Snowpocolypse 2013

This is my Snowpocolypse 2013 diary. Enjoy.

Day 1

I woke up at 6:30 to the news that the school district had shut down for the day. I had an 8 am class and the college was still open. Until 7:45, I kept refreshing the news website before leaving for school. I got home at 9. The sky was still bright. Nothing had fallen from the clouds yet. 

At this point, people on Facebook were complaining about using a snow day on a sunny day.

I then went to the gym, fearing that the evening classes would be canceled. They were, so I'm glad I went. There, I made a 50# power clean PR. That was nice. My window had frozen over while I was working out. I then went to Starbucks. I was so positive that I'd be cooped up in the house the next few days that I wanted as much outside time as possible. 

When I got home, I saw that friend Mickey had started a new trend. People took a photo of themselves staring in horror at the sky and made it their profile picture.

SNOWPOCOLYPSE 2013

I then checked Facebook and saw that friend Melissa, who is in town for an event this weekend, wanted people to go to Gidget's with her. Other friend Patricia and I ended up there with her! We visited for about an hour and a half before Patricia had to go to work. We had to take horrified pictures first.

It. Is. Coming.

I got home and found my sisters doing pretty much nothing. I think the snow day had worn off by around 1 pm.

Kacie making chili

Daryl watching The Walking Dead, her new obsession

At least it feels like Christmas!

We also do puzzles when it's cold. Maybe we'll finish this one by the time the storm is gone!

A huge Christmas puzzle's set out to put together

Got the firewood ready to be brought in

My dad and I ventured to the new Natural Grocers store that just opened to check it out. I got a Paleo cookbook! After that, it was Sound of Music time.

The show was wonderful, even though the internet infuriated me. People were saying that NBC rewrote a classic and that Carrie Underwood is no Julie Andrews, which is true, but they have no idea that Julie Andrews did not originate Maria. The "new" songs were from the stage show and it followed the script exactly.

Dad begins to doubt my attendance at Thanksmass on Saturday night at Lake Diversion

Day 2

School was canceled again today, but I still woke up at 7:30. Roads were still icy and workouts were again canceled. I began to watch the American Open weightlifting meet online until we left the house. I saw my former coach Glenn and a girl I used to lift with before I quit.

Then we left and went to United to get a Christmas tree for my great-grandma's hospital room. She fell and broke her hit the day prior and had surgery today to fix it. We decorated the tree.

Great-grandma's Christmas tree

Then I went to work.

I was supposed to work concessions at the Nutcracker tonight, but it was canceled due to weather. Instead my family went to see Frozen. It was the second time for Kacie and I, but the first for the rest. It was just as good the second time.

I'm not driving myself to Thanksmas and he won't take me, even though he is invited. I'm not going. #devastation

Day 3

There was already a fire when I woke up and the temperature is not supposed to go over 20 today. Sisters have to go to a dance rehearsal for a performance they're in tonight. I'm still super upset I don't get to go to Thanksmass tonight because I got my friend the world's best gift AND it's Thanksmass. I just can't miss it. Friends came in from out of town and I don't get to see them.

But wait.

I'm on my way to take my sisters to dance when my friend messages me. Thanksmass has been moved into town! It's going to be at the theatre and I can go now! Whoo hoo!

After dropping my sisters off at dance, dad and I went to the gym to workout. We watched more American Open while we were there.

It was treacherous getting into the gym. The parking lot and the turf was a solid sheet of ice.

We then returned home to cook a last minute dish to take to the party tonight. I then went to said party.

The aluminum tree with all of the White Elephant gifts.

Peter, Margaret, and myself

One side of the group. The two people sitting on the far left are Hampton Williams and his girlfriend. They both were So You Think You Can Dance dancers and were in town as part of the Nutcracker held at the theatre. They spent the majority of the night hanging out with us. 

I won a new Pyrex Cinderella bowl in the White Elephant exchange!

So, the Snowpocalypse ended on a much better note. It's supposed to be above freezing on Sunday, so the roads will start to thaw out. Nearly every church in town is shut down in the morning though.

I went to Thanksmass.

Day 4

By afternoon on Day 4, roads were melted enough to drive normally and thus concluded Snowpocolypse 2013. 

Literary Art Day

edit: I know I spelt "remember" wrong in my painting. I've fixed it now.

The day after Thankgiving is traditionally a boring day at my house. After we all band together to transport boxes from the attic to downstairs, we do nothing while my mom begins the Christmas decorating process.

