Santa came early

Last Wednesday, I got my Christmas present from Mike. After lots of thinking about getting a dog and looking for the right one, I found 'my' puppy and she couldn't be cuter.

She's a bichon and I think my family is almost as excited about her as I am since we had a bichon (Truffles) growing up.

So, without further adieu, meet Lily!

Sweet Will of God

Tagged by Kelli via Facebook... here we go! :-)

1. Put Your iTunes on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. Tag 10 friends.
6. Anyone tagged has to do the same, because fun pointlessness spreads like a virus.

My answers:

if someone says, “Is this okay?” you say:
”If I Was the Devil", Pat Green

How would you describe yourself?
"A Home", Dixie Chicks

What do you like in a guy/girl?
"You Can't Hurry Love", Dixie Chicks

How do you feel today?
"Our Song", Taylor Swift

What is your life’s purpose?
"Godspeed", Dixie Chicks

[The song was written for the singer's son so I guess a Mom, can't complain about that.] :-)

What is your motto?
"Sanctus", Ana Laura

What do your friends think of you?
"Time After Time", Erin Bode

What do you think of your parents?
"Take Me As I Am", Faith Hill

[they do so, yay!] :-)

What do you think about very often?
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand", The Beatles

[Applies to Mike so, sure]

What do you think of your best friend?
"Painter Song", Norah Jones

[???]

What do you think of the person you like?
"Allegro from Spring", Gershwin

What is your Life Story?
"Cecilia", Simon & Garfunkel

[Don't know what to think of that but it's a fun song]

What do you want to be when you grow up?
"Truth No. 2", Dixie Chicks

[Don't know... lots of Dixie Chicks stuff though]

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
"Favorite Year",Dixie Chicks

What will you dance to at your wedding?
"Welcome to the Family", Little Big Town

[It was actually "Satellite" by Collective Soul and while the title of this song sounds appropriate, it's so not. :-)]

What will they play at your funeral?
"Rosie's Lullaby", Norah Jones

What is your biggest fear?
"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", Jars of Clay

[This is the complete opposite of my biggest fear!]

What is your biggest secret?
"Fences", Erin Bode

[????]

What do you think of your friends?
"Just As I Am", London Philharmonic Orchestra

[I like them just as they are...]

What will you post this as?
"Sweet Will of God", Amy Grant

Trans Siberian and more

Mike and I went to Trans Siberian Orchestra last night. It was awesome. (Minus the 60ish year old drunk hippie guy sitting next to us with his wife who had to be 1/3 his age - they were both giving "rock fingers" throughout the concert - it as hilarious.)

I got in "trouble" for having my camera out. It was before the show though so I just put it away and it was no big deal. I hadn't seen the tickets until that night and didn't look at them then so I never saw the "no cameras" note but oh well, no harm done. Here is a picture I got from our seats though.



I also went out today to use my Christmas gift certificate from Mike's parents at the Green Elephant. I got a beautiful Mary Hadley Christmas platter and am so excited about it. The second picture is the giant bell I got at Potter's in Langley when we were at Mike's parent's house for Thanksgiving. It's hanging from the chandelier over our dining table.

O Christmas Tree (Version 2)

My Dad rocks. (and so does my Mom for making this get up)

*Special thanks to Lauri for the picture too.

Ick

I had heard great things about Starbucks Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate so I tried one two days ago and all I can say is 'ICK'! I don't recommend it. On the plus side, they had run out of whipped cream sand the lady felt so bad that she gave me a coupon for a free drink so technically, I didn't really pay for the yucky hot chocolate.

1 Year

Fact: We're Addicted

After months and months of hearing from friends and coworkers how awesome 'The Office' is we finally started watching it from Season 1. We have Netflix and you can watch episodes instantly over the internet and since our t.v. is hooked up to the internet, it works really well. We'll see how quickly we can catch up...

We're not sure which is more entertaining, Jim's faces and the pranks he and Pam play on Dwight or Dwight and Michael's ignorance and stupidity. Either way, it's a funny show and we've enjoyed spending the time together watching and laughing.

