Nothing Else Matters

New patio!

2011-07-08T10:11:00.003-04:00

We've been in our house a little over a year now and we've painted, put in new flooring, bought some new furniture, etc. Well what we both really wanted to take care of this summer was adding a patio in the backyard. I find it a little strange that nobody ever put anything in the backyard; no deck, patio or anything and this house has been here since the 70's. Here's what the backyard looked like before:

Over the past two days, our new patio was installed. We did not do it ourselves since we're both in school and didn't want to spend our entire summer working on it. These guys knocked it out in two days and I love the way it turned out! We used a newer product, Rosetta Grand Flagstone. It's concrete pieces made to look like natural stone. And here's the finished product:

Now I have to figure out what kind of plants/flowers to plants in the little dirt space in between the boulder wall and the patio. Oh, and buy some patio furniture. Why does it have to be so expensive?!

Another birthday gone...skydiving

2011-07-08T09:33:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm now officially 31. I realize my birthday was back on June 30th, but as one can tell, I'm not very good at updating this blog. Buuuuuuuut, I did want to share what I did for my birthday.

See, now, I'm scared of everything. Not like bugs, heights, loud noises or the dark, but things like rollercoasters, water (the thought of going on a cruise and being out there in the middle of the ocean kind of freaks me out) and flying (although that one seems to be getting better since I've been traveling so much for work).

Anywho, sometime at the end of 2010 / beginning of 2011, I decided I was going to go skydiving. Jim never thought I would go through with it, but I was determined to prove him wrong. And guess what...on June 11th I did. It was me, Jim, my friend Jill and her sister Janet, and our other friend Pat. OMG! It was so awesome! I want to do it again. Jim says if we lived closer to the place (it was about an hour and a half drive from our house) he would probably go for his certification to skydive solo.

Sheet music wreath

2011-06-06T12:43:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to making a wreath out of sheet music for over our piano. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I found a bunch of old sheet music at random garage and estate sales.

I basically just formed the sheets into cones, used scotch tape to secure them, then hot-glued them to a foam wreath form.

For the top/second layer, I cut the music sheets in half and rolled those into cones.

Did some shopping recently...

2011-06-01T20:11:00.010-04:00

Well, it's been quite some time since updating this blog, so I figured I should. And what better way than to show all the shopping I've done lately.

I've been traveling more for work lately, and since I typically wear jeans to work, I needed some "fancier' clothes for work meetings. Plus I needed some summer stuff and other random items, of course!

And, just to be clear, this wasn't all in one shopping trip lol.

First, this awesome dress I found on clearance at Target. It had two different clearance prices on it; one was $30 and one was $20. I decided to ask the people at the fitting rooms to scan it to find out how much it actually was. $10! Um, yes please! It was a little big, but I had my mom take in a few areas and now it fits like a glove. I bought a fun little skinny belt to go with it and I love the pockets!

I found this skirt on clearance at Ann Taylor Loft. It also has fun pockets. It's sort of a shimmery linen.

Nine West Zuki

Banana Republic - Sloan Fit Crop in Natural Khaki

Banana Republic - Elephant Print Timeless Tank

Banana Republic - Sloan Fit Striped Flare

Banana Republic - Boyfriend Utility Chino

Banana Republic - Lace Trim Kimono Vee

in this color, soft grey

Seychelles Purr in Vachetta

Ann Taylor Loft Jungle Flowers Top

Old Navy - Cuffed Perfect 3" Khaki Short in Couscous

I picked up this little marc ecko clutch at TJMaxx, but in a butter yellow color

Gap - Flutter Sleeve Crewneck T

This top from JCP

Express - Ruffled Sleeve Top

Kohl's - Elle Floral Chiffon Top

Gap - Clearance top

Forever 21 tank

Target sandals

Forever 21 tunic

Old Navy leopard print cardigan

Old Navy clearance sleeveless sweater

And then I decided that it's been a few years since I bought a new bikini so I bought one from Victoria's Secret.

I got this pattern with this top...

and same zebra pattern, but this type of bottom...

Oh, and this purse...

I also picked up some fun necklaces at Forever 21 and Francesca's Collections.

And I think that's about it...for now :o)

Loungin' Around

2011-02-23T08:29:00.003-05:00

Ok, so you may remember what the formal living room looked like before. If not, you can check it out here.

We've decided to call it the lounge, but really have no idea what to do with this room. I don't really want to put any large furniture like couches and such in here, and no TV. I was thinking maybe a wall of bookcases, or a little bar area (since the basement is totally unfinished and won't be finished for a really long time) but I really have no idea.

So for now, here's a few pics.

My mom made the cushion for the window...

And here's a close-up of the fabric...

I bought the large ottoman for some extra seating, but like I said, I have no idea what other small-ish type furniture to put in there. Right now it's just extra chairs from the dining set lol. Any ideas would be great!

Paint color is Antique Tin by Behr

Ottoman from West Elm

Rug from Home Decorators

Chair fabric is Premier Prints ZigZag in Yellow

Cushion and pillow fabric is Waverly Small Talk Blackbird

Curtains from JCP

New Addition

2011-01-19T19:28:00.003-05:00

So about a week ago we decided it was time to add another little kitty to the family. Meet Luna...

We wanted a name that kind of had something to do with her being all white, but Snowflake has been used one too many times before. We came up with Luna - in Spanish it means, moon. So it worked since she was all white.

We later came to realize that it is also short for lunatic, which she also is. We've also been having a fun time calling her Equinsu Ocha. And for any Ace Ventura 2 fans out there, you know that means white devil!

So far she's been getting along pretty well with our other cat, but she seems to like to attack me and Jim, any chance she gets.

Chair makeover

2010-12-18T22:04:00.002-05:00

Remember this chair I found this past summer at a garage sale?

Well it's finally done. My parents pretty much did most of the work (I did put one coat of paint on it lol) since upholstery is sort of their thang, and I LOVE the way it turned out!

I'm going for a gray/yellow combo in our "lounge" so this will be perfect in there! Now we just need to get an area rug, some curtains, etc...

Unexpected Shopping Trip

2010-11-21T19:00:00.004-05:00

So today I met up with my friend Brittani. We had lunch at Bar Louie and then decided to peruse some of the stores at the outdoor mall. I figured we'd do a little walking around, but I really wasn't planning on buying anything. Pshhh, yeah right. Surprisingly, there weren't too many people out and about so it was nice to shop without massive crowds. She mentioned wanting to stop by Forever 21 and that made me so happy since sometimes when I'm with other people, a stop at Forever 21 is torture for them. So I'm happy to say that I was finally able to walk through the store without feeling rushed and actually bought a few things.

This sequin tank

This shirt, which I actually saw in Nuestra Vida Dulce's blog. I thought it was super cute, never intended on buying it (since I never go to Forever 21), and came across the only one on the rack at the store. Sold!

I couldn't find this next shirt on the website, but it's cute with leggings or skinny jeans.

I also got this little cardigan

Next up were accessories.

I found this headband

And this one

And I couldn't pass up this adorable owl necklace

I did pick up a short-sleeve purple sweater and necklace at Love Culture (a store I've never been in but is very similar to Forever 21), but I couldn't find either of those items on their website.

So all in all, it was a pretty successful, unexpected shopping trip.

More House Updates

2010-11-14T16:08:00.004-05:00

So during the month of October we were still truckin' along on the house. You saw the updates in the living room, aka lounge, and that room pretty much looks the same. Still no baseboards. but this past Friday I had the piano moved from my parents house to my house. And I'm super excited about that!

Onto the dining room. You can sort of see it in this picture here, but the ceiling had this brown border painted around it and I hated that color.

I ended up finding some paint in the basement that was a match to the cream color on the ceiling, so I painted over the brown. We got our dining room table delivered and we painted the walls Behr Boston Fern. I wasn't totally ecstatic about the color when we picked it, but we were sort of on a time crunch and I just wanted SOMETHING on those walls. I was going out of town for work so it was up to Jim to finish this room up before a party I was having the following weekend. Well it all worked out and the color is finally starting to grow on me.

The pendant light is from Bellacor and the barstools are from Bed Bath & Beyond.

And for some reason I LOVE the way our hallway turned out. New sconces, new paint, new closet doors and painted white trim. Looks so much better! It is sort of hard to tell, but the ceiling is just flat white and walls are Behr Reflecting Pool.

The sconces are from Bellacor and the new hall light is from Lighting Direct.

So we still need to work on those baseboards and then I think our next project might be the laundry room.

R.I.P Cheeto

2010-11-12T11:52:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday we had to say goodbye to our Cheeto. He had a slew of medical problems throughout the six years of his life and I feel we gave him the best life we could.

His biggest problem was his spinal cord issue. It was diagnosed awhile back that it was too short and he would never walk normal. Well over the past month his walking got really bad. He was pretty much just dragging himself around and essentially became incontinent. We took him to the vet to see if there was anything else we could do, and when the prednisone didn't help, we knew it was time.

It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make, but you could tell Cheeto just wasn't himself anymore either. Jim took him to the vet and he said it was like Cheeto knew. Usually he's really hard to get into the cage, but I guess he didn't give Jim any trouble. He didn't cry on the way to the vet or in the waiting room like he usually does either. We decided to keep his ashes so I'll be picking them up at the vet today. It's just so weird that he's not here anymore. That little squeaky meow, the way he would essentially body hug your leg, how he loved to lick the sweat off a cold can or bottle. He will definitely be missed...

New boots!

2010-10-09T22:08:00.003-04:00

So, for my birthday back in June, I received some gift cards to DSW. I decided not to spend them and save them for some boots this fall.

Last year I bought the Steve Madden Cybul boots in brown,

So this year I decided to get some black boots. I got the Zigi Soho Mixer boots in black.

I bought me some new Gap skinny jeans and the boots look awesome with them. Bring on fall! I'm ready!

New paint and other updates

2010-10-08T21:14:00.004-04:00

Ok, ok. So it's been awhile since I last updated. Life has been crazy busy. With going back to school, work picking up, and trying to do a bunch of crap on the house, there's just not enough time to blog!

I mentioned in my last post that we had picked some color options for our front living room. Well we decided to go with Behr Antique Tin and I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out...plus you can see our pretty new floors.

The room still needs baseboards, the front door replaced and the trim, and some finishing touches on the floor, but I had to share the transformation.

Just to refresh your memory, here's what it looked like before.

We also bought a new dining room table. We didn't look at it in person, but after searching for one online for what seemed like forever, this one I really liked. What's nice about it is that the leaf allows it to expand into a square as opposed to a longer rectangle. The square works better for the space we have. The table is through JCP and should be delivered on Tuesday.

I need to take a picture of our hallway because its amazing what some paint and new sconces can do for a hallway. But I'll wait until we get the new closet doors on so I can show the finished product.

As for school, well, it's school. I hated school with every fiber of my being before, so I'm pretty shocked that I actually decided to go back. I am going for my Master's in Engineering Management but had to take an undergrad class in probability and statistics first (since my undergrad is in Chemistry and not Engineering) to be fully accepted into the Master's program. I'm also taking an online class (Managing the Engineering Function) toward my Master's degree which I am allowed to do since the prob and stats class is not required for this class. So yeah, homework sucks but I gotta do what I gotta do.

Living Room Paint Colors

2010-09-12T22:08:00.002-04:00

So Jim FINALLY got the last bit of linoleum up off the sub floor. It took quite a long time and with the few hours we have available to work on it after work, it took a lot longer than we had originally planned lol. Isn't that always how it is?

Anywho...our hardwood is supposed to be installed this Tues-Wed. We went to pick up the last few trim pieces this weekend, but for some strange reason, they didn't have three of the pieces we needed. Very confusing since our order has already been fully paid for. So who knows if those pieces will get here before the install is finished. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Next up is painting our "lounge" (aka formal living room). I picked up six samples this weekend and will be painting them on poster board to hang up on the walls to see which one, if any, we decide to go with. On the computer screen there doesn't seem to be much difference between them, but the samples have a little more color to them.

This weekend was pretty busy. Besides spending two hours of our day to drive out to the flooring place to not pick up the rest of our order, I put another coat of white on the trim on the bay window in the "lounge", primed all the trim and door jambs in the hallway and added a coat of white, did some homework, got in a run on the treadmill, took our bottle returns back (~$80 thank you very much lol), made a trip to Home Depot for the paint samples and some plywood to replace some of the sub floor, cleaned my car, and cut in the hallway with primer.

Once we figure out a color for the living room, next up is the hallway and the dining area.

Farewell flooring!

2010-08-23T15:42:00.004-04:00

So this past weekend Jim and I decided it was time to start our flooring demolition. He had to work on Saturday and I had other family things to attend to on Saturday morning, so we didn't really start rolling until about 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. I must say though, I'm pretty happy with what we accomplished in about a day and a half.

