Halfway up the Stairs

Updates

2012-01-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

I found myself sick a couple weeks ago and unfortunately it has been sticking with me a couple weeks ago. It started with a chest cold that turned to bronchitis and an ear infection and now is working it's way out of my system, slowly but surely. I haven't been breathing real well with it and it has zapped all of my energy to the point where I am just super tired. I was having trouble climbing the 2 sets of stairs to my second floor apartment there for awhile. Each day I have felt a little better though. I just did not want to take any antibiotics and then get sick all over again because my immune system was weakened by the drugs. Oh well, day 15 of this stupid sickness is here and I can't wait to be done with it.

In the midst of all of that I went job hunting again...I had 3 calls in 2 days time from the 8 applications that I put in online. Two from bakeries and one in need of a server at a country club. I accepted a almost full time job at a fun Bakery/Restaurant called the Swiss Pastry Shoppe. They remind me of a smaller scale Das Dutch Haus where I worked for 12+ years and enjoyed so much. I had my first day yesterday and they all seem really nice there, many of them have been there over 10 years and the hours fit perfect for me. I'm looking forward to being there and becoming a part of a fun mom and pop shop again.

No-Bakes

2011-12-29T08:38:00.000-08:00

When I worked as a bakery manager I loved their no-bakes...maybe a little too much :) They were the best thing we had in that place (along with the maple creamsticks). And even though I made 1000's of dozens of them, I never got tired of them. Of course everyone likes them some chocolate and peanut butter mixed up with sugar and butter and oats. It really is just one big piece of candy. Along with the other few different varieties of cookies and candies I also made Chocolate No-Bakes for Christmas this year. I'm sharing the recipe here. Hope you enjoy!

4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 sticks margarine
1 1/4 cups milk
2 cups creamy peanut butter
6 cups rolled quick oats
2 tsp. vanilla

*First...Make sure that all of your ingredients are measured out before cooking the no-bakes. Timing is of the essence when making them, because they can be too soft or too overcooked if there is any wait in the process of mixing them due to measuring things out after the mixture cooks.

*Second...In a large saucepan, mix together the sugar and cocoa till cocoa lumps are broken up well. Mix in milk and margarine. Cook over med-high, stir often and watch mixture closely. Bring to a boil and once you have a ROLLING BOIL start a timer for 2 1/2 minutes. Leave the mixture to boil and get your peanut butter, oats, and vanilla close by.

*Third...once timer is done, turn off heat and take saucepan off of stovetop. This is where you make your work fast with no interruptions until the no-bakes are scooped out. Mix in the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir peanut butter in till melted pretty well with just a few lumps left.

*Fourth...add oats. You may not need all of the oats here. Mix in enough to so that it still looks a little bit soupy, but not too much to make it look like a thick oatmeal.

*Fifth...scoop out no-bakes onto wax paper with clicky scooper whatever size you desire. Let the no-bakes cool and firm up. Eat and Enjoy!

Oh Christmas Tree...

2011-12-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Its a funny thing being in a state with no real "winter" conditions during the Christmas season. We've been having moderately cold weather, but I have yet to see any ice or snow. It rained for a few days and reminded me of a nice spring day in Ohio, with the overcast sky and cool rain. But nothing like the snow and ice that normally prevailed over the entire winter each year in Northeast Ohio.
Needless to say, I miss the snow and inclement conditions some days. I miss looking out the window in the morning to see how much snow we got overnight. I miss laying in bed and listening to the cars driving to work in the morning and trying to figure out how much snow is on the road by listening to their tires as they drive by. Lots of snow meant you could barely hear them as they snuck by the house. Or if the roadcrews had already been out you could hear the slushy snow underneath the tires. Here, I don't have cars drive by that much since I live in a gated apartment community, and there are no major roads right out my window (although within 1/4 mile there is major highways everywhere). Plus, I know that if I look out the window, it is probably going to be sunny and beautiful out. Of course no snow or ice to suprise me though.
Last night my Baby and I finished putting the Christmas lights on the tree, and it looks absolutely amazing. He says that there are between 1600 and 1700 lights on it. He did most of the work of putting the lights on and I think there are 9 strands of lights added along with the 600 prelit lights that came with the tree. It is it's own source of heat in the living room as I watch it twinkle and flash and make this Christmas season somehow brighter. Christmas is his favorite time of year. His mother and him would decorate their Christmas trees with as many lights as they could fit on it and cover it with all the decorations they had stored away. They shared a love of Christmas together, and now that his mother is no longer with him, he continues the traditions that she gave to him.
So here are a few pictures of our tree pre-decorations. Enjoy :)

Memories in Insomnia

2011-12-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

Last night I layed in bed unable to sleep and dealing with some insomnia. It's funny how thoughts past and present come to mind when you least expect them in the quiet and stillness of the night. When there is nothing else jumping in to take over thoughts and actions.
My mind went back to the hardware store by our house that my Uncle Steve worked at during high school and after called Rural Supply. We would often go there to visit and spend some time there, we went quite frequently because it was when Mom and Dad were building the log house and there was always some small item that they needed to get to finish something up. This hardware store was an old dusty store that smelled like man and tools, and rubber belts and dirt. I loved going there. What made it especially exciting was the big white rusty deep chest freezer right by the door of the store. I think it was to the left of the door when you went out even. What was inside were all kinds of ice cream treats. Popsicles, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cones, orange pops, you name it. I don't know if the owner had a sweet tooth, or if he liked to see the smile on peoples faces when they took something from that freezer. My brother and I would literally open the lid and lean into that rusty wonder, letting cold frosty air cover our faces, looking for what we wanted when Mom or Dad gave us the go ahead.
I'm sure that Mom and Dad made us wait for the treats in the rusty white icebox till the end because, for one, that meant that we would be good until the end of the trip there. Plus any kid thinks that they will just eat up that treat, but in all reality every kid on the face of the earth makes a mess eating and inevitably Mom and Dad didn't want us dripping sticky ice cream on the ground or wiping grimy chocolate fingers on something on the shelf.
That rusty freezer caused such a warm and exciting memory. Amazing how life as a kid was filled with so much fun from a simple ice cream treat.

Eggrolls

2011-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

So... I found myself with a day off and looking for things to do. I decided that the paychecks just weren't going to get into the bank on their own so I deposited them. I then went to TJ Maxx and roamed around for awhile looking for gift ideas. I found a few things, a pine scented yankee candle, some skull bottle stoppers, jeans for me (Im a sucker for good jeans), and a nerf toy for my boyfriends lil 3 year old. I then went shopping at one of my favorite grocery stores called Sprouts Farmers Market. I got avocados, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, zucchini, roma tomatoes, blackberries, oranges among other goodies such as ear candles and garlic sourdough bread :) Then to get gas for my beastly gas guzzling truck. I got home and cleaned up the place a bit and moved around the 4 totes of Christmas decorations that will be going around the house and on the tree in the next couple days. I decided to try my hand at making chinese eggrolls after that and I think they turned out pretty decent. I took a couple pictures of the funtivities involved. The recipe ensues...

Gathering all the ingredients.

Cut up the cabbage and carrots and make the oil nice and hot.

Add all of the ingredients to the pan and cook till the cabbage is slightly wilted.

Let the mixture cool down and then prepare to wrap!

There we go making some eggrolls :)

Wrapped and ready to be fryed up to eat.

Mmmmm...look at those hot little rolls!

I ran out of cabbage mixture so I had some leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving and some velveeta!

Finished product, ready to eat! The top ones are the chinese eggrolls and the bottom ones are the mashed potato and cheese ones. They all turned out better than I thought. I could have wrapped up the cabbage eggrolls a little tighter, but I was afraid to tear the fragile eggroll wrappers. Fun stuff, I will definitely make them again. Heres the recipe for the chinese eggrolls if you are so inclined.

4 c. cabbage, coarsely chopped shopping list

1 or 2 tsp. red wine, optional shopping list

1 pkg. egg roll skins shopping list

2 carrots, grated shopping list shopping list

2 tbsp. soy sauce shopping list

1/2 c. chicken broth shopping list

1/2 tsp. salt shopping list

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp 5 spice powder

2 tsp stir fry sauceshopping list

How to make it

· Into a large frying pan, place about 3 T. oil. Let oil get hot.

· Throw everything into the pan, and saute until well blended and coated with oil/wilted just a tad bit---not completely shrunken, but just reduced by a bit. You don't want to over-cook. You're just looking to wilt everything a bit before the frying stage!

· Remove from heat, pour vegetable/meat mixture into a colander and let drain into another bowl in the fridge until cool enough to handle.

· Prepare wrappers by laying out on waxed/parchment paper.

· Wet edges of each wrapper individually with a fingertip or small brush dipped in water.

· Place approximately 3 tablespoons mixture in each wrapper, and seal egg rolls

· At this point, you can either deep fry for a couple minutes, or fry in about a half-inch of hot oil until golden brown.

Have it Good

2011-11-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

I don't often think about how good I have it at work. I was so blessed to find jobs immediately when I moved to Fort Worth, and I soon found that they really loved my work ethic and how personable I was with people. I think there is something to midwestern work ethics that isn't always realized here. I work my butt off with every job I have, no matter the pay. I give 100% in it. It is my livelihood and I have been rewarded in the past with recognition in getting better positions and raises by my working hard. Unfortunately, I don't see that hard work ethic as much in those around me at my other jobs, people tell me that I'm working hard, to just sit down and let others take care of stuff, things like that. The winery loves to have me there and is looking to advance me in the future when they get everything grounded in the next few months with some major position changes of the owners. the owner suprised me the other day when he asked me to do an 8 wine tasting for a group of 12. He trusts that my wine knowledge is good enough to be able to share it with others (and he is a stickler for us knowing all the details about our wines). I love working there, we have a close knit crew and I've made some great friends. People who come in say that they love to be there because we have so much fun there, and really we do. We joke around, and there never seems to be any bad nights there. The managers want us to drink the wines (isnt that terrible?) and know our stuff. We sip wine all night as we work, and the customers love that we drink wine with them. All in all it's a great job, I have learned so much about wine and their regions, distinct tastes, terriore, varietals, bordeuxs, and all that good stuff. I always wanted to be more knowledgeable in wine, and I feel like I really have it now. There is so much more to learn, but I will get there. I really do have it good.

Glorious Week

2011-11-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Mama made the long flight to Texas to visit me for a week. She left on Monday and it was so hard to see her go. We had a great time. We went antique mall shopping and found some cool things, we went to the botanical gardens where they have an amazing japanese zen garden, I took her to my winery that I work at and we drank wine and ate cheese, olives, and crackers. The tastes that I poured must have been a little too heavy. Mama may have imbibed just a little too much wine, but I wanted her to try some that I thought she would enjoy. We laughed and joked for hours there. We played uno for a few nights and found a book that asks questions like, "if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what food would you choose to eat a day that would keep the doctor away instead?" We drove out to Mineral Wells State Park and went hiking on the rocky terrain, we went to the overlooks and took pictures of Lake Mineral Wells. We walked around an abandoned haunted hotel that has been standing since the early 1900's. We went and ate way too much every day, but we had fun with trying a bunch of new places. So, yes, I thought about kidnapping her and making her stay here. If there were anything that I could change, I would change this distance between us. I miss, more than anything, not being able to just go and see my family and friends whenever I want to. Because the best part, the very best part was seeing her smiling face all day and putting my arms around her as much as I could. Being in her presence, enjoying our time together, that is what matters. It wouldn't have mattered that we went anywhere, or did anything. Just to have that glorious week was perfect.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

2011-11-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

He tells me that I was never the one he truly wanted. Stubborn intent and decisions change the course of lives. They cut ties that can never be mended. He never wants to see, hear, or speak to this "evil" that is me. I wish that I hadn't thought that those little monkey trinkets were just something cute with a little life lesson. They play a much larger lesson in life. I see that I am an evil in someones life now. So much so that they never want to see, hear or speak to me again. Ever.

Whats New?

2011-09-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

What's new? How do I answer that question? Cause for almost a year I haven't found the words to write anything on this blog. So "new" a year ago is totally different than "new" last week. So I guess I share what is on my mind at this point in "new".

Those close to me know that I have been working 2 jobs, one as a certified nurse aide at a rehabilitation center, and the other as a server at a full production winery. I love working at the winery. I've really built up my knowledge and tastes of wines, and the atmosphere there, the friends I work with and everything about it is just so agreeable to me. They also really like me there and want me to pick up more days and possibly take on some more responsibilities as time goes on. I've come to very much dislike the nurse aide job for various reasons, so I went on the search for another job.

Good and bad is the fact that I live right next to a mall. Bad being that I live by a mall and traffic is stupid crazy. Good being that they are building a new restaurant/brewery in the parking lot of the mall and I applied and was hired to be a server there starting on Halloween. They are just finishing up the building of it and from everyone I have talked to it is a fun place to work, and they make decent money there. I like it for the fact that they have their own line of microbrews that are pretty dang tasty if i may say so myself. I went there and enjoyed a few of their concoctions recently :) So, I'm excited to say I can quit the nursing job, and start working less hours a week as a server there and keep the winery job too. This will also give me more freedom to pursue my nursing school career and find that college out there that will take me with over 120 credits under my belt. I am excited to start this new phase, even though it has been long overdue and I already should be done with college and the extreme mess that it has become. But I have amazing support, and lots of potential colleges around here to work with.

I also have someone really special in my life that tries to help me forget that I am so far away from my family and friends. Unfortunately that isn't always possible and each day is a struggle for me to just be happy with where I am and not think about the past, but dwell on what I have now and make it the best that I can. He keeps me smiling and happy, he wants to and does spend time with me, we have so much in common, and also have a ton that we are totally opposite on. But that just makes for an interesting mix. I still have my closest friends that I get to talk to not nearly as much as I want to. My Mama is coming to visit me in a month and I am so excited to have her with me for a week. I may just kidnap her and make her stay here forever :) So much has changed, I am still overwhelmed by life sometimes, but all in all, life is good.

