My first TAG!

I got tagged by Jessie, so here it goes . . .

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago......
1. I was 19 and I think in my sophomore year of college, majoring in Biology at the time. I have a terrible memory!
2. I was driving a saturn, which I thought was awesome at the time, but I now think it was lame!
3. I was working as a secretary for a Real Estate Appraiser. The guy I worked for looked like an adult version of that kid from the movie "The Toy" with Richard Pryor. Oh and his last name was Player. What an awesome name for a bachelor!
4. I think this was the year I learned how to water ski.
5. I'm sure just hanging with friends and enjoying being young!

5 Things on my to do list today.....
1. Eat lunch
2. Walk my dogs
3. Try not to tell John he is annoying, even though he is
4. Do some freelance website work
5. Fold a butt load of laundry while watching who gets voted off American Idol (I know my goals are so high!)

5 Favorite snacks
1. Anything chocolate
2. Tom's Vinegar & Salt Potato Chips (dang, now my mouth is watering)
3. Cheese
4. Pickles
5. Graham Crackers and Peanut Butter

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire....
1. Pay off my house and bills
2. Pay off my friends and family's bills and buy them fun stuff
3. Travel, travel, travel!
4. Set aside enough savings and investments for life
5. Give away the rest to charity, kinda cliche, but I mean who really needs billions of dollars, it would just get you in trouble! As the Notorious B.I.G said so eloquently, "Mo Money, Mo Problems" . . .

5 Bad Habits
1. I slouch when I walk
2. I crack my back too often
3. I procrastinate way too much
4. I fall asleep with the TV on
5. I like to eat cookies for breakfast

5 places I have lived.....
1. Columbus, GA
2. Athens, GA
Those are the only two places I've lived, so here are some places I would like to live.....
3. New York City
4. Hawaii
5. Florida on the Beach

5 people I tag.....
Since this is my first tag, I won't tag anyone else, besides 5 is a lot to tag!

Random Television Viewership

This weekend we watched the food network a lot, yes I know, so exciting . . . They were showing back to back episodes of the cake challenge and I got sucked in. I think it is so cool and creative how they decorate those cakes. Something I could never do in a million years!

Oooo, Ahhhh, pretty!

So my favorite part is at the end when they have to move their cake from their station to the display table. A little part of me really wants to see cakes falling all over the place, especially when they look like this . . .

Does that make me evil . . .

Blog Geeks!!!

So the other day Angela and I were both sitting in the living room on our laptops just reading and posting comments on blogs. All of a sudden Angela gets up and sets the camera on the tripod and takes a picture of us. It was pretty funny...we had the TV on, but we were not paying any attention to what was on. You guys out there in blog world are better than reality TV, so keep up the good blogs. Below is the picture that she took, we kind of posed for it, but you get the idea. I guess you can say we are a couple of Blog Geeks.

Love for "The Office" . . . and Twilight?

My new header is a tribute to "The Office" since the new episodes started last week. Yay!!!

There is an artist, tacos_rebellion, that does little office cartoons that are really cute. They didn't have the alliance scene, but here are two I like:




























Oh, thinking about vampires, I haven't really been that excited about the Twilight movie, since movies are never as good as the books, but this video clip from MTV got me excited! Watch out though there is at least one bad word spoken at the end.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585325&vid=224215

Also, here is what Stephenie Meyer posted on her site about the movie:

6 fun facts from the set:

1) While watching the playback from a very intense scene with Bella and Edward, the girl next to me literally slid right out of her chair—I think her bones melted. She also may have stopped breathing for a few seconds, too. I know I did.

2) Mike Welch can dance.

3) Hugging Kellan Lutz (Emmett) is the closest you can get to hugging a vampire; he is made of granite. (But please do not try to hug Kellan without his permission. Thank you.)

4) Portland is too cold. For anyone. But especially for Arizonans.

5) Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) can really play the guitar. Our taste in music is not exactly the same, but we found common ground with Radiohead's Creep, with which he then serenaded me.

6) As you might guess, I do a lot of internal swooning on the set. However, I have an excellent poker face.

To conclude, I would like to make a few comments about Rob and Kristen, who are the true heart of this movie. First, they are both amazing actors. Second, they are channeling Edward and Bella like nobody's business. Third, you might want to bring a paper bag to the movie, because their on-screen chemistry may cause hyperventilation. That is all.

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of TV/Movie news. Yeah, I know, I have no life!

Providence Canyon

We went to Providence Canyon for a little hike with David & Jacie.

Jacie wore her good sneakers, so David carried her over the stream so she wouldn't get them muddy. How sweet!

Girls behaving badly!

John kept making faces and wouldn't smile, so here he is looking mental.

