testing out you tube

wanting to be able to share video from the boat race if i take any with my cameroo...

so i'm posting (or at least i think i am) a video of disco tarzan.

looking forward to the weekend: blue & leah's housewarming party!
seeing chandle!
boatrace/pirates & port whores party!!!

enjoy the video--if it works.

not much to report

finally, a weekend where we don't drive in the car for hours-on-end. it's always such a toss-up: do we drive an hour and a half to be in little rock, two and a half to be in perryville, or stay put in ho-hum batesville? well, after several weekends in a row of travel and trevor's complaints about wanting to just have a relaxing weekend at home, we decided to have a batesville weekend.

friday was actually pretty eventful. we got a pretty good storm at work, which i was worried would keep us from going to the fair. but it let up, and we made our way to the independence county fair to see some of the ranch (arkansas sheriffs', not heifer) kids show their horses. the kids took quite a few ribbons, and we left before seeing who took best in show. the storm kicked up again while we were there watching, much to the chagrin of the horsies. it's actually kind of scary to watch a teeny little kid show a huge horse that doesn't want to behave itself...

saturday we finished up nari's pen in the backyard. i think it's fully escape-proof. i guess we'll find out this week (hopefully not the hard way). we watched city of god last night--very violent, but poignant.

today we've been doing our chores: trevor did dishes and mowed the lawn, and i cleaned the kitchen, did all of the floors, and am about to start some laundry. we're going to try to see pirates of the caribbean this afternoon. for our FORTH TRY! yes, we've unsuccessfully tried to see this movien here in baesville 3 times and it has been sold out. granted, it's a pretty small theater, but good grief! hopefully we'll get lucky this time...fourth time's a charm???

oh, and for those of you that are interested, i've started a new blog. i'm going to begin "practice writing" so that maybe one day i can write a book. i'm not going to make it super public (though that's pretty hard to do on the internet...), so if you'd like to be a reader and give me input, let me know and i'll email you the link.

later peeps.

testing, testing one-two-three

just trying to get my new "about me" to show up--that info is no longer current since i don't live in little rock anymore, i'm not in school, etc. i'm thinking if i "republish" it will work...

"another medium dog..."

those were the words of travis, which are pretty true with that crew. between all of us there is one huge dog, one teeny dog and about 4 or 5 medium dogs. we went to perryville saturday to see our friends, joel and ashely for the next-to-last time before they move waaay far away to iowa city (not ohio). we spent part of the day at their yard sale melting in the sticky heat, and then had some delicious bbq for lunch with joel and ashley, katie and travis, and andy and mandy. yes, it came from exxon--but it's made at a restaurant somewhere else in town, i was assured. after a bit of a rest we headed to the aplin watershed and took nari (oh, that's what we decided to name her) and katie's dog fletcher for a swim. nari is quite the natural-born swimmer, though she got spoiled by us holding her and started sinking when she was around anyone she thought should be keeping her afloat. i sure wish i'd had my camera.

things are alright here. uncle gene had a heart attack in florida, and the shit has kind of hit the fan with the family in various ways. it's really hard not being down there with everyone, but i think he'll be in little rock by the end of the week. he's going to be alright, it's just been a long road.

on the up side, i'm looking forward to some camping, a party in the rock, and the boat race/pirates & port whores party. and not being poor. paychecks once a month is freaking tough!

name that pooch!

yes, that's right, we've gone completely raving mad!!! yesterday we broke down and adopted this here pup. she's about 6 months old (or so we think) and just as nervous as can be. never been on a leash, totally not potty trained. thinks we're going to do something bad whenever we walk toward her. needless to say, i've been feeding her lots and lots of pigs in a blanket treats. she did actually sleep well in her kennel thingey we got her. we have to put up a dog yard, as per our land lady's request, but that should be no biggie. i'm hoping i'll be allowed to take her to the office sometimes, cause kari gets to bring tiko. anyhoo, this all boils down to the sweet pup needing a name. we've just been calling her "girl", and that doesn't really work when you're trying to encourage and reward behaviors. so far we've thought of fagan and veda, but i'm not so sure either of those are her... so let us know what you think we should call her, and we just might!

life is soo good

and here's a fine example of why: our 4th of july feast. no, we didn't make it to the fireworks (we later heard that they weren't that good and that the riverfront park was packed with batesvillagers), but we sure had an all-american meal. we had ribs and corn off the grill, baked beans and arkansas-grown tomatoes. mmmmboy.














