January Update Update

Thank god I don't want a career in blogging. The last update was in November, my apologies Grandparents and loved ones NOT on Facebook.

I am still job searching, but with the holidays, there hasn't been too many options I am interested in.  Another blessing is I don't have to contribute to rent, bills or groceries (thank you Samson!) so the stress of being unemployed is not so stressful. I fill my days with cleaning, cooking/baking from scratch, lunch with friends, exercise, reading mass books, doing a 1000 pc. puzzle, painting, learning to sew, decorating, organizing and re-organizing, exploring and seldom relaxing by the pool. Much to what I used to believe, lying by the pool gets old fast. Fact.

Over the holidays I went to an island in Indonesia called Gili Trawangan and then spent a few days in Ubud, Bali. I will 100% go back to Ubud. Gili T. was a once in a lifetime spot and I am so thankful I got to see it. It was primitive in a different way than camping. The lights and AC would go off often and the water probably was contaminated, but I loved it. We rode bikes (there are only two modes of modern transportation on the island: bikes & horse) and ate tons of good local food, shopped and spent 75% of our time lounging on the beach listening to Bob Marley or snorkeling with sea turtles! Oh! And I petted a 4 month old baby monkey!

We spent a few days in Ubud, Bali (a few of them required me not leaving the room cause of a stomach bug) and I want to go back and buy everything in the streets to put in my future Bellingham house. I recommend everyone go visit Ubud.

We paid a man to climb a coconut tree so he could bring us down a young coconut! It was SOOO scary and cool!
We visited temples, hence the above attire...ate delicious food, shopped more, ate lunch in a rice field, got stalked by some lizard the entire trip and found really cool art.

Life is good. I am so thankful for this opportunity, I am thankful for my support system and the new people I am meeting from all over the world. I love my life, and I thank you for being a part of it.

Update

So it rains a lot here, everyday it rains...
I wake up to beautiful blue skies with big poetic clouds, and by 2 pm, it's raining and grey.
Good thing I get in my pool time early!

I just want to say, the grass ain't always more fun on the other side. I am so bored! Nobody is hiring because of the holidays, plus, I am not considered a "local" which is all that is being hired currently.  I clean, cook from scratch and clean. I am looking into taking sewing classes and the rest of the day is spent online looking for jobs or playing on Pinterest.

I can't wait to see my family again, and my friends. Thank god Alissa, Jason, Jamie and her Jason are coming to visit! I need it!

NOT complaining about how easy my life is by any means, but it's no fun not having your own money to kill time with ;)

I miss my American peeps and dog, but this adventure is so awesome, it keeps me sane and excited for the future.

Thanks for the support y'all! xoxo

Today.

Asians eat some weird crap.
They also have no sense of walking or talking or standing or being in public.
Singapore: 1  Brittany: 0

I think I hate blogging.

I don't feel witty enough when I blog, and we all know I am witty, funny & good with words.

See, you smiled at that (cause it's true)

I made it to Singapore but BARELY.
It's officially been a week and I feel like it's been a month-not sure if that's good or bad. After losing my passport (only to find it in my slipper ONCE I got to Singapore) and having to cancel a really expensive flight-on top of the stress of saying goodbye yet again to my loved ones, pack a lot of crap in a tiny suitcase, sell my car, close all my accounts in the US and see that I am way below poverty level since I haven't worked since June, I finally made it here.
New passport: $195 and the gas it took to drive 1.5 hours to get it.
Cancel and rebooking of flights: $1700+
Misc. spenditures: $200+

Oh! ALSO, after getting my passport in hand and booking new flight, I thought I was in the clear. I was about to enjoy a lemon crepe with fresh strawberries with my girl Andrea when I got an email from Travelocity saying "You ain't flying tomorrow young lady"...in a nutshell, Travelocity sucks so I had to wake up Kris at 3 am for him to handle this situation because I was officially, MELTING THE EFF DOWN.

Were these all "signs" that I wasn't supposed to move here? I couldn't get that out of my head.
Having an entire row of three seats to myself on the leg from Tokyo was sooo the turning point of my luck.

NOW, if I could only get a job and pay all my debts that are not quite slowly mounting :)

Here is where I found that blasted passport! Grrr....

My cup runneth over...

Spent last weekend with my brother, who flew in for the weekend from Washington and the rest of my amazing family.

Saturday my brother and I went to my paternal grandparents house and watched football, ate food and drank Budweisers until one am! I found my Grandma's old Barbies I used to play with, the 3rd Edition of Family Feud, Perry Como records and Matt's matchbox cars. We also made a POT HOLDER! Old school night! My Grandma also danced with my brother because "she didn't get to at his wedding"...so sweet.