We decided that would change today.

Firstly, my mom decided that she would clean out the attic after getting all of the boxes down. During that, she found me a few new toys.

This is a toy that my great-grandpa got for my mother. It's a little wooden outhouse bank. You load up a mousetrap inside and then put it together carefully. If you aren't careful, it falls and then the mousetraps pops and almost cuts off your finger. After that, you get a friend to drop in a quarter. It sets off the trap and they scream.

This is a salt and pepper shaker from the 50s. My mema and papa are in that picture.

When you turn the dial, out pop the shakers!

Secondly, my sister and I created a new holiday. The day after Thanksgiving is now Literary Art Day.

Last week, I created this:

My sister was supposed to paint with me, but I got home before she did and was bored, so I forgot about her. Today, we painted together.

My work-in-progress

I was worried about the blending of the black and red at first, but I think it worked. It looks better in the finished product. I promise I am not a Coyote!! :)

Kacie's work-in-progress

Kacie fretted for an hour over how to write her words. She couldn't decide what to do in cursive and what to capitalize. In the end, she wrote it all in lowercase except for a few words.

She chose a quote from John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars"

I chose a quote from Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus." I messed up on the "e" and had to paint over it. 

Kacie's art

My finished project 

All three of the quote painting things I've done. 

The hard part about this quote was that I didn't follow one that had been done already. The other two paintings had been created by others and posted online. I just copied them. This one, for myself and Kacie, were blank slates. The lines at the top are supposed to be kind of like the circus tent.

One hour after finishing and taking all of the photos, I was uploading the picture to Tumblr. I realized I spelt a word wrong.

I rushed into the kitchen and painted over the egregious error.

I think aesthetically, it looked better before I fixed it. I had to though. I couldn't leave an error like that.

Thirdly, after we painted, we succumbed to the Christmas spirit and decorated our trees.

Kacie's belongs in a Dr. Seuss book.

Here's my little Christmas display!

Happy Literary Art Day!!

Catching Fire Premiere

The seats in theatre 4 slowly began filling right before six o'clock. At 7:30, the pre-preview advertisements began to excited gasps around the room. When the lights dimmed at 8 pm, people squealed. After watching the previews, the crowd hushed as the lights offed.
The games began.
On November 21 at 8 pm, the premiere of Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games was released. Catching Fire follows the story of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they enter the arena for the second time, for the 75th Hunger Games. The twist is that in this Hunger Games, the only competitors in the arena were also former victors.

Yup, I've still got it. #FormerHighSchoolJournalist
Now, on to the more interesting stuff.

Finally, the night we've all been waiting for. It's Catching Fire! I got tickets with my sister and her friends to go to the #eightpmshowing. I was upset at first about the time, because really, where's the excitement in going to a premiere at a normal movie time? I wanted to go at midnight.

IT'S TIME!!

I got to the theatre around 6:30 after finishing a swell workout at the box. I made a new hanging power snatch PR! After stretching out to waste time before heading to the show, I embraced the cold and ran as fast as I could to the warmth of my car.

The theatre wasn't really that bad. It was an awful lot worse for the Harry Potter films and even The Hunger Games a year and a half ago. I didn't have to wait in any lines even for snacks!

My sister and thirty of her closest friends had saved a load of seats, so I walked in and sat right down. Other than the parent chaperones, I think I was the oldest one there. Everyone was in high school and I'm like, "Hey, I'm in college."

Then I had a moment of weakness.

This was dinner. I don't regret it in the slightest.

I bought a big popcorn. I don't even care. It was a special occasion. After munching down on the semi-fresh fluffy, buttery goodness, it was selfie time.

Me and sister Kacie. I'm more excited than she is.

Me and friend Peyton. She thinks she's cooler than she actually is. Look at that duck face!

#swaggy

She dressed as Katniss, like she did for Halloween, just without the bow. 

I came straight from the gym and my head looks a bit weird, but group picture with some of my sister's friends!

Possible spoilers follow, but I don't believe in spoilers because if it's a book, you should have read it before seeing the movie and therefore should already know everything

When the pre-previews started, everyone gasped, even the adults. The First Looks were even that great. The actual previews were where it's at. 

Divergent was the first one! That is my new favourite (idk why I put the 'u,' but I'm leaving it) series. I'm furious that Veronica Roth was in Dallas signing last month and I didn't know about it. The preview was fantastic. There really weren't many trailers, maybe just three?

The movie started and everyone was silent.

