New blog...

Well, I should've known better. Don't steal pictures off the internet. One will be connected to a random website associated with travel (of course!) and then you'll get an annoying pop-up box everytime you go to that website. Argh. So, I'm moving blogs....if you'd like the address, just let me know. Or, if you're super savy, I'm sure you can find it on your own. :) See you on the other side!

For Cara

Well, I'm back from Alaska, and can I just say, it's beautiful up there! We had gorgeous weather and sunny skies. Aunt Sally swears it never snows up there, it's just a lie to keep everyone out. I think she may be right.

Anyway, I know, I know. I'm a horrible blogger when it comes to vacations. Nothing posted regarding the roadtrip, nothing from the cruise. Heck, I haven't even posted regarding Haiti last summer. Sigh. Okay, I'll work on it. So in the meantime, here's a little survey. Honestly, Cara's asked me to do about 3 of these and I never do. Sorry, Cara. This one's for you. :)

A is for Age: 26
B is for Burger of choice: Not a huge burger fan, but when I want one I go to Red Robin and get the one with lots of pepper and blue cheese. Yum.
C is for what kind of car you drive: 200 Ford Escort. Is that right? I just know it's silver.
C is also for your favorite past vehicle: My 89 Nova, Betsy Sue.
D is for your dogs name: I have no dog.
E is for essential item you use every day: Chapstick and lotion.
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: At the moment? Feasting on Asphault.
G is for favorite game: Scattegories.
H is for Home state: Good ole Cali.
I is for instruments you play:Fiddle, alto sax, clarinet, a bit of guitar, and vocal.
J is for favorite juice: I don't really like juice. But I do like grape juice, so there you go.
K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: Usually some character from a novel. But no one at the moment.
L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Mikado's. Yeah for crunch rolls!
M is for your favorite Muppet: I doubt I could name one.
N is for number of piercings: One in each ear. But I desperately want a nose piercing.
O is for overnight hospital stays: Probably close to 90. No joke. Broken leg=1 month in 5th grade. And then in 1st grade I missed 3/4 of the school year and was in the hospital a ton. 90 actually might be conservative.
P is for people you were with today: Jon a bit, but just Randy, Brad, and Mona at work. Jason stopped by really quick to talk with Randy.
Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Read.
R is for your biggest regret: Not walking out of choir one time. (Our teacher was pretty much a blasphmer, no joke.)
S is for status: Very happily married.
T is for time you woke up today: 9:20
U is for what you consider unique about yourself: I'm stuck with me 24/7 so nothing's really unique to me. Better to ask someone else looking from the outside in.
V is for vegetable you love: Ummm, bell peppers.
W is for worst habbit: Biting my nails .
X is for x-rays you've had: Again, way too many to count.
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Fruit leathers.
Z is for zodiac: Scorpio

Summer!

It's summer guys! Okay, not technically, but honestly, it's summer. Can't you just feel it in your soul? I know I can. It's beautiful weather, fresh fruit everywhere, and it's foggy in the morning. All sure signs that summer has come to our lovely corner of the world. Now usually, I'm a fall person, but for some reason, this year summer is just so appealing! I think it has something to do with 'The Journey '08'. It just seemed to start off the summer. And driving through the rolling hills of Missouri alongside the Mississippi while drinking sweet tea? Well, you don't get much more summer than that. Okay, so here are my goals for summer.

-Learn to make the perfect pie. My body is a tool for science, and I will gladly gorge myself in this attempt.

-Learn to make the perfect batch of sweet tea. Not achingly sweet, but just perfect.

-Eat dinner outside at least 3 times a week, with one of these preferably being a picnic. What says summer more than a picnic? Nothing. (Also need to search for the perfect picnic basket. Let me know if you find something amazing and wonderful.)

-Make the perfect summer quilt/blanket (most likely to be used for the afore-mentioned picnics). I've been scheming this up in my head often, and have some fun ideas. Am very excited to dive into this one. Am also excited because this involves scouring the thrift stores for the perfect, vintage fabrics with which to make said quilt.

-Read summery books. I looked through my goodreads, and have found 8 books that are perfect summer reading, and they're all books I haven't read, and most of them are books I own. Most. Included in this is my goal to read all the 'Anne of Green Gables' series. I own the first one, and know I read it as a child, but cannot remember if I read the others. I do remember watching the movies, but that hardley counts. (If anyone is interested in a summer-y book club, let me know. Books are always more fun when you can discuss them with others.)

- Go to the beach. Okay, since I've moved here, I've been to the beach, like, twice to go swimming. Sure, I go there every once in awhile to hang out, but I want to actually enjoy the beach this summer and experience it.

