One Year Later...

(I just wanted to share some thoughts....)


So I have been at my current job for a year now, click here. For those that don’t know this is basically What Happened…The whole thing was very shady and an eye opening experience.

So I have been working as a secretary (or Administrative Assistant for those who want to be politically correct) at a Patent and Trademark Law Firm for a year now. Previously I was a Special Event Coordinator, a job that I liked in theory but often left me feeling unfulfilled, unappreciated, not able to be truly creative, frustrated, stressed and often times resentful of my choice in careers. So as much as this change was unexpected and hurtful at the time, I was extremely open to try something completely new and different.

Today I am at a job where I am in one word - HAPPY. (Though I do miss dearly some friends I use to work with.) The people here are great, I feel respected, I feel like they appreciate not only the work I do but also who I am as a person. I don’t feel as if they are judging or care about “status”…they truly like me for who I am. I feel like I can be myself and you know what, lately I have realized I really like myself :) I know this sounds silly, but these were the things lacking by my previous employers (my bosses). To me it is FAR MORE important to be at a place where I feel welcomed and appreciated and not just a pawn in a person’s game.

So now a year later and I really feel like my time at this place and away from the stresses of my previous job have allowed me to gain a better idea of who I am and what I want in the years to come for my life as well as out of my employers. When the time comes to eventually move on, I know this place is going to be a hard act to follow. I mean all jobs have their stresses, but overall this place really makes me happy.

I know in the grand scheme of things, a year is not that long but so many decisions about T & my future have been made this last year and just working here and being away from the stress has really provided me with the opportunity to see things in a new light. So what have I learned….. I know I want to be surrounded by positive people and a positive working environment. I know I want to be appreciated and respected where I work, and I deserve nothing less then that. I know that I like to be busy but not so busy I miss out on my life (such as not taking a honeymoon b/c i felt I should put my job first). I know that it IS possible to have a job where you actually want to get up and go to every morning....or most mornings! I know that just because you leave a place it does not mean you will lose the friendships you have made. I know I don't need to change the type of person I am to do my job. I know I want to be somewhere for the moment that will allow me and also support me to continue my education. I know I want to get my masters degree in College Student Personnel. I know I want to stay here while Terry goes back to school and I go back to school. I know I want to have my first child while working here. I know one day, in time I want to work for a college in the student affairs office. I know that many of these people have made a huge impact on my life and came into my life at a time where I had very little confidence in myself as not only an employee but overall as a person, and I am truly grateful for that. I know that, more then ever, I cherish the friendships I have made over the years and though I may not say it I love each of you dearly and am so happy to be a part of each others lives. I know that I feel closer to and that I love and appreciate my husband more today then I did the day I married him. I could really keep going.

Overall, as frustrating as my previous two jobs were, they did allow me to meet some of my most favorite people ever and I would never change any of it! I mean, I wouldn't even be blogging with all of you if I hadn't taken this path in life. I feel like I have grown so much over the last year and I love where my life has come over the years and I can’t wait to see where it will go in the coming years. I never thought this is exactly where I would be at this point in my life. Many things were put on delay and have had to be changed along the way, but such is life and today I feel more blessed then ever. I know this may seem a little deep....it is just a job, right?! People loose jobs and find new jobs all the time. But there was more - I wasn't happy with myself. I felt as though I lacked confindence in myself, my talent to perform my job, and my choice in a career. I was lost. To me the past couple years have not been JUST about losing a job and finding a new one but more about finding who I was, what I want out of life, what my husband and I want out of our life and feeling like I actually matter and make a difference somewhere.....beyond just the friendships I have made and being a nice person. I know I don't and shouldn't have to change who I am to be accepted and at the end of the day your job should not define who you are but who you are as person and how you choose to live your life should be what defines you.

Even through all the ups and downs these past couple years, it has been one hell of a ride and I am so happy to be at this place in my life, both physically and emotionally. And I feel privilaged to have you all, blogger friends included, in my life.

Just Because I Want to Share Her Cuteness With the World!

My cousin sent me pics of her beautiful daughter today and I thought I would share!













Some one is bored.....

National Chocolate Day!

Of course this is one of a few National Chocolate Days each year….chocolate lovers need a bunch of these! Click here for the history of chocolate.

