In a nut shell

2011-12-22T13:56:00.002-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to: YOU AND YOURS

from: ME & MINE

Going for the worst blogger of the year award

2011-12-15T09:26:00.007-06:00

I'm not going to sit here and make big promises to blog "this many times a week", or even apologize for not blogging a single time since March.

It's quite simple really... I've. Been. Busy.

With my unexpected heart surgery in April- yes it sucked, yes I am still recovering (nerve damage), but yes I'm fine. To the amazing family benefit we put on for Tom's family after his passing ($30K+ raised) to summer fun in the sun, life in general and utter lack of writing motivation, I am placing myself in the running for the "worst blogger of the year" award.

Please vote people!

I will admit that I feel better when I blog- it's almost a release of some sort. So I need to make a better effort to get on here.

Ramblings on a Tuesday Afternoon

2011-03-22T12:35:00.008-05:00

In little over a month since my last post, more has happened than the 18 months prior in which I was the non-existent blogger.

First of all, at the beginning of February our dear friend, Tom, was admitted to the hospital with complications due to his ongoing battle of Mestastic Melenoma. After a very long 3 weeks of watching him deteriorate daily, he passed away at his home surrounded by family on February 14th. It has been very hard on everyone close to him and it sometimes feels like the mourning will never end. My heart breaks for Roxanne & Nathan every day. In the weeks since his passing, I've begun to look at life a little differently. I'm trying to no longer sweat the small stuff. It is true. Life IS too short.
We continue to coordinate the benefit that we started planning when he was still alive and will use all proceeds for the mountain of medical bills as well as living expenses for his wife and 2yr old son.

Second on the list, Parker no longer has his temps.... he is a State of Wisconsin licensed driver! And will soon be getting his own car. He is actually very good driver from what I've seen so far, BUT I do also understand that he is a teenage boy!

Last but not least- About 10 days ago, I was diagnosed with a Pericardial Cyst. In a CT scan of my abdomen (because of abdominal pain) it was noticed that I have a 5cm x 5cm cyst on my heart. I am surprisingly calm and not making any assumptions. Loaded with a notebook full of questions, I have consultation with one of the best Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons in the Valley tomorrow to discuss the diagnosis as well as treatment options. Yes, I'm nervous but No, I'm not freaking out like a lunatic......well not yet!

I fought the FLU and the FLU won...

2011-02-13T19:23:00.004-06:00

I don't feel good
Nausea
Fever
Lungs are heavy
Uncontrollably runny nose
Ears itch and hurt
Nose is raw
Zzzzz's
Aches
It started with the sniffles and a scratchy throat on Monday afternoon. By Tuesday, it was a full on stuffed nose- occasionally turning on like my kitchen faucet- which used an entire box of Kleenex, sinus pressure, hacking cough and lets not forget the man voice. By late Wednesday morning I knew I needed the medical advise of the DR and the verdict came back that it was the good ole' fashioned flu. A twenty five dollar co-pay, doctors note with instructions of not returning to work the rest of the week, gallon of orange juice and a box of Mucinex D later, I was home in my jammies and barricaded in my room. It was not until Friday morning that my fever broke and I was finally free to leave the confines of my sick bed and move to the couch- and the big screen TV!
Back to work tomorrow- still not feeling 100% - but at least feeling half human again.
Oh, by the way- yes, I did have a flu shot this year, and no I will not be getting another one. Ever.

Tough Times

2011-02-02T20:47:00.006-06:00

Have you ever been floating along through life and come upon something drastic to make you look at life in a different light? Something drastic enough to make you really delve into the way you've been attending to the drivers seat of life? And then... "BAM" you hit a brick wall and find yourself immediately trying to put life in reverse. Trying not to fall into a case of the "shoulda, woulda, coulda's"?
A year ago, I hit that brick wall when my friend Farrah passed away unexpectedly. Today, I hit that same damn wall with some bad medical new on a very close friend. Unfortunately, I think J is in the car of life with me on this one as well and that's the part that hurts the worst.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you tonight and always- Tom, Roxanne & little Nate- we love you

Say it ain't so...

2011-01-27T19:39:00.007-06:00

Is it possible that I've actually caught up with life and am back on the blogging wagon? After a year and a half?
It is possible... and it is true...I'm back bitches!

I'm not going to try to make up for lost time, no sense dwelling in the past, a fresh start to a new year.

But since I know you all have been sitting in front of your computer for 18 months, biting your nails and wondering when the hell I'd start posting again.... here is a quicky breakdown since the last post (not in any particular order):

* Parker has his temps- yes, it seems that the State of Wisconsin feels he is responsible enough to be behind the wheel. I think the State of Wisconsin and I may need to have a talk.
* We bought a house and yes it came with a fenced yard for Daisy and the perfect deck for drinking beers in the summer!
* J had a third of his middle finger amputated after a work related accident. He still has enough left to get his point across!
* I moved from customer service/office coordinator to accounting assistant at work and I love it.
* I celebrated my funeral- and by funeral I mean my 30th birthday. Blah.

Honestly, I can't think of anything else that has happened. It appears as though my life is ridiculously boring and something to blog about only happens about once every 4.3 months. There has to be more... just let me think a while...

Life...

2009-07-29T12:55:00.003-05:00

... has gotten away from me. I will be back soon after I chase it down.

The weatherman better be wrong this time

2009-07-21T07:45:00.008-05:00

It has been 6 or 7 weeks that we have gone without rain. The grass feels like straw and the ground is cracking in some places because of being so dry.
I'm going camping this weekend. An all girls camping trip that has been planned for months.... and guess what the weather is supposed to be...... RAIN...ALL...WEEKEND.
It's not just the fact that it is going to rain this weekend that makes me 100% convinced that Mother Nature hates me. It's the fact that every. single. time I go camping it rains and it's usually similar situations- planned for months, no rain the entire summer until camping weekend.

I LOVE camping- but I am pretty much done with it. I think I'd rather shell out the cash to rent a little cabin somewhere for the weekend instead!

DUNBAR makes the news...

2009-07-09T12:20:00.003-05:00

BODY FOUND IN DUNBAR

"The Marinette County Sheriff’s Department has identified the body discovered in a creek in Dunbar on Monday. Police say the man is Eric Volp, 28 of Iron Mountain. Police say they used dental records and a distinctive tattoo on the back of his neck to make the positive ID. Volp went missing in October of 2008. Police say they are calling Volp’s death “an unnatural death” and are classifying it as suspicious. Autopsy results show Volp had some broken bones, and police say they are not ruling out foul play. Authorities say a fisherman found the body on Monday, and said it was badly decomposed."

Yes, I know it's not the kind of publicity the town wants but holy crap! No, I didn't know the person.

They always did say if you want to get away with murder, go to Marinette County in the State of Wisconsin. I'm sure this will eventually be a "cold case"

The new addition...

2009-07-06T19:57:00.008-05:00

As promised, I am posting about our exciting weekend news...

Meet the new addition to our family. My new baby. Her name is Suzie!

She's a 2008 Pontiac G6-GT with chrome rims! I am totally and utterly in love with her.

As previously posted- Betsy the Blazer had been on life support for quite some time and we finally pulled the plug on Friday! She is on her way to the auction for parts. Besides being in really bad shape she was getting unsafe to drive and with my recent promotion & raise at work on top of the money I'm saving by quitting smoking I was able to purchase my new baby! Not to mention the amazing deal we got. Car dealerships are VERY hungry for sales right now!

I can't drive enough, all I want to do is drive... or even just sit in it in the garage!

Crazy week

2009-07-06T09:55:00.003-05:00

It's been a crazy first week without smoking... the cravings have been unbearable and my attitude is definitely less than desirable but I keep chewing gum or straws and trying to keep busy.
I do have some exciting news to post about this last weekend so stay tuned and I will hopefully get to posting tonight after I get home.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Today is THE day

2009-06-29T07:43:00.003-05:00

I am finally trying to obtain one of my many New Year's resolutions. TODAY IS MY QUIT DATE. I smoked my last cigarette last night before bed and woke today ready to take this next step. I showered, got ready for the day and put on my 1st patch.... THEN the anxiety kicked in and the cravings and the irrational thoughts.
This all seemed very strange to me because I rarely "crave" a cigarette in the morning. It's just habit that I smoke 2 every morning. I was 20 minutes early to work because I needed to leave the house after breakfast because I wanted a cigarette so bad. I cut a straw in half and have that in my car so that I can hold it and chew on it. I have the candy dish on my desk filled to the brim with 2 bags of reserves in my drawer. And I have 3 packs of gum ready to go.
I know the next few weeks are going to be hell but I have to just look to the bigger picture. I know I want this I just need to get over the hill. I've done it before, I can do it again. But I can feel myself on the edge ready to snap in a second. I am definitely a bitch today! But I have a lot of support behind me. I. can. get. through. this.
Wish me luck!

Hotter than H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

2009-06-23T12:35:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry to my friend Jaime over at Our Crazy Life but this post brings terrible news.

There is NO WAY I would ever move somewhere warm-for year round at least! I could however see myself being a snow bird!

The current conditions in Wisconsin are 92* and 70% humidity but it feels like 120* and can't even breath. I unfortunately don't have air conditioning in the Blazer, so in my 13 minute drive from work to home to let Daisy out, all of my makeup along with part of my face melted off into my lap, my back and boobs were sweating and making marks on my shirt and my hair is a big puff of frizz. Fortunately, we have air at home but even Daisy didn't really want to leave the comfort of the house to go out and go potty. The worst part about today is going to be playing volleyball at 6:20 in an un-air conditioned building. You don't even want to know how J is feeling at work today- he said it's 117% humidity and bleeping, bleeping hot at his machine.

Ooh, gotta run- one of the supervisors brought in ice cream treats for the plant and the office! Probably going to have to fight to the front of the line!

Attack of the pleather ottoman

2009-06-18T12:51:00.008-05:00

Yes, you read right- I was attacked by my new pleather storage ottuman. And... it BROKE MY TOE. Just flat out call me a clutz or call it exercise karma since I should have been at yoga class- which ever- I stubbed my toe and yes, it broke. To clear up any miscommunication- I did not kick the ottuman in a fit of rage and I was not running when I hit the ottuman. Simply put the damn thing jumped in my way as I was walking through the living room.
I will save you from the pictures I took as they are pretty gruesome. I did send a phone picture to a friend and she replied back that it was a good thing I had my toenails painted because at first she didn't know what the picture was.
The victimized toe _lets call her Mindy- is the next door neighbor to the baby toe on my left foot or the "ring" toe if you will. And although all of my toes are a little stubby and a little fat she is about double the size as her twin sister on my right foot. She is also a beautiful shade of purple black that would actually make a great shade of night time eye shadow! Mindy has been getting up close and personal with my middle toe as she has been taped together with him for a couple of days now and seems to be getting better. I have gotten a new walk which now includes walking on my heel with my toes up so that I don't put any pressure on her. I have now perfected this walk so there isn't so much of a "hobble" to it! However, I am moving round like a stelth bomber as to not run into anything, let the dog jump on it or drop anything on to it. I had to get a sub for volleyball on Tuesday and my have to get one for next week as well. Such a stupid little injury... really sucks!
Oh, hell I can't keep the picture from you.... wait for it.... wait for it....
Bam!!!! Sorry for the poor quality picture it's off of my phone.

My Trip to Central America- Part Cinco

2009-06-14T10:40:00.003-05:00

Part Cinco- Costa Maya Mexico

Even though it cost us a little extra we had decided to see the countries we were porting at and did onshore excursions at all ports. Our first port was Tuesday March 31st in Costa Maya, Mexico. The ship docked at 7 am and it was already 90*!

Costa Maya was hit by a hurricane a couple of years ago and they are finally starting to rebuild. One thing that I thought was great was that all the construction sites had hammocks so the workers could take their afternoon siestas! It's a practice I think employers in the US should adopt!

Our excursion- Kohunlich Mayan Ruins left at 8am with a 2.25 hour bus ride from the boat. Most of the small "towns" that we went through would consist of a random speed bump in the middle of the highway and where there was a speed bump there was a vegetable/fruit stand and a few houses. We did go through 2 larger towns that had restaurants, convenience stores and churches and they were the size of Dunbar or Pembine!

