As Fate Would Have It

Well today I was thinking I needed to blog but I did not have too much to write about; but by 6 p.m I have much. First, my cousin Shaylyn turned 23 today and her present was a healthy little baby boy named Drake (not sure if that is how she is spelling it); Happy Birthday and Congratulations cousin. Second, Lisa will be going to the North Side Shelter and picking up Mia the new Beagle/Labrador Retriever mix 8 month old puppy she adopted...good luck to us with crate/potty training. Third, my sister Kelly will be induced today and will most likely have her first child tomorrow...she had to be induced early for medical reasons but everything should be okay. Well...finally, while I was waiting at the bus stop this evening on my way to my 6 p.m class I was POOPED on by a bird...DISGUSTING. I wanted to run home and forget class but mom (who was on the phone) yelled at me to get on the bus and get to class. So I took a tissue out of my bag and wiped it up and got on the bus, got to school, and ran immediately into a bathroom to assess the damage. Well nothing horrible...I was fine...but once I get home I will be going immediately into the shower...we all know how I feel about germs and this is killing me!

Getting Ready for Halloween

This weekend was a much needed one. With everyone gone and no visitors Lisa and I enjoyed just being around the apartment. Friday I did homework all day and then when Lisa got home we went to the Waterfront to eat dinner and pick up groceries and other items for the house. We ate and the Rock Bottom Brewery and the food was great...we got a sampler of all the beer they make...yuck! I didn't really like any of them (neither did Lisa). After that it was Macy's, Target, Joann's, and Giant Eagle. After we got home we had ice cream (Mousse Tracks) and watched Say Yes to the Dress...after that it was reading and then to bed. The Gargoyle is fantastic by the way...should be finished by the end of the week hopefully. Saturday we went to the gym, came home and deep cleaned the house, and then cooked hamburgers, corn, and potatoes for lunch/dinner...Spooner even came over and joined us. Poor little Lisa had to babysit at 6 pm so I was all alone till around 11:45. But I decided to read some more and BAKE! I made raspberry lemon squares and they were DELICIOUS!!! Sunday was the gym again and pumpkin carving...I also baked the seeds since Lisa mentioned she liked them. We also went to lunch on Walnut and then watched Made of Honor...after that it was time to pass out. By the end of the weekend our apartment was looking ready for Halloween...pumpkin, ghost, and candy corn lights (oh and a scarecrow for the bookshelf)....and the candy is all ready for Friday...if Lisa can stay out of the Sour Patch Kids!!

Great, I was Tagged...

Well Sabra tagged me...so I guess I will tell all of you 6 weird things about me. This should definitely be interesting since I have blogged about so many of my weird habits, pet peeves, etc. But here are the 6 "weird" things I am thinking about at the moment...

1. I love the free Marriott slippers that I have collected over the last two years while John and I traveled. I love them...they are simple and whenever they become gross I throw them out and pull out another pair. Lisa absolutely hates them...I am not sure why but she thinks they are disgusting and funny looking...they probably are but I love them. I will be sad when I have no more left.

2. I am a Netflix Nazi...or so I have been told. Whenever I get a movie in the mail I get this feeling like I have to watch it and get it in the mail the next morning or I am not getting my money's worth out of it. It is silly I know but it just bugs me when people get movies and let them sit around for days...even weeks!! (Sabra) Oh well I will admit grad school has made me get a little better...sometimes I keep them for two days.

3. I have a weird obsession of always having to look at the bottom of the inside of my glasses...I can not drink anything out of a cup that has little specks of grossness stuck to it (unlike Lisa). I have also noticed I have started to inspect my silverware as well...this might be part of my germ-a-phobia.

4. Well I love going to tropical places. I think they are beautiful and I would love to get married on a beach someday. However, I hate laying out on the beach...there is sand everywhere and the sun...I am not a big fan of the sun for long periods of time...I have sensitive eyes! (and skin...SPF 80!) I guess I would rather lay in my hotel room and read looking out at the ocean from time to time than actually reading by it. I will admit though I like doing things in the water (for the most part)...but at times I do get freaked out about what is down there and I have to get out...I've noticed I only like places with really clear blue water!

