Tuesday, January 27, 2009
wrinkles
Just an fyi to everyone - if you have a pair of pants that are wrinkled and when you put them on the wrinkles disappear, you probably shouldn't wear them.
Monday, January 26, 2009
hibernation
I am considering imitating a bear (no comments from the peanut gallery) so that I can hibernate all winter long. How wonderful would it be to sleep all of the time? I could handle it. I feel as though I have hibernated this winter by abandoning the blog updates. A lot has happened since the Greenville Christmas Parade of 2008.
The big news is the latest family addition of Miss LuLu Bean. She is a boxer/lab mix and full of abounding energy and personality. She came from a litter of about 6 or 7 and friends of mine had 3 of them but needed to give up two. There was a short period of indecision because Tim said I needed to choose between another dog and a camera. This was quite a conundrum, but I decided to go with a living thing that would love me (hopefully). Having a puppy has been quite a learning experience for me. She forces me to have patience when I don't want to have any and she is definitely testing my patience with her little presents she leaves me occasionally. I'm sure she does it because she loves me. LuLu is a cutie and will steal your heart and then chew on it but I love her to death!
Tim and I spent Christmas in Florida and had a wonderful 3 full days spent with family and friends. We visited the condo in Naples and took a walk down memory lane. It's really hard to be back there because I miss our friends and who doesn't like 80 degree weather in December? There was much laughing, a lot of eating and surprises! I love surprises. On Christmas day we were at my sister-in-law's house from breakfast to dinner. Presents had just finished being opened and I had bought Tim and iPod even though no presents were suppose to be purchased for each other. Of course he was surprised but that isn't the best part. There was an extra bag and it was for MOI! Can you guess what it was? That's right folks - a dSLR. Are you freaking kidding me? I was in true shock. Not only did I get a puppy but I got a camera to take pictures of the new puppy. Just so you are aware and possibly haven't figured it out, my love language is gifts. Albeit, I don't receive gifts very often and they don't have to be extravagant like cameras but it's still my love language.
This year we strayed from our traditional NYE with our best friends. We had to save some money this year so next year can be BIG so we met my dad, sister, uncle and significant others up in North Carolina for a weekend at a cabin. It was just so beautiful and I have pictures on my Facebook. I can see myself living in a log cabin one day and maybe I will...who knows.
2009 holds big changes for me. There are things I'm ready to take the step to do which includes taking better control of my life. I feel I don't have much of a purpose so I'm trying to turn that around. I do not make resolutions on an annual basis. The chances are high that if I write my list, check it twice and vow to stick to it that I won't and I'll only be disappointed in myself. Therefore, as I go along I try to make decisions and commit to them. For the past several months I've been very unhappy with my job. There are a plethora of reasons I believe it didn't work out, but they don't matter. It was time for something new and contrary to my personality I did something about it. Instead of quitting and running from the issue I asked to do something else which worked out extremely well. The position is more of a fit for my black and white personality and today I was asked "having fun yet?" to which I responded "yes!" and I was serious even though the question was meant to be sarcastic. The other decision I've recently made is to lose weight which I have succeeded at only once in my life. Here's to hoping for follow through on my part. There are other decisions I've made that haven't come to fruition but I'm being patient.
One more thing before I go. I haven't seen my sister Liz since July of last year. It's actually starting to hurt almost physically. She is so far away and it's not feasible for either of us to fly and see each other. I'm praying for a miracle at this point and crying while I type this so words are blurring and I need to log off. I love you Liz!
Until the next time I decide to write...
Sarah
The big news is the latest family addition of Miss LuLu Bean. She is a boxer/lab mix and full of abounding energy and personality. She came from a litter of about 6 or 7 and friends of mine had 3 of them but needed to give up two. There was a short period of indecision because Tim said I needed to choose between another dog and a camera. This was quite a conundrum, but I decided to go with a living thing that would love me (hopefully). Having a puppy has been quite a learning experience for me. She forces me to have patience when I don't want to have any and she is definitely testing my patience with her little presents she leaves me occasionally. I'm sure she does it because she loves me. LuLu is a cutie and will steal your heart and then chew on it but I love her to death!
