Haralson Family

Let's go choo choo trains!

2011-07-14T14:06:00.001-04:00

Will thinks Barnes & Noble is just a place to "play choo choo trains." That's okay because it means I get to go to the bookstore all the time :)

Little Drummer Boy

2011-01-30T14:21:00.002-05:00

My nephew got a drum set for his birthday and we could not keep Will off of them. Looks like we've got a future rocker!

Cool Birthday Invitation

2011-01-29T23:07:00.002-05:00

My nephew's birthday party was today. He's a teenager now, ahhhh! He loves Call of Duty, so I made these invitations and poster for his party.

Unbeatable Price

2011-01-13T23:50:00.001-05:00

We went to Walmart so I could use their insta-print machine to print some photos. I wanted some 5x7's, but they were over $2 a print and the 4x6's were only 28 cents. Not much of a size difference, I just don't get it...

This pic doesn't really go with the story, but it's cute!

Update: Just realized this is the second post this week that I mentioned Walmart, we really don't go there THAT much! Also, I usually use Shutterfly and order prints online, anyone have any better alternatives?

Georgia Ice

2011-01-10T21:42:00.000-05:00

Here's a look at our icy day. Schools were cancelled today and will be closed tomorrow too. John worked from home because our driveway was so icy. It finally melted late this afternoon, so we were able to go out for a little bit. We went to Walmart to get some milk and break and ALL the gallons were gone and all the eggs were gone!

A two year old is so many things...

2011-01-09T22:03:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Will! You bring us so much joy every day and are truly the light of our lives.

Beanie Baby

2011-01-08T23:28:00.000-05:00

I've posted before about how much Will likes hats. He even puts his toy buckets on his head like a hat. This time he put on his dad's beanie. Too cute!

Best Sandwich Ever

2011-01-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

I love these new bagel thins, they are perfect for sandwiches. John made the original sandwich for me. Bagel thins, deli turkey, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese all thrown in a toaster oven. He said I took one bite and said, "Yum, oh my gosh this is the best sandwich I've ever had!" Hmmm, doesn't really sound like me, but I do make these all the time now and they are delish!! The cream cheese just makes it!

Garden Bench

2011-01-06T23:43:00.002-05:00

We love sitting on this little bench in our yard.

Update 1/7: After posting this, I received the following text message from John ~ "I like that photo you posted. I'm a good looking dude." That's why I love him!

Well, here's another one for the vain one.

Sabotage

2011-01-05T23:48:00.001-05:00

So, once I decided to try and do a post/picture a day, the next day my photo card reader broke. Now blogger on my computer won't let me post anything, ahhhhh! Who is sabotaging me??

Well, I finally got my phone set up for blogging, and I am posting this from my phone. I have over 700 pictures on my phone to choose from. I came across this one that reminds me how much I love naps! I really needed them back then!

Get a load of those ...

2011-01-04T23:40:00.001-05:00

LASHES!

It's so hard taking pictures of Will because he is never still and will hardly look at the camera, or he gets so close that I can't focus in and tries to get the camera. So above is the miss and below is a better one.

I am a Child of God

2011-01-03T21:51:00.002-05:00

Will loved the "I am a child of God" craft they made in nursery on Sunday. He carried it around all day yesterday and today. Too bad he smeared chocolate all over it and his face!

I showed this video clip to the Young Women on Sunday. It's such a great message.

The stockings were hung by the...oops, nevermind!

2011-01-02T23:26:00.005-05:00

Will found my fuzzy socks one morning and put them on. It was so cute! He thought they were Nana's though and kept saying Nana's socks, Nana's socks.

When John brought down the Christmas decorations from the attic and we started pulling it all out, Will found the stockings and of course wanted to wear the "socks"!

New Year of Pictures

2011-01-01T23:50:00.025-05:00

We really neglected this blog last year. Only 4 posts all year. So, one of my new year's resolutions is to post a picture every day of 2011. Let's see how I do.

This is a pic of Will this New Year's morning in his favorite pj's. I cooked breakfast this morning, french toast, eggs, and bacon, which I never do. John said I was starting the year off right and asked if I would be doing this every morning this year. I said no way! The he said, "What, did you put 'Cook breakfast for my husband one time' on your list of New Year's resolutions and now you can check that off?" Hilarious isn't he . . .

It's been a long time!!

2010-05-19T23:22:00.006-04:00

Hello everyone!! It seems like forever since we posted anything. Don't worry, we will try and get back in the swing of things. Everything in C-town is going great and little Will is getting bigger everyday. Here's the run down of what we have been up to lately.

Angela is still working as a free lance web developer and has been very busy lately. On top of that, she has the full time job of taking care of Will. I don't know how she does it day in and day out, but she makes it happen. She is a really loving mother and I am very proud of her and all she does. Some of the other things that keep her busy are cutting coupons and reading. I got her a B&N Nook ereader for mothers day and she really seems to enjoy it...score one for me. She is still the secretary in the young woman's at church and she seems to really like that also. She is always doing arts and crafty things for it.

I am still working in the same job and I just celebrated my 5 year anniversary with the company. They gave me a watch...so I guess that was nice. A pay raise would have been better, but I will take what I get. I am still in the clerks office at church which is pretty nice. Mainly because I get to see how much tithing everyone is paying....just kidding. I have been trying to work out and watch what I eat because as I get older I am more concerned about my health. Before long the topic of conversation with all my friends will be what medications we are on and what procedures we recently had and what parts of our bodies hurt. But hopefully those conversations are a ways down the road.

I finally saw Avatar a while back and was pretty impressed. I think I must have been the last person to see it judging by the ticket sales. The story line reminded me of dances with wolves. Did anyone else pick up on that? But I guess that's not the first time the same movie has been made twice. Another example would be the original Fast and the Furious movie, it was copied after the only cool Patrick Swayze movie Point Break. Watch them again and you will see what I mean.

Some of the music that I have been listening to lately is Eric Hutchinson, Manchester Orchestra and The Swell Seasons...check them out they are pretty cool. Angela has been jammin the Lady Antebellum CD, which I have to admit is pretty good...for country.

As for Will, like I said, he has been growing up so fast. He has been teething a lot lately, which has made him a little irritable. But all thing considered it hasn't really been that bad. He can say ma ma, da da, bye bye, juice, cheese and backpack. That last one is from Dora the Explorer. I guess we let him watch a little too much TV at night. He is super high energy and goes non-stop from the moment he wakes up until it is time to go to bed. Which keeps us on our toes, but is good because it makes him a really good sleeper. He goes to bed at 9:00 and is out until at least 8:00 the next morning. He slept until 9:45 today, which I am sure Angela loved. He is a really happy kid and has been such a blessing in our lives. We still can't believe we are parents to such a sweet little one.

Well, that's the update for now. We will try and make more time to post stuff, so keep checking in from time to time.

Below are a few recent pics. Enjoy!!!

The Office Baby

2010-02-22T23:35:00.000-05:00

I love the Olympics and all, but I can't wait until they are over so Jam can finally have their baby!

New Hat

2010-02-20T19:11:00.002-05:00

Here is a little video of Will wearing his new hat. Took it on my phone, so not the best quality. I got the hat at Gymboree for $2, yay! Please ignore my enthusiastic reading!

Happy Birthday Will!!

2010-01-09T23:34:00.004-05:00

One year ago today, our lives changed forever . . . we had no idea what we were in for! This year has been the hardest (sleepless newborn nights) and the happiest of our lives!! Will is the happiest, sweetest baby and every night John and I talk about how he is the cutest, craziest kid ever!

Will is walking/running all over the place now. He loves to be chased and tickled. He always wants to do or see what mom and dad are doing. He even loves to help with the laundry. His favorite items to steal are cellphones. You should see how his face lights up if we happen to leave our cellphones within reach! Another of his favorite things to do, to my dismay, is to bang on my Macbook or grab my mouse when I am working, he is super fast! He hates getting his diaper changed and getting bogies sucked. Oh boy, and he has already started throwing temper tantrums. I have a feeling we are in trouble!! He loves all types of music (except Country, says John), we have many family groove sessions. The Glee soundtrack we got for Christmas is his current fav, but he also likes some old school New Found Glory and the Latin flavor of Ozomatli. He loves to go out and about and see new things and new people. The new things he does is walk around clapping his hands and shaking his head no, he thinks it's so funny!