We are planning on putting down new hardwood floors in our front (formal) living room, hallway, closets and dining area. All of those areas had carpet down. So Jim started with the dining area, ripping up the carpet. Now, we could tell there were some other layers under there but yikes! Three layers of linoleum! The only before shot I have of the dining area is the first day we saw the house...

...so you see it had carpet in that area.

Under the carpet was the first layer of linoleum which is like what we have in our kitchen now, and what you can sort of see in the picture above.

Under that was this beautiful stuff...

Nice, huh? And then Jim had to go through and pull up TONS of staples from this layer.

Then under that layer was this...

...with even more staples to pull up.

In the meantime, while Jim was having a grand old time pulling up staples, I was hard at work tearing up the carpet/padding/tack strips in the hallway.

At first I thought I was going to have to go through and pull up each staple by hand. I'm pretty sure I'd still be pulling staples had I not thought about the scraper Jim bought to remove the linoleum. We ran that over the staples and most of them came out. I had to go through and remove some by hand, but some was better than all.

Then it was time to move on to the living room.

Here's a before shot...

And after everything was removed...

In the midst of our flooring party, I suggested to Jim that we might as well throw a layer of Kilz on the wall before the new flooring goes in. See, I realize it makes more sense to paint before the hardwood goes in but I have no idea what color I want and I want to see the room with the flooring in it before I make a paint decision. Slapping up a layer of primer was doable though.

So we decided to Kilz the room...

...and there's all our flooring, acclimating to room temperature :o)

So next was to tackle the closets. Remove the doors, tracks, stupid molding, carpet, no big deal right? Wrong. I pulled up the carpet in the closet only to find hardwood under it. What? Was there hardwood in the whole house at one point? Seriously, I don't know what the deal is.

And unfortunately I couldn't quite muster the strength yesterday to remove that hardwood so I just worked on removing the doors, tracks and molding and tried to be on clean-up duty since Jim was busy painting.

Oh and here's Pants helping...

So here's where we stand today. I'm not sure if Jim plans on tackling the linoleum or the hardwood in the closets when he gets home from work, but the other closet needs to be emptied as well.

Oh and I don't know if you can tell in the picture below, but if you can see that white patch where the dining area meets the hallway, yeah, that's a mortar ramp so that the original sub floor could meet up nicely with the 5 layers of flooring that were added in the dining area. Sweet!

Office makeover

2010-08-16T17:59:00.002-04:00

So finally some more house update photos.

I pretty much have the office how I want it to be so I figured it was finally time to snap some pics. I think it could use a new office chair (something fun), something to hang over the desk, and maybe once the garage sale find chair I found is refinished, that can go in there too. But for now it's pretty much done.

The office was originally covered in painted paneling. We knew we wanted to take it down and once we did, we discovered that a) the walls were completely destroyed from removing it and b) there was a giant gap in the drywall where the walls met the ceiling - which I was told is not quite up to fire code. Awesome.

Jim and I thought we'd be able to salvage the walls, but my dad took one look at it and said no way, new drywall for sure. He offered to help put it up and do the mudding so of course we said heck yes!

Here's the lovely wallpaper we found beneath the paneling...

And a during shot...

And the finished product...

The color is Behr's Deep Smoke Signal.

The desk was originally a cherry wood color so I painted it white along with the old dresser we had. I also decided to use curtains instead of closet doors. I knew I wanted a black and white damask curtain, but these have a fun chandelier print on them and I couldn't pass them up. Especially since I was hanging a chandelier in there.

I found this mirror at Home Goods (it was pink) and painted it white. I also attempted a little DIY with the bird art and put it in the Ikea frames.

These white curtains are also from Ikea.

I'm sure there's things I'll be adding here and there, but for now, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Bags, bags and bags

2010-08-15T17:32:00.003-04:00

So remember when I said I went to a Gigi Hill bag party and bought some stuff? Well here it is.

The first bag I got was actually a special offer. I could get it at a discounted rate if my total order was over a certain dollar amount. So with a combination of my order, my mom's order and a friend of mine's order who couldn't make it to the party, it put me over that mark. And of course I couldn't pass up a deal like that!

This is the Sophia with the English Chocolate fabric choice

18"L x 6"W x 12-3/4"H

Strap drop: 10"

The interior fabric is called Dynasty Celery and I love it! I think it's so fun! There's plenty of interior pockets to keep everything nice and organized too. I'm thinking this bag will come in quite handy for when I start school up again.

The next thing I got was the Lana business card holder.

4"L x 1/2"W x 3"H

I chose the Dove fabric for this one

It's pretty cool how the cards sort of lift up on a metal plate type thing when you open the holder.

I also got the Small Scarlet for little items.

8-1/2"L x 5-1/4"H

I chose the Pink Pearls fabric option for this one.

So that covers the Gigi Hill items. Onto a few more little bags.

A friend of mine used to sell Bag Daddy but it has since gone out of business. Of course right when I was planning on having a party so I could get a few items. Well she had these little bags that I always loved so I was bummed I couldn't get them anymore. Of course I started checking eBay because I figured everyone would probably be trying to sell their stuff off. Well I finally found them and was pretty happy about that.

The larger one is is 6-3/4" x 8-3/4" and the smaller one is 6-1/2" x 7-1/2".

Aren't they fun?

Someone (::ahem, Jill::) convinced me to have my own Gigi Hill party so I'll be doing that in October. I'm hoping that maybe some new items and new fabrics will have come out by then. For now though, I should probably steer clear of buying anymore bags.

New art for the family room

2010-08-08T19:22:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited to finally have art on the walls in our family room. I'm even more excited because I took all of the pictures.

There are two 16x24 and four 16x16 pictures. They are mounted on 3/16" foam board so no need for frames :o)

Back to reality

2010-07-25T12:22:00.004-04:00

So Jim and I took our week vacation a little earlier this year due to some concert conflicts. Ridiculous right? I know, but we love our concerts. Anywho, we went to our family cottage from 10-18 July and it was a nice relaxing week. We took a few day trips here and there but really just kind of hung out. I'll be adding some pics to my photo blog of things from the week.

I took the 19th off of work to sort of get back into the swing of things and do laundry and whatnot. I usually take the Monday off after I get back. Don't want to go jumping back into work too fast now lol.

Monday night was a photo shoot though. Now, I don't do portrait photography. I'm not really a people person and I prefer macro photography and landscapes. But, my friend Rachel asked me and my other friend Rachel to do some maternity pictures for her so I thought it would be fun to try something different. And guess what...it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be lol. I think its more the editing of portrait photographs that I don't like. Getting the skin tones right and making sure the white balance is good...ugh. I did edit one picture though...

...and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

So anyway, back to work...it was good actually. We had a new piece of equipment being added to the lab and after traveling to Ottawa back in March for the training, I was excited to get it up and running.

I bought a new purse too. I bought it before we went on vacation and it was waiting for me when I got back. I bought the Steve Madden BPatchh purse in lilac.

It was originally $98 and then it went "on sale" for like $89. Then the very next day it was on sale for $39.99...yes please! I love it! It's not leather, but it's super soft and can hold a ton of stuff.

Then, this past Thursday I went to a Gigi Hill handbags party. Of course I bought a few things. I'll post the actual pics of the items when I get them in. I must say that their business card holder is sweet!

And that's about it for now. Jim and I know we need to get back into home renovations so we're trying to decide what project to tackle next. We shall see...

Been super busy lately

2010-07-09T11:48:00.005-04:00

So the day after my wonderful surprise party, I headed off to Kansas City, MO for work. Not only was I flying (not my favorite thing in the world) but there were tornado warnings out all over the place...awesome. Our flight was supposed to take off at 7:55 p.m. but at that time, we were still sitting in the airport. We had a plane but no crew. The weather that day really screwed everything up. So we're finally sitting on the plane and the pilot comes on to say there's a hydraulic leak and it will take at least 30 minutes to fix it...awesome. Needless to say, we ended up getting to KC about an hour and a half late. Oh well. It was Sunday night so we didn't have anything planned that night anyway.

I was in KC Mon-Thurs. Monday I was fine. Went to some meetings, ate lunch, went out to dinner that night, all good. Tuesday rolls around and in the morning I bought a bagel but wasn't super hungry...I sort of forced it down. So now its lunchtime and I have absolutely no appetite. I think I took two bites out of my sandwich and couldn't eat the rest. I continue my day, go to some more meetings, try to force some food down at around 4:00 since I knew dinner would be late. So I'm back in my room, brushing my teeth and I throw up. Score. I decided I felt OK though and headed on down to dinner. We get to the restaurant (which thankfully was in the hotel) and it just hit me. I don't feel good AT ALL! I decide to skip out on dinner, buy some water and pretzels at the drugstore and retire to my room for the night. I think I was able to eat like 3 pretzels.

Wednesday morning rolls around (my actual birthday) and I feel like complete crap! I had some meetings in the morning, but was always going back to my room in between meetings to rest a little. At lunch I ordered a bowl of minestrone soup and could barely get the broth down. I went to a 4:00 meeting and after an hour, finally went back to my room. I took a two hour nap, nice! It sucks though because I was all excited to go out and get some tasty BBQ and celebrate my birthday with some nice folks we had met. Nope. Went out to dinner at like 9:00 and while I did actually order some fish & chips, I only ate half of it. That was a start though.

Thursday we left. I was feeling better but not 100%. Oh and on the plane I had a window seat with no window. Seriously? That sucked! I may not be a huge fan of flying but I at least like to look out the window. So all in all, for work it was a pretty good trip. Too bad I felt like crap most of the time.

The Friday after we got back, Jim, my brother and I headed up to our cottage for the 4th of July weekend. I was pretty blah all weekend. Too much go-go-going, being sick and not enough sleep caught up with me I guess. We went to the fireworks in town and it was pretty sweet! There really isn't a huge body of water in town so they essentially set the fireworks off over a pond, which is pretty much the entire town. Yeah, flaming pieces of fireworks were falling around us lol.

This week at work has been super busy, but that's good. I also put together my application to go back to school (Master's in Engineering Management) so now I'm just waiting to hear if I've been accepted. I NEVER thought I'd go back to school but I figure if I'm not going to have kids any time soon I might as well accomplish something within the next few years lol.

So tonight we have to do some hardcore packing and cleaning since we're leaving tomorrow to go up to our cottage for a week. I'm so ready for this vacation!

Best Birthday Day Ever!

2010-06-27T11:01:00.002-04:00

So yesterday we celebrated my birthday. (It's not actually until the 30th. I'll be 30 on the 30th - my golden year). It ended up being a surprise party and I was totally shocked! I knew Jill had a day planned for us and then I thought we were just going out to dinner with a bunch of friends...because that's what the email said that she sent out to everyone. Apparently this planning started back in April. Everyone had me totally fooled!

So our day started out with a lovely brunch at The Pantry. I love this place! Normally I would go with the omelette (because they are baked and delicious and fluffy and cheesy), but I decided on the cherry cheesecake crepes. So good!

Then it was off to get my haircut. Apparently Jill had planned for us to get a mani/pedi, but in passing conversation I mentioned that I'm not all about the "spa" type events. So I sort of put a damper on those plans, but I did get a nice trim on the hair and bangs. She got the pedi.

After that we stopped by Sonic to pick up a delicious cherry limeade and then it was off to Catching Fireflies. Cutest shop ever! I ended up getting a headband to wear at dinner (which I obviously totally didn't end up needing)...

and a cute little crystal to hang in my window...

On the way to our next stop, I received this gift...

It's a garden stone so I need to find the perfect place for it. Every time I look at it I'll remember my awesome birthday day!

Next stop was the International Gem and Jewelry show. (Oh, and by the way, with each planned stop, Jill had a little note card that I opened that sort of had a clue in it. Best idea ever! Those little note cards made me all excited and Jill thought that was hilarious).

So we stopped by the show and I picked up 6 more glass rings...

And apparently at this point, we hadn't quite used up enough time to let everyone prepare for the surprise back at her house so she was trying to keep us at the show longer. By this point I was pretty beat and just wanted to get back to her house to chill for a few, change and go out to dinner. Little did I know she was stalling.

After the jewelry show we stopped by Caribou Coffee for a little caffeine burst and Jill needed to "just sit and relax for a few". Oh, you mean stall?! LOL

So we finally start heading back to her house and I decide to text Jim and ask him what he's up to. He was heading over to Jill's, along with some of my other friends, to have a few drinks before we went out to dinner...or so I thought. So Jim tells me he had just left at it was like 6:45. I know in the fake email that Jill sent that everyone was supposed to meet at her house at 7:00 so I was kind of like, geez, way to leave so late.

So we get to Jill's house and there's a few cars in the driveway (including Jim's, hmmmmmmmmm), but nothing out of the ordinary since I knew people would be there already. But then Jill tells me I have to go around back first because those few people might want to say hi to me before I dart off and change. So I walk around back and I'm greeted with about 30 people all yelling surprise! My parents were there (which I TOTALLY did not expect), friends from work, everyone! It was so awesome! And I did get a little choked up (which is why I didn't take off my sunglasses Rachel, lol).