Tim and I spent Christmas in Florida and had a wonderful 3 full days spent with family and friends. We visited the condo in Naples and took a walk down memory lane. It's really hard to be back there because I miss our friends and who doesn't like 80 degree weather in December? There was much laughing, a lot of eating and surprises! I love surprises. On Christmas day we were at my sister-in-law's house from breakfast to dinner. Presents had just finished being opened and I had bought Tim and iPod even though no presents were suppose to be purchased for each other. Of course he was surprised but that isn't the best part. There was an extra bag and it was for MOI! Can you guess what it was? That's right folks - a dSLR. Are you freaking kidding me? I was in true shock. Not only did I get a puppy but I got a camera to take pictures of the new puppy. Just so you are aware and possibly haven't figured it out, my love language is gifts. Albeit, I don't receive gifts very often and they don't have to be extravagant like cameras but it's still my love language.
This year we strayed from our traditional NYE with our best friends. We had to save some money this year so next year can be BIG so we met my dad, sister, uncle and significant others up in North Carolina for a weekend at a cabin. It was just so beautiful and I have pictures on my Facebook. I can see myself living in a log cabin one day and maybe I will...who knows.
2009 holds big changes for me. There are things I'm ready to take the step to do which includes taking better control of my life. I feel I don't have much of a purpose so I'm trying to turn that around. I do not make resolutions on an annual basis. The chances are high that if I write my list, check it twice and vow to stick to it that I won't and I'll only be disappointed in myself. Therefore, as I go along I try to make decisions and commit to them. For the past several months I've been very unhappy with my job. There are a plethora of reasons I believe it didn't work out, but they don't matter. It was time for something new and contrary to my personality I did something about it. Instead of quitting and running from the issue I asked to do something else which worked out extremely well. The position is more of a fit for my black and white personality and today I was asked "having fun yet?" to which I responded "yes!" and I was serious even though the question was meant to be sarcastic. The other decision I've recently made is to lose weight which I have succeeded at only once in my life. Here's to hoping for follow through on my part. There are other decisions I've made that haven't come to fruition but I'm being patient.
One more thing before I go. I haven't seen my sister Liz since July of last year. It's actually starting to hurt almost physically. She is so far away and it's not feasible for either of us to fly and see each other. I'm praying for a miracle at this point and crying while I type this so words are blurring and I need to log off. I love you Liz!
Until the next time I decide to write...
Sarah
Saturday, December 6, 2008
when in Greenville
Tonight Greenville had their annual Christmas parade. I have never been and I've lived here for a few years. Don't you find that most of the time you take for granted the things in your hometown? One of my friends lives downtown and she invited me over for hot chocolate, snacking and the parade. It was absolutely freezing outside and the last thing I wanted to do was leave her house and walk to Main Street but we bundled up and took our hot chocolate with us. The parade was so much fun. Greenville did such a good job of organizing and most of the floats were fantastic. My favorite float was that of Bob Jones University. It just looked so pretty and there were several little kids on it singing. I didn't realize children attended BJU. They must be smart kiddos. The weirdest float of the night was something about a rapping elf. He was middle-aged and dressed up similar to an elf with sunglasses and "chains". The float looked completely ghetto and they were playing ghetto rap music. How did those people get into the lineup?? Of course I do love a good marching band so seeing all of the bankds come through was fantastic. Mandie and I shook are booties. The night was freezing but made warm with good company, hot chocolate and a good ol' fashioned parade. It makes me appreciate where I live even more.
On a side note, Tim and I are going to see a boxer/lab puppy tomorrow afternoon. I don't know what will happen but she is really cute in the picture. So...we'll see. We may have a sister for Flash tomorrow! I hope he's ready to be a big brother.
On a side note, Tim and I are going to see a boxer/lab puppy tomorrow afternoon. I don't know what will happen but she is really cute in the picture. So...we'll see. We may have a sister for Flash tomorrow! I hope he's ready to be a big brother.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
awkward turtle!
Tim and I drove to Ohio for the long Thanksgiving weekend and I love seeing family even if that means I sleep on an air mattress in a house where the "heat" is set at 64 degrees when it's 30 outside. The trip was quiet and uneventful except for the traffic. We took Flash with us and he did so good on that long car drive. Unfortunately he's having a serious halitosis problem right now and whenever he yawned it smelled like he was farting through his mouth. We think it's his food. I picked up a different dog food during a quick and desperate trip to Walmart (it was Walmart which means it was desperate) made by Rachel Ray. It's all natural but if all natural is going to give him THAT breath, then fillers it is! Just kidding. I'm going back to the old food, Eukanoba, which is pricey and gave him gas but I'd rather him have gas than that awful breath.
