A Dose of Fabulous

Food Wednesday: The Artery Clogger

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Food Wednesday, fellow chowhounds.

Today we are going to build the ultimate cheeseburger. Oh yes we are. I am chanelling my inner Pioneer Woman and have documented the process for you with a ridiculous amount of photos. Didn't want anyone to miss out on the deliciousness!

So, let's get cooking!

First, pop your fries in the oven. My technique for this was covered last Wednesday.

Find your buns, baby.

Squish away. Yes, I do wear gloves. Can't stand the feeling of raw meat. Ick.

Time to turn up the heat.

As your burger begins to sizzle start to fry up some bacon. While this is far too much for one burger, it won't go to waste!

Don't forget to season that burger.

We had an avacado on hand so that got nominated as a topping.

It was getting a little ripe to be used for much else.

About now your bacon should be starting to smell lovely and get a nice color.

Burger, too!

Condiment time...mayonaise, mustard and ketchup. The 'ol standbys.

If anyone doesn't love this photo...boy oh boy.

Alright, now we get down to business. Top the burger with a slice of your favorite cheese...

Fry up an egg. In the bacon grease. I know, I know...

Place your avocado slices on the bottom half of the bun...

Then bring in the good stuff...

And the burger, of course...
Lay on the crowning layer...

Top it off with top bun and fries...

And watch your boyfriend try to take a bite! From what I heard it was pretty darn good!

Craving

2010-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to go on a school trip to Italy in 2005 when I was a freshman in college.

I had been wanting to go there for forever, as long as I can remember. It is calling me back.

I've been coaxing Andrew into going sometime fairly soon, I'm hoping spring/summer 2011. Back in 2005 when I went I had a brand new digital camera and not nearly as much interest in photography as I do now. I think I took around 400 pictures on an 8 day trip. I am so looking forward to when I can go back with my Nikon and bring home the gorgeous shots Italy has to offer.

Bonus points if you can name where the above photos were taken. The first and last should be pretty darn easy.

Have you been abroad? Where would you like to go back to?

35

2010-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

One month from today will be our third anniversary.

I have so much to say about it, but am going to wait until after it comes and goes to see if what I am so hoping will happen on that day happen.

At the same time if what I'm hoping happens happens, I want to be surprised and if it doesn't happen I'm going to be sorely disappointed. Trying really hard not to set myself up for failure.

Vegas, Baby

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I went to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend. We left early Saturday morning and came back late Tuesday night. We had booked our trip, the airfare and hotel room back in November. When we arrive at the Treasure Island the suite we had reserved wasn't available. I was incredibly irritated since I had called a few days earlier to make sure our reservation was still a go since we'd booked it so far in advance. So we get there and there is a huge line to check in. Turns out many people had reserved suites and they had double booked us all. Lovely. We ended up getting a deluxe room for the night on the corner of the building looking right down on the strip. In addition, we also got a $200 food credit which was really great as it paid for all of our food except the massive amounts of water we were drinking the whole time we were there. The first room was great because of the views, but the suite was terrific because of the whirlpool tub. We loved that thing!

We walked so much while we were there it's crazy. I think our favorite thing was the water show at the Bellagio. Pretty stunning really. We even got to see it from the top of the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris Hotel. We also had tickets for the Bodies Exhibit which was at the Luxor and did that Sunday afternoon after we'd walked all the way down the strip to get there. The walk back was a killer.

We went thru all the "cool" hotels: The Venetian, Ceaser's Palace, The Bellagio, New York, New York, Excalibur, The Luxor, The Mirage, The Paris, MGM, and a few others I can't name off the top of my head. We also saw the classic car museum at the Imperial Palace which my dad said we had to see since Andrew is a car guy.

Overall we had a great time and only lost about $20. Oh, we also saw the Jersey Boys the first night we were there. We were expecting a concert but it was really a musical production about the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. We had purchased our tickets back in March and were up in the balcony seating because we are cheap. When we got to our seats, we were early, the attendant asked us if we'd like to be moved down and we of course said yes. Our new seats were on the floor, seven rows back from the stage. Not too shabby for paying to be in the $72 section and getting moved to the $170 seats!

Have you been to Las Vegas? What was one of your favorite things?

The Diego Story

2010-06-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

One Monday when I arrived at the apartment there was a little boy out taking is dog for a walk. Since this is a pet friendly place there are many dogs around and people out and about with them. His dog was really cute and was using the grassy area across from our garage so I went over to ask him what kind of dog he had.

Turned out that his dog was a long hair Dauschund. He was the cutest little guy and so friendly. The next day during my lunch break at work I looked online to see what sorts of dogs were available for adoption. I saw a couple that looked really nice, but the breed just didn't suit living in an apartment. Since we've moved in here I've started going for walks at night and Andrew didn't like me going alone so I thought getting a dog would be a splendid solution.

As I continued to browse I saw Diego. He was at a local animal shelter. I called and they said they had him still and that they'd had him for nine days. Now usually, I would have just jumped in the car after work and gone to pick him up but I didn't. Surprisingly I actually thought about it and talked about it with Andrew. What a concept! The next day, Wednesday, I looked online again to see if he was still on the site and he was. I could not wait until 2pm to call and let them know we'd be coming to see him that evening after work.

When I got to the animal shelter I had already filled out the adoption application and faxed it over so they let me right into see the available dogs. I, of course, wound up in the cat area. Not my cup of tea. Once I finally got to the dog area I walked in tentatively. I knew it was going to be so difficult to see all the dogs that needed homes and not want to take them all with me. Luckily, Diego was in the first kennel and he was the only one I saw. I walked in and saw him as he stood up and wagged his tail, trying to stick his nose out to sniff me and licked my hand when I put it down and turned right back around with his paperwork in hand. He was going to be mine and that was they way it was going to be.

They put Diego and I in a little room to get used to each other and a few minutes later Andrew arrived. He was a little skittish at first, but warmed up quickly. We got the paperwork done and he was ours! I stopped at Petco on the way to the apartment to get supplies for him. The little turkey isn't spoiled at all, he's got two beds, all the treats he could ever want (and he doesn't care for any of them, he's rather picky), chewies galore and all the love he could ever need.

He really is the best little guy and we are so happy and lucky to have found him.

You can be sure that you will be hearing much more about him and seeing many more photos!

More Bullets

2010-06-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've actually posted something remotely close to content and I have to excuse to share. So, before I try to sink my teeth in again, here are some bullets to get you up to date:

The job I had last July, got laid off after 6 weeks
It was fine with me as I wasn't liking it at all although really sucked that I had to start the job search again
Between July and October I pretty much hunted for a job so there wasn't a whole lot of good news to report to you for those months
July and August were two of the hottest months the Seattle area had seen in years - think 100 in Seattle for consecutive days - not cool, no pun intended, well maybe a little
FINALLY, after almost three months without work I got a job
Last Wednesday marked 8 months
I now am the office manager at a marketing/printing company in downtown Seattle
Liking it a lot - the people are great and the actual job isn't bad
Christmas came, Christmas went
Welcome, 2010
Andrew and I spent our Valentine's Day watching the Daytona 500
That is not happening again
Turned 24 in March
Am getting old
Around then Andrew and I were looking at houses and found one we really liked, I was hooked and wanted it so badly, it was lovely
Fast forward a few days and one of us changes our mind about buying a house
Pretty sure you can guess it wasn't me
March 31st, we sign a 1 year lease at an "estate" apartment/townhouse complex
9.5 months to go
April 28, we get Diego
More to come on him soon
Memorial Day Weekend, we go to Las Vegas
Only lose $20 - not too shabby

So. There's the bullet edition of the last 11 months. How exciting. More detail to come on most topics soon! I know you are all, wait, is anyone actually still reading this?, on the edge of your seats!

Diego

2010-06-04T20:44:00.001-07:00

Internet, meet Diego.

Grace in Small Things - Five

2010-01-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

1. Peanut M&M's

2. Being Employed Right Now

3. Having a Wonderful Boyfriend

4. The Smell of Rain

5. Being Loved

2010-01-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

So I signed up to be part of a scarf exchange on another blog, don't ask which one because I'm not on my personal computer where I have the link. Today I got an email from the owner of the blog telling me who I was paired with for the exchange. I was excited! Until I realized the link to my own blog was there as well and I haven't posted anything here for, well, almost 3 months. It's ridiculous, I know.

I have been thinking about things I want to share to you all (hello...all I hear is the chirping of crickets!...I wonder why?) but between having a new job (yay!) and life there just hasn't been much time dedicated to blogging. As we've all noticed.

So, I'm not going to commit myself to writing 5 days a week as I have in the past or say that I'll even write at all. Since my only audience is myself and maybe Andrew, if he even still checks in here anymore, I'll be writing simply when I feel like it.

I do have things to share so you can expect to hear from me a bit more frequently.

And I'll leave it at that.

October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2009-10-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you would like to make a FREE $5 donation to help support breast cancer awareness please visit this site: http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/10/blogs-against-breast-cancer-2009/, copy the code listed there, put it somewhere on your blog, let them know and a $5 donation will be made. Simple as that.

26 Months

2009-09-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Today is 26 months for Andrew and I.

Before we hit two years every month on the 23rd I would say "happy (insert number of months)!" in the morning. Now though, it just seems kind of dumb. I mean, after two years what's the point? And, it's not like Andrew thinks of that on the 23rd of each month. But really, though, if we make it to say 80 months how weird would that be? "Good morning, oh and hey, happy 80 months!" A bit obsessive I think.

Maybe I'll just stick to half years. Yeah, that sounds better.

How do you and your anniversary mate do things? I assume most of you are married so it's the once a year reminder, right?

What We Did Last Night

2009-09-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

So this is what we did last night. Can you tell? I think things are pretty self explanatory! I like the photo on the bottom left of the biggest layout, how it's blurred quite a bit. I call it "Follow the Leader". It was about dusk so not the optimal time for taking photos, but when the shutter speed was so slow from not having the flash on it tracked the motion which I think looks pretty neat.

And, Andrew cut down his first tree! Anyways, that was about it. We didn't get to play catch which was a bummer, but we did get to see our favorite Monday night shows! Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and the new one, Accidentally on Purpose. Andrew's not sure about that one yet, but I liked it.

Grace in Small Things - Four

2009-09-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

1. Yesterday morning when Andrew left it was 40 degrees, this morning it was 60.

2. A beautiful sunny day.

3. The moment when Andrew gets home at night.

4. Breakfast.

5. Photos of last night to be uploaded and edited.

Hawaii - Day 2: Pearl Harbor and Honolulu City Tour

2009-09-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

I know it's been months since we got back from our Hawaii trip and that I haven't been posting frequently at all, but I thought now would be a good time to finish posting Hawaii photos.

And, rather than posting them one by one I grouped them all together to make only one upload.

These are from day 2, Friday, when we went to Pearl Harbor and on a city tour of Honolulu afterwords.

Andrew really liked Pearl Harbor and probably would have liked more time there. I'd been there before and to be honest wasn't too thrilled about going back, but it was one of his favorite things to see so that was good.

I'm sure you know the history. Basically, it is the result of Japan's attack which killed many people who were stationed in the harbor. The city tour included going ot Punch Bowl where many of those killed were laid to rest. The view from the top of the hill was amazing. You could see the entire city of Honolulu which, as our tour guide told us, was just plots of rice patties 60 years ago. Hard to believe, isn't it? So, yes, that was day 2.

My Memory? Apparently belongs here.

2009-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I apparently have awful memories. Saturday he asked me what we did the previous weekend. I could not remember, neither of us could. That's pretty sad. When I was regularly writing here I could go back and look to see what we'd done so I'm thinking I need to get back into that habit. So here goes nothing.

Let's see, it's Monday and I am struggling to recall what we did Saturday. That's only two days ago. I know, it's sad.

Alright, Friday night: Ah yes, Friday night, exciting as always. Andrew's uncle came over like usual and needed help with his email. Andrew messed around with it for over an hour and that was about it. Like I said, exciting as always.

Saturday: We planned to go on a (small) hike in the morning but woke up to rain. After a while the sky cleared up a bit and we were on our way out the door when my grandparents arrived to pick up my dad to go to a car show/museum and we followed along. Basically it was a bunch of old cars which Andrew likes. Afterwords we went to the golf course close to our house and had lunch at their new restaurant. They of course had the Huskies game on which we (Andrew) just had to watch. They won in the last 7 seconds luckily because I don't think I could have sat through overtime. After lunch we came back home, didn't do much and went to get pizza for dinner. It seems like there was more, but I cannot remember. My gosh.

Sunday: We went back to the golf course where Andrew hit a bucket of balls at the driving range then we grabbed a few of those balls and went to the putting green to work on that. We came back and watched the rest of the Nascar race with my dad then watched the second half of the Seahawks game. They lost unfortunately. After the Hawks game we went outside to hit some golf balls in the field where I promptly got fed up because I just can't seem to hit the ball. We got out Andrew's mitts and played catch for a while which was a lot of fun. Until one of us throws the ball over the fence on accident... Then we got out the bat and played two person baseball for a little while which was fun too. I think it's something we might try to do a little more often. We came in and watched two episodes of Bones afterwords (Andrew got me the first three seasons on dvd for our anniversary) then made dinner.

Overall, not an overly exciting weekend, but it was fun for me. I love being able to spend that much time with Andrew and being able to do things we really want to do on our own schedule. Next weekend we have a private golf lesson scheduled (my anniversary gift to him) so that will be interesting being as I cannot even hit the ball. Guess I'll need to practice a bit so I don't look like a complete idiot!

Anyways, I think I will be back to posting somewhat regularly even if it is just to document my days. And yes, I realize no one really cares about what I do all day or during the weekends, but I'm not asking for readers or comments, although both are nice. I just need a place to document my memories.

