I Love...

CRAYONS!!!!!

Yes, I have to say that crayons are one of my favorite things in the world! When I am bored, or feeling down, or feeling happy, or just plain in the mood to color I bring out my crayons and coloring books! (Yes, I am 27 and still own crayons and coloring books - everyone should!)

I love everything about coloring! I love all the different colors of crayons, I love the names of the colors, and I can spend hours just coloring away! I think everyone should have some crayons and coloring books at their house! Of course you HAVE to buy Crayola (don't get the cheap wax ones - they do not color as nice)! And the BEST place to get coloring books - the dollar store! They sell those jumbo coloring books for $1!!! AWESOME!

Click HERE to Color online!!!! If you click new page it will bring up a blank page instead of the butterfly!!

Amazon.com is Amazing!

So last night (Thursday, September 20, 2007) at approximately 5:45 p.m. eastern standard time I placed an order on Amazon.com.

I ordered two DVD's for my husbands birthday which were in stock. I went with two day shipping on the order which would make the estimated delivery date Monday, September 24, 2007.

At 9:57 a.m. on Friday, September 21, 2007 I got a knock on the door. A UPS man was dropping off a package on our front step. (Now, I am expecting something else in the mail so I thought it was that.) However, to my absolute amazement, sitting on our front step was an Amazon.com box!!

Seriously...16 hours later I have exactly what I ordered on my front steps!

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!?!?!

I have always liked to order stuff from Amazon and have always been happy with their delivery, but this is ridiculous!!! It is like they knew what I was going to order before I ordered it and had it ready!

I am by NO means complaining - but just completely amazed by how quick they sent me my package. On the package it says next day UPS but they didn't charge me for that. :-) It is this little surprise that totally made my day!!!

I love you Amazon! Thank you for your exceptional service! I will continue to be a loyal customer!!!

Last Comic Standing Winner!!!

YAY to Jon Reep...this seasons Last Comic Standing Winner!!

I think he is SO funny!!! And I just love this show!

He is also the Dodge Hemi guy on the commercials!!!

And isn't it Ironic....Don't you think

The word ironic is sometimes used to describe events and/or circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental", “improbable", or “unexpected”.* To me, when something ironic happens I usually follow the situation with words or phrases such as “really”, “come on now”, “are you serious”, (or my personal fav.) “what the f&$k!”.

An example of irony:

There is a job fair that the job solutions agency told me about which is being held at (wait for it) O. Community College….my previous employer.


Yep, that God she really likes her irony!


*From online definition

FYI.....

Dole has recalled their Heart’s Delight salad mix after a bag tested positive for E Coli.

Click HERE for specific information.

The voluntary recall, issued Monday, affects all packages of Hearts Delight sold in the United States and Canada with a "best if used by" date of September 19, 2007, and a production code of "A24924A" or "A24924B."

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY HUSBAND!!!

(In honor of our wedding I posted a couple of our pictures! I had to post the pic at the bottom of my dress b/c it was SO pretty and I loved it!!! The flowers at the top are an anniversary gift from my sister!)

This weekend T & I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary!!! I seriously can not believe it has been a year already! (and that we have been together for 7 years!!!) It is just so wonderful!! I am so proud of Terry and even prouder to call him my husband. This has definitely been an interesting year and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us!

I love you SO much T.!!!!

(P.S. Thank you again mom, dad and K!!!!)

TBS - Where it's At!

I have to say that TBS has some GREAT comedy shows on! Seriously I could pretty much laugh my way through an entire day just watching the shows on TBS!

Some of my favs include:
Family Guy *new to TBS
Seinfeld
Saved by the Bell
The Fresh Prince..
Just Shoot Me
Friends
Everybody Loves Raymond
The Office *new to TBS
Sex and the City

Seriously...they got the market on syndicated comedy shows!!!

Way to go TBS, you bring a smile to my face!

(Tuesdays are particularly my favorite day to watch TBS!)

Talk to me....

Ok, so after 2 1/2 months and no luck finding a job the suggestion of talking to a headhunter was brought up. Side note: Headhunter just sounds scary! Like I have done something wrong!

So I googled headhunters for Ohio and the searches brought up an assortment of random websites for temp agencies and stuff. So I thought I would ask and see if.....

1. Anyone has used a headhunter/search firm to find a job?

2. Pros/cons to using one?

3. Any you would recommend?

I plan events for a living so alot of supplemental staffing places don't really work for me. But I thought if there was another option out there that might help me find a job, even if it was a secretarial job I better explore it. I only have a few more months on my unemployment and frankly - I am freak'n bored out of my mind!

So any feedback on headhunters (good or bad) would be MUCH appreciated!

My New "Addiction"

Ok, so I have a new late night addiction. QVC.

I will be honest, I never really cared for QVC. I use to make fun of the jewelry (just not my taste) and I more or less never even watched the show and didn't give it a chance. However Monday night I was looking for something to watch and saw that it was Gem Week on QVC so turned to it. I love gems and as there was nothing else on I thought - what the heck!

Skip forward a few days and the last three evenings I have turned on the QVC jewelry show and watched it for a little bit before I go to bed! I don't know if it is because it is Gem's this week or the soothing voice of the girl talking or how fast the jewelry goes or what but I am completely enthralled by this show AND the idea of the show.

Here are some things that amaze me about the show:

- Lisa, the person talking about the jewelry is really nice (on the show) and can just keep talking forever. It is like the marathon of sales pitches! She can talk about this jewelry for 2 hours straight and she is flawless. It is amazing to watch. After like 5 minutes I wouldn't know what to say!

- I can't believe how many people stay up late to watch these shows! I mean they are always selling stuff anytime during the day!