Wow - I really got off subject! I was saying the trip was uneventful, but I forgot that we found an iPod Nano! One of our potty stops along the way we were walking the dog around and I saw the nano on the ground but ignored it. We were out there for awhile and nobody came by and I never said anything until right before we left and then I went ahead and picked it up. This person has some great music on their playlist and a fantastic mix. Tim and I understand we need to do everything possible to find the owner and we are taking the appropriate steps to do so but until then Tim is enjoying it.
I really do enjoy seeing my family at the holidays, but what I realized I don't enjoy is the drama. I don't need anymore drama in my life and Thursday turned out to be quite the Lifetime movie. Thanksgiving was at my grandma's like usual and the guests consisted of my grandma, uncle, cousin, mom, family friend, Flash, Tim and I. It was definitely small without my sisters and I really wish they had been there although I know they were okay with not being there, especially after this story! Everyone was there and then my uncle walked in who is a mailman. He sees Flash and before he even says hello he starts freaking out and asked if Flash was a pit bull. I affirmed. This prompted a five minute diatribe on how dangerous pit bulls are and he reports people with pit bulls because they are banned up in the unfriendly north. He also won't deliver mail to someone who has a pit in the front yard and had plenty of dog stories to tell. My uncle would absolutely not let up and it was making everyone very uncomfortable and me very angry. He made sure to let me know that he wasn't happy with Flash being there. I was sooo close to telling him that he is an angry old a*hole and that he could leave. I didn't want to make a bad situation worse so I kept my mouth shut and he finally shutup. The whole entire dinner turned out to be his own personal soapbox about some guy him and my cousin mutually know. This guy is in his Bible study and my cousin was telling him that he is a womanizer. This news made my uncle extremely upset and he wouldn't stop talking about it. Not to mention that he talked about JFK and how everyone idolized him but when he died they found out he was riddled with venereal disease. Who talks about venereal disease at the dinner table??? The whole dinner was one big awkward turtle.
That evening we headed to my aunt & uncle's house with the cousins, husbands/wives and kids. When Tim walked in the door he asked if this was Thanksgiving redo and it completely was. We all had such a great time. I can't remember the last time we were at my aunt & uncle's with so many of us there. I was able to talk to my cousin for awhile which we haven't done in forever and a bunch of us played Monopoly. Tim would want me to tell you that he schooled everyone going from "nothing to something". I definitely miss that part of my family :)
The remainder of the weekend consisted of helping my mom get ready for selling the house and visiting family and friends in Youngstown. Tim's grandma has alzheimers and it is so sad to see her that way. We realize we don't have very much time left with our grandparents so every trip matters. Tim's grandpa is still fit as a fiddle at 90 years old and can tell stories for hours on end without fail. After the family visit we headed to a friend's and went to dinner at a place called Upstairs and yes, it was actually upstairs. The wine was good and the food even better, plus our friend Courtney has a Canon Rebel XSI and let me fool around with it! See the pics below.
Sunday we left for home. The 9 hour trip took about 13 and it was horrendous. The details are pretty ugly so I will spare you. Needless to say we were very glad to get home and sleep in our warm house in our comfortable bed! *Sorry mom.
We will be flying next time!
Wow - I really got off subject! I was saying the trip was uneventful, but I forgot that we found an iPod Nano! One of our potty stops along the way we were walking the dog around and I saw the nano on the ground but ignored it. We were out there for awhile and nobody came by and I never said anything until right before we left and then I went ahead and picked it up. This person has some great music on their playlist and a fantastic mix. Tim and I understand we need to do everything possible to find the owner and we are taking the appropriate steps to do so but until then Tim is enjoying it.
