The making of a crazy cat lady

As I bundle up for another night where temperatures may flirt with reaching positive single digits (seriously Indiana, this is getting old) I have to check my back up entertainment. One never knows if the power will go out with these insanely low temperatures. Fortunately my back up entertainment is working well. To give you an idea of how I stay entertained when TV and the internet doesn't cut it, please enjoy the following video.

I know the beginning is a bit blurry, but it gets better, I promise.

The two stars of this video are Maggie (the tortoiseshell one) and Jasmine (the black cat). These two have been entertaining me ever since I got them about three weeks after my move to Indiana. How did I get two cats? Very good question. Story time!

My mom has a flower shop with lots of strays running around. It just so happened that a new litter was born right when I was considering getting a cat. My mom and her flower shop friends rescued the whole litter (two girls and a boy) and kept them all inside the garage of the flower shop. The boy ended up going home with one of the flower shop ladies, but both of the sisters hung out together in the garage. They became inseparable and I was proposed only one deal. Take both and the flower shop ladies would take care of getting them spayed and getting shots. As a graduate student (still finishing at this point), I saw this as quite a fantastic opportunity to get cats for very, very cheap! I never had intentions to have multiple cats, but now that I do... great decision!! They keep each other entertained most of the time. Except for the times when I start firing nerf guns at them so they can bat the darts out of the air! Or when it's tv time and they decide that I make a good pillow!

Naming them was also interesting. Originally I was only going to get the tortoiseshell cat and it was brought to my attention that she looked like a Snickers bar therefore... Snickers. When it changed and I knew I was going to get both cats, I needed names that went together. After going through quite a few options I (with a lot of help from my roommate) settled on Jasmine and Maggie (short for Magnolia). The cats grew up in a flower shop, hence flower names. And I did spend quite a while in the Magnolia state, so I couldn't resist.

And that is a summary of how I ended up with my backup entertainment for blizzardy days! They're pretty great and do something every day that cracks me up! Go figure since I've always grown up as a dog person!! (Despite the allergies!)

Asparagus!!!!

That's right. I. Love. Asparagus. Not just any old asparagus. Actually now that I think about it, I did have a great experience with white asparagus when I was in the Netherlands! White asparagus, hard boiled eggs, and ham. When you eat them all together... Amazing!! Now the white asparagus soup that I had before that meal... Eh, not quite as impressive! OK... back to the point of this entry. I have perhaps THE best/easiest asparagus recipe ever!! Introduced to me by one of my best friends/roommates/"classmates" back in da 'sip (mississippi for all you yanks!), I'm pretty sure we ate asparagus every day for weeks straight! So since this recipe has made me love asparagus so much, I've decided to share it with the world (as in the 5 people that read this!). So without further ado... Super easy asparagus recipe!!

1. Drive to Kroger (Walmart for the Hattiesburgians) and pick up some asparagus.

2. Preheat oven to 400.

3. Bring asparagus home and wash it up and remove the tough ends. Simplest way to do this is just breaking off the ends, no need for cutting!

4. Place asparagus on a baking sheet. I opt to use aluminum foil to cover the baking sheet for easier clean up. (Like I said people, I'm going for best and easiest recipe.)

5. Drizzle olive oil over asparagus. Make sure the asparagus is well coated.

6. Add a little sprinkle of salt (sea salt is the best!) and pepper.

7. Throw it in the oven for 10 minutes.

8. Devour!!

Nothing fancy here folks, but still tastes amazing! Go out and try it! Oh and I also found out there's actually 3 colors of asparagus. Green, white, and purple. Has anyone tried purple asparagus? I'm intrigued!

I'll take the stairs

Oh I'll take the stairs alright! About a month ago a coworker told me there was a stair climbing event called Bop to the Top. This event takes place in the tallest building in Indy. Ha... tallest building in Indy, how hard could that be? - I thought to myself. I thought about signing up, but never did. Until Thursday (as in 2 days ago). Details of the event: Run/walk/climb/crawl/whatever it takes to the top of the building, 36 flights of stairs, 780 steps, 500 ft straight up. And if that isn't enough... do it thrice. So what do I do? 108 flights, 2340 steps, 1500 ft straight up. Was there really any other option?

The view from inside the lobby after checking in.

The whole building. Had to wait for the sun to really come up to get a good picture.

