I Like...Wankers

Note to self: Don't friend your boss on Facebook then write crazy I-hate-my-job-my-boss-is-a-wanker status updates. I mean, I'm sure it's easy to forget that the person who controls the fate of your livelihood can see anything you do or say and then go batsnap crazy and put it on the Internet for all to see. To prevent this, you might not add that person, OR you could just not be a psycho. That would PROBABLY be a good idea. Maybe.

Please read this, and let me just say...bahahaha.

Yikes

Uhhh, so today, a good "friend" of mine (jk, love ya shnavs) informed me that she saw this video and immediately thought of me:

Naturally. I should either be very afraid for Nava's state of mind, or very very afraid of myself. Friends, please stage an intervention immediately if I ever throw myself on the ground screaming in your presence. Kthanks.

I Like...San Antonio

So lately I've been feeling some unexplained nostalgia for Texas, particularly San Antonio and the hill country. It all started about a month ago when I was driving down to Dallas to meet Scott and hang out with my family for a few days, and I felt the urge to blast "Southbound 35" for old time's sake. Since then, I've been quite out of my normal (i.e. indie/hippie/songwriterpotsmoker) music zone and have been on a pretty hard core Pat Green kick. There's just something about his music that transports me in a second back to the carefree days of college when our biggest thing on the agenda was planning the next float trip or theme party. Jen and I were reminsicing about breakfast tacos at Taco Riendo, the somewhat sketchy, completely delicious taco place where we were almost always sure to be the only non-Spanish-speakers in the place. So, here is my ode to San Antonio:

There are so many great memories of that town, such as everything that took place here:

Retreats in the hill country:

Amaaaazing BBQ:

Fiesta and NIOSA, San Antonio's Mexican [and much tamer] version of Mardi Gras:

BREAKFAST TACOOOOOS:


$2 Margs at Panchito's:

Of course, tubing on the Comal in New Braunfels:

And eating at the amazing Grist Mill afterwards:

And who could forget college night at Far West (aka Cowboys) Dance Hall:

I'm no country girl, but I sure do miss San Antonio sometimes. In honor of that, here is some good ol' Texas country for your listening pleasure:

Wave on Wave - Pat Green

Crazy - Pat Green

Carry On - Pat Green

Song Obsession of the Week

So I've heard some of the Ting Tings' other songs in random places and on SYTCYD, but I heard this for the first time last week while driving to work...and I was definitely that crazy person you saw pointing at passing cars and yelling "THAT'S NOT MY NAME!!!!!!" on the highway at 7:45a.m.

I mean, what?

You really can't help at least bopping to this...or full on head banging dancing in the bar when it comes on the juke box. Just sayin.

I Like...Vacation!

So after the crazy, eventful, stressful, surreal week leading up to Scott's board exam, we got to spend a few days in Dallas with my family and then headed to MEXICO for 6 days to decompress in this beautiful place:

Excellence Playa Mujeres

I always forget how relaxing it is to be away from TV, cell phones, Internet, and the general craziness that makes our lives more jumbled and complicated than they need to be. A few highlights of the week:

• Hanging out with the family and eating delicious Arabic food at Ali Baba for Fathers' Day.
• Seeing the Hangover with Tim and my good friend Mary - RAUNCHY but I'm not gonna lie, I laughed. A lot.
• Sleeping. Like real, relaxed, no alarm sleeping.
• Arriving at our destination and having a full week of unscheduled time to spend with Scotty and process the events of the last few months
• Reading 3 books. For fun.
• Eating breakfast on our porch every morning
• Lounging by the pool or beach for hours and forgetting what time it is (oops to the sunburn)
• Eating AMAZING food and not having to worry about how much the bill was going to be
• Fresh seafood
• Dancing
• Making new friends from Chi-town! It's amazing how God puts people in our lives to connect with.
• Snorkeling and reminiscing about the good old days at the Island in Indoland.
• General conversations about the future, where we are now, what God is doing.
• Unlimited dessert.