A Cold December Night

Yay! Erin Bode is releasing a Christmas album! I'm pumped.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

I went. (at 6:20 this morning)
I stood in line. (for 45 minutes)
I, along with several other people in line, were entertained by a little boy there "voting" with his mom and dad. (Others were not so entertaied nor amused by his energy)
I voted. (and now I want to sleep since I was up at 5:30 this morning)
I trust God that the right man will win.

Call Him Irresponsible

I went to the Michael Buble concert this weekend with my brother. The music was great but I'll admit, I lost a lot of respect for the guy who sings Frank Sinatra songs in a not-so-Frank Sinatra world. After telling an absolutely precious 8 year old little girl (complete with cute chubby cheeks and her two front teeth missing)who was sitting on the front row with her dad that she was what kept him honest, his language and gestures went downhill from there.

On the plus side, I had a great time hanging out with my brother.

THE Stadium

THE Yankee Stadium is hosting it's last game tonight. I never made it to a game there but I got to see the amazing sight that is Yankee Stadium this summer and I'm so glad I did.

I read this article the other day and I'm not sure there are any other words to sum up what this stadium is and has been. I wasn't around for most of the truly great moments that happened there and I'm far from being the Yankee's #1 fan but as a big baseball fan, part of me aches for the fact that the sport's most famous landmark will no longer be.

Here's to the House Ruth built...

It's Here!!!

Introducing...



My new mixer!

I won this mixer from one of Pioneer Woman's drawings and it got yesterday in the mail. I can't wait to use it. Any suggestions as to what I should make first with it?

Blue Skies and Rainbows

Wichita got LOTS of rain on Friday. 10.31 inches fell in 24 hours, a new record. Wichita has two sides, an East and a West side (which side of town you live on is a very big deal around here but that's another story). While the East side has it's problems when it comes to weather, it's nothing compared to the West side of town and the flooding it encounters.

Friday's rains carried into Saturday and it finally stopped and starting clearing up just around sunset. Mike and I were getting ready to watch 'The Bucket List' when the tint of the sky caught my eye and when I looked outside, I saw the end of a rainbow. I ran upstairs to get a better look and discovered a beautiful, FULL rainbow. It was a wonderful reminder of God's promises to us.

A Life of Love

Way cool...

Living Water

My Dad is in Africa with two other guys from our church in STL. He looks like he's having a blast and I wish I could be there too because I know the amazing work God is doing while they're there. Lots of love and prayers for safety - love you, Daddy!

(The kid in the navy sweater is cracking me up!)

O Christmas Tree

Yes, I know it's early but for those of you who know me well, Christmas is my favorite time of year and I decorate early (not until the first of November, don't worry) :-)

Hobby Lobby already has TONS of Christmas stuff out so I had to start my search for our first big Christmas tree and I think I found it... what do you think? I can't wait to decorate!

Labor Day Ladies

For the third year in a row, a group of my wonderful college girlfriends (fondly known as "The Hall") will be together for our annual get together during the long Labor Day weekend. We don't all make it every year but that makes the next year even that much sweeter. I don't get to go this year because Mike's parents are coming and I'm very excited to see them but hate that I'll be missing my girls. (I hate wanting to be in two different places at once.)

Since last year, there have been engagements, marriages, loved ones lost, moves across the country, trips to various places in the world , new jobs and too many other changes and exciting moments to mention but through all the changes, I love knowing that we will all still be friends and there for each other whenever we need it.

God has blessed me so much!

2006 - Memphis
















2007 - Atlanta

My Grocery List

I learned very early in life how to make a grocery list. Don't ask me how or why, I just did. I loved helping my Mom write down the list of things we needed to get (and adding things I wanted) and watched my Mom as she organized the list into categories: fresh, frozen, dairy, meats, packaged & misc. That organization had to have come from the fact that with three little ones, grocery shopping could be quite the task and the list made things as efficient as possible.

When I go grocery shopping, I sort my list into the same categories my Mom does. Today, a lady at the store looked at me and said "that is the best grocery list I have ever seen, it makes so much sense!" I couldn't help but laugh and of course, thank her and tell her I learned it from my Mom.

