The hunt

I went with my bff, HBO, to look for our new apartment. We do not currently live together and I am a little worried that it might ruin our friendship, but she says nay so I guess we are going to chance it and take the plunge. It sounds so easy, right?

Wrong. So wrong. We looked for apartments yesterday for close to 10 hours yesterday. We had a break in the middle, but we looked at SoOOoooooOOOOOOO many. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I am a person who likes to be in control. I like to know all of my options and do the whole educated decision thing. Well, HBO and I are the same person. Trying to find an apartment with someone who is the same person is harder than it may sound. Apparently, when you are the same person you can still have different ideas about what is most important. And there is not a single apartment that has everything you both want.

Moving is the worst, but apartment leasing agents are hilarious. One agent agreed with everything we said and was super excited about it. There were really serious, boring ones, some fun ones and then the one that I embarrassed because I commented on his light saber ringtone. If you put it on your phone you totally shouldn't be embarrassed when someone points it out, right? I think I liked him the best :)

I think we have it narrowed down to just a few and they don't open until one today which means I have to miss part of the Cowboys game to go to two apartments I have already seen before and don't really feel like seeing again, but know I have to. Oh well. I will be back to watch the second half.

Looking for apartments is boring.

Cold front

I came home tonight and really felt like going for a jog. On the way home things were fine, but once I pulled into my alley the dark clouds started rolling through and the wind was blowing really hard. I told my grandmother I really wanted to run, but she warned me of falling tree branches and was afraid I would get hurt. My initial reaction in my head was. 'Oh, wow. No, I don't want to do that. That sounds horrible.', but now that I sit here and think about it I am getting the feeling the odds of that happening are so slim so I did what any normal person would do... I googled it.

Google said Gramma was wrong. It just doesn't happen. Trees fall because of storms and people cutting them down. Trees have fallen on cars and houses during storms and such... There was an instance of a coconut tree falling on someone, but lucky for me there are no coconut trees here (or unlucky because coconut is delicious). I guess the wind was pretty bad so there is a chance it could have fallen. I don't have the best luck in the world so if it happened to anyone it probably would have happened to me.

I guess I will feel like anyone should feel in this situation... I feel like I narrowly escaped a brush with death.

Also, Happy Birthday to the lovely woman who just saved my life. I love you, Gramma.

Party

Sun Drop anyone?

My Halloween costume was pretty perfect... well, perfect for me at least. I am not one to show my 'goods', but I like to shake my booty so...

Sun Drop Girl

Here is a little taste. Do you see the resemblance?

Also, Sun Drop is disgusting. I can't believe I promoted such a nasty tasting drink, but in my defense I assumed the FDA wouldn't allow such a gnarly thing be consumed by the public. This just goes to show the real power of marketing.



Enter Sun Drop girl

I was Sun Dropping all over the place. I actually had to stop for a bit because I got too tired. You might notice the horse right next to me... That is just little B. He stayed in that costume for the majority of the night. Have you ever seen a horse drink from a wine glass? Well, I have. Little known fun fact: horses use straws when they drink from wine glasses :)




Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Oh there she is. She is with the SDG and a lovely vampiress (FH).





...and the Queen of Hearts AC2


And the 1%, NAL

We had this fantastic Halloween party this weekend. (We being little B, NAL, HBO, MH, AC and me) We converted the garage into a Halloween wonderland... when I came up with the idea I am pretty sure I used the words 'blood bath'. It turned out to be only a partial bloodbath with black plastic on the wall (very Dexter-esque) with flourescent spray paint words and smeary hand prints (REDRUM) EEK! We used black lights and spider webs on the ceiling and glow sticks hanging randomly. Inside the house there were bloody spiderwebs everywhere and a bunch of other Halloween stuff.

Here are a few pictures of us getting ready for the party the few days before. We found some stuff we hadn't seen in a while and had a little fun with it.








I didn't take a picture of a SINGLE thing :( Oh bother. I had so much fun and I was so exhausted from waking up early to run a 5K after staying up late the night before decorating and watching the Rangers lose. No excuses... I forgot to take pictures. So lame.



I did run the Trek or Treat 5K with my lady friends and it was a good time. I was slow and it was the worst time I have ever had before, but seeing all the costumes made it all the more fun. I did realize one thing though... I really want to wear a tutu.

i suck

I've just been beaten by my little, teeny, baby brother. Seriously?!?