New "FOR REALS" Photography Blog

2009-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

As Haley-O always says CHECK IT!

http://www.dcurriephotography.smugmug.com/

It's got galleries, the ability for people to order prints, unlimited space...I love it!

Where the Blacktop Ends

2009-08-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

What do you think of that title? Where the Blacktop Ends? It's the title to a song that I like and while I was thinking about a new name last night on my way home it just popped into my head. I like it and it fits me. I live off the pavement on a dirt road, am a private (well, expect for this blog and my twitter account of course) country girl.

I was really looking for somethat that was short and to the point to that when typing the link it wouldn't a handful, but if I have the url be http://wtbte.blogspot.com that is a lot shorter than typing out http://thedailydoseoffabulous.blogspot.com and I like it better. It fits where I am right now in my life: off the beaten path.

What do you think? Comments?

Changing - A Dose of Fabulous needs a new name

2009-08-24T19:26:00.001-07:00

I want to change the name and URL of this blog. I think the reason I have not been posting is because it just doesn't fit anymore. I've been writing here for over a year. When I first started I had something totally different in mind which you'll see if you go to the first dozen or so entries. It was to be the daily dose of fabulous where I would post something each day: shoes, a quote, photo, etc., then it just became about me. I suppose I really wanted a blog that was about me, and Andrew of course so I could document our lives and look back when neither of us can remember what we did last weekend. As you can see I just haven't been posting. I just haven't been feeling it. Sure, I do have things in my mind I want to write about, but this just doesn't seem right now. It needs a new name, a new look, a face lift. I did the new look a few months ago, but didn't know I could change the name then. Had I actually clicked on the settings tab I would have known that, but alas. So, this is where you may come in, help me come up with a new name. Something that fits this place. If you've read more than 5 posts here you'll know what I'm about and a bit of who I am. This blog needs a new name. Help me come up with one.

Passing it on

2009-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm passing on my horse knowledge and you know what? It's kind of fun. We have lived where we do for 21 years and our neighbors moved in two years later. They had two girls, Leah and Courtney, who were 7 and 4 years older than me. We have always been close, Leah and I more so though. They had horses before we did and when I was 4 Leah took me to ride on Courtney's horse Coke. Something spooked her in the field, we fell off and I landed right on top of her. That was our first "bonding moment" if you will. I used to love to go to their jumping lessons and always wanted to be there to play with the horses.

A few years later when I was 8 I got my first horse. We didn't have any of our fences up yet so she stayed across the dirt road for a few months. Of course, I was always there and Leah, Court and I would be out with our horses. I learned a lot from both of them.

Now, years have passed and they both have kids and have grown out of horses. I, as you can see, have not and don't intend to. Leah lived in her mom's house with her husband and kids for two years while their's was being built and her mom was living part time back east for work. During that time her kids became like my and Andrew's niece and nephew. We adore them. They were always interested in the horses and Koleden said he wanted to ride but by them time we went out to see them he'd changed his mind.

He just turned 6 last month and man, all he wanted was cowboy stuff. Leah and Dave moved into their new house a few months ago so I don't get to see the kids as often but all he wants to do now is come over and ride the horse. She brought them over Sunday and he rode all by himself. He had to wait a little while for me to get out of the shower and ready and he still wanted to ride which was amazing. He did great for his first time alone. I am so proud of him. And his sister, Addison, will be learning soon as well. For now she has to live with Leah or I leading her around. I told her when she is 3 we'll teach her to ride by herself. Luckily, that is in November so by the time the weather is good enough to be consistant she'll be closer to 3.5.

The roles really have changed, that is for sure. From Leah teaching me to me teaching her kids. Granny as the kids call her, Leah's mom, is going to get the kids a POA next spring so for hte meantime Boston is my kids horse. Luckily for me he has a lot of patience. Courtney's daughter will be next, but she just turned two so we have a little time there. Her other grandma and grandpa have horses too, so she's in love with them also. Just thought I'd share. I'm really excited about Kole being excited about something. And Andrew is happy that he will still play baseball with him so all our bases are covered! We both love those kids, they are a big part of our lives.

Hawaii Day 1 (Thursday) - Sea Life Park

2009-07-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Our first full day on the island was my absolute favorite. We did something I'd been wanting to do for a very long time: swim with the dolphins. It was incredible. We did this at Sea Life park on the eastern coast of the island. The setting is quite lovely as part of the park looks out over the ocean as you can see from the photos. They offer a few different ways you can interact with the dolphins and last time I was there, 5 years ago for high school graduation, my Aunt Lisa and I just did the option where we touched them, did a quick photo and that was about it. Not this time around! We actually got to get in the water with them, touch and swim with them. We both got to do a dorsal fin tow and a foot push. If I could figure out how to upload the video we bought here I would, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

We were the first couple to go, I think there were 6 couples, which was a bit scary as we didn't have any demonstration of what we were to do. So Andrew went to one side and I went to the other. I was told to stand like a T, arms out and feet down. The trainer gave the dolphins their command and here they came, one on each side. Next thing I knew I could feel their bodies running under my hands until their fins hooked and off we went. It was incredible! Andrew was next and what he was told to do was lay in the water, arms and legs out in front and behind him. Then they were off and one was pushing on either of his feet propelling him up and out of the water for a distance. Then we switched. Incredible.

After our swims and everyone went we got to have our photos taken with them. Two are above. I haven't scanned them yet so you are seeing a picture of a picture, but they are still pretty cool I think. I have a frame with two side by side 5x7s that I think I'm going to put them in.

I am so glad we did that package. It was possibly the most memorable experience of my life thus far. I'm telling you, if I could have afforded it and it wasn't so far from Waikiki I would have gone back to do it again everyday we were there.

Oh, there were also sea turtles, seals and that sort of thing, but I'm thinking you can probably guess where my camera was aimed most of the time! Andrew also had his surfing lesson that day, but I don't have the photos for that on my computer yet. I'll be doing a Day 1, Part 2 continuation sometime later this week.

So...

2009-07-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Here I am. A few weeks later. Sorry about that. Things have been a little busy lately as you may have guessed. Let's see... I started a new job, we went to Hawaii, got a massive sumburn, came home, resumed new job, rode Star for the very first time with Andrew's help, had Andrew's graduation party, camped for 2 nights at above mentioned party, got eaten alive on legs and feet from above mentioned camping by mosquitoes, have continued to check my reader at work occasionally although have not commented, clearly have not posted to my own blog, have left you all high and dry as I promised I wouldn't.

Besides that, not a whole heck of a lot. I am posting a teaser of one of my favorite photos from our vacation. Taken on Waikiki Beach 13 days ago on our last full day on Oahu. This was the same day my massive sumburn arrived. See that umbrella? I was under it 95% of the time. How in the world did I get burned?!

I do plan to start you know, actually taking some iniative around here and post a day by day post, with photos of course!, of what we did. It's funny now that we're home, I find myself telling Andrew as the weeks progress"____ weeks ago we were doing ________." I wonder how long that will take to get out of my system.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm getting close to my blogiversary. One year. I'd like to do something different around here for that, but am not quite sure what yet. Any thoughts?

Hope you all have been well and haven't totally lost interest in my little blog. I'm talking to you Sarah and Rachel!

A few things - Bullets Edition

2009-06-15T22:18:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted lately
Andrew graduated college
I got a job
I am not really liking the new job
I keep telling myself "It's x-amount of dollars per day."
We leave for Hawaii Wednesday
This Wednesday
That's about 36 hours
Um, really?
It seems like we were just starting to plan
And tonight we were packing
I have still been skimming blogs, just not commenting
New job doesn't want me on internet
How dare them
Still check email and reader
Am hoping I'm not forgetting anything that needs to be packed
Underwear? Check. Bathing suits? Check. Beach towels? Check. 7 days worth of clothes? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Camera? Check. Flip video camera? Check. Toilettries and all that? Check. A few snacks for the plane? Check. Bit of a cold that I'm hoping packs it's bags within 36 hours? Check. Andrew's laptop (in his bag) to post some photos while we're there? Check (well, after he packs it up tomorrow night).
I think that's about it
Hope you all have been well and don't think I've left you totally high and dry

4 Years Ago

2009-06-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

4 years ago today we brought Boston home. The first photo was that day at his previous home and the second was taken by Andrew in April. He doesn't look to me like he's aged much, but I on the other hand. Hmmm. Maybe a little more use of moisturizer is an order.

When I first saw the ad for him on dreamhorse.com he was out of my price range by about $400. I kept looking at him though, he seemed to be just perfect. A week or two went by and I'd put him in the back of my mind knowing I couldn't afford him but I searched to see if he was still there. He was. And, his price had been reduced. I could suddenly afford him. I printed out the add, folded it up and put it in my back pocket. Later, I finally called on him. Someone else was coming to look at him the next day, but I really wanted him. We went that day. He was lovely. Friendly, easy to handle and easy to ride. I took him for a test ride where he was perfect. The topper? His mane. It was like silk. I was sold. He was sold. The next day Andrew's aunt and uncle came with me to get him since they were going to the livestock sale a few miles from where he was at and we brought him home. He was mine.

We don't know a whole lot about him except that he was a ranch horse in Montana and most likely was not treated well. It has taken him a long time to warm up to all of us, me included, but he truly is a love. He is my old faithful. He is my nephew's favorite and my all around kids or beginners horse. He loves to run. He loves people and attention. He, finally, loves me.

Happy four years of your new life Boston, there are many more to come.

10 days later...

2009-05-29T09:48:00.001-07:00

Well, hello.

Seems like I've forgotten that I have a blog doesn't it.

I haven't, really. It's just that I have nothing exciting going on. Not that what I usually write about is exciting, but at least it's something.

For the most part I am just job hunting, applying and waiting for answers. Oh, and trying to lose some inches for Hawaii which is coming up quick and clearly not working. I'm kind of to the point where when I try I get so incredibly discouraged when nothing changes that I just stop trying. I still have two weeks so I should be able to do something in that time frame.

Andrew is graduating next Sunday so that is exciting. It's strange though because he has two finals after graduation. I know he will pass and do great as always, but for me when I graduated that was it. No more! Oh well, it's soon at least.

Besides that, we are getting our 5th wheel ready to live in while we save for a down payment. It's coming along nicely and should be just about done this weekend. We are enjoying the sunshine while it's here and working on our base tans for Hawaii! Other than that there's not a whole lot to talk about.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Our Puppy Weekend

2009-05-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

So, if you read any of my tweets you will know that Andrew and I puppy sat for my aunt and uncle this weekend. They got a new puppy, Spinner, on Easter and he is now 3 months.

Here are a few photos of our excursion starting at the top left. I went to work Saturday morning and while we were there he was in that position which I thought was super cute. Then, back at his house playing fetch. I think you can tell which is the after shot. Later, lounging with auntie and uncle. Then, cooking with Uncle Andrew. And lastly the shot of sheer depression after he'd been kicked off the couch. Don't you feel sorry for him? We didn't.

Anyways, it was a nice weekend, we wish we would have had more time to "play house" as I called it, but are scheduled again to puppy sit the end of July! Let's hope the potty training is all the way done and the biting/scratching is all finished up too!

Officially a College Graduate

2009-05-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

I'm all done! The whole school thing? Over!

Here are some pictures from graduation on May 9th. I'll start from the top: My school, me in front avoiding putting on the cap, waiting in line for my name to be called, after receiving the diploma case*, after graduation with my parents, back at the party with my grandparents who funded the whole school ordeal, with my uncle who played bartender for the party, with Andrew's aunt and uncle who initially introduced us 5 years ago, a picture Andrew took of me, me with both Andrew and his twin brother**, just Andrew and I, me apparently not knowing what to open next after most everyone had gone, the cake with raspberry filling(!), a shot of my leis and lastly them hanging.

The weather was gorgeous and I am so, so glad we had the party that day as it was the only sunny day of the week. Lots of people were able to come and I think everyone had a good time. So, I am now officially a college graduate. Scary! My major is business administration with an economics minor and a management concentration. I'm on the search for a job now so keep your fingers crossed about that!

I must say though, the gown did me no justice at all. I really am not as huge as it makes me look! Sorry I haven't posted lately, but I was really overwhelmed at the thought of posting graduation photos without editing them, but oh well. You all are getting what I have ready now and that's about it! Hope all has been well with you!

*They'll mail be the actual thing soon.

**They really are twins, I promise. Just look nothing alike.

Really?

2009-05-05T09:50:00.001-07:00

I know I've been talking about it a lot lately, but tonight is my last night in a dorm room. EVER. Wait, can that be right? Yes, yes it is.

I just looked back at this post written the second night I was here back in August. I didn't think it would ever end back then and now, it's 24 hours from being over. People tell you that time flies, and well, it really does.

I have one final to go, stuff to pack into the car tonight and that's it. Oh wait, there's that little graduation thing on Saturday too. Guess I'll be here for that, but then that really is it. EVER. My gosh. I know, I keep using "ever", sorry but it's just so hard to believe.

Anyways, I really have nothing important to post today except this. Which to most if not all, is not important, but alas.

Our Night on the Town

2009-05-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

So my school put in this cruise around Elliot Bay here in Seattle last Thursday and Andrew and I decided to go. We had our whole little plan, because I like plans, laid out that we'd get there early and have dinner at Red Robin since it was at the same Pier. We finally found a parking spot, had cheeseburgers with a fried egg on top (it sounds gross, but my gosh is it delicious) and waited a few minutes to be able to board the boat.

The bus that was bringing everyone up from campus was late so we walked around on the boat and look a few pictures for a little while. Right next to this Pier is a pretty busy ferry terminal and as you can imagine when a ferry comes in or out is creates a good size wake which in turn causes our boat to rock, rock, rock. And not in a good sense. After about 10 minutes of that on top of a cheeseburger my stomach was churning and I really didn't think I would be able to make it on the 3 hour cruise (is anyone else thinking of Gilligan?) without getting sick. We got off and walked down to the next Pier right as the buses were pulling up.