Thanks, Mom, for making grocery shopping so easy! (Now if we could just figure out what to do when we forget our list at home...)

Free to Roam

I got my new passport in the mail today - yay! I'm not sure if I'm more excited about that or the fact that I got my old one, with all of my stamps from HUF, back as well.

Christian boycotts

I really enjoy reading this blog by a pastor at Granger in Indiana. His blog today really struck me.

Without restating what he has already said, I'll just say that I agree. There are definately "boundaries" as Christians, we have to set but seriously, when are Christians as a whole going to show the world what true Christianity is like by how we act towards each other, how we love, how we praise and how we humble ourselves in our everyday actions and not by how we raise our shields when someone or something goes against what we believe. If Christians aren't willing to understand the "secular world", why should we think that those who don't follow Christ will want to understand the Amazing Grace that we know, love and cherish?

I hope I stated that the right way...

So (not) HILARIOUS

I painted the second to last room in our house this weekend. I saved two of the bathrooms for last after finishing ours and realizing how annoying it was.

Part of what is so annoying is having to take the tank off the toilet so you can paint behind it. The tank came off and went back on fairly easily in our bathroom. The tank in the bathroom I painted this weekend came off easily but when we went to hook it back up, it wasn't working.

Mike and I took turns messing with it tonight to see if we could figure out what was wrong. At some point, the water decided to spurt out of the tank a la 'Old Faithful' style TWICE. I couldn't help but laugh just because I didn't know what else to do. The whole situation is rather frustrating but hey, if you can't laugh at stuff like this, life just isn't much fun.

We think we figured out the problem so I'll be making a trip to Home Depot on my way home tomorrow so we can (hopefully) fix the toilet tomorrow night.

Wish us luck!

The Blogs I Read

So, I finally got around to creating a "blog feed" on the right side of my blog so that I'm not going through a list of blogs in my "Favorites" and since you all can see it, I thought I'd run through a few of my faves. Beware - lots of links ahead!

Steece's Pieces - don't know the girl from Adam but a friend of mine introduced me to her blog and I am amazed by the Godly woman she is (not to mention the fact that she's raising quads and obviously has an incredible sense of humor)

Ashley, Kayleigh, Monty, Randall, Kristin, Steve, Renee, Rob, Catherine, Brunson, Casey and The Boys - all amazing friends (who happen to all go to Windsor) whom I have made me laughed with, cried with and make me want to be a better person. They're all awesome.

Tyler & Kelly - I went to college with them. They were great friends and big brother/sister type people that, while I don't stay in much touch with them, I will always hold a special place in my heart.

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman & Red Velvet Art - I stole these from Kristin, they both just fun and creative. Pioneer Woman has some awesome recipes and appeals to my "cowgirl" side.

Brent - A way cool guy that I went to college with. Some of my friends knew him from high school, thus the introduction. I still remember learning the "Snaps" game in the bleachers at a football game freshman year with him, my parents and a few other friends. He has been an amazing inspiration lately and his attitude amazes me. Check out his blog to see just how cool he is and keep him in your prayers. Brent, if you read this, you rock and I can't even tell you how many times Snaps has helped me keep a bunch of kids under control. :-)

The Fraily Fam - my cousin. My family helped with her wedding and I still remember it as one of my favorite times growing up. Now she has four little ones and lives in Cali. It has been too long since I've seen her!

Jim, Chelsea & Todd - a teacher and two other friends from college. They're all just cool and you've got to check out Chelsea's art and photography!

That pretty much sums it up - if I missed any, just check out the blogs - I'm sure you'll enjoy them too!

Is this Heaven?

Some of my favorite quotes, from my favorite movie that sum up how amazing baseball is much better than I ever could:

Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?

Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.



Here's to another amazing baseball season and the amazing group of players that gathered at the sports most famouse stadium tonight.

Take me out to the ball game!

Our House

We have been in our house for approximately 10 weeks. All but two bathrooms have been painted and we're slowly getting things organized and making things feel more and mroe like home.