I really do enjoy seeing my family at the holidays, but what I realized I don't enjoy is the drama. I don't need anymore drama in my life and Thursday turned out to be quite the Lifetime movie. Thanksgiving was at my grandma's like usual and the guests consisted of my grandma, uncle, cousin, mom, family friend, Flash, Tim and I. It was definitely small without my sisters and I really wish they had been there although I know they were okay with not being there, especially after this story! Everyone was there and then my uncle walked in who is a mailman. He sees Flash and before he even says hello he starts freaking out and asked if Flash was a pit bull. I affirmed. This prompted a five minute diatribe on how dangerous pit bulls are and he reports people with pit bulls because they are banned up in the unfriendly north. He also won't deliver mail to someone who has a pit in the front yard and had plenty of dog stories to tell. My uncle would absolutely not let up and it was making everyone very uncomfortable and me very angry. He made sure to let me know that he wasn't happy with Flash being there. I was sooo close to telling him that he is an angry old a*hole and that he could leave. I didn't want to make a bad situation worse so I kept my mouth shut and he finally shutup. The whole entire dinner turned out to be his own personal soapbox about some guy him and my cousin mutually know. This guy is in his Bible study and my cousin was telling him that he is a womanizer. This news made my uncle extremely upset and he wouldn't stop talking about it. Not to mention that he talked about JFK and how everyone idolized him but when he died they found out he was riddled with venereal disease. Who talks about venereal disease at the dinner table??? The whole dinner was one big awkward turtle.
That evening we headed to my aunt & uncle's house with the cousins, husbands/wives and kids. When Tim walked in the door he asked if this was Thanksgiving redo and it completely was. We all had such a great time. I can't remember the last time we were at my aunt & uncle's with so many of us there. I was able to talk to my cousin for awhile which we haven't done in forever and a bunch of us played Monopoly. Tim would want me to tell you that he schooled everyone going from "nothing to something". I definitely miss that part of my family :)
The remainder of the weekend consisted of helping my mom get ready for selling the house and visiting family and friends in Youngstown. Tim's grandma has alzheimers and it is so sad to see her that way. We realize we don't have very much time left with our grandparents so every trip matters. Tim's grandpa is still fit as a fiddle at 90 years old and can tell stories for hours on end without fail. After the family visit we headed to a friend's and went to dinner at a place called Upstairs and yes, it was actually upstairs. The wine was good and the food even better, plus our friend Courtney has a Canon Rebel XSI and let me fool around with it! See the pics below.
Sunday we left for home. The 9 hour trip took about 13 and it was horrendous. The details are pretty ugly so I will spare you. Needless to say we were very glad to get home and sleep in our warm house in our comfortable bed! *Sorry mom.
We will be flying next time!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
s'mores, turkey, buckeyes and vampires
What a crazy, wonderful weekend it has been! I am exhausted and have no idea when I'll have time to get ready for our trip to Ohio but I wouldn't trade it for the world. The fun started with a good ol' fashion bonfire which I haven't been to since I went camping with my sister and brother-in-law. The weather was freezing which of course you want it to be. Our friend Crystal was the marvelous hostess and she made sure we had everything necessary including a fantastic fire she created herself! I've never had s'mores with Reeses cups before but I highly recommend it, especially the way Todd made them. He just stuck the peanut butter cup on the stick with the marshmallow and it melted perfectly :)We couldn't stay late at Crystals because of the very early morning we had Saturday. I hate getting up early, but alas we had commited to the Turkey Trot 5k. I've started running and training to run 5k's. Tim has been a trooper, sticking with me even though he's a runner and can go alot faster. We woke up to 25 degree weather and bundled up for it. There were a group of people that I work with who showed up a
nd have been running a lot longer than I. My plan was to walk the whole way because my shin splints have been extremely bad but after the race started I got the itch to run. I definitely didn't have the energy to run the whole way so Tim and I did a run/walk/run/walk the whole way which didn't make for very good time but nevertheless we finished! Yay! Our next 5k is December 13th and I just want to beat my time from this past Saturday. That's my only goal. Oh, and to not die.I would've loved to just ice my shins and take it easy in the afternoon but I wouldn't miss the biggest game of the season - Ohio State vs. Michigan. Tim and I headed over to Bailey's to meet fellow fans Katy & Matt. They were awesome and included us in their reservation. I didn't understand why reservations were needed but understood when we arrived. The whole back half of the restaurant was dedicated just for the game and it was packed with OSU fans and a few Michigan fans. They were brave souls to stick around. The game turned out well for us Buckeyes and we know how to shove it in the opposing teams face!
The rest of the day was shot. We were sooo tired and zonked out on the couch after the game. Flash was awesome and just napped with us. What an awesome dog he is.
