Fake Album Cover Game

I saw this on Facebook, and on one of the blogs I follow, and it looked like fun!








This last one is by far my favorite. As you can tell, I'm a little bit hooked.


The Rules

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit "Random Article."
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to The Quotations Page and click on "Random Quotes."
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last 7 days."
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or something similar to put it all together.

5 - Post the result (and the rules) and tag whomever you would like to join in.


Instead of tagging specific people, I'm just going to say that anyone can do this! Just let me know if you did, so I can check it out.

Answer: Fasting, Lent, and Dancing

Question: Which three words don't you normally hear in the same sentence?

Art and I decided to participate in Lent this year. We're giving up unnecessary spending. I know that we already pledged to do that back in January, but we've kind of fallen off the wagon, as you can tell from my last post. So we're going to give it another go. Hopefully we can last 40 days this time.

And at the end of the last post? When I said I was fasting? It's true! I have been thinking of going on a fast for some time now, and considering all the crappy food we consumed on Tuesday, Wednesday seemed like a good day to start.

Is talking about fasting taboo? Doesn't the Bible say something about it being personal and private, and not parading it around so you don't seem pious? Does anyone know? If it makes you feel better, I'm doing it mostly for health reasons. No, I'm not sick. No worries. It's supposed to serve as a cleanse, which is never a bad thing.

I'm into my third day now, and it's going surprisingly well. I'm drinking plenty of tea and water, and yesterday I ate an orange. I decided to include fruit, but only a little. I'm not feeling weak or sick like I have in the past. I had a headache last night, but that's it. I'm not craving every food in sight, and even when I was surrounded by yummy food last night, resisting the urge to dive in didn't seem like punishment.

The last time I fasted was in Bible College. It was right after our Spiritual Emphasis days, and a few of my friends felt that they should fast and pray for eight days, or something like that. Maybe it was ten. You know what? It may have even been two weeks. Crazy. Anyway, they asked me if I wanted to join them, and I said, "Sure!"

It did not go well. In fact, it was pure agony. Even though we spent a lot of time praying together, I didn't get anything out of it. Except feeling like I was going insane. I could NOT stop thinking about food. I am proud to say that the others went the distance. Me? I lasted four days. I finally caved, and stuffed my face with cookies in the privacy of my dorm room. I felt like a failure, but my friends were very understanding.

Looking back, I think that I just wasn't meant to do that fast. The others all felt God speaking to them about it, and I never felt that. God spoke to me lots that year, and did some amazing things in my life, even when I was eating three meals a day. So I've decided not to beat myself up about it.

In other news, Art's sister Mari had a "dance recital" yesterday. It wasn't really a recital. It was International Night at her college, and she did a hip hop dance with a bunch of her friends. It was VERY cool. In fact, it was so cool that I forgot to take out my camera and record it! I fully intended to, but I was too into it!

She did a really good job. She was smooth, and expressive, and she didn't have that look on her face that told everyone she was just thinking about her steps. She looked like she was having fun. Way to go Marilu!

So now both my sisters dance hip hop. Wait, you didn't know that Elleah can hip hop dance? Well, she did. In fact, she was pregnant at their performance! Clearly, I'm missing out. On the dancing part, not the pregnant part.

Oh, and it snowed here a little while ago! And it stayed for two whole days! It's melting pretty quickly today, but I enjoyed the view while it lasted. I think we're working our way back up to normal February temperatures. And the sun is shining.

If the weather keeps cooperating like this, Wayne and Sozan, and Art and I are going on a double date to Mt. Erie in Anacortes next week. Sozan has never been there, or to Deception Pass, so we're planning a little day trip and a picnic!


The view from atop Mt. Erie. Just a little bit cool, right? This picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice. And I'm pretty sure I've mentioned more than once that the view from Deception Pass is basically my favorite view in the whole world (thus far). It's so beautiful!