Where to begin?

2010-11-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

If I knew what to write I would have started long ago. But the words seem to escape me lately. I want to write and tell of all the changes in my life, but some are too difficult to express, and others are too personal and close to home to share. Here are some things I've learned or thought about over the past several months...

...distance doesn't make your heart separate from home and those you love there. I have never felt such burdening heartache or homesickness than in this time of my life. There are some days that I just want to go home and get a hug from my Mama, there are days when all I can think of is walking through the woods and creeks that I know every step of the way. I miss the ease of just getting to sit and hang out with my friends and family. I miss knowing that there are so many close to me that I know and cherish and can see anytime that I want. I am a stranger here. I don't have connections, I don't have friends. It is the weirdest feeling to know that no one knows me. I can go anywhere I want and not a soul will know me from Adam. I miss my home pretty much every moment of every day.

...I wish that people wouldn't judge my decisions in life, but instead find out more about what brought me to this point before doing so. It's awful easy make a judgement based on hearsay, or what little information has been offered. I'm not one to tell everyone what is going on in my life easily. If you want to talk to me, then do it is the way I feel. I am not going to come to others if they are not wanting to deal with more things in their life. I'm afraid that I have burned bridges that will never be built again. If that is the case then I am truly sorry. I should have spoken up when it was so hard to, I should have come to those that wanted to know what was going on instead of hiding all of the things I was dealing with in life. I know it is difficult to stop what is going on in our daily lives, so I don't blame anyone for anything.

...I'm not sure that I ever really lived to the point where I took care of everything myself. It is an interesting, satisfying, and scary feeling to know that I am providing for myself now. I pay the bills, I support myself, I make the decisions on what is available to me each day. Especially since each day I am scrounging to pay my bills and provide shelter and food to my table. I never was totally aware of how much work was involved in daily living. I was sheltered from it in ways to not cause me stress or anxiety over it, and I understand the burden it places on each of us much more intricately now.

None of this is to say that I am not happy; because I am. I have found that I love cooking and baking again. Gosh, I missed the simple joys of making food and what fun that gave me. I've been reading books again. Not the ones I was required to read for school, these are ones I am actually excited to read. I am working a weekday job that doesnt kill my body everyday. I just started a new weekend job that will hopefully give me some more opportunities to ground myself into life here and looks to be a lot of fun. I love the fact that I can still go outside in a light jacket in November, and that I can open the curtains of my home and have the sun shine brightly into the windows each day. The sky is so immense and spread out here. The trees and small hills offer little break to the far off scenery that I can catch a glimpse of from my patio and so many areas around where I live.

Thanks for reading in and have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with those you love and cherish.

Time is a flying!

2009-11-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

Just a quick "Hello" to the few that occasionally get on my blog to see if I have written anything for awhile. This semester is going super fast, I am already into my 11th week with just enough more weeks to count on one hand. I am in a very time and mind consuming class this second half of the semeste; critical care. I have been enjoying this class and it seems to really help me put everything together that I have learned thus far. There is no room for mistakes in the medical field, but I have to be at the top of my game especially with patients in critical condition.

Other than that I had a great weekend with Sam. We went out to visit the Fort Wayne boys and hang out for the weekend. It was relaxing and it helped me recharge. Plus the fact that the weekend was gorgeous and we got lots of fresh air helped it all too. My arm is a bit sore from all of the football, raquetball, and 5 gallon empty water container throwing that happened over the weekend from being with 3 guys and no girls but myself around. It was a good time.

Hope everyone is doing well! Talk to you again in a month or two!

Jack not name! Jack job!

2009-09-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember the muppet movie where fozzie and kermit hit the road and they stop at a car dealership to buy a car and that huge beast of a muppet starts moving cars around with his hands? "Jack not name! Jack job!" Yeah, I was thinking about that today, no real significance, i just want to watch that movie again. Maybe feel like a kid excited to just watch muppets having fun.

Anyways, schools back in session as some of you read from Sams blog. My sanity will be tested again as usual this semester. I will get to finish my practicum this next 8 weeks with preceptor for 120 hours at the new St. E's hospital in Boardman so I am looking forward to that. I am not looking forward to the 3 hour seminar I have to give in November on accountability and peer review though. I don't know what to fill 3 hours of a seminar about accountability on. Any ideas on discussion, games, etc to fill that time up? Haha, Im studying up on it now, it should all work out just fine I'm sure. I finished my portfolio and resume this week before I get into the big clinical days and stressfilled study time. That is a big weight off of my shoulders. Its not hard work, just time consuming when I don't really have that time to give. I'm excited that this is my last year of school, it is going to go so fast and I am looking forward to all of the prospective jobs out there that I will be able to look at and decide on. Exciting and scary!

Welp, thats about it for me right now, more later as the semester goes on, hopefully I can get on this blog more than every 2 months:) Love and Peace to all!

Simply Said

2009-06-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

"You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect - you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there." -Bob Marley

Time Away

2009-05-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

So, I have been away from the blogger scene for awhile now. As the end of the college semester reared its ugly head I resigned to focusing on it. I also started a new job that has been quite the challenge to get used to; with its crazy hours and physical stress on my body. I have found new muscles and aches and pains in my body that I never had before. I have found that I have new smells to experience that I don't quite enjoy so much. I have so many funny stories of things that happen at night with the resident that I take care of. The lady that told me that she was going to call the police on me because I was taking her out of the building even though I was only taking her down the hall. The man that told me I was the sherriff and putting him in jail. The woman who got picked up in a red firebird on Easter morning by her pimp boyfriend in his canary yellow suit and white patent leather shoes. The stories keep happening and I keep laughing. Thats all I really need in this crazy time of readjustment. A good laugh.

But now that summmer is here it is time to wind up again; to enjoy the time that I have to myself and with my family and friends. I was in a wedding with one of my best friends in the world a few weeks ago, to see her and her new husbands excitement and love was such an encouragement and a blessing. I get to enjoy seeing my friends more who live only 4 hours away, but that distance is longer than it ever should be. I get to be with my husband more and go hiking and enjoy uninterrupted time and focus on him and our house. I get to go traveling, go to concerts, read some great books, make some tasty meals, all of this I am just utterly excited to do. No stress and no time management with school involved. All free of burden. I love summer!

Done with that

2009-03-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

I can't be further from done with that past blog or the season that it fell into. I really wish that people did not have to get so uptight or judgemental over feelings that I, personally, have. So what if I wanted to write about what I just went through or the fact that I was hurt and saddened by the events in my own life. Goodness knows this blog doesn't reflect exactly who I am or my traits or flaws. This blog to me is merely a reflection of what is going on in my life and my thoughts from time to time. My friends know that, and they come to me if they have something to say from these words that I write out and post on the world wide web. I want to be able to show my cards and explain to you if you have a problem or offense.

Why would someone put themselves out there and say some really nasty things to me that are only trying to bring me down without having any contact or want to contact me? What makes a person do that? I'm not sure. If someone takes offense to what I say they should come to me straight away and find out about me before making judgement calls. Life works that way. You don't shy away from confrontation if it is needed to resolve things. Yeah, whoever it was that said some things on my past blog; it hurt, it really sucked. So good for them! I'd like to know if they feel really proud now because I never got to respond to their comments.

It is my personal belief that people should never make others look bad just to make themself look good. Life and people are too good, time is too precious, and friends are too few to be hurting each other.

Suprise Ending

2009-01-27T14:04:00.000-08:00

As many of you have heared, I lost my job at the Encore Cafe last week. It was a sudden shock, to say the least. I knew that since the cafe opened it was always hurting financially. It seems that a new cafe in Columbiana is just not what people are able to spend their hard earned money on. The past 2 months the daily take at the cafe went down to half of what it had been.

I understood that; we made drastic changes, but nothing seemed to do the trick. I knew it was hurting. Even though the head cheese never really gave me any indication of where things were, I knew we were hurting bad. I tried to do everything that I could to make things work. I developed recipes that were cheaper for the cafe but also gave some tasty scratch recipes, took care of jobs that would let people get out of there earlier on their shifts, any thing that I could think up, I did. I had a pretty strong suspicion.

My plans were to quit after this semester at college. To work through the semester and find something in the medical field to get my foot in the door since I will be graduating in May of 2010. I knew that I didn't have to put up with the place too much longer. My heart wasn't in it anymore. I never really had control over the place and it was slowly released from me over the past year anyways. Why was I there trying to make good of something that really didn't treat me right in the first place? Lots of promises were made, none of which happened. Ideas were thrown around only to be taken back at the last second. Trust was placed in me and things asked of me, but when I went to take care of them my toes (and trust) were stepped on.

I am glad to not be there anymore for the fact that I never had a worse boss, I never had so much mistrust placed in me. I was never lied to this much for something so simple as coffee, salads, and sandwiches. My faith in people, in friends, was shattered...I lost friends, I gained friends, it was the most trying year of work that I ever had. I have never been hurt so bad and I will never get hurt like that again.

In fact I will never do it again.

Bleak Outlook

2009-01-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

So I'm just sitting at the Cafe waiting for Sam to get done with his new job at 4:30. We drove together this morning (as Sam pointed out, it was the first time that we ever have been able to drive to work together) to save on some gas and because the roads were pretty horrendous that we didn't want to venture 2 cars out there.

We turned onto the side road about 1/10ths of a mile from our house and Sam ran over a black lid to a trash can. I think that our car has a decent amount of clearance under it but that darn lid stuck under the car and we started dragging it. It was so loud! Sam stopped and tried to back up to lose it and it still stayed with us. So we had to pull into a driveway and somehow the gravel in the driveway loosened the lid and it popped out from under our car. It was like a mini snowplow under our car. Goofy, but at least we had a good laugh on the way to work.

I am so glad that we are starting to see some longer days. I think that this winter has snuck up some depression in me that started silently but has recently reared its ugly head. Seasonal Affective Disorder, maybe I need to get some spotlight and sit in it, drink some milk for vitamin D and soak in some rays of artificial light.

We got to go to Hocking Hills right after the new year with some of our best friends. I really had a good time, but it went entirely too fast and it stayed busy the entire time also. I was expecting a little down time, but I didn't find it till about 1am every night, when everyone was trying to stay awake. I loved the Lodge we stayed in this year, it was beautiful and the lay out of the huge cathedral living room/dining room/kitchen was just about perfect to spend our time with each other. We ended up getting into some closets that were closed to our viewing:) and we found some amazing white graduation gowns and prom dresses. From there we made our own fun. As always good friends, good food, good hiking, good sleeping, good dancing. Pictures will be posted soon I hope!

Random thoughts, but thats how I do.

Reminiscing...

2008-12-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the first concert you ever went to of your favorite band? I was looking thru things of mine the other day...and I found some ticket stubs from Pearl Jam concerts I have gone to in the past. I remember my first time seeing them. We were in Pittsburgh at Post Gazette Gazebo on the lawn, I'm not even sure of the year? Maybe 1999? I'm sure Sam would remember the exact date since he is good with those things. We were waiting for Iggy Pop to come on the stage and play. A single man comes on the stage and says " I am Iggy Pop" and starts singing this:

I will come to you in the daytime
I will raise you from your sleep
I will kiss you in four places
As I go runnin' down your street

I will squeeze the life right out of you
I will make you laugh, I'll make you cry
And we may never forget it
As I make you call my name as I shout it to the blue, summer sky

And we may never meet again
So shed your skin lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me

I will come to you at nighttime
I will climb into your bed
I will kiss you in 155 places
As I go runnin' round in your head

I will squeeze the life right out of you
I will make you laugh, I'll make you cry
And we may never forget it
As I make you call my name as I shout it to the blue, summer sky

And we may never meet again
So shed your skin lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me...
("Throw Your Arms Around Me", Hunters and Collectors)

As he starts singing I realize that it is Eddie Vedder, the lead singer from Pearl Jam. All the years of waiting to finally see him live and in person wash over me and I remember the feelings. The song, the moment, it all fit together perfectly. All of the other Pearl Jam concerts that we went to, he never did that. He never came on stage and played an acoustic song to start the night like that night. It was one of a kind. I thought I was going to cry, I thought I was going to faint like one of those silly girls you see in the old Beatles videos. The crowd went wild as everyone realized it was Eddie all at the same time and that made the emotions even headier. But I will never forget how special that moment was. All the other concerts I have ever been to, none of them were as memorable as that one, and that moment.

Man Down!

2008-09-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

We took a hard hit from Hurricane Ike last night. Of course being on top of a hill we always get the most extreme elements of each season. We have had some pretty wild storms on that hill. The straight line winds that come over the hill have torn down trees and knocked down our tall garden sunflowers and blown away trash cans galore. In the spring we don't get leaves on our trees for another 2 weeks after everyone else because of the elements. Its just something that we are used to laugh at anymore.

Last nights storm was in the top 3 of the worst we have had since we moved there almost 10 years ago. We had Megan over for supper and planned on watching a movie or just chilling for the night. The winds were wild the entire day & they picked up around 8pm. We sat on the porch for awhile watching everything unfold; it's always a great show out there. Winds picked up and the electricity went out. We went inside for a moment and we noticed that cars were stopped on the road in front of our house. A large locust tree fell onto the road and was blocking it for traffic. People were trying to move the branches onto the side and into our yard so Sam went out with the chainsaw to try and cut it smaller. When we got out towards the road we noticed that the electric pole was bent at an angle towards the ground and leaning into our yard. Yikes! I called 911 to let them know the situation and of course it was busy. I finally got ahold of them and they said they would put it on file, to call if it caught on fire or sparked. Whoa whoa wee whoa!

Megan drove her car to the end of the driveway to shine lights on the tree in the road. It was so huge there was no way of it getting cut. While I was out there I got smacked in the ear with a flying branch and it hurt for the rest of the night. A huge branch rolled right into Megans car and scraped along the side of it while she was parked there. We watched it rolling towards us and Megan said that it came at her so fast she forgot to roll up her window as it rolled past the drivers side. Today we looked and her car is all scraped up from it. Electricity is still out now over 24 hours later and not supposed to get turned on possibly for a couple days.

