Top Ten

Just for fun, I saw this and thought it looked like a fun one. I'm a sucker for surveys. ha!

1. When you were a senior in high school, what career did you think you’d choose? Did you? Why or why not?
Since I was twelve, I wanted to be a youth minister. When I was 18, I was struggling a lot in my faith, was mad at God for things going on with my family and in my personal life and decided I still wanted to work with kids but would be an English teacher instead. I was working on an English major at UNT before I got suspended for spending more time on MSN talking to a certain Australian than I did in classes. Okay, maybe not that reason specifically, but there is a direct correlation. :) I won't be an english teacher anymore, I've sorted out my problems with my faith and God and am going back to the ministry. I still love reading and writing though. :D

2. What one thing about the “real world” did you find most surprising once you were on your own?
Hmmmm.....I was shocked by the amount we spend on groceries weekly. But I think that's more a Walmart vs. rural Australia sticker shock than a real world thing because I'd done my parents grocery shopping a basquillion times back home and it was always less than $100 if not closer to $60. I used to live off $100 a month in college....::sigh:: This aspect of my new Real World really sucks. I have no idea what a realistic budget is because everything seems so damn expensive. ($2 for an avocado....WTH?)

3. Name 3 things you think your closest friends DON’T like about you?

1. I always have to be right. I don't agree with this, but I can understand why it would seem that way. If I'm wrong, I'll definitely admit it. The thing is, that if I wasn't 100% sure about what I'm saying (i.e. specifically researched it in the past, even if it's something as silly as a song lyric...) I wouldn't have opened my mouth. I definitely wouldn't argue if I wasn't positive that, if they looked it up for themselves, they'd know I'm right. If I don't know something for sure, I just don't say anything. Sorry, I know it's annoying how much random stuff I do know!
2. I'm scatter-brained. I'm always late. I forget to return phone calls/messages/texts/emails. We make a date and I forget that I already had other obligations that day. Just overall annoying crap that all boils down to my inability to stay organized. I've bought a PDA though, and it really is helping.
3. I'm a bad listener. I'm much like a man in that I have trouble just listening to someone's problem. I always want to help or offer advice and get really annoyed/offended when a person has an excuse why every single one of my suggestions won't work. In reality I have good suggestions, it's just that they aren't actually interested in fixing the problem, or hearing my advice for that matter...they just want to complain about it and for me to listen so they can vent. Period. This is REALLY hard for me. This is especially difficult for me when it's the same friend complaining about the same problem every time I see them. I want to help. I want to fix. I want to erase pain. But, I'm really working on this.....I really am. I'm learning to wait for that oh so important, "So what do you think I should do?" rather than just assuming they want to know. I think gaining this skill is going to be crucial in my attempt to make new girl friends here.
   

4. In order to sleep, do you need background noise or absolute quiet? I need absolute quiet to sleep. Honestly, I have so much trouble sleeping if I can hear Chris breathing, let alone anything louder. The birds! Oh my goodness...the birds here are all LOUD and squawky and it killed me for like 6 months before my subconscious was able to ignore it. I slept with earplugs and the brown noise on simplynoise.com before it got better. I don't know what I'll do when I have kids, probably die.

5. Why do you choose to reside in your current city? Yes, you have a choice.
My husband makes better money here than he could anywhere else in the country and the rent is subsidized to $65/wk (down from $800/wk,) so as we're saving for a house and children in the future it makes the most sense to stay where the money is and just pour all of his (and eventually my) excess income into savings. The govt. even has a savings account for first time home buyers/builders with like 12% interest or something. It has a cap at like $75k, but you can't beat that initial boost. So yeah, when we have enough to build a house, we'll look for work elsewhere and get to building.

6. Are you close to your parents?
I have an unusually close relationship with both my parents. I love them dearly. They get me. We're friends. I think they greatest thing they ever did with us girls is, once we were in college, allow us to make our own decisions rather than try to control our lives from home like so many parents do. All of us girls have made mistakes, but never had to be afraid to tell our parents or ask for help when we needed it because they are always there, a constant support. I remember the first time I realized that not everyone has such a great relationship with their parents and not everyone's parents are as wise as mine. I feel so incredibly endlessly blessed to have my parents be as awesome as they are. The endlessly support me, and I them. It's beautiful.

