21 Questions

... plus 1, but who doesn't love themselves a little 50 cent shout out every now and again?

Normally I would shy away from something like this, but I love my co-worker, Becca Boo, and this seems like a better lunch time activity than continuing to google "Home Depot Home Improvement Workshops"- so here we go!

THE RULES
1.  Post these rules.
2.  Post 11 random things about yourself.
3.  Answer the questions provided by the genius who tagged you.
4.  Create 11 new questions for the victims you tag.
5.  Go tell the people you tagged that you tagged them (bc this isn't Facebook)!

FACTS OF (my) LIFE
1. I have a very vivid memory of the first time my family rented a car. I was probably like 4 or 5 and we were going to visit the fam in Indiana for Christmas. We flew into Indy and were driving to South Bend. It was late and snowing and I increased the enjoyablity factor of the trip by crying and screaming for the better portion of the 2.5 hour trip because I thought my parents were stealing a car. You guys didn’t know Caddy & JJ were like Bonnie and Clyde, did you?

2. I cry much harder at sporting events than at movies. I once cried during ESPN Game Day. Ryan now watches that alone.

3. In first grade I came home one day and told my Mom I was in Reading with Richard. When she called the school to figure out who this potential perv was she learned I was actually in “Reading Enrichment” (which is kinda the same, right?). They thought I couldn’t read because I refused to read outloud in class. Turns out I was just cripplingly shy. I promptly got removed which really bummed me out because we got a lot of candy in there.

4. The pyramids, stonehenge and my real hair color are life’s biggest mysteries.

5. I have a serious dislike of space. I am not interested in it. I am glad people like Neil Armstrong (disclaimer: if he’s not an astronaut, just pretend he is… I don’t want to wiki it) exist and figure these things out. I however have much bigger fish to fry… like what TheSuperficial Guy has to say about Britney’s latest caper.

6. I really love animals- particularly dogs. It is written in my baby book that I used to talk to our dog, Champ, through the window all the time.

7. I have only been grounded probably 3 or 4 times in my life. Once was for roasting marshmallows in my room. With a coat hanger and a bath & body works candle. In high school. I still place about 80% of the blame for that situation on Julie and Jen. This story has been told at 2 weddings now- will it make it into yours?

8. My life goals are to a) run a marathon b) write a book and c) flip a house. Thus far I’ve accomplished 1.  1.5 if we count this blog as a novel?

9. As previously implied (#5) science is not my favorite subject. In 8th grade this happened on one of my tests.
Question: What is an example of the 4th type of matter (plasma)?
My Answer: That blue gooey icing on birthday cakes
Guess I zoned out that day in class. Apparently the real answer is lightening. No points awarded for creativity.

10. Ryan and I’s first date may or may not have been at Black Eyed Pea. He also may or may not have picked me up in the garage rather than walking to my door. Additionally, in this ficitional scenario he might have dropped me off in the garage because the Rockets had a play off game he needed to get to urgently. If this doesn’t merit the equivalent of a dating purple heart, I don’t know what does.

11. I won an art contest in 4th grade with a picture of a cow cleverly entitled “Cowabunga.” Yup, that happened.

MY QUESTIONS (courtesy of Becca):
1.  What was your most iconic or defining moment in Elementary, Middle and/or High School that helped shape YOU?
I'm not sure if this is really it, but it came to mind immediately.  Matt, Julie & I were really young- I was probably in Elementary school.  As she was putting me to bed I caught my Mom crying and when I asked why she told me we forgot her birthday.  That is why I remember almost everyone I meet's birthday and why I can usually tell you very specific dates surrounding life events.  It also emphasized the importance of thinking about others at all times- I never want to disappoint anyone like that ever again.

2.  What is your current favorite sing-a-long song right now?
I hate to say this because it's super cliche and poppy but I would have to go with "Set Fire to the Rain."  Ryan, don't divorce me.

3.  What makes it your favorite?
That one is obvious - my prowess at performing it.  I am awesome.

4.  If you could be anything at all in the world without worry about money or career paths, what would you be and why?
If I could be anything in the world I would rotate the following 3 jobs: relationship counselor, interior decorator and admin assistant. I love hearing about other people’s relationships, I am addicted to HGTV and typing (sans numbers or symbols) is one of my favorite things.