I had to work today, but Sam took the day off to clean up everything. I went home and our great friends Megan and Jonathan were there. I worked the morning with Brad and he came over as soon as we got off work. We picked up and burned 5 truckloads of branches and leaves in the firepit in the afternoon, the yard probably looks better than it did before! We emptied the refrigerator and freezers and brought everything over to Jonathans house to store there. Tonight we are staying with the Wilsons since we possibly won't get electricity for another couple days, at least not till that electric pole gets fixed. But at least I got a shower tonight and I am comfy in a house with great friends who are hospitable and love to help us out.

What? Its all over?

2008-08-27T10:01:00.001-07:00

Playing cards on July 4th

Relaxin at Lakeside

Sammys birthday presents
Well, the summer is officially over for me. I'm not even sure what to write about because I didn't let anyone in on what was going on in my blogsphere at all. I've never been good at writing in journals because I just get on these crazy tangents and the information I wanted to write never gets on the paper. In saying all of that because I just went on a tangent; I had a really great summer! I got to relax, enjoy time with friends and family, go on some sweet weekend trips, drink myself a little too much, sleep in, get sunburnt, get mad, get tattooed, get a dreadlock, eat tasty smorgasbords, throw crap away, play some tennis, make a pinata, read a book, and all things good. I will write on some of the more memorable events of the summer in the future but for now, of course, I have to get to class.

Visiting

2008-06-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

I have been a world traveler these past couple months. Really just a Eastern part of the United States traveler is all. I went to Bradenton Beach in Florida with my Dad at the end of March and then at the end of April I went to Chicago for a NRA food show with Don, the owner of the Encore Cafe and Main Street Theater. Both trips were semi-work trips. I went to Florida to help Dad clear out and clean the house that was passed to him in the death of his brother. I went to Chicago to peruse a HUGE food show there to get some great ideas and make some contacts with restaurant sources. I did get time by myself which was absolutely amazing. I love to have time to myself and in both trips I had lots of it because I didn't have my husband or any friends travel along with me. I would rather have had Sam or close friends with me because each of the trips would have been so much more fun, but at the same time I enjoyed myself immensely in the fact that I was alone. I love friends and sharing all my time with others. Don't get me wrong. But I think that I am a loner more than I admit. I am too independent and I am stubborn as all get out. When I want something I want it then and there and that is a downfall of mine. I have a hard time waiting for things so it is just sometimes easier to do it on my own and in the timely manner that I want it done in. So it was nice to be by myself each time for awhile.

In Chicago I stayed in my own room at the Chicago Hilton on Michigan St. right across from the lake and Grant Park. This hotel reminded me of the movie "The Shining". I love that movie and I was just a little creeped out by all of the gaudiness and pomp at the hotel although it was absolutely amazing to see how much work and effort was put into that hotel. I was very much impressed by it all. I went to an awesome suburb of Chicago called Wicker Park where I visited a sweet record store, a musty bookstore and a independent coffeeshop called the Earwax Cafe. I want to take everyone back to visit them all with me again! In Florida I spent as much time on the beach as I could. I got my usual big ole sunburn which turned to a nice shade of pink on my skin and is now faded to barely noticeable. Overall they were both excellent trips and I hope to go back to both places soon and with family and friends so I can share more memories with them there.

Wheres the time gone?

2008-06-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Whoa whoa we whoa! I thought that I would have a little more time to get in some more blogging and catching up on my blog reading once school was out. Turns out I don't have much extra of that glorious commodity to go around. I'm still pretty busy at the Cafe. I work 6 days a week there. Sundays are amazing I must say!!!! Last Sunday Sam and I spent the first part of the day outside. Sam played in the garden and did a bunch of other stuff around the house that needed done. Trimmed the golden threads by the door, rounded up all the weeds around the firepit and other areas of the yard and a bunch of other stuff I probably missed. I spent some time inside cleaning and putting away stuff that I just sat down whenever I got in the house the past several days. Later in the day we watched TV and both took a nice sunday nap in the living room. Sam in his lazyboy chair and me in my comfy, sink-in 1960's orange fainting couch that my best friends parents gave to me after I begged them to give it to me for years and years prior. This couch is the best thing in the world. I'm telling you if you ever get to sit or rest in it you will sink in and never want to come back out. It's that good. So off of that tangent; we got up went to hike in the Coke Ovens in Leetonia for awhile, got some Dairy Queen and sat outside by the little creek that runs behind it to eat and then went to the Oakvale Cemetary to walk around and check out some of the gravestones and mausoleums. Sam actually broke into one of the mausoleums. It didn't seem like it was really locked but once the doors were opened we could tell that it was supposed to hold back people from getting in. The entire inside was a rose colored marble and there were some keys laying on a bench that looked like they were to be used to get into the vaults. I don't know. We didn't try them. So after that adventure we went home and I made the usual Sunday homemade pizza. Which hasn't been "usual" for the last 2 months probably. Kyle and Brad came over and we watched a movie together and ate the tasty pizza. I must say the crust was really good this time. Thin and a little crunchy. Yum. I made a pepperoni, a spinach alfredo and a pepperoni and onion pizza. With the 4 of us we had less than 1 pizza left so it must have tasted ok. After the movie we watched the Best of Chris Farley DVD from SNL and laughed our heads off. I really miss that guy. He was probably my favorite from SNL. So good. Well, I am writing this at work so I must be getting back. I'm suprised that no one has come in to say that I had a visitor of phone call to get to. Later all!

Oh Man! Here it Comes!

2008-04-29T20:02:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why I put the crazy pictures on my blogs sometimes that don't really make sense with the topic at hand. I enjoy a nice random picture to spice it up a bit and make you wonder what's in my wacko head. But this one seemed to make sense to me with all of the chaos coming up. So this next week is gonna be killer! 2 cumulative finals in the hardest classes I have taken as of yet in my entire college career, the grand opening of the Main Street Theater on May 8th and with that planning a menu for the big day, menu planning for Mothers Day, scheduling my employees around the Cafe and Theater, studying my brains out in the "spare" time I will have with all of that and then all of the little details that go along with getting a 440 seat theater prepared for a huge influx of people that have been curious for over a year to see the place in all it's glory! Yikes! I was talking to my friend and we are both sick of school so we discussed it and I think that we are going to just move to Mexico and start a freak show with some of the crazy people that come into the cafe every once in awhile. We got T-Rex, the Determinator, Creepy 40-100 year old woman, the Caramel Macchiatti man, Grand Wizard I and II, Pink Slipper Woman, and Red Dog. Wouldn't you like to come see it? So if you aren't doing anything this Thursday, May 8th we are having an open house for the grand opening of the Main Street Theater from 6-9pm. Refreshments, a movie(Breakfast at Tiffany's), presentation with a slide show and lots of other suprises to pique your interest. Come on out! I'd love to see ya!

Florida.

2008-04-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

So, um, yeah, I am in Florida right now. No joke. At this very moment I am sitting in the downstairs apartment of my Fathers newly aquired house. We have the windows all open and the fans going. Dad is sitting near me reading the local newpapers with his feet up just like any good old dad does in the evenings. I am sitting here in the other lazyboy chair with my feet up too. I am feeling pretty cold right now, mostly from the sunburn that I got while on the beach today for 2 hours. I swear I put on suntan lotion; that stuff just doesn't work for me and now I am freezing from all of the heat radiating from me. No wonder Florida is so hot. All the heat that people generate from sunburns here, its gotta be redunkulous. I kinda really like the feeling that a good hard sunburn gives you. A little headache, some tight skin on your face when you smile, all that good stuff. We are down here to clean up the house and to get together documents and stuff that my Dad needs to go through to clear up all the legal mumbo jumbo since his brother died. We flew down on Saturday morning and we are flying back on Tuesday. I am really enjoying the feeling of being down here. I enjoy alone time and this is also giving me some time to study and get schoolwork done without all the interruptions that life gives me in Ohio. So if you don't see me for a few days, well um yeah, thats cause I'm in FLORIDA!

Well that happened.

2008-03-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has had me in their thoughts and prayers these past few weeks. I am really doing well. This past week I was on spring break and also able to go to Hocking Hills with some of my closest and bestest friends for a few days. We all had a great time, I enjoyed the relaxation of it all and that really was what I needed the most. I didn't go into it with any expectations other than to get alot of naps. Well I did that, mos def, I think I had 7 naps in the sunday evening thru wednesday morning that we were there. Good times I tell you! The best parts of the trip were all the good eatings. Oh man, we always eat so good, I think that I probably gained 5 lbs while there, blue stilton hamburgers, homemade pizza with dough kneaded by my two hands, & amazing omelets for breakfast. YUM! I got to slide down a set of totally iced up stairs in Old Mans Cave and scrape up my hands trying to slow myself down. I took off my shirt and layed out on the warm rocks at the rim of Upper Falls, a little awkward for everyone, but I think we all know they liked it;) It was all memorable and, as always, amazing to go yet another year and enjoy the beauty and slow pace of it all.

Don't read this, it's just my rantings...

2008-03-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

So I have a few minutes to sit and blog after about a month of nonstop action. Actually I really need to just sit and write, I really don't have the time right now but this nagging feeling that I haven't put anything down in writing won't pass until I write something down. In my head if I can check off of the list just one more thing it brings down the stress meter. Know what I mean? So anyways, things are difficult in my life right now. I'm not trying to get any sympathy or "OH, I feel so bad for Laura" quotes, I have a great husband and awesome friends & family who have been so supportive of me thru everything going on that I couldn't ask for more. But there is only so much others can do for you, you have to figure the rest out on your own. Thru all that I am still pretty messed up. I told Sam that I am beyond the point of crying, and I never actually got to that part, I just kinda skipped it. Life is hard right now. I've wondered where the boiling point is and I think that I might just hit it soon if I don't change something. I'm not sleeping enough or eating enough. I'm not hungry, I actually feel sick to my stomach most of the time. I failed an exam in Pharmacology last week, I was sick and I missed a huge day of classes and I need to make them up. I don't care about getting motivated to even study when I should be 100% of the time when I am not at work. I do study but it doesn't sink in. I talked to my nursing professor and she said that she is scared for me, she can tell that I am not "focusing" as she put it. She could tell that my mind is racing in 100 different directions at the same time and I can't pin down any thoughts for long to really grasp them. I take pride in my multi-tasking abilities and I hate my deficient delegating skills cause they really suck. I am working on things getting easier at work, but I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel at school. I love the challenge still of keeping up this crazy schedule. I have had only 1 day off in more than a month. Spring break is next week and I need it, we are going to Hocking Hills. My Uncle Tom decided to kill himself on March 6th, which was his birthday, he thought that he took care of everything, but all he left was a big mess for my Dad to have to clean up and all I can think of is how I want to be there for Dad right now and help him thru this. Sorry, brain overload is a real killer. No one should ever try it.

Wow!

2008-02-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let all my loyal fans know that I am still out there, alive and kicking! The Encore Cafe has been going really great. We have a steady traffic coming in every day. I see new faces and already some regulars who come in and it has been a joy to come to work everyday. I truly do enjoy myself, even though my feet and brain hurts at the end of the days I've been pulling. I had 65 hours in the first week and we were only open Thursday thru Saturday. I am still managing to get between 4-5 hours of sleep each night to at least keep me moving. "People think I'm crazy, but I'm not the only one..." (-John Lennon) Thanks to those who have been keeping me in their prayers and who have suprised me by their visits to the Cafe to refresh me and remind me why I am doing all this! Talk to you later!

Sofa-King Tired!

2008-01-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well I don't know if that title is very kosher but I put it there anyways, if you don't get it then don't think too much about it. OK? The ones that know the inside scoop on it may still think that I went a little over-board. But HEY, that's what you get when you are so tired and your thoughts aren't running too straight. Gosh, I had to respell "straight" like 8 times there. Yikes! Anywho...I really hate this time of year when it is just Sofa-King Cold and Sofa-King Dark all the time that you don't get motivated to do anything. I could really go for a day in Florida on the beach right now to soak up some sun and warm my bones just for a little while. Maybe a little nap and wake up looking like a burnt lobster. I'd take that over the blah that we have here in Ohio. I could go for some sun and heat right now and I am sure that I would have not nearly as big of a difficulty with everything as I do now. The 8am to 10pm day that I had at the cafe didn't help anything either. But that was so exciting to actually start training with real employees who are all nervous & excited at the same time.

Stuff

2008-01-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

Well I have to start writing a journal for one of my nursing classes this semester to help us get thru our thought cycles and to let stuff out that we wouldn't normally think about. I always have enjoyed journaling even if it takes up so much time. But it is true that you think about & retrospect over what has happened to you in days past. I think that is why I enjoy writing here too. I think of stuff that I wouldn't normally think about until my fingers start typing away at the keyboard. I never have a "draft" of words to bring with me, instead I just start writing as I go and it doesn't always come out clean and tidy but that's how my normal brain works anyways. I like to go back & read about how I was doing at a particular time or how I dealt with something in the past. It's all good. I think that I wrote more about the cafe than I did about this upcoming semester at college in my first journal entry. One thing pretty awesome, that I am so glad about, is that I switched my calendar year of the nursing program this past Friday & that means that I only have to finish 123 credit hours in the nursing program instead of the 129 that I thought that I would have to take. That's 2 less classes that I have to go thru & the best part is that I dropped my dreaded Physiological Chemistry class this semester & picked up another easier online class because P. Chem. is no longer required to take at all in the new calendar year that I switched to. HoOrAy! A-woo-hoo!

