Pictures, as promised

The trip began on the night of May 30, 2007. I picked Tim up from the airport at around 10pm, cried as I was leaving Phoenix and we made our way to Palm Desert, California and finally arrived there at around 2:30 a.m. on May 31st. When we got to the hotel, we were finished with the most unpleasant part of the whole drive. We were completely wiped. We got up the following morning at 7am and headed to his grandma's house in Palm Desert for a quick visit. Shortly after, we headed straight towards the ocean. We stopped in Newport Beach and soaked up the sun for a few hours until we realized that we were most likely getting burned (we definitely did). Then we headed down to Laguna Beach and walked around, shopped, grabbed a couple beachy drinks and some food and then made our way back up to Huntington Beach where we ultimately stayed that night. In Huntington, we ate at one of my favorite beach restaurants- Dukes. Our hotel was right on the beach so it was nice to walk to the restaurant, around the pier and then to our hotel.



We crashed into bed early that night since we'd only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before. We were up early the next morning though (June 1) and went walking some more around Huntington. We stopped first at one of the regular breakfast places of our trip- Jamba Juice. As a side note, before I went to Jamba several times on the trip, I had forgotten just how much I love Jamba. I will never forget again. We spent the morning walking around Huntington and a little market going on down there and then headed up the pacific coast. This day of driving was absolutely breathtaking. We went through beach towns in SoCal and then once we got to central California we went through Big Sur and saw some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We took a lot of time and pictures on the drive that day. We ended up stopping in Monterey, CA that night and stayed at the Marriott in town. We walked around downtown Monterey once we got in and discovered the cutest little Japanese/sushi restaurant ever. It was absolutely delightful.



The next day (June 2) after another stop at Jamba for breakfast, we continued up the coast and straight into San Fransisco. We stayed in San Fran for several hours, stopping mainly at Fisherman's Wharf, Gheredelli Square and the best little Italian restaurant. As a sidenote, it was FREEZING in San Fran. I absolutely adore that city though. So much fun. I haven't been back there for a long time. As soon as we crossed the golden gate bridge and headed towards Sausalito, the fog lifted and the temperature increased by about 20 degrees. Maybe that was normal but it seemed bizarre to me.



We continued up the coast and got into wine country. As a pretty avid wine drinker, I was absolutely fascinated. Tim was too and he is not huge on wine. These vineyards were amazing- they went on and on forever for miles- over the mountains, up the coast, etc. It was unbelievable. After the vineyards, we started to get into the forest part of our drive. We found a giant tree park with a huge redwood you can drive through (see pictures below). We stopped in Eureka, CA right before we got to the Redwood national forest.



We ended up walking out of a restaurant for the second night in a row (we did this in Monterey too before we found the Japanese place) and we stumbled upon the best bar ever. The food was amazing and it was such a cool vibe. There was a giant stuffed spider over the door that moved every time the door open. It was such a trip and it was a small town so everyone was so friendly.It was crazy too because once I got back to Seattle, I found a glass in some store with the name of the bar on it from freaking Eureka, CA. Of course I bought it.



The next day (June 3) we continued up north and straight into the Redwood forest. The redwoods are just astounding. I don't even know what else to say. I was just in awe. We continued up north and into Oregon and I have to say that the transition from huge trees to ocean with huge rocks in it is a little bit beyond comprehension. It is so beautiful but so unreal. After about two hours up the Oregon coast, the drive was mostly forest until we got to Coos Bay, Oregon where there are huge sand dunes. Tim actually goes down to Coos for vacation quite frequently so he showed me all his vacation haunts, including a stop for the largest apple turnovers I have ever seen in my life. We continued up the coast because we wanted to make it to the Sea Lion caves. We got there 5 minutes before it closed and it was worth it! There were about 400 sea lions that we saw (literally). They were all over the coast. You can look at them outside and you can also take an elevator down 200 feet to an actual cave to look at them. It was pretty cool. After that, we ended our coastal part of the trip and cut inland to hit the 5 freeway and head towards Portland.



Tim has a sister that lives in Portland so we called her to see where we should stay. We ended up staying at the coolest hotel of our whole trip. It was called the Jupiter hotel and it was so trendy. Each room is different and the scene there was really cool. The restaurant was fabulous... so much so that we ate dinner there by ourselves and then had breakfast the next day there with Tim's sister and her boyfriend. We spent that next day (June 4) shopping around Portland's Pearl district and the district that is on 23rd avenue (I forget what it is called). Portland is such a cool city. I've been there once before but this time I really loved it. At around 5 pm we left Portland and headed for home. Around 7pm, we pulled into Kirkland, WA. My new home.



It was a crazy ride and such a fun adventure. I couldn't have asked for a more fun and amazing vacation. But when I pulled into Kirkland the real adventure started- the beginning of my life here. I'll keep you updated on how everything is going, but for now- pictures to document the trip.




Beautiful central California coastline. June 1, 2007.

Timmy and I in Central Cal. Notice the black hair. Ugh. More to come on hair updates in a later post (as a sidenote, right now it is RED. Yes, we are back to red. And it is short. I better not start taking about hair. But I will post about it soon).

Me on the central cal coast. Hella myspace picture.

Tim at Gheredelli Square in San Fran. June 2, 2007.

The wine country in Northern Cal.

Beautiful forests.

Winston fit through the 2400 year old tree!

Climbing through gigantic trees!

Absolutely breathtaking. I was facing this, the ocean was at my back. June 3, 2007- southern Oregon coastline.

Oregon beaches are filled with huge rocks in the ocean!



More huge rocks in the water.

Pretty southern Oregon coastline.

At the sea lion caves. We were actually in the caves at this point.

Look at all of those guys!

There were soo many! And they were cute.

Tim as a seal. He's pretty cute too.

Portland, Oregon. June 4, 2007. Outside of our hotel.

Headed towards the Pearl District in Oregon to do some damage while shopping.

And the final destination. It's been a journey. But now, I am home.

Written as a resident of Washington

It's official: I'm here. As of about 7pm last Monday night.


Just so everyone knows that 1) I am alive 2) I am in Washington and 3) The trip up was absolutely phenomenal. I am so excited about my life here.

More to follow once I am more moved in and can find my camera gear to post pics. I think they do a better job explaining than I do.

Moving Day

9 1/2- hours left in Phoenix as a resident.

7 approximate hours I cried yesterday. Not so bizarre considering how many good friends I have here and how many memories I made here.

0 hours cried today (but I still have 9 hours here... give it some time).

