I miss Summer!!


"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories."
-An Affair to Remember

The fam

For the first time in three months, the family is all together again! Renae's flight got in late Wednesday night and she has come home to me! We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday-- I think this was the first year where we all contributed something to the meal, and things got done a lot faster this way. How silly we are. I would upload pics, but my computer is broken again, and right before all my stuff is due next week. Perfect timing, no? Ren, you don't mind me using yours while you and Mom are out shopping, right? ;)

This is the first year where we did not consume turkey and I can honestly say I didn't miss it. Games were played, naps were taken (some of us longer than others-- uhhh, mine), playful banter was exchanged--not uncommon in the Wenger house, and stories were exchanged for laughs. We're all really just a feisty bunch, my dad exempted, so it's a lot of fun when we're all together. I am very thankful for my family-- I love them all so much and am so blessed by each and every person! We also started a Secret Santa gift exchange a few years ago, so we drew names for that. As always, I try to use my sleuthing "skills" to figure out who everybody has. Of course, no one is very reluctant to drop me hints...

I'm shooting a wedding this afternoon, family portraits tomorrow for a friend of my mom's, and portraits for another person in a couple of weeks. Get this: These people are actually going to pay me! Funds are very low right now, so this extra income is very much appreciated.

Some fun quotes from yesterday:

Playing Cranium, Bekah using charades to try and give Renae and me some clues

"Uh, flying! Growth! Plant!"
-Ren

"Birth!"
-Me

"The one before..."
-Dad

"Conception!"
-Me

"Uhhhhh...."
-Bekah

Preparing meal:

"Bekah, you make a mean pot'o'corn!"
-Mom

Playing Imagine If, my mom being the subject of imagination

"Imagine if Rosalie were a floor covering, which would she be?"
-Dad

*Under her breath, very dryly*
"A doormat."
-Mom

Book Meme

I saw this on Micah's blog and thought it looked entertaining. Here's an interesting thought: Where did the word 'meme' come from?

Here are the rules:
(1) Grab the nearest book
(2) open the book to page 56
(3) find the fifth sentence
(4) post the text of the next two to five sentences
(5) don’t dig for your favorite book. Pick the closest
(6) tag five people to do the same

Note that if you dig around for your favorite book, it ruins the whole point of the thing. It must be the book that is spacially closest to you.

Since I'm writing a research paper on the influence of alchemy in Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, the spacially closest book to me is: Alchemy, by E.J. Holmyard...

The furnace has an iron bar running transversely through it, about five or six inches from the bottom, and the glass vessel containing the substance to be sublimed is supported so that it nearly but not quite touches the bar. The perforated disk is arranged over the neck of the flask and helps to keep it in position, the holes in the disk acting as exits for hot gases from the furnace.

Here's what I want for Christmas:

To come out of hiding next semester and actually maintain a social life along with doing well in school...

Is that too lofty a wish?

Sarcasm Quote #3,459

"So, tell me what else is going on in the world right now."
-Bek

"....Did you know that our economy is in a recession?"
-Me

NERD-FEST 2008

We spent months talking about the movie release of Twilight, and the time finally came for its debut entrance into theatres across the nation. We were among the first to see it-- arriving at the theatre early in order to get the best seats. Mothers brought their daughters, girlfriends brought their boyfriends, and friends brought other friends just obsessed in the whole affair as themselves. There was a 12:01 and a 12:15 showing, and both were completely sold out. I counted about four or five guys in the whole theatre, but most of the room was populated by teenage girls. Girls sported homemade t-shirts proclaiming their Edwardite fandom. Screams and giggles erupted everytime Edward's face appeared on the screen. I give you... NERD-FEST:

The devoted fans. We ate dinner at Chipotle, headed over to the theatre, found out we weren't allowed to wait there until later, got cake at Chili's.

So, I'm Bella and Katie's the vampire-- because she's got blonde hair (therefore, the "cold one.")

Twilight fans! Oh, and later a woman came out and announced that if people didn't stop cutting in line and behaving like adults, then they were going to cancel the show. Riiiiight.

Waiting outside for 45 minutes in 18 degree weather. Total Twi-hards.

She was my favorite-- our own little Red Riding Hood right among the Edwardites.

Inside the theatre-- they let us in about 15 minutes early, so we sat there for an hour before the movie actually started. We made about three bathroom breaks in the span of that time.

Reading the book before Twilight started-- obviously, they wanted to brush up on their Twilight knowledge, to check facts against the movie. Because the movie was going to be SO accurate.

So here's my mini Twilight movie review (You may stop reading if you haven't seen it yet)... just warning ya:

It kinda sucked. Two of the actors were redeemable, but most of the acting was terrible, therefore inducing massive amounts of unnecessary giggles. I think we may have annoyed the people in front of us because of this, but when you have Kristen Stewart stammering very unnaturally onscreen, it is just downright FUNNY! I think I'll stick to the books.

And the night has finally arrived...

For Twilight fans!

I will be attending the midnight premiere tonight with several other crazed fans like myself. We're getting there early because I'm sure the place will be packed out with a large clan of tween Edwardites!

A Time for FRIENDS!

Thanksgiving Break begins a week from today and I am thrilled to my innermost being! It's been a a little stressful these last couple of weeks, to say the least. Two tests, a project, and two 10-page papers later, I am ready for a BREATHER. Or a breath, if you will. Let's see: exciting things to come...

Well, firstly, I get to see two of my best friends in just a week! Renae and Kate, who are traveling home for Thanksgiving from the North. Yay!!

Renae Ann-- my favorite dweeb. ;) Love you!

Kate Maureen-- my little chemist.