Unfortunately, I am not the best photographer slash remembering-to-take-pictures person ever to walk the Earth...so I have like 10 pictures from the whole trip. Oops. But regardless, I will post these pictures whenever I get around to uploading them on to my computer.

It's nice to be home, but it sure was nice to be away for awhile.

Happy Weekend

I can't help but burst out laughing at these pics, courtesy of Awkward Family Photos:

My kid will soooo have a mullet like that.

I Like...Summer

This weekend Scott took a study break from boards and we decided to welcome summer by grilling a delicious meal (and yes, it was diet-appropriate!)

We grilled some delicious black bean burgers with avocado:

Along with some delicious fennel and a fresh salad with amazing veggies from the co-op we recently joined, refreshing passion fruit iced tea from Teavana, and Skinny Cow Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches for a wonderful dessert (and only 2 points a piece!):

It was a wonderful, relaxing break for both of us, and a great way to ring in Summer. Of course a new season led to me doing That Thing I Should Not Do, aka wishful online shopping. Our vacation that's coming up is making me think of summer dresses and such, and these two just scream summer to me:

Oh Anthropologie, how I miss you. But for now, YAY summer!

I Like...Glee

I heard about this show first from Nava, my go-to gal on things like this. I wasn't sure what I thought of the trailer, but I was curious so I looked up the sneak preview pilot episode on Fox.com, and let me just say - it rocked. It gives us Mean Girls-style sarcasm (and anyone who knows me knows how I feel about that piece of cinematographic genius) meets Ten Things I Hate About You-satire meets High School Musical jazz numbers where people burst into song randomly...aka a recipe for the BEST SHOW EVER! I hope more people get interested in it so they don't cancel it, because that would just be mean.

Favorite lines from the pilot that convinced me of this show's potential:

Melodramatic jock who wants to be a Broadway star: I don't wanna be just another guy, driving around, throwing eggs at people.

Crazy cheerleading coach who pumps iron and whey protein: YOU THINK CHEERLEADING IS HARD? I LIVE WITH HEPATITIS, THAT'S HARD.

Disinterested principal: You want to take over Glee club? What, do you want to captain the Titanic too?

Put that together with more biting sarcasm and awesome vocals from legitimate Broadway stars, and I think I'm excited for Fall.

Here's my favorite video, but you should watch the full episode to get the full effect :)



And yes, I'm a nerd, but NOT AS BIG OF A NERD AS MUSICAL THEATER-LOVING HUSBAND! :)

Happy Friday

Ha.

I Like...Awkwardness

Oh man, you have to check out Awkward Family Photos. They're just putting out in the open what we have all experienced at some point in our lives...except these are WAY more awkward. Best procrastination tool ever!

I Like...Susan Boyle

When the news is filled with depressing things like family murder-suicides, more economic crisis, details about U.S. torture policy, and random medical student-turned-stalker-slash-killers, the media jumps on feel-good, smile-getting stories like that of Susan Boyle. This sweet, 47-year-old woman came on Britain's Got Talent, got boo-ed and laughed at by the audience and judges, and proceeded to knock them on their arses as soon as she opened her mouth. Seriously, it was pretty great to watch Simon Cowell's stone face break out in a surprised grin with her first notes. 

You should really watch the video. 

But as heart-warming as this is, and as much as it makes every housewife or bored businessman jump up in their living rooms to root for the underdog, it made me think about WHY we were all so amazed by her performance. YES, her voice is awesome, and she is extremely talented...but to be honest, it's nothing we all haven't heard before, in a concert, or in a musical. 