7. What is your favorite fiction book?
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. I have two cats, Ender and Bean and am looking to get a girl cat named Petra next. hehehe It's a nerdy book, but I'm a nerd. Synopsis: "In a future where mankind has barely survived an invasion by the insectoid "buggers", the world's most talented children, including the extraordinary Ender Wiggin, are taken into "Battle School" at a very young age to supply commanders for the expected Third Invasion. The book originated as a science fiction novelette in Analog magazine (1977), and Card later expanded the novel into the Ender's Game series, dealing with the long-term results of the war. "

8. Do you enjoy cooking or is it a chore?
I love cooking, and I think I would spend most of my time doing it if I lived in Melbourne or Sydney where I could actually get my hands on some good quality ingredients. I can rarely find any gourmet level recipes that I would actually have all the ingredients for. I love cooking Mexican food, and it's the only spice group that I speak fluently (i.e. can make up my own recipes from) but you also can't find those ingredients here in m'bah. It's exhausting to the extent that I don't really try anymore. It's just whatever's fast and easy I'm afraid.

9. Be honest. What one thing would (the majority of) your blog readers be shocked to find out about you?
I don't think I could shock my blog readers. I'm an open book to a near disgusting extent. I'd be even more open in person, but I think my grandparents read this blog and there's just some things they don't need to know about. hahaha I'm egotistical to the extent that I like to believe everyone's interested in even the smallest details of my life....or maybe it's because I'm actually interested in the smallest details of their lives and just forget at times that not everyone's quite like me.

10. If you were given your own national holiday, what would you require people to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the Day of You? Would there be a parade? Greeting cards?

• Breakfast: Breakfast burritos with salsa and sour-cream. Lots of fresh coffee and maybe some buttermilk pancakes.
  
• Lunch. Pizza. My fave.
  
• Dinner: CHIPOTLE!!!! Always Chipotle.
• I think there would be fireworks and traditional Melissa Day candies, pink sparkly sour gummy candies shaped like princess crowns. ;)

Introspective Musings

I don't want to be a grown up. I want to have water gun fights, play hide-and-go-seek, buy a popsicle from the ice-cream man and tag-you're-it all day long. I feel like my inner-child is mourning the fading of my youth lately. I realized the other day that I'm 5-6 years older than high-school seniors. I'm officially the age my teachers were in school. My little sister is turning 20 next week. How is this possible?

I chalk some of it up to the fact that I've spent most of the past 2 years in limbo. I still feel 21. 2 years might not seem like much of a difference but it feels humongous. Everyone's getting married and having babies. Everyone I've met in Moranbah and built some kind of relationship with so far is in their late 20s and early 30s and are all just in a completely different stage in life than me. It makes me feel self-conscious. Like, they've already lived this stage of life I'm in. They've been-there-done-that and all have babies and children and I'm still over here living my life for myself with nothing more to worry about than what I want and need...it feels difficult for me to relate to them sometimes, even though they can relate to me. Like they have all this wisdom from experience and I've still got the blinders on....does that even make sense? It makes me miss Kara and Amelia a lot. I know if I called Amelia up randomly and challenged her to a water-gun fight she'd be all over that. Not that I ever did....ha! But I could have if I'd wanted to! I don't really know anyone here I could do that with without feeling like they'd think I was joking or something...maybe I'm wrong. I dunno.


Also, everyone seems so much more mature here, even the people my age....not that I'm immature, but I'm also silly and playful and loud. My friends here are different and I feel like I'm different when I am with them. I feel like I'm losing touch with myself. I never really feel like me anymore. I think maybe because I'm still getting to know everyone and I haven't really gotten to that stage where the guards come down. I don't know if they ever will come down...I don't really know many people very well at all.....maybe that's hard for me because I haven't really had to make new friends outside of the work-place since high school. I'm not really sure how to have less-than-deep friendships outside of work... I want to get to know people and their passions, dreams and even their past. I want to move beyond the superficial but I don't really know how. I guess I could spend more time with people for starters. No one seems to have quite as much free time as me at the moment though. haha I'll settle-in in good time but, for now, it's tough always being the odd one out and always feeling that bit socially awkward. It makes me pine for my bffs something fierce.

