High School Genetics: Rambo Style

Ok, so I remembered this story this morning when I was getting ready for work. My mind did this weird stream of consciousness thing, “Man, I wish I had retained some Spanish. I didn’t do well in Spanish in college, or in high school in fact. I wonder what Mr. Wyatt (my high school Spanish teacher) is up to right now. Thinking of my high school teachers, oh my lord, Mr. Rauch. He was the toughest teacher ever. Thank goodness though because it made me grow up a bit. Mr. Rauch was funny. He was the cheerleading coach and so tough that I dropped out the first day of TRY OUTS. He helped us out one time for the talent show. He was a good sport. He was strict though. OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THIS STORY.”

So yeah, that’s what it’s like in my head. It was senior year and I was taking Genetics. Why? I DON’T KNOW. It wasn’t a requirement but I thought it sounded cool and interesting and kind of like Biology. Which it wasn’t. Not even close. Mr. Rauch, the stinker, knew exactly how hard it was and told us the first day, “You’ve signed up for this class and it is for a FULL YEAR. A year. You cannot drop this at the semester. Even if your parents call and beg me on your behalf. You CANNOT drop this.”

Heh, easy peasy. I can handle this. I got a B in Biology for crying out loud.

Yup, I had my parents call at the end of the semester. And he wouldn’t let me drop the class. Damn.

One day before class, we were all milling around waiting for class to start. We had about 5 minutes in between each class which wasn’t much since the classes were pretty spread out. The bell was about to ring when I realized I had left my lab notebook in my locker.

Oh hell.

Mr. Rauch was SO strict about these notebooks. They were a special type of scientific notebook and you couldn’t rip the pages out. If you messed up ONCE on the page, you had to start over on a new one. You had to underline everything with a ruler. You had to use certain colors of ink for certain sections. He meant business. And he was checking our notebooks that day. If you didn’t have it, you got an incomplete for that period.

As soon as I realized it, I TORE out of the room and hauled to my locker. As I was getting my notebook, the second bell rang and I was officially late for class. I ran back to the classroom and hid outside the door. Now, the classroom had two doors but I couldn’t go in the first one because that was the front of the room, where Mr. Rauch sat. So I peeked around the doorframe and saw him in front. When he turned away from the door, I ran down to the back door of the classroom. I was sitting in the second-to-last row but couldn’t get there without him seeing me. My friends could see me back there and tried to wave me in but I kept hissing at them to turn around and not draw attention to me. I was starting to get really nervous because he was going to take roll any minute and I could just yell, “Here!” from the hallway, could I? Plus, I was the only one not in my seat. A little suspicious, I’d say.

Luckily, God was on my side. There was an office attached to his classroom and his phone rang. He got up to answer it and I hit the deck, crawled on my hands and knees with my notebook inbetween my teeth. The SECOND I got to my seat, looking flushed and flustered, he came back into the room. Very slowly, he made his way back to my seat and without saying anything, looked behind my desk for any suspicious paraphernalia. Ha HA. I had nothing except my notebook and backpack. I smiled nicely at him and he gave me the side-eye and returned to the front.

Mr. Rauch, if you ever read this, forgive me but I had never been prouder in my life. I think it was finally payback for how hard you made that class.

Well, Aren't We Funny?

Is your town weird? Does your town have a sense of humor?

There's this statue in front of our town library and it features these two gentlemen. Every holiday, the library staff accessorizes them accordingly and I always find it exceptionally funny.

I wanted to take a picture of them all gussied up for St. Paddy's Day but I didn't get the chance. Luckily, my friend Melissa snapped a pic before it was taken down. Thanks Melissa! Had to prove that this town isn't as stuff as people think :)

Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone! Hope you are all safe and crazy at the same time.

R-r-r-RANDOM

Well peeps, I'm rounding the corner on to week 2 of p90x. I really do love the program but man, I don't know when I WON'T be sore. I was sore from day 2's workout until day 5. DAY 5. It's kind of killer. If you have any questions about the program, feel free to ask. It is legit but I do a different diet plan than they do. Mine's more sustainable and less expensive :)

Can you believe it's the middle of March? What the heck happened? Here I was, ringing in the New Year and it's almost a quarter of the way through the year? Just ain't fittin', especially with all that I want to do!

