A Rash of the Unknown Kind

I developed a rash yesterday. I don't know what it's from. I don't have any known allergies. I am not stressed-I am done with school. I haven't changed my diet, soap, detergent, etc. recently so I don't know what could be the cause. I shaved my legs on Saturday and again on Sunday and again today with a pretty old razor. You're probably thinking "Razor burn you idiot!" but the rash is starting to appear on my arms and I don't shave those. I've been sitting in the sun for an hour or so every day, but this has never happened before. If it's a sunburn, it's the weirdest sunburn I've ever had.

The left leg looks worse than the right leg and the left leg DEFINITELY itches more. It's splotchy on the right leg but a little more solid on the left leg. It's burny and itchy and I applied some rash cream that isn't helping.

Any ideas of what might possibly be the cause?

Super Senior

As of forty minutes ago, I am now a super senior in college. I finished my one and only final exam and have now completed my Spring 2008 semester of college at Utah State University.

I'll be taking twelve credits this summer while working as much as possible. My first summer course, Exercise Physiology, actually begins one week from today. I get to play all week and then start back into a month-long class. This is my first summer of school and I'm not too excited about it, but such is life.

Four years down and one more to go, baby!

Shootin' Guns

Yesterday Richard and Ray and Rory invited us to go shoot guns up Providence Canyon. I had never touched a gun before last night let alone shoot one. When we received the invitation I was pretty excited (it wasn't a date, don't get too excited for me) but the more I thought about it, the more nervous I got. "What if somebody does something stupid and gets shot?" Then I started thinking about how Mom felt when Justin and Ashley got permits and guns. I used to not agree with her-I kinda do now.

I had fun, but it was definitely a nerve wracking experience. Ray showed me how to shoot the 22 first. It was a ton easier than I expected it to be. It made me a little nervous to look in the scope because I didn't want to put my face that close to the gun but it's all good. I actually hit the target once. I was pretty proud of myself. We didn't get any pictures of me shooting the 22 but I really did it, I promise.

I then went back to the truck and tried to build up enough courage to shoot another gun.

Rory had two hand guns; one was a "boy" gun and the other a "girl" gun.

He asked me which one I wanted to shoot.
"Whichever one you want me to shoot."
"No. You choose."
"Umm...alright. The girl gun, I guess?"
"Nope. You're gonna shoot the boy gun."
"Are you sure?"

So I shot the boy gun.

It was louder than I expected and had much more of a kick than I expected. I flinched pretty hard after ever shot. He gave me the support I needed, literally. He stood behind me and sort of held me up while I shot the thing.

This was my least favorite. Rory got a good kick outta this one though. I think everybody was pretty entertained with me-lots and lots of loud laughter.

Cassie shot the girl gun.

Then I shot a shotgun. By this point, my camera was dead so we don't have any more documentation. We shot at clay pigeons. It's possible that I hit one but we couldn't tell if it was me or Colette. Let's say it was me.

All in all, it was a fun experience. My right arm is pretty stiff today. I can now say I have shot a gun, well guns. But I don't think it is something that I will ask to do again. I'd go again, but I wouldn't suggest it. It's a good one-timer experience. I appreciate Richard, Ray, and Rory for letting us tag along with them.

Tagged...Again

So I have been tagged yet again. Last time I was tagged by Sandy. Julie tagged me this time. I don't have a lot of time on my hands so I chose 20 of the 41 questions on the tag.

1. Your Hair? Blond
2. Your Favorite thing? the smell of clean laundry
3. Favorite Drink? Dr. Pepper
4. Room You're in? The Study
5. Your fear? small spaces where I can't move my arms freely
6. What do you want to be in 10 years? a mommy
7. One of your wish list items? new spectacles
8. Where you grew up? Pocatello, ID; Moses Lake, WA; Danville, CA; Idaho Falls, ID
9. Last thing you did? shower
10. What are you wearing? clothes
11. Your pet? I'd rather not have any-ever
12. Your Life? is being lived
13. Your Mood? nonchalant
14. Missing? My orange shirt. Has anyone seen it?
15. What are you thinking about right now? how much studying I have left to do
16. Your summer? will hopefully come soon
17. Your relationship status? As single as single gets. Anyone know any good men?
18. School? Is almost over. I'll be a super-senior on Monday at 9:20 when my last final ends
19. Soup? No thank you
20. Motto: You only live once

I tag Karen, Natasha, and Candalyn.