another example: horseback riding yesterday. we went out with david w. (new farm guy at the ranch) and some of the ranch kids; rode down to the swimmin spot on the white river and then down to the lock. tarzan's just lovin on my cowgal boots. trevor was riding zeik and i rode shorty. how appropriate. except that i've never been on a trail ride before. in fact, i figured up that i've ridden a water buffalo many more times than a horse. the whole trotting thing...a little scary. even scarier, however, was the bucking thing shorty did to kick the horse behind him. all i could do was hang on and say "bucking. bucking. bucking." like that was going to make it stop. need to get more experience with those reigns. yikes. all in all, i loved it and i'm ready to go back for more. though i am wiped out, sore like a mofo, and i can't believe how tight my right arm is from hanging on for dear life. i think we might try to ride with david every week, if possible. and once we get comfortable we'll be able to go out on our own whenever we want. a little perk of working for a ranch that has a horse program...



















and then, in shining glory are our washer and dryer. halleluia. or however it goes. i won't go through all of what it took to get to this point, but i'll leave it that thanks to paul and melanie and reece (who knew exactly where the freakin storage unit keys were the entire time--no one in my family thought to ask her), we got them up to batesville without a hitch. trevor's even done a full load of laundry.













tonight to kick back we went to the melba to see over the hedge. pretty good and smart. i'd forgotten about the charms of going to a children's movie. laughing at things they don't get, kicking you in the head when their parent carries them out crying. and this theater sells little glow stick/bracelet thingeys. it was a good night. it's been a good week. all is good. hope you're all doing as well or better...

no, i'm not expecting!

a short, sad story to kill time because i'm one of the only 5 people in the country stuck working at the office today. (and yes, ashely, i'd agree that i'm becoming a little obsessed with this--but i can't help it).

the scene: it's after a long, hot day in trevor's air conditioning-free car running all over little rock doing wedding things and we're checking out some dogs for adoption next door to ozark outdoor. my hair is a bit wind-blown, i'm pretty sweaty, but i'm wearing a cute white skirt and a pink tank top. trevor and i are looking at this awesome, calm dog when a volunteer lady comes up to us and starts telling us about the dog. so i'm petting the dog and looking at how cute it is when the lady says to me "oh, are you expecting a baby?" yeah. my worst fears confirmed. sure, i've had a 6-year-old ask me if i was having a baby, but i chalk it up to wearing a shirt that's a little funny-shaped and to her being only 6. adults should freakin know better! i wish i'd thought to say something clever back to her like, "yeah, just as soon as trevor here knocks me up!" or "sure, in a couple of years". geez. she was totally embarassed. she should have just given us the dog.

no, we didn't end up getting the dog due to better judgement. but if we see her again there one saturday when we're in little rock, we're getting her. she rocks.

more about the weekend and finding a place to be wed to come...

friday eve my arse!

man, i don't think today could get any longer. i'm in hiatus right now on my board stuff and haven't started ANY grant writing, so i've just been researching and taking notes on foundations that fund in the areas i think i'm going to be applying in. bor-ring. i'm making all of these tedious lists, and i'll pobably never use them. but i really don't have anything else that i can really work on until next week when staff reports come rolling in...
i took my first sick day on tuesday because i thought i'd be cute wednesday and do some rockette-rockette kicks in between my jazz and ballet segments on my "dance it off" exercise video to boost my calorie-burning. yeah, i couldn't sit tuesday morning. my lower back hurt so bad, that standing and lying down were about all i could handle. which doesn't really work at a job where you sit at a desk all day. and so, today, my entire middle back is killing me, and now i'm all squirmy in my chair. i just want to go home...
i am really looking forward to the weekend, though. tomorrow i get my first salary paycheck ever! now that's cause for celebration (especially since we've totally depleted our "savings" and have no money). saturday we're going to little rock to "shop" for a ceremony/reception site. we've got appointments at the lafayette building (left), the manor house & gardens (below) and the albert pike hotel (last...though i don't think i'll have that bride there!). then we're off to perry for will's birthday party...old married man! hopefully i can get in a swim at the watershed on sunday and some sushi at some point...

bad mood

man, i'm in such a nose dive. time of the month, feeling left-out, living in batesville with no friends, blah, blah, blah. thinking i'll eat a candy bar that megan brought me back from the netherlands (nuts bars--think snickers but with hazelnuts--i'm rationing them) when i get home to cheer myself up.

on a less somber note, there's this woman that works part time here in the office that totally reminds me of the creepy little lady from poltergeist (carol anne, go into the light...yeah) in both looks and sound. it's kind of freaking me out. i don't like it when she talks--i know, i'm a terrible person, but it's a really scary movie to have to be reminded of all the freakin time!