I still feel a bit like the penguin in a flock of crows. :-/

xo

Long time no update

Sorrryyyy! My life has actually been busy for once. I swear it has. Kind of. Maybe. Okay, not that busy. I just haven't felt like blogging recently....which usually ensues in a rash of 3-a-day updates for a week. So, if you've missed me, don't worry. ;) I'll be around.

What's new....The last time I updated was last week on Wednesday. Today it is Wednesday again. Crazy how it comes around every week, isn't it? Well. Last Wednesday I didn't even really update, I just talked about baby names so I'll update you on both Wednesdays. ;) I went to a short and sweet music practice at church that night. Since I've been off the pill (I'm experimenting if the pill was causing some weird changes in my moods and personality, not trying to get pregnant. JSYK. P.S. I think it was the pill....scheduling an appt. with my doc.) I experienced my first round of PMS in a long time. I've always gotten it REALLY bad, I get moody and unmotivated and just flat-out exhausted every day. So, that was the first day I was feeling moody, exhausted and unmotivated and Emily had been awake since 4:30am and so she was feeling the same for entirely different reasons. So we ended up just doing mostly the same songs we sung the week before....hopefully tonight is a bit more fun. Maybe she was PMSing too. I didn't ask. lol

Thursday I got my hair cut. It's really cute! If I have time to style it after I do the dishes and run to the store and so on I'll have Chris take a pic when he gets home. I'm not so great at the self portrait thing. Anyways. They took a LOT of hair off. The length is the same, but the took out a ton of weight. Usually I can only wrap the pony-tail holder around twice and now I can wrap it around 6 times if that gives you a visual. ;) It is a dark Mahogony Brown with a few panels of blonde. I don't really like the color of highlight they did. I wanted something golden, like a medium blonde....but the roots are like platinum and the ends are this weird orangey yellow color. Also, the panels bled through to the roots so some of the overall color speckled onto the blonde the bled through which means I have leopard roots. I'm not happy about that at all, but I didn't notice until after I got home so I don't really know what to do about it. I think I'm just going to schedule a consult with the stylist to talk about it and whether she 1.) knows how to correct it in my next appointment or 2.) knows how to keep it from happening again. Because if this is her best work, I don't know that I'll be comfortable scheduling another appointment. It's too much money to fork over just leave with leopard roots and two-toned highlights. Ya know?

Molly, Chris's 15 y/o family dog, was put to sleep Thursday afternoon. She had been going downhill for a while and it'd gotten to the point where she couldn't really walk and her fur was falling out in patches. She also had what they think were tumors all over her body. :( She is now buried in the garden where she liked to play. Chris handled it pretty well, he went to visit her Wednesday night while I was at musos. Debra's taken it pretty hard though. :(

Friday we had dentist appointments in Sarina (about 2 hrs away) so we were up at 5 eating breakfast and getting ready to head out the door. I have a lot of work that needs doing on my teeth...not news to me, but not fun either. We spent the rest of the day with Ashleigh and Ezra and their new puppies Wolf and Peep! It was so good to catch up and get to spend some time with the little baby and Ashleigh too. I wish we lived nearby so I could pop in more often, definitely lifted my spirits. :)

Saturday we went out for morning tea and then spent the whole day in the garden. A local shop "The Green Tree Frog" is closing down (sad :( ) and had 50% off all plants so we went in and I got a bunch of little cacti and succulents, some new cockscomb for the flower bed, a gardenia bush, two bouganvillia bushes and a mini rose bush to replace my other one that died. I cleared out allllll the leaves and debris and weeds that had overtaken the side garden in the backyard which took about 2 hours, reseated the concrete edge and planted my bushes. I'm going to get an arch for the bouganvillia to climb up, red flowers on one side and yellow flowers on the other, and put a bird bath or water feature of some kind underneath. I also planted all of my seeds that I couldn't when it was raining every day and I also found some old seeds in a drawer that I never planted so I might plant those this weekend as well. I also cleared out the green-house space in the backyard so I can put all my seeds back there to grow. I wish I had a table or some shelves or something back there to put them on....they had some at the tree frog but I don't have a car big enough to take them home. boo.

