Random bits, neither awkward nor awesome.

So I was planning on writing an Awkward and Awesome post today, but I just don't have it together today. My brain is focused on Personality surveys and Correlational analyses and Signal Detection theory and.... Wow, I need a life. Anyway, forgive the randomness; I've got a lot on my mind:
One of my coworkers forgot his lecture notes for class, so I ran all the way across campus* with them for him. The ones I had brought to him were for the wrong class. I had to run back to his office, find the right ones {which had slid under his desk on purpose and were hiding from me}, and run all the way back. I thought I was going to die.

*Yes, i realize that "all the way across campus" isn't really all that far. I still almost died.

Work is taking control of my brain {as evidenced by above intro}. I have graded a total of sixty papers in the past week. I still have forty left in my "in" box. And another round will be turned in next week. Killmenow. {also, on a somewhat related note, why do we never accept help when it's being extended to us? I sent an email out to my students last week asking them what they found difficult about this past paper so I could change those things for the next one, and no one responded. Srsly? I'd have said "the whole thing" just to see what happened.}
I'm feeling an almost uncontrollable urge to dye my hair. I am trying to hold out until after the school year is over, just in case it turns out awful, but we'll see how well my self-control holds. Talk me down, people.

like this, kinda. via laurenconrad

Oh also! We've started to think about our "summer vacation". We got bumped off our honeymoon flight {long story, maybe someday I'll share here} and were given free plane tickets that expire at the end of the summer, so we're itching to use them! Husband doesn't get a summer break, obviously, but we were hoping to take some sort of extended-weekend trip.  We've picked a weekend {somewhat arbitrarily but still contingent on the bazillion weddings we get to attend this summer}, and are planning on just picking a place that sounds cool. {any suggestions?}
That is all.

Nine.

Because the weather is bipolar today and the sky can't decide if it wants to rain or shine, I'm choosing 9 things that bring sunshine to my days. Nine things I love today, because I'm too lazy to think of 10. I do have a full-time job, you know. 
I love that I live in a place where I can get sunburned one day because I spent my lunch break reading in the sun and then get poured on the next (I really do. Keeps me guessing. And I like to pretend it makes my body have to work harder, so I can justify eating junk food. HA wouldn't that be nice).

I love my family and everything about them. And I love it when I get to spend a WHOLE WEEKEND with them. AND I love when they send me home with snackies. We just finished the lemon bars left over from Easter yesterday and I died a little inside. I might need to make some more.

My family at Easter. We do in fact love each other.

I love holidays that celebrate something real. Like Easter and Christmas. Although Thanksgiving is great, too. Yummy yummy.
I love my job, love that what I provide for the department is appreciated, and love that I have two months of vacation coming up. Conundrum? Perhaps. But Life is a conundrum.

I love that somehow we've been getting cable in our little apartment. Which means we get Animal Planet. After last night, I am convinced I can be a cat trainer.

I love discovering new things. Like the fact that Turkey Bacon will dissolve at a cellular level if it gets mircowaved for too long. AND, when this happens, the apartment will still smell like nuclear animal products for days afterwards. I'm a better person for knowing this, you see?

I love living in a country where freedom is a given (and love visiting places that do not take freedom for granted).

I love that husband-o-mine. And I am so proud of him. That is all I'm allowed to say this week.
I love {the day after} laundry day. Laundry day itself sucks, but it's awesome to have access to all your clothes again.  My heart does a little dance every time I see my favorite shirt and pants come out of the dryer {Do you have a go-to outfit that you wear immediately after it is clean? I totally do}.
{And please don't judge me for the fact that almost half of those things are food-related. I'm hungry.}

Wheel of Fashion

Fashion has always been an interest of mine, but never a forte. When I was in Elementary school--we're talking mid-90's, so you can guess where this is going--my go-to was a giant sweatshirt I had borrowed-with-hardly-any-intention-of-returning from Mom's closet and a pair of stretch-pants. They may be called leggings now, but they were AWFUL when I chose to wear them, and I loved them. I also loved matching turtleneck and stirrup stretchpant combos as well, but I do NOT want to talk about that. I'd accompany this with a picture but Google won't even produce an image that awful. To assist your imagination, I present you a similar black-and-white version:

via US Prison Culture

Seriously.