In honor, here are some chocolate-ish related questions:

1. Favorite kind of chocolate? White, milk or dark?

2. Favorite chocolate candy bar?

3. Hot chocolate, yes or no?

4. Favorite truffle filling?

5. Favorite chocolate covered fruit?

6. Do you crave chocolate, salt, both or neither?

7. If you had to choose which would you pick? Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting; chocolate cake with white frosting; white cake with chocolate frosting.

8. Favorite “chocolate covered” items?

9. Do you like Nuts in your chocolate?

10. Finish this sentence: I eat chocolate ____________.

Halloween Fun

That's right....you better watch out ;)

You Are a Werewolf

You're unpredictable, moody, and downright freaky. You seem sweet and harmless, until you snap. Then you're a total monster. Very few people can predict if you're going to be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. But for you, all your transformations seem perfectly natural. Your greatest power: Your ability to tap into nature Your greatest weakness: Lack of self control You play well with: Vampires

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Vanity Card of the Week

Big Bang was not new this week...so this is a funny one from a month ago.

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #214


We confuse naming a thing with knowing it. For instance, how does one know a chair? Well, what is a chair? Is it the word? The sound, "chair?" The image in your mind of four legs, a seat and a back? Or is it wood from a tree that sprouted into existence from a seed that has travelled from tree to tree for millions of years, each tree's survival dependent upon a fragile ecological balance, a perfect blend of minerals, sunlight, weather, and, ultimately, sub-atomic particles that have been zipping around since the birth of the universe? Add to that the billions of years and infinite forces essential to creating the conditions needed for human beings to exist, cut down the tree, haul it to a mill, carve it into smaller pieces, send it to a chair factory, shape it into a chair, ship it to a store, purchase it, stick it in an SUV and drive it home so that an equally complex ass can sit on it, and you begin to know a chair. In other words, when we truly look deeply into the one thing, we see it is, in fact, the all, and, of course, contained within the all, is the one thing. Which is why I never get upset about winning or losing an Emmy. How can I? I am an Emmy. Right now Tina Fey is sitting at home clutching me to her relatively ample bosom. Feels good.

Polka + Pink Floyd = AWESOME!

So tonight at Howards in BG we are going to see our favorite Pink Floyd cover band - Polka Floyd!! I couldn't stop talking about how great they were before and I am really excited to see them tonight!

So like their name suggests they play polka versions of Pink Floyd songs! See their site here. You don't think it should work, but it does! They are just great, I mean really great!

I think they go on at 10...maybe later....I foresee a LOT of coffee in my future!

What the Blog?

So blogger has changed a bit and you may have noticed it, on mine at least. I didn't do this but I think it is because I don't use a pop up box for my comments. I may change to the pop up comment box because I don't know if I like this new layout to leave comments.

In the meantime let me know if you like this or the pop up comment box better.

Also, I learned if you are signed in and leave a comment and hit subscribe it will send follow up comments to you if you want.

*Update: I changed it to the pop up comment box...hopefully that is better!!

Talk To Me....

So I do not know what the proper etiquette is for this, so please share your thoughts.


What is the etiquette for holding a baby shower for the second child?

Now I understand that each child is special and should be celebrated....but do you hold a large shower for each kid you have? Does it make a difference if one is a boy and one is a girl? Does it make a difference depending on how far apart the births are? Should you just do whatever the hell you want?


I am interested in your thoughts as I just got an invitation for someone's second shower and I got a little annoyed with this and maybe I am overreacting. As a side-note: When my friends/family have kids I get them gifts...whether it is for their first child or tenth. It isn't about the gifts as I LOVE giving baby gifts, I am talking specifically about holding another baby shower.

From 28 to 75 Overnight.

I know that over the years you are with someone you get to this level of comfortableness that you share with no one other then your significant other. You may reach the point where you can use the restroom in front of them, maybe you shave less frequently or not at all, you actually have contests with each other to see who can burp or fart louder, when you run into a wall it is no longer embarrassing – just normal, or you see each other doing even the most secret of morning or night time rituals.

