What do you hit that overload mode with?

1. Texas roads are terrible.  I complain about Oklahoma, but my goodness Texas!  You all certainly win the award for biggest road issues!  Gotta do everything big there don’t you?  Not to mention, your signage for road construction and moved exits stinks.

2. I am NOT a morning person.  And I have to be up, presentable and in attendance by 7am tomorrow.  Ewwwwww.  The rest of the week will be that way too.  Ewwwwww.

3. Word of advice in midst of the summer wedding season: when you have children, start putting money away for them the day they are born.  Save, save, save for their college and their wedding.  It’s worth it.  And it’s so much less stress for everyone down the road.

4. Along with that, another word of advice: People of all ages, start saving money now.  Put $1, $5, whatever, aside every week into a savings account that earns interest.  It will be so so so worth it down the road.  If you are a Sonic happy hour addict, like myself, and tend to get a large drink (86 cents) 5 times a week, that’s $4.30 per week.  Now consider this: only get 2 per week.  That’s right, you can still get your Sonic fix, just twice a week.  You’ve now spent $1.72 per week for savings of $2.58 a week.  Do that for just 6 months and viola: $61. 92 in the bank earning interest.

But wait.  Ever want to skip the hassle and just go out to eat?  Well, at Brinker restaurants, where I get half price because I’m an employee, my bill for 2 people runs on average $20 including tip.  So do that just once a week and I’ve spent $80.  If you limit yourself to going out to eat only twice per month, you can save upwards of $40 per month.  Do that for 6 months= $ 240.  Add that to your Sonic money= $302 saved up in half a year.

5. I’m doing a little social networking experiment right now.  It’s on facebook, so we’ll see how it goes.  I’m not telling on here, because there’s no cheating!  : )

My grandparents are coming to OK from North Carolina in July.  My grandma used to teach cake decorating for Wilton & Michael’s so she’s a cake pro.  She is making me a birthday cake while they’re here because my birthday (the big 21!)is the next week.  I need suggestions!  I’m thinking maybe chocolate or marble cake, but that’s as far as I get.  I need a design-both structure and decorating. 

Comment your suggestions please please please!  You can leave me a link or whatever!

Recipe of the Day: Trail Mix (yummy, cheap & easy!)

1 bag white chocolate chips
1 bag craisins
1 bag/can peanuts
1 bag marshmellows
1 bag/can cashews
1 bag plain M&Ms
1 bag pretzels (I prefer the sticks)
1 bag dried cherries (or any dried fruit, banana is awesome too)

Mix in a large bowl and enjoy!

I love how unique each puppy is.  They have their own expressions, personalities and demeanor.  Daisy is a very unique one.  She’s very loving, always (and I mean always) wanting to be pet.  She doesn’t care much for playing, and would rather you fetch her toys for her.  She doesn’t bark either; she talks.  It took a long time to hear the first bark from her, and I don’t mean a couple hours.  It was weeks, maybe a month or more.  And when she does bark, it’s not much-just closed mouth “woof”.  We discovered that Daisy will only bark when she’s very scared, which is typically evoked by large unfamiliar men.

Yesterday before heading to physical therapy I was in the backyard with Daisy.  The neighbors have 3 or 4 small kids (you can never tell, there’s always a bunch of them running around) and just got a puppy a few weeks ago.  The puppy went from being tiny to Daisy’s size in just 3 weeks!  Now their dog is a big puppy that chews everything all the time, so it gets left in the backyard all the time.  While Daisy moseyed around the back yard, the neighbors’ puppy (Zoey we think) heard someone coming out its back door.  It was the dad, who promptly discovered that Zoey had chewed up the charcoal bag and made a mess of it.  He got pretty angry, which can be expected.  But then he started violently yelling and stomping at Zoey, yelling at her that he was going to “beat the crap” out of her.  This both frightened and angered Daisy & myself.  Daisy went to the fence, on point, and gave her warning “woof”.  She then ran around the yard and patio frantically, visibly scared and upset.  I really wanted to yell at the guy and tell him the reason Zoey acts like that is because no one pays any attention to her or works with her.  But this big tattooed guy seemed intimidating enough for me, let alone the poor puppies.  So I just took Daisy inside and calmed her down.

