Friday, July 29, 2005

Time for another pointless entry!

Denise went to a drama/art camp this week during the day so the house has been nice and peaceful. I worked mostly evenings this week so I enjoyed having the house to myself - I almost forgot what it was like. I went out for a drink after work with three of my male shift supervisors the other night. One of their girlfriends was there too so I wasn't the only girl. It was fun. It is so weird having a job I don't mind and having fun with the people I work with. I'm not used to it! Ashland was just so horrible last summer....never again, never again. It will be kind of sad to leave the Starbucks crew in a month. I am not sure if I am really supposed to get another job while in Louisville, but I must say I have been getting used to drinking two or three drinks for free per shift and I might go through withdrawal. I definitely won't be able to afford them if I am not working there! So I might just have to remain a Starbucks employee. It wouldn't hurt to have a little extra money.

In other news, Ben Grieser is most likely not going to Louisville. I text messaged him today and he said he probably isn't going, but I didn't actually talk to him. So it looks like I won't know anyone there. I'll make new friends!

I almost finished my Europe scrapbook tonight! I have been working on it on and off for two months now. I am just not in the scrapbooking mood I guess. I have less than 20 pictures left (and I had a lot of pictures!!) I could have finished it tonight, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Can anyone who scrapbooks relate? Sometimes I really enjoy it, and sometimes it feels like a chore.

I was sad to learn that Abby is no longer having a party this Sunday, but I understand that it just isn't going to work out. I hope to see you all in the near future though!

Finally, I was looking at my last entry about how Denise and I were going to play a duet in church the next morning. It went well, but church was rather interesting that day due to a mentally insane woman sitting next to me (literally, not being mean). She talked to me the whole service and nothing that she said made much sense. Just random thoughts and some pretty crazy stories that made sense in her mind I guess. She seemed completely unaware that Denise and I practically crawled over her to get out of the pew, play our duet, and crawled back over her to return to our seats. She was writing furiously in the guest register instead.

Ok I'm going to bed.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

I'm a dork

I just got home from work and I thought I would post to announce I finished the Harry Potter book last night and it was so sad!! I was nervous about the ending, I actually was feeling sick to my stomach. And then it happened..and I bawled, seriously. Imagine me sitting in my room at 2 in the morning crying my eyes out over Harry Potter. Who knew I was such a dork?? Then I couldn't fall asleep because I kept thinking about what happened!!! I don't think anyone who looks at my blog reads Harry Potter (except Denise, and you need to finish it so we can discuss it!) I think you all should read them, all six books. Go out and get them, right now. They are amazing books. If they weren't, I would not be so emotionally involved. I can't remember the last time I cried over a book. I'm such a loser!! Another reason I am a dork...two of my friends asked me to do something after work tonight but instead I am at home updating my blog! I have to get up early tomorrow for church (Denise and I are playing a duet for special music) and then I go straight to work with Will, which does take some energy. So it probably is a smart decision to get some sleep instead of going out. Oh, one more thing. I discovered at work tonight that two shots of espresso gets rid of a bad headache! (and makes you jumpy) I suppose I should try to sleep now.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

One Year Ago...

I realized when I woke up this morning that when I woke up one year ago my mom told me that my grandpa passed away in the middle of the night. In some ways it seems like it was so long ago, and in some ways like it was just yesterday. Does that make sense at all? So I started thinking how much has happened this past year and how things and relationships have changed. It was a pretty eventful year. Weddings, Europe, numerous road trips, my last two semesters, graduation, deciding what to do with my life, new jobs etc. Anyways, enough with the reminiscing. I wonder how much will have happened one year from today.

I don't really have anything to update on. Didn't do much this week besides work, relax, and hang out with friends. I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory again last night because my mom wanted to see it. (I know, I'm such a dork). I closed tonight and I close tomorrow night as well, so it doesn't really seem like a weekend to me. What a fun way to spend my Friday and Saturday night! Mr. Hensley (my high school guidance counselor) came into Starbucks tonight. It was nice to see him, it's been a couple years. Kim and I used to skip orchestra every other day and go to his office. So that was my excitement of the night. Oh, I also randomly decided to tell the people I was working with that I am moving to Louisville in a month. I hadn't told any of them yet. I was on break looking at the calendar trying to figure out when to call off to visit Vicki in Toledo and decided to write "Maria's last day" on August 24th (I move the 27th). At first I was not going to say anything and see who noticed, but then I figured it would be nice to say something. So the cat's out of the bag..I'm moving in a month. I don't have to act like I have no idea what I'm doing with my life anymore.

So it's past midnight and Denise just got a phone call (one of her friends is spending the night). I don't think 11 year olds should be getting calls this late from boys.....

