Just a few things going on

Since I last wrote:

- Lots of studying
- All final exams went extremely well!
- Polo Club
- Sweet and sour mix
- Online shopping
- Tim's 97% on the PCATS
- Christmas lights and tree are up - Puppy's new haircut
- Salsa dancing
- Magic bullet (and no, this isn't a sex toy, it's a blender)
- Flight Sim X Deluxe for D's
- Blockbuster Total Access 2 week free trial
- Sitcoms up the wazoo
- Self-refilling container of "Kapusta"
- Sushi with the group
- Trying out driving the Titan- Shopping with Megan

The handshake-or-hug dilemma

I find it funny when I meet someone new and pause when I have to decide between a handshake or hug. Old friends? Family of close friends? Close friends of your best friends? Acquaintances you've known for awhile? Family friends you see once a year?

I went to a Red Wings game Saturday night with Jason, Dusan, and Stephanie (not Gabe's Stephanie, a different one). Turns out, this Stephanie and I went to high school together and have seen each other dozens of times but never formally met. When I went to give her a handshake and a "nice to meet you", she ignored my handshake and gave me a hug, and I laughed.

Oh and, I realized I hit up almost everything sports-wise this year: Red Wings, Michigan football, Pistons games, and a Tigers game. Cool huh?

Our philosophy class was discussing morality and Immanuel Kant's Ethics of Duty, and how a moral action takes place in the human heart (according to the Ethics of Duty). My professor said something interesting the other day that really hit me. This is kind of how he explained it to us:

"A white priest was taken by the KKK years ago. They tied him to a pole and beat him up and told him to bow to them and admit he was wrong in what he believed. They tortured him for hours and eventually broke his jaw too. Finally, he submitted and bowed his head and they let him go. Fast forwarding, when I was still a student years ago, this man was my professor. He told our class the story of what happened. I asked him why he submitted, and he looked at me and said, 'Sometimes, you have to sacrifice your beliefs.' You see, humans are not strong. That is why Jesus Christ is above human. He did something we can not: he sacrificed himself for his beliefs."

It may be the same thing everyone from church has been telling me for years, but for some reason, it just made more sense when he said it this way. Maybe because we established the "how" and "why" of striving for morality before he even brought this up.

Oh yeah and a follow up on my last entry...
I felt bad for being impulsively mad at the one girl who had a problem with the paper I wrote, so I edited more to-be verbs and emailed it back as an "olive branch" gesture to show her it was reasonable for her to have these concerns (I knew my paper wasn't perfect). But then the other two group members called me to rant about the to-be verb/cliche frustration the other girl had emailed us about and I was back to being irritated with the whole situation.

She actually emailed the professor about to-be verbs, cliches, and not having enough transitions (she said she felt uncomfortable turning in a paper that didn't have enough transitions between paragraphs). Keep in mind this is a Management Information Systems class. I'm pretty sure the professor won't be more worried about to-be verbs than what we've actually written. At any rate, here's what he wrote back:

"These are good questions. The verb "to be" is a perfectly good verb, usable when action verbs do not suggest themselves. This verb often signals the use of the passive voice -- a voice to be used sparingly. Transitions should be used to the extent the reader needs them -- frequently, but not mechanically. Cliches should be used sparingly, since this writing is formal writing."

The whole ordeal was kind of unnecessary but I tried to be polite about it. At least it's all done and over with!

I am is were was are be being been

I was really quite annoyed when I sent out a 5 page paper that I'd worked hard on to the rest of my MIS group members to edit, and this one girl sent back an email exclaiming how terrible it was (she said there were too many cliches and to-be verbs).

My thing is, in high school, to-be verbs matter because it's not good to get used to writing with them. They eliminate the possibility of a more detailed sentence and just sound bad. I mean I would know - I'm not bragging but I was in the WC and I've seen the abuse a monstrosity of to-be verbs does to a paper, but do you ever read a book that has zero to-be verbs?

I couldn't write the paper in first person because it is about a company and the company's use of Excel and Access... and well, we're not the company.

I dunno I guess I just wanted to get the ideas right on paper first and then go back and edit grammer and to-be verbs with the group, and it made me uncomfortable that she was so unhappy with it. I've never been able to spit out sentences that are both "to-be-less" and make sense.

As for the cliches, that might have been a mistake on my part because I didn't realize I was writing those.

On a seperate note...