2 hours yesterday spent at my hair lady's salon where my hair was subsequently died BLACK. BLACK, PEOPLE! Do you realize I have gone from blonde, to red, to brown and now to black? What is freaking going on?? And now I look like a freakin emo girl... I feel like I should paint my nails black, wear all black and put pink tips on the end of my hair to really fill the part.

0 hours spent at my hair lady's salon today. But don't worry that will change- I have an appointment in a half an hour to attempt to get it back to brown. Cross your fingers that it doesn't turn to red again.

5 number of days I have been without a clump of my eyelashes. Black hair and missing chunks of eyelashes go GREAT together. I look awesome.

24 hour road trip ahead of us- if we were driving straight through

1-the highway number we will be taking all the way up the California coast.

I start my move to Washington today. TODAY.

Um, holy freaking SHIT. Seriously.

Update: Spent two hours at the hair lady's salon today. I think it is now a nice shade of brown. She had to put BLONDE on it to get it to go lighter if that is any indication of just how black it was. And then, the craziest part- it was MY fault. I didn't tell her if "that time of the month was close or not." Because apparently 1) I am supposed to tell my f-ing hairdresser if I am on my period and 2) if it is close to that time of the month (which, granted, it is-sorry if that is too much information) then hair takes color a lot stronger. That is the stupidest thing I have honestly ever heard in my life. Because my period is a few days away, my hair turned black. That is ridiculous. Does anyone know if there is validity to this?

And still no crying. Whoo hoo! On a roll!! Now time to pack. Only 6 more hours.

Freaking Vanity

So yesterday morning, I'm getting ready for my (last!) day of work. Everything is going normally... I stumble out of bed and into the shower, put lotion on, brush out my hair, put clothes on, start the process of makeup.

I'm almost done with the makeup part of my routine and I'm finishing it up with curling my eyelashes. Now, I have to say, I've been intrigued with the damn eyelash curler since I was in about 5th grade. At first it was just a fascination with this crazy looking thing. It was like some funky medical tool that somehow was supposed to make me look prettier. And the craziest thing was that somehow this thing went by your eyes! Woah. 8 years later in high school, I finally caught on to what it was supposed to really do. I perfected the art of curling and it has been full on love ever since. Without curling, my eyelashes are long but they stick straight out. Trust me when I say it is not hot. Since I picked up the thing in 5th grade, my mom has always warned me about it and her experience of one time managing to pull out all of her eyelashes with the stupid thing. I didn't really pay attention because I've never pulled any eyelashes out.

Well, I'm not exactly sure what happened yesterday morning, but something made me jump while I was curling my eyelashes and GUESS.WHAT.FREAKING.HAPPENED!?

Yeah.

A chunk of my eyelashes fell out. I am now eyelash-less in the middle of my left eye. Big clump. Missing.

I googled eyelash growth and I am happy to report that it takes FOUR to EIGHT weeks for eyelashes to grow back. Ugh. Hello, fake eyelashes!

I hate it when my mom turns out to be right... even if it is 15 years later. But, mom, as an FYI, I still refuse to give up curling my eyelashes. Yes, I am that stubborn. I am dad's daughter, remember?! I just need to make sure going forward that, when performing the curling process, I am in a secure, soundproof location so that nothing can cause me to make sudden movements which in turn causes the poor little eyelashes to rip out which subsequently causes me to either 1) look like a freak show or 2) Have daily fights with fake eyelash glue. For four to eight weeks. Awesome.

Changes are a'brewin...

Last weekend my Seattle man flew in to help me move. We got the moving truck early Sunday morning, packed up my stuff, and he was on the road by himself-with all of my stuff- by 2pm that same day. [And, as a side note, he then drove the next 25 hours straight up to Seattle. Yes, I just gave an example of craziness in its finest form. But, I must also mention that it was the sweetest thing ever because now 1) My stuff is up in WA 2) My stuff is unpacked 3) Now we can travel up the beautiful coast of California and Oregon over the course of 4-5 days starting May 31 without worrying about being in a huge truck that is towing my car. I am a lucky girl. ]

After we got the moving truck, I led us home so that we could start loading the truck. The most bizarre thing happened: I started crying and I'm pretty sure I only stopped for a few brief periods throughout the day until I went to bed Sunday night. It was completely unrelated to hormones and more related to the fact that all of a sudden all of THIS- these huge, huge life changes- was reality, as evidenced by the mostly empty house. I was crying but I was both happy and sad. Sad to be leaving this place, happy to be going to a new place. Sad for some of the changes that occurred while I as in Phoenix, happy for the people that I've met and who I am today.

Tomorrow is my last day at work in Phoenix and I'm feeling sort of the same way. Happy and sad and it's unclear which emotion is more dominant. I'm mostly happy but still sad to be leaving the place that is familiar to me, the place that I know. Regardless of how exciting and fun it is to go to a new place, it is always somewhat intimidating to start over completely from scratch.

But next week, on Wednesday night, I will be driving west on the 10 and out of this place that is home to me, on my way to another place that will become home to me over time. It's a strange. That's really all I need to say is it is just flat out strange. Almost incomprehensible. It's so funny how things do or don't work out. And many people may not understand me or agree with decisions I've made in my life-particularly in the past few years, but the thing is that the future works out in a way that is perfect. Now is the future of my past and things have fallen into place in a way that I never in a million years would have expected but looking back I know I will say without a shadow of a doubt that it couldn't have worked out more perfectly. I am happy and I am at a place where I feel is right, where I am content.

The one thing that I am a firm believer of is that with anything in life, all you need is love- love for your work, your family, your spouse, yourself. You need a love and passion for all things- the kind of feeling that creates joy, that completes you, that makes you feel whole. It's a joy and a feeling that can never be asked to be anything more than it is and you know when you find it. The paradox is that what it is, is beyond imagining- it is real, true, and more powerful than anything else that exists in this world. I have never felt so sure of anything in my life and know that I am on my way to getting to this place of complete, utter joy. It doesn't mean that I am not sad to be leaving here (I most definitely am-I know I will cry even more in the next few days) but it means that I know that even though I don't know exactly what the future will be like in the place where I am going, I am making the decision that's right for me at this time in my life, and as a result, the future will work itself out in a way that is undeniably perfect.

From the city of transience to the city of rain?

Although by now most people are fully aware of what's going on in my life, for those who are unaware, I am moving to Seattle, WA at the end of this month. May 31 to be exact. As much as I have loved Phoenix, it has never felt permanent especially given the events that have gone down in my personal life, starting pretty immediately following my arrival to this city. Most people don't find roots in Phoenix and mostly everyone you meet along the way is from the Midwest, from the northwest, from Cali... anywhere but from here. And generally people come for a while, or they have vacation homes here, and then they leave. It really is the city of transience.