So, little B thought it would be a good idea for me to come over every day so we could work out together. He is trying to keep in shape because he wants to join the Air Force and I want to get in shape because... well just because. So I used to be able to run pretty far... at least across the street before being winded, but I was super lame today. We ran less than a mile to a park in his neighborhood where we stopped to do push-ups and abs stuff.

The best part was when we were laying on the ground doing crunches and some kid kicked a ball and hit him in the face (karma is a b as in boy, little brother) :) Actually, the worst part is that he was going way easy on me. And I was still tired. When we were running home at one point I was like "B, I want to stop." and he turned around and got behind me and started pushing me... :( I totally redeemed myself though when we ran the rest of the way home Hip Hip HOORAY!

I would love to sit here and list excuses (such as him being a good 8 inches taller than me), but I won't. There is no excuse for the way I have slacked off. Now it is time to work it off... (karma is a b as in boy, sweet tera) (Awww... that's the nicest thing I have ever said to myself)

Meat

Since July I have had 3 different new bar-b-q experiences. That's right! I am a smoker! So far I have smoked beef brisket, pork shoulder, pork ribs and beer can chicken. My first experience was probably the most fun and the most action packed.

I drove over to my little brothers house before 7am!! On a Saturday!! I was there by 7 to start the beef brisket and then I went for a run before coming back so he and I could go to the store to get some more wood chips. (I would like to add that in a house where three boys live I was the first and only person to use the smoker!) (Wow I am really getting after those exclamation points)
Little B and I come back from the store and I cleaned their house because it is the most disgusting thing that could happen to houses. Then we go outside and sit out on the deck with the smoke. We also cleaned off the deck and removed extremely old beer from the cooler outside by shaking the cans and trying to shoot each other when we opened them and poured them out. (There wasn't a whole lot to do since it was just the two of us and we already smelled very strongly of meat smoke) It is probably about 10am at this time and already hot hot hot outside since we were in the middle of the triple digit extravaganza that was summer 2011. We looked longingly at the creek down below and wished for a pool (no one would ever get in that creek unless they wanted a staph infection).
So little B glances at the empty ice chest and gets out of his chair, walks over, fills it up with water and carries it over to his chair and sticks his feet in. Genius! Now we had our own little mini pool so we could still stay outside and watch the meat. Like this...



We sat out there until about noon before HBO showed up for the party and then others trickled in. They all laughed of course, but they didn't laugh for too long when they realized the geniusness of the idea after sweating for a few moments. I actually almost got HBO to bring her bathing suit when I told her we were hanging by the pool. hehe. So we decided getting a kiddie pool would be a good idea for the next time so we got one and it was.

The meat smoking experience was so fun and I would absolutely recommend it to a friend.

Runnin

So I recently decided that it would be a good idea to wake up at 4:30am (I usually wake up at 5:30am) and go for a lovely little jog. Maybe it would be a good idea to work out in the morning so I could have the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted to. 4:30am came around and I cursed my alarm clocks name (his name is B as in Boy (you're welcome, Mom))as I stumbled out of bed. My eyes were pretty much closed as I put on my clothes and brushed my teeth (no one should run with morning breath... it's just rude). I stepped outside with my little ipod and my phone and walked down the street to the corner where I usually start to run. I made it about halfway to the corner when a flying beast comes out of nowhere and flys within 2 inches from my face. I hit the deck which is to be expected when one sees a flying beast. Turns out my little friend was a wretched bat. I was on the ground because this flying rat came for me.

Seriously!?! I thought bats were supposed to be out at night... It was morning time. Granted it was early, but that little flying rat invaded the personal space I never knew I had. What is a bat doing flying around at 5'7" anyway?!? Shouldn't he be doing all of his bat things at tree level?

So I got up and dusted myself off and moved on and had a pretty good run (even though I am so out of shape I can barely breathe, but that's neither here nor there). I made it about two miles and realized there was a creeper in a station wagon going uber slow and passing me by on several streets.


I start getting scared. It is super dark at 5am and I can't say that I had the best judgment after my previous encounter. I was thinking to myself about which house looked the best to run and knock just in case I found myself in a situation. Ol' boy in the wagon was lurking around with some stuff in the back. I wasn't sure if he robbed someone or if he lived in there. I just didn't know. I made it to my street (by the skin of my teeth or so I thought). I got dressed and got in my car at 6:30am just like I usually do and saw the exact same station wagon on the next street as I made my way to the highway. Then I realized... He was delivering the Dallas Morning News AND I had seen him several times before on my way to work.
But really? A Station Wagon? I can hardly be blamed for thinking this way... This car is older than I am and I was armed with only a cell phone and sarcasm. There wouldn't have been much I could do if a situation actually occurred. Being the worrier I am I actually thought about creepers and lurkers before I left, but I decided they were already in their bed because they would never wake up this early, but I didn't think about them staying out that late... Just something to think about before I get the bright idea again. I would love to say I will never do it again, but I know I will convince myself it is a good idea sometime in the future.