- People call in and say hi. These are dedicated QVC fans and some will even go into parts of their life and reveal maybe too much info on air. It is funny! (The calls are my favorite!)

- I can't believe how much people buy! They may have 6,000 pieces of jewelry and they will be gone in 2 hours. And things just go FAST on the show. You have to be quick!

- I wonder how much QVC makes a year. Also, I wonder how much people spend a year on QVC products.

It is like the ultimate reality show for me! And actually alot of the jewelry I have seen the past few days I thought was pretty and something I may wear! (of course some is just too crazy for my taste, but some is very very nice)

Does anyone else watch QVC? Any other products worth checking out? Right now I am just stuck on the gems, but any good makeup or stuff? I haven't bought anything, but it is fun to look!

P.S. I could see how this could be dangerous. Just sitting in the comfort of your home, looking at the pretty things on TV, credit card in hand....it could be easy to buy alot of stuff from them!

A Little Slice Of Heaven!

So last weekend T & I were invited up to Lakeside to spend the weekend with some friends. Besides the fact that we had a good time, I have to say the best part of the weekend was when we walked into the Cheesehaven!!!

Yes my friends, this amazing store is located just a couple miles from Lakeside and features over 125 different kinds of cheeses!!! It is amazing, and slightly overwhelming to any cheese lover! There are smoked cheeses, aged cheeses, cheeses with about anything you could think of added to them, spreads, basically EVERYTHING!!!

Besides cheeses this store also has a large selection of wines, candies, hot sauces, and so much more!!!

Terry & I ended up leaving with a block of 4 year old aged cheddar which is so yummy but very strong! It tastes great on salads! A smoked cheddar which is my favorite and just fabulous! We also got a cheddar & bacon spread, which I wasn't sure of but tastes just like smoked cheddar in spread form! YUM!

This place is about an hour from BG. and is open all year round. If you are up near Marblehead I HIGHLY suggest going to visit. However, if you want to try some of their cheese now, guess what - they will ship cheese!!! Check it out below!!! It is worth it! (we recommend the smoked cheddar!)

http://www.cheesehaven.com/Default.htm

Reading Is Fundamental

So I am making about 40 individual cheesecakes for a party this weekend. I spent ALL day today baking these cheesecakes in individual 4" aluminum pie pans, made sure each batch was perfect and followed the recipe to a T. No mistakes, nothing!!! I was SO proud! All that was left to do was the easy stuff, drizzling some milk chocolate and white chocolate on the tops of 40 cheesecakes!

I thought to myself at (9pm at night) this is easy! If I can make all these cheesecakes without a problem then surely I can melt some chocolate and drizzle it on these delicious desserts!!!

Well it would have been easy if I had remembered the most simple of all rules when it comes to do anything - read the directions.

I don't know if fatigue set in or just a bit of cockiness in thinking I can do this...but I thought I don't need to read directions. But lets just say I turned "Put 6oz of chocolate into a microwave safe dish and microwave on med-high heat for one minute" into "try to create a double boiler out of things you have in your house and end up turning your chocolate into what looks like chocolate crumbles or as we called it - dirt."

Yes, I BUTCHERED my chocolate, semi-sweet morsels b/c I couldn't take the 10 seconds to read the back of the bag where it SPECIFICALLY states how to melt your chocolate. (refer to directions above) Instead I turned what should have literally taken one minute to get beautiful chocolate into 45 minutes of my husband and I trying to figure how to melt the chocolate and why it turned into dirt.

We still don't know what happened but I got smart and read the back of the white chocolate bag and in one minute had a smooth white chocolate ready for drizzling. And instead I had to drizzle Hershey syrup over my cheesecakes. (still good, but wasn't what I wanted b/c syrup doesn't get hard like the morsels. )

So the moral of this story is ALWAYS read the directions no matter how simple you think your task at hand is going to be.



P.S. I will be posting this delicious cheesecake recipe on the food for friends website later this weekend! It is seriously the BEST cheesecake I have had! However, I will be leaving off the drizzle part.

Welcome (another beautiful baby is born)!!!!

Welcome to the world the beautiful Colby Chad J.

Colby was born two weeks ago to my very good friends Jennifer & Chad!!! This is their second boy (Brady is 4) and little Colby looks identical to his big brother (well when he was born)!

We are SO very happy for your family!!! I had a BLAST hanging out the other night and holding Colby! What an angel!!!

Also, Happy Birthday to Jennifer!!!! (her birthday is today!) What an amazing birthday gift you & your family got this year!!!

Lots of love to you and your family!!!

I Love....

I LOVE these "cookies"!!!!!

This week I went over to Wixey Bakery to place an order for a small cake to celebrate our one year wedding Anniversary in a few weeks. No, we didn't keep our cake. It tasted too good and I couldn't get over the eating of something that was a year old - YUCK!

The place we got our original wedding cake is three hours away so I decided to try this place as I have heard it is delicious! And let me tell you my friends - this place rocks!!!

I got an assortment of delicious sweet treats from the bakery for my husband and I to try and we are SO impressed! However, my personal favorite are these cookies above.

I don't know what they are called, I just called them black & white "cookies" but really they are a round piece of heaven! The "cookie" is really like a cake. I believe they use yellow cake batter to make a soft cookie type treat. Then (obviously by the pic. above) half the cookie has a hard white icing and the other half chocolate. YUM!

So I have to say, if you are in the area (in Toledo off Glendale) you must stop at Wixey Bakery and ask for these "Black & White" cookies! You will not be sorry!!