I have Henry Chen's wedding photography workshop next week and I'm seriously squeee-ing over here. I can only go to one day (harumph) because of work but I'm planning on sucking it all up while I can with the time I'm given. I can't wait to meet the other photographers. It makes me feel better that a lot of us are just starting out. I feel like such a noob.

I get to go home early from work today! I worked late this week and I'm so excited since today is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. For realz. It's gorgeous today and I can't wait to take a walk around the 'hood with the Hubs. It will be the first time we get to appreciate the time change and soak in the sun. Plus, I have to do my p90x for the day since I slept in. I was so dang tired this morning I could hardly get out of bed.

I hear it's going to POUR here this weekend. I'm looking forward to cozying up in bed, watching movies and making popcorn. Although, we make popcorn a lot so that's not really a treat. But it kind of is because our popcorn machine is still amazing and totally worth it.

Both of our cars went in for work today. This may not be exciting to you, but as we were leaving, there was this mural on the side of the wall that I HAVE to use in a photoshoot someday. I love little surprises like that!

I just had to call the Hubs to tell him to take out a soda that I put in the freezer for lunch. What would I do if he wasn't there?

New blog post later tonight with engagement pictures. I can't wait to put them up!

Want to act a random fact? Feel free!

Apples vs. Oranges

I live in the land of oranges but I must say, I prefer apples. I think the guy who made this infographic does too... but it's kind of hard to tell ;)

So, which do you prefer? Apples? Oranges?

Infographic by Smarter.org

BIRDS

Well yeah... put a bird on it. It's what I'm hoping to do with my logo :)

Over-the-Top

We went to an Oscar party on Sunday. We do parties right in this group. Good food, lots of people, appropriate ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the dresses, yelling for people to hurry up and get off the stage, scorecards. You know, the usual.

The host sent out an email a couple weeks before the party asking people to bring food. She made a joke by saying this: "If somebody is inspired by Social Network to bring appletinis, that sounds fine to me! Please bring an appetizer or dessert to share. Maybe tortillas from Toy Story 3, or strawberry cake from Black Swan, or fried squirrel from Winter's Bone. (Please no meth.)"

I decided to make a cake but not strawberry cake. I was going to make chocolate cake. You know, BLACK Swan, Chocolate cake? Then the Hubs said, "Why not do chocolate cake with white frosting? Wasn't she also a white swan?" GENIUS! Why didn't I think of that? To be fair, I did think to put it on my black cake stand.

Then he goes, "We should put feathers on it!" Ok, so... I would just like to point out that I would totally have come up with this but he beat me to it. I knew I was over-the-top but I'm just so glad I ended up with someone who totally thinks like I do (and thinks like this crowd that we partied with!).

(Side note, that stupid Mercury insurance commercial just came on and Hubs came by and did a silly dance to it. He makes me laugh)

So we go to Michael's and find feathers and... well.... oh here, I'll just show you.




Needless to say... it was a hit.

You:Unique

What makes you different? What makes you special? We're all unique, no matter how boring we think we are. I don't think anyone I know is boring. I also surround myself with insanely creative, hard-working, hilarious people. So that might have something to do with it. Every single person in my life has something to bring to the table and it's something good.

Like my friend, Julie. I should call her cruise director. She's the captain of our ship and makes sure that we are set for every Wednesday night Glee party. Who's bringing what food, when we're meeting, every week like clockwork. Plus, a lot of the other things we do as a group are planned by her. She's our organization guru.

Or Peter. Strong, quiet, thoughtful but hysterically funny. Pete always has your back, whether you have a work crisis situation, need help moving or just want to hit up the frozen yogurt place after choir rehearsal. He's a guy you want on your team and we're so lucky to have him.

I could go on and on. Some people are creative artists, some are more analytical, some tell dirty jokes, while some just make me smile. Some are up in front, directing traffic while other friends are quietly working in the back to make me look good.

