Slim Jims, The Depot, and Jill = eek!

Sometimes when I'm bored at the Depot I try new things to eat. Hot, I know.

Anyway, last Sunday I was crazy bored and so I decided to eat a Slim Jim. Gross, I know...

Well, after I ate it I decided to see how much fat and other shiz I consumed in the little Jim. Nothing surprised me more than the ingredients:

beef, mechanically separated chicken [wtf], water, salt, corn syrup, flavorings, dextrose, paprika, hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy and wheat gluten proteins, sodium nitrite, lactic acid starter culture [wtf is this].

MECHANICALLY SEPARATED CHICKEN?!?! WTF is that?!  Well of course wikipeida has the answer, and I found it. Just a warning though, if you ever wanna eat Slim Jims, hot dogs or any other processed meat again do NOT read this article. If you don't care and wanna know anyway, like me, click HERE.

and really...I don't LOVE Slim Jim's, but I'll still eat them if I wanna. Deal with it.

no offense, Aristotle...

On our very first day at Harvard, a very wise professor quoted Aristotle, The law is reason free from passion. Well...no offense to Aristotle, but in my 3 years at Harvard I have come to find that passion is a key ingredient to the study and practice of law...and of life. It is with passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world. Remembering that first impressions are not always correct...You must always have faith in people, but, most importantly, you must always have faith...in yourself. Congratulations, Class of 2004!! WE DID IT!!  -Elle Woods from Legally Blonde

I have to agree with Elle on this one, "..passion is the key ingredient to the study of law...and of life. It is with passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world."

If you aren't familiar with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), check them out at www.unicef.org ---there are so many things that they do to help children. I hope to someday work for them, or an organization with similar goals. 

you know your life rocks when...

Sometimes I miss me some Lisa

If you were born before 1990 and don't know who Lisa Frank is, shame on you!

My sister brought home some stationary that she's gonna take on her mission and it was Lisa Frank style! I totally forgot about her until now and it's bringing back some hella good memories. I wasn't just an ordinary L.F.F. (Lisa Frank Fan). I was intense about the whole thing. I loved everything that she ever made which was expressed through my begging my parents, grandparents and anyone else who would listen to buy me her latest stickers, notebooks and other random shiz.

I just tried to google ol' Lisa to see what this lady looks like...I mean, not to be rude, but I highly doubt she's the most attractive human on the planet. I can only imagine, but I think she'd look a little something like this:

Either way, I hope Lisa's doing well and I'd like to thank her for sparking my creativity at a young age. ha ha!

R.I.P. Flip Flops and the res.

I'm still stuck in July or something. Man, where'd the time go? It's FREEZING outside and it got dark at 8pm.

R.I.P. summer fun. I'll miss you dearly.

I'll miss :

• trips to the res. Oh how I love the res. Floating, swimming, fishing, laughing...ah, those were good times.
• playing outside in general. i don't play outside in the winter. barf.
• sleeping on the tramp
• going to the cabin
• my sister. *tear*
• fishing...even though i am terrible...
• not having a care in the world...
• star gazing
• reading outside
• reading for fun...fall and winter = reading for school...
• camping
• crusin' with the windows down on a hot day. ah, i love that.
• mostly I'll miss my flip flops. although i still break them out every chance possible, i utterly HATE wearing shoes. 
  

Things I'm going to look forward to as winter comes:

• JAZZ season begins on Oct. 1! Can't wait to have Jazz parties. 
• Volunteer at the Family Support Center 
• Coach a Jr. Jazz team perhaps
• Go to school and learn new things. yay. 
• Sledding with all my favorite kids!
• Drinking hot chocolate and holding hands to stay warm!
• Enjoying the beauty of snow, even if I do hate the cold!
• Volunteer with Hospice
• Snuggle up in a blanket and star gaze even if it's FREEZING. I like that. 
• The holidays are always fun. I love spending time with the fam and friends. 
• Since it gets dark early, now I have an excuse to go to bed at 9pm and not feel lame...well maybe a little lame, but hey!
• I can buy more sweatshirts and wear sweats to school. yippeeee. 

Overall, I guess what I'm trying to get across is that I'll really miss basking in the sun but I'm gonna make this winter of 2009-2010 the BOMB! 

happy hump day

Whoever invented Wednesdays sucks. Seriously, it's like Monday wasn't shitty enough so they had to throw in an extra day and call it Wednesday. No one really likes Wednesdays. There's nothing super about them. They are just in the middle of all the other days, taking up time and space.

Some of my frustrations about Wednesdays comes from school. For some reason class drags on and I can't focus. Either I'm thinking about what I'm doing for the weekend or I'm still catching up from the previous weekend. I feel like I'm being torn in multiple directions and Mr. Wed. doesn't care about me.