just words

i've now successfully gotten up at 6:27 for two mornings in a row. many may say "pish posh", but to me this is quite a feat. we decided that we'd rather our work hours be from 8 to 4 than workin the 9 to 5. and this is really the first time trevor and i have had to share a bathroom to get ready to leave at the same time. hence the almost 7:00 posting.
the jobs are going to be good. trevor's doing more maintainence-type work, which at first bummed him out i think (he was looking forward to being a farm-boy), but he's come to realize that he's going to learn a ton working under his supervisor...like welding and laying tile, etc. yeah, build me a house, buddy. i've finally got a long and snazzy title: i'm the executive assistant to the ceo for program development. oh, and i'm also now the board relations gal, which means i'm starting to spend much of my time at the copy machine printing stuff on the wrong side of the 3-holed paper and saying "well, i guess i've got more scrap paper now!" there are effectively 4 different types of boards. yeah.
the house is kind of coming along. the spare bedroom is not quite living up to that name, however, because we don't actually have anything on which a guest could sleep. unless they're a cat. we're looking to get a futon, once the cash gets a rollin, but until now it's kind of the room where all of the yet-to-be-used decor hangs out.
well, it's about time for me to get ready for work. oh, and we're cooking up a houswarming idea...probably next weekend (not this father's day weekend, of course). any interest???

a series of fortunate posts

whew, i've just finished the following 3 posts with accompanying pictures. it seemed easier to split up the post into multiples. but it sure took a long time to get them just right. so take a look at what we've been up to the last 2 weeks. busy as the bees. i, of course, didn't get shots of everything, and we sure did a lot.

in fact, there's a whole lot that's left out. so here's a little list of other things we did:

*ate. and ate. and ate. meat at lunch and dinner...and i don't mean deli slices. pie. dinner rolls with homemade strawberry jam. i'm fatter, for sure.
*spent lots of time with trevor's family. and his best pal, rick.
*saw x-men III
*went to the bretheren young adult conference in pennsylvania. saw my grandmother that lives there (haven't seen since 7th grade). did not, however, see any horse-drawn buggies. bummer.
*tried to get chanda's vw bug posted on ebay. yeah, if you're looking to buy a baby blue bug, let me know.
*watched a lot of tv. animal planet. the little zoo that could.
*went contra dancing. man, i loved it! i wish i could find something like that going on around batesville.

i'm sure there's loads more that i'm leaving out, but i'm sure you're already bored to tears, and you've still got 3 more posts to go!

coming soon: pictures of the house with (ghasp!) furniture and the like. kitchen: check. dining/living room: almost check. rest of house: negatory.

oh, and call if you want the really big news...

home, home on the range

well, it's not exactly a range, but it sure is enough for me. trevor's "homeplace" is just about perfect. his grandfather built the house in the early 50s, and it sits on about 10 acres or so. yeah, the new plan: put a house on the back end of the land and start homesteading and maybe a goat dairy...mmmmmcheese (his oldest sister, chanda, is on board as well). just have to find jobs in northeast tennessee...

here's the "treehouse" trevor and his sisters grew up playing in. it's actually built on top of the well pump. sweet.









this is a morcel of the amazing farmland across the street that, very sadly, has been sold and split into a 97-lot "planned residential community" called red foxx run. snazzy. and the worst part is that the showy entrance will be directly across from trevor's family's house. poop on that.


a dark shot of trevor on the porch swing. it's really shaded and hard to believe how much cooler it feels hanging out on the porch than anywhere else.





this is a round hay baler. i'd actually never seen a round baler--only square. the baler kind of "poops" out the bale. man, i love farm implements.

a day of hiking

on wednesday of last week trevor took me to linville falls in western north carolina for a bit of a hike. it was a short, but difficult hike down to the falls and back, but it was totally worth it. the pictures i took don't to it any justice. the falls aren't all that tall, but it's a beautiful sight.
to make the trip more adventuresome, my knee and then hip were in some serious pain by the end of the day, and trevor's car's (the faithful red jetta) windshield wipers decided to poop out on our way to grandfather mountain. and, of course, it was raining. it took us an hour longer to get home because we kept having to pull the car over because trevor couldn't see. yikes. but it was still a great day.
ahh, i am the master of the squinty, chubby cheek face!
no, these aren't quite the smoky mountains. more so the blue ridge. but they sure do look smoky...

blue plum festival

good times were had by all at the blue plum festival in johnson city, tn. i sweet-talked ellen into coming into town from nc to hang out for a night, and she even brought a new pal, jessica. when we met up with them, ellen's car was on the fritz, and trevor's dad ended up replacing 2 belts! he said she wouldn't have made it back to nc without having caught those problems. thanks, hollis!
the festival was good fun. lots of art, food and music. i bought some pottery, ate an organic black bean quesedillia and a bloomin onion (by no means organic!), and listened to martha scanlan (formerly of the reeltime travelers...think soundtrack to cold mountain), the waybacks and railroad earth (both non-native bluegrass bands. love it).


