steeler ladies (put a ring on it)

This. Is. Awesome.

Turn your volume up and enjoy!

"Steeler Ladies" is a parody of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies"

conceptualized and written by Christine Nangle, co-written and performed by Addi Twigg, recorded and produced by Sean G. Donaldson.

The lyrics:

All the steeler ladies (7x)

Now put your hands up

I wear black and gold

don't fit your mold

of what a lady should be

I live football, I yell at bad calls,

wear Dad's Bradshaw jersey

I was raised this way, know every play,

don't get me on the offensive

Look at me now, got my terrible towel,

don't care if it's 3 degrees

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Here we go, oh oh ohhh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh (2x)

Yes we can, we got Big Ben, Farrior, Miller and Reed

Holmes & Hampton, you know Tomlin came prepared to lead

Hines Ward grinnin', Willie spinnin', Lebeau is on a mission

Polamalu is gonna come through

with another Super Bowl trophy

chorus

Don't you know we are champions of the world

see history unfurl

what we are plus what we were,

makes us Pittsburgh

We're the team that takes the lead and makes you believe

in the destiny and the legacy of the Steel City and beyond!

It gets into your heart, it's a feeling all our own

We're back on the throne, with one for the other thumb

All the Steeler ladies (7x),

Now put your hands up
Here we go, oh oh ohhh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh (2x)

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

favorite thing friday

I need to drink more water.

There are constantly changing ideas about how much water people need to drink every day: 8 glasses? 10 glasses?!

Whoa, that's too much.

I've decided to drink when I'm thristy, plus a little more for insurance.

But.


Here's the problem with that:

Although there are times when a tall glass of cool water really hits the spot, for the most part I find glass after glass of plain water kind of, well, boring.

Enter today's Favorite Thing Friday,

Lipton Iced Tea to Go




These little packets pour into a bottle of water and give it some delicous flavor + antioxidents, all with no sugar or calories. I've tried the Pink Lemonade, Raspberry Iced Tea, Green Tea with Cherry Blossom, and Lemon.




They are all delicious!

I pour 1 into a Nalgene of water and bring it to work to drink with my lunch. This is actually more water than they recommend using, but I find just having a hint of flavor a lot more refreshing than drinking straight iced tea or lemonade (which is more like what you get when pouring it into a regular sized water bottle).


The packets are about the size of a roll of mints and slip easily into purse pockets or desk drawers. I keep them all over the place!

So, for all of you who need more hydration, but also need a break from plain water, give these little beauties a try!

when the going gets tough

Sometimes things don't go as we planned.

Sometimes, despite our best intentions, things run off track.

Sometimes it doesn't seem fair and we can feel sorry for ourselves.

I was thinking about those times a little bit today and was reminded of God's goodness and was encouraged by this story:

It's found in Acts 16:16-40

This is long, so I'm going to paraphrase a bit.

Paul and Silas were traveling around teaching the Gospel and they started to be followed by a slave girl who was a fortune-teller. She was yelling about them and this disturbed Paul, so he cast out the demon that was in her. Well, no demon means no fortune-telling, which means no money for her owners.

They were displeased.

To the tune of gathering a mob and attacking Paul and Silas.

Paul and Silas were good men. They were Roman citizens. They had rights.

Their rights were thrown by the wayside.

Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten in the street (with the permission of a judge), then thrown in a Maximum Security jail cell with their legs shackled.

I don't know about you, but I'd be mad.

Heck, I get mad if I don't get the right change from the vending machine.

But not these 2 men.

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

Instead of groaning and complaining and calling for a lawyer, they prayed and praised God.

And the other prisioners heard them.

And the jailer (and his whole family) was saved!

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons.

wordless wednesday

Rome, Italy

lounging through life

Our nephew, Mercer, has a funny habit.

It started right after he was born and shows no sign of stopping.

You've got to love someone who's completely at ease in his surroundings.

One of the most interesting things about it is that his great-grandfather, Tom Wilkinson, did the same exact thing.

How's that for genetics?

Enjoy and feel free to laugh, it's pretty darn adorable.

4 weeks old, October 2007

4 months old, February 2008

5 months old, March 2008

6 months old, April 2008

12 months old, September 2008

13 months old, November 2008

favorite thing friday

I live in Cleveland. For those of you who don't know, Cleveland is here:

See that white space above Cleveland, that's Canada.

Do you know what comes from Canada?

Maple syrup, yes. Something else...

Geese, yes. Something else...

Oh yeah. Freezing cold air known as the Alberta Clipper. That's right.

Cleveland is a located on a flat piece of land right next to Lake Erie. Flat sounds nice when you're running, but not when you're talking about a smooth surface for the Alberta Clippers to whip across.

