Snowy morning

The first big snow of the season. I don't think it'll last, but the yard was pretty this morning. It's a nice feeling to be happy about snow rather than dreading it (which I'm sure I will be by February).

Practical beige

The transformation of our bedroom from very impractical greet to practical beige is complete. I am in love with it.

American Gothic



The Final Product

This was our first self-attempted paint job. Here are my thoughts:

I am extremely happy we decided not to prime the walls. Two coats was painful enough, and sufficient enough to cover up the green.

Painting is a long, sometimes painful process (at least if you're painting a cathedral ceiling like we were). It takes some muscle and a lot of focus. I admit, I was ready to call it quits after we finished the first coat. You don't realize how much wall space you have until you try to cover every inch of it.

My mom was such a big help with this project. Her dedication and enthusiasm kept us moving. She also decided to pretty much clean our whole house and do laundry and dishes before she headed home on Sunday. Such love.

Now it's time to try to get the curtains up before Peter's family visits this weekend. This will be a short but busy week what with trying to get wedding thank you notes sent (uh, finally, now that we have our wedding photos), planning for the in-law visit, preparing my Thanksgiving side dish contribution (sweet potato casserole) and of course work as usual.

Playin' it safe with paint

Tomorrow (technically today) we paint.

Practical Beige. Playin' it safe. But anything is better than this:

I see the family in me

Every time I see my grandparents it amazes me how much of them I see in me. I am fairly close with all four of them and have always been that way, but it's not like I was raised by them so sometimes it freaks me out when I realize how much we have in common and how many of my traits - good or bad - seem to have been plucked directly from them and placed in my gene pool.

Let's start with Nanie, my dad's mom. She is the grandparent that bears the most animosity from the family. She's very clean and organized, and unsurprisingly controlling. She knows what she wants and she is very outspoken - so much so that it can come off as rude at times.

I definitely would not consider myself outspoken, but I completely identify with Nanie on the controlling/organized/clean-freak level. The first thing she does when she comes over is head for the kitchen to start cleaning. She used to drive my mom crazy by actually reorganizing our kitchen whenever she would visit. She once told me that she finds ironing relaxing. She always has a plan and sticks to it. It's hard for her to rely on others to get things done. And as crazy as all that sounds, I identify with all of it.

Then there's Papa Tito, my dad's dad. Pops is the one that everyone likes. He was always fun to play with when we were kids. He would push us on the tire swing and tell us funny stories (looking back I realize how many weren't actually true). He let us watch movies our parents probably wouldn't.

It wasn't until I headed down to Florida and visited my grandparents on my own a couple years ago that I realized he's a lot like me in a very big way - he's involved. He's like the senior citizen version of the college me: on the board of directors of his condo building, in various social clubs, an avid exerciser. Okay so he's not in 15 different organizations, but I suspect I'll slow down a bit by then too. He overextends himself and takes on leadership positions and gets flack from Nanie for being underappreciated.

On my mom's side we have Nana, who doesn't have a bad bone in her body. She's soft-spoken on the outside but she does have her opinions. She's a total germaphobe -- brings "handy wipes" to restaurants and embarrassingly makes us use them before we eat. She loves to sing and write silly poetry. She's cuddly and oftentimes paranoid about things that old women are paranoid about.

Sometimes I wonder if I'll be exactly like her when I'm a grandma. Then I realize I have too much Nanie in me to be completely like Nana, so I'll be some sort of weird combination of the two of them. If you met them both you wouldn't think that's possible.

My mom's dad, Pa, and I have bonded over many things through the years. Growing up he would teach me magic tricks. I was his little magician and we'd perform magic shows for the family. More recently he's gotten into Shakespeare, and often writes sonnets that fall somewhere between goofy and profound. He's learned how to properly use thee, thy and thou and puts them into practice whenever he gets the chance. He's a good writer. At my eighth grade graduation he gave me a long typed-out letter that I can't quite remember the details of now, but I know I'll cherish in the years to come.