So yeah, they pulled of a surprise party and it was so much fun!

They even rented one of those bouncy/boxing ring things...

And then of course there was the delicious cake...along side my custom koozie which reads "it took me 30 years to look this good" lol.

Everyone put a lot of work into this and I'll never forget it. Thanks everyone for a very memorable birthday!

Thank you Netflix

2010-06-23T12:12:00.003-04:00

Jim and I aren't big movie watchers. We don't even own a DVD player. If we ever want to watch a DVD, which is usually a comedy from the 90's, we pop it into the PS2.

Well I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse books, which is what True Blood is based off of, so of course now I want to actually see the show. We don't have HBO either so that was a no go. I looked into how much the first season costs on DVD and it was like $40. No thanks.

Soooooooo, I realized it would be much cheaper for me to sign up for Netflix than to buy the season DVDs. And then since we have the Wii, we can instantly get shows/movies through that. Although I've heard that selection isn't that great. I haven't really checked it out yet.

Whatever, I was just super excited to watch the first two True Blood episodes last night!! And who knows, maybe we'll actually start watching some movies.

Garage Sale Finds

2010-06-20T10:59:00.003-04:00

I've probably only been to a few garage sales in my life, but I had the urge to check some out with my mom the other day. I'm glad I did! I found some awesome stuff!

This little glass vase totally reminded me of chemistry class. What can I say...being a chemist I guess I'm kind of dorky like that. And $0.25? Yes please.

I was on the lookout for cool frames or mirrors and I came across these two. I'll be painting the frames just not sure what color yet. $2 for the pair.

Ok, so I knew those potato/onion storage bins existed but every time I looked for one to buy they were like $50! Um, no thank you. Well I was totally psyched when I saw this one at a garage sale. It needed some cleaning up, but Jim promptly took care of that when we brought it home. It now has a nice home in our basement.

And the best find of the day was this chair. After browsing various blogs and seeing all the cool things people do to old chairs, I was on the lookout for one. How awesome will this look painted (probably white) with some fun new fabric on it?! I'm so excited!

The first day I saw the chair they were asking $25 for it. I decided to leave it and come back the next day to see if it was still there. It was, and I got the chair and the above potato bin for $20! Now that's a sweet deal!

Super cute appetizer plates

2010-06-16T20:16:00.004-04:00

Go ahead and add these to my list of things I have to have but don't need in the slightest.

oliver appetizer plates

Ikea purchases

2010-06-06T20:45:00.005-04:00

I made a trip to Ikea today and like always, picked up more than a few things.

The main purpose of my trip was to get the Hyllis shelf that I saw in bryn alexandra's blog

I bought two and plan on putting them on either side of the desk in the office. I kind of like the stainless look, but I'm debating painting them white...or maybe black. I don't know yet.

Then I got two of these Ribba frames.

They have a silver foil finish on them so I might hang them in the office as well. And if I leave those shelves unpainted, it would add some more silver color to the room.

Another thing I picked up was this Lillholmen accessories stand.

I'm not quite sure where it's going to go yet, but I'm thinking either the bathroom or our bedroom, to hold some of my jewelry or other little items.

I picked up this cheap Bomull rug for our laundry room.

Not very exciting, but it'll get the job done.

Then I picked up these cute Godis glasses...like we don't have enough glasses. But for $6.99 I couldn't pass them up!

Another item I got was this Jonsbo Egby lamp.

I currently have it on the dresser in the office but I'm not sure if that is it's permanent home. It looks cute for now though.

I also bought this Ung Drill frame.

I'm thinking maybe that will go in the office as well, but I'm not sure yet. I don't know if I want to leave it black or paint it a really fun contrasting color. Still deciding on that one.

I also picked up some white curtains for the window in the office. I bought the Ikea Stockholm Figur curtains.

And last but not least, I bought the Kristaller chandelier. And this is definitely for the office!

Jim already hung it up and looks so awesome!

So that was my Ikea trip. The closest Ikea is almost an hour away, so the 2-3 trips I make there a year, I make worth the drive

Fun foodpod

2010-06-06T11:07:00.001-04:00

I think I might need one of these...

foodpod

How fun is that?

Dresser makeover

2010-06-05T17:40:00.002-04:00

This dresser has been around for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure my parents used it many moons ago. When I moved out and into the condo back in 2003, this dresser went with me and into our 9x9 closet. It spent many years hiding in that closet in its sad state but I wanted to change it up for use in our new office.

BEFORE

This was my second attempt at making over some furniture. I painted our desk as well which was a cherry wood color before, but I haven't taken any pictures yet. I'm not going to go into the details of how to paint furniture (a simple Google search will give you the answer) but it involved a little wood filler, sanding, priming with Kilz, painting and poly.

I used Benjamin Moore Cloud White in semi-gloss for the paint and it took three coats to get the best coverage. Since I used a latex paint, I needed to use a water-based polyurethane so I used the Minwax (in a blue can) semi-gloss finish. I did the first two coats with a can of the poly and a brush, but once it dried, it just didn't look right (and my dad warned me about that). I went ahead and bought a spray can for the last coat and it worked like a charm. A little more expensive, but much easier to work with.

And here's the finished product...

I went ahead and added glass knobs since there weren't any sort of handles/knobs before.

I also lined the drawers with a black & white patterned drawer liner that I found at Meijer.

It's being used in our office, which is SO not finished yet so a full office redo will be blogged at a later date.

I actually painted my nails

2010-06-02T18:45:00.001-04:00

I'm not usually one to paint my nails. I work in the lab sometimes with solvents so that ruins it right there, plus I hate dealing with removing the nail polish once it starts to chip. So maybe like 2-3 times a year I actually paint my nails. I usually have paint on my toenails for sandal season but even those are still bare. But lately I've been on the lookout for one of those trendy lilac-pink pastel colors and came across OPI Panda-monium pink at Meijer yesterday.

I really like it! Maybe next up will be my toes.

Better ways to Google

2010-06-01T10:04:00.001-04:00

I came across these Google tips the other day and thought it was a much better way to put Google to use than searching for song lyrics or those cute shoes I saw the other day. Some of them I already use pretty often like measurement conversions and calculations, but searching for files with certain extensions in them was a new one to me.

To Find: PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint Presentations

Use: filetype:pdf, filetype:xls, or filetype:ppt
Example: Canon manual filetype:pdf
Why: If you include the file type in your search, Google will turn up only relevant files. For example, entering filetype:pdf will find all the PDFs that have to do with operating your new camera. (For Excel files, use filetype:xls; for PowerPoint presentations, filetype:ppt.)

To Find: Narrowed-Down Information

Use: a hyphen (minus sign)
Example: jaguar -cars -football
Why: You want information about jaguars―the animal, not the car or the sports team. Placing a hyphen before terms you want to exclude will omit pages with those words. Type a space before the hyphen, but not after.

To Find: A Product You Saw Online (But Can’t Remember Where)

Use: intitle:
Example: intitle:“Frye boots”
Why: Using the term intitle: searches the words in the title bar of Web pages and can be particularly helpful if you remember the name of an item you liked but not where you found it. Just be sure not to put a space after the colon and to use quotation marks around the phrase.

To Find: A Verbatim Phrase

Use: quotation marks
Example: “Bikram yoga”
Why: Using quotation marks around a phrase or a person’s name can eliminate many of the irrelevant links you would otherwise turn up, says Hock.

7 Things You Can Do Directly in the Google Search Field

Perform calculations. To figure out what 15 percent off that $78 shirt amounts to, just enter “78 x .15” into the search field, click “Search,” and the answer will show up at the top of the results page. No clicking on a second link required.
Convert measurements. How many cups equal a liter? Simply type “cups in liter.” You can also find out currency conversions (“15 dollars in euros”).
Track flights. Find out if your flight is on time by entering your airline and flight number.
Locate packages. Hunt down an MIA delivery by entering “track” plus the tracking number for a direct link to the status page.
Look up addresses. Type in a person’s home phone number and, if he or she is listed, Google will turn up the mailing address.
Find movie showtimes. Enter “movies” plus your city or ZIP code to see theaters and showtimes for the next three days.
Listen to songs. Thanks to a Google partnership with the music site lala.com, you can type the title of a song and its artist and a playable file will appear at the top of the results page.

I &hearts peonies

2010-05-31T12:30:00.001-04:00

I don't have peonies growing in my yard, but with my parents living pretty close to us, I can go over and cut some whenever I want.

So pretty...

Painted Family Room

2010-05-30T12:09:00.003-04:00

So this was a project that wasn't really on the immediate list of things to do. I figured I could live with the colors in there because I didn't think they were all that bad. But...once it came time for me to buy some curtains for our sliding glass door, I just couldn't work with the colors in there. So we decided to paint. O.M.G. This room took FOREVER to paint! Getting in all those little cracks and crevices in the paneling took quite some time. Jim had to use a 3/4" nap roller just to get in all the grooves.

It worked out well and we're quite pleased with the results. Although, this room will never be painted again lol. I'm not in love with the textured ceiling (or the paneling for that matter) so when it comes time to redo this room, it will be a total gut-out. There's no drywall behind the two layers of paneling. That's right, two layers of paneling. There's your typical thin layer of paneling and on top of that is 3/8" paneling. Fun stuff.

Moving on.

We ended up using Wheat Bread by Behr in eggshell.

You can see what the colors were in there in my previous post. I mean, they weren't horrible but it was kind of dark in there and needed to be lightened up a bit.

Here's what it looks like now...

It's kind of hard to tell in these pictures, but this is the color of the curtains...

So now I just need to figure out what to put over the chairs on the wall.

New couch!

2010-05-09T11:57:00.006-04:00

Ok, another house update. This past Monday we FINALLY decided on a new couch. We had visited multiple furniture stores many times, but really had no clue what we wanted. At first Jim liked the idea of a sectional, then he didn't, then he did. At one point Jim just decided hey, let's go home and tape out on the floor the dimensions that we are comfortable with.

As you'll see in the pictures, we couldn't go too long on one side as it would cover the doorwall and we couldn't go too long on the other side because then it wouldn't leave an opening to actually get onto the furniture.

Well we finally decided on Cindy Crawford's Illusions sectional in light taupe and I'm pretty happy about that. We didn't get the chaise because it would have been too big for the space. I want to eventually get an ottoman though.

Don't you just love the paneling and textured ceiling? And don't forget about the beautiful ceiling fan.

We plan on painting, adding curtains and replacing the ceiling fan. I know, why paint after we get the furniture? Well we have other things going on and I didn't want to decide on a paint color before I actually saw the color of the couch in the space.

And this has nothing to do with the couch, but this is Cheeto's favorite spot :o)

It's hammer time

2010-04-18T10:55:00.003-04:00

Seriously? I get some of the 80's fashion come backs, but others, not so much. What the hell...

...it looks like she's carrying around a bag of sand in her crotch. M.C. Hammer anyone? Yikes! It sort of reminds me of what Tyra has been wearing on this season of America's Next Top Model.

Maybe it's just a better way to hide these...

I gave into the leggings come back but I don't think I'll be giving into this.

House updates - Master Bedroom

2010-04-17T23:47:00.004-04:00

Well we moved in on March 27th. Since then it's been tearing down paneling, painting, yard work, unpacking and organizing...and the house is still a mess! I finally got all my shoes organized today (all 75 pairs or so) lol. But it's time for some pics.

Ok now don't get too excited, just one before and a couple of after pictures of the master bedroom. I know, I know...I should have many more pictures of the house on here, but I just haven't been taking any. We're going to start working on the office soon (which needed all new drywall) so hopefully I'll have some before and afters of that in the next week or two. I'm also updating some furniture we had by painting it white so I'll have before and after pics of those too.

So on to the bedroom. As you can see, before we had quite a dark turquoise room and some lovely mirrored closets. Those suckers are heavy by the way! We took off the dark trim, patched some nail pops in the ceiling and used Kilz on the walls and ceiling.

Ok now I HATE painting that line where the wall meets the ceiling so we cheat and put a one inch decorative molding, four inches from the ceiling. It just makes it so much easier to paint. We installed all new white trim and white closet doors. We also replaced all the plugs/switches and covers and bought new heat/air registers. The interior door still looks the same, but that's going to stay for now.

We painted the room Behr's Silver Drop in eggshell. For the ceiling we just bought a 5 gallon bucket of Behr's flat ceiling paint.

We're using the same headboard (which we made), dresser and nightstands (both the Hemnes line from Ikea) that we had in the condo. Eventually we'd like to buy new stuff and move this stuff to the guest room (which is all paneling right now). The blinds were there which are nice, but I'm debating about adding some curtains too...curtains or not??

