Hillbilly Hell

Yes that is where I am. HILLBILLY HELL. I have been battling little bouts of depression on and off and I think I have figured out what is contributing to some of the delusion. I am in one of the least cultured areas of the world right now. It's some sort or weird black hole of backwardness that I have to admit amuses me but at the same time pisses me off. Examples as follows:

1) No one down here knows what falafel, hummus, pita or tahini are. You can usually find one package of pita or hummus at the store but forget about anything else Greek. This REALLY sucks because I have had a major jones for Greek food lately.

2) Most of my co-workers have never left the state of Missouri. Half have never even left the towns they were born in for more than a day trip to the big mall in Kansas City.

3) None of them know who My Chemical Romance, The Pixies, The Killers, or U2 are. Most are very familiar with Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith though.

4) Everytime I bring my lunch in to work I am scutinized because its something "foreign".

5) I see new road-kill every day. I may become a vegiterrian.

6) Most people down here plan their social calendars around NASCAR

7) Coffee always comes out of a can or is instant, "what are whole beans, and what do you do with them?"

8) Soy Beans are a major crop down here, ironically no one knows what Edemame is.

8) They all think that I'm the WEIRD one.

I know there is more. But until the shock wears off I can't think of them all. My denial has been deep. I didn't put my Missouri license plates on until today, I got them in December.

Cheers, I leave you with Mel dancing around in my socks.

Wintery days and 6 years of love

Today is our 6th anniversary! Holy cow that went fast. Marriage is hard and has many pitfalls. Somedays I just want to give it up but then I look at my husband and remember why I married him. When I see him with Mel and the love that he has for her I love him even more. We were going to go to "the city" as they say down here, but we had an ice storm which is no joke here in the country. Black ice everywhere and the ice brings down trees and power lines. Because it's so spread out here it can take upto one month for some people to get their power back. About 5 years ago they had a really bad one and my town was without power for 2 weeks. They had to pull in people from other states to help. My co-workers said they just huddled in their beds for warmth. Needless to say I went home at 12:30 yesterday and didn't get home till 2:00. I saw 23 car accidents, people overturned, off into trees, in ditches, one car looked like it had been cut in half it was smashed so bad. It ruined our Anniversary plans but we are having fun just snuggling at home for now. Puttering around on the internet I found out that that My Chemical Romance is playing in Topeka so for our Anniversary present we bought each other a ticket. It will be nice to get some citified culturin'.

Squirrel Suicide

Today I witnessed a squirell commit suicide. It was a very sad moment. I saw him sighlently pray on his road to heaven just before he made the mad dash one foot left to seal the deal with my radials. Who knew a squirell could make such a loud ker-thunk.

Triumphant Return, sort-of

After a long haiatis to mourn the death of my father I am back. For those of you who didn't know my Dad lost his battle with Lymphoma on October 14 of 2006. I have now decided to get back into blogging. Today I just leave you with a pic of Mel, my princess.

Lacy

This is our babysitters senior pic. (well we borrowed her from our friends) Isn't she a dish!

You might be a redneck if...

in your senior picture you are holding a shotgun...

More about whats going on around here

Jack works with a guy named Nate who also happens to live here in the grand ole town of Sweet Springs. Nate has a nifty wife who's name is Beth. They have two really cute kids named Zoie and Zahfer. Mel loves them already. They also happen to be the only two people in this town who look like they might have ever lived in Seattle. That pic of Nate from the last post is his real hair but he usually has the mohawk spiked up. They are funny and sarcastic and have already made us feel really welcome here and Beth makes awsome biscuts and gravy. (If she's not burning the bottoms of them) Heheh.... So it is no wonder why we are friends already. Here is a pic of the party, which was a costume party, in-case you hadn't figured that out, its a group of us that dressed up.

Beth also happens to be a MySpace junkie so I am linking her site here.

PS Beth E. I think the fact that the first friend I made here name happens also to be Beth just reeks of Irony. I also find that we happen to be living on RAY street very enigmatic.

Hello Darling

We went to a costume party at our new friends Nate and Beth's.

Beth

Nate & Mandy

What have you done

I tagged this from Chef Messy who was tagged by Jenni at Sin City Spuds.
I have done all the things in bold:
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with (sort of) wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive (sort of I was supposed to be parking it)
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten my own vegetables (well, herbs, really)
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper (oh yeah! Have I ever!)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than I could afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as I possibly could
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about my life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for my computer
40. Visited all 50 states (18 so far)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then I was actually in love with the person
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized my CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love with someone and not had my heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Received flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand (sortof)
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of my parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
96. Raised children (a bit)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named my own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when I knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that I shouldn't have survived
105. Written articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of mine below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had my picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something I care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach (Then squished it)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who I missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all my school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written my own computer language
141. Thought to myself that I'm living my dream
142. Had to put someone I love into hospice care
143. Built my own PC from parts
144. Sold my own artwork to someone who didn't know me
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed my hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved my head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life
151: Been in a vehicular chase with law enforcement
152: Driven a motorcycle
153: Made soap with lye
154: Backpacked for several days in the wilderness
155: Knit or sewn my own clothes
156: Kayaked
157: Pulled a fire alarm in a public building
158: Eaten a raw habenero chili pepper
159: Bailed someone out of jail
160: Mastered a musical instrument
161: Spray-painted or otherwise graffittied public property
162: Made my own shoes
163: Thrown a personal item of clothing onstage during a concert
164: Written poetry, bad or otherwise
165: Made doughnuts from scratch
166: Changed my mind about something I believed in passionately
167: Walked out of my job, quitting on the spot
168: Jumped out of a moving car
169: Ridden in the trunk of a car
170: Drunk-dialed someone
171: Gone to a strip club or show
172: Eaten a whole pint of ice cream by myself
173: Jumped a train
174: Commited an act of civil disobedience
175: Had a crush on my cousin
176: Written a letter to a celebrity.
177: Seen 10 countries in six weeks.
178: Driven 6,000 miles in six weeks.
179: Slept in a 400 year old convent.
180: Seen a punk concert at a Roman coliseum.
181: Performed in Disney Land.
182: Swung on vines in Peru.
183: Lived near the beach of both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
184. Spent more than 30 hours in labor.
185. Had both my tonsils and my appendix removed.
186. Been hit by a drunk driver.
188. Camped on the beach.
189. Baked a 4-layer cake from scratch.
190. Given someone a fake phone number.
I am adding:
191. Gone fishing in Alaska
192. Driven 2,000 miles with just my two year old
193. Eaten wild game including Moose, deer, elk, caribou and raindeer
194. Been in an underground gold and silver mine
195. Participated in a charity bike-a-thon or walk
196. Been on a Glacier
197. Swam in a glacier lake