The Title of My Blog

It says "Always Smiling" ... and that's just what I did for the past 5 hours. So, I thought the world should know...

I think life just got a big tad bit better ... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMycfdNdlKA

My life this week started off in the most unwanted way ... and ... well, as my Dad says...
YOU have to MAKE it a good day.

Smile.
Sarah

Make It a Good Day.

The title says it. So does Samuel. That face is to die for. lol :)

The Past Week

Picture: My Grandpa and Grandma Bickerstaff ... with Samuel :)

Well, a lot of things both good and bad have happened over the past week or so. I won't get into all of them but let's just say it's been a bumpy road and I'm glad I can pray about it...

Thanksgiving was really nice. It was great to actually be with my family for Thanksgiving in Kansas City... the first time since 2001! I wasn't able to do the Thanksgiving Day 5K that I had been training for because I was still recovering from my stress fracture, but I was able to stop wearing my walking boot! Ryan got 6th overall I think and my Dad ran a lot faster than he thought he would. Go Family Go! :) While Ryan and Dad were running, my Mom and I walked Ginger around... and accidently let her pee on someone's sweatshirt...Oops! Ginger was quite popular at the race though. She's basically the best dog ever.

My other Grandma -- my Dad's Mom -- got really sick the week of Thanksgiving and had to go to the ICU in Topeka, KS. It was really hard to see my 85 year old Grandma with a breathing tube and being so sedated. There was a bucket of stuff they were draining from her lungs -- they think she has non-infectious tuberculosis. It was sad. I cried lots the first visit but had better spirits for the 2nd. I've been praying a lot and I ask you to do the same. She's the type of Grandma who writes every month to every person in her extended family, no matter if you ever write back, because she wants you to know she loves you. A couple months ago she gave me her stuffed animal named Samuel that my brother and I used to fight over each time we visited her. I love that dog. It really means a lot to me.

It was really hard to be alone when I came back to Omaha on Saturday. Being around so many loved ones and then going back to being by yourself is quite hard. It kind of put me in a "I don't care about anything" mood. Not so good.

I started to feel sick Sunday night -- probably from the lack of sleep over Thanksgiving -- and now it has turned into the full Bickerstaffiosis (as Dr. Jeff calls it). It's my usual sore throat that turns into a nonstop runny nose that will then subside to just draining down my throat and then I'll develop a cough. I've been through this a couple times a year from since I was little so I feel like I'm quite used to it. :)

Other than that, I made a new friend this week which is great, it's Christmas season which is AMAZING!, and I'm going ice skating this weekend outside downtown.

Looking forward to getting a better life...

Sarah

Joe and Lou

Spring 2004 collegiate cycling season:
Basically every weekend for 8 weeks I spent with these 2 guys and Lou's girlfriend in a car driving to cycling races all over the northeast. They had made a cd entitled "Madonna's Like a Prayer x 17" ... yes, 17 repeats. EVERYTIME I hear this song it's all I can think about.

Sometimes... they even danced...

Bar Drink Run Pizza Run

Tracey just reminded me that when ever she's out in downtown State College it reminds her of me running. Because I would ALWAYS run. Everywhere. At night. It was always cold. And I would always end up at Canyon Pizza. And then run home. Sometimes I would ride my bike to the bar and run with my bike home. Probably because it wasn't safe for me to be riding my bike at that time. Always running... and LAUGHING! I always had to laugh when I ran because for some reason I would find it hilarious that I was running and everyone else was walking and that I could potentially beat them home and be warm again sooner. But I would end up stopping, cracking up laughing and trying to catch my breath, run back to my friends and then just repeat. You laughing yet? Just picture it. This is why I miss Penn State and my many friends I made there.

Jimmy Stewart

I have made a goal for myself. To watch every Jimmy Stewart movie...

He's like one of my favorite actors ever. And I love his voice.

Here are some photos of him.So far I've seen:

- It's a Wonderful Life

- Rear Window

- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

- Harvey

- The Greatest Show on Earth

Evidently the Omaha Public Library has a handful of them ... so yay!

Okay, that's it. Short post. It's my goal.