So, instead of sitting on the boat for 3 hours we walked around the Piers, got some ice cream and of course I took some photos. I was kicking myself the entire time for not bringing my good camera because I hadn't wanted to pack it around all evening and really, how many pictures can you take when you're confined on a boat? Keep in mind it didn't actually take off until it was just about dark.

As you can see from the photos we had a lot of fun. More really, than I think we would have on the cruise. We watched it pull away and there were a ton of people on board accompanied with loud music. Not either of our things. I've actually taken the hint from Sarah and Rachel that hey, pictures look better when they're edited a bit so I played around with some of these to get a different look.

The first one is the only one I liked from the boat. The wind was blowing just right and I loved how it looked especially using a bit of antiquing. The majority of the others are from walking around the Piers. You'll notice the one of a bunch of buildings though. Where the arrow is pointed is where Andrew decided we should move when we're 65 or so. It would have a spectacular view. And then there's the Space Needle. That was taken with my hand out the window going down the freeway at 60 so I don't think it turned out to bad. I did a couple things with it to make it look older which I kind of like.

We realized as we were walking around how little of the city we take advantage of. We really do live in a stunning place and we rarely take time to appreciate it. Neither of us have been to the Seattle Aquarium in years and walked right past it on the walk to the boat. It is an amazing place and we are going to go sometime soon. There is so much to see and do just on a little 5 block stretch of waterfront it's insane. Our next step is to actually put it to use!

Also, as a side note, there's a new post on my photography blog. And, another side note, today in about an hour and a half is my most difficuly final. I am pretty sure I have it all under control and am feeling confident about it, but I am sure I could use any extra luck anyone has to send this way!

Weekend Re-Cap...From Weekend Before Last

2009-04-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that we have horses. And what do horses do after they eat? Well, I think you know the answer to this. It wouldn't be a problem if my horses could learn to step outside first. But, oh no. That would be far too much effort for them. Alas, I clean the stalls on Friday and Sundays. This particular weekend though it was gorgeous and I of course had my camera out so Andrew cleaned for me so I could take photos. He probably wasn't betting on me taking photos of him though. Then again, if he wasn't he should have known.

Anyways, here he is with his on lookers asking where dinner is.

And Star, as always with her head in the wheelbarrow "helping". Ha. And yes, she really does look that small, but she is only 3.
Done!

I really like this one. My human love in front and my horsey love in the background.

Molly was just so happy to have some sun I had to get this shot.
In addition to Andrew cleaning the stalls for me we got quite a bit done in preparation for the graduation celebration my parents are having for me next weekend (next weekend, I can't believe it). We have a flower garden that goes all the way along our driveway (you can see part of the rockery above and to the left of Molly) the needed to be edged and weeded so we got that done and some bark put in last weekend.

Things are coming together for the party and I'm busy finishing my last week of school. I have only today and tomorrow of regular classes then next Monday thru Wednesday for finals and that's it. Well, graduation that Saturday, but then that's it! I've also been sending out resumes so please keep your fingers crossed someone thinks I will be a good fit for their company. There are three in particular I'd really like to get so I am hoping for those.

Hope everyone has been doing well while I've been taking my little hiatus. I have a few photos for the photography blog as well and might even get those up today. Shocking!

Just so you know

2009-04-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

If I usually read your blog and leave a comment, I'm not ignoring you.

I had big plans today as there are two things I wanted to celebrate, but my internet connection is so...ridiculously...slow (and yes, I did need to use ... to show you just how slow it really is) that I just can't handle it.

The photots I posted yesterday of Spinner took about 20 minutes to upload.

There will be actual content, photos AND even comments on your blog tomorrow though.

Until then, keep your fingers crossed for a faster connection!

Spinner!

2009-04-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Internet, meet Spinner!

He belongs to my aunt and uncle and is the most adoarble puppy. He is a dalmation as you can see, but has brown spots rather than black.

I'm puppysitting when his parents go to Oregon in 3 weeks so that will be fun! (Let's hope he's all the way potty trained by then.) I'm sure that I will be posting more photos as he gets bigger, but for now enjoy!

Food Wednesday...A Little Late.

2009-04-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

You may remember from yesterday that I mentioned only having egg salad sandwich fixings. Well, I'm going tell you how I go about making my variety of this simple favorite.

First and most obviously hard boil and peel the eggs.

I cooked the full dozen since I wouldn't use eggs for anything else.

Get your ingredients.

For me this is mustard, mayonnaise, relish (I like dill, if you prefer sweet go for it), Tabasco, salt and pepper. I usually use a dash of Worcestershire sauce, but didn't have any.
Next, add all your ingredients to the eggs. (Tip that I was not smart enough to use myself: cut the eggs into quarters or something to make it easier to mash.)

Mash! A potato masher works best for me.

Last: enjoy! Add salt and pepper to taste if desired.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

2009-04-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Can anyone guess who came to visit me last night?!

That's right, you guessed it:

I know, he's sweet. And, we look super cute together. At least I think so!
So, since I had nothing really good to have for dinner except egg salad (which you'll be seeing tomorrow), we used one of our Applebees giftcards! And yes, I am the weird person in the restaurant who takes pictures. However, I didn't pack my big camera in (I'm not that person!) so these were taken with my little point and shoot.

Mmmm, strawberry daiquiri! And for Andrew: Mmmm, beer!

He likes seafood and I can't stand it so when we go out to eat is about the only time he gets it when we're together.
Fish and chips:
The good stuff! I like cheeseburgers, luckily he does too!
My cowboy burger (it has an onion ring on it, delicious!):

The bad thing about when he comes down? He has to leave the next morning. The really bad thing about him coming down on a Wednesday? I don't get to see him until Friday. Usually when he leaves I get to see him later that evening, but alas.

Anyways, thank you baby for coming down. Even if I wanted you to wait until next week! Oh well. It was a lot of fun and I always love it when you're here. Can't wait to see you tomorrow!

News!

2009-04-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have some news:

First, I took off the Under Construction. I changed things the best I could. I would like the everything to move a tad to the right, but am living with it as it is. I'm not an html master, but think I did alright. I hope it looks okay on everyone else's monitors!

Second, this is the bigger news: I started a photography website! I am very excited about it. There isn't much to it yet as it's been up and going for all of 8 days, but I'm hoping to make something of it eventually. And no, I'm not the best photographer, but I finally have the camera I'd been lusting after for quite sometime so thought I should make something of it. I know I have potential, at least I like to think I do, so hope it works out well.

If you'd like to take a look, here is the link: http://diannacurriephotography.blogspot.com

I know I've complained about Blogger before and not being able to reply to comments, but I tend to get a bit set in my ways and I just wasn't ready to switch over to WordPress or another site just yet. It would have been the perfect opportunity, yes, to have a clean slate with a new blog but I've got Blogger down for the most part. Except for the html and layout technicalities, obviously!

So, I hope the changes here work for you and the layout looks decent on whatever size monitor you have and that you check out the photography website. I'm quite excited about it!

To Cut or Not to Cut

2009-04-13T10:03:00.001-07:00

Okay, I need your help. Here is my dilemma: I can't decide if I should cut my hair off again or not. Andrew really likes it short, but I am just not getting to the point where I can french braid it and put it in a real ponytail. So, I am posting some photos to help you help me make a decision. This is how Andrew really likes my hair:

It looks long, but it's cut up in the back. You can see it a bit in this photo:

It had grown out a bit, but was cut up as high as my hair would allow in the back. I really don't mind it like that, but I love my hair long. At least I am able to pull it up on the sides because it's left long there.
This next picture I hated. It was WAY too short. It was cut like this the end of August and I am just now (APRIL!) able to have a full ponytail. That's how short it was. Awful.
This was taken at Christmas and it had had a chance to grow out a bit. It was kind of the in between stage so wasn't too bad. I was just happy it was growing.

And this last picture was taken Saturday. Now, it doesn't look too great because it was raining, but it shows the length. (And my handsome boy.) As you can tell I tend to change color quite often... It will stay blonde for a while as I'm graduating (26 days!) and want to look like myself. You know?

Anyways, I need your help! Here are my dilemmas:

1. I like it long.

2. Andrew likes it short.

3. It takes less time to handle when it's short.

4. Short will be better in Hawaii as it will dry faster and be easier for getting in and out of the water.

5. Andrew made the point that when in Hawaii I'd be able to put it in a ponytail if I don't cut it.

6. Either way I'll be able to pull it up, even if I do cut it.

7. I really like the look when it's cut up in the back.

8. The shorter in the back the more access for Andrew to kiss my neck (swoon).

9. This is kind of my biggest reason...We have an intended wedding date of July 23, 2011. If I cut it now I can let it grow out from here. Because I know if I don't do it now I'm going to want to do it later then I will be really pissed if it's not as long as I want it by our wedding date.

I know that last reason sounds pretty dumb, but that's the way I think!

So, what would you do? Would you cut it and get a really cute haircut (and really make your boyfriend happy), or let it continue to grow?

I need your help!

Surprise!

2009-04-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

I got a lovely surprise when I checked my mail today: a package from my Aunt Lisa! Exciting, right?! Here's what was inside:

I really love these little goblet things. They are super cute!
My favorite thing ever! I love the chocolate covered marshmallow things. Hershey's only, please.

2 things

2009-04-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

1. My hair is finally long enough to do this to:
Not my best work since it's been, oh about two years, but celebrate!

2. 5 more weeks of this:

Celebrate!

The Weekend

2009-04-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a weekend re-cap for sometime so thought now might be a good time. And, I was actually able to experiment with my camera so wanted to share some of those photos.

Saturday afternoon my dad and Andrew thought it would be good to put the shredder to work so cut up the limbs of some of the windfalls we had recently. Here they are sawing away.

And into the shredder it goes.

I, meanwhile, was "documenting". My code for actually just taking pictures while everyone else is working. Louie was helping me document and being a subject.

I was trying to be a little creative here and this was the result. I really like how it turned out and am happy to have actually used my camera to some to some of it's full potential.

Another creative angle.

Growing out of an old growth stump. Andrew liked this shot. It's the same old growth stump from the last picture, just showcasing a little more of the actual texture.

Can you find the hiding creature in this photo?

I sat down with Louie for a minute, because we all know that "documenting" is exhausting and I was a bit surprised when something jumped! It was a little baby frog.

Here he, or she, is up close.

And of course, all the while Star was standing at the fence observing.

Overall the weekend was quite nice. The weather was much better than it has been the last few weekends and we actually got to see the sun, a nice change! Andrew and I didn't really do anything, but we got to spend time together so which is always lovely.

How was your weekend, did you do anything exciting?

Just Plain Bad

2009-04-03T12:04:00.001-07:00

That is exactly what I am with this blog.

I rarely have any good ideas of what to write and when I do it always seems like I'm not saying or explaining the topic correctly or fully.

I started this blog with the intention of writing 5 days a week, and for a while I did. But now, it seems sort of like a burden. When I don't have something to write about I feel guilty and when I do I feel like it's been so long since I've written anything that why bother?

I would say that I need to take a break, but I kind of have been! So, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do. I'm frustrated with the layout and not knowing how to change things and make them look the way they're supposed to. I'm also quite frustrated with attempting to move this blog to another site that allows me to respond to comments, but my gosh! it's really hard.

Anyways, I'm just complaining. Sorry about that.

Hope all 2 of you that actually read here (not that I don't get why I have all of 2 readers, I'm kind of dull and when there aren't any posts there's nothing to read), have a wonderful weekend!

My underwear? Oh yes, it's lovely.

2009-03-31T11:19:00.001-07:00

I have a small ~~addiction to~~ love of nice under garments.

There I said it. And really, I suppose it would depend on who you asked as to which words are more accurate. If you ask Andrew for instance, he would probably say it was more to the addiction side. Then again when he is reminded that he gets to see it it's not so bad. And really, doesn't every woman love to have pretty underwear?

I didn't used to care less until the time came when there was someone else seeing it. Now I'm all about lace and matching and all that jazz. If you knew me in real life you would be shocked from reading that. I have never been a girly girl. Never. I wear a dress or skirt maybe 3 times a year.

But now, it just seems so right to wear nice pretty things. This doesn't sound bad does it. Well, I haven't yet mentioned Victoria's Secret. I absolutely love that store. Seriously. And I'm not even close to being one of those girls who is a size 2 and fits into everything as you may have noticed from the sidebar (which I haven't updated lately...).

Okay, I feel like I'm rambling here and I really did have a point I swear.

So, am I the only one this way? Is it going to wear off after we've hit the 2 year mark?

Under Construction

2009-03-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

As you may be able to tell, I screwed up my lovely new layout and am quite confused as to how I go about fixing it. My laptop has a 17 inch screen so when I was changing things around I made it so it looked all pretty on this computer. When I was checking in over the weekend with my mom's 15 inch monitor the right sidebar appeared at the bottom of the page under all the posts. It seemed that I had set things too wide to fit on a smaller screen.

So, I went in and changed things so that they looked like they were supposed to be on her screen and today when I logged in on my 17 inch screen (have I lost you with how many times I've written "screen"?) it was all messed up. Very narrow and not centered under the title. Which I hate. Things have to be centered and asymmetrical for me.

Alas, the blog is under construction and I'm not really sure what to do. Should I leave it so it works for a smaller monitor or so it looks how it should on my larger one? I'm at a loss! Suggestions?

20 Months

2009-03-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today is 20 months for Andrew and I.

I have already said many times on this blog how much I love and adore him and honestly, I don't know what else to say about our relationship. It's not perfect, and sometimes it's hard, but we work together to make things right for us. We get questions from people sometimes about why we don't hurry up and get married since we'll both be finished with school in a few weeks (weeks, really?!) and why our intended date is 2 years off, but it works for us. No one else is in this besides he and I.