Sunday we went to church. The sermon was the 2nd part of Ed Young's "The House" and it was so poignant to our situation, I'm really glad the sent that one. I think I was actually there in person the weekend he originally gave the message, but it didn't speak to me at all then. It's so cool the way that I've learned so much from it now even after hearing it all before. :) I was so exhausted at this point that I admittedly spent most of the afternoon in bed. I don't remember what we did when I woke up....Oh. Okay, I lied. I didn't actually plant my bushes on Saturday, I planted them on Sunday after I woke up from my nap. lol That night we went over to Graham and Debra's and had dinner. Their friends Trudy and Charles were there and we haven't seen them in a while so it was good to catch up with them as well.

Monday I went to Bible study in the morning that ended up just being a long chat over coffee about the church and how we feel about the direction it's going in. When I got home we spent the afternoon cleaning for the inspection on Tuesday.....

Tuesday I woke up early to continue cleaning (it always comes down to this doesn't it) and then when the guy came round to inspect it he didn't even go in all the rooms! He was way less intense than the lady who usually inspects.....it always feels so anticlimactic. lol I've been using one of Debra and Graham's cars to get around btw so, after the inspection, I went to the bakery and got some things for breakfast because I was STARVING and went to Debra's where Bean was (he freaks out when we put him downstairs these days I think he's afraid we're leaving to America again or something....) but I got to catch up with Debra over some tea and breaky and alllll these Lorikeets fly up and Bean had never seen them before and starts freaking out from inside the house. So cute, he was clicking at them. :) hehehe Oh. When I came home it was 12:30pm. I was exhausted but tried to stay awake for a while. I did some research on schools (for ministry degrees/cert/diploma) and then I watched Sex and the City and Ellen, but fell asleep by the middle of Ellen. So I took a nap until Chris came home and then I went to the grocery store. I made a risotto for dinner and caught up with Beebs.....

Today I did a lot of nothing. :) I caught up with mom and dad on Skype finally but other than that I have taken the day off from life. I actually just got a call that there is not music rehearsal tonight after all so all I have to do before Chris gets home is the dishes (no dishwasher yet. ugh) and get to the store to pick up some toilet paper. Oh. I also caught my fingers in the ceiling fan when I was changing the other day. :( I think it might be getting infected but Neosporin is controlled here and I don't know what to do. It costs $60 to go to the dr. because I don't have insurance so I hope I don't need a prescription because that's a damn expensive tube of Neosporin. A lot of things here are controlled, but are available from the Pharm. over the counter and you just have to log that you purchased it. (Like Sudafed. And Codeine. LOL) So I should prob go to the pharmacist as well. ::sigh:: I don't feel like doing anything today. I'm so lazy....I've just had stuff every single day for the past week and I don't want to move today! Alas. I guess I could take a shower too. hahahahaha


That's all!

Baby names...again.

Top 2 Baby names! Although it's actually Wednesday here.....

I don't have just two. Maybe because I have a laundry list of girls names to pick from... Okay, I think I could do 4 though.... top 2 girl's and top 2 boys. ;)

1. Wrenaleigh. I made this up....On ANTM, two seasons ago, there was a model called Analeigh. And then I met someone named Karaleigh....and I just thought those names are SO pretty! And then I thought, you could really put an "A" on the end of any name and make it like that....I was looking for W names I liked you see....I liked the name Wren, but it wasn't feminine enough. Thus.... :)

2. Willa. My dream is to have two baby girls. Meaning I'll probably have two baby boys, but whatevs. I have two girl names and this is my second fave. I saw it on Gossip Girl last year after eyeballing it for a couple weeks on baby name lists (yes I'm an active lister. :P) and it cemented it by being able to hear it in the context of normal conversation. So pretty, femnine and different. :)

__________

1. Warren. This is a nice strong masculine name. It even has War in it. I'm 100% against names that can be twisted against children on the playground, especially boys names, so here is a strong name with no yucky nick-names attatched. Warren Wood has a very nice ring to it. :)

2. Christian. It's not a W name.... but I've always liked it. :) We could name him Christian Graham Wood and he would have the same initials as Chris. People would also probably call him Chris....because Australian's are incapable of leaving any man's name the way it is, they all go by nicknames.....Hopefully he'll just be Woody and get to keep his first name like Chris. lol

Short and Sweet...ish. ;)

Just a quick update! I'm trying to write more daily so that we don't end up with a novel after not having updated for a week. So here's to (relatively) short and sweet updates. :)

Chris took me out on a date last night to a little cafe in town called The Purple Grape. I'd have to say it's the best feed you can get in town, and it was really nice to go out! The only complaint I have against the place is that you might wait an hour before your food arrives. We had a reservation at 7pm and only stayed for dinner and coffee and didn't leave until 9:30....crazy! I think they must just be really short staffed, so far as I'm aware there's only one server and then the owner cooks all the food on her own...so imagine having 5 tables come in at once and having to cook all their food....not the best set up. I hope they sort that out because I'd really hate to see them go under!

