whattttt

Why has nobody punched Spencer in the face yet?! That is beyond me. Heidi's mom gave him a little talking to, but seriously, what is wrong with that guy? He is unbelievable. Why does he feel the need to be an asshole to every single person? I would like to meet his parents!

and by 'meet' I mean see them on the show..

Sorry about the outburst, but I can't help myself! That show...ridiculous...

Moving on...

I had a tetanus shot last week.. and goodness.. my arm was really sore! I was completely surprised. I took the shot and didn't think much of it. I went running, played with the dog and all that night, so it definitely got worked and moved, but it was still sore. I couldn't sleep on my arm for a couple nights. Anyway, I was just a bit surprised. I thought sore arms after shots was for wimps... and I am no wimp.

I had a fun weekend and I am so ready for this next weekend to get here. We have visitors! So fun will be had for sure. I am extremely excited for a little hiking action, as well as some k-state football watch party action. Always good times.

Oh and last weekend I did get the creative juices pumping.. I did a couple little projects. One I can't decide if I like how it turned out or not. There's one more thing I want to do with it and then I'll hang it up and decide. The next project will be drawing or painting something I think.. and I am thinking I will try one of the dog, which could be interesting. I've never really tried that before.

One last thing...
These are pretty awesome... and 100 Calories a pack (a pack containing 2)


Okay, well I need to get to work.. I have a lot to do!

I love purses a lot

I used to have quite an obsession with purses. I have toned it down, but when I see a website with so many fabulous ones, the itch comes back..

check it out and you can even win a free handbag!

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

I need to get creative again. Since the days of architecture school are over, the creative bug in me hasn't produced much. It needs to come back, so I am going to try to get inspired and create something fantastic..

wish me luck!

I do enjoy me some free stuff..

So.. it seems like there are many times where I am caught in... a dilemma.. of sorts. A situation where I'm thinking 'Now, how is an adult supposed to respond to this?'. Most of these thoughts seem to arise from an instance where someone is offering to pay for something for me.. or give me something for free.. or something to that extent. I hear people, I've seen it on TV and people have done it to me when I have offered.. the whole refusing to let me pay for something.. are you catching my drift? One thing about me, though, is I don't offer unless I really intend to do whatever it is I offer. I think this is the way everyone should be - maybe they are, maybe they aren't- I don't know.

So that's the problem. It seems like the 'polite' thing to do is to say 'no, no, no' and 'don't do that' when people offer and some people outright refuse for someone to pay for them.

Me, though? If you want to pay, by all means pay!

I think I'm missing something in me. I mean, I do the whole polite thing where I say 'no don't worry about it' or 'really you don't need to do that' or even 'no, no, no', but if you are offering I kind of expect you to win in the end... I will take free things and things getting paid for! Is that bad?!

I definitely just had a situation.. I shall explain.. and it ends with me getting free car work done whenever I need..

I went to get an oil change to the same place I've been a few times before. This time there was a new guy there and he informed he just bought the place about a month ago. So, whatever, I just want my oil changed. I did like the dudes before, they were quite helpful and had done a thing or two for free for me.
Anyway, the guys goes and works on the car, then tells me my battery is starting to corrode, so he says he's going to call around and see how much it would cost for a new battery. He said I should start looking into it, so he's calling around and another guy is cleaning, vacuuming out my car. He calls a few places, lets me know how much it will cost about. He tells me if I pick one up, he'd install it for free.. yadda yadda.

He then says he's going to get my car. So I walk out and I see the guy that had been cleaning it getting picked up by his girlfriend or something. So I wait for like 10 minutes and the owner comes out and says 'well, so I think (whatshisname- we'll call him Joe) left with your keys in his pocket'. So he tells me he's going to call him. I figure it's no big deal - he'll just call his cell phone and the guy will turn around. Well, I can tell he's looking around for his number for a little while, then finally het gets on the phone with this guy's son. I'm figuring Joe doesn't have a cell phone, so great, this is going to take even longer. It turns out, I find out later, that Joe is deaf! So, obviously he doesn't have a cell phone. So the owner has to call his son, who has to call him and communicate in some way. Apparently, Joe didn't go directly home, either. Nobody can get a hold of him.

