The Reason I Like Zombies

So in the past year or two, I've really gotten into zombies. What?! Yeah, I know. Weird.

I have been acquiring quite the collection of zombie movies, zombie books, and other zombie paraphernalia. I have a poster from my sister, and Geron got me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last Christmas and The Zombie Survival Guide this Christmas. I'm becoming quite the expert. I took two quizzes: Would You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? and How Long Would You Survive a Zombie Apocalypse? Both of my results pretty much said that I would be the ultimate zombie killer. But I'm sure you would all think that anyways just by looking at me.

So why the fascination? Well, I think it starts with my love of survival. Seriously. What's my absolute favorite show? Survivor. I've watched it throughout all of the seasons it's been on, and my wonderful father even set up a South Dakota Survivor Challenge for my friends and me when I was younger. Throwing people out in harsh conditions with few supplies is so interesting to watch!
What will they do to survive? Ok, so maybe Survivor isn't the
ultimate survival situation according to some of you. I Shouldn't Be Alive is another favorite show of mine. People against all odds fighting to live. It's inspiring.

So what do these shows have to do with zombies? Well, when it comes to survival situations, I would probably say that a zombie apocalypse is probably the most extreme of these situations. The entire world taken over by creatures trying to kill you? If you've ever seen a zombie movie, you know that few people, if any, make it to the end alive. Obviously, making it through a zombie apocalypse is the ultimate survival situation.

If the zombie apocalypse happens, find me. I'm your best bet at survival.

That Happy Little Place Called Cloud Nine

I think I might be there.

I caught myself doodling hearts all over my notebook this week.

Oh goodness, how did I get here?

A Year in Review (Pt. 2)

Let's continue on our little journey through the happenings of 2010. In the last post we ended in May, so I'll hopefully finish up the year in this post.

Two days after school ended, my summer started out right. My sister, her friend Brittany, and I hit the road for a trip to Virginia. After two very long days on the road through some major rain storms, we made it. Breanna and Brittany stayed with some of Brittany's cousins, while I spent time with Geron, a friend from college, and her husband Ryan. We spent a lot of time shopping, visiting historical sights, and hanging out at the beach. It was a great start to the summer.

------ I learned: South Dakota really needs an ocean, or I need to move.

Now, I absolutely love teaching, but summers are just so great. I didn't get a summer job. Because I wanted to travel. Because I was getting paid anyways. Because I'm lazy.

I spent a good portion of my summer riding bike. My wonderful father got my sister and me new bikes for Christmas - like nice bikes - fast and all professional looking. So I made sure I took advantage of that. In July we went on a family biking trip to Minnesota. I biked 52 miles in one day! A personal record. I'm no Lance Armstrong, but I thought that was pretty good. We were also able to go to the Mall of America, a Twins game, and an Aqua Parade. Yep.

One day after getting back from that trip, I hopped in the car with BFF Bethany and we started our long drive to Florida. The highlight of the trip was definitely a little bookstore in Georgia with no book over three dollars! Holla! Our time in Florida was spent hitting the beach, meeting up with old friends, and chillin. Cuz that's how the Flo-rida people roll. (I have no idea why I'm talking like a gangsta right now.) I flew home after a week, and then headed to Omaha with my mom and sis for a shopping spree!

In between all these trips, I spent a lot of time with Laurissa. She's pretty much my favorite. We have a lot of similarities, and she makes me feel really smart when it comes to music. So that's always a good thing.

------Pretty much freedom is really great. So are summer paychecks.

By now it was August. During this month I had a conversation. It was a difficult one. It took a lot of guts, but it was done. It was one of the most hurtful conversations I've ever had, but I needed it. This was such a low point in my life. Like lots of tears and no appetite low. But things could only go up from there. And they did. After awhile.

It was right before this conversation that I discovered the awesomeness of the band Mumford & Sons. I listened to the song "The Cave" over and over again. So great. Sooooooo great. I was also blessed with awesome friends that were always willing to listen.

-------"And I'll find strength in pain, and I will change my ways."

School started up again soon after that. It was so good to be back. I don't know if I could've asked for better people to work with! And I have such a great group of students this year. We're like a little family.

----blessed.

A few other noteworthy 2010 happenings:
Lifelight 2010 - Backstage passes, Reilly, an insane Family Force 5 concert, and this kid.
Kelsey - my sister's friend who she met on Facebook came and stayed with us. New bestie - Twitter bestie!
Read so many great books - Pride and Prejudice, The Hunger Games, The Book Thief - just to name a few of my top reads of 2010.
Reconnected with Laura! We worked at DQ together, and then we went to Dordt together, and now we're both in the Sioux Falls area! It's so great to have her around!
Became the technical director at school. This is where I fake it and act like I know a lot about computers. It seems to be working so far.
Met a boy. Started relationship. Didn't work. Relationship ended.

And then there was my car accident. I'm still feeling the effects of that one. I'm no longer wearing a splint on my wrist, but it still gets sore sometimes. Driving on ice freaks me out way more than it ever used to. The accident really showed me that my life could be taken from me at any moment. It'll be awhile before I can drive over that bridge without tensing up.