If we're being completely frank, the reason everyone was floored is because that awesome voice came from someone who looked like Susan Boyle. Before she opened her mouth, we all (myself included) assumed she was one of the weirdos who came to juggle or sing a ho-down about her cat on national television, because we are so used to judging people on their too-frizzy hair, or their not-made-up-enough face, or their slight lisp, despite the fact that behind all that might be a sweet, good, valuable, impressive person that - GASP - we might learn something from! Yes, the voice would have still been impressive had it come from someone who looks like J-Simp or one of the girls from The Hills, but I think the sensational media blitz wouldn't have spread quite as quickly as it has. It's a happy, victorious tale for Susan, but kind of a sad commentary on our society and where we place top value.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I do think it's worth pondering exactly why our expectations were so low for this lady who is clearly brilliant/ace/cracking/bloody great. 

p.s. I wish I was British. 

I Like...Middle School

I am proud to bring you the Jackson Middle School Golden Moment of the Week.

13 year-old-boy: Miss, why do I have to change my pants?
Alma (social worker): Because they are 31s and you are a size 34, and because you can't wear them below your butt.
Boy with angry face: But Miss, why?
Alma: Because you look like a street person. Here are some new pants, go put them on.
Boy comes back with normal pants: Miss, I can't wear these.
Alma: Why not? You don't look like a street person anymore? Do you want to look like a street person?
Boy: No, but Missssssss. These pants are lame.
Alma: Do you know my name?
Boy: Yes, Burrell, but MISS.
Alma: Put on your belt and go to class.
Boy: Miss, I can't wear these pants. I'm going to take off my pants and walk around in my boxers instead because I can't wear these stupid pants.
Boy begins unzipping his pants and walks out the door.

And there you have it, another quality moment at JMS. Or shall we say, the Moment of Disrobing Teenage Boys.

I Like...New Blog Formats and "Following" on Blogger

Sooo, I decided to mix up the blog-ness to make things a little more interesting. I thought this would be a fun new way to make myself blog more often, even if it's in the form of short, random posts.

In other news, I have recently discovered the "following" feature of blogger, and I have become an official follower of all of my friends' blogs, or at least the ones I am aware of. It's lovely and helpful because it updates me whenever one of you has posted something new, so I don't fall totally behind. It'd be sweet if I had more than two followers to make me feel more popular, but in all seriousness, I'm curious to actually know who all reads this. To my knowledge, there are only a few (aka Jen, Nava, Hannah, Mary, and Kathy), but I bet there are a few more who found the link on my Facebook profile or something. Come on, everyone stalks at least a litttttle bit, so I am just challenging you to do it out in the open. Show your faces, all you lurkers! Just kidding, I know about the awkwardness of Facebook and being caught up on the status updates and such of people you may not keep in touch with in person...but I'd love to know who you are, even if you've never commented or anything, so take the plunge and click the follow button! :)

Yay for blogging and the awkwardness of the Internet.

Yikes.

In a survey by Oxygen Media, 25% more women in the 18-34 age range stated that they would rather win America's Next Top Model than a Nobel Peace Prize Granted, people who watch Oxygen religiously are probably not 100% representative of the general female, non-crazy population (not that watching Oxygen is inherently bad, ahem), but this is still quite disturbing on multiple levels...ESPECIALLY if you have ever watched that show (which I do) and understand that it involves cat fights, ankle-breaking shoes, and Tyra Banks wearing scary costumes and making strange noises more often than not. But when I put it like that, I might take enormous wigs and animal noises from Tyra over world peace, too.



Oh, wait...

You can read the whole story here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/03/americas-next-4.html.

If bows are right, then baby I don't want to be.

Turning 25 wasn't so bad, but there's nothing like spending two days a week on a college campus to make a girl feel O.L.D. These 18-year-olds prance around in panda-bear-printed galoshes and gym shorts (when it's not raining), uber-trendy True Religion ensembles, and football jerseys that have been custom tailored into super cute summer dresses, and I find myself thinking like a 76-year-old granny...What's with kids these days and their new-fangled fashion trend nonsense, anyway?!? I probably looked that young and silly as a freshman too, although I will proudly say I NEVER allowed myself to cave in to the UGGs-and-miniskirt-when-it's-95-degrees abomination. Apparently 3 years out of college transports you to a weird place between the college world and adult world in which I thought I was still in my "just out of college" days, but now I'm questioning the fashion proceedings of today's youth like a crotchety old lady. I'm in my mid-twenties. Yikes.