(By the way, the cake we ordered was slightly different from our wedding cake. We ended up going with a chocolate cake with white icing which is what we had before. However we added raspberry filling!!! We can't wait till Sept. 16 to celebrate and eat this tasty cake!)

Just Because!

This is a picture of our friend's Chris & Silvia's baby! Baby Ivan!!

I just thought it was the cutest picture and it made me smile today!

I Love...

I Love my new HP photosmart Printer!!!

I got it for my birthday but just had my parents up this weekend and FINALLY installed it! It only took me about 10 seconds to love it!!!

Besides being SO cute, small and shinny, it is a GREAT GREAT piece of equipment to have. You can plug it into your computer and work off your computer to adjust your photos or you can plug your digital camera photo card right in to the printer and work off it. It prints BEAUTIFUL pictures that are of such a high quality!

This is seriously a must have! I am going picture printing crazy!!!

(Thanks again mom and dad!)

AVOID!!! STAY AWAY!!!

What ever you do, DO NOT COME TO BOWLING GREEN this weekend!!! (not that you really would anyways)

This week and weekend not only are the students coming back to BG but it is also the National Tractors Pulls! Yes, all of those wonderful drunk tractor pullers will be in town as well as those drunk students!!! Oh, how fun!

(My husband is on his way home from work for lunch. It typically takes him 6 minutes to get to the house from work. Today it took him 15 minutes and he saw 2 accidents on the way. Crazy!)

Just Because They Make Me Smile!

These are my two "Wrestling Kitties", Belle & Sebastian. I just took these pics b/c 1) they are just cute and 2) it is 3pm and my furry friends are still napping the day away. (they have a hard life!)

I just had to put them up here because these two cats make me smile SO much! I think pets can be SO therapeutic and help our attitudes. How can a person be upset with anything when these two cuties are laying on either side of me sleeping!

CONGRATS!

Congratulations to my dear friends Jennifer & Chad who welcomed their second baby boy into the world today! Colby (middle name TBD) was born today weighing approx. 6lbs and was 20" long!

I am SO VERY happy for them and can't wait to meet their new addition on Friday!

Take care and once again CONGRATS!!!

They are back.....

- The roads are getting busier
- The stores are stocking up more than usual
- Hotels in town are all booked
- Gas stations and Liquor stores are increasing their alcohol supply
- Every day there are more and more people out and about (including more parents)
- The campus is looking in order & tons of signage is going up
- Restaurants and stores are busier than they have been the last few months
- The locals are running their last minute errands before the weekend comes
- There are moving trucks everywhere
- The town is in a mild state of chaos


Yes my friends, BGSU starts classes next week. The students are BACK!

So I bid farewell to the three months of peace, easy driving, no lines, emptier bars, and restful summer we had and welcome back all the students with open arms! Yes this is a slightly different attitude then I had in May when I couldn't wait to see the students leave. But it is all part of the cycle of life in BG and now, after some quiet, I am ready for their return!

I am excited b/c my sister is back, the town does get boring and couldn't survive without all those students and for the first time Terry & I are not living right next to the college. We are finally in a house away from the parties and noise that is the college apartment life! Plus it means Fall is right around the corner...and really nothing can get me down this time of year!

So again.....WELCOME BACK!!!!

What a Great Feeling!

This morning I got up and prepared a pot roast in our Crock Pot for dinner tonight!

I am excited b/c the house is starting to smell really good and it just feels good when you make food in a crock pot! At 6pm when my husband comes home dinner will be ready, the house will smell like I have been cooking all day long and we will be able to sit down and enjoy a great dinner with no fuss from either of us! It is PERFECT!!!

I don't know why I don't use our crock pot more often because really it is a wonderful kitchen appliance!

IT IS FINALLY HERE!!!

This is getting to be my favorite time of year....why you ask?!?! Well because the latest Fall fashions are arriving in stores! YAY!!!!!!!!

Fall is my favorite time of year and I LOVE fall fashions! Jeans, coats, sweatshirts, sweaters, boots, layers, EVERYTHING!

I have been in a couple stores recently and online and have noticed that summer clothes are finally making their way onto the clearance racks and fall clothes are finally moving in!

I am SO excited! Now if it could just cool down outside a bit to allow us to wear our fall clothes, I will be the happiest person (at least in the BG and surrounding areas)!

What is your favorite fall clothing item/s?


(P.S. I wish it was fall weather ALL year round! That would be perfect!)

A Soundtrack to my Life!

A couple months ago I had introduced the “challenge” that was set before me by one of my friends to create a soundtrack to my life. Click here. I put a lot of thought into this list but was distracted by some personal things in my life and didn’t feel like finishing my soundtrack. Well this weekend I got the urge to pull out my list and finally finish it!!!

I decided to create my list not just based on my favorite songs but more the songs that have had a strong emotional pull to me and take me back to certain points in my life. I have always been a loner and music has always been my outlet for my feelings. When I listened to this CD completed for the first time I was slightly surprised that I was flooded by emotions (good and bad), but that is the wonderful thing about music.

So anyways, here is my list. This list starts from when I was young until right now and the songs are all representative of certain times in my life! I also included 3 “bonus” tracks to my CD. The only reason they are bonus is b/c I actually did make a CD and those songs did not fit!!!

Also, here is my Sister’s list and A’s list if you want to see what they picked!

