what if i chose to be heidi simpbeck?

Gernaat -- Pratt



Holly Gernaat of McBain, Mich., and Bob Pratt of Lamoni, Iowa, were united in marriage in an informal beach wedding Aug. 12, 2006, at Park of the Pines Community of Christ Reunion Grounds near Boyne City, Mich. Evangelist Carman Thompson officiated at the double-ring ceremony.



Mr. and Mrs. Bob Pranaat

The bride is the daughter of Sharon Gernaat of McBain and the late Bud Gernaat.
The bridegroom is the son of Dan and Susie Pratt of Lamoni, formerly of Blue Springs, and the grandson of Dan and Jean Wheeler of Independence .
Laurel Tacoma assisted the bride as maid of honor, with Kim Smith as bridesmaid.
Casey Cardwell served as best man, with Andi Chatburn serving as groomswoman.
The reception was held at Park of the Pines.
The bride received a Bachelor of Arts with honors, majoring in religion with minors in church leadership and Spanish from Graceland University, Lamoni, in May 2006. She is working as an intern at Amnesty International in Chicago, and the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, Ill.
The bridegroom received a Bachelor of Arts majoring in liberal studies and minoring in church leadership and chemistry from Graceland University in May 2006. He is working at Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora.
A honeymoon is planned for December 2006 to Mexico.
Holly and Bob have chosen to honor the traditions and history of both of their names by combining them into their own last name "Pranaat"

i often check the blue springs examiner, my hometown paper, for engagement and wedding listings of people i might know. i DON'T know these people and i am grateful for that. they just sound weird. why in the world would you choose to "honor" both last names, by completely obliterating both of them? would it have been better and easier to trace a lineage if they had just hyphenated their names into holly and bob gernaat-pratt? thoughts?
signed-heidi simpbeck

more signs of the apocalypse

i really enjoy most types of music, but lately one genre has really sparked my interest...ADULT CONTEMPORARY! you know, dentist office music. the radio station selection here in fun-gomery is ample with a plethora of country, rock, rap, and pop stations. then why am i so drawn to easy listening stations? i don't drive a mini-van, i don't wear pants up to my neck with an elastic waist, i don't wear overalls or have mom hair like this lady:














so what's the deal? is mainstream "popular" music so bad that my ear taste buds are soured by such delectable hits like lil' scrappy's "money in the bank"? that song is genius. (please note heavy use of sarcasm.) it's not just rap that has sucked since the demise of tupac. what is the deal with all of the whiny voiced punk bands? they are catchy and fun for the first 700 listens, then they are just grating on the ears like knives slipping on fine china(or if you have children, the sound of winnie the pooh's singing voice on his shaper sorter car). please, no more green day's american idiot album. it's just insulting really. and i don't even need to mention jessica simpson, fergie, nelly furtado(promiscuous girl? you might as well be singing "gonnorhea, i am unclean") blah to all of that. please britney jean, summon all that you had on such brilliance as "lucky" and "hit me baby one more time" and resusicitate pop music.(should there be sarcasm here?)
so back to my point, last week when i was cruising montgomery with a baby and a huge carseat with a sippy cup in hand and goldfish crackers stuck to his shirt(face, neck roll, seat belt, upholstery), what was i singing along to? "briiiing me a higher love! WOO OHH." what is that, steve winwood circa 1987?
also, can i admit on this personal forum of views that i really like lionel richies new love song? i'm not sure of the name, but the chorus is something like this, "he calls it, she calls it, they call it loooove." i get excited when i hear it! phil collins too! sususudio.

lionel

phil

steve















i am really hoping that blue october(save me tonight), the killers and other excellent bands of that genre can rescue me from this lite easy sounds of the 80's, 90's and today slump that i am in.

i am interested in purchasing a certain pair of shoes. perhaps you have seen them before. they have been seen on many celebs already this year. they are tall wooden platform shoes with black leather and an ankle tie. definitely a fun shoe for a fun mom. of course, i am not going to pay the $700+ for the "chloe"version, so i am looking for a good knockoff. i went to my trusty friend ebay and i saw that the actual "chloe" runway picture was used on the description. excitedly i clicked on the listing. i scrolled down the ad and i read the info, only $10!? it was too good to be true. could a knockoff really look that close to the original and be SO cheap? well, i got the cheap part right.

this is the runway picture used on the ebay listing!!! so delicious!
















this is the crap they are peddling to unsuspecting ebayers under the guise of something else.


and these are the best deal i can find so far, and they are still $70. and they are jessica simpson, which i normally have issues with. desperate times mean desperate measures.














and these are some of the most hidieous shoes i have ever seen. please take them out to pasture and put them out of their misery.

