Come on Down!!!

So, every time that my family goes to Disneyland we go to The Horseshoe Review. For those of you who have never been, it's a show put on by four men who all play string intruments and they are hilarious. They are all extremely talented and they put on a great performance. It's held in an old saloon and they pretend to be hillbillies, all while playing their different instruments. Anyway, it's great. Next time you're in Disneyland, be sure to check it out! Okay, so they used to do this thing where they call somebody from the audience up onto the stage. Two years ago I went to Disneyland with my parents, younger sister and best friend Erica. We went to one of the showings and the place was packed out, so we grabbed a table in the back. As we were waiting for the show to start, my dad leaned over and told me how he's gotten called up on stage twice. He was telling me how he's sat in different places just so that he wouldn't get picked and he always gets picked anyway. He also assured me that they don't do this anymore. Liar. The show starts and we are all laughing and having a good time. And then the lead guy heads into the audience to pick "a pretty gal who has been eyeing us the whole time." I took this opportunity to look very interested in my shoes. It didn't work. He definitely picked me, which meant that I had to go up on stage and play a small violin with them. I really don't like being up in front, especially when I have no time to mentally prepare! I was really horrible and embarassed, they were really nice. So, needless to say, we had a good laugh! A couple of months ago I went to Disneyland with my parents and sister and brother-in-law. We went to the show and purposefully sat in the very front so that we wouldn't get picked. Not so much! They made fun of us and Oregon the whole time and then when it was time to call somebody up front, they didn't even peruse the audience. They picked my sister! It was hilarious!! So, I wanted to share a couple of pictures of us. Arlene Shnitzer and the Oregon Symphony, here we come!
Ps. I couldn't find the picture of myself, but it's almost exactly the same. The same guy is even in it!! Too funny...

Mi Familia

I love my family. It makes me sad that there are so many people out there who hate their families, who only think of anger and bitterness when they think of those who share their blood. The older I get, the more I realize how lucky I am. I like to say that we're abnormally normal. :) I love that we actually like hanging out. I love that I talk to my mom every day because I want to. I love that we can watch home videos and laugh until we (literally) pee our pants. I love that we can do boring things and make them fun. I love our conversations that we have. I love playing Catch Phrase...especially with my mom who unknowingly turns into a racist when we play (I don't blame her for being ignorant to what Napster really is). I think what I love the most is that they are people who make me feel safe. No matter what kind of a day I had or what I'm going through I can come to them and feel okay. I always feel special and beautiful and loved when I'm with them. I also love that we can be complete dorks together--which does happen a lot. Sometimes I wish that I were a fly on the wall so that I could see us from the outside. :) So here are a few pictures...Love you guys!!

L-R: Curtis and I at Multnomah Falls, with Jane and Jenny, my mom reinacting the most disturbing face possible while Jane and I laugh so hard I almost couldn't breathe, Dan and Angela on their wedding day (I don't have any bad ones of them, so they get a good one), Ty...Wow, Jen and I doing what we do best, Jane and I at the Cheesecake Factory in San Fransisco, Jenny and I (yes, that's a parking garage), mom and dad asleep in NOTRE DAME...seriously??, Jen and I making funny faces with Jake (starting him off young), with mom and dad at Versailles, Jane and I (and then they repeat because I couldn't figure out how to not do that...)!!

Claudia Rose

So, I get to spend my days with the most adorable baby. I figure that at the rate I'm going, who knows if I'll ever have any of my own, so God has decided to bless me with the chance to take care of Claudia instead. (Or something like that...!) I work between 45-50 hours a week and we have a lot of fun together. I'll admit, I turn into a huge dork when I'm with her. I'll do just about anything to keep her happy--even if that means singing "The Wheels on the Bus" as loud as I can with obnoxiously large hand motions, or stomping around the kitchen pretending to be a dinosaur. I'm pretty sure that if any of my friends saw me, we wouldn't be friends anymore... Hey, if you spent the majority of your time with a five month old who didn't talk back, you'd go a little looney too! It is fun though because a couple of my good friends have babies and so we are able to do playdates. It's great to have adult conversation! So anyway, I wanted to share a couple of pictures of Claudia (or Monkey or Peanut Butter as I affectionately call her!).

More random facts

So I don't lead an interesting life. It's been hard for me to come to grips with, but it's true. It's been almost a month since I last posted. It's sad to me that I've had nothing interesting to post since then...I give myself a Bemily award for being lame. At least I get an award for it!! So, for your own enjoyment, I've decided to post some more random facts about myself. This is only because I've realized that I have quite a bit of crazy in me. For those of you who think that I'm perfect, stop reading because you'll find out it's not true!! :)

1.) Whenever I drink my arms tingle. I'm not really sure why...It happens right around my elbows and it's very strange.

2.) I'm double-jointed in my fingers and I can turn my wrist all the way around (we're talking 360 degrees here people). My best friend Erica sometimes comes up behind me, sniffs the air and says, "Does it smell like cabbage to you...?" For those of you who don't get that, she's calling me a Carni, aka Circus Freak. Nice.

3.) I'm obsessed with plucking my eyebrows. Like I do it almost every day. Well, they are my favorite part of my body. It's hard to have perfect eyebrows, but somebody's got to do it.

4.) I have discovered that I have an obsessive personality (thanks Christoph!), but not a compulsive one. Man is this true!! When I get stuck on something I totally go crazy with it. Newest obsession: The Office. Seriously people, jump on board here!!