Soon to be baby mamma and baby daddy!

The wind was so bad that day and made my hair crazy big!!!

Life is good

Our sweet ride! We got the Jeep back in November from Hickory, NC. Here are a few pictures from our trip.


We drove from Hickory to Asheville and ate lunch there. Then I made John take the Blue Ridge Parkway home so we could drive through the mountains with the top down. It was great, so beautiful! Too bad John didn't enjoy it as much, though because of all the shifting he had to do.


So, it was pretty cold, but we didn't want to put the top up, hence the hoodies! Funny story about those hoodies. We didn't bring any warm clothes with us, so before we started for home, we stopped by TJ Maxx and bought those hoodies. When we got back to the jeep, John put it in what he thought was reverse. It was a little tricky because there are six gears and it was his first time putting it in reverse. Oh, did I mention we were on a hill and there was a car parked in the space in front of us? The jeep lurched forward and luckily he stopped it before we hit the other car. I got out and looked and we were almost touching the other car. John found reverse and was about to back out, but I was freaked out that we might hit that car, so I made him wait. We waited a few minutes to see if the owner would come out, and meanwhile I was picking on him a little bit because I wanted an automatic, but being a guy, he just had to have a manual! So then, John decides that he is tired of waiting and wants to go, but I realize that I haven't switched the insurance over yet. I get on my phone and switch the insurance from our old car to the jeep, just in case! Luckily, as I was doing that, the other car's owner came out and left. Whew, what a relief! So, John really didn't want me to share this story, but to his credit, when he backed out he proved that he was right and the jeep didn't roll forward at all, pretty good!


We drove through a bunch of cute towns on the way home. It's nice to take the scenic route when you have the time. We stopped in Helen, GA for some bratwurst and sauerkraut and to put the top back up. It took us about 45 minutes to get the top back on. We are much better now! So, we didn't have any pictures of us together on this trip, so I merged two pictures together to make the one above. Just wanted to share that in case anyone thought I looked like a midget and John like a giant, even though he really is so tall!

Six Word Memoirs

I came across this book, "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure" by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser and thought it was a great idea.

The author said the idea came from Hemingway when he proved that an entire story can be told using only 6 words: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn." The memoirs range from funny, inspiring, and sad. Here are a few: "Found true love, married someone else." sounds like Wuthering Heights. "Followed white rabbit; became black sheep." A few famous ones: Stephen Colbert ~ "Well, I thought it was funny." Mario Batali ~ "Brought it to a boil, often."

Isn't this a great way to capture your feelings at different times in your life? So come up with your own six word memoir and share it or at least write it down for yourself! I had a hard time thinking of mine, but I think this will do for now: "Increasing in age, decreasing in maturity."

If you want hear more, check out the beginning of this youtube video. It shows different six word memoirs.

"It's a conspiracy . . ." - unabridged version

Ok, so this story is going to be really, really, really long, so for those people like John, here is the abridged version. I started travelling home from Charlotte on Friday at 5:45pm, had a tire blowout, didn't get home until Saturday at 2:00pm. If you like a long drawn out story, continue on . . .

I just wanted to share how the Universe was conspiring to keep me away from home this past weekend. I had been out of town the last two weeks and was so ready to be home. I got off work about 5:45pm Friday and started heading home (from Charlotte, NC). The drive wasn't too bad at first. The weather was clear and traffic wasn't too bad.

Then I hit South Carolina and it starts raining really hard, the thunder and lightning is really bad, and it's dark at this point. Traffic has gotten worse and everyone is driving around 40mph to be able to see the road. The rain isn't the only thing hindering my vision, every time the lightning flashes it reflects off the rain and the front windshield and I can't see anything. (Side note, I think it should be illegal for those semi trucks to drive in heavy rain. All that spray that their tires throw up is so dangerous!!!) Ok, I am scared to death, but I keep going because I really want to get home. Then, when I'm north of Atlanta (200 miles from home), my tire blows out! Ahhh!

Ok, let's backup for a minute. As I have thought back over the events of the weekend, I suddenly feel like Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty when he yells at the Lord for a sign and he doesn't see all the obvious signs around him. First sign, the tire pressure indicator light had been on ever since I arrived in Charlotte. Ok, in my defense, it had been on since we first got the Jeep a couple of weeks ago. Before I left, John had filled all the tires up and the light was off during my trip up, but when it cut on again, I just thought something was wrong with the light. It did cross my mind that maybe I should check the pressure and maybe fill the tires up, but I have never done that before and I didn't think John had put the gauge in my car. I was a little uneasy every time I got in the car and saw that light, but I pushed those feeling to the back of my mind. I even forgot to mention it to John whenever we talked on the phone, which he was pretty mad about.

