Twas the Night Before Christmas (Almost)...

Yes it is true.. I did not fall off the edge of the earth. I can't believe how fast these last two months have gone by. It is hard to believe that a year ago I was getting prepared for my NCLEX exam. I'm glad that wretched time in my life is over!

My life has been consumed with work, sleep, spending time with family and friends, and watching Christmas movies. :)

Christmas is just around the corner and I'm a little sad. This season has gone so fast this year. I'll miss it when it's gone but also look forward to warm weather, sunshine, shorts.... I can almost smell the cool spring breeze now.

Just wanted to check in and say hello. I'll try and post Christmas pictures in a couple weeks.

Until....

I feel like I'm missing something...

Yes, you can believe what your eyes are seeing. I have finally posted a new update. I have been so busy these last few weeks that I am just now catching my breath. However, I'm sure in the coming weeks until Thanksgiving I will be crazy busy again.

Ashley's wedding was perfect. She looked beautiful, the reception was tons of fun, and she was calm, cool, and collected the entire day. I hope she got to take in every detail and enjoy it, because the day went by in a whirlwind.

My mind/body has decided it wants to be on a day schedule, and I don't like it. Ever since Ashley's wedding I have been getting up early, which makes me tired and want to go to bed earlier, which repeats the vicious cycle. I am, as I type, fighting the urge to let my eyelids fall and relax into slumberland for the night. I'm trying to hold off until at least midnight, but I don't see that happening. I guess being off for six days in a row doesn't help the matter of switching back to my night schedule.

Oh, and another thing not helping my cause.... Nocturnal One 3.0 has made itself known in the past 24 hours. I am serious, how is it getting in the wall?! That's just gross! I'm starting to envision the rat king from the Nutcracker devising a plan to break through the wall soon. Hopefully I move out before that actually happens.

A big change in the last two weeks is I got my hair chopped off. It's in between my chin and my shoulders. I'm sort of getting used to it, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my long locks. It was so much easier to pull up, and style. I think I'll be happier when it's a inch or so longer. I even contemplated taking vitamins to help grow it out faster, and I hate vitamins. Well, that's a lie. I don't hate vitamins, I hate the huge pills they come in. I have a phobia of swallowing pills. I might have to suck it up with that though. You can't take Flinstone vitamins forever.....can you?

Here's to hoping NO 3.0 quiets down for the night and I can get some good rest for work tomorrow night. I'd be happy with being able to sleep until 11a. One can dream...

Until...............

Touching video...

This is yet another thing that has made me cry lately.

Just a little insight into a small (minute really) fraction of what I deal with in my job.



Until.......

Love is in the Air... Everywhere I Look Around...

October is officially the month of love this year. Forget February, October is when all the lovey dovey stuff is happening!

I started the month off with a weekend road trip with some girlfriends down to St Louis for a mutual friend from work's wedding. The wedding was gorgeous! The ceremony was outside and the weather couldn't have been any nicer for them. The reception was a lot of fun and I'm glad we could go and support our friend on such a happy day for her.

As soon as we got back it was business as usual for the next week. Then I had a super busy week with work and then a bridal luncheon and bachelorette party for one of my best friends Ashley, who is getting married next weekend. All of these events have been fun but with all the business and such I think I got too run down and developed a cold this past week. I was feeling quite horrendous Saturday night, and then Sunday was a full day of layying on the couch snuggling up with the DVR. Monday I ventured out with my mom (she had the day off for Columbus Day) to go help assemble Bibles at church. We are sending them to the World Cup. It's part of a program we do at church. We've helped this specific organization the last 4 years, but this was the first time I'd actually been able to go and help. It was a nice ministry to be a part of, but I think I over did it my first day back in the real world. I've been taking 3-4 hour naps this past week, and I seriously need to stop that. My nose is getting better and my cough is pretty minimal now, so it's time to regain my strength and get back to my routine since I'll be doing 5 in a row this weekend. All for the price of love. :) The wedding I'm in is next weekend and I have things to do before then, so 5 in a row it is.

Speaking of weddings... did you see the Office wedding. Jim and Pam finally got married! I was a little disappointed with the beginning of the episode, but the end more than made up for it when they did a parody off of this real life wedding. I was cracking up! I coincidentally was reading an article tonight that referenced that video and so I linked over to watch it because it is just so classic. However, I found myself tearing up a little bit. I have most recently been a pile of goo about everything! I have no idea why, but the slightest things bring me tears. That video, for instance, the Office, the baby department in JC Penney's. I'm slowly becoming a nutcase! Maybe once November rolls around I will return to a stable emotional state.

Well, I am off to bed to read more of my book, which just so happens to be about four best friends who run a wedding planning business together. I'm a glutton for punishment....

Until......................

Growing Pains Theme Song

Here is Chris Daughtry and Dane Cooks version of the Growing Pains theme song. :)



Until......

You think you haven't heard from me now...

Just wait until October. I will be virtually non-existent on here. I have so much on my calendar for next month it will be Thanksgiving before I know it.

I really can't remember much of the last week besides working. I do know that tonight I went and got a hookup so that I could connect our DVR. Yes, people, we have purchased a DVR. We are finally out of the stone-age! Well, Dad and I are. Mom will very begrudgingly be forced into it. I've already had to write down step by step instructions for mom on how to turn the tv on and off. It will be an adventure for sure.

Tomorrow is Nurse Residency and I couldn't be loathing it more (actually it's after midnight, so it's today). The only reason to wake up in the morning is the fact that the Pumpkin Festival starts tomorrow and I'm very excited to go eat all things pumpkin. Doughnuts, ice cream, etc.... Yum!

I really should go to bed. I'll only get 5 hours as it is. :( Stupid Nurse Residency....

Until........

Mr. Sandman and I Have a Close Relationship...

In the past 29 hours I have slept a total of 21 of those.

Yesterday morning when I got off of work I had intended to go to sleep for a couple of hours and then get up as usual to enjoy my two days off. Well, when I got home my mom informed me that she and the girls were running to the mall and a few other places so I of course wanted to go as to not miss out on the fun activities. I jumped in the shower real quick and made myself some coffee. We were out the door a little after 8:30a.

I wasn't feeling too bad. I was surprisingly awake for having just worked three nights in a row and getting up early the day before so I could attend my family's annual fish fry. We ran to Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target [Where I got another coffee. Mmm... hello Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was nice to get reacquainted.], a few other miscellaneous places, and then lunch at the Olive Garden. Soup, salad & bread sticks! We ran a few other places I can't recall at this time. My mind was getting fuzzy at this point.

We arrived home a little after 1p and I jumped on my computer to check email, facebook, and a few blogs. I also emailed Holli a Ha-larious video from a SNL skit and then noticed that I was falling asleep while still poised to type on the computer. I thought it best to put the laptop down before it slipped off my lap onto the floor. I threw some pj's on and was sound asleep a few minutes after 2p.

I woke up around 7:45p to go to the bathroom [two coffees, and two tall glasses of water will do that to ya]. I promptly crawled back into bed and fell asleep until 2a. I knew I was going to be wide awake at some ungodly hour of the morning. So I laid in bed for a good 15 minutes before I decided I should just get up and do something. I grabbed my computer on my way back from the bathroom and cruised the internet for a while, while also texting some friends. Yes, I had friends still awake. They were on break at work.

Funny thing about texting... I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near my phone during sleep hours. I texted my friend Robin about something earlier in the day before I fell asleep and she replied to me after I'd fallen asleep. I thought I replied rather coherently for being half asleep but I did not. Here is our conversation:

Me: J wanted me to tell you something. [insert something]. (1:08p)
*
Robin: How is J? and where was that hook thing i want that (2:49p) [I had sent her a pic of these hook decorations earlier that day that I thought would go well in her bathroom.]
*
Me: J is ok. tj seaid (2:51p)
*
Robin: what did you say after u said j was ok (2:52p)
*
Me: haha, sorry I meant to say targwt but I was half asleep when I sent that. (7:15p)
*
Robin: No problem do u know how much it was what aisle was it in (10:39p)
*
Me: I don't but it was by the camdles in the back. (10:40p)
*
Me: Ok i seriously was half asleep when I sent you that second message too. I stayed up until 2a and am just now awake. :p I really saw those hooks at KOHL's by the candles. Lol! (2:15a)
*
Robin: ok hilarious i shall check it out (3:06a)

So apparently I misspell when I'm asleep as well as mix up stores and flat out lie. I say I'm awake when really I'm not. Atleast I had enough sense to go back and look at my texting transactions to catch my mistake. What a dork!