The Breakdown

A year ago around this time I had myself a little breakdown. Maybe it wasn't so little. Okay...it was HUGE (for me at least). It was on a Monday. I remember it being Dead Week (the week of no tests right before finals week) but Cassie remembers it being finals week. It doesn't matter which week it was, all that matters is that I was stressed and I had enough. It had been a bad day and I kept thinking about the tests I had to take, the packing that needed to be done, the job that needed to be found, and on, and on.

So I started packing my movies and taking apart my VHS holder. A neighbor walked in and kindly asked, "You're starting to pack already? What if someone wants to borrow a movie?" I replied in a not so friendly tone, "That's just to darn bad for them! They can figure out something else!" She asked if everything was alright and of course I told her I was fine and went right on back to shoving my movies in boxes. The movies were packed and I wasn't feeling better. It was time to move on to the next chore.

I am a fairly organized person (maybe even a little anal sometimes). Organization is usually a really good way to get out my anger and negative energy. I feel so much better once something has been organized. I decided to take out my frustrations on organizing my notebooks, folders, text books, past assignments, etc for the moving process. I started with making neat piles of "keepers" and "trash". As I sorted through notes and assignments, I got angrier and angrier. More and more went into the trash pile as I thought "This semester is over! I don't need all this garbage! Why in the world did I keep it all for so long?!"

A little while later Cassie returned from FHE. She was just a little disturbed by what she found. My neat piles were not so neat. I had given up on the piles completely. Everything I wanted was set to the side. Everything I was done with was thrown over my head scattered on the floor behind me. Hesitantly Cassie asked "Is everything okay? Can I do anything for you?" I answered as calmly as possible and Cassie just sat and watched. A few minutes later (probably after she had built up enough courage) she asked "Are we still having people over to watch a movie?" (we had planned a movie night for whoever wanted to come) "Oh you bet! I'll be done here shortly; definitely before people come."

People began to arrive and papers were still being thrown. At this point I had started laughing at myself but I was having so much fun and feeling so good I just didn't want to stop. Eventually I had plowed through everything I could possibly get through so we watched "Night at the Museum" on top of my old notes and assignments. We opened candy and didn't even bother using a garbage can. What was the point? The place needed to be cleaned anyway.

Once the movie was over, I wasn't quite tired. Jake stopped looked in and asked what the heck had happened. I told him I had a little breakdown but I was feeling better. He thought it would be fun to throw some of my stuff into the fan, so that's what we did. We created a bigger mess.

Then we decided to try throwing other things into the fan. We tried a slinky.

And we tried Cassie's bra.

We had some pretty good laughs and then it got old. Jake suggested driving to Second Dam to blow stuff up. Cassie and I got really excited and then Jake backed out. Nate came to the rescue! He built a little bomb for us!

We drove to second dam and blew up a milk jug, a soda can, the Lip Slut Award (which I have never even come close to winning, mind you) and one of my notebooks. It was a grand time. It was my first time doing anything like this and I must say, it was quite the release.

This year isn't as eventful. All but one of my classes finish this week. I hate writing papers and creating portfolios, but I do love only have one final exam during finals week. It's been a pretty stress-free semester as far as school work goes. Thinking about last year gives me a pretty good laugh. I have never felt as crazy as I felt that night. I let loose, looser than I had ever felt before. I even left the mess in my apartment for a whole day. For me, that's UNHEARD OF! What can I say? It was a breakdown. Sometimes finals'll do that to ya.

Exercise Orb Chicken

Cassie and Colette both own exercise orbs, or exercise balls. I prefer exercise orb because I think orb is fun to say-orb-orb-orb-anyway...

Last semester Derrick hung out with us all the time (because he didn't have a girlfriend; I tell you what, those significant others ruin everything!) To entertain ourselves, we started playing on the exercise orbs. We started playing one Friday night and we just couldn't get enough of it!Nobody could match Derrick's and my levels of competition so we competed against each other. The point of the game: balance on the exercise orb and try to push the other person off without falling off yourself.

This is Larry and Derrick playing. When Larry started out, he had a hard time balancing. Derrick instructed him, "You need to straddle it more!" And Larry's very quotable response, "But that hurts your area!"