The wind here is awful.

Especially in the winter.

Especially when you have a 10 minute walk to and from work every day.

Especially when the wind chill is -35ºF like it was last Friday.

But, not when you have

180s

I asked for a pair of these for Christmas, thinking that they might take the edge off of the bitter cold I experience every day. Most days by the time I get to work my ears feel like they could snap off and any relief would have been great.

However, these little beauties went above and beyond my expectations.

They are so warm and comfortable. My ears are not only, not cold, they are warm! During the whole walk! When I get in to the lab!

Plus, they sit around the lower, back of your head so there aren't any hair mess-up issues.

With a pair of these I might just survive winter in Cleveland.

Maybe I'll even take a trip to Canada for some maple syrup.

wordless wednesday

welcome, mr. president

Here in the lab, we just finished watching the Inauguration of our 44th President.

I'm in awe of how many people packed the National Mall to witness this great event in history. They are estimating over 1.5 million people were in attendance.

I wish I could have been there.

Congratulations, Barack Obama.

I truly hope that the change he so obviously wants to bring to our nation is possible. I promise to do my best to support him as our leader and to make any changes he encourages to make this a better world for my children.

New beginnings are so exciting and full of possibility.

Let's pray together for our leaders, both Mr. Obama and the people who advise him.

family resemblance

Does anyone else see it?

lost in translation

In August of 2006, Drew and I took a trip to Japan. There were lots of amazing things to remember about that trip, but one that made it especially exciting was the language barrier.

Drew and I don't speak Japanese -- if you didn't know. I had no assumption that the Japanese people would speak English (and, for the most part, they didn't). Thankfully we were with a good friend, Chris Hainge, who spoke both Japanese and English.

He was crucial.

One of the more obvious things about the Japanese language is that it doesn't use the Roman alphabet. The funny thing that Chris explained to us is that since the Japanese language doesn't use our alphabet, Japanese people love the look of letters (opposed to characters). It's a novelty -- who doesn't love a novelty? Because of this, you see lots of stores with English names that don't reflect what they sell at all.

For instance, we saw this place

Which did not sell cakes made of dogs -- or cakes for dogs.

And this place

Which did not sell boo-bees.

We had to have lunch here.

If "Hamburger is my life" where else would I eat?

We bought some awesome kids shirts at a mall in Japan.

Not only are the shirts themselves great, but the tags are a hoot as well.

"All children are fine" Good to know.

Another hilarious language thing we noticed were the great translations of warning signs.

Personally, I'm glad we saw this one because I was seconds away from growing a hand in the fence.

And I also almost fed the birds, but then I realized how sad it would have made them.

And didn't.

I now consider Japanese my second language.

here we go

Here we go, Pittsburgh, here we go

Here we go, Pittsburgh, here we go

Here we go...

Here we go...

Pittsburgh's goin' to the Super Bowl!

baby, it's cold outside

Cleveland has experienced a deep freeze this week.

On Thursday, several school were closed and the warnings started:

Don't go outside for longer than you need to

Always wear gloves, a scarf, and a hat

Check on your elderly

It was approaching zero degrees and I was concerned.

Well, on the walk in to work (I have a 10 minute walk from where I park to my lab) I was surprised at how cold it wasn't. I thought people in Cleveland would be a little tougher -- this didn't seem so bad.

Then Friday came.

The warnings continued and more schools were closed.

It was -9 in the ambient air and -35 with the wind chill. I was skeptical again about the severity of things and left the house with confidence.

And my scarf.

And my gloves.

And my ear warmers.

And my boots, with 2 pairs of socks.

(The local news station might be fear mongering, but I wasn't going to take any chances)

It turns out they were right. There really wasn't any comparison between the days. It was FREEZING out there.

I was cold through my winter coat. I couldn't feel my legs.

Did I mention that it's only a 10 minute walk to work?

Fortunately I survived and things can only warm up from here.

Right?

I think that he might have been more comfortable here on Friday than I was.

favorite thing friday

I love photos.

And I love music.

Do you know what goes together really well?

That's right, photos and music.

Enter this week's Favorite Thing Friday, Animoto.

This fabulous website allows you to upload photos and music, then they make a video for you. The short videos (30 sec) are free, but anything longer costs $3.

For a special event it's a fun way to organize and share the memories.

Check out the video I made from this Christmas and New Year.

favorite thing friday

too funny

You have to read a post my sister, Erin, wrote on her blog today. It's all about her experiences while substitute teaching.

The little kids she's been teaching this week are too funny!

And maybe a little nauseous. Poor things.