Everyone is unique. I was prompted on another blog to really think about what makes me different:

Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)


I know I am stubborn. I flare up easily and am quick to anger. I got frosting on my sweater today and tore it off in the car in a huff. It took a gentle reminder from a wise guy (non-sarcastic) that, "it's not that big of a deal". I have these outbursts a couple of times a week. I don't know if I would call that a beautiful thing, but it makes me me. Warts and all, this is part of my package.

I have other outbursts as well... the good kind. I start dancing during certain commercials (that weird Vegas hotel, anyone? Do do do do do do do do do do do do. The one with the rabbits? yeah.) I sing when I take pictures of people (as Heather can now attest to). I really have to reel it in at the job I'm at now. No one thinks really thinks I'm funny there. But at my last job, wooo weee, we had fun sometimes.

I think I'm funny. Or at least, people are nice enough to laugh when I try to crack a joke. I'm addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper. I enjoy doing laundry, going grocery shopping and cleaning the bathroom. I hate spending a lot of time in the kitchen and I don't want to iron. I enjoy cleaning out my closet every few months.

I don't know if any of that makes me beautiful but it's a part of me. I like to smile. I love to laugh. I love to make other people laugh. I'm a hugger and usually hug more intensely than the other person (makes for awkward situations sometimes). I like to find the person in the room who isn't talking to someone and go talk to them (leftover from the last job). I like to fix problems and listen to people when they rant.

But does that make me beautiful? Jury is still out... but it all adds up to the complete picture.

What makes YOU beautiful? We're all taught to not talk about ourselves and brag, but I don't see it as that. I see it as what makes you the person you are.

No Real Regrets

As some of you know, I am completely addicted to the website, WeddingBee. It all started when I was engaged and hasn't died down since the wedding. I check it everyday and even got some great ideas after the wedding (wedding gifts for friends, where I made my album, etc).

Today on the 'Bee, they had a section for the married Bees to talk about their wedding regrets. I thought it was interested because even though my day was absolutely perfect, there are still somethings I would have done differently.

1. I wish we had hired a videographer. Both of our parents had so lovingly paid for the wedding and I was very careful with their money. I didn't want them to think I was just throwing it at any little thing I wanted. I saw videography as a want, not a need. But when I think back to that day and the sheer happiness and excitement of it all, I feel a bit pained. I would love to see our reception again. There were so many surprises that the Hubs had for me that I wish I could see them all over again. The toasts by our families and friends were amazing. I know I would cry to see my Father-in-law again but it would have been worth it to have the video. That's my biggest regret.

2. More pictures of me and the Hubs looking at the camera. It's my fault for not telling our photographer. I think we only have 1 or 2 but I'd have to go back through our pictures again. I loved our photographer though and don't regret that decision for a second!!

ummmm, that's about it. Everything else that "went wrong" wasn't that big of a deal. We forgot to include the band in the food count (yay for pizza delivery and father-in-law credit cards!), we didn't get a cake for cutting (we had cupcakes and ordered a little cake but there was a mix up), we had to clean up the reception hall ourselves (all our helpers had to leave for different reasons). But this didn't put a damper on the night. It made it all the more memorable.

This things I will remember are priceless though:

My mom coming over early the morning of the wedding to wash my hair so my nails didn't get ruined.

Sitting on the front stoop with her, just soaking it all in.

Getting my make-up done by my cousin.

Our first look.

The excitement building up to the walk down the aisle.

How the priest messed up the order of everything.

Our first dance.

Dancing with my dad and all the amazing things he said to me during it. (It's making me tear up now!)

My brother crying, thinking the wedding would change everything... when in fact, it made things even better.

His brothers' speech.

His dad's speech.

My dad's speech, complete with red clown nose.

Dancing with my brother.

The inlaws singing "Sweet Caroline" while we cleaned up the reception.

My father in law popping all the balloons that were waiting for us in our car.

Dancing with all of our friends.

Seeing all the people we loved in one room at the same time.