Morning Rituals

2008-01-20T06:41:00.000-08:00

I am sitting in the upstairs room of my parents-in-laws house listening to Sam working on putting new wheels on his fathers wheelchair, Sams mom is making some loud comments so that everyone can hear her voice just so it's heard. Sam is clanking away at taking the wheels off to put on the new ones. His Dad is doing his morning rituals while singing a gentle hymn and I am thinking of the usual, everyday things that families do to make their life normal. I remember when I was little that I would bumble out of bed in my usual pj's of a t-shirt and underoo's and go and sit under a blanket on the couch and watch some tv to get my day going. Maybe a little cereal or pancakes to really start the creative juices flowing as my brother and I postponed our homeschooling day as much as we could. We would get on the old Apple IIE and maybe play a little Oregon Trail or get out the Nintendo and finish up some Super Mario Bros II or go outside and spend the day in the woods pretending about something really great. The part that I don't even think I ever thought about back then, the part that I took for granted, is the air of taking it easy. Yes, we had stuff to do, but it never seemed to be overwhelming. We could take it easy and feel no pressure in life for all of the stuff that needed done. I love remembering that at one time in my life I felt like that. I so enjoy those rare times that show up when I feel that way all over again. I think that is why when those times do show up I enjoy them so much more, because I realize that I don't always have that time in the morning to sit at the couch in my pj's and watch some tv. I don't get the pancakes in the morning anymore like mom used to make them. I don't go outside or play some video games to jump start the morning anymore. That's ok with me, I would just really like to have a morning ritual that gave me at least a few moments of ease that I could get ready and enjoy the day that I have set before me.

Back to it

2008-01-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well things are back to normal around here. All our great friends that were home are all back to their usual routines in their parts of the world. I am interviewing and hiring employees for the cafe next week and I start back up at Kent on Monday. So I have to get back into the groove of working full time and going to school full time and get a good blend of the two without driving myself, my husband, or my friends crazy. That's all for now...

Good Times

2007-12-29T07:44:00.001-08:00

As much as the worries surrounding the uncertainty of a looming job future for my husband and the winter blahs that have hit Ohio pretty hard I still think that I am having one of the best times of my life right now. It's a great time mostly in part because everyone is home right now! Andrew and Lyndsay are home from Minneapolis, Evan is home from Bahrain, Kyle is home from Pittsburgh...we are just basking in the good times until everyone has to get back to the things that drive their everyday lives. I am in the cafe right now sitting at the new stainless steel tables waiting for applications and I'm thinking about when I left the house this morning. Sam was outside diligently preparing the wood supply for our house so that we can stay warm this winter. Evan came out to help and all I could hear was their dueling chainsaws outside. I am so glad that Sam has someone out there to help take the burden off of him in cutting and stacking all that wood and I am even more glad that Evan is actually in my front yard after being away for a whole year and he's sharing his time with my family. Right before I left to go to the cafe Evan was cutting down a big branch that is eventually going to come off the big sugar maple that we have in our front yard. He had to lift the chainsaw over his head to reach the branch and I watched the sawdust cover his whole head as it coated his bright red hair and in his eyes and all over his face. He put down the chainsaw to wipe out his eyes and the whole time he was smiling and laughing. I was so glad to see that! It's my hope that for all of us that are taking a little hiatus from the normal daily things that we do that it would be filled with fun and love and that it would re energize each and every one to bring us back to what we normally do with a new vision and energy and bring us all back together safely the next time around.

Drummers pt. 3

2007-12-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

Here are the rest of the drummers in my life. Hope you enjoy!

Chris-My Brother. He’s the 6’6” guy that seems so imposing that it only makes sense that he should play the drums. When he stands up it just scares people so it is good that he sits for this hobby. Chris and I are only 18 months apart in age and we have always had a really cool relationship. I hardly ever remember fighting, we have a lot in common and we have this weird connection that when I have a bad day I always find out that he had similar circumstances in his own. I don’t know if drums were his first choice of musical instrument. I think that he was kinda thrown into them. I think that the guitar is his first love, but I do know that he loves playing the drums. It seemed like overnight he knew how to play them and he was instantly good at it. Like most things in his life, skills come easily to him. Once he knows something he doesn’t forget it either. The way that he plays the drums sometimes cracks me up though. Sam and I used to make fun of the way that he would hold the drumsticks. Like he was ready to beat down and kill a man. You get the picture hopefully or maybe not. We don’t want Chris to look like a murderer or anything; nasty rumors get spread that way. He is totally a straightforward drummer, he is right on with his timing and he plays exactly what he needs to with no extra flourish and it always sounds good. I know that he had no formal training, I am pretty sure he is self taught with a little advice from a couple other drummers at the beginning. I really enjoy watching him play the drums, it is impressive and it makes me happy.

Brad. My Bud.-Well this guy has the skills to pay the bills! Brad has real talent when it comes to the drums (I'm not saying the others don’t)! I became friends with Brad about 5 years ago when Sam and I were youth leaders at the church he went to, now we are totally awesome friends and Sam and I have become really close to Brad and I consider him one of my best friends. I was able to be a part of the worship team at the church he played at. I’ve also seen him play at concerts with a couple bands he was a part of. Always impressive, it is amazing how quickly he can pick up a song too. I’ve seen songs thrown at him that he’s never heard and he picks up on them the first time playing. If you can believe it he actually looks like he is playing the drums about 90% of each day while he is awake. He drums on anything around and his feet are always moving. To be sure, if a song is playing he is beating his hands on his head or legs, it’s always makes me smile. I love to see him play the drums, he has a really awesome drum set that is this gorgeous light blue swirled color, he is very skilled at the drums and he does so many cool variations and he gets the arms flying and makes a cool show of it with no holds barred. Pretty sweet stuff.

Mike. My Incognito Friend.- Mike is another one of those extremely talented individuals that also plays the drums. I met Mike about 12 years ago when he was dating Sam’s neighbor Ginny and I was dating Sam. Mike and I are like 2 peas in a pod. He’s just a little wacky and so am I, so I really understand his mindset and the crazy stuff he does. As long as I have known him there has always been a drum kit set up in his house. He often fools around playing it and has taught himself how to play too. He really likes to jam and get together to play live music with others, it totally gives him nourishment and revives him. Mike is good at everything he does; I know the drums are no exception.
Kevin. My Old Friend.-Kevin is this wiry guy that is bred to play the drums. He is so fast paced and always on the go, it would be a shame if this world didn’t have Kevin playing the drums. We first met in high school and we don’t get to see each other as much as either of us would like anymore, maybe once or twice a year, but when we do it is always awesome to be hanging out again. I’ve seen him play at church and at concerts from high school to just a few years back and he sincerely loves the drums. They let out his emotion and high energy and they fit so well into his life. He sometimes needs to vent and I think that drums are his way of expressing who he is; they are just a natural extension of him.

Drummers pt. 2...Sam

2007-12-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

Of course the first drummer that I would write about would be my amazing husband Sam! I really have only heard Sam play the drums live one time. We were dating & he was making the decision to get out of playing the drums & he decided to take his set down and sell them. I had always wanted to hear him play & I told him that occasionally, kinda hinting that he should for me. He talked about how much he loved to play them & I wanted to see that part of his life at least once. Well one day he calls me over to his house & he brings me out to the garage & he says that he’s been practicing for hours on this song, its one of his favorite ones to play the drums to & he is going to play one last song for me before he retires the old drum set. I was & still am amazingly impressed that he would go thru all the trouble of doing this for me! I don’t even remember what song it was. He turned on the old cassette tape & blasted away at this baby! Something metal and loud, but it wasn’t the song that I remember. It was Sam playing something that he loved & put time and skill into, something that he wanted to share with me one last time. That moment made me love him so much for sharing a part of his life that was over, but he wanted to give me a glimpse of all the joy he had in it before he was done. To this day he has never played the drums again to a complete song that I know of. Yeah, he may fool around & hit a symbol or snare here and there (that rhymed). But everyone that asks him if he still plays drums he will say that he doesn’t do that anymore & that he has no interest in starting again. I’m not sure why he doesn’t want to give it a try, he actually has most of a drum set in our bedroom that is not set up. I don’t know if it will ever be again, or if it does when he will even sit behind it and play it. I may never see it again, but maybe he will sneak one of the old metal songs when no one is around & get that same exhilaration all over for something that he loves so much!

Drummers

2007-12-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking about it the other day and I came to the conclusion that the most important and influential men in my life are drummers. They may deny that they are "true" drummers, but at heart they will always have that love for the instrument in them. I’m not sure why it is so important that they all play drums, or why in this weird way I have been linked to them. I love the intertwining of interests that they all share and I am so glad to be a part of it. I just thought that I would share my heart and the importance these men play in my life and how much they mean to me.
I love the drums, and I always have. The thing that draws my attention in music is the singing first and then always the drums. I wish that I could play the drums, but I know that I would get my feet and my hands all tangled in some non-coherent sounds and I would never be able to make any sort of effort of decent noise out of them. They scare me to play. I have sat behind a drum set and they are daunting. I can sit in front of a piano or other instrument and I have no problem making a fool of myself playing it. But those darn drums frankly just scare the crap out of me. I think that it is the fact that whether you are good or not they are going to always be LOUD. If you do some really sour things on it, everyone will hear you, I guess that I don’t like people to hear every little mistake that I make. That’s just my nature. I wish that it didn’t matter to me but it does.
I thought that I would share these drummer men in my life because, like I said before, they play huge roles in my life and I love the fact that they have something so awesome in common, yet they are so different in each of their styles. So for now I will stop and gather my thoughts....check back soon!

Almost There

2007-11-26T18:09:00.001-08:00

I only have 3 more weeks till this semester of college is done. Two big exams this week, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, three papers due on Wednesday and the big final for giving a full physical exam next week. Honestly I don't have much stress over finishing this semester, I've come to the realization that at this point I know it will all get done one way or another. There is no use worrying over something that you know is on it's way the entire semester.
What I hate is that I have a cold. I really hate colds! The nursing coordinator told us that us nursing students would get really worn down from all the stress and activities and all that crap, and that we would get sick towards the end of the semester. Well unfortunately my body got the worst of me and I now have the sniffles and a chest full of yuck that won't come out when I cough. I sound like a coal miner who has the black lung when I laugh. I totally feel fine mentally, but apparently my body was telling itself a different story without my knowledge. I hate that my body felt some sort of weardown and stress and that the silly nursing coordinator was right. That sucks! Anywho...nothing more to say, just thought I'd rant a little. Now back to studying...

Lost and Found!

2007-11-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

About 2 weeks ago I lost my flash drive for transferring stuff between all the computers I use. I use the thing ALL the time between Kent's computer labs, my laptop, work information and my computer at home. I store everything on there and I go between all of the aforementioned computers and load or store stuff on them with this amazing invention. I totally felt naked when I lost it. It nagged on my mind. You know when you go without something that you have with you all the time, a wedding ring, cell phone, glasses, wallet, and you just feel out of place the entire time that you are away from it? Well that's how I felt. I looked everywhere that I last remembered seeing it. Under the couch, in the computer lab, in the laptop storage bag, pants, coats, my purse, etc.-you get the drift. I really hate that feeling and I knew that there was some pretty important information on there, I just hoped that someone wasn't going to steal my identity or worse, all of the recipe's for the new cafe!(Of course all of that information is on my computer too). I just thought that I had lost it and I was finally getting resigned to it being lost and having to find out another way to work around it. Well, we went to Cleveland on Saturday for the big Ohio State vs. Michigan game and we went out to eat after with some friends. When we were saying goodbye to our friends after dinner I remembered that I had some pictures for them that we took awhile ago and it was in my laptop bag. I reached into the side pocket and the inside light of the car was shining in to the pocket and low and behold there was my lost flash drive! I think that they may have thought I lost my mind when I saw it because I started yelling and dancing around like a real idiot but now I feel whole again.

Warming Foods

2007-11-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

The Encore Cafe is coming along fast now, I met with one of the main food brokers that we will be working with to get in deliveries today. We talked for 2 hours about different recipes and items that I want to use that will give us the best cost and quality for what we will be making. Thats pretty much where the progression of things are now; finishing touches. The equipment is in now, the main stuff at least. Ovens, display cases, sinks and refrigerators are starting to make the cafe look like a real one! I can see it all coming together!
What I really am looking forward to is finally starting to make recipes. I have been "off" of work for 3 months now; mainly what I am doing is all of the leg work to get the cafe started, I miss physically working with food. I find that I extremely miss getting my hands and apron dirty while making recipes. I love that I get to develop recipes and work the whole start to finish end of getting the cafe set up, but I really got into this new job for the prospects of doing something new, exciting and challenging at the same time. I was bored with my old job, even though I loved it, but I wanted to have more freedom, so when this venture fell into my lap I gladly took it.
So when this thang finally opens up I am going to be there constantly, you might see me running around with flour all over me, a huge honkin' coffee buzz and spoons in hand but I will have a smile on my face!

Playing in the Dam Water

2007-11-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

I know many of you read Sams posts that read mine as well. You will know that Sam has a new interest in his life and that is researching the Sandy-Beaver Canal and finding the old locks that used to traverse Beaver Creek here in Ohio. I love the great outdoors and I happily will go hiking, camping, or just outside anytime that I don't have something else to do. So to go out exploring and look at some old locks and dams is pretty fun, and I find it interesting too. We have gotten to go hiking quite alot lately and I have been lovin it! Fall is one of my favorite seasons; the temperature is perfect, the leaves are so beautiful, the air smells amazing, we get to harvest all of the veggies from our garden that I have been waiting so long for...I could keep going on and on. We all know that one of the best parts of hiking and being outside is getting some great shots of the landscapes and other great things to remember the treks by. Sam found some wildlife playing in the water in this once in a lifetime shot!

Weird stuff is going on!

2007-10-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

So...Sam, Brad and I were watching a scary movie last night that wasn't all that scary. It was called Silent Hill and it's supposed to be based on some video game that probably should have just stayed a video game. It was interesting to watch, but at the end of the movie we all had like 10 million questions about different parts of the movie. Do you ever get that way about a movie where it didn't make a bit of sense and you wonder where they came up with half of the plot? I think that some of my dreams that I have would make a 10 times better movie than this one. By the way I have some really nightmarish dreams so I think that I could write a really good movie plot if I would only write down my dreams. It seems like I am always getting chased by a person or multiple people trying to kill me or I am in some twisted plot that is just totally screwed up. Anywho... I don't know where I was going with that except to say that after the movie I got a restricted phone call on my cell that we thought maybe was my cousin in the Navy in Bahrain. Well, it wasn't. It was a prank call with some guy whispering the question "what color panties are you wearing?" Yikes! I guess that it was a really off night and now I am confused and embarassed. Remind me never to answer my phone again when it is restricted. If they leave a message that's good, then I can call them back and ask them what color panties they are wearing!

