Here it is... a lame survey. Yep. Check it out. And feel free to try it yourself!!
1.FIRSTNAME? Rebekah
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not really. Rebekah in the Bible. My middle name is Ann, like my Aunt Beth's middle name.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Last night. I'm a sucker for sad movies. I cry every time just like clock work. The last time I really cried was.... hmm..... I can't remember. It's been a while.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yep. It's okay. It's pretty good. Not to bubbly, like a cheerleaders, but not to crazy like a Dr.'s
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Roast Beef. Unless Tuna counts. Then it's tuna.
6. KIDS? No. For some reason I have kids toys in my front yard. My crazy room mate got them. I think that he felt he needed to pretend to mow the lawn on the days that it didn't need it, so he bought a little fake one. Or random people are leaving their old toys on my lawn for no reason what so ever. Who knows? They are totally starting to annoy me thought, and I can't even remember what the question was now that I'm on this rant. Oops. Kids = None. Pets = Ten Hundred.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Dude, totally because I am so friggin cool. And probably the humblest person I know.
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes I do. And no you can't read it. Ever.
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? When do I not use sarcasm? Anyone? I didn't think so.
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? No. I sold them on Ebay.
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP. Yes. I would make sure to use the bathroom first though.
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? My favorite junk cereal is Fruity Pebbles. My favorite healthy cereal is either Honey Bunches of Oats or Kix. Or those oatmeal squares. Or maybe grape nuts. Or plain Cherios. Those are good too. Can I commit to eating an entire box of cereal? No. I get half way through, get bored and start eating something else. I have ten hundred half eaten boxes of cereal at home right now. And they are all stale. And I'm out of milk. Just a little FYI.
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No way. That is way to much effort. Plus, if I tied them so tight I couldn't just slip them off my eye balls might pop out.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Character wise yes. Physically... well... let's just say the gun show is next week. Have you gotten your tickets yet?
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? What kind of ice cream isn't my favorite? I can't think of one at this time.
16. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their smile and if it looks real. Oh, and their shoes. I have this thing with shoes.
17. RED OR PINK? Red. I know totally stepping out of my box. Actually I might be accidentally lying. Do I have to choose? I really like green the best...
18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm not very self motivated. I wish that I had more self motivation.
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Prince Charming. Wait, can you miss someone you haven't met yet???
20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Yes. If you actually have read it this far, it is your duty to email it back to me.
21 WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? I am rocking some awesome tan cords and some sweet brown flip flops.
22. THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Gum.
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? 103.1 KCDA. Don't tell anyone, k?
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Green. Everyone always uses green when they color. It's calms them down.
25. FAVORITE SMELL? Rain in the forest. Christmas. Yes Christmas is a smell. Sheesh. If you don’t know what Christmas smells like, use your imagination.
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My job is to answer the phone. I talk to a lot of people. The last person I talked on my cell phone with was Branden.
27. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Duh, she is awesome. The best travel buddy ever... and she is a kick ass tango dancer. Well, almost a kick ass tango dancer. Really, really close.
28. FAVORITE DRINK? Soda. Super healthy I know. And I never drink diet, if you are going to go for it, go for the gold. Yep.
29. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH ? Any sport that involves hot boys. I'm not picky.
30. HAIR COLOR? Light Honey Brown. Does anyone notice how girls always have to add three or four adjectives to describe their hair color? It's because we paid through the nose for these dang highlights that no one has noticed and we are going to point it out darn it.
31. EYE COLOR? Brown.
32. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes. See previous blog.
33. FAVORITE FOOD? Italian. Specifically pasta. And bread. Anything that Mr. Atkin's would demand that you stay away from. Ha! Take that! I ate TWO breadsticks. So there.
34. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings. I totally can not handle scary movies. Ever.
35. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Last movie....in the theater was Talladego Nights, "The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". It was pretty dang funny.
36. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Green (duh).
37. SUMMER OR WINTER? Both. I love the seasons.
38. HUGS OR KISSES? From who? This is a very important point. Are they from Johnny Depp? Then both, with a little tongue maybe. Okay... for sure. : )
39. FAVORITE DESSERT? Did you not read what I just said about my favorite food? Do I look like I'm picky? No. I like carrot cake and angel food cake.
40. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I'm not going to pick on anyone... Amber. Because she sent it to me... so she doesn't have to fill it out again.
41. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Everyone! I have some seriously misplaced faith here.
42. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? I’m not reading a book right now. I sure wish that I was, now that you asked. I would then appear to be more educated then I currently do. The last book I read was “The Devil Wears Prada”.
43. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? A list of S-Items for billing
44. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? I watched the season finale for Deadwood. It was very disappointing.
45. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Listening to the people I care about tell me about what is going on in their lives. Music, good from the heart music. The sound of rain falling on the trees. The sound of a creek winding its way slowly through to where ever it’s headed.
46. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
47. THE FURTHEST YOU BEEN FROM HOME? New York. But I felt the furthest from home when I first moved to Colville.
49. WHEN WERE YOU BORN? July 31st, 1981
50. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Whidbey Island, Washington.