Another sign, at lunch on Friday, my co-workers and I were discussing car wrecks and tickets. (Hey, I did knock on wood!) Also, the other guy that was there from Columbus said he was staying another night because he was going to SC the next day instead of home. He said he was sooooo glad he didn't have to drive in the bad weather. Yeah. Yet another sign revealed itself when I was preparing for the drive home. I opened the center console to get out the phone charger and I happened to see the tire pressure gauge had been in there the whole time. This should have told me I needed to check the pressure. I didn't have time for that though, I needed to get home! I guess another sign could be the bad feeling I had while driving through the hard rain. The feeling that told me I should really stop or at least slow down (I did slow down).

Ok, so I got off on an exit to use the bathroom at a gas station. When I pulled off onto the exit I felt a little bump and heard a funny noise. I remember thinking, man if I have a flat tire, then it's a really good thing I got off on this exit. I got out of the car and walked around twice looking at the tires. Everything looked fine to me. I went in and used the bathroom and bought a drink and some Tom's Vinegar and Salt potato chips. I came back out, walked around the car inspecting the tires again and got back on the road. Yeah, yeah, I should have checked the pressure then, but it was still raining. So, about two minutes after I was back on the highway, I heard a loud crack and the sound of wind. I thought that a rock had flown up and broken my back passenger window. I flipped on the interior lights to see, but everything looks fine. My mind was racing, what was the deal! Then I realized the crack I heard was my tire popping, the sound of wind was the air rushing out of my tire, and those weren't bumps in the road that I was feeling.

So, I pulled over to the shoulder of the road and sat and ate a few more chips, partly because they were so dang tasty and partly because I didn't want to face what was out there. I finally crawled over to the passenger side and got out. I couldn't see anything because it was so dark, so I reached down and felt around. Sure enough there was the rim of my tire sitting on the road. I got back in on the passenger side and called John. He told me to call 911, so I did and told them where my TomTom said I was. The police officer got there in about 15 minutes. We couldn't find where the jack was, so I had to pull out the manual and look it up. I could have been finding all that while I was waiting instead of freaking out, crying, and feeling sorry for myself. So the officer had a hard time changing the tire because the ground was uneven and he couldn't get the jack to lift the car high enough. He tried the jack in a couple different spots and finally got it. Also, there wasn't much room on the shoulder where I pulled off because there was a hill and a metal barrier. There wasn't much room to manuever and we were really close to passing traffic. I was so scared that someone was going to hit us!

After he changed my tire, the police officer was excited because he got a call over his walkie talkie about a burglary. He was off to catch a burglar! Oh yeah, and his phone rang right before he left and his ring tone was a police siren. This guy definitely loves his job! Ok, so my spare tire was really bad. The rim was broken in a couple of places. Being paranoid and scared, there was no way I was going to drive 200 miles on it. I drove to the nearest gas station and asked where the closest hotel was. Two nice older gentlemen said it would be best for me to find a hotel in commerce, ga which was about 20 miles away. Yep, that's where the outlet stores are. Was the universe conspiring to bring me to . . . the outlet mall??? Of course not, that's absurd, besides I didn't have money to spend! :( So, I made it safely there and checked into a hotel. John drove up and stayed with me. He got to the hotel around 1:30am and I was dead asleep by then. He called my phone 7 times before I finally answered on the 8th time. Needless to say, he was not pleased, but still my knight in shining t-shirt and jeans all the same.

We had the tire changed the next day and started for home. We hit bad traffic in Atlanta and then again in Newnan. Then on I-185, just ten miles from our exit, we hit stand still traffic. Arghhhh!!! If only I had paid attention to the signs! All I can say is it's good to be home!

Thanks to Nick and Jess who were staying with us that weekend and made the rest of the weekend fun, sorry for all the drama!

Easter Pictures

Okay, I know it's a little belated, but here are some pictures from my family's Easter get together. Sick of the pastels yet? It was my sister's idea to get dressed up in the different colors. John hates that sort of thing and complained the whole time I was trying to find something for us to wear. Aren't all my little nephews cute! You can't even tell that they are a quarter Japanese except for the slightly slanted eyes!

Poor John had to speak in church on Easter Sunday. How intimidating, better him than me!!! I really enjoyed his Easter talk, he did a good job. (Hey Jessie, "THAT WAS ANOTHER GOOD ONE!!!") So, I guess I can feel a bit cynical at times (I'm working on it . . .), but I always feel touched by the Spirit when he speaks. Mostly because I know him so well and I know he would only say things that he really feels and believes. Thanks for inspiring me babe!