5.) There is not a lot of food that I really hate, but there is a lot of food that I won't eat. I don't like normal things like tomatoes and mushrooms (wouldn't eat either if you paid me), eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, tomato sauce, lots of different breads, ham, swiss cheese, ect. But I do like random food like Brussle sprouts, asparagas, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and feta cheese. Weird.

6.) I totally have social anxiety. When I think about going somewhere where I don't really know people or there is a lot of people in a small space I totally freak out. I actually get nauseous and break out into hives on my chest. I just really don't like meeting new people. I get freaked out having to do the whole small talk thing. I'd rather just stick with the people I already know, although I have been meeting new people lately because of Young Life and they're all fabulous.

7.) Coffee does nothing to me except make me have to pee. And it makes me sick. But in regards to keeping me awake?? Not so much.

8.) I really don't like having attention on me. For some reason I always end up in front of people, but it really stresses me out. I get really self-conscious and stumble over my words and am a complete train-wreck. Not so fun!

I guess that's it. It may not be a story Chris, but at least it's a post!! Sorry that I don't have any stories about destructive one-legged semi-truck drivers...

And the "Bemily Award" goes to...

For those of you who are fans of "The Office" (and for those of you who aren't, what's the matter with you??), you know all about the "Dundee" awards. Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) is the manager of a paper company office and he thinks that he's the best boss in the world. In reality, he really sucks. He does likes to make things spicy around the office and therefore he came up with the Dundee awards. (The office that they work in is called Dunder Mifflin, hence Dundee.) Every year he makes up specific awards for people, such as "Hottest One in the Office" or "Spicy Curry" (to the girl from India) or the "Don't Go In There After Kevin" referring to the time he went into the bathroom after Kevin and it was really stinky. Hilarious! He makes a big night of it and all of the employees hate going because he is so ridiculous about it. So anyway, my roommate Emily and I give each other Dundee awards for doing stupid things. Sometimes we even give ourselves dundee awards, like the time my car door slammed on my face and bruised my cheek. I gave myself a Dundee award for being the most Special Ed. Because we do this so often, I've decided that Emily and I should have our own awards, so I came up with the "Bemily" awards (it sounded better than "Embecca"). I'm hereby giving Emily the first ever Bemily award for being the "Funny and Bitter Conspirator." Let me explain. I went to Disneyland this last friday for ONE day. I come home from being gone for ONE day and I notice something weird on my bathroom counter. I walk cautiously in and smell the sweet scent of strawberries. I looked closely at the counter and saw this blubbery, red rectangle. I looked closer and realized that she had put my razor in jello!!!!! (Reference: The Office, episode one, season one.) I died laughing and then texted her. Her response? "Yeah, you better think twice about going to Disneyland without me." She, who just went to Hawaii for a week and will soon be going to Baltimore and New York City, said this. Okay, so you get the first Bemily award, but beware. I'll get you my pretty!!

Well, C'mon, they are related to me! :)

Okay, so I know that I just posted, but I have to brag for a minute about how cute my nephews are!!! I know that pretty much everybody that reads this also reads my Sister-in-law and brother's blog and already read all about Jake and Ty, but they are just too cute for words. I wanted to post a couple of pictures of them because, well basically, because I can. :)



Jake being cute and making funny faces!

He's so dang sweet!!

Brothers!! I love that they're holding hands in both pictures. Just makes me melt...

Ps. All pictures provided by my cell phone! Gotta love modern technology! :)

In a Nutshell

I know, I know. It's been a month. I knew that I was going to suck at this!! Well, a lot has happened since I got "tagged" but, incidently, my camera won't let me download pictures onto the computer and I didn't want to post without pictures. I'll just have to roll with it and use a couple that I have. So, big things have happened with me. I slept with a boy. It's about time right? Don't worry, it was my dog Auggie that I bought! He is the CUTEST dog in the world. The only problem was that I got so stressed out by having to take care of him that I sold him 48 hours after I bought him. Only me. I cried like I was getting paid, but I know it was the best thing. I couldn't care for him the way he deserved to be cared for because of my job, so I sold him to a nice girl up in Vancouver, WA.
Auggie Stump (only for 48 hours though. Now he's Oscar. Really?! That's a horrible name. He does NOT look like an Oscar at all. So sad...)

The day after that I started a new job as a nanny. I work about fifty hours a week for a family in NE Portland and I LOVE it. Claudia is about 3 months old and she is so much fun. She's already rolling over on her own and loves to smile, laugh and go for walks. (I sound either like she's mine or I'm putting a personal ad in the paper!) Her parents are fabulous and I really feel blessed to have found them. I know that this is where I'm supposed to be right now.

Little Miss Claudia!

I also was able to hang out with six students that came over from Slovenia. We had SO much fun with them. I miss them a lot...We were able to show them all over Oregon and Washington and they also went down to California. And one of them wants to set me up with his cousin...Hm. Any advice on long-distance relationships?? (Totally kidding.) They loved it here and didn't want to go home. My favorite part was the second day they were here and we were driving downtown and the boys were riding with me. They were making fun of my car because it's "plastic." Zan (pronounced Jon) started going off about how everything here is plastic, "Everything here is plastic. The food, the cars, the girls..." I told him to wait until they went to California because the girls are REALLY plasitc there! It was funny. :)

The Slovenes! L-R: Urban, Anja, Tjasa, Nika, Zan and Matic (The one with the cousin :)

Other than that, I'm just chugging along. Keep your eyes peeled for an update in another month! And to those who stuck it out and read this whole thing, thanks for being a real friend!