So drove up to Indy early this morning, jamming out to some fantastic running motivation music, checked in, turned in my gear and got ready to tackle this beast. The great thing about the race is that all of the triple steppers were allowed to start at 8:45 and believe me, I was there ready to go with that heat at 8:45. I had no idea how long this was going to take me. So head to the stairs and wait my turn and off I go. Feeling like a champ, knocking out flights like I loved stairs... until the 10th story. Then i wised up and realized this was going to be fairly difficult so I switched to a power through this tactic, where i walked just to make sure I would keep moving. The unfortunate thing about the race was that the only floors that were open were 16, 26 and the top floor. So it was crazy dry in the stairwell. I'm pretty sure I made it to story 25 before I really questioned the fact I had to repeat this insane task 2 more times! Getting to the top that first time... great! My timing chip was cut off and I headed to the elevator... back down. Note to anyone participating in this in the future most of the water is on the top of the building, not the bottom! Searching for water was fairly unsuccessful on the bottom floor which concerned me. But I knew I just had to make it to the 16th floor to get water. So this time I made the wise choice of grabbing a jolly rancher (my new favorite candy) and hit it again.

The jolly rancher made a HUGE difference! This time no horrible cotton mouth! However, my legs got tired a little quicker. But it's all about pacing! My second trip up I made a friend and she and I struggled through most of the stairs together. Actually had a conversation for a few flights. That didn't last long though. This is a little lot different from running! Funnily enough when I made it to the last flight of stairs and the volunteer read off my number, she already new it was my second trip up. I don't know what possibly could have given it away. Just how red I was or the speed in which I was making it up those stairs. Lol. This time I made sure to hit up the water at the top of the building before heading back down. Still didn't waste too much time because I really just wanted to be done.

My break was a tiny bit longer, but that was just to make sure I drank enough water. Then it was chip replacement time and back in line. I was in no hurry this last run. Solid pace and just make it to the top one last time. However, just like in a marathon when somehow miles just disappear, floors just disappear. I was at 20 before i knew it and then 30 and then I could hear the beautiful dinging chip timer at the top!! I even passed someone on my last trip and they were only going up once!! This was when I finally let myself enjoy the view.

View from the top of the building!

I've never done anything like this race, but I enjoyed it. It was like three mini races. Complete exhaustion and then a quick recovery. Also so organized and the volunteers were sooo friendly and motivating! I loved it. Oh and I was shocked by my overall time: 32:48! Can't complain! Goal for next year is to convince someone else to join me! Definitely worth it! And supporting Riley's Children's Hospital! So who's in for the next Bop to the Top?!? You better believe I'll be triple steppin'!

Got my very own "jumping flea"!

That's right ladies and gentlemen. I have a jumping flea! (And no it's not because I let my cats outside and they brought one in.) Apparently ukulele is Hawaiian for jumping flea. I ordered a really cool mahogany pineapple-shaped soprano ukulele!! Describing it just doesn't do it justice so...

So of course I spent the whole evening learning how to play. So far I've tuned the uke, practiced a bunch of strumming (interesting using my right hand to strum), and learned two chords! Who knew it only took mastering four chords to play a bunch (I mean like hundreds) of uke songs!!! Somewhere over the rainbow here I come!! Actually the dream is...

Keep living the dream!!

Yes, this actually happened.

So in the last post I was complimenting the south on how friendly it can be. Well sometimes the south was... too friendly? So I want to share a part of the south that I won't miss... when the natives are just a little too open in public. Now if I haven't mentioned this before, let me put it out there... truly bizarre things happen to me. This is by far one of the best examples of that:

I promised my friend I would head over to David's Bridal to try on a bridesmaid dress and make sure I ordered the right size. Well as is common in the south in the summer a fantastic afternoon storm rolled in on my way over to David's Bridal. By the time I get there it's pouring so hard I can barely make out the store from the parking lot. Fantastic. I make the mad dash to the store and find that the only other customer in the store besides myself is a bride. Lesson 1: NEVER go into David's Bridal alone. Talk to a few employees get all set up with a dress and they decide to parade me past the lone bride. When I say lone I mean she's there by herself. No bridesmaids, no mom, no sister, no maid of honor. (This is important in one second.) I jump into my dressing room and throw on the bridesmaid dress. Fits great. Sweet. Can I see what I look like though? Noooooo. David's Bridal has no mirrors in the dressing rooms! So I walk out just to see what the dress looks like. This is what happens next:

Bride: Oh. My. Gosh. That bridesmaid dress is amazing.
Me: Why thank you. (Yup fits well... this is the right size... I can be on my way.)
Bride: I really love that style of dress, strapless is great.
Me: It is really nice, but I'm actually getting a slightly different dress, they just don't have any here in my size. (Man what a talkative bride!)
Bride: Oh... well the color!! It would look so good for a fall wedding!! And it really goes with your tone.
Me: Thanks! I really like it too... but for the wedding we're actually getting a different color, they don't have that in either. (Whomp whoom... Man am I Debbie Downer or what?!?!)
Bride: Well I think it might be the color I go with. Would you mind coming over here and standing next to me.
Me: (?????) Sure no problem. I could use the bridesmaid practice.

Now surely you think this is sorta odd. But the bride was there all alone and I felt like she could use a stand in. This however, is not the end of the story. Just a little reference. I came straight from work and just had on a standard every day bra. Ok... back to the story.