Our tour guide was Luis and once at the ruins he would blow into a conche shell to round up our group! The ruins were so amazing and the stories/theories were even more so. Restoration on the Kohunlich ruins was started in 1969 and continues today.

Because Costa Maya is a small town and not yet overrun by tourists it makes it a very popular area for running drugs. There were Mexican Army troops with scent dogs posted at our ship to ensure no one was bringing drugs into Mexico or trying to bring drugs back on our ship. There were also random army checkpoints along the highway we took to and from the ruin sight. Infact, going back to our ship after the tour there was a car pulled over and the troops were going through the car.

Once back to Costa Maya we did a little shopping and walked along the beach in the water. The wind had really picked up and the waves were amazing. Little did we know that those waves would enable us from getting off of the dock that night and we would actually get stuck in Costa Maya for the night. Missy and I went to one of the fancier restaurants that night and had a nice bottle of wine and delicious Beef Wellington only to have the captain come on the speaker and announce that we were trying to get off the dock but the wind and waves were just crashing us back into the dock (yes, the boat was rocking terribly). We apparently got off the dock sometime around 4AM which was much to late to make it to our Wednesday port in Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatamela. We would have an additional day at sea.

To view the slideshow below click on the arrow. Once the slide show starts click on the button in the lower right corner to maximize the screen. To end the slideshow click ESC.

IF....

2009-06-12T12:52:00.006-05:00

If time and money were no option....

* I would buy a new vehicle
Betsy, the Blazer, has been on death row for a while now and it's only a matter of time before her number is called.

* I would buy a house
Renting has been nice- not having to fix anything or do yard work BUT I would like privacy back- especially if privacy comes with a fenced in yard and a doggie door for Daisy.

* I would get my bachelor's degree
I have an associates degree in something I haven't done in 7 years. I feel like I've got a lot of working experience in an office setting and no credentials to show for it.

* I would get my Broker's License
I wouldn't have to pay to park my real estate license anymore.

*I would travel the world
Getting a little travel taste in my mouth from that cruise has made me want to travel the world and see the sights.

* I would fly to Atlanta this weekend to see my friend
No plans, no Parker, I'd just hop a flight and go. And I'd buy stuff from Ikea this time!

* I would have J's X & Y chromosomes sorted
I'm shallow and spoiled and want my way all of the time. If we ever have a baby I WANT A GIRL. I've helped in raising a boy already- he won't let me paint his nails or curl his hair (even though it's long enough).

*I would have lasik surgery done for my whole family
The amount of money we spend on vision appointments, contacts and glasses every year for all of us is ridiculous.

* I would take up photography and get a nice camera
I love taking pictures- it would be nice to have a decent camera to do so and the knowledge of how to take them.

* I would write a book
I have a lot of stories and I like to tell them

I would do all of these things if money was at my disposal and we had 36 hour days! Gotta go- I need to stop and get a lottery ticket

Ugh...

2009-06-11T12:40:00.006-05:00

Today is one of THOSE days. I am standing here with both arms held high and both middle fingers extended up to the world. I hate everything and everyone. Nothing has happened, nothing is going wrong, no one has done anything. It's just one of those days. I feel like I could get into a fist fight with a pissed off grizzly and send him -wimpering- back to his den in the first 10 seconds.

I woke up this way and I'm pretty damn sure I will be going to bed this way.
I HATE DAYS LIKE THIS. J and Daisy don't particularly like them either, I'm sure.

My Trip to Central America- Part Cuatro

2009-06-08T13:22:00.002-05:00

Part Cuatro- Our 1st Day at Sea

Our first day at sea we woke early and went down to Raffles Buffet to grab some breakfast. I was in awe of the amount of food and how good it was! We walked around the pool area for a bit and decided to fill our soda cups and go back to the room to get ready and hang out on the balcony for a while. We took our time getting ready and read our books on the balcony (in the robes from our room) for a couple hours then decided to get on our swim suits and hit the pool area. It was about 90* with 90% humidity and coming from freezing Wisconsin it was perfect. I lathered on some sun screen and took a nap on a lounge chair overlooking the ocean. Missy had made quick friends with a bunch of people in one of the hot tubs and we told life stories and ordered buckets of beer all afternoon! After spending all day in the hot sun, applying and reapplying sunscreen it was time for another shower and we ended up just drinking on our balcony in our robes! And once the bucket of beer was gone the only logical thing to do was wear it and take pictures!!! We never left our room the rest of the night-except to fill our soda cups. We ordered room service for dinner, listened to music and drank & chilled on our balcony! It was a perfect start to an even more perfect vacation!

I have also included some pictures of our "towel animals" and housekeepers. Each day our housekeepers-Wilfred & Rachel would make animals out of our towels and leave them. We had a bunny, a duck, elephant, monkey, and mouse. They were awesome and made our day, every day!

June...... smells like graduation!

2009-06-03T09:18:00.006-05:00

It's that time of year again, yep, graduation time!

We had Parker's 8th grade graduation ceremony last night at the Crivitz Middle School. I was actually impressed with how nice the ceremony was!

Parker was the proud (and surprised) recipient of this years Presidential Physical Fitness Award & Medal (the only one in his class). A very big honor for a kid who is extremely into his fitness and all sports. It's really hard for me to realize that he is starting High School in August. And Sara informed us that next summer starts............... drivers ed............. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Congrats, Park- Please slow down- you're growing up WAY too fast!

Another special guy recently graduated as well!

Ayden graduated from Pre-school and will start Kindergarten in August. We were bummed that we were there a week early and missed the adorable ceremony. Isn't he a handsome little graduate?!!!

Baby Gas???....

2009-06-01T15:43:00.007-05:00

We had the pleasure of spending Memorial Weekend with our great friends- the Payne's-in Atlanta. J and I are god-parents for their first born- Ayden and Jamie and Jason asked if I would be god-mother to their newest addition- baby Ava. Ava's baptism was the main reason for the trip south.
It was awesome to be able to hang with our friends and to play with the kids. Baby Ava- as seen below- is the most beautiful baby and J and I both were smitten very quickly! J a little more than anyone!

Time- Memorial Weekend

Location- Tyrone, GA- Payne's garage

N: Isn't Ava so precious. I just want to squeeze her!

J: She's the cutest thing I've ever seen. I WANT a baby girl!

N: (eyes as big as Frisbees) Gulp! (walk away hoping it seems like I've not heard him)

Time- 2 days later
Location- Home
J: Are we going to have a baby?
N: Um... (gulp) can we discuss this after I turn 30?
J: Yeah, that's fine
N: (big relief sigh)

Time- 4 days later
Location- driving in truck
N: I can't believe you really want to have a baby!
J: Well, we can just get another dog if you want
N: What?!!! What happened to "I want a baby girl"?
J: Well, I'm out of the baby gas now!
N: Out of the baby what? What is that? What does that mean?
J: The Baby Gas. Babies omit a gas when you are around them to make you want one. Then once your out of and away from that gas cloud for awhile you come to your
senses.
N: Baby Gas, hey? I think you're right. It makes perfect sense- the little buggers. It's all a conspiracy. What kind of dog should we get?

Viewer Discretion Advised. Be very careful while viewing the above pictures. Do not stare into the baby eyes for long periods of time- you may be overtaken by Baby Gas.

City Living gets a new name and look!

2009-05-31T14:14:00.004-05:00

When I first started this blog I imagined it would be funny stories about adjusting to life back in the city from the country. It has turned into just our life and what is going on. So it was time for a change. City Living is no longer and our blog is now IN A NUTSHELL. The blog has turned into just that- our life in a nutshell.
Please make the change on your blogs. The website http://nikkidelossantos.blogspot.com is the same though.

My Trip to Central America- Part Tres.2

2009-05-28T20:26:00.010-05:00

Part Tres.2- Getting on the boat

After we finished our history tour we walked back to our hotel to grab our luggage and caught a cab to the cruise ship terminals. We ended up having a fabulous cab driver and unfortunately I didn't even get his name. He was 62 and full of life and love. He shared a quick story of his life and had children and left us with a great riddle.

There is a language that everyone in the world can speak and recognize- including
babies. What is it?

I immediately guessed "the language of love"- but I was wrong. It's MUSIC. I should have known since we were in the founding city of Jazz!

Once at the terminal we made our final phone calls and headed through security to the 45 minute line to check into the cruise ship and get our account cards. I was so excited walking up the gang-plank to the ship. Once on the ship we were greeted with a glass of champagne and set out to find our room and explore. I was in shock at how huge and how beautiful the ship was.

Our room, although very small, was perfect and since we had chosen to upgrade we had our own private balcony which Missy and I were excited to use. My boss had told me that we probably wouldn't use it that much but we did in fact get our money's worth! We sat out there and read our books, caught up on life and took some great pictures! We also slept with the patio doors open all night, every night and fell asleep to the sound of the crashing waves. Once home it was hard to fall asleep the first few days with none of that noise!

Once settled on the ship we had to partake in the emergency procedure class and had to line up on the deck of the boat with our life preservers on.

Since we had smuggled vodka on in water bottles we decided to purchase the $50 soda card for the week to have something to mix drinks with. We quickly mixed our drinks and set out to explore and catch some dinner. After dinner we retired back to our room and watched the sunset, drank and listened to music on our balcony all night long! It was a great start to a great vacation!

Stay tuned for Part Quatro- 1st day at Sea!

I have finally crossed over to the world of Flickr to share my photos in slideshow form. To view the pictures for this post click on the arrow. Once the slideshow starts click on the square in the lower right corner to maximize the show. To exit the slideshow click the escape button on your computer.

50 Completely Honest Things About Me - Part 11 of 50

2009-05-19T13:52:00.006-05:00

Since my camera card reader took a dump, the Vacation to Central America posts are currently on hold until I can get to the store and get a new one. However, I was in a totally bloggy mood and figured, lets visit this old project!

Part 11 of 50: I'm Part Sailor

In the verbal sense! Unfortunately, I am a swear word junky. I look at swear words as the most versatile words you can use in a sentence, they can be used as nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, whatever. You can use swear words to show sadness, madness, pleasure, stress and excitement. If you use a swear word while yelling at someone- they know you are particularly upset. The same goes for any emotion you are trying to perceive, swear words just enhance.

My word of choice is unfortunately F*** (sorry, Grandma) and/or Shit. I know my grandma's word of choice is bullshit, though!

The favorite F-word only tends to flow openly when there is A.) a lot of alcohol involved or B.) a lot of stress involved. So if you don't like F-bombs bombing and you see me in one of the above mentioned situations- run like the wind!

Addition- My Trip to Central America-Part Tres.1

2009-05-11T20:34:00.009-05:00

I worked all night on uploading ALL of the pictures that Missy and I took on our trip. Although I stated in my earlier post that I would not bore you with all of the pictures I took while on the history tour our second day in New Orleans, after looking at all of the pictures again there are a few more that I want to share with you as well as some pictures that relate to the previous posting.

Our tour guide- Leon

Washing the streets of New Orleans

This building is drab and run down but strangely it's very appealing to me.

I love all of the flowers & plants that adorn all of the balconies. I could easily retire tomorrow with library of books and one of these balconies and be set for life!

My Trip to Central America- Part Tres.1

2009-05-11T07:57:00.016-05:00

Day 2 of New Orleans started out beautiful and sunny as expected. We were allowed to board the boat at any time between 10am and 5pm. We opted to spend as much time in New Orleans as we could and wanted to actually see the city as opposed to just Bourbon St and the bars. We had gathered a ton of information on city tours the day before from our hotel Concierge and decided on the walking History tour. The tour departed at 10am, a block from our hotel so we got up early and had breakfast in the restaurant. We were able to see the morning routine for the City of New Orleans workers- which includes washing the streets with a huge spray truck. The solution smells like a mixture of bleach and toothpaste (and you all know to me that "clean and disinfected" smells like heaven to me) and foams up on the streets and sidewalks. They clean the streets like this every morning. The city looks- and smells- like a completely different place than the night before!