People

I have 2 friends back at Penn State -- Tracey and Kelly -- who I keep in touch with quite often because somehow we all seem to lead parallel lives -- especially Kelly and I. Kelly and I became great friends last February after we shared our heartache stories that of course were happening at the same time (the whole parallelness thing). We always seemed to make our way to Barnes and Noble (hence why I LOVE that place so much ... so many memories ... both good and bad actually) to "study", which actually usually ended in us talking about life situations and how to deal with them. Awesome friend she is.

Photo: Kelly and I.

Photo: Tracey and I at a "P is for Party Party" i.e. dress up as something that starts with a P (hence me being a penguin and tracey in pajamas).

Well, both of these women have some pretty amazing and enlightening words. I was corresponding with Tracey last weekend about how I hate how people leave our lives when we don't want them to and we have no control over it. She then told me this quote (which actually comes from some poem, but it's still good and made me think):

"People come into our lives for a season, a reason, or a lifetime."

So this really got me thinking and helped to ease my mind of those I may never talk to again. I'm sure whoever is reading this can put people they have met in life in each of these categories.

For me there are people like some past roommates who I probably won't keep in touch with much, but taught me valuable lessons of how to deal with uncooperative people. Or someone in a semester class that always had something interesting and new to say and taught you little bits of information that made you think, but more than likely I'll never see or talk to that person again. Those are the reason people.

I think the reason and season people go kinda together. I have an ex-bf that was in my life for a "season" and 6 months post-ending the relationship (on my accord) he decided that me in his life was over. Of course, I have a problem with this as I never like it when people leave my life. But I can think of it as he was in my life for a set amount of time to teach me a set amount of things and that was his sole purpose for me. Being in contact now would probably do us both no good at all ... so I guess that's where contact ends ... when your need for each other ends for both people. I also had a person come into my life this past spring... just somewhat of a friend who I met in a class. After my above said "heartache" I needed to be around a completely new set of people and this person provided that. Over time I'm sure our contact will fade, but I'm the type of person who will feel forever indebt and forever thankful for this type of person because they came in just when I needed them -- without them even knowing how they were helping me.

And then there are the lifetime people ... like Tracey and Kelly. They are in my life for many seasons and for many reasons but there's also a bond there that will keep them in my life forever. These are the people I treasure the most. You are constantly learning from them and can always depend on them to be there for you ... no matter how far the distance. Like my best buddy from college -- Jeff --- who I've known since the 2nd week of my freshman year of college. He was always there for me at Penn State and even after he graduated he still let me come home to his family for Thanksgiving in Baltimore when I couldn't be with mine. I know I can call good ole Dr. Jeff up for anything (and usually medicial stuff ... cause he will be a doctor eventually ;) ). I like to think I'm just giving him extra practice with all of my injuries and illnesses. So I'm extra thankful for the lifetime people. I know they'll never leave, and even if we are out of contact for awhile, I know in time we'll be back in contact like no time had ever past.

I love these people. :)

So to the reason, season, and especially the lifetime people... thanks for being in my life -- no matter how you affected it ... you were in it for a purpose. And for that, I can only treasure you.

Chocolate and Bananas

I have an addiction to slim fast chocolate shakes. They are delicious. You mix it with milk and ice and you have one heck of a healthy treat! Sometimes I even put in a banana and get even MORE healthiness going on. I also like rum on occasion. So last night I didn't have anything to mix my rum in ... and then I thought, "If I can put bananas in my slim fast shakes, then why can't I replace the bananas with Banana Rum?"

So I did. About 2-3 shots of rum + filling the rest of the 8 ounces with milk + about half a scoop of shake mix + 2 handfuls of ice = AWESOME.

End of Rum Banana Slim Fast story.

The Weekend

My weekend wasn't very eventful ... productive, but not eventful. I like to get lots of stuff done on the weekends which I've been pretty good at lately. I pay all my bills, clean, swim, go to church, watch football, sleep in, and basically organize everything that became unorganized over the week. Yeah, real world is cool like that. This weekend I spent lots of time at my second home -- Barnes and Noble -- LOVE that place! Saturday I got a Peppermint Mocha around 4pm before church, and I was completely wired until about 1am. It had 2 espressos mixed in it... not such a good idea. I had really wanted to go out and do something Saturday because I had so much caffeinated energy but everyone seemed to be out of town or busy. Bummer.