Really, I just had nothing else to blog about so I decided to pretend that I hate Wednesdays. I think I hate Thursdays more, though. Oh well. :)

can't teach an old dog new tricks

Lately I have noticed some groups being made on Facebook and Myspace about couples looking to adopt. Awesome!!

I think it's great that young couples are willing to take the adoption option. I'm not speaking to anyone directly because I don't actually know any of the couples I've seen posting on Fbook or Myspace, so please don't take offense if you happen to read this post.

The thing that bothers me terribly about "desperate" young couples who can't have their own children and are looking to adopt is that they are only willing to a adopt a perfect little newborn baby. Cool, I love babies as much as the next person if not more. But if what you really want is a child, how come the 1 year old won't do? Or how about the two brothers ages 3 and 5? I mean, I know it might add more stress and more obsticles to your already busy life but if you've been trying to get the newborn for 3 years and it still hasn't happened...maybe there are other options!

I know I've probably done a little bit of overkill with this one, but it's something that is very important to me. I would like to open a foster care home one day and it kills me to think that there are so many children and youth who have never done anything wrong but will never get the chance to be in a loving family.

There are many reasons why children and youth end up in foster care: divorce, death of a parent or guardian, parents have drugs/alcohol addictions, and other various reasons all of which have absolutely nothing to do with the kids behavior or value. Granted there may be some cases where the child is simply unmanagable by the parent and therefore the state places the child in foster care, however, this is few and far between.

So, before I jump off my soapbox, let me just give you the link to look at children who are in foster care and waiting to be adopted. If you have a heart, it will break. www.adoptuskids.org and click on "meet the children". It's amazing how many children there are and how freaking cute all of them are. I wish I could take them all home, but alas, back to the reality of being a poor college student living in my parents basement. Bummer!

Anyway, you can click HERE to go see the kids. And if you know anyone looking to adopt, pass this along--or at least suggest they try foster-to-adopt programs.

And now I'll jump off the soapbox. Farewell.

just some ramblings i often wonder about...

• Why is THIS  my favorite website these days? It has even become my effing home page!
• How come almond M&M's are delicious and I wanna eat the whole bag??
• So ya know how grilled cheese sandwiches usually only come in kids meals? Why is that?! They are the best thing on earth--they aren't just for children, people! Come on.
• I like meeting random people at the Depot and I often wonder if they enjoy meeting me. I mean, sure, maybe they don't...but would they come 12 times a day if they really didn't like me?
• Someone asked about rainbows and somehow or another we got on Noah's ark and God's promise to him about not flooding the earth. I think that's sillllllly. Rainbows are reflections, duh. I can make one if you give me the right tools. Does that make me God? Or does that make me the fulfillment of God's promise? Wow, now we're getting too deep. Love all of you who believe in God and the rainbow promise. What a happy way of looking at life, anyway.
  
• Why is it that when I'm most tired I either can't sleep due to other obligations such as work or school, or I try to sleep and just can't. I'm having one of those days right now. I just took 4 sleeping pills. They should kick in ASAP.
• Do you think people are really born "scared" of the unknown? I mean, do you think we're born with hesitations towards people who are different than we are or do you think it's something we learn? I go with nurture, not nature on this one for sure.

• Speaking of nature vs. nurture...which one do you pick? Or which percentage of each would you say?
• And last but not least...why is this considered fashionable????
  

Enoch City Rec Complex: Phase One

If you know where Cedar City is then most likely you also know where Enoch is located. Enoch is a very small town in Utah with no stores and mostly horses with a few people. Anyway, my friend Stacie lives in Enoch and about a year ago she told us that she was working on the "Enoch City Rec Complex". What's wrong with that picture you ask?

A COMPLEX?! Not a center, not a building or a room, but a COMPLEX. In Enoch. Honestly I think I laughed for a good 20 minutes the first time she told me about it. I mean I'm all for getting out, being active and staying healthy. I think it's a good idea for communities to have a place for residents to go in order to promote healhty living. I even think it's cool that Enoch City has decided to do so, I just don't understand the reasoning for calling it a complex.

The best part of this story comes next. Like I said, my friend Stacie started working on this committee and so far this is the only thing that's been actually phsically been done:

I drove by last week and noticed the groundbreaking progress being made out there in ol' Enoch.

Phase one: paint water tank. check.
Phase two: level ground and perhaps plant some grass for some soccer fields. I'll update when that all goes down! Stay tuned.

happy happy monday

You could ink yourself until everyone knows all the things you love. You could wear uniforms that gave you all the authority in the world. Lose weight until there was nothing left. Paint the face. Suck in your gut.

But in the dark, stripped down to your bones, all that remains is you.

Ode to Ernest and my other Depot cracks

Remember the time I posted THIS about Depot cracks I meet? Well, lets be real, I still meet plenty of cracks and a plethora of very single cracks. Sometimes it's flattering to have so many people think I'm rad, want to tell me their life story, or think I'm their therapist. I mean seriously, I have people tell me the weirdest things I've ever heard... and I'm pretty weird!