The carpet was already there and is in pretty good condition so that's staying too. The duvet cover is also from Ikea but I want something new. I just can't decide what I want. I REALLY like this bedding from West Elm in the amethyst color. We're both fans of purple and I think it would look really nice with the gray. I just can't pull the trigger on the bedding for some reason.

Isn't it pretty...

We also want to update the overhead light (which you can't see in these pics).

I'm kind of digging these lights...

And this one.

Well that's about it for this room. Next up is a couch. We really need a new couch!

Summer Sandals

2010-04-02T10:24:00.003-04:00

I think we all know I have a slight obsession with shoes. I've been pretty good lately (since we have a new house to fill) but I had to get some new summer shoes.

I bought these Gladiator sandals from DSW online. I can't remember what the promotion was for, but I did not pay full price for them. They're my first pair of gladiator sandals and I think they're pretty cute.

Then I had a coupon that could only be used in store and I had to use it by March 31st. It was for $20 off a $50 purchase. Um, can't pass that deal up! I really wanted a fun color, but it seemed like there was more to choose from online than in-store But...I found these super cute bronze wedge sandals.

And yes, I need to update about the house, but we're still working on getting some rooms in order and getting unpacked. I'll have pictures eventually.

Purse and shoes!

2010-03-06T18:54:00.000-05:00

I finally found these shoes! I saw them on the Target website (out of stock of course) and new I had to have them. It didn't hurt that I had a $50 gift card to spend either. This was like the 4th Target that I tried and they finally had them in my size. Well...not really but close. I normally wear a 7 but all they had was a 6.5. I tried on a 7 in the same style, different color and they were a little big. So, the 6.5 was perfect! Excellent!

And then remember the purse I posted about? Well I did end up buying it. I got it in the punch color.

I'm going to test it out when I travel to Ottawa this week but I think it will also double nicely as a place to hold an extra lens when I'm walking around with my camera. I can't afford one of those fancy schmancy, pretty looking messenger type camera bags and I usually only need to carry one extra lens anyway.

Just wanted to share my recent fun purchases.

Come on March 20th!

2010-03-03T08:30:00.003-05:00

I heard from the seller the other day that she plans on having everything out of the house by late afternoon on March 20th. So that means we'll get the keys that day! WOOHOO! Now I can finally get excited about moving.

Now we just need to:

Get a lease together for the condo - really just figure out how this whole renting thing works
Move everything out of the condo
Go back and clean the condo
Have the carpets cleaned in the condo
Think about the first project we want to tackle in the house

I'm leaving this Sunday for Ottawa for work and won't be back until really late on the 12th so hopefully Jim packs everything up while I'm gone, lol. A girl can hope right?

Everything's better with bacon

2010-03-02T19:17:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this link today:

Bizarre Bacon: 12 Weird Bacon Products You Won't Believe

And I know Jill will love this! See, whenever Jill travels, she usually ends up having dinner at The Machine Shed. (I have had the pleasure of visiting this fine establishment once). The front of the restaurant is sort of like Cracker Barrel where they have a bunch of stuff you can browse through and purchase if you'd like. Well...Jill always ends up coming back with some sort of bacon product. Last time it was bacon band-aids and before that it was bacon chapstick. Oh and Jim has received some bacon toothpicks too.

Well... I am now the proud owner of Bacon Gumballs...

...they look tasty don't they? Yeah...not so much. They taste like a combination of the worst fake bacon flavor and dental tools.

I must say though, I did buy Jill some bacon mints. I couldn't resist!

You know you want it - XIII

2010-03-01T22:49:00.005-05:00

Wow, it's been awhile since you've seen one of these posts huh? Well I have something I KNOW you'll want. Check out this awesome contest over at Epiphanie. The chance to win a Canon 5D Mark II? Yes please.

Ain't she purty...

Ok, maybe not EVERYONE would want this beauty, but I know some of my photography friends would love to add this one to their collection.

And their bags are sweet! They just look like cute purses...not like camera bags at all.

We officially closed!

2010-02-28T11:44:00.004-05:00

Well, closing was on Friday and we now officially own two homes. Don't ya know? Everybody's doing it.

We also found out that the seller will probably be out by April 1st. Woohoo! That's the perfect amount of time for us to pack up our stuff and figure out how we want to go about renting the condo.

So, Friday after closing we stopped by Kuhnhenn's for a celebratory beer...or two.

Then yesterday, Melanie and I helped Jill (who also just bought a house) pick out paint colors for her house. She's got quite a lot of painting to do...pretty much the whole house. But I think the colors she picked will look great together.

Then we all went out to dinner at Bad Brad's BBQ. This place is SO GOOD!

And that's about it for the weekend. We're going to my parents house tonight for dinner and to watch the Canada vs. USA hockey game. Go USA!!

I want this purse

2010-02-23T20:51:00.003-05:00

I want this purse. I love that it is both a cross-body AND a clutch.

I mean seriously...how awesome is that?

It comes in quite a few colors and I've seen some pretty decent prices on various websites...hmmmmm....thinking about it.

Moving on...

On the house front...we're still set to close this Friday. What I found out today though, is that the seller will probably use all 60 days occupancy we gave her.

Part of the contract states that we give her 60 days occupancy in the house after closing with her paying us $XX/day. So I know we'll get our payments eventually but I was hoping she wouldn't use all 60 days. Oh well...I guess that gives us even MORE time to clean and pack and get ready to move out. At least the weather will be nicer 2 months from now.

Oh and check it out...I actually updated all three blogs in one day today! Can you believe it?

And yes...a shameless plug for my own blogs, my food blog and my photo blog.

We found a house!

2010-02-21T00:36:00.004-05:00

So the first day we went out and looked at houses was January 16th. I think we looked at like 7 houses that day. Sunday we went out and looked at like 12 more and then on Monday my parents came and looked at 3 that we liked from the previous days and then my mom and I looked at like 8 more that day. Well we decided to make an offer on the 4th house that we looked at.

So, referring to the checklist I posted of things we wanted in the house, let's see how it worked out.

Minimum 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths? - CHECK. This house has 3 bedrooms and 1-3/4 baths. What's a 3/4 bath you ask? It has a toilet, sink and a stand-up shower as opposed to a full tub.

Minimum 1500 sq. ft.? - CHECK. This house is 1732 sq. ft.

0.3+ acre lot? - No check. The lot is 0.25 acres, but we love the location and it's not in a new sub so we actually have trees :o)

All brick construction? - CHECK. Brick and some stone...looks pretty cool.

Basement? - CHECK. And bonus, it's unfinished so we can do whatever we want to it.

2-car garage attached garage? - CHECK.

I really wanted a master suite but didn't have it as a must have. This house doesn't have one but there are two closets in the master bedroom so that works for me. Sorry Jim...you'll need to put your clothes elsewhere, lol.

So after A LOT of going back and forth about this and that, we're set to close on Friday, February 26th. I'm so excited! We don't get immediate occupancy though. The seller gets 60 days occupancy to find another place of her own. That's fine by us though because it just gives us a little more time to pack and clean up the condo to get it ready to rent (hopefully!).

So I don't have any good pics really, but here's a few:

Here's the kitchen and eating area...

The kitchen definitely needs some updating but it's livable for now so that will have to wait. I really like the window over the sink.

Here's the more laid back family room. (There's a more formal living area at the front of the house)...

The stone around the fireplace is what the stone on the front of the house looks like. I like the stone...a little different that the typical brick surround. And ya gotta love that paneling and textured ceiling, but it will change...all in due time.

And here's the best one. Check out the tile in the bathroom!

Oh and the floor tile matches...awesome! This is the first task once we move in. Remodel hideous bathroom!

So for the past month or so, all this house stuff has totally taken over our lives. But I'm SO HAPPY to move on and can't wait to start making that house our home.

We're pre-approved

2010-01-08T09:45:00.003-05:00

Yikes! It sure has been awhile since I've updated. Oh well...it's a new year so let's not dwell on the slacking I did in 2009, let's move on.

So Jim and I are officially on the hunt for a house. We decided to keep the new mortgage payment rather conservative so we can still afford our condo (which we are planning to rent) payment in case something happens.

We're currently in an 1100 sq. ft. condo and I'm ready to move. I realize some people say that size is fine, and it is, but it all has to do with the layout. Our condo is two stories and layout just doesn't work for us. We have a small, galley style kitchen which I hate. What I do LOVE about our place though is the 9x9 closet in the master bedroom. Our bedroom is pretty big too. I have a feeling we won't be finding a new house with such a large closet lol.

Here's what we're looking for in our new home:

Minimum 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms

Minimum 1500 sq. ft.

0.3+ acre lot would be nice

Prefer all brick construction but willing to compromise on that

Basement is an absolute must!

At least a 2-car garage (preferably attached)

I don't want to make the must-have list too long because I think it would just end in disappointment. I've already been getting listings from our realtor and we'll officially go out and start looking on the 17th. It probably would have been this weekend, but we're headed to our cabin this weekend.

We're so excited!!

For the Herb Lover

2009-11-08T21:35:00.004-05:00

I saw this nifty little tool in a magazine and thought it was so cool.

"Easily identify and enjoy the most common culinary herbs. Move the tab to reveal which parts are best to use and how each herb can add life to your favorite foods. See the reverse side for helpful preservation and storage tips, a few easy recipes and some quick ideas to inspire you as you begin to experiment with fresh herbs."

An Illustrated Guide to 40 Culinary Herbs

Hellooooooooooo!

2009-10-24T10:29:00.007-04:00

Good lord, what a slacker I've been. I have been getting better at updating my other two blogs though so give me some credit there lol.

So we did the vacation thing in August - went "up north" for a week.

First we headed up to Munising, MI to see the Pictured Rocks...

Then we headed down to Mackinac and spent an evening on the island. Love it there!

They had a butterfly house on the island, so we decided to give it a visit...very cool.

We made a trip over to Hartwick Pines one day...

We also hit up Traverse City for lunch at the Mackinaw Brewing Company, headed over to Glen Arbor to go to Cherry Republic winery/store/cafe and saw the Sleeping Bear Dunes along the way. We didn't attempt to climb them. Been there, done that. It's a GIANT sand dune that takes FOREVER to get to the top...I'll pass.

Back home, in August they had an air show at the base so we went to that. I think I got some pretty cool shots. I have a few more on my photo blog too.

Let's see...what happened in the month of September. Well we celebrated my brother's 24th birthday. Did the bar thing and had some fun.

Here's me with my brother and sister...aren't we a cute bunch? lol

And then we went back up north for Labor Day weekend. Just hung around the cottage, did a little drinkin'...good times.

After I got back from the cottage, it was back to work. I headed out to Rock Island Arsenal with Jill for a work trip.

See how much fun we have?

Then throughout September we went to a Mudvayne concert, Sausagefest (hehe), a Beer Festival and I went to the International Gem and Jewelry Show. I don't go for the loose beads, although they have plenty, but I like the glass rings and bracelet watches they have.

I think that about catches us up through September.

Trash the Dress Pics

2009-09-01T09:20:00.004-04:00

So I decided it was time to trash my dress since I've been married, oh, going on 4 years now. And it still fits (actually it's a little big) so now was as good a time as any. Plus my friend Rachel didn't have any of these types of photos for her portfolio yet, so it worked for both of us :o)

Here's one pic...

And here's a link to the first blog post and the second blog post. There's quite a few pics on these links but if you want to see the whole gallery, email me at lostarz at gmail dot com and I'll send you the password for the full gallery.

I love they way they turned out!

Back from vacay and more Cheeto updates

2009-08-16T20:07:00.004-04:00

Well we came back from vacation today and went and picked Cheeto up. He's in pretty good spirits considering everything he's been through (and the cone he has to wear). Everyone at the vet loved him and were sad to see him go.

We were told that now even after the surgery, he's doing great except for the fact that he's not urinating on his own. Um, excuse me? They're saying because of his neurological issues that he may not be feeling the sensation of a full bladder. The whole thing doesn't make much sense to me though. How do we go from a bladder infection back in June to all of a sudden him not being able to tell he has a full bladder? Geez...from one extreme to the next with this cat. First he's peeing all over the house, now he won't go at all. So we get to express his bladder for him. Oh yes, you read that right. We haven't done it yet tonight since when we picked him up earlier around 5:30, they had just done it and nothing came out. BUT...just about 20 minutes ago he peed on a Shamwow we had on the floor. So hopefully that means he CAN feel his full bladder. We shall see...

Well Thursday sucked

2009-08-07T22:32:00.005-04:00

Here's another vent post, but I felt I should share.

So Thursday morning Jim woke up early to take Cheeto to the vet around 6:15 so he would have enough time to get home and get ready for work. Well it was like 7:00 by the time he finally got back. Apparently the woman at the desk was a moron and Jim had to actually go back into a room to sign some papers. Seriously? It was just supposed to be a quick drop off. Whatever...it was fine, but he was a little rushed.