Seattle, to me, feels more like home. Maybe it's because everything surrounding my decision to move to Seattle has just fallen into place without any additional effort. Or maybe it reminds me of the Midwest- at least in respect to the green surroundings and friendly people who have lived there for more than a year. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but I feel home there. I also met a boy there, upon my return trip from Alaska. As much as I have wanted to discuss this for the past 6 months, I couldn't due to the fact that some other personal issues were not finalized. They are now. To try to describe how I feel about this person would not do my true feelings justice. I'm sure there will be more to come in posts down the road... so I won't gush now. I also love the organic lifestyle of the northwest and the fact that so much of life in the northwest revolves around the outdoors and the natural living, irregardless of the rain. I am kind of over some of the "fakeness" that I see in some certain parts of Phoenix. As a Midwest girl, that has never been my favorite thing about here. And also as a Midwest girl, I have to admit, I am a little sick of the brown.

I am so excited to be moving, to a place I love, to start fresh. Life is a journey- a journey full of choices, choices that not everyone will agree with, nor do they have to. It is a journey that takes you places that you never saw yourself going but once you are there, it makes so much sense that you wonder how you missed seeing it beforehand. As I recently discussed with a dear aunt, it is a journey filled with ups, downs, surprises, joys, sadnesses, beauty, and wonder. Mostly you hope to find beauty and wonder but sometimes you do have a little bit of the yuck in between. That is what makes the steps that you take even that much more meaningful. I can't wait to turn the page and open this next chapter of my life- I know that my friends and my experiences in all of the places I have been-the Midwest, Phoenix-will be the backbone sustaining me in my new life in Seattle and they will be with me all of the way- whether they are physically present or not. It is always an adventure... and I can't wait to see what's in store. I will always treasure Phoenix and my time here.

From the city of sun, the city of transience, the city of hot, warm winters with no rain:

To the city of beautiful nature- full of mountains, water, greenery, mild temperatures and yes, of course, some rain:

Transformations

From blondie.... To a brief stint (IE: one day) as a redhead (the picture is a reminder for the future if I ever think I want to be a redhead again, I will RUN)...

To the end result- life as a brunette!

I've never been a brunette before (at least not this dark) and I've been surprised by how much I like it. It started off as just a temporary change. I get bored and I like to mix it up a little. I've been growing my hair out for what feels like DECADES (even though it's only been a year and a half) so cutting it was out of the question. The first round, it was a nightmare. I was a redhead. But at least now I know what it feels like to be a redhead for a day and can honestly say, I'm never going down that road again. This is so much fun- it brings out my eyes and I've been surprised at how many compliments I've gotten. I assume that one day I'll go back to blonde but this is so fun for now- and with so many life changes going on right now, it seemed like the perfect time to make an image change as well. And really, it takes guts to make such a drastic change so when you're feeling it, you just have to buckle up and go with it!

Overheard...

Just now at the ghetto client's I'm at:

Hick lady with voice of a 60+ year smoker, whose name is Mary Lou, for the love of god and who also hacks and sneezes about 2.5 million times a day... it is absurdly annoying: Happy cinco de Mayo tomorrow!
Younger girl: What?
Hick lady: Happy cinco de mayo tomorrow!!
Younger girl: Tomorrow would be cinco de april.
Hick lady: No, it is cinco de mayo!! I am going to have me some salty marjoreeetahs (seriously how she pronounced margaritas).
Younger girl: No, mayo in spanish means may.
Hick lady: Oh, wow. Well that makes more sense then. Because Kenny Chensney is coming to town on Cinco de Mayo and they kept saying it was a friday and I kept getting confused because tomorrow is thursday.

Umm... seriously. You just have to shake your head sometimes.

Pondering the deeper questions of life

I have always been an independent person. Many people have their ideas about who I am... some are right, some are wrong, some are probably very subjective. I live in a way that is best for me. Not everyone may see it that way, especially on certain things, but I have to believe that at the end of the day each choice is a choice that I've made based on what is right for me in this path that I'm on in my life. I don't feel a need to justify any of the decisions I've made.

Going back to the first sentence: I'm very independent. I always have been. I remember growing up, I'd always get mad at my parents for trying to help me on my homework because, "Gosh darn it. I can freaking do it myself!!" Or something along those lines. Probably said meaner with the snobby teenage girl voice.

Now that I'm in my mid 20's I feel even more self sufficient. I have a career, I feel like I know who I am so much better than I did even two years ago, I feel like I have surrounded myself by a positive group of people. I am capable of supporting myself. I am self sufficient. I am strong. Earlier today, someone made an interesting comment to me. They said, "One day you will not want to be self sufficient." My initial reaction was confusion. HUH?! But then, I tried to think about this objectively. Could this person really be right? Could I really someday wish that I'm not who I am and crave dependency?

After I thought about it, I really think this comment is one of the more funny comments I've had anyone make to me. It speaks volumes about how little some people know about me and my personality. Maybe my aversion to never NOT wanting to be self sufficient is a generational thing. Maybe it has something to do with my stubbornness. I am perfectly content to be a partner to someone else and to be perfectly self sufficient in my relationships. I believe in 50-50 and I believe in sharing responsibilities. But to ever feel like I don't want to be self sufficient?

That's absolutely ludicrous.

Busy season: The fourth time around

Busy season is officially underway and when I look at my calendar now, I only see the next 15 weeks as nothing but some form of hell. There are and will be many invigorating days where I know I will go to sleep at night thinking that somehow, someway, in my job I am doing something good for someone. But I know that at the end of it all, I am going to be exhausted from trying to remain so focused for such an extensive amount of time. For the next 15 weeks, each and every day on my calendar has a little pink box on it telling me where I'm supposed to be, what client I'm supposed to be working on. There are no blank days. Next month, if someone can get me a blank day, I would probably be willing to give up my left pinky toe in exchange. I mean that is a huge sacrifice- part of my body for a free day!? Well, ok, so I'm not exactly sure yet if that would be a deal. Ask me in a few weeks.

Up until this week, I've been very busy but it hasn't seemed that bad. Granted, I had to stop going to my class and I work on average from 7am to 9pm every day but it was tolerable. Until this weekend. I spent most of yesterday in the office and all day today working at home. And then I opened my calendar. That's when I saw all of the little pink boxes lined up, mocking me.