Late last night I got back from work and went out back with Daisy only to discover that Zoey was still outside in the pitch black back yard at 10:30pm.  I feel so badly for this poor puppy.  My new goal is to train their dog for them since the neighbors obviously can’t or won’t train Zoey.

So to all the puppy parents & potential parents:

1. Don’t get a puppy unless you’re really ready for the responsibilities that come with it.  That means taking the time to crate & house train the puppy, training it not to chew up your belongings but rather its own toys, teaching it commands and providing adequate attention for meal times, play time, exercise and going out.

2. Puppies chew.  It’s a fact.  So rather than yelling, stomping and threatening your puppy, teach it.  Your dog wants your attention.  Your violent and negative reaction to its mess is attention.  So chalk one up to the puppy, it wins.  Instead, ignore the undesired behavior and merely hand the puppy the proper chew toy.  That’s one of the issues with Zoey-she has no chew toys of her own.  She steals the kids toys and other back yard items to make her own boredom busters.

3. You’ve got to spend time with the puppy.  Train them early on using small training treats.  Teach them sit, stay, come here, no, get in your crate, lay, up, etc.  Just work with them.  They’ll never teach themselves to sit and stay, you’ve got to do it.  That means caring enough to take the time.

4. Put a collar on your dog.  Zoey has been outside for weeks without any collar or ID info.  This is bad in so many ways.  I doubt the parents would really care so much if Zoey got out and lost, but what about the kids?  What about the dog’s safety?

So the morale of the story is: think long and hard before you get a puppy.  Maybe you should try adopting an older dog first.  Or maybe you’re just not ready for that kind of commitment.  They’re like your kids.  Make sure you’re  ready first.  And if you run into issues along the way, seek help.  Don’t yell and abuse your dog.  That’s why Daisy is so scared.  We got her from the shelter where she went after an abusive family abandoned her.

On a side note: Vote for a Whole Foods in the OKC metro area!  Go to http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/service.php and click “Store Location Request” under “Contact Us Via E-Mail” and they’ll let you enter a zipcode to vote!

Also check out the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62193054055

2. Stevie Famulari (SUGART New Mexico) should never ever be invited back to do a Food Network Cake Challenge again.  She is an embarrassment to the show.

3. Despite Famulari being part of the recent episode of Food Network Challenge, it was a great show.  They did a surprise client birthday cake and it was for the famed judge Kerry Vincent (Oklahoma Sugar Art Show Tulsa, OK).  Three of the cakes were beautiful.  It airs again on the evening of the 17th.

4. Watched “He’s Just Not That Into You” this weekend and it was pretty good.  I’d recommend it, at least to females.  Daniel found several parts pretty funny too.  We’ve also rented “Taken” and still need to watch it.

5. Apparently a tornado or funnel cloud or something hit east Norman on Friday, leaving behind damage.  That’s only a couple miles from where I am now and just a 1/2 mile (if even!) from my new home!  Nerve racking!

6. Tried out McFarlin Methodist this morning.  Nice church and nice service.  Still a little too “old” for us.  So the search is still on for a semi-contemporary church in Norman.

7. Had a fantastic lunch at The Wedge in OKC (Western Ave) for Daniel’s roommate’s fiance’s (ok-Brooke’s) birthday yesterday.  Delicious pizza-definitely check it out!  It’s part of “A Good Egg” restaurant group, which does several other great dining places in OKC.

8. Stopped in at Full Circle bookstore after lunch.  We LOVE that place.  It’s cute, cozy and the movie perfect bookstore.  Very “You’ve Got Mail”.  I actually found this book for my capstone class this fall (that I’ve been really interested in anyhow) on 20% off!  The book is “Picking Cotton” by Thompson-Cannino & Cotton.  It’s the true story of Thompson mis-identifying Cotton as her rapist in college, which sent him to prison for 11 years until DNA exonerated him and found the true criminal.  They now tour and talk about the importance of eyewitness ID procedures and DNA evidence.

9. Only 4 more days to order AVON at truly great prices.  We’re doing a big “buy one get one for $2 sale through Thursday.  Check it out at http://youravon.com/elisejohnston or if you know my number, call me and I’ll get a book to you.

