All about me...

1. What's your full name? Suzanne Marie Ryder
2. What color pants are you wearing? blue shorts
3. What are you listening to right now? jason mraz - waiting for my rocket to come
4. What are the last four digits of your phone number?  7900 (cell), 3270, 0002 (both home), 4144 (school)
5. What was the last thing you ate? cheese nips
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?  a nice light blue. with sparkles.
7. Where do you plan to go on your honeymoon? Italy or Greece
8. Last person you talked to on the phone?  my parents
9. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? eyes and smile.. definitely sense of humor
10. Your favorite drink: cranberry juice and chocolate milk (but not mixed together...)
11. Favorite alcoholic drink? malibu and coke, parrot bay "bay breeze"..
12. How do you eat an Oreo? dunk it. soft. mushy. yum.
13. Favorite sport? field hockey and soccer
14. Favorite sport to watch?  men's soccer
15. What's the next CD you're going to get? hopefully, linkin park and five for fighting
16. Did you ever wear braces? yep - 6 years
17. Best memories: in Laporte and Cape Cod with my family, 33 and other sleepovers with Lee Lee and Laura, band camp and random adventures with Alyssa, fun times with my Alpha Gams, my semester at st. andrews, three weeks in italy, Carrie's wedding
18. Siblings and their ages?   Carrie 26, Steve 25, brother-in-law Leif 26
19. Favorite month(s)? May,  October, December
20. Favorite food(s)?  chicken pot pie, sour cherry pie, key lime pie (noticing a trend?), pink lady apples, breads and other carbs, cranberry sauce... i love everything thanksgiving...
21. Last movie you watched? Scotland, PA
22. Are you too shy to ask someone out?  usually, but i always like the guy to make the first move :-)
23. Favorite place to go on a date: movies, coffee house
24. Do you like scary or happy movies better? happy!
25. Summer or winter? how about spring?
26. Hugs or kisses? from friends - hugs.. from hershey's - hugs.. from cute boys... 0:-)
27. Relationship or one night stands? Relationships. One night stands are out of the question
28. Chocolate or vanilla? I'm a chocoholic, definitely
29. Living arrangements?  in Pitman I live with my Mom and Dad, at college I live in a triple in Alpha Gam
30. What books are you reading? Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin
31. What's on your mouse pad?   no mousepad anymore - yay for a mouse with a lasar thingie!
32. Favorite smell? yummy men's colognes (gotta love the pheromes), vanilla, yankee candle peach and buttercream
33. Least favorite smell? anything decaying.. also fake lemon scent (like in dishwashing liquid)
34. Favorite sound? music, laughter, rustling leaves and crunching snow
35. Worst feeling in the world?  feeling unattractive, invisible, unloved, and ignored
36. Favorite vacation spot? Cape Cod, Laporte PA, the Rocky Mountains, London, Scotland and Italy
37. How many rings before you answer the phone? usually 2
38. Glass is half empty or half full? half ful
l39. Favorite movie? Lord of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption, Run Lola Run, Braveheart, the Matrix, pirates of the caribbean, Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary
40. What's under your bed? me, my desk, books, my computer...
41. What is your favorite number? 3
42. Favorite current TV shows? Friends (the old ones), CSI, Law and Order.. but i don't watch much tv anymore
43. Favorite store to go shopping? any book store
44. Current Pets: Buffy (aka Gurgles, Kitten, Bunny)
45. What are some of the most memorable things that have happened this past year? SCOTLAND!! :-D and then ITALY :-D and then CARRIE and LEIF'S WEDDING :-) :-)