One Minute on Low then Rotate....

So I went to Seattle this last weekend. It was my little car’s first big road trip. Things went great! I really think that it’s a match made in heaven! My poor little car ended up with a little over a thousand miles on it by the time we made it home. Amber-liscious tagged along because I asked her to. And she didn’t have anything else exciting to do because the free tickets to the Tool concert didn’t magically appear. I would like to think that it was just because I asked her to, but I doubt it. You know me; I’m always fun to hang out with. Equivalent to a spider monkey on crack. I guess that’s just plain entertaining, huh?
We stayed with Rene, who lives in Port Orchard, right next door to Bremerton, also know as the Navy Boy Capital of Washington State. You can hear the Star Spangled Banner play every morning. However, I did not see one single Navy Boy. I was actually pretty disappointed. Perhaps they are all out to sea at this point. Who knows? I was out to see... out to see them!! Hee...hee...
We met up with Leah, Erin, and Chandra on Saturday to do some bridesmaid dress shopping. We did not have any luck at all. We had an awesome time, but there wasn’t one single dress to be found. Sigh. Well, we found quite a few dresses, all the wrong color and the wrong cut. I would prefer to find something that doesn’t accentuate both my lack of tan and lack of tone-ness. Leah is currently searching Ebay, in hopes of getting something at least close to what she would like us to wear. (It seems most of my friends have found everything they will ever need to survive on Ebay!) I can’t believe that she is seriously planning this entire wedding in two months. I’m super proud of her, it’s a lot of work to plan a wedding…so I hear.
Howard stayed with my sister while I was there, since I wasn’t going to be in a place where he could be. He loved it! He just loves Duke, my sister’s dog. They play and play and play and play. Dukes slobbers all over poor little Howard, so Howard always ends up a little crunchy behind the ears after the visit. Howard was a good little doggie, with the exception of one little incident, which hopefully won’t get held against him for the rest of his life. I told Sarah the next time it happens, just warn him that he does fit in the microwave. That’s what I do. Warn him. I haven’t ever put him in the microwave or any other appliance, just so you know. Sheesh. What type of a pet owner do you take me for?

Three...Two...One...Contact!!

Some thing is wrong with my eye. I went to the eye Doctor. I paid $30 worth of co-pay for him to give me some eye drop samples. He looked at my eye, asked me if I had eaten anything strange or new in the last couple of days, and then told me to put drops in my eye twice a day. By the end of the day, my eye actually gets better. But for two mornings in a row, I’ve woken up, used the potty and looked in the mirror as I walk by, and gasp in horror. My eye seems to puff up like a French pastry over night. I can’t seem to figure out what is going on. I have several theories:

1. Carrot James read my post about her Door Opening Side Kick and has been beating me in my sleep.

2. I’m allergic to my pillow. I have had this pillow for three years. It’s my favorite pillow. I even travel with it. I sleep on my left side and it’s my left eye. I think that psychologically my body is punishing me for not getting enough sleep.

3. I’m allergic to Mondays. This started on Monday. Now I just need a Dr.’s note excusing me from working on Mondays. Perfect!

4. The insurance company found out that I had them billed for new glasses and contacts. In order to punish me for using my entire eye allowance, they had my contacts mutated to cause my left eye to swell if it’s closed for more then four hours. (I only had four hours of sleep on Saturday night, went to bed at 2:30am, got up at 6:30am.)

Whichever conspiracy theory is right, the bottom line is that I miss wearing my contacts. Don’t get me wrong, glasses aren’t bad…well… I remember in 4th grade when I got my first pair. I was convinced that they were awesome (my parent’s both were glasses) until I got to school Monday morning. Little kids are cruel; I don’t care if you go to a private Christian school or a public school in the ghetto. It took a couple of years, but by the time I turned 13, I had convince my parents to let me wear contacts. I have never went back… Until Monday. Monday I was forced to conform. Now life is seen with a rim around it. Looking up requires me to move my head, instead of just my eyes, otherwise I turn librarian and look over my glasses. My entire sense of balance is gone. I was turning around from the coffee maker yesterday morning and ran in to a co-worker. That was a little hard to explain. Glasses are supposed to make you see better, right? I experience glare from bright lights. And the smudges! Oh, the smudges! Will this never end? The life of a glasses wearer… it’s a hard one. Trust me.