But the point of all of this is to talk about the bows. What. is. with. BOWS? Not cheerleader-style ribbon bows in ponytails. Bows like you'd buy to plaster on the head of an infant to demonstrate to all curious passers-by that, yes, this child is in fact a girl. Or the kind you'd get for a two year old to put on top of her cute little top-knot half ponytail thing. These girls get out of bed in the morning, slap on their verging-on-obscenely-short gym shorts, use their Chis and curling irons to their hearts' content, and then proceed to put BABY BOWS on the side of their head. Just sitting there, sticking out, clipped to their head. SUPER CUTE! I get that this is in some way related to the Gossip Girl ginormous flower headband idea, which I will admit can be pulled off in certain contexts, but this takes it to a whole new level of weird. You see cute, young college girl on the bottom, then get to the head and it's like a toddler. Sorry, it's just strange. Someone please explain to me - at 25, have I become THAT removed from the young people??? Or is it just a random strange trend? While not obsessed with trendiness, I like to think of myself as a somewhat-fashionable, semi-up-to-date person when it comes to trends. My monthly Glamour has not informed me that bows are the next big thing, so I don't feel too badly about this. 

I just don't get the bows. So I will resign myself to feeling old, and I will continue to proudly strut myself in my scarves. Thank you.

The Big 2-5

I turned 25 on Saturday, and it doesn't feel very different. This year I was super lucky that my birthday fell on a Saturday, leading to a 3 night birthday extravaganza that included sushi with the in-laws and brother, Cheesecake factory and Cranium/Wii with the usual crew, and an awesome lazy Saturday full of pancakes, Mario Kart, delicious Indian food, and a movie at home with Scotty. It was a fantastic weekend, I feel so blessed to have such awesome friends and family! It has been a while since I took a few days away from school and just enjoyed the people I love without worrying about papers/tests/procrastination, so that was the best birthday present I could ask for...with Mario Kart coming in a close second, of course.

25 doesn't feel very different...but it sounds different. I can no longer make a case for being in my early twenties, and 25 sounds more established than 24 did, for some reason. I feel like I should have more under my belt than just more years in higher education. Ha. I'm not getting promoted through the ranks of some high-flying corporation, I don't have a kid (thank goodness, for now), we don't have all kinds of free time or cash to travel the world without a second thought, and Oklahoma is probably the MOST exciting place I've ever lived. Ha. It's absurd, but sometimes I look at the carefree little undergrads when I'm on campus and feel. so. old.

Seriously, sometimes it feels like Scott and I are literally giving up our "twenties" for school, but then I stop feeling sorry for myself and focus on the fact that we have a fantastic life and fantastic friends, and we still have most [wait - half] of our twenties to enjoy, despite that pesky thing called med/grad school that interferes with our social lives every once and a while. And hey, bring on 30, because that will mean we are official people who are DONE with school! I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but all this to say that I'm pretty ambivalent about 25. But for now, I'm going to work on enjoying the present and stop waiting for the future when "real life" starts.

Despite the ambivalence, here are my birthday-year resolutions. 25 is going to be the year that I get fit, by golly. Yesterday, Hannah and I went to our first Zumba class, which was awesome, freaky, and SUPER awkward, all at the same time. I shook, I shimmied (or tried to), and yelled out ZUMBA whenever the crazy instructor man told me to...and I had an amazing time! Apparently I am a terrible salsa dancer, but it was super fun and I can't wait to go back. I have decided that this is the year that I stop making excuses and find ways that work for me to get healthier and have fun while doing it. So, here we go, it's in writing...25 is the year that I get fit, worry less, and probably play more Mario Kart!