I've been filling in at the reception desk at work because Aurora up and married James... yes, if you know who I'm talking about, you know why I laugh (James is about half her age and half her size) Anyway, Claude volunteered me, which works out because I have an excuse to drop everything and study while I'm up here. Or write in my blog when I need a break - haha.

Funny thing that happened today, this guest came in for an employee here. I paged him and called the employee to come get his client, but I couldn't get ahold of him. So this poor client is like "well give me his cell number and I'll leave him a message to let him know I was here." So here's the client standing on the right side of me on the phone, and out of the corner of my eye, I see the employee step outside of a conference room on my far left. It took me a minute before I realized it and had to rudely interrupt and tell them they were talking to the person on the opposite side of the room. It was funny because I would hear one guy talking and the other guy replying so I started laughing too. Ha, maybe you had to be there.

This is kind of cool - a picture of a memorial for former Michigan Football coach Bo Schembechler made it to Yahoo's Week-In-Photos.

Disappointing speculation

Could a broken heart be a heart that wasn't complete to begin with (and can't seem to pull itself together)?

My guh sent me this - hahaha

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

Okay not really, but all this stuff about my eyes made me think about that movie... I think it's called A Christmas Story? Where the kid wants to get a little bebe gun or something and everyone tells him it'll be too dangerous because he'll "shoot his eye out".

Anyway, I'm wearing my glasses out in public for the first time in a long time. I think I did once over the summer, just because, but other than that, I haven't worn them outside for maybe a couple years.

I mean, I did get glasses when I was in 2nd grade, so I had my fair share of wearing them. Now, my eyes are irritated and occasionally feel a burning type of itch (I bet your eyes are watering just thinking about it). Of course my contacts are just making it worse, so I reluctantly wore my huge, asian, thick-rimmed glasses out today. They keep falling off my face and every time I go inside from outside, they get all fogged up.

My dad had surgery for cataracts a few years before the divorce. I guess he just had a blind spot that he couldn't see out of, some kind of opaque part of his eye's lens. I'm not really sure what the doctors actually had to do to get rid of it. I hope it's not genetic and this has nothing to do with cataracts. I'm kind of paranoid since my eyes are so bad.

Where do you go when you're lonely?

I just felt utterly miserable all day today, and I can't seem to stop thinking of reasons why. Am I a pessimist? Often times, I'm sure my best will never be better or will never be enough. And when I'm looking for an escape, I only end up with more problems than I can handle. When I'm looking for a person to escape to, I only end up deeper than I had planned.

To top it off, I just got home for a math study session with some buddies from class (all guys... as usual), and pretty much, our math study session should be made into an episode of the guy's version of Sex and The City, and I should be removed from the picture (and when I told Rau that, I think he took it as a compliment).

The one thing I look forward to is the little guy who is always happy to see me! He's so funny. Sometimes if he has a toy and you are sitting on the ground, he'll trot over and happily chew on his toy in the comfort of your lap :) Oh and I finally taught him "sit" and "lay" and "roll" but I think he is confused because sometimes I try "sit" or "lay" and he just lays down and rolls over.

My Thanksgiving in pictures

Wednesday night, went out to dinner with Winky, Xixi, and Anna to meet Winky's boyfriend Ken, and some friends Anna and Winky had in common. Ummm not the best dinner party I've been to.

Ended up going to the Thanksgiving parade :) Woke real early Thursday kinda grouchy that it was so early, sleepy, cold, and just a few minutes short of a complete shower. But when we arrived, I forgot about all that and the parade was worth every second! My favorite was Captain Underpants:
Probably the first Thanksgiving (unless there was one I couldn't remember) that I've really had! And we had a real fire in the fireplace, which is a big deal to me. From left to right: Tim, Cecily Ayi, Richard, Tracy, Kwang Shushu (I dunno how to spell that), me, Ling Shushu, mom, Gracy Ayi, Alex, and Alex's mom (don't know what to call her expect Ayi).It might have also been the first time there were that many used dishes in our house at once. Not just dishes from dinner and dessert, but also from the prepping and serving!
Friday morning was, of course, Black Friday shopping. Can't believe some of the deals we got, but we were also e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d, especially not catching up on sleep from the night before. Snagged one of these babies as a Christmas present for my mom:Saturday, I had a very pleasant afternoon meeting up with Tracy for coffee :) Got some new things to think about ;) Saturday night and the rest of Sunday was spent making casseroles, mini-cheesecakes, writing papers, and doing homework (not in that order).

