Happy Fall!

I haven't blogged for a few days so I just wanted to update everyone on what's been up in the riveting life of Amelia. For the last couple days I've been very busy with crew dealings since we have two regattas in the next two weeks and numerous new rowers to accommodate. My inbox is like a sea of rowing emails (or a river or lake if you want to make a rowing pun). So I haven't been blogging much.
Crew is going spectaculary well! We had our first set Varsity 4 practice last night, with me as stroke, and it felt fast and strong. I'm really excited to see what happens this weekend in Des Moines. We tried to practice yesterday morning but the fog on the lake was so dense, even Rudolph couldn't see through it. We would have launched and not been able to find the dock, it was that bad. So we held off until last night. Practices with the novice are getting better and better each day, with the new rowers picking up new skills very quickly.
School has been going well. My first two tests of the semester went really well and I got A's on both. Let's just see if I keep up with this super student facade I've been putting on the last couple weeks. I've actually been reading for my classes which is completely out of the norm for me...
To update my last post, I found a bean bag chair for my sister for $15!!! It was like it was meant to be. They marketed the chairs as "Game Day" chairs so that's why they had the sale. It's like the corporate headquarters of Wal-Mart read my blog and decided to accommodate my need. I'm pretty excited for her birthday party on Friday since my mom will probably make some uber delicious dish and my other sister is coming home from North Dakota. The only thing that sucks is that the next morning I have to wake up at 3 am!!!!! in order to get to school by 3:30 to drive to the Des Moines regatta. I'll be feeling the cake and ice cream the next morning...
My money situation is pretty bleak because I haven't been able to work as much at Chang's, so I'm not making tip money and all of my last work study check went to bills and gas. What is in my fridge right now? The water jug, Light margarine, milk, and alcohol. I guess that's all you need in life! I had oatmeal for lunch the other day! haha
Once I do go grocery shopping, I'm going to buy like 5 cans of pumpkin. Fall is my FAVORITE time of baking (even more so than Christmas because Christmas baking is just such a daunting task) I love pumpkin flavored things so I'm planning to make pumpkin bread, muffins, bars, and perhaps a vegan pumpkin spice cake recipe I found. I have to gripe, though, that this Halloween I can't celebrate because we will be in the vans headed to the Witchita regatta. I absolutely ADORE Halloween, but maybe I'll make little treat bags for my team...
This has been incredibly long so I will stop for today! Here's a thought: If you had a lot of money to spend on a Halloween costume, and you had an awesome party to go to, who/what would you be? I would go all out on an Uhura from Star Trek costume complete with big hair, go go boots, and lavish eyeliner. Yes, I am a Star Trek nerd, get over it!

The hunt for the bean bag chair

It is so hard to find affordable bean bag chairs in this town! Grr. A while ago Shopko had a sale for 19.99 bean bag chairs. I went the FIRST day of the sale in the MORNING and there were none left AKA they probably only had 5 to start out with. Their devious plan worked because I did proceed to shop around and bought some shirts there but that's beside the point! I want to get my sister a chair for her birthday this weekend (I hope she doesn't read this, didn't think about that...) and even Walmart's are kind of expensive. Tips were not that good this weekend but if push comes to shove, I will shell out the big bucks because I think she deserves it.
Even though I have homework to do tonight, I think I'll go hit up another store before closing time. My older sister's birthday is coming up too and I have NO idea what to get her. She's the type of person who has everything and doesn't really have any special interests (i.e. she doesn't collect Precious Moments things or even have a DVD collection). Does anyone have any suggestions for a woman in her late twenties that has everything? I know she's my sister, and you don't know her like I do, but I'm stuck. Help!
On another note, my Violence in America class freaked me out today. We talked about serial killers and recent homicides in Omaha. Needless to say, I walked to my car after class (around 7:30 pm) with one eye looking behind me and the other looking forward. It was extremely interesting, that's for sure, but I'm alone in my apartment till Heather gets home from work. EEK!

When I grow up...

When I grow up, I want to live in Seattle. I have ever since I was about 7 years old and we took our family vacation there. I don't care if it rains everyday or that it is a big, smelly city. I just want to go stick my gum on the gum wall and look at the Space Needle everyday.
I saw a movie tonight with Heather and Aja that took place in Seattle and that's what got me thinking about it. You get the best of both worlds-mountains and oceans. The only meat I eat is seafood and it's a port city. You can ride around Puget Sound on the ship they used in one of the Star Trek movies. Yes, I do believe that living in Seattle is a good fit for me. Rainboots are delicious and I like my pink umbrella very much. This would just allow me to get closer to them!

See you on the Watah!