After dinner we rented a movie called The Accidental Husband....I was surprised I'd never heard of it because it was SO good! It turns out the production company went bankrupt and so the release of the film was postponed indefinitely until it was inevitably released straight-to-dvd...such a shame because it really was a cute little romance comedy. :) Perfect film for a date night and I'd recco it to anyone.

I had heartburn last night for the first time this week...I've been trying to avoid it like the plague because when it's bad it's REALLY bad lately. I've been avoiding my triggers; spice, citrus, sugar, fat, alcohol (everything) but last night I had two Lemon-Lime and Bitters (sprite with Angostura Bitters) and I think that was what set me off. ::sigh:: I was chugging Maalox and it still took two hours to calm down. :( I finally got to sleep around 4am. Not. Fun.

I woke up at about 11am and had some coffee. Chris was polishing his car with the buffer he bought last week....it's now almost 1:30pm and he's STILL buffing!! I'm impressed by the commitment but admittedly confused as to why it takes that much time.....The car looks GORGEOUS though and it's not even finished yet. :)

He loves that car...it's a little red 1992 Mazda MX-6 coupe. It was his first car and he takes such great care of it and it takes care of him in return. I hope he never gives up on Little Red (as we call her hehe) even if he gets a new car it would be a shame to let this one go. The idea of giving up on Little Red makes me think of Little Susie the little blue coupe. Do you remember that cartoon? Well, if you haven't seen it you should watch it! I think it's bad enough that we personify practically all of our inanimate belongings and plants, but the memory of this cartoon really makes me feel guilty about giving up on things that would still have life to them if I had the patience to put in some TLC.

Tonight we're having dinner at the Cookson place along with Talia's bff Yelle and her bf...Bill...I think that's his name. It should be fun. :) Chris is also leading worship tomorrow and I'm leading the music so we're going to have to spend some time planning final details for that service as well. Those are our only plans for the day and then the week is over and we start over again tomorrow on Sunday. It was a good week. :)

Week's almost over!

This week just flew by! If last week felt like two weeks, this week was only a couple days. I don't know where it went....I can't say I mind it though. I love the weekends. :)

Today was the first Deb rehearsal. There's only 11 couples, so 22 kids in all. The room was actually a lot more full than I expected though, I can only imagine trying to manage 40 kids (a more typical number from balls past.) A girl's partner was out of town this week, so I filled in for him. Free dance lesson! Granted I was learning all the boy's part so it doesn't really count. It was a lot of fun. :) They have adult dance classes after Deb rehearsals from 7-8pm on Thursdays starting in two weeks and I think I'd would really truly enjoy it. Chris said he'll think about it.....:( I hope we can do it. It would be so much fun and a great opp. to meet some new couples. I didn't think I'd remember any of the steps, but I think I've learned that the problem I've had in the past is that I learn vocally rather than visually so if I nick-name all the moves and talk myself through it as I go I can actually hold my own. Cool! All that just from standing in so a little princess didn't feel left out. :) Oh, p.s. everyone thought I was like 17. ha! I think maybe it's because most of the people here my age have a lot of wrinkles already, especially around their eyes, because the UV is so high all the time. I don't really have any wrinkles, not that people notice anyways.....hm.


It poured rain all day so I didn't get a chance to do any of the gardening I wanted to. Ohhh well. Hopefully we'll get enough sun this weekend that I can get my seeds planted at least, even if I can't trim the bushes. I might end up just planting them in the garage and moving them outside from there if it doesn't ease up. If I don't plant them soon they won't have a chance to flower before the nights start getting cold. (may/june)

Just a short entry today. :)

Not so busy

I haven't been up to much but I'm sure that, me being me, I can come up with an entry of some substance. ;)

I've been getting back into exercising lately and have been busy moving more! I feel so much happier when I've been working out. I've really missed it. I'd really like to take a pilates class if they have one during the day so I think I'm going to check on that. It's been something I've been interested in for a while and would be keen to get into it. Most of the classes seem to be in the evenings though and I'm not really interested in doing that...I'll check it out. Read my other blog PlusSize2DreamSize to follow my progress if you'd like to!

