Digressive Ramblings

So I don't have a lot of tangible talents... but here's the list I once compiled: I am really good at packing. Not like light packing, but making lots of stuff fit into a small space. Like all my month's worth of groceries on the convener belt at the store, all of Erica and my stuff into her Sunfire for a trip to Florida and back... things in general into my Yaris. I am good at Dinosaur impressions, most notably a T rex and those ones that spit stuff in your eyes to blind you I am good at embarrassing myself in public.  I do believe this is a talent. I have little shame I am good at crying and not ruining my makeup I am good at finding my cell phone after I've lost it I am good at making people laugh I am good at falling gracefully I am good at being adorable even when I have food on my face, spill my drink on myself etc I am good at setting my friends up with men and on dates  and one of my best legitimate talents is that I'm a good judge of people ...

My favorite book of all time is:  I just completely love it. Past that I don't have favorites.. I love all books... I will read anything. Currently I'm reading:   And a book that I can't find a picture online to read that's called " A 100 women who have made a difference that no one knows about". It's really interesting and I'm sad I can't find a picture of it online.  UP next on deck is: Game Change Broken Things to Mend Drive Delievering Happiness And now this since Amazon recommended it! The Remarkable Soul of a Woman

*Author's note: I don't like this one. Dear World, I can be a not nice person. Like a lot. But typically my first impression is pretty dead on. That's all I'm saying... Michelle

This is what my face morphed into haha

This song is love.

I don't care what your beliefs are on the LGBT community, I think that the It Gets Better Project is a great idea for the youth today. I stumbled across this article and it surprised me. I agree with the general statement, it's an over exaggeration of the situation, I'm sure if you look at the stats-every archetype of person in high school probably has the same rate of suicide- but that doesn't mean the message isn't important. I think it needs to be spread farther then just the LGBT community. I think everyone at that age needs to know that it gets better. That High School in general is rough for a lot of people, and even for the people who you might not think are having a hard time. It's an awkward time and teenagers are not nice people. So to ALL teens- It does get better, life evens out and there is so much fun and joy coming your way if you just wait it out. Love, an ex-high school chubby/ math nerd/ choir girl/ drama club/ debate club/ jock/ tom b...

Well this is just too easy... I saw this just today... This may or may not be a screenshot since this is a DisneyPhotoPass pic...  and here it is in Black and White... I think it's stunning. And here it is with a Christmas border We took photo pass pics by the tree too.. And with a Feliz Navidad border... because why not! Sorry for being that girl here... I just like it and it's a picture that makes me happy In other random news... I have become an HTML code queen... next thing you know I'll be designing my own blogs and not using templates... hahahaha it's more I'm just really proud of myself and what I'm doing on my work website in terms of HTML coding.

Here's the shows I watch:

Dear Mr. Walsh, Thanks for believing in me. If it were not for your excellent teaching skills I would never have made it as far as I have. Thanks for taking the time to work with me on essays, papers and tests. Thank you for knowing I'm smart enough to know and understand the learning part, but that other teachers had failed me in teaching me how to properly express the ideas and thoughts in a coherent, organized manner while using proper grammar and punctuation. Thank you for taking the time to teach me this, and never just writing me off. Thank you for being a real teacher that teaches because they are truly passionate about educating people and aren't jaded by the job, or the people who teach because they don't know what to do with their life or because they think that a teaching profession is good when they mommy track themselves ( most of Utah I'm looking your way). And while I'm at it, thank you for helping me break out of my shell, at least while I was in...

LOVE Love has been on my mind lately. Not because I am in love so I think everyone should be too, (although sometimes I wish I could force everyone to be in love... but that's more like one of those spread the good news things then thinking I'm superior) but just the general subject of love. A few days ago I was driving and I was pondering on a quest I embarked on during my college years. It was to find a movie that did not have love in it. It was during a particularly long dry spell when I didn't even have a crush on anyone (shocking right?) and I didn't want to deal with romance, love or anything of the sort. I couldn't find one. I thought that since my life was so love free and movies (mostly) try to be realistic that, surely, there would be one movie that didn't have a romantic plot-line, twist or happy couple in it. Couldn't do it- it seems all movies have some sort of subplot that featured love. So I was thinking back on this quest. Why ...

