Happy Birthday MOM!

Unfortunately, I probably won't have time to post tomorrow, so I am throwing this up there tonight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Yes, that's right, Mama Lens is another year older today...I won't mention how old she is, though.

I need my coffee fix...

Of late, I have been addicted to caffeine. My usual day consists of a large cup or two of coffee and one or two diet pepsi's. YIKES!!! I have never been one to be addicted to caffeine, infact, I usually give up soda all together for Lent every year and usually don't even start drinking it for weeks after that. An intervention may be needed before Lent rolls around this year.

Besides the coffee I have also become addicted to Coffee Mate. I currently have FOUR different flavors in my fridge. My staple is the Fat Free vanilla, but I am loving the limited edition and holiday flavors. I feel like I have to buy them now, because they aren't going to be around all year. Currently in my fridge is the FF Vanilla, Creme Brulee, Toffee Nut, and Peppermint Mocha. I had to restrain myself from also buying gingerbread and eggnog yesterday. They are taking over the top shelf of my fridge and they taste sooo good that they encourage me to drink more coffee.

My recommendation to you is to take out stock in tooth whitening products, because you know I will be using them frequently with all this staining beverages going into my mouth. I will never compromise the whiteness of my teeth...that is one thing I am super obsessive about.

I'm a little sad that I am not going to be with my family on Thanksgiving, but they called me today when they were all driving together to my grandparents house. It was fun to talk to all of them and have the phone passed around. I miss them and love them lots. Thankfully, I got to see them last weekend.

'Tis the season to be desperate?

I don't know why the thought popped into my head today, but it did.

It's the holiday season and a lot of engagements will be happening. There are jewelry ads everywhere telling men to get thier significant others that big rock of commitment this holiday season. And...I'm sure a lot of women are dropping some pretty heavy hints that they would like a big rock for the holidays, and I'm not referring to a lump of coal.

All of this drew me back to a conversation I had over a "philosopical beer(or 3)" with Erika in college. Erika and I liked to go to the bars as a pair and have long talks about life, men, and make up stories about people we would see in the bar. Besides the ever frequent conversation of the Theory of Two and the Theory of the Untied Shoelaces, we frequently discussed why girls were so desperate to get engaged and guys were so laid back about it.

The conclusion we came to was this: Traditionally the male askes the female to get married. This puts all of the control in the male's court. So, if a guy decides that he wants to get married, he can go out and find any woman desperate to get married and his wish is fulfilled. However, most girls go on long searches for the "perfect" guy that flys in on a white horse with a rainbow of colors flying behind. Once she finds this guy, she has to convince him that she is the perfect girl for him...so he will eventually propose and they can live happily ever after. But what if he decides that after 3 years of dating, she isn't the one he wants to marry or he isn't ready to settle down yet and they break up? She has to start her search all over again. Pretty depressing, huh?

Well, so to combat this, Erika and I decided that we WILL get married someday. No looking. It will happen...IF we want it to.

Here's the rest of the story...

If the 4 previously posted pics weren't good enough insight into how my weekend in Iowa went, you can check out all the pics here. Beware there are well over 100 pictures. Enjoy!

Homeward bound

I took this picture on the drive home today. Aaron isn't looking at the camera, because his eyes are on the road and we are all having a good time.

Elton

After bar close on Saturday night, I met "Elton John". The girl with him totally looked like Courtney Cox.

Rockstar Tailgating

Tailgating in Myrtle Court in the early am hours of Saturday. Nadine is using her sausage to point at my snazzy Iowa Hawkeyes belt buckle.I'm looking pretty haggard.

Play time

Between bars we goofed around on the playground in the ped mall on Friday night. Aaron, Stacey, Chrissy and Courtney are all piled on the slide.

It's going to be epic...

You know when sometimes you get sooo excited about something that you end up getting let down due to the overhyping?

Well, I know that won't happen this weekend. I am going to be in Iowa City...staying downtown...with great friends. I am going to get to tailgate with family and friends and watch an Iowa football game. Hopefully, they will beat Minn and bring Floyd of Rosedale home.

Things I am excited about:
--FAC at Brothers
--Pita Pit
--Pancheros

I LOVE IOWA CITY!

Birthday Girl!

Happy 25th Birthday, Mel!!!

flashback...

Tito is perhaps my all time favorite Cardinals player. He played with the Red Birds from 1980-87 with some time with Baltimore in '83.