Whirlwind

I've been a bad blogger lately. I'm such a cliche for saying this, but school has taken over my life! My week goes something like this: Get up at the crack of dawn, do some reading, go to practicum, run around all day chasing after a hodgepodge of havoc-wreaking middle schoolers, come home, do more reading, maybe write a paper, sleep, get up at the crack of dawn, go to class from 8:30-4:30, drive home, read, repeat. I'm so tired I want to fall asleep at 9 every night, but that's not possible. Weekends might be a time to catch up on that sleep, but probably not because there's too much work to do. I'm exhausted. But I think it might be a good kind of exhaustion, or at least a not-bad one. I feel like there's purpose to what I'm doing, and there are so many possibilities for what happens after next year.

At the same time, I can't wait until my week nights are free again, until I don't have to put off calling my friends back for two weeks while I write 20 papers, and until I can focus on the people in my life without inadvertently thinking about what project I have to work on or what reading I should be doing. It's hard, because my friends and family are my priority, but at the same time I can't just ignore school, especially when this semester's schedule is so crazy. I know it's just a season, so for the time being, I'm just trying to power through and make time for fun things to clear my head. So, if I haven't called you back yet, made enough time to talk, or been available to hang out enough (or looked like I might fall asleep while hanging out or talking on the phone)...trust me, it's not because I don't want to, and I haven't forgotten about you. Please bear with me while I tread water until the end of the semester.

A recap of the last 3 weeks, number-style

5 papers written
1 wedding attended (1 more this weekend and 1 two weeks later)
2 good friends hung out with in Houston
3 movies seen with friends
1 low-key but lovely Valentine's Day dinner with Scotty before test-block
1 friend's new baby visited
1 trip to Eischen's

That's about it...2 more weddings coming up, a baby shower, spring break. Counting down the days til May :)

What is Oozing Out of Our Ground?

This is amazing. Apparently this person missed the day in fourth grade when her teacher taught about rainbows.

We as a nation have got to ask ourselves, what the hell is going on? Amen, crazy sprinkler lady, amen.

America - land of geniuses.

25 Useless Ashley Trivia Facts

After reading 30923 of these on Facebook and feeling like a creeper, I decided to do my own 25 list. Here it is:

1. I wish I spoke Arabic.

2. I have freakishly large feet for someone of my height. I'm 5'2" and wear a size 9, sometimes 9 1/2. Don't hate.

3. When I was in 6th grade, my doctor told me that I would grow a lot and be really tall because of my huge feet. Lies! I didn't grow at all after that.

4. One time in college, I was sitting in a booth and a random person sat down and kissed me. Jen and Nava thought I was a floozie.

5. When I was a kid, I was completely, 100%, absolutely obsessed with the Chicago Bulls. I got up at absurd hours to watch games in Jakarta, wore jerseys to school, knew each players stats inside and out, and was probably really obnoxious about it. Repeat Three-peat, people.

6. I spent 6 years of my life in Jakarta, Indonesia, and sometimes I still miss it. I haven't been back since we left, but I will go someday.

7. I miss double decker jets, layovers in random countries, exciting adventures in obscure places, and everything else related to traveling regularly.

8. I still keep an Indo-Mie stock in my pantry.

9. I have an awesome husband who is my best friend. I love him so much, even if we tease each other incessantly! He even got me to move to Oklahoma :)

10. I have an amazing, crazy, inspiring family (immediate and extended). It's sometimes like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, except Egyptian and with more singalongs. The Colorado side of my family is awesome, too, even though I don't get to see them very often. They are all so much fun and I'm so thankful for them. Eat something!

11. I love competition reality shows such as Top Chef and Project Runway (and even America's Next Top Model), especially when Hannah and I get to make sarcastic commentary together and describe how we would make a dress out of straws and tissue paper.

12. Out of all the places I've been, my favorites are: Bali, Perth, Alexandria, Tokyo, and London. I would LOVE to live in London someday.

