. Usually the yawner is quite upset because you will ruin a perfectly good yawn, so it is vital to remove your finger quickly so they do not bite in defense. Once you have successfully poked the yawn, it is quite necessary to celebrate...just a bit. You did, after all make it out with all your fingers attached!

Congratulations,
you have just become a certified yawn-poker

I lup my family

Aaron, if I could've photo-shopped this picture in the other one I would have...haha OOOOh I love you guys :D

boredom....not really worth reading :)

i am officially bored.
i have beat my record of 14 straight wins on freecell. I'm up to 17 games...and am needing a break. My eyes are going crossed.
i've found that because i've played so much freecell, solitaire is extremely difficult to play now. so that's out of the question.
hearts is one of those games that no matter how much i try to stratigize i always end up last place. playing the computer is such a tease and no one always wants to loose...hearts is out too. :)
and that leaves zuma. zuma is a game where these balls go round and round and you have to get three colors in a row to eliminate them. well, i've found that with too much zuma all i see when i close my eyes are colored balls going round and round and round...i can't sleep because of it! haha it really is frustrating. so, no zuma
i've done all i can do, and i've been looking through old friend's pictures on facebook all morning wondering why life has to take people away from each other... *gasping for air* gimme something to do!!!!
it's strange, but i can't relax when i have nothing to do. it makes me anxious....like i SHOULD be doing something, i am at work after all. and it's amazing how bored i get with things like facebook and myspace. maybe i should adopt animals on facebook and start a farm. or maybe i should sweep the floors...again. :) such great options...such hard choices.


this has absolutely no connection with the above...but i DO love chips and french onion dip :D

good gracious

check out this video. "Friend or Foe" by Fox news in the world section of their videos. Wow...all I have to say is, they need to learn how to check their sources. They need to learn how to do their research on all parties involved...not just the party who cries "HELP!" the loudest.



http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=8613382&referralPlaylistId=92a703c7546a6f8e671948e4b777bc5d899d57d6

here's the link in case the video wont load :)

A quick lesson...

Lesson #1.
Things melt. Things I never thought could or would melt in a package melt...melt with a frenzy. These are what sour gummy worms look like after a journey to a desert in a package. Who woulda thunk? But no worries to the package sender...I still ate it...well at least all I could reach. haha. Harder than it looks.
Lesson #2.
Melted gummy worms would make a killing as an adhesive. Really really good sticky stuff.

Lesson #3.
Fact. Malted milk balls WILL show up in Iraq as a solid brick of chocolate with a big hunk of malt sitting at the bottom of package. Amazingly enough, still delicious


And THAT concludes my lesson for the day

Irritations

Harumph
So blogs are meant for writing, right?
I just feel like venting right now...
I'm sure happy that the law was put in place that prohibits employers from firing soldier-employees who have returned from Iraq. Sure, you're in a bind because you HAVE to let the returning soldier have his job back...and now you have to fire someone you once hired to fill that spot of the newly deployed soldier. Wow, that is rough. I just think it's funny how some employers chomp at the bit to get rid of soldiers so they don't have to be 'inconvenienced.' No matter that your employee just spent a year of life deployed in Iraq to help you keep your nice cozy comfy freedom. No matter. You just keep on a livin' in your closed-off world of convenience. I just hope at some point these money-hungry employers realize just how many soldiers sacrificed to bring them their convenient freedom. You just never know what you have till it's gone, do ya? Unfortunately not.
Irritating.

Another thing, the internet is so slow here that it lit-trally takes over 45 minutes to load and partially watch ONE E-card. ONE! I just want to find and send an E-card to my dad...and nothing, nada, not happin. Internet said, screw you, I'm taking the day off. I had to coax it to load my email. Wow, really internet? Really? Haha BUT irritating.