We argue occasionally, but who doesn't? And really, 9 times out of 10 it's my fault to begin with. I suppose he gets the short end of the stick since this is really my first real relationship. I have heard to many people tell me that first time things never work out and I may as well cut it off now and go date other people, but can they honestly believe that when they see how happy we are together? I'll be honest, I used to believe it too, but now it seems so right. And I will admit, sometimes I want to hurry up and make our intended wedding date a little closer, but it just wouldn't be right. It will be perfect when it comes and we won't have rushed to get things together.

Hopefully we will be settled into a house, Andrew will have taken and passed with flying colors the CPA exam and we will both have good jobs. We won't be newlyweds searching for a place to rent and trying to scrape things together. We will be established and ready to start a new chapter of our lives together in a more powerful sense. And yes, I do know that it will be at times difficult to make this life together, but we get so much from each other I feel that we can handle just about anything that can be thrown at us. We've already handled a lot and that was just 5 months into this thing we have.

I know that he will be a wonderful husband. He is already the best boyfriend (I can't stand that word. There has got to be something else.) I could have asked for. I wouldn't want anyone else standing beside me through all life has to offer. I can see us. It will be perfect.

Happy Day!

2009-03-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Hope your day is filled with luck, rainbows and large pots of gold.

As an aside, am sending Andrew extra luck as he's taking his most difficult final in about an hour.

Grace in Small Things - Three

2009-03-13T14:20:00.001-07:00

1. Birthdays!

2. A boyfriend who makes you tacos for your birthday!

3. Presents!

4. Cupcakes!

5. Spring Break!

Pictures of #2 to follow!

30 Day Shred Update

2009-03-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

So I did level 2 of the 30 Day Shred somewhat consistently last week and today when I took my measurements, I have lost 1.75 inches overall. I will post the actual measurements later on in the sidebar.

The workout has a lot of squats and lower body exercises to my loss if from my lower body. Hips and thighs. But, I'll take it! I've decided not to worry about what the scale says because it's not moving too much yet inches are still coming off.

I figure if I can stay with an inch or more each week that by the time we go I should be quite a bit smaller than I am now. All I want to do is be able to wear a bikini. Keep your fingers crossed!

Grace in Small Things - two

2009-03-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

1. Webcams!

2. A light snowfall.

3. CBS's Monday night lineup.

4. Cucumbers.

5. UPS delivering packages!

Grace in Small Things - One

2009-03-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Susan from Friday Playdate for posting Grace in Small Things. What are Grace in Small Things? Just things that you have found throughout your day that generally you'd pass by and not realize, just take for granted or enjoy.

1. It's sunny and beautiful outside.

2. I get to go home this afternoon.

3. Blueberry Morning cereal.

4. Victoria's Secret Love Spell body wash and lotion.

5. Being able to go to college.

I'm going to be posting these pretty frequently because I tend to take many things in my life for granted. Feel free to do the same in the comments or your blog.

Flying a Jet Plane

2009-03-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my parents, Andrew and I had a chance to fly a Boeing 767 jet. Not to worry though, you won't have to be looking out for us on your next flight! It was actually in one of Boeing's simulators.

My aunt raises Guide Dogs for the Blind and every year my parents go to the charity auction. At the last one my mom won the raffle to pick out any one of the items available that she wanted before the auction started. She ended up picking 4 passes for the simulator.

We went to one of the Boeing buildings in Renton and were escorted into the building, name badges and all, and taken to like a giant room that had 6 or 7 simulators on each side. It was kind of like a warehouse really. Now, keep in mind that these things cost between $15-20 million a piece. There's a bit of money sitting in that room. They are the ones the pilots learn to fly on so that's pretty neat.

We were all supposed to be able to fly once, so we got into the simulator with the instructor and off we went. It's hard to explain what it looks like, but similar to a giant egg I suppose. It sits up on hydraulics and there is a ramp that's lowered to walk across to it. Once inside it's just like a cockpit expect there are 3 extra seats in the back for onlookers.

Andrew went first and did very well. He flew around Seattle and did a flyby of the Space Needle. It's amazing all the controls that are up there, it's an exact replica of a real plane. The computer animations were amazing as well. Where the windows are were screens that showed in real time exactly where you were going. From the runway, all around Seattle and back. He landed very well too!

My dad went next and by this time my mom and I decided we were going to chicken out and let the boys go twice. I was getting a little sea sick! The simulator makes it feel so real and moves like the plane does. Even going down the runway feels like you're actually doing it and has the little bumps that you would feel if you were taxiing (not sure how to spell that...) down the runway.

Anyways, my dad was in the Air Force for a while so was sort of familiar with the controls and such so did well too. His landing was a but rougher, but neither one of them crashed! After my mom and I decided to let the guys go again the instructor put us at the San Francisco airport. Andrew went first again and he got to fly under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was crazy! When my dad went in SF he got to fly through a hanger which was also pretty weird!

Overall, it was pretty fun and no one crashed so that was a plus! My mom asked the instructor and he said they could simulate just about everything. Even something like the crash on the Hudson can be simulated. Turbulence, thunderstorms, just about anything you could think of. I was happy to get off though, I will admit. It didn't make me any more excited to get on the plane to Hawaii. Not looking too forward to that!

Changes, Changes

2009-03-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

I made a few more changes to the layout around here last night. What do you think? I'm worries it's a tad cluttered and would like to have a little more space between the sidebars and the main text, but if I mess with the html anymore my head just may very well pop off and I really don't want that.

The main reason I added the left sidebar was so that I could add a section called "Measure, Measure" where I'm going to put my measurements each week. I figure if I have to be accountable to the Internet, that would probably motivate be better than just being accountable to myself. It will probably end up being pretty long since I intend to just keep adding to it rather than deleting the previous week's entries which is why I moved everything else to the left side.

Anyways, as far as progress, there was some this morning! I stepped on the scale, I know you're only supposed to do it once a week but I like gratification, and there was a loss! Sweet! So as my reward for exercising last night and a little this morning I got to use all the good smelling stuff I talked about yesterday. I smell delicious! Bummer I won't be seeing Andrew tonight in all my good smelling glory.

I didn't really intend to make this into a diet or weightloss blog and I'm sorry if that is what it seems like. I am completely not a diety kind of person, but figure someone out there might be in the same boat I am. There will be actual content again soon!

Motivated

2009-03-03T20:04:00.001-08:00

I've mentioned that I'm doing the 30 Day Shred, and man, it is hard. I did level two tonight for the first time and had to stop 2/3 of the way through and finish with 1/3 of level one. Oh well, it's done so that's all that matters.

Anyways, I've found a way to motivate myself. I've been wanting some smelly shower stuff for a while now and have been too cheap to buy any... Well, Victoria's Secret, one of my favorite stores, always does the 5 for $30 on bath stuff so I went ahead and got items in the Love Spell scent as that's the perfume I wear. I got hand cream, body butter, body mist, shower gel and body lotion. Mmmm!

So my plan is this: If I exercise the night before and the morning of I can use the good smelling stuff. If I don't, then just soap. It's weird, I know, but it will work for me.

My other motivation is hanging on the wall in my pantry/walk in closet (I live in a dorm apartment, hence the combination). What is it you ask? A bikini. I know, I know. The girl who needs to lose 20 pounds to even contemplate fitting into a bikini is going to use that as motivation. Well, I'm telling you. It's going to work.

To prove it to you, I'm going to post my weight and measurements here on Mondays. While it is going to be overly embarrassing to begin with because my weight is higher than I'd like it to be, but it will be another motivator. I'm all for them!

Me and My Love

2009-03-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Two of the bloggers I read did this a few days ago and I thought it would be kind of fun to do too. Thanks to Heather and Linda for posting!

What are your middle names?

Mine is Marie, his is Robert.

How long have you been together?

Since July of 2007.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

We met in February of 2004.

Who asked whom out?

Andrew did. He never really "asked me out", but since we'd known each other for so long and we both knew we liked each other he just went ahead and kissed me. Or tried to. That was in September of 2007 and when he tried I sort of said no although he knew I really wanted to so just went ahead and did it. I was really nervous because I had never been kissed before, shameful to admit, but true. We were even closer after that and eventually in July 2008 he tried again. I wasn't stupid that time and went with it. I wish he would have tried again sooner, but alas.

How old are each of you?
I will be 23 in 11 days and Andrew will be 23 in October.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Andrew's brother since I am an only child.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
School. We only get to see each other on the weekends and when Andrew surprises me and comes down for a visit.

Did you go to the same school?
No, unfortunately. Even though in the long run being apart has taught us how to work through many things which I suppose is good in the long run. Our schools are 65 miles apart, so it has been very, very difficult at times, but we only have a few months left. 

Are you from the same home town?
No. Andrew was brought up in Federal Way and I still live in Maple Valley, about 20 miles away.

Who is smarter?
Definitely Andrew. He is the hard worker in school and really tries where I just do enough to get by. He is always reading and truly has an interest in what he's learning. I'm just here for the really expensive piece of paper.

Who is the most sensitive?
Hmmm, probably me. Although both our feelings get hurt very easily. I tend to take things more personally than he does I suppose.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? 
Red Robin! I love that place! And it's about a quarter mile from the movie theater we go to so that helps!

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Philadelphia, NYC and Washington D.C last summer.

Who has the craziest exes?
I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that I don't have any so I'm just going to go ahead and say Andrew.  

Who has the worst temper?
That would definitely be me. I tend to get mad easily and give "the look" easier than I get mad.

Who does the cooking?
We both do. Andrew always tries to help when I'm cooking. I like to be a little more inventive sometimes and get tired of eating the same stuff so he is always supportive when I'm preparing something a bit out of the usual.

Who is the neat-freak?
That would also be me about things in the house, Andrew about cars. His car is always tidy and clean while mine generally always needs to be washed. I am a neat freak about things like laundry being put away, the bed made and that sort of thing. I can't stand clutter.

Who is more stubborn?
Hmmm, I'm going to have to say me again. When I have my mind set on something I generally make sure I get it. Andrew is quite a bit more easy going that I am and luckily, tolerates me.

Who hogs the bed? 
Neither. We sleep really close together so generally use a small portion of the bed.

Who wakes up earlier?
Usually me. Andrew claims that he needs a full 8 or more hours of sleep every night where I'm good with 6.

Where was your first date? 
Hmmm, I guess we haven't had any "real" dates. We usually just plan something. It's not like we ask each other out on dates. I guess it would be to a Mariners game about 12 days after we started "dating". I use "dating" loosely because it's never really felt like that to me. It seems like it's just always been us and we've always been together.

Who is more jealous?
Probably me again (this thing isn't making me come off too good, is it?). I tend to always have this thought in the back of my mind that Andrew is going to find someone better than me to be with. I also hate it that he has had a few girlfriends before me and he is my only boyfriend. That thought drives me up the wall.

How long did it take to get serious? 
Not long at all. I've known since before he tried to kiss me for the first time that he would be the one I will marry. I think that's why the terms "dating" and "boyfriend" bug me. It's always seemed so easy and natural. Like the whole time we've known each other was the dating period. Since we actually started dating it's like it's just leading up to getting married. I know I'm not explaining it well at all, I just don't know how to fully put into words what I feel for him.

Who eats more? 
He usually eats more during a meal, but I’m the one who snacks pretty much all night long.

Who does the laundry?
I usually put the clothes in the washer and get them started and all that and Andrew will help me fold and put things in the dryer.

Who’s better with the computer? 
He is better with all the technical stuff, but I am the one who does more online like blogging and Twitter and all that although he does have a Twitter account now too!

And it's over. I feel like I haven't even somewhat given you a glimpse of who we really are, how great my love for him is and what our relationship consists of. I guess this is better than nothing, I just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea from just these questions. Then again, I have all of about 3 readers, so am not overly worried about it.

If you feel so inclined, feel free to this for you and your significant other!

Um, excuse me please.

2009-02-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned that I'm doing my Second Attempt at the 30 Day Shred and well, excuse me? I weighed myself Monday morning at home, then just for nothing I stepped on the scale I have down here at school last night and apparently I'd gained 4 pounds. How the hell? Jillian Michaels, you are on my list! I do realize that there is probably a bit of difference between the two which I will figure out this weekend, but 4 pounds! THEN, I was a tad irritated this morning so stepped on again and it said I had magically lost 3.2 of those 4 pounds overnight. Yeah, I'm not buying it either.

It's a fairly new scale for heavens sake! I've only had it for a year and a half and put a new battery in it two weeks ago.

So what would you do? Just forget about the scale and meausre any weight loss by how my clothes fit? I do like that idea, but at the same time I like numbers. Seeing them go down that is!

Second Attempt

2009-02-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

I am restarting Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred. It is my second attempt. The last time I began I went two days, skipped a day, and then that led to just plain stopping. So, I'm starting again. Day 1 of the Second Attempt was yesterday and to be honest I was quite surprised at myself. I had only done it for two days in during the First Attempt and was dying afterwords for the remainder of the week, but today am not sore at all. Another surprise: I was able to do 5 push ups. I know, that's nothing, but I have never been able to do them. My inspiration is this:

(Picture from Victoria's Secret website.)

I am going to fit my damn ass into a bikini come hell or high water. There are also a few other things I plan to fit into by the time we leave for Hawaii, if you know what I mean. I have 3.5 months. It's possible, right? I mean, if reality all I need to do is lose 25-30 pounds. That is totally do-able, even for me, in 3.5 months. Granted, I won't look quite like her, it is my goal to be able to wear it proudly on the beach and for Andrew to think I look damn good.

In addition to re-starting the Shred, I also got a belly dancing workout dvd from Barnes and Noble that I'm pretty excited about. So, I'm hoping that between Jillian kicking my ass, the belly dance workout and 1 mile on each the treadmill and bike 4-5 days a week and eating well that I should be able to get rid of some flab and become bikini ready. Keep your fingers crossed.

Do any of you have tips or suggestions for losing a good amount of weight fairly quickly?