In busy season, we are trained to be "professional focusers." I don't really know that focusers is a word, much less a job description, but you get the point. Anything unrelated to work basically goes out the window. So far this year, I've still managed to hang out with my friends at least one time a weekend but that will dwindle down as deadlines start to get more prominent over the next few weeks. We will all lose a little bit of touch until around April when we start to feel more like we're on the downslide and we'll look at each other and say, "Damn. It's been a while." And then we'll move on from there as if we didn't just lose two months of our life to work. It's good to have friends who are in public accounting as well because there is a certain level of understanding already there about what we go through this time of year that we have to explain to our friends not in public accounting.

I am getting to be a veteran at this busy season gig. It's my fourth one- I spent two in tax, this is my second in audit. Audit busy seasons are longer- mine went through the end of May last year- but the hours we work are also drawn out over this period of time where tax people cram all these hours into a shorter amount of time. I have to say, I'm down with the audit side of things.

Now that I just sufficiently spent 20 minutes posting about work, I guess it's time to get back to work...

You just have to shake your head sometimes

On my way to work this morning I saw a bumper sticker that read, "I used to be normal... now I'm natural."

Whatever that means, I don't think I want to know. Judging by the look of the person driving the car with said sticker, I would say that, yes, I was definitely scared.

I love my girls.

Jessica, Jaimi, and I
Cracking up at who knows what- Pam, me, Jess

Jess, Jaimi, Pam, and I

The above pictures are of the three girls that I have become rather close to in Arizona. We met through work, although now we probably see each other more outside of work than at work since we all do different things in our firm. Two of us are from Missouri, one of us is from Wisconsin, and one of us if from Oregon. It may seem strange that we all met in Phoenix but it's really not given that probably 70% of the people in Phoenix are not from here. These women are so amazing... we have such a good time together, laughing, talking, supporting each other. They are the kind of friends that I know I will have 50 years from now, regardless of where we are in our respective lives. The pictures above are just a few from our latest outing last Friday night. As always, it was so fun, mostly because I was with them and everything is more fun when we're all together.

Nose piercing

I did this the first week of January. I really like it... I've been wanting to do it for a while. The only scary thing was that I didn't really think about any of the consequences. I did it on a Saturday night and had to give a presentation in front of all of the partners at my job at work on monday. I didn't know if the nose ring would fly given that I'm in a very conservative profession. Needless to say, I appparently had no reason to worry. All of the comments I've gotten on it have been very positive. It's fun for the time being, anyway.

It's been a while.

I know. Life has gotten somewhat strange and somewhat crazy lately. It's nothing I care to discuss here, but I am still alive and will be back soon.

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day spending time with family and friends.

More to come soon- I promise- on the Seattle leg of my northland trip and holiday party pics.

Adventures in the Northland

My trip up north was incredible. I loved every minute of it. I really didn't know what to expect seeing as how I was just going on rumors of what Alaska was supposedly like. It actually wasn't that cold. I packed long underwear and layers upon layers that I didn't end up needing to wear. The thing about Alaska is that it is so pure, so beautiful. There is a natural beauty there that I don't think people can really comprehend unless they've been there in person. People up there refer to it as the 'last frontier' and I would wholeheartedly agree with that. It is absolutely breathtaking.

I spent a few days in Anchorage, a city that I would say is a comparable size to Des Moines plus looming, gorgeous mountains and the ocean that you would never see in Des Moines. It's pretty small but it's the biggest city in Alaska. I met a few really cool people who I hope to keep in touch with. People up there are very friendly and open.

I then spent the last leg of my trip in Girdwood, Alaska which is approximately 40 minutes away from Anchorage. The drive to Girdwood is possibly the prettiest drive I have ever been on and the quaint town of Girdwood is stunning. It is a little ski town nestled in the mountains. In the summer, you can see glaciers from the top of a mountain in Girdwood. I cannot do it justice just to say it was beautiful.

The reason I went to Girdwood is one of my old friends from high school is living and working there right now. He went to school in San Franciso and then got transferred to Girdwood. Seeing him made the trip more special and unique just because I got to meet a lot of people through him, see the town in ways I probably wouldn't have otherwise, and most importantly I got to catch up with him since we haven't seen each other in literally years.

My adventure coming home kind of sucked but I will write about that more in my next post. And as soon as I have pictures, I will post them. Even though I had no desire to ever go to Alaska, I'm now thinking that I have to definitely get back there sometime. And I would highly recommend that everyone go up there at least once in their lifetime. You'll be amazed.

Alaska? Really? Um...yeah. I guess so.

Once again I find myself here a month after my last post apologizing that I don't post more. I always intend to, I just don't. I guess that's something that myself and my three readers will just have to accept.

I have a lot to post... including mostly pictures from my holiday party last weekend. Unfortunately, I can't do that now as all of the pictures are on my home computer and right now I am sitting in the airport on my laptop waiting to catch my flight to Anchorage, Alaska.

HUH?!

Yeah.

My reaction, too. I am going up there today through Friday... a little bit of work and a little bit of fun. I scheduled my trip for a couple of extra days so that I could see what this place is all about since I really have never had any desire to go up there before and I doubt I will again. Might as well explore it now that I have the opportunity.

I am pretty much prepared to absolutely freeze my ass off. Fortunately, I managed to find my loooonng woal coat leftover from my Iowa days that I got literally about two months prior to deciding to move to Phoenix. Needless to say, it hasn't been used much but I can almost guarantee I am going to be in love with this coat by the end of this week.

Anyway, I really have no idea what to expect up there. I feel like I am going to the Artic circle or something. It could be interesting. I'm also going to be seeing Seattle for a day or so... I have an overnight layover there and should have time to explore that city, too. I'll keep everyone posted on the adventures...

This post would be better with a picture...

But I haven't had a chance to take one.

The other day I had surgery. Intense, scary surgery.

Ok, so maybe I just had a mole removed. BUT. Can I just tell you that it hurt like f-ing hell?! And I now have stitches in my body where a chunk of skin was ripped out?

I was extremely scared before the surgery though because the doctor comes in (after I wait for 40 minutes) saying that he just caused a cyst to explode on him in another procedure he was performing. For sake of conversation and not really knowing what to say I asked, "well how does that happen?" And he says, "if you're not careful and you puncture it." Well, fantastic. So you're telling me that you were just NOT careful with the patient before me and you are going to proceed to cut me open? That makes me feel so. much. better.

Needless to say, it ended up ok with nothing bursting like the cyst dude before me. And now at least that sucker won't give me skin cancer.

