Cravings

So I hear somebody was craving KFC after awaking from a coma and it got me thinking what would I crave after awaking from a long sleep? My guess would be TGIF's Jack Daniels Flat Iron Steak. What do you think you would crave after a long sleep?

Happy Friday
Dale

Soon!

Not too long ago, I blogged about the amazing Google Glass that will eventually enter the market. Well, that eventually turns out to be 2014. At the 2012 Google Developer Conference, Sergey Brin was talking with reporters when he let out the expected release date of 2014. I was totally stoked when I read that. Not stoked because of the minimum year and a half wait. Stoked because these glasses actually work, they do exist, and eventually I will own a pair. Extremely lucky developers that were at the conference were able to purchase a pair for $1,500. The developers will get their glasses early next year so they can get to work making software that will work with the glasses. Here's another cool video from Google with the Glass in action.

GB²

Tea, Tea and More Tea

I recently read in a magazine that herbal teas can be great for your health. I love tea, so this was good news to me!

I've been drinking tea every morning for as long as I can remember, usually orange or green, but lately I've been getting tired of those two and decided to switch it up a bit. A couple of days ago I bought a sample pack of herbal tea from my local Natural Grocers and I'm in love! So far, my favorite is Lemon Zinger tea from Celestial Seasonings. It tastes so good, I don't even need sweetener. Apparently it has some health benefits, too. I found an article on the Lemon Zinger Tea that explained some of the ingredients and what they can do for your health. Not bad.

I still have Peppermint and Honey, Vanilla, Chamomile to try. I might skip the Sleepytime tea, I don't need any help in that area :)

When I run out of this sample pack, I'll probably order more from my second favorite website, (the first being www.oldwillknottscales.com, of course) www.iherb.com. You should check them out! They have tons of stuff from organic bug spray to fluoride free toothpaste to teas and herbs! Orders over 20 bucks get free shipping if you're in the contiguous US and, if you've never bought anything from them before, you can use my coupon code OLU332 to get $5 off your first order.

I can't wait to try more of these delicious herbal teas. If you have a favorite brand or blend please let me know! I want to try them all. Maybe someday, I'll have an herb garden with ingredients to make my own teas. I wonder where I would find a scale to weigh my blends ;)




Happy brewing!
-Shala-

PS. Herbal teas can be very beneficial to your health, but some herbs don't play well with certain medical conditions or medications. It'd be very smart on your part to have a chat with your doctor before you go out and try herbal teas. Better safe than sorry!

Just Another Day in Colorado

 According to the photographer, these monks from Cambodia were very impressed with the beauty of Red Rocks... Gotta love it when people capture cool moments!

Stay cool,
Allison

Buildin' Stuff Part 3

Well, I used to be a mechanic for many years and I have always wanted to build a project car.  There once was a time when I had the knowledge, tools, ability and time, but was lacking in the area of $$$$.  Cash is still thin, but I'm sure I could skim a bit here and there to make it work, but the problem I'm facing now is time, and the fact that my Home Owners Association will not let me work on a car in my own driveway.

So I decided I wanted to build a kit car.  It is a complete kit that you can assemble over a weekend inside your garage, oh wait.  I don't have $20,000 for the kit or $5,000 for the engine, or $4,000 for the tranny, drive shaft, rear axle, wheels and tires (which are all not included in the COMPLETE build kit.

So instead I bought a parts kit to build a gun. To be specific, it is an M1911A1 (Pre-70).  This is going to be a mil-spec plinker just for fun at the range, but plan on making a few more, like a super reliable and smoothed out carry gun, and a match grade pistol for driving tacks.  I've never built a gun before so wish me luck!

Bye,
Ruben

Weekend is here

The weekend is finally here. Hope everyone has a fun filled weekend. I will be busy trying to catch some fish while at the same time trying to stay cool. Staying cool may be the hardest part as temperatures are set to hit over 100 degrees. Yikes, that is hot.

Stay Cool
Dale

Cabbage Soup

The past few days I've been thinking about things to blog about.

I was going to write about spinach because I eat it almost everyday. Then I thought about writing something about The Toddler's new bed and what colors we should paint it. I also played with the idea of writing about video games and how much I love them even though I don't have the temper for them. Then I remembered watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory earlier this week with Ruben and The Toddler.

Watching that movie really reminded me that I have a lot to be thankful for. I don't live in a house that's missing parts of the walls. I don't have four old people sleeping in my living room and I don't have to eat boiled cabbage everyday for every meal. Instead, I'm able to buy the groceries I want. My parents and parents-in-law still live on their own and our house has all of its walls.

I know the Bucket family is fictional, but there are a lot of families out there living just like that. Heck, there are even some living worse. So, next time you get frustrated, mad, down about your job or not having enough money to go on vacation, try thinking about all the things in your life you are thankful for and be happy you don't have to live on cabbage soup.




Count your blessings!
-Shala-

Father's Day Followup

Hi All,

I just wanted to update you on my previous Father's Day post.  So, remember how I was trying to decide what to get my Dad....well, let's just say I'm no Beyonce. MediaTakeOut reports that Beyonce gave her husband Jay-Z a new $40 million Bombardier Challenger 850 for his first Father's Day.  The jet comes equipped with a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, and TWO bathrooms.  For pictures, check out this featured article - http://allhiphop.com/2012/06/17/hip-hop-rumors-did-beyonce-buy-jay-z-a-jet-for-fathers-day/

Tata for now,
Allison

Thunder Struck

Well the Miami Heat won game 2 of the NBA Finals series so it doesn't look like my OKC Thunder will bring out the brooms and sweep. Now the Thunder have to travel to Miami (wouldn't that be nice) to play 3 games straight in Miami. Hopefully, they can at least win 1 game or better yet win all 3 games and win the series.  Game 3 is this Sunday so be sure to watch.