Oh my gosh. The movie was fantastic. I didn't think a book-to-movie could beat The Hunger Games, but Catching Fire did just that. Everything was spot on. People jumped at the monkeys and I cried when Mags sacrificed herself. "Tick tock" gave me chills the whole scene. At the very end, I think the whole theatre heard my dad yell "He's in on it?!"

When the Mockingjay flashed at the end of the movie, cries of "I can't even!" and "My feels!" filled the auditorium.

Overall, I give it an 11/10. 

We waited until the end of the credits, but to our dismay, there was no extra scene.

Peyton is distraught that the movie ended at the end.

 Afterwards, Kacie, Peyton and I crammed in my parents car to be driven to our cars all the way across the parking lot. That calls for another selfie, but only Daryl and I were ready.

Sister Daryl took the photo. She's a much more skilled selfie taker than I am

I'm planning on seeing the movie again, but I don't know when. It was just that good.

Adventures on the Dirt Hill

I climbed the dirt hill for the first time today. Five times. I was supposed to go ten, but I didn't. Since I went five, I was supposed to also run four miles (or just two.) I did neither. I just went up and down five times and felt like I was going to pass out. My legs quivered the whole time.

CrossFit was held at Lake Wichita today. It was hill climbs and runs. I took a lot of pictures that I shall now post.

From the top

Dad after climbing round 1

Up and down, up and down, over and over again

I know it doesn't look steep from the pictures, but it's super steep

I'm thinking "Oh gosh, I'm going to fall and roll down the hill"

Caution? CrossFit? No thanks!

Halloween 2013

"Cookie Monster is at large, but we caught the Hamburgler."

-Random dude in car to us

We have a tradition. Each Halloween for the past five years, we go trick-or-treating with friends in the most popular neighborhood in town. The main group has stayed the same except for those over achievers who left and went to college.

This year was no different. I am probably too old for Halloween, but I don't care!

We're heading out to the party!

Before we were allowed to go out for candy, we had to take group pictures. Last year we took them downtown, but this year, just used the backyard.

Photo by Mike Minuto 

I am always a pumpkin. Austin is always something deadly. We have a tradition where he always kills me.

After wandering aimlessly down the road for a few minutes, friend Austin made the executive decision that we needed to find the children so that we didn't look like a bunch of college kids. We found them and rang a few doorbells before leaving to meet up with the rest of our group. Once we got to the main location we no longer needed them because it's mostly big kids.

We've been freed from photos! Candy time! 

Austin was carrying air soft guns as part of his costume. Earlier that evening, air pellets (aka nothing) had been shooting out of them. Jacob was singing in a hick accent and Austin gave Hannah the gun. She shot Jacob not knowing that Austin had loaded it with BB's!

"She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she OUCH!!"

Kacie carried that bow for the group picture and forgot to leave it at the house when we left. She carried it around her torso all night.

Kacie was Katniss. She borrowed Caitlyn's bow and carried it for several hours through a hilly neighborhood. Matthew (The Night) creeped up on her.

Every year, we have to stop by Mrs. Reggie's house for a bathroom break and nourishment. They gave us a lot of candy!

Yes, we went inside someone's home. 

This wasn't supposed to look like I was being attacked, but it did. Amanda is scary as Harley Quinn. 

We stopped by Reggie's house again on the way back to our HQ to visit more people. We said hello to Jeff, Shannon, Cici, Peyton (the Great) and a few more people. Kacie took a piece of bread (without asking) and claimed some boy named "Pita" gave it to her. She isn't supposed to be talking to boys.

It's Katniss.

After that, we HAD to stop by the scary house. It wasn't as scary once we realized Ms. Nona was in charge! She took a group picture of us by Michael Myers. It was a real person!

We almost died. He kept moving and being scary.

On the way back, we were also chased by a trash bag. That was scary. We all screamed and ran.

A lot of the houses were starting to run out or shut down, so we journeyed back through driveways and ditches to get back to the house. I convinced everyone to run up a huge hill. #crossfit

When we returned to the house, we all sat in the living room and dumped our candy for the annual Candy Exchange. Since I can't have gluten, I was intently watching the middle pile for Tootsie Rolls and M&Ms. I had made a deal with Matthew to trade Twizzlers for Sweet Tarts, but I didn't get any! Everyone stayed after to watch scary movies, but I left to get sleep since I'm not a scary movie person.

I'm already ready for next year!

The whole crew
Photo by Mike Minuto