I had to laugh this past weekend when my parents and brother were here visiting. My Dad asked how long we had been in the house and how many of weekends we have had visitors since then. Of the 10 weeks, we've been out of town once and we've had visitors for about 6 of them. I have always wanted our home to be open to anyone who needed a place to stay, whether it be during a transition or just as they were passing through. I think we're off to a pretty good start. :-)

Let us know if you need a place to stay for awhile, or just as you're passing through!

Pepper

A week ago yesterday, Mike and I adopted a cat from the Humane Society.

If you know me, you know I'm not a cat person. I don't dislike them but I much prefer dogs and while Pepper hasn't totally changed my mind, I do enjoy having her around.

I am amazed at her acrobatic skills. I painted another bedroom this past week and knew I needed to keep the paint tray off the floor so I didn't end up with kitty paw prints all over the carpet. I had the tray on the ladder and was doing so well until Pepper learned how to climb the ladder. I think it took me twice as long to paint the room because I had to keep an eye on her and the paint. She can also get onto our dining table and chairs (the higher bar-style kind) and her favorite places to sleep are on your neck and on the keyboard when you're trying to type.

Regardless, she's cute. Now I just need my dog. :-)

Great friends, great city, great fun

Mike and I are back from our trip to NYC & CT to visit Kelcey & Jordan & go to Kelli's wedding. We had a blast and it was wonderful to see so many of my wonderful friends. We had an amazing time in NYC - Kelcey was a wonderful tour guide and I wish we could have stayed longer to visit the museums and see a Broadway show but we got to see a Mets game (the Yankees were on the road) and enjoyed spending time with friends.

Kelli's wedding was wonderful as well - I saw friends I hadn't seen in more than 2 years and friends I hadn't seen since our wedding. We loved seeing our friend so happy on her big day and had fun hanging out with even more friends. Mike was a trooper being around mostly girls for almost the entire weekend! :-)

Other than seeing friends, the highlights of the weekend were the game (I can cross another MLB stadium off my list) and driving in NYC. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I drove in NYC. We had to rent a car to get to Kel's wedding and since Mike is just shy of 25, I got to drive and save us money. We took a few wrong turns getting out of the city but we did it and I even drove in pouring rain on the way back. While I am proud of myself, I don't ever want to drive in that city again. There should be a disclaimer that speed limits are merely a suggestion and if you don't go at least 10 miles over the limit, you will get run over.

Enjoy the pictures - the rest are on Facebook!

Tomatoe/Tomato

It's a good thing I got tomato plants so I can have homegrown tomatoes this summer since everyone is removing the wonderful fruit (yes, it's a fruit) from their menus...

Life. Is. Good.

Wonderful things about today:

• We got something (I'm not sure what, ask Mike) that allowed Mike to fix our garage door so we don't have to manually open and close the door anymore. YAY!!! It's amazing how much you take little things like that for granted.
• I got the new Erin Bode CD in the mail - I like it.
• I made Gooey Butter Cake for work tomorrow.
• It was cool outside.
• We won Mets tickets that we bid on. I can check another MLB Stadium off my list (and add another since the Mets will have a new stadium next year).
• Our sweet neighbor, Lulu, gave us cookies!
• I get to see a bunch of college girlfriends this weekend - I'm excited.
• We leave for NYC in 2.5 days.
• I have a wonderful husband. :-)

That Movie

You know that movie that you always wanted to see for some reason or another when you were little but your parents never let you? I watched that movie this weekend and I now know why my parents never let me see it. All that to say, I HIGHLY recommend the soundtrack to 'The Big Chill' but the movie, not so much.

Storm Season

I had forgotten how wonderful storm season can be in Kansas. Until tonight, we had 5 nights of rain, thunder and lightening and while it generally wakes me up for a few minutes during the night, I always seems to sleep the best when thunder is crashing and lightening is flashing and rain is pounding on the roof - I think it's because it reminds me of how awesome my God is and that He is always there, especially in the storms.

The Joys of Homeownership

It is not fun to discover a leak in your roof and have your house get hit by lightening within a two week time period. The leak is fixable and hopefully, Mike can figure out how to fix the garage door that the lightening took out. We really like living in a house instead of an apartment though.