I get to work around 8:00 and notice I had three missed calls from Jim. I'm thinking something was wrong, so I call him back immediately. Apparently he had an interesting encounter after I had already left for work. See, we have this little tree outside our condo and we have a bird feeder hanging from it. The birds are pretty used to us by now and they'll fly away right when you walk out the door, but immediately come back to the tree. So Jim walks out the door, birds fly away, he walks to his truck and the birds fly back. Then all of a sudden they all fly away again and he notices a hawk swoop in and go after a sparrow. The sparrow flies to another tree about 6 feet behind Jim. Then the sparrow flies toward Jim and the hawk is following. Jim said in that split second all he saw was hawk claws and face and then felt the whoosh of the hawk's wings on his head. He needed a clean pair of shorts after that lol.

Then, at 11:00 I took our Edge up to U-Haul to have a hitch installed so we can take our bikes up north with us. I show up, tell the guy I'm there to have a hitch installed and he looks at me and tells me his hitch guy isn't even there. Well isn't that a great way to start off the conversation. I actually called on Monday to make the appointment and they told me a hitch wasn't in stock but that they would get one in by Thursday...fine. So the guy keeps asking me who I talked to (I had no idea) and he keeps telling me it isn't in stock. I said, I know it wasn't it stock which is why I called yesterday (Wednesday) to make sure it was going to be here. He basically did nothing for me and told me the closest one was in Toronto or Ohio. THEN he tells me that I must have talked to someone at the call center. Apparently if their phone rings twice and they don't answer it, it gets sent to a call center. Then when I made the appointment, how did the call center know where I wanted to go if they didn't ask me? None of that made sense and I left telling him I'd call him later if I needed the hitch overnighted from somewhere. I don't understand how you can operate a business like that!?!?

So I call Jim, tell him the situation and he gives me another place to call. I call the place and after a few annoyances, was able to make the appointment for today.

I call Jim back to tell him crisis averted, we will have a hitch. Then Jim fills me in on the conversation he just had with the vet. See, the doctor performing the surgery wasn't actually the one that we had been dealing with and that recommended the surgery. The one performing the surgery is the main guy, but we're not really a big fan of his. He tells Jim that he doesn't think Cheeto needs the surgery! Are you kidding me?! He says his urine stream is fine and that they would run some tests to see if there is more of a problem.

Two hours goes by and we hear nothing so I decide to call to find out what the deal is since by this time it's like 3:30 p.m. So I get the doctor on the phone and he tells me he thinks that Cheeto can't feel the sensation of a full bladder. He thinks this because when Cheeto stands, his legs seem to buckle. Uh, ya think? How about he's been like that since he was born and 3 years ago we took him to a neurologist for that very problem. They told us his spinal cord is too short and that he'll never walk normal. How about you look in the effing chart and note that your practice told us to see a neurologist. Seriously? I need this right now? So I explain all that to him, continue to tell him that Cheeto's peeing problem has been going on for TWO MONTHS and that we've had this surgery planned since Monday. What if he has an emergency when we're gone and my brother who's watching our other (low maintenance) cat doesn't realize it because he doesn't know what's "normal" for Cheeto? Then he says, ok, well you answered my question, I'll do the surgery. UGH!

So that was Thursday. Talk about some completely unnecessary stress before we leave for vacation.

So now I sit here, blogging (and venting) away, and ready to go away for a week. We SO need this vacation.

I talked to the vet today and Cheeto is doing well. We'll go see him tomorrow before we leave and pick him up next Sunday when we come home. Let's hope he's back to normal.

Looky what I got!

2009-08-05T21:46:00.003-04:00

Isn't it purty? Unfortunately I'm just renting it for now, but it's always good to try before you buy! I wanted a longer zoom for our vacation so I decided to rent the 70-200mm f/4.0 IS lens. Plus I can find out if the f/4 is something I can live with or if I'd ~~need~~ want the (MUCH more expensive) f/2.8. Look for some pictures in a few weeks!

This is where I rented it from.

Cheeto Update

2009-08-05T21:30:00.002-04:00

Well tommorrow he goes in for surgery. When Jim took him to the vet on Monday for his daily bladder squeeze, he wasn't really doing that great and the vet once again told us that Cheeto was a great canidate for surgery. Jim gave her the run-down on how we were leaving on Saturday for a week vacation and she mentioned that he could stay at the vet the entire time. He's going to need to be in medical boarding and then general boarding anyway, so in all reality he'll probably only be there a couple extra days. So now we feel MUCH better about the whole situation. He'll get the much needed surgery, will be taken care of at the vet and we can enjoy our vacation rather than worry about his condition at home with my brother trying to give him medicine. So that's that. Hopefully this surgery does the trick and we get our Cheeto back to normal!

I hate you post office!

2009-08-01T12:51:00.005-04:00

I bought a backpack for my camera equipment about two weeks ago and it was delivered this past Monday via USPS. Since we're in a condo, the package couldn't fit in our little mail locker. And since we all know the post office has such friendly hours, I decided to wait until today to go pick it up since they're open 8:30-1:00. Well I'm not really the morning person and like to sleep in so I was in no rush to get there. So I show up at 12:30 only to see that their summer hours allow them to close at noon on Saturday! AHHHHHHHHHH! It would have been nice if that was noted on the little sheet they left on my door! After everything else this week I just wanted to scream! Oh and even better, their summer hours have them opening up at 9:00 during the week. Seriously?? So now I either have to go into work really late or go into work early so I can leave early to pick up the package. Like I said, I'm not a morning person so I don't go into work very early to begin with. Whatever...it's just so annoying.

And the other stuff I was dealing with this week had to do with Cheeto. The medicine that a different vet put him on to help with his muscle control in his bladder apparently didn't work. This past Monday we realized it had been quite some time since Cheeto actually peed. He looked like he was in pain and when Jim went to pet him, he growled at him. So we took him to the vet and he ended up staying three days due to a major blockage, which really confuses me since he had already been on antibiotics for like 1.5 months.

He came home on Thursday and it seemed like nothing changed. He looked like he was in pain and was seriously dripping all over the house. We had to keep him locked in the bathroom all night and all day Friday with a litter box to see if he would go in it or not. PLUS, the vet wants us to bring him back for the next three days to make sure his bladder is small.

So I took him back last night for a tech appointment and end up talking with the doctor. She said since the blockage was so big he may actually need a surgery to remedy the situation. She said he still looks like he's spasming which is why when he tries to go nothing comes out, yet when he's laying there it drips out and he ends up sitting in his own urine...awesome. I said he looked like he was in pain so she gave him a shot of prednisone, an anti-inflammatory. When I brought him back home last night he seemed like himself again. I think the prednisone made him feel much better! Plus he stopped dripping all over the place.

So I have to take him back today and tomorrow and see how he is...then we'll decide if he needs the surgery. What really had us worried though is that we're supposed to leave for a week vacation on the 8th and he's still on medicine, and then what if we decide he needs the surgery? I had an epiphany last night when I realized my brother could stay at our house while we're gone. He agreed to it so now I feel much better, no matter what decision we make.

So that was my week in a nutshell. Hopefully later today we're going to go get some new cell phones. I love a new gadget! We attempted to do that last Sunday, but to no avail. It was around 5:30 p.m. and I mentioned to Jim about hitting up the Verizon store. I went online to check the hours and it said they closed at 7:00, cool, we had enough time to make it there. So we drive all the way out there (it's not that close to our house) only to find the store hours on the door say they close at 5:00! OMG! What is the deal with me and store hours??

Ok, so this was quite the vent post, but I just had to share.

Functional and Decorative

2009-07-19T21:19:00.003-04:00

I saw this cute calendar in a magazine and just had to share. And for $34, it's a pretty good deal since it can be used as artwork too. I'm not sure if you can still get a calendar for 2009, but the 2010 calendars are coming soon. Also, check out the blog.

I really am quite the slacker...

2009-07-18T11:46:00.003-04:00

...when it comes to updating this blog. I don't know what it is but I feel like I always need to have pictures in here and then I don't feel like uploading them and blah, blah blah.

So anyway, just a few updates for now:

- Family drama: not going to get into any details, but for a good week my stomach was in knots and I was totally stressed out.

- Cheeto is still peeing on the floor (although nothing last night). We've taken him to another vet and they did xrays and didn't find any kidney/bladder stones or anything so that was good. I guess since he does have some spinal issues, the vet is thinking that maybe he's having some loss of control in the bladder so we're trying a medicine that is supposed to tighten those muscles up.

- Work has been keeping me busy so that's good. Although since I switched teams I feel like I'm back at square one and I'll never be able to catch up and become a "subject matter expert" in my field. I know it all takes time, but I tend to stress myself out about that kind of crap. I don't bring it home with me but at work there's always a million things running through my head.

- Tonight we're going to the Kid Rock concert with some friends and I'm pumped! Love a good Kid Rock show! He was here last night too and it's a like a little block party down in the D. There's a second stage, chili contest, classic cars and a bunch of other stuff. And it's all free! Except for the actual show, but we've had our tickets for months.

ships, monkey jockeys, birthdays, fireworks and more

2009-07-06T18:17:00.005-04:00

So it's been a pretty busy couple weeks. June 23-26th I was in Norfolk, VA for work with Jill. We had a few meetings to attend but we also got to do some of the touristy stuff. One night we ate at Todd Jurich's Bistro, had lunch at Kincaid's and then another dinner at Snappers. All of them were very good! We didn't get over to Virginia Beach but we checked out some ships.

...this one is in dry dock for repairs...very cool...

...this is the Battleship Wisconsin...

...here she is at night...

...and here's Jill and I atop the large vessel...

So we flew back to Michigan on Friday the 26th and on our way home, swung by a gem and jewelry show in Novi. I got some really cool glass rings and some bracelet watches for like $5/each. Can't beat that!

That night were the fireworks and Stars and Stripes Festival in Mount Clemens, so Jim and I and my brother headed down there. We met up with my sister and her friend Doug and just sort of walked around, checking out the goings on. So we're walking down a street on the way to the bar and came across the Banana Derby. Have you ever seen anything so ridiculous??

...yes...that's a monkey in a little jockey suit on a dog.

Moving on...

We stopped in at Orleans and had a few drinks and played some darts

...me and my boy...

...my sis and her pal...

Once we left the bar, we headed down towards the water to watch the fireworks. And that pretty much sums up that night.

Now my birthday was actually June 30th, but we celebrated on June 27th. A bunch of us got together to hang out at Fishbones for some drinks, music and pool. It was a good night!

...here's me and Melanie...

...Jill and Ken...

...me and Rachel...

...Rachel and her husband Fred...

...of course one of Jim and I...

...and my brother striking a pose for the camera...

Sunday (June 28th) we headed over to my parents house for a birthday dinner and some cake. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, cake.

Tuesday was my actual birthday. I got some cards, a bunch of birthday wishes on Facebook, Jim brought me flowers and we went out to dinner at Brio. All in all, it was a good birthday.

So this past weekend we headed to our cottage for the weekend. My parents were already up there and then Jim, my brother and I headed up there Friday. Saturday night we went into town to the beach for the big show. We got there around 8:00 so we had some time to kill.

...here's my sexy man...

...and Jim and my brother lookin' like badasses...

FINALLY at 11:00 the fireworks started and I was happy to get some good shots

I posted more on my photo blog.

And I think that's about it for now. I took a bunch of pictures at our cottage so I'm sure I'll be posting some of those in the near future.

Not quite 30

2009-06-30T09:25:00.003-04:00

So it's my birthday today! Celebrating the big 2-9. It's not too hard but it is a little depressing to only have one year left in my twenties. Oh well. Guess I should start popping out kids soon since I'm getting so "old" LOL.

I have a lot of updating to do since last week I was in VA for work and then we had a pretty busy weekend. Just wanted to stop in and say hi!

I'll leave you with a picture that I thought was pretty sweet. My brother took the picture and it was timed perfectly with my friend Melanie taking a picture of me...

And then here's one with me and my boy...

Saw my first fishfly of the year today...

2009-06-21T20:38:00.005-04:00

...and you know where I saw it? Down my shirt, chillin' in my bra. Nice. It was during our bike ride that it decided to fly into my shirt. Awesome.

For those not familiar with a fishfly (or mayfly which I think is the proper term for it), this is what it looks like.

These little buggers usually show up around this time, last for about 2-3 weeks and then disappear until next year. They are totally harmless but pretty disgusting. In some cities, party stores have to turn off all their outside lights as to not attract to many at night, but in the morning you'll still see them out there with hoses/shovels/brooms try to get rid of the aftermath. Oh and at a stop light later on in the night, you pretty much slide to a stop because of all the dead fishflies on the ground.

Here's a good description...they're pretty much useless.