But when should one draw the line on HOW comfortable you get around each other so to not loose that passion or “fire” you have with one another? Well, perhaps it is when you are slowly turning yourself into a 75-year-old lady at the age of 28? That could possibly be happening to me and I may be reaching out for help. First step to recovery, admitting what you have done………So I have recently purchased nightgowns to sleep in during the ever so cold winter nights. Yes, a nightgown or nightdress - is a term usually designated to describe the sleeping attire of someone more than twice my age.

Now, if anyone else chooses to wear the occasional knee length floral pale pastel colored nightdress, please tell me so I don't feel so old. But so far my husband, K, and even my mom have chuckled at my sudden desire to wear nightgowns. Or maybe it was the fact that I had a nightgown on over a pair of fleece pants and then had an insulated shirt over that?!

Anyway, I have to say the nightgown does have a comfort level that I enjoy in these cold months. And maybe the nightgown isn’t so much of the problem, but it could be that along with my ensemble I sleep with a night-mask on and the occasional spots of Vitamin E oil on my face. Yep, that might just be what bumps me up a couple boxes on the age scale. All I need now is to put my hair up in curlers and throw on a hairnet to go to bed and sleep in separate twin beds and I think I may just need an intervention!

So could this just be a rut, a phase or pure comfort around my husband…..hmmmmm, maybe a little bit of all three. But it doesn’t really matter to me. So in the meantime, if you need me, I will be sitting on my couch in my nightgown & socks with slippers at 5:30 pm watching Wheel of Fortune, doing a crossword puzzle, and eating half a ham salad sandwich and then a butterscotch candy for dessert.



I know, I know - You are thinking, seriously what a catch. How could Terry NOT want to tap that.

Vanity Card of the Week

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #222

The Racism of King Kong

"In all three film versions of the basic story, we are led to believe that Kong regularly feasts on native girls. Female human sacrifice is how the locals appease him. Then, in each re-telling, he is transformed from mindless, blood-thirsty carnivore to smitten, suicidal love monkey by a skinny, blonde-haired white girl (Fay Wray, Jessica Lange, Naomi Watts). Given this behavioral trend, it is my contention that King Kong would eat Halle Berry. This troubles me deeply and I wanted to share it with you."

Another Fun Weekend.

So this weekend was the final "event" in my mom's big 50th birthday celebration month!!

This weekend we went back home for an Open House with our family and friends. It was fantastic! Nothing is better then hanging out with your family & friends, laughing, reminiscing and eating some kick ass cake! We also headed out to Amish country and got some great Amish goodies!!

Here are just a couple pics:


This is my BEAUTIFUL mom at her party standing next to her cake. (Her cake said 50 and Fabulous...because she is!) Also our scrapbook that we made for her.



















This is my totally adorable "niece". She is my cousins daughter and just the cutest / smartest kid ever!! Meet Macey Jo




















Hey Iris - here are some more vanity plates we saw on our trip home.
(Side note....I guess the bad economy is not stopping the sales of vanity plates....I swear everyone is getting a vanity plate these days.)

Observation of The Day: I Am Not Very Observant

I am not always the most observant person…case in point. (p.s. I have had my blog since 2006)

I just, yes JUST, realized that you can check a little box when you leave a comment and it will email you follow-up comments. OH, what a handy little feature that is located directly on the comment page plain as day. This is better then me going back to a post a half a dozen times to read others comments.

I also, JUST realized this week that when you sign up to “follow” another blogger that it leaves their current posts on your dashboard. You know the dashboard, where I go every time I sign in to my blog. Yep, didn’t know that one either. I was wondering what exactly it meant to “follow” and I guess now I know.

So is there anything else I may be missing? Blogging tricks or tips that I am obviously not paying attention to? Maybe I should just go ask a 14 year old, I am sure they could hook me up on how to use this technology crap.

I really need to learn how to pay better attention to things.

What Are You Doing November 15? It Is Probably Not As Cool As What I Am Doing.

I know, my title is a bit snooty - sorry, but next month T, the family and myself will be heading to Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 13th annual American Music Masters® series tribute concert. We have gone in the past and seen a variety of performers. Muddy Waters, Lead Belly, and Sam Cooke.

This year they are honoring Les Paul!! AWESOME!

The event brings in stars to play music from the honoree and to talk about their life. It is actually pretty darn cool! (One year Morgan Freeman was there and said a few words…..he seriously walked right past us!)

