Just Throw a Brick

I've been feeling rather uninspired when it comes to the blog lately (as you can probably tell) so instead of some paragraphs, have a bunch of lists! And feel free to listen to this random song Spotify thought I would like, and I do! Nice job, Spotify. Shows We Attempt to Stay Caught Up On But Fail Miserably -Suits -MasterChef -New Girl (jk, we're caught up on this one) -Worst Cooks in America -Elementary (just me) -SuperGirl (just me again) -When Calls the Heart (haha, me) -Arrow (again, juuuuuust me, and I'm like a season and a half behind, so I think I'm going to move it down to the next list.) Shows I've Attempted to Watch But Given Up On -Glee -30 Rock -The Flash Things That Have Happened Recently -We went to see the Newsies Broadway broadcast in theatres a couple weeks ago and it was awesome! Like many (most?) people in the world, I'm not the biggest fan of the Newsies Christian Bale movie, but the stage adaptation is approximately 50...

Hey McBrickers. Been awhile since a good old-fashioned HC&M, no? Happy: -This is my latest favorite musical: (there's some swearing in this version, this is what they performed at the Tonys.) Yes, that is Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame.) I know everyone's all into Hamilton and has been for like the past year, but I just discovered his first musical, In the Heights, and I love it so much more. Mostly because I feel like all the songs in Hamilton kind of sound the same (don't hate me.) The same can be said for In the Heights, I guess, but these songs have that Spanish flair that I just LOVE. I can't explain it. It's just there. I'm the girl who loves music in Spanish but only has a somewhat-rudimentary knowledge of the language. Lo siento. Whatever. Just give the soundtrack a listen and then tell me what you think? Or don't. I won't judge. -How about those Cubs, huh?! HUH?!?!?! I know I'm a bandwagon fan. I get it. But to be fair, I...

Hey, extremely loyal McBrickers! Here are some things that have happened in the world since I blogged last: 1. Brad and Angelina broke up. What?! Hollywood is shaking on its hinges! (imagine a full K eye roll here.) 2. The Head and the Heart released a new album (YESSSS) 3. Harvey and Donna held hands on Suits and I'm so happy. 4. Worst Cooks in America is just getting more and more awesome with every season, I swear.  5. BYU women's soccer is on fire! (and so are the Cubs!) Here's some things we've done since I've blogged last: 1. Went to various sporting events (baseball, football, etc.) 2. Watched season 2 of Galavant (and it is spectacular, hence the Tad Cooper!) 3. Gotten completely into Fitz and the Tantrums (I know, I'm late to the party on this one.) 4. C started grad school, year two! More posts to come in the somewhat near future? -K

Hey, people. My week, in a picture. Peruse below. Happy -Went to a White Sox game last Friday. That deserves a post in and of itself due to the intense nature of the game. Two words: Superhero Night. Get excited. -Me and C have already pretty much decided on our Halloween costumes (which is dumb, because we're adults, and we have nothing to dress up for, but whatever.) We'll see if we act on our ideas but at least we have an idea... We've never dressed up since we've been married. But then again, ever since my college years I've never really been into the whole dressing up deal (with the exception of junior year, where I wore a tattoo sleeve to class/work all day and painted my nails black. That was awesome. Oh, and I was a Nerd Herder sophomore year. That costume was awesome. I can't find the tie to wear it again though :( I'm just hoping that this "costume" isn't too "casual" for work. And if so TOO BAD, IT'S HAL...

Hey people! Since my afternoon boss resigned and no longer works in my office, I'm all alone in a big office all afternoon long. I try to fill the silence with music, but sometimes when I'm just bored of Spotify I try podcasts. I'm currently in the search for a new podcast to listen to. I've tried "Stuff You Should Know", and while it's okay, I get bored of their voices, and sometimes the "stuff you should know" is just flat-out not interesting. Today I'm trying "Call Your Girlfriend", and while it does have that best-friends-hanging-out-over-the-phone vibe, they're incredibly liberal and I'm not really sure it's for me. But I do enjoy when they talk about things that *aren't* politics. So, we'll see. C listens to "Nightside" on KSL radio, and they can be okay, but I get tired of their voices too. So, this paragraph was to tell you I still haven't found a podcast that I like, and I'm open to s...