Ok I'm done. I only have three more chapters left of the 6th Harry Potter book, so I'm going to read now. I have a bad feeling about how it's going to end....

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Willy Wonka, Harry Potter, and Bluffton

First of all, I must say that I loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I am still a big fan of the original, but this one is good too. You can't really compare them. They are both good. So everyone should go see it. Abby, I think you'll find it is less vulgar than Wedding Crashers ;) And in other exciting pop culture news, I own the 6th Harry Potter book! Denise and I briefly attended a Harry Potter party at Barnes and Noble, but did not wait around to buy the book at midnight. Instead we had it shipped to my grandma's house in Bluffton on Saturday, where we were because of my family reunion. And although my mom was number 300 something on the reserve list at the library, we were able to pick up the book today. We now have two copies so Denise and I don't have to fight over it. I also started reading "The Gospel According to Harry Potter" which my mom got at the library as well. It is very interesting. I would say everyone should read it, but it probably won't make sense unless you've read the books.

As I mentioned earlier, my family reunion was in Bluffton this year. We usually have it at some park in the Wooster area, but since my grandma was in charge this year we had it in the Krieder Room (which was a little odd) It was so weird being back on campus. It still makes me sad to think I'll never be returning as a student. I think my family enjoyed the buffet-style banquet (although I must say I really have had enough Marbeck Food). We also enjoyed playing croquet and batchi ball on the lawn by Sauder. Esther and Wendell "crashed" my reunion (Esther's words!) Wendell is a cousin of one of my dad's cousins on the other side (if that made sense). I was excited to see Indira, who was working at Marbeck front desk. I wasn't expecting to see her again after she left for Spain in January. I also saw Colleen, Megan, and Angie who were working my family reunion. I visited Josh and Elena for a little bit (and I got my Beowulf video back!) We passed Sue and Gerald while we were driving to my grandma's house, but I couldn't exactly jump out of my van in front of their van to say hi. I also heard that Ruth is working on campus this summer at the career development center. I don't know if any of you knew that. But unfortunately I couldn't see her because she wasn't living on campus. So to sum it up, it was weird to be back in Bluffton. I will now add some pictures to liven up the post.

Chadd- I know you are reading this. Leave me a comment!


Harry Potter! Posted by Picasa


It's still there!!!! Posted by Picasa


Indira and I Posted by Picasa


My family going through the buffet line with Angie and Megan trying to get out of the picture Posted by Picasa


me, Jeff, and Lisa (my cousin and her husband) playing with our identical phones Posted by Picasa


My cousin showed me options on my camera phone I had not discovered yet. You can add borders to the pictures or change the color tones..this one is called "negative".  Posted by Picasa


Denise using the monochrome option Posted by Picasa

Friday, July 15, 2005

My very exciting and interesting week

Ok, I lied. My week really wasn't very exciting or interesting, but that does not stop me from posting or you from reading! Anyways, I did not work until Wednesday so I had five days off in a row which was a nice break. Since I worked all evenings except for today I was home with Denise almost all week. I took Denise and Carl bowling yesterday. I won! (pretend to be impressed) I also started working out again this week, I took around a month off. I did Tae-bo on Wednesday with Kim, one of the new DVDs (Kim acidentally ordered like 12 of them one late night from an infomercial) And Denise and I worked out to a Paula Abdul dance DVD yesterday (a different one, it was fun). I hope to keep it up, It is much easier to work out when I don't work mornings. After getting up early and working eight hours it is hard to find the motivation. I discovered another perk of working at Starbucks..free t-shirts. I now own a bright green t-shirt that says "the drink now matches the straw". I had to wear it on Wed when we started selling green tea stuff. I think it will be one of those fun t-shirts I never get rid of, like all my various beaver shirts.

This morning I went out to breakfast with my friend Kristen who I had not seen for a year. We used to dance together. It was nice to catch up. Then I worked at a different Starbucks in Upper Arlington. It was interesting. First I got to clock in as a "borrowed partner" which I found amusing for some reason. And they assumed I was a manager since I was covering a manager's shift, and I'm like..no I've only worked here a month. A manager did show up, but he was from a different store too. Then everyone else left and the two of us who had never worked at that store before remained. And it happened to be very busy. We were by ourselves for two hours with nonstop customers. I had to make like 30 drinks at once. And we kept running out of stuff and neither of us knew where to find anything, so that kept it interesting. My four hour shift went by very quickly. Then I had an appointment with the oral surgeon. I will be getting my wisdom teeth out Monday, August 8. Can't wait!