Finally, the owner, Jeff, decides I can take his car home and then when Joe arrives with my keys he will deliver my car. So, okay, I just wanted to get home. I took his car, drove home, took the dog on a walk.. and kept my cell phone close by. Luckily, my roommate was home or I would have had no way to get into my house, since my house key was with my car keys! I didn't even think about that when I drove home.

I keep thinking it can't take that long for my keys to get back to the car place. Owner Jeff said Joe only lives like 10 minutes away. I make dinner, watch TV and am starting to get a bit nervous about this ordeal. Am I involved in some kind of scheme here? The guy hadn't been in business long.. I just dont' know what's going on..

Finally, Owner Jeff calls to tell me he still hasn't gotten them, but he's staying at the shop until he gets them. I was glad to hear from him again.Eventually, after my dear friend reminds me, I decide to take my spare key so I can atleast have my car and then I can get my keys and car remote later. I called Owner Jeff to inform him of the plan.

Luckily, on the way back to the place my keys get returned and when I get there the whole mess is finally over! Hallelujah! Owner Jeff feels so so so bad and tells me everything will be free for me for now on. What? I thought that might be a little extreme... I mean he gave me the oil change free and maybe he could give me the next one, but he was serious, all work will be free. If I need parts, I will pay for parts, but not labor... ever.

I just don't know if I wasn't mad enough about the whole situation and deserve free things forever or if he is being overly nice. I guess if I had things to do last night I would have been quite a bit more perturbed, but I didn't have anything too big going on. I also guess if I had no way of getting into my house, I would have been a little more angry as well. Hmmm..

Welp, anyway, as thoughts of 'how should an adult respond to this?' went through my head, I just told him that was really nice of him and he didn't really need to do that... but as I mentioned at the beginning, I am not going to turn down free things!

So, I really need to get my life in order here! Lately, I feel like it's been a mess. Ever since I ran the 1/2 marathon, the working out hasn't been as much of a priority as it needs to be. The eating hasn't been all that healthy either. I know I was out of town a lot and that probably has a bit to do with it. It hasn't helped me feel like I have my money situation under control either. The fun things keep rolling in, too.. fun things that require paying ahead, so I feel like I'm writing checks left and right.. and I would like it to stop! I would like a month of nothing special going on. I'm sure when that month hits I will be complaining of boredom, but at least I could save some money!

So there's the rant for the moment.. and this week I have started kicking it in gear with making the changes. I went grocery shopping Sunday and did my very best to get healthy things to eat. I love, love one of the grocery stores near me. The produce is super cheap, as well as organic, so it's great. I stopped there first, then went to the usual grocery store to pick up the other essentials.

I've also marked down the workout plan for the week.

I'm excited for fall, yet fall means the days are getting shorter. I absolutely hate my after-work-outside-fun being rushed.. and then when winter hits, it's dark before I even leave work. MISERABLE. Miserable for me and the dog...

October is going to be another busy one, but not in the same way and I'm very much looking forward to it. Two of the weekends I will have visitors and one weekend the Denver K-State crew is driving back to the ol' Alma mater for some football and friends.

Once October is over, we're on to snowboarding season! The fun never really ends I guess! Which is nice - I guess one day fun trips and such will not be so easy and fun, so I should enjoy them while they're flowing, right?

Fall is here!

Yay for fall being here! The leaves are changing on the trees. It's cooling down, but it could be cooler... Everyone says fall is so short in Colorado, so I am going to have to enjoy every second of it. This is what I heard last year, but I didn't think it was too terribly short. I guess in the mountains it's a pretty quick season. You don't have a big window to drive around and look at fall in the mountains.

Last year, I didn't make it up to the mountains, but this year my lovely friend Laura is visiting at what I think should be about prime time for some mountain/fall action. Maybe, we will grab a pumpkin spice latte (which I have never tried but am hearing an awful lot about), take the pup and we'll head out to the mountains...

I'm looking forward to the weekend (is it only Tuesday...?? ahh!).