5.  What's your favorite meal to prepare?
Crock pot chicken & dumplings.  It's so easy and it makes my house smell heavenly.

6.  Which animal is your favorite to visit at the zoo and why?
Hippos.  I have always had an extreme love for overweight animals of any variety.  Plus their ears are so tiny!  It's hilarious.

7.  What is your biggest driving pet peeve when you're the PASSENGER?
I am not going to lie- I'm not usually paying attention to the driver's driving, BUT if I had to pick I would say when someone repeatedly keeps taking their eyes off the road to conversate and/or accelerates/decelerates like it is going out of style.

8.  If you could have a one-on-one conversation with one person currently living, who would it be and why?
This one is hard and I'm never good at answering these questions.  Probably Tina Fey because I really admire her.  She's smart, witty and sure of herself.

9.  What would be your first question?
Can you promise me that if I die, you will not marry my husband no matter how many times he asks?

10.  Do you think that the zombie apolcalypse is coming?
My Facebook newsfeed certainly implies that it is.  If I get one more Farmville/Mafiaville/Zombieville request, then I might actually kick it off.

11.  When you walk into Target, do you peruse the $1 section first like all sane people should?
Yes!  For 2 very good reasons- 1) there are usually animal crackers in there and 2) the other option right in your face at the beginning is the bathing suit section... I try to steer clear of that one.

QUESTIONS FOR MY PEEPS:
I am not sure that anyone will do this, so I'm tagging anyone reading this post.  However, since I need to put some people officially, I'm tagging the people I know who blog the most:  Becca, Sara, Brooke, & Shawna. Smooches to all.

1.  If you had a month off of work - what would you do with that time?
2.  What's a life goal of yours that most people may not know?
3.  What's your biggest guilty pleasure?
4.  What's your favorite quote?
5.  If you got Gilligan's Island-ed (laymen's terms: stranded on a deserted island), how long do you think you could survive?
6.  Biggest celeb crush - past or present (earmuffs, sig others!) and WHY?
7.  What's next on your travel to-do list?
8.  What's your most embarrassing moment?
9.  What was your favorite childhood TV show?
10.  If you could only eat at one restaurant the rest of your life- which would you choose?
11.  If you had to partner with one Jersey Shore cast member to go on Jeopardy- who would you choose?

NSFJ: This Little House of Mine...

... I'm going to get it in line.  Get it in line, get it in line, get it in liiiiiiine.  (Did I really just make "this little light of mine" into a house-related song?  Obviously Ryan has gotten to me.  If anyone catches me walking around with a graphing calculator- please intervene.)

Remember when I promised a housewarming after the wedding?  We are now 7 months past that so I'm kiiiiind of looking like a liar.   This thought occured to me the other day as I sipped my coffee pondering life**.

I decided to attack this problem like the good accountant that I am - Ryan & I made a list (excel spreadsheet) of projects (color coded and organized by priority level) to soothe my panic.  The real trick was determining how to get my better half motivated to tackle said list with me. What is the most inspirational day I can think of in my dear husband's life?  College Football season kick off.  So voila- Mission: Kick off was born.  My goal is to get enough things crossed off our project to-do list to feel confident to have people over for the first day of college football season.  Hopefully by stating this goal publicly, I will hold myself to it.

In the interest of getting this mission kicked off (pun intended), I suppose I'll share what few minor projects we've accomplished lately around this joint.  I'm sure you're just DYING to see.  Haaaaaaaa.  There's also a mini peek at the next couple of projects on my list.

** I'm sure I was doing something much less sophisticated when the idea actually popped into my head... like yelling at Lola to go BEHIND the house... but this sounds much fancier.

Disclaimer: Whole hearted apologies for the dimness and lack of quality of these photos.  I took these pictures in 15 minutes after I came home from work.  I promise in real life our house looks much less like an interrogation room on 24.