19 months

2009-02-23T20:18:00.000-08:00

Today is Andrew's and my 19 month anniversary. Is it weird that I still count months even though it's been more than a year? Hopefully not, because I really like to. I'm sure that Andrew is quite tired of me announcing "Baby, happy __ months!" Oh well, I'm sure he's used to it by now.

Anyways, yes, today is 19 months. And you know what? I think I love him a touch more each day. Not only is he my best friend and confidant, but I cannot picture my life without him anymore. I would be a complete and total mess.

This last month was celebrated our second Valentine's Day, although the first where we were on the same side of the country! It's was quiet and just us which was nice. We continute to plug away a little at a time for planning our trip to Hawaii. Otherwise, it's been all school, counting down until Fridays, and waiting for graduation. There were also a few visits, Andrew came to see me at school and I went up to his apartment one night. I really love these visits because it's so nice to see each other during the week.

There really aren't any words to describe how much I love him. He is my love, my friend and my most favorite person. I will love him always no matter what may happen between us.

25 Things

2009-02-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

This has been going around for a while now and I'm going to follow the leads of the lovely EmilyPie, the lovely Katie from La Petite Chic, the lovely Colleen from See Sherm Blog and lastly the lovely Carmen from Mom to the Screaming Masses.

So lets see, pretty much I'm just supposed to list 25 interesting or weird facts about myself. To be honest, by the time I get to the end of this it will probably be just the odd things I can come up with! If you'd like to play along just go ahead and come up with your own 25 things!

1. My middle name is Marie. I really don't like it at all.
2. I love to rearrange furniture. I actually just rearranged my room this afternoon.
3. I really enjoy cooking and trying new recipes.
4. Fortunately I have someone willing to try everything I make and tell me how good it is even though it may not be!
5. I have a wonderful boyfriend (see #4).
6. I love animals especially dogs and horses.
7. I got the gift I had been lusting after for over a year for Christmas last year.
8. The gift? A Nikon D60.
9. I am not too good with it yet, but got some books to learn from.
10. Sometimes I really wonder why I started a blog.
11. There are times that I have absolutely no idea what to write about and frequently doubt that anyone cares.
12. That being said, I still attempt to write and truly enjoy reading other people's posts.
13. I'm attempting to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.
14. Andrew and I are planning a trip to Hawaii in June!
15. I am graduating from college on May 9th with a degree in Business Administration.
16. I'm a little worried about finding a job in this economy. Okay, worried quite a bit.
17. Andrew and I hope to buy a house soon. I'm super excited about that!
18. I'm in the process of training my very own filly. Guess she's not a filly anymore since she's almost 3.
19. I will turn 23 in 22 days. Crazy how time has flown by.
20. I have a goal to lose 25 pounds by the time we leave for Hawaii.
21. I've even gone so far as to get a bikini for motivation!
22. I love romance. Candles, music, all that stuff.
23. I love to read.
24. I am so incredibly excited to be Mrs. Andrew _____. July 23, 2011!
25. I am deliciously in love with him.

Happy

2009-02-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

I like mail. The "real" kind. While e-mail is lovely I like the old fashioned letter-in-an-envelope kind. Both sending and receiving. Because of this, I tend to send Andrew quite a few cards and packages. Yes, I know that we are only 65 miles apart and see each other every weekend, but it's something I like to do and it's fun for him too. Generally he gets an item a week.

I kind of figured that, you know, since I am always sending him something that he'd take the hint and pick up a card to send me. Ahem. Now I do realize that he is busy with school and doesn't have a post office as accessible as I do, but come on. It takes what, 5 minutes to buy, write in and send a card? Right.

So, being the lovely girlfriend I am in the envelope I sent him a few weeks ago were two 99 cent cards, stamps attached. Too obvious? Well, that's me.

I was waiting patienty for something, anything to show up in my mailbox and finally last Friday when I checked as I was rushing out to go to class there it was. A card!

He was very cute about it, too. As a joke he had written Mrs. Dianna (his last name with a line through it) (my last name). Just that totally made my day. His message inside topped it all off and had me smiling for quite a while.

Even though he isn't overly good with this kind of thing, I know he's working on it and I so appreciate it. I love just the small things. Well, the big things, too. But it's the little things that show that he took an extra minute and was thinking about me that I really treasure.

What do you think?

2009-02-17T21:32:00.000-08:00

Do you like the changes? Can you even see a difference?!

I was getting a little tired of the pink which seemed to be a little girl blog and wanted something a little more grown up and that would make me want to post and have people see my blog. What a concept!

I really like the clean look of this, but had to add some color just so it didn't look too bland.

I hope everyone likes the changes. There may be some more coming!

Just Around the Corner

2009-02-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

I've been counting down to Valentine's Day for the last 4 weeks. Every Saturday morning I've thought to myself 4 more weeks...3 more weeks and so on. Now it's down to 3 more days. I

I love V-Day. Even before Andrew and I were together I always liked it. And not just because it was a good standbetween for Christmas and my birthday, but just because people are usually happy and wearing pink.

This year, Andrew and I will actually be able to be together (last year he flew off to Daytona Beach for the races, but did send flowers) so that will be a nice change. I don't have a clue as to what we are going to do. He has some sort of plan and won't even give me any hints! I am excited about it though. I'm always on his case to plan something more than 5 minutes in advance so I guess I can't complain when he won't give me any ideas.

We both agreed this year, since we're saving for Hawaii in June, that we weren't going to spend more than $20 on each other. I'm pretty close to that budget, just a few dollars over, and am very excited to give him his gifts! Yes, gifts. It's a 3 part thing!

I think that he reads here occasionally, so I won't be saying what they are until Monday after V-Day and then I'll get to fill you in on what he did for me! I can tell you that one of the 3 parts is something homemade and I think really neat. I may just have to take my chances on Friday and post a few pictures. I'm going to finish it this afternoon!

I do want to know though what your plans are if you're doing anything for your someone. If so, what?!

WINNER!

2009-02-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

And the winner of the $10 Starbucks giftcard is Carmen of Mom to the Screaming Masses!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but I was a tad swamped!

It's currently snowing away here in the beautiful Pacific North West and hasn't stopped for about the last six hours. Unfortunately it didn't start early enough to cancel a class or two...bummer!

Anyways, congratulations to Carmen! And thanks to all 4 of you who entered by leaving a comment. There will be another drawing at post 150 for some sort of prize. Leave a comment between now and then. It's easy!

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER and a congratulations!

2009-02-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Post 99: Drawing at post 100 open to anyone who leaves a comment with a valid email address (only so I can email you if you win) for a $10 Starbucks giftcard.

It's Friday!

Do you have any big (or small) plans for the weekend? Mine? Writing a case analysis. Oh boy!

Yesterday I mentioned Jennie from She Like Purple who was having her baby. He's here! I was wating anxiously all day and last night there was a Twitter post that baby Kyle had arrived!

Jennie, Mike and Molly: I am so happy for you. Welcome to the world, Kyle. Your parents are already in love with you, of that I am sure.

REMEMBER: Last chance to enter the giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment. To be honest, there are only 4 entries so your chances are pretty good!

Babies

2009-02-05T10:42:00.000-08:00

Post 98: Drawing at post 100 open to anyone who leaves a comment with a valid email address (only so I can email you if you win) for a $10 Starbucks giftcard.

Forgive me for the not-so-much content today, but all I can think about is that Jennie from She Likes Purple is having her baby boy today.

Wishing her the best of luck as she, her husband and lovely Molly dog begin this new chapter.

30 Day Shread and 3 more chances to enter the GIVEAWAY!

2009-02-04T09:35:00.001-08:00

Post 97: Drawing at post 100 open to anyone who leaves a comment with a valid email address (only so I can email you if you win) for a $10 Starbucks giftcard.

I said yesterday that I would talk about Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shread. I really like her on the Biggest Loser and I now know that's only because she's not training me! My gosh, she is tough.

Yesterday was my second day and I really didn't think I'd be able to do it. Finally at 9 o'clock last night I decided I couldn't slack off and did the program. Holy hell am I sore this morning. I thought yesterday morning was but, it's worse today!

I'm not complaining too much though, I just want to see results. I do realize that I'm going to have to eat better and I am so hopefully that will help, too. I've been reading a lot of the reviews on Amazon.com and they are pretty mixed. Some say that they've gained weight, some have lost, etc. I tend to think that those who have gained are just doing this 20 minute workout and eating the same and probably not doing anything in addition. I am hoping though that when people have said after 4 to 5 days it stops hurting! I swear my legs are about to fall off. The girl is all about squats and jumping, jumping, jumping.

Have any of you used this program? Did you stick with it? Did it work?

I'll post updates throughout the 30 days and we'll see what happens!

2009-02-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Post 96: Drawing at post 100 open to anyone who leaves a comment with a valid email address (only so I can email you if you win) for a $10 Starbucks giftcard.

Good Morning! One of the blogs I always read is So the Fish Said written by Beth. Her blog is written well and generally very funny and quite honestly I get a kick out of reading about her days with her kids. Today when her post came up on my reader I opened it and was surprised to find a meme of sorts. Yesterday she said that the first 10 people who commented on her post would be sent interview questions. Since there were way over 10 by the time I read, I didn't comment. So today she took pity on all of us who came after the first 10 posts and posted questions for everyone.

So, as she directed, I'm posting the rules:

The rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying you want to be interviewed. (I'll take the first ten or so.)
2. I'll email you five questions of my choosing.
3. You update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. They will answer these questions. If they don't, you can post naked pictures of them on the internet. (I can help with the Photoshopping.)

Here are the questions and my answers:

1. Remember the movie Brewster's Millions? That happens to you, except on a smaller scale. You receive a million dollars that you must spend in 30 days. However, you cannot have any assets to show for the money at the end of the month (and you can't buy something and then destroy it), you cannot waste the money, you cannot give it away, and you cannot tell anyone what you are doing. How do you ditch the dough in a month or less?
I've actually never seen it, or heard it to be honest. Am I missing something good? Should I rent it?

2. You are locked in a toy store overnight, with no way out until it reopens in the morning. What do you play with all night?
Hmmm, I'd probably start with the play dough. It's just fun to play with! Then move on to anything big and electric, you know like the ride in jeeps or something like that. Not that I'd be able to fit in it, but you know. Let's see, after that maybe some of the video game things. Are there even video games in a toy store? I haven't been in one in years. I actually can't remember that last time.

3. If you could have a dinner party with any three famous people, living or dead, you would be wasting your supernatural powers on hosting dinner parties. What would you do instead?
First, I'll have to pick the people. Let's see...I think I'm going to go with just some famous everyday people: Jennifer Aniston, Jillian Michaels and George Strait. Why these people? Jennifer Aniston because I absolutely adore her and she's my favorite actress. Jillian Michaels because I started the 30 Day Shread yesterday (I'll talk about it tomorrow) and she's kicking my ass. George Strait because my mom loves him and I know she would just die if she was able to meet him.

4. What's the best thing since sliced bread? Now, sliced bread ain't all that impressive, so what's the best mediocre, hum-drum improvement or advancement that has made modern life just ever so slightly more convenient for humanity, along the lines of saving yourself five seconds every time you want a piece of bread.
I'm going to go techy on you: my blackberry. I love it. I love being able to get my email RIGHTNOW rather than waiting until I'm back at my computer. I love being able to send Andrew an email right when I want. I love having the games for something to do when I'm waiting for class, stuck in traffic and all that. It's just so convenient!

5. What's your best quality? The response to this question must be a simple declarative statement. You may elaborate on that statement, provided that your elaboration does not include the words "but," "however," or "although," or any other hedging, equivocating, back-sliding, gerrymandering (which is not at all appropriate in this context, but I think it should be, don't you?) or any other type of backing down from the simple declarative statement with which you began your response.
Gosh, my best quality. Without any backtracking? Sheesh. I don't know. I guess just being genuinely thoughtful. I enjoy doing things for people to make them happy or help them out. For instance, when it's Andrew's finals week, I send him a big padded envelope full of things to wish him luck: lucky boxers to wear on the day of his most difficult exam, some chocolate, a bag of sour patch kids (his favorite candy), a card, some powdered straws to put in his water to give them some flavor, and a few other miscellaneous things. I usually send him a card every week or so up at school, just to give him something to smile about that day. And if we'd done anything recently and I'd had pictures printed I include some of those. I just like to do special things for people when I know they need and appreciate them.

Okay, you're turn...leave me a comment (first you'll be put into the drawing and second you'll get some questions!).

Weekend Re-Cap & Don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY

2009-02-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

Post 95: Drawing at post 100 open to anyone who leaves a comment with a valid email address (only so I can email you if you win) for a $10 Starbucks giftcard.

Happy Monday! The weekend went by pretty fast, didn't it? Then again, I guess it always does. I really didn't do much mostly because Andrew left Saturday morning to spend his weekend in the library studying for exams this week.

We were able to make our flight reservations for Hawaii(!) and look at some more thing we're interested in doing. Thank you to the anonymous commenter who suggested going out to see the wild dolphins rather than the ones at Sea Life Park, but I'm pretty set on actually interacting with them and being able to do the foot push and all that. We might still go out as you suggested depending on the cost of the other activities we have planned.

I'll be talking about our trip more as it gets closer and will be asking for any suggestions from those who have been to or live on Oahu. I've only been there once before and Andrew not at all, so we have some ideas, but any from people more experienced with the area would be great.

Hope everyone has a great week and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

News

2009-01-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

Post 94 - That leaves you 6 more chances to leave a comment and be entered in the drawing for a $10 giftcard to Starbucks!

Another reason I've been a little out-of-touch lately? Planning a trip. It's hard!

We are lucky enough to have basically free tickets so that is cutting out cost down quite a bit. I may have posted back in September that Andrew and I were going to Palm Springs with the CPA firm he works for. Well, because of the economy the trip got called off, but the tickets had already been purchased so we pretty much have a free flight wherever we want to go.