It is an amazing day. I vowed that I would remember as much of it as I could and I truly think I did. For those of you getting married, it truly is a magical day. I was so lucky to have lived it.

Speaking of Veggies

Was I speaking of veggies? Oh right, my lunch today. Well, if you thought that was good, you should see what dinner was last night. The theme? Eat Your Colors!

We had a "Make Your Own Salad" Night with tons of veggies and some chicken on the side.


We had J and M over to dinner and of course, had to play a little Wii

Hubs, riding his Harley


J, having a good time


M, upset about losing


Ok, we played this game Raving Rabbids TV something or other. The first time I played, I lost. Spectacularly. I mean, dozens of points below everyone else. Last night? Hubs and I tied for FIRST but it listed me first so it said I won. I WON! HA HA! I told Hubs to leave the TV alone while I took a picture with the final score and he didn't. He said I didn't "win". This is my reaction.


Whatever. I won.

Reason # 4,457 Why I Love Him

One of my many irrational fears is opening a tube of biscuits. I hate it. I feel like it's going ot explode and hit me in the chest and/or face and blind me. Totally irrational and I accept it.

So I make the Hubs do it. I just walk in the other room and hand it to him and he takes it and opens it without question. Heaven forbid I make Monkey Bread and have to open 3 tubes. ::shiver::

So last night I'm making dinner and I have a tube of crescents on the counter. He walks in to check on dinner, sees the tube and opens it without saying a word.

I love this guy.

I Can't Believe It's Come to This

Want to hear about today’s First World Problem? I never thought it would come to this on the blog, but I’m going to talk about excrement.

Not any person’s… no. A DOG’S. We have the tiniest front lawn known to man. I would go out on a limb to say that it’s not even a lawn. It’s a small patch of grass in front of our house. Then the sidewalk. Then another little strip of grass before you get to the street. It’s nicely kept up by our landlady’s gardener. We don’t have to cut it or water it, just appreciate its beauty.


AND THE BOMBS. Seriously you guys. I don’t know how many of our neighbors have this problem but every time we walk outside the door, there is a new bomb. I get out of the Hubs’ car and I step into grass AND POSSIBLE BOMBS. We never see anyone walking their dog on our side of the street. Our landlady has a dog but she cleans up after it. Our neighbors have dogs but we’ve never seen them walk them (they don’t, by the way). So, who’s responsible?

I want to stick a big ol’ sign out there in front but I know that will just provoke those people and then we’ll have even more bombs out there. Maybe put some baggies out front? Like a public park? But seriously. Why don’t people pick up after their dogs? It’s getting really old. You have to watch your step every time you leave our house. Forget about taking the trash out at night.

It’s not like it’s a long walk to take the walkway and sidewalk. It isn’t. But it’s our front “yard” and it’s disgusting. It looks like WE’RE the ones who don’t pick up after our dog. We don’t even HAVE a dog.

So what would you all do? Is there a spray that repels dogs from grass? Should we set up a camera? (Kidding, kind of) How about a motion detector that once triggered will pelt things at the offender? (although one of us would totally set it off. I know it)

Updated to add: Thanks to Claudia but I think we found the culprit. We've had this weird cat that hangs around our house at night. Duh. The end.

Come See How Good I Look!

I'm lazy. Ok, not really. But yes really sometimes. As you all know, I take a lot of pictures. I'll edit them. But lately, I haven't been posting them on Facebook. I didn't put up my Thanksgiving pictures and my mom-in-law's visit. I just recently put up Christmas. The lazy part is, I hardly ever print them out. A lot of times it's because the ones I would print out are of my and the Hubs. And I have plenty of those around the house. Framed, on canvas, on the fridge. Our presence is everywhere. I think I'm good for awhile.

So, what was I going to do with all of these so they weren't just sitting in my hard drive for years to come?

I made a 2010 photobook!

I had won a $30 Shutterfly gift card from Bakerella (thanks girl!) and used that towards it. If I had to do it again, I would go down a size. I got the 12" x 12" book and it is plenty big. It didn't take long to complete... I spread it out over a couple of days. And, of course, with Shutterfly, it didn't take a long time to print.