How am I like Pa? I write and I think. Pa used to be much more brazen and fiery, but I've noticed a mellowing out in him as he ages (he's nearly 88). I've seen his thoughts turn more introspective and somber. I relate to that quiet intellect. I often pray that God will open his mind and his heart so his thoughts can find peace.

So what am I saying? I'm an organized, controlling, clean, involved, silly, cuddly, germaphobic, melodic, paranoid, introspective, literary combination of my four grandparents. I love them all more than I can describe.

I'm back

My 21st year is old news. I'm 22 now; I've been married for almost two months; I have a full-time job; I own a home in suburban Milwaukee.

Wow.

How's that for a change of lifestyle?

I sound old. I promise I'm really not though. I'm still just attempting to make my way through post-college life and find my place in this new arena of job/marriage/home. Sometimes I feel like my exterior projects someone much more mature than I actually am.

So this evolved blog is my place to document it all. More to come.

Day 264: Plus or minus one

So, unless I use quotation marks around my name, my efforts to Google myself are thwarted by the fact that there is an H-list celebrity with my name. That's right, I'm referring to Allison Fonte of the 1977 Mickey Mouse Club revival. Thanks to Wikipedia, I have learned that we share more than just a first and last name. Her birthday is June 6 (1964). Mine is June 5 (1986). So we have the same name, plus or minus one letter, AND the same birthday, plus or minus one day (and 22 years - but hey, that means this year she is twice as old as me, and that's kind of neat).

Day 263: Argue fiercely for your Oscar pick(s) here

(My first "Daily Buzz," or whatever it will be called, sample post)

Each year when the Oscars roll around, my friends have elaborate discussions about who should win what award. Not being the biggest box-office fiend, I usually feel left out and instead argue fiercely for the only one or two nominated films I’ve seen that year. Sometimes it works; but unfortunately “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” isn’t nominated in every category every year.

This year, “Juno” is the only best picture nominee I’ve seen – and of course loved (By the way, Diablo Cody went to my high school, Benet Academy in Lisle, Ill.) I keep telling myself I’ll see “No Country for Old Men” at The Oriental this weekend, but as of right now I’m right on par with my usual singular Oscar pick. So bear with me as I give my best pitch for why “Juno” should win.

I’ve heard gripes and grumbles from reviewers, friends, acquaintances and strangers about every film nominated for best picture – except “Juno.” They say “Atonement” was boring; multiple sources have told me they thought “No Country for Old Men” was too depressing; “Michael Clayton”… well I haven’t really heard anything about it (has anyone even seen it?); honestly, I haven’t heard anything bad about “There Will Be Blood” except that maybe it’s too bloody (okay, I’m scraping the barrel on that one). But everyone I’ve talked to loves “Juno.” It’s unpredictable, lighthearted, sweet and funny - really funny. It's uplifting. There's nothing bad TO say about it. It's just an all-around crowd pleaser. When was the last time an all-around crowd pleaser actually won best picture? I think it's about time. The end.

So, clearly, I'm no movie critic. But I will say this: if we're to trust Rotten Tomatoes, "Atonement," with its pitiful 82% should not even be nominated. "Michael Clayton" isn't looking so good either, with just a 90%. "TWBB" is next with 91%, "Juno" with 93% and finally "NCFOM" with 94%. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't lie. "Juno" and "NCFOM" should be the front runners.

Oh, and my last two cents are that "Ratatouille" should win best animated film, Johnny Depp best actor, Sweeney Todd for whatever else it's nominated for and "Waitress" for whatever it's nominated for (if anything at all. It's just on my mind since I watched it the other night while eating a slice of peanut butter cup pie from Bakers Square. Yum).

Hopefully those of you with some more experience with the movies can argue a better case for your favorites. Obviously I could use some help from you with my picks. So, here's your chance - give me your best shot. Who knows, maybe The Academy will read it and it will influence their decision.

(End of sample blog entry). Okay, so clearly I am all over the map with this blog post and for fear of being seen as a psycho I will have to edit it severely before showing my boss... but at least it's in print somewhere. And I entertained myself in the process. Look for more in the coming days.

