Signs of Singlesness

Before you start reading this, I want you to go to open a new tab, go to youtube, and turn on "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble'. Now you may continue.

Lately it feels like everyone else is announcing courtships, new relationships, and engagements. And here I am... single. That lovely little two-syllable word that brings mixed emotions to those stuck in the middle of it all. Don't get me wrong - being single is awesome! So I thought, "Why not find some humor in it? We'll all laugh at this someday, why not now?" So here is a list of the awesome, crazy things that young ladies who just happen to be single probably do:

1. Why did you have to tell me to turn on Michael Buble'? I have all of his music on the iPod, and it's turned up to the loudest that the speakers can get.

2. The cat is VERY important. You're reading the latest, greatest romance novel; you just finished the last chapter. You're bawling, "I can't believe it!!! Why did he have to die?! They were perfect for each other, and that JERK of a fool had to... had to... to... WAAAAA!!!!!" Your precious kitty will now saunter up to you with the sweetest "Meow" "Aah! Hi Kitty! Purr... All is better.

3. Who can sit still while listening to Michael Buble' is playing? I bet your'e dancing around the kitchen with yoruself and your dark, handsome, perfect Mr. Wonderful who is in your head. Now, I ask you: What is scarier? Walking into a room while she's dancing with her imaginary beau or with Mr. Fluffy Face?

4. Spontenaity! Keep everyone on their toes! Because we all know how much time and work relationships require. You're free girl! Go running in that field of daisies while singing Michael Buble' at the top of your lungs.

5. Friday night and nothing to do? I've got a solution for you! Chick flicks and chocolate. I think I just gained 5 lbs. from thinking about chocolate...

6. The hope chest? It's stuffed to the brim. You're stll panting after wrestiling your lastest creation into it.

7. You and your girlfriends stay up 'til 4 AM watching a riveting romantic drama while eating cheese, crackers, apples, peanut butter, strawberries, chocolate fondue, and fresh brownies. What? Thought girls were obsessed with watching their weight? None of us had eaten dinner, and we had just danced for 2 1/2 hours. No that wasn't in the kitchen.

8. When we think get-togethers, we think tea parties. With fancy food. Oh, don't worry. We'll take a stroll around the lake to attempt to burn off the calories.

9. You have how many pairs of dancing shoes?! I guess Mr. Fluffy Face is a swell dancer, or you listen to too much Michael Buble'.

10. See those binders on the shelf? Those are wedding ideas volumes 1, 2, and 3.

Disclaimer - Am I victim to these symptoms of single-ness? Well... let's just say I'm not confessing to all of the above.

Disclaimer II - And the romantic novels? Especially the modern ones? Put that away, girl. It's chewing gum for the brain and worse than artificial sweeteners for you. Go take a walk. Better yet, listen to Michael Buble' while you're at it.

Disclaimer III - All the references to Michael Buble'? I just empties the local library's collection of his CDs. Yes, I've already listened to them all. I don't have an iPod. I didn't steal the music. I'm no pirate.

{Captivating}

With everything going on around here, I haven't a whole lot of time to blog... or keep my promise to give you a better glimpse of my latest Regency dress.

v detailing of the embroidery on the sleeve

But how boring would normal 'here's the dress' pictures? So a friend and I got together, grabbed her brother with the really nice camera, and headed outside to take some pictures. :)

Umm... yeah. This can either be 'da smirk' or 'you can't be serious' or an Emma Woodhouse expression.

Yep. This is us and our personalities shining through.


Shiny! Feather! Flower!
Then we quickly changed into our more summery dresses and headed back outside. I couldn't help but drag her along for some time on the trampoline. :)

Loo-pin[e]

There is beauty everywhere you look. You just have to go take a quick walk down the trail around the North Christmas tree field. Can you guess what's a-bloomin' this time of the year?

Oh the things you can't see in December when you're hunting for your tree.

Right on Cue

Right on Cue

All of it has led up to this moment-

All the late nights,

All the practicing,

All the secrecy.

It has all led up to this moment-

Walking out onto the dance floor.

There's the signal; honor your partner

The music begins

Nervous butterflies have multiplied exponentially -

So many people are watching...