Ryan got some power tools for Christmas.  Naturally right after this I would come home to find him holding his drill in the air like a gun and turning it off and on.  Something about the adrenaline rush of a brand new drill made it feel like we could tackle anything - including hanging a bay window curtain rod.  After 3 hours and many 4 letter words, I don't recommend this as your first foray into drilling holes in your wall.  Live and learn.  One day that desk will be cleared off and there will be a cool chair at the desk.  Julie, if you've been looking for your pink UT shorts, look verrrry carefully at the lower right hand corner of this photo.

A suitable amount of time passed after our bay window curtain hanging debacle and we decided that we were ready to drill again.  About 45 minutes into this project, after we cut a cord it specifically told us not to, I realized that these may not be "15 minute blinds" after all.  However, at the end of the day, I no longer throw myself on the ground to get out of the line of vision of any intruders when Lola randomly barks at the back door.  So I still chalk this up to a W.

Thanks to an Overstock.com sale and a lack of drilling - we purchased a rug for the kitchen table.  What's that?  You love that I left Ryan's graphing calculator on the table for this photo?  I'm all about realism, folks.

Lola modeling yet another Overstock.com steal.  Her face says - hey lady.  I want to go on a walk, let's wrap it up.

Project #1:  reupholstering this bench from my parents.  This bad boy used to sit at the end of their bed and I spent many an hour sitting on it watching my Mom sew or fold laundry.  I'm looking forward to having it in our house.

This guy is probably my favorite recent purchase.  Love you, West Elm!  Elmer here will have a home on the wall in the media/man room some day.

Project #2: re-finishing this coffee table and upholstering it.  This also came from my parents' house and it used to have glass on top of it, but I am somehow convinced we can upholster it.  In a world where Snooki is going to birth a child, I should be able to upholster this.

This is where it will live, but hopefully the next time you see this space it will be a little bit more unified because I finally picked colors and have ordered some fabric samples.  Let's doooo it.

Finnish-ing Strong

(Get yourself a snack... this is going to be a long one.)

TUESDAY
On Tuesday morning, our little trio was split up.  Marina stayed behind in London to do Genesis-y things and Ilhan & I set off for the airport to catch a flight to Finland for TOF-y things.  We were slated to fly into Helsinki and then hop a flight to Pori.  Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? 

On the flight from London to Helsinki, I buried my nose in a The Girl Who Played with Fire and thus was completely unaware of my surroundings.   While I was busy trying to unravel the complex maze of Lisbeth Salander's brain, I missed the fact that we arrived into Helsinki 1) to a f'realz snow storm and 2) to a zoo because the kiddos were all out of school for "half term".  (What is half term?  American school children, we may have really missed the boat on this). 

Anywho - based on these 2 things, upon touch down we were already 30 minutes deep into a 1 hour layover.  After getting bused to the terminal and doing some Olympic class run-walking, we arrived to our gate 3 minutes before scheduled take off time to find that... our plane was already gone.  (Insert Nintendo "Game Over" music).  I picture the pilot laughing menacingly at us as he flew off while tapping his fingers together... but that's neither here nor there.

We noted that the next flight to Pori wasn't until nearly midnight, 8 hours after our originally scheduled program.  Upon a quick glance around the airport it became evident that may not be the best option- no matter how interesting it might have been to see how many Karl Frazer duty free chocolates I could eat in an 8 hour time span.  After many calls to the regular Finland fliers at the office, the folks in Pori, and the travel office in addition to a delightful face to face with a Finnair customer service rep- it was determined that taking a bus to Pori would be our best option.  The bus trip was 3 hours which would put us into Pori well before the next flight... and without the chocolate hangover.  Win-win! 

The bus trip actually went remarkably well.  Sure, the stops seemed to be in random parking lots and sure we had to change buses about 1/4th into the trip without realizing it but these are the things that make travel interesting, right?  I enjoyed another few hours of quality time with Lisbeth Salander and Kalle Blomvkist - LOVE those guys! 

Having never taken the bus before, we weren't really sure where it would take us.  Ilhan pulled the "stop" cord when we were across the road from the airport, thankfully.  I'm not sure if that was a true stop or not?  Either way - that rental car was going to be ours.  So we filed out and rolled our suitcases across the icy, snow-covered road as well as the icy, snow-covered parking lot like the professional travel gurus that we are.  Luckily no one was around to watch this journey, or it might be on YouTube now. 