46. What are some things you would like to accomplish in the year to come: get good grades, be involved in lots of things, and have fun... oh yeah, and pass the GRE, get into a good grad school, get a Rotary scholarship for a year in England, get Honors for my thesis, be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, graduate summa cum laude...
47. Favorite snack foods: carbs - crackers, cereal, that sort of thing
48. Number 1 condiment you can't live without: honey, cranberry sauce
49. Favorite Music: pop, broadway show tunes, rock, acapella, punk, some rap/urban
50. Favorite Band:  John Mayer, U2, Jason Mraz, Linkin Park, Eve 6, staind, all american rejects, simple plan, ben folds, five for fighting, Josh Groban, Dispatch
51. Favorite Gift to give: something fun
52. Favorite Gift to receive:  stuffed animals.. i'm a dork! also dvds because i love films
53. Favorite Flower: tulips
54. Favorite Candy:  baby ruth, peanut m&ms, pretty much anything chocolate.. and skittles
55. Favorite cookie: chocolate chip (especially if they're not fully cooked.. yummy!), double stuf oreos, christmas
56. Favorite Childhood memory: Christmas with my family, summers in Laporte
57. Favorite Board game: Cranium, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble
58. Favorite Website:   launch.yahoo.com/musicvideos
59. Favorite Cartoon Character: Eeyore, Care Bears (especially Cheer Bear!), and Nemo
60. Favorite article of clothing: my dark blue express jeans, my st. andrews t-shirt, and my express zipper hoodies
61. What are you wearing right now:  blue shorts and a free lafayette reunion weekend t-shirt
62. Country you've never been to but would like to go:  Greece, China, Spain, Norway
63. Favorite Green Vegetable:  peas, especially fresh from the back yard garden in the summer, zuccinni, and cucumber (i love veggies. just ask Alyssa)
64. Favorite Fruit: pink lady apples, red grapes, strawberries, Laporte blueberries, mangos, kiwis, summer tomatoes
65. Favorite Meat: chicken or turkey
 66. Position you sleep in most: on my stomach, snuggled under lots of blankets
67. Favorite Holiday:  Christmas and Easter
68. Least favorite creature: spiders (especially the nasty ones that live on the windows of Hugel!!)
69. Favorite Animal:  kittens, bunnies, duckies, puppies, anything little and fuzzy and cute
70. Favorite Pet: Cats.. but dogs are starting to win me over
71. Favorite Thing about yourself: probably my hair and my eye color, my sense of humor.. i love to laugh
72. Least favorite thing about yourself:  being too shy or  stressing out too much, and how i'm so bad with remembering people's names!!
73. Favorite Weather:  crisp blue perfect weather,  and foggy and misty mornings in the spring
74. Favorite time of day:  sunset!! and evening / night (but I also like the quiet of really early mornings, i just rarely see them haha)
75. Favorite dessert: Sour cherry pie or key lime pie
76. Favorite thing to do in your spare time: read, write, listen to music --and sing along -- sometimes loudly, be with friends, watch movies
77. Biggest pet peeve: mispelling my name, knuckle cracking
78. Most embarrassing moment: i always find giving the wrong answer in class extremely embarassing
79. Turn ons: good eyes, nice smile, intelligence, humor.. he's definitely got to make me laugh, strong shoulders, showing me respect, being sweet, being polite, dark curly hair, (especially dark curly hair with light colored eyes), being honest and sincere, older and taller than me, being goofy without being totally immature, being well-read
80. Turn offs: vulgarity, bad teeth, intentionally acting stupid, excessive cursing, lying, acting like a player, being egotistical, younger or shorter than me, smoking, being covered in tattoos, being rude or obnoxious, not reading anything except the back of his cereal box