We played this for a long time. It started to get boring so we would think of new ways to practice balancing on the orbs. We tried sitting, we tried balancing on our stomachs, we tried lots of things. One day, I was just playing around and rolling on the ball while on my stomach. I rolled forward and lost my balance, but Larry was there to catch me. It would have been an extremely awkward catch though, so I rolled to the side and BONK, my lower lip hit the corner of the chair. Not only did my lip hit the chair, but it skidded across the fabric resulting in a burn on my lip. I have always had a fear of facial wounds (I have always pitied the people that have them. I guess I am just insecure with my face and I don't want to make it look any worse if I can help it) and I had just received my first one. The inside of my lip was bruised and swollen and very sore. It didn't look nearly as bad as it felt.

Once I healed, we continued with our competitions (a little bit more hesitantly, I might add). We had good times; and then Derrick met Celeste...needless to say, our days of Exercise Orb Chicken were over.

Over the last couple of weeks we have made new friends:

Richard and Ray

We introduced them to Exercise Orb Chicken, but it just didn't take as well with them as it did with Derrick and myself. On Sunday Derrick came down to visit (I thought it was out of the kindness of his heart but he was locked out-DUMB). I had talked up this game so much Richard demanded to see the professionals compete. Derrick and I accepted the challenge and play we did. It had just been too long! I haven't maintained my balancing skills and it's true...Derrick dominated; but we had a good time.

Cassie gave it a try, too.

Once Derrick got into his house, the game was over. I should practice a little bit-I want a rematch!

A Winning Drunk

When impaired by alcohol (or goggles that give you the drunken effect) I can't walk straight, I can't stand up straight, BUT I can win a relay race! I didn't feel so good after the race was over. Jason and I both had urpy tummies for a little while after the course.


Friday was A-Day on the Quad where local businesses set up booths and offer free candy, free Creamies, pamphlets, and other useless things. Colette, Jason, and I walked past the alcohol awareness booth. They set up a relay challenge for people who wanted to try out the drunk goggles. Jason and I accepted the challenge. I took the not-so-drunk pair and Jason took the way-drunk pair.

We received course directions.

We had to walk the line (by the way, holding your head does NOT help you see straight),

crawl beneath the hoop,

hula-hoop three times,

throw a ball in the air and spin around and catch the ball three times,

and make a basket at the double-shot.

(FYI: I shot and made the basket first but Colette decided to take a picture of Jason anyway)

I WON! I like to think it's because my drunken skills are okay, but it's probably because Jason's goggles had a higher level of drunkenness. Actually, the reason doesn't matter. I'M A WINNER!

The Return of Pizzookie Night

FYI: The term "pizzookie" comes from a local pizza place called Firehouse Pizzeria. Any visit to the Firehouse Pizzeria without ordering a pizzookie is considered incomplete, even sinful. They cook a cookie on a skillet and top it off with ice cream, chocolate sauce, and caramel.

--------The ice cream------------------->The Caramel---------------->The Chocolate Sauce--

A couple of years ago, Mr. Beus and I started a tradition we titled Pizzookie Night. We belonged to the same FHE group but our two leaders never planned any activities. Mr. Beus called me every Monday to see if I knew what the plan was. The answer was always the same "I have no idea" so he just started coming over on Monday nights. Darby, Robyn, Laurel, Mr. Beus and I would figure out something to do in order to make up for our slacking leaders.

One particular Monday evening, Laurel and I had a bunch of pictures to pick up from the store. We decided that a trip to the store would be a sufficient activity and off to the store we went. While we were there Mr. Beus suggested we buy cookie dough and ice cream to create a homemade pizzookie for dessert. It was delicious and it became a weekly tradition. The idea spread and by the end of the semester it became a weekly event. Mr. Beus and I took turns buying ice cream and cookie dough and together we would spread the dough across a cookie sheet. Once it was ready, we scooped the ice cream, drizzled the chocolate and the caramel and everyone dug right in.

Summer came and it was pizzookieless. Fall semester began and Mr. Beus and I decided to try and bring back the blessed tradition. It was a little more difficult since we were assigned to different FHE groups. Then he got himself a girlfriend. By mid-semester, pizzookie nights were no more. This semester, an old pizzookie friend suggested we start it up again. So I made the announcement and pizzookie night is back!

Instead of store bought cookie dough, I made my own dough (which is SO MUCH better) and instead of a cookie sheet, I used a pizza pan. It worked out beautifully and the homemade pizzookie was better than ever.

Pretty much the finished product.

Part of the gang enjoying the delectable dessert.

Heather's first bite.

I think everyone enoyed it. The pizzookie was devoured pretty quickly.