I'm always setting goals (not always reaching them) here are a few I'm currently working on: read more- all types of books, i just bought like 6 CS/Management books size 8. I'm secure enough with myself to tell you all I'm mostly a size 10 sometimes a 12 and I want to get down to a always an 8 size. I'll never been super skinny and honestly I'll look like a freak if I do because of my GIANT HIPS AND BUTT, but I think 8 would be a good size for me :) in conjunction with the losing weight one I'm running and I want to do a 5k without stopping (hehe) then a 10k without stopping then a half marathon... without stopping That's it for now :)

Hurt animals make me so sad. They are, mostly, so innocent and loving and it's rare they've inflicted the injury upon themselves. That's why hurt animals make me infinitely more sad than hurt humans.

I have been really bad at sticking to my health mandated diet for the last little bit. I just really miss meat sometimes. Anyway, due to not sticking to it and using my supplements too much I've just been feeling sick and not happy- well, happy about eating meat, but not happy because it made me all bloated and blah feeling. So this week is my cleanse. All week the only things I will eat will be food that I know I can and no supplement usage this week! So to make this happen I walked to the store today at lunch and got a bunch of things to put in a whole wheat pita. (Blah I just looked at the ingredients of my dressing and it has fish gelatin in it- less than 2% though...) and came up with this: So yum! Ingredients:  Whole wheat pita grape tomatoes Avocado slices Spinach Blend lettuce Basil  Clover Sprouts Mozerella (that wasn't made with enzymes!) and this "Veggie Mix" that contains radishes, jicama, celery, peppers and carrots (and may...

My first ever Celebrity crush was Harrison Ford. What a babe! The amazing thing is that he still looks amazing even now....   Then in my tween years  it was all about JTT  In college this was hanging up in my hallway... I didn't think it was right to be greedy with all this perfection   Look at that. WOW. And for current celeb crushes... well it appears I have a type! Dark, facial hair, generally hot...

Dear world, Is it weird that I don't have an overwhelming desire to meet anyone in particular? At one point in my life I felt pretty certain I was going to meet Mark Paul Gosselaar, but it didn't happen. I don't know I just enjoy meeting people. I like to get to know them... Love, Michelle

Just an old article to share with you all. Christina Hendricks, the redhead from Mad Men, wrote an open letter to guys in Esquire a bit a go and I agree with most of it. Check it out here!

This song is the first one I remember dancing and singing around to. Paula Abdul- Opposites Attract Baby seems we never ever agree You like the movies And I like T.V. I take things serious And you take 'em light I go to bed early And I party all night Our friends are sayin' We ain't gonna last Cuz I move slowly And baby I'm fast I like it quiet And I love to shout But when we get together It just all work out I take-2 steps forward I take-2 steps back We come together Cuz opposites attract And you know-it ain't fiction Just a natural fact We come together Cuz opposites attract Who'd a thought we could be lovers She makes the bed And he steals the covers She likes it neat And he makes a mess I take it easy Baby I get obsessed She's got the money And he's always broke I don't like cigarettes And I like to smoke Things in common Just ain't a one But when we get together We have nothin' but fun ...

Today I am kicking everyone's butt. I  woke up this morning to an email that made me mad and made me frustrated that a lot of people seem to like to walk all over me and not worry about it. So today, I'm making things happen. Vendors are getting words, friends are getting words, deadbeats are getting words. And I'm standing up for myself. I'm done with toxic friendships in my life. Why should I put myself out for other people and try to keep a friendship there when they don't feel the need to work on said friendship. So what if that means I will be down 2 "best friends"? How best could they possibly be if they don't know anything going on in my life or even care to attempt to talk to me occasionally. I'm "friend" detoxing... I have enough fabulous people in my life I don't need them too. PLUS that just means less Christmas and Birthday presents for me to buy. Not to mention a wedding I don't have to attend now. Not too excepti...

Okay so my camera adds weird black dots, but here ya go... how I look right this second through the lens of an iPhone. I know it says see your teeth, but I'm pretty sure they have food in them.Oh and you better believe that's a Ralph's bag full of Tim Tams behind me... I'm so ready to TIM TAM SLAM! If you really want to see them/ see how amazing I looked (and tell me that too haha) at Michele Monteforte (now Bruggerman)'s wedding this weekend I have added another picture for your enjoyment.

It's so easy to make, cheap to buy and super yummy... this got me through college. Pasta Salad: 1 package multi-color rotini 1 can sliced olives 1 can sweet corn  grape tomatos Zesty Italian dressing Make the pasta, combine ingredients, add enough dressing so it's to your liking. Enjoy. SO yum and SO easy. This makes a serious amount of pasta salad, but it's so good you will eat it for days. So this isn't mine and they use cheese instead of corn (have done that as a mix in before) but this is what it looks like. SO YUM FYI- I use to make an amazing lemon chicken that I use to mix in; pre veg. days so here's how I did that. 1 Chicken breast butter lemon pepper seasoning put about a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and let it warm. Cut Chicken breast into bit size pieces while still cold. Place in skillet. Add tons of lemon pepper seasoning-pan fry till the chicken is done and golden. SO good. If you don't want to use th...