We made it to the entrance to the airport where the automatic doors welcomed us into the warmth and we felt like we had finally made it.  We looked around expectantly to see a welcoming Europcar agent to congratulate us on our feat but found... no one.  Not no one at the Europcar desk but no one in the airport.  Period.  Cool feeling.  Luckily Ilhan found a phone and somehow got a hold of someone.

Miraculuously after finally getting the car (which informed us the temperature was -4 degrees celsius), we made it to the hotel without further issue.  The restaurant attached to the hotel was called "Amarillo" and had a Tex-Mex-y theme.  It's always interesting to see other countries' take on this genre as any Texan knows.  I noted that nearly all the "Mexican" food included pineapples.  Interesting combo burrito there.  I played it safe and had a chicken sandwich and a big beer that were both delicious.  After that we called it a day.  Phew.

Blurry airport picture of Pori.  For some real comic relief, picture Ilhan and I tredging through this with rolling suitcases.

WE MADE IT... wait... where is everyone?

Finnish looks hard.  I think their motto must be... if everyone else uses 3 letters for a word, we'll use 9.  And 6 will be vowels.

I think this is probably the biggest hotel room in Europe period.  Thanks Sokos hotel!

Is that a...? No... it can't be...

Oh yes.  That is most definitely a red rubber duck in an otherwise very starkly decorated bathroom.  Keen eye for decor those Fins have.

WEDNESDAY

It should be noted that this was the first, and only, day of our trip that we did not set foot on an airplane.  In an unrelated story, it may have been my favorite day. 

So Wednesday morning we woke up and headed to the office.  I know that part is boring to hear about and I would usually refrain from sharing details.  However, this day I got to do something really cool that was work-related.  So, like it or not- I'm sharing.

The whole purpose of Ilhan & I going to Finland is because that is where our yard is located... which means that is where the drawings that those crazy** engineers come up with are brought to life.  We were really going to touch base about reporting issues with the Finland team, but it was a special treat to go when I did because we just started our 15th spar, Lucius, in December/January.  Which meant I got to see it!

What is a spar?  In Amy lingo it's the huge thing that goes in the Gulf to drill for the oil.  There are lots of variations of the huge things that go into the Gulf - TLPs and jack-ups, but this one looks the coolest in my humble opinion.  Per wikipedia it is actually a much longer definition than I care to put here... so if you're curious... check it out.

Marko was kind enough to give us a tour of the yard and I got to take lots of pictures.  As you'll see below.  I know it might be hard to understand what is going on with all the highly technical language I use, but just do your best.  It was easily one of the coolest things I've gotten to do for a job and it gave me a lot of pride in my company and the things we do.  It's so cool to see the tangible evidence of all the hard work our engineers put in.  It's also humbling to see how SMART people are.  So much smarter than me.  If it were up to me, we'd be trying to get oil out of the ground with the world's longest straw chain.  I think we can all agree it's best that I stick with the 10 key, huh?

** I can say this because Papa Bear is an engineer.  Thus I have the rights to use it playfully.  It's science.

Ihan & I rocking that PPE (personal protective equipment).  Wearing your hat on the side of your head makes it cooler.  Or maybe it's a sign I didn't know how to adjust it.  I think we'll stick with the former.

Marko, our fearless tour guide, Ilhan & Merja.  Soaking in that knowledge.

Woohoo!

Big crane that moves steel from one side of the hall over to the cutting machine.

Chains that would rival Flava Flav's.

Spar Hall on the left.  This picture doesn't really capture it's massive-ness.

I'm a regular snow bunny.  How lucky is Ryan?!

I believe this is a 1/8th piece of a hull ring.  Please note how many levels of scaffolding there are... and this is only 1/8th of a full ring.

The bending machine.  It bends/shapes the pieces.

Outside where the spar gets assembled and shipped out.  Looks like a carnival to me!  But much safer, obvi.  (Last sentence added for the Safety Department's benefit).

A buoyancy can doing an impression of the Goodyear blimp.  It's a pretttttty good impression if I do say so myself.

Next time you complain about the lighting in your office/cube, remember that you could be working inside this bad boy.