I decided that my new goal in life is to love people like a 5 year old would.

I'm going to give more compliments to strangers and hug (or high five) people I've only met once.

Starting with you...great post, Mrs. Hairy!

wordless wednesday

encouraging

The other day I was in Target. This isn't impressive -- I'm in Target often. In fact, I probably go there at least every other week. I'm trying to cut this down to less than every 2 weeks as a way to save money. Do you ever notice that when you go into a store you almost always end up buying more than what is on the list? I do! This has to stop.

But, I digress.

So, anyway, I was in Target the other day. I'm in there often enough to feel like I am qualified to make a statement about the general behavior of people who are also there. For the most part, I've found that people who come to Target with their kids fall into 3 camps:

1) Those who rapidly give their kids everything they demand in an attempt to get out of the store without a meltdown

2) Those who completely ignore the screaming/hitting/running around that their kids have perfected

3) Those who acknowledge their children's screams and respond in kind with screams/hitting of their own

If only they could get their shrieks a little higher pitched, then only dogs could hear it and I wouldn't be so bothered.

Of course, there are those people with well-behaved children. I barely notice them because they are quietly going about their shopping, but I appreciate them.

Then there is the most rare of species:

The actively teaching parent.

This brings me to my story.

I was very encouraged in Target the other day when I happened upon a father teaching his son as they shopping. I was paused at the paper towels and along came this father and his 5-7 year old son.

Most of the time when I see men with children in Target they are in such a hurry it's little more than a blur.

But not this man. He stopped at the tissues and was checking out various boxes, talking to his son the whole time. It went something like this:

Now, you see, we can't just pick out any box. We have to check the price and the amount of tissues. We don't buy things just because we need them or want them. We have to take the price into consideration and make sure it's a good deal.

Here, look, this box costs $2.50 and has 75 tissues. This box costs $2.79, but has 100 tissues! It may cost a little bit more, but we get 25 extra tissues. This one is the best buy.

I don't know why, but I was very impressed with this. It touched my heart to see a man taking his time to talk and teach his son how to live well. The monetary aspect was a good teaching point, but I was mostly touched by how he talked to the boy. There was respect and love, as well as practicality, in his voice.

I'm sure this man had places to be and other things to do that day, but he seemed to understand that taking his time in the tissue aisle had value too.

I hope to be that kind of parent someday.

let it snow

Cleveland got its first major snow storm this weekend.

10" fell on our deck in 18 hours.

Drew and I decided to stay inside to ride out the storm, but we made 1 trip to Starbucks for some fresh air. On the walk back home Drew tried to push me into a snow drift, but I dodged him and he slipped and fell flat on his back into the snow.

He spent the rest of the night with the heat wrap on his back.

Karma comes full circle again.

favorite thing friday

For the past 9 years, I have worked in a lab in some capacity or another. I started while at Bucknell, doing research for Dr. Nyquist and have had several lab jobs since then as Drew and I moved around the country.

There are some good reasons why I keep coming back to the lab.

These reasons have earned The Research Lab top honors in this favorite thing Friday.

For instance, there are the lab coats and googles that come with the job.


They might be hot and cumbersome to wear, but at least they look attractive.

Parafilm.


This is a fabulous product that you really have to use to believe. It stretches and seals anything liquid-tight. If they sold it in stores I would definitely have some at home. As it is, I may steal a roll if I ever leave this job. I should have taken one from Pittsburgh, but my moral compass clicked in at the worst time.

Purity Wrap.

This may look like everyday plastic wrap, but the name alone suggests so much more.

The refreshing, spa-like comforts of the eye wash.


Who says you can't relax at work?

The thrill of facing, and overcoming, danger (cancer, radiation, and explosives) everyday.

Now I know what kept Ethan Hunt coming back for more and more.

Cryo-Babies and Tough Spots


As an organization junkie, being able to label even the tiniest of tubes is very satisfying.

The usefulness of tubes and racks for at-home applications.


How else was I going to get the last of the lotion out?

An awesome workspace.




What other job gives you 2 Biohazardous Sharps containers? Really.

My co-workers.

If you too would like a lab job, give me a call. You start with this job:

but it only gets better from there.

more awesome old photos

I can't believe how much fun this is. Here are some more great, old photos that I found!

Friends from 1st grade at my birthday party.

Nan Swift, Dan Seeling, Tanya Karney, Keith Campbell, and April Lyons

Kristen Eichensehr and I at the Outer Banks, 1998

Graduation from High School, 2000

Studying Organic Chemistry like crazy people.

me, Emily Thede, and Meghann Peace

Humanities Res College, Bucknell University 2000

Yea for old memories!