climb every mountain

one down, one billion to go. we climbed a mountain this week. and by we, i mean me and a bunch of my teens. and by mountain, i mean a foothill in southeast boise. but it counts, right? it's not an especially long hike (4 miles round trip) but it is relatively steep and i am still a little sore. i mean, my calves scream at me with every step and my shins aren't exactly comfortable either, but it was a really fun day. we even managed to do a trail clean-up along the way.

 it seems like such a long way. hope it doesn't rain on us!

 halfway there and the rainclouds are gone

view from the top

looks like we made it!

checking out some of the caves

and feeling like a superhero

"i'm watching you"

leaving it all cleaner than we found it.

did i mention that i got paid for this? i love my job. BEST. FIELD TRIP. EVER!!!!

news is like idaho weather, if you don't like it wait a few minutes

i have good news and i have bad news. which would you like to hear first? well, i cant hear you, but since neither piece of news really affects you, i suppose your answer is moot anyway.

the bad news is my bracket is shot. i didn't even get a single team into the final four. this is the point in the tournament where i throw things around the room and yell at the television. at least, i would if could watch the games on television, but i only get pbs in my apartment.

the good news is i went to the midnight premier of hunger games on thursday/friday and loved every moment of it, including the hours spent saving seats and waiting for the movie to start. i even got myself a new boyfriend:

his name is henry and he would be perfect if he had legs.

march madness

madness is an understatement really. i'm pretty serious about my brackets. yes, i meant to put that 's' there. i filled out 5. yep. 5 brackets. 5 different brackets. and i used 5 different strategies.

the first one i filled out fairly quickly. i basically just picked the teams that i like/have historically done well.

then i filled out another one where i revisited the match ups that made me nervous the first time and i chose the other team.

then i thought, "this is pretty arbitrary. i should do some research or something and make some educated decisions here." so i did. i looked up each of the teams and made my decisions based on some hardcore information, in the finding of which i had invested a significant amount of time. i picked the team with the most attractive players. i don't know if you knew this, but the best players are always the most attractive ones.

at this point, my coworkers (who were, of course, privy to this entire process) are looking at me like i'm crazy. to which i respond "they don't call it march madness for nothing!" and continue with my fourth bracket. again, based on some serious research. mascots. i got the kids involved on this one. we looked up the mascots and considered a situation in which the mascots-the actual animals/creatures/beings as opposed to the college kid wearing a giant foam head-were engaged in a cage match. the winner of this hypothetical cage match goes down as the winner of the game. "do cage matches work? of course they work. if they didn't, everyone would still be in the cage." bonus points if you can tell me who said that

the fifth and final bracket was the one i ended up using in the office pool. i use the word office loosely. very loosely. i don't work in an office. nothing about my workplace even vaguely resembles an office. i don't even have an office chair. anyhoo, the tournament is in full swing and thus far, the most accurate bracket is the third one. i tried to tell you, there is a direct correlation between attractiveness and ability to play basketball. at least there is in march.

excuse me, mr. west, i think you've made a mistake

"single ladies" is the "greatest music video of all time! OF ALL TIME!" really, kanye? i guess you've never watched this one:



i've said it before and i'll say it again, ok go are the master's of the music video. even stevie wonder can see that.

things you didn't know about me

this is by no means an exhaustive list as that would be impossible to compile, but here is a sampling of things you didn't know about me...until now.

1. when i don't feel well, i crave chili cheese fries.
2. actually, pretty much all of my food cravings involve potatoes. must be proof that i am an idaho girl
3. i read food blogs obsessively, but rarely cook anything food therein
4. i would rather clean the bathroom than wash dishes
5. i have a crazy toe on my right foot. we call it the claw toe.
6. i sneeze when i pluck my eyebrows. it's uncomfortable and probably a little dangerous, but it's also involuntary and uncontrollable.
7. i would really love for someone to write a song for me. or about me. or about someone else, but containing my name.
8. i love postcards. especially when they are mailed to me. if you would like to mail me one, i will give you my address.
9. i almost always like the sidekick/best friend character better than the protagonist(s)
10. i prefer colored pencils to crayons, and crayons to markers, but paints are my favorite.
11. i am a jelly bean racist. i only like the white ones.