I believe these are 1/4th pieces but they could have been 1/2 pieces of ring pieces.  What I do know is that they are insanely large.

Same piece, different angle.  See the guy in the top left hand corner for scale.

The rest of the day was spent discussing spreadsheets and getting to know our counterparts at TOF.  Don't worry - I didn't take pictures of that.  :c)  For dinner, Ilhan & I ate at the courthouse in a cool restaurant.  It was within walking distance from our hotel, so we got to walk in the snow.  I resisted the urge to make snow angels because something tells me that is not professional behavior.  All in all, this was an awesome day.

Order in the court(house)!  Do you get it?  Because we ate dinner there... so we literally ordered dinner in the courthouse.  KNEESLAPPER!

THURSDAY

On Thursday we woke up and spent the morning at TOF finishing up some reporting discussions (again- no photografias).  Around noon, we headed to the airport to make our return trip to London via Helsinki.  On our way to the airport we tried to stop to fill up the car with gas like excellent rental car patrons.  Surprise, surprise - we could not get either of our cards to work.  After trying unsuccessfully to pay a man in Euro to use his card to fill up our tank at one place and stopping at a second to encounter the same issue, we decided that whatever they charged us to fill up the car the rest of the way was well worth not having to have another conversation in Fin-glish.  Upwards and onwards...

When we arrived to Helsinki there were, of course, more travel tales.  We couldn't get our boarding pass for our flight to London in Pori for some reason that I never did really understand.  We were told to go to the transfer desk in Helsinki to see our customer service friends who would print it for us.  After all, I'm sure they missed us after a 48 hour absence.  Shockingly, our customer service rep friends told us they couldn't print our tickets to the Promiseland and that we'd have to get them at the gate.  Then I couldn't buy chocolate at the duty free store because I didn't have a boarding pass.  You know- usual stuff.

The remainder of the day went off without a hitch... other than having to be manually checked in to the hotel in London because their system was down.  At the end of the day though- we arrived in London and stayed at the Hilton in the airport.  We had the best dinner of the trip at the Asian bistro in the lobby and called it a night. 

I love this diagram - it shows the stats of all 14 spars we have built, in order.  They have it blown up on the wall in the TOF office.  Note the huge link of a mooring chain in the bottom right hand corner on the ground.

It's a tradition to throw a bell out the window at TOF to kick off the manufacture of all the spars we build for Anadarko.

Mantyluoto is where the yard is.  Pori is where we stayed.  Just in case you thought I was making the existence of these locations up, I took a picture of the sign from a gas station.

Looks like a Christmas card, right?

In case you want a Christmas card with some birch trees as well.  While I was taking this picture Ilhan was trying to get someone who spoke only Finnish to help with the gas pump.  Clearly I was very helpful.

Okay, last one- I promise.

So... this is the runway in Pori.  One gate.  One plane at a time.  Lots of snow.

Nakemiin & kiitos (good bye & thanks), Finland! 

FRIDAY

We woke up bright and early and headed back to the U.S. of A.  The travel heavens smiled upon us and we made it back and safely home with no hiccups.  To boot, I finished The Girl Who Played with Fire AND the first Hunger Games book on the flight home.  I highly recommend both!

So that, my friends, was last week for me!  It was such an amazing experience and I feel so fortunate to have gotten to go.  My boss is the best! 

I see London...

What do:

• 5 Days,
• 4 Airports,
• 3 Countries (& languages & modes of transport),
• 2 Novels, and
• 1 Curry experience

equal?  Last week.

From February 12th - 17th, I had the good fortune of getting to travel to London & Pori, Finland with my awesome boss.  Have I mentioned lately that I adore my job?  We were only in London for a little over 24 hours, but upon reviewing my photo stock, that is more than enough to devote an entire post to.

We left H-town mid afternoon on Sunday which put us into London bright and early somewhere in the ballpark of 6 am.  There is obviously no rest for the weary... or for the Finance Department because we collected our belongings and headed straight to the office with only a minor detour to drop off our bags at the hotel.  (I'd like to take a brief moment to point out that the last time I went to London I was in 11th grade, and we were in this same sleep-less situation.  Back then, rather than doing anything productive, I chose to sleep on top of my luggage no so discreetly in the middle of a hotel lobby.  So see Mom, maybe I am growing up after all!)