Before I was allowed to pick my own wardrobe disasters, I had a pair of green jeans. THEY WERE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. I hated them, and only wore them a couple times, but their memory stuck with me.

Recently, pictures like this started coming up all over the internet:

 cheyenne meets chanel // brooklyn blonde

Bitersweet Colours // kendi everyday 

I was terrified.
 I resisted this trend for a long time (even if I secretly really liked it) because of those green jeans from Elementary School. However, I recently caved and bought a few pairs. They were on sale, so I figured I had nothing to lose :)

And, you know what? I love them this time around.

Are there any trends you're seeing out there today that were "in" when you were younger? How do you feel about it? I'm remembering jean jackets, faux fur collars, overalls, and neon, to name a few...

Good Friday.

Happy {GOOD} Friday, friends! It's been a long but great week, and I'm definitely ready for the weekend.  Three quick things that make me happy today:

~one~
Wednesday night's pretty salon hairdo for no reason at all {which then justified a swanky night out}!

 {snazzy blow out courtesy of Shine Montecito. They did my hair for our wedding, too!}

The bummer was that we did a workout video {involving lots of jumping and leaping and sweating and crying on my part} after the date, which resulted in absolute destruction of said hairdo.

 ~two~ Afternoon dates with my laundry machine AND a day off. Laundry is NEVER a thing to be celebrated, but this is getting ridiculous. I am conquering this mountain TODAY.    ~three~ It's Good Friday. What more needs to be said? Looking forward to celebrating the REAL reason for the Easter season with my family this weekend (because while pastel colors, fluffy bunnies, and cadbury eggs are great and all, there's a much more powerful reason to celebrate this Sunday)  :)

{taken Easter Sunday, 2009, Chiang Mai, Thailand}
Also, I'm working on streamlining everything on the 'ol blog! If you're a regular reader, you've probably noticed gradual changes over the last week or so. I'm slowly but surely working out the kinks of html coding, so bear with me! I've created a DIY and {very short} Recipe archive at the top banner so you can keep up with projects you might have missed.  AND, to top it all off, the adorable Melissa from Cherry On Top Design made me a cute signature for my posts. :) {hi Melissa!}

 

The little bits, both awkward and awesome

A little bit Awkward

• Sitting on a cafeteria chair without looking. That in and of itself is a pretty awkward thing to do. Not noticing that the chair had been already occupied by a giant spider before sitting down? Even worse. At least I was wearing dark jeans, because spider guts on my new white pants would have added insult to injury ;)
• Hearing the sprinklers start to warm up as I'm halfway across a massive expanse of lawn. There was no escape.
• Also, Husband shut the garage door on my car this morning!!! What the heck!? haha it was more funny than anything; he had bumped against the button on his rearview mirror as I was backing out, and it barely grazed the fabric of the top, but still. I guess it could have been worse.

A little bit Awesome

• The fact that I've kept this "Awkward and Awesome" thing going strong for 12 straight weeks. I'm actually pretty impressed with my dedication; normally I lose interest with stuff like this. 
• "Seeing" two of my long-distance best friends from College in one weekend (one via skype, the other for a quickie lunch). Win.
• {Sort of} keeping up with video #2 of husbands kill-me-now workout program. Okay I made it through about half of it. But I can't move today.
• SPENDING THE WEEKEND WITH MY FAM! Stoked. I know I said it last week, but it's still true.
• No more construction by our home! No more 6am jackhammering or creepy construction workers ogling us {yes, both of us} when we take out the garbage, whoo hoo! Also,  it's now an even shorter and less sketchy walk to this {always a plus}:

How has your week been? What are you looking forward to?