Minnehaha Falls

Us in the Minnehaha

How idyllic.

Love the contrast of the dappled organic leaves to the stark rigidity of the broken rocks

Top of the falls

These little bugger got on me twice. I freaked out both times. For some reason, these caterpillars FREAK me out.

I love the texture of this shot

Foggy Morning

There was some fog the other morning with the sun striking it through a tree and I thought it was gorgeous and had to attempt to capture the ethereal for posterity...

Me to the No Monie!

Cory and Luana @ The Market

Shaun feelin' good before he was feelin' wretched.

Me drinking from Das Boot

The bouncer @ Das Brewhaus

Me and Catie and a scary 'That Guy'

Cora and Dora! (Of Course!)

Oval Kittah!

Youuuu caaaan't seeeee meeee!!!

Heh. You found me.

Look at me, I'm CUUUTE!

Despondency Reigns

Turns out that because I am temporarily employed, we cannot get a mortgage for a house (we were going to get a little extra to pay off credit cards {and not run them up again} and pay off my car because the interest on a mortgage is a lot less than a credit card) so that we'd have breathing room for monthly bills that go along with a house. But basically, it's pointless. I have a job that I really don't think that I am going to enjoy (even though I really like the people I work with and the corporate culture - I get to wear jeans to work!) that is probably ending in 3-6 months, with no guarantee that I will have a job in the end. There is nearly literally nothing in my life that I am pleased about. My weight is depressing me, and I cannot seem to gather the willpower to do anything that's hard about it, and I don't have the dinero to do anything that costs money (gym, personal trainer/motivator, weight watchers, etc.). My personal life could be better. But like my mom says, I shouldn't feel like I owe anything to anyone, and that I am responsible for making me happy. I just think about the odds stacked up against me/us and it just seems impossible. Why can't we just win a million dollars? I realize money isn't the answer to everything, but it sure would take care of a few problems and let me concentrate on the ones it doesn't fix. So for now I just sit and think, think and sit, and become despondent. And as I do that. the hole gets deeper and deeper....

I am gainfully employed!

Today will be my first day. It's for a company that makes those security towers that you see by the door when you go into, say, Target or Kohl's, etc. Should be interesting, can't wait to get into it and see what it's all about! :)

Sorry that I haven't been calling you, friends. I have been doing poorly on that lately, and for that I apologize. Just seems like that lately, just existing was too hard. (Sad, huh?) But now that we have two incomes again, things should be looking up - so expect a call from me! :D

I have a lot of pictures that I've taken recently that I'll post at a later date.

Still Jobless

I'm getting really down. Like, can't-get-off-the-couch-cries-at-a-sink-full-of-dirty-dishes down. We REALLY need me to get a job. I go on interviews for nearly every resume I send out, but apparently I am doing something wrong in them since I never get the job. The one job I really really wanted I didn't get. I just begin to wonder why I went thousands into debt to get a bachelor's degree. It's done me nearly no good. I have multiple staffing agencies working for me but it's been a tedious process.

The fact that Shaun's car has been a major pain in the ass hasn't helped any either. I don't know how much I've mentioned, but here's a quick (I hope) summary: Shaun used my last paycheck from Microsoft to use to purchase parts for his exhaust (which I had told him he could get for his birthday, but I thought that we had agreed that he wouldn't get it until we could afford it, which he interpreted as 'Dana got another paycheck'). So he took it up to my parent's house to put it on, but it of course did not go smoothly. So he drove it back down to our place. The following weekend he drove it up to his buddy Dan's place to fix it and bought new gaskets for it. Well, they got everything off but one bolt that went on sideways. So we had no choice but to tow it down to our place again. It was not driveable due to the check engine light being on. So then the following weekend he put post on his Subaru forum and some guy offered to haul it to a shop for him to fix it. Then last weekend we decided to just put the whole exhaust on it and call it done. So that was done, but it kept throwing error codes. So now we aren't sure if it's just because one of the coils became impacted or if the valve/piston ring are wrecked. . So yeah. That's that. Stress and money! But I'm sure it's the same for pretty much everyone.

