Day 11 - Favorite TV Shows

Oh man, this one should be easy! I've mentioned that I am a connoisseur of trashy reality TV, but I also watch good TV too. Clearly I don't watch any of it live - who wastes their time on that?? jk...I either use hulu or my friend, Megan P, is nice to enough to TiVo some shows we like. Here's the list of shows I always make time to watch:

1. Arrested Development (It's not on anymore, but it's comical genius!)
2. Modern Family - I really wanted to post the scene where Phil has the kidney stone, but I couldn't find it. It brings me to tears every time. "Maybe it's because there's an ALIEN inside me!" hahahaha...
3. 30 Rock - It's always funny. Every time. I love Tina Fey!
4. The Bachelor
5. Any Real World/Road Rules challenge
6. So You Think You Can Dance (of course!)
7. And if I can catch it...Wipeout. Holy crap that's funny to watch. How is people falling off of big bouncy balls, or getting socked in the face with mechanical boxing gloves not funny? It is.
8. Oh yeah, and Glee. The novelty is wearing off on me, but I still like it.

So, there you have it!

Day 10 - Something You're Afraid Of

Hmmm...I don't really have any paralyzing fears. I don't like spiders, but because I've lived on my own for so long I've learned how to kill them with a broom, pick them up with a HUGE wad of TP so that you don't feel the body at all, and flush them IMMEDIATELY. I actually have a great story about having to kill black widows with my friend Megan V when I lived alone a few years ago. haha! Ask me sometime and I'll draw a mental picture for you.

I don't like snakes. I run like the dickens if I ever hear rustling in bushes near me. When I was on a 10 mile night run in October, a huge rat ran across the sidewalk in front of me into some bushes and I didn't even freak out. That's totally unusual for me, so I had to have been in the running zone. Usually if I see a mouse or a rat I head for the hills/chairs/tables/whatever!! Their tails creep me out. Ok, so I actually am afraid of rats then. And birds. I absolutely hate birds! I have a fear that they'll peck my skin or eyes out and I cringe every time I come near one...just waiting for the attack. I didn't take Behavioral Psych in college bc they have a mandatory lab where you have to work with rats and chickens. That's partially the reason why I won't go on in my degree bc I know I'm inevitably going to have to face that. How ironic....face my fears to get a Psychology MA.

I also hate man-made heights. I don't trust them. Really tall open buildings and bridges make my knees go weak and I can't look down - just out. Speaking of which, I'm afraid of the stupid elevators in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. They're so old and they're on these huge cranks and gears that you can totally see and I always envision the cables snapping or something and those jam-packed elevators plummeting at rocket speed to the ground.

It's really, really odd that I ever went bungee jumping bc that bungee tower is pretty much made of nothing and then you JUMP OFF of it. Idiot. Put me on a mountain though and I'm good. I'll get as close to the edge as I can!

Oh, and I'm afraid of the ocean. That's totally legit. I start to hyperventilate as soon as I can't touch. I'm afraid I'm going to get swept away in some crazy current and drown or never come back. Sidenote - I almost drown in the Raymond pool with Robyn W when we were like 6 and Matt saved our lives (it was very traumatic), so I think the whole water/ocean thing may have something to do with that. I'm getting wayyy better though and I'm trying so hard to overcome this one. I actually give myself pep talks when I'm in the ocean and will go out where I can't touch now, but I'm very aware of my breathing and have to control it. AND...I'm afraid of critters in the ocean. Blech! If something brushes my leg I lose it! I'm terrified of getting stung by a jellyfish.

Ok, so I forgot I was such a wuss about a few things. So sue me!

Day 9 - Put Your iPod on Shuffle, first 10 songs

I don't know why, but this is the one I've been looking forward to posting the most! I loooove music, and I always laugh when my iPod is on shuffle at work because I'll get a hymn and then next will be Rage Against the Machine or Lloyd Banks. Needless to say, I have quite the variety of music on there. To spare you all my nerdiness, I'll skip the Harry Potter bits and the boring stuff like hymns and write down the first 10 besides that. This should be interesting...