Mmm.... Coffee!!

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new.However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like.You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation.You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

It's a little plastic castle! YA!!

I’m tired today. Really tired, but not the type of tired you get from lack of sleep. Tired from running this rat race called life. Tired of the drama and the who said, she said, they said. Tired of worrying how this is going and what is happening with that. On days like this I wish I was a goldfish. With a ten second long term memory, everything in my little tank would always be a surprise. One moment I would be happily floating around eating some fish flakes, then the next second, surprise! Look a little plastic castle. Ani Difranco sang a song about that. I love her, she is so super talented. Did I mention that I went to her concert last Wednesday? Yep. Amber’s friend couldn’t go at the last second and so he sold us his tickets for $30 each. Ya! It was so fun, she is so amazing!! Her opening act was a guy who did spoken word. I had never heard of that before. It was pretty impressive. He basically just recited poems that he had written. It really blew me away how good he was. Funny thing is that he said he was a transsexual male. So basically he was born a women, had a sex change, but now is gay. Isn’t that kind of a double negative? Why would he have a sex change if he was still going to like men? I’m so confused. Enough about that… I’m thinking that he doesn’t know what really is going on either…I feel kinda bad for him. I mean, I get confused sometimes, not about my sexuality but by life in general. I get lost, can’t find my car in the parking lot (it’s new, so give a little break here people) things like that…but I’m glad that I’m who God made me to be. He knows what he is doing when it came to making me who I am. Yep. Just look around you, how many people do you know that are as awesome as me? None. Yep. I’m in a class of my own… unique is what they call it. (Or special!)
Oh!! I totally forgot to mention that I learned to tango on Thursday. That was cool. I was worried that I wasn’t going to be wearing the right thing (I wasn’t, everyone was wearing a skirt but when we called first to aske the lady said that we should wear slacks) and that no one would dance with me (that is a product of highschool dances in which only the skinny blonde cheerleaders get asked to dance, I think that almost everyone can relate to that feeling). But everyone there was really nice, and surprisingly helpful. I think that I may have already forgotten everything, darn it. It’s not really a dance that you can practice on your own. Maybe Amber and I will sneak out to CDA and take in the free lessons out there tonight, just so we don’t lose what little we learned. Tangoing is so fun. It really is. I struggle with listening to the guy’s movements; I have to concentrate really hard on following his cues and where he is leading me. It’s a challenge. But a good challenge, and I really enjoyed it. I hope that I can continue to get better at it. Then I will tango circles around everyone!! HA!! I am the Tango Queen!! Hmm… the day just seems to be wandering along. Here it is close to one o’clock on a Tuesday. Nice sunny weather, things quiet at work finally, it’s giving me a chance to catch my breath and finish this thought. To bad I can’t remember what I was thinking.

Today in Breaking News

Alright... this crazy challenge is going around, and I've been talked into participating. I know. Humor me and read it. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be funny or not and some how it ended up pretty funny, but kinda serious. Strange.