Hola, amigos/gringos... Today's my last day not working on a Friday. Next week I move to a five-day workweek again (gag.) I love this four days a week thing. My sisters visited last week! They were quick to remind me that their trip must be blogged about, so that's coming soon. It was great to have them here. They taught me how to Dutch braid and I taught them about Illinois. We spent a lot of nights just hanging out, talking about nothing and everything. It was awesome. I miss them. The apartment is a lot quieter now. And less full of stuff. (They were great houseguests and packed light, but still, we were definitely pushing the limit for how many people we could fit in here.) My friends all had their babies! And they're all cute. Good job, friends. Me and C are still debating on what/if we'll participate in our ward talent show. We'd like to do something funny, but not stupid. It's a fine line to walk. The sisters helped us brainstorm while they were o...

Anyone else just having a bleh day today? I think mine stems from the fact that the Fourth is coming up, and that's usually such a fun holiday in Utah. I miss living so close to the Stadium of Fire (although with Tim McGraw headlining this year, I'm not as sad. Haha. My hatred for country music is still strong as ever!) Oh, you want to know what I'm jamming to now, you ask? Well, it has been awhile since a music post... What K is Listening To Now First off, these all come straight off my Spotify "You Can Do It!!!" playlist. I play it whenever I'm driving to work, because I need a ton of motivation to walk into work sometimes. 1. Left Hand Free, alt+J Well, my left hand's free... I just want to say, first off, that I totally knew this song/loved this song/listened to this song WAY before Civil War came out. #hipster First it hit my Pandora, then it hit a Suits episode. Ah. Suits. Coming back soon! 2. Lean On, Major Lazer  Blow a ki...

It's not actually raining men, just raining meh. Actually, it's just raining, sometimes. Every day last week, actually. Happy -It was THIS amazing, Star Wars-loving, soccer/softball/basketball playing, animal expert, butterfly-bush-playing girl's birthday last week! She's becoming the most beautiful young woman :) Not that you can tell from this picture... Just take my word for it. -It's April, guys! March seems to go on forever for me, and this year was no different. April is such a hopeful month! (And also the worst character on Gilmore Girls. FACT.) -Me & B watched Sing It On together for the last like week or so and it was awesome. I don't need a reason to watch that show. But it was nice to have one. :) -I started doing my baby booties, and while I've made a TON of mistakes and this bootie will probably not ever be given away to anyone, I understand the process now and I think my next one will be really really cute. I love the pattern...

I know I said I'd blog every day, but the fact is there wasn't much to blog about.  I go to work. I go home from work. We make dinner. We eat it. C studies. We watch Suits. The end. (PS, Donna's back, so all there is to say is YEEEEESSSSSSSS. Also every gif in here is Suits. You're welcome.) But anyway, a blog post every day that just says the same things over and over sounds awful. Post of Annoyance: Everyone in this school is gone. Everyone except the annoying person behind me who pretty much watches my every move and waits for me to screw up so she can report me to the division office. I guess a long time ago she had a program assistant, but she used her for more personal things and so she lost the privilege (?) to have one, so now she ruins everyone else's lives by toeing their assistants and complaining if it looks like we're not working. News flash - it's Spring Break. I haven't seen the leader of my programs in like - a week. There is really ...

Well, it's Spring Break for us out here, friends. And let me tell you, it could not have come at a better time. I'm really simultaneously looking forward to working on an empty campus and then wondering why the heck I have to be here on this empty campus. Absolutely nothing gets done this week. I talked to my trainer and she said at our college Spring Break used to be Staff Week for the staff that get left behind, and you could go to classes and they'd host meals and it was fun and you got to know all the other staff people. But now, they only do Staff Day and we have to sit here the other four days of this ridiculous break. I do not understand why we are open at all but I guess that's public school life. If you get a blog post every day this week consider yourselves #blessed. I've been in a bit of an off mood lately. ("What?!" you ask yourself, "K's in an off mood?! That NEVER HAPPENS!" Hahahahaha laugh your heads off . This one's for ...

So I got the most random email the other day at work. Necessary background information: I work at a community college that's basically in the middle of the woods. There's a lake, a little creek, a river, and tons and TONS of trees. It's actually really pretty. But with the forest comes lots of forest creatures... So two days ago I got a random email entitled "Nature Alerts", which kind of sounds like I'm back watching Kratt's Kreatures (which is totally fine with me...) But as I'm skimming the email, this section jumps out: "The chimney crayfish are out and about in Parking Lot C, so do your best to not run them over. They are 4-5 inches long and open their tiny pinchers when you approach as a defense mechanism. If you would like to pick one up to move into the woods for safety, use two fingers to lightly pick them up from the tail end."  Um WHAT? Are you telling me as part of my duties here I also have to add "crayfish rescuer...