Other things we have learned so far: our dishes fit it our cabinets now, unlike at the apartment, but now they don't fit in the dishwasher; Mike really dosen't like flat-head screws; the "other people" smell is hard to get rid of no matter how many candles you burn; the washing machine is still cool.

(Pictures coming... eventually)

Forget TV

Mike and I started moving into our new house this weekend. Before we completely move in, we thought it would be a good idea to paint so we didn't move in, put the furniture in place, move it out to paint and move it back into place. My parents were here for a long weekend and were a HUGE help - we couldn't have gotten so much done without them and we had a great time.

In addition to painting, our washer, dryer and fridge were delivered. We got a front loading washer and had to try it out the day we got it. My Mom and I enjoyed the process. :-)

Seal of Approval

Mike and I closed on our house this afternoon - YAY! We came straight home, changed clothes, loaded our cars with a ladder, paint and other things we knew we would need tonight and headed to our new home to start painting.

My grandparents stopped by to look at our new house since they had only seen the outside and had fun looking around. My favorite part of the evening was when I was in the basement showing my grandpa the fuse box and he looked at me and said, "Darlin', from what I can see, this is a great house". Coming from "Mr. Handyman", as my brothers and I grew up calling him, it was the best compliment I will ever receive on our first home.

Love you, Grandad!

One or Two Spaces

In the last two-ish weeks since starting my new job I have noticed something that goes against every grain of the last 8 years of my teaching. (and only my Editing/PR/Advertising friends will understand this)

The majority of the communications I have seen, both old and recent, had TWO spaces in between every sentence. Today, I asked my supervisor if this was a standard practice - she laughed, and said it was.

I'm not sure if I can get used to 2 instead of 1...

Getting Warmer

Mike and I are 16 days away from closing on our first house and we cannot wait. Along with being closer to that, it's finally starting to consistently be warm here and I'm glad - I'm ready for some sun!

My new job is going very well. I have lots to learn but am already excited about it all and am ready to have a better grasp on everything so I can really rock and roll.

Speaking of rock and roll, or country... I heard this song a few weeks ago and just saw it on the CMT Music Awards. It is so much fun and while I'm not a "music person", I love the harmonies. Little Big Town is one of the groups singing in the song and their harmonies are incredible! (Not the best video but you get the idea)

We are the Champions!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!

A beautiful sound...

That I hope to hear very soon...

Reuniting

The Kids are back. Talk about a flashback to second grade...

http://music.msn.com/music/blockwatch?GT1=7702

April Fool's

My friend, Chelsea, pulled off the most amazing April Fool's joke ever and even though something didn't feel quite right, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

(Make sure you look at the blog post from April 1 to see the picture.)

Orientation

I started my new job today. I sat through orientation which consisted of representatives from all of the different departments coming to talk to us about the rules and regulations and "the way things work".

The most interesting thing I heard was that Cessna has lakes on all of their campuses to help with drainage but those lakes caused a problem with geese. To solve that problem, they bought swans since they're very territorial but then they found our they had a snapping turtle problem because one of the geese was decapitated so they had to catch a bunch of snapping turtles but there's still one out there because he's too big for the traps to catch. (whew...)

All that to say, I'm ready for tomorrow when I really get to start my job.

Rock Chalk

I'll admit, the Jayhawks made me nervous this afternoon but ROCK CHALK we're going to the Final Four!!!

I also start my new job tomorrow and I am so excited.

The kid in me

I colored today and had so much fun. I think you have to have some "childish" things that you enjoy doing - they keep you young. :-)

Some of my other favorite kid things to do:

• dance around to music with absolutely no rhythm whatsoever
• watch teenie-bop movie (cheesy but oh-so-fun)
• lick the bowl after making brownies
• there are tons of others...

In not-so-childish news, Mike and I officially have a washer, dryer and fridge. Yay for being grown up!

Do your own thing

Sara Bareilles wrote this song in response to her record asking her to write a love song. Here's to being who you are and not changing just because someone asks you to.

