RIOT GIRLS: PLAY IT OVER…AND OVER!

Posted by Lori~

Recently my sister turned the BIG 4-0!  LOVE HER AND THE REST OF THE 4-0 PARTY WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED TOMORROW!

Steve and I of course attended the party and of course had to take control of the music at the bar.  Like most bars, Super 8 Lounge had the up-to-date music system that is all digital.

Unfortunately, the system was no longer accepting money, so we no longer had control of the tunes.

That is until, a friend of Lisa’s told Steve about a new I-Phone Ap, My Touch Tunes.  And they also had it for the I-Pad.  Basically you can select the bar you want and control their music FROM ANYWHERE!

Steve basically turned into a DJ for the night…people would give Steve their selections along with a few dollars and he would play their songs.

The system is simple…you load money.  To pick a song it costs 50 cents…to play it immediately it costs $1.00.  So actually you are saving money too.

And the best part, you can literally take control of the music from anywhere.  And so WOMS---consider high-jacking a jukebox near you!  Consider blasting ACDC over and over and over again! 

This definitely has major RIOT POTENTIAL!

TUESDAYS AT NOON: WE’VE BEEN TAGGED (BLOG QUIZ)

Posted by Lori~

Recently we were tagged by Kirsti the author of Living in Lovely La La Land.  Kirsti is a great friend who used to live in my little city, ND town, but made the move to Oil Country, ND.  She participated in a blog game (she was tagged) and so now were it!  And we are thrilled! I wrote this up, while talking, rioting, and laughing on the phone with Ethne.  Tears of laughter were shed!

Here’s how it works…first we must post the rules and they are….

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 (we decided to do 7) people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them! 

12 fun facts about WOM-MOM:

FACT 1:  Theme of my wedding was Party-time Fun!  You get the picture, Ethne and I love to PARTY!  And of course love to RIOT!  HANDS DOWN…WE ARE TOTAL RIOT GIRLS!

Ethne and I at my Luau themed Groom's Dinner!  FUN!

FACT 2: In college, Ethne and I collected Wrangler patches.  Luckily, I attended a cowboy University which had the mother-load of patches!  Ethne on the other hand attended a private Lutheran College in MN.  No patches there!  She went so far as to make a wrangler patch out of brown construction paper for Halloween and stapled it to her jeans. 

FACT 3:  WE LOVE IKEA!  Yes, that is my favorite store and Ethne loves it too.  High quality and AFFORDABLE!  It doesn’t get much better than that!

FACT 4:  We are obsessed with celebrity trainwrecks.  We love to read our People magazine weekly.  Ethne always guesses right on who is the cover model even before the issue comes out.  We love it and would totally win a pop culture trivia contest.

FACT 5:  Ethne can bong a beer in 5 seconds.  No joke.  I, on the other hand, do not possess this skill.  However, both Ethne and I love a Beer and Clamato…our go-to summer drink!


FACT 6:  Sixteen years post graduation, Ethne and I can both still do our high school fight song cheer. 

FACT 7:  We HATE laundry!  This is our least favorite chore!  Someone do it for us!  I have designed my future home to have a laundry room surrounded by closets, so I don’t have to even leave the room to put away the laundry.  We hate it!

FACT 8:  I am ready for baby number 2 and Ethne and I are currently scheming and researching ways to ensure that I have a girl, including but not limited to spinning my husband's sperm.  Do you know any other tricks?

FACT 9:  Ethne and I talk on the phone daily!  We love it!

FACT 10: Someday Ethne and I dream of living in a compound and blogging full-time.  We would craft, coffee, thrift store shop, and blog.  And of course, hire someone to do our laundry.

FACT 11:  Our love of crafting began at a very young age.  In high school, using my 4-H skills, Ethne and I even crafted matching cheerleader try-out outfits, complete with hair scrunchies. 

FACT 12:  We love to laugh.  It is our favorite thing in the whole world.  By far, we make each other laugh the most.  Laughing until there are tears and our stomachs hurt. 

Pretty sure Steve and I were laughing uncontrollably in this photo!
PS:  This was HARD WORK!

Questions provided via Lovely La La Land:

What's your favorite thing about blogging?  Hands-down talking to each other every day!  We LOVE IT!