I'm tryin for the brighter note...
Well today just happens to be my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday DAD! Sorry you didn't get a card! haha
Also, one more day marked off of the calendar. I can't wait to get back to my room every day after work and take my blue marker to cross off the day and bring me one day closer to home.
OO I forgot to show you the camel spider! Check THIS out!

It actually died in a fountain pond thingy we have next to our housing. HUGE!

So I stole a car...what of it

But don't worry! I put it back!
The good ole trusty Humvee truck lets me down again. Because we are such a small base, we are not self-sufficient. We have to have all of our goods and services brought in from bigger bases around us. If we need to have maintenance done on a vehicle or piece of machinery, or if we need to turn equipment in, we have to load it on a convoy and send it to a bigger base. That being said, recently we had to send in some humvees for updates. These particular humvees had not been driven in quite a while...probably a month or so and humvees...if in the 'not been driven for fricken ever' state have a hard time starting up. Well when it came time to stage these vehicles today, they were dead dead...D-E-D dead. I had to borrow a humvee from another company JUST to get MY vehicles started. HAH! THEN...I let them run for a good while...ya know, to charge that good ole battery up. I shut one off...just as a test...and TRIED to start it back up. GEEZE LOUISE! that thing was STILL dead. The other one passed the test so I thought I was good.

Weeeeeeeellll...right before the convoy showed up to pick up our humvees I went to start them like normal humvees. would they start? of course not. It was late too...late enough for the other company (the one i borrowed the humvee from earlier) to be fast asleep in their nice comfy beds...and ALL their humvees were locked. hm. Well, one minor detail. They can padlock up the doors all they want, but they have a back hatch that doesn't lock :D That's right, I walked my happy self down to the company's humvee, opened that back hatch, crawled in the trunk, crawled through the little tiny space to the drivers seat and stole that humvee RIGHT from their parking lot. HAH. The hookups to jump it are underneath the front passenger seat...so because the doors were padlocked, i had to run the slave cable through the tiny open window. haha it was quite an ordeal...but we got those trucks a running! It was so dead that when i turned the lights on, they flickered for about a minute before they stayed on solid....I THINK that poor little trusty humvee needs a new battry...and QUICK! We drove them onto the flatbed semi (that's a scary business too! Not a lot of fudge room!) and shut them off...and I giggled a little bit when I thought of what they're going to have to do to get those poor humvees off the trailer when they get there! haha
And then...when it was all said and done we returned the humvee like it had never been moved in the first place :)

The Crunchiest day of my LIFE!

I had a hot day.
It was super hot. A day that my friend Morgan would call 'Crunchy.' We've come up with three (3) categories of hot here in 'raq.
1. Blowdryer hot-this hot requires a nice strong wind. Much like walking through a field of blowdryers, on high, and all pointed at your FACE
2. Oven hot-this type of hot doesn't require the wind. This is like sticking your face in an oven to smell the baking cookies...but there are no baking cookies...and instead of just sticking your face in it, you have to crawl inside and someone locks the door and you're just stuck inside...and as some might say, "it feels like there's a fire in my pants."
3. Crunchy hot-Now this is the mother of all hots. Crunchy hot is like when you leave the cookies in the oven for too long and they loose every bit of moisture they once had. This hot you feel in your eyeballs and nose and mouth because they all kinda feel like they stick when you go out on a crunchy hot day. Now one thing to remember is, on crunchy hot days it is not rude for someone to stare...really, you can't help it where your eyes get stuck. On crunchy days it sounds like everything around you crunches whether it's supposed to or not. Your uniform, your hair, your food, milk that you drank while you were inside...but when you go outside you realize that "milk was a bad choice."
Well on this one particular crunchy day I just happened to have all of my tasks take place outside. Cleaning the landing zone where helicopters land for incoming visitors, cleaning vehicles for those same visitors, inventorying a storage connex, and un-installing rusted-on antennas from Hummvees!
I tell ya, I didn't know sweating that much was possible. My back and t-shirt felt crunchy with all the salt residue. My sunglasses were crunchy with all the salt. Everything on me felt crunchy...and thus I found out that there are 'crunchy' days in Iraq.