Ten statements, ten people

I stole this from an old friend's blog:

Write ten statements, intended for different people. Never tell which one is to who. Just write things you've always wanted to tell people.

1. I want you to know that despite all the drama we've been through and complaining I do, I really value our friendship. Through thick and thin, know that I am here for you and love hearing from you! They (you know who I'm talking about - haha) will come and go, but I think that you and me will always hold true.

2. Growing up with you, I haven't realized until recently how much you have taught me about myself. Even though we are like day and night, I hope that we'll continue to get past all that has happened and continue to grow closer. I know you often become frustrated with me (as I often am with you) but you are still very important to me, and I want to look out for you for all that is to come in your life.

3. You are something else. I wish I had the words to fill the facial expressions I have when I try to say what I mean, but unfortunately, this will have to do. To keep it short and sweet, I enjoy your company and hope that we can see each other every once in awhile (if you can fit me into your busy schedule!)

4. It's amazing to think about the part of your life I have witnessed, and I am so grateful to be a part of it! I know we've been through a lot but I want you to know I'm proud to see have been able to and continue to see you excel and am amazed at how far you've come, always approaching people happily and light-heartedly. I'll never forget the funny times we've had together in the years I've known you - you always know how to make me smile!

5. Dear ____, I love you to bits and pieces, but you often frustrate me when I think you have your priorities wrong. Thanks for all you have done for me in the past, I hope that the future will continue to be a prosperous one for you and that you will be able to straighten out your business.

6. To you: I hope you know I look up to you a lot! Your words and actions always have a great impact on me, and I absorb as much as I can from everything you have taught me. Thank you for being such a great mentor and role model, I think it has, and will, have made a difference in my future to have followed your footsteps using your advice and humor.

7. When I am looking for someone who will brighten my day with cheesy jokes, there you are to make me laugh! I haven't known you for long (and probably won't see you much anymore) but thanks for a good time and a good laugh the mornings I need it :)

8. I wish you and I hadn't grown far apart. I'm sure you know, but I am jealous of your new life that doesn't include me. If I have done/said anything that offended you in the past, I apologize (can we let bygones be bygones?) Maybe soon, we can reconcile and go out for dinner or something.

9. You have always been a reliable person to turn to no matter what. Your endless care, even when we have not talked for awhile, is important to me, and I hope we always keep in touch no matter how far away you are!

10. I miss you!!! I know your life has brought on bigger and better things but I hope that you remember me (I'm always thinking about you) and where your real roots are no matter where else life might take you.

Pistons/Wizards game

I hope the Pistons pick it up a little! Like the loud guy who sat in front of us said, "Nazr - we didn't bring you here to miss these baskets!" A few pictures from the Pistons/Wizards game (yay, we won this one):

I loooove Thanksgiving parades! Two years ago, I went to a parade with Kyle, Karen, Drew, Danielle, and Ashley all bundled up with our blankets. We woke early for breakfast, got to Detroit, and grabbed a curb that was so close that we were talking to passer-bys in the parade and giving them high fives. Afterwards, I think we went to get coffee and then back home for naps (if I remember correctly we had all hung out the night before until real late too). I really want to go this year but it looks like I'll just be watching it on TV. Or as Josh suggests, on HDTV where the view is clearer, closer, not as cold, and you don't have to wake up really early to watch it. But I don't care, I mean, that's what make it a parade. Picture of the group:

Jazzy fizzle fizzle fizzle

I got up at 7:30 this morning to meet my MIS group at 8:30 at school today. Needless to say, I am in no way a morning person. Or I guess I should say I am in no way a wake up person, because if I have slept a lot the night before (I'm talking about more than the average person's "a lot"), I wake up at any time of that morning just fine.

Well when I got there, late, only 1/4 people in our group had shown up. We talked for 15 minutes before she decided she might as well use the extra time to do something for some class, so she left. This gave me over 2 hours before my first class.

By the time I walked back to my car, I was completely drenched in rain. My crummy shoes that have huge holes in their soles from dragging my feet obviously didn't stop water from soaking my socks when I stepped in puddles either.

We still haven't gotten back our exams in math like she has been promising, our usual Thursday's lunch group scattered, and I'm really drowsy from waking up earlier than usual.

What's funny is, none of this is bothering me. What is really bothering me is I have lists of things in my head that I want to get out. I have lists of things in my head I wish so badly I could sit down and talk to a close someone with a sound mind and sort through. Tempted to call D, it'd only prove to me that I really can't handle things by myself.