13. My brother and I are close and make weird noises. I think I regress about 15 years whenever I'm around him.

14. I love fashion and would like to put more effort into dressing up than I do. I have a lot of trendy clothes that I never wear because, let's face it, a hoodies and scarves are just so darn easy.

15. I burst into song at random moments. A particular favorite of mine is "In the Navy" from some Muppets video I watched a long time ago. Scott thinks I'm weird.

16. I love my church and our small group so much it's a little ridiculous. Tuesday nights are the highlight of my week, and it seems like the world is wrong if we don't meet for some reason. They're like family.

17. There is a little boy in said small group, Caleb, who sometimes makes me want to rethink the whole wait-til-Scott's-out-of-med-school-to-have-kids idea. Then he leaves and I get over that. He is our buddy!

18. My friends here in Oklahoma are amazing, and I don't know what I'd do without them! It makes me sad to think that, in all likelihood, I will have to leave them in 2.5 years, but I know we'll keep in touch because they are awesome.

19. I desperately want a dog. I miss Cookie Monster, my old golden retriever, so much!

20. I enjoy impromptu interpretive dancing, even if it is to songs that should never be interpreted in dance form. I do what I want.

21. Speaking of impromptu dancing, I miss my college friends ridiculously much and wish I had more time/was better at keeping in touch with all of them. We need a reunion ASAP.

22. I think Ugg boots are ugly but I wear them anyway. Take that.

23. I heart coffee. Americano with milk = life.

24. I voted for Barack Obama in this last election. I don't think being a Christian and voting for a Democrat are any more paradoxical than being a Christian and voting for a Republican.

25. I still get strangely nervous when I get called on in class, especially if the professor is crazy and asks weird rhetorical questions while making eye contact for absurd lengths of time. My answers always come out jumbled and probably never make sense.

26. In elementary and middle school, I had poofy bangs and triangle hair.

27. I have an inexplicable obsession with figure skating and gymnastics. I think I missed my calling, except for the fact that I can't skate and am petrified of hurtling myself through the air. Oh well.

My Top Ten of 2008

With 2008 coming to a close, it's inevitable that I reflect on the past year and think about what changes have occurred in myself, how my life has moved forward, and what experiences God has used to teach me. A more thoughtful post on all of that will probably follow at some point, but for now I'll stick to the fun things that made 2008 special. So for now, my top ten of 2008:

10. Celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Girgismelson household. People can grow so much in one year, and it's so exciting to do that together.

9. Discovering John Mayer's Where the Light Is album. Amazing, 'nuff said.

8. Starting grad school, as annoying as it can be at times. Starting my practicum at Jackson and realizing that these kids are my passion. Feeling a sense of purpose and realizing that this path is absolutely where God wants me to be.

7. Discovering the amazingness of scarves. Yes, that's right, scarves. I can put it on my top ten list if I want. They can make an old, boring outfit brand new!

6. Having to take my work schedule down to 10 hours a week because of school. Fewer pens to buy!

5. Making new friends from class; strengthening and deepening friendships I made in 2007. Especially those from house church, they're part of our family.

4. More frequent girls' nights!

3. Realizing that I do have opinions about politics, and for the first time being truly invested and excited about the democratic process that we SO take for granted. I guess Obama winning would make the list as well :)

2. Blogging!! And becoming obsessed with other people's blogs. 

1. Being challenged to rethink and re-prioritize my faith in totally new, unexpected, and more meaningful ways. Realizing what "love your neighbor" actually means, and seeing that churchy American culture doesn't always get it right. Constantly being challenged and pushed by people who live out their faith in exciting and revolutionary ways. Continuing to be amazed, surprised, and humbled by everything God has given and is teaching me through my marriage, friendships, career choice, and community. He continues to reveal himself in so many ways, reminding me that it's NOT about me, and He is so good. 

One more: developing my baking skills and becoming more adventurous with the baked goods. I heart cookies and tarts.

Here's to 2009!