Tonight I am seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!! We have to wait and go to a late showing since Kim disn't get off work until 10ish. I have been excited about this movie for months, isn't that pathetic?? I hope it lives up to my expectations.

Monday, July 11, 2005


Abby, Rebekah, and I Posted by Picasa


Look I'm a bug! (that's for you Abby) Posted by Picasa


me and Reba Posted by Picasa


sculpture garden Posted by Picasa


Our nap in D.C> Posted by Picasa

Road Trip

Abby and I left Friday afternoon to visit Rebekah in Pennsylvania. It was a fun trip and we did not run into any traffic! Saturday we spent the day in D.C. I had not been there since 8th grade (well unless you count the protest in January, but I did not really see the city..) It felt like the three of us were back in Europe, complete with lots of walking, subway stations and art museums. The biggest difference was it was very hot instead of very cold, and everyone spoke English of course. I would say the highlight of the day was our spontaneous half an hour nap on the lawn near the Capitol Building. We were tired and everyone else was doing it! Rebekah already listed everything we saw, so there is no need for me to repeat it. Sunday we went to church and had a delicious meal with Rebekah's family. Then it was a sad goodbye, but we had lots of fun.

I went to the dentist this morning and was told, not to my surprise, that I need to get my wisdom teeth removed. One is starting to come in and it hurts. My dentist actually said that I should have gotten it done five years ago when he first mentioned it..oops...so I guess I will be getting that done soon. It makes me mad that I have to call off work for something not fun like that. I would rather be making money. Oh well. I will pretend it is a vacation. Next I will post some pictures from our trip.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Fireworks and Louisville

I heard today that Lousiville has the best fireworks in the whole country from one of my customers at Starbucks. She heard it on the news or something. I guess everyone will just have to come visit me next 4th of July!! What is weird is that three customers mentioned Louisville today. One guy told me he was traveling there this weekend and started making fun of Kentucky, one lady told me she just moved here from Louisville, and then there was the fireworks lady. And none of them know I am moving there at the end of August. Everytime someone mentioned Louisville I wanted to talk to them about it (especially the lady that used to live there) but I declined since the store manager was always nearby and he has no idea I am leaving. If customers keep bringing up Louisville I am just going to have to tell someone I will be living there in less than two months!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. One unfortunate thing about working at a place like Starbucks is that I did not get a nice three day weekend. I worked Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Monday morning, but at least I still got to see some fireworks and got paid time and a half on the 4th. I went to the Hilliard fireworks last night and it was like a mini high school reunion. I saw a few people I have not seen since high school graduation, and they were all people I did not mind seeing, so it was fun. We all sat together.

If I am not working, sleeping, or hanging out with friends or family, I am doing one of three things: 1) watching the 3rd season of Buffy, 2) rereading the 5th Harry Potter book in preparation for the 6th one that comes out a week from Saturday (!), or 3) finally getting around to scrapbooking my Europe pictures (Abby Mo and Reba...I am only on Versailles...) Anyways, that is my exciting life. However I have one less thing to do since I just watched the last episode of Buffy. Reba and Abby Mo might find it interesting that one of the characters was reading Jack Keroac's (sp?) "On The Road". Now I want to buy the 4th season. I will just have to restrain myself. However I did get $51 in tips today...hmmm.....(oh yeah, I get tips once a week, I did not think they would be that much! )

Friday, July 01, 2005

Hmmmm....

I just got home from a fun Friday night of working at Starbucks. I just read Abby's update about how she has nothing to talk about..and I really don't either, but I will ramble on anyways as always. So, what have I done since my last entry...um...I worked...and I worked...work is going well by the way. I can actually make all the drinks now and understand customers when they order complicated stuff. My schedule is varied..this week I had a few mornings, a couple afternoons, and a night shift. I decided I like not having a set schedule. It is nice to be done with work around 2 or 3, but is also nice to sleep in. And I get to do both. Tomorrow (or technically today) I am working with Will and at Starbucks, so my weekend is not too exciting. I plan to do something fun on Sunday though.

Other than work....hmmm...I saw War of the Worlds opening night. Good movie! You should see it, unless your name is Rebekah or Laura. I was actually creeped out when I left the theatre, which doesn't usually happen. But I enjoyed the movie. I took Denise and a couple of her friends putt-putt golfing the other day. Kim joined us (which was very helpful for my sanity). It was sooooooo hot outside. But other than that it was fun. So yeah I really got nothing else. I am going to bed so I can get eight hours of sleep!

Oh yeah..the road trip is planned. Abby Mo, Laura, and I are leaving next Friday to visit Reba in PA. I am excited! I am so glad you can come Laura! (And I wish Abby S could come too...) How about Chris?