I've decided that weekends are a bit weird in the real world when you're living by yourself. You have to make your own structure to the day and make a huge effort to socialize with the rest of society. I was wondering this weekend how my other friends are handling it after graduation... then I realized that I'm kinda singled out when it comes to my situation. That is, all my friends went to grad school, or living with their parents while working, or followed their significant other, or live so close back to Penn State that they have mini reunions with their college friends a couple times a month. As for me, I seem to be on a completely different road. Moved to a place where I didn't know a single person, living by myself, home is 450 miles away, penn state is 1000 miles away, and I'm not constantly surrounded by 40,000 other people my age. I'm surrounded by engaged friends and women who are married with children. I love these people, of course, but when it comes to finding someone in your same situation... that's where life becomes hard. I really do like Omaha, though... I think it just takes a little longer to adjust to a life where you feel like you're by yourself. Life isn't as much handed to me now ... I have to create it.

But anyways, this weekend was one of those when I wish I had a roommate. Nothing too much to look forward to this week ... I'm hoping for lots of good stories from work though. There's always something crazy going on there.

Smile at the next person you see -- no matter who they are. You just might make a person's day.

Fun Day at ConAgra

Photo: Atul giving his acceptance speech in front of the turkey plastered door of Al Bolles.

Photo: Al presenting the turkey to Atul. (Notice the turkey in Al's hand.)

Once a month the Refrigerated Group (egg beaters, reddi-wip, snack pack pudding, swiss miss pudding, and swiss miss cocoa) has a Fun Day. Jen and I are in charge of organizing each month's fun day and this month's was awesome. Well, as awesome as it can get for a Fun Day with coworkers ...some of which we are FORCED to have fun with.

So Jen and I collaborated on some ideas and settled on eating pizza from Zio's, playing Cranium (teams of which Jen and I cleverly picked. haha), and making turkeys! Originally, we were to make turkeys out of our hands and feet (see example). For the people not from the U.S.A., who may not have made one of these in grade school, I quickly made one as an example because at the beginning of the Fun Day Jen and I had to run to go get the pizza. So, we left the group with the instructions and left them all of the supplies. To our surprise, when we came back everyone had pretty much made their own spin on the craft. My fav was David's turkey feathers made of circles which ended up looking like the turkey had a bunch of balloons onto it and was floating away -- he called it "abstract art". Jen's was also pretty awesome and had a country kick to it. :)

We then announced that there would be a special award (homemade turkey craft by Jen made from aluminum foil, packing peanuts, toothpicks, and reddi-wip caps) ... and inspired by The Office. After everyone was nearly finished we then informed the group that the Official Judge would be Al Bolles (Executive VP of RQI who reports directly to the CEO of ConAgra). Al wasn't aware he was going to be judging the turkeys, but we talked to his administrative assistant (Karen) and she said we had about 10 minutes to hang all the turkeys on the door before Al came back from a meeting. We watched him walk into his office without even noticing all of the turkeys on his door (haha). He then came out once he looked up from his desk. We then informed him that we would NOT be taking down the turkeys until he chose the winner. He picked Atul's turkey so Jen and I quickly decided that Al should officially present the homemade turkey prize to Atul in front of the group. So, we gathered everyone up, into Al Bolles' office and had the presentation.

Okay, so after writing all of this out, it doesn't seem like all that great of a story, but I guess you had to be there and being in charge of all of the craziness was quite the accomplishment. haha. I guess it also helps to understand the type of personality of the people in our group... and the hilariousness of trying to play board games with them. haha. Anyways, the pictures above give a glimpse of the fun.

Enjoy ... it's the weekend!

Flu Shots with the CEO of ConAgra

We didn't have too many comments on Mr. P.C. today, but Kerstin (see previous post) did dress rather nicely with a skirt and high boots for Hump Day. Haha. Jen and I got lost going to Corporate storage for my shelf life testing of some pudding. We missed the turn and ended up in the worst part of town. When I started noticing street signs that I had hear on the local news, I knew we should probably find the road we needed to be on.