I stayed up for four hours and after eating some toast I fell back asleep around 6a. I was intending on only sleeping a few hours and then getting up. After all, I had just slept a full 12 hours. No need for too much more sleep. Wrong! I slept until 3p! What is my problem?? Once I was fully awake I went upstairs to see what was going on. I could hear my dad outside with the dog and I knew my mom was at work. I was looking at something on the kitchen counter when I could feel it coming on.... everything was going black.... my head felt like 100lbs weighing on my neck. I hurried and rushed to the living room, which was no easy feat since I was seeing dark splotches in front of my eyes. I threw myself onto the couch and took nice deep breaths. In through my nose, out through my mouth. I didn't actually faint to the full extent, so I was able to relax and pull it together. Pathetic. I had been vertical all of 2 minutes and I was within seconds of passing out cold on the kitchen floor. [Wouldn't be the first time.] I quickly thought in my mind what I could eat to raise my blood sugar a bit and slowly transitioned from laying down to a sitting position. I was successful and soon was in the kitchen eating pretzels and trail mix. That seemed to do the trick.

Now, here I am sitting in bed (again) with my laptop on my fancy new lap desk from Borders. I am hoping to be able to fall asleep sometime before 3a since I have to work tomorrow night. We'll see...

I'm off to eat some of my dad's delicious apple pie. Later Peeps....

Until..............

Happy Birthday...to Me!

What's a girl to do on her birthday? Well, since I was on my own until dinner time I decided to sleep in a little. What better present is there than sleep? I'm not sure.

I got up at 10:30a, ate some toast and got ready. I was determined to not stay at home all day on "my" day. Well, once I was ready I couldn't decide what to do. I hadn't thought the plan out very well obviously. After texting with my sis for a little bit I decided to head out to the bank to cash a check, then go to Sonic for a birthday treat. Who am I kidding? I would have gone regardless of it being my birthday, but I did treat myself to some mozzarella sticks. Yum! Sadly this was all before 2p so I had to pay full price for my DCL (and don't think I didn't consider waiting, but since I was already out I thought it would be a waste to come back). Once I had my food I decided to head to the park. It was just so nice out I couldn't stand the thought of going back inside just yet. So there I was... at the park... sitting in my car...alone. Some may have thought it pathetic, but there was also a middle-aged woman doing the same thing. ...Don't say anything.

After that I ran by my cousins house to return a book and dvd I had borrowed, snuggled one of her babies for a little while and headed home so my grandparents could come visit me. It's their annual tradition to come over on our birthdays and visit for awhile, since our lives are so busy any other time, they make it a point to see everyone on their birthdays.

For dinner the sisters brought LaGondola (yum!) and then us girls headed off to a baby shower for someone at church.

This shower was the strangest one I've ever been to. When we got to the shower all was fine and dandy. The guest of honor wasn't there yet, but the cutest decorations were around. The shower was for a baby girl to be named Grace and her theme was cowgirl. Adorable!! However, when the mama fially arrived she informed us all that at her doctor's appointment today they told her it was a BOY! She's due in 2 weeks!!! Talk about a surprise! The grandma pulled out a sonogram and said "Who's a nurse?". I didn't want to say, but of course everyone around me is saying "Megan is!" Thanks for ratting me out people! So I looked at the sono for her and sure enough there was a male piece of the anatomy for all the world to see. Poor baby! Exposed before he'd even entered the world officially. The saddest part about the whole thing is that then she had to open all of these gifts from people and 90% of them were pink! I felt so bad for her. It was so funny, because if something was unisex people would start applauding and the mom would go "This will work!" Poor thing!

On the way home I got serenaded by my mom and sisters. Can you guess the song? ;)

So, here I am.... the Birthday Girl... All 23 years of me. :) [No pictures with anyone else, so all you get is me...sorry.]

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and cards!

Until................

Jack Frost Better Back Off....

I can just feel Jack in the air waiting to cover the ground in frost as early as possible, but I'm just not quite ready to let go of summer yet. I love Fall, but Summer was entirely too short this year. We had very mild temperatures and I only went to the pool twice. That's just wrong!

I've switched my fan settings to low at night instead of medium, but when I woke up today I thought I was just short of being a popsicle. I'm not ready to let go of my fan yet either. That really makes it official that Summer has come to a close. However, it was quite nice to be driving yesterday with the windows down and letting the wind blow through my hair. It was the perfect weather of not too hot, not too cold.

I'm in the middle of a six day stretch off of work and I've been enjoying it immensely, except for the fact that I have overslept two days and it totally ruined my plans for the day. I hate that! I have a few more things on my list that I want to do before going back to work on Wednesday, so hopefully I can get those done and I will feel very accomplished with my time off.

For now I will just enjoy laying in bed, watching movies, and doing absolutely nothing. :)

Until................

A Little Smile...

This just made me smile... and crack up laughing. :)



Hope everyone had a wonderful (and dry) Thursday. :)

Until...........

Enjoying the Last Bits of Summer...

Sorry I've been out of touch. You know what, I take that back. I'm not sorry. I've been working (of course) and when I haven't been doing that I've been off having fun and enjoying myself.

I was struck with the surreal realization the other day that I do not have to go to school this year. Weird! I had (and still don't) no idea when the first day of school is, I'd been skillfully avoiding the school supply area at Walmart, and I was able to take a weekend away with my good friend Robin, her daughter, aunt and mom to St Louis. I was kind of a tag-along, but they welcomed me with open arms and we had a blast.

We left for St Louis on Friday morning, which was interesting, since Robin and I worked the night before. We got to sleep a little in the car though, which was nice. Once we got there and checked into our hotel, apartment, condo thing-y we decided to head over to the mall. We got a couple of hours of shopping in and then we decided to head off to meet one of Vickie's friends from nursing school for dinner. I was remiss and did not take hardly any pictures! I don't know what was wrong with me. In fact, I was only in one picture the whole trip and it was when we got to the theatre on Saturday afternoon. Oh well. Anyway, my dinner was DELICIOUS with a huge capital D! We ate at Maggiano's. Oh. My. Word. ya'll, the food was delicious! I got the Chicken and Spinach Manicotti, and it was to die for! I have seriously thought about it everyday since. I can't wait to go back and have me some more! Everyone else had "okay" meals, but mine won the prize for most delicious. I'm salivating just thinking about it now!

After dinner we went across the street to Crate and Barrel and for the most part just sat on different couches. I guess we were still a little tired. Then We headed off to some Home store that Vickie and Julie wanted to go check out. Afterwards we went to the famous Ted Drewes for ice cream. I guess I am completely sheltered because I had no idea what everyone was talking about at dinner when Ted Drewes came up. Well, I soon heard the story and got to witness the madness that was "Ted Drewes". Lola (Vickie's friend from nursing school) gave us the grand tour around the city and I pretty much love her. She's hilarious and so nice. I kept seeing mine and Robin's future of what we were going to be like as "nursing school buddies" in x amount of years. However, we both told each other we weren't allowed to move without the other one, so darn it all, no moves to St Louis in my near future.

Saturday brought a new day, still without much rest. We were all in fairly uncomfortable beds (or in my case a couch) and it didn't help the matter that our 'neighbors' came home at 2:30a and were being anything but quiet. I seriously was going to have a major smackdown if they didn't stop their loud nonsense and zip it. People were trying to sleep! We decided to head over to the mall after breakfast and get a couple more hours of shopping in. I was looking for a dress to wear to a wedding, but all the ones I saw were way too expensive and not worth it to wear a couple times since I wear scrubs for a living. We were off to Mary Poppins at 2p, and we were all pretty excited about it.

The Fox Theatre was down on Grande Ave and it was beautiful on the inside. It was pretty dark, so I didn't get any adequate pictures with my flash-less cell phone, but it was amazing all the same. Pictures wouldn't have done it justice. The first act was a little slow in parts. I'm not sure if that was because we were all so tired or if it really was slow, but the second act picked up and it was over before we knew it. Mary Poppins even FLEW up by our section. We were quite impressed!