This year has flown by and we have had a blast watching our little baby grow into a rascally toddler! We know this next year is going to be even more fun and just hope that we can remember to appreciate every minute!

Here are some pics from our day that we wanted to share:

Here are some pictures from last year's "Birth Day":

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-25T19:53:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Walk Hard

2009-12-13T18:15:00.005-05:00

Here is a short clip of Will doing a little walking. He has been taking one or two steps for the past couple weeks, but just this past Friday he started to take longer walks. The other clip is him having a little fun during breakfast. Sometimes he just gets the giggles for no reason...Oh and you can see his new teeth in the clip. He has a total of 5 right now, 3 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Hope you guys enjoy!!!

Need Advice

2009-10-28T07:00:00.004-04:00

Will had his 9 month checkup a couple weeks ago and he was in the 65th percentile for height but only the 20th percentile for weight! The doctor said not to be worried about it, but I AM!!! He is so skinny, I want a fat chubby baby! I still nurse him about 4-5 times a day and then I feed him baby food / finger food 3 times a day and sometimes a snack in the afternoon. He eats good and I know that he is probably just burning off all those calories crawling all over the house, but still there has to be a way to fatten him up. So, what was your feeding schedule/menu like when you were feeding a 9-10 month old? Any advice would be helpful!

Here is a little video showing just how crazy this kid is. He was scooting along the fireplace and his little legs looked so funny I started laughing at him and he started tripping out, so I pulled out my phone to see if I could get it on tape. It's not quite as funny as the first time and starts off slow, but still pretty funny!

Almost Lost

2009-10-27T00:46:00.004-04:00

The other night I dropped off John to get a hair cut and then baby boy and I went to Lowe's. When I came out, I put Will in the car and then realized I still had the shopping cart. I ran it up to the nearest return stall. Then, driving back to pick up John I realized I had left my purse in the cart, AHHHHHH!! I flipped a U-turn and headed back. I got to my cart and my purse was gone, NOOOOOOO! I went inside and asked customer service if anyone had turned it in and they said no, then I looked in the trash cans to see if someone had taken what they wanted and thrown the rest away . . . Nothing. I looked around to see if I saw anyone with it and then checked the shopping carts again . . . Nothing.

So, feeling dejected and my faith in society crushed, and I left again to pick up John. I started thinking about all the things I have to do, cancel my credit cards, call the cell phone company (oh my poor iPhone, John will probably never let me get another one!), get new medical cards . . . and I just felt sick to my stomach, ugh! When John got in the car he said "let's go back to Lowe's some lady just called me. She found your purse and is turning it into customer service." Woo Hoo, Hallelujah!!! A big THANK YOU to the nice lady that turned my purse into Lowe's customer service with all the contents still in it!!! I'm not sure how I missed seeing her, but oh well, THANKS SO MUCH!!

This experience got me thinking about other times in my life I had things stolen. Like in 3rd or 4th grade when I brought my Zelda game to school to trade with a friend and someone STOLE IT out of my backpack, heartbreaking, or when I was a freshman and someone stole my purse off the bleachers in PE, SO MEAN! I'm just glad that this time someone was nice and saved me a lot of trouble and stress!

9 Months

2009-10-10T23:07:00.003-04:00

Will turned 9 months yesterday and boy has the time flown by!! I can't believe how big he has gotten! He is a little rascal that WEARS ME OUT!! He is SUPER active! He is crawling all over the place and will probably be walking soon. He has two teeth and has already chewed notches into his crib! He is such a happy baby. He smiles and laughs all day long. He does have my temper though, I see that when he gets frustrated with his toys. We have had the best time these past nine months!! Ok, the first couple of months were a nightmare, but overall this has been the happiest and funniest times of our lives!!

Older and Wiser . . . NOT!

2009-09-01T23:00:00.002-04:00

Where does the time go? This year has flown by!! Here is a blast from my birthday past, can you pick out the differences . . .

(Looks like we have a "Woo Girl" in the making!)

Baby Moves

2009-08-23T01:05:00.002-04:00

The past few days Will has been crawling all around. He probably would have been doing this sooner, but the poor baby has been sick the past two weeks :(

Here are two cute videos of him crawling and standing:

Crawling Baby from Angela Haralson on Vimeo.

Standing (Kind of) Baby from Angela Haralson on Vimeo.

Rick Rollin'

2009-06-14T00:12:00.006-04:00

So I was out on youtube looking up videos about the new iPhone 3Gs and all of the sudden I got Rick Rolled.

Wikipedia defines Rickrolling as:

An Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a web link that he or she claims is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. When a person clicks on the link and is led to the web page, he or she is said to have been "Rickrolled" (also spelled Rickroll'd).

Here is a Rick roll of our president that I found hilarious!! Be careful of the Rick Roll, if it can get the president, then we are all at risk.

My Boys

2009-06-01T00:03:00.005-04:00

Will's first pictures with all his cousins on my side of the family. His cousins love him and they all wanted to be the one to hold him in the pictures!

He loves his daddy! He gets so excited when John gets home and entertains him in the afternoon!

I can't believe how big he is getting, he was so tiny when he was born!!

Pa Pa Pa Pok O Reel

2009-05-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

So, I listed this
Pok-O-Reel on Ebay for my dad. He's been begging me for weeks to try to sell it for him. For those of you that don't know, my dad is a junk dealer, at least that's what I call him! He has a booth out at the flea market and sells junk every weekend. He is always going to yard sales, estate sales, and auctions looking for stuff. He told me I could have 40% of whatever I sell for him on ebay. Pretty sweet, huh! I just hate Ebay, so I have to really get motivated to start listing some stuff for him.

So for the past couple of weeks every time I've thought "Oh, dang, I gotta list that Pok-O-Reel!" I immediately think of the Lady GaGa song Poker Face and so I am singing Pa pa pa pok o reel pa pa pa pok o reel ALL DAY!!! Ahhhhhhh! Hopefully I will be able to sell it soon and be rid of it and the song for good!!!

Protecting Images

2009-05-24T22:42:00.006-04:00

Ok, so it looks like Carrie is trying to find a way to protect her images. She found a way, through javascript, to disable right clicking to stop people from copying/saving the images, but that doesn't stop people from left clicking on the image link and bringing it up and then right clicking on it. Discussions here and here. So instead of writing this up in a comment on her blog, I thought I would just do a post.

First I'll tell you how to remove the image link, then I'll tell you the bad news at the end. Oh, and here is the link to the right-click disable javascript.

After you add the image, click on the "Edit Html" tab instead of the "Compose" tab. The code that blogger added for your image looks kinda like this:

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/3469291724_43de7c65b0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/3469291724_43de7c65b0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>

Which gives you an image like below that lets you click on the image. If you remove the <a ... > </a> tags that surround the <img ... > tag (the text in purple), then that will make the image un-clickable.

Un-clickable image:

The bad news: So this along with the javascript right-click disable code will protect your images from some people, but not people that are tech savvy. As Jennifer pointed out, it doesn't stop people from viewing the source code of your page and getting the path to the image that way. All they have to do is view your source code and look for the <img> tag and that will give them where your image is and then copy and past the path into the browser and pull the image up that way:

<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/3469291724_43de7c65b0.jpg" alt="" border="0" />

I did a Google search and it looks like there is really no easy way to protect your images unless you host them on your own server and do some techie things on your server to hide/protect them. Some more bad news is that the right-click disable code can be bypassed if you just disable javascript in your browser. I tested this and sure enough, it let me right click on the images.

So, anybody else have any ideas . . .

Vision Correction

2009-05-21T22:29:00.002-04:00

Well I've been on my last pair of disposable, only supposed to wear for two weeks contact lenses for about the last two months. Last week my eyes finally had enough and my left eye started hurting and got really red. I had to wear my glasses all weekend so my eye would heal, ugh! Of course it has been over a year since my last eye exam, so I had to get another eye exam before I could get more contacts. I went and did that on Monday. I hate eye exams!! All that, "is this clearer, or is this clearer? one better, or two? better now, or worse?" I DON'T KNOW!!! They all look pretty close to me, my prescription never seems to come out right anyway! And of course, "read the lowest line you can see." Why do I always feel like a loser when I can't see the tiny lines??? I should have those lines memorized by now, but along with my bad vision I also have a bad memory! Oh, and you gotta love getting that puff of air blown in your eye!