-Home projects, but those are boring to discuss. But, keep an eye out at our place for exciting new changes. (In other related news, we need a hip name for our pad. Please submit your ideas to myself or Jon. Thank you.)

-Knit. I have some unfinished projects that are begging for completion.

-Finish the Old Testament.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I'm remembering at the moment. So, what are your goals for summer?

PS. Sorry for no Journey postings yet. I haven't gone through my photos yet, and it was a crazy week.

PPS. Britt's in Japan. So excited for her, and a little jealous. She's pretty much the reason I had a crazy week because I hung out with her everyday in preperation for our 3 week seperation. Therefore, all anger can be directed at her, which should be no problem because she's out of the country.

PPPS. 'In the Heights' won best Musical at the Tony's last night. Super excited.

The Journey '08 - Introduction

"The Survivor Tree. This is my favorite tree in the world.

And I like trees." -Claire from "Elizabethtown"

Hello everyone! Well, I'm back from my 6,000 plus mile journey to and back from Minnesota. To start off, let me just say one thing. AMERICA IS BEAUTIFUL. Seriously guys, you have no idea what a cool country we live in until you actually get out there and experience it. Smell it, taste it, feel it, swim it. Man oh man. This truly was the trip of a lifetime. We encountered every type of weather you can imagine from sub-freezing snow at the Grand Canyon, to tornado warnings in St. Paul, to 105 heat in the desert. We ate some of the best food I've ever tasted (including the best peach cobbler in Adrian, TX), met the nicest, funniest, sassiest people, and saw more beautiful sights than can be imagined. Moral of the story? Get out of the house and on the two-lane highways and biways that stitch up this crazy quilt of a country. So, over the next few weeks, I'll be showering this blog with photos of the journey. So stayed tuned, we got good stuff coming up.

My reading habits...

In a previous post, I declared to the world there were 50 books I owned that I have not read. That, in itself, is scary enough. However, I know that since that time I have purchased more books, which therefore increases the total. I went on goodreads today and checked to see how many books I've actually read in 2008. Are you ready for this? 18. Huzzah! I'm on my way, right?

WRONG!

Out of those 18 books, take a guess as to how many were books I actually owned and had therefore included in my previous count of 50. Come on, guess? 10? Surely, 8. No.

3.

Three?!?!? Oh come on! No wonder I have 50 books at home I haven't read. I'm apparently too busy borrowing books from the library, Ruth, or mom to read the ones I own. It's an embarrassing fact.

Also embarrassing? In that same post, I declared to be reading through the Bible this year. Where am I you ask? Well, considering it's May, I must be somewhere in the history of the kings, right? Maybe even struggling through Psalms? No. Joshua. what.the.crap. So, let's get this straight. I've read 18 books this year, and only 5.5 books of the Bible. (To make myself feel better I'd like to state I actually read Genesis twice, once for the Master's.) Oh jeez. My life is truly sad.

But, just to help you people out, here's a list of the best and worst of 2008. So far.

In the Bible Category: Genesis! (Noh having a picture of the origin of the universe, I figured a picture of the band claiming that name would do nicely. Sweet hair.)

In the the Children's category: The Penderwicks

In the YA category: Eclipse (Okay, okay. This picture is from Twilight, not Eclipse, but since they involve the same characters, I figured it's okay. Plus, any excuse to have this picture on my blog makes me happy.)

In the 'magic' category: A Swiftly Tilting Planet

In the fiction Category: Pride and Prejudice (Yes, again I realize, not a picture of the book, but the movie. But come on, who actually reads Mr. Darcy without picturing the ever wonderful Colin Firth?)

In the Christian Category: The Shack (Warning, read with tissues.)

And the worst book this year? Tie. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Not actually bad, but the very in depth, detailed description of foot binding was almost enough to do me in, and certainly enough to cause me to stop reading. Stardust. Ugh. Horrible. Not sure why I actually finished it.

So, what have you guys read this year? Anything good? Can I borrow it? :)

Oh man....

I was having a pretty bad day. Way too much to do, too much on my plate in general, a very high stress level regarding my Master's program, and massive computer problems at work. I got home and grabbed the mail. I saw an envelope with the words 'tickets' on them and assumed they were for John Mayer.

Oh no. Not John Mayer. My amazing husband surprised me and got us tickets to go see 'The Drowsy Chaperone' in L.A. I didn't even know it was going to be there! I'm so excited! That definitely cheered me up...thanks so much babe!

Jim and Pam....

My heart can't take much more of this! The ring! I'm way too emotionally wrapped up in those two. SERIOUSLY.LOVE.THEM.SO.MUCH.