Love Actually

I watched Love Actually tonight.. the part where the cute art exhibit owner guy tells Kiera Knightly that he loves her with those hand-made signs, without saying a word.. it definitely brought tears to my eyes. Because I want that. Not unrequited love, I've been there, that's no fun. No, I mean just love. The "to me, you're perfect" kind of love. If I could just find that, I would hold on to it and never let it go. Because it's one of the most beautiful things in the world. The people who have it are so lucky... and I'm sure those of us who don't, don't realize all that we're missing.

 
Now, enough with being a romantic sap... I'm going to bed. :-P

Angel

I sit and wait
Does an angel contemplate my fate
And do they know
The places where we go
When we're grey and old'cos I have been told
That salvation lets their wings unfold
So when I'm lying in my bed
Thoughts running through my head
And I feel the love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
 
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
 
When I'm feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
And I know I'll always be blessed with love
And as the feeling grows
She breathes flesh to my bones
And when love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
 
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
 
 
the Robbie Williams version is a hell of a lot better than the Jessica Simpson version.  Sometimes trying really hard to be sexy is not sexy at all.

Goin' to the chapel... and we're... gonna get maa-aaarried....

what a week this has been..
 
I spent the last ten days in Laporte, the longest stretch of time I've had there in over a year. (I keep remembering how in elementary school, the  parents would pick us up in the van on the last day of school and we'd drive straight up to Laporte, and we wouldn't come back until the first weekend in September. Those were the days. Every day down at the beach, swimming and building sand castles, or romping through the woods, and playing the complicated jailbreak-esque Blueberry Hill game that seemed to involve every kid on the beach. Now just a weekend there is precious, even just to relax and read.) I drove up to Laporte on the 10th, exactly one week before Carrie and Leif's wedding.
 
 I don't even know what all I did the whole week, it's such a blur of activity. Finished Puzo's The Godfather and almost finished To Kill a Mockingbird, for one.  Didn't do any work on my honors thesis, that's for sure, or any work for my summer research job to earn a few extra bucks, despite the fact that I had gone up there with every intention of putting in some serious hours on both.  Helped Mom around the house a lot, which I know she really appreciated, decorating the downstairs for the rehersal dinner (tapping into my artist-slash-martha stewart to become a tulle master) and doing some baking for her (my brownies were well-received, yay!) and spending some quality time with Carrie and Leif.
 
(I haven't known Leif for too long, but he already feels like a brother to me. He's a great guy, and I genuinely like him. I see how incredibly happy he makes my sister and I'm just thrilled for her that she's found such a good man.  Carrie is one of my favorite people in my whole life. I love her and look up to her so much, and I am so happy for her. )
 
Thursday was when it really started getting crazy.  That was the day that my brother Steve, the other bridesmaid Amy, and the three Vikings arrived. The Vikings are: Jon Inge, or JI; Erik, or Oatbags, and John Edward, or JE. The nicknames are of course the work of Carrie. (How she can give people nicknames and get them to accept them has always amazed me).  Andrea, Carrie's friend from high school, also showed up because she had volunteered to sing a solo at the wedding (Carrie chose "at last" at my suggestion, it is hands down my favorite love song. every time i hear the first few lines... "at last, my love has finally come along, my lonely days are over..." i get goosebumps). ... (ok ok, i'm a hopeless romantic... gimme a break). that night we all had a big lasagne dinner followed by a game of trivial pursuit (my team, Steve, JE and me, kicked ass).  Leif started teasing me that he "saw a spark" between me and JE, which I would neither confirm no deny because when Carrie heard him teasing me, she was like "Whaaaat?! No..." and then later "there will only be one romance this weekend" and finally "but Bob (that's me), he smokes, that's yucky to kiss!" and i'm just like, geez, i don't even know if he has a girlfriend, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
 
The big event of Friday was the wedding rehersal followed by the rehersal dinner. The wedding rehersal was great, I got some much-needed practice on walking down the isle (got scolded by the pastor for walking down too soon, walking too fast...). Carrie and Leif got to practice their vows, and though Leif said his without a problem, Carrie could only say the first phrase before she started bawling. She just buried her face in his chest and cried while he hugged her. She loves him so much, that she couldn't even finish practicing the vows because they made her cry so hard. It was so sweet.  After that was all done, we went back to our house where all the out-of-towners had gathered for the rehersal dinner. What a spread! it was catered, but mom still felt the need to contribute her own mini-feast, so there was no shortage of food. It was great to see people like Tom Swain and Dick and Susan Foot, cousins we hardly ever see. It was good to have them all gathered together in one place, too, for such a special occasion.
 