What's your ideal breakfast?  Ethne loves a homemade ice-cream caramel roll and I love a western omelet!

Do you crave salty or sweet snacks most often?  For sure salty all the way.  I love a good greasy appetizer dipped in homemade ranch dressing.  NOTHING IS BETTER!  Ethne loves cheese!

If your family could share one crazy story about you, what do you think it'd be?  Our families think we are angels.  If they only knew the truth!

Do you have any collections? What do you collect?  I collect Christmas ornaments highlighting family vacations.  As a child, I also collected thimballs.  Ethne's family collects Western history memorabelia.  Neither of us are big collectors because we are not into clutter! 

What's your favorite place to shop online?  I love EBay, Ethne loves Land's End (check out the cool USA map they made out of clothes on their website right now).

What's your favorite way to get a workout in?  Why of course, shopping!

Do you cook, bake or both? What do you prefer?  We do both, but we both cook more.  We love the creativity and flexibility in cooking!

Who is one of your favorite authors?  Ethne loves her Dad, Paul Hedren (his latest book is here), Walt Whitman (her fave quote here), and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight).  I on the other hand, only read celebrity magazines. 

A favorite movie?  I LOVE Bridget Jones’ Diary.  Ethne and I are Bridget.  WE LOVE IT!  Ethne loves Star Wars:  The Empire Strikes Back.  (I told her she couldn't say the Twilight movies.)

What's your favorite season of the year?  We both LOVE summer!

What's your favorite color to decorate with?  Ethne LOVES red & pink and I LOVE taupe (with splashes of color).

Now, we get to tag some of our blogging friends…and here it goes!
Journey to Chogoria
Par-Venting
Randomness of Katie
Miles Ahead
Minnesota and Mexico Mix
Smashed Peas and Carrots
Sutton Grace

And the questions are (we are lazy)…and we love the La La questions…so here it goes:

What's your favorite thing about blogging?

What's your ideal breakfast?

Do you crave salty or sweet snacks most often?

If your family could share one crazy story about you, what do you think it'd be?

Do you have any collections? What do you collect?

What's your favorite place to shop online?

What's your favorite way to get a workout in?

Do you cook, bake or both? What do you prefer?

Who is one of your favorite authors?

A favorite movie?

What's your favorite season of the year?

What's your favorite color to decorate with?

No pressure to participate!  We will not be disappointed.  But we would love to hear your answers!

RIOT GIRLS: WOM EMERGENCY!

Posted by Lori~

So, I have a WOM-EMERGENCY FOR ALL OF YOU!  I am laughing and dying inside right now.  You must know by now that Ethne and I are proud 1996 graduates of Williston High School (AKA boomtown, ND).  We come from a city that is over-run with people from out-of-state working in the oil industry.  Not only that, but the male to female ratio is CRAZY!  SO MANY GUYS…SO FEW LADIES!  (You may have read that strippers in Williston are making BIG BANK!).  And no, Ethne and I have no plans to go down that road! 

The MEMORIES!

Recently, my friend sent me an article about the “party on the patch”.  You can read all about it here.

This guy is throwing a party to recruit ladies to Williston—charge $20.00 for ladies and $150.00 for guys!  Events will include arm wrestling, dance competitions, ultimate fighting, and a bachelor auction.  Sounds fun—right?  Actually, sounds to be like a major $EX-FEST! 

Maybe we could wear these to the "party on the patch"

This guy “claims” it won’t be a sausage-fest, but what else will it be. 

I am a WOMAN ON A MISSION ready to shut this event down!  It sounds like a sexual assault waiting to happen.  And as far as I am concerned…I would leave town for the weekend.  Or I would arm myself with a Tazer and get ready to raise some HELL!

RIOT GIRLS: CELEBRATE THE DECADES!

Posted by Lori~

Ethne and I are 90’s girls….but we do like us some 80’s as well.  I thought it was fitting to stay in a hotel at Walt Disney World that celebrated the decades.  That’s right…it celebrated the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.  And we happened to be staying in the 90’s courtyard.  TOTALLY AWESOME!

And so….people enjoy the DECADES!  AND ENJOY THIS TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE!