-----I learned: I am NOT invincible.

Looking back at 2010, I can see that I am so blessed. Even through the trials I faced I am reminded of James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."

Heading into 2011 my main focus has been on the phrase, "Out with the old, in with the new." Things just seem to be looking up this year, and I have a good feeling about the things to come. I am driving a new car - a 2010 Hyundai Elantra. I have a new outlook on life. And there's even a new boy in the picture! But I'll just save that for a different post....

"Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right!" - Oprah Winfrey


Did I seriously just end this post with a quote from Oprah?

A Year in Review (Pt. 1)

So doing a "beginning of the year" blog is always fun. We're all just going to ignore the fact that I am not always a very consistent blogger right now, and we'll just pretend it's the first week of January when I'm writing this instead of the first week of February. I'm breaking this up into two blog posts because so much happened in 2010. It was definitely a year full of struggles, but there were also some great moments. I learned a lot about life and myself. Here it is, folks.

It started out in January with the LoveFest - a bunch of my friends headed out to Bethany's dad's hunting lodge for a great time. The temp was well below zero, but our hearts were filled with warmth. (Wow, this is already starting out with cheesy lines?) We played a bunch of card games and had some great conversations. Now it seems that half of the people that were there last year have all gone off and got married or engaged. What's up with all this growing up stuff? Why can't everything always stay the same?

-----Things I learned: 1) God has blessed me with AMAZING friends. 2) Change is inevitable.

At the end of January, Bethany moved back to Florida after an amazing couple months back in South Dakota. It was so sad to see my best friend leave me. Again. Once again, God has totally blessed me with some great people in my life. Bethany is pretty much at the top of the list.


Snow days were abundant during this time of the year too.

-----I learned: Teachers love snow days just as much as students.


In March, I had two of my other close friends move away - to Mexico of all places. Yep. That left me basically all alone in Sioux Falls without many friends to hang out with. With a lack of friends around, and a tax return much larger than any I had received before, I decided to spoil myself with a new plasma screen TV and a Wii. It was great to have these new fun items, but my life was very lame during this time, and I was kind of in a rut. It was a difficult time. Trying to find friends. Trying to come up with things to talk about what I did over the weekend. Trying to get past the loneliness. This low lasted for a couple months. During these months we got my grandma's dog, Ginger, because my grandma had moved into the nursing home and couldn't keep her anymore. If it was not for that dog, I seriously would have been in an even worse and darker place. It's kind of pathetic, but that dog was the light of my life. It was so great to have someone greet me when I came home. She was a bundle of joy and energy that added a bright spot in each day.

-----I learned: 1) Things can never replace people. 2)Dogs really are man's best friend. Or woman's best friend. At least during that point of my year.

Soon after we got Ginger, my grandma got very sick. After a long fight, she passed away. It was definitely hard to see her go, but probably even harder to watch my mom dealing with it. It's good to know that she's done suffering, and now has a new body and is with her Lord.

------Lesson learned: God is faithful through the generations.

Oh yes, I was still getting through my first year of teaching. And then May came along. May - the craziest month of my teaching career. Very little teaching and learning going on with 8th graders who are just looking forward to that next big step to high school. Is it possible for 8th graders to get senioritis? Apparently. We were constantly off at 8th grade career day, math bee, track meets, hike day and the 8th grade class trip to Omaha. Definitely a chaotic and busy, busy, busy, but tons of fun.

------For what I learned here, I'm going to use a quote from a book I just read - Sold by Patricia McCormick: "If you look hard enough, chaos turns into order, the way letters turn into words."

Eighth grade graduation was not only a day of accomplishment for my students, but also for me. I had done it. I completed my first year ot teaching. I was even offered a contract to teach there again the next year! So that must have meant that I did an okay job of it too. It was a great year, and I definitely learned a lot.

Second blog post coming soon! Stay tuned!

Now Accepting Donations for the "Elizabeth Needs A New Car" Fund

So, my sister is typing this blog post for me, because my arm is currently in a splint. I could type it if I wanted to, but it would take forever and hurt and frustrate me to no end. What a wonderful sister I have.

Here's the story of my accident on December 16, 2010:

It was a dark and stormy morning...Okay, so not really. But it was kind of slippery out. I was on my way to work going a little slower than the speed limit and I came around the curve before the bridge by Brandon. As I approached the bridge, I became confused because there were a pair of headlights facing me and they appeared to be in my lane. I cautiously slowed down and as I got to the bridge, I hit pure ice and started sliding. Trying to slow down and control my car on the ice proved to be a big problem. I spun around almost hitting the side of the bridge and almost hitting the van in front of me that had already spun out. After doing almost a 180, I stopped just inches short of both the bridge and the van. It was a miracle that I had managed to stop in time and not hit a thing. That miraculous feeling lasted only a second and then I saw headlights heading straight for me. "Please don't hit me! Please don't hit me!" I thought in my head. Then CRUNCH! CRASH! SHATTER!

When I opened my eyes I saw that my airbags had deployed and I was covered with glass. Two guys appeared at my window asking if I was all right. "I don't know!!" I yelled as I couldn't stop shaking.

