prenatal vitamin dilemma / hot meat on my front porch.

okay. i haven't always been good about vitamins. but there are some times when you really should be, right?

...like when you're pregnant?

sadly (or perhaps not-so-sadly) i'm not actually with-child.

but i did run out of my regular multivitamins.

and i did find these ones.

here is the story of why i have prenatal vitamins:

a long, long time ago, i saw an ad on TV that advertised FREE vitamins. and i figured, "why not, right?" vitamins are expensive. i'd totally take some free ones. so i signed myself up and guess what arrived at my home a few short weeks later? you guessed it -- prenatal vitamins. because even if you're not pregnant RIGHT NOW, you could be VERY SOON and whoever started this free-vitamin-campaign assumes every woman is at least border-line pregnant. i kind of laughed them off but for whatever reason, never threw them away (or gave them to my pregnant sister or roommate? such a considerate friend i seem to be). and now i have these prenatal vitamins.

so here's my dilemma. is it okay to take them if i'm not pregnant?

i've heard it could help my hair and nails grow better. 

but could it also sprout a child?!?

THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING YOU, BLOG FRIENDS.

HELP ME.

 okay. moving on to other things in my life.

like how i'm just four workouts away from getting a free sweatshirt -- 

and how the best thing about baking tiny bread is eating tiny toast 

on a tiny plate (about 6" in diameter) --

 

 and how (in theory) peppermint clif bars should be gross 

but this one was actually not-bad -- 

and how i just got a new car insurance statement 

and now i'll pay $15 less a month -- 

and how i walked outside today to find hot meat on my front porch -- 

...never a dull moment.

fortunes come true.

some of the things i had in my wallet were these fortunes:

i don't know why i've always liked to keep them.

but i do.

my favorite one has a story, if you haven't heard it already.

i went to a chinese restaurant with my college professor / mentor / reporter i was interning with (all one and the same person) on one of my last days at my internship at ABC4 in SLC. i had already graduated and was working on my documentary and still doing some internship stuff on the side, plus i was trying to find a job and figure out what i was going to do with the rest of my life. that was on may 11th.

my fortune: "remember three months from this date. 

good things are in store for you." 

one month later...nothing much had changed.

two months later...i'd had a job interview with WAOW.

and three months later...a job offer.

coincidence?

maybe.

but maybe not.

so whenever i get fortunes, i keep them.

some are funny.

some are profound.

but they all find a home in my wallet.

here are some of my other favorites:

"trust others, but still keep your eyes open."

"you will take a pleasant journey to a place far away."

"stubbornness is not a good virtue."

"share your abundant humor with others at this time. they need it."

"an exciting opportunity lies ahead of you."

"everybody feels lucky for having you as a friend."

"next week, green is a lucky color for you."

"an attractive visitor will bring joy to your home."

"opportunity awaits you next monday."

"the simplest answer is to act."

"you will accomplish more later if you have a little fun this weekend."

"do not mistake temptation for opportunity."

"be careful and systematic in your business arrangements."

"live, think and act for today. tomorrow may be too late."

dolla' dolla' bills, ya'll.

somehow, my wallet got soaked this week 

(but everything else in my purse is fine) 

so i took all the stuff out to take a look. 

- seven $1 bills.

- two $2 bills.

- one $20 bill.

- one 1000 yen bill.

- my ohio driver's license.

- pnc credit card.

- us bank card.

- huntington debit card.

- victoria's secret credit card.

- YMCA membership card.

- blockbuster card.

- roundy's card.

- key card for getting into work.

- AAA card.

- progressive (car) insurance card.

- blue cross blue shield (medical) insurance card. 

- delta dental insurance card. 

- red cross identification card.

- BYU id card.

- mini BYU diploma.

- dave & buster's card.

- graeter's ice cream card.

- social security card.

- olive garden gift card.

- three forever stamps with pine cones.

- one utah jazz ticket.

- one orem owlz ticket.

- eleven movie ticket stubs from ohio.

- ten movie ticket stubs from utah.