10. Lastly, my signature cocktail: Originally named the Sooner Sunset and then renamed in my honor (ask me about the story later), the Hubba Hubba

1 shot vodka
1/8 to 1/4 shot peach schnapps, to taste
orange juice
splash of grenadine

In a martini glass, add both liquors.  Top off the glass with orange juice.  Add just a splash of grenadine.  It’ll now look like a tropical sunset.  Stir before enjoying until drink is tinted reddish.

The 60′s promised change.  A young president was elected with a fashion forward wife and young kids.  He provoked a passion among citizens, from volunteerism to political involvement.  The world adored him and the American people felt a surge of inspiration.  Sound a bit like today?

The changing times didn’t stop with JFK.  The civil rights movement pushed forward, the feminist movement took root, throngs of people protested the war, promises for advances in the space program, record breaking baseball, fan clobbered new bands, environmental concerns, etc.  Today: people still discuss race and gender issues-from crime to politics to equality in the workplace, cars sport anti-war bumber stickers and protests mark the news internationally, politicians and numerous companies have promised scientific advances in energy efficiency, sports-especially baseball-are being cracked down on for records obtained through steroids, teeny bop artists such as Miley Cyrus & the Jonas Brothers have taken 12 year olds by storm and every other commercial is about some new “green” product.  Hmm, sound identical?

The 60′s promised change for America and they sure did change the entire country’s culture.  But not all the changes and events of the decade were so great.  As the decade progressed Americans witnessed a botched Bay of Pigs invasion and then a 2 week missile stand off.  The young and inspiring president was assasinated during a parade.  The revolutionary civil rights leader was assasinated.  JFK’s presidential candidate relative was assasinated.  Race riots claimed countless lives and dollars.  Unpeaceful anti-war demonstrations resulted in violent encounters, yet none as violent as the war itself.  Many Americans thought their country was falling apart.  The individual replaced the community or family.  Through all of this, citizens asked themselves who they were, what the U.S. was and where our nation was heading.

Today we face the same questions.  In the midst of an economic crisis- complete with job loss, the demise of car and theme park companies, a housing market freeze and bank failures- Americans must also concern themselves with a tough multi-country war and a developing missile situation.  Will the 2000′s bear the same shock and drastic change as the 60′s?  Will our country emerge anew with a new value-set?  Where is the U.S. heading and who are we?

The column, along with every local media outlet’s coverage, further demonstrate my point (presented in my previous blog post).  They are cluelessly being led along by politically savvy administrators.

2. Read the post below this one for my insight and thoughts on the race for the Oklahoma Governor’s office.  It’s a very interesting scenario forming.

3. I now sell Avon to help fund my running.  I run a lot of 5K’s & am currently training for 10K’s and a 1/2  marathon, so I’m using the money I make to help pay for my entry fees since they average $25 per race.  They do have really great and inexpensive product that my mom and I have actually used for years.  Check it out at http://www.youravon.com/elisejohnston

4. Two thumbs DOWN to The Oklahoma Daily again this summer.  The summer papers have been pretty sad.  Very little info, very little substance.  I know you can do better!

5. Recipe of the Day: Sweet BBQ Chicken by Daniel Puma (my boyfriend!)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/8 to 1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 to 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ sauce by KC Masterpiece (or your choice of any BBQ sauce)

Light & heat your grill.  Blend all spices to taste and rub onto chicken.  Grill chicken, baste with BBQ sauce in the last 2-5 minutes.  Glaze lightly with BBQ when finished grilling (or serve BBQ on side).  Enjoy! 

6. Sign up now for the OKC Downtown Dash!  It’s Saturday at 8pm.  You can do 1 mile, a 5K, or a 10K.  Check out http://www.downtownokc.com/Default.aspx?tabid=225 for more info on this awesome run.  You can also find more ways to get involved in the OKC or Tulsa communities and running worlds through the above website or this one: http://tulsamillionmiles.com/

7. You can make your voice heard right now!  Both the OK Gazette and The Oklahoman are taking votes for the Best of OKC and the Readers’ Choice awards, respectively.  Go vote now at http://www.okgazette.com/surveys/survey_show_bestof_2009.asp?sid=124 and http://www.newsok.com/readerschoice

8. Lastly, visit my personal website for my resume, interests, involvement and more great website suggestions for a variety of hobbies and interests.  http://students.ou.edu/J/Elise.N.Johnston-1/