Another Time Change

Today I start my first night shift. I'm still working in supply, but a need came up for someone to stay overnight...so that became MY job. Plus: I get to probably be on the internet a good majority of the night, I will be close to by myself the whole time! woot woot! It's supposed to be short term...so we'll see how long I get this shift.
Speaking of being on the internet...I am at work right now! :D I get a list of stuff to do, and I just can't help it if I get it done within the first 4 1/2 hours of the shift! haha It sounds like a frickin rave in here with my music boomin as I brush up on my dance moves :o) and I do all this dancin of course while I'm cleaning! No better time to dance then when you're cleanin.

Ya know, I was looking through my pictures and you know those pictures you take that are so funny...but sometimes you just never get around to showing them to anyone? Well, the pictures you see here may slightly embarrass few...or offend others :) bUT I just can't help it. These pictures are too priceless to keep all to myself

First off...Mother like daughter pointing at flowers :)

This is how me and my girls hang. We ALMOst fit. Ya know, they should have more adult-sized things such as this here thing. Whoever said only kids like to sit on make-believe animals? hehe


This day was shit...literally shit. Supposedly 40% of the dust that day was fecal matter. I honestly couldn't see past 20 feet. It was early afternoon when I took this picture. So nasty! ACK

How nice! Someone carved a label on my chair so I wouldn't get confused...I HAVE been known to put my face on my chair if someone doesn't specify "ass-here...put your ass here" haha oh sometimes defacement of government property is a bit funny

And, last but DEFINITELY not least... (I'm so sorry, Drew...but I just HAD to. I mean, who doesn't wake up when they get silly-stringed on their FACE? Just doesn't make sense. You didn't even MOVE!) My dearest Drew passed out and I was trying to wake him up by assaulting him with silly string. But I got this far and he didn't budge so I decided to stop while I was ahead...and get pictures! haha! I got him so good! ...poor thing :D

Big Sarg

Sa-weet...
It happened. I'm a big 'Sarg' now...aka SGT Davis. It's got a nice ring to it, eh? It also came with a nice advancement in pay. I'm alright with that.
One thing I'm NOT alright with is being away from my amazing boyfriend, Drew, aka Larry, Andrew, Drewbert, Ogre, Yeti...he's pretty neat. BUT, he couldn't get extended to stay in Iraq with my unit like he was trying...so he made his way to the states. I realize now, a lot of what I liked about Iraq was him.

THIS is the sucker I flew back and forth from Kuwait to Balad. It's called a C17. We entered and exited from the back of the plane and there are seats on the sides that face inward (not so good...almost got sick on the way there...) and seats facing forward! (super! just like a normal airplane, except more scrunched).

After a 5-day trip back to the states, I had my family from Omaha there to greet me! What a great banner they had made! Oh I love my fam


I went out with my friends...


Watched my kick-ask sissterrrr play some volleyball! Woot woot! I went purely for moral support and not because there was copious amounts of beer available:) hehe


Watched my beautiful cousin Olivia dance!!! I loved it!
...and I danced. Maaaaybe not the same TYPE of dance?? hehe :D











Played some softball--GO GRACE! woo!

Got to spend some awesome time with the family!


AND I got to go to Boston to visit my brutha, Aaron! That in itself is a WHOLE nother blog! We had such a great time!


All in all I'd say it was a pretty freakin awesome leave!