- four movie ticket stubs from wisconsin.

- four random tickets from different carnivals and fairs.

- one patriarchal blessing.

- one temple recommend.

- one coupon for a free car wash.

- one fortune from a las vegas machine.

- thirty-four fortune cookie fortunes.

- one grocery receipt.

- two business cards from my two favorite news people.

- sixty-two cents.

...HOW DID THAT ALL FIT?!

in other news, i made some delicious bread while ruth was here from these adorable pans my mom got me. they are so tiny!! 

(powerade bottle shown for the sake of comparison)

this week, sean told me to sign up for the YMCA's passport to wellness program. so i did (why not, right?). basically, you have to work out for twelve days in october (doing at least six different kinds of exercise) and you get "stamped" for different countries. in theory, if you do it through out the month, it's not a big deal, but i didn't start til the 13th. so here's hoping i can go to the gym pretty much every day for the rest of this month so i can get a FREE SWEATSHIRT!!

 i did a story at a humane society. this cat loved my tripod.

 here's proof sean doesn't hate the bucks as much as he pretends to:

...also that he loves to sleep on the floor...

p.s. listen to this song.

my sisters, my heroes.

they run half-marathons.

they visit me when i live far away. 

they have kardashian hair / style / smiles.

they're master healthy-chefs.

and they're basically the most awesome people i know.

just saying.

ruth surprised me by visiting wisconsin this weekend, which was awesome and ridiculous all at the same time (with sean working reconnaissance to make sure i'd be staying in town, which was good since i was thinking of leaving...) and one of the things we did was the "fall ride." basically you ride a ski lift up rib mountain and take pictures of how cool wausau looks:

but what fun is riding a ski lift when you can
run up rib mountain with your own legs?

 a lot has changed in the past three weeks around here.

here are the pictures from the top of the look-out tower each week:

 now for three random things.

#1: kids cleaning up after doing ARCHERY in gym class.

i miss doing fun stuff like that in school.

#2: twilight jewelry.

don't worry. it's only like $400 a pop.

better start saving your pennies...

#3: i really want this to be my halloween costume this year:

going off the deep end.

okay. don't freak out, but i went swimming yesterday.

for those of you who don't know, krons don't really swim.

(most ohioans i know don't either so maybe it's a state thing too)

we're not good at it. and we never do it.

which came first? we'll never know. but yesterday...i did.

i've started looking into alternatives to running (boo) because my knees will probably break by the time i'm 30 if i keep running like i do. and swimming seems like something that would be low-impact. the only problem is that i don't really swim. at all.

enter the new "saturday morning swim club." me and two other kids i work with invented it this weekend. they swim laps for about an hour. i practice remembering to breathe while i take stroke after agonizing stroke while attempting not to die for an hour. and then we sit in the hot tub. i didn't die yesterday and hopefully i won't next week. plus, it's a good excuse to get out of bed before noon on a saturday, right?

in other news, i've been experimenting with foods lately. bryon's bday was this week, so i baked creme-filled chocolate cupcakes and made decorative frosting with mini-chocolate chip B's (for bry and his brewers, who made it into the post-season this week). i thought i took pictures, but apparently i didn't because i can't find them. 

also this week, was my friend jack's last day at work ) : 

for his last day, he requested a treat with three ingredients: pop rocks, gummy bears and bumblebee tuna. needless to say, i swapped out the tuna for chocolate and made these delicious brownies instead. 

^ i think these will be a regular item in my bakery someday. 

and this weekend was WEEK 2 of running rib mountain. 

spent about two hours -- running up, hiking around, then jogging back down. so gorgeous. people who don't love fall are dumb.

now for two completely random things.

#1: here's the fuzzy caterpillar that was inching its way in front of my door. long as he stays outside, he can be as adorable as he wants. 

 #2: if you haven't noticed, my buckeyes haven't done terribly well so far this season. they haven't been ranked for a few weeks now in the AP polls, but apparently OSU fans never say die because they're still in the top 20 in the fan rankings ( :