So, they always ask me if I sleep in my contacts and I always say "um, sometimes", knowing that I sleep in them about 95% of the time and knowing that they know it too. I thought for sure that John would hear through the door the optometrist asking me this and bust through the door and tell on me, luckily he was preoccupied with Will! I had been trying be better about taking my contact out this last year, and then I had a baby. Those first two months there was no clear definition of sleep and awake, plus I HAD to be able to SEE my baby at all times (paranoid first time mother for ya), so there was no taking my contacts out AT ALL. I probably aged my eyes a couple of years in those two months. My question is, am I the only contact lens abuser out here?

Oh, and my eyes did get worse this year, my prescription changed, DANG IT! I am going to have to get lasik surgery pretty soon while I still can . . . I am resolving now to take better care of my eyes and not sleep in my contacts anymore. So far this week I have done pretty good!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have been wearing contacts since I was 12 years old. I have a lot of eye exams stories, including some about my previous old old Chinese optometrist, but alas this post has gone on long enough!

Ok, just one more. This one time they were doing the pressure test and my eyes were watering sooo bad because I had again gone too long with old contacts. The tech that was doing the test said "you totally look like you have been smoking marijuana!" I was shocked, but I just kinda laughed. No way was I going to admit the truth, I just let her think what she wanted to . . . sad, I know.

Roll Baby Roll

2009-05-05T08:34:00.003-04:00

Will rolled over for the first time last Tuesday!! John and I were cleaning, so I put Will down on his back on a blanket on the floor. I looked over at him a minute later and he was on his stomach!! He became a pro at it the next day, rolling over a bunch. Now whenever I put him down, he wants to roll over, which is aggravating!! Well, this weekend he learned how to roll back off his belly onto his back, so now I have a little rolly polly!!

Here is a video clip. The first part has him rolling both ways, I added the other clip on the end because it was cute, he only rolls one way in that one, but does some good tummy time!

Roll Baby Roll from Angela Haralson on Vimeo.

Today is . . .

2009-04-24T01:00:00.002-04:00

my friend Candi's Birthday!!

I hope you have an awesome day!

Baby Steals

2009-04-23T15:25:00.007-04:00

For those of you that don't already know about babysteals.com it is a cool website that has great deals on baby gear. They feature one steal/deal a day that is usually at least 50% off the original price. I have an alarm set on my phone everyday to remind me to check the site to see the new steal!! I first found out about babysteals by seeing it on Tara's facebook, so thanks Tara I'm addicted!!

Here is a cute Kee-Ka onesie I got from babysteals:

Will's Room

2009-04-14T23:48:00.006-04:00

I just remembered that I never posted pics of Will's room. We worked really hard on it and I love it so I thought I would share. Yeah, I went a little vinyl letter crazy, but I had to put my cricut to good use!! The paint on the walls went from beige to baby blue, to baby blue on top and chocolate brown on bottom, to beige on top and chocolate brown on bottom before I was finally satisfied, poor John! Of course, Will has never slept in here since he is sleeping in a cradle in our room, but soon enough he will get to enjoy his colorful room!

Bumbo

2009-03-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

Will is two months old now and I think we are finally starting to ease into this whole baby/parenting thing! He's turned from a grumpy grunting baby to a mostly happy baby! He likes to smile a lot after he eats and I finally started hearing all those coos that people talk about. He loves to have conversations and is constantly kicking his legs and moving his arms. He is such a wiggle worm! Oh, and he is finally sleeping much better at night! Hurray!

I bought a Bumbo last year at the consignment sale thanks to my friend Candi who said it was a great thing to have. I didn't even know what it was!! Well, we decided to pull it out today and see if Will would sit in it. He loved it and it was so much fun to watch him that we thought we would share!

!Bumbo from Angela Haralson on Vimeo.

Buddies

2009-03-08T23:45:00.004-04:00

My friend Jessie and I had babies about 2 weeks apart, so here is a pic of the two little guys (Cole and Will)! Hopefully they will be best buds as they grow up. Nick and Jess, please don't move any farther away than Atl!! It's been so fun to go through pregnancy and the newborn stage at the same time with a friend!

Homemade

2009-03-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!
My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It’ll be done this year. {Translation: you may be waiting a little while}
4. You have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, vinyl lettering, a bookmark, something knit or crocheted or a complete surprise to you (and me!) … Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
6. Most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog (or if you do not have a blog, facebook) get something made by YOU! If you’re not the kind of person that wants to make something tangible for others, how about some kind of service for them, any type, any size...

Snow Day

2009-03-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

It snowed here on Sunday, which was so crazy because it was pretty warm the day before. I couldn't resist getting Will dressed up and snapping some pics outside, but he did not like the cold, so we were only outside for about a minute!

The snow was beautiful and I took a bunch of pictures, because who knows when we will see it again! My dogs went crazy for the snow, they loved it! They ran around and around the yard playing in it!

A Name and a Blessing

2009-03-01T22:41:00.005-05:00

Will's blessing day was last Sunday. I have been thinking and dreaming about this day for a long time! John gave him a beautiful blessing and we were so happy that some of my family and our friends could be there. We only wish John's family could have been here, but we are so excited for John's mom to come and visit later this month!! Since my family are not members, I was so excited for them to come. They really enjoyed it and thought it was so special!! Most everyone came over later for lunch. It was so fun, but I was exhausted at the end of the day! I'm sure John was too, he did all the cooking! Oh, and thanks to Jessie for the orange fluff recipe, it was a big hit!! Here are some pics from the day. Thanks to Candi for taking such great pics!

Grumpy Baby

2009-02-17T19:07:00.006-05:00

Will is almost six weeks old now and is turning into a grumpy baby!! He started making this grunting noise when he was about 3 weeks old and he does it all the time now, where are the coos at LOL! No, he really is a pretty good baby, especially during the day, and especially when other people are around. He still fights sleep at night and doesn't sleep well, but hopefully that will get better with time. He does get some major boogies in his nose that we have to suck out with the nasal aspirator. Is that normal? I hate doing it and he screams so much, poor thing! The past couple of weeks have been tiring, but fun, and Will gets cuter and cuter everyday. I have about a million pics on my phone, because I snap pics of him all day long and email them to John at work! Here are some pictures we have taken over the last couple of weeks.

He always has to have a hand up by his head or face, just like in the womb!!

This is not a social smile, as they call it, but one I guess brought on by gas while he was in a milk coma!

Hope I Win

2009-01-23T16:12:00.006-05:00

Carrie Stroud is giving away a free photo session on her photography blog, check it out:

I love her photos, so I hope I win!! Well, I hope I win this or the dream home on HGTV, fingers crossed!! :)

Exhausted!!

2009-01-21T16:44:00.004-05:00

We had our baby!! William Edward was born on Jan. 9th, weighing 6 lbs. 7 ozs. He is beautiful and sweet and we are so very happy!! I've been too exhausted to post any pictures until today. I think I've been averaging about 3-4 hours of sleep a day!! I will write more and post more pictures when I get some more sleep!! :)

Here is a link to the hospital photos also:
http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=f076fd86-7871-4ba5-ac19-41e506048684

Almost Done

2009-01-07T23:50:00.006-05:00

For those of you that don't know, I'm not in the hospital anymore. My doctor let me come home for Christmas and my fluid levels actually stayed up this time, so I've been able to stay home on bed rest. I have never loved my home more than I do now. Just not being hooked to an IV 24/7 is wonderful!!

John had the house spotless and he had pulled out and put up our Christmas decorations, so everything looked so pretty when he brought me home!! He has been so great, cooking all my meals and getting everything for me, so I can stay in bed! I know it's because he really hated always being at the hospital and he's been doing everything he can to keep me outta there! :) I feel sorry for the poor guy he has to go to work, take care of me, do all the shopping, do all the cleaning, get everything ready for the baby! Whew! Hey, does this mean I have to change all the poopy diapers as payback??

Well, I thought this baby was going to come early, so these last few weeks seem to be stretching on FOREVER!! Look what a difference 10 weeks makes in belly size. My belly finally popped out in the last two weeks. The pictures are 28 weeks, 37 weeks, and 38 weeks (today). I also cut my hair short between the last two pictures. Hopefully we will be posting baby pictures soon . . .

Happy Birthday John!

2008-12-20T16:49:00.007-05:00

To my sweet sweet husband on his Birthday:

Thank you for being the best friend and companion I could have ever hoped for. I am so thankful for all that you do for me and for still being so much fun!! I know I can be a spoiled brat sometimes, I just hope that I don't make your life too hard! :) I love you!!