Mel and I wating in the wind, cold, and rain for the Russian Dumpling place to open. It appears that Mel has a leaf stuck in her hair.

I ran into Hans at State Street Brats while watching the Iowa vs Wisconsin game. Iowa won!

Russian dumplings...I started craving them on the bus ride home....soooooooooo goooooood.

I love hippies

Friday at noon I took my first ever Van Galder bus trip to Madison, Wisconsin. I must say, taking a charter bus is by far the way to go. It' s cheaper than gas(if you use Mel's student discount) and much more relaxing...espically with all the traveling I've been doing lately. It was great to just sit on a bus, doze off, people watch, and read magazines for 3 hours. I didn't have to worry about tolls or traffic. I loved it...while on the bus, I even considered selling the Taurarri and taveling this way all the time...then I thought again.

Upon arriving in Madison, Mel picked me up via foot and headed to the mansion where she lives to drop off my bags. We had a good two hour chapt about our lives, drank wine and she even read my love life on tarot cards...it isn' t looking so hot...like I didn't know that. After that we headed to Dotty's Dowry for a burger, but with a long wait we just hoped next door for Ian's Pizza by the Slice, which was suprisingly delicious. We then headed over to one of her friends apts to pick them up on the party train and head on over to The Plaza(a bar). At the plaza we had a few cocktails and then some Iowa Alumnae occupied the booth next to us. In no time, we had made friends with them. Two more bars after the plaza and we decided to call it quits for the night.

On Saturday, Mel and I had the first annual taquito fest. We lounged on Mel's futon(affectionately name the taquito) and watched Garden State and ate crossaints...which Mel got of bed, walked to the bakery, went back to bed, then woke up hours later to eat. What a great friend. We decdided to get up about 1:30, shower and headed back to Dotty's for lunch. This time we were able to get a seat, watch the game and eat a good burger. We finished eatting at halftime, I convinced Mel to go to Pop Deluxe, a store I greatly enjoy, then we stopped at a coffee house to get a warm beverage. While sitting in the coffee house, Aaron called me telling me that Iowa was in the game and the score was 17-10. Mel and I quickly finished out coffee and chai and headed to State Street Brats where we watched the game. While there, I ran into former fellow RA Hans...picture to follow in next post. We stayed there and cheered the Hawks on to victory. After the big W, Mel led a small group of Iowa fans in singing In Heavan There is No Beer. After the game we did more downtown shopping, ate dinner at a fun little restaurant then went to the play "You Name It". Mel's friend Trisha's sister was in the play. The play was great. Afterwards, Mel and I decided we were hungry again(it was now about midnight) and went and ate Russian dumplings. I got half plain and half spicy....and oh my, were they delish!!! There we met a man that is a professor at the University of Iowa who was in town for the game and he also went to Iowa and used to wrestle for Dan Gable. After the dumplings, Mel and I headed back to her place to watch a little Will and Grace and call it a night.

It was a succsesful trip to Madison....that means I had a lot of FUN!

Sidebar updated? Check.

I updated my sidebar with links to more peoples blog's that I frequent.

Check them out, they are:

Sheddie Elephante
Wally
Rob
Dave
Chris

**I purposely didn't link them from this post, because I want you to use the sidebar!:-)

Me and my under-roos

What Your Underwear Says About You

You enjoy wearing nice underwear, even if it comes at a hefty price tag. You're sexy, in that pinup girl, tease sort of way.

The Underwear Oracle

Lens Family Fun

The Lens family gather in Chicago this past weekend to attend the Iowa vs Northwestern game. It was a disappointing loss for the Hawkeyes after they gave up two touchdowns in the last 4 minutes of the game for a final score of 28-27. We had some good family fun though...Josh sandwiches anyone???

Here are the pics from the weekend.

My baby's come home

About noon today, my digital camera arrived via postmaster. Here are the long awaited hurricane party pictures from my camera!

Hurricane Party Pics

There is a (digital camera) GOD

I just received one of the best phone calls of my life.

Aaron called and told me that my digital camera had been found...in the back seat of a guys car in Cinncinati. Either way, I don't care. I am getting my camera back. I was honestly ready to go out and buy another one tomorrow morning so I would have one for when my family is in town this weekend.

Diggy is comin' home to mama!:-D

Lights, Camera, Action

Rare is it that I want to head to the theater and watch a flick...but, there are THREE movies coming out in Nov that I really want to see.

They are:

Jarhead

Harry Potter 4

Walk the Line