in this picture we've got trevor's bff, rick; ellen's friend from "the farm", jessica; and miss ellen herself.
and here we have trevor; his sister, gwen; and gwen's bf, ben (aka "gwenjamin").

i'm baaack...

and will begin the dubious task of unpacking boxes and putting everything in its place (because, baby, it's got one). let the madness commence.

will post later with photos and tales from the two week adventure that was tennessee (and pennsylvania, and north carolina, and maybe some virginia).

oh, and i'm off until thursday when i start my new job, so give me a call and help me fight the boredom.

hi-atus

well folks, finishing up packing the apartment. we'll go to pick up the u-haul in about 20 minutes or so, and then it's even more madness to come. last night we discovered some icky stuff that tarzan couldn't keep down and i had to make an emergency run to kroger for cleaning supplies. then, after midnight, we realized we were pretty much out of boxes. gotta love packing up your pantry in plastic grocery bags (i knew i kept those for a reason). packing has gotten pretty creative. empty hangers in a bookbag. comforter stuffed into a bag way too small for it. trevor's car is already almost brimming with stuff too randomly packed to make sense for a moving truck. and did i mention that it will probably be me driving said truck up to batesville? never driven a 14-foot truck before, but i've really never driven trevor's car out of second gear. add to all of this that i've caught trevor's summer cold and i've got a bit of a tummy ache. oh, and that my family can't find the keys to the storage unit in which my washer and drier have been living. shite.

well, this will probably be my last post for awhile, seeing as i'll be in the great state of tennessee (and also pennsylvania) for 2 weeks. so i'll leave you with the above photo and this deep thought:
Sometimes, when I drive across the desert in the middle of the night, with no other cars around, I start imagining: What if there were no civilization out there? No cities, no factories, no people? And then I think: No people or factories? Then who made this car? And this highway? And I get so confused I have to stick my head out the window into the driving rain---unless there's lightning, because I could get struck on the head by a bolt. --jack handy

takin a break!

whew! i'm pooped. packing, packing, packing... what a way to spend time off.

today has already been a long day, and days of our lives isn't even over yet. at 6:15 i got up, ate leftover cake and milk for breakfast, 6:30 got on the road with a car FULL of stuff headed to batesville. i had to go up there to have the gas turned on (apparently you have to be there, cause some houses have blown up...oops) and figured i'd take what i could. note, i did not fit the entirety of that pile below into my car, spacious though it is. i was planning on being stuck there most of the morning waiting on the dude to turn on the gas, but i had just been there 5 minutes when they called. i unloaded the car and tried to take a nap on the floor, but ended up unpacking the boxes i'd brought in. with nothing left to do, i made it back to the apartment by about 11:15. crazy business.

tonight we're going to the seiter-seivers wedding...yahoo chad & rachel!!! i still remember having "girl talk" time with chad about how he had a crush on rachel our first summer at the ranch. very exciting. i don't think i've ever been to a catholic wedding on a friday before...

tomorrow we're going to vino's for our "last night in little rock"...come one come all. we'll be there around 7, so be there, yo.

long time coming

i'm back. and glad. today is the first day since last thursday that i've spent more than an hour of the day at the apartment. so i can finally post pictures and whatnot from graduation. it's been soo busy lately. friday was my hooding ceremony, followed by a party at reno's argenta cafe, then on to katherine's for some more wine, then to whitewater tavern to see the amy garland band. saturday i went to yellville with katie to a goat show so she could try to find a doe for sale, and so we could try to sell her cutie puppies. if anyone is in need of (or desire for) a male great pyraneese pup, let me know, and i'll hook that up. then i went swimming at the watershed with katie and ashley and trevor met me in perryville so we could hang out with that crowd for dinner in morrilton. sunday, of course, was mother's day. went to mass, then took my mom & dad to perryville so my dad could see heifer ranch. dinner and games at aunt margie & uncle gene's. monday was another trip to batesville to take a load of stuff, get the water turned on, and fill out some paperwork at the sheriffs' ranch. dinner at melanie's and kathryn to the quirky little apartment to watch the grey's anatomy finale (intense). yeah, i'm glad to just be sitting down on the couch. but there's so much more to come in the next few days. friday i'm back to batesville, but then on to a wedding in conway. saturday is the last day in the rock, and sunday is the big moving day. monday we're off to tennessee and pennsylvania for two weeks. my vacation is wearing me out.
here's my list of things to get done in the next couple of days, just so you have an idea of how hectic things are...