Bride: Oh honey... you can't get the full effect with just wearing a regular bra, you need a strapless one!
Me: Oh yes, I have one. I just forgot to bring it today.
Bride: Nonsense! You can use the one I brought!
Me: Oh no really, that's ok. I have one at home.
Bride: Oh no (as she goes into her dressing room) mine is the best! I got it at ... 

At this point I forgot what she said. She had literally walked back into her dressing room and comes back with a strapless bra for me to try on. For as much as she was raving about that bra, she sure didn't take care of it. There were dog chewed areas everywhere!! What does one do in this situation? I walk back over to my dressing room... the one WITHOUT mirrors and throw it on. Now I considered pretending I had tried it on in the dressing room, but the fact that there's no mirrors means I couldn't even pretend to know what it looked like. So I walk back out and tell her it is indeed an amazing bra and I thanked her for letting me get the full effect of my dress. Lesson 2: Always bring a strapless bra when going to try on bridesmaid dresses. And that is one thing I won't miss from the south.

Keep living the dream!

We're not in Mississippi anymore!

Recently I feel like it's been right in my face that I'm not in the south anymore. Yes, the weather is a factor (I'll get to that in a minute) but there are other things. I'm a born and raised Midwesterner and I've always loved living in the greater Chicagoland area (read suburbs). People that I met seemed genuine and well-meaning. Then I spent 6 years in Mississippi and experienced "southern hospitality". It's true people, it does exist. Everyone there was always super sweet and willing to talk to you. Example: While finding a place to live, I went to a shoe store that also sold ice cream (incredibly weird, but let's just ignore that for right now). As I was waiting in line an older gentleman came up to me and informed me that i "had the cancer". He pointed to a freckle on my arm and told me I needed to see a doctor. While I was a little creeped out, this just shows that southerners always are looking for ways to help you out. Needless to say, this is just one example of interacting with a random person in a store and I got used to it. Just a little back story for y'all (oh yeah, really feeling my southern-ness right now)!

The other day I go to Kroger looking for a few things for my Texas caviar recipe. I happen to spot a set of car keys at the back of the store and decide I should turn them in. I make my way to the front of a store where I see a worker half organizing the slushee machine. This is the interaction:
Me: Hi ma'am (yes, thank you for that as well South!), I found these keys at the back of the store. (Show her set of car keys)
Kroger employee: Yeah, that's not my problem, you have to take those to the front office (points in random direction).
Me: Oh well ok.... thanks?

Yeah, you better believe that would not have happened in the south! Also this was the same day I was looking for black eyed peas... Guess what they don't sell here?!?! Lol. This part of the day was when I truly realized I had become part Southerner without really noticing it. Yikes! It came as a shock to me too. But being part southern isn't bad if it means I just randomly talk to strangers at the store or recognize that all of the truly good college football is in the south. When discussing the lack of black eyed peas with southern friends I've been offered to have them shipped to me as well as utter disbelief as black eyed peas are a traditional part of New Year's dinner! 

As for the weather... I've already survived one snow storm which left 8 inches of snow. Here's a picture of what the parking lot looked like outside my office.

Just a reminder that was in December. I was told "Oh don't worry, a snow storm like this only happens once a year. We should be set for the rest of the winter". Well... Little did my coworker know that Mother Nature wants to give me a nice war... er... cold welcome back to the north. Current situation... Sitting inside watching rain followed by the fattest heaviest snow I've ever seen in my life. Who knows what's to come next. Predictions of up to 8 inches of snow, but right now it looks like it could be 8 inches of slush! (If that's possible!). Oh and tomorrow?!?! A high of -8 with a "feel like" temp of -36?!?!? Are you kidding me?!?! Never moving from underneath this heated blanket ever!! So cheers to all the rest of my northern friends who are probably doing the same and a big don't complain about your low of 10 to my southern friends! :-) Until I can leave my house again... I'll just keep living the dream from the warmth of this fantastic blanket!!

The Resolution List

Time for those resolutions that in the past I normally only stick with for a week (a month if I was really feeling it). But I'm feeling different these days. Perhaps it's my new found position in adulthood. (Or the massive amount of spare time that has come with it.) Anyway... I've thought of some resolutions that I think are more um... unique? than the typical eat healthier, work out more, be nicer stuff. Here's the list (Warning: some of these may be boring and adult-like since I'm apparently suppose to be one now.):

1. Stick with Lose It. (Great app that Terrod and I couldn't wait to put our long runs into that also helps to keep me aware of what I'm eating.)
2. Say yes. (You never know what sort of epic adventure will happen.)
3. Implement a serious budget. (Whaaaa... I actually have money?!?!?)
4. Pick up the ukulele. (Why not?)
5. Let it go. (As Zac Brown says. See video below.)