We are...

HOMEOWNERS!

(Pictures and more info later...)

A Year Ago Yesterday

The man of my dreams asked me to marry me and made me the happiest girl in the world.

(Yes, I'm sappy. Deal with it)

Getting out of Dodge

Mike and I went to Dallas this weekend for a Canucks vs. Stars game. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

The Stars hitting the ice.

A nod to the great state of Texas!

John, JoAnn, me and Mike

Iced Coffee

I served coffee to about 40 people at our luncheon today. No big deal other than it was supposed to be iced tea.

Apparently the boxes of tea and coffee bags got moved around and the coffee sat where the tea usually was and all of our attendees got iced coffee.

It was really funny but a little embarassing too. Oh well, no harm done. :-)

Movin' on up

The cat is officially out of the bag - I am the new Communications Coordinator for the Engineering Department for Cessna Aircraft. I start March 31 and I am pumped.

Don't Take Your Time

Other than my family, friends and church in St. Louis, I miss going to hear this girl sing with my friends. We didn't go all the time, just often enough for it to be special. Did I mention that I miss getting to hear her at cool STL places?

New Blog Name

I need a better blog name - I just can't figure out what to call it. Here are some ideas (in no particular order), let me know which one you like most or if you have an idea. :-)

Feet Off the Ground
Here, There and Everywhere
Tale e Vita (Such is life in Italian)

Hokey Pokey

A friend forwarded this email to me yesterday at work and I couldn't help but laugh. I hope it makes you laugh as well. (this email should have been sent April 7, 1996)

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And that's when the trouble started.

Right Place, Right Time

I have always known that God has me right where he wants me and when he wants me there but I can't help but love the moments that it is so perfectly clear.

Long story short, a meeting I had today was pushed back and after my meeting, I went home to eat lunch with Mike (he had the day off, lucky guy) before heading back to work. I stopped to get gas on my way to work and saw a lady slip on a curb and hit her head. I parked my car, jumped out and ran over to her because nobody else had seen her fall. She had two cuts on her forehead (that we found out needed stitches when the paramedics arrived) but other than being a little shaken up, she was fine.

I got to stay by this lady, keep her calm, comfort her and make an impact on her life, even if for just a few minutes. At one point during the almost half hour I stayed with her, she looked at me and asked why I was still there. I told her it was because I wanted to be there and make sure she was okay - her response, "Well I just can't believe it, there aren't many people who would do that anymore."

I'm so thankful my Lord puts me where I'm needed, when I'm needed and as silly as it sounds, I think Joyce made a bigger impact on me today than I did on her.

Survey

I usually think these things are kind of silly but this one seemed like fun so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 5 items. You can only pick one thing from the following departments.. what is it?

1. Produce: Strawberries
2. Bakery: The bread with the crunchy outside and soft inside
3. Meat: Black forest ham
4. Frozen: Fuit popsicles
5. Dry goods: Cookies

Let’s say we’re heading out for a weekend getaway. You’re only allowed to bring 3 articles of clothing with you. So, what’s in your bag?

1. Jeans
2. T-shirt
3. Some kind of jacket

If I was to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day, what 5 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?

1. "This is Sarah."
2. "What sounds good for dinner?"
3. "I'm ready for Spring."
4. "Seriously?"
5. "I love you" (but only to Mike and my family of course)

So, what 3 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn’t get to do, you probably wouldn’t be in the best mood?

1. Wash my hair
2. Have a cup of coffee
3. Read my Bible

Sweet, you just scored a whole afternoon to yourself. We’re talking a 3 hour block with nobody around. What 5 activities might we find you doing?

1. Reading
2. Go shopping
3. Take pictures
4. Cleaning
5. Catching up with friends

We’re going to the zoo. But, it looks like it could start storming, so it’ll have to be a quick visit. What 3 exhibits do we have to get to?

1. Giraffes
2. Panda bears (if the zoo I'm at has them)
3. The petting zoo

You just scored tickets to the taping of any show that comes on t.v. of your choice. You can pick between 4, so what are you deciding between?