After the show we jetted off, because the crew was kind enough to drop me off in Springfield so I could attend the Fair and see Kelly Clarkson in Concert. She was amazing, as usual. I didn't get home until almost midnight and I was pretty zonked so I slept until 3:30p the next day. I worked that night though, so I had an excuse. :)

Well, that's what I've been up to. If Robin ever posts pictures (hem hem) I will make sure to put it up so you can see that I actually did go the St Louis this past weekend. :)

Until................

Good Samaritan Shut Down!

I love animals. Not all animals, but most of them. I get it from my mom. As a little girl I can remember being with my mom and if we saw a little dog on the side of the road we would automatically stop and pick it up, find out where it lived or take it home with us. Of course, we didn't keep them all. I think my dad would have gone insane, but we always made sure they got to a safe place.

Well, as an adult I seem to have adopted all of those same "Good Samaritan" habits. As I was driving home from my sister's house tonight I had not even made it two blocks before I saw a little puppy in the middle of the road. It's was a cute little thing and I sat there for a moment deciding what to do. It didn't go into a yard, so I carefully maneuvered around the corner and put my car in park. I sat there looking at it for a second, and as it's brown little eyes looked at me, I knew I couldn't leave it there. It had a tag on it's collar so I determined that I would figure out its address and take it back home.

There was a man in the backyard of the house it was by so I was going to get out and ask him if it was his. Well, the second I got out of the car and started toward the little pup it started barking like a maniac. It was hysterical! I decided since it ran into the grass (away from me) that it was safe enough there for me to go ask the guy in the backyard if the dog was his. Well by the time I got to the fence the guy was gone. Great, now what was I supposed to do? Meanwhile this dog is still barking like mad the most high pitched annoying bark I've ever heard. It was still in the grass so I got back in my car and called my sister to tell her about it. As I relayed the story to her the dog was STILL barking! I finally decided that I would leave it in the yard, choosing to believe that it was her (his?) yard, and head on home. I was totally shut down. Here I was trying to do a good thing and that little dog was having absolutely none of it. Of course I had to take a picture of it first before I left.

(You see that little speck in the grass? That is the dog.)

As I drove away it was still barking. I was cracking up the whole way home. I'm sure that this poor little dog thought I was going to dog-nap it or something. I was just trying to be a Good Samaritan and save it from being hit and it was just freaking out. Holli said, "It sounds like a car alarm. It just won't stop." That made me laugh even harder. It was like it was it's very own alarm system. "Help me! This crazy woman is trying to take me! Help!"

When I got home I relayed the whole story to my mom, and after she asked me if I brought it home for her, she started cracking up too. It seriously was the funniest thing that had happened to me all day.

Now I'll drive past that house and look for that yippy dog and wonder if that's where it really lives. So funny...

Until........

Great Plans Almost Always Crumble...

I had great plans for these four days that I have off. For starters, I was going to go to the pool every chance I got. However the lovely storm we've been having this morning is deterring that plan. Maybe tomorrow?

Another plan I had was to get up early today, workout, clean my room a little and run to Walmart for some ingredients to a cake I'm making for work on Saturday. So far, none of those things have happened except for getting up early. For some unknown reason I was ready to get up at 4:30a this morning. Why!? I think my sleep cycle was slightly screwed up since yesterday I slept until 4p. I wasn't planning on that, but I had just worked 4 nights in a row and was trying to catch some much needed zzz's. So anyway, I went to bed last night around midnight and 4 hours later my eyes popped open. Not fun! Then the storm was swirling around and for some reason I couldn't go back to sleep until almost 6:30a. When I finally did get to sleep I was dreaming of storms. There was some wicked lightening (in my dream). So I finally ended up getting up at 8:30a and from the moment I got out of bed I was planning my nap. Ha!

I really do need to do some cleaning and such to my room, so I'm off to start on that. From the look of the radar the storm should be past us in a little bit, so I'm hoping to run to Walmart soon. We'll see how that goes....

Sorry for the boring update. Not much going on here lately besides work.

Until..............

Nostalgia...

My mom was feeling quite nostalgic tonight.

You see, 22 years, 11 months, and 3 days ago one of her most prized earthly possessions was bore onto this earth. That's right, I'm talking about me. I'm her baby. I'm number three. I came screaming into this world at a whopping 9 lbs [However, I was not her biggest baby.] at 11:28pm. I was quite literally a "Labor Day" baby.

My mom came into my room tonight with my little dress that she says I came home from the hospital in. However, looking back at my baby book I believe this dress is the one I wore to my first day of church when I was only six days old.

My mom's caption for this picture was "Bored with her first trip to church. 9/7/86." How sweet.

This is the dress I appear to have come home from the hospital in. [Please excuse the butterball cheeks, and the fact that it scanned too bright to really tell what I'm wearing. Trust me. It's not the same dress.]

I can't even believe those pictures are of me!

However, I don't think these really look a lot like me either, but I apparently still make some of these same faces...





Before she knew it I was graduating preschool. Who cares if they had to practically push me across the stage. I was headed to Kindergarten!


I don't think either of us was prepared for how fast those next 17 1/2 (!) years would fly by. Here we are now so many years later with me being the only one at home and very close to moving out on my own. I anticipate this will not be an easy transition for her....

Until............

One Size Does NOT Fit All...

Yesterday was a fun day. I went out to lunch with my cousin Rachel and then we shopped until we dropped for 3 1/2 hours. She brought along a cd that she thought I would enjoy, and oh was she right. We listened to Ingrid Michaelson's cd 'Girls and Boys' non-stop and she even gave me the copy she had made at the end of our full day. :)
I have since then done nothing but hum the song "The Hat". I'm particularly fond of this verse: "I knitted you a hat all blue and gold/ To keep your ears warm from the Binghamton cold./It was my first one and it was too small./It didn't fit you at all, but you wore it just the same. What's not to love about those lyrics? It just brings a smile to your face. :)
We ran all over and I ended up getting a few shirts from Gap, an ADORABLE purple dress from Target, and some unmentionables from Victoria's Secret because I had a $10 off card. I think I have officially fallen back in love with Gap. For awhile there I couldn't find anything that I was really happy with, but ever since I bought my white skirt there around April I have since been frequenting the online store and could hardly contain my joy when I went in there yesterday. I found an adorable purple [apparently those two words can not be separated] and grey skirt. I put it back though and I'm glad I did. I got a 40% off coupon for next week, so I shall promptly go back on a day off next week and get it. :)
Now, can I just talk about something a little sensitive for a moment? [Boys, stop reading this paragraph.] I want to talk about women's underwear. There are some things that they are meant to do and there are other things that they were just not designed for. For instance, no one pair of underwear should be asked to be "One Size Fits All". That's just too much to ask of one undergarment. God made everyone in all different shapes and sizes and for that very fact I find it highly impossible to have a pair of underwear be "one size fits all". I was so disturbed by that when the sales lady told me that. Something I was even more disturbed by was the male working behind the counter. [Um, excuse me sir, do you know what store you're in? You do? Just to be clear, you know you're not working at a Menard's, right? Ok, just checking.] I was highly uncomfortable by him being there. I don't think I've ever seen a man working in that store. Ever. I honestly hope to never see him again.
As for my ADORABLE purple dress from target, let's just say I came home and bought a black one online too. :) It's cute, comfortable, and in my opinion you can never have too many of those kind of dresses.
After shopping Rach and I went to Sonic for Happy Hour. I decided to get out of my DCL comfort zone and try a Mango something or other. Let's just say, I will be getting my DCL from here on out with no need to branch out of my comfort zone EVER AGAIN.