A cold day in Phoenix

This morning I got into my car and turned the heater on, along with the heated seats.

Attire: black, wool turtleneck sweater, wool pants, black closed toe shoes.

When I get to the clients, the heater is on. It remains on all day.

The high temperature outside today, you ask? 90.

No joke.

90 degress is apparently our 60 degrees. So weird.

Swan Lake

This week has been insane. In fact, I think I say that every week now. Can I just have a chill week? It's been fun, though.

Last night I went with a couple of friends to the ballet, Swan Lake. It was beautiful... I haven't been to a ballet since I went to the Nutcracker a few years ago and I had forgotten how much I thoroughly enjoy going.

I almost died in the ghetto on the way TO the ballet. There was a suns game last night and being the idiot that I sometimes am, I forgot that I have to have cash to park in downtown Phoenix. Hello. So I had to find an ATM machine somewhere in the ghetto. I ended up at Walgreens at 7th Street and Thomas, which, if you know Phoenix, you know that it's a little sketchy there. I then proceeded to continue my smartness by taking back roads back to 3rd street and Washington (the nice part of downtown by the stadiums, symphony hall, etc). I especially loved the part where I drove by houses with police tape around them. Needless to say, I felt like quite the urbanite. The inner city girl in me certainly came out. After finally getting cash, we met at Kincaids, had a glass of wine and some brie cheese, and then walked to the ballet. At the end of the day, the ballet was absolutely superb. I was extremely impressed with the Arizona Ballet company.

Halloween Weekend 2006

This weekend has been so much fun! Much better than the 40+ hour of studying weekend last weekend. Friday, I met my girlfriend Kelly for sushi. Then I ventured to my cousin's Halloween party that I decided to go to last minute. Of course, it was a rash decision after another happy hour I was supposed to go to got cancelled so I didn't have a costume. I was endlessly harassed but it was all good. Very fun, needless to say. Then some other people I knew were having a party so I dropped by there to visit. Next thing I knew, it was 4 a.m. I gotta say, I haven't had a night like that for a LONG time. I got up yesterday morning at 9 a.m. and went straight to my friend Melissa's house for a pumpkin carving brunch. I was pretty exhausted but it was a fun brunch with a great group of friends. The pumpkin carving was about like I remember it- gooey. Creative people probably like carving pumpkins but for the people like me in the world who only do the triangle face pumpkins, it's not so hot. But, like I said, the company was well worth it.

After that I headed home and then turned right back around to go to the infamous annual Halloween party hosted by this guy at my work. This party I was actually prepared for- I had my costume (rainbow brite- who I IDOLIZED as a kid) all lined up. My friend Carolyn came with me. She and I have known each other since grade school but haven't seen each other since high school graduation. I learned recently from a mutual friend that she is out here now (recently moved) and so we met once for sushi and then I invited her to come along with me to this. I think she had a pretty good time... everyone loved her! The party was a lot of fun... people are so creative with their costumes! I can't wait until Halloween next year (or maybe next weekend... I heard there are more Halloween parties)... it is so fun!

Rainbow Brite, ghost girl, and swede fighter guy aka me, Jaimi, Ryan

Rainbow Brite and suicide bomber aka me and Jordan

Andy, Kelly, Jenn

Side ponytails are so sexy. Trust me, they are coming back from the 80s. Especially once this picture gets out.

Jaimi & I

My friend Carolyn and I. I haven't seen her since high school graduation and we just met up again in Phoenix 2 weeks ago! Crazy!!

Dancing... so it must have been towards the end of the night

I really dislike dumb people

So, OMG. I almost castrated someone on Thursday. Namely, the IT guy at the client I'm at right now. We were trying to get hooked up to the printer at the client. And we told the guy it wasn't a big deal but if it was easy to do, then that would be fantastic.

Well, apparently it wasn't so easy to do. My computer and my co-workers computer were completely jacked. Our domains were wiped out, we lost all of our settings, we lost bits and pieces of our hard drives, we couldn't log in, etc. Describing it doesn't do our actual reaction justice. And, again, this was all supposedly the relatively easy task of hooking us up to a printer.

The guy was on drugs. And I'm not just saying the dude was on drugs because I am mad at the outcome of what happened. I was told this by the president of the company AFTER we realized that we were headed back to our office to have our IT guys somehow fix our poor computers. Um, hello? Maybe you should disclose the fact that your IT guy is on drugs BEFORE I let him come 10 feet close to my computer!? And btw, how is your company even operating? Oh, you still use greenbar? Oh this is an issue we try to address every year? Ah, it makes so much more sense now. And the logical question: 1) Why is it acceptable to employ an IT guy that is on drugs?

I would have done less damage trying to do what this guy was trying to do if I was drunk. And trust me, that's saying something.

There was yelling that happened, profuse apologizing from the controller, president, etc. to us. It was an ENTIRE day (no joke- 8 straight hours) of just trying to get the computer fixed. That doesn't work so well to waste a day considering the tightness of my schedule right now.

And, needless to say, my IT guy was certainly not happy. He did not find it humorous when I told him in all seriousness that I had a message from the client's IT guy: "if you just have whoever it is working on your computer do exactly what I just did (and he wrote out the instructions), you will be golden and will never have any problems." Noted. Maybe I should send that to Microsoft or Apple. It might be helpful at least in training people into how to fix massive problems.

Is that singing I hear?

Scenario: I'm at the gym tonight. Running. Next to a girl, a fairly in shape girl who looks like a good person to run by (mainly because she has headphones on which means she won't try to talk to me. Headphones are ALWAYS something to look for at the gym). All of a sudden about halfway through my run, I start to hear singing. I glance at her without being obvious but come to the conclusion that it must have just been the radio. Then again. I look at her and she's singing "Walking in Memphis." Loud. At the top of her lungs. In the gym. People are looking at me. Trying to figure out if it is me or her that is singing. Walking in memphis. In the gym.

I guess I just don't get it. Maybe if she was good it would have been more enjoyable. But as it was tonight, it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. Yeah, it was that bad.

Another scenario: I'm in my car. With the windows down. Hey, it's nice in Arizona now- 70s...perfect. I have my music cranked and a car pulls up next to me. They also have their windows down and their music cranking. And when they are right next to me, I hear singing. Holy crap is that the LADY I hear? Yes, over my music and her music, I could hear her belting it out. I couldn't help but stare. She had one set of vocals.