What am I doing?

2007-10-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure exactly what I am supposed to be doing yet for this class I am taking this semester. I am in the 9th week already, with only 7 more to go and I am totally lost in this class. I'm not the only one either, even though I think that I am a little more lost than the others. First of all I lost my 100+ dollar book on the 3rd week that the class requires and I haven't found it yet. Stupid Laura! I don't have the money to go buy another one, plus I feel stupid that I lost it in the first place that I don't think I deserve another. I am not even really supposed to be taking the class either given my standing in college. It's considered a Junior level class and I am still a sophmore until the end of this semester when I will be in Junior standing. We are supposed to make this big project that goes on the entire semester and I'm not sure what a Methodological plan for researching society is supposed to even look like because he hasn't even given us any information on what he wants from us. I meet him in 30 minutes and I don't even know what to ask him because he hasn't given me any direction, plus I don't have my book(Duh!), and I'm only a lowly sophmore in a class with a bunch of smarty pants Juniors. I probably should have dropped this class if it weren't for the amazing bull----ing that I can pull off to make a paper work after I find all of the information online from another instructor that gives good details in how to do things in this type of class. Then I find out that I have one of the best grades in the class and I figure that I should probably take all classes that I don't have a clue as to what I am doing. Makes sense to me.

50 posts on the wall

2007-10-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

So, this is my 50th entry into this here blogger I call my home! I don't really have anything super thought provoking to put on here. I don't really ever have too much wisdom to write on these pages. Actually what I was going to write about is simplicity. These days I feel like I have so much going on that I can never really feel too much peace. I'm running here and there...I have all these things to do that even when I am sitting down I can't get my mind to calm down. I sit and all I can think about is the paper I have due next week or the menu that needs planned for the cafe, the person I need to call, or the thank you letter that I need to write, you know all that stuff.

I thought that when I got older I would have a better handle on keeping things simple. I thought that I would be able to order out everything that I needed to do with an iron fist. I thought that once I finished one project then I would be done with it. I realize now that there will always be another project, another goal, another finish line to always reach for. I've found that I keep taking on more things because I like to be busy and I always enjoy a good challenge. I hate being bored and I love to have 10 million things going on at once to keep me happy and excited about life.

But then there are the times when I just want to get rid of everything. Sell all the junk, get rid of the 50 t-shirts that I have in my dresser, throw away the cats, sell the house and get into a smaller one, stop all the little projects I have going and just live a simple, focused life with little worry or distraction. The things I would do each day would be clear to me and the routine that I pick up would pretty much be the same. I would stick with the things that I know work for me and I would be calm.

I'm not sure which one I like better, I guess that I have times of both and thats what I enjoy the most, I don't want to write out my life and know each step of the way, so I will take what I have and enjoy it as much as possible. Happy 50th reading!

Back To It

2007-09-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

So...I am back in college for the 5th semester of my college existence. I was really worn out from the past semester, I just felt unmotivated to study and at the end of everything I felt poor about how much I didn't get done. Needless to say my grades showed that. Even through all of that I still managed to get my letter of acceptance into the nursing program that I am now in, starting this semester. During the summer I had to get a million shots, accredited in CPR, physical exam, fingerprinted for a background check, endless trips to the post office and hospital, etc. all within 1 1/2 months.

I thought that taking the summer off would get me motivated for the next phase of my schooling. I am so excited to one day be a nurse, I have wanted to be one ever since I could remember. I just want to be there doing it. But I have found that I am having a really hard time getting my head into this whole school thing. I feel as if I am not good enough to be going through this right now. I need to concentrate and feel strongly about the work I am doing, but it all feels kinda boring and mundane. Does everyone get this bored with the routine of school at this point in the game? Or do I just need to crack down and get into it and excited about it again? I only say this to vent, you won't see me quitting or anything crazy, in fact you will probably see me studying and in the books more now than ever to get back the excitement that I once felt for this whole trip into nursing.

Starting Anew

2007-08-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

So as some of you know I have started a new venture. I recently was given the opportunity to run a new cafe in Columbiana. My good friend Don who is renovating the Main Street Theater and the building adjacent to it that is now called the Encore Cafe approached me with the idea and although it was a really hard decision, because I have been with my other job for 12+ years, I just couldn't pass up the chance for something that I have always wanted to do, which is start up and run a cafe. I get to make the menu, order equipment, hire and train employees, deal with the Health Department, and all the fun things that running a business takes. My first week of non-employment at the Dutch Haus started this week and it has been really wierd. I feel out of place not having a set schedule yet. The Cafe is set to open in mid September and until the building crew is out and we are ready to move stuff in then I will be mostly at home and traveling to meet food distributors and other vendors. Once open we will have all the things that you can expect from a Cafe. Coffee, Lattes, Mochas, Pastries, Soups, Salads, Caramel Apples, Sandwiches, etc. and various other things to make people feel at home there. I am really excited about this new venture and I love the challenge of taking it on, at the same time I am really nervous and expectant for the future of the Cafe and how it will do once it is open. I will still keep my plans of nursing in full tilt. I will still be a full-time student and Kent State and I, in no way, will drop those plans. The owners of the Cafe are giving me free access to whatever hours I will be able to work once school starts and I will be able to fit in a full time schedule there whenever is most convenient for me.

Its Always Cloudy

2007-07-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sam and I were driving into Columbiana last Sunday and the clouds in the sky were absolutely amazing to look at. I fortunately had my digital camera with me so I snapped a few shots while driving. The weather was perfect that day, the clouds were so full, it looked like a Simpson episode in the sky. We always have clouds in the sky here in Ohio, so I don't look at them that much, but there was something about these that made them stand out and look spectacular.

The Wedding is Over.

2007-07-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

I got the chance to decorate my cousin Shane and his new wife Jens wedding cake this weekend. Jen found a great picture of an abstract wedding cake that she found on the internet. It was iced with fondant, which is a gumpaste icing that kind of molds onto a cake, its kinda like fruit roll-ups that you onto the cake without icing the thing. I don't mess with that stuff, its hard to work with and it doesn't taste that good. It's more meant for decoration and not eating. So my mom and I went to the church the night before the wedding with all of the stuff we needed for the cakes and decorating. We got there and the kitchen didn't feel air-conditioned at all. So the icing was really soft and I had a hard time getting it to keep its shape, finally I got it where I wanted it and I decorated the cake while my mom iced up 5 sheet cakes with cream cheese. Everything turned out really cool, Jen didn't want flowers or anything fru-fru on her cakes. I didn't get to take a picture of the cake when it was all set up but here are some of the ones right after they were decorated. I've decorated a lot of cakes and this one was lots of fun.

Fine, I Better Do This Thang!

2007-07-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

I got tagged the other day! So I better do this thang and give you 8 random things about me.

1.)I don't like yellow vegetables. Carrots, squash, etc. They are too sweet for me to eat. Plus when I try to eat raw carrots I just keep chewing because I can't swallow all of the carrot, it just shreds in my mouth.

2.)I hate drama in peoples lives. I know some people where life is a big soap opera and I just can't keep up with it. Maybe thats why I get along with men better than women most of the time because life is more natural and they don't make up a ridiculous life to make everything hyped up.

3.)I want to cover my body with tattoos and get dreadlocks.

4.)I took classical piano lessons for 9 years, I really don't remember too much anymore. I can still play scales and I can read notes, but that's it.

5.) I once moshed in steel toed boots at a 6 feet deep concert and I almost got killed when I was trampled by some crazy heads.

6.)I want to be a car mechanic if nursing doesn't work for me. I love taking things apart and putting them back together, and I don't mind getting my hands dirty.

7.)Me and the sun don't get along. I have already had a benign mole taken off of one leg and more that the dermatologist is watching because of getting so many sunburns when I was little. Morbidly, I have told my family that skin cancer will kill me one day.

8.) I have had a fever of above 104 degrees several times. I normally had them when I had pneumonia. They made me hallucinate. "You're not my Mom!"

So anywho, I don't have any other people to tag so it ends here. Thanks for reading!

Yard Sailing

2007-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

We are having a porch sale today. Right now there is a lag in the people visiting so I have a few minutes to get some thoughts on the computer that I haven't been able to do for awhile. Sorry to everyone who looks to see if I've posted everyday! I am sitting at my grandpa's computer right now. He's laying on the couch next to me snoring away; he's been asleep now for the past hour at least. His snore is pretty sleep inducing. NOT! Sunday afternoon naps are the best, especially when you are the one sleeping and not staying awake so that you can make money at a yard sale. My brother Luke is waiting for me to get off the computer so that he can IM all his friends and get on myspace. Dirty Jobs is on in the background and they are at a catfish farm trying to catch and gut them. Yuck. Mom and Sam are out on the porch in the hot day. Overall its a pretty good day. I feel like something is missing though. I guess that I will feel like that for awhile now that some of my best friends, Andrew and Lyndsay left for Minneapolis last Thursday. It was really great to see them start new lives and begin college and living on their own, but it was super sad at the same time to know that our friendships will now be long distance. Our routines of each week for the past year at least will have to go through some major revamping because we always had our Thursday & Friday nites and Sunday's where we were with them most all the time. I will miss them, I'm sure they will miss us, but we will all get used to the idea one of these days and continue to be close friends with our new routines however they may turn out.

Now you see Him!

2007-06-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

WAKE UP ANDREW!

Sticky Situations

2007-06-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

I picked up my first Hitchhiker today. She was short, blonde, tan…and drunk. She was walking in the middle of the small side road that I take to cut across the main roads on my drive home from work. As I came driving over a small hill I saw her walking the way that I was traveling, so all I could do was stop. There was no way that anyone could have gone around her unless they wanted to drive into the ditch a little bit. She turned and saw me coming her way. She lifted her index finger as if to ask me to wait a minute and give her a moment of my time. Maybe she was testing the wind to see how change was going to come her way, I don’t know? I slowed down to pull up to her and the first thing I noticed was the large carton of red and white parliament cigarettes sticking out of the top of her straw purse. She asked me where I was going in a really sluggish, drunken sentence. I said towards Lisbon. She needed dropped off at the Beverage Barn Drive Thru and I said that I would take her there. I had to move some stuff in the passenger seat to the back; my purse, my lunch in a white Styrofoam container, a pottery bowl that my mom had made and it had a defect at the bottom, and my jacket from the cold morning that I had to travel to work in at 2 am. She asked me my name as I was moving things from front to back and I told her “Laura.” I asked her name and she said “Sandy.” I told her that I was just on my way home from work and she asked where I worked and I told her the Dutch Haus. She mumbled something about how she has a cousin that works there and she went thru a list of about 6 names trying to remember who it was, “Kim, John, Timmy….”, and then finally, “It’s Pete..Pete is his name…I think?” She got into the passenger seat and we went along our merry way to the Beverage Barn only about 2 minutes away. As we drove she kept mumbling and trying to make conversation, but it was so unorganized and followed no real path. I did catch that her husband’s car was impounded and that he was driving her car today. But I didn’t catch much else. I pulled up to the Beverage Barn, let her out and away I went back home. It was an interesting experience. In the past I’ve thought about why people don’t hitchhike as much as they used to. I know that many people, especially my parents age back in the 70’s, (those old crazy hippies) used to hitchhike or bum a ride all of the time to get where they were going. In fact, I remember my mom saying that she and a girlfriend of hers hitchhiked to a location at least 3 hours from where they started when they were in their teens! Would anyone in their right mind do that anymore? I’m not sure that they would and the biggest question is: why is that? Has our faith in people diminished? Are people more skeptical then they used to be? Is there trust in strangers anymore?

Laughing Fool

2007-05-22T15:37:00.001-07:00

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh. – W. H. Auden

I love a great quote. They can conjure up a million emotions in one sentence. I think that this one is one of my favorite quotes of all times. I really thing that laughing is the common ground that we all hold, and I wish that we all could laugh with others more than we are given the chance to each day. I think of all of the great friends that I have that inspire me each day when I look at this quote. I thought that I would just write a little about the things they do or instances that they have left me laughing so much that I just couldn't help but love them. You know what I'm sayin' ?

Sam-He knows how much I enjoy laughing and he always attempts to make me laugh, whether it is a genuine laugh or a I feel bad at his pathetic attempt, I always have something to laugh with Sam with.
Brad-Totally makes me laugh all the time! He is so random in his thinking and what he finds enjoyable. We can laugh thru a airsoft game where I shoot his chin over a van from 20 feet away, or sitting around talking about nothing. Thats right beef broth ninja star!
Lyndsay-Acts like a serious ghetto girl in a small town setting! She can make the best comments in a conversation that just drives the entire group of people she is with to their knees laughing.
Kyle-He's got the craziest dancing feet and the best moves I ever saw on the dancing floor. It cracks me up!
Andrew-Wild and crazy boy! Is up for anything at all times, at least when he isn't hopped up on the allergy medicine and zonked on the couch. Just play some Rage Against the Machine and watch him go! I'm his Byotch!

Arin-This girl sends me the craziest text messages, normally at about 6am everyday. She sends me quotes, cusses me out, tries to get me to send the message to 10 other people or best of all sends me pictures of manure. Whatever it is it always makes me laugh!

Theresa-I work with Theresa at 3am on Wednesdays and Thursdays. She keeps me awake as we talk about crappy love songs, pooping or whatever topic the morning may bring up. And no Chlamydia and Gonorrea are not flowers. We've established that.

Evan-Even though he is in Bahrain right now he still can make me laugh out loud at what he writes in his blog, or whenever I get to talk to him on the phone with 10 second relays as we wait to hear each other.