After shopping I came home and made dinner for the fam, and then us girls headed to a friends house to watch the Bachelorette. It was the finale, so we had a little party. Basically what that means is that a half dozen or so of us girls got together, gabbed a bunch, and ate a TON. It was a good thing I hadn't eaten too much earlier that day because I more than made up for it then. I laughed a lot though, so I'm sure I burned off all those calories I consumed. Right??
Because this post is already long enough I'm going to be short about this.
Kiptyn- I felt bad for him at the end. I am an Ed fan, but Kip really was a good guy and I felt a twinge of sadness that she didn't pick him.
Reid- What the world?? I mean, I knew you came back, but seriously dude, you came on a little lot too strong. She sent you home, and you can't just come back, propose, and man handle her into saying yes. Doesn't work that way buddy! I was even more disappointed in him with what he had to say once in the limo taxi-van. I'd always liked you Reid, but you made me lose respect for you there.
Ed- :) You knew they had something special when you saw how broken up she was when he left, and not to mention how happy she was when he came back. I hope they last! How cute was the little recap segment when they played that Martina McBride song? A-dorable! I'm a little nervous about the "After the Final Rose" tonight. Hopefully things went well for them during their time apart. We shall see....

Ok, well I must get ready. I'm watching down at the girl's house tonight. So we can be elated or outraged together. Hopefully not the latter.

Until.....................

SYTYCD had me SLB

In case you don't know what the above abbreviations stand for let me shed some light for you...
So You Think You Can Dance had me Sobbing Like a Baby.

Mind you, I haven't watched this show since the beginning of the season when the girl's were asleep and I was awake in our hotel room in LV at only 8pm. Some friends were talking about it at work today and so I of course had to come home and watch.

Very moving....



It had me entranced during the dance, watching their moves, and then when the judges started speaking I lost it (just a little). Just thought I'd share, so I wouldn't be the only one crying...

[P.S.- Never mind the scary looking people at the end. If I could have cut them from that clip I would have.]

Until.........

Me & My Love...

We'd missed each other greatly.

Until...

I Don't Know Much...

However, there are a few things I'm sure of this morning.

1). It is completely horrid and unnatural for a night-shift person to have to wake up at 6am. We should not be asked to wake up that early unless it is for an extremely good cause or of our own will. [Neither of which is the reason I am awake right now.]

2). Night shift people are sure to be utterly grouchy for the rest of the day if woken up against their will before noon.

3). It is just not right to be hungry for lunch at 10a and ready for bed at 2p.

4). A good game of Farkle is sure to improve one's mood. However, a bad game of Farkle can add to the awfulness of this early hour.

5.). If it weren't for things like friends, lunch, possibility of ice cream and a DCL later today, there would be no reason to get up and start this wretched day.

Until.................

Enclave

Exceptional ratings.

Exemplary model.


Excellent features and style.

Every mother's working woman's dream.

The Enclave.

"Sometimes You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name"

This morning after I got off work my mom and I went to Bob Evans for breakfast. One, because we hadn't done that in a long time, and two because I was craving some sausage gravy and biscuits. Yum!

Since we went right when I got home we were there by 8 o'clock and there were barely any cars in the parking lot. Shocking since they open at 6 o'clock. :) We got inside and were seated almost immediately. It didn't take long for me to feel completely out of place. I kid you not everyone in that place knew eachother by name except for me and mom. Can we say outsiders? I felt like I was being excluded from their breakfast club or something. Everyone knew Douglas, who was sitting the booth next to us. All the waitresses and customers that passed by said "Hey Douglas" or "Douglas, I thought you were going to shave that scruff off your face last week." or "Well, Douglas, how are you today? I see you still have that list you've been working on." In my effort to fit in I almost leaned over the aisle and said "So what kind of list? You going shopping later today, because I am." However, there just wasn't enough time between ordering, shoveling our food in our mouths in under 10 minutes and getting our check. Darn.. he seemed like a super cool guy too.

I wonder how many times you have to go into a place to get people to know and remember your name like that? Do you think more times than my biannual (sometimes only annual) visit?

After breakfast my mom and I ran to Walmart for laundry detergent and to look for patio chairs to place under our brand new pergola. No such luck on the chairs, but we did get the detergent and I picked up some cake mixes so I could make some more Death by Chocolate cupcakes. Yum!

Then, I came home for a quick 2-hour "pick me up" and got ready to go shopping with Holli. I was very excited about this. I think it's been weeks since we did something together that lasted longer than an hour. Our schedules are a little opposite with me working nights and mostly weekends this past month or so. It was very nice to just relax and catch up even though between the two of us there were only two shirts purchased (one for each of us).

I have this whole weekend off so tomorrow us girls are going out to lunch, then to a friend's birthday party and lastly, to round it all out, a movie. Oh the sweetness of having an entire weekend off. I almost forgot how it felt. It's beautiful outside too, so that's a perk!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and get that chance to "take a break from all your worries" and get a chance "to get away" to somewhere where "everybody knows your name"....

Until....................

Vacation = Painting

Well, in my parent's minds anyway. Vacation = beaches, or sight-seeing in my books. However, for my parents nothing says first-day-of-vacation like painting the entire outside of the house. Woo! They really know how to party and let go!

After an attempt to use a paint sprayer (which didn't work) dad ended up starting the job by hand. Thankfully Holli took off work early to help and Lisa just arrived to help as well. Mom has been cleaning the inside of the house, which apparently needed it, and I got up a little after 3p because I have to work tonight. :)

Well, just wanted to update on all the fun things happening at my house. Don't you feel jealous? Now I'm inhaling the grill smoke. How enjoyable...

Until...............

You Can Call Me Susie...

Can I just tell you how much I am loving my new cookbooks? Because I am! The recipes are delicious and oh so simple! Not to mention they are healthy for you! :) [I can't stop using exclamation points!]

Today I ventured to Walmart, because I had a lapse in my grocery-list-making-judgement when I left off a very key ingredient for one of the things I was going to make today. And no, I did not make a special trip all the way out to Walmart just so I could drive by one of my favorite places as of late, to get one of my favorite things as mentioned in previous blog posts. I mean, of course that was a perk, and pretty much the deciding factor of the spontaneous drive, but it turns out as I was walking in those sliding glass doors my dad called and needed me to pick up some Mucinex and a Cool Mist vaporizer and thus, my trip had a bigger purpose.

However, I was then the idiot walking around Walmart holding 25 items in her arms as people gave me the 'Why-didn't-you-get-a-cart?' look. Believe me, if I had known when I walked in that I would be getting more than a box of cake mix and a few bananas I would have atleast gotten a basket.

I digress. So, once I left Walmart and got my sweet nectar of heaven I headed home to bake away. First on my list was 'Yum Yum Brownie Muffins'. These were the easiest things I've ever made. It only had TWO ingredients! TWO! I was astonished. Even in the cookbook the author said "...you might be tempted to add in other things to make the batter smoother. Do not do this!" She was right. I felt like I was stirring cement near the end, but the end result was fantastic!

Next up, 'Death by Chocolate Cupcakes'. Oh. My.Word. These are so good!! I can not even begin to tell you the goodness that these cupcakes possess. The funny thing is that they don't have any icing. They are so moist though! Granted I was a little confused by the concept of no icing. Hello, what is a cupcake without icing? I don't know how it happens, but the cupcake forms a little frosting-esque top to itself, all of its own accord, and I couldn't be more delighted.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make some 'Fab-five Banana Pancake Minis' and 'Caramel Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes'. If for no other reason than they taste fantastic, the titles alone entice you to make these fun little recipes. :)

Until................

God of This City...

I can't get this song out of my head. I've practically been singing it non-stop for the past two days (or atleast my mind always wanders back to it).

And just because I'm so obsessed, here are two videos. The first one has the lyrics and the second one has one of my favorite idols (Kris Allen) leading the song during worship service at his church. 

[Reason #496 of why I love him so.] 

Seriously, was it not worth listening to twice anyway? Or, you know, 32 times...whichever. Plus Kris' version has an extra verse. :)

Until................

We Are the World...

Well, unless you are living under a rock, you saw or at least knew that Michael Jackson's memorial service was on television this afternoon. I wasn't really planning on watching it. In fact, I was invited to go to a friend's pool, but woke up with a dreadful headache and ended up bumming around the house instead. 

It was odd to watch the memorial, because while there were people sharing stories about MJ and singing his songs, there were cameras flashing everywhere, tickets and bracelets were needed for admission... It was just odd to me. 