Happy Saturday, people! Usually I feel like the weeks just crawl along. And this one has, for sure. But I think it's crawled a little faster than usual. Yay! Everyone be proud of us. We also tried to be social last week, we really did. A couple invited us over to make potstickers with them, and it was on Friday night, which is hard for us (C's got L&F meetings until later) but we were like you know what, we'll make it work. So C got off his train on a different stop that was closer to the house the party was in, and so I had to find it. My GPS said I'd gotten there, only I was staring at a car wash and a row of crappy apartment buildings, with a train station nowhere in sight. So I got to do my favorite thing, which is driving around trying to find something. I hate driving in Chicago. It's crap. But I eventually found C at a random Walgreens, and then we made our way to the potsticker party... We were an hour late, but I had warned them ahead of time. So I...

Well, me and C had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. I think it went okay. I wanted to be one of the cool houses, with the good food, and I think we did well. It's nice to talk to people our own age, even if they're missionaries and are like seven months behind the times. Haha. One of them knew my sister missionary friend but hadn't seen her since I had, so I have no idea where she went. Probably got transferred down to Indiana. I did mention about how there was a Costa Vida in the city, and the missionary from Orem was like "Oh yeah? Is there a Cafe Rio?" and I was like - "No way. We left that crap in Utah." And then he was sad. Or maybe offended. I'm not sure. Costa or nothing, people. (And don't even think about telling me to give Chipotle another shot.) Netflix update! I've been really into When Calls the Heart lately. It's cheesy, it's Hallmark, but it's clean, and I like it. I don't know. It's just good, ...

You should all feel honored. Yes, you. I don't care if you're wearing sweats sitting on your couch eating stale Cheetos! You are reading my 200th post! And believe me, it's as much an honor to write as it is to read, I'm sure.  I was going to do a super special 200th post, with balloons and a cake and a party, but since it's a Thursday night in Norridge, the best you'll get is leftover Valentine's cake and a night of Leverage watching.  And, in honor of the 200th post, I decided to answer 75 random questions I found on the Internet! Remember these? They were huge on FB circa 2009 and everyone would write their answers in "Notes" and then tag their friends? Well lucky for you I've looked up a nice dorky list of those and so you get to read it. And if you make it to the end, you're a true McBricker. 1. What single piece of technology makes your life easier? Google Maps. I'm awful with directions. Also Chicago was designed by someon...

Here's your two-week update! He's still nameless, although my little sister P says he should be called "Puffy the Girl Slayer". I'm not sure about that one. She did say we could call him "Puff G. Slay" so, there's that. He responded well to that, although even though he'll swim up to the front of the tank no matter what when I come talk to him, so I could probably call him BabyFish for the rest of his life and he wouldn't care at all. Yay. What else, you ask? I know it's been awhile. I got pretty sick this week and am just now starting to feel better. Kudos to C for keeping me and the apartment in one piece. Lots of Gilmore Girls has been consumed this week. and oh my gosh. I love that new people are being added to the cast! Minus Christopher, Dean, and April Nardini. I just... dislike all of them. Ugh. They have no place in the reboot! Go away, people! I also got really into this Netflix reality show called "Sing it On", wh...

It's Friday! I think the only thing that keeps me going throughout the workweek is that Saturdays, we have nothing. It's blissful. We usually meal plan and grocery shop in the mornings, and then do something fun for the rest of the day. Even if "fun" consists of walking around the huge outlet mall near our apartment. Or we'll take a trip to the two-story Target. Last Saturday we hit up the local Petco for a new fishtank for Jeffrey. Speaking of, he's been very listless lately. He barely makes it off his little leaf to say hi to me when I get home. I think it may be near the end for the little guy. :/ Don't die, Jeffrey! You're my only friend out here! And no, I still have never seen him eat. I don't know what's up with that little dude. Happy thoughts that don't include poor sick Jeffrey... Um... I'm getting back on my CBMR kick this week. I got my compensation book yesterday and I read it yesterday. All of it. At one point I looked u...

As expected, all social media outlets have exploded with Star Wars. Which is fine, I was expecting it but still. Dang. I haven't seen so many posts regarding something I don't care about since "The Dress". "But why?" You ask, astounded. "Star Wars defined a generation! It made me who I am today! Without Star Wars there is no reason to live!!!" To which I reply, "Meh." I know, I'm lame. I'm extremely lame. I get that. It was a running joke in college that every boyfriend I had was like "YOU NEED TO WATCH THEM" and I would be like "Ehhhhhh", and then we'd break up and we never did...Not that breaking up was correlated to my non Star Wars knowledge (I think?)  And now I'm married and I still haven't seen them. Woo.  I have to admit, for awhile it was fun to pull out the old "I've never seen Star Wars" when playing Never Have I Ever or some other stupid game, and seeing eve...