Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thankfulness

Today I turned on the Detroit football game in time to her the National Anthem. I stood there and tears streamed down my face as I thought about what that Anthem means. To think about how I'm free because of the men and women that fight for it...my loved ones...and others loved ones. How thankful I am to those who sacfrice their lives so we can live in freedom.

As I reflect on other things I am thankful for a long list came to mind including:

- A loving God and Savior who gave His life for me, and loves me exactly the way I am

- My father. He has always been there for me and has always supported me in whatever it is I'm doing even if he doesn't understand it. As long as I'm happy, he is happy for me.

- My brother. We are extremely different, but I am glad that we are so close.

- My mom. She has taught me a lot about how to be a strong woman.

- Wii. I know you are thinking this is strange, but it is something that my mom and I have a lot of fun doing together, and I like having fun with my mom.

- My friends. I have amazing friends and I couldn't imagine my life without them. Some of them I can't even imagine going 1 day without texting or talking to them! They are the ones I can cry with, laugh with, and they aren't afraid to kick my butt when I need it!  

- S and O's family. They have become family to me, helping me through some rough times and celebrating with me in the good times.

- My job. I love that I have the privledge to work with high school students, and I love my boss. I have known him since I was in high school, I have a lot of respect for him, and he has taught me so much

I know that there are many many more things for me to be thankful for...but this is the beginning of the list.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Disappointment

For my birthday my friend Amy gave me the first two books in the Twilight Series. I had heard about the books, but really a story of a girl who fall in love with a vampire didn't appeal to me. I started to read the books and became OBSESSED! I'm not a huge reader, though as I get older I'm enjoying it more and more. I LOVE them!! I devoured the books! I couldn't get enough of them, and once I finished the 4th book I felt like I was saying goodbye to some good friends on mine (sad, I know).

I have been excited to see the Twilight movie, even though I thought the trailer looked horrible. I figured the movie would still be ok, though I still had low expectations. I went to see it tonight. I was extremely disappointed. I feel like I would've been very confused if I hadn't read the books. They barely developed Bella and Edward's relationship. I'm sad that I spent money and a Friday night on that...though luckily I had discounted tickets and fun friends to see it with!

I do have to admit that as much as I disliked this movie...I'm sure I'll see the other 3 because of my love for the books.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Lofty Goals...

My friend Ed posted this today and it made me very happy!!!

Some of you might be wondering what's the big deal...but to me it is!

When I was three years old I had 3 goals in life.

1. To be able to turn the tv on and off by myself
2. To be able to cross my legs
3. To be SMURFETTE!!!

Yes...I wanted to be a small blonde blue-skinned creature...I don't think it will ever happen...(Though some of my friends are determined to have a costume party with the sole purpose for me to dress up as Smurfette)

But I'm pretty proud that I was able to accomplish 2 of my 3 goals!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Friends and Football kind of Weekend...

This past weekend I took a mini road trip to see friends and the end result was supposed to be the Ravens/Giants Football Game...but that didn't happen.

My dad, Kyle (my brother) and I are all huge football fans. My dad and Kyle are Giants fans, and I'm a Ravens fan. Back in June I started talking to Kyle about our dad's birthday in August and suggested getting tickets to the Ravens/Giants game in November. That was the plan...and I told him that he was in charge of getting the tickets since I was going to be out of the country. Well...the short answer to a long story is that we never got tickets...GRRRR. But we still decided to get together in NYC to watch the game...which I turned into a mini road trip.

Saturday morning I left and headed about an hour north to visit my friends Lori and Dan from college, and meet their adorable 7 month old son. It was great to catch up with them, see their beautiful house and play with the baby. He is teething so his bottom lip is MIA from him sucking on it so much! :) Here is a picture from our time together...



After spending the afternoon with Lori and Dan I headed to the Jersey Shore to spend the night at Gina's house. Her husband was away for the weekend, so we were able to have a girls night! My 2 and a half hour drive turned into 4 hours due to the pouring down rain. I hydroplaned many times too! Not a fun drive! Gina had made dinner and we spent the evening talking and catching up. I was really glad to see her since I missed her baby shower a few weeks ago because of our high school retreat.

At one point Gina opened the front door for some reason and there was a little slug on the screen door. Gina started freaking out and even called her husband about it! Before we went to bed I decided to open the door and see where the slug was...and it was gone! Gina freaked out even more, afraid that it had come into the house, but I found it...it went back outside. Here is the little slimy thing...
Gina made breakfast in the morning, we took some pictures...
I'm still half asleep here

Gina is so cute with her baby bump! I can't wait to meet little Gracie!

Off to NYC I went! The drive was much better in the daylight and no rain! I do have to admit that I was very impressed with myself driving through the city. I'm always surprised by how easy I'm able to get around there. Here's the skyline on my drive in...

I met my dad and Kyle in front of Kyle's apartment...and we found 2 parking places in front of his place!! That is unheard of!!! We walked several blocks to a sports bar to watch the game. Oddly the bar was packed with Broncos fans! Who would've thought?!?!

Sadly, the Ravens lost...though I still think they played well. There was one guy in the bar who was an obnoxious Giants fan (and no, I'm not talking about my dad!) When the Ravens scored their touchdown I started cheering and he started mocking me. Then he started mocking my dad...who was cheering for the same team as he was! Anyway, once the game was over my dad tried to get me out of there quickly because all the Steelers fans were coming in and he wasn't sure if I had enough self control! hahaha!