Today I was also in charge of arranging our monthly Fun Day, which happens to be this Friday. It more or less becomes "forced fun day" as it's hard to have your regular type of fun (the fun we have each day in the lab) when people who aren't so much fun are also celebrating "fun day" with you. But for this Friday for 2 hours at work, we're playing Cranium, eating pizza, and making hand/foot turkeys out of construction paper. Yeah, ConAgra's Dairy group is cool like that. I'm excited that I actually get paid for making turkeys and playing games. Cool job, eh?

The past three weeks I've been pretty good at waking up and swimming at the Y before work. In order to do this, though, I basically need to be asleep around 1opm and that just hasn't been happening this week. Otherwise I'll probably just get sick from a lack of sleep, so this week I've been going straight to the pool after work. Today there was a college lady getting into the pool who wasn't very nice to me ... she also jumped into the lane that I was JUST about to put my stuff down in. Argh! But, I don't like that lane anyway (yes, I do have a favorite lane even though it's all in the same water), so I brushed it off my shoulder pretty quickly. I did descending sets today -- 500, 400, 300, 300, 100 in 7:32, 6:00, 4:25, 2:55, and 1:24 ...all with 30sec inbetween. For only my 4th week of swimming I was pleased with those times AND I swam the furthest this season (3400 yards :)).

My arm still hurts from my flu shot yesterday. Everyone with insurance at ConAgra gets a free flu shot, and out of the 1500 people who work downtown, I just happened to be getting my shot at the same time as Gary Rodkin -- aka CEO of ConAgra. We're close buddies now. First a pool party at the COO's house and now flu shots with the CEO. I'm moving up rather quickly. HAHA

I was bummed that the CMT awards were on tonight ... took away my fav Wednesday night shows. Haha. Tomorrow should be a fun evening -- typical Thursday evening with Jen watching The Office. Best show ever, no doubt.

On a completely different note, I read an article today about some school taking away the game "Tag" from schools because kids could get hurt playing. Geezums!!! No wonder the little kids these days are obese. They are taught that the only safe place is sitting on a chair doing nothing. Well, I'm full proof that you can get hurt doing absolutely anything. I've never been hurt playing tag, but I'm pretty good at smashing my fingers in my guitar case and falling going upstairs at work ... anyways, I just thought that was crazy.

Smile like you mean it. :)

Wheatfields and humping

Today = good day at work. Well, it was a better than usual day with lots of laughs ... mostly inspired by Jen and myself. Five of us ladies went to this bakery and eatery called Wheatfields down in Papillion for lunch. Evidently it was nearly a 30 minute drive just to get there, so it was an extra long lunch. The food was super yummy though and on Tuesdays they have loaves of bread for ONE DOLLAR!!! The bread is amazing so it was quite the deal. Not sure if it's just an Omaha thing but I'd definitely check it out... their Swiss Salad is especially delightful.

Other humorous moments included David (our guy from Tanzania that makes Egg Beaters) describing how wonderful he is and how great "his people" are. He also likes to make up stories and try to confuse Jen and I, but we make up our own stories about him so it makes for one great big fun story... "The David Kirunda Story."

We also have this giant PINK blow up Crab at work... it arrived one day back in the spring before Jen or myself were working there. Something about how for a "fun day" they decorated the lab in sea stuff. Anyway, somehow the crab and this blow up fish have survived. I decided to steal the crab from the main lab workbench to the top of my cube so that everyone could see this giant pink thing. Of course ... Jen has even a better idea and decides that we should have the crab holding a sign saying something different each day. Because most of the people are gone by 4:30pm we decided to go ahead and make our first sign -- "Happy Hump Day, November 7, 2007". Not very original ... however, we have already discovered from the last few minutes of work that people from Tanzania (David) and another coworker Kerstin (from Germany) don't know what "hump day" stands for but have a pretty good understanding of the word "humping". Therefore, we are looking forward to what the people from countries other than the U.S.A. think of our signs. Kerstin already informed us that she was going to put her kids in a room watching a movie and tell her husband about this official "hump" day.