grocery store
laundry
take give-aways
buy boxes
buy stuff for the new house
pack: photos, decorations, books, dvds, rest of office/computer stuff for friday's trip
write thank-you cards
get tarzan ready for staying at friends': make phone calls, get flea treatment, get food & litter, write note for those keeping him
pack for tennessee
deposit money
cash in change jar for gas $
not to mention doing those "last time in little rock" sorts of things and entertaining my parents that seem to be staying forever.

alright, that was tedious, so here are some photos to cheer.



this is a very dark shot of me after receiving my hood. i've been told that there are better copies out there. i hope so.












this is my fabulous mickey's special affairs cake. i've finally been able to eat my leftovers for breakfast today.











here's part of the crowd that came to celebrate me: melanie, ashley, joel, me, aunt margie, uncle gene, katie, trevor. not pictured: my mom & dad, carrie & nathaniel, meg, leah, aunt cathy, linda & roy. it was a really good time, despite the incident where i had my knee caps slammed into with a keg on a dolly. much food and drink.







this is perhaps the best shot of the evening. it's miss ashley in my griffindor msw hood. stylish as ever.










and this is trevor teaching hunter, lauren frances and lindsey to play croquet on mothers day. if it were any cuter, i'd barf.

some stuff

well, the time is quickly approaching. i'll no longer be just brooke s., i'll be brooke s., msw (well, lmsw as soon as i quit being lazy and apply for licensure).

it's been nice being on vacation. i've done some reading, some packing, katie came over for a visit and to deliver the bowl i painted when we went to firefly studio last week. i've also been working on getting utilities and internet and whatnot all set up at the batesville house. turns out i've got to go up there two times next week--monday with trevor to thake another load, get the water turned on and to fill out some paper work job stuff; and then friday to get the gas turned on. so if anyone is planning on being bored on friday (not as in tomorrow) and wants to take a trip to batesville (a very pretty drive) with me, i'd love the company since it'll just be me otherwise.

my parents should be getting in sometime tonight. they've been driving for days from seattle. yikes. that's a lot of sitting. tomorrow trevor is taking me to lunch before the convocation. then afterwords (and all reading this that know who i am and live in the viscinity) we're all going to louis's restaurant, reno's argenta cafe, for festivities.

well, i'm gonna watch some tv now. i've been making myself do more wholesome things all day (except when my story came on...leah knows what i'm talkin bout), but now it's time for friends and that 70's show. love it.

breaking and entering

so here's a fun sunday:

trevor and i thought we'd take up a load of boxes and whatnot to the batesville house, you know, just get a bit of a start. we also thought it might be fun to take the tarz up with us so he could also check out the house. so we get to the house and unload. eat lunch, make a couple of phone calls, put the boxes in closets and such. tarzan was doing alright, so after lunch we thought we'd leave him there and go check out the availability of our favorite foods at the local kroger.

the excitement all begins when we get back to the house from our trip to the store. the front door had been unlocked when we showed up earlier, so we were extra sure to super lock the back door and to have the front door locked behind us. well, i go to unlock the door with the key our land lady gave me (trevor left his in little rock...what's the point in having 2 keys?), and nothing happens. nothing. yeah, the key is bum. bum.

trevor decides to try to key the door open, and i put him on the phone with the land lady. meanwhile, tarzan's at the door pawing and meowing for us (sadness). land lady says she doesn't have a key on her, and later lets us know that there's no one at the office. message: you're on you own. trevor keeps trying and trying to key the door open, and i walk around the house trying to find alternative ways in. no luck. trevor then decides to get a little more physical with the door. and breaks it down. essentially. the lock was totally jacked up. yep, we were certainly on our own.

so then trevor goes to the wholesale hardware store up the way. long story short(er since it's already gotten pretty long), the wholesale store carries crap and the door knob set he bought was junk. after trevor messing with it awhile, i decide to head somewhere else (that will be kept anonymous) to purchase a more sturdy knob set. finally, trevor gets a new knob and lock and all set up. we're good to go. drive back to little rock. get to the apartment. yeah, where are the apartment keys? you had them last. no, i put them on the counter. uh-huh, they're in batesville. only option: break into our second home of the day. fortunately enough we have the only second-story fire escape and i was able to get on trevor's shoulders, climb the ladder and get in through the one screenless window on our apartment.

we're pretty exhausted. it's tiring breaking into houses and apartments. almost time for grey's anatomy. don't forget to check out the pictures below i took of the house...