Last weekend in Des Moines was great fun. It was short, but great to see the family and other people I haven't seen in quite awhile. The group at the wedding was fantastic and we had a great time celebrating the marriage!

paranoid dog

You would think my dog watches Law & Order all day.. or CSI.. or any of those other crime shows.

She's paranoid! She always thinks someone is breaking in or something. I can never take her barks seriously.

Last night, both the roommates were out of town - already at where I'm going today - and Miss Mia was on super guard. It was ridiculous. So of course, it kind of creeps me out that she's hearing things, even though I know she does this. The worst is when I'm in the shower, so I can't hear anything, but she starts going off barking. I don't like that one bit!

We made it through the night, though. Haha.. I had to keep the TV on in my room until she fell asleep because she kept acting like she was hearing things... and would never settle down otherwise.

Anywhoo.. one other thing..
I ordered a cool little Northface jacket that was super on sale earlier this week and it already came in the mail! Fabulous. I love it. It has those thumb holes so that the sleeves stay down all the way and I'm obsessed with it..teeheee

Football fun

Well, the K-State game last night was not so good... but the watch party was a good time. I saw quite a few familiar faces and, as usual, did more talking than watching the game. woops. I watched the first half for the most part, but the second half only received glances every now and then.

They raffled off some prizes.. one being 2 tickets to the Coors suite for the KSU/CU game... and guess who won them!?

ME!

I think that is quite possibly the first raffle prize I have ever won. It was exciting. A friend and I were jokingly both staring at my raffle ticket, hoping it was a winner, and surprisingly, it was! Unfortunately, it's only 2 tickets and I have 3 friends coming in town. We'll have to figure out how we're going to do it.. maybe I can beg for 2 more tickets when I talk to the Coors guy who is supposed to call me..? It was also a little ironic that I paid for the tickets we had already bought for the game last night. A friend had bought them and I had given him a check for them last night. I will most likely just keep the ticket I bought, so we can go back and forth to the suite, unless someone needs a ticket and then I will gladly sell it and get my $$$ back.

This weekend, I'm going out of town yet again. I had two weekends in town and now I'm back out. Frontier Airlines has gotten a lot of business from me in the past month and a half! I am flying to Kansas City and then my parents are driving through on the way to Des Moines and picking me up to take me there so we can attend a wedding. I'm pretty sure it will be a fun time! My whole family will be there - both parents and both brothers, so it will be nice to hang out with everyone again.

I have to miss another wedding though because they're on the same day :( One of my friends from my sorority is getting married, so I'm missing out on that which is a bummer!

flickr photo

I had an exciting little email in my inbox today...

"Hi Mackenzie, I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has been short-listed for inclusion in the fifth edition of our Schmap Prague Guide, to be published mid-October 2008...."

So, it's only shortlisted, but that's kind of fun that they were browsing around my pictures. The picture really isn't anything fabulous. I definitely would not have guessed it was this one, but if it ends up getting published then my name will be under it. The exciting start to my career in photography ( just kidding!).

It does remind me I need to start adding to my flickr account again! And start taking more photos...

It's such a strange feeling.. it happens once a year.. and you realize it's September 11th. I don't count down to the day in any way, it just happens all of a sudden when I look at the date and realize.. 'wow, today's the day'. I don't know what to do with myself on September 11th. I read articles and watch the news. I tear up and remember how on that day so many people died and so many brave people died saving other people. I guess the most important thing to do is remember.

I stopped by www.pinkisthenewblog.com and they listed every single person that was killed that day. Wow.. you forget how many people. I scrolled and scrolled and was reminded how many people there were.

I was far away in Kansas sitting in my high school. I can only imagine if I had been in New York City.. there would be much stronger memories of the day.

Anyway, it's the day after, but I'm still thinking about it and it's important to take a moment to remember.

fall fall fall

Wow! I was just reading an article and saw that the Stand Up 2 Cancer deal has raised more than 100 million dollars!! That's awesome.. and it's still counting. Yay for you if you helped!

Just thought I'd give an update on that.

Lately, I have had this shopping itch and it won't go away! I'm trying to stop myself. I know it's this fall weather that is coming around and I keep catching glances of cute, new fall outfits online. I really haven't been shopping in quite awhile. Instead, I've been spending money elsewhere, no doubt about that. I now have my snowboard, boots and bindings... as well as two tickets to 2 different K-State football games... so those are the recent purchases..