Several celebrities spoke and shared personal stories. Of course many sang his ever popular songs. Jennifer Hudson did a wonderful job with "Will You Be There". However, all I could think was she looks like she could give birth any second. The part that got me the most though, was at the end when several artists sang "We Are the World" and Michael's family joined them onstage. I definitely got a little teary, not only because that is a good song, but because no matter what you thought of Michael Jackson, he was still a person and his family is deeply saddened by the loss. 

What got me even more choked up was when his daughter spoke. She is a mere eleven years old, and it was heartbreaking to see her bawling up on stage. I'm surprised she even spoke given the sheltered life that she and her brothers led. I guess this is a new beginning for all involved.

I'm sure we will still be seeing coverage and unfortunately battles in the next few months, but hopefully all of the people involved have those kids best interest at heart, because Lord knows they don't need to go through anymore heartache than necessary right now. 

Until................... 

Torn Between Two Loves...

Dear Starbucks (specifically Lite Caramel Frap),

I don't want you to get the wrong idea. You have served me well. You are my go to place when I need a caffeinated beverage. You have always been there when I needed a quick fix no matter the time of day, and I've loved you dearly for years. 

However, in my recent months of trying to eat better and lose some weight I have had to make sacrifices. Unfortunately you have been one of them. :( Not only has your calorie content been bad, but it's been harder for me to justify the price as well. I couldn't look myself in the mirror anymore after sucking down a $4 [small] drink under 10 minutes, let alone the 250+ calories I consumed. 

I don't want this to sound harsh, but I've found myself a new summer love. Before the other day, Sonic (specifically Diet Cherry Limeade) and I are were just acquaintances from days gone by. Ever since our reintroduction though, I've fallen fast. My medium sized DCL has only 18 calories, and he tastes so delicious. He is sweet, but yet has a little bit of a kick. To top it off, he's half-price from 2-4p. That's only 18 calories for $0.97. I know, what you're going to say... you're sweet too, which is true, but you can't beat that price or calorie content. 

Please don't come to my bedroom window with your boom box in tow blaring 'In Your Eyes'. I don't know if I'll be able to stand it. Don't be too down hearted though. I'll be back for occasional visits. I would miss you too much. This is just a summer fling. You know I can't resist you in wintertime with your vanilla lattes. :)

I don't want you to look at this as me cheating on you. Just think of it as broadening my scope of beverages for the good of my waistline and my wallet. I do have a bridesmaid dress to fit into after all.

With Love and Fond Memories, M

The One Titled: Wes, Go Back Where You Came From! (That is if they'll take you back)

*UPDATED UPDATE* Just because I can't get enough of other people bashing Wes, here is Trista Sutter's [you know, the Original Bachelorette] take on last night's episode.

*UPDATE* I was blinded by my extreme hatred remiss earlier when I was typing this and didn't put in some of the best lines from Wes. Since I forgot here is a link to Chris Harrison's blog. He really is one funny guy. 

*ORIGINAL POST*

This week on the Bachelorette, Jillian took the four remaining guys to Spain for individual dates.

Kiptyn: Jill obviously feels a strong chemistry with Kip, but she is still struggling with whether or not he can open up to her more. I think she was a little put off by the fact he wasn't even close to the whole proposal thing. She likes him too much to let that get in the way at this point. He seems so quiet and not forward at all, which I think she's waiting for a little. Oh my word with the dancing. I was afraid he was going to bust the seam in his pants. He was dancing so awkward I think he was afraid of the same. I was very proud of Jill that she turned down the fantasy suite and Kip handled it well. How awkward were they in her room. He seemed uncomfortable to me or something. Maybe I'm the only one that picked up on that. Hmm...

Reid: He's adorable and dorky at times. :) They have so much fun together. Shopping was pretty funny. Apparently he's "Soy grande" aka "I'm Big" :) Hey, atleast he knew some spanish and was throwing it out there. Jill obviously was more confused what with her English/French/Sign language talk. :) They had an enjoyable picnic lunch on a bench, and again Jill turned down the fantasy room at their dinner. I love how they were keeping it real (no editing, even when Jill almost knocked over her wine glass). Reid and Jill definitely have fun together, but he's just slow at opening up. I think that was the key phrase tonight. Everyone seems slow to open up and share their true emotions. I guess none of them thought of that when they signed up for a fast-paced television show.  

[Side Note: How awkward were the waiters in this episode? They came in at awkward times and it was like everything stopped when they came on screen.]

Ed: Oh, Ed.  I'm so glad he's back. However, I'm super annoyed that all they seemed to be able to talk about was "all the time he's missed" (and by all the time we are referring to the two whole weeks he was gone). I am ready for them to quite dwelling on that and move on. Granted they did miss out on being able to meet his family, but they could always talk on the phone or via Skype. Hello people, we do live in a technologically advanced time now. Jill obviously cares for Ed, I mean look at how broken up she was when he left. She is clearly thrilled to have him back. As we all are Jill, as we all are.

Wes: To even type his name just makes me so angry. This guy is a dirty rotten scoundrel, snake, sorry excuse for a human being.... I could go on! I was dreading his date and you could tell from his body language and how he talked he was too. He was downright rude to Jill several times at the beginning of their day and I felt bad for her because things were going so bad. The thing that killed me is when they were having lunch and she's trying to have a serious conversation with him about what they would do if she chose him and he is avoiding all her questions. "That bird has no foot." What?!  Focus you idiot! I mean, all of America knows at this point that you aren't there for her, but if you are still expecting her to believe you are there for her you better do a better job at acting than that! Thankfully she picked up on his lack of interest in her and started asking "the tough questions" [you know the ones we've heard 20,000 times before this time] during dinner. How much were you excited that he slipped up and said "My girlfriend, uh... I mean ex-girlfriend"? I was down right giddy. I'm so glad he didn't try to recover from it and just stopped talking there. I can't believe that when he read that fantasy suite card he said "I think we should do it." ???? Were you not just sitting at the table talking to Jill while she cried and you said you had a girlfriend. Her response, "I think we should skip it." Smart girl. 

The two of them, along with the rest of America knew he was going home, so I don't know why the formality of a rose ceremony at this point, but whatever. 

The rose ceremony: If it wasn't obvious before who should go home before, it was then. He was sticking out like a sore thumb! Hello!!! You do not wear jeans to a rose ceremony, let alone a rose ceremony in Spain! I could not believe what he said to the guys! The look on their faces was priceless. They were as appalled as we were! I'm glad she chose Ed first, and then Reid, and poor Kip who was last was shakin' in his boots I'm sure. Thankfully she used the good sense God gave her and sent Wes packing. About time!!! If his actions and words in the limo didn't tell you how much a scum bag he really was you have problems.  He can go back where he came from with his stupid songs and girlfriend (if she stays with him). I hope to never see his face again. He should be ashamed of himself. I bet Jill feels like an idiot now that she ever liked him, but as she said it had to be in her time and no one else's when he went home. Her reasoning made sense, but it was still frustrating for us viewers at home.  

Now, the tough part comes. How to choose between the three remaining guys? I am not loving Kiptyn so much now, but any of them are fine with me at this point. I'm hoping for Ed, but I don't know how they'll get past the whole "You missed so much" portion of their relationship. And Reid is just so nice and funny I would be sad to see him go. I'm glad it's her making the decision and not me.   Also, I missed Chris Harrison a little bit this week. It seemed weird to not have him there to say "Gentlemen, Jill, this is the final rose of the night." and "Wes, say your goodbyes and get the heck out of here. In fact don't even say goodbye, just leave!" Okay, so I'm paraphrasing for Chris on that last one, but you know he would have been thinking that.  

*Sigh* I'm glad I got that off my chest. One more thing... I hope he's tarred and feathered when he gets back to his hometown. I hope he gets kicked out of his band, his truck breaks down, his girlfriend leaves him and his dog runs away. Atleast he'll have good material for his music career. Okay, now I'm done... I think.

Until.................

Summertime Playlist....

There are not many things I enjoy more than Summer, except for listening to good music during Summer.

It can be live music, radio boomin' while you're driving, itunes blaring in your headphones while you're working out, jammin' to tunes while poolside, the different combinations are endless...

Here are just a few of the tunes on my soundtrack for Summer....

Michael Buble- Everything [There's just something about his voice that makes the mood light]

Keith Urban- Sweet Thing [Keith screams Summer to me, although I love listening to him all year round.]