I'm definitely happy with it and glad I have this so my pics aren't on Facebook forever. The print quality is great and while I would love the pages to be flat, I know that costs way more. For the price and turn around time, it was totally worth it!


(Name blurred for privacy)






Shutterfly did not pay me to write this review (like they even know who I am!). I'm just a satisfied customer who wanted to spread the word!

Let's Keep This Between Us

I think I'm having issues with writer's block. I haven't really been blogging lately and it's lack of ideas. Sure, there's plenty I could write about but I actively choose not to. There are just certain things that should be kept private.

Some things I will never put on the blog:
1. My job. Other than the passing comment or remark, I will not be pulling a Dooce and getting fired for what I write. I won't be talking about my boss (unless it's something funny), her boss or her boss' boss. There will always be times that I'm frustrated but like many other people, I need a job and this blog isn't worth getting fired over.

2. The maritals. You know what I'm talkin' about. Business time.

No one wants to know about it. I don't want to share it. My mother in law sometimes reads this blog. And so do other in-laws. Hey guys!

So. NO.

3. Specific kids we work with in choir. I may relay funny stories or quotes from them, but I'll never identify them or put their pictures up without permission. The internet is a cuh-razy place and they don't need to be out there.

4. Any major family drama. Because MY side of the family sometimes reads this blog. Hey guys!


Just to show you how little topics I have... I shall list them here:
1. Exercise. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Mostly because I'm a giant slacker and only did p90x twice last week. What a bum.

2. Learning how to use my camera better.

3. The steps I'm taking to become a legit photographer (starting my own business...omgi'mtotallyfreakingoutaboutit)

4. The photography specials I will be running in the spring. I gotzta bulk up my portfolio!

5. The spring pageant we picked. The title alone is hilarious.

Speaking of which, since I don't like blog posts without pictures, here's Peter's latest headshots:




So help me guys, what do ya wanna know?

Well, Would You Look At That!

I'd like to write an experience I've had with customer service. Customer service is something that I notice and appreciate and have been having good luck with it lately. Returns have been easy (Old Navy, Sears, Target), my purchases arrive quickly and in good order (Amazon Prime is my new crack), and I'm happy with the service I've been getting.

Until now. I ordered 2 dresses through this website, eShakti. It's gotten rave reviews from several bloggers and I wanted to check out the quality for myself.

Of the two dresses I ordered, one was on sale and the other was regular price. I ordered them on 1/15 and received this email a few days later:

Thank you for Shopping at eShakti.

Our fulfillment center has shipped your order on 1/15/2011 2:54:49 PM and the UPS tracking number is 1Z6RA2210465184476.

We will continue to track your consignment till it reaches you, and will keep you informed of the progress.

Thank you

Carol
Your Representative
eShakti

Sweet! My dresses were coming. I checked the return policy and it made me a little nervous since I only had 30 days from the time of ORDERING to return it if I didn't like it. I sat by the mailbox waiting for the dresses.

I went back to their site to talk to a representative to check on the return policy and what I got back from them was a mishmashed garbled response with misspellings and missing words. Not quite what I was thinking of.

Huh. Not what I was expecting. This was the dress that was on sale. Why would you tell me that both dresses were being shipped when clearly it was only one? I understand crossed wires but this was weird.

Then, this email popped up yesterday:

We regret to inform you that despite our best efforts the apparel( CL0012778_ZS - 
Red roses applique dress) that you had ordered with us could not be made due to 
fabric/component availability /quality rejection reasons. 
 
Please therefore note that this item is being treated as cancelled from your order. 
The rest of your order has been shipped to you on 1/22/2011 via UPS tracking number 
1Z6RA2210465184476.We regret the delay in executing your order. 
 
The refund will be processed in 2 business days and the details will be emailed 
to you separately
 
We are again sorry for the inconvenience caused to you and will and ensure that 
your order with us gets fulfilled the next time you shop with us. 

Huh. Not what I was expecting. This was the dress that was on sale. Why would you tell me that both dresses were being shipped when clearly it was only one? I understand crossed wires but this was weird.