Hospital Blues

2008-12-03T14:02:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm back in the hospital, boo hoo! I was admitted about two weeks ago for having low amniotic fluid levels (Oligohydramnios) and was here about 5 days. My fluids were back up so my Doctor let me go home on bed rest. I went in for an ultrasound yesterday and my fluids were back down, so they admitted me to the hospital again. I will most likely be here until I have the baby, pretty crazy! At least I got to go home for Thanksgiving! They have me on an IV and are monitoring the baby twice a day. So far all the baby's vitals have been really good.

So, today as I was sitting here, I noticed an air bubble coming down the line in my IV. All I could think of was all the CSI and Law and Order episodes I have seen where someone was killed by air being injected into their veins. I was freaking out! I hit the nurse call button and told the lady that I had an air bubble in my IV line, she said, "What?", so I repeated it, then she said "You have a what in your IV?", I said "AIR BUBBLE!", then she said that she would send in my nurse. Well as I'm waiting, that air bubble is inching closer and closer! AHHH! What should I do? Do I rip the IV line out of my hand before the air bubble kills me? Well, I turned the IV machine around to see if I could figure out how to turn it off. Luckily there was a nice bright red button that said "STOP". So I stopped it with the bubble about 5 inches away. Finally, the nurse comes in and asks if the machine is acting up. I show her the air bubble and say, "I saw this and wasn't sure if it was dangerous or not." She says "Oh that's fine, your body will absorb it. It's only dangerous in those murder mysteries! It would take a whole bag of air to hurt you!" Ok, now I feel like an idiot and my nurse probably thinks I'm a spaz!! Hey, this is first time in my life that I've had to stay in the hospital! I don't know how all that stuff is supposed to work! A little while later I saw another air bubble and even though she had reassured me that it's not dangerous, I can't help but feel a little uneasy watching that air bubble travel down the line! I can't wait until they take this IV out!! Oh and I forgot to mention that John was messing with the IV bag earlier this morning, what's he trying to do to me??? I gotta stop watching CSI!

Here is a pic John snapped of me the first day I was in the hospital:

Here is how they wrapped up my IV hand so I could take a shower:

Welcome to Moe's!!

2008-10-30T09:10:00.006-04:00

For the last couple of months I have been craving Nachos Billy Barou from Moe's like crazy. I have to have them at least once a week, usually either Wednesday before Church or Friday night. It drives John crazy, he is so sick of Moe's!! (Yet, he can eat Taco Bell anytime, Ugh - go figure!) So the other night when we were out and about, John asked what I was hungry for and when I said Moe's, of course, He groaned and said, "What is wrong with you! Our baby is going to come out addicted to Moe's and speaking spanish. 'Hola mama, como estas? Mi gusta queso blanco!'" He said a few other things that I didn't understand, but I laughed so hard, what a nut!! All I have to say to that is . . . WELCOME TO MOE'S!!!

After thought: Maybe we should go with Jessie's suggestion a couple of weeks ago of naming the baby Jorge instead of Will!
Jessie: "Angie....if you really want my honest opinion here it goes. I think you should name the baby......Jorge Haralson (pron.'Hor-hay' just in case John forgot his spanish).....that would be AWESOME! :)"

Perry Fair

2008-10-24T11:52:00.001-04:00

We went to the Perry Fair a couple of weeks ago with our friends Candi, Tyler, and their little girl. I hadn't been to a fair in so long and I had so much fun! I love fair food and I'm so glad I got to eat a funnel cake . . . yay! Here are a few pictures from the day!

Here we are on the ferris wheel, it was a little scary because it kept making all these creaking noises, but we made it off safely!

Candi and Tyler also on the ferris wheel. We rode it twice, even though it was creaky! It was the only ride I could ride!

Annagrace got to ride the carousel and liked to wave at us!

There were people peddling these bubble machines everywhere.

A view of the fair grounds from the ferris wheel.

I've been bitten by the LoveBug . . .

2008-10-20T12:45:00.005-04:00

Ok, this is embarrassing, but I am fessing up . . . I like music by the Jonas Brothers! Don't laugh! I find myself jamming along to a song on the radio and think hey this song is pretty good, I wonder who sings it. I pull up the Shazam app on my iPhone (love Shazam!), let it record some of the song, and whaddaya know . . . Jonas Brothers . . . Ahhhh! Dang those catchy songs! So, I'm not running out to the store to buy their CD or anything, but I thought I would confess my guilt, I am so ashamed! :)

John said that the other day he was riding in the Jeep with the top down and he had the radio turned up really loud. He said he suddenly realized he was jamming the Jonas Brothers and quickly turned the radio down and looked around to see if anybody was staring! LOL!

Shhhh! Don't tell my secret! :)

Growing . . . growing . . . growing . . .

2008-10-15T11:59:00.014-04:00

My belly has actually gotten big enough now to post some pics. These pics are at 14 weeks, 24 weeks, and 26 weeks.

For those that don't already know, we decided on a name. He will be William Edward Haralson and we'll call him Will for short. William from John's middle name and Edward from John's Grandad's name. I haven't really blogged much about pregnancy, so here are a few things . . .

Best things about pregnancy so far:

Feeling the baby move

Telling John the baby needs food

Always getting my way

Looking and shopping for baby stuff

Annoying things about pregnancy so far:

Constipation (Sorry guys!)

Pricking my finger 4 times a day :(

Not being able to sleep

Already feeling huge

Maternity Clothes

Anyone have a pocket protector I can borrow?

2008-10-12T22:33:00.006-04:00

I have to make fun of John for wearing glasses now because he always makes fun of me when I have to wear my glasses. He'll call me four eyes or tap on my glasses. He thinks its hilarious. Ok, I actually haven't been that mean. I've only called him a nerd a couple of times! I want him to wear his glasses so he can actually see and I think they look pretty good on him. When we first got married he had his eyes checked and got some glasses, but he hardly wore them and then they broke. His vision has gotten worse over the last year and I've bugged him so many times to get his eyes checked, but he never would. Well, he finally went and got some glasses and then the next weekend he broke them!! Luckily there was a 30 day warranty and he got them replaced for free, yay!!

Ode to Salonpas

2008-10-08T16:36:00.004-04:00

You are smelly and sticky,
but oh what wonders you do!

So, ever since I was little, we always had Salonpas in the house to help relieve my dad's arthritis. They are just these sticky medicated pads that you put on for a couple of hours that help soothe minor aches and pains. My mom bought them from either the commissary or the oriental store, but I think they are in a lot more stores now. She was always trying to stick them on me when I had any kind of aches . . . "put on a Salonpas!" Well, I really appreciate them now that I'm older. I had a terrible pain in my shoulder all day yesterday. Probably from a bad sleeping position. I just can't sleep comfortably anymore since my belly is getting big, and I'm not used to sleeping on my side! I finally called John to complain to him and he said did you try putting a Salonpas on, there are some in my nightstand. He uses them all the time, by the way! I decided to wait to put one on until bedtime, so it would help me sleep. Worked like a charm! My shoulder didn't bother me at all and feels much better today. Hurray for Salonpas!!

Lolli Lolli let me see you pop that body!!!

2008-10-02T20:35:00.004-04:00

The other day a couple co-workers and I were on our way to the bowling alley for the Wednesday lunch bowling league, but before we go we usually grab a bite to eat. This day we decided to eat fresh and go to subway. Well, we were all in line and ordering our subs and the girls behind the counter were just having a good ol' time...Laughing and talking to everyone. It was nice to see people so happy at work, that is usually not the case lately. Anyways, my two teammates got their subs and went and sat down. I was the only one left up by the counter waiting for my sub to get toasted, when all of the sudden two of the girls behind the counted started to drop it like it's hot while singing lolli lolli, by Three 6 mafia. I mean, they had their hands on their knees dropping it to the ground and back up again. It was freakin hilarious. So, I decided to add the song to my blog to see how many people I can get out of their seats and pop it . Enjoy!!! Oh, and I am not sure if the song is edited or not, but the first couple minutes sounded fine.

Smack That

2008-09-24T09:12:00.005-04:00

John: Did you ever notice that when you eat honey smacks, it makes your pee smell funny?

Me: Um . . . no.

John: Well, it does, check it out next time you eat them.

Me: I don't think I'll be eating them again, thanks though.

This is your brain . . .