Taylor Swift- Crazier [I love her and this is a  good song for playing while you're swinging on the front porch unwinding after a long day--- that is if you have a swing, or a porch for that matter]

Beyonce- Single Ladies [This is just fun and a good workout song.]

Hillsong- Mighty to Save [Good worship song, also good for all year round.]

Sugarland- It Happens [Very enjoyable song and even more enjoyable that my sis learned all the words and can serenade me if ever asked. :)]

Watermark- The Glory of Your Name [I can just imagine an outdoor worship concert with this song.]

Lee Greenwood- God Bless the USA [I can not let a Summer pass me by without listening to this song atleast 10 times.] 

Chris Tomlin- God of This City [I first heard this song in a youtube video of Kris Allen leading worship at his church (One more reason to love that guy) and have fallen in love with it.]

Jason Mraz- I'm Yours [This is just a good beach-y song. Oh how I wish I was laying on a beach somewhere getting a tan.]

I know, my list is quite eclectic, but this is what I'm enjoying listening to right now. That's why they're called mixes. 

Until..............

Drunk as a Skunk

Do you know that saying? Well I'm not exactly sure how a skunk can be drunk, or what that saying even means, but I had an encounter with a drunk driver tonight and I hope to never encounter a "skunk" again. 

I can't really go into details like I normally do, due to the fact that I may be summoned to court or whatever, but let's just say I (along with my mom and dad) am lucky to not have been smashed head on by a drunkard. 

Moral of the story people.... Don't Drink and Drive, and for the love all that's sane, don't text and drive. Apparently he was doing that before he crashed too. Although he lied to us about being drunk, so who knows... 

Stay safe!

Until...............

Soup in Summer...

I don't know why, but I've been in the mood for soup and chili; pretty much all of the foods that you would make in the fall and winter. I'm not sure why, since we had a week solid of upper 80's/90 degree weather. 

I got a new cookbook the other day and have not even made it halfway through the book and

 have found a dozen recipes that I felt like I had to devour the second I read about them and a

 dozen or so more that I wanted to try. I ran to Walmart (my home away from home lately it seems) and picked up some ingredients to make a soup that sounded delish. It is called 'Sassy Salsa Pumpkin Soup', and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I ate a bowl full for a late lunch and then took some to work with me. 

I've been on a healthy food/recipe kick lately. It's been going okay so far. The only issue I've discovered is that I've never dealt with some of these ingredients before. :/ Oh well, I'm learning things. What I really need to learn is motivation to work out everyday. That I don't quite have the hang of yet. I bet that would help me drop those extra 10 lbs I want to lose. You think? 

I'll let you know if there are anymore must eat recipes I run across. :)

Until..........

Mac'n it...

Well, I bought myself a laptop. A Macbook to be exact. I've been researching laptops for the past 2 weeks or so and finally settled on Apple's Mac. I had wanted a laptop for awhile and since my computer is really my parents that they bought so I could use for school, I thought it was time I bought my own. I did thorough research, as always [I can't even buy a song off of itunes without thoroughly researching reviews and lyrics.]

When I was pricing the Mac I saw that there was an educational deal that they were offering. Discount on computers and a free itouch for practically anyone related to the educational world. Well, I decided to investigate because after all I am a "lifelong learner" [so says my college professors over and over again]. I went back and forth, back and forth on whether or not to use the deal. I am after all going back to school. Sure not this year or maybe next, but I am eventually... I think. Well there wasn't any verification that you needed to provide if you bought online, but there was a possibility of them spot checking. I'm not sure what would happen if they found out you didn't qualify, but I wasn't willing to take the chance. My conscience won out and I didn't use the discount.

I also ended up paying a little extra to have it shipped sooner. I knew I would be too anxious to wait for long. What were a few extra dollars after the money I had just dropped on it already? My friend from work told me that when she ordered hers it ended up being shipped from China. China! Well, that would take forever! So I paid the extra shipping fee, and waited patiently for the notification that it had shipped. I finally got the email and do you know what it said? Shipment picked up. Location: Memphis, TN. What?! That state is a mere 7 hours away! A different state! Not even another country! I'd been bamboozled! Oh well... I'm glad I paid the extra shipping, because just the 4 short days just about did me in.

I actually got it yesterday, but I didn't even get to play with it until tonight. I worked last night and then came home to sleep so that I could meet my cousins for a mini-photo shoot for my cousin's twins. They are so adorable! 

I'm slowly getting the hang of all of the differences between a Mac and a normal PC. Anyone who has a Mac and has discovered short cuts and such are welcome to give me advice on the whole thing. :)

Well, I'm off to do some more research on the wonders of a Mac... [How many times have I said the word "Mac" in this post? Too many!]

Until..........

Naps are Not Over-rated

I love a good nap.

I went to bed at a fairly reasonable time and got up at a late morning hour. I had definitely gotten enough sleep. Or so I thought...

I was looking through a cookbook on the loveseat upstairs and wasn't even 10 pages in before my eyes closed. I don't think I even realized it either until my hand went lax and the book flipped shut. That jarred me awake for a few seconds and then I quickly drifted back into dreamland.

I should have known better. This loveseat is like my 'Nap Zone'. During my last semester of college and when I was trying to destress from studying for Boards I would take my book that I was reading at the time up to that loveseat and hunker down for some rest. It would never fail that I would doze off. There is something magical about that loveseat. [I heart it dearly.]

I am ashamed to say that I napped for 2+ hours and who knows when I would have woken up had my mom not called to tell me something. [Good ole mom! Always there to wake me from my slumber.] You're probably thinking, "Big deal. So you took a nap. It's not a crime." Well, you're right, it isn't. However, I had only been awake for two hours! When did I become one of those sleepy couch potatoes? Granted, I did take the dog for a walk the day before, and let me tell you it was not an easy task. Oddly enough the only muscles that hurt today were my gluteus maximus muscles. I think it was from leaning back and trying to compensate for her straining forward. Anyway, the point is, I know I'm not a lazy bum, it's just frustrating to need a nap after only being awake a few two short hours.

I must admit I felt pretty good right after I woke up, and then not even an hour later I felt tired again. It's like a viscious cycle! I did not give in to the temptation of my lovely nap zone again though. No siree, I did not! Instead I dropped on to my computer chair and wasted two mindless hours on the internet, reading blogs, checking facebook, replying to emails.... I should have read a book, but I can always do that tomorrow.

Until..........................

I Had a Dream...and it all Took Place at a Pottery Barn

I have been up early [between the hours of 6am-11am] for the past three days. This is obviously not normal for me since I work night shift. I've had places to go and people to see [mostly all at the pool] so I've sacrificed my sleep for some sun.

So Tuesday night, I kid you not, I dreamt about Pottery Barn ALL night. It was crazy! I don't think I've even been inside a Pottery Barn. Is Pottery Barn like a huge wearhouse with all the household goodness you could imagine? Because that's how I pictured it. I can even recall some of the vases and ornamental wall hangings. Maybe I should sketch them out and try to sell them to PB. The weird thing is that it seemed [in my dream] that I was having a girl's weekend of sorts, and all we did was go to Pottery Barn, sit in the PB parking lot, talk about going other places and yet never left the parking lot. Strange...

Just heard... Farrah Fawcett died. How sad. :(

Well, I should get moving. I don't want to be a lazy bum all day...although that would be nice... hmm....

Until...................

Old Woman has Returned....

I fell asleep at 9:30 last night. That's just plain ridiculous! I had a headache, which I had had for most of the afternoon, so I decided to lay down in bed a little before 9. Turns out closing my eyes helped a little. Well the bad thing is that I was in and out of sleep for a half an hour and then totally out at 9:30 so I missed the new episode of Tori & Dean. Sadness. :( I don't have DVR either. [I'm finding more and more reasons to get that thing].

Yesterday I went to the pool for the first time this summer. It was glorious! The water was just right so that you could hang half out of the water and not feel like you were going to evaporate because it was so hot outside. I'm going to the pool again today, so I'm quite excited. However I'm not excited about the zit on my chin the size of a planet [we'll just say the size of Mercury, because it's a small planet, and it will make me feel better] and the fact that my hair is totally frizzed out because of the humidity. *Sigh*

Last night I motivated myself to clean my bedroom by treating myself to Subway and Ice Cream. Dinner can't get anymore perfect than that. I actually made a dent in the mountain of clothes that have been piled on my chair for the last month and a half since the last time I cleaned my room. My headache deterred the rest of the cleaning. I'm determined to finish it tonight though and then start working on my desk tomorrow. I won't even tell you how atrocious that has gotten. I think the downfall to having a bigger desk is that it holds more junk and miscellaneous items.