Musn't miss a step, musn't miss a cue.

Centered in the ballroom under the chandelier,

We continue on despite distrations.

All of this work, fine-tuning, perfecting -

I can't blow it all to the wind now -

I must continue on.

Be sure to breathe,

Be sure to not be sturn or serious;

Graceful should be my movements.

I am dancing - this is what I love to do -

I just haven't danced in an environment quite like this before.

I must continue on; it will be over in an instant.

I can't back out now; I must finish the dance.

All right on cue...

-SG 5/21/11

Secrets

So, now that I have been released from my oath to silence and have some time to fill you in on some very important details from our "Epic May Ball Prank"... I guess it's time to blog it and share it with the whole world.

To get some sense of what we did... See this movie.

http://video.ak.fbcdn.net/cfs-ak-ash4/232011/144/10150196965145270_29332.mp4?oh=7bb16988e43369c3291615fe39db25aa&oe=4DDD9E00&__gda__=1306369536_19617138cbd5f2c170daab48d76adbfa

To explain what the heck is going on...

Last September, we went on a camping trip - in the pouring rain. As harmless as it seemed, I think Sonia seriously wounded Nathan's pride by sticking rubber duckies in front of him while blaring the rubber duckie song (you do remember the rubber duckie song, right?). He took his time to retaliate.

The master plan consisted of a secret dance society and the main demo dance group (two people had no clue what was about to happen to them). We met secretly while working on the dance to help Nathan know the dance. He was going to switch in the middle with Daniel and dance with Sonia. (Side note: Nathan made it quite clear to everyone that he would never dance.)

So we practiced in secret while also trying to appear clueless when we practiced with the main demo group. Quite interesting I must say. And there were several times that someone also spilled the beans. No one caught on though.

The night of the ball arrived. The demo team was ready. The switch had been practiced to perfection and was executed perfectly. The faces of the two people who had been left in the dark were absolutely priceless. Actually, I think that their jaws hit the floor for a moment. Meanwhile the rest of us had to try to keep the dance together even though we were all about to burst into laughter (keep in mind, we were still 'performing').

All in all, it was taken quite well. Humorously in fact. We shall see what becomes of the prank war.

Whew!

Well... sorry that I haven't posted in quite a long time! o_O I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I didn't get raptured, but I have been living it up quite a bit these past couple of weeks. To the point of exhaustion. Let's see... Last weekend, I taught the home ec class all afternoon, stayed up late partying at a graduation party turned game night, stayed awake during the sermon at church, attended a going away party, and then immediately turned around and crashed another party right across town (we sorta came uninvited to a b-day party to call some dances for the b-day girl). Yep, I can see how that weekend alone would whoop somebody to the ground.

But apparently, I'm a social butterfly. I didn't stop with one weekend. I had to go for two. This last weekend started Thursday night. We went to dance class and then took the party to DQ. Friday, we got up early, freaked out about cougar sightings, got turkeys situated at their new home, and headed off to Sauvie Island for a picnic lunch on the beach - only the river was so high there wasn't much beach. We then went to a friend's to watch "Father Goose," eat chocolate fudge icecream and chocolate dipped strawberries. On Saturday, I opted out of going to the beach, because my goodness, things do have to get done around the house and farm. Late that afternoon, we got ready for the ball, ate pizza dinner as daintily as possible to not get our dresses smudged with tomato sauce, then headed off to the Count of Monte Cristo Ball. Cue pictures:

The count himself came to the ball! :D

Dancing, dancing!

Ooh! Pretty dresses!

Some lovely ladies. I'll do a seperate post detailing my dress. :)

Okay, story time. Prank wars tend to get intricately elaborate. This last prank involved almost a dozen people. Most of whom were sworn to secrecy. The below picture is the group after the prank. I guess I'll have to do another post detailing this as well. :)

After the ball, we headed to Sheri's to keep the pary going. Got home at exactly 12:05.

The next morning I managed to stay awake during the sermon - again. :) I was quite proud of myself. But the weekend was far from over. Sunday afternoon, the group headed to the near by mall to do a photo scavenger hunt. Here are some of the pictures from the team I was on.