1. Myth Busters!!!
2. Iron Chef America
3. Dirty Jobs
4. Amazing Race

You’re hungry for ice cream. I’ll give you a triple dipper ice cream cone. What 3 flavors can I pile on for ya?

1. Chocolate
2. Cookie dough
3. Chocolate

Somebody stole your purse/wallet…in order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside to claim it. So, what’s in there?

1. Credit cards
2. Drivers license
3. Car keys
4. iPod
5. Lipgloss. :-)

You are at a job fair, and asked what areas you are interested in pursuing a career in. Let’s pretend you have every talent and ability to be whatever you wanted, so what 4 careers would be fun for you?

1. Teacher
2. Writer
3. Teacher
4. Professional photographer

If you could go back and talk to the old you, when you were in high school, and inform yourself of 4 things, what would you say?

1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. Go to the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert and not the dance.
3. Workout more your senior year before track season.
4. Spend as much time helping in the guidance office as you can - it's a blast!

Talent

Mike is an electrical engineer. I'm not really sure what all it involves other than the fact that he draws lines that represent wires that goes into planes to make things work. Today, he showed me pictures of what he has been working on with a team of engineers for the last year and a half and I was really impressed so I had to share.

He helped make this:


Look like this:




Yeah, my husband is talented...

Snack time

I found my favorite childhood fruit snacks at the grocery store yesterday. They aren't as good as I remember them being but it sure is fun to eat them!

MythBusters vs. Smash Lab

Mike and I enjoy watching MythBusters. It's funny, entertaining and educational all at once and we were excited to see a similar show make its debut a few weeks ago but I should have known better.

MythBusters is by far the better show and here's a clip of one of the best things they've done. (and apparently, a European version...)

Spring

I'm copying Kristin - I'm ready for spring too.

(and this is my dress pick)

Name Change

After almost 3 months of being married, I have officially changed my name on all but 2 official documents. I finally got around to changing my voice mail today.

Boys have it so easy. :-)

Only the World

I heard this song on my way home from a really rough day at work and boy did it hit home. It IS only the world but I'm going to do my best to live to live every day of my life here for HIM.

Cooking dangers

When you're using a mandolin slicer, I highly recommend paying attention to what you're doing so you don't seriously cut yourself. It does help if your husband is as wonderful as mine and helps you get the cut cleaned up, puts a bandaid on your finger and then finishes cooking dinner.

I love my husband. :-)

The Children's Section

One of my friends and her husband are getting ready to welcome their first child into the world. Her baby shower is tomorrow and since she was an English major in college, taught high school English for the last few years and bottom line, loves reading, I thought a few 'classics' would be the perfect gift.

I went into Borders today after work to find a few of my favorites and ended up taking a trip down memory lane. I went in knowing I would be purchasing 'Love You Forever' and thought I'd figure it out from there. I found 'Goodnight Moon', 'Where the Wild Things Are', 'The Jolly Postman' and a list a mile long of titles that brought a smile to my face. A new favorite that I had to check out after hearing such rave reviews was 'Fancy Nancy' - so cute and so fun, even if you're a big kid. :-)

What was your favorite book when you were little?

I'm Getting Old

Right after Christmas Mike saw a space heater on Woot and we, along with my parents, ordered one. (They're a wonder in the winter and you want to cozy up in one room and only need that room warm.)

We got our heater about a week later and I had to pull it out before Mike and I went on our date. It got hot as soon as I turned it on and I was so excited. On our way to dinner, I decided to call my parents to see if they had gotten theirs. My Mom answered and started cracking up as soon as I asked if they had gotten theirs - she said it had been delivered that day and she was standing in front of it and so happy with it. (If you really know my Mom and me, you can picture each of us talking on the phone about the different features of the heater and laughing at how we liked the same things about it) My brother was in the background laughing at my Mom, Dad and me but none of us cared.

Bottom line, I can't believe I got so excited about a heater but it is wonderful. Even better than the heater is knowing how much I've turned into my Mom - I couldn't be happier. :-)

Almost Spring Cleaning

I cleaned our apartment today and it made me wish that I could open the windows and let fresh spring air in. I love the cold but I'm ready for the spring.

