June Resolution Check-In 2012

So I know May’s resolution check-in got lost in cyberspace.  You will see it.  I promise.  In  the meantime, let’s take a look at May, since it’s still in the process of being updated…

1.  Travel to at least four new states.  I didn’t get to see Melissa, but I have now officially been to Texas!  I know this only completes a quarter of this goal, but it also completes a quarter of this goal!  So excited.

5.  Go on a road trip.  Road trip 2012 is completed!  I have a post in the queue detailing the cities we drove through…  On the whole, not very exciting.

13.  “Once a month.”  May was busy for me.  I got to see Larissa and Jake quite a bit in Texas.  I saw Lilac, Stacey, the other Deidree, Tony, Dylan, Amy, Amanda, Addy, her husband Keith, Kelly, Megan, and Rachel just came back from Africa at the end of the month!  Lots of people.

14.  The Great Letter Writing Campaign.  Had a few birthdays and wrote to Seth.  Sent a postcard from Texas to Steph.  All in all, a good month.

15.  Personal pampering twice a month.  I sat out in the sun and got a tan.  Does that count?  I’m saying it counts.

18.  Keep a household.  I organized my closet and started a donation bag.  Yay!

19.  Craft once a week.  I have a picture frame for the GGG-Baby.  That’s about all I did…

25.  Work on writing.  I haven’t kept up with this as much as I would like.  I feel like it’s mostly catch-up these days.

May’s teaching career step:  Started work on the application.

How’s everyone else’s list going?  Have you chunked out a few things that you’re pretty proud of?  We’ll get May up soon, but otherwise, we’ll check back in July!

The Other Towns we Drove Through and Why Jason Aldean is a Crock Pot

So I mentioned our lovely trip through the Safety Corridor yesterday.  It was awful.  It was that awful, it bears mentioning twice.

We also drove through Amarillo twice.  On our way back, we stopped to have lunch at Cracker Barrel with one of Larissa’s friends.  Their biscuits are amazing and Larissa’s friend was nice.  We do have a couple of Cracker Barrels in Colorado, but I think I went to more on this trip than I have in the past year.  We also discussed going to the Draft Horse museum, but opted to keep driving instead.

On the way down to San Antonio, Larissa also killed every butterfly in the state of Texas.  I know this because there were no butterflies on the front of her car on the way back.

We also stopped in a little town called Fredricksburg on our way there.  We ate BBQ.  It was amazing.  I have nothing else to say on the subject.  It reminded me of the downtowns of smaller cities.  Very quaint.

On the way up, we drove through Dallas/Fort Worth to get to Arlington.  It was terrifying.  Worse than driving in LA and Manhattan.  You’re going to ask me if this is possible and I will stand by my assertion.  Terrfiying!

Arlington was nice, albeit our stay was short.  More on that tomorrow.

We then spent the night in Witchita Falls, Texas.  It was absolutely tiny.  I’m halfway convinced the only thing there was the AFB.  Our room there was actually a house.  It was impressive and cheap.  If the commissary hadn’t been closed, we could have cooked our own dinner!

We also drove through a town with a sign saying to elect Johnson for Constable.  I didn’t know towns still had constables.  We also contemplated how old the sign was and whether or not Johnson for Constable was still among the living.  No, I don’t remember what the town’s name was.  They have a constable…

And that’s pretty much our trip minus the San Antonio part.  And I will get there.

Now, why Jason Aldean is a crock pot.  Have you heard his song “Fly Over States”?  Well I get the meaning.  There’s more out there in the world than these big cities, blah blah blah.  These tiny towns pretty much suck.  I’ve seen a harvest moon in Kansas.  Not worth it.  I’ve met a girl from Amarillo.  Sure she was nice, but I’m nice and I don’t live in a fly-over state.  And is there a reason you didn’t mention Nebraska or Iowa, Jason?  Is it because you didn’t think you could convince people that Lincoln or Ames was worth going to?  It’s because they’re not.  Neither is Amarillo.  If you’d sung about the Safety Corridor, I think I would have punched you in the face.

Finally Making it Around to Old Big 12 Haunts…

…And my reactions therein….

Also not that it really has any real bearing on the topic, but if I never have to go through the Safety Corridor in New Mexico ever again, I will be a happy, happy, happy girl!  (And this is noting that I already had to drive through it one more time than I really wanted to…)  I don’t even know how driving 45 mph through New Mexico is faster than any other route…  But apparently it is.  Never again.

As for old Big 12 haunts…

I admittedly kept myself busy throughout college and didn’t make it to any road games (you can also read that as I was working because I had no money to do these things, tomatoes and tomatoes I guess).  Although on an entirely separate pre-college excursion, I had made it to Iowa State’s campus.

That should have taught me something.

We spent our first night in Texas in Lubbock en route to San Antonio.  Larissa rolled her nose at it, and I kept trying to defend Lubbock with “Well, it’s home to a BCS AQ-conference school, so it can’t be so bad.”  In reality, all the buildings were dilapidated and the entire time there, it seemed like a bit of a ghost town.  It reminded me of Pueblo, really…  And that’s not a good thing.  I read somewhere once of Texas A&Mians… A&Mites?  Aggies?  Let’s go with that…  I read somewhere once of Texas A&M Aggies calling Lubbock “a barren stretch of dirt some West Texans call a city.”  And I do apologize, Lubbock, and I don’t mean to judge too much, but when the Pacific Ocean is your backdrop to age three and the Rocky Mountains are your backdrop from that point onward, it’s kind of hard not to judge and agree… at least a little… (and I’m sure I’ve complained about the “mountains” of Pennsylvania here before while we’re on the topic of judging based on landscapes).  So, Lubbock, one Big 12 haunt I am glad to have not visited in college.  We did eat a nice dinner at a cool restaurant though, so at least there’s that.