Words words words

Yes, I am definitely in love with this free trial of Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus! But I only get so many free trial words so I must pick and choose carefully...

So useful and helpful! Or should I say accomodative, assistive, adjuvant, practical, or utilitarian :)

More than you bargained for?

Pretty much, I've only come to conclude that I didn't realize until recently how much of a pushover I am.

It's not just for drivers anymore

Today, I was walking from class to my car and I walked up to a stop sign and stopped for a good 10 seconds before I realized I didn't know why I stopped and I didn't know what I was waiting for. Maybe it's because I got that ticket.

I feel like it has been non-stop being at school, booking it to work after school, and spending all my spare time studying, doing homework, catching up with work from work…

This is neat: Descartes says that with the question of whether mind and body are separate, “I” is established because if he can doubt his body, which he does, then there must be an “I” behind all that is doing the doubting (I think therefore I am, I doubt therefore I am). So there must be a mind that is separate from a body.

Living actively is real living for me

I know I've already mentioned this, but my Composition class, is such a joke. It's already halfway through the semester, and out of 4 papers and an impromptu essay (all in the class syllabus), our professor has not collected anything except for 3 drafts of the first paper, which we just got back last week. Either at the end of the semester, we will have a ridiculously large amount of papers and homework to do, or we will only turn in 1 or 2 papers that will make up our entire grade. 9/10 times, what we discuss or look at during class is completely irrelevant to anything our papers are supposed to be about.

I'm rebelling by not writing the outline she asked us to write for the 5th paper. Alright, I know this is bad, but common. I've worked hard up until now and it has gone to nothing. I even started and finished a 600 word scholarship essay during one class period. My advisor asked me today during our meeting why I didn't have a grade in that class, and before I finished my sentence explaining nothing has been collected, she said "let me guess... Professor ----" and then she said, "Man I should start counting how many students have told me this."

Annnyway.

This is interesting. A fisherman found a bag of 300 letters that were written to God dating as far back as 1973. I wonder where those people thought the letters went?

Got to catch up with my girly Anna over the weekend :) I can't believe how much things have changed from the days when I practically lived at her house over the summer (was it in 4th grade?) and we played "wedding" and ate homemade chocolate chips every day.

On Sunday, D and I went to Petco to look at puppy stuff and impulsively decided to revive my old, 25 gallon aquarium. It was empty and cleaned out with all the parts (filter, heater, etc.) just piled up inside the aquarium, so we bought new gravel, a water plant, and water conditioner and cleaned it up a little. After we finished everything, we realized the aerator doesn't work anymore. So tomorrow or Thursday, we're going to get airstones, some new fishy, and maybe another plant! Yayyy :) Oh and, Alandra's sister's guppies just muliplied so I might buy some baby guppies off of her too. Alandra said they're so small, they don't even have colors yet so it might be kinda cool to see what colors they grow into if I get some.

Yesterday was a real productive day at work. I feel real good about the fact that employees I work for/with know me well enough to trust me with projects I don't think most interns/co-ops have the privledge of receiving. The APS group at Ricardo is going to a Fuel Cell Seminar in Hawaii at the end of this week, and recently gave me an assignment. Pretty much, it rocks being one of two people who are familiary with InDesign (at least, one of two people in R-US).

We are going to a Home Depot home improvement clinic tonight. Tonight is a window treatment clinic, and hopefully it will give us ideas about a small kitchen window. There's this window in the kitchen that makes me nervous. I know that at night when the kitchen light is on, the people in the condo sub behind us can easily see into our kitchen, especially at us when we're doing dishes or cooking. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure out what type of curtains or curtain patterns we like by the end of the week and have it up and ready.

Starting next Monday, we're going to take puppy training classes with Romeo every week. Although I like to think he is an absolute angel, he has some behavioral problems with play biting (hard), tearing up toilet paper, and barking at the most random sounds. Hopefully this will help us get an idea of what we need to do differently or more.

Ahh gotta go to class - I'll post doggie pics later.

------- (Later) -------

Yep, she didn't collect the outlines today either. She returned a worksheet to us that we completed during class but didn't record points for these either. Grr, I'm going to be so behind next semester when I take the next level of Composition.

E n' Maggie's Wedding

Does it ever get easier?

Today...