1. Tomorrow – Annie Soundtrack
2. Daydream Believer – The Monkees
3. The Streak – Ray Stevens
4. Dixie Chicken – Little Feat
5. Rainbow Connection – Muppet Movie Soundtrack
6. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm – Crash Test Dummies
7. Longview – Green Day
8. Wilkommen – Cabaret Soundtrack
9. Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton
10. Imagine – John Lennon
11. Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses
12. Where It’s At – Beck
13. Deconstruction – Indigo Girls
14. Hey Jude – Beatles
15. Summer Romance – Incubus
16. Big Eyed Fish – Dave Mathews Band
17. Have a Little Faith in Me – John Hiatt
18. That’s How Strong My Love Is – Otis Redding
19. In My Life – Ozzy Osbourne Cover
20. Famous Last Words – My Chemical Romance

Bonus Tracks:
- St. Louis Blues – Louis Armstrong
- Shine on You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
- Moonlight Sonata – Beethoven

I Have an Unusual Crush!

(I had to post the picture with Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson because I adore Emma Thompson and Love Actually was one of my favorite romantic movies!)

Ok, so I am here to admit right now that I have a rather large and unusual crush on Alan Rickman. I know, he is more than twice my age, but there is just something about his voice, presence, and the roles that make me just love him!

Obviously his most recently famous role is Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movie....but I have loved him for awhile. Some of my favs are Die Hard, Robin Hood; Prince of Thieves, Dogma, Love Actually, a voice in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I have just read he will be in Sweeney Todd! (P.S. I am SO excited about this movie)

I hope this doesn't come across as creepy! It isn't sexual or anything (sorry mom and dad). It is just I think he is a very attractive man and I have a HUGE crush on him!

So do you have any "unusual" celebrity crushes? Please, I can't be alone!!! :-)

Someone Finally Got it Right!

Ok, so I am hoping that other stores will follow this lead and start doing this with some of their styles of pants so that ALL women can be happy.

Apparently Lane Bryant (sizes 14 and up) has realized that not all women are the same size and have curves and came up with the "Right Fit" selection of jeans at their store. Now I don't care if you are a size 4, 14 or whatever, I think when it comes to the sizing of jeans/pants women have ALWAYS gotten the bad end of the deal. Too long, too short, don't fit the hips, don't fit the waist, to baggy, too tight.....You all know! At times buying a pair of pants can turn a pleasant day of shopping into a day of hell that is ended either buy an extreme workout or an extreme binge of chips dipped in peanut butter cup ice cream! ok, most likely the later ;-)

My husband can walk into ANY store and get his size pants without trying them on and they will fit great every time. I can go into three different stores and wear three different size pants! Ridiculous!

So anyways, Lane Bryant came up with a few different pairs of jeans and pants that are considered "Right Fit". You measure your waist and hips and depending on the amount of curve/body shape (are you a pear shape, triangle, circle, square, ect...) you get a certain color and size. The colors are designed for people who may be more curvy or not so curvy and keep in mind what problems they may have when buying pants. (bulges, gaps, baggy areas) They also have these in petite, regular and tall. So really these pants are designed to fit your body perfectly!

Genius!!! I mean seriously...why can't all department stores (or at the least online stores) have a small section of pants that are done in this way? Measure the waist, hips and inseam......and there are your pants!!!! I don't think it would be that hard and I already know many of my friends who would like this.....I know I would LOVE it!

Introducing....

This my friends is baby Ivan, Chris and Silvia's new baby boy (see below) !!! He is only a couple days old, but as you can tell by this picture he is going to be a big boy, just like his daddy (his daddy is 6'5") !!!

I love his face in this picture and I can't wait to meet him! Congrats again!!!!

CONGRATS!!!

Congratulations to our friends Chris & Silvia who had a baby boy this week!!! Mom & baby are doing WONDERFUL and I can't wait to see their little baby!!

Congratulations also to our friends Juan and Kiri who just found out they will be having a baby girl! YAY!!

Also my friend Jennifer should be having her baby any day now, so my thoughts are with her and I can't wait to meet YOUR new baby!!!

It is seriously baby mania around us and T & I are so VERY happy for all of you!!! CONGRATS!!!!

For Harry Potter Fans....

Set your TIVO on Sunday July 29 as there will be a special 1 hour episode on Dateline NBC talking to J.K. Rowling about the Harry Potter series! YAY!!!

I also heard in another interview with her a mention of a Harry Potter Encyclopedia?!?! Has anyone heard of this? It would be an A-Z account of all things Harry Potter. Things she had in her notes, back stories about all the characters that didn't make the final cut b/c they were not relevant to the story. This would be awesome!

Yeah, I am a total Harry Potter geek!

I Love....

My New Saute Pan!!!!

So my parents just got me this new saute pan and I am here to tell you this is a MUST HAVE for anyone who cooks! In fact, I dare say this is the only saute pan you will ever need from this point on!

"This Members Mark 5.5 qt Deep Saute Pan is made of heavy-gauge porcelain enamel with a superior nonstick coating. The stay-cool silicone soft-grip cast stainless steel handles are ergonomically designed for comfort and safety."

Let me tell you, this thing is huge and wonderful! My parents got it for me from Sam's Club and it was only $20 (well worth it)! The thing I love most is that the other day I made a dish with tons of sauteed veggies in a red sauce in this pan and still had room to add a pound of bow tie pasta to the pan with room to spare! Also, because it is not stick it is easy to cook lean meats and fish without a problem!

I have said this before, I am an addict for all things kitchen. But my friends, this wonderful pan is one of my new favorites and has been bumped up to my "top 5 must haves for any kitchen" list!

Thanks again mom and dad! I loves it!

I'm Still Here!!!

I am sorry for the lack of blogging recently, but I will try to get better!!!

Talk to me....

(Not my jewelry)

Ok, I have some questions on jewelry!!

I have just unpacked a box of my jewelry from our move nearly 8 months ago! (I know - sad) The jewelry was pretty much just costume/fashion jewelry...not my good stuff. As I was going through the box, I came upon some older jewelry that had become slightly tarnished and jewelry that had become tangled together.

