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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I'm a bit homesick right now (what else is new?) and have been a bit mopey lately.  I'm not admitting anything, but I might have spent a considerable amount of time this weekend (read hours and hours) watching Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer while laying listlessly on the couch.  Eating cupcakes.  I know, pathetic.

This morning, I woke up a little irritated that I had wasted so much time moping around instead of taking advantage of the beautiful outdoors.  I don't regret the cupcakes though, those suckers were delicious.  

I need to get out of this funk, and I have the perfect solution.  To combat these homesick blues, I have decided to focus on the positive and give a little shout-out to those things that make my day a little brighter.  

1.  Spork--Dave's blog about our adventures in Ecuador.  Now, I know that I live with the man and get to experience his humor on a daily basis, but his blog supplies the necessary Richert silliness in the middle of my work day when I can't get the live version.  His last post was a tribute to our adorable nephew, Blake.  It's Dave's take on what took place during the graduation ceremony of Blake's pre-school class.  I laughed so hard that I was pretty close to having an embarrassing accident.

2. iTunes--I'm hopelessly addicted to iTunes.  It is retail therapy, not to mention instant
 gratification, for only 99 cents.  Absolutely brilliant.  Dave and I have this iTunes game going on, which I think everyone should try out, where we take turns buying each other a song.  We call it music tag.  The rules are pretty simple--once we are tagged "it," we have fifteen minutes to find a song from an artist/band that we have never heard of before and that is in a style that we believe the other will enjoy.  We are making an ultimate tag playlist that includes artists like Amos Lee, Flight of the Conchords, HorrorPops, She & Him, and Crooked Still.  So much fun.

3.  Pictures!!--
Pictures are my closest ties to home, as well as a great reminder why my current location is so cool.  Besides that, I've found a great website that makes arranging pictures and posting them so much fun.  I've gotten a lot of questions about the picture collages that pop up on "Living the Good Life" from time to time.  I'm spilling the secret here folks, I will be expecting wondrous collages and other picture fun on all of your blogs.  All you need is a flickr account and access to bighugelabs.com/flickr.  This site lets you create all the collages you could ever want, plus jigsaw puzzles, cubes, calendars, name tags, magazine covers, and anything else you dream up for your pictures.


4.  The Weepies--I found this band during the music tag mentioned above.  The duo is presented as folk rock, which I am finding that I am more and more into as I get closer to thirty.  They are the perfect lazy weekend soundtrack.  Mellow, comforting, with harmonies that inspire sing-a-longs.  My favorite song of theirs right now is Can't Go Back Now.  They are definitely worth going to iTunes and checking out.  

5.  Skype--I heart skype.  It is an amazing service that allows you to call loved ones through the magic of the Internet.  It is my lifeline to Idaho, allowing me to spend hours talking to family and friends.  The best part of it is that it is free to call another skype user, and usually only two cents a minute to call a land line.  We have a built in camera in our computer, which allows us to video chat with our loved ones.  Nothing beats seeing my nephew in real color as he shows off his collection of plastic snakes.  Love it.

There you have it, my current five favorite things that I am using to stave off homesickness.  Not exactly raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but you get the idea.
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