I got pulled over for running a stop sign on my way to class (I'm still not 100% sure which stop sign he was talking about)

I locked my keys in my car when I got to work

Then, I pretty much got my butt kicked (to put it nicely) at work

=A$1+$A2 is in D1 and it is dragged to E1...

I've got the Dirty Dancing in Havana Nights blasting in my headphones and I can't stop bobbing my head/moving my feet in dancing steps.

The MIS exam about excel today went alright. I mean everything was pretty easy except one section about the $ sign. If you put a $ before a column or row's name when using in it a function, it locks the next character. The questions were like "if $A1+A2 is in D1 and you extend it to E1, what will happen?" and then we had like every combination possible like A$1+A2 and A1+$A2 and $A1+$A2 and A1+A$2 and $A$1+A2 and A1+$A$2 and so on. That section really killed me because I couldn't even picture it without the $ signs and I had to draw the question out on paper to even understand what it was asking.

In celebration for the end of midterms, I went to Beruit La Pita on my way to work to spoil myself with Garlic Dip (amaaazing), Chicken Shwarma, and Lentil Soup. I sat in this tiny little restaurant waiting for my food and thinking about one of the first intern lunches we all went out on together. That was one of our little places. Now, Brandon is back at Rose-Hulman and will probably be hired over Christmas when he graduates, Neil is getting married to Jess, Grant is back at MichTech graduating this year (he definitely doesn't want to return to Ricardo), Veronica is in the Americorp, Henry was hired into the company recently, Amanada is still floating around the area/company, and Pavan is working and taking classes part time at UofM. Me? I'm still doing what I've been doing for the last year and a half. Part time school and booking it to work in my free time. I kinda miss all the random drop bys by my desk by the other interns cuz there isn't really anyone to talk to anymore.

Anyway, the other day, D, me, and my mom took Romeo to this free puppy training informational seminar about housebreaking your puppy and about the different classes and services they offer. For about 15 minutes, they closed off the doorways, had all the humans sit down, and let all the puppies loose to play with each other. At first, my pup was shaking and whining when we were walking into the room because he was so nervous, but when all the puppies could play together (there was probably 10), it was soooo adorable! The puppies started sniffing each other's butts, chasing each other, and playfully pouncing on each other. There was this one little, white Havanese-Shih Tzu that was a cutie. He would run after the other puppies and then randomly plop down like a pillow and just sit there for a minute, and then he would jump back up and run after the other puppies again. My pup was smart :-P He would run after other puppies and when they would chase him, he would run and hide behind people's legs to catch his breath, and then jump back out again and continue running. So cute :)

What's on the agenda for this weekend? Sushi with D, Tom, and Alandra either Friday or Sunday evening, a bit of studying I've got to crack down on, and Enoch's wedding on Saturday.

Shaq is benched by a computer - haha

Weekend fun and pity parties

This past weekend was a good one, but an unproductive one on my part. Friday, D and I went to State to get Alandra, then we spent the rest of the evening attempting to make Mojitos and eating Taco Bell. Saturday, I slept in late and spent the afternoon cleaning the garage with D. We went to Zoup - yummmm - and then met up with Tom and Alandra for pool at Tom's house. Then D and I went to Josh's for a little SNL on his new, gigantic TV at his new house on his new, leather couches. Sunday, D came over before I was even up, and he installed my remote starter :o). It works now, the remote starter I mean, but he forgot to disable my anti-theft system so my alarm goes off every time I start my car. It's kinda funny. Tom and Alandra came over for the rest of the evening for Chinese takeout and The Lake House, which all I have to say is this: Farmer Jack or Meijer? ;)

On a separate note, I can't stand self-pitying people who can't seem to make any sense of their wallowing. They make like there is no tomorrow over dumb things and I wonder why they are wasting their time talking to me about it, because really, I don't really want to be a part of your pity party. Try to come up with a solution and you need someone to talk to? I'm your girl. But just want to wallow and wallow and wallow with no reason for it? Whatever.

Yesterday, I got "you just don't understand how hard it is for me that my friends went away to college this year and I'm still here... my life sucks" and I thought to myself "that's what happened to me and I'm doing just fine." I don't think I'm pathetic for having to make new friends and meet new people. Pick your ass up.

Last night was Prison Break with D and Josh... on HDTV :)

Today, I spent a decent amount of time and effort on a draft, and the professor decided not to collect it. Again. That makes it 0/4 in this class, and she also announced that we're not having our mid-term impromptu essay. What is my grade going to be at the end of the semester? Or better yet, what will it be based off of?