1. Secret - Maroon 5

2. Holiday - Madonna

3. The Music of Life - Mark Doubleday

4. Not Ur Girl - Katherine McPhee

5. Apathetic Man - Goldrich & Heisler

6. All My Loving - Jim Sturgess

7. Bust Off - Medina Green

8. The Two of Us - 'N Sync

9. Pheurto Skeurto - Sunny Day Real Estate

10. Saints and Sailors - Dashboard Confessional

Day 8 - A Place You've Traveled

Well....we all know I've traveled a bit in my day because I am my mother's daughter and will go ANYWHERE! I'm clearly not going to pick just one picture or place! What would be the point of that?? We travel so we can see it all and share it all, right?? So, how about I tell you all the magical places I've been and the places I'm planning on going next? Sounds fun, right? Ok, well it does to me. First of all, I have to say that on my "Bucket List" I plan on visiting every continent. I have a lot of work left to do, but I'm hoping to marry someone rich who will retire early and take me around the world! Too much to ask? We'll see about that...

I wish I had a little map that we could put pins into, but we'll just start at the beginning-ish and do a short run down. I have to admit that while I was looking through my old pictures I got totally carried away and wanted to add every picture, until I remembered I'd already blogged most of this stuff in the past. AND I didn't even get pics on here to cover everywhere I've been! For example: Vancouver BC, Seattle, Portland, DC, Denver, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California, Utah, Montana, Idaho, etc. will just get a shout out!

Honolulu, Hawaii spring break...Sophomore year of college I think...

Mt McKinley, Alaska

All over Alaska - pretty much Anchorage to Fairbanks and a ton of towns in between before we drove down the ALCAN Hwy back to Idaho. We went through Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, and then Idaho.

The original Haufbrauhaus in Munich, Germany

An entertaining and scenic road trip through little German towns to Hohenschwangau, Germany which is where the Neuschwanstein castle is. ps...this pic is taken from the oldest, highest, scariest bridge known to man!

Amazing Venice, Italy

Beautiful Florence, Italy

Historic Rome, Italy

Mon coeur, Paris, France

(as well as Giverny, Nice, Cannes, Fontainebleu and several other little French towns I visited when I lived there.)

Magical London, England

(where I went to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station, and where I saw Wicked for the first time. Magical.)

Incredible Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Next I think I'd like to go to New York City, NY then Australia, Japan, Egypt, New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, a Mediterranean cruise to Greece, and a quick trip to Antarctica. :)

Day 7 - Favorite Movies

Day 6 - A Song That Makes You Cry and Why?

There are actually a few songs that have made me cry over the years. Not much makes me cry anymore, because apparently I'm made of stone. BUT, I will give you a little list of the ones that have made me cry in the past and still sometimes do.

"My Immortal" by Evanescense (a break up song from my college boyfriend)

"A Moment like This" by Kelly Clarkson (my roommate Heather's and my song. I posted about it once before, but we would sing into wooden spoons and perform for our roommates whenever we heard this song. She passed away a few years ago and I miss her every time I hear it. Sometimes I cry, but I always laugh a little too because the memory of it is so funny/precious to me)

"Slipped Away" by Avril Lavigne (when my cousin Tasha passed away in 2005 I would go to her gravesite every Thursday on my lunch hour because she was buried up the street from my work, and she passed away on a Thursday. I would listen to this song every single time I went to visit her and it would make me cry because I missed her. It still does.)

"For Good" by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth from the Wicked soundtrack. (my best friend Joni and I went and saw this in London on the last day of our 2 week trip in Europe. It was the best trip of my life, and also one of the best nights! I actually used a few phrases from this song in my Maid of Honor speech at her wedding too. I know it sounds super nerdy and corny, but the words in this song are very applicable to our friendship.)

Day 5 - Pictures of Things that Make You Happy

Oh man, there are so many things that make me happy!

The beach

The mountains

(This is Waterton, which is probably my favorite place to go in Canada)

Running

A good book

Daniel

Flowers

Food

Traveling - ANYWHERE!!!!

Music

Dancing

(Watching it, of course, because I'm not a very good dancer a wish I could have taken lessons)

A good thunderstorm