We went into Sarina Beach on the weekend and caught up with Turtle and Ashleigh and Alexis and Phil, Turtle's sister and her husband. It was a lot of fun! We played board games and talked about how we're trying to build up the church and what they're doing their church and so on and they gave me lots to think about. It's such a breath of fresh air to just sit and laugh and learn from each other. I haven't caught up with friends in ages! I went out with Karen about a month ago for a quick morning tea which was fun in it's own right, but isn't the same as when you all get together after the babies are sleeping (Alexis and Ash both have little beebs. :) ) and we can all just....be. It's nice. :)

My calendar has filled out a little bit! We're having dinner with Rob and Talia on Saturday night and that will be the first time we've caught up with them in 3-4 months I think....gosh time flies. I'm really looking forward to Saturday though. I've also been getting to know Emily, who plays keyboard at our church, better lately and she's such a hoot! She's a teacher at the high school here in town and is about the same age as Kara I think. We had our first music rehearsal tonight where I sing and she plays the keyboard and, starting next week, Renee will be on the drums. Chris is fairly confident he could play some chords on the guitar as well if he needed to so we're filling out quite nicely! So we'll be doing that every Wednesday night from now on and then on Thursday nights I'm helping to chaperone the Debutante Ball dance rehearsals with Emily. YAY! I get to plan the decorations and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm thinking the budget is fairly small but we should be able to do something special either way. I love an excuse to get creative and this is the perfect one. :) The color the girls chose is a bright cherry red...interesting choice, but who am I to comment? haha It will be easy to find red stuff anyway.

We got a LOT of house supplies this weekend that we've been needing like a proper broom, vacuum cleaner, squeegee (for the big concrete floor downstairs, it used to be a car port and gets REALLY dirty...too dirty to mop) hedge trimmers, new flower seeds, striking hormone so we can get some cuttings from Debra and plant them in our garden (you dip the cuttings in the hormone before you plant and it helps them strike) and a dusting mop and orange oil for the hardwood. We have also picked the dishwasher we want and it's only $850 not including installation. This is WAY better than the $1200-1500 I'd been seeing on pricetags. It actually was marked $1200 and they marked it down for us if we can pay in cash or credit up front instead of laying away, so we'll be saving up for that. We need to get a plumber in to give us a quote and so we can figure out where we're going to put this thing. hahaha It *should* be under the sink and there's room there but that also means removing a good portion of the cabinetry and I don't know how much that is going to cost. Otherwise we have to put it on the opposite side of the kitchen from the sink, which really isn't that big a deal but it's not convenient.

I spent a good portion of yesterday trimming the hedges in the front of the fence in the front yard. WHAT a workout! Gosh! My arms are sooo sore today! haha Who knew...I'll be doing the ones on the side of the fence tomorrow, but want to keep them at about 7 ft tall (they're pushing 9 feet at the moment!!) so we still have the privacy since those are the hedges that line the finger-park and there's a lot of people who pass by in there in the afternoons (the finger park is a cleared space about the size of a single house-lot that allows for quicker foot traffic around town.) Then I'm going to plant my seedlings! I have a lot of rockery friendly flowers that I'm going to plant along the fence in the backyard (the one lining the neighbor's yard, not the finger-park.) I could plant them directly in soil, but I think they'll have a better chance if I look after them at first. There's an old green house in the backyard, believe it or not, because the original home-owner was a horticulturist. We even have an irrigation system hung up that we could time to spray our flowers and seedlings throughout the day if we wanted to...not that you'd need it with all this rain though! ha! It's just a concrete foundation about 4'x6' with a metal frame and green shade wrapped around the top of the frame, but it'll do nicely for my seedlings. There's old tables out there and everything. It should be nice. :) I know it's a rent house and so it may seem silly to invest so much time in the garden, but I really enjoy it so much that it doesn't matter! We've only spent maybe $100 on plants and flowers in all so we won't lose much if we end up having to move anyways. I just love to see things grow and see the change and know that it was because I helped it. :)

Okay, so much for not having much of substance to say!! hahaha

I LOVE our vacuum cleaner. I never really thought about getting one because we have wood floors, but BOY does it make a difference! I can use it to suck up all the cat hair on the couch and drapes and the molding on the floor and the dust bunnies in the corner. It's so hard to sweep everything and the broom doesn't really seem to ever get all of the dust bunnies up so this vacuum will be our saving grace. I know they use a LOT of energy though, so we'll have to look out. Between the new air conditioner, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner and hot water I shudder to think of our power bill. Hopefully not too painful!