We reached our tour group and met our tour guide- Leon. He has been retired for 12 years and is an actually certified tour guide from the State of Louisiana. He was AMAZING. His knowledge on not only the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans but history in general and his funny jokes throughout the 2.5 hour tour made it fun and interesting all at the same time. He really new his stuff and Missy and I both agreed that we were happy we chose that tour. Below are a few pictures from our tour.

This was our hotel- The Inn on Bourbon. Once the Opera House that burnt down in the early 1900's.

Street Performer & The Cabildo- Site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer in 1803

The Moonwalk (not Michael Jackson's) along the Mississippi River and the corn fence

Private residence courtyard- that made me wish it was mine and I was retired!

The Ursuline Convent- the oldest building in New Orleans and still functioning.

I could go on for pages and pages with pictures that I took during the tour, but won't bore you. I was in a constant state of euphoria on this tour since I have such an obsession with architecture. I have LOTS of pictures of random New Orleans houses and buildings.

One place that we did stop along our tour that was absolutely amazing was the Art Studio of Craig Tracy. His canvas is actually the human body and you must see his work to believe and appreciate. View his website here.
Here is a sneak peek at some of his work.

My favorite piece is not on his website but if and when I ever become wealthy- I will own a piece of his work!

Stay tuned for My Trip to Central America- Part Tres.2- Getting on the boat

Cinco de Mayo feliz!

2009-05-05T12:41:00.006-05:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

I will be enjoying some wonderful Mexican food
and a few of these babies tonight!

Little history tip for those who are interested. Cinco de Mayo is actually not the Mexican Independence Day like most people think and it is also not a Mexican Federal Holiday. Their Independence day is actually September 16th.

The reason Cinco de Mayo is celebrated is because on May 5, 1862 the Mexican battled the French at the Battle of Puebla and they won. The outnumbered, ill equipped Mexican army defeated the French army who was said to have not been defeated in a battle in 50 years.

I am so sorry :(

2009-05-04T20:57:00.002-05:00

I have been terrible about keeping up with this blog lately. I haven't been able to even sit and check my emails let alone download pictures of my cruise and blog. Work has been crazy and I'm helping a friend with the purchase of a house, so once I'm home from work- I'm still working. I promise to try to post Day 2 of New Orleans before next Monday. And in before next Monday, I mean probably Sunday!
Thanks for your continued interst and I promise to be a better blogger... soon!

Might as well face it, I'm addicted to........

2009-04-23T14:13:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's true, I am an addict. I have been for quite some time, but there's a new addiction to add to my list along with purses, shoes and of course smoking. I know I'm weak but I just can't help it. I. Have. To. Have. It. Every day. My afternoon at work just isn't the same without it.

My name is Nikki... and I'm addicted to... Diet Dr. Pepper.

I know most of you are probably shocked because I am not a soda drinker. And if I do drink a soda it certainly doesn't have caffeine in it. Well I am and it does! And yes, I do suffer from the dreaded heartburn after drinking just one of these little babies. But I have to have it!
I haven't hit rock bottom with my addiction yet- I refuse to buy it for the house. That's all I would need. I'd be all hopped up on caffeine, groaning in heartburn pain, organizing and re-organizing everything, eyes bugging out of my head.

I won't let it break me. I will not bring this stuff into my home. I will not be out in some ~~dark alley~~ grocery store in the middle of the night looking for my next fix. I can handle this- I will get through. Pray for me...

My trip to Central America: Part Dos

2009-04-20T20:49:00.024-05:00

We left the Madison airport at 7 am on Saturday March 28th and landed in St. Louis at 8:10am. After a 3 hour layover, some food and way too many bloody mary's and Brutus beers we almost missed our connecting flight to New Orleans- but made it on just in time and a little tipsy!

We arrived in New Orleans to 65 degree weather at 1pm and grabbed a cab to our hotel- The Inn on Bourbon St. We quickly freshened up, changed our clothes and hit the streets grabbing a much popular Hurricane drink to go. I'm sure most of you know that drinking on the streets is permitted in New Orleans as long as you do not have glass. We did a lot of exploring... and shopping... and drinking! We watched a small parade on horses as well as a wedding parade dancing through the streets.

We hit Jackson Square which is a popular place for street vendors, psychic readers and street performers.

This was a watercolor painting that I feel in love with in Jackson Square. It's a picture of the corner of Bourbon St and Toulouse St with our hotel in the background. I would have loved to purchase it but being our first day of vacation I didn't want to shell out the $90 dollars!

We walked around the park in Jackson square and went to the St. Louis Cathedral- one of the oldest cathedrals still in service. The church was beginning to fill up for 5 o'clock mass.

I was absolutely amazed at how busy the town was since Mardi Gras was only 2 weeks prior to us being there. I can't even imagine what the town is like during Mardi Gras and actually don't think I'd like to be there for it!

We started to head back to our hotel around 5pm as we had made reservations at the popular and very fancy Comannders Palace Restaurant for an 8pm dinner. On the way we got sucked into a little jazz bar where the trumpet player fell in love with Missy!

We changed into our dinner dresses and grabbed a cab to the restaurant. Our dinner was amazing and the restaurant was really neat with some of the best service I've ever had. After dinner we hit a liquor store to buy vodka to put in our water bottles to smuggle onto the cruise boat, had a few more drinks (a few too many) and actually hit the hay before midnight!

I purchased a very appropriate t-shirt while we were shopping and the below picture pretty much sums it up. The t-shirt says " I got Bourbon faced on Shit Street"!

Stay tuned for Part Tres- Day 2 of New Orleans and getting on the boat!

My trip to Central America: Part Uno

2009-04-19T20:36:00.005-05:00

The much anticipated trip started on Friday March 27th at 7:30pm when I arrived in Madison at Missy's brothers house. We were going to spend the night at Jim's house because he had agreed to drive us to the airport the next morning at 6am so that we wouldn't need to pay for parking for the 10 days we'd be gone.

After arriving, Missy and I had decided to meet some of her friends out for a few bon voyage drinks and I did something that I like to call my "mid-way to midlife crisis" or "grasping at my youth with both hands". You can call it what you want!

Yes, I pierced my eyebrow- again! And I'll leave it at that! That was day one of our trip!

Stay tuned for Part Dos- New Orleans!

Welcome Brooklyn Marie

2009-04-14T08:32:00.004-05:00

I had the honor of becoming an Auntie again yesterday! Crystal and Casey welcomed their little bundle of love!

Brooklyn Marie was born 4-13-09 (exactly one month before my birthday)! She weighed in at 5lbs 8oz and is 17 inches long.

I am alive!!!

2009-04-07T08:18:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am alive... and well... and home now! Today is my first day back at work and honestly it is nice to be back. The vacation was absolutely amazing but both Missy and I were ready to come home. 10 days is a long time!
I will be posting pictures and stories of each day of our trip but may not get to this until later in the week or early next week. Being back to reality kind of sucks! There's unpacking & laundry to do, bills to pay, check book to balance, house to clean, etc!!!
Glad to be back though and it's probably going to take me weeks to catch up on everyone else's blogs!

I'm leavin on a jet plane... don't know when I'll be back again...

2009-03-27T07:32:00.003-05:00

... no actually I'll be back in 10 days!

The suitcase is packed, passport is in the purse and sunglasses are on my head. I'm ready to go- well in 9 hours when I get done with work- but ready none the less!

I am off to sunshine, clear blue waters, 80 degree weather and lots and lots of umbrella drinks!

I know you all will miss me soooo much while I'm away- but be prepared for beautiful pictures and tons of stories when I return... in April!!!!!

Au revoir! Arrivederci! Adios! See Ya later!

College Commentaries- Part 2

2009-03-24T14:16:00.004-05:00

I had made a decision and now all I had to do was wait...

The rest of my Senior year in high school flew by and before I knew it I was wearing a mortar board on my head and had diploma in hand. Tears where shed and promises of not loosing touch were whispered. Pictures were taken and parties were attended. We were no longer "high schoolers" and the open road streched before us.

The summer between my Senior year in high school and Freshman year in college was pretty uneventful. I spent a lot of time working and even more time with my friends, getting every last bit of time in with them before we all parted ways. But mostly I anticipated. Anticipated getting out of Dunbar, going to the city, living with a roommate and how fun and hard college was going to be.

Mom and I went shopping and bought dorm room stuff as well as school supplies. I had purchased a double loft from a friend of a friend at Stevens Point who was moving out of the dorms. I painted it in fun colors.

Half way in to the summer we had Freshman orientation. Mom, dad and I made the trip to Point to sign up for classes, tour campus and get information on extracurriculars from all of the campus groups. Little did I know that the attractive Junior I'd met in a basement party when I was a Senior in high school (and lied to regarding my status in college) was the President of a fraturnity and he was manning their booth the day of Freshman orientation. He recognized me and laughed as I passed by with my head hung low and bright red cheeks. According to what I had told him when we met I would be a sophmore- definitely not at Freshman orientation!

About 4 weeks from D-day I received a letter in the mail from the University. It was the contact information for the girl who would be my roommate and our room information. Her name was Carrie and she lived in Oshkosh. Our room was 306 Watson Hall- yes a smoking room. I don't remember who contacted who first but I remember our conversation going really well which made me all the more excited to go.

Everything was packed and ready to go. I was going to be driving my truck- packed to the gills and mom would ride with dad in their truck which had the fouton and double loft. The night before move in day my friends took me out to party one last time together. Needless to say I was in no shape to drive the next morning and was pretty under the weather moving all of my belongings to the 3rd floor. When we arrived Carrie was already there and had most of her things put away. Dad was going to put together the loft frame as mom and I were hauling boxes. 2nd trip up, dad informs us that he has left all of the connectors (nuts & bolts) in a bag on his workbench in Dunbar. He would need to run to Menards before we could put the loft together and move the rest of my stuff in. After a lot of cussing, dinner and a -whole-nother day the loft was put together, the fouton was in, all of my stuff was put away and mom and dad, with tears in their eyes, were on their way home. It was just me and the new roommate... and she seemed different from me in a lot of ways. I wondered if I was ready for what the big city was like and secretly missed quiet little Dunbar. I only hoped that we'd get along...

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 10 of 50

2009-03-23T17:48:00.006-05:00

Part 10 of 50: I have a color coded closet

As stated in an earlier post I have become extremely organized and anal over the last 11 years. So much so that I do infact have my closet organized and arranged according to color. I know it's a little crazy but it's also pretty easy to select an outfit!

It's quite simple actually!

For my hanging clothes is starts with brown and mostly brown to cream & white to mostly white to black to mostly black and so on... blue, red, green, yellow, purple and pink

My folded shirts are in piles according to color. Blue, green, pink/red, browns, black, white

I know I'm sick- but I wouldn't have it any other way!

2009-03-17T16:17:00.003-05:00

May you have much luck this year and even drink a little green beer!!!

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 9 of 50

2009-03-13T12:31:00.003-05:00

Part 9 of 50: I am an only child (kind of)

I've been raised as an only child my entire life. When asked if I have any siblings my immediate reaction is "no, I'm an only child", but it's not entirely true. I am the only child to my parents- my mom and my dad together. But I do, did, have a half brother. My mom had a baby boy-Jason- when she was just out of high school, who passed away of SIDS when he was only a few months old. He would be a year older than J.

That being said, still I am an an only child. I did not have any siblings to mess with me and often sat bored and alone in my room. Being an only child was wonderful at times and crappy at times. The fact that my parents owned their own business didn't help as I often got picked on about being the "spoiled rich kid" in class. If they all knew now that rich we were not. Spoiled- yes, my mom had a tendency to spoil the crap out of me- still does to a point. But I worked my ass off as well. I started clearing tables on Deer Season at the age of 9, I made my first Bloody Mary at 10 (I was told it was fabulous by the way). It wasn't until my junior year of High School that I was allowed to take a Friday night off of work-and it was to go toilet papering for Homecoming! A time honored occurrence once a year! I did go on to become the TP Queen of the class of 1998 but that's another post.

I worked hard for a teenager and I often bought a lot with my own money. I was taught at an early age how to save as well and was able to purchase my very first vehicle with cash- my own cash.

I sometimes wish that I would have had siblings to grow up with but I also know that my parents and I are extremely close because I didn't. We're the 3 amigos, musketeers or stooges- which ever way you want to put it.

