The One that's Spooky

I was so excited to decorate for Halloween this year!  I saw this idea on a craft blog and loved it.

http://www.the36thavenue.com/2012/09/diy-dollar-store-halloween-village.html

This project has taken me a few weeks now.  I'm a little busy to get it all done in one day but as of Saturday this is what you see when you walk down the staircase to our front door.

Spooky!!

 The camera flash makes things a little shiny but I absolutely love how it turned out!

I've had this little hanging for a while and she graces our door every October.  Although we've never actually handed candy out to trick-or-treaters.  Sad, but true.

Funny story about the door hanging and these candy dishes.  Just a few Halloweens ago (and by a few I mean 8, this happened my junior year of college) my friends (Misha, Selica, Amy) and I decided to be 80's prom queens for Halloween.  We found some really dated formal dresses at Savers.  I honestly don't remember what mine looked like but Amy's was bright pink with this huge, fluffy peplum.  They were pretty ugly.  Throw in some bright pink lipstick, crimped hair and wave bangs and we were good to go.  We wanted to return the dresses after Halloween but Savers only gives store credit.  So I used mine on a bunch of holiday decorations.  I think of that Halloween and my friends every year when I pull these out.

I did a little decorating inside as well.  I found the bouncing spider and candy corn at Joann's last year and couldn't resist.  They are so stinkin' cute!!

I used a few of the lanterns Mom gave us sisters after Steve and Heather's wedding.  They work amazingly well for Halloween decor!!

The One with Thing 15

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

Hmmm, well I can say what I probably wouldn’t be.  Nothing soft and cuddly because lets face it, I’m so not.  And definitely not a cat.  I hate cats!  I’ve never really had a favorite animal either.  Like how Amy collects giraffe figurines and Lisa has elephants.  I like dogs and horses but not enough really to decorate my house with them.  I guess I would be a honey badger because they’re small but scrappy (like me and Monica Geller).  He looks kinda cute...

but he's not!  They never give in or up.  Plus honey badger just don’t care!

 

 

I also think I'm tougher than I really am.

The One with Things 13 & 14

Describe 5 weaknesses you have.

Oh goodness.  Who wants to answer this one?

1. I am horrible at reading analog clocks.  If I ask someone what time it is and they hold out their wrist with a non-digital watch on it I might as well say “Never mind.”

2. Bossiness.  99% of the time I think that my way is the best way and don’t understand why nobody else does it exactly like me.  I’m always working on this one.
3. Frisbee.  I suck at throwing Frisbees!  As in really, really suck.  As in it is shocking how bad my aim is even with complete focus.  I have honestly thrown it behind myself, 180 degrees from the intended target.  No idea how.  I warned Justin the first time we went out to play and he didn’t believe me.  Afterward he basically said “I had no idea anyone could be that bad at Frisbee!”

This picture was too funny not to include but that is sadly not me.  I look nowhere close to this cool when I'm playing Frisbee :)

4. Procrastination.  I think I actually work better under the wire.  Our first year of grad school Justin and I had to write papers for our Bioanalytical class.  They were supposed to be fairly long, at least 5 pages.  Justin was a good boy and finished his two days before it was due.  I started mine the night before.  The funny thing is I got a better grade, like 15 points better.  Why start earlier when I know I can spend 4 hours and still get an A?
5. I can hold a grudge like you wouldn’t believe.  Not that I’m actually proud of this.  I just find it hard to forgive people once they’ve hurt me deeply.  More like I find it hard to forget what they did.  It’s the whole “fool me twice” thing.  That will never happen because “fool me once” and we’re done.

Describe 5 strengths you have.

This is almost as bad as admitting weaknesses because now I feel like I'm bragging.

1. Spelling and math.  So sad that these are actually the first two things that came to mind.
2. Loving my family.  I just freakin’ love being around them!
3. Organizing.  I find this one kinda funny since I used to be so messy when I was a kid.  Amy and I were just laughing the other day about how I once left a cheese crisp on my bed and got bit by the ants it attracted a few nights later.  I can’t believe I did that!!
4. Getting the job done.  I may procrastinate a lot but I rarely leave things unfinished.  If it’s a DIY or craft project you can also be sure that it is done right.  I always measure twice and cut once and I’m such a perfectionist if I notice a dropped stitch I’ll tear out seven rows to go back and fix it.
5. Achieving goals.  I’ve set some pretty high goals for myself throughout my life and I generally achieve them.  Like making school sports teams or graduating valedictorian or even just going skydiving.  Check, check, check.