Who, so far, is scheduled to play at this one….. James Burton, Billy Gibbons and the Ventures along with Jennifer Batten, Dennis Coffey, Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather, Barbara Lynn, Alannah Myles, Richie Sambora and Slash. (For the people in the back, the last one was mother fuck'n Slash!) YAY!!!! They all sound great! I think this could be the most exciting one yet we have been too! I mean it is Les freak’n Paul.

"Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9, 1915) is an American jazz guitarist and inventor. He is a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible."[1] His many recording innovations include overdubbing, delay effects such as "sound on sound" and tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording." (more info here at Wikipedia)

Yep, I am pretty darn excited.

.........

Want to go: Saturday, November 15, at 8 p.m. at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theater. Tickets are $30, $40 and $50 and can be purchased at playhousesquare.org and at the PlayhouseSquare box office (216) 241-6000 or by visiting http://www.rockhall.com.

Vanity Card of the Week

So I don't know if any of you watch the Big Bang Theory (LOVE IT) but if you do you may notice at the end of every show they put up a little "Vanity Card"consisting of a message that usually reads like an editorial, essay, or observation on life. (He also does this for Two and a Half Men and did it for Dharma and Greg) These make me laugh. So I thought I would post them on Tuesdays, if I remember, just for fun. Visit his website as well for past Vanity cards!

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CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, Vanity Card #221

We have once again arrived at a moment in history where the truth can be defined as "that which you can make other people believe." The methodology for creating that belief is repetition. Say something enough times and it becomes, for millions of people, the truth. I am endowed like a stallion. This is why control of the media equals control of the populace. I am endowed like a stallion. And also why a state run television news channel is so very dangerous. I am endowed like a stallion. Now there are those who would argue this has already happened and that a certain cable news channel is actually a covert extension of our government. I am endowed like a stallion. The fact that the channel is run by a high-ranking party official, an anchor person from the channel became a White House spokesman, and another top-ranking party official became an on-air news commentator is often used to make this argument. I am endowed like a stallion. Of course, this fact would be entirely inconsequential if the oft-repeated falsehoods they attempt to imbed into the Zeitgeist were simply amusing, or at worst, inane. I am endowed like a stallion. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. I am endowed like a stallion. The heavy repetition of lies and smears for political gain are by no means inconsequential. I am endowed like a stallion. Which is why each and every one of us must use whatever resources we have at our disposal to disseminate the actual truth. I am endowed like a pony.

The Ying to My Yang #124

In this edition of “The Ying to my Yang” I would like to talk about how Terry and I are different when it comes to taking a day off for our birthday.

Terry’s Day Off:
- Wake up late
- Do laundry
- Vacuum the downstairs
- Straighten up the living room
- Clean the kitchen
- Clean out the refrigerator
- Take out the trash
- Put up our Halloween decorations
- Buy steak and grill it

Jenn’s Day Off:
- Wake up late
- Go to the Spa and get a facial
- Lay on the couch and watch a movie
- Go OUT to dinner

Hmmmmm, it seems to me someone doesn’t have their priorities straight when it comes to taking a day off…..and it is not me. Oh well – I came home to a clean house and a great meal! T. should take more days off to “celebrate” his birthday!

Happpy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to My Husband!!!

Today my husband is celebrating his 35th birthday. Upon T's request we spent the day in Ann Arbor. T. went to a record show for a couple hours then we went to an Irish restaurant, Conor O'Neills um YUM, and took a little walk downtown to another record shop. It was a really fun day!

To an amazing & wonderful man, I wish you MANY more happy birthdays!

Love always!

Jenn

How About A Political Joke on This Fine Friday Afternoon.

Don't worry, this is candidate neutral....just a funny political joke, that probably shouldn't be funny because of the truth behind it. Sorry, it is long.

......................................

While walking down the street one day a politician is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. ''Welcome to heaven,'' says St. Peter. ''Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.''

''No problem, just let me in,'' says the man.

''Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.''

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the politician.

''I'm sorry, but we have our rules.''

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. ''Now it's time to visit heaven.''

So, 24 hours pass with the politician joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

''Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.''

The politician reflects for a minute, then he answers: ''Well , I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.''