jeffrey sebelia, the anti-christ

run for cover kiddies, the end of the world is near. jeffrey sebelia, the 36 year-old cry baby rock star wannabe won project runway. yuck. poop and pee mixed together. his pants are so tight that i do not know how it was possible for him to father a child. and he had this perpetual dirtiness to him. the neck tatto, the greasy, greasy unwashed hair, the pale pastiness of his skin. to his credit, i do think that he showed a good collection. as the judges said, there was a lot of continuity among the pieces and it was quite interesting. upon further review, i thought that some of the pieces looked EXQUISITELY well made, while others looked like squirrels with seam rippers got to them: unfinished hems, skiwampos lines, bulging. my final verdict, more items than not were made by someone other than jeffrey. don't believe me? check out the impressively intricate seams and hems on this outfit:
look closer here








jeffrey's worst piece. i don't even know how to begin to describe it. fishing nets over a flannel blanket? is that round piece supposed to be a bullseye so we know where to shoot her?





laura:
a breath of fresh air for her; a rich, deep, glitzy nighttime breath. still very "laura", but interesting. a few risks but mostly beautifully made stuff. if it works, stick with it.

i wish i could have found a back shot of this dress. loved how the belt went over the low back. yummy! and the two colors together were a great contrast. they both looked like more vibrant colors while they are both really just glorified neutrals.





uli:
bienvenidos a miami!!! her best stuff ever. i was sort of tired of here long flowy halter neck dresses. but, like laura, it is her best stuff. i really wanted her to win, especially since i was so surprised at some of the things that she threw out there. consistent were her "easy", loose, flowy, fabrics, but new were her cleaner lines on some pieces and more solids that i ever though possible for her.


my absolute fave!!! i audibly gasped when she came down the runway. and then the sarong was removed!!! it looked like a miami cocktail dress! and then a swimsuit and sarong??? working double duty has never been more appealing! lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove!!!





michael:
my analysis: he is great and wonderful, but he needs to just go with it and not try too hard. that is the feeling i got from most of the collection. i was thinking a little too ghetto fab for fashion week. but, someone like mary j. blige would look HOTHOTHOT in his stuff. i can see him working for sean john. too bad this collection was a little too j.lo.


michael's best one. it looks effortless, but intricate. i want to wear this. at closer look, this is linen, satan's fabric. but it is cut so well, that is flows like silk sans all the wrinkliness of linen.

summer! i think the ice cream question put me over the top!

You Are Summer!

Outgoing Friendly Flirty Cute Fun

What Season Are You?

who wears short shorts?

from this angle, my legs look like two cuts of beef hanging in a meat locker.











my skin is SOOO sooper sensitive. because of this, i can only use a few types of lotion along with my medicated lotion. one that i have discovered that doesn't irritate my skin is vaseline intensive care. they have several different varieties, including nightly renewal and FIRMING and radiance(great for post-baby!)!!! on a whim i bought the healthy body glow formula. the label indicates that if i use it for one week, i will notice a difference in color. never one to turn down a challenge, i tried it. for one week i used it on one of my legs and used a non-color changing lotion on the other. can you tell which leg i used it on?

tiny taste of heaven

you know what is GREAT? my cookie recipe. i just ate a bunch of them last night and this morning and i think that i have found my own little bit of perfection. i used my mother's recipe and then modified it a bit based on several laboratory experiments and intense taste tests.







heidi's peanut buttah cookie dough yummy in my tummy cookie recipe:
1 cup melted REAL buttah-don't cheat your taste buds with margarine or vegetable spread
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
MIX WELL
add 2 tsps vanilla and 2 eggs
continue to mix
add 2-3 large spoonfulls of peanut buttah, to your taste, continue to blend
add 1 tsp baking soda and 2 cups flour.
mixmixmix
finally, add 1 bag MILK chocolate chips. mix until thoroughly mixed.
spoon onto greased cookie sheets. you can make them large or small. bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes. larger cookies should be baked for 9. remove from oven and allow to bake themselves for another minute on cookie sheet. remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack. ENJOY! try not to eat all of them at one. should be a bit gooey after baking, hence the name peanut buttah COOKIE DOUGH yummy in my tummy cookies.

we have had a special request for a pic of my new hair. well, i wish i had a pic of "new" hair, but this is what i have now. pretty much a trim of my old hair cut. the color is only a smidge lighter. but, good news is that it is about a gabillion times healthier. i guess next time i will need to be more specific about a more drastic change. the bangs are weaker than i wanted and i need to get hair extensions to be more hilary-esque. but i tried.

yes i am wearing an apron. don't hate, appreciate.







*greetings to new reader valoree. you now have found out about my secret life! you are such a nice, sweet person that i hope my rude comments don't offend you!

i talk good!