2008-09-22T12:10:00.001-04:00

This is your brain while pregnant.

Any questions?

My friend Jessie's husband Nick went out of town for work this past week, so I went up to stay with her earlier last week. All I can say is, two pregnant chicks left alone to fend for themselves is a recipe for disaster!

It all started Saturday. John and I went to a Troy University game with the church youth, then drove our car full of girls back to Columbus and then drove to Jessie's. We didn't get there until 2:00am and then we stayed up talking until 4:00am!! Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted the next day. John went home the next day and left me up there. I missed him while I was up there, but I had fun hanging out with Jess and Davis!

So Jessie already posted this story on her blog, but here is my short version of the events that transpired . . . Tuesday we got up early to take Davis to preschool. Jessie went to put Davis is his car seat and asked me to grab his food. I grabbed the food and walked out closing the door behind me. Well the door locked and Jessie didn't have her keys! So we spent the next 30 minutes trying to break into the house. I had an old credit card I was trying to use on the front door, but that door wasn't budging! We kept trying to think how we could get into the garage because we left the garage house door unlocked. Finally, Jessie spotted her neighbors outside and called them over. The husband walked around the house looking at windows and we were standing there talking to his wife when she said, "Hey, do you have a garage door opener?" Jessie and I looked at each other and just started laughing, duh! She got the garage door opener out of the car and we got in the house! We felt so super dumb and we laughed about it for about 15 minutes straight!! So, I know I've been a little loopy since I've been pregnant, but I didn't realize how many brain cells I'd lost until that moment!! They do come back, right?

Well we came back down to Columbus on Wednesday evening and John kept us straight for the rest of the week!

Let's go Bowling!!

2008-09-04T00:16:00.007-04:00

OK, so Angela is always trying to get me to post about different things going on in my life and what we do from day to day. I always say I will post something and then never do. I don't know...maybe I get lazy or just forget. Anyways, one thing that has been going on, is Angela and I have been on a bowling league. For the summer time we were on a weekend bowling league and I was also on my work bowling league. For the weekend league we ended up taking 3rd place and took home about 90 bucks in prize money. I believe we could have done better, but we had to bring in a sub for the last 3 weeks because Angie being large with child, was having a hard time hurling her 13 pound ball down the lane. (She was a good sport and didn't complain until the very end) Anyways, we placed 3rd on that league and I placed 10th overall on my work league. Not too bad I guess, that is out of 24 teams. I am now bowling on the fall work league and my team is really committed to winning. In fact I had my all time high score today of 239. I will give updates as I improve and the season goes on.

You know, I used to think that bowling was just for drunk rednecks, but if you start throwing a hook ball and get the right equipment, there really is a technique and skill behind it. That's not to say that you can't do it while eating a hamburger and drinking a mountain dew, but you get what I'm saying.

Book Blog

2008-08-30T20:19:00.003-04:00

I have a new blog that I am a member of. Jessie, Nick, John and I have have started a book blog "High Five Book Club" where we share and blog about the books that we read. We are also thinking about posting ending spoilers for those that can't wait till the end of the book to find out what happens, but I'm not sure if we will do that yet. The spoiler idea came from when Jessie was reading "The Thirteenth Tale" and she went online to try to find out what happens at the end, but couldn't find a spoiler site for it. Initially we left John out because he doesn't read that often, but he's been really trying to finish his current book "Angels and Demons" so we let him join in. We'll see if he contributes or not. So if you like books and reading check it out . . .
High Five Book Club.

Awesome Husband

2008-08-25T22:05:00.007-04:00

Ok, so I have to give love to John for all that he does for me. He has been doing so much more around the house since I've been pregnant. He is always doing the dishes (not sure how long that is going to last...) and helping me out. Last week I was invited out to do some scrapbooking. I haven't scrapbooked in years and I had a lot of fun! I got home a little late and found that while I was gone, John had given both the dogs a bath, cleaned off the back porch, cleaned out the dogs kennels and moved them to the laundry room, cut the grass in both the back and front yard. I was so happy, the dogs really needed a bath, and my back has been hurting too much lately to do it myself. A couple of months ago when I was out of town for work, I came home to find that my closet had been cleaned and everything put away. Hmmm, it seems he's more productive when I'm out of the house . . . maybe not, right now it's 9:30pm and he is outside cleaning the leaves out of gutters right now. Yay, so thanks John, for all that you do, I really do appreciated it!!!

Gotta love the head flashlight!

Oh, I found a better quality of that hilarious "The Office" promo Slap Face and I found a couple of other promos that I hadn't seen before. So this is for all you lucky people that have DVR and fast forward through the commercials!

Name Dilemma

2008-08-19T21:58:00.005-04:00

It's awkward for me to tell people the names that we are thinking about for the baby. I'm not sure why, I guess it's just because I never know how they will respond. I've had people in the past make fun of names that I like, way before I was even pregnant, so I'm especially wary now! Also, the name I like might be the same name that the other person was planning for their future kids, so that can be awkward too!!! Yeah, prankster Nick tried to pull that one on me this weekend. He and John tried to set me up, I guess to see what my reaction would be!

Well, because a dilemma has come up this week, due to John's Grandma, I thought I would go ahead and take a risk and share our top pick. So, the name Brayden is at the top of our list for the first name. The middle name is where we have the dilemma. John talked to his Grandma this week and she said that it would be really nice if we used his Grandpa's name (Walter or Edward) in the baby's name. His Grandpa passed away almost a year ago and we know it would mean a lot to Grandma. Grandpa's first name, Walter, is too old school to me. Edward is okay, but John thinks everyone will think that we named him after the character in the Twilight Book Series! Also, we were thinking of going with a Japanese middle name, since my mom gave me a Japanese middle name. It has also been hard finding a Japanese word that we like that goes with the name. The only one we have come up with so far is Saiai which means "Beloved". So we could name the baby Brayden Edward Haralson or Brayden Saiai Haralson . . . or we can just start over from scratch! Anyone have any advice . . .

Go USA!

2008-08-12T20:35:00.010-04:00

I love the Olympics! I have loved watching the Olympics ever since I can remember. I love the sports and the stories! My favorite events to watch are Beach Volleyball, Swimming, & Gymnastics. John really likes Women's Beach Volleyball because of the skimpy outfits, ugh! I'm watching synchronized diving as I type this. Pretty interesting, but not that exciting.

The venues this year are amazing! The "Water Cube", the Aquatics Center is by far the coolest! I'm super excited to see if Michael Phelps will win more Gold medals! I just wish it wasn't on so late at night. It's keeping me up way too late, but hey it's only once every four years . . . Go Team USA!

Did anyone catch the new "The Office" promo they played during the Olympics? Hilarious!!! This is the only copy I could find out there, the quality sucks, but it is still funny!

And check out the Olympic Mascots this year!

Snips and Snails, and Puppy-Dogs' Tails . . .

2008-08-07T21:36:00.008-04:00

We had our BabyWaves ultrasound today and found out that we are having a BOY! I really wanted a girl, but I'm slowly getting used to the idea! John is really happy, I think he secretly wanted a boy. Looks like I need to go back and get my highlights changed from pink to blue!!! The 3D ultrasound was cool, but our baby is so small that it still looks like an alien. John was kinda freaked out! In one of the pictures our little alien was waving at us, so cute!

I need a little Magenta in my Life . . .

2008-08-06T23:01:00.007-04:00

A couple of months ago, I saw a Katherine McPhee video where she had magenta highlights. I thought it was so cool and decided I wanted to do that to my hair someday. Well, since I work at home now, I thought it was the perfect time . . . tada!

Pretty crazy, huh! It took forever for the stylist to do this. Because my hair is so dark, she had to bleach the highlights first, wash it out, blow dry the bleached pieces, apply the color to just those bleached pieces, wash it out, cut my hair, and then blow dry it! Whew, I'm tired from just typing all that!

She did a peek-a-boo type highlight. Which means when I part my hair on the side I normally do, not as much color shows through, but when I flip the part a bunch of color shows through. The picture above is of the "wild side part"!

John and my sister love it, my Mom really hates it. My dad hasn't seen it yet, but I know he's not going to like it. He doesn't like it when I do crazy things to my hair! It's a lot brighter than I thought is was going to be, but they say these colors fade pretty quickly, which I'm not sure yet if that's a good or a bad thing! Anyway, I love it right now, but we'll see how long before I'm sick of it!