Mur-Man "typed" the #2 on the giant keyboard

RIOT GIRLS: TOO BUSY FOR GAS!

Posted by Ethne~

Sometimes, Lori and I are complete space cadets. 

Does anyone even use the term ‘space cadet’ anymore?  I’ve always thought it was a trendy word for ‘fruitcake’ or ‘airhead’.  Am I wrong?  Does use of this word totally pidgeonhole me into the ‘80’s and ‘90’s?

At any rate, we are not the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree when it comes to fueling our vehicles.  Advanced degrees yes, common sense, no.

So Lori called me last night while driving, saying her fuel light was on and she needed to get gas stat.  She said she’d been driving around with the fuel light on for a couple of days.  I told Shaun this and he rolled his eyes and said (figuratively) that he’d kick my a$$ if I did that.

Lori called not a minute later and said that she had, in fact, run out of gas, but that she and Steve were able to roll into a parking lot.  Ha!  Imagine my cackle at this.  Luckily Lori's good friend Justine was available to help. A trip to the gas station, a gas can, and they were off.

We used a LOT of gas dragging main back in the day!

Then on my way to work this morning, lo and behold, my car was on ‘E’!  I figured I could make it the 21 miles to work and get gas on my lunch break.  This was probably a dumb idea.  Halfway there, my gas light came on.

I immediately called Shaun and Lori.  Lori thought it was genius and Shaun said he’d kick my a$$ in a tone of ‘I’m really disappointed in you’.  I wasn’t about to be upset by his disappointment since I thought it was HILARIOUS.  Mostly because I was able to make it to a gas station.

Shaun reminded me that if you let your gas tank get below a quarter a tank in cold MN/ND winters, your gas tank could freeze and then you couldn’t drive at all.  I swore that the whole year ‘round I never let it get below a half tank.  I may or may not have had my fingers crossed behind my back.

The moral of the story, Friends, is that there is no excuse for running out of gas.  The fact that Lori and I both did this within a 24-hour period is AWESOME though.  That’s why we call ourselves RIOT GIRLS!

RIOT GIRLS: DECISION DONE!

Posted by Ethne~

I don’t know about you all and your best friends, but there seems to be special lingo between Lori and me, and our GT best friends, that only we know.  Like those inside jokes that turned into terms only we use.

We will go on girls trip again....DECISION DONE!

Lori’s and my latest one is ‘DECISION DONE’.  We innocuously came up with it when we were starting up the blog almost a year ago (!!!).  We were making the choices of what it would look like and be named and so on, and instead of hemming and hawing, Lori just blurted out ‘DECISION DONE’. 

We LOVE cheerleading...DECISION DONE!

Now we use it for every decision we make, and not just about the blog.  We laugh every time since even though it’s an effective way to get things done, it’s also kinda clever.  Whoever of us says it first gets the final word and then there’s no more discussion.  DECISION DONE.

Ten-year reunion ROCKED...DECISION DONE!

Where this turns into a RIOT GIRLS worthy commentary is what things we apply it to.

For example, we decided that though each of our children are blessings and we love them NO MATTER WHAT, we decided that we wanted Lori’s next child to be a daughter (and mine would be a son if it ever came to that, tho Shaun says no on more kids, for now at least).  DECISION DONE.  What does this mean?  It means we’ll try all the tricks and Old Wives Tales we can come up with to ensure Lori gets her girl.  Do you know of any to help us?  For our moms reading this, NO, Lori is not pregnant now, but wants more kids SOMEDAY.

Mur-Man will try broccoli...DECISION DONE!

Another example, we decided that I was going to come to Mur-Man’s second birthday party.  DECISION DONE.  No more discussion, I’m getting my buns to little city, ND, with Angry Bird hair bows for the girls in hand.  (Gotta make those BTW, so I’ll share.)

One time Lori really wanted to have a Big Mac and fries and she called me for some willpower.  I gave her some anti-Big Mac encouragement and slapped a DECISION DONE at the end and she had no choice.  And guess what?  She did not have that Big Mac that night.

We think it’s imperative to get together, sans kids, for New Year’s Eve this year.  DECISION DONE.  I don’t know if our hubbies know this yet, nor do the grandparents know they will be watching the monsters that night.  But the decision is made, so it’s happening and that’s final.