Since we went to the east coast in August to see Yankee Stadium as it was closing after last season and we heard that Fenway Park was being torn down after this season we decided on Boston. We were about to book the tickets last weekend, but thankfully looked first to make sure it really was the last season since we'd heard it through the rumor mill. Turns out it's not closing for a long time.

Then we were thinking of Orlando. I really want to swim with the dolphins and they're aren't too many places that that can be done. Andrew knew I really wanted to go so we began planning out trip there. It was so expensive for the dolphin swim! I remembered that when I was in Hawaii a few years ago I went to a place called Sea Life Park which was an awesome park and they offer swimming with the dolphins. I was too cheap to do it the last time, but as it turns out it's $270 cheaper to do it on Oahu then in Orlando.

So, we're going to Hawaii! In addition to just the swim being cheaper, going to Orlando we would have had to pay about $80 each that went over the value of the ticket plus the $100 change fee. For Oahu, we only go over by $.21! So, we are both paying $100.21 for a round trip ticket! I'm trying to convince Andrew to use some of our air miles so we can upgrade one way to first class. Preferably going home so we can end the trip on a high note. We'll see. It takes 15,000 miles one way to upgrade. We both already have miles accumulated, but both just signed up for an upgrade to our credit cards that give us a 20,000 bonus for signing up. So really, that gives us our 15,000 plus and additional 5,000 left over.

Anyways, now that you know our mileage situation, I'll be filling in more of the details as we plan them through the coming weeks. We leave on June 17th and return on the 24th, so have a bit of time between now and then as you may have noticed from the ticker on the sidebar.

We're both really excited and are having fun planning excursions for our graduation gift to ourselves. Tickets and the hotel room (2 blocks from Waikiki Beach!) will be booked this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for 1st class!

Contest Prize Named

2009-01-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in 2 weeks as you may or may not know.

I was thinking of just quitting entirely. I set myself up to feel such pressure to post everyday and then to keep up with my little themes: Weekend Re-Cap on Monday, Food Wednesday and Question of the Week on Friday. When there was something I really wanted to write about it seemed to fall on one of those days when I felt I had to go along with the theme and the next day I couldn't remember what I wanted to write.

I was at Fred Meyer yesterday (kind of like Target I suppose) and saw these journals and put them in my cart. I thought about them the whole time I was shopping. I have a blog. I started it for myself, no one else, as a way to document things and because I read a lot of other people's and like being able to share a small part of their life with them. In the end, I decided not to get the journals because I do have this blog. And really, does it matter if I post everyday or just once a week? Not so much. (Except for when I have a contest that ends on the 100th post...sorry about that.)

So, I am going to keep this blog going. For me. To be able to look back a year from now and see what was going on when I can't remember. Although I do love getting comments, I need to get over myself. It's not like I have the most interesting life, I know it's a bit dull compared to others.

The conclusion to my speel? I am going to continue to write, when I feel like it and have something good to say. Well, when I think I have something good to say...some may think that's never! And I'm not goint to feel any pressure to keep up with the themes I started. If it happens to fall on the day, so be it.

I hope that anyone who was reading occasionally will continue to do so.

By the way...this is post 93. We may make it to 100 and end the contest sometime this year! Oh, the prize is a $10 Starbuck's giftcard. All you have to do is leave me a comment and you're entered. There are only 2 names in so far so you're chances to win are pretty good!

Food Wednesday makes a comeback.

2009-01-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

Post 92: 8 more times left to enter the contest. Prize: $10 Starbuck's giftcard.

Food Wednesday is making a return. Are you excited? I'm assuming your head is bobbing up and down right now, right? DISCLAIMER: Sorry to any vegetarians, but I am a meat eater...check back next week for another rousing edition of Food Wednesday! I love animals...we have a pet cow!

Anyways, for those of you who are also meat eaters and for anyone else who may happen to be on a New Year's Resolution Diet, yes is does require being in caps, here is a quick and easy way to cook a chicken breast that reduces any fat that may be on it as well as being very calorie friendly. There are actually only 220 calories in the average 8 ounce chicken breast. Now, the one in the picture is about 6.5 ounces but I just call in an even 8 since I tend to be a sauce dipper.

So, the only thing this really requires is a George Foreman Grill. Everyone has one of those, right? Well, if not you can always put it on a rack in a pan and broil it. Here is my lovely little grill, quite old too, but still works great!

On goes the chicken. I season with Johnny's Dock, black pepper, onion powder and garlic salt. Just toss it on and about 10 miniutes later cut into it to make sure it's fully cooked.

When fully cooked it should look something like this unless you broiled it, then I'm not really sure what it will look like, just make sure to check that it's done all the way through.

And viola! If you are on the New Year's Resolution Diet, here is lunch! If you're one of the lucky one's who doesn't need to drop a few pounds this would be super with some rice and corn or whatever your choice of sidedishes are.

Enjoy!

Back. Promise.

2009-01-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything. And to be honest, and I know I haven't been at this blogging thing too long, it was kind of nice. And earlier today, I hit "mark all as read" in my google reader. All 160 posts. Done. Gone. A fresh start for the new year.

Now, I do realize that yes, the new year started 13 days ago, but since I just started back to school yesterday it's really just now sort of starting. 13 days in, I know.

So tomorrow, back to regular posts. Or as regular as mine have been. And to any of you whose blogs I normally comment on I'm sorry. It was just so overwhelming to have that many posts to go through. But tomorrow, back to normal. Oh, and I'm starting a new diet/exercise routine with a goal believe it or not and I'm sure I'll be swamping you with lots of useless information about it.

And the contest still is happening. The prize: a $10 giftcard to Starbucks. Again, I'll be drawing a name from anyone who comments between now and my 100th post. This is the 91st, so a little longer to go. Just a comment, it's that simple.

See you all tomorrow!

Back on Friday - And GIVEAWAY Reminder

2008-12-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

No, no I have not crawled into a hole to die. Really. I'm taking a holiday break and some time to organize and pack up some of my gifts (and awesome score on holiday dishes for 75% off!) and waiting through what seems like agonizingly long days waiting for Andrew to come home today.

I promise writing will resume on Friday! And then you know, again on Monday after the weekend.

BUT...remember about the contest/giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment before I reach my 100th post (this is the 90th) and your name will be put into a hat and possibly drawn to win something cool! No, I'm not sure what it'll be yet, but I promise something good and worth your while to leave a comment!

The Day After and Question of the Week

2008-12-26T22:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Day After Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and were able to spend it with family and friends. Our Christmas was very nice, a bit hectic in the morning, but overall very nice. I will post more details and photos (with my incredibly awesome Christmas gift) soon.

My quest of always wanting a white Christmas came true this year and I am now ready for it to go far, far away. We have almost two feet and it's just time for it to take a hike.

I know I'm posting late and that for most people it's already Saturday, but alas, here is the Friday question: If you were fortunate to be able to give and receive gifts this year what was your most favorite item you received, and inturn, the most favorite you gave? I know many people, including us, are going through hard times right now and gifts weren't anyone's first priorities this year, but I hope everyone will be able to answer this question in some way.

So, Merry Christmas to all and I will have photos and details posted tomorrow! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Oh, and hey...did you enter the contest?

2008-12-23T14:14:00.001-08:00

Did I mention that I'm having a contest over here?

I think I did in this post so check it out.

I'm not exactly sure what the prize will be. Probably a gift card somewhere. Or maybe even a set of 8 handmade cards similar to the ones shown in the last post. Maybe I'll let you chose.

The point is simple here: On the day of my 100th post (this is the 88th, so we're getting there) I'll take any commenters names and draw one. All you have to do is leave a comment on a post asking a question. If you click on the here and scroll to the bottom you'll get the idea.

So, don't forget, you just might win something cool. Oh, and I'm planning on doing this for every 100th post and sometimes inbetween, so stick around for more chances to win! (gosh, I sounded like a radio station there...sorry!)

The Creativeness is Overflowing

2008-12-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

Can you see the creativeness overflowing here? I mean, really! I got a wild hair and have always wanted to make my own Christmas cards so thought about it last Wednesday and only ended up with 6. After an hour and a half! And well, that was it. I mailed four of them yestreday and it was so hard to choose which to send to who. Sooo, next year my plan is to you know, start a little earlier and have more than 6 made. Wouldn't that be a nice thought?!

So here are 4 of them. I wasn't too fond of the blue on the middle one, so ended up doing it in gold emboss and it turned out nicely the second time.

These were my two favorites.

I also liked the tree one. You can see the second run through with the gold emboss.

And, not so creative, but I liked it anyways. Andrew had been out shoveling and plowing snow most of the morning, hence the snowsuit, so I figured since he'd already had a long day I'd make him take one of my self portraits. He was thrilled!

Snow, my gosh the snow.

2008-12-22T11:34:00.001-08:00

My word we have been blasted with a freaking blizzard. We have over a foot at home and at least 9 inches at work in Seattle. It's nuts. It's stopped for now, but will be coming back for more tonight and through Christmas. Now don't get me wrong, I like the snow as much as the next person, but when it gets to be hard to walk in and accumulates half an inch on the half of the concrete pad in front of both the garage and barn I just got done shoveling while I'm working on the other half it gets to be ENOUGH. I always hope for a white Christmas, but as it stands we're cancelling Christmas Eve that we always have at my aunt's house and they definately won't be able to come to our house on Christmas day because you can't get up our road without four wheel drive. It's just peachy. The horses are over it, too I think. Dusty looked at me like I was crazy when he had to get out of his stall so I could clean it.

Can you see his pleading look? And behind him is Boston. Probably the first time he'd ventured out into the snow all week. Lord knows his stall showed it!

The mounds we have. It's ridiculous. Just walking to the fence the snow was almost up over my boots.
However, when they wandered over to Boston's side, the race was on. He looks pretty good for 24, doesn't he?

By the time they made it to the fence he was in the lead. (I love this picture, I think I'm going to have it printed.) 12 times her age and still has her beat.

And the sight that greeted me when I got to work. The truck on the end was uncovered yesterday. That was just from overnight.
If you can't tell, I'm totally ready for this to be done and over with. Hope you're staying warm and cozy and are ready for a wonderful holiday.

Crazy Busy, Friday Question and Contest

2008-12-19T13:51:00.001-08:00

I have been crazy busy the last 32 hours or so. We've had a major snow storm blow across the Pacific Northwest this week. Yesterday it was an incredibly chaotic day. I'm sure I've mentioned before that my parents own a tow company. The dispatchers for both the morning and swing shift couldn't make it in so that meant I was here from 6:30am until 8pm and the phone seriously did not stop with people calling that they were stuck in the snow or wanted to be towed up a hill to their house. We did the best we could with all the trucks chained up, but still had to decline doing many tows. As I look out the window there are flurries coming down again. Swell.

At the moment, my dad and Andrew are downtown with our truck meeting another company's driver to do this: (photo from seattletimes.com)

If you're not familiar with Seattle, we have many steep hills, especially downtown. What you can't see in this particular picture is that on the other side of this bus there is another one that isn't hanging over quite as much. The first one came down the hill, covered in ice of course that they had no business being on in the first place, went through the guard rail followed by the second one who tried to turn to miss it but ended up smacking it anyways. I wish I could have gone with them to be the photographer, but I had to wait for the next dispatcher to get here. Bummer. Luckily everyone on board both buses were alright and only 9 were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

We're watching the news (they have a helicopter overhead and are going back and forth to it) waiting for the recovering to start. It will be interesting to know where they're going to pull from as they're backed right up to a hill, but I know if anyone can make it happen my dad can. He is incredible with recoveries. And I know Andrew is having a great time watching, learning and just being there. Good thing his usual white collar, pressed shirt office was closed today! Yes, I do give him a hard time about working in a CPA office when I've been with blus collar workers all my life. I'm a bad girlfriend, I know.

*************

Alright, moving on, it's Friday again and Christmas is just 6 (eek, 6!) days away. If money didn't need to be taken into consideration, and let's face it: I think money is being considered by anyone who's out and about buying gifts, what is the first thing you would like. And yes, I'm talking a material item, think of yourself, what's the one thing you'd want but know isn't an option this year?

For me, that would be a Nikon camera. One of the fancy ones with the big lens and all that. No, I'm not the best photographer, but I love to take pictures and would really like to learn some great techniques someday and I think that if I had a good camera (yes, my current camera is good, but I just have it in my mind that a Nikon would make my pictures better...ridiculous, I know) that I would take really great shots. So what about you?

*************

Lastly, I'm closing in on my 100th post here pretty quick, well it'll take a few days, but it is coming, and I'd like to have a contest which will feature a prize. Many of the blogs I read ask readers to ask a question the comments for the blogger to answer and I think that's kind of neat.

So, this is where you all come in. Do you have a question? Even if you don't, just make one up and leave it in the comments. I'll pick a name out of everyone who commented (that is if anyone does...I'm pretty sure I don't have many readers, but I still think it'll be fun and something I'm going to do for every hundredth post) and that person will get a prize. I'm not sure what yet, but don't worry, it'll be something good!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Snowing in Seattle

2008-12-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

So it's snowing in Seattle. Pretty hard too. We live about 23 miles south east and usually get much more than at work, but not today. The dispatcher can't make it in until it gets light so that means that I'm here waiting for the phone to ring. We have about 4 inches here at sea level and the same at home. The whole last week has been blizzrd-like conditions, for the Seattle area at least. 20 degrees during the day, about 11 at night. I know for you Canadians or Northeasterners that's not too cold, but to us in the PNW, it's freezing!

I do have some pictures to post from Saturday when Andrew and I got our Christmas tree that I will put up later in the day.

Here are a few that I just took about half an hour ago and it's still coming down.

You can see that the trucks are all covered above, and how deep in my footprints are. I wish I would have pulled my camera out before I walked across it because it looked like this beautiful, fluffy white blanket.