Life Cycle: Adult mayflies are very short lived, surviving only one or two nights. During that time the adults mate in swarms in the air. They are also attracted to lights. Eggs are deposited while flying low over the water, or by dipping the abdomen on the water surface or some even submerge themselves and lay eggs underwater. Adult females lay eggs into water and often die on the water surface. Immature stages develop through several stages instars by molting during development. The number of molts varies depending on the species, temperature and water conditions. Immature stages then swim to the water surface or crawl onto rocks or plants. There, they molt into subimagoes with wings in seconds or minutes, which fly quickly from the water to nearby plants where they molt again into adults (imagoes). Mayflies are the only group of insects that molt after they have wings. In all other orders winged forms are as only found on adult forms, the last stage of development. A typical life cycle will last one year.

Pest Status: Common aquatic insects that generally go unnoticed; occasionally, large numbers of adults (and subimagoes) emerge during certain times of year in synchrony and are sometimes abundant enough to be a nuisance; most problem situations occur when they are attracted to electric lights at night. They are medically harmless. Immature mayflies are an important food source for fish. Many lures and artificial flies are patterned after them.

They are definitely a nuisance in some areas around here!

Happy Day for the Fajah

2009-06-21T14:21:00.002-04:00

So we went to breakfast this morning with Jim's parents and his brother and family. It was so nice of them to let us know that they had planned on doing this breakfast thing, oh, like 14 hours beforehand. We don't do the church thing and we don't have kids so we like to sleep on Sundays :o) I know, I know, it's Father's Day and all but this isn't the first time this has happened. I always feel bad for Jim though because Sunday is his only day off and he had to get up the same time today that he normally does for work. Oh well. My dad isn't even home this weekend. My parents are at our cottage but I did call to wish him a Happy Father's Day. The good thing about getting up that early is that we got a bunch of stuff done and still had the rest of the day to do whatever.

Our first stop was Costco. We noticed they had a coupon for the GPS we wanted to get so we were able to purchase that. We went with the Garmin nuvi 265WT.

Then after that I wanted to stop by the mall to find a few things to wear for work. I'm going to a meeting in Virginia next week and it's supposed to be like 90 degrees so I wanted something not too hot to wear. Well at NY&CO I found the cutest dress...

And while this can't really be worn to work, it will look cute with the black leggings I bought that I swore I'd never wear.

After that we hit up Sonic so I could grab a Cherry Limeade and then we went to a nursery so I could find a stand for my bowling ball. Bowling ball you ask? Why yes. My mom took an old bowling ball did some crafty stuff to it and made it a garden "statue". I think it looks pretty awesome and now I FINALLY have a stand for it.

Jim and I just got back from a bike ride and and I think I'm going to go relax for awhile. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Oh and here's me and Jill at the bowling fundraiser we had last night...

The vet is a pain

2009-06-18T09:45:00.003-04:00

So last week our lovely Cheeto started peeing whenever and wherever with a little blood in his urine (sorry, a little TMI). I called the vet to make an appointment and since he was due for his yearly stuff, they wanted me to bring a stool sample too, cool, whatever.

So we get to the vet, he does his thing, diagnoses Cheeto with a bladder infection, gives us some antibiotics, tells us he wants to see Cheeto again when the medicine is gone and we go on our merry way. This was last Tuesday.

So on Tuesday of THIS week, I get a call from the vet telling me that Cheeto has roundworm. I asked the tech if I'm to assume that our other cat has it as well since they share a litter box. I mean, when we take them a stool sample they say it doesn't really matter which one it's from since if one cat has it, the other one probably does too. Well she told us NOT to assume that and to bring in a stool sample from our other cat Mowee. Fine. So I go tell Jim that Cheeto has roundworm and while he's a little confused since our cats are indoor cats, he says ok.

So at work yesterday I start thinking about the call from the vet and wonder why it would take an entire week for them to let me know Cheeto has roundworm. Did they analyze the right sample? Did they mix them up? Did they call the right owner? So I call the vet, pose my question and get put on hold. The tech comes back to tell me that it is indeed roundworm and they are not mistaken on that. Hold on a minute...that wasn't my question. My question was a) why did it take so long to tell me and b) are you sure you have the right cat? Then she tells me the test was run LAST Thursday! "Oh, nobody called you?" Uh no. "Well they're supposed to call you when they get the results". Well they didn't. So then I ask HER if I should assume my other cat has it as well and she says yes. WTF?! Do these people have any idea what they're talking about? Do they communicate with each other? Did they have different books in school or something?? So I say yes, I want the medication for BOTH of my cats and I'll be up there later to pick it up. It was about 2:30-3:00 when I called.

So at 6:00 when I go to get the medicine, they don't have it ready for Mowee. Seriously?? I was SO annoyed at this point. Then there's confusion in the computer system, confusion with why Mowee was prescribed more when Cheeto weighs more and is actually the one that was diagnosed with the roundworm. UGH! Apparently we give them a dose now and then in three weeks give them another dose, wait a week, take in another stool sample and hope the worms are gone. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong.

These pills aren't small. Cheeto we have no problems giving medicine to. He's had his fair share of vet visits and medicine so he's pretty easy. Mowee on the other hand? Forget it. Liquid is probably the easiest, or really tiny pills but these roundworm pills? No way. So we gave it the old college try. We tried different techniques, different positions. There was no way she was taking this pill. So now, we've decided to just take in a stool sample of hers to have analyzed and if she does have roundworm, the vet can give her the pill.

Oh and at the vet I asked if there were any known intestinal side effects from the pill since Cheeto already has some issues. It took us forever to find a combination of foods that doesn't mess him up so we hate to disrupt his intestines with anything lol. The tech tells me he doesn't think there are any side effects. When I get home, Jim opens the packaging and reads: SIDE EFFECTS: GI SIDE EFFECTS ARE POSSIBLE BUT UNLIKELY FROM THIS MEDICATION. Down a little further it reads: CATS AND DOGS MAY EXPERIENCE SALIVATION, ANOREXIA, VOMITING, GAGGING AND DIARRHEA WHEN GIVEN THIS MEDICATION. Sweeeeeeeeeeet. And guess what? Cheeto's puked like 3 times since last night and has gross poo. Cool.

Man I hate giving him medication.

Look how sad he is...

You know you want it - XII

2009-06-14T20:33:00.005-04:00

Jazz up your plain jane shoes with some fun shoe clips from Absolutely Audrey

Love these fun flower pins from Linda & Harriett

I thought this cuff from GS Lillian was really cute.

Apparently I have a thing for pink cake stands because I blogged about one in another post. This one is from nowdesigns and can be found here

I just thought this pillow from Pier 1 was really cute and girly

You know you want it - XI

2009-06-13T18:31:00.005-04:00

I subscribe to Real Simple and it is my absolute favorite magazine! Here's a few links that caught my eye in the past few issues...

Summer is here...well sort of (in Michigan anyway), but here are some Five-15 Minute Workouts to help get in shape!

Want to know what other tasks you can use a plain old coffee filter for? Well check out 101 New Uses for Everyday Items to find out.

Are you a list type of person? These checklists for everything will excite you then! Also, check out Jott and Evernote to help keep your life in order.

Aren't we all looking for the best bargain? Well learn how to live life on less.

And here are The Best Lip Balms as road tested by Real Simple.

I thought this next product was pretty cool. EasyBloom Plant Sensor shows you what types of veggies, fruits, herbs, flowers, trees, shrubs or houseplants will grow where you live. You put the sensor anywhere, inside or outside, where you want to grow a plant or have a plant you want advice on. The Plant Sensor will measure sunlight, temperature, water drainage and humidity. Then you plug the sensor into a USB port on your computer and easybloom.com adjusts the raw sensor data with your local growing zones, climate, and hourly weather.

And here are a few chairs that I thought were cool...

Resin and Aluminum chair from Cozydays

Osaka Round Back Armchair from World Market

I love these Bamboo Folding Chairs from Ballard Designs

Oh, and this is sweet. Iceorb...the first vertical ice tray that makes, chills, serves and stores

It's never too early to plan

2009-06-11T19:34:00.003-04:00

The past two days I attended a retirement seminar at work. At first I thought it was going to be super boring, but I actually found it interesting and now want to subscribe to Money Magazine to keep up with everything. We learned all about how social security works (if it will still be there when we retire), how much I can expect to need when I retire (only about 2-3 million dollars...still have a ways to go on that) and the best way to invest for retirement. There were probably only a handful of us in the seminar that are in our 20's and 30's but I really think going to these classes early can only benefit you. I'd rather know what I need to do now that wait until 5 years before I retire to go to one of these classes, only to find out that I had totally screwed myself. So start planning now!

Let's Go Red Wings

2009-06-07T14:04:00.002-04:00

Only one more win! We kicked butt last night with a 5-0 win!!

All the pretty flowers

2009-06-07T13:26:00.002-04:00

As I was playing around with my camera yesterday, I realized I haven't taken any pics of the flowers we planted this year. I decided to go with Pansies...I just love the color.

Let's Go Red Wings

2009-06-01T20:13:00.002-04:00

Have you heard? The Detroit Red Wings made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year once again! And they're playing the Pittsburgh Penguins once again. We're up two games to none so only two more wins for us and the Cup is ours again! It's fine if we lose one in Pittsburgh because then they can win one in Pittsburgh and come back to Detroit to win the Cup here!

A wedding & A weekend

2009-05-27T21:29:00.006-04:00

So I decided to take last Friday off of work. I had a wedding to go to later in the day, so it seemed like a good enough reason to take the entire day off :o) I'm glad I did because I found out that my good friend Michelle was going to be in town for a wedding she was in so I was able to have lunch with her. She lives in Delaware...I wish she could move back to Michigan!

So like I said, that night we went to a wedding. A friend of mine from high school was finally marrying her sweetheart. Congrats to Lisa and Nick!

...and a few of me and Jim

...the first dance...her dress was gorgeous!

...me, Lisa and Elena posing for a pic

The newlyweds are currently enjoying their honeymoon in Mexico and the pictures she's adding to Facebook look fabulous!

Saturday around 1-ish Jim and I went to pick up my brother to head to our cottage up north. My parents were already there so we were meeting them up there. We got up there around 6-ish and cracked open some beers. My parents made dinner, we made a bonfire and just hung out for the night.

Now, when we were little, we went up north as a family for every Memorial Day weekend. One thing I remember the most is the fly-in pancake breakfasts we used to go to on Sunday morning of that weekend. The pancake breakfast was held at this little airport up there and it was always cool to watch the planes fly in and out. Well we didn't hit up the pancake breakfast, but Jim, my brother and I went over there so I could take a few pictures of the planes.

We spent the rest of the weekend just hanging around the cabin, eating (lol), watched the Red Wings game and had another bonfire. Sunday night we had fun with shutter speed on my camera. I don't have a picture uploaded right now but let's just say that my brother had fun with a flashlight, a long shutter speed and dirty drawings lol.

And you know I took more pics. Check out my cool sun flare picture I posted on my photo blog.

My new netbook

2009-05-20T17:31:00.003-04:00

So the only computer we have is a desktop and it's upstairs in our guest room. That means that if either of us are on the computer in the evening, we basically don't see each other for that time. So I came across these little netbooks and just had to have one! I wanted one for awhile, but I waited until I got my bowling winnings before I went out and bought it. Well it got here yesterday and I love it!! I got the Asus Eee PC 1000he.

We also got a wireless router and tried installing that last night, but no such luck. I was about to lose it and throw the damn thing through the wall last night! Well I got home quite early from work today so I decided to call Linksys to figure it out. Of course I got some dude I could barely understand, but he got it to work for me and now I'm blogging from my couch in my living room...yay!

Why was I home from work so early today? Well I had to help out another group from work and they wanted us there at 6am (normally I start at 9am) so I've been up since 4am...so ridiculous!!

Gotta love a good deal

2009-05-18T21:47:00.005-04:00

So this morning I decided to hit up Partridge Creek in my search for a dress for a wedding I'm going to on Friday. Normally I'm not searching for a plain black dress, but today that's what I was hoping to find. I grabbed a few...too tight, too expensive, too blah. Then my mom came across a cute dress on the sale rack for $60 so I tried it on. Well it fit perfectly, was plain black and I didn't feel like trying any other dresses on, so I decided to get it. I walk up to the register all proud of myself for buying a $60 dress as opposed to the $100 price tag I had in mind when I walked into Parisian. So she scans the tag and the dress rings up for $30! Score!

Well since I still had a bunch of time to kill before I needed to be back for my dentist appointment at 2:30, we decided to do a little more shopping. I decided I wanted to do turquoise accents with the plain black dress so I went out on a search for accessories. I went into Forever 21 (which I don't normally do since sometimes I feel so old in there lol) and came across the cutest ring...

I saw this one too and had to get it.

Oh and both of them didn't cost more than $10 total. Score again!