With all the hype about Michigan Football and Detroit Tigers Baseball, all I can think about is our first game we're going to this year! Counting down until November 17th...I'm so stoked!

I just feel like talking, but to who?

There are so many things I'm frustrated about, but when it really comes down to it, I've got nothing to complain about except my self induced worries/fears, which really amount to nothing!

I've been mentioning this amazing philosophy class I've been taking. Each class builds on the last class, and the way the material is taught, it assumes that nobody has really proven any of their own beliefs to themselves. Does that make sense? For example, most people (at least at a college stage) believe/don't believe based on what they have grown up with and the experiences they have undergone.

In the first several classes, we discussed various philosophers' theories about the existence of God as a cause and creator. Only defining the term "God" as a placement for the meaning "a higher cause, that which nothing greater can be conceived, a cause and start to life, the immovable mover" and so on.

In the following classes, we based our discussions on what knowledge has been "proven" in our class. For example, after we defined and proved God only as a cause, we then defined God with qualities/traits. Following that, we then discussed the existence of evil, then the meaning of faith, then self's existence, and then the mind/matter differences.

Anyway, one class period when we were discussing the problem of evil, the prof asked us: if we have proven (in the last class) all the traits of God, including God being omniscient/omnipotent, why does evil (both natural and human induced) exist? Most people answered this by saying that evil is needed to prove good and to test faith in God. One kid raised his hand and explained that he thought people were generally good. He gave the example that he felt if he walked into class one day and he was injured, most people in the class would probably rush to help him instead of watch him suffer. And everyone in the class was all for this idea.

Then the prof caught me off guard when he asked this kid, and the class, "then why are there so many starving, homeless, unloved people out there if you claim that people were generally good?" Another classmate replied by saying we can only give so much before we dip into our own stash.

How much is too much? I mean there is so much around us that is evil and yet we still don't seem to get it.

Can we really, truly love humanity? Without expecting anything in return? I mean one is supposed to treat others the way you would like to be treated, but is that loving with an expectation of the same in return? And what if we never received anything from others while loving endlessly?

Can we truly love our neighbors, our humanity endlessly? If it is so that we can only give so much before we are jeopardizing our own well being, maybe this is really not possible.

Then there was the discussion of faith. There was a lot to this discussion. But in part, I've gathered that it seems like the same discussion as the word "Christian". One can never say that he/she is faithful or a Christian, because all it really is is striving to be faithful and striving to be Christian.

All these things to think about and I'm worrying about nothing, really.

My little baby boy

My baby sleeping out in the sun :) The other day, my mom asked what I think about finally having a dog around. Really, it's like having a little kid around and I can honestly say it's brought our small family closer together and happier. He has such a personality; I never knew having a dog was like this! Sometimes I'm so amazed he's just a little pup. But he acts like a little kid because he sighs, snores, cries, gets scared (we just discovered he is terrified of balloons for some reason), begs for good food, curls up with you on the couch, has to toss and turn to get comfortable on his bed, gets irritated with us sometimes, gets excited when anyone walks into the house, hides good food in corners of rooms to savor for lator, watches out windows, and likes to sleep in the sun apparently!

Happy Birthday to meeee

Friday: The Melting Pot! Chicken, shrimp, and teriaki beef cooked in a red wine based fondue that was mixed with herbs, sliced mushrooms, and scallions. There were also 7 sauces to test and veggies.




The dessert platter we dipped in a Flaming Turtle (a milk chocolate fondue with pecans and carmel that was lit on fire):



I guess Quizno's was the first pre-suprise stop. I had no idea they were throwing me a suprise birthday party - I thought we were just eating there so we wouldn't be hungry at the corn maize.


Before the hayride left, here's us sitting in it. It was sunny but suprisingly, really cold.

We got this sheet with 12 boxes and we had to find 12 stamps randomly placed at stands in the corn maze.

Honey sticks :) A childhood favorite

Here's the sheet we stamped (one is a thumb print because someone stole the stamp) but we only found 11/12



The Hayride back, it was sooo hard to take a picture cuz we were just bouncing around. A couple times, I thought we were going to get thrown off the side!

The petting farm at Maybury:

Here's after the "SUPRISE!" part of the suprise party. I was bummed because I designated my camera to a certain someone (ahem) who took no more than 5 pictures of nothing but me, so I can't show you who showed up...