I'm a cynical romantic. It's another one of my odd contradictions. I love romantic movies and fairy tale endings, but I don't believe they're real- even though I want them to be. For instance, I know I mentioned earlier that someone I know got married INSANELY quickly. Now from a bit of Facebook evaluation it seems that it might have ended. Here's the thing- deep down I really wanted it to work. I wanted to believe this this romantic, swept away in love gesture could be real. I wanted to see a real-life fairy tale. Then this morning I checked PostSecret and I saw this postcard. Oh my gosh, I wanted to email in and be like "I DEMAND AN UPDATE!" For some reason, I needed to know how this was going to work out. My thought process after reading this was, "Oh I hope she says yes!" then it was "he's probably some jerk that treated her bad and so she left and she's finally free and happy". And I was torn. I wondered if s...

None of my friends did this one, but I am going to. It's incredibly refreshing to send it out there and not look back. Sorry it's vague, but I want to leave it at this: Dear Person, I wrote you a letter about this, but I never sent it to you. It's the longest entry I've ever put in my journal. And even though you ruined me initially, you made me grow and learn and become the person I am today. A stronger wiser person than I would have ever been if you had not be in my life- changing it forever. So, now, I can say I forgive you and while I don't thank you for what you did, I am grateful for who I am today. In conclusion, in the infamous words of Britney Spears, Cause now im Stronger than yesterday... Michelle

So I should be working through the huge pile of work I have, especially since I have about T-4 hours till IT is suppose to take my computer apart and move it to another cube. I still need to do an expense report, have a meeting, write up some process documents and pack up my cube. BLAH! But, I just spent the last 2 days fixing a spreadsheet to find out that I fixed the WRONG VERSION! Kill me. Anyway, I just spent the last 2.5 hours fixing the right version (it goes a lot quicker when you have a handy reference spreadsheet with the right formulas!) So I decided I get a little break :) So Favorite Tublrs: Yeah I don't have any, but I do have 2 co-workers I like lots with them so they are here: Pixie Friend Old Boss Man Other than that I have nothing... sorry this is so lame. haha

So this was taken about 2 weeks ago... It's from the Halloween party I went to. I was once again being silly and my costume came from my closet basically. The shirt (which I LOVE and WILL wear again) is the only thing I'm wearing I didn't already own. I was trying to take a picture of me here at work but I remembered that my hair looks bad, I'm not wearing make up, the lighting is bad and my cube is gray and depressing behind me. I even tried messing around in CS5 but yeah it wasn't working out... you'll have to deal with 2 weeks old... stolen from facebook :)

I'm so slow at this... another friend of mine is on Day 21. Okay a YouTube Video I find funny... I feel like the whole world has it, but it makes me laugh- the other two aren't actually YouTube videos, but ya these two skits from SNL are always HILARIOUS TO ME! Knives, Knives...don't have a cow Oh man I can't stop laughing! "and now we return to an intentional lost episode of the Lawrence Welk show"

Seeing as I have not eaten anything yet today here's yesterday's food: (warning it's boring) banana peanut butter and honey sandwich on potato bread a mini baby ruth bar a few pieces of some snack mix thingy in a car praline and pumpkin pancakes a bite of cheesecake pancakes scrambled eggs hash browns Can anyone guess where I had dinner last night haha... hmmm so many pancake varieties there... 

So from what I've heard the rally to restore sanity and/or fear was insanely well attended with a lot of amazing "protest signs" here's a few I liked:  I always thought that "he's just like Hitler" was thrown around too liberally (pun!) I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. What? The two parties can exist peacfully? I know! My favorite: the Dinosaur saying "Fact". It's true.