CPA exam 101

I took the CPA exam on Monday. Let me tell ya, I can't believe that's something I have to experience three more times, probably more considering that I may have to take one or more of the sections over again. I'm not even CLOSE to exaggerating when I say that it is by far the hardest, most exhausting test I've ever taken. It's like all four years of accounting all balled up into 4 hours. I can't even explain how impossible it is to try to study for that. And we're only talking about one section here, peeps!

I took the financial section on Monday. I studied for about 30-40 hours straight beginning friday night through about Sunday afternoon at 5 when I experienced a mass breakdown that resulted in me throwing my financial book, running out of the house in tears, and thinking seriously about my career options aside from accounting. I went to the gym, came back more calm, realized I knew what I knew and took it easy Sunday night. Monday I reviewed a bit and then sat for the test at 10. I feel relatively good about some parts, not so good about others. Like I said, it's so comprehensive that it's impossible to know exactly what to study for and eventually in the process of studying you have to accept that you're never going to learn it all. At the end of the day, I feel ok about it. I know eventually I'll pass it and even if I don't this time, I know at least I got the experience.

After I walked out of the exam, I swear it felt like I was in a different century. I probably looked like I was on crack. Hell, I felt like I was on crack. I couldn't process anything. Nothing. Couldn't even focus on the road when I was driving. Stared at people blankly when they talked to me- including the Starbucks guy. It's probably a good thing it takes two months to get the results back... as stupid as that is. If I got them directly following the exam, I don't think I would have been able to process the results.

The next class section of the CPA exam review started Monday night- as in, yes, the same day I took the financial section of the test. This section now is auditing and it's AWESOME. So much easier than the last. I'll take that part of the test at the end of November. After that, I start regulation/tax in January (the next hardest section compared to financial) and then business law/ethics in February.

One down, three to go.

Spinning out of control

I'm convinced that the CPA exam is going to be the end of me.

Trite, of course.

But I go to bed dreaming about numbers, people. I wake up thinking about leases. I take a shower and I think about the different disclosures required for pensions plans. Sometimes when I'm on the phone, talking with clients, hanging with friends, I think I start speaking in tongues in a way that makes them look around like make. the. madness. stop. They do not care that I can recite FASB 144 or SFAS13. And that I do so on command, I even do it in the middle of conversations just because I cannot process any normal conversations anymore. I'm asked a question and all I can respond with is some kind of reference to the statement of cash flows. DO WE NOW SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?

Like I said, the CPA exam is going to be the end of me. And, while confident in my abilities, I'm very confident in the ability of this test to kick the living crap out of me. And that's ok. I fully expect to take it again because I sincerely doubt that one round of this torture will be enough to satisfy it and the effect it's having on my life.

Today I don't live in Arizona

Just in case you were wondering. I'm going to deny it just for one day.

And I'll walk around with my head to the ground while I'm out in Arizona today.

24-23, folks! To any sports fans out there, this means something to you.

To people in Arizona, all it means is sheer embarassment. How can we call ourselves Cardinals fans after the destruction of the Bear's victory last night?

Oh, how glad I am to NOT be a part of the Cardinals offensive line today.

Quote of the day

"I promise you not a moment will be lost as long as I have heart & voice to speak & we will walk again together with a thousand others & a thousand more & on & on until there is no one among us who does not know the truth: there is no future without love." -Storypeople

Today is a new day

My resolution is to post more... starting now.

I have many pictures... of the house, the restored car (that we FINALLY got back last week), and of the trip to the Grand Canyon we took a few weeks ago. Those will follow shortly... hopefully.

While I intend to post more, it's sort of hard to do so. My CPA class finished a week or so ago and now I'm busy cramming for the test that's quickly approaching. I'm pretty busy at work, too. But, such is life.

Although I'm not a great back poster, I'll try to make more effort to keep this updated as to the current happenings in my life. We'll see how it goes...

Back into school mode

I started my CPA review course about 3 weeks ago. I go to class for 4 hours a night, 2 nights a week. There are 4 parts to the exam. You study for one part at a time, take the exam for that section and then move on to another section. The section I'm studying for right now is the financial section. It's huge and incredibly hard. I've found that I'm glad I've waited (IE: procrastinated) for 2 years to start studying. It seems like I know some things now just from experience that I may not have known before. I'll take this part of the test probably right around October 15. The exact date is to be determined.

So, I have spent all day today trying to cram the information I should have learned in the past 3 weeks into my head. It's going well... I'm just so out of the school mode that it's been hard to get back into the swing of things, to develop a 'study schedule' per se. But, I'm working at it and hopefully something I do works...

My actual job is going well... it's still fairly busy but that's ok. I moved into my own office which is nice and I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I got promoted... So, things are going well on that front. Pretty soon I'm going to start a countdown until January 15, the day when things (IE: any life I may pretend to have) start to go down the drain as a result of the craziness of busy season. I can't believe it's already almost that time again... Ugh... Gotta love public accounting!

Out of commission

Both cars, that is.

Our trusty Ford Focus and of course, the mini cooper.

The mini drama is never ending and always infuriating. First of all, insurance companies are dumb. I mean, really, who are these people that we are dealing with? They are just absolute morons. On Tuesday, Tim talked to them and we were 25% liable for the accident, the other lady was 75% liable. When they talked to me on Wednesday, we were 70% liable and she was 30% liable. Did they just determine that they didn't like me after talking to me? Because nothing that happened in the accident changed from Tuesday to Wednesday. They said that ultimately it's my word against hers (so perhaps them just not liking me could be accurate) and that because she was on my right, I'm liable. Dumb. The liability is still to be determined because we learned after further discussion that they have the facts wrong regarding where exactly I was coming from before the accident happened. Apparently that changes everything... it's complicated but I'll suffice it to say that I firmly believe that it was her fault. If nothing else, they should at least say we're both equally liable (50%-50%).

Then, the body shop. Oh, the body shop. They are my new best friends. They called me several days ago to tell me that they are happy to report that they 1) Have all of the parts for my car and 2) Got everything they need from the insurance. I'm thinking, "Fantastic... my car should be done soon!" That bubble burst quickly when my guy said, "I'm happy to report that we'll have your car back to you in FOUR WEEKS!" Oh great, retard, that's just fabulous! You've already had it for four weeks. So the total for fixing my car is 8 weeks? They built the whole thing in England and shipped it to Iowa in 5 weeks. Tell me if that makes sense. Not to mention the fact that if we're 50% liable, we'll have to pay 50% of the rental car costs which are $20 a day. Do the math on that. It's more than I really care to pay for driving around a ghetto Chevy Aveo (what is that, you ask? Just picture the biggest shit box you've ever seen on the roads that is purported to be called a car. But it's a 2006 model! With no CD player! Or tape deck! Or auto locks or windows! And as a bonus it smells like old cigarettes!)