So here are my questions.

1. How can I clean this jewelry to get it sparkling again? Some rings, earrings, chains...stuff like that.

and..

2. How do you store your jewelry? I have alot of jewelry. I keep my "good" jewelry in the boxes they came in...but have NO idea how and where to keep all my necklaces and bracelets so they won't get tangled and so I can easily access them!

Any ideas on these two things?

I Love...

So I just got a pair of Noise Reduction Ear Phones and let me tell you....I am a fan!!!

I know they look a little weird, but I have to say I LOVE these headphones! I can not wear typical ear phones (the little round ones that fit in your ear) because my ears are too small! Seriously, I have tried everything to fit those suckers in my ears and I can not for the life of me get them in my ears and when I do it hurts and they fall out when I move. So I have always had to wear traditional ear phones that go around your head, which are just annoying!

These little wonders actually go in the ear canal and are smaller and more flexible! They also reduce outside noises so you just hear your music! I am SO excited that I can finally wear these small little ear phones! YAY!

I highly suggest these, just don't turn your music up too loud when you first get these!

Talk to me....

(Sorry about the feet picture)

So question. I am trying to find a nice summer toe nail polish color and I seem to be in a rut.

I was going with clear for awhile (just because it was easy), then went to a red, tried black, and then tried purple. Now all of which were nice...but I got bored. So I was reading a magazine and saw someone with a fairly bright white toe nail polish on.

So I went to the store and tried some. However, I am not sure. Terry said it looked like white-out on my feet! (did you ever put white-out on your nails when you were a kid...I did all the time!!)

So anyways, my question is...are we doing white nail polish on our toes? Is this in style? Is it cute only if you have a tan? I just don't know about it. And how about any suggestions on cute summer nail polish for our toes?

Just Thinking...

So it has been a couple weeks that I have been out of a job and I just thought I would write down some things I am feeling and/or noticing. Now, I am keeping in mind my it is only going on week 3 and I am SURE these will change the longer I am out of a job.

1. Filing for unemployment SUCKS. It takes forever, there is tons of paper work and I hate that you have to keep up on it. Obviously they make it this way so people will get annoyed and find a job and/or stop filing for it. But I just am annoyed with it.

2. There are more people than I thought who are out and about during the day. Granted, it is summer so people are on break/vacations or whatever. But I was really surprised that it is actually busier during the day (at stores and stuff) then in the evenings during the week!

3. I am not craving and drinking coffee as much as I did when I was working. I would want it everyday and drink it a few times a week while I was working. Now, I have had coffee twice since I left! sorry starbucks!

4. I am busier than what I thought I would be. There are alot of things that need to be done around the house and I was surprised at how much I did have to keep me occupied! It is nice!

5. IF we were in the position to afford it, I wouldn't mind being a housewife. I know, I say it now...who knows how I will feel in a few weeks. But I enjoy the duties of a housewife, making dinner, making sure the bills are paid, organizing, having time to workout, laundry, (things I did before...but now have time to enjoy them)! I know it sounds 1950's....but I just like the idea of doing something that makes both me and my husband happy. (of course this will never happen....so I am enjoying it now)

6. My cats are lazy! All these little animals do is sleep ALL freak'n day. They may come out every once in a while to eat or take care of business...but they pretty much are over the fact that I am home all day and just sleep. Granted, they are animals....I just thought they did more than sleep 22 hours a day!

7. I can't sleep. I am having a hard time sleeping....alot on my mind. In fact it is 2:30 am now and I am wide awake. I don't sleep-in either, but for some reason my mind will not let me sleep. It is getting old.

8. I like that I can meet up with my husband at lunch. We haven't been able to do that for 5 years (since college) and it is nice to see him and share that time with him during the day.

9. I am not on the computer as much and therefore not blogging AND not up on all the celebrity gossip. It is kinda a nice break from the computer world.

10. I miss my friends at work. I miss talking to them, "IMing" them, hearing about their days, joking around, seeing them, and just being a direct part of their lives. It is hard when you go from seeing people that much to not seeing them everyday. And it is definatly lonely when you are the only one home all day and everyone else is working.

So, I am sure I will have more thoughts on being home. Currently, I am giving it an A-

Talk to me....

I have to say that I love Bleach! I love how well it cleans, that it disinfects, unclogs pipes, makes bathrooms look so bright, is inexpensive, how it cleans towels, and I actually love the smell of a items cleaned in Bleach!!

I never clean without bleach!

However, I know bleach is not a "green" product. I know I could cut down but I don't think I could ever give up using bleach (especially in the bathroom). I think moderation is good. But I do want to be more aware of other means to clean that are more natural.

Here are two websites I found that show ways to clean using a natural product -vinegar.

Click here
Click here

I may give it a try. Has anyone tried cleaning with vinegar? Do you know of any other natural ways to clean? Suggestions?

So this weekend we decided to make the ever popular treat of Smores!!!!

So I went to the grocery store and was amazed to find that there are SO many options out there besides the traditional smore ingredients!!! I like the traditional and won't budge on trying anything else...but I picked up a few different items for our friends and my husband to try!!!

First, the Triple Chocolate Smore (My husbands Favorite!!)

- Chocolate Graham Cracker

- Chocolate Hershey Bar

- Chocolate Marshmallow

Seriously!!! This thing looked ridiculous and my husband couldn't get enough of them!

Also, they have toasted coconut marshmallows, Cinnamon Graham crackers, and white chocolate bars out that could all be used in some combination for smores!

I Can't Wait!!!

So I am going with the fact that I may be the only who really cares, and I am 100% ok with that....but I just had to share my excitement for the season premiere of one of my favorite shows!!

