Day 6: Someone I would like to trade places with for a day

Today's blog will be short.  It was hard for me to think of someone I'd like to trade places with for a day because I like my life quite a bit the way it is.  However, there are occasions, like while studying, when I wish I could trade places with my cat while he lays on the books I'm trying to read.  I would much rather just lay all comfy on my statistics homework than have to actually understand it (thankfully, I'm done with that class!).

I would also like to trade places with any contestant on the show  What Not to Wear.  Not because I feel I dress all that poorly, but mostly because I would like $5,000 to spend on more fashionable clothes that I can't afford and to have someone tell me what to do with this giant poof of hair on my head.

Day 5: My Favorite Memory

Since I was a kid, at every Schindler wedding (and there have been A LOT) someone would request the song "Cecelia" and our entire family would circle around my grandmother, Cecelia, on the dance floor.  Everyone would take turns in the middle of the circle dancing with grandma and we'd all hold hands, smile, and sing along.  I chose this as my favorite memory because I feel it shows how much our family loves and respects each other.  I love dancing and singing to most any song, but at a wedding reception, "Cecelia" is my favorite.  It makes me feel a much larger sense of joy than any of the other songs played.  Also, when I hear this song on the radio, I won't speak to anyone around me; I just sing along and remember all the wonderful times I've danced to it with my grandma and the rest of the family :o)

Saturday was a Great Day!

Day 4: A picture of your night (a night late)

Yesterday was my first official day of Spring break and I couldn't have asked for it to be any better.  I headed to Portland in the morning and after dropping my roommate off, I headed to my old place of work to visit.  I had worked at an Assisted Living Facility for three and a half years as the Health Care Coordinator before transferring for school and the staff and residents all became family to me.  Since it was a weekend, there was no administrative staff around so the atmosphere becomes much more laid back.  A handful of my favorite coworkers were there and we just hung out and laughed A LOT!  These women can be quite hysterical and a good session of laughing to tears was really needed after a week of studying for finals!

I also went in to talk with a resident with whom I had formed a bond with.  We talked about current life a lot.  I told her my plans for school and career which she fully supported and thought I would be wonderful at.  My choice of profession would be beneficial to her and she said she would be glad to have me as a care provider in that field; what a nice feeling knowing all the support you have :o) She updated me on her family and her health status and then we somehow got to talking about death.  Not about death in the personal sense, but our experiences in caring for people who have died.  Because of where I have worked, I have obviously cared for a lot of people until their last breath.  However, she began to share the story of her mothers last days with me and how she cared for her and how she felt being able to spend those last days with her.  This story brought tears to my eyes not because it was sad, but because it was so sweet.  When she finished, she asked if I had ever taken care of anyone till their last breath.  I was so caught up in the emotions of her story, plus the people I cared for that she's asking about were people she knew and there are only so few details I could share with her.  But I did tell her how proud I feel to be able to care for those nearing the end and to make sure they are as comfortable as possible.  I find it is in these times of a lifespan that you hear some of the greatest stories; sometimes from the person if they're able, or from their families who are so diligently posted at their bedside.  I've learned a lot about life by hearing the stories of people who have experienced some really amazing things.  When I was through talking, she said to me, "Well, Rebecca, I would be very glad to have you there for me when that time comes." She was just tugging at my little heart strings!  It felt pretty amazing for someone to tell me they would want me to care for them in their last days.  I have been receiving a lot of other compliments lately, mostly about my character.  I feel it's a testament to the great example my parents and others in my life have provided me.

So on to the real topic of this blog, my night.  After visiting at work, I drove over to my sister and brother-in-law's.  Steph and I had plans to go to this event called a "Twilight Rummage Sale."  It looked really cool online and being in Portland we figured it would have really cool artsy things for sale.  Plus it included a full bar and grill and live dj.  I mean it sounded like it could be really cool, right?  Well we plug the address into the GPS; we're sitting at this intersection where the location is supposed to be, staring at a bunch of crappy old buildings thinking, "this can't be right."  I said, it's at "The Eagle Club." Which we then looked over and I realized "The Eagle Club" is kind of like a VFW.  Well, we were pretty skeptical of the "coolness" this event was going to deliver, but decided to check it out anyways.  I think we were both slightly relieved that there was a sign on the door that said the date posted online was wrong and the event was next weekend.  We decided to stroll the streets and look at a few shops instead.