So, on top of this mess, earlier this week the focus deciding to start grinding. And not in a good grinding way. It was the type of grinding that hurt ME to hear it. We realized that it might be the brakes. The car has 106,000 miles on it, we've had it since it was brand spankin new and we've never had the brakes fixed. So we take it in and the brakes need to be fixed in a big $600 type of way... mainly because of the rotors or something (this is the part where I tuned out). Anyway, it's something major... naturally.

Now we're done to the ghetto Chevy Aveo rental car between us... sweet!

Have I mentioned that cars suck?

Poor little Winston

Here are the pictures the adjuster took of our car to give the insurance the estimate (which was approximately $4500, by the way).

It's so sad.

And, yes, the car's name is Winston.

The croc hunter is dead?

I find that absolutely unbelievable.

Steve Irwin just seemed so happy and invincible.

Babies, watermelons, and revelations

So in honor of the traditional labor day festivities, we decided to have a barbeque today since Tim's brother, Aaron, is in town visiting us and he leaves in the middle of the day tomorrow. We went to the grocery store to get the appropriate items, one of which was a watermelon. On the way home, I sat with it on my lap to prevent any rolling that might occur anywhere else in the car.

As I was sitting there with this 10 pound ball on my lap, I had the sudden revelation that it must really be uncomfortable to be pregnant and to be carrying something in your actual body that is similar to this size and shape. I mean... wow. I made the comment to Tim and he basically looked at me like I was crazy. Then I tried to stuff the melon under my shirt to put a realistic spin on it and I think that he freaked a little himself. For whatever reason, because of this ball of melon and its sheer weight, I gained an entirely new respect for all of the mothers out there in the world. I mean, seriously, not only does pregnancy seem highly uncomfortable but after you go through all of that, then you actually have a baby (and everyone KNOWS what comes along with that). I cannot even begin to imagine how, if and when I will ever be prepared for the actuality of this motherhood process... and to think that these thoughts all spawned from a melon... who knew that melons could be so profound?

I'm told I need soap

For what some people may see as a potty mouth? Do I need to refer everyone back to the post I made several months ago stating that I reserve the right to say what I want to say because this is my forum to do so? If it offends anyone, you, in the same manner, have the right to stop reading. I will only be me on this website. The way I am in real life is the way I will be here. I will not conform because of who may or may not be reading this.

Allright. Moving on from that...

Although, I do have one more thing to say about it: if anyone could see my poor little mini car right now, they might have a word of choice to offer, too. It's so sad.

Here are the details: I was going west in a Walgreen's parking lot. This lady in a Dodge Durango was going south. She hit my passenger's side right above the wheel wheel and into the headlight. My hood is all pushed up and out, the light is completely deteriorated. The car cannot be operated at the present time.

Since it happened on private property, the insurance companies fight for whose fault/liability the accident was. So far, the verdict is still out. It's getting towed tomorrow to the body shop recommended by our mini dealer. Then the insurance adjuster will go out at the end of this week to write up an estimate and then the repairs can start to be made. In the meantime, I just have to wait and see who is determined to be liable.

Frankly, I just want my car to be fixed. It kinda blows. I've never been in an accident before and I don't recommend it. It just sucks.

Aside from this, everything else is going well. Just working and playing... the usual. My CPA review course starts next week so I'm trying to enjoy this last week of freedom this week before I lose my life for a while...

By the way, has anyone ever heard of Landon Pigg? I just got his CD and I really like it...

And, again, accidents do happen... aware or not.

Just got into my first one in a Walgreens parking lot just a week after paying $1000 for the accident that I was told I was in but wasn't aware of. Say it with me, people: SHIT. Groan.

It wasn't my fault but of course my car is all jacked up.

Pissed.

Apparently accidents happen without awareness...

Makes no sense, right? I know. I'm with you.

So a week or so ago, I finally decided that the airplane noise that the mini cooper was making every time it was turned off was not normal. I took it into the dealer and because we live in Arizona, something about the water pump was screwed up. Since the car was bought brand new and it's only 1 1/2 years old, it was covered under warranty.

So, I leave it there and get my rental car: a 2006 audi A4 convertible. Sweet. And I go on my way.

I get a call that afternoon in the office that I need two front tires. Price: $900. No way. I'll take it somewhere else. They say fine, the water pump will be fixed in the morning and will be ready by noon. Cool.

The next morning at about 9 a.m., I get a call from the dealer again. They ask if I've been in an accident. Huh? Um, no. Apparently when they were taking the car apart, they found that either 1) I had rear ended someone 2) I had hit something with my front end or 3) someone had hit me. The condenser was bent in so severely that they said it was something I would definitely remember. As a result of the condenser being bent in, if I opted not to fix it immediately, I would then be faced with having to get a new radiator because the condenser was bent to a point where it was making a hole in the radiator. Ugh. So, we went back and forth with the dealer. We didn't feel like we were liable because we hadn't been in an accident. I mean, seriously, how do we know THEY didn't do it? They basically said that if that's the way I felt, we could come get the car. Jackasses. We had no choice but to just suck it up and pay it.

Luckily I was driving a cool, fun rental car... but STILL.

So, the next day I go in and pay approximately $1,000 for a new condenser. And the guy is a complete dick to me (I think Tim had been kind of a jerk to him the prior day when we were going back and forth about whose liability it was... but that was justified!) So that made me mad. And then, this freakshow has the audacity to tell me that he took off $50 from the bill. Oh, thanks a-hole. I mean, seriously. I'm paying $1000... do you really think I give a crap about $50? If the total labor was $100 and he took off $50, that would be a different story.

Anyway, it was frustrating, to say the least. The only thing we can figure is that someone hit us in a parking lot or something.

Last week was an expensive week... that's the moral of the story. We paid $1000 for the car, $2600 for the mortgage, and $3300 for the dumb CPA exam stuff (which I am really NOT looking forward to). Why does grown up stuff have to be so expensive? Sometimes I just want to rewind the clock all the way back to 2nd grade... stuff was so much simpler then... I didn't even know that cars had problems or what mortgages were back then. All I cared about was what clothes my barbies were wearing.

The beginning of a long road...