So I popped into GAP, picked up two shirts and a pair of shorts for me and a shirt for Jim, for less than $50...nice.

Oh yeah...and one more thing I bought was a pair of cropped black leggings and this dress (mine is in a purply red color) from Old Navy. I swore I'd never do the leggings thing, but everyone looks so cute in it, so I'm going to give it a try.

Too bad the place I spent the most money at today was the dentist...those bastards. And where they stuck the needle to numb me is what hurts the worst right now! Owwwwieeeeee!

OK, time to update

2009-05-18T21:18:00.003-04:00

So...Friday I got a haircut. I decided to go with bangs again. I got bangs like 2 years ago and I really liked it, but I decided to keep my hair long this time. She said she was going to cut off about 3 inches (which was fine with me since my hair was pretty long) but I think she cut off more than that. Doesn't matter though because I like it. I really like the way she layered it. It's weird though, I'm still getting used to the bangs.

Saturday morning I went to Eastern Market with my mom and Jill. Jill and I had never been and I brought up the idea, so we just decided to go. It was cool...I didn't go crazy buying a bunch of stuff, but I did get some cool pictures.

After we got back from Eastern Market, I went to my parents house to help price stuff for their garage sale. I have a bunch of my own stuff in their sale so I mainly went there to price my own crap. I was there til about 3:30 and then went home. Then Jim and I went to a nursery to get some flowers for the pots for out patio. And I just realized I haven't taken a picture of them yet! I'll have to update that later.

It was Jim's turn to make dinner and he found a recipe for Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage which was so delish! Then we plopped our butts down on the couch for the rest of the night to catch up on some of our shows on the DVR.

Sunday we celebrated a belated Mother's Day dinner at my parents house. Prime rib was on the menu, can we say yum? We also watched the Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of the Western Conference Finals. Good stuff.

It was a good weekend.

It was a busy weekend

2009-05-05T19:58:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was pretty busy. Saturday night I went to my friend Lisa's bachelorette party - the wedding is May 22nd. We had a good time. Started out at a house and played some ridiculous penis ring toss game...

...cute right? lol

Then we hopped on the giant limo bus and headed to the bar.

...of course the "sexy" pose lol

...I'm seriously getting too old for that crap though. I got home around 3am and then got up at 9:30 the next morning to go out to breakfast before we went to the Wings game. Playoff hockey baby!!

I wish these dudes would have sat down already. Don't they know they ruined my shot?!?!

...and this is what happens after two overtimes and waiting for the third to start

Unfortunately we lost, but it was about a 5 hour hockey game, so we got our money's worth...lol.

Tagged myself!

2009-04-29T11:46:00.003-04:00

I saw a fun little blog post over on Taryn's blog, so I decided to tag myself and join in the fun.

Here are the rules:

1. Take a pic of yourself right now
2. No primping or preparing
3. Just snap a picture
4. Load the picture onto your blog
5. Tag some people to play along

So here's my crappy cell phone pic. I'm actually in a training class at work today, but I'm on my lunch break.

I wish I would have actually blow-dried my hair today. I'm not diggin' it, lol.

I'm not going to go around and tag people, so if you read this and want to participate, consider yourself tagged!!

The treadmill is better for me

2009-04-28T20:19:00.002-04:00

So after last Monday's C25K run on the treadmill, I was proud of myself for finishing it relatively easy, and was excited to move on. Well the rest of the week sucked. Wednesday was when I ran into the dreaded side stitch, and then Saturday it was just so hot outside that I think I only made it 20 minutes.

Well today I ran again on the treadmill and had no problems. So I think that's the solution...run on the treadmill for now. I don't know what it is, but it feels like when I run outside, I'm not going anywhere. I know that sounds stupid since on a treadmill I'm running in place, but at least I can see the number of laps and the distance increase. Outside, I have no idea how far or how fast I'm going.

So I think for now I'm going to stick with the treadmill and then maybe once I'm able to run longer distances, I'll head back outside. But I really hate the heat. I mean really. I'm in Michigan so you'd think I would love the summers, but I don't really like being outside in the sun if it's over 80 degrees. Ridiculous right? lol, oh well.

Squirrels are pretty smart

2009-04-26T21:38:00.002-04:00

So last weekend we decided to hang a bird feeder from our little tree outside our condo. We figured it would give the cats something else to look at to pass the time. So everything's all hunky dory and then Friday I notice that all of a sudden there's an extreme amount of bird seed missing...I just figured the birds got really hungry. So Jim goes out there to fill the feeder, but no such luck...

...the squirrels chewed on all the little plastic attachments until one broke loose and let out all the bird seed. That explained why the squirrel was hanging around a lot munching on bird seed. I just figured the birds were messy and dropping everything...lol...

So today at Lowe's I bought another one. It has copper attachments, but the tube is still plastic...lets hope the squirrels don't chew through this one.

Uncommon Goods

2009-04-23T22:02:00.003-04:00

Jill brought in a catalog today and I'm totally loving some of the stuff from this website.

Bananagrams Game

Forget Me Not Ring

Tree Globes

Ticket Stub Diary

Recycled Candy Wrapper Clutch

C25K - Week 3 Day 2

2009-04-22T21:57:00.002-04:00

FAIL.

I started out okay, but then came on the dreaded side stitch! I would go back to walking, think I was fine, start running again and it would come back even worse! So I gave up after like 15 minutes...and I was VERY frustrated with myself! I found this article which has some interesting information in it:

Up until recently there was no clear explanation for the cause of this annoying cramp, also called exercise related transient abdominal pain (ETAP). Now researchers believe that the side stitch is caused by stretching the ligaments that extend from the diaphragm to the internal organs, particularly the liver. The jarring motion of running while breathing in and out stretches these ligaments. Runners tend to exhale every two or four steps. Most people exhale as the left foot hits the ground, but some people exhale when the right foot hits the ground. It is the later group who seem more prone to get side stitches.

Exhaling when the right foot hits the ground causes greater forces on the liver (which is on the right side just below the rib cage). So just as the liver is dropping down the diaphragm raises for the exhalation. It is believed this repeated stretching leads to spasms in the diaphragm.

So I guess I'll try to inhale and exhale when my left foot hits the ground. Oh and it would probably be a good idea for me to drink some water during the day as opposed to just coffee in the morning and a little pop at lunch. I did have some water, but definitely not enough!

I'll be giving this another shot (hopefully) on Friday since tomorrow I have to bowl after work. We shall see how it goes.

Kayaking across the Pacific Ocean

2009-04-22T21:39:00.003-04:00

Uh, what now? Well in an attempt to get directions from my work to the dentist the other day, I ended up with some very interesting directions. I used Google Maps and accidentally hit enter before I finished entering in the entire address...so it had me starting somewhere in Australia. I ended up with 124 steps of directions, a distance of 25,260 km (15,696 miles) and it would have taken 55 days and 21 hours. Oh and did I mention I would have had to kayak across the Pacific Ocean...three times? First from Australia to Japan, then from Japan to Hawaii and then Hawaii to Washington State.

Here's a little snippet of what came up:

24. Continue on Kahlin Ave 0.3 km
25. Turn right at Myilly Tce 0.4 km
26. Kayak across the Pacific Ocean Entering Japan 5,404 km
27. Continue straight 0.9 km
28. Turn right toward 国道384号線 0.4 km
29. Slight right at 国道384号線 4.2 km
30. Slight right at 県道164号線 8.0 km
31. Slight right at 県道31号線 0.7 km
32. Turn right at 県道27号線

Good stuff right?

I remember one time for shiggles we put in going from Detroit to Paris and it had you swimming across the Atlantic Ocean. So at least they've bumped it up to something safer like a kayak. A shark can't bite right through that or anything...lol.

C25K - Week 3 Day 1

2009-04-20T21:13:00.002-04:00

So like I mentioned in my previous post, I'll be doing a 5K on June 6th. At least I'm pretty sure we're doing it. It was mentioned to me that a group of girls from work would be partaking in this event and that I should join in. But...I haven't officially signed up for it yet. I'm not too sure if anyone else has either. But anyway, for me this is kind of a big deal because I used to swear up and down that I'd never run as a form of exercise because I always hated it. I would look at people's faces as they ran by me and they'd always have this look of agony on it. I would say to myself, "are they crazy? that doesn't look fun at all". Well, well, well, how opinions changes. I realize it's probably the best form of cardio to do, but I'm still not a huge fan.

So since June 6th is right around the corner, I decided to jump back into the C25K program at week three. So today's run/walk looked like this:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)

I got through it pretty easily, but we'll have to see how the rest of the week goes.

Oh and I went to the dentist today for a cleaning and they told me that my last two remaining wisdom teeth (the ones on top) need to come out. Oh joy. AND I have to get a cavity filled next Tuesday. Yay.

So, what have I been up to?

2009-04-19T21:19:00.004-04:00

- Well, work's been keeping me pretty busy - but I can't complain about that. I'm really liking the switch I made, so all is good there.

- I recently took a training class at work called Focus: Achieving Your Highest Priorities (Google it and you'll find a bunch of stuff on it). It was a class put on by Franklin Covey and it ended up being way better than I thought it would. Plus we got a free planner out of the deal and those things can get expensive! The class focused on deciding what is urgent, what is important, or what is both. You learn how to focus on the tasks and priorities that matter most in your life. What I really remember from the class is that by organizing properly, deciding what needs to be done and what can wait, can give us all back that extra hour a day to get the really important things done. And the best thing is that while this certainly applies to my professional life, it most definitely can be applied to my personal life.

- I bought another lens...yes another one. I bought the 50mm f/1.8 II. I was borrowing Rachel's for awhile, so when I gave it back to her, I decided I wanted one of my own. I got a good deal on a used one ($75 including shipping) from someone over on the Canon Digital Photography Forum. I figure it's just a fun little lens to have.

- Oh and apparently I have signed myself up to run a 5k with a few of the girls at work, including Jill. I guess I better get back to the C25K program since the 5k is on June 6th! Ahhhh, what have I done?!?! I'm not going to stress out about it though and am just going to do the best I can.

- Yesterday after running/walking outside for awhile, I decided to finally take the packaging off the 30 Day Shred DVD I bought. Let me tell you...I am SORE today! Jillian sure knows how to kick your butt! But if I want to look like her (is that even possible?) I better stick to it!

- Last night we went to a Euchre party. It was $5/person to play and every time you got euchred, you put a quarter in the pot. At the end of the night, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place get cash and the last place person gets the quarters. They also had a little mini competition for best/worst (however you want to look at it) Hawaiian shirt. So in the end, I tied for 1st place, Jim won for best/worst Hawaiian shirt (he won a bottle of Captain Morgan), AND he came in last place, so he won the quarters. So I'd say we did pretty good last night.

- Bowling...well, my average is now a 162 and I'm still holding strong for most improved woman player on the league. Two weeks ago I bowled a 176, 190 and 257!! The 257 game is the highest game I've ever bowled and the 623 series I bowled is my first 600 series ever! I was quite proud of myself that night :o) Our last week is May 7th, so only a few more weeks to go.

I think that's about all for me for now!

You know you want it - X

2009-04-19T20:52:00.007-04:00

Here are the 34 best drugstore beauty finds, according to Women's Health magazine. I figure us ladies are always on the lookout for the best deals.

GET TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG - get your blog noticed with these tips

I totally just bought Wreck This Journal and I can't wait to get it and start wrecking it!! There's a blog that explains a little bit of how it works too.

How fun are these? - Whisky Stones - Add 2-3 stones to your next dram of single malt - they cool things down just a touch without diluting. Rinse, dry and store in freezer for next time (minimum of 4 hours).

We're big hockey fans, so I thought this was fun!

Face-off Frenzy PowerBand Hockey

I thought some of the earrings found at Manic Trout were so cute! Especially the ones pictured here which are found under the Sweetest Things Earrings

I'm still debating whether or not this would be worth it for us to participate in, but for anyone else looking for some fresh veggies this summer, check out http://www.localharvest.org/ - The best organic food is what's grown closest to you.

Sort of a new job

2009-03-30T21:58:00.004-04:00

So I started working at the place I'm at now back in 2002. At the time I was still in school so I was a co-op employee. Well in 2004 (I think), I decided to switch teams to see what else was out there. Plus I didn't really like who I was "working for" and the opportunity for me to switch arose, so I took it. Well it's been almost 4-5 years since I joined that team and another opportunity arose for me to switch back to the team I started on. I jumped on it since it will give me much more time in the lab (and as a chemist I like that) and the opportunity to work on more of my own projects rather than helping out everyone else. Today I pretty much spent the day switching offices, but I'm really excited to jump back into the lab. Let's just hope that the grass really is greener on the other side.

I've been neglecting...

2009-03-26T20:51:00.003-04:00

...neglecting this blog anyway. I've been so busy updating my photo blog that I haven't really been posting much over here.

