Summer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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...

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

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

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!

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?

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

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!

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!

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

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.