For the purpose of this story, however, lets talk about Ernest AKA Ern Dog, Ern, Ernie and sometimes E Dog. I've known Ern since my start at the Depot. He was the scary dude sitting outside the Depot day in and day out that would barely mutter a "hello" as he filled up he mug with ice water, or on rare occassion soda. Sometimes I'm a little obnoxious so I would say hello to him every time he'd step foot into the building. And just so you get the picture, he comes in about 20 times in a normal 6 hour shift.

Well after about three months of Ern ignoring everything I said, one day he decided to tell me his life story. I didn't really understand most of it, as I believe E Dog has some sort of mental disorder, but the parts I did understand made me feel very sad for Ern and very lucky to be me. Well, three months after Ern and I became speaking friends, he invited me over to his house for cookies. I politely declined even though he said he was very lonely and he just wanted friends. I felt bad, but I also wanted to live so I declined again.

The very next day Ernie came into the Depot and announced very excitedly that he found a girlfriend! I wasn't sure whether or not to believe him, but sure enough. Ern Dog got a GF! Good for him. In the almost 6 months I've known Ern, I've never seen him this happy or talkative, it makes my heart smile a little bit for the happy couple. I was actually informed not too long ago that E Dog and his GF got hitched, but really it's been one week since they supposedly met, so for their sake I hope that's not true. I guess whatever makes them happy!

The point of that story was to say that one mans dreams are anothers nightmares. In this case, getting married to a Depot crack would be the nightmare. But on the other hand, I can still be happy for those who are actually happy in said situations.

I like life, it's great!

you're not dead!!!!

For real though people. Single doesn't mean loser. Single doesn't mean unaccomplished. Single doesn't mean dead. Get over it. Be happy and live life. That's all that matters!

i'mma be a cheeto puff in the next life

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I would want to be in my next life. At first I came up with something typical yet exciting like a bird, however, I have since decided that I have much more interesting things I'd rather be if I'm comin' back a second time.

Since I'm fairly convinced that I have at least 9 lives I've made a list of all the things I'm gonna be and why...enjoy!

1. Human...slightly boring, also not my decision.

2. Cheeto Puff. YES. You saw it correctly, I want to be a cheesy puff. I think I'd like to be the one on the bottom of the bag that never gets consumed by humans. Instead I somehow make it to the dump (I have my theories on how this will happen, but for times sake we'll just assume I make it). Anyway, once at the dump I'll obviously be the happiest cheesy puff on earth with other Cheeto variety friends as well. Honestly, I doubt life could get any crazier than that. My death, I assume will come from a liquid of some sort which will essentially melt me down to nothingness.

3. For my third life I wasn't quite sure what I'd want to be, but after some more thought I decided that a car tire would probably be best. Why, you ask? Well, easy. Duh. I would be the tire of someone that likes to travel all sorts of exotic places. Then they'd sell their car and I'd probably end up dispising the new car owner and therefore I would make sure the have a blow-out at the most incovienient of times. Suckas!

4. My forth life would be drama-filled and oh-so-fun. I would totally be a cell phone. Or, if possible, every cell phone in the world. Wouldn't it be super rad to read all the latest gossip, romance drama, and everyones sercrets?! I would hope to die rather quickly though because it'd probably get old quick. I'd be a Razr phone since they don't last long. It'd be one hell of a ride though! Hope I don't drown!

5. Five was a bit lame, but still, I have as many lives as I want so I'm allowed to have a few lame ones every now and then. I would be a raindrop. I would either want to land in the ocean and live for a quite some time just...being water. The other option would be to land on some lovers noses or something cheesy but cute. You know how I do...

6. Well since I like writing and I like reading, I guess I'd have to choose a journal for my 6th life. I am not quite sure if I'd just be a specific indiviuals journal or if I'd just be all journals for the sake of being a journal. Seems a little more fun to choose one person's journal...I'd choose Ben Folds or my sister...maybe my mom. Just think, if I were my mother's journal I might understand her a little more...

7. Lucky number seven. I'd be playing cards in Vegas, hands down. And I'd make sure the underdog of every game played with me won. Eventually I'd be found out and probably burned or at least thrown away, but wouldn't that be freakin' awesome while it lasted?!

8. I'd be a basketball for life number 8. I'd be pro at first and then work my way down to someone's house and sit in their living room for a while. Eventually I'd lose my value as most material things do and I'd be thrown out or lost.

9. I think for 9 I would want to be a newspaper or magazine article of some breaking news or huge event that people would refer to for years to come. I think that'd be pretty neat.

And there you have it. My list of a few of the lives I'll have someday. So, if ever you're eating Cheeto Puffs and you come across a broken little one at the bottom, please for the sake of all that's good, do NOT eat it. You never know who he or she may really be...