On our way up to stop by HQ on the way back, we drove through Austin.  It was pretty nice from the car window, I suppose, and I do need to visit Melissa before she leaves Austin, so I guess I will hold my judgement on it until at least then.

We also drove through Waco on our way up to HQ.  I had been taking a cat nap at the time and was awoken by “Oh, look how pretty the campus is, look how pretty the campus is!”  And the rest of the town…  kind of barren, boring dirt.  But it wasn’t dilapidated, so there’s a step up on Lubbock, I guess.  I did have a funny conversation with Anthony after the fact.

“So I was taking a nap and they woke me up to tell me how pretty Baylor’s campus is.  Maybe I wanted to sleep through Waco.”

“Read this:

‘Tortilla Tossing:  Wacoans have created a game consisting of tossing tortillas from the bridge aiming to hit a concrete pillar stationed in the Brazos River.  Learning the art of tossing the tortilla is much more difficult than it first appears and keeps players continually coming back to the bridge.’

Supposedly, guys that make the shot marry a Baylor girl and vice versa.”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me.”

“That’s probably one of the only reasons to go to Waco.”

“I see…  Tortilla tossing, very lucrative use of your time.”

So there’s that…

Final consensus on old Big 12 haunts in Texas:  Austin might be worth seeing.  Otherwise, eh.  And I didn’t even make it to College Station, though I can assure you it probably wouldn’t change my opinion…  Sorry, I’m not sorry Texas A&M.

Tomorrow!  The other towns we drove through and why Jason Aldean is a crock pot.

About the Cooler Part Three

Last but not least, the last side!  Painting maps is hard, by the way, and quite an endeavor to take on.  Luckily, we live out went where all states are square!  The “road trip” path was painted using a silver paint pen while the outlines were painted using a black paint pen.  All other parts were painted with a puffy brush and acrylic paint.

And at just before midnight, it is all finished!  Now time to let it dry and pack!  Ideally you would spray a top coat to keep it nice, but I didn’t have time for that.

Second side of the cooler.

*Please note that the pictures were added after the trip and highlight some noticeable wear and tear on the cooler that was not there originally.

 

About the Cooler Part Two

And we’re back with more cooler!  Today I completed the top and back, yay!

On the top, the entire Air Force logo, all of the lettering, and the scribble background were done with silver, blue, black, and white paint pens.

The Colorado flag on the black was painted entirely with a puffy brush and acrylic paint.  The straight lines in the flag were achieved with painter tape.

Top of cooler.

Back of cooler.

*Please note that the pictures were added after the trip and highlight some noticeable wear and tear on the cooler that was not there originally.

About the Cooler

So I know you all are excited to see the cooler in progress!  Yesterday, I primed the entire thing.

How to prime a cooler:

1. Cover and tape the inside.  You don’t want any paint getting in!

2.  Get an outdoor primer (probably white) and spray each side of your cooler carefully.

3.  Let dry for 24 hours.

And that’s pretty much it!  Then you can start painting.

Today I did the front and the side.

The lettering and heart on the side of the cooler were done with black and white paint pens.  The rest of the side was done with a puffy brush and acrylic paint.

The stars on the front were done with a white paint pen.  The rest of the front was done with a puffy brush and acrylic paint.  The “straight” lines were achieved through the use of painter tape.

The first side of the cooler.

The Front of the Cooler.

*Please note that the pictures were added after the trip and highlight some noticeable wear and tear on the cooler that was not there originally.

Designing a Cooler

So as you know, Larissa and I are headed off to Texas on the first.  And since we’re road tripping, I thought it appropriate to get us a cooler and paint it to commemorate the trip.

Expect a few more pictures once it gets completed, but I’ll give you a preview of the designs, so you know what you’re in for.

Basically the top is what we’re going there for, Jake’s graduation.  And who doesn’t love America?

So that gives you the front with the flag, and the back with the stylized Colorado flag.

The third side is reminiscent of those heart cut out jewelry pieces with my favorite verse of my favorite America song.

The fourth side is a map of our trip.

The actual painted aspects to come soon!

The Road Trip To-Do List

So last night, Larissa and I were at one of our favorite bars with Dylan and Hailey and Russel.  I haven’t seen Hailey in like a month and I haven’t seen Russel since Larissa’s wedding actually…  And I never see them out at bars, so I was just in an utter state of confusion.

While we were there, Larissa and I started making a list of things we would need for the trip down to Texas.  Please enjoy it in its entirety.  Larissa’s commentary is in quotes in parentheses.  Items that have been crossed out have already been acquired.

Paint

Plastic Primer

Cooler (I am in the process of painting a cooler.  Get excited.  Now get really excited.)

Chex mix

Gum (“Add gum to the list.”)

Lots of gum  (“Did you add gum?”)

Larissa won’t shut up about the gum (“Hey, I’m doing most of the driving and I need to concentrate!  Gum helps keeps me focused!”)

Making it rain gum (“I hate you.”)

Water

Gatorade (blue?)

Five hour energy (four?)

Mad libs

Sunflower seeds

Pillows and blankets

Music

CD with Wagon Wheel (“Do you mean every song?  You can’t make it every song.”)  CD with Wagon Wheel every other song.  (“No…..  Every fourth song?”)  CD with Wagon Wheel every third song.  (“Fine, fine, every third song.”)

Those little cracker things with peanut butter (Dylan: “Ritz cracker sandwiches?”)

Beef jerkey

And that is our list so far.  We are clearly prepared for a sixteen hour drive.  Clearly.