usher post #390832

yup. my love for usher has still not waned. especially after this picture:

imeanreally...how can you not be swooning over him? and have you seen his new puppy?????? gawllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

the next two years.

so i did it. i swore in. and this will be for the next two years...

brief.

oh hey. you know. i have this website that details everything about peru and what i have experienced thus far. but i did save a couple of pics just for here:

the entrance to my training center.

i found las vegas in chaclacayo.

a colorful confession.

HOW CUTE IS THIS PUPPY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

fact.

sometimes, when i am searching for pictures of "cute animals playing baseball," it is NOT what other people consider as "cute animals playing baseball" (read: two old bald & shirtless men massaging each other's shoulders on a park bench...WHAT?!). 

...and yes, that was a real search query...a little less judgment would be appreciated. 

nailed it.

if you know me at all, you are more than familiar with my love (some would call it an unhealthy obsession) with nail polish and creatively expressing myself through my nails. i follow multiple diy nail blogs, and often try my hand at their creations. typically it results in my nails being a mess, however i found one on diy newspaper nails and it was a success. and i can guarantee you that the next time you see me over the next few days, i will show off my nails to you.

one last time.

last night marked the end of an era. i would even venture to say one of the greatest eras of our time.

bowling season has ended. and though we finished in second place this season (the dc bowlers came in for a sneak attack win), i am going to miss my werewolf bowl-mitzvah family. our last team photo can be seen above. and we had so many surprise supporters last night. who knew our bowling touched so many lives?

thanks guys for your support! and thanks dad, donny and berg for making all of my werewolf bowl-mitzvah dreams come true!

also, don't forget to add/follow/visit my new website for peru, so that you can learn about everything that i am currently and will experience while in the peace corps! 

13x9.

this past sunday's church potluck had a 13x9 theme. there has been a large influx of people in my ward (congregation) over the past few weeks, so the goal was the maximize the amount of food in ratio to those likely to bring food and those who would attend. i had tons of left over candy from my goodbye party (thanks again dad and jill!), so i brought a 13x9 dish of my specialty, candy casserole:

believe it or not each layer was intricately thought out. color-coordinated jelly bean layers topped with gobstoppers and drizzled with gum drops. and surprisingly, it was a hit, with half of it being eaten in just a short time.

also, don't forget to add/follow/visit my new website for peru, so that you can learn about everything that i am currently and will experience while in the peace corps!

thirty4thirty.

mike turned thirty. so of course the best/only way to celebrate was to light matches and watch them burn, make a wish and blow them out before we set the apartment on fire. talk about the ultimate man candles (if you remove all the hot glue that was used in the making of this). also. i had my dad saw the wood for me...seriously, would you trust me with a saw???

anyways, this is how it turned out:

before:

during:

after:

happy (late) birthday (again)!

also, don't forget to add/follow/visit my new website for peru, so that you can learn about everything that i am currently and will experience while in the peace corps! 

first world erin problems.

having to turn down froyo in order to leave room for the chips and salsa festival.

feliz cinco de mayo!

just can't get enough.

i seriously switch off between my browser tabs to grab glimpses of these two:

but don't fret the last one is my new desktop background at work.

in other news, check out my new blog for peru: www.perusingperu.com! five weeks and counting!

happy b(earth) day.

every year, i am pleased as a peach to share my day with the earth.

i had the best little birthday weekend that a girl/27yo could have. 

it included bingo with those i like the most (yes, that includes friends and old people...all old people), and an all lower-cased letter cake accompanied with pinkberry deliciousness.

this entire weekend left me grinning ear-to-ear. in fact. i am still just the happiest girl in the world. 

happy texa-versary.

can you believe it's been one year since i have left here:

and drove across the great u.s.of.a. and saw this:

and this:

and have been living here:

me either. me either.

pity the fool.

fyi. april fools day was a few weeks ago. don't think i let the day slip by without a prank.

i made some tasty looking treats for some friends:

however, when they took a bite out of them, this is what they found:

i hard-boiled some eggs, and even left the shell on. then dipped them in chocolate. best. prank. ever. 

m.i.a.

hi. i have been a leeeeeeeeeetle mia this month. i have been working on my new peace corps website. it's slowly going to be something great, so why don't you go ahead and bookmark it....

in the meanwhile, enjoy this little gem that keeps on giving...

unprepared.

today i was unprepared to lose the feeling of my mouth, tongue and nose until 1:30 pm, which came as a result of the three novocain shots i received at the dentist this morning. 

today i was unprepared to sit in a stairwell in my office building for 90 minutes, while about a dozen tornadoes haunted the dfw-area, with two touching within blocks of my office.

today i was especially unprepared as i was strolling through the mall on my way to pick up my daily dose of froyo, when as i passed a gent, he said to me, "hey beautiful." in fact, i was so unprepared for that i was afraid to turn my head to acknowledge him, as the last thing i anticipated was for him to be so normal looking. surprise. i was also unprepared for that.

today/right now/tomorrow i am, apparently, unprepared to sleep. although, i wish i was. 

the grand finale.

my trip would not have been complete without some karaoke.

don't worry. i definitely belted out "countdown" by beyonce. you know, this one:

and a late night would not be complete without a trip to dick's. 

seriously. why do we not have these in texas?!?!?!

family.

this is my family. and i love and miss them too much. no apologies for the cheese.

the (real) hunger games.

we went on a trek. a northwest trek. we survived the hunger games, though we heard the echos of the faraway cannon signaling the other fallen tributes.

the hunger games.

cathans + erimri + charding = hunger games premier.

march showers bring september flowers (and vows).

while in town i threw a bridal shower for my love, angela. though it was a hefty job, it turned out delightful and was full of delightful people. and hopefully, the bride-to-be was delighted. i just love her.

bride-to-be (not me, duh)

friendzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!