Seriously, what are you guys all doing in frigid Manitoba, or wherever you're reading this from? (I have a cluster map, you know. All you guys from the Midwest, and the eastern part of the continent? I see you! And I'm sure your February isn't going as nice as mine is). Come out here, and then never leave. You know you want to!!

*Snort* So Much For Willpower AND Not Spending

It is never a good idea to take two half-Asians (Sozan and Art) to Cost Cutter in Bellingham, where they have two huge isles wholly devoted to strange, funny, Spanish and Asian foods. We may or may not have walked out of there with:

- A massive bottle of non-alcoholic sangria which cost only $1
- A whole box of chewy, Mexican candy that doesn't taste anything like candy
- Something akin to icing in a snack pack that you eat with a tiny spoon
- A bag of shrimp crisps (which smell gross but taste kind of good)
- Chocolate milk coffee in a can (not refrigerated)
- A 69 cent bismark doughnut

I can't tell you how many times they exclaimed, "Hey, did you ever have this when you were growing up? Did your mom ever make/buy/eat this stuff?" Or, "My dad LOVES this stuff!" Or, "I used to eat this all the time!"

It doesn't matter that Art is half Filipino, and that Sozan is half Persian. Apparently, they had the same childhood.

And apparently, we have no self-control.

Because after our little "shopping spree", we went to Sonic. Burger, fries, Reese's Pieces blizzard. Yeah.

I'm fasting today.

The Cravings Cry Out

I want everyone to come up with the whiniest, most immature voice you can think of.

Got it?

Now, keeping that voice in mind, read the following statement:

"Eating healthy is so HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRD!!!"

That's what I've been wanting to shout out for a couple of hours. Art and I went grocery shopping a little while ago, and I now know just how true it is that one should NEVER go shopping on an empty stomach. Only by sheer magic did we somehow avoid buying all the junk that Haggen had to offer.

The donuts and ice cream called out to Art. The candy and pumpkin spice loaf called out to me. The chips called out to both of us.

And you know what? I think the only reason we resisted is because of money. If we weren't barely scraping by, I think we both would have caved. So much for willpower.

The thing I want to pout about the most is that it isn't even worth it, and we both know it. You think you're missing out, and you finally sink your teeth into whatever you've been craving, only to find out that it doesn't satisfy at all. Either that, or you feel like crap later on. But I don't want to face that disappointment! I just want to load up on sugar and carbs!

Blogging about it doesn't exactly help. So I'll stop. And go find some peanut butter.

Throwdown

Jogo Gym (the gym where Art coaches and works out) hosted a competition on Saturday. They invited their own members, as well as members of other CrossFit gyms in the area, to come out and participate. There were two workouts (or events), and five groups (or heats). Each workout was timed, and the person with the best total time was the winner.

A total of 27 people from 4 different gyms competed, and at least that many came out just to support them.

Here are some pictures of Art, working (and sweating) his butt off.



Art doing a burpee. Do a push-up, then jump up into the air. Repeat. 6 times. For 5 rounds.


Swing 53 pounds over your head, 6 times in a row. 5 rounds.






Front squat 95 pounds, 6 times, 5 rounds. That's more than 50% of his body weight.


Then lift that weight above your head, same number of times. Feeling tired yet?





















Art got 10th place over all, which I consider pretty good, considering some of the CrossFit monsters that showed up. I'm so proud of him!

Post-Valentine's Sunset Pics

From Semiahmoo Beach

Animal Crackers

Another video of Mari, completing a Would You Rather challenge.

Butt Paste or Clay Mask?

So I decided to try my Noxzema Clay Mask in the shower the other day, and it reminded me of this very true story.

Once upon a time I had this friend, and whenever I went over to her house, we did one of three things: watch Alice in Wonderland, play dress up, or play with barbies.