Crazy Dogs

2008-08-03T22:32:00.004-04:00

Ok, so we never feed our dogs table scraps. Seriously, not once. They have only had dog food and dog treats. Well, my brother cooked ribs for us tonight, so I decided to bring the bones home for Maggie and Pookie. I have been neglecting them a little lately and I thought that they deserved a treat.

So, we come home and John gives one bone to each of them. At first they don't know what to do with them. They drop them on the ground and start licking them. Finally, they figure it out and start chomping on them. It took them about 30 minutes to finish them off.

Well, this is how our precious dogs repay us. There are now little turds on my back porch. I'm guessing that it was storming when they had to go and they are such prissy dogs that they didn't want to go out in the rain. Ahhhh! Also, they are so hyper right now. Jumping on the doghouse, running around the back porch crashing into their food bowls. You would think we had dipped those bones in caffeine before we gave them to them.

So, it's not likely that our dogs will be getting table scraps again . . .

I dream of Africa

2008-07-31T18:07:00.005-04:00

I have some of the craziest dreams sometimes. I had this one particular dream months ago. I was African and living in a tribal village. I had this beautiful cocoa colored skin and wore what you see tribal people wearing in movies and pictures. I also had a baby. Well, in my dream, my village got raided and everyone was running away trying to escape. I strapped my baby to me and took off. I had to swim across a lake to safety. Now, in real life, I'm not that great of a swimmer, but in my dream I was amazing. I had long arms and legs and I swam really fast. Once I got to safety with my baby, I woke up.

The next day I told John about my dream and he didn't believe me! He thought I was making it up!! I finally convinced him that I really did dream that and he thought I was crazy. I just told him he was jealous because his dreams aren't as cool as mine! Ok, I admit it was a weird dream. I've never dreamed that I was another race before! So maybe this was the Lord's way of calming my fears about being a good mother. I mean I totally rocked at getting my baby to safety in my dream. Or maybe I just watch too many action movies :)

So, has anyone ever dreamed that they were a completely different race, or am I the only crazy one out there? Or, what has been your craziest dream?

Joining "The Club" . . .

2008-07-23T21:43:00.008-04:00

The Mommy Club that is! So, surprise we're going to have our first baby, now who's supposed to send me my membership card??? The hazing won't be bad . . . will it?

I'm just starting my 15th week and the baby is due in January. John and I are both super excited! It still doesn't feel quite real. Whenever I tell someone I'm expecting, I kinda feel like I'm lying! I'm sure once my belly starts getting big and I can feel the baby move it will start sinking in!!! I did have some mild hazing in my first trimester, but nothing too terrible. Mostly constant nausea, but I didn't throw up, and exhaustion. I've been so tired, but I'm finally starting to get some energy back. Other than that, so far so good. John has been so great. He was doing pretty much all the house work because of my lack of energy and he only complained a tiny bit! I'm finally able to start picking up my share again, so he's getting some relief.

Ok, so the story of how we found out. It was two days before our beach trip with Nick and Jess. We were at the store getting snacks for the ride and I decided I wanted to get a pregnancy test and take it before we went. I wanted to check in case I needed to stay out of the sun and other stuff expecting mom's have to look out for. Usually John complains about that because pregnancy tests are so expensive. He didn't care this time though, because he said he had a feeling it would be positive. I'm thinking yeah right, but don't say anything because i really want that test! The past few days I was getting up early for work to make up for the hours I would miss on vacation, so I was up at 6am taking that test. Of course I expected a negative, but John was right and I saw two lines appear. I was still all bleary eyed and tired, so I had to rub my eyes and flip on all the lights in the bathroom. The second line was really light so I wasn't completely sure . . . I went to wake John up and get a second opinion. Anyone who has been around John when he is sleeping knows how hard it is to get him up. I said, "Um, I took that pregnancy test and I think it says I'm pregnant but the line is really light." He kept his eyes closed and said "I knew it". This annoyed me, so I told him to get up and look at it. He grumbled because he was so tired asking why I took the test so early in the morning, but he got up and looked at it and then sat there while I read through the whole instructions and sure enough it was positive! Then we hugged and talked a few minutes and then he went back to sleep and I went into the library and logged into work. Of course I couldn't concentrate on work. I started looking up baby stuff online!!! Later that morning, once he was up and his usual obnoxious self, he came into the library singing "I see some ladies tonight that should be having my baby" . . . typical.

So the next day we went on our trip to Florida. We decided we weren't going to tell anybody for awhile. John thought we should tell Nick & Jess since we were going to be with them all weekend, but I was just 4 weeks, barely pregnant, and I really didn't want to tell anyone. I mean anything could happen. Well, it proved to be too big a secret to keep so soon after we found out ourselves. John told me to just do everything that Jessie did and he was asking Jessie a bunch of questions about her pregnancy. We were barely in our hotel room when we discussed it again. I said they are going to know anyways because of all the questions you are asking and they are going to notice when I don't stay out in the sun or go in the hot tub later. So we went to their room and told them we had something to tell them. Then Jessie shouts out "You're pregnant!" Hahahaha, so they were the first to find out and they promised not to tell anyone. Well, it looks like they kept the secret because as far as I know the news never got out. Good job you guys!!!

More Washington Pictures

2008-07-21T20:20:00.005-04:00

Ok, so some people might want to read a post about something else (it's coming!) but I wanted to go ahead and finish the rest of our vacation pictures. So enjoy!

This is at the Crime and Punishment Museum. This is the only attraction/museum that cost us money to see. It was really cool, especially at the end where they had all the CSI stuff. I love watching shows like CSI, Law & Order, Without a Trace, so the museum was really fun. I don't recommend buying the audio tour, it was a waste of money.

Vroom Vroom!

This is the inside of Union Station. It is so pretty and there are really nice stores, restaurants, and a nice food court. Our hotel was right across from Union Station, so we were able to ride the metro everywhere! You can go online and buy a weekly metro card for about $11 and have unlimited rides for a week.

On the Fourth of July they had a parade down Constitution Ave. Here were some members of the military getting ready for the parade.

This is in front of a replica of the Wright Bros. plane inside the Air & Space Museum.

This was the landing pod from one of the Apollo missions. The Air & Space Museum was so interesting. We watched a movie on Black Holes in the planetarium there.

This is at the capitol building. We attended the concert there on the 4th of July. The performers were Huey Lewis, Taylor Hicks, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Then they had fireworks, but the fireworks went off near the Washington Monument and we really couldn't see them because of all the trees. I wouldn't recommend going to the capitol building on the 4th because of this and it was also soooo packed! We were in line forever just to get in. If anyone is going to DC on the 4th, I would recommend going to the capitol performance on the 3rd, they do a dress rehearsal. It's the same show with half the crowd. Then stick around the National Mall area on the 4th to be able to get a good view of the fireworks!

Here is my anniversary present this year . . . I wish! It's really the hope diamond on display at the Natural History Museum. There was so much awesome jewelry on display there and it was the display that had the most people packed around it!

We had a blast on this trip, but there was still soooooo much we didn't see! I hope it won't be too long before we have a chance to go back. Some advice for anyone planning a trip; a few places require that you apply for tickets for tours in advance, like the White House and a couple other places I can't remember now.

Washington DC - Day 1

2008-07-10T21:10:00.021-04:00

Well, I finally worked up the energy to download our vacation pictures. The first stop on our vacation was Nick & Jess's house. We drove up Monday night and hung out and they let us crash for the night. We got up the next morning and started on our long drive. We drove to Roanoke, VA, about 7 hours and stopped there for the night. We ate dinner, did some shopping, and went to the movies. We got up and drove the rest of the way to DC, about 4 hours. The drive through the outskirts of the Mountains was really pretty. We listened to the book "The Host" on CD for most of the trip, but we didn't finish it. I've already read the book, but it's interesting to hear it narrated.

So our first day in Washington was monument day. We rode the metro(subway) everywhere. The Smithsonian stop on the metro brought us right to the National Mall where all the Smithsonian Museums are, hence the name of the stop. There was a folk festival going on at the Mall as you can see in this picture.

We didn't hang at the festival long, just long enough to get a lime fizz and it was delicious! We trekked up to the Washington Monument next. It was really cool. We didn't want to stand in line to get tickets to go inside to the top, so we just walked around the outside.

Here I'm reading to John all the interesting facts about the Washington Monument in my travel book. Oh, the benches around the monument were really comfy and cool!