On Monday, August 21, 2006, Rebekah Lindberg died from a massive heart attack in Starbucks. This was due to the twelve double tall nonfat white chocolate peppermint mochas with whip and drizzle she had consumed in less then one hour. Right before melting to the ground, she was overheard whispering to herself… “One more coffee and then I can make it through the day. Wait, I see the light! And it looks like latte foam… so pretty!”
Rebekah led a full and happy life. She often spoke of camping trips and girl’s nights as some of the best times of her life. Her favorite place to be was in the woods; she loved nature and all it had to offer. She felt closest to God when she was surrounded by His beautiful creations, and she often marveled that people could question His existence after seeing it.
She loved all things artistic; in fact most of her friends likened her to Martha Stewart, minus the jail time, weird crazy dictator for life attitude, and strange catch phrases like “It’s a good thing”. She also love to blog, since she could then convince herself that everyone thought it was funny…even when they didn’t. She enjoyed cooking, in fact most Saturday mornings she relaxed via a cup of good strong tea with a little milk and her favorite cooking shows. However, she still regrets the time she accidentally poisoned one of her best friends, Lacey. Fortunately Lacey did survive, and she didn’t hold it against her. They stuck to sushi after that, and they both were looking forward to opening of the new PF Chang’s restaurant. Lacey will be eating there quite often in remembrance of Becky (and also because she loves the food and it’s a great excuse.)
Though Becky always aspired to teach second grade, she was not able to finish her education in order to achieve that goal. She did spend three years at community college, taking night classes and majoring in pottery, hence the lack of a finished degree. She always said that pottery would have been her favorite career choice, but she had a huge shopping habit that a starving artist’s salary couldn’t support.
Becky also loved to travel. Time with her travel buddy, Amber were always quite entertaining. A hard lesson was learned the first time they went to NY. It involved 80 pounds of shoes and a three-flight staircase. The mistake was never made again and the enjoyed quite a few trips around the globe. Amber kept Becky grounded and helped break down the illusions that not all tree hugging vegetarians are crazy (well, they all aren’t super crazy, just a little crazy) and that American Eagle does carry more then two sizes (anorexic and bulimic.) They took tango lessons on Thursdays, and often could be seen driving around rocking out to Amber’s husband’s music, Jason Miraz.
Her acquaintances were many, but her friends were few, and she loved them dearly; they were all like family to her. It would take pages and pages to recount all the good times they had. Even though she lived in Spokane, she had many friends in the Seattle area, including Rachel, Leah, Hailey, and her best friend for life, Rene. Rene was also one of Becky’s hero’s. It is quite possible that Becky would not have survived day to day life with out the help of Rene’s wit, encouragement, and deep friendship. Unfortunately, even their friendship could not save Becky from that fatal caffeine overdose.
The reading of Becky’s will is to be held next Tuesday, August 29, 2006. Large crowds are expected, since she owned quiet an extensive collection of clothes, shoes and what she liked to consider “eclectic” art. Becky is survived by her two pets, which she doted on like they were children, Howard the Dog, and Carrot James Master of the Door Opening Side Kick. She is also survived by her parents Phil and Diana Lindberg, her brother in law and sister, Pat and Sarah Graham, and her self-adopted older brother, Travis Arnold. She has ten thousand cousins, aunts, uncles, and three surviving grandparents.

Carrot James, Master of the Door Opening Side Kick

Alright. I’ve started this blog four times now over the last week and haven’t been able to finish it. In fact, I’m to the point where I’m not even sure how interesting its going to be, since it’s all old news now… but I’m going to try to entertain someone, at least myself.

I bought a new car. It was a horrible experience. I didn’t get there until late, close to 8:30pm. I liked the car, took it for a test drive… and decided that if I could talk them down, it was the car for me. So I went inside. Whooo… that in itself was scary enough. Once I stepped inside, I sat down (also very scary). And the salesman asked me how much I wanted to pay. The room mate was with me, and he jumped in and said, “Well, how much are you willing to take for it?” I guess the goal of bartering is to appear noncommittal just enough to make the salesman think he has a chance of talking you into it. Yes. Well, as we all know, noncommittal is my middle name, so I had no problems with that. The hardest part when it comes to buying a car is struggling with the idea that you have to make the decision all by yourself. You are soley responsible for this decision and only can blame yourself if it was not a wise one. I like to let life surprise me. I prefer to roll with the punches, to dance with the man, to walk on the edge, to see each new sunrise as a new chapter in this book of life. I do not like to make snap decisions in subjects which I have little or no confidence in myself. Stop for a moment and ponder this. Most shopping is a fruitful search for the perfect pair of jeans or black sandals. This type of shopping is what I have spent years perfecting. It’s just another walk in the park for me. Decisions involving whether or not this shirt will look great with those shoes is easy. Trying to decide if a car worth thousands of dollars will go with all my shoes is not so easy. I have a lot of shoes.
In conclusion, I did buy the car, but only after three hours of haggling. It was tough. I don’t think that I have had to deal with that much pressure in quite awhile. Nothing like two guys staring you down trying to convince you that they are giving you the best deal ever, when you know that they aren’t. I have never experienced a case of sweaty palms versus shifty eyes like that. I held my ground though, and I only paid four hundred dollars more then I told myself I would. Not bad, I think for a first timer. So my new car is totally loaded, it has everything you could ever want: sun roof, leather interior, power everything, sweet tinted windows and a spoiler to give it a little sporty side. And a V6 which equals trouble for me and my lead foot. It’s a nice goldeny tan 2001 Nissan Maxima GLE. And I’m in love. With. It. Sigh.
In other news, I have already begun an abusive relationship with my new car. I am taking excellent care of it, I have only owned it for a week and it’s already seen two car washes. In return, it slammed my arm in its door and now I have a nice HUGE bruise on my arm. It’s going to get bigger and yellowier too, I know it. So rude of my car. I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful thing.
Speaking of crazy things (and no I’m not referring to myself) my cat, Carrot James, is teetering on the edge of sanity. Yesterday morning I was getting out of the shower when I heard this awful bang on the bathroom door, like someone was kicking it. I turned around just in time to see Carrot flying through the door. It appeared that she threw herself at it in order to get it open. She sat there for a moment to regain her composure and then she began staring at me as if to assume that I was the crazy one. Doesn’t everyone throw themselves at bathroom doors to open them? Knocking is so over rated. And why am I still looking at her with that shocked look? She wanted in the bathroom now and she did not have time to wait for me to finish and then open the door. After she gave me a look that almost melted my celulite, she promptly pranced out of the bathroom and jumped on my bed. Just a little FYI, I refuse to belive that people’s pets reflect their own personalities. I am not a reflection of Howard and Carrot James. Plus, if they did that would make the room mate a high maintenance biatch. His cat is the worst. Peek-a-boo is only nice when the food bowl is empty. If you are in the way (as in sitting on the computer chair) so that she can’t jump up to get to her food she will just meow and whine for hours. On more then one occasion I have been forced to remind her of the cruel truth. If you stop by my house and you hear me yelling, “ Shut up, you are fat, you don’t need to eat at this exact second. I’m trying to work here.” You will know who I’m talking to. I can't figure out why she doesn't like me. Hmm...