Our little excursion had us feeling quite hungry so we went home and got Eric and headed to MacMennamins Edgefield; you can check it out online, but it's a pretty awesome place!  There are several MacMennamins all over Oregon, but this was the coolest one I'd been to.  So we were hoping to just head over and get a table.  I mean, they have like three restaurants and several bars on site so there shouldn't be a wait, right?  Wrongo!  It was their St. Patty's day celebration complete with an Irish rock band and a separate bagpipe and drum line.  We waited for 30 minutes just to get seats at the bar for an appetizer and then another 20 minutes for an actual table.  BUT, I had a pint of my favorite beer, the Ruby, to keep me company so I guess it was ok :o)  Once we finally got our table, it didn't take long to decide on a menu item; corned beef and cabbage it was!  It's such a festive meal I felt like I had just had Christmas or Thanksgiving in my tummy.  After dinner, we headed home where Steph and Eric's friends were waiting to head out for some drinks with Eric while Steph and I planted ourselves on the couch with the last of the cupcakes I made and brought over.  Sorry to those who didn't get any!  Steph and I aren't just cookie monsters, we're all sweets monsters!  So that was my day/night.  Pretty simple, but that's generally how I like life, simple.

Ok, on to the next blog!

I'll be There for Yooouuuu!

Day 3: A picture of the cast of your favorite TV show

"So at like 2am I got this phone call and all I could hear was this high pitch squeaking. So I thought, ok, so it's a mouse or possum. But then I realized...where would a mouse or possum get the money to make the phone call ?!"-Phoebe Buffay

I really don't watch much tv at all, but one thing I will watch is reruns of Friends.  My sister owns all ten seasons on DVD, so when we lived together for two years I took advantage of this and watched them all
numerous times. Then, when I moved in with Tracy and Shawn for two years I got them hooked and would borrow a few season at a time from my sister.  And now I am doing the same thing with my current roommate, Megan.

There are lots of things in my every day life that remind me of episodes from the show.  For instance, every time I see a Porshe and remember the episode where Joey pretends he owns one; or every time I hear the song "Hold Me Closer Tiny Dancer" and remember that Phoebe thinks the lyrics are "hold me closer Tony Danza;" I've also developed a phobia that my hair will caught in the chains of a swing set from the episode where Rachel gets mad that Ross wants to take Emma to the park because "it's a dangerous place" and she explains, holding back tears, how her hair got stuck in the chains and was uneven for weeks.

Also, every time my hair frizzes out really bad because all it does is rain in Oregon, I think how nice it would be if I could solve the problem by doing this to my hair.

One of my favorite episodes is "The One Where Ross is Fine." In the above picture Ross is hogging the second batch of Margarita's after having already drank the first batch himself.  I think of this episode every time I have fajitas and margarita's...or if the time ever arose that I was making tator tots :o)

There's only so much I can write about for today's topic, or I could make it really long and type every quote that I remember.  But I'll just stop here!  Today for my first day of Spring break I will be going for a walk & hopefully nursing my hip back to normalcy, deep cleaning the apartment (yay), and going out with friends later.  Hope you all have an excellent day :o)

Day 2: The person you have been closest to the longest

Of the people who might be reading this, I know two girls who are probably thinking, "she's going to write about me."  To be quite technical, I have been close to and have known my cousin, Maggie, the longest considering we're family and I've known her since some time around April 29, 1987 when she graced the world with her presence :o)  But, Mags, I've got another day of blogging planned to talk about you!

So let me tell you why I love 4-H; Katie Francoeur.  I met my best friend the summer after Sophomore year of high school as a Pineapple. Small break for a song: "I am a P, I am a P-I, I am a P-I-N-E-A-P-P-L-E, and I have P-R-I-D-E  in my C-A-B-I-N, I'm a P-I-N-E-A-P-P-L-E!"


It was my first summer as a camp counselor and I was in the Pineapple cabin (the theme was fruit) with my co-counselor Katie.  Needless to say that summer, camp rocked!  Unfortunately, I can't post pictures from our camp experiences because they're all in my scrapbook and taking pictures of pictures equals blur. 