Next it was on to the WWII Monument. It was really impressive, there were quotes and etchings everywhere on the walls and the fountain was cool, literally.

Seeing everyone dipping their feet in the fountain made my tired feet burn to get in that water. Ah, sweet relief . . . the cold water felt amazing!

John enjoyed it too!

We went to the Lincoln Memorial next. There were so many people on the steps and none of them were speaking English! It was so cool to see all these monuments up close.

Here we are resting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. When it's just the two of us on vacation we hardly ever get pictures that have us both in them. We took this one by just holding the camera out in front of us.

We went to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall next. It was so amazing and touching. There were notes that people had stuffed into cracks and corners. There were also pictures, jewelry, flags, and trinkets left along the bottom of the wall. It was sad seeing all the names on the walls. The atmosphere here was different than at the other monuments, more respectful and solemn. I didn't take any pictures there because I didn't want to disturb that feeling.

It was getting late by then, so we had dinner and headed back to the hotel. Pictures of the rest of our trip will be coming soon . . .

Vacation

2008-07-07T13:18:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted anything in awhile because we were on vacation all last week in Washington D.C. It was really fun, but also tiring! We took a bunch of pictures. I'll try to post some pics on here as soon as I have time . . .

Disconnected

2008-06-24T11:35:00.005-04:00

Yesterday morning we discovered that our telephone wire was pulled down from the power lines coming up our driveway. There is new home construction going on behind our house, so we are guessing that one of those big construction trucks mistakenly tried to drive up our driveway and took our telephone wire out. What a pain!!! Especially since I rely on my dsl internet connection for work.

Luckily my sister let me use her house and internet connection so I could work. So I was at my sister's for most of the day and it was a nice change of scenery. Although, every time I looked out the back window and saw the sparkling pool and bright sunny day, it really made me want to go swimming instead!

I'm not really a cat person, but my little nephew's cat Tony is soooo sweet! He hung out with me most of the day, so I snapped a quick pic with my phone of him lounging around.

Hammock Days

2008-06-19T08:50:00.008-04:00

We bought this hammock a couple of months ago and it is awesome! Here are some pics of us lounging.

John and his guitar he won in a raffle at work.

I had my camera with me on the hammock because I was trying to snap a picture of a woodpecker that kept flying back and forth over my head. Once I got my camera, of course he never came back.

John says I look uncomfortable here, but it was actually really relaxing!

Conversation about a Dream

2008-06-16T08:45:00.006-04:00

Angie: I had a dream last night about "The Office." I was in one of the scenes and I was Pam.

John: Oh, I see, you like Jim.

Angie: Um, well maybe you were Jim in my dream . . .

John: I know I wasn't in your dream. When I dream of celebrities, you are never in those dreams.

Angie: Do you dream that you are in a scene from a movie or tv show and you are one of the characters, like I do?

John: No, I dream that it is real life and I'm just so cool, they all want to hang out with me.

Angie: You're weird!

John: No, you're weird!

Tagged

2008-06-13T07:00:00.003-04:00

I was tagged by Rachel awhile back, so here it finally is:

Attached or single: Attached at the hip
Best friend: John (this is half sweet and half pathetic)
Cake or pie: Ice cream cake
Day of choice: Saturday (According to Nick, I'm going to the fiery pit of you know where for not saying Sunday)
Essential item: Cell phone.
Favorite color: Maybe maroon, maybe I don't really have one . . .
Greatest accomplishment: Teaching myself to crochet
Hometown: C-Town
Indulgences: Chocolate
January or July: Definitely July - love the summer heat!
Kids: None yet
Life incomplete without: Johnny boy
Marriage date: August 3, 2002
Number of siblings: 1 brother and 1 sister...both older
Oranges or apples: yummy oranges
Phobias or fears: zombies
Quote: "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." - Mark Twain
Reason to smile: My silly dogs that always give unconditional love!
Season: Fall
Tag 5 friends: Nah
Unknown fact about me: I was salutatorian at my high school graduation. Yeah, yeah second place is the first loser!
Very favorite store: Book Stores!
Worst habit: Too shy, introverted, anti-social, socially awkward whatever you want to call it. Oh I guess these aren't really habits . . . what was the question again?
X-ray or ultrasound: Um, never really thought about it . . .
Your favorite food: Chinese
Zodiac sign: Virgo

Music

2008-06-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

I love music videos, but since MTV and VH1 only play reality shows now (and I don't have MTV Hits) I always have to search iTunes, YouTube, mySpace, etc to find music videos. So I though I would share a few:

Here is the video for the song on my playlist. I think it's pretty cool.
Kate Voegele - Only Fooling Myself

From my two favorite Matt's.
Mat Kearney - Undeniable
Matt Nathanson - All We Are We Are

Eye candy for the ladies.
Gavin Rossdale - Love Remains the Same

For all you Country Music/Dancing with the Stars fans.
Julianne Hough - That Song In My Head

Bowling Madness

2008-06-11T09:14:00.004-04:00

A couple of years ago I started bowling on a league with some friends and co-workers. John bought me a bowling ball (hook ball, not sure the correct bowling lingo for that) and some bowling shoes. So whenever we went bowling just for fun, of course I brought my cool ball with me. John was so jealous of my hook ball, even though he still bowled better than me with just the ally balls! So when he said that he wanted to bowl on a league a couple of months ago, I knew it was just a ploy for him to get a hook ball! So we signed up on a league with our friend John, who is an awesome bowler. Of course he then proceeded to shop for a ball and bowling shoes. He got his ball and then searched for hours on the internet for some shoes. He finally ordered some and was so excited the day they were coming in the mail. Before he left for work he told me, "My shoes are coming today, don't mess with them!" Of course, as soon as they arrived, the loving and obedient wife that I am, I immediately took them out of the box and put them on. I then took the picture below with my phone and then emailed it to him. Needless to say, he was not thrilled to see me parading around in his shiny new bowling shoes!

Camp!

2008-06-09T08:34:00.003-04:00

Well, they got me for girls camp at the last minute this year. I had no idea this was coming. In fact, I remember thinking a couple of weeks ago how great it was that I didn't have to go to girls camp this year . . . ha! I took my old, small digital camera to camp and this is the only picture that turned out half way decent. They were all blurry!!! It really makes me appreciate my nice digital camera, but there was no way I was taking that to camp! This was the "Dancing with the Stars" night. Our ward did a dance to a Hairspray song, that is why we were dressed like that. So here is summing up the camp experience: hot, cool, humid, bottled water, hot, certification, hot, no sleep, bugs, spiders, hot, pranks, drama, gossip, hot, crafts, classes, food, testimonies, tears, games, dancing, hot, skits, laughter, and what I got when I left . . .sick!!! A cold that is, but I'm pretty much over it now. I did have fun at camp. It was fun hanging with the girls and the other leaders and getting all the gossip, mostly good gossip!

Pretty Cool

2008-06-04T09:49:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to share this clip that I saw on the best of youtube. Enjoy!

Blogging . . . Oh how I've missed you

2008-06-02T11:48:00.003-04:00

Ok, It's been awhile since I have posted anything. I was getting ready for and attending YW Camp last week and then was sick all this weekend. I tried to get John to post something in my absence, but of course he didn't. LAME! I'll try to see if I have any good camp pictures to share and post more tomorrow.

Beach Bums

2008-05-23T10:43:00.017-04:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to the beach with our friends Nick and Jess. The weather wasn't that great but we had a really fun and relaxing time. I finished reading "The Host" on the trip which was good for me, but boring for John! The trip, as with all vacations, ended way too soon. I wish I was still at the beach, instead of at my computer where I always am . . .

Mother's Day Flowers

2008-05-21T09:15:00.006-04:00

I know this is late, but I just wanted to post this beautiful flower arrangement that Mayumi (Designs by Mayumi) created for my mother. The picture really doesn't capture how stunning the arrangement was! Mayumi does great work and always brings the most beautiful arrangements to display at church! My mother loved the flowers, she couldn't get over how pretty they were! Isn't she so cute!

As a side note, I had to change my opening song on the blog to "Imagine" to honor David A. who totally killed in the American Idol finals last night. Love the song, hope he wins!!! We are a house divided, though. John still wants David C. to win! Uh oh, All the Bob and Sheri callers this morning have said that they voted a bunch of times for David C., one lady voted 400 times, crazy!!! It may be an upset!!!