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above the devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. ''I don't understand,'' stammers the politician. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says,

“Yesterday we were campaigning.………Today you voted.”

A Letter to Sudafed.....

Dear Sudafed:

You are truly amazing. One of your little pills has given me the ability to breathe again while also decreasing the amount of nasal fluid I drip all over my keyboard and myself. Another tissue need not go to waste whilst you are inside me. You are truly a gift from God, sent to this earth in the form of a tiny little tablet containing the magical-ness that is pseudoephedrine. I now see why we have to use our license when purchasing these wonderful pills in restricted amounts each month from behind that plexiglass enclosed pharmaceutical area. And why also so many drug dealers chemical entrepreneurs are interested in purchasing these tiny tablets.

As this magnificent stimulant runs through my body producing a rather involuntary haze of productivity, I sit back for a moment and say a quiet thank you to the makers of Sudafed and their products. For it is with this product that I do not have to waste my remaining 1 ½ days of personal time to stay at home in bed with a sickness but rather can wait to use my vacation to stay at home in bed when I feel perfectly fine. Sure I may pass along this sickness to my fellow co-workers, but I will also pass along this knowledge of using Sudafed to not only cure their cold but also increase the amount of work they produce. I think in the end we will all be better for this and when the time comes around to say thank you, they will not look at me but instead they will look at your enticing blue box of 12-hour maximum strength Sudafed and give a friendly nod of approval and thanks.

So dear friend, I look forward to us meeting again tomorrow at 7 am after I awake from my Nyquil induced comma to once again share our 12-hour journey together.

Forever yours,

Jenn

Ooh....that rackin' frackin' bloggin'

So I am trying to get my creative blogging juices flowing again.

Do you ever get in those moods where it seems like you have nothing of interest to talk about? Or you are so busy that when you sit down in front of the computer to blog, you just got nothing?

I have felt this way the past couple months. Among just having other things on my mind, I have spent most of my free time getting ready for mom's birthday weekend, her party in a couple weeks, working on her scrapbook and now helping with my friends shower. I LOVE doing all this stuff, but it seems to just soak up all my creativeness and then there is nothing left for my blog. Now that much of this is over, i am hoping to get my head back into blogging. I mean, really, if for no other reason then I need something to keep me entertained at work now.

I Would Still Find Some Way To Go Over The Edge.

This email was sent to me today. It contains pictures of people swimming near the edge of The Victoria Falls located on the Zambezi River and border the African nations of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Apparently during the months of September and December the levels of the water are low enough to create a naturally formed pool, known as The Devil’s Swimming Pool. This is possible due to a natural rock wall just below the water and at the very edge of the falls that stops their progress despite the current. People can venture to the very edge of the 128 meter tall waterfall (let me repeat that for the people in the back – WATERFALL) and swim around.

Um….thanks but no thanks.

Below are real pictures and even a video.

A Rather Lengthy Post about a Pretty Fun Weekend

So as you have seen by my previous post, this weekend was my mom’s birthday. Well what you may not know is what a special birthday this was and all the secrets and trickery that came along with this birthday!!

So my mom celebrated her 50th birthday! My mom is ALWAYS doing so much for others but she never does much for herself. It is so hard for us to get her to splurge a little on things for her and she is never a “I Want” kind of person.

So for this birthday my family knew we had to do something very special, but to do so has required months of secrets and lies. Which on a side note is extremely hard to do. My family is VERY close and my mom and I are best friends and I tell her so much. So for me to not just blurt out in a conversation HEY GUESS WHAT….I had to practice a lot of self-control, which basically meant when I talked to my mom over the past couple months I had to keep my mouth shut! Not easy to do. And though I am a person who loves planning surprises for people, it is hard when it is your mother.

So here is what we told her was GOING to happen this weekend:
My dad is a member of Rotary and does a lot of work with it. So we tell mom that it just so happens there is a Rotary meeting in Columbus Saturday morning that my dad has to go to. So the plan was for Mom & Dad to go to Columbus Friday night after work, eat at Wholly Joes Chicago Eatery and then Saturday after Dad’s meeting they would drive up to BG and celebrate Birthdays (Terry's is next weekend) by going to dinner Saturday night. We told her we have reservations made at the hotel and the restaurant of choice.