We spent the day putting faces to email addressses, straightening out some reporting issues and getting the grand tour of the office.  Those things are no fun to read about though, are they?  So we'll skip ahead to the evening.

Simon and Steve, 2 wonderful Genesis Finance folks, were kind enough to devote their evening to showing us a good time in the city.  This was particularly sweet of them because Simon has a 2 HOUR commute home each day.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Steve lives in Liverpool and gets a hotel in the city during the week.  Next time you find yourself with traffic, keep these gentlemen in mind... it could clearly be much worse.  I also recommend the Dirty Dancing soundtrack in such cases - it's a feel good time.

So, back to our evening...first our tour guides took us over to Covent Gardens to grab a beer.  Per Simon & Steve, Covent Gardens used to be a fruit market in the days of yore.  We got to walk rather than having to take any public transportation, which I thought was such a treat.  One thing I love about Europe as opposed to the US is the amount of walking that you can do.  More walking = more expendable calories for the impotant things in life... like frappuchinos.

We grabbed a beer at Punch & Judy's, a cute little pub overlooking the center strip of Covent Gardens.  The pictures I took of the inside don't really do it justice.  We found ourselves in the basement, which was exactly how I envision a true British pub to be- low ceilings, brick walls and a huge bar.  Our hosts made sure that our experience was authentic by ordering us real English beer.  It was served slightly below room temperature, which was perfect for a chilly winter day.  Over our brews we discussed the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics.  London is definitely the place to be this summer!

After we downed our beer, we set off in search of dinner.  Simon told us that we absolutely could not get a more English experience than by going to "have a curry," and who are we to spoil legitimacy?  I have to admit that I was a little weary of this choice because I've only had Indian food on 2 occasions in my life and I wasn't a huge fan.  The place completely won me over.  The food was delicious and the company was second to none.  We discussed gun laws, fishing and racing.  If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought I was back in Texas... with more sophisticated accents.

Post dinner, our kind guides dropped us off at our hotel and we finally called it a day- which was a good thing because I think that the energy pills Marina supplied me with wore off about 30 minutes before that.  Overall it was an amazing experience and I can't say enough about the company or our tour guides.  A heartfelt thank you to all of them!

Stay tuned for the Finland leg of our trip...

This was not our taxi, but that did not stop Marina from taking a picture of it.

Chancery Court Hotel- so pretty.  It was built sometime between when America was born and when I was born.  I've never been good at guessing these kinds of things but I believe our friend Peter, the bellhop, told us sometime in the early 1900s.

My awesome room.

Marina, Ilhan & I in the lobby.  Those flowers are real.  I touched them.

The 3 of us in the courtyard headed to work: from angle 1.

The 3 of us in the courtyard headed to work: angle 3.  I have skipped angle 2 and about 3 alternate shots.  We had a real photo shoot going.

Were you wondering who was taking all these?  Our wonderful bellhop, Peter, obviously.

Marina's creative director skills parallel Jen's.  Did you think the photoshoot might end just because we reached the lobby of the office?

We are supposed to be demonstrating how small the room is.  I don't think we accomplished that mission.  Yes, we are definitely taking pictures during work.

Simon & I before we headed to Covent Gardens.

First stop on the tour o'fun: Covent Gardens.  This used to be the fruit market back in the day, but has since become a cool outdoor-ish mall type place with pubs and shops.  Clothing & Beer > fruit.

Punch & Judy's.  Charming folks, aren't they?

Vanna White has nothing on Marina.  Working that sign.

Simon insisted that we get authentic English beer.  I can't recall the name of it because he ordered, but I actually liked it.

The next stop on the tour o'fun was a curry place.  Simon informed us that to be a true English Curry experience we should have been out at the bars until 2 am and wandered in here afterwards.  From that I took away that Taco C is to Americans as Curry is to Brits.  I think they win.

Cheers.  Please pardon my appearance.  I believe at this point I'd more or less been awake for more than 30 hours.  Not as easy as it was in college.

Woohoo for Team Offshore!