Meet Tera

Oh my goodness... So It has been a minute and I feel like it is all brand new.

So I did something new on Monday... I turned one year older. I cried 5 times too. Turns out, birthdays are not the happiest day of the year. When you get old birthdays are for the birds. I did enjoy myself several times over the weekend however. My people and I went to watch a little MNF. I didn't really care for the game, but watching football is always a good idea.



Ol boy SD and I were ready to do some robbing, but we couldn't find a train.


Ms HBO and I had a little prom pic relapse


Lil B tried to eat the cake with his face




and apparently I go a little wild with the camera...

The best part of the evening had to be the part where I dropped my keys in my car and then the wind shut my car door... Leaving me stranded in the Razzoos parking lot several miles north of my house. I would just like to thank sweet friend who drove me all the way back to my house, walked in the mud with me and drove me all the way back to my car... You are the sweetest and the bestest.

Luckily, ol birthday turned out to be a win for me. I am hoping this year is pretty friggin sweet. It is starting out to be pretty great.

I hope for something really funny to happen. People just don't hope for that, but when it happens you know they are thankful.

Hot Yoga in Texas

My hot yoga experience in Chicago was pretty fantastic. I felt like I did pretty well and I have never been more sweaty...until yesterday. I guess the title gives it a way a bit, but I had my first hot yoga class at the Bikram yoga studio.

It was a great workout and the instructor was pretty fantastic. There is really no way to prepare anyone for the amount of sweat that comes out of your body however. I wanted to take an after picture when I was finished, but decided against it when I realized all you have to do is visualize someone jumping in a pool with their clothes on. It may sound gross...well that's because it is.

See if you can use your imagination and follow along. It is July 5th 2011 at 4:00pm in Dallas TX. Tera goes to yoga and sweats and sweats and sweats for an hour and a half. When yoga is over she collects her things and goes outside and it feels good... It was over 100 degrees yesterday!!! Seriously?!? It should never feel good outside unless you are sitting next to a body of water. The only body of water I was next to was the puddle I was creating.

I will absolutely be going back because I have 19 more sessions and I actually enjoyed the whole thing. I love a good challenge and I feel super challenged with this one.

B and T vs. The new Texas Giant

Six Flags over Texas just reopened the Texas Giant. I could have counted the number of times I rode the old Texas Giant on one hand. It was horrible. After riding the Giant you felt like you were beaten like a red headed step child and since I am one the cliche is kind of lost on me. There were way too many awesome rides to even waste time standing in line for the old Giant.
Exhibit A:
This is the old Texas Giant in all of it's wooden glory. Apparently there was some kind of a wooden roller coaster phase where it was pretty friggin sweet to build roller coasters entirely of wood.

Exhibit B:
The new coaster has steel tracks on the side that make it glide along the track rather than beat the person riding into a bloody mangled mess. Also, It has a 79 degree drop that boasts the steepest of any wooden coaster...even though it isn't all wood anymore, but it doesn't matter because the whole thing is terrifying and will keep you coming back for more.

One of the best parts of the NTG is the ride restrictions. Maybe I thought they were so great was because of the shock of them. I wish I would have taken a picture to share with others who have yet to experience them. The wording was the best part, but it basically said something about not being allowed to ride if you have physical size limitations. You are not allowed to ride if either of your legs have been amputated above the ankle. You also cannot ride if you do not have use of both of your arms. Oh if I knew the wording it would make it all better or maybe it was the delirium due to the heat.

Texas Giant = win

Camping

We went camping. There really isn't much to say. It was hot.

We had a good time actually...much better than I expected in some ways. We went swimming in the lake after we put up our tents because...it was hot. The water was freezing so it was a good balance. I would like to say one thing though... my pasty white skin did NOT get burned. We came back from the lake and JJ was there to join us for the evening. She mentioned to me how alligator gar were in Lake Texoma. I did not think about this whilst swimming earlier and I must admit it completely changed my thoughts about swimming the next time we went down... I may have freaked out just a smidge. Would you freak out with thought of THIS coming for you!?!