What REALLY happened:
All of us used the above story as a cover. Everything resolved around keeping the story straight and cohesive and somehow we managed. Friday night mom and dad went to Columbus and went to Wholly Joes Chicago Eatery (mom loves Chicago deep dish). But oh, who might be at Wholly Joes as well – Terry, Kristen and myself – SURPRISE!!! Yep, we went to Columbus to spend the weekend there!! YAY :) She was SO surprised. I love it when I plan falls into place and works out.

So what did we have planned that weekend? Well we stayed at the Hyatt on Capital Square for the weekend (beautiful hotel). Then Saturday morning we went to a Spa where my mom got a facial and K. got a massage. (Unfortunately my facialist had an emergency and cancelled but I got a 20 minute free foot soak in one of the jet baths. No Pedicures though please.) Then all three of us got a spa manicure! It was SO relaxing and so nice to just spend time together the three of us. And this place (Nicci Debro Spa) was so beautiful and relaxing and the people there were so nice. They even gave us some little gifts when we left.


DON’T STOP READING YET – there is WAY more.


After a quick nap at the hotel by T, K and I and a trip to the bar by my parents (yeah, the roles slightly reversed, huh) we went to The Columbus Fish Market to eat dinner. UM YUM. Dinner was amazing! I had lobster bisque (fantastic) and then Mahi Mahi blackened with jambalaya and green beans - delicious. I think everyone’s dinner was very very tasty. And at the end of the dinner the manager came over and wished my mom happy birthday and gave her a rose! Yes, we will be back.

K & I then gave mom her gift. Which was a HUGE, I mean busting at the seems huge scrapbook! K. and I have spent the past few weekends working so long on this thing and it is pretty darn great if I do say so myself.

Now this is where it gets interesting….

At the end of the scrapbook mom came across a couple more things. First being an invitation to a special birthday party we are having in a couple weeks back home with her family and close friends! Cake and punch and the chance for people to wish mom a happy birthday!

The second, and the biggest of surprises, is a special trip for mom and dad to New Orleans – their favorite place!!! YAY!!! Yep, the two of them will be heading down to spend some quality time together, relaxing, and eating great food.

So there it is, months of planning, secrets and trickery…..ahhhhh. Keeping secrets is hard work and stressful! I think my mom was overwhelmed by everything but she was excited. And like I said before, if anyone deserves this, my mom does. She is simply amazing.

Other Noteworthy things from the trip:
- The LA Galaxy stayed at our hotel this weekend. Though we didn’t see David Beckman, rumor was he was there.
- Sunday we went to Whole Foods Market. I had never been there before. This place was pretty darn great! We ate lunch there Sunday before we parted ways.
- I got sick Friday night and have been sick since. Boo.
- We went to the Farmers Market for lunch. T & I enjoyed some Indian food, and I tried lamb for the first time. It was lamb curry and it was actually pretty tasty.
- Parking meters = expensive
- I would never want to live in a city. They are fun to visit but between all the commotion of the people and traffic and the confusion of driving down one-way streets and just driving in general….city life is not for me. Too stressful.
- We had a Starbucks in our hotel – bonus
- My nails look fabulous
- I realize how limited I am on traveling and seeing things…even things in my own home state. I have only been to Columbus a couple times and just for quick weekends. I had never seen the OSU Stadium before. I need to get out more.
- There is nothing like coming back and sleeping in your own bed after a trip somewhere.
- On the way home we passed these dorky tools driving the same cars, just in different colors. They were in one of those car clubs. Their license plates: Twizted4, Codeblu, & Forced4. ugh
- I love to visit new places - ALOT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

We would like to wish our mother a VERY SPECIAL and Happy Birthday! Our mom is one of the most beautiful, loving, caring and funny people we know. She is our best friend and we love her with all our heart. She is the type of person who is always thinking of others before herself and radiates the type of kindness that is truly unique and special. She is such an amazing role model and we only hope that one day we will be the type of mother she was to us.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend, full of some pretty cool surprises…. because honestly if anyone deserves it, you do.

With all our love,
Jenn & Kristen

Snapple "Real Fact"

Snapple "Real Fact" #92

Fish Can Drown

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Um...really?!?! Which ones, the really stupid fish? Or maybe they cover each others gills.

I really did not know this.