Men in Apple store = waiting...

Can you guess which movie this is from? v

We can fit way more than two people in this thing. >:D

Hollywood star = being famous = signing autographs. Nice glasses by the way.

Our uncreative, but cute, human pyramid.

Camping! In the store!

When I was a little kid, I liked to play in the clothes racks. I finally emerged after getting lost in the men's clothing department.

Group Shot! :D

So now... I think I'll enjoy a quite week at home. As far as I know, the calender is empty for next weekend. Let's see how fast it can fill up.

Climbing towers

I probably wouldn't do a movie review on a normal day, but in all honesty... I can't help it! I saw Disney's new princess movie, Tangled, at a friend's house last week and absolutely loved it. I purchased it that night and waited patiently (as patiently as I could be anyway) for the package to arrive. It was well worth the wait. I think I watched it 4 or 5 times that week... ;) So here are some pictures to either wet your appetite to see it or to take you back to that wonderful fairy tale world. :) :singing: Flower, gleam and glow/Let your power shine/Make the clock reverse/Bring back what was mine/Heal what has been hurt/Change the Fate's design/Save what has been lost/Bring back what once was mine/What once was mine... :/singing:

Maximus is probably the most amazing horse EVER!

But Rapunzel's pet chameleon, Pascal, is so much better. :)

Something about this movie... something about how it struck such a chord... I had stopped 'believing' in the magic of Disney because of some of the latest films that they have come out with, the message that they were giving, how I felt after watching them (did I really just waste that much of my life!?) and how they really catered to the romantic worldview in us and had poorly developed plots, characters and morals. :-S

Critics have ranted against this film. I don't know why. Perhaps they are just doing what they're supposed to do - be critics. Well, Pshaw with their reviews!

When the movie finished I didn't want it to end. I wanted it to keep going. The evening after watching the film, I just felt so wonderfully happy and elated. The music just sweeps you off your feet, the plot is wonderfully crafted (it makes so much more sense than the original fairy tale!), the fairy tale world that the artists created is simply stunning, and you're left feeling like this is what Disney is supposed to be. This is, without a doubt, my favorite princess film - ever.

quote of the day

"I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world."

- Thomas A. Edison

And yes, this is my very good friend wearing her overalls. :)

Above Rubies

All these came from a Bible study that I'm helping to lead. We went through Proverbs 31 verse by verse and came up with character traits of a Proverbs 31 woman. Then we each wrote a letter to a woman who we thought exemplified a Proverbs 31 woman.

A Proverbs 31 women is:

~Concerned for others ~effective worker ~physically healthy ~helps her husband to succeed ~cares for her home and family ~plans ahead ~capable ~productive ~good steward ~good judgement ~wise with money and business ~strong character ~not lazy ~dignity ~brings prosperity ~diligent ~industrious ~skilled ~craft-y ~good cook ~provides for her family ~excellent ~charitable ~discreet ~honored ~precious ~noble ~hard to find ~from the Lord ~trustworthy ~focused ~purposeful ~compassionate ~prepared ~nurturing ~encouraging ~kind ~watches her tongue ~chaste~

~She is these things because~

~She Fears the Lord~

An Excuse

I've been 'cramming' for the driver's test which I will hopefully do this week. :gasp: I haven't been driving a whole lot, so I've been driving about every day for the last couple of days. With the way gas prices have been and where they are going, we have to have an excuse and destination when driving. Today we decided to go to Joann's. ^_^ The next ball theme is 'Count of Monte Cristo' so it's a little bit darker of a theme. Bwahaha! But there was a little problem - both of the regency dresses that I have are lighter, more summer-y. Uh-oh. So we found the excuse that we were looking for. I new exactly what I wanted. Something black and burgundy with maybe a damask print. If the dress was all black, it would look like a mourning dress. And I can't exactly pull off a red dress (the image that it gives isn't what I want to exude). I found exactly what I wanted. People sound surprised when I say that I found what I wanted at Joann's. Honestly though - you just can't be dead set on what you want. Then you'll be pleasantly surprised when things actually work out. :) This is the fabric that I found: And I have way too many jewelry choices. This is a very good thing. :)