Do you think that Lexus matches my shoes?

So, Rene and I have arrived. She actually got there two days ahead of me, as always. We are officially 25. Wow. Did you realize that is only 5 years away from 30? I still can’t believe that I’m in my twenties, let alone half way to 30. Sheesh. I’m not going to think about it any more, its way to scary.
For six years running, Rene and I have spent our birthdays together. Well, sometimes we spend the weekend before or after together. But we always celebrate it together. Last year, I spent it with her at her house, a little party and some Skip-and-Go-Naked (the drink people, get your mind out of the gutter!!) It was fun. We played some cards and sat around talking.
This year, we camped! Ya! I love camping. It is so fun. We went up by Sullivan Lake, and just spend the weekend relaxing. We were a little delayed in arriving (see the next paragraph) but we did make it there alive. We spent our time sitting around the campfire, talking and laughing, laying out by the lake, attempting to survive the tidal waves caused by the wind on the lake with a $4 floaty not approved for monsoon weather, and river walking. Howard was incredibly brave and we discovered that he does know how to swim. His survival kicked in and he swam just like any little dog would. He also came along river walking, however the current was a little strong in some places and I ended up carrying him some of the way. Cute little doggie followed me around the entire time. The last time we went camping, he tried to wander off, so I had to keep him tethered. This time he stayed right in camp with us. He finally figured out that hot dogs aren’t available all the time, so he needs to be near the cooler if he wants some. We did spend a little too much time in the sun, and I’m incredibly sun burned. NGWTNA kept finding reasons to slap me on the back yesterday at work… and he almost was accidentally run over by my car. So sad. Quite a brush with death, I’m telling you. That car just has a mind of it’s own! Goodness! (to quote Mara!)
Speaking of cars, mine faked death again on the side of the highway this weekend. We were almost to Colville, and it started to putter out. Sigh. Fortunately it made it to my parent’s house where my dad and Pat were able to revive it. My goal is now to search and find the perfect new car. I’m mostly excited to get a new car, the rest of me is pretty nervous about doing it all by myself. I don’t know that much about cars. I can figure out where the oil goes, and probably change it by myself. I know what most of the stuff in there is for and how it works, but besides that, I’m in the dark. Plus, I’m not too confrontational and those car salesman... However, I have an enormously misplaced amount of faith in myself, and I intend to soldier on. I test drove a sweet little Honda Civic on Sunday… and I think that might be in love. Not with that one specifically, it was little ratty around the edges, but with Honda Civics. I’m actually (dare I say it) looking for long-term commitment when it comes to a car. Plus, the bank for some extremely stupid reason has decided to give me a massive amount of money. Did someone forget to send them the memo? The one that talks about how much I love to spend money? What were they thinking? I can’t even believe it. I mean, seriously people, what am I going to buy with that type of money? A Lexus? Perhaps a Jag? You know I’ve always thought that they were rather nice. Hmm… Maybe I can get two, then my car could always coordinate with my outfit. That is a good idea. Yep. I think that I’ll get right on that. I think maybe a nice tan one and a black one… or cranberry, or silver. That would be quite smashing.