Candy-She keeps my sanity at work. If ever I had a real sister I think that she would be the one. We can yell at each other and hug each other in the same conversation. We throw food at each other all day and we have dance dance revolutions every Saturday at work as we listen to yucky 80's music all day.

There are so many others that make me laugh each day I could write pages and pages about them. Maybe I will for my next blog because I will still be thinking about it for awhile. Write me about why you love people. I'd love to hear your comments. Have a great day!

Mesmerizing!

2007-05-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

So.... now I am FINALLY done with the semester! Kent State is officially out of my site for the summer. Good times, and time to partay! Yeah, you know what I'm saying! I've got big plans for the summer, most of which I will fail to accomplish. My biggest plans are to work in the garden, do alot of canning from it, organize junk in the house and generally get done all of the things that I couldn't take a lot of time to worry about during the past full year. What I have had some time for in the past few weeks is Guitar Hero! I have been playing it lately in my spare time like after work or when Sam isn't around cause he doesn't really like to play it, although he will watch others play it, but I feel like I am boring him when I do play for a long time. I noticed the other day that my hands get stuck in a guitar holding position when I play the game too long, (kinda like when Evans hands get stuck in a working out position from doing so much weight lifting in the Navy, it's similar you know). Anywho... the weird thing is that when I take my eyes off of the tv screen, I look at my skin and it is moving and warping into wierd shapes. Have you seen this before if you have ever played Guitar Hero? When you play the game the screen constantly pulls your eyes downward as the notes pass along the screen and it does wierd eye tricks to you. Creepy to see your skin warp. I couldn't stop staring at it, it mesmerized me. Try it sometime, if you play for about 45 minutes straight it should happen. Very crazy!

Spring and a Boring Life!

2007-05-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

My 38th post this one is! Oh, what a memorable occasion! You can congratulate me by sending comments and money donations to blogger. Yeah, whatever...just read on if you want to.

I really have no topic to write about. I usually have a certain thing that I write about. But alot of times I really have nothing to write about, like today. I've read others blogs where they mainly talk about their daily lives. They make this their journal to sort out their thoughts and to just let others in on their lives. I wish that I could do that without totally boring people with my own life.

So even through the warning, here is my boring life right now. Skip it if you don't want to fall asleep! My friend Lyndsay dyed my hair the other day. I wanted some bleached chunks of blonde in my hair and she did a great job. My bangs are totally blonde and underneath my hair is totally blonde too. When I went to work the next day 2 people told me that they "loved my red hair" and "why did I dye all my hair blond?" I had to show them that I only dyed certain parts of it and that most of it is still red. I guess that they were suprised, but it's better than them being fake and telling me that they loved it or something dishonest.

I took my last exam for Human growth & Development tonight. One class down, 3 more to go. I think that it went pretty well considering that last night I was pretty sick with this wierd dizzy and queasy thing and I was hardly able to study, which I had big plans for.

Sam, Andrew, Lyndsay and myself are going to have a road trip this weekend to Andrews brother Ryans wedding in Indiana. I am looking forward to it so much! Finally, my loverboy Ryan is tying the knot with his amazing fiancee Kristen. I am so excited for them! It will be a nice little getaway, even though I have to bring my college stuff to study for the 2 finals I have next week.

I was sitting on my porch studying for school today; I looked out across our lawn and I realized how beautiful spring is. Our maple leaves are just starting to develop into an amazing green color. The green lawn is full of yellow dandelions, the crabapple tree is full of bright pink blooms. Across the driveway our transparent apple tree is in full bloom with large white blossoms. The japanese maple in the landscaping is a deep red color, and in the lawn are tiny blue flowers that just reach above the grass's level. So many colors that spring brings. I wish that we had that all year long!

So there is my life in a nutshell. Have a great spring day!

Summer

2007-04-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

It is carefree; it has a breathy air to it. It’s so great to open all of the windows, feel the breeze in the musty over wintered house. See the brighter sun as it warms up everything. Summer brings plants, life, bugs, BBQ parties, swimming, hiking, camping, golf, vacation, lazy naps that lets you dream about all of the things you could be doing. It takes away winter blahs and makes you whole being feel renewed, refreshed and revised. It lets you make new goals and brings a fresh start to all of the things needing done that could not be done when it was cold. One of my favorite things about summer is the sounds of birds, their voices waking me to start a new day in a good mood. I love summer parties; they bring great stories and old friends out to share in life. They bring good, wholesome foods. It’s awesome to work hard in the garden, work up a hot dirty sweat with backs bowed and knees grimy and creaking to labor around some of Gods beautiful bounty that He gave us to enjoy in great satisfaction. He knew what he was doing when He made the 4 seasons. Summer brings a great harvest and a gathering of all of the long light filled days. It brings us produce and keeping of harvest to sustain His people in the midst of winter and their dreadful blahs. It brings hope to tired hearts, it brings reprieve of what we strive to be done with, it is newness and hope.

All My Kitty Children

2007-04-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of my kitties the other day. They were enjoying the rare sun that we have so seldom seen yet this year. I thought that I would share some pictures of them doing their thing.

Ruby, our youngest girl that we found abandoned as a small kitten at the Columbiana Street Fair, enjoys laying on Sam and feeling safe and secure, she loves to eat and has learned some bad habits from Junior, like getting on the kitchen counter and pushing plates and cups off of the counter to hopefully get some food out of them.

My 7 year old Farley enjoys the heat from the sun the most, actually he enjoys heat more than any other cat I know. He will lay in front of the electric heaters we have running in the house and steal the heat from everyone else, he will get all the way in the bedcovers and stay there all night. How do cats breathe under the covers for so long?

Junior, my shadow, likes to steal all the attention and he gets into whatever is going on where the action is, whether he is sound asleep or not.

My Husband, the Joker

2007-04-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to just comment on Sams April Fools joke blog, because for one I knew that it would be too long, another is that I would say something that would make someone mad(which I probably will be doing in this blog) and for another I knew that the person who I wanted to read this is now not even reading his blog for a determined period of time, very clever. If you truly know myself too then you will know that I never get this upset about something unless it is about the friends and family that I love, God gave us to each other and to take that honor and priviledge away is a terrible mistake.

I was very disturbed by the idea that Sam presented in his April Fools story at first, I think that everyone was. I was scared for the flack that he would possibly get and the explainations that he would have to give for people that didn't understand why he would do this kind of joke. Normally he shares with me something that he is going to do that may be a little crazy and if I had given my advise on this one I would have told him to either change up the story a little or at least let everyone know that it was an April Fools joke at the end. I know that I personally couldn't imagine something like that actually happening to him, and if you knew him super well enough you would know that too, as some did catch in time and others who knew him well did not. I noticed a trend in the ones that did not realize the joke. They were mad; they felt like they were left emotionally distraught and didn't know how to really help Sam in his time of need, at the same time upset that he had played them like that all in good fun for a April fools joke. But thats all it really was, a joke! Don't take this incredible man and blast him for doing something that was only meant for that!

Sam was only sad about the responses that were given to him. My thoughts on this subject are in no way indicative of Sams. I am furious about some of those comments. So what that you don't know Sam that well and that he played you? Get over it. Sam is and always has been a responsible, mature, caring person. So for him to write this fictional story is just so out of whack with who he really is that those that truly know and love Sam would know that it was all made up. Those that want to air their personal problems with Sam can do that, but why in such a demeaning manner, why blast him in not only his joking but also his personal character?

Just as Sam or anyone else for that matter can say whatever they want, then I have to say to Kristen or anyone else that feels this strongly about being mad at Sam: How dare you? I am personally glad that you need 6 months to vent and let out YOUR anger and immaturity against Sam! It will give him and myself time away from your hurtful, ridiculous ideas of who you think your own brother or friend really is! Sam never once personally attacked you or anyone through all of this and all you can do is try to hurt him so bad that you don't care about ruining your relationship with him? I'm not sorry at all that we have our own lives, friends, jobs; the fact that we can't always talk and catch up or that time and distance place difficulties in getting to know you and share in your life like we really would like to is hard on all of us and you have to believe that. You have to get over all this, considering the fact that we do still love you and care about every aspect of the you and your family. So if you want to label Sam and at the same time label yourself for something that I know you really are not, then go for it and ridicule yourself, because I will stand up for my husband and best friend when even his own flesh and blood cannot! Oh, and since you are being so vindictive about the whole 6 month time limitation you may as well take me off of your list too Kristen!

Currency

2007-03-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am not trying to rain on Sams friday funny postings, I just found this dirty joke that caught me off guard today and it had me laughing like crazy. Hope you like it!

Why it's important to understand English: When I got back from Montana last week I had a bunch of Canadian dollars I needed to exchange, so I went to the currency exchange window at the local bank. It was a short line with just one guy in front of me...an Asian guy who was trying to exchange yen for dollars and he was a little irritated! He asked the teller, "Why it change?? Yestoday, I get two huna dolla fo yen. Today I get huna eighty?? Why it change?"

The teller shrugged her shoulders and said, "Fluctuations".

The Asian guy says, "Fluc you white people too"!

After Midterms

2007-03-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have found that yet again I am in the swing of things at college. I have 3 huge exams next week, all of which are going to take all of the brain power that I have. Microbiology is all about bacteria,the microscopic things that control the world. We talk about how our bodies convert energy, germs, chemistry, the earth, and everything in between. It covers so much information that it is almost overwhelming to deal with. Plus the fact that it is a 3 hour class only 1 day of the week is frustrating. I hate to talk to my professor over the internet. Next time I have a major science class I will opt for taking it 2 days a week even if that means more driving back and forth and less time at work.

My Human Growth and Development class is put on by the nursing coordinator of the Salem Kent State. She is a little italian woman with a big attitude. She loves to talk and she is a huge encouragement to me, but she is very intimidating to be around too much. She warns of bad grades, inevitable failure and not getting into the nursing program to everyone she talks to. I think that she does it so our hopes don't get too far up and to let us see how hard it really is to be in the nursing program. The class isn't that hard, in fact she told everyone that they would be lucky getting C's and almost everyone got B's or higher on the first exam.

Nutrition is also a 3 hour class, one day a week. The professor,which I have yet to meet and will probably never meet, is online and teaching from the East Liverpool campus. A really funny professor he is scared of bad weather and he doesn't like to be on the campus after dark, so he always tries to end his lectures early. He covers alot of information about proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats, and carbohydrates in a little space of time so his tests are mostly memorization, which I stink at considering that the other 2 classes I mentioned are also mostly memorization of terms and definitions. So if you hear me mumbling something about the Krebs cycle, Moral Development, DNA transcription, or Calcium and how it builds strong bones, don't be alarmed, it's all stuff that I will forget once the exams are done:)

Thrills and Chills

2007-03-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

It seemed that everyone had a nice fall at Hocking Hills this past weekend. You can read about Brads scary fall at his blog, thank goodness I didn't see it. I am terrified to watch people fall. Don't know why, I guess that I really hate to see people get hurt. I guess thats why I am going into nursing; to be able to take care of those people that need help. Anyway, I'm side tracking...so I was the first to fall on the trip(it doesn' t matter so much when I get hurt, I normally just laugh in the face of pain), I probably had the stupidest fall too. All of the stairs in the cabin were painted slick wood, yeah you see where I'm going with this? I was in my socks and heading to the bedroom to change for the hot tub. I took one step on the top of the stairs and my foot slipped out in front of me. I bumped all the way down the stairs on my hip and landed at the foot of the stairs, cause I couldn't stop myself from sledding right down them darn stairs. I broke open a large burn wound from work and my ankle somehow got caught under me so it hurt for awhile. The worst hurt was my hip. About 2 minutes later I started to develop a huge bruise on my hip. By the next day it was a 3 inch circle and deep black. I ended up showing it to everyone a couple nights later; SORRY if anyone caught a glimpse of my behind too, but you know you liked it;) The crazy thing was that Sam fell that same night on the upstairs steps on his way down from the hot tub. Like a wet dolphin if I ever saw one. Actually, I almost got caught in his wake because I was going down the stairs in front of him, I had just told him to be really careful going down the steps because they were wet. His feet didn't listen very well though. Moral to this story and note to anyone trying to catch people falling down steps: it doesn't work, just move out of the way and let nature run its course.

Love at Hocking Hills

2007-03-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

As most of you know that read my blog I went to Hocking Hills this past weekend. In fact most of you were probably with me on this trip that read my blog. I really needed this little escape from reality for a few days, I think that more than any other trip to Hocking Hills, the group that went really needed this more than anything. I love the fact that there was nothing there that was in any way part of an everyday routine. There wasn't anything holding us down and I love that.
I came home from the trip feeling like I was in a bubble. The next day of work caught me laughing to myself as I would think of the dancing, the falling, the late night cake, the late night magazine skits, the dreadlocks, the eating, the ice...everything made this trip such a memorable one.
This trip was more than I could have asked for. It was definately the best Hocking Hills trip I have ever been on. The cabin was one that we had been to before and it had so many great memories from the last time as well as the amazing memories made there this time. We all talked about what our favorite part of the trip was and I think that mine was just spending time with my best friends in the world, ones that I can be my true self with, ones that I can laugh with and make a fool out of myself and they still love me for exactly who I am. I love the fact that they feel like they can be their true selves around me too. I think that I really did have a real smile this weekend like Sam wanted me to, and the memories made are some that I will remember forever. So thanks to all that joined me on this trip, I really needed it, I love you all sooooo much, you mean more to me than I ever could express! You've been a great audience! Good night Atlanta!

I am really tired!

