Spring Break is maddening.

Why did school give us spring break? I understand summers off for the teachers to regain sanity (so they don’t turn to the darkness and become evil). I also see why there is a winter break. It is so people can stay inside all day and not freeze to death for a couple weeks in the winter. You may think it is because of the holidays but you are wrong! It is a fact that *75% of the time, Hanukkah doesn't even fall during winter break! I call that holiday discrimination.
*Not a real statistic

But seriously what is the point of spring break!? It is just rude and discriminatory for us non-students/ non-parents of school age children. It is like it is expected that everyone just DOES spring break and escapes the remaining cold to go soak up some sunshine. As a non-student with a normal job, I say “down with spring break!” Even other normal people without kids, who have normal jobs, act like spring break is a real thing for everyone! Tell me, why does my news feed contain multiple people my age going on vacation to Palm Springs, Hawaii, Texas, Mexico, Bend and Whistler? They all have normal full-time jobs! Wouldn't they rather go at a less expensive time? AKA not spring break? You aren't in college anymore. It is time to let go.

One thing I do miss about the good old days of spring break is the awesomeness of the MTV spring break special! Remember the crazy guy VJ with long hair who was always chewing on a toothpick or cherry stem? He wore flares and platforms… must look him up. He was totally on something. I wonder if he is still alive. Songs that I recall from MTV spring break performances: the Thong Song by Sisqo and Tipsy by J-Kwon. Really mom? You let me watch that stuff!? Actually, you probably had no idea. I was sneaky like that. I don't really want to link either of those dirty videos. So instead, this video of J-Simps is hilarious! From the gauchos to her movements while singing... yikes. Enjoy!

I used to love spring break for obvious school escaping reasons. I assume I will love it again at some point. But for now, since I am bitter and at home, I say no to spring break… and yes to equal rights.

Like how I added that at the end!? I am SO political.

AIM and my work as a part time model.

Psych! I'm obviously not a model. I am considering busting out AIM again though. Dear AOL, thank you for teaching me how to type both quickly and incorrectly. Love, Laura

I just wrote that sentence after writing the post. Don't worry; it will make more sense later. But now I want to elaborate on my life as a part time model! Remember Flight of the Concords? Nope? You are missing out. Anyway, they have a funny song about "the most beautiful girl in the room (depending on the room)" and how she could be a part time model, but she should probably keep her real job too.

I just started laughing listening to it again! And yes, the girl in the video is Cher from Clueless the TV show.

You may now proceed to the original post:

I don’t know what the heck I am doing with this blog. I like to write and ramble but the longer I have a corner of the internet, the more I realize I have no idea what I am doing. Internet stuff is so beyond me! Tell me, do I now need to go on bloglovin, google analytics and that reader subscriber majig to fix my URL? Why are people all of a sudden using bloglovin!? Is it because reader is going away? I think bloglovin is so annoying to use. How dare Google get rid of something without providing us with a replacement? I just want to check my email and blogs at the same time! Is that so much to ask? At this point I may as well go back to Hotmail or AOL. If I switch back to AOL I will hear “ you've got mail” every time I log on! My life would get SO Kathleen Kelly. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all. I wonder if my handle from 7th grade is still available!? I’m pretty sure my password was the name of the boy I liked. Don’t worry guys, we totally “went out” and held hands at lunch time.

On a completely different note, Jenn Pfaus is da bomb! And took pictures of us rando bloggers at a PDX blogger event. She is awesome and fun, and made me feel super comfortable. But I think we can all agree that getting your picture taken alone is a terrifying and awkward experience. I’m sure fashion bloggers will say “you get used to it!” In response I say, “That is a really bizarre thing to get used to. You are weird.” Okay, back to the photo sesh. As soon as Jenn started snapping photos I forgot how to smile and couldn't remember what to do with my hands and arms. I was quickly corrected by Jade, who told me that standing with my arms plastered to my sides was a bad idea. My solution was to just laugh the whole time. Therefore my eyes were likely shut in 90% of the pictures. Sorry Jenn! I’m crazy squinty.

Jenn was great though, and by her amazing photography skills (and likely witchcraft), we ended up with some really great shots! … Although, upon getting them back I mega regret not washing my hair that day. Can’t win em all!

Peace friends! Hit me up on AIM (MissQTpie99).

New URL for BHTB!

That title has a lot of random capital letters in it.

Yesterday I read an article with a title that read something like, “Subdomains are stupid and you are stupid for having one Laura." Okay, it didn't say Laura… but it might as well have. Call me crazy for considering $10/ per year to basically be one million! But the article reassured me that it was really more like $0.03/ per day AKA basically free. So I went ahead and purchased a real domain.

Maybe the article was an add by Go Daddy and they are just tricking me into doing it! I blame Danica Patrick and her stupid race car driving ways. Get a real job Danica! I liked you so much better when you were doing Got Milk and Secret deodorant adds. The adds weren't a secret. It was for the brand Secret! You guys are idots… you know “shower fresh” or whatever. We all use Dove now right? Just trying to make sure I am still in the cool group when it comes to my deodorant/ antiperspirants.

Back to the point! I took the plunge but I ditched the crazy long url. Title is the same; we are still Back-handsprings Through Bridgetown. But the url is now backhandspringsblog. Hopefully I get some traffic from non-tumbling folks trying to learn "how to do back-handsprings." If that happens, they will be annoyed and leave immediately. Hey, at least I got your pageview sucker!

So if you need to update your favorites or readers (how presumptuous of me) go for it. Honestly, I don’t really know how it works. Won’t it just redirect you? I should probably look into this. The internet is so confusing.

TGIF!! Surfing grandma wishes you a wonderful weekend.