WORST DAY EVER!!!!!!! RIP...

Found out that my bestest best friend ever has ceased to exist today. We spent some time together this morning and when I tried to get with them again this afternoon, no go.

THEY'RE DEAD.

Turns out that Disney, who owns Drive 105 (go here), KQRS and 93.7 X is selling out to Citadel Broadcasting. Disney is also responsible for destroying my previous favorite radio station, 93.7 The Edge.


Rest in peace, Drive 105, rest in peace. You were my bestest best friend only for a short time, but you are irreplaceable. Especially not by love-oriented soft-rock oldies.



Edit 5/8/07: I was hoping to get one last peek @ Drive 105's site. Well, it is now changed to Love 105. I listened to its stream. It SUCKS. I cannot believe they replaced my Drive with utter crap. Sorry if I am offending those of you who actually enjoy the new genre, but I am so disappointed. As soon as I love a station, it's gone. :( Poor me.

No job yet...

Hey, all - I was hoping to have heard from someone Friday about my employment status - yes or no. Anything, either way, would have been nice. So now I am assuming that they are both "no", even though my mom and Shaun say that the process just might have taken longer than they expected. But I'm not sure... Hopefully they'll get back to me tomorrow about it. That'd be nice. I just hate not knowing. :)

Shaun's car is inoperable. Due to one stubborn bolt, they could not extract the exhaust to reposition it and bolt it back on. They burned through 4 saws-all blades on it and were apprehensive about the possible side effects a plasma cutter might have on it . So we have discussed it and decided to wait until I am employed to get it taken to a shop and repaired (a shop has insurance in case anything goes wrong and they'll replace the damaged parts...). In the meantime, he will carpool to work. Dratted thing, I wish it just would have worked, but apparently right now we are in a 'won't work' period. Ah, well.

Friday night we were up in Forest Lake at Shaun's buddy Dan's place (that's where he drove his car while it more or less worked to 'fix' it...) because I had to drive up and drive him down while the tow truck brought his car down to our place for us. We were told that he would be there no later than 7:53pm, but it wasn't until 10:30pm or so. But I played Guitar Hero in the meantime with Hannah (they made me feel awesome at it even though I hadn't played in like, 2 months) while the boys took the cars around the rally cross track in Danny's field.

Saturday we went to the auto cross in the Valleyfair parking lot to see Dan and Raska race. Turns out they got there too late for registration, so they were just watching/judging. But that's ok, since it started raining after we'd been there about an hour or so. We then went home and crashed for a little while, then drove to the Midtown Global Market to eat at Salsa a la Salsa for Cinco de Mayo. Their food is pretty good, and their house margaritas were $3.00. Luckily for me, their house margaritas also included the strawberry blended type. :D Their margaritas whomped El Lorro's margaritas' ass. Then we came home and crashed some more. Watched this Canadian show, 'Trailer Park Boys'. It was ridiculous. No taste at all. I think the correct phrase to describe it would be 'absurdly comedic'. Today we did a little grocery shopping, and then we stopped at the office to tell them the ceiling is leaking again (like the 4th time since we've moved in here...) and that we'd be moving out at the end of July. The plan is for us to rent something else like, early-mid July and get our rears OUTTA this place. It's just depressing anymore. This place is such a bummer. At any rate, we picked up a little in case the maintenance man comes and I should start sewing my tank top that I have all cut out, but I'm afraid to start in case I mess it up. Wish me luck on that and everything else!!!

Flowers for a 'thank-you'

Cory and Shaun goofing off at our mini grill-out

Andrea not wanting her pic taken

Cap'n Cory at Lock & Dam #1

Our shadows below the roiling boiling dam

The deep-throated roar felt like it was emanating from your own chest

Cory and Andrea @ Lock & Dam 1

Y is for Yarn!!