DR WHO!!!!

Yes, tonight there will be 2 1/2 hours of Dr. Who goodness as it airs two new episodes of the third season - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I am beyond excited! My husband got my addicted to the "new" show two years ago and now I am hooked!

No comments necessary, I just had to share my excitement!!!!!

P.S. I also thnk the Dr. is pretty cute....but I like that "geeky" type!

I Love....

Vitamin Water!!!

I think I have shared my love for Vitamin water before....however I have to say that not only does this stuff taste WONDERFUL but the makers of this products are just flat out clever!

On their bottles and website they write cute little things about each of their waters! I love when people use humor to promote their products!!

I am going to share one of these messages from the "Defense" raspberry-apple flavor!

"If you've had to use sick days because you've actually been sick then you're seriously missing out my friends. See, the trick is to stay healthy and use sick days to just um, not go in. And the combination of zinc and fortifying vitamins can help out with that and keep you healthy as a horse. So drink up.

Remember, don't overdo it on the coughing and sniffling (big rookie mistake). Just stick with the ever elusive "24-hour bug". The symptoms are vague and people will actually encourage you yo stay home."

I just LOVE that!

So thank you vitamin water for not only your GREAT taste but your wonderful sense of humor!!!

Birthday Tag

Turtle Parade tagged me with this Birthday Meme! Her rules: go to Wikipedia type in your birthday (only month and day). Then you list 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and then you tag 5 friends.

April 22

Events:
* 1889 - At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
*1970 - First Earth Day celebrated.
*1993 - The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.


Birthday’s: (I like this one!!)
*1610 - Pope Alexander VIII
*1923 - Aaron Spelling, American television producer (d. 2006)
*1937 - Jack Nicholson, American actor
*1966 - Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor


Holiday:
*Earth Day YAY!!!!

Movie Review!

The Transformers Movie....well it was FREAK'N AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved it, totally COOL and the effects were AMAZING!!!!!!!

I liked Transformers before, but let me tell you (transformer fan or not) THIS is a movie you HAVE to see!!! It was awesome!!!

I don't have any other words to describe....you just need to see it for yourself!!!!

When one door closes.....

A couple months ago I found out that I was losing my job and this past Thursday was my last day. I have been "working" the past couple months, going in with a smile and trying to be positive about the entire situation. I have many MANY people in my life and at my old job who have been SUPER supportive and encouraging during this entire thing - and for that I am appreciative beyond words. I don't think I could have gotten through any of this without my husband, family and friends pulling me through.

When I lost my job it was unexpected, done in a VERY unprofessional way, politically driven, and I felt like I had been stabbed in the back. It was complete BS. It left me scared, feeling like I was not good at my job, with many unanswered questions, embarrassed, and feeling like I had let my husband and family down. I am a planner.....and I do not deal well when there is no structure and things are up in the air.

I know it sounds cheesy but I am SO thankful to have so many wonderful people in my life and to be blessed in so many other ways that I will not allow this little bump in the road to stop me. So I just wanted to once again say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being there for me! I am realizing it is ok to ask for help and be comforted by those people around you and that I don't have to deal with everything by myself and alone.

Funny!

So I saw this on popsugar and it cracked me up!!!! It is Will Farrell and a baby (I think the baby's dad is the other guy in the room). There is also another one where the baby plays a bad cop!! Hearing such a young child say this stuff really cracks me up!

Man Drops BlackBerry In Toilet, Saves It With Rice

This was kind of an interesting tip....

Story:

"What do you do when you drop your BlackBerry into the toilet? Turns out, it may be easier to fix than you'd think.

One Washington Post writer recently suffered a case of slippery fingers and dropped his beloved BlackBerry into the toilet. When he retrieved it (it was clean water, or so he says) it was completely unresponsive. He tried wishing - he hadn't stored his date's number anywhere else - then he tried blow drying it for a half hour. Neither trick worked.

Then, a friend told him to turn it off and leave it overnight in a bowl of uncooked rice, which would naturally suck out the moisture. The trick actually worked. Here's more:

I was able to turn it on long enough to retrieve the one number that might save me from offering the lamest and most embarrassing excuse for standing someone up. After sleeping in a bed of rice, my BlackBerry functioned well Sunday, except for the time function, which froze. It was flimsy on Monday, fading in and out, but sprang back to life Tuesday, after another night in the rice bowl.

The good news is, the girl agreed to a second date. The bad news is, his BlackBerry isn't going to last much longer. "

I would have never thought to do that!

A Pleasant Surprise!

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I tried these new Sunsweet "Ones" prunes this week! I actually enjoy them! It has been many ages since I have had a prune, but I did not like them. I know my tastes have changed over the years or maybe these individually wrapped dried plums are just really tasty? Whatever it is, I highly suggest these! YUM!

Click here for more information on these prunes

I Love.....

I love these Genisoy Soy nuts!!! YUM!

I bought them the other day at Giant Eagle and I have to say I am hooked! They taste like a cross between a salted (but comes unsalted) peanut and a corn nut - so good!

These things are also good for you! 1/4 cup contains no cholesterol, 7 grams of fiber and 10 grams of soy protein! Awesome! I am always looking for more ways to get more soy in my diet b/c of the high fiber and protein it offers. I think a handful of these will do the trick!

Click here for other Genisoy products.

She's Back!!!!

So, after months away my sister has finally returned to the blogging world!!! (her link is on the side under...well.... My Sister's Blog)

She had some technical dificulty so she had to get rid of her old blog address....but is back with a newer, better blog!

Please visit often!!!

Welcome back K.!!!!!

Happy Birthday M!!!!