Germany...again

Heyo!
I'm on my way back to the 'raq once again. Leave was awesome and such a blessing. It was great to see everybady and so refreshing to not have to put my hair up in a bun, or get dressed in any certain way...sometimes not even getting dressed at all! I went to Boston to see my brutha. Went on many a lovely walks. Enjoyed the many many MANY rainshowers and even a tornado warning! Experienced the sand volleyball scene and Norfolk's nightlife many a time, and ended this wonderful experience with the Father's Day gift to daddio-tickets to the world series game. I'll post pictures later of each experience :) Just dropping a line in Germany

trips n travels

i'm coming back now
it's about time for a break.
i'm sitting in Balad waiting for my flight to Kuwait...and then it's a matter of 24hrs before i'm flying to the US
i'm pretty darn excited to see everyone
but i miss Drew already
thats all
for now

Someone forgot to use spellcheck...tsk tsk

BAH! ahahahhahaha...
THIS is one someone should've been a tid bit more careful with before sending the text into the production process to stamp thousands of power converters...hehe

Hmm....I've never been to Chian. Anyone? Sounds like an interesting place...but they make crap power converters!
hehe

Tea with Iraqi Army

Not something you hear everyday...
Today I had a very interesting experience.
Not only did I hear something out of the ordinary, I also was hearing it from a Colonel in the Iraqi Army! We had tea with this Iraqi Army Colonel and some of his Iraqi friends and he was telling us about his years in the Army. I was just amazed at what he went through. He was explaining to what extent Saddam Hussein killed the spirits and wore down the people of Iraq. He said Iraq was hopeless and dead when Saddam ruled. His face shriveled up just at his bringing up the subject of Saddam. When Saddam was in charge he only got paid 8 dinar per day...as an officer. He said he had to work side jobs, on TOP of being active Army! He did anything from selling fresh vegetables to menial jobs for people to earn enough just to live on. But he pushed through the hard times.
...then the interesting part...
This Colonel, and his Iraqi friends in the room at the time, said something we don't hear very often in America. They said that President George W Bush was their savior. They said that they could never forget what he did for them in stopping Saddam dead in his tracks. The Colonel told me that since Saddam has been gone, his pay has increased by 40x. These guys, Iraqi's, had nothing but awesome things to say about how great of a president George Bush was...and I have to admit...it made me proud, and I smiled like a little school girl. They could not stop beaming at how happy they were for what America has done for them.
They were explaining that when someone dies in Iraq, it is custom to have a big feast in memory of them and to honor them. They were saying that there was a huge feast held when President George Bush's grandma passed away. His grandma! What great people these are.
Another thing I heard that took me off guard was their opinion on President Obama. Apparently most of the Iraqi population was not happy with the outcome of the election. This in not what I had heard on the American news. Funny, huh? Ya know, it's really interesting to see what another country's take is on America. It's funny to me that all we hear is negative, but the people that we're helping could not be more grateful or more proud of our Country for what we have done (and continue to do) for them. Sometimes I think the Iraqi's have more patriotism for America than a lot of American citizens.
What an amazing experience. To hear the story from the other side of the world.

oh me oh my

I want to introduce to you...Arnold...the network spider. Ta-da-da DA! He likes cake and cookies and enjoys spending most of his time sitting on the keyboard. :D
Me and Arnold, We're friends.

GEEZE!
It's been a while since I've blogged. I've got to be honest too. They took internet out of our work stations :( WHY? Why must they kill my soul!? I suppose it wasn't that bad, but now, when I get off work I'm usually not just WAITING to blog. :D

first things first. I put in my promotion packet for Sergeant...and the board approved it and now I'm just waiting on the paperwork to go through and I will be a Sergeant! Woohoo!

Happy Hieeappy Birthday to Celia!!!! She is my niece. I love you, girl and miss you so! And you're a fricken teenager now! AH!

It is starting to get HOT here! It has been in the triple digits by nine o'clock lately! Amazing. Insane. It truly feels like walking through an oven.

Last things last. I am coming back on leave in about 2 weeks! alright :)

bethany burrito

THIS is a bethany burrito...nuff said

grass!!