Ahh... good times at ConAgra. I'll get a picture of the crab tomorrow. We've named him Mr. P.C. (for pink crab of course).

On another note... I continue to somehow make geriatric friends. Today it was some 70 year old guy at the YMCA pool in an American flag speedo. He wanted to know if I breathe out of both sides when I swim. Then he told me he wasn't too good at it, but that his daughter could. I should get him in touch with my Barnes and Noble geriatric friends. I think they'd have a good time

Smile :)

My life stopped for a moment, so did my blog

Photos 1st, writing 2nd.

Photo: Me and some of my coworkers on Halloween.

Photo: ConAgra takes its employees on a "boat cruise" ... therefore I sit on the pelican since we have the same footwear

Photo: Jen and I after the Monster Dash 5K ... the last time I was able to run.

Photo: Me with my 1st place award! Spooky!

Photo: The Rowes at Soma ... the condos across the street from me.

Photo: Changed up the living room set-up a little bit.

Photo: My walking boot that I have to wear until who knows when.

Photo: Omaha neighborhood in the fall.

Question: What do you do when you don't have anything exciting happening in your life?

Answer: You don't update your blog.

Actually, there are many happenings and stories I could tell over the past 3 months since I've written but they'll all fall into place eventually. To sum things up in 4 categories:

Work:

I'm still in Omaha and working as a food scientist at ConAgra. More specifically I formulate Snack Pack and Swiss Miss pudding and other secret projects that I can't tell you about. I LOVE the people I work with, i.e. the people in my lab. As for working in the corporate world... I'd like to know what those higher up people are thinking when they hire our managers and directors. Perhaps it's all in one big plan that they have for ConAgra ... but to put it bluntly it's VERY hard to manage your own manager and to collaborate when that person knows very little about the company. Though I must say 80% of our humor comes from that very fact.

Sports:

After 2 months of doing nothing (literally nothing), I was finally able to start working out slowly again from my broken rib during mid-July. Still to this day there's something wrong with it. I can't lift my upper body up on my right side, but at least I can move faster than a snail without dying of pain from my lungs trying to breathe. Late August I decided to train for a Thanksgiving day 5K. I ran a 10K in 45:22 about a month after I started training so I was getting stoked for running a personal best in my 5K 2 months later. Unfortunately, about a week or so ago I came down with a stress fracture. I definitely wasn't over training ...unless you say 15 miles a week running is overtraining, so I actually think it's a combo of doing some speed work along with pushing off the wall swimming. The fracture is in my 2nd metatarsal so I've been walking around in my giant boot to help the healing process go faster. Luckily though I'm still able to swim! Yay! So, I've been swimming almost 2 miles 5-6 times a week. I hate the chlorine as it leaves ya all itchy afterwards but it feels great to be swimming laps again.

Family:

I've been able to see my parents more often now that I only live 450 miles away instead of 1300 miles. I drove down for a quick weekend trip back in August, they came up in September for ConAgra's company zoo picnic, saw them again at my Grandma/pa's house in Junction City, KS about two weeks ago and then I'll be seeing them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas! Still haven't seen my brother since Christmas ... but Ryan hates me anyway and is the most belittling person I know, so that's not such a big deal. I actually really wish we had a better relationship -- like so many of my friends have with their siblings -- but I've tried for years and he refuses to grow up. His loss.

Misc.:

I've finally been able to go out again on the weekend thanks to Fargo and Greg getting me in touch in Greg's old college roomie, Eric ... kudos to you two! Eric is super fun and I've been able to see more of Omaha and hang out with a lot of different people, so yay for that! I've also found that I've become obsessed with Slim Fast milkshakes with a banana. So incredibly good! Other food items of choice at the moment are cucumbers and Roma tomatoes in fat free balsamic vinaigrette. I have that at least 3-4 times a week. Oh, and Barnes and Noble is still my 2nd home. :)

Okay, that wraps up my life thus far. I've included some photos. Enjoy!