2007-02-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

I have been really tired lately. I think it all has to do with winter dragging on for so long, but the biggest reason is that I haven't gotten much sleep in the past 2 weeks. I have been covering for one of my co-workers at the bakery that is on vacation, and I have had to go into work between 12:30am and 2:30am for the past 8 of 9 days. I am a huge night owl. I would love to stay up all night and then sleep during the day if I really had my wish. The worst part of that is that I have a real hard time falling asleep when I have to will myself to do it. So, I don't sleep. The most sleep I got this week at any one time was yesterday when I slept after I got off of work between 12:30pm and 4pm. I set my alarm for 2pm and I slept right thru it. Needless to say I had to stay up later to finish the homework I had for the next day, so my nights sleep amounted to pretty much nothing. I woke up this morning at 2am with my cat Ruby sleeping on my chest and my husband snuggled up against me, and I did not want to get up!!! I had to will myself to get out of the warm covers and go to work. At work I am normally a pretty outgoing person and I like to get people talking and at least stay focused, but this morning I felt like I was having an ouy of body experience, where I watched myself go thru the movements of the job and it somehow got done. I hate that feeling, it's really wierd. Blah!Thank goodness I am off this weekend, it is going to be so great!!!

Long time, no see

2007-02-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been awhile since I last blogged. How is it that in winter, when we all seem to have less to do, that we write less often? Or is it that the novelty of blogger was a passing phase to sometimes hold our attention? Maybe we have writers block and we can't think of anything profound or important enough to write down. Does it really matter? This blogger is really for my own enjoyment anyways, if I want to say that I love mexican food and that offends or bores or entices someone, then so what? Either way, I will say what I want and enjoy myself doing it. Yeah, I do like mexican food, so there.

Pipe smokin doesn't come easy!

2007-01-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

I told my husband a few months ago that I really would like to learn how to smoke a nice tobacco pipe. You see he regularly participates in enjoying his pipes with his close friends, they have a great time talking and bragging about manly things and generally relaxing as they toke up an amazing smelling tobacco with a name like "topper", "blue diamond", "spice and nice" or "heather"(boy did she smell good). Anyways, I love to smell the tobacco and I thought that I would also like to enjoy this great aquired talent.
It all started last summer when I attempted to smoke a pipe with just a bit of success, I realized then how much of a skill it really is to be a pipe smoker. Just 2 months ago my hubby finally bought me a really well made smooth wooden pipe that is just the right size for me to hold in my hand as I puff away at it. I have been hesitant in smoking it, I feared that I would do a terrible job learning how to smoke it, that everyone would make fun of me or that I would never master the skill. I always hear the horror stories from my husband of the ones that try and fail miserably.
Well just the other night I finally got some tobacco; "christmas cookie" is her name. I sat around with 3 of the finest pipe smokers that I know and I got instruction and guidance as I struggled my way thru smoking my first bowl of tobacco through my very own hand made danish pipe. I guess that I did alright. I went through quite a few matches as I struggled to keep it lit, but I did enjoy a nice puff or two of some fine, unstressful pipe smoking. So thanks guys for helping me try to master my skills at pipe smoking. I hope that one day I will get a nice bowl of ash just like you!

Friends

2007-01-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

How quickly friends sometimes pass away. I saw a good friend the other day, I saw her as she walked by me and became out of my gaze, she did not even have the courage to say "Hi". She was 10 feet away from me! We will "talk" together thru the expanses of the internet, but yet she won't even gather the courage to say "Hi!" in public. Is there something to bringing out your extroverted self on the internet that can't be brought out in public? I really think that there is. It is easier to say the things that you wouldn't tell anyone else when it is on paper. And is there also a reason to be a little more introverted while in public knowing that you can talk to your friends online and tell them you are sorry for not talking to them when you saw them last alive and in person? It is hard to keep an online friendship above water, it takes alot more work. I would rather make face with the people that I love than expect to talk to them over the internet. I would rather say "Hi" while I have them there to cherish and love in person. Because who knows when the next time will be when we get to talk in person? Who knows when we will get to cherish each other in the knowledge of who we are at exactly that space in time? I have so many friends that I miss, that I thought that it wasn't a big deal to talk to when I saw them out in public. Now I wish more than anything that I could talk to them, that I could see them face to face and know how their life is really going. Life jumps out at you and takes that time and knowledge away and I wish that I could have that time back. Talking is only one aspect being with a friend. One aspect that we miss so much if we "talk" to them online is that we miss all of the idiosyncrasies of their movements and their facial expressions. I get so much out of reading peoples faces and their movements. I miss that interaction from the friends that I have been away from for so long. I only wish that I did have the time to get together with my friends all of the time. So for now I will be happy with the knowledge of getting to spend time with my friends however I can, because I love them so much and to get to talk to them however I can is all that I really want and can ask for.

Three Things...

2007-01-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

Three Things:
...that scare me: the dark(ever since I was a kid), letting someone else take care of me, losing friends
....people that make me laugh: Tony Stark(you know who you are), B-Rad, Sammy-T
....I love: my bestest friends, my husband, great music
....I hate: getting old, HOT weather, migraines
....I don't understand: how the human mind thinks, how plants grow with only water and sun, rude people who can never see their faults or refuse to at least
....on my desk: managers notes, chocolate, tag guns to date product
....I'm doing right now: sitting drinking coffee at starbucks, watching my husband read the newspaper, restlessly rocking my catywampus chair back and forth after drinking the starbucks
....I want to do before I die: go to Africa, together with someone lead them to the Lord, have some sweet dreadlocks in my hair
....I can do well: do a kickass Axl Rose impression, harvest and store the garden that my husband and I so diligently tended, get lost playing a RPG video game for hours
...you should always listen to: the Lord, your parents, your friends(they only mean the best for you if they truly are your friends)
...you should never listen to: those that say you can't do what you want, Satan, heavy metal music with whining guitar
....I'd like to learn how to do: yoga, keep in touch with my friends better, heal people with natural methods
....favorite foods: tasty CHEESE, oranges, bread
....beverages I drink regularly: water, coffee, beer
...TV shows I watched as a kid: Fraggle Rock, 3-2-1 Contact, Dukes of Hazzard
....books I read as a kid: Anne of Green Gables series, Little House on the Prairie series, choose your own adventure books
....bloggers to tag: All my friends are tagged(YOU'RE IT!) Tag yourself baby!

Fall Down Go Boom, Pt. 2

2007-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

I think that I must be a faller. I was thinking about all of the times that I fell down last year. I can remember several actually but the best 3 are at least memorable enough to write about. During the summertime all of our buddies and myself were eating late at the Steel Trolley in Lisbon, after we ate we went outside and for some reason I was spinning around the lightpole at the corner of the street. Somehow I slipped and landed on my back on the road with cars swirling around my head. Sam came running and helped me up because I was laughing so hard I couldn't get up.
This winter Sam and I were wrestling in church again after our friends band Keep It Up was practicing. And I charged him and he jumped to the side just like a toro getting away from a bull, and I landed square on the floor and broke a huge blood vessel in my knee.
But the best one was this summer when we were hanging out with our friends at our home having a barbeque. It had been raining and I was wearing slippery shoes and our wooden deck gets slick when it is wet. I took one step off of the porch and I started falling and couldn't catch myself. My friends watched as I fell off of the deck and landed square in the azalea bush on my butt again, but not before scraping my shin off of the deck and leaving a huge rock that is still in my shin. All I could do was laugh again as Sam helped me get out of the bush. I'm glad that I laugh instead of cry.

Fall Down, Go Boom

2007-01-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

January 5th-mark it as my first fall of the year. Can anyone top that? All of this crazy rain that we have had for the past several days off and on has left our lawn a muddy wicked mess. I was on my way out to my car getting ready to go to work and I slipped. My heel of my right foot slid forward and the front of my left foot slipped backwards trying to catch myself and lo and behold I did a split right beside my car. No one was even there to see my amazing feat of maneuverability! I yelled a loud expletive and I went back inside to clean up and change my clothes and then I finally went to work. Just imagine if all this rain was snow? If I’d have fallen I would have stayed down there for longer and made a snow angel, but NO, instead my ass and whole lower half was covered with December mud! YUCK!

The New Year is Here!

2006-12-31T07:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone! If you are like me, this time of year always carries a lot of memories, poignant and strong, that seem to swirl around in my head and heart, making me love and appreciate everything I have in life. Have you stopped and considered everything that has been so much a part of your life this year? Have you realized what has molded you into who you are from experiences you have grown from this past year? Has this year held significance in your life? Will you remember this year for something special or something sad? Does the new year bring new hope to you? Is your life changed by the passing of this year? Do you wish that you could change things or do them over again? Have you said everything that you wanted to? Have you regretted not saying the things you wanted? Have you regretted saying the things you did? Did you go after your dreams? Did you stay up late enjoying friends and family? Did you bond closer to people than you ever thought you could? Were your perspectives changed about people and their human nature? Did you sit close to the ones you loved and enjoy their conversation that left you thinking about it for days? Did you get reaquainted with ones you missed? Did you get to meet someone new, someone that will always be a part of your life? Did you say goodbye to someone you love deeply, waiting for their return? All of these things and more have happened to each of us and they are more significant than we sometimes ever really consider them to be. How will you change in this next year? Will you say what you want to, will you rekindle old friendships or make new ones? What will your focus be and will you live great memories like the past year has given you? I hope that this new year brings you all that you had this past year and more!

What's the Topic?

2006-12-28T17:04:00.000-08:00

So I went into this cool store in the mall today. I haven’t been in the mall for what seems like ages. It’s been at least a year and I think that the last time I was in there I was on a mission for something that I knew I needed. So, no, I haven’t been in the mall to just walk around and check everything out in forever. Honesty I really don’t like shopping. Goodwill is more my type of shopping center. Anyways, my hubby got me a t-shirt at a store called Hot Topic in the mall. He thought that I liked the band on the shirt and he got it for me for Christmas. When he gave it to me he asked if I had ever heard their music, I can’t recall ever knowing if it was them if I had heard them. So, I decided to return it and get something different. Before I went I asked my friend where Hot Topic was in the mall and she told me. But then she decided to tell me that it was a Goth store and that it was a dark atmosphere in there, she kind of implied that it maybe wasn’t the kind of store where I would find anything good to buy. Well I took the shirt back and there were so many things that I would like to buy in that store. The clothes were all pretty cool and more the style that I like to wear than in most of the other stores I buy clothes at. I could have spent a good amount of money in there and the music was cool and the people working there were really nice. To make a long story shorter, I really dig that store. I guess that I have realized that sometimes I am in to a lot of different things that throw the whole normal viewpoint off of whack. I don’t like to be normal or common, I enjoy finding new and creative things that intrigue me and stretch my horizon. I think that when people get older they tend to stick to the same old thing. They find comfort in the rituals of life and they often get stuck in a trap of contentment. I do enjoy a nice ritual here and there, but for the majority of my time I find ritual just makes me bored and restless. I really never wanted to be like everyone else and I am sure that most people probably feel that way in some capacity. I think that I am a little more on the extreme of being unusual, wouldn’t you agree? ;) My whole point is that I find comfort and energy in enjoying myself and finding things that make me happy, whether it is new or old and I hope that I will always pursue things that stretch me and increase my horizons.

Bloggety blog blogger

2006-12-18T17:03:00.000-08:00

Well the semester is officially finished. I just checked my final grades and I did better than I thought. What a relief to be done! It's a good thing too, because I just started getting on myspace and I am an official addict of it. It's amazing how many old friends I have been able to talk to and reminisce with. I always told myself that I wouldn't get caught up in it, that myspace was from the devil and just a way for people to get their identity stolen away. It is really a great thing though. I could spend so much time on there getting the friendships that have been stolen away with time restored. What a great time stealer and saver at the same time!

Almost Done!

2006-12-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

The fall semester is almost done! I officially finished my organic chemistry class this morning. I studied all week whenever I found time to look over the notes. I took off on Monday and I got up 2 hours before the test to cram a little more information into my already full head. The test took 2 hours and I finished 20 minutes early. I think that could be a good thing considering that I at least tryed to finish all of the questions.
Did you ever feel a mental weight lifted off of your shoulders? As I walked out of the class I literally felt lighter, I think that I caught myself smiling in fact. And to top it off on the way home from the class I actually thought about not having to do anything for the next 5 weeks. I thought about cooking, and getting together with friends I haven't seen for awhile, I thought about all of the video games that I have neglected for so long, there are new movies that have been in my house for months that I haven't found the time to watch yet, I can finally clean the house like I want to, I can spend that extra time at work making the big bucks instead of studying, and the list goes on. It's funny how something so time consuming can be gone in the blink of an eye.

She is here!

2006-11-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? I'm an aunt. My younger brother and his wife gave birth to baby Cana on Thanksgiving day. What a reason to be thankful! She is their first baby, and my parents first grandbaby. The little butterball came out weighing 9 lbs. and had a full head of black hair. She is a beauty, with olive skin just like my brother. It was awesome to finally get to meet her after 9 long months, I am so excited to get to watch her grow up and experience all that life has to offer her. Her parents are going to do a great job raising her. They have been and will continue to pray for her everyday and for God's guidance to help them raise her, if they don't then I will, actually I will anyways! I love her already, but this does not make me want one of my own. So the questions can stop before they even get started. I have enough "children" to help in raising that I don't need any of my own. You see, I get to have all of the fun spoiling them and then send them home to their parents!

Good times around here

2006-11-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy lately, planning trips, meeting my new niece for the first time, trying to fit in study time for the looming college finals that are coming up in a couple weeks, getting through Thanksgiving at the Dutch(where I work), and overall nonsense. Crazy! Anyways, I have lots to write about, but actually the first thing I want to tell, one of the funniest things that happened to me, was Thanksgiving day at my Grandparents. I can always go there and expect some really blunt comments from my blunt Grandma(whats a grandma to do?), or maybe she will say some things that she really doesn't know the meaning of in this sophisticated new fangled society. Really, I always expect a comment that is so random that it cracks me up without her even knowing what she just said.

To start the story off, I work in a bakery. Thanksgiving is the biggest week of the year for me, I work myself up for this week, physically and mentally for everything we have to do because it is the most intense time of the year for all of us. This thanksgiving was no different for me, I worked come crazy freakin' hours and was overall in a craze from monday to wednesday before Thanksgiving. I worked 25 hours in 2 days and all that jazz. It was a wild time. So there goes...