For some reason, her barbies were kept in a cubbyhole/closet-type-thing underneath the stairs, in her basement. There was no light in this little space, so whenever we were in there, her mother would plug in a small lamp, and place it on the floor inside, where we were playing. We were always very careful to never touch the light, as it didn't have a shade. Just an exposed light bulb.

(Thinking back, I don't know why we didn't just pull the barbies out into the open space and play with them there).

Now I was a good seven-year-old. I knew that light bulbs were hot, and getting too close to it would be bad for me. And I knew that when an adult told me not to do something (like, don't touch the light), they meant it. Obedience was practically my middle name.

So we were playing with barbies. And of course, we had the shade-less lamp. And her mother decided to put it under a little plastic chair, so that we wouldn't accidentally bump into the lamp. And she made sure we understood that we were not to sit on the chair, nor put anything on it. Again, I was smart (and good). I knew that the chair would get hot. That fact did not escape me at my young age.

Everything was going just fine until I had to go to the bathroom. I put my barbies down, crawled out of the cubbyhole, and went to take care of business. Which meant that I was no longer near the exposed lamp. Which meant I forgot that I had to be cautious. I went from smart to absentminded in mere minutes.

Oh you guys. You just have no idea.

When I got back from the bathroom, I went back inside the cubbyhole, and sat down on that plastic chair.


And BURNED my BUTT!


When I went screaming and wailing upstairs, I'm sure my friend's parents (and my own parents too) thought it was just hilarious that I fried my own bottom, but they never laughed at me while I was in their presence.

And what does this have to do with Noxzema? I will tell you.

I'm not exactly sure what my mom used to heal my poor roasted heiney, but the combination smell of the ointment and medical tape was the same smell now emanating from my face, covered in clay mask.

And while it may have provided some nostalgia for me, and a little comic relief for you, it also gave me quite a headache. As you might have guessed by now, I won't be using that particular product again.

So there you have it. Noxzema Butt Paste Clay Mask; smells like the time you set fire to your arse. Destined to join the other products in our bathroom medicine cabinet that we don't use, and probably never will.

Some Random Pics (and a video)

This is the scarf that I made. The second half clearly went a lot better than the first half. And see those strings coming out of the middle? That's where I joined the pink to the white, and now I apparently need a crochet hook to work them back into the scarf. And here I thought that knitting was just knitting.



These are the tulips that Art bought me on Valentine's Day. Aren't they pretty?

There's my lovely vase with it's lovely base that can only hold a teaspoon of water. I'm surprised my tulips are still alive.



Here's my Pampered Chef oven mitt. I think it's pretty obvious how it got branded. It was Sozan's fault, and she feels really bad about it, but I think it's hilarious.



This is Joe. During a game of Would You Rather...? It was a challenge he had to complete, so he held this pose for two full player turns. Not an easy task. Check out the video below of Mari completing her rapping challenge.



At the end, someone lamented that they hadn't recorded it, and my reply was that "I did!"

Bowling Pics

*Warning: these pictures aren't very good, in terms of quality. The lighting was somewhat dim, plus they're all action shots. So they didn't turn out that great.*

That being said, take a look and try to imagine the fun we had, 10-pin bowling for Joe's birthday.


Mari doesn't know what happened.


Believe it or not, I think this actually worked.


I'm sure Sozan is thrilled that I put this up on my blog.


Sozan, proving her awesomeness.


Duck walk.


Gutter ball.


Art perfecting his form.


Strike! Oh yeah! I know I'm good.


Wayne


Art, and some other guy. Look at how Art holds the ball. Weird.


Sozan's form........might need some help.


There ya go


Joe must get it perfect.


7th round, 1st game. I'm ahead. This never happens.


Wayne, trying not to get distracted by Sozan.


Art going in for the kill.

Did anyone notice the date on the bottom right corner of my pictures? First of all, I don't know why my camera does this, and I'm going to try and change that.

Second of all, Joe's birthday was in January. But somehow, I traveled to the future to take these pictures, even though the events happened in the past. Try and wrap your head around that one.