Happy Birthday to Me

The big birthday celebration started on Friday at 331 with my aunt and uncle. Since it was happy hour, I tried a Love Potion Marini. It was a combo of pineapple juice, cranberry juice, and vodka. It was really yummy! And it went well with our appetizers of cheese curds and shoestring onions. I also got a free slice of chocolate cake, which was delicious. The celebration continued on Sat at TGIFridays for lunch and free dessert. My mom got the turkey club, while I ate the Jack Daniels chicken tenders. For my free dessert, I got the giant Oreo. It was really Oreo cookies with cookies and cream ice cream between, drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrups, topped with powdered sugar. It was so yummy!! And of course, we both had Junebugs. It just wouldn't be right if we went there on a Saturday and didn't have Junebugs. The celebration continued to Fazolis, where I met some friends for dinner. I tried the 3-cheese ravioli (only 400 calories!). It was pretty good. My free dessert this timearound was turtle cheesecake. I limited myself to 3 breadsticks, which were so yummy! Then everyone came over to the pub for board games and fun. We played a lego game, where everyone decided to gang up on me. Somehow I managed to come in 2nd place. We also played the tshirt game and apples-to-apples. It was a great night with awesome friends. Yesterday (Sun) was my actual birthday, and it didn't start out the greatest. My dad woke me up at 7:45am saying that I needed to drive him to the ER. 2 years ago, he had roator cuff surgery. He slipped on the ice on Saturday, hyper-extending his shoulder, so he was in a lot of pain this morning. Off to Urgent Care we went. In the 90 minutes we were there, my dad received 2 injectabl epain meds and had x-rays done. The shoulder iteself looked fine, which was good, but more won't be known until having an MRI done. So we had to get his prescription and headed out just in time to meet the rest of the family at Denny's for a late breakfast. I got a free Grand Slam since it was my birthday. Wheat pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit. I was so hungry, and it all tasted elicious! My mom, sister, and I went to play bingo for my birthday afterwards. None of us won, burt it was still a fun afternoon. Then we headed back to the house for presents before I joined A at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. She bouth my dinner of chicken tenders, and I got a free Twisted Margarita for my birthday. I also got a free slice of triple-layer chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I love birthday time! :)

Winter Fun

I went snowshoeing for the first time today with some friends. The ecology club at my school sponsored a snowshoeing trip at the nearby nature center, so it was completely free! Sadly, only 2 other people took advantage of the opportunity with me. We still had a lot of fun. We snowshoed throughout the trails in the park for a little over an hour. I could already feel it in my legs during the walk, so I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow! We also had pizza delivered, so there was free supper too. It was a lot of fun, even if it means being in a little bit of pain tomorrow.

Green Snow

It's been another busy weekend. Today was my friend's birthday, and we all went to the MN Swarm game last night to celebrate. It wasn't the greatest game. The team just wasn't with it. It was like they were half-asleep or hungover or something. We lost too, in case you didn't already guess that. But it was still fun. It's impossible not to have fun with my friends from Wisconsin. And next weekend they are coming down for my birthday :)

Today brought more snow, as if we actually needed more. There was 50-degree weather last week, and now we are back to tons of snow and ice. I had to lector at church this morning, and the roads never got plowed until after noon. Driving was not fun, even if I only had a little over a mile to go.

Valentines and Homeopathy

Happy Valentine's Day a day late! Yesterday was similar to Monday a week ago in the sense that my chem lab partner was still not in class. He's been missing now for a week and a half, so I'm kinda worried about him. My chem teacher even asked me in lab yesterday if I've heard from him at all, which I haven't. None of my classmates have heard from him either. I'm starting to think worst case scenario that something happened to him. I'll try sending him one more email and see if I get a response. On a different note, I at least got to work with better people in lab yesterday. I got to work with the 2 girls I was talking bout before, so we got everything done, including the lab report. It was fun too, but I still miss my previous lab partner. Hopefully he'll resurface soon. After class, I came home to make dinner for my parents. We had valentine pasta with alfredo sauce, pineapple meatballs, and garlic bread. My mom also made cherry cheesecake drinks, which tasted really yummy. Yay for heart day!

Tonight's speaker for my holistic health class talked about homeopathy. It was really interesting. She was a lot better than the chiropractor from last week. She was a lot more animated too and shared a lot of stories about previous clients. I am going to go look up one of the books she had at the library, or maybe I'll just go buy it from Barnes 'n Nobles. She also said that you can buy a remedy kit from a local store, so I might go check that out too. I just might become a homeopath, or at least practice the art of homeopathy for my own well being.

Success as a Captain

Today was Student Success Day, so there were no classes in session. C picked me up bright and early, and we headed off to school together. The first session that we attended was about healthy eating. It was somewhat a review of what I'm learning in my weight management class. It also discussed a new bending machine project underway. Public Health is working with my school to provide healthier options int he bending machines. There will be healthier snacks and beverages, which will be a nice change from the high-fat and high-sodium snacks there right now. The second session we went to was a keynote speaker that talked about personal safety. He showed a video about what to do during a shooting, which got me thinking. What if that happened to me? There are three options: get out, hide, or attack. I decided that I would b the attacker. I wouldn't be able to run away or hide and leave others to fend for themselves. I would rather be the one to take down the shooter and keep others safe, even if it meant dangering myself. After the sessions, it was time for lunch. This semester food was catered in from a local butcher shop. Lunch consisted of choice of hot dog, hamburger, or brat; choice of 2 sides from coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, or potato chips; choice of dessert from rice crispy bar, brownie, or chocolate chip cookie; and choice of beverage from pop or water. It wasn't as good as as last semester's "walking tacos," but it was still free so I can't complain too much.

Tonight started SociaICE downtown. I met 2 official Captain Morgan girls, and I got my picture taken with them! I even got an official Captain Morgan pirate hat just for taking a picture. :)

Best Weekend of the Year!

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a LONG time. Friday night, my mom and I met a couple of her co-workers for dinner. Then we headed over to the Rick Springfield concert. It was a lot of fun! We sat in the first row of the balcony, so no worries about tall people sitting in front of us. Rick Springfield did his traditional strumming of a guitar with roses, as well as on the drums. However, he had to do it to the bass player's guitar because he wasn't playing his own guitar. Rick has surgery on his shoulder last month, so no guitar playing for him, only singing. I'm convinced that he was pretty drugged too because he was acting very silly during the concert. Some women in front of the stage even took off their bras and threw them on stage at Rick! It was hilarious to watch!

Saturday brough another girls night with A, which we're trying to meet up for one at least every other week if not every week. Sadly, we were ditched this time by K, which really sucks because she's leaving soon for one of the most horrible places on earth. A and I were hoping to see her one last time before she leaves, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Oh well. A and I still had a blast. We went out for supper and drinks. Then we heading back to her apartment to watch Despicable Me. It was a funny and cute movie. A had also made brownies right before we met up, so we enjoyed a nice dessert of chocolate peanut butter brownies. Yum!

Sunday was superbowl, or for all the animal nerds out there like me, it also brought the puppy bowl on animal planet. I've watched the puppy bowl every year. The puppies are so cute, and the kitty half-time show and kiss cam are quite entertaining as well. As for the actual superbowl, I wasn't very impressed with this year's choice for entertainment. Who messes up the National Anthem?? And who would want to invite bigger-named artists to sing the half-time show with you?? Clearly the entertainment part of the game could have used some help, but the commercials were good. And it was still an awesome weekend!