  Dear Chad Crush, Hi, I just wanted to say that I think you're really cute! Whenever I see you my heart skips a beat. I like that you always make me laugh, even when I'm grumpy and don't want to laugh. Talking to you, even if its about nothing, is the highlight of my day. I love that you don't like mushrooms and will order vegetarian food just so we can share. All romantic songs make me think of you. You always make me smile. Love, Michelle Your Secret Admirer And in an odd twist of fate- my friend shared this site with me today... so cute! http://www.letterstocrushes.com/

So I found two (thank you Hayley and your photo memories album) and I'm pretty certain they're both 10+ years ago. Judging from clothes, hair and others in the pictures this first one I think was when I was when I was 16.   Can't find me? Here's a close up! Yeah pretty sweet everything there huh? I am just in awe over my shades, shirt (seriously 2 shades of army green with hawaiian flowers running up the sleeve? SO hot) and the HAIR. OH the hair... for some reason I thought I needed curlier hair so I got my butt to the salon and got a perm... blah. This next gem is cira 1999- I think. Honestly I have no idea I just know I was in high school and that the kid in the blue shirt and hat is 2 yrs older than me so I must have been a freshman or sophomore...   Once again I'll provide you with a zoom in (funny thing is I did the "zoom" in Paint because even though I have PhotoShop on my computer (Suite 5!) I have no idea how to use it... Judging ...

My Favorite Movie:This is really hard because I have so many movies I LOVE, but since I know I have to pick just one I'm going to go with a movie that is completely cliche, but I love me some Pride and Prejudice. I use to be a purest and say that the only version worth watching was the epic long classic 6 hour version. I mean how can you say no to seeing this: yeah that's the stuff that great movies are made of. But since I don't have 6 hours all the time to sit and watch it, I decided to give the new version a chance. And now it feels like home. Seriously, everything melts away when I start to hear this (ignore that this guy has a baby grand in his bedroom and just listen to the music): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqVlXU6pk4A Even now... I feel the stress just melting away. That's why it's my favorite movie... oh and it doesn't hurt that Matthew Macfadyen makes a pretty amazing Darcy... just look at that... oh and since "I'm a Jane, not...

Please don't think you need to react to any of these (that statement will make sense in a minute)... this is yesterday btw Today: woke up hit snooze hit snooze shower Dad came in and told me my grandpa died met Danica to carpool went to work worked meeting meeting team lunch meeting call with legal work paid LAST payment on my credit card  temple dinner with friends bed What a day!

Hi, my name is Michelle. I'm really bad at tooting my own horn. I feel like my life can be best broken down into stereotypes that defined the sections of my life (from youth to now): drama-queen, popular, outcast, mean girl, tomboy, smarty-pants, prep, party girl, flirt, loner, new girl, optimist and now I'm just working on being Michelle- a combination of all the above. I've spent about half my life on the East Coast and half my life on the West. The result? I'm too uptight for California and I'm too laid back for New York :) I like colors, people, dancing, proving people wrong, rolling my eyes and laughing. I dis-like ignorant people, water in my face, being told I can't have/do something and being a vegetarian that hates mushrooms. My favorite quote comes from a President that I still haven't decided how I feel about; Ronald Reagan. "I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpo...

So I found my cousin's blog and she's doing this and  I thought it looked like fun so I'm going to do it too! Starting tomorrow :) Here's what you write about each day: day 1: introduce yourself day 2: make a bulleted list of everything that happened in your day day 3: your favorite movie day 4: a photo of you taken over ten years ago day 5: a letter to your crush day 6: list of what you ate today day 7: a youtube video you find funny day 8: a photo of you taken recently day 9: list some of your favorite tumblrs day 10: a letter to the person you hate most or caused you a lot of pain day 11: share your favorite recipe day 12: we want to see your teeth today / post a self-portrait day 13: whatever tickles your fancy day 14: a song from your childhood day 15: a letter to someone you wish you could meet day 16: provide pictures of 5 celebrity crushes day 17: a photo that makes you sad day 18: set or share a goal day 19: whatever tickles your fancy ...

Since so many people hit me up for Disneyland/world tickets and it's complicated to explain I have decided to write a blog about it so people know and I can just refer them to a handy URL instead. Here's the pricing info: DISNEYLAND PARK OR DISNEY’S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK - that's one park for one day ADULT = $69.00 CHILD = $61.00 DISNEYLAND RESORT 1-DAY PARK HOPPER - one day both parks ADULT = $76.00 CHILD = $68.00 WALT DISNEY WORLD 1-DAY, 1-PARK ADULT = $78.60 CHILD = $65.18 WALT DISNEY WORLD 4-DAY PARK HOPPER ADULT = $265.51 CHILD = $233.88 Now for Michelle's detailed instructions as to how to get these tickets. I know I work for Disney but i do not work for Disneyland. Which means I can't deliver you tickets at the park. So here's your options: If you live near me: You give me the money, I get you the tickets, when I have time, and then give you the tickets. Usually I need about a week lead time because I need to get ...