I was blessed that my wonderful husband grew up with 3 sisters that I inherited immediately. They all make me feel like I belong and I can truly say that I have sisters now- maybe late in life- but I have them. And after hearing some of the stories... I'm even more happy I was an only child growing up!

Signs of the times

2009-03-10T14:56:00.006-05:00

With sinking stock prices, plummeting home values, a financial system on the verge of obliteration and soaring unemployment rates it is all but impossible to ignore the economic crisis that is in front of us. But national coverage aside, it is apparent everywhere you turn now. I have personally been seeing the "signs of the times" within the last month. I have witnessed family, friends and co-workers taking pay cuts, being laid-off and having jobs eliminated. I have witnessed a foreclosed homeowner being police escorted from their home carrying their belongings in garbage bags. I have even witnessed an out of work,middle aged man, holding a cardboard sign willing to work to feed his family.

They say that during a recent study the average american is spending 2.8 hours each day worrying about the financial situation. They also say we are deep in a recession and it will only get worse before it gets better. I don't know who "they" are but I'm sure to some families it feels more like a depression at this point. And I am terrified of what is really going to happen.

Have you been seeing the signs of the times. If so, what have you witnessed or how are you feeling.

Enticing...Tempting...Alluring...

2009-03-04T14:20:00.001-06:00

Today, being a rather slow day, I have had the opportunity to do a lot of web surfing. Quite frankly, I'd rather be at home cleaning, doing laundry and walking the dog- but will take what I can get.

Everyone well knows that I have a bad purse fetish. I love them, I have lots of them, but I rarely switch out from one to another. However, until I get a second job to support my addiction I will just ~~drool all over my desk~~ dream about these that I found today!
Click on each link below to view my favorites!
Sofie
The Polly
Pleated
Small & Sexy
The Assemble
Celebtare
Pink Flower
Art Deco
Emma
Lollipop
Lily
Zuzi
Striped Leaf

Time flies when your having fun...

2009-03-03T07:56:00.002-06:00

Parker a/k/a PK 3000, Park dawg, P diddy dub is 14 today. Where has the time gone? It feels like it all just snuck up on me. Like last night when I went to bed he was 6 and today I wake up and he's taller than me.

Lets recap the years shall we.....

Here is Park- at 6 years old. This is the year that I met him and J and I started dating.
Then: he ordered dino-tots and mini-corndogs at Applebee's when we went out to eat. He colored- out of the lines. He got carried to and tucked into bed every night. He loved just running around outside and playing in the dirt.
Now: he eats enough to fill 2 grown men- and then eats some more. He has a Myspace account. He's usually in his room- so we don't know when he goes to sleep. He hangs out texting and playing video games.

Here's Parker at 7. This was an odd hair year. He had 2 bright blond spots that appeared that year and no one knows why.
Then: he still put his baby teeth under the pillow for the toothfairy to bring money. We had to tell him to brush his teeth, wash his hair in the shower & use soap on his body. He watched Disney movies.
Now: he has all his adult teeth. He takes 30 minute showers and uses all the hot water- J gets to take cold showers now. He watches movies with us and I get uncomfortable and fidgety when there is kissing scenes, sexual suggestions (or more).

8 years old and climbing. I love this picture- it looks like someone is pinching his butt!
Then: he started little league. He still had to have help making his cereal or a sandwich. He didn't know his address by heart yet. He still brought home art projects from school.
Now: he plays football, basketball and is in wrestling. He makes his own food, whenever he is hungry. He has his own cell phone number. He doesn't even bring books home from school.

Here he is at 9. This is the year J and I got married.
Then: he was the ring bearer at our wedding. His favorite toy was legos. Riding his bike and playing in the yard were his things to do.
Now: He still likes legos, but texting, video games and the computer are his thing. He plays cribbage and poker with J. He's in the popular group at school.

10 years old and all boy.

Then: he started begging for a cell phone- even though he had no place to go! He played with light sabers from the Star Wars movies. He still asked for toys for Christmas and his birthday. He had a portable cd player. He wants a green mohawk.
Now: he has unlimited texting on his own cell phone- a Razor at that. He spends his money on gifts for his girlfriend and stuff he needs. He has an Ipod Touch. He asks for cash and gift cards for holidays & his birthday.

11 going on 20
Then: he wanted to be old enough to stay home alone during the summer at our house. He did partially but my parents were only 1 block down the street and he had to check in with them every hour or so. He still has a twin bed and sports sheets. He has a different girlfriend every week.

Now: he's old enough to stay home alone- but he snoops! J still calls to check in every hour or so if we do leave him at home. He has a double bed and sleeps with 3-5 pillows. No kiddy sheets either.

Here he is at 12

Then: he thought his parents were cool! He didn't talk back and was always willing to do stuff to get money. He wore snow boots, snow pants, a hat and gloves during the winter.

Now: parents are definitely NOT cool! Even if he gets allowance doing chores is lame. It's hard enough to get him to wear a winter jacket let alone everything else. Teenagers do not wear hats, gloves or boots.

This is now

He loves long hair- the longer the better. He's 6 inches taller than me and an inch taller than J. He is ALL teenager. He's had the same girlfriend for a whole 3 months now. He knows all and wants to be treated like an adult. He thinks we're dorks! The count down to driving has started. We are closer to graduation and adulthood.

And even though I have watched him grow into a teenager, I still see the litte boy- on our first date- ordering dino-tots & mini-corndogs, coloring-outside of the lines and playing in the dirt!

Happy Birthday, bud!

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 8 of 50

2009-03-02T13:31:00.005-06:00

Part 8 of 50: I have an Anxiety Disorder

I have always known there was something wrong with me! In college, I had a nervous breakdown one day and was actually diagnosed with depression and put on medication. The medication was terrible- of the 9 side effects possible I had 10. I quit taking my medication, on my own, and was scolded by my doctor, but I didn't care. I would rather be "depressed" than be sick from all of the side effects. Besides, deep down inside I knew I wasn't depressed. I wasn't suicidal, I didn't cry all the time, I didn't stay in bed all the time, etc. I knew there was something wrong but I also knew it wasn't depression. Little did I know that it would be another 8 years until I was finally diagnosed correctly.
I was diagnosed with GAD- Generalized Anxiety Disorder- a little more than a year ago. At first I was a little disappointed in the actual disorder name. Generalized Anxiety Disorder? Well that really sums up my problems. But it does, in a nut shell. To learn more about it click here.
I've also realized, in speaking with my doctor, that it has probably been going on since high school. There are things that come to mind now and I immediately think "of course it was anxiety". My nervous breakdown in college... anxiety. I do also have panic attacks- but not bad enough to be labeled as having panic disorder. My past panic attacks are also a definite source of some of my anxiety. Not knowing that I was having a panic attack, I would freak out and think that I was having a heart attack. And with heart problems running in my family I was sure I was going to die.
My anxiety issues definitely caused a lot of problems socially. My marriage definitely suffered. J and I talk about it now and there was a point where we both thought that it was going to end.
I was put on medication again and told that "talk therapy" would be a definite help to me. We didn't have the money to pay a therapist so that was just not an option. J, being the wonderfully supportive husband that he is, offered to be "all ears" if I wanted to use him to talk to. It has proven to be a great decision. Our relationship is unbelievable. Probably the strongest it has ever been. And I've learned to deal with my anxiety enough that I quit taking my medication 3 months ago. I know that I will always have anxiety issues, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have irrational thoughts, but the key is being able to manage it and look at them from a different prospective. I think I've actually found my "happy medium" and I feel great!

Random Babble on a boring Friday

2009-02-27T13:57:00.003-06:00

1. My Blazer decided to not start- again- this week. Had it towed to the shop to find out it was the fuel pump. $800 and a 2 day car rental later I can pick it up at 5pm tonight.

2. Winter storm whoever was supposed to be terrible last night but as far as I can tell we got a couple of inches and lots of 30+mph wind. But still just enough to make people forget how to drive!

3. My little rental car- Chevy Cobalt- is cute as hell. I loved tooling around in it the last couple of days- but it handles not so well in the snow.

4. In the words of Eric Cartman from Southpark- I am truly a "GINGER KID" (minus the whole soulless part). I purchased a 30 day- unlimited session- tanning package to try to get a base before my cruise. I went for 10 minutes on Tuesday and was a little pink when I got home. I went for another 10 minutes last night and I am so burnt that I couldn't even wear a bra today because it hurt so bad. My freckles are out in FULL force. J thinks their cute so maybe it's not so bad!

5. My mom is coming down tonight to attend my SIL's baby shower tomorrow. I still have to purchase the ingredients and make an ice ring for the punch, make ham & pickle pinwheels and get everything together.

6. Parker and I have check up eye appointments tomorrow morning and I'm ordering new glasses. I have the same pair of frames (and the prescription lenses) as I had when J and I started dating. Needless to say I can't see a thing with my current glasses on!

7. I can't believe that in exactly 29 days I will be on a cruise to Central America! Today is Missy's birthday so I sent her a card in the mail to let her know we'd celebrate- heavily- on the boat!

8. Parker turns 14 in 4 days. I've been trying to figure out where the time went- I can't grasp this yet. And he is ALL teenager right now!

9. I haven't been up north in a while. I also realized that J has only been up once since we moved and that was Thanksgiving. I'd say it's time for a little visit.

10. I am totally addicted to reading other peoples blogs. I am fascinated by what happens to or goes through the thoughts of other people in the world. I am a total "blog stalker" and I don't care!

11. I was a busy bee today getting all of my month end things done. Now I have nothing to do, I'm bored and ready to go home- but it's only 2:18.

12. Our volleyball team is still in first place-by 2 games. Next week is our last game of the season and we play the 2nd place team. Then we start the spring league the following week!

13. I really like my hair length right now. It looks good if I leave it curly or straighten it. I've been straightening it a lot lately- it looks sheek!

14. Body Combat has been kicking my butt. But I feel great afterwards and I don't feel like I'm going to throw up during class anymore!

Have a great weekend everyone. Catch ya later

The College Commentaries-Part 1

2009-02-26T13:00:00.004-06:00

College was definitely one of the greatest times of my life. I still talk about it often and relive it quarterly, on girls weekends!
High school, was high school. I was part of the popular group in school. With only 26 kids in my graduating class it was kind of hard not to be in the popular group- the entire class was the popular group!
I was mediocre at best- getting good enough grades to get into a few decent state universities. I remember the day the letters came in the mail. Thick is good, thin is bad, is what we were told. They all came, one by one and each one was neither thin nor thick. The heartburn rose in my chest as I fumbled to open the envelopes with my parents as the audience. UW-Green Bay: Congratulations and welcome! UW- Oshkosh: Congratulations! UW-Stevens Point: Congratulations and welcome! Holy shit- all three. The only three I had applied to. Now the big decision came- where should I go?
Green Bay was nice, I toured it with my parents and the underground tunnels were a definite selling point in the frozen tundra. I didn't even visit Oshkosh because too many of my classmates were attending. I felt it would be too much like living in Pembine and I was trying to get the hell out of there. Stevens Point, I toured, sans parents with my friend Breia, her boyfriend was a Freshman and we were able to stay with him for a weekend. I got to see behind the scene Stevens Point and I fell in love. A small, homey campus with very fun basement parties. My mind was made up. Didn't help that an attractive Junior hit on me and believed me when I said I was a Freshman. I toured with my parents as well and was given the thumbs up- as long as I didn't bring home "one of those DNR agents in training"!
I had made a decision and now all I had to do was wait.....

One of those days...

2009-02-25T14:40:00.004-06:00

.....and make it a GRANDE!

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 7 of 50

2009-02-24T10:22:00.006-06:00

Part 7 of 50: I am extremely organized and anal about it

I have not been organized, clean or anal my entire life, however unlike some of my earlier posts I know exactly when this happened.

It was the first day of college, when I was forced to move into a shoe box... with a complete stranger...that was an absolute pig.

In high school, my mom would yell until she was blue in the face for me to pick up my room. There was usually a path from the door to my bed and from my bed to the closet. Half empty soda cans, dirty plates, clean/semi-clean/dirty clothes all rolled together, junk, junk and more junk. I'm old enough now to admit my own fault in this- but you all should also know that it's the way I was raised. Both of my parents are terrible pac-rats! It was inevitable that I would also be a "saver".