Katie and I spent two weeks of the summer, for three years as counselors together and there are many memories to go along with that.  For instance, our tradition of matching t-shirts began sometime during these years.  By the way, Katie, I am currently looking at old camp pictures and realizing this need to wear matching items started before the t-shirt craze; we used to wear matching bandannas at camp!  BUT, for those of you who don't know the story of the matching shirts, it started when Katie and I went on a double date at the age of 17 wearing matching shirts.  That's right, we're THAT cool!  Since then, we've acquired matching Michelle Branch shirts from the concert we went to, matching UW-Whitewater shirts where Katie is pursuing her Masters degree, matching Oregon State shirts where I am pursuing my undergrad, matching "Teach Me How To Bucky" shirts, matching "Feelin' So Fly Like a Cheesehead" shirts, and finally, matching "Teach Me How to Raji" shirts; all to represent how awesome Wisconsin Football is!  We both love Wisconsin football and text each other during all the games we watch; it's the closest we get to watching it together!

Wondering what is going on in this picture?  Well let me tell you...
Halloween 2009, Katie came out to Oregon to visit and dress like a pirate with me.  We were given free lanyards at the first bar we went to that night.  What the heck were we going to do with lanyards on Halloween?  The best idea we could come up with was to hook ourselves together and see if we could stay connected the ENTIRE night. This also shows that we followed our mothers' advise and "stayed together (quite literally), safe, and had fun!"  So did we succeed in our mission?  Why yes we did!  It involved some awkward maneuvering in the bathroom and clotheslining a girl on the dance floor.  But that wasn't our fault; she shouldn't have tried cutting between two people who were tied together.  This night also involved another one of our great ideas; a deck of shot cards.  Katie's bartender friend gave us recipes of awesome shots which we wrote out on note cards.  Then we would fan the cards out, pick one, and take the recipe up to the bar to buy our round of shots.  As you can see, our brilliancy really shined through this night :o)


Katie and I also maintain that we have one of the healthiest long distance relationships ever!  Of course we miss each other (yay for me finally downloading Skype!), but we constantly communicate via phone, text, email, and facebook; the joys of technology!  There are a bagillion more memories to share from our friendship, but you all get the picture; mine and Katie's friendship ROCKS! 


Katie, you are my best and longest friend and I love you very much!!!

Me, Myself, and I

So, I don't really have any pictures of just me, therefore, I chose one of my siblings and I :o)

I was introduced to this idea of "30 days of blogging" by my cousin, Kalli.  I have always been a much better written communicator than verbal and I've recently felt I needed to reflect on the memories and people in my life.  So, thanks for the idea, Kalli!

~Ten Things About Me~
1.) I love hearing people's memories of their own lives and have had recent occurences where I've thought, "I wonder if this will be one of the things I talk about when I'm 80?"
2.) Even though most of the people I graduated high school with who went on to college are graduated from that too, I am glad to be in school right now because I am doing what I am passionate about.  That being said...
3.) I am highly arroused when in the produce section of the grocery store.
4.) I am equally arroused when I garden and cook with what I've grown with my own two hands (and some help from mother nature!). I feel a great sense of pride when gardening knowing it's nourishing the earth, my body, and helping the economy.
5.) I am not afraid of water, but will panic if in water deep enough that I cannot touch the bottom and still have my head above the surface.
6.) I LOVE that I grew up on a farm :o)
7.) I set a goal for myself to help me learn to control my sweet tooth.  I was allowed to eat dark chocolate everday, but any other sweets just once a week.  I failed the first day.  However, a few of my family members reafirmed to me that IT'S IN OUR BLOOD :o)  (I think all you Schindler's reading this will agree!)
8.) I am extremely excited to become a Registered Dietitian and teach people that FOOD IS MEDICINE!  There are so many diseases and conditions that can be prevented just by eating a balanced, varied, and adequate diet; 30% of deaths related to cancer could be prevented with nutrition & exercise therapy!
9.) I've found that a good dance party in front of my mirror can cure the blues; music heals my soul.
10.) I feel that the people in my life are like beautiful, rare treasures I've aquired on my journey through life.  Each is unique and different and has their own quirks and place in my heart.
I'm going to cheat and add in a #11:  I talk a lot with my hands; I got this from my mother.  She told me that her mom once told her that if they tied my mom's hands down she probably wouldn't be able to speak.  The other day I was working at the garden and was shaking straw to make paths.  I was talking to the person working with me and kept stopping what I was doing to talk.  I could tell this person was slightly annoyed that I kept stopping, but it honestly was harder to tell my story without the use of my hands!
This is a link to the garden project I'm working on!