1. Who is your hero? Why? I don't really have one... I know it's weird, but I never met someone I want to be like completely... more everyone I respect has aspects or traits I would like to emulate. 2. When you were a little tike, what did you want to be when you grew up? In first grade I walked in to "career" day dressed as a lawyer... I dabbled with the idea of movie star too, but lawyer was there since the beginning and stayed until life and God took me down a different path. 3. What is one goal you currently have? ONE? Just one? okay the goal I'm closest to achieving is my goal to pay off my credit card... I'm one paycheck away from it! YAY! 4. What life achievement are you most proud of? I have no idea... I think it might have been moving to Washington D.C. without knowing a soul there and being truly independent. 5. If you could do  anything  with your spare time, what would you do? Right now I'd sleep haha... but I think I would shop a lot ...

So I'm not going to go into my diatribe about babies in general and the many reasons they make my skin crawl; because I have been mocked and scorned for my viewpoints, but here's something that is just too creepy to ignore. It's the picture right over there --> creepy! Okay not originally why I started this blog, but I googled babies in images and this was one of the top hits. TOP HITS, oh man oh man, it's so freaking creepy. Anyway, what brought me to this post and that horrible picture that will haunt me and most likely cause me to have dreams about giving birth (yuck) to tiny creepy quadruplets, was something else. I am blown away by people. I know this person and they are 30+ yrs old... and they married an 18 yr old. Already super creepy and borderline pedo... but whatever... I just found out they're pregnant... yeah. I don't know, I guess I could handle it better when she was just young and married. I don't know how she's not crying her eye...

So I think most of you know that at work I jumped ship from a world I was born to be a part of, Pixie Hollow , to another project, that is a good fit, but not the "flitterific good time" that is me. It's called Disney Movies Online ! It was a really smart decision, better hours, better team, less stress, better pay, better title etc. so I took the job. And it's been a blast. Well it's been through it's share of trails, but what site doesn't go through stuff like that when it is trying to launch? I'm use to stuff like this in the internet industry. There were job scares, times when I wondered if the new updates will go live, and lots and lots of stress and rushing to get it out the door within our time-line. But, it has finally gone live and everyone is breathing huge sighs of relief. The best thing is that our VP sent it to Bob Iger , the CEO of The Walt Disney Company- his reaction was positive!He's finally seeing the value in our site and is...

Like what I did there? Made the same overused joke everyone does when they talk about Apple products... I'm amazing like that... anyway I want to start out by saying I am a PC... when it comes to computers. I don't really like MACs, maybe I haven't given them a proper run, but I'm comfortable on my PCs so that's where I shall stay. But, I do have an iPhone, AND just last week my boss gave me an iPad. WOW! Lucky me. Anyway, I'm not bragging I'm just explaining my background. Now for why I'm too dependent on technology/ apps found on the iProducts. So California is in the middle of a heat wave... it would stink if I was outside, but I'm in my office ALL day and it's freezing in here. I don't know how to dress for outside and inside. Anyway, I wanted to see just how cold it was in my office so I turned to my iPhone to see if I could download a thermometer app to  get the exact temperature of my cube. Sounds like a great idea right? Maybe un...

So I'm not very good at New Years Resolutions, but I seem to be good at Birthday (or after my birthday) resolutions so I thought I'd do that again this year... and now I'm posting it for the world to see to hold me accountable. Finish paying off all my debt (minus student loans- that's still like 5 yrs out) Size 8... it's only one size down I know I can do it! Use my passport for somewhere other than Canada (it's embarrassing that it's the only country on that) Run a 5k Run a 10k Be ready for the Disneyland Marathon (half?) Take at least a semester of Spanish... by my birthday I could be almost done with a 2nd semester. Love more. This may expand but it's pretty lofty right now!

I believe everything happens for a reason. I also believe that people are brought into your life for a reason- to help you grow in one way or another. Whenever I reflect on my life what I remember most about times in my life are the people I met and bonded with... I've been blessed with a happy disposition and the ability to make friends pretty easy and because of that I have an awesome bouquet of friends who live ALL over the country (and world...) now and they all have taught me something.... It's like each period of my life (usually broken down into where I live) has that friend that has impacted my life so much... California (round 1) - Danica... we were the coolest set of best friends Atherwood has ever seen! New Jersey - Michele and Nina... my life in New Jersey didn't seem like it was in order and happy until these 2 girls were my besties! It's when I finally came to love New Jersey Utah freshman yr - Bethie... randomly became roomies... we both thought the ...