She’s 30. I can’t believe it. My sister is 30. And I’m only a little over two years younger than her. That means I’ll be 28 in April. ACK!
My sister is fantastic. She’s been my friend for a long time. She’s been my sister for longer. We didn’t always get along. We had to share a room for 16 years of our lives. But it’s all ok, because we’re family and a good one at that.
And here’s an ODE to Shelli! Booyah!
Shelli May Bunn(-Petterson)
Sister.
Friend.
Lots of pink.
Cheesy music.
Madonna.
Musicals.
Glee.
Rainbows.
Flowers.
Books.
Vampires.
Movies.
Humor.
Kids.
More books.
Food.
Taco mountains ate lying down.
Pumpkin pie boycotts.
Sibling rivalries.
Pirate Power.
Hooch pageant.
Queen.
Loves the camera.
Mom.
Mother of two.
Spencer’s mom.
Pink pajamas for a girl.
Steen.
Lifeguard.
Run a mile.
Laugh with friends.
Writer.
English teacher.
Sheet hogger.
White Christmas.
Holiday Inn.
Strong Opinions.
Stubborn girls.
Bunns.
Dayton.
Oregon.
NNU 2005.
Words.
Precious words.
Sisters.
Friends.
Life.
Family.
Forever.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Holiday stress
What is it about family and holidays? Why do we get so stressed out? Why do we have to cook so much food? Half of the stress comes from problems in the kitchen. There aren’t the right ingredients. She wants lemon zest in the apple pie. He doesn’t. It goes back and forth. And not until everybody sits down at the table together is the tension relaxed.
I’m not one for stress. I especially dislike stress at family get-togethers. I just wish it could be much easier.
I’m not one for stress. I especially dislike stress at family get-togethers. I just wish it could be much easier.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Journalist Bunn
I got a rather fabulous card last night. It was addressed to "Journalist Bunn." It made me incredibly happy. I'm grateful to have people backing me up.
The card itself is pretty hilarious. Two dogs are looking at each other. One says, "I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant, barking."
Love it!
The card itself is pretty hilarious. Two dogs are looking at each other. One says, "I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant, barking."
Love it!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Spring Break Wrap-up: Six Days in Disneyland
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Oops. I have several excuses.
First, I was on vacation.
Second, I had no internet while I was on vacation.
Third, my grandpa passed away while I was on vacation.
Fourth, school started and I was thrown into a full-time schedule as a grad student.
I suppose I ought to inform ya’ll about what went on during vacation, the good stuff, the fun stuff.
On the Friday before spring break, I boarded a train headed south. During the 28-hour ride, I ate trail mix, fruit snacks, rice crispy treats and drank a can of flat Diet Pepsi I bought on the train.
We had to get off the train in LA. It was my first time there. The train station was pretty nice. It was enormous, a lot like the train stations I traveled through when I was in Europe. The bathrooms were sketch, though. I think people in LA are a little crazy. Some girl actually tore out a part of the bathroom stall wall. What? Who does that?
From LA, we took another train to Anaheim. It had been five years since my last trip there. My parents took me to Disneyland the month before I left to Ukraine. It had been our goodbye to childhood kind of trip. (None of us knew that two years in the Peace Corps still wouldn’t force me to grow up.)
Disneyland was a hoot. I had forgotten how great people are when they’re traveling to the happiest place on earth. I loved being treated like a person, treated nicely. People in the “real world” just aren’t as nice as people in Disneyland. I would change this if I could.
We spent six days in Disneyland. I don’t want to bore you with too many details so instead, I will give you a few short lists to tell the story.
My favorite rides/attractions at the park were…
1. Peter Pan’s flight- this is always a treat. You get to fly over London, fight evil Pirates listen to a groovy tune.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean- I was a Dayton Pirate. Of course, I love all things Pirates. The additions to the ride are awesome, especially all the places Captain Jack Sparrow shows up.
3. Indiana Jones’ adventure- by far the most thrilling. The ride made me want to jump in a time machine and go back ten years so I could watch all the movies with my oldest brother at my parents’ house.
4. It’s A Small World- probably the only ride I remember from when I was one-and-a-half –years-old (if those are in fact REAL memories). It’s so fun and friendly and I LOVE the parts with England and Ireland.
5. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland- I had never been on this road before. It was amazing. I am especially attached to the story now, since the new movie came out and all.
6. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride- I rode through hell claiming, “Hi, friends. It’s nice to see you again.” My travel buddies made me ride it alone, I HAD to entertain myself.
7. The Carousel- always a safe bet with Rece. I have ridden on just about every carousel I’ve seen and had money to ride.
8. Dumbo- my mom and I rode it together to replay the picture from when I was a baby girl and we rode together.
9. Toy Story- this attraction at California Adventure was FABULOUS! I had SO much fun. It didn’t matter that I was the fifth wheel and had to go alone. I was so impressed. It almost made me want to start playing video games full-time!
10. Buzz Lightyear’s Ride- I had to ride this one alone at least three times. I learned how to use both guns to score a bunch of points. It was entertaining.
11. Splash Mountain- water, fun, friends, cute music. LOVE IT!
Here are a few crazy highlights from the magical kingdom…
1. Ma Bunn fell asleep when we rode Pirates of the Caribbean on Thursday night. HOW can anyone fall asleep on a ride? SERIOUSLY?
2. Spencer had “an accident” when riding WITH TIA RECE on the Matterhorn. I am Tia Rece. Yep. We had to go get him new shorts. It was funny, strange, and uncomfortable.
3. My dad added to his pin collection. I bet the money he spent on the pins could have covered a whole month’s rent down here in Eugene.
4. Spencer bought a dinosaur with his spending money. I learned what dinosaurs sounded like for the rest of the week.
5. I got to meet Peter Pan and Wendy. Wahoo!
Well, there are a few highlights. Oh, did I mention WHO was with me on the trip? It was Ma Bunn, Pa Bunn, Sister Shanna and Spencer (Shelli’s son). None of the rest of the “BBJ clan” showed up. It was a little sad, but okay. We had a lot of fun anyway.
Well, tootle-oo, folks. By the way, if anyone knows the proper way to spell, tootle-oo, please leave me a comment. It’d sure be nice!
XOXO
Note: The pictures aren't necessarily in the greatest order or design on this page. My sincere apologies. I'll work on this in my design class SOON!
The pix are of the crew in Disneyland (without me, though), my parents with Spencer, me with the Neverland folks, and Spence all by himself. Spence was quite a character. Remind me to take better notes next time I go on vaca with an eight year old!
First, I was on vacation.
Second, I had no internet while I was on vacation.
Third, my grandpa passed away while I was on vacation.
Fourth, school started and I was thrown into a full-time schedule as a grad student.
I suppose I ought to inform ya’ll about what went on during vacation, the good stuff, the fun stuff.
On the Friday before spring break, I boarded a train headed south. During the 28-hour ride, I ate trail mix, fruit snacks, rice crispy treats and drank a can of flat Diet Pepsi I bought on the train.
We had to get off the train in LA. It was my first time there. The train station was pretty nice. It was enormous, a lot like the train stations I traveled through when I was in Europe. The bathrooms were sketch, though. I think people in LA are a little crazy. Some girl actually tore out a part of the bathroom stall wall. What? Who does that?
From LA, we took another train to Anaheim. It had been five years since my last trip there. My parents took me to Disneyland the month before I left to Ukraine. It had been our goodbye to childhood kind of trip. (None of us knew that two years in the Peace Corps still wouldn’t force me to grow up.)
Disneyland was a hoot. I had forgotten how great people are when they’re traveling to the happiest place on earth. I loved being treated like a person, treated nicely. People in the “real world” just aren’t as nice as people in Disneyland. I would change this if I could.
We spent six days in Disneyland. I don’t want to bore you with too many details so instead, I will give you a few short lists to tell the story.
My favorite rides/attractions at the park were…
1. Peter Pan’s flight- this is always a treat. You get to fly over London, fight evil Pirates listen to a groovy tune.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean- I was a Dayton Pirate. Of course, I love all things Pirates. The additions to the ride are awesome, especially all the places Captain Jack Sparrow shows up.
3. Indiana Jones’ adventure- by far the most thrilling. The ride made me want to jump in a time machine and go back ten years so I could watch all the movies with my oldest brother at my parents’ house.
4. It’s A Small World- probably the only ride I remember from when I was one-and-a-half –years-old (if those are in fact REAL memories). It’s so fun and friendly and I LOVE the parts with England and Ireland.
5. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland- I had never been on this road before. It was amazing. I am especially attached to the story now, since the new movie came out and all.
6. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride- I rode through hell claiming, “Hi, friends. It’s nice to see you again.” My travel buddies made me ride it alone, I HAD to entertain myself.
7. The Carousel- always a safe bet with Rece. I have ridden on just about every carousel I’ve seen and had money to ride.
8. Dumbo- my mom and I rode it together to replay the picture from when I was a baby girl and we rode together.
9. Toy Story- this attraction at California Adventure was FABULOUS! I had SO much fun. It didn’t matter that I was the fifth wheel and had to go alone. I was so impressed. It almost made me want to start playing video games full-time!
10. Buzz Lightyear’s Ride- I had to ride this one alone at least three times. I learned how to use both guns to score a bunch of points. It was entertaining.
11. Splash Mountain- water, fun, friends, cute music. LOVE IT!
Here are a few crazy highlights from the magical kingdom…
1. Ma Bunn fell asleep when we rode Pirates of the Caribbean on Thursday night. HOW can anyone fall asleep on a ride? SERIOUSLY?
2. Spencer had “an accident” when riding WITH TIA RECE on the Matterhorn. I am Tia Rece. Yep. We had to go get him new shorts. It was funny, strange, and uncomfortable.
3. My dad added to his pin collection. I bet the money he spent on the pins could have covered a whole month’s rent down here in Eugene.
4. Spencer bought a dinosaur with his spending money. I learned what dinosaurs sounded like for the rest of the week.
5. I got to meet Peter Pan and Wendy. Wahoo!
Well, there are a few highlights. Oh, did I mention WHO was with me on the trip? It was Ma Bunn, Pa Bunn, Sister Shanna and Spencer (Shelli’s son). None of the rest of the “BBJ clan” showed up. It was a little sad, but okay. We had a lot of fun anyway.
Well, tootle-oo, folks. By the way, if anyone knows the proper way to spell, tootle-oo, please leave me a comment. It’d sure be nice!
XOXO
Note: The pictures aren't necessarily in the greatest order or design on this page. My sincere apologies. I'll work on this in my design class SOON! The pix are of the crew in Disneyland (without me, though), my parents with Spencer, me with the Neverland folks, and Spence all by himself. Spence was quite a character. Remind me to take better notes next time I go on vaca with an eight year old!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A 26-Hour “weekend” in the “big” city
I’m riding back from a fabulous weekend in Portland. I love that city. I was there for little more than 26 hours, but I had a great time.
There were several reasons for my trip.
1. I wanted to visit Shane and Jim, two of my favorite people, where they lived in Beaverton.
2. My friend David Horton was having a musical/dance performance in the city.
3. I like to get away from my crazy grad school life.
It ended up being quite successful.
When Shane and Jim picked me up from the train station, they drove me out to Cup and Saucer, a cute café on Hawthorne. It was sweet. Their veggie omelet was delicious, but the vanilla scone was by far the best. We chatted as we consumed our food things and then walked on over to Powells which had just opened. I’d never been to the Powells on Hawthorne, but it was nice. It was much less busy than the City of Books in the Pearl District. I liked it.
The whole area down by Cup and Saucer was pretty groovy. The buildings were so colorful and sweet looking. The metal bit with the shiny windows didn’t do anything for me, but I guess modern development will always be on the stainless steel side of things anyway.
When we left there, we went to the casa de mis Shane and Jim. I tried to write a bit of my story for class, but I just couldn’t. Doing homework and hanging out with people has never worked for me. I ended up giving up on the creative craft all together and settling in for a little TV on DVD action.
First, we watched Better Off Ted. After two episodes of that, Shane and Jim went upstairs for a bit. I put in the beginning of Glee. Shane joined me for that while Jim went out for a bit. He came back with series one of Clatterford, the latest addition to their BBC television series collection. It was spectacular. We pretty much watched the whole set of six or so episodes. I think Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French have to be two of the funniest people in all of Britain.
Shane and I took the Max into Portland for David’s dance and music performance. It was pretty grand. I have never seen modern dancing before. I was definitely in an unfamiliar world, but I enjoyed watching the dance and the music, as always, was spectacular.