The weekend was not over after all of this busyness. It was just getting started. The weekend ended on an extremely high note...the highly anticipated Twilight movie. There is no way to possibly explain how addicted I am to this series. First the books and now the movie. My excitement was high and my expectations low. The movies are never as good as the books and that was the case for this movie as well, but I was pleasantly surprised at how completely awesome it was. I was in love with the books before and if it's even possible, I'm even more in love with them now. I read the reviews and they were negative but I don't believe these critics actually read the book. They spoke of over-dramatized angst and clumsy acting. To anyone who read the book, they understand the whole book was a story about teen love and we all remember how much drama that was in high school! Now imagine that drama added with a forbidden relationship with a guy that wants to drink your blood aka killing you but chooses to be your protector instead..ahhhh. The writer and director stayed true to the book with very few changes made. I was highly impressed and the movie brought to life all of the intensity and passion that was in the book. If you haven't read the book, the movie probably won't be all that great. But if you have seen the movie...see it. You won't regret it.
That was my busy weekend in a nutshell. My hair still smells like smoke, my shins are sore, the fridge is still filled with buckeyes and my heart is still pounding from Twilight. I could do it all over again next weekend!
Tim and I are headed to Ohio for Thanksgiving which means another roadtrip (refer to very first blog post) so wish us luck ;)
adios
Sunday, November 2, 2008
quick thought
I'm not much into politics. Recent days have sharpened my view though. I don't like to debate and I don't know enough to write a full on diatribe about the election and the shortcomings of both candidates but I will say this.
When Tuesday comes along I will be voting for the apple that has the fewest bruises because let's face it, neither candidate is really all that great. Also, even though SNL and the late-night hosts and newscasts only have negative things to say about McCain/Palin none of it's that serious really. Most of it is about McCain being old and Palin having an accent. On the other hand, the opposing candidate, Obama, has several very serious black marks.
Instead of voting for Obama, visit Cuba. Then when you realize socialism isn't all it's cracked up to be you can hop a boat back to the States.
When Tuesday comes along I will be voting for the apple that has the fewest bruises because let's face it, neither candidate is really all that great. Also, even though SNL and the late-night hosts and newscasts only have negative things to say about McCain/Palin none of it's that serious really. Most of it is about McCain being old and Palin having an accent. On the other hand, the opposing candidate, Obama, has several very serious black marks.
Instead of voting for Obama, visit Cuba. Then when you realize socialism isn't all it's cracked up to be you can hop a boat back to the States.
rewind
Focusing this morning in church was very hard. There were three sisters sitting in the pew in front of us, all different ages. As they all filtered in the youngest one was trying to move spots and I don't know where she exactly wanted to go but her older sisters blocked her from going anywhere. This made her quite angry and she began saying over and over again "but mom said I could". After she still wasn't getting her way she started pinching her sisters extremely hard on the arms. Of course this just made the whole process more entertaining. The two older ones started whispering in each other's ears making the younger one even angrier. As we're singing a hymn I'm just laughing. Then, about 5 minutes later the little one had her head on the middle sister's shoulder.
The whole experience took me back to my childhood. I saw me and my sisters at those ages, hating each other then loving each other and going through it all over again in repeat fashion. I don't remember Liz being much of an instigator but Leah and I went at it all of the time. She would quietly aggravate me and would push me to the point of screaming at her, much like the pinching the younger sister was doing in church this morning. My parents never saw the "pinching" but only heard the yelling so guess who got in trouble...moi.
There are a multitude of acts I'm not proud of when it came to my sisters, but I'm not closer to anyone than them. It gives me great hope that those three sisters I observed this morning will grow up to be the best of friends.
The whole experience took me back to my childhood. I saw me and my sisters at those ages, hating each other then loving each other and going through it all over again in repeat fashion. I don't remember Liz being much of an instigator but Leah and I went at it all of the time. She would quietly aggravate me and would push me to the point of screaming at her, much like the pinching the younger sister was doing in church this morning. My parents never saw the "pinching" but only heard the yelling so guess who got in trouble...moi.
There are a multitude of acts I'm not proud of when it came to my sisters, but I'm not closer to anyone than them. It gives me great hope that those three sisters I observed this morning will grow up to be the best of friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)