My bedroom growing up was an odd shape- but overall a decent room: 10x19 with a huge closet. And it was packed to the gills with stuff. Imagine my horror when I was informed that my dorm room- the one I had to share- was only 11x15. It was very hard for me to pack to move to college.

I kept my things as tidy and in order as I knew how, while my roommate was not so organized. There was a day I almost broke my neck tripping and sliding on her stuff! It was then and there that I decided I needed to be organized and became anal about it. I have a color coded file cabinet, all of my shoes are in a shoe organizer, my purses are in bins separated by size and need (everyday, going out, etc). I love organizer contraptions, hooks, holders, etc.

When planning an event or traveling- I have everything in order- usually in a folder. I get a lot of crap from my NSOF's (not so organized friends) but deep down inside I know they admire it!!!
My ladies pool team decided to enter an all woman's tournament in Three Lakes, WI a few years back. We actually did it 3 years in a row but being our first time, I was nervous about finding the bars, what times we played, etc. Having real estate resources for the entire state of WI I was able to photo copy plat map pages of the area we were playing in, make dots where each of the establishments was and had a sheet with address & phone numbers for each place in case we ran late for a match. It was all kept nicely in a folder and we never ran into a problem the entire weekend. But I got harassed the entire weekend as well!!!

Honestly, being organized saves me a lot of headaches and I don't mind anymore- it's who I am- and I like it.......so does J (to a point)!

Karma is a BEOTCH

2009-02-18T16:09:00.002-06:00

The Blazer has been on life 6 of it's 7 lives for quite some time now- but keeps on ticking. In dreaming of getting rid of the lemon I often look at cars online if I have some spare time- such was the case late last week. Like everyone else feeling the economic crisis I look and wish but always close the web page knowing that now is not the time to be purchasing a new vehicle especially when the one I have still runs okay.
I received the insurance check from my New Years Eve incident in the mail last week and decided to put it into the savings account yesterday. As previously stated we decided not to spend the check getting the Blazer fixed but keep the money (in case the economy gets any worse and we need it) and leave the Blazer ugly and broken.

KARMA IS A ROTTEN BEOTCH!

Today after I was finished letting the dog out and eating my lunch, I jumped in the Blazer to head back to work and low and behold... it wouldn't start. I tried and tried and check things under the hood- not that I even knew what I was looking for! Nothing. I called my sister-in-law in a panic and asked if she could come get me and take me back to work. Luckily she was available. So now even though I'd like to be able to go new car shopping- it's just not the time- and will be spending some of that damn insurance check to fix whatever is wrong with the lemon... and you won't catch me looking at cars online for a while!

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 6 of 50

2009-02-11T10:16:00.006-06:00

Part 6 of 50: I have terrible spelling and grammar

Okay, so lets face it, you've been reading for a while so I'm sure you've all noticed!

English was never one of my favorite classes but I got decent grades. However, it was more of a "in one ear out the other" class for me.

I'm not horrible at spelling, I can usually sound things out but double constants definitely give me problems. J has even said that I wrote him a note one time, had the right word down crossed it out and then misspelled it.

My biggest issue is grammar. I am terrible. I have a tendency for run-on sentences and punctuation where it doesn't need to be or no punctuation where it needs to be. I make up my own grammar using a lot of -'s or ...'s and I tend to throw in a few odd ,'s for good measure!

I'm okay with this... really I am. But I warn you if this is something that you just can not stomach- can not fathom that someone would be this bad and continue writing- then we should probably part ways now........I will miss you!

Girls, Girls, Girls

2009-02-09T15:51:00.010-06:00

After college my close-knit group of friends scattered around the entire state of Wisconsin- with the exception of Missy who decided to move to South Carolina. She would come back to WI for 2 weeks during Christmas and New Years and the group would get together somewhere centrally located to visit, catch up and party for 1 night.
One night NEVER seemed like enough so after having a few of these girls nights and Missy actually moving back to the great state of WI we decided that 1 day was not enough and that it was a required 2 day weekend. We've also decided to have one of us host in a different town each time. Third quarter is always at Kristen's in Point for UW-Stevens Point Homecoming festivities!

This past weekend was mine to host in my new city of ~~Matrasha~~ Menasha! Friday night was jammies & games night. J made a taco bar for us with all the fixings and strawberry daiquiris too! I'm pretty sure my cheeks still hurt from laughing Friday night. We played The Game of Things, Zobmando and Apples to Apples until about 1 in the morning. Even J joined in the fun later in the evening.

Saturday was a pretty slow moving morning. Breakfast was made, showers were taken and we were finally ready to venture out around 12:30. We decided to park on one end of College Avenue to walk down one side and up the other going to all of the little shops. Unfortunately, coming up the other side we only happened to make it as far as Cleo's- the crazy holiday bar.
Cleo's is decorated floor to ceiling with holiday decor- mostly Christmas but you can find something from most other holidays in there as well. And it was $2.50 Bloody Mary & Old Fashion Happy Hour! After far too long at Cleo's it was off to MT Pockets for a little bit of reminiscing and a little bit of food!

We ended up back at my house to get all dolled up to go out to Sliders and see the band Bazooka Joe that was playing. J was our lovely chauffeur!

Sunday was again a slow moving day with breakfast being made, showers being taken and the thrift store shopping ritual!

Heidi happened to have the best quote in the history of girls weekends and has now become our official girls weekend motto. We may even have t-shirts printed for homecoming!

"Party like we're still in college.... and wake up knowing we're not!"

(back: Jaime, Katrina, Heidi, Nikki / front: Missy, Kristen)

Thanks for the fabulous weekend ladies- I think we have more fun every time we get together! See you all the end of April!

I am God.... Godmother, that is!

2009-02-05T20:50:00.011-06:00

Nearly 5 years ago, J and I were asked to be Godparents for our friends first born- Ayden Steven Payne.
Jaime showed off her pregnant belly at our wedding and we were patiently awaiting our "little man" making his appearance to the world. Ayden has proven to be the perfect little guy for us and has also proven to be a little ham just like his daddy Jason and of course his uncle J! He is so smart and inquisitive. He has J and I wrapped around his little fingers- he even got me to go bug hunting this summer when they were home from Atlanta!

Jaime & Jason have recently welcomed baby #3 -Ava Marie.

The only sister for Ayden and his little brother Jameson. After an early birth and very hard first few weeks Ava is growing bigger & stronger every day!

I received another VERY exciting call tonight. Jaime called to ask if I would take on the roll of Godmother to Ava as well. Her Godfather will be Ryan, Jason's brother. I was very touched to be asked and of course said "yes" immediately. There is no way to express our gratitude to Jaime and Jason for allowing us to be such a special part of Ayden & Ava's lives. We don't take our titles lightly and it kills us that they are so far away.

Ayden we love you dearly- you will ALWAYS be our first born... our Little Man.

But I am so excited to have this little piece of heaven all to my self!

But I like carrots now... doesn't that count for anything?

2009-02-04T14:14:00.003-06:00

Most people that I know have a fear of the dentist office. I have always thought this was odd. I don't particularly like going to the dentist- it's not a day in the park- but I've never had an outright fear of the dentist either.

There is a doctor (aside from the obvious OBGYN) that I am uncomfortable going to though- it's the Optometrist. I should definately have ate more carrots when I was little. Mom wasn't lying - I still have never seen a rabbit with glasses.

For me the day that my yearly eye exam is scheduled for is one of the most stressful days of the year. And that day was this Saturday past. Aside from the glaucoma/puff-of-air test being annoying the rest is quite stressful. The other tests I'm not too fond of are the color test (page with green dots all over and a number in orange dots mixed in with the green dots) or the depth perception test (put on the funny glasses and tell which shape is elevated off the page). There is too much thinking involved when having these tests done- and what happens if you get one wrong- will take away your license and deem you borderline blind? Don't even get me started on the which is better option 1 or option 2 test. This is the most stressful part of the exam for me. Sometimes they aren't better. Sometime option 1 is exactly like option 2 and I wonder to myself if they do this on purpose to screw with you. Regardless of my distaste for the eye doctor is is imperative that I make the trip once a year as eye issues run in my family. My eyes continue to get worse every year- which confuses me as I wear "corrective lenses". But what the hell, I have really good insurance now, so there is no excuse to not go!

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 5 of 50

2009-02-03T13:26:00.006-06:00

Part 5 of 50: I'm a Homing Pigeon

In keeping with the bird theme, I thought this would be an appropriate post.

I am a homing pigeon. In the directional sense. This is a trait that I inherited from my dad, thankfully! I can get from home to someplace or someplace to home having only been there once in my life. I am exceptional with maps and written directions and I usually know which direction I am traveling in. I am also good at giving directions.

While I was in real estate, my Plat Book was like a Bible and I would travel nowhere without it. I actually had 3 (one in each of the vehicles and one to carry in my briefcase or have at my desk). I could walk a 40 acre parcel like I owned it simply by having the Plat Book in my hand! I will admit, now that I am in the city I sometimes feel "naked" without a Plat Book but you will find me using Google Maps often!

I recall as a child that my parents would play "get us home" games with me. Sometimes this was hard because my dad never liked to take the same road home as he took going. And he loved to take back roads...ALL of the time! In the end it's proven to be a game that obviously worked. I rarely get lost or turned around. Fortunately, I will probably never need a Garmin GPS like my poor friend Roxanne.

Wonderful Weekend

2009-02-02T08:13:00.005-06:00

This past weekend was a pretty uneventful yet wonderful weekend.

Friday:

It all started with my husband taking me out for dinner and drinks to our usual Friday night hot spot, Sliders. We have such a great time together and sometimes find ourselves deep in conversation an hour after we get there and realize we haven't even taken more than 2 drinks from our beers!

Saturday:

Saturday morning was an early one- up at 6 am (well J was, I got to sleep till 7:30)! Parker had a dance at the youth center on Friday night so J agreed to pick him up on Saturday morning- but we also had eye exams at 10 am! I was at the gym by 8 for Body Flow -Launch (introducing a new routine for the next few weeks). Saturday afternoon was spent doing a little shopping and a lot of cooking (for our UFC party). I made ham & pickle pinwheels, loaded potato skins and hot & honey BBQ chicken wings.

At 6 our festivities started with the actual fight starting at 9. The first 3 fights of the night were on the boring side, with all three going 3 rounds and down to the judges decisions. The welterweight fight of the night undefeated Lyoto Machida against undefeated Thiago Silva was a good one with Silva being knocked out at the end of the 1st round (as the bell was going off)!

The main event for the evening George St.Pierre vs BJ Penn was phenomenal with GSP dominating from the get go.

It went to the end of the 4th round but BJ was so messed up he could not continue to the 5th leaving GSP the Welterweight Champion. I highly doubt that anyone is going to take it from him anytime soon! They actually interviewed St.Pierre's next challenger for the title and the guy didn't sound too confident- almost scared! Most of the friends at our party were bummed that BJ didn't win- but as they were all frowning I was dancing around the living room humming the Canadian national anthem! I am a poor winner, I admit it- I like to rub it in!

Sunday:

Sunday was sleep in day and boy did I! I think I got up around 10:30 and then lumped around in bed until 11:45. We went to J's dads for lunch and then on to our friends- Greg & Lisa's for a Super Bowl party. I'm not that into football so I pretty much spaced out and just waited till the end of the game. J and I won $100 on a pool so it was worth while watching!

Monday is here and the begining to yet another week. Looking forward to this coming weekend as it is "girls weekend" with some college friends!

Bye for now....

Freestyling

2009-01-30T10:37:00.004-06:00

I received a very exciting call a few days ago. My BFF, Missy, recently won "Sales Person of the Year" for her company and to reward her for all of her hard work they gave her a Carribean Cruise for 2. We've been friends for a long time and have been very limited in our travels together. When we did travel, though, it was a friggin blast! Anyways- she's invited me to partake in this adventure with her! After a lot of anxiety thinking I wouldn't be able to make it due to work, I asked and my boss replied "heck yeah, you can go, we'll work it out".