I talked more with JE, joking around and such, making each other laugh. I finally admitted (though only to myself) that I was developing a crush on him. It's pretty rare to find a guy who is both genuine and goofy, sincere and - hey, he likes to read! what more could i ask? But I tried not to get too flirty (my closest friends would say that that would be quite the accomplishment) because I didn't want to bother Carrie and plus I don't know if Leif's teasing is more encouraging me or more just teasing me coz he knows something I don't (like JE has a wife and three kids back in Norway ...or he was just being nice but told the other Vikings that I was totally not his type or something) ... (yeah, i'm a hopeless romantic and paranoid. it's a great combination). around 9:30, the three vikings decided to go (still dealing with jet lag, i think) and the other two asked JE if he wanted to stay longer, but his back was to me so I couldn't see his expression. then they asked me if I wanted him to stay longer, and i was just kind of like "errmm..." so yeah, it's all sorts of confused.
 
saturday was a long day. i woke up at 7:00, by then Carrie was already in the shower (i found out later that she woke up at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep, dad did the same thing only he woke up at 4:00). I showered and tried to blow dry my hair (given my klutzy nature, getting it moderately dry and semi-straight was a definite victory), then Amy and I went to get our hair done uptown. we were back at the house around 9:45, right on schedule. By then the boys (Dad, Steve, JE, JI, Oatbags and Leif) were all done up in their tuxedoes and looking all sorts of good. I went in to get dressed (i love my light blue gown) and help Carrie get dressed. I had to deliver Leif's wedding band to JE (the best man), and when I went out to him (they were all getting their pictures done in the driveway) he watched me walk up and gave me appreciative smiles so i think the only thing i could do was blush.  I had to try to help calm Carrie's nerves (she sipped ginger ale and tried not to feel sick) and then we got family pictures taken, and bridesmaids and bride pictures taken. 
 
around 11:00, we went to the church.  While Amy and I waited to go in, I looked back at Carrie standing by herself on the sidewalk, her big bouquet in hand, all done up in her white gown, just waiting, and I knew that I wouldn't get through the ceremony without crying. And I didn't - as soon as Carrie started walking down the aisle with dad, the tears started. It was a beautiful ceremony, Carried cried a lot but it was good crying. I was glad I had a stash of tissues hidden under my bouquet, because i had to keep slipping them to her through the whole wedding. once Carrie walked back down the aisle with Leif, all her jitters had gone and she was just beaming. I walked out with JE, then we all had to gether for the receiving line, and I stood next to JE because I figured the best man and maid of honor should stand next to each other, but it was also good to have the opportunity to joke around with him a little bit. Everyone took a surrey with two horses to the reception, and when Carrie and Leif eventually pulled up, we were all gathered in front of the Pavilion (where the reception was) and the pastor announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Leif Rune Evje, and we tossed rice at them, then went in for lunch.
 
One of the first things that happened at the reception was JE gave his toast, which was quite good, everyone laughed at his jokes, and was pretty intimidating because I had to give a toast too and I didn't think mine would match up. We had good food, but I actually didn't have much of an appetite because I was so nervous about giving my toast. I didn't think it would be good enough, I thought my parents wouldn't like it... I wrote it at quarter after 1 the night before. So when I got up to give it, I was practically shaking. But I did it, not without a few mistakes. When I finished I looked over at Carrie and she was bawling so I went over to hug her and I ended up crying too. So we just hugged and cried for a little. Dad and Uncle Dick also gave toasts, and Steve gave a little toast. We had cake and ice cream and it was a good time, even though there was no dancing (and therefore I couldn't have the traditional dance with the best man, boo, hiss.) it was a great time. Afterwards we went back to the house, decorated the car for Carrie and Leif for their honeymoon, said goodbye to the three Vikings *sniff, sniff*. I got a hug, but no contact info... hm, i may need to remedy the situation... then we sent Leif and Carrie off on their honeymoon to cape cod and maine.
 