We have an inspection on the 16th so it's that time again when I have to get everything in order. I know that they don't mind a little mess here and there so long as the house itself is clean and taken care of, but I like to leave a good impression every time which is why I make such an effort. I'm not going to stress this time, I'm going to get started now doing bits and peices so it's none of the up-all-night-the-night-before stuff again. We have admittedly NEVER used our wardrobe or chest of drawers for clothes. We just leave them hanging on the line downstairs or folded in baskets around the house and dig for what we need. I'm afraid there just wouldn't be space for all of it in the wardrobes and drawers but it couldn't hurt to actually try. It will give me something to do anyways.

I've also ordered a PDA on Ebay and got a REALLY sweet deal! I'm terribly disorganized and forget dates and appointments constantly and it's starting to get embarrassing and I'm afraid I'm getting a reputation...I don't want to be that flakey friend so it will be awesome to have everything all in one place. Of course my phone has a planner but it's just a beating to have to spell out every word using the key-pad and this PDA has a stylus screen that recognizes your handwriting and converts it to text which will be so much simpler. It's just a very basic PDA, no bells and whistles, nothing flashy, and there's reports of the screen resolution being really poor but all I need is a place where I can digitally compile my appointments, to-dos and addresses and it does that much which is awesome by me! One day I'll have an iPhone and it will do all the flashy things like internet and video and mp3 playing and, well, phone calls, and all will be right with the world. But, for right now, all I really need is an organizer and this sure beats lugging around a day-runner!


Palm Z22 Handheld

Some fashion talk. Sorry boys!

The new trend I LOVE:
the "Boyfriend Tee."

My new fave shirt from Jeanswest:


This is the softest most special shirt in the whole world. I can't remember the last time I bought a t-shirt....I think it would have been in 2007. Crazy! I cannot believe how soft this shirt is....I'm in love. I love that things don't have to be skin-tight to be fashionable anymore! It's nice to know that we can wear our baggy tees, leave the Spanx at home, and still be fashionable for the time being. I like to pair my "boyfriend tees" (I have two now. ooOOOo!) with skinny jeans and wedges or metallic sandles to balance the masculine elements in the shirt with some feminine on bottom. If I'm feelin like a rockstar, I'll just pull on my All-Stars. :) Just another way that fashion can be comfy and functional and I love it!


The new trend I LOATHE:





Drapey Corner Shirt. Otherwise known as the "asymmetrical hem." I HATE that I see this everywhere I go. It's not that it looks bad on everyone, I think a size 2-8 could pull it off nicely! Anyone with curvy hips is NOT doing themselves any favors though and I hate trends that spread like the plague that make most of the girls wearing it look absolutely awful.




I'm sorry I haven't updated on my life lately.........Hopefully I will soon. :) It's just more fun to talk clothes for the time being!

Getting to know you

Did you learn anything last week? 8 more questions from http://mjkfamily.blogspot.com . :)

1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?

I'm too paranoid to be so reckless.

2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?

I sit; I figure if you can touch the door handle to the bathroom with your naked hand (which everyone who sat on the seat has touched,) why not sit on the seat with your naked bootie? That's just me. :)

3. Favorite flower?

I love orchids, irises and peonies. :)

4. Pedicure or manicure?

Pedi! You get to sit in the massage chair.

5. How many siblings do you have?

Two sisters, all 3 years apart and I'm in the middle.

6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)

Why wouldn't you just pee before you get in the shower? The toilet's right there!

7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?

I do tankinis. I own a couple bikinis but I feel like I'm naked, it feels like a bra and panties.... most of the time I'm swimming it's just Chris and me anyways though so I never have to feel self conscious. :)

8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?

Shopping should be a relaxing and fun experience. I don't go places I hate, what would be the point? I think I just love shopping. hahaha