Hope you're staying warm wherever you may be.

Question of the week

2008-12-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!

I know I have been slackinga bit on the question of the week so I'm going to try to keep up on it!

This week's question is pretty simple: Do you have all your decorations and such up for the holidays?

We have our Christmas palm up (picture to come) and the living room and all that decorated. I wasn't really feeling it this year so my mom did most of it. I think I'm just ready for next year when Andrew and I can decorate our own place how we want to. That will be really nice!

We're headed off to Wenatchee in a couple hours so keep your fingers crossed that the passes are clear!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

It's Over!

2008-12-11T18:43:00.001-08:00

Hi, All!

So, finals are over for both Andrew and I. I was supposed to have my final one for Econometrics this afternoon, but yesterday I got an email saying that since we'd done well on the midterm, homework assignments and the gigantic project, that she'd decided to cancel the final exam. Works for me! Luckily, I had just printed out the practice exam to work on a few minutes before the email came. Andrew was quite bummed out that he still had his this morning. I helped him study for it, so that hopefully helped. He thinks he did pretty well, and he usually does, so we'll both see in a few days.

Tomorrow my mom, Andrew, his brother Daniel and I are headed over to Wenatchee (my dad isn't a big fan of these get togethers so he stays home to feed the animals) for the TRAW (Towing and Recovery Association of Washington) annual Christmas party. It should be a lot of fun and a bit of hard work as my mom and I are running the silent and live auctions this year, and there will be snow! As long as we get over and back (we have to cross two passes each way and snow is predicted for the low lands tomorrow night) that's all I care about. It's always a lot of fun so hopefully this year won't be any different.

Lastly, could I ask you all for a favor? Could you please leave a comment on this or any other post? Thanks to Miss Haley of the Cheaty Money, I think there may be a way I can reply back to comments which I'd really love to be able to do, so if you wouldn't mind, I'd really appreciate it.

Suggestions?

2008-12-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

I need your help, Internets!

I know I'm really just starting out here with this little blog, but I would really like to find a host that is FREE(!) where I can reply to any comments that are left.

I always feel bad when I can't and when I comment on other blogs I like to get a reply. I just think it makes it a little more personal.

So, who do you use for your blog, even if not free? Is it working out for you and easy to use? I'm all about the easiness over here in my little square foot of the Internet!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Weekend Re-Cap

2008-12-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

Hi!

How was your weekend?

Mine was kind of a blur. It actually started Thursday evening as there was no school Friday for a study day. Unfortunately, I had to take Molly to the vet Friday. She had gotten another cyst/abcess on her tail and it needed to be taken care of. This had happened a few months ago and the vet just drained it and we went on out way. He said it's common in older dogs (she's 12.5) and that if it happened again just to bring her in and he'd drain it. So, I took her in and this time it's much bigger and he wanted to keep her to do some tests since it wasn't clear liquid like last time. She ended up having an overnight visit and a bath. We'll know what the diagnosis is this afternoon or tomorrow morning when he gets the results back. So that was pretty much Friday.

Saturday Andrew had his financial accounting final and came out afterwords. We went and got Molly and brought her home then hiked down to my uncle's tree farm which is on the property below ours. We walked around for a bit, but I didn't see anything that really "spoke" to me and since it's just for in front of the barn, we weren't too worried about getting one. I think Andrew may have been a little more disappointed than I was because we were looking forward to getting our second tree together, but for one that's not going in the house I like to find one that's a little "off". You know, not perfectly round or straight, one that no one else would want. That's what we had last year and I named it George, weird, I know, but no one else would have taken it. So, no tree. But Andrew's aunt and uncle came down for a little while and we had a fire in the evening. The just got a new french bull dog puppy named Blu. He's really cute! I'll post a couple pictures tomorrow.

Sunday was mostly spend studying. Not much fun there! I have a final everyday this week and Andrew has one Tuesday and his last on Thursday. We're both looking forward to Thursday! So, I'm going to wrap this up and start heading up for my cumulative (eek!) business math final! I'm obviously not looking forward to it, but will be glad to have it over as the rest aren't as difficult.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and you're all getting in the Christmas spirit if you aren't already!

I am still here....

2008-12-04T08:56:00.001-08:00

I promise. Even if it's looked a little sketchy around here for a while.

I've been quite busy with all the Twilight reading and what not. I actually powered through that book quickly and went through withdrawls when I didn't get the second one, New Moon, until 2 days after I'd finished it. New Moon was completed in three days. Yes, it's that good. I'm now working on the third one, at a much slower pace this time. Is it not as good, you may ask? Well, no, it's very good actually. I've refrained myself to only reading one chapter at a time though. I know, crazy.

But, I've actually had other things on my priority list. Just small things like write a paper on Canada's healthcare system, write a paper on the cons of the automakers big 3 producing internationally, write a paper on the regressions between the closing price of the NASDAQ and crude oil prices (yes, there is a correlation) and create and present and presentation (today) on that topic.

Oh, and on top of that, the last math exam of the term Monday. Not the final, oh no, that's this coming Monday. And wait, I also had my global economics final this morning. And still, there's more: Tuesday - take home music quiz due, Wednesday - puclic finance final exam, Thursday - econometrics exam, Friday - breathe.

So that's why you haven't heard much from me, nor has the book that's been mocking the work I've been doing and calling my name, and my not until next Thursday. I'll try though, really I will!

Hope you are all having a terrific week!

Weekend (and some of last week!) Re-Cap...Really a post about food.

2008-12-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Gosh, are you as stuffed as I am? How was your Thanksgiving and hopefully for most, long weekend? Do you still have any leftovers? We actually don't because we didn't cook! We went to my Aunt Judy's house for "dinner". I used quotations because it was at 1:30pm. More like lunch! The food was wonderful, we had the usuals: turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing and of course Andrew's favorite, gravy. In addition to the usuals there were also deviled eggs (my favorite), coleslaw and the picky stuff like pickled asparagus and carrots, green olives and spinich dip as an appetizer.

After our dinner there Andrew and I went to his family's Thanksgiving. We were still quite full by the time we got there so opted out of a second dinner although he did have some cheesecake for dessert. I had never met this side of his family so it was nice to be intorduced to them. He really only sees them once a year so I'm hoping I'll remember some of their names in a year! Afterwords we went back home and by that time, around 9pm we were a little hungry so we made scrambled eggs, doctored with some cheese, hot sauce, bacon bits and chives of course and toast. It was a good filler!

Andrew got up early Friday morning and left for the weekend to spend it with his father. Friday I spend pretty much decorating. We have a very long fence on either side of our driveway that we put lights on every year and I've found that it's usually just easier to do it myself so I put them up. Not easy, not fun. I endured many small shocks (this is Washington, it was raining) and found that many of the strings that were brand new last year only half worked after I layed them all out along the fenceline. By the time I figured that out I was frustrated and fed up so I ended up wrapping the sections that didn't work around the fence then continuing on when I got to where they started to work again. Tacky, but unless you're standing a foot away and it's daylight you can't tell. It's beautiful as always, but also a pain in the butt as always.

Saturday my mom and I put up our Christmas palm tree. She is vowing next year to have her traditional tree again because I'll be gone and she's sending the palm tree to live with me. I didn't take a picture mostly because I was tired of decorating by that point and didn't care too much, but I will over the weekend and post it. It's quite pretty and unusual which I love. Leah and the kids came over and Koleden wanted to watch the Grinch so he was enthralled with that while trying to help decorate the tree.

Sunday was pretty much studying. Then cleaning the stalls and getting the horses' grain set up for the week. Oh, and then more studying. I had a math test this morning and my word there was a lot of material and stuff to know. I'm not too confident with how well I did, but I'm hoping I did well enough. Guess I'll know Wednesday!

Anywhoo, this week is going to be full of getting loose ends tied up as it's the last week of classes for the semester and next week is finals week. At least one of my finals is Thursday of this week so that helps out. One less to worry about next week.

Hope you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Food Wednesday!

2008-11-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Since it's Food Wednesday and Thanksgiving Eve, it's a perfect time to talk about Thanksgiving food, right? Right.

So, we all know the traditional stuff: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and all that. But, what if anything do you or your family do that's your own tradition?

The last few years we've been going to my aunt's house for dinner and she does some things differently than I was used to. For instance she smokes the turkey today and serves it cold on Thanksgiving. That was quite different, but it's pretty good really. She also makes the cranberry sauce differently, I can't tell you what's different about it as it's been a year, but still.

When we used to have Thanksgiving at our house, or many years past at my family's business and made dinner for all of the drivers we had all the usual stuff but then always deviled eggs, stuffed celery, sweet potatoes, pickles and olives. Not sure why for the pickles and olives, but they're always there. I really miss the eggs of all...they're so yummy!

What are your plans for tomorrow? What sort of foods are your favorite for the holiday?

Andrew and I will be going to my aunts house to begin with, then to his father's family's dinner afterwords. I'll admit I'm a bit nervous as I haven't met any of his father's family so that will be interesting. Hopefully I won't be in a turkey coma by that point.

Anyways, wishing you all a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Stockings!

2008-11-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

I tried to write about this last Thursday and got a little, okay a lot sidetracked talking about the cleanse I attempted to do, but I'm focused now!

I am a stocking lover. I love finding little things to put in them and I especially love the little things that are in mine! The picture is the one I made for Andrew last weekend. I keep finding things to stuff in, so hopefully it'll stretch a bit. And everything is wrapped so he has a lot of things to open!

So, why am I showing you a picture and rambling on? Well, I do have a point. Amazing, I know. I want to know what some of the things you either like to get in yours or like to put in others' are. Do you have any must haves? I think our only tradition with them is that we always put something stuffed on top. I really don't know why...

Here are a few things I like to put in:

-Chapstick

-Nail clippers (seems people can never find theirs)

-Lotions

-Chocolate

-Small trinkets (I like little things that say words on them, like trust, hope, love, etc.)

-Ornaments

-Knives (specialty ones) or somewhat pricey kitchen utensils the recipient wouldn't buy for themselves.

Pretty much anything, just little stuff. What about you?

Weekend Re-Cap

2008-11-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been pretty uneventful, which I truly don't mind!

Saturday Andrew and I went to my friends daughter's 2nd birthday party then off to the mall to browse a bit, have dinner then to a movie. We saw Role Models which was pretty funny! There were a lot of hidden jokes that depending on your type of humor kept you laughing through most of it. I also got some of my gifts wrapped that morning which is nice so that I'm not trying to get them all done at one time. Wrapping isn't one of my most favorite things to do.

Yesterday we pretty much both did school related work most of the day. Oh, and my mom and I colored my hair. I usually go dark for fall and it was about that time so I'm now a brunette. It's still kind of a shock to see myself in the mirror, but I always like my hair dark. Let's see, I know there's something else...Oh, I finished Twilight! It is so good, you must read it. It's a bit of a love story, but it's still a very good book. I gave it to Andrew and he's going to start reading it too, when school is over.

That's about it. Like I said, nothing too exciting. The next two weekends will be full of studying for both of us as we have about 2.5 weeks to go and the semester is over! It's gone by so fast and it's crazy to think that I only have one more. I start to get a little nostalgic about it sometimes, that this is my last fall on campus, but at the same time I am excited to move on.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Failed...and Stockings!

2008-11-20T08:57:00.001-08:00

I haven't mentioned it here before and was actually going to start talking about it yesterday for Food Wednesday, but I had to stop because I'm sick and broke down to have some chicken noodle soup.

What was it that I failed? Well it was a thing called a cleanse. You may have heard of them, to be honest I had but didn't have a clue as to what they were. Well, Andrew got me this one because at the time he ordered it I was working out everyday and motivated to lose a few pounds. I started what I thought was a 9 day cleanse on Monday, but didn't read well enough so Tuesday when I was looking again to see what I could eat Wednesday I realized that what I'd been doing for two days were just pre-cleanse days! I still had 9 days in front of me so instead of ending Tuesday, the last day would actually be Thanksgiving! I was okay with it, but yesterday my throat was so sore I broke down and had some chicken noodle soup. It tasted so good!

So basically the cleanse goes like this: Pre cleanse days, days 1 and 2 you can have 1 "shake" in the morning, a sensible 4-600 calorie meal, then another "shake" for dinner. I say "shake" because it's basically some supposedly chocolate powder that you mix with water. Nothing like chocolate expect that it's brown! Let's see, the cleanse days, the 3rd and 4th days you are supposed to have liquids only. Now, had it just been lots of water I could have done it, but you're supposed to mix this highly concentrated stuff that's supposed to taste like berry's (ha!) with water 4 times a day. It was so acidic I did two doses and that's all I could get down. It's supposed to go on for 7 more days, but I gave up. I might try again when I'm not sick, but it's going to be hard.

I just feel so bad because Andrew had good intentions when he ordered and gave it to me and he paid a lot of money for it. I already know I failed, but I feel like I let him down as well. We've talked about it and he is totally supportive of my stopping especially when I'm sick and says he's proud of me that I did it for 3 days, but I just still feel like a total failure.

Well, I was going to talk about stocking today, but think I'm going to wait until Tuesday for that. I'm off to take some more cold medicine and hope this goes away by tomorrow.

Buying into The Hype

2008-11-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

I was at Target yesterday and was in the entertainment section (books, movies, music, dvds, etc.) and saw this book:

I had only heard of it from other bloggers and many people on Twitter who claim they can't put it down. Then Friday when I saw my neighbor she asked me if I'd read it yet. When I said no she was shocked because I'm always reading the lastest book. She was on chapter 4 at that time and said she didn't want to put it down either. It is set in our home state of Washington so that should make it interesting. So yesterday, I saw it and bought it without having a clue as to the story line or anything. I'm on page 10, so we'll see how it goes.

Have you read Twilight, are you reading it now? Have you even heard of it? I hadn't until I'd read about it from others. I'll be doing a review when I finish it so there will be some vampire stories to share!