Thunder Up!
Dale

Dancing in My Flip Flops

I'm very excited for this weekend,even though things came together a bit last minute.  I am officially one week away from having two weeks off of grad school, which is amazing!  But mostly, I'm excited to be attending the annual Flip Flop Ball this Saturday night. 

The concept is simple.
        Semi-Formal Attire ...a nice change of pace
        Everyone Wears Flip Flops ...an ode to summer
        The Best Party Venue in Town ...to set the vibe
        Denver's Best Party Band ...to get your dance on

 The best part is that it is all for a good cause as well.  This year all proceeds will benefit the Listen Foundation.  The Listen Foundation is a small non-profit that helps Colorado families with deaf or hard-of-hearing children learn to listen and talk so that they may have the same opportunities as other children, regardless of their ability to pay.  I really only dread the dress part...dresses aren't really my thing, but I'll make it work.  So, here's to a little fun for a good cause! Now, let's hope the weather cooperates. No one wants to dance in wet squishy flip flops. 

Cheers,
Allison

A New Quilt for a New Bed

So, Ruben and I, (mostly Ruben) built The Toddler a new big kid bed. It's not just any old bed. It's a loft bed. With a playhouse underneath. And stairs. It's pretty amazing.

Since it's a bigger bed, we'll need to get new sheets and blankets for it. I thought it would be cool if I could make her an awesome quilt to go with her new awesome bed.

I have a little experience with quilting, so I don't think it will be too hard. The hard part is going to be shelling out the dough for the fabric. Wasn't there once a time where making things cost less than buying them? Anyway, I'm going with a night sky theme because the bed is raised. Since the aforementioned fabric is stupid expensive, I was thinking that bleach and glow-in-the-dark fabric paint might become my new friends. I really hope it actually gets finished. If it does, I'll post a pic!



Happy Wednesday!
-Shala-

Random

The shopping cart was first introduced on June 4, 1937. Invented by Sylvan Goldman who owned the Piggly Wiggly in Oklahoma City. Can you imagine trying to go shopping without a shopping cart. Prior to shopping carts customers would select a few items off the shelf and take them to the front counter and repeat that process until they had what they needed.
Since I mentioned OKC, go Thunder! I figure I can jump on the Thunder bandwagon since I'm technically from Oklahoma. Maybe I should switch from the Nuggets to the Thunder since the Nuggets never win.
Colorado has been all over the national news lately. The High Park Fire west of Fort Collins is all over the news due to how fast it grew. It grew from a two acre fire to 40,000 acres in only three days. As of right now it's at 43,433 acres and only 5-percent contained. It's going to be a very bad fire season. The other bit of news that went national was the great sidewalk chalk debate. The family-friendly neighborhood of Stapleton is going to start fining home owners whose children use sidewalk chalk. I'm sure this will not go through after all this national attention.
A quote I heard by Jim Rohn, "It's the bottom of the ladder that is crowded, not the top".

Trevor

NBA Finals are quickly approaching

The Oklahoma City Thunder just won the Western Conference in the NBA and are on their way to the NBA Finals. They will face the winner of the Eastern Conference which will be either the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics. Personally I don't think it matters who they face as the Thunder are the best team in the league and will beat any team they face in a 7 game series. So get ready to witness a start of a basketball dynasty.

Thunder Up
Dale

It's So Amazing!

Have you noticed anything different about the internet lately? Chances are you have not, at least nothing related to the brand new IPv6. On June 6, 2012 the World began the switch from IPv4 to IPv6. At most you might need to upgrade your home router in the future, otherwise you shouldn't have to do anything. Prior to IPv6 there was a limit of 4.3 billion unique IP addresses, we now have 340 trillion trillion trillion. If you can't picture 340 trillion trillion trillion, I'll do it for you, 340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! I guess that is also 340 undecillion. I don't believe we'll be running out of room anytime soon. Google has a good FAQ page on the transition here.

Have a great weekend!
WT

Hold On To Your Hats!

Check out these grande clouds forming behind our building!

Just got a text from Weather Underground saying that we're under a tornado watch until 9pm. I believe it. You should see how much the clouds have grown since I snapped the photo above. These clouds are looking pretty awesome out my window, but I hope no tornadoes actually form. A storm would be nice, though. 

Happy Spring!

-Shala-

Father's Day 2012

So, I'm always trying to think of new things to get my parents for both Mother's Day and Father's Day.  I feel like it's always the same things...flowers and a sentimental card for Mom, and a T-shirt or cologne for my Dad.  This year I'm trying to do better without any ideas from Mom and Dad.  My parents recently got an iPad, which they like to refer to as "The Pad."  They also joined Facebook this year, which don't even get me started on that...Anyway, I like to keep them hip when I can and my Dad is a huge fan of techie gadgets (even though he can hardly figure out how to answer his cell phone, no joke.).  This year, I'm thinking of getting him a keyboard for his "Pad" because he has been talking a lot about one lately.  Check out this laser keyboard, it makes any surface a fully usable keyboard -

How cool is that?

Until next time,
Allison