5. Well...hmmm...I can not wear clothes while I am getting ready...bra and underwear only. This drives some people (my sister) crazy. It started because it was way too hot to wear clothes and blow dry and curl/straighten my hair...but I have realized I do not generally like wearing clothes at all...it could possibly be genetics...my mom loves to wear just a "house coat" and my father would pretty much be a nudist if he could.

6. Like my sister I too am OBSESSED with anything and everything Asian. I am also starting to have an obsession with vampires!!

Living Dead In Dallas

Well Charlaine Harris did it again...I freaking love this vampire series. There is at least one more and I cannot wait to read it. This book brought death, murder, sacrafice, love, lust, honor, orgies, and so many other incredible things...it is definitely raunchy but not too bad. It is absolutely a MUST read!!!

I am taking a break and reading a non-vampire book this time...The Gargoyle. Looks interesting...we shall see.

Domestically Challenged...I Think Not!

Today I had my last final...now just a paper and I am done with this hell week. It has been a rough week and it is ONLY Tuesday! Why am I in grad school...someone please remind me?!?!

Well I am now realizing I am not as domestically challenged as I once thought I was. My day consisted of laundry, cleaning the bathroom, freshened up a flower arrangement, and made tortilla soup from scratch. I know...I can't believe it either...all in one day. I think I could do the whole house wife thing...it's starting to sound perfect!

I know everyone was looking forward to Ticked Off Tuesdays but I did not want to ramble on since today was not so bad overall...but here is a little whine...I am completely upset and over school, grades, and professors...enough said!

Charming

I finally broke down and bought one...yep a charm bracelet. But I love it and I am excited to add more to it throughout the years after special and memorable events have happened. Thus far I have an umbrella and a four leave clover to represent the sister retreat we all went on in San Diego last January...it was rainy and no one had an umbrella so we had to buy many...we also saw P.S. I Love You and bawled our eyes out. I got the globe to represent all the traveling John and I did the two years we were together...Paris, Aruba, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, Denmark, and many other places. The Brazil charm is for the weeks I spent in Brazil with my class during intersession last January...I had so much fun and it was quite an experience. The Lincoln Memorial charm is for my fall break last year with Sabra in DC...I picked that one because I remember a picture of all of us girls and dad in front of it when I was about one...when Sabra and I went we got a picture in front of it as well...we look much different after 20ish years had passed. Those are the 5 charms I have now and I can not wait to see which other ones I collect through the years.

Top Ten Childhood Memories

Sabra had a great idea this morning...blogging about our top ten childhood memories. Man just ten...and do they have to be happy? Just kidding. I have plenty memories of growing up in Bard and with my family. Here they are...

1. Playing with Zac since Bard had so many other things to do. We played cowboys and indians (complete with outfits and weapons), bad guys, tent, and occasionally I got him to play barbies and teacher/school.

2. My father...stealing sips of his Diet Coke from the fridge, putting barrettes in his hair while he slept, MOVIE MARATHONS, and Ronnie's Pizza on Friday nights.

3. Breaks on the farm...since I was mostly in year round and my mother worked all colored tracks Zac and I would get to spend a few weeks working on the farm with Grandma Evelyn. Zac and I would play out in all the farm equipment at Berryman Farms, I ran the cash register, dusted, mopped, and swept Ross Corner, bagged oranges, sorted and wrapped dates, hung out with Paul and Roberto, and bank drops and lunch with grandma in town. I loved being with her and just doing the errands of the day.

4. 4-H...enough said. I don't really know how much I actually liked it all the time but it is definitely part of my childhood and I have MANY memories.

5. Christmas parties mom use to throw for Crane School faculty and staff. I loved them...the house was always so clean and decorated and all the people and food. I miss those a lot. I probably miss all her silly decorating.

6. Having older sisters...by the time I was old enough to remember things my sisters were grown up and out of the house. I loved when they would come back and take me out for an afternoon or the day. I remember Kelly took me to McDonald's once and even got in the ball pit with me (although she was much to old to be in there with me), Katie took me to Pocahontas and Papa San...all the time, and Sabra once for my birthday took me to some store in the big curve shopping center and I got a blue checkered skort, white shirt, and baby blue sparkle jellies! They always took me out and made me feel so grown up.