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Gramp's Ash Tray

Sunday we helped them with yardwork because Fall in Ohio is AMAZING. I rode with Gramps to the gas station to buy more Budweisers :)

We spent the rest of the day with my maternal grandparents and uncles. Played games, ate pumpkin muffins and once again, enjoyed the beautiful weather as a family.

This blog post doesn't really do the weekend justice, but I wanted to document it because I don't keep a handwritten journal, and I want everyone to know how grateful and LUCKY I am to have FIVE grandparents alive and healthy!

Life in Ohio

Time hasn't flown like I thought it would...after the road trip I started working at my friends restaurant/bar during the weekdays to not die of boredom.
I am getting to spend lots of time with my BFFF Janna, Andie, Laura, Emily, McGrew, Mom, Phyllis, Walter, Trudy, and other misc. awesome people. I bake alot, eat alot, sleep some, am trying to sell my car or else it's going to sit and rust at my Dad's trailer (yes, I said trailer, BUT it's a lovely trailer)...

I am ready to get to Singapore to get a real job again, wear cute clothes and painful shoes, make money to spend money and wake up next to the coolest dude I have ever met, Mister Kris.

It will be one year for that dude this October, so we have 2 more years left after that on his contract. I am so ready to be in a house with a big old yard already, BECAUSE I want Walter in my life everyday too ;)

Few pictures: My Grandma and Great-Grandma just turned 74 and 94 Sept. 18th!

Laura done got herself hitched!

Well, not too much exciting info to put in here and I don't feel particularly witty, nor funny today. Sorry. Off to Findlay this weekend to return to the blonde roots! Peace.

Road Trip 2011 Journal

8/17/2011:
Road trip was to begin around 10 am, but we didn't leave until 1:29 pm...should have known this was going to be "different" than what I had imagined (in a good way!)
First stop: 4:01 pm for our first gas and pee break. We made a rule that we would stop to get gas once it reached half a tank for safety purposes, because we are after all, cute girls on a highway full of lonely truckers ;)
Distance traveled so far-187.9 miles
Pee break @ 5:19 pm
Pee break @ 7:12 pm (good grief, I know) and Alissa got a yucky Subway sandwich from a gas station (duh) and for her to take some motion sickness medicine for her unfortunate condition (and to put her motion sickness wristbands on, see below)

7:59 pm: had to stop for an emergency road side incident in Coeur D'Alene :)

9:24 pm: stopped for gas and found the BEST gift shop ever! It was in Montana and it was amazing. Oh, and we peed again.

Recap for the day: Phone died, 18 burps & farts (sorry, gross, but we were bored) and one shared 5-hour lemon-lime energy drink (worst flavor FYI), one book on tape, 73 huge dead Montana bugs glued to my car, Taco Bell at 12:12 am for $11.00 and slept at the Mountain View Inn in MT and ate expired oatmeal for breakfast.

Thursday, 8/18/11:
Finally getting on road at 10:32 am and discovered we were heading the wrong direction, turn around, time check-10:36 am.
632.9 miles in and screaming "Ain't going down until the sun comes up" by Garth Brooks while the sun beats down on us because we are too anal to use the AC.
Feet up, nail polish out, coffee in, and officially naming our journal "Farting our way across the USA".
I make Alissa listen to country music because "when in Rome", you listen to country music.

12:41 pm: stopped to pee and make sandwiches and stretch (we suck at road trips right?) and got a sunburn. Discovered Cool Ranch Doritos dipped in Cilantro hummus is amazing.

2:21 pm: Pee/stretch break :) Alissa is doing downward dog in front of the highway. Found hotel coupons! WHOO HOOO!

3:12 pm: Pee...again. Switched drivers and begrudgingly, drank another 5-hour energy drink.

3:35 pm: Brittany is freaking out post 5-hour energy drink! "I feel like I am on crack right now!" says Britt while driving 85 mph and talking on her cellphone, meanwhile, Alissa is laughing her tits off. Brittany-"I have a headache! I feel so alive! I feel like my head is in a vice grip! I want to take a nap! I feel like dancing with Gaga! I don't feel so good" (Those drinks are scary! Especially with other illegal substances!)

Alissa hears Brittany leave a voicemail for someone saying "Hey Goat Roper!"

Alissa says "Did you know I am related to Lewis from Lewis & Clark? Oh wait, no, I mean I am related to Clark."

Alissa confusing David Sedaris' voice with Phyllis Diller's.

4:46 pm: Stopped to pee and discovered my head is 1.3 inches bigger than Alissa's when my headband literally, fell of her head as soon as she put it on...and that Alissa gets 90's lesbian softball hair when the windows are rolled down for hours.

5:15 pm: got off 90E onto 212 finally! Another gas stop...

5:31 pm: Damn receipts flew out the window. I needed those.

8:34 pm: Left receipt that I needed. Pee break and creepy looks from the town folk. Discovered they make 5-hour energy drinks EXTRA STRENGTH! No way dudes, NO way.