Today was the first day the new novice rowers got to be in boats on the water. It's always pretty amazing to me on the first day with novice just how many little technique things and lingo that is involved with rowing. There is SO much they have to learn and I hope it is not too overwhelming for them. I must have some memory disorder because I don't really remember my first few days as a novice. Maybe I've just blocked them out but I don't remember being overwhelmed, so maybe they're not.
I'm still floored by the sheer number of newbies we have. I only know 6 or 7 names so far! We had enough today to fill all of our boats with a few leftover. I stroked one of the eights, and the rest of the Varsity was disbursed amongst the other boats and the launch.
It was quite fun. Obviously, it didn't go as smoothly as normal but for their first day, they did extremely well! I'm very excited for this team to get back on its feet and start traveling to regattas!
On another note, my friend Aja and I have started a vlog, because she has a camcorder and we thought it would be funny. You can check out our video blog at http://styoml.blogspot.com/
Peace out girl scout!

Song of the Moment

I think every one of us has a song or two that we listen to over and over for a few days, weeks, or months. It's the first thing we open on iTunes or scroll to on the iPod. Often it is an unexplainable phenomenon, like when I listened to the The Beatles's "Cry Baby Cry" for weeks on end half a year ago. Why that song? I don't know. My iTunes shuffled to it and there must have been something in my life at the time that related to the song. Until the last few weeks, I was listening to The Cranberries's "Ode to My Family" obsessively. Now, for about three weeks I've been repeatedly listening to Joan Baez's "Diamonds and Rust". If you've never listened to Joan Baez, you are missing out on a beautiful female vocal. There are few singers who have stood the test of time and can still sing as soulfully and beautifully as when they were in the height of their careers.
The song has been said to have been written about Joan Baez's great love of her life, Bob Dylan. I don't know if she has officially confirmed this but romantic souls like myself like to apply the lyrics to her life. The two performers are legends and sang together often when they were younger. You just have to look at pictures of the two of them to see that there was a lot of love. If you listen to the song you can feel the power of love behind her words and the heartbreak that broken relationships or unrequited love (which I know much of) can produce.
You can listen to a live performance on YouTube here.
P.S. I'm really sad about Patrick Swayze...Ghost is one of my favorite movies!

Britney Cont...THE CONCERT EVENT

We had finally arrived in Des Moines and after a good lunch and some chillaxing, the rest of the group arrived and we started getting ready for the best night ever. Laura and I were already ready so we went down to the lounge for some free cocktails as the other girls got ready. When it was time to go, we took the shuttle over to the Arena. Our excitement was welling up!
We got some drinks and took some pictures. And then...it was finally time for the concert to start. Kristina DeBarge and Jordin Sparks opened and it was apparent this was going to be a good concert. And we were so close to the stage!
Since this was Britney's Circus tour, the show started with circus acts including a girl with no legs on a trampoline, little people, and acrobats. Whatever Britney wants, I guess she gets!
OMG and then she appeared. We were so excited, jumping up and down and screaming. Of course, my voice is still not fully recovered from my bout with laryngitis this summer so my scream was more manly than most. We danced the night away and Britney put on a great show. I even mustered up the courage to ask this old guy in front of us to dance with me, but to no avail. We were so funny and crazy and it was weird to us because not a lot of people were dancing near us. Come on people, this is Britney Spears!
After the concert began a night of incredible drunkenness, dancing fun, and other illicit doings. It was pretty much the best night of my life and I had such a great time with my work girlfriends!

Britney Cont...The Road Trip

After much confusion of changing plans, figuring out rides, getting snacks for the trip, and last minute packing, we were finally on our way. I love road trips but I get incredibly antsy! I rode out with Aimee and Jessica and although Des Moines is only a few hours away, I started getting a little childlike and anxious. I kept playing with Aimee's seat belt and squirming around. It could also be that I was SO EXCITED to get there! When we got within city limits we starting using Aimee's GPS system on her phone that talks to you and tells you where to go. We stayed at the Embassy Suites on the river which is within a few blocks of the Wells Fargo Arena and the downtown area. It was incredibly easy to find with the tracker but absolutely ridiculously hilarious. The hotel was located on Locust Street but for some reason, unknown to humans, the GPS pronounced Locust as "Asparagus". And not only did the female voice pronounce it "asparagus", she practically screamed it. This happened twice and I still giggle when I think about it. We cracked up about it for like ten minutes. Aimee could barely keep driving. I knew then that this was going to be a GREAT trip!

It's Britney, B*tch

So this weekend was the long awaited Britney Spears concert in Des Moines. My girlfriends from work and I had been planning to go for about 3 months and it finally came. I can't even begin to write about all the things that happened so I'm going to take little breaks in my retelling of that fateful night.
Okay, go!
First of all, a little background. When we were trying to figure out tickets there were a couple seats that we were looking at but none that were too great. And then we luckily stumbled upon our THIRD rows seats! They were a lot more expensive, granted, but totally worth it. Britney is doing her Circus tour but for some reason, isn't coming to Omaha so we planned a road trip to Des Moines.
I had never been to a concert before this one. How is this possible? I don't know and now that I've gone to one, I have the concert bug. I want to go to more.

