Holiday Spirit

This week I've been having a bit of a Halloween fest.  I decided, somewhat last minute, what I was going to be for Halloween.  For those of you who don't know, when I dress up I go all out.  I will post pictures when I get all decked out for it.  Plus, I've been telling people it's a surprise!

I arrived home after school this week to find a box labeled "live plant" on my porch.  Turns out my mom had mailed me a "Halloween Plant."  That actually meant I got a normal plant, but it came in a cute little jack-o-lantern pot.  Yay!

Friday my friend Mark and I went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch.  I had been dying to go since it seems everyone in Nebraska goes there during October, and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  Turns out Vala's is basically a mini-Halloween theme park.  We ended up finding some friends at a bonfire, wandering through a corn maze, and taking a little hayrack ride out to the pumpkin patch.  We didn't end up picking a pumpkin, because I had already bought one.  At that point we decided it was getting a little nippy, and we retreated to the car...

On the hayrack ride.  Mark was cold, if you can't tell!

I found this awesome pumpkin tree, and for some reason there were these random life-sized tick-tack-toe games in front of it.  Yes, I am holding a toilet seat.  Apparently they were the "O" game pieces.  I thought that was hilarious!

Saturday we carved said pumpkin.  I also realized there is a reason I became a dentist... and why some other people are not dentists.  Haha.  I am way too detail oriented, even when carving a stupid pumpkin!  We showcased our creation on my porch.  Hopefully the neighbor kids will wait until after Halloween to throw it in the street...

That one neighbor

I have become that neighbor on the street who always has holiday crap all over their house!

I feel like the caution tape has taken it to the next level...

Happy Halloween!

Phantom Orchestra

It's October, and since I love Halloween so very much, get ready for a bunch of Halloween-related posts!  For today's post, I would like to share a little video my mom sent me.  She plays the cello in the Orchestra of Southern Utah, and this is them playing Phantom of the Opera.  However, this must come with a little explanation.  Last year I actually attempted to put together a collection of Halloween music.  I was trying to prove a point for all those who like to pull out their Christmas music way too early and just skip over Halloween entirely.  I determined that Halloween also deserved its own soundtrack.  However, it was surprisingly challenging to find enough Halloween music to populate a CD that wasn't sound effects.  Anyway, Phantom of the Opera was one I deemed acceptable.



Back when I was in orchestra in High School, we used to play this for our annual Halloween concert.  I was a first violin, and it was actually pretty challenging, but ridiculously fun to play!  Anyway, I'm very proud of my mom.  She is sitting first chair in the orchestra (the cellos closest to the director) and she's 1st chair (the cello on the inside).  Love ya mom!

Fall Break!

This last week the dental school was gracious enough to give us a couple of days off.  However, they only gave us three days, and our break was the week before everyone else.  That meant I couldn't plan anything fun with my non-dental friends, and instead was left mostly to my own devices for entertainment!  Don't worry, I had a good time.  I managed to do all kinds of constructive activities like rearrange my living room furniture, and relocate my giant 8' x 8' surfer poster (which apparently made my living room look like a "surf shop").  Haha.  I also did some other home improvements.  However, the most exciting thing I got to do was go shopping!  Seriously, I very rarely go shopping, and even then I know that I have a very limited attention span.  However, I love shoe shopping!  Don't worry, I found myself a totally awesome pair of new shoes.  It probably bordered on an impulse purchase - okay, it was - but I haven't bought new shoes in a while.  Yay!

Me in the store attempting to convince myself
that I did, in fact, need these shoes!

Yes, these are my fabulous new boots!  Funny thing is I didn't realize just how tall they made me.  My over-6-foot friends who normally tower over me were nearly eye level.  Woah!  I kinda liked it...

Also, this is what happens when you hang out with a household of boys who like to show off their manliness by picking each other up.  It was a total crap show with me screaming "no," Ben yelling "yes," and Mark yelling that he needed a picture.  Really, why did none of the neighbors call the cops?

Muffled sounds

So I'm sitting in my room studying last night, and all of a sudden I hear a rather familiar tune come from my neighbors who share my back wall.  It was so funny, because I totally recognized the song, even though it was a little muffled.  It was that new Maroon 5 song.  It made me laugh, because it's one I've been listening to a lot lately.  It also made me wonder what my neighbor may hear on her side of the wall...  I'll be honest, I make some interesting noises, mostly because I think that no one can hear me!  (Singing, laughing, screaming, you get the picture!)  Anyways, I've brought back the playlist, just so you guys can experience the musical fun I have at my place!

Sleep easy

This week has been rough.  Mostly because we've had a bunch of exams, and I've actually had to study!  I was getting too complacent with our awesome schedule as Seniors...  Whatever.  By the end of the day I am usually exhausted, and unfortunately this has led to me falling asleep in the most random locations.  It's both good and bad that I don't live with anyone.  It's good because no one cares if I fall asleep in the living room with lights still on, but then again, no one turns the lights off or wakes me up when that happens!  Instead I wake up around 3 am, totally disoriented, and then wander drunkenly into bed.  Hmm, let's see if I can actually make it to bed on the first try tonight!

Spider Wars

Those of you who know me probably know that I do not get along with spiders.  Unfortunately this year I haven't got along with Omaha, since there have been giant spiderwebs and giant spiders all over the place!  Seriously, I saw a spiderweb stretch from a 6 foot branch down to the ground...  One night I was over at my friend Qi Qi's, and I nearly ran face-first into a giant spider that had built it's home right in the middle of the walk-way going to her front porch.  I told her I would not be visiting until that situation was taken care of!

Anyways, I've been battling the spiders who keep trying to take up residence on my porch.  There was a big web right above my porch light, and I kept knocking it down with a stick.  Unfortunately I never could find the spider, so it kept rebuilding it's web during the night.  Finally I caught it one night and me, being the chicken I am, sprayed it with killer instead of squishing it!  However, it freaked out, and started swinging around on it's spider thread.  I freaked out and I ran away actually afraid to go into my house since it was right over my front door!  I actually went over to my friend's house for a couple of hours...  The next morning I found it curled up and dead on my mail box.  Seriously, it was the size of a quarter!

Tonight I had yet another encounter with an eight-legged friend.  It was chillin' out in my basement, and luckily I had a guy at my house who was kind enough to kill it for me!  (It wasn't quite as big, but it was black and scary looking!)

So to say that I don't get along with spiders is quite the understatement.  They just plain freak me out!