The One with Thing 12

Describe a typical day in your current life.

Disclaimer: I actually wrote most of the answers to these "Things" about the same time so this "typical day" is over a month old now.  Still mostly true, except the Olympic references.

 

On weekdays I wake up about a half hour before Justin to get ready for school.  We like summer because there are fewer people on campus and we can sleep in a little.  During fall and spring semesters we wake up almost an hour earlier to make sure we get a parking spot.  At school/work I generally do one of three things; go to the nanofab (that's code for nanofabrication facility) and make samples, characterize (meaning take measurements using analytical instruments) the samples I just made or analyze data that I just got from characterization/write the results up in a paper.  It’s all very exciting.  My favorite things are going to the nanofab or the SEM (scanning electron microscope).  Justin and I go home together for lunch almost every day.  We are so blessed to be able to do that.  I don’t know anyone else who gets to spend an hour in the middle of their workday with their spouse.  We also watch Friends every day while we eat lunch.  It’s pretty awesome.  Fun fact: we go to Subway once a week and they know us there.  We walk in and they say “Turkey and BMT?”  Yep.

Generally we’re done with research or at least stop what we’re doing by about 5:30 and go to the rec center which is conveniently located right next to the chem building.  We work out for an hour or so almost every day and then eat dinner around 7. Right now we stay up watching the Olympics until 11:00 and then go to bed.  We sadly watch a lot of TV at night even when the Olympics aren’t on (lately we've been watching the political national conventions).  Let me clarify, Justin watches a lot of TV and I sit beside him and read or make a wreath or crochet.  Those couple of hours between dinner and bed are also when I check off my to-do list by sneaking in some weekly cleaning like the bathroom or laundry or finish a baby afghan I’ve been working on.  I used to clean the entire apartment every Saturday morning but Justin has convinced me that Saturdays are for play (aka biking) so now I try to fit in what I used to do on Saturdays during the week.  That makes it sound like I’m a maid and Justin just sits there staring at the TV.  That’s not true.  The TV is really just on in the background.  Usually Justin will be on his computer, selling something on eBay or researching new bike trails or planning his Primary lesson.  Or he’ll be the one doing dishes.  It’s the one chore he says he feels comfortable helping out with so he does them ~80% of the time.  Saturday is the one day a week we can sleep in but for some reason we actually get to bed earlier on Friday than any other night during the week.  And our bodies are on such a good schedule for waking up early that we’re typically out of bed by 8:30.  Sounds like sleeping in to those with kids but that’s really early compared to the closer-to-noon sleep-in times I used to have.

The One with Thing 11

Describe 10 pet peeves you have.

1.   Bad grammar and incorrect spelling.  I’m not 100% perfect either but sometimes I can’t even finish reading Facebook updates.  It’s painful.

2. Slobs.  My dirt tolerance level is pretty low, meaning it doesn’t take a lot before I’m grossed out.  Clutter I can handle but gunk and grime, yech!  Justin told me once he basically used to clean his bathroom twice a year.  Two times a year!  Don’t worry; I never let it go that long at our house.

Perfect picture for this no?  There is a Friends episode for every situation in life!

3.      Stinky feet (cough, cough Justin!).

4.      Boys wearing skinny jeans.  The picture says it all.

5. People who yell at customer service employees.  I think everyone should work in both a restaurant and some type of store in their life.  It makes you understand what really goes on behind the scenes and appreciate what the server did well.

6.     Cat lovers.

 

7. People who get their 15 minutes of fame by just being stupid.  This applies to all of those stupid TLC shows “We should stop having kids because I might die giving birth to the next one” (aka 19 & Counting), “I had sex so I could live off the government for the rest of my life” (aka 16 & Pregnant), “I’m training my daughter to sleep with pro football players” (aka Dance Moms and Toddlers & Tiaras) and the newest addition “Jeff Foxworthy visited my house and left with 15 years worth of redneck comedy jokes” (aka Here Comes Honey Boo Boo).  No, I don’t watch any of these shows.  Sadly, I know about them because they have all been talked about or interviewed on the Today show.  Thanks Matt Lauer!

8.  When someone is trying to get in a car and the driver pulls forward five feet.  Repeatedly.  I have never found that funny, just rude.

9.   Pedestrians when I’m driving and drivers when I’m walking.

10. Bullies/people who purposely isolate or exclude others.