I hope you have a fabulous Birthday!!!

Enjoy your day :-)

LOL Friday part 2

laughing baby

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If this doesn't make you laugh, you must not be human!!!

Totally cute!!!

I want this.......

Holy smokes folks!!! I got so super excited when I was looking at the Target website and came across this awesome little treasure!!!

It is called the Sweet Machine and it is a small candy dispenser that works like those crane games!!! SO COOL!!!

"Keeping candy on your desk is more fun with this carnival-inspired treat dispenser. Plastic construction. Turn carnival music off or on; use levers to control crane to pick up candy."

AWESOME!!!! Click here

It is only available online and is only $33!!! sweet!

Who knows how great the machine works, but I love fun stuff like this and it would totally be worth my money to have this on my desk!!! It will entertain me AND make those greedy candy eating people work for their candy! love it! :)

LOL Friday (a day early)

I will not be around my computer much tomorrow as I have the day off, so I have decided to do LOL Friday a day earlier! Besides, I have been somewhat of a negative Nancy lately and a good laugh will be nice!

This is from the adorable John Heffron! (M & I met him!!!) He is so funny and this is a pretty funny clip! There is no video, just audio....but I suggest looking him up on youtube to see how adorably funny he is! Enjoy!


older women

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Death by Chocolate!

So I am having a rather annoying day at work when all of a sudden the one super nice secretary brought me a sweet treat. A piece of chocolate cake. Now I normally wouldn't eat this cake b/c of (1) who it was originally for and (2) although I enjoy chocolate I don't like alot of it. However since I did not officially attend said persons party and was offered this cake by a VERY nice person...I couldn't refuse!


This cake is called death by chocolate, and I have to say if you ate a big piece of this...that is probably what would happen to you! So here is what makes it so deadly (by the way it is ALL chocolate, so I will not specify that)....

- A layer of cake
- A layer of dark mousse
- Cake
- Pudding
- Cake
- Light Mousse
- Cake
- It is surrounded with a fudge frosting with a thin layer of dark fudge on top of that
- AND (if that isn't MORE than enough) around the side of the cake are little milk chocolate morsels.

HOLY SMOKES! I have a toothache just looking at it!

But, I do have to say a couple bites made me happy and should give me enough sugar energy to last the rest of the day!

Thank you D.!!!!

My Name is NOT honey.....

I know I am probably in an overly sensitive mood lately and things are pissing me off more than normal due to some personal things. However, I would just like to make this clear ONCE AGAIN because it obviously hasn’t been made clear enough previously.

By no means should 98% of the people I am in contact with on a daily basis be calling me anything other than my name. For instance (but not limited too): Hun, Honey, sweetie, dear, etc. Now this is pretty much geared to the people I work with (excluding friends…see below) and customer service people. People I work with, ESPECIALLY the ones I do not know very well, should strictly be calling me by my name. If you should choose to call me by a name other than my legal name, there will be consequences for your actions.


- First time, a verbal warning & another copy of the rules.
- Second time, a slap on the wrist & a copy of the rules taped to every surface of your office or place of employment.
- Third time, I get to throw something hard at you while I yell curse words at the top of my lungs.
- Fourth time (if you dare let it get to that), well…let’s just say you shouldn’t let it get to that if you know what is best for you!

.......
So to help those who still are not getting this let us run down a list of rules, shall we.

Husband/Parents/Siblings – Jenn, Jennie, and well honestly pretty much anything they want to call me is acceptable.

Family – Jenn, Jennie, and any of those cute grandparent names (like the ones above that are banned by most of you).

Friends – Jenn, Jennie and any other nicknames that have been previously approved. None of the names mentioned above, unless joking or drunk.

Acquaintances – Jenn

Co-workers (who are not friends) – Jenn, Jennifer (I guess), Mrs. H*****

Customer service people (You all know who I am talking about but some include wait staff, Doctors, credit card companies, check out people who I may have given my name too or who are just serving us) – Miss, Jenn, Mrs. H*****, or the ever dreaded “M” word (even though I feel old when people say it to me)


I think that covers everyone.



Why do I get so upset….because it is honestly disrespectful to call someone you don’t have a close relationship with those names. It isn’t cute, it isn’t funny and it is 100% not acceptable. (period)


So, I hope we are clear on this.
Thank you.

I Hope This isn't a Reflection of my Friendship Abilities?!?!?!

So last Friday one of my friends gave me a bag/mixture of friendship bread. I had never heard of this until then. For those of you who have also never heard of this basically you get a bag with some ingredients in it and you have to follow specific instructions for each of the 10 days on how to make the bread. Then after 10 days you mix in more ingredients, divide the batter into 4 parts, keep one for yourself and give 3 to friends (the friendship part), and then bake it. It is suppose to be a sweet bread.

SO....I got this when it was on day 7 from my friend. I took it home that night and laid it on the counter - excited that in a few days I would be able to bake something! Well when I woke up Saturday morning I saw that our adorable little Belle chewed through the paper bag - luckily she didn't get through the plastic bag that the mixture was in- but still did a number on the bag. So Terry decided we need to put the bag on the pantry. I say Terry, because I knew I would NEVER remember it on the pantry...out of sight out of mind! However, he assured me that he would remember!

Fast forward to 4 days later - 6:30 a.m......."Holy Shit I forgot about the bread!"

So I went downstairs and took the bag off the top of the pantry. First this bag was huge and all puffed up. I assume there is yeast of sorts, but it looks like this bag is ready to pop! Plus I haven't been "mushing" the mixture the past few days and I am two days past when I am suppose to actually make the bread!