I just got notification from the Arizona State Board of Accountancy that I have been approved to sit for the CPA exam. On the surface this is good news in that it means that I meet all of the qualifications necessary to be a candidate. But, deep down, it really means that I now begin the long task of studying and actually sitting for the exam. The first step is to enroll in Becker (the most known program of study for the CPA exam). This will require that I give up 4 hours two nights a week OR 8 hours every Saturday for 4 months (1 month per section of the exam). Then, after a month is completed, I take the corresponding section of the exam (and pray upon everything that I pass). So, I'm probably going to opt for the two weeknight classes simply because I refuse to give up a weekend day. Oh, and did I mention how much it costs just to study? It's about $2K. To sit is another $1K. Luckily, the benefits of passing FAR outweigh the cost.

I'm so out of school mode, though. I just don't want to return to that way of life. It sounds just disgusting to me. Study? Ick. Take a test, much less, a HUGE, life-changing test? Bigger ick. And aside from that, I am working full time and trying to cram as much of this process in before my life stops again for busy season in January for 5 solid months. Should be interesting...

More pictures...

I have nothing exciting to post. All I do is work... well, sort of. I do find time to play, as evidenced by these pictures. Hopefully next week will be a little less crazy and I'll have more time to put together some posts...

Last weekend I went to Sedona with a friend- we hiked and enjoyed the cool weather. It was spectacular! Tomorrow we have a happy hour for one of the girls who is leaving and then the rest of the weekend I plan to sit by the pool and lounge around...

By the way before anyone jumps to STUPID conclusions, Tim has been in California... which would be why he hasn't been making the headlines of this blog. So switch the rumor mill position to OFF.

The group... 7-13-06

Jaimi and I at Sandbar after Sushi 7-14-06

Um, yeah, don't ask. 7-14-06

Jaimi and I laughing our asses off... (probably because we were TRYING to dance... Carmen Electra booty shake- who wants to see it?!) 7-14-06

The cool chicks I work with-6-26-06

Who is that nerd? 6-26-06

Kim & I-6-26-06

Tedfest 2006 (6-24-06)... Me, Jaimi, Kim

TedFest 2006- boys and pool basketball.

Question of the day

Is it better to do something selfishly based on what you feel is in the best interest of your own ultimate happiness or choose not to do something for your ultimate happiness in order to keep everyone surrounding you happy?

I apologize for any typing errors. I am typing minus my left middle finger. It is not functioning properly... I got into a fight with the washing machine this morning and it definitely won the battle as evidenced when it slammed shut on the finger I was using to flip it off... The next load I put into it is going to be jam packed full of dirty underwear, ketchup stains, towels, etc. especially if I end up losing my fingernail.

7.13.06

I will always have a comment about how I truly dislike the numbers 7 & 13. Anyone remember my post from July 13 of last year? Well, if not, check out the archives. So, this year, I'm more ok with the number 7. My feelings on the number 13 remain the same. But still, the date today freaks me out so I will be continuously watching my back.

It is one of my friends' birthday, though, so I kind of have to like today more than I used to...

Driving in the city

Does anyone understand why in the HELL every city has to have so many freakin 1 way streets? I mean, is it really that hard to design all cities with roads that go both ways? I hate 1 way streets because you can only go one way... and then, oh FREAK! That was the street I'm supposed to be on but it only goes east so now I have to spend 10 more minutes going in f-ing circles until I can finally get back to the one way street that I need to be on. If it was two ways, problem solved without any wasted time or aggravation.

I also hate one way streets because usually when I'm in the city, I'm trying to find my way around so I'm not really paying attention to whether or not a street is one way. Thus, my problem today. I was right at the base of chase field. I needed to go slightly west on Jefferson to get to where I needed to park. So I turn west. I wonder why there are people sitting in a turn lane on the north side of the street. (sidenote: I should have thought about this logically). Then I see multiple cars coming at me IN ALL LANES. Oh holy mother of god! I am going down a one way street the WRONG. WAY. Luckily, I am in my little mini car so I flip a quick u turn in the middle of the road (only slightly illegal) before all of the traffic reaches me. (Then duck, put my hands over my face and pretend like I'm not the most retarded person in the world at the moment when all of these people drive past me thinking, "Who's the idiot?")

So after this, I have to go north a block to washington so that I can go west. Oh, Washington has construction? Perfect. I have to go on a loop-de-loop detour for TWENTY, repeat: TWENTY minutes so that I can go .08 of a mile to the freakin field parking lot!!! My thought after this was that maybe I should have just tested my luck with the one way street... see if I could've beat the oncoming traffic to my turn which would've only taken about 30 seconds...even if it was a potential death wish. Or MAYBE all cities should just make streets two ways. And we're back to the original point: What is the purpose of 1 way streets?

Gotta love it...

The temperature at 7:32 a.m. (yes, that's AM) was 102.

For all of you sportsfans out there, I'm working at the Diamondbacks this week. Yes, that means I'm spending my days at Chase field. Apparently, that's supposed to be cool... and I guess it kind of is.

And I'm late for work.

Wedding Summer!

Tim and I just got back last Tuesday from Chelsea and Scott's wedding in Kansas City. It was absolutely beautiful. Two weeks prior to that, I took part in Wish and Josh's wedding in a small town just south of Kansas City. Here are some of the pictures of these beautiful weddings... I'm so glad I was able to be a part of each wedding...

Scott & Chelsea with Tim's parents 7.2.06

Rachel and Travis with us-gotta love the pink! 7.2.06

Erin R. and I 7.2.06

Tim and I at Chelsea and Scott's wedding 7.2.06

Just married! 6.17.06

Jilly Marie and I at Wish's reception 6.17.06

Cara and I 6.17.06

Wish and I just before the wedding 6.17.06

The girls- Wish's Wedding 6.17.06

Kathryn and I, Wish's Wedding 6.17.06

The Beautiful Bride 6.17.06

Oops

I made a post earlier in the day (and it was LONG!) that I had to delete due to the sensitivity of some of the issues I discussed. I wasn't really thinking when I posted it for the whole world to feast their eyes on. Whoops.

Nothing exciting has happened today other than um, nothing.

I swear, I'm back

I'm going to be more consistent at posting. Have I said this before? Well, this time I mean it. I mean, seriously people. Who's keeping me accountable? It's been a freakin month for the love of god. My post busy season resolution is to post more...especially since I learned over the weekend that I actually have people that read this blog.

Yesterday was an absolutely insane day. Scary, actually. I PROMISE I will write more about it later.

For now, I just want to wish my parents a happy anniversary. It's been 32 years of wedded bliss for them. They are truly an example that love can last and can grow stronger over the years. I wish for them all of the best and that they have many more good years to come.