Well I need to go do some prep work for dinner tonight and eat something before the pool.

Until..................

"First Improvement since the 1880's..."

Really? The 1880's? I think I've seen it all now...

Until............

Productivity Makes Me Happy...

Yes people, that is right. I have finally completed for you Days two and three of my "What Happens in Vegas" series. :)

In addition to this lovliness I also had lunch with a friend, took the dog to the vet, got my hair trimmed, and have listened to the songs Halo by Beyonce and Crazier by Taylor Swift [with an occasional Single Ladies thrown in] about a billion times. I'm not sure how that last part is productive, per se, but I do know it's keeping me going as I blog for you all.

As it is now past midnight and I've virtually been up since 4am due to the nasty storms that blew threw this morning I am going to go to bed and sleep the day away tomorrow so I can be prepared for my three in a row. Yuk!

Until.........................

All I Want to Do...'Til Summer Comes Around

Thursday night Hol, Lis, a friend of our's Tara, and I went to the Keith Urban and Sugarland concert. It was Phe-nomenal! We've seen Keith once before, but we were highly anticipating Sugarland. They did not disappoint. The only complaint I have (because you knew there would be one. Hello, it's me...at a concert. There's always something. :p) is that there were annoying girls in front of us during Sugarland and even more annoying women in front of us during Keith Urban. The girls during Sugarland wanted to stand and wave their arms like uncoordinated maniacs. That's all fine and dandy... if we weren't in the nosebleed section!



(the annoying girls)


(our imitation of the annoying girls)

Then the girls left (or relocated) during the KU portion of the concert and we thought we were home free. Oh boy, were we wrong! The women a couple rows in front of us were even worse than the girls. By the end we were praying the girls would come back and the drunk women would fall over the railing. [Did I just say that out loud?]

Besides all that the concert was amazing and I would definitely see both of them in concert again.

(Click on the following images to enlarge)

What a wonderful way to kick off the summer. :)

Until.......................

Kids Old People Say the Darndest Things...

Let me start off by saying that my beloved, crazy, hilarious great aunt is in the hospital. She's been having stomach issues for almost a month now and finally went to the doctor this week. Yesterday they had her get a cat scan and decided that she has acute diverticulitis. The doctor recommended she be hospitalized for 3 days to get IV antibiotics and fluids. At first she refused. She told him that she couldn't go to the hospital because her grand daughter was flying in to spend a couple of days with her. The doctor said, "What?! You've been in so much pain and you're still going to go home?" So, he said she could take some stronger medicine by mouth and go home. Well, she changed her mind after she talked to her son and her primary doctor (who called her from his vacation to tell her he thinks she should go to the hospital). So she went to the hospital around 5:30 last night. Mom and the three of us girls went to visit her last night and she was tickled to death to see us. The doctor still hadn't been in and so we were waiting with her to hear from them.

As we were sitting there last night we were talking, and if you know my great aunt you know she talks a mile a minute and changes subjects in the same breath. Well, she was talking about how she was watching some soap opera and this lady was crying about this and what was she crying about. Then this guy came in and he was really tall. Is she really short? Then another girl was in the hospital and who was she? Then a guy came in crawled into bed with her, and well, they were both laying in that hospital bed.... on and on she goes. Then she says, "I wonder how I can get that kind of service?" OMG! We were laughing so hard, we thought we were going to be kicked out. The conversation quickly turned to homosexuals and pornography. Don't ask. You had to be there to follow that big jump in conversation and even with us there it was hard to follow. We were cracking up.
Then she starts talking about kissing. Oh my word... were we in for it then. She started talking about how disgusting it is when people kiss with their tongues and she better not see anybody doing that to us. Or us doing that to some guy. [I assume she was talking to Hol, Lis, and I. However, she kept looking at me when she was saying that. Uh, what gave her the idea that I've been "tongue kissing" a guy anytime lately?]
The doctor finally came in, and she had him laughing too. He seemed very knowledgable about her condition and she liked him a lot. We left shortly after and told her we would all be back at various times in the next few days.

Well, I went back to see her today and she was still in a good mood. She felt okay, but she hadn't really eaten much besides clear liquids so that was to be expected. She was feeling a little sick while I was there, but she was still her humorous self. Out of the blue she asked me if I had ever seen the movie Uncle Buck. I said no, because I don't really care for him. She just raved about it and how much she liked it. That 'Cully Maculkin' is in it, you know? Back when he was little anyway. :) Oh she cracks me up! I love her!

I better get a move on. The three of us girls are going to see Keith Urban and Sugarland tonight. They'll be here soon to pick me up. Oh, and I haven't even started on the rest of my vacation posts. :/ Sorry!

Until..............

Updates, Shine and Getaway...

Well, you will be happy to know that The First Day of "What Happens in Vegas" is posted. Joe [as in Cup o'] and I sat and finished it up for you fine people to have for the weekend. Not that the timing of it being published for the weekend has anything to do with anything.... I went the slideshow route for the pictures so the post wouldn't be a mile long. Enjoy!

Did anyone see the The Tonight Show last night [How weird is it that Conan is doing it now]? Was anyone else blinded by Gwyneth Paltrow's legs? I was happy to see that it was a top story on the Yahoo homepage. I was beginning to think I was obsessing about the excessive shine to her legs, but I wasn't the only one who noticed. After the first break she was much less shiny so someone must have complained in the audience of being blinded.

Ok, so I need some suggestions. The sisters and I are planning another vacation. I know, I know... we just got back. But I can work out some time off in November, so we were thinking of hitting a beach or somewhere warm, so we need help. What are some good places to go in the winter for a 4 day vacation that is affordable? We were thinking Florida, but are open to other states as well. We've looked at California and Arizona as well. If you've been to any of these places let us know what you think of them.

Ok, I know you're dying now, so go read the vacation post....

Until.....................

Original...or Remake?

Just because I can't stop with the videos it seems (or anything else prolonging the posting of my vacation recap) I'm wondering what you all have to say about this....

Joe Jonas recently did a "remake" (if you would even call it that) music video of Beyonce's song 'Single Ladies'. I finally got to watch it this afternoon and I must say it disturbs me.

[I also saw the Justin Timberlake version from SNL and it was quite funny from what I remember.

However, he had back up dancers, so that gives him an edge for sure. oh yea, and the fact that he had BEYONCE in it.]

You wonder what Taylor Swift is thinking about this. [See Taylor's song Forever and Always if you do not know what I am referring to.] Anyway, I hope your eyes don't start to bleed while watching this. I had to cover my face a few times in that 'I'm embarrassed for this person' sort of way.

Enjoy?



Atleast we'll always know if Joe is lip-syncing his words. He is a horrible lip syncer!

Until...

Don't Stop!

I just can not get this song out of my head (particularly this version). I love me some Journey tunes...



Oh, yea... Day 1 is done of the trip, I still need to add pictures though. Look for it soon!

Until...............

"What Happens in Vegas..." The Preamble

Well, what happens in Vegas apparently gets put on the blog, because that is what will be happening in the next few days. If you are new to my blog you will soon find out that anytime I go on vacation (which since the inception of my blog has been a total of two times, including this trip) I come home and give you all the run-down of what happened. Some parts are exciting, riveting, jaw-dropping, and others are just boring to you all, but let's be honest, it's my blog and I want to remember everything for me, so I write it all out.

Anyway... Just like the last vacation blog I will be giving you the play-by-play. Unlike last time I will be posting the whole day as one entry. No multiple parts. It was way too stretched out last time with multiple parts per day. Also unlike last time I will be waiting to post all the days until they are completed. I know, I know... you will have to wait. My hope is to crank these out in a week or so. We'll see how it goes. I also want to back date them, so when I get them up I will make sure to post the link for them.