Adventures of Grace and Elena

To Lawrence, to Lawrence we go to be free from the entanglements of Topeka!

Just this thought:

Life is funny sometimes.

Faces of an opossum

Taken straight from Wikipedia:

"Their unspecialized biology, flexible diet and reproductive strategy make them successful colonizers and survivors in unsettled times."

My dad and I saw this delightful little creature in the backyard about a week ago or so:

More Emo Kid Fun

Today in class, we were about to take a test, and Emo Kid was sitting in the row in front of me. He stretched, made these weird sounds and said to the girl next to him, "Practicing a little Tai Chi before the big test, see?" E.K. turned around, saw me smirking, and asked, "What-- you laughing at my Tai Chi?"

I just smiled, looked directly at him and said, "No, I think it's amazing."

The Kellis

It's been quite some time since a Kellis post, and I do apologize. I've been storing pieces of information about this quirky man and hiding them in the margins of my notes.

Some things I have learned:

1. He used to live on a chicken farm for a time: "My stepdad used to give me a penny for every dozen he collected, but he would give the farmhands $5 a dozen-- which I always thought was a rip-off, you know?"

2. He always buys Smart Chicken at the supermarket-- double the price, but less hormones injected.

3. Kellis has a 14 year-old daughter who wears organic makeup (He bought it for her).

4. He spent last summer in Hawaii.

The other thing I must write about is the overwhelming presences of two students: one an older, outspoken non-trad who constantly asks, " BUT WHY??" or "Stop it!" -- the other student being a more traditional, younger student, but articulates his words very slowly and often reads the questions he asks, as if he carefully wrote them out before. He also seriously acts as if he forgot to take his medication. Although these students' names remain unknown to me, I have named them Mercedes (non-trad) and E.K. for Emo Kid (unmedicated one). Oh, and did I mention that these two almost got in a fight one morning? Kellis calmed them down, after declaring: "If a fight breaks out in this classroom, I will NO doubt be involved!"

I leave you with this quote from last week:

"North Canada used to be one of the most untouched parts of the world, but no longer..."
-Kellis

"Does that mean that there are going to be more timberwolves in zoos?"
-E.K.

The Countdown

70 days until Spring Semester begins

51 days until the New Year

45 days until Christmas

32 days until the end of Fall Semester

16 days until Thanksgiving Break, which also marks when I get to see Renae and Kate!

11 days until Twilight comes to theaters (And yes, I'm seeing the midnight showing with several other obsessed fans!!)

4 days until Asian Night at Mara and Celeste's

2 days until MEGA homework is due.... and an exam.

1 day until I go insane. I'm just giving it one more day...

I've already started listening to Christmas music. :) Now, to make my list of must-see Christmas movies this season....

Super Secret Spycode-- made public

I found this in my spy notebook and thought I'd share this little gold nugget. Solve this and you will discover my elementary school crush:

We held hands on the playground at recess (we "went out" for two days), and then the next day he handed me a little note that said his mom was making him break up with me. My first heartbreak at the tender age of nine! He asked me out a couple of other times in the following years leading up to middle school, but I said NO. Beware the wrath of a woman scorned-- thank you, Shakespeare. He's now married and has a little baby boy.

Sarcasm is hereditary

--Talking about the upcoming television switchover to digital television in February--

"So, does this mean that I if I don't have that special box, I won't be able to watch anything?? I haven't heard anything about this!"
-Bek

"She's been a little out of it for a while."
-Me

*Precisely articulating her words*
"Rebekah, O-B-A-M-A is the new president."
-Mom

The Detective Club

From the years between 1996 to 1998 in my life, there is significant evidence and proper documentation that might suggest a future career in criminology. However, this facet of my life only remained a hobby and now just a fascination with the strange and peculiar.

My first love for mystery began when I was in third grade, continually finding myself wanting to solve mysteries. My friend Heather and I founded our own "Detective Club," with the two of us as the sole members. Upon finding my spy notebook from 1998 (two years after the Detective Club officially started-- I have yet to find the very first notebook), allow me to introduce you to the mind of 10 year-old Elena:

As you can see, having the proper compositional notebook is key for a spy-- not just any old notebook will do. Furthermore, there are certain supplies that must be available at all investigations:

I will gradually be posting more things on my blog to introduce you to Elena's world of spydom-- It's a little surreal finding all of this stuff and reflecting back on just how badly I wanted to be a detective!

Back on the blogosphere

Two hundred dollars later, I have my computer back and I realize now how much I take it for granted. I love this little machine-- it's nice being able to carry it around wherever I need to use it. I haven't felt like blogging lately and while it's mainly due to lack of inspiration, it's also due to not being able to upload photos. I feel like there's so much to say! I'll gradually ease into it, but let's start with this:

Cheesy first-time voter photo? Check.

I think it's so exciting to have been part of this election, to have been actively a part of electing the first black president of our country. What an historical day (okay WHY does this ridiculous English rule exist about "an" and "h's"??) for America!

P.S. Can anyone else believe that October is over?? It always goes so fast. Also-- Gas is $1.99-- holy cow!!

Election Day

I felt very proud to vote in my first presidential election today!!! Today is an exciting day!

Money-- it's what I want

I think it is time to accept the possibility that I may need a second job. I'm not getting as many hours at work than I had originally thought I would be, and I think just working a few nights at another job would be wonderful. Now I have to pay the lovely price that my hackers have placed upon me by ruining my computer, and I have to start saving up money for next Fall, especially if I'm going to pay for a pricey airline ticket to Italy, plus a Euro-pass. Ahhhhhhh--- STRESS!!

So. If you know of anyone hiring part-time, please let me know!