Too-day

Today:
1) My military hair bun is too bouncy
2) My socks are too scrunchy
3) My shoulder holster is causing my uneeform to get too high on my neck
4) A deep freezer at the chow hall tried to steal my radio right out of my pocket-but don't worry, the floor caught it.
5) Floors keep jumping up to make me trip
6) Chairs on wheels keep moving right before I sit
7) Keys keep changing places on the keyboard...or at least that's what it seems like. :o)
8) coffee is having the exact opposite effect on me
9) My belt is refusing to fit into the buckle...unRULy little thing!
10) Pistachios are conducting a sit-in and refuse to come out of their little shells-why can't they just do their job and be eaten!
11) A cleaning kit for my rifle was given to me, but the cleaning kit was horrifically dirty. haha...who does that?
12) I think someone changed all my passwords....or maybe I just wasn't typing them in right? No, that's right...the keys on the keyboard switched places
13) Rocks? Rocks don't help soak up the water when it rains. Rocks move their little selves right when you step to create a dangerous and un-firm ground. And THAT is a fact.
14) My hat doesn't want to stay on my head. It enjoys staying on the ground all day.
15) words in my sentences keep changing places. I just don't know how they can jump off the page and re-arrange like that so that the sentence makes absolutely NO sense :)
---I think it's safe to say---today I just had an off day :D And THAT is al-right

Silly String? oh yeah.

There's nothing better than coming home from a loooooooooong day...and destressing with a good, long, silly string fight. It ended well...I think I won. You should see the other guy :) hehe








Just between us...I have a stash...it's getting bigger every day. One day it's gonna end up in a full-out war. But I'm not worried...I am prepared. And last time he came at me with canned air...not quite as intimidating I don't think. And it sure doesn't leave it's mark. I mean...I had cold air that came at me, and he was covered in string. But somehow he got the string...and then I was done-for.

here's the proof. yeah...I danced.

...from before...I got pulled up on stage with the band to do pushups...then I stayed on the stage to dance out the last song--"I'm Just a Girl"--so yeah, I danced. I put some dreadlocks on and danced. haha

rain, rain, oh won't you stay?

So the most wonderful thing happened the other day. I think all our roofs here are metal-ish...and I heard a tap dance of noises on the rooftop. It was raining, not just raining, but POURING. I waited just a little longer and I started to hear pinging...could it be? HAIL! Me and Morgan (Morgan being from NE too) freaked out and ran outside right away...of course you can see how that ended up. :D I must say that it was the first time I sat under a hailstorm willingly and let the little balls of ice smack me in the face...and enjoyed it! I realized how much I miss NE springtime rains...running in them, walking in them, or just sitting on the porch during a rainstorm drinking in the scents, the sounds, the crisp air. It was so refreshing. Thank you God, for the rain....what a blessing.

No Duh

The other night we had a concert. A band from Cali named No Duh...a cover band of, yep you guessed it! No Doubt! And for all you no doubt fans, it was GREAT! Their singer sounded JUST like Gwen Stefani and she danced just like her too :D Our crowd was bare to say the least...but with a small camp what more do you expect? The music was awesome tho, and enticed me and Morgan (my good buddy) to bust a move--well several moves now that you ask.

Ahem...buuuut part of the problem with a small crowd in which no one is dancing but you--the band sees it. They had me and Morgan tagged from the get go...So what do we get in return? Dragged onto the stage for a push-up contest with Spen G-$$ (the singer) I was worried there for a second...she was really buff and was kickin out the pushups like nobody's business...but in the end I got her ;o) Me and Morgan just stayed on stage and danced like crazy people for the last song "I'm Just a Girl" It was a blast! But, now me and Morgan have to put up with comments from everyone "hey! I saw you dancing on stage!" haha...sometimes I think back and wonder why...then I remember what I was thinking at the time- why not? and I'm always glad I did it-something really freeing about just cuttin loose and having fun...even if it means dancing like a maniac with a Jamaican dreadlock wig on :D Hooray for cover bands.

If you wanna check out their myspace for awesome stage performances here ya go

http://www.myspace.com/nodoubttribute