Come back tomorrow to hear about the crazy thing I'm doing to myself for 9 days!

Weekend Re-Cap!

2008-11-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I know I haven't been posting too much lately and I may write about why later on, but not right now. This weekend went by pretty quickly as they usually tend to do!

Friday night my neighbor Leah and her kids Koleden and Addison came over and were here for a while. Unfortunately Andrew was at dinner with his mother who was in town and the kids were missing playing with him. I, apparently, am not as much fun anymore! Oh well, we still had fun. Andrew got home late, but we still had time to chat for a little while after not seeing each other all weel before we headed to bed.

Saturday he had to go back to his apartment to study for a big exam in his accounting class Monday morning. Fun times as always! He did change my oil before he left which is always much appreciated. Let's see, that early afternoon my mom and I went and did some Christmas shopping and while we were on our way to the last stop and on an off ramp we were rear ended. Luckily it wasn't too bad and we're just a little sore this morning, but it could have been much worse.

Sunday we ventured out again after I cleaned stalls and got everything ready for the week for the horses. We went to Southcenter, our local mall. My plan was to go to a store there (I would be more specific, but I don't want to give anything away) to get Andrew's Christmas gift, but was very disappointed with their selection and had to go somewhere else to get what I was looking for (again, I can't say what his gift is...! Any guesses? Leave them in the comments and there may be a prize for anyone who guess at least somewhat close since it really could be anything when I'm not able to give any hints!). But that's alright, I got what I was looking for! And stocking stuffers! I love stockings, they're my favorite part with all the little things that can be stuffed in there! After that we pretty much just came back, wrapped some stuff, had dinner and here I am.

Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!

Lost

2008-11-13T07:06:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling many things today. One of those is just plain lost. In addition to that disappointed and incredibly heartbroken. I'm actually at a loss of words for what to say or how to describe things. This is about all I can say now, I truly cannot find the words I need.

Weekend Re-Cap, Late

2008-11-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

The weekend re-cap is a little late this week as you can see. Do I have a reason as to why? No, not really. Mostly because I just didn't feel too much like I had anything worth reading to post. Not that I do now, but you know. We didn't do anything to terribly exciting, lots of studying (on Andrew's part). We did manage to fit in a ride which was fun. Sunday was Addison's birthday party and we did have a lot of fun there. Here are some pictures of the events:

After our ride. This was just taken with my little camera that I can stuff in my pocket so the quality isn't that great. Plus the fact that it was dusk, so that didn't help much. I still like the picture though. My old boys did well on the ride, Dusty of course screwed around when I asked him to go past the barn again when we were finished, but I don't expect anything else from him. Boston did well as always and when I got on him afterwords I managed to get him to side step correctly (basically he crosses his front legs and moves directly sideways) which I haven't been able to do for a while.

Andrew on Boston. Again, dusk and little camera. The little blond blob on the right is Molly trotting along.
As I said Sunday was Addison's birthday right across the street. This is Leah Addie's mom and I. We've known each other for almost 20 years now. Her parents bought the house and property across the street from ours so Leah, her sister Courtney and I have grown up together.

The birthday girl!

After everyone left we were playing with the kids downstairs burning off some of their cupcake high! Here's Andrew and Koledon after some pro-wrestling moves!

They really liked this and of course had to do it at the same time. Taking turns, what's that?!

Each of the kids had these rubber balls and we were tossing them back and forth to begin with, then it got a little rougher which was fun too!

That was about it for us. Hope you all had a great weekend too! And hey, it's Wednesday, we're halfway to another one!

I know...

2008-11-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted much lately, but I figure it's better to not write junk than to bore you with whatever I can come up with until something finally pops into my head.

I promise there will be something (hopefully) good posted tomorrow!

Election Day Re-Cap (no food Wednesday this week)

2008-11-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

So, we have a new preseident elect: Barack Obama.

Are you happy with this outcome? Is it what you wanted? Do you have any thoughts or comments about it?

I for one am happy. I don't think that McCain would have been the right choice at this particulat time. However, I supposed we won't really know until Inagural Day in 76 days. I am hoping that Obama really can bring the change that he has promised. He has a huge task in front of him and I think the American people, as well as the rest of the world, will be looking to see if he can make his promises good. But for now, I think we should be happy about the results.

As for us in Washington, we are still waiting to see who out next governor will be. Four years ago the votrs had to be counted three times resulting in a difference of 147 votes. I am strongly hoping that our current governor will end up out of the office and let some good come in. This election will probably take a week to be resolved with all the mail in ballots to count. Hopefully we'll hear the outcome soon.

Hope your election day went well and all the people you wanted in are in.

Election Day! And a Happy Birthday.

2008-11-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

First, it's

Election Day, PLEASE VOTE.

Second, today is my adopted neice's (she's my neighbor of 20 years' daughter) 2nd birthday! So, I'm posting some sort of a timeline in pictures!

Here is little Addison at 5 months old with her big brother Koleden.

Then with me (notice the long hair, gosh I miss that) at 7 months.

And little chubby cheeks at 8 months. This was towards the end of 2007 sometime, I'm going to guess she's about a year or a little more here.
I don't remember when this one was exactly, I think around May putting her about 18 months. Not sure what happened to all my pictures between 1 and 1.5...
Taken in August, driving the tractor.
Same day, now gardening!

This was taken the end of September when Andrew and I had them for the day.

Helping Andrew wash his car.
Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl. I can't believe you're two already.

Again, if you do nothing else today, please make your opinion heard and vote.

Weekend Re-Cap!

2008-11-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

So, how was your Halloween? Mine was pretty good. We went to my Aunt Lisa's house like we used to when I was little and had pizza, punch and decorated cookies. They don't get as many trick-or-treaters in the new house, but it was still fun!

Here is Cody in is coustume at work: Mardi-Gras Dog!

Me going for a ride on the blow up cat.

We call these the gay ghosts. Can you see why?

Uncle Monty's mask.

Andrew and I in one of our self portraits.

Aunt Lisa decorating away!

Cody waiting for any crumbs under the table in his other costume, Safety Dog!

Andrew and Cody relaxing afterwords at home.

Saturday: paper writing (with an audience) and a movie!

Saturday, after Andrew was mostly finished with his paper we went to see Zack and Miri Make A Porno (not as good as I thought it was going to be, but still pretty funny) then to dinner at Red Robin afterwords. We both stuffed ourselves with the Royal Red Robin burger, it has a fried egg on it, then headed home and went to bed.

Sunday Andrew finished up his paper then he left to see his father then head to school. Before he left I cut hos hair for him. I've done it a few times and it turns out pretty well.

That afternoon my mom and I went shopping and I got a few things. I love Halloween decorations, but am too cheap to pay full price...I know. But, this super cool Halloween bell wreath was regularly $20 and was 75% off...$5!

And this hat. What do you think? It was originally $25, then marked down to $17 with 30% off and rang up for $8! I really do love a deal!

Sunday night my dad saw this little bunny in the cow stall snacking away on hay. It's just a tiny little thing and isn't afraid of much including the cow moving around.

Anyways, that's about it. Hope you all had a fun Halloween and a great weekend!

Question of the Week!

2008-10-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

This week's question is:

Are you going to dress up? Or, if you're not, what are your kids going to be?

I'm not dressing up this year. I do have black nails today though and am going to try to glue on some fake eyelashes so we'll see how that goes. Nothing too exciting really.

Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

Food Wednesday

2008-10-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it's Wednesday again. Time certainally flies.
Okay, so here's a recipe that really doesn't have a name. It's really just kind of a chicken and rice casserole, so name it what you'd like!

You will need:
Chicken Breasts
Minute Rice
Can Cream of Mushroom soup
Can Cream of Celery soup
White wine
Baking Pan

-To begin, grill the chicken. The quantity is up to you. When the chicken is finished and has cool a bit, cut it into pieces. Size is up to you.
-Next, prepare the minute rice. How much you make depends on how much chicken you used. We had 9 breasts and I used 5 uncooked cups of rice which was plently for 5 people and leftovers.
-While the rice is cooking, wisk together in a large bowl the soups and wine. The recipe calls to have you fill each soup container with wine. I prefer less of a "wine" taste so only use one soup can full and then add a little milk to get a more fluid consistancy.
-When the rice is done begin to pour it into the pan you will be baking in. Then place the chicken breasts into the rice. Finally, pour the soup and wine mixture over the contents of the pan.
-Place in a 3oo degree oven until ready to serve.
-Enjoy!

Pumpkin Carving!

2008-10-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in yesterday's post that today I'd be posting how to carve the purfect pumpkin, so as promised here it is:

First, go to a pumpkin patch or your local grocery store if you're short on time and pick your pumpkin!

Second, figure out which ones you want to carve. Mine on the right, Andrew's on the left. You'll see in a few pictures why you'll want to go with an orange one rather than one with too much green.

Second step, part 2: Pose with your pumpkin!

Third, figure out what you want your carving to look like and get the appropriate utensils. This is the stencil I chose.

Fourth, cut the top off your pumpkin.

Fourth step, Part 2: Let you dog take a chew. Molly likes pumpkin, who knew?

Fifth, take the guts out!

Fifth step, Part 2: Keep a smile on your face while gutting although it's 36 degrees out and you're freezing!

Sixth, carve away. We froze enough Saturday night and ended up only starting the carving process. It was about 25 degrees warmer the next morning, much better! The problem with a green pumpkin is that the walls are so thick it makses it very difficult to get all the way through to pop the pieces out which took a little while.

Sixth step, Part 2: Pose with your half carved pumpkins!

Here they are all done!

Seventh step: Put a candle in them and take pictures!

This is my mom's jack-o-lantern.

Andrew's Happy Halloween.

And my window.

So there you are, our tips to pumpkin carving!

(Oh, my last tip is buy the kit with the knives that look the most industrial. The ones that came with the sencils broke right off the handle after my first window pane. Luckily we'd gotten an extra kit!)

Weekend Re-Cap...With Lots of Pictures!!!

2008-10-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hello! How was your weekend?

Mine was pretty great. Andrew and I went to get our pumpkins and to a corn maze Saturday afternoon (and so did everyone else within a 10 mile radius it seemed!) and had a lot of fun.

Here is the entrance to one of the mazes. There were actually 2 of them! The one we did was 2.3 miles and the other was 2 miles. It took as about an hour to wind around and get all the punches!

My fearless leader!

I thought this was a really pretty shot and shows how tall the corn was!

Here we are in the maze...and still smiling! It was getting pretty long towards the end!

Andrew getting a punch at the second stop.

Me too!

Picking our pumpkins!

Andrew hauling off our loot!

Cleaning away! It was 10:30 and about 36 degrees out when we started...cold!

Luckily they didn't seem to have too many guts!

We eventually had to go in because we were freezing and finished Sunday morning!

Our finished products! Andrew's on the left, mine on the right.

Saturday afternoon we went down to check out Andrew's blading he'd done on the bulldozer a few weekends ago. He did a pretty good job!

Oreo came down with us and got some beer!

Andrew looking handsome as always.

Oreo and I posing.

This is the lone maple tree in the pasture. I just thought this would be a pretty picture.

So, this was out weekend, at least what I thought were the highlights!

Check back tomorrow for a post about how to 'properly' clean and carve your pumpkin!

Friday Question - Video Style!

2008-10-24T08:37:00.001-07:00

Just, sigh (in a good way)!

2008-10-23T11:13:00.001-07:00

You may remember this post that I wrote a little while ago after Andrew had come down here for a visit. Well guess who came down again yesterday evening?! I know, how great is he? I just, I don't even think I can put together the words to accurately describe how much I love him. He is amazing and I wish that you all could meet him and find out for yourself how great he is. Yes, all of you, even you. You'd love him, I sure as hell know I do.

Why you may ask? Well here are a few reasons:

He comes all the way down here and doesn't complain when my roommate and I want him to play the Wii Fitness to see what his age is. (Unfortunately for us, he is a year younger than he actually is...we are both 6-8 years older than we actually are. We suck, I know.)

He sleeps with me in my little twin bed when he's here and although neither of us sleep well and he has two ridiculously long classes to go to today, on top of driving back up, he still holds me all night long. And, he gets ready (without complaining at all) in our tiny little bathroom area. (While his girlfriend takes pictures of him for her blog...)

He hasn't gotten tired (and if he has, he hasn't mentioned it) of all the self portraits I take of us. Seriously, a lot. But I love them all. I think I'm so obsessed because during the first 5 months of our relationship we were never in a photo together, weird right? Anyways, although I 9 times out of 10 cut off his hair, he still puts up with it and always smiles. Doesn't he have a great smile?

And then, even after a few self portraits, he'll take another one.

I just, my gosh I can't even explain what I feel for this man. He is everything I have ever wanted and I am so lucky to be with him.

Thank you so much for coming down here baby, it means the world to me when you do...(and sorry you didn't get all your reading done...). I can't wait to see you tomorrow! Loves!

Food Wednesday!

2008-10-22T08:33:00.001-07:00

So here we are at Wednesday again. I'm going to post a recipe this week, no pictures sorry!

This dish is called Campfire Chicken, stollen from a restuarant, but made better!

You will need:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Bacon (I use the microwaveable stuff to save time)
BBQ sauce
Grated Cheese (I like a sharp cheddar, but it's up to you)
A few green onions, diced

To begin, cook the chicken however you prefer. Personally, for this dish I like to steam it on the stove rather than grill it so it stays moist.
When it's finished drizzle a few lines of bbq sauce over the top and then break a piece of bacon into thirds and place into the bbq sauce so it won't slide off.
When the bacon is in place, top with the grated cheese then place the diced green onions, scallions whatever you'd like to call them, on top.
Place under the broiler for a minute or two until the cheese melts.
Serve with a side dish, usually Rice-A-Roni for us, and a vegetable and you have a simple and easy meal!
Enjoy!