See how slick this is?  It’s multi-tasking to the max.

Of course, there are other decisions we make with our DECISION DONE precision, but some of those are secrets only bff’s know.  Sorry.  I really am.  Cuz some of those are the funniest of all and where the real rioting applies.  But nope.  They can’t be shared.  If you have a bff, you understand.

DECISION DONE!

FIVE DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: RIOT GIRLS STYLE!

Posted by Lori~

Recently I was interviewed by my little city, ND newspaper about thrifty Halloween costumes.  And this interview…stirred up lots of memories from the past.  In particular Halloween faves.

And by far I have a favorite costume…it took me NO time to rank it at that top.  And the best part was it was super affordable and home-made.

During graduate school, my girlfriends and I decided to go as a six-pack (not that sexy man part), but as a six pack of MILLER LITE!  We actually got “aka stole” the idea from my sis Lisa.  We stole it, we copied it, and we were A-DOR-ABLE!

Just today I was talking with another "beer can" and she told me
that this was also her FAVORITE costume ever!

And the best part…we won the costume contest!  And even better…there was of course a ton of rioting!  And even better….the darn karaoke machine (pre-party at his house) got my boyfriend (now husband) almost evicted!  HILLARIOUS!

This costume was even re-used and borrowed by others for another party!
And this party included Ethne and her sis Whit!

Ethne was working Brittany Spears and Shaun--not sure?
Needless to say...they were in LOVE and married a few years later!

This costume is super easy to make…all it required was a white sheet, cardboard, glue and paint.  We simply sketched out the beer can design on the sheet and painted.  We also spray painted the top of the can silver.  We then glued the sheet to the cardboard and cut wholes for arms.

I had to throw this photo in that features my Steve in the background!
And my college roommate Sam--the naughty nurse!

In addition, we also turned a head-band into a pop (beer) top using aluminum foil and wire!

PERFECTION!

RIGHT TO FIGHT!

Posted by Lori~

You got to fight..for the right..to negotiate.  That’s right WOMS!  Ethne and I strongly believe in the fact that the price isn’t always the price.

Remember my patio umbrella.  That’s right…a simple negotiation (pointing out a flaw in the umbrella pole) and I was able to get the umbrella for $30.00 (and not the original $90.00.

Or recently…Ethne went shopping at Target—WE LOVE TARGET!  And was able to talk her way down to a 10% off savings because their was a slight flaw in the sweater.  Perfect for Ethne and a perfect price.

And you may have noticed in several of my wom-mom posts that I had a dining room table with a HORRIBLE top.  That’s right—since day one of purchasing it…we have had trouble.  The veneer has been peeling away with scratch and imperfection after imperfection.  Luckily we had purchased a furniture warranty, but of course were told that the accumulative damage was not covered.  And so, no new table for us!

UN-EXCEPTABLE!  I made the call, I begged, I pleaded, I argued…and finally I had a manager on the phone that took my complaint seriously.  Guess what—new table.  No cost to us. 

We did end up purchasing a piece of glass for the top.  This peeling veneer will not be our problem.  And I am currently negotiating with the glass delivery company for a refund (I won’t get into the details), but trust me—YOU GOT FIGHT!  FOR THE RIGHT!  TO NEGOTIATE!

Decision DONE!

DOUBLE-HEADER FRIDAY: RIOT GIRLS—BRET!

Posted by Lori~

A lot has happened this week with the most important milestone being my bestie’s BIRTHDAY!  That’s right—Ethne rang in Labor Day weekend celebrating!  And…I unfortunately wasn’t with her.

However…the weekend prior to Labor Day weekend, I was in a little city, MN casino rockin’ to the 80’s (Bret Michaels/Poison style)!  One of Ethne and my faves!

Unfortunately, Ethne couldn’t make the trip—but Steve came along for the ride and we had a BLAST!

Steve's glasses and outfit didn't exactly scream Bret Michales...however I LOVE IT!

Screaming so loud you can see my tonsils!
Drink of choice:  GIN AND TONIC WITH LIME--yummy!

Photo quality is poor, our seats weren’t the best, but we had a FAB TIME!