Again, "Are you all right?"

I did a mental body check, felt a couple sore spots, but for the most part I was okay. The next five minutes I spent searching for my phone, which had flown somewhere on the floor amongst the glass and books I was bringing to school that day. As I got out of my car, I realized that the ice had been a problem for several people, and it looked like at least ten cars had been involved in the crash. No one was severely injured. After I found my phone, the first thing I did was call my mom because someone else had already called 911.

Me: "Mom, I was in a pretty bad accident, but I'm okay. My car looks pretty bad though."

Mom: "I'm on my way! I'll be right there!"

Me: "Mom, no."

Mom: "I'm coming. I'm getting my things. I'll be right there."

Me: "Mom, calm down. You shouldn't come out right now. There were like ten cars that crashed. You probably couldn't even get here. It looks like I'll be out here a while before the cops come."

Mom: "Okay, are you sure? Keep me updated."

As I waited outside with some of the other drivers, I quickly realized that today was not a good day to wear my flats without socks. Within minutes, my feet were numb. It was also during this time that I felt a large bump forming on my forehead. My wrist also seemed to be a little sore, but with the way my car looked, it was a blessing to only have these minor injuries.

The cops finally arrived, but they had to process all the other cars before they got to the ones involved in my part of the accident. I waited in my car for a while with a blanket over me since my driver's side window was shattered and my passenger door wouldn't shut. Eventually, the driver of the van said I could wait in his car and hopefully warm up a bit. Then came the Keloland lady wanting an interview with someone. I agreed to do it and even threw in a "Looks like I need a new car for Christmas" line, hoping someone would pity me and help me out. No such luck.

Finally it was my turn to talk to the police officer. I watched my poor little orange car get towed away as I sat in the officer's vehicle. It looked like half of my car was still lying on the road because there were so many little scraps everywhere. My dad came and picked me up and brought me home. My wonderful boss, Sheri, had said that I could take the day off.

I spent the day relaxing, but kept noticing my wrist was starting to hurt more and more. I went to urgent care where they took x-rays, but did not see a break. They sent me home in a splint and told me to come back in a week if it still hurt.

I returned to school the next day and found out just how difficult it was to have to work with only one hand -- my left hand. I received much love from my students and coworkers, so that helped, but I left school that day feeling very tired and very sore.

A week later, I set up an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. He looked at my wrist and the x-rays and concluded that the impact of the airbag must have bruised my bone. Thankfully, it's not broken, but it will still take 4-6 weeks to heal, so that means that I will be going through a lot of Ibuprofen in the next few weeks. And asking for a lot of favors from my family. My dad asked if I was planning on joining the Dairy Association because of how much I was milking my injury. He's so funny...

Overall, I am so thankful that everything turned out okay, because it could have been a lot worse. God was truly protecting me and the other drivers. Although I'm a little bummmmmmed about my car, I'm planning on looking for a new one this week.

I'll leave you with a couple pictures.

My driver's side door was pretty smashed in. It left me with a couple bruises.

Right after the accident.

Poor car.

"Cuz We Make the Hipsters Fall In Love"

So, I'm a little bit addicted. I kind of love Ke$ha. For those of you who are not familiar with Ke$ha, she is a party girl rockstar. I don't really want to be her or anything (because she probably does drugs and all that stuff), but really, I secretly do want to be her. I get way too giddy when I hear a song of hers, and I take on the Ke$ha attitude and belt it out right along with her. (And, yes, her name is spelled with the dollar sign. I'm always a stickler for spelling.)

Anyways, my sister and I decided to have a photo shoot, inspired by Ke$ha, sort of, only a lot more toned down. I did my sister's hair and makeup. It looked pretty rad.

Yeah, that's my sister. She's fierce.

Ke$ha's new album comes out this week! Get rainbow excited! Maybe it will inspire us to have another photo shoot. Get double rainbow excited!

The "Look"

I'm pretty sure I've had a blog with this same title, just referring to a much different look. Hmmmm, read on.

We had Heartland Teacher convention today and yesterday. It's always kind of fun to have a few days off and sit through some interesting sectionals, and some not-so-interesting ones as well. You can definitely tell it's a convention of teachers. Teachers just have this "look," ya know? Even if it's not the denim jumper with the apple pin, there is definitely still a certain way that teachers look, dress, carry themselves, something. I just can't really pinpoint the one thing that it is.

Well, whatever it is, I'm trying to stay far away from it. I rock the skinny jeans, or pants, or whatever. Yes, I still buy my clothes from the juniors' section. Fine. Judge me. Yes, I sometimes get mistaken for an eighth grader when I'm around my students, but I'll take that as a compliment. I think. And, of course, I avoid the "teacher shoes." Those loafer looking things - sometimes worn with printed socks - ones with little pumpkins, or hearts, or snowmen. You know what I'm talking about. Oh, yuck. I'll take a pair of flats that give me horrible blisters way before I'd ever wear those things. I was even rocking the Snookie bump yesterday. Ok, so not really even close to the height that she gets, but someone did ask me if I had a Bump-It in. I think I know what I'm going to be for Halloween. Now if only I can find the right shade of orange to color my skin....