Until then just sit back, relax, and catch up on my live-blogging (aka twittering) on the right-hand side of my blog. I tried to tweet a little on what we were doing instead of the pre-scheduled posts like NY.

Until.....................

"What Happens in Vegas" Day 3

This day was probably my favorite day. We left our hotel around 9:45a (which was really 11:45 our time. I was lovin' this time change!) and headed to the Luxor for the Bodies Exhibit. This was so cool! I'm not just saying that because it was a medical lover's exhibit. I think the girl's enjoyed themselves almost as much as I did and they don't have any medical experience. I of course played the role of the information telephone. [You know, those phones you get when you go the aquarium that tell you about the selected fish when you punch in their special number]. It was good fun, and a wonderful way to start off the day. :)

We did a quick spin around Excalibur next. That's the hotel that looks like a castle with a medieval theme throughout. Next was New York, New York. I think this was the day that we learned we could cut through NY, NY much fast to get to MGM than going down the broken escalator, past Lady Liberty, and up another escalator. Hey, atleast we figured it out before we left.

We made our way to MGM to make reservations for the shuttle to the Fashion Outlet Mall the next day. The ticket guy was beyond strange. We walked away hoping that everything went according to schedule tomorrow. He seemed very shady. Oh well, he would not put a damper on my day!

Our plan for the day was to see the rest of the strip that we hadn't gotten to the day before. We had barely made it past MGM [and by past I mean directly next to] when we saw an Adidas store. You could almost hear angels singing and strumming harps. The girls feet were saved! We quickly dashed inside and made our way to the women's shoes section. The girls tried on shoes and both walked out wearing a brand spankin' new pair of tennies. Lisa's were grey [Just what she always wanted! Seriously... she said atleast 5 time "I've always wanted a pair of grey tennis shoes" ... Whatever floats your boat sis] and Holli's were white with three sporty black glittery stripes on the sides. Very chic, but strict orders were given to not include feet in the following photos. My feet were still quite adorable in my sandals, however, we were all overlooking the fact that my sandals were black and I was wearing a navy and creme dress that day. What can I say? The brown Old Navy Sandals just can't hack it in Vegas.

After Adidas we explored all four floors of the M&M Store. I never knew so much M&M items exhisted. I believe my most favorite item(s) were the baby onesies in different colors. Let's just say that you could have quints and all could have their own color. :) Adorable....
We also caught the 3D M&M movie "I Lost my 'M' in Vegas" Over all the movie was fine. I would suggest that if it is a short wait for the viewing your children might enjoy it, but otherwise it may not be worth it to you. However, the weird lady that played the "mad scientist" whoever-she-was role was rather interesting. She was talking to the movie and we could barely hear what she was saying. What you could hear was slurred. I was frankly quite frightened to be in a darkened room with her even though there were 20 other people around. We dashed out and away from her as soon as it was over.

We decided a pit stop to CVS was in order since the girls needed band aids and I was parched from the heat. We crossed the street twice only to see once we were on the other side that we were only one store away from a Walgreen's. That's just about right... We got our bandaids and a super sized bottle of water and went on our merry way. We ducked into the Shops @ Planet Hollywood for some much needed a/c time and rest. We found a bench, plopped down and ate our trail mix. We took a huge thing of trailmix and filled up baggies to take with us everyday. Best idea ever! It has protein, chocolate, and gives your growling stomach satisfaction in between meals. After all we were burning near 700 calories a day. ;)

We headed toward the Bellagio next. I'm not quite sure why we walked. I think the girls were feeling a new sense of empowerment (or numbness) from their new shoe purchase, but we walked through the scariest and dirtiest part of the strip to get there. Until that moment we had been spoiled by the Monorail that had dropped us off at Harrah's (past the construction zones). This god-forsaken zone was filled with less than clean people (you see how I tried to make that sound not so mean?), dirt galore, and card flickers [if you do not know to what I refer to, be greatful]. Once the wonderful Bellagio was in sight we crossed the street twice and made our way along the beautiful sidewalk. Just as we were walking up a round of fountain shows started. How lucky were we? I was so excited! We took a couple pictures and a little video and then went inside. I think the Bellagio was seriously my favorite place on the strip [The Venetian was a close second, but the fountains for sure pushed the Bellagio into first].

We walked through the Bellagio to to get our tickets for "O" [the Cirque de Soleil show we were seeing that night]. They had very pretty hot air balloons suspended from the ceiling amidst the shops, but we didn't get any pictures of them. Think Palazzo umbrellas, but instead they were small hot air balloons. I played the slots for the first time, because seriously, you can't not play atleast one while you're in Vegas. Sadly I lost my money. :( What could I expect though? I only played for 5 minutes. We went and got some gelato from the downstairs lobby and headed outside to see if we could catch another fountain show. We didn't end up sticking around long enough to see the show because they run on hour rotations during the day.

We headed across the bridge that connects to the other side of the street and made our way to Paris. Basically the only thing I found enjoyable was the picture I got of the mock Eiffel Tower. Otherwise the inside is boring and you have to pay to go up to the top. No thank you. Next please!

We headed over to the Flamingo to see the "Live Chilean Flamingos" that lady on the overhead speaker of the monorail had been telling us we just had to see. I'm here to tell you-- they are just flamingos. They don't do any chilean dances [is there such a thing] or act out shakespeare. They are simply a flamingo. Most of them were sleeping when we went through so the pictures were quick and then followed by "Can we go now?".

We were on a mission for lunch next. I had wanted to try Chipotle because I had heard it was good and there just so happened to be one nearby. Well, the Chipotle stand-alone restaraunts may be good, but our experience was not a great one. Chipotle was smashed in a tiny building with two other restaraunt places, and the patio was littered with birds waiting for a handout. If you know anything about us 3 girls you know we do not. do. birds. We jetted out of there and had to decide where we were going to go next. Hey, why not hop on our trusty Monorail and head back to MGM and eat at the Rainforest Cafe? Fabulous idea, and that is what we did. [Have I mentioned the $28 we spent for our Monorail passes was worth every penny, because it was. I love you Monorail.]

So we trekked through MGM yet again. We got right in and were seated near the kitchen [apparently our non-preference of choice. That's where we were seated at in the Cheesecake Factory too]. Our waiter Dustin far outweighed our bossy waiter from the CF. He was nice, a little bit of a talker, but very prompt with his service. He earned every penny of his tip. Lisa and I both got the Nachos and Holli got some grilled something or other I don't remember. I almost (for 2 seconds) wished Will had been there to warn me just how big the Nachos appetizer was. Lisa and I definitely could have shared that time. Darn you Will! Making me think I knew what was what and how much I could eat. :/ They were scrumptious, and even though I barely made a dent I would for sure recommend them and will most likely get them the next time I visit a Rainforest Cafe.

We decided to head back to the Bellagio so we wouldn't be late for "O". Back on the Monorail we went...

Ok, so to be honest I had my reservations about "O". Circus type acts, scary makeup (have I told you I don't like clowns? I think the movie 'It' scarred me for life), I was less than thrilled with Holli's choice for the night. I hereby rescind any bad thing I ever said about it. It was still disturbing but it was also thrilling, and amazing, and even the tiniest bit terrifying. I was enthralled with it from the first moment, even though I was clueless as to what the story was. The gymnastics were amazing, and the water was the coolest thing ever how the stage sunk down so low that they could do high dives, and yet rise up to where there was no water at all. A-maz-ing!

After the show we headed outside and people were crowded around the railings. We quickly grabbed a spot anticipating another fountain show. At night the shows come in 15 minute intervals and they are so much cooler at night with the lights. I honestly think I could have stood there all day and night and watched those fountain shows while I snacked on my trail mix and gelato.

After that satisfying and moving [I always tear up during that song] show we headed off toward our hotel. This was the night my dream was realized. Krispy Kreme doughnuts! We ran walked really fast through Excalibur to the Krispy Kreme and jetted out toward the tram. We didn't want to miss it like we did the first night. Lisa's feet were forever haunted by that long jaunt back to the hotel the first night. Once we reached our hotel we grabbed a Starbucks (my night was complete!) and headed up to our room. There is seriously nothing much better than an ice cold caramel lite frappuccino and a KK doughnut with chocolate icing and sprinkles. A little slice of heaven right there.

Until.................................