So, the dress showed up today and I tried it on.

You guys... this dress is adorable. It's my new little black dress. It fits perfect, it's just the right length, it has little cap sleeves... or forget it, check it out here. The best part was I had a coupon so it was cheaper than listed. Ugh. Adorable. It's in need of a good steaming or else I would show you a picture of it.

So, I take it back... what I said about them. I'm still bummed about the other dress though. It was a cute red summer dress. Oh well, like I need another dress in my life. I just knew this dress would be good for work, dressier photo shoots or when I'm second shooting for weddings.

What have your recent purchases been? Show me, show me!

Orange You Glad?

It's orange season!


I wish you guys could smell the air here! If we ever move, it's one of the things I would miss most (other than Baker's and Ohana frozen yogurt. And our friends. Right.)

What Dreams May Come

Dreams... they iz cray-zay.



But seriously, last night I had the craziest dreams. Both the Hubs and I have been having problems sleeping. I don't know if it's because we can't find a good temperature, the bed is weird, new mattress pad. No clue. But last night's dreams were the craziest I've had in a long time.



Not to bore everyone but one was about being locked in this killer's house and everyone thought he was a nice guy so no one searched the place. I was in the basement but no one could find me. Creepy.



The second one had to do with my cell phone but for the life of me I can't remember it. I just remember waking up super hot and kicking off all the covers.



Then, this morning in real life, our neighbor let their kid out in the front yard at 6:30am where he proceeded to yell for AN HOUR about how his bus was late. Sweetie, your bus isn't late. Your bus comes at 7:45 on the dot every. damn. day. But the parents kept him out there and he was having a conniption fit every 10 seconds or so.



THEN! I woke up super hungry and couldn't fall back asleep. Like, so hungry that I was feeling sick (didn't have a big dinner last night). Why I didn't just go to the kitchen and get something to eat, I don't know but I waited it out in bed only to go downstairs at 7:30 and scarf down everything in sight.



Then I felt sick again. Still do. Yikes. I don't read into dreams at all but I hate waking up from the scary ones and then letting it bother me for the rest of the day.



Do you guys remember your dreams? Most of the time I can't, but last night's are still pretty vivid... and creepy.

On the Right

My mom says all the pictures that the Hubs and I take look the same.
Case in point....













Why the HELL do I always stand on that side?!

Also, when someone says, "Be funny!" I always do this...




Oh my gosh, I want to smack me too. We need some new material.

So it's amazing when someone gets us completely natural and happy.


Although... gosh darn it... I'm on THAT side of him again!!

They are so festive!

So, I wrote this big old long post about the pageant and I realized, this is kind of boring.

I mean, let's be honest... it's a bunch of kids you guys haven't met. I don't want to just throw their pictures around the internet and get into full on detail because that's not fair to the kids and their parents.

To sum up, the kids were highly adorbs and even though things went wrong, the mistakes were hilarious. The end.

I do want to share a fun project that the Hubs and I did for my mom though.

She's got this lamp... chandelier... I don't know. But it came with the house and I love it. She didn't like it at first but now loves it and it's not going to go away. I find it charming.

It's three monkeys holding lights.

They are wearing little vests.

They all have their own little fez.

Of course they do.

3 years ago, the Hubs and I had this idea to buy or make little Santa hats for them. And every year, as we drove away from the house, we would shout, "We forgot about the monkey hats!"

So this year, on our way down to my parent's house, I shouted out of nowhere, "MONKEY HATS!"

The Hubs thought it was a new curse word I had come up with and said, "Did you forget something back home?"

"NO! We need to do the MONKEY HATS this year!"

So we went to Michaels a couple of days before Christmas, bought 3 little stockings, cut off the toes, tied a rubber band around the cut section and viola! MONKEY HATS!

I pulled my mom into the dining room with the promise, "Lysander and I have a surprise for you."

I've told you all that I'm really bad at setting up surprises right? My mom looked at me with a worried look on her face and was all, "whhhhaaaaaaaaat?"