*you will probably think that i am a grammar jerk after reading this. please forgive me.
recently i've noticed that there are more than a few grammatical errors that drive me nuts.
for example:
questioner: "how are you?"
respondent: "i'm good."
NO. it is not possible for a person to be "good." you can be good at something, or have good qualities, but the state of being is either fine or well. am i guilty of this? yes, sometimes. but i am working on it.
gripe number 2:
"i have 3 brother-in-laws."
NO. you have 3 brotherS-in-law,(also, BookS of Mormon). this is tricky. this one had to be pointed out to me and i, of course, had to act like i didn't care. am i guilty of this? not anymore.
gripe number 3:
"Missourah"
NO. where is this "missourah" you speak of? the only thing i see on the map is missourI!
gripe number 4:
"what is the heighth of that table?"
NO! there is no TH in height!
gripe number 5:
"strenth"
i think pronouncing strength as strenth is more of a southern dialect rather than an error. full points for you if you saw strenth.
gripe number 6:
" did you read the latest issue of the en-sin?"
the name of the magazine for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Ensign, pronounced N-ZYne. now you know. and ensign (en-sin) is a military rank. when i was little i thought it was pronounced en-sig-nah.

Note: by request, thomas edited this post. though i may be a grammar jerk, i am yet imperfect and must refer to the grammar nazi for editing help.

five letter word meaning exuberant, brilliant and classy

H-E-I-D-I
i have never been a cross word puzzler. for a long time i hated them. then one day i started doing the word jumble in the newspaper. just for kicks when i had a few minutes here and there. it made me feel smarter. then i noticed that while i was taking "thinking breaks" from the word jumble i was actually able to fill in some of the letters on the crossword. the task cleared my mind and helped me think of new letter combinations for the jumble. the crossword soon became a package deal with the jumble. i would get a little upset when we didn't get a newspaper and i couldn't check my answers. (i'm a little obsessive about silly games. anyone remember the computer solitaire episode from sophomore year of college?) now i don't even attempt the word jumble. i just jump right into the crossword as soon as i can. i take the paper with me all sorts of random places. today it was in the bathroom with me while i was doing a 3 minute deep conditioning treatment on my hair. a few times i have come REALLY close, thisclose, to completing a puzzle. once i was only one really obscure word off. but today, ring the bells, sound the alarms, throw the confetti, i completed the puzzle. of course, this isn't the new york times puzzle. i'm not that crazy yet(and i really don't have time right now to be doing any puzzle, but i squeeze it in). this is only the montgomery advertiser crossword. still an accomplishment in itself! woo hoo for me!




the completed puzzle. to be kept for years to come.
*notice the untouched word jumble on the left hand side. it bet it is lonely.














finally, isn't puzzle a fun word to say? puzzzle. Puh-zzzzle. sounds like a small indoor pets name. or something to put on a t-shirt.

meet heidi beck simpson

i was in a funny mood so i looked up on google images heidi beck or heidi simpson. this is what i found:

sweaty

this morning my friend kiki and i went to a spinning class at the local ymca. yikes. that was really hard. really hard. i was trying to drink from a water bottle but more sweat made it into my mouth than water. i was dripping with sweat so bad that i looked down on the ground around my bike and there were huge puddles on the floor. my initial thought was that i had wet my pants. it was that much sweat. kiki announced that we had burned 400 calories. i went to chik-fil-a for lunch today. that takes care of that!

veronica mars

i didn't plan on making so many entries about television shows, it just happened. i really do have other interests besides tv. i am just really passionate about the shows that i like. mostly because they are not cookie cutter shows copycatting every episode content from older shows. by far one of the most interesting shows on right now is veronica mars on the cw. it comes on right after the gilmore girls, so that is a big plus right there. the gyst of the show is that veronica is a teen sleuth that solves crimes in her rich southern california town of neptune. she, of course, is not rich and is craftier and sassier than her counterparts, sounds a bit silly, bubt trust me. i am playing with full set of uno cards on this one! the show is sort of nancy drewish, but the characters are quirky, the storylines are creative, there are actual plot twists that you didn't see coming for miles and there are some of the funniest one liners on this show and it's not meant to be a comedy. missing from veronica mars is what you would normally find in a "teen angst drama"; (ie-one tree hill, beverly hills 90210, the oc), high fashion costumes changes, flashy car showcases, and musical montages while characters go on dates and hang out in bikinis. in short, watch this show. you will be entertained.


you get'em veronica!

















one last thing, i saw on tv last night that celebs are actually trying to ADD dark roots to their blonde hair. GREAT! i have been in style for years and didn't even know it. i'll take full credit on this one. i am quite the trendsetter.