So we will begin our adventure Saturday March 28th when we fly from Chicago to New Orleans and spend the night. We set sail on our Norwegian Cruise Boat- Spirit- in the afternoon of the 29th and will be at sea Sunday and Monday. Our first destination is Cosa Maya, Mexico on Tuesday with Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatemala following on Wednesday. The two that I am most pumped about are Belize City, Belize on Thursday and Cozumel,Mexico on Friday. Then back to sea on Saturday pulling into port back in New Orleans sometime on Sunday.

I excited to do the Zip Line and Cave Tubing in Belize and to explore the Tulum Mayan Ruins in Cozumel.

I have never been on a cruise and actually always wondered if I were the "cruise-type-person", only having so many hours at each place and being on a boat for so long. I was never a big fan of the dress up in your old prom dress and sit at a table with complete strangers either- but I won't have to experience that part as we are "freestyle" cruising. Eat when you want, with who you want, where you want and wearing what you want!

Also, visions of Titanic part II have always crossed my mind. I know there aren't any icebergs where we are going but hey you never know and I wonder in this day and age if women and children would still be let off first.

The ship we are on has 13 decks- 9 being public. 12 restaurants and 8 bars not to mention casinos, smoking lounges, a theater and much more.

I am super excited and only wish that J were coming with as well! I feel bad that we've been together 8 years and have never done any traveling together while I am off roaming the countryside! Also, these are just the perks that go along with having a BFF that isn't married yet!

50 Completely Honest Things About Me: Part 4 of 50

2009-01-27T15:19:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe it's been almost a week since I posted. I've been having withdrawls but I'm back now!

Part 4 of 50: I’m Scared of Birds

I have no idea where this “bird anxiety” came from or when it started. I’ve never been attacked or bitten by a bird. I’ve never even seen the movie The Birds. I just don’t like them.

Growing up, a friend of mine had birds- Macaws, I believe. They were really cool to look at and they did talk but I would get really edgy when they were out of their cage and able to fly around the house.

I had a semi-pet pigeon growing up as well. My dad is a bird hunter and I grew up with German Shorthair Pointers (bird hunting dogs). Dad would purchase birds for training purposes. He let a crate full of pigeons go in the wild once and we had one come back to the house. She would not leave and we decided to call her Lolly. She would follow my dad around the yard while he was doing chores and yard work and she’d perch outside of the backdoor of the house. She stayed around for a couple of years and actually died in a tragic bird-lawn tractor accident one summer. She was dive bombing my dad’s head and trying to knock his hat off while he was mowing the lawn one summer afternoon. I believe the story is that she missed his hat and landed on the ground right in front of the mower. There was nothing my dad could do.

I even held a huge parrot while on my Senior Class Trip at Busch Gardens in Florida. There is a picture out there somewhere and I can guarantee there is not a smile on my face!

I don't mind looking at them from safely inside the house but I don't like them if I am outside. And you will never find me feeding them in the yard. In fact, J and I received a beautiful bird feeder for a wedding gift and I did hang it in the tree in our yard- but I never put feed in it!

Random Babble on a Wednesday

2009-01-21T11:04:00.009-06:00

Sorry this post is not going to have an witty stories or info into my private life. I am simply posting because I have a bunch of garbage floating around in my head and I am addicted to blogging now.

1. In sticking with my New Year's Resolutions I have started a weekly gym routine. Sunday- swim laps; Monday nights-Yoga; Tuesday nights- Body Combat; Wednesday is Volleyball; Thursday- do my own workout at the gym and on Saturday mornings if I feel like getting out of bed I have Yoga.
This is the first week that I started this routine. Last night was Body Combat. Our ~~drill sergeant, athletic dominatrix~~ Instructor, Michelle, is all of 5'2 and 105 pounds but do not let outside appearances fool you- she is tough. About half way through the hour class as I wiped the sweat from my ~~brow~~ whole face I wondered what the hell had I gotten myself into and I didn't know if I'd make it through the entire hour. But I did- with my dinner nearly coming up and out- and I will begrudgingly go back again next week for ~~more torture~~ a wonderful workout!

2. Because of the terrible economic conditions and business being terribly slow, I have had my very comfortable 40 hours per week cut in half for the time being. The good thing is that I go back to work full time as soon as my co-worker goes into labor & on maternity leave. She's due Feb 20 but I'm obviously hoping for an early baby! We are currently doing a 3 on, 2 off/ 3 off, 2 on rotation. That said tomorrow is my day off and I think I have more on my agenda than I would if I were actually at work!

3. I'm finally having the Blazer looked at tomorrow by the insurance company of the other driver involved in my New Years accident. I was told that 99% of the time the adjuster will just issue payment then and there and we can take the truck to get fixed where ever we want. With my current work situation and no idea what the future looks like economically, I think we are going to take the check and forget getting the Blazer fixed. Yeah, it's ugly but the truck is a total Lemon and we are just going to drive it until it dies.

4. I just did 5 loads of laundry this weekend and I already have 2 more to do.

5. I have heartburn today. I'm sure it's because I drank 2 cups of hot chocolate this morning.

6. I have a long list of things to do at home. I was enthusiastic when writing them down but now I don't feel like wasting my day off to do them!

7. I'm going up north for a couple of days to see if I can hook up my mom's new computer and transfer all of her files.

8. I'm scared that it's tax time. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to pay in- and probably BIG time this year. Or I could evade income tax and run to some exotic island somewhere. Note to self: discuss option 2 with J tonight.

9. It's volleyball night and the 2 horrible charlie horses (one in each of my calves) that woke me up screaming at 11 last night are grinning and discussing what they might do to me tonight.

10. I saw the strangest thing a few days ago and then again today. Someone dressed up like the Statue of Liberty standing on the street corner waving. I have yet to understand why? Is it an inauguration thing or are they advertising for the business across the street that does income tax returns? I have no idea.

50 Completely Honest Things about me: Part 3 of 50

2009-01-20T13:21:00.009-06:00

Part 3 of 50: I Don't Eat Eggs

I have been told that I used to love eggs. That I would eat them for every meal if given the chance. I liked them by themselves, with hotdogs cut up in them, with cheese or ketchup- didn't matter how they were made I wanted to eat them. I'm pretty sure ~~mom~~ whoever told me this story is lying! I absolutely loathe eggs. Over easy, scrambled, hard boiled, deviled- it doesn't matter how you cook them- I loathe them! They smell funny when they are cooking and they have odd textures no matter how you have them done. There has only been ONE exception to my hate over the last 20+ years and that is the delicious concoction that we eat every year at my friend Jaime's (Our Crazy Life) dads lake cottage. It's some sort of egg, biscuit, sausage and cheese dream that I love. But it's all mixed and baked together, so it isn't like I am eating a pile of eggs.

Don't get me wrong- I have tried to overcome this. I am extremely limited on my selection when going out for breakfast. It's pancakes, waffles or biscuits & gravy for me. I've even commented on how yummy an omelet looks- took a taste- and immediately regretted taking that bite.

J and Parker love eggs. J will randomly make hardboiled eggs and eat them as lunch or a snack. This definitely grosses me out!

I will continue to try to fight my hatred so that someday I might actually order an omelet for breakfast, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you!

I almost killed my grandma...

2009-01-19T15:42:00.007-06:00

The year was 1989. She had turned 60 that year.

Grandma had driven her big ol' fire-engine-red Ford pickup truck all the way down from Grand Portage,MN to make her yearly-summer visit. She would stay a week with us, a week with my Aunt Rachel & family and a week in Kenosha/Racine to visit Uncle Danny & Aunt Barb.

Berry season was in full bloom in Dunbar and that was a favorite past time of ours. Mom and dad would take the afternoon off at the bar and we would all go berry picking...well, I went berry "eating" and I'm sure I rarely had anything in my bucket by the end of the excursion, but that is besides the point!

I had just turned 9 years old when the accident happened

Dad had an old 1969 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup truck. It was five-speed on the column and the steering wheel was 4 feet in circumference (I swear it was that big)

(this is not the actual truck)

Dad's was a terrible shade of avocado green accented with lots of rust. Along the driver side rear panel there was a 2 1/2 ft band aid bumper sticker that said "OUCH" covering up a patch of rust. And I'm not sure if at that time the pickup bed was falling off or if that happened later down the road. The interior had a single bench seat all the way across and it was super bouncy like a trampoline or an old couch when you can't quite feel the springs poking through yet but there's not much padding left. Please stay with me this is all very relivant to the story!

Okay- so we're all out picking berries on Fire Lane 520 off of Camp 12 Road in Dunbar. We're walkin' and pickin' (eatin') and going further down the road talking and minding our own. Dad must have looked up and realized that we were getting pretty far from the truck and yelled "hey, herman" (yes, herman is my nickname) go pull the truck up. You can't even imagine my immediate excitement and panic all at the same time. Mom had been trying to teach me to drive her little Chevy car just incase something were to happen to her when were alone somewhere but never had I driven dad's truck. I didn't even know how to start it or what to do. Dad said "just get in and start it- it's already in gear just step on the gas a little and drive it up here". I remember whinning a little and not wanting to do it out of fear but did it anyways because dad said so. I trudged along kicking rocks while I walked the 100 yards back to the truck. It felt like it was 15 feet tall as I stood next to it to open the drivers door. Bouncing up and down a while on the seat I realized that I couldn't reach the pedals without sitting on the very edge and even then it was just a tippy toe. I also couldn't see over the four foot circumference steering wheel- but I could see through it. After a few seconds of deep breathing, I turned the key, the truck started rumbling and I slowly eased my tippy toe onto the gas pedal. I had to sit very aukward to reach the pedal,steer and see over the dashboard, but I thought I was doing great. The trees & bushes along side the truck were rushing by at 2 miles per hour and I was in my own little world- probably imagining driving over to Melaine's on my own to play barbies. All of a sudden my attention was diverted to a whole lot of yelling and looking forward all I saw was bushes in front of me, a berry basket go flying up in the air and grandma running like she's never run before. In my barbie daze I had slowly inched off the road and into the woods where grandma was pickin'. I knew which pedal was the break, so I threw both feet, butt off the seat, onto it... just in time.

Needless to say- that was my last time driving until I grew a few more inches but we've got a family story that will make us laugh our buns off forever!

50 completely honest things about me: Part 2 of 50

2009-01-17T10:10:00.008-06:00

Part 2 of 50: I love Mixed Martial Arts fighting

About 4 years ago J started DVRing episodes of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter. It’s a real world type show where a bunch of guys live in a house together and train for mixed martial arts fighting. The winner of the show gets a contract to fight in the UFC. I also started watching with him and was immediately hooked! We now DVR ALL episodes of UFC as well.

Let me give you a little background before I continue. The UFC was founded in 1993. Mixed Martial Arts is an extremely intense sport using many different forms of martial arts together. Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, Jiu-Jutsu, Judo, Muay Thai, Karate, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do and more. Fighting is made up of Strikes (blows with the hands, feet, knees and elbows) or Grappling (submissions, throws, choke holds and takedowns)

There are five different classes in UFC. Lightweight (145-155 lbs); Welterweight (155-170lbs); Middleweight(170-185lbs); Light Heavyweight (185-205lbs) and Heavyweight )205-265lbs). For a title fight to win the belt each fighter must be within the weight limit for the class they are fighting in. Championship matches will consist of 5- 5 minute rounds. Non-championship fights are 3-5 minute rounds. Fights take place in a caged, octagon shaped ring.

The only authorized dress is a pair of 4-6 ounce gloves (just to protect the hands) and a pair of wrestling or kickboxing shhhorrts… sorry I just shivered. You would have to if you’ve seen some of these bodies, er, I mean shorts.

Being such a fan I do have my favorites.

My main man. My numero uno. Is George St Pierre. They call him GSP or Rush but I prefer my own personal pet name...oops I mean nickname Bulldog.

He is quick, he is tough, he can take ANYONE down, I love that he kicks A LOT...He is one BAD MUTHA…

He has 17 wins/2 losses and is the current welterweight champion. He will be fighting BJ Penn to retain his belt on January 31st. I can’t even explain how excited I am about this fight! I feel like a little kid waiting for Santa to come.
The fight is on pay per view and we will be hosting it at our house that night.