Eight Minutes with Billy

For the past couple of weeks I've been doing the old school 8 Minute Abs workout on YouTube. The fitness trainer that has the 8 Minute programs, and yes, there are many, has the most wonderful spandex outfits around. I didn't know his name until I looked him up. It's like Jaime Brenkus or something but I just call him Billy. He looks like a Billy.
Billy and I have a love/hate relationship. On the one hand, after I lose my "cold weather protection layer" that blankets my stomach, he will have given me the exercises to attain rock hard abs. On the other hand, sometimes I despise him when he makes me do side crunches. Those have always been my worst enemy.
It's a good thing I have the video for 8 Minute Abs because otherwise I would not do any crunches. I abhor sit-ups as my roommate and former personal trainer could tell you. I would rather do cardio for an hour and a half (and I have) than do 10 minutes of sit-ups. Which is why it's a good thing Billy's routine is only 8 minutes long!

Creighton Rowing and Yumminess

I love going to a Catholic school where crazy holidays give you the morning off. Because of Mass of the Holy Spirit, I didn't have any classes today so I got to sleep in and just go to school for the Involvement Fair. I row for the Creighton Rowing Association so it was a good time to heavily recruit and hang out with my teammates.
We got almost three complete pages of potential new rowers so that was pretty exciting. We are a really small team and recruitment has been a huge issue for us for the past two years. We'll see how many of the people who signed up will come to our info meeting tomorrow night.
After the Fair, we had practice on Carter Lake, the murky toxic waters of your worst nightmares. It was pretty muggy today but it was still a productive and fun practice. I always have a great time when I'm on a boat.
We got out of practice pretty early so I got a head start on making the dinner I've been wanting to make forever...eggplant parmesan! I bought the eggplant at the Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday and I got the rest of the ingredients last night. I've decided that although it hurts my heart, I need to give up cheese for a while. Eating mass amounts of cheese is not helping me lose any weight. So I figured eggplant parmesan would be a good send-off to cheese. After this meal and the leftovers are gone, it's sayonara cheese! :(
It turned out so yummy and my roommate loved it too. I must be in a cooking mode, because I also have some banana bread in the oven as I type this, from a vegan recipe courtesy of a good friend of mine. The apartment is like 90 degrees from all the oven usage that has happened over the last 2 hours.
Time to go, I think the oven timer just went off. Peace!

A Party in My Tummy

When I was deciding what to write about today, I realized there are a Myriad (with a capital "M") amount of things I can talk about. Narrowing the list down to subjects people might want to read about, however, was not hard. So today I decided to offer a shameless plug for my favorite restaurant in Omaha to anyone who is interested in a delicious meal.
McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe is a vegetarian restaurant committed to serving the best quality food at reasonable prices in a fun, laid-back atmosphere. True to the hippie spirit, anyone and everyone is invited to a healthy, natural meal served by lovely, nice people who are just as much in love with the food there as you will be when you are finished with your meal. The atmosphere and decor brings back 60's nostalgia without being too in your face about it.
Probably one of the main reasons I enjoy this restaurant so much is that the owners, Tom and Mary, are actually friends of my parents. I grew up around this restaurant and its regular patrons but because of the natural changes friendships go through, my parents hadn't gone to see the McFoster's for a long time until just recently. Now, I've been in four times in the last few weeks and have brought some of my friends to spread the word around.
Tonight I ate the special which was a delicious portabella mushroom wrap and had the famous Smoked Tomato Soup. It was certainly a party in my tummy, indeed!

After my culinary adventure, I went to the grocery store to pick up some items for eggplant parmesan, which I am making tomorrow night. I have a love/hate relationship with grocery shopping. I love it when I am not looking for anything specific. I can just wander up and down the aisle and grab things here and there that look tasty. I hate it, though, when I need to find specific ingredients for things. This is probably due to the fact that I get distracted by products that beckon to me ("Look at me, I am a sack of grapes that have Disney princesses screen printed on me. You MUST take me home") Before I know it, I am in the completly wrong aisle when all along I just needed some eggs and bread crumbs and I've walked by where the eggs live four times before I realized I should've probably grabbed those the first time around.
I remember when I used to live on campus how the grocery store was like a sad little adventure to look forward to. It was an opportunity to go into the real world and see different kinds of people and get away from the dorm room.
How times have changed. Well, enough about food, I should probably go work out now! Peace.

First Rendezvous

So I've never written a blog before and I was thinking about all the little diaries I used to keep as a little girl with the little lock and the little key I kept under my bed and I thought, "Why not start a blog? I have nothing to hide and a blog is just a diary the whole world can read..." Well, whether or not that is a good idea is beside the point. I made the blog and here it is, for anyone who wants to read it.

There is no real purpose to this blog. I wanted there to be but I couldn't think of anything that hadn't already been done. So I'm just going to treat this blog like my old school diaries with Disney princesses and fairies on the covers and diverge to the world all the things that make up my day to day life.

So get pumped, everyone, because I am! Tomorrow will begin the cataloging of my oh-so-eventful life. And it is eventful, that's for sure. Some days will be more interesting than others, obv, but whose life is always an edge-of-your-seat adventure anyway?