Then we showed her the lamp. Which she loved. And everyone who came in the house was greeted with, "Merry Christmas! LOOK AT THE LAMP"

Because it was just that awesome.

And now I have taken to shouting, "Monkey hats!" as a curse word. You should try it.

Side Note

I couldn't sleep last night. I tossed and turned all night. Call it "back-to-work blues" or whatever but I was kind of in a funk. Some of it was stupid, personal stuff that was of my own doing but another part was weird. There was a phrase that kept running through my head:

We are the lucky ones.

The "we" being me and the Hubs. We are so lucky. Maybe lucky isn't the word, but fortunate. We do create a lot of our "luck" by actively seeking out new opportunities and keeping ourselves healthy. But these things just kept running through my head.

We both have jobs.

We live in a beautiful home.

We have extremely generous families (both through gifts and their time).

We have supportive friends.

We have food in the house.

We have the luxury to do fun things.

We have a comfy bed and the ability to use our heater.

We have the time to do the things we love.

Of course I didn't want to go back to work this week. I was dreading checking my email (which wasn't bad at all). I don't want to sit in an office on my computer while the Hubs gets one more week off work. I want to lounge around, play with my new toys, go to the movies and just chill. But then I start thinking about those people who are praying for a job. That all-consuming prayer when you don't have one and would take anything that came your way. Or those with a spouse out of work, who get up every morning and beat themselves up because they can't provide for their family.

I know the feeling, we've been there. Last year at this time, we were miserable. How amazing it feels to be at the top of the emotional spectrum instead of the bottom. There are so many opportunities available to us now. Back when I talked about Blooming Where We Are Planted, we took it to heart and things really turned around. We opened ourselves to new things and took on new challenges that have changed us for the better.

So, we are the lucky ones. We are the fortunate ones. We aren't sleeping out in the cold tonight. We have food. We have our health. We have each other.

Let's Do a Little Goal Planning

Whoa... who fell off the face of the earth? That would be this girl. But you know what? It was totally worth it. Christmas break was a heck of a lot of fun and I'm just now getting my feet back on the ground and groceries in the fridge... although we did eat lunch at Costco today. So much for the groceries.

But I just have so much to share with all of you! Toys for Tots, Scrooge, the pageant, Christmas in San Diego, Christmas in Olympia, Wii nights and New Years! I'm going to start backwards though and get into some "resolutions". I don't like the word resolutions but how about "goals"? I love setting goals and reaching them. I also like making lists and checking off things. So this is sort of the same thing.

The Hubs and I were lying in bed last night and got to talking about our goals for this next year. My number one goal?

1. PATIENCE. I don't have any.

It's true. I'm pretty much the most impatient person you've ever met. I hate red lights, slow walkers, grocery lanes, spills, accidents, being late and yoga. All because they slow me down. I just want to go go go. I asked the Hubs how I can be more patient and he said, "You need to realize that people mean well, more often than not. And that not everything is as big a deal as you make it."

Wow. That really summed it up, didn't it?

I also asked him what I could do to be a better wife. He shrugged. Hrm. I'll check in with him later. He's the best.


Goal number 2.

2. Look into starting my photography business.

This is just scary... but so awesome at the same time! I've loved the sessions I've done for friends and can't wait to learn everything I can about photography. I have SO much to learn and just need someone to sit me down and walk me through my camera a little bit. Any takers?

I can finally share some of these because they were Christmas gifts and had to be kept secret.







Goal number 3.

3. Find that thing that gets me excited.
That could be the whole photography thing. It could be a great musical or show in which I'm involved. It could be something new with the kid's choir. Whatever it is... I want it to push me and get me going.

Goal number 4.

4. Connect with my friends.
This is for the friends who don't live in my city or even state. I have a whole mess of people who get bumped down the list the minute I get busy. I don't want that to happen as much.


How about you all? What are your goals for this year? Do you do resolutions?

P to the S... it's great to be back! Can't wait to update everyone on my doings!

Double P to the S.... anybody want to make me a new blog header? I'm pretty much incompetent and will make you cookies.