My numero uno point cinco (not my main man but definitely higher on my list than second) Is the champion of The Ultimate Fighter Season One: FOOORRREESSSTTT GRIIFFIINNNNNN (sorry, in my head it sounds like the announcer). Forrest Griffin is his name. He’s irish. He is also one BAD MUTHA.

He is 14-4 and was the previous Light Heavyweight champion but recently lost the title (in a very upsetting fight, may I add) against Rashad “Sugar” Evans.

My other favorites include Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, Wanderlei (pronounced Vanderlei)Silva, BJ Penn and Frank Mir.
I’m a junky and I would just crumple to pieces sobbing if I could ever go to a fight!

Oh, yeah and remember NO CALLS between 8pm and 12am on January 31- if you call I may have to do a rear-naked choke hold on yo ass!

Grand Marais, Minnesota

2009-01-16T12:43:00.013-06:00

On our drive to grandma's last week we stopped in Grand Marais, MN. If you have never been there it is a place to visit. It's a tiny-tourist town with lots of little cafe's and gift stores but it also has some of the most beautiful scenery around.

I took all of the following photos while we were letting the dogs out of the truck to tinkle. I can't imagine how they would have turned out using my mom's Nikon camera. Mine is just a fuji digital camera, no lenses to put on and no thinking to do!

Grand Marais is nestled along the northern shore of Lake Superior.

This is what happens when the waves from the lake crash up onto the shoreline and then freeze

Look at this poor, little, lonely weed all encased in ice! I thought it looked so crazily out of place just standing there.

This is the walking path by the harbor
On our way out of town we noticed some really cool trees, full of little red berries. I have no idea what they are but thought they were beautiful.

(this one is my computer background!)

Hope you enjoyed- I'm going back to freezing my buns off (negative 16 today). Brrrr....

50 completely honest things about me: Part 1 of 50

2009-01-15T13:34:00.010-06:00

I have decided to do a little get to know me project. I will post 50 completely honest, completely uncensored, completely random things about myself for you to ponder. Some of you may think I'm nucking futs, some of you may want to make arrangements at the psych ward but then again some of you might have the same thoughts in your crazy heads!

Some will have in depth explanations and theories and others my just be a sentence- depends on how the mood is striking at the time!

And so it starts.....

Part 1 of 50: I Hate Feet

Yes, it’s true, I hate feet. I don’t know when or why this dislike started, and it may actually be men’s feet that I truly despise, but for the sake of this post it is feet in general.

It could have all started in college with my Art 104 class. The class where I had to draw hands and feet for 2 weeks straight (and eventually nude models). Some of you may even remember me following you around begging to draw one of your appendages but I actually think the fear & distaste for them started long before that.

I can't grasp that fact that a person can like feet, let alone like them enough to have a fetish. I have a purse fetish...I can not fathom a foot fetish! I saw a youtube video once where a girl was biting her toenails... I almost lost my lunch.

There is an array of reasons really: they are ugly with their weird shapes & sizes and bony features, they are hairy (sometimes), stinky, and dirty. They have toenails and toenails can have fungus.

Yet even though I hate feet, I admit I love to paint my toenails, throw on a toe ring or wear flip flops in the summer and I love to have my feet rubbed by J. But I will forever cringe at the thought of actually giving a foot massage. Are you serious? Actually touch them? I don't think so. Well, maybe, if I had gloves on.

To Grandma's house I go...

2009-01-13T20:11:00.011-06:00

My Grandma- Marge- turned 80 years old last week and my parents and I packed up the truck to make the long drive to Grand Portage, MN to visit and celebrate. We left Dunbar at 7 am on Friday morning to make the cross-state trek. The nine hour drive was pretty uneventful- a lot of napping and reading was done on my part. (Grand Portage is in the Northeast corner of Minnesota between Grand Marais, MN and Thunder Bay, Canada)

We stopped in Grand Marais- along the North shore of Lake Superior and I took some great pictures. We arrived at grandmas house about 4:30 pm and spent the rest of the night visiting and getting settled.

Saturday was Grandma's Day. We went out to lunch, relaxed at her house and then planned on taking her out for dinner and a little casino time.

After being cooped up in the truck with my parents and 2 dogs I was definitely ready for a

We ate prime rib at the supper club in the Lodge, played a few slots (I was ahead $16.84 when we finished) and went to grab our seats for

The show- musical celebrity impersonations- was fabulous. My favorites were Cher, Tim McGraw, Elton John and Abba. Grandma even let loose a little and had a Coors Light. We had a great visit and I'm looking forward to J and I visiting this summer some time.

Happy Birthday Grandma- thanks for the great time!

I'm home

2009-01-13T09:19:00.009-06:00

Well, Daisy and I have made it back safely from the Northpole-Grand Portage, MN- from a relaxing visit with Grandma J. Since I just returned last night at about 8 pm I have yet to upload or photoshop any pictures but didn't want to go without posting today.

Below you can enjoy some of the pictures I took on my Newfoundland hunting trip in September/October of 2007. I never have and never will claim to be good at photography but the land up there was just screaming to have it's picture taken and I'm sure my pictures would have turned out just as nice had I used a 110 film camera!!!

Enjoy!

This was taken while we were waiting for the float plane to arrive& fly us into camp. It was such a foggy, rainy day but I thought this was one of the most beautiful pictures I was able to get

I love the contrast of the monochromatic background with the bright yellow of the plane wing and the reflection of the sun on the lake (don't mind the dirt on the plane window)

This was taken the morning we were packing up and flying out of camp. It was also the nicest day of our entire trip (go figure). I love the contrast of the land and the soft, fluffyness of the sky

Are you serious....

2009-01-08T13:39:00.003-06:00

I understand that the economy is in the toilet and we might just be in the worst recession since WWII but I have a huge problem with all of the "bail outs" that have been happening. As a Realtor for the past 6 years, I was an eye witness to a lot of people obtaining mortgages they should not have gotten. I can think of quite a few transactions that I was involved in where I said to myself- 'no way are these people going to be able to get financing for this place'- and they did AND 2 years later I received the listing as a foreclosure through the bank. The market was unbelieveable back then, a lot of people were making a lot of money and finanicial institutions were handing out funds like candy. I personally do not believe that there should have been a real estate bail out- especially with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. They caused the problems themselves- they were way up the creek but in the end it was their own fault they had no paddle. I don't agree with the automaker bail out either- but that's another post entirely!

I found this posting on TopNew.com today and let me tell you I am actually speechless... enjoy!

Submitted by Arun Gupta on Thu, 01/08/2009 - 07:21

Sounds absurd, but even the porn industry is hit by the ongoing recession - at least, that's what porn titans, `Girls Gone Wild' creator Joe Francis and Hustler's founder Larry Flynt have to say!
According to TMZ reports, Francis and Flynt are seeking a $5 billion stimulus package for bailing out adult entertainment, saying that "the economy has made America's appetite for sex go limp." Where and how exactly they want to spend the money is, however, another question!
Though essentially considered recession-proof, porn is actually not so. Flynt has been quoted as saying on TMZ: "With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America."
TMZ says that that the two porn advocates, especially Francis, considers the porn `industry' - which reportedly generated nearly $12 billion in 2007 - similar to "the big three automakers, only BIGGER!"
The Web site too claims that adult DVD sales have fallen by nearly 22 percent during the year - and these numbers would definitely puncture the expectations at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas this weekend.
Nevertheless, contradictory to claims of porn industry being smacked by recession, a Tom Johansmeyer article in `the Atlantic', though admits that porn video sales are down, also talks of Francis Koenig's fund AdultVest - which invests in porn-related assets - having increased by 50% in 2008!

So what are your thoughts???

Busy Bee

2009-01-07T08:52:00.004-06:00

After only working 4 days over the weeks of Christmas and New Year's, I am again taking a couple days off! My grandma Jamison (mom's mom) turned 80 on Monday and my parents, the dogs and I will be making the 9 hour (one way) drive to Grand Portage, MN early Friday morning and coming home on Monday. However, I have to leave Appleton tomorrow right after work to drive to Dunbar. With business pretty slow and not much going on at work I find it a little disturbing that I am sitting here blogging (and getting paid) when I could be at home preparing to leave tomorrow. I still have to:
1. Pack my suitcase and toiletry bag
2. Finish packing Daisy's bag
3. Balance the checkbook & pay bills
4. Don't forget to pack the camera, my passport (she only lives 5 miles from Canada), the portable DVD player & DVD's, my book (The Host by Stephanie Meyer), Grandma's Birthday card, my ipod, my pillow and a throw blanket, my mom's dishes from Christmas that were left here
5. Volleyball tonight at 8pm
6. Trim the dog's eyebrows and give her a brushing & a bath
7. Clean out the Blazer
8. Check with insurance as to when the Blazer can be taken in to get fixed.
9. Call Kristen to find out how I download music to my ipod now that she switched it to manual management so she could give me the Twilight soundtrack

So does anyone have some free time to stop at my house today and do these things for me?

Are you all ready?

2009-01-04T13:44:00.008-06:00

J and I had a fabulous wedding on April 17th, 2004. I was concerned about having an April wedding because the weather in Wisconsin is so "iffy". But the day turned out absolutely beautiful- mid 70's and sunny all day.

We had purchased our house up north exactly 1 year prior and in buying the house and having wedding expenses we did not have the funds to go on a honeymoon. For a wedding present my parents gave us a 3 night stay in a hot tub suite at a casino/resort in the Upper Peninsula, so we were able to have a little get away time.

In the almost 5 years that we have been married we still have not been able to go on a real "honeymoon", mostly because from 2005 to 2007 I was saving to go on the hunting trip of a lifetime with my dad.

Now that the hunting trip is long done and over with, the house in Dunbar is sold and the majority of our debt is paid off we are ready to save and go on a vacation together.

HERE WE COME!

Just a long weekend- 4 days. But here is the really cool part- we are going April 15-18, 2010 with the 17th- our 6 year anniversary- being on Saturday. We have decided to renew our vows and J wants to have the ceremony performed by.....

We both feel that after nearly 5 years of marriage (and 8 years of being together) our relationship grows stronger every day and what better way to mark that than to get married all over again!

We also know that we always have a great time with friends and family and Vegas is the perfect place for that- SO HERE IS YOUR FORMAL INVITATION. Start saving your pennies because the more the merrier! Come and celebrate with us!

More details will follow at a later date!

Not what I expected

2009-01-03T23:39:00.010-06:00

When you're younger New Years Eve is a night to get all dolled up and "let'er snap". Ring in the new year with a terrible hang over and a few less bucks in your wallet (usually even a few less than you planned on spending)! A lot of people consider New Year's Eve "amature" night- a night for all the barley legals to get wasted, get in trouble and make stupid decisions. I will admit New Year's was all that and more for me when I was in my early 20's. But as you get older it does change.

New Years Eve this year was going to be a quiet one no matter what we decided to do. J and I had already agreed that we did not want to go out to the bars and spend wads of cash just to feel like crap the next day. We had a few options: go to my friend Melanie's house party in Green Bay, go to our friends Tom & Roxanne's for drinks and board games or stay home.

New Years Eve day was spent lumping around and watching episodes of CSI from seasons 7-9. At about 2 pm I decided to see if Melanie wanted to go to lunch before her big party started. I had decided to stay home with J and Parker that night- just something about spending New Year's Eve away from my honey felt wrong. Instead of going out for a late lunch Melanie had plans with her parents to cook out steaks and eat at her house. I showered quick, picked up a small tenderloin and 6 pack of Blue Moon at Festival and was on my way to Green Bay. I'm glad I decided to go -even for dinner- and the beers started to taste like I may have been spending the night! A few people started showing up around 7 pm- most I didn't know, a few I did and it was nice to see them. After eating steak, potatoes & garlic bread the beers certainly weren't going down as well or as fast and I think I only ended up having 3 the entire time I was there! At about 8:30 I was getting ready to go when there was a knock on the door. There was a neighbor of Mel's asking if anyone in the party had the green Blazer- my green blazer- parked on the street across the road. We all thought maybe it needed to be moved and Mel asked. The neighbor informed her that no it did not need to be moved..... his son had just hit it coming around (sliding around) the corner. Not what I was expecting to hear and definitely not what I was wanting to hear. I don't think I mentioned that Melanie is a Police Officer in Ashwaubenon and the majority of the party were Police Officers! She immediately called in the accident and the police where there within a matter of minutes. I also called J to tell him not to drink anymore in case the truck wasn't drivable and he would need to come and get me. It ended up being okay to drive with just a flat tire and a portion of the bumper and back driver-side quarter panel damaged. I drove to the gas station to fill the tire with air and waited at the house for 45 minutes to see if it would leak. It was fine and by 10:30 I was on the road heading home. I should have stayed but needless to say was not in too much of a mood to party all night long. I think I also forgot to mention that the kid was only 16 and had only had it drivers license for 2 weeks. I actually almost felt bad for him when I saw the look in dad's eyes- I would much rather have been in my situation than his! And yes they did have insurance!