Anyways, I got to my grandparents house after dinner Thanksgiving day, I sat down with everyone in the living room, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. As soon as I sat down my grandma asks, "So... did you get over your pie making orgy?" I first couldn't really say anything or else I would have bust up laughing. I just brushed it off and answered that, yeah I was all recuperated from the week and that everything went ok. I look around and everyone in the room is covering their mouths laughing and tears are in everyones eyes. It was a classic moment. She had no idea what she had said or what everyone was laughing at. I felt bad, but I think it was best that she didn't find out what an "orgy" was. Later that evening my uncle asked her if she knew what an "orgy" was and she said that yeah she did, that it was some sort of party. We just agreed with her and left her to her merry way. Cherry pie takes on a whole new meaning in Grandmas world.

Hi, my name is Earl

2006-11-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

Does anyone watch Hi, my name is Earl? I think that it is one of the best shows out there. It is filled with humor and great one liners, which I am fond of and well known for trying to say. Sometimes it doesn't always come out right. Of all the characters in the show, I think that Randy is my favorite. He is a simpleton, he really only thinks about eating and what makes him happy. Occasionally he has a great word of wisdom, but he never really thinks for himself unless prompted to. His words of wisdom are so true. My favorite was just last week where he said, "If I was in the witness protection program and I got to pick my own name, I'd pick 'CRASH FIST-FIGHT!" So true...so true.

I'm not really angry, I promise

2006-11-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

My Hubby said that I was grumpy the other day. Every little thing was grating on me, everything was getting on my nerves. Do you ever really think about the stuff you hide? I've been so busy with work and school and everything else that I haven't had time to show the true emotions that come out of me every once in awhile. They just break free when they can't build up anymore. But isn't that ok sometimes to show your true feelings? I wasn't having a good day. I was raw enough to let out the feelings that I keep locked inside. I didn't care who I would hurt, even though I was not intentionally trying to hurt anyone. If anyone can deal with me on my bad days it only has to be me. I think that I should throw out the angst and turmoil that I have sometimes and come out of hiding if I want to. I wish that I still had as much angst as I used to, now I deal with things easier than I used to. Life came and threw me a few hardballs and I learned to shut up and deal with it. But I wish that I didn't have to deal with it sometimes. Argh.....

Evans Bahrain

2006-11-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well, in honor of my cousin going into Bahrain for the Naval forces for the next year, I would like to display some of the things that Evan gets to see for the next year to make us all miss him even more.... The first is the gorgeous beach that Evan will see everyday.
Next is the yummy food Evan will eat everyday.
Oh, there is the raceway in case Evan ever wants to see fast cars.
Did I mention the fun festivals Bahrain has, with floats and everything?
There is also the cool stamps that one day we can all hope to see in our mailbox as we await letters from Evan. It's nice to see a little glimpse into the life that Evan will be living.

Medical Examinations?

2006-11-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

First-year students at Med School were receiving their first Anatomy class with a real dead human body. They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a white sheet. The professor started the class by telling them: "In medicine, it is necessary to have 2 important qualities as a doctor. The first is that you not be disgusted by anything involving the human body." For an example, the Professor pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the butt of the corpse, withdrew it and stuck his finger in his mouth." Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students. The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes, but eventually took turns sticking a finger in the butt of the dead body and sucking on it. When everyone had finished, the Professor looked at them and told them, "The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my Middle finger and sucked on my Index finger. Now learn to pay attention."

You can do well or go to Iraq, your choice!

2006-11-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

I just recently heard that John Kerry(former presidential candidate mind you) was speaking at a California college to an assembly of students. He somehow made the terribly rude comment to them that, "If you study hard(in college) you can do well, if you don't you get stuck in Iraq." Kerry claims that it was a botched up joke that went bad, way bad. McCain and other political figures were asking for a general apology from Kerry. Kerry claims that the administration should be apologizing to him. But he also said the White House was purposely twisting his words and asserted that it is Bush who owes troops an apology for a misguided war in Iraq. Meanwhile, in comes Ohio Democratic Representative, Sherrod Brown, twisting everything and saying that Republican Senator, Mike DeWine, and other Republicans are merely trying to change the subject. "The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," Brown said. What is this world coming to? How did Kerry manage to turn everything around and point fingers at others when he clearly feels this way and is only trying to cover up his mistakes? I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democratic, what Kerry did was wrong, so stop blaming others for your crime. Own up to it man! I don't know much about politics but this goes out of the scope of politics and right into another realm of humanity. I did hear that he recently made an apology though, thanks alot Kerry.

Hillbilly Medical Terms

2006-10-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe these are a little cheesy, but I admit I had a good laugh after reading a few. So here's to maybe making your day a little less dreary. And here's to hoping that we never meet any Doctors we visit who think that these are real terms!
Benign................What you be after you be eight.
Bacteria...............Back door to cafeteria.
Barium.................What you do with dead folks.
Cesarean Section.......A neighborhood in Rome.
Catscan................Searching for the cat.
Cauterize..........Made eye contact with her.
Colic...............A sheep dog.
Coma...............A punctuation mark.
D&C................Where Washington is.
Dilate.............To live longer than your kids do.
Enema.............Not a friend.
Fester............Quicker than someone else.
Fibula............A small lie.
G.I.Series.........World Series of military baseball.
Hangnail...........What you hang your coat on.
Impotent......Distinguished, well known.
Labor Pain..........Getting hurt at work.
Morbid..............A higher offer than I bid.
Nitrates...........Cheaper than day rates.
Medical Staff.......A Doctor's cane, sometimes shown with a snake.
Node....................I knew it.
Outpatient..............A person who has fainted.
Pap Smear................A fatherhood test.
Pelvis...................Second cousin to Elvis.
Post Operative...........A letter carrier.
Recovery Room....Place to do upholstery.
Secretion.......Hiding something.
Tablet..........A small table to change babies on.
Seizure..........Roman emperor who lived in the Ceasarean Section.
Terminal Illness....Getting sick at the train station.
Tumor...............More than one.
Urine...............Opposite of mine.
Varicose............Near by.
Hospital............The biggest building in town, other than Joe's feedwarehouse or Franks lumber mill.

Alive To Tell the Story

2006-10-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? My day ended up with a sort of perfect justice of exactly how crappy it really was after the aforementioned Theatre exam(if you haven't already, read my last post, I kind of posted twice in a short time span). I had just finished my other college class, got into my car, turned it on... you know the old bit. Anyways, I was pulling out of the parking lot onto the main road that leads to home and low and behold, one of my classmates from my other class was behind me in line and he ran into me! Apparently he thought that I was going to pull out in front of the person barreling down the road in the lane I needed to turn in to. So, he wasn't paying any attention to me and he started to go. Next thing I know I feel a lurch forward and hear metal hitting metal, or maybe that was plastic hitting plastic. I look into my rearview mirror and see him covering his face with his hands in shock that he just hit me from behind. We both get out of our cars and see that nothing major happened to either car. His car was actually worse than mine, a crack in the plastic fender and some scrapes. My car took it like a man and had a little blue paint on the fender. We both decided that we were fine and that we could go on our merry way and that was the end of it. I kind of forgot to tell my husband the first 1/2 hour we were together when I got home and I remembered as we were hugging in the kitchen. Something triggered it and I said, " Oh, by the way I was in an accident today!" Well he kind of flipped out on me for not telling him as soon as I walked in the door. But when he realized that no damage was really done then he was ok with it. And I'm alive to tell the story!

Life Is Staged

2006-10-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwilling to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered Pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
-As You Like It, Shakespeare

I am in Theatre, a way of seeing, this semester at Kent State. My nursing coordinator told me that it is a requirement for my nursing degree that I am working on. I'm not really sure why? I tell people that it is so that I can learn to lie to patients when they are on deaths door. My nursing coordinator also told me that this class would be an easy "A" grade for me. Well now that I just finished my first exam I beg to differ. I really HATE short answer and essay exams and this one was all of that(and a bag of chips), 5 pages later(front and back) and 1 1/2 hours of examining, I am pretty sure that I'm not sure at all in how I did. My mind is fuzzy and I haven't been able to see anything clearly for 2 hours since the exam. That "A" seems harder than I thought. In my studying last night for the exam, I did come across this script from, As You Like It, and I thought it really said a lot about a mans life in a short span. It puts everything into perspective; you start out as a baby not knowing many things, you grow up and learn everything and think you are "master of the universe", then you realize it was better when you were young and didn't know everything, so you start reverting back to when you were a baby and sleep all day and have others feed you. Wisdom, it's a scary thing, you have to go thru so much to get it and when you have it you sometimes wish that you could take it back.

Winter Creeps In

2006-10-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Are we ever ready for winter? This year I am more than especially not. This year winters approach just seems different, I feel like the summer went by too fast and the time I was able to be outside was not enough. To think that we have to bear down for another long winter already fills me with depressing thoughts. Although I do like many things about winter, I mainly just can't stand being cold anymore. In my ripe old age of 29 I hate to get up in the morning out of my warm covers, I hate to come home to a cold house and start a fire that will warm the house slowly till, when it's time for bed, I am warm and toasty. I know that my sweet husband has already started saying "Have I mentioned that I can't stand winter?" which I will invariably hear everyday for the next several months until we see some green grass and warm days again and I think that drives me more crazy than anything!

"Strange we never prize the music till the sweet-voiced bird has flown; strange that we should slight the violets till the lovely flowers are gone; strange that summer skies and sunshine never seem one half so fair as when winter's snowy pinions shake their white down in the air!"
-Mary Riley Smith

Silent Weekend

2006-10-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I participated in a "Silent" weekend with other Kent State students involved in ASL classes. ASL stands for American Sign Language, if anyone was wondering, and there are 6 different levels of the class at this point that can be taught. I am a baby in ASL 1 and most of the people there were at least ASL 2 or 3. To see the difference in just one semester more is scary to me because they were so much better at signing than myself. Many of the people there were deaf as well. There was NO talking during any of the group activities, which was daunting. Hence the meaning "Silent" weekend;) It was a gathering for students and deaf people to get together and have a nice relaxing weekend. I actually felt far from relaxed at times though, I had a good time, but it was very stressful going there and knowing only the basics of signing. I was happy that everyone was really patient and eager to work with me and my fellow ASL 1 classmates. It is encouraging, to say the least, that I am able to have a short basic conversation with a deaf person, when just a few short months ago I would have been clueless in talking with them, and it would have scared me to death to even try. The weekend was gorgeous and I loved camping out. I haven't had the chance to camp this summer and it was just what I needed to get a little more relaxed and ready to get thru the rest of the semester. The top picture is of the entire group on the last day, minus a few that left the night before. The bottom picture is just a few of my classmates trying to sign to each other. This was an experience that I would have never done on my own, but because of it being a requirement for my ASL class, I am so glad that I did. It is hard to break out of your shell when you don't have to.

My new backpack

2006-10-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

It seems that my dear husband finally found himself his ultimate backpack on E-bay that he's been wanting for years, he had this 50th anniversary Kelty backpack tagged for what was probably 2 years, and when it came out into the market years even before that, he wanted it then, but just didn't buy it for whatever reason. Anyways, when he was sent the e-mail that his backpack was up for auction, he immediately put a bid in. Every other time he was outbid in the first few days, but this time his low bid got him his dream pack. The U.S. postal service sent it to us a few days later and I've never seen him so happy as when he opened that package with his new backpack in it. He said that it was all of his birthdays and christmas's combined in to one. WOW! Maybe a little exaggerated, but that's the way he is, you have to know him. So, needless to say, I aquired his old backpack. It is new too, but it wasn't the one he really wanted in the first place but he got a great deal for it figuring that he wouldn't ever get his "dream" pack. It was his second option, thrown away for the beauty of another. Honestly though, I really like it. I can't wait to get out on the trail and give it it's first "trail" run. It is green(which is my favorite color) and it isn't as big as his new pack so that means that he will have to carry more of the weight when we are on the trail together. I sure am glad that he got his dream pack! I think I got mine too!

College Daze

2006-09-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

Of course the real burden of college has started this semester for me. The panic of fitting in everything in my busy life overwhelms me when I realize that things that I normally do, like laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, sleeping, eating, etc. all get pushed to the wayside as work and college collide. Unfortunately by this Saturday I will have worked 12 out of the past 14 days, and had about 3-4 hours of sleep each night. Which is entirely my own fault, but sleep doesn't seem to matter as much lately. I used to need an extreme 8 hours of sleep each night to function. The fun part is maybe I don't realize that I'm not functioning, hopefully lack of sleep has helped me to miss the things I would see if I was functioning on high capacity. Maybe I am more focused on the issues at hand in my life instead of worrying about the dishes in the sink or the fact that I can't find any clean jeans. I always have been on the side of perfectionism and when I started college I was so worried that I would not be able to get any studying done because in my mind the housework would need to be done before the other, more important, things. I guess what I am trying to say is that I love this high pace, never rest life that I am in right now. Who knows, I may even miss it one day!

"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you live to be a hundred."
-Woody Allen

I Love Fall

2006-09-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Where I get my best thinking done

2006-09-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Halfway down the stairs"(written by A.A. Milne, sung by Robin on The Muppet Show)

Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn't any other stair quite like it.
I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.
Halfway up the stairs isn't up and isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery, it isn't in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts run round my head.
It isn't really anywhere, it's somewhere else instead.
Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn't any other stair quite like it.
I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.

Here it is

2006-09-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I've given in to the whole bloggin' thing. I guess that I thought that my time wasn't quite spent on enough activities at this point in my life and I needed a little extra to add to my list of things I can't miss out on. I'll probably never slow down to the pace that I'd like to someday envision for the future so I may as well embrace the fact. One of the main decisions in doing this is the new laptop I ordered that I hope to recieve tomorrow, hurray! I told my husband that I am probably one of the few females on the earth to be so excited about electronics, more than most at least. So this new venture should be exciting if I can ever find the time to collect my thoughts and get them out in words.