I'm not an American Idol fan but I do like watching the audition shows because I do get a kick out of them. One thing from last night's night did blow me away. When the final contestant walked out into the hallway with her "golden ticket" to Hollywood and her family errupted into cheers, Simon turned to Randy and Paula and said that there was one thing about this country (America) and that is how people can be so genuinely happy for someone they know when they have something good come there way.

I hope all of my family and friends know how excited and happy I am when something good happens to them.

Some of my favorite things

Some of my "favorites" lately:

• My husband (he's always a favorite - I love him)
• My family (again, always a favorite. They're awesome.)
• My time with God - I've been working on spending more time with him and I love singing His praises in my car on the way to work and reading His word at night before I go to bed.
• Laughter - it makes me feel alive, especially when Mike is the one making me laugh.
• Candles - they smell good.
• Looking at houses (really scary but really exciting - I'll keep you updated)
• Our new space heater. It has a remote, a timer, it oscillates and it keeps me warm. :-)
• Knowing that we're going to Texas (my home state, yee haw!) in March

There are lots more but these are the top ones right now...

Off the retaining wall, through the building and into trouble

Some crazy things have happened at and near my office since my return to work this year.

To start, I was sitting at my desk last Thursday when I heard a loud crash/thud sound. When I looked across the hall, everyone was looking out the window so I ran over to see what was going on and found a car on it's side at the corner where my office is. I immediately took off down the hall and ran out to the car to make sure the people in the car didn't move but other people got there before me and were all over it. The guy driving what we later found out was a mini-van (we couldn't tell when it was on it's side and beat up) was headed south on a street that runs next to the side of my office towards an intersection and somehow managed to go airborn, jump the curb, take out two posts that once held parking meters, take out a corner of my office's landscaping, bounce off a retaining wall twice, bounce off the lightpost about 1/3 of the way up it and finally flip onto its side into the street that runs in front of my office. The whole ordeal lasted about an hour from the time it happened to the time they got him safely out. The guy had to have been tearing down the road for all of it to have happened. He ended up being fine so that was good but I have to admit, it was really cool watching the fire department rip the roof off his car to get him safely out.

Today, or rather, a little after midnight this morning, a guy decided to drive through City Hall. Apparently the guy had been in a gas station parking lot and the police were called because neighbors were complaining about his music being too loug. Police came to take care of it, he got mad and said something about running through City Hall and by the end of the whole deal, he did. He drove through the building, taking out approximately 8 million dollars worth of metal detectors and other security equipment not to mention a ton of other damage. He ended up in the parking garage on the other side of the building and proceeded to get out of his car, lay down on the ground and surrender to police "without incident".

To top it all off - Michael Vick is serving the remainder of his sentence in Leavenworth, KS.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

I have no idea where the saying in the title came from, it's just something my parents have said for as long as I can remember... moving on.

Mike and I just got back from a whirlwind of travel over Christmas and New Years. We left on the 21st and flew to Seattle, WA where Mike's parents picked us up from the airport and we went to a hotel for the night. The next morning, we got up and met Tym and Kristen at Wild Wheat for breakfast. It was so good to see our friends and the area the restaurant was in was so cute!

 

After breakfast, we headed to an outlet mall on our way to Vancouver to do a little shopping and then headed to Mike's parent's house. We spent most of the week hanging out with Mike's friends and family - including a Christmas Eve movie with two friends and Christmas dinner at his aunt and uncle's house (YUM!)



We left Vancouver on the 27th so that I could work on the 28th and as soon as I got off work, we headed to the beautiful mountains in Red River, NM. We spent the last few days there relaxing, playing cards and watching movies but left out too many outdoor activities as Mike and I both got sick. The sick part wasn't so much fun but I figured if we could survive a trip while sick so early in our marriage, we're in great shape. :-)

Work tomorrow and life will slowly return to normal. We have lots of plans for 2008 including trips, weddings and who knows what else. We're just thankful for each other, for family, friends, health, grace and so much more.

(more pictures to follow)