Day 262: I can be a talker - no, THE talker

My oh my, 21st year where have you gone? Day 262?? When did 100 Day even happen? I missed my chance to make a list of 100 of something or bring in 100 pennies for show and tell (that was what I brought on 100 day in first grade. How do I remember that?)

My address has changed since my last blog entry. Now my zip code is 53211. That's Milwaukee. Wisconsin. I am living in what feels like the arctic. I know, that is coming from the Minnesota-born, Chicago-raised gal. This winter is brutal though. Lots of snow and lots of cold. Today I ditched my scarf because it felt warm out. It was 24 degrees.

Anyway, my new job at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is providing me with lots of incredible opportunities. By the end of my first week I had created and published an interactive graphic. Second week brought another. Third week yet another. I also got to sit at a table with Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee (on separate occasions) and videotape editorial board meetings with them. I went backstage of The Lion King and shot video. And tonight, the highlight of my work experience: I videotaped a Burghardt's Sporting Goods employee explain how to select a little league bat and glove. Thrilling, I know. But my most exciting journalistic endeavor is yet to come (if you can believe there is anything more exciting - or maybe magical is the better word - than shaking hands with Barack Obama ::snort::). If I can prove that I am a mover and a shaker and an entertaining and engaging writer, I will get my very own BLOG. Public blog, that is. On JSOnline.com. I know, swoon. (I'm not being sarcastic anymore. I am genuinely crazy about this idea).

So my dream of being a real blogger instead of a closet blogger could come true in the future. The blog will be somewhat similar to Talk of the Day, the blog I wrote for at STLtoday.com, but it will have more personality and it will be all mine (mwahaha). Each day I will write a short commentary on a hot-button news topic and hopefully elicit a lively discussion from readers. I have been brainstorming names for it all day yesterday and today and my favorite one so far is The Talker. Simple, but catchy and surprisingly descriptive. The inspiration came when my boss referred to the hot story of the day as a "talker." Other ideas worth mentioning include: The Daily Discourse, The Convo, Today's Talk, The Daily Buzz. LATER NOTE: after conferring with The Fiance, "The Talker" is out of the race, and "The Daily Buzz" is the front runner.

In the next week I will be writing sample entries, so I might as well post them here. Look for the first one on Day 263 of my 21st year.

P.S. I've been away from blogger so long that I am just now noticing that I can finally link things without typing out html! Thanks Blogger for being nice to Mac users :)

Day 204: Throwback to my online course

First of all, Merry Christmas.

Now, my real reason for posting is out of amusement. Somehow, I think via a demonstration of interest after receiving a plea from the Mizzou Mafia list serv, I ended up on Current magazine's reporter email list. I occasionally get emails with story deadlines, ideas, etc. from editors there and usually delete them. A while ago, I got an email plea for an interview from a reporter writing a story about online courses and degrees. Being the gracious person I am (or maybe it was because I was procrastinating on writing a Spanish paper) I responded and offered myself up as a source for the story... after all, I did take my lovely online course this past summer. Well, to make a long story short, today I performed my periodic Google Name Check (aka I Googled my name to see what exactly prospective employers/long lost loves/etc. find if and when they Google me) and I came across the lovely article that I completely forgot about. I didn't read the whole thing - just the parts where I'm quoted, but from what I saw the reporter did a good job. Reading the story from the other side (source rather than reporter) I am pleased to be represented fairly and accurately, and with some lovely quotes. Although, I do suppose my being "offended" by someone receiving an MU journalism degree online is a bit of an overstatement. I must have been dramatic in my email interview.

Day 196: Free T-shirt? No thanks.

Graduation nostalgia aside (I will touch on that at a later date), if there is one thing I have learned today, it is this: I have way too many t-shirts. I probably own enough t-shirts to clothe a small Missouri town of size smalls. While washing seven loads of laundry today (okay, so I haven't done laundry in over a month), I noted that my t-shirts all fit into six handy categories:

1) ZTA
2) Mizzou spirit
3) Campus events
4) Blood drives
5) High school cross country
5) Shows I've seen
6) Shows I've been in

I can barely think of one t-shirt I own that does not fit into one of the above categories. How inane. Someone please stop me the next time I want to participate in something for a free t-shirt.