We headed to a museum that had a Grant and Lee exhibit about the Civil War. It was interesting and neat to see. My dad is a huge history buff so he loved it. We headed back to Kyle's apartment, and my dad and I took off. Kyle's roommate left and took all the furniture a few weeks ago and Kyle has been stressed trying to find a new place, so we decided to let him work on that. Here's the 3 of us...and of course Kyle isn't smiling...
Other than the scary drive Saturday evening and the Ravens losing it was a great weekend! Especially since I got home in time to see the Redskins lose!!! :)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

It's been a while...

It's been a while, I know. I've enjoyed the fact that my life has slowed down a little bit. I worked over 100 hours the past pay period so working a "normal week" feels like a vacation almost! (Ok...not really but its nice...and I don't think there is really a normal week at the church!)

Some things that I am working on and will post hopefully soon are Godspell pictures. I've sorted through the 1,335 pictures I took and gotten it down to 907! I need to touch up a few of them (mostly lighten). Once I choose the best of pictures I'll post them on here.

Last Friday night we had a girls night and painted pottery. It was fun to get out, and I love my platter...though I still haven't finished it. That is on the to-do list...hopefully next week.

I've been getting back to the gym, which is great! I have put a gym schedule together and hopefully I'll stick to it!

Oh...I have another quirk that I can't believe I forgot...

I DESPISE GLITTER!!!! It gets EVERYWHERE...there is nothing you can do to get rid of it! I think my dancing days with the glitter filled costumes brought on this hatred. I heard a comedian say once "Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies. Once you have it you can't get rid of it!" And that my friends, is the TRUTH!

Anyway, now I have that out in the open I feel much better.

I have a jam-packed fun-filled weekend planned which I will share all about next week and hopefully have some fun pictures!

Wow...re-reading this I have a lot of "hopefully" things to do! I give you permission to harass me if they don't get done! Give me some time about the Godspell pics though...there are a lot of them!

Enjoy the new layout! :)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Quirkiness...

Amy tagged me to list 7 quirky things about myself.

Here we go...

1. I hate am repulsed by pickles. The smell, the taste, EVERYTHING about them is disgusting! Mary gave me the best shirt ever for my birthday...it says "Pickles...cucumbers soaked in evil." SO TRUE!

2. I say "Bless You" when people burp. It just comes naturally, like when people sneeze. I still say bless you to people who sneeze. I never knew where this came from until one day I was with my dad and brother. Someone burped and my dad said "Bless You" so I guess this is a hereditary quirk :)

3. When I'm eating M&Ms or another candy that has multiple colors I like to eat the colors evenly. I will eat the stragglers first, and then I will eat the other colors evenly until they are all gone.

4. I am a perfectionist, sometimes to a fault. I am no where near perfect, but when I am doing something I try for perfection. An example is when preparing for a retreat, if someone adds or drops last minute I cannot just write their name on the list or cross them out, I need to reprint the entire list(s). I need to clear my desk before I leave work each day. Also if possible, I want to do everything right the first time I do it. If someone else knows better than I, I will ask many questions until I fully understand how to do it; even if its silly things that don't really matter.

5. I have always been a picky eater since I was young. I am leaps and bounds above where I used to be. I have mastered eating around things that I don't like...like tomatoes or peppers.

6. I have to put lotion on my feet before I go to bed. If I don't it will take me longer to fall asleep, or I will wake up in the middle of the night because my feet are really dry.

7. There is one word I literally shiver at whenever I hear it. The word disgusts me and I blame on the awkward girl that lived next door to me my freshman year of college. We had a community bathroom for the floor and I had just gotten out of the shower. I was walking back to my room in my towel when she walked up to me and said "Well, aren't you looking rather moist today?!" WHO IN THE WORLD SAYS THAT! Apparently she does...but still...EWWWWWW! Anyway, if you didn't guess it, the word is moist. Ugh...I shuddered just typing it!

It took me a while to come up with these...but I know that there have to be many more...let me know if you think of anymore quirks of mine! When S and O were asked to say a quirk of mine they said "Sometimes her hair is straight and sometimes its curly." haha

I tag Mary and Terry...I'm sure both of them can list more than 7...especially Mary! :)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Knock Knock....Rock!

Tonight I went to the mall with Amy and her kids. It was a fun evening, especially the ride home. Christopher is into saying knock knock jokes. His favorite one tonight was:

"Knock, Knock"
"Who's there?"
"Rock"
"Rock Who?"
"Rockin on the Roll!"

We were on the way home and Christopher kept telling us this joke over and over. I decided to give him a hard time joke with him so Christopher would ask "Knock, Knock" and I responded with "Rock!" This went on several times and Christopher was trying to tell me I was wrong but all Amy and I could do was laugh. I could hardly get the word Rock out the 4th or 5th time from the laughter. As Christopher was explaining that after he said "Knock, Knock" I was supposed to say "Who's there?" I kept saying "ROCK!" after he said who's there. Again, laughter erupted from Amy and I.

I decided to tell Christopher a knock knock joke:

Me: "Knock, Knock"
C: "Who's there?"
Me: "Orange...no wait I mean banana"
C: "Orange you glad I didn't say banana"

Apparently I really messed that one up and Christopher already knew it!
We went back to the "Knock, Knock" "Rock" jokes again until Christopher finally gave up and decided to make the joke be just "Knock Knock!"

Gotta love Knock Knock jokes! :)