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Disney people are crazy.

Want some joy?

Okay, here’s your joy in the form of Nationals and Disneyland pictures. The girls did great btw. Made it to finals and took home 5th place!

We love trophies! 

I didn't quite make the pose. Too scary! 

Oops. Sorry for blocking your face chick behind me. But not really. We look awesome. 

I promise I'm not a creep... those wigs were just too weird! Had to take a picture.

BTMR (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) It is my favorite ride and deserves a nickname as it should also be everyone else’s favorite. Yes, I am going to should on you right here. If Pirates is your favorite you have some serious problems that I can’t even tackle. Anyway, BTMR was closed! I feel like anytime a major ride is closed they should be discounting your Disney pass. Seriously! WTF is wrong with them?

We were devastated.

Let’s all agree that Space Mountain is the best ride, BUT since it isn't cheesy Disney enough BTMR takes the number one spot as a cheesy and fast rollercoaster. It also gets bumped up a bit because people have died on it. Every time you ride, you are basically living on the edge. How bad ass of you! Kudos.

One last thing about Disneyland. There is something about Disney that makes people completely lose their minds. They all of a sudden buy crap with Mickey on it that they wouldn't be caught dead in any other time. Don’t you worry, I am not one of those people. I have not purchased a Mickey t-shirt, nor will I in my lifetime. Unless I end up with a kid someday who loves Disney… Then I will consider buying Mickey stuff for it. When I say "it" right there I mean the kid. I did have a Tigger jacket when I was 9… Come on Joanne! Why did you let me have that? Gross. But really, what is it about Disneyland that makes people buy all that crappy stuff? Maybe they put something in the water? That would also answer the question of why the water tastes like dirt.

So long Mickey Snow White. Until we meet again!

Hey Mickey!

Oh, Mickey, you're so fine. You're so fine you blow my mind. Hey, Mickey!
CLICK HERE (and fast forward to 0:38).

Guess what!? I AM GOING TO DISNEYLAND THIS WEEKEND!!!! Cheerleading Nationals have snuck up on me. It is going to be great! Wait, you don’t think that taking a bunch of high school cheerleaders to California sounds fun? Then you are probably a normal person. I realize that I am unhinged, but a weekend in the happiest place on earth is just what I need. Plus I love cheerleading. And spending all afternoon watching competitive cheerleading sounds look a good day to me! Here is my post from the trip last year.

Looking forward to recreating this. I need to remember to pack that shirt! 

On another note, how do you all feel about Google Reader leaving us? How do the rest of you track your favorite blogs? I really don’t like bloglovin. Soooo now I am in the market for a new RSS reader that will work for a desktop and my mobile device easily.

I will be honest by telling you that I have an unhealthy attachment to my Google Reader. That being said, what are we going to do come July 1st!? Let's be real, if Google thinks we are going to favorite sites and visit them every day, they have lost their bloody minds!  Let me know what you guys are doing. I have read a couple articles about some options, but I’m not sold on anything yet.

Have a great weekend everyone!

An Urban Playground

I had a great weekend that happened to go WAY too fast. It was here and gone in a blink of an eye. There was some good stuff in it though, including spending my entire Saturday in workout clothes, renting a surrey and getting my picture taken at a blogger meet-up. Wait, maybe it went too fast because we lost an hour? No, that can’t be it.

Do you ever feel like your city is your own personal playground? Marina and I spent Saturday jogging and hop-skipping through downtown. I mean this literally. We rented a surrey, walked to Portland City Grill for happy hour, decided to go to a movie and ran and skipped to Pioneer Place to make it in time to catch the 7pm of OZ. Marina referred to downtown as our concrete jungle gym. To top off the kid like behavior we grabbed slurpees on the way home. It was awesome. If only we could have played a game of tether-ball or something. When we are roommates we plan to have what we will call, “yoga clothes days.” This is a day where you stay in workout clothes all day, even if you go to fancy places like PCG. Believe me, you won’t care what other people think when you are that comfortable!

That was my weekend, ‘twas great. Then yesterday was just painful! I have never been so ready for a day to be over. I am exhausted for some reason. I think I am actively fighting off sickness. I got over that lame cold, but now there are some new fun things like an ear ache. Not that you care about that… Whatever.

Honestly, the real reason I think I am dragging is that I feel stagnant in my spiritual life. When I get like this I tend to question EVERYTHING. I start to figure that my short-comings as a person are abundantly clear to everyone around me and that they can’t possibly even want me to be in their lives. E.g. she is probably my friend because she feels obligated; my parents probably think I’m pathetic because I am so incompetent about my taxes. I could write an entire post on my negative self-talk and how all of my relationships are false, but no one is tryna be brought down around here! I promise I will not do that to you today. I will say this though, awareness is the first step right!? Kinda like addiction… but kinda not. I need to spend more time in the word and less time believing the lies that are popping into my head.

Obviously the reason I hear all of these lies is because I am not actively listening to the truth.

Wow, this post about my weekend sure took an interesting turn. Have a great Tuesday! I hope you are listening to the new JT album on iTunes today.

Portland on Dwellable

Artificial flavor

Everyone wigs out about blue raspberry. “That isn't real! Raspberries aren't blue!!”
Or are they?...

Fact about me: I chew cinnamon gum.

The other day as I was unwrapping a piece of cinnamon gum, my mind wandered, hmm… cinnamon is brown. Not red.

I guess brown probably wouldn't be that appetizing. Everyone freaks out about blue raspberry, but no one thinks twice about red cinnamon stuff.

What’s up with that!? I'll just be here washing down some Red Hots with a blue raspberry Slurpee.

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