So needless to say even though it was supposed to be a quiet, non-eventful night- the drama still found me a half hour from home!

I promise to attach some pictures of the damage if you promise NOT to notice how bad the Blazer needs a washing!

Thank goodness this was the last day of 2008 and not the start of my 2009!

Resolutions

2008-12-30T13:54:00.009-06:00

With 2008 coming to a close and 2009 staring us in the eyes it is inevitable that resolutions are on the brain. The new year gives us a chance to start fresh and believe that this year we are going to do it. But if you're like most people this will fade by mid year if not sooner. A recent resolutions study showed that of the people surveyed 52% had confidence that they would succeed with their goals but only 12% actually did succeed. The study also showed that 20% would give up on their resolution within the first week of January.

Here are some ways to make it easier to succeed in your resolutions:

* Be realistic (hittng the Powerball or becoming a millionaire is not a realistic resolution)

* Set specific goals (Try "lose 4 pounds each month" instead of just "lose weight")

* Break down your larger goals into smaller goals ("lose weight" could be broken down into exercise more, join a gym and eat healthier)

* Only set goals for things you are passionate about not things you think you "should" do

* Get help from family and friends to stay focused and on course

* Don't get down on yourself

* Expect it to take time (you will probably not lose 30 pounds by Valentine's day and you will probably not quit smoking cold turkey tomorrow-unless you are my dad!)

* Keep a journal or success list

* Reward yourself when you are doing well

My goals this year are the same goals that were on my list last year... and the year before... and well you get the picture: lose some weight, eat healthier, exercise more, save money, pay off debt and quit smoking (again)

But I'd like to be honest with myself so here is my realistic list- the list I WANT to be successful with:

Work on my anxiety issues

I'm not expecting to wake up one morning and no longer have anxiety- I'd just like to get a handle on it.

Go down a size or 2 in clothing

I'm not obsessed with my actual weight, I know that building muscle will make you weigh more- I'm more conscious of how I look in and how my clothing feels on.

Learn portion control when eating

I LOVE food (especially J's cooking) and refuse to go on a diet where I will constantly be craving things, I also know that I tend to eat until I'm "stuffed" or "eat everything on my plate" (the way we were all raised)

Go to the gym more than the required times per month

(I joined Gold's Gym through my work and they pay 1/2 of our monthly membership as long as we use the gym 8 times per month). I enjoy going to the gym- especially my Body Flow Class- so this should not be that difficult to obtain- however December has not been a good month with the holidays and the terrible weather I find myself curling up in my jammies and saying "I'll go tomorrow"

Start putting away money in savings for our future

I've always tried to be a saver but unforeseen issues would come up and the nest egg that had been packed away would get spent. Now that we have eliminated 75% of our debt, putting a little away from each paycheck should not be a problem. There are so many things we want to and need to save for: a certain Vegas Vacation (April 2010), Parker driving in 3 yrs & college in 5 yrs, purchasing a home down the road, and retirement (never too early to plan for that right)

Keep in better contact with family and friends

I love talking and usually have a lot to say- so do my friends and family! I find it terribly hard- especially when on the phone all day- to make phone calls when I get home at night. I know I can't sit down and have a 5 minute conversation, so I tend to not do it at all. I really want to work on this- even if I have to start the conversation with "I only have 10 minutes but wanted to see how you're doing"

Quit smoking

This is the hardest one by far and I start to get irrational thoughts just thinking about it- but I did it in the past- for 10 months- I can do it again, I know I can)

I'm sure there will be occasional blogs as to my success or struggles with all of the above.

So what are your goals for the new year?

May everyone have a safe and Happy New Year!

See you in '09

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T20:01:00.004-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS FROM ME AND MINE!

Where did we move to?

2008-12-23T16:36:00.005-06:00

When we first made the decision to move- the Fox Valley was the obvious choice. We'd lived here in the past together and J had been raised here. We both are familiar with the area and enjoyed it the last time around.

I'm a little confused lately though. I'm pretty sure, when I went to the Pembine post office to put in our change of address/mail forwarding request, that I put 54952, which is the zipcode for Menasha. I'm also sure that our new bills have been coming to the same zipcode. How could it be then that we are living in Antartica? I know Wisconsin has some pretty terrible winters but this is getting a little rediculous! Sub-zero temperatures, gusting wind at 15+ mph, and constant snow fall. This can't be Menasha. I am totally convinced that we made a wrong turn somewhere in route on moving day. I've taken a few pictures-of this crap- for you to enjoy!

This is 2 days ago- we've since gotten another 3 inches, and there is another storm heading our way with "significant" snowfall.

Someone has changed their mind about loving the snow! Daisy (in her new jacket) can't even jump up over the edge to go potty- we have to shovel out an area for her to go.

Since we sold the house and paid off the majority of our debt we were going to start looking to replace the Blazer (it has seen it's better days). I'm now thinking of trading it in on a sled-dog team!

Stop back soon for more stories and pictures from the Arctic Circle!

Mixed Feelings

2008-12-17T13:48:00.016-06:00

Today is an extremely joyful day... yet a day of bittersweet sorrow as well. Today marks the day that a HUGE chapter in our lives- J's and mine- is ended and closed and that another chapter is started.

Today is the day we sold our house. The documents have been signed, keys handed off and the new owners are moved in. This is the day we have been waiting for since September 1st when we listed and figured it would be a year or more before we sold, the day we've been waiting for since October 30th when we got the offer and the day we've been waiting for since December 5th (the original closing date) when the deal fell apart due to financing. This is the day we have been praying for and yet I don't feel as excited as I thought I would. I'm upset that we're closing a chapter of our lives, I'm upset that MY little house on Wisconsin Avenue is no longer mine, I'm up set that we are no longer "home owners" -just renters now. I'm upset that I no longer get to admire all of our "sweat equity" when we look around at what we did over the years and I'm upset to think that someone new is going to come in and change it all.

BUT on the same hand-

I am happy that we are closing a chapter and starting another, I'm happy that we no longer have the financial burden of that little house on Wisconsin Avenue, I'm happy that we no longer have the responsibilities, financial & maintenance, of being home owners, I am happy that we will be virtually debt free after this, I get excited to think of what we will do to a future house and I am happy for the buyers and hope they cherish that little house as much as we did.

I am in a total and complete state of mixed emotions right now.

So it is here that I pay tribute to our little house- never to be forgotten. Our first home together, our first large financial commitment to each other, the place that J carried me over the threshold after our wedding, the first chapter in our lives together.

Goodbye W11469 Wisconsin Avenue in Dunbar

*** We will miss you ***

What have I gotten myself into...

2008-12-16T15:49:00.007-06:00

As most of you know, J was never too fond of living up north. The main reason being, not much to do for a young person- especially a young person that isn't crazy about the outdoors. His excitement in the months leading up to our move was almost comical. He just couldn't wait to get back to "civilization" (his words).

Well it certainly didn't take long for us to get into the groove of being back in the city with amenities and things to do- actually the things we used to do. Going out, ordering delivery and now..... volleyball. Yep, I said it- a big fat curse word right here on my blog! J has convinced me that it will be fun and something for us to do together once a week. Yes, I know we used to play when we previously lived down here- but the fact always was and always will be- I really suck at volleyball! And as you can see in the upper right side of the screen under "About Me" I am 100% athletically uncompetitive and always have been. I was never in sports in high school or college and have never been very interested in sports period.

BUT for the next 10 or 12 weeks I will be athletically competitive and "excited" about volleyball! Our team consists of Patie & Dave (J's sister & her husband), Me & J, Casey (J's sister Crystal's boyfriend) and a co-worker of Patie's. We are the DIRTY BUBBLES (note to self: ask Patie where the hell our team name came from) and we will be playing at The Bar on Wednesday nights. By the way- we started last Wednesday and we won all 3 games that night!

End of the year...sucks!

2008-12-12T07:32:00.004-06:00

I have often said-since moving- that factory hours are fabulous! 7:30 to 4:30 with an hour lunch. Holiday's and the day after- paid time off.

HOWEVER, that was before I was involved in my first factory inventory. Since Wednesday morning (at 7 am may I add) I have been keying in part numbers & quantities, checking and re-checking reports, keying in some more part numbers and quantities and so on. The tips of my fingers are becoming tender, my eyes feel like they are bugging out of my head and my shoulders need a good massage. We are almost done- today being the last day!

Inventory is like that one annoying friend or family member (don't deny it-everyone has one) that you see at a holiday party once a year that brings weird snacks or presents. BUT in this case the snack is tasty....... overtime!!!

The things that make me happy....

2008-12-10T08:24:00.001-06:00

For the past year or so I have been compiling a list of things that make me happy. I periodically add or delete items from the list as things change in my life. I read an article once that said "it's the little things- the things we take for granted- that make us the most happy and more often than not we don't even know it." After reading that article is when I decided to start my list. Once I started writting and thinking it all became very clear. There are a lot of things that make me happy that I rarely even think about. Another great blog for you all to check out is http://www.happiness-project.com/ Gretchen Rubin- former lawyer turned writer spent a year trying out every principle, tip, theory and scientific study to find true happiness in her life and will compile the results & findings in a book due out in late 2009.

The things that make ME happy:

Icecream * Puppies * Rainy days with a good book * My husbands laugh * Drinking wine on Friday nights * French manicures * The smell of clean laundry * All baby animals * Smell of Christmas trees * High thread count sheets * The perfect pair of heels * A great purse * Playing pool * Chapstick * Having such great family and friends * Scrapbooking and making cards * Commission checks * Mexican food * Office supplies (especially highlighters, lined post it notes, paper clips) * Raspberry flavored anything * Finding money in a pocket * Fun socks * Pjamas * A perfect pair of jeans * Girls weekends * Rollercoasters * Fall colors * Waterfalls * Dancing around the house (with or without the dog in my arms) * Fat baby cheeks * New car smell * Paying off an outstanding bill * Hot showers * Puppy breath * Perfectly waxed eyebrows * Pizza and pasta * A full body massage * Interior design * My favorite quilt (thanks Missy) * Watching movies * Camping somewhere new * Get-togethers * Giving gifts * A good hair cut * Bold colors * Jewlery * Reading a great book * Body Flow class (tai chi, yoga & pillates rolled into one) * Doing really well on Guitar Hero * Meeting a deadline * Playing and/or snuggling with Daisy * Making Holiday dinners * Throwing suprise parties * Being organized * Back rubs from J * Getting compliments on something * My ipod * A warmed up car on a cold winter day *

So above is my compiled list so far.

What are the little things that make you happy?

7-14 inches... A girls dream, right?

2008-12-09T14:14:00.000-06:00

Think again!
7-14 inches of the cold, wet, white stuff that accumulates in Wisconsin this time of year.

The first BIG storm of the season- we currently have 6 inches- winter has just begun and I am ready for spring already. Our friends the Payne's definately had the right idea transplanting to Georgia.
For some reason the snow and bad roads seem worse here in the city than in Dunbar. The wrecker service could have had a decent cash flow today just sitting in our apartment parking lot! 3 stuck cars just trying to leave this morning. The roads don't get plowed very well or very quickly, either. And for some reason we are living in some kind of a wind tunnel. There was a snow drift higher than my knees by our garage door this morning, not to mention shoveling a path out there only to have it gone 15 minutes later.

The only one enjoying this...crap... is Daisy! For some reason our 13 pound princess loves the snow. She loves running in it, jumping in it, sticking her head in it and climbing it (snow banks). If the wind ever quits I will try to get some pictures of her this year but for now enjoy a picture of her last winter.