While I did worry about the gar I still had a good time in the water and tried my hardest not to think about it.
We did all the camping stuff like making food on the grill and smelling bad. It was all hunky dory until we went to sleep. The tent was SO hot. I slept in the tent with 5 people. I mean I tried to sleep in the tent with five people. At one point, NAL went to sleep on top of the picnic table with a raft and came back after what he thought was the dog in the next campsite being mauled by something. (don't worry because we saw the dog the next day and he was fine) Next NAL decided to get a grocery bag filled with ice and bring it into our tent. This was not OK with me because I have never heard a bag being crinkled more in my life. After a few crinkles too many and some whispers exchanged with HBO I had to speak up. So obviously I said. "If you are going to have ice then you need to be QUIET." FYI: camping makes you mean.
The next day we woke up... I think baby bro woke up at 6-something...yikes. I casually said "You know what would be neat? If we stayed here all day and did fun things and then left and didn't sleep here again." I heard celebration and sighs of relief from everyone. We stayed the whole day and did fun things and drove home.

I love a happy ending.

Camping

I have many thoughts about many things, but when it comes to camping I can't say I have too many. I don't really understand the basis of it's appeal. You sleep outside where it is hot and you smell and you get sunburned and you either have to deal with bugs or bugspray. I guess bugspray is the lesser of two evils, but you smell. NAL has been talking camp for about a year now and I think the gang and I are going on a camping adventure. I looked for the best places not too far away (HBO and I need an escape route just in case) and decided Eisenhower State Park was as good as any of them... We shall go do a little hiking and kayaking and roasting of marshmallows and have a good ol' time.

8 people, 2 tents, 2 nights... This could turn into a horror story

I am not as worried this as I was about 15 Crosby's 1 boat. Last year 15 of my lovely family members traveled to Lake Powell for a week of family fun and turns out I had the time of my life so I guess I should be more optimistic about this little trip.

I wore my new unsailor flap dress today except I tera-rized it into a fantastic shirt.



I had to cut out all that business in the front and I ended up with a huge triangle shaped wound. Since I don't like to show all of my business to everyone I thought the best thing to do was to turn it around (post flap). I added a bit of lace I got from the fabric store to make the back a little less plunging and I put some new elastic around the bottom since the old elastic was probably added before I was born. I may not be the best seamstress (definitely not as good as my Grandma), but I think she would have been happy with it.

un-sailor

I have been neglecting all of my wanting to learn to do everything. I have a fantastic before and I may or may not have the after prepared, but am too lazy to take a picture... and too sunburned. Being sunburned is something I don't want to learn to do.

I picked up this little number at a thrift store a few months ago for about $3 and I had some plans for it, but it seems like this had Murphy's law all over it. Every idea I had backfired something fierce. I totally rebooted and overcame though. The masterpiece shirt I created looks pretty much fantastic. Woot.

This is me looking all fly in my fantastic sailor flap dress. I really wish someone was there to take a picture of the back, but I can put up a little something something I found that will show the glamour of the sailor flap. And, yes, I am wearing a shirt underneath...I am also wearing pants.

The only thing this dress has in common with mine is the polka dots and the flap.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this dress was an old lady version of sailor moon. I can't say that I ever watched sailor moon, but my brother is a nerd so I have seen it before. Thank you, B. :)

Sailor Moon's dress is horrible. I feel like I could really Tera-rize that for her and revamp it up right nice. She also needs to cut her hair. I did that recently too. Sailor Moon, if you are reading this I can help you.

My after will be up and running tomorrow!!

I lost 12 inches!!

of hair.

So life is unavoidable and unpredictable and not controllable and the list goes on and on. Sometimes you just have to do something so you can have a little control up in that bad boy once again. Sometimes I am a little over the top when I do things and I really go all out. I decided that I was tired of my super duper long hair and I was going to make a change. My change was a little drastic.

Pony tail... I will never forget you and I hope you have a safe trip to locks of love.




I had over 12 inches of hair cut off and it has changed my outlook on life. I found myself feeling as though I am late for soccer practice. I don't even have any kids!!



I am hoping it grows pretty quickly because I don't have an extreme love for it right now. I know once it grows a few inches I will like it once more, but for now I need to figure out a good way to make it look fantastical.