I love to sing

2008-05-13T21:17:00.003-04:00

Guys.....I want some advice here. I've been a huge fan of A.I. (American Idol) for a while. I'm thinking about trying out this next season. I sing all the time. I know so many songs it's not even funny. I sing to the radio and have a pretty nice collection of C.D.'s (Compact Discs). You name the song and I will sing it in at least 3 different languages. Music is my passion and David Archalletta is my hero.

Isn't she lovely

2008-05-12T14:13:00.006-04:00

Can you believe that John went and saw David's new baby with out me!!! He got to hold her first, no fair!!! Here are some cute pictures. The quality isn't great because they were taken on a camera phone.

No, John isn't choking the baby, just holding her head up!

Twilight Movie Poster

2008-05-08T19:59:00.007-04:00

Wow, I'm so excited! New movie posters and a new trailer!

I'm no superman . . .

2008-05-06T22:45:00.004-04:00

So, I LOVE Scrubs! It hasn't always been that way. I used to think it was really dumb and I'm not really sure what changed, but now I think it is hilarious! I love how nutty and wacky everyone is. We own all the seasons on DVD (along with The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Friday Night Lights in case anyone wants to borrow).

So here are John and my two all time favorite clips. The first is Turk showing off his dance skillz and the second is Elliot schooling Turk on Snoop Dogg.

Usually only John gets to see this!

2008-05-06T12:46:00.005-04:00

I've been working at home for about a month now and so far it has been pretty great! I'm still getting used to the change and there are some downsides. It's been a little tough learning the systems on my own especially when the main form of communication is email and instant messenger. I am starting to get the hang of it though. Sometimes it can be really boring with out any coworkers to gossip with or to discuss tv shows (lost, the office) with :( Another downside is that my family doesn't actually think I work. My sister called the other day and left me a message that said, "Hey, this is your sister. You'd better call me back because I know that you are at home and not doing anything!" My mom is always coming down to my house to try to plant flowers because she has run out of space at her house. She also tries to get me to take her shopping. Come on people, I swear I really am working! Also my dogs are constantly staring at me through the glass in the back door with sad eyes pleading me to play with them or take them for a walk, poor pups :( One last annoying this is that since John has to get up before me, as soon as he gets out of the shower he starts singing in a really high pitched annoying voice, "Time to get up in the morning." Ok, so I am not a morning person, and this drives me CRAZY!!!

On the flip side here are a few good things about working at home. I get to sleep later, yay! I can get stuff done around the house during the time I used to be commuting home from work. I'm saving gas, although not that much because John and I used to car pool. I'm saving money on lunch because I eat at home. I can now exercise at lunch or take the dogs for a walk or take a nap! I can listen to music, podcasts, or books on tape and not have to wear headphones! I can surf the web freely without someone in infosec scrutinizing my web usage. I'm sure there are other great things that I am forgetting to write, but the best thing is that I get to work like this and nobody cares:

Awesome!

My first TAG!

2008-04-30T12:51:00.005-04:00

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

2008-04-28T23:15:00.013-04:00

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!!!

2008-04-21T22:25:00.002-04:00

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?

2008-04-16T23:05:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-14T21:29:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-12T22:07:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-09T22:59:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-08T21:59:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-02T23:42:00.000-04:00

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!

Poison Ivy Sucks!!!

2008-03-31T21:06:00.001-04:00

So, the last two weeks have been awful. I helped a friend from church clean up a fallen tree when I came into contact with poison ivy. Apparently, I have a severe allergy to poison ivy. After about a week of suffering and trying all the home remedies I had to go to the doctor (I never go to the doctor). They gave me a shot in the butt and I was put on a course of antibiotics. With Angela out of town for her new job I was hoping to bachelor pad it for couple weeks, but all I have done is take my medication and scratch like crazy all night. I can’t wait to be over it! Poison Ivy Sucks!!

The Thirteenth Tale

2008-03-31T20:28:00.000-04:00

This was such a good book! I was on my way to Maryland for a week of training for work and I had actually just started reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (which I still haven't finished!), but the hard back version is so big that I didn't want to lug it around with me. So, I stopped by a bookstore in the Atlanta airport to find something to read on my trip. (Paid way too much for it since I bought it in an airport, buy from Amazon or Half.com!!!) I was first attracted by the cover and once I read the summary, I was sold. I mean ghosts, mysteries, gothic suspense, come on!

I thought the book was so well written and I really loved the main character Margaret. The main characters are such lovers of books that you really feel like kindred spirits. I guess that is also why I love the Twilight Series so much. I'll have to give Twilight it's own blog entry one day. Okay, here's the summary from books-a-million:

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

book website

Shy That Way

2008-03-27T23:09:00.000-04:00

I love this song! I think Tristan Prettyman has a really nice voice and Jason Mraz is awesome. I think we have just about all his stuff now. He is coming out with a new album "WE SING. WE DANCE. WE STEAL THINGS" and the first single ("I'm Yours") is pretty cool, check it out on my music player.

Queen City!

2008-03-25T23:49:00.000-04:00

I'm in Charlotte, the queen city, for the next two weeks to train for my new job. I had to leave on Easter afternoon to drive up here (5 1/2 hours!!!). That was a bummer! The drive actually wasn't too bad. I listened to satellite radio for half the trip and then threw on an audio book for the other half ("The Amber Spyglass"). When we travel, John usually drives and takes care of checking into the hotel and all that stuff. So whenever I travel alone it's really strange to have to do all that myself! It really makes me appreciate my sweetie pie!

The last time I was in Charlotte, I didn't really like the city. This trip is a little better so far, maybe because I'm not staying in the downtown area. Although, there is a topless bar across from my hotel! Charlotte is kinda strange. Most of the trees have what looks like a strip of a garbage bag wrapped around their trunks. I found out this is to prevent some type of silk worm from destroying the trees. I would hate to have to wrap all my trees! Also, there are ducks everywhere! I was backing out of the office parking lot, and there were three ducks waddling around right beside my car. I saw more in the parking lot at Ruby Tuesday, and then more in a shopping mall. Strange!

Well, work/training has been a little overwhelming. Everyone there has been really nice so far. There is just lot to learn over the next two weeks and I hope I get everything. There is only one other person here for training this week. He is also from Columbus, so that was an interesting coincidence! I hope these next two weeks go by fast . . .

Last day on the job

2008-03-21T23:30:00.000-04:00

Today was my last day at Synovus!!! I'm about to start a new job where I will be doing web development from home. The last two weeks flew by and it still hasn't sunk in that I won't be going back to my cube on Monday morning. I'm sad, nervous, and excited all at the same time. I was really conflicted over taking this new job. I mean, I really liked my job, my boss was great, and my co-workers were cool, why give that up??? Well, I'm doing what I feel is best for my family (or future family) and taking a risk and I so hope it works out. I'm really going to miss all of my co-workers, but I am very excited to be able to work from home. Yay! When I told my sister about my new job she said, "Oooooh good, that means ya'll are going to try to have a baby . . . get started now!" Hahahaha!

Lame with a capital "L"

2008-03-20T00:19:00.000-04:00

Ok, so my first post on this blog was lame, but I just wanted to get something out there while I was setting this thing up. Yeah, yeah I know I can go back and delete it now, but I kinda like it. It reminds me of when you are first learning a programming language and the first program you write is a "Hello World" program where you have to make the application display "Hello World!" as output. Okay, enough geek talk, now John is going to make fun of me!

So, my friend Jessie sent me a link to her blog and I thought it was cool. So, I decided to create one too! I'm also trying to create one for John's family to share since everyone lives so far away. We'll see how that goes . . .

Here's some info on our little family. It's just the two of us and our two dogs, Maggie and Pookie (Check em out below. Sidenote: While everyone else posts cute pictures of their kids, we will be posting pics of our dogs and maybe random stuff we waste our money on until we have kids!). We have been married about five and a half years. Fun fact: In those five and a half years, we've moved 6 times in the same city! Seriously! The good news is, I think we have finally found a place to settle. We had our current house built about a year ago. Which was both fun and stressful! We live next door to my parents on about 5 acres and I love it, well everything except my other neighbors (I don't mean my parents!!!). Other than that, we are just trying to enjoy life!

Maggie (Giant Pomeranian!)
Pookie (Crazy Pug!)

Hello Internet!

2008-03-12T23:33:00.002-04:00

Hello out there . . . .