So that was basically my week, it's definitely something I'll never forget. 
  
  to see pictures from this past week:
http://community.webshots.com/user/suzi10384
(my other accounts are under the usernames of suzi10382 (general pics and scotland) and suzi10383 (italy) ) so check them out as well, if you want.

remembering scotland...

since i seem to be a fan of obscure references, the title of this *lovely* piece of work that is my very own blog comes from the title of a movie... "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" ... there, that explains that.

started reminiscing with Alison about Scotland tonight, and it got me thinking......
...tea and biscuits...walks by the beach to collect shells and sea glass...my mosiac of sea-tumbled porcelain...Nawojka's homemade table/shelf thing...our kitty which was actually a mouse...the soccer players from next door, and the night we stalked them...fireworks on the beach and "yaaaay!! more!!"...Nawojka's smelly shoe incident...Lindsay's ever-changing hair color...all those nights when we invariably ended up at Aikman's...and of course Aikman's hot German bartender..."Luke is evil"...Hilary's penchant for having a Guster baby...Halloween with Alison and her crew...my girls being there for me when Paul turned into an ass and dumped me...hanging out in our kitchen all the time...our forgotten common room...kinder surprise madness...Emily talking to those of us in the kitchen from her room across the hall...me, Nawojka, and a couple bottles of Newcastle...our farewell dinner with Christmas popper things...Lindsay's early mornings and Emily's adventures along the coastal path...romping through London for a fantasmic weekend with Alison...cadbury's hot chocolate...Nawojka's onion and sugar remedy for when Alison and I got sick...the evil cat that Nawojka loved and Alison hated...the damn computer lab...megabus.com...the film society..."I slapped an Irish man's ass tonight!"...the pier with the ducks and the swans...and of course...Tesco.......

thongs and fireworks...

whadda weekend.

my sister's home now, the wedding's less than two weeks away. Friday night we had her bachelorette party with two of her friends from college. i had so much fun, she and her friends are hilarious and we had a blast. we took her out to dinner and ate ourselves silly on great pasta and decadent chocolately deserts. yeah, so my sister got a few pairs of "butt floss" and other miscellanious presents (some more x-rated than others) from me and the girls. we had a great time.

carrie's fiance flew in from norway saturday night, which made carrie practically bounce off the walls. Too bad Leif's luggage is MIA... but the 4th of july was lots of fun with him, even if it was reaching a nice level of the traditional disgusting south jersey summer swelter. monday night we watched fireworks over the lake (there's a "lake" in my town, it was the first superfund site in the US, and until it got cleaned up perhaps a better name for it would have been Alcyon Fetid Pool of Toxic Pollution instead of Alycyon Lake). but anyway, fireworks = good. of course, it seemed like everyone had someone special to snuggle up with, and me, well, my digital camera just isn't that snuggly. (don't you hate that? i hate that. being single and it seems like everyone around you is in love. bah. it's like every once in a while the universe needs to rub it in your face).... ummm, yeah. the fireworks display was good. i like the sparkly ones.

found out a girl that i went to high school with is now Miss New Jersey... yeah so I guess I'll be watching the Miss America pageant in sept. Go New Jersey! Woot! yeaaaahhh...

so i was at the gym working my tail off (and trying to ignore all the hard-core completely in shape people running or crunching right next to me) and i saw on the news about that u.s. marine that was kidnapped. the good news: he may have been released. . . the bad news: the reports are sketchy, and he may have been beheaded. ugh. i want this war to be over. i wish our *fearless leader* could have given some thought into what he was doing when he decided to bomb the shit out of a country that didn't do anything to us. i wish we had a way to get out of that mess. will a different president make a difference? will this new kerry/edwards team even be able to win the election? i know most people my age.. and most academics.. seem to despise Bush, but then, he's got huge support in the South, and the whole republican establishment is uniting behind him. i just want him out, and i'm not sure kerry's the man to do it.