Karen White

Anyone who knows me knows my extreme love for books. That is why I have been dubbed by one person as Ms. Kindle. My kindle is pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever owned (thank you, boyfriend). In the 2.5 years I have owned it I have read many, many books and plan to read more and more as I get the chance. I am always on the lookout for a good author and my mother has introduced me to one I Love love love. Her name is Karen White and she is pretty much fantastic. KAREN WHITE I started reading her books a few months ago and after today I think I have one left... It just came out on May 3rd and it is called Beach Trees. She writes books that have a lot of tragedy in them and also a lot of "What's going to happen next?" anticipation. It's actually kind of funny that I would like her considering my experience with the first book I read.

I don't like to be scared and I have a teensy bit of fear of the dark/unknown blah blah blah. Either way, I don't like to be scared and when my mother gave me these paperback books for Christmas I was a little bit hesitant to read them (and not just because that would mean I had to put down my kindle). She warned me that they were a little bit scary, but well worth it. So I started reading the first book The House On Tradd Street and it was at night and I had to make my way from the living room to the bedroom down a long/dark/scary hall. I stood by the light switch in the living room for a good five minutes before I decided to turn out the lights and run for it. I got to the door in the hall and scratched the crap out of my arm as I proceeded to run into it. (I'm pretty sure I didn't tell anyone this part of the story) So what do I do next? Well, I bleed... I bleed all the way to my room and to this day I have a little teeny tiny scar on my arm. So the obvious thing to do here would be to either STOP reading the book or read it during the day, right? Oh no... That's just not Tera-style. Instead I find myself in a similar predicament a few days later. I am pretty sure I was reading the second book The Girl on Legare Street which scared me just as much. For whatever reason I thought it would be a good idea to read at night...again... in the living room...again. This time I went to turn the lights off in the living room and absolutely convinced myself that it wasn't necessary. Since I am the only person there the only person it could possibly bother is me and I love lights. LOVE them (or so I told myself)

The moral of the story is... Move on to the other books because none of the other ones are the slightest bit scary and Karen White has a good sense of humor so you might even laugh out loud a time or two.

I've got spirit yes I do...

I went to Chicago this weekend... I know how shocked we all are about this. A lot of good things happened while I was there so I will highlight a few... (and I can because I have a CAMERA that WORKS!)





This is me and boyfriend chillin at the Cubs game

I also made a new shirt. It is pretty friggin fantastic if I do say so myself. I would say I am not one to toot my own horn, but apparently I very much am because I turned this lovely little frock...

And I created something I would actually wear and I know this to be true because I did wear it!


While I was very proud of my little creation and felt like I had really conquered something great unfortunately it paled in comparison to this guy and his fantastic team spirit.
I just don't feel that I could wear latex in the sun. To each his own

Happy B's birthday to myself

Oh my goodness gracious!! How could I ever have forgotten?!?! That's right, baby! I got my new awesome camera on my brother's birthday and I even had a chance to use it and the pictures are on the post below. YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS! It is more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Now I just need to learn how to use it well. It's a good thing I have a plane ride tomorrow. When I get tired of my kindle then I will learn my camera. (oh me oh my... when would I ever get tired of my kindle?)
Also, I have suffered from a traumatic injury. I have a muscle spasm and a neck strain. How does this happen when one bakes a cake you might ask... your guess is as good as mine.

My only thoughts are that my body never fully recovered after the near death experience with the treadmill. Oh yes, this is something I may not have shared. NAL and I attempted to run on the treadmill together. I don't know what we were thinking considering we are two of the most uncoordinated unlucky people in all the land. He put a hole in the wall and I tried to rip my arm out of my socket. Oh well. I guess all can be fixed with a little muscle relaxer and an anti inflammatory shot in the bottom. Seriously though, if it is my neck/shoulder/drivers side upper back then why would they stick you in the bum? Some things aren't meant to figure out I guess. I will just accept them and move on...like calculus.

Little B's birthday

B and his peeps went out on Monday night for the big 26! We ate pizza at urbancrust and then had cakes. That's right, Cakes. Plural cakes. One big cake and one teeny tiny cake. The little smash cake was for B only :) We had a great time celebrating the big day while enjoying some fabulous company and food. I am pretty sure B had a fabulous time. I mean, who wouldn't with all of the fab food and fun and all.





B had a little jokey joke played on him by none other than HBO. He picked up his gift from her filled with his favorite peanut butter candies and the bottom fell right out. Oh how priceless.


And look at Miss HBO beaming with all of her cleverness.