This morning was typical. Get up, go eat breakfast, and chill until I was to leave. They drove me to the train station and went home to get ready for USA vs. Canada hockey.
I’m writing this on the bus.
My weekend was pretty awesome. I love taking time to spend with my family and people close to me. I’ve realized that if this is our only life we get, we’d better take advantage of every opportunity and make every minute count. And although a majority of my Saturday was spent in front of the TV, I was with some pretty cool people. I wasn’t alone. And that means everything in the world.
There were several reasons for my trip.
1. I wanted to visit Shane and Jim, two of my favorite people, where they lived in Beaverton.
2. My friend David Horton was having a musical/dance performance in the city.
3. I like to get away from my crazy grad school life.
It ended up being quite successful.
When Shane and Jim picked me up from the train station, they drove me out to Cup and Saucer, a cute café on Hawthorne. It was sweet. Their veggie omelet was delicious, but the vanilla scone was by far the best. We chatted as we consumed our food things and then walked on over to Powells which had just opened. I’d never been to the Powells on Hawthorne, but it was nice. It was much less busy than the City of Books in the Pearl District. I liked it.
The whole area down by Cup and Saucer was pretty groovy. The buildings were so colorful and sweet looking. The metal bit with the shiny windows didn’t do anything for me, but I guess modern development will always be on the stainless steel side of things anyway.
When we left there, we went to the casa de mis Shane and Jim. I tried to write a bit of my story for class, but I just couldn’t. Doing homework and hanging out with people has never worked for me. I ended up giving up on the creative craft all together and settling in for a little TV on DVD action.
First, we watched Better Off Ted. After two episodes of that, Shane and Jim went upstairs for a bit. I put in the beginning of Glee. Shane joined me for that while Jim went out for a bit. He came back with series one of Clatterford, the latest addition to their BBC television series collection. It was spectacular. We pretty much watched the whole set of six or so episodes. I think Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French have to be two of the funniest people in all of Britain.
Shane and I took the Max into Portland for David’s dance and music performance. It was pretty grand. I have never seen modern dancing before. I was definitely in an unfamiliar world, but I enjoyed watching the dance and the music, as always, was spectacular.
This morning was typical. Get up, go eat breakfast, and chill until I was to leave. They drove me to the train station and went home to get ready for USA vs. Canada hockey.
I’m writing this on the bus.
My weekend was pretty awesome. I love taking time to spend with my family and people close to me. I’ve realized that if this is our only life we get, we’d better take advantage of every opportunity and make every minute count. And although a majority of my Saturday was spent in front of the TV, I was with some pretty cool people. I wasn’t alone. And that means everything in the world.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Albino turkey
Shanna and Shane cooked the Thanksgiving turkey this year. This is what it looked like. It was extremely white, not golden like usual. It still tasted like turkey...it just was white...really white.
Please note: Shane and Shanna are very good cooks. I enjoyed their cooking a lot.
Please also note: I hosted Thanksgiving in 2006 at my apartment in Ukraine. I cooked the turkey. It was horrid. I never want to cook a turkey again. Should I ever get married, my husband should note that I will not be in charge of cooking turkey...maybe a ham but no turkey!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Brothers & Sisters
In the past 24 hours, I have discovered what I consider to be a great TV show. It's a show about family, politics, and family fighting over politics. I'd heard of it before it started. I'd read about it in People Magazine, but I wasn't living in the US, thus I couldn't start watching the show.
The show is called, Brothers & Sisters. It's a show starring Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe, and Sally Field. I wanted to watch it because Flockhart was so great in Ally McBeal and I figured her return to television would be great. I was right.
Family dynamics in the show are sensational. They remind me a bit of my own family and the fights, both political and personal, we have between one another.
Sunday night at 10 PM, the drama continues. If I can manage it (homework done and ready for school and work tomorrow), I will most definitely tune in.
The show is called, Brothers & Sisters. It's a show starring Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe, and Sally Field. I wanted to watch it because Flockhart was so great in Ally McBeal and I figured her return to television would be great. I was right.
Family dynamics in the show are sensational. They remind me a bit of my own family and the fights, both political and personal, we have between one another.
Sunday night at 10 PM, the drama continues. If I can manage it (homework done and ready for school and work tomorrow), I will most definitely tune in.
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