ROCK-ON BRET!  ROCK-ON!

DOUBLE-HEADER FRIDAY: RIOT GIRLS—80’S ROCK!

Posted by Lori~

Ethne and I were lucky to graduate together in the year 1996…of course, this isn’t the 80’s…however we have many fond memories of the 80’s from our grade-school days.

A fellow 1996 graduate Sara and I dressing "80s"

And…I was lucky to have older siblings that happened to be in high school during the peak of the 1980’s!  WHAT A FABULOUS TIME! 

Christmas memories!

So many 80’s rock memories…you see in our little city, ND town of Williston, ND we drag main for a good time…and if I was lucky my sister would take me along for a ride (I FELT WAY COOL…IT WAS AWESOME!).

We even did it in a mini van--Ethne is in there somewhere!

This was the age of no cell phones and so the house phone would ring constantly, the 80’s music would be loud, and to get Lisa’s attention (her room was in the basement)…we would jump up and down on the floor.

My sister’s hair was BIG and I idolized her!  

And so…in celebration of the 80’s and my FABULOUS SIS (ETHNE LOVES HER TOO)…I am going to see POISON lead singer, Rock of Love Star, Celebrity Apprentice Brett Michaels LIVE and I cannot wait!  Of course there will be photos to share!  Hopefully my night will be WTF (WAY TO FUN) and not WTF! 

Here’s to a fabulous WOM-FILLED WEEKEND!

DOUBLE-HEADER FRIDAY: RIOT GIRLS: PRANKS!

Posted by Lori~

Yes, we were those girls…those giggly girls that thought anything and everything was funny.  I am still that girl who laughs at the MOST inappropriate times!  In high school, I would get the giggles mid-milk gulp at the kitchen table and would either have to spit my milk into the sink or have my milk fly out of my nose.  Ethne---is the SAME!  That’s why we fit!

8th grade band (notice Ethne in the red shorts)
Also, check-out the awesome sound-proof carpeted walls

Recently I was on a visit to my hometown of Williston, ND (Ethne and I have fond memories and feel lucky to have grown up there).  While there, my family and I made the important stop at Grandma Sharon’s restaurant for breakfast/lunch.  (You guessed it…they have FABULOUS RANCH AND BREWED ICED TEA!).

A family trip to Colorado--I'm the little one!

My brother was there, Steve, Mur-Man, mom, dad, and my nephew J.  Lisa, my sis, unfortunately had to work.  She recently got a job doing taxi dispatch from home.  You see—Williston is in the middle of a major oil boom and the city is FULL OF LIFE!  I had a plan…we MUST prank call my sister!  Lyle was the genius that knew how to turn off the caller ID and we knew he MUST make the call (my giggles would be a dead-giveaway).  I am not going to go into the specifics of that call, but let’s just say she totally bought it and it went on and on for quite some time.  My mom and dad both had tears rolling down their cheeks from laughing.  We couldn’t stop laughing and Lisa was a good sport.

My first Christmas

But, this prank made me think of other prank calls (people...this was pre-cell phone era).  I would get on a phone, Ethne would grab a phone, and most likely another friend would grab another phone and we would all listen in while someone dialed.  (I am by no means encouraging this behavior, but rioting is our specialty).  Our favorite number to dial was of course….. 1-800-tampons.  Yes, they had a help line and we came up with some pretty crazy questions (not even going there).  Basically the calls consisted of lots of rioting, lots of tears of laughter, and lots of fun.  Maybe that’s how I maintained my high school figure back in the day—so much laughing my belly hurt and my cheeks hurt! 

RIOT GIRLS: Dragging Main!

Posted by Ethne~

Do you even know how lucky we were in high school?  We had two, count ‘em TWO, main streets to drag!

There was MAIN STREET.  And then there was MILLION DOLLAR WAY.  Sweet, huh?  You can pretty much figure out how Main got its name, but what’s the deal with Million Dollar Way?  Well, back in the oil boom days (there’s a seriously huge amount of oil in the earth where we grew up), that road led out of town to the oil wells.  Millions of bucks to be drilled.

[Incidentally, Williston is once again in an oil boom.  ND is the only state in the union in the black – jobs abound.  The population of our hometown has doubled since we graduated.  Life is good there.  Maybe it should be changed to BILLION DOLLAR WAY?]