7. I will never forget when we all went to Maine to see Uncle Richie and they took us to a lobster farm to pick out our dinner...I cried so much I was sent to my room and fell asleep for all of dinner...thank goodness! Uncle Richie also cheated at cards and always beat me at war...I think I caught on after a few games.

8. Playing on the farm with my cousins...riding bikes and playing in the groves with Jennifer, rolling around in the mud and dress up with Shay, and easybake oven, barbies, and boyfriends with Becky (I guess Becky was the super girly one).

9. My mother's insane days of baking, cooking, or canning. Mom never cooked for us all the time (I wasn't lucky like the three older girls and had three course meals)...but on certain weekends she would decide to do one thing and she would go crazy...chocolate chip cookies, lasagna, and jams...I hated picking apricots for the jam. But after all her time we would have good food to eat...except for the cookies those always went to grandpa (his birthday or fathers day present) we would only get a few.

10.My pink PLAYhouse dad built me was always fun to play in. I had so many fun memories in there...playing drive through, house, etc. It wasn't long after I got it that I started having to duck to get through the door...I was way too tall. But it was pink with white trim so it was the best!

Ticked Off Tuesday (sorta)

Well today it sure was a Ticked Off Tuesday...right from the start. You know when a problem you have put in the back of your mind just pops up and you just are completely annoyed and angry...well that is what happened. I hit my low at around 12:30 I cried a little but then there was a knock at the door. It was a delivery man...with flowers...stargazer lilies to be exact...my favorite. Dillon had sent them to me and they could not have come at a better time. Thank you! Well as for the rest of the day I had to do Telecommunications homework so I was bored and stalling...I napped and read my book. I miss reading for fun...too much school reading and it hurts my brain. I also received many unexpected phone calls today...so I had many appreciated homework interruptions. Well overall today was just draining...my two roomies are sick and I am getting very tired and an achy headache so I am sure I will be under the weather here in a few days...JUST IN TIME FOR MIDTERMS/FINALS! Well I think I might go make dinner and call it a night. I am exhausted.

Thank you again Dillon for the flowers and amazing note.

A Much Needed Relaxing Weekend

I had another great weekend. Dillon drove the 6 hours to see me and we had a ton of fun. Friday night we went out to the Shadyside area for a little while so Dillon could meet some of my friends. We did not stay out too long though. Saturday was also perfect...movies, my kind of day. We watch Vantage Point, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and There Will Be Blood. All were good movies, There Will Be Blood was definitely my least favorite. It was way too long (2h and 38m) and too dark and weird. I made Dillon and Howard tacos for lunch and then Dillon and I made stir fry with chicken for dinner. Then on Sunday I woke up and made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with homemade cream cheese frosting (Sabra's recipe). Everyone loved them!! I was so glad. I have had a ton of them...hate pumpkin pie but love these cookies. Sunday afternoon/evening I did have to do some group work for financial accounting but it was not too bad considering I took all of sat and most of sun off from school work. But do not worry these next to weeks are going to be hell; I have a homework assignment, two midterms, one final, one final presentation, and a final paper...WISH ME LUCK AND SANITY!

I need some new dessert recipes so send me one if you got it...chocolate is always a plus!

PS - There will be a Ticked Off Tuesday post...but I did get a great email this morning...a 98 out of 96 on my financial accounting homework...yay for extra credit.

My New New Hair....what do you think??

Here are pictures of my new hair. I went for Sienna Miller's new look...so what's the verdict? Let me know...I need feedback...we shall also see how it looks after I style it. Hope to hear back from some of you.

Arrested Development & Ironman...FINALLY

So I finally finished Arrested Development (seasons 1, 2, and 3). It has taken me forever...since I have so much school work. I absolutely LOVED IT. Everyone has to see it. It just makes you realize that maybe your family isn't so bad. I am so sad that it was canceled. But I didn't even know it was on so maybe that is why no one watched it. Oh well...maybe it will come back or they will do a movie...doubt it but you can always hope right?!?

As for Ironman...thanks for the recommendation Sabra. I should have seen it in theaters but since I had a job this summer I never made it. Well I netflixed it the day it came out (yesterday) and watched it immediately. It was a fantastic movie and I cannot wait for the next one to come out. Plus Robert Downy Jr. isn't so bad to look at either with his new bod! It is a MUST see...thanks again sissy.