I have a feeling my next paycheck I'm a goner... you can find me at the mall..
The only thing that will save me is pure lazyness to go shopping or busyness.. so we shall see.

With these football ticket purchases, I'm getting way excited for some good tailgating. For the CU/K-State game I have some friends coming into town and we plan on meeting up with a bunch of other K-Staters for a fun tailgate. Last weekend we gathered at our 'watch party' bar where they are hooking us up with great beer deals and free food! I couldn't ask for more. Of course, I spend more time chatting, drinking and eating than really watching the game, but I check in and cheer when everyone else does. I just like seeing all the familiar faces and meeting new K-State grads that have recently moved out to the great city of Denver.

The dog is at dog-topia today.. so hopefully I have a worn out puppy tonight... because I am worn out!

P.S.

I loooooooove Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

check 'em out

Stand Up To Cancer

I've been hearing a lot about Stand Up To Cancer lately. There's a TV special on ABC, NBC and CBS for an hour at the same time, commercial free, on all of the channels on Friday night 8PM ET.
I think that's pretty awesome. There's going to be all kinds of celebrities there to help raise funds and all that jazz.

Click on the picture and it should take you there.

Here's the link as well http://su2c.standup2cancer.org/theshow.
You can donate any amount there.. and there is all kinds of info and cool things going on through the website

I donated and if I feel like balling my eyes out on Friday then I will watch... because any time I watch any kind of special on cancer I cry... a lot.

TV season

Can we get some shows about poor people? Why are all the shows about rich people... it's fun for a little bit, but come on..

The Hills, Gossip Girl, 90210, this new show "Privileged", which I really don't know what it's about, but the name hints A LITTLE. I believe that in Lipstick Jungle they are loaded although I've never watched that either.

I think a show would be interesting about poor twentysomethings - some 'working girl' shows - ACTUAL working girl shows.. where they actually have limited funds.. I think a show could go places with that! I mean then some of them could go from poor to rich... when they live out my dream and marry a rich man.. I mean that's a 3 year span for the show right there.. then it can develop into a show about rich people if it must.

Anyway.. just my thoughts on that...

Moving on to September

Well, I had a great Labor Day weekend. We had a perfect weekend in Minnesota filled with relaxation, drinking and some fun adventures (i.e. running out of gas on the boat)... leaving me with a tan and good memories.

The group was all fun.. no drama..

I skied for the first time in a long time, as well as tubed. I can't believe how long it has been since I have been to a lake - probably 5 years! Weird. We did some kayaking as well, which was an adventure in itself. When you're kayaking with the wind across the lake, it is safe to say the way back is going to be ROUGH. The arms got quite the work out. We pulled an all-nighter Sunday night, as we had a 2 hour drive to Fargo to catch our plane at 6:30 am. So we drank and stayed up all night... which doesn't leave you feeling the best at about 5:30 am. The last night, though, as we were waiting for the time to leave to approach, we found ourselves laying out on the dock looking up at the very starry sky and singing anything and everything that popped up in our heads. Hopefully, we gave some entertainment to those across the lake. It was a grand time.

Getting back so early on Monday, gave me all day to recover. I laid around all day... luckily after Mia relaxed, she realized she was pretty tired, too. So we laid on the couch, sleeping and watching Law and Order all day.. pretty awesome.

Now, back at work where I keep forgetting it is Tuesday.. which is nice when you remember. The emails have already started to flow for this coming weekend...haha... K-State football watch party to look forward to!

At lunch, I visited one of 2 big sales I plan on visiting this week to get the snowboard gear covered. I got some sunglasses for snowboarding, long underwear and new gloves.. I think the second sale I visit will be a good place to get my bindings and boots for my snowboard.. for hopefully really good prices.

The weather today is quite fitting, for the day after Labor Day... which signifies the end of summer. Today is a pretty cool day, reminding me of Fall... which I LOVE.

I had a wonderful summer and now I'm ready to welcome Fall... and I hope Denver gives me a long one this year..