9:14 pm: After getting pulled over for having a headlight out and the cop talking our ears off forever, we checked into a hotel in Spearfish, SD. No ticket! Free drinks from the hotel! Alissa ate her first frickle (fried pickle), we listened to mediocre karaoke, and drank wine in the hot tub. Thanks Mama Milam for our posh SD hotel!

Alissa exclaims: "This is the best day of my life!" (but later reveals she was talking about a memory she had from 4 years ago)

Brittany: "That old guy is either retarded or really, really drunk"

Friday, 8/1/9/11:
9:30 am and Lis asks a nice lady at the hotel, "How far away is that....uuhhhh...ummm, monument? The one with all the Presidents?" :)
Must fix headlight, get a nice young man to do it for us for free.
Distance so far-1,225 miles.

11:01 am: Mt. Rushmore! Pot Roast TOO! I buy 9 magnets cause I can.

12:39 pm: back on the road (but not for long!)

12:41 pm: "What purpose did and do pleats serve?" -BM
12:36 pm: "I wonder how many people died at Rushmore..." -BM

1:02 pm: Starbucks (this is the point where we remembered we had turned our underwear inside out because we didn't pack enough, and Alissa is wearing my extra pair that is too big for her tiny bum)

1:06 pm: "Looks like Black Hills BAGELS would have good ice cream." -AE

1:11 pm: After getting honked at by a trucker and realizing we have really short shorts on-"He's probably looking at my pubes." -AE (I still laugh really hard at this)

PEOPLE IN SOUTH DAKOTA ARE SO NICE!

1:29 pm: Finally back on highway

2:42 pm: Stopped at Wall Drug and got Butter Pecan ice cream and a maple donut-and more souvenirs.

2:49 pm: On the road again...books on tape again....

5:36 pm: Gas/Pee

5:44 pm: Can't tell y'all what happened at this mark.

7:29 pm: PEE! 1,621,9 miles



9:28 pm: Bohemian Rhapsody really, really loudly and awesomely mimicked.


10:04 pm: Gas/Pee and Iowa smells pretty consistently like sewer poo.

Brit Road Mix #3 saved the day! We ate McDonald's because it was $2.50 for 2 sandwiches. This was followed up with a discussion about why poor people are so fat. Starts to get stormy and we are awed at the fantastic lightning happening all around us!

12:10 am: Found some cool new music on the only radio station that wasn't static.

1:24 am: We 'SHOOP'ed our lungs out! We each knew every. single. word.

2:10 am: Checked in the nastiest hotel we have ever been in! There were old groceries and Oktoberfest beers in the fridge, pubes on the toilet, mold on the toilet and trash behind the desk. ICK! We still slept there ;)

Saturday, 8/20/11:
Finally up and at 'em and on the road at 10:30 am. Whoops.
2, 054.5 miles.

12:20 pm: Illinois! (My brother pronounces the "S")

1:01 pm: Pee. Switch drivers. Alissa has driven most of the way, which I am completely okay with ;)

1:23 pm: I joined a Viper car club, claiming "I am so one of them!" I interrupted their parade by squeezing in and chillin' out for a few miles before I realized, it will never be...sorry Mazda, I heart you.

2:27 pm: pee break

3:53 pm: Chipotle in a college town! Univ. of Illinois seems not as fun as OSU. Alissa wrote "Champagne", IL and then under it, "you get my drift" (she meant Champaign)

4:10 pm: My credit card is declined because my bank saw "unusual activity across the USA" and put a hold on it. I had to call and accept EVERY charge for the last 3 days (which was a lot). I try to pump gas and get sidetracked with washing bugs off car, thought it was done filling, tried to print receipt and it wouldn't so I go ask the clerk to print me one and he says, "Umm, you haven't pumped any gas yet." Whoops. Alissa is rubbing off on me, between the two of us, we have about a 62% working brain.

5:02 pm: First "Jesus Save Me Fish" sighting! Indiana of course.

5:28 pm: Rainbow!

7:03 pm: Cincinnati signage!

7:22 pm: Gas/Coffee we didn't drink, Alissa is now driving

7:37 pm: Credit card reactivated yo!

8:12 pm: OHIO! HOME! Mom love!

2,544,8 miles

I wouldn't have wanted to do this with any other person...Alissa Eardley, I love you so much. You're my carrots and I am your peas.

Our food tally:
Hotel biscuits & gravy, Salami & cheese sandwiches x 4, Caramel popcorn from a gas station, Frickles!, Loaded tator tots, Donut, Ice Cream, Pot Roast/Potato Soup, Subway, waffles, Fritos, Doritos, BBQ & Sour cream & onion chips, Peanut Butter pretzels, Chipotle, Taco Bell, McDonaldds and some fruit ;)