I believe this photo is from state fair weekend. 
That's Lor and I in the middle (Kelly on the left and Sara on the right)

Anywho, we and our friends were master Main-draggers.  We had our fave turn-around spots.  Amoco gas station – you could get snacks at the top of every lap – was ours.  We usually took turns driving – but Lori’s and my trucks weren’t at the top of the list – they were antiques and not very roomy.  I’m certain my Datsun pick-up was from the 1970’s, and Lori’s Toyota pick-up was possibly even older.  But oh, how we loved our trucks.  Manual transmission too – we do it right in ND.

Currently, this is Lori and Steve's Dodge (courtesy of Steve's grandpa).
How cool!  Lori's little red truck was courtesy of her grandpa!  The tradition continues!

Is this lame?  NO WAY!

First, most kids who could drive did it at some point.  We could get our driver’s licenses at age 14 in ND, so there was a lot of time to work with.

Second, we were dragging Main checking for guys from small towns nearby – Ray, Grenora, Stanley, Alexander, Watford City – we were on the prowl.  Never too much success, but we didn’t give up.  Yeah, this may sound dumb, but if you think about it, we weren’t doing drugs, drinking alcohol or being promiscuous.  Our parents could hardly crack down.  And gas was less than $1 per gallon back in those olden days, too.  What?!?

Graduation:  Pretty sure everyone pictured dragged main!

To set the driving atmosphere, we played our fave gangsta rap music over our factory-installed car speakers – Snoop and Dre on a Ford Tempo sound system is phenomenal.  It doesn’t get much cooler than this, Friends!

Speaking of gangsta rap, we thought it would be fun to expand our routes a bit – and we pretty much made up our own ghettos of Williston.  These were places where there wasn’t great lighting, it was woodsy, or where strange people lived – like the Californians’ compound.  No one really knew who the Californians were or why they were strange, but we christened their compound a ghetto and when we were feeling brave, we’d drive around their driveway with our lights off late at night.  I’m laughing as I type this.  It sounds a bit ‘wop-wop’ now.

WINTER FORMAL!

All this may not have been much, but it’s what we had.  I can only hope our kids’ teenage years will be so wholesome.  Even if it’s cause for some serious eye-rolling by Shaun and Steve now, all of us ended up being college grads with good jobs.  We must’ve been doing something right!

What did you do as teenagers to make the time pass?  Did you have a blast?  Did you riot?  We’d love to hear.

RIOT GIRLS: Par-Tay!

Posted by Ethne~

This is a special Riot Girls post today because it’s Lori’s birthday!!

Lori and I are always up for a good par-tay, though in my opinion, we haven’t been able to celebrate near enough of our own birthdays together.  We’ve made up for it though, trust me.  Lori’s and my life mission is to have as much fun as possible.  We’ve been pretty successful.

Lori and I agreed when we talked this morning that we no longer acknowledge what age we are.  In fact, honestly, we often forget and have to do the math to remember how old we are when asked.  Not kidding.  Today, Lori asked me: ‘how old are we again?’  We also agreed that the last important birthday was when we turned 21.  That was momentous.

From Steve today - gorgeous!

Lori was able to go out with a lot of friends on her 21^st, and she had a good time I’ve been told.  Of course, I wasn’t able to be there because it was right around finals time for me in MN.  Sad!

To top it off, Lori gets her own holiday – ¡Cinco de Mayo!  A double-excuse for fun!  And always a great party theme – fiesta!  I’ll have to have my friend Dot school me on the history of Cinco de Mayo since her hubby, FD, is from Mexico.  They’re my experts.  Dot – what’s the scoop? 

My 21^st was a bit different – I was in small town, NE, with my dad before heading off to my senior year of college.  Dad and his friends took me out to the nicest restaurant in town and ordered me all the classic cocktails.  That was actually pretty cool.  I liked everything but the Manhattan.  To this day anything from the whiskey/scotch family are no-gos.  Blech.

The bottom line, Friends, is that you should forget your age.  But party it up!  In celebration, Lori and I are offering a giveaway!  Come back tomorrow for the entry details!

¡¡HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORI!!