At this point I am just thinking it is a lost cause. The directions to make this bread seem pretty specific with lots of items to add to the mixture. I am not a baker...cookies and cakes a few times a year...but that is it.

I failed at making friendship bread....how sad it that!?!?!?!

Has anyone made this stuff? Is it still ok for me to ATTEMPT to make this....or is this bread a lost cause ;-)

I get it.....

I know, I get it....YOU'RE important!!!

You don't have to keep telling everyone!

P.S. Get over yourself!

It is a GREAT thing!

I have to say that I am very impressed with the store Steve & Barry’s (click here).

At first the store mainly had sweatshirts and athletic apparel for under $20….with a lot of it under $10! I think that is great, especially for parents who have to buy clothes for their kids and for all of us out there who can not afford to constantly spend excessive amounts on clothes!

But here is what I like better. Recently the store has introduced some new “brands” into their store, making cool and fashionable clothes/shoes affordable AND popular! First to enter S&B was the Steph Starbury (basketball player) line of clothes and shoes. Now kids could get shoes for under $15 that were created & promoted by an NBA player!!! Ben Wallace has recently joined S&B as well! And for the girls….the adorable Sarah Jessica Parker has created a clothing line called Bitten where everything from jewelry, shoes and clothes is under $20!!! Awesome!!!!

We all know that some kids may not like to shop at discount stores like Walmart (I have NO problem with discount stores) b/c they are not as recognized name brands or not as “cool”. However, when celebrities like this get involved and have this passion to create clothing lines that have a recognizable name attached, are in style, of good quality and are very inexpensive I think it is a win win situation for everyone! On Starbury’s website he even says that a kids self-esteem should not be tied to the clothes that they wear or the price of their shoes! This is true more now then ever!!!

There is NO need to spend an excessive amount on dressing yourself or your kids…and it is so good to see more and more people embracing this movement of creating head to toe clothing that ANYONE can afford!

Way to go!

In Memory of.....My bedtime shorts

So you know those clothes that we have in our closets that we have had for a very long time? Not the ones outdated or the ones we keep thinking we will fit into once again some day but the old stand by clothes. The ones that are worn, maybe torn, have stains, not necessarily presentable to wear in public but are so comfortable and just make us feel happy to wear them around the house?

Well I have a few of these items of clothing around our house. Some random pieces of clothing that I like to throw on when I get home from work and/or just want to be comfortable. Well last night, one of these articles of clothing may have covered its last tush :(

I have these shorts I wear to bed and I have had them for about 7-8 years. I love them! They are so bagging and comfy (probably b/c they are so worn the material is now like tissue paper)!! Now for a few months I have seen the impending doom coming....a small hole on the seam that was slowly getting bigger, yet I ignored this. Well last night I pulled the shorts out of the washer and there it was....I huge ass hole down the entire backside of my shorts...NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I have to face it that there is no saving these shorts....I probably should have gotten rid of them years ago, however I still couldn't bring myself to throwing them away! Infact, I dried them and now they are sitting in my laundry basket (or purgatory) awaiting their final fate.

I know I will eventually throw these away, get a new pair of shorts to make my bitch, and once again in 7 years be doing this all over again....but my friends it is hard! So many memories can be tied to material possessions that sometimes it makes it hard to move on.

So today I ask you to share a moment of silence for my shorts and ALL the other worn articles of clothing that we have loved over the years.......

thank you


Jenn's bedtime shorts
1999-2007

I'll Take Them!

So I came across these online today. They are called FitFlops and if they do what they claim to do, they could be every woman’s dream shoe!

“They are UK’s hottest new fitness shoe! Every step you take in the FitFlop helps tone and trim your legs. Half sexy streamlining, half muscle-toning trainer, the FitFlop is the shoe to have this summer. FitFlops load your leg muscles more so you get a workout while you walk.

Every step you take while wearing FitFlops helps tone and trim your thighs, calves and glutes via a uniquely built multi-density midsole. In fact, they’re engineered to absorb shock, lessen joint strain and recreate the gait of barefoot walking with a powerful new built-in micro-wobbleboard workout-enhancing effect.”

So basically what I am hearing is you put these flip flops on, walk and these little wonders will help tone your thighs, calves and butt?!?!?!

Um – hell yeah I want a pair!

So currently they are sold at select Bath & Body Work stores and pre-order at Bliss.com. They seem to be about $45 for a pair. I don’t know folks….I may like a pair of these!!!


(So do you believe these shoes can do what they claim?)

How Does our Garden Grow

This past weekend T & I decided to get some plants and start our own mini-garden on our patio! Since we live in a condo we can not dig up our back yard, but we can have potted plants on our patio! So we got a tomato plant, a couple basil plants, a dill plant and some marigolds to put out back! YAY!

We have never really grown anything b/c we have always lived in an apartment, so we are very excited to see how this turns out! We are going to be getting a few more flowers for the front, a green pepper plant and some more herbs to fill up our planter! I can't wait until we can go out there and pick our own herbs and veggies - YUM!

Tomato, basil and mozzarella salads ALL summer! YAY :-)

Back & Relaxed!

So I am back from my “vacation”! While I am not 100% happy to be back to work, I am VERY happy to see my friends at work! Overall: T & I both feel refreshed and relaxed!

We had a GREAT time! We didn’t really have too many plans for our time off. We had some things we wanted to do, but we kind of just did what we felt like. I have to say though, for not having any plans we were VERY busy people over the last 5 days!!

We hung out with many of our friends, got my car fixed, went to a few Dr. Appts., went shopping a couple different days, ate good food, went and saw Pirates (awesome!), worked outside, worked inside, and also managed to sleep in every day and enjoy our time together!

SO FUN!!!