I did find something cool the other day though. It's called Once abarn a time and it's this company that uses wood from old barns to make furniture. I'm really not into the country look for decorating a house, but there's some cool stuff that I think would work in certain spaces.

I love this trunk

Welcome Spring!

2009-03-20T15:37:00.003-04:00

Normally I'm not one to complain about the Michigan winters, and figure if it's going to be cold, it might as well snow. Well for some reason this has felt like the longest Winter EVER and I'm just glad it's finally starting to get warm-ish outside.

New Lens!

2009-03-18T18:57:00.004-04:00

So I decided to go ahead and buy the lens I had picked out before I even bought my new camera, lol. I had a little award money come my way at work so it went toward the purchase of this lens. I got the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro and I can't wait to get it and start using it!

you UGLI baby

2009-03-14T17:55:00.003-04:00

So yesterday we picked up some Ugli Babies at the grocery store. These things are practically all juice! They were pretty yummy. Although from the looks of the outside I expected some really crazy, exotic inside, but not really...just kind of looks like an orange.

chocolate eggs

2009-03-12T14:21:00.001-04:00

Just a few things I'm enjoying right now :o)

stupid cold...

2009-03-06T16:02:00.003-05:00

...or whatever it is I have, I can't stop sneezing!! It's like 65 degrees outside right now and I feel like complete crap! So much for enjoying this nice weather!

The good news is that I'm FINALLY done with the 2-week class I was taking at work. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I'm so glad it's finished.

made just for me

2009-03-04T21:07:00.003-05:00

So awhile back, Rachel posted on her blog about this purse she found on Etsy from seller daphnenen. It was totally cute, but there was no way I was spending $75 or whatever it was. So I emailed a link to the purse to my mom and asked if she would be able to make something similar. The pics from the website weren't all that great but she figured she'd be able to come up with something similar.

So I was over my parents house and all of a sudden, my mom comes upstairs with this crappy old vinyl bag filled with crappy old curlers. The bag was very similar to the shape and style of the purse I had sent her. So she ripped apart the crappy old purse and used it as a pattern for a new one. We made some minor changes, bought some fun fabric, and voila...a purse for me! I'm so excited! There's multiple pockets on the inside and I also had her add some pockets to the backside of the purse. We've already discussed changing up the pattern for another purse. Why didn't I think of asking my mom to make purses for me earlier on?!?! Now I just need to learn how to sew....

Whirlyball

2009-03-01T16:39:00.003-05:00

So last night we headed out for a fun-filled evening of Whirlyball. This was only our second time partaking in this particular activity, but it is SO MUCH FUN! Once again I walked away with a few battle wounds and I seem to be getting more sore as the day goes on, but it was so worth it.

We started out at Ken's house (the birthday boy) and was picked up by a limo bus. The Whirlyball venue is almost an hour away and since everyone was going to be drinking, it made sense...plus limos are just fun! We played Whirlyball for about 3 hours (which FLEW by).

There's me waving my scoop in the air!

Once we were done there, we headed over to Bar Louie for some drinks and food. I had their loaded tots, SO GOOD, and we hung out for a few more hours.

me and Jill

Jim and Ken...Jim was feeling pretty good by this point in the evening

Then the limo picked us all back up and took us back to Ken's house. I then had to drive us home...don't worry, I was totally fine by then. Apparently Jim had a little more to drink than I thought he did, because he wasn't feeling so hot this morning. Sucks for him! We had a good night though.

it's been forever

2009-02-27T16:19:00.002-05:00

I know, I know...it's been forever since I've posted anything, and for some reason it seems like I don't have time, but I guess I've just been preoccupied with life.

Here's what's been keeping me busy...

my new camera which includes borrowing other lenses to see what works for me and playing around with all the different settings
figuring out all that photoshop elements has to offer
class at work which has me getting up earlier than I'm used to
sitting on my butt and watching TV because I'm too tired since I've been getting up earlier than I'm used to
working out
busy weekends
family stuff

Can I just say TGIF! This week has been brutal! And holy crap it's windy out right now!

Slippers? Oh that's a seasonal item...

2009-02-16T15:24:00.002-05:00

So Jim is in desperate need for some new slippers. Like once a week he pulls one off his foot and sticks it in my face for me to smell. No, I don't voluntary smell his gross slipper...he tends to sneak up on me. So anyway, I bought him a pair for Christmas, size 12. They were too small. So we returned them and have been looking for a size 13 pair ever since. We have some gift cards to use at JCPenney and Kohl's for returns we had made, but we haven't been able to find any slippers.

The other day, this is how our conversation went...

Me: Okay, I really need to find you some slippers
Jim: Yeah. I swear nobody carries them right now
Me: laughing, it's not like stores only sell men's slippers at Christmas

So today I was at Kohl's with my mom, again looking for a pair of slippers for Jim. I finally decide to ask someone since I can't find them anywhere. What did I find out? Apparently they only sell men's slippers at Christmas. Can you believe that? Hilarious.

I did look at JCPenney and they did have a few pairs, but no size 13. I swear...the man is going to have to buy some online because I'm sick of his stinky, sweaty slipper in my face!

A relaxing Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T12:39:00.003-05:00

So yesterday marked the 5-year anniversary of our engagement. I know it's kind of a strange thing to actually acknowledge, but I didn't realize it was 5 years until a few weeks ago. I just can't believe how fast time flies! Jim brought me flowers, some type of pink lily, a card and chocolates. I was really only expecting a card, so that was sweet. And I know the whole chocolates thing sounds cheesy, but that's how he proposed. He put the ring inside the box where a chocolate had been.

We stayed in and I made him his favorite, lasagna, just like I did 5 years ago. I also tried my hand at Tiramisu and WOW! The BEST dessert I've accomplished to date! And that was our evening...nice and relaxing. I hope everyone else had a nice Valentine's Day, whether you went all out or stayed in and hung out at home.

cute crunchy candy

2009-02-14T13:30:00.003-05:00

While at Meijer yesterday shopping for tonight's dinner, I went on the search for these delicious little conversation hearts. I realize most people absolutely despise them, but I just can't get enough.

All about my bag

2009-02-14T13:00:00.006-05:00

My friend Rachel over at American Beauty tagged me with this and it seemed like fun, so here it goes.

1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. And whats in it? No cheating!

2. I want to know how much it costs. And this is not to judge. It is for entertainment purposes only. So, spill it. And, if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I'd love to hear it.

3. Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you're showing everyone your bag.

Ok, so here's my bag...

I actually JUST switched this out the other day. I've been carrying the same big black leather bag for a few months and needed a change. Plus I wanted to try and downsize and organize. I found this bag online for 60% off, so what was originally $65 was only $26...plus shipping of course.

So here's the inside...

And here's what I carry in it...

A smaller purse - this is where the downsizing came into play. The larger tote holds everything I MAY need on a daily basis, and the smaller purse holds what I need if I run in somewhere like my wallet, sunglasses, cell phone, lip gloss/chapstick, keys. Plus I can add and remove things as I need them.
Gloves
My badge for work
A compact
An inhaler
My other wallet that holds a bunch of cards I hardly ever use and my checkbook
Sharpie, pens and a pencil
The bowling scores from the other night
A planner
Various lip glosses
Brush
Feminine products
Motrin
Hand sanitizer
Right now a banana, orange and some nuts - the food items change daily
Always some type of gum
Bottle of water

And now I tag:

Jill at Here and There
Meredith at La Buena Vida
Julie at Simply Me
Julie at ...backto the basics...

What's the point of a Lean Cusine?

2009-02-13T11:38:00.003-05:00

As I sat eating my lunch today, I was going over the "nutrition" information on my Chicken Fettuccine Lean Cuisine.

6 grams of fat
3 grams saturated fat
40 mg cholesterol
690 mg sodium

I realize that anything pre-packaged like this is going to have high amounts of sodium. That being said, I do still buy them when they're on sale because it's something quick to grab when I need lunch and didn't make anything ahead of time. But they aren't healthy at all...lol. I realize it's only 270 calories which is way less than running to say McDonald's or something, but I don't really see anything Lean about them.

Oh and I didn't like this one at all. The chicken was all spongy and gross. I should've known! I usually HATE chicken in frozen meals.

Earth Hour

2009-02-11T22:33:00.002-05:00

I've never heard of this, but it sounds pretty cool.

On March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., local time, World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour -- Earth Hour -- to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions. Turn out. Take action. Be part of this historic event.

Stupid Superbowl!

2009-02-09T21:49:00.004-05:00

So Jim and I finally got around to watching the "The Office" episode that was on after the Superbowl. Well wouldn't ya know it...we didn't get to see the end of the episode because we didn't tape longer than an hour. Silly us thinking that the Superbowl was going to end when the guide said it was going to end.

...off to see if I can watch the rest of the episode online...

New Blog

2009-02-08T23:24:00.003-05:00

I am starting a new blog to include all my photographic ventures. I hope you'll check it out!

in plain view

A few pics

2009-02-08T11:59:00.003-05:00

So here's a few pics from yesterday - nothing to exciting.

Of course one of my cat (SOOC)

And there's the ice - at least the sky was blue
adjusted the levels and bumped up the blue color a little

And the pier
adjusted the levels

And here's a B&W conversion I did in Photoshop - what do you think?
applied a gradient and then played with the levels to achieve a nice contrast

A lot of reading

2009-02-08T11:13:00.003-05:00

I think I've read more in the past week than I have in the last year. What am I reading? Books about my camera, photoshop elements 6, and just photography in general.

The first book I read (before I even had my camera) was Understand Exposure. Rachel lent me her copy and it was a pretty good read. Since getting my camera, I've gone back over some of the chapters to actually see what he was talking about. Once I give this back to her I'll probably end up buying my own copy to have on hand.

I've also been reading the Canon EOS 40D Guide to Digital Photography. I bought this book along with my camera after finding out that the manual that comes with the camera really isn't that informative. So far so good - it explains a lot of the functions in detail.

Another book I've been reading is The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers. Since I'm still not really all that familiar with exactly how Photoshop works, this book has been a little over my head. It does allow you to jump around to find a particular task you'd like to perform in Photoshop so I have played around with a few of the techniques. I can see how this book will come in handy...once I learn Photoshop a little better.

And that brings me to the last book - Photoshop Elements 6 for Dummies. I've had this book for awhile now and I had started reading it, but then it quickly made it's way to the bottom of the pile and was forgotten about. Well now with the new camera and me actually wanting to learn about this stuff again, it has been resurrected. I think I'll be reading this book before I jump back into the previous mentioned book.

And that's what I've been doing this past week. I was able to get outside yesterday and use the camera in the daylight, but there really isn't anything pretty to take pictures of outside. I'm hoping to go out later today, closer to sunset, to take some more pictures. I have no idea where to go though. Everything just looks like complete crap around here.

Global Warming? Really?

2009-02-05T10:12:00.003-05:00

So it's pretty effing cold here today...again. I swear it totally sneaks up on ya too. I had NO IDEA it was going to be this cold today.

(crappy cell phone pic)

It's so cold that when you walk outside, your breath gets taken away. And I feel like there's instant icicles inside my nostrils too...very strange feeling...lol. I seriously can't remember the last time we had a winter that was this cold and had this much snow. I'm not complaining, just simply stating an observation.

So anyway, I sent the picture above to my brother just stating the fact that it IS so cold and below is the picture he sent me.

He would probably kill me if he knew I posted this on here...lol.

He goes to college in Detroit, so he does his fair share of walking around. He told me that this look is his response to the weather. He figured that with the weather so ridiculous, he would dress accordingly - ridiculous. The best part is that he said when he walks by people, he watches their eyes and that generally, they are all staring at him. Apparently they don't realize he can see out of his glasses...lol.

Do those glasses look familiar? Well if you've seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp, then that's where you've seen them. Yes...he's an odd bird.

Playing around with my camera

2009-02-04T21:00:00.006-05:00

Well I figured I'd post a few pictures of me just playing around with the camera. These are all straight out of the camera (SOOC). I was playing around with aperture settings and whatnot. Kinda fun.

Can you tell I didn't have much to take pictures of besides my cats? lol

So I got my camera yesterday

2009-02-04T08:35:00.003-05:00

My camera is here! I had it delivered to Jim's work to be sure that it would get dropped off AND to make sure it didn't have to sit out in the weather. I didn't get home until about 7:15 so I didn't start playing around with it until 7:30-ish. Jim was nice enough to open everything up at his work and charge the battery for me - how sweet :o) Man oh man there's a lot to learn about this camera! I had crappy light to work with so seeing everything I can do in manual was pretty much non-existent. I took a few pictures on auto, but nothing exciting. I'm looking forward to this weekend to actually have some light to work